December 10, 2015
As we rap up our look at faithfulness, we have seen and will see today that there are many ways, times, and behaviors that show faithfulness. That is why God made it a Spiritual fruit. There is no way we could be faithful and stay faithful without the Holy Spirit !!! As an example... it takes a different set of thoughts and behaviors to be faithful to your spouse than it does to be faithful to your local church. So today as we look at 5 verses from the bible try to see how the different types of faithfulness looks and how we should react !
" He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much ; and he who is unjust in what is least is unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches ? " Luke chapter 16 : 10 - 11.
The first part of this simply says that a person will be the same weather there is a little or a lot at stake. This assumes that the faithful one is filled with the spirit ! The one who is not will always be unfaithful !! Think of people you know and see if this is not true. The second part of this verse draws the parallel between earthly wealth and heavenly wealth. From God's view, if we can not be trusted with pieces of paper (money), then how in the world can He trust us with true wealth (Spiritual Gifts).
" And the things you have heard from Me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. " 2 Timothy 2 : 2
Here Paul is telling Timothy the secret to keeping Christianity alive !!! If the word of God is not taught for one generation....Christianity dies. Therefore what Paul is saying is you must give the word of God to the faithful ( followers of Jesus ) so that more people can hear, accept, and follow Jesus. An unfaithful person ( Non-believer ) has no reason to be faithful in the Spiritual journey of building the kingdom of God. Based on the last verse, he is most interested in building his kingdom of mammon (money).
" For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; Their inward part is destruction; Their throat is an open tomb; They flatter with their tongue. " Psalm 5 : 9
This verse tells us one clue to watch for when deciding if a person is faithful or not. Again a person who is not saved is filled with death ! So.... all words spoken are spoken out of THEIR heart and makes their throat an open tomb for their words. They flatter all the time ! We have all met this person. They flatter you with their words only to keep your eye off of what they are doing !!
" May the Lord repay every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness; For the Lord delivered you into my hand today, but I would not stretch out my hand against the Lord's anointed. " 1 Samuel 26 : 23
There is an old joke: What does every Christian have to eat after service on Sunday ? Roast preacher! We should be very careful how we treat God's anointed. That does not mean only the preacher! ALL of God's children have been anointed. When we are mistreated, God will take care of His children, just as you would take care of your own children. BUT if you jump in to pay back, God's hands are tied !!! LET GO AND LET GOD !!!!
" So the Governors and Satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. " Daniel 6 : 4
This show the benefit of faithfulness at work. If as a follower of Jesus you are faithful, there will be people who will look for fault with you. This is normal behavior for non-believers. Our job is to be as faithful as we can and let Jesus deal with the non-believers. That does not mean we should be door mats, but it does mean that any type of payback on our part will tie God's hands and we will pay the price for NOT being faithful !!!
This wraps up our study on Faithfulness. As you can see there are many ways to be faithful and the best we can do is to get out of the way and let the Holy Spirit control our lives and the fruit of the Spirit will be plentiful in your life !!! Join us next week as we take on another Fruit Of The Spirit. Have a blessed week !
Saturday, December 12, 2015
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Fruit Of The Spirit ... Faithfulness
December 3, 2015
When we talk about Faithfulness, we should be talking about many types of faithfulness not just to Jesus. The purpose of the Spirit is not just to make us more like Jesus, but to also be a good witness for Him !! Therefore we should be displaying the fruit to all we come in contact with. That is why the Holy Spirit is in charge and not us .... or should be ! What did Jesus say ? With Me ALL things are possible and without Me you can do nothing !!! In todays study we will take a look at a few versus from the bible and see some of the many ways we can and should be faithful.
" But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such there is no law. " Galatians 5 : 22
We started with this verse just to establish the fact that this is in deed a fruit of the Spirit. It is also interesting to note that the last sentence says that against such there is no law. This is to show that there can be no law against Godly attitudes and behaviors.
" The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. " Jeremiah 23 : 28
This verse is showing that to be faithful to God (that is who is speaking here through Jeremiah) he should share what ever God has given them. This is huge... it tells us that fruits and gifts that come from God are to be shared with all. The key here is not share with all ( still very important ) but ones that come from God !! If it is not from God you do not need to share with all. Examples of things that are not from God would be selfishness, slander, gossip, greed ... etc.
" A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness will utter lies. " Proverbs 14 : 5
Here we see a outcome of displaying the fruit of faithfulness. Not only will he not lie, but one who is not of God, tells lies ( plural ). This talking not just about an instant or some times, but at all times and in all situations. The fact that none of us are perfect only shows that we are not yet like Jesus and have a lot of work for the Holy Spirit to do in us..... but only to the degree that we surrender to Him and turn our life over to Jesus !
" A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. " Proverbs 11 : 13
This verse shows that some gifts from the Spirit are not to be shared with the world ! The only way we can know when to talk and when not to talk is to listen to the Spirit within us. A talebearer that is talked about here, is known as a liar to us. So, the best thing that we can do is to not share secrets and to speak and share only gifts given to us to share (see verse above ).
" Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 1 Timothy 3 : 11.
In this verse Paul is giving the rules and guidelines for Timothy to follow when selecting leaders in the church. When it comes to the wives they also had to meet standards. Notice that Paul says she must be faithful in ALL things ! WOW that's a very tall order. If we are not yet as Jesus and not yet fully sanctified , how can anyone be faithful in all things ??? Remember he is talking about the church, so what Paul is saying is that when it comes to their service in and for the church, they must be honest and trustworthy in all aspects of their lives and ministries. Still, a very tall order !!!
Next week we will continue and conclude our discussion of faithfulness. Please join us and till next week.... be blessed !
When we talk about Faithfulness, we should be talking about many types of faithfulness not just to Jesus. The purpose of the Spirit is not just to make us more like Jesus, but to also be a good witness for Him !! Therefore we should be displaying the fruit to all we come in contact with. That is why the Holy Spirit is in charge and not us .... or should be ! What did Jesus say ? With Me ALL things are possible and without Me you can do nothing !!! In todays study we will take a look at a few versus from the bible and see some of the many ways we can and should be faithful.
" But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control. Against such there is no law. " Galatians 5 : 22
We started with this verse just to establish the fact that this is in deed a fruit of the Spirit. It is also interesting to note that the last sentence says that against such there is no law. This is to show that there can be no law against Godly attitudes and behaviors.
" The prophet who has a dream, let him tell a dream; And he who has my word, let him speak my word faithfully. " Jeremiah 23 : 28
This verse is showing that to be faithful to God (that is who is speaking here through Jeremiah) he should share what ever God has given them. This is huge... it tells us that fruits and gifts that come from God are to be shared with all. The key here is not share with all ( still very important ) but ones that come from God !! If it is not from God you do not need to share with all. Examples of things that are not from God would be selfishness, slander, gossip, greed ... etc.
" A faithful witness does not lie, but a false witness will utter lies. " Proverbs 14 : 5
Here we see a outcome of displaying the fruit of faithfulness. Not only will he not lie, but one who is not of God, tells lies ( plural ). This talking not just about an instant or some times, but at all times and in all situations. The fact that none of us are perfect only shows that we are not yet like Jesus and have a lot of work for the Holy Spirit to do in us..... but only to the degree that we surrender to Him and turn our life over to Jesus !
" A talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. " Proverbs 11 : 13
This verse shows that some gifts from the Spirit are not to be shared with the world ! The only way we can know when to talk and when not to talk is to listen to the Spirit within us. A talebearer that is talked about here, is known as a liar to us. So, the best thing that we can do is to not share secrets and to speak and share only gifts given to us to share (see verse above ).
" Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things. 1 Timothy 3 : 11.
In this verse Paul is giving the rules and guidelines for Timothy to follow when selecting leaders in the church. When it comes to the wives they also had to meet standards. Notice that Paul says she must be faithful in ALL things ! WOW that's a very tall order. If we are not yet as Jesus and not yet fully sanctified , how can anyone be faithful in all things ??? Remember he is talking about the church, so what Paul is saying is that when it comes to their service in and for the church, they must be honest and trustworthy in all aspects of their lives and ministries. Still, a very tall order !!!
Next week we will continue and conclude our discussion of faithfulness. Please join us and till next week.... be blessed !
Friday, November 20, 2015
Fruit Of The Spirit ... Joy ( Part 2 )
November 19, 2015
This week's class will not meet next week because of Thanksgiving ! We rapped up our discussion of Joy. This week we looked at 7 versus in God's word. A couple were reminders of where Joy comes from and others gave us new info to learn about this part of the Fruit of the Spirit. By taking versus from both Old and New Testament we can see that this fruit, as all the others, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. For that we should all say AMEN !!!
" The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight. " Proverbs 15 : 8 This shows that what gives God Joy is not for His creation to follow laws and rules, but the humble supplication showed by coming to Him in prayer. Sounds simple, but the Jews have NEVER figured this out ! All through history they have tried to follow laws rather than admit to God that without Him we can do nothing... including worship Him as He wants us to worship Him !!!
" So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Acts 5 : 41 This is a concept that most Christians and all non believers still do not understand. When a Christian suffers, their first response is " what have I done wrong that God is punishing me ?" This is normal and a proper response. However, as we mature in Christ, we count ourselves lucky that the Father counts us worthy to suffer for Him and to be a witness to those around us. Easy ???? No, but God receives the glory when His people use suffering to witness for His Son, Jesus !
" And the disciples were filled with Joy and with the Holy Spirit. " Acts 13 : 52 This verse just reminds us that the Fruit of Joy, as all the fruits do, come from the Holy Spirit.
" ... as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. " 2 Corinthians 6 : 10 As Paul is talking he tells the Corinthians that by the power of the Holy Spirit we do these things. The paradoxes used here show the difference between the things of this world and of the spiritual world. As an example when he says " as poor , yet making many rich.." He is saying that the world may see us as poor but in the spiritual world we are rich !! Why ? Because by the power of the Holy Spirit people can gain eternal life. Therefore, we truly possess the ability to make many rich !!!
" Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. " Luke 6 : 22 - 23 Here Jesus is saying that the believer should jump for joy when things are done or said about them FALSELY for the faith in Jesus. God gets no glory if the things they say about you are true, in fact that makes you a bad witness. But, if not true, your reward is great in heaven !!!
" ... whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory ... " 1 Peter 1 : 8 We are filled with joy because we love God and we have not seen Him !!! Why ? .... because joy comes from the Holy Spirit that fills us when we are born again !! By His power we are able to love that which we can not see !! God is good !
" The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. " Isaiah 29 : 19 Here Isaiah is telling of a future when Jesus comes that people will have much joy in the Lord. When believers are saved they will receive the Holy Spirit and all that is included with that, including the fruit of the spirit. Notice also that he addresses the humble and poor.... all conditions of the heart. This is no accident,,, without the proper condition of the heart the fruit can not grow well !!! Like planting grass seed in sand... it will not grow !
We will take next week off and when we come back we will look at another Fruit of the Spirit. Hope to see you here and may God bless you richly as you study His word.
This week's class will not meet next week because of Thanksgiving ! We rapped up our discussion of Joy. This week we looked at 7 versus in God's word. A couple were reminders of where Joy comes from and others gave us new info to learn about this part of the Fruit of the Spirit. By taking versus from both Old and New Testament we can see that this fruit, as all the others, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. For that we should all say AMEN !!!
" The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, But the prayer of the upright is His delight. " Proverbs 15 : 8 This shows that what gives God Joy is not for His creation to follow laws and rules, but the humble supplication showed by coming to Him in prayer. Sounds simple, but the Jews have NEVER figured this out ! All through history they have tried to follow laws rather than admit to God that without Him we can do nothing... including worship Him as He wants us to worship Him !!!
" So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. Acts 5 : 41 This is a concept that most Christians and all non believers still do not understand. When a Christian suffers, their first response is " what have I done wrong that God is punishing me ?" This is normal and a proper response. However, as we mature in Christ, we count ourselves lucky that the Father counts us worthy to suffer for Him and to be a witness to those around us. Easy ???? No, but God receives the glory when His people use suffering to witness for His Son, Jesus !
" And the disciples were filled with Joy and with the Holy Spirit. " Acts 13 : 52 This verse just reminds us that the Fruit of Joy, as all the fruits do, come from the Holy Spirit.
" ... as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things. " 2 Corinthians 6 : 10 As Paul is talking he tells the Corinthians that by the power of the Holy Spirit we do these things. The paradoxes used here show the difference between the things of this world and of the spiritual world. As an example when he says " as poor , yet making many rich.." He is saying that the world may see us as poor but in the spiritual world we are rich !! Why ? Because by the power of the Holy Spirit people can gain eternal life. Therefore, we truly possess the ability to make many rich !!!
" Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you, and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like manner their fathers did to the prophets. " Luke 6 : 22 - 23 Here Jesus is saying that the believer should jump for joy when things are done or said about them FALSELY for the faith in Jesus. God gets no glory if the things they say about you are true, in fact that makes you a bad witness. But, if not true, your reward is great in heaven !!!
" ... whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory ... " 1 Peter 1 : 8 We are filled with joy because we love God and we have not seen Him !!! Why ? .... because joy comes from the Holy Spirit that fills us when we are born again !! By His power we are able to love that which we can not see !! God is good !
" The humble also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. " Isaiah 29 : 19 Here Isaiah is telling of a future when Jesus comes that people will have much joy in the Lord. When believers are saved they will receive the Holy Spirit and all that is included with that, including the fruit of the spirit. Notice also that he addresses the humble and poor.... all conditions of the heart. This is no accident,,, without the proper condition of the heart the fruit can not grow well !!! Like planting grass seed in sand... it will not grow !
We will take next week off and when we come back we will look at another Fruit of the Spirit. Hope to see you here and may God bless you richly as you study His word.
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Fruit Of The Spirit ... Joy
November 12, 2015
Have you ever heard someone say something like , " That person is stealing my joy ! " ? A lot of people say and believe that is possible. However, we will see that they mean happiness not joy. Happiness is from outside the body, joy is from the Holy Spirit on the inside of the body. No one can steal your joy..... you may choose to give it away..... but no one can steal it from you . As we start this weeks study on joy we will take a look at 5 versus from the Bible that will show that this great gift from the Spirit is for you from God and no one can steal it !!!
" ... for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit " Romans 14 : 17 We start with this verse because it tells us so much ! Eating and drinking mean that the Kingdom of God is not of earthly pleasures...put another way it is not made up of things outside the body which gives pleasure to the flesh. Also, it tells us that righteousness, peace, and joy all come from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives inside the body of all born again believers, and what God gives no man can take away! It does NOT say happiness !
" Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. " Romans 15 : 13 God is the eternal hope that all believers have in salvation ! That hope is in God's word and is used by the power of the Holy Spirit that we may have all joy knowing that our salvation is assured because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us ! It is because of this hope and joy that ALL believers in Jesus are sure they are going to heaven !!
" Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart ;For I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts." Jeremiah 15 : 16 This verse again shows that the Word of God brings joy and rejoicing to the believer. Notice it says for believers ! Therefore, if joy comes from God to believers, who does NOT have joy ? It is not possible for non - believers to have joy !!! That is why the world makes no difference between joy and happiness... because they will never know the joy that is in Jesus !!! Praise God !!
" You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy ; At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. " Psalm 16 : 11 What is the path of life ? Jesus . Who is the fullness of joy to God ? Jesus. Who is at the right hand of God ? Jesus. In this psalm we can easily see that the reason we have the fruit of joy is because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us ! Without Jesus would be no life and no joy. When we talk about life in this context we are talking about eternal life with Jesus, not life in the body here on earth.
" Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy. " Proverbs 12 : 20 By showing contrasting views on a subject the writer is hoping to emphasize the point he is making. Here the writer is saying that non - believers (those who devise evil) can not have joy. In contrast with believers (counselors of peace) do have joy. Also it is interesting to note that in the New Testament the Holy Spirit is called the counselor by Jesus !!!
Next week we will continue with our study of joy.
Have you ever heard someone say something like , " That person is stealing my joy ! " ? A lot of people say and believe that is possible. However, we will see that they mean happiness not joy. Happiness is from outside the body, joy is from the Holy Spirit on the inside of the body. No one can steal your joy..... you may choose to give it away..... but no one can steal it from you . As we start this weeks study on joy we will take a look at 5 versus from the Bible that will show that this great gift from the Spirit is for you from God and no one can steal it !!!
" ... for the Kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit " Romans 14 : 17 We start with this verse because it tells us so much ! Eating and drinking mean that the Kingdom of God is not of earthly pleasures...put another way it is not made up of things outside the body which gives pleasure to the flesh. Also, it tells us that righteousness, peace, and joy all come from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives inside the body of all born again believers, and what God gives no man can take away! It does NOT say happiness !
" Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. " Romans 15 : 13 God is the eternal hope that all believers have in salvation ! That hope is in God's word and is used by the power of the Holy Spirit that we may have all joy knowing that our salvation is assured because of the sacrifice that Jesus made for us ! It is because of this hope and joy that ALL believers in Jesus are sure they are going to heaven !!
" Your words were found, and I ate them, and your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart ;For I am called by your name, O Lord God of hosts." Jeremiah 15 : 16 This verse again shows that the Word of God brings joy and rejoicing to the believer. Notice it says for believers ! Therefore, if joy comes from God to believers, who does NOT have joy ? It is not possible for non - believers to have joy !!! That is why the world makes no difference between joy and happiness... because they will never know the joy that is in Jesus !!! Praise God !!
" You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy ; At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. " Psalm 16 : 11 What is the path of life ? Jesus . Who is the fullness of joy to God ? Jesus. Who is at the right hand of God ? Jesus. In this psalm we can easily see that the reason we have the fruit of joy is because of the sacrifice Jesus made for us ! Without Jesus would be no life and no joy. When we talk about life in this context we are talking about eternal life with Jesus, not life in the body here on earth.
" Deceit is in the heart of those who devise evil, But counselors of peace have joy. " Proverbs 12 : 20 By showing contrasting views on a subject the writer is hoping to emphasize the point he is making. Here the writer is saying that non - believers (those who devise evil) can not have joy. In contrast with believers (counselors of peace) do have joy. Also it is interesting to note that in the New Testament the Holy Spirit is called the counselor by Jesus !!!
Next week we will continue with our study of joy.
Sunday, November 8, 2015
Fruit Of The Spirit ... Faith ( Part 3 )
November 5, 2015
Note : I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of you who are studying God's word with u ! To all of our Russian brothers and sisters.... bless you !! Get your friends to join us .
In this our third week on faith we looked at some more aspects of faith. We took 5 verses and discussed each one. One of the five verses was Hebrews 11 : 1. We have started each class on faith with this verse. We covered it last week in the notes but we will look at it again here just to remind you .
" Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. " Hebrews 11 : 1
The reason this verse is so important is it tells us exactly what faith is and how we are to show faith.... ACTION ! As you read the rest of the chapter you will see that each person showed their faith in God by doing something. Building an arc, leading an army, leading a son up to be murdered, action is how we show our faith in God and to God. However, the biggest mistake Christians make is to do something they think God wants and then ask Him to bless it. This is backward, wait on God to lead you and show you what to do THEN take action.
" ... looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God " Hebrews 12 : 2. Two major points her 1) This tells us where we get our faith !! By keeping our eyes on Jesus, He was the author of faith when He died on the cross and the finisher of our faith that He now sits at the right hand of God. By faith, we with Jesus as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus. 2) Tells us why we should have faith. Jesus was happy to do the will of His father, even unto death and humiliation. This tells us that if we truly love Jesus, we will do his will even unto death !!!
" ... that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. " 1 Corinthians 2 : 5. When we prepare to take the action God has set aside for us, we need to make sure that we do God's way not mans. A good example might be if you are to teach a new bible study class and the church says to do certain things to le people know about it.... before you do any thing pray. God may want your class to reach different people than those in the church ! He may want you to put up notices in homeless shelters to reach those people. Always pray before taking action to make sure God's will is done His way !!!
" ... but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. " John 20 : 31. Here John is saying that all of Jesus' miracles were written down as proof that He was the Son of God. Not just a prophet or a good man. It is interesting to note that no where in the New Testament was any of the miracles that Jesus ever did were questioned... even by His enemies !! Even His enemies knew He was sent by God ! Knowing that Jesus died willingly to do the Fathers will should give us comfort in doing the will of Jesus even unto death !!!
" So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. " Romans 10 : 17. In those days, they did not have bibles as we do today. They would only get God's word when a priest would read from the scrolls in temple. Thus they would hear the word of God. For believers today we have bibles and faith comes by reading and/or hearing God's word.
This raps up our study on faith. Next week we will take a look at joy !
Note : I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of you who are studying God's word with u ! To all of our Russian brothers and sisters.... bless you !! Get your friends to join us .
In this our third week on faith we looked at some more aspects of faith. We took 5 verses and discussed each one. One of the five verses was Hebrews 11 : 1. We have started each class on faith with this verse. We covered it last week in the notes but we will look at it again here just to remind you .
" Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. " Hebrews 11 : 1
The reason this verse is so important is it tells us exactly what faith is and how we are to show faith.... ACTION ! As you read the rest of the chapter you will see that each person showed their faith in God by doing something. Building an arc, leading an army, leading a son up to be murdered, action is how we show our faith in God and to God. However, the biggest mistake Christians make is to do something they think God wants and then ask Him to bless it. This is backward, wait on God to lead you and show you what to do THEN take action.
" ... looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God " Hebrews 12 : 2. Two major points her 1) This tells us where we get our faith !! By keeping our eyes on Jesus, He was the author of faith when He died on the cross and the finisher of our faith that He now sits at the right hand of God. By faith, we with Jesus as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus. 2) Tells us why we should have faith. Jesus was happy to do the will of His father, even unto death and humiliation. This tells us that if we truly love Jesus, we will do his will even unto death !!!
" ... that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. " 1 Corinthians 2 : 5. When we prepare to take the action God has set aside for us, we need to make sure that we do God's way not mans. A good example might be if you are to teach a new bible study class and the church says to do certain things to le people know about it.... before you do any thing pray. God may want your class to reach different people than those in the church ! He may want you to put up notices in homeless shelters to reach those people. Always pray before taking action to make sure God's will is done His way !!!
" ... but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. " John 20 : 31. Here John is saying that all of Jesus' miracles were written down as proof that He was the Son of God. Not just a prophet or a good man. It is interesting to note that no where in the New Testament was any of the miracles that Jesus ever did were questioned... even by His enemies !! Even His enemies knew He was sent by God ! Knowing that Jesus died willingly to do the Fathers will should give us comfort in doing the will of Jesus even unto death !!!
" So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. " Romans 10 : 17. In those days, they did not have bibles as we do today. They would only get God's word when a priest would read from the scrolls in temple. Thus they would hear the word of God. For believers today we have bibles and faith comes by reading and/or hearing God's word.
This raps up our study on faith. Next week we will take a look at joy !
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Fruit Of The Spirit ... Faith (Part 2)
In this class we continued our look at faith. We looked at 5 verses from the bible and discussed how faith was being shown to us. Last class we had looked at all of Hebrews chapter 11 also known as God's Hall Of Fame. So to tie it all together we went back and looked at Hebrews 11 : 1.
" Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The reason this verse ties this whole chapter together is because it tells you how faith is shown by us to God...action !
The biggest mistake many Christians make is to go do what THEY think God wants and then ask God to bless it. Now this is action, but this is not faith in God but in mans actions and abilities. Pray and wait on God and he will show you his will ... THEN take action by faith and by God's will !!
" ...but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those that heard it." ( Hebrews 4 : 2) This is a very interesting part of faith that most do not think of ! People can not just pick up the bible and read and understand it. I know this also by personal experience ! It takes a saving faith and the Holy Spirit to remove the vale and open your eyes and heart to listen and understand God's word !!
" For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." ( Ephesians 2 : 8 ) Again , this is a tough idea ! If you get faith from God and can only be saved by faith, then do we really have free will ? The answer is yes. It is a gift from God BUT this gift is available to all who accept his son Jesus !!! Again... all other religions equate good deeds with going to heaven, except Christianity. If you accept His Son Jesus you will be saved !!!
" For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, " ( Philippians 1 : 29 ) Non Christians who hear we are saved by faith think we have it so easy. The truth is rarely explained further. Yes we are saved by grace through faith.. but we will also suffer in this body for that grace and faith, just as Jesus suffered in His body to give us the chance to go to heaven !!!
" ...not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; "( Philippians 3 : 9 ) Also by faith we receive righteousness. Not of ourselves since we are sinners and not able to give, grant, or be righteous... but Jesus' righteousness that is given to us and acknowledged by God since it is from God.
In studying faith we have found it to be so rich and valuable that we have decided to spend one more week on it. I could spend a year looking at the richness and complexity of faith. The great thing about it is that it is entirely from God. !!!
" Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The reason this verse ties this whole chapter together is because it tells you how faith is shown by us to God...action !
The biggest mistake many Christians make is to go do what THEY think God wants and then ask God to bless it. Now this is action, but this is not faith in God but in mans actions and abilities. Pray and wait on God and he will show you his will ... THEN take action by faith and by God's will !!
" ...but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those that heard it." ( Hebrews 4 : 2) This is a very interesting part of faith that most do not think of ! People can not just pick up the bible and read and understand it. I know this also by personal experience ! It takes a saving faith and the Holy Spirit to remove the vale and open your eyes and heart to listen and understand God's word !!
" For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves ; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast." ( Ephesians 2 : 8 ) Again , this is a tough idea ! If you get faith from God and can only be saved by faith, then do we really have free will ? The answer is yes. It is a gift from God BUT this gift is available to all who accept his son Jesus !!! Again... all other religions equate good deeds with going to heaven, except Christianity. If you accept His Son Jesus you will be saved !!!
" For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, " ( Philippians 1 : 29 ) Non Christians who hear we are saved by faith think we have it so easy. The truth is rarely explained further. Yes we are saved by grace through faith.. but we will also suffer in this body for that grace and faith, just as Jesus suffered in His body to give us the chance to go to heaven !!!
" ...not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; "( Philippians 3 : 9 ) Also by faith we receive righteousness. Not of ourselves since we are sinners and not able to give, grant, or be righteous... but Jesus' righteousness that is given to us and acknowledged by God since it is from God.
In studying faith we have found it to be so rich and valuable that we have decided to spend one more week on it. I could spend a year looking at the richness and complexity of faith. The great thing about it is that it is entirely from God. !!!
Wednesday, October 28, 2015
Fruit Of The Spirit ... Faith
October 22, 2015
When you want to talk about faith, this is one of the most plentiful lessons in the bible ! I looked in a concordance ( everyone should have this who reads the bible) and there were pages of verses on faith in the bible. So I went through and picked some good ones and about an hour later a friend calls and asks what we doing in bible study. When I told him faith, he said , " I love Hebrews chapter 11 !" I am sad to admit this, but I had forgotten all about this chapter! This is a very famous chapter in God's word and is known as," God's hall of fame on faith ". So, we studied Hebrews Chapter 11, and loved it !!!
I went through this chapter, which has 40 verses, and circled the phrase " By faith". I count 17 times this is used. When a phrase is repeated twice in the bible close to each other, it is used as a verbal exclamation mark. So when I saw 17 times it is obvious that God is trying to show us that faith is important to Him. If that is true we better figure it out and do it !! Since it is a Fruit of the Spirit we know that faith in God or His word comes from God and that we are not born with it (physically) nor can we get it, or can we make it grow ! So, how in the world can we expect to do anything if we have no control over it ?
Faith is like a spiritual mustard seed. If you plant it in Jesus,( get born again) water it with God's word, (bible) and allow the Holy Spirit to guide and lead you, (listen and obey God's word) it will grow to huge heights !! The only control we have is to give control to God. Which means we should read God's word, listen to what it says, then do what it says. Done properly and consistently over time, we will begin to walk by faith and not by sight. That is when God is free to work in area of our lives !!!
In Hebrews chapter 11 it lists many people from the Old Testament and tells why God credited them with faith. There are 11 people listed and what they did..... and that's the key. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. ALL of them listed required ACTION. So we can learn from this that God is pleased when we do something based on the 3 things discussed earlier. Caution... do not ever run off and do something and expect God to bless it. Listen, read, pray about it .... and if you know it is of God DO IT !!
When you want to talk about faith, this is one of the most plentiful lessons in the bible ! I looked in a concordance ( everyone should have this who reads the bible) and there were pages of verses on faith in the bible. So I went through and picked some good ones and about an hour later a friend calls and asks what we doing in bible study. When I told him faith, he said , " I love Hebrews chapter 11 !" I am sad to admit this, but I had forgotten all about this chapter! This is a very famous chapter in God's word and is known as," God's hall of fame on faith ". So, we studied Hebrews Chapter 11, and loved it !!!
I went through this chapter, which has 40 verses, and circled the phrase " By faith". I count 17 times this is used. When a phrase is repeated twice in the bible close to each other, it is used as a verbal exclamation mark. So when I saw 17 times it is obvious that God is trying to show us that faith is important to Him. If that is true we better figure it out and do it !! Since it is a Fruit of the Spirit we know that faith in God or His word comes from God and that we are not born with it (physically) nor can we get it, or can we make it grow ! So, how in the world can we expect to do anything if we have no control over it ?
Faith is like a spiritual mustard seed. If you plant it in Jesus,( get born again) water it with God's word, (bible) and allow the Holy Spirit to guide and lead you, (listen and obey God's word) it will grow to huge heights !! The only control we have is to give control to God. Which means we should read God's word, listen to what it says, then do what it says. Done properly and consistently over time, we will begin to walk by faith and not by sight. That is when God is free to work in area of our lives !!!
In Hebrews chapter 11 it lists many people from the Old Testament and tells why God credited them with faith. There are 11 people listed and what they did..... and that's the key. Faith is the substance of things hoped for. ALL of them listed required ACTION. So we can learn from this that God is pleased when we do something based on the 3 things discussed earlier. Caution... do not ever run off and do something and expect God to bless it. Listen, read, pray about it .... and if you know it is of God DO IT !!
Saturday, October 24, 2015
Fruit Of The Spirit ... Love (Part II)
October 15, 2015
Last week we looked at what love is or is not according to 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 (also known as the Love chapter). This week we will look at what love looks like as it is worked out in the believer. Let's be clear that we are not capable of love on our own ! God's word says that the heart is evil above all things and also says we love because God loved us first !!! So when true love is in the believer certain things will be obvious to everyone around. This is how we will know who belongs to God in heart and not just in words !!! When God's word tells us to judge the fruit, He is talking about being able to judge between good and evil, and more importantly between sheep and wolves in sheep's clothing !
We will take a look at 5 versus that will show some of the things that true biblical love should produce. Love is talked about hundreds of ways and times in the Bible. I picked 5 to show a couple things that every believer should be able to judge when we are trying to decide if the spirit we are looking at is good or evil.
1) Psalm 5 : 11 But let all those who rejoice who put their trust in you; Let them ever shout for joy, because you defend them; let those also who love your name be joyful in you .
Look at the key words in this verse rejoice, trust, shout for joy, defend . The final line sums up what we should know. If someone loves your name they will be joyful in God !!! Have you ever met someone who always has a certain peace and joy in them no matter what they are going through ? This could be a clue that this person has the Holy Spirit in them !!
2) 1 John 5 : 1 Who ever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves Him who is begotten of Him.
Sometimes it is hard to see a simple truth in God's word because of the language and sentence structure. The first sentence is the truth about being born again !! If you believe in your heart that Jesus is the Christ, you are born again !!! The next part tells about Jesus is the bridge between God and man. If you love Jesus then you will love the one who sent Him. So when we are judging the Spirit if they are not born again....you will know they are NOT capable of biblical love.
3) Psalm 97 : 10 You who love the Lord, hate evil. He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
One of the prayers I pray is a lot is to look at sin and to see sin as God sees it. If you hate evil you have the love of God in you. In return God preserves the souls of his saints....We get to go to Heaven. The second line confirms this by restating that God delivers his saints of the hands of evil (the devil).
4) Deuteronomy 30 : 20 that you may love the Lord your God that you may obey his voice and that you may cling to Him ....
This verse shows that if a person loves God he will listen and obey God's voice. How do we do that ? By reading God's word and doing what it says. So if you are trying to judge the spirit in a person and they live their life NOT according to God's word you should walk away ! The only way you can know what that looks like is to know God's word !!! Get busy reading so you are not deceived !!
5) 1 John 2 : 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know we are in Him.
This restate in the new testament what was discussed in the last verse. John is saying if you keep God's word then the love of God is in you and that is how we know we are saved. BUT you can only know that about yourself and others if you know God's word !!!
Next week we will start on Faith as the next fruit of the Spirit. I hope you enjoyed and learned from todays lesson. Hope to see you next time !!!
Last week we looked at what love is or is not according to 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 (also known as the Love chapter). This week we will look at what love looks like as it is worked out in the believer. Let's be clear that we are not capable of love on our own ! God's word says that the heart is evil above all things and also says we love because God loved us first !!! So when true love is in the believer certain things will be obvious to everyone around. This is how we will know who belongs to God in heart and not just in words !!! When God's word tells us to judge the fruit, He is talking about being able to judge between good and evil, and more importantly between sheep and wolves in sheep's clothing !
We will take a look at 5 versus that will show some of the things that true biblical love should produce. Love is talked about hundreds of ways and times in the Bible. I picked 5 to show a couple things that every believer should be able to judge when we are trying to decide if the spirit we are looking at is good or evil.
1) Psalm 5 : 11 But let all those who rejoice who put their trust in you; Let them ever shout for joy, because you defend them; let those also who love your name be joyful in you .
Look at the key words in this verse rejoice, trust, shout for joy, defend . The final line sums up what we should know. If someone loves your name they will be joyful in God !!! Have you ever met someone who always has a certain peace and joy in them no matter what they are going through ? This could be a clue that this person has the Holy Spirit in them !!
2) 1 John 5 : 1 Who ever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves Him who is begotten of Him.
Sometimes it is hard to see a simple truth in God's word because of the language and sentence structure. The first sentence is the truth about being born again !! If you believe in your heart that Jesus is the Christ, you are born again !!! The next part tells about Jesus is the bridge between God and man. If you love Jesus then you will love the one who sent Him. So when we are judging the Spirit if they are not born again....you will know they are NOT capable of biblical love.
3) Psalm 97 : 10 You who love the Lord, hate evil. He preserves the souls of His saints; He delivers them out of the hand of the wicked.
One of the prayers I pray is a lot is to look at sin and to see sin as God sees it. If you hate evil you have the love of God in you. In return God preserves the souls of his saints....We get to go to Heaven. The second line confirms this by restating that God delivers his saints of the hands of evil (the devil).
4) Deuteronomy 30 : 20 that you may love the Lord your God that you may obey his voice and that you may cling to Him ....
This verse shows that if a person loves God he will listen and obey God's voice. How do we do that ? By reading God's word and doing what it says. So if you are trying to judge the spirit in a person and they live their life NOT according to God's word you should walk away ! The only way you can know what that looks like is to know God's word !!! Get busy reading so you are not deceived !!
5) 1 John 2 : 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know we are in Him.
This restate in the new testament what was discussed in the last verse. John is saying if you keep God's word then the love of God is in you and that is how we know we are saved. BUT you can only know that about yourself and others if you know God's word !!!
Next week we will start on Faith as the next fruit of the Spirit. I hope you enjoyed and learned from todays lesson. Hope to see you next time !!!
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Fruit Of The Spirit - Love
October 8 , 2015
We started talking about love this week and went to 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. This is known as the Love Chapter! In this letter that Paul is writing to the Corinthians he spends 13 verses telling us what biblical love looks like. It is not a warm fuzzy feeling or an emotional response.... it is a choice.
We then went through this chapter and looked at each characteristic of biblical love. Paul says if he had all gifts without love... he would have nothing. If he had prophecy, all mysteries, all faith, but had no love, he had nothing. If he sacrificed his belongings to feed the poor, and gave his body a sacrifice and had not love, it profits him nothing ! The point is love is important !! However, Paul is now going to go through and list the things that love is and isn't. As you read them notice that each is a choice that you can make !
Love suffers long --- This is a choice we make to not be rash with people we love but to give them and God an opportunity to grow.
Love is kind --- This is a choice we can make on how we treat people by showing God's love to them.
Love does not envy --- When we look outside of God and envy something or someone else, that is a choice to not trust God !
Love is not puffed up --- Do not act like boys in a locker room and brag or boast, but choose in God's love to be humble and thankful.
Love does not behave rudely --- How you treat people matters ! We must always choose God's love to help us to treat others well.
Love is not provoked --- When we threaten or speak ill of others that is not showing God's love. This choice of behavior is suited to the father of all lies !!!
Love thinks no evil --- When we choose to look at people and at sin as God does, we will have little time to thin evil thoughts.
Love rejoices in truth --- When we lie, we disrespect God and who we are dealing with. But most of all we are being a very poor witness for Jesus !
Love believes, bears and hopes all thing --- Love that is from God is strong and everlasting. From now to eternity nothing can come between the love God has for us !! We should go and do likewise !
Paul goes on to show that all of the spiritual gifts are to be used here on part, but when we die the only thing that remains is the love. He also talks about thinking as a child when he was a child etc.. Very famous verse but what he was saying is when you know the fullness of love and the source of love, then it is time to start acting like an adult about love and stop acting as a child !!! He closes the chapter by saying of faith, hope, love ..... love is the greatest of these !!
In past times when I have taught on fruit of the Spirit, I would save love to the end. However, I now realize that this is sooooo important to ALL the fruit of the Spirit that I teach it first and we will spend 2 or 3 weeks on love !!!
We started talking about love this week and went to 1 Corinthians Chapter 13. This is known as the Love Chapter! In this letter that Paul is writing to the Corinthians he spends 13 verses telling us what biblical love looks like. It is not a warm fuzzy feeling or an emotional response.... it is a choice.
We then went through this chapter and looked at each characteristic of biblical love. Paul says if he had all gifts without love... he would have nothing. If he had prophecy, all mysteries, all faith, but had no love, he had nothing. If he sacrificed his belongings to feed the poor, and gave his body a sacrifice and had not love, it profits him nothing ! The point is love is important !! However, Paul is now going to go through and list the things that love is and isn't. As you read them notice that each is a choice that you can make !
Love suffers long --- This is a choice we make to not be rash with people we love but to give them and God an opportunity to grow.
Love is kind --- This is a choice we can make on how we treat people by showing God's love to them.
Love does not envy --- When we look outside of God and envy something or someone else, that is a choice to not trust God !
Love is not puffed up --- Do not act like boys in a locker room and brag or boast, but choose in God's love to be humble and thankful.
Love does not behave rudely --- How you treat people matters ! We must always choose God's love to help us to treat others well.
Love is not provoked --- When we threaten or speak ill of others that is not showing God's love. This choice of behavior is suited to the father of all lies !!!
Love thinks no evil --- When we choose to look at people and at sin as God does, we will have little time to thin evil thoughts.
Love rejoices in truth --- When we lie, we disrespect God and who we are dealing with. But most of all we are being a very poor witness for Jesus !
Love believes, bears and hopes all thing --- Love that is from God is strong and everlasting. From now to eternity nothing can come between the love God has for us !! We should go and do likewise !
Paul goes on to show that all of the spiritual gifts are to be used here on part, but when we die the only thing that remains is the love. He also talks about thinking as a child when he was a child etc.. Very famous verse but what he was saying is when you know the fullness of love and the source of love, then it is time to start acting like an adult about love and stop acting as a child !!! He closes the chapter by saying of faith, hope, love ..... love is the greatest of these !!
In past times when I have taught on fruit of the Spirit, I would save love to the end. However, I now realize that this is sooooo important to ALL the fruit of the Spirit that I teach it first and we will spend 2 or 3 weeks on love !!!
Sunday, October 18, 2015
Purpose of New Blog
The purpose of this blog will be to make weekly notes from our Bible Study class held on Thursday nights. We started going through the bible from Genesis to Revelation about 2 years ago, and just finished 1 Samuel. We decided to take a break and do a topical study on Fruit of the Spirit ! We just started that about 3 weeks ago, so decided this would be a good time to start this blog.
My only regret is that I did not start this blog earlier !! But will spend the next couple of weeks bringing this up to speed. My hope is that for people who either can't get out or won't go to a bible study class will use this blog as a way of learning God's word with easy and simple language. Yet with very useful and relevant information.
I pray that those that read this blog will not only enjoy it but will also share God's word. When we get through with the study of Fruit of the Spirit, we will begin again to go through the bible starting with 2 Samuel. If you would like to listen to God's word, chapter by chapter, you may find it on our web site at prayer box ministry . org !
My only regret is that I did not start this blog earlier !! But will spend the next couple of weeks bringing this up to speed. My hope is that for people who either can't get out or won't go to a bible study class will use this blog as a way of learning God's word with easy and simple language. Yet with very useful and relevant information.
I pray that those that read this blog will not only enjoy it but will also share God's word. When we get through with the study of Fruit of the Spirit, we will begin again to go through the bible starting with 2 Samuel. If you would like to listen to God's word, chapter by chapter, you may find it on our web site at prayer box ministry . org !
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