PT-2 "Paul's Requests made for the Thessalonians" (1 Thess. 1:11c)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/7/2014 8:39 AM

My Worship Time                                 Focus:  Paul’s Requests made for the Thessalonians PT-2

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2 Thessalonians 1:11c

            Message of the verses:  “and fulfill every desire for goodness”

            We are looking at the second sub-point from John MacArthur’s commentary outline on the eleventh and twelfth verses in the first chapter.  This second point from his outline has three sub-points in it and they are under the second point of requests that Paul is making for the Thessalonians in his prayer outline found in verses 11-12.  The sub-point we are looking at this morning is entitled “Fulfillment,” and so we can see it in a better light so I will quote the eleventh verse now:  “To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power,”

            Let us first look at what some of these words mean from MacArthur’s commentary:  “Paul also prayed that God would fulfill every noble, righteous desire of their hearts.  Pleroo (fulfill) could also be translated ‘complete,’ or accomplish’; eudokia (desire) could be translated ‘purpose,’ or ‘choice’.  Paul asked that the Lord would bring about all their longings for goodness (cf. Rom. 7:14-25; 15:14; Gal. 5:22; Eph. 5:9).  Since God alone is good (Mark 10:18), Paul knew such a prayer was consistent with God’s will.  His definition of what is good and good for His people is the inevitable action He takes in answer to this prayer.”

            We have talked much about prayer as we been studying these two letters Paul wrote to the Thessalonians and we can say that a portion, actually a big portion of prayer is aliening our hearts up with God’s heart, and as we looked at God being good, which is a part of His attributes we know that God will only give His people what is good for them even though at times it may not seem good.  David wrote the following in Psalm 21:2-3 “2 You have given him his heart’s desire, And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah. 3 For You meet him with the blessings of good things; You set a crown of fine gold on his head.”  We can now look at Psalm 37:4 to find out why God gave David what he had asked for:  “Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”  David was doing just that, delighting himself in the Lord and so God answered his prayer from Psalm 21:2-3.  Now let us look at a couple of NT verses which will actually be a contrast, but will make an important point about prayer.  Jesus said in John 15:7, and 16 “"If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  16  "You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you.”  Along with these two verses we will look at 1 John 5:14-15 “14 This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.”  Now let’s compare the verses we have quoted with James 4:3 in order to see the difference in what we should ask God in prayer and what motives we should have:  “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures.”  James would surely understand the popular “health and wealth” gospel that is being taught in our world today, especially on our TV’s. 

            There are some who would say that God is a cosmic killjoy, but that is not true at all, for God desires to give us what we need to make us more like our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  There are times when we go through things we don’t want to go through, but they are for our own good.  When I was a child I did not like going to school, but most of the time my mother made me go and that was the best thing she could have done for me.  There are things that I don’t like to face in life today, but God has promised to work them out for my good and for His glory, and then there are wonderful times in this life that I truly enjoy like being able to teach a Bible study and see people either get saved or grow up in the Lord as a result of doing it.  John MacArthur closes this section with the following “Those whose desires are in tune with God’s will can say with Moses “O satisfy us in the morning with Your lovingkindness, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days’ (Ps. 90:14).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  My prayer is that I will align my prayer requests to the Lord with what He desires to accomplish in my life.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord for a good day of travel as my wife and I are going on a little vacation in order to see the beauty of God’s creation with the fall colors.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:5-10.

            5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come on the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them. 

            8 But now you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you have laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Acts chapter one.”

Today’s Bible question:  “What did Obadiah do when Jezebel persecuted the prophets?”

Answer in our next SD.

10/7/2014 9:26 AM

The Requests Paul makes for the Thessalonians PT-1 (2 Thess. 1:11b-c)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/6/2014 9:26 AM

My Worship Time                           Focus:  The Requests Paul makes for the Thessalonians PT-1

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2 Thessalonians 1:11b-d

            Message of the verses:  “that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:”

            “Knowing that prayer fits in harmoniously with God’s sovereign will to bring about the spiritual ends He desires, Paul listed three specific requests he made on behalf of the Thessalonians: worthiness, fulfillment, and power. (John MacArthur).”  We will break these up and look at each on different days beginning with “worthiness” in our SD for today.

            Worthiness:  (2 Thess. 1:11b):  “that our God will count you worthy of your calling.”

            We want to discuss two different ways in which worthiness can be used.  First of all Paul speaks of a worthy call and this is an effectual call to salvation which is something we discussed in our SD yesterday.  This call is given by the Holy Spirit to those whom the Father chose in eternity past, and those the Son died to purchase on the cross.  Now once a person has been called and placed into the body of Christ they need to begin a worthy walk with the Lord, a walk that is in obedience with the Word of God.  John MacArthur writes the following: “The Bible lists several components of the worthy walk.  A worthy walk is a walk in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:24; Gal. 5:16, 25), humility (Eph. 4:2), purity (Rom. 13:13; Eph. 5:3), contentment (1 Cor. 7:17), faith (2 Cor. 5:7), righteousness (Eph. 2:10), unity (Eph. 4:3; Phil. 1:27), gentleness (Eph. 4:2), patience (Col. 1:11), love (Eph. 5:2), joy (Col. 1:11), thankfulness (Col. 1:12), light (Eph. 5:8-9), knowledge (Col. 1:10), wisdom (Eph. 5:15), truth (3 John 3, 4), and faithfulness(Col. 1:10).  In short, ‘The one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked’ (1 John 2:6), because that pleases God (1Thess. 4:1).  Paul prayed that God would enable them to manifest the spiritual virtues that would make them worthy to be called Christians.”

            Now we need to back up to the beginning of this verse we are looking at to understand some more things from it.  Paul writes “our God” in this portion of verse eleven, and this reminds his readers that God is not a distant, indifferent tyrant, but a tender, caring Father.  I know that when I have sin in my life that there are times when that is the way that I look at God, and I know that this is the wrong way, but because of my humanness I tend to look at God that way.  God does not change and for that I am very thankful, and if He says that I am forgiven then He will not change His mind. 

            Now I want to write more about this effectual call that God gives to those He chose in eternity past, or at least quote MacArthur again “God takes sinners, worth only of death (Rom. 1:32), and makes them worthy of His kingdom by imputing Christ’s righteousness to them (2 Cor. 5:21).”  When some think about this they say that God is not fair, for if He were fair He would allow people to make their own minds.  The problem is that when Adam and Eve sinned they plunged the entire human race into sinfulness, and when we look at it the whole universe has been changed because of sin as Paul writes about in Romans chapter eight.  Because of their sin and I am speaking of Adam’s sin all of his descendents are born sinners and are deserving of eternal death, but out of all who are deserving of death God chose some for salvation.  This was entirely up to God who certainly has the right to do this, but I would say impossible for us to understand.  Paul writes about this in Romans chapters 9-11. 

            Now as far as the words “count…worth” MacArthur writes that it could also be translated “make worthy.  “Either sense is appropriate here, for God makes worthy those whom He counts worthy.

            These are very difficult things to understand and I cannot help but believe that when Peter wrote of some of the difficult things that Paul wrote about this was one of them.  “15 and regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, 16 as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction (2 Peter 3:15-16).”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I know that the list of things I am to do is a very long one in order for me to walk worthy of the Lord, but by God’s grace I will continue to do them.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to go down two verses from our 2 Peter quote for this portion of my SD today:  “18  but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.”

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:5-10.

            5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry. 6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them. 

            8 But now you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have, put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him

Answer to yesterdays Bible question:  “Samson” (Judges 5:15-17).

Today’s Bible question:  “Which book and chapter records Jesus’ ascension?”

Answer in our next SD.

10/6/2014 10:35 AM 

The Resource of Prayer (2 Thess. 1:11a)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/5/2014 9:12 PM

My Worship Time                                                                          Focus:  The Resource of Prayer

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2 Thessalonians 1:11a

            Message of the verses:  “To this end also we pray for you always.” 

            In our lessons from both First and Second Thessalonians we have learned much about prayer, and now in these last two verses of 2 Thessalonians chapter one we will learn more about prayer.  I have to say first of all that I believe that the Lord chose all who will come to salvation in eternity past, and the Lord Jesus Christ died for all who will be saved, and a person is saved when the Holy Spirit of God gives them an effectual call that they cannot turn down.  We only have to look at the disciples that Jesus called to see this along with the call that was given to Saul of Tarsus when he was on the road to Damascus which is found in the ninth chapter of the book of Acts.  Now as we look at this one may ask why do people pray to God if God has already called people to salvation?  Well for one thing God tells us to pray.  Now not only is this true as far as God calling people to salvation, but also true for the sanctification of people too.  In his commentary on this section John MacArthur gives a number of examples from Scripture to back up what I have been writing about.  We will look at a few of them in our Spiritual Diary for today. 

            Paul writes in this portion of verse eleven that he will pray for the believers of Thessalonica always, and we have learned from former SD’s that in the beginning of his writings he says that he prays for the people he is writing to and then at the end he will ask them to pray for him, so many of his letters are full of prayers and also requests for prayer.  Now as we look at this we can truly see the importance of prayer.

            One of my favorite portions of Scripture is Daniel chapter nine, and the reason is that it was one of the Scriptures used when I became a believer.  Daniel is praying to the Lord for the children of Israel and in his prayer he speaks to the Lord about the fact that in the book of Jeremiah that God had promised that He would have the children of Israel return to their land.  Daniel knew that it was very close to this time, but even though he knew this he prayed to the Lord to make this happen.  In verses 3-19 we find this prayer.  Daniel confesses not only the sin of the children of Israel stating that it was right for God to cause them to go into captivity, but he also prays for the Lord to forgive his sins even though we find no sins of Daniel mentioned in the Scriptures Daniel knew that he was a sinner in need of salvation.  This is not the only place in Scripture when a person prays for something that he already knows will happen because of God already stating that it will happen.  In the last book of the Bible John who is the human author knows that the Lord Jesus Christ will return to planet earth ends his writings with “come Lord Jesus.  Now we can go to the book of Luke and find that right before the Lord Jesus Christ is to be crucified that He tells Peter that Satan has asked to sift him like wheat, and then we see that the Lord Jesus Christ, the God man tells Peter that He will pray for him.  Now if the Lord Jesus Christ prays for Peter while on earth even though He knew what the outcome would be then should we not be praying for things that are important to us, things like the return of Jesus Christ, or the salvation of souls.  I can’t say that I understand all of this when it comes to the sovereignty of God and why He wants us to pray even though He knows the outcome, but we still should do it so that it will not only increase our faith, but so that we can participate in what the Lord is doing in our lives and the lives of those we are praying for. 

            John MacArthur writes “Not only does  prayer align the heart with the sovereign plan of God, but God also works prayer into bringing about His plan, as James says:  ‘The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much’ (James 5:16).  This is parallel to God’s electing a person to salvation but using someone’s faithful witness to bring about that salvation.  A striking demonstration of the interaction between prayer and God’s sovereignty comes from the life of godly King Hezekiah of Judah.  After being informed by Isaiah the prophet that he would die from his illness (2 Kings 20:1), Hezekiah pleaded with God to spare his life (vv. 2-3).  In response, God extended the king’s life fifteen years (vv. 4-6).  Though it was not necessarily beneficial to the king, God fit it perfectly into His purpose (vv. 12-17).  That incident demonstrates that a proper understanding of God’s sovereignty does not lead to passive resignation but to achieve petition, which God may choose to hear and change the course of events without altering His sovereign purpose.  Indeed, the amazing, incomprehensible reality of such providence is that it was God’s will all along.” 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I must remember that even though I don’t understand all that God is doing in my life and the life of my family, I must continue to trust Him, and continue to pray for God to work things out for our good and for His glory.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord when I don’t understand everything He is doing.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 1:5-10.

            5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.

            8 But not you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you have laid aside the old self with its evil practices, 10 and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him-

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “At the horse gate by the kings house” (2 Chronicles 23:15).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who killed a thousand en with the jawbone of an ass?”

Answer in our next SD.

10/5/2014 10:24 PM

               

Intro to 2 Thess. 1:11-12

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/4/2014 10:29 AM

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  Introduction to 2 Thess. 1:11-12

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2 Thess. 1:11-12

            Message of the verses:  “11 To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling, and fulfill every desire for goodness and the work of faith with power, 12 so that the name of our Lord Jesus will be glorified in you, and you in Him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

            These are the last two verses in 2 Thessalonians chapter one and in them we see that Paul is writing to them about prayer again.  Dr. Warren Wiersbe entitles this section in his commentary on 2 Thessalonians “The Encouragement of Prayer,” and in John MacArthur’s commentary he has a whole chapter that deals with these two verses and he entitles this chapter “Praying for the Right Things.”  Dr. Wiersbe writes “Paul prayed for his converts (1 Thess. 1:2; 3:10).  His ‘wherefore’ in 2 Thessalonians 1:11 means, ‘And because of all I have just said’—the return of Christ to be glorified in the saints, and to judge the lost.  The future prospect of glory motivated the apostle to pray for the saints.  We must never neglect a present responsibility because of a future hope.  On the contrary, the future hope must encourage us to be faithful today.”    Remember that in Dr. Wiersbe’s commentaries he usually uses the KJV of the Bible unless he tells his readers he is using another version of the Bible.  I use the NASB95 unless I notify that I am using another version.  The KJV for verse eleven reads as follows “11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfill all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power.”

            I have mentioned that I try to listen to John MacArthur’s sermons on the specific sections that I am studying in order to get better insight on what the verses have to say.  His sermon on this section was interesting to me in that he first mentions “Cargo Cults of the South Pacific.”  What this is all about is that during WWII when the US Navy was moving towards Japan they began to conquer islands where they could set up bases to land their planes, and on these islands there were natives who knew little if anything about airplanes.  These natives would see the planes come in with their cargo and some of it, like cigarette lighters, radios and power tools, along with jeeps, and modern weapons and also things like refrigerators.  Some things were given to the natives and when the Navy was done I suppose that they just left the things they did not need any more on the island.  When this happened the natives found that their lives were different because of what they called the “cargo gods.”  These natives actually built shrines to the cargo gods, and they looked in vain for the return of these cargo gods.  MacArthur writes “The cargo cults still thrive to this day; the best know one being the John Frum (possibly John ‘Frum’ America) cult headquartered on the island of Tanna in Vanuatu (formerly the New Hebrides).  Followers of the cargo cults are so passionately consumed with materialism that missionaries find it difficult to evangelize them; they are interested in cargo, not the gospel.” 

            I will get to what this has to do with our verses from 2 Thessalonians in a moment.  However these cargo cults are something that is going on in our country in what is called the Health and wealth gospel, saying that by prayer we can get what we want from God to make us healthy and wealthy.  It seems to me that the only ones getting wealthy are the ones spreading this false theology about God.  John MacArthur calls the “The Word Faith Movement.”  He writes “The god of the World Faith movement is little more than a utilitarian genie who exists to grant the materialistic wishes of his followers.”  He then says that Christians can pray for wrong things today even though they are not following a cargo cult of the world faith movement.  In one of the messages I heard from MacArthur he said something that I remember, and that is when Paul was in prison and wrote to different churches and also Pastors we do not see him praying about what was going on with him physically.  I am not saying that we are not to pray for physical needs, but Paul cared more about the spiritual needs of those he was writing to and also cared that they would continue to preach the gospel to the lost.  Now we are better understanding the direction that this introduction is taking as far as being in line with these two verses in 2 Thessalonians.

            John MacArthur writes “The essence of prayer is not demanding things from God but listening to discern His will.  The deeper believers’ prayer lives become, the more they line up with God’s will as revealed in Scripture, the less inclined they are to ask for trivial things.  As they learn to desire what He desires, love what He loves, and hate what He hates, they pray, ‘Our Father who is in heaven, hollowed be Your name.  Your kingdom come.  Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt. 6:9-10).”

            As we prepare to look at these two verses I think that it is important to quote another paragraph from MacArthur’s commentary which speaks of what the heart of Paul is, and then hopefully our hearts will be moved to have a better prayer life.  MacArthur says that these two verses do not record one of the many prayers that we find in the writings of Pau, but rather it reveals that for Paul prayer was not a ritual or a routine, but his prayer life was a way of life.  He then writes “The apostle’s spiritual life could be likened to a volcano.  Beneath the thin outer crust of his life was a burning, passionate heart for God.  Frequently, the volcanic heat of his heart would cause prayer to burst through the veneer of routine, surface activities.  This passage describes those eruptions; these two verses reveal the passionate heart of a man on fire for God.

            “Three important features emerge from Paul’s brief prayer report:  the resource of prayer, the requests Paul made for the Thessalonians, and the reason or goal of his prayers for them.”

            Now we must remember, as Dr. Wiersbe brought up that in verses 5-10 of this chapter that Paul just went over things about the second coming of Christ, and similar to the way both John and Peter did after they went over this most important topic Paul writes about what they should do in light of the second coming of Christ.  Peter wrote that in light of what was going to happen to our earth, that is it would be burned up with fire, what kind of people should we be?

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  That is a good question, “What kind of a person should I be in light of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ?”  The answer or at least a part of the answer is to have a better prayer life.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Work on having a better prayer life, praying for the things that God would want me to pray for.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 

5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience, 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.

8 But now you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Jesus” (Luke 19:5).

Today’s Bible question:  “Where was Athaliah slain?”  (This is a very hard question.)

Answer in our next SD.

10/4/2014 11:54 AM

Who (2Thess. 1:7b)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/3/2014 9:31 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                                      Focus:  Who?

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                        Reference: 2Thess. 1:7b

            Message of the verse:  “to you who are afflicted and to us as well?”  Now remember what we have been looking at, and that  “As did the issue of retribution, the issue of rest and relief poses three questions: why, who, and how.”

            The answer to this question of who is God going to give rest and relief can only be for those who are His own, those who have been bought with the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ who purchased these on the cross.  “God promises eternal rest to all believers, for all believers can expect to be afflicted” (MacArthur).  I have mentioned in an earlier SD, and perhaps even more than one, that a true believers life has to be tested to make sure that their faith is genuine, and this is seen in the parable of the seed that falls on different types of ground, and in that parable there is only one type of ground that produces fruit, thus being the only one being a true believer.  After probably the most fruitful ministry of any believer Paul writes the following to Timothy shortly before he will have his head cut off because of his faith in Christ:  “7  I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8  in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”  We read on different occasions that Paul was ready to die for the cause of Christ, and we can be sure of two things, first Paul would receive many crowns for his service for the Lord, and those who put him to death will receive their just do too.

            How:  2 Thessalonians 1:10 “when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed-for our testimony to you was believed.”

            Jesus Christ will be glorified in His saints when He returns to planet earth.  Now to be honest I am not sure that Paul is writing about the rapture where the church age saints will go to heaven to be with the Lord and will glorify the Lord for the work that they have done for Him while in heaven, which will happen during the tribulation period.  For during that time the judgment seat of Christ will happen along with the supper of the Lamb.  I could also mean at His second coming to planet earth as described in Revelations 19 where surely He will receive glory with those saints who have suffered much during the tribulation period.  Matthew writes the Words of Jesus from Matthew 5:16 “"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  Christ will receive glory at the rapture and also at His second coming, as He now receives glory from the work of His own while on earth.  Again I mention Ephesians 2:10 “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.”

            John MacArthur seems to have an answer to my question as to whether or not this will be at the rapture or the second coming.  He writes the following after quoting from Romans 8:18-19 which says “18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.”  “This glorification will be the final and full redemption of all believers alive when Jesus Christ comes to glory.  That requires some explanation.  Some believers will already be in the glorified condition, having been raptured before the Tribulation.  They will have been in heaven since then in the place prepared for them (John 14:1-3) in resurrection glory enjoying their rewards and fellowship with their Lord.  They will return with Christ (Rev. 19:14) to earth for the Millennium, to join the saints still alive on earth who will receive the earthly kingdom and reign of the Savior.  Apparently at the time of Christ’s return, Tribulation saints and Old Testament saints, whose spirits have been with the Lord, will be raised and fully glorified to join those descending from heaven.  This is the resurrection spoken by Daniel.  ‘1 "Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2 “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3  "Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever (Daniel 12:1-3).’  All living believers who enter the kingdom will see the glorified saints.”

            Next we see the following from our verse and that is that believers will be “marveled at among all who have believed.”  MacArthur writes that “the redeemed will wonder at the glory of Christ that is fully revealed in the resurrected saints.”

            Now remember one of the reasons that Paul wrote this letter was because of the fear of the Thessalonians had missed the rapture he writes that they would be among the glorified saints because “our testimony to you was believed.”  They had believed the gospel and had excepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord and so they would be part of those who would bring glory to our Lord when He returns, both at the rapture and His second coming.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  When I became a believer I had and still have a desire to serve the Lord and to bring glory to the Lord, and to also to do the work that was planned for me that is spoken of in Ephesians 2:10.  By doing this I will have something to offer to my Lord when the Church Saints receive their crowns and will be able to lay them at the feet of our Lord because Jesus paid it all and all to Him I owe.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to show me and to guide me in the work that He has for me to do for Him today.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 For Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 

            5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God will come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.

            8 But now you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you have laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Answer to yesterdays Bible question:  “Thomas” (John 14:6).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who said, ‘Make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house’?”

Answer in our next SD.

10/3/2014 10:25 AM

I am not sure whether we will continue in 2 Thessalonians or begin our study in Ezekiel.  I am looking forward to both.

Why (2 Thess. 1:6a, 7a)

 

SPIRITIUAL DIARY FOR 10/2/2014 8:20 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                                      Focus:  Why

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2 Thess. 1:6a, 7a

            Message of the verses:  “it is only just for God…to give relief”

            In order for us to better understand what the “why” is there we have to look at the last statement that is found in the commentary of John MacArthur from our SD of yesterday.  He writes “As did the issue of retribution, the issue of rest and relief poses three questions:  why, who and how.”  We have already gone over these same three questions as we looked at the retribution of God for those who have been persecuting the believers at Thessalonica, and stated that what Paul writes about was not only for those who were persecuting the believers in Thessalonica, but is for those who are persecuting believers during any time period including today.  So the same is for believers in receiving God’s rest and relief is for all believers, including today.  It is good to remember that there is no time in heaven, and though that is hard to understand as we on earth live on a time system that was created by God.  Our time takes place as the earth rotates the sun and also rotates on its own in a 24 hour period, and 365 days of the earth rotating the sun.  God created this in the beginning as recorded in the book of Genesis, but as stated there is no time in heaven as Peter stated when he wrote that a day was like a thousand years to God, and the reason he wrote that was to show that there is no time in heaven.

            1 John 1:9 says “If we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” and as we read this verse we can ask the question why is God able to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  The verse says that God is faithful and righteous to forgive ours sins and faithful and righteous to cleanse us from our sins and to answer the question why He is able to accomplish this we have to look at the cross of Jesus Christ; we have to look at the theology of redemption.  Paul wrote in Romans 3:26 the following “God is the just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.  John MacArthur quotes one of my favorite authors from one of my favorite books he wrote.  A. W. Tozer from his book “The Knowledge of the Holy writes “[The] solution for the problem of how God can be just and still justify the unjust is found in the Christian doctrine of redemption.  It is that, through the work of Christ in atonement, justice is not violated but satisfied when God spares a sinner.  Redemptive theology teaches that mercy does not become effective toward a man until justice has done its work.  The just penalty for sin was exacted when Christ our Substitute died for us on the cross.  However unpleasant this may sound to the ear of the natural man, it has ever been sweet to the ear of faith.”  When he writes about the natural man he is speaking of the unbeliever and Paul wrote in “1Co 2:14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”

            There are people who believe and even teach that God can just forgive our sins because He is God, and there has to be no penalty for sins that are committed.  This goes against the character and attributes of God, for God hates sin so much, but loves people so much that He sent His Son into the world the first time to care for the sin problem by dying on the cross, and it is there when the world turned dark that the Father took out His wrath on His own Son for my sins and for all those who will accept His forgiveness.  In our church we eat of the Lord’s Supper once a month to be reminded of this precious truth that Christ died for us, and it is because of this truth that we are forgiven and that is why God will and does give us rest and relief.  The total rest and relief will be given in heaven as we wrote about in our last SD when we described the three different rests that we as believers have.  Our life on this earth is not always pleasant but our future is out of this world.  There are times when we suffer, and there are many, many people who have given the ultimate sacrifice for the cause of Christ by giving up their own lives for the cause of Christ.  I have read that there are as many as 1000 people a day who die because of their faith in Jesus Christ, and one day they will receive a crown for this at the Judgment Seat of Christ.   Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:10 “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”  James writes “2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”  Paul writes in 2 Cor. 12:10 “Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”  He also wrote in Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”  Paul wrote this after he suffered many things for the cause of Christ and eventually died a martyr’s death.  He writes in 2 Corinthians more about his afflictions “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison.”  He lists some of those afflictions later on in that letter.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I mentioned about a crown that people who are martyrs receive when they die for the cause of Christ, and that same crown is given to those who do not fall into temptation which is a very difficult thing to handle when living in our day in our country.  Paul writes “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it (1 Cor. 10:13).”

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Trust the Lord to show me the way out when I am tempted today.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you have laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Patience” (James 1:3).

Today’s Bible question:  “To whom did Jesus say ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me?”

Answer in our next SD.

10/2/2014 9:17 AM

Relief (2 Thess. 1:6a, 7a-b, 10)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/1/2014 7:50 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                                      Focus:  Relief

Bible Reading & Meditation                                        Reference:  2 Thess. 1:6a, 7a-b, 10

            Message of the verses:  “It is only just for God…to give relief to you who are afflicted and to us as well…when He comes to be glorified in His saints on that day, and to be marveled at among all who have believed—for our testimony to you was believed.”

            Paul is speaking of the second coming of Jesus Christ to planet earth at the end of the tribulation period, and the reason that I say that is that he writes about giving relief to those who are His own.  Paul has been talking about retribution in this section and when we read about what will immediately happen when the Lord returns at the end of the tribulation we see that not only does He end the war of all wars, but that He will separate the sheep from the goats and then along with Satan, the false prophet, and the Antichrist, He throws the goats (unbelievers) into the place of punishment.  Now I realize that when the Lord comes for His bride at the Rapture of the church that He will bring relief to His people, but the judgment of those who are causing the problems on planet earth will not come until His second coming at the end of the tribulation period.

            John MacArthur writes the following about the word relief (Anesis) is the Greek word, and he says that the word “expresses the idea of relaxation, loosening, easing, freedom, refreshment, restoration, and rest.”  The Bible promises three kinds of rest to believers.  First, there is the rest that salvation brings.  In Matthew 11:28-29 Jesus promised, ‘Come to Me all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’  Salvation brings rest from the crushing burden of sin.” 

            Let us look at Hebrews 4:9-11 to see more about this salvation rest:  “9 So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. 10 For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.  11 Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience.”

            Paul is not writing about salvation rest in this section, so we need to look at the two other kinds of rest that the Bible is speaking of.  Let us look at “millennial rest,” and we have written about this time period in the past, as it is the promised reign of Jesus Christ on planet earth, and the one thing added in the book of Revelations is the length, 1000 years.  Revelations 19:11-20:7 speak of this.  Jesus Christ will establish His earthly kingdom, in which His subjects will enjoy rest and peace.  We read about this in a sermon by Peter from Acts 3:19-21 where Peter says “19 “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.”

            I believe, after studying more about this time period that the earth will be somewhat restored like it was when the Lord created it as seen in Genesis chapters 1-2. We read in different OT passages that the authority of Jesus Christ will be absolute, and rebels will be instantly and devastatingly dealt with.  Psalm 2:8-9 speaks of this along with Revelations 12:5 and 19:15. 

            MacArthur writes of the final rest:  “A final rest promised in Scripture is the eternal rest the redeemed enter into at death.  In the presence of God believers will find rest forever—from sin, temptation, trials, sorrows, and any other form of suffering—because ‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain’ (Rev. 21:4).

            “As with the issue of retribution, the issue of rest and relief poses three questions: why, who, and how.”  We will begin looking at these issues of rest in our future Spiritual Diaries.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  God has given us a wonderful thing, and that is to be able to fall asleep when we are very tired and then wake up refreshed in the morning and thinking about what Jeremiah has written in Lamentations, something we have just studied, where he writes that the Lord’s mercies are new every morning, great is His faithfulness.  When I first became a believer I learned about the rapture of the church, and my prayer has always been that I will be alive when this happens, and when that does happen it will be the best time of refreshment ever.  A small picture of that refreshment is the reminder I get when I wake up from a refreshing nights sleep.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you have laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “With Leprosy” (2 Kings 15:5).

Today’s Bible question:  “What does the trying of one’s faith work?”

Answer in our next SD.

10/1/2014 8:38 AM

How? (2 Thess. 1:6b, 9)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/30/2014 10:26 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                                     Focus:  How?

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  2 Thess. 1:6b, 9

            Message of the verses:  “with affliction….These will pay the penalty of eternal destruction, away from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power,”

            The question “How” is a question on how will God repay those who are afflicting the Thessalonian believers, and I must stress that this is not only for those believers in Thessalonica, but believers throughout all the ages.  The answer is that God will afflict those who they are afflicting, but it will be with God’s affliction.  John MacArthur tells us that the word for affliction is Thlipsis in the Greek and it can mean “trouble,” “distress,” “difficult circumstances,” or “suffering.”  “Paul specifically defined it in this passage as ‘the penalty of eternal destruction.  Aionios (eternal) refers in the overwhelming majority of its New Testament uses to things of endless duration, such as God (Rom. 16:26), the Holy Spirit (Heb. 9:14), the covenant (Heb. 13:20), the gospel (Rev. 14:6), God’s kingdom (2 Peter 1:11), hell (Matthew 18:8; 25:41, 46; Heb. 6:2; Jude 7), and most frequently, eternal life.”  There are far too many verses for me to copy from this section of MacArthur’s commentary on this subject.  “Like all of the above-mentioned things, the destruction of the wicked will have no end but will last forever.”  Now that is something to think about when one is thinking about becoming a believer in Jesus Christ, for your choice is to be with Christ throughout all eternity or a Christless eternity.

            Next we look at the Greek word for destruction (Olethros), and this does not refer to annihilation, but it does refer to ruination.  This word does not mean that someone will not exist any longer as some think, for everyone who is conceived has an eternal soul and will either exist in heaven or hell, there is no between or no stop existing.  MacArthur writes “It does not mean the cessation of existence but rather the loss of all that makes existence worthwhile,” and then tells his readers to look at 1 Tim. 6:9 to help them understand what he has just written “But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.” 

            As we continue to look at our verses for today we will find that there are two conditions under which the lost will serve their eternal sentence.  The first one is found in verse nine where Paul writes that it will be “away from the presence of the Lord.”  The second is that they will live “away from the glory of His power.”  The glory of His power is something most people take for granted, but should not.  We get up every morning and the sun comes up to warm the earth, to make things grow so we have food to eat.  We have good air to breathe so we can continue to live.  We see the glory of the Lord at night when we look up at the stars and the moon which controls all the tides.  I could go on and on, but the point is that when we think of God’s glory we probably don’t stop and think about praising Him for it, and those who will end up in hell will never see it again.  I think that is what Paul is referring to when he wrote that part of verse nine.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Father I am thankful for Your glory that I see each and every day, but must confess I rarely give thanks to you for all the wonderful blessings that You give me each and every day of my life.  Most of all I want to thank You for the gift of salvation that was provided by the death, burial, and resurrection of You One and Only Son!

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to think more about the glory of the Lord, and praise Him for it.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.

1Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and you life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore consider the members of you earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you also, put them all aside:  anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Solomon.”

Today’s Bible question:  “How did the Lord smite Azariah?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/30/2014 11:13 AM

Who (2Thess. 1:6c, 8)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/29/2014 11:07 AM

My Worship Time                                                                                                     Focus:  “Who”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  2 Thessalonians 1:6c, 8b

            Message of the verses:  “with affliction those who afflict you…to those who do not know God and to those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus,”

            Yesterday we asked the question “why,” why was it just for God to afflict those whom He was going to afflict.

            Today we ask the question “who,” who is it that this affliction from God will come. 

            Let’s look at a couple of OT verses that tell us who God will actually curse if they harm His people:  Genesis 12:3 is a verse that God is speaking to Abraham, and it is actually a part of the covenant that God made with Abraham:  “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed."”  The highlighted portion of the verse is what we are focusing on at this time.  Next we look at Zechariah 2:8 which states “For thus says the LORD of hosts, "After glory He has sent me against the nations which plunder you, for he who touches you, touches the apple of His eye.”  Now we will look at Matthew 18:6-10 and comment on it after we have looked at it:  “but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea 7 "Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes! 8  "If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. 9 “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than to have two eyes and be cast into the fiery hell. 10 “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”  Jesus is speaking of those who are new in the faith as being those “little ones,” and not necessarily young in age.

            In the verses we are looking at today we see the phrase “those who do not know God,” and this refers to those who do not have a personal relationship with the Lord.  James says the following:  “Jas 2:19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.”  People can know about God, as even the demons do, but that does not mean that they have a personal relationship with the Lord.  These people who think that they know God may think that they are serving Him by persecuting true believers as was the case of Paul when he persecuted the true believers of Jesus Christ. 

            John MacArthur writes:  “The reason they do not know God is not ignorance but wickedness that causes them to suppress the truth that they know:  “18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened (Romans 1:18-21).”

            There will be people who stand in front of God at the Great White Throne Judgment who will think that they were working for the Lord, but will find out that they did not know Him as Jesus speaks of in Matthew’s Gospel, chapter 25:12 “"But he answered, ’Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’”  Now here is what the word “know” means “1) belonging to a house or family, domestic, intimate 1a) belonging to one’s household, related by blood, kindred 1b) belonging to the household of God 1c) belonging, devoted to, adherents of a thing.”  We can see here that this word means more than just knowing about someone.  When we look at verses 20-21 of Romans chapter one we see that God has made it possible for everyone to know him “20  For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

            Next we look at the phrase “those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord, “for these too will be afflicted by the Lord.”  MacArthur writes “This description intensifies their guilt.  It is damning to reject an innate knowledge of God; it is to incur severer judgment to openly reject the gospel.  The hottest hell, the severest punishment, is reserved for those who do not obey the gospel.  In Luke 12:47-48 Jesus taught that there are varying degrees of punishment:  “47  "And that slave who knew his master’s will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, 48  but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few. From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more.”

            Hebrews 10:26-31 shows clearly that rejecting the gospel intensifies unbelievers’ guilt “26  For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a terrifying expectation of judgment and THE FURY OF A FIRE WHICH WILL CONSUME THE ADVERSARIES. 28 Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know Him who said, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

            Salvation is a gift to receive, however the gospel is a command to obey as Paul spoke of in his sermon on Mars Hill in Athens when he said “God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent.”  MacArthur writes “for that reason, Paul wrote that his apostolic mission was ‘to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake’ (Rom. 1:5; cf. 15:18; 16:19, 26; 1 Peter 1:22).  Therefore, those who remain disobedient to the command to believe the gospel will face God’s retribution.

            This judgment is not rendered by God because He is angry at unbelievers for hurting His children but rather because the persecutors did not come to the Lord Jesus Christ and embrace the gospel.  Specifically, this Day of the Lord judgment comes in two phases on the ungodly:  First, at the close of the seven-year Tribulation (Rev. 19:11-21), and second, at the end of the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:7-10).  It will then be the fate of all the ungodly of all ages to be judged at the Great White Throne and sentenced forever to the lake of fire (Rev. 20:11-15).”

            This is the most serious manner that a person can think about in all of their lives, as accepting the Lord Jesus Christ and obeying His gospel is the only way to live out one’s life.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  There is a song that comes to mind as I think about what I have just wrote, and it is a song of thanksgiving to the Lord for my salvation.

The Family of God

 

I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God.

You will notice we say "brother and sister" 'round here,
It's because we're a family and these are so near;
When one has a heartache, we all share the tears,
And rejoice in each victory in this family so dear.

I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God.

From the door of an orphanage to the house of the King,
No longer an outcast, a new song I sing;
From rags unto riches, from the weak to the strong,
I'm not worthy to be here, but praise God I belong!

I'm so glad I'm a part of the Family of God,
I've been washed in the fountain, cleansed by His Blood!
Joint heirs with Jesus as we travel this sod,
For I'm part of the family,
The Family of God

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to pray for a young lady who is a new believer and is going through some persecution.

Memory verses for the week:  Colossians 3:1-9.

1 Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on the things of God, not on the things that are on earth.  3 For you have died and you life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.  6 For it is because of these things that the wrath of God has come upon the sons of disobedience; 7 and in them you once walked, when you were living in them.  8 But now you also, put them all aside: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive speech from your mouth.  9 Do not lie to one another, since you laid aside the old self with its evil practices,

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Elijah” (1 Kings 17:2-7).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who wrote most of Proverbs?”

Answer in our next SD.

9/29/2014 12:09 PM