Note from Bible study taught on July 2, 2010

Nancy LeMon spoke about how we are deceived and God wants us to move from darkness to light.  

One of her favorite books is The Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson and much of what she taught came from her reading of this book. We get caught up listing things that are not Biblical. When many are first saved a light goes on and God opens our eyes. We keep learning and learning more and more. We need to keep feeding ourself from the Word of God or we will begin to slip back to old ways of thinking and acting.

GOD’S WORD IS THE TRUTH. We can’t believe what we feel, we have to believe what God says.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Jesus is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. Without these things we have nothing. The devil wants to defeat us, but we have authority over him.

John 16:13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His ownauthority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.

The Holy Spirit helps us to find the truth. We need the Spirit’s guidance.

John 17:17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

God’s Word is truth.

Ephesians 4:14-15 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ—

Jesus and His Word is the foundation for truth.

How do you know the truth?  We learn it from the Word of God.

2 Timothy 2:26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

Make sure our lives line up with the Word of God. The Word, the Truth, will help us to come to our senses so we are not taken captive by the enemy.

Revelation 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. 

The enemy now tries to feed us lies and keep us from God’s perfect will for our lives. We need to deal with the fears he places in our mind and renounce the lies.

Nancy then shared From The Bondage Breaker By Neil Anderson: some of the lies and the truths from the Word that we can use to counter the lies

1. THE LIE:  God is distant and uninterested. THE TRUTH: My Father God is intimate and involved.  Psalm 139:1-18 

The devil wants us to think that God does not care, but God does care about every aspect of our lives.

2. THE LIE: God is insensitive and uncaring. THE TRUTH: My Father God is kind and compassionate. Psalm 103:8-14

3. THE LIE:  God is stern and demanding. THE TRUTH: My Father God is accepting and filled with joy and love. Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”  Romans 15:7 Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

4. THE LIE: God is passive and cold. THE TRUTH:  My Father God is warm and affectionate.  Isaiah 40:11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those who are with young. Hosea 11:3-4 I taught Ephraim to walk, taking them by their arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I drew them with gentle cords, with bands of love, and I was to them as those who take the yoke from their neck. I stooped and fed them. 

5. THE LIE: God is absent or too busy for me.  THE TRUTH: My Father God is always with me and eager to be with me.  Jeremiah 31:20 Is Ephraim My dear son?  Is he a pleasant child? For though I spoke against him, I earnestly remember him still; therefore My heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.  Ezekiel 34:11-16 , Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” 

6. THE LIE:  God is never satisfied with what I do, impatient, or angry THE TRUTH: My Father God is patient and slow to anger. Exodus 34:6 And the LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth,  2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.

7. THE LIE:  God is mean, cruel, or abusive.  THE TRUTH: My Father God is loving, gentle, and protective of me.  Psalm 18:2 The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you. Isaiah 42:3 A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth. 

8. THE LIE: God is trying to take all of the fun out of life.  THE TRUTH: My Father God is trustworthy and wants to give me a full life; His will is good, perfect, and acceptable.  Lamentations 3:22-23 Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. Romans 12:1-2 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

9. THE LIE: God is controlling or manipulative.  THE TRUTH: My Father God is full of grace and mercy; He gives me freedom to fail.  Luke 15:11-16 Then He said: “A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the portion of goods that falls to me.’ So he divided to them his livelihood. And not many days after, the younger son gathered all together, journeyed to a far country, and there wasted his possessions with prodigal living. But when he had spent all, there arose a severe famine in that land, and he began to be in want. Then he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. Hebrews 4:15-16 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

10. THE LIE: God is condemning or unforgiving.  THE TRUTH: My Father God is tenderhearted and forgiving; His heart and arms are always open to me.  Psalm 130:1-4 Out of the depths I have cried to You, O LORD; Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If You, LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared. Luke 15:17-24 “But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”’  “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’  “But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry. 

11 THE LIE: God is nit-picking, exacting, or perfectionistic. THE TRUTH: My Father God is committed to my growth and proud of me as His growing CHild.  Romans 8:28-29 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to beconformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 2 Corinthians 7:4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my boasting on your behalf. I am filled with comfort. I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulation.  Hebrews 12:5-11 And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons: “My son, do not despise the chastening of the LORD, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him; for whom the LORD loves He chastens, and scourges every son whom He receives.” If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons. Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us,and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for ourprofit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

No matter what lie the enemy wants us to believe, it is important to realize that we are the apple of God’s eye – the apple is a Hebrew term for pupil.

Deuteronomy 32:10 He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye.

Don’t believe the lies of the enemy, search the Word of God for the truth about what God thinks about you, and believe that.

Praying your day is blessed!

Heather

Samaritans were not considered to be full fledged Jews. When the Jews went to captivity, the ones left in the Land did not have priests or elders there to guide them for over 70 years. The Samaritans added things to the Law and kept things their own way, so they were not considered pure by the Israelites after the Israelites returned from the Diaspora. The Samaritans had only the five books of Moses, but no laws, prophets, or Temple Worship. They kept their customs, but not all their customs lined up with the Jewish Laws. 

Jesus is inclusive but never at a sacrifice of the truth and correct doctrine. Today people are compromising the truth so that people feel comfortable.

If we align our theology to make people feel comfortable, but the “new” theology does not line up with the Word of God, we are out of step with God.

John 4:1-6 Therefore, when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus made and baptized more disciples than John (though Jesus Himself did not baptize, but His disciples), He left Judea and departed again to Galilee. But He needed to go through Samaria. So He came to a city of Samaria which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob’s well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied from His journey, sat thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour. 

The woman came at the heat of the day, she was avoiding the stares and gossip of other women because of her condition in life. No one in a desert would choose to come out during the heat of the day, she was avoiding contact with people.

John 4:7 A woman of Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.”

Only Jesus and the woman were there.

John 4:8-10 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. Then the woman of Samaria said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans. Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” 

Jesus not only talked to a woman (culturally something not ordinarily done), but she was a Samaritan. How did she know He was a Jew?  His dress, ornaments, air and beard would have told her that He was not a Samaritan. Jesus offers the woman Living Water. 

John 4:11-14 The woman said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water? Are You greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well, and drank from it himself, as well as his sons and his livestock?”  Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 

What is water. The Bible is its own dictionary.

John 3:3-8 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” 

The mystery is being Born Again by the Spirit of God and Water – what is water?

Ephesian 5:26 that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word,

Titus 3:5 not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,

Ezekiel 36:25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

1 Peter 1:22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,

John 15:3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 

There are continual pictures that the Water is the Word and we are cleansed by the Spirit and the Word. God is the Living Word. Jesus was offering the Woman at the well the Living Word.

We need to read John 3 and John 4 side by side to see all that Jesus is teaching about the Living Word.

If you are feeling that your life is dry, make sure that you are filling yourself with the water of the Word of God.

Praying your day is blessed.

Heather

Bible Study from June 25, 2010

We are still in our Isaiah study, detouring to Ezekiel 37.

Ezekiel 37:26-28 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, and it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them and multiply them, and I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, and they shall be My people. The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”

God’s plan is to reconcile everything to Himself.  Reconcile with people who divorced themselves from Him, but He will not remarry another, He will bring them back to Himself as the Bride of Christ. God is not looking to go back to the Garden of Eden, but to make peace and a new Heaven and new earth, peace with a new beginning, a new beginning and a new future. 

If we know the Father we know Jesus, His Son. Allah and Jesus are NOT THE SAME. In the Last Days God is going to revive the dry bones of the Jews and Christians. The people without the Word are spiritually dead. The Word must change us or we are spiritually dry. We should have ever increasing faith.  

The greatest Biblical proof of God is the rebellious people (the Jews) being brought back to the Land and recovering their language.  How many Jebusites, Hittites, Perizites, do you know?  None. No other culture that has been dispersed and destroyed ever came back to life, but the Jewish Nation has. 

God will reconcile the world, separating good and evil, and the evil will be cast into outer darkness. The enemy, satan, and all who go with him will be cast into the lake of fire along with all those whose names are NOT written in the Book of Life.

God is perfecting a remnant of mankind to hang out with.  Mankind has free will can can choose to hang out with Jesus Christ or not. 

More and more of the Biblical prophesies are coming to pass. Islam is readying a population in the kinds of numbers mentioned in the book of Revelation.

The Jews were rebellious.  For example, they stopped celebrating the Sabbath day of rest.  They did not do the Jubilee where every 50 years debts were erased and land returned. They never celebrated that, never freed the slaves. Biblical slavery is not the same as slavery in America. In the Bible slaves had legal rights, and families were not separated. When their term of service was over, they were freed. Many slaves liked the conditions they were living under that they willingly chose to remain with their owners permanently. The Jews did not celebrate the Jubilee, and we are nearing the end of 120 Jubilees – 120 x 50 = 6,000, the sixth day.  We are now coming into the seventh day, the day of rest.  

God wanted His people to live a sanctified life, and show the world the benefits of being sanctified. The Israelites chose to keep the letter of the Law, not the Spirit of the Law. Jesus got in trouble when He came because He did healing on the Sabbath – they considered healing as Work. 

Pastor Don pointed out that when Jesus comes we WILL be keeping the Sabbaths forever. The Sabbath was made for Men. 

What sanctuary or Tabernacle is God talking about?  Ezekiel 40 is the New City, the New Temple.

Ezekiel’s Temple has never been built, the dimensions do not match any of the Temples already built on earth. It will be built in God’s timetable, and in the Last Days to replace Herod’s Temple.

Ezekiel 40:2-4 In the visions of God He took me into the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain; on it toward the south was something like the structure of a city. He took me there, and behold, there was a man whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze. He had a line of flax and a measuring rod in his hand, and he stood in the gateway. And the man said to me, “Son of man, look with your eyes and hear with your ears, and fix your mind on everything I show you; for you were brought here so that I might show them to you. Declare to the house of Israel everything you see.” 

Ezekiel was told to report to Israel everything He saw in his vision.

Ezekiel 43:1-5 Afterward he brought me to the gate, the gate that faces toward the east. And behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. His voice was like the sound of many waters; and the earth shone with His glory. It was like the appearance of the vision which I saw—like the vision which I saw when I came to destroy the city. The visions were like the vision which I saw by the River Chebar; and I fell on my face. And the glory of the LORD came into the temple by way of the gate which faces toward the east. The Spirit lifted me up and brought me into the inner court; and behold, the glory of the LORD filled the temple.

Ezekiel 43:27 When these days are over it shall be, on the eighth day and thereafter, that the priests shall offer your burnt offerings and your peace offerings on the altar; and I will accept you,’ says the Lord GOD.”

Eighth day, a new week.

Ezekiel 44:1 Then He brought me back to the outer gate of the sanctuary which faces toward the east, but it was shut. 

Ezekiel was measuring this, recording the facts of the New Jerusalem.

We then went up to the sanctuary to record a short teaching about the Woman at the Well. I will share that with you tomorrow.

God bless you, and may you have an awesome day!

Heather

Friday Bible Study notes from June 18, 2010

God is going to save the House of Israel in the Last Days, we need to read the heart of His message. God is speaking about a time in the future after the dispersion (there is a near and far prophesy in this passage). It may not look in the natural the way God is describing it, but in the supernatural God is calling the Jews to return. There will be a remnant in Israel. There has been a move of Christianity over the whole World, but there will come a time when Jews will go to Yeshua and say that He is their Messiah. We are ingrafted into the vine of the Jews, but one day all will be on the same vine as ONE NEW MAN. 

Ezekiel 38 speaks of the nature of the Islamic people, marshalled  supernaturally against Israel, and God’s judgment upon them.

The dry bone scenario reflects spiritually to Israel, but there is a parallel for the Church, for the Church is also dry.

Ezekiel is instructed to SPEAK to the bones, we need to speak more, for God moves on those who hear His voice – you can’t hear His voice if you are not speaking it out loud. We don’t need to think more, we need to SPEAK God’s Words.

Be careful about deciding who we think will be going to Heaven or not. Look beyond the name over the door and outward appearances. Why stay “dry” when food and water (Word of God) is served. 

Someone asked about cremation, and Pastor Don said that he would answer but did not want people panicking over historical choices that were made by themselves or other family matters. No matter what decision we made in error before we knew the facts, there is nothing impossible for God, and if someone was cremated, there is no reason why God cannot restore their bodies in the rapture. Don’t forget that some people have died in fires, were martyred in fire, buried at sea, etc. and God can restore them. But with knowledge and a chance to choose, we may want to make a different decision regarding cremation.  Here is what he said. The Judeo-Christian religion buried their dead, not cremated them. Only evil people got burned. Pagans and idol worshippers got burned. Jews and early Christians buried their dead and after a year, when the body decomposed, the bones were dug up and put into a bone box and stored in a crypt. Joseph requested that his bones NOT remain in Egypt. 

Pastor Don continued, we did not make our bodies so we have no right to destroy them. We want to avoid cremation, and choose burial. Right now there is a push to cremate, and most people choose cremation because of financial reasons, it is cheaper. People did not remember that cremation was a pagan thing. But with knowledge that we have, choosing burial is the right thing to do. But God can find anyone, with just a tiny piece of DNA. And God will find those lost at sea, and however their bodies have been destroyed. Nothing is too hard for God. But we are responsible for what we know, and God expects us to take action accordingly

We have a blood covenant with God. The devil wants us to take authority over our bodies as if we are God. While there is no place in scripture that specifically denies cremation or specifically states burial as a law we can see what was done in the past and act accordingly.

Pastor Don then continued with Ezekiel 37 saying that today the church is dead, for they are not operating under the Word or the power of God.

Acts 1:5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Baptism of the Holy is not about being born again.  After the Baptism of repentance which was the Baptism of John, we have other baptisms available to us.  There are five: Baptism into faith (born again), Baptism into Christ, Baptism in the Father, Baptism into the Body of Christ, and Baptism of the Holy Spirit. (Pastor Don taught on these in another Bible study.  You can find this study at this link.)

The baptism of John and the baptism of the Holy Spirit are different.

The Bible is its own dictionary. The Word of God is the Water of God. 

The amount of light is based on your obedience and yielding. This means you need to suppress part of your natural life and yield to receive something from the Spirit that you may not understand. 

Baptized means whelmed, immersed. 
Obedience = you yield your decision process, yield to the unknown, not know where or when.

Acts 1:6-7 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 

Jesus is not talking about restoring the kingdom at that time, it has to do with yielding obedience and seeing the supernatural situation, the big picture. Focusing only on the natural weapon causes us to stop receiving from God.

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

It is not only focusing on the theological issues, but stepping out in obedience. We will have power. This is not the Greek word “exusia” which means authority, but rather “dunamis” which implies power, dynamite power to enable us to do what God has commanded.

Pastor Don gave the example of a policeman in a uniform stopping traffic. His uniform provides exusia, or authority, which causes the traffic to stop. If a car decided to not obey the authority of the policeman his uniform would not protect him from injury, but the authority that the uniform represents is what exusia is.

The word “exusia” is used in John 1:12 NKJV But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:

John 1:12 KJV But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name

The word “right” and “power” is exusia.

The problem is that exusia and dunamis were both translated indiscriminately as power or authority, which obscured the real meanings of some of the verses.

John 1:12 speaks of “as many as received him.”

Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.

This word “power” is “dunamis”. Everyone has the Holy Spirit when they are born again, but that doesn’t mean that they have the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus wanted them to become witnesses to the Lord, and that comes with “dunamis” or power. Jesus demonstrated power through what He did in signs and wonders. 

When we are born again we realize that 100% of spiritual/physical attacks are demonic and we need to apply our faith. God will not put sickness on a person, but He can take away His hand of protection and permit satan to affect a person. God gives life and gives it more abundantly. We also open the way to sickness and death when we disobey God or sin, for then we open a way for satan to attack us.

Acts 2:1-4 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, andone sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The sound of the mighty wind of Heaven

The first outpouring of the Holy Spirit came to 120 members in the upper room – male and female. Women were included, even though women were not accorded much respect in Jewish tradition – they could not testify in court, etc. The fire that came upon those people was powerful, and most of them were martyred. When we ask the “fire of the Holy Spirit” to fall, we need to be careful, for the fire on the heads of the 120 were the ones martyred. The fire would have appeared like heat waves. The fire was purging them of the leaven of the Jews and the churches grew, and the biases.

Acts 2:17-18 (see above) speaks of the sons and daughters prophesying – speaking forth the word of God. Prophesying can be either preaching the Word of God or speaking of the future. This happened also to the men and maid servants.

For prophesy to be accurate, it must be accompanied with the renewing of the mind and confidence in the power of God.

God gives us an anointing to give us power to have the authority to go to the next level. There is a transference of the anointing.

God certifies and equips us to do what He wants us to do. 

If the Church is doing stuff that is not what God called the Church to do, God will not provide the anointing to do something other than what He wants the Church to do.

In Acts we never see the experience of the tongues of flame again. 

In the 1930′s a major church meeting in Munich had a similar experience and many of the members were martyred.

After a vision and experiences the 120 in the upper room were empowered to do what God wanted done, if they did not have that power from God they would have failed. 

What is important is obedience and yielding.

To obey you have to yield then you can receive. To yield we have to bypass our carnal nature.

Luke 3:16-17 John answered, saying to all, “I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.” 

Spiritually this is the same fire, but literal, not the same experience as the Apostles had in the Upper room. 

The Holy Spirit is the source of equipping of the saints. the Holy Spirit experience is the same even if you don’t see flames, for it is the purging fire of the Holy Spirit. We need to be aware of everything that gets in the way of the Holy Spirit to do His will with you and through you.

For the Holy Spirit to trust us with power to be effective, we need to not only talk the talk but walk the walk. We may not understand or like what it is that we are to do, but we want to obey Him. We have the same power down here that is in Heaven.

Galatians speaks about grieving the Holy Spirit.  We can also refuse to yield and obey what God is telling us to do. 

There are things (sinful or distracting us from God’s purpose) that we can do when we are born again, that once the Holy Spirit comes within us, we can no longer do. We are convicted of things that before God had not shown us needed to be changed. (Note from Heather, a few summers ago I got addicted to doing Sodoku puzzles – the number puzzles. I found myself doing them far too many hours of the day and neglecting the reading and writing that I should have been doing for God. The Holy Spirit convicted me of stopping doing those puzzles. I threw out all the books and increased my productivity, while not sinful, it was a distraction.)

Pastor Don spoke of it as, “New level, new devil.” Every uncleanness has to go as we move to new levels. More will be required of us as we advance in the Kingdom.

Someone asked Pastor Don about the demoniac of the Gadarines, wondering why Jesus put the demoniac spirits into pigs, then the pigs ran over the cliff and drowned in the water. Pastor Don explained that pigs were considered unclean animals by the Jews, they were scavengers who ate anything left out for them. The sons of Gad asked for land on the side of the Jordan opposite of the Promised Land. They did not cross over to occupy. As time went by the tribe of Gad began to raise pigs, unclean animals according to the laws of God. The demons asked Jesus if he had come before His time, for they knew that their time on earth was limited. Jesus was not coming as God, but as man, so he commanded the demons to leave the man. The demons 5000 to 6000 demons were in this man, and they asked to be put into the pigs, for demons want a body to inhabit. But once they inhabit a body they seek to destroy it. So the pigs went over the cliff and died. Demons seek to kill and destroy whom they can. The Gadarines asked Jesus to leave the area.

Jesus sent them a powerful message of lining up with the will of God, but they refused to do so. 

I love our Bible studies because we are free to ask questions and discuss what we have learned. They are awesome studies and we always come away filled with so much information from the Word that we can apply to our lives.

I pray you are abundantly blessed today.

Heather

Bible Study – Sunday June 13, 2010

John 6:32-33 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 

John 6:37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

The process of salvation is integrally connected to our ability to know we have security. If we know He is for us and on our side we behave differently from those in the World. Knowing WHOSE we are is more important than knowing who we think we are.

The problem comes because many believers have had bad earthly experiences, and we carry those memories and images over into spiritual turf. Believers are waiting for God to drop the other shoe and hurt or disappoint them. Pastor Don calls this “infantile paranoia,”  The way we were treated by family and friends, cause us to think everyone will treat us the same way.

We walk around with a chip on our shoulder and defend ourselves in situations where you don’t need to do so. This can be a self-fulfilling prophesy for if we behave the way we think we have to in order to defend ourselves from supposed hurts, we will see the same results we saw in the past, for people will respond to our defenses. We spend a lot of energy and effort in this endeavor.

Pastor asked us to ask ourselves, “How am I playing life’s game?”

The key to playing it well is to remain teachable all our life.

What factors contributed to the receiving of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2?

Acts 1, both men and women were cowards. Jesus was arrested and they ran away and hid. Peter was questioned by a servant girl and denied Jesus three times.  He spoke bold words to Jesus about how he would stand by Jesus, said all the right things.  It is easy to be bold until pressure is applied.  ALL the disciples spoke proud words, and then hid when the chips were down. They went into the upper room COWARDS, and came out speaking in tongues with interpretation, and endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit – they became BOLD for Christ.

The people heard the tongues in their own languages. We don’t know if the disciples spoke tongues and people translated the strange tongue into their own language in their minds, or if the disciples spoke different foreign languages. Either way, people from around the known world gathered and could understand the disciples in their native language.

Under the power of the Holy Spirit Peter spoke to the crowds (3000 plus), not fearing the consequences, failure or death. He who was once afraid now had the courage to speak, and people were saved.

FEAR OF FAILURE KEEPS US FROM BEING ALL THAT WE CAN BECOME. We need to brag on ourselves in the Lord, reminding ourselves, “Look at what the Lord has done.”

We then looked at Peter’s sermon.

Acts 2:14-16 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: 

He was able to link their current experience to what the prophet Joel prophesied.

Acts 2:17 And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.

In earlier days the Holy Spirit would rest on a person, but now, with the Holy Spirit in them, the Holy Spirit could do more through them than when He rested on just one or two people. With Pentecost, a different era has emerged, and all generations of the World are affected by the Spirit working through all believers -male and female, young and old. it is ALL FLESH.

Acts 2:18-20  And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders in heaven above and signs in the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD.

Prophesy.  We are beginning to see some of these signs in the earth beneath now, and some will come in the end days.

In 2012-2015 all the Jewish holidays will have eclipses, and the moon turning blood red.

Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.’

This verse implies also the opposite – those who DO NOT call on the name of the Lord WILL NOT be saved.

AS BELIEVERS THERE ARE FOUR THINGS WE NEED TO DO TO BE USED BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

1. DEPEND UPON CHRIST, not our own resources. You need the supernatural help of God to see supernatural things occur. We need to depend upon Christ to give us strategies in the midst of what we are trying to do. We want to depend on Christ not only in emergencies, but we want to seek God even in the smallest things. If we practice with little things, when we face harder things our faith will be less likely to be shaken.

2. GIVE SMALL SACRIFICIAL OFFERINGS. Ask God what He wants us to give as sacrificial offerings and obey Him in this. We can’t out give God.

3. COMMUNION WITH HIM.  Have communion at home with your self or with your family. Get together and have communion with God, be present with God. Keep a sense of His presence in your life when you are doing things – go fishing with God, when you are doing the dishes, at work, practice the presence of God with you.

4. BE OBEDIENT TO CHRIST. If we are obedient to Him we increase our ability to hear from Him. He speaks to us in that still small voice, but when He gives us instructions we need to take the step of obedience. When God says, “don’t.”  DON’T.  When God says, “do.”  DO. 

Praying this teaching blesses you.

Heather

This is a Bible study taught on June 11, 2010.

Ezekiel 37 is a vision of Israel through God’s eyes in the Last Days.  Dry Bones.

I am putting verses 1-10 up for your reference, we were familiar with the Dry Bones, so we moved straight to verse 11 in our class discussion. I had missed a Friday Bible study because of driving my daughter to check out colleges so she could decide between the ones that chose her. She ultimately picked University of Richmond, but not until she had seen all of the benefits of each college.  So there are a few weeks here and there where my notes skip – it was college tours.

Ezekiel 37:1-10 The hand of the LORD came upon me and brought me out in the Spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to pass by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry. And He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” So I answered, “O Lord GOD, You know.”  Again He said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. I will put sinews on you and bring flesh upon you, cover you with skin and put breath in you; and you shall live. Then you shall know that I am the LORD.”’”  So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone. Indeed, as I looked, the sinews and the flesh came upon them, and the skin covered them over; but there was no breath in them.  Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.”’”  So I prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceedingly great army. 

Ezekiel 37:11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off!’ 

The dry bones are the whole house of Israel. This is a prophetic window.  Ezekiel is giving encouragement to the exiles, letting them know that they will be returning to their land, but things are bleak for the nation of Israel right now because of their disobedience.  When Jesus comes there will be a gathering of all who have not heard the truth of Christ, that messed the total message. The dry bones are dry because of lack of water – and water is the Word. The Gentiles failed to share the love of Jesus with the Jews and allowed ostracism of the Jews to occur. There sadly was persecution of the Jews by Christians which did not help the spread of the love of Jesus.

Ezekiel 37:12-13  Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I amthe LORD, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.

God will open graves. There is a future, a hope that will be fulfilled.

Zechariah 12:10 And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.

Ezekiel 37:14 I will put My Spirit in you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I, the LORD, have spoken it and performed it,” says the LORD.’”

This verse has not been fulfilled yet, but will be, and we are seeing more and more Jews returning to the land.

Ezekiel 37:15-17 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying,  “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand. 

Judah – the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and Ephraim are engrafted into one nation again. We are part of this for we are engrafted through the tribe of Judah because of Jesus. Judah means praise and in the last 50 years God has returned praise to the sanctuaries of the Gentiles.

Hosea 6:1  Come, and let us return to the LORD; for He has torn, but He will heal us; He has stricken, but He will bind us up. 

In the last days there will be a return to God.

Hosea 6:2 After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. 

Two days revive us, on the third day he raises us up.  Third day, going to Heaven or the Rapture. 

Pastor Don did research on every scripture that mentions the third day, and says that it all relates to the Rapture, from Genesis to Revelation.

Pastor Don said that every Jew is not truly a Jew, for many do not have circumcised hearts.

Acts 10:35-39 But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all— that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. 

When we fear God (love Him with awe and respect) we will do right from love of God. Lots of people do not behave like you and me.

There will be 144,000 Jewish evangelists to go and evangelize the world. This will not come until we have done our job.

We tend to think in our definitions, but God does exactly what He says. When He told Adam and Eve that in the day they ate of the fruit they would die – it was not one day in an earthly clock, but rather to God a day is as 1000 years.

2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Psalm 90:4 For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night.

God’s day is different. After the rebellion of the people on earth, God shortened lifespan to 70 or 80 years.

Ps 90:10 The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.

The people in Adam’s day never lived beyond 1000 years, the oldest was Methuselah who lived 969 years, others died at younger ages.

First God reduced the age from less than 1000 years to 120 years.  Genesis 6:3  And the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, for he is indeed flesh; yet his days shall be one hundred and twenty years.” 

Pastor Don pointed out that 50 years is a Jubilee, and if you take 120 and multiply it by 50 you get 6,000 years, the period of man.  We are now coming into the last days.

Hosea 6:2 After two days He will revive us; on the third day He will raise us up, that we may live in His sight. 

This is a rapture verse.

We are in the 7th day. There are seven angels, seven candlesticks, seven days of the week.  Seven is God’s perfect number. After God finished creation on the seventh day He rested. 

Day One: Noah & the Flood – End of Adam – Noah built the Ark – righteousness by work
Day Two:  Abraham – Abraham achieved righteousness by faith, not by works.

Enoch walked with God and was no more, there were no commandments at the time of Abraham. When Cain gave the bad offering, God told him to do well, and it would go well with him, but he chose to do evil. When asked about killing Abel, Cain answered, “Am I my brother’s keeper.”  The earth was crying out with Abel’s blood.  There needed to be a revival in the Land, that came from Abraham.

Day Three:  MOSES – the law was given to the people.  This gave man the chance to attain righteousness through the law, but we are not able to do that, for in our own power we are not able to attain righteousness. God was raising mankind, to begin to restore him to the place that was lost through Adam and Eve.

We have righteousness by Work, righteousness by faith, righteousness by obeying the law. Faith without works is dead.  And we are unable to keep the Law in our own power or by our own work. The Law was given to us to show us our need for a Savior. Until that time Moses built the Ark and we met God at the Mercy seat, and the Mercy of God covers sin. But it cannot eradicate sin. Elijah came really close, but for the most part man made sacrifices to cover sin, but could not rid himself of sin.  

We needed Day Four – JESUS, EMMANUEL, GOD WITH US. Who opened up the way of SALVATION BY THE GRACE OF GOD. – a new revival. We could not achieve salvation by works, by faith or by the Law. Jesus made the Law simple – LOVE GOD and LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.

Jesus made it possible to ONLY CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD AND YOU SHALL BE SAVED. We mess up, but God gave us a way to come to Him. 

Day Five and Six are the Church age, 

Sometime after that, in God’s Timing will be the rapture of the Church and the Tribulation.  

Day 7 will be RESTING WITH GOD 

We are in the sixth day, the 6000 years of mankind, but according to all that Jesus prophesied, we are coming closer to the End days.

Jesus gave the parable of the servants who were sleeping. Many in the Church today are asleep, unaware of the times, and only a handful are awake and aware.  The Holy Spirit (since Pentecost in the Upper Room) has been with us 2000 years.  We won’t have any more revivals.  God has provided EVERY possible way to get to Him. If you have faith you can know God. If you are able to keep the Law you can know God. The Holy Spirit helps us to know God. 

God promises that in the end days He will be in our hearts, and we won’t be able to say, “The God of the Bible.”  For we will know Him. God is making Himself known to people in obscure places, where no one has been able to travel to share the Gospel.  Sometimes missionaries have gone to these obscure places and the people recognize the Jesus they teach is the one who had already shown Himself to them.

God is concerned for every man, and wants all to have the opportunity to either accept or reject Him – He wants none to be lost, but if a person willingly chooses to reject God, He will honor that and not force Himself into their lives.

The salvation of the heart is truth, for we know Him in our hearts. 

Hosea 6:3 Let us know, let us pursue the knowledge of the LORD. His going forth is established as the morning; He will come to us like the rain, like the latter and former rain to the earth. 

The latter and the former rain.

Hosea 6:4 O Ephraim, what shall I do to you? O Judah, what shall I do to you? For your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away. 

Jews and Gentiles – one new man.

Hosea 6:5-6 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and your judgments are like light that goes forth. For I desire mercy and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings. 

God wants mercy and not sacrifice, and wants knowledge of Him more than offerings.

Hosea 6:10-11 I have seen a horrible thing in the house of Israel: there is the harlotry of Ephraim; Israel is defiled. Also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed for you,  when I return the captives of My people.

The Jews have returned back to Israel, the Gentiles and Jews are one new man.  The former and the latter rain.

Ezekiel 37:16-17 “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself and write on it: ‘For Judah and for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, and they will become one in your hand. 

Judah and Israel (dry bones) and God will restore them. The Gentiles and Israel will be joined together as one new man. In the last days the Messianic Jews are in agreement with Christians.  Revelation 5:11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, This is from many nations, tribes, cultures, etc.

Ezekiel 37:21-22 Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land;  and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again.

David will be king over us forever, he will rule and reign under Christ. Jesus is the King over the whole planet. Jesus will sit on David’s throne. There will be kings over areas, kings over kingdoms, but Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We pray that all of scripture will be fulfilled.

Jerusalem is facing major challenges. Iran is rapidly approaching full nuclear power and would gladly destroy Israel. Five years ago our country prevented Israel from taking down Iranian nuclear plants, and because of that Iran is closer to nuclear power than ever before.

Israel is not yet the way God wants it to be, for much of Israel is secular, into idolatry and sex and drugs. They are not living the life that God desired for their best. God cannot intervene until the words of the prophet are fulfilled. 

Psalm 118:25-25 Save now, I pray, O LORD; O LORD, I pray, send now prosperity! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD! We have blessed you from the house of the LORD.

Luke 13:3 5ee! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’”

When Jerusalem cries out to God in these End Times, God will come and deliver His Bride. 

We keep praying, “Come, Lord Jesus.”  But in order for that to happen things are going to get bad on the earth. There will be lawlessness, blood in the streets, and chaos all over the world. 

We need to be asking God to give us the strength to deal with what is going on and for us to prosper so that we can help the kingdom. 

Pastor Don pointed out that some people get upset with the idea of God’s Judgment, but he asked us to consider that if we had roaches or rats in our house, wouldn’t we seek an exterminator. God is judging to protect His children from enemies that would hurt and destroy them.

I pray your day is blessed.

Heather

Bible study, end of May

Isaiah 35:1-3 The wilderness and the wasteland shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose; it shall blossom abundantly and rejoice, even with joy and singing. The glory of Lebanon shall be given to it, the excellence of Carmel and Sharon. They shall see the glory of the LORD, the excellency of our God. Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. 

This is an excellent healing scripture for injuries – strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees.

Isaiah 35:4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted,  “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” 

With Vengeance. This seems like a paradox – Don’t be afraid, your God is coming with vengeance. The wrath of God is not for us. That does not mean that things will not disturb us, that we don’t lose stuff or we will not be tormented in our minds. If we have a sense of entitlement without God’s purpose, we may lose what we feel we are entitled to.  God does not want us so motivated by things that they become idols to us. Be grateful for what you have. In God’s plan, when He brings His vengeance on the world it is for the time when things are turned upside down. When the system of the antichrist is in position, and the antichrist’s system goes down, anything we have invested in the antichrist system will go down with it. But we don’t have to worry, for our hope is in the Lord.

We need to return to the time when we enjoyed SIMPLE JOYS, joys that correctly placed our trust in the Lord. God brings a time of recompense, and pays back evil for what evil did. But God will save the believe.  

Pastor Don suggested a great movie – Oh Brother, Where art Thou?  Then he told his favorite joke about a man sitting on the roof of his house during a flood. A boat comes by and offers him a ride – and the man replies, “No thank you, God is going to save me.”  He gives the same response when a helicopter comes by. And a few other ways of rescue present themselves. Finally the flood drowns the man and in Heaven he asks God, “I though you were going to save me.”  God said I sent the helicopter, the boat, etc, and you did not take them.  Sometimes what we think God will do to save us isn’t what He does, we need to keep our eyes open and recognize God’s hand in some of the natural events of our lives.

Isaiah Chapter 34 is the Judgment of the Nations.

Isaiah 35 is the Glory of His Coming and His Wrath.

We are experiencing wrath now, but God will bring greater wrath. Research and you will see that the incidence of earthquakes are increasing – and their intensity is increasing. At one point there will be an earthquake where whole islands are gone and everything changes. 

The Glory of Zion will look like the wrath of God poured out on the earth. God will be vindicating the saints who have been killed. 

Isaiah 35:4 Say to those who are fearful-hearted, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God; He will come and save you.” 

If God tells us to NOT BE AFRAID, there must be things happening that could make us truthfully fearful. On 9-11 we lost our sense of invincibility and gained a sense of fear. Prior to that terrorist attacks were in other countries. Even with the political unrest of today we are not to be afraid.

Isaiah 35:5-6 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then the lame shall leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert. 

Water in the wilderness – water is a symbol of the Word of God, and when we are in a place of stress it is like we are in the wilderness. God will provide His Word in our distress.

Isaiah 35:7 The parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water; in the habitation of jackals, where each lay, there shall be grass with reeds and rushes. 

Rivers of Living water, signs and wonders. When we live in the abundance of the Word of God, people look at things a little differently.

Pastor Don suggested the movie “The Book of Eli” as a “wake-up kind of a movie, where Eli tries to preserve the scriptures.
He also told us that the new Shrek movie is family friendly.

We need to rethink stuff that comes from unconventional sources.

The water in verse 7 replenishes. The Euphrates dries up before the Coming of the Lord. When He comes He replenishes the water.

Isaiah 35:8 A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others.  Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray. 

Does God love us, even fools? God saves even fools. He chooses the stupid and those who make bad choices.  We cannot be prideful in ourselves, but rather in God who chooses us.

Isaiah 35:9-10 No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

With singing. Bring it to places that have been cursed, that are against God. 

Pastor Don spoke of Ezekiel 37-38, and pointed out that the United States is not mentioned in these prophesies. The passage in Isaiah speaks of Israel returning to Jerusalem.  It mentions in Ezekiel 37 and 38 that a nation that is not a nation, USA is a republic not a democracy. And there will be a coalition led from a land far away.

Ezekiel 36:19-21 So I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed throughout the countries; I judged them according to their ways and their deeds. When they came to the nations, wherever they went, they profaned My holy name—when they said of them, ‘These are the people of the LORD,and yet they have gone out of His land.’ But I had concern for My holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the nations wherever they went. 

The Jews were dispersed throughout the nations, and the influence of the nations has made them more secular and carnal. Many Jewish people are attracted to the new age. Many Jewish people are more interested in money, avarice, greed and ideas. But God will still redeem a remnant and reawaken their love for Him.

Ezekiel 36:22-24 “Therefore say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “I do not do this for your sake, O house of Israel, but for My holy name’s sake, which you have profaned among the nations wherever you went. And I will sanctify My great name, which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst; and the nations shall know that I am the LORD,” says the Lord GOD, “when I am hallowed in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the nations, gather you out of all countries, and bring you into your own land.”

Now there are more Jews in Israel than Jews in New York City.  There is a shift to Israel. Even secular Jews want a trip to Israel.

Ezekiel 36:25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 

Lots of the Word of God on you and you will be clean, washed with the water of the Word.

Ezekiel 36:26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 

A heart of flesh, God softens our hearts.

Ezekiel 36:27-28 I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. Then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; you shall be My people, and I will be your God. 

Ezekiel 36:29-30 I will deliver you from all your uncleannesses. I will call for the grain and multiply it, and bring no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of your trees and the increase of your fields, so that you need never again bear the reproach of famine among the nations.

No famine

Ezekiel 36:31  Then you will remember your evil ways and your deeds that were not good; and you will loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and your abominations. 

They will loathe themselves.

Ezekiel 36:32 Not for your sake do I do this,” says the Lord GOD, “let it be known to you. Be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel!” 

God does it for Himself, 

Ezekiel 38:2 Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the prince of Rosh, Meshech, and Tubal, and prophesy against him,

Gog is a spirit over Magog. This is a spirit in the same way that in the book of Daniel there was a Prince of Persia, and the angel who visited Daniel needed the help of Archangel Michael to fight this prince for 21 days before he could reach Daniel with the answer to his prayer. Right now the devil is the one who has power over the earth, because Adam and Eve gave him that power. But that will change in the end days. 

Ezekiel 38:13 Sheba, Dedan, the merchants of Tarshish, and all their young lions will say to you, ‘Have you come to take plunder? Have you gathered your army to take booty, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to take great plunder?’”’ 

Tarshish is what we call “Turkey” today. It is not the Roman Empire, but Islam that we will find the battle with. The Muslims believe that the Mahdi is coming to destroy the people of the Book (the Jews) and the Christians. They want world-wide domination of Islam.

Our assignment was to read Ezekiel 37 – the World view trumps culture. If the world view does not agree with the Word of God you need to reject the culture. 

Bible study from 5/14/10

Think about what you are singing. We all sing the old song, “When we all get to Heaven.”  The truth is that we don’t have to wait until we die and go to Heaven to get the promises of God. They are available here on earth.

Isaiah 32:1-2 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. 

This is a Messianic vision of Christ. Isn’t Jesus all of what this is? 

Isaiah 32:3 The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen. 

I got eyes, I got ears.

Isaiah 32:4-8 Also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly. The foolish person will no longer be called generous, nor the miser said to be bountiful; for the foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity: to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the LORD, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail.  Also the schemes of the schemer are evil; he devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks justice. But a generous man devises generous things, and by generosity he shall stand.

The evil one will be unseated by the King of Righteousness. The enemy tries to destroy the poor, sow seeds and destroy the poor with lying words.  Wanting us to spend extravagantly, instead of helping the poor and needy and doing the work of the Kingdom.

Isaiah 32:9 Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. 

Women, don’t be complacent, hear the Word of the Lord and obey.

Isaiah 32:10-11 In a year and some days you will be troubled, you complacent women; for the vintage will fail, the gathering will not come. Tremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, you complacent ones; strip yourselves, make yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth on your waists. 

Why women?  God has special warnings for men and women. They are different. In the family there is division of labor, and that brings order to the world.

Isaiah 32:12-13 People shall mourn upon their breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful vine.  On the land of my people will come up thorns and briers, yes, on all the happy homes in the joyous city; 

God did not design men and women to compete in the market place or start taking authority over and against the family. Women are not to be demeaned for their desires to do. Men can open their eyes and see – David got in trouble when he saw Bathsheba. The feminine nature can pose a problem for women, if they fall into feelings and error. Eve saw the fruit and it appeared good to her. Together women and men can help each other to not be deceived.

Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 

She should have said it in reverse.  I ate, the serpent deceived me. If the desire was not in her, she would not have done wrong. The serpent would not have targeted her if she wasn’t looking at the fruit. 

The problem begins in verse 1 of Chapter 3. Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

The devil targeted the woman, not the man. What did he see that caused him to target her?  The woman had to have given a sign or something about her that caused the devil to conclude that he could get a toe-hold in her life.

Genesis 3:2-3 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 

She has the right information – don’t mess with the fruit on this tree. Did she have full revelation?  No.  She functioned under presumption, did not know that there were different facets of death. God asked her to be obedient even if she did not have full information. Presumption will eat a relationship alive. The devil figured it out, watching her behavior and realized he could affect her behavior. He watched her behavior in the garden. She didn’t have the information and fell to presumption.  Emotions cause you to be presumptuous, you have a feeling.

Genesis 3:4-5 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

The devil always tells the truth, but adds in a lie. Our emotional presumption cause us to believe him. Gossip is not such a problem with men because guys will put it down saying, “I don’t want to hear it.” The devil gets Eve to react from her emotions rather than obedience.

Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 

To solidify her position Eve manipulates. She plays Jezebel and gives some of the fruit to Adam to eat. Jezebel would not have been effective in enticing Ahab if he had told her to stop. But he wanted that vineyard. Jezebel wanted Ahab’s power and attacked the head. Ahab needed to set the woman down and tell her, “No.” Adam should have set Eve down and told her, “No.” Adam saw the conversation, was aware of the serpent. He sees her eat the fruit and should have stepped on the serpent’s head. He should have told the serpent to be quiet. When Jesus (the seed of the woman) comes he will bruise the serpent’s head, but Adam could have taken care of it early on in the Garden.  Adam could have added his dominion and protected his wife against the lying serpent. He should have been able to say, “I didn’t eat the fruit, the woman did. But I will die for her.”  Make a sacrificial offer.

Genesis 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. 

Shame has entered the world. The devil beats women in the realm of the emotions and feeling real feelings which are not accurate or the truth. Not based on what you do. Our emotions can lie to us. Eve did not respect her husband. If a man is respected he can put up without love. A woman can’t live without feeling loved. 

The serpent told the woman a half truth and a half truth is a lie. Both Adam and Eve feel shame. No matter what door is opened, sin is sin. Adam did not obey God, he chose to obey his wife. What she had Adam do was wrong.

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 

They hid, as if you can hide from God.

Genesis 3:9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” 

The Lord SAID to Adam, an order. Ahab, even with weak backbone and not standing up to Jezebel, was still responsible for what went down in his hose. Adam should have told Eve, “Don’t eat the fruit. I have a better plan.” God wants to teach the man to be in charge. God asks Adam a question, not because God doesn’t know the answer. He knows. He wants Adam to take stock of what happened. He wants to get us to the truth.

Genesis 3:10-12 So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?” Then the man said, “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.” 

Adam should have replied, “Yes, I ate.”  Instead he threw the blame back on the woman and also on God who gave Adam the woman.

Genesis 3:13 And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 

She opts out by blaming the serpent who deceived her.

Genesis 3:14 So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all cattle, and more than every beast of the field; on your belly you shall go, and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

God curses the devil.

Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.” 

God explains the curse. This is the prophesy of the Virgin Birth, for a woman does not have “seed.”  But for Jesus, God cannot use a mortal man to produce seed, he will use the Holy Spirit. Between your seed (satan) ad her Seed (The Messiah).  There will be no sperm to fertilize Mary’s seed.

Pastor Don spoke of visions and dreams. What we see with our eyes is compelling.  The Glory of God captivates us, and no one who truly sees the Lord can describe Him. Every time we make a decision on appearance we are wrong. King Saul was tall and handsome, but he had no character. Jesus is beyond our comprehension.

Genesis 3:16 To the woman He said: “I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; in pain you shall bring forth children; your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” 

In the Garden Eve would have popped out babies with no pain, but now her birth will be painful.  Her desire is for her husband and her husband will rule her – that is a curse, not a blessing. A woman would rather have the power of the man, she is going to want to rule, but the man is in charge. She will need to yield to him. He will be the decisive one in the family and that will be a problem for the woman. That is why we ended up with the women’s lib movement, women were frustrated, and are still frustrated today.

Genesis 3:17 Then to Adam He said, “Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it’: “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life.”

Adam put Eve in position over God, and heeded his wife. Because of that the ground will be cursed for Adam’s sake. Man cannot base his decisions on the beauty and sexiness of his wife. When sex is cut off, unholy relationships will emerge. Porn is worshipping women as an idol. The eye is the window of the soul.

There is a warning in 2 Timothy 3:1-4 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 

This should bring admonition and fear to man. We are seeing these sins becoming rampant.

2 Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!

Its basis is demonic, for it is a FORM of godliness. 

We are seeing some of this even in the Church. Churches are denying the total Word of God, saying what they believe the Holy Spirit can do and can’t do. They are claiming that the gifts of the Spirit are no longer in effect.  They are denying the power of God. We need to rethink our traditions and line our faith up with what the Word of God tells us about God. If the gifts of the Spirit ceased with the disciples we have to ask ourselves why they were still in effect 100 to 400 years after Christ.  The power of God brings us to repentance where we say that we need Jesus in our life. The power of God can set people free, protect marriages.  We need more than religion, we need truth. Pray until God shows up, until the revelation and power of God is released. 

Pray to God to have Him reveal the truth in His Word. Shouldn’t the Word release power off the page to us?

Psalm 4:1 Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. 

We are told to meditate on the Word of God. Meditate is not what the New Age is telling us. It means to mutter over and over the Word of God. Not emptying our mind so that any spirit can come in and take root. Rather, we fill our minds with the Word of God, the Truth of God. .

Jesus will not manifest Himself and leave you in your mess. When you are ready and reach out to Him, He will pull you out of your mess, but only when you are ready for this to happen.

Matthew 6:7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 

This is not saying that you never pray the same request, but rather it is the heart of your prayer. Are you believing that because of your diligence in repeating a prayer over and over that you will make the miracle happen?  That is a vain repetition. We do things that we deem will produce spiritual outcome by our doing of them. Jesus wants your heart to participate in the prayer, not just mindless repetition. To cleanse and sanctify yourself is Biblical. To ask for forgiveness of sin, was hands, clean, etc does not produce sanctification, but we do these things out of respect for God.  We must repent of our sins before going to the altar, but when we repent, we know that He has forgiven us.  1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

We can repeat and it is not always a vain repetition. If we are repeating a prayer, building our faith in God by doing so it is not a vain repetition. For example if you are hurt and asking for healing, you may repeat over and over, “By His stripes I am healed.” Repeat it over and over until you believe it in your Spirit, knowing the truth of it.  We aren’t repeating it to work on God, but rather repeating it until we fully believe it.

Psalm 4:7-8 You have put gladness in my heart, more than in the season that their grain and wine increased. I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

God will meet us in our distress and we won’t have to worry. We can lie down and sleep in peace.

Pastor Don pointed out that Psalm 4 is a good Psalm to read when you are stressed out and can’t sleep. Keep reading it out loud, silently, fill your mind with the Psalm and it will help you to sleep. He pointed out that we need to shut down our mind, for we can worry over situations endlessly, and our mind can stress us to death.

2 Timothy 3:1-5  But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 

These sinful behaviors will only increase in the last days, and they will hurt us as man beats up on man.

2 Timothy 3:6-7 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Gullible women. This points back to Genesis and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Eve believed the lies of the serpent. She could have rejected those words and held on to what God had told Adam. She wanted wisdom to be like God, and we still see this kind of wisdom creeping into households today. People are seeking knowledge, but it is not knowledge of the Truth. That is what the new age and other false doctrines are, knowledge, but not knowledge of the Truth. They listen to what they FEEL is the truth, they end up trapped in lies, captive and gullible. 

Written to the Elect Lady, 2 John gives a powerful warning against deceptive teachings.

2 John 7-11 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.  Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

Isaiah 32:9 Rise up, you women who are at ease, hear my voice; you complacent daughters, give ear to my speech. 

Women, please listen up. This is a prophetic scripture right before the Messiah comes. 

Isaiah 32:10 In a year and some days you will be troubled, you complacent women; for the vintage will fail, the gathering will not come.

In a year and some days the vintage will fail.

Isaiah 32:11 Tremble, you women who are at ease; be troubled, you complacent ones; strip yourselves, make yourselves bare, and gird sackcloth on your waists. 

Repent, get hooked up with God again.  

Genesis 3 => Isaiah 32 => 2 Timothy

mentally causes us to observe complacency. 

Pastor Don spoke to us that Y2K was practice for what will be coming. We want to be ready to be Jesus’ Bride (male and females are His Bride). DO NOT BE COMPLACENT.

How do we spend our time? Get ready for Jesus coming and reach out to others so that as many as possible are prepared.

Pastor Don pointed out that 70% of church membership is women, generally. At Living Word Chapel there are more men attending than the norm.

We need to build up communication and retake the airwaves – have a good Christian presence on Facebook and blogs. 

Be selective about what we choose to entertain us, TV, Movies, Books. Don’t let garbage in.

Take every opportunity to evangelize and reach out to others to share the Lord.

I pray you are blessed by this teaching. 

Heather

Sunday Service 5/2/10

Pentecost – The Feast of Weeks – Pente means 50, and this feast occurs fifty days after Passover. The Law was given after the first Passover.

Passover, the Feast of Unleavened bread, is the spring barley harvest. The wheat harvest followed 50 days later.  The last grain to grow is corn. Barley represents the first influx of believers – the disciples. The wheat represents the Five-Fold ministry. Jesus is the firstfruits. 

The Israelites say that Pentecost was the time when God appeared on the mountain and talked with Moses, handing down the Law, the Ten Commandments. There were also 633 other laws kept by the people, which were based on the framework of the Ten Commandments.

Jesus reduces this framework to two commandments – to love the Lord and Love your neighbor as yourself. These two commandments only break down when you do not love yourself. If I can’t rule my house, how can I rule God? I need to be in my right mind to deal with my stuff, then I can love my neighbors as I love myself.

IT’S ABOUT LOVE!

God established the law 1000′s of years before Christ, and it is still relevant to the Church today. But we are not under the law, like the Israelites were before Christ came. There was no Church before Pentecost.  God gave the Law and Jesus gave the Church. The gifts were given to man at Pentecost. 

We are to be Kings and priests of the Kingdom. Our testimony should be I saw what Jesus did and I am doing it. We are to be obedient to God, to have our hearts right before God. Exodus 20, the Ten Commandments shows us how to be holy.  Anything you set, holy, sanctified, before God.

Exodus 20:1-3 And God spoke all these words, saying: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.” 

NONE – ZERO gods before GOD!

Exodus 20:4 You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;

DON’T EVEN MAKE IT!. Don’t tempt the Lord because you think a statue is cute. Don’t tempt yourself.  That collection of angels, or imps, should not be in your house. Someone might think to bow down or cross themselves before them. Be careful of the things of the flesh that might have a spiritual nature attached to inanimate objects that have no power. Are there any exceptions?  NO!  Angels have been on the earth, but we don’t worship angels. We must make a spiritual decision about what we love more, our idols or God. To be holy we need to be WHOLY HOLY. Some denominations permit statues in the sanctuary. If God wrote that we are NOT TO MAKE A CARVED IMAGE, that should apply to ALL CARVED IMAGES.  Since God wrote the Law, He wants us to obey it.

Exodus 20:5-7 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain. 

Jesus is NOT a curse word. You will be held guilty for the curse words that have crossed your lips.

Exodus 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it. 

This is not to be turned into legalism. The SABBATH means to REST, recline, contemplate, think through, wholly focus on the Lord. We are to keep a day Holy to the Lord. What day?  Saturday?  Sunday? Friday Night?  God is the Lord of the Sabbath. Jesus told us that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.

Hebrews 4:9-10 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. ¹⁰ For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.

Jesus kept healing people on the Sabbath, and got in trouble for not obeying the legalistic Sabbath that the Scribes and Pharisees set up. We are to have a Sabbath Day, a day that we set aside to spend with God. It does not have to be a specific day of the week, but needs to be one of the seven days. It is to be a day holy to the Lord, a day to not do customary work. There was also to be a Sabbath year, where the fields were to be at rest. The Israelites did not keep the Sabbath year and because of that they ended up in slavery to others for not keeping the Sabbath. God knows that we need a day of rest. 

We tend to overindulge, which is turning the world upside down. We are to rest and enjoy the Lord, not spend the time in overindulgence in activities, etc. In one underdeveloped country they did an experiment of creating an 8 day week, and after two months there were psychological problems among the people. We are wired for a seven day week with six days of work and one day of rest.

Know that there is no day that is not holy to the Lord.  Every day is holy to the Lord.

Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. 

This is a law that we are to honor our father and mother, it is the only law that comes with a promise that if we do it our days will be long on the land. The law does not specify that we are to only honor our parents if they were good parents, we are to honor our parents – good or bad.  Honor them just because they were your parents. WE have no right to judge. We don’t know what you dad had to go through to become the person that he became. Honor them, PERIOD! NO EXCUSES. Be there for them.  Look out after them. It is the Lord that gave you health, life, wisdom, prosperity, peace in the valley.  If your parents are dead and you didn’t take care of them, ask God for mercy and forgiveness. Repent for what you did not do for your parents.

Exodus 20:13 You shall not murder. 

This is not just physical murder, but character assassination.  Jesus told the people that if you even demean another person you are committing murder.

Exodus 20:14 You shall not commit adultery. 

Jesus expanded adultery to more than the physical act, even looking at another person or desiring them in your heart is considered adultery. We have the right to throw out porn that is in our house. Porn is a poison that destroys relationships. They eyes lead to considering adultery in our hearts.

Exodus 20:15 You shall not steal. 

Don’t take what doesn’t belong to you.

Exodus 20:16 You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. 

Do not gossip, don’t misrepresent the truth regarding another.

Exodus 20:17 You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.

Be grateful for what God has provided for you. Don’t covet what your neighbor has. 

Exodus 20:18-20 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.  Then they said to Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.” And Moses said to the people, “Do not fear; for God has come to test you, and that His fear may be before you, so that you may not sin.”

God appeared to Moses and the people, and the people were frightened. They wanted Moses to speak to God and relay what God said to them. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord. The people were terrified. 

Keeping the Ten Commandments blesses people. The Ten Commandments were to show the people that they, in their own power, would not be able to keep them. That they needed a Savior.

When Jesus died on the Cross the veil to the Holy of Holies was torn, top to bottom. We no longer needed a High Priest, and intermediary to approach God. We could boldly go to the throne room of God and speak directly to Him.

Keeping the commandments is a blessing. We are grafted into the Kingdom because of what Jesus did for us. That does not mean that we scrap the commandments, for they were meant to make our life better. Just because we think that something is not hurting us does not mean that it isn’t hearting us.

Pastor Don pointed out that the incidence of autism has increased in our society today. 35 years ago it was 1 in 10-20,000 people. Two years ago it was 1 in 150 people. Now it is 1 in 120 people. 

There is an increase in violent crime and many things that were common morals have now changed. The Ten Commandments have been taken out of the schools and schools are suffering.

It is better to do things God’s way. Keep the Ten Commandments and 663 laws. 

Jesus pointed out that what comes out of us is what defiles us. To obey the Law brings fulfillment to man. Listen to the heart of God, and know that He has our best in mind.

The beginning of wisdom is obedience to God. 

We want our children to do what is right out of honor and love for us, not because they are scared. You can’t teach a kid to honor and respect you. 

(Heather’s note) Before I was saved I used to think that the Ten Commandments and God’s laws were ways to take away fun and put impossible ideals on us. Now I realize how loving the Commandments are, how God gave them to us to make our lives better, not to repress us. It is from love that the Law comes.  That sure changed my perspective in thinking about the Commandments.

Praying your day is blessed.

Heather

Bible study from 4-30-10

God will come through on the 11th hour. God will not part the Red Sea in advance of the coming Egyptian Army, he will do it at the right time. Don’t doubt, permit, expect or speak the worst. Leave room for God to do His thing.

Isaiah 32:1 Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice.

A Messianic blessing for the Kingdom of God. This chapter reads like the Proverbs giving us nuggets of wisdom.

Isaiah 32:2 A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. 

Who does this describe?  Jesus, who is our hiding place, etc.

Isaiah 32:3-4 The eyes of those who see will not be dim, and the ears of those who hear will listen. Also the heart of the rash will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the stammerers will be ready to speak plainly. 

This is a prophesy of the coming of the Lord with all His benefits and blessings.

Isaiah 32:5-6 The foolish person will no longer be called generous, nor the miser said to be bountiful; for the foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity: to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the LORD, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 

This reads like a Proverb. The understanding of man and the wisdom of man cause us to err against the Lord. Christ gets unseated if we focus on our own understanding.

1 Corinthians 2:1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 

Pastors and shepherds are not to declare the wisdom of the world, but rather the Word of God.

1 Corinthians 2:2-5 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Paul came not with human wisdom, but in a demonstration of the Spirit and power. God fulfills, with blessings and wide rivers of faith. The power of God is not just words. Sermons and homilies are not enough. Even satan can use nice words, persuasive words that deceive people.

The wisdom of man is foolishness. The wisdom of God looks like foolishness to man, but God comes with demonstrations of power.  If you are preaching but there is no demonstration of power it is a social gospel.

Wisdom among the mature, causes us to look deeply in the Word. When we are in need of correction do we receive the correction?  The immature want to defend and justify what they are doing. 

Pastor Don was raised a Baptist Child, and the Baptists are great for getting people saved, but there is not so much faith in Jesus healing people. They give life to the Lord based on preaching. But Jesus healed the sick, preached the gospel, and then people were saved. We have been doing it backwards, we have been preaching salvation, then you can get healed or freed. 

A person once questioned: What if we pray to a Tootsie Roll?  Nothing happens. If we pray to God and nothing happens, what distinguishes God from a Tootsie Roll?  Answer: Signs and wonders. 

TL Osborne was a Methodist minister who wanted to plant the Gospel in India. He could not get people saved there and asked God why.  The Indians said that they believe for gods, but why is the Christian God different.  TL Osborn began to pray and preach the Gospel and people began to be healed. This distinguished God from the Hindu deities.

THE BOOK OF ACTS IS NOT COMPLETED.

The Bible is true and we can do what it says we can do.  We should be looking like the book of Acts.

1 Corinthians 2:6-7 However, we speak wisdom among those who are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,

What was once mystery is not mystery anymore for God ordained them to be revealed for our glory. God wants you to do spiritual exploits so you can get some of His glory. Not just TL Osborne, but we should be building up testimonies of miracles, signs, wonders, words of knowledge and supernatural words of wisdom through God working through us. We need to know who we are in Christ. These should be simple to us as Christ works through us.

1 Corinthians 2:8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

The rulers of this age did not know the mysteries concerning Jesus (Cross, grave, resurrection, and second coming).

1 Corinthians 2:9-12 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

God reveals these mysteries to us through His Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:13-14 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Natural man cannot understand those things taught Spirit to Spirit. The Spiritual understanding has nothing to do with college degrees or intellect.

1 Corinthians 2:15-16 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. For “who has known the mind of the LORD that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

We want the mind of Christ which gives us understanding.

Isaiah 32:5-6 The foolish person will no longer be called generous, nor the miser said to be bountiful; for the foolish person will speak foolishness, and his heart will work iniquity: to practice ungodliness, to utter error against the LORD, to keep the hungry unsatisfied, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. 

There are three ways sin occurs according to this passage.

1. Works of iniquity – (sins) you do not in accordance with God’s will. To practice ungodliness – keeping on doing sins that you love, even when you know that you are sinning.
2. transgressions against another person
3. Sin  - violating God’s commandments.

Nate Holcomb, a pastor that Pastor Don listened to on either radio or  television spoke on Psalm 51:4  Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight—that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when You judge. 

David had arranged that Uriah would be killed to cover up David’s sin of adultery with Bathsheba. When confronted by the prophet Nathan, David said that he sinned against God. He confessed his iniquity.  As king and man of God, David had a burden of conviction that he had sinned against God, violated God’s law. He did not want God’s Spirit taken from him.

If we understand this, we have to be aware of our iniquity, and realize that not only is our sin hurting us, but we are responsible for others, and our sin hurts them. We want to move forward and do God’s will. But if we are holding iniquity in our lives it presents a problem when we are out in the market place. If God says I’ll do it and we go, OK. Iniquity causes us to feel we are not worthy, it also causes us to strike out at each other. If we are mad at God, we hide from God. If we transgress against God or others we hide out from them. The truth is that whether we sin in secret or publicly God still sees it. If we ask for forgiveness, God forgives and it is past. There may be repercussions from the seeds of sin we planted, but in God’s eyes we are forgiven.

Sometimes we want to justify iniquity by putting ourselves down. But if we put our iniquity above God’s forgiveness, our past iniquity becomes an idol. What the devil brings against you about past sins will keep you from doing what you are called to do. If the enemy can get you to devalue yourself he can keep you from being what you are called to be.  People are dying to hear that they are acceptable to God with their sins. 

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

We mess up and God cleans us up. 

Psalm 19:12-13 Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. 

Get me straight so that I don’t have sins or secret faults. Let me not have presumptuous sins.

Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear

If I don’t deal with my iniquity, It interferes with my ability to communicate with God. We cannot rid ourselves of iniquity without God helping us. We want to stay in line with God’s will. We can get out of his will, which is why we must self-check our thoughts and intents to make sure we are under God’s perfect will for our lives.

Isaiah 32:7 Also the schemes of the schemer are evil; he devises wicked plans to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaks justice. 

God will change my value system. When I serve God He will increase my value. People who show up are the ones who are promoted. Jesus washed feet, no rabbi of his day would have done that. Jesus gets down and washes away the dirt. He teaches that we are to take the lower seat, which is the way to promotion. To seek to serve, not to be served. Our value system of what is important has to change. We need to allow God to change our value system.  

Isaiah 32:16-20 Then justice will dwell in the wilderness, and righteousness remain in the fruitful field. The work of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness and assurance forever. My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places, though hail comes down on the forest, and the city is brought low in humiliation. Blessed are you who sow beside all waters, who send out freely the feet of the ox and the donkey.

All waters = ALL PEOPLE.  When we are rebellious it is out of our filth.  Let’s not get out of God’s will.  

Praying you have a blessed day.

Heather