What is the Bible?

The Bible

Written by: George J. Elling

The word “bible” simply means “book.” It has sometimes been called “The Book” or “The Good Book” because it is the most widely published book of all time and because of its content.

Actually, the Bible is not really a single book. Its content was written over a period of about 1,500 years by approximately 40 authors. The subsections of the Bible, also called “books”, consist of various types of literature; from historical narratives to poetry, proverbs, letters, and prophecies. These books are grouped into two main sections: The Old Testament, originally written almost exclusively in Hebrew, and the New Testament, originally written in the common Greek of the first century A.D.

The first 5 books are called the Books of Moses, or the law (“Torah” in Hebrew). They tell us about the creation of man, how we came to be separated from a personal relationship with God, and the consequences of that. They also tell us about the beginnings of God’s plan to bring us back to Himself.

First God called a man, Abram (later called Abraham), to have faith in Him. From the descendants of this one man, God promised to bring blessing and created a nation known today as the Hebrew or Jewish people. Early in their existence, the Hebrews became enslaved in Egypt. So, God called another man, named Moses, to lead the Hebrew people out of slavery and give them laws and regulations to become the nation known as Israel. In this process, God entered into a covenant with the Hebrews such that they would become a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation” with the task of revealing God’s Word to others. The history of Israel and God’s revelations through them make up the rest of the Old Testament until we come to the time of Christ, the Messiah.

Many people do not realize that the word “Christ” is a title and means the same thing as “the Messiah”. The term “Christ” is from the Greek and “Messiah” is from the Hebrew. Translated into English, these terms mean “anointed one.”

As God had sent a deliverer to lead the Hebrews out of slavery in Egypt, God spoke to the Hebrew prophets, priests, and kings about a coming anointed one who would be a deliverer to redeem all people of all nations from their bondage to “sin”, i.e., their acts and attitudes that fall short of God’s holiness and perfection. This sin is what separates us from God and from each other leading to conflicts. The Bible says:

“for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God;”
Romans 3:23

The arrival the Christ and the consequential changes brought about in people’s lives is the story of the New Testament. The New Testament describes Christ’s coming as Jesus of Nazareth, his ministry on earth, his death on a cross, his resurrection to new life, and the development of the early church. The New Testament ends with prophecies of things to come.

The New Testament tells us that Jesus Christ’s death redeemed us from our sins and through his resurrection we are given new life, His life, in and by the Holy Spirit.  That is, we can now have a spiritual rebirth through the spirit. The Bible says:

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Romans 6:23

Thus, the Bible is sometimes referred to as “the gospel” which means “good news.” Yes, the Bible has some hard things to say about us, and the people whose stories it recounts. But it also tells us how we can now be reborn spiritually, and in the future, experience a resurrection to life with God eternally and restoring the relationship we were created to have with Him.

How do you avail yourself of this opportunity for new birth, for a spiritual reset? The Bible says:

8 “But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; 
9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 
10 “For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 
11 “For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. 
12 “For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. 
13 “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Romans 10:8-13

You can call upon the name of the Lord by prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God by faith, out loud or silently in your heart. Express to Him your need for a Savior, or Redeemer, and invite Christ into your life to change you into the person He would have you to be. Then thank Him for His death on the cross for the forgiveness of your sin and for the promise of the Holy Spirit in your life. You will now experience a new life, Christ’s life in your heart.

To grow in your understanding and to express worship to God and to experience fellowship with other believers, seek out a good Bible-teaching church and go there. Ask God to lead you to the right church. As with anything new, it will take some time for you to adjust to what God is doing in your life now that you have placed your faith and trust in Christ. Also, spend some time reading the Bible each day to better understand what is happening in your life. I’d recommend that you start with the New Testament section of the Bible, the section that recounts the Life of Christ on earth and the teachings of the early church. In time you will learn about the Old Testament section of the Bible that recounts what led up to the arrival of Christ on earth and it will give you more foundation for your faith.

Additional Notes about the Bible Quotes:

The words after the biblical quotes, for example, “Romans 10: 8-13”, refer to where the quote came from in the Bible. First is the name of the book within the Bible (Romans 10: 8-13). In this example, the book is called “Romans.” The numbers after the book’s name refer to the chapter and verse, or range of verses where the quote is found (Romans 10: 8-13). In this example, it is chapter 10, verses 8 through 13.

If you are not familiar with the books of the Bible you can look them up in the table of contents in the front of most Bibles.

-GJE

©Mark Davis 2021

Continue Reading:

Create In Me A Clean Heart

You know it took a post from a dear friend on Facebook to make me think about this passage. She said that she had just moved to a new area and that she had no history there and she was looking forward to getting a new start there. I know that where she was before she didn’t have the “cleanest record” (not legally speaking, just the way that people thought about her – I didn’t personally judge her about what happened in her past) so she was going to a place that had no idea of her past and I am not one to tattle on her – by now I’m sure your mind has already started to grind away imagining things that she may have been guilty of – DON’T.

Ps 51:2 – 15 [KJV]
2Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
3For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.
4Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
5Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.
7Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.
9Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.
10Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
12Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.
13Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
14Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
15O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

I looked this passage up as it just came to mind as I read her post. The main verse that I thought of was verse 10; “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” This passage is part of the prayer that the psalmist, David was praying to God, asking for forgiveness for his sin of adultery with Bathsheba.

I’m sure, well, reasonably sure, that you weren’t reading this after having committed adultery yourself, but as you read this, imagine all of the other sins you are guilty of instead. Even if it is just telling a little lie, the Bible says that even if we are guilty of “thinking about” murdering someone, they are guilty of the actual act of murder. I know, that doesn’t really sound fair, does it?

That being the case, if you think about just the thought of a sin as being just a minor “infraction” (even though most people wouldn’t even think of that as even being a sin/ infraction), and the actual act of murder would, obviously, be a major infraction, your could replace that with any of our bad thoughts, similar to any of those things, and that would make any of us, assuming that you are not in jail as you read this, as guilty of murder as the person in jail for murder – Most of us more than one time a day, especially after driving through a busy city on the way home from work.

Back to the topic at hand…

As I was reading through this passage, I was thinking of myself and, as the Holy Spirit has a tendency of doing, He was convicting me of the sins that I had committed and, as I read it through for the 4th time, I was full on crying as I was ashamed of myself for those sins and many more that kept coming to the surface.

I wonder how many of you out there in cyber-land might fit into the same category. As you read through this, I challenge you too to put yourself in my shoes and dig deep into your own memory and read the passage again (and again, and again…) until you can say with a clear conscience that God can look into your soul and see that it is clear of all sin and you can have a nice talk with Him, one on one.

I pray that this has helped you as much as it has me.  Let me know below, in the comments, what you think…

Thought: “When we feel least like praying is the time when we most need to pray.”

R. A. Torrey from “How to Pray” (1900)

© 2017 Mark Davis

 

Continue Reading:

 

Temptation 2

1 Corinthians 10:13
“There hath no temptation taken you
but such as is common to man:
but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted
above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way to escape,
that ye may be able to bear it.”

Matthew 26:41
“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation:
the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

– James 1:12-16
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:
for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life,
which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.”

James 4:7
“Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Hebrews 2:18
“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted,
he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

– Ephesians 6:10-12
10″Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord,
and in the power of his might. 
11″Put on the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12″For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,
but against principalities, against powers,
against the rulers of the darkness of this world,
against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Matthew 4:1-11
“Then was Jesus led up of the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted
of the devil.” 

Ephesians 4:27
“Neither give place to the devil.”

– Mark 14:38
“Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.”

James 1:2-4 
2″My brethren, count it all joy
when ye fall into divers temptations; 

3″Knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience.

4″But let patience have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and entire,
wanting nothing.”

Luke 4:8
And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Get thee behind me, Satan:
for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve.

– 2 Peter 2:9
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly
out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust
unto the day of judgment to be punished”

Proverbs 1:10 –
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”

– Luke 22:40
“And when he was at the place,
he said unto them,
Pray that ye enter not into temptation.”

Revelation 3:10
“Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world,
to try them that dwell upon the earth.”

Hebrews 2:17-18
17″Wherefore in all things it behoved him
to be made like unto his brethren,
that he might be a merciful and faithful
high priest in things pertaining to God,
to make reconciliation for the sins of the people.
18″For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted,
he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

– Hebrews 4:15-16
15″For we have not an high priest which
cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities;
but was in all points tempted like as we are,
yet without sin.

16″Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy,
and find grace to help in time of need.”

John 16:33
“These things I have spoken unto you,
that in me ye might have peace.
In the world ye shall have tribulation:
but be of good cheer;
I have overcome the world.”

©2016 Mark Davis

<< Back to Armed to be Dangerous main page

Continued Reading:

 

Having Done All To Stand

 

Having Done All To Stand

Ephesians 6:13-17 [KJV]
13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

Also, Please Read:

Mary Had A Little Lamb

Lamb

We’ve all heard the poem “Mary Had A Little Lamb”, but most of us only know the first part of it. Click on the link to see how the story ends up. It’s really a shame about that little Lamb…

Mary had a little Lamb,
His fleece was white as snow.
And everywhere that Mary went,
The Lamb was sure to go.

He followed her to school each day,
‘Twasn’t even in the rule.
He made the children laugh and play.
To have a Lamb at school.

And then the rules all changed one day,
Illegal it became;
To bring the Lamb of God to school,
Or even speak His name.

Every day got worse and worse,
And days turned into years.
Instead of hearing children laugh,
We heard gun shots and tears.

What must we do to stop the crime
That’s in our schools today?
Let’s let the Lamb come back to school,
And teach our kids to pray!

–Author unknown

IF YOU AGREE, PLEASE PASS IT ON!

Continue Reading:

Temptation 1

Proverbs 1: 10
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”

Luke 4: 8 —
“And Jesus answered and said unto him,
Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written,
Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God,
and him only shalt thou serve.

1 Corinthians 10: 13
“There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.”

— Matthew 26: 41
Watch and pray,
that ye enter not into temptation:
the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

James 4: 7
“Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

James 1: 12 – 16
12 “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.
13 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:
14 “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
15 “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.
16 “Do not err, my beloved brethren.”

Hebrews 2: 18 —
“For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted,
he is able to succour them that are tempted.”

Ephesians 4: 27
“Neither give place to the devil.”

— Mark 14: 38
Watch ye and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.
The spirit truly is ready, but the flesh is weak.

Hebrews 4: 15
“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.”

Luke 22: 40 —
“And when he was at the place, he said unto them,
Pray that ye enter not into temptation.

James 1: 2 – 4
2 “My brethren,
count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
3 “Knowing this,
that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 “But let patience have her perfect work,
that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”

— Hebrews 12: 4
“Ye have not yet resisted unto blood,
striving against sin.”

2 Corinthians 2: 11 —
“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us:
for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

1 Peter 4: 12
“Beloved, think it not strange
concerning the fiery trial which is to try you,
as though some strange thing happened unto you:”

Mark 9: 42 – 47
42 And whosoever shall offend one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
44 “Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
45 And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
46 Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.
47 And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:

— 1 John 4: 4
“Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them:
because greater is he that is in you,
than he that is in the world.”

1 Peter 4: 1 – 2
1 “Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh,
arm yourselves likewise with the same mind:
for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;
2 “That he no longer should live the rest of his time
in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.”

1 Peter 1: 7 —
“That the trial of your faith,
being much more precious than of gold that perisheth,
though it be tried with fire,
might be found unto praise and honour and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

Ephesians 6: 10 – 17
10 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.
11 “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
13 “Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
14 “Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;
15 “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;
16 “Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
17 “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”

— Romans 6: 12 – 14
12 “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body,
that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.
13 “Neither yield ye your members
as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin:
but yield yourselves unto God,
as those that are alive from the dead,
and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.
14 “For sin shall not have dominion over you:
for ye are not under the law, but under grace.”

Luke 4: 1 – 13
1 “And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
2 “Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
3 “And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.
4 “And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.
5 “And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.
6 “And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.
7 “If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
8 “And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
9 “And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence:
10 “For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:
11 “And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
12 “And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
13 “And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.”

— 2 Chronicles 32: 31
“Howbeit in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon,
who sent unto him to enquire of the wonder that was done in the land,
God left him, to try him,
that he might know all that was in his heart.”

Revelation 3: 10 —
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience,
I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation,
which shall come upon all the world,
to try them that dwell upon the earth.

2 Peter 3: 17
“Ye therefore, beloved,
seeing ye know these things before,
beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked,
fall from your own steadfastness.”

2 Timothy 4: 18
“And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

Galatians 5: 17 —
“For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit,
and the Spirit against the flesh:
and these are contrary the one to the other:
so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.”

Luke 22: 46
“And said unto them, Why sleep ye?
rise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation.

— Proverbs 3: 5 – 6
5 “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;
and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 “In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths.”

1 John 2: 15 – 17
15 “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

1 Peter 4: 7 —
“But the end of all things is at hand:
be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer.”

— 1 Peter 1: 6
“Wherein ye greatly rejoice,
though now for a season, if need be,
ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:”

1 Corinthians 6: 18 – 20
18 “Flee fornication.
Every sin that a man doeth is without the body;
but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.
19 “What? know ye not that your body
is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
20 “For ye are bought with a price:
therefore glorify God in your body,
and in your spirit,
which are God’s.”

Romans 7: 5 —
“For when we were in the flesh,
the motions of sins, which were by the law,
did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.”

— Luke 11: 4
And forgive us our sins;
for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us.
And lead us not into temptation;
but deliver us from evil.

Luke 8: 13 – 14
13 They on the rock are they,
which, when they hear, receive the word with joy;
and these have no root, which for a while believe,
and in time of temptation fall away.
14 And that which fell among thorns are they,
which, when they have heard, go forth,
and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life,
and bring no fruit to perfection.

Mark 10: 21 – 25
21 “Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.
22 “And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.
23 “And Jesus looked round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!
24 “And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Matthew 12: 41 —
The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment
with this generation, and shall condemn it:
because they repented at the preaching of Jonas;
and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

— Proverbs 13: 14
“The law of the wise is a fountain of life,
to depart from the snares of death.”

Psalms 94: 18
“When I said, My foot slippeth;
thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.”

— Psalms 66: 8 – 12
8 “O bless our God, ye people,
and make the voice of his praise to be heard:
9 “Which holdeth our soul in life,
and suffereth not our feet to be moved.
10 “For thou, O God, hast proved us:
thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
11 “Thou broughtest us into the net;
thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
12 “Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water:
but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.”

Genesis 39: 7 – 14
7 “And it came to pass after these things, that his master’s wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with me.
8 “But he refused, and said unto his master’s wife, Behold, my master wotteth not what is with me in the house, and he hath committed all that he hath to my hand;
9 “There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
10 “And it came to pass, as she spake to Joseph day by day, that he hearkened not unto her, to lie by her, or to be with her.
11 “And it came to pass about this time, that Joseph went into the house to do his business; and there was none of the men of the house there within.
12 “And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out.
13 “And it came to pass, when she saw that he had left his garment in her hand, and was fled forth,
14 “That she called unto the men of her house, and spake unto them, saying, See, he hath brought in an Hebrew unto us to mock us; he came in unto me to lie with me, and I cried with a loud voice:”

Revelation 12: 11
“And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb,
and by the word of their testimony;
and they loved not their lives unto the death.”

Hebrews 12: 3 —
“For consider him that endured such contradiction
of sinners against himself,
lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.”

1 Timothy 5: 15
“For some are already turned aside after Satan.”

— 1 Corinthians 7: 5
“Defraud ye not one the other,
except it be with consent for a time,
that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer;
and come together again,
that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.”

Romans 14: 13 —
“Let us not therefore judge one another any more:
but judge this rather, that no man put a stumbling-block
or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”

Zechariah 13: 9
“And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.”

— Ecclesiastes 1: 9
“The thing that hath been,
it is that which shall be;
and that which is done is that which shall be done:
and there is no new thing under the sun.”

Proverbs 14: 27 —
“The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life,
to depart from the snares of death.”

Psalms 66: 10 – 13
10 “For thou, O God, hast proved us:
thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.
11 “Thou broughtest us into the net;
thou laidst affliction upon our loins.
12 “Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads;
we went through fire and through water:
but thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place.
13 “I will go into thy house with burnt offerings:
I will pay thee my vows,”

— Psalms 17: 4
“Concerning the works of men,
by the word of thy lips I have kept me
from the paths of the destroyer.”

Job 7: 18
“And that thou shouldest visit him every morning,
and try him every moment?”

Joshua 7: 21 —
“When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment,
and two hundred shekels of silver,
and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight,
then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold,
they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent,
and the silver under it.”

— Genesis 27: 6 – 13
6 “And Rebekah spake unto Jacob her son, saying,
Behold, I heard thy father speak unto Esau thy brother, saying,
7 “Bring me venison, and make me savoury meat,
that I may eat, and bless thee before the LORD before my death.
8 “Now therefore, my son,
obey my voice according to that which I command thee.
9 “Go now to the flock, and fetch me from thence two good kids of the goats;
and I will make them savoury meat for thy father, such as he loveth:
10 “And thou shalt bring it to thy father,
that he may eat, and that he may bless thee before his death.
11 “And Jacob said to Rebekah his mother,
Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man:
12 “My father peradventure will feel me,
and I shall seem to him as a deceiver;
and I shall bring a curse upon me, and not a blessing.
13 “And his mother said unto him, Upon me be thy curse, my son:
only obey my voice, and go fetch me them.”

Genesis 22: 1 – 14
1 “And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I am.
2 “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.
3 “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the wood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went unto the place of which God had told him.
4 “Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place afar off.
5 “And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.
6 “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.
7 “And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?
8 “And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.
9 “And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham built an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.
10 “And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.
11 “And the angel of the LORD called unto him out of heaven, and said, Abraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.
12 “And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me.
13 “And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.
14 “And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovahjireh: as it is said to this day, In the mount of the LORD it shall be seen.”

Genesis 3: 1 – 19 —
1 “Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field
which the LORD God had made.
And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said,
Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
2 “And the woman said unto the serpent,
We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:
3 “But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
4 “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
5 “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof,
then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil.
6 “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food,
and that it was pleasant to the eyes,
and a tree to be desired to make one wise,
she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat,
and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.
7 “And the eyes of them both were opened,
and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together,
and made themselves aprons.
8 “And they heard the voice 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 amongst the trees of the garden.
9 “And the LORD God called unto Adam,
and said unto him, Where art thou?
10 “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden,
and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.
11 “And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked?
Hast thou eaten of the tree,
whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?
12 “And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me,
she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.
13 “And the LORD God said unto the woman,
What is this that thou hast done?
And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
14 “And the LORD God said unto the serpent,
Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle,
and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go,
and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:
15 “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman,
and between thy seed and her seed;
it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.
16 “Unto the woman he said,
I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception;
in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;
and thy desire shall be to thy husband,
and he shall rule over thee.
17 “And unto Adam he said,
Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife,
and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying,
Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake;
in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 “Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee;
and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 “In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread,
till thou return unto the ground;
for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art,
and unto dust shalt thou return.”

— Revelation 12: 10
“And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven,
Now is come salvation, and strength,
and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:
for the accuser of our brethren is cast down,
which accused them before our God day and night.”

2 Peter 2: 18 —
“For when they speak great swelling words of vanity,
they allure through the lusts of the flesh,
through much wantonness,
those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.”

2 Peter 2: 15
“Which have forsaken the right way,
and are gone astray,
following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor,
who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”

— 2 Peter 2: 9
“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations,
and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:”

1 Peter 4: 5 —
“Who shall give account to him that is ready
to judge the quick and the dead.”

Hebrews 11: 17
“By faith Abraham,
when he was tried, offered up Isaac:
and he that had received the promises
offered up his only begotten son,”

— 2 Timothy 3: 13
“But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse,
deceiving, and being deceived.”

1 Timothy 6: 9 – 10
9 “But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 
“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.”

1 Timothy 5: 8 —
“But if any provide not for his own,
and specially for those of his own house,
he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.”

— 1 Thessalonians 3: 5
“For this cause, when I could no longer forbear,
I sent to know your faith,
lest by some means the tempter have tempted you,
and our labour be in vain.”

Galatians 4: 14 —
“And my temptation which was in my flesh
ye despised not, nor rejected;
but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.”

2 Corinthians 12: 7
“And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.”

2 Corinthians 11: 14 – 15
14 
“Therefore it is no great thing
if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness;
whose end shall be according to their works.”
15 “And no marvel;
for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”

— 2 Corinthians 11: 3
“But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty,
so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ.”

1 Corinthians 10: 28 – 32
28 “But if any man say unto you,
This is offered in sacrifice unto idols,
eat not for his sake that shewed it,
and for conscience sake:
for the earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof:
29 “Conscience, I say, not thine own, but of the other:
for why is my liberty judged of another man’s conscience?
30 “For if I by grace be a partaker,
why am I evil spoken of for that for which I give thanks?
31 “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do,
do all to the glory of God.
32 “Give none offence, neither to the Jews,
nor to the Gentiles, nor to the church of God:”

1 Corinthians 8: 9 – 13
9 “But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become a stumbling-block to them that are weak.
10 “For if any man see thee which hast knowledge sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols;
11 “And through thy knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died?
12 “But when ye sin so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin against Christ.
13 “Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend.”

Romans 14: 15 —
“But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat,
now walkest thou not charitably.
Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.”

Romans 12: 21
“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.”

—  Romans 8: 35 – 39
35 
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution,
or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 “As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long;
we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
37 “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him that loved us.
38 “For I am persuaded,
that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
39 “Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

John 10: 10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

Luke 22: 55 – 60 —
55 “And when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the hall,
and were set down together, Peter sat down among them.
56 “But a certain maid beheld him as he sat by the fire,
and earnestly looked upon him, and said,
This man was also with him.
57 “And he denied him, saying, Woman, I know him not.
58 “And after a little while another saw him, and said,
Thou art also of them. And Peter said, Man, I am not.
59 “And about the space of one hour after another
confidently affirmed, saying,
Of a truth this fellow also was with him: for he is a Galilaean.
60 “And Peter said, Man, I know not what thou sayest.
And immediately, while he yet spake, the cock crew.”

Luke 22: 31 – 32
31 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not:
and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
32 
And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold,
Satan hath desired to have you,
that he may sift you as wheat:

Luke 21: 33 – 36 —
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away:
but my words shall not pass away.
34 And take heed to yourselves,
lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting,
and drunkenness, and cares of this life,
and so that day come upon you unawares.
35 For as a snare shall it come on all them
that dwell on the face of the whole earth.
36 Watch ye therefore, and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to escape
all these things that shall come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of man.”

— Luke 12: 35 – 38
35 Let your loins be girded about,
and your lights burning;
36 “And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord,
when he will return from the wedding;
that when he cometh and knocketh,
they may open unto him immediately.
37 Blessed are those servants,
whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching:
verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself,
and make them to sit down to meat,
and will come forth and serve them.
38 And if he shall come in the second watch,
or come in the third watch, and find them so,
blessed are those servants.

Mark 14: 67 – 71
67 “And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth.
68 “But he denied, saying, I know not, neither understand I what thou sayest. And he went out into the porch; and the cock crew.
69 “And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood by, This is one of them.
70 “And he denied it again. And a little after, they that stood by said again to Peter, Surely thou art one of them: for thou art a Galilaean, and thy speech agreeth thereto.
71 But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man of whom ye speak.”

Mark 14: 37
And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping,
and saith unto Peter, Simon, sleepest thou?
couldest not thou watch one hour?

Mark 13: 33 – 37 —
33 Take ye heed, watch and pray:
for ye know not when the time is.
34 For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey,
who left his house, and gave authority to his servants,
and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
35 Watch ye therefore:
for ye know not when the master of the house cometh,
at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
36 Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
37 “And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch!

Mark 13: 21 – 22
21 And then if any man shall say to you,
Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he is there; believe him not:
22 For false Christs and false prophets shall rise,
and shall shew signs and wonders,
to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.

©2013 Mark Davis

Continued Reading:

Prayer

Once a person has initiated a personal relationship with God, he/she should want to try to cultivate that new relationship with God.

As with any other type of relationship, you can NOT have a relationship without communication; there needs to be you talking to someone and that someone talking back to you.  That is the way you get to know each other.  One talks – the other listens.  It doesn’t work so well when one does all of the talking and the other doesn’t talk at all.  It becomes a one sided love affair, so to speak.

So now we have this “love affair”; between you… and God.  How does that work?

I know that there is this part about how you are supposed to do what God wants you to do but how do you really know what that is?

It all has to do with prayer. 

God made the first move by sending Jesus to die for our sins. 

You made the next move by trusting in His redemptive blood to save you from sin’s deadly fury. 

God has now made you a part of His family; a son of God; joint-heirs with Jesus to the King-hood of God.

The next step is that we are to follow Christ. 

Now we are back to where we started again.  Where do you go from here?

You need two things:

1) A Bible (if you don’t have a physical Bible, you obviously have the internet and there are bibles available online).
2) An insatiable desire to please God by learning and doing what He tells you to do.

If you look around you at church, you will notice that there is not one person around you that is anything like you.  That is exactly the way God wants it, because you are special.  No one else has the same set of skills or personality traits that you have.  God needs YOU to do exactly the things that you are equipped to do.  Sometimes you might know right off hand what those things are that need to be done, but other times, you have to wait for years to find out what it is that He wants you to do for Him.

Prayer

Prayer is another way of saying that we are talking to God.  Unless you know something that I don’t, talking to Him is very much unlike the way we talk to others around us right now.  We can see most people that we talk to (unless they are on the phone or on the internet).  They are visible to us.

However, we have to pray to God “in the Spirit” because He literally is within you.  God, the Father, is still in Heaven.  Jesus, God the Son, is in Heaven awaiting His return for us, but when Jesus left us, He gave to us a “Comforter”, otherwise known as the Holy Spirit – the Third Person of the triune Godhead. According to Romans 8:9, the Spirit “dwells within” us.

I’ll give you one way to look at it but there are many others as well…

Jesus_Teaching

The “Lord’s Prayer”
Matthew 6:9-13
  9 “Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be thy name.
 10 “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
 11 “Give us this day our daily bread.
 12 “And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
 13 “And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil:
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory,
forever.
Amen.”
 
We’ve all heard this prayer at some time or another and are quite familiar with it, but do we really know what it is or what it was intended for?  It is commonly called “The Lord’s Prayer” but, truth be told, our Lord wasn’t really praying when He said it.  So then what was it said for?
 
“The Lord’s Prayer” was intended to be a model for us so that we might learn to talk to God too.
 
In Matthew 6 at the beginning of verse 9, it actually says, “After this manner therefore pray ye.”  This “prayer” was actually intended to be a model prayer for us to be able to use to talk to God.  You see, prior to this time, normal people were never expected to be able to talk to God unless you were a prophet or a priest or maybe a king.  We were to have a “go-between”, or a priest to be able to have his prayers reach God.  Today we don’t need a priest due to the fact that we are to pray to God through Jesus, or in Jesus’ name.  (John 14: 13-14; John 15: 16; John 16: 23-24; John 16: 26)
 

Let’s take this model apart and see how this is supposed to work.

Greeting:

Our Father

“which art in heaven”

What specific Father are we speaking to (just in case there might be another father in the room where you are praying so there is no confusion).

“hallowed be thy name”

Showing reverence to our one and only Holy Father.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.”

Praying for His kingdom to finally come because we want to see Him again, and that His will will be done on earth as it is always done in Heaven.  Unfortunately, enough, His will isn’t done on earth that often.

Give us this day our daily bread.”

We are asking for our daily sustenance.  We are relying on Him to provide for us our food and raiment for the day.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.”

Help those whom we owe to forgive our debts in the same manner in which we forgive those who owe us.  In other words, “do unto others as we would have them do unto us”.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil”

This is very similar to the previous line where, we are asking our Heavenly Father to keep us from temptation and, if/when we fall, that He would remove us from that situation, or “evil”.

This final segment is frequently left out of our current “Lord’s Prayers”.  For some reason, someone doesn’t want it to happen:

For thine is the kingdom,”

His kingdom is here, now!  This is not the same kingdom for which we prayed just a few minutes ago above, but rather we are asking for His Spirit to be around us and to work around us for this “time frame”, the time in which we live now.

and the power,”

… And He has ALL the power in this world and ALL of the power OVER this world.  He is ALL POWERFUL!

and the glory,”

… And because He is all powerful, we will give Him ALL the glory that is due to Him for everything that He does for us and around us, because He is ALL GLORIOUS!

“,forever.”

How long?

forever!”

“Amen.”

Pause, and close the prayer.  (Sort of like saying your good-byes.)

Later in scripture, Jesus taught that “…whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” – John 14: 13. (mentioned above)

So, to most properly end the prayer (but by all means not the only way to do it) we would say:

“In Jesus’ name we ask these things.  Amen.”

 More to come regarding Prayer.

©2013 Mark Davis

Continued Reading:

Additional Reading:

 

 

 

 

The Will of God

(how to find, know, and obey)

Ephesians 5: 17
“Wherefore be ye not unwise,
but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”

— Proverbs 16: 3
“Commit thy works unto the LORD,
and thy thoughts shall be established.”

1 Samuel 15: 22
“And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.”

Psalm 119: 105 —
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
and a light unto my path.”

— Psalm 32: 8, 9
8 “I will instruct thee and teach thee
in the way which thou shalt go:
I will guide thee with mine eye.
9 “Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule,
which have no understanding:
whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle,
lest they come near unto thee.”

1 Thessalonians 5: 18
“In every thing give thanks:
for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

Psalm 25: 4, 5 —
4 “Shew me thy ways, O LORD;
teach me thy paths.
5 “Lead me in thy truth, and teach me:
for thou art the God of my salvation;
on thee do I wait all the day.”

Hebrews 13: 20-21
20 “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
21 “Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

— 1 Thessalonians 4: 3
“For this is the will of God,
even your sanctification,
that ye should abstain from fornication:”

1 John 2: 16 – 17 —
16 “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life,
is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 “And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof:
but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

Luke 6: 46
“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord,
and do not the things which I say?”

— Romans 12: 1 – 2
¹ “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God,
that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

² “And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind,
that ye may prove what is that good,
and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

John 6: 38 – 40
38 “For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.
39 “And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
40 “And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Matthew 28: 19
“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”

Matthew 7: 21 – 23 —
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;
but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord,
have we not prophesied in thy name?
and in thy name have cast out devils?
and in thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them,
I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

— Ephesians 5: 15 – 20
15 “See then that ye walk circumspectly,
not as fools, but as wise,
16 “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 “Wherefore be ye not unwise,
but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
18 “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;
but be filled with the Spirit;
19 “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 “Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;”

Matthew 6: 33
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Jeremiah 29: 11 – 13
11 “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 “Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13 “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

Isaiah 55: 11 —
“So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth:
it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish
that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.”

2 Peter 3: 9
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise,
as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward,
not willing that any should perish,
but that all should come to repentance.”

1 Thessalonians 4: 3 – 5
3 “For this is the will of God, even your sanctification,
that ye should abstain from fornication:
4 “That every one of you should know how to
possess his vessel in sanctification and honour;
5 “Not in the lust of concupiscence,
even as the Gentiles which know not God:”

1 John 3: 10 —
“In this the children of God are manifest,
and the children of the devil:
whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God,
neither he that loveth not his brother.”

Ephesians 1: 11
“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:”

John 7: 17
“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine,
whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.”

— Isaiah 46: 10
“Declaring the end from the beginning,
and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying,
My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:”

Psalms 40: 8 —
“I delight to do thy will, O my God:
yea, thy law is within my heart.”

1 Thessalonians 5: 22
“Abstain from all appearance of evil.”

2 Corinthians 5: 17
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

— Luke 8: 21
“And he answered and said unto them,
My mother and my brethren are these which hear the word of God,
and do it.”

 John 14: 15
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”

 ©2013 Mark Davis

<< Go back to the Armed To Be Dangerous main page

Continued Reading:

Kimberly Dawn Nyborg – Reconciling Your Past

Wrestling with unforgiveness of the past sins that I have committed has taken me on such an interesting journey.  It seems odd that I came to understand God’s forgiveness even before I was capable of forgiving myself.

How many of you have done some stuff in your past that has been unlovely, corrupt, ugly, even despicable?

On my journey I have found it quite interesting to see that God does not place sins on a scale of 1-10.  A simple look at the Ten Commandments makes that rather clear.  You can stretch them as far as you want and the bottom line is that without the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we have all fallen short of all of the Commandments.

That is why our righteousness is considered as filthy rags as it says in Isaiah 64:6.  But that being said, I will admit that it seems that the ‘uglier’ the sin we commit, the harder it is to reconcile, perhaps because our tendency is to rate sin.

Looking back at myself as a fifteen year old, on my own, revisiting the stuff that I let myself get into, made it very difficult to believe that God could and had forgiven my sin.  Thankfully, and after much study in the Word, the truth prevailed and with a huge step of faith I received His forgiveness.  I was then left to struggle with forgiving myself for what I had done!  I knew what I had done and had been involved with were wrong and that I was completely rebellious in my actions.

It is here that I would like to put in a plug for Dr. Neil Anderson’s ministry, Freedom in Christ.  This is just one of the ministries out there that focuses on our identity in Christ.  I absorbed myself in his book Victory Over Darkness and God used it to change the way I saw myself.  I can give credit to a ‘book’ because in this book were the many Scriptures that assured me that I was accepted by Him, secure in Him and significant to Him.  I was able to believe that if God could forgive me, I had to be able to forgive myself.

You may have said to yourself, “How am I worthy of God’s love?”

  • I got pregnant out of wedlock and the father of the child convinced me that we did not know each other well enough to get married.  He decided that I would have an abortion to solve the predicament in which we found ourselves.
  • When my first marriage was on the verge of divorce, a “Christian” counselor once asked me, “Do you believe that you are ‘good enough’ to marry a pastor?”  My reaction was that no pastor would ever want me for a wife, not with all that I had done in my past!  I was not a born again believer at that time but was attending church and seeing a church counselor to try to save my marriage.
  • One of my loved ones believes he is a ‘good man’ because he does lots of ‘good things’.  He also believes that he is not good when he does not do good.  His belief is that to be a part of the kingdom of God you have to do lots of good things and keep your “nose clean” (so to speak).

My thoughts toward myself were that I certainly could never be used in God’s work because of all my past failures.  Who would want what I had to offer especially if they knew what I had done?

I wonder just how many folks out there are letting their past rule instead of willingly making the decision to say, “If God can, then I must“?  When I do not forgive my past, I am saying that God is not able to see me through the shed blood of His Son, Jesus.

I am not saying that you cannot have Christ in your heart if you are unable to forgive yourself of past sins.  But, what I am saying is that it is a hurdle that, once leaped and internalized, will literally thrust you to the next level.  Why walk around with a debility that is not necessary and that can be healed?

Too many of us with bad stuff in our past have simply skewed the truth, having a very shallow view of who we truly are as children of God.

My friend Peggy, who has spent years studying the Jewish roots of the faith, once shared the analogy of our identity in Christ like this: If you take a piece of white wool and dip it into a dye, it absorbs that dye and becomes that dye’s color.  Now ‘color’ is not quite the same thing as our identity but the principle is the same.  In essence, we have been dipped in the shed blood of Christ and we are now covered to the point that God sees us absorbed in Christ’s blood.  We have now absorbed His very essence.  Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”.

When we become born-again Christians, it is so vital that we make the decision to embrace the Word (God’s truth) and all it has to say to us. In doing so, we can eventually get to the place where we see that we can forgive ourselves for our jaded past because it is first and foremost washed under the blood of Christ.

The following list of verses are only a few that will help us to forgive ourselves because we have made the choice to believe them.

I am accepted…

John 1: 12 — God gave us the right to be His child.
Romans 5: 1 — We have been justified by faith.
1 Corinthians 6: 19, 20 — The Holy Spirit lives in me… I have been bought with Christ’s precious blood.
Ephesians 1:5 — I am now adopted as His child.
Colossians 1:14 — I have redemption through Christ’s blood and my sins are forgiven.

I am secure…

Romans 8: 1 — I am no longer under condemnation, free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8: 2 — I no longer walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Hebrews 4: 16 — I am now able to boldly ask of God Himself having mercy and grace in my time of need.

I am significant…

John 15: 5 — I am a branch of the true vine and I abide in Him.
1 Corinthians 3: 16 — I am God’s temple and filled with the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 2: 10 — I am created in Christ Jesus for good works.
Ephesians 3: 12 — I am free to boldly come before God without fear.

Oh, my friend, there is nothing that you can do to make yourself clean, good and usable to the King.  Only by admitting your need of the Savior and accepting Jesus’ death on your behalf, then becoming crucified with Christ because it is no longer you who live but Christ who lives in you!

“Jesus, my Lord, my Savior and my Friend, I thank you for showing me that I can forgive myself as You have already done, of every unlovely thing in my past, present and future.  It is because of Your amazing love for me that I can walk with a much lighter step as I live my life and serve You for the rest of my days.  I will praise You, for Your Word tells me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.  I cannot even express my gratefulness for Your shed blood.  Let me live my life in worship and wonder of Your majesty. Amen.”

Much of what has been shared in dealing with this stronghold of forgiving myself will tie in with our next one, “Walking in the Truth”, so we can believe what God says about who we are!  Too many of us struggle with these issues, especially when coming from a self-debasing past.

From the Editor:Kimberly Dawn Nyborg

Thank you so much for your contribution Kimberly.  It really is awesome to see how God works in and through us if we allow Him too.  If you would like to read more of Kimberly’s writings on this blog you can find them here:

“The Gift of Contentment”

Kimberly thoroughly enjoys sharing her gift of encouragement by sharing her heart and story at various types of speaking engagements.  She has been guest speaker at retreats, camps, many women’s events, as a guest speaker in church and as a representative for Psalm FM Radio station for many years.  In radio rallies she has also served as worship leader.  You can contact her through her website.

Readers, please leave a comment below to let Kimberly know what you think of her story, especially if it has touched your heart somehow.

You can also read more from Kimberly in her new blog and her website.

©2013 Mark Davis

Leave Your Comment Here

 

Continued Reading:

What is God’s Will For My Life?

“Many people ask me what can they do to find out what God’s will is for their life.

My Answer: I’m too busy doing things for God to find out what His will is for me to do for Him.”

— Mark Davis

Philippians 2: 13
For it is God which worketh in you both
to will and to do of his good pleasure.”

  • Translate This Site Into Your Language

  • Follow Christians Are Us on WordPress.com
  • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

    Join 604 other subscribers
  • Like us on FaceBook

    To get all of the behind the scenes happenings with the Christians Are Us Group. It’s the more “personal” side of Christians Are Us. Press the “Like” button below.

  • Christians Are Us’ Social Sites

  • Blog Stats

    • 259,153 Page Views
  • Our Friends

  • GREAT COMMISSION FUND

    Now you can help support ChristiansAreUs.com and all it represents and helping us to move forward and expand our ability to get the Gospel out into the world by donating through PayPal. Unfortunately, these things aren't free or cheap. All you have to do is just CLICK the button below. Thank you for your donation to support the ministry of ChristiansAreUs.com.
%d bloggers like this: