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Work of the Holy Spirit Part 2

by admin

May 24th, 2011

There is a story about a great American Hero; he was not just a man of faith but was a school teacher, and editor. Convicted he needed to be doing more to spread his message and further his ministry work Elijah Lovejoy left the pulpit and returned to the press in order to be sure his words reached more people. Had the United States been filled with men like Lovejoy the Civil War might have been averted and a peaceful emancipation of slaves achieved. One day after observing one lynching, Lovejoy was committed forever to fighting uncompromisingly the awful sin of slavery. Mob action was brought against him time after time; neither this nor many threats and attempts on his life deterred him. People would repeatedly destroy his presses and yet this did not stop him. Lovejoy is quoted as to have said, “If by compromise is meant that I should cease from my duty, I cannot make it. I fear God more that I fear man. Crush me if you will, but I shall die at my post…” And he did, four days later, at the hands of another mob. Not one of the ruffians was prosecuted or indicted or punished in any way for this murder. (Although some of Lovejoy’s defenders were prosecuted! One of the mob assassins was later elected mayor of Alton!) So what can be said about Lovejoy’s conviction and his impact on this world? There was one young man was around and was deeply moved by the Lovejoy martyrdom. This young man worked his way up as a lawyer and at that time had just been elected to the Illinois legislature. This young man’s name was Abraham Lincoln.

God uses the Holy Spirit to convict us of many things, it’s God’s way of communicating to us his will for our lives! Here is another excellent example of Conviction. Remember out basic principles of Inductive bible study is to:

Observe
Interpret
Apply

Here is Acts chapter 2 we see some amazing things happening. Peter gets up and preaches a sermon before he even has to make an appeal to his fellow countrymen from all over the world they response according to the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Vs.37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do?

Indeed what shall we do? This is the basic question that we are faced with when we are first introduced to Jesus and better yet when the Lord presents something to us that may be outside of his will for us. What shall we do!

Just so that we are clear on the main observations here on Peter’s Sermon from Acts 2:14-41

Acts 2 (esp. 36-38)—example of conviction and the response of what comes from it
- Peter preaches and at the end says that they Jesus they have killed is really the Messiah, the Son of God.
- The spirit convicted them of sin—that they had done what was wrong. They asked Peter what they could do. He said repent and they would receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. They saw they were responsible for the death of God’s son. They were cut to the heart. In that time of conviction, Peter called them to repent. God promises to the repentant the gift of the Spirit.

To me the basic question to follow this is to ask how one receives the Holy Spirit.

Gal. 3:2-6
- How do you receive the spirit?
- By the works of the law? No! We don’t receive the spirit by doing good works, but rather by believing.
- Hearing with faith? Vs. 6—hearing by faith. If we hear the message of Jesus and mix it with faith, we receive the gift of the spirit. Hear with faith, you receive the spirit.

I would also like to point out that the way one received this faith is documented in Romans So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

The following questions to ask are why does God send his spirit and how does it apply to us?

Gal. 3:26, Gal 4:6
- Why does God send the spirit? Because we are sons.
- How do we become sons? We are sons through faith.
  - Faith yields son-ship which brings the spirit
  - The moment we believe the spirit comes into the life.

Romans 5:1-5
Vs. 1—justified by faith. Then he discusses the trials of life. But he says that no matter what comes, you can have the assurance of eternal life because the holy spirit has been poured out in our lives.

The Holy Spirit interacts with us in the sense of sealing us as an earnest or down payment, a sort of promise if you will so that we can be near to God. So what other work comes from the Holy Spirit?

Eph. 1:13-14—when you believe you get the spirit and this guarantees that God will work in your life!

What happens when we believe? He seals us.

The seal of the Holy Spirit in Ephesians is not the same as the seal in Revelation. This is because the believers in Ephesians are sealed with the Holy Spirit as soon as they believe. In Revelation, there are servants of God that have yet to be sealed. They are believers; however, they have not received the seal yet. So the seal in Revelation cannot be this same seal or otherwise they would have received the seal of the Holy Spirit as soon as they had believed.

What is the purpose of the seal of the Holy Spirit? It is a guarantee of our receiving our inheritance or eternal life. The Holy Spirit is given to us as God’s guarantee that we will also receive eternal life.

2 Cor. 1:21,22—same as verse above
He has given us his spirit as a guarantee.

Now the real and final question of today’s lesson is “How do we know that we have the Holy Spirit?”

Romans 8:14-16

This is the difference between knowing about God and experiencing God. God is a person and He is more than just propositional facts so we could not only know about him but know him as a person. The confirmation of the Holy Spirit is the virtue of the fact that you can now only know about God but know him as a friend!

Also the confirming work of the spirit is that you are a child of God. He gives you the sense that you are child of God. This is a transcendent assurance that is beyond emotions, tangibility, or understanding.

Are you tired of living a life of doubt, a life of emptiness? So was I, and God had used the conviction of the Holy Spirit to work with me when I was addicted to Alcohol. He not only gave me his Holy Spirit when I reached out to him he also gave me the victory over alcohol and healed a bleeding ulcer that I had received while being addicted! Today friends God wants to work in your life wont you let him? For a Dynamic Prayer Life filled with the Holy Spirit Check out Prayer 90x and for more How to study the Bible Tips.

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Work of the Holy Spirit Part 1

by admin

April 11th, 2011

I like to go to Ihop with my family for breakfast sometimes. I love eating their pancakes and really just get a joy of having a nice meal out with my beautiful wife and children. I also like to enjoy a nice hot cup of coffee (usually decaf) and they bring you your very own “pot” if you will that sits on the table and putting you in charge of warming up your current cup and keeping it going if you will. You have probably been in a restaurant where the waitress does this all for you and has asked, “Can I warm up your coffee for you?” The cup may be half-full and cold after sitting on the table for a while. When she pours the new coffee in, she refills and warms up the cup.

Either way you look at it if you don’t ask for the warm up or put to task getting the hot beverage yourself by getting it your left with an empty cold experience at the breakfast table right? How about this though: maybe you are spiritually cold and empty. You’re a lot like that coffee cup half full or empty, cold and really kind of not worth drinking. It doesn’t have to stay that way. You can quit trying to live in your own power and strength. Ask God to fill you with the Holy Spirit right now. We are going to embark on a journey today to see what just is the work of the Holy Spirit.

God wants to dwell with his people, we see it in the story of the Exodus and the building of the Sanctuary and we see it again in the Gospel of John

John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

A great Author from the 1800’s named Andrew Murray once said it:

“May not a single moment of my life be spent outside the light, love and joy of God’s presence and not a moment without the entire surrender of myself as a vessel for Him to fill full of His Spirit and His love.” Andrew Murray.

To me the overall work of the Holy Spirit is to Convict, Confirm, and Conform. So our first question is this: What is the first role of the Holy Spirit in our lives? John 16:8-11 gives us an overview of conviction. Notice exactly what the Savior is trying to communicate here. Can you see the three things that God is calling to your attention as the role of the Holy Spirit in your life and in this world? Notice how the bible uses a repeat and enlarge method to get the point across to us the reader! The Holy Spirit brings about conviction of Sin, of Righteousness, and of Judgment!

Conviction of Sin:

You see our disbelief sets us apart from God at times, not because he is apart from us but we ourselves separate from God because of our disbelief! Often times the deliverance from sin that we seek falls short because we often return to the revolving door of it. The bottom line is that the Holy Spirit first works in convicting us of sin pricking our very hearts and minds of evil so that our attention can be turned to righteousness. In other words we need to be able to see that we are personal sinners in need of a personal savior!

Conviction of Righteousness:

Why does the Holy Spirit convict of Righteousness? I think that it is safe to say that Jesus in his life is the perfect example of what a straight line would look like wouldn’t you agree? His life of obedience, love, and compassion show the perfect embodiment of what righteousness really is. Now our life generally bares a little to the left or right when held up to the straight line showing indeed that we often are the crooked line and not the straight! To me the Holy Spirit brings to light the straight line and life of Christ, we need and have a pattern to life. We have a savior who can not only understand our convictions and struggles but give us victory into righteousness. This is the second work of the Holy Spirit in conviction which is after we realize our sinfulness our look for the Savior is born into our brains and hearts.

Conviction of Judgment:

The world is being judged the followers of lovers of sin and selfishness will be soon delivered into the Lake of Fire! The conviction of judgment to me is to bring about the decision we have before us, and that is to choose Jesus and his righteousness to cover our sinfulness and give us the ultimate escape from the condemnation of sin and lead us into the protecting arms of God!

The scripture testifies of the Holy Spirit in action through Peter as he preached in Acts chapter 2:

Act 2:36-38 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

These people were convicted, and desired the very thing they knew to be missing and Peter was there to lead them to the savior.

Next time we will look at the conforming power of the Holy Spirit. Be sure to sign up for the free How to Study the Bible Tips! If you desire to read more about the Holy Spirit check out Ministry of the Holy Spirit.

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Are You Suffering

by admin

March 24th, 2011

Are you Suffering?

A man turns his life over to God and does some great things! He preaches all over the world, he even was able to raise the dead… But in a tragic accident he watches helplessly as the tractor he is riding rolls over his nephew holding him in his arms he carries him to the hospital only to watch him die the question is: ARE YOU SUFFERING?

A husband is tormented by his wife’s adulteries, crying himself to sleep at times as she vividly displays herself around town. He is broken inside so I ask again: ARE YOU SUFFERING?

A child gets abused daily from a Drunken Father. He doesn’t understand why the angry exists why he is in so much trouble both he and his mother continue to get beat I ask again: ARE YOU SUFFERING?

Hellen Keller probably said it best: “the world is full of suffering… but it is also full of overcoming it!”

One of the greatest facts I have ever learned was no one ever Loved like Jesus! Yet no one ever suffered like Jesus!

The bible says that God is love, that God is all powerful, that God is illimitable, infinite, and inexhaustible yet the New Testament declares unanimously:

Matt 16:21 Jesus must suffer many things

Luke 17:24, 25 The Son of Man must suffer many things AND be rejected

Luke 22:15 I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer

Luke 24:26 Ought not the Christ to have suffered?

Luke 24:46 It was necessary for the Messiah to suffer

Acts 3:18, 17:3, Christ would suffer, Christ had to suffer

1 Pet 2:21 Christ suffered for us, 1 Pet 3:18 Christ suffered for sins

God’s Suffering… God’s Pain

Jesus was often misunderstood let’s take a look at for starters. John 14:9 have I been with you so long yet you have not know me Philip? Now turn to Luke 24:26 and we see this “ought not the Christ to have suffered?” Back in the Gospel of John Jesus proclaimed to them that they studied the scriptures because in them they have eternal life yet it is they that testify of him!

I ask the question to you today have you ever been misunderstood. Have your own intensions been looked at as if you have a different motive that what is really the truth! How about your sense of decision making? You’re arguing with a friend because you’re misunderstood or you misunderstood someone right?

If being misunderstood can sting then being rejected must cut deep!

Turn to the Gospel of John:

John 1:11 he came onto his own and his own did not receive him!

John 7:5 his brother did not believe him

Matthew 26:56 all the disciples forsook him and fled

You see Jesus wept over Jerusalem as they would not allow him to gather them like a hen does her chick, and now the question I have for you is that of do you know or have you felt the cut of reject?

False Accusations add to the burden of Suffering.

Look into Matthew 26:59-60- false accusations show that people lied about who Jesus was, what he did and what he said.

I was once faced with a deep lie against me. In high school I was pulled into the principal’s office after picking up my brother from middle school. Without going into great detail I was accused of recruiting kids to the Latin Kings. When trying to explain myself and that I was only picking up my younger brother the principal said to me “oh yeah right they’re all your little brothers aren’t they?”

Jesus was accused of breaking his Father’s Holy Sabbath, blasphemy, a drunkard, a glutton, even being demon possessed! Have you ever been falsely accused?

Have you ever been in severe pain?

I remember wrestling a match with my rotator cuff so badly ripped up I could barely feel my arm let alone wrestle (I won By the way) I remember when Anthony my son fell off the couch and split is forehead open and bled all over himself, the floor, the wall and me! He was in pain and I was in pain as a father holding my son trying to stop the bleeding!

I remember being heart broken when my grandfather died! You see my friend Jesus knows pain. Not just because of the crucifixion and believe me that was painful but he was scourged you know beaten severely. He was probably hungry and we know he was thirsty.

He was in pain, he was God, he was God in Pain, God suffering.

There is a story of a man who had a heavy machine fall on him pinching him in an awkward position for hours! He can’t lie down, he can’t work, he can’t sleep, he takes enough pain medicine to sedate an elephant and says his pain is always between an 8 and a 10 usually a 9!

Can you imagine? God can! Jesus understands pain he understands suffering he knows what you are going through he can relate to you. He knows what it feels like; he’s been there before he is your brother in suffering but only worse!

You see physical pain is one thing and dying, seeing death, any amount of pain, suffering, discomfort it’s all terrible and Jesus went through it all! BUT the bible says there is a second death and friends this is where God takes it a step further for you and for me. He felt that pain too. He died for you!

Go ahead and read Matt 26:38 and now Matt 10:28 will put this into perspective this is going through Hell for you! A separation from God for you! Sorrowful even onto death! In the Garden Jesus didn’t say “gee fellas I am sick can we rest up a bit” HIS SOUL WAS DYING!

This is something we can hardly understand he was separated in the second death so you don’t have to be! Isaiah says he was numbered with the transgressors… he stood in the sinners place to obtain a resurrection that is sure for you and me.

Satan with his fierce temptations wrung the heart of Jesus. The Saviour could not see through the portals of the tomb. Hope did not present to Him His coming forth from the grave a conqueror, or tell Him of the Father’s acceptance of the sacrifice. He feared that sin was so offensive to God that Their separation was to be eternal. Christ felt the anguish which the sinner will feel when mercy shall no longer plead for the guilty race. It was the sense of sin, bringing the Father’s wrath upon Him as man’s substitute that made the cup He drank so bitter, and broke the heart of the Son of God. {DA 753.2}

It was to redeem us that Jesus lived and suffered and died. He became “a Man of Sorrows,” that we might be made partakers of everlasting joy. God permitted His beloved Son, full of grace and truth, to come from a world of indescribable glory, to a world marred and blighted with sin, darkened with the shadow of death and the curse. He permitted Him to leave the bosom of His love, the adoration of the angels, to suffer shame, insult, humiliation, hatred, and death. “The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5. Behold Him in the wilderness, in Gethsemane, upon the cross!

Behold him in the wilderness, in Gethsemane, and upon the cross

The Wilderness: as he wrestles the arch-tempter as he relies on a thus saith the Lord and a it is written.. See him weakened, see him tempted, see him hungry, and see him suffer! See him victorious!

In Gethsemane: looks to his friends for comfort and help but finds none. He asks can you not even for one hour moments before he was to be betrayed… see him kissed and betrayed, see him heal his captor’s ear, see him abandoned.

On the Cross: as he endures the most physical pain, as he is being mocked and jeered to save himself, experiencing the second death! Screaming my God my God why have you forsaken me and die!

See him writhe in pain, see him moan… see him speak great word of encouragement to John and Mary, and salvation to a thief! See him die!

Have you been misunderstood? Behold Jesus

Have you been rejected? Behold Jesus

Have you been falsely accused? Behold Jesus

Have you been in Pain? Behold Jesus

ARE YOU SUFFERING? BE HOLD JESUS

What is Jesus doing on the cross? Dying so you can live, being separated so you can be united (see Ephesians ch.1), he is naked so you can be clothed, pierced so you can be healed, mocked so that you can have dignity (read about a reformer), he is thirsty so you can be made full, he groans so that you can shout for joy, he is taken down so you can be lifted up, he is buried so that we can be resurrected…

BEHOLD THE CROSS! Where the Sufferer suffers to the point of success!

Hanging upon the Cross Christ was the Gospel!

Christ was treated as we deserve, that we might be treated as He deserves. He was condemned for our sins, in which He had no share, that we might be justified by His righteousness, in which we had no share. He suffered the death which was ours, that we might receive the life which was His. “With His stripes we are healed.” {DA 25.2}

Your suffering is just a window into salvation, his pain and suffering is your Passover and your pain and suffering is a light onto his Passion!

Your crucible illuminates his Crucifixion!

Are you Suffering? Come to Jesus

For an amazing Audio Experience on how to come to Jesus check out Steps to Christ

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Can you Trust the Bible?

by admin

January 11th, 2011

Have you ever wondered if you can actually trust the bible? Is prophecy for real or is it just some horoscope type stuff that is hit or miss? Having wondered the same things myself I wanted to put the Word of God to the test so a few years ago I did just that and haven’t looked back since! So here is a short study on Daniel Chapter 2 that for me sets the tone for whether or not you truly can trust the bible.

Purpose: Showing that the bible is trust worthy with its
unique claims, unique content, and unique consistency

Know It! Mark It!(As many of you know I like to apply the Inductive Bible Study method when I am studying the bible so its nice to have the texts here up front so that you can mark them out as you study along)

1. 2 Timothy 3:15-16
2. 2 Peter 1:19-21
3. John 14:19
4. Isa 46:9-10
5. Daniel 2

Claims:

So what exactly are some of the claims that the bible has? Well for starters it claims that it is inspired by God that it is actually God breathed! I don’t know about you but that is a pretty amazing thing to be claiming!

2 Timothy 3:15-16
Q: According to verse 15 what is the purpose of scripture?
Q: According to verse 16 how much of scripture is given by inspiration (GOD breathed)?
A unique claim here is that GOD inspired this book! It’s given by GOD

2 Peter 1:19-21
What is the first thing we should know about scripture?
According to verse 21 why is this true?
It’s interesting to note that GOD is claiming that you and I cannot create our own idea about what scripture says but let scripture interpret itself as Isaiah says line upon line precept upon precept.
Because this book is not primarily/exclusively a human document… it is not up for private interpretation and is from GOD! What a claim!

1. So here is a quick thing to ponder imagine there are 2 book piles 1 pile is not about GOD the other is about GOD which is bigger? Well if you do not know its the pile that is not about God.
2. We need to understand that ordinary claims need only ordinary evidence while extraordinary claims require extra ordinary evidence! If I told you I could catch a football you would just need to through it up to me right? Well what if I told you that I could catch a football blind folded with one hand tied behind my back! Get the picture?

Content:

Q: Was Jesus into bible prophecy to help his followers understand the ways of GOD?
John 14:19
Here is a little idea of how we get our information these days Journalists tell us the present (put here your favorite news outlet, blog, etc), historians tell us the past and GOD tells us the future!

Isaiah 46:9-10
Q: According to verse 9 how many GOD’s are there?
Q: If GOD claims that he is the only GOD how does he establish that fact according to verse 10?
Let me share with you ONE of the bible’s extraordinary prophecies!

CONSISTENCY (Suggests its super-natural origin):

Daniel 2- written around 600 BC by a 20yr old named DANIEL
Cultural Consistency—Trans-culturally popular
Internal Consistency—3, 35, 66, 1500 what do those numbers mean right? The bible was written on over 3 continents by some 35 different authors covering 66 books over about a 1500 year time frame. What’s more controversial food, or God? I mean have you watched documentaries about the food industry lately? Ever approach anyone about becoming a vegetarian? It’s like cutting their arm off sometimes and could get ugly fast but how about talking about God? Internal consistency here is that there are no contradictions in the bible (which I believe if you study the bible inductively there will not be)

Translational Consistency—OT: 1947 Dead Sea scrolls (Massorites). NT: 5000 ancient Greek manuscripts. Not all whole New Testaments. Some are whole, some are verses, and etc. % of agreement is from 97-99%. Only 2 passages are debated. John 8 and mark 16. The fascinating feature about the Dead Sea Scrolls being found is that the book of Isaiah is consistent to what you hold in your hands today so that same scroll Jesus was reading from you have consistently in your hands now that is amazing!

Experiential consistency.-One thing that I think is hard to doubt is someone’s direct experience of conversion from the bible! I used to be a pretty terrible person in my day but since giving my life over to God I have fundamentally changed! Now indeed I still have some wrinkles that the Lord is working out with me in my life today but to look back over the last 6 years I have been brought a long way by the Grace of God! I have found the Bible to be the voice of God to my soul.

With out further ado let us dive right into Daniel Chapter 2 and see if indeed if some of these claims are true. This prophecy of GOD is telling us a few things

1. Babylon is a world power (ruled from 604bc-539bc)
2. Another Nation will take it over (Historically its Medo-Persia 539bc-331bc also may be interesting to see that Isaiah 44:28 and 45:1 speak of Cyrus more than 150 yrs before he was born and it was he who defeated Babylon)
3. Followed by another nation taking it over (Historically Greece 331bc-168bc, Alexander the Great ruled and conquered yet never got to see the fruits of his labor leaving his kingdom to his four generals)
4. Followed by another nation taking it over (Historically Roman Empire, Edward Gibbons in his famous 6 volume set called the “Rise and Decline of Rome” states that it was the IRON monarchy… interesting language to use as Daniel points this out over a thousand years earlier)
5. This 4th nation will be divided until the end of time (this is the biggest claim in this entire prophecy, in chapter 2:41 GOD through Daniel says that this fourth kingdom of Iron continuing through until the stone cut without hands comes to set up its kingdom will be divided NEVER to be united in the same principal as before)
6. People and nations will try to unite them even through marriage (vs. 43 tells us they will try to mix seed, or offspring depending on your translation, even through marriage Europe would never be united, even dictators like Hitler, Stalin, Napoleon, cannot unite this old Iron monarchy!)
7. Continual division is the hinge of the prophecy
8. GOD will set up his own kingdom!
An excellent DVD documentary on this study is put out by Anchor Point Films called the “Forgotten Dream”
According to this prophecy we are living in the times of the last moments of earth’s history! We are awaiting the Rock cut without hands to come and crush the statue or kingdoms of this world to establish his kingdom. We know that this rock according to 1 Cor 10:4 is Christ! Not only the one that gives living water but the one which will come to redeem his purchased people you and me!
If you would like to learn more exciting truths about the second coming please contact me
My prayer is that you have seen from the bible as you read Daniel Ch.2 that the truths of the prophecy are real! that you want to make the bible a prominent part of your life and that the evidences are convincing enough to see that it is reasonable to believe in God and that his Word is True and can be trusted! If you are looking for a great way to learn more bible truth check out the EGW Study Bible with Bible Study Notes in the Back full with charts and diagrams to help you dissect the truth of the bible.

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Prayer 90x: A Review

by admin

August 31st, 2010

Prayer 90x by Ivor Myers takes studying the bible to the next level! Have you ever wanted to reflect on what you need from the Word of God? How about have you ever walked away from your devotions not sure what you just read or even better are you not quite sure on how to communicate with God?

Well let’s get to it! Straight from the get go Pastor Ivor Myers gives you exactly what Prayer 90x has in store for you:

“This book is a new kind of devotional. It will lead you step by step through the hour of worship. This Prayer Workout will help you to stretch, that it, to expand your mind and heart to receive ever expanding truths in the word of God. It will build spiritual muscle so that you can manage the heavy truths in God’s word. It will burn the fat of sin from you so that you will no longer be weighted down with a multitude of bad habits and attitudes. IT WILL HELP TO ELIMINATE YOUR WEAKNESSES. And most importantly, it will leave you drenched in the spirit of God.” (From Prayer 90x by Pastor Ivor Myers)

Drenched in the spirit of God huh? People are often taken back by big claims and big boasts and there are plenty of prayer books, prayer journals, and devotionals to get you in the right spirit to have the “at-one-ment” with God. I feel it safe to say that this book brings you what all self help or spiritual discipline books offer but in a legitimate way empty of pantheism and spiritual mumbo jumbo. Pastor Ivor Myers brings to your attention what is it to have a broken spirit and a contrite heart . For example in day one he tells you to focus:

“Focus: Lay all your burdens at the foot of the cross of Christ, emptying your mind of distractions, problems, issues so that you can direct your entire mental focus upon the word of God and the presence of God. Focus on the following verse word by word. Commit it to memory.”(Prayer 90x More Info)

This is a call for us to come to the Cross we who are heavy laden and burdened, I believe what Ivor Myers is creating with this 90 day devotional is to achieve what Steps to Christ was trying to Achieve but in a more intimate fashion for today’s bible student. The bones of what this Prayer book has to offer is this, there are 4 major sections in this book to help you get along.

Warm ups: This is where you are going to set your self up for some nice quite time with God and open yourself up for communion with the Holy Spirit.

Strength and Endurance Training: Here is where the bible comes alive for you as you study and pray for God to reveal his will to you and get a deeper understanding of what the verses are trying to speak to you.

Cardio and Fat Burner: This section allows you to unload your sins at the foot of the cross asking God as David did “Psalms 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:” This will allow you to have God work out and help you overcome any problems that you may be having in your life whether it be lust, lying, hatred, or anything you are holding onto God is not to small or powerless to deliver you if he gave sight to the blind and caused the Lame to Leep God and give you the healing you need spiritually right here burning the fat of sin right from your character!

Rest: Allow yourself to really rest in the bosom of the Master and Creator is something that Jesus so desires to put in your mind. Jesus came to give you grace and peace won’t you except it?

Within these major sections are subsection in Prayer 90x, as you noticed earlier in the review “Focus” was one of the sections we mentioned. Pastor Ivor Myers Mentions the subsections as follows:

Focus: This time is spent emptying your mind of all other thoughts and focusing it upon the word and Presence of God. You want to break through as it were an invisible vail into the very presence, chamber room of God. For this reason you should be in a very quiet place.
Stretching: During this time, you are asking God to expand your capacity to receive the precious gems of his word.
Praise: Take this time to praise and thank God for all that He has done or is doing in your life.
Confession: Take this time to confess known sins in your life.
Petitions: Use this time to bring your prayer Petitions and intercession before the Lord.
Silence: During this time you should be training you ear to listen for the promptings of the Holy Spirit through the Word. What does the Spirit want to say to you in light of your worship?

As you can see this program to get you spiritually fit is something for the novice and for the professional alike. What the Lord is doing through Pastor Ivor Myers and this Prayer Devotional will only help you in your inductive bible study and aid you in your quest to truly learn how to study the bible. So if you wanna get spiritually fit and learn the in what I believe is a great way to get closer to God then this Prayer 90x book set (yes set because you not only get the book but a pretty cool prayer journal as well)

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Inductive Bible Study: Observation

by admin

July 16th, 2010

Inductive Bible Study: Observation

So what is inductive bible study? One of the best things you can do when you want to begin studying the bible is learn a method that works for you. I am suggesting today the inductive bible study method.

The first key to the inductive bible study method is to observe what you are reading. The basic rule of thumb is context rules the court. Think of context as your point guard, it sets you up to better understand what in the heck you are reading! One of things I like to establish is identifying the context as it is going to rule my interpretation. A decent example of context is this “There is a tadpole in the creek” the context would be the creek get it? Good, but if you do not quite get it how about this one. If somebody asked you “what does a trunk mean?”, you could easily hammer out the first thing that came to your mind. Unfortunately we do not know the context in which the word is being used. A trunk can be an elephants nose, something for clothes and items to be stored in, or some swim shorts, or part of a tree or even your storage for your car! See how confusing it can become if you do not establish context!

Here is an example: The trunk was filled to the brim with clothes and some pictures so that I could bring it with me on vacation. My trunk was so full it was hard to close. After lugging my trunk out of my house I put the trunk in the back seat of my car.

So what does trunk mean in this context? Clearly it’s the luggage style trunk referred to here, but without context you may have thought that it was the trunk of my car! Context is what helps define what it is you are observing. By looking for repeated words, phrases, ideas or emphasis you are observing. In Romans 1:1-7 what do you see? Well you can establish who wrote it, whom they are writing to, and what the purpose is behind what they are writing about. It’ Paul writing about the Gospel and Jesus, telling you briefly who he is and he is writing to the Romans. Pretty easy right? (Here is another great example for inductive bible study )

One thing to keep in mind when observing is to be objective, don’t study with a slant or an eye for proof texting someone so that you can prove yourself right. God wants us to be sanctified in our study of his word (John 17:7), and as you study the Holy Spirit will minister to you personally as your devotions get deeper within the word. (Here is a great book on inductive bible study )

When you study God will inspire, convict and convert your heart! Some questions to be asking when observing to set the tone for context would be: who, what, when, where, why, and how. (As laid out here for how to study the bible )You do not have to have all of these questions answered each time but it at least gives you an idea of what is going on in the text. Example is John 7:1, the who is Jesus, the what is him walking, the where is in Galilee and not Judea, the why is because the Jews were seeking to kill him and the when is after these things (which you find out the “these things” were the previous verses).

So now that you have a handle on Inductive bible study GO OBSERVE!

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How to Study The Bible: Final Steps

by admin

April 13th, 2010

Steps 5-7

Here is also a great site on how to study the bible: 7 steps of How to Study the Bible

Drawing Conclusions

Well now that we are rounding out our how to study the bible session the rest should be pretty easy. When drawing our conclusions like we did back in 1 John we saw that the Word of Life was there at creation and then in the Gospel of John we saw that indeed it was the key factor in creation and then we see there in John that indeed this Word of Life is Jesus. These were the conclusion we could draw from the first 2 verses of chapter 1. We concluded that the basic principle John was referring to was to establish a relationship with the Word which develops into fellowship with like minded believers as well as with the Father through Jesus Christ.

Not very hard huh? Remember you want to be looking for what you do understand and draw out from what you know the conclusions to what you do not know. Get down the specifics and follow it up with a good comb over of what can be found within the text, the book, the author’s writings, and finally the entire bible. If you are stuck and having trouble try doing a word study with a program such as E-Sword. Type in the word or phrase and see how it is used and if it relates at all to what you are studying.

Confirm your Conclusions

Do your conclusions make biblical sense? A fine example is the often abused Romans 14:5 here it is talking about days and esteeming them in your own mind one above another. The greatest folly here is to ASSUME this is referring to Holy Days or Days of worship when the greater context of the chapter is about food and eating (as in when to and not to). The greater error does not fully understand the Author and the context historically of his background. Paul was a Pharisee, Pharisees fasted primarily on Tuesdays and Thursdays, he is discussing people eating or not eating to the Lord and both contextually are glorifying him (the Lord). Could it be that instead of this text being your proof text on why or why not you should worship on a certain day of the week does it make biblical sense that he is discussing fasting? Indeed it does go reread it you’ll see it for sure. A NOTE OF CAUTION: you should always bounce new ideas or new found light/truth off your study partners or small group. Not because you are right or wrong but because a wise man seeketh wise counsel!

Apply

Assuming you prayed and asked for divine guidance throughout your study your application to your observation and interpretation should be easy and sound. How does the study apply to you, your church, prophetically, etc? The first and best thing to do is give an honest look at yourself and ask God how does this affect me. Perhaps there is a key verse that you should memorize or have specifically marked out in your bible as your call to attention text. Pray again for God to help you apply the conclusion you have come to in your own life before bombing it on others!

Final Recap on How to study the Bible

Here also are two great FREE sermons series on how to study the bible Eugene Prewitt and Peter Gregory.

We learned over time that we needed to harness the Observe, Interpret, and Apply line of study which is often referred to as Inductive Bible Study. You can use bible highlighters or bible marking tools to help you in your study (You can find a great review on some Here). It always helps to have a great study bible as you study I recommend the Remnant Study Bible (Buy it Here). Again you want to always be looking for repeating words or phrases, lists and progression.

Here is a really good example from the book of Jude. Read the first 8 verse of this book and use the methods we have been talking about. What you should begin to notice is things like, who is he writing to (The called, Sanctified and kept) for what purpose is he writing, (for us to contend for the faith) what is he warning us against, (ungodly people spreading false doctrine about the gospel (grace of God) which is lawlessness and denies Jesus.

Let us stop there for a second because I want to point some things out that have REALLY hit home in this bible study. Turning the grace of God into lewdness/lasciviousness/lawlessness this is something that we need absolutely NEED to understand because it’s the entire reason he is about to go off on his description of “these” people. What does this mean? Look up those words (Again you can even use an online bible program like Biblegateway), see how they are used and what they describe. I am sure you found its sin and we know that sin is the breaking of God’s law 1 John 3:4 tells us that much hence the turning the grace of God into Lawlessness. So that means these people are telling you that because of the gospel/grace of God you can sin. Yes people believe this today this is not just a first century issue Jude was dealing with. People actually say that God’s law was nailed to the cross and you do not have to follow it! They use Colossians 2:12-16 as a “proof text” or use Ephesians 2:8-10 and say that to keep the law of God is works and thus you deny Jesus that way!

THIS IS UTTER NON-SENSE, Jude is marking these people out so you know how to contend for the faith. Ok so they take the gospel and make it a reason for you to break God’s law or justify your sinning, but what does this have to do with denying Jesus? GOOD QUESTION! 1 John 1:7 tells us exactly what denying Jesus is all about and says it is the spirit of the Anti-Christ. He says denying Jesus came in the flesh, but what flesh? Romans 8:3 hold the answer (again this is just simple word study within the text of Jude in order to find the answers the bible gives you not my or your interpretation but a “what says the scripture!”) In Romans we see that Jesus came in sinful flesh, but if this is true then you “could have” sinned MANY people freak out about this for a number of reasons but let us focus on one reason. If Jesus could have sinned and was as this text puts it Hebrews 2:18 for because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. And Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Hebrews 4:16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Do you see the big picture here? Because Jesus came in sinful flesh (like me and you), he suffered temptation like me and you which makes him an extremely effective high priest because he can sympathize with our weaknesses and in EVERY situation he was tempted as we are. Hence why we can draw near. Are you getting this stuff I know it might be new to you. Here is the bottom-line; Jesus did not sin even though he could have sinned which means texts like Galatians 2:20 are real, because if he can live his life in you then you can have victory over sin or as Romans 8:37 become more than a conqueror! But if he didn’t come in sinful flesh (like those in Jude 4 are suggesting by preaching the grace of God as lawlessness), then he was different from you, perhaps wasn’t tempted like you, and those accusations of you being able to continue in sin instead of overcoming sin would be warranted. You see the issue.

That’s only on the first four verses! You see the beauty of the bible is it interprets itself. I am not giving you my ideas or convictions I am simply contextually showing you what the Word of God says. I hope this was beneficial next time we will embark on a Word Study God Bless.

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Steps in Bible Study Parts 3 and 4

by admin

April 1st, 2010

Steps in Bible Study Parts 3 and 4

This is how to study the bible part three and four. We want to become extremely familiar with this method so that means will we be getting extremely familiar with the texts we are reading. My suggestion is to read the passages 3-7 times try even in different translations to switch it up a bit. You may want to read out loud at times instead of just to yourself. You can have others read to you or you can even listen to an audio bible such as the Word of Promise. As you are doing this look for the big picture what are the passages trying to communicate. The next step you are going to want to take is to be aware. This means you are going to be looking for keywords, repeated phrases or words parallels (like an Old Testament Reference in the New Testament and even more so in the Psalms) contrasts and especially if you can take notes! Remember repeated words and phrases surely mean this is a point of emphasis. You might want to be using your favorite Bible Highlighter or Bible Marking Pen as you follow along. Here is a great example…

1 John 1:1-4

Here in the first verse what do you see? Well I see there are a lot of action words. There is heard, seen, looked upon or beheld, handled all these words indicate intimacy right? At the very least there is some kind of relationship brewing here but what is it pertaining to? The end of the verse states the Word of Life. So John is trying to communicate with us that there is a relationship he has established with the Word of life and by the way it was from the beginning. So where do we have a in the beginning? HOLD ON… Remember we just don’t want to go to any old reference we want to first check within the context of the book and then other things written by the same author! So by doing that we see that in John chapter one we have verses 1-3 it states the same in the beginning was the Word and it was with God and was God and all things were made through him (The Word). Now you can connect this idea with Genesis! This Word of life is God and indeed the creator of the universe!

Now back to the relationship factor in 1 John 1:2 what do you see here? I am not going to give you every clue look for yourself. Ok one clue manifested or made go check John 1:14. Yeah the Word was made flesh and dwelt (seen bare witness and declare all indicators of a message) amongst us. This Word of life contains a message of eternal life. According to verse three what happens when you accept this message or at least have it declared to you? You gain access or fellowship with fellow declarers but yet a higher form of fellowship is involved (remember our relationship motif above now) with the Father and his son Jesus Christ. So now it is obvious that the Word of life is Jesus and his message of eternal life which will bring you into fellowship with other believers and especially God!

John concludes in verse four that he wants us to know this so that our joy may be full. Again I didn’t break this down quite far enough but you get the gist and can come over this your 3-7 times right? I would highly recommend you read this chapter with John chapter 1 and see the parallels and of course do it in your favorite study bible here is one I recommend here.

This will conclude parts 3 and 4 God bless and keep the faith.

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Steps in Bible Study

by admin

March 22nd, 2010

Step 1

For the average reader we are going to be exploring things that may indeed be new to you but for the more advanced reader these things may have been in your “quiver” of how to study the bible techniques but perhaps this can give you the opportunity to enhance and polish the skills the Lord has already blessed you with. We are going to briefly cover the 7 steps that I feel are the most important when approaching bible study.

Get ready (preparation): Let us look at Ezra 7:10 for a brief moment

”For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments. ”

Now what are some things that might stand out to you about preparation? Well how about the bible telling us that before Ezra could teach the Word of GOD he had to prepare his heart. Ok but now what happens when Ezra’s heart was prepared? What did the Lord enable him to do? Seek the Law of the Lord right? With a humble heart Ezra was able to allow GOD to be at hand and see to it that he was prepared to teach but even before he could teach what did he need to do? He needed to respond to the Lord’s high calling for him. He had to not just seek the law of the Lord but to DO IT! By Ezra fulfilling what Paul calls us to perform which is in

Rom 12:1 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.
Again if you didn’t catch that God is calling us to repentance he is calling us to be living sacrifices holy and blameless and guess what? Only Jesus can perform this feat in you.

So being humble and teachable are 2 of the most important things to have nailed down before you get into a bible study with it is for yourself or with others. Some of the tools you might be using as we cover some of the words in the text is something like the bible marking pen, which the picture is to the right, shows it has 8 different colors. Another FREE TOOL I like to use is a software program called E-sword . This program allows for you to download free bible translations (although they have many to purchase as well) and many other products from books, to dictionaries, to commentaries!

Now here are 3 principles that you are going to want to write down to refer back to because they are going to be our backbone from here on out. Number one is observation, and with observation is going to be our key to leading into our second principle of bible study which is interpretation and last but not least application. Now did you notice how we broke done the text in Ezra and was able to come to the conclusions that we did. Pretty simple right? In our observation we just asked simple questions; why did Ezra have to prepare his heart? What did Ezra have to be able to do before he could teach the Word? These observations led us to interpret Ezra preparing his heart for the purpose of being able to do the Law or responded to God’s word and hence apply it to his life to then be able to turn around and repeat the process to others. Now that my friends is gospel work!

For next time we will look more in-depth to these three principles but until then God bless you and happy studies!

P.S. it isn’t to late to get your Ellen White Study Bible with cross references and bible chain reference system that allows for easy study especially when sharing with others!

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Steps in Bible Study part 2

by admin

March 18th, 2010

Step 2: How to study the bible

Ask Questions!

So you might be thinking how can I ask questions to a book? Well you are not going to be asking the book questions but instead asking questions that will help in your observation of the texts you are choosing to read. Some simple questions to ask are:

who was writing, to who were they writing to, what was happening when this person wrote this book, what else has the writer written… Make Sense? In other words you want to be able to have a background into why was making this person tick and those in whom he was writing to as well as what significant events may have been taking place along the way. This will put a context on what he and his audience may have been thinking. An excellent tool for this is a bible handbook. A bible handbook is a reference source that allows you to kind of do the above. But some study bibles have a pretty good angle at this, such as the Ellen White Study Bible that you can buy here through the site. While you are at it you might want to get a bible dictionary or a concordance to help you with words and how they were used in the text.

While you are starting to read the text itself try to find the theme why was it written or what is the main idea or story. This can be done by asking some probing questions like: who, what, when, where, why, how. Also look for the text to give you definitions such as 1 John 4:8 which states that God is love, so a good question would be what is God or who is God and by this definition He is love. 1 John 3:4 states that sin is the transgression of the law. So the definition of sin is breaking the law of God! *Disclaimer when we say God is love this is not to limit him just an example as this one on sin you get the idea right?*

We also need to look for comparisons, contrasts, descriptions, conclusions(generally indicated by a therefore, wherefore, finally, and so then), reasoning(John 3:16 for God so love… He gave), look for cause and effect, look for similar words/topics like lists and progressions, and finally I like to look for conditional reasoning which is usually tipped off by an if.

Now to close this one out I am going to suggest reading the book of Jude and following these guidelines and seeing if you begin to pick up on some of the stuff I am talking about.

Stay tuned for part three

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