17th lesson =>God's Purpose in loving the Human Being

Jesus Is The King Of Kings

Jesus reigns and will reign forever. His reign is eternal. We have several passages that describe Jesus as the King of kings. His kingdom is everlasting. We have several passages that describe Jesus as the King of kings. Even if it seems and all unbelievers in Jesus say that Jesus does not reign, this does not change the Reality of the factors.

Jesus is seated next to the Father, who is in Heaven and unto Him was given the Eternal Throne. Many may believe that they have the decision at hand here on earth, but the kingdom belongs to Jesus. He as the King takes good care of the subjects of his Kingdom.

 "Which in its own times he shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;" 1 Tim. 6:15.

  “These shall war against the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they [also shall overcome] that are with him, called and chosen and faithful.” Rev. 17:14.

 "And he hath on his garment and on his thigh a name written, KINGS OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS." Rev. 19:16.     

The Triumphal Entry

12:12-15pp -- Mt 21:4-9; Mk 11:7-10; Lk 19:35-38

“The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.13They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, "Hosanna! " "Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!" "Blessed is the King of Israel!"14Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,15"Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey's colt." Jn. 12:12-15.

Jesus Is The Bread Of Life.

"Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty." Jn. 6: 35.

Jesus being the bread of life, we are being nourished by Him, in another words; Jesus is the one that is our food. Jesus fulfills us. Jesus as the bread of life shows us that he actually sustains our lives, with the food he brings us from heaven. This is a characteristic of a perfect man for He nourishes his people. He takes care of his children. Jesus never leaves us without an answer; he feeds us with life, hope, strength, care and everything we need in life in order to survive. The source of our survival is Jesus.

Jesus Is The Water Of Life

 

"But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" - Jn. 4:14.

Jesus gives the water of life to everyone, but not all drink of it. According to the verse just quoted, whoever drinks the water I give. In order to have the thirst stilled we must go and drink. Many people do not understand that they need to go and search for the right water and drink it to be satisfied, satiated.

To satiate is a Verb. If something such as food or pleasure satiates you, you have all that you need or all that you want of it, often so much that you become tired of it. (FORMAL) Collins Dictionary.

"Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty" - Jn. 6:35.

"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink" - Jn. 7:37.

Another feature of a perfect man is to bring the water of everlasting life to those who are thirsty for eternal life. Jesus satisfies the longing soul for justice. Jesus satisfies the soul that hungers and thirsts for justice, and will no longer be neither hungry nor thirsty. Jesus satisfies our longing. The water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

If the water that has been given to us becomes a spring of water, this makes it clear the verses we were meditating couple of pages before; when Jesus teaches us that he and the Father would come and live within in us. How can we understand this in words so we can comprehend this? Once we receive Christ in our heart, the source of life and all eternal blessings in Christ Jesus dwell in us; therefore through us it is available to others. People see Jesus in us, they feel him in us, they see the living water come out of us.

Jesus Is The True Vine

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener" - Jn. 15:1.

In Jn. 15:1-16 Jesus describes the Life in the Vine in this passage. This is one of the passages that shows us that we cannot do anything without Jesus. Jesus is the source of our life, and if we are not grafted into the vine, we can never bear fruit.

Being grafted according to the Dictionary means: ‘If a part of one plant or tree is grafted onto another plant or tree, they are joined together so that they will become one plant or tree, often in order to produce a new variety.’

He explains in verse 2 that: "He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful". The Gardener is the Heavenly Father he works in the life of every person that is in Christ, and Christ in Him. The apostle Paul says that the one that started the good work in us, will finish it. He operates in us the willing and the fulfilling. (Phil.1:6; 2:13)

He is the caregiver and ensures that all who are in Him reproduce the good fruit that he produces from the root. He cleanses us, he takes care of us and cares for the good life that each branch has in Him. The vine symbolizes the fact that while we are in Jesus Christ, and he is in us as Jesus himself taught, will have eternal life. We will only have life in God if we are on the vine. It is impossible for a branch to stay alive and bear fruit if the branch is no longer on the vine. This well describes the Family of God. We have to be in God to be part of God. The union between the vine and the branch is the closest possible.  One only needs to look at the branch to see how it is grown in and woven into the parent stem; in fact, the branch is part of the vine.  The life which is in the vine, the sap that circulates there, is also in the branch and produces the fruit. If the branch is separated from the vine, it withers away and dies. 

I believe that Jesus wanted to teach us is that we are the branches and we feed of the Life that flows in the Vine, which comes straight from the Father. I believe in this illustration, Jesus wants to teach us at least two things. Just as there are the raw sap and elaborated sap in plants, in our life with God exists the same. The difference is that raw sap is made up of only water and mineral salts and elaborated sap is made up of raw sap (water and mineral salts) plus carbon dioxide. The raw sap in life would be the fact that human life here on earth will absorb a lot of things. But, with Jesus in our lives, everything that we absorb in this lifetime, is transformed into something more important when we submit it to Him.

Everything is transformed by God in elaborated sap by the fact that we abide in the Vine. Jesus is the Vine, Jesus brings feeds us from the right source to build us up. This union is used by our Lord as an illustration of the intimate union of the true believer with Himself.  Our union with Him is as close, and just as real, as the union of the branch with the vine. He produces this abundant life with Him, so if we are in the True Vine, we can feed from Him.
 

In the Lord's Service 

I greet you in His Love

Antonina Penner.

Missionary

Masters inTheology..

 

ISBN- 978-0-9881063-1-4

Copyright 2012/11/26 by: “Ministério Visão de Águias”.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher

4th Lesson = How to Learn to study your Bible by yourself.

4^th Lesson on how to Study the Bible for yourself.

Studying the Bible is a blessing beyond measure. There is nothing more valuable in life than to have a personal relationship with our Lord and Savior. Once we get more familiar with Scriptures and realize what God did for us as He sent His son to take our place on the cross; it becomes a pleasure to read His word. A relationship needs to be fed just the same way as we feed our bodies so they will not starve. Many people are born again in Christ Jesus, and in the beginning they are overfed and after a while they drift slowly away and believe they have it all and do not feed the relationship with their Lord any longer. Many believers are anorexic in their spiritual walk with the Lord Jesus; they do not feed themselves. How is my spiritual health and how is yours?  This is a conversation we need to have with our Lord urgently. Are we taking care of our body, soul, mind and spirit?  The four areas need to be taken care of or the one that is not fed properly with starve…

I person can feed well one part of itself, like the body and mind, but many of us do not know how to properly take care of the soul and the spiritual part of our life. Today we want to study the fact that the Bible does not contain the Word of God; but the Bible is the Word of God, from cover to cover.  2 Timothy 3:16 NKJV “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,”

A - The Bible is Powerful.

1.      Hebrews 4:12 NKJV

2.      John 12:48

3.      Isaiah 55:10-11

4.      Psalm 17:4

B - The Bible is Authority.

1.      1 Peter 1:20-21

2.      Psalm 33:6-10

3.      John 12:48-50

4.      John 5:24

C - The Bible is dependable.

Luke 16:17

1 Peter 1:24-25

Psalm 33:11

Psalm 18:30

2 Co 1:20

1 Kings 8:36

Mark 13:31

D - The Bible is Healing – Scripture is Healing

1.      Psalm 107:20

2.      Pr. 3:12

3.      Psalm 119:50, 92

4.      Psalm 19:7-8

5.      1 John 1:4

E – The Bible is Guidance.

Psalm 119:105

II Peter 1:4

Proverbs 6:22-23

Psalm 19:11

John 8:31-32

Psalm 119: 24

Isaiah 30:21

F – Homework 

Tell us what the Bible is for you? ___________________________________________

Try to find a Bible verse or couple of verses that would describe what you believe that Bible is….

For instance the Bible is comfort?

Does God’s word give you strength? 

The word of God is my staff   - Psalm 23:4

My status - Psalm 19:7

The word of God renews me Psalm 51:10

Stronghold – Psalm 27:1

Read pages 71 to 157  from the book: How to study the Bible by yourself from Tim Lahaye, if possible until the end of this month. This will be what we are going to look at the next 2 weeks. Prepare yourself to be following Jesus, and to be a good disciple, just as the first 12 were. Did they make mistakes in the beginning? Yes, they did and so do we; but, we learn from Jesus how to correct it.

Answer the following questions:

How much have you learned so far on a weekly bases in these Bible studies we are doing?

Has there been personal benefit from it?

What is it that brings you back every week?

Was it good that I followed what God told me to do these studies?

Do you see yourself doing a study with a friend or a family member in the future?

How would you like to see yourself in the future?

Do you believe God has called each and every one of us as it is written in

The Great Commission Mathew 28: 16-20

16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 

17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted.

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 

19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 

20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

And in Mark 16: 15-18 “15  He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 

 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 

 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues;

18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

Regards in the precious name of our Lord and Savior,

His servant

Antonina Penner.

 

16th lesson =>God's Purpose in loving the Human Being

Attributes of Jesus the Perfect Man.

 

Jesus The Light Of The World

 

"When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life". " = Jo. 8:12. "While I am in the world, I am the light of the world". Jn. 9:5. When there is light in the person, it is because it does not do anything obscurely.

The dictionary tells us that: ‘Light is the brightness that lets you see things.’ Therefore if Jesus says he is the light that means that he is the brightness that lets the human being see things. And he goes on saying: Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

If we would debate this from different point of view, we could analyze it this way.

v  Light of Life = The brightness of the life of the world that any human will follow that same brightness he will never walk in darkness; or under a circumstance where you cannot see things. Jesus was talking about the spiritual world. If you cannot identify you the spirit is that you are following is because you are in the brightness that brings awareness to you.

v  Whoever follows the brightness, which is Jesus, will never ... Jesus gives the human being the guaranty that He the brightness will make sure that one can always be aware of what is going on in His kingdom.

v  While I am in the world, I am the light of the world. As long as Jesus is on the earth, and now He indwells the Body of Christ here on earth, therefore He still is here; He is the light of the world, which makes the human being aware of everything that is in darkness.

Meaning of Obscurely = ADJ. Something that is obscure is difficult to understand or deal with, usually because it involves so many parts or details. VERB V n  = If one thing obscures another, it prevents it from being seen or heard properly.

v  If Jesus is the Light in this world, who then is the darkness? Is this a reasonable question? I do believe it is.

v  “But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him”. 1 Jn. 2:11.

v  Based on these Scriptures, whoever walks in “God is Love” walks in the Light of the World. Whoever walks in hatred walks in darkness. To hate is to walk around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.

I think we can reasonably interpret this as: Walking in darkness is walking obscure/full of hatred; this prevents from being seen what we actually do, and where we go. When we attempt to hide the reality that is within us, we do not walk in the light, but we walk in obscurity. Jesus says: Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Jesus is the light, and He is not darkness. So to follow Jesus is to walk in the light that is in the Love that God is. As long as Jesus is in the world he is the light of the world. How long do you believe that Jesus will be the light of this world?  Do we have the light yes? God is still with us in the world. Jesus lives here on earth through his Church. The Bible says: God and Jesus came to make their dwelling place in those who received Jesus as their Lord and Savior; therefore He is the light through them.

Jesus told his disciples: "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden" - Mt 5:14. The light dwells within us, and we are the light according to Jesus. So, now that we are the light of the world, we are like the city on a hill that cannot be hidden; that is why we cannot hide from the world that God is in us if we truly are God´s children.

Collins Dictionary describes Dark as an ADJ.

11 ADJ usu ADJ n If you describe something as dark, you mean that it is related to things that are serious or unpleasant, rather than light-hearted. Their dark humor never failed to astound him...

Spiritual meaning of Darkness: 

That darkness signifies falsities is evident from very many passages in the Word; as in Isaiah:-- Woe unto them that put darkness for light, and light for darkness (Isaiah 5:20);

"Those who follow Jesus do not put darkness for light, and light for darkness. Hallelujahs, Jesus knew what He was teaching. A person, once he gives his life to God, and he is baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is baptized into the body of Jesus Christ; therefore he is no longer in the "kingdom of darkness." - "While I am in the world I am the light of the world" Jn. 9:5. I remember the passage where Jesus said, "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world” – Mat. 28:20. This indicates that as long as it is not the end of the world, Jesus is still here with us, and we are in Christ, we need not walk in darkness but we can always walk in the light.

 

 

 

 

In the Lord's Service 

I greet you in His Love

Antonina Penner.

Missionary

Masters inTheology..

 

ISBN- 978-0-9881063-1-4

Copyright 2012/11/26 by: “Ministério Visão de Águias”.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher

 

 

 

15th lesson : God's Purpose in loving the Human Being

Examples of Perfect Men in Christ.

 

Which is the example that you follow? We have many examples in the Bible. Some are excellent to be followed, and others are excellent examples that you should not follow. David made mistakes, David sinned, and David made several things that one should not do. But when God sent his Prophet to the house of David to confront him with his mistakes, what did David do? David humbled himself and corrected himself, David confessed his sin and recognized that he had acted completely wrong before God.

In 2 Samuel 12 the prophet Samuel comes to speak with David as God commended him. God sends Nathan to confront David for his sin in verse 13 of this chapter. Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." Nathan replied, "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die". The Psalmist also expresses his confession in Psalm 32:5: "Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the LORD"-- and you forgave the guilt of my sin. "Selah". David took a position before his God, and recognized that he had sinned. He acknowledged the fact that he did wrong, and he did not cover up his iniquity. Nathan the prophet said God took away David´s sin; therefore he would not die.

The Bible teaches us that if we confess our sins God is faithful and just and cleanses us from all sin. (1 Jo.1-9) David confessed and God purified, but the Bible also says of David that he was a man after God's heart. After removing Saul, he made David their king. He testified concerning him: 'I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.' At.13 : 22.

God testified concerning David saying: he is after my own heart. Although David sinned and made mistakes just like you and I, he was considered according to the heart of God. Why was that? It was because when God confronted David with his mistakes, David humbled himself and corrected himself with God. David gave all honor and glory of all his achievements to God.

But, we have the story of Saul, he responded differently than David. Throughout human history God always is present when his child calls. Many times people do not have the patience to wait for the answer and they do what King Saul did one day. Saul waits for 7 days as the deadline was set by the prophet and as he saw the prophet saw come; he goes and advances offering the holocaust without the prophet. "You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the LORD your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.14 But now your kingdom will not endure; the LORD has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him leader of his people, because you have not kept the LORD's command." - 1 Sam 13: 13-14.

Try to visualize this, let us pretend it is one of us that God is confronting through the prophet. And the prophet comes and says: you acted foolishly, you did not keep the command the Lord gave you. How would you feel with a confrontation like this? How would you react? Well, you know all of us fall short of that what God expects from us. And all of us need to give God an answer. Saul was disobedient and therefore he was not blessed by God. The Bible tells us that all of us will receive rewards according to what we do here on earth; good or bad. In Acts 6:4 the apostle says that they would “persevere in prayer”.

Saul did not want to wait and persevere until God send his servant to tell him that now he would offering the sacrifice and bless his work and give him victory. Saul had no patience to remain in obedience before God. This is one quality that he did not have, and the perfect man learns from Jesus to exercise patience. Patience is a fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:23 tells us about the fruits of the Holy Spirit if we are in Christ Jesus, our life will have fruits of the Spirit.

Summing up...

We have studied this far how God created us, and everything that God has done for us to be what the Bible says we are. God has a purpose to be lived through us. The Bible makes it quite clear what God will do through the Body of Christ, His Church here on earth. All of this is the highest purpose to be lived.

 

Meditate on this for a moment. "Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him" - John. 14:23. The Father and the Son Jesus, came to dwell in the Body of Christ, which is the Church of Jesus here on earth. When we hear the same verse many times, it seems we are used to hear the message and we do not realize what we are talking about. If we analyze the fact that no scientist can in fact discern how everything was made, the cosmos, the universe, stars and so on, this goes beyond the human capacity. Now than Jesus says that the Almighty Father and He, who created all this, will come to live within us; and make us His dwelling place, if we love Him and His Word. When a president of a first world country travels he stays in the best hotel available.

God considered each one of us the best dwelling place available if we love Him and His Word. This is a very high privilege, far beyond human comprehension. This in fact is a purpose to be lived in “God is Love”.

 

God is perfect, and he chooses to come live within us. It is incomprehensible why God would submit to come and make his dwelling place in His creation, which fell from His Grace; and went after their own interests. Yet this Creator comes in form of a human being and saves us, redeems us, perfects us in Him in order to dwell within us. Would you be able to imagine a greater purpose to be lived than this one? I believe that there does not exist anything higher than the fact that the Creator Himself chose my life as a dwelling place. The human being is the only one that was created in the image and likeness of God. And the human being is the only one for whom God sent his Son to die for. Jesus was indeed without sin, he was the only human being who united all the qualities of someone who is ideal to be copied.

 I want to guide you in this meditation on some Biblical passages that show us these qualities of Jesus As A Perfect Man. To gather all the qualities would be in one person would sound like this: be good, dedicated, honest, compassionate, fair, correct, honorable, loyal, loving, faithful, true, effective, and powerful, Pastor, Savior, Lord and Master. By analyzing the life of Jesus we see that He has it all gathered within Himself. One could write here for several hours about all the qualities that describe JESUS as a perfect man.  But, above all, Jesus was without sin, and he came from God to save that what was lost, because he loves us. In another words we could say that Jesus came in behalf of God; because the Bible says that Jesus is God. “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true--even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life”. 1 Jn.5:20.

According to the Dictionary: If you do something on someone's behalf, you do it for that person as their representative.  Jesus was representing His Father here on earth. The perfection of Jesus is actually in his person, he is God, but here on earth he lived as a perfect human being.

 

 

 

 

In the Lord's Service 

I greet you in His Love

Antonina Penner.

Missionary

Masters inTheology..

 

ISBN- 978-0-9881063-1-4

Copyright 2012/11/26 by: “Ministério Visão de Águias”.

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher

 

How to Learn to study your Bible by yourself.

 

2nd lesson = Digging deeper into God’s Word.

Last week we started to get acquainted with the book we are studying, and it was great to learn already so many important things about the Bible. Today I would like to dig in a little deeper in this profound message how Tim Lahaye teaches us in this book.

1. Have you ever taken a tour in your Bible, to see what actually the whole Bible focuses on?

2. What would you say is the main subject of the Bible without searching for it right now?

3. What is the main subject you look for when you read your Bible?

The majority of people always read the Bible because they want to read it to learn from God’s Word, so they can grow in their spiritual walk with Jesus. But; let’s take a pause and think a little, the last 3 times you read the Bible, were you looking for something specific in your devotional reading?  Did you find it? Or were you doing the next chapter from where you left of the last time?

Why is the Word of God so important for all of us to know and understand?  The book we are looking at today gives us 3 ways how God reveals Himself to us. God has a special way of communicating with His children. On page 58 of our book we read about God’s Three Revelations. Why is it important to know these three revelations?

1.Through creation. => Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:19-20.

Colossians 1:15 “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.”

Hebrews 4:13 “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.’

2.Through Jesus Christ => The Bible states clearly that God reveals Himself through Jesus Christ.

Hb. 1:1-3; “1 In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. 3 The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

John 1:1-10 => “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.  6 There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”

3.Through the Bible – His Word.  =>   How does the Bible reveal Jesus to us?  As the author of this book says: The Bible as we read it becomes alive to us. And why is that? Because it is the only book that as we read it, the author himself speaks to us. He makes His word become alive to us. He will help us understand it, He will make it have meaning as we encounter with Him in His word.

ñ         Pr. 30:5   Word of God is pure

ñ         Is. 40:8 Shall stand forever.

ñ         Luke 8:11 The seed is the word of God.

ñ         Hebrew 4:12 The work is quick and powerful.

ñ         1 Peter 1:23 Born again by the Word of God.

                           

Does God speak to you and me as well?

When you read the Bible have you noticed that God communicates with you as you read?

Try to make the habit of talking to the Lord as you read and meditate. The Bible says clearly that the Holy Spirit indwells in us. And Jesus said my sheep hear my voice. So, we need to learn to listen to God speak to us as we read His Word; and we need to talk to Him as well.  Many people have only formal prayers, but we can talk as friends with God. The Bible gives mention of that God talked to Moses as a Friend. Ex. 33:11 (NIV) “And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.”

How much more will God speak to us, in whom Jesus said, if we receive Him, He and His Father will come and make their living in us.  God speaks to us in our daily life.

Mathew 7:11 “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!”

We need to learn to talk to the Lord while we do the reading and meditating, and it is a matter of time you will notice that peaceful voice inside of you, that will guide you through the passage you are reading; and all of a sudden it seems so clear to you. That is the way the Lord speaks in your heart to you. You will notice Jesus speaking to you as you read and ponder over the subject and lead you to other passages that refer to the same subject.

Getting Familiar with the Books of the Bible => The World’s Greatest Library.

Ephesians 1:13 “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,’

Colossians 3:16  “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

1 Thessalonians 1:5  “For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake.”

1 Thessalonians 1:8  “For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing.”

James 1:22 “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”

Pages 60 to 79 the author of our book gives us an overview of what is in the Bible and how it is organized. It is very important to understand which part tells us about History, which is Prophecy and which are the parts of the Old Testament that talk about the promised Messiah that would save the world.  Jesus, the Christ who is God’s Son. 

In the Old Testament God spoke of Jesus as a promise that He would send Him. In the 4 Gospels in the New Testament we have the life of the Lord Jesus here on earth and how God fulfilled that promise. And now we are where in all this? We, are part of the fulfillment of the Old and New Testament. What is going on in the World now is a great part of what Revelation talks about the End Time before the Second coming of Jesus.

What are you and I doing to be part of it so that it can be fulfilled? We, need to be willing to learn from Jesus, in order to grow in knowledge and wisdom so we can submit to Him in obedience; so that He can do through us what He has forespoken just the same way he used the prophets, apostles and all the servants of the Lord He used in all centuries up till now.

Today it is our turn to say: Here I am Lord, use me as it pleases you.

1.   Are you willing to be obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior?

2.   Will you follow no matter what the cost?

Before you answer … let’s take a moment to think…

How many hours, minutes a day   do you waist on unnecessary things like… who knows maybe TV programs that are like Psalm 1 says that will lead your thought as it says in verse 1: in step with the wicked or leads your thoughts to stand alongside with the way of the sinners; and as long as you watch that same show it will be used by the enemy to be in company of the mockers, even though it is just watching on television.  Maybe Internet,?? Or... name it before the Lord what ever it is that might be hindering you.

One day I made an oat with God, not to watch worldly programs on TV no more, because I felt I was doing wrong be doing so.   Now take a time to answer the following question:… will you follow no matter what?    Which one of these things that come to my mind could I give up in order to do something like this homework from our Bible Study?

3rd Lesson = Getting familiar with the greatest Library = 66 Books.

It might night be the biggest for having the greatest numbers of books; but it is the greatest because of the content of the 66 Books, every single one written by God Himself using a human being to do so.

As we look into our 2 books that we are getting acquainted with, they give us a very good outline as how the Bible is organized. The book ‘How To Study Your Bible By Yourself’ is based mostly on ‘Halley’s Bible Handbook’. Let us turn to the pages 60 to 79. I suggest you to read this as your homework this week; and maybe you say in your heart: I do not have time for this. There is a saying that says: ‘If God brought you to it, He will bring you through it.’ Trust me if God brought you into this Bible Study; if you seek the Lord to guide you, He will help you organize your 24 hours daily in such a way that you will be able to do it and there still will be time left over to share this blessings with others. Amen, praise God.

How is the Bible organized? As both books show us. We have the Old Testament with 39 books. And we have the New Testament with 27 books.  You can find the detailed description in Halley’s Bible handbook and in How to study the Bible for yourself. Let us check it out.  This will be your homework to read these pages for the next 2 weeks. Pages 60-79 give us a very understandable outline of it.

A. Is the Old Testament we have the same as the Torah that the Jews have?       

B. Does Archeology give us any proof of it? Yes, it does. They found the Scroll of Isaiah and it is the one from which Jesus read in the Synagogue and it is word by word exactly the same as it is in our Bible. 

The Torah has only 22 books, and in their Scripture have some of the books combined as we see   detailed on page 63 (How to study your Bible).

a) The Law …. 5 books of Moses. Pentateuch

b)  History… Joshua, Judges, Books of Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ruth.

c) Wisdom and Poetry =Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs. 

d) Major Prophets – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and Lamentations.

e) Minor Prophets – 12 minor.

 

The Silent years = 400 years without God speaking to his people.

 

B. The Bible has the Old Testament; which is the same as theTorah the Jewish Law Books, and the New Testament – 27 books.

a) The Gospels

b) Church History in Acts

c) Pauline Epistles

d) General Epistles

e) Prophecy- Revelations.