Week #21 of our Psalm 119 study Psalm 119:161-168 “Praise!”

Click here to view or download Week #21 of our Psalm 119 studyAre you studying with us through Psalm 119?  Great!  This is Week #21, Psalm 119:161-168  “Praise!!”  . Click on the picture to the left to view or download this study.

This week’s passage is all about praise.

“Offering” – Paul Baloche

The sun cannot compare to the glory of Your love
There is no shadow in Your presence
No mortal man would dare to stand before Your throne
Before the Holy One of heaven
It’s only by Your blood
And it’s only through Your mercy
Lord I come
I bring an offering of worship to my King
No one else deserves the praises that I sing
Jesus may You receive the honor that You’re due
Oh Lord I bring an offering to You.

Week #20 of our Psalm 119 study Psalm 119:153-160 “What Does Love Look Like?”

Click here to view or download Week #20 of our Psalm 119 study.Are you studying with us through Psalm 119?  Great!  This is Week #20, Psalm 119:153-160  “What Does Love Look Like?” . Click on the picture to the left to view or download this study.

There’s no way to know what love really looks like….how love really acts….until we see love acted out in the life of Jesus.

The woman caught in adultery in John 8:1-12.  Here was the ultimate shameful experience – to be caught in the act of doing something very personal and horrible.

The Priests and Pharisees set the shamed woman in the middle of a group of condemning and mean-spirited men, and used her as a tool to force Jesus to condemn her, too.  They wanted to put Jesus in a lose-lose situation.  He couldn’t say sin was OK, or He would be exposed as being totally opposite of God.  And He couldn’t say “Stone her!”, or He would be seen as hateful and condemning, just like the ones He was preaching to.  But what did love look like?

Love first protected her from the ones who would kill her.  Then Love refused to condemn her….but instead sent her on her way with hope that she did not have to keep on sinning.

Love told her she could be different.

That’s love.  That’s what my soul cries out for.

Week #19 of our Psalm 119 study Psalm 119:145-152 “Cry Out!”

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Are you studying with us through Psalm 119?  Great!  This is Week #19, Psalm 119:145-152  “Cry Out!!!” . Click on the picture to the left to view or download this study.

Do you ever feel like you have done very little for Jesus in your life?  When you hear of great persons of faith, do you wonder why the Lord did not take you in that direction?  Do you wish you had learned all of this earlier…acted on it sooner…made wiser decisions so that your life wouldn’t be such a mess…taken different turns on your road so that you could be more of a witness?

If you have ever felt this way, let me assure you of something you may not realize:  almost every Christian feels that way.  Even the ones you think are great.

The Three Wise Gentiles

three wise menThe story of Jesus’ birth includes three Gentiles with Faith in the One, True, God, and practically a whole nation of Jews without.

“Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, ‘Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.’ “ Matthew 2:1&2

The Three Wise Gentiles heard about Jesus by reading ancient Jewish manuscripts, and then seeing a star.   They followed that star and headed toward Jerusalem.   But the star didn’t stop at Jerusalem.  That star they had first seen in their own land continued to lead them past Jerusalem and headed toward Bethlehem, until finally it came to rest right over the very house where Joseph and Mary and the baby Jesus were living.

“When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.  When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.  And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell downand worshiped Him.  And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense and myrrh.”  Matthew 2:9-11

When they found Mary, Joseph, and the child, they fell down and worshipped the child, Jesus.

They didn’t walk back outside and worship the star.  They didn’t fall to their knees, look to the heavens, and thank the One Who had led them.  They walked into this little house and worshipped the young child.  They knew the child was God.  They may not have totally understood how this worked – but they believed the Jewish scriptures they had studied.  They believed the toddler was the One Who had made the stars…and had led them here.  And they worshipped Him.

God made clear to His people in Old Testament times that His salvation and His love were not just for the Jews.  They were for all the world.  Jews and Gentiles.

He was never just the God of the Jews.  He simply gave the Jewish people the high privilege of introducing Him to the rest of the world He had made and loved.

Jesus was the Messiah of the Gentiles, too.

Psalms 72:10,11   “The Kings of Tarshish and of the isles will bring presents; The kings of Sheba and Seba will offer gifts.  Yes, all kings shall fall down before Him; all nations shall serve Him.”

 Isaiah 42:1  “Behold!  My servant whom I uphold, My Elect One in whom My soul delights!  I have put my Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.”

 Isaiah 42:6  “I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness, and will hold your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles”

 Isaiah 11:10  “And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people;  for the Gentiles shall seek Him, and resting place shall be glorious.”

The Three Wise Gentiles were the first of millions of gentiles who would someday bow their knee to the Messiah of Israel – the King of the world.

King of the Jews. King of the World. Matthew 1:1

King of the Jews. King of the World.“The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham.”  Matthew 1:1

Jesus descended from Abraham, making him undeniably a Jew. (Genesis 12:1-9)

And He descended from David, who had been given the Kingship of Israel by the One, True, God – and had been told that any of His sons had the legal right to be the King after him. (Psalm 89:3&4)

Psalm 89:3&4   “I have made a covenant with My chosen, I have sworn to My servant David:  Your seed I will establish forever, and build up your throne to all generations.” 

And what difference does that make?  Why does it matter to me that Jesus was qualified to be the King of Israel?  Israel is just a small country – a tiny group of people, right?  So what if they have a King?  How does that King affect me?

Psalm 89:3&4, above,  proves that the sons of David were qualified to be the kings of Israel.

But it also says something else.  It says “forever” – a future son of David would reign on the throne of Israel “forever”.  Not just for a lifetime.  Not just for 100 lifetimes.  But “forever”.  For eternity.  Look again at Psalm 89 – but this time at verses 35-37:

 “Once I have sworn by My holiness; I will not lie to David; His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before Me;  It shall be established forever like the moon, even like the faithful witness in the sky.”  Psalm 89:35-37

Do you see what difference it makes to you and me that Jesus was the seed of David – that Jesus was the eternal King of Israel – that Jesus is the eternal King of Israel?

The eternal King of Israel is not just King of Israel.  He’s King of the World.  He’s King of Eternity.  He Himself is eternal. He will never die.  He’s God.

The King of the Jews is the King of the World!  He’ll change everything!  That’s why it matters to me whether or not Jesus is the King of the Jews.  If He is King of the Jews, then He should be my King, too.

Week #18 of our Psalm 119 study. Psalm 119:137-144 “Do the Next Right Thing”

Click here to view or download Psalm 119:137-144 "Do the Next Right Thing"

Are you studying with us through Psalm 119?  Great!  This is Week #18, Psalm 119:137-144  “Do the Next Right Thing” . Click on the picture to the left to view or download this study.

Last week we looked at the power of sin.

This week we’re going to see the definition of righteousness, and Who defines it.

A Christmas Chronology

The Birth of Jesus Christ –  A Christmas Chronology

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit together agreed, before They ever made the world, that God the Son would become a man and pay the blood-price for the sin which would be committed by the people They were about to create.  At Christmas, we celebrate the day He came.  Here is the story.

Zechariah “One Sleepless Night”

A verse-by-verse Bible Study of Zechariah.   “One Sleepless Night”

Steve and Julie got us started on the Grandparent’s track almost 19 years ago when they brought Michael into the world.

They were living near us at the time, so when we got the phone call that they were on the way to the hospital…wow! it was time!  We rushed to the hospital, too, and waited.   We were right there wanting to be a part of the excitement and joy when he was born.  Everybody was in a party mood – all grandparents were there – and even a few of Steve & Julie’s friends.  All of us got to go into the room with Julie, a few at a time, and talk celebrate with Julie & Steve while we were waiting.    (This whole process was a huge shock to me.  There was no timing, no pain, no groaning, no little puffs of air while making it “through” a contraction – the advent of the epidural had completely changed the way women have babies…and I was totally unaware.   Nice change, by the way…..not complaining…I was just so amazed J)

It was a really fun and exciting time – lots of laughing and talking out in the waiting area.  And when Steve came out of the delivery room to tell us he had a son, he came striding down the hall, big as life, spread his arms out and said “It’s a Boy”!!!   We all congratulated him with lots of laughter and slapping on the back.  He walked up to me and gave me a hug – and when I threw my arms around him, too, he started crying.  We stood in the middle of the waiting room with our arms around each other and we both cried.

You know what my thought was at that time?  I stood there with my arms around Steve, thinking…”I wish I had held him more….I wish when he was little, I had held him on my lap more.”  When we had Steve we were very young ourselves…I was nineteen years old, and he just went everywhere with me.  He was on my hip, he was in the car seat, he was at church meetings…we were starting churches…so he was also in a lot of church nurseries.  We just went go-go-go all the time.  It was a wonderful life, but I didn’t have a whole lot of time to just hold him.  And when I stood in the waiting room, knowing that his own baby boy was waiting back in the delivery room for him, I thought to myself, “I wish I had held him more.”  If I had just had this little glimpse of the future – standing here in the hospital waiting room with Steve – I might have lived better, then, in the past – knowing what the future held.

Knowing what the future holds – that’s the wonderful gift the LORD, through Zechariah, is giving this handful of Jews living in about 400 BC.  Little glimpses of the future.

Week #17 of our Psalm 119 study. Psalm 119:129-136 “Sin Wants to be the Boss of You”

Are you studying with us through Psalm 119?  Great!  This is Week #17, Psalm 119:129-136  “Sin Wants to be the Boss of You”  .   Click on the picture to the left to view or download this study.

In this passage, verse :133 is the one I have parked on to learn the major theme for this octuplet:

“Direct my steps by Your word,
And let no iniquity have dominion over me.”  Ps. 119:133

The Psalmist is pleading with the Lord to help him do the right thing…to direct his steps in accordance with the Word of God.  And along with that, he is asking, too, that sin will not be the boss of him.

When our kids were young, we would sometimes leave them home alone together, with our oldest, Steve, in charge.  It didn’t always work very well, because (surprise, surprise) somehow we ended up with 5 children who didn’t like anyone to be in charge of them!!!!  I can remember quite often hearing at least one of them telling Steve “You aren’t the boss of me!”

Well – sin likes to be the boss of us.  And, wow!, sin can sure find ways to be in charge!