Study notes for Sunday, October 22, 2022
A major goal in my life is to communicate the word of God accurately, with comprehension, with clearness, and with common sense all the while never getting off the truth, adding to or subtracting from God’s word. God’s word must be God’s word and not an interpretation of it to my liking.
The world is about to end (no, we do not know the day or hour), but we know the signs. In the end, God will triumph over evil, all wickedness will be judged, and those who are truly children of God will inherit the kingdom and receive their reward. Jesus could come at any moment for His bride/the church. Are you ready to encounter Jesus? When Jesus does come He will come quickly. At that point, you do not have time to “get ready”. Right now is your time to get ready.
We are truly blessed in our souls when we are doing the things that God wants us to do. We are blessed when we read God’s word, hear God’s word, and then apply (heed) His word in our life.
Prepare to expect the unexpected in life. Life will not always “go the way we want”. We live in a fallen world and stuff happens. We also must restrain our imagination for when we do we take God’s word out of context and make it what it is not.
When studying God’s word observe what it says, interpret it correctly (don’t add to it, subtract from it, or try to make it say what you want. Whatever you are reading ask yourself how it fits in your life, and what you need to change or do because of it. God didn’t just put His word in a book to read but to find out what it is saying and how to apply it to your life.
God’s word is meant to change us and not just to tell us something. God’s word should be life-changing.
Jesus is from the past, the present, and the future. Don’t try to fit Him into a box for He doesn’t fit there.
All of the Bible tells us things about our Lord that we need to know and understand, and all of it is meant to make us grow in Him.
Always worship our precious Lord Jesus. There is none like Him. Jesus is worthy of praise.
God’s righteous judgment will come and that is a fact. Those that deny Jesus as Lord, and are unrepentant will one day face His wrath.
The Bible wasn’t written lightly. God knew exactly what He was doing. He put into the Bible exactly the stories He wanted you to hear, and the things He wanted you to do or not do. It was not written to frighten you, but so that you could understand and change your destiny.
God’s word is 100 percent reliable. It is an eternal map for each of us. But if you don’t follow the map you won’t be where you need to be and you won’t be ready for His coming.
God always accomplishes whatever He sets out to do.
We don’t need to know everything but we need to begin learning about His word and how it works and how to apply it to our life.
Sometimes our life might seem to not be going in the direction we hoped it would. We might not (in our own eyes) like where we are in life for whatever reason, but God knows exactly where we are and what we are doing. He is working on each of us at whatever point and place we are. We can trust Him. If we stay in Him and do things His way even when we don’t understand fully we will be victorious and be on the winning team. Team Jesus!
Jesus should be the center of all worship, the focus of our life and obedience, and we need to realize He is the source of our life and even every breath we take.
We, as Christians, claim to love Him and we say it is with all of our heart, but what if Jesus were to come to your house today and knock and want to come in…what and who would He find in your home? Are you doing anything you should not be doing? Living in a way that would not honor Him?
No matter what you think God sees it. God hears what we say, whom we hang out with, and how we treat others. You can’t con God and don’t even try to make excuses or blame others for your behavior.
We all have a “personal life”…but God sees our life much differently than we see it ourselves. God has told each of us to examine our own life. Do we? Are we? What needs to change in us? Are we going to stay on the wrong course (in God’s eyes) or are we going to ask God what we need to do? When are we going to do it?
Do we ask God to correct in us everything wrong (in His eyes)?
Confession and repentance (changing direction) leads to change in our life.
Jesus loved me/us enough to die for me/us. He died to release us (who want Him as our Lord) from our sins. Some will ask Jesus into their life and others will reject Him. It was only by the shed blood of Jesus upon the cross that we could ever be saved.
We can give advice all we want (opinions), but many things we think we know are only guesses. It is much better to go to God’s word and find out what we need to know and understand. When we do this we are working on having knowledge and wisdom.
God’s word, the Bible, was not written to scare us, but to help us make it through life.
Jesus is going to return that is a promise…when we do not know, we just know that it is close at hand. The clock is ticking and each moment is one moment closer. I’d rather walk on Jesus’ path to get me home than spend one minute out of His sight even though I know I am always in His sight. God’s word always gives me hope even in the toughest of times.
God hasn’t saved us because we did something good. God saves us out of His love for us and with grace and mercy. We didn’t earn salvation and never could. It is a gift to each of us, but if we don’t receive that gift then it will never be ours.
There is a judgment coming. To those that do not have Jesus as their Lord and Savior their wickedness will decide their eternity. Those who have Jesus as their Lord will see heaven and be with the Lord for all eternity.
God is in control. He was in control of the past…He is in control of the now…and He will be in total control of the future.
Christ Jesus paid our debt by going to the cross. I thank Him for that. He paid a debt I could never pay, and it released my sins. I don’t have to keep worrying about my past sins for they were wiped out. I was given another chance and I have taken that chance. I asked Jesus into my heart and I have never regretted that decision.
When Jesus does return there will be a lot of mourning going on. Not by Christians but by those that rejected Jesus. All who see Him at His return will have wished they could change their destiny for many never believed in Him, who He was, or what He said. They were given chances to change and for whatever reason, they didn’t believe in Him…He will then deny them. Even some Christians who say they are Christians and go to church…some will hear, “depart from me for I never knew you”. In other words, they had no relationship with the Lord.
Have you ever thought about the fact that God is the creator…and He will be the recreator as well?
Keep shining for Jesus. You keep the light shining and don’t allow yours to go out.
I hear a lot of pastors telling people that God wants you to be rich, even famous, healthy, and have all the things you desire to have, yet, when I read God’s word it says in this world you will have tribulation. We need to persevere! We need perspective. We need love. However, God didn’t say that life would be a garden of roses for even roses have thorns. No one desires to be sick, have little, and so on, but even with what the world calls little…some are richer in spirit than all the billionaires out there.
Do you see the splendor of our Lord? Do you worship Jesus? Why or why not?
God’s word is our sword. Even if we don’t know much to be able to share from His word, we can give our testimony and tell others what Jesus has done for us. I don’t know everything and I try to study over and over again. However, I know Jesus loves me and will return for me one day or come for me prior. I know I am on the winning team and that heaven awaits. God didn’t promise me an easy life, but He said He would walk it with me no matter what I go through here on earth. People fall away, lie, steal, cheat, are corrupt, and even those I truly dearly love in this life…can let me down from time to time, but God has never let me down. He took me down paths I didn’t want to go, allowed me to do stupid things in life, reprimanded me when necessary, let me pay the consequences for many of my actions in life, forgave me my sins, turned me around, and all I have to say now is how could I not love and trust Him? He gives me life and has picked me up so many times. People might hate me, not forgive me, and so on, but I know my Jesus loves and loved me enough that He went to the cross to save me. That’s love! I was one of the ones in ninety-nine He came for. If you don’t know Him yet personally….ask Him to come into your heart and He will. He is just waiting for you. Why would you not want a relationship with Him? What is so great about the world’s ways? You might think it is hard to follow Jesus…it is not. I am freer now than I ever was and you can be too. The world can promise you money, fame, stuff, etc, but the world can never promise you eternal life with God. We do not know the moment of our last breath on this earth, but I want to take that last breath and know I am in God’s presence. Just because someone thinks they are a good person so God will allow them into heaven then know this…that is not the requirement for getting into heaven. Jesus said He is the way. If you don’t have Jesus you will miss heaven no matter how rich, how famous, or what you think. Choose your destiny wisely for it is for all eternity. As for me, I choose Jesus! Do you?