SCRIPTURE

Studied: Psalm 92

OBSERVATION

Psalm 92:1-4 ~ It is wonderful to be grateful and to sing your praises, LORD Most High! It is wonderful each morning to tell about your love and at night to announce how faithful you are. I enjoy praising your name to the music of harps, because everything you do makes me happy, and I sing joyful songs.

APPLICATION

Those of us that have a friend that we can trust and who watches out for us as best they can, we will always be ready to praise them and lift them up before a brother or sister. Let us therefore do as much for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He gave it all that we might have eternal life. He guides and protects us each and every day. He blesses us with jobs so that we may support our families. He blesses us with the good health to enjoy each and every day that He also provides for us. Wow, our God is awesome and so worthy of our praise! Let’s follow the way of David and praise our Savior each morning and each evening. Let’s learn to rejoice through the music that we have been blessed with by so many Christian artists. Let’s sing songs on our own as we worship our Lord and sing praises to Him! Here are two examples, sing with them as You worship God for a moment: ‘

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Isaiah 50

OBSERVATION

Isaiah 50:10-12 ~ Who among you fears the Lord and obeys his servant? Let those who walk in darkness and have no light trust the name of the Lord and depend upon their God. But all of you light fires and arm yourselves with flaming torches. So walk in your own light and among the torches you have lit. This is what you will receive from me: You will be tormented.

APPLICATION

This passage is very clear about what will happen to those of us that walk, or are guided by our own understanding, or guided by our own principles, or are short sighted enough to walk in only the knowledge of what we know. We are blessed to have an all knowing, all powerful and almighty God that love us so much that He provided a means for us to get into heaven, by sacrificing His one and only Son. He is anxiously awaiting our dependence on Him. He wants to lead us down a path to righteousness, one that is right with, or lines up with the character and teachings of God. When we try to do things on our own, we base our decisions on the limited knowledge that we have about the present, and the total lack of knowledge about what we know of the future. Why would we do this to ourselves? Let’s tap into the source of power for all Christians, let’s place our trust in Jesus, let’s seek His face in prayer daily so that He could properly guide us towards a right path. Let’s dig into the Word of God daily so that He may reveal His will and way for us to follow. Jesus is my guide, my friend, my everlasting and all loving Father. I know that I can fully trust Him with the life that He has blessed me with. ‘What A Mighty God We Serve‘ ‘Lead Me, Guide Me Oh Lord‘ be my strength and guide each and every day!

PRAYER

1. Father it is clear from Your Word that following my own path, my own direction, or any direction that is not directed by You will lead to eternal damnation. My decision to live for You and serve You all of my life requires me to stay in close communion with You, and seek Your face daily through Your Word. Thank you for guiding me today by reminding me of the importance of allowing You to direct my path. Please help me to always be sensitive to Your voice and Your leading so that I may be more like You each day. Thank You for being such an awesome God to me! ‘I Love You Lord, and I lift my Voice‘ to worship You, Oh my soul rejoice!

SCRIPTURE

Studied: James 1

OBSERVATION

James 1:26-27 ~ If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

APPLICATION

We often think of religion as we know it in the form of various churches and/or denominations that have similar interpretations of the Word of God, and therefore they worship together. When we become a part of that group, we often feel like we may have religion and that we are a part of a religious group. I don’t know that we will find this anywhere in God’s Word. Instead it is clear from these verses what religion truly is:

1. When we, as God’s people, practice keeping a tight rein on our tongues. – I don’t believe that this means that we must never say a word, but rather we should never say an evil word about our brother or sister that God is undoubtedly working on, just as hard as He is doing with us. Let our tongues or mouths or words be used to lift up the name of Jesus, and to lift up His children that are so precious to Him that He sacrificed His Son for.
   
2. Look after orphans and widows – While I don’t have any good examples of orphans that are close enough to use as an example, I do have a very close situation in widows. My dad passed away about 6 years ago and this has placed a tremendous strain on my mom. She is lonely, in spite of having children that she could come and live with. I am especially happy when I call her and find that there are Christians visiting with her. She and my dad always discussed things that needed attention, so now she has no one there to fill that role so it becomes very overwhelming for her to make decisions. These are just two examples of what a widow that we may know may go through. I believe we can understand why it is so important that we look after the orphans and widows., for they are needy people that we can show mercy to and fulfill this characteristic that God used James to speak with us about.
   
3. Keep ourselves holy, and not polluted by the world – we hear so much about what pollutes this earth and its inhabitants. Things of this world that pollute us as Christians are: television, gossip, non-Christians (for their beliefs and life direction is not fed or led by the same biblical beliefs as us), movies, entertainment in general. These are things that pollute and distract us from our goal – to be more like Christ.
   

PRAYER

1. Father, I fall short of Your ideals and too often into the worthless religious concepts warned about here in these verses. I know that time is very short before You come to earth to take your bride, the church, away to be with You in glory. Please help me to live in light of that urgency each and every day. Please help me to look for ways to minister to the orphans and widows. Please help us to identify and keep them in the forefront of our ministry and keep them under close watch. I also beg You Jesus to help me to keep my eyes fixed on You and that old rugged cross. Help me to understand Your ways and the paths on which You would have me trod. With less time to be influenced by this old world and the evil things brought on by Satan, may I always have a closer walk with You and exemplify You and Your character before a lost and polluted world.

SCRIPTURE

Studied: James 1

OBSERVATION

James 1:22-25 ~ Obey God’s message! Don’t fool yourselves by just listening to it. If you hear the message and don’t obey it, you are like people who stare at themselves in a mirror and forget what they look like as soon as they leave. But you must never stop looking at the perfect law that sets you free. God will bless you in everything you do, if you listen and obey, and don’t just hear and forget.

APPLICATION

It may not seem important to repeat, but I must! If we look in the mirror, take an honest look at ourselves, then we turn around and walk out of the door still remembering who we are, then why would we be foolish enough to listen to the voice of God through His holy Word and not obey it? God, our Creator, says in this passage that we are only fooling ourselves. Let me be bold enough to say that we have hardened ourselves to the wonderful grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Another passage of scripture says that we have seared our consciences as with a hot iron (

SCRIPTURE

Studied: James 1

OBSERVATION

James 1:12-15 ~ God will bless you, if you don’t give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as he rewards everyone who loves him. Don’t blame God when you are tempted! God cannot be tempted by evil, and he doesn’t use evil to tempt others. We are tempted by our own desires that drag us off and trap us. Our desires make us sin, and when sin is finished with us, it leaves us dead.

APPLICATION

It is so easy to give up, especially when you feel like God is not even there for you. However, these verses remind me that there are times when our faith is tested, and God is patiently watching us to see the level of spiritual maturity that we have attained, and whether we would withstand the pressures of the testing. Is God there to help us? I believe that God is always there to help us, but think about it, even for us to ask for help from God requires a lot of faith on our behalf. If our faith is already being tested, will we truly have faith to ask God for help? There are several nuggets in these verses that could serve to help us in times of weakness and despair in our faith:

1. God will bless us, if we stay strong and keep the faith and not give up;
   
2. He will reward us with glorious life, or a crown of life, or life everlasting;
   
3. God cannot be tempted by evil, and He doesn’t use evil to tempt His children, so let’s be careful to not blame God when we are tempted;
   
4. Evil comes from the evil one, so let us stay far away from him. Let’s quote scripture to him and stay so strong in the Lord that Satan will have no power over us;
   
5. Our own sinful desires cause us to be tempted and ultimately sin. Remember from other scriptures that sin separates us from God. It is no wonder that we feel like He is not there to help us when we are tempted! Stay close to God and He will stay close to us. Let nothing come between us and our Savior.
   

Let us remember that: Whatever we feed, will lead.

PRAYER

Father, it is so awful to feel like we have separated ourselves from You. Please give us grace daily to stay close to You, and in turn, far away from sin, through prayer; Bible study; the friends that we keep, the TV shows that we watch; the company that we keep and the places that we go. Most of all Jesus, may we use this grace that You give us to be a blessing to others. Thank You for the patience that You have with us! Thank You for the gift of eternal life promised to us that have accepted You as Lord and Savior of our lives! Thank You for being God, and the freedom that I have to come before You and petition Your help so many times when things are just impossible in my own power! You are an awesome God, and I value the relationship that I have in You! Thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom as Your child!

SCRIPTURE

Studied: James 1

OBSERVATION

James 1:2-4 ~ My friends, be glad, even if you have a lot of trouble. You know that you learn to endure by having your faith tested. But you must learn to endure everything, so that you will be completely mature and not lacking in anything.

APPLICATION

It is so easy to be on cloud 9 when everything is going well for us and we are being blessed beyond measure. However these verses remind us that we should rejoice, or be glad in ALL things, yes even if we are encountering trouble. It is during these tough times that our faith is being tested, and that God is maturing us so that we not be lacking in anything. In other words, so that we may become strong enough to handle anything that may come our way. One might say that it is really tough to stay on top of the world when things are crashing around us, but if we are obedient to God and His Word in these verses, we will be reminded that God is always in control and that we will be especially sensitive to His voice and His miracles while we are down and out. Let’s hold firm to His hand through the good and bad times. Sing that old hymn, ‘

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Isaiah 29; Isaiah 30; Isaiah 31; James 1

OBSERVATION

Isaiah 30:15 ~ The holy LORD God of Israel had told all of you, “I will keep you safe if you turn back to me and calm down. I will make you strong if you quietly trust me.”

APPLICATION

It seems like every time you turn around there was some battle going on, and while the stories of Israel and her surrounding nations often related to physical battles, today we can acknowledge that we have military wars going on also. However, I am equally concerned about the spiritual warfare going on among Christians and churches in which we serve, or at least attend. There are such areas of need in our communities and among our friends, yes in our own lives, but I feel like we are living in times similar to the times of Lot where God, and our people are looking for one holy people, or church, where they could use their newfound faith to serve and/or worship alongside. I heard of a new Christian yesterday and I started to think hard about a good church to recommend to them where they might connect with other Christians and grow in their spiritual walk and in turn, minister to others. Unfortunately I couldn’t think of one that I wouldn’t feel embarrassed about recommending, especially knowing about the issues that exist in one form or another at that church. What a pity! Churches have become so diluted and ineffective because God’s people have turned away from Him and stuck to their own, selfish and personal desires, that we are not good for any Godly purpose. In this verse I feel like God is still saying that if we (His people) will turn back to Him and quietly trust Him with all our being, He will keep us safe from the ills of this old world, and He will make us strong in our Godly desires to win the lost and grow the Christians. Bottom line is that if God’s people who are called by His name, will humble ourselves and pray, and turn from our wicked ways, then He will hear from Heaven and heal our land, our churches and our families. We should be on a mission to grow Christians, not tear them down; win the lost, not cause them to stay far away from the hypocritical attitudes and actions that they see in God’s people.

PRAYER

Lord, please keep us safe and strong. Make us bold to take a firm stand for You, one that will reflect Your love, mercy and grace towards all men. May we be so full of You and all that You represent to fallen man, that the unsaved will feel welcomed, and that they would not hesitate to make a decision to accept You as Lord and Savior of their lives, and to follow through by plugging in to Your work of the ongoing ministry of Your church.

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Isaiah 29

OBSERVATION

Isaiah 29:15-16 ~ You are in for trouble, if you try to hide your plans from the LORD! Or if you think what you do in the dark can’t be seen. You have it all backwards. A clay dish doesn’t say to the potter, “You didn’t make me. You don’t even know how.”

APPLICATION

Too often we try to keep certain things to ourselves, or we might do certain things that we do not want anyone else to know about. In these verses we are reminded that God knows all things about us. Furthermore God warns that we are in trouble if we try to hide things from Him, and I believe that this could have multiple meanings. First of all I believe that God is reminding us that we can do nothing successfully without His help, or His direction, but with God we can do all things. Secondly I believe that this is also saying that we needn’t fool ourselves into thinking that just like we could hide certain things from our spouse, or mom or dad, that we cannot hide anything from Him. After all, He is our creator, our omniscient (always present) God, so He is well aware of all that occurs around us! God is the potter that made us, but molding us and reshaping us is an ongoing necessity as we are often marred by the Evil One and all of his followers that we come into contact with each day.

PRAYER

Dear God, I pray that I will listen closely to Your Word today and allow You to be an active part of my life, including my decisions, my plans, my words and my actions. You have outlined the path that I should follow and You have reminded me here in these verses that You are there to continue molding me into Your likeness. Please take a major role in my plans for today, because I want others to see Jesus when I speak or when I act on circumstances. May I represent You well today. I pray also that I will openly communicate with You about all my plans, actions or words so that I may benefit from Your wisdom, Your love and Your everlasting mercy. You created me, now help me to always be pliable and moldable each and every day as I travel this earthly road where obstacles seem to always move into my path. Please help me to recognize these as landmarks or places where You took me by the hand and helped me over, not as Satan’s vices to stop, hinder or discourage me from doing Your will.

SCRIPTURE

Studied: Isaiah 29

OBSERVATION

Isaiah 29:13 ~ The Lord says: “These people worship me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is based on nothing but human rules.

APPLICATION

Unfortunately we could read this verse and say “Oh those people were soooo hardened” but if we are honest with ourselves, we could read this and see a lot of semblance to our churches today. After all, who is the church? It is the people…. us. We are the church, and unfortunately too often we come to worship with hardened hearts, with envy in our hearts, with anger against a brother or sister, with unforgiveness that separates us from a child of God and from God Himself, and sometimes probably a lot more. Each of these things I cited show that our hearts are far from God. Because if we were close to God, we would be filled with love, for God is love, and we would exemplify His character and obey His Word by drawing close to each other and not letting things of this world and of Satan himself separate us from God and His people. Too often our worship (not our church service, but our ability to praise our risen Lord and worship Him in spirit and in truth) is nothing more than tradition itself, or form, or something that we feel we have to do in order to look like that upright person to our friends. Out of a right relationship with God, comes a heart of appreciation filled with love, and an appreciation for a God that loves us so much that He demonstrated it at Calvary, and continues to demonstrate it each and every day. This is the heart that will be honestly ready to truly ‘worship’ and sing praises to our Savior, our Lord, our Master and our King. This will give fresh new meaning to our worship services as there will be sincerity and purpose in our worship, not because we are following some human or earthly or worldly rules.

PRAYER

Father, may our hearts be pure and sincere as we worship You. Help us to stop trying to impress others, but instead help us to express our true, honest love to You. By doing this corporately, may we be an influence and encouragement to our brother or sister that may be near us but discouraged or hurting in some form. Please also direct us to a brother or sister that You would have encourage us also, so that together we may lift up holy hands and hearts in praise to You. May we get our eyes and our minds off self and instead fix them on You, the one that died for us and truly deserves our full attention and who is worthy of all our praise.