The Psalms

The Psalms are a book of songs praising God, therefore it is often referring to as "The Book of Praises".  I am studying Ps. 119, and I am going to share a bit of what I learn.  
I found that, though this book of lyrics are often attributed to David, he actually wrote about seventy-three (about half) of the songs. The Palms were written over a period of one thousand years from Moses to Ezra (Believer's Bible Commentary - Kindle).

Alepha

1 Blessed are those whose ways are blameless,
who walk according to the law of the Lord.
2 Blessed are those who keep his statutes
and seek him with all their hearts.

Ps 119:1,2

These two verses say lot to the reader.  In a nut shell, to me it convicts me and tells me to walk with God instead of the worldly. To "seek him with all [our] hearts".  Then, we shall be blessed with His love.

God bless you,

God's Grace

God's Training to Reach the Goal

"Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come."

1 Timothy 4:8

The beginning of the year brings resolutions for us all, from physical exercise to diet change. Here, God is telling us through Timothy, that our spirit life is important more and will last us to eternity.  We need a good regiment, not only for the physical, but the spiritual part of us. If you have a good spiritual life, everything else falls into place.  Then, we know that we can depend on God for everything, including being our coach through life.

God's Will on Sexual Purity

This is Part One of a message delivered by Pastor Kevin Schmidt of Grace Baptist Church in Sonora, Ca. (http://www.gbcsonora.com.)

Topic:  Is God pleased with our lifestyle; the way we act??

Intro:  God has a will for our lives.  When we accept God, of course, He gives us a whole new life, which includes sexual purity.

A few quick questions to ponder about God's will  for us.

1. Do we believe in God?
2. What is our relationship with God? 
3. Why should God care about what I do with my body?

Thessalonians 5:23 is proof that God is concerned about our whole being, not just how we think or feel.

May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.   May your whole spirit, soul and body be blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

                                                                                     Thessalonians 5:23 (NIV) 

A. Three reasons why God cares about things like sexuality

     1. It's God sovereign right as the creator

         a.  Gen 1:1 says that He created heaven and earth
         b.  Gen 1:26  God sees that all is good
               I. perfect for mankind

         c.   Gen 1:26,27 states that God created man and woman in their 

               I.   notice, first that God says "let us make mankind in our image"
                      a. proof of trinity

Now God obviously has no body.  What does He mean when He said, "in our own image"? Here are some of the characteristics that God might have meant.

      1. dignity
      2. dominion
      3. duty
          a. to multiply
      4. to commune with God
          a. before the fall 
      5. moral discernment

Obviously, we have just skimmed the surface of the subject.  Please come back for more.  In the meantime, have a blessed day.
       
       

Welcome Back

I am back from a long medical process.  I hope to be able to share with you again, my interpretation of sermons that I have heard in the past.  Thank you for visiting me.

Worshiping God by Name ~ Part 2

As I said last time, these are my notes from Worshiping God by Name. This is the second part of a two part message, and was preached by Dr. Jeremiah from Turning Point.  

None of us really know God as much as we should.  Therefore, we do not love Him as we should. Oh yes, we love God...a lot; but we could show Him so much more love if we would only take the time to know Him.  We have the chance to know a little more about Him when we look at the names that the people of the Old Testament gave Him. Last time, we went through the first four names; today we will learn the last four, along with the meanings.  So let's get stated.

1. Jehovah - M'kaddesh ~ from Lev 20:7,8
        a. meaning The-Lord-Who Sanctifies

2. Jehovah - Shalom ~ from Judges 8:24 
        a. meaning The Lord-Who-is-Peace

3. Jehovah - Tsidkenu ~ from Jer 23:5,6
        a. meaning The-Lord-Our- Righteousness

4. Jehovah - Shammah ~ from Eze 48:35
        a. meaning The -Lord-Who-is-Always-There

Jehovah - Shammah is, perhaps, my favorite, as it reminds me how much God loves me.  He is there to help us through trials and to share triumphs.  He loves us because we are His children, and he accepts us and will forgive us anything.  He is always there!

I hope that you have enjoyed this study as much as I.  Next time, we will begin a study on the book of James.  Until then, have a blessed day, and remember that God loves you!

Worshiping God by Name

Today's message is from my notes on Worshiping God by Name, which was a sermon given by Dr. Jeremiah on Turning Point. Let's get started.  For a lot of us, parts of this message will be a review.  However, it is important information for everyone to have before we go on to all of the names of God.  

To worship is to celebrate God.  To know God, which is what we want, we need to love Him. Really love Him; to stop and realize who He is and what He has done;  to be in awe of Him; then to worship Him.

Dr. Jeremiah quoted Ronald Alan.  Here are my notes:

** Worshiping God  is to:
        a. celebrate in Him
        b. boast in Him (not in yourself, but in Him)
        c. extol Him
        d. sound His praises
        e. come together in prayer and song

All of these we need to do to be more like our Savior.

The people of the Old Testament had this down pat.  Every time that God  answered their needs, they would build an alter and give Him a new name. Oh, He was still known as God, but they would give Him a "nickname", for lack of a better word.  Today, we will go through the first four names, and we will finish up next time.

1. Jehovah - Rohi  ~ from Ps 23
        a. meaning My Shepherd

2. Jehovah - Jireh
        a. meaning The-Lord-Will-Provide ~ from Gen 22:13

3. Jehovah - Rapha
        a. meaning The-Lord-Who-Heals ~ from Exo 15: 22-26

4. Jehovah - Nissi ~ from Exo 17:15
        a. meaning The-Lord-Is-My-Banner
        b. meaning of banner in this context is to glisten

That is all for today.  Next time we will finish Worshiping God by Name.  Until then, God bless you all.

Worshiping a Loving God

First, let me begin by saying I'm sorry for the delay in posting.  I have been in the hospital on and off, but I am back now, praise the Lord!

The study today is from Dr. Jeremiah, entitled "Worshiping a loving God".  The link to the lesson is Worshiping a Loving God.  Our lesson comes from John 3:16.

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life."

                                                             Jn 3:16

As we all know, God is the author of love.  John 3:16 reveals the gospel in one verse.  As we read this wonderful verse, we will pick out seven words and phrases that summarize God's love for us.

The first word is "so", which refers to the quality of God's love.  He loves us so much, that His Son died for us.  Let's stop and think about the magnitude of that fact.  Jesus actually took all of our sins and died a horrible death on the cross.  And He did it so that we may have eternal life.

The next word is "object".  Well, this one is easy.  The object of His love is spelled out in the next two words: the world.  This means all of the world..not just one gender; or nation; or creed; or color; but the whole world...ALL OF US! And it's a personal love.  The kind that makes each of us feel like He's loving us particularly, and in the special way that we need Him to.

The third word that summarizes God's love for us is actually a phrase.  "He gave us His Son" refers to the sacrificial love of God.  Which of us would voluntarily give our child, as God did? Even if it would save others, I believe that I couldn't do so.  Another verse that helps us to fathom the reason that God gave His Son is Romans 8:32, which reads:

"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?"

                                                               Rom 8:32

Reading that verse, you cannot deny God's love for us.

The next word that we come to in John 3:16 is "whosoever".  This depicts the serious offer of God's love.  God makes His Word, in the form of the Bible, available to everyone.  This word shows that it includes the whole world, as God's love is available to the world (remember the second word: object), but those who do not believe are not included.  Isn't it sad to think of the people who miss out on God's wonderful love only because they choose not to believe in it.

"Believes" is the fifth word and it goes right along with "whosoever".  It is the selective choice of God's love.  This is where free will comes in;  we receive God's love only if we believe in Him and His Holy Son.  We also must believe that Jesus died for us, taking all of our sins; and that He rose again on the third day; and, finally, that He ascended into heaven.  He will return to take us to our heavenly home.  Isn't a comforting thought.   

Then, we come to the next phrase, which is: "shall not perish".  This refers to God's special love.  As we know, perish is the opposite of everlasting life, which is the promise.  We shall all have everlasting life if only we believe.

The last phrase is tied into the previous.  "Everlasting life" referring to eternal life.  Eternal life starts the moment you believe.  In other words, you do not have to wait until your outer shell is dead to have eternal life, but when you are "saved", you are saved from death and from hell.  We who believe shall never die!  Because everlasting life starts when you are saved, it refers to the quality of your life.  Simply put, believe and the quality of your life will rise above those who don't believe.  A perk to believing that is comforting.  This is not to say that Christians have it made in this life on earth.  But we have God's grace to help us through anything that befalls us.

To sum it up, John 3:16 shows us that God loves us, warts and all.

Thank you all for joining me this morning.  Have a blessed day, and I will see you next time.