The lesson on February 28, 2010 continued this series with part five and opens with the scripture reading in Matthew 4:1-11 KJV "1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him."
The lesson on February 21, 2010 was the 4th lesson on the subject of fear. The source of fear is the devil and it's important to be familiar with his devices. We are told in Ephesians to beware of the wiles of the devil which is why God gave us the Armor of God. We have already received victory over the devil through calvary but he is actively trying to give us fear today to make us a casualty in our walk. In John 5:24 Jesus said in John 5:24 KJV "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
The lesson on February 14, 2010 was a continuation of the Spirit of Fear study with part 3. The scripture reading for this lesson was in Matthew 13:1-9 KJV "1 The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. 2 And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. 3 And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; 4 And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: 5 Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: 6 And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. 7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: 8 But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. 9 Who hath ears to hear, let him hear."
The lesson on February 7, 2010 was a lesson covering Philippians 2:12-14 KJV "12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:". The scripture teaches us that Christians who live godly in this world will suffer persecution and afflictions. In looking up the definition in Noah Websters 1928 American Dictionary, the definition is provided with a reference to Lamentations 5:5 KJV "5 Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest." The world has many ways of putting godly people in a tough spot but Christ, prayer, and the word of God sees us through. As it says in Psalms 34:17-19 KJV "17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. 19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all."
Handling the Word of God Accurately . The lesson on February 22, 2009 was focused on the spirit of Right Division which comes from 2 Timothy 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Although some things today appear to be outrageous, how can the Christian take a position on any issue that claims to be out of the Bible or received from God? How do we ensure that we do the right thing right?
Praise and Worship. The lesson on February 15, 2009 was given by guest teacher Leland Maples from the LOOPS Ministry based out of Odessa, Texas. Leland gives a quick update on Odessa before jumping into the lesson on praise and worship. There are changes taking place in modern evangelical churches today with regards to praise and worship. Praise appears 248 times in the bible. Worship appears 108 times. There is a bible study principal regarding the aspect of “first mention” and Leland thought it would be good to look up in scripture where these words were first used.
A good week is a Godly week. A week where you put your trust in Him and focus on what He wants you to do. God has a plan for you and you need to focus on what His purposes are. The challenge in life is to keep the perspective of your walk with God in good times and bad. When we loose that perspective, we loose the peace of God. The peace of God is like brownies. Brownies don’t just come...
The third lesson in the Romans study was given on February 1, 2009 and covered the first eleven verses in chapter 2. Before the study dived into chapter two, there is a 10 minute commentary on the Boy Scouts of America and the homosexual issue in the country today. Christians have become desensitized to what is called wrong by God. There is moral relativism, value clarification and the like that is taking the place of scripture in defining what is good.
