The lesson on March 28, 2010 was the eighth lesson in the series "God Has Not Given Us the Spirit of Fear". The scripture reading was in John 15:9-14 KJV "9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love. 10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love. 11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. 13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. 14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you." What great love God has for us. As the song "Looking for Love (in all the wrong places)" demonstrates from the movie "Urban Cowboy", the world looks for love but it has confused love with lust. This lesson looks at the love that God has for us. The word of God is the power of God as we learned in Psalms 19:7-10 KJV. Examples were given from scripture wanting the power of God but they did not get it. On the cover of the March 8th edition of People Magazine, Carrie Underwood was quoted as saying "He Makes Me Feel So Special" speaking of her fiance Mike Fisher. Back in 2006, perhaps Sandra Bullock felt the same way about her new husband Jesse James. In 2010 it feel apart due to infidelity. Dare we mention Tiger Woods... Why doesn't the worlds recipie for love doesn't work? It's not God's definition of love.
The lesson on March 7, 2010 continued this series with lesson 7. The scripture reading was in Psalms 19:7-11 KJV "7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. 8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. 9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 11 Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward." The study opened with Colossians 3:15-16 KJV which says "15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." We are to have the word of God in our hearts and mind because this is what gets you the power of God. We need the power because we have a warfare going on within us between the old and new nature. As it says in Ephesians 4:22-24 KJV "22 That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; 23 And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; 24 And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." You put on the new man by renewing your mind with the word of God. Remember in Romans 12:2 KJV "2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." We are in a constant struggle with the old man.
The lesson on March 7, 2010 was part 6 in this series and had the scripture reading in Romans 12:1-2 KJV "1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." It takes a lot of faith to say "this is good" when you are chasened with a bad event in your life. Faith is the antidote to fear. An antidote not only cures but prevents a person being affected by poison. Fear is the poison promoted by the devil and scripture is the antidote. The Lord showed us how to use the antidote when He was tempted by satan in the wilderness. Misplaced faith is a dangerous thing! The bible says have faith in God. Some people today think faith is "positive thinking". The object of your faith means everything. Faith in faith will not work because that is just faith in yourself. You will let yourself down all the time. In Romans 12, we see the bridge that covers the gap from fear to faith. This passage shows how you put faith into action.
The Crucifixion of Christ - On Palm Sunday we celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem, the week before his death and resurrection. Scripture reveals that when Jesus entered Jerusalem, the Jews greeted him with waving palm branches, and by covering his path with palm branches. Immediately following this great time of celebration in the ministry of Jesus, he begins his journey to the cross. You will find the scriptures regarding Palm Sunday in Matthew 21:1-11; Mark 11:1-11; Luke 19:28-44; and John 12:12-19.
The lesson on March 29, 2009 covers Romans 7:15-18 and continues the Romans Study audio series with this eighth lesson. There is a warfare waging and we are right in the middle of it. The scripture reading today was a tongue twister but it shows the struggle that Paul was going through in this warfare. God has given us the solution to the battle and we find it in the bible. All we have to do is yield ourselves to the word of God and appropriate in our lives and we win the battle!
From Christianity to Christ. The lesson on March 22, 2009 was given by Dr. Sterling Lacy as the guest speaker and his lesson was entitled “My 50 Year Journey from Christianity to Christ”. Dr. Lacy started with Matthew 23:23 where we learned about the practice of religious activity instead of a proper relationship to God. The emphasis of this lesson is to put a proper foundation with Christ in your life before you pursue all the religious acts that God does ask of us.
The lesson on March 15, 2009 started chapter six of Romans and the scripture reading was in verses 1-13. There is a famous quote by Benjamin Franklin that goes “Of a certainty, death and taxes will always be with us.” Will Rogers added a change to Ben’s quote, he said “You know, the only difference between death and taxes is that death remains the same when Congress meets.” Death has a consequence. Scripture says in Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:”. That statement ought to grip us with a fear that shakes us down to the bone...
The lesson on March 8, 2009 covers chapter 5 of Romans which culminates what Paul was teaching in chapter 4 that our sins have been done away with in Christ and through Christ, God can see us as acceptable because when God looks at us, He sees Christ’s righteousness. Romans 5:8-11, it says “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
The lesson on March 1, 2009 started with the scripture reading of Romans 4:1-8. Romans is a unique book and fundamental on doctrine. Charles Welch who wrote the books entitled “Alphabetical Analysis”, commented in volume 4 on page 115 that “Perhaps no one book in the whole of the Scriptures may be considered to have a greater claim upon all who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, than the epistle to the Romans.
