Isaiah 43:2, John 3:5, Genesis 7:12,24, John 1:26, Acts 2:3-4

What:
2 When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
And when you pass through the rivers they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
You will not be burned;
The flames will not set you ablaze.

12 And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.
24 The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.

26 "I baptize with water," John replied,"but among you stands one you do not know."

3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of flame that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

I read the verses in Isaiah and John 3 this morning during my daily quiet time and the other ones came into my mind about the same time. God is incredible and the Bible just amazes me at its complexities, especially regarding prophecy!

God's peace be with you all.
Nils

Psalm 25:7-8 and 25:15

What:
7 Remember not the sins of my youth and my rebellious ways; according to Your love remember me, for You are good, O Lord.
8 Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He instructs sinners in His ways.
Apply:
1) In our youth we must learn right from wrong, it doesn't come to us naturally. Children are born amoral and must be taught how to think, act, and live.
2) David prays to God: don't remember my sins and rebellion, remember me according to Your love. For those loved by God, He remembers them according to His love not according to their sins. That is how we can face the day with confidence; it has nothing to do with us, but rather everything to do with God. (hence: His love, not our sins)

What:
15 My eyes are ever on the Lord, for only He will release my feet from the snare.
Apply:
Romans 3:23 says that we're all short of God's glory because of the sins we've committed. The snare, in this case, is sin which only God can free us from. So, David says to keep our eyes on God when we seem to be snared, so that He Who Is Able can set us free! If we focus on the snare, we will be wrapped up in its cords and be drug down, hurting our relationship with the Living God. Our focus must be on Christ, even when our only desire is that of Adam's, to hide ourselves (Genesis 3:10) in the vain hope God won't see, so that we who are redeemed are not submitted to anything or anyone other than God.


I haven't kept this blog post up as I had wished, so here's an entry and I'll try and get at least one or two up each week. 1 John 2:6, 2 Timothy 2:2. - Nils

March 28th - Thnks to Christof fro poinitng ot my spellin typ-pos!

1 Chronicles 27:23-24a

What: David did not take the number of the men twenty years or less, because the Lord had promised to make Israel as numerous as the stars in the shy. Joab son of Zeruiah began to count the men but did not finish.

Refer to 1 Chronicles 21

Apply: This explains why the census of the army cause the wrath of God to be poured out on Israel. David was incitedby the devil (1 Chron 21:1) to count his fighting men, but God brought him to the mat through the prophet Gad giving him three options. David threw himself on God's mercy and a plague fell on Israel which the Lord stopped at the threshing floor of Araunah. This cross reference is an excellent example of how the Bible explains itself. The section in 1 Chron 21 has always confused me, until I final read the second selection which illuminated the why behind the Lord's wrath.

Psalm 119:33-40

33 Teach me, O Lord, to follow your decrees;
then I will keep them to the end.
34 Give me understanding, and I will keep your law
and obey it with all my heart.
35 Direct me in the path of your commands,
for there I find delight.
36 Turn my heart toward your statutes
and not toward selfish gain.
37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
preserve my life according to your word.
38 Fulfill your promise to your servant,
so that you may be feared.
39 Take away the disgrace I dread,
for you laws are good.
40 How I long for your precepts!
Preserve my lfe in your righteousness.

John 10:3,5

What: The watchman opens the gate for Him, and the sheep listen to His voice. He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out... But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice.

Apply: If we are not the sheep of Jesus' flock, we won't recognize (can't recognize) Hisvoce, so we'll be lead away by the thief or the stranger, the "one who clims in some other way" (vs 1b). But if we instead flee from that stranger's voice and respond to Jesus' voice, then we know we are His own. If we listen to His voice, which implies obediance (John 14:21), and flee from the thief (James 4:7) then we know that we truly are His.

We are compelled to follow the the voice of Christ and repelled by the voice of the thief.

Reference Verses:
John 14:21 - Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.

James 4:7 - Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

2 Timothy 2:22 - Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

1 Corinthians 10:14 - Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.

1 Samuel 3:19

What: The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of his words fall to the ground.

Apply: This reminds me of the ritual sacrifices of the temple, where a sacrifice was considered worthless if the blood was spilled on the ground. It was supposed to go into bowls that were used for sprinkling on and around the altar to make atonement. The Lord spoke to Samuel and he honoring what the Lord had spoken, as it came from God. The Lord fulfilled all that He prophesied to Samuel and Samuel was careful with what he said when he spoke God's Word. Also, this verse imples that the Lord's Word is necessary for his growth: Samuel ate it up, he didn't let even a single crumb fall on the ground. If you read on into verse 20, you'll see that because of this, Samuel was known to be an established prophet of God in all of Israel ("...from Dan even to Beersheba"). Eli's sons (1 Sam 2:12-36) were wicked and abused the office of the priest treating the sacrifices and the temple with contempt, and Eli did nothing, as a result they all died on the same day and the Ark of the Lord was lost to the Philistines. Samuel did all he was commanded and God established him in Eli's place.

These are the practical points I gather from this scripture:

1. When God speaks, listen; when you speak, say no more and no less than what God said. Be accurate, we face judgement for misusing the Word of the Lord. Be careful of what you say.

2. When God speaks, all He says is true and will come to pass. Trust His Word!

3. Whatever place the Lord establishes you, do what is right in the eyes of the Lord there. Don't take advantage of your position in His Kingdom or your freedom or treat His commands with contempt.

4. Only God makes us grow. We plant and water but can do no more. The Lord has given us food for our souls ( Matt 4:4, John 4:34) his Word and to do His Will. Don't let any of your words fall to the ground!

This post has been updated to clarify what I've said. My big brother Mike showed me where I'd made an error in calling what the Lord spoke to Samuel as "the Lord's Words", this is what he had to say:

Only one thing, extremely minor. God doesn't call His word the "Lord's words." Notice that
it is always singular and not plural, as in "the word of the Lord" (over 200 occurrences)
and not word(s) of the Lord. Why is this important? It is especially important when you
capitalize "Word" b/c there is but one Christ as there is but one Word. It is singular b/c the Word of God, all 67 books (to include us 100 mile an hour taped Bible
epistles) must be united and universal to all. The plural form states plurality which is never
good.

My newest memory verse is going to be John 3:34 which uses the word "rhema"
or something that is spoken or said. It is pluralized. The word "logos"
(though it has an "s" at the end) speaks of God's living capitalized Word.
We must be careful not to confuse the two. I think you did in your writing.

Thanks for spotting that Mike! That helps clarify why the second part of 1 Sam 3:19 says "let none of his words fall to the ground" indicating that the words were what Samuel spoke as opposed to God Word! That was the most difficult part of the verse to understand whether that was "the Word" or Samuel's treatment of it. It was Samuel's treatment of what God spoke to Him that is reflected in the fact that he "let none of his words fall to the ground".

Look up Proverbs 9:8 when you get a chance, it's good advice for anyone that desires to serve God and show others how to do the same.

2:6 ﻝﻭﻻﺍ ﺎﻨﺣﻮﻳ

يَلْتَزِمُ أَنْ يَسْلُكَ كَمَا سَلَكَ الْمَسِيحُ 6
!كُلُّ مَنْ يَعْتَرِفُ أَنَّهُ ثَابِتٌ فِي الْمَسِيحِ،

John McArthur on Discipleship

This article is an excellent read, I highly recommend it.

Bringing Light to the World
If we are following Christ, we will be making disciples.
by John MacArthur

Being a disciple of Jesus Christ can never be reduced to merely producing Christian character in ourselves or loving one another, as important as those things are. Being a disciple of Jesus means making other disciples, because that is what our Lord has commanded us to do...

Article