tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271707862024-03-23T11:18:42.659-07:00Buy The TruthA blog to encourage devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word. Jesus said He is the Truth, and His Word is the Truth. How much value do you place on the truth?
Proverbs 23:23 "Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding."Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.comBlogger233125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-36562389491232589582024-03-13T14:25:00.000-07:002024-03-13T14:42:11.573-07:00Cities Of Refuge<h3 style="text-align: center;"><script src="https://av1611.com/verseclick/verseclick.js" type="text/javascript"></script>Cities Of Refuge</h3><p style="text-align: center;">Read Joshua 20</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This is exactly the type of scenario that the cities of refuge made provision for. If a man had slain another man accidently, he was to flee to one of the cities of refuge, for safety and protection.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Deuteronomy 19:4-6 <i>And this is the case of the slayer, which shall flee thither, that he may live: Whoso killeth his neighbour ignorantly, whom he hated not in time past; As when a man goeth into the wood with his neighbour to hew wood, and his hand fetcheth a stroke with the axe to cut down the tree, and the head slippeth from the helve, and lighteth upon his neighbour, that he die; he shall flee unto one of those cities, and live: Lest the avenger of the blood pursue the slayer, while his heart is hot, and overtake him, because the way is long, and slay him; whereas he was not worthy of death, inasmuch as he hated him not in time past.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">In Numbers 35:11-12, we read, <i>Then ye shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you; that the slayer may flee thither, which killeth any person at unawares </i>(by mistake; unintentionally)<i>. And they shall be unto you cities for refuge from the avenger; that the manslayer die not, until he stand before the congregation in judgment.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">From what we read in Numbers 35, Deuteronomy 19 and Joshua 20, we can distinguish a number of characteristics of the cities of refuge:</p><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p style="text-align: justify;">1. They were established by God before they were needed.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">2. They were available to all as well as accessible to all.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">3. Their gates were always open.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">4. They were widely advertised.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">5. All the cities of refuge were prominently located at high elevations so that they could be seen from great distances.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">6. Everyone was within a day's journey from at least one of them.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">7. "Whosoever" needed to flee to one of the cities was free to do so, whether or not he was an Israelite.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">8. The refugee was free to leave after the death of the high priest (Numbers 35:25).</p><p style="text-align: justify;">(<i>Cities Of Refuge</i>, Ralph Matthews, from FOUNDATION MAGAZINE, May-June 2003)</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: justify;">The elders of that city took the slayer in and protected him until he was tried before the congregation. If they decided that the slayer was in fact guilty of murder, then he was to be put to death by the revenger of blood. See Numbers 35:15-21.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Deuteronomy 19:12 says: <i>Then the elders of his city shall send and fetch him thence, and deliver him into the hand of the avenger of blood, that he may die.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">But if it was determined that the slayer did not deliberately set out to kill the person who had died, then the slayer would be allowed to remain in the city of refuge.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Numbers 35:25-28 <i>And the congregation shall deliver the slayer out of the hand of the revenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to the city of his refuge, whither he was fled: and he shall abide in it unto the death of the high priest, which was anointed with the holy oil. But if the slayer shall at any time come without the border of the city of his refuge, whither he was fled; And the revenger of blood find him without the borders of the city of his refuge, and the revenger of blood kill the slayer; he shall not be guilty of blood: Because he should have remained in the city of his refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the slayer shall return into the land of his possession.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">If at any time the slayer left his refuge before the death of the high priest and was killed in vengeance by the revenger of blood, then his blood would be upon his own head; the revenger of blood would not be held guilty in this case.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The cities of refuge picture Christ, and the slayer represents the lost, guilty sinner. The only problem is that the whole human race is lost, guilty, and condemned before God, and we all deserve death.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Romans 3:19, 23 <i>Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">John 3:18, 36 <i>He that believeth on Him</i> (Jesus) <i>is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Romans 6:23 <i>For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The avenger of blood is after us to slay us. And <b>we must flee for refuge to Jesus Christ</b>. We must plead for God's mercy<i> (mercy is not getting what we deserve - in this case, death and punishment in hell forever)</i>, and seek for His grace <i>(grace is God's unmerited favor; getting what we don't deserve - in this case, eternal life and pardon)</i>.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">One of the cities of refuge the Lord had set apart was <i>Kedesh</i>, which means "sanctuary". Every one of us needs a sanctuary, a place to flee from the just, and holy wrath of God against our sins. This sanctuary can only be found in Christ. It is only at His throne of grace that we can receive mercy. (Hebrews 4:14-16) The reason why God can give us mercy and grace if we will turn to Jesus Christ in repentance and faith is simple: Jesus has already paid the penalty, bore God's wrath, and died in our place; if we will only accept His complete, once-for-all sacrifice for us, and receive Him as our Lord and Saviour.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">John 1:12 <i>But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">"The [slayer's] situation changed when the high priest died. When that happened, the refugee was free again. He was absolved from all blame. The death of the high priest was a form of substitution for the death that had been caused. The debt was paid in full when the high priest died. We see in this the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. He died in the sinner's place. <i>"For He hath made Him to be sin for us, Who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him"</i> (2 Corinthians 5:21)." (<i>Cities Of Refuge</i>, Ralph Matthews, from FOUNDATION MAGAZINE, May-June 2003)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The slayer was safe in the city of refuge until the death of the anointed high priest, and then he was declared guiltless and allowed to return to his inheritance. (See Numbers 35:28) <i>(Messiah and Christ both mean Anointed.)</i> If we receive Jesus Christ, we are pardoned and forgiven by the blood He shed for our sins at Calvary. He died, was buried, and rose from the grave three days later in fulfillment of the Scriptures. Now He is exalted in Heaven, at the right hand of God the Father. He is the only mediator between God and men, the believers' advocate, petitioning the Father on their behalf. He is the High Priest, pleading to the Father on the behalf of God's children. One thing worth mentioning is that Jesus will never die again; therefore, He will always be the eternal refuge for the children of God (Hebrews 7:25), and they will never come under God's wrath or condemnation again. (See Romans 5:8-9; and 1 Thessalonians 5:9)</p><p style="text-align: center;">The debt has been paid.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The High Priest is waiting.</p><p style="text-align: center;">The refuge is open for anyone to flee therein.</p><p style="text-align: center;">But one important question remains:</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>Is Jesus your refuge?</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i>If not, the avenger of blood is still pursuing you!</i></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Hebrews 6:18-20 <i>That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, <b>we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us</b>: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, <b>even Jesus</b>, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. </i></p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div style="text-align: center;">June 28th, 2000</div><div style="text-align: center;">Jerry Bouey</div><p></p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-20295719867888358992023-11-24T13:39:00.000-08:002023-11-24T14:46:13.381-08:00Jacob, The Plain Man<p style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Lessons From The Life Of Jacob:</i><br />Part One - Jacob, The Plain Man</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Genesis 25:27 <i>And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">For nineteen years, Rebekah was barren and had no children. Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife. In their twentieth year of marriage, God answered his prayers and Rebekah gave birth to twins. While these boys were struggling together in her womb, God made a promise to her - that the eldest son would serve the younger. The line of the younger son would be the one that God would bless and cause to prosper.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Genesis 25:22-24 <i>And the children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD. And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger. And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">This blessing would also include having the Messiah be his direct descendant. God chose Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation; then Isaac, the promised son, instead of Ishmael. Now the Lord indicates to Rebekah that her younger son would be the next in the line of Christ (the Messiah).</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Genesis 25:25-26 <i>And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment; and they called his name Esau. And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years old when she bare them.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">When the children were born, Esau was first (ie. the elder), and Jacob was the younger son. According to God's choosing, Jacob would be the son which would receive the blessing.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">After he came out of the womb, he took hold of his brother's heel.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Before birth, Jacob and Esau had contended; and at birth, Jacob grasped his brother's heel. This latter action was interpreted to mean that Jacob would trip up his brother and take advantage of him. The prediction proved true." (Pentateuch, <i>The Bible Exposition Commentary</i> by Warren Wiersbe)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"There was a manifest contest in their births. Esau, the stronger, came forth first; but Jacob's hand took hold of his heel, Gen. 25:26. This signified, (1.) Jacob's pursuit of the birthright and blessing; from the first, he reached forth to catch hold of it, and, if possible, to prevent his brother. (2.) His prevailing for it at last, that, in process of time, he should undermine his brother, and gain his point. This passage is referred to (Hos. 12:3), and hence he had his name, Jacob, a supplanter." (Matthew Henry)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">He was aptly named Jacob, which means <i>supplanter</i>, which <i>Strong's Concordance</i> defines as: to seize by the heel; figuratively, to circumvent (as if tripping up the heels); also to restrain (as if holding by the heel). <i>Webster's 1828 Dictionary</i> gives this as one of his two definitions for <i>supplant </i>- To remove or displace by stratagem; or to displace and take the place of. These descriptions would be very true of Jacob's life before he came to know the Lord - in his relationship with Esau - and would affect his life for years afterwards!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Genesis 25:27-28 <i>And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents. And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah loved Jacob.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Here we see the potential for further problems to develop. Each parent had their favourite son - and the consequences of their favoritism would soon follow.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Esau was a fornicator and a profane (ie. godless) man, who had no interest in spiritual things - nor in his birthright. When a man is living for sensual appetites, he does not care for the things of God, for His Word, or for God's hand of blessing on his life. In this case, Esau saw no benefit in some seemingly far off inheritance (the double portion that would have been given to him as the firstborn - see Deuteronomy 21:17), but rather chose to live for the here and now - whatever could fulfill him now, not later.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Esau pictures the man of the world who despises the eternal and lives for the temporal." (<i>Chapter By Chapter Bible Commentary</i> by Warren Wiersbe)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Hebrews 12:16 <i>Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">He did not care for any of this. All Esau cared for was living for the present, satisfying his hunger, and hunting in the field.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Esau preferred to live in the wild and prosper by his physical skills, whereas God says Jacob dwelled <i>in tents</i>. This is referring not simply to a desire to live at home, but is actually stating he was living for the promises of God regarding the Promised Land, as the following passage clarifies:</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Hebrews 11:8-10 <i>By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">What puzzles me about this verse in Genesis 25 is God s description of Jacob: <i>he was a plain man</i> - this is spoken in contrast to Esau, who was known for his cunning and living by his hunting skills. <i>Strong's</i> gives this definition for plain - pious, upright. <i>Webster's</i> defines it as: Artless; simple; unlearned; without disguise, cunning or affectation; without refinement; as men of the plainer sort. He specifically mentions Genesis 25 as a reference for this use of the word. <i>Funk and Wagnalls Dictionary</i> states that <i>plain </i>means: straightforward; guileless. This has to be God's description of Jacob <i>until </i>this point in his life - he was pious, feared God, and was not known for deception (ie. he was without guile) until the events that next unfolded in his life. Then his manner of scheming and supplanting became a way of life for him.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Jacob was a man for the other world. He was... an honest man that always meant well, and dealt fairly, that preferred the true delights of solitude and retirement to all the pretended pleasure of busy noisy sports." (Matthew Henry)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Though unsaved at this time <i>(I do not believe he got saved until he dreamed about the ladder to Heaven - more on this later)</i>, Jacob had an interest in spiritual things, and desired that God's blessings would be upon him. Unfortunately, he relied on his own scheming to (attempt to) get what he wanted in life, rather than trusting that God would work out His plan in His own timing. The Lord had already stated that it would be Jacob's. It was a matter of waiting upon God to bring this to pass. Unfortunately, Jacob was impatient in spiritual matters.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"The 'birthright' had three elements:<br />(1) Until the establishment of the Aaronic priesthood the head of the family exercised priestly rights.<br />(2) The Abrahamic family held the Edenic promise of the Satan-Bruiser, Gen. 3:15. -- Abel, Seth, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Esau.<br />(3) Esau, as the firstborn, was in the direct line of the Abrahamic promise of the Earth-Blesser, Gen. 12:3." (<i>Scofield Study Bible</i>)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Jacob realized that Esau did not care for the spiritual blessings, and when the opportunity presented itself, Jacob talked Esau out of his birthright - which Esau willingly gave up. All he cared for was satisfying his own appetites, living by his physical senses (what he could see, feel, taste, touch, and smell) - not spiritual realities (which only could be seen and touched by faith).</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Genesis 25:29-34 <i>And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint: And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom. And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright. And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall this birthright do to me? And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Jacob's pious desire of the birthright, which yet he sought to obtain by indirect courses, not agreeable to his character as a plain man. It was not out of pride or ambition that he coveted the birthright, but with an eye to spiritual blessings, which he had got well acquainted with in his tents, while Esau had lost the scent of them in the field. For this he is to be commended, that he coveted earnestly the best gifts; yet in this he cannot be justified, that he took advantage of his brother's necessity to make him a very hard bargain (Ge 25:31): <i>Sell me this day thy birthright... It is egregious folly to part with our interest in God, and Christ, and heaven, for the riches, honours, and pleasures, of this world, as bad a bargain as his that sold a birthright for a dish of broth.</i>" (Matthew Henry)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"Luther points out that Jacob's purchase was not valid because he was attempting to purchase what was already his. And with equal correctness it may be asserted that Esau was attempting to sell what was not his." (<i>Genesis: Men Of Faith</i> by Charles M. Horne)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Jacob's sin was not in his desire for the birthright or the blessing - in this he was not being covetous, as these were already promised to him by God. His sin was in not trusting in the Lord to work it all out according to His perfect plan, and resorting to his own scheming to get it. What seemed like a good opportunity to Jacob to get the birthright only developed into further problems down the road.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Catch those little foxes, Jacob, before they spoil the vines! (See Song of Solomon 2:15)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">January 27th, 2005<br />Jerry Bouey</p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-26040784431928864202023-11-24T12:26:00.000-08:002023-12-06T11:51:55.650-08:00Have You Been With Jesus?<p style="text-align: center;"><script src="https://av1611.com/verseclick/verseclick.js" type="text/javascript"></script><b>Have You Been With Jesus?</b></p><p style="text-align: center;">Someone once posed a great question, which I will ask here:</p><p style="text-align: center;"><b>If you were tried in a court of law for being a Christian,<br /></b><b>would there be enough evidence to convict you?</b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><i>Court is now in session...</i></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Acts 6:15 <i>And all that sat in the council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Stephen was a deacon of the church of Jerusalem. He was a man full of faith and wisdom (see Acts 6:3, 8). He was also a man full of the Holy Ghost. The word <i>full</i> means "controlled by; influenced by." Stephen was a man who was led by the Holy Spirit. He was a Christian who had spent some time with the Lord Jesus Christ and let that time transform his life and daily walk. When he was faced with a false trial to persecute him, and confronted with the very real possibility of his own martyrdom, his faith shone forth. <b>It was obvious to others that he had been with Jesus!</b> His face was beaming with a spiritual glow, the glow of a soul on fire for the Lord.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Acts 7:55-60 <i>But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God. Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and ran upon him with one accord, And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul. And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">While he was being falsely accused and while being stoned to death, he did not retaliate and hurl abuses and railings back at the crowd, but instead followed his Saviour's example and prayed for his enemies. It was obvious that he had been with Jesus.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Is it obvious to others that you have spent time with Jesus?</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Can those around you see that the Word of God is daily guiding your life? Can they tell by your testimony that you are still walking with your First Love (Jesus Christ)? (See Revelation 2:4) Is it obvious to others that you have spent time in fervent prayer, pleading with the Lord for your daily needs, and for the needs and concerns of those around you? Is it apparent by your concern and compassion for the souls of the lost you encounter throughout each day that you have walked closely by Jesus' side?</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In Exodus 34, we read the account of Moses seeing the Lord's glory on Mount Sinai. Verses 29-35 state, <i>And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. And when Aaron and all the children of Israel saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come nigh him. And Moses called unto them; and Aaron and all the rulers of the congregation returned unto him: and Moses talked with them. And afterward all the children of Israel came nigh: and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him in mount Sinai. And till Moses had done speaking with them, he put a vail on his face. But when Moses went in before the LORD to speak with Him, he took the vail off, until he came out. And he came out, and spake unto the children of Israel that which he was commanded. <b>And the children of Israel saw the face of Moses, that the skin of Moses' face shone:</b> and Moses put the vail upon his face again, until he went in to speak with Him.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">It is interesting to note that before this account we read of others, like Joshua, who spent time with the Lord. Exodus 33:7, 11 <i>And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp. And the LORD spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend. And he turned again into the camp: but his servant Joshua, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not out of the tabernacle.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">As the believers in the time of Moses had to go outside the camp to spend time with the Lord, so too, we need to leave the hustle and bustle of our busy lives and spend time with the Lord in heartfelt prayer (talking with the Lord) and Bible reading (letting Him talk to us). Are you spending time each day seeking the Lord? Is it obvious to others that your faith in Jesus is vibrant, real, and life-changing? Will others desire to know the Saviour by seeing the difference Christ makes in your life; by seeing the joy, peace, contentment, and serenity that are yours as you keep your eyes on Him and confidently commit all into His hands? Does your countenance (face) glow? Maybe it doesn't physically, but <b>is there a spiritual glow about you that others can see? Can they tell that you have been with Jesus?</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">One verse that has always impacted me whenever I have read it is Acts 4:13, in reference to the apostles. <i>Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and <b>they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus</b>.</i> Others around them, including their own enemies, could tell that they had spent time with Jesus, had walked in His presence, had clung closely to Him. <b>How about you?</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Psalm 34:5 <i>They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed.</i> In this verse the word <i>lightened </i>is Strong's #5102, meaning "to sparkle, i.e. (figuratively) be cheerful; hence (from the sheen of a running stream) to flow." <b>As you go through trials and hard times, do you look continually to the Lord and does your face sparkle? Does your countenance glow from within because of your excitement and fervour from walking with Jesus day by day?</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Early in my Christian walk I came across this poem,</p><p style="text-align: justify;"></p><div style="text-align: center;">When the child of God</div><div style="text-align: center;">Looks into the Word of God</div><div style="text-align: center;">And sees the Son of God</div><div style="text-align: center;">He is changed by the Spirit of God</div><div style="text-align: center;">Into the image of God</div><div style="text-align: center;">For the glory of God.</div><p></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Author Unknown</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">2 Corinthians 3:18 <i>But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The glass mentioned here is the Word of God. (See James 1:23-25 and 1 Corinthians 13:10-12) <b>As we spend time with the Lord Jesus Christ in Bible study and prayer, we are transformed into His image and made more like Him.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>This change will be evident to others around us.</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Two sayings that I came across years ago and wrote in the margin of my Bible that relate to this theme of looking unto Jesus and spending time with Him are quoted below (unfortunately, I do not know who penned them):</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"There is no beauty to be discovered anywhere comparable to fixing your eyes on Jesus. There is no life-changing power available anywhere comparable to that gaze."</p><p style="text-align: justify;">"It is the look that saves, but it is the gaze that sanctifies."</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; <b>and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.</b></i></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><b>Is it evident to others that you have been with Jesus?</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Study written August 24th, 2002<br />By Jerry Bouey</p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-35185904621546378352023-11-07T13:48:00.005-08:002023-11-07T13:48:29.779-08:00The Lord Sees Our Potential<p><b>The Lord Sees Our Potential</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">As a much younger believer I remember reading a book or commentary where the author points this passage out:</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Judges 6:12, 14 <i>And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, <b>The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour</b>... And the LORD looked upon him, and said, <b>Go in this thy might</b>, and thou shalt save Israel from the hand of the Midianites: have not I sent thee?</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Then he mentioned that the Lord God saw Gideon's potential as a warrior BEFORE Gideon ever fought his first battle. The Lord opened the doors needed for Gideon to step into that role and equipped him fully for it - long before he ever fought that first battle. God already stated that Gideon had the might, the strength or power, that was needed to fight the upcoming battles God had planned for Gideon to set free the oppressed Israelites of his day.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Our Heavenly Father is sovereign. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows everything about us, has a plan for us, and He has all that is needed to bring out that result in our lives that we may fulfill His will, as we walk with Him daily by faith.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">We see this same principle in two other passages:</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 6:26 <i>These are that Aaron and Moses, to whom the LORD said, <b>Bring out the children of Israel from the land of Egypt according to their armies</b>.</i> </p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 12:17, 41, 51 <i>And ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this selfsame day have <b>I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt</b>: therefore shall ye observe this day in your generations by an ordinance for ever... And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years, even the selfsame day it came to pass, that <b>all the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt</b>... And it came to pass the selfsame day, that <b>the LORD did bring the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies</b>.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Notice the language the Lord used to describe His oppressed people. He referred to them several times as a host, an army, BEFORE they ever fought a battle with the Canaanites and other nations they would encounter on their way to the Promised Land. AND notice, the Lord of Hosts had already equipped them BEFORE they ever left Egypt.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 13:17-18 <i>And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt: But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and <b>the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt</b>.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>Harnessed </i>means armed, equipped for war.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I find the contrast presented in the passage above interesting. God knew His plan for His people, He was putting into motion the events that would free them from their oppressors, and knew what would hinder them; therefore He chose not to bring them a certain way until they had gotten the battle experience He knew they would need to conquer the Canaanites in the land He was leading them to.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">One other example I want to bring to your attention:</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 3:7-10 <i>And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Moses, I've chosen you to deliver My people from Egypt. Then came Moses' excuses, which God dealt with one by one. Maybe the biggest fear for this leader-to-be was basically the fear of public speaking - in this case, speaking to Pharaoh, the leader of the Egyptians, and speaking to the nation of Israel as their new leader.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 4:10-12 <i>And Moses said unto the LORD, O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither heretofore, nor since thou hast spoken unto thy servant: but I am slow of speech, and of a slow tongue. <b>And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.</b></i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">God promised to provide someone to speak on Moses' behalf - he just needed to be obedient and go do what the Lord had called him to do. The Lord, in His wisdom, provided Moses' brother to help him (whom the Lord had already sent on his way to meet Moses). The part I find so intriguing is that after Moses' and Aaron's initial meeting with the elders of the nation of Israel (in which Aaron did speak), and their first encounter with the Pharaoh (in which they spoke together), we find that Moses was the primary speaker from then on.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 4:29-30 <i>And Moses and Aaron went and gathered together all the elders of the children of Israel: And <b>Aaron spake</b> all the words which the LORD had spoken unto Moses, and did the signs in the sight of the people. </i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 5:1-3 <i>And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go. And<b> they said</b>, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days' journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword. </i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 6:9 <i>And <b>Moses spake so unto the children of Israel</b>: but they hearkened not unto Moses for anguish of spirit, and for cruel bondage. </i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 7:1-2 <i>And the LORD said unto Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet. Thou shalt speak all that I command thee: and Aaron thy brother shall speak unto Pharaoh, that he send the children of Israel out of his land.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 8:9 <i>And <b>Moses said unto Pharaoh</b>, Glory over me: when shall I intreat for thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, to destroy the frogs from thee and thy houses, that they may remain in the river only?</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">One final observation from all these passages is that the Lord God promised to be with them in all He had called them to do. Notice the following:</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Judges 6:12 ...<i><b>The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.</b></i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 4:12<i style="font-weight: bold;"> ...</i><i><b>Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth</b></i><i><b>, and teach thee what thou shalt say.</b></i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 3:12 <i>And he said, <b>Certainly I will be with thee</b>; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. </i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The Lord is with His people, guiding them, preparing them for whatever He has planned out for each of their lives, equipping them for service and opening the needed doors for ministry in their lives.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">What has your heavenly Father called you to do in Jesus' name? Are you fulfilling His will? He has left us with so many promises - not just that He will be with us as we go into all the world with the Gospel of salvation, but that He will provide, prepare, and equip each of us as we walk with Him in obedience and serve Him day by day. Consider these final two promises:</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Revelation 3:7-8 <i>And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, <b>I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it</b>: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">This next one is <b>a sevenfold promise</b> that the Lord will provide EVERYTHING you need through His Word and the power of His Holy Spirit to faithfully serve Him.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">2 Corinthians 9:8 <i>And God is able to make <u><b>all</b></u> grace <u><b>abound</b></u> toward you; that ye, <u><b>always</b></u> having <u><b>all</b></u> sufficiency in <u><b>all</b></u> things, may <u><b>abound</b></u> to <u><b>every</b></u> good work:</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Go forth, thou mighty child of God and serve Him today!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">November 2, 2023<br />Jerry Bouey</p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-45690155948649039642023-10-13T12:00:00.000-07:002023-10-13T12:00:02.292-07:00Sinking In The Mire<p> </p><h4 style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: var(--color-neutral); font-family: "Yanone Kaffeesatz"; font-size: 25px; font-weight: 400; hyphens: manual; line-height: 1.1; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 10px; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: center; text-transform: uppercase;">SINKING IN THE MIRE</h4><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;"><b>Jeremiah 38:6a <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords.</em></b></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">The prophet Jeremiah’s enemies gathered together against him, seeking to put him to death. As a result, he was cast into the dungeon, where he began to sink in the mire.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Jeremiah 38:6b <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire.</em></span></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Adversities and afflictions will often seem to rise against us, much like Jeremiah’s enemies rose against him. Left with no firm footing, you may find yourself sinking in the mire of despair, overwhelmed and oppressed. In the midst of discouragement, your eyes fail you of tears, your voice chokes up and your cry to the gates of Heaven seems to come to no avail, and it becomes harder to look up to the Lord in hope.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Psalms 69:1-3 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I am weary of my crying: my throat is dried: mine eyes fail while I wait for my God.</em></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Isaiah 38:14a <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward:</em></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">But the Lord has not forsaken you, He has not forgotten you, He has not left you to face these trials alone or in your own strength. He is only waiting for you to cry out to Him in faith. Will you look to Him to deliver you from your trouble? Will you trust Him?</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">The following quote from the book of Lamentations very likely expresses Jeremiah’s prayer from this same dungeon, where he was literally sinking in the mire:</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Lamentations 3:52-56 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without cause. They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast a stone upon me. Waters flowed over mine head; then I said, I am cut off. I called upon thy name, O LORD, out of the low dungeon. Thou hast heard my voice: hide not thine ear at my breathing, at my cry.</em></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Isaiah 38:14b <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.</em></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Psalms 56:3-4 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.</em></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;"><b>Jeremiah 38:7-10 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Now when Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs which was in the king’s house, heard that they had put Jeremiah in the dungeon; the king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin; Ebedmelech went forth out of the king’s house, and spake to the king, saying, My lord the king, these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon; and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king commanded Ebedmelech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the prophet out of the dungeon, before he die.</em></b></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Just like King Zedekiah sent his servant Ebedmelech to rescue Jeremiah from his affliction, so too will you find that the Lord God will send His servant (whatever He may choose, however He may choose – according to His will) to help you in your distress. (Note: the name <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Ebedmelech</em> literally means “servant of the King”.)</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">When the mire seems the deepest and you are ready to give up, you will find your Heavenly Father is still at work behind the scenes, setting in motion the plan that will release you from your imprisonment.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Psalms 91:14-16 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.</em></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Lamentations 3:57-58 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon thee: thou saidst, Fear not. O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul; thou hast redeemed my life.</em></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;"><b>Jeremiah 38:11-13 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">So Ebedmelech took the men with him, and went into the house of the king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the dungeon to Jeremiah. And Ebedmelech the Ethiopian said unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did so. <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><u>So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up out of the dungeon</u></span>: and Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.</em></b></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Keep your focus on the Lord Jesus Christ, trust in Him and His Word – and like Jeremiah was drawn out of the mire of his prison, so too will you be drawn up out of the mire and the waters that have flooded your soul.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Drawn With Cords</span></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Hosea 11:4a <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love.</em></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Drawn From Above</span></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Psalms 18:16 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.</em></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Set Upon A Rock</span></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Psalms 40:1-3 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.</span> And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.</em></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: justify;">Whatever the situation you’re are facing now, when it seems that your soul is sinking deep in the mire, look above – and let Jesus draw you up out of that prison of despair, and set your feet back upon the solid rock! Only in Him will you find the firm footing to face the trials of life.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Love Lifted Me</span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">(Lyrics: James Rowe)</em></p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center;">I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Chorus:</em><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Love lifted me! Love lifted me!<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />When nothing else could help<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Love lifted me!</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center;">Souls in danger look above, Jesus completely saves,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />He will lift you by His love, out of the angry waves.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />He’s the Master of the sea, billows His will obey,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />He your Savior wants to be, be saved today.</p><p class="" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 14px; margin: 0px 0px 10px; text-align: center;">November 19th, 2005<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Jerry Bouey</p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-16562530414150989052023-09-30T14:12:00.003-07:002023-09-30T14:12:15.256-07:00Audio Of Poems Presented In Church in 2022<p style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-family: times;">Poems Presented In Church</span></b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">In 2021 to 2022, for about 10 months in the two main Sunday services, I presented poems in church as a ministry. Usually I shared an introduction to the poem (perhaps the story behind it if it was one of mine or if I knew of the events surrounding it), then I presented the verses behind it and a Biblical exhortation to draw closer to the Lord. </span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">While we were recording the sermons preached each service, we did not think to actually record the poem presentations until about the last four months. The poems were a blessing to share and God's hand was definitely upon that ministry, as the poems and challenges I read often went with the theme of the sermons preached, the songs chosen, and many times both - yet the hymns chosen each day and the Pastor's themes or passages were not announced to me in advance. It was a ministry wholly dependent upon the Lord's guiding, and His hand was very evident for all those months.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">For various reasons, the Lord guided me to stop this particular ministry the end of last Spring. In several of the poem presentations you can actually sense that there was spiritual warfare going on, and the introductions did not come across as smoothly or as coherently as other poems I had recorded. I have still decided to post the audio of those couple of poems too - as the stories are still a blessing to hear and the poems themselves came across clearly, even if the introduction seems rough. If you choose to listen to them, please do not judge the whole ministry in light of the few that did not go as well as the others.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;">The poems that were actually recorded are listed below in the order they were presented. Feel free to leave comments here or on their individual pages if there were any that really touched your heart, strengthened you spiritually or simply blessed you in some way.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Poems Presented in March 2022:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/two-roads-or-three/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Two Roads Or Three?</a> - Morning of March 6</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/in-the-presence-of-the-lord/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">In The Presence Of The Lord</span></a> - Evening of March 6</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Poems Presented in April 2022:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/the-touch-of-the-masters-hand/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">The Touch Of The Master’s Hand – <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">by Myra Brooks Welch</em></a> - Morning of April 3</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/all-my-springs-are-in-you/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">All My Springs Are In You</a> - Morning of April 10</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/immanuel/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Immanuel – <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">by Charles Spurgeon</em></a> - Evening of April 10</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/the-day-my-saviour-died/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">The Day My Saviour Died</a> - Morning of April 17</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/take-a-second-look-at-calvary/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Take A Second Look At Calvary</a> - Evening of April 17</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/thou-god-seest-me/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration-style: dotted; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">Thou God Seest Me</span></a> - Morning of April 24<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/god-meant-it-unto-good/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">"God Meant It Unto Good" - <i>by Freda Hanbury Allen</i></span></a> - Evening of April 24<br /><i>(Rough presentation, but good story and poem read clearly)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Poems Presented in May 2022:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/thirsting-in-this-wilderness/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Thirsting In This Wilderness</a> - Morning of May 1</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/under-construction/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration-style: dotted; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">Under Construction</span></a> - Evening of May 1</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/mothers-day-in-heaven/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Mother’s Day In Heaven</a> - Morning of May 8</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/gods-love-through-the-storm/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">God’s Love Through The Storm – <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Author Unknown</em></a> - Evening of May 8</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><span style="color: black;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/quietness-and-confidence/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-skip-ink: none; text-decoration-style: dotted; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="color: black;">Quietness And Confidence – <i>b</i><em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">y E.J. Carr</em></span></a> </span>- Morning of May 15</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/i-sleep-but-my-heart-waketh/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">I Sleep, But My Heart Waketh</a> - Evening of May 15</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/waiting-for-a-change/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">Waiting For A Change - <i>Author Unknown</i></span></a> - Morning of May 22</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/no-accidents/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">“No Accidents” - <i>by Felicia Doss</i></span></a> - Morning of May 22<br /><i>(Bit of technical difficulties accessing book on my ipad - story and poem presentation are very good)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/when-this-lion-begins-to-roar/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">When This Lion Begins To Roar</a> - Morning of May 29</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/god-is/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">God Is – <em style="border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Author Unknown</em></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #4a4a4a;"> </span>- Evening of May 29</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><b>Poems Presented in June 2022:</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/wrestling-until-the-break-of-day/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Wrestling Until The Break of Day</a> - Morning of June 5</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/be-thou-clean/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">Be Thou Clean</a> - Evening of June 5</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/death-meets-his-match/"><span style="color: black;">Death Meets His Match - by <em>Elwood McQuaid</em></span></a> - Evening of June 12<br /><i>(Good presentation of poem, but no introduction)</i></span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/the-father-of-the-fatherless/" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; cursor: pointer; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-variant-alternates: inherit; font-variant-east-asian: inherit; font-variant-numeric: inherit; font-variant-position: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-underline-offset: 3px; transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; vertical-align: baseline;">The Father Of The Fatherless</a> - Morning of June 19</span></p><p><span style="font-family: times;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/slow-down-daddy/" target="_blank"><span style="color: black;">Slow Down, Daddy</span></a> - Evening of June 19<br /><i>(no introduction, but good poem presentation)</i></span></p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-83312241010281756582023-09-25T16:01:00.006-07:002023-11-11T12:23:42.913-08:00All My Blogs<p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">I wanted to try something new, so I created two new blogs.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">One new blog, called <a href="https://stories-of-christian-faith.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Substance Of Things Hoped For (Faith-based Stories and Illustration)</b></a>, was created for a place for me to be able to quickly repost all the stories and illustrations that Angela Trenholm (my webpartner) had on her family site (Trenholms Of Kelowna). <a href="http://earnestlycontending.com">EarnestlyContending.com</a> (our domain and the central hub for all our personal sites) got repeatedly hacked a little over two years ago and we lost all the content and had to rebuild from scratch. It is a lot of work trying to repost articles, stories, songs, etc. that were posted from approximately 21 years ago onwards, but I am making a valiant effort. Doing it in a blog format also gives me the opportunity to easily add new content.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">The second blog is for posting Daily Devotionals once again - devotionals and poems. I had done that for several years back in 2004 onwards, but eventually it became too much work to keep doing that project and work full time, developing new messages to preach at the Kelowna Gospel Mission. I had turned many of those outlines into full length studies and stored the rest in various boxes to hopefully develop more fully someday. That time did not come till now (of course, now I need to sort through all those boxes!!). This new devotional blog is called <a href="https://just-a-closer-walk-with-you.blogspot.com/" style="background-color: white; color: #ff9900; text-align: left;"><b>Just A Closer Walk With You (Daily Devotionals And Poems)</b></a>.</span></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">For those who may be new to Buy The Truth or my blogs in general, or perhaps had not visited for quite a while, I also wanted to list all the other blogs here for you as well, so you can easily check them out and bookmark them if you so desire.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25em;"><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://faithfulmenofgod.blogspot.com/" style="color: #cc6611; text-decoration-line: none;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Faithful Men Of God (Solid Christian Articles)</span></b></a></li></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25em;"><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://shadowoutlines.blogspot.com/" style="color: #cc6611; text-decoration-line: none;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">A Shadow Of Things To Come (Outlines and Short Devotionals)</span></b></a></li></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25em;"><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="http://songs-in-the-night.blogspot.com/" style="color: #cc6611; text-decoration-line: none;"><b><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Songs In The Night (Christian Poetry and Songs)</span></b></a></li><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px; text-align: justify;"><a href="https://psalms-of-david.blogspot.com/" target="_blank"><b>The Psalms Of David In Metre (By Isaac Watts And The Church Of Scotland)</b></a></li></ul><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;"><div style="text-align: justify;">My original websites (before I started any blogs) are:</div></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25em;"><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://ewministries.earnestlycontending.com/" target="_blank">Eagle's Wings Ministries (<em>My Bible Study Site</em>)</a></b></span></li></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25em;"><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Bookmark this page: <a href="https://ewministries.earnestlycontending.com/table-of-contents/" target="_blank"><b>EWM Table Of Contents</b></a></span></li></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25em;"><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/" style="color: #cc6611; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Home Of The Real McCoy (<em>My Christian Poetry Site</em></a>)</b></span></li></ul><ul style="background-color: white; color: #222222; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 1.25em;"><li style="margin: 0px; padding: 0.25em 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: times; font-size: medium;">Bookmark this page: <a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/table-of-contents/" target="_blank"><b>HOTRM Table Of Contents</b></a></span></li></ul><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;"><br /></span></div><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;"><div style="text-align: justify;">Most of the content on Home of the Real McCoy are my own poems, plus some poems that I have included in several books of poetry I have put together; whereas Songs In The Night contain both my poems and any poems, songs or hymns by others I wanted to pass on to others. I have added pages for various poems that I presented in church in 2021 or 2022 (as I cannot seem to add the audio files to my blogs). Just look for those poems within Songs In The Night or Home Of The Real McCoy Table Of Contents. I do have them marked on there. Still a few more to put up with the audio files, but I will indicate those ones too when they are made. I have also decided to duplicate my personal poems on Home of the Real McCoy and Songs In The Night, in case we are ever hacked again. Building all those pages from scratch was more work than I ever expected.</div></span></span><p></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;">I hope all these blogs and pages are a blessing to you.</span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times; font-size: medium;">In Jesus' precious name,</span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: times;">Jerry Bouey</span></div></span><p></p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-52769195147281061592023-09-25T14:07:00.017-07:002024-03-13T14:33:15.332-07:00List Of All Studies From 2022-2024<p> <span style="text-align: justify;">I thought it might be beneficial to list all studies/devotionals that I have put in this blog, for those who want to be able to quickly find one again, or for those who may be perusing this blog and are wondering what is in it. I have put an * beside the studies that were a tremendous blessing or encouragement to me when studying them out. Any messages that I preached at the Gospel Mission have @ beside them. </span><em style="text-align: justify;">All links below will open in a separate window.</em></p><br style="text-align: justify;" /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2006/07/list-of-all-studies-in-this-blog.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Click here for the List Of All Studies From 2006</a><br style="text-align: justify;" /><br style="text-align: justify;" /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2007/07/list-of-all-studies-from-2007.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Click here for the List Of All Studies From 2007</a><br style="text-align: justify;" /><br style="text-align: justify;" /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2008/10/list-of-all-studies-from-2008.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Click here for the List Of All Studies From 2008/2009</a><br style="text-align: justify;" /><br style="text-align: justify;" /><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/09/list-of-all-studies-from-2022-2024.html" target="_blank">Click here for the List of All Studies from 2010</a><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/09/audio-of-poems-presented-in-church-in.html" target="_blank">Audio Of Poems Presented In Church In 2022</a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Table Of Contents For All Studies Posted 2022-2024</b></div><div style="text-align: center;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><b>November 2022:</b></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-lion-of-gods-word.html" target="_blank">The Lion Of God's Word</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>September 2023:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/09/they-would-not-but-will-you-blessings.html" target="_blank">They Would Not - But Will You? The Blessings They Missed</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/09/diligently-seeking-lord.html" target="_blank">Diligently Seeking The Lord</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-furnace-of-affliction-as-silver-is.html" target="_blank">The Furnace Of Affliction - Part One: As Silver Is Tried</a> <i>(previously on EWM)</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-furnace-of-affliction-part-two-come.html" target="_blank">The Furnace Of Affliction - Part Two: Come Forth As Gold</a> <i>(previously on EWM)</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-disobedience-of-king-saul.html" target="_blank">The Disobedience Of King Saul</a><br /><b>**<a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/09/two-new-blogs-added.html" target="_blank">Two New Blogs Added</a>**</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b><br /></b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>October 2023:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/10/sinking-in-mire.html" target="_blank">Sinking In The Mire</a> <i>(previously on EWM)</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>November 2023:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/11/the-lord-sees-our-potential.html" target="_blank">The Lord Sees Our Potential</a><br /><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/11/have-you-been-with-jesus.html" target="_blank">Have You Been With Jesus?</a> <i>(previously on EWM)<br /></i><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/11/jacob-plain-man.html" target="_blank"><i>Lessons On The Life Of Jacob:</i> Jacob, The Plain Man</a> <i>(previously on EWM)</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><b>March 2024:</b></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2024/03/cities-of-refuge.html" target="_blank">Cities Of Refuge</a> <i>(previously on EWM)</i></div><br style="text-align: justify;" /><strong style="text-align: justify;"><br /></strong></div><div><strong style="text-align: justify;"><br /></strong></div><div><strong style="text-align: justify;">Series TOC's:</strong><br style="text-align: justify;" /><em style="text-align: justify;">(These studies are also listed above, in the order they were posted)</em><br style="text-align: justify;" /><br style="text-align: justify;" /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2006/08/genesis-series.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Genesis</a><br style="text-align: justify;" /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2007/04/psalm-series.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Psalms</a><br style="text-align: justify;" /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2006/08/song-of-solomon-series.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Song Of Solomon</a><br style="text-align: justify;" /><br style="text-align: justify;" /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2007/09/expositional-studies.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Expositional Studies</a><br style="text-align: justify;" /><br style="text-align: justify;" /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2007/05/numbers-in-bible-series.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">60 Day Devotional Series: Numbers In The Bible</a></div></div>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-16175503418473705232023-09-25T09:35:00.004-07:002023-10-04T15:57:12.246-07:00The Disobedience Of King Saul<p style="text-align: center;"><script type="text/javascript" src="https://av1611.com/verseclick/verseclick.js"></script><b>The Disobedience Of Saul</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Have you ever thought what happens when we don’t obey the Lord? Sometimes the consequences are much greater than we might have originally thought.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">All of the Bible is given for us to learn from - from its good examples and bad, its promises and warnings.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Romans 15:4 <i>For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">1 Corinthians 10:11 <i>Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;"> I love how one preacher broke down the following passage:</p><p style="text-align: justify;">2 Timothy 3:16-17 <i>All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>Doctrine </i>- what is right.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>Reproof </i>- what is not right (or, showing what is wrong).</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>Correction </i>- how to make it right.</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><i>Instruction in righteousness</i> - how to keep it right.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">The negative example I want to look at today is that of Haman in the book of Esther. In the Old Testament, during the time of Queen Esther, he became one of Israel’s most notorious enemies. He rose up in prominence and was given power to do great harm to the exiled Jews by the Persian King Ahasuerus. (<i>Note:</i> This study will only be looking at highlights from that book of the Bible. Please take the time to reread this book if it is unfamiliar to you or you have forgotten its main themes.)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Esther 3:1-2 <i>After these things did king Ahasuerus promote Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him, and set his seat above all the princes that were with him. And all the king's servants, that were in the king's gate, bowed, and reverenced Haman: for the king had so commanded concerning him. But Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Esther 3:5-6 <i>And when Haman saw that Mordecai bowed not, nor did him reverence, then was Haman full of wrath. And he thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone; for they had shewed him the people of Mordecai: wherefore Haman sought to destroy all the Jews that were throughout the whole kingdom of Ahasuerus, even the people of Mordecai.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Esther 3:10-11 <i>And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews' enemy. And the king said unto Haman, The silver is given to thee, the people also, to do with them as it seemeth good to thee.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Haman was the first person in Israel’s history to attempt to wipe out that nation completely. Out of his jealousy and rage towards Mordecai for not exalting and honouring him, he set out to destroy the Israelites, and he in fact got authority from the Persian king to kill all the Jews on a certain date.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Esther 3:13-14 <i>And the letters were sent by posts into all the king's provinces, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all Jews, both young and old, little children and women, in one day, even upon the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is the month Adar, and to take the spoil of them for a prey. The copy of the writing for a commandment to be given in every province was published unto all people, that they should be ready against that day.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Haman’s evil plot was now set in motion, but it was also the appointed time for the Lord to bring a deliver forth and to protect His chosen people.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Esther 4:7-8 <i>And Mordecai told him of all that had happened unto him, and of the sum of the money that Haman had promised to pay to the king's treasuries for the Jews, to destroy them. Also he gave him the copy of the writing of the decree that was given at Shushan to destroy them, to shew it unto Esther, and to declare it unto her, and to charge her that she should go in unto the king, to make supplication unto him, and to make request before him for her people.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Mordecai then petitioned Esther to act on behalf of her people, to do what she could to foil this dastardly plot of Haman’s, even if it was at the cost of her own life.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Esther 4:13-14 <i>Then Mordecai commanded to answer Esther, Think not with thyself that thou shalt escape in the king's house, more than all the Jews. For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">The next two verses are very interesting:</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Esther 8:3 <i>And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Esther 9:24 <i>Because Haman the son of Hammedatha, the Agagite, the enemy of all the Jews, had devised against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur, that is, the lot, to consume them, and to destroy them;</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Haman was an Amalekite; specifically an Agagite. You might be wondering why the name <i>Agagite </i>seems familiar.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This is the entry on Haman from <i>Easton's Bible Dictionary</i>:</p><p style="text-align: justify;">“He is called an ‘Agagite,’ which seems to denote that he was descended from the royal family of the Amalekites, the bitterest enemies of the Jews, as Agag was one of the titles of the Amalekite kings.”</p><p style="text-align: justify;">During the time of the judges and Israel’s kingdom, the term <i>Agag </i>was the title used for the Amalekite kings - like Pharaoh, Emperor, Caesar, etc. Why is it significant that he was a descendant of Agag? Because the Israelites were at war with the Amalekites since the time of Moses and later king Saul was commanded to wipe them out completely.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 17:8 <i>Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Exodus 17:14-16 <i>And the LORD said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: For he said, Because the LORD hath sworn that the LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">1 Samuel 15:1-3 <i>Samuel also said unto Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the LORD. Thus saith the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">1 Samuel 15:7-9 <i>And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until thou comest to Shur, that is over against Egypt. And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">1 Samuel 15:13-15 <i>And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">1 Samuel 15:20 <i>And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.</i></p><p style="text-align: justify;">Obviously king Saul did not keep fighting the Amalekites. As the end of the book of 1 Samuel reveals, these people were still a threat to Israel during the final days of Saul’s reign. David and his mighty men were warring against the Amalekites and had to rescue their families from them when the Amalekite army took the city of Ziklag captive. Though Saul and his sons were killed by the Philistines a few days later, it was actually an Amalekite that bragged of killing him (pretty foolish, as his boasting resulted in king David killing him!).</p><p style="text-align: justify;">If Saul and the Israelites would have done what he (and they) were originally commanded to do, they would not have had a prominent descendant of the Amalekite kings attempting to wipe out their whole nation approximately 600 or so years later!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">God still worked on behalf of His people and did deliver them through the wisdom He gave queen Esther - but how much less grief and sorrow would they have had throughout a significant portion of their history if Saul had originally done what God had commanded him to do!</p><p style="text-align: justify;">If there is something the Holy Spirit is prompting and convicting you to deal with in your own life, be submissive to His leading and take the needed steps to deal with that sin or compromise. Don’t deal with the sins in your life in a half-hearted way. Of course, our enemies are spiritual and not physical, but disobedience can affect us more than we might think. From Saul’s negative example, we can see that toying with sins may later take their toll on us. It’s better to deal with our Amalekite kings before they because Hamans that might destroy or devastate us down the road.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Let’s make sure we obey our Lord and defeat the Amalekites (and all the Canaanites) in our lives. (If you want to dig in a bit more into your Bible on this theme, this study might be worthwhile for you to read: <a href="https://ewministries.earnestlycontending.com/conquering-the-canaanites-in-your-life/" target="_blank">Conquering The Canaanites In Your Life</a>.)</p><p style="text-align: justify;">September 24, 2023<br />Jerry Bouey</p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-61077095782894633772023-09-13T14:39:00.010-07:002023-10-04T15:57:40.551-07:00The Furnace Of Affliction - Part Two: Come Forth As Gold<p> </p><script type="text/javascript" src="https://av1611.com/verseclick/verseclick.js"></script><h1 align="center" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; margin: 0.67em 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Furnace Of Affliction</i> - Part Two</span></h1><h1 align="center" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; margin: 0.67em 0px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Come Forth As Gold</span></h1><blockquote style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol";"><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">Isaiah 48:10 <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.</i></span></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><b><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">1) Man's Outward Trials. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />A) Mankind In General:</span> </b><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />It is obvious, from the overall testimony of Scripture, from beginning to ending, man’s lot on this earth is full of trials, troubles, afflictions, sufferings. Every since Adam and Eve’s fall in the Garden of Eden, the curse of sin has affected all of our lives. The furnace of affliction has affected all of us. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Psalms 90:3, 5-10 <i><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. For we are consumed by Thine anger, and by Thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before Thee, our secret sins in the light of Thy countenance. For all our days are passed away in Thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.</span> </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Job 5:7 <i><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward.</span> </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Job 14:1 <i><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble.</span> </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><b><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">B) The Christian’s Trials:</span> </b><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Another principle comes through loud and clear from the pages of the God’s Word: the Christian is not exempt from trials. Even those that have been born again through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will face this furnace of affliction at various times throughout their lives. The way of the Cross is not a rose-strewn pathway, despite what some modern religious philosophers and teachers like to teach. Our problems in life do not end the moment we come to Christ – though it is true that those who are saved have their Heavenly Father working out all things according to His perfect will and plan for their lives, which includes conforming them to the image of His Son. (See Romans 8:28-29) <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />2 Timothy 3:12 <i><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.</span> </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Acts 14:22 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.</i></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Isaiah 43:2 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">When </span>thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: <u style="box-sizing: border-box;">when</u> </i></span><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. </i></p><p align="center" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">John Bunyan stated, <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />“A Christian man is seldom long at ease, <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />When one trouble’s gone another doth him seize.” </p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><b><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">2) The Christian's Trials Outweigh Those Of The Lost.</span> </b><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I believe this is a principle that is often overlooked and is one reason we are told to count the cost. Like Daniel’s three friends in the midst of the burning fiery furnace, the Christian’s furnace of affliction has often been heated seven times hotter than the furnace of the world. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />1 Corinthians 15:16-19 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.</i></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I have actually had a Christian associate declare that I was presenting false teaching when I discussed with him the above passage of Scripture (and after he had read my first study in this series, <a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-furnace-of-affliction-as-silver-is.html" rel="external nofollow noopener" style="background-color: transparent; box-sizing: border-box;" target="_blank">As Silver Is Tried</a>). Even after explaining what Paul meant here, he still would not believe me. Later I found out he had bought into the Prosperity Gospel hook, line, and sinker. While I do not believe it is wrong to be optimistic, I do think that we should remove our rose-coloured glasses and accept what the Bible teaches, instead of what we would like it to say! <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />If all the faithful child of God had to look forward in this life was the afflictions and trials they daily faced, they would be most miserable indeed! If there was no forgiveness of sins offered through the death, burial, and physical resurrection of Jesus Christ, there would be no hope indeed, no hope of entering Heaven (all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and God cannot look upon iniquity – see Isaiah 64:6 and Habakkuk 1:13), and no real purpose for our being set apart from the rest of the ungodly world! <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Please read this whole section so you do not misunderstand where I am going with this line of thinking.</span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />1 Corinthians 15:29-32 <i><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead? And why stand we in jeopardy every hour? I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily. If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? let us eat and drink; for to morrow we die.</span> </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />As Paul stated above, if this life was all we had then the Christian’s life would be most miserable in comparison with that of the lost. What trials does the Christian bear that the lost do not? </p><ul style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;"><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Facing death to proclaim their faith and be baptized (identified) with Christ</p></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Dying to our self daily, crucifying the flesh and resisting the pleasures of sin </p></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Bearing the reproach of Christ, suffering for the sake of righteousness </p></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Endless, wearisome battles with false teachers, apostates; spiritual warfare </p></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Being chastised by the Lord when we walk in sin </p></li><li style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Being pruned and purged so we are useful to the Master and bear more fruit</p></li></ul><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">There is a saying that there is a scarlet thread that runs all throughout Scripture – referring to the redemption provided through the blood of Christ. In a similar vein, there is another thread, albeit a dark one, running throughout the Bible: the thread of sufferings and trials for true believers. We see one end of this thread in the book of Genesis, from the death of Abel, to the sufferings of Joseph; it continues on through time to the testing of Job, and the Exodus from Egypt; down further through the corridors of time to the exiles in Assyria and Babylon, and the desecrating of the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes; further still to the New Testament church struggling through dire persecutions, on to the tribulation believers facing the Antichrist; and finally, the end of the thread is in sight in the book of Revelation, when we see Jesus returning to conquer the nations of the world and begin His Millennial reign. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Just think how much easier the Apostles’ lives would have been if they were living for themselves, rather than for the Lord. Take Paul’s life, for example: <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />2 Corinthians 11:23-28 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>Are they ministers of Christ? (I speak as a fool) I am more; in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep; In journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; In weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches.</i></span></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">But this life is not all there is! There is Heaven awaiting those who are saved, and rewards for those who are faithful in serving Jesus Christ! If you are a child of God, then you have eternal life and the love of Christ which nothing can separate you from. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Romans 8:38-39 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.</i></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Though the furnace of affliction that the Christian faces has been heated seven times hotter, the Lord Jesus Christ still walks with us in the midst of the flames. After all has been said and done, in the light of eternity, I believe the child of God will be able to share the testimony of these three Hebrew men that the fire did no lasting harm to them. Truly, our Heavenly Father only allows into our lives what is in accordance with His perfect will. Like the hymn writer stated, “Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say, It is well with my soul.” <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Romans 8:18 <i><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.</span> </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>3) The Outcome Of The Christian's Trials.</b></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Malachi 3:2-3 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.</i></span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Job 23:8-10 <i><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Behold, I go forward, but He is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive Him: On the left hand, where He doth work, but I cannot behold Him: He hideth Himself on the right hand, that I cannot see Him: But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.</span> </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">"… all precious things have to be tried.</span> You never saw a precious thing yet which did not have a trial. The diamond must be cut; and hard cutting that poor jewel has; were it capable of feeling pain, nothing would be more fretted and worried about, than that diamond. Gold, too, must be tried; it cannot be used as it is dug up from the mine, or in grains as it is found in the rivers; it must pass through the crucible and have the dross taken away. Silver must be tried. In fact all things that are of any value must endure the fire. It is the law of nature. Solomon tells us so in the 17th chapter of Proverbs, the 3rd verse. He says, 'The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold.' If you were nothing but tin, there would be no need of the 'fining-pot' for you; but it is simply because you are valuable that you must be tried." (Charles Spurgeon, <i>The New Park Street Pulpit</i>, Volume 1, page 484.) <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>4) The Christian’s Outlook In Their Trials. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />A) Your Refining:</b></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />1 Peter 1:6-7 <i><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:</span> </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />2 Corinthians 4:16-18 <i><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.</span> </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>B) Your Reminder:</b></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />2 Corinthians 12:9-10 <i>And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong. </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><b><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">C) Your Rejoicing:</span> </b><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />James 1:2-4 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.</i></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>D) Your Reward:</b></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Revelation 2:10 <i>Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.</span></i> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />James 1:12 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him.</i></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>E) Your Redeemer's Return:</b></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Luke 21:28 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.</i></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>F) Your Response:</b></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Revelation 3:15-18 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.</i></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b>5) Will You Be Outcast?</b></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The Lord rejects those who reject Him and His Word, who reject the salvation and forgiveness of sins that He offers. <i>Reprobate </i>means rejected. Dross is the worthless part of the metal, the impurities that are cast aside. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Jeremiah 6:30 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them.</i></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />2 Timothy 3:8 <i><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.</span> </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Ezekiel 22:17-22 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, the house of Israel is to Me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of silver. Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because ye are all become dross, behold, therefore I will gather you into the midst of Jerusalem. As they gather silver, and brass, and lead, and tin, into the midst of the furnace, to blow the fire upon it, to melt it; so I will gather you in Mine anger and in My fury, and I will leave you there, and melt you. Yea, I will gather you, and blow upon you in the fire of My wrath, and ye shall be melted in the midst thereof. As silver is melted in the midst of the furnace, so shall ye be melted in the midst thereof; and ye shall know that I the LORD have poured out My fury upon you.</i></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Don't be an outcast. <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God! </span>(Hebrews 10:31) The hands of judgement are all that those who die without Jesus Christ as their Saviour have to look forward to. It is better to reach now for the hands of mercy! If you have never turned to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, turn to Him today, trusting in His finished work on the cross of Calvary, believing in His death for your sins, His burial, and His literal, physical resurrection three days later. Turn to Him and let Him purge away the dross of sin in your life and make you a vessel worthy of honour. <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Proverbs 25:4 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.</i></span> <br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />2 Timothy 2:21 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.</i> </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Zechariah 13:9 <span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><i>And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on My name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is My people: and they shall say, The LORD is my God.</i></span></p><p align="center" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><b><a href="http://songs-in-the-night.blogspot.com/2010/01/i-shall-come-forth-as-gold.html" target="_blank">I Shall Come Forth As Gold</a></b></span></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: large;"> </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">No longer on the mountaintop, The tempests wax fierce and hot; </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">Though the way ahead may seem rough, His grace will always be enough - </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">For when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><i style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Chorus:</span> </i><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">As gold, as gold, I shall come forth as gold; </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">As gold, as gold, I shall come forth as gold. </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">As I walk through the shadow of death, This valley seems to steal my breath; </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">Though I cannot yet see my way, I will trust in Jesus come what may - </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">For when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">When storm clouds carry doubt and fear, I will not fret for God is near. </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">Though I walk through the darkest day, Through faith, my Lord will light my way - </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">For when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold. </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">Someday my skies will clear again, The clouds will part - I shall see Him! </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">Now by faith, but then by sight, I'll behold my King in all His might - </span><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><span style="font-size: 14px;">For when He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.</span></p><p align="center" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 14px;">Poem written June 22nd, 2003<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Study written August 6th, 2004<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />By Jerry Bouey<span style="background-color: transparent; text-align: left;"> </span></p></blockquote><blockquote style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; text-align: justify;"><i>(Note: my friend Kat Aulin had actually put this song to beautiful music in 2003. Unfortunately, she did not know how to write music so it was never recorded. But it sure was a blessing to hear her play it on the Trenholm’s piano in the summer of 2003. She had such talent - I am sure she is playing music for the Lord in Heaven now.)</i></p></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;">For Part One:<br /><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-furnace-of-affliction-as-silver-is.html" target="_blank"><i>The Furnace Of Affliction</i> - As Silver Is Tried</a></p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-21122577779340808282023-09-13T14:28:00.006-07:002023-10-04T15:57:29.363-07:00The Furnace Of Affliction - Part One: As Silver Is Tried<p> </p><script type="text/javascript" src="https://av1611.com/verseclick/verseclick.js"></script><h1 align="center" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; margin: 0.67em 0px;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Furnace Of Affliction</i> - Part One</h1><h1 align="center" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; margin: 0.67em 0px;">As Silver Is Tried</h1><blockquote style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px;"><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Isaiah 48:10 <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"><i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.</i></span></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Do you feel like you are going through fiery trials? Feel like waves are crashing against your soul? Feel like the storm clouds on the horizon are just getting darker and fiercer? <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">There is a reason for all that the Lord allows into your life, including the troubles and afflictions.</span></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">If you are a child of God (through personal faith in the Lord Jesus Christ), then all that happens in your life - whether good or ill - is for the purpose of making you more Christ-like according to Romans 8:28-29, <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">And we know that <u style="box-sizing: border-box;">all</u> things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He did foreknow, He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.</i></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">If we understand the general reason why we go through various trials, we will be better equipped to cling to the Lord in the midst of these trying times. The Bible teaches that a believer is like gold or silver that must be tried in a furnace to remove all the dross and blemishes in the metal.</p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">1 Peter 1:6-8 <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:</i></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Malachi 3:2-3 <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.</i></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Fuller's soap is a powerful laundering chemical that basically bleaches out the stains and causes the garment to be a brilliant white. A refiner's fire is a fire that is so hot that it causes any metal being heated upon it to be separated from the dross that is within it. The liquid metal gets heated up, and the impurities rise to the surface, whereupon the silversmith then removes the dross. As more dross is consumed or removed, the refined metal is purer, more precious to the Refiner.</p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">So too, our faith become more precious to the Lord as the impurities in our spiritual lives are removed and the silver of our faith glows stronger. Our faith can only grow as we claim the promises of His Word, and look to Him for strength and comfort through the trials He places (or allows) in our lives.</p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">As the commentators Jamieson, Fausset and Brown state in their comments on Malachi 3:3, "The purifier sits before the crucible, fixing his eye on the metal, and taking care that the fire be not too hot, and keeping the metal in, only until he knows the dross to be completely removed by his seeing his own image reflected (Ro 8:29) in the glowing mass. So the Lord in the case of His elect."</p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">I know trials and chastisement are not pleasant when we are going through them, but if we lean on the Lord and trust that He knows what He is doing, it will make them that much more bearable. Like the Refiner, knowing exactly how long to refine the silver, so too, the Lord knows exactly how long and in what manner to best refine us and remove our own dross. If we can trust our Heavenly Father with this aspect of our lives, we will not lose sight of our Saviour when the trials do come. If we keep our eyes steadfastly on Jesus, we are promised His perfect peace according to Isaiah 26:3: <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee.</i></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">The Lord doesn’t indiscriminately cause affliction, but when, in His perfect wisdom, He knows it is for our best. (See Lamentations 3:32-33) When our heart has grown cold toward the Lord and the things of God (Bible reading, prayer, church attendance, soul-winning, etc.), sometimes He has to use stronger methods to get our attention. If we have wandered from our walk with the Lord, He will do what it takes to bring us back to Him – even if it means heavy chastisement. To quote my Pastor, “First He speaks, and if we will not listen, then He spanks. If we will not heed His chastisement, then He scourges; and then finally He separates (by death).” God loves His children too much to let them wallow for long in unrepentant sin!</p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Isaiah 1:25 <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">And I will turn My hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:</i></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Yes, as Christians, we will go through the waters… Isaiah 43:2 <i style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">When</u></span> thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">when</u></span> thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.</i></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Praise the Lord that even though we sometimes go through fiery trials, Jesus doesn’t leave us there. We will walk through the waters, through the rivers, and through the fires, but we will not stay in the midst of them! As the Psalmist stated in Psalm 66:8-12, <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">O bless our God, ye people, and make the voice of His praise to be heard: Which holdeth our soul in life, and suffereth not our feet to be moved. <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">For Thou, O God, hast proved us: Thou hast tried us, as silver is tried.</span> Thou broughtest us into the net; Thou laidst affliction upon our loins. Thou hast caused men to ride over our heads; <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"><u style="box-sizing: border-box;">we went through fire and through water: but Thou broughtest us out</u> into a wealthy place.</span></i></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">After the trials have achieved their intended purpose, then the Lord will remove them. And we will come forth brighter. Our dross will be consumed more and more with each trial, and we will one day be like Jesus Christ. In God’s perfect wisdom, He knows what He is doing, and in His perfect strength, He has the power to bring His purpose to completion. He will finish the work He has begun in us! Philippians 1:6 <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:</i></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Job 23:10 <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">But He knoweth the way that I take: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.</span></i></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">1 Peter 4:12-13 <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when His glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.</i></p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Don’t fear the trials and afflictions, instead, choose to focus on the Saviour and His purpose. Rest content in the Lord’s perfect plan, and trust yourself to His safekeeping. As our Heavenly Father works out all things in your life, to make you more Christ-like, let Him have His perfect way with you.</p><p align="justify" style="box-sizing: border-box;">2 Timothy 1:12 <i style="box-sizing: border-box;">For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: <span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;">for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.</span></i></p><p align="center" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />August 14th, 2002<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />By Jerry Bouey</p></blockquote><p style="text-align: center;">For Part Two:<br /><a href="https://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-furnace-of-affliction-part-two-come.html" target="_blank"><i>The Furnace Of Affliction</i> - Come Forth As Gold</a></p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-73258561060465534192023-09-07T20:08:00.005-07:002023-10-04T15:58:23.714-07:00Diligently Seeking The Lord<p><script type="text/javascript" src="https://av1611.com/verseclick/verseclick.js"></script> <span color="inherit" style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant-caps: inherit; font-variant-ligatures: inherit; font-weight: bold;">Diligently Seeking The Lord</span></p><p class="x_p2" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br aria-hidden="true" /></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Hebrews 11:6 </span><span class="x_s3" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.</span></p><p class="x_p2" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 22px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></span><br aria-hidden="true" /></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The word for “</span><span class="x_s3" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">diligently seek</span><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">” means: to search out, i.e. (figuratively) investigate, crave, demand, (by Hebraism) worship.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Crave? Don’t you wish we all had the driving desire to be close to the Lord Jesus Christ, insomuch that we persevere and choose to do so, that we intensely yearn to diligently seek Him on a day to day basis; yeah, even on a moment by moment basis?</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">This pursuit is something I fail at so often, yet something I should always strive for! Oh, to be so close to the Lord Jesus Christ, our Saviour, that nothing else matters - none of the trials or troubles we face, none of the glitter and pomp of this world, none of the prestige and honour the people of our society so desperately seek. </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Oh to be like Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. Every time we see her, all three times, she has willingly chosen to be at the feet of Jesus!</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">1) Luke 10:38-42 </span><span class="x_s3" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Sitting at the feet of her Saviour, eager to learn from Him.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2) After her brother Lazarus died and she heard that Jesus was now by her brother’s tomb, she quickly went out to meet Him there.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">John 11:31-32 </span><span class="x_s3" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Both Mary and Martha believed Jesus had the power to heal Lazarus, that He could have prevented their brother from dying, but also knew He was the Messiah who would one day raise up those believers who put their faith in Him. Though surrounded by friends and associates which sought to offer comfort to her in her grief, yet it was the solace of her Saviour she so willingly sought - it was Jesus she wanted to be with in her time of sorrow.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">3) John 12:1-3 </span><span class="x_s3" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him. Then took Mary a pound of ointment of spikenard, very costly, and anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped his feet with her hair: and the house was filled with the odour of the ointment.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The third time we see Mary, she is at the feet of Jesus, worshipping and anointing Him for His coming burial.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">After this event and even for the remainder of their lives, I wonder if those present associated the pleasant odour of this ointment with the presence of Jesus, with the blessed reminder of all that Jesus did for them when He went to the cross and shed His blood for their sins? Food for thought.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Song of Songs 1:3 </span><span class="x_s3" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When Bible believers think of Mary, the sister of Lazarus and Martha, they are reminded of her devotion and closeness with the Saviour. It was evident in her life and reflected in her actions that all those around her could see.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">2 Corinthians 2:14-17 </span><span class="x_s3" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not as many, which corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">When people look at how you live - when they hear the words you speak, observe your attitude and demeanor, and see your day to day activities - is it obvious to them that you are diligently seeking the Lord, that you crave to walk closer with Him, that He alone is the one you worship?</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Acts 4:13 </span><span class="x_s3" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-feature-settings: inherit; font-kerning: inherit; font-optical-sizing: inherit; font-size: inherit; font-stretch: inherit; font-style: italic; font-variant: inherit; font-variation-settings: inherit; font-weight: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"> </span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">September 9th, 2021</span></p><p class="x_p3" style="background-color: white; color: #242424; font-family: "Segoe UI", "Segoe UI Web (West European)", "Segoe UI", -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, Roboto, "Helvetica Neue", sans-serif; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-size: 15px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span class="x_s2" color="inherit" style="border: 0px; font: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Jerry Bouey</span></p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-12431736741945075272023-09-05T15:35:00.004-07:002023-10-04T15:58:08.140-07:00 They Would Not - But Will You? - The Blessings They Missed<p><script type="text/javascript" src="https://av1611.com/verseclick/verseclick.js"></script><b> They Would Not - But Will You? - The Blessings They Missed</b></p><p>Matthew 23:37 <i>O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!</i></p><p>Throughout man’s history, the Lord God has offered so many blessings to the nation of Israel and to the whole world, including the blessings of salvation and of a close relationship/fellowship with Him, but sadly many would not humble themselves, turn to God in faith and receive these blessings.</p><p>2 Peter 1:3-4 <i>According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.</i></p><p>Ephesians 1:3 <i>Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:</i></p><p>As you read each verse and passage below, think about what spiritual blessing God wants to bestow in each of those particular settings. If you have placed your faith in the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, believing in His death upon the cross for your sins, His physical resurrection after three days and three nights in the grave, trusting in Him alone for salvation, rejoice now that these blessings are all yours in Christ.</p><p><b>1. The blessing of closeness and security in Jesus:</b> </p><p>Matthew 23:37 <i>O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!</i></p><p><b>2. The blessing of satisfaction and fulfilment in the Saviour.</b></p><p>Psalms 81:10-11 <i>I am the LORD thy God,<br />which brought thee out of the land of Egypt:<br />open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.<br />But my people would not hearken to my voice;<br />and Israel would none of me.</i><br />(See also verse 16.)</p><p><b>3. The blessing of knowing the Saviour and being led beside the still waters, rather than having trouble overwhelm you and overflow the banks of your life.</b></p><p>Isaiah 8:6 <i>Forasmuch as this people refuseth the waters of Shiloah that go softly,<br />and rejoice in Rezin and Remaliah's son;</i><br />(See also verses 7-8, and Genesis 49:10)</p><p><b>4. The blessing of rest and refreshing as the Word of God opens up to you day by day, and you see your precious Cornerstone, Jesus Christ, revealed in all its pages.</b></p><p>Isaiah 28:9-13 <i>Whom shall he teach knowledge?<br />and whom shall he make to understand doctrine?<br />them that are weaned from the milk,<br />and drawn from the breasts.<br />For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept;<br />line upon line, line upon line;<br />here a little, and there a little:<br />For with stammering lips and another tongue<br />will he speak to this people.<br />To whom he said,<br />This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest;<br />and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.<br />But the word of the LORD was unto them<br />precept upon precept, precept upon precept;<br />line upon line, line upon line;<br />here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken,<br />and snared, and taken.</i><br />(See also verse 16.)</p><p><b>5. The blessing of a life of quietness and confidence (not worry or strife) in Jesus.</b> </p><p>Isaiah 30:15 <i>For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel;<br />In returning and rest shall ye be saved;<br />in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength:<br />and ye would not.</i></p><p><b>6. The blessing of God’s peace in your soul, flowing through your life.</b></p><p>Isaiah 48:18 <i>O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:</i></p><p><b>7. The blessing of walking with the Lord in the path of His will, the path of rest and victory in Him.</b></p><p>Jeremiah 6:16 <i>Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.</i></p><p><b>8. The blessing of spiritual intimacy and closeness with the Saviour in a life that brings praise and glory to Him.</b></p><p>Jeremiah 13:11 <i>For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the LORD; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.</i></p><p><b>9. The blessing of being God’s representative to your fellow man, and being an intercessor for them before the throne of grace.</b></p><p>Hosea 4:6 <i>My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge:<br />because thou hast rejected knowledge,<br />I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me:<br />seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God,<br />I will also forget thy children.</i></p><p><b>10. The blessing and assurance of having your prayers answered according to the will of God.</b></p><p>Zechariah 7:13 <i>Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried, and they would not hear;<br />so they cried, and I would not hear, saith the LORD of hosts:</i></p><p><b>11. The blessing of being invited to the marriage of the King’s Son.</b></p><p>Matthew 22:2-3 <i>The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.</i></p><p><b>12. The blessing of being part of the Bride of Christ, and knowing that the wonderful marriage supper of the Lamb is still awaiting you one day.</b> (P.S. Just imagine the joy of that future celebration!)</p><p>Luke 14:16-20, 24 <i>Then said he unto him, A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready. And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come… For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper.</i><br />(See also Revelation 19:6-9.)</p><p><b>13. The blessing of receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour, being adopted into the family of God, and being born again as His child.</b></p><p>John 1:11-12 <i>He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:</i></p><p><b>14. The blessing of seeing Jesus Christ in all His glory throughout all the pages of your Bible - and personally knowing by faith that you have received His gift of eternal life - knowing you will spend eternity with the Saviour who died for your sins and washed them all away in His precious blood - knowing your sins are forever blotted out from His sight!</b></p><p>John 5:39-40 <i>Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.</i></p><p>Are you walking in obedience and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ, walking in the light of all the blessings and promises He desires to give you?</p><p>If you are a child of God by faith, these are all yours to claim. Don’t miss out!</p><p>September 4, 2023<br />Jerry Bouey</p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-88436143517831033822022-11-01T14:00:00.004-07:002023-10-04T15:58:35.934-07:00The Lion Of God's Word<p><script type="text/javascript" src="https://av1611.com/verseclick/verseclick.js"></script> <span face="Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"" style="background-color: white; color: #353c41; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bolder; text-align: center;">The Lion Of God’s Word</span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">I love how the Apostle Paul used many images and comparisons in his preaching and writing to get the truth across to his readers, like in the following verse:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">2 Timothy 2:8-9 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;"><em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Vine’s Expository Dictionary</em> says this about the word <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">“bound”</em> as used in this passage:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">“…its ministry, course and efficacy were not hindered by the bonds and imprisonment suffered by the apostle.”</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Even though Paul was imprisoned and bound, the Word of God was not.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">“The Word of God is like a lion. You don’t have to defend a lion. All you have to do is let the lion loose, and the lion will defend itself.” - Charles Spurgeon</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">“The Word of God can take care of itself, and will do so if we preach it, and cease defending it. See you that lion. They have caged him for his preservation; shut him up behind iron bars to secure him from his foes! See how a band of armed men have gathered together to protect the lion. What a clatter they make with their swords and spears! These mighty men are intent upon defending a lion. O fools, and slow of heart! Open that door! Let the lord of the forest come forth free. Who will dare to encounter him? What does he want with your guardian care? Let the pure gospel go forth in all its lion-like majesty, and it will soon clear its own way and ease itself of its adversaries.” – Charles Spurgeon -<em style="box-sizing: border-box;"> (“The Lover of God’s Law Filled with Peace”</em>, sermon #2004, January 1888)</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Don’t hold back the lion - just let it out!</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">2 Thessalonians 3:1 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">The phrase <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">“free course”</em> means “to run or walk hastily (literally or figuratively).” Paul’s desire was that the Word of God was running freely, achieving its intended affect in the lives of those who heard it, with nothing hindering it from doing so.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Psalms 147:15 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Keep studying, keep applying what you have learned, and keep sowing the seed of the Word in the hearts of the lost around you. Let the lion of God’s Word out to roam.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Isaiah 55:8-11 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">I love how we can run in the path of God’s will when we understand His Word:</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Habakkuk 2:2 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: justify;">Psalms 119:32 <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">I will run the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart.</em></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bolder;"><a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/theres-a-lion-in-my-heart/" target="_blank">There’s A Lion In My Heart</a></span></p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">There’s a lion in my heart,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Running freely through my veins;<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I can’t hold back this power -<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I give the Lord free reign.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">This old world hates the Bible,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />There’s no place left for God’s Word;<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But still it cuts so deeply,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Through soul and spirit, like a sword.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Reading and studying daily,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Like Mary, at Jesus’ feet;<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Searching for hidden treasures,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Gleaning wisdom and digging deep.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Mind filled and overflowing,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Mouth filled and opened wide;<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I am weary with forbearing -<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />I cannot hold God’s Word inside.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Though at times I cannot speak,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />And feel I am but a child,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />There’s a lion in my soul,<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Breaking free and running wild.</p><p style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #353c41; font-family: Inter, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, "Segoe UI", Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif, "Apple Color Emoji", "Segoe UI Emoji", "Segoe UI Symbol"; font-size: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; text-align: center;">November 1st, 2022<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Jerry Bouey</p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-87780523884595191432021-11-28T14:08:00.004-08:002023-09-28T13:57:25.920-07:00Blog Update And Series On The Song Of Solomon<p style="text-align: center;"><b> Blog Update and Series on the Song Of Solomon</b></p><p style="text-align: justify;">After all these years, I truly do not know how many (if any) followers I still have on this blog. My old websites on <a href="http://earnestlycontending.com">EarnestlyContending.com</a> got hacked and we lost the old pages. That is disappointing when it comes to <a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/" target="_blank">Home of The Real McCoy</a>, as I no longer have the pages with the beautiful music and backgrounds - however, the poems are mostly back up in the form of a blog (<a href="https://realmccoy.earnestlycontending.com/table-of-contents/" target="_blank">HOTRM Table Of Contents</a>). The loss of backgrounds does not affect my old Bible study site (main page for <a href="https://ewministries.earnestlycontending.com/" target="_blank">Eagle's Wings Ministries</a>). You can visit the <a href="https://ewministries.earnestlycontending.com/table-of-contents/" target="_blank">Table of Contents</a> and read what has been put back up there so far. If there are any specific studies you are most interested in, let me know and I can focus on getting those ones up next. Please feel free to check out my webpartners' sections of EC as well. They have been updating their sites and adding new content.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">All that being said, I know I have some work to do here to update the links and side bar content on this blog, but I wanted to send out a notice that I have started on a devotional/study series on the Song of Solomon. Some of it will build on studies I have put together on passages from the book before or may have used as a springboard, but I want to put together mostly all new studies to get back into writing again.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">This book of the Bible is one I turn to often to quicken my devotion to the Lord. It is a picture of our walk with the Lord Jesus Christ and our fellowship with Him. There are passages in this book that refer to coming to Him for salvation (ie. chapter 3, which refers to the day of His espousals engagement to us, His bride), to our times of struggle and even backsliding, to serving the Saviour, from working on our own vineyard together with the Saviour (ie. our own lives) to serving in His fields, from realizing who we are in the Saviour and where we are (ie. hidden in the cleft of the Rock; there is no spot in us in His sight), from Him desiring to hear our voice to us desiring to hear His - and even speaking of Him to the lost world around us. Among other pictures and themes that could be brought out of this book, the final one is that of waiting for our Bridegroom to come back and take His Bride home to be with Him forever at the rapture. This is the note the book ends on.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">Now I don't plan on explaining and digging into <i>every </i>bit of symbolism in these eight chapters, I do plan on tackling all the themes mentioned above and many more. I will tackle the symbolism and show related passages that round out the picture presented in each study. I have a list of about 28 themes/main passages so far, which I will add to or adapt as the series goes on. Please let me know your thoughts on these studies. Your feedback will help me get back into writing again, which I have neglected for so long. But more importantly than me attempting to use my spiritual gifts to exhort and teach those who read these studies is the desire to strengthen your walk with our blessed Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">I truly hope these upcoming studies will be a blessing and a source of strength to you, as well as open this devotional book of the Bible up a little bit more to you, and see how various parts of it relate to other parts of the Bible. Unfortunately, the Song of Solomon is a book of the Bible that too many neglect or don't dig in deeper to understand it. When we take the time to do so, our Lord becomes even more precious to our hearts - well, at least that is the goal I will be striving for. I could use your prayers and encouragement - and even responses to this page and the future study pages by way of the comment section.</p><p style="text-align: justify;">In Jesus' precious name,<br />Jerry Bouey</p><p style="text-align: justify;"><span face="Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: -webkit-center;">For a list of studies that use the Song of Solomon as the springboard:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2006/08/song-of-solomon-series.html" style="background-color: white; color: #cc6611; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; text-align: -webkit-center; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Song Of Solomon</a></p>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-75699442443458077562010-10-11T15:51:00.000-07:002023-10-24T13:41:14.178-07:00Thankful For The Love Of God<div align="justify">At the Gospel Mission, we finished a series on Ruth, and started a couple of weeks of messages on a Giving Thanks in preparation for our Canadian Thanksgiving (which is today, October 11th). I preached the main part of this study for the lunch devotional yesterday, and added more verses today to round out it out.<br /><br /><b>Thankful For The Love Of God</b><br /><br /><u>Love is not an emotion (though it may effect them) - love is a choice. Love is an action verb. Always seeking the best for others.</u><br /><br />John 3:16 <i>For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.</i><br /><br />John 15:13 <i>Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.</i><br /><br />Romans 5:6-10 <i>For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 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. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.</i><br /><br />When we were at our worst, God gave His best! He proved/showed/demonstrated His love to us by sending His Son to die on the cross for our sins.<br /><br />1 John 4:8-10 <i>He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.</i><br /><br />1 John 4:19 <i>We love him, because he first loved us.</i><br /><br />We learn love through the Lord Jesus Christ's example for us - He loved us first!<br /><br /><b>Consider each point of the description of love in 1 Corinthians 13, thinking about Christ’s/God’s love as an example for us, and how our love is to be towards others and towards the Lord in return.</b><br /><br />The word translated as <i>charity</i> here is the Greek word <i>agape.</i> It means "love," and is often referred as the deep love of God, a self-sacrificial love that desires the best for others. Matthew Henry points out that the word <i>charity</i> was used by the translators to indicate when they believed love towards BOTH God and man was in view in that particular verse or passage.<br /><br /><b>1 Corinthians 13:4 <i>Charity suffereth long,</i></b> - Longsuffering, forbearing. <i>Webster's 1828 Dictionary</i> gives this as one of his definitions for forbearance: "The exercise of patience; long suffering; indulgence towards those who injure us; lenity; delay of resentment or punishment."<br /> <br />In the Gospel Mission, we often see people at the lowest point in their lives, and there are some that are extremely difficult to handle at times - but love forbears and still reaches out to them, helping them and caring for them.<br /><br />The Bible speaks in various places of God's forbearance towards us. Several references are:<br /><br />Colossians 3:13-14 <i>Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.</i><br /><br />Romans 2:4 <i>Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?</i><br /><br /><b><i>and is kind;</i></b> - <i>Webster’s: Kind:</i> "1. Disposed to do good to others, and to make them happy by granting their requests, supplying their wants or assisting them in distress; having tenderness or goodness of nature; benevolent; benignant.<br />2. Proceeding from tenderness or goodness of heart; benevolent; as a kind act; a kind return of favors."<br /><br />Real love is not just wishing others well, but putting shoe leather on our intentions and doing good to others.<br /><br />Psalm 92:1-2 <i>It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,</i><br /><br />Jeremiah 31:3 <i>The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.</i><br /><br /><b><i>charity envieth not;</i></b> - <i>Webster's: Envy:</i> "v.t. [L. invideo, in and video, to see against, that is, to look with enmity.]<br />1. To feel uneasiness, mortification or discontent, at the sight of superior excellence, reputation or happiness enjoyed by another; to repine at another's prosperity; to fret or grieve one's self at the real or supposed superiority of another, and to hate him on that account.<br />2. To grudge; to withhold maliciously.<br />EN'VY, n. Pain, uneasiness, mortification or discontent excited by the sight of another's superiority or success, accompanied with some degree of hatred or malignity, and often or usually with a desire or an effort to depreciate the person, and with pleasure in seeing him depressed. Envy springs from pride, ambition or love, mortified that another has obtained what one has a strong desire to possess."<br /><br />Love does not hate/despise someone else because of what they have or because they are better off in some way than you. The love of God in believers - produced through the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit in us - enables us to desire and work towards the best for others, just as the Lord is working out all things for good in our own lives. <br /><br />Romans 5:5b <i>...because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.</i><br /><br />Galatians 5:22-23 <i>But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.</i><br /><br />1 John 3:17-18 <i>But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.</i><br /><br /><b><i>charity vaunteth not itself,</i></b> - Is not boastful; doesn’t brag about themself.<br /><br /><b><i>is not puffed up,</i></b> - Is not inflated with pride. <br /><br />I have seen many in our community and even some that come through our doors that look down on others - whether these others are clients or staff at the Mission - because the image of homelessness or low income families disgusts them. That is pride - agape love cares for others and does not elevate themselves above those in need. Neither does it look down on those who are struggling with sin in their lives, knowing we are just as prone to wander, and just as much in need of the Lord's forgiveness and cleansing in our own lives. There is no place for pride in the heart of a saved individual - the ground is level at the foot of the cross.<br /><br /><b>1 Corinthians 13:5<i> Doth not behave itself unseemly,</i></b> - Does not act in an inappropriate manner towards others. <br /><br />True love will do what is right around others, will not treat them wrong or act towards them in an ungodly way.<br /><br />One passage that comes to mind about our Saviour shows that He did not flip out or act inappropriately, even when dealing with lost sinners. I cringe whenever I hear shouting in the hallways where I live, where a husband and wife (or parents and children) are yelling at each other, cursing each other out, but Jesus never did that when He ministered here on earth. He showed His love towards those around Him (and still shows it towards us), even when He needed to correct their sin.<br /><br />Matthew 12:18-21 <i>Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shew judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and a smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. And in his name shall the Gentiles trust.</i><br /><br /><b><i>seeketh not her own,</i></b> - Is not selfish, self-centered, is looking out for the best for others, not simply for themself.<br /><br /><b><i>is not easily provoked,</i></b> - Not easily exasperated with others. <br /><br />Following up on the book of James (which we covered at the Mission last month), love is <i>slow to wrath</i>, slow to be angry or frustrated with others, slow to retaliate or respond in the same manner (leaving vengeance in the Lord's hands). Sometimes it is hard not to react badly when someone is cursing you out or dumping on you (as we sometimes say), but true love tries to react in a Christ-like manner. And, no, that does not mean we never get upset at sin or someone's bad behavior - but we learn more how to bear it and deal with it it a right way that honors the Lord and responds appropriately.<br /><br /><b><i>thinketh no evil;</i></b> - <i>Strong's Concordance: Thinketh:</i> "to take an inventory, i.e. estimate...:--conclude...."<br />- <i>Strong's: Evil:</i> "worthless (intrinsically such...), that is (subjectively) depraved, or (objectively) injurious:--bad, ...harm[ful], ...wicked."<br /><br />Of course, love means we should not be thinking wicked or harmful thoughts about/towards others - but I find the definition here interesting. We are not to think of others as "worthless." In this ministry, we have many coming through our doors that no longer feel they are of value to others - YET God considers them of worth, and we should too - if we claim to have love for them.<br /><br /><b>1 Corinthians 13:6 <i>Rejoiceth not in iniquity,</i></b> - <i>Strong's: Rejoiceth:</i> "to be full of 'cheer',... be glad."<br />- <i>Strong's: Iniquity:</i> "(legal) injustice (properly, the quality, by implication, the act); morally, wrongfulness (of character, life or act):--iniquity, unjust, unrighteousness, wrong."<br /><br />Not glad for injustice done to others. There are many in our society, even on the street, that take pleasure when wrong is done to others, when someone is ripped off, when others are treated unfairly (kind of like bullies in school). Part of the definition refers to legal injustice done - we see a lot of that in our world, when a judge lets the wicked off and the righteous or innocent get charged falsely and lose what they have. Love does not rejoice in this!<br /><br /><b><i>but rejoiceth in the truth;</i></b> - <i>Strong's: Rejoiceth:</i> "to sympathize in gladness, congratulate:--rejoice in (with)."<br />- <i>Strong's: Truth:</i> "true (as not concealing)."<br /><br />Real love rejoiceth when the truth comes out, when the righteous and the innocent are vindicated. The Lord will right the injustices we face in life - whether now or in eternity.<br /><br />Psalm 37:5-6 <i>Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass. And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.</i><br /><br />1 Peter 4:19 <i>Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.</i><br /><br />Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 <i>Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.</i><br /><br /><b>1 Corinthians 13:7 <i> Beareth all things,</i></b> - <i>Strong's: Beareth:</i> "to roof over, i.e. (figuratively) <u>to cover</u> with silence (endure patiently)."<br /><br />Love covers the sins of others, overlooks them, does not hold them against someone.<br /><br />1 Peter 4:8 <i>And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.</i><br /><br />One of the main themes of the Bible is Christ's atonement for our sins. <i>Atonement</i> means "to cover." Jesus' blood covers the repentant believer's sins and washes them away; therefore, they are no longer held against that believer. Only God's love can do that!<br /><br />1 John 1:9 <i>If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.</i><br /><br />Isaiah 43:25 <i>I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins.</i><br /><br />Psalm 103:10-14 <i>He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.</i><br /><br /><b><i>believeth all things,</i></b> - <i>Strong's: Believeth:</i> "to have faith (in, upon, or with respect to, a person or thing), i.e. credit; by implication, to entrust (especially one's spiritual well-being to Christ)."<br /><br />How is your walk with the Lord? Are you growing in your faith? Love towards God is believing all that He has said.<br /><br /><b><i>hopeth all things,</i></b> - <i>Hope</i> means "confident expectation."<br /><br />Loving God is believing and receiving His promises - confidently expecting Him to fulfill them as He is working in your life.<br /><br /><b><i>endureth all things.</i> </b>- <i>Strong's: Endureth:</i> "to stay under (behind), i.e. remain; figuratively, to undergo, i.e. bear (trials), have fortitude, persevere."<br /><br />Loving the Lord is enduring the trials He allows in your life - knowing every single one of them has a purpose, and one of those purposes is to make you more like your Saviour. Are you trusting in your Heavenly Father - believing all things, hoping all things, enduring all things He has planned for you?<br /><br /><b>1 Corinthians 13:8a <i>Charity never faileth:</i></b> - <i>Never:</i> "Not even at any time, i.e. never at all."<br />- <i>Strong's: Faileth:</i> "to drop away; specially, be driven out of one's course; figuratively, to lose, become inefficient:--...take none effect."<br /><br />God's love will NEVER, EVER fail! He will ALWAYS fulfill His work in your life. He will NEVER be driven out of course in His plan for you. His love will NEVER lose its power, NEVER become inefficient, NEVER be of no effect in your life.<br /><br />When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, when His love is shed abroad in our hearts and we are actively showing that love to those around us in a Christlike and Biblical manner (emphasis on loving others in a Biblical manner, because there is much fluff in our modern thinking of love), it WILL have a lasting, powerful, transforming effect on others - just as the Lord's love has had a life changing effect on you (if you are His child).<br /><br />Loving others is in accordance with obeying the Lord and following His Word - ie. loving others is doing right towards them.<br /><br />1 John 5:2-3 <i>By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.</i><br /><br />2 Peter 1:3-11 <i>According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.</i><br /><br /><b>1 Corinthians 13:13 <i>And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.</i></b><br /><br />Right now, faith, hope, and charity (love towards God and man) abide - they remain, are lasting, endure. In eternity, faith and hope will be done away with, they will have fulfilled their purpose. There will be no more need for <i>faith</i>, as we will be walking by sight, we will see our Saviour and our saved loved ones face to face. There will be no more need for <i>hope</i>, for confidently expecting the Lord to keep His promises, as we will see the fulfillment of all He has promised and all Bible prophecies come to pass.<br /><br />However, <i>charity</i> - love towards God and man - will last forever. We will be dwelling in God's presence, worshipping and loving Him, and living in love with our brethren in Christ. Charity will endure forever - no wonder <i>the greatest of these is charity</i> (love)!<br /><br />1 John 4:16-17 <i>And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect</i> (complete)<i>, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.</i><br /><br />Most of us are quite familiar with John 3:16, but how many of us know 1 John 3:16?<br /><br />1 John 3:16 <i>Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.</i><br /><br />Are you thankful for God's love? Have you responded to it by receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as your Saviour? Are you showing that love to others?<br /><br />Ah, the love of God - one of my favourite themes, and one of my favorite hymns:</div><br /><div align="center"><b>The Love Of God</b><br /><i>(Lyrics: Frederick Lehman)</i><br /><br />The love of God is greater far<br />Than tongue or pen can ever tell;<br />It goes beyond the highest star,<br />And reaches to the lowest hell;<br />The guilty pair, bowed down with care,<br />God gave His Son to win;<br />His erring child He reconciled,<br />And pardoned from his sin.<br /><br /><i>Chorus:</i><br />O love of God, how rich and pure!<br />How measureless and strong!<br />It shall forevermore endure<br />The saints’ and angels’ song.<br /><br />When years of time shall pass away,<br />And earthly thrones and kingdoms fall,<br />When men, who here refuse to pray,<br />On rocks and hills and mountains call,<br />God’s love so sure, shall still endure,<br />All measureless and strong;<br />Redeeming grace to Adam’s race—<br />The saints’ and angels’ song.<br /><br />Could we with ink the ocean fill,<br />And were the skies of parchment made,<br />Were every stalk on earth a quill,<br />And every man a scribe by trade,<br />To write the love of God above,<br />Would drain the ocean dry.<br />Nor could the scroll contain the whole,<br />Though stretched from sky to sky.<br /><br />Preached October 10th/2010<br />Written October 11th/2010<br />Jerry Bouey</div>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-29058558803908650402010-05-09T13:23:00.001-07:002023-09-07T20:10:50.226-07:00Who I Am<div align="justify">This study builds a little on the themes covered in these two studies: <a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2010/05/giver-or-gifts.html" target="_blank">The Giver, Or The Gifts?</a> and <a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2007/12/blessed-contrasts-in-scripture.html" target="_blank">Blessed Contrasts In Scripture</a> Please read these two studies for more Scripture references on some of these points below.<br /><br />Many before the time of Christ were waiting for the Messianic kingdom to right the wrongs in this world (grievances, violence, wrong judgment, sin - Hab 1:3-4, 13; 2:2-3). They were looking for <i>a time</i> (ie. <i>an event</i>) when a King would rule over the earth and restore order (in fulfillment of the “vision”, ie. of the Old Testament prophecies) – Jesus directs us to <i>Himself</i>. Hebrews 10:38.<br /><br />Many of the Jews in the time of Christ were looking for a political and social Messiah. Many rejected Christ because when He came the first time, He was not here to right all the political or social wrongs, but to deal with our sins. He did not come as “King” (though He is the King of kings and Lord of lords, and will come back one day to reign), but as Saviour.<br /><br />Some followed Jesus for the wrong reason – because He did a miracle that provided for their needs. John 6:24-26.<br /><br />They sought to make Jesus king – by force, seizing Him by violence! John 6:14-15.<br /><br />When He was betrayed by Judas and surrounded by the armed guards in the Garden of Gethsemane, He refused to fight back, but gave Himself up to them. John 18:3-9, 12.<br /><br />When speaking to Pilate, He stated His kingdom was not <i>yet</i> of this world; therefore His followers would not fight back with physical weapons. John 18:33-36.<br /> <br />40 days after Jesus arose, just before He ascended to Heaven, His disciples asked Him a question about His coming kingdom: Acts 1:6-7. Jesus changed their focus, then the angels pointed to <i>His</i> return, not just to His kingdom – ie. <i>pointed to Him</i>. Verses 9-11.<br /><br />The Samaritan woman was waiting for the Messiah to reveal all things. Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah.” John 4:25-26.<br /><br />Martha was waiting for <i>a coming day, an event (ie. the future day of resurrection)</i> - Jesus redirected her to a person, <i>Himself. <b>I</b> Am the Resurrection</i> and the Life. John 11:23-26.<br /><br />The end of all arguments – whatever is going on in the world or in the lives of His people, God declares:<br /><i>I am the LORD</i> (or <i>the Lord GOD</i> - 164 times)<br /><i>I am God</i> (9 times)<br /><i>I Am, and there is no other god (or saviour) beside Me</i> (Deut 4:35, 39; 1 Sam 2:2; 2 Sam 7:22; 1 Kings 8:60; 1 Chron 17:20; Is 43:10-12; 44:6-8; 45:5-6, 18, 21-22; 46:9; Hosea 13:4; Joel 2:27)<br /><br />Many in the world are running around looking for each of these things – even God’s people – but what we need more than provision, more than something to happen – <i><b>what we need is Jesus Himself!</b></i><br /><br />When we need (spiritual) light - <i>He</i> is our Light. He is Light. Psalm 27:1; 1 John 1:5.<br />When in need of strength - <i>He</i> is our strength. Psalm 28:7.<br />When we need wisdom - <i>He</i> is our wisdom. 1 Corinthians 1:30.<br />When we need understanding - <i>He</i> is understanding. Proverbs 8:14.<br />When we need mercy and grace - <i>He</i> is merciful and gracious; that is His name (in the Bible, a name represents who someone is, their character). Exodus 33:19; 34:5-7.<br />When we need peace with God, peace of mind, peace with man - <i>He</i> is our peace. Ephesians 2:14.<br />When we are hopeless - <i>He</i> is our hope. 1 Timothy 1:1.<br />When we have no purpose or reason for living - <i>He</i> is our life. Colossians 3:4. <br />When we are scrambling, seeking the truth - the truth is in Jesus. <i>He</i> is the Truth. Ephesians 4:21; John 14:6.<br />When we are desperately seeking for someone to love us, He not only provides love - <i>He</i> is Love. 1 John 4:8, 16.<br />When we are looking for safety, security, shelter from the storms of life – <i>He</i> is our shield. Genesis 15:1.<br />When we are looking for something lasting in life, something to carry on from generation to generation – <i>He</i> is our inheritance. Numbers 18:20.<br />When we are looking for a way to be right with God, not only does the Lord provide righteousness - <i>He</i> is our righteousness. Jeremiah 23:6.<br />When looking for salvation, Jesus not only provides salvation – <i>He</i> is our salvation. Psalm 35:3. <br />Not only does Jesus save – <i>He</i> is our Saviour, and <b><i>it is to be Him we are looking for – not just some future day or some kingdom, some future event – Jesus Himself!</i></b> Titus 2:13; 2 Timothy 4:8.<br /><br />What is our focus? Even as believers, <b>are we seeking the Lord Jesus Christ for what He can do for us</b> (and yes, <u>we should be seeking Him for every need we have</u>) – <b>OR for who He is? Seeking for something we need, for something to happen - OR for <i>Jesus Himself</i>?</b><br /><br />May 9th/2010<br />Jerry Bouey<br /><br />P.S. I didn't know which blog to post this in - on this study blog or on my sermon outline blog (<a href="http://shadowoutlines.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Shadow Of Things To Come</a>). It fits both, as it is basically self-contained notes. This is part of the series I have been preaching on the I Ams of Jesus, and some of the thoughts that came out of it. I think the message was received pretty well today. It certainly gave some food for thought, and was a blessing to study out and preach. I hope it is also a blessing to you.</div>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-20328373672402865672010-05-08T15:10:00.000-07:002010-05-08T15:18:11.548-07:00The Giver, Or The Gifts?<div align=center><i>Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above,<br />and cometh down from the Father of lights,<br />with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.</i><br />James 1:17<br /><br />Are you at life's peak, in perfect health and blessedness,<br />Is your life filled with abundance, wealth, and happiness,<br />Do you have everything you've ever wanted, almost utmost bliss,<br />Then I ask you, where's your faith - <br /><b><i>In the Giver, or the gifts?</i></b><br /><br />So many times we gauge our life by our position, our possessions, or our prosperity.<br />But what about our walk with the Lord?<br /><b><i>Are we looking to the Giver, or the gifts?</i></b></div><br /><div align=justify>When the nation Israel become prosperous, they took their eyes off of the Lord. Their faith was in the gifts, not the Giver. This brought them only heartache and grief. (See Deuteronomy 8) God tested the Israelites to see where their faith was, in God's Word (the Giver) or their prosperity (the gifts). Sometimes He lets His children have what they desire, but sends leanness into their souls, because they choose their desires over the Lord. (Psalm 106:15)</div><br /><div align=center>If the Lord took away your health, your wealth, and your physical prosperity,<br />where would your faith be -<br /><b><i>In the Giver, or the gifts?</i></b><br /><br />Are you blessed with all the friends that you could ever wish,<br />Do you have joy unending in your family relationships,<br />Or are you alone, abandoned, with those friends so sorely missed,<br />Oh where do you look for comfort -<br /><b><i>In the Giver, or the gifts?</i></b></div><br /><div align=justify>So many times in life we are satisfied by our earthly relationships, and we tend to neglect God. Instead of Jesus having the preeminence in our lives, He often takes second place. We are looking to our family, our friends, and our acquaintances (the gifts) to meet all our needs, to give us a sense of belonging, to let us know that we are loved, and we neglect the Lord (the Giver), except when we want something or face a crisis.<br /><br />We neglect to maintain our fellowship with the Lord, and then when family or friends reject us, we cry out to God and blame Him, though He was always there. His love always remains constant and He doesn't change. We do. We walk by sight and look to the gifts, not the Giver - which we must look to in faith. Many times we use our loneliness as an excuse to go our own way, to walk in sin, to find comfort from worldly pleasures.<br /><br />Yet we often forget that, in the Bible, many of God's children were abandoned, rejected, forsaken by men, but the Lord never deserted them!<br /><br />We see David encouraging himself in God (1 Samuel 30:6), Jesus rejoicing that His Heavenly Father was always with Him (John 16:32), and the Apostle Paul proclaiming the Lord's faithfulness to stand by His servants when all others have turned away (2 Timothy 4:17). These men of God (and many other men and women of God throughout the Bible and throughout history) looked to the Lord for their comfort and solace. They maintained their relationship with the Lord (the Giver), so that when their other relationships (the gifts) failed, they had Something (Someone) Eternal to rely on.</div><br /><div align=center><b><i>They relied on the Giver, not the gifts.</i></b></div><br /><div align=justify>Many times we look to the things of this world (the gifts) to give us satisfaction, to give us peace, to give us contentment, and we neglect to look to the Lord Jesus Christ (the Giver), who alone can give us true satisfaction, give us His perfect peace (John 14:27, and Isaiah 26:3), and to give us lasting contentment in Him.<br /><br />Are you looking to the Giver, or the gifts for your real needs in life? The things of this world are only temporary, the things of Heaven are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)</div><br /><div align=center>Where are you looking for fulfillment in your life -<br /><b><i>In the Giver, or the gifts?</i></b><br /><br />My friend, who are you relying on -<br /><b><i>The Giver, or the gifts?</i></b><br /><br />Where does your strength come from -<br /><b><i>The Giver, or the gifts?</i></b><br /><br />Where do you look to for peace and happiness -<br /><b><i>The Giver, or the gifts?</i></b><br /><br />Where's your faith in times of trials and distress -<br /><b><i>The Giver, or the gifts?</i></b><br /><br />April 28, 2001<br />Jerry Bouey</div>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-13646414832817800512010-05-06T18:20:00.000-07:002010-05-06T18:27:25.264-07:00Continue<div align=justify>When we look through the New Testament, we find the concept of continuing in Christ and the things of God a repeating theme. It is interesting to note that there are twenty one different Greek words that are translated into English as <i>continue</i> (or a form thereof). Eight of these words are relevant to this study, so I wanted to take a look at them here.<br /><br /><i>Webster’s 1828 Dictionary</i> gives this definition for <i>continue</i>: “1. To remain in a state, or place; to abide for any time indefinitely. 2. To last; to be durable; to endure; to be permanent. 3. To persevere; to be steadfast or constant in any course.”<br /><br />For the purpose of this study, I will list the numbers and definitions that <i>Strong's Concordance</i> gives for each Greek word, followed by the main verses or passages relevant to this study that use that particular Greek word. Consider each definition as you meditate on these passages.<br /><br /><b>1) 3887 parameno</b> - from 3844 and 3306; to stay near, i.e. remain (literally, tarry; or figuratively, be permanent, persevere):--abide, continue.<br /><br />James 1:22-25 <i>But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and <b>continueth</b> therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.</i><br /><br />How does a true believer keep his life clean? By tarrying near the Word of God like a man peering intently into a mirror, letting the Word reveal areas where Biblical principles need to be applied - revealing areas where his conduct, words, and thought life need to be corrected - then continually sticking by the mirror of the Word and letting its living power transform his life.<br /><br /><b>2) 3306 meno</b> - a primary verb; to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):--abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for), X thine own.<br /><br />John 8:31-32 <i>Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye <b>continue</b> in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.</i><br /><br />If you want to be Jesus' disciple and have victory over sin in your life, remain in the Word of God.<br /><br />John 15:9-10 <i>As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: <b>continue</b> ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall <b>abide</b> in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and <b>abide</b> in his love.</i><br /><br />Stay in God's love - don't let this world or your flesh move you from walking daily with the Lord and keeping His commandments. If you want close fellowship with Him and His blessing upon your life, continue in His love.<br /><br />1 Timothy 2:15 <i>Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they <b>continue</b> in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.</i><br /><br />2 Timothy 3:14 <i>But <b>continue</b> thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;</i><br /><br />Stick with what the Lord has already taught you from His Word - remain there; stand and don't be moved.<br /><br />Hebrews 13:1 <i>Let brotherly love <b>continue</b>.</i><br /><br />1 John 2:19 <i>They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have <b>continued</b> with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.</i><br /><br />1 John 2:24 <i>Let that therefore <b>abide</b> in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall <b>continue</b> in the Son, and in the Father.</i><br /><br />The proof is in the pudding. Apostates will cast off true Biblical faith when it is no longer convenient for them, but true believers will always continue believing in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Father.<br /><br /><b>3) 4342 proskartereo</b> - from 4314 and 2594; to be earnest towards, i.e. (to a thing) to persevere, be constantly diligent, or (in a place) to attend assiduously all the exercises, or (to a person) to adhere closely to (as a servitor):<br /><br />Acts 1:14 <i>These all <b>continued</b> with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.</i><br /><br />The early church was fervent in seeking the Lord in prayer, for themselves and for others.<br /><br />Acts 2:42 <i>And they <b>continued</b> stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.</i><br /><br />These Christians persevered in Bible doctrine, in fellowship with one another and in communion with their Lord. They certainly are our example to follow!<br /><br />Acts 2:46 <i>And they, <b>continuing</b> daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,</i><br /><br />Acts 6:4 <i>But we will give ourselves <b>continually</b> to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.</i><br /><br />Romans 12:12 <i>Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; <b>continuing</b> instant in prayer;</i><br /><br />Colossians 4:2 <i><b>Continue</b> in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving;</i><br /><br />Over and over again, the New Testament teaches the importance of prayer and how these early believers continued in it. Are we continuing in prayer today - being diligent in it, or are we growing listless and careless in our petitions for those around us?<br /><br /><b>4) 4357 prosmeno</b> - from 4314 and 3306; to stay further, i.e. remain in a place, with a person; figuratively, to adhere to, persevere in:--abide still, be with, cleave unto, continue in (with).<br /><br />1 Timothy 5:5 <i>Now she that is a widow indeed, and desolate, trusteth in God, and <b>continueth</b> in supplications and prayers night and day.</i><br /><br /><b>5) 1961 epimeno</b> - from 1909 and 3306; to stay over, i.e. remain (figuratively, persevere):--abide (in), continue (in), tarry.<br /><br />Acts 13:43 <i>Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to <b>continue</b> in the grace of God.</i><br /><br />We are not just to start in God's grace - we are to remain in it, to tarry there! This is what the book of Galatians is all about. Too often a believer gets saved by grace, but then tries to live the Christian life in his own strength and power after that point in time. God's grace is His power given to us to enable us to live a life that is pleasing to Him (see Titus 2:11-12). I love <i>Strong's</i> definition for this word: "Graciousness (as gratifying), of manner or act (abstract or concrete; literal, figurative or spiritual; <b>especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life;</b> including gratitude)."<br /><br />Romans 11:22 <i>Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou <b>continue</b> in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.</i><br /><br />Colossians 1:20-23 <i>And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight: If ye <b>continue</b> in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;</i><br /><br />1 Timothy 4:16 <i>Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; <b>continue</b> in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.</i><br /><br /><b>6) 1696 emmeno</b> - from 1722 and 3306; to stay in the same place, i.e. (figuratively) persevere:--continue.<br /><br />Acts 14:22 <i>Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to <b>continue</b> in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.</i><br /><br />The term <i>"the faith"</i> is referring to the fundamentals of the faith, the body of doctrine by which someone must hold to be saved. A person may be confused on some doctrine - but they cannot knowingly reject the fundamentals of the faith and be saved. Jude exhorts us to <i>"earnestly contend for the faith"</i> (see verse 3 of this short book). There are a lot of "professing" believers out there who teach you can be a "Christian" and reject the fundamentals of the faith (for example, the deity of Christ, His finished work of redemption upon the cross, or His literal, physical resurrection) and still know the Lord, still be His child, still be saved. They are fooling themselves! When a person casts off <i>the faith</i>, they prove they were <b>never</b> saved to begin with - no matter what they may think or what <i>experience</i> they may have had.<br /><br />A true child of God will persevere in <i>the faith</i> and stay there, in that exact place - nothing and no one will be able to move them from the truth.<br /><br /><b>7) 5281 hupomone</b> - from 5278; cheerful (or hopeful) endurance, constancy:--enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting).<br /><br />Romans 2:7 <i>To them who by patient <b>continuance</b> in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life:</i><br /><br />In accordance with the Biblical principle of reaping what you sow (see Galatians 6:7-9), a believer will be rewarded by the Lord Jesus Christ for continuing in well doing, in persevering in their service to the Lord, even when times get rough or it seems there may never be lasting fruit from their efforts. Our labour is not in vain because God will keep His Word (see 1 Corinthians 15:58).<br /><br /><b>8) 1275 diapantos</b> - from 1223 and the genitive case of 3956; through all time, i.e. (adverbially) constantly:--alway(-s), continually.<br /><br />Hebrews 13:15 <i>By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God <b>continually</b>, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.</i><br /><br />If you have trusted the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation, you are His child forever - and it is only fitting that we praise Him <i>all the time - yea, even forever</i> for all He has done for us, in us, and through us for His glory!<br /><br />Preached February 28th/2010<br />Written May 6th/2010<br />Jerry Bouey</div>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-31433302585142223182010-04-22T15:34:00.000-07:002010-04-22T15:45:37.563-07:00A Shadow Of Things To Come<div align=justify>I have created a new blog for my devotional outlines. Please stop by and bookmark it if you are interested.<br /><br />I wanted to have an outlet to post less developed studies or outlines from messages I have preached at the Gospel Mission. I have entitled it <a href="http://shadowoutlines.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">A Shadow Of Things To Come</a> Lord willing, I will be posting more regularly there, as I am still regularly preaching at the Mission, but don't always find the time to work on writing up my studies.<br /><br />The first few studies I will be posting will be a series I am currently preaching through on the I Ams of Jesus from the Gospel of John. The first sermon outline posted is pretty long (<a href="http://shadowoutlines.blogspot.com/2010/04/i-am-bread-of-life.html" target="_blank">I Am The Bread Of Life</a>), but most of them will not be anywhere near that length. These outlines will also contain links or quotes from other articles and poems that I have used in my devotionals. I have about 10-15 minutes to preach at a time, and sometimes I find a solid poem can really hit home the point after covering the related Bible passages. It is also a blessing to be able to preach various series, as I can develop or build upon themes covered in other messages.<br /><br />I hope this new blog is a blessing to you as well.</div>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-56060004917876919732010-03-22T04:56:00.000-07:002010-03-22T05:08:29.625-07:00Six Things The Lord Opened<div align=justify><b>1) He opened the tomb</b> to prove that sin's debt has been paid, and the Saviour has risen after being three days and nights in the grave, just like He said He would do.<br /><br />Luke 24:1-9 <i>Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. <b>And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.</b> And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments: And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead? <b>He is not here, but is risen: remember how He spake unto you when He was yet in Galilee, Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.</b> And they remembered His words, And returned from the sepulchre, and told all these things unto the eleven, and to all the rest.</i><br /><br /><b>2) He opened the Old Testament Scriptures</b> to show what they taught about the Messiah (Jesus Christ Himself) that would come.<br /><br />Luke 24:13-27 <i>And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him. And He said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And the one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto Him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And He said unto them, What things? And they said unto Him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered Him to be condemned to death, and have crucified Him. But we trusted that it had been He which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not His body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that He was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but Him they saw not. <b>Then He said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.</b></i><br /><br />Psalms 119:18 <i>Open Thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy law.</i><br /><br /><b>3) He opened up their eyes</b> to see the risen Christ.<br /><br />Luke 24:15-16, 28-35 <i>And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus Himself drew near, and went with them. <b>But their eyes were holden that they should not know Him…</b> And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and He made as though He would have gone further. But they constrained Him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And He went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as He sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. <b>And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him; and He vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?</b> And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how He was known of them in breaking of bread.</i><br /><br /><b>4) He opened their understanding</b> to understand the Scriptures.<br /><br />Luke 24:36-47 <i>And as they thus spake, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And He said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and my feet, that it is I Myself: handle Me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have. And when He had thus spoken, He shewed them His hands and His feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And He took it, and did eat before them. <b>And He said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.</b></i><br /><br />Ephesians 1:17-18 <i>That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints.</i><br /><br /><b>5) He opened their mouths</b> so that they would be witnesses of Him.<br /><br />Luke 24:46-49 <i><b>And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things.</b> And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.</i><br /><br />Psalms 51:15 <i>O Lord, open Thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth Thy praise.</i><br /><br /><b>6) Has the Holy Spirit opened your heart to see your need of the Saviour</b> (by convicting you of your sins and showing you that Jesus Christ is the only one that can save you from them and give you a home in Heaven)?<br /><br />Acts 16:14 <i>And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: <b>whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.</b></i><br /><br /><b>7) Will you open the door of your heart to receive the Saviour?</b><br /><br />Revelation 3:20 <i><b>Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with Me.</b></i><br /><br />Ephesians 3:17 <i>That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.</i><br /><br />John 1:12 <i>But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:</i><br /><br />October 5th, 2004<br />Jerry Bouey</div>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-43001194484786125692010-03-14T11:20:00.000-07:002023-11-24T16:01:23.768-08:00Story Of Four Gardens: The Garden Of Gethsemane<div align="justify"><b><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">The Story Of Four Gardens:</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><br />Part Two - The Garden Of Gethsemane</span></b><br /><br />In Genesis 3, we have the true account of Adam and Eve's temptation in <a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2010/03/story-of-four-gardens-garden-of-eden.html" target="_blank">The Garden of Eden</a> (see part one of this series of studies). Due to their heeding the Devil's lies they disobeyed God's clear command and brought sin into the world. As a consequence, God's punishment fell upon them and their descendents (all mankind):<br /><br />Genesis 3:17-19 <i>And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: <b>cursed</b> is the ground for thy sake; in <b>sorrow</b> shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; <b>Thorns</b> also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the <b>sweat</b> of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.</i><br /><br />From the above passage, we can see that the consequences of their fall brought, among other effects, a curse on the world, sorrow, thorns, sweat, and death (<i>unto dust thou shalt return</i>). But the Lord God also left them (and their descendents) a promise of the coming Redeemer (Messiah) who would pay the ransom needed to save the souls of all who would put their faith in Him for salvation. This Saviour would be the virgin-born Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. On His way to the cross, He would encounter all of sins' effects, and then would shed His sinless blood and die for the sins of the world.<br /><br />This takes us to the second of four gardens in the story of Redemption, the Garden of Gethsemane.<br /><br />John 18:1 <i><b>When Jesus had spoken these words, He went forth with His disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which He entered, and His disciples.</b></i><br /><br />Matthew 26:36 <i><b>Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane,</b> and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder.</i><br /><br /><blockquote>"This place was called <i>'Gethsemane'</i> = 'the oil press.'<br /><br />Originally among the olive trees there must have been an oil press to press out the oil from the olive berries. The name remained even though the press may have no longer been there. The name remained because under the providence of God it is going to have spiritual significance.<br /><br />Here in this garden the Lord will labor in prayer and spiritually press out the oil from the olive which will become for many a wounded lamb and sheep.<br /><br />Adam was placed in a Garden and he learned about disobedience and its consequences.<br /><br />The Second Adam voluntarily went to a Garden and He learned obedience by the things that He suffered. The victory was won in the Garden for Christ departs victorious. The actual defeat of Satan was not accomplished, of course, until Calvary.<br /><br />Adam hid himself from God in the Garden; Christ agonized before the Lord in another Garden.<br /><br />It was in the Garden when man lost his right to live, and it is in a garden when Christ gained His right to resurrection: <i>'Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard in that He feared'</i> (Heb. 5:7)."<br /><br />(Taken from <i>The Six Trials Of Christ</i> by John W. Lawrence)</blockquote><br /><b>1) Sorrow.</b><br /><br />Isaiah 53:3-4 <i>He is despised and rejected of men; <b>a man of sorrows</b>, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs, and <b>carried our sorrows</b>: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.</i><br /><br />In facing the cross, Jesus was overwhelmed and was heavy in spirit knowing what He would soon endure in dealing with the sins of mankind. It wasn't the physical pain and suffering He knew He would face that discouraged Him, but the spiritual suffering that He would soon go through: taking the cup of God's wrath upon Himself for our sins; He who knew no sin would have all our sins placed upon Himself; and be separated (while on the cross) from God the Father, who could not look upon sin (see Habakkuk 1:13). From all eternity there had never been any separation of any sort between the members of the Trinity, but now there soon would be when Jesus hung upon the cross, bearing the sins of the world upon Himself. That is what He faced within a matter of hours. No wonder the sinless Son of God was heavy in spirit! (See Mark 14:33)<br /><br />Matthew 26:36-39 <i>Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and <b>began to be sorrowful and very heavy.</b> Then saith He unto them, <b>My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death:</b> tarry ye here, and watch with Me. And He went a little further, and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me: nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.</i><br /><br />Thus He petitioned His heavenly Father three times to take away the cup of His wrath - <b>but there was no other way for Jesus to pay for the sins of the world and to redeem mankind than for Him to go to the cross.</b> (See Matthew 26:42-44) If there was any other way to save fallen man, Jesus could have done it - but there wasn't. This shows the Lord's great love for us in that He was willing to go through all that it took to save our souls! The next time someone asks to see proof of God's love for them, tell them to <a href="https://songs-in-the-night.blogspot.com/2023/09/take-second-look-at-calvary-poem.html" target="_blank">Take A Second Look At Calvary</a>! (See Romans 5:8)<br /><br /><b>2) Sweat.</b><br /><br />Luke 22:43-44 <i>And there appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening Him. And being in agony He prayed more earnestly: and <b>His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground</b>.</i><br /><br />The following account is of benefit in understanding a bit more of the spiritual struggle that Jesus went through in the Garden Of Gethsemane - the struggle that He went through to save us:<br /><br /><blockquote>"One phrase in particular, which is found in Mark's account, is of terrible import. This is it: <i>'He... prayed that... the hour might pass from Him.'</i> He who had set His face as a flint to go up to Jerusalem for this very hour, now prays that it might pass away from Him. He had constantly spoken of <i>'the hour,'</i> and it was vividly in His consciousness. To the owner of the upper room He had sent the message, <i>'My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with My disciples.'</i> Luke says, <i>'When the hour was come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him.'</i> John says, <i>'Jesus knew that His hour was come; . . . having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end.'</i> Just before Gethsemane, according to John, Jesus had said, <i>'Now is My soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save Me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour.'</i> And just after His discourse in the upper room, in His high-priestly prayer, He had turned to His Father with the words, <i>'Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify Thee.'</i><br /><br />I do not suppose the human mind can grasp the import of the prayer that the hour might pass away from Christ. This was the hour for which He had left His throne and come into the world. This was the hour to which the eternal counsels of the Almighty had pointed when the Lamb had been slain from the foundation of the world. This was the hour of the redemption of God's whole creation, the central hour of the ages, the hour when the holiness of God would meet the sin and unholiness of a rebel world, and redeem it from destruction. But when the hour actually comes and its force strikes against Him, Jesus falls to the ground and prays to His Father that the hour might pass away from Him.<br /><br />What if the hour had passed away from Him! What if the cost had proved too high! What if He had not been willing to drink the cup! The heart can hardly conceive the infinite loss and disaster that would have come to mankind if He had been saved from that hour, if the very hour for which He had come into the world had been allowed to pass from Him, and He had been unable to drink the cup. And Jesus knew this. Then what was facing Him in that hour that caused such a prayer? What did that cup contain to make the strong Son of God shrink from it in sorrow and amazement and horror?<br /><br />(<b>Jerry's Note:</b> The author then goes on to relate his own experience with a nervous breakdown, where he endured such unspeakable thoughts and mental horrors for about two years.)<br /><br />...How could I forget such an experience? How shall I ever forget! But it was that experience which helped me to understand to some extent Christ's agony in Gethsemane. When my mind grasped a little of the impurity and the wickedness and the foul loathsomeness which He faced in that hour when He bore our sin, my question was answered; and it changed to deep, adoring wonder that He had been willing to face that cup for our sakes. I found myself exclaiming, 'Father, if He had not shrunk from that unspeakably detestable cup, if His soul had not been filled with sorrow even unto death, and with infinite aversion and abhorrence when <i>'the hour'</i> brought before Him the shame and impurity and wickedness and iniquity of <i>'us all'</i> that was <i>'laid on Him,'</i> then He could not have been Thy most holy Son, sharing Thy holy nature.'<br /><br />...Gethsemane's prayer is Love's agony in the face of Sin!"<br /><br />(Taken from <i>Gethsemane</i> by Robert W. Cummings)</blockquote><br />Hebrews 12:2-4 <i>Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin.</i><br /><br />Here we see that Jesus' struggling and striving against sin (and the temptation to bypass the cross) was so intense that He literally sweated out great drops of blood in His agony. But He was completely submissive to His Father's will, and got up from His knees strengthened and determined to endure the cross - for us! (See Hebrews 10:5-7, 10)<br /><br /><b>3) Suffering.</b><br /><br />Within moments of arising from His fervent praying, Judas betrays Jesus with a kiss and He is led away by the multitude, while all His disciples fled for their lives. During the course of that night, He faced mock trials with false witnesses, was whipped and beaten, was spit upon and scorned. And then the soldiers cruelly mocked Him:<br /><br />Matthew 27:28-30 <i>And they stripped Him, and put on Him a scarlet robe. <b>And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head,</b> and a reed in His right hand: and they bowed the knee before Him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews! And they spit upon Him, and took the reed, and smote Him on the head.</i><br /><br />John 19:5 <i>Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate said unto them, Behold the Man!</i><br /><br />Matthew 27:31 <i>And after that they had mocked Him, they took the robe off from Him and put His own raiment on Him, and led Him away to crucify Him.</i><br /><br /><b>4) Sin-Bearer.</b><br /><br />On the cross, Jesus bore the sins of the whole world, and there He bore our curse.<br /><br />Galatians 3:13 <i>Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, <b>being made a curse for us</b>: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.</i><br /><br />Deuteronomy 21:22-23 <i>And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance.</i><br /><br />Here we see the reason why it was so important for the Jews to take Jesus down off the cross before the night was upon them. Not only did Jesus bear the curse of the cross, He bore the curse of our sins being placed upon Him.<br /><br />2 Corinthians 5:21 <i>For He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.</i><br /><br />Isaiah 53:5-6, 11 <i>But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He shall see of the travail of His soul, and shall be satisfied: by His knowledge shall My righteous Servant justify many; for He shall bear their iniquities.</i><br /><br />1 Peter 2:24 <i>Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.</i><br /><br /><b>5) Substitute.</b><br /><br />On the cross, Jesus bore the judgment and wrath which we deserved when He died in our place. While there is some overlap with the point above, I will also add a quote from the Apostle Paul in this regard:<br /><br />Hebrews 2:9 <i>But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man.</i><br /><br />The Lord Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh, took our punishment upon Him, and died in our place. He did this by the grace of God! We could never deserve salvation, but God the Father, by His grace alone, provided a sinless Substitute in the person of His Son - a Substitute who bore our sins and experienced the death and separation from the Heavenly Father that we deserve because of our sin. By the grace of God, we are offered something we could never deserve: a Saviour to save us, a Substitute to die in our place, our sins forgiven, a home in Heaven, an inheritance in Christ, and most of all, reconciliation and fellowship with God whom we have offended and sinned against. Someone has well defined <b>Grace</b> by this acrostic:<br /><br /><b>G</b>od's<br /><b>R</b>iches<br /><b>A</b>t<br /><b>C</b>hrist's<br /><b>E</b>xpense.<br /><br />Praise the Lord for His grace!<br /><br /><b>6) Sunset.</b><br /><br />Matthew 27:57-60 <i>When the even was come, there came a rich man of Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' disciple: He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, And laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door of the sepulchre, and departed.</i><br /><br />John 19:41-42 <i><b>Now in the place where He was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulchre was nigh at hand.</b></i><br /><br />This is the third garden in the Biblical story of Redemption, The Garden With The Empty Tomb, which will be the next study in this series.<br /><br /><b>7) Sealed Tomb.</b><br /><br />Matthew 27:62-66 <i>Now the next day, that followed the day of the preparation, the chief priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, Saying, Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After three days I will rise again. Command therefore that the sepulchre be made sure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say unto the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be worse than the first. Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch: go your way, make it as sure as ye can. So they went, and made the sepulchre sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch.</i><br /><br /><b>For further reading: </b>Consider the following short devotional from <i>Days Of Praise</i>, <a href="http://www.icr.org/article/2238" target="_blank">Make It As Sure As You Can</a>. Though I read this several years after this study was originally preached and written, this devotion definitely adds to this part of the study.<br /><br />Ah, but what could a sealed tomb and armed guards do to stop Jesus from rising? If He was a mere man, there would not have even been a need for a sealed tomb and guards...<br /><br />Psalms 2:1-3 <i>Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against His anointed, saying, Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.</i><br /><br />- but because He is the Son of God, even the attempts of the whole world set in array against Him could never succeed!<br /><br />Psalms 2:4 <i>He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.</i><br /><br /><b>8) The Saviour.</b><br /><br />For anyone who knows their Bible or has any familiarity with the life of Jesus, you know that the story doesn't end there.<br /><br />Acts 2:23-24 <i>Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: <b>Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that He should be holden of it.</b></i><br /><br />Psalms 2:7 <i><b>I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son; this day have I begotten Thee.</b></i><br /><br />Romans 1:3-4 <i>Concerning His Son <b>Jesus Christ our Lord,</b> which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; And <b>declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.</b></i></div><br /><div align="center"><b>Death couldn't hold Him!<br /><br />The Devil couldn't defeat Him!<br /><br />After three days and three nights in the tomb, Jesus arose victorious over the grave!<br /><br />Our sins were completely paid for!</b></div><br /><div align="justify">All who look in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation will be saved. Have you received Jesus Christ as your personal Saviour? If not, the Shepherd is seeking to save you! Why don't you turn to Him today?<br /><br />1 Peter 2:25 <i>For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.</i></div><br /><div align="center"><b><a href="https://songs-in-the-night.blogspot.com/2007/06/ninety-and-nine.html" target="_blank">The Ninety And Nine</a></b><br /><i>(Lyrics: Elizabeth C. Clephane, 1868)</i><br /><br />There were ninety and nine that safely lay<br />In the shelter of the fold.<br />But one was out on the hills away,<br />Far off from the gates of gold.<br />Away on the mountains wild and bare.<br />Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.<br />Away from the tender Shepherd’s care.<br /><br />“Lord, Thou hast here Thy ninety and nine;<br />Are they not enough for Thee?”<br />But the Shepherd made answer: “This of Mine<br />Has wandered away from Me;<br /><b>And although the road be rough and steep,<br />I go to the desert to find My sheep,</b><br />I go to the desert to find My sheep.”<br /><br /><b>But none of the ransomed ever knew<br />How deep were the waters crossed;<br />Nor how dark was the night the Lord passed through<br />Ere He found His sheep that was lost.</b><br />Out in the desert He heard its cry,<br />Sick and helpless and ready to die;<br />Sick and helpless and ready to die.<br /><br /><b>“Lord, whence are those blood drops all the way<br />That mark out the mountain’s track?”<br />“They were shed for one who had gone astray<br />Ere the Shepherd could bring him back.”<br />“Lord, whence are Thy hands so rent and torn?”<br />“They are pierced tonight by many a thorn;<br />They are pierced tonight by many a thorn.”</b><br /><br />And all through the mountains, thunder riven<br />And up from the rocky steep,<br />There arose a glad cry to the gate of heaven,<br />“Rejoice! I have found My sheep!”<br />And the angels echoed around the throne,<br />“Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!<br />Rejoice, for the Lord brings back His own!”<br /><br />Study written November 9th, 2004/Edited October 31st/05<br />Jerry Bouey<br /><br /><i>The Story Of Four Gardens:</i><br /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2010/03/story-of-four-gardens-garden-of-eden.html" target="_blank">Part One - The Garden Of Eden</a><br /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2010/03/story-of-four-gardens-garden-of.html" target="_blank">Part Two - The Garden Of Gethsemane</a> (above)<br />Part Three - The Garden With The Empty Tomb (coming soon)<br />Part Four - Paradise, The Garden Of Eternity (coming soon)</div>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-37202571867338917042010-03-08T10:31:00.000-08:002023-11-24T15:59:34.061-08:00The Story Of Four Gardens: The Garden Of Eden<div align="justify"><script type="text/javascript" src="https://av1611.com/verseclick/verseclick.js"></script>In 2006, I preached a series of three messages on three main gardens of Scripture: Eden and the fall of man; Gethsemane and Jesus Christ going to the cross; the garden with the empty tomb and Christ's resurrection. I wrote up the first two messages, but somehow never got the third one written, then ended up losing the notes I had for it. A couple of years later, I preached these messages again.<br /><br />This year, as we are getting closer to Easter, where the thoughts of many Christians and the religious world turn towards the cross and Jesus' death, burial and resurrection, I wanted to cover these messages again. But this time, I was thinking of a fourth garden - Paradise (which means "garden"), referring to the third heaven, the dwelling place of God.<br /><br />Lord willing, this time I will get the third and (now) fourth studies written up. I plan on covering one per week until Easter (plus, a supplemental message from <i>Days Of Praise</i> devotionals: <a href="http://www.icr.org/article/2238" target="_blank">Make It As Sure As You Can</a>).<br /><br /><br /><b><span style="font-size: 130%;"><i>The Story Of Four Gardens:</i><br />Part One - The Garden Of Eden</span></b><br /><br />In Genesis chapter one, we have the account of Creation. Adam, the first man, was created on day six. God then created a garden eastward in Eden and placed man there in this perfect, sinless environment. <i>Eden</i> means “delight, pleasure.” There, all Adam’s needs would be met, and it would be a peaceful, blessed existence.<br /><br />Genesis 2:15-17 <i>And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.</i><br /><br />Only one command that Adam must not disobey, one command to test his love and obedience to the Lord God.<br /><br />Then God made Eve, the first woman, from the rib of Adam. They were now one flesh, united together, walking in daily fellowship with the Lord… Until the serpent came along.<br /><br /><b>1) The Devil.</b><br /><br />Genesis 3:1a <i>Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.</i><br /><br />The New Testament clearly teaches that it was the Devil that was speaking to Eve through the serpent. (See Revelation 12:9; John 8:44) <i>Subtil</i> means “cunning, crafty.” Martin Luther made this statement: “Satan’s first appearance was under the tree of knowledge.” It is also interesting to note that Satan’s first words were ones of doubt and distrust in what God had already clearly stated.<br /><br /><b>2) Doubt.</b><br /><br />Genesis 3:1 <i>Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?</i><br /><br />“Did God really say? Did God really mean it? Can you really trust God?” These were some of the doubts the Devil was attempting to sow into Adam and Eve’s hearts. As an angel of light, a messenger (but not of God), he was creating confusion and deception. (See 2 Corinthians 11:3, 14; 1 Corinthians 14:33) Eve should never have hearkened to that voice.<br /><br />Genesis 3:2-3 <i>And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, <b>neither shall ye touch it,</b> lest ye die.</i><br /><br />Here Eve does something good: she quotes the Word of God. But then she adds to it! God said “don’t eat of the tree”; He did not say “don’t touch it”. Once you start questioning the Word of God and moving from its solid mooring (by adding to, subtracting from, or twisting it), then you are on a dangerous, slippery slope. (See Revelation 22:18-19; 2 Peter 3:16)<br /><br /><b>3) Deception.</b><br /><br />Genesis 3:4-5 <i>And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.</i><br /><br />Here, we see the Devil outright contradicting God (<i>ye shall not surely die</i>), and enticing Eve with forbidden knowledge. Basically he is stating, “God is withholding something from you. He really doesn’t have your best interests in mind. Why not try this fruit yourself – and you can determine whether it is really good or not. Instead of having God rule over you, telling you what to do and not to do, you can be your own gods, be your own authority.” While most may not fall for the religious lie that they can literally <i>become</i> gods (as taught in Mormonism, the New Age religion, and various cults), many do fall for the lie that they can <i>be</i> their own gods – controlling their own lives, using their own fallen wisdom to direct themselves, instead of letting God and His Word be their guide and final authority.<br /><br /><i>First doubt, and then deception.</i> The slippery slope was becoming less firm, sloping ever downwards. The road to Hell started with questioning God, but it didn’t end there. The temptation to partake of what God clearly commanded against was becoming more and more appealing. And the consequences became less and less intimidating… If death really wouldn’t come, then it really couldn’t hurt to eat of this fruit.<br /><br /><b>4) Disobedience.</b><br /><br />Genesis 3:6 <i>And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.</i><br /><br />"Hm, this does look like a good tree, not really much different than all the rest that we’ve been eating from. Actually, this fruit is quite pleasant looking, quite appealing – can’t be all that bad." And then the clincher: <i>and a tree to be desired to make one wise.</i> Not only was she listening to the serpent, she was now believing his word instead of God’s! There was no way the appearance of the fruit would have caused her to think that it could make her “wise”, but the Devil had planted those seeds of doubt, and now they took root.<br /><br />For a more in-depth look at the temptation of Eve, please read my study, <a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2010/03/three-avenues-of-temptation.html" target="_blank">Three Avenues Of Temptation</a>.<br /><br /><i>She took of the fruit thereof, and did eat.</i> She disobeyed God’s clear command and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. In her deception, she probably was thinking, “I didn’t drop dead immediately – the serpent must have been telling the truth!”<br /><br />And then here comes one of the saddest notes of the Scriptures: <i>and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.</i> Adam was with her all the time! And he didn’t step in and rebuke Eve for listening to the serpent, nor did he chase it away. Instead he observed, and then partook after Eve did. Despite the lies and deception, the consequences of rebellion against God still took effect – just as God said would happen.<br /><br /><b>5) Death.</b><br /><br />Genesis 3:7 <i>And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.</i><br /><br />Their eyes were opened! But not in the way that Satan promised. They now did know good and evil, but it was no longer knowledge from a state of innocency, but from a state of guilt! And it was knowledge without the means to apply it - they no longer had the power to do good, but were enslaved to the evil. Notice the contrast between Genesis 2:25 and 3:7. Sin brought shame. They needed to cover this up somehow – hence the aprons made of fig leaves, something they themselves put together. But religious works can never truly cover or deal with the sins of man.<br /><br />And death had come. Not physical death at first (though the process was now begun and they would eventually die physically) – but spiritual death, which is separation from the Lord God. We will see this clearly in the next part of this study.<br /><br /><b>6) Disrupted Fellowship.</b><br /><br />Genesis 3:8 <i>And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.</i><br /><br />Now instead of fellowshipping with the Lord like they had been doing every day since they were created, here they sought to run and hide from Him.<br /><br />Genesis 3:9-10 <i>And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard Thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.</i><br /><br />God knew where Adam and Eve were, He knew what they had done, and He knew how their sin created shame and fear in their hearts. His words were intended to draw them out of hiding and to bring a confession of guilt from them.<br /><br />Genesis 3:11-13 <i>And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, <b>and I did eat.</b> And the LORD God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, <b>and I did eat.</b></i><br /><br />At first, Adam and Eve are attempting to play the blame game, blaming others for the sin they have committed. However, they do acknowledge their own guilt and part in what had transpired: <i>and I did eat.</i> What Eve had spoken was true, she was deceived by the Devil. (See 1 Timothy 2:14) This is not an excuse that God would accept, however, as she needed to accept the blame for herself. If she had not been listening to the Devil, she would not have been confused and led astray by his lies!<br /><br /><b>7) Distressing Judgement and the Promised Deliverer.</b><br /><br />Genesis 3:14-15 <i>And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: <b>And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise His heel.</b></i><br /><br />Before sin entered into the world, God had His plan prepared. Now it was time to set it in motion. Judgement was pronounced on the serpent for being the willing instrument that Satan used. And judgement was threatened to the Devil for his enticing Adam and Eve to turn from the Lord and do evil.<br /><br />There was also a promise given in several parts:<br /><br />1) There would be enmity between the Devil and the woman.<br /><br />2) Enmity between the seed of the Devil (physically-born children of man) and the seed of the women (spiritually-born children of man - born again of God).<br /><br />3) <b>A promised Redeemer – the seed of the woman.</b> He would be the virgin born Son of God. This Deliverer would one day be bruised on the heel – implying a temporary wound that He would recover from (this was fulfilled when Jesus was crucified on the cross for our sins, died, was buried, and arose three days later), and the Devil would be bruised on the head – this was to be a mortal wound (fulfilled when Jesus defeated him by His death on the cross, and one day would completely bruise Satan underfoot – see Hebrews 2:14-16 and Romans 16:20).<br /><br />Genesis 3:16-19 <i>Unto the woman He said, I will greatly multiply thy <b>sorrow</b> and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee. And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: <b>cursed</b> is the ground for thy sake; in <b>sorrow</b> shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; <b>Thorns</b> also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; In the <b>sweat</b> of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.</i><br /><br />Here Adam and Eve are faced with the consequences of their distrust and disobedience to the Lord God: Sorrow, the curse, thorns, sweat, death. As the head of the human race, it was Adam’s disobedience that brought death into the world and upon all his descendents. The first Adam brought sin and death upon all mankind, the last Adam would one day restore all that was lost in the first Adam’s fall. And this Promised Deliverer would deal with each of the effects of the curse, but that will have to wait until our next study, <i>The Garden Of Gethsemane</i>.<br /><br />Romans 5:12 <i>Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:</i><br /><br />1 Corinthians 15:21-22 <i>For since by man came death, by Man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.</i><br /><br />1 Corinthians 15:45-47 <i>And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second Man is the Lord from heaven.</i><br /><br /><b>8) A Determined Note Of Faith.</b><br /><br />Genesis 3:20-21 <i>And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living. Unto Adam also and to his wife did the LORD God make coats of skins, and clothed them.</i><br /><br />The Lord clothed Adam and Eve with coats made of the skins of animals – this meant an animal had to shed its blood to cover their sin and had to die to clothe their nakedness and shame. All these animal sacrifices were a picture of and a prelude to the Lamb of God who would one day shed His blood and die upon the cross of Calvary to take away the sins of the world. (John 1:29) This plan was made before the foundation of the world, and would eventually be carried into effect about 4000 years later. (See 2 Timothy 1:9; Titus 1:2; 1 Peter 1:18-20; Revelation 13:8) As time went on, more was revealed about this Promised Deliverer, but the basics were already given: Someone would come and save them from their sins; this Messiah would be their righteousness (the covering for their sins)<br /><br />Genesis 3:22-24 <i>And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of Us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So He drove out the man; and He placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.</i><br /><br />Adam and Eve were now banished from the Garden of Eden into a sin-cursed world. The toil, sweat, and sorrow that they now faced would remind them of what it was once like in the Garden, and cause them to look for and long for the coming Messiah, who would remove all of sin’s curse.<br /><br /><b>It was <i>doubt in God’s Word</i> that initially brought disobedience, sin, and death into this world – and it would be <i>faith</i> (trust) <i>in God’s Word and in the coming Messiah</i> which would bring salvation to those who believed.</b><br /><br />Romans 6:23 <i>For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.</i><br /><br />October 30th, 2004<br />Jerry Bouey<br /><br /><i>The Story Of Four Gardens:</i><br /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2010/03/story-of-four-gardens-garden-of-eden.html" target="_blank">Part One - The Garden Of Eden</a> (above)<br /><a href="http://buy-the-truth.blogspot.com/2010/03/story-of-four-gardens-garden-of.html" target="_blank">Part Two - The Garden Of Gethsemane</a><br />Part Three - The Garden With The Empty Tomb (coming soon)<br />Part Four - Paradise, The Garden Of Eternity (coming soon)</div>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-35104465974311737252010-03-08T09:01:00.000-08:002023-11-24T13:14:51.707-08:00The Touch Of Faith<div style="text-align: center;"><b>The Touch Of Faith</b></div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify">Matthew 9:12-13 <i>But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.</i><br /><br />Matthew 9:20-22 <i>And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment: For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole. But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole. And the woman was made whole from that hour.</i><br /><br />Mark 5:25-34 <i>And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years, And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse, When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment. For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes? And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me? And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth. And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.</i><br /><br />A crowd surrounded Jesus as He went about preaching that day. So many people pressing in around Him - yet only one in that crowd touched Jesus; one woman, with an issue of blood, reached out to touch the hem of His garment; only one was made whole.<br /><br />This Jewish woman had been sick for twelve years with an issue of blood - according to the Mosaic Law, she was considered unclean, and would therefore have been shunned or avoided by others. No doubt she heard of Jesus' claims to be the Great Physician and the Messiah. Would He be the one to heal her when all else failed?<br /><br />There are many religious people going through the motions today - following their rituals, whether they be seeking church, meaningless repetition in prayer, baptism, communion, good works, following the Law - but never personally seeking the Saviour.<br /><br />Here was a woman who was willing to seek the Saviour. She had spent all her money on the physicians, but they could not help her. Only the Great Physician, the Lord Jesus Christ could. She got to where she decided she must touch Him. Regardless of the mass of people surrounding her, regardless of the difficulties and trials in seeking Him, she must go to Him - she must touch Him. Jesus was her only hope!<br /><br />She was unclean, unworthy. Faint (from weakness resulting from her continual loss of blood), fearful (Luke 8:47 says she hid herself after she touched Him), faltering, but her sense of need compelled her to go to the Saviour.<br /><br />She touched Jesus secretly (no doubt wondering how He and His disciples might react), tremblingly, hurriedly - BUT she touched Him by faith!<br /><br />James 4:8 <i><b>Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.</b> Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.</i><br /><br />How about you? Have you realized your need of the Saviour? Reaching out by faith will bring Jesus' touch of healing on your life, your heart, your soul. He will make you whole. It might not be God's will to heal you physically of some affliction, but it is always His will to heal you spiritually! <br /><br />Whatever your sins, whatever your past - touch the Saviour and He will heal you. Your touch of faith will bring God's touch of healing and forgiveness. <br /><br />Like He had compassion on this sick woman in the crowd, He will have compassion on you. Won't you turn from your sins to the Saviour today? <br /><br />I read this poem to close:<br /><br /><b>The Touch Of The Master's Hand </b><br /><br />‘Twas battered and scarred, and the auctioneer<br />Thought it was scarcely worth his while<br />To waste much time on the old violin,<br />But he held it up with a smile.<br />"What am I bidden, good folk?" he cried,<br />"Who'll start the bidding for me?<br />"A dollar - a dollar - then two, only two -<br />"Two dollars, and who'll make it three?<br /><br />"Going for three" but no -<br />From the room far back, a grey-haired man<br />Came forward and picked up the bow,<br />Then wiping the dust from the old violin,<br />And tightening the loosened strings,<br />He played a melody pure and sweet<br />As a caroling angel sings.<br /><br />The music ceased, and the auctioneer,<br />With a voice that was quiet and low,<br />Said "NOW what am I bid for the old violin?"<br />And he held it up with the bow.<br />"A thousand dollars - and who'll make it two?<br />"Two thousand - and who'll make it three?<br />"Three thousand once - three thousand twice -<br />"And going - and gone," cried he.<br /><br />The people cheered, but some cried,<br />"We do not understand what changed its worth?"<br />- Quick came the reply,<br />"The Touch of the Master's Hand."<br />And many a man with his life out of tune,<br />And battered and scarred with sin,<br />Is auctioned off cheap, to a thoughtless crowd,<br />Much like the old violin.<br /><br />A "mess of pottage - a glass of wine,<br />A game" - and he travels on:<br />He is going once - and going twice -<br />He's going - and almost gone!<br />But the Master comes, and the foolish crowd<br />Can never quite understand,<br />The worth of a soul, and the change that's wrought,<br />By the Touch of the Master's Hand.<br /><br />Poem written by Myra Brooks Welch<br /><br />Preached on Friday April 1st/05<br />Jerry Bouey<br /><br />Some of the points and thoughts in this devotional were gleaned by this message preached by Charles Spurgeon:<br /><br /><a href="https://www.spurgeongems.org/sermon/chs3124.pdf" target="_blank">Real Contact With Jesus</a></div>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27170786.post-18808665237742546422010-03-08T04:51:00.000-08:002023-11-24T15:58:34.241-08:00Three Avenues Of Temptation<div align="justify"><b>Three Avenues Of Temptation</b></div><div align="justify"><br /></div><div align="justify">1 John 2:15-17 <i>Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.</i><br /><br /><b>In this passage we see Satan's three main avenues of temptation:<br /> <br />1. <i>The lust of the eyes</i></b> - means forbidden longing or desire, covetousness, following after the sight of the eyes.<br /><br /><b>2. <i>The lust of the flesh</i></b> - means carnal desires, fulfilling the appetites of the flesh; fulfilling physical appetites outside of the will of God.<br /><br /><b>3. <i>The pride of life</i></b> - means selfishness, self-seeking; self-advancement.<br /><i>pride</i> = (Strong's #213) boasting, bragging, (by implication) self-confidence.<br /><i>life</i> = bios, physical life (as opposed to spiritual life, zoe).<br /><br />Contrast the pride of life with <i>charity</i> (love) in 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 <i>Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;</i><br /><br /><b>We see Satan using these three main avenues of temptation in his temptations of Eve and Jesus:<br /><br />Eve</b><br /> <br />Genesis 3:1-5 <i>Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.</i><br /> <br />Genesis 3:6 <i>And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.</i><br /><br /><i>The tree was good for food - the lust of the flesh.<br />It was pleasant to the eyes - the lust of the eyes.<br />A tree to be desired to make one wise - the pride of life.</i><br /><br />Eve disregarded the Word of God (the command given previously to Adam) and gave in to the temptation.<br /><br /><b>Jesus</b><br /> <br />Matthew 4:1-3 <i>Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If Thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.</i><br /> <br />Temptation to turn the stones to bread - <i>the lust of the flesh</i>.<br /> <br />Matthew 4:5-6 <i>Then the devil taketh Him up into the holy city, and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, 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.</i><br /> <br />Temptation to tempt God and endanger Himself - <i>the pride of life</i>, ie. you are so important God won't let you hurt yourself recklessly.<br /> <br />Matthew 4:8-9 <i>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; And saith unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.</i><br /> <br />Temptation to worship Satan to receive the kingdoms of the world - <i>the lust of the eyes</i>.<br /><br /><b>Jesus overcame all these temptations by continually meditating on and submitting Himself to the Word of God.</b><br /><br />Matthew 4:4 <i>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.</i><br /><br />Matthew 4:7 <i>Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.</i><br /> <br />Matthew 4:10-11 <i>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. Then the devil leaveth Him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.</i><br /><br />"Viewing the Old Testament in its unity, and the Messiah as the apex in the column of its history, we admit - or rather, we must expect - throughout points of correspondence between Moses, Elijah, and the Messiah. In fact, these may be described as marking the three stages in the history of the Covenant. Moses was its giver, Elijah its restorer, the Messiah its renewer and perfecter. And as such they all had, in a sense, a similar outward consecration for their work. But that neither Moses nor Elijah was assailed by the Devil, constitutes not the only, though a vital, difference between the fast of Moses and Elijah, and that of Jesus. Moses fasted in the middle, Elijah at the end, Jesus at the beginning of His ministry. Moses fasted in the Presence of God; Elijah alone; Jesus assaulted by the Devil. Moses had been called up by God; Elijah had gone forth in the bitterness of his own spirit; Jesus was driven by the Spirit. Moses failed after his forty days' fast; when in indignation he cast the Tables of the Law from him; Elijah failed before his forty days' fast; Jesus was assailed for forty days and endured the trial. Moses was angry against Israel; Elijah despaired of Israel; Jesus overcame for Israel." (Alfred Edersheim, <i>The Life And Times Of Jesus The Messiah</i>, Volume 1 Page 295.)<br /> <br />There is another aspect of these temptations I would like to look more in-depth at later: the questioning and doubting of the Word of God, but will save that for another study.<br /> <br />I will end on this neat observation that the Lord pointed out to me this morning in my studying.<br /> <br />Look at the comparison between these two passages:<br /> <br />Matthew 4:8-9 <i>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; And saith unto Him, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me.</i><br /><br />Revelation 21:10-11 <i>And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;</i><br /><br />The first passage deals with the kingdoms of the world, the temporal glory of them, and the temptation to turn aside to gain that "glory". The second passage deals with the Kingdom of Heaven, the eternal glory thereof - and we know for a fact that this city shown here is the Lord's! Jesus did not have to compromise to gain it! In fact, had He done so, He would have lost it for Himself and for us! Praise the Lord that the Son of God was faithful and did not give in to the temptations of the Devil!<br /> <br />Written September 6th, 2004<br />Jerry Bouey</div>Jerry Boueyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11939572388745111915noreply@blogger.com0