​29 November 2017
A Little Thankful Personal Bible Study Time


​Read:
Psalm 136

Focus Verse:
Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.  

Four facts from this passage:
1. Thanks is due to God.
2. God is good.
3. They had to invent the phrase “faithful love” to describe his distinct love for us.
4. God and everything about him is eternal.

How these truths impact me:
1. I thank God every day for lots of things.
Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. (Philippians 4:6)
2. I recognize that God’s plans for me are good because he is only all good.
For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
3. I appreciate that God’s kind of love for me impacts my life and all of my relationships.
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. (1 John 4:11-12)
4. I understand that there is no reason NOT to trust God completely.
Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. (Isaiah 40:28)
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Prayer:
Dear God,
I want to not only thank you for all of the good things you’ve done for me, but I also want to thank you for who you are. You are generous in giving me wisdom, strength and joy, and you love me exactly the way that I am. You are powerful and comforting, and I am so thankful. Thank you for planning good things for me, thank you for saving me, thank you for giving me a husband who loves me and a healthy family, and thank you for providing for me and for protecting me. Thank you for you love that you graciously pour out on me every day. Thank you for loving me so that I can know how to love others. Help me to love them with your kind of love. Thank you that you are worthy of all of my thanks and trust. You never take a break from watching over me, and I am so thankful for that. I love you and praise you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

28 November 2017
Thanks & Honor
1 Chronicles 16:8
Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim His greatness. Let the whole world know what He has done.


There are two items in this passage about God.
1. God’s greatness
2. The great things He has done

When I enter into a time of thankfulness to God, I must not only thank Him for what He’s done, but I must also thank Him for who He is. This morning, Rick Warren’s devotional was about this very same idea. We don’t only love others based on what they do for us; we love them also because of who they are. And he also shared this passage from Psalm 50:23... Giving thanks is a sacrifice that truly honors Me.

We honor God by thanking Him, not only for what He’s done but also for who He is. This is good for me to know. I want to honor God by how I live, what I say, and what I do, but I can also honor Him even more frequently than this simply by specifically thanking Him.

This truth can impact all my relationships too. Wives must honor their husbands (Ephesians 5:33) and children must honor their parents (Ephesians 6:2). Thanking them for who they are and what they’ve done accomplishes just that!

Dear God,
Thank you for my husband who loves me and cherishes me. Thank you that he thinks about me and helps me. Thank you that he works so hard on behalf of our family and is loving and kind. Thank you for my parents who raised me to know you, provided for me, loved me, and paid attention to me. Thank you that they love me exactly the way I am and still share generosity and encouragement with me and my whole family. Thank you that you are full of compassion, creativity, love and justice. Thank you for Creation, providing for me, protecting me, and saving me. I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

​27 November 2017 
​Real Global Warming
2 Peter 3:7
And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

I read a news article this morning titled, “After 30 Years, Alarmists Are Still Predicting A Global Warming ‘Apocalypse.’” The author just systematically revisited 12 publications of global alarmists predicting that the world was supposed to be “uninhabitable” by the end of the century. The fact that we are 17 years into the new century and still functioning makes me think that their predictions were wrong. Prince Charles even boldly predicted in summer of 2009 that there were only 96 months left to prevent irreversible damage. Well, that’s this year, so apparently, the irreversible damage is done. You can read the whole article here. Maybe the irreversible damage is something we cannot see, and 100 years from now mankind will see and know that Prince Charles was right – the irreversible damage was done this year during our lifetime (and during the Trump Administration to boot!), but I don’t think so. God has already revealed that there is a day coming full of irreversible damage long before alarmists came up with this notion.

2 Peter 3:3-7
Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

God destroyed the wickedness of the world once with a flood. And one day he plans to judge the wickedness of the world again but with fire. That’s why I’ve always thought the “scientific” idea of global warming was so hilarious – it’s directly out of scripture! God has guaranteed global warming (judgment by fire) is a certainty for all who reject his Son, Jesus. And there is nothing a person’s “carbon footprint” can do about it.

A person’s heart, not their carbon footprint, is the solution for global warming, for God’s wrath is not being preserved for Believers.

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. (Romans 3:22) For God chose to save us through our Lord Jesus Christ, not to pour out his anger on us. Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.
(1 Thessalonians 5:9-11)
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Dear God,
Thank you for already rescuing me from wrath and judgment and fire. Thank you for your Son and for making me right with you through him. I pray for my unsaved family and friends and for the manipulated public being distracted from the actual danger of unrepentant hearts. Help their hearts and thoughts turn to the One who created nature instead of worshiping nature itself. For you are great and full of power and worthy to judge the world how you see fit. And I praise you and thank you for your salvation, and I pray in Jesus’ name through whom your salvation comes! Amen.

​23 November 2017 THANKSGIVING DAY
First Things First
Psalm 100:4-5
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

The first word of this passage, “Enter,” indicates our first action. For instance, if your mom tells you to take off your shoes when you enter the house, that means it’s the very first thing you’re going to do. Mom doesn’t want you to get a snack first and then take off your shoes; you’ll have already tracked in the dirt. Scripture indicates the very first thing I should do when I spend time with God... Enter his gates with thanksgiving.

I must embarrassingly admit that often I enter into a time of interaction with God with complaints, worries, and frustration. I let him know what’s on my mind first, and then thank him for being who he is such that I can come to him with all my junk anyway. I need to get into a better practice of first things first. And the first thing out of my mouth when I wake up, when I pray, when I eat, and when I go to bed should be to thank Him. Otherwise, it’d be like tracking dirt in the house to get a snack first.
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Dear God,
Today is Thanksgiving.  So I say, “THANK YOU!” Thank you for all you have done for me! Thank you for your goodness and grace, for good rest and for waking me up this morning, and thank you for family that we get to be with today! We have a couple of places to visit, and I pray that the first thing for me upon my entrance to anywhere – a house, a kitchen, a conversation, and a prayer – would begin with thanking you for how amazing you are and for all the wonderful things you have done for me and for everyone I know. I love you so much. Help me get first things first. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

21 November 2017
Pressure & Perseverance
Psalm 119:143
As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands.

Pressure and stress typically surface when I have too much going on, and/or when I don’t know what I’m doing. The reason joy can be found in keeping God’s commands like this verse suggests is because when you’re doing what God asks of you, then you know what you’re doing is right and good in the midst of what’s going on.

How else is it possible to persevere? When someone is going through a trying circumstance, what is it that will enable them to persevere... just the passage of  time? Do they just wait it out? Maybe. But what if it takes too long? Isn’t that where “giving up” comes in?

Believers can be sure that they do not need to “give up” when pressure or stress presents itself in our lives. Continuing to do what we’re doing – following Jesus, obeying his teaching and trusting him – is what enables perseverance. When I don’t know what to do, I know I can simply do what I already know God wants me to do (trust him, don’t repay an insult with another insult, help others, forgive, be kind and generous...). His commands do actually bring joy because I find I don’t have to become frozen with inaction or crazy with overreactions, which are both typical responses to stressful and pressure filled situations. I have rules to keep that aren’t meant to bog me down but actually guide me through difficult times and help me persevere.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. (James 1:12)
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Dear God,
A crown of life for perseverance sounds like JOY to me. Thank you that nothing with you is for no reason. Thank you that you have given us your Word and your Holy Spirit to show and remind us what to do in all situations, even stressful ones. Thank you that I can confidently follow you and for the peace and joy that accompany that knowing that you have shown me how to please you and serve you; YOU are the only One who matters. And I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.

​7 November 2017
Small, Medium, Large, or Mustard Seed Size

​Luke 17:5-6
The apostles said to the Lord, “Show us how to increase our faith.” The Lord answered, “If you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘May you be uprooted and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you!

Increasing in faith for the Believer doesn’t happen automatically, and it doesn’t happen magically.  All we need to increase our faith is to recognize that it’s possible. We know that it’s impossible to please God without it (see Hebrews 11:6), so we also know that it pleases God when we have any amount of it – and Jesus elaborates on the amount of faith we need when he says that even a tiny bit is enough.

Everyone knows Jesus uses the mustard seed for his metaphor, because the smallest of all known seeds yields one of the largest known trees. It’s marvelous and miraculous how a tiny thing of a seed grows a ginormous tree. Likewise, a tiny bit of faith can produce a contradictory amount of enormous growth in the heart of the Believer.

That’s how we grow in our faith – just by little bits at time. God doesn’t give us all of the love we will need for all our lives for all of time all at once. Neither does he do that with wisdom and understanding, patience, peace, or any other product of the Holy Spirit.  He just needs a willing heart that believes a little bit will go a long way in his economy.

Jesus tells us that nothing is impossible for God (see Matthew 19:26). So, while the disciples were wondering how to get all the faith they’re ever going to need all at once, Jesus explains to  them that they just need to believe the amount they can, even if it’s only a little bit, and that even imagining the unlikely and the impossible, like a tree hiking up it’s roots and plopping itself into the sea, isn’t beyond God’s capabilities.

It’s upon whom we place our faith that makes it grow not how much of it we have. A simple willingness to trust and obey is all the faith we need, because God can take that tiny little bit and make it huge – not the other way around.

Dear God,
I’ve seen you do some amazing things in my life and in my own heart. And I know you can do it again. I like knowing there is nothing that is impossible for you no matter how unlikely and unreasonable it looks to me. I am so thankful that you don’t require more of me than I can actually have, and that you do all the producing from what I do have. Thank you for how you relate to me and work in my life. I love you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name, amen.