Word of God

Monday, August 31, 2009: Mark 4:39–41
Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!”
Why were the disciples terribly afraid? This was the Word of God in flesh! Only the Word could command wind and waves.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009: Matthew 12:10–13
And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”—that they might accuse Him.
Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.” Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other.
How could a withered hand be stretched out? The Word of God said so and the man with the withered hand believed.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009: Matthew 9:27–31
When Jesus departed from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out and saying, “Son of David, have mercy on us!” And when He had come into the house, the blind men came to Him. And Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”
Then He touched their eyes, saying, “According to your faith let it be to you.” And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows it.” But when they had departed, they spread the news about Him in all that country.
What did the blind men really ask for? They wanted their sight from the mercies of the Word of God. They believed. Christ touched their eyes: at His word, their eyes received sight.

Thursday, September 3, 2009: Matthew 9:4–8
But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” And he arose and departed to his house. Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men.
How can a paralyzed man rise in strength enough to carry a stretcher home? He did so at the very Word of God.

Friday, September 4, 2009: John 11:43–44
Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
How can a dead man, tightly bound, come out from a grave? Only at the command of the Word of God.

Zion

Monday, August 24, 2009

2 Samuel 5:7 (NKJV) Capture of the stronghold of Zion

Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion (that is, the City of David).

Take a guess what ‘nevertheless’ meant. The Jebusites, whose stronghold was Zion, a walled city, boasted that their lame and blind would defeat David’s army.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

1 Kings 8:1 (NKJV) The Ark of the Covenant is brought into the Temple

Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion.

Was not the Ark already in Zion or Jerusalem? Part of Jerusalem was Zion, the city of David: the Ark was placed in the holiest of the temple, the largest structure in Zion.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Psalm 2:6–7 (NKJV) Prophecy of The Anointed Son of God

“Yet I have set My King

On My holy hill of Zion.”

“I will declare the decree:

The Lord has said to Me,

‘You are My Son,

Today I have begotten You.

What could ‘set My King on the hill of Zion’ mean? With hindsight, we can say that there Christ, the only begotten Son of God, was crucified.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Zechariah 9:9 (NKJV) The King is coming

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!

Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!

Behold, your King is coming to you;

He is just and having salvation,

Lowly and riding on a donkey,

A colt, the foal of a donkey.

Did a King ride a donkey? No, a King rode a decked-out horse, but never brought salvation.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Hebrews 12:22–24 (NKJV) Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem

But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.

Where is the real Mount Zion? It is the heavenly Jerusalem, prepared for believers.

Extra - a mystery

Revelation 14:1 (NKJV) The Lamb with 144,000

Then I looked, and behold, a Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and forty-four thousand, having His Father’s name written on their foreheads.

This number has many interpretations. Please let me know your ideas.

Revelation of Jesus Christ is Apostle Peter's 1st letter

Monday, August 17, 2009: 1 Peter 1:6–7 (DNT)

Wherein ye exult, for a little while at present, if needed, put to grief by various trials, that the proving of your faith, much more precious than of gold which perishes, though it be proved by fire, be found to praise and glory and honour in [the] revelation of Jesus Christ

Will your faith be praised at the revelation of Jesus Christ?

It is the tests that prove your faith that will be honored.

Tuesday, August 18, 2009: 1 Peter 1:10–11 (DNT)

Concerning which salvation prophets, who have prophesied of the grace towards you, sought out and searched out; searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ which [was] in them pointed out, testifying before of the sufferings which [belonged] to Christ, and the glories after these.

When Noah prophesied about the coming flood, God’s judgment against sin, what did the Spirit of Christ reveal to him?

Noah’s redemption from God’s judgment was by faith: a foretaste of our salvation based only on faith. Every thing but the door was watertight: God Himself sealed it!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009: 1 Peter 1:13–16 (DNT)

Wherefore, having girded up the loins of your mind, [be] sober [and] hope with perfect stedfastness in the grace [which will be] brought to you at [the] revelation of Jesus Christ

Why should we gird up the loins of our minds?

We have hope — a hope for the future when Christ is revealed.

Thursday, August 20, 2009: 1 Peter 4:12–13 (DNT)

Beloved, take not [as] strange the fire [of persecution] which has taken place amongst you for [your] trial, as if a strange thing was happening to you; but as ye have share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, that in the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exultation.

How are we to view persecution, here described as fire on us?

It is not strange, but a share in the sufferings of Christ. Glory will follow.

Friday, August 21, 2009: 1 Peter 5:1–4 (DNT)

The elders which [are] among you I exhort, who [am their] fellow-elder and witness of the sufferings of the Christ, who also [am] partaker of the glory about to be revealed

How is Peter similar and yet different from elders?

He is a fellow elder but one that is an eyewitness of the unimaginable sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Summer of Youth

The season of summer is likened to youth. Here’s the Bible’s advice about youth.

Monday, August 10, 2009: Job 29:2–4

“Oh, that I were as in months past,
As in the days when God watched over me;
When His lamp shone upon my head,
And when by His light I walked through darkness;
Just as I was in the days of my prime,
When the friendly counsel of God was over my tent

Why does Job, now in pain and anguish, remember the days of his youth? Job remembers his youth with God as counselor. His walk was in the light of God through the darkness of the world.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009: Psalm 25:7

Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions;
According to Your mercy remember me,
For Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.

What is King David’s Psalm of prayer to God? David wishes God to remember him in mercy rather then the sins of his youth.

Wednesday, August 12, 2009: Psalm 103:1–5

Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget not all His benefits:
Who forgives all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases,
Who redeems your life from destruction,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
Who satisfies your mouth with good things,
So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Why does David Bless the Lord in this Psalm? David has repented of his sins and found forgiveness in the sight of God by faith. His youth is renewed by God’s benefits.

Thursday, August 13, 2009: Ecclesiastes 11:9–10

Rejoice, O young man, in your youth,
And let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth;
Walk in the ways of your heart,
And in the sight of your eyes;
But know that for all these
God will bring you into judgment.
Therefore remove sorrow from your heart,
And put away evil from your flesh,
For childhood and youth are vanity.

Why does the wise King Solomon call childhood and youth vanity? If we remember God and His judgment against sin, we will, as youth, put away evil from our flesh. Otherwise, if used only for pleasure, childhood and youth are but vanity, and will pass away without benefit.

Friday, August 14, 2009: Ecclesiastes 12:1

Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth,
Before the difficult days come,
And the years draw near when you say,
“I have no pleasure in them”

What are the days of our youth? They are even now. Remember God now: you’ll never regret it. But other days will surely come that will be unsupported by God.

Solomon's Wisdom, Part 2.

Monday, August 3, 2009: 1 Kings 11:1-2

But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—from the nations of whom the Lord had said to the children of Israel, “You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love.
Where did wise Solomon go wrong? His love was women, even more than God.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009: 1 Kings 11:4–6

For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as did his father David.
Why did Solomon’s heart not loyal to God? His wives turned his heart to follow their gods.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009: 1 Kings 11:9–11

So the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the Lord had commanded.
What displeased God about Solomon? Solomon did not keep the Lord’s commands.

Thursday, August 6, 2009: Matthew 6:28–30

“So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
What was the thought (consideration) Jesus Christ pointed to? God, who has clothed wildflowers in beauty has much more provided for man: just have faith in God instead of your labor and diligence.

Friday, August 7, 2009: Acts 3:11–12

Now as the lame man who was healed held on to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them in the porch which is called Solomon’s, greatly amazed.
So when Peter saw it, he responded to the people: “Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?
Background: a beggar, lame from birth asked for alms at a gate of the Temple. Peter invoked the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to heal him.
What was Peter anxious to avoid? Peter wanted everyone to know that it was not their power or holiness that healed the lame beggar, but the Lord Jesus Christ’s Name.