Why I read the King James Bible....

Photo - kingjamesbibleonline.org

Today I would like to share with you why I read the King James Bible. I realize that many of you
who read my blog use a variety of translations, but I do feel lead of the Lord to share this here. I am not saying that you should not read any other translation than the King James, I am only sharing my experience and would encourage you to seek the Lord's will for your life.

As I was growing up, I read the King James Bible. I remember exactly when and how I decided to begin reading the Bible. I was and still am very close to my sister Mary, and as the Lord began working in her life she began to read her Bible every evening. I was so close to her and so when she read her Bible I had no idea what to do with my time. So I followed her lead and also began to read my Bible, I have read it daily ever since and the Lord has ministered to me and spoken to me through His Word. As we got older, my parents introduced us to the NIV Bible as well. My Dad was a preacher of the gospel in the church we attended and he studied the Bible a lot. He purchased a variety of the translations that were available in those days years ago for studying purposes and so it was. When he didn't fully understand something, he would go to his old German Bible for clarity.

Now I want to tell you the reason why I read the King James Bible and why I have decided to stick with it.  Now in order for you to understand you need to know that I always have had the utmost respect for my Dad. I have always believed what he said was true, he was a man of great wisdom and honor, a true man of God. My Dad has passed away in 2004. About 3 or so  years ago I had a dream in the night. In my dream my Dad told me that I was rebellious. This startled me very much and when I woke up I could not get it out of my mind. I knew I needed to seek the Lord and find out what area in my life was causing me to be rebellious in the sight of the Lord. I believe the Lord showed me that I was rebellious in my reading other translations of the Bible while knowing in my heart that these translations had unnecessary changes in them. At the time I was mostly reading the NASB.  As soon I understood this I immediately went online and ordered a King James Bible from ebay. I can tell you that I have peace about this. I feel that the Lord put my Dad in my dream to tell me that I was rebellious because the Lord knew I would listen to my Dad. I believe that the more translations that are coming out, more and more of them have been changed by those who do not know the true word of God.
Since then, a few things have happened. As I said my Dad passed away in 2004. In the years since then so many Bible translations have come out that you probably cannot  keep up with it. There is a Bible called the queen James Bible that is for homosexuals, created so as to not offend homosexuals while the Bible clearly states that those who live in homosexuality are not believers. If there are any homosexuals reading this or if you support homosexuality in any way, you need to repent before the Lord and be saved.  And there is a bible that is supposedly not offensive to Muslims. The Muslim's god is allah and this is in no way the same God who created the world. Allah is of the devil and is against Jesus Christ and against the true God of the Bible. We must not change the Bible, we must let the Bible speak to us and it will show us where we need to be corrected and it will convict us of our sin. This is for our good and our salvation.  I have also learned that the writers of these new translations must change a good percentage of the words in the Bible in order to get copyrights. This is not acceptable.
Some people claim they cannot understand the old language that the King James Bible uses. I believe this is used as an excuse, the more you read it the better you will understand it. The Holy Spirit will help you to understand. In my opinion the NLT reads like a Bible Story book for children and can be used as a Bible story book. I also believe that God is able to use most any translation to get your attention and draw you to Himself. But we need to be willing to obey Him as He grows us in His time. I believe He uses nature to speak to us as well and to draw us unto Himself.

I want to show you 2 examples from the New Testament of the changes that other translations make.

John 3:16 - 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. ( King James )

God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life. ( NIVR )

For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. ( NLT )

Note : It is important to know that Jesus is God`s only begotten Son.



Luke 4:18 - The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, ( King James Bible )


“The Spirit of the Lord is on me.
    He has anointed me
    to announce the good news to poor people.
He has sent me to announce freedom for prisoners.
    He has sent me so that the blind will see again.
He wants me to set free those who are treated badly. (NIVR)



“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
    that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free, ( NLT )


Note : Notice that the part that Jesus heals the broken hearted is missing from the newer translations.

New Blog for Children

I just want to let everyone know that I have started a new blog. It is especially for children. I know that many children are on the internet and could be blessed by it. The stories are also suitable to be read out loud to children. The blog is Bible Stories for Children  My goal is to tell and post many more Bible Stories to children - I will write as I feel led of the Lord, and I want to be accurate as the Bible tells the stories.  Please share this with parents and children in your life. Please link to the blog for children here:

Bible Stories for Children



God bless you and your children!

Bible Study for Older Men

Titus 2:1-2 But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

 That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

As we begin our Bible Study in Titus chapter 2, we see that Paul is giving instructions to Titus as to what he is to teach various groups of people. In this chapter, he will give instructions concerning older men, older women, younger women and younger men. These instructions are applicable to us today. God does not change and His instructions and guidelines for living do not change with the changing times. Some of these instructions that he gives are going to sound old fashioned to some of you but we need to remember that God created marriage and family and He does know best. He sets the boundaries and not we ourselves. So lets begin.

picture thanks to fitnnessthrroughfasting.com

Verse 1 -  But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

The Words of the Bible are the Words of God, Words of Wisdom. Sound doctrine is the basis for holy living and for producing characteristics and qualities that a Christian possesses. These are qualities that identify us as true Christians. This includes living a life of faith in our Lord Jesus, and trusting Him with our lives. It includes living a life of love, love in action. A good definition of the word love is "you before me" - that is the putting the needs of others ahead of what we think we need or want. We care for others - this includes those in our immediate family. It can be easy to neglect those closest to us, when these are to be our first priority.

Verse 2 -  That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

We see here a list of characteristics that are to be evident in the life of an aged ( or older ) gentleman. Let's go through them word by word.

*sober - this means to be clear minded, level headed and serious in how one lives, not thoughtless or careless, but rather making right choices intentionally with purpose. 

* grave - this is to be self controlled and live with dignity

* temperate - this means to show moderation and self restraint

*sound in faith - this means to be solidly grounded in the Lord, living the faith you profess to have. This would include having a personal relationship with the Lord and being in prayer and in His Word daily, saturating yourself in it, keeping your mind focused on the things of the Lord throughout the day.

* in charity - we understand charity to mean love - this is not romantic or puppy love or lust for younger or older women. It is not listening to love songs on the radio all day stirring up your flesh. It is a pure desire to bless another in the Name of Jesus. This includes helping the poor, and widows and widowers, a neighbor in need, those who are lonely, donating to honorable causes and charities etc. but also just putting others in your family ahead of yourself.

* patience - this is being steadfast and willing to wait. Sometimes the answers to our prayers are delayed, and as we wait on the Lord, we need to keep strong in our faith, and not begin to doubt that He is indeed good, that He loves us and He has planned the very best for us.

That concludes our study on instructions from the book of Titus specifically written to older men. 

Deuteronomy 11:16  Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;

I am studying through the book of Titus on my Live By Faith Blog, please feel free to check out other studies, there is a study for young men, women, the workplace and other studies - link to the blog here Live By Faith Online Bible Studies

May God bless each one of you!

Bible Study on Psalm 91 - Safety and Security

Do you want to live in a place of safety and security? 

If the answer is yes, then Psalm 91 has a message for you. It

 is a beautiful and rich Psalm filled with assurances of God's 

protection and provision. God's provisions are available to 

each one of us who diligently seek Him. Please join me in 

the study of Psalm 91 as we go through the entire Psalm

 verse by verse.

Verse 1 - 

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

Here we learn that it is possible for us to actually enter the secret place of God Almighty Himself - not only can we enter but we are to "dwell" here in the shadow of Almighty God. The word dwell means to live or to abide, it is our home. How infinitely humbling to hear these words - You and I can live with God our Heavenly Father safely in His shadow. His shadow is a place of protection, safety and comfort. It is home - our eternal home in heaven but it is also ours here and now while we live here on earth.

Verse 2 - 

I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

We must put our hope and trust in the Lord - not in ourselves or in money, our jobs or possessions, friends, family or even in doctors. The Lord alone is our refuge and strength. We must put our full trust and confidence in Him. Lay down our burdens at His feet and allow Him to work through our situations.

Verse 3 -
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

Who will help me? The answer is the Lord God Almighty - He will help me, He will deliver me from the traps of the devil and from the troubles that surround me. A simple explanation for the snare of the fowler and noisome pestilences are our ordinary troubles and diseases that come to us. We trust in God to help us. He sees us in our situation and He is available to come to our aid at all times. We need to come to Him humbly in repentance and faith and not doubt Him even if things do not play out the way we would like them to.

Verse 4 -
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
This verse reminds me of how a mother hen will cover her baby chicks with her wings and feathers. A mother hen will shield her little ones while they sleep and rest and also from any form of danger. Just as a mother hen watches out for her chicks and calls them to the safety of the shelter of her wings so also and even more our Heavenly Father will shield us. We are safe under His wings. He calls us out of danger and as we come to Him, He will "cover" us. Our Heavenly Father cares for us with such incredible love and mercy. God is 100% truth, He only tells the truth, and the Word of God which we find in the Bible is 100% truth.

Verse 5 - 
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
We are not to be afraid of any evil in the night nor in the daytime. God is watching over us because we are His children.

Verse 6 -  
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

We are not to be afraid of the troubles that come to our lives. This could be sickness, loss of a job or relationship, death of a loved one, barrenness, crop failure, or weather related destruction. God is there with us and He will go with us through our hardships. He never leaves us - He is always there. We need to seek Him in our good times and in our hardships.

Verse 7 & 8 -
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
These two verses are hard to comprehend. We know that these verses cannot mean that we will never experience hardships because every one of us does. Christians do experience crises and bad things do happen. So we have to take an eternal perspective on this. Many people will say that the worst thing that can happen is death. Well for those of us who know Christ as our Savior, we know that death is actually only a door - a door that leads us out of this temporary state to our eternal destination. We leave this earth and we enter eternity through the door of death. If we are still alive here when Jesus comes back to earth, then of course we will not need to die. We will be changed and receive our eternal bodies so who knows - depending on when Jesus returns some of us will not need to die. When the non-Christian dies, their eternal destination is separation from our Heavenly Father. This is a place called hell. None of us needs to end up in hell because through faith in Jesus we can be saved to eternal heaven. Jesus died in my place and in your place on the cross. He took our sin upon himself and paid for it all there on the cross. He died and rose again and ascended up to Heaven. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.

Verse 9 -
  Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
Our dwelling place is with the Lord. He is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. We look forward to our eternal home with the Lord Jesus in Heaven.

Verse 10-
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
We are secure in the Lord. No evil or harm will ever come to us without the Lord knowing about it and having His hand on the controls. What ever He allows into our lives He is also able and willing to help us with. He will never leave us alone in our situations. He loves us dearly. We are His children if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior.

Verse 11 & 12 -  For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

These two verses are so very precious. God our Heavenly Father has assigned some angels to take care of us. The angel carries me in his hand. I have a guardian angel whose duty it is to protect me and to keep me as I go about my day. Wow! that is really good news!

Verse 13 - 
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Here the lion, the adder, the dragon represent evil that we encounter in our lives. We encounter evil almost daily as we go about our daily lives. Godless people all around us are doing godless things and though we do not want any part of what they are doing, we live in the same world and therefore see and hear things that are very upsetting to the Christian heart. But we are encouraged here in this verse to "trample it under our feet". We must be careful to put evil away from us. Abstain from every form of evil. With the Lord as our Protector, He guards our hearts that the evil all around us does not cause us to stumble and fall into sin.

Verse 14 -
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.
The Lord sees and knows those who are His own and those who truly love Him. The Lord says that those who are His own, He will set on high. What does it mean to know His Name? - It means to have an intimate relationship with the Lord, we live in His Presence while we are here on earth.

Verse 15 -
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
We are to call on the Lord. Pray, pray and pray some more. The Lord promises to answer us when we call on Him. He promises to be with us in our troubles and to deliver us. Those are sweet words to ponder for me today! He also promises to honour us as we call on Him. I believe this means that He will stay true to His Word and His promises and will not let us down. We can put our full trust in the Lord. He will make things right and those of us who do put our trust in Him will be rewarded in eternity.

Verse 16 -
With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
As we live in obedience to the Lord, He will bless us. In Him is life abundant. We live with hope in our hearts. We rest assured that this life is not all there is - we are on a journey to that heavenly kingdom where there is perfect peace and happiness for all eternity.

God Bless.

Psalm 91

 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

3 Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.

4 He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;

6 Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.

7 A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.

8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.

9 Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;

10 There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

11 For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.

12 They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.

13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

14 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.

15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

Esther - Hero of the Bible ( The Girl who Became Queen )

Last Sunday at my home church the message was about the story of Esther. You can find the sermon  notes at the bottom of this post.

Esther 4:14  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?

Esther the Ordinary girl who became Queen

The Biblical account of the story of Esther is a favorite to people of all ages. An ordinary girl who becomes a royal queen and heroically saves her people ( that is the Jews.)  King Ahasuerus has a royal feast for his male friends which lasts many days. One day Ahasuerus in his drunken condition decides that his royal Queen Vashti should be brought out so all his male friends can see how beautiful she is. Vashti refuses to be put on display like this and that is why she gets dismissed and King Ahasuerus begins to look for a new queen to replace her. This is where Esther comes in. We will continue by reading a condensed account of this story from the Veggie Tales website. I am a Veggie Tales fan and always enjoy their Dvds. You can link to the Veggie Tales page  HERE

( You will notice that King Ahauserus is referred to as King Xerxes here. Ahasuerus is the Hebrew name while Xerxes is the Greek name of the same King.)

So we continue the story now from Veggie Tales -

King Aheruerus and Esther  ( veggietalesitsforthekids.wikia.com )

King Xerxes of Persia was searching the entire kingdom for a beautiful
woman to become his new queen. Esther was a very beautiful Jewish girl
and was one of the women brought to the palace as a possible queen successor. Esther did
not tell anyone about her Jewish family. Mordecai, Esther’s cousin who took care of her
because she had no parents, worked for the king and was able to check on her daily. When
it was time for Esther to go before King Xerxes, he was very pleased and crowned her as his
new queen.
Two of the king’s officers became angry at King Xerxes and were planning to kill him.
Mordecai overheard their plans and told them to Queen Esther. Esther reported the plot
to the king and gave Mordecai the credit for saving the king’s life. After all of these things
happened, King Xerxes promoted another of his officers, Haman, to a higher rank, and all of
the other officers had to bow down and kneel to him. Mordecai was a Jew and refused to
bow down or kneel to anyone but God, so Haman became very angry and convinced the king
to sign an order that all of the Jews in the land were to be killed. Mordecai told Esther that
she must tell the king of Haman’s plot, but Esther knew it was against the law to approach
the king unless she was invited. But Esther was courageous… her people were depending
on her. When she approached the king, he was pleased and held out his scepter for her to
come forward. Esther told King Xerxes of Haman’s plan to destroy her people. The king was
so angry with Haman that he had him killed, and Mordecai was promoted to his position.
Because of Esther’s courage, all of the Jewish people in the kingdom were saved.

appshopper.com

Sermon Notes
My home church is doing a summer series on Heroes of the Bible. So this past Sunday we covered the story of Esther. So what can we learn from Esther?
Here are a few points from the sermon from Pastor Ben:

The Name of God is never mentioned in the book of Esther. So why is it in the Bible?
The Bible is not primarily written to record history, nor to tell amazing stories.
The primary purpose is to reveal the character of God. To give us an understanding of the God of Israel and the Lord Jesus Christ.

How can the book of Esther teach us about God?
* Just because God is not mentioned does not mean He is not there.
* We see God's hand throughout the story.
* God is in every situation.
* God works in the background in behind the scenes in the circumstances making things happen.
Most of our lives are that way - God working in the background, working though our circumstances.
We see God working in our world, we have to pay attention to figure out what God is doing.

Ephesians 2:10  For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

God is working in your life. He is forming you - making you the person He wants you to become. He is working on your character.

God wants you to do good works.
Just as Esther stood up and risked her life so must we.

God is working in you not just so you can sit there.

God has prepared good works in advance for you to do.

He is getting things ready for you to do.

See God's work around you.

Isaac - Hero of the Bible

We are in our summer sermon series at church on Heroes of the Bible. This Sunday Pastor Ben spoke about Isaac. He told stories from the life of Isaac. The question of why Isaac is a hero in the Bible was not answered though.
 I would say that Isaac was a hero in how he demonstrated his faith in God. He was willing to trust God for His choice of wife for him and when the servant came back with Rebekah he took her as wife and loved her. He had no complaints - she was the one for him and he loved her. Secondly we see that time passed and no children were born to Isaac and Rebekah. Now Isaac goes to God and prays sincerely for a child. He puts his faith and trust in God - and God blesses them with twin sons. In Hebrews 11:20  we read  20 By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. Here again we see the faith of Isaac. He believed God for the future. This is the lesson for all of us today. Isaac teaches us to 
1) Believe God to provide and then be content and thankful for His provisions
2) Pray to God, tell Him what is on your heart. God hears and answers the prayers of His children
3) Believe God concerning things to come. God knows the future. He will carry us through. We can depend on Him and trust His promises!

I would encourage you to study the Bible study below on the life of Isaac. It is quite thorough. I have highlighted a few important points. 

This Bible Study on Isaac is written by the good folks at  http://www.wenstrom.org/downloads/written/people/old/isaac.pdf

Link here to get to their site   Wenstrom



Outline
I. Who was Isaac?
II. Abraham and Isaac
III. Isaac and Rebekah
IV. Jacob and Esau
V. Abraham Blesses Jacob
I. Who was Isaac?
A. Isaac was the son of Abraham!
B. God promised Abraham that He would give him a son (Gen. 17:19; 15:4).
C. His mother was Sarah!
D. Both, Abraham and Sarah were heroes because they trusted in God’s promises!
E. Isaac became a hero also!
F. Hebrews 11:20, “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.”
G. Isaac showed his faith in God by blessing Jacob and Esau!
H. He trusted that God would keep His promises.
II. Abraham and Isaac
A. One day God told Abraham to sacrifice his Isaac!
B. Genesis 22:1-2, “Now it came about after these things, that God tested Abraham, and said
to him, ‘Abraham!’ And he said, ‘Here I am.’ And He (God) said, ‘Take now you son, you
only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah; and offer him there as a
burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.’”
C. This must have been hard for Abraham because he waited a long time for Isaac to be born.
D. Abraham loved his son Isaac very much.
E. But Abraham did what God told him to do and passed the test.
F. Hebrews 11:17, “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac; and who
received the promises was offering up his only begotten son.’”
G. What Abraham did was a picture of what God the Father do when He would offered up His
only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ!
H. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that He (God) gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him (the Lord Jesus Christ) should not perish, but have eternal life.”
I. God was really going to have Abraham kill Isaac.
J. God was just testing Abraham’s doctrine in his soul.
K. God wanted to show the angels (both elect and fallen) Abraham’s trust in Him!
L. Abraham and Isaac both showed their faith in God by going to Moriah!
M. Abraham was ready to kill Isaac but God stopped him (Gen. 22:9-14).
N. Isaac showed courage and faith in God by not crying or becoming afraid when his father
raised the knife to kill him.
O. Isaac went with his father and did what he was told just like the Lord Jesus Christ did what
His Father told Him to do!
P. Isaac obeyed his father.
Q. He was a good boy.
R. Isaac’s obedience to his father is a picture of God the Son’s obedience to His Father’s will!
S. We are to follow in their footsteps.
T. We should be obedient to our heavenly Father and our earthly father’s.
1 U. Isaac learned Bible Doctrine from his father and mother and became a hero also like his
parents did!
III. Isaac and Rebekah
A. Isaac was 40 years old and still hadn’t gotten married.
B. His mother had died a few years earlier.
C. He was spending too much time feeling sad over the death of his mother whom he loved
very much.
D. Isaac was also in the Negev which means that he was not into learning God’s Word at the
time.
E. Yet, God still blessed him because of his association with Abraham!
F. Abraham sent one of his trusted slaves to go and bring back a wife for Isaac from among his
people (Gen. 24).
G. Rebekah was the distant cousin of Abraham.
H. Rebekah lived in Mesopotamia in the city of Nahor.
I. Abraham wanted the slave to bring back a wife from among his relatives there.
J. The slave prayed to God to give him guidance in choosing the right women for Isaac and
granting him success (Gen. 24:12-14).
K. The servant met Rebekah at the well and she was the answer to the servant’s prayer (Gen.
24:15-26).
L. The servant told her parents about his mission to find a wife for his master’s son (Gen. 24:34-
51).
M. Rebekah’s parents let her go with the servant and marry Isaac.
N. The servant was very happy!
O. Rebekah was brought to Isaac while he was still feeling bad over his mother’s death.
P. When Isaac saw Rebekah he went “OH, BABY!”
Q. Isaac stop thinking about his dead mother and married Rebekah whom God had given to
him.
R. He loved Rebekah very much!
IV. Jacob and Esau
A. After 20 years of being married, Isaac and Sarah still had no children.
B. Back in the days when Abraham, Isaac and Jacob lived that was not good.
C. This was a terrible thing for the wife to go through because she couldn’t bear a child for her
husband.
D. Isaac prayed that the Lord would open Rebekah’s womb (Gen. 25:21).
E. The Lord answered Isaac’s prayer and Rebekah became pregnant with twins (Gen. 25:22-23).
F. The Lord told Rebekah that she had two nations in her womb, Jew and Gentile (Gen. 25:23).
G. Rebekah gave birth to two twin boys, Jacob and Esau!
H. Esau was the oldest because he came out first.
I. Jacob came out second.
J. Jacob was grabbing onto Esau’s heel when he came out after Esau (Gen. 25:26).
K. Esau was a hairy person like a chimp (Gen. 25:25)!
L. Isaac was 60 years old when Rebekah gave birth to the twins (Gen. 25:26).
M. Esau grew up and became a great hunter (Gen. 25:27).
N. Jacob hung around the house with his mother!
O. Isaac loved Esau because he like to play outdoors and was rough and tough.
P. Rebekah loved Jacob because he hung around the house vacuuming and cooking brownies
with his mother!
Q. Jacob was wimpy because he always hung around his mother in the house!
2 3
R. Esau was rough and tough and like to go out and kill animals for food!
S. Esau was not God’s choice to receive the promise from God!
T. Jacob was!
U. Jacob was a liar and a deceiver!
V. Jacob deceived Esau into giving him his birthright!
W. Esau didn’t think to much of his birthright.
X. Jacob did!
Y. Isaac blessed Jacob instead of Esau because he was God’s choice!
V. Isaac blesses Jacob
A. Isaac got old and became blind.
B. Isaac thought he was going to die so therefore he wanted to passed down the blessing to his
son Esau!
C. Esau was his favorite but not God’s choice to receive the blessing from God!
D. Jacob was God’s choice even though he was a liar and deceiver.
E. One day Rebekah was listening to Isaac and heard him instruct Esau to go out and kill him
his favorite game and prepare him dinner.
F. After the dinner, Isaac was going to bless Esau!
G. Rebekah wanted her favorite son Jacob to receive the blessing instead.
H. She came up with a plan to deceive her husband into giving Jacob the blessing.
I. She told Jacob to go out and get a goat and she would prepare a savory dish for Isaac.
J. She then put animal’s hair on Jacob’s arms so that he would feel like Esau.
K. Remember, Isaac can’t see anymore.
L. Jacob went along with his mother’s plan and deceived his father Isaac into giving him the
blessing instead of Esau (Gen. 27)!
M. Even though Jacob was a jerk, God still blessed him, Grace!
N. Isaac was going to do the wrong thing by blessing Esau!
O. Esau was not God’s choice but Jacob was!
P. Isaac realized that Jacob was God’s choice!
Q. God used the deception of his wife and son to bring to pass His plan!
R. Isaac showed his greatness by remembering the prophecy and believing.
S. The prophecy in Genesis 25:23 said that Esau the oldest must serve Jacob the youngest!
T. This was God’s plan!
U. Isaac remembered this prophecy from God and understood that Jacob must receive the
blessing even though Jacob was a deceiver and not Isaac’s favorite son!
V. Isaac showed his faith in the Lord by blessing Jacob instead of Esau!
W. Hebrews 11:20, “By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau, even regarding things to come.”
X. Isaac became a hero by obeying God’s prophecy in Genesis 25:23!
Y. Isaac blessed Jacob with the promise and not Esau which was the according to God’s plan!

Heroes of the Bible - Ruth

My home church is doing a sermon series this summer on "Heroes of the Bible". Last Sunday we looked at Abraham - link to my blog post here>  Abraham Now this past Sunday we looked at Ruth as a hero of the Bible. Pastor Ben was our speaker and I thought he had a very good message and discussion about Ruth. 
I took notes as he spoke and so here is some of what he said:

When you plant a garden, you get what you plant. If you plant peas you will get peas. If you plant corn you will get corn and not lima beans. You get what you plant. This is also a Biblical concept that we see right through the Bible.
Galatians 6:7-8  Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting

What you sow - you will reap - And what Ruth sows she ends up reaping. Ruth sowed kindness and that is what she ended up reaping.


Our text was Ruth 1 so please take the time to read it here below:

 Now it came to pass in the days when the judges ruled, that there was a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehemjudah went to sojourn in the country of Moab, he, and his wife, and his two sons.

2 And the name of the man was Elimelech, and the name of his wife Naomi, and the name of his two sons Mahlon and Chilion, Ephrathites of Bethlehemjudah. And they came into the country of Moab, and continued there.

3 And Elimelech Naomi's husband died; and she was left, and her two sons.

4 And they took them wives of the women of Moab; the name of the one was Orpah, and the name of the other Ruth: and they dwelled there about ten years.

5 And Mahlon and Chilion died also both of them; and the woman was left of her two sons and her husband.

6 Then she arose with her daughters in law, that she might return from the country of Moab: for she had heard in the country of Moab how that the Lord had visited his people in giving them bread.

7 Wherefore she went forth out of the place where she was, and her two daughters in law with her; and they went on the way to return unto the land of Judah.

8 And Naomi said unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the Lord deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me.

9 The Lord grant you that ye may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept.

10 And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people.

11 And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? are there yet any more sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands?

12 Turn again, my daughters, go your way; for I am too old to have an husband. If I should say, I have hope, if I should have an husband also to night, and should also bear sons;

13 Would ye tarry for them till they were grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the Lord is gone out against me.

14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her.

15 And she said, Behold, thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return thou after thy sister in law.

16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:

17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me.

18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her.

19 So they two went until they came to Bethlehem. And it came to pass, when they were come to Bethlehem, that all the city was moved about them, and they said, Is this Naomi?

20 And she said unto them, Call me not Naomi, call me Mara: for the Almighty hath dealt very bitterly with me.

21 I went out full and the Lord hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the Lord hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?

22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth the Moabitess, her daughter in law, with her, which returned out of the country of Moab: and they came to Bethlehem in the beginning of barley harvest.

Widows were the most vulnerable people in that society. So Naomi and her two daughters-in-law found themselves in a desperate spot. ( All three of them were widows). They are in need of protection and provision. So Naomi wants to go back to Israel.

Ruth consistently does what is right with no regard for her own future. She wants to take care of the ageing Naomi. Naomi sees no hope for Ruth. Ruth ( as widow of Naomi's deceased son ) understands her responsibility to care for Naomi. That is how things worked in that culture. It was the adult children's duty to  provide for ageing parents - there were no retirement homes etc. So Ruth accepts the cultural responsibility to take care of Naomi.
Ruth is loyal - She demonstrates loyalty to Naomi. Ruth constantly chooses to do what is right.
Ruth goes to work in the fields. This is an extremely dangerous thing to do. She has no husband and no male protector. There were guys who would take advantage of her situation. She is a foreigner with no protector.

We see Ruth doing what is right, not worrying about the future. She is going to reap what she sows.

By Divine Providence she happens to end up working in the fields of Boaz. Boaz instructs his workers to leave extra grain for Ruth to pick up. He doesn't do this because she is pretty or trying to win her heart. Boaz shows kindness to Ruth because he has heard of her loyalty and kindness toward her mother-in-law Naomi. He has been told what she has done for Naomi - Boaz shows loyalty to Ruth because she has shown loyalty to Naomi.
We must remember that these circumstances began in tragedy - in the death of Naomi's husband and two sons Mahlon and Chilion. Tragedy and disasters strike because we live in a fallen and broken world.

The things we plant in our lives will grow and produce.

What are you sowing in your life? 
*honesty - develops character where you are trustworthy
*lies and gossip - no one will trust you

What are we hoping to reap and harvest in our lives?
* strong friendships, good family relationships, close walk with God
What are you planting in order to develop that?

This is not instant - a garden takes time to grow

We want something to grow - it takes faithfulness, steadfastness and perseverance.

If you plant bad things - it will take time to fix
*you may change but people will not instantly necessarily believe you have changed. People will watch and take a step back and wait to see if there is change.
But don't give up - show complete dedication!

Ruth kept on doing right, and did not worry about the future.
Keep working and planting!
We will reap what we sow!

Abraham - Hero of the Bible

God wants you to worship Him, follow Him and thank Him!

James 2:22-23  Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?

 And the scripture was fulfilled which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God.

Our church is starting a sermon series titled "Heroes of the Bible". We started with Abraham. Later on in this post I will share the sermon notes from my home church. But I must admit that the sermon really didn't answer the question I have about Abraham. The question I have is why is Abraham a hero? What character trait is it that God is looking for in us that He would call us "friend" as He did with Abraham?  Jesus says in John 15:14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. So we see that obedience is part of it.

 I found the following article written by Jeff Strite. I think he makes a good point. You can read the entire article at  Abraham - Hero of the Faith   Mr Strite writes the following.

He was so significant, that in Genesis 12:2-3 we find that God sought Abraham out and gave him some very impressive promises. God said to Abraham:

"I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."

God promised he was going to make Abraham the father of a great nation and make his name would become great. Abraham would receive a special protection of God and not only was he to be blessed by God, but everybody on earth who would ever be blessed by God, was to blessed because of Abraham.

How did Abraham rate such an honor?

Because the eyes of the Lord had run to and fro throughout the whole earth to show Himself strong on behalf of those who were loyal to Him.

God set Abraham up to be one of the major heroes in Scripture. And God made him a hero because God saw in him a special trait – Faith.

Romans 4:9 tells us that “… Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.”

So much so that Romans 4:12 tells us “he is the father of (those) who walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.”

Faith is a highly valued commodity to God.

Heb 11:6 “…without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who diligently seek him.”

And Hebrews 10:38 says “… my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.”

God calls His people to LIVE by faith. That implies that not just any old faith is going to do. God wants a faith that changes how we live.

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 So we can see that it is when we put our faith in God that He becomes pleased with us. A faith that changes how we live, a faith that produces obedience to the Word of God - The Bible.

Hebrews 11: 8-12

 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.

 Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised.

 Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

It's pretty clear from the passage from Hebrews 11 that Abraham is a hero of the Bible because of the faith that he demonstrated as he lived his day to day life in faith - faith that influenced his decisions and choices every day.

Now to our sermon notes. 


The text is Genesis 12: 1-9 

Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

4 So Abram departed, as the Lord had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

7 And the Lord appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto theLord, who appeared unto him.

8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the Lord, and called upon the name of the Lord.

9 And Abram journeyed, going on still toward the south.

 Our speaker was Pastor Ben. Here is some of what he said:

Abraham is huge in the Bible. The Bible keeps referring back to Abraham.
God makes massive promises to Abraham in verses 2-3.
* I will make you a great nation 
* I will bless you and make your name great
* I will bless them that bless you and curse those who curse you
God promises to make Abraham a blessing to the entire world.
This seemed impossible to  Abraham - he was living in a tent in the middle east, doesn't even know that America exists. Abraham was about 75 years old when God called him. He is not a young man. Yet the promise of a great nation??

This shows us that you are never too old for God to work in your life. Abraham has no children, no power and no influence.

The question for us is "Is God Faithful and Can we trust Him?"
Can God be trusted to keep His Word?
God's promises are for abundant life to those who follow Him - Can He keep His Word?

Abraham demonstrates great faith when he packs up his family, his goods and possessions and goes as God commands him to do.
Abraham waits years and no child is born. Sarah and Abraham decide to "help" God with this so Hagar the slave is given to Abraham as wife in order to bear a child. Ishmael is born, but we soon learn that he is not the son that God has promised to Abraham and Sarah.
God reaffirms his promise to Abraham.

God is faithful and does keep His promises - Isaac is born.

It is our choice whether we want to keep walking with God or if we want to turn our back to God and walk away from Him. We can reject God's promises, but God does not give up on us nor does He forget His promises to us. God is faithful to His Word.

Abraham's name has become great.
Abraham has become a great nation - the nation of Israel.
God's promises have come to pass.
God is faithful to every one of His promises!!