Psalm of the Week - Psalm 34:1-3 - Week of April 27, 2014

1 I will extol the Lord at all times; his praise will always be on my lips.
2 I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
3 Glorify the Lord with me; let us exalt his name together

Life Application

I believe these three scriptures speak of faith in action. Will extol, will always be, will glory, and exalt are all verbs. The Lord is the object of my actions. I will praise him highly at all times. I will honor him with praise, admiration, and worship at all times. I will glory in the Lord always. I will always rejoice in triumph.I will take delight and be glad in the Lord at all times. I will always raise his name to the skies and be joyful. Let us always hear and intensify our faith together. Let us always praise the Lord widely and make him know publicly. I will let the word of God stimulate my faith at all times.

The Verb Definitions and Similar Verbs for Verses 1-3

extol - verb

• to praise highly

glorify - verb

• to honor with praise, admiration, or worship; extol

exalt - verb with an object

• to raise in rank, honor, power, character, quality, etc.; elevate: He was exalted to the position of president. to praise; extol: to exalt someone to the skies
• to stimulate, as the imagination: The lyrics of Shakespeare exalted the audience.
• to intensify, as a color: complementary colors exalt each other.

celebrate - verb with an object

• to observe (a day) or commemorate (an event) with ceremonies or festivities: to celebrate Christmas; to celebrate the success of a new play. 
• to make known publicly; proclaim: The newspaper celebrated the end of the war in red headlines.
• to praise widely or to present to widespread and favorable public notice, as through newspapers or novels: a novel celebrating the joys of marriage; the countryside celebrated in the novels of Hardy.
• to perform with appropriate rites and ceremonies; solemnize: to celebrate

rejoice -verb with and without an object

• to be glad; take delight
• to make joyful; gladden

The Captivity of Activity - Week 1

My Notes - Week 1 Introduction

• Opening prayer

• Taking a road trip to friend's house
• Luke 10:38 

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him.

• We are dropping by Martha's house today
• Martha and Mary 
• this lesson doesn't seem to stick and I have to learn it again -  the captivity of activity
• Luke 10:39-40

 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

• Martha wants Mary to help instead of sitting at the Lord's feet
• Martha complains to Jesus that Mary is not helping her.
• Which woman is you? Mary? or Martha?
• Martha is the one who opened her home to Jesus and the disciples. 
• Maybe Mary didn't offer because her home was too messy?
• By all the preparations that had to be made
• Pre in preparation got away from Martha.
• Luke 10:40-42

40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

• All scripture is God-breathed, say it.
• I wonder - why does the scripture, Luke 10:38-39, say "a woman named Martha, and her sister is called Mary" Why is that?

My Thoughts

If I had been at Martha's house, I would have been in the kitchen. I'm positive that I would have been concerned with getting the meal ready and served to the guests. 

Today, I want to be a blend of Martha and Mary. My bible study time is my Mary time. Time to sit at the Lord's feet and read his word. 

Battling Alcohol, Drugs, and Addictions with Scripture Prayer

My first exposure to scripture prayer was when a friend loaned me a Beth Moore book, Get Out of That Pit. In the back of the book were a scripture prayers for everyday of the week. The concept is fairly simple, but I had never thought of it. Using scripture for prayer is now a habit for me. Below is a scripture prayer to help combat addictions. Just place the name of the person(s), or your own name, in the blanks when you pray. The italicized words are my own additions.



Father God, you know________________has made mistakes because of wine, liquor, or drugs and through strong drink or drugs are out of control. ___________has erred in  the same way the priest and the prophet have through strong drink or drugs. ____________is swallowed up in alcohol or drugs and  _______________is out of the way through addiction._________________is making errors in vision and is stumbling in judgement. (Isaiah 28:7)

The acts of the flesh are obvious in ____________________life: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery(drinking, drugs, partying, running wild); idolatry (material things, making money, workaholic, alcohol, drug use) witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. Father, _______________________, will not inherit your kingdom living like this. (Galatians 5:19-21)

Let _____________________be sober and vigilant because his/her adversary is the devil. The devil is a roaring lion, walking about, seeking to devour____________________. (1Peter 5:8)

Help ______________________to not love the world, neither the things that are in the world like alcohol, drugs, money, and the many other distractions from the enemy.  (1 John 2: 15-17)

Father, help ______________________to not be a lover of pleasures more than a lover of God. (2 Timothy 3:4)

Let ________________________know that their body is a temple of the holy Spirit which is in you, and that they are not their own, but belong to you. (1 Corinthian 6:19)

I beseech you Lord, that ______________________would present themselves to you as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to you.(Romans 12:1)
Strengthen __________________________so they can do all things through Christ. (Philippians 4:13)

Amen

A Fight Worth Having - Conclusion

The videos for this series of posts have been removed from YouTube. My notes include all of the questions and scripture references from Beth's bible study.

My Notes Beginning with John 18:10

Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest's servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant's name was Malchus.)

• Continued from Part 5 
• What are we to learn from this exchange?

Ephesians 6:17-18 

 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.           (bold type is mine)

• We have a sword we can draw, the sword of the spirit, or the word of God
• The sword of the spirit is for battling principalities and powers.
• The sword of the spirit is to instruct or benefit the church and to build up, or uplift, God's people. It tells us who we are as God's people.
• In our religious pride, we pick fights with people we believe to be more carnal than we.
• We pull out our swords and instead of loving them because our sword tells us to love our enemies, we pull out our swords and slice of their ear until they want nothing to do with us.
• It would be a daunting, or dismaying,  conclusion to realize that WE are the biggest problem someone we want to come to Christ has, in coming to Christ.
• What if they are scared they are going to turn out like us? Is that not scary?
• But are we hateful with the word? 
• Sometimes the word is better stood upon, than preached upon in a fight with flesh and blood. All we are doing is cutting off their ear because we are using God against them instead of using God for them.
• It is our calling to love even our enemies.

2 Timothy 4:7

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 

• I want to learn how to have a good fight. 
• You want to know how to win a fight. 
• We have to keep the faith.
• Every relationship worth having is worth fighting for.
• Lay down the desire to be right. Lay down your pride and arrogance.
• We have to keep the faith. 
• Search for the unbelief, where is the enemy tempting you into unbelief?

I don't always fight like this, but when I want to have the most focused kind of war toward a situation this is what I do:

• Ask God to equip me with 5 or 10 scriptures that will reflect the situation. Then, I write or type them up and use the names of the persons involved in it. Then when I speak it, I am speaking straight to the situation. This is how to pull two sticks of dynamite together. When I begin to pray scripture, we are about to do some battle. This is a tool for battle!
• It is time to get mad. There is nothing wrong with getting mad as long as we focus it at the right enemy.
• Pick up the sword of the spirit and go straight to the enemy we really do have. You take up that energy and pick up the sword of the spirit and do not slice an ear off in the human realm. You go straight for the enemy that you really do have and start calling out the authority of God's word in prayer to your Father about your situation.
• You will feel your self begin to fill with faith. Fight with faith. 
• We have a God that is a warrior. The LORD is a WARRIOR. Exodus 15:3

A fight worth having is a fight for God. That's where our energy goes.

• Hold up that shield of faith and wield the sword of the spirit and God is with you, fighting for you.

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 33:18-22 - April 21, 2014

18 But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,

19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

20 We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield.

21  In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.

22  May your unfailing love be with us, Lord, even as we put our hope in you.

Personal Application

I have reverence and awe for the Lord. His eyes will be on me. I have hope in his unfailing love. I have hope that the Lord will deliver me from death and keep me alive during famine. I wait in hope for the Lord; he is my help and my shield. My heart rejoices in Him for I trust in his holy name. May your unfailing love be with me Lord, even as I put my hope in you. 

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! He is risen! My Lord Jesus Christ hung on a cross and rose from the dead for me! The Holy Spirit was sent to be with us because Jesus arose and ascended. I have salvation and reconciliation with God because Jesus followed God's plan. This morning means so much to me. I wouldn't want to spend it any other place than church and worship God.

A Fight Worth Having - Part 5

The videos for this series of posts have been removed from YouTube. My notes include all of the questions and scripture references from Beth's bible study.

My Notes

• Pride causes us to fight with God. 
• Pride puts us in opposition with God.

1 Peter 5:5

In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but shows favor to the humble.”

• God fights for the humble. 
• What part of our fight is pride? We have to get rid of pride.
• To fight a good fight, pride has to be set aside.
• Part of pride is that we do not want the other side to win. 
• So what if you don't win in their eyes?
• If you know you have the approval of God, you WIN.
• The person with the most mud doesn't win.
• Choose to fight for and NOT with.

1 Peter 5:6-7

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 

7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

• If we will humble ourselves, God will exalt us.
• We fight best on our knees.
• God fights for his children.
• Bow down to God. Bow because when he swings, his mighty arm will hit you if you are not bowed humbly before him.
• God's mighty arm will hit whoever is standing arrogantly before him.
• Be very careful. If you are being beaten down or up, get sound, godly counsel.
• This is not about physical conflict. If you are being abused or beaten down, get help.
• Some of the hardest fights we will have is the fight to get down on our knees and give up our pride before God.
• Sometimes, God wants us down. Our fight is for, not with.
• Religious pride.
• Hyper spiritual pride.

John 18:10

10 Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

• Do you find it peculiar that he had him hold still to cut his ear off? 
• I believe what he tried to do is to cut his head off.
• Think about that.

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 32:1-5 - April 13, 2014

1 Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.

2 Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.

3 When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

Personal Application

Lord, I am blissfully content since you forgave my transgressions. I am happy that your favor includes not counting my sins against me. When I kept quiet about my sins, my unhappiness kept me groaning and ill. My guilt sapped my strength. Then I turned to you and no longer tried to cover up the depths of my wrongdoings. I decided to confess my wrongs to you Lord. When I confessed, you forgave the sin and the guilt was gone. I am blessed.

Blessed - An Acrostic Praise

Blessed because I confessed,"Jesus is Lord."

Loved by the Lord

Enjoying peace

Surrounded by God's love because my

Sins were forgiven

Enfolded by joy

Delivered from sin

Psalm of the Week - Psalm 31:14-20 - Week of April 7, 2014

14 But I trust in you, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in your hands;
deliver me from the hands of my enemies,
from those who pursue me.
16 Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.
17 Let me not be put to shame, Lord,
for I have cried out to you;
but let the wicked be put to shame
and be silent in the realm of the dead.
18 Let their lying lips be silenced,
for with pride and contempt
they speak arrogantly against the righteous.
19 How abundant are the good things
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you bestow in the sight of all,
on those who take refuge in you.
20 In the shelter of your presence you hide them
from all human intrigues;
you keep them safe in your dwelling
from accusing tongues.

Personal Application

I know you keep good things stored up for me because I love you, adore you, and stand in awe of you. You will hide me from my enemies. The enemies who lie about me. The enemies who speak as if I am nothing. The enemies who take pride in looking down on me. I know you have good things saved for me and that you will give them to me in the sight of all. Especially those who take refuge in you. I am yours Lord. My life is yours. Let your face shine on me and save me with your unfailing love. I have turned to you, I have spoken to you, I have cried out to you when my enemies have attacked me. I know you will keep me safe and hide me from human intrigues and keep me safe from accusing tongues. Thank-you Father for your unfailing love. 

A Fight Worth Having - Part 4

The videos for this series of posts have been removed from YouTube. My notes include all of the questions and scripture references from Beth's bible study.

My Notes

• Figure out who my real enemy who
• Headship - headship means authority
• I do not want the authority of the enemy in any part of my life
• He has no right to take authority in a believer's life
• You can give him authority by giving him permission
• The enemy starts with the small things in our lives. We do not know we have been robbed.
• The Lord sets a table for you in the presence of your enemy.
• Fight the enemy. Fight for your surrendered ground. Fight for the things that He has no right to take anyway. Learn to fight with focus.

Point#1 Fight For and Not With

• Stop expending so much energy fighting with instead of for.
• Evaluate your fight. 
• Is it worth having?

Point #2 Keep Our Heads

Point #3 Lose Our Pride

1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. 

James 4:1-2 NIV

• We are mad at some people because we want something from them. 
• They are refusing to be a god in our life.
• We have real and valid desires in life, but flesh and blood cannot fill the cavern inside us.

Building 429 - A Christian Rock Band

Building 429 took their name from Ephesians 4:29.



Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up



I first heard this band on the Pandora station, Christian Rock Radio. I think you will love them as much as I do.

A Fight Worth Having - Part 3

The videos for this series of posts have been removed from YouTube. My notes include all of the questions and scripture references from Beth's bible study.

Week 3

2 Timothy 4:5

But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

Keep our heads -we are losing our heads in our conflicts
we are wounded of heart and fighting our battles with our wounded hearts hemorrhaging all over the place.
We want to fight with heart, but when our heart is wounded
Fighting out of a wounded heart hurts everyone - everyone is going to get bloodied
Fighting with wounded emotions will wound everyone around us.

Psalm 73:21-22

21 When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered,
22 I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you

Embarrassed yourself in a fight
Lost our head and fought with our bloodied hearts
We can't always be sure that what we feel is true
We have to keep our heads

Ephesians 6:10-12

10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 
11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. 
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

We cannot judge another persons heart
Only God can shed light and insight

1 Cor. 9:26

26 Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. 

Sometimes we are just mad and throwing punches
Figure out who your enemy is