Video Bible Lesson - Go to the Ant by Dr. Charles Stanley

Go to the Ant
by Dr. Charles Stanley

1/2 Hour of God’s Power with Scott Ralls

1/26/2020

01/26/2020

Go to the Ant
Dr. Charles Stanley
Proverbs 6:6-8
God is a masterful Creator. He has integrated many of His principles into the fabric of nature so that we can see His handiwork and learn of Him (Ps. 19:1-6). If you desire to acquire wisdom, do not neglect to look outdoors for His lessons.
Now, of course, the outdoors sometimes comes inside. If you’ve ever battled ants in your kitchen or pantry, wisdom probably isn’t the first trait you would attribute to them—you probably would choose a description more like determination. But to the lazy person, God points out these tiny creatures as an example of wise living. Simply consider how many characteristics of the ant people would be smart to adopt: preparation, cooperation, perseverance, diligence, unity, and the list goes on. So interacting with righteous men isn’t the only way to acquire wisdom. God also wants us to observe the lowly ant that He created to work in community.
There’s much to learn from the created world. By directing attention to the birds, Jesus challenges His followers to consider the folly of anxiety (Matt. 6:26). Birds do not reap or gather grain but rather assume their food will be supplied as it always has been. The lesson in this observation of nature is that the Lord who provides for birds can be trusted to meet His people’s needs as well.
Our quest for wisdom is to be rooted in Scripture and covered in prayer. But don’t overlook the many lessons unfolding right outside the front door. Ask God for “eyes to see” (Mark 8:18). Then take every chance to grow in understanding so your capacity to live by His principles will be strengthened.

#Jesus, #Christian, #Bible, #Salvation, #Heaven, #God, #HolySpirit

10 Popular Statements that Are Theologically Unsound

Chara Donahue

Anyone who has been reading the Bible for any amount of time knows that the world is filled with thoughts and ideas that stand in opposition to God. Yet, it’s easy to find ourselves adopting popular thought and repeating it without filtering it through a biblical worldview.

Some of the statements floating around sound spiritual, but that doesn’t mean they are biblical. The following 10 statements have missed the theologically correct benchmark, some just ever so slightly, but nevertheless enough to become problematic.

1. I know God forgives me, but I just can't forgive myself.

Simply put, believing this statement shows that you believe you know better than God. Are we really so bold as to tell God, “Your sacrifice wasn’t good enough. Your forgiveness wasn't wide enough”? Sometimes it is actually pride demanding that our guilt remain.

What we really need is to accept and rest in God’s forgiveness because the Scriptures teach that, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

2. Everyone is inherently good.

It is much easier to live in a world where this feels true; however, Scripture does not support this idea, and neither does the world we live in. Psalm 143:2 states, “Do not bring your servant into judgment, for no one living is righteous before you.” And Romans 11:32 says, “For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.”

There are many more Scriptures that could be listed, but the biblical fact remains: we are all sinners by nature. While we are capable of doing good things and were originally created to desire things that are good, we are not inherently good.

Sadly, people are far more capable of evil than we wish they were. But Jesus met the high standards of holiness, and he made a way for his righteousness to more than cover our sin.

3. I'll sleep when I'm dead.

This statement is motivational, and the go-getter attitude is inspiring. However, rest is a spiritual necessity that too many people neglect. We must make room for Sabbath rest. We do not permit idleness or laziness, but we do sleep.

We should steward our bodies well; they are temporary but they are a gift. You cannot work, have fun, or minister to your greatest capability if you are sleep-deprived.

The love of God offers peace and rest. We are told in Psalm 127:2, “In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat—for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

4. God helps those who help themselves.

This statement is full of rugged, independent self-reliance that lacks the humility to acknowledge our absolute dependence on God for each breath we draw. Jesus helped the poor and the weak. He healed those who could not heal themselves. He saves those who call on his name, knowing they cannot cleanse their own souls.

Romans 5:6 reminds us that "...when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." 

So, while we obey what God tells us to do, we also acknowledge that the help we get is not something we earn, but something we are given.

5. Follow your heart.

Our hearts don’t always offer wise counsel. In fact, some of the most foolish council we could ever listen to comes from our hearts.

Our sinful nature can be loud and convincing, but just because we feel a certain direction might be best, make us happy, or provide momentary fulfillment doesn’t mean it will. In fact, following every whim of our hearts will leave us exhausted and lead us toward captivity, not freedom.

Paul teaches in Galatians 5:17 that we might feel drawn in one of two directions on any given day and we must be aware of the battle: “For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”

6. Look out for yourself first.

Jesus would never have taken the cross that ransomed our souls if he followed this adage. This is obviously a self-focused mentality and is the mindset of someone living in fear that there will not be enough for them.

A life of competition, fear, and self-preservation can lead to exhaustion, depression, and anxiety. We were made to live in community; shielding ourselves from laying down our desires for others means denying the greatest form of love. Jesus taught, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13).

7. God will never give you more than you can handle.

Most people who believe this idea is biblical support it by quoting 1 Corinthians 10:13: “No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.” Note that this verse is talking about temptation, not the weight of life’s circumstances.

The comforting thought of not being given anything beyond what we can bear is not found in Scripture, and anyone who has lived long enough to witness suffering knows it is not true.

But do not lose hope.

”My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:2)

He not only tells us that he will come to our aid, but he comforts us as well. In  Isaiah 41:10, we are encouraged with these words: “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Life may have more than we can handle, but it will never be more than God can handle.

8. Better safe than sorry.

Wisdom is important, but securing our own safety is not something we can do. There is a difference between using wisdom (which we are commanded to do) and never taking a risk.

God is our hiding place, and Psalm 46:1 reminds us that, “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.”

This is part of who God is, and he will continue to be those things wherever we go. This does not mean we should be taking unnecessary or foolish risks, but it does mean that if God asks us to take a chance, we should.

If we don’t follow where God leads out of fear or hopes of gaining safety, we will miss out on the life he wants for us. And if we miss the blessings of God, the sorrow will outweigh any amount of safety.

9. People don’t really change.

What a defeatist statement. It goes along with, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” But we serve a God who loves to talk about renewal and repentance in his word.

We don’t discover a bad attitude in ourselves or others and then just let is stay because we can’t change. No! We look to the God of redemption and ask for his mercies that are new every morning to heal us, change us, and transform us.

Real change is always available and it is found at the feet of our Savior.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

10. It’s about the journey, not the destination.

All the journeys we take matter, and they will all lead us to one of two eternal destinations. Your choice of receiving the forgiveness and righteousness of Christ determines your ultimate destination—heaven or hell.

"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life." (Matthew 25:46)

Believers have the joy of living with the hope of heaven, and we need not diminish the greatness of that destination by saying it’s all about the journey. This is a both/and situation. The journey helps us find Christ and be transformed into his likeness, but the destination means being with him and his people forever in perfect, unbroken fellowship.

Are we Waiting on God or is God Waiting on Us?

Are we Waiting on God or is God Waiting on Us?

I have begun to give;…begin to possess (Deuteronomy 2:31).

A great deal is said in the Bible about waiting for God. The lesson cannot be too strongly enforced. We easily grow impatient of God's delays. Much of our trouble in life comes out of our restless, sometimes reckless, haste. We cannot wait for the fruit to ripen, but insist on plucking it while it is green. We cannot wait for the answers to our prayers, although the things we ask for may require long years in their preparation for us. We are exhorted to walk with God; but ofttimes God walks very slowly. But there is another phase of the lesson. God often waits for us.

We fail many times to receive the blessing He has ready for us, because we do not go forward with Him. While we miss much good through not waiting for God, we also miss much through over-waiting. There are times when our strength is to sit still, but there are also times when we are to go forward with a firm step.

There are many Divine promises which are conditioned upon the beginning of some action on our part. When we begin to obey, God will begin to bless us. Great things were promised to Abraham, but not one of them could have been obtained by waiting in Chaldea. He must leave home, friends, and country, and go out into unknown paths and press on in unfaltering obedience in order to receive the promises. The ten lepers were told to show themselves to the priest, and "as they went they were cleansed." If they had waited to see the cleansing come in their flesh before they would start, they would never have seen it. God was waiting to cleanse them; and the moment their faith began to work, the blessing came.

When the Israelites were shut in by a pursuing army at the Red Sea, they were commanded to "Go forward." Their duty was no longer one of waiting, but of rising up from bended knees and going forward in the way of heroic faith. They were commanded to show their faith at another time by beginning their march over the Jordan while the river ran to its widest banks. The key to unlock the gate into the Land of Promise they held in their own hands, and the gate would not turn on its hinges until they had approached it and unlocked it. That key was faith.

We are set to fight certain battles. We say we can never be victorious; that we never can conquer these enemies; but, as we enter the conflict, One comes and fights by our side, and through Him we are more than conquerors. If we had waited, trembling and fearing, for our Helper to come before  we would join the battle, we should have waited in vain. This would have been the over-waiting of unbelief. God is waiting to pour richest blessings upon you. Press forward with bold confidence and take what is yours. "I have begun to give, begin to possess."
--J. R. Miller

A Prayer from Psalm 91(Peace in God's Shadow) 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

A Prayer from Psalm 91By: Debbie McDaniel

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” Psalm 91:1

We trudged slowly back to the car through a crowded parking lot in the Texas summer heat. Hot, humid, full sun bearing down. I noticed my daughter matching my steps, walking close by my side the entire way back. Little legs stretching out as far as they could to match my stride. She smiled up at me and said, "Mom, look, I'm walking in your shade." She'd found the shadow, the safe place to walk. I loved that my side was her shield, giving her protection from the heat.

We may not always see it, or feel it, we might forget it’s there at times, or even wonder if God has left us to fend for ourselves in the heat of hard situations of life. But His protection is real. He doesn't, He can't, forget us or ignore us. If we belong to Him, His love is too great to leave us on our own.

In whatever troubles we face today, God is the place of refuge we can run to, He is our safe place.

A reminder for us, especially in the tough stuff, that we never walk alone. Full heat of troubles bearing down hard, heavy, it’s a struggle at times to keep trudging through it all. Pressure and stress can seem as stifling as a hot afternoon summer sun. Yet God whispers truth, strong and sure, “Walk in my shadow, up close to my side.  It’s in the safe place that brings confidence; for when we are resting in God’s shadow, we will never face the full heat of our difficulties. He shelters from that pain. His shade, His shadow, diminishes what is actually felt in the intensity of all the heat. Rest, peace, and calm rise up strong, right in the struggling mess of life, and we’re assured, He's in control.

Don’t ever doubt it. God works on behalf of those who love Him and honor His name. He is so good to us. We may never fully know, this side of heaven, how very much He has sheltered us from in this life.

A Prayer from Psalm 91:

Dear God, Thank you for your presence with us, thank you for your Almighty Shadow. Thank you that you go before us, and cover us from behind. Thank you that you are in our midst, and that our future is secure in the place you're preparing for us.

Your words bring such hope and comfort. Remind us of your strength today, may we see glimpses of your glory and blessing along the way as we seek after you. For victory and salvation are found in you alone. In the Mighty Name of Jesus, Amen.

Do You Know Why Jesus Uses the Phrase “I Am”?

Do You Know Why Jesus Uses the Phrase “I Am”?
By Michael J. Kruger

“Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” – John 8:58

One of the most stunning scenes in the Gospel of John is when Jesus debates the Jewish leadership at the end of chapter eight and declares, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am” (8:58). There is little doubt that this constituted a claim of divinity because in the very next verse we read, “So they picked up stones to throw at him” (8:59).

While there is little doubt that the Jews understood Jesus to be claiming a divine identity, there is some doubt regarding why they believed this. What is the background of Jesus’ “I am” declaration? Most of the time, it is assumed that Jesus is alluding to Ex 3:14 when Yahweh expresses his own name as “I am who I am.”

This is certainly a possibility. But the Greek constructions are not precisely the same. There is another possibility that is more likely the background of Jesus’ “I am” declarations, namely the book of Isaiah, particularly chapters 40-55. Not only are these chapters formative for early Christian theology (e.g., Is 40:3/Mark 1:3), but they contain some of the most direct declarations of God’s identity as the only true God. And many of these declarations use precisely the same “I am” construction (ego eimi).

A few examples:

Isaiah 41:4 Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the LORD, the first, and with the last; I am he (ego eimi).

Isaiah 43:10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the LORD, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he (ego eimi). Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.

Isaiah 48:12 “Listen to me, O Jacob, and Israel, whom I called! I am he (ego eimi); I am the first, and I am the last.

These instances show that Isaiah uses the “I am” language to emphasize God’s exclusive status as the one true God. The phrase, in essence, means “I am [He]” or “I am [the One]” or “I am [the LORD].”

If so, then this brings insight into how John uses the “I am” language outside of John 8:58. For instance, when Jesus is arrested in the garden, he declares in 18:6: “I am he (ego eimi).” While most readers would miss the connection here, the response of the soldiers gives us a clue to what is meant: “When Jesus said to them, ‘I am he (ego eimi)’ they drew back and fell to the ground” (18:6).

The falling back is a contextual clue that Jesus is speaking like God speaks in Isaiah. Thus, there is likely a double entendre here in 18:6. On the one hand Jesus is simply answering the soldiers’ question by saying, “I am he [the one you are looking for].” But, on the other hand, he is saying, “I am he [the one true God].”

In the end, the “I am” language in John is a likely reference to God’s self-declarations in Isaiah, and thus a dramatic claim by Jesus to be the one true God of Israel. By appealing to Isaiah, Jesus is not portraying himself as another God, but the one and the same God of the Jews.

Blessed are the Meek

Blessed are the Meek
 by Sarah Phillips

Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Mt 5: 5 (NIV)

I used to have a strong dislike for the word "meek." It brings me back more than a decade to a defining moment during my sophomore year of high school.

I was a shy teenager who had stepped outside of her comfort zone by enrolling in several theater classes, including a class on "behind the scenes" theater productions. This should have been the easiest of all the courses for my sensitive nature. But my instructor, while delegating roles for the Spring production of Peter Pan, proved me wrong when she voiced her choice of stage manager like this:

"I've chosen Melissa because I need someone with a strong personality - someone who isn't meek, like Sarah."

Of course, I only drove her point home when I didn't stick up for myself. I spent years after that scene developing assertiveness, determined to prove that Sarah was not meek. Like this teacher, I associated meekness with weakness and both were traits that needed to be eradicated if I was going to get anywhere in life.

At least that's what I thought until I found that dreaded word jumping off the pages of scripture at me in the Gospel of Matthew. There it was, one of the first things Jesus says in his famous Sermon on the Mount.

Our deacon offered some thoughts on this verse that helped put things in perspective for me. He shared that it's in the Sermon on the Mount where we see Jesus begin to expand on His true purpose - and to the disappointment of many, He was not going to be an earthly king bestowing power and prestige on His people, not just yet. Instead, God's plan for mankind included an interior transformation of souls for the sake of an eternal kingdom. To properly prepare us for this kingdom, God rejected earthly methods of acquiring power in favor of the healing that comes with merciful love.

It is God's mercy that changes our hearts from hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. It's Christ's humility, His lowliness, that beckons us into a relationship with Him. And ultimately, it was Christ's willingness to give up earthly glory that opened the door for us to share in His eternal glory.

Now, as much as I would like earthly power, He asks us to "learn from him." As our souls find rest in God, He can continue His redemptive work through us as we display these same "weaker" virtues to the world.

This isn't to say God lacks power or that Christians should throw out virtues like courage. I think sometimes cultivating traits like meekness and humility are trickier than learning boldness because we can easily tip the scales too far and become passive. It's a difficult balance, but a necessary one if we want to reflect Christ to a hurting world.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Is there a situation in your life right now that would benefit from a little meekness, humility, or gentleness on your part? Ask God to show you how to have a meek and humble heart like His - one that offers healing and restoration while maintaining your God-given dignity.