Wednesday Easter Week Five -- May 21
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Meditation
Wednesday, Easter Week Five drew from three separate aspects or perspectives of faith. The Psalmist cried unto the Lord, because of being overwhelmed with weakness, sickness and injury that he understood to be a result of his faithlessness, causing God to take action, “You were angry with me and threw me away.”
But the Psalmist knew that God would save him and rebuild their broken city of Zion, because of who God was. He loved his chosen people and would respond when they asked for help.
The wisdom of the Psalmist—knowing that God would be there, when he called upon him—was clarified further in the lesson from Proverbs, where the emphasis was the importance of finding wisdom. With wisdom—implementing knowledge—the result was prosperity in all aspects of life. God—the beginning of wisdom—had to be the focus of the believer’s attention.
In the New Testament lesson, a debate had arisen about “who was better?” It has been an issue which surfaced as early as Cain and Abel and it continues with debates among denominations today who claim others are not saved while their own faith group owns the sole rights to salvation.
The leaders of the Jews—many having shifted to believing Jesus—approached Jesus and declared themselves to be the pure descendants of Abraham—as the law had demanded. Especially when Jesus had stated that ‘following him would set people free.’ They reacted with anger that since they were not slaves, how did they need to be set free?
This was where the three lessons joined together. All people (children of the Promise and Gentiles) were slaves to sin. Being born a Jew didn’t mean you were without sin. The Psalmist knew that his problems arose out of disobedience to God. The writer of Proverbs highlighted the importance of wisdom to discern the right from wrong and so produce the best results—prosperity (which corroborated the Prosperity Gospel ideas that if you please God, God will bless you with success).
A critical distinction must be made—our view of success versus God’s view of success. We see success as ‘living well’ with all our needs and wants met on this earth.
For God, success is tied to saving lost souls, resulting in the prosperity of eternal life—Jesus talked about his going to prepare a place for the saved in prior lessons.
Salvation of souls for life eternal—the primary result for Jesus—shifted the success to the afterlife. For God, not bound by space and time, the arena of success encompasses a much larger picture.
All the wisdom of Jesus focused on saving souls. His discussions pointed the way. Following him produced salvation. Salvation produced freedom. Not accepting Jesus’ words meant the subject was a slave to sin.
Jesus knew the Jews needed the reference of history, so he showed that he did the work of his father. He compared the Jewish heritage of following in their fathers’ paths with his own following of his Father.
Bringing the three together, the wisdom of Proverbs directed believers to ‘find wisdom’ and things would go well. The New Testament Gospel identified the truth of following Jesus, so it would become the believer’s responsibility to follow Jesus or reject him—and stand accountable for the choice. Wisdom pointed to obeying Jesus’ call to follow his truth, which would set people free.
Freedom. People fight to the death for it. Jesus’ death paid for freedom. We simply must show our own wisdom by accepting it, and the truth will set us free.
Thanks be to God.¬¬
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Season of Easter Bible Readings
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 102:1-17;Proverbs 3:13-18;John 8:31-38&version=NIV;ERV;GNT;NCV;KJV (multiple versions)
Wednesday, Easter Week Five
Psalm 102:1-17
Proverbs 3:13-18
John 8:31-38
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Proverbs 3:5-12 King James Version (KJV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths
Season of Easter Music
God Will Take Care of You – Aretha Franklin
[embed]
http://youtu.be/SDroNc1-RzE [/embed]
Single Bible Study chapter to study
John 8:31-38
King James Version (KJV)
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, we thank you for leading the Jews out of Egypt and preparing the path for them. We give you honor for all you did to protect them and lead them to the Promised Land. Equip us to hear as Moses did and follow in the way you have designed, that we might glorify your name in all the earth. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Wednesday, Easter Week Five set believers free. Once applying the wisdom of the Proverbs and calling upon God to help, the New Testament Gospel lesson drove the message home—follow Jesus and you will be set free. Truth will set you free.
Freedom. Many across the world are fighting for freedom. We pray the truth will set them free and continue my call for us to lift those in harm’s way to find freedom and salvation.
I call upon all to pray. Pray for friends, family, neighbors, communities, enemies, and the world. Pray. For the lost lives on the ferries in South Korea. For the kidnapped girls. For war ridden locations, especially Syria and Ukraine. Both are suffering at the hand of evil.
I feel compelled to repeat this: especially pray for the faith of a young woman:
“The news reports out of Sudan declared a 27 year old pregnant mother of one to be whipped and hung because she did not recant her faith in Jesus. Her brother, a Muslim, brought the law against her because her father was Muslim and her mother a Christian. Raised mostly by the mother after her father left, the current Sudanese law says it is illegal to convert from Islam.
Pray for Meriam Yehya Ibrahim that her faith will grow stronger. That God will be glorified. That a miracle of intervention for her life may help people convert.”
Again, the memory verse underscored today’s lesson: whether your life is going well or you are living on the edge, the truth of the Wisdom of Proverbs has never failed. We can trust in the Lord with all our hearts to bring us to the wisdom that will set us free.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
.
Wednesday, Easter Week Five drew from three separate aspects or perspectives of faith. The Psalmist cried unto the Lord, because of being overwhelmed with weakness, sickness and injury that he understood to be a result of his faithlessness, causing God to take action, “You were angry with me and threw me away.”
But the Psalmist knew that God would save him and rebuild their broken city of Zion, because of who God was. He loved his chosen people and would respond when they asked for help.
The wisdom of the Psalmist—knowing that God would be there, when he called upon him—was clarified further in the lesson from Proverbs, where the emphasis was the importance of finding wisdom. With wisdom—implementing knowledge—the result was prosperity in all aspects of life. God—the beginning of wisdom—had to be the focus of the believer’s attention.
In the New Testament lesson, a debate had arisen about “who was better?” It has been an issue which surfaced as early as Cain and Abel and it continues with debates among denominations today who claim others are not saved while their own faith group owns the sole rights to salvation.
The leaders of the Jews—many having shifted to believing Jesus—approached Jesus and declared themselves to be the pure descendants of Abraham—as the law had demanded. Especially when Jesus had stated that ‘following him would set people free.’ They reacted with anger that since they were not slaves, how did they need to be set free?
This was where the three lessons joined together. All people (children of the Promise and Gentiles) were slaves to sin. Being born a Jew didn’t mean you were without sin. The Psalmist knew that his problems arose out of disobedience to God. The writer of Proverbs highlighted the importance of wisdom to discern the right from wrong and so produce the best results—prosperity (which corroborated the Prosperity Gospel ideas that if you please God, God will bless you with success).
A critical distinction must be made—our view of success versus God’s view of success. We see success as ‘living well’ with all our needs and wants met on this earth.
For God, success is tied to saving lost souls, resulting in the prosperity of eternal life—Jesus talked about his going to prepare a place for the saved in prior lessons.
Salvation of souls for life eternal—the primary result for Jesus—shifted the success to the afterlife. For God, not bound by space and time, the arena of success encompasses a much larger picture.
All the wisdom of Jesus focused on saving souls. His discussions pointed the way. Following him produced salvation. Salvation produced freedom. Not accepting Jesus’ words meant the subject was a slave to sin.
Jesus knew the Jews needed the reference of history, so he showed that he did the work of his father. He compared the Jewish heritage of following in their fathers’ paths with his own following of his Father.
Bringing the three together, the wisdom of Proverbs directed believers to ‘find wisdom’ and things would go well. The New Testament Gospel identified the truth of following Jesus, so it would become the believer’s responsibility to follow Jesus or reject him—and stand accountable for the choice. Wisdom pointed to obeying Jesus’ call to follow his truth, which would set people free.
Freedom. People fight to the death for it. Jesus’ death paid for freedom. We simply must show our own wisdom by accepting it, and the truth will set us free.
Thanks be to God.¬¬
All Scriptures printed below are in King James Version for copyright purposes. However, clicking on the verse locations will take you to Biblegateway.com where the text is linked to more contemporary versions.
Prayer: Almighty God, Open my eyes that I might see. Open my mind that I might understand. Open my heart that I might make your words a part of me. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in your sight. Amen
Season of Easter Bible Readings
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm 102:1-17;Proverbs 3:13-18;John 8:31-38&version=NIV;ERV;GNT;NCV;KJV (multiple versions)
Wednesday, Easter Week Five
Psalm 102:1-17
Proverbs 3:13-18
John 8:31-38
Daily Bible Verses to Memorize for Meditating
Proverbs 3:5-12 King James Version (KJV)
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths
Season of Easter Music
God Will Take Care of You – Aretha Franklin
[embed]
http://youtu.be/SDroNc1-RzE [/embed]Single Bible Study chapter to study
John 8:31-38
King James Version (KJV)
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
33 They answered him, We be Abraham's seed, and were never in bondage to any man: how sayest thou, Ye shall be made free?
34 Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
35 And the servant abideth not in the house for ever: but the Son abideth ever.
36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
37 I know that ye are Abraham's seed; but ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you.
38 I speak that which I have seen with my Father: and ye do that which ye have seen with your father.
OBSERVE:
Take a moment and write three observations of the verses. What strikes you? An observation is an observable fact from the Word.
1.
2.
3.
INTERPRETATION:
What do you interpret these verses to mean for you today?
APPLY:
Today, I learned _____________________________________and apply it to my life.
Prayer of Encouragement
Almighty God, we thank you for leading the Jews out of Egypt and preparing the path for them. We give you honor for all you did to protect them and lead them to the Promised Land. Equip us to hear as Moses did and follow in the way you have designed, that we might glorify your name in all the earth. In Jesus name, Amen
Conclusion
Wednesday, Easter Week Five set believers free. Once applying the wisdom of the Proverbs and calling upon God to help, the New Testament Gospel lesson drove the message home—follow Jesus and you will be set free. Truth will set you free.
Freedom. Many across the world are fighting for freedom. We pray the truth will set them free and continue my call for us to lift those in harm’s way to find freedom and salvation.
I call upon all to pray. Pray for friends, family, neighbors, communities, enemies, and the world. Pray. For the lost lives on the ferries in South Korea. For the kidnapped girls. For war ridden locations, especially Syria and Ukraine. Both are suffering at the hand of evil.
I feel compelled to repeat this: especially pray for the faith of a young woman:
“The news reports out of Sudan declared a 27 year old pregnant mother of one to be whipped and hung because she did not recant her faith in Jesus. Her brother, a Muslim, brought the law against her because her father was Muslim and her mother a Christian. Raised mostly by the mother after her father left, the current Sudanese law says it is illegal to convert from Islam.
Pray for Meriam Yehya Ibrahim that her faith will grow stronger. That God will be glorified. That a miracle of intervention for her life may help people convert.”
Again, the memory verse underscored today’s lesson: whether your life is going well or you are living on the edge, the truth of the Wisdom of Proverbs has never failed. We can trust in the Lord with all our hearts to bring us to the wisdom that will set us free.
Go out and be ready for God to do mighty things in your life—for the glory of God.*
Thank you for visiting ChapLynne’s Daily Encouragement and Bible Study. God bless you.
*If you do not know the Lord as your personal Savior and you are seeking, please contact me. A genuine and simple prayer, asking God into your heart for the forgiveness of your sins will also do.
.
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