Mature Adult Bible Study Class Blog

Put Your Heart Into It!

richard-lehman@sbcglobal.net (Richard Lehman) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:49:29 +0000

I have been asked why I put so much time and detail into little insignificant things such as a tag for a treat bag for the Bible Story Time children; “After all, they will probably just rip it off and throw it on the ground.” But I do not even consider this fact when making my tags or doing other seemingly insignificant tasks for God. I always want to do my very best for God. I want the finished product to say, “I love you God," and I want others to feel God’s love even in the simplest things.

Have you ever stopped to consider all the beautiful things and attention to the minutest details God has put into His creation? How many beautiful little flowers open up their petals and smile at the world, unnoticed by human eye. How many magnificent sunsets do people, in their haste to get home, never see. How many lovely songs of praise the birds sing out all the day long, that are unheard by human ear. Yet God never says, “I might as well not let the sunset be so beautiful tonight because nobody notices it anyway.” No! God sends forth package upon package of beautiful heavenly gifts day after day for all mankind to enjoy:

“For he maketh the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.”Matthew 5:45

When God creates something He does a good job:

“And God saw everything that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” Genesis 1:31

“He hath made everything beautiful in His time.” Eccl. 3:11

God gave to us heavens best as a gift of love- his own dear precious son, Jesus Christ; and he didn’t wait until he believed we would appreciate it either:

“For God commendeth His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

So it stands to reason that we as Christians, who have been changed into the likeness of Christ, whom is the expressed image of God, that we should always do our very best in everything that we do:

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.”

Colossians 3:23

heartily: with all sincerity; with zest or gusto; thoroughly- in other words put your heart into it!

You see God has an all seeing and all knowing eye. He sees the little special tags and knows the sacrifice of love from the heart towards him. He knows when we are doing our best, and when we are not. It may never be noticed by human eye but every effort is seen by God and he knows when we have put our heart into what we do for his sake- and someday, if we are faithful, God himself will commend us:

“His lord said unto him, well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” Matthew 25:21

Opinions Verses Truth

richard-lehman@sbcglobal.net (Richard Lehman) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 07:13:07 +0000

Standing for God’s word is not about our opinion. What we stand on should be founded on biblical principals. A lot of our opinions have been shaped by what we were raised with. People can hold opinions very strong.

"And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all not teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." Acts 4:18-20
Peter and John were standing before the council. They stood for what they knew to be true.
"Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for hey feared the people, lest they should have been stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did we not straightly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us. Then Peter and the other abpostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." Acts 5:26-29

In Numbers 13, we read the about when Moses sent men to spy out the promised land and bring back word. Caleb and Joshua were subject to the same types of human emotions as their fellow spies. They too witnessed the giants who were the sons of Anak. The walls that they came against were tall and thick. Jericho’s walls were twenty feet thick and twenty five feet tall. However, Caleb and Joshua based their actions on their confidence in God, not the abilities of the Israelites.

We can’t avoid the big problems in life. We must face them with confidence in God’s word. Stand for what is true. It is not about your opinion. We will sometimes be put in situations where everyone else will go the other way. It can be uncomfortable. You can’t give in to group-thinking. Group-thinking is what the group has made a decision about to go a certain way but if it goes against the core principals of God you can’t go. You can’t allow what seems to be the majority to influence you.

Most of the spies sent out came back with an opinion concerning the fact that the land was good, but that they were not strong enought to go against the inhabitants of the land. Caleb and Joshua could have been taken up with the same emotion as the rest ot the spies. They were influenced by everything they saw, just like the other ten. But numbers cannot measure the truth. Often it stands against majority’s opinion.

Just because society or group-thinking has decided something is right, doesn’t make it right. Just because they think something is wrong doesn’t make it wrong. Social norms and majority opinions do not nullify the truth or cause us to no longer believe God’s promises.

Peter stood up and said, “you rulers of the people, and elders of Israel”. He didn’t care who it was, he just stood for what he knew to be right.
Our actions should not fall in line with societies expectations. It used to be that the mass wanted to do what was right. In 2009, the mass wants to go for what is wrong and a lone island wants to do what is right.

You just do what you know is right and you will receive your reward. We don’t know how the reward will come about. Witnessing the saving of a soul due to the impact of your stand for the truth can be the reward.

Not Worthy

richard-lehman@sbcglobal.net (Richard Lehman) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:52:47 +0000

"And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:" Luke 7:2-4

Here we read of a man who was a centurion. A centurion was a professional officer in the Roman army. He commanded about 80 men. So he was high ranking in his position. We see here how he was pleading to Jesus for his servant. The elders of the Jews were telling Jesus that this centurion was worthy of Jesus to come and heal this servant.

They tell Jesus:

"For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:" Luke 7:5-6

This centurion knew who he was before Jesus. He knew he was not worthy, pretty much a nothing before the Lord.

"Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick" Luke 7: 7-10

Because of this centurions humble position before the Lord, the Lord answered his prayer. How we also need to come unto the Lord with such a humble attitude and to know that we are nothing, that we are not worthy either. People need to come to the Lord in just that same attitude before they get saved and even after we are saved. What a wonderful illustration and a reminder of our attitude before Jesus.

God Moves on Prayer

richard-lehman@sbcglobal.net (Richard Lehman) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:28:59 +0000

In the book of Numbers chapter 14, we read about how the people of Israel were rebelling against God, and God's anger was kindled against them to the point that he was set on destroying them. He said to Moses in verse 12: "I will smite them with the pestilence, and disinherit them, and will make of thee a greater nation and mightier than they." But Moses interceded for the people. He was looking for God to spare the Israelites.

God was moved by Moses' prayer. It spared all those who were aged nineteen and under. He influenced God by his prayer. Moses could have just stepped back and washed his hands of the rebellious people. He could have said that he was fed up with the constant complaining. No doubt, Moses was tired of listening to the complaints. Moses was probably discouraged about the Israelites.

That will help us when we look for God to deal with a soul. We might feel the same way sometimes. We may have been working with a soul for a long time and they don’t seem to be moving towards salvation. We must give it to God and ask for the will of God to be done. We don’t want God to do something just because we feel it should happen. We can intercede but we must ask for the will of God to be done.

"And he went a little farther and fell on his face, and prayed saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. And he cometh unto his discilpes and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter. What. could ye not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again the second time, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done." Matthew 26:39-42

Sometimes the flesh is willing to just give up. We can’t let the flesh rule our heart. Jesus set an example for us. We can’t lose sight of the responsibility that God has placed on us. We might feel the burden, but nevertheless, not our will but God’s be done.

We all have witnessed God moving because of prayer. Think about everything you can associate to a result of prayer that you have seen God do. We've seen God healing; We have witnessed strong, Holy Ghost conviction in the church services as a result of prayer; How many times have impossible things been made possible by God? We pray and don’t see anything happening, then something happens and we are encouraged. Doors open to testify.

Some people’s last hope is in us not giving up interceding for them. As God presses upon someone to carry a burden for others, don’t lose hope. Always put them before God. Many who were at death’s door were spared by prayer.

"Call unto me and I will answer thee and shew thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not." Jeremiah 33:3

God says he will answer you. God has options that we don’t see. The things that are impossible with man are possible with God. If we all sat dowm and made a list of the things that God has done for us, we could fill up page after page of things that God delivered when we asked. It is encouraging to us that God does it for us. We should give God credit.

We should be encouraged. Christian's that are serving God with unsaved spouses should have hope and hold on. Parent’s who have unsaved children, hold on: Knowing that God does move on prayer.

It Takes Faith to Understand

richard-lehman@sbcglobal.net (Richard Lehman) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:11:02 +0000

When we are going through strange and difficult trials, that seem to throw us, it can be hard to have faith. It is natural to take a step back, to draw back-not to sin, but to be taken aback. We question, "why God?" We search for answers and understanding, but seem to find none. We may wonder "why God aren't you showing me or answering me?" But the understanding that we really need is to have our faith in God. We may not understand, we may be inquisitive. All these are natural, human things. But we need to keep faith in God as we go through the trails of life.

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. Hebrews 11:1-3

"Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed." We dont know all the why's, when's and how's etc., but by faith we believe God. Job had questions for God. He did not understand at all why God was allowing such strange and difficult trials to come upon him:

Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where was thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou has understanding. Job 28:1 -4

Sometimes we dont have understanding, but God understands perfectly. Jobs faith was ultimately in God. He trusted and said "He knoweth the way that I take." God knows the way. We may not always understand, but He knows. In the end of his trial, Job handled some things well and some things not so well.

We have to excercise our faith or we will loose it. We need to be careful in the midst of the trials about our questioning how, when and why? Our faith ultimately has to be in God. Sometimes what we had expected doesn't turn out just as we thought it would, but God will bring us through. We have to be careful with our expectations. Faith is more than your expecation and hope, because, when those things are dashed, your faith in God is what will carry you through.

Faith either gets weaker or stronger by how we take things that happen to us in life and how things affect us. Everything we go through has the potential to increase or decrease our faith. Through the trails we can choose to dig in deeper or not. When Our faith gets tested and difficulties come, our natural reaction to is to question. God's desire for us is that we would grow in faith. When people wane in faith it can put them in a position to sin. Faith cannot be in our own understanding because sometimes our understanding can be wrong.

Job believed God and that he created the world. He served God faithfully and was tested in all that he expected and hoped for, but he still stayed true. King David wrote many of his psalms during times of trials and difficulties. There trials and testings proved a blessing as they allowed the tests of life to draw them into a greater trust in God.

Influence in Obedience

richard-lehman@sbcglobal.net (Richard Lehman) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 23:32:52 +0000

"Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him,- and were filled with indignation, And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, "Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life." And when they heard that, they entered in to the temple early in the morning, and taught... [22] But when the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned, and told, Saying, "The prisoners truly found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within"... [27] And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, saying, "Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? And behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrin, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us." Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, "We ought to obey God rather than men"...[42] And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ. (Acts 5: 16)

We can have an influence on people by standing for what we know to be true. We cannot just go with the group thinking nor let the seemingly magnitude of the situation influence our stand. Numbers or multitudes cannot measure the truth but on the contrary truth will often stand against the majority opinion. When everything is seemingly going against us, we dont need to get discouraged. This is not our battle. We are just a vehicle of the LORD; Its not about what we are doing, it is about being a vehicle for God to work through.

There will be times when people are going to challenge you. You have to be willing to stay "no" when your peers are trying to influence you in the wrong way. If we do not stand for what we know to be true, who will? Our influence counts. How important it is that we stand for what we know to be right. How we stand and the actions we take will influence others. Our actions should not fall in line with societies expectations, but rather in line with obedience to the Word of God.

There is a blessing that comes purely from just doing what is right!

What We Need To Add To Not Be Barren

richard-lehman@sbcglobal.net (Richard Lehman) — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 04:32:39 +0000

"And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity."

Virtue: morality, conformity to a standard of right

Knowledge: the fact or condition of knowing something with familiarity gained through experience or association

Temperance: moderation in action, thought, or feeling

Patience: bearing pains or trials calmly without complaint

Godliness: of, relating to, or proceeding directly from God or of God

Brotherly kindness and charity (as described in the bible)

For if these things be in you, and abound- is present in large numbers or quantity, they make you that ye shall neither be barren - producing little or none, incapable of producing offspring, nor unfruitful - not producing offspring, yielding no valuable result, in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But he that lacketh - is deficient or missing, these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

2 Peter 1:5-9

A Buckler to Those That Trust

richard-lehman@sbcglobal.net (Richard Lehman) — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 01:15:36 +0000

"For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall. As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him. Psalm 18:29-30

In this scripture, King Davis is communicating a particular aspect of trust. He is speaking from the context of the things he has been through in war.

A buckler is a shield. King David is describing the way it is used. We are accustomed to seeing the shields that were used in the 1600’s. They used small shields. But in the time of King David, the shields they used were full-bodied size. A buckler was used for knocking people down. David is talking about being able to bust through some things. You don’t run through a troop using a little bit of force. A buckler is able to bust through and conquer. If you take a full-bodied shield, you don’t swing it around. In order for the shield to be a buckler, you had to throw everything into it.

King David used the thought of something that conquers and doesn’t just defend. To be effective in the things of God, and not just being one surviving, takes trust. Everything must be behind it. A shield will protect you, but unless you are throwing all you have behind it, you will not bust through. You can’t just take a swing or a stab at it.

The enemy is throwing everything at you. Taking new land means lots of trust. When trust is not working as it should, there’s a lot of self-defending going on. Being able to move it forward with force, takes trust. When something touches our trust, we need to do something about it. We can lean harder on the Lord or fall back into a defensible position. What happens to people who don’t move forward and the enemy is not defeated? The enemy comes back. We need to do what we can to be sure that mistrust is not working.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowlege him and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD and depart from evil." Pro 3:5-7

What is your purpose in the gospel? Is that where your whole heart is? That builds trust. Have you set your whole heart to worship God? When the Spirit of God is there, trust is there. Are you putting everything behind the service of God? Everyone needs to be able to answer that question

We find out that we need to lean on him more as time goes on. We realized we need to pray more and more. The battles seem to get harder. The scripture talks of the enemies and the difficulties getting harder. You realize how little time you have left. You realize you are limited in so many ways. There are so many things you don’t know about that are ahead. It causes you to realize you must trust and lean on him more. Throw everything behind it. All your heart or your ways; throw everything behind it.

The Outer Man, The Inner Man

richard-lehman@sbcglobal.net (Richard Lehman) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 05:34:50 +0000

What a beautiful thing it is to be able to be in fellowship with people who trully love and have the love of God in their hearts- not by appearance but on the inside. Some people think its because "I wear this or do this or do that," that they are holy and in the right place with God. There is a place for the outer man, however, we as people can put such emphasis on that, that it becomes how we judge one another instead of what is really in the heart. I have seen people who seemed to have the Spirit of God, had supposedly gotten saved and had the outer man down to the "T", but really proved to be nothing but a division maker. Then I have seen people who someone may think is not dressed accordingly, however, in their heart love is shown to brothers and sisters all around. Now, which one would Jesus really approve of? If you think of Jesus, with a picture in your mind, was he really trying to show people his outer man or was it who he really was?

Paul warns us in Jude 1:17-19 "But beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit."

They separate themselve and they have not the Spirit. Some people separate themselves because of outer appearance differences, petty differences that don't even make a difference. Some people claiming to be saved murmur, complain and are walking after their OWN lusts- complaining one against the other. Imagine that! Ones that are supposed to be God's own people. God help us! The Bible tells us we are to love one another and to be kind and gentle. That is God's Spirit. It's not about a bunch of rules of do's and dont's; That is religion. Religions follow rules because they don't have the Spirit. They try and dress it all up- how you need to talk, dress, and act, on the outside, but on the inside horrid, ungodliness is going on in their lives. They will even be so bold as to claim to be the Church of God but yet act this way. What a SHAME!

Jesus is nothing like that. He is the Lord and we are to obey the way He tells us. Let us not get off on some tangent other than having real love and fellowship with one another. Thank God for Church of God preachers who preach real truth against things that want to creep into Gods church!

"Keep yourselves in the love of GOD, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life" Jude 1:21

When Trust is Undermined

richard-lehman@sbcglobal.net (Richard Lehman) — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:44:07 +0000

Trust is so core to our success. Wherever it is not working we will not be moving forward. The devil has placed people to undermine your trust and if you do not know where you trust is, you will be vulnerable to it. Once trust is undermined, nothing happens. It takes real effort to work through trust that has been undermined.

It is important that we do not rely on nor investigate information that comes from questionable channels. Some people have something to say for the sole purpose of undermining your trust in God and his people. A bad report doesn't feel good, but we must be able to set it aside and say, "Lord, I am trusting you."

The most effective way to affect the church negatively is to undermine trust with undercurrents of questions. The whole purpose of the devil is to hinder the work of God. The bad report is meant to take our focus off of the purpose of the great work of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to side track us with other issues.

When our trust has been undermined by unfaithful brethren, we must have our heart set on the defense of the gospel. We must be able to revert back to our core trust, which is trust in God and his ability to see us through. We must resist the devil and his lies and press on in the work of God.

The apostle Paul had to deal with a lot of issues and under currents and unfaithful brethren. But he dealt with it and pressed on in the work of the Lord and was unsurpassable at spreading the gospel of Christ in his time.
He writes to Timothy:

"Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me: For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry... Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works: Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words. At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge. Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. A-men." 2 Timothy 9-11, 14-18

What an example and testimony of someone who knew where their trust was. God! Even when all men had forsaken him and he was standing alone, his purpose was still in full view: "That the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear."

We need to have a purpose in God's work and to be able to keep that purpose formost in our heart and life, so that when our trust is undermined, we will still be able to be effective in the furtherance of the Kingdom of God!