Daily Bible study teachings

[Krissy Cakes]

James 2:14-16
14 What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? Can that faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that?
What if the "him" in "can faith save him" is not the one who has faith without works, but the brother in need. Consider the preceding verse: For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.
Consider this: that the one who is not willing to minister to the needs of "he who needs mercy" is not qualified to pray for him.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

Matthew 13:31-32
31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
I love this parable of small things. It is the parable that speaks of a child born in a manger. It speaks of twelve men who turn the world upside down. It speaks of a church without many who are "mighty" or "wise". It speaks of a Carolina boy, working in his father's farm, who grows to be "America's pastor." And it can speak of your life. Do not despise the small thing that is your life. What God can do is greater than what you can imagine.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

2 Corinthians 7:9-11
"I now rejoice, not that you were made sorrowful, but that you were made sorrowful to the point of repentance; for you were made sorrowful according to the will of God, so that you might not suffer loss in anything through us. For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death. For behold what earnestness this very thing, this godly sorrow, has produced in you: what vindication of yourselves, what indignation, what fear, what longing, what zeal, what avenging of wrong! In everything you demonstrated yourselves to be innocent in the matter."
There are three aspects of repentance in scripture. The first is a repentance that only produces death. It may lead the penitent to believe that they are free from the consequences of their actions, but it is not a repentance that brings about change in life.
The second is a repentance that produces salvation. While this repentance may not produce immediate change, it opens the door of the heart to a life of repentance, such as what occurred in Corinth. This life of repentance is not one of constant sorrow, but rather one of transformation that produces "innocence."

 

[Krissy Cakes]

John 14:16-21
"I will ask the Father, and He will give you another [a]Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
The presence of the Holy Spirit among the believers is crucial to us as the church and as individual believers. The Holy Spirit teaches and reminds the believer concerning Christ. (14:25-31) The Holy Spirit bears witness regarding Christ. (15:26-27) The Holy Spirit convicts and judges. (16:7-11) The Holy Spirit guides us into all truth. (16:13-16)

 

[Krissy Cakes]

2 Peter 1:5-7
"Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.
The old song goes, "All you need is love!" But how does one get to the love that is so essential. It begins with faith. That is the foundation to all good things. Faith is the basis of moral excellence. We cannot do what is right ourselves. We must do what is right out of our faith. Only when we have the foundation of faith and moral excellence can we truly understand the things of God. Once we understand the things of God, we can expand our behavioral control beyond issues of morality. We move from obeying what we ought not to do to doing what we ought to do. Then you will have the strength to endure through the hard times. That equation results in our character becoming aligned with God's character. Then our kindness and consideration moves beyond emotional reaction. And then, comes love, not as the world has, but as God's love through us.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

Sorry I have missed a few days. Dealing with health issues.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

Deuteronomy 5:23-27
And when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders. You said, ‘Behold, the LORD our God has shown us His glory and His greatness, and we have heard His voice from the midst of the fire; we have seen today that God speaks with man, yet he lives. Now then why should we die? For this great fire will consume us; if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any longer, then we will die. For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking from the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived? Go near and hear all that the LORD our God says; then speak to us all that the LORD our God speaks to you, and we will hear and do it.’
There are those who seek the presence of the LORD without having to witness His power. There are those who wish to appropriate the power of God without experiencing His presence. The Israelites shrunk back from the presence of God because they feared His power. As a result, the presence and power of God rested upon a few people throughout their history, "men of whom the earth was not worthy."
Hebrews 10:39: But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

Romans 10:8-11
But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”
The resurrection of Jesus Christ is paramount to our faith. No measure of belief in an unrisen Christ will save. you. Remove the resurrection and our entire theology of salvation collapses. As Paul said, "If Christ is not raised, we are men to be most pitied."

 

[Krissy Cakes]

Joel 2:11-14
"The Lord utters His voice before His army;
Surely His camp is very great,
For strong is he who carries out His word.
The day of the Lord is indeed great and very awesome,
And who can endure it?
“Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“Return to Me with all your heart,
And with fasting, weeping and mourning;
And rend your heart and not your garments.”
Now return to the Lord your God,
For He is gracious and compassionate,
Slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness
And relenting of evil.
Who knows whether He will not turn and relent
And leave a blessing behind Him,
Even a grain offering and a drink offering
For the Lord your God?"
In God's spiritual economy you can find conviction without condemnation, holiness without hypocrisy, and righteousness without legalism. This is found in true repentance. If repentance becomes an outward act only, then it means nothing. There must be an inward disgust at one's own sin and a disciplined turning away from it.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

John 20:24-31, Judges 6: 11-40.

Some Doubt.
Faced with what seemed like an impossible challenge, Gideon doubted and asked for a sign. That sign consisted first of the consummation of the sacrifice, and then the dew upon the fleece. Thomas knew that Jesus had died. This tale of his resurrection seemed, at best, a pleasant illusion. He asked for a sign, that he would see the scars upon Jesus’ body. The sign was given. But Jesus’ does not promise that he will provide a sign for all. We must, ultimately exercise faith. Perhaps not blindly, but faith nevertheless.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

John 21:15-25; Psalms 51.

A Recreated Heart.
David cried out to the LORD to cleanse him from his sin. He recognized that God was the offended party and that in sin he had betrayed God. The traitor, Peter, stood before the Lord, afraid to even raise his head, afraid to make any promises that he might betray. But rather than judgment, he received restoration and calling and a promise that in the end he would show courage in service to his Lord.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

Are you thirsting for the right thing. In John 7:37-38, Jesus promised springs of living waters for all who thirst. This raises two questions: what is the thirst and what is the water? Psalms 42:1-2 speaks of a thirst for God. This is the thirst of which Jesus speaks. Isaiah (chapter 55) calls all who hunger and thirst to come to God. So how do we satisfy this thirst? In John 7:39, we find the answer. ""He spoke of the Spirit whom those who believed in Him were to receive." In John 20:22, after Jesus' resurrection, He breathed on the disciples and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Draw near to Him, allow him to breath upon you and receive the Holy spirit. He will satisfy the deepest thirst of your heart.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

John 21:1-14, Psalm 24.

Food From the Hand of the Creator.
David praised his LORD as the provider of all and desired to approach Him for blessing. The disciple whom Jesus loved recognized the hand of the Creator in the provision of the fish. And the disciple who betrayed him approached the LORD when never before had a traitor been given access

 

[Krissy Cakes]

Shortly after my conversion, I read a book about the DNA, written by Isaac Asimov, a devout atheist. As I read the book I was filled with wonder at the complexity of the "brain" of all life. One cell of your body contains 3 kilometers of DNA. Each cell has 3 billion base pairs of DNA, each one containing a tiny bit of information. In your entire body, your DNA contains 15 trillion gigabytes of information. David was not even aware of DNA when he wrote, "I will give thanks to you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made." (Psalms 139:13-16.) Do not think that it is only referring to your spirit when Paul writes that we are his workmanship. (Ephesians 2:10.) Our bodies are more wondrous and complex than anything that man has made. Every year new revelation comes concerning how our bodies perform wondrous acts. We ought not to despise this work of God's hand, nor should we neglect it. But we ought to worship God for his greatness, which is displayed in each cell of our body.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

Morality is based upon God's nature. (Psalms 119:137-144.)Human morals are often based upon the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. God's morality takes a higher path, it involves Love. Love for God. Love for oneself, which involves not doing that which would be harmful (physically or spiritually). Love for others, which means putting their needs above your own and also helping them not to do harm to themselves.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

John 20:24-31, Judges 6: 11-40.

Some Doubt.
Faced with what seemed like an impossible challenge, Gideon doubted and asked for a sign. That sign consisted first of the consummation of the sacrifice, and then the dew upon the fleece. Thomas knew that Jesus had died. This tale of his resurrection seemed, at best, a pleasant illusion. He asked for a sign, that he would see the scars upon Jesus’ body. The sign was given. But Jesus’ does not promise that he will provide a sign for all. We must, ultimately exercise faith. Perhaps not blindly, but faith nevertheless.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

John 20:19-23, Ezekiel 37.

The Breath of God.
The Breath of God moved upon the dry bones, the same Breath that moved upon the earth in creation. It brought the dry bones to life. Jesus breathed upon the disciples, that Breath of the Spirit. It brought life to them and through them it continues generation after generation. What are the dry bones in your life?

 

[Krissy Cakes]

John 20:1-18, Song of Solomon 3.

Clinging to the Lord.
The woman of Song of Solomon, a symbol of the people of God, sought for her Lord and, when she found him, clung to him until their wedding day. Mary Magdalene searched for her Lord and, when she found him, clung to him until he insisted that she let go. We, the people of God, must seek out our resurrected Savior and cling to him until the Wedding Feast.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

John 19:31-42, Exodus 12.

The Passover Lamb, unblemished and unbroken, was to be consumed in a single day. Its blood freed those who participated from the angel of death. Jesus hung, unblemished and unbroken, on the cross, his blood flowing down like an anointing upon the earth, to free all who participate from the specter of death. But, before the end of the day, the Passover Lamb had to complete his journey to the grave.

 

[Krissy Cakes]

John 19:23-30, Psalms 69.
They Persecuted Him Whom God Has Smitten.
David cried in anguish against those who tormented him. He thirsted for revenge. Jesus thirsted in taking on the wrath of God against all who oppose him. He spent his last strength seeing to the wellbeing of those whom he loved.