Following Jesus Son of God …

“O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭63:1-3‬ ‭NLT‬‬

http://bible.com/116/psa.63.1-3.nlt

“Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge. Interlude” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭62:5-8‬ ‭NLT‬‬
http://bible.com/116/psa.62.5-8.nlt

Sent from my iPad

Psalm 62:1-2 NKJV
[1] Truly my soul silently waits for God; From Him comes my salvation. [2] He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

Sent from my iPad

An old post from my Bean Brothers blog.  Posted by Java the Bean at 10:50 AM / January 31, 2009 / Another world … 

It’s another world I wish I could communicate, at least that is how the thought came to me yesterday at work. Life with God I mean. 

Whether it would be communicating this to my two youngest sons who don’t realize what they are missing, living in a world where God is barely a conscious thought, or whether it would be communicating this to 90 percent of the people who fill the pews every Sunday but are distant to God because their religion and their daily walk keep him at arms length. They don’t realize what they are missing with their words only Christianity. They haven’t experienced the love and presence of God because they have kept their hearts at a distance.

In the world I wish I could communicate, God is real no matter our circumstances. He is there, not just in concept or memory, but there there, living, breathing God of the universe. And in that other world, I can go to God anytime for what I need, which so very often is mercy and grace to help me along the way.

He welcomes me to approach him, as he understands the enormity of the task, the pain of the road. Don’t forget he lived here for over thirty years as one of us.

In the other world, a person spends a bit of time also looking beyond the horizon knowing that life is more than what we see. In this world of God, life is the moment and forever at the same time.

Many who have the world of God confused with the world of religion sometimes speak of “the real world” when living in the world of God means faith. 

Think how ironic that is. The world as we perceive it is “the real world,” but the world as described for thousands of years in God’s holy book is what? Not real? Pretend? Good to a point and then we have to take over?

• And to live in their “real world” certain things are necessary, like lying for the greater good of the local fellowship, misinterpreting the words of God for the sake of our agendas, misrepresenting the church budget so people will still give their money, using good business sense when faith doesn’t seem to be panning out. 

We’ll stop there as this list is long and dark.

Yes, I think I’ll stay with the other world, the one God speaks of where loving God and loving our neighbor is not pushed aside for theology or agendas. Forgiveness and mercy and grace mean something. A world where righteousness and holiness are being built into and ground into our hearts and minds as God attends daily to our lives.

One last thought: To live in this world of God demands huge resources.

Just like any expedition or adventure, you have to have adequate supplies. And how unique is this journey? We need provision for each day of our lives, and, then, when we expire here we need resources that continue forever. We can’t arrive at the threshold of eternity having exhausted our resources.

So what a sigh of relief as we realize that we have everything we need in Jesus Christ. Included in God’s offer of eternal life is abundant provision for each day of life on this Earth that continues when I cross the horizon to eternity. Jesus paid it all as he shed his blood in full payment for our sins.

Jesus chose death so we could choose life. 

So in Jesus Christ I can live now and forever in the presence of God.

I like God’s world better.

Posted by Java the Bean at 10:50 AM / January 31, 2009

Hello Everyone,

At first glance this week’s text seems to be our familiar missionary call to spread the good news of God. And it is that, but as I studied (funny how these things happen) I realized that the main point is more the emphasis that for people to believe, we must make sure we begin with the good news of God. When it comes to the point of sharing, then it must still be God’s gospel, God’s message.

I have some excellent Romans commentaries. “Listen” to this from Leon Morris, one of the best.

◉ Leon Morris …
– Paul is saying that the preaching of the Christian message is impossible without the divine commission. A herald can have nothing to say unless it be given him. The gospel is derivative. It does not originate with preachers, and the other side of that coin is that nobody can operate as a preacher in the sense in which Paul is using the term here unless God has sent him.

Our gospel is derivative. No revisions necessary or accepted. Christ finished his “Calvary work” with perfection and power and the Father’s approval.

The gospel we ask people to believe must be the same “good news of God” that was offered in the first century by the Apostle Paul.

◉ Leon Morris …
– Whichever way we may prefer to translate, Paul is speaking of the derivative nature of the Christian gospel. It is not something that wise men have made up; it comes from hearing the message given by those sent from God.

If you are an artist, maybe someone suggesting that your work is derivative is a bad thing, as in unoriginal, unimaginative, imitative, uninventive. But as heralds of the gospel, it is essential that we remain true to the original.

Gospel Version 1.0
(Updates and revisions unnecessary and unacceptable.)

Message Title: Have They Not Heard?

Message Text: Romans 10:14-21

• PDF LESSON 27 Have They Not Heard? : Romans 10:14-21 : FFC : dave scott : 031515 : STUDY SHEET ONE
• PDF LESSON 27 Have They Not Heard? : Romans 10:14-21 : FFC : dave scott : 031515 : STUDY SHEET TWO

Hello All,

Well, if anyone believes that they can work to gain God’s approval after this study in Romans, then it will not be the fault of the Apostle Paul. He is at it again as he emphasizes we received God’s righteousness and acceptance only by faith.

No need to take a space flight to heaven. No need to journey to the center of the earth. The saving word of faith is near, in your mouth and in your heart.

We would say, “On the tip of my tongue.”

We believe. God saves.

Everyone who believes.

• For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Romans 10:13).

And everyone means everyone. Struggling to understand how God has mercy on some and not others? Can’t get your mind around predestination?

Then get your mind around this. Believe. Call on the name of the Lord, and you will be saved.

Message Title: The Saving Word Is in Your Mouth

Message Text: Romans 10:5-13

• PDF LESSON 26 The Saving Word is in Your Mouth : Romans 10:5-13 : FFC : dave scott : 030815 : STUDY SHEET ONE
  
• PDF LESSON 26 The Saving Word is in Your Mouth : Romans 10:5-13 : FFC : dave scott : 030815 : STUDY SHEET TWO

Hello to All,

It is still winter in case you haven’t noticed. Sunday is March so … Maybe Spring … ???

The Jews that Paul writes about in Romans …

These Jews share many similarities with the professing Church in today’s society.

The biggest similarity? They preferred the moral code of the Bible over the righteousness of God. After all, homemade is always better, right?

They were all about the Bible and biblical morals. Leading voices in religious affairs. Angry and upset about government involvement and regulations. They vigorously pursued righteousness through the law of Moses. Zealots that they were, they chased after the God of the Bible like nobody’s business.

But when their Bibles brought them before their long-awaited Messiah, they stumbled and fell.

Even as Christ stood before them in the flesh, and they were clueless.

• (John 5:39–40 AMP) ³⁹ You search and investigate and pore over the Scriptures diligently, because you suppose and trust that you have eternal life through them. And these [very Scriptures] testify about Me! ⁴⁰ And still you are not willing [but refuse] to come to Me, so that you might have life.

How could this happen?

Instead of receiving the righteousness of God, they sought to establish their own righteousness. They preferred their moral code over the righteousness of God and would not submit.

What made it so difficult for the Jews then and many who profess Christ in our country today is that they were so Bible-based.

The sadness and tragedy? They were building their lives on the Bible but not letting the Bible build their lives.

Message Title: Submitting to the Righteousness of God

Message Text: Romans 9:30-10:4

PDF LESSON 25 Submitting to the Righteousness of God : Romans 9:30-10-4 : FFC : dave scott : 030115 STUDY SHEET ONE

PDF LESSON 25 Submitting to the Righteousness of God : Romans 9:30-10-4 : FFC : dave  scott : 030115 STUDY SHEET TWO

The Fool Has Said in His Heart!

INTRODUCTION: Nabal … the epitome of a fool …

• He thought he was a king but was merely a dead fool. Terrified by reality. Literally and actually scared to death.
• The fool’s life unravels the moment he or she sees God.

(1) The fool decides in his heart that there is no God and reaps what he sows, 14:1.

• Fools counsel themselves in their hearts.
• Fools live by a “no god” creed.
• Fools spoil (corrupt) their lives which results in terrible deeds and an absence of goodness.
• The word fool is Nabal, cf. 1 Samuel 25.
• Nabal’s life reflected this fool’s decision: “harsh” and “badly behaved” (1 Samuel 25:3), arrogant (1 Samuel 25:9–10), worthless, foolish (1 Samuel 25:25), evil (1 Samuel 25:39).
• Maybe worst of all his distorted perception of a “no God” life:
  – He thought he was a king but was merely a dead fool (1 Samuel 25:36–37).

(2) The fool may not know who he is but God certainly does, 14:2-5, cf. Matthew 6:19-24.

• The LORD looks down from heaven and gives a very grave evaluation of humanity, 14:2-5.
• His judgment is that everyone has turned aside 14:2-3.
• His judgment is that fools pool their foolishness and multiply corruption (rotten to the core), 14:3.
• The psalmist is incredulous at the lifestyle of the fool, 14:4.
• The tragic irony of the fool: Reality means great terror because he has left God out of his life, 14:5, cf. 1 Samuel 25:36-37.

(3) The fool disdains the poor but the LORD does not, 14:6-7.

CONCLUSION: Flip that house. Our creed in our hearts? God!

• Be encouraged with the renovation that God is working in your life.
• We are not fools. We may still act foolishly but we are not fools.

MP3: Psalm 14 : The Fool Has Said in His Heart : ffc : dave scott : 022215 PM

INTRODUCTION: Our metaphors in today’s text say it all.

God is the Potter. And we are  the clay.

OUR QUESTION: Should the lump of clay tell the potter what to do?

▶︎ Object Lesson: Red terra cotta clay from Hobby Lobby.

▶︎ Who has the most experience and the best resources to construct our decisions?

• God (the Potter) has a catalog of human experience since time began. Every person, every experience, our birth, our death, jobs, personal relationships, religions … everything.

• God (the Potter) is experienced with humanity and the affairs of this Earth on every imaginable level. God has life and work experience on Earth and in Heaven. And God is the only Person we know who is eternal. He knows all about this life and the next.

• So how about the lump of clay? What is on our resume? Maybe not so impressive. Finite beings whose time on this earth is compared to a vapor or a mist. But not only limited by our finiteness, but our perspective is obscured by the darkness of sin. We have the experience of one person living on the planet for a very brief time.

So let’s come back to our question: Should the lump of clay tell the potter what to do?

(1) The Potter has the right to do whatever he wants with the clay, 9:19-21.

▶︎ Do we trust the Potter? Who do we believe the Potter to be?

(2) The Potter reveals the riches of his glory to the mercy vessels, 9:22-24.

▶︎ GET THIS: The Potter patiently tolerates the vessels of wrath because of his desire to show the vessels of mercy the riches of his glory. He endures the rebellion of the “wrath vessels” with much patience in order that we (“the mercy vessels”) may better understand the riches of his glory.

(3) The Potter is the one who makes people “his people,” 9:25-29.

• MP3: 24 The Rights of the Potter : Romans 9:19-29 : ffc : dave scott : 022215

Hello to You,

News flash! What God tells us is sometimes shocking. Things that are just not found in the categories that we humans usually run to that help us sort out life.

And we have to trust God. Without even understanding what he is doing. Maybe note just a little sarcasm here.

God tells us things about vessels of wrath and vessels of mercy that are very hard to accept. Notice I didn’t say hard to understand. Most of these things are pretty clear but they seem so arbitrary on God’s part.

And we at times struggle with God’s sovereign will because … Well … We forget who God is.

God is God. Sovereign LORD of all.

So as we will see in this week’s text, the lump of clay has no business telling the Potter what he should or shouldn’t do. Even (especially) when it comes to our lives.

The fact is that for those who trust in Christ, everything goes to them. All of the riches and blessings of God are inherited through Jesus Christ. If you have trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins and have received his gift of eternal life.

You, as a vessel of mercy, GET IT ALL.

“And the hell of it.” You’ve heard that expression? The HELL of it is that the vessels of wrath get nothing, absolutely nothing but the wrath and judgment of God.

Jacob I loved, and Esau I hated.

Sounds kind of mean, doesn’t it?

But I know that my God, the Sovereign LORD before whom I bow, that God …

Let’s hear it from the psalmist …

• (Psalm 33:1–5 NLT)
  ¹ Let the godly sing for joy to the Lord; it is fitting for the pure to praise him. ² Praise the Lord with melodies on the lyre; make music for him on the ten-stringed harp. ³ Sing a new song of praise to him; play skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy. ⁴ For the word of the Lord holds true, and we can trust everything he does. ⁵ He loves whatever is just and good; the unfailing love of the Lord fills the earth. 

Message Title: The Rights of the Potter

Message Text: Romans 9:19-29

• PDF LESSON 24 The Rights of the Potter : Romans 9-19-29 : ffc : dave scott : 022215 STUDY SHEET ONE
• PDF LESSON 24 The Rights of the Potter : Romans 9-19-29 : ffc : dave scott : 022215 STUDY SHEET TWO