BibleTrekToday.com

Year: 2019

  • Life-giving speech and attitudes!

    Scripture reading for August 28th:  Ephesians 4, Psalm 22, Proverbs 18

    Key Scriptures: Ephesians 4:29-32 “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by Whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”  

    The Holy Spirit from the Father marks each believer as a redeemed child of God.  As God’s children, we are being shaped inside to reflect His love and character to those around us.  Our actions and attitudes must begin to line up with the Word.  The fruit of the Holy Spirit and Christ living in us will affect our speech and how we treat others made in God’s image.  Our speech should now be life-giving, reflecting kindness and grace to our neighbors.

    Faith Confession:  Father, thank You for marking me as Your redeemed child.  Help me to reflect this truth in my attitudes, speech and behavior today.

    Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue; and those who love it will eat its fruits.”  

  • The Power of His Presence!

    Scripture reading for August 27th:  Ephesians 3, Psalm 21, Proverbs 17

    Key Scriptures: Ephesians 3:14-19 “For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of His glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”  

    Paul prayed for God’s people on his knees.  He humbly asked the God of all glory to strengthen the believers with power to live fully for God by the Holy Spirit who indwelled and infilled them.  The Holy Spirit would enable them to experience Christ indwelling them by faith in His Word and to personally experience the love of Christ.  This would allow them to be filled with all of God’s fullness!  What an amazing prayer recorded for us with Christ’s indwelling Spirit!

    Faith Confession:  Thank You Jesus for giving me power through the Holy Spirit to know that Christ lives in me and to know His amazing love and the fullness of His indwelling presence.  I am blessed forever and ever!

    Psalm 21:6 “For You make him most blessed forever; You make him glad with the joy of Your presence.”  

  • The richness of His Mercy!

    Scripture reading for August 26th:  Ephesians 2, Psalm 20, Proverbs 16

    Key Scriptures:  Ephesians 2:4-9  “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ–by grace you have been saved–and raised us up with Him and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages He might show the immeasurable riches of His grace in Christ Jesus.  For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.”  

    Paul shared with the Ephesians the richness of God’s heart of mercy and the gift of His grace through His amazing love for us as sinners.  He forgave our sins through Christ’s sacrifice and then raised us up with Christ, seating us in the heavenly realms in Him.  We can claim no merit or credit for these gifts.  All boasting is in God’s great grace and mercy and love!

    Faith Confession:  I boast in God’s mercy shown me (and the world) in Christ Jesus.  I repent (turn away) from my sins and I accept with thanksgiving the gift of forgiveness of my sins,  eternal life and resurrection from death.

    Proverbs 16:6-7  “By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil.”   

     

  • God’s Amazing Plans!

    Scripture reading for August 23rd:  Ephesians 1, Psalm 19, Proverbs 15

    Key Scriptures:  Ephesians 1:5-10  “In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved.  In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace, which He lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of His will, according to His purpose, which He set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in Him, things in heaven and on earth.”

    God’s plans are amazing!  The fact that He includes us in His plans is even more amazing!  He lavishes on us His wisdom and purposes through the revelation of His Son, Jesus Christ.  He is our redemption and through His shed blood we have forgiveness of sins freely given to all who repent.  In Christ we are adopted as sons in God’s family and united with Him by His grace!  The fullness of time will reveal the unfolding of these plans and nothing can stop them.

    Faith confession:  Thank You Lord for revealing Your amazing plans to me through Jesus Christ.  In Him I have forgiveness of my sins and adoption into God’s family.  I eagerly await the fullness of time!

    Psalm 19:14 “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.”

  • Reaping is promised if we persevere!

    Scripture reading for August 22nd:  Galatians 6, Psalm 18, Proverbs 14

    Key Scriptures:   Galatians 6:7-10  “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh, will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.  And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.  So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.”

    It is easy to get discouraged in the culture and world we live in.  It was no different in Paul’s day.  Believers must not tire of sowing the Gospel message and living in the Spirit and reflecting His fruit.  It may appear that no progress is being made, but it is a work of faith and love.  If we continue to sow, and not give up, we will reap!  This promise made by God our Father.

    Faith Confession:  I will continue to live by the Holy Spirit and allow Him to produce the sweet fruit of His presence in my life.  I know that what I sow, that I will reap!  Nothing is too hard for God!

    Proverbs 14:14 “The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways, and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.”  

      

  • Keeping in step with the Spirit!

    Scripture reading for August 21st:  Galatians 5, Psalm 17, Proverbs 13

    Key Scriptures:  Galatians 5:22-25  “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”

    When the Holy Spirit abides in us and we allow Him to produce His sweet fruit in our lives, there is no need for the law.   The Spirit of Jesus is totally obedient to God’s Word and leads us in the desire and ability to keep in step with Him.  By His fruit others will know that we belong to God and have reckoned our old man dead, no longer pursuing its passions and desires.

    Faith Confession:  My old man and fleshly nature is reckoned dead and the Holy Spirit lives in me.  His fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control are growing and evident in my life, transforming me into His likeness.

    Psalm 17:15 “As for me, I shall behold Your face in righteousness; when I awake, I shall be satisfied with Your likeness.”  

     

     

  • “Abba! Father!”

    Scripture reading for August 20th:  Galatians 4, Psalm 16, Proverbs 12

    Key Scriptures:  Galatians 4:4-7  “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

    Those who place their faith in Jesus Christ are adopted into God’s forever family, the Church, as sons of God.  The proof of this is the cry of the Holy Spirit within the believer “Abba! Father!”  We are no longer slaves of sin and Satan, but truly free.  The Holy Spirit enables us to confess this truth.

    Faith Confession:  I am adopted into God’s forever family, the Church, and now call God my “Abba, Father!”  I have been set free from slavery to sin by faith in Jesus Christ.  Jesus is my Lord!

    Proverbs 12:28 “In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.”  

  • Redeemed from the curse of the law!

    Scripture reading for August 19th:  Galatians 3, Psalm 15, Proverbs 11

    Key Scriptures: Galatians 3:11-14 “Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.”  But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.”  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us–for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”–so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.” 

    No one can be justified by keeping God’s law because the law is not of faith but of works and human effort.  But God’s amazing plan was to sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to perfectly keep the law of God and be crucified in our place, becoming a curse for us.  Through faith in Jesus, the blessings of Abraham comes to all who believe–Jew or Gentile.  All who have faith receive the Holy Spirit and are adopted into God’s family.   What a blessing!

    Faith Confession:  Thank You God for sending Jesus Christ to take the curse of broken law in my place through His hanging on the cross of Calvary.  I have received adoption through the gift of the Holy Spirit, who daily enables me to walk in grace and righteousness.

    Psalm 15:1-2 “O Lord, who shall sojourn in Your tent?  Who shall dwell on Your holy hill?  He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; . . .”

     

  • Living by faith!

    Scripture reading for August 16th:  Galatians 2, Psalm 14, Proverbs 10

    Key Scriptures: Galatians 2:19-21 “For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God.  I have been crucified with Christ.  It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.  I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.”  

    Paul carefully explained to the Galatian believers that the law could only reveal sin and our separation from God.  But through identification with Christ Jesus in His death and resurrection, real life comes through Christ living in us .  This life is a gift of God coming through faith in Jesus Christ, not by man’s effort of trying to keep the law.  If we could do it ourselves, Christ Jesus died in vain!

    Faith confession:  I identify with Christ Jesus in His crucifixion and His resurrection from the dead.  I receive by grace His indwelling presence and righteousness.  Thank You Jesus, I am free and truly live!

    Proverbs 10:24-25 “What the wicked dreads will come upon him; but the desire of the righteous will be granted.  When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more, but the righteous is established forever.”  

     

  • Beware of a distorted Gospel.

    Scripture reading for August 15th:  Galatians 1, Psalm 13, Proverbs 9

    Key Scriptures: Galatians 1:3-7 “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to Whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.  I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different Gospel–not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.”  

    There is only one Gospel of Jesus Christ!  It is the revelation of the power of God through the sending of His only Son to reveal His heart of mercy for the human race.   Jesus lived a sinless life and died on the cross of Calvary, was buried and rose from the dead.  By God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ we are saved.  False teachers want to distort this simple Gospel by adding human effort.  Don’t fall for it!

    Faith Confession:  I believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Son of God, and the only One who can save me from the penalty and power of my rebellion and sinfulness.  It is by grace, God’s unmerited favor, through faith, a gift of God, I am saved.  God has dealt bountifully with me and all mankind!

    Psalm 13:5-6 “But I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.  I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.”