9/5/12

Which one is different?


Human beings come in all colors, shapes and sizes; generically we all look alike, we are HUMAN.  But, that is as far as it goes.  Inside, we all think differently and nothing exemplifies this more than the difference between the way men and women view the world.  Our thinking is determined by many factors, environment, attitude, experiences, training, etc..  More than all these things is how God changes the way we view things.  We learn to love God more than the creature comforts of this world.  The apostle John puts it this way...

1 John, Chapter 2
 15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him,  16 because all that which is in the world: the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  17 And the world is passing away, and its lust. But the one doing the will of God abides forever.
We view people externally; God looks at the heart.  Who and what you love makes a difference!!!  Thought for today:  God first and don't worry about the rest!!!!  This won't change the way you look, but it will put you on the proper direction for your life... and the way towards HEAVEN is the WAY TO GO!!!

Sept. 5 Psalms 40-42


Sept. 5
Psalms 40-42

Psa 40:1 I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry.
Psa 40:2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand.
Psa 40:3 He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Yahweh.
Psa 40:4 Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust, and doesn't respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
Psa 40:5 Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can't be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.
Psa 40:6 Sacrifice and offering you didn't desire. You have opened my ears. You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.
Psa 40:7 Then I said, "Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll.
Psa 40:8 I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart."
Psa 40:9 I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, Yahweh, you know.
Psa 40:10 I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.
Psa 40:11 Don't withhold your tender mercies from me, Yahweh. Let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me.
Psa 40:12 For innumerable evils have surrounded me. My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head. My heart has failed me.
Psa 40:13 Be pleased, Yahweh, to deliver me. Hurry to help me, Yahweh.
Psa 40:14 Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.
Psa 40:15 Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, "Aha! Aha!"
Psa 40:16 Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let such as love your salvation say continually, "Let Yahweh be exalted!"
Psa 40:17 But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don't delay, my God. 
 
Psa 41:1 Blessed is he who considers the poor. Yahweh will deliver him in the day of evil.
Psa 41:2 Yahweh will preserve him, and keep him alive. He shall be blessed on the earth, and he will not surrender him to the will of his enemies.
Psa 41:3 Yahweh will sustain him on his sickbed, and restore him from his bed of illness.
Psa 41:4 I said, "Yahweh, have mercy on me! Heal me, for I have sinned against you."
Psa 41:5 My enemies speak evil against me: "When will he die, and his name perish?"
Psa 41:6 If he comes to see me, he speaks falsehood. His heart gathers iniquity to itself. When he goes abroad, he tells it.
Psa 41:7 All who hate me whisper together against me. They imagine the worst for me.
Psa 41:8 "An evil disease," they say, "has afflicted him. Now that he lies he shall rise up no more."
Psa 41:9 Yes, my own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who ate bread with me, has lifted up his heel against me.
Psa 41:10 But you, Yahweh, have mercy on me, and raise me up, that I may repay them.
Psa 41:11 By this I know that you delight in me, because my enemy doesn't triumph over me.
Psa 41:12 As for me, you uphold me in my integrity, and set me in your presence forever.
Psa 41:13 Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting! Amen and amen. 
 
Psa 42:1 As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants after you, God.
Psa 42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
Psa 42:3 My tears have been my food day and night, while they continually ask me, "Where is your God?"

Psa 42:4 These things I remember, and pour out my soul within me, how I used to go with the crowd, and led them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, a multitude keeping a holy day.
Psa 42:5 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him for the saving help of his presence.
Psa 42:6 My God, my soul is in despair within me. Therefore I remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon, from the hill Mizar.
Psa 42:7 Deep calls to deep at the noise of your waterfalls. All your waves and your billows have swept over me.
Psa 42:8 Yahweh will command his loving kindness in the daytime. In the night his song shall be with me: a prayer to the God of my life.
Psa 42:9 I will ask God, my rock, "Why have you forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?"
Psa 42:10 As with a sword in my bones, my adversaries reproach me, while they continually ask me, "Where is your God?"
Psa 42:11 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, the saving help of my countenance, and my God.

Sept. 5 1 Corinthians 1


Sept. 5
1 Corinthians 1

1Co 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
1Co 1:2 to the assembly of God which is at Corinth; those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ in every place, both theirs and ours:
1Co 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 1:4 I always thank my God concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus;
1Co 1:5 that in everything you were enriched in him, in all speech and all knowledge;
1Co 1:6 even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:
1Co 1:7 so that you come behind in no gift; waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ;
1Co 1:8 who will also confirm you until the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
1Co 1:9 God is faithful, through whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.
1Co 1:10 Now I beg you, brothers, through the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfected together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
1Co 1:11 For it has been reported to me concerning you, my brothers, by those who are from Chloe's household, that there are contentions among you.
1Co 1:12 Now I mean this, that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," "I follow Apollos," "I follow Cephas," and, "I follow Christ."
1Co 1:13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul?
1Co 1:14 I thank God that I baptized none of you, except Crispus and Gaius,
1Co 1:15 so that no one should say that I had baptized you into my own name.
1Co 1:16 (I also baptized the household of Stephanas; besides them, I don't know whether I baptized any other.)
1Co 1:17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the Good News--not in wisdom of words, so that the cross of Christ wouldn't be made void.
1Co 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are saved it is the power of God.
1Co 1:19 For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, I will bring the discernment of the discerning to nothing."
1Co 1:20 Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the lawyer of this world? Hasn't God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Co 1:21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn't know God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.
1Co 1:22 For Jews ask for signs, Greeks seek after wisdom,
1Co 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified; a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,
1Co 1:24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
1Co 1:25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
1Co 1:26 For you see your calling, brothers, that not many are wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, and not many noble;
1Co 1:27 but God chose the foolish things of the world that he might put to shame those who are wise. God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong;
1Co 1:28 and God chose the lowly things of the world, and the things that are despised, and the things that are not, that he might bring to nothing the things that are:
1Co 1:29 that no flesh should boast before God.
1Co 1:30 But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who was made to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption:
1Co 1:31 that, according as it is written, "He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord."

"THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY" Introduction by Mark Copeland

                     "THE FIRST EPISTLE TO TIMOTHY"

                              Introduction

AUTHOR:  The apostle Paul, as stated in the salutation (1:1).  The 
internal evidence certainly supports Paul as the author, especially
references to his earlier life (1:13), and the close relationship
between the author and Timothy (1:2; cf. Php 2:22).  Early sources in
church history that attribute this letter to Paul include:  Eusebius
(300 A.D.), Origen (250 A.D.), Clement of Alexandria (200 A.D.),
Tertullian (200 A.D.), Irenaeus (200 A.D.), the Muratorian Fragment
(180 A.D.).  References to the epistle are also found in the writings
of Theophilus of Antioch (180 A.D.), Justin Martyr (160 A.D.), Polycarp
(135 A.D.), and Clement of Rome (90 A.D.).

RECIPIENT:  Timothy, Paul's "true son in the faith" (1:2,18).  We are
first introduced to Timothy in Ac 16:1-3, where we learn that his
mother was Jewish (cf. also 2Ti 1:5; 3:14-15) and his father Greek.
Well spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Iconium, Paul desired that
the young disciple travel with him and therefore had him circumcised to
accommodate Jews they would seek to evangelize.  This began a long
relationship of service together in the work of the Lord, in which
Timothy served Paul as a son would his father (Php 2:19-24).  Such
service included not only traveling with Paul, but remaining with new
congregations when Paul had to leave suddenly (Ac 17:13-14), going back
to encourage such congregations (1Th 3:1-3), and serving as Paul's
personal emissary (1Co 16:10-11; Php 2:19-24).  He had the honor of
joining Paul in the salutation of several epistles written by Paul (2
Col 1:1; Php 1:1; Col 1:1; 1Th 1:1; 2Th 1:1), and from such epistles we
learn that Timothy had been with Paul during his imprisonment at Rome.
Such faithful service helps us to appreciate why Paul would leave him
in Ephesus (1:3)

TIME AND PLACE OF WRITING:  Some commentators (such as Barnes) believe
that Paul may have penned 1st Timothy after his extended stay at
Ephesus and departure to Macedonia on his third missionary journey (cf.
Ac 19:1-41; 20:1-3). This would place its composition around 58-59 A.D.

The general consensus, though, is that Paul wrote this epistle from
Macedonia, following his first imprisonment in Rome (cf. Ac 28:16,
30-31).  Paul was released and allowed to travel for several years
before being arrested again and finally put to death by Nero.  It is
possible to conjecture from several references in his epistles that he
went to places like Philippi (Php 1:26; 2:24), Colosse (Phm 22), and 
even Spain (Ro 15:24,28).  With more certainty his destinations 
included Ephesus (where he left Timothy, 1Ti 1:3), Macedonia (where he
wrote 1st Timothy, 1Ti 1:3), Crete (where he left Titus, Tit 1:5),
Miletus (2Ti 4:20), Corinth (2Ti 4:20), and a winter at Nicopolis (2
Tit 4:20).  Any attempt to determine the exact order of these visits is 
pure speculation, however.  If 1st Timothy was indeed written during
this period, the date would be around 63-64 A.D.

PURPOSE OF THE EPISTLE:  Paul had left Timothy behind at Ephesus with
an awesome responsibility:  to charge some not to teach anything 
contrary to the "sound doctrine" which was according to the "glorious
gospel of the blessed God" (1:3-11).  Fulfilling this charge was made
difficult by Timothy's youth and natural timidity (4:11-12; cf. 2Ti 
1:7-8).  While Paul hoped to come himself, he writes Timothy to guide
him in the meantime (1Ti 3:14-15).  Therefore, Paul writes:

   * To instruct Timothy on how to conduct himself while administering
     the affairs of the church (3:14-15)

   * To encourage Timothy by providing counsel concerning his own 
     spiritual progress (4:12-16)

THEME OF THE EPISTLE:  This letter is addressed to a young evangelist
charged with the responsibility of working with a congregation and 
guiding them in the right way.  Everything that is written is designed
to aid both him and the congregation in doctrine and conduct.  An 
appropriate theme for this epistle might therefore be:

          "SOUND DOCTRINE FOR A CONGREGATION AND ITS PREACHER"

KEY VERSES:  1 Timothy 3:14-15

   "These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly;
    but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought
    to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of
    the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."

OUTLINE:

INTRODUCTION (1:1-2)

I. CHARGE CONCERNING SOUND DOCTRINE (1:3-20)

   A. TEACHING SOUND DOCTRINE (1:3-11)

   B. THANKSGIVING FOR THE LORD'S GRACE AND MERCY (1:12-17)

   C. TIMOTHY'S RESPONSIBILITY (1:18-20)

II. GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING THE CHURCH (2:1-3:13)

   A. THE PRACTICE OF PRAYER (2:1-8)

   B. INSTRUCTIONS FOR WOMEN (2:9-15)

   C. QUALIFICATIONS FOR CHURCH OFFICERS (3:1-13)
      1. For bishops (3:1-7)
      2. For deacons (3:8-13)

III. ADVICE TO TIMOTHY (3:14-4:16)

   A. PAUL'S PURPOSE IN WRITING (3:14-16)

   B. REMEMBER THE SPIRIT'S WARNING OF APOSTASY (4:1-6)

   C. EXERCISE YOURSELF UNTO GODLINESS (4:7-16)

IV. INSTRUCTIONS CONCERNING MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH (5:1-6:19)

   A. MAINTAIN PROPER RELATIONSHIPS (5:1-2)

   B. CONCERNING WIDOWS (5:3-16)

   C. CONCERNING ELDERS (5:17-25)

   D. CONCERNING SERVANTS (6:1-2)

   E. CONCERNING TEACHERS MOTIVATED BY GREED (6:3-10)

   F. CONCERNING THE MAN OF GOD HIMSELF (6:11-16)

   G. CONCERNING THE RICH (6:17-19)

CONCLUDING CHARGE TO TIMOTHY (6:20-21)

REVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE INTRODUCTION

1) Where do we first read about Timothy?
   - Acts 16:1-3

2) What was the name of his grandmother and mother? (2Ti 1:5)
   - Lois (grandmother)
   - Eunice (mother)

3) How did Paul affectionately regard Timothy? (1:2)
   - As his true son in the faith

4) Where was Timothy when Paul wrote this epistle? (1:3)
   - Ephesus

5) What is the general consensus for the time and place that Paul wrote
   this letter?
   - After his first Roman imprisonment, sometime around 63-64 A.D.
   - While in Macedonia, shortly after leaving Ephesus

6) What two-fold purpose does Paul have in writing this epistle?
   - To instruct Timothy on how to conduct himself while administering
     the affairs of the church
   - To encourage Timothy by providing counsel concerning his own
     spiritual progress

7) What is the theme of this epistle, as suggested in the introductory
   material?
   - Sound doctrine for a congregation and its preacher

8) What are the key verses?
   - 1Ti 3:14-15

9) According to the outline proposed above, what are the main points of
   this epistle?
   - Charge concerning sound doctrine
   - General instructions concerning the church
   - Advice to Timothy
   - Instructions concerning members of the church