~ A Fools Anger Is Easily Seen ~
Series
Note ~ In
this series we look at some of the passages in the Book of Proverbs – wise
sayings that are generally true – that describe a fool from God’s perspective. Some may surprise you.
Scripture ~ “A fool’s wrath is known at
once, but a prudent man covers shame” (Proverbs 12:16).
Important
Truth ~ “The
fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no God’” (Psalm 53:1a).
~ Robert
Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW blog.
* * * * *
~ Child of the Wrong Kingdom or Children of Promise ~
Series Comment ~ A person
can be a child of their mother, but also a child of their father. They may also have adopted parents. They may also be a child of incest or a child
of other “parents” – in this series we look at Biblical descriptions of various
“parents.”
Scripture
1 ~
“When Jesus heard it, He marveled, and said to those who followed, ‘Assuredly,
I say to you, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel! And I say to you that many will come from
east and west, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. But the sons of the kingdom will be cast
out into outer darkness. There will
be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ Then
Jesus said to the centurion, ‘Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it
be done for you.’ And his servant was
healed that same hour” (Matthew 8:10-13).
Scripture
2
~ “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are children of promise. But, as he who was born according to the
flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is
now. Nevertheless what does the
Scripture say? ‘Cast out the bondwoman
and her son, for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the
freewoman.’ So then, brethren, we are
not children of the bondwoman but of the free” (Galatians 4:28-31).
~ Robert
Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW
*****
~ Miracle Worker ~
This
Series ~ This
series of posts looks at some of the many attributes of God. Generally, we move in alphabetical order.
Introduction ~ Anyone
with even a little orientation to the Bible understands that the Bible contains
the historical accounts of a great many miracles in both the Old New Testaments.
One Old Testament
example is the historical account of Moses and the burning bush, in which a
bush was on fire but was not consumed by it. God used this as a method to get
Moses’ attention.
This was typical in the
sensed that God often uses miracles to get our attention. This is much more
common in areas without all the available knowledge of the divine than those of
us in “civilized and sophisticated” societies have available to us.
In the New Testament the
Greek word “dunamis” is translated as “miracle,” and its basic
concept is “power."” While it is true that often God’s miracles do not
follow our understanding of the “Laws of Nature” we need to remember that it
was God Himself Who established those laws.
Scripture ~ “Now
Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian.
And he led the flock to the back of the desert, and came to Horeb, the mountain
of God. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the
midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush was burning with fire, but
the bush was not consumed. Then Moses said, ‘I will now turn aside and see this
great sight, why the bush does not burn.’ So when the Lord saw that he turned
aside to look, God called to him from the midst of the bush and said, ‘Moses,
Moses!’ And he said, ‘Here I am’.” (Exodus 3:1-4).
~
Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.
* * * * *
~ God Answers Prayers For Nations ~
Introduction
~ “Abundant Life Now” previously provided
a list of Biblical of examples of fearing / reverencing God (217 posts). In this current series we look at Biblical
accounts that demonstrate that we can fully trust God. Initially we posted seven general reasons for
trusting God. We are currently looking
at passages from all 66 books of Scripture which demonstrate a reason for
trusting our Creator.
Scripture
~ “At the evening sacrifice I
arose from my fasting; and having torn my garment and my robe, I fell on my
knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God. And I said: ‘O my God, I am too ashamed and
humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen
higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day we
have been very guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests
have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to
captivity, to plunder, and to humiliation, as it is this day. And now for a little while grace has been
shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a
peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a
measure of revival in our bondage.
For we were slaves. Yet our God
did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight
of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to
rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem. And now, O our God, what shall we say after
this? For we have forsaken Your
commandments, which You commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, “The
land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land, with the uncleanness
of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from
one end to another with their impurity.
Now therefore, do not give your daughters as wives for their sons, nor
take their daughters to your sons; and never seek their peace or prosperity,
that you may be strong and eat the good of the land, and leave it as an
inheritance to your children forever.”
And after all that has come upon us for our evil deeds and for our great
guilt, since You our God have punished us less than our iniquities deserve,
and have given us such deliverance as this, should we again break Your
commandments, and join in marriage with the people committing these
abominations? Would You not be angry
with us until You had consumed us, so that there would be no remnant or
survivor? O Lord God of Israel, You are
righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this day. Here we are before You, in our guilt, though
no one can stand before You because of this!’” (Ezra 9:5-15).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.
*****
~ Differentiations ~
Armed
Forces Day is
for those who currently wear the uniform.
Veteran’s
Day is
for those who used to wear the uniform.
Memorial
Day
is for those who never made it out of their uniform.
Consider
Also:
Thanksgiving is a day
when we pause to give thanks for the things we have.
Memorial
Day
is a day when we pause to give thanks to the people who fought for the things
we have.
Scripture:
Jesus
said: “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved
you. Greater love has no one than this,
than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:12-13).
~ Robert
Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW blog.
* * * * *
~ In Jesus We Have Righteousness: Hebrews ~
Introduction ~ In
this series we look at a few of the verses which state what we have when we are
“in Christ.” Consider our series theme
verse:
“God,
who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even
when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by
grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together
in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He
might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ
Jesus. For by grace you have been
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of
works, lest anyone should boast. For we
are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God
prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:4-10).
Scripture ~ “By
faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly
fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned
the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith”
(Hebrews 11:7).
Additional
Scripture ~ “And
behold, the word of the Lord came to him [Abram], saying, ‘This one shall not
be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your
heir.’ Then He brought him outside and
said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number
them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall
your descendants be.’ And he believed
in the Lord, and He accounted it to him for righteousness” (Genesis
15:4-6),
~ Robert
Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW blog.
* * * * *
~ Jewelry, 4 ~
Series
Note
~ In this series we look at some of the Scriptures which mention human physical
adornment—pretty much without comment. These
posts will include clothing, head (including hair and
wigs), jewelry (including accessories), makeup (including tattoos), and perfume
(including incense). It is
important to note that some of
these passages are culturally related to a specific culture and time period.
Two Principles ~ (1) Focus on the long-term: “Charm
is deceitful and beauty is passing, but a woman who fears the Lord, she shall
be praised. Give her of the
fruit of her hands, and let her own works praise her in the gates” (Proverbs
31:30-31).
(2) Exercise modesty: “Women adorn themselves in modest
apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or
pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing
godliness, with good works” (1 Timothy 2:9b-10).
Scripture For This
Week ~ “But
Gideon said to them, ‘I will not rule over you, nor shall my son rule over you;
the Lord shall rule over you.’ Then Gideon said to them, ‘I would like to make
a request of you, that each of you would give me the earrings from his
plunder.’ For they had golden earrings, because they were Ishmaelites.
“So
they answered, ‘We will gladly give them.’ And they spread out a garment, and each
man threw into it the earrings from his plunder. Now the weight of the gold earrings that he
requested was one thousand seven hundred shekels of gold, besides the crescent
ornaments, pendants, and purple robes which were on the kings of Midian,
and besides the chains that were around their camels’ necks. Then Gideon
made it into an ephod and set it up in his city, Ophrah. And all Israel played
the harlot with it there. It became a snare to Gideon and to his house” (Judges
8:23-27).
Two
Keys
~ (1) “I beseech you therefore,
brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be
transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good
and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:1-2).
(2) “Do you not know that your body is the
temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you
are not your own? For you were bought at
a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which
are God’s” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
~ Robert
Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW blog.
* * * * *
~ Fools Think They Are Right ~
Series
Note ~ In
this series we look at some of the passages in the Book of Proverbs – wise
sayings that are generally true – that describe a fool from God’s perspective. Some may surprise you.
Scripture ~ “The way of a fool is right in
his own eyes, but he who heeds counsel is wise” (Proverbs 12:15).
Important
Truth ~ “The
fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no God’” (Psalm 53:1a).
~ Robert
Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW blog.
* * * * *
~ Child of Wrath of Child of Zion ~
Series Comment ~ A person
can be a child of their mother, but also a child of their father. They may also have adopted parents. They may also be a child of incest or a child
of other “parents” – in this series we look at Biblical descriptions of various
“parents.”
Scripture
1 ~
“And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once
walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the
power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among
whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling
the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of
wrath, just as the others” (Ephesians 2:1-3).
Scripture
2 ~
“Be glad then, you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God;
for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to
come down for you — the former rain, and the latter rain in the first
month. The threshing floors shall be
full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil” (Joel
2:23-24).
~ Robert
Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW
*****
~ Mighty ~
This
Series ~ This
series of posts looks at some of the many attributes of God. Generally, we move in alphabetical order.
Scripture ~ “For
unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; and the government will be
upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty
God,
Everlasting
Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6).
Comment
~ “Mighty”
is a translation of the Hebrew word “gibbor,” which is defined as
“strength, power, hero, or warrior.”
The
Scripture quoted above (Isaiah 9:6) assures us
that Jesus is “El Gibbor,” meaning that He is the God of Strength,
the God of Power, the God Who is our Hero, and God our Warrior.
~ Robert
Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW blog.
* * * * *
