~ Did You Get It Right? ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~ bible
answer ~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
question: Who was the only Biblical character in the
Book of Genesis who we are told lived less than 120 years?
answer: Joseph
“So Joseph
dwelt in Egypt, he and his father's household.
And Joseph lived one hundred and ten years” (Genesis 50:22-23).
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.
~ Mysterious ~
This
Series ~ This
series of posts looks at some of the many attributes of God. Generally, we move in alphabetical order.
Introduction ~ The
Bible speaks of a number of mysteries – all of which have root in the spiritual
dimension.
Scripture ~ “But
we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this
age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
But as it is written:
“Eye
has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things
which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:7-9).
Additional
Scriptures ~ “For
as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways,
and My thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:9).
“Beloved,
do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day” (2 Peter 3:8-9).
Comment ~ We
often speak of a Holy God and the Holy Bible. A key root idea of the word holy
is unique – totally different than anything else.
~ Robert
Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT
LIFE NOW blog.
* * * * *
~ Test Your Bible Knowledge ~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~ bible
question ~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
question: Who was the only Biblical character in the
Book of Genesis who we are told lived less than 120 years?
Please
provide your answer in the comments below!
The answer
will be provided in a future blog.
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.
*
* * * *
~ What Must I Do To Be Saved? ~
Introduction ~ This series is about questions that
enquiring unbelievers often have about Jesus.
Some were asked by individuals involved with Jesus Christ while He
walked on earth. It is far from an
exhaustive list.
The Question ~ “At
midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the
prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so
that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors
were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison,
awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners
had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself. But Paul called with a
loud voice, saying, ‘Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.’
“Then
he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas.
And he brought them out and said, ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’
“So
they said, ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you
and your household.’ Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who
were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their
stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized. Now when he had
brought them into his house, he set food before them; and he rejoiced, having
believed in God with all his household” (Acts 16:25-34).
Key
Issue ~ “If
a man dies, shall he live again?” (Job 24:14a).
Have
you believed on the Lord Jesus Christ?
If not, why not? If you genuinely ask God to show Himself to you
personally, He will. Will you make that decision right now? If not, why not?
Comment ~ Have
you ever asked this question? If not,
why not? If you have asked the question,
what is your answer? What is your answer based upon?
the critical question: “Who do you say that I am?”
(Matthew 16:15). This is the most important question you will ever answer. If
you do not answer it, or answer it incorrectly, you have made the biggest
mistake anyone can make!
~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW blog.
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~ In Jesus We Have Righteousness: Book of James ~
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 ~ “But
someone will say, ‘You have faith, and I have works.’ Show me your faith without your works, and I
will show you my faith by my works. You
believe that there is one God. You do
well. Even the demons believe — and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that
faith without works is dead? Was not
Abraham our father justified by works when he offered Isaac his son on the
altar? Do you see that faith was working
together with his works, and by works faith was made perfect? And the Scripture was fulfilled which says, ‘Abraham
believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.’ And he was called the friend of God. You see then that a man is justified by works,
and not by faith only” (James 2:18-24).
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, 5 ~
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 ~ “O
daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you in scarlet, with luxury; who
put ornaments of gold on your apparel” (2 Samuel 1:24).
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.
* * * * *
~ 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.
*****
