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God With Man

 May 25 & 26
 May 25 – Daily Reading – 1 Kings 20-21 / John 8:31-59
 May 26 – NO Daily Reading

GOD SAID:

Kings 20:28 And there came a man of God, and spake unto the king of Israel, and said, Thus saith the LORD, Because the Syrians have said, The LORD is God of the hills, but he is not God of the valleys, therefore will I deliver all this great multitude into thine hand, and ye shall know that I am the LORD.

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

    Where Is God? This is a question we hear often when there is a tragedy in someone’s life. I’ve heard people ask this question when tornadoes have moved in and left nothing but devastation through an area. Some have asked where God has been when hurricanes have hit a shoreline and destroyed lives and homes. People will often ask a Pastor this question after the sudden unexplained death of a loved one. When someone takes weapons into a school or crowded area and randomly takes the lives of innocent people with no warning, we hear, where is God in all this? At times it’s hard to see God in the midst of natural disasters or the sinful outbursts of man. However in the aftermath, if you will look around, you will see this loving God picking up the pieces of broken lives and putting them back together again. There is a biblical name for God and Christ that will answer this question. IMMANUEL. Which means, “God with us.”

    In today’s reading of 1 Kings 20 we find the Syrian army not understanding the presence of God. They thought that He was a territorial God like their false imagined gods. They had hoped that this God was only with man on the mountain, and not in the valley. How soon they found out that the one true God is not a god of mud, but a God of Man. The God of Man is not confined to one place, nor is He only there in certain situations. He is the God of Man always.

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

      Just remember, the God of the mountain top experiences in life, is also the God who will walk with, and through the valley of your life. He’s the God you can count on when nature and man prove to be unreliable. He’s always there.

Can the world see God in you, even in the bad times?

THE WEEK IN REVIEW:

      Every step in life taken with the Lord, brings us closer to Him. Even mistakes in life will develop Godly Maturity if we learn from them, as seen in:

● Given Even More
● Guiding Their Memories
● God Still Matters
● Guaranteed A Meal
● Guarded And Mistaken
● God With Man

      What a blessing to know that just as a parent leads a child, our Heavenly Father is leading us into Godly Maturity.

SUNDAY’S:

        Today we suggest you read and study whatever the Lord has laid on your Pastors heart. Whatever scripture he uses for today’s messages were given to him by God for your specific needs

God is still teaching us,
if we will only learn from His lessons in life.

Matthew 11:29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me;
for I am meek and lowly in heart:
and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Living In His Word Ministries
            “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12

Guarded And Mistaken

 May 24
 Daily Reading – 1 Kings 18-19 / John 8:1-30

GOD SAID:

1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

      Ok, now what do I do? Yup, we have all been there. A decision has to be made, yet we are just not sure what to do. Many times our problem in deciding something has a lot to do with the people that our decision may affect. If we do this, these people will be happy, but some others may not. If we go the other way, just the opposite is true. What should I do? It’s in these situations we find that many people will decide to guard their opinion and saying nothing at all. One big problem with that is, then both sides see you as indecisive and wishy washy. What to do?

Elijah has just given the children of Israel this same ultimatum. Follow God, or follow Baal. If they choose to follow the God of Elijah, then many of their friends and neighbors will be mad. They may not get invited to the next neighborhood barbecue. However, if they choose Baal, well then if Elijah’s God is real, they might become the next item barbecued. What to do, what to do. So they did what many people still do today when faced with a tough decision. They do nothing. Our verse today says; “…And the people answered him not a word.” They were not willing to stand up for God. Later, when God proves himself to everyone with fire from heaven we find them on their faces before God in 1 Kings 18:39 crying out; “…The LORD, he is God.” Why, well everyone was doing it and they were scared. When given a choice they followed the crowd.

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

    Standing up for Christ may not always be easy. Guarding what we say may seem right. However, when we do, no one hears of our wonderful Saviour’s willingness to save. We live a guarded, but mistaken life.

What will you do?
Stand Up, Stand out, or stand mute?

     
Living In His Word Ministries
    “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12

Guaranteed A Meal

May 23
Daily Reading – 1 Kings 15-17 / John 7:37-53

GOD SAID:

1 Kings 17:14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD sendeth rain upon the earth.

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

      Most people in the United States do not truly know what it’s like to be starving. Some have been hungry at times, but few are actually starving. Through the generosity of many people and organizations, there are Food Banks, Rescue Missions, and Soup Kitchens in almost every major metropolitan city in the US. Truth be told, most people in this great land toss out more food in a week, than some in third world countries eat in a year. Most of us can’t even imagine not having some idea of how to get some food, from somewhere, in the next few days. However, what if that were the case in your life? What if you had no prospect of any food, from anyone, anywhere, and you only had one sandwich left? Then a person walks up and says; “if you will give me part of your sandwich, I guarantee that you will not run out of bread and lunch meat for a long time.” What would you do?

     This is the situation the widow woman in 1 Kings 17 found herself in. Even worse, it was not only her last meal, but her son’s last meal as well. However, the man who walked up did not make the guarantee of a meal on his own. He said to her; “…thus saith the Lord God of Israel.” This woman really thought that she and her son were about to die. For her there was no hope, until the God of hope stepped in. She did not place her trust in Elijah, as much as she placed her trust in the God of Elijah and Israel. God’s guarantees are rock solid.

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

    We too had no hope of escaping this world alive until the God of all hope stepped in. He is our Bread of Life. I once heard said that sharing the gospel is like one beggar, telling another beggar, where they had found bread.

Will you tell a hungry world about the Bread of Life?

     
Living In His Word Ministries
    “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12

God Still Matters

 May 22
 Daily Reading – 1 Kings 13-14 / John 7:1-36

GOD SAID:

1 Kings 14:1-2 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick. And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

      The world today wants to try to shut God out of their lives. For many years now public prayer, led by a hired public servants, has been disallowed. Teaching about Christianity and Godly morality from the scripture has been opposed. While at the same time, they teach other religions from other cultures and call it diversity. They have opposed God’s word in public places. Removing plaques and monuments that displayed the 10 commandments from places such as court rooms. The argument has been that these words may influence peoples decision making abilities. Well let’s hope so. That’s why they were given to us in the first place. However, no matter how hard they try to remove God from our lives, when tragedy strikes they beg people to pray. Everyone who dies in these situations, are said to have gone to heaven. No matter what people do or say, God still matters.

     This is nothing new. King Jeroboam had formed his own religion. He made fake idols to substitute as gods to be worshiped. He even made up a new narrative on the history of Israel. Yet, when his son was dying he did not run to a golden cow to ask for help and advice. Embarrassed by his own behavior and recognizing his sinfulness, in 1 Kings 14:2, he sends his wife in a disguise to ask of God’s man what was going to happen to his son. When trouble comes, and it will, the world admits by their own actions, God still matters.

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

    When trials come, the world looks for a Godly person to talk with. What a great time to be a witness and share Christ. Do they see you as that person?

When the lost world looks for a God fearing person,
do they ask you to pray,
or ask that you help find someone to pray?

     
Living In His Word Ministries
    “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12

Guiding Their Memories

 May 21
 Daily Reading – 1 Kings 11-12 / John 6:34-71

GOD SAID:

1 Kings 12:28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

GETTING INTO GOD’S WORD:

      Our brain is a wonderful, unparalleled organ. All our daily bodily functions, that happen without much conscious thought, take root there. Simple little things such as breathing, our heart beating, the sense of touch, smell, and taste, all originate from the brain. It’s also the central storage area for our thought processes. We can program this brain to learn to read, write, ride a bike, or drive a car. None of these things are pre-programmed in the brain, yet God created it so that we can program things into it. Another thing our brain does is to store our memories. Things from our past that we want to remember. However, just like programming it to drive, it can also be brainwashed, or reprogrammed, into believing in things that never happened. Someone once said, if you say something often enough, and loud enough, to enough people, eventually people will believe it’s true.

     Israel falls for the miss-guiding of their memories in 1 Kings 12:28. Jeroboam becomes afraid of Israel’s loyalty to him if they go to worship the real God in Jerusalem. Because of this, he changes their religion, creates a fake feast day and month, made two false calves as gods, and also rewrites their history. Saying “…behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” These people wanted their own way so badly, they were willing to believe that everything they knew to be true, was wrong.

GETTING GOD’S WORD INTO ME:

    Today we have people rewriting the meaning of scripture. For centuries the church has known what God’s word has meant. Yet, now there are some who teach multitudes, that all they have known is wrong. They say that they have a new, better understanding.

Does real truth change?

     
Living In His Word Ministries
    “Getting people into the Word of God…
                               … and the Word of God into people.”

Dr. Franklin J. Senters Th.D.
Founder and Executive Director
Hebrews 2:12