The Rock Solid Foundation

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional Message Title: The Rock Solid Foundation Date: Thursday September 29, 2011 Chapters: Zechariah 8-14, Proverbs 29, Psalm 106:1-24 Click Here to Read Them or Go to: http://imfollowingjesus.com/bible-september-29 Hello My Friend/Guest, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.” -Matthew 7:22-27. The rock solid foundation of the Christian life is none other than Jesus Christ Himself. Without Christ we might as well be walking in quicksand because we are not going to get very far. I remember years ago trying to open my own sandwich shop, I had everything set up, the place, the equipment, the food, everything was coming together nicely, but three weeks after I got approved for the loan it fell threw. Of course, I moved on, but every once in a while I wonder what would have come of my little sandwich shop if I just tried a little harder. I come to realize that if I did have a restaurant it would have taken up a lot of my time and I probably wouldn't be where I am right now. You see, dreams come and go, but when they are in God's will they last an eternity. God assures all of His people that if they believe in Him and follow His Word that He would give them their desires. However, when those desires become more important than what God wants you can be sure that tribulation will come to wake us up. When the Jews came back to Jerusalem they were instructed to rebuild the Temple first. However, through a combination of fear and lack of motivation after the foundation was laid the work ceased. Through Zephaniah, God stressed to the Jews how important it was to get back to rebuilding the Temple. “Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built. For before these days there was no hire for man, nor any hire for beast; neither was there any peace to him that went out or came in because of the affliction: for I set all men every one against his neighbour. But now I will not be unto the residue of this people as in the former days, saith the LORD of hosts. For the seed shall be prosperous; the vine shall give her fruit, and the ground shall give her increase, and the heavens shall give their dew; and I will cause the remnant of this people to possess all these things. And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong.” -Zechariah 8:9-13. God assured the Jews as well as every one of His people that they will be blessed for their labor. There is nothing that we can not do for God that will be in vain, even cleaning bathrooms for God blesses you. It is only when we use God for our own glory that working for Him becomes vain and the reason why many people will stand before Jesus and He will say, “Depart from me.””Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves...That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.” - Philippians 2:3,15,16. Today, we are God's Temple, through every trial, circumstance, and test, piece by piece He is building upon the foundation of Christ and we become more faithful, stronger, and more confident in God's ability to help us through any of Satan's attacks. The hardest part about being faithful to God is patience, we anticipate things to happen quickly, however, God hardly ever makes things happen that fast. Zechariah foretells the coming of Christ, he did not know when it was going to happen, but he had confidence that whatever God said it would happen. “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth...And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign upon his land.” - Zechariah 9:9,10,16. Five hundred and fifty years passed when this prophecy was fulfilled as Jesus entered Jerusalem during the last week before His crucifixion. “Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass.” - Matthew 21:5. This was Jesus' formal presentation as King to His loyal supporters and the common people. Today, we have the anticipation of waiting on Christ' return, until that time comes we need to be prepared because He is going to come when we least expect it. God always follows through with His promises. We just need to keep pressing forward in faith and not only will we be in His will He will give us everything we desire. “These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.” - I John 5:13-15. Today's Prayer: Dear God, Lord, help us not to resent the storms of life or be fearful of their effects. Much like we prepare for a raging storm by anchoring valuables to a firm foundation, help us to anchor our hearts in the firm foundation of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Only He can help us withstand the tribulation and trials of life that are certain to come our way. Even as a ship is proven to be seaworthy over its lifetime, may our faith be proven trustworthy as we hold onto You, the Anchor for our soul. In Jesus' name. Amen. God Bless You, I am praying for you, Christina Are You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? 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Keep Fearing God

King James Daily Bible Study Devotional Message Title: Keep Fearing God Date: Monday September 26, 2011 Chapters: The Books of Nahum & Habakkuk, Proverbs 26, Psalm 104:18-35 Click Here to Read Them or Go to: http://imfollowingjesus.com/bible-september-26 Highlights of Chapters: God's power and holiness, the destruction of Nineveh foretold, Habakkuk asks God when justice will be served, God's answer, and Habakkuk's prayer. Hello My Friend/Guest, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one...There is no fear of God before their eyes...For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;” -Romans 3:10-12,18,23-25. It is important that we as Christians keep fearing the Lord, not be afraid of Him, but fear (honor & respect) Him. I have only one regret in my life over the years and that is that I did not have God's Word in me as a child. I imagine life could have been a lot easier and I would have stayed away from some of the affliction I caused myself had I learned from it when I was younger, but praise God He got me to see the truth when He did because He truly saved me from making one of the biggest mistakes that I would have ever made. God is amazing, in the midst of our worst errors in life He is right there to help us and get us out of trouble. However, we can not expect God to get us out of any trouble unless we humbly come to Him, ask Him for help, and keep fearing Him. The Books of Nahum and Habakkuk are the thirty-forth and thirty-fifth books of the Old Testament/Bible and each contain three chapters. The author of the Book of Nahum is Nahum and it was written to the city of Nineveh. The time line for these events took place about 660BC. The purpose of the book was to warn them of the coming judgment on Nineveh, the capitol of the Assyrian empire which took God's people into captivity. What we are to learn from the book is that we need to be aware that God avenges all evil. “God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies.” - Nahum 1:2. The author of the Book of Habakkuk is Habakkuk and it was written to the people of Judah. The time line for these events took place approximately between 608BC and 590BC. The purpose of the book was to Awaken Judah to their spiritual needs and warn them of the impending judgment of God. What we are to learn from the book is that the just shall live by faith alone. “Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith.” -Habakkuk 2:4. Nahum prophesied during the reign of Hezekiah, about 150 years after the great revival of Jonah's day when the city of Nineveh repented and were saved. However, the people failed to keep God in their lives, nor did they give their children the opportunity to know who God was and now they are facing judgment for returning to their idolatrous and sinful ways. Nahum describes God's judgments, His power, and warns all that He gets vengeance on all who cause His people to sin “God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers: Bashan languisheth, and Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon languisheth...There is one come out of thee, that imagineth evil against the LORD, a wicked counsellor. Thus saith the LORD; Though they be quiet, and likewise many, yet thus shall they be cut down, when he shall pass through. Though I have afflicted thee, I will afflict thee no more. For now will I break his yoke from off thee, and will burst thy bonds in sunder.” - Nahum 1:2-4,11-13. Why is God jealous? The word jealous from God's point of view means that He is intolerant of ones disloyalty or infidelity. He is not speaking here to those who just do not know who He is, He is speaking to those who know Him and are ignoring Him. “For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring...And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:” - Acts 17:28,30. God will forgive anyone who repents He always forgives even the most sinful person who truly repents and has received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives. That wicked counselor is none other than Satan himself, and while we all face the consequences for our own actions, Satan will get his as well, much worse than any of God's people. “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.” - Revelation 20:10. Habakkuk prophesied in the latter years of Josiah, he was more concerned with the holiness of God than Israel's escape from chastisement. Habakkuk expresses the attitude that many righteous people have. He is outraged at the violence and injustice in his society. There was sin, wickedness, destruction and violence, no justice in the courts, and the wicked outnumbered the righteous. He asked God how much longer will we have to suffer and keep praying for things to change when they keep getting worse. “O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention. Therefore the law is slacked, and judgment doth never go forth: for the wicked doth compass about the righteous; therefore wrong judgment proceedeth...Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.” - Habakkuk 1:2-4,12. God responds to Habakkuk's questions, “For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith. Yea also, because he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:..For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” - Habakkuk 2:2-5,14. God is reminding us that no wickedness will go unpunished, we may not see things happening, but He is watching and listening to everything that is going on. Where too often evil seems to triumph, we should not express doubt in the One and Only True God. He is just as uncompromising toward sin today as He was then. He also assures us that no matter what we are going through or how long it seems to take to receive an answer that He is at work and will bring it all to pass. He is going to do something so marvelous that we as Christian's will find it hard to understand and believe. Through the tribulations of this day and age we can rejoice knowing that those who fear God receive not only heavenly blessings but earthly blessings as well. “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life.” - Proverbs 22:3,4. Today's Prayer: Dear God, Lord, All nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee, O Lord; and shall glorify thy name. For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone. Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore. In Jesus' name. Amen. (from Psalm 86) God Bless You, I am praying for you, Christina Are You 100% Sure That You Are Going To Heaven? 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