Nothin' You Won't Do by Dara Maclean

Hey everybody!  Finally, got the chance to sit down and right this blog!  This song is talking about God's Love.  Please don't just right off this blog post because you've "heard it all before".  We are going to go through John 3:16 and look at how God loves us. 

Read John 3:16-17"
"For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through him."

There's two different words for love in Greek. The first one is phileo, meaning to feel affection towards someone or to be a friend to. This is our equivalent to "like".  The second is agape, which means to feel full love towards someone. In John 3:16, the Hebrew translations says agape.  God loved us with all his heart and couldn't bear to let us die.  He didn't just like us. He LOVED us.  The definition for love is "an intense feeling of deep affection. 

Proverbs 10:12
"... But love covers all transgressions."- God loves us so much that even when we fail him, or disappoint him, nothing can separate us from his love.

Romans 8:38-39
"For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created things, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."- What I want to point out is that last section. He states that you can see that by Jesus, bringing us back to our original point of:  God showed us love for him and sent Jesus down for you. He has appointed you as a child of God!

Romans 8:30
"and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified." - He appointed us to be his Children! He has a specific plan for every one of his children! He will go to all costs to save you!

God is love. It's that simple.  He would do anything for you.  As this song states, if you were the only person in the world, God would still send his son for you. He loves you. Do you love God with an "agape" love?

All my love,
Lindsey

Lack of Posts

Well, I'll be real honest!  It's been pretty chaotic for me around here so I haven't posted in a while! I offer my sincerest apologies, and promise to have the Christmas bible study next week! The song will be a Christmas carol done by a rock band!  Hope you tune in! But after that I won't be posting another study till January 3.

Thanks for your patience,
Lindsey

Lift Me Up by The Afters

The power of this song and this video is amazing!  And it’s amazing because it’s true!  God is our comforter and the lifter of our heads.  In the worse possible circumstances, remember God loves you and his plans give you a future and a hope.  He lifts you up in your sin, your sorrows, and your weakness and renews you if you have faith in him. When you fall down, where do you look for help and comfort?

Read Isaiah 40:28-31 J

1.     Verse 28 - “Have you not known?  Have you not heard?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He does not faint or grow weary; His understanding is unsearchable.”

A.    ”…The Lord is the everlasting God…” – He never changes or is unavailable.

I.              Everlasting - Lasting forever; eternal. Continuing indefinitely or for a long period of time. (http://www.dictionary.com/)  - God is everlasting.  He doesn’t shift in His ways.  He is infinite and never will grow old and weak.

II.             Psalms 106:1 “Praise the Lord!  Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever…”

B.    “…the creator of the ends of the earth…” – He created everything! He has so much power and everything you see he has made.

I.              Colossians 1:16 “For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created by Him and for Him…”

II.             Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…”

III.            Psalms 90:2 “Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God…”

C.    “…He does not faint or grow weary…” – To put this in simple terms, God is …well…God.  He isn’t a human, so He doesn’t have human needs.  He never gets tired or hungry.  He never gets weary or faint, because He can’t be sick. So rest in Him and He will give you strength.

D.    “…His understanding is unsearchable…”

I.              The Greek word for unsearchable is anexerév̱ni̱tos meaning unexplored.  We do not understand God's purpose for everything, and we will never be able to.

2.     Verse 29- “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might He increases strength…” – He will give you what you can’t get on your own!  He will be with you to give you strength.

A.      “…gives power to the faint…”

I.                    Psalm 82:4 “Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them out of the hand of the wicked…” –   David knew God could deliver and rescue him.
.B.    “…to him who has no might He increases strength…”

I.              1 Peter 5:6 “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time…”

II.             Psalm 28:7 “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in Him, and I am helped…” – In the second section of this verse, David states that since he trusts in the Lord, he is helped.

III.            Exodus 15:2 “The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him…”

3.       Verse 30- “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted…” – At one time, even the people with the most energy and strength will grow tired without God.  We need Him!

A.      “… youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted…”

I.              Psalm 103:5 “Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle…” – The writer is comparing youth with an eagle.  Eagles are often used as a symbol of strength in the bible.  God will give us the strength, but we need to ask!

4.     Verse 31- “but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

A.    This whole verse is giving different examples of what will happen when the Lord renews their strength.  Something that comes across my mind when reading this is exhaustion in sin.  Once Jesus Christ takes that away, we are renewed and strengthened. 

I.              1 Peter 4:11 “whoever speaks, as  one of who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies – in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ.  To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” – This verse specifically says that God supplies us strength.  Now, what do you do with this strength?  God gives you strength so that you can grow stronger as a Christian and glorify his name. So use it for that!

*Final Note- He lifts us up when we are down. He comforts us. He delivers us from our sins and sorrows. He is our God and our Savior! Let go of the sorrows and issues you've been dealing with and give them to God, in exchange for strength and comfort!

Live Free by Lecrae ft. Sho

This song is easily one of my favorite songs.  The focus of it is that as Christians, we are free from sin!  You heard me.  Satan has no power over you anymore, because God, the King of Kings, is your father, and he is the strongest thing in this whole world!  I want you to think about this question. What does it truely mean to be free from sin, and how does the affect your life?  Now enjoy this song! :)

*Before we start this study, I want to let you know I’ve been praying for you.  God brought you to this site for a reason!  God has definitely laid this study on my heart, and I can’t wait to share it with you!  I want to say that when you except Christ into your life, he forgives you for the sins you’ve already committed, and the ones you’ll commit in the future.  So when I talk about the “lawless” man and things of that nature I am referring to a non-Christian.  Also, as a Christian you may be struggling with sin, I want you to know this lesson will help you to! It will show you that you don’t need sin!  God has already forgiven you and you are no longer a slave to sin!*

Read Romans 6:20-23, please!

1.      Verse 20 "For when you were slaves to sin, you were free in regards to righteousness..."

A.    “…slaves to sin…” – What does slaves to sin mean? Let’s looks a little deeper!

I.                   John 8:34 “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin...” – So all of us are slaves to sin?  WRONG!  Let’s see why!

II.                2 Peter 2:19 “…For whatever overcomes a person, to that is he enslaved…” – Sin captures you to the point where it’s controlling your life!  How can we stop that?

III.             Romans 6:6 “We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.” – Once we become a Christian and give our life to God, our sin is gone!  Satan has no more power because we are set free from the chains of sin.

B.     “… you were free in regards to righteousness…” – This is a kind of freedom you do not want!

I.                   1 John 3:4-5 “…Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he appeared to take away sins, and in him there is no sin…” – If you are free in regards to righteousness, you are lawless.  According to this verse, sin is lawlessness.  Being free from righteousness only makes you a slave to sin.

2.      Verse 21 “But what fruit were you getting at that time of those things which you are now ashamed?” – Is sinning worth it in the long run?  Is it temporary?

A.    “…what fruit were you getting…” – What’s fruit and how does it affect our sin?

I.                   Matthew 7:17-18 “…So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown in the fire.” – Fruit is your actions.  Are they glorifying god or causing sin to pile up in your life?  When you do not have Christ in your life, you will bear bad fruit and then be “cut down and thrown in the fire”. 

II.                Jeremiah 21:14 “I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds…” – All those sins you commit before you have Christ in your life, will one day have a consequence, if they don’t already have one.

3.      Verse 22 “But now that you have been set free of sin and have become a slave of god, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life…”

A.    “…a slave of God…” – Okay, I understand how this might be confusing or weird to you, but it was weird to me at first too.  Let’s figure out what he’s trying to say!

I.                   Romans 6:16-17 “Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom  you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you were once slaves to sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” -  Being a slave to God means being obedient towards him and following his commandments.  If we do that, we get to experience freedom in Christ, which is eternal life!

4.      Verse 23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

*FINAL NOTE- We live under the chains of sins as non-believers.  We let sin pile up in our life, and let it take us captive.  The punishment for sin is death.  But since Jesus lived a perfect life, then died on the cross for us, we have the option to except eternal life.  That is a FREE gift, as it says in Romans 6:23. All you have to do is say a prayer asking him into your life! Just admit you are a sinner, believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again three days later, and confess Jesus is your lord and savior! You can read about this in Romans 10:9-13.  I hope this lesson really touched your heart, because it certainly touched mine! I hope you can check out next Tuesday's lesson. :) Have a blessed day! 

Welcome!

Hey, you guys!  It's Lindsey. This blog is an online version of a bible study I'm trying to set up at Windsor High School. Once a week, I will be posting our study.  Let me explain the title a little bit more!  In this study, we will be taking modern Christian music and applying it to our lives, in a biblical manner. Against popular believe, there's tons of great Christian music! You can find anything from rap to pop.  And we will try to study all different genres!  I can't wait to see how God works through this study! I hope you will make it a habit to check what study we are doing every week! Have a blessed day!

Love,
Lindsey Ball