All for the Glory of God

J.J. Stark

(For April 2016)

Field Time: Browning, MT

IGNITE Class 10

Inductive Bible Study

All for the Glory of God

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…

– Romans 3:23 (NKJV)

When breaking down this latter passage surrounding Romans 3, I find an amazing amount of depth to it, especially when looking at the passage surrounding it.  In this section of his letter to the believers in Rome, the apostle Paul defines how all believers are now free from the bondage under the Mosaic Law that had been so strictly enforced for thousands of years.  He starts in verses 21 and 22: “²¹But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, ²²even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe.”  Putting myself in the Israelites’ shoes at the time when Moses brought forth the law from God, there had to have been some questions in their minds as to why these were put into place.  They didn’t understand that because the Lord is a God of purity and holiness, and because they were His chosen people, He set the law to purify them for Himself.  Paul is showing that through Christ’s death and resurrection that we are now able to see the purification from the Lord is to bring us into His righteousness, to all who believe.  Paul continues on: “For there is no difference; ²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, ²⁴being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ.”  Because of man’s Fall, we put ourselves under the law: our own guidance, discernment, and strength; in all of that, we are inadequate to come back to the holy unity that was originally established at the beginning of Creation.  But our Father wanted so badly to bring us back to that, that He lovingly sent His One and only Son to die…for the whole world.  Yet to take it one step closer to home, He came to die for each one individually, which means me too…even if I had been the only one on earth, He would have still come.  Jesus Christ, “²⁵whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, ²⁶to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

I don’t think it gets much clearer than that, and brings me to my knees with the importance of giving my all in humble service and worship to Him, because He demonstrates His own love towards me, in that while I was still a sinner, Christ died for me. (Romans 5:8)

Application:  Today I will set aside at least an hour to just sit in His presence, be it with music or in silence.

The Lord My God

J.J. Stark

May 22, 2016

Field Time: Browning, MT

IGNITE Class 10

Inductive Bible Study

The Lord My God

“The Lord is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

– Psalm 18:2 (NKJV)

The God I serve is an awesome and wondrous God.  He is the One who created power itself, the One whom is feared in my very being, yet also the One who created my being and possesses an unfathomable love and compassion for me.  Thinking about this brings me to a state of reverent awe, because His sheer magnificence is so beyond my greatest comprehensions.  It is times like this that I also repetitively shocked at myself, at how easily (and often) I forget God’s character.  I constantly ask in my wondering, “How did I forget, and why do I act in my own stupid nature?”  How is it that I am not saying, “The Lord is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold,”?? (Psalm 18:2)

It is only through Christ’s cleansing redemptive blood that I am able to put to death myself and return to the remembrance in living communion with Him.  This brings to mind Lamentations 3:22-26, “²²Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassion fails not.  ²³They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  ²⁴ ‘“The Lord is my portion,”’ says my soul, ‘“Therefore I hope in Him!”’  ²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.  ²⁶It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”

Reading that passage makes me think of three men in the Old Testament who sought God in the stormy times of as their rock, fortress, and deliverer.   The first is Noah.  To me Psalm 18:7 gives a picture of what it could have been like: “⁷Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations of the hills quaked and were shaken, because He was angry.”  The Lord was not only spiritually each of these elements for Noah during that time, but physically too.  The rock (mountains) was the first thing the ark touched as the waters receded, with the ark representing God’s protective fortress and deliverance to Noah.  The second man is Moses.  Psalm 18:13 says, “¹³The Lord thundered from Heaven, and the Most High uttered His voice, hailstones and coals of fire.”  Moses was a witness to the terrible wrath of God against those who did not believe, but he also found his comfort and peace in the same God.  The Lord provided the rock that he struck for water, and He used the water of the Red Sea as the delivering fortress against the Egyptians.  Those are just a few examples out of the many that Moses encountered in his walk with the Lord.  The last of the three is David, the author.  Psalm 18:35-36 sum up David’s relationship with the Lord: “³⁵You have also given me the shield of Your salvation; Your right hand has held me up, Your gentleness has made me great.  ³⁶You enlarged my path under me, so my feet did not slip.”  Numerous occasions can be seen throughout David’s life of God being each of these for him: the rock used against the giant, the caves of deliverance from King Saul, and fortified cities later in his reign.

God forged each man into what they became because each one humbly came to Him and said in their hearts, “¹I will love You, O Lord, my strength.  ²The Lord is my rock, and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.  ³I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies.”  Each of their testimonies is the recorded, Living Word of God from which I am learning to make the Lord my complete hiding place, assurance, comfort, and rest.

Application:  This evening I will take time to write in my journal the mercies of the Lord in my life, to reinforce Him being my rock, my fortress and my deliverer.

All or Nothing

J.J. Stark

May 13, 2016

Field Time: Browning, MT

IGNITE Class 10

Inductive Bible Study

All or Nothing

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.”

– Proverbs 3:5 (NKJV)

The phrase “with all your heart” is one that I have read numerous time, but also one that I previously haven’t stopped to truly meditate on its meaning.  It is a curious thing how one can go through life for a long period knowing some saying or old rhyme, yet never give a second to what is actually being implied.  I realize now that this has been the case for myself with this Proverb.  It has been a personal favorite for years, and always a “go-to” verse during stormy time in my life.  Recently it has become more of a reality, but now taking this second look at it, the Lord has really spoken it as both a question and a challenge.  To re-state it as a question to myself, do I trust in the Lord with all my heart, and lean not on my own understanding?  Ouch…again that phrase resounds loudly from God… “with all your heart.”  Oh, double-minded man that I am!  How often to I say “Oh yes, I have given everything for God, I will do anything for God!”, yet turn right around and be worrying about how much money I have, or clinging on to a possession, or an even harder one – a person…I feel just like Peter in Matthew 26:33, “…Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”  But just as Jesus new Peter’s heart, He knows mine – a very wayward one at that. 

But I serve an awesome God, one who deals with this constantly throughout His word, starting in 1 Samuel 16:7b by saying “…but the Lord looks at the heart,” and Psalm 7:9b – “…the righteous God tests the hearts and minds.”  The fact that Christ is actually looks at my heart and tests it, all of the sudden makes me shudder, as His Holy Spirit makes aware to me the things that still hold pieces of my heart, things that I treasure.  Another reminder comes in Matthew 6:19-21, “¹⁹Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth… ²⁰but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven… ²¹For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  This drives the Sword home.  If things are still holding pieces of my heart, then the answer to my earlier question, is “NO!”  Jesus went on to say more about this in Matthew 10:37-39, saying, “³⁷He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.  ³⁸And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me.  ³⁹He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.” Lord God in heaven, my loving Savior, forgive me for my selfishness, tucking things away in my heart and trying to keep back some of it for myself!  I lose my life, wash me anew in Your cleansing blood so that I may pick up my cross and be counted worthy by You.  Continually remind me of Your lovingkindness, that I can learn to trust in You, Lord, with all my heart, and lean not on my own understanding, and in all my ways acknowledge You, and You shall direct my paths (Proverbs 3:5-6, personalized).  Let me come to You just as 1 Samuel 2:1-2 says, “And Hannah prayed and said: ‘“¹My Heart rejoices in the Lord; my horn is exalted in the Lord.  I smile at my enemies, because I rejoice in Your salvation.  ²No one is like the Lord, for there is none besides You, nor is there any rock like our God.”’”

Application:  Today as a reminder and meditation, I will write Proverbs 3:5-6 in my journal over and over until I fill a whole page.

Draw Near to God

J.J. Stark

May 10, 2016

Field Time: Browning, MT

IGNITE CLASS 10

Inductive Bible Study (IBS)

Draw Near to God

“Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” – James 4:8 (NKJV)

This letter written to the scattered Israelite tribes is boldly penned by James in a manner only seen when a man is drawn near to God and abiding in His presence.  These words wield their cutting edge today just as much as they did then. I am struck to my core by James’s reprimand, “…Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”  Even as I write this I am convicted of having unclean hands, an impure heart, and constantly double-minded!  To draw near to God, the Holiest of Holies, the all-powerful, yet my ever-loving Creator and Master, remains not only a daily, but hourly challenge. 

This strife, whether with others or myself, seems to always be present.  Often it is due (not surprisingly) to my pride, a mindset believing I am able to handle things myself and that my way is best. Coincidentally, this is the exact context from which James 4:7-10 comes.  James asks the question in 4:1 – “Where do wars and fights come from among you?  Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?”  I know my heart and mind are regularly warring with each other.  This now leads to James 4:7,8, & 10 – “⁷Therefore submit to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  ⁸Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded…¹⁰Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.”  A pattern for oneself to return to communion with Christ stands out: submit, draw near, and humble.

The apostle Peter also discusses this 1 Peter 5:5-11, saying, “⁵Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders.  Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for ‘“God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”’” He comes from the same angle as James – lay down pride and the Lord removes strife; he reinforces this showing that submission honoring the Lord is manifested in submission to others. 

Peter continues, “⁶Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, ⁷casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”  What a reassurance!  Yes, this is easier said than done, but just as it says in Hebrews 4:11-16, if I am “diligent to enter that rest,” I am then able to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that ‘I’ may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  This is the cleansing of hands and the purifying of heart, me, a double-minded sinner. 

Application:  I will work at being submissive to the Lord by daily putting aside my own agenda, being ready for what may be asked by those over and around me.  This evening I will write several times in my journal as a prayer 1 Peter 5:10-11; “¹⁰But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, and strengthen, and settle you.  ¹¹To Him be the Glory and the dominion forever and ever.  Amen.”

Instruction to Wisdom – Listen!

J.J. Stark

May 8-9, 2016

Field Time: Browning, MT

IGNITE CLASS 10

Inductive Bible Study (IBS)

Instruction to Wisdom – Listen!

“Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.” – Proverbs 8:33 (*All in KJV)

In meditating on Proverbs 8:33, the Lord has led me on an incredible discovery path of wisdom through the Psalms and Proverbs, bringing to my attention many new and familiar verses from Kings David and Solomon, the men whom He bestowed to one His heart, and the other heavenly wisdom.  Throughout this journey, Proverbs 8:33 becomes as a living prayer, as well as a command to my life.  Let this be a written testimony of our undeniable, living, Omnipotent, Omnipresent Master, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose Holy Spirit continually ministers to us.

It can’t be more plainly stated – Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.  This cultivates in me a desire to glimpse this instruction manifested wisely in a man’s life; my ponderings parallel similarly Proverbs 1:2-7.  “²To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; ³To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity…” 

Great and Heavenly Father above, I ask in humble reverence for this “⁴…young man knowledge and discretion.”  Grow me into “⁵a wise man ‘who’ will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of understanding, ‘that’ shall attain unto wise counsels.”  God Almighty, ingrain in my soul how “⁷The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”  Keep them from me, “… fools ‘who’ despise wisdom and instruction.”

If I may be so bold, let me question the significance of wisdom, that the powerful Creator of the universe would speak so loftily of it to man?

In the passages surrounding the verse of topic, wisdom herself answers:

“²²The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.

²³I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was…

³⁰Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight rejoicing always before him; ³¹Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were the sons of men.

 ³²Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children, for blessed are they that keep my ways.

³³Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.

 ³⁴Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

³⁵For whoso findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord.”

– Proverbs 8:22-23, 30-35

I find myself asking Psalm 119:9 – “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?”  According to fleshly wisdom, it would remain to this day un-answerable.  Yet thru the wonderful grace of the loving Father above, He gives the man truly seeking Him the understanding, repeating Christ’s statement in Matthew 19:26 – “...With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”  Because David’s heart was in pure worship, God granted him understanding to his own question, answering, “By taking heed thereto according to thy word.”

What, then, does thy word say, O Lord, that I must taketh heed of? What is the instruction on the path to wisdom??

-         Proverbs 3:5-7, “⁵Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.  ⁶In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.  ⁷Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil.”

-         Proverbs 3:11-12, “¹¹My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: ¹²For whom the Lord loveth he correcteth; even as a father the son in whom he delighteth.”

-         Proverbs 4:5-7, “⁵Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.  ⁶Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.  ⁷Wisdom is the principle thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.”

Let this be my application, O God, that I listen, immerse, and be cleansed in these holy and perfect words given me, so that I can come before Your awesome, majestic throne and say:

“¹⁰With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.  ¹¹Thy word have I hidden in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee.  ¹²Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy statutes.  ¹³With my lips have I declared all the judgements of thy mouth.  ¹⁴I have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies, as much as in all riches.  ¹⁵I will meditate in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways.  ¹⁶I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.” – Psalm 119:10-16