New Focus: God Loves Us (#882)
Today we’re going to start a new series called New Focus. And the purpose of this series is to give us something positive to focus on every week. Because as we go through our weeks, with our various focus and responsibilities, there is so much going on around us, so many people, so many details, so much stuff that we sometimes we get distracted on from simply loving God and knowing He loves us.
Taught by Bruce Mahone 20151004.  All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Deut. 7:8           God’s motives
Deut. 23:5         God turned the curse (of Balaam) into a blessing, because He loved
Ps 13:5-6            I have trusted in thy steadfast love
Psa 34:8-10        O taste and see that the Lord is good; they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing —
Ps. 36:7-9           How excellent (precious) is thy lovingkindness
Ps 92:1-2            To shew forth (declare) thy lovingkindness in the morning
Ps. 119:165        Great peace have they which love thy law, and nothing shall offend
Jer. 9:23, 24        He knoweth the Lord which exercises lovingkindness (vs 24)
Jer. 31:3              With lovingkindness He drew us.
Rom. 8:28           All things work together for good
Ro. 8:38, 39        Nothing can separate us
Eph. 1:4-6           Holy and without blame, lovely and acceptable
I Thes. 4:9-12     You are taught of God to love one another (vs. 11 – aspire to lead a quiet life, aspire to live quietly, let it be a point of honor with you to keep calm)
Teaching
882 New Focus: God Loves Us

Persistence (#881)
Today we’re going to talk about persistence. As you know God is very persistent, he never gives up on us and keeps doing all He can to help us and He will faithfully and consistently be there when we need help. He wants us to be faithful and consistent as well. We’ll look at many records today; that will help drive home the fact that we just can’t give up. Let’s start in Luke 18.
Taught by Bruce Mahone 20150927.  All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Luke 18:1-8             Men ought always to pray, and not to faint
Gen 18:20-33          Moses reasoned with God about Sodom’s destruction
II Kings 4:18-37       He walked in the house to and fro…child sneezed seven times
I Kings 18:41-45      Elijah prayed, and it rained – James 5:17-18
Mark 8:22-25           Men as trees walking
Rom 1:8-13              I purposed (determined) to come unto you, but was let (forbidden)
Col 4:1-4                   Praying…that God would open unto us a door of utterance (vs. 3)
Rom. 12:10-14         Patient in mental pressure, continuing instant [steadfastly, faithful, persevering, be constant] in prayer (vs. 12)
I Co. 4:1-5                  Required in stewards to be found faithful (vs. 4 – nothing of which I am guilty)
II Tim 4:1-5                Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season (vs. 2)
Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching. (NASB)
Teaching
Persistence (#881)

Rejoice in God’s Goodness (#880)
Today we’re going to talk about rejoicing in God’s goodness.  The last time I covered this was about ten years ago.  We’ve covered variations of this, but haven’t covered this topic in a while.  We’ll start in Deuteronomy chapter 18.
Taught by Bruce Mahone 20150823.  All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Ex 18:1-12                  Jethro rejoiced for all the goodness which the Lord had done to Israel (vs 9)
Ps 146                         Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help (vs. 5)
Prov 16:20                  Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he
Deut 16:13-17            The Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thine increase…therefore thou shalt surely rejoice (vs. 15)
Deut 26:1-11              Thou shalt rejoice in every good thing which the Lord thy God hath given unto thee (vs. 11)
I Chron 16:7-36         Let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord (vs. 10)
II Chron 20:27           The Lord had made them to rejoice over their enemies
Psalm 5:11-12           Let those that trust thee rejoice, let them ever shout for joy
Psalm 16:11              In thy presence is fullness of joy
Psalm 43:4                God my exceeding joy (NLT: the source of all my joy; NIV: my joy and my delight; lit: gladness of my joy)
Prov 15:13-15           A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance (vs. 13) He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast (vs. 15)
Rom 5:1-8                 Rejoice in hope of the glory of God (vs. 2)
Rom 12:9-21             Rejoicing in hope (vs. 12)
Phil 3:3                      Rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh
Phil 4:4-9                   Rejoice in the Lord alway, and again I say, Rejoice (vs. 4)
I Tim. 6:17                 Trust in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy
 Never give up on God – He has certainly not given up on you!
Teaching
880 – Rejoice in God’s Goodness

You Need A Vision (#879)
Today we’re going to talk about the importance of having a vision.  Is is humorous and rather interesting to me that some people can see things up close and need glasses to see things at distance and others can see things far away, but can’t see things up close without glasses.  So it seems to be true in life, where some people are great at dealing day-to-day challenges, but ask them about the future and they panic; and other people have a great vision of where they want to be ten years from now, but they can’t deal with practical realities day-to-day.  Well, God wants us to have a vision for our lives that is good for both; a great positive, expectation for the future like the return of His son.  But he also wants us to be have a vision for today.  Let get into the records covering this subject.
Taught by Bruce Mahone 20150823.  All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
II Kings 6:8-23           Chariots of fire – Raise your vision for your life
Psalms 60:11-12       Through God we shall do valiantly: for he shall tread down our enemies
Psalms 91                  1000, 10,000 shall fall, but it shall not come nigh thee (vs. 7)
Prov. 16:3                  Commit(roll) your works unto the Lord, and your thoughts shall be established
Prov. 28:1                  The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion
Prov. 29:18                Where there is no vision (divine communication), the people perish (wander): but he that keepeth the law, happy is he
Eccl. 9:4                      For to him that is joined to all the living there is hope [986 – bittachown – trust, confidence, hope]
Jer. 17:7                      Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope [4009 – mibtach – trust, confidence, refuge]the LORD is
Dan. 6:1-23                Daniel prayed, survived the lion’s den
Dan. 11:32                 The people that do know their God shall be strong (stand firm) and do exploits (take action)
II Cor. 4:(1-)18           Look not at those things which are seen
Phil. 3:3                      Worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, have no confidence in the flesh
Col. 3:1-3                   Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth (vs. 1)
II Tim. 4:16-18          At my first answer [defense] no man stood with me.
The Lord stood with me…shall deliver me from every evil work.
Teaching
You Need A Vision (#879)

 

The Importance of Loving God (#878)
Today we’ll continue what we covered last teaching, when we talked about the secret of radiant living, where we learned that if you don’t focus on yourself or other people, but rather focus on God – it will light up your life and give you great peace.  At the end of that teaching, as you may recall there were a few verses on loving God.  We’ll continue our study there.
I’ve learned that the more I look in the scriptures and live life the more I see the importance of simply loving God.  With everything going on around us, it is sometimes difficult to understand what our responsibility is as Christians.  As we continue our study, we’ll see it is to simply to love God and our neighbor.
Taught by Bruce Mahone 20150809.  All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes

Deut. 6:4-5          Love the Lord thy God
Deut. 7:7-9          Them that love him
Deut. 10:12-16   Love him and serve
Deut. 11:1-25      Love the Lord
Deut. 30:15-20    Life and good
Joshua 22:1-5      Be diligent to love the Lord your God
I Chron. 10:1-14  How did Saul die?
Mat. 22:34-40      First and great commandment: love God
Rom. 8:28            All things work together for good
I John 5:2-3          For this is the love of God
Teaching
The Importance of Loving God (878)

Radiant Living (#877)
Today we’re going to review something we review most every year or two. This was one of Dr. Wierwille’s favorite teachings and one I really enjoyed when I started getting serious about studying the Bible back in High School. This may be very familiar to you, but these are great things to get in your mind. The points we’ll look at are that if you spend all your time thinking about yourself, you’ll be miserable; if you focus all your time on others, you’ll get distracted; but if you focus on God you’ll be peacefully radiant. Let’s start in Psalms 77…
Taught by Bruce Mahone on 20150726. All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Look to yourself -> miserable
Psalm 77                      I have considered the days of old; commune with mine own heart (vss 5-6)
Prov 18:2                     A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart discover itself
Look to others -> distracted
Psalm 73                      I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked (vs 3)
II Corinthians 10:12    They measuring themselves by themselves are not wise
Look to God -> peacefully radiant
Psalm 34                     They looked unto him, and were radiant (vs 4 – ASV et al)
Isaiah 26:3                  Perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee
Hebrews 12:2,3          Looking unto Jesus…consider him who endured
Hebrews 3:1               Consider the apostle and high priest…Christ Jesus
II Corinthians 4:18     We look not at the things which are seen, but not seen
Colossians 3:1-2        Set your affection (mind/thoughts) on things above
Conclusion: Love God
Joshua 22:1-5              Be diligent to love the Lord your God
Psalm 62:7-8               Trust in the rock of my strength, my refuge, pour out your hearts before him
Ecclesiastes 12:13      Whole duty of man: fear God and keep his commandments
Matthew 22:34-40      First and great commandment: love God
Romans 8:28               All things work together for good
Teaching
Radiant Living (#877)

Faithful Reliability (#876)

Today we’ll continue on the importance of trusting God by looking at His faithful reliability.  Being faithful is good and being reliable is good, and God is both.  Let’s start in Deuteronomy Chapter 7.

Taught by Bruce Mahone on 20150719. All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Deut. 7:7-9                 The LORD God is the faithful God
I Kings 17:1-16          The ravens, then the barrel of meal fed Elijah.
Psalm 36:5-9              Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds
Psalm 92:1-5             To show forth thy faithfulness every night
Psalm 108:1-6           Your mercy (steadfast love, lovingkindness) is great above (higher than) the heavens and thy truth (faithfulness) reaches to the clouds (skies) (vs. 4)
Psalm 119:86            All thy commandments are faithful
Psalm 119:90            Thy faithfulness is unto all generations
Psalm 119:138          Thy testimonies are very faithful
Lam. 3:22-23             Great is thy faithfulness
Rom. 8:35-39            Nothing can separate us from the love of God
Rom. 12:10-14          Patient in mental pressure, continuing instant [steadfastly, faithful, persevering, be constant] in prayer (vs. 12)
I Cor. 10:13                God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able
II Thes. 3:3                 The Lord is faithful, who will stablish you and keep you from evil
II Tim 4:16-18 2         The Lord stood with me, and strengthened me
Titus 1:9                     Holding fast the faithful word
Teaching
Faithful Reliability #876

God Is Good (#875)
Today were going to look at the goodness of God.  I taught a class on this subject about four or five years ago.  Today I’ll present the introduction to this subject and the course.  I recommend that, if you want to learn more about this, you refer the full class on the web site (which is located here).

Taught by Bruce Mahone on 20150628. All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Deut 1:25           It is a good land which the Lord our God doth give us
Deut 6:20-25     The Lord commanded us to do all these statutes…for our good
Deut 10:12-13   To keep the commandments of the Lord…for thy good
Deut 26:1-11     Rejoice in every good thing the Lord thy God hath given thee (vs. 11)
Josh 21:45          There failed not ought of any good thing
I Kings 8:54-56  There failed not one word of all his good promise
Ezra 3:10-11      Giving thanks unto the Lord; because he is good
Ezra 7:9              The good hand of his God upon him
Neh 2:18            The hand of my God which was good upon me
Psa 4:6-8            There be many that say, Who shall shew us any good?
Psa 25:8             Good and upright is the Lord
Psa 34:8-10       O taste and see that the Lord is good; they that seek the Lord shall not lack any good thing —
Psa 69:16          Hear me O Lord, for thy lovingkindness [chesed – steadfast love, lovingkindness] is good
Psa 73:1            Truly God is good to Israel, to such as are of a clean heart
Psa 84:11          No good will he withhold from them that walk uprightly
Psa 107:8-9       Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness
Psa 109:21        Thy mercy is good
Psa 143:10        Thy spirit is good
Mat 19:16-17    Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, God
Acts 10:38         God anointed Jesus Christ, who went about doing good
Rom 2:4             The goodness of God leadeth men to repentance
Rom 8:28           All things work together for good to them that love God
I John 1:5           God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all
Teaching
875-God Is Good (42:09)

874 – Reliance

The last several sessions of fellowship we’ve focused on trusting God. Today we’ll look at at a variation of that — relying on God; since these two subjects are similar, we’ll come across some of same themes as we did when we looked at trusting God. Let’s start in II Chronicles chapter 13…

Taught by Bruce Mahone on 20150614. All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
II Chron. 13                 The children of Judah prevailed, because they relied [Heb. Sha-an: to rest,  rely, lean upon, support oneself] upon the LORD God (vs. 18)
II Chron. 16                 Thou hast relied on the king of Syria, and not relied [Heb. Sha-an] on the LORD thy God (vs. 7)
Ps. 34:22                     None of them that trust [Heb. Chasa: seek refuge, flee for protection, put trust in, confide or hope in] in him shall be desolate
Ps. 118:5-9                  It is better to trust [Heb. Chasa] in the Lord than to put confidence in man (vs. 8)
Prov. 3:5                       Lean [Heb. Sha-an] not unto thine own understanding
Dan. 3:28                    God delivered his servants that trusted [Aram. rechats: set one’s trust on] in him
Rom. 12:10-14            Patient in mental pressure, continuing instant [steadfastly, faithful, persevering, be constant] in prayer (vs. 12)
II Cor. 1:8-10              We should trust in God which raiseth the dead
Teaching
874-Reliance

873 – Keep Trusting God

We’re going to continue our series on trusting God.  Today we’ll pick up our study on trusting God in Proverbs.  It is hard to believe we have had two sessions on trusting God and haven’t read Proverbs 3 yet.  So let’s look at the record in Proverbs 3 starting in verse 5.  There are two statements here: first, there is “trust in the LORD with all thine heart” and secondly we read, “lean not unto your own understanding.”  Does this mean we don’t think, plan, and organize our lives?  No, it means we trust God and we don’t lean, or put all our confidence in in our skills.   Let’s continue in verse 6…

Taught by Bruce Mahone on 20150531. All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Proverbs 3:5,6           Trust in the Lord with all thine heart
Proverbs 11:28          He that trusteth in his riches shall fall
Proverbs 16:20          Whoso trusteth in the Lord, happy is he
Proverbs 22:17-21    That thy trust may be in the Lord, I have made known to thee
Proverbs 28:25,26     He that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat. He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool
Proverbs 29:25          Fear of man – snare; trust in the Lord – safe
Proverbs 30:5            He is a shield to them that trust him
Isaiah 12:2-3               I will trust and not be afraid
Isaiah 26:3,4               Perfect peace, trusting God
Jeremiah 17:5-8         Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord
Daniel. 3:28                God delivered his servants that trusted in him
2Corinthians 1:8-10  We should trust in God which raiseth the dead
Philippians 3:4-8       If any other man thinketh he might trust in the flesh, I more
Teaching
Keep Trusting God (#873)