New Focus: Always Rejoice (#886)
Today we are going to continue our series on having a new focus in life with looking a little bit more at rejoicing, we’ve looked at this just recently in September, but there is so much on this topic that we are going cover some things we didn’t cover previously. Let’s start in the book of Nehemiah…
Taught by Bruce Mahone 20151206, all rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Neh. 8:8-12               They rejoiced because they understood the word of the Lord
The joy of the Lord is your strength (vs. 10)
Psalm 21:1                 The king shall joy in thy strength, O Lord, he shall greatly rejoice
Ps. 38:12-16 (ff)         Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me when my foot slippeth
Ps. 63:1-8                   Thou hast been my help, therefore in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice (vs. 7)
Psalm 119:162          Rejoice at God’s Word
Eccl. 9:4-10                Eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart
Jer. 15:16                   Thy word was the joy and rejoicing of mine heart
Luke 2:10                  I bring you good tidings of great joy
Mat. 13:44-46           For joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath
John 15:9-12             That my join might remain in you, and that your joy might be full
I Thes. 5:16-18         Rejoice evermore
I John 1:3-4               That your joy may be full
Teaching
886 New Focus: Always Rejoice

New Focus: Steadfast (#885)
Today we’re are going to continue our series having a new focus in life, we’re going to focus on being steadfast.  Let’s start with the book of Ruth, we won’t read the whole book, but we’re all familiar with this record where the family left Bethlehem in Judah to go to the land of Moab were there wasn’t a famine; there was a famine in Bethlehem, but for some reason there wasn’t a famine in Moab so the family traveled there.   While there the two sons married Moabite women.  And after some more time the father died and the two sons also died.  Leaving three widows. Naomi, Ruth, and Orpah.  Let’s look at the record…
Taught by Bruce Mahone 20151115, all rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Ruth                               She was steadfastly minded (determined) [1:18]
Psalm 13:5-6                 I have trusted in thy steadfast love
Psalm 18:46-50            God shows steadfast love to his anointed, and to his seed forevermore
Psalm 23:6                    Surely goodness and steadfast love shall follow me
Psalm 107:1                  O give to the Lord, for he is good; his mercy (steadfast love) endures forever
Psalm 108:1-6, 12-13  Your mercy (steadfast love, lovingkindness) is great above (higher than) the heavens and thy truth (faithfulness) reaches to the clouds (skies) (vs. 4)
Psalm 136                     Mercy: love (NIV), lovingkindness (ASV), steadfast love (NRSV)
Psalm 112:1, 7-8          His heart is fixed (vs 7 – steadfast), his heart is established (vs 8 – steady)
Isaiah 26:3-4                 stayed on thee – steadfast (Expositors Bible Commentary), well stayed, steady (ICC)
Daniel 6:26                  He is the living God, and steadfast for ever (vs. 26)
Luke 8:15                     Fruit with patience (steadfast perseverance) [by persevering]
Rom. 12:10-14            Patient in mental pressure [continuing steadfast, faithful, persevering in prayer]
I Cor. 15:58                  Be ye steadfast unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord
I Peter 5:6-9                 Whom resist, steadfast in the faith
II Thes. 3:5                   Love of God & Patient (steadfast) waiting
Additional Verses:
II Thes. 3:3                   The Lord is faithful, who will stablish you and keep you from evil
II Tim. 2:13                   If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful
Titus 1:9                       Holding fast the faithful word
I John 1:9                      He is faithful and just to forgive
Teaching
885 New Focus – Steadfast

New Focus: Keep Seeking (#884)
Today we’re are going to continue a series we started a few weeks ago on having a new focus in life; trying to raise your vision of what you focus on and look at. Today we’ll talk today about the importance of seeking the Lord. Let’s start in Deuteronomy chapter 4.
Taught by Bruce Mahone 20151101, all rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Deut 4:23-31               If you seek the Lord, you will find him (vs. 29)
I Chron 16:10-12        Seek the LORD and his strength
Psalm 9:9-10               Thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee
Psalm 34:10                The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing
Psalm 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 [guilty, offended]
Psalm 63                     Early [diligently] will I seek thee (vs. 1).
Marrow & fatness (vs. 5): the richest of foods (NIV), a rich feast (NRSV)
A portion for foxes (vs. 10): food for jackals
Prov. 8:12-21              Those that seek me (wisdom) early [diligently] shall find me (vs. 17)
Jer. 29:10-14               Ye shall seek me and find me (vs. 13)
Mat. 7:7-8                    Seek, and ye shall find (vs. 7)
Col. 3:1-3                     Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth (vs. 1)
Heb. 13:14                  Here we have no continuing city, but we seek one to come
Teaching
884 New Focus – Keep Seeking

New Focus: Love Others (#883)
Today we will continue our series on the love of God.  Several sessions ago we looked at the importance of loving God, last session we looked at the great truth that God Loves us, and today we’ll look at loving others.  None of this is very radical and you’ve probably read these verses at least tens times, but these are things we should have fresh in our minds.
Taught by Bruce Mahone 20151018, all rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Prov. 15:17              Better is a dinner of herbs than a stalled ox
Prov. 17:9                He that covereth a transgression seeketh love
Prov. 17:17              A friend loveth at all times
Mat. 5:43-46            Bless them that curse you
Mat. 18:21-22          Forgive seventy times seven
Mat. 22:37-40          Love thy neighbor as thyself
Mark 12:28-34        More than all whole burnt offerings
Luke 6:27-38           Be ye therefore mericful, as your Father also
Luke 7:36-50           To whom little is forgiven, loveth little
John 13:34-35         By this shall all know that ye are my disciples
John 15:9-13 (-19)   If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love – greater love hath no man than that he lay down his life for his friends
Teaching
883 New Focus: Love Others

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)