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)

872 – Still Trust God

We’re going to continue our series on trusting God, last time we met we read about Ruth and Boaz and how Ruth came to trust the Lord God of Israel and about Hezekiah who also trusted in God even though Rabshakeh tried to get him not to. We read in Psalm 5, ‘let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice;’ Psalm 9, ‘thou has not forsaken them that seek thee;’ Psalm 18, ‘the Lord is my Rock in whom I will trust.’ There are a lot of records in the Bible about trusting God and we’ll read a little more of these records today.
Taught by Bruce Mahone on 20150517. All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Psalms 28:6-7                My heart trusted in the Lord, and I am helped
Psalms 32:10                 Mercy shall compass him about
Psalms 34:8                    O taste and see that the Lord is good
Psalms 34:22                  None of them that trust in him shall be desolate
Psalms 36:7,8                 How excellent is thy lovingkindness
Psalms 37:3-5, 35-40     So thou shalt dwell in the land and be fed
Psalms. 44:4-8                I will not trust in my bow – in God we boast
Psalms 56:11                  In God have I put my trust: I will not be afraid of what man can do unto me
Psalms 62:5-10               God is a refuge for us, a rock
Psalms 112:1-8               His heart is fixed, trusting in God
Psalms 115                      Trust God, rather than idols which talk not
Psalms 118:5-9                It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in men
Teaching
Still Trust God (#872)

871 – Trusting God

We’re going to start a new series this week on trusting God. As you know God gave us freedom of will, and God really can’t do anything for us if we don’t accept and trust what He said. We see many examples of this in life, for instance if you and I agreed to meet for lunch and you didn’t trust that I’d show up, you probably wouldn’t go and we wouldn’t meet for lunch. Another example that is often used is that of a chair, where if you don’t trust that the chair will hold your weight you probably won’t sit in it. We’ll get review many records in the coming weeks where trusting God is a key; today is the warmup. Let get started in Ruth…
Taught by Bruce Mahone on 20150503. All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
Ruth 2:11-12                 The Lord, under whose wings thou art come to trust
2 Sam 22:1-7,18-20     The God of my rock, in him will I trust
2 Kings 18:1-8               Hezekiah trusted in the Lord God of Israel
2 Kings 18:19-30           Rabshakeh tried to turn them from trusting God
Psalms 5:1-12                Let all those that put their trust in thee rejoice
Psalms 9:9-10                Thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee
Psalms 18:2                    The Lord is my rock, in whom I will trust
Teaching
871 – Trust God

 

870 – The Tree, The Cross, and the Spirit
The last time we met we talked about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Many years ago I bumped into so many Christians who thought and taught that the crucifixion was the most important thing to focus on in Christianity.  So I decided to take a look at that and see what the scripture says.
Taught by Bruce Mahone on 20150419. All rights reserved.
Verse Listing and Notes
I Cor. 1:1-2       Christ crucified is important, but not the only part
Mat. 28:1-10    He is risen
“Cross” not used in Acts
“Tree” used three times:
Acts 2:22, 23 – raised up – both Lord & Christ
Acts 2:35 (23) –   ”    ”     ”    ”      ”
Acts 4:10 – God raised
Cross – not used in Acts (tree: three times)
Resurrection – 10 times in Acts
Spirit – 68-70 times in Acts
Acts 1:1-11, 21-22
vs. 3 – alive
vss. 4-8 – gift of holy spirit
vs. 9 – ascension
vs. 11 – return
Acts 4:1-2, 31-33 – preached resurrection
I Peter 1:3 – lively hope
Teaching
870 – The Tree, The Cross, and the Spirit