I really hoped to post the Bible studies on a regular basis. To be effective as a resource to others, I know they need to be consistent. After this one, I plan on posting them every Wednesday. Here is this week’s Bible Study.
Questions
- Have you ever thought that God should do things a little differently than He does? What was it?
- Read Matthew 13:13-15 – Can you see why people might think God is mean?
- What would you say to someone who says God is mean?
- In 2 Chronicles 19:1-4, Jehu the Prophet confronts Jehoshaphat. How can this portion of Scripture be used to help someone understand God’s desire for us?
- What advice would you give to someone who said they just don’t feel close to God?
God is Mean? Someone that sent His one and only Son to Die for our salvation from our sins against Him? Says the Adult Body that said the same thing about his/her parents telling them NO about some ill conceived pleasure.
1st Corinthians 13:11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
We see in a mirror darkly means we DONOT really Understand God’s nature.
Exodus 33:17 And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
18 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
19 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
21 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. 23 Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”
One of the best stories I’ve heard about God’s viewpoint vs our viewpoint as God as a Chicken Farmer, trying to explain to the wayward chickens they NEEDED to go into the Safety of the Chicken coop because of the STORM, YET they wanted to chase tasty bugs instead. The chickens might listen but they do not fully understand the Farmer’s words or intent. God had to send His Son to Become a Chicken as to Tell Us the Way.
When I talk to people who think God is “Mean” I have to remind them that God GAVE OVER the Earth to Man and Man’s sins gave it to Satan and they are complaining about the wrong person for their troubles.
God created the world (Gen 1:1). At that time, the world was in God’s dominion. After He made man, He gave dominion to Man (Gen 1:26). It does not say that He shared dominion with man, but gave it to him.
Satan is the god of this world (2Cor 4:4, John 12:31, Eph 2:2). He showed what he owns while tempting Jesus saying, “I’ll give you all the kingdoms of the world if you bow down and worship me” (Matt 4:8-9). Psalms 24:1 says that the earth is God’s because He created it, but God is not the god of this world, therefore there is a conflict of interest between God and Satan.
Happily the Gift of the Blood of the Lamb of God is nothing that Satan can condemn. John 3:16 16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Nothing can destroy that.
Romans 8:34Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”…
Mean??? that question should be turned back on the world of heathens who have sinned and dishonored a holy and just God. All we need to do is to look at the OT and see the Lord was gracious to His chosen nation of Israel…yet they sinned greatly against the Lord. They spit in His face at every turn. And today the church has done the same…yet He has been utterly patient..yet that very word mean patience can finally wear thin and eventually out…so His patience today is worn out with the body of Christ. We are called to be the Church, yet the Church looks, acts and taste like the world, and she has become a putrid smell in the nostrils of her Lord.
We need to get back to being the church, not doing church, but as long as we have the modern day Pharisee preaching from the pagan pulpit, we will decline to destruction.
Due to the abhorrent sins of this once great God fearing nation, the Lord God has removed His hand of blessing and is now pouring out His indignation upon us. The Lord works in this fashion…
1. He removes the food production of the land.
2. He removes the wealth.
3. He removes the people.
This pattern is well documented through out the Holy Scriptures. Yet even most sin blinded Christians still point the finger at the leaders…
Sin of any nation agains the Lord God comes with consequences
Read and reread Psalm 9:17, Isaiah 45:6-7, Amos 3:6-7 and Job 12:20-25…it may shock some sense into you… yet it most likely will make your heart harder than flint.
To all my Christian brethren preppers…as the Lord God directed Joseph in the dream of Pharaoh…fill your storehouses for their is a great famine coming upon the land…but yet do not pass by the words of that account in Joseph’s life where he told Pharaoh that the One bringing the famine was none other than the Lord God Almighty….and let these days be a comfort to you for these days were ordained before the Lord ever laid the foundation of the world….and it means our Lord Christ Jesus is standing at the door waiting for the Father to send Him to claim His bride to usher us into glory.
Yet for those who do not know Christ as Lord and Savior, well lets just say, the reason you prep is…deep in your heart you know your destination and it ain’t gonna be lala land, more like lava land…the lake of fire is real, its very real and I tell you, you do not want any part of it….just a glimpse of what the Lord God will do at the day of destiny of judgment to those who are not called by the Lord.
Revelation 20:11-15
Judgment at the Throne of God
11 Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled, and no place was found for them.
12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds.
13 And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades gave up the dead who were in them; and they were judged, each one of them according to their deeds.
14 Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.
15 And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
Those who will mock me, makes no difference to me for I know and speak the truth from the Lord God.
To those who the Lord God is calling to His beloved SON Christ the Lord Jesus, confess Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart He was raised from the grave and be saved, for with the mouth one confesses and with the heart one believes and the who confesses and believes will not be disappointed…
To the Lord God be the glory forever more, Praises His holy name.