Deeply Rooted in the Teachings of Christ~ Luke 20-21:36

Chapter 20
Lesson 1: V.1-8 “You don’t have to explain yourself to people that are not willing to do the same for you.”

Lesson 2: V.9-18 “When the sent leaders of God come with His instructions obey them or else..”

Lesson 3: V.19-26 “God promotes proper priority.”

Lesson 4: V.27-40 “Resurrection is a true benefit for every believer, but only for eternal gain.”

Lesson 5: V.41-44 “Christ is greater than divine humanity but He is divinity in human form.”

Lesson 6: V.45-47 “Be aware of people who honor ceremony over sincerity and use their position for gain.”

Chapter 21
Lesson 7: V.1-4 “God honors the depth of your sacrifice more its weight.”

Lesson 8: V.5-9 “There are no endtime signs or prophesies; only God’s time.”

Lesson 9: V.10-28 “ Being a Christian in this world is hard but God will be with us every step of the way.”

Lesson 10: V.29-36 “We all must live faithful to God & His word that we endure these times until eternity.”

The Anatomy of a Believer

Psalm 15(nasb)
1 O Lord, who may ​​abide ​in Your tent?
Who may dwell on Your ​​holy hill?
2 He who ​​walks with integrity, and works righteousness,
And ​b​speaks truth in his heart.
3 He ​​does not slander ​with his tongue,
Nor ​​does evil to his neighbor,
Nor ​c​takes up a reproach against his friend;
4 In ​​whose eyes a reprobate is despised,
But ​who ​honors those who fear the Lord;
He ​​swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 He ​​does not put out his money ​1at interest,
Nor ​​does he take a bribe against the innocent.
​​He who does these things will never be shaken.
In this psalm David describes the lifestyle of the believer who lives in intimate fellowship with the Lord.

Psalm 16
1 ​​Preserve me, O God, for ​​I take refuge in You.
2 ​​I said to the Lord, “You are ​​my Lord;
I ​​have no good besides You.”
3 As for the ​​​saints who are in the earth,
​2​They are the majestic ones ​b​in whom is all my delight.
4 The ​sorrows of those who have ​bartered for another god will be multiplied;
I shall not pour out their drink offerings of ​blood,
Nor will I ​take their names upon my lips.
David’s complete personal commitment to the Lord gave him assurance that God was in control of his life and guided his steps. This assurance will bring a matchless sense of security and joy to the life of the believer.

Psalm 17
“I love You, O Lord, ​​my strength.”
2 The Lord is ​​my ​rock and ​my fortress and my ​​deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My ​shield and the ​​horn of my salvation, my ​stronghold.
3 I call upon the Lord, who is ​aworthy to be praised,
And I am ​saved from my enemies.
David, confident in his firm commitment to God, remained deeply aware of the dangers faced by a righteous man living in a sinful world. As believers, we have comfort in knowing that God will confront the wicked and the righteous shall find satisfaction in God’s presence.

Galatians 6:1-10
1 ​​Brethren, even if ​anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are ​spiritual, ​restore such a one ​​in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.
2 ​​Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill ​b​the law of Christ.
3 For ​​if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4 But each one must ​examine his own work, and then he will have reason for ​boasting in regard to himself alone, and not in regard to another.
5 For ​​each one will bear his own load.
6 ​The one who is taught ​​the word is to share all good things with the one who teaches him.
7 ​Do not be deceived, ​​God is not mocked; for ​whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.
8 ​​For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap ​corruption, but ​the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
9 ​​Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we ​do not grow weary.
10 So then, ​​while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the ​​household of ​c​the faith.
Paul’s letter concludes with a series of exhortations and reminders. The believers have a responsibility to and for each other, as well as to those who teach and preach the word of God. Paul also reminds the believer that the choice they make (to please the passions of their sin nature or to please the Spirit) will have a definite impact on their present and on their eternity.


Ephesians 3:14-21
14 For this reason I ​bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom ​1every family in heaven and on earth derives its name,
16 that He would grant you, according to ​a​the riches of His glory, to be ​​strengthened with power through His Spirit in ​the inner man,
17 so that ​Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being ​b​rooted and ​grounded in love,
18 may be able to comprehend with ​​all the ​saints what is ​b​the breadth and length and height and depth,
19 and to know ​a​the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be ​filled up to all the ​d​fullness of God.
20 ​​Now to Him who is ​able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, ​according to the power that works within us,
21 ​​to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations ​​forever and ever. Amen.
God called the apostle Paul to unite all believers of his time, both Jew & Gentiles and to explain the previously unrevealed truth that God intended to join Jew and Gentile together as one believing community, one body of Christ. Paul was mindful of his faults but rejoices in the untold wonder of God’s eternal plan; and with a deep sense of humility ministers the eternal Good News to the Ephesians. As he ministered, he prayed that the family of one Father (the believers), might discover in their growing love for one another the incomprehensible love of Christ and be filled to the measure of the fullness of God. The apostle concludes with one of the Bible’s most beautifully important doxologies.

Understanding God's Will

Once we arrive at a clear discovery of GOD’s will for our lives, we see His purpose for creating us.But, once we have this information it must be translated from information to knowledge and the knowledgemust be transformed into action.

In this lesson we will take information extracted from God’s word coupled with each of our personalrevelation of His will for our lives to arrive at a lucid and precise understanding of God’s will for our lives.

God’s word on understanding God’s will

"He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to
love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." ~Micah 6:8

‘So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” ~ Ephesians 5:17 (1-21)

“...in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” ~1 Thessalonians 5:18 (12-24)

Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. ~ 1 Peter 2:13-15

What God has reviled to you

What do you believe to be God’s will for your life, as He has revealed to you?

Does your personal revelation of God’s will for your life complement or contradict the previous Scriptures?

Can you glorify God and edify others by doing what has been reviled to you?

Will you live a fulfilled life apart from doing what has been reviled unto you?

Conclusion: Ephesians 1:11-14
​Also we ​​have obtained an inheritance, having been ​predestined ​according to His purpose who works all things ​​after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in ​​Christ would be ​​to the praise of His glory. In ​​Him, you also, after listening to ​a​the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation—having also ​​believed, you were ​​sealed in ​​Him with ​the Holy Spirit of promise, who is ​a​given as a pledge of ​​our inheritance, with a view to the ​​redemption of ​God’s own possession, ​to the praise of His glory.

Discovering GOD's Will

There a Three arenas of God’s will that we as believers need discover. They are as follows;

Individual will ~ This is the specific purpose for which God has created each of us.

Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” - Jer. 1:4,5

Corporate will ~ As believers it is the will of God that we unify ourselves for the purpose of sharing His love.

I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. - John 17:23

Ultimate will ~In the grand scheme of our existence, God was fully aware that we would forsake Him therefore He set in order a divine plan which would redeem us to himself.

He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him. - Eph. 1:5-9

With the knowledge we have of God’s Corporate & Ultimate will the only part left to discover is His will for our individual lives. According to George Müller (1805-1898), an English evangelist and philanthropist, discovering God’s will for our lives is a daily undertaking that should be relished by every believer. We will conclude this lesson by examining an excerpts from Müller’s essay “How to Ascertain the Will of God”:

I seek at the beginning to get my heart into such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people generally is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are over come when our hearts are ready to do the Lord's will, whatever it may be. When one is truly in this state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.

Having done this, I do not leave the result to feeling or simple impression. If so, I make myself liable to great delusions.

I seek the Will of the Spirit of God through, or in connection with, the Word of God. The Spirit and the Word must be combined. If I look to the Spirit alone without the Word, I lay myself open to great delusions also. If the Holy Ghost guides us at all, He will do it according to the Scriptures and never contrary to them.

Next I take into account providential circumstances. These often plainly indicate God's Will in connection with His Word and Spirit.

I ask God in prayer to reveal His Will to me.

Thus, through prayer to God, the study of the Word, and reflection, I come to a deliberate judgment according to the best of my ability and knowledge, and if my mind is thus at peace, and continues so after two or three more petitions, I proceed accordingly. In trivial matters, and in transactions involving most important issues, I have found this method always effective.

GOD WILL

Text of Focus: Isaiah 41:10

‘Do not ear, for I am with you;

Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,

Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Our text of focus finds the children of Israel in captivity in Babylon, ( which was not such a hard thing to them, since they had totally acclimated themselves to the Babylonian lifestyle even insofar as they turned away from Jehovah GOD to serve the pagan gods of Babylon).The occurrence that cause them to be overwhelmed with fear, which merited God’s words of comfort was the Proclamation that God made in the opening verses of chapter 41. The proclamation was that he was getting ready to raise up a righteous man, that would He would give all the nations to and would cause him to rule over all the kings. It is best to take him as Cyrus the Persian, who overthrew the Babylonian Empire and issued the decree that permitted the Jews to return to their homeland. He is called God’s servant because he fulfilled God’s will in punishing Babylon and in enabling the Jews to return to the Holy Land. (Ezra 1)

God Instruction to His people

Fear not ~ disconnect you imagination from your senses.

2 Corinthians 10:55 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; {Don’t let what you see, hear or feel decrease your faith in GOD}

Be not dismayed ~ Don’t be anxious about anything.

Philippians 4:6 Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. {Calm down, God is in control.}

Gods Promise to His people

I will strengthen you ~ He’s going to set you up!

1 Thess. 3:13 To the end he may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

I surly will help you ~ God will be your support system.

2 Chronicles 16:9 (nasb)For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him.

I will uphold you ~ He will keep you from falling!

Jude 24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,

God is About to Loose You! John 11:1-44

Has anyone ever asked yourself

“what is taking God so long?”

In today’s text we are faced with the seeming procrastination of Christ.

And the introspective question for today is “What do you do when God is taking to long?”

As we explore today’s text we will discover the movements of God in the mist of our perplexity.

John 11:1-16

1 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.

7 Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.

8 His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? 9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.

10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.

13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. 14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

He had to deal with the uninformed ministers

John 11:17-26

17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.

18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:

19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.

21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?

He had to deal with those with invalidated faith

John 11:32-40

32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,

34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.

35 Jesus wept.

36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!

37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?

38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. 39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

He had to deal with how man limits the power of God 11:32-40

John 11:41-42

41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

He Had to get the validation of the Father 11:41-42

God the Son’s main characteristics - Grace & Mercy

God the Father’s main characteristics - Order & Justice

John 11:43-44

43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

He gave to Lazarus life & Liberty

I Want 2 B Free

The Gospel According to John 8:31-32

31-Then Jesus said to those Jews which believed on Him, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

32 - And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.”

In this text Jesus made a distinction between those who are disciples and those who are disciples indeed. /A disciple is anyone who professes to be a learner or follower,/ but a disciple indeed is one who has completely committed himself to the Lord Jesus Christ. /Those who are true believers have this characteristic—they abide in His Word./This means that they carry out the teachings of Christ in their daily lives./ They are not saved by abiding in His Word, but they abide in His Word because they are saved.

Here Christ makes a promise to every true disciple that they shall know the truth, and the Truth shall make them free. The key to being free is facing the truth and embracing the truth.

Face the truth of who you are right now, not who you want to be. When you do this you break Satan’s hold on your life. He is the author of lies, and if he can get you to live a lie, then he can control your life.

Embrace the truth of who God has created you to be. When you do this God’s power is released in you life. thorough His spirit and His word God will give you the ability to conquer and situation and be transformed into the perfect you.

There is a difference between Proclaiming and Denial

Proclaiming says- I’m declaring God’s word on my life, and putting it into application that it may be manifested in my life.

Denial says- I don’t like my reality, but I’m not willing to do anything about it. So, I’ll ignore it and hopes it goes away.