Encouragement can help us go a little faster in our walk with the Lord. So let these verses be an encouragement to you.
Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Philippians 2:13 For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
2 Timothy 1:12 For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day
In Bible study, many times a quick one page overview or synthesis of a book can help get an overall understanding and aid in learning the Bible. The synthesis can help organize all the many other details in a book.
We are saved by faith – chapters 1-8
Its just by Faith — Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith
We all are sinners — Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
We can be made right with God through Jesus Christ — Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
God loves us and is for us, so He gave us His son — Romans 5:8 But God showed his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
God wants to give us eternal life — Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
We will never be separated from God’s love — Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There is hope for Israel (and us) – chapters 9-11
God still loves Israel — Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
Live for God and each other (love) – chapters 12-16
Let your life be transformed and renewed — Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Live for the Lord Jesus — Rom 13:14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof..
Oops, don’t judge others — Rom 14:10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at contempt thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.
God will eventually deal with all evil — Rom 16:20 And the God of peace shall bruise (crush) Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.
It’s just by Faith — Romans 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith
We all are sinners — Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
We can be made right with God through Jesus Christ — Romans 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
God wants to give us eternal life — Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
God loves us and is for us, so He gave us His son — Romans 5:8 But God showed his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
God’s love will never be separated from us — Romans 8:38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus says in John 15:1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
Jesus is talking about abiding, a close fellowship with the Father. He is talking about how we, as believers, are like branches on a vine. He is the true vine, we obtain our spiritual nourishment from Him. This describes an organic, living and real relationship between Jesus and us, or between us and the Father. We are simply in fellowship with Him.
The first condition, there, is, “If you abide in Me… “ Without getting into the context, there, one way to abide is to stay in the Lord, to rest in the Lord, or to remain in the Lord. I would even say it means to do the things God wants you to do, to obey the Lord. He says, “If you abide in Me”. Then He says, “And if My words abide in you”. This passage in the book of John says, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you”, you can ask whatever you will and I will do it. What words is He talking about when Jesus says, “And My words abide in you”? I believe He is specifically talking about the word He is speaking. I believe it also has to include the words of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.
Here is a very simple version of the Bible in just five (5) words:
God
Man
Jesus Christ
Heaven
Hell
Now for more details:
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. God, then, created man in His image for His purpose and glory. Satan tempted them, and they disobeyed God. The sin and evil separated humankind from God. But God made a promise of a redeemer and the rest of the Bible points to Christ the redeemer.
God loves the world and sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, as God and man to the world. Jesus is the world’s long-awaited Savior that God had promised since man fell into sin. Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for sins, and He resurrected from the dead. We can now come to God through Jesus Christ and no longer be separated from Him. Jesus is the only way to God! Jesus gives eternal life to all those who believe in Him
Jesus will come again and bring His people into His eternal Kingdom where they will live with God forever. This final heavenly place is called the New Jerusalem.
History is God’s story, so no human, world or cosmic event is a surprise to God. Timing and events are in His hands. Ultimately God will be in full control, but for a short time evil ( the Devil) has a little freedom. Ultimately God will be fully expressed through every human being, some happily in heaven, some in unhappiness in hell.
God is outside of time so He knows the beginning and the end. He is uniquely qualified to write a book like the Bible that predicts the future.
Overview of Bible Prophecy
prophecy about the Lord’s first coming (happened 2000 years ago)
prophecy about the Lord’s second coming (future)
some Bible prophecy is about BOTH (Isaiah 9:6, and Daniel)
it seems there are more verses in the Bible about His second return, than the first.
prophecy about Israel
In the Lord’s first coming, He came as a man like us and as a lamb to be crucified on a cross for our sins, then rose from the dead and ascended to heaven.
In the Lord’s second coming He will come as a warrior to conquer an evil earth that does not represent God’s character. He will rule the earth from Jerusalem.
Martin Luther (16th century monk) said “Pray, and let God worry“. Which means don’t worry, give the concern to God. He can handle it. Paul in Philippians 4:6 said: “Don’t worry; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” Martin was writing to his wife during a time of trouble and confusion. That was the Martin Luther who did much to bring people back to the Bible and back to Jesus Christ.
A new Christian song encouraging us to pray and let God worry about our life. The phrase was inspired by Martin Luther who in the 1600’s wrote to his wife in a letter “…Pray, let God worry…”
Enjoy a short devotional music song video on “Pray Pray Let God Worry”
Martin Luther (16th century monk) said “Pray, and let God worry“. Which means don’t worry, give the concern to God. He can handle it. Paul in Philippians 4:6 said: “Don’t worry; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”
Pray Pray Let God Worry
Enjoy a short devotional video on “Pray, Let God Worry”
Little Spokane River Area
Anxiety never seems to go away. Anxiety and worry seem to be part of life.
Here is a video in which I shared on this subject.
So we need to pray and turn towards the Lord by praying, reading the Bible, singing or listening to inspiring Bible music.
Little Spokane River Area
Sometimes we need to back off and focus on God. In the world there are problems but have faith in Jesus.
Pray and Let God Worry
Don’t lose sight of Jesus.
Little Spokane River Area
In the gospels, Peter needed to keep his eyes on Jesus not the raging stormy waters.
Peter sank when he looked at the water. He needed to get his vision and perspective back on Jesus.
In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”
Pray, and let God worry – Martin Luther
Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
Hebrew 13: 5-6 be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. 6 So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.
Psalm 103:1-5, A Psalm of David
Isaiah 30:15 For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel;
In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.
So Isaiah is saying you need to slow down and trust God, but some of us have a hard time doing this. Just trust in Jesus.
History is God’s story, so no world or human event is a surprise to God. Timing and events are in His hands. Ultimately God will be in full control, but for a short time evil (the Devil) has a little freedom. Ultimately God will fully expressed through every human being, some happily in heaven, some in unhappiness.
Overview of Bible Prophecy
1. prophecy about the Lord’s first coming (happened 2000 years ago)
2. prophecy about the Lord’s second coming (future)
3. some Bible prophecy is about BOTH (Isaiah 9:6, and Daniel)
4. it seems there are more verses in the Bible about His second return, than the first.
In the Lord’s first coming, He came as a man (yet fully God and fully man) and as a lamb to be crucified on a cross for our sins, then rose from the dead and ascended to heaven.
In the Lord’s second coming He will come as a warrior to conquer an evil earth that does not represent God’s character. He will rule the earth from Jerusalem.
Most of the prophecy in the Bible is about Jesus Christ, but there is also some about Israel and the Church.
Some say one third of the Bible is Bible prophecy. There are over 2500 prophecies in the Bible. About 80 percent of those have already been fulfilled, and 20 percent are yet future.
Bible writers talked about prophecy the most: Jesus, Paul, Daniel, David, Ezekiel, Isaiah
Bible Overview, in connection with studying Prophecy
The two half’s of the Bible
* Old Testament with 39 books points to and promises Jesus Christ the Redeemer – Promises, Types, figures of Christ
* New Testament with 27 books is all about Jesus Christ, our redeemer – Fulfillment of all the promises and types of Christ
The first and the last books
* The book of Genesis — Beginnings
* God, man, garden, (devil comes in) sin, promise of a redeemer
* The book of Revelation – Conclusion
* God, man, a city (heaven), (devil cast out), sin forgiven, the redeemer on the throne
Some questions that come up:
1. Will the Lord come again – YES
2. Do we know when or the date – NO (even the Lord does not know, how could we know)
3. Will there be an anti-christ – YES, see Revelation 13
4. Do we know who it might be – NO
For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night — 1 Thessalonians 5:2