Quiet Times Search

Scriptures about Messianic Prophecy

• Isaiah 52:13-53:12 - His form was so marred he no longer looked human
• Genesis 22:1-18 - Abraham did not withheld his son, your only son
• Psalms 16:8-10 - He will you let your Holy One see decay
• Psalms 2:7  - Messiah will be God's Son
• Genesis 12:3 - All peoples on earth will be blessed through you
• Deuteronomy 18:15 - The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you
• Micah 5:2 - From Judah will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel
• Isaiah 7:14 - The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel
• Isaiah 9:1-2 - Future: people walking in darkness have seen a great light
• Isaiah 9:6 - a son has been given to us: Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace

• I will give the land to you and your descendants
• You will spread out to the north, south, east and west
• People on earth will be blessed through you
• I am with you and will watch over you
• I will not leave you

1. You must sympathize with people out of a tender heart.
2. You must believe that every person is precious to God
3. You must be aware of your own humanness

• You are made of the same stuff as every other person.
• Potentially, the situation that exists with other people in desparate struggles.

4. You must desire to make a difference in peoples’ lives. There must be a desire to count in this world.
5. You must deny self that allows you to place the interest of others ahead of your own.

• ~John 8:1-11 - Pharisees vs Jesus (Woman caught in adultery)
  
• ~Mark 5:1-20 - Man with an evil spirit vs Jesus
  
• ~Luke 7:36-50 - Pharisees vs Jesus (Sinful Woman)
• ~Matthew 19:13-15 - Disciples vs Jesus

• Nothing means nonexistent
• Less than nothing intensifies that idea
• Worthless - concept of being entirely empty of meaning or purpose

• 700 varieties of butterflies
• 8,000 varieties of moths

Summary

God created the heavens, the earth and everything that lives. He made humankind in his image and gave them charge over the earth.

Observations

Genesis 1:1 - the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep,
Without God we formless, unfocused, and empty. We try to create our own heaven-on-earth but never succeed without him. We try to "eat" junk food to fill us up but all they contain is empty calories. Without God there is no light and only darkness. Without light, we do not know what is going on around us nor what direction to go.

Genesis 1:4 - separated the light from the darkness.
It is important to understand that light and darkness were separated from the beginning. They can not both exist in the same location. It is even more important find out with side you are on.

Genesis 1:16 - He made the stars also.
Oh, by the way, God created all the countless numbers of stars, planets, galaxies, and other objects of the universe. So much matter that we can not even begin to see with a telescope. But God does not focus on matter, he focuses on what matters. The Bible is focused on God and his relationship with mankind. Like Jesus' miracles described in [John 20:30], the amount of God's acts are too great to be counted. Can you image the amount of books that could be written about what God created?

Genesis 1:26 - so they may rule
God entrust us to rule over all all other living things. But many we times we are ruled by our sinful natures. If we can not even control ourselves, how can we "rule" over other things?

Genesis 1:27 - God created humankind in his own image
Sometimes we mistake us being an exact copy of God verses a reflection of God. We should be a photo copy and not try to replace God in our lives. We must be become more reflective of God like a mirror. Constantly cleaning off the smudges of sin with the blood of Jesus.

Personal Application

God is bigger than I think he is. I have made him too small in my mind and do not allow Him to take control -- this is absurd since he has control over the universe and does a perfect job at it. My actions show that I don't fully trust God in this way.

Summary

Humankind corrupted the earth with evil. God decided to destroy them. He told Noah to build an ark to be saved from the flood.

Observations

Genesis 6:5 - every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time
At this point, in a relatively small amount of time, man no longer called out for God. It was just Genesis chapter 4 when men just began to call out for God and at this time

Genesis 6:13 - God said to Noah, "I am going to put an end to all people"
God shared his plans with Noah even though they were very troubling. A deep relationship is where you share you plans and dreams (not in this case). God trusted Noah. Noah trusted God even more (as he should). That mutual trust helped save mankind and allow us to live today.

Genesis 6:22 - Noah did everything just as God commanded him
After being 500 years old or so, Noah still did everything God commanded him to do. We can not imagine the pressure and persecution Noah must have gone through to build a boat in the middle of the dessert. Still he did not waiver. His complete faith was with God and trusted every word God spoke to him. We have trouble with just a small amount of faith that required to live our lives.

Personal Application

Increase my faith, Lord! I see Noah's faith to build an ark and I struggle to have faith today.The struggles I face today are not even a speck compared to Noah's troubles.  Noah had great faith because he trusted God and what he said. That is what I need to do.

• Being picked on in school
• A breakup
• Being fired
• Abandonment
• Disappointment

What will we do with the Arrows we have known?

The message of the Arrows is always the same: Kill your heart
Divorce it, neglect it, run from it, or indulge it with some addiction

How did the Arrows come to you?
Where did they land? Are they still there?
What have you done as a result?

Deciding not to be affected can not done - the heart can not be managed though a x number step process
We form can convictions with a conscious effort

God is a consuming fire who should be feared - Hebrews 12:29

He is God who wants us to love him and not idols - Deuteronomy 4:24

God is a blessed and only Ruler, king of kings and lord of Lords - 1 Timothy 6:15

Our problem is that we think God is like us
My thoughts are not your thoughts - Isaiah 55:8

Societies throughout history have developed their own relgions based off God's which human resemblance:

• Greek methoology is full of sinful gods
• Hinduism feature gods who remind of ourselves

Our Father is without blemish or stain
In fact many can say, if God is like my father, I want nothing to do with Him

God appeared to Ezekiel in blazing fire and he fell facedown - Ezekiel 1:27-28
John saw Jesus with eyes of blazing fire and fell at his feet as though he was dead - Revelation 1:14-16T

The paradox of God: He says to not be afraid but at the same time to have a humble, contrite spirit - Isaiah 66:2
When a holy God confronts sinful humans, the only result can be fear and trembling

The power that raise Jesus from the dead is available for us who believe

When we begin to understand how powerful God is, it will revolutionize our prayer lives

The Bible resonates with the awesome power of God:

• The highest heavens cannot contain you - 2 Chronicles 6:18
• He is outside of time - Psalms 90:1-2
• The clouds are dust of his feet - Nahum 1:3
• God has made everything we see and all that we can not

God is nowhere need us as far as this power but on person level he is wants to be right next to us:

• Yet he is not far from each one of us - Acts 17:27
• He reveals his thoughts to man - Amos 4:13
• God knows us completely - Psalms 38:9

Human power is nothing in the face of God's awesome power

The fundamental virtue of sincerity is what the human heart craves
Parent seek out this trait for their children
It the parent's desire to have unaffected simplicity of a sincere heart

All higher relationships of life have sincerity in its core
Life would not be worth living if there were no one on earth sincere

There are many things we can not be and many things we can not do - but this is one thing is within all of our reach

Jesus was incapable of a lie
No other people stirred Jesus' wrath as men who pretended to be what they were not

A hypocrite is an actor; the word was orginally taken from the stage
God expects every man to be what he claims to be

The sincerity of Jesus which drove him into deadly conflict with the hypocrites
A hypocrite and Jesus cannot live together

Love our wives is actually more demanding than the task placed upon wives to “submit” to their husbands.

The example God gives husbands to follow is simply the most courageous and sacrificial act ever done in all human history.
When Jesus died for His bride, she was dirty and sinful. She was acting like His enemy.
We are called to sacrifice our lives every day for her.
To say “no” to what we want so we can say “yes” to what she needs. That is Christlike love and leadership.

Marriage, however, is a God-ordained covenant that invites you to love an imperfect, sinful person with the love of Christ.
Because that’s how He loves you. His love finds every reason to start but finds no reason to stop.
Nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God - Romans 8:38-39

Most marriage problems are usually the result of a wife’s wounded reaction to poor leadership and lack of love from her husband.
The key to loving like Jesus is to understand that we cannot do it on our own.
God loves us not because we are lovable but because He is so loving.
We disconnect from our mate’s imperfections and plug into God’s unchanging nature.
What would happen in the next year if God’s unconditional love became the foundation of your marriage?

 Honor is attractive

• It doesn’t demand respect; it quickly earns it.
• Fear grounds us.
• Honor inspires us.

The whole concept of authority comes from God.

Earthly authority is His design and tool for creating order and for keeping us accountable and responsible, for honoring good and for punishing evil - Romans 13:1-4

Authorities on earth help keep us mindful of His superior, eternal authority

God can turn the heart of anyone in a leadership position in any direction - Proverbs 21:1

We should be like Jesus and submit to our imperfect, human authorities knowing that God uses them to carry out His purposes - John 19:11

The only time we should not submit to them is when they are asking us to disobey God and sin - Acts 5:29

Notice that Scripture does not tell us to obey them only if we agree with their judgment - Hebrews 13:17-18

When dishonoring authority, you are not rebelling against an individual but against God Himself.

Handling and responding to authority is serious business.

Asaph: I realized my heart was bitter and must have seem like a senseless animal to you - Psalm 73:21-22

Bitterness cause more damage to our relationships, health, and souls than almost anything else

Even as he complained, Asaph had a moment of clarity - I was foolish and ignorant - Psalm 73:22

Asaph realized that his bitterness had cost him part of his humanity

He rightly felt a sense of righteous indignation but had crossed a dangerous line of the wicked things to consume his - bitterness

Bitterness consumes the one who indulges it

Officals to Mordecai: "why are you disobeying the king's command?" - Esther 3:3-4

Bible teaches believers to obey those in authority

Mordecai was tested when KIng Ahasuerus ordered his officals to bow before Haman - Esther 3:2

He had repeatedly proved his loyalty to the king but he would not bow down before any human

God turned the crisis to actually advance the well-being of the entire Hebrew people

When you take a stand, you demonstrate the ultimate value of your commitment to God and you encourage secret believers to declare their allegiance to the Lord

Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands - 1 Samuel 25:33

David found himself on the verge of comming a terrible sin because of human anger:

• He sent 10 of his men to ask Nabal for help
• Nabal refused to help and insulted him and his men
• He reacted in vage by ordering 400 of his men to kill Nabal and all his people

Nabal's wife, Abigail, kept David from commiting a terrible sin

She did not defend her terrible husband but reminded David that killing Nabal would be a grave sin against God - 1 Samuel 25

God has given you ears to hear what your loved ones have to say to you

It is not by force nor strength but by my Spirit, says the Lord - Zechariah 4:6

Zerubbabel oversaw the reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple

Over a period of 16 years, the people's enthusiasm for the project waned, leaving it unfinished

Zerubbabel felt a deep sense of discouragement over the stalled work

Zechariah came with a vital message - Don't depend on your own strength. depend on God and his ability to empower you for the task

Zerubbabel's faith was renewed - He had a renewed sense of enthusiasm, united the people, and got back to work

No worthy project is about human force or strength, it must be about his mighty Spirit

Do you think that you or someone else has the key to success?

Do you genuinely believe that God's Spirit holds the key to your success?

Moses: Lord, please! Send anyone else - Exodus 4:13

What you succeed in doing often depends on your attitude

When God first appeared to Moses, his attitude was negative and self-defeating

Instead of focusing on the awesome task before him, he focused on his human frality

i "can't" attitude can keep you from enjoying the good things God has for you

God loves it when you turn your focus toward him and away from your own fears and doubt

Is there anything too hard for you to accomplish today?

God created human beings in his own image - Genesis 1:27

Nothing defines and motivates a man like a sense of purpose and reason for being

Adam never questioned his purpose in life - The Lord put him on earth to enjoy fellowship with God 

Adam belonged to God and God belonged to Adam

He alone could intentionally respond to God in obedience and love and relate to the Father

Adam's sin threw all creation in choas

Jesus, the second Adam, came to give us the opportunity to enjoy the fellowship Adam had orginally enjoyed with God - 1 Corinthians 15:45-49

Do you ever wonder why God created you and put you where you are?

Give us a king to judge us like the other nations have - 1 Samuel 8:5

God wanted Israel to be different from any other kingdom on earth

Israel's elders wanted Samuel to give them a human king so they could fit in with the pagan nations

God: "it's me they are rejecting, not you. They don't want me to be their king any longer" - 1 Samuel 8:7-8

Samuel did as God had told him as warned the people of the consequences of rejecting their true king

When Israel's elders looked at the nations around them, they lost sight of their own identity

Things were never the same for the name

Whom do you trust to guide and lead you in every area of your life?

Even when there was no hope, Abraham kept hoping of becoming a father of man nations - Romans 4:18

Hope - a sense of expectancy even when the circumstaces suggest packing it in and giving up

At age 100 years  Abraham still had no children

Humanly speaking, Abraham had every reason to wonder if God had forgotten his promise

Abraham remained convicted God would keep all his promises

God blessed Abraham and his wife with a son - he became a father of many nations

Those who trust in me will never be put to shaem - Isaiah 49:23

Has God given you an yet-to-be-fullfilled promise? Have you grown weary in waiting?

Holy Spirit reveal to him that he woul not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah - Luke 2:26

Humans are creatures of anticipation. Serveral studies show expectation of something good benefits our health and sense of well-being

Simon had lived a long life of such close fellowship with God and the Holy Spirit told him he would see the Messiah

A voice told him to go to the Temple, this was his day

When Simon saw baby Jesus, he knew immediately that this was the One he had been waiting for

Simon: Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people - Luke 2:29-31 

When he saw the man, he felt compassion for him - Luke 10:33

It is easy to have compassion for those we are close to but what about those we don't know or don't like?

When we reach out to a stranger or enemy, we will receive a reward from heaven - Luke 6:35-36

Jew and Samaritan didn't care much for one another, Jews saw Samaritan:

• A mixed race
• Impure
• Not one of them

This particular Samaritan didn't see the man lying in the ditch as an enemy or someone who hated him.

The Samaritan saw him as a human in need and took the extra steps to care for them

This kind of love and compassion is what Jesus extends to you

This only a simple thing for the Lord - 2 Kings 3:18

"You first, God" approach to obedience often means missing out on his blessings and maybe a miracle or two

Israel march against Moab but the soliders had run out of water 

Eliaha spoke to God and would provide water under one condition: they were to dig ditches in the valley and wait for God to act

Their choice was to laugh and ignore the command or obey and wait for a miracle

Jehoshaphat and Joram acted in faith and obedience - received more water than they knew what to do with

When God commands you to do something that seems humanly unreasonable, do you act immediately or wait for him to act first?

Whay are you doing this? We are merely human beings - just like you! - Acts 14:15

Paul and his missionary companion Barnabas demonstrated an attitude of humility and tolerance as they faced sin in the city of Lystra

When they healed a cripped man, Paul and Barnabas watched in horror as the people began to worship them

They did respond to the people in anger or disgust - rather they continued to love these sinners them even though they hated the sin

Paul and Barnabas sent a message that they were no better than anyone else - all of them together were sinners saved by God's grace

What kind of message are you sending to those around you?

I am humble and gentle at heart - Matthew 11:29

The apostles could see how genuinely humblr and gentle Jesus was

Humility came from freely leaving heaven to take on human flesh so he might save all who come to him in faith

Jesus never struck back at those who did him harm but called on his Father to forgive them

He could expect them to be huble ad gentle because that is what he was like

Some men do not consider humility as a strong quality to follow

Humility was a quality of the strongest man who ever live, Jesus Christ

God had mercy on me... his great patience with even the worst of sinners - 1 Timothy 1:16

Patience is one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit - Galatians 5:22

Jesus was the most patient man who ever lived, beyond human understanding

• He lovingly ministered to the worst of sinners
• Dealt with cynicism of corrupt religous leaders
• Shephered 12 often-clueless apostles
• Those closest to him did not hear his words much less apply them

He corrected them but also patiently prepared them to take the reins after he returned to heaven

You can best learn patience by understanding that God daily extends his patience to you

You are seeing things merely from a human point of view, not from God's - Mark 8:33

Peter must have felt great when Jesus publicly blessed him from understanding Jesus' true identity

Then it was shown that he needed to be knocked down a peg

Jesus stunned his disciples about him going to Jersulem and Peter scolded Jesus because of it

Peter was out of line and Jesus would not allow him or any other disciple to act as roadblocks to the path God set for him

Jesus knew Peter had failed to see things from an eternal perspective

Jesus was the conquering Kig but he was also the suffering Servant

Peter was to play a big part in Jesus' mission but he first needed to humbly trust in the Lord's plan

My salvation come from the Lord alone - Jonah 2:9

Can you praise God for your times of difficulty, weakness, burdens?

Jonah did some time in the belly of the sea creature - a dark and foulplace that defies human imagination

He didn't ask why, he already knew why

God knew that Jonah had come full circle from his words of thanksgiving and his promise to fulfill his vows

It meant he was ready and willing to obey God

God immediately arranged for his freedom - Jonahv2:10

You missed your chance to destroy the army of the king of Aram - 2 Chronicles 16:7

Like so many kings of Judah, Asa started out doing good things for his kingdom

Prophet Azariah: The Lord will stay with you as long as you stay with him! - 2 Chronicles 15:2

Asa trusted and obey God at first but later he failed by relying on humans instead of God

He showed his true colors when he entered into an agreement with Syria to stand against Israel

Asa refusal to rely solely on God contributed to his death

He developed a foot disease - he went to his doctors rather than first seeking God's help - 2 Chronicles 16:12

Where do you turn in yout times of need?

This happened so the power of God could be seen in him - John 9:3

Jesus' disciples believed bad things happen to bad people

Jesus quickly corrected their faulty thinking by denying the man's blindness had anything to do with anyone's sin

This blindness was to be one day used to bring the people's attention to Jesus' devine power and authority

When blind man obeyed Jesus, he was able to see for the first time in his life

Jesus' miracle changed the disciples' notions about God and how he works through human circumstances

Sincerity a virtue the human heart craves and parents eyes seek for their children

This is what we demand in all the higher relationships in life

Sincerity is the very blood and breath of friendship

There are some things we cannot be and many things we can not do, but within us, the one thing is within our reach-praying for a heart of sincerity

If you want to see sincerity in its lovelist form, then come to Jesus

He was incapable of a lie

No other people so stirred his anger as men who pretended to be what they were not

God expects every man to be what he claims to be

It was the sincerity of Jesus which drove him unto deadly conflict with the hypocrites

A hypocrite and Jesus cannot live together

Common taunt of Scribes and Pharises that Jesus was a friend of sinners

He was friendly to the lowest and the best of society, a trait which created great scandal

These three statements about Jesus spoke a lot about how Jesus' heart toward others:

• He saved himself; he cannot save himself - Mark 15:13
• He went about doing good
• Friend of sinners

They tried to use his friendiness against him

Example: Tax collectors - ones who gathered taxes by any means nessary including by extortion or other dishonest measures

• Considered traitors to their country
• Objects of hatred and scron
• Their money was considered tained and not accepted in the synagogue
• Their oath was worthless
• Could not be a witness in a court of law
• Pelted with sneers by passers by
• Looked as wild beasts

Jesus made friends with them despite these truths

It was one thing to talk down to a bad man and give good advise, it is another to eat with them

Jesus cross the chasm over which no man was willing to do in that day and lost his reputation for the sake of being brotherly/friendly

Made himself nothing because he was determined on being firendly to all - Philippians 2:17

Everyone is part of the human race, children of God, despite what they have done

Some say Christian books can not be trusted
Biased books by biased people
This is true of all books
 - They have a reason for writing
 - Believes what they are writing about is true
 
The issue is not that they are Christian but they are Christian

University used to be different schools of knowledge to make up unity of knowledge
Now it is diversity of thoughts and all views are correct - one way view is wrong

The study of God helps answer the five most important questions of humanity:

1. Origin: Where did we come from?
2. Identity:  Who are we?
3. Meaning: Why are we here?
4. Morality: How should we live?
5. Destiny: Where are we going?

 
The view of God alters these answers to the nth degree

God gives us a purpose, otherwise we are just heading to dust only no matter what we do

It is easier to believe all beliefs are correct -  7 blind men and the elephant parable = 7 blind touch a elephant and feel like they have some something different, like tail, tusk, etc

Common objections to a single true of God:

• Don't want to offend anyone
• No red pill moment, please
• Don't judge me, bro
• The existence of evil and no intervening God
• Only science can lead us with "facts"

 
Approaches to God can be broken down into:

• Theist - (God made all; God made the painting) Christian
• Pantheist - (God is all - God is the painting) God is everything - Hinduism, New Age, some forms of Buddhism
• Atheist - (No god at all - Painting always existed) No god, humanism
• Agnostic - Not sure

All make truth claims, many stated truths are mutually exclusive, for example:

• Theist vs Atheist - Did the universe have a beginning or has it always existed?
• Christian vs Muslim - Jesus rose from the dead or did he never die?

Truth is basically telling the way it is or describing the state of affairs
Pilot asked what is truth, Jesus really was innocent - John 18:38

Taught in the education system, truth is relative (aka "my truth") but truth is absolute 

Truth is true:

• For all people
• For all places
• For all time

Truth is absolute, narrow, and exclusive
Truths excludes their opposite

Humanistic truth claims are as narrow as Christian truth claims

Truth is discovered and can not invented
Truth exists without anyone else's knowledge of it, like gravity
Truth is unchanging
Beliefs can not change truth but our beliefs can change to match the fact - World is flat to round

Contrary beliefs are possible but contrary truth are not possible

These are self defeating statements:

• "All truth is relative"
• "There is no truth"
• "It is true for you but not for me"
• "There are no absolutes"

Questions for those living with self defeating statements
If there really is no truth, then why try to learn anything? 

Good ideas have good consequences and bad ideas have bad consequences

If you can kill truth then you can kill religion