Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

Good afternoon... I came across this photo and it led me to write a brief poem to accompany the picture. This picture encapsulates the importance of each born again Christian living a life with a vibrant faith and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.   It also reminds those of us who are born again of the absolute importance of making sure the younger generation receives the faith once delivered to the saints. We must pass it on to them and the only way to do this, is living a God honoring life filled with the evidences of Christ in us, the hope of glory. Read & Heed God's word. Trust and Obey our Savior.  A Forlorn Church A silent sentinel stands all alone, midst creaking of wood and cracking of stone. The paint has all faded and peeled away, the inside is filled with dirt and decay. The bell used to ring and call folks to come; now it is muted and speaks to no one. Now, winds stirring make sad, mournful sounds. No more do lost souls com...

Good evening to each of you dear people. We have had a busy day. My wife is with her mom who had a surgical procedure done today, and I had my second cataract removed today. As I begin this post, my pupil is still very dilated. I pray you will be lenient with me if you spot a typo in this post:) In this post, we are going to discover another wonderful meaning of the Divine Name, El Shaddai, most often translated God Almighty. He is also the God who is able.  God is Almighty because He is able to carry out all of His varied purposes and plans .  He is able to triumph over every obstacle and over all opposition. He is able to nourish, satisfy, or supply all of our various needs.  He is the God from whom all blessings flow, and He is the giver of all good and perfect gifts.    God is able to subdue all things to Himself. He is able to save us from our sins.   Note a few verses from the New Testament that illustrate how “God is able” to accompli...

Good morning to each one of you. I hope that your week is going well and that you are doing all things (work, recreation, study, chores) heartily as unto the Lord.  I have a couple of blog notes for you.  First, I would like to point out that there is an option for you to subscribe to this blog and receive it by email. I tried it in order to verify and it does work nicely.   Second, some of you are viewing the site on a mobile device. I notice that when I use my smart phone, the very first post from February 28 is always displayed. To see the most recent post using a smart phone, look toward the top at the blog title, and you will see an arrow pointing left. Click on it and it brings you to the most current post.  Alright, lets get going and see what we can learn about our gracious God through the study of the name El Shaddai. Almighty God is All Sufficient and can pour out abundant supplies to meet our needs. The name El Shaddai means that God ...

Good evening, Dear Readers! We have some iris flowers in our backyard. This year, they have the most vivid, deep purple blossoms of any year since we planted them.  An iris has tall, majestic, bluish-green stalks topped with large blooms that have a unique, lovely shape, as you can see from a photo I took this morning. The Iris lies dormant all winter long, even into spring. Then it begins to show some signs of life. Suddenly, it puts out buds and then the stunning flowers.  There is no rushing the process along. We just maintain an attitude of waiting for its glorious display to appear. We accept this life cycle for the iris when we plant them, and we can worship our wonderful God for the marvelous things He has made for our enjoyment. In some ways, the cycle of the iris teaches us about the sovereign nature of God as we will see in the narrative about Abraham's life. God knows what is best because He is all wise. He loves us and wants to give us what is best for u...

Good morning to each one of you. Some places in America, including my state, have experienced severe weather. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those communities and people most impacted by these storms. Although we heard non stop thunderings for quite a while, we were spared from severe storms and we are very grateful. I would like to look at another Divine Name with you. This name is used many times in the Old Testament. It was also the title of a Christian song popularized by Amy Grant many years ago.The name is El Shaddai. We will need to turn to several portions of scripture in order to gain an understanding of this Divine Name. Since this name is not limited to a specific scripture context, I will give you some definition and meaning up front before we go to the texts. El Shaddai: Almighty God. El-Shaddai appears many times in the Hebrew Old Testament.  The English translation of El-Shaddai is most often “Almighty God" or "God Almighty” This name is ma...

Good evening to all of you. Stormy weather is all around us at the moment, with weather radar showing the worst weather to the south of us, in Amish country. Yet, the air around us is punctuated with incessant booming thunder.  Abram weathered the storms of war where his nephew was taken captive. He also weathered the storm of temptation by choosing rightly between Melchizedek and Bera.  Now, we will dig in to the name El Elyon . The Hebrew word El-Elyon, refers to the strongest, strong one.  “El” means strength and power, and “Elyon” means strongest.   The best way to determine the meaning of this compound name is to read the place where it first appears.   The first occurrence of El-Elyon is in the account of Abraham and Lot that we just read.   In this text the name El-Elyon appears four times translated as the “most high God.”    El is a general term that also expresses majesty and power.  The Hebrew w...