Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

Good evening to everyone. We had an absolutely perfect first day of summer. Bright, cheery sunshine, brilliant, blue skies and dazzling white clouds sprinkled in for contrast. The rains have disappeared for at least a few days and this brings some measure of relief to those living in rain saturated areas.  I would like to take time to study the book of Titus with you. This is a letter from Paul to a man who played a vital part in his ministry. The book is only 3 chapters long but  it contains many wonderful truths and lessons to learn for New Testament Christians.  It is full of sound doctrine, full of the wonder of saving grace, full of the Holy Ghost's mighty work, full of encouragement to live for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  During the time that some of the Pastoral Epistles were penned,  Paul had some freedom to move about and may have been out of prison. For example, Paul wrote to Timothy in his first letter and said that he was in the are...

Good evening to each one of our Readers! Our forecast is calling for more heavy rains tonight and tomorrow. Flood warnings are posted and many roads in low lying areas are closed. We are fortunate to live on top of a valley in our community so rising water will not be a problem for us.  Please pray for the safety of other residents in North East Ohio who do live in low lying areas, that they would be careful when driving and be aware of their surroundings and potential dangers of flooding.  We will wrap up our study of the book of Jonah with this post. In the last post, we saw that there was a tremendous response to the preaching of Jonah. Most pastors that I know would be overwhelmed with joy at such a stupendous harvest of souls. How did Jonah react to the Ninevites repentance?  Jonah 4:1 "But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.  And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not this my saying, when I was yet ...

Good morning to our readers, both here and around the world.  I am thankful that you have joined us today to continue in our study of the book of Jonah.  The text below concludes this prayer of Jonah. The Bible does not tell us when this prayer was made. Was it when Jonah was drowning? Was it after God raised Jonah from the dead in preparation for the whale depositing him on dry land? Was it when Jonah was in Abraham's bosom? We do not know and we need not speculate about what God did not choose to tell us. God has told us what we need to know, and that is sufficient for us. What we do know is that Jehovah used a fierce storm to save sailors and to bring Jonah to full repentance.  In his prayer, Jonah said he would "pay" his vows to the Lord. We do not know what that vow was, but most likely, it was that he would obey his God and go to Nineveh.  Jonah 2:9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vo...

Good morning Dear Readers and blessings to all of you.  May our wonderful God continue to open all of our eyes so that we may behold wondrous things in His word. Tonight, we will move in to the 2nd chapter of this book. The last verse of chapter 1 leads us right into chapter 2.   JONAH 1:17 17  Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. Some of the words in this text are of interest to us.  The word "prepared" means to make an allocation or assign something; to prepare or make ready; The words "Swallow up"   is like swallowing something down with eagerness. It is used to describe famished men finding food to eat. It means to consume or to destroy. The word "great" is often associated with ancient wrestling. It has the idea of having great strength with powerful torque or twisting force. The word "great" is used 7 times in this book of Jonah; ...

Good evening to everyone reading this Bible study. It is such a privilege to share the word of God with all of you, and it is a labor that I joyfully undertake. Thank you again, to each one of you who are sharing this blog with other people. Please continue to share this blog with your family and friends because the word of God will not return void. Well, we are still in the first chapter of this short book but we will get through it today.  We are going to see the immediate response of Jehovah to his disobedient prophet, Jonah. First, let's look at the text. Jonah 1:1-4 1  Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,  2  Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.  3  But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them ...