Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

It is that time of year to get the lawn mower out and bag up leaves that are starting to fall.  It has been a sunny day with pleasant temperatures and the lawn looks great at least until our Pin Oak decides to dump more leaves. Our Pin Oak is a majestic tree but it never drops all of its leaves all at once.   Sometimes there are still clusters of leaves clinging to the branches the following spring.  Christ consistently gave out the Word of God One thing we know about our Lord Jesus Christ when He ministered on this earth.  He always gave out the Word of God and He always sought to lead people to believe on Him for salvation. Jesus always spoke truth that went directly to the heart of His hearers.  We are blessed to see Christ doing this in our study of His teachings.  He is our model and Jesus has shown you and me that our priorities should be listening carefully to people we engage with and then giving them the Word of God.  We cannot w...

  This is another wonderful day that our loving Lord created and He has given us life to enjoy it and use it profitably.  One way that we can wisely use the time we are allotted is by studying the Word of God.  My hope is that you are being blessed and encouraged in our studies together.  I am hoping that you point your relatives, friends, and acquaintances to this Bible study blog so that they may also soak up God's truth. Salty salt and pure Light are needed for God's kingdom purposes. Matthew 6:13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.  The text above is the next paragraph of the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus Christ is calling us to be changed into salt and light.  We are always warned about having too much salt in our diet but a certain level of salt intake is also linked to some positive...

Welcome back, Dear Readers! We are continuing our study of the Sermon on the Mount that is the first extensive teaching given by Christ.  We will look at the Beatitudes today before moving deeper into our Master's powerful sermon.  The photo below is of the area bordering the Sea of Galilee that may have been where Jesus preached His sermon. Merciful in heart will obtain mercy Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. I remind us all that the word "blessed" means fortunate from enjoying spiritual happiness and favor with God.  There is a blessing for those who are merciful.  The word "merciful" describes the active compassion that we bestow upon others.  Websters 1828 describes it as being disposed to have pity upon those who offend us and  having a willingness to forgive them.  Theologically, mercy is extended by God to the born again Christian.  Mercy is God the Father withholding His wrath...

I hope you are having a great morning today.  Trees around us are finally beginning to blaze with vivid fall colors.  Such sights and patterns are a great blessing from our God and Creator for us to enjoy. The Sermon on the Mount is the very first extended teaching given by Jesus Christ.  Multitudes of people surrounded Him and he found a spacious place to accommodate the crowds.  When things were in order and He was properly set, He opened His mouth to give them teaching from God.  The photo below shows the probable location where this sermon was preached.  The first section of Jesus' teaching is commonly called the Beatitudes because Christ is showing us how to live as a faith response to our God and the right posture to have in our hearts.  The Pharisees are concerned with externals whereas the attitudes expressed in the texts below are internal issues of the heart.  The Pharisees loved to draw attention to themselves when they...

Oh, it is wonderful to be a Christian.   Being born again is the greatest thing that we can experience in this life.  I hope that each one of you have turned to the Lord Jesus Christ in repentant faith and know Him as your God and Savior. Matthew 4:8-11 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him. The text above is the last of Satan's attempts to persuade Jesus Christ to sin by acting independently of His Father.  Mark's account of the temptation of Christ by Satan is only two lines of text and John records only the baptism of Christ.   Matthew and L...

What a Good God we serve.  I hope you are learning each day how good God is, in each and every circumstance of life that we may find ourselves facing on any given day.  We must follow the example of the apostles and give ourselves to prayer and studying the Word.  In the world we will have troubles but in Christ we have all spiritual blessing in heavenly places! Our Father may have given us a lot or a little to be Stewards over, but the attitude of our hearts can be happy, grateful and faithful no matter what our circumstances may be. Our Father does use trials and testings to refine His children and purge out any dross so we can be useful servants growing in our faith.  The devil brings trouble and affliction to tear down our faith and cause us to doubt the goodness of God.  He will hurl fiery darts our way at every opportunity that we give him.  The key to limiting any weak spots in our armor is being immersed in the Word of God and seeking to know...

The 3rd temptation of Christ by the devil will show us the power of the Word of God in combating our enemy.   We need the Word of God in so many ways and in this example it is life giving food for our souls. Let us remember the circumstances of the temptation of Christ by the Devil.  First, the baptism of Christ announced that the Lamb of God was going to take on the sins of humanity.  Second, the Father declared that He was well pleased in His Son.  Third, Jesus endured 40 days of fasting in the wilderness with no food.  Wild beasts were in the area and He cried and shed tears while He communed with the Father in prayer and supplication. When all of the testing was over, Jesus was hungry.  This brings us to the first temptation of Jesus Christ by the Devil. Matthew 4:1-4 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hung...

Good Morning to all!   It is a windy, brisk day where we live.  My hope is that as we study the Word of God together we are all being built up in our faith and resolve to love God and love others.  The church pictured below is a good reminder about our need to gather together in worship to our Lord and for hearing from Him as the Word is preached.  We took the quick plunge into study the baptism of Christ because His temptations occurred right after He was baptized.  The perfection of Jesus Christ Now we can move into the temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ so that we can see the significance of Christ passing the tests and His use of the powerful Word to defeat the devil.  Matthew 4:1-4 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these...

The Bible says a lot about baptism.  Baptism is mandated as a public profession of faith in Jesus Christ for each newly born again Christian.  John preached a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. Paul teaches us about the baptism of each new believer into the body of Christ by the Holy Spirit. Romans 6:1-4 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. When baptism is found in the Bible it is always referring to complete immersion in water.  It is a public symbol showing that we are buried with Christ in death when we are under the water and showing the new life in Christ when we c...