Opened Scriptures Bible Studies

Good morning again to each of you... I have posted the link to my Pastor's Sunday Sermon titled "A Well of Water Springing Up." Pastor has resumed preaching through the gospel of John and is now in chapter 7. I know his sermon will be encouraging, challenging and a blessing to all of us. Have a blessed Lord's Day! Bob

Good morning to all of our Readers. This next section of Habakkuk 2 provides much more detail about how God will ultimately judge the Babylonians. This is a furtherance of the vision Habakkuk was told to write down.  Jehovah pronounced certain doom upon that wicked nation with 5 woes introducing each specific judgment. The word "woe" means someone is going to experience great sorrow, pain, grief or regret. It means that a terrible misfortune is about to hit someone very hard. This word conveys the idea of judgment that is coming and cannot be stopped.  The 1st Woe: Greed & Lust Habakkuk 2:6-8  Shall not all these take up a parable against him, and a taunting proverb against him, and say, Woe to him that increaseth that which is not his! how long? and to him that ladeth himself with thick clay! 7) Shall they not rise up suddenly that shall bite thee, and awake that shall vex thee, and thou shalt be for booties unto them? 8) Because thou hast spoiled many nations, ...

Good evening to all of you and I hope you had a really wonderful day of living for Christ whether at home, at work or relaxing. I have a very interesting hymn history for you this evening. There are many inspiring stories connected with the writing of our hymns. But it would be difficult to find a more unusual one than what happened to William Mackay. When, at the age of seventeen, he left his humble Scottish home to attend college, his godly mother gave him a Bible in which she wrote his name and a verse of Scripture. Away from home, he began well. But as time went by he drifted further and further from the way he had been raised. He began drinking heavily. At a low point, to satisfy his thirst for whiskey, he carelessly pawned the Bible his mother had given him. Many years went by. Eventually, MacKay completed medical training and took up his work in a city hospital. There one day the Lord met him in a special way. I imagine it started out like any other day, doing rounds, writin...

Good morning to all of our Readers. Much political and civil unrest is still very evident in America and around the world. In addition, COVID-19 is spreading out of control in parts of the U.S. However, I want you to know that our county currently has a "1" ranking with regard to COVID. This is the best rating from the State of Ohio and means that it is not spreading aggressively where we live.   Thank you for all of your prayers to God for us throughout the pandemic.  We are praying for all of you as well.  We now move into Habakkuk 2 and the prophet starts with another strong expression of faith in Jehovah. A faithful and humble prophet.  Habakkuk 2:1  I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.  In our last post we saw that Habakkuk shared more of his questions and concerns at the end of chapter 1. He began chapter 2 by declaring that he ...

Good morning to all.... I hope each one of you is having a wonderful morning on this day that our Father has given to us. We will see the second prayer of Habakkuk to Jehovah. The prophet was utterly astonished even though God told him what He was going to do to punish Judah for their iniquities.  Habakkuk states what he knows to be true about God.  Habakkuk 1:12  Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.   Habakkuk is a God centered book. The name Jehovah (LORD) is used 12 times and the name Elohim (God) is used 5 times. Twice he refers to the Holy One of Israel. In all, the names of God are found 19 times in 3 short chapters.  Jehovah is the covenant keeping God who never changes. He is the God who inhabits eternity yet He will come and dwell with repentant people whose hearts are humble and whose spirits are contrite...

Good morning to all of our Readers.... I attached the YouTube link to our Pastor's mid week sermon. We will be watching it too, because our service was cancelled due to weather concerns. It is titled :Josiah: The Shaping of Spiritual Character" This is about a young king of Judah who turned out to be an excellent king during his reign. What caused him to follow hard after the Lord is what Pastor Alvis shares. Bob

Good morning to all of you. We received some refreshing showers that revived the flowers around us and we see other plants perking up in response to much needed moisture.  This reminds me how the Word of God is compared with rain that drops down from heaven, causing things to grow. God's word is like rain showers upon the parched desert of our soul (Deuteronomy 32:2 & Isaiah 55:8-11). It refreshes us and revives us when we are spiritually dry. It renews our strength and calms our hearts as we focus once more on the vastness and greatness of the God we serve. Our study of Habakkuk will do the same for us because this prophet is one who spoke about revival for the nation.  Jehovah promptly answered Habakkuk Habakkuk 1:5  Behold ye among the heathen, and regard, and wonder marvellously: for I will work a work in your days, which ye will not believe, though it be told you.   Right after Habakkuk finished pouring out his complaints, God provided him with an answer. Fr...

Good morning to all of our Readers.  I pray daily for the Lord's blessings, protection and guidance for each one of you.  As a reminder, we are taking a break from our study of John's gospel but we will come back to it at a later date. Please keep your notes and downloads of our studies in John so when we do resume, you will be able to keep all the lessons together.  Today, we will begin a study of a Minor Prophet named Habakkuk. This man lived around 612 BC and was given a vision by Jehovah of the Babylonians besieging Judah, destroying Jerusalem and carrying the people into captivity for 70 years. The prophets Nahum and Zephaniah were contemporaries of Habakkuk, meaning that the time frame of their ministries overlapped. Habakkuk is quoted by 3 major doctrinal books of the New Testament being cited in Romans, Galatians and Hebrews.  A round the world today the people of God are perplexed by increasing turmoil, rising terrorism, mounting tragedies, unprecedente...

Good morning to all.... This morning we come to the end of John 9. We have 12 more chapters of John's gospel to go before we finish the book, but what I would like  to do next is take a brief break from our study of John's gospel so we can look at some other books of the Bible.  We will return to our studies of John after our break and I plan to divide it into two sections each containing 6 chapters to cover in a series.  Jesus found the blind man a second time. John 9:35-38  Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? 36) He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? 37) And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. 38) And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.  Jesus, the Good Shepherd, once again went looking for the blind man who received his sight. Why? Jesus heard that the religious leaders had cast hi...

Good morning to all of our Readers from many different continents, time zones and environmental circumstances. I marvel as I reflect upon each one of you from so many different locations. Why do I marvel? Because your finding this Bible study blog is all of God. I praise Him daily for each Reader and each country that you represent. May our Lord continue doing a great work through His living Word that is contained in each post.  As we near the close of John 9 I want to show you how things ended up for the blind man who received his sight from Jesus Christ. His words "One thing I know, that whereas I was blind, now I see" are beautiful and inspiring to us.  They show us the heart of God toward fallen man, a heart full of compassion, grace and mercy. However, He also has a heart that accepts mankind only as each individual turns from sin to Jesus Christ in repentant faith.  Our last post ended with the Jews claiming allegiance to Moses because God spoke to him. This is very...