Bible Study Notes and Gifts (before and through today)

Bible Reading Today: 

Romans 10 

Today's Highlights:

Romans 10:8-13

“But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” 

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“…The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth…and heart…” Ah—blessed thought! God's WORD, the SUBSTANCE of our very life, is “nigh thee”. Nigh you. Nigh me. Close. Comforting. Encouraging. It is, essentially—“the WORD of FAITH”. Wow—isn't God GOOD? Who can ever doubt—or deny it—when it's put that way. It's just…T.H.E.R.E. Living. Moving. Breathing. Invigorating. Powering. All-seeing. All-knowing. All-understanding. All-powerful. ALPHA and OMEGA—the Beginning, and the End. God is good.

Verse nine just…blows me away. Totally. “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” No if, ands, or buts. Just a little word: if. IF your confess with your mouth, and IF you believe in your heart, you. will. be. saved. Wow. Awesome—once again!

“…Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed… For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek…” He will not disappoint you. “WHOSOEVER”, it states. It doesn't matter who; no matter if you are Jew, Greek, Chinese, Indonesian, Indian, Alaskan—you won't be ashamed. You won't be let down. Yes, there may be times that you are discouraged—everyone is discouraged sometime or other! But that doesn't matter. What matters is this—HE will never let you down. NEVER. Do you get it? NEVER!!!!! You may not feel it! You may not even believe it! But He's never let you down, and He will never let you down. The only person that can let you down is yourself. DON'T LET THE ENEMY TRIUMPH IN YOUR LIFE—JESUS NOW RULES!!!!! praise the LORD!!!!!

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Gifts for from last Sunday until now:

GIFTS IN CHURCH (Sunday):

1. The Bible. Nothing more precious as a gift than that! 
2. The people. Wonderful friends that I can listen to and learn from! 
3. The teaching. Ah…what a gift! Sent from Above! What memories we are creating as we sit around the table… 

GIFTS OF SERVING (Monday):

1. A cup of water to a thirsty Mum. 
2. A story read to a wanting brother. 
3. Goats milked, so Dad can have milk to use. 

GIFTS STRAIGHT, CURVE, TURN (Tuesday):

1. The “straight but narrow” way of life—if I follow my Savior, I'll never loose a step! 
2. The road through the hills between here and G---- V-----—after going through the rocky steeps, we get down to the plains where there is a majestic curve turning in between the lush paddocks dotted with sheep. The Southern Alps look on, with their white hats like a chef's crown, making the scene (with golden sunbeams pouring down) a glorious experience.
3. Turn. Onto the road that leads home. Turn away from the town, with it's dusty streets. Turn towards the Home. View it from afar, the house (green roof [I think] and white walls), the flowers (every color you can imagine and a little more—white, yellow, purple, pink, red, blue…), and the animals contentedly grazing on lush green grass. 

GIFTS IN LIGHT (Wednesday):

1. Sunbeams. Shine off things and into my eyes, showing me the tiny flowers and delicate spider's webs still wet with dew. 
2. The birds. They sing when it's sunny, they sing when it's dry. And when they're not hungry, they'll float and they'll fly. They'll sit on the fence rail (I watch their tails flip), and when they are hungry, they'll dive and they'll dip. 
3. Clouds. Floating. Free. Never seeming to care where they're going, seemingly lazy (though they do work at times!). White, crimson, purple—always reflecting the truth: GOD IS GOOD. 

Yes, and so that concludes another, um…one, two, three…four(!) days of August Gifts.

Oh, and one more thing. A gift: my littlest brother (Nate) is currently eating a kiwi (the bird kind). Don't worry—it's stuffed.

Conclusion: Praise the Lord for His love! He certainly gives us a LOT of gifts!