The Greatist Gift Scripture for Life

Ephesians 1
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God,
To the saints in Ephesus,[a] the faithful[b] in Christ Jesus:

2Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5he[c] predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. 9And he[d] made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.
11In him we were also chosen,[e] having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, 12in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. 13And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession—to the praise of his glory.

Thanksgiving and Prayer
15For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. 17I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit[f] of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. 18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.


Footnotes:
a.Ephesians 1:1 Some early manuscripts do not have in Ephesus.
b.Ephesians 1:1 Or believers who are
c.Ephesians 1:5 Or sight in love. 5 He
d.Ephesians 1:9 Or us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he
e.Ephesians 1:11 Or were made heirs
f.Ephesians 1:17 Or a spirit
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Happy Father's Day The Joy of Jesus

The True Father:

The Lord's Prayer Words
(traditional)



Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,

the power and the glory,

for ever and ever.

Amen

God Never Fails

Psalm 136
God's Love Never Fails
1Praise the LORD! He is good.
God's love never fails.

2Praise the God of all gods.

God's love never fails.

3Praise the Lord of lords.

God's love never fails.

4Only God works great miracles. [a] God's love never fails.

5With wisdom he made the sky.

God's love never fails.

6The Lord stretched the earth

over the ocean.

God's love never fails.

7He made the bright lights

in the sky.

God's love never fails.

8He lets the sun rule each day.

God's love never fails.

9He lets the moon and the stars

rule each night.

God's love never fails.

10God struck down the first-born

in every Egyptian family.

God's love never fails.

11He rescued Israel from Egypt.

God's love never fails.

12God used his great strength

and his powerful arm.

God's love never fails.

13He split the Red Sea [b] apart. God's love never fails.

14The Lord brought Israel safely

through the sea.

God's love never fails.

15He destroyed the Egyptian king

and his army there.

God's love never fails.

16The Lord led his people

through the desert.

God's love never fails.

17Our God defeated mighty kings.

God's love never fails.

18And he killed famous kings.

God's love never fails.

19One of them was Sihon,

king of the Amorites.

God's love never fails.

20Another was King Og of Bashan.

God's love never fails.

21God took away their land.

God's love never fails.

22He gave their land to Israel,

the people who serve him.

God's love never fails.

23God saw the trouble we were in.

God's love never fails.

24He rescued us from our enemies.

God's love never fails.

25He gives food to all who live.

God's love never fails.

26Praise God in heaven!

God's love never fails.


Connovacation: Our prayer and faith is in the love of God in Christ Jesus is our complete Joy. We trust in God even during the most troubling times. We pray for you that your love will increase everyday by faith. Jesus gave His life on the cross, shed His blood for our sins. God raise Jesus from the grave. Jesus will return with all power, honor and glory to made all things right. This is our prayer in the names of Jesus. A-men

What a Friend we have in The Joy of Jesus

What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do your friends despise, forsake you? Take it to the Lord in prayer!
In His arms He’ll take and shield you; you will find a solace there.

Blessed Savior, Thou hast promised Thou wilt all our burdens bear
May we ever, Lord, be bringing all to Thee in earnest prayer.
Soon in glory bright unclouded there will be no need for prayer
Rapture, praise and endless worship will be our sweet portion there.

Bible Study Today with The Joy of Jesus

Doing God’s Will
The Bible must be our only authority in religion if we want to please God and go to Heaven. People must give up all the various false doctrines that propagate the many different kinds of denominations and go back to only the Bible. There were no denominations in the New Testament times and there would be none today if only the Bible was taught and practiced. There would only be the Lord's one true church, the church of Christ.

How then do we make sure that we are among the few who are saved and not among the many who are lost? Jesus says in Matthew 7:21-23, "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name? And then will I declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness". If you believe and call Jesus, "Lord, Lord", you are still lost if you have not done what God says. If we are not obeying God, we are practicing lawlessness. If we ever hope to go to heaven, we must do the will of the Father. This is the only way. Not the will of men, but God’s will. Not our own will, but God’s will. Just because we call Jesus our Lord, this will not save us.

We cannot go to Heaven by just calling Jesus, "Lord, Lord". Jesus says in the above scripture, on the Day of Judgment, many will be pleading with him, calling him Lord, Lord, and reminding him of the many wonderful works they had done in His name, but He will say unto them, "I never knew you, depart from Me you who practice lawlessness". Why? Why? Because they had not done the will of the Father in heaven. Oh, they thought they had, but they hadn’t. They had done their own will or the will of men in their many differing denominations. This will be the worst thing that will ever be said to an individual, when the Lord on Judgment Day says to the majority of people, "I never knew you; depart from Me". The majority of people will be told this and be punished forever in Hell. There will be no appeal to this decision. There will be no second chance. We have to get it right the first time.

These people in the above scripture seemed to be honest, but they were honestly mistaken as the majority of people are today. The people seemed to be sincere. There will be many surprised but lost people on the Day of Judgment who thought that it doesn't really matter what you believe as long as you are sincere. To believe this is to believe a lie of Satan. If it doesn't matter what you believe, then it doesn't matter if you believe at all. Apparently many were good people, because they had "done many wonderful works". But they had not done the will of the Father who is in heaven. Man generally wants to do things his way and he doesn't really care what God thinks. We cannot obey God without doing what God says to do, when God says to do it, how God says to do it, and for the reason God says to do it. Nothing is more important than pleasing God by doing His will so that we can go to Heaven.

We learn from the above scripture, that we don't go to Heaven by doing the will of men, or by doing what we think is right. The only way we can go to Heaven is by doing the will of the Father, and that will is found right in our Bibles. Do we really know what the will of the Father is so that we can be sure of going to Heaven? This is too important a matter to assume we do know or to take someone else’s word for it. One must know what the will of God is before he can obey it. Do you really know what the Bible says that God wants us to do in order to be saved?

What must I do to be saved? This is a very important question. Many people would answer this question in many different ways. The many different denominations give many different and conflicting answers. Only God's way is correct. The Bible is the only reliable source we can go to for our answer, since it is our soul that will be lost if we follow man's advice. Our obedience to Christ is a very serious decision and must not be taken lightly. It must be on the Lord's terms as laid out in the scriptures and not on our terms.

We have already seen in Matthew 7:13-14, 21, only few will be saved, and many will be lost, and only those who do the will of the Father can go to Heaven. We read in 1 John 2:4, "He who says, I know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." "A liar" is pretty strong language. A person is lying to himself and everyone else who says he knows and loves God, but does not keep God's commandments. We know that a liar cannot go to Heaven (Revelation 21:8).

We must do all of God's will, so that we can go to Heaven. There is no other way. We must do all of what God has commanded us. Our Lord says in Matthew 28:20, “Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.” We must do all things God has commanded us. We cannot pick and choose and take a verse out of context but we must take all of what the Bible says. We cannot be pleasing to God by dreaming up our own plan of salvation as to how God is going to save us. We must follow His plan and only His plan if we expect Him to save us. Our salvation in Heaven is too great to lose, because if we don’t go to Heaven we will spend forever and ever in a burning Hell. Many people don’t really believe this, but they all will one day.

No single condition, that God imposes, can be ignored. God has no non-essential commands. When we don't obey a command of God, we have just broken it. Many people think that God will save them, no matter if they follow God's specific instructions on what they must do to be saved or not. We must obey God by doing what God says to do, when God says to do it, how God says to do it, and for the reason God says to do it. What then is God's will, so that we can go to Heaven and not have to endure eternal punishment forever and ever? We will find the answer in the Bible in the following lessons.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Questions Lesson 9

Doing God's Will
(click on the button of the answer of your choice)

1) (Matthew 7:21) How do we go to heaven?
By doing our will.

By doing man's will.

By doing God's will.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2) All who call Jesus their Lord will be saved.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3) (Matthew 7:21) Those who call Jesus, Lord, Lord

Will all go to heaven.

Many of which will not go to heaven.

Will all be pleasing to the Lord.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4) On Judgment Day many will be vainly pleading with Jesus to be saved.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

5) (Matthew 7:23) What is the worse thing one can hear on Judgment Day?

Welcome to heaven.

That heaven has no more room.

Depart, I never knew you.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6) If we haven't done the will of God, we will not go to heaven even if we have done many good works.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

7) (1 John 2:4) If I say I know and love God, but I do not keep His commandments,

I am telling the truth.

I am a liar.

God will overlook it.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

8) One is telling the truth if he says he loves and knows God but does not keep His commandments.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Scripture: The Joy of Jesus

Psalm 5
For the director of music. For flutes. A psalm of David.
1 Give ear to my words, O LORD,
consider my sighing.
2 Listen to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for to you I pray.

3 In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation.

4 You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil;
with you the wicked cannot dwell.

5 The arrogant cannot stand in your presence;
you hate all who do wrong.

6 You destroy those who tell lies;
bloodthirsty and deceitful men
the LORD abhors.

7 But I, by your great mercy,
will come into your house;
in reverence will I bow down
toward your holy temple.

8 Lead me, O LORD, in your righteousness
because of my enemies—
make straight your way before me.

9 Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
their heart is filled with destruction.
Their throat is an open grave;
with their tongue they speak deceit.

10 Declare them guilty, O God!
Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
for they have rebelled against you.

11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

12 For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield.


New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica

Sermon: Trust in God

Message: We pray for all people today. Our environment and economy have not been as rewarding for most people today. We need to know that we can turn to and trust God for all of our needs in Christ Jesus. God gave us Jesus who died on the cross for our sins. God raised Jesus from the grave with all power, honor and glory. Jesus will return to call Hid own to a new heaven and earth. In Jesus name we pray.

Scripture:
Isaiah 40
Comfort for God's People
1 Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.
2 Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD's hand
double for all her sins.

3 A voice of one calling:
"In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD [a] ;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God. [b]

4 Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low;
the rough ground shall become level,
the rugged places a plain.

5 And the glory of the LORD will be revealed,
and all mankind together will see it.
For the mouth of the LORD has spoken."

6 A voice says, "Cry out."
And I said, "What shall I cry?"
"All men are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field.

7 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
because the breath of the LORD blows on them.
Surely the people are grass.

8 The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever."

9 You who bring good tidings to Zion,
go up on a high mountain.
You who bring good tidings to Jerusalem, [c]
lift up your voice with a shout,
lift it up, do not be afraid;
say to the towns of Judah,
"Here is your God!"

10 See, the Sovereign LORD comes with power,
and his arm rules for him.
See, his reward is with him,
and his recompense accompanies him.

11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand,
or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens?
Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket,
or weighed the mountains on the scales
and the hills in a balance?

13 Who has understood the mind [d] of the LORD,
or instructed him as his counselor?

14 Whom did the LORD consult to enlighten him,
and who taught him the right way?
Who was it that taught him knowledge
or showed him the path of understanding?

15 Surely the nations are like a drop in a bucket;
they are regarded as dust on the scales;
he weighs the islands as though they were fine dust.

16 Lebanon is not sufficient for altar fires,
nor its animals enough for burnt offerings.

17 Before him all the nations are as nothing;
they are regarded by him as worthless
and less than nothing.

18 To whom, then, will you compare God?
What image will you compare him to?

19 As for an idol, a craftsman casts it,
and a goldsmith overlays it with gold
and fashions silver chains for it.

20 A man too poor to present such an offering
selects wood that will not rot.
He looks for a skilled craftsman
to set up an idol that will not topple.

21 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
Has it not been told you from the beginning?
Have you not understood since the earth was founded?

22 He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth,
and its people are like grasshoppers.
He stretches out the heavens like a canopy,
and spreads them out like a tent to live in.

23 He brings princes to naught
and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing.

24 No sooner are they planted,
no sooner are they sown,
no sooner do they take root in the ground,
than he blows on them and they wither,
and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.

25 "To whom will you compare me?
Or who is my equal?" says the Holy One.

26 Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one,
and calls them each by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

27 Why do you say, O Jacob,
and complain, O Israel,
"My way is hidden from the LORD;
my cause is disregarded by my God"?

28 Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.

29 He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.

30 Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;

31 but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.


Footnotes:
a.Isaiah 40:3 Or A voice of one calling in the desert: / "Prepare the way for the LORD
b.Isaiah 40:3 Hebrew; Septuagint make straight the paths of our God
c.Isaiah 40:9 Or O Zion, bringer of good tidings, / go up on a high mountain. / O Jerusalem, bringer of good tidings
d.Isaiah 40:13 Or Spirit ; or spirit
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica