BIBLE STUDY FOR THE CHOSEN

1.   INTRODUCTION:

God loves you. He cares for you. He wants to bless you. For which, He made a provision. But He also gives us ‘freedom to chose’ – to receive or not. If you want to receive, you must learn how to receive it. His provision is both for life on earth as well as for life after dead – for eternity.

God created us to be His beloved children and live a blissful life so that we can praise His name. Sin entered the world and separated us from God. Living away from God, all live uncomfortable, miserable life with problems, sufferings and must die sooner or later. All these on earth are the result of sin and living under the power of sin and its consequences - eternal separation from God, eternal death.

God loves us so much that He made a plan to save us from the power and consequences of sin. He gives us the way to return to Him and become His children. Many persons have already received His blessings and enjoy a blessed life on earth with a hope for eternal life with Him in Heaven after this life on earth.

All the provisions of God are recorded in the Bible. So, many studies the Bible to know how to receive the blessings of God, our Creator. Hope you also receive the same. For which, you must know who is God, who created us and everything. Let us learn through His Holy Words in the Holy Bible.

You must also know that the Bible is not easy to study meaningfully without guide and without the help of the Spirit of God. Because, it is not just a simple book but the book of books, all written by men of God as God Himself had spoken to them and made them recorded His Holy words for all the people on earth.

This is a good and simple guide, easy to understand. I have prepared this with prayer and from lessons I have learnt. Please study one chapter daily with fervent prayer and meditation. Take the Bible with you and read the Bible verses given here from your Bible. Don’t try to read the whole lessons immediately. The best way is to study one lesson daily with earnest prayer that the Holy Spirit helps you understand the meanings. Read at least twice what you read after a gape of more than an hour, so that your memory may record it for you benefit.

ENJOY LIFE WITH JESUS

Our senior Pastor said, “My body is aching, my limbs stitching and legs cramping…..”

I replied, “The best for you is to dance in the church. That will be the best treatment by exercising your body by praising the Lord.”

A lady said, “How can who never clap hands dance in advanced age”

I quickly replied, “Why not. Every one clap hands during prize distibution ceremony. Why not dance or at least clap and wave hands praising the Lord.”

The next night, our senior Church elder invited me to deliver speech. I read out what Jesus said,

“I came that they might have life, and might have it abundantly" John 10:10.

And went on –

Many Christians believe and claim following Jesus with a hope to live with God after life on earth. But we must begin enjoying the blessed life in Jesus here on earth with a hope to enjoy fully in the coming life after dead. A trfle upset, slightest temptation make us backslide, fortune make us worship the blessing than the Creator…. !

All these negate our claims to be the ‘Born again Christian’.

Seems, some of us believe God is giving our next fellow more than us – partiality!

God loves us all and equally. It is you to receive and enjoy as much as you can that depend on you. God give us equally through the Holy Spirit in Jesus name.

The Holy Spirit is God here on earth.We cannot see Him with our naked eyes, but is always with us. Through Him we receive the blessing of God. He is with us always and will never leave us so long as we have Jesus Christ as lord and Saviour.

With the Holy Spirit leading our life, we have life in Jesus and enjoy His blessings. Jesus wants us to have abundantly. For which we must walk with Him and have constant relationship with Him and talk with Him by studying His words in the Bible daily and pray constantly.

You must recognize that God is always with you in the Holy Spirit. I could no longer live a ‘go as you like’ style of living since I understand God is always with me in the Holy Spirit - sees what I see, knows all my talk and thought, all my need, heart and mind. And I do no longer kept worrying. When I am anxious, the spirit in me awake me and I immediately pray,

 “ Forgive me Lord, You know I can do nothing by worrying. I entrust You my life and all my problems and relief me of all my problems. Thank You Lord for Your constant love and care for me, in Jesus name, Amen.”

By saying prayer like this, I start enjoying the blessed life in Jesus. I also always ask Him to give what he called ‘abundant life’ in Him, so that I start enjoying ‘abundantly her on earth with earnest hope to enjoy it fully in the life to come.

FOLLOW THE HOLY SPIRIT

 "Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives." (Galatians 5:25)

The Holy Spirit is God here on earth. We cannot see Him with our naked eyes. But God open the eyes of some chosen persons and enable them see Him in human form with some purpose.

When Jesus was on earth, He promised to send the Holy Spirit to help His followers. After He died and then rose from the dead, He appeared to His Disciples, and instructed them, "Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift He promised... In just a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 1:4-5).

Peter had been so frightened by the events surrounding the death of Jesus. When a woman said he was one with Jesus, Peter denied ever having known and been friends with Jesus.

 But when the Spirit of God came on Pentecost and began working through him, Peter became bold enough to address a large gathering. Witnessing Jesus Christ, Peter told crowd, " God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. " (Acts 2:32-33).

Because of the powerful witness, "those who believed what Peter said were baptized and added to the church that day — about 3,000 in all" (Acts 2:41). Three-thousand new Believers of Jesus in one day -- what a testament to the power of the Spirit!

The Holy Spirit is given by God to all believers of Jesus Christ. What the Bible says ‘Believer’ is not just who believe that Jesus is God, but who believed and received Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Saviour. To such believers God give His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, to teach about God’s will, help and guide to live Godly life and do good work, comfort in trouble and testing time.

When the Holy Spirit live in us, we grow in faith and live good life and leads us toward Christ-like.

Therefore, we must always pray God to be with us and help us through the Holy Spirit. For that, we must study the Bible daily and always pray.

JESUS COMFORTS US

Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1)

Do you believe in Jesus? I yes, then, do not let your heart trouble, by obeying Him as He also says,.

”Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” (John 14:23)

He comforts us, saying,

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)

Jesus loves us so much that He does not requires us any hard work but to be with Him.  He assures us that Jesus will produce good work (bear fruits) in us if we rely on Him and be in Him, which He asserts by saying,

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Our much teaching to be good and do good works must be preceded by receiving Jesus Christ as personal Lord and Saviour. He says,

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” (Matthew 6:33-34)

Jesus also says,

“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth.” (John 14: 15-17)

To all who obey Jesus and receive Him as Lord and Saviour, God will send the Holy Spirit, the Helper to obey Jesus, live a good life and do good work. For which, we must pray continually, study His words in the Bible every day.

For all this to happen to you - first receive Jesus and ask God to give you the Holy Spirit to help and guide you obey Jesus and to comfort you in every situation to live a peaceful, blessed life in Jesus..

6.GOD IS INFINITE AND ETERNAL BEING : BIBLE STUDY FOR THE CHOSEN

 ”The Bible reveals God as the only Infinite and Eternal Being, having no beginning and no ending. He is Creator and Sustainer of all things. He is the Supreme Personal Intelligence, and Righteous Ruler of His universe. He is life, and therefore, the only source of life. (John 5:26)

 Man is natural and cannot know God by wisdom. “Can you discover the depths of God?” (Job 11:7)  God is a person and can be known only by revelation. In the Old Testament He revealed Himself to and through His prophets. In the New Testament He reveals Himself through His Son Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 1:3)”

 The better we come to know God, the deeper our love grows; the deeper our love grows, the more we want to live lives pleasing to Him; the more we want to please Him, the easier it becomes to obey the teaching and commandments of Jesus.

Father God, I pray that as we spend time in Your Word, You will reveal more and more of Yourself to us, that knowing You better, loving You more deeply, we will grow day by day more into a likeness of Your Son Jesus Christ, that Your Name may be magnified and glorified in all the earth, in Jesus name, Amen.

BLESS OTHERS THAT YOU MAY BE BLESSED BY GOD

Words have power. Every single word we express has effect. Your word can kill one and can save another. As such, we must control our tongue and say good words to produce good effect. So, bless others by saying “GOD BLESS YOU” than curse them with harsh words. The Bible says,

“All kinds of animals,…have been tamed by mankind,  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.”  (James 3:7-10 )

God wants us to control our tongue, to say good and blessing words. But we often fail to control ourselves and say harsh words and even curse others. The only way to control ourselves is – seek the help of God in prayer.

We must pray to God daily, ask Him to control our tongue, thought and action. We must always confess our sin and all we say against His will;  ask His forgiveness;Ask Him to help us through the Holy Spirit to speak good words, like His words : filled with truth, love, grace and kindness.

Please, start bless others by saying “GOD BLESS YOU” than others will also bless you. Then, God will surely bless you.

Let’s pray :

 "Father in Heaven, I thank You for Your love and care and all the blessings for me. Forgive me for every words I speak against Your will, often dishonouring You and displeasing my fellows, too. Help me through the Holy Spirit to say only good words like Yours, filled with truth, love, blessing, encouragement and praising words. In my Lord and Saviour Jesus name I pray, Amen."

GOD MADE US ALIVE IN JESUS CHRIST

No need animal sacrifice to please God. No need to perform rituals any more. Jesus sacrificed His body and life as the final sacrifice. Your duty is just to believe in Jesus. God accept believers as His children when one receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.

  “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions (disobedience) and sins,  in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world (ungodliness) and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air ( ungodly supernatural powers), the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient (ungodly people). 

 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath (of God).  But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions —it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2 :1-10)

JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN

Many religions teach that there is one true God. That is right. But many of them also teach that different religions follow respective ways and all ways lead to God. All ways may lead to God, to stand before His final Judgment. But, there is ‘BUT’ here. Please read the following prayerfully, pray that God let you understand the truth, not just ‘opinion’ or ‘thought’ as it is your destiny. God bless you.

Every person is a sinner. All think, do, and say wrong things that displease God and break His commands. ‘Displeasing God’ is called ‘sin’ in the Bible.

Our sin separated us from God and destines us to die and go to hell for ever.

God loves us and made a plan to save us from eternal condemnation. That is why the Bible says :

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only (begotten) Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”(John 3:16) 

Jesus, the Son of God came to the world. He was born and lived on earth as the perfect God-Man. He lived a sinless life, did miracles, and taught the TRUTH. Jesus took the punishment we sinners deserve—death—by dying on the cross. Then He rouse again and came back to life, showing He has won the victory over sin and death!

The TRUTH is Jesus. Jesus is the only way to God in heaven. He is the WAY to God in heaven, the TRUTH, and the LIFE.

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’” (John 14:6).

You may want to go to God in heaven and may want to know about Jesus. You may  to follow Jesus so that you may go to heaven. If so, call on Jesus in prayer. You can use a model prayer given below or you can pray as you consider the best way.

Remember, prayer can not give you eternal life, only God can give you eternal life. It is by faith we can have eternal life. But prayer is the best way to talk with God. Prayer show out faith in Jesus.

Let’s pray,

“Lord, I am sinner and to die in sin without You as I have sin against You. My sins separated me forever from You. Now, I have learned from Your words in the Bible and believe that Jesus died for me and took the punishment for sin by dying on the cross. Then He rose from the dead and give eternal life to all who believe in Him. I, therefore, now believe Him by turning from my sin and receive Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I invite Him to take His throne in my life. I surrender my life to Him and pray that He direct my life to live a worthy life as God’s child, in Jesus name,Amen."

LOVE LETTER OF GOD 1. BE SURE YOU ACCEPT HIM

‘Love Letter’ is ‘ a Letter that require ‘Reply’ – whether ‘positive’ or ‘Negative’.  A ‘Love Letter’ is a ‘Letter’ sends to a person we love. We hope to get the reply, generally with earnest hope of positive reply.

The Gospel is the ‘Love Letter’ of God to us. God is sending His Love Letter to you. He says ‘I Love you’.

Will you reply Him, saying “I Love You, too”.

You have freedom to choose. You can reply Him with ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. God had given the first man and woman (Adam and Eve) freedom to choose. They had chosen to live without God by disobeying His word. As such, we all human being are living this ‘uncertain life on earth’ under the shadow of the power of sin.

God made a plan for our Salvation in His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus had work out and completed the plan. Salvation is ready for you. The description is like ‘Love Letter’. The choice is with you.

A ‘Love letter’ is read properly and completely by the receiver. Hope you have already read completely and properly this ‘Love Letter’ of God send to you by Jesus Christ. If not, you may not know how much your Lover loves you. And you may not accept His proposal if you do not understand His Love for you.

So, please read, at least Gospel John properly and completely. Don’t make wrong choice. It will be eternal separation from God – eternal dead in hell.

God loves us so much that He gave His only begotten Son, Jesus. God sent His Son to save us from eternal condemnation due to sin, that all who believe in Him may be saved(John 3:16). But many people still can not have ‘the saved life’ , when God had done such a wonderful ‘Salvation work in Jesus Christ’. He wants all of us to be sure that we have assurance of our salvation.

The Disciple of Jesus Christ, ‘John’ by name (also called  ‘the disciple whom Jesus Love’) wrote the Gospel John. He wrote that all who read this book may have ‘be saved’ and have ‘eternal Life in Jesus’.  He says,

 “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:11-13)

‘The Son’ is Jesus. Everyone that believed and accepted Him as ‘Lord and Saviour’ has ‘the Son’.

“He who has the Son, has life” – ‘who has’ means ‘who has the Son (Jesus) as personal Lord and Saviour’.

If you have Jesus as your personal ‘Lord and Saviour’, you have life – not just temporary life, but eternal life ( to live with God forever).

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in His (Jesus) name, He gave the right to become children of God.” (John 1:12).

God wants that we live a happy lives, without any worry and anxiety.  As such, Jesus says, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1) 

I hope, you believe in God and also believe in Jesus Christ. Please, also believe that God has forgiven all your sin as Jesu died for you. Believe that God has accepted you as ‘His Child’, as Jesus have delivered you from your entire burden, before you can understand.

If you believe, knell down and pray. Confess your sins, ask to forgive you. Thank that Jesus has died for you. Invite Jesus to become your Lord and Saviour. Declared that you receive Him as your personal Lord and Saviour. Entrust Him all your life and future. Ask Him to give you the Holy Spirit to help and guide you live a worthy life as God’s child.

Read the Bible daily and always pray. Start reading Gospel John now. Read one chapter daily.  John has 21 chapters. If you read one chapter daily, you will complete in 21 days. We will become a changed ‘transformed’ person after 21 days. Your environment will change, your thinking, way of living will become so fresh that you will be able to breathe spiritually. Remember, to get such result - you must pray a short prayer before and after reading, ask God to make you understanding of His words and help you follow His teachings.

PRAY IN THE SPIRIT

THE HOLY SPIRIT PRAY FOR US

God has given us the privilege to talk with Him.

The best way to talk with God is prayer.

The best way to pray is, to pray for God’s will to be revealed in our life.

Jesus tells us to pray but say “Thy will be done.”

If you pray only after your own desires, you are in a wrong way. You must be willing to accept God’s will over your own. Then, God will reveal His plan for you. He knows very well what is the best for us.

The Bible tells us to pray in the Spirit. If so, the Spirit will pray for us. The Bible says that the Holy Spirit pray for all who received and have Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. The Bible -

“Likewise the Spirit also helps our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” (Romans 8:26)