His Mercies

1 Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.
11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.
Psalm 51:1,11 (NKJV)

It is so glaring when man loses the Holy Spirit connection. He acts insanely and with reckless abandon and ultimately self-destruct. All of a sudden the 'programmed' now thinks he's more all-knowing, all-able more than the 'Programmer'. Only time will separate the two, but the wise knows that safe the grace of the Almighty God, man is nothing; but with a steady connection to the Creator, he is more than able to rise above self and his numerous life challenges. King David knew the secret of this and sought the mercies of God continually and longed to be in His presence at all times. Moses requested a halt to the journey of the nation of Israel unless the presence of the Lord went with them.

We never want to stray away for the Lord's presence. Cast me not away from your presence lest I misbehave and self-destruct. Your Holy Spirit is my GPS, Teacher, Mentor, Comforter, Friend, etc. His Leadership in our lives we need and in His presence we must always be.

Be encouraged,

Afolabi

Forgetting is hazardous

Friends,

The past week has been full of reminders to be thankful for the blessings we enjoy. This is good thing for anyone to do. Yet, we must be mindful of the danger that comes with focusing on the blessings. We can too easily fall into the trap of neglecting to focus on the One who blesses.

Because you have forgotten the God of your salvation,
And have not been mindful of the Rock of your stronghold,
Therefore you will plant pleasant plants
And set out foreign seedlings;
In the day you will make your plant to grow,
And in the morning you will make your seed to flourish;
But the harvest will be a heap of ruins
In the day of grief and desperate sorrow.
Isaiah 17:10-11 [NKJV]

God is warning you and I that all of our hard work is a vanity when we cease being mindful of our Lord and Master. Consider this truth, brothers and sisters.

Be encouraged, Jose

More from the Gospel of Mark

Friends,

The latest Bible study sessions have been published. Please be sure to visit Bible Study Audio to listen to the most recent teaching from the Gospel of Mark.

Be encouraged, Jose

Bible studies posted

Friends,

A new study has been posted from the Gospel of Mark. In this session, we examine the latter parts of chapter 11 and the beginning verses in chapter 12. The religious elite take turns challenging Jesus' authority and claims in their attempts to ensnare Him in an act for which they can legitimately execute Him. Visit Bible Study Audio to learn the important lessons for you and I - in our present day - from this passage.

Be encouraged, Jose

Know that He is God

Friends,

Men and women plan and scheme. We worry over what might or might not happen in this circumstance or another. We devise contingency plans and work out elaborate measures to attempt to control events in our world.

That is certainly one way to live.

Here is another ...

I know that whatever God does,
It shall be forever.
Nothing can be added to it,
And nothing taken from it.
God does it, that men should fear before Him.
That which is has already been,
And what is to be has already been;
And God requires an account of what is past.
Ecclesiastes 3:14-15, NKJV

Today, why don't we take a breath and rest, knowing that Almighty God, who is truly sovereign and completely good, has set every detail in place for a specific purpose. We cannot change the plan of God. We can only have reverential fear of Him who is all-powerful and all-good. We can only turn away from our controlling impulses and turn towards the only One worthy of trust. We can strive to finally and fully depend and rely on the LORD.

A study of Haggai

Friends,

As you know, most of the content on Bible Study Audio is in the form of Bible studies that you can listen to. In order to make the content a bit more accessible, a written study has been added: the book of Haggai. This prophetic message to God's people is one of admonishment and great hope. In it, the Lord reminds you and I to resist the evil of this world, to beware of rationalizing worldly actions, and to look forward with genuine anticipation to the return of our Lord.

Remember that there is no physical building that can possibly compare to the splendor and majesty of the true temple of God ... the living, breathing body of Christ.

Be encouraged, Jose

Give Thanks

...in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NKJV)

The founders of this great country, sought freedom, fought and struggled for it even in the face of fierce resistance and deadly opposition. The journey has not always been easy, but they thought it reasonable and appropriate to set a day apart to be thankful and appreciative. The tradition and activity has endured and celebrated more till this day.

Kings (King Solomon, David, etc), Noah, Abraham, and numerous others in the bible together with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ gave underscored 'thanksgiving' in their time. They gave thanks for their situations at different turns in their lives.

As the scripture directs, In our daily lives and in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Be encouraged,

Afolabi

Leaving it behind

Friends,

I have been reading of late a book called Cocoon, by Kim Davis. The book's premise is that we can learn many things from the transformational process that takes the unique life of a caterpillar into the amazing wonder that is the butterfly. There are important lessons for our walk with Christ in this transformation. The caterpillar has been provide everything it needs to become a butterfly, but it must surround itself by the protective cocoon and give up its old life of crawling in order to achieve flight.

But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2 Corinthians 3:18 [NKJV]

You and I are commanded to be conformed into the image of Christ Jesus. To cling to our old life is to refuse the gift of new life that Christ promises. It is no less than a raised fist of rebellion in the face our Lord.

Are you shedding that old life? Are you leaving the old man behind? Are you truly walking in the new life of the fully devoted follower of Jesus?

Embrace the New Life, brothers and sisters!

Be encouraged, Jose

Find the book at Kenny Davis Ministries

Looking like our Father

Friends,

It happens to me fairly often. I will meet someone at a business event, and almost immediately they ask if I am related to my older brother. There is something striking about seeing brothers and sisters. The family resemblance is readily apparent to even the most casual observer.

So the question today is whether we resemble our Brother in some way. Do we look like our Father?

Romans 8:29 [NKJV]
For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Do we bear His image?
Can anyone tell that we are brethren with our Lord and Savior and Master?
Do our neighbors see our Father when they see us?
Is there a family resemblance?

Pray that the Lord will examine your thoughts, words and actions today. Pray that He will direct your steps in the way of Christ so that we will be conformed to His image.

Be encouraged, Jose

At His appointed time

Friends,

It seems we are all in a rush to reach the next point in our lives. A teenager wants to be an adult ... now. An expectant mother wants to give birth, and her excitement turns the waiting into torment. Dad grows impatient with the traffic that delays his homecoming. A suffering old timer just wants the pain to yield to the peaceful return to his Lord.

Luke 4:29b-30 [NKJV]
...and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. Then passing through the midst of them, He went His way.

The crowd had had enough of this Jesus of Nazareth. But had they gotten their way, it would have shattered the legitimacy of Christ's claim that He is the Lamb of God. It was not Passover. The Sacrifice had not yet been made ready.

And Christ could have chosen any time to remove the limitations and frailties of His humanly form. But to do so would have doomed us all. For Jesus to have stopped short of the Cross would have been an act of disobedience to the Father's will. And He would have been therefore been unable to pay the price for your sin and mine.

Brothers and sisters, nothing can happen outside of Almighty God's good time. He has made an appointment for every event in your life and mine. There is nothing that can delay that appointment, or make it happen sooner. He is sovereign.

Therefore, there is no need for you and I to rush through life. Relax. Rest in His perfect and total control. Recognize the Lord's dominion over even time. And celebrate the fact that His perfect timing will glorify Him even when time is no more.

Be encouraged, Jose

Real Peace.... Go figure!

6 There are many who say, “Who will show us any good?” LORD, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. 7 You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased. 8 I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:6-8 (NKJV)

It is easy and convenient to be swayed by public opinion, by what the pundits say, what the commentators report and what the analysts analyze. But those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, Which cannot be moved, but abides forever. The peace from trusting the Lord is unexplainable. The assurance and confidence earned from this trust will confound and confuse them that know Him not.

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Phillipians 4:6-7 (NKJV)

The place of real peace simply is in a steady relationship with the Creator God upon which our faith, trust, and believe rests.

Be encouraged,

Afolabi

A new Bible study session

Friends,

The latest Bible study session from our study of the Gospel of Mark is ready for you. You'll find it at Bible Study Audio. Be blessed by this important lesson from God's word.

Be encouraged, Jose

Valuable help

Friends,

The funny thing about self-help books is that they are based on a false premise. Somehow, those authors would have you and me believe that we can solve all of our own problems ... we just need to dig a little deeper, try a little harder, and pay just a little more. All of them have made an idol out of the one thing that we so easily fall into serving and worshiping: ourselves.

Psalm 60:11-12
Give us help from trouble,
For the help of man is useless.
Through God we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies. [NKJV]

The Bible is often mistaken for a self-help or a self-improvement guide. While following the Lord's precepts will certainly make us better human beings, it is most definitely not a self-help book. If we pay obey the words in the plain and clear text, we will stop focusing on ourselves and we will only focus on the Lord. We will recognize that the help of man is truly useless ... even if the man is one we see in the mirror. We will acknowledge that Christ Jesus is our Helper, our Strength and the only One worthy of our worship and attention.

Be encouraged, Jose

New Bible Studies

Friends,

A new study has been posted to Bible Study Audio. You'll find more from the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 11. In those verses, Jesus - among other things of course - links prayer and forgiveness. We would do well to heed His words and not fall for "name and claim" preaching that tempts us to greed and covetousness.

We are also thrilled to add the first of what we hope to be several written studies. A study of Haggai's prophecy is on-line, as well. You'll find a link to the first of two parts (chapter 1) on the Minor Prophets page.

As always, it is our deep desire that you are blessed and edified by these presentations of God's word.

Be encouraged, Jose

Where is this headed?

Friends,

As our kids were growing up, we made sure to keep an eye on how they behaved around their friends. We always felt a little better when friends encouraged them to do the right things ... behave in school, tell the truth, and stay out of trouble. Of course, there were some kids who did the opposite. The most troublesome would even encourage our children to disobey and lie to us. We would step in and express our deep displeasure with the relationship, reminding them that anyone who encourages you to do the wrong thing is no friend.

In the same way, our Father instructs us to examine the fruits of every relationship. He wants us to seek out those that produce good fruit. He wants to end the friendship that leads us into temptation and delivers us into evil.

Romans 16:17
Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. [NKJV]

Take some time during the Sabbath and submit your friendships before the LORD. Ask Him to show you which ones bring you closer to Him, and which create distance in your relationship with God. And when the LORD reveals to you that a certain friendship must be ended, then end it knowing that you are being obedient to the glory of the Father.

Be encouraged, Jose

Embrace Knowledge

6 My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
Hosea 4:6 (NKJV)

When the people rejected knowledge, they assaulted the truth and embarked on a sustained denigration and decimation of God's word, truths and standards. They do these though to their own peril. Rejection of God's truth in the name of political correctness, modernization, etc has consequences. Instant gratification at the expense of our future and coming generations isn't smart business.

if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)

Knowledge of Him connects us with truth and disconnects us from deceit, lies and self destruction.

Be encouraged,

Afolabi

He is God

7 He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap,
8 That He may seat him with princes — with the princes of His people.
9 He grants the barren woman a home, Like a joyful mother of children.
Praise the LORD!
Psalm 113:7-9 (NKJV)

To many that are poor, have lost their way, lost to modern culture's deceit and lies, He still reaches out to them. To them that have surrendered and in need of support and assistance, He offers His exalted right hand to pull up and restore. The tears and quiet groaning and pain of the barren He remains attentive to. He raises a generation from the one called barren, a forest from a seed, what is impossible for the Lord?

In the difficult, hopeless and impossible situations, when others fade away (because that's their nature), He shows up with clarity and strength because He is God.

Be encouraged,

Afolabi

There is danger in the building

Friends,

There are congregations all over the world in which the one at the top has amassed for himself great power and prestige. They expect to treated with great pomp and deference; and often their congregations all too willingly do so. They flatter godly men and women with offers of privilege, tempting them to set aside an effective ministry in favor of being treated like a big shot.

"Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely, burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know, and then come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered to do all these abominations'? Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes? Behold, I, even I, have seen it," says the LORD.
Jeremiah 7:8-11 [NKJV]

These three verses pack a real punch, brothers and sisters. The LORD is calling us out for trusting in the flattery of those that have elevated themselves to powerful positions in the church. He rebukes all who allow that flattery to lead them to sin in any number of ways. And then, He declares His utter disgust of coming before Him to say, "We did all for You!".

To those who use the covering of "church" to do these things, the LORD declares that they have made His house a den of thieves... a hiding place for those who steal time, joy, and righteousness from those who are seeking the Lord.

Today is the day to repent of this. Examine the words and actions of those in leadership. Demand that they reflect the humility and courage of Jesus.

Be encouraged, Jose

Once far off

Friends,

It may be difficult for us, with our limited imaginations and comprehension, to understand. But it is nonetheless true. The most devastating consequence of our fall from grace is the insurmountable distance it put between us and our Creator. The Great and Awesome God of all things once communed with man, just as easily as a husband and wife might sit down for a chat after supper. He strolled through the garden in the cool of the day, seeking out the ones made in His own likeness. But they could not be found. And, having failed the one test they were given, could no longer be in His presence... and neither could their descendants.

But Christ changed all of that.

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
Ephesians 3:13 [NKJV]

It cost our Lord dearly. He paid the price with His own shed blood. But the privilege He bought for His people is to eliminate the distance that our sin created. We now have the great gift of intimacy with the Almighty. We can once again walk with Him, talk with Him and take great joy in the knowledge that we are His own.

Be encouraged, Jose

Seek His mind on all things

41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.”
So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.”
44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’
1 King 18:41-44 (NKJV)

The nation had taken a beating from the prolonged drought, properties and lives had been lost and there were yet more signs of devastation, ruin and waste ahead, yet the man of God talked about the coming turn around and the sound of abundance. Abundance when all that's visible is lack, misery, waste and devastation..... Elijah even at the revelation of the coming turn of events, did not go wining and dining and celebrating like the other people (Ahab) did, but he sought the face of God on every next move of his life.

When the tides turn for the worse or better in your life, what do you do? Seek divine direction and instruction and you will never go wrong or make wrong choices.

Be encouraged,

Afolabi

How to deal with the scoffer

Friends,

In every congregation - whether large or small - there will be found at least one person who finds a way to sow dissension and confusion. In an effort to be polite, we give them time and attention. But perhaps that isn't the best response.

Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave;
Yes, strife and reproach will cease.
Proverbs 22:10 [NKJV]

In this verse, "scoffer" is translated from the Hebrew word luwts, which can be understood to mean one who boasts, shows scorn, mocks, or derides. Those kinds of words and attitudes are almost always directed towards those in authority. They surely undermine the authority of leaders and confuse the thoughts of followers. Nothing good comes from them.

When we encounter the scoffers and scorners, the boasters and the mockers, we would do well to remove their influence from our lives. When we do, the peace that Christ promises will be freed from the contention, the strife and the reproach that those people bring. We will be free to enjoy the great calm and contentment that flows from being deeply connected to Jesus.

Be encouraged, Jose