The Master's Teaching Seminar

 Were about to begin the next chapter in our study. Here's a brief overview.

Your Master's Plan: Check Out His Teaching Seminar

All through Scripture God's glory is displayed through the lives of real people. We'll begin this chapter by visiting the shepherds returning from their field trip to the manger, the forgiven paralytic, the widow's son restored to life, and John and Peter's encounter with the paralytic at the temple gate. The impact of their encounters with God provided an outpouring of His glory to the world around them. God met them where they were and prepared them to be used mightily in His plan. Their stories were recorded in the first century after Christ's birth. God is still using their God-color testimonies for His plans and to bring Him glory today in the year 2011. That is another rather mind-boggling revelation of the BIGNESS of our God!

Christ's power to make a difference in our world lives right inside our temples. . . our lives. . . our bodies. Unfortunately, we often put our focus on other stuff. It becomes all too convenient to set His place in our life apart for another "more attractive" alternative of the moment. Isaiah discovered that truth in His life. God provided for Isaiah's restoration. He does the same for us. When we run smack dab into our need for remodeling in our temples because of the sin/idols we allow to take His place on the thrones of our temples, God has already made all the provisions for restoration.

We'll also be looking at the provisions David had prepared for his son, Solomon, to build the temple of God in Jerusalem. We'll be drawing some parallels to the provisions God makes for our temple life through the blueprints Jesus laid out in His Sermon on the Mount. Pay close attention during His terrific teaching seminar.

Topics we'll cover in this chapter:

• God shows up in the midst of the situations of life.
• We are heirs, seated with Him at the right hand of the power of God.
• Will you be a willing participant?
• David's provisions for Solomon to build the Temple of God.
• God's provisions for His Temple in us.

Copyright Lynn U. Watson, 2004, 2011

Love & Obedience

 There is much more to learn about obedience in the days ahead in this study, but for now draw your attention to just this much on the topic. In His sermon in Matthew 5-7 Jesus asks for our obedience. He lays out for us the principles of life that when followed will bring us the blessings He offers in the Beatitudes -- the promises with which He began this well known sermon. We could probably think of hundreds of ways to escape obedience or make a thousand excuses for our lack of it in so many areas of our lives. Jesus made it clear that He expects obedience. The promised blessings show us how much He loves us. The expected obedience flows out of a pure and true love for Him and all He has done for us. Isn't that the very response we hope for from our own children? 


1 John 4:19 (NASB) says, "We love, because He first loved us." Our response of love to Him is our being and doing of all He has called us to . . . to be the salt and light in a very dark and deceived world according to the blueprint He has set out. Matthew 7:26, 27 (MSG) very boldly and clearly tells us the consequence of not building our foundation on the rock: "But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don't work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards."

 Beautiful castle... lots of work... waiting for storms or other meanness to come and crash it... Let's build on the Solid Rock!  (Of course, this was done for fun... but allow it to be a visual for you.)

Please hear the words of that last Scripture, my friends. that is the very reason there are so many opportunities in the Bible study to assimilate  into the very essence of our being, the things we're learning and discovering right here! Don't miss an opportunity. The lessons ahead aren't going to be for "stupid carpenters" building their houses on the sand. Take the journey. We're going to lay a foundation and build a temple for His abode. We can do that because Jesus paid the price. We'll discover the building materials are right there in His Word. As you discover more of His love for you, you will choose to love Him more by loving more. You will be blessed!


Photo from www.canstockphoto.com
All other material Copyright Lynn U. Watson 2004, 2011

Rock Solid Foundation!!!

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock." Matthew 7:24 (NASB)

The verses we have read so far from Matthew 5 about being salt and light in the world come from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount. Read Matthew 7:28-29. What was the result of Jesus' teachings in this sermon?
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Look over the whole sermon Jesus just taught (Matthew, chapters 5-7). From the Beatitudes (the "Blessed are the... verses) to His exhortation for His followers to be the salt and light of the world right through to the parable of the two builders, Jesus has laid out the guidelines for a life tht reflects the God-colors of the universe. He asks for our obedience, and makes us this promise: "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock." Matthew 7:24-25 (NASB). The crowd heard Him as One who spoke what He lived and lived what He spoke. They stood in total awe of His authority.

1 Peter 2:6 tells us that Jesus Christ is the very cornerstone of our foundation. The One we need supporting His temple. A couple of posts from now we will spend time discovering more about foundations and preparations for building Solomon's temple -- the site of Isaiah's spectacular vision. As we move through the study we will apply those lessons to prepare ourselves to be the sanctuaries we were meant to be -- temples fully reflecting the God-colors of His glory. For today, know that Jesus is the cornerstone and foundation for all of our life. When we hang unto His promise to us to forgive and cleanse us of all unrighteousness if we walk in His light, our foundation rock is SOLID!

Copyright Lynn U. Watson, 2004, 2011