King James Bible Study – “And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” – Mark 8:34
Date: Saturday, May 25, 2019
Chapters: I Chronicles 24-25, Psalms 131, 138-139
Message: God’s Precious Thoughts Of Me
Hello My Friend,
I started thinking about how miraculously Jesus took the reins of my life and down a deeper, more meaningful path. The way He changed my life gives me hope that He can do the same for someone else who got saved, and lost their way through the trials of life. I admit that I was actually thirteen when I got saved, but it was not until I was thirty-five that I truly understood it, reconfirmed my faith, then dedicated my life to Him. When we belong to Christ He will stop at nothing to get us to become faithful in our walk with Him, and that includes bringing trials and tribulation to nudge us away from trusting in our own understanding and turning to His. He knew the second we were created by His Father the paths we would take, and yet, we are still precious to Him.
“For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.” – Psalm 139:13-18.
“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me,” We will truly never comprehend just how much He loves, and cares for His us. Just like any father, He never stops seeking and hoping for the best for them, and there really is nothing that He will not do to see them happy and prosperous. We are the ones who mess things up by not listening to Him in the first place, and yet His thoughts are still precious unto us. And let me tell you, He will protect them should someone come after them no matter how far they have gone out of His will. I can say that because of the countless amount of times that He has intervened and kept me from something far worse than a bummed knee and two months of barely no income that ruined my credit. There are some things we will never understand, but we do not have to, all we have to do is keep our focus on Him, and He will take care of the rest.
“A Song of degrees of David. LORD, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty: neither do I exercise myself in great matters, or in things too high for me. Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that is weaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child. Let Israel hope in the LORD from henceforth and for ever.” – Psalm 131.
“my soul is even as a weaned child.” You know that we have two births, our physical birth in which we celebrate the day we came out of our mothers womb, and entered the world. And our spiritual birth, in which we celebrate the day we received Christ as our Saviour, and entered the Kingdom of God. Just like it took us some time to grow from a baby into an adult, it takes time to grow from a baby into an adult in Christ. Some of us take a little longer to grow than others mainly because we were not taught about Jesus beyond their salvation, which was the case with me. While Jesus always saves a soul that believes in, and receives Him as their Saviour, until we desire the milk of His Word we will not be weaned as a child. And we should never lose hope that He can save the vilest sinner. “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” – I Peter 2:2-5.
“If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” And this is where a lot of people get caught up in religion rather than Christ. To taste that the Lord is gracious means to truly understand the Gospel of Christ, knowing that He alone is our only way to salvation. By accepting that His finished work on the cross, in the grave, and upon His resurrection, is the only option for salvation, asking Him to save you, and receiving Him into our heart, we have tasted the grace of His saving our soul. Amen! Our salvation is one thing, walking with Him and allowing Him to change our lives is another thing. It truly takes dedication, and other godly, mature Christians to guide us in the right direction, which is why we need to find a local New Testament church who’s authority comes from the Bible. David, wanted to leave the earth knowing that his family and kingdom were taken care of, especially where God was concerned. His son Solomon would be the one to take over as king, and build the first temple for worship, the Levites would no longer be responsible for setting up a tent, they would be responsible for the duties of the temple. David even appointed the offices of the priests.
“Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children: therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the priest’s office. And David distributed them, both Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their offices in their service. And there were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and thus were they divided. Among the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen chief men of the house of their fathers, and eight among the sons of Ithamar according to the house of their fathers. Thus were they divided by lot, one sort with another; for the governors of the sanctuary, and governors of the house of God, were of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar. These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the house of the LORD, according to their manner, under Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.” – I Chronicles 24:1-5,19.
“as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.” Because God’s thoughts of us are precious, He gave us His Word that we might be able to fellowship with Him as He wishes. Keep in mind that when we were babies we needed milk until we were old enough to eat baby food, and eventually graduating to solid foods. The same thing goes for our spiritual growth. It takes time to learn of and grow in Christ, so do not expect instant results, but as long as you stay faithful, Jesus will nurture and grow you into someone resembling Him, and He never places anything before you until you are ready. And let me tell you, we are going to mess up more times that we care to admit, and yet we are so precious to Him that while He already knows the paths we take He never gives up on seeking to give us the best life we could possibly live no matter what trials and tribulations come from them.
“Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” – Psalm 139:3-10,23-24.
“Even there shall thy hand lead me,” Do you see this? This is why I believe that once you have tasted that the LORD is gracious, you can never get too far deep into sin. Since we all have this flesh, we are very well capable of falling into sin, and while we may dangle on its cliff, He will never let us fall. There is no way to avoid Christ, whether we receive Him or not, but those who do receive Him are led by Him in whatever way He chooses to get us to see that He is more than the one who sacrificed His life to save us from hell. The best way we can thank Jesus is by removing those things from our heart that keep us from allowing Him to truly lead us in the way that is everlasting. And in order to grow properly we need to get involved in His work, otherwise, we will stunt our growth. David knew the importance of a godly group of people running the temple so that all could worship in truth, he did not just set the priests in order, He set all the Levites in order of their service, even the musicians.
“Moreover David and the captains of the host separated to the service of the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, with psalteries, and with cymbals: and the number of the workmen according to their service was: Of the sons of Asaph; Zaccur, and Joseph, and Nethaniah, and Asarelah, the sons of Asaph under the hands of Asaph, which prophesied according to the order of the king. Of Jeduthun: the sons of Jeduthun; Gedaliah, and Zeri, and Jeshaiah, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the hands of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp, to give thanks and to praise the LORD. All these were under the hands of their father for song in the house of the LORD, with cymbals, psalteries, and harps, for the service of the house of God, according to the king’s order to Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman. So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight. And they cast lots, ward against ward, as well the small as the great, the teacher as the scholar.” – I Chronicles 25:1-2,6-8.
“according to the king’s order to Asaph,” If you recall, Asaph was a very prominent figure in David’s life, he is actually responsible for writing many of the Psalms, and some of the ones David wrote were addressed to him. Music has a deep impact in our lives, it is what lifts us up, it can even anger us or make us sad. Sometimes we are so overwhelmed with life that the only way we can even talk to God is through song, and let me tell you He hears that too. Some things in life are just far too hard to comprehend, we cannot run, and we cannot hide, but we can trust that Jesus is with us, and depend on His infinite wisdom to get us through it. One of the most amazing things about God is that while He knows every single thing about us, even the bad stuff, we are still precious to Him. And that alone is enough to praise Him.
“A Psalm of David. I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee. I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul. All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hear the words of thy mouth. Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD. Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off. Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.” – Psalm 138:1-7. Amen!
Jesus Christ Magnified: “Though the LORD be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.” – Psalm 138:6.
Today’s Prayer: God, There is something both comforting, and overwhelming in knowing that I am so precious to you that You gave Your life to save me. I also know that my life is in Your hands, through my faith in Your Son I know where my future lies. However, the path to getting there comes with challenges, questions, and sometimes things that are too overwhelming for me. Lord, prepare my heart, open it, and let it be willing to learn and grow so that I my works become a reflection of Your Son. Jesus, You have certainly worked a miracle in me, and every day only gets better as You lead me down the path that You have chosen for me. Lord, give me Your power, watch over me, and protect me, keep me in that straight and narrow path that will keep me from become weary, and stray off the path. I know that You are my strength, You are my hope, and I will forever praise You. I pray these things in Your name, Jesus. Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
Are You 100% Sure You Are Going To Heaven?: http://readytofollow.com/
Receive The KJB Daily Devotions In Your Email: http://eepurl.com/2WMzT
Missed A Message: http://imfollowingjesus.com/Biblestudy/
Visit I’m Following Jesus Missions: http://imfollowingjesus.com/index.html
I’m Following Jesus On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/byhisstrength
Copyright © 2019 I’m Following Jesus, All rights reserved.