Our next new Lesson will be written and published here Monday Morning, the Lord willing.

Meanwhile, you can watch our video Bible Study tonight on YouTube or Facebook. We call them our “Evening Meditations” …

Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Isaiah 28:16 promises the first coming of Jesus the Messiah, some day. And the Prophet penned those words around seven hundred years prior to the Virgin Birth of our Lord!

“Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.”

Jesus the (chief) Corner Stone, the very Foundation of His Church! “Precious” and “Sure!”

Then the Line that has captured my attention this morning. “He that believeth shall not make haste.”

Interestingly, the Hebrew word for “believe” is here spelled “aman!” It means “to trust, to stand fast.” Two or three times it is (in our King James Bibles) translated “to nurse,” or “to be nursed!”

As in … LET THIS VERSE, THIS PROPHECY, HEAL YOU! NOURISH YOU! WARM YOU AND CUDDLE YOU!

And just as Jesus has come exactly as depicted by this great prophecy … though centuries later … so will all the other promises, prophecies of the Bible be fulfilled as well.

Even if also … “centuries later!”

But we who believe should not “make haste,” in Hebrew “chush.” We should not (in other words) get impatient, doubt, be frustrated!

Just wait on the Lord!

Not a lazy waiting, but an “occupy until I come” sort of waiting! (Quoting Luke 19:13.)

In other words, lots of Christians in America (for obvious reasons) these days are saying “Jesus is coming soon.”

And He well may be.

I wouldn’t doubt that fact for a second.

But also … “He that believeth shall not make haste.” If Jesus does not return to get us for decades … we are to keep on believing!

Peacefully rest in His Promise … “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” John 14:2-3

Tomorrow … or next century … without fretfulness … we are look for Him (His Second Coming) every day!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

“But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Resting in, patiently waiting on … the dear Lord, Isaiah 40:31.

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Romans 12:3 “spoke” to my heart this morning. I’d like to discuss with you one clause therein … “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, NOT TO THINK OF HIMSELF MORE HIGHLY than he ought to think …”

I suspect it is Biblically acceptable to think of yourself at times, but never “too highly.”

For example: “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?” 2 Corinthians 13:5, clearly a serious self evaluation!

Paul once said this: “I think myself happy, king Agrippa …” Acts 26:2, perhaps suggesting that our thoughts (of ourselves) can influence our emotions.

But NEVER are we to yield to the flesh and “think more highly” of ourselves than we should!

We’re all sinners saved by Grace … I’m speaking to you born again readers of course … and Isaiah gives good advice here: “Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the LORD: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit whence ye are digged.” Remember where He found you, Isaiah 51:1. (In a hole in a pit!)

The Greek of Romans 12:3 says “do not hyper think of yourselves!” So apropos for the days in which we are living.

Perhaps the solution to keeping ourselves “in place” Scripturally is to heed James’ advice: “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord.” James 4:10

Peter agrees: “Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.” 1 Peter 5:6

Paul asked us to have “the mind of Christ,” the dear Lord Jesus Who said “I am meek and lowly!”

If you’re pondering Heaven, or God’s Grace, or our Great High Priest … HYPER-THINK all you’d like. And your thoughts still will never soar to the Reality of these grand Themes.

But when dealing with self … maybe a little “dose” of Psalm 40 (verses 1-5) will be of help: “I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an HORRIBLE PIT, out of the MIRY CLAY, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD. Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth NOT the PROUD …”

Amen!

Your humble servant,

Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Yes, in 1 John 1:3 we read the story: “That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, THAT ye also may have fellowship with us.” The second occurrence of the pronoun “that” in our verse (“that ye may have fellowship with us”) introduces what’s called a “purpose clause” in Greek. This is WHY John wrote his little Epistle, that we (through reading it and meditating upon it, 1st John) might have “fellowship” with that godly old Apostle! (Honestly, I fell like I know him personally!)

Christian “fellowship,” how sweet it can be!

This important noun is spelled “koinonia,” and it primarily means “sharing things in common.” (Love for the same Saviour, obedience to the same Bible, attendance at the same Church, etc.)

Then John goes even further!

We can not only have fellowship with each other … but also: “fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

Astounding!

Jesus, my great High Priest … willing (eager) to fellowship with me!

And through Jesus my Mediator fellowship with God the Father!

No higher honor exists!

Implicitly John is teaching us that as we read (and study) the Word of God … we can walk with its human writers and (even more than that) walk with the God Who authored it!

The verse itself best explains what I am trying to say …

“That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.”

On my part … invitation accepted!

How about you, dear friend?

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

No wonder John’s next verse (1 John 1:4) talks about JOY! If a person is in communion with the Godhead … what else could possibly result but “FULL JOY?”

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I base the title of today’s Lesson on something Jeremiah the Prophet said long ago. Let me show you …

“Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16

God’s Word “found,” using “matzsah” in Hebrew. The verb is translated “to befall” five times in the King James Version. And “to meet” five more times. I am so thankful one day God’s Word “met” me! It “fell” into my life, Glory to the Lamb!

But immediately there is another verb … “did eat!” Translated “to devour” 111 times in the Bible, “akal” in a progressive verb, ongoing (durative) action being depicted! Eating and eating and eating! Ingesting, personalizing, internalizing, meditating upon it!

Then, step three. Here comes the “joy!” In Hebrew “sason” means “to exult,” better yet, “to display joy!” It is based on the root word “sus,” a mere horse … but in the sense of its prancing and pawing and running all around the pasture! (Green pastures I suspect!)

God’s Word, Jeremiah testifies, can put a smile on your face! (The noun “rejoicing” is the old standby “simchah,” meaning “to brighten up, to be filled with gladness!”)

See the progression?

God’s Word … found, God’s Word eaten, then (dramatically, explosively) JOY!

Try it, folks.

It’s the Truth!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Looks to me like there may be one more thing God’s Word brought to Jeremiah … ASSURANCE OF HIS STANDING WITH GOD!Notice the rest of the verse … “For I am called by thy name, O LORD God of hosts.” What great peace!

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