Bible Study Planet

July’s Most Popular Bible Studies

admin — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:21:29 +0000

Thank you to everyone who visited Bible Study Planet in July 2010. God bless you all!

The 10 Most Popular Bible Studies For July:

1) Are You Making These 3 Mistakes In Your Christian Walk?
Here are 3 mistakes Christian’s make and what to do when we make them.

2) Emergency Bible Numbers
This list of verses you can turn to in any situation has been in our top 10 six straight months.

3) The ABC’s of Christianity
Admit, Believe, Consider, Do…the ABCD’s of Christianity!

4) 5 Names of Christ (And What They Mean)
A brief look at five of the most important names of Christ.

5) 4 Signs You’re Living For Christ
Christians are people whose lives are suppose to be God-centered instead of self-centered.

6) How You Can Have Peace In Your Life
These three things lead to having Christ’s peace in your life.

7) Eight Ways God Sees Us
One of all-time most popular studies. Our standing in Christ changes how God views us.

8) A Look At The Gospel (And How It Works)
How does the gospel saves us from our sins?

9) Would You Drink From A Dirty Glass?
God, through Jesus Christ, takes sinners and makes them a new creation, forgiven, able to stand blameless, able to be called children of God.

10) How Do We Know We’re Saved?
A look at people in the Bible who thought they were saved and why they were wrong.

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Would You Drink From A Dirty Glass?

admin — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:14:05 +0000

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
- Romans 3:23

Many people believe that they can work their way to heaven. But no amount of good deeds can ever save us from God’s judgment because our hearts are corrupted by sin. Unless God gives us a new heart we cannot be saved.

Think of it this way…let’s say I offer you a glass of water. You look at the glass and notice that it looks dirty.

You say: “You know, this glass looks dirty.”

I respond: “Oh, the glass is contaminated with deadly bacteria, but don’t worry, it’s filled with spring water.”

Would you drink it? Of course not, because it doesn’t matter how pure the water is, the glass has contaminated everything within it.

Think of the glass as our hearts and our deeds as the water which fills the glass. Some people lead very bad lives — they fill their glass with ditch water. Others lead average lives — they fill their glass with tap water. Still others lead, by human standards, wonderful lives — they fill their glass with spring water. But it doesn’t matter whether your glass is filled with ditch water, tap water, or spring water, the glass is dirty. In the same way, the good deeds you offer God to earn your salvation are contaminated by sin and He cannot accept them.

But God will give a new glass to any one who asks.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”
- Ezek 36:26

What did our Romans 3:23 say? “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But Romans 3:24 offers us hope because God offers to “justify us freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

While our hearts are contaminated with sin, Christ’s heart is pure, and His work is pure. He has lived the life we could not. To those who call on Him, He offers to credit His life to their account. They are now “justified by His blood” and “saved from wrath through Him.” (Rom 5:9)

Our good deeds, then, are not done to earn our salvation but done out of appreciation of our salvation.

God doesn’t take good people and make them better, nor does He leave bad people without hope. God, through Jesus Christ, takes sinners and makes them a new creation, forgiven, able to stand blameless, able to be called children of God.
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Christmas in July

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:31:49 +0000

We should celebrate the birth of our Savior all year round! Enjoy this collection of Christmas-themed bible studies:

Christmas Bible Studies

- The First Christmas
- Hark! The Herald Angel Sing
- O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
- God With Us
- The Fragrance of Christmas
- The Christmas Creed
- Peace Child
- Christmas Quotes
- Christmas in the Old Testament
- Is Hanukkah the Jewish Christmas?
- There Would Be No Christmas Without Hanukkah
- The Birth of Christ (Kids Activity Study)
- Angels Appear To Shepherds (Kids Activity Study)
- Gabriel Vists Mary (Kids Activity Study)
- The Wise Men (Kids Activity Study)

Christmas Devotionals & Poems

- The Man and the Birds
- The Light of Christmas
- The Sadness of Christmas
- The People of Christmas
- The Place of Christmas
- The Joy of Christmas
- Christmas Prayer
- I’m So Glad Each Christmas Eve
- The Star That Made The Dark Would Bright
- Christmas Breezes

Christmas Audio

- No Room at the Inn (Drama part 1)
- Incident in Bethlehem (Drama part 2)
- A Christmas Carol
- The Night Before Christmas
- It’s a Wonderful Life
- Bing Crosby’s Christmas Special

Christmas Links

- Listen to Christmas music
- Christmas @ Peggie’s Place
- Make Your Own Snowflake
- Christmas Coloring Pages

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4 Signs You’re Living For Christ

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 23:42:01 +0000

Christians are people whose lives are suppose to be God-centered instead of self-centered.

The Apostle Paul encouraged Christians to “count ourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus,” (Rom 6:11) while Augustine confessed “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”

It’s Christ who is the source of our joy, strength and purpose. (Col 3:4) “In Him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)

So how do you know you’re living for Christ? Here are four signs to help you:

1) You desire to read and study the Bible.

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me Your paths; guide me in Your truth and teach me, for You are God my Savior, and my hope is in You all day long. (Ps 25:4-5)

Reading and studying the Bible pleases God because it increases our faith. “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Rom 10:17)

Reading and studying the Bible also pleases God because it allows us to identify and avoid bad teaching about Him. “Watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.” (Rom 16:17)

2) You desire to put the Bible’s teaching into practice.

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (Jam 1:22)

A famous prayer says “Father, let me not only love Your truth, but live it.”

When we’re living God’s Word it pleases Him because it’s evidence we’re walking with Him. “This is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands.” (2 Jhn 1:6)

When we walk with the Lord He comforts us with a special love. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Ps 23:4)

We don’t look to do good works in order to be saved but because we are already saved through Christ.

3) You’re searching your heart.

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Ps 139:23-24)

We please God when we search our hearts for sin because sin hinders our relationship with Him.

What do we do when we find sin? “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” but we are “justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:23-24) “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

4) You build people up through your words.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. (Eph 4:29)

God is pleased when we build people up instead of tearing them down. We represent the living God to a dying world and our words should reflect that. Our words should be filled with hope, peace, encouragment and the good news of salvation through Christ.

“How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, ‘Your God reigns!’” (Isa 52:7)
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A Look At The Gospel (And How It Works)

admin — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 19:30:46 +0000

The word gospel means “good news”. The best description of the gospel is found in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4:

“I declare to you the gospel…by which you are saved, if you hold fast that which I preach to you – unless you believed in vain. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

Let’s break these verses down and see what we discover.

“I declare to you the gospel…by which you are saved, if you hold fast that which I preach to you – unless you believed in vain.”

The first thing we learn about the gospel is that it’s the message by which people are saved from God’s judgment.

God has chosen to save us – not because of any work or deed we’ve done – but by His grace, through faith in Christ. Salvation is God’s gift to us. (Eph 2:8, Rom 6:23)

Now let’s take a look at how the gospel works.

“Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and that He was buried…”

God is perfect and we aren’t. We sin and are separated from God when we fail to live up to His standard. (Rom 3:23) We do this by either by not doing what He requires of us or by doing what He has forbidden us to do. Sin can occur in thought, word, or deed.

So before we go to heaven something needs to change. Our sin needs to be paid for.

To do this God became a man – Jesus Christ – lived the perfect life you and I couldn’t, and died on the cross as a payment for our sins. We find this taught in Romans 8:1,3:

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.

If we call on Christ to save us from our sins, are sins are charged to His account and He pays for them (1 John 2:2). We are then “born again” (1 Peter 1:23) and able to enter heaven (John 3:16).

“…He rose again on the third day according to the Scriptures.”

After Christ died for our sins He didn’t stay in the grave. After three days He rose again.

When Christ was raised from the grave, it showed that the sacrifice He made was sufficient and accepted by God the Father.

If we put our trust Christ to pay for our sin we too can look forward to God raising us one day.

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. (Rom 10:9)

What good news that is!

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Are You Making These 3 Mistakes In Your Christian Walk?

admin — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 00:20:50 +0000

The Christian walk is often a hard one. Our old, sinful nature continually battles against the Spirit, causing us to sin. (Gal 5:17)

Even the Apostle Paul struggled at times, admitting that, “I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” (Rom 7:15) So in this study we’re going to look at three mistakes all Christian’s make and what to do when we make them.

Now it’s very important to understand that we aren’t trying to correct these mistakes to earn our salvation. Our salvation doesn’t depend on our ability to live a perfect life, it depends on Christ’s ability to live a perfect life, and be a sacrifice for our sins.

In other words we fight against sin not to be saved, but because we are saved, and we want to be as close to our Lord and Savior as we can.

Mistake #1 – God’s Word Isn’t Guiding Your Actions

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (Jam 1:22)

The Christian faith isn’t something only to be professed, it’s also something to be lived. “True faith”, J.C. Ryle once said, “is more than holding theological positions – it’s living, burning and active. It produces works of love, it purifies the heart, and overcomes the world.”

What you believe should affect how you live. God’s Word is “living and powerful”, a “light to our path”, and is “profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and instruction in righteousness.” (Heb 4:12, Ps 119:105, 2 Tim 3:16)

If God’s Word Isn’t Guiding Your Actions: “The just shall live by faith,” and “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Hab 2:4 , Rom 10:17). Commit yourself to reading and applying the teachings of the Bible every day.

Prayer: Father, let me not only love Your truth, but live it.

Mistake #2 – You Aren’t Living In God’s Strength

He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. (Isa 40:29)

Christians should live day by day in God’s strength, but often they turn their focus from living in His strength, to living in the world’s strength.

People live in worldly strength by intimidating, oppressing or seducing those with lesser strength. The world’s strength is seen by breaking those under them.

People live in God’s strength when they recognize that He alone is the source their joy, value, purpose and power. God’s strength is seen when He gives, renews and increases the strength of those who take refuge in Him. The world forces down and breaks, God lifts up and rebuilds.

If You Aren’t Living In God’s Strength: Focus on living – not for the world – but for Christ, who is your life, and through whom you can do all things. (Col 3:4, Phil 4:13)

Learn from Abraham, who Romans 4:20-21 tells us “was strengthened in faith” because he was “fully convinced that what God had promised He was also able to perform.”

Trust the Lord to see you through whatever has been put in your path. Turn to Him to increase your strength when you are weak, give you comfort when you are hurting and give you rest when you are weary. (Isa 40:29, 2 Cor 1:3-6, Matt 11:28)

Prayer: O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.

Mistake #3 – You’re Living For Sin Instead Of Living For Christ

Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. (Rom 13:14)

We sin when we go against God’s law. We do this by either not doing what God requires of us or by doing what He has forbidden us to do. Sin can occur in thought, word, or deed.

All too often Christians underestimate the power of sin and overestimate their own power to avoid it. We fall into sin by becoming increasingly comfortable going in the wrong direction. We flirt with sin, then engage in it, then before we know it, we’re overwhelmed by it.

If You Are Living For Sin: Turn from sin to Christ. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 Jhn 1:9)

Prayer:Through Christ wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
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5 Names of Christ (And What They Mean)

admin — Sun, 11 Jul 2010 13:02:19 +0000

The five most important names of Christ are the following:

1) Jesus

“Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins.” (Matt 1:20-21)

This is the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua (Jos. 1:1; Zech. 3:1) or Jeshua (Ezra 2:2). Derived from the Hebrew word “to save”. It designates Christ as the Saviour (Matt. 1:21).

Two types of Christ bore the same name in the Old Testament – Joshua, the son of Nun and Joshua, the son of Jehozadak.

2) Christ

“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt 16:16)

This is the New Testament form for the Old Testament “Messiah”, which means “the anointed one”. According to the Old Testament, prophets (1 Kings 19:16, priests, Ex. 29:7) and kings, (1 Sam 10:1) were anointed with oil. By this anointing they were set aside for their respective offices, and were qualified for them.

Christ was anointed with the Holy Spirit for the threefold office of prophet, priest, and king. Historically, this anointing took place when He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and when He was baptized. (Matt 3:13-16)

3) Son of Man

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45)

This name, as applied to Christ, was derived from Dan. 7:13. It is the name which Jesus generally applies to Himself, while others seldom use it.

While it does contain an indication of the humanity of Jesus, in the light of its historical origin in points far more to His superhuman character and to His future coming with the clouds of heaven in majesty and glory (Dan. 7:13; Matt. 16:27, 28; 26:64; Luke 21:27).

4) Son of God

We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. (1 Jhn 4:14)

Christ is called “the Son of God” in more than one sense. He is so called, because He is the second Person of the Trinity, and therefore Himself God (Matt. 11:27), but also because He is the appointed Messiah (Matt. 24:36), and because His birth to the supernatural activity of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:3).

5) Lord

Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. (2 Pet 3:18)

Jesus’ contemporaries sometimes applied this name to Jesus as a form of polite address, just as we use the word “sir”. It is especially after the resurrection of Christ that the name acquires a deeper meaning.

In some passages it designates Christ as the Owner and Ruler of the Church (Rom. 1:7; Eph. 1:17), and in others it really stands for the name of God (1 Cor. 7:34; Phil. 4:4, 5).

- Louis Berkhof
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How You Can Have Peace In Your Life

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 23:45:06 +0000

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” – Isaiah 26:3

Our text tells us that those whose mind is “stayed on” the Lord will be kept in His perfect peace. What does it mean to keep our mind “stayed on” the Lord? It means at least three things:

1) It means making the Lord the center of your life

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
(Col 3:2-4)

All around us people are seeking happiness in things such as money, social standing, fame, pleasures — all of which are broken vessels which hold no water. Only the One who made us can satisfy our heart’s desires.

Only after we trust Christ, and turn our focus to things above, (Col 3:2) do we begin to experience His “perfect peace”. This is because Christ “himself is our peace”. (Eph 2:14)

2) It means accepting whatever happens in this life

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:21)

This begins by first recognizing that “from Him and through Him and to Him are all things,” (Rom. 11:36) and responding to this fact by saying, “He is the LORD; let him do what is good in his eyes.”(1 Sam. 3:18).

When we do this, we’re trusting Christ to give us the strength and grace and guidence and protection we need, then His “perfect peace” will be ours in this world of sin and turmoil.

3) It means leaving the future entirely in God’s hands

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. (Pro 3:5-6)

All our days are in His hands (Psa. 31:15) and He has promised to never to leave nor forsake us! (Heb 13:5) There’s no need be fearful of what lies ahead.

We’re told to live our lives one day at a time and “not worry about tomorrow”. (Matt 6:34) When we do this, we’re trusting that our future is safe and secure in Christ, then His “perfect peace” will be ours.

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The ABCs of Christianity

admin — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 12:29:52 +0000

Admit, Believe, Consider, Do…the ABCD’s of Christianity.

A

There is something to Admit

“All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” – Romans 3:23

Christians are people who admit that they are weaker, guiltier, and more sinful than they would have ever dared admit.

By nature and by choice we are not in a relationship with God — even though it is for such a relationship that we were created.

And that at the root our lives are self-centered rather than God-Centered, and that we are helpless to break this pattern without the power of God.

B

There is something to Believe

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:9

Christians are people who believe that God loves us so much that he sent his only Son to earth to become a man, Jesus Christ, and that Jesus died on the cross as our substitute and was raised from the dead in order to offer us complete forgiveness.

Through Christ, we are more loved, valued and accepted by God than we would have ever dared imagine.

C

There is something to Consider

“Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” – 2 Tim 3:12

Christians are people who are not naïve, but who have counted the cost of following Jesus.

Being a Christian involves acknowledging Jesus’ authority and lordship in every area of life, welcoming his work to change us from the inside out, and rejoicing to spend time with him and with his followers in the life of the church.

D

There is something to Do

“The man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.” – Romans 4:5

Christians are people who have received Christ as Savior and Lord by self-consciously turning from sin, self-centeredness, and self-righteousness (the Bible calls this “repentance“) and trusting in Jesus alone for forgiveness and acceptance by God (the Bible calls this “trusting faith”).

- Jules Grisham

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What Does “Selah” Mean?

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:52:17 +0000

The word “Selah” occurs seventy-three times in the Psalms, and is found also in Hab 3:3,9,13. The exact meaning of the word is unknown, but it’s believed by many scholars to be a musical term that means to pause, or reflect. For example, in Psalm 32:5 we read:

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD”– and you forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah”