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 Be Still & Know - Bruce Mahone: Download

Be Still & Know: A teaching by Bruce Mahone

II Timothy 3:16 and 17:All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.

That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

“All scripture” means the Bible which was “given by inspiration of God” to those people whom God chose. He chose people who would listen and write down the things that He wanted recorded. He had things written that would be good for people then, now and in the future.

God gave us His Word because it is helpful; there is a benefit to those who read and believe the scriptures. This verse says that God’s Word is “profitable” which means that there is something to be gained by believing it. God gave His Word so that there would be profit. The profit to us when we believe it is worth much more than any money we could ever earn. (Psalm 119:72 - The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.) God’s Word is profitable in these ways:

Doctrine - this is right teaching and tells us the right way to live and believe

Reproof - this tells us where we have made a mistake

Correction - this gets us going in the right direction once again

All three of these are “instruction in righteousness.” This is instruction in all that God wants us to do so that we can enjoy the many promises He has made to us.

God’s Word enables us to be “throughly furnished unto all good works.” This is to have whatever we need to get the job done.

God wants us to believe His Word and enjoy life. He gave us His Word, the Bible, to teach us how to live so that we could have the best lives possible. Our job is to learn what God says is right and then do it. If we make a mistake along the way (and we all do) then our job is to go to God’s Word to correct the mistake and then move on to believing the Truth once again. God is there to help us and He wants us to succeed!

Psalm 16:11:
Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Psalm 25:
Shew me thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths.
Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.
All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies.

God gave us His Word to teach us the paths we should go down as we grow up and learn. When we follow His Word there are “pleasures for evermore.”

Have you ever been blamed for something bad that happened that was not your fault? Perhaps something got broken and someone accused you of doing it even though you were not around at the time it was broken. Sometimes someone else does something wrong and you get punished for it. These situations do not seem fair, do they?

Many times God gets the blame when bad things happen. People will say that a catastrophic storm or accident was “God’s fault”. Or when someone dies they might say that God “wanted them in heaven.” These are lies because God does not do evil or bad things to people. God loves us and wants us to trust Him and love Him.

To begin to see this from God’s Word let’s look at the book of Psalms.

Psalms 34:8-10:
O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in him.

O fear the Lord, ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing.

A person who trusts in God is blessed and will not lack any good thing that they need in life. Now that is goodness!

There is another great verse in Psalms 84 that we should look at.

Psalms 84:11:
For the Lord God is sun and shield: the Lord will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

You see God loves us and wants to bless us and take care of us in all that we do. When we “seek the Lord” He promises that we “shall not want any good thing.” Our job is to seek out God’s Word and do the things that God wants us to do. When we study and believe and walk on God’s Word we are walking “uprightly” and He will withhold “no good thing” in our lives.

A long time ago there was a group of people whom God took care of and tried to help whenever they would let Him. These were the children of Israel. Sometimes, though, they disobeyed God and found themselves in trouble. They had become slaves in the land because of turning away from God and His commandments. However, after a period of time the children of Israel wanted to return to God. This allowed God to help them out of their negative situation and into what He had originally promised them.

Joshua 21:43-45:
And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.
And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand.
There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.

When they believed God’s Word He was able to take care of them. All of the “good thing” which God had promised came to pass.

Psalm 25:8:
Good and upright is the Lord.

II Peter 1:20 and 21:

Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

The truth in these two verses is very important for us to remember whenever we study or speak God’s Word. The FIRST thing that we are to know is that “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.” The words “prophecy of the scripture” mean the Word of God; that which God told “holy men of God” to write down.

The word “private” comes from the Greek word, idios, which means: pertaining to one’s self, one’s own, or belonging to one’s self. Below are some other verses where idios is translated as one’s own.

Matthew 9:1:
And he entered into a ship, and passed over, and came into his own (idios) city.

Luke 10:34:
And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own (idios) beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.

John 1:11:
He came unto his own (idios), and his own (idios) received him not.

We are not to give our own “interpretation” or meaning or understanding of what God’s Word means. Instead we are to learn how God’s Word interprets itself so that we can walk in the truth. In future lessons we will learn more about how to do this, but for now let’s remember that “no scripture is of any private interpretation.”

Crossword Puzzle(Answer Key)

 Happiness - Bruce Mahone: Download

Happiness: A teaching by Bruce Mahone

 God's Word Now: Download

God’s Word Now: A teaching by Bruce Mahone.

There are a lot of things we can be delighted about; no school, no homework, a raise in our allowance, scoring a goal or homerun, birthdays and more. While these things are fun they cannot compare with God and the things of God. God likes it when we are delighted with Him and His Word.

Psalm 1:1-3:
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

In the desert you can go for miles and never see a tree. Then suddenly there may be an area of greenery. If you look closely you will notice that these trees are by a river and that they will grow and be strong. God says that when we are delighted with His Word then we will be prosperous and fruitful in our lives just like these trees planted by a river.

Psalm 112:1-3
Praise ye the Lord. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, that delighteth greatly in his commandments.
His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.
Wealth and riches shall be in his house: and his righteousness endureth for ever.

When we delight in God’s Word we are trusting, believing and acting on those words and we will be blessed!

Psalm 119:46 & 47:
I will speak of thy testimonies also before kings, and will not be ashamed.
And I will delight myself in thy commandments, which I have loved.

We do not need to be ashamed of God’s Word because He backs it up. When we love God’s Word we will speak it so other people can know and be delighted as well.

Psalm 119:16:
I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word.

Psalm 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

Does this verse mean that if we are hiking in the dark we can use our Bibles like a flashlight?

No, it doesn’t. This verse is an Orientalism which is a mannerism or custom that would have been normal in the times that the Bible was written. Depending on where you live in the world you may or may not be familiar with the customs. Let’s look at what this verse means.

In the times and places of the Bible many people went to work in the fields to plant crops and take care of them until it was harvest time. They would have gotten up early to go out into the fields to do their work. Since they did not have electricity for light they needed some way to light the path from the village to the field so that they would not stumble and fall. Someone would have gotten up early to start a fire so the workers could meet to warm themselves before going out to work. Also at this fire people would take some rope and light the tip of it in the fire. It would not be enough to set the rope on fire, but just enough to keep the end of the rope barely lit and smoldering. The person walking would then blow on the rope which would cause some sparks to come off of the end of the rope. These few sparks would give them just enough light to see the path. By doing this they would not stumble.

This verse is telling us that God’s Word is like that light that people would take with them on the paths. It sheds light in our lives and gives us direction so that we do not have to stumble or fall.

Verses for continued study:
Psalm 16:11, 25:4 and 10, Psalm 119:10; Proverbs 2:6Activity

Have you ever had someone promise to do something for you or with you and not do it? Maybe it was a parent, brother or sister, teacher or friend. It can be hurtful and disappointing when this happens. However, even people who have the best intentions, who really mean to do well, at times break their promises. It may be easy to think that God is like this too, but He is absolutely not. He has great integrity; He says what He means in His Word and He means what He says.

Numbers 23:19:

God is not a man, that he should lie.

God is not like people; He does not promise something and then not deliver. He is trustworthy and the promises that He makes in His Word are trustworthy.

Psalm 119:72:

The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

Having access to all of the riches of the world are not better than the Word of God.

Psalms 119:86:

All thy commandments are faithful.

What God says in His Word is faithful and will come to pass because He is faithful.

Psalms 119:130:

The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

It does not matter what the problem or challenge is, God’s Word sheds light on the darkest of them all and shows us the way to go. God’s Word is remarkable in many ways, but the most remarkable is that it is backed by a God Who does not lie and Who can be depended upon to do what He has promised.

Proverbs 30:5

Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him.

Verses for continued study:
Psalm 12:6, Psalm 33:4 and 6, Psalm 119:89, Psalm 119:140, Psalm 119:160 Craft Activity

 Put on the New: Download

Put on the New - A Teaching by Bruce Mahone