WITNESS ~ INSTRUCT ~ NURTURE / Volume 2 Issue 12
Jun 21, 2006
Hi !
In this issue, you'll read:
THE BOOK OF 2nd CORINTHIANS - PART FIVE
THE INNER VOICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
A WORD FROM THE EDITOR - FORTY FOURTH EDITION In this edition, we are continuing our study of 2 Corinthians. There is a lot in this section, so find a quiet spot, pull up a comfortable chair and get ready to dig into the Word. May God richly bless each of you as you pray and meditate on His Word daily and may He reveal Himself more fully to each of you as you seek Him! Until next time...God bless each of you in all that you undertake! In Jesus Name, All editions of The W.I.N. E-Mail Newsletter are available on the Internet. To find them, navigate to Each day, select a passage in God's Word. Talk with the Lord as you read the passage, then go back and find one or two verses which the Lord has impressed on your heart and meditate on them. II. Bible Study In this edition, we will read 2 Corinthians 5:11-7:16. This passage can be divided into four subsections. Read each subsection, answering for yourself the questions associated with them. Type out your answers or jot them down on a piece of paper and place in your Bible for further meditation and study. Read 2 Corinthians 5:11-6:2 1. How does 5:11 relate to 5:10? Why does Paul "know what it is to fear the Lord"? Read 2 Corinthians 6:3-13 Read 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1 1. How does 6:14 relate to 6:1? Who is it that the Corinthians should be yoked to? Read 2 Corinthians 7:2-16 1. What is Paul's heart-felt desire, expressed in 7:2? (Note also 6:12-13) III. Memory Verse 1. Ask the Lord to help you remember his Word (see John 14:26). 2. Use the version of the Bible you are most familiar with. What you normally read in your Bible is what you need to be memorizing. 3. Don't just memorize the contents of the verse; memorize its "address" (the verse reference) as well. You can do this by following this pattern: Step 1: reference; Step 2: verse content; Step 3: reference. Then repeat steps 1-3. Note that you are quoting the reference twice as many times as you quote the actual verse content. This gives the verse a clear "reference tag." 4. After you have read your memory verse out aloud several times, try going through your memory verse without reading your computer screen. 5. Look up your memory verse in your Bible. Look at its immediate context and read the verses that come before and after your memory verse. 6. Print out your memory verse or jot it down on a piece of paper. Take this paper with you when you go to work or do other daily activities. Meditate on the meaning of the verse throughout the day. 7. During your noon appointment with the Lord, take out your memory verse and go over it again. Talk to the Lord about what this verse means to you personally. 8. In the evening (at either your evening study or your evening devotions), see if you can quote your memory verse from memory. Then, without looking at the memory verse itself, see if you can find it in your Bible. 9. The next day, before you begin committing a new verse to memory, rehearse your previous day's memory verse and see if you can remember it (without cheating!). 10. Finally, at the end of the week (possibly on Sunday), collect all your week's memory verses, rehearse them and see if you can recall them without reading them. Spend a little extra time on any verses you have difficulty recalling. 11. Remember: Don't just memorize a verse. Put it into practice (James 1:22). It is not being able to quote a verse from memory that counts. It is His Word abiding in your heart that counts (John 15:7). When you actually apply a verse consistently to your daily life; that is when you truly know that verse! This article is Copyright © 1999, The Online Bible College. It is used by permission and formatted for presentation in this newsletter. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. (Romans 8:14) To be "led by the Spirit" assumes a spiritual life in those being led. A soul dead in sin, with no spiritual life, cannot be led by the Holy Spirit. Being led of the Spirit also assumes an inability to lead yourself. You have learned in previous chapters that this is true. When you experience the new birth of salvation, God gives you a new spirit which is receptive to His communications: A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you. . . (Ezekiel 36:26-27) When you are led by the Spirit, the will of God is revealed to your spirit by the Holy Spirit. One of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is guidance: Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself, but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come. (John 16:13) The spirit of man is that "hidden man of the heart" mentioned by Peter (I Peter 3:4). When God speaks to the inner man He is speaking to your spirit. The writer of Proverbs said the spirit of man is the candle, or lamp, of the Lord: The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord. . . (Proverbs 20:27) In the natural world, a candle enables you to see in darkness. In the spiritual world, God uses the candle of your spirit to direct your steps to His will. He enlightens and guides through your spirit. Once during a journey by ship the Apostle Paul warned the captain of the vessel: Sir, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives. (Acts 27:10) Paul did not say "I had a vision." He did not claim to have a dream or that God had audibly spoken to him. His spirit had a witness from God and that witness proved to be correct. You must train your spirit to be sensitive to God. Much time is spent on intellectual development through education. Much time is spent on physical development through exercise and athletics. But often, little time is spent on spiritual development. Your spirit can be educated just as your mind. Your spirit can develop in spiritual strength just as your body can be built and trained. You train your spirit by meditating on the Word of God: This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. (Joshua 1:8) God also uses the inward voice of the Holy Spirit to convict your conscience. The conscience is an inward awareness of right and wrong given by God. Feeling is the voice of the body. God does not use how you feel to direct you. The flesh is an enemy of the spirit, so feelings can deceive you. Reason is the voice of the mind. God's ways are often beyond human reason. His thought processes are much higher than yours. Conscience is the voice of the spirit of man, convicting and directing you to the perfect will of God. The Holy Spirit speaks to your spirit. The spirit convicts the conscience. Through this you are brought into conformity to the will of God. When the Holy Spirit speaks to your spirit, the conscience is convicted, but if you continue to ignore it, your conscience can become "seared." This means it becomes hardened to the conviction of the Holy Spirit: . . . having their conscience seared with a hot iron. . . (I Timothy 4:2) The book of Proverbs contains many verses that indicate God controls inner thoughts and the conscience of man to guide him into His will: The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord. (Proverbs 16:1) A man's heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps. (Proverbs 16:9) The king's heart is in the hand of the Lord as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will. (Proverbs 21:1) Unless otherwise noted: All Scripture is taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Welcome to this edition of the W.I.N. E-Mail Newsletter. Summer is here and time seems to be going by so fast, it is hard to keep up with schedules and meet deadlines on time. Convention is only one month away and we are looking forward to seeing everyone in Aberdeen at Destiny of Hope Fellowship for this time of fun and fellowship.
Rev. Sam T. Leigh
Presiding Bishop
Freedom Covenant Global Ministries
E-mail:
Website: www.fcgm.org
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THE BOOK OF 2nd CORINTHIANS - PART FIVE
I. Devotional Reading
2. Paul says, "What we are is plain to God" (5:11). How does this relate to 5:16-17?
3. What is it that Paul is seeking to persuade men of? (5:11 - note 5:14-15,20)
4. What is it that we should and should not take pride in? (5:12)
5. Looking at 5:14 in its context, what did Christ's love compel Paul to do?
6. How does 5:17 relate to 5:16?
7. What is the appeal that God makes through us? (5:20)
1. How did Paul commend himself "in every way"? (6:4-10)
2. In this subsection, what is Paul asking the Corinthians to do? (6:12-13)
2. What does Paul say is God's desire for the Corinthians? (6:16-18)
3. What are "these promises" that the Corinthians have? (7:1)
4. In the light of 6:14-18, what is Paul's instruction to the Corinthians? (7:1)
2. How does 7:4 relate to 4:8-15 and 6:4-9?
3. How does 7:5-7 relate to 1:3-11?
4. What is the difference between "godly sorrow" and "worldly sorrow"? (7:8-12)
2 Corinthians 5:14-15; "
Here are a few suggestions that may help you to memorize your memory verses:
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THE INNER VOICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
More often than an audible voice, God uses the inner voice of the Holy Spirit to speak to man. This is called being "led by the Spirit":
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This newsletter Copyright © 2005, 2006 Freedom Covenant Global Ministries. All Rights Reserved. Individual articles displaying copyrights from other ministries are used by permission, have been formatted for use in this publication, and remain the property of respective ministry. Permission is granted to copy, print, and distribute this newsletter for ministry purposes, whether whole or in part, so long as ALL copyrights remain in place and no copies are printed or distributed for sale or commercial purposes.
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