Biblical Musings

Do you ever run across verses in the Bible and say to yourself “I gotta remember this” or “How did I miss this the first thousands times I read it?!?!” Well, I do and here are my Biblical musings:

Can God do what He wants? Yes, b/c that's who God is – GOD! Otherwise something else, outside of Himself, say our concept of fairness, would limit His freedom

Psalm 106:8

Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name,
That He might make His power known.

Matthew 20:15

¹⁵'Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with what is my own? Or is your eye envious because I am generous?'

Jeremiah 18: 1-6

¹The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD saying,
²"Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will announce My words to you."
³Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something on the wheel.
⁴But the vessel that he was making of clay was spoiled in the hand of the potter; so he remade it into another vessel, as it pleased the potter to make.
5Then the word of the LORD came to me saying,

⁶"Can I not, O house of Israel, deal with you as this potter does?" declares the LORD. "Behold, like the clay in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.

Isaiah 29:15-16

¹⁵Woe to those who deeply hide their plans from the LORD,
And whose deeds are done in a dark place,
And they say, "Who sees us?" or "Who knows us?"
¹⁶You turn things around!
Shall the potter be considered as equal with the clay,
That what is made would say to its maker, "He did not make me";
Or what is formed say to him who formed it, "He has no understanding"?

Romans 9:17-23

¹⁷For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "FOR THIS VERY PURPOSE I RAISED YOU UP, TO DEMONSTRATE MY POWER IN YOU, AND THAT MY NAME MIGHT BE PROCLAIMED THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE EARTH."
¹⁸So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.
¹⁹You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?"
²⁰On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it?
²¹Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use?
²²What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction?
²³And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.

Suffering in Perspective:

Psalm 107:11-13

¹¹Because they had rebelled against the words of God
And spurned the counsel of the Most High.
¹²Therefore He humbled their heart with labor;
They stumbled and there was none to help.
¹³Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.

Psalm 119:71

It is good for me that I was afflicted,
That I may learn Your statutes.

Amos 4 - One of my favorite chapters of the OT

Genesis 32:25

"When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob's thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him." (Think of how the pain would remind Him of that day and keep him humble, thankful, worshipful, etc.)

2 Corinthians 12:7-10

⁷Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me--to keep me from exalting myself!
⁸Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me.
⁹And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness " Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.
¹⁰Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

Why we should pray:

Psalm 116:1-2

¹I love the LORD, because He hears
My voice and my supplications.
²Because He has inclined His ear to me,
Therefore I shall call upon Him as long as I live.

Excellent Prayers During Suffering!

Matthew 26:39, 42, 44

³⁹And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, "My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will."
⁴²He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, "My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done."
⁴⁴And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

¹⁷Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls,
¹⁸Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.
¹⁹The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds' feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.

These are just some awesome Psalms: Psalm 40, 86

Bondage of the Will or Libertarian Free Will?

Matthew 11:27

"All things have been handed over to Me by My Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son wills to reveal Him."

Matthew 13:10-11

¹⁰And the disciples came and said to Him, "Why do You speak to them in parables?"
11Jesus answered them, "to you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. "

Luke 10:21

At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, "I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight

Luke 18:32-34

³²"For He will be handed over to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and mistreated and spit upon,
³³and after they have scourged Him, they will kill Him; and the third day He will rise again."
³⁴But the disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.

Luke 24:15-17

¹⁵While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them.
¹⁶But their eyes were prevented from recognizing Him.

Believe that Jesus died for all sins and not in limited atonement? Did Jesus die for this sin (or the demons')?

Matthew 12:31-32

"...Therefore I say to you, any sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven people, but blasphemy against the Spirit shall not be forgiven.
³²"Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come."

Mormon's believe that God is married and that people will be married in heaven. They should read this:

Matthew 22:29-33

²⁹But Jesus answered and said to them, "You are mistaken, not understanding the Scriptures nor the power of God.
³⁰"For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven.
³¹"But regarding the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God:
³²'I AM THE GOD OF ABRAHAM, AND THE GOD OF ISAAC, AND THE GOD OF JACOB'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living."
³³When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

What makes you great? Hint: not money, power, and fame.

Matthew 20:26-28

²⁶"It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant,
²⁷and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;
²⁸just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many."

Hell made primarily for the devil and his angels and not us? I think there are other verses to back this up or maybe not...

Matthew 25:41

⁴¹"Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels;