You must be in fellowship prior to your Bible study, so that the spiritual information you receive can become a source, of blessing to your soul and produce spiritual growth.
22 For such as be blessed [barak] of him shall inherit [yarash] the earth ['erets]; and they that be
cursed [qalal] of him shall be cut off [karath]. KJV-Interlinear
22 for those blessed by the LORD shall inherit the land, but those
cursed by him shall be cut off. ESV
This verse is intended to open up ones thinking regarding life. For life is a very serious matter, in that what one thinks and how one conducts himself, ultimately determines ones life now as well as ones eternal future.
You either have Gods favor or you do not.
And it is the fool who presumes that he has Gods favor, without checking or verifying what Gods favor is, how one obtains Gods favor and then whether or not you have done that which is necessary in order to have Gods favor.
Gods favor determines your future.
You are the recipient of Gods blessing or, you are the recipient of Gods cursing. And obviously it is important to know of which, you are the recipient.
Blessed, ‘barak,’ means to invoke divine favor, positive disposition or action toward a recipient.
Inherit, ‘yarash,’ to obtain ownership by means of a legal right, as an heir, from someone who has died.
Cursed, ‘qalal,’ to have divine harm, judgment or discipline invoked toward a recipient.
There are three levels of Gods favor, or grace as we often times refer to it.
Common grace applies to all people, whether believer of unbeliever. We all receive the benefits of the laws of divine establishment, we all receive the benefits of the resources of this planet. We can all marry and have children and families if we choose that for ourselves, and so forth.
Common grace provides fundamental standards and applies to everyone, and is designed to sustain humanity in history, in an environment that is separate and apart from the jungle laws that exist when there is no standard by which to live.
Salvation grace is the second level of grace or favor. Salvation grace applies to believers in Christ only.
Everyone who has believed in Christ, is saved and their destiny for eternity is heaven.
Every believer will be resurrected one day, and will receive a resurrection body.
Every believer has the privilege of prayer.
Every believer has the option to live in fellowship. Confession is required to do that.
Every believer has the right and the opportunity to advance in their spiritual life, but that is only the opportunity. Each believer has to choose and make daily choices to study and thus advance in their spiritual life.
And every believer has the privilege of standing in front of the Lord for their evaluation and reward, when that time comes.
Then there is the last level of grace, which in the book of James is called greater grace.
This is the special favor allotted to the mature believer.
When one is obedient to Gods mandates and therefore studies daily, learns, understands, uses doctrine and is productive in their daily life, and thus advances in their spiritual life, then the door of blessings opens up wider and wider.
That does not mean that life in this world will be better. It is the devils world. But it does mean that the individual will enter into a spiritual realm that is the fulfillment of their life, the completion of their life, and ultimately the qualification of them for phenomenal rewards when they stand before Christ in their evaluation, known as the Judgment Seat of Christ. Which, by the way, is a good place to be.
The saved person will receive infinitely greater blessing than the unbeliever. Heaven is infinitely greater than the Lake of Fire.
The mature believer will receive infinitely greater blessing than the immature believer. Growing up is far better than not growing up.
Now, the only difference between all of these is your decision or decisions.
As far as salvation goes there is only one decision to make, to believe in Christ.
As far as spiritual maturity goes, there are many decisions to make throughout your entire life. To confess, to study, to be taught, to pray, to learn, to utilize productively, to be responsible and so forth.
And what is at stake?
Your eternal future. Your inheritance or lack of it. Your reward or lack of it.
But, in every case, you have to genuinely want Gods favor, and then do according to Gods will, in order to obtain it.
These studies are a part of the massive daily study web site at DailyBibeStudy.Org, and are written, so that you can come to Christ if you have not done so already, and therefore not be lost forever.
And if you have already believed in Christ, then these studies are written so you can learn and understand and grow in your spiritual life, so that you can come to the full knowledge of Christ, so that you can fulfill your meaning and purpose in life as God intended for you, and so you can qualify for a phenomenal eternal reward which you will have forever. To ignore this opportunity to pursue a daily study means you will be incomplete, unfulfilled and you will lose out, big time.
The Daily Bible Study is online, making it possible as never before in all of human history, to advance in ones relationship with God, through Christ, and to complete yourself beyond your imagination.
But you have to decide to make that commitment. No one else can study for you. You have to do that yourself.
To receive notice of each days Bible Study, please go to my twitter page and sign up.
