Xtreme Daily Bible Study
Wednesday, December 31st
Written By Bill Scott
Matthew 7:2
You will be treated how you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged
Wow this verse stings a little bit to read huh? There are times I treat others in a way that I would hate to be treated. It’s time to think things through. I want to offer those around me grace. It’s easy to kick someone when they are down or when they have walked a way from the Lord. You have know idea what it would mean if you put your arm around that individual and told them you loved them and will walk with them through whatever they are facing. This does not mean you embrace their sin or rebellion but that you love them no matter what. Some say the church is the only place that shoots their wounded. Unfortunately I have seen that first hand many times. Next time you see someone hurting or just blowing it, reach out with love and be the friend they need.
Extra time in the Word Matthew 7
Tuesday, December 30th
Written By Kyle Shultz
2 Chronicles 17:10
And a terror from the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Judah, so that they made no war against Jehoshaphat.
This is a promise that the Lord gives to those who are obeying Him and following the Lord with their lives. This is not the safest of times in our society today. I can remember when it was no big deal for me to go wherever in the town that I was raised in, which was a small hick town in the middle of nowhere. Then drug dealers moved in the neighborhood behind us, and everything else went south. It got to a point that we could only trust a few people in the town before my family moved. There were plenty of times when people could have tried breaking into our place. But God took care of us because we looked to honor Him with our lives. The king of Judah had that same promise. He had enemies surrounding him that were way more powerful than him. He could have been wiped out by one psycho ruler. But God is in control. Because He loved the king of Judah, and this king honored God with his life, God gave him peace on every side that he lived. In those times in the middle east, if you had rest from your enemies, you had something to be happy about. Well, it could be war surrounding us, if we are following God with our lives, He promises to keep us at peace in His hands.
Extra time in the Word 2 Chronicles 17
Monday, December 29th
Written By Janet Scott
Hebrews 4:15-16
For we do not have a High Priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are, yet without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
Hard times bring you to the point of wanting a closer walk with God, usually and when you are closer to God you will have more joy and peace. It is sad that it sometimes takes really tough times to bring us to the point of crawling up on His lap to draw close to Him and to have that really close relationship with Him! It is like families that only seem to get together for a funeral! Why do we wait for tragedy to strike before we have the relationship we could have every day? It is so much easier to deal with every day life when we are close to Him than it is to do it on our own until it all goes haywire. I would encourage you to look for Him in all you do and to really ask Him to give you a desire to be in your Bible. The easiest way to get that close relationship is to spend the time getting to know who He is! He really does want to bless you in even the littlest of ways, whether it is a beautiful sunset, great parking space, what ever it might be, He does enjoy spending time with YOU, so don’t shut Him out, absorb all that He wants to pour into you, then when you have a “time of need” you will have the confidence to go to Him and trust Him, knowing He understands and wants to be there for you!
Extra time in the Word H
Sunday, December 28th
Written By Bill Scott
Hebrews 12:15
Make sure no one gets left out of God’s generosity. Keep a sharp eye out for weeds of bitter discontent. A thistle or two gone to seed can ruin a whole garden in no time. (MSG)
You always have to keep your guard up. Bitterness can creep into our lives so easy. Many times we are unaware that we are becoming bitterness. Many times the root is unforgiveness in our lives. When you choose not to forgive someone you are destroying yourself. I heard someone say that when you choose not to forgive it’s like drinking poison and hoping the other person gets sick. You know that if you are drinking the poison you are the one to get sick. Unforgiveness is poison to your life. So begin the new year by forgiving that person that has you so upset. Forgiving someone has nothing to do with excusing them, but you do give up your right to get even. You are giving it to God and letting Him deal with this person and their wrong doing. You might say but I do not feel like I can forgive. Forgiveness is a choice. You say with your lips, “Lord I choose to forgive, now please change my heart!” You will find that God will change your heart once you are obedient. Keep your guard up and do not let bitterness take root in 2009.
Extra time in the Word h
Saturday, December 27th
Written By Michael Williams
Psalms 37:37
“Mark the blameless man, and observe the upright; For the future of that man is peace.”
I remember hearing a “sales pitch” for Christ once. This person said, “Follow God and everything will be great, life will be so much easier to handle! Things won’t be as they where before, everything will be so much better.” I call it a sales pitch because generally when you are attempting to sell something, you present the object or idea as a cake, rather, the icing on the cake. When you look at a cake do you see pale spongy vanilla flavored bread? No, you see all the pretty decorations and the sweet, sweet icing. You know the cake is there, but it’s the icing that gets you. Although, you can’t have cake without that vanilla flavored spongy stuff, can you? If I handed you a glob of brightly colored sugary paste and said, “Happy birthday, here is your cake,” you would gaze at me dumbfounded. In the sales pitch a lot of times that is what is left out, the fact that you can’t enjoy the good with out experiencing the not so good. How would we know what was good without experiencing what was bad? The only way we could do such a thing would be to become omniscient, or all knowing. We determine all good and bad by comparison. To expect to have a life full of peace, you must expect to experience some things that require peace. Tell me, what is the last step in preparing a cake? Icing the cake. Could you put icing in the mixture of eggs, milk, flour, etc. and expect to have anything more than just sweet bread? In life there are times that come when we are unsure, afraid, unprepared. If those times never came, what use would we have for peace? Peace comes after the storm. It comes in the future as a response to the present. To expect peace before a reason to have peace is absurd. Just as absurd as putting icing in cake mix. Yes, we are redeemed, blameless, upright, and from that we can have peace. But, in order for our peace to grow, it must be cultivated. Too many times Christianity is presented as a three step process and results in empty promises for some people. They expect a life without a need for peace, and then they expect peace. They are handed a glob of icing and are eventually disappointed. The truth that Jesus presented caused people to turn and walk away, much like the rich man who had to make a unattractive decision to follow Christ. He had to surrender his present financial security (his source for peace), for a future security, or peace. This is only attained through faith. Our faith is cultivated by trails that test our obedience and honesty or “blamelessness” (acquired through the grace given to us by Christ himself), and the end result is peace. The icing on the cake.
Extra time in the Word P
Friday, December 26th
Written By Kyle Shultz
2 Chronicles 16:9a
The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
This gives us a glimpse of how much God really loves us. Has there ever been someone in your life that you thought “wow! Wherever that person goes, I’m going to follow them! Even if it means going to the other side of the world!” Actually doing something like that might be the biggest mistake of your life, but you know what I’m saying. This verse shows that the Lord does this out of love for you! He made you exactly how you are, gave His Son to save you, and provides a life bigger and better than any life you could make for yourself! All of this because He loves you. He’s not hard to find either. If you just call on His name, He promises to answer. So take some time today and think about how much God loves you and let Him open your eyes to Him a little more today.
Extra time in the Word 2
Thursday, December 25th
Written By Janet Scott
Philippians 4:19
But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
What kind of need are you facing right now? Is it financial, spiritual, physical, what is it? Now think about this for a minute, God has promised in this verse to supply all you need according to His riches! Nice! You have to take the time to make sure you are in the position to receive it and that you ask. The Bible is also very clear that we sometimes don’t have something because we don’t ask for it. This doesn’t mean that we don’t all go through tough times, but it does mean that it is our position to ask and make sure we are also following Him in everything we do! I remember a Christmas not too long ago that God just overwhelmed me! Before I married Bill I was a single Mom for 13 years and about 4 years ago I just didn’t have any money. It was the first time that I was in a position that I couldn’t just at least decide to pay a certain bill later or something in order to buy Christmas presents. I remember standing in the kitchen talking to God while I was working and just told Him that I needed Him to be the “Father to the Fatherless” for my children because I couldn’t provide them with anything for Christmas. A couple days later I was talking to my friend Michelle and she asked me what I was going to do that Saturday because she and her sister wanted me to go Christmas shopping with them. I had to tell her that I just couldn’t do it and then she said, “Janet, I have had people come up to me that I don’t even know that have asked me to give you money for Christmas anonymously for you and your kids, are you having problems financially?” I was shocked and I knew it was from God because I hadn’t told anyone other than Him! It was more money than I have ever spent on Christmas over the years and on each present I wrote that it was a Christmas present from God, their Dad to the Dadless. God not only cares about your needs, He wants to give you the desires of your heart! Take the time to build that close relationship with Him and just learn to thoroughly enjoy the blessings of being near Him and then allow Him to supply your every need!
Extra time in the Word Philippians 4:18
Wednesday, December 24th
Written By Bill Scott
James 1:25
But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law – the law that sets you free – and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. (NLT)
As you continue to read God’s Word, it will begin to set you free from some of the things you are struggling with. Now keep in mind, it’s easy to read God’s Word and then forget what it says and not obey what you have just learned huh? Remember what you just read and put it into practice ok? God’s blessing on your life is a promise if you are willing to do this. I cannot stress the importance of being in God’s Word on a daily basis. As we approach 2009 this would be a good time to make it a goal to be regular in regards to reading the Bible as often as possible. Make 2009 a new year for your spiritual growth.
Extra time in the Word James 1
Tuesday, December 23rd
Written by Michael Williams
Job 38:1-6
Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, “Who is this that darkens counsel By words without knowledge? “Now gird up your loins like a man, And I will ask you, and you instruct Me!
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding, Who set its measurements? Since you know. Or who stretched the line on it? “On what were its bases sunk?
If you continue to read God goes on for two chapters talking about the house work he does here on planet earth, just a few things He does to make sure that everything is neat and tidy. Reminding Job that he really knows much less than he thinks he does.
I slept with a night light when I was a kid. So, needless to say I was afraid of the dark. There where times when that bulb went out, and I didn’t know how to change a light bulb. I didn’t know where they were. The only person who could change that light bulb was my dad. He paid the electricity bill, he bought the bulbs, the night light, and he was the only one who could change that bulb. Sometimes I think that we forget how much we can really do for ourselves. I think that is the reason Jesus said that we are to be like little children. I knew when I was a kid that my dad was the only one that could change that bulb and make everything right during the darkest moments in my room. Even if I knew where the bulbs where or I knew how to change the bulb, they where to high for me to reach, top shelf. Let’s just say that I could reach that bulb, I didn’t have the money to buy more when they ran out, or even to pay the electric bill.
This one time I was standing in line to deposit money at the bank with my friend and we where talking about tithe. She said that she sometimes couldn’t pay her tithe. She said that sometimes she has to take care of some things that needed to be done first. My answer was that tithe was the first thing that needed to be done. Her response was that she had to go and get the money herself. She felt like because God didn’t give her the money and she had to work for it, she should be able to use it as she wishes. “God didn’t give me the money, I had to go out and work for it.” To which I said, “How did you get your job?” to which she said “I applied.” Then I asked, “What made them decided to choose you?” she signed and said “I don’t know.”
“I do, it was God.” Times are tuff and times are great. Sometimes it might be dark in life, or maybe we might be indulging in prosperity. Either way, let us not forget the one who has the ability to make the darkness fade and bless us with blessings, or even the means to acquire blessings. God is bigger than we will ever know.
Extra time in the Word Job 38
Monday, December 22nd
Written By Kyle Shultz
2 Chronicles 15:3,5
For a long time Israel was without the true God… During those dark times, it was not safe to travel. Problems troubled the people of every land.
The common thought today of people who aren’t saved is if you live for God, you’ll have a miserable life. They see Christianity as a bunch of dos and don’ts, and that you won’t have any fun. They don’t really care much if things that they are doing are right or wrong. All they care about is what other people are doing and if they can fit in with them. However, these people don’t really see who God is. The Bible says that in God is Life, that Life is Jesus. If you have Jesus, you have Life. In Jesus, there is peace. In Jesus, there is order. So that means that if you don’t have Him, you will not have true life. You will not know peace, and your life will continue in a downward spiral. All of this is because one will not allow Jesus into one’s life. You see, the truth is the life that we were designed to live is based in the Life that is in Jesus. It is Jesus that gives us the peace in hard times. He is the One that brings order to our lives. The world does not see this because they do not belong to Him. So the next time someone tells you that they’re fine living for themselves, pray that Jesus shines through you and exposes their true needs. Because without Jesus, no one has life, and in Him, you have everything you need.
Extra time in the Word 2 Chronicles 15
