Xtreme Daily Bible Study
Tuesday, March 31st
Written By Michael Williams
Jeremiah 3:6-7
The LORD said to me in the days of King Josiah: “Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there played the whore? And I thought, ‘After she has done all this she will return to me,’ but she did not return, and her treacherous sister Judah saw it.”
Have you ever been cheated on? Have you ever cared about someone so much that it didn’t even matter? You didn’t care. As long as you could be with that person. Don’t get me wrong, it hurt, but the thought of being without that person hurts even more. God feels that way everyday with us. We “cheat on God” when we devote more of ourselves to things other than Him. When we give away the bulk of our attention to things other than Him. Most often times we call these things idols. Idols don’t always have to be in the shape of some half man half dog creature chiseled out of stone. Sometimes it can be made out of plastic and wires, TV, video games, etc. Or even a person, or an activity, football, gymnastics, swimming. Anything that has more of you than God. Now yes, this does not make God very happy, but…
He loves us anyway! We cheat on God all the time, yet he patiently waits for us to come back to him. Think about the last time you were cheated on. How long did it take you do decide to let that person back in your life? For God, the second we are ready to walk away from the thing that is taking His place in our lives, he is ready and waiting to receive us.
Extra time in the Word Jeremiah 3
Monday, March 30th
Written by Kyle Shultz
1 Corinthians 15:17,20
And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins…But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
The way that I was taught about Christ being raised from the dead when I was younger was basically that it was just part of what I needed to know in the plan of salvation. I was told you had to just accept it and that would be fine. What I did not realize is that this is the support for all that we believe in as Christians. What separates Christianity from the world religions is Jesus, the God Whom we worship in human form, gave His life to save us, and evidence of His payment for our sins and offering us eternal life is the fact that God raised Him from the dead. If He were not God, He would not have been raised from the dead. If there was no resurrection, than Christ did not rise from the dead. If there is no eternal life, Christ did not rise from the dead. Our entire belief in Christ is based on Christ rising from the dead. It is not something we can prove with physical evidence either. It is a matter that we must accept by faith. However, when one steps out and chooses to accept it, one finds that through this faith, Christ becomes real to you. It is not something you can make up or strive to achieve in your own power. You accept it by faith and you allow Christ to work in your life by choice. There is another difference between Christ and the world religions. When one live by other faiths, you have no idea if it is good enough. When you accept and live in Christ, you are good enough because you are good with His good. We are good enough because we are good because of Christ who rose from the dead and resides in us.
Extra time in the Word 1 Corinthians 15
Sunday, March 29th
Written By Janet Scott
Romans 8:39
Neither height or depth, or anything else in all of creation, will be able to separate us from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So often I talk with young people that think somehow that God doesn’t love them and it is usually either because of something that was done to them or something they have done. This verse is very clear that NOTHING can separate us from His love. He is above anything we can imagine for compassion, love and holiness! God is so above our thinking and above our ability to love so it is difficult for us to comprehend that He would choose to love us no matter what and at all costs. He paid a very high price to be able to spend all of eternity with us, it doesn’t get any better than that! Satan would love to have you believe the lie, and tell you that God doesn’t care, but that is simply not true! God loves you more than you can comprehend and wants you to walk with Him in this lifetime as well as for all eternity. If you haven’t accepted His offer yet to spend forever with Him after you die and to forgive you of your sins I would encourage you to do so today and don’t allow Satan’s lies to have a hold on your life any longer! All you have to do is pray the prayer below and then let us know if you do so we can connect you with some materials to help get you started on your walk with Him. If you are already a Christian and you are just having a tough time lately, remember that He loves you enough to keep track of your every tear and toss and turn at night in a ledger! He wants to be there for you, all you have to do is reach out to Him!
Extra time in the Word Romans 8
Saturday, March 28th
Written By Bill Scott
Proverbs 16:11 (MSG
“God cares about honesty in the workplace; your business is his business.”
This verse is pretty simple yet very direct and powerful. God does care about honesty and not just in the work place but in every area of your life including school, your taxes etc… It’s amazing how many people don’t mind cheating on their taxes. For some reason lying to the government is ok. Others do not mind cheating on a test at school or ripping off someone else’s homework. God cares about honesty and expects us as Christian’s to live to a higher standard, HIS standard. The next time you are about to lie, take a deep breathe and do what you know is right. Truth always wins!
Extra time in the Word Proverbs 16
Friday March 27th
Written By Michael Williams
‘Return, faithless Israel, declares the LORD. I will not look on you in anger, for I am merciful, declares the LORD; I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt, that you rebelled against the LORD your God. Jeremiah 3:12-13
God is a comedic genius. So, let’s go back a bit, Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden and they have just made the ultimate cosmic boo boo. They ate the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and put us all in the predicament we are in today. Now just after this our father who art in heaven comes down stairs for their regular afternoon stroll, Adam and Eve are of course hiding behind fig leaves. I imagine hide and go seek and a 5 year old burying his face in the corner, then Dad walks around the room asking, where are you? God asks “Where are you?” Do you think God really didn’t know where they were? Yea he did. And that’s the funny part. Adam and Eve have to come out of the corner and face not only God, but their transgression. Did God not know what they did, come on, it’s God, of course he did! So, why would He beckon them to confess. If God knows what we have done, why do we confess? To remind ourselves just how awesome God is. This is why God loves hide and go seek. What happens when you are in a dark room for a prolonged period of time, take the theater for instance, and you step outside. The light is really bright! Now, this hurts our eyes, but they eventually adjust. What if because the light hurt our eyes, we just kept them shut. We would remain in darkness. Confessing isn’t always easy, but it opens our spiritual eyes to just how big and bright and beautiful God is, and the steps we need to take to leave the darkness behind; it’s not always easy to look at when we have been squinting and straining in the darkness of sin. But, if we never opened our eyes, we would run into a world of hurt. We would never see more of who God really is and how we can get closer to him.
Extra time in the Word Jeremiah 3
Thursday, March 26th
Written By Janet Scott
Hebrews 12:15
Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and therby many are defiled.
Forgiveness is a tough thing to comprehend sometimes when you are really hurt or angry about something that someone has done to you. We are told by God that it isn’t an option to forgive, we are to forgive if we want to be forgiven and have a close walk with Him! When we don’t forgive is when bitterness sets in and consumes us! The longer we hang onto bitterness and unforgiveness the more it affects not only us but everyone around us! I once heard that when we hang onto bitterness it is like drinking poison expecting someone else to die. Most of the time when we are holding onto all of the bitterness, anger, hurt and unforgiveness, the other person doesn’t know or if they do they really don’t care unfortunately. So ultimately it is YOU that you are hurting by not forgiving because it causes a wall between you and God and it also causes all kinds of physical issues over time. Forgiving someone is a process. First you have to choose to forgive and then you have to ask God to work in your heart to heal it and help you move past the hurt, pain and anger. You will be amazed at how much better you will feel once you have turned it over to God and you fully allow Him to heal your pain. It can heal depression, guilt, frustration and multitudes of other things but you have to take the first step and pray and let God know you are choosing to forgive and that you are asking Him to guide you and walk with you through the whole process. If we can pray for you through what ever you are going through, please email us at prayer@xtrlive.com
Extra time in the Word Hebrews 12
Wednesday, March 25th
Written By Kyle Shultz
Psalm 37:5
Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do this.
It’s very possible to be where the Lord wants you to be, and not have your heart right with Him. I remember my first two years in Bible school, I knew God wanted me to be there to prepare for the ministry, but in my heart, I dreaded every minute of being there. Was I in the right place? Yes. Was my heart where God wanted it to be? No. God worked on my heart over time, and I eventually learned to accept His will, and began to learn how to trust in Him more. During that time, even though I was in the right place, my walk was very mediocre. I had no joy, no passion, and I was just going through the motions. When I began to trust the Lord and allow Him to work on my heart, it was like I became alive. I would wake up and be excited about my day, what God would do with me, and I just really enjoyed everything I was doing. All of this because I was learning to trust Him with my everything, He began to change me to be for Him what He desired, and He was really working in my life.
It’s never enough to just go through the motions. God isn’t interested in your service, He wants you. When you give yourself over to Him and trust Him with your everything, He will do what He promises and look out for you in everyway, and you’ll begin to experience the life in Him that He always has intended for you to live.
Extra time in the Word Psalm 37
Tuesday, March 24th
Written By Kyle Shultz
Psalm 33:5
The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.
The beautiful thing about Xtreme is that God leads us to teens who are hurting and share with them who God really is. One of the most common thoughts among the teens that share their hearts with us is that they do want God to work in their lives but they don’t know where to find Him. The last part of this verse answers that question. We understand from Scripture that the world and the heavens were created by God. Psalm 19 says all creation shouts as evidence that God is marvelous. We also know from Colossians that He holds all things together by His power. Nothing also escapes His eyes as Hebrews 4 tells us. So if we put all these thoughts together, how does this answer today’s question? Because God is everywhere. He is everywhere at the same time, everything is under His control, even when bad things happen. What many of us don’t do is take the time to recognize this profoundly simple truth. Especially as believers, we don’t have to try to go out and find where He is, because He’s right here with us. When you feel overwhelmed, the best thing to do isn’t to run away, but stay where you are, quiet yourself on the inside, and allow God to strengthen you with His unfailing love. Then you will clearly see the truth that has always been that God is with you always.
Extra time in the Word Psalm 33
Monday, March 23rd
Written by Michael Williams
Matthew 20:12
‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or do you begrudge my generosity?’ So the last will be first, and the first last.”
There is a difference between being just and fair. The fair thing to do would be for the vineyard owner to give to each what they worked for. The just thing to do would be for the vineyard owner to honor his word, which was to pay one denarius (one day’s wages) to everyone who came to work for him. He gave the same offer to each worker.
There are moments in life when we don’t understand what God is doing, we don’t think what he is doing is fair. But, first of all we must remember that our lives are not our own, they are His. Secondly we will never understand the full scope of God’s justice, because if we could, what would we need faith for?
Extra time in the Word matthew 20
Sunday, March 22nd
Written By Bill Scott
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths. (NLT)
This is perhaps one of my favorite scriptures. This verse teaches me to trust God even when I do not understand what he is doing. My little boy trusts me completely. I remember when he was about three years old I could just tell him to jump and I would catch him. He didn’t think twice, he just would leap into the air believing I would be there to catch him. We need that child like trust in our lives in regards to our Heavenly Father. If you depend on your own understanding you’ll be wrong 99 percent of the time. If you trust God, do his will, he’ll show you the path to take through life. Are you ready to trust God today even though his way doesn’t make sense right now?
Extra time in the Word Proverbs 3
