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E-pistle

                                 Dr. Curt Scarborough, President          FreeWay Foundation                  September 10, 2007

Personal Disciplines for Spiritual Growth

by:  Dr. Curt Scarborough

1.  Fasting:  at least one meal each week.

     Matthew 6:16-18; Matthew 17:20-21; Isaiah 58:3-7

2.  Praying:  confession and intercession, "without ceasing" . . .

     At least three times daily, using the Model Prayer,

     Psalm 55:17; I Thessalonians 5:17; Matthew 6:9-13; I John 1:9

3.  Singing:  psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs . . .

     making melody in your heart continually.

     Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16; James 5:13

4.  Praising:  speaking words to magnify the Lord, at least

     seven times daily.

     Psalm 119:164; Psalm 150:1-6; Hebrews 13:15; Revelation 19:5

5.  Reading:  God's words daily . . . through the Bible annually.

     II Timothy 3:16; Hebrews 4:12

6.  Meditating:  daily on the spiritual truths and implications

     in each chosen Scripture passage.

     Psalm 19:14; Philippians 4:8

7.  Receiving:  the Holy Spirit's fullness, enlightenment, revelation,

     renewal, refreshing, and power daily.

     John 14:26; Ephesians 1:17-19; 5:18; James 1:5; I John 2:27

8.  Journaling:  daily writing personal reflections, revelations,

     experiences, and spiritual applications.

     Deuteronomy 17:18-20; Jeremiah 30:2; Habakkuk 2:2

Archangels

(I Thessalonians 4:1-18)

Dr. Curt Scarborough

I.  Concentration:  on the contents of this chapter

1.   Paul issued a plea to the Thessalonians, that they abstain

                  from sexual immorality . . . "for God did not call us to

                  uncleanness, but in holiness," v. 1-8.

2.      Paul urged them to "aspire to lead a quite life, to mind your

own business, and to work with your own hands," vv. 9-12.      

3.      Paul revealed that when Christ returns, both living and dead

believers will be caught up to meet Him in the air, vv. 13-17.

4.      Paul taught them to encourage each other with these words, v. 18.

II.  Observations:  on angels and archangels (v. 16)

1.      Angels are created beings with a specific purpose, Psalm 104:4.
2.      Only three angels (archangels?) are listed by name in the Scripture.
3.      Each archangel commands one-third of the lower angels, Revelation 12:4.
4.      Archangels are powerful, but they are not omnipotent.

III.  Meditation:  on Gabriel, the messenger angel

1.      Daniel 8:16 – sent to help Daniel comprehend the vision.
2.      Daniel 9:21 – sent to give Daniel skill to apply the vision.
3.      Luke 1:19 – sent to give God's message to Zacharias.
4.      Luke 1:26 – sent to give God's message to Mary.

IV.  Meditation:  on Michael, the warrior archangel

1.      Daniel 10:13, 21 – one of the "chief princes."
2.      Daniel 12:2 – the one who stands guard over God's people.
3.      Jude 1:9 – contended with the devil over Moses' body.
4.      Revelation 12:7 – wages war with Satan in heaven (in heavenly

places; in the spiritual realm.)

V.  Meditation:  on Lucifer, the fallen archangel

        1.  Isaiah 14:11-15 – possibly the heavenly praise and worship leader?

        2.  Luke 10:18 – Christ saw Satan fall from heaven.

        3.  Revelation 12;3-4, 9 – angels were cast out of heaven.

        4.  Matthew 25:41 – hell is prepared for Satan and his angels.

(See "Personal & Practical" – a book written by Dr. Scarborough) Bible studies on

"Lucifer, Son of the Morning," Isaiah 14: "The Anointed Cherub Who Covers,"

Ezekiel 28; "God Exposes Satan as 'Leviathan'," Job 41.)

VI.  Revelation & Applications: 

        1.   God communicates with his people, sometimes using angels, although

              often we do not recognize their heavenly origin, Hebrews 13:1.

2.      Spiritual warfare is being waged here and now, Daniel 10:13.
3.      Sometimes answers to our prayers are delayed because of the battle

being waged in the spiritual realm, Daniel 10:13.

4.      We children of God someday will "judge angels," I Corinthians 6:3.

Enter One Way; Exit the Other Way

(Ezekiel 46:24)

Dr. Curt Scarborough

I.  Concentration:  on the contents of this chapter

        1.   God gave directions for opening the east gate to allow the

              prince to enter and exit the Temple; specific instructions

              were given for the sacrifices to be offered, vv. 1-8.    

2.      The people were ordered to enter the Temple area either

by the North Gate or the South Gate, and to exit by the

opposite Gate; certain religious rituals were specified,

vv. 9-15.

3.      Royal inheritance laws were spelled out:  bequests to the

servants had to be returned to the royal treasury in the

Year of Jubilee; ruling families were forbidden from

confiscating property belonging to the common people,

vv. 16-18.

4.      The angel showed Ezekiel the chambers where the priests

lived and their kitchen in the Temple area, vv. 19-24.

II.  Meditation and Revelation:  on "enter one way and exit the other way" (vv. 9-10)

        It is assumed that God's people WILL worship Him; verse 9

speaks of "when" the people come before the Lord, not "IF"

they come before Him.

1.   People come to know and worship God from opposite directions

      (north gate and south gate); some persons come to God through

      miraculous experiences, which excite the emotions; other persons

      come to God through the study of His word, which enlightens the

      mind.

2.      People coming to know and worship God through one gate are

strictly commanded to exit through the other gate; persons are

forbidden from entering and departing through the same gate . . .

they must go through both; experience-oriented Christians need

disciplined grounding in the Bible, and intellectually-oriented

Christians need to experience the miraculous workings of the Holy

Spirit.

3.      People who exit the same way they enter remain unchanged by

persons other than their "own kind"; the "come in one way and

leave the other way" instructions require meeting, respecting, and

inter-acting with Christians who approach (know and worship) the

Lord differently, Mark 9:38-441; Luke 9:49-50; Philippians 1:15-18.

4.      Whichever way believers come to worship God, the Prince (Jesus

Christ) shall be there in their midst, v. 10 (Matthew 18:20); the Lord

promised to fellowship (come in and go out) with His people,

whether they are labeled "Charismatic" or "Fundamentalist."

III.  Applications:  as a Christian, I need to understand that . . .

        The Father is seeking worshippers who worship Him both in spirit

        (with the emotions) and in truth (with the intellect), John 4:23-34

Power of Observation

by:  Harvey Mackay

        One of the qualities of successful people in all walks of life is keen observation

of their surroundings.  They notice things about people, human nature and the world

in general.  Many of us, unfortunately, go through life with our eyes half-closed.  Imagine

where we would be without these inventions – and their very observant inventors:

·       The first hint Sir Isaac Newton had leading to his important optical

discoveries originated from a child's soap bubble.

·       The idea of printing was suggested by initials cut into the bark of a tree.
·       The telescope was the out-come of a boy's amusement with two pieces

of glass in his father's workshop.

I'm not observant or smart enough to conceive inventions like these, but when

it comes to people, I try not to miss much.  I try to notice everything about them.

        Consider this:  We have two eyes and two ears, but only one mouth, which shows

we should see and observe and listen twice as much as we speak.

Mackay's Morals:  If what you see is what you get, be sure you are looking very carefully!

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