Showing results by author "Rick Noyes" in All Categories

The worst kind of deceit is self deceit. If you are like me (often blind to seeing myself for who and what I really am), then I would suggest this might be the right study for you. John wrote this letter to give its readers confident assurance that they had union and communion with God and His people. So they could know they were genuine Christians.

The book of Judges is a historical account which investigates the lives of people who lived long ago. Some of those lives are going to be tales of caution, while others will be inspiring. Most are people who would not warrant a second look today and would be dismissed as valueless by most, but when viewed through the lens of God’s purpose, we will see that they became much more than they could have dreamed. They become exceptional stories in the greatest story ever told, that is still shaping lives today. Wouldn’t you like your own story to matter like that? Then maybe this study is for...

Imagine for a moment, being told that everything you ever thought you knew about God was wrong. All of what you thought you knew was incomplete, misinformed, and incorrect. Admitting that would not only mean that your view about God was wrong, but your view of yourself and your approach to God was misguided at best and deceived at worst. The response to what you suddenly understood would mean all of life would be a new paradigm. In turn, those protecting the status quo and orthodoxy of the incomplete view would attack those embracing this new reality as outcasts, troublemakers and even ...

Genesis means beginning and as the first book of the Old Testament it is a fitting title. However, it is more than just the Bible’s opening book, since it is the proper place to understand what the whole of God’s Word is revealing. Therefore, it is the proper beginning for understanding the origin stories and the plan and purpose of God. It not only reveals the God of the Word, but the call of God, the understanding of faith and obedience and the need for humanity’s Savior. Please join me in seeing how a proper beginning is important.

Acts is a travel log of the church’s journey through the many changes that God puts in the path of His people. Change is the thread which weaves its way through these first twelve chapters of this first volume and really the whole book. I subtitled this study guide When everything changes because I think this theme not only draws out what is described by Luke, but also because it has real world application for anyone reading this. The reason is most people find at some point in life that everything changes. How we view life through the glass of that change can either be character building...

God’s Word has something to say to anyone who has known the disappointment of failed expectation which leaves the gray fog of pessimism tainting your view of life. Maybe your expectations concerning marriage were dashed and you have the bitter taste of betrayal in your mouth. Perhaps the circumstances of your life are not what you hoped for, because your expectations were built on an idealism squashed by the harsh boot of reality. So, you find yourself questioning your choices and perhaps God. If that is even close to describing your broken expectations, then this is the study for you.

Esther is one of the books of the Bible which draws critics to discount it as having an unproven validity, in an attempt to prove the Bible is unreliable and not the unerring Word of God. It is a curious book because it is a historical narrative, which has no spiritual references or specific lessons and, in many ways, it appears that its only purpose is to put the celebration of Purim into a historical context. However, the narrative is loaded with lessons and applications for the people of God. Even though God is not mentioned in the narrative, just like in creation, His sovereignty and ...

Why would anyone want to study the prophet named Isaiah? Afterall, he lived centuries ago, in a time nothing like our own days, or were they? Can a person or nation benefit from the mistakes made by others or is it just better to replicate them for ourselves? Ignoring history is certainly the right of a person or nation, and by the looks of things today we are skilled at doing that. But if you are tired of the uncertainty and chaos that is our new norm, then may I suggest the book of Isaiah has something to say to us today. Won’t you join me to see what that is?

Have you ever found yourself in the wrong because you totally missed the point? It could have been a school assignment, a botched task given by your employer, feeling the cold shoulder of relationship because you missed the point of something said, or even the punchline of a joke that everyone else understood. Regrettably, when we face those kinds of situations, most people revert to a self-defense mechanism that questions our guilt or failure. Sometimes that is displayed by pushing off our failing to others. I didn’t have enough time. The instructions were unclear. I was not given ...

This study is design to teach a person how to read and meditate on the Word of God. It has a refreshing approach that will captivate your interest. The New Zion Bible Study Series is design to teach a daily habit of study in God’s Word. This is the first book in the series in Kindle format to be used in conjunction with the internet, in an interactive method of looking at Bible study tools to help dig out the nuggets of wisdom found in the Word of God.

Have you ever felt stuck in place emotionally, spiritually, or in your circumstances? You cannot move forward and going back is impossible. You are not even sure you want to, because this darkness that has captured your soul seems like an old friend. If you have ever been in that place, you are not alone and this study is dedicated to you. It is written so that you might gain the strength and courage to go on to your best life, since there is no going back.

Have you ever felt you were inadequate? Perhaps your family excels where you do not and you feel their expectations for you are too high, because you believe they have set the bar far above your abilities. It could be, your instructors in your educational endeavors have moved too quickly for you to demonstrate competency and because you are behind your peers, you feel the weight of inadequacy.Maybe you, like me, lack the eye-hand coordination to do anything but flounder in sports. I also lack the skill to draw a straight line, to sing on tune, to solve quadratic equations, to know when a ...

When you saw the title for this book, what came to mind? Perhaps your thinking was drawn to the heroes of the Bible, who led extraordinary lives. Did you think about a religious duty or mission of biblical proportions? I would guess that one thing that was not in your thoughts was you. That is because we are given to thinking that God’s call is too immense, too demanding, and out of the reach of the average person. But what if I were to tell you that you are exactly, whom the Holy Spirit of God had in mind, when those words were penned. Would that spark your interest? I hope it goes ...

I am 64 years old at the writing of this study guide and one thing the Lord has taught me in life, is relationships are more important than we know. We ought to do what we can to keep them.The subtitle of this book is When your measure is off, but the study is really about reconciliation. I don’t know anyone who does not have at least one relationship that has gone south and refuses to or can’t see a way to fix that which is broken. Paul has become our example to that process in this letter, but an example has to be followed to make a difference in us. Won’t you consider what we learn...

We live in evil times and one of the casualties of our times is the truth. Truth is thought to be relative to one’s viewpoint and distorted to achieve personal and selfish ends. We see this flexible view of truth practiced in our political process, businesses, interpersonal relationships, and in the church as well. The distortion of the truth is a form of deceit that we have grown so accustomed to, that we are not shocked by what is commonplace. What was once considered to be lying, today is simply defined as the truth relative to the person speaking it. This gap between the perception of...

Every day, we all make dozens of choices that are generally directed by our own gratification and rarely do we think twice about them. However, not all the choices that we make are trivial or lost in the memory of the past. Some choices we make effect not only us but other people as well. It is those choices that really matter in life, because they are not forgotten. They shape our past, our present and our future. Those kinds of choices are what this study in God’s Word is about, when the choices in life really matter. If you decide to do this study, you will find it is one choice in ...

In the USA today, there is a bias in the church, which favors those I call intellectuals. Those that lack the proper academic credentials are often dismissed by the intellectuals, lacking their respect. This rise of intellectualism in the church today is an unfortunate situation because it has created a caste system of the haves and have nots, within the body of Christ. This is particularly distressing when the church should be a place which has no distinctions or partiality. The greatest line of demarcation in this unspoken caste system within the church concerns the understanding of the ...

This started out being a book about prayer because I am taken back by how little the church today gives to this most important part of a maturing faith and instead it turns out to be zeroing in on faith, genuine faith. So then, are you tired of it? Are you tired of living a life where faith is more façade than reality? Where a fading faith must be propped up by inspirational messages and music to make you feel like you are not a failure. Are you tired of motivational speakers who prod the church to do better, when you already feel like you are spent? If you answered yes to those questions ...

Do you ever feel like you are failing at the most important things in life? Do you long for more in the church today? What can one individual do to really make a difference in what seems to be lacking in the life of the church today? What is it that sets our purpose and plan? What can make the depth of our relationships to be more satisfying, then the friendly we are left with today? I think all of those questions and more can be answered when we begin to look at our own devotion to the God who calls us. This little book explores what is a single-minded devotion and why it is important for ...

I believe there is need for direction is built into our being. We not only want to know where we are, but where we are going. The problem is that the goal or direction for where we are headed can often be unclear. This is one of the main reasons the Apostle Paul wrote the letter to the church in Philippi of Macedonia. He loved this church and desired to give it the directions to finish well in their race toward the goal of knowing Messiah. He wrote this letter toward the very end of his life. Consequently, Paul lays out a map for the church, to set a correct course to finish well. The aim ...