Showing results by author "Rick Noyes" in All Categories

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 ...

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...

I believe for the people of God that settling of the safety of the status quo leaves us immature and weak. I think that is why God has employed the tool of change to keep us going on toward maturity. 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 the whole book. I subtitled this study guide When everything changes again 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. It is for this...

Are you tired of all the promised changes, of all the band-aids solutions for the brokenness within you and in the world, of all the rhetoric that is just the same old lies packaged in a new way. Do you long for real change? Do you ever wonder how just one person could possibly make a difference when you cannot even make a difference in your own life? Do you want a revolution that will tear it all down and start over? Then become a revolutionary. Take up God’s plan and purpose for you to experience and see real change in you and those around you.

God used prophets to reach His people throughout history. I hope this study has you wondering as do I, if we could not use a few more prophets today to call the people of God back from where they are presently. It you find yourself longing for a change from the reality that surrounds us today and the same old status quo, then perhaps you have the heart of a prophet.

I think there is a resistance within me when it comes to giving God my all, even when I know that is the right thing to do. Since the error of my way is comfortable and familiar, even when God’s blessing is withheld, I want to pretend it is for reasons other than me. In order to break this same type of resistance by the nation Israel, God uses two men to speak to the nation on His behalf. They were the prophets Haggai and Zechariah. I wonder if these two prophets can’t light our own path back to where God wants us to be in life, to understand what He wants us to do here and now. If you ...

Have you ever had your life suddenly become a trainwreck? Maybe from a sudden death, a divorce, a turnaround in financial fortunes, a job loss, a bad diagnosis, or any other multitude of things that can happen, which can take a person by surprise, leaving them feeling devastated and broken. I would like to suggest that this book of the Bible was written for just such times. Right now, it seems that our world is turned upside-down. Many people are experiencing a loss of the familiar and face the uncertainty of what is to come. Historically, Daniel lived during the time when Jeremiah ...

The grace of God should always be the focal point of our freedom in Messiah. When we lose sight of that, we are in danger and may well find that ourselves trading away our freedom for that of a performance-based approach to God. Please don’t let that be you. The Apostle Paul wants us to enjoy what God has done for us in the person and work of His Son, so we might be known by Him and know Him. The letter to the Galatian churches is our declaration of independence for the church even today.

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 ...

Lately a verse from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Ephesian church has been rattling around in my mind. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Rarely do I consider the grief of God when I think about grief and yet there it is in that verse. It is an oddity for me to think about God experiencing grief and yet the apostle makes it clear that He does. The other perplexity that verse reveals is that I can be a key factor in bringing grief to the Lord of my life.

Enduring faith in the God of the Word brings glory to God, no matter if the outcome is what we had hoped for or not. You know there are those who look at faith as a kind of currency. Believe and receive is a popular concept today among many, who view faith as their penny to put into God’s gumball machine. All they have to do to claim the prize, is to use their penny of faith and turn the handle by confessing their sincerity. That is not Biblical enduring faith. Biblical enduring faith waits patiently when life’s circumstances don’t match up to expectations, and looks to a future hope ...

Do you think the American church today is flourishing or is something else happening? Before you answer that question, I suggest that you do as I did and ask the people you know in and out of the church their assessment of the church today. If you do, I think you might find your view of reality challenged as did I. This little book is meant to challenge your thinking and awaken you to the problems that go unseen or unaddressed today in Christian circles. I think you will find it thought provoking at the least.

This study guide is going to emphasize a method for developing your abilities to do your own inductive Bible study. My desire is not so much to instruct concerning the letter to the Ephesians, although you will get that as I share my discoveries with you from doing the study together, but to teach you how to learn on your own from the Bible without having to be taught from anyone but the Spirit of God, who will lead you into all truth (John 16:13).

Have you ever longed for justice, desiring for a wrong to be righted or inequality to be avenged? I often think I am prone to desire justice, if justice does not hold me personally accountable. When it comes to justice, I rarely think about God dispensing justice, because after all that is somewhere in the future right? This study of the book of Ezekiel challenges my own thinking about justice by examining when God demands justice. If God’s justice were happening right now, would the scope of that interest you? Maybe it should.

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?

The book of Jeremiah was written in a time when God’s people had abandoned their God for their own plan and purpose. That happened while the religious traditions of worship were still happening in Jerusalem. It was time similar to that of our own, when the nation and even the church pays lip service to God, but hearts are far from Him. This ancient prophecy is road sign for us today point the direction back to God for both the nation and the church. I hope you will join me in this Bible study, which speaks to the time when no one will listen.

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.

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 ...

I invite you into the process I use to dig out just what God has for me in this letter from Paul, so that you too may know the satisfaction of finding God’s Spirit is sufficient in illuminating His Word to your mind and applying it to your heart and life, unlike the spoon-feeding that most books on Romans provide. It is when we engage the Word of God through the Spirit of God that we will find our lives are changed as He conforms us the image of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God is found in the gospel and the gospel is the theme of Paul’s letter to the Romans. It is power ...

The church is called to live for the will of God, but in reality I think that very few people know God’s will, let alone live for it. Do you want to own God’s will as your own? Then do something about it. Become a faithful student of God’s Word, in the classroom of the Spirit of God by joining with me in this study of the book of Ezra and His will can become your own.