Good God, Y'all!

Oftentimes when we have a need, we easily forget that not only is God able to meet that need, He's also willing. Not only does He say He'll meet our every need, it is impossible for Him to lie and not follow through. Here's a few verses we can go back to when we need reminded that God always has our back:

John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

God's so committed to us that He allowed His own son to be sacrificed for our sake. Would you sacrifice your own son or daughter for me? Didn't think so.

Psalms 12:6
The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.

In many ways, what we say defines who we are. God is no different, and His words are pure -- Without darkness or blemish.

Psalm 119:160
Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.

God's Word was true at the beginnings of the earth, and it remains true today and for all of eternity.

Hebrews 6:18
That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

It is impossible for God to lie. All He says He'll do for us, He's gonna do!

Numbers 23:19
God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

In case you missed it the first time, God cannot lie.

Malachi 3:6
For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.

Sure, God said way back then that He's our sufficiency in all things, but maybe He's different now than He was before. No. No, He's not. God doesn't change.

Just think about all the awesome things God did for Abraham and Moses and Esther. They were only His servants, and we're His kids! How much more do you think He willing to do for us?

Psalms 138:2
I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

When we need to know what God will do for us, all we have to do is go to His Word, the bible. It is as faithful as He is. We know this because He magnified it above His very name!

- God Bless -

Notes Scripture Index Spreadsheet

I'm sure most of you are familiar with a scripture index. It's a reference for a biblical publication that lists the verses used in that publication, usually in the order they appear in your bible, with the page number(s) that particular verse appears on next to each verse. This allows you to easily look up a particular verse in that publication.

Well, there have been many times that I was working on a teaching and came across a verse and thought to myself, "I remember hearing a really good teaching on this verse, but I can't remember where." For just such cases, I wrote a simple Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet that allows me to log the verses I've recorded in my notes of people's teachings.

You can download my spreadsheet here. I even left some verses in there as an example of how to use it.

When I go back to study my notes from a particular teaching, I first record the page the teaching started on, the type of meeting (Such as Bible Fellowship), the title/subject of the teaching, the author, and the date the teaching was on, in the Page # Ref sheet. Then, as I review the teaching, I record the book, chapter, verse, and page number of the teaching. As I record the verses, my spreadsheet gives me a link to the verse on Blue Letter Bible, sparing me much page-flippery.

In the future, when I'm working on a teaching or find a verse I want to find out more about, all I have to do is break out my trusty spreadsheet and my notebook. To get the spreadsheet sorted as they appear in your bible, click on the down-arrow next to the Chapter column header, and select "Sort Ascending". Next, do the same for the Verse column, and then the B# column (the grey-colored column furthest to the right. This represents the order in which that book occurs in your bible.) This will cause your sheet to be sorted by B#, then Chapter, then Verse. As you've probably already figured out, you can use these little arrows to also filter down to the verse you're interested in.

Don't forget to write the page # into your notebook! I like to write the page #'s down as I record the pages in my index, so I can quickly see if I have notes which I have not yet recorded.

I've recently filled up a notebook with notes, and am about to start another. I figure I'll probably start listing the page numbers as pages 2001, 2002, etc. so I know they're in book 2.

If you find this spreadsheet useful, or have any questions on using it, please feel free to leave a comment or drop me a line!

If you missed the link for the spreadsheet, here is it again!

- God Bless -