HEART’S FOCUS And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods.  And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up…

LIFE AND DEATH ARE IN GOD’S HANDS The LORD kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up. The LORD makes poor and makes rich; he brings low and he exalts.  —I Samuel 2:6-7 If someone sins against a man, God will mediate for him, but if someone sins against the LORD, who can intercede for him?” But they would not listen to the voice of their father, for it was the will of the LORD to put them to death. —I Samuel 2:25 And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his…

THE SIGN OF JONAH For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation. The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here. The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. —Luke 11:30-32 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the…

LISTEN TO GOD’S WORD, NOT YOUR OWN! In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. —Judges 21:28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.” —Luke 11:28             Here’s the whole crux of the matter! Who will you obey? Will you just heed to your own selfish thoughts or listen to what God says and obey Him? Do you seek to be guided by yourself who is so limited in knowledge? There are those who think they “know it all” and in reality you can take the smartest person on the planet and they know very little when…

LOVE FOR GOD AND NEIGHBOR ARE INSEPERABLE! And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from…

YOUR NAME WRITTEN DOWN IN HEAVEN! Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” —Luke 10:20              Is your name written down in heaven?   “The one who is victorious will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels” (Revelation 3:5).  “They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” (Revelation 12:11).…

FOCUS AHEAD! Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. —Luke 9:62 “Remember Lot’s wife!” (Luke 17:32). She looked back and it cost her her life. “But we are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:38).   Consider those times you passed by a garden or a large field that was just planted.   What did the rows look like? More than likely they were straight rows. Now imagine going by a large field with most of the rows nice…

LISTEN AND OBEY! Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, “Send the crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.” But he said to them, “You give them something to eat.” They said, “We have no more than five loaves and two fish—unless we are to go and buy food for all these people.” For there were about five thousand men. And he said to his disciples, “Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.” And they did so, and had them all sit down. And taking the…

GOD IS SOVEREIGN OVER ALL! And God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and the leaders of Shechem, and the leaders of Shechem dealt treacherously with Abimelech, —Judges 9:23 And God also made all the evil of the men of Shechem return on their heads, and upon them came the curse of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal. —Judges 9:57  And they went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we are perishing!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the raging waves, and they ceased, and there was a calm. He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then…

OUR LORD GIVES THE VICTORY! And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.” And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” —Judges 6:14-16 But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon… —Judges 6:34             Gideon was in a winepress threshing wheat to hide it from the Midianites so they would not…