LISTEN! Some men brought to him a paralyzed man, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, “Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven.”  At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, “This fellow is blaspheming!”  Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, “Why do you entertain evil thoughts in your hearts? Which is easier: to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up and walk’? But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So he said to the paralyzed man, “Get up, take your mat and go home.” Then the man got up and went home. When…

BE WHAT YOU WANT OTHERS TO BE Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. —Matthew 7:3-5 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. —Matthew…

WORRY NOT! Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? —Matthew 6:27 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. —Matthew 6:34             Worry… Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  No, of course not!  “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”  People worry about all kinds of situations and circumstances that are happening, may happen or are perceived as possible.  Worrying does not accomplish anything other than impact ourselves.  It affects…

EXPECTED TO BEAR FRUIT IN JESUS The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. —Matthew 3:10 Jesus answered, It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ —Matthew 4:4 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” —Matthew 4:19             First, are you producing fruit in your life? — “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and the one who is wise saves lives” (Proverbs 11:30).  Fruit… that includes people responding to…

I BELONG TO JESUS! She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” —Matthew 1:21             The reason Jesus was named Jesus was because “He will save his people from their sins.”  Are you “His people?”  Are you “His.”  In reality, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters” (Psalm 24:1).  So, in one sense all people are His as the Creator and Owner of all.  But, are you His in a relational sense. …

BLESSED OR STIFF-NECKED He (king Zedekiah) became stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel. —II Chronicles 36:13 “Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble” (Proverbs 298:18).  Which are you?  King Zedekiah was “stiff-necked and hardened his heart and would not turn to the Lord, the God of Israel.”  What a dangerous and destructive place to be.  The end of that hard-heartedness and unwillingness to turn to the Lord God Almighty, well, then the end is— “A great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens…

With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles. —II Chronicles 32:8 They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands. —II Chronicles 32:19 And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king.  So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. —II Chronicles 32:21             The Lord our God is our help.  Who can stand against Him?  Who can overpower Him?  He is Sovereign…

TRUST HIM FOR HE PRESENT AND FUTURE AS HE HAS WORKED IN THE PAST True, he struck the rock, and water gushed out, streams flowed abundantly, but can he also give us bread?…  In spite of all this, they kept on sinning; in spite of his wonders, they did not believe…. How often they rebelled against him in the wilderness and grieved him in the wasteland! —Psalm 78:20, 32, 40             We need to remember what God has done and expect that He can do anything He desires.  Nothing is beyond His capabilities… nothing.  Unbelief is sin when it includes rebelling against our Lord.  Let us trust Him with our…

PRIDE’S FATE But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense. —II Chronicles 26:16             Power goes to some people’s heads and they become prideful and do things they shouldn’t.  Pride… “i” is right in the middle of the word.  “I” wants to be the center of attention.  Pride is all about “i”, not others, not God.  Pride will lead to one’s downfall— “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall” (Proverbs 16:18).  When King Uzziah “was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple…

YOU WILL BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah son of Jehoiada the priest. He stood before the people and said, “This is what God says: ‘Why do you disobey the Lord’s commands? You will not prosper. Because you have forsaken the Lord, he has forsaken you.’”  But they plotted against him, and by order of the king they stoned him to death in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple. King Joash did not remember the kindness Zechariah’s father Jehoiada had shown him but killed his son, who said as he lay dying, “May the Lord see this and call you to account.” —II Chronicles 24:20-22 “Woe to you, because you build…