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…

JUDGMENT!  And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord.— Judges 2:11; 3:7; 3:12; 4:1; 6:1; 10:6; 13:1 So they were seeking to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come. —Luke 7:30             It is surely true that God is love (I John 4:8). God loves, but God also hates sin (Proverbs 6:16-19). God is also compassionate, merciful and patient (Psalm 86:15; II Peter 3:9). But God’s Holy Spirit “will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:  about sin, because people do not believe in me; about righteousness,…

THE LACK OF WITNESS AND DISCIPLESHIP RESULTS And the people served the LORD all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the LORD had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD or the work that he had…

FEAR NOT DEATH! After these things Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being 110 years old Joshua 24:29             Death… comes to us all! Adam died.   Noah died. Abraham died. Joseph died.   Moses died and now Joshua died.   And you and I will die.             Today many people are fearful that they may get this corona virus and die.   Listen, about 150,000 people die every day across this earth. How much do you hear about that? Here’s what I read— 151,600 people die each day 6,316 people die each hour 105 people die each minute Nearly two people die each second…

OUR GOD KEEPS HIS PROMISES! Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass. —Joshua 21:45 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x8TZiwPGa0 (one of my favorite songs!)             Ever have a parent make a promise to you when you were a child and then did not keep it? Ever have an employer make a promise and then did not keep it? Ever have a teacher that made a promise and then did not keep it?   Ever have a relative make a promise and then did not keep it? Ever have a friend that made a promise and then did not…

BE A FRIEND OF SINNERS! After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his house, and there was a large company of tax collectors and others reclining at table with them. And the Pharisees and their scribes grumbled at his disciples, saying, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?” And Jesus answered them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to…