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…

BE FISHERMEN! Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled…

LEARN YOUR LESSON AND DO IT! And when it was day, he departed and went into a desolate place. And the people sought him and came to him, and would have kept him from leaving them, but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.” And he was preaching in the synagogues of Judea. —Luke 4:42-44             Jesus was in a desolate place by Himself, but He was not going to stay there.   He was sent with a purpose and that purpose was to “preach the good news of the kingdom…

OUR HOPE IS IN THE LORD! Then Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days He was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He was hungry. The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.” But Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’” Then the devil led Him up to a high place and showed Him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world.  “I will give You authority over all these…

SEEK HIS FACE! So the men took some of their provisions, but did not ask counsel from the LORD. —Joshua 9:14             The Gibeonites knew they were in trouble and would be destroyed by the Israelites as the Lord commanded. So they deceived the Israelites into thinking they were from a distant land and not one of the nations the Israelites were to destroy.   “And Joshua made peace with them and made a covenant with them, to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore to them” (Joshua 9:3-15). Before doing this they “did not ask counsel of the Lord.”             How about us? Do we ask counsel…

GROWTH And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. —Luke 2:52 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8-lxkTC47g            Wow, to think that the Lord of glory took on a body (Hebrews 10:5) and went through the growth process of any ordinary person.  Yet He was far from being any ordinary man (John 5:18).  Still, we are told that Jesus, just like people do, grew mentally and physically.  But Jesus also grew “in favor with God and man.”             Hopefully we are growing in wisdom.  These days we are in will help us do that if we have the right attitude and desire.  Our world is being affected by this corona…

A MERCIFUL CHOICE In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him…

  JESUS— OUR LIGHT AND PEACE And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke 1:76-79 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZc8fRRBXbM             John was the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ. He was to prepare the way of the Lord” (Luke 3:4). He would tell of how…

THE LORD IS WITH YOU  It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. —Deuteronomy 31:8 See now that I, even I, am he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand. —Deuteronomy 32:39             See? Our Lord will not leave us nor forsake us! We do not need to be distressed, distraught, troubled, anxious, disturbed or worried. Are you feeling any of that? As followers of Jesus we are encouraged…