GIVEN UP TO THEIR OWN WAYS But My people would not listen to Me, and Israel would not obey Me.  So I gave them up to their stubborn hearts to follow their own devices. —Psalm 81:11-12 For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but they became futile in their thinking and darkened in their foolish hearts… Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another. —Romans 1:21, 24 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator, who…

DISOBEDIENCE— IT WILL NOT GO WELL! If you will fear the LORD and serve him and obey his voice and not rebel against the commandment of the LORD, and if both you and the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God, it will be well.  But if you will not obey the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the commandment of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you and your king —I Samuel 12:14-15             America has turned its back on the Lord for the most part.  This nation does not fear the Lord.  Its leaders and its people are largely…

LORD & KING …for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me from being king over them. —I Samuel 8:7             This rejecting of the Lord from being King over Israel is the same problem our world has today.  People in this world do not want Jesus to be their King.  They want someone else or something else or themselves to rule their lives.             Brothers and sisters, those of you who have called on the Name of the Lord, Jesus is our King.  We are His servants.  As His servants we are to serve according to His purposes.  Jesus reigns and we are to yield to the…

LISTEN…  ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant hears.’ —I Samuel 3:9 Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! —Palm 78:1             Do you want to hear His voice?  Are your ears open to what He has to say?  Can you say with Samuel, “Speak, LORD, for your servant hears” and truly have that desire to be His servant, to do what He says when you hear?  Are you open to what He desires to teach you?             If we answer yes to those questions then we need to be ready to be on the move.  He will mature us in various…

SOVEREIGN OVER EVERYDAY LIFE But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the LORD do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” —Ruth 1:16-17 Now these are the generations of Perez: Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Ram, Ram fathered Amminadab, Amminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, Salmon fathered Boaz, Boaz fathered Obed, Obed fathered Jesse, and Jesse fathered David. —Ruth 4:18-21             Our…

THE FEAR OF THE LORD But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused? —Psalm 76:7 And he said to the human race, “The fear of the Lord–that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding.” —Job 28:28 The fear of the LORD is pure, enduring forever… —Psalm19:9 “Then they will call to me but I will not answer; they will look for me but will not find me, since they hated knowledge and did not choose to fear the Lord. —Proverbs 1:28-29 My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom…

LEADERSHIP In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes. —Judges 17:6             A strong godly leader will lead people in the right direction.  One of those leaders in the time of the Judges was Deborah (Judges Chapters 4-5).  She obediently relayed to Barak the Lord’s desire for him to do battle against Sisera.  Barak said to Deborah, “If you will go with me, I will go; but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”  “I will certainly go with you,” Deborah replied, “but the road you are taking will bring you no honor, because the LORD…

HIS WONDERFUL, HOLY NAME! And the angel of the LORD said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?” So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the LORD, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching. And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the LORD went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground. The angel of the LORD appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that…

HE IS LIFE AND THE ONLY WAY! You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.  —Psalm 73:24-25 I can fully trust the Lord God Almighty for His counsel— “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you” (Psalm 32:8).  After all, He is the One who has planned “the race set out for us” (Hebrews 12:1) and we are to “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews…

HE IS WONDERFUL! Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things. Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen! The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. —Psalm 72:18-20             God has done such wondrous things.  Think about some of which He has done.  He created light and separated it from darkness.  He created water, sky, soil, seed, the vast universe, all water life, all winged life, all land life, all mankind, all microscopic life and all macroscopic life.  Not only has He created these things, but He holds all things together so they continue…