WE ARE GOD’S POSSESSION! For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. —Deuteronomy 7:6 For the LORD has chosen Jacob to be his own, Israel to be his treasured possession. —Psalm 135:4 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. —I Peter 2:9 And you also were included in Christ when you heard the…

LISTEN TO HIM AND LOVINGLY OBEY!  You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I command you… Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children… You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.  You shall walk in all the…

THE IMPACT OF OBEDIENCE AND DISOBEDIENCE And as for your little ones, who you said would become a prey, and your children, who today have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there. And to them I will give it, and they shall possess it. But as for you, turn, and journey into the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea. —Deuteronomy 1:39-40 That night all the members of the community raised their voices and wept aloud. All the Israelites grumbled against Moses and Aaron, and the whole assembly said to them, “If only we had died in Egypt! Or in this wilderness!  Why is the Lord bringing us…

WAIT ON HIM WITH THE GODLY Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man? The steadfast love of God endures all the day. Your tongue plots destruction, like a sharp razor, you worker of deceit. You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking what is right. Selah  You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.  But God will break you down forever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah  The righteous shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, saying,  “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of…

REPENTANCE Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin!  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment…. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me…  The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise —Psalm 51:1-4, 10, 17            …

YOU ARE KNOWN! For every beast of the forest is Mine — the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird in the mountains, and the creatures of the field are Mine. —Psalm 50:10-11        Think of it!  In America many people have a pet of one sort or another.  It might be a dog or cat or it could be goldfish or hamster.  Just that one pet is enough to feed and take care of.  God takes care of all the living on the earth!        It is estimated that Americans will spend $70 billion on their pets this year “which is more than the combined GDP of the 39…

REDEEMED! No man can possibly redeem his brother or pay his ransom to God.  For the redemption of his soul is costly,  and never can payment suffice, that he should live on forever and not see decay… But God will redeem my life from Sheol, for He will surely take me to Himself. —Psalm 49:7-9, 15             Sin is a serious matter.  It is an eternal matter.  There is eternal life and there is eternal death.  Every person is an eternal person.  Each of us will spend eternity in heaven or hell.  To reject what God has done for us through Jesus is to condemn oneself forever in hell.  We…

A SURE GUIDE! For this God is our God forever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end. —Psalm 48:14 I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will give you counsel and watch over you. —Psalm 32:8 Think about Him in all your ways, and He will guide you on the right paths. —Proverbs 3:5-6 Looking steadfastly on Jesus the leader and completer of faith. —Hebrews 12:2             Fellow follower of Jesus we have His promise that He will lead us and be with us to the end of the age (Matthew 28:30).  He is our Guide right to the end of…

THE ONLY STAR I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near.  A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel…  A ruler will come out of Jacob… —Numbers 24:17, 19 The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. —Genesis 49:10 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star when…

OUR REFUGE AND STRENGTH God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in times of trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth is transformed and the mountains are toppled into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake in the surge. —Psalm 46:1-3 Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted over the earth.” —46:10             I was talking with a dear brother yesterday.  He and his wife are going through such a difficult time as they watch their daughter recuperate from a traumatic situation.  As we talked we…