GOD’S PERFECT OBEDIENCE Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself… —I Samuel 15:12 And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel. —I Samuel 15:35 For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. —I Samuel 16:7 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple. —Luke 14:27 Carrying your cross… what does that mean? The cross was a terrible execution instrument for criminals and yet this was the primary work Jesus came to accomplish. He was totally selfless as He…

FEAR, WORSHIP AND LISTEN “Now if you fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the Lord’s commands, then both you and your king will show that you recognize the Lord as your God. But if you rebel against the Lord’s commands and refuse to listen to him, then his hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors.” —I Samuel 12:14-15 “Those who don’t know history are doomed to repeat it.” ― Edmund Burke In the above passage the Israelites were to remember what happened to their ancestors when they rebelled “against the Lord’s commands and…

DEPEND ON GOD FOR NEEDS “Do everything they say to you,” the Lord replied, “for it is me they are rejecting, not you. They don’t want me to be their king any longer.” —I Samuel 8:7 The Israelites were rejecting God as their king and wanted a king like the other nations around them. Instead of being dependent on the Lord God Almighty they were going to become dependent on a human king even though they were warned about what that king would do. “This is how a king will reign over you,” Samuel said. “The king will draft your sons and assign them to his chariots and his charioteers,…

TREASURE Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. —Luke 12:34 What do you treasure? Where is your treasure? Are you focusing on the material or the spiritual? Is your focus on those temporary things that will pass away or is it on the eternal that will have eternal impact? Your heart will be where the focus of your treasure is! Again, what do you treasure? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYxJc0PTXiY “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Mark 8:36-37). Do you understand how valuable you are to God? If you do not,…

WORRY NOT! Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? And if worry can’t accomplish a little thing like that, what’s the use of worrying over bigger things? —Luke 12:25-26 What are you worrying about? Jesus said that all the things a person worries about cannot “add a single moment to your life.” So why are you worrying? Worry does not accomplish anything positive. If I truly understand that worry does not accomplish anything and that I am safe and secure in Jesus— why should I worry? It is a joy to know that I am in relationship with the One Who created all things and that…

DON’T DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN YOUR OWN EYES In those days Israel had no king; all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes. —Judges 21:25 Imagine a people, tribe or nation that is doing what they believe to be right “in their own eyes.” Imagine what that would look like on the roadways with no signs, no rules, no laws and everyone could drive as they desired. Imagine what chaos and destruction that would bring. So to in any area. In the area of abortion there are those who think (I think) they are doing what is right. But that is what they are thinking according…

ONE THING TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only…

GO INTO THE LORD’S HARVEST FIELDS AND WORK! The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields. —Luke 10:2 The workers in the harvest fields are few. Who is in charge of the harvest? The Lord is and so therefore we are to ask Him to send more workers into His fields. He is in charge of the harvest. The fields are His. We need to be praying that He will send more workers into His fields to work in the great harvest. Workers that work in the field…

FOLLOW JESUS As they were walking along, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.” He said to another person, “Come, follow me.” The man agreed, but he said, “Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.” But Jesus told him, “Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead!l Your duty is to go and preach about the Kingdom of God.” Another said, “Yes, Lord, I will follow you, but first let me say good-bye to my family.” But…

LISTEN TO HIM! “This is my Son, my Chosen One. Listen to him.” —Luke 9:35 Listen to Him! It is what He has to say that is important and should be our top priority. This next Sunday is Palm Sunday. We will look at “What would you do if you knew you had one week to live?” Then we are going to look at what Jesus did with His last week before He was crucified. “He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the…