LOVING OTHERS AS OURSELVES And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself. —I Samuel 20:17 Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town. —I Samuel 20:42             Oh, to have a friendship with someone like David did with Jonathan.  They had a loving friendship.  We are told that Jonathan loved David “as he loved himself.”  It is wonderful…

CONFIDENCE TODAY BECAUSE OF WHAT OUR LORD ACCOMPLISHED YESTERDAY For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry…. “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them. —I Samuel 15:23-24 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” —I Samuel 17:36-37 All those gathered here…

LISTEN AND OBEY! I heard an unknown voice say… —Psalm 81:5            I remember very well when “I heard an unknown voice say” to me— “Turn from your evil ways or be condemned forever… and become a priest.”  The voice was like someone screaming at me as loud as you can possibly imagine, yet the voice was gentle.  Below is what followed… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqWYSyDZYIg A LIFE IS CHANGED in February, 1979 By Ted White   I was a junior in High School when my grandfather died.  It was the first funeral that I had ever been to and it shook me to the core.  My Grandfather was a mason, working with…

DO WHAT IS GOOD! If you fear the Lord and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the Lord your God—good! But if you do not obey the Lord, and if you rebel against his commands, his hand will be against you, as it was against your ancestors. —I Samuel 12:14-15             Here is what is good— It is good to fear the Lord, to have a proper attitude toward Him It is good to serve the Lord It is good to obey the Lord It is good to not rebel against the Lord’s…

DON’T LET REJECTION OF OUR LORD DISCOURAGE YOU! And the Lord told him: “Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. —I Samuel 8:7-8             As a messenger of our Lord Jesus, don’t be discouraged when people reject that message.  Know that “it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.”  When they reject the message you bring,…

NO OTHER ROCK! There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God. —I Samuel 2:2 We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. —Psalm 78:4             Our Lord alone is wholly holy.  There is none like Him and “there is no Rock like our God.”  We are to “tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done.”  Oh, Lord God Almighty, may we do so by the power of Your Holy…

REDEEMED BY AND GIVEN GOD’S RIGHTEOUSNESS “May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” —Ruth 2:12 “Who are you?” he asked. “I am your servant Ruth,” she said. “Spread the corner of your garment over me, since you are a guardian-redeemer of our family.” —Ruth 3:9             All who have called on Jesus are “under His wings.”  You, no doubt, heard about the hen that was caught in a barn fire and died.  In the aftermath, as the farmer was walking through the smoldering debris, he saw…

ARE YOU READY? It is you alone who are to be feared.  Who can stand before you when you are angry? —Psalm 76:7             Do you fear God?  That is, do you have a proper perspective on Who He is and your attitude toward Him is one of respect and admiration?  Do you understand that after death you will appear before Him like every other person who has lived on this planet?  Those who are followers of Jesus will appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ to give an account as to how they lived for Jesus (II Corinthians 5:10).  Those who are not followers of Jesus will appear before…

PRAY! In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit. —Judges 17:6 It is God who judges: He brings one down, he exalts another. —Psalm 75:7             When there is no leadership, things can get chaotic with everyone doing as they see fit or what is right in one’s own eyes.  Imagine a society like that where people decide what is right and wrong.  Here in the U.S. we can see how that happens even when there is leadership in place.  Godly leadership would be the answer, but that seems rare among governmental circles.  Praise our Lord for followers of Jesus, brothers and sisters in governmental…

JESUS— CREATOR AND SUSTAINER OF ALL The day is yours, and yours also the night; you established the sun and moon.  It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth; you made both summer and winter. —Psalm 74:16-17 “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.” —Genesis 8:22             Who will you believe?  Will you believe the fear-mongers who purport that climate change will destroy the planet?  Or will you believe the planet will be around until God destroys it? “Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the…