Y0U ARE DEAD OR ALIVE… The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them! –Psalms 136:15-18 Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one. —I Corinthians 8:4             Nations, tribes and peoples come up with all kinds of idols to worship, but “there is no God…

FLOURISHING Blessed is everyone who fears the LORD, who walks in his ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the LORD. —Psalms 128:1-4             Every person who “fears the Lord” — Will walk in His ways Will eat of the labor of their hands Will be blessed Will be well with them Will have a wife like a fruitful vine Will have children like olive shoots This…

I TRUST MY LORD TO HELP ME! Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. —Psalms 124:8 Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. —Psalms 127:1             Now that is a plain statement of fact— “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.”  Do you acknowledge this or are you going about trying to live in your own strength?  Not sure about you, but I want the help of Him who created heaven and earth.  Now that is real power, real authority.  If I am not listening to the Lord but seeking…

DON’T BE DECEIVED— THE UNRIGHTEOUS WILL NOT ENTER THE KINGDOM OF GOD! I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. —Psalm 121:1-2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=40wYfjv6yt8 Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ…

  DOUBLE-MINDED = UNSTABLE IN ALL THEIR WAYS! Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. —Psalms 119:105 I hate the double-minded, but I love your law. —Psalms 119:113 Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. —Psalms 119:133 The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever. —Psalms 119:160 Great peace have those who love your law; nothing can make them stumble. —Psalms 119:165 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the…

BE A FAITHFUL IMITATOR OF JESUS! Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.  —Psalms 119:89 Do not go beyond what is written. —I Corinthians 4:6 Therefore I urge you to imitate me. —I Corinthians 4:16 Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ. —I Corinthians 11:1             I am not going to trust the fleeting faithfulness or deception of man’s word.  People can just speak words and expect you to take it at face value as if they are speaking truth.  Unfortunately, as we live in a sinful and fallen world, there are many intentional deceivers, speaking words they do not really mean.             How…

WE RECEIVED THE SPIRIT OF GOD What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. —I Corinthians 2:12             We have not received the “spirit of the world.”  That “spirit of the world” is “The god of this age” who “has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (II Corinthians 4:4).  All those who have this “spirit of world” are under the “power of Satan” (Acts 26:18) and are in the…

GOD’S CHOICE! But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” —I Corinthians 1:27-31             Who has God chosen or who does He choose?  It is—    The…

THE FEAR OF THE LORD The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever! —Psalm 111:10             If a person does not “fear the Lord,” then can they be wise?  No, not according to godly wisdom.  When a person does not have a right perspective on our Lord then “the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (I Corinthians 1:18).  Pretty easy to know whether a person is living according to godly wisdom or worldly wisdom.  It comes down…

CRY OUT TO JESUS! Some sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, prisoners in affliction and in irons, for they had rebelled against the words of God, and spurned the counsel of the Most High. —Psalm 107:10-11 Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. —Psalm 107:17-18 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. —Psalm 107:28 Whoever is wise, let him attend to these things; let them consider the steadfast love of the LORD. —Psalm 107:43             Rebellion against our…