THE ONLY HOPE TO CHANGE EVIL HEARTS And when the LORD smelled the pleasing aroma, the LORD said in his heart, “I will never again curse the ground because of man, for the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.” —Genesis 8:21             Man is not naturally good.  Worldly philosophies may promote this, but they are absolutely wrong.  We are told here by our Lord that “the intention of man’s heart is evil from his youth.”  On the contrary, man has an evil, sinful nature.  Who will you believe?  This is easily seen among young children.  We have an early learning center and it is interesting to watch…

GOD JUDGED WORLD-WIDE ONCE, HE IS GOING TO DO IT AGAIN! In the course of time Cain brought to the LORD an offering of the fruit of the ground, and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the LORD had regard for Abel and his offering, 5 but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. 6 The LORD said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for…

PARADISE LOST… THEN FOUND… God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day. —Genesis 1:31 The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” —Genesis 2:15-17 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the…

SO IT IS SAID, SO IT WILL BE DONE! Have we not all one Father? Has not one God created us? —Malachi 2:10 Then once more you shall see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve him. —Malachi 3:18 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. —Revelation 22:3 Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay everyone for what he has done. —Revelation 22:12 Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers…

ETERNITY IN VIEW Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  —Revelation 21:1 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”   And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. —Revelation 21:5 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers,…

OUR LORD DOES WHAT HE SAYS HE WILL DO The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel: Thus declares the LORD, who stretched out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the spirit of man within him. –-Zechariah 12:1 …and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever…. Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was…

DIAMOND HARD HEARTS OF DESTRUCTIVE! “Thus says the LORD of hosts, Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another, do not oppress the widow, the fatherless, the sojourner, or the poor, and let none of you devise evil against another in your heart.” —Zechariah 7:9-10 They made their hearts diamond-hard lest they should hear the law and the words that the LORD of hosts had sent by his Spirit through the former prophets. Therefore, great anger came from the LORD of hosts. —Zechariah 7:12             Here is what the right thing to do is from our Lord’s perspective— Render true judgments— Imagine if true and just judgments were taking…

FRUITFULNESS THROUGH LOVING OBEDIENCE Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts. —Zechariah 4:6   And this shall come to pass, if you will diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God. ——Zechariah 6:15             What God says He will do, He will do.  He says to us— “If you love me, keep my commands… Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to…

GOD DOES GET ANGRY… FOR THE RIGHT REASONS… The LORD was very angry with your fathers. —Zechariah 1:2             People typically want to think of the love of God and rightly so.  He is a loving God.  But… He is also a God who can be angry.  This is not a sinful anger like man exhibits so often in perversion.  God’s anger is a righteous anger— angry over the right things at the right time for the right reason.  His anger is against sin and sinful activity.             In Contrast, man’s anger is usually self-centered and not against that which is sinful.  Are there things that should make us angry? …

STIR OUR SPIRITS, OH LORD, TO FINISH YOUR WORK! And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. And they came and worked on the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, on the twenty-fourth day of the month, in the sixth month, in the second year of Darius the king. —Haggai 1:14-15             Oh, how we need our Lord God Almighty to have people that He has “stirred up the spirit of” to do His will.  Oh, may He stir…