Sunday,
9/28/14 1 Sam 30:6c ...but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God. 1We are responsible to
encourage ourselves. 2If we don’t do ourselves
first, we can’t encourage others. 3For everyone else’s sake,
get yourself straight. (We need you to help us.) Rom
11:5 Even so then at this present time
also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. I believe that there
are far more saved people around us here (at least in the Hammond/Chicago area) than we would think. The
problem is, I believe too many are, 1content
with God saving their soul but they have no desire to live for Him, or, 2they
have reached their ceiling of commitment/growth and therefore will not, under
any circumstances, go higher for Him, or,
3they have too
many areas of their life where God’s will and ways are not welcome (that’s
called “ungodliness”) or, 4they
are getting a substandard spiritual diet because of a corrupt Bible and/or weak
preaching. (None of that describes you, I hope.) But I believe a lot more folks
are saved than we think.
Sunday, 9/21/14 1 Sam 15:2 Thus saith the
Lord of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel... Let God hold a grudge if He deems fit. You
and I aren’t strong enough or holy enough to hold one. Gen 15:1 God said, Fear not Abram; I am thy shield, and thy
exceeding great reward. To us in our sin-full state and carnality, having
“only” God as our reward seems “cheap.” When we get to Heaven, we’ll appreciate
it a lot more.
Sunday,
9/14/14 John 10:21 Others said, These are not the words of him that hath a devil. Can a
devil open the eyes of the blind? In trying to validate Jesus, they asked
if devils could do miracles. YES they can.
1Beware of needing
more than the Bible. 2Beware of things more
spectacular than the Bible. 3There is no higher
authority than the Bible (2 Peter 1:19).
4Miracles alone,
are not proof of godliness, or goodness. How
to be talk like a wise guy. Pro 8:6-9 Hear;
for I will speak of excellent things (noble, princely topics); and the opening of my lips shall be right (just)
things. For my mouth shall speak truth
(uprightness, integrity, justice); and
wickedness (fraud, falsehood) is an
abomination to my lips. All the words of my mouth are in righteousness (straight,
right, just); there is nothing froward (twisted,
crafty, deceitful) or perverse (fraudulent) in them. They are all plain (upright,
just, obvious) to him that understandeth,
and right (just, true) to them that
find knowledge.
Sunday,
8/31/14 John 21:3 Simon Peter saith unto them, I go a fishing. Just a reminder that
we should NEVER make major decisions when we’re ill, depressed, hurried,
confused, overwhelmed, or under prayed. Mark
10:2 And the Pharisees came to him, and
asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? Tempting him. And he
answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? How did Jesus answer a spiritual question?
(Some rules of Bible interpretation) 1He referred back to the
Bible. It’s elementary, but as BIBLE BELIEVING CHRISTIANS, shouldn’t we be very
quick to look at what He’s got to say on any subject? 2He
then used all of the Scripture on a subject. He went beyond their hobby verse.
See what ALL that God says on a topic. 3He then referred back to
the first mention of a doctrine/truth.
Go back to the original intent. 4He then drew proper
conclusions based on what God said.
Sunday, 8/24/14 John 9:5 As long as I am
in the world, I am the light of the world. He’s gone...are you doing His
shining? Are you a little Jesus at home? At work? Behind the wheel? At
Wal-mart? Or, are you a little devil? Of whom are people who watch you more
likely to think: Jesus or Satan? Deut
12:8 Ye shall not do after all the things
that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes. We
all do this a lot. Instead of asking and considering what God wants (WWJD), or
what is best, we eat what we deem right; we drive as we deem right; we
recreate, fornicate, and medicate as we deem best. Our music choices, video choices,
wine, beer, and spirit choices, our church attendance choices, even our divorce
lawyer choices are all as we deem best. Lord have mercy on us.
Sunday, 8/17/14 Matt 4:19 ...follow me,
and I will make you fishers of men. It is absolutely impossible to be
following Christ if you’re not trying to win souls. I don’t care how close you feel or what else you do, if
you’re not fishing, you’re not following. Matt 11:4 Jesus answered and said unto them, Go and shew John again those things
which ye do hear and see. “Tell him again.”
To the doubting, He’ll give the same message again. To the struggling, He’ll
give the same message again. To the rebellious, He’ll give the same message
again. To the indifferent, the bitter, the hurt, or the successful one, He’ll
give the same message again. When you come back to God, whether it’s been years
our just hours since you last came, the Book’ll be the same, the commandments
will be the same, the expectations will be the same, and the love will be the
same.
Sunday,
8/10/14 Ps 119:102 I have not departed from thy judgments: for thou hast taught me.
Don’t settle to just have the pastor or SS teacher or the Bible class
instructor teach you. Let GOD teach you...it’ll stick better. Pro 7:1-4 My son, keep my words and lay up my
commandments with thee. Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple
of thine eye. Bind them upon thy finger, write them upon the tables of thine
heart. Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy
kinswoman. It sounds like we have to really work at keep the Bible close
and having a relationship with It that is profitable. *For most believers, I’m guessing that
consuming about 20x as much Bible as you are currently might put you up to
about “a minimum level” to prevent spiritual starvation. “But I’ve tried
reading it! I’ve been in church for years!!” Well, the problem isn’t with
God...so it is either President Obama’s fault or it’s yours. Change HOW you
read; WHERE you read; and/or WHEN you read the Bible.
Sunday,
8/3/14 Ps 39:2 I was dumb with silence, I held my peace, even from good; and my sorrow
was stirred. NEVER hold back good you could’ve said or good you could’ve
done. Pro
28:1 The wicked flee when no man
pursueth: but the righteous are as bold as a lion. To the degree that we
see ourselves as eternally righteous, and to the degree that we are temporally
confessed and clean, we’ll be bold. Timidity comes from a lack of 1 or both. Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any
beast... And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of
every tree of the garden? Satan’s attack/temptation of Eve: 1Did
God speak? “Really? God said that?!?!” 2He
mischaracterized God’s directives. 3He implied God's
unreasonableness. 4The denial of clear truth. 5The
twisting of truth into a lie.
Sunday, 7/27/14 Ps 33:1 Rejoice in the
Lord, O ye righteous: for praise is comely for the upright. Praise is NOT great, bubbling happiness. In
this verse, the colon means the 2nd half relates to the first half
of the verse. Rejoicing is equivalent to praising God. John
16:1 These things have I spoken unto you,
that ye should not be offended. Leaders (husbands, parents, bosses, SS
teachers, pastors) look and think ahead and foresee what might knock your
followers off kilter and prevent it or prepare them.
Sunday, 7/20/14 Mark 8:29 And
he saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Peter answereth and saith
unto him, Thou art the Christ. All of us like assurance of another’s love.
Those whose friendship you treasure, thank them...TODAY!! Ps 22:1 My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from
helping me, and from the words of my roaring? God has different levels of
intimacy with Him that we may enjoy (friends, Creator, Lord, Saviour, God,
Father, etc.) I had this thought from this verse: even if we blow our life
apart and forfeit all of the others, at the very least, He’ll always be our God
and we have access that way. In other words, you’re never without recourse. Exo
16:8b ...your murmurings are not against
us, but against the Lord. All bitterness and complaining are ultimately
against God, because, somehow we feel that He is wrong in allowing us to be
treated in such a way. Hence, bitterness and complaining are signs of pride: “I
deserve to be treated to a certain level of possessions, treatment, or status.” John 12:42-43 Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but
because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out
of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
CALLING ALL UNDERCOVER BELIEVERS!!!
“Come out!! Come out!! Wherever you are!!”