2 Kings 4:6
"And it came to pass, when the vessels were full, that she said unto her son, Bring me yet a vessel. And he said unto her, There is not a vessel more. And the oil stayed."
Two stories are very similar, but they both have very different outcomes. Each story had a man of God. Each story had a widow who was in great need. In each story the widow had some oil, but the outcome of the oil was very different.
Mark 3:5
"And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched it out: and his hand was restored whole as the other."
The heart is the core of every problem. If a person has a heart problem, then their bad heart risks not only the quality of their life, but their life as well. You cannot continually have heart problems without it eventually taking your life. The Word of God shows us three types of heart problems that will hurt the Christian's life.
1 Kings 8:53
"For thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord GOD."
The best day of my life was June 21, 1973. It was a Thursday evening, my father was out soul winning and my mom sat my siblings and I down for family devotions before we went to bed. After devotions and family prayer, I went to my mother and asked her how I could go to Heaven. After sending my brother and sisters to bed, she opened the Scriptures and showed me how to be born again. That night, I knelt beside our couch and received Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. This was the greatest day of my life because my destination went from Hell to Heaven. My relationship with God changed from being lost to being a child of God.
Matthew 10:5
"These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:"
Immediately after establishing the Baptist church, Jesus commanded His disciples to go soul winning. As He commissioned them to go, He then taught them what they were to do as they went. His whole purpose of teaching them was so that the lost sheep could be saved. That is the ultimate desire of Jesus Christ. He wants every person to be saved. There are five important principles you must always follow if you are going to reach the lost sheep of your area.
2 Samuel 13:16
"And she said unto him, There is no cause: this evil in sending me away is greater than the other that thou didst unto me. But he would not hearken unto her."
The story of Tamar is a heart wrenching story. This young lady had kept herself pure. She was the king's daughter and no doubt could have enjoyed pleasure with any young man in her father's kingdom, but she understood that staying pure was of more value than a few minutes of pleasure. Yet, what she tried to protect was destroyed because of her brother Amnon. The heartache that Amnon caused by forcing himself upon his sister was great. This heartache could have been averted if David had set some simple guidelines for his home. Let me give you some principles for your home that will help you to avert the family heartache that David experienced.
Matthew 3:3
"For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight."
John the Baptist is a preacher who is oftentimes lauded for his ministry, yet he would not be welcome in many pulpits today if he were alive. He was not one voice by accident. His preaching was not accepted by the religious leaders of his day. His preaching was pointed and clear. He was direct and called out sin. His attire was not trendy, but out-of-date. He was one voice that was crying in the wilderness, but that one voice led the way for a greater voice, the voice of Jesus Christ.
2 Samuel 6:20
"Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!"
How could Michal move from being a wife who protected her husband from her father's attempt to assassinate him to a wife who disrespected and despised him? This dear lady certainly had a tumultuous relationship with David, but she never really dealt with the fatal mistakes that led her to say what she did to her husband in the verse above. There are four fatal mistakes Michal made that led this marriage to become a marriage that merely existed.