New year resolutions

As the year closes out many are preparing for a better new year, looking forward too a better tomorrow making resolutions and hoping to see a brighter future than the days they just came through.

Some of us will make resolutions to loose weight, be financially free, get in better shape, finish our education, the list is endless on the things people resolve too do year after year. While it is grand to have goals and to work at them our goals should not be just about us.

I would challenge each of us too make a resolution that we are unable too do on our own, that without God’s help we will definitely fail.

The 1st part of that resolution would be this.

Love the LORD your GOD with all your heart, your soul and your mind. And love your neighbor as yourself.

This  will take God’s help for us too seek Him and lay aside our agenda daily.

To love God this way means we need to seek Him in prayer, in His word, in fellowship, in how we work, rest, and play, in our relationship with others, how we serve Him, how we live our lives moment by moment, responding to whatever comes our way in faith, living in His truths and walking in His ways, doing all things to bring glory to His name.

And then to love our neighbors as ourselves, this means that if someone has a need and your able to help them you should, starting with caring for their soul. 

If you’re up for the challenge to lay aside selfish ambitions and pray to God to renew your soul and let Him do great works in you and through you this year will be the grandest year of your life.

Be the light that shines through the darkness this new year, be the beacon of hope people need to see. In an age where everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes, let them see God’s grace, hope,peace and love in us.

““You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.”

Matthew 5:14-16 CSB

“He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.”

Matthew 22:37-40 CSB

“He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.”

2 Timothy 1:9 CSB

Whose life is it anyway?

If Jesus is not the desire of your heart you're serving the wrong god.

I was in sales for 25 years, 15 without God during that time I was asked what would I consider to be enough money to make in a month, easy I said 50 thousand without blinking an eye.

You see I once walked with the world, I had great hunger for wealth , the same thirst for power and same desires as the world has. I had everything the world could offer, I was empty inside , lonely fearful of losing it all , I had no peace, was filled with anger.

This is what I know now, nothing the world has can satisfy the soul of mankind for everything the world offers is dying, falling apart , covered in moths and rusting.

Only what God offers through a relationship with Jesus Christ can satisfy mankind's soul eternally.

God changed everything through Christ in my life, the same He will do for you. Come broken to be mended, come sick to be healed , come as you are and be made new in Jesus.

If you do not know Him, you're an empty vessel looking to be filled, don't fall for satanic imitations offered in the guise of religion, there is only one way to God through Jesus.

If you say you know Jesus and are not seeking Him you're serving the wrong god, if Jesus Christ is not the desire of your heart then stop now and repent

But I have this against you: You have abandoned the love you had at first.  Remember then how far you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. Otherwise, I will come to you   and remove your lampstand from its place — unless you repent.

Revelation 2:4‭-‬5 HCSB

So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What will we wear? ’ For the idolaters   eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first the kingdom of God    and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided for you.

Matthew 6:31‭-‬33 HCSB

The earth and everything in it, the world and its inhabitants, belong to the Lord ; for He laid its foundation on the seas and established it on the rivers. Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord ? Who may stand in His holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not set his mind on what is false, and who has not sworn deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord , and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.  Selah

Psalms 24:1‭-‬6 HCSB

For the Lord says to the house of Israel: Seek Me and live!

Amos 5:4 HCSB

“But seek His kingdom, and these things will be provided for you.   Don’t be afraid, little flock, because your Father delights to give you the kingdom.   Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Make money-bags for yourselves that won’t grow old, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Luke 12:31‭-‬34 HCSB

Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will find it.  What will it benefit a man if he gains the whole world yet loses his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life?   For the Son of Man is going to come with His angels in the glory of His Father, and then He will reward each according to what he has done.

Matthew 16:24‭-‬27 HCSB

Be Thankful

Things in life seem to never go as we think they should, our children don't always do as we desire, our jobs don't always go as planned, our drive to work and back home seem to get longer, food prices are up, heating prices are up, keeping up with all the bills that seem to come each month is stressful and disheartening.

Now when you look back at the paragraph above, look at all the things God has blessed us with. We always seem to see the negatives of our daily lives, and miss the power of God working for us and in us.

If we have children, a home, a job, a vehicle to get back and forth with, if we can buy groceries, have heat, water and electricity, if we have an income coming in, we should be thankful. The very fact you can read this means you're still alive.

This Thanksgiving let us give God thanks and praise for all that He has given us, not dwell on the negatives as everyone else, but be grateful for God's providence,love,mercy and grace that He pours out and over our lives.

Psalm 107:1
Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

Psalm 100:4
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.

Psalm 50:14
Offer to God thanksgiving, And pay your vows to the Most High.

Psalm 95:2
Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving; Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

Psalm 107:2
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.

Psalm 116:12-14
What shall I render to the LORD For all His benefits toward me? I will take up the cup of salvation, And call upon the name of the LORD. I will pay my vows to the LORD Now in the presence of all His people.

Philippians 4:6
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.

Hebrews 13:15
Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name

That's my King

The Bible says my King is the King of the Jews.
He's the King of Israel.
He's the King of righteousness.
He's the King of the ages.
He's the King of Heaven.
He's the King of glory.
He's the King of Kings,
and He's the Lord of lords.

My King is a sovereign King.
No means of measure can define his limitless love.
He's enduringly strong. He's entirely sincere.
He's eternally steadfast. He's immortally graceful.
He's imperially powerful. He's impartially merciful.

He's the greatest phenomenon that has ever crossed the horizon of this world.
He's God's Son. He's the sinner's Savior. He's the peak of civilization.
He's unparalleled. He's unprecedented. He is the loftiest idea in literature.
He's the highest personality in philosophy.
He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology.
He's the only one qualified to be an all-sufficient Savior.

He supplies strength for the weak.
He's available for the tempted and the tried.
He sympathizes and He saves.
He strengthens and sustains.
He guards and He guides.
He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers.
He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors.
He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble.
He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate.
He regards the aged.
He rewards the diligent, and He beautifies the meager.

He's the key to knowledge.
He's the wellspring of wisdom.
He's the doorway of deliverance.
He's the pathway of peace.
He's the roadway of righteousness.
He's the highway of holiness.
He's the gateway of glory.

Well, His light is matchless.
His goodness is limitless.
His mercy is everlasting.
His love never changes.
His word is enough.
His grace is sufficient.
His reign is righteous,
and His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
I wish I could describe Him to you.
Yes, He's indescribable. He's incomprehensible.
He's invincible. He's irresistible.
You can't get Him out of your mind.
You can't get Him off of your head.
You can't outlive Him, and you can't live without Him.

Well, the Pharisees couldn't stand Him,
but they found out they couldn't stop Him.
Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him.
Herod couldn't kill Him.
Death couldn't handle Him,
and the grave couldn't hold Him. I wonder if you know Him?
If you don't His name is Jesus!

I Corinthians 15:1-8, 20-22

Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time. But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.

That's My King. From Dr, Lockridge,

JOY

A wise old man once saw a lovely and happy young wife and said, "I would love to meet your husband. He must be very special because I can see it on your face." The Bible explains: A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken (Proverbs 15:13). We should remember the Bible says the fruit of the Spirit is joy (Galatians 5:22). Happy homes are healthy homes.

Much can be said about a happy home. God's Word says laughter is medicine: A merry heart does good, like medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones (Proverbs 17:22). The mandate from Scripture puts the responsibility for joyful family life on both the husband and wife. Our homes are to be refuges of happiness, not battlegrounds of sorrow.

God's Word insists that husbands live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your vain life which He has given you under the sun, all your days of vanity; for that is your portion in life, and in the labor which you perform under the sun (Ecclesiastes 9:9). It is important we not just endure our husband-wife relationship but that we bring joy to it. This is urgent, because the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10).

We would like to thank Bible Discovery TV for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: www.biblediscoverytv.com

Psalms 119 : 1How happy are those whose way is blameless,

who live according to the Lord’s instruction!

2Happy are those who keep His decrees

and seek Him with all their heart.

3They do nothing wrong;

they follow His ways.

4You have commanded that Your precepts

be diligently kept.

5If only my ways were committed

to keeping Your statutes!

6Then I would not be ashamed

when I think about all Your commands.

7I will praise You with a sincere heart

when I learn Your righteous judgments.

8I will keep Your statutes;

never abandon me.

בBet

9How can a young man keep his way pure?

By keeping Your word.

10I have sought You with all my heart;

don’t let me wander from Your commands.

11I have treasured Your word in my heart

so that I may not sin against You.

12Lord, may You be praised;

teach me Your statutes.

13With my lips I proclaim

all the judgments from Your mouth.

14I rejoice in the way revealed by Your decrees

as much as in all riches.

15I will meditate on Your precepts

and think about Your ways.

16I will delight in Your statutes;

I will not forget Your word.

ג

Stay True

As the years wear on, some are tempted to stray from the marriage fold to seek other relationships. This is disastrous and always destructive. God's Word says directly to husbands: Drink water from your own cistern, And running water from your own well. Should your fountains be dispersed abroad, Streams of water in the streets? Let them be only your own, And not for strangers with you. Let your fountain be blessed, And rejoice with the wife of your youth. As a loving deer and a graceful doe, Let her breasts satisfy you at all times; And always be enraptured with her love (Proverbs 5:15-19).

In his comprehensive study on pornography, Steven Marcus of Columbia University says man's appetite for pornography is insatiable. It simply can never be satisfied. The makers of X-rated films are always seeking more taboos to break. Any immoral relationship, however innocent it might start, never satisfies. The Bible wisely tells us to avoid these involvements and keep ourselves true to our wives. When we refuse to betray the marriage bed, there comes a deepening of relationship that goes far beyond anything we might have given up. Adultery always shatters and, almost always, shatters permanently.

It is important to remember God charges the husband with the responsibility of keeping his home pure. Man is to have a unique and special relationship with one God and one mate. We should always remember that adultery is not wrong because it is in the Bible--it is in the Bible because it is wrong!

Proverbs 6 : 20My son, keep your father’s command,

and don’t reject your mother’s teaching.

21Always bind them to your heart;

tie them around your neck.

22When you walk here and there, they will guide you;

when you lie down, they will watch over you;

when you wake up, they will talk to you.

23For a command is a lamp, teaching is a light,

and corrective discipline is the way to life.

24They will protect you from an evil woman,

from the flattering tongue of a stranger.

25Don’t lust in your heart for her beauty

or let her captivate you with her eyelashes.

26For a prostitute’s fee is only a loaf of bread,

but an adulteress goes after a precious life.

27Can a man embrace fire

and his clothes not be burned?

28Can a man walk on burning coals

without scorching his feet?

29So it is with the one who sleeps with

another man’s wife;

no one who touches her will go unpunished.

30People don’t despise the thief if he steals

to satisfy himself when he is hungry.

31Still, if caught, he must pay seven times as much;

he must give up all the wealth in his house.

32The one who commits adultery lacks sense;

whoever does so destroys himself.

33He will get a beating and dishonor,

and his disgrace will never be removed.

34For jealousy enrages a husband,

and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.

35He will not be appeased by anything

or be persuaded by lavish gifts.

Bible Discovery TV for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: www.biblediscoverytv.com

THE HUSBAND'S RESPONSIBILITY

God felt the marriage union so important that He set certain laws that deal with this relationship. He knew marriage is not only finding the right mate; it is also becoming the right mate. Therefore, He wants the husband to give specific attention to developing a meaningful and lasting relationship with his wife. The next few guides will deal with the husband's responsibilities in making the marriage work.

So important was a man's attention to his marriage and mate that in the Old Testament God insisted: When a man has taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war or be charged with any business; he shall be free at home one year, and bring happiness to his wife whom he has taken (Deuteronomy 24:5). That law was given so newly married couples could develop mutual trust and tenderness. It emphasizes for modern men the importance of developing right relationships in their marriages.

After World War II, we reaped a whirlwind of divorces because of marriages hastily arranged just before the husband went off to fight. How much wiser we would have been, and how many good women and men would not have been deeply scarred, if we had taken God's commandments more seriously. 

This is not to suggest we keep the Old Testament commandment of one year's reprieve from responsibility. Our society is much different today. However, we should remember God did not take marriage vows lightly, and He still wants us to grow together so our marriages will carry us through our failures as well as our successes.

Proverbs 5:15Drink water from your own cistern,water flowing from your own well.16Should your springs flow in the streets,streams of water in the public squares?17They should be for you aloneand not for you to share with strangers.18Let your fountain be blessed,and take pleasure in the wife of your youth.19A loving doe, a graceful fawn —let her breasts always satisfy you;be lost in her love forever.20Why, my son, would you be infatuatedwith a forbidden womanor embrace the breast of a stranger?21For a man’s ways are before the Lord’s eyes,and He considers all his paths.22A wicked man’s iniquities entrap him;he is entangled in the ropes of his own sin.23He will die because there is no discipline,and be lost because of his great stupidity.

Bible Discovery TV for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: www.biblediscoverytv.com

Freedom

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.
Gal 5:1


Freedom, man longs for it everywhere, people die for what they believe freedom is. But outside of Christ there can be no freedom for freedom is a gift from God.


The chains of religion invoke mankind to slavery so they may earn something they can not, salvation , if your religion demands or suggest that you must work for or work to keep what God alone gives freely, you have become a slave and are deceived. 


1 But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. These false teachers will infiltrate your midst with destructive heresies, even to the point of denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring swift destruction on themselves. 2 And many will follow their debauched lifestyles. Because of these false teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation pronounced long ago is not sitting idly by; their destruction is not asleep. 4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but threw them into hell and locked them up in chains in utter darkness, to be kept until the judgment, 5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly world, 6 and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction, having appointed them to serve as an example to future generations of the ungodly, 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless men, 8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard) 9 - if so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment at the day of judgment, 10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desires and who despise authority.Brazen and insolent, they are not afraid to insult the glorious ones, 11 yet even angels, who are much more powerful, do not bring a slanderous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But these men, like irrational animals - creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed - do not understand whom they are insulting, and consequently in their destruction they will be destroyed, 13 suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways. By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight, they are stains and blemishes, indulging in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you. 14 Their eyes, full of adultery, never stop sinning; they entice unstable people. They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children! 15 By forsaking the right path they have gone astray, because they followed the way of Balaam son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, 16 yet was rebuked for his own transgression (a dumb donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the prophet's madness). 17 These men are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm, for whom the utter depths of darkness have been reserved. 18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words they are able to entice, with fleshly desires and with debauchery, people who have just escaped from those who reside in error. 19 Although these false teachers promise such people freedom, they themselves are enslaved to immorality. For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.
2 Pet 2:1-19


4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of his great love with which he loved us, 5 even though we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you are saved! - 6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 to demonstrate in the coming ages the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 it is not from works, so that no one can boast.
Eph 2:4-9


Are you tired of being enslaved to sin? Being held captive by death? Then call upon the name of Jesus Christ and be saved, for salvation and freedom come by no other name they are found in Christ alone.