Psalm 34

Obedience is the highest form of worship. However, we will not offer our lives as living sacrifices if we have not first lifted Christ up in a spirit of thanksgiving and praise. Worship must be practiced 7 days a week or it won’t be practiced on Sunday. You can not truly worship the Lord without knowing Him. If we love Him we keep His commandments. The fear of the Lord is learned as we faithfully strive to keep His commandments. When we seek to honor Christ He is totally for us. If we do our “own thing” He will be totally against us.

I.                   Exalting Christ must be in our hearts during the week or it won’t be on Sunday (1-3)

II.                There is a difference in a man who knows the Lord and one who talks about Him on Sunday (4-10)

III.             The Fear of the Lord is something that we must learn (11-14)

IV.            The Lord will either be totally for you or totally against you (15-22)

Sin is a lot like a tree. Romans 6:23 declares, “For the wages of sin is death.” Where sin is present something has to die. Unrepentant sin of any kind or perceived size puts a damper on our relationship with God. We read in Isaiah, “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; nor His ear heavy, that it cannot hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that he will not hear” (Isaiah 59:1-2). Each day our bodies slowly die until we are laid in the grave. Our spirits are different. Unlike our body, our spirit can be renewed daily. Don’t read more into this than I am saying. I simply mean that we daily make a choice to receive or reject God’s grace and that if we reject it our spirits are slowly dieing. Jesus had to die that we might have this grace, yet we knowingly plant small sins (whatever that is) in our lives and pretend it will not produce the fruit of death.

Praise Jesus that He has redeemed us and forgiven our sins. However, forgiveness of sin does not equal escaping the consequences of sin. We must never categorize sin but we must understand that some sins have greater consequences than others. No matter what the sin it is better to remove it from your life while it is small. The tree I removed this week took far more work than it would have taken a few years ago. To remove a tree is costly and it leaves a yard littered with stumps. Like sin, to allow the trees to remain litters my yard (life) with unwanted debris, presents a variety of safety hazards for my family and home, and blocks the sunlight (Sonlight).  Had those pine trees never been planted it would have been far better. Uproot sin the moment you realize it is there.           

Today we often do God’s work in the church without really giving any thought to God. We do the same thing in our personal lives. God has plenty of money, meaning He doesn’t need our money, and is more than able to provide ample provision for our needs. Although God does not need our money He demands that we honor Him with it. Giving is our testimony to the world that we believe God is faithful. “God loves a cheerful giver.” The church must return to trusting God for our provision and not our own means. He has, does, and always will provide for those whose heart is loyal to Him. Amen!

1. Giving should not be a testimony to what we have but of what we think of Christ (1-5)
2. We reap what we sow (6-7)
3. Christ multiplies little to provide bountifully when we seek His glory (8-15)

We all want God to work through our lives and do mighty things. There are two qualities that a man must have before God will do what we as humans call great things. These two qualities are connected like Siamese twins: one is brokenness; the second is an unwavering belief in God’s faithfulness. Jesus often sends His most devoted disciples into a storm in which they get wet. It is there that we learn about the provision of God. It is there that our faith is stretched and tested. If we fall in the water it is alright. The storm’s purpose is to prove God’s faithfulness, not our own.

1. If Christ sends us into a storm it is only because He wants to reveal Himself in it (22-24)
2. If it seems God id dead it does not mean that He is (25-27)
3. Its better to be a wet water walker than a dry boat talker (28-33)

No one in the State of Florida is exempt from the devastating effects of a major hurricane. Ivan and Katrina left a path of devastation 100 miles inland. When a major hurricane hits life does not soon return to normal. When a tropical storm or a category-one hurricane makes landfall, it is not a time of great concern for most unless they reside in a floodplain. People simply gas up their vehicles, buy extra batteries, stock the shelves with a few non-perishable items, wait out the storm, and have a community wide barbeque. Category-two storms create minor concern and minimal damage.

Major hurricanes present a different scenario. We had just moved to Pensacola when Ivan made landfall. We evacuated to Georgia only to get caught in a tornado that was a product of the hurricane’s outer bands. We watched Fox News and saw familiar sights destroyed. Churches from Georgia sent us back with all the supplies we could carry on my truck and trailer. When we returned the damage was worse than we could imagine. Space would not permit me to write about it. One man made a statement, “Things will never be the same.” No statement better sums up the effects of a major hurricane. In time we saw several people come to Christ as a direct result of aid that was brought from churches. After Katrina the devastation was indescribable. Due to a logistical error the people of lower Mississippi had virtually nothing for over weeks. Most of the aid in this devastated region came from Floridians traveling the “I-10 corridor”.

It is only a matter of time before another major storm devastates Florida. Unfortunately, there are not enough contractors to come close to being able to repair the damage. These areas are also plagued with conmen beyond measure. It is our responsibility to work together and do our part to alleviate the suffering. Always remember you may be next!!!

If you ask people if there is ever a time for war most would quickly respond without a second thought yes!  However, if the same question is asked on the brink of war many of the same people who formerly answered yes would respond with a definite no.  Although we honor war veterans, we are not willing to pay the price ourselves to maintain freedom.  America has not had to pay a devastating price for war since the Civil War.  In no way am I attempting to demean the sacrifice of Americans in subsequent wars, Pearl Harbor, or 9-11-01.  I simply want to underscore the point that we have not fought another war on home soil since then.  War always cost lives, money and severe risk.  Although I have never been in the military, as a historian I am not ignorant of the cost of war.

Many are asking the question:  Is this the right war?  Solomon said, “To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.  I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied.  He has made everything beautiful in its time…”  (Ecclesiastes 3:1; 8; 10-11).  Not only is thre a time for war, but war is sometimes a beautiful thing in spite of the high cost.  In spite of the high cost it is doubtful that many Americans would undo the effects of the Civil War or World War II.  War can only be beautiful if it preserves freedom.  T accept that war can be beautiful we must believe that some things are worth dying for.

He question remains:  Is this war in Georgia the right war for America?  First, let me say that as I write it has not yet erupted into a full blown war and I hope that it does not.  America can no longer live in the modern world with a policy of isolationism.  “Only the dead know the end of war.”  No matter how much we seek to avoid it, war will eventually come to us.  The only choice we have is will we fight it on our terms or someone else’s.  Today let me emphasize, today America is still the greatest superpower the world has ever known.  Russia chose to strategically fight a war that forces America to act or lose its credibility in the world.  If we lose our credibility it will embolden every thug in the world.  It will then be only a matter of time before we fight a greater war on someone else’s terms.  Pray for our president, a man appointed by God for such a time as this.

All of my life pastors have heralded the message of Christ’s return.  Like the story of the boy who cried wolf, the message has lost its affect on hearers.  Te Bible specifically speaks of certain things that will precede the Lord’s return.  I do not know when Christ’s return will be but it seems the events in Russia and Iran are corresponding with Ezekiel 38 and 39.  Many Scholars believe Ezekiel’s War will precede the tribulation.  I do not personally believe this is that war simply that the foundation is being laid for that war in the coming years.  There are many views about the end times.  The masses embrace pre-tribulationalism, which I believe is wrong.  Many foolishly dismiss anyone who does not embrace this view as an ignorant novice of end times study.  Scripture is not definitive enough about the rapture to be dogmatic about any view.  If the pre-trib View is right then it is pointless for believers to study eschatology.  It makes you wonder why Jesus had so much to say about the end time events.  Perhaps the answer is that we are going to go through the first half of the tribulation.  It has been said that more people are alive today than in all of the ages past combined.  Now it all makes sense.  I am not asking you to embrace a mid-trib. View, only to consider it so that if the events begin to unfold this way, you won’t feel abandoned by God.  You won’t say, “I can’t believe this is happening.”

1.  We have to be blind not to see the approaching return of Christ

2.  Russia and Iran will invade Israel prior to the rapture

3.  Be prepared for a rapture that takes place in the middle of the tribulation.

Paul understood the importance of taking every thought captive so that our lives may benefit from them. The word captive means to be held as a prisoner. I once thought that we were to lock up the bad thoughts to keep them from doing us harm. The opposite is true. We are to hold on to the good thoughts and the bad thoughts won’t hang around. The Bible says, "I say then: walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16). Paul is saying that if we hold on to the Godly thoughts it will force the bad thoughts away, but if we let the Godly thoughts escape the battle is lost.

Corinth was a wicked city filled with every imaginable evil. Paul explained the proper way to wage spiritual warfare, "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when our obedience is fulfilled" (2 Corinthians 10:4-6). When you wage war you must understand your position on the battlefield before you can fight. We mistakenly believe that we are basically good and must simply keep evil out of our lives. Evil has a stronghold on every human heart which is exceedingly wicked. As Paul explained these must be pulled down. We do this by obeying every good thought that God sends our way. An obedient thought is always ready to punish a disobedient thought in your own life. Pay careful attention to the verse it says your life not someone else’s. Failure to obey leaves Canaanites in the land and destroys the future for our children. This is why there is so much sin in America today. Be positive; daily take your thoughts captive to the obedience of Christ.

(Acts 3:1-12)

1. Some people can’t remember the last time they had their life together vs 1-3
2. Treating a man like a man plants a seed of expectation vs 4-5
3. Treating a man like a man plants a seed of expectation vs 4-5
4. A man of God without a dime is not without resources vs 6-8
5. People are amazed when Christians behave in a manner that is consistent with the God we profess to serve vs 9-12