Oh, to have been among the multitude following Jesus,

...not for his personality or charisma, but to marvel with reverence at His compassion and miracles. 


One particular day they strolled into a town called Nain, and a funeral procession met them at the city gate. The dead man being carried was a widow's only son. Jesus always showed compassion for widows, and He felt her grief. "Weep not," He said.


Luke 7:14  And He came and touched the bier; and they that bare him stood still. And he said, "Young man, I say unto thee, Arise." And he that was dead sat up and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother.


Awe-struck onlookers, jarred with fear, worshipped Him. "God has visited His people," they said.


What an experience. His holy-hallowed presence has touched me many times, leaving me blubbering in humility.

You might be a redneck if your family tree doesn't fork

...or you go to family reunions to meet women. Our Ladies Bible Study Coffee Club met today. No, we didn't tell redneck jokes. I just wanted to get your attention.  Missy led us in a study of Relationships.  


People in your life may disappoint you, but your relationship with God can be peaceful and sure. God has promised to fill in the blanks in our relationships. He is the parent to the orphan, a husband to the widow, a friend to the lonely, and a brother to the believer. Doing God's will secures our relationship with him. (Sheila Walsh)


Jeremiah 29:11-13  For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon me and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will harken unto you. And ye shall seek me and find me when ye shall search for me with all your heart.


Do you have a relationship with God?

The book of Genesis is all about beginnings.

The creation, the fall of man, the flood, and the Tower of Babel. Calling Abraham out of idolatry began a new nation – God’s earthly people. His covenant with the Jews was passed down through generations. God would make them a great nation. His people would be blessed and a blessing to the world. God would bless them who blessed Israel and curse them who cursed Israel.

 
Abraham wasn’t perfect and neither are we. He messed up going to Egypt instead of following God, and because of fear he lied about his wife and got kicked out of the country.

 
Instead of waiting for God to give him the son He promised, Abraham had one – an Arab – by a servant, and the world is still plagued by that mistake. Later, God gave him Isaac, the chosen seed for the lineage of Christ.

 
Abraham’s faith didn’t waver when God asked him to sacrifice his Isaac for a burnt offering. At the last minute an angel stopped him, and then they saw the sacrificial lamb caught in the brush.

 
Abraham’s faith was counted for righteousness, as is ours. He wasn’t great until he started obeying God. We will never grow spiritually until we obey God.

Scribes and Pharisees thought they had caught Jesus in a sin.

He was eating without washing his hands. Caught up in their rituals, these guys trampled on the Son of God.


The one who had healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead, calmed the storm, walked on water, and fed a multitude of people with a little boy's lunch didn't follow the tradition of the elders.


Jesus quoated the prophet Isaiah, calling them hypocrites because they honored God with their lips, but their heart was far from him. Do we do that? Jesus said it is not what goes in us but what comes out. We can try to clean up on the outside, but forget about the real issue: the heart.


The Bible tells us the heart is deceitful. When the heart is wrong, everything is wrong. We need to give all our wrongs to God and allow Him to change us. We need to get into His Word.

If Socrates would enter the room, we should rise and

If Socrates would enter the room, we should rise and do him honor,” said Napoleon Bonaparte. “But if Jesus Christ came into the room, we should fall down on our knees and worship Him.” King David left us superb examples of worship. I wish I could copy all of them.


 
Psalm 95:1-8 O come, let us sing unto the Lord: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the deep places of the earth: the strength of the hills is his also.
The sea is his, and He made it: and his hands formed the dry land.
O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our maker.


 

For he is our God; and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. Today if ye will hear his voice,
 
Harden not your heart, as in the provocation, and as in the day of temptation in the wilderness:

Not that I’m against education, it’s just that on cable news too many intellectuals crowned with impressive degrees try to tell everybody how to live. Sometimes they inject a phrase of scripture, especially if they’re running for office. “Read the whole book,” I yell.   1 Corinthians 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.   In the book of Acts the disciples were ordinary men without special education in the accepted schools, yet they turned the world upside down for Christ. Though the church must be identified with the needs of the world, it must not imitate the wisdom of the world.

God is concerned about the trials of His people. We need not faint in storms of life because He has a successful plan to bring us through it.   Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.   We don’t always know God’s plan or how to pray, but the Spirit intercedes so that we might live in the will of God in spite of suffering. The Spirit “shares the burden”. God’s perfect plan has two purposes: our good and His glory.   Through it all; through it all; I’ve learned to trust in Jesus. I’ve learned to trust in God. Through it all; through it all; I’ve learned to depend upon His word.