“Not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Heb. 10:25)

You need others!

We all do! And as you get closer to the “Day approaching” you are going to need Christian brothers and sisters for encouragement and support! That is a huge reason to be a part of a solid fellowship of believers, a church.

“Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”(Gal. 6:2)

“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace.” (1 Peter 4:8-10)

Therefore

 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Col. 3:16)

1 Cor. 6:9-11 “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” 

These people “won't inherit the Kingdom of God”

This verse lists a few kinds of people who will not inherit the kingdom of God: wrongdoers, sexually immoral, idolaters, adulterers, men who have sex with men, those who practice homosexuality, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, slanderers, and swindlers! 

But, there is good news!

But there is hope for them! God has the power to change people, no matter what they have done orhow sinful they may be!

That's what some of your "were"

This same passage says something else truly remarkable! “Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.d.”

God has the power to change people!

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Cor. 5:17)

Therefore

“If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Rom. 10:9-10)

“He gives justice to the oppressed and food to the hungry. The LORD frees the prisoners.” (Psalm 146:7)

God knows what you need

Matthew 6:31-32 “Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ The people who don’t know God keep trying to get these things, and your Father in heaven knows you need them.”

You won’t starve

Proverbs 10:3 “The LORD will not allow a righteous person to starve, but he intentionally ignores the desires of a wicked person.”

Psalm 107:9 “For he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”

Proverbs 13:25 “The righteous eat to their hearts’ content, but the stomach of the wicked goes hungry.”

Therefore

Luke 12:31 “Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need.”

Philippians 4:19 “And my God will fully supply your every need according to his glorious riches in the Messiah Jesus.”

2 Corinthians 9:8 “And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed.”

“For nothing will be impossible with God.”  Luke 1:37 

We shouldn't limit God!

·      An Ax head floats (2 Kings 6:1-7)

·      The sea parts so God’s people can walk safely through on dry land. (Exodus 14:21)

·      3 men survive in a blazing fiery furnace without even the smell of smoke on them. (Daniel 3:23)

·      A donkey speaks. (Numbers 22:28)

·      Peter walks on the water. (Matthew 14:29)

·      A man, dead for days, comes back to life. (John 11.43)

“Ah Lord GOD! behold, you have  made the heaven and the earth by your great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for you.” Jeremiah 32:17  

“But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19:26

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?” Jeremiah 32:27

Psalms 103:1-5 “Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle.”

Remember

Yes, we should remember God’s many wonderful benefits, and there are many! The above passage reminds us of seven benifits to remember and to “bless the LORD” for:

1)    He pardons all your iniquities

2)    He heals all your diseases.

3)    He redeems your life from the pit.

4)    He crowns you with loving kindness.

5)    He crowns you with compassion.

6)     He satisfies your years with good things. And,

7)    Your youth is renewed like the eagle.

Therefore

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name.” (Psalm 103:1)

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” (Lam. 3:22-23)

Therefore

“This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

Quote

“Tomorrow is the most important thing in life. Comes into us at midnight very clean. It's perfect when it arrives and it puts itself in our hands. It hopes we've learned something from yesterday.“ - John Wayne

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” (Phil 4:8)

Be careful about your thought life

The Bible says that “we are what we think about.” (Prov. 23:7). That is why it is important to be careful what we put into our minds; the kind of tv shows and movies we watch, what we read and even the musical lyrics we listen to. It all becomes a part of our thinking and affects us negatively or positively. What goes into our mind will eventually affect our opinions, our attitudes, and our behavior in some way. You must be careful to guard what goes in because everything you do flows from it. (Prov. 4:23)

Take captive every thought

“We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5)

Therefore

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Prov. 4:23)

Quote

“You may believe that you are responsible for what you do, but not for what you think. The truth is that you are responsible for what you think, because it is only at this level that you can exercise choice. What you do comes from what you think.” - Marianne Williamson

“More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Rom. 5:3-5)

Character

Character is defined in the dictionary as the mental and moral qualities distinctive to an individual. Character is one of the most important things you have. It is what people see in you, what people say about you, and what defines you. It is what people will say about you after you die.

A person of good character walks in integrity

“Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways." (Prov. 28:6)

“O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.” (Psalm 15:1-5)

A person of good character treats others well 

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful." (Col. 3:12-15)

“In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35)

Quote

Goodness is about character - integrity, honesty, kindness, generosity, moral courage, and the like. More than anything else, it is about how we treat other people. - Dennis Prager

Psalm 65:9 “You visit the earth and cause it to overflow; You greatly enrich it; The stream of God is full of water; You prepare their grain, for thus You prepare the earth.”

God has provided you with everything you need to be successful! He has filled the earth with  everything needed for growth of all kinds. He has given you  the ability to grow, excel, and be fruitful.

Grow  and be multiplied!

“But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.” (Acts 12:24)

He supplies and multiplies seed for growth

“Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness.” (2 Cor. 9:10)

Your faith is greatly enlarged and your love grows ever greater

“We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren, as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged, and the love of each one of you toward one another grows ever greater.” (2 Thess 1:3)

Grow in grace and knowledge

“But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.” (2 Peter 3:18)

“I am not what I might be, I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be. But I thank God I am not what I once was, and I can say with the great apostle, “By the grace of God I am what I am.”—John Newton