What the Bible says about Keeping Your Word

 Tonight I will be talking about what the Bible says about Keeping Your Word, before I begin I would like to start by sharing a quote.

God keeps His Word. When He says something, He does it. When He promises something, He keeps it.

I would like us to now look at some scriptures. The scriptures we will look at tonight are 1 John 2 verse 5, Ecclesiastes 5 verse 4-7, Numbers 30 verse 1-2, Matthew 5 verse 33-37, John 1 verse 1, Psalm 119 verse 11, Psalm 119 verse 9, Psalm 119 verse 105, Hebrews 4 verse 12, 2 Peter 3 verse 9, Numbers 23 verse 19, Psalm 89 verse 34, Luke 1 verse 37, Proverbs 11 verse 3, Romans 8 verse 28, John 7 verse 38, Numbers 32 verse 24, Colossians 3 verse 16.

Thank you all for reading, we see in scriptures that God helps us as children of God to keep our word not just with Him, but with others. It can be difficult at times to keep our word because sometimes you may not be able to. We have things in our lives where keeping our word, especially if it's a promise made to someone can be difficult. It can be hard because there are some promises that can't be kept, and when it comes down to those situations, how do we know what to do? Well, we know by going to God in prayer is the best thing to do because He will help us and show us the right thing to do in keeping our word, our promise to others even if it has to be a different way, God always helps us see the true meaning of what it really means to keep our promises. The best example of this and what I want to get across is that God's Word is always True, it's the one thing that we can Rely on and just like God we can depend on Him to keep His Word with us because He loves us so much that He will never leave us and because of that we don't have to be afraid. The enemy might try to stop us from keeping our word, our promises, and everything God has worked hard to give us, and continues to give us, but the difference between the enemy and God is that God stops the enemy from doing that to us and the enemy will never win the battle because we know God always wins.

There is a song I would like to share called Promises by Maverick City Music and the lyrics say this: Though the storms may come and the winds may blow

I'll remain steadfast

And let my heart learn, when You speak a word

It will come to pass

Great is Your faithfulness to me

Great is Your faithfulness to me

From the rising sun to the setting same

I will praise Your name

Great is Your faithfulness to me

When the seasons change

You remain the same

God from age to age

Though the earth may pass away

Your word remains the same, yeah

You're history can prove

There's nothing You can't do

You're faithful and true

Though the storms may come and the winds may blow

I'll remain steadfast

And let my heart learn, when You speak a word

It will come to pass

Great is Your faithfulness to me, oh

Great is Your faithfulness

From the rising

From the rising sun to the setting same (I will praise Your name)

I will praise Your name

Great is Your faithfulness to me, yeah, yeah (oh, oh)

Your faithfulness, it never runs out (yeah)

It never runs out

Oh-oh, Your faithfulness

Oh, it never runs out (it never runs out)

It never runs out (it never runs out)

With this we see that God's Love for us never fails, but we see that the promises of God will never fail because God's Love is unconditional because God is Love. God is Love because He first loved us when He brought us into this world because we were created in His Image. We have purpose, but what are some things we can do to keep our word, even when it can be hard to do at times?

How can we show God's grace and mercy and keep His Word close to our hearts and share it with others?

This is what I would like to leave all of you with tonight. 

John 14 verse 27 says: Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

What the Bible says about Loneliness

 Tonight I would like to talk about what the Bible says about Loneliness.  I want to begin by looking at scriptures. The scriptures we are going to look at tonight are Psalm 27 verse 10, 1 Peter 5 verse 7, Isaiah 41 verse 10, Psalm 23 verse 4, Hebrews 13 verse 5, Joshua 1 verse 5, John 14 verse 8, Philippians 4 verse 6-7, Psalm 38 verse 9, Psalm 147 verse 3, 1 Samuel 12 verse 22, Psalm 68 verse 5-6, Psalm 62 verse 8, Psalm 25 verse 16, Romans 8 verse 35-39, 2 Timothy 4 verse 16-18,  John 14 verse 13.

 I would like to share a song with all of you. The song is God Only Knows by For King and Country and the lyrics I want to share from that song say this: God only knows what you've been through, God only knows what they say about you, God only knows how it's killing you, But there's a kind of love that God only knows

God only knows what you've been through, God only knows what they say about you, God only knows the real you, There's a kind of love that God only knows, There's a kind of love that, There's a kind of love, You keep a cover over every single secret, So afraid if someone saw them they would leave, But somebody, somebody, somebody sees you, Somebody, somebody will never leave you

God only knows what you've been through, God only knows what they say about you, God only knows how it's killing you, But there's a kind of love that God only knows

God only knows what you've been through, God only knows what they say about you, God only knows the real you, There's a kind of love that God only knows

For the lonely, for the ashamed, The misunderstood, and the ones to blame, What if we could start over, We could start over, We could start over, Oh for the lonely, for the ashamed, The misunderstood, and the ones to blame

What if we could start over, We could start over, We could start over, 'Cause there's a kind of love that God only knows, God only knows what you've been through

God only knows what they say about you, God only knows the real you, But there's a kind of love that God only knows, God only knows what you've been through

God only knows what they say about you, God only knows the real you, There's a kind of love that God only knows

God only knows where to find you, God only knows how to break through, God only knows the real you, There's a kind of love that God only knows

In all these lyrics we see that even when we feel lonely, misunderstood, feeling like we need a day to start over that God knows the real us, the people He made us to be in His Image, and the true love is God because only He knows our fears, our hurts, our anxieties, our problems. We all go through difficult times where we want to give up because we feel Loneliness, we feel alone which is apart of that because we feel and we get to some points in life where we feel discouraged and we just want to give up. See that is what the enemy wants from us, He doesn't want us to feel happy but He wants us to feel the Loneliness, and discouragement, and the doubts that are lies, that He puts in our head to make us feel down. I heard it once said by someone that I know that we sometimes have to get uncomfortable in our Faith and let God take over. Now I heard that from someone that I've gotten to know that has helped me grow spiritually with God and in my Faith walk with Him. I heard it from Joseph Neal who is host of His show and ministry Christian Media Spotlight. I share this with all of you because it reminds me that even when I feel lonely at times, that God, my family, friends, and everyone who has come into the ministries that I'm apart of and are in my life, were brought into my life for purpose because of God who brought them into my life to show me that there's so much more to this life than the loneliness and sadness we see on the news. We can take the loneliness, and turn it around into something good that God has planned.

My questions I want to ask all of you now is this.

When have you felt lonely, and how did you ask God to help you overcome the loneliness you felt?

If you could give advice to someone who feels loneliness a lot, what would you say to help them not feel so alone?

 here are some things I would like to share with all of you 

You are never alone when You are alone with God

Look for yourself and you will find loneliness and despair. But look for Christ and you will find Him and everything else. 

 Here are the last two things I would like to leave with tonight. Matthew 11 verse 28 says: Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

We are not al-one We are... All One

What The Bible Says about Music

 Tonight I want to talk about What The Bible Says about Music. Before I start, I want to share a quote with all of you. I am no longer a Slave to Fear I am a Child Of God. I would like to now look at some scriptures that talk about what the Bible says about music. The scriptures we are going to take a look at tonight are Psalm 95 verse 1, Psalm 105 verse 2, Colossians 3 verse 16, Ephesians 5 verse 19, Hebrews 2 verse 12, Psalm 71 verse 23, Philippians 4 verse 8, Acts 16 verse 25, Ecclesiastes 7 verse 5, Amos 6 verse 5, Proverbs 25 verse 20, Psalm 57 verse 7, Revelation 14 verse 3, and Exodus chapter 15 verse 1. Thank you all for reading. When we think about music in the Bible and we think of the music of Christian songs that we hear on the radio or somewhere else, how is it different now to what it was like in Bible times?

When we think of the people that God chose in the Bible to have gifts for music and to play music for those He called to share music in Bible times, we think of how there are many different Bible stories of who they were but we also look at different scriptures that talk about some of the instruments and the people that God chose. I found a site where someone put a lot of scriptures as well as descriptions of these things, and so what I would like to do right now is take a look at Revelation chapter 18 verse 22, before looking at some other things relating to this.

I would like to share the description of what they wrote for David and the description for Him says this: It is said King David played the harp to soothe Saul's anxiety. He was an accomplished musician in his time and an instrument maker. A poet by nature, David charmed others with the songs he wrote and played for them. He was a wise and creative king and is the Biblical figure most remembered for his musical abilities.

Now I will share the description of what they wrote and found for one of the instruments: Most harps in Biblical days had 10 or 12 strings. Harps were played to worship as well as to soothe and entertain. It was often played with the hand while walking and sometimes had a sounding board.

We take a look at this and so we now ask ourselves how does this and how can this compare to Christian songs and Christian Music today? 

Well, I like to think that it compares by seeing how God shows us that we can make music by playing an instrument, singing, writing poetry, dancing, and there's so much more. One of the greatest things is the songs that we hear now to what we may have heard if we were there in Bible Times to hear David play for a king, because when you hear people whether it be on the radio, in church, at an event, at school, on tv, in a movie, or on YouTube and even Facebook live, the instruments of the sounds and the voices of what is spoken or said or however God has given them the gift to share what He places on their hearts or on ours, we see that it's different. 

We see how it's grown over time, but it is different because we don't really know what type of songs that David played. The reason I say that is because when we stop and I mean stop and think about it, people in Bible times did not write what an artist or you or I would write down to share with others, they played their instrument and David is an example of that because He played for a king who was sad but became happy again after hearing the music that was played. 

Now we go to that story of David who played for a king, now the king who enjoyed David's music, also was jealous of David, and He didn't want David living. God chose David to later on take over as king for someone who turned His back on God and didn't do as God wanted or instructed.

This story can be hard to read sometimes, but what we get from it is impactful and a blessing.

I like to share a quote with all of you. It came from a book I've been reading on and off called There's No Such Thing As Can't. Now you may wonder why I would share this type of quote on a study about music well let me share the quote first, and then I will explain why I did. 

The quote says this: All you can do is be you, be okay with how God made you, and do the best with what you've got. Alright so the reason I shared this quote on a study like this tonight, is because we need to remember that it's okay to do things that we may normally not do whether it be playing an instrument, singing, writing poetry, dancing, whatever it may be, God created us differently and we are going to be the light that God made us to be. So we go back to that quote and remember, all we can do is be us, we can be okay with how God made us, we can do our best with what God has given us and know that He's in control of it all.

I am going to share something the person wrote and shared on this site, that I did a little while ago about the culture for some of these things that we've learned about.

The Greeks - The word "music" comes from the "muses", the daughters of Zeus and patron goddesses of intellectual and creative pursuits. Music was very important to the Greeks and an integral part of ancient Greek society. Music was always present at marriages, religious ceremonies and funerals. Epic poetry was turned into ballads and staged musical dramas were common.

When we look at this, and we look back to what we have been learning about, we see and we know that there is so much history and knowledge, but we also see how God continues to use us each and every single day to tell our testimonies which are our stories. We see that God gives us strength, we see that God puts things on our hearts so that we can share it with others and not hold back from sharing it. God wants us to share our gifts through music, writing, poetry, dancing, playing an instrument, singing, no matter what the gift may be, we can be sure that God will help us through it and show us that we are so much more.

Here are the things that I want to leave all of you with tonight. When walking through the valley, I know I am not alone. The Lord is my strength and my song.

Where words fail, music speaks. Next to the Word of God, the noble art of music is the greatest treasure in the world. 

There is nothing in the world so much like prayer as music is.

Psalm 21 verse 13 says: Rise Up, O Lord, In all your power. With music and singing we will celebrate your mighty acts.

What The Bible Says About Restoration

Tonight we will be looking at what the Bible says about Restoration. 

When we think of the word Restoration we think of the word Restore. Now when we take a word like restore, we think of things that need to be restored because they need fixed. So how does that relate to restoration? Well, before we go into scriptures I want to share a song I've heard on Christian Media Spotlight. It's a song called Found In The Savior by Mikey Moore and The Responding. The line says this: Once Lost Restored, Broken Made Whole I'm Found In The Savior, I'm found in the Savior. 

I wanted to start with that before going into the scriptures because when we go back to how restoration relates to what I mentioned in the beginning with the word restore, we see in the line from this song, God takes what was lost from our brokenness, he repairs it by restoring it and making it whole as we're found in a Savior who doesn't let go.

Before I give the scriptures for people to read, who is able to tonight?

The scriptures we will be looking at tonight are Joel 2 verses 25-26, 1 Peter 5 verse 10, Mark 11 verse 24, James 5:16, Psalm 71 verse 20-21, Psalm 51 verse 11, Isaiah 40 verse 31, Psalm 103 verse 1-5, Psalm 23 verse 3, Acts 3 verse 21, 2 Chronicles 7 verse 14, Proverbs 3 verse 5-6, Amos 9 verse 14, and Proverbs 6 verse 30-31.

 In the scriptures we see how God can take the things that are Broken and turn them into something beautiful. We see how God can show us that He restores the things that need to be restored. The things that God can fix by taking the broken things that can be mended, and the broken hearts that can be healed in God's Timing. We give God the Glory and Praise and just like the song I shared earlier it says Once Lost Restored, Broken Made Whole I'm Found In The Savior, I'm Found in the Savior. See when we're found in our Savior, when we are Restored in Him because God takes the broken pieces of what we may have or deal with, He shows us that it can be restored and made whole. God takes the beautiful things that are beautifully broken and makes them whole.

I now like to share Plumb's song Beautifully Broken with all of you. The lyrics say this: Every tear, every doubt, Every time you've fallen down, When you're hurting, feeling ashamed, When you're numbing off your pain, When you've lost your way, And feel so far away, You're not

You're beautifully broken, And you can be whole again

Even a million scars doesn't change whose you are

You're worthy, Beautifully broken, Every fear of being loved, For who you are no matter what, When you're stumbling, And you're haunted by regret, And the darkness closes in, Just listen, You're beautifully broken

And You can be whole again, Even a million scars doesn't change whose you are, You're worthy, Beautifully broken

You're beautifully broken (beautifully broken) You're beautifully broken

With the lyrics we see that God shows us that the beautifully broken things can be restored to be made whole. When we take the message of what we have been learning about tonight, we see that God can turn a bad situation, into good and show us that with Him all things are possible and things that are not in our control but in His. God takes what has happened and restores them.

Before I have you guys share any prayer requests and comments that you may have, I like to share some quotes.

God is still a God of restoration and healing. No situation is too far gone for God to restore.

True restoration takes patience, subtlety, skill, and grace.

God is a God of restoration. When we place the broken pieces of our lives in His hands, He restores them to a beauty that far outshines the former.

Restoration and hope is available each time you return to God.

The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.

Before I share my final comments and prayer requests with all of you, I would like for anyone to share any prayer requests and comments they may have. Thank you for sharing. Here are the last three things I would like to leave all of you with. The desire of His heart is always restoration- not condemnation. When we truly repent, God will forgive us. 

Redemption is God choosing us. Restoration is us consistently choosing God.

God wants to Restore everything that's been stolen from your life. He wants to Heal every Hurt and every Pain.

What the Bible says about Strength

 Tonight I want to talk about Strength. Tonight we are going to be talking about What the Bible says about Strength. I want us to look at some scriptures that talk about Strength and Strength In God.

The scriptures we are going to look at tonight are Philippians 4 verse 13, Deuteronomy 31:6, Isaiah 40:31, Ephesians 6:10, 1 Chronicles 16:11, and 2 Timothy 1:7.

The other scriptures I want to take a look at now are Philippians 4:6-7, Habakkuk 3:19, Psalm 27:1, 1 Peter 4:11, Psalm 144:1-2, 1 Chronicles 22:13, and Psalm 46:10.

I would like to share a song from Sidewalk Prophets called The Words I Would Say. The Lyrics say this: Be strong in the Lord and never give up hope, your going to do great things I already know. God's Got His Hand On You so don't live life in fear, forgive and forget but don't forget why you're here, take your time and pray, these are the words I would say. When we think of these lyrics we see how God is showing us that we can be strong in Him, how we don't have to be afraid because we can take heart in knowing that He is our stronghold.

That reminds me of a song by Matthew West called Take Heart and another song by Him called Strong Enough.

The song Take Heart says this: So take heart, Take a breath

Let Me lift that heavy weight up off your chest, Take My hand, I know it's looking dark, When the world falls all around you, I won't let you fall apart, Take heart, Take heart. The next song by Him called Strong Enough says: I know I'm not strong enough to be, Everything that I'm supposed to be, I give up, I'm not strong enough, Hands of mercy won't you cover me, Lord right now I'm asking you to be, Strong enough, Strong enough, For the both of us, yeah, Well, maybe, Maybe that's the point, To reach the point of giving up, 'Cause when I'm finally, Finally at rock bottom, Well, that's when I start lookin' up, And reachin' out, I know I'm not strong enough to be, Everything that I'm supposed to be, I give up, I'm not strong enough

Hands of mercy won't you cover me? Lord right now I'm asking you to be, Strong enough, Strong enough, 'Cause I'm broken, Down to nothing, But I'm still holding on to the one thing, You are God And you are strong, When I am weak, I can do all things Through Christ who gives me strength, And I don't have to be Strong enough, Strong enough, I know I can do all things Through Christ who gives me strength And I don't have to be, Strong enough

Strong enough... Oh... Yeah...  We see here how even when we are going through storms or trials, that we don't have to always be strong enough because we know when we take heart and trust in God, He will always continue to keep fighting our battles and be strong enough for us because if we truly think about it, and I mean to really think about it, have we ever thought about where strength comes from? Have we ever thought about where it truly comes from? We are not defined by what we can do, and we are not defined by what people think of us, but we are defined as children of God who can do great things. So where does strength, our strength that we have come from? Well, it comes from God who gives us strength to do all things through Him. Without God we wouldn't have strength, without the strength God has given us to do all things through Him, we wouldn't be able to share what He's doing and continuing to do in our life.

Our strength comes from Him and only Him. I want to share a quote with all of you. The quote says this: God's Strength in Your Weakness is His Presence In Your Life.

When we take a quote like this we see how God can help us even in our times when we feel like giving up, and that brings me to another song called Prize Worth Fighting For by artist Jamie Kimmett and the lyrics say this: When every day is just another struggle And every choice is an act of war, Gotta pray, gotta press on, To the prize worth fighting for, When it feels like I'll never make it, When my heart's crying out for more, Gotta pray, gotta press on

To the prize worth fighting for, The battle rages on

But your promise keeps me strong, I know I'll win this race

With your unfailing grace. As I think of these lyrics it shows me that we can keep on trusting in God and see that He can help us with our Faith walk by being strong, by being courageous in our relationship with Him, and by trusting in His Promises for us each and every single day.

Here is what I would like to end on. The quote says this: Keep your head up. God gives His hardest battles to His strongest soldiers. 

What the Bible says about Zacchaeus

 What the Bible says about Zacchaeus. Tonight we are going to be looking at what the Bible says about Zacchaeus. I want to take a look at some scriptures. The scriptures we are going to be looking at tonight are Luke 19 verse 1-10, 1 John 1:9, Romans 3:23, John 20:10-18, Revelation 3:20, 1 Corinthians 3:16, Mark 10:25, Psalm 42:1, John 1:14, John 14:8-9, Luke 3:13, Colossians 2:9, Luke 5:30, Luke 11:1, Luke 13:22, John 5:1-47, and the last one is, 1 John 1:8.

When we think of Zacchaeus, we think of who He is and what He did in order to see Jesus. Although, do we really know more about Him and His Story and Testimony? Well, let's take a look at some of that, and to do that I am going to share some things from a website called Christianity.Com where the question is: Who is Zacchaeus? Let's take at some things the author who asked this question on Christianity.Com

Zacchaeus is a very important character in the Bible because he is a concrete example of a sinful man who was changed by Jesus Christ’s compassion over sinners. Luke 19 describes Zacchaeus as a tax collector in the City of Jericho.

He was known as a corrupt tax collector who collected more than he should have collected.  Because of this, he had a negative reputation in the community.

When Jesus was passing through the City of Jericho, Zacchaeus became very excited to see Him. However, since he was very short, he could not see Jesus from the crowd. To solve this, he climbed a sycamore tree to get a better view of Jesus. Jesus saw this and called at Zacchaeus to come down from the tree. Jesus then added that He intended to stay at Zacchaeus’ house to which Zacchaeus happily accepted.

However, this did not please the crowd and made them question Jesus’ decision of associating Himself with a sinful man like Zacchaeus.

Nevertheless, Jesus stilled pursued staying at Zacchaeus’ house and, as a result, changed the course of Zacchaeus’ life.

Before I continue to share more of what the author of this site had to say, I want to share a song with all of you.

Zacchaeus was a wee little man

And a wee little man was he

He climbed up in a sycamore tree

For the Lord he wanted to see

And when the Savior passed that way

He looked up in the tree

And said, 'Zacchaeus, you come down!

For I'm going to your house today!

For I'm going to your house today!'

Zacchaeus was a wee little man

But a happy man was he

For he had seen the Lord that day

And a happy man was he;

And a very happy man was he

I would like to share more from the site that talks about Zacchaeus. 

Zacchaeus’ story is a very inspiring story to everyone both young and old. Based on the story about him in the Bible, there are three perspectives about Zacchaeus that could help us understand him.

1. Zacchaeus: From the Perspective of the Crowd

If we look at Luke 18:11 as written, “The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people — robbers, evildoers, adulterers — or even like this tax collector,’” Zacchaeus, as a tax collector, was thought of as a sinful and greedy man by the Pharisee.

Historically, collecting taxes was a career that had a negative reputation. People hated tax collectors because they asked for money from people and also, they were known to ask for more than they should.

Roman taxes were very excessive, and the Jewish people were not happy about that situation especially since they were the oppressed and paying taxes for a nation that was not their own.

In the Bible, Jesus also compared tax collectors to pagans, as written in Mathew 18:17, “If they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

Based on this, the crowd’s perspective of Zacchaeus was really just the societal norm about tax collectors and the fact that tax collectors used their position of power for the benefit of themselves and rendered people powerless in their situations.

This is where the crowd was coming from. Zacchaeus was sinful because he was basically a huge thief. With the excessive taxes that were being imposed from their hard-earned money, it is not surprising that the Jewish people had a strong stance against those that collected them.

But just as the crowd saw Zacchaeus’ sin, we tend to see others’ mistakes and sins especially if they are more obvious. We are quick to judge others but forget to look at our inner selves if we too are sinful.

So before I share the last two perspectives with all of you, I would like to share a quote with all of you.

Long before Zacchaeus couldn't see Jesus, the tree was already planted to meet his need.

Let us now look at the last two perspectives.

2. Zacchaeus: From the Perspective of Zacchaeus Himself

Zacchaeus knew about Jesus the whole time and was excited to finally see him. Because he was very short, he tried to find other ways in order to finally see Jesus. He did this by climbing a sycamore tree.

Based on this story, we can easily see Zacchaeus’ character. He was a go-getter and possibly one of the characteristics and attitudes a tax collector should have because their job entailed asking and, sometimes, taking money from others.

Additionally, we can see that Zacchaeus was trying to find meaning in his life through Jesus. He was eager to know the truth about life.

Being a tax collector was not an easy job for him because of the nature of his business and because of how the crowd perceived him and for this reason, he climbed the tree to see Jesus and find the meaning in life.

When Jesus told Zacchaeus that He was to stay at his house, Zacchaeus became very happy and opened his doors right away. This is also an attitude that tells us that Zacchaeus was a man ready to be saved and to serve. He opened his doors for Christ and was willing to listen to His advice.

We can reflect a lot on the perspective of Zacchaeus. In this busy world full of noise in every area of life, we tend to want to find meaning in our lives to fill in the gap that we are experiencing. We try to “climb trees” to extend our eyes’ reach of a quieter yet better tomorrow.

Jesus is our better present and future. There is no need for us to climb a tree to be seen by Jesus. In fact, Jesus already saw Zacchaeus and knew Zacchaeus even before he climbed the tree.

But what really caught the attention of Jesus was Zacchaeus’ passion to be seen. It is important that we try to show ourselves to Jesus even if we know that He already sees us.

It is important that we acknowledge Him at all times. And finally, it is important that we show repentance for the sins that we commit.

After all, it is written in Luke 3:12-13, “Even tax collectors came to be baptized. ‘Teacher,’ they asked, ‘what should we do?’ ‘Don’t collect any more than you are required to,’ he told them.”

3. Zacchaeus: From the Perspective of Jesus

Jesus decided to come to the house of Zacchaeus even if though he was a sinner, a tax collector that everyone despised. Jesus did not care about how the crowd reacted. Instead, He continued on and stayed at his house.

How Jesus obligated Zacchaeus in Luke 19:5-6, “When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’ So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly,” is an example of how Jesus obligates us to focus on Him during the times that we need Him the most.

His words “I must stay at your house,” were not a request, but more of a command that He needed to be invited and to stay with Zacchaeus.

Jesus already knew that Zacchaeus needed to invite him to stay, not just in his home, but in his heart. After all, Jesus came to the world to save us from our sins so we could stay with Him forever.

Our Takeaway

Zacchaeus was portrayed in the Bible as a sinful tax collector and despised by the crowd. He was also portrayed as someone who, despite his height and inability to see Jesus, found his way by climbing a sycamore tree.

And finally, he was the person that Jesus saw and demanded to stay in his house.

We are Zacchaeus and yet, we are also the crowd. There are moments in our lives when we can tend to be judgmental by stereotyping people based on worldly criteria.

And yet, there are moments in our lives when we know we have sinned, and we need to repent our sins by talking to Jesus. Jesus must come to our house.

He must come to every house whether it’s the sinful tax collector, Zacchaeus, or the judgmental crowd. He is the only person that sees us and our true nature.

Here is what I would like to leave all of you with tonight: The story of Zacchaeus is not just about figuring out how to get a glimpse of Jesus. It's about Him getting a glimpse of you. The Devil knows your name but calls you by your sin, God knows your sin but calls you by your name. Lord in those difficult times, give us great courage, faith, wisdom, and humble dependence on you. Isaiah 41:10.

What Does The Bible Say About Spoken Word?

Tonight I want to talk about what the Bible says about Spoken Word. The scriptures we are going to look at are 2 Peter 3 verse 9, 2 Timothy 3 verse 15, Proverbs 16 verse 24, Hebrews 4 verse 12, and Matthew 4 verse 4. When I was trying to figure out what to talk about, I thought of speaking on Compassion and then I thought of talking about Inspiration. So then I finally typed Spoken Word and started looking up scriptures. I will be honest I didn't know how to go about it at first because this was a topic for me that was new, and something different. I almost had gone with a topic I already did, because I just couldn't come up with anything this past Sunday and so I came up with something different. When I think of Spoken Word, I think of how it is poetry, but it also makes me think of Mercyme's song Word Of God Speak where some of the lyrics of it say: I'm finding myself at a loss for words And the funny thing is it's okay, The last thing I need is to be heard But to hear what You would say, Word of God speak Would You pour down like rain, Washing my eyes to see Your majesty, To be still and know, That You're in this place, Please let me stay and rest, In Your holiness, Word of God speak, I'm finding myself in the midst of You, Beyond the music, beyond the noise, All that I need is to be with You, And in the quiet hear Your voice Word of God speak.

We hear God speak to us through music, through His Word, through sermons we hear at church, and we know He hears us when we pray and when we need Him. I know that God hears us when we talk to Him. He speaks to our hearts and He helps us know that we don't have to be afraid because we have God to help us. I want to share a quote with all of you and the quote I would like to share with all of you says this. 

 

Another quote I would like to share says: 

When I think of these quotes I think of how God's Word that God speaks to us can speak directly to our hearts, through a book, a song, a Christian film, and so many different things around us. One thing we will never ever forget is how God doesn't stop loving us and how He will help us with saying the right words.

God will give us what we need to know when we need to know it and He will help us to understand what we need to understand, because we don't need to worry with what God puts on our hearts to share because the words God put on our hearts is what we should be able to share with others wherever we go.

What can we do to help others learn about what we have been talking about and learning on tonight? How can we help them better understand what the Bible says about Spoken Word?

Here are the two things that I would like to end on tonight. The first thing I would like to end on tonight is a quote and the quote says: 

The last thing I would like to share is another quote that says: 

What the Bible says about Prayer

 Tonight we are going to talk about what the Bible says about Prayer. I want to start off with two different song lyrics the first comes from Rend Collective with their song Build Your Kingdom Here. The lines I would like to share say this: Come set Your rule and reign, In our hearts again, Increase in us we pray, Unveil why we're made, Come set our hearts ablaze with hope, Like wildfire in our very souls

Holy Spirit, come invade us now, We are Your Church And we need Your power In us. We seek Your kingdom first, We hunger and we thirst, Refuse to waste our lives, For You're our joy and prize, To see the captive hearts released, The hurt, the sick, the poor at peace, We lay down our lives for Heaven's cause, We are Your church And we pray revive, This earth (we're prayin' for revival) The next one is a song called Lord Listen To Your Children Praying and the lyrics say this: Lord, listen to your children praying, Lord, send your Spirit in this place; Lord, listen to your children praying. Send us love, send us pow’r, send us grace. I now want us to look at some scriptures. The scriptures we are going to look at are 1 Timothy 2 verse 8, 1 John 5 verses 14-15, Mark 1 verse 35, Hebrews 4 verse 16, Romans 12 verse 12, 1 John 3 verse 22, Matthew 7 verse 7, Psalm 145 verse 18, Acts 1 verse 14, Psalm 141 verse 2, Proverbs 28 verse 9, John 14 verse 13-14, Luke 21 verse 36, James 1 verse 5, Luke 6 verse 12, and Luke 11 verse 1. I would like to share a photo from a page called God's Armour that says this: 

 

I would like to share a song lyric from Matthew West's song called Brand New and the lyric says this: When you close your eyes, do you go back there, To a bended knee and a "Lord, I need you" whispered prayer?

A quote that I would like to share says: Prayer is the link that connects us with God.

Another quote I would like to share says this: When we work, we work. When we pray, God works.

When we think of praying, we think of how God helps us to know we are not alone. We think of how when we bring our prayer requests to Him, that He works in our lives to show us that what we are praying for what will be answered in His Timing and not ours. God's ways our perfect in every way and God is good. It all works out in His Good and His Glory and in His Timing because God loves without end.

I bow my head to pray I don't know what to say I'm not sure how to fix the things I'm dealing with. This lyric comes from a song called Pray by Sanctus Real and I wanted to share this lyric with you because it's going to help in a minute with what I want to leave all of you with tonight, but before I get to that and share my last minute thoughts and prayer requests with all of you, I would like for any of you guys to share any prayer requests and thoughts they may have. Thank you all for sharing.

Here are the two things that I would like to end with tonight and share with all of you. The first thing I would like to share says this: Prayer is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend. The last thing I want to end with tonight is a photo and the photo that I want to share says:

What Does The Bible Say About Popularity?

Tonight I want to talk about what the Bible says about Popularity. I would like us to take a look at some scriptures. The scriptures I would like us to take a look at is Philippians 2 verse 1-11, James 2 verse 1-13, Proverbs 13 verse 20, 1 Samuel 16 verse 7, Romans 8:28, John 12 verse 43, Isaiah 48 verse 10-11, Proverbs 19 verse 4, Proverbs 28 verse 11, 1 Corinthians 13 verse 13, and Ezekiel 33-31. In the scriptures we see how God can show us that we don't need to worry about how God sees us because God shows that we're wonderfully made in His Image. There is something I like to share with you that came from Philippians 2, and one of the things I read was titled Downward Mobility: What keeps Paul going. Then underneath it read, Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. I wanted to re share from the first scripture we read, because I wanted us to see  that all of us do not need to try to change ourselves from how God made us. I would like to share a song with all of you. I learned this song in youth group and it's one I think we need to all remember right now as we are learning about this tonight. The song is called Beautiful Things by Gungor. You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of the dust, You make beautiful things, You make beautiful things out of us. We take a song like this and we see that the beautiful things God makes out of the dust and the beautiful things He makes out of us, is something we need to remember because we're unique and each one of us has something that was a part of God's beautiful design. I would like to share a quote with all of you. The quote is this: Don't seek popularity, seek presence. Popularity is temporal, presence is everlasting. God's presence is all we need. I now like to ask a question to all of you, but before I ask this question to all of you, I would like to share that this is a life question I got from  my Bible and the question itself comes from verse 3 that we read earlier. The question says this: How can you consider others better than yourself without developing a low self-image? I would like to share another quote that reads: Sometimes we think we aren't good enough. Then I realize when  think I'm Alone, I'm With God. This is the thing, I would like to leave all of you with. Here is the quote: Jesus came to announce us that an identity based on success, popularity and power is a false identity- an illusion! Loudly and clearly He says: You are not what the world makes you; but you are children of God.

Hope

 Tonight I want to talk about Hope before I do, lets pray. The scriptures we are going to look at tonight are Hebrews 11 verse 1, Romans 8 verse 24-25, 1 Peter 1 verse 3, Romans 15 verse 4, Psalm 39 verse 7, 1 Corinthians 13 verse 13, Romans 5 verse 5, Psalm 71 verse 5, Hebrews 10 verse 23, and Titus 2 verse 13. 

In the scriptures we see how God can give us Hope, and let us know that all of our Hope isn't lost.

I know I've shared this song before but I want to share it again. It's by Glendil Griffin and one of His songs says, Do not give up do not lose Faith, for there is a light shining through darkness, do not give up for God’s in control for we placed our lives in the hands of our God, so before you think all hope is lost just run to the cross just run to the cross. When I think of these lyrics, I think of how God will always be there for us and no matter what we have to have Hope, Faith, Love, and Trust in Jesus that He will get us through whatever we go through.

I would like to share a quote with all of you now and the quote I would like to share says this.

There is a God who's never left me
And here in the hurting, You're still with me
You have carried me this far and You won't stop now
Oh, there is a God who sees my sorrow
Catches my tears in a bottle
You're still working even when I can't see how
There is pain, there is broken
There is hurt, but He's the hope I'm standing on

There is a God
Who promises me He has a plan
And I'm protected by His hand
Through flood and fire, hey
There is a God
Who's working all things for my good
Sometimes slower than I think He should
But His ways are higher

So I'm looking forward to the day
when I see the purpose for this pain
Oh, but until I do
I'm choosing to believe

There is a God who's never left me

And here in the hurting, You're still with me

You have carried me this far and You won't stop now

Oh, there is a God who sees my sorrow

Catches my tears in a bottle

You're still working even when I can't see how

There is pain, there is broken

There is hurt, but He's the hope I'm standing on

This is the truth I'm standing on
Even when all my strength is gone
You are faithful forever
And I know You'll never
Let me fall

Right now, I'm choosing to believe
Someday soon, I'll look back and see
All the pain had a purpose
Your plan was perfect all along
This is the truth I'm standing on

Good, I believe You're still good
Even when life's not good
I will not lose this hope

That the God who parts the sea
Promises He's gonna
Make a way for me

Oh, this is the truth I'm standing on
Even when all my strength is gone
You are faithful forever
And I know You'll never
Let me fall

Right now, I'm choosing to believe
Someday soon, I'll look back and see
All the pain had a purpose
Your plan was perfect all along
This is the truth I'm standing on

When we look at these things, we see how God is still with us even if we have sorrow and pain. We see that He will never leave us because we know that there is Hope and why do we know there is Hope? Well, we know there is Hope because God will make a way for us and because He will make a way for us, we don't have to fear and we don't have to worry because God is our provider who will help us through anything and He is our Hope.

Here between the mountains, Deep in the valley of despair, When all I see are shadows, Of every soul who never left, I won't be afraid, No matter come what may I'll say Jesus You're the one who guides my way.

You are my hope, When all else fades God You remain My hope When darkness tries to find a way
Into my heart and soul You are my hope. Even in the canyons Of every fear and every doubt When everything looks hopeless And it seems there's no way out I will trust in You My God and what You say always, You are forever the spark that lights my way. You are my hope When all else fades God You remain

My hope When darkness tries to find a way, Into my heart and soul You are my hope. You're my hope in the battle, You're my hope in the storm, You're my hope in the waves Of the raging flood, You're my hope in the desert, You're my hope in the flames, You're my hope when there's no other Way of escape.

You are my hope, You are my hope, You are my hope, You are my hope, You are my hope.

Here is what I would like to end on tonight and share. The thing I would like to end on and share is a quote. 

The quote says this: ''Don't Lose Hope. When You Are Down To Nothing, God Is Up To Something.''

What Does The Bible Say About Blessings?

 Tonight I want to talk about what the Bible says about Blessings. The scriptures we are going to read tonight are Philippians 4 verse 19, Numbers 6 verse 24-26, 3 John 1 verse 2, Philippians 4 verse 7, Malachi 3 verse 10, Matthew 6 verse 30-33, Psalm 34 verse 8, Isaiah 40 verse 31, and Romans 15 verse 13. In the scriptures we see the blessings that God gives us in order to grow. We see how God can be merciful and just. We see that He will help us grow so that we can have a relationship with Him and grow in our Faith walk with Him. I would like to share some different song lyrics with you. The first one I want to share is this: You are the melody, the words, You're the chorus, Cause You gladly laid Your life down for us, All the blessings that You bring, You're the only song I ever wanna sing. The next song I would like to share with all of you says this:  Seek ye first the kingdom of God, And His righteousness; And all these things shall be added unto you. Hallelu, Hallelujah! Ask, and it shall be given unto you, Seek, and you shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Hallelu, Hallelujah! Man shall not live by bread alone, But by every word, That proceeds out from the mouth of God. Hallelu, Hallelujah! The third song I would like to share says: The Lord bless you. And keep you, Make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you, The Lord turn His Face toward you, And give you peace. Amen, amen, amen, Amen, amen, amen. The last song I would like to share says: Blessings, on blessings, on blessings, on blessings If I still got breath in these lungs And that's all I need to get down on my knees And be thankful for all that He's done, For my mama, for my friends, For Your love that never ends, For the songs that make us dance On this ol' dirt floor, For my babies, for my girl, For the way they changed my world, Waking up today, Yeah, I just gotta say Thank You Lord, Yeah, I just wanna say Thank You Lord. In these songs we see that God's greatest blessings that He has given us are the people that He has brought in our lives, what He has provided for us, and what He continues to do for us each and every single day. God will continue to show blessings when it is in His Time. We are thankful and grateful for the blessings He gives us. We are thankful for being able to be here together to learn and understand to the best of our ability what it means to know about the blessings He gives because God has never left us and it's important that we understand and learn together. I want to share some quotes with all of you. The quotes I would like to share say this: Feel God in every gentle touch. See God in every happy face. Hear God in every caring word. Receive God's blessings every day of your life. I've seen better days, but I've also seen worse. I don't have everything that I want, but I do have all I need. I woke up with some aches and pains, but I woke up. My life may not be perfect but I am blessed. Here are the two things that I would like to end on tonight. The first thing I would like to end on says: I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing, Letting go and trusting when I cannot see, I am counting every blessing, counting every blessing, Surely every season you are good to me. The last thing I would like to share with all of you and end on tonight is a quote and the quote says this: When we let go and let God we have the key to glorious living, and what is far more important- the key to an eternity with God.