Have you ever felt the temptation to take revenge? Your work colleague takes the credit for a project you have worked so hard on. Your so-called friend betrays your confidence and spreads lies about you. Your spouse has been unfaithful. Someone has attacked you, mistreated you, ignored you, or socially rejected you.

Main Points:

1. Revenge is the desire or urge to get even with somebody. To punish or cause harm as an act of retaliation.

2. The idea of revenge is only an illusion. You can never “get even” with anyone. It is impossible to balance the scales of hurt. The only possible way to come out on top is to respond to hurt with a godly attitude and trust that God will settle the account.

3. The people of God do not retaliate. The people of God do not seek vengeance. We do not take revenge into our own hands.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Matthew 5:44 – “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

Romans 12:19-21 - “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

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In the night hours, when you can’t sleep, instead of dwelling on problems, uncertainties, and anxieties, turn your mind back to a song. It can be a song of worship and a song of praise.

Main Points:

1. It’s at night, in the quiet, that our fears often increase their volume. Our minds ask, “What if this happens? What if the medical test turns out positive? What if I don’t have enough money? What if my kids make wrong decisions? What if my elderly parents can’t take care of themselves? There seems to be no end to the what-if questions.

2. But a song in the night moves us from uncertainty to certainty. We are uncertain about many things in this life, but we are absolutely certain about God. We are certain that nothing will separate us from His love. We are certain he has been faithful in our past and will be faithful in our future. We are certain that He will never leave us or forsake us.

3. Choose your song. Pick a song that exalts Jesus and reminds you of His faithfulness. When all is dark, let it be your song in the night.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Psalm 42;8 - "By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me—a prayer to the God of my life.”

Psalm 77:6 - “I remembered my songs in the night.”

Acts 16:25 - “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”

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Every Christian needs two people in their lives. We need someone we are learn from and someone we are discipling. We need someone in our lives that is helping us grow spiritually, and someone we are helping grow.

Main Points:

1. There is much emphasis today on our “personal relationship with Christ.” But sometimes because it’s personal, we forget our responsibility to share it with others.

2. The Scripture informs us that the older women should teach the younger women. The older men should teach the younger men. This may not always refer to age because we know that just because a person is older it does not mean they are mature in the faith. I believe Paul is instructing us to find someone who is new in the faith so we can teach them how to follow Christ. This is discipleship.

3. In discipleship, we model and teach toward a deeper love for and obedience to Christ. The goal of all discipleship is that we would be like Christ in our actions and character.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Matthew 28:19-20 - “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you…”

1 Thessalonians 5:11 - “Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.”

Hebrews 10:24 - “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works…”

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Admittedly, waiting is hard for most of us. It seems that impatience is the human characteristic that identifies us all. Today, we live in a quick response, on demand culture. Waiting on anything is becoming increasingly difficult. But as Christians, there is one thing we will have to wait on. We will have to wait on God. I guarantee it. As a part of His plan, His purpose, and His character development in our lives, God will make us wait.

Main Points:

1. If God makes us wait, we can trust there is always a reason. It’s hard because we can’t always see the reason at first. Yet, as a good Heavenly Father, He doesn’t play games with us. He doesn’t do things without a reason. There is always a purpose to His plan. In the waiting there is something to learn, something to gain, and something to experience. Don’t miss the blessing in the waiting just because you are impatient. It’s possible the waiting season is also God’s way of protecting you.

2. God makes us wait, because it’s here we learn that life is not about us. It’s about Him. It’s about His ways, His timing, and His plans. Waiting on God increases our dependance on Him. It grows our faith and shapes our character.

3. Don’t get weary in the waiting. What God has in store for you is worth waiting on.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Psalm 37:7 - “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…”

Psalm 130:5-6 - “I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. I wait for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning…”

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The question Jesus asks in Matthew 5:6 is….”Do we possess a craving hunger and thirst for God’s righteous life? The promise? “If we do, we will be filled.”

Main Points:

1. Because of our lack of hunger, it may be difficult for us to understand this particular beatitude. We rarely hunger and thirst after anything, so we miss the urgency of these words.

2. If you and I want righteousness, we can have it. If you want a closer relationship with God, you can have it. Jesus provides the way. If you want to do God’s will, you can. If you want to grow spiritually, you can. You have to hunger for it.

3. How do we maintain a hunger for the righteousness of God? We make knowing God our number one goal in life.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Matthew 5:6 - “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”

James 4:8 - “Come near to God and he will come near to you.”

Psalm 107:9 - “For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.”

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Here’s what I want you to think about today: Whatever you are going to do for God, you need to do it now. What is it that God has put on your heart to do? What burden are you carrying? What calling do you have on your life? Have you been saying, “Someday I want to serve God in a particular way? Someday I want to do this for God.” Hear this word. Someday is today. Someday is now.

Main Points:

1. We cannot put off until tomorrow what God is calling us to do today. The days, weeks, months, and years are going by, and they are going by quickly. We cannot go back and change the past, but we can do something about today.

2. So, let’s get to it. Let’s get started. Not tomorrow, but today. What has God put on your heart to do? What passion to serve the Lord do you carry? Let’s get started. What can you do today? What small step can you take right now?

3. I don’t know what God is speaking to your heart, but I do know the Holy Spirit is always calling us to go, to serve, and to step out into the plan of God. Fear and busyness cause us to delay and to wait. They lead us to put off until tomorrow the things God has put on our hearts.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Psalm 49:7 - “No one can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for them.”

Job 14:5 - “A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.”

Ephesians 5:16 - “Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”

Proverbs 27:1 - “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

James 4:13-15 - “Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”

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Maybe today you feel alone. Perhaps due to your mistakes and failures you have isolated yourself from others. Maybe you are struggling and you wonder where God is. Possibly, you feel as if you are on the far side of the wilderness. Stand on this truth from God’s Word: He will never leave you or forsake you.

Main Points:

1. This morning as I was reading my Bible, I found myself in Exodus chapter three. It’s the story where Moses meets God at the burning bush. Six words leaped off the page as I read the familiar story. It says Moses was on “the far side of the wilderness.” Moses wasn’t just in the wilderness, he was on the far side of the wilderness. What is the wilderness? The dictionary defines it as “an uncultivated, uninhabited, and inhospitable region.” In other words, Moses was as isolated as a person could get.

2. Yet, on the far side of the wilderness, with not another person in sight, Moses was not alone. It’s here Moses has a life-changing encounter with God. He is reminded he is not alone, he is not forgotten, and God’s purpose for his life has not changed.

3. Moses never forgot about the day he encountered God at the burning bush. It was a revelation of God’s continued purpose and plan for his life, but the greater lesson for Moses was the necessity of God’s presence.

Today’s Scripture Verses:

Exodus 3:1 - "Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness..."

Psalm 139:7-10 - “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

Exodus 33:15-16 - “Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”

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