1 Corinthians 1:1-3

We were known before our birth destined to be followers of the Most High, Jesus Christ. As believers we are sanctified by the power of the Holy Spirit to be doers and not just hearers so that our lives may reflect His glory to others. Our ultimate goal is to share His love through the salvation He provided in Christ with as many who will listen. The Father wants no one to perish but all to have the chance of eternal life with their Creator.

 Without Christ within nothing is possible.

United, in the power of the Holy Spirit, nothing is impossible.

The work of Jesus Christ makes a believer holy forever in God’s eyes. But in everyday living, sanctification involves small, daily changes. This is why Paul could call the Corinthian believers to become saints, even though the problems in their church testified that they were far from the goal of holiness.

1 Corinthians 1:1-3

1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,

² To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

³ Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

⁷ To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Romans 1:7

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 

Ephesians 4:1

¹² that you would walk worthy of God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory. 

1 Thessalonians 2:12

⁶ yet for us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live. 

1 Corinthians 8:6

²² even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 

Romans 3:22

Matthew 5:13-16

The teachings of Christ and the New Covenant supersede the Old. In His birth, death and resurrection Jesus fulfilled them. It is finished. The Holy Spirit who from the beginning guided man from the outside now resides within those who believe in Jesus and allow His life to replace theirs. 

The believer does not have inherent light; rather we have reflective light. As we behold the glory of the Lord, we reflect it.

supersede |ˌso͞opərˈsēd|

verb [with object]

take the place of (a person or thing previously in authority or use); supplant: the older models have now been superseded.

 The fruit of the Spirit should be evident in His children.

Believers should be the outward sign of an inward God. Without love for all of His creation…we are nothing. Micah 8:6

Salt was a valuable commodity in the ancient world.  People traded with it, like we trade with gold and stock.  Salt also served a very useful purpose in hot climates before the invention of electricity and refrigeration.  Salt not only gave food flavor, it also preserved meat from spoiling.  Jesus used the image of salt to describe how his disciples are to live in the world.  As salt purifies, preserves, and penetrates, so the disciple must be as salt in the world of human society to purify, preserve, and penetrate that society for the kingdom of God and of his righteousness and peace. 

Lamps in the ancient world served a vital function, much like they do today.  They enable people to see and work in the dark and to avoid stumbling.   The Jews also understood “light” as an expression of the inner beauty, truth, and goodness of God. Just as natural light illumines the darkness and enables one to see visually, so the light of Christ shines in the hearts of believers and enables us to see the heavenly reality of God’s kingdom. Jesus remarks that nothing can remain hidden or secret. Everything is known to God who sees all. 

The similitude |siˈmiləˌt(y)o͞od|

• a comparison between two things.

Matthew 5:13-16

¹³ “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. ¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

^50 sSalt is good, but if the salt loses its flavor, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.” 

Mark 9:50

¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” 

John 8:12

¹⁵ that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 

Philippians 2:15

¹² having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. 

1 Peter 2:12

⁸ By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 

John 15:8

John 3:5-8

The birth, death and resurrection of the Christ, the word of god made flesh, sparked the biggest revolution known to man. To this day it rages on. 

The Gospel of John is the only book in the Bible that states its purpose clearly and succinctly: It was written to tell individuals how to find eternal life. Unless you are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit you will not be able to spiritually see the Kingdom of God that guides and directs you here on earth. Believe in His power to forgive your sins and empower you for His good works now and for ever.

In faith believing we, who were once dead, are made alive by His power to the glory of God.

Jesus used the wind as an illustration of the work of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word translated Spirit also means “wind.” As the wind seemingly blows where it wills, so the Holy Spirit sovereignly works. Likewise, no one knows the origin or destination of the wind, but everyone knows it is there. The same is true of the Holy Spirit.

John 3:5-8

⁵ Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. ⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the

Spirit is spirit. ⁷ Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ ⁸ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

²³ having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, 

1 Peter 1:23

¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 

Mark 16:16

³⁸ Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 2:38

⁵ As you do not know what is the way of the wind, Or how the bones grow in the womb of her who is with child, So you do not know the works of God who makes everything. 

Ecclesiastes 11:5

⁹ Also He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God: “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they may live.” ’ ” 

Ezekiel 37:9

¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 

1 Corinthians 2:11

Psalm 18:25-27

You God are all things to all those who call on You in truth.

You are the rock of my salvation. 

You are my Abba, Daddy. 

You are my omnipotent Savior. 

You are my spiritual teacher.

 You are my all in all!

Whomsoever believes in You will not perish but share everlasting life with You.

The poet describes the actions of God in terms of the people to whom He relates. God deals with each person according to his or her attitude. He opposes the proud but delivers the humble, for the humble turn to Him for strength.

Psalm 18:25-27

²⁵ With the merciful You will show Yourself merciful;

With a blameless man You will show Yourself blameless;

²⁶ With the pure You will show Yourself pure;

And with the devious You will show Yourself shrewd.

²⁷ For You will save the humble people,

But will bring down haughty looks.

⁷ Blessed are the merciful, For they shall obtain mercy. 

Matthew 5:7

³⁴ Surely He scorns the scornful, But gives grace to the humble. 

Proverbs 3:34

⁵ Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure. 

Psalm 101:5

Zephaniah 1:1-3

Every day has its own set of troubles to overcome through the power of the Holy Spirit. Every day His coming draws nearer to us.

 Listen closely can you hear Him?

God abhors all forms of idolatry. 

Anything that has a hold on our affection and attention has the potential to become an idol in our life. In our culture today the material things of life have become substitutes for the pursuit of God.

The message of Zephaniah begins with a pronouncement of universal judgment. These words not only introduce the particular judgment that would be pronounced upon Judah, but they also speak of the final judgment that will usher in the kingdom of God on earth.

In Zephaniah’s time the deterioration of society had become a cause of frustration and disappointment for the godly. Abuse of power, acts of injustice, and oppressive deeds were common in Judah.

Zephaniah denounced the materialism and greed that exploited the poor. He also was aware of world conditions and announced God’s judgment on the nations for their sins. Above all, God’s prophet had a deep concern for God’s reputation and for the well-being of all who humbly trust in Him. Zephaniah’s life and ministry are a testimony that one man, yielded wholly to God, can effect great things. 

Yet it is somewhat ironic that Ashurbanipal, who had already reigned some thirty years by the time of Zephaniah and under whom the zenith of Assyrian affluence and culture was achieved, was possessed by a personal weakness that would be mirrored in the Assyrian state itself.

It was a defect of Ashurbanipal as a king that he had nothing in him of the great strategist, statesman, or soldier. He was as barren in political insight as he was rich in vindictiveness. It was his misfortune that he was called to be king when by inclination he was a scholastic. 658 Bible.org

Zephaniah 1:1-3

²      “I will utterly consume everything

From the face of the land,”

Says the Lord;

³ “I will consume man and beast;

I will consume the birds of the heavens,

The fish of the sea,

And the stumbling blocks along with the wicked.

I will cut off man from the face of the land,”

Says the Lord.

Zephaniah 2:3 

³ Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice. Seek righteousness, seek humility. It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger. 

Revelation 19:1–6 

9 After these things I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, “Alleluia! Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God! ² For true and righteous are His judgments, because He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication; and He has avenged on her the blood of His servants shed by her.” ³ Again they said, “Alleluia! Her smoke rises up forever and ever!” ⁴ And  the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne, saying, “Amen! Alleluia!” ⁵ Then a voice came from the throne, saying, “Praise our God, all you His servants and those who fear Him, both small and great!” ⁶ And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters and as the sound of mighty thunderings, saying, “Alleluia! For the Lord God Omnipotent reigns!

Hosea 14:9

 What does God require of us to walk in His truth?

He requires us to be fair

forgive easily 

and remain humble

and to love others as much as ourself.

Justice is the legal or philosophical theory by which fairness is administered.

justice |ˈjəstəs|

just behavior or treatment: a concern for justice, peace, and genuine respect for people.

God’s ways, His demands and principles, are completely true. The wise person will choose to obey them, but the foolish person will ignore them and consequently stumble into judgment.

Hosea 14:9

⁹ Who is wise?

Let him understand these things.

Who is prudent?

Let him know them.

For the ways of the Lord are right;

The righteous walk in them,

But transgressors stumble in them.

⁷ The works of His hands are verity and justice; All His precepts are sure. 

Psalm 111:7

⁸ They stand fast forever and ever, And are done in truth and uprightness. 

Psalm 111:8

²⁹ The way of the Lord is strength for the upright, But destruction will come to the workers of iniquity. 

Proverbs 10:29

⁵ The Lord is righteous in her midst, He will do no unrighteousness. Every morning He brings His justice to light; He never fails, But the unjust knows no shame. 

Zephaniah 3:5

Luke 12:1-3

We are not to judge non believers, that is God’s job, we are to judge those who call themselves believers. 

If nothing else this 2016 election has shown my husband and I the hypocrisy of the religious right. Calling names and calling for violence reminds us of the mobs shouting  “Crucify him”. We speak of love in our Churches and speak hate in our conversations. Now the violence they shouted for is being carried out in the streets. 

God help America.

Leaven here represents the presence of corruption. Unleavened bread is what the Jews ate at Passover. The corruption in view here is hypocrisy. Practicing hypocrisy is senseless because eventually all deeds—both good and evil—will be exposed.

We do not have to respect the president elect as a man. As a young mother who experienced being groped and as a woman who left a good paying job because of sexual harassment… I have known men like Donald Trump and they do not earn my respect. Nor do we have to respect his mistress/wife as a women. 

BUT we do have to respect the office of the Presidency. I will pray for a successful term in office because in a peaceful transition our country will have peace. 

God is always in control and we will learn our lessons one way or the other. 

Luke 12:1-3

12 In the meantime, when an innumerable multitude of people had gathered together, so that they trampled one another, He began to say to His disciples first of all, “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. ² For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, nor hidden that will not be known. ³ Therefore whatever you have spoken in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have spoken in the ear in inner rooms will be proclaimed on the housetops.

⁶ Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.” 

Matthew 16:6

¹² Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and Sadducees. 

Matthew 16:12

³⁹ Then the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees make the outside of the cup and dish clean, but your inward part is full of greed and wickedness. 

Luke 11:39

²⁶ Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 

Matthew 10:26

I choose the better, to be completely dependent upon what You show me. I love you from the very core of my being…You are my God! You are my Abba, my Daddy.

  Seek and you will find! 

which shall not be taken away from her; by men or devils: faith which comes by hearing of the word, and so every other grace of the Spirit is what can never be lost; nor an interest in God, as a covenant God, or in Christ as a Savior, nor a right and title to, nor meetness for eternal life, nor that itself, can be taken away, or the believer ever be deprived thereof. John Gill Exposition.

Mary was a silent example. She said nothing, but did what was right by devoting herself to Jesus’ teaching.

Luke 10:41-42

⁴¹ And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. ⁴² But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

⁴ One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord All the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord, And to inquire in His temple. Psalm 27:4

²⁷ Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” John 6:27

John 8:31-32

Christ within us is the hope of God’s glory shown on earth! We should represent the love of God to everyone we come in contact with. 

We are the hands and feet of Christ. 

¹⁵ “If you love Me, keep My commandments. 

John 14:15

Others should know us by our lives reflecting His command to love God above all and our neighbor as ourself…and who is our neighbor? E.V.E.R.Y.O.N.E.

“At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth” (Ephesians 1:10)

The Gospel of John is a persuasive argument for the deity of Jesus. It concentrates on presenting Jesus as the Word, that is, God (1:1) who became a man (1:14). Thus John meticulously records the statements and describes the miracles of Jesus that can only be attributed to God Himself.

  Abide means to remain, to continue. 

A believer who continues to obey the Word is a disciple, a learner. One who abides in the Word of God knows the truth…freedom from the bondage of sin. Obedience to the Lord means fellowship with Him, protection from sin, and experiencing His love.

John 8:31-32

³¹ Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. ³² And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. 

John 1:14

¹⁷ For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 

John 1:17

⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. 

John 14:6

¹⁸ And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 

Romans 6:18

¹⁷ Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. 

John 17:17

Acts 23"4-5

It is finished! America has voted and that is the end of it for another 4 years.

 It is in His hands now…God help America!

Acts 23:4-5

⁵ Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ”

²⁸ “You shall not revile God, nor curse a ruler of your people. 

Exodus 22:28

¹⁰ and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, 

2 Peter 2:10