Romans 12:2   And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

I Timothy 6:17-19   Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;  That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate;  Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life.

Colossians 2:8  Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

Philippians 2:14-16  Do all things without murmurings and disputings:  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;  Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

Ephesians 2:1-3   And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;  Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:  Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Galatians 6:14  But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Galatians 1:4  Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:

II Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

I Corinthians 3:18,19  Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.

I Corinthians 2:12  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.

James 4:4  Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Matthew 13:22  He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

Mark 4:19  And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.

Luke 8:14  And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

We here in Touchet have just begun to give an honest audience to Paul!

Acts 9:15  But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:
Acts 13:46  Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.
Acts 13:47  For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.
Acts 14:27  And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.
Acts 18:6  And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
Acts 28:28  Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it.

So, we do try to be Bible readers, amen!!??  ...well, we may even throw in some studying when sports aren't on - and the yard is all caught up - and the family isn't visiting, - nothing is broken - the weather is bad - when we just can't sleep...

Oh, you HAVE experienced it? - amen!  But how often?  Daily?  Hourly?  Without ceasing?  Does our life center around that Bible?  Would we die for that Bible???  Millions have - and have you ever really wondered why?  I mean, really... they would die for it!!!!!!!!

I Peter 2:1-3  Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:  If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Proverbs 2:6   For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
Proverbs 7:24  Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.
Proverbs 8:8-11 All the words of my mouth are in righteousness; there is nothing froward or perverse in them.  They are all plain to him that understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge.  Receive my instruction, and not silver; and knowledge rather than choice gold.  For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

• Remember, the Great Commission only produces hypocrites in other people's eyes if you try to walk it because it CAN'T ALL BE DONE on earth now!
• The Greater Commission from Paul CAN ALL be done on earth - now, today; you & I just pick and choose what we WANT to do of it; we just tend to pretend to fight the 'great battles' - most of the time, we just feed our flesh and can even justify scriptures to keep doing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I believe that we know, that according to Paul, one of our DUTIES is to live a CHRISTIAN LIFESTYLE!  (not just a walk)

We already know that we are not our own - I Corinthians 6:19   What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
I Corinthians 7:23  Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.

We are to be a servant to God - Romans 6:22 - But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

See Luke 17:5-10, Jesus puts it quite well!  Unprofitable Servants - we are just doing our duty, if we 'do' anything right, anyway! Romans 12:1  I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And until we are taken up to be His bride with an inheritance, he will at least be our friend - by us seriusly considering the Bible!!!
John 15:14,15   Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.  Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

But are we 'His' friend?
Remember this about friendship, however,John 15:13  Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.  It goes both ways - He laid down His life for us, would we lay down our life for Christ?  We must!   We must DIE to ourselves in order to live for Christ!

Our contention that is with ourselves (and others) is because of our PRIDE!!!    We have our own contention among our own self!  Proverbs 13:10  Only by contention cometh pride...  Proverbs 22:10: Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and reproach shall cease.  Cast out that old SELF, strife and reproach will cease!  Feed the Spirit, not the flesh!

Maybe our closeness and friendship with Jesus Christ is still being affected by our lousy servanthood - the world has such a hold on us today!!!

Remember, we are in the LAODICEAN church age - and that is a real bad time!!! See Revelation 3 if you don't know that yet!  Rev 3:15-17   I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.  So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.  Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:

I Timothy 6:1,2   Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not blasphemed. And they that have believing masters, let them not despise them, because they are brethren; but rather do them service, because they are faithful and beloved, partakers of the benefit. These things teach and exhort.

... God - our master?
Psalm 66:2   Sing forth the honour of his name: make his praise glorious.
Psalm 71:8   Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.
Psalm 96:6   Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Psalm 104:1   Bless the LORD, O my soul.  O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty.
Psalm 145:5    I will speak of the glorious honour of thy majesty, and of thy wondrous works.

... Jesus Christ - our Master? (if you claim a salvation, anyway!)
I Timothy 1:17  Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

I Timothy 6:15,16  ...is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords;  Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

... The Book - our Master? (we claim it to be our final authority in all matters of faith and practice, don't we???)
Psalm 138:2  I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

The more we hear, the more we live...
Romans 10:17  So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Jesus said he had a more abundant live for us... John 10:10  The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

We think we do God a favour when we 'get a job' - when you ladies put on a dress - when us men keep our shirts on / wear 'long' shorts - when you take your kids to SS - or to church - when we read a little bible - when we memorize a verse or two and can retain it for a day or two - etc.

We think that because we don't lose our temper 'as often,' then we are satisfied!
We think that because we don't cuss 'as much,' then we are satisfied!
We think that because we limit our fights to being at home, then we are satisfied!

We think because we are 'aware' of our struggle, then we must be doing better!

We even think we will reign with him because we 'suffer so greatly' these days.

We are only getting upset because we may lose our guns, not our Bible!
We are only getting upset because we are losing our freedoms to do what we want, not what God wants us to do!

We are watching America crumble daily but we are upset only because it affects our fun - or our income!   We are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God!

We are watching modern purpose driven marketed Bible Believing churches get bigger and bigger - we are mostly just jealous of the numbers and the money and the enjoyment they 'must have!' We are not concerned about the lack of truth being taught!

We want some of that Jesus magic in our lives by 'skimming the Bible' - then we get mad at God when it doesn't come!

Psalm 119:161,162   Princes have persecuted me without a cause: but my heart standeth in awe of thy word.   I rejoice at thy word, as one that findeth great spoil.

I Samuel 9:27b  ...stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God.