“1. And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you. 2. And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this? 3. Wherefore I also said, I will not drive them out from before you, but they shall be as thorns in your sides, and their gods shall be a snare unto you. 4. And it came to pass, when the angel of the LORD spake these words unto all the children of Israel, that the people of the LORD lifted up their voice, and wept.”

Its amazing that God’s Word will never fail! In this context of scripture we read of how God has brought the children of Israel to their desired haven, just as He promised. The problem with Israel is that as they became blessed, they failed to follow all of God’s instructions. If believers are not careful, blessings can become a curse. In the low times of life our faith in God is unstoppable, but when the mountain tops of blessings begin, God’s Word becomes less important to us. In Judges 1 you will read the account of how Israel failed to drive out all the inhabitants of the wicked nations that God told them to drive out. You cant mix righteousness with unrighteousness. God is very serious about separation. Today, we see the movement of contemporary music and falling away of the King James Bible. Its because we have leaders and members of the church afraid to take a stand on what God says in His Word. Churches are closing more and more everyday because believers refuse to follow the simple truth of the scriptures. Israel began to inhabit the lands with these wicked nations and as a result they began to fall away from God and worship false idols. The book of Judges shows God judging them for their decisions contrary to His Word. Separation is so important in the Christian walk. You may think you will influence your lost friends, but they influence you more than you influence them. Today, our churches need to get back to the King James Bible and old fashion Christianity, not to be different than what others are doing, but to be Biblical. In Judges 1 Israel put the wicked nations to tribute rather than drive them out and it cost them great trials and tribulations. What kind of judgement will God bring in your life? He is a faithful God and He always judges sin! Romans 16:17 “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”

Memory Verse Week 4/8/19

Romans 16:17

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”

“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

Take a close look at the word burden. Who doesn’t haven’t one? The word righteous makes it apparent that the Bible is speaking to the believer. All believers carry a burden of some form. Noah Webster defined burden as a load; that which is borne with labor or difficulty; that which is grievous; wearisome or oppressive. The closer a believer walks with the Lord the heavier the load can become! This verse of scripture is a great reason why believers should read there Bible’s every day. The biggest problem believers have is trying to carry their own burdens. God gave us His Word to prove to us we cant make it without Him. Look at the word cast. What does that mean? Picture in your mind for a moment the fishing pole you like to take to the lake. What do you do with the lure? You cast it of course! You throw it away from you! That is what God is telling us to do with our burdens. We are not to just cast it away from us, the Bible tells us we are to cast it to the Lord. What is your burden today? Maybe a lost loved one? A wayward child? A relationship? Only you know the burden! Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” These are the words of Jesus. He died for us to save us and He saved us so He can take care of our burdens and help us through everything. Today you may have some heavy burdens in your life, you cant carry them on your own, give it to Jesus! Look what the rest of the Psalm says “he shall sustain thee”. The word sustain means to bear; to uphold; to support. Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?” God is faithful! Stop trying to carry these burdens alone, “Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

Memory Verse Week 3/25/19

Psalm 55:22

“Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved.”

“2. And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. 3. And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live. 4. Thy raiment waxed not old upon thee, neither did thy foot swell, these forty years. 5. Thou shalt also consider in thine heart, that, as a man chasteneth his son, so the LORD thy God chasteneth thee. 6. Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. 7. For the LORD thy God bringeth thee into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and depths that spring out of valleys and hills;”

In this passage of scripture we are at the end of the forty years of wandering in the wilderness. Moses is bringing to light that God is faithful and loving. Many believers have this idea that love is doing whatever the heart leads you to do. That’s not in the Bible; Genesis 8:21 “……..for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth…..” Israel spent those 40 years in the wilderness because they chose to follow their hearts rather than the Word of God. They paid dearly for it. God let them go their own way, but it was nothing more than chastening and proving. He wanted to make them better. We see this same exact picture in the hunting world. Sunday is not the day for the tree stand, its the day to worship God. Sometimes God says ok, “Do what you want.” Is it really worth losing your family over? Is it worth filing bankruptcy? You might say that’s a little rough. There are a lot of dads out there that put their success in the field above everything else. Exodus 20:3 “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” When people look at your life what would they say about you? He really loves God or he really loves hunting?” Maybe your not to the point of chastisement yet, but know that God is faithful. He is faithful in love, but what many fail to realize is that He is also faithful in judgement and chastisement. Israel learned the hard way. He corrected them because He loved them! He wanted them to trust totally in Him. Be careful Sir or Ma’am, Hunting can destroy your life! Maybe the reason you didn’t kill an animal this past season or even make it to the woods is because God is trying to show you that you are serving the wrong god. God gave us these wonderful animals, don’t let the devil win in your life. Don’t allow hunting or anything for that matter be a god in your life. It will bring unnecessary correction into your life and may also affect those around you. Proverbs 11:1 “A FALSE balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.” Have fun hunting, don’t let it consume you!

Memory Verse Week 3/11/19

Exodus 20:3

“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

“5. Open rebuke is better than secret love. 6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend: but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.”

How are your friendships today? Do you have good friends? Are you a good friend to others? There is a thought that floats around to make people believe that good friends are those who agree with you on everything. Do you notice how the Word of God always corrects us in our normal fleshly thoughts? Proverbs 27 gives great wisdom concerning what a good friend is! Open rebuke is never fun, but it can be for the best! Rebuke simply means to reprehend (to blame) for a fault. Make sure your friends that you walk with are believers that will encourage you in the Word of God and not their own thoughts and their own ways! Amos 3:3 “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” That’s an easy answer! Its hard to walk with others that don’t agree or live by the Bible. Make sure your counsel and your friendships are people who will guide you in the will of God! Proverbs 27:9 “Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.” A wound is never a good feeling, but many times in the lives of a believer, it takes a wound from a friend to stop foolish decisions that are being made. Can you handle wounds from a friend or maybe even your pastor? If you go to your pastor for counsel, or another man of God or woman of God, why do you get upset with them when they are honest with you? We don’t always like to hear advice that make us look stupid and wrong, but God’s Word says that we need those of types of friendships. Proverbs 27:17 “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” There are people in your life right now that you may be ahead of spiritually. God has put them in your life so you can be a help to them, so you can pray for them, don’t be one to always chastise, but be one to give good spiritual advice when they ask for it. God has put some people in your life that may be more spiritual than you, listen to them when they try to help you! Don’t get upset at them when they give you advice that will help you. There is a difference between one who is always looking to correct you verse those who may be giving you some faithful wounds! What kind of friends do you have? Are they spiritual or worldly?

Memory Verse Week 3/4/19

Proverbs 27:17

“Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.”

“1. Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation, into the desert of Zin in the first month: and the people abode in Kadesh; and Miriam died there, and was buried there. 2. And there was no water for the congregation: and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron. 3. And the people chode with Moses, and spake, saying, Would God that we had died when our brethren died before the LORD! 4. And why have ye brought up the congregation of the LORD into this wilderness, that we and our cattle should die there? 5. And wherefore have ye made us to come up out of Egypt, to bring us in unto this evil place? it is no place of seed, or of figs, or of vines, or of pomegranates; neither is there any water to drink.”

There are some great things about to be done in the following verses, its a story well known! God tells Moses to speak to the rock, but out of his anger from the people, he smote the rock twice and water came forth. God never told him to smite the rock, He told him to speak to it. The Rock is Jesus Christ, Moses never saw the promise land because of his disobedience toward God. There was a previous situation when Moses was commanded to strike the rock, but not this time, he was just to speak to it. Jesus Christ was crucified one time, not twice. Once Christ was crucified it gave us all the ability to speak to Him, especially through our troubles. The children of Israel received their water they were wanting so bad, but they sure did cause some grief to the man of God that was leading them. How is the relationship with your Pastor today? Maybe even your supervisor? Don’t drive them to a place of anger. Hebrews 13:17 “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.” When you read vs 1-5 of the main text it is very evident that the children of Israel were complainers! Why would God bring them to a place of no water? Sometimes situations in life feels like there is no water, but remember God knew there would be water in the rock! God likes to try His people, to see if they will really trust Him and have faith like they say they do. Its unfortunate that many believers get into these trials that they don’t like and cause God to be angry, but not just God also the man of God that may be the leader in their life. Don’t push them to anger, STOP COMPLAINING and trust what Jesus Christ is doing in your life! He knows how much you can take, and He wants you to see miracles in your life, sometimes it just takes a dry desert before God does the impossible! Pray for your Pastor today! Trust God for what He is doing in your life, you may not understand it, but He does! God is faithful, don’t cause anger in the life of your pastor or even those that have the rule over you!

Memory Verse Week 2/24/19

Hebrews 13:17

“Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”

“10. But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ. 11. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 13. Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother’s way.”

In the context of Romans chapter sixteen it seems that Paul is addressing believers in regard to how they are treating each other. Its very important to remember that every believer in Christ is different in many ways. Not every one lives exactly like you do. Among the church there are many different people on many different spiritual levels. A young Christian that is trying to serve the Lord may not understand everything like you do and God doesn’t need you to hover over them to make sure they are doing everything the way you think they should do it. In this chapter of scripture it appears there are some young Jewish believers that are still following God in their meat according to Old Testament Law. Pork would have been and Old Testament meat that was forbidden to eat. In the book of Acts God told Peter to “Rise, kill and eat”. The Old Testament Law was lifted at that point concerning unclean meat. If God had not brought a new believer to that understanding yet, Paul is telling us “don’t judge your brother”. If God has not brought them to that biblical understanding, why would you judge them? Remember you have to give an account at the judgement seat of Christ for how you live your life, not how someone else lives theirs. How could we apply this passage to the 21st century? Let’s say you and your buddy have hunted together for years, you are both saved and serving the Lord. As deer season approaches you realize your buddy has made a decision not to deer hunt this year because it has been hurting his family and finances. You may even find out he has prayed to the Lord and gave Him a commitment that he will not hunt this season. Why would you as his saved friend want to be a stumblingblock to him? Every day, leading up to the day season opens, you tell him all the reasons why he needs to hunt, you even offer to buy his tags and all the expenses for the hunting trip you always take. Its important to realize that hunting is not sin, but it can be! If your friend is having a struggle with hunting controlling him, why would you want to be a stumbling block? Some believers have harder struggles with things than others, don’t be that stumbling block. Another example could be a friend that is trying to fast, but is having a struggle with it, why would you want to hang food over his head or jokingly ridicule him for what he is doing. You will have to answer for you sin as a believer, don’t judge your brother for how he serves the Lord, you may come to realize that you are the one doing it wrong. Whether your spiritual level is higher or lower, pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ and be an encouragement to them!

Memory Verse Week 2/18/19

Romans 14:10

“But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ.”

“5. Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. 6. Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.”

As Verse 5 begins we see the word “Behold”! The Word of God is telling us here that we need to listen to what is about to be said, it means to give attention to; to observe with care. King David here is about to reveal some important truths of his own life. Its important to remember that David is also recording these words under direct inspiration of the Holy Ghost. Its not that David is just recording a book, but that God is using him to pen down the perfect Word of God. Through David’s writings, God is able to speak directly to us thousands of years later. Lets remember who David was for a moment: As a young shepherd boy he killed a lion and a bear as he stood guard over the sheep in the field, from there he moved to the miraculous defeat of the giant named Goliath. He is anointed to be the next king of Israel and is promoted to the house of king Saul. He becomes the greatest warrior that possibly has ever lived. As he becomes the king of Israel, God blesses him mightily. Though he made some mistakes, he is still known to be a man after God’s own heart. He dies in peace as a very successful king. Now look back at the Psalm and see what David has to say about his own life: “Behold” that means give attention to what’s about to be said, “thou hast made my days as an handbreadth”. Look around the room your in right now, think about the space your in, now compare it to the width of your hand. Wow! Its not much, is it! Life is short, and here king David is saying that in the best days of his life, even then it is still vanity(emptiness; want of substance to satisfy desire; uncertainty). The Bible tells us that there is nothing good in us. Every day our desire is to please ourselves, and David, who had everything, is telling us that life is short and we are not taking anything with us. Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” What is the focus of your life today? If your not saved, the Bible tells all of mankind that there will be eternal judgement for sin. Visit our Lost page for a clear understanding on salvation or even watch some of our hunts on the hunting page. If your saved, what is your focus? Is it about you or about Jesus? Life is short and one day you will stand before God and give an account for how you live your life! The greatest happiness and joy you could ever experience will only come from serving Jesus Christ. John 3:30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Read over the main Psalm again! What are you doing for Jesus today?

Memory Verse Week 2/4/19

Psalm 39:5

“Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah.”

“Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”

We can see two categories of people in this simple proverb. First we see a boaster! What is your conversation like today? Do you brag and boast of your greatness? If you spend much time around the hunting community you will quickly realize there are many hunters who are always talking about how great they are! They talk as if they are the best friend anyone could ever have along with being the most successful hunter in life. If you killed a big deer this year, congratulations! How does God feel about your success? Could He possibly be displeased with you for how you have been bragging about it? Proverbs 27:1-2 “Boast not thyself of tomorrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth. Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.” God is not pleased with those who constantly talk about how good they think they are. Its nothing more than pride and self will, and that comes from no other place than the depths of hell! Satan committed the sin of pride in his heart, it was the first sin ever committed. Why would you want your lifestyle to reflect him and not God? The first part of this proverb goes even a little further; talk is cheap! Are you even good for your word? Many talk about how good they are and how they help others, but in the reality of it, they are not that dependable! The second category we see in this proverb are those that are faithful. Faithful means firmly adhering to duty; loyal. A good example would be like knowing that church is on Sunday Morning, Sunday Night, and Wednesday Night; being faithful would mean your always at every service. This proverb is speaking of accountability, being loyal to others and most importantly to God. People get aggravated and lose trust in others when all they ever here them say is “yea, I’ll be there” but never show up. Are you good for your word? Are you faithful to God? Are you faithful to friends? If your saved today you should have a desire to be faithful, just as God is faithful to us! “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?” What category would you fall into?

Memory Verse Week 1/28/18

Proverbs 20:6

“Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?”

“21.And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. 22. So Moses brought Israel from the Red sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. 23. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. 24. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink?”

The beginning of this chapter starts out with the children of Israel singing praised to God for His great deliverance from Egypt. The Egyptian army came to kill them, but God led all of His children across the Red Sea to save them. There are many Christians that have the same attitude of the children of Israel in this passage of scripture. As the children of Israel sing praises to God for His unbelievable miracle they are quickly tried to see how much they trust God. They go three days without water as a trial of their faith and instantly they begin to complain! Wait a minute! Didn’t God just lead them away from bondage and slavery and then destroy all the enemy right before their eyes? One downfall to the nation of Israel, is that through their journey in the wilderness, if they didn’t get what they wanted when the wanted it, they would begin to complain about how God led them into the wilderness to die. God doesn’t lead anyone into failure, but He does test us and try us to have a greater faith. There are a lot of hunters today complaining about not filling their deer tags this season. Has God blessed you in the past? Why are you complaining about it then? Maybe its not even hunting, maybe there are some difficulties in your life right now and all you do is complain. Look to the past! If you have accepted Christ, you have received the greatest blessing you could possibly receive. God is not leading you to fail. Sometimes in life you need to go without things. It will help you have a greater faith in God! God was going to give Israel the water they needed, but He was beginning to test them and try them to see how much they truly trusted in Him! Philippians 2:14-15 “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;” The word murmur means to grumble; to complain; to utter complaints in a low, half articulated voice. Are you guilty of this? Don’t be that type of Christian! Be happy for what God did for you in the past, but be happier for what he will do when he allows you to get through your trial! Trust Him!

Memory Verse Week 1/21/19

Philippians 2:14-15

“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;”

“4. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5. For God doth know that in the day ye eat therof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. 6. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”

Many times, in the mind of a Christian the thought of sin is something very evil and wicked. One might say committing adultery, murder, stealing, alcoholism, cursing is sin without a doubt, of course it is, the Bible tells us that it is! What brings someone to this place though? Does a guy wake up one day and say I am going to cheat on my wife? Of course not. It starts out to be something smaller, just like with murder and stealing. People don’t just wake up as an alcoholic or drug addict, it takes one beer to start down that path, it takes one use to start leading into addiction. The Bible tells us in Galatians 6:9 “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.” If your not sure what that means, its simply saying that the tiniest bit of sin in your life will grow bigger and bigger if you don’t deal with it. Leaven is yeast, yeast is an ingredient you use when you bake bread. Bread always comes out of the oven much larger than when it went in. Sin always starts out small, but if you don’t deal with it, it will turn into something bigger than you can handle. So how does adultery end up in the home? Matthew 5:28 “But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.” We can see that when you first look upon sin, you must deal with it immediately or it will destroy your life. James 1:15 “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Looking back at the main text we know that Adam and Eve were given specific instructions to not eat of the fruit and also not to touch it. Verse 6 tells us even further that they didn’t even look at it. Don’t look at sin, it will always entice you to go further. Eve’s big mistake was vs 6 “And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food..” Sin always looks good, but the after taste is always bitter. Eve didn’t stop there! The next thing she did was put her hand on it, she had to touch it before it even got to her mouth. Do you see the progression? After she ate it she went even a little further to take her husband down with her. “Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.” Every day the devil is at your door step tempting you to disobey God. What are you doing about it? God will always be there(if your saved) to help you if you will deal with sin before it grows into total destruction!

Memory Verse Week 1/7/19

James 1:15

“Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death.”