blessing to all of our souls. Maybe before we start, I'd like to just bow and speak to God in prayer. Father, we come into your holy presence today in the worthy name of your Son, the Lord Jesus. We thank you Father for these moments that we can gather as a church and open the scriptures and hear your word.
We pray Lord for our families, our children, our marriages and all of the relationships that we have together in this church. And we pray Lord that our lives would be brought into conformity with Christ. We pray that we would listen to the scriptures and let the Word of God penetrate our hearts. And we pray that your Holy Spirit would guide us.
And so Lord, as we open the Word of God today, we pray that your Son would be glorified. We pray that your Word would be spoken well, that your voice would be heard. And we pray especially Lord that if there's any in this meeting today that do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, that they would come into a personal relationship with God by Jesus Christ. So we thank you for all your blessings and pray that you would bless us in your presence today as we open the scriptures in the name of the Lord Jesus.
Amen. I'd like to invite you to turn first of all to the book of Proverbs. I want to read Proverbs 16. My subject today is move in step with God.
That is the topic that I really would like to talk about. And I would say as I look back on my own life, there are many times that I did not move in step with God. I don't know if you all feel this or not, but I think that a lot of our life is redundant. And I think that in a lot of our life, there's wasted time.
There's noise. There's things that distract us in our life. And God today wants us to listen to His voice and to get in tune with what God has for each one of us. I want to encourage you today and young people.
It's great to see that the kids are here, and we have our children, we have older ones. We're all at different stages in life, but I want to encourage the children to listen to the Word of God. And those of us that are adults, I want to encourage us to assess our life, evaluate the moves that you make in your life, and ask yourself this question, do I move in step with God? Let's read in Proverbs chapter 16.
And I'd like to read at verse 1. It says, the plans of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the Lord. Look at verse 3. It says, commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.
Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. But especially I want to read verse 9. It says, the heart of man plans his way, but the Lord, establishes his steps. The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.
And I'd also like you to turn to Psalm 37. Psalm 37. Psalm 37. And I want to read at verse 23.
It says, the steps of a man are established by the Lord when he delights in his way. If you're reading a King James Version, it says, the steps of a good man, of a righteous man, are established or ordered by the Lord when he delights in his way, though he fall. He shall not be utterly cast down or cast headlong for the Lord upholds his hand. The background of my message are these four principles.
And I know that you've seen these slides before, but I would say that these four principles have deeply impressed thinking on my heart. And as I have studied for these messages, the Lord has spoken to me about these four principles that I think are paramount for a successful Christian life. And I got them from the life of Joshua. We're going to go to Joshua in a second.
Principle number one, if I want to have a successful spiritual life, I need to meditate on the Word of God. God told Joshua, the words of the law should not depart out of your mouth. You should meditate on them day and night. That's principle number one.
We already talked about that. Principle number two is mortify sin. If I am going to have a successful relationship with God, I have to cut sin out of my life. This is a very painful thing because it's so natural with every one of us.
And the last time that I spoke, I spoke about this. Sin is in our nature. Sin separates us from God. It breaks communion.
It destroys spiritual desires. Sin is the greatest lifelong battle that you will have as you walk in this world, mortify sin. Today I want to concentrate on number three. The message that I have for you today is to move in step with God.
I want you to understand that these principles are progressive. In other words, if you're not meditating on the Word of God, you will not be able to mortify sin. And if you don't mortify sin, you won't have communion with God because sin separates you from God. Sin will keep you from enjoying fellowship and communion with God.
How are you going to be able to move in step with God if you're not meditating on the Word of God? And if you're not meditating on the Word of God, you will have no power over sin. Do you remember what Jesus did when he was in the wilderness for 40 days and 40 nights? It is written.
The Word of God was in his heart. That's a principle. Moving in step with God is living our life in daily communion with God. I want to look at this topic three ways.
First of all, I want to try to explain to you an understanding of the concept. What does it mean to move in step with God? I want to talk about the concept. Secondly, I want to give you examples from scripture of men that moved in step with God.
Thirdly, I want to apply verses from the scripture that give us a practical application of how to live our lives in step with God. We read these verses in Proverbs, and it says very clearly that a man plans his way. So I want to say this. It's not wrong to plan.
You need to make plans in your life. You need to plan for your career. You need to plan for your marriage. You need to plan how you're raising your children.
You need to plan for retirement. You need to plan. But the question is, are you planning in a way that you're committing those steps to God so that they will be established? That's what it says in Proverbs 16.
A man's heart plans his way, but it's God who establishes his steps. It is critical. The closer that we walk with God, the more aligned our steps and our decisions and our moves will be in life. Let me ask you this question.
Look back over your life and think about the moves the decisions that you've made. Have they all been in step with God? Anybody here gone down a road that they regret? Absolutely.
You know why? Because we followed the flesh, because we were selfish, because we didn't take this great decision and weigh it in the presence of God. It's because we didn't align it with the principles of the Word of God. And what happens?
We get ourselves in trouble in our life because we move before God moves, or God moves, and we don't move. We miss the way, because we're out of step with God. That's the concept that I want to talk to you about. How do we move in step with God?
Well, here's the concept. First of all, having a daily personal time that is alone with God. I want to challenge you today. I know that you're going to say, John, my life is so busy.
I know. I know. I get it. I got so much.
I know. I know. I get it. I want to challenge every one of us today.
And I want to ask you, would you be willing to spend one hour in the presence of God today? Half an hour. Just time when you can shut the world outside, take up your Bible, have a regular place, and a regular time where you sit with God. And you say, God, I want to share with you the plans that I have in my life.
I want to bathe my decisions in the Word of God. I want the Holy Spirit to guide me and lead me so that my life will be profitable. There are huge benefits to meditating on the Word of God. Let me give you some of them.
Blessed is a man who walks not in the Council of the Undodly. Nor stands in the way of sinners. Nor sits in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law.
He meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the streams of water, whose leaf does not wither. And whatsoever he does will prosper. The ungodly are not so.
They have no foundation. They're shaken. They are moved with the wind. How do you live your life?
Meditate on the scriptures. Have a daily communion with God. Here's another one. Having my heart and my mind aligned with God.
What's in your heart? You know what Jesus said, is in the heart of man. You know what he said. Out of the heart proceed, blasphemies, adulterous, immoral thoughts, wickedness, covetousness, sin.
The heart is deceitful. And above all things, desperately wicked. Who can know it? You know how challenging it is for a human being to have their heart aligned with God?
It's probably one of the most challenging things in our mind. But yeah, God says, that shall love the Lord your God. With all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength. That's what God wants to move in step with God, is to have a heart that is aligned with God.
How about taking the time to listen to the word of God and act on what the word of God says. Being guided by the Holy Spirit. You know, years ago, we used to sing this little song and it just comes to mind right now. How long has it been since you walked with the dawn and knew that this day was worth a living?
How long since you stayed on your knees and let God speak into your heart? This is communion. This is fellowship. This is the concept of walking with God.
On my travels, I went down to South Carolina and I went to Billy Graham's library and I bought this book. This book is called Choosing the Extraordinary Life. You know, your life can either be ordinary or extraordinary and you think it's just ordinary. Would you like it, make it extraordinary?
How could your life possibly be extraordinary? Well, three things that he says in this book are number one, discover your purpose. Number two, believe what God says and act in faith on it. Number three, step into God's calling on your life.
In this book, Robert DeFries who wrote it, tells the story of a man called Sergeant Travis Mills. In April of 2012, I think it was, Travis Mills, the sergeant in the US Marines, was on his third tour of duty in Afghanistan. And he set his rucksack down on a buried IED explosive. At that very moment, everything changed in Travis' life.
He woke up about 25 days later in the hospital in Washington, DC. And he discovered all four of his limbs were gone. He came to on his 25th birthday. And he looked in his room and there was his wife Kelsey and her little daughter.
And as things began to settle in his mind, he saw at the bottom of his bed a verse that his sister had a plaque and took it off her wall in her living room and brought it to his hospital bed and put it up at the end of his bed. Guess what the verse was? Joshua chapter one and verse seven, be strong, be very courageous, don't be fearful. God has a plan for your life.
Travis was completely overwhelmed and broken. He said to his wife, he said, I want you to divorce me. I want you to take our assets and my little girl and marry someone else. My life is a disaster.
And there's no purpose left for me in living. You should go home today and you should Google Travis Mills, Sergeant in the US Marines. That man's life dramatically changed that day. His wife said, Travis, that's not how marriage works.
I am committed to you the rest of your life. They formed a foundation and Travis Mills travels all over the United States motivating people to live their life with purpose. Puts everything in perspective, doesn't it? Because our time is short.
And how are you living your life? And how am I living my life? Am I walking in step with God? I want to give you four pictures of people in the Bible that walked in step with God.
The first one who comes to mind is Moses. Moses was called to lead God's people out of Egypt. Probably the last thing Moses wanted to do. He had spent 40 years in the backside of the desert.
He'd settled into domestic life. He had a wife and two children. And he was taking care of sheep. God called him that day.
And he said, Moses, I am going to send you to Egypt. Moses said, no, God, not me. No, no, I can't do this. First thing he said was, who am I?
Next thing that came to Moses mind is this. I have a dark past. I killed a man in Egypt. How can I go back there in face barrel?
They won't listen to me. Who shall I say sent me? And God said, I will empower you. You're going to move in step with God.
And the next thing that comes to Moses mind is, this is not going to sit well with the wife. Zipporah is not going to accept this. How can I do this? God called him and he said, get Aaron.
He's better. Get someone else. God spoke so loudly to Moses' heart. Moses became engaged.
And he got up and he went to Egypt. And he fulfilled his life's purpose for God. He walked in step with God. I want to remind you of a man called Elijah.
First Kings chapter 18. Elijah was called to stand against a dominant culture. A culture of satanic worship. Does it sound remotely close to anything that we live in today?
God called Elijah to stand against satanic worship, to challenge the prophets of Baal, to dethrone them in the eyes of Israel. And he called him to stand against Jezebel and Ahab, the wicked king, and called them out for their sin. And Elijah goes to Mount Carmel and he calls, fired down from heaven. And he moved in step with God.
He fulfilled God's purpose for his life. And then you happen? He got scared. And he ran for his life.
And he said, OK, God, I said I'm done. I can't go any further. There's no one here left. And God says, no.
There's 7,000 that I haven't bowed any to Baal. Get up. I'm going to feed you. I'm going to take care of you.
You have a purpose in life. Could I encourage you today? I don't know anything about your past. But I know this.
God has a purpose for you. God has a unique purpose for your life, for every one of our lives. And God has called us to move out in step with God. It takes courage.
It takes faith. It takes obedience. Whatever God is calling you to do, know your purpose and step out with God. Anybody remember the story about Peter?
Matthew chapter 14. They're in the boat. There's a massive storm going on. He's told them to get in the ship and go to the other side.
It's the wee hours of the night. And Jesus comes walking on the water. And all the disciples are completely terrified. And Peter says, who is it?
And Jesus says, be not afraid in his eye. And Peter says, Lord, if it's really you, bid me to step out of the boat and come walking on the water. And Jesus says, come. OK, what about the other 11 disciples?
They ain't getting out of the boat. What would you do if you were there? Would you be the one to say, Lord, is it really you? Are you calling me to do something?
Come. Peter puts his hands on the side of that boat and gets out and starts walking on the water. Wow. Let me use this as a little metaphor in your life.
What is God calling you to do? Are you willing to have the courage? Do you have the faith to step out of the boat and actually start walking? Walking in the calling that God has for you.
Whatever he's calling you to do, get out of the boat. Go. Do it. How about the Apostle Paul?
Acts, chapter 9, he is rushing down that road to Damascus with threats ready to kill the people of God, persecuting the church. And God stopped him. And he falls down and he says, who are you, Lord? And he says, I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
And Paul says, Lord, what will you have me to do? Anybody here there in our life willing to say, Lord, what do you have for me to do in my life? You know, I'm 55 years old. I can't believe that.
I'm 55 years old. And I'm sitting here. And as I'm preparing this message, I'm saying, Lord, what do you want me to do in my life? I'm still at that stage.
Anybody here willing to say, God, what do you want me to do in my life? How can I be useful for you? How can I serve you? How can I fulfill my purpose for God?
God has a message for you. I want you to turn to Joshua chapter 1. Joshua chapter 1, and I want to read at verse 2. These are the scripture readings that I'm going to be reading that appear on the screen.
Joshua chapter 1 and verse 2. God said this to Joshua. He said, arise, arise, and go over this Jordan, you and all this people. I am giving you this land.
Look at verse 3. Every place, every step that you take, the soul of your foot will tread upon, I have given it to you. Can you imagine if you had this promise that every step that you take, God is giving you this land? What a powerful message.
And then he says, there's not a man who will stand against you all the days of your life. I was with Moses. I will be with you. Go to chapter 3.
Chapter 3 and verse 3. I love this. Verse 1, it says, Joshua rose early in the morning. And they came to the Jordan and all the people of Israel.
They lodged there before they passed over. How long did they lodge? They're three days. And the officers went through the camp.
And they commanded the people. Here's what they said. As soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, being carried by the priests, you will set out. If you have an NIV, it says, you will move out.
You will move out as soon as you see the ark of the covenant of God. OK, let me define the picture here. What does Jordan speak of? Death.
Perfect. What's the ark of the covenant speak of? The presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. The ark of the covenant goes down into the waters of death first.
And everyone who sees it follows it. I learned a few things from this. Number 1, God gave Joshua a promise. And he said, I will be with you.
I will not fail you. And he also gave him this promise. My presence will go with you. We read a little bit about that this morning.
In Exodus 33, but the presence of God. My presence will go with you. He gave him his presence. He gave him his promise.
And he gave him a command. Possess the land. Let me ask you this question. Has God given you a promise?
Yes, he has. He's promised that he will be with you. He's promised he will never leave you nor forsake you. Has God given us his presence?
Yes, he has. Has God given us a command? Yes, he has. He says, go.
Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. I will be with you, even to the end of the age. Moving in step with God requires a few things. And I don't know if you're there yet, but moving in step with God requires reconciliation.
You cannot move in step with God if you are not a believer in Jesus Christ. If you are still walking in your sin and you are on a road to destruction and you have no relationship with God, you won't hear his voice and you won't be able to move in step with him. I wonder if there's anybody here and you have never come to know the Lord Jesus as your Savior. You've never been reconciled with God.
You've never been born again. You don't have a relationship with God. That's step number one in order to walk with God. Do you know why?
Because the scripture says in Isaiah 59 and one, God's hand is not shortened. That he cannot say, his ear is not heavy that he can't hear you, but your sins have separated between you and God. No relationship with God if you are living in sin. You need to be reconciled to God.
That is the gospel. Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And we, each one of us need to have a personal reconciliation with God. Let me make something else clear.
You are the one that needs to be reconciled to God. God doesn't need to be reconciled to you. God is holy. He's righteous.
His character doesn't change. We have become crooked in our ways and we've gone astray and we need to be reconciled to God. How does that happen? Through repentance.
Repentance. God now commands all men everywhere to repent. Because he has appointed a day when he will judge the world in righteousness by that man, which he is ordained and has given assurance of all that he raised him from the dead. Maybe you are here today and you have never repented of your sin.
Bow your knee today in the presence of God. Ask God for a contrite heart. Ask God to show you your crooked sinful past and beg him to forgive you and receive by faith the precious blood of Jesus Christ, which is shed upon the cross for your sins. Let me tell you that there's only one thing that will ever take away your sin.
It's not going to church and it's not baptism and it's not trying to do good works. It is accepting by faith that Jesus Christ died on the cross for my sins. That his blood was shed for me and that by faith I can receive the gift of salvation. Let me make this clear to you.
God wants a relationship with you, with every single one of us. God wants a relationship. Do you know that he said three things? I preached on this on the street on Friday night.
God said three things. Number one, accept you repent. You will all perish. Accept you repent.
You will all perish. God said number two, accept them and be born again. He cannot see the kingdom of God. You need a relationship with God.
You need to be born again. Jesus said number three, accept I wash you. You have no part with me because God is holy and he cannot come in contact with sin. Can I tell you that there's cleansing at the cross every single one of us.
We can all come today. We can come with a contrite heart and a humble spirit and we can bow our knee and acknowledge, God, I am a sinner. Please restore me to a right relationship with God. It comes by faith alone, believing in Jesus Christ as my savior.
That's the first step in moving and step with God. Next thing is this, you have to cross Jordan. What? Let me paint this picture.
I love this scene. I think this is amazing. So when you read Joshua chapter three, they get to the banks of the river Jordan. Okay.
There's seasons where the banks of Jordan, they flood. God planned the timing to be the worst part of the year when the floods were the absolute highest. And these people were camping along the side of the river Jordan, possibly a million people plus 40,000 foot soldiers, it says in Joshua chapter four or 17, 40,000 foot soldiers are gonna cross Jordan. Now, God gave confidence to Joshua and he said, we're gonna move into this promised land and these people are gonna move with you.
Do you think Joshua's worried? Why did God have them camp there for three days and look at the river Jordan? Wonder what they're thinking. Can we do it?
The enemy is before us. What if this doesn't work out? What if, what if, what if I wanna turn back? You know what Joshua's thinking?
He's thinking about 38 years ago when he's at Katie's Barnia and they were gonna go into the land and God wanted them to go into the land, but the people were fearful and they were in unbelief. And the Bible says that with those people, God was not pleased. He was not pleased. And he said, go into the land and they said, we can't do it.
We won't go and Joshua and Caleb are begging them. Come on guys, we can do this, but there's giants and there's fortified cities. And we're not equipped for this. Joshua's thinking, I hope these people don't stop and say they can't go over this Jordan.
God kept them there for three days. And Joshua's walking up and down the banks and he says, get the officers, tell them to go through the camp and say this. When you see the arc of the covenant going into the waters, step out, follow, don't delay, step out. You know what I think he's worried about?
What if they get cold feet? What if they don't go? God says, when you see, step out and move with them. And the arc of the covenant, you know the arc of the covenant?
I did a little research on this. You know the arc of the covenant was supposed to be 288 pounds? That's pretty heavy, almost 300 pounds. And who's carrying it?
The priests and where are they going? They go first into the water. The presence of God goes down into the waters of Jordan. The arc of the covenant is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know what he did for us? He went into the waters of death and he stood in the gap and he bore the floods of the wrath of God for our sin. So we could be forgiven. And all we have to do is follow him, believe in him, step out in faith with God.
I'm gonna tell you a quick story about a man called Henry Francis Light. Henry Francis Light wrote this amazing hymn, "'Abide with me, fast falls the even tide. The darkness thickens, Lord with me abide. Swift to its clothes ebbs out life's little day.
Earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away. Change and decay in all around I see. O thou who changes not abide with me." Do you know that Henry Francis Light wrote that hymn two months before he died. He was 54 years old.
I'm 55. He was 54 years old and he had a terminal illness. And in September 1847, he preached his last sermon to his congregation of 750 people. He meditated on Luke chapter 24, where Jesus went into abide with them.
You know what he did that evening after he preached? He went out to the shore and he sat alone and he watched the sunset. And God impressed upon his heart that his life was ebbing away. You know what he said to God?
He wrote in a letter to his friend and the letter was found after he died. In that letter he said, "'I've lived alone. I've walked with God my life." And he said, "'I have one request from God now." He said, "'I just want a companion.'" Alone he lay dying. And God revealed to him that Jesus Christ would step into the grave ahead of him.
And Jesus Christ would be with him through that journey. And you know what he realized? He realized it was like going into the river Jordan. Christ has already passed that way.
He's the forerunner. He steps into the grave first before every believer. And he beckons us to follow as he moves through. And Henry took up the words of his pen and he said, "'I need thy presence every passing hour, but what about thy grace can forl the tempter's power?
Who like thyself, my guide and stay can be through cloud and sunshine, O abide with me." You know what I want to tell you today? If you are a believer, Jesus Christ will never leave you. Never. Not in the worst day of your life.
Not in the best day of your life. Not in the day when you come to face death. Not in your worst nightmare will God ever leave you. We have his abiding presence.
And it goes with us into Jordan. And it comes up the other side. Jordan is another picture that I want to impress upon you today. You know, many times we do not hear the voice of God.
Many times we don't. Many times we do not move in step with God. I can look back on my own life. And I can tell you that there are things I should have done.
God was moving. I wasn't there. There's other times I should not have taken a certain step. And I took it.
And God wasn't in it. Do we hear his voice? Do we obey? Do we move?
Do we sense the spirit prompting us to follow him? Why do we not? I'm going to suggest something. Because we haven't crossed Jordan.
Do you know what I mean by that? There is a sense in which after I commit my life that Jesus Christ, there needs to be a death. There needs to be death to self, death to the world. We still have one foot in the wilderness.
And we're trying to put one foot in the promised land. We're trying to span Jordan. We haven't crossed Jordan yet. Let me tell you a story.
I want to make this point. You know, for the children of Israel, once they crossed Jordan, there was no coming back. There was no coming back. Once they crossed Jordan, there was no coming back.
By April the 22nd, 1519. It's a long time ago. A Spanish explorer called Hernan Cortes landed in Veracruz, Mexico. My Spanish brothers are laughing at me.
I have not pronounced it right. His name is Hernan Cortes. In April 22nd, 1519, he landed in Veracruz. He had 12 ships and hundreds of soldiers.
And his goal was to go 200 miles into Mexico and to take the city. He did the unthinkable. He got everyone off the ships. And he stood on the beaches.
And he gathered all of his men. And he said to his general, burn the ships. He said, what? He said, you heard me.
Burn the ships. 12 ships on the beach. They're only way back. He said, burn the ships.
You know what I'm saying? This is going to be victory or death. There's no going back. Burn the ships.
The general commander of his army burnt those ships. Those men stood on the beach. And they knew there was only one way forward. They were going to have to have victory or death because there was no going back.
Could I relate this to a spiritual setting? Have you burnt the ships? You know, we have an expression in our life. We say, don't burn the bridge.
I say the opposite today. Burn the bridge. Burn the bridge that connects me with the world. Burn the bridge that connects me with self.
Burn the bridge that connects me with the flesh. Burn the bridge that connects me with sin. I was so glad this morning that our brother David quoted that verse in Galatian 6. 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. Could I ask you today have you burnt the ships? Or are you still connected?
Burn the ships. Spiritual, victory, or death. There's no coming back. God has a plan for your life.
I'm going to wrap this up by giving you a number of verses that tell us practically speaking how we can walk and move and step with God. In John 15 and verse seven, Jesus said these words. The last night before he went to the cross, John 15 and seven, he said, if you abide in me. And my words, what's that?
Meditate. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you will and it shall be done for you. Psalm 139, David is opening his heart before God. He's looking back over his life and he says these words.
Search me, oh God. Know my heart. See if there be some wicked way in me. Cleanse me, purge me from every sin.
And let me know your ways. Practically speaking, we need to abide in Christ. That's meditation. Secondly, we need to search our hearts.
Why? Mortify sin. Thirdly, it says in Exodus 33, where brother Warren read today. Moses is longing to see the glory of God.
And he says, show me your glory. You know what I'm saying? I want your presence. I want to move in step with you.
Is that the longing of your heart today as a believer? Show me your glory. Let me move in step with God. God takes Moses and he hides him in the cleft of the rock.
And he lets his glory pass by. What is that? That is moving in step with God. You know, the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3, he said that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death.
What did Paul want in his life? He could say, well, you know, I'm a Pharisee of the Pharisees. I have all this pedigree. I'm of the tribe of Benjamin.
I'm circumcised the eighth day. I've kept the law. He says, all of that means nothing that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings. That's a man who's moving in step with God.
There's one more. 1 John 5 and 21. These are some of the last words that the beloved Apostle John wrote to the people of God. And I'd like to speak on them one day.
Here's what he said. He said, we know that the Son of God has come. And he's given us an understanding. He has.
And he signs off his pen and he says, little children, keep yourselves from idols. Do you know that Christians have a lot of idols in their life? You know what I realize? I've got idols in my life.
And you know what they do? They distract me from my personal relationship with God. Little children, keep yourself from idols. Here's my four points that I really like to impress upon everyone today.
Meditate on the Word of God. Mortify sin. Move in step with God. Serve God.
And Him only. No idols in your life. Let's pray. Father, we thank You today for the Word of God.
We thank You, Lord, for the amazing power of the scripture, how it can transform our life. It is an incorruptible seed that lives and abides forever. Lord, we live in a passing world. And everything around us is a present evil age.
And You have come to deliver us from this present evil age. Lord, help us to love You, to meditate on Your Word, to mortify sin, to move in step with God, and to serve You. Like Joshua said, choose You this day, whom You will serve. As for me, in my house, we'll serve the Lord.
Lord, help us to be kept from idols. As we leave today, may we walk closer to You, and may we walk in step with God. Bless this company, bless our homes, bless our families, and guide us through this week. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.