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He had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall - 2 Chronicles 26:16

It takes a man of true humility to keep his feet on the ground over the long haul when he is given power and authority over others

Uzziah, Judah's tenth king, was not such a man

His long and sometimes distinguished reign came to an unfortunate end because of his arrogant thirst for power

Uzziah expressed his arrogance by entering the sactuary though this job was reserved for his priest

Had Uzziah remained humble, he might have become one of the nation's greatest kings - instead, he spent his later years shut away from people in a leper colony

Do you understand your place in the big picture?

You have abandoned me, so I am abandoning you to Shishak - 2 Chronicles 12:5

The Bible includes many examples of God sending men to free his people from their sin and rebellion

Shemaiah to a message of freedom to his people - All that was required was for them to turn to God

It was difficult message for Shemaiah to give such a message to his home country of Judah

Shemaiah's willingness to speak God's message made a difference:

• The leaders listened
• Judah humbled themselves
• God relented on his plan to destroy Judah - 2 Chronicles 12:6-8

When you have the courage to give a difficult message to hear, you can make a difference in your world

Listen carefully to these decrees and regulations, obey them so that you may live - Deuteronomy 4:1

Each of us naturally tends to think we have the right to adopt our our set of morals, standards, and spirituality

Beleivers in Christ must reject such a belief

Moses delivered an uncompromising message of strict obedience of God with no tolerance for sin

He understood the importance of setting righteous standards for the people

Moses faithfully walked this (not sinless) despite being labeled as:

• Inflexable
• Intolerant
• Judgemental

Do you have the courage to risk anger, resentment, oppositon, or insults to follow God?

God does not ask for perfection but a spirit-empowered obedience

Surely you wouldn't do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked - Genesis 18:25

Abraham's heart sank when God announced he would destroy Sodom:

• Lot and his family lived there
• Possiblity have friends there

He couldn't just stand there without trying to intercede on their behalf

Abramham trusted God's assessment of Sodom and he to be just and righteous

God said he would not destory the city if there were 50, 30, 20, 10 righteous left - Genesis 18:32

Are you a man of persistent, passionate prayer?

Holy Spirit reveal to him that he woul not die until he had seen the Lord's Messiah - Luke 2:26

Humans are creatures of anticipation. Serveral studies show expectation of something good benefits our health and sense of well-being

Simon had lived a long life of such close fellowship with God and the Holy Spirit told him he would see the Messiah

A voice told him to go to the Temple, this was his day

When Simon saw baby Jesus, he knew immediately that this was the One he had been waiting for

Simon: Lord, now let your servant die in peace, as you have promised. I have seen your salvation, which you have prepared for all people - Luke 2:29-31 

Only Moses is allowed to come near to the Lord - Exodus 24:2

At one time, only a few select people had direct access to God

Moses was the servant God had choosen to lead his people out of Egyptian captivity

Only Moses was permitted to:

1. Hear God's voice
2. Talk to God directly
3. Plead with God on the people's behalf
4. Receive God's commandments
5. Obtain God's direction

In granting Moses such close access to him, God gave him a great responsibility and a great privilege

Today the Bible promises with our faith in Jesus, we can boldly come to the throne of our gracious God - Hebrews 4:16

Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance? - Job 42:3

You really find out what he or she is made of when you're not at your best

After suffering through the loss of his property, wealth, health, and family, Job came to better understand God - Job 1:8

God had called Job a man of complete integrity - Job 1:8

When he suffered, he began to question God, complaining to God and accusing God of treating him unjustly

When God revealed himself, Job had to retrack the foolish things he said.

I take back everything I said and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance - Job 42:6

Job began to understand his smallest: I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes - Job 42:5

Nebuchadnezzar flew into a rage - Daniel 3:13

Anger can erupt from a lot of things but most commonly from pride

The proud man tends to believe that he is owed something such as respect and admiration

Nebuchadnezzar's arrogance knew no bounds and it show showed up when three men refused to bow down to his idol

Like his anger, Nebuchadnezzar had Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego thrown into blazing-hot 

Uncontrolled pride turns into uncontrolable anger

God used the situation to save his faithful and humble the proud

If you want to keep anger from being a problem in your life, put a check on your pride

Ruth told her mother-in-law about the man in whose field she had worked - Ruth 2:19

Ruth must have wondered why the wealthy influential Boaz would show her such kindness

Boaz was what Old Testament called a family redeemer - Leviticus 25:25-28

When Ruth's husband died, she traveled with Naomi to Bethlehem where she met Boaz

They eventually married and brought her into the lineage of King David

When Boaz extented his kindness, at first it was not from romantic love, but from obedience to God 

God changed his mind and did not carry out the destructionhe had threatened - Jonah 3:10

Jonah disliked God's command to warn Nineveh of its coming destruction and became angry with God for sparing the city after the Ninevites heard Jonah's preaching and repented

I knew you were a merciful and compassionate God; you are eager to turn back from destroying people - Jonah 4:2

Jonah hated the Ninevties and wanted them killed because he saw them as a treat to his people

God's deviated from Jonah's perfect plan

Shouldn't I feel sorry for such a great city? - Jonah 4:11

Jonah was God's servant, not his advisor

You will be more happy and peaceful when you simply do what God tells you to do and leave the results to him

I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you - 1 Samuel 12:23

Sometimes we feel thempted to write off a brother in Christ who made a mess of their faith

Bible teach us to pray for such a man and do everthing we can to restore him

Israel made a foolish and ungodly choice - insisted on an earthly king

Samuel felt disappointed but he did not write off the people

Instead Samuel took these steps:

1. He spoke the truth about their sins
2. Encourged them to continue growing spiritually
3. Warned them to not sink further into sin
4. Reaffirmed God's love and commitment toward them
5. Pledged to continue to pray for them and encourage them 

Let a curse fall on ayone who eats before evening - 1 Samuel 14:24

King Saul had many gifts and talents but he often lacked common sense

As his soliders prepared for battle, Saul gave them the orders to not eat anything during the daylight

King Saul reasoned that daylight was for fighting

He made the order simplete to save time but God provide no such direction

King Saul's rashness and impatience led to poor decisions and outright disobedience

The Israelites defeated the Philistines but it was not decisive thanks to Saul's foolish burden on the soliders

I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love - Romans 8:38

Through difficult times we are tempted to think God must really hate me

Some have the misguided idea of the relationship between difficulties and God's love

Paul opposed such thinking through his suffering that most of us can not imagine

He never saw his suffering as an occasion to doubt God's love for him

Can anything ever separate us?

• Trouble
• Calamity
• Persecution
• Hunger
• Danger
• Threatened with death

No! Despite these things overwhelming victory is ours through Christ - Romans 8:37

These are the sins of David... Amnin whose mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel - 1 Chronicles 3:1

Many gifted people fail to achieve all they could because they lack self-discipline like Amnon, King David's first son

Amnon sealed his fate when he looked lustfully at his beautiful half-sister Tamar

The Law of God specifically forbade such behavior

Amnon forced himself on Tamar which led to Amnon's murder by his outraged brother Absalom

All this happened within the family of Israel's greatest king

His life was cut shore before he could do anything of note for God or his people

John the Baptist was a mighty man but he said there was one coming who is mighter than he

He baptized great and small but when Jesus arrives, John falters and draws back at thought of baptizing Jesus

Fisherman left all and followed him - such was the impression he made upon them

Jesus goes into the synagogue and begins to teach, they are amazed how he teaches with such authority

He heals and the people are surprised because God given such power to a man

Jesus drew men to him:

• Seashore: crowd so great, he pushed into the water
• Hilltop: hillside is alive with people
• Desert: great crowd surrounds him
• City: he sometimes dares not go into a city because the turmoil he would cause

In each place Jesus arrived, he turned it upside down by his presence

Only a man of strength draws to him great masses of men