Depression… If You Have It, Cheer Up! God Cures It!

Depression… If You Have It, Cheer Up! God Cures It!      By Kelly Durant 4-27-2014 

Re 4-28-24.   1 Samuel 16:22-23

22 Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.

2. Did you know some people that have been through hard depressing times can often make their selves into some of the funniest people? Not long ago many of the comedians and actors in America were from Jewish backgrounds and entertaining was their way of getting over all the suffering they felt inside.  Laughter is a good medicine, and we all need it! Here’s a joke, but one person here didn’t laugh though.

A man one day didn’t know who loved him better his wife or his dog so he decided he would find out. He thought, well if I lock them up and wait half an hour, I’ll see who missed me the most. So, he put them both in the truck of his car while they were screaming and barking at him but then they both became quiet. He opened the trunk and the wife red faced came out and started screaming and hitting him saying, “Don’t you ever do that again!” And she kept of raging but the man was relieved that the dog came out all happy wagging his tail happy to see him! He concluded his dog loves him more, ha!

“Depressed people can feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, worried, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, hurt, or restless. They may lose interest in activities that once were pleasurable, experience loss of appetite or overeating, have problems concentrating, remembering details, or making decisions, and may contemplate, attempt, or commit suicide. Insomnia, excessive sleeping, fatigue, loss of energy, or aches, pains, or digestive problems may also be present” (the wiki-dictionary definition) The aged and even the young people today live more depressed, according to many research groups, than what they use to in past decades. When a person has a face that is not so happy and smiley, what should you do? You should pray for them & help them!

3. Trying times for people could be mental or physical. Pain in the physical body (20% to 40% of people suffer some type of chronic pain) or pain from a recent tragic event can cause depression.  Everyone in life will suffer a loss of a loved one, or a job loss, or suffer for a time over something but we need God and people intervening if something continues to linger or becomes chronic. 

I think all of us at some time or another are victim to hard times and been discouraged. This is normal and a part of what God wants every human to experience in order to learn to love and appreciate Christ’s suffering and have sympathy on others who suffer as well. Not all days are happy ones in our lives, but when a person seems to always be dry and down, always distant from others, always critical or down in mood, then we should ask ourselves if something deeper is happening inside and as a loving caring Christian try to help. Be careful though with some people it becomes a selfish game, they love the attention but also love their oppressive demon.

Depression should be looked at as a condition that is temporary and curable. People can be made happier by doing exercises, reading books, playing dominoes and socializing. The best cure to regain a lasting happiness is to rejuvenate faith in God and to be active serving others in the community. Just giving someone a handshake can even bring a smile on your face and theirs as well! As a matter of fact, right now, get up and shake someone’s hand right beside you! Do it, it’s okay! Feel the love!

God made us with different personalities, but to some degree each person chooses how they allow their selves to feel. When you and I wake up we can either complain about our lot in life, about how there is no money, or you & I can praise God that we are alive and that you are able to walk, see, and hear, and function normally to get things done! Here is a good verse to claim… 1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it

4. Today we will investigate Saul and David, did you know that both suffered from depression? The factor is they struggled to get over it, but they both had different ways; but only God’s way works. His way up is down, down to self.  When I was a kid and I would put all the toy soldiers in lines to fight, and I would always dream I was the king commanding all the men where to go.  Humans, even children want power and dominion over their worlds. Most people have the wrong idea in life that if they could be rich, and famous, or be a king or queen, then life would be wonderful! But that is only in fairy tales! Comparing yourself with others, coveting, lusting, envying, and all of your uncontrolled sinful appetites will kill you inside and depress you! Fight your carnality and realize that being king or queen is not so great really but a big headache!

What happened to King Saul? He was murderously jealous of David and miserable!  Notice that he was Israel’s first king, he was very tall, handsome, and everyone was his servant.  He should have been the happiest man in Israel with all his wealth, power, and blessings but he was not! His biggest problem was his pride and he was not willing to obey God all the way and the result was he started living depressed and everyone around him suffered. Who wants to be near a king in a bad mood? He might just cut off your head because you looked at him when he was upset over something! 

As we read in the verses of today in I Sam 16 we see that David with his lyre was selected to play for Saul to comfort him in his bad moods. How many of you listen to music? Music can be a great comfort when you are down, and I suggest you listen to positive music from good and/or preferable Christian bands. But not all music is good. It depends on the purpose of the music, if its message is bad or pointless and if the writer or singer lives in debauchery, if so then probably it will depress you even more. David consoled Saul in song because his spirit was pure being a lover of God, whereas Saul had a spirit out of tune with God. Bad humored people like to sponge on the innocent as they are not willing to do the work their selves to be pure and they want a shortcut.

5. So Saul was getting an external temporary daily fix for his depression, music. The bigger problem was that Saul did not choose to fix the deeper problem he had of not loving and obeying God. Many people today live on this same treadmill of masking pain and depression with outside sources. Drugs, sex, and rock and roll seem to be the most powerful stimulants people consume to overcharge their minds and spirits into numbness in order to forget their pain, mistakes, and depression. Only faith and prayer, caring friends, and hard work to change destructive habits can break these chains! 

The problem with this, living life as a partier, or as a ‘publican’ as they were called in Jesus’ day, is that you have to keep repeating the cycle day after day to keep yourself in a continued state of distraction and that causes the mind, body and soul to deteriorate worse. The fear of publicans and sinners is the one of facing reality, of facing a dead silence of alone time with God, but the reality of our inadequacy is exactly what God wants us to face! Jesus was fun and the life of the party when with friends, but his joy was authentic showing others that they could be happier with a new life of obedience closer to God instead of by heavy stimulation. Satan wants to rob your body and soul.

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

Repentance is important to God for you to be happy but few people really ask for forgiveness. King Saul would never let go and repent telling God he was sorry for his pride and let God pick up his broken world and put it back together. He was too proud. Saul condemned himself to a sad life because he would not rest in God’s southing light obeying and loving Him.  There are many rich and poor unrepentant sinners of today living sad broken lives. Only by letting God take the wheel can anyone ever get on the right road! Those of you that know my personal testimony know I know this personally!

I love this case, Luke 19:8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.” When a person is truly sorry, thy make it right with God and the ones they have wronged! Zacchaeus got over his guilt, loneliness, and depression with Jesus touch! God’s love invokes action to do something!

6.  Now let’s look at David. Saul tried to kill him for years; now that is depressing! Saul was obsessed with looking for David to kill him chasing him all over the country with his men. It was in dark caves in depressed moments when many of David’s Psalms were written. 

David was for the most part obedient and happy but a few times in his life he did some horrible things that cost him some dark days and punishment. On one occasion he lamented for months over the sin of adultery and God forgave him but let his son die as a punishment. Many unpleasant things that happen in life have a reason and God wants us to learn from them to be humble and be broken and be remade in His image. 

Here is another bad moment for David.  He was trying to find a city to hide in and fear got the best of him as he thought King Achish there was going to kill him. I Samuel 21: 12 Now David took these words to heart, and was very much afraid of Achish the king of Gath. 13 So he changed his behavior before them, pretended madness in their hands, scratched on the doors of the gate, and let his saliva fall down on his beard. 14 Then Achish said to his servants, “Look, you see the man is insane. Why have you brought him to me? 15 Have I need of madmen, that you have brought this fellow to play the madman in my presence? Shall this fellow come into my house?”

7. What this event with David proves is that any one of us when in a very dangerous and frightening situation might go crazy! Others may even see you as crazy when you are under extreme duress but what we learn later is that David got past this. David’s terrible dark moments were temporary because he sought God to be his comfort and salvation. The beautiful Psalms are a proof of the love he had for God and how much he trusted in Him to save him in all situations! They comfort all of us! Psalm 62:2 He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

Over time stuff (or life) happens! We all have fears! Any person can lose everything overnight! The question is, are you and I working with God or against Him in all of life’s situations?  On another note, research proves that depression can be genetic and run in families, that some depression can be solved by prescription meds for control, or that some depression happens from our brains aging and not having the chemicals and bubbliness of a child anymore. 

But with all this said, I am making a point that much of depression is determined by whether or not you are at peace with God or not! You may fear or be in bad circumstances, but God will take it away! Faith and trust in His Word is the answer.

8. It is amazing how some people, even ones with great physical limitations and handicaps can find ways to be happy, useful, and normal. However, it is sad that many so called normal people with many resources and opportunities available from God and in their community seem to live life frustrated and down. It all has to do with the vision and faith you have: to be used by God all the way being happy and fulfilled, or to just get by in life by doing things, “your way”.

There were two hobos talking in a back alley of a big city in the cold one night (they should have gone to the Salvation Army shelter, ha!) and the one said to the other, “I don’t care what anyone says, I did life my way! I did it my way!” The other thinks a minute and then says, “Well, if I could do it all over, I would prefer to do it Frank Sinatra’s way!” Ha! Well, the right answer is we want to do it Jesus’ way! No matter the conditions, Jesus comforts and provides and life abundant comes from him.

Some people older in life get depressed because they feel like no one really cares about them. They conclude that when they leave this world it will not matter, and their life would have been without any significance. This sobering feeling provokes some older people (some young too) to be appreciative and become very active in the lives of their families. Also, anyone can leave a footprint of being useful in a volunteer group in their community. All counselors advise helping others as a way to get out of depression! That is God’s formula, ‘to love God and others’ staying busy for Him!

9. As people we may suffer for a time due to our own created circumstances, from being disobedient to God, or just by being a victim of earth’s imperfect conditions.  But as Christians we are consoled, Psalm 30:5 For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for life; Weeping may endure for a night, But joy comes in the morning.

Every person who reads the Bible, whether they have read it in its entirety or not, know they must read the Psalms for comfort of spirit. Millions of people for millennia have been comforted by the Psalms! David got his own spirit comforted by God and he was able to comfort others, in song, in poem, and in words. His comfort came even after months of depression, even after years of escaping death from King Saul’s army living in dark caves in the mountains of Israel.

Never allow yourself to be like Saul, a proud unrepentant angry jealous persecutor of the righteous. He never got his heart right with God, he just kept on making more and more mistakes until one day he lost a major battle and that depressed him so much he fell on his sword and took his own life! Live and die in victory, not depressed in shame!

10. Today is the day to ask Jesus in your life.  I will confess I have had moments down and depressed too! No one escapes the trials and pains that this life offers, but how you react to these tribulations is what makes all the difference in the world! Listen to praise music, start singing and shouting, reading God’s word and praying, and start looking for the humor and funny things in life’s awkward situations!

Take control and fight your own demons that lie to you about the past, present, and future!  Start reading the Bible (reading the Psalms in particular) and get out of the house and start doing nice and helpful things for others! Repent of your mistakes and make a plan of restitution to right the wrongs you’ve done! 

Count your blessings and there will be no time left for complaints! Ask God to take away your pride and realize that God forgives your weaknesses, fear, and craziness. In the end, God loves you and wants you happy! Psalm 40:2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay, And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps. Psalm 144:15 Happy are the people who are in such a state; Happy are the people whose God is the Lord! Amen! Prayer… 

 

 

Words: They Kill or They Give Life

Words: They Kill or They Give Life      Kelly Durant   10-2-2012 Re:4-21-24

2.All day long we speak words. An amazing physiological ability really! I recall working with my deaf son as a child and every day for several thousand days it was hard work to get him to learn just a few words each day! An average toddler by age 3 can speak and arrange into sentences over 1,000 words. With 1,000 words you could speak a second language! What is it per day that people speak, 7,000 words for men, and 20,000 for women? That’s 7,300,00 per year! 

Words help us express our needs and feelings but there is a serious factor involved with the words that everyone speaks. Our words are drastically affecting our bodies and spirits, and bringing about eternal consequences: either heaviness or joy, either blessings or a judgment. Matthew 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

3. First, I would like for you to understand a certain precept, God holds us to our words like a seal on a contract. Our words determine our vocal acceptance of salvation or our vocal rejection of it. How many of you have confessed with your words Jesus as your Savior? You are privileged. Romans 10: 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  The words we speak forge our eternal destiny! Confessing Jesus gives anyone who believes salvation from eternal death! God abides by your own words!

4. Before we get into a case study on people who speak vile words, let’s first lift up the power of positive words! Do you want to always feel encouraged? Psa. 100:4 I will enter into his gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter into his courts with praise! It really works that you will always feel good when you praise the Lord out loud and lift up Jesus! Words are like the air we breathe, like it or not, you must take them in and give them out in order to stay alive! The question is how healthy is your air? 

Why do people love to listen to music? It is because certain words inspire the hearers and makes one want to live, love and fight for the right! (Unless it is evil violent music, of course) Jesus himself said, John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. And what is the word of life but God’s energy in you? 

5. It is The Holy Spirit which comforts you with words in your mind to make you feel love, joy, and peace like you are in heaven! Don’t you feel you empowered and invincible when you take in God’s word? I do! You gain indescribable strength! But like breathing, you must take it in constantly! Like the song, ‘This is the air I breathe’! However, there are many other times that you or I feel inadequate and stupid. But I have always found comfort in this verse… Psalm 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. God’s word and the Holy Spirit will illuminate you and me to make us smarter than what you or I actually are! Do you believe it? God’s word can flow through us if we are pure in tune instruments.

Here is another precept: The more you fill up yourself with God’s word, the more inspired and empowered you will be! When I first started serving the Lord I would memorize a new scripture everyday just to keep my mind on the Lord. Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in thee. I got up to about 500 verses memorized and I recall many of them to this day and I have them in my mind ready to quote when the situation fits. So one way to keep your mind on the Lord and be encouraged all day long is to memorize God’s word repeating it in the morning, noon, and night. 

6. Another thing I have learned by studying God’s word is to always filter the outside words one is hearing through the Bible’s precepts and wisdom found within the Word of God. Are the words someone is speaking to you of truth? Are they making you mad, sad, or glad? If so, determine if it is a manipulation of your emotions or a justifiable truth that requires an action from you or from someone else. Ask yourself, what purpose does the person talking have in sharing these words? Again, you have the responsibility to define in your mind how the words that you hear are affecting you, for good or for evil. It is amazing how words will either torture you or comfort you! Words always seem to play over and over in your mind. Words either inspire you and heal you, or depress you and make you sick! 

Here is a good standard to filter words by, Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. We are commanded to sift through words; to throw away the trash or worthless words and just keep the good ones in our minds that are pure and worthy of praise. If something is not in essence glorifying God, then we erase it out of your mind. Forget who said something bad too!

7. Some of you, I am sadly conscience of, are forced, by your family or work situation, to interact with carnal, selfish, unsaved unloving people that all day long produce nothing but depressing toxic words. Everything coming out of their mouths seems to be a curse word, a ridicule, a complaint, a sarcasm, or a tale with a plot for their benefit. Being around some people, listening to all their bitterness can cause you to feel sick or depressed!

Haven’t you and I observed how some people in this Corps literally get sick due to unkind words from people close to them? And what is our role? To heal them with Jesus words and pray for them and speak healing words to them! We share the joy we have. Proverbs 17:22A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

8. Another thing, consider how words will condemn a person’s soul to destruction, for example, for people who curse God. Matthew 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. The Holy Spirit is an internal voice of conscience and people who practice the occult, or people who oppose the the presence of God when He eternally speaks to them that Jesus really is real, rejecting conviction, these people live condemned by their own choice. 

I have always thought that the phrase, “Go to hell” was one of the most terrible curse phrases ever used. Because the person speaking it for one, is not God to make that judgment call (God will never be mocked), and two, the person saying it must be truly evil to wish the flames of eternal fire on someone! Matthew 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. The law of curses is that person will eventually reap what they have sewn. 

9. Words, by God’s design, affect our body’s chemicals producing moods of joy or moods of depression. I recall as a young adult I was disturbed by the words of the Bible! You might say to me, excuse me? Why? Because I was living in sin and the Word was convicting me to change to give my life to the Lord and I didn’t want to give up my life of sin at that time! Here is one passage that disturbed me a lot. Luke 9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But later when I gave up and surrendered all, and I started living to serve Jesus, these same words brought me great peace, that Jesus would not be ashamed of me because I was not ashamed of Him! Consider this: Words affect you according to how your heart is with God! This might explain why some people love certain words, sermons, or messages and others don’t like them!

10. Here is another factor on words, we should seek words that bring us wisdom. Proverbs 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Proverbs 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 

If you are not full of God’s life giving words having your goals on obeying God to gain rewards in heaven and saving others while here on earth, then you are as an open house vulnerable for anything stray to come in. Not being full of God’s words of wisdom means you will be occupied and taken over easily (deceived) by any ones words. People fall into traps because they seek to gratify their own selfish ambitions.  So how can you protect yourself from deceitful words then? 

11. Focus in on, pray over, and analyze the words that others speak to you. If a person sincerely says, “Oh, you look good today”, don’t you feel good inside? People reap what they sew. People who always say nice things to others also usually get nice things said back to them, have you noticed that? Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. Literally words can heal! This is what prayer is all about, you are proclaiming God’s words of promises for the healing of your (or someone else’s) body or spirit!

Do a research on positive words. You will find hundreds of books on the powerful effects of positive words. Many self-help books are just a basic guide to getting you to speak positively so you will be more successful, and it actually works! For example, a person that usually would say, “I am too old to learn anything”, would seem to live out just that, an inability to learn. But if the person says to their self, “I can learn anything I want because God will help me”, this person gets positive results! It is a law of nature to some degree that you pronounce your own success or fate! Of course your will has to line up with God’s will or it will not work.

12. However, be careful with the non-Biblical optimistic doctrines of speaking into existence your desires. You cannot just say, “I will be rich and I will be a millionaire”, and expect it to happen by magic. God’s will for your life may not be that you become rich but maybe He would prefer you to be rich in souls you would win for Jesus! God is interested in what will last for an eternity and that which is worth a lot more than our desires!

Here is the whole duty of a Christian concerning our words; the words of this verse affected my mind and changed my life. Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.  If you can pray this and practice it you will live blessed!

13. Proverbs 18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Today we are shocked how many people speak lies and false stories. A few years ago it seemed that we could recognize foolish talk, slander, or bad words at our jobs, or with in our families. Let’s take a typical scenario. Maria is a hard worker and does her job well. But Maria, being one of the prettiest women on the job as the cashier seems to attract all the young men to go to her to register to place their order. What happens? The usual typical reaction is she is getting stories told about her behind her back by the other women workers. Mean things get said about her, things like, “Oh, she is such a flirt (or worse)”. In society, people a few years ago, folks would take this type of talk for granted that it was not true observing the comments were coming from a jealous person. 

However, what has changed today is that the people are not verifying the source of the spoken words they hear. They just hear, swallow and repeat. People today are dangerously vulnerable to being deceived since truth is less valued than something interesting like a scandal. Over 90 years ago when Hitler said to kill all the Jews because they were the reason for their economic depression and poverty, everyone believed him!? And they followed through doing just that, killing innocent people. Today we observe that a majority of people live without God’s wisdom, truth, and knowledge, so this is why they just accept any misinformation of words from anyone. So what can we do? Pray for discernment!

Time reveals the evil or truth of words. You and I must resist the temptation to speak on a matter until we know more about it. Ecclesiastes 5:2Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. Proverbs 21:23 Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

14. In life each of us experience thousands of words every day and we are being constantly tried and tested and these words attribute to our blessings or to our condemnation. Each of us must choose our words, the ones we will hear, and the ones we will speak. Choose to hear the positive ones from God’s word! You will be happy and encouraged and powerful. 

Choose to always praise God and share kind words to others! Choose also to resist toxic words that will make you sick through people who insult God and others. Don’t forget words come to us by personal conversations, by phone, by radio, by TV, by computer, by and newsprint. We choose moment by moment what we will hear, and what we will repeat. Proverbs 13:3 He that keeps his mouth keeps his life: but he that opens wide his lips shall have destruction.

Concerning words: measure them by God’s word! Investigate the source, filter the content, and discern the motives behind them. You cannot control the words of others but you can control your words! Pray to gain wisdom! Repeat that which builds God’s kingdom of love, peace, and joy! Words in the end are power, for good or for evil! How many words do you use a day to pray and to bring about healing and good? 

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Prayer: God Matures Everyone in Silence

Prayer: God Matures Everyone in Silence    Matt 6:6            by Kelly Durant

⁶ But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

2.There was a ship out at sea with passengers and a storm came up. The ship was getting tossed up and down and everywhere and many people were getting scared as they felt the ship was out of control. One woman went running to the cabin where the captain was gripping very tight the wheel of the rudder and she yelled, “Captain, Will we be alright”? He responded, “Well, just pray, go back in your room and pray for us all! The woman nearly fainted and said, “Oh no, has it come to that”?! This is awful!

To confront the storms of life prayer should not be our last option but our first one! There is one aspect of prayer that so many people overlook, it was right from the beginning as Jesus did it, it was prayer alone in silence, most of the time with no one around, like in your closet.  

All of us need to grow spiritually. I want you to be blessed beyond what you imagine. I want you to contemplate on this: God wants you (and me) to spend more quality time with Him, alone in silence.

3.The way God wants us, is by getting us close to Him in silence.  But sadly in today’s world, few people ever experience a real prolonged silence. Let’s start with a small step, how many of you today will commit to a full 10-15 minutes of prayer daily in total silence?  Raise your hand!

Matt 4: 1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil (Jesus conquered temptation in the desert) The idea is to not hear anyone’s voice, only the voice of God.

Before Jesus got started, He gave us an example of how to pray, and it was for many days in the desert alone with no one. Many of you may think, yeah, right, do you think I can get a 40 day vacation to go off by myself somewhere to just pray? It is true most of us probably will never get to fully experience what Jesus did, but imagine if you could get at least a small glimpse of it? You would understand Jesus better, you would become more like Jesus as you do what He did and that is the practice of prayer all alone.

4.Here is a reality, most people are lazy, and they prefer that another person, like some spiritual church leader, pray for them and they do not want to pray deeply in silence as God intended. Why is that? It is because from the prayer time we spend with God many things come to our minds in our silence, many things God wants to use to bring us closer to Him. 

Since these things remembered in meditation can often be unsolved problems, most people usually want to just tune them out and they do not want to think about them; but it is in silence that God can communicate to us the best. Prayer is not just us talking to Him, it is listening also.

Why do you and I pray anyway? Because when we do we get a real connection to God, we get protection from temptation, and we get we get empowered for our specific tasks that He needs us to do for Him.

5. Just looking at Jesus in the desert place, what happened in his experience? Jesus had absolutely no sin at all so Satan, the accuser of the saints could not discourage him with his own faults, or family and personal problems (as he does with most of us), so he had to tempt Jesus not with lust, or money, but with pride and power.

Pride is Satan’s biggest offer. Each temptation exposed to Jesus involved Him doing a miracle that would be an abuse of God’s power. Satan knew Jesus was God’s Son who would bring healing, love, and salvation to everyone, so he played on his pride with the temptation to show off how powerful he could be actually to get Him to manipulate for his own presumably justifiable reasons the laws of nature. 

Satan wanted Jesus to alter the laws of physics set in place tempting that a stone to be made into bread; he wanted Jesus to stop the laws of gravity if he were to fall, and worse, he wanted Jesus to submit to the worship of Satan himself by passing over to the dark side of Satan’s destructive kingdom; but deep inside Jesus knew very well that Satan’s kingdom would become hell and the souls of angels and men would be judged, incarcerated, and torturingly punished for eternity for their destructions and rebelliousness towards God for worshipping Satan. 

If Jesus would have done any miracle for personal gain he would have sent all creation on a course of destruction, which was Satan’s motive. Satan is at war with God and all humanity to destroy as much as possible of God’s creation and the souls of people. Satan delights in destroying your happiness, your family, your relationships, and he loves causing discord with our fellow saints in the churches and Corps. How do you defeat him? With prayer!

6. Another time and place…Matthew 14:13  When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

Escaping from people from time to time to be by yourself is actually copying Jesus’ prayer habits! Alone prayer time strengthens you and me in the battle as it did with Jesus to do the work. It obliges you and me to have some alone time with God so He can recharge our spirits, like you recharge a battery. 

Prayer is intended to give you a silent time alone with God so He can reveal to you things you do not know about yourself, so you can see your actions as He sees them, and some things about yourself will not be so nice. It is comparing your stained life beside his white holiness that we see clearly. All we need to do is confess our sins and He loving, time after time, forgives them. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

There is the reality that many people do not see their own actions as God and others see them. 

Proverbs 20:6 Most men will proclaim everyone his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?  In a group setting some people will boast, I’ll be there for prayer time, I’ll be there to evangelize, I’ll be there to teach a class, but then when the day comes, where are they?  Allow the Holy Spirit to talk to your spirit while in prayer so you remember where you missed God’s mark. People will show up to eat, but will they show up to pray?

Prayer brings the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life, and it causes you to remember and see the truth of your actions and of others around you. Prayer changes your outlook and attitude to be more thankful, to be encouraged, and to be empowered to do jobs & tasks outstandingly.

7.Here is an observation, and I can tell you now by experience, after learning a few things at the Brengle Holiness Institute, that there are some people that have difficulty passing a few hours in silence just to pray alone. A majority of people as Christians are not so happy when they have to be all alone for any long period of time. (with no interruptions of cell phones or tv). 

Imagine some Officers, as old and mature in the Lord as they are, were confessing how hard it was for them to just sit in silence to commune with God. Most all of us are use to being in action and praying with someone and for someone, but for praying alone, most all of us only do it for a few minutes.

It can be concluded that many people do not like total silence and being alone, but like it or not, Jesus showed us by His example that it is the only way for God to work in your life, helping you to win the victories over the sins you may not see you have. 

For the longest time I have been wondering how is it some Corps and churches some people developed into being willing on fire servants for Jesus and yet some other places the people seem so slow, and complainy and do not willing to do much? How is it some really put their heart into things and others do not? The answer is very simple, all things that people do is a reflection of their prayer time with Jesus! A reflection of their depth with God!

8. Mark 6:31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

The people that pass time with Jesus start to act and be more like Jesus! If Jesus himself spent time alone with God, not just in the beginning of his calling, but time after time he separated himself from the crowd with the disciples, how much more do you and I need to do it too!

While at Brengle we did a test to see if one were an introvert or extravert type personality. I am more extravert than introvert (but years ago I was more introvert). Do you know what you are? Well, the interesting thing is most extraverts are social, they like to work with others and it came to light they do not like to pray in silence, but they prefer to pray with someone. But even though silent prayer is harder for some, even though it is easier to just be busy for the Lord doing all kinds of activity, if we do not learn to practice quieting down our spirits we will be like the oil lamp that starts burning the wick and not the oil. We will not last long and our light will be flickeringly dark and ugly.

Prayer in silence allows God time to reveal to us things and it allows time for Him to fill us up with His Holy Spirit and living Word. So many times I have prayed and just sat there in silence and even after just 10 minutes God seems to bring to my mind verses from the Bible for my encouragement. Have you ever had that experience?

9.Matthew 6:6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

If you do not hear God in silence, then ask yourself, am I treating God lovingly?  Prayer, sadly for some is a let down instead of what it is intended to be, a praise time where you feel the Holy Ghost coming to you teaching you, rebuking you, and guiding you into all wisdom.

How do you pray really? Prayer for some people is never very uplifting and they get tired of it because their prayers are more like complaints than praises. Instead of worshipping and praising our Father in heaven being thankful, they begin with a selfish petition. 

“Oh, God, one more time I ask you to give me faith.  You know my needs. I have asked you for years now and I don’t know why you leave me suffering. Give me patience. Help others to respect me more because I do so much for you. In you name amen.”

Can you see what is wrong? There is an approach to God as if He is supposed to do everything for you as you want it. Prayer for some people is actually a selfish thing, not one of just thanking, trusting, and loving God. Done right, prayer fills you with energy and love!

10.Many times our prayer meetings have been one person praying after another, and this is good, all different styles are accepted, but I recall in some prayer vigils when I have told everyone to just be silent for 10 minutes it seems someone could not wait to break the silence after 5 minutes because it seems too uncomfortable.  It is true, prayer is communication by speaking from the heart, but it is also a time when listening to God should take place. 

Recall even John in Revelation recorded that he had to wait in silence for half an hour while in heaven.   Revelation 8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And recall John had silence and prayer for the last several years of his life on the deserted island of Patmos. And on the deserted island look how much God spoke to him!

11. Here is something new for you to think about, God may make you uncomfortable in prayer before He comforts you in prayer. He wants to clean you and teach you, but He never can if you will not allow Him all the time He needs to speak to you in silence. 

Prayer is like cleaning your house, you walk in at the end of the day praise God for having a home but it is dirty so in order to enjoy your free time in peace, you first clean it up and wash the dishes, and then you are able to make a meal, and then just sit in peace to relax. Or you can do it vice versa, you can eat, relax, enjoy it, and then clean it. Listening brings on cleansing, and talking to God is like relaxing having a family chat. 

I want to challenge you. I think there is not a single person here that will fast and prayer in the desert for 40 days as Jesus did. But here is the situation, some of you maybe have not even done it ever in your life for even 40 minutes. How many of you have gone into a closet with no distractions and prayed in absolute silence for even 4 hours? It is not easy, but the benefits are worth it!

Remember each of you, and me included are in God’s progressing plant to mature and grow into more love and holiness. The Holy Spirit will talk to you, so give God, Jesus time. It is your responsibility to love and communicate your heart to God daily without ceasing. I Tess 5:17 Pray without ceasing!  Will you as of today start listening and communicating to God in silence more now since you and I discovered more on how Jesus did it?

Prophecy & Signs of the Times; Plus an eclipse?

Prophecy & Signs of the Times                                                                  Kelly Durant 4-7-24

 

Matthew 24: 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

 

2. Have you heard the wild news about the eclipse? It’s tomorrow! Some say it is for 3 to12 minutes, others say it is for 3 days! If it is for 3 days, that really would be quite a game changer! We shall see, but I am not one to spread rumors from people who may or may not be Christian. But we do follow the Words of Jesus and He said in Luke 21:25

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring”. News outlets are making lots of noise!

 

Well, every one of us has seen, and will see, some of Jesus’ signs in our lifetime and we know Jesus’ return is closer than it was before in the year 2,000. In the meantime, it is no fake news matter how we as true sensitive compassionate Christians with alert minds, worn out bodies, and perturbed spirts ache due to all the pain we see the world in! So much deception, poverty, war and murder! The suffering is as Jesus described it, as ‘birth pangs’, that get more and more frequent!

  

You know enough Bible by now, due to the great Bible teachers we have around here, to know that no one, not me or anyone, is qualified to add anything to what we already know from Jesus’ predictions and revelations! If you or I put an exact timeframe on predictions then we become as a false prophet because… Matt 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. But many have tried, and nothing has happened yet!

 

3. In the Salvation Army colleges no one is taught to adhere to any certain interpretation of the signs of the end-time. Take into account most denominations are not totally clear on “how to” interpret certain events so I think it is wise to read several of the current accepted interpretations in the Christian community so come what may, one is at least informed as much as possible. We need to know as much as possible so you and I can preach this gospel prophesy from Jesus to warn others so their souls can be saved. The end of the world is not good, but Jesus has a place He is preparing for you and me in heaven! As the prophecies happen, God will reveal more truth.

 

In William Booth’s Day, many thought that the 1900’s, with the sudden futuristic leap in progress of the industrial age, with all the new technology of railroads and factories, meant that man had reached a new progressive plateau. People over one hundred years ago thought that for sure Jesus Kingdom was going to be established on earth then and today we refer to those of this belief as Postmillennialists. I will share with you a definition from Wikipedia on its deeper meaning.

 

“Postmillennialism was a dominant theological belief among American Protestants who promoted reform movements in the 19th and 20th century such as abolitionism[2] and the Social Gospel.[3] Postmillennialism has become one of the key tenets of a movement known as Christian Reconstructionism. It has been criticized by 20th century religious conservatives as an attempt to Immanentize the eschaton”.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmillennialism   Our TSA does not embrace postmellialism as did some in the past, because we know Jesus’ return will be a major all-encompassing event and Jesus has not returned secretly as JWs & others believe.

 

4. We don’t accept the idea that Jesus came already as certain religious devious denominations teach that Christ already returned to earth in the early 1900’s, and you and I are labeled as ignorant people not seeing this because it was a spiritual, not physical event. They argue that we should just adhere to what some people have accepted for two millennium; that His return came already! But this is a wrong idea with no proof as His return will change everything locking in the destiny of souls with the great final judgement. 

1 Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

How and when Jesus’ return will occur in the future has been the debate for centuries. I look at His return as a merging of our physical world with the spirit world, a combining of our universe with the God’s Kingdom universe in our multiverse universe. Scientists, with their mathematical multiverse theories, prove what we already knew, that several worlds (some say 11, others an infinity) currently coexisting at the same time. This collision of universes will bring about an eternal kingdom, which is a variable not well understood in our current temporary existence, but with God, all things are possible! Our earth will be destroyed with earthquakes and with all the events describes in the book of Revelation. 

5.  The end is near but not for any man (woman) to know the day and hour or the exact year for that matter. How many times has the exact year of the predictions of Jesus returning failed already? Probably thousands! Trying to be wise, arrogant people become fools! 

Despite this clear message by Jesus Christ, many Christians ambitious for undeserved attention, predict times and places of destruction. When they predict, we must reject. I have watched several YOUTUBE videos lately that are very convincing that the soon to come nuclear war will hasten the return of Jesus and these wars may even start now in April of this year! Just thank God today no nuclear war has begun, and we must choose to live day to day praying for peace! But Satan is working, he wants God’s children destroyed!

Apart from timeframes, many evangelical groups, and secular ones like the History Channel predict the places of destruction in the United States. The assumption is we are long overdue a major hit of destruction, so possibly it could even happen this year. Despite blanket forecasts, it is a reality that a volcano such as Krakatoa, a mega 10 earthquake, a comet crash on earth, an economic meltdown, or a possible nuclear war could cause all the world’s systems to collapse and bring about mega destructions as described in Revelation.  Here is verse that confirms the effects of nuclear war. Zechariah 14:12 And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. This is exactly what happens to people who are near a nuclear explosion!

6. Why do we hear about impending doom so much? Because the majority of people in the world who do not know Jesus have an appetite for destruction, they even long even for their own destruction! Evil people want the glory of bringing down the system as well! Kind of like how Nero celebrated while Rome burned down, the world leaders today are just as despotic as him and currently practically all governing systems are being hurled into chaos! This recurring theme of destruction affects you and me in one way or another; to either want to be on a more heightened alert and prepared, or to just live in a denial sleep ignoring the spiritual warnings. Don’t be deadened and asleep with prophecy fatigue! 

Concerning what could happen this year, or this month, people are either more fearful, concerned, and stressed, or more distracted, asleep, or indifferent! We as Christians are to remain prayerful, patient, and encouraging despite the pain and fear we experience empathizing and supporting those nearby who suffer!

Those who want to see mega-destruction and death, who have a Satanic hateful nature, who want to help usher in the apocalypse, having a secret death wish to die and be killed are of this nature because their sins and guilty conscience haunts them!  Like the serial murderer who the police can’t catch because he hides the evidence too cleverly until finally one day he wants them to stop him from his own evil so he leaves evidence behind to get caught. Millions of demon-possessed psychos want to help usher in the apocalypse hoping this will bring about a higher new world order of peace reducing the population by 90%. The problem here is their spirit will remain forever incarcerated in their disturbed hellish destructive state once they die and Jesus returns having no repentance! A spirit that rejects God’s love and ways is destined to be sent to the jail of hell to contain that evil.

Rev.22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. 12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.

7. There is heavy persuasion in the Holy Scriptures of the Bible that there will be a nuclear war or a mega destruction of some kind in the Bible. Act 2:19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 2 days Act 2:20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. Act 2:21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Nuclear power is in the hands of dictators in unstable nations such as North Korea, Iran, Russian and Pakistan.

It is tragic how there is evidence of a “falling away” from the faith of our Christian fathers. Many people today are a living abomination to God as they are carnal, sick-minded, destructive, prideful irrational sin-justifiers, being worthless consumers, unrepentant, not honoring God and hateful persecuting God’s saints, the Christian people of the world. Why will God judge with wrath? Because men have insulted Him and disrespected the beautiful life he created on earth! War is man’s invention due to his sins of greed, hate, prejudice, and lack of obedience to God’s commands through His Holy Word!  

8. The reality is this, there is evidence of an ever-increasing universal world-wide apostasy.  Godless materialism, prideful humanism, and murderous religious cults seem to be the god of choice as people in many nations mock and murder those of the Christian faith deeming them as unscientific fools. Yet they are the real fools accusing us as fools…I Cor. 1:14 But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

The good thing is most of you here in this Corps are wise in the things of God and have the Holy Spirit and you have already studied Revelation several times and are aware of the 4 horsemen and of the 3 major events involving the 7 seals, 7 trumpets, and 7 vials. 

It is conclusive that these coming destructions will occur sometime in the future, and they will actually involve 1/3 or the entire world with devastations that have the characteristics of some type of mega nuclear destruction.  

9. So do not get disturbed by predictions over eclipses or signs in the sky! All things are on God’s clockwork, so all we can do is warn others hoping they obtain the understanding that God wants to be worshipped, loved, obeyed, and served as the time is short.  It is not our fault Satan wants to destroy it all, the victory is God will save our souls!

So, I recommend that you do not trust in books on numerology, individual predictions, alarming scientific climate statistics, politically motivated charlatans, and even preachers who exclude certain parts of the Bible to make fit prophecies to their likings when they are just carnal men and not worthy of interpreting prophecy! We are going to live with peace in our souls, no matter what may come!

There are appearing more and more false Christs Jesus like warned us about! And all the new radical religious people in the world that demand that you worship their prophet (who is not Jesus!) are false prophets from Satan himself! Any teaching that distorts, adds to, or takes away from the entire teachings and prophecies of Jesus Christ who sits on the right hand of God, who reigns forever and ever, who will have every knew bow to Him, are heresy and blasphemy! The offense of rejecting God’s son carries hell as a consequence!  

10. The time to study more about the end-times is now! The time to wake people up is now! The time to feel time is short is now! More and more prophecies are coming together to be fulfilled and more and more nations are preparing for war. We know that there will be Satanic despots starting more wars as time advances.  

Joel 2:30 And I will shew wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. (This is another verse revealing nuclear war weapons)

Let’s pray and get serious with God! Don’t think we have 7 more years or 1260 days before Jesus comes knowing those years are markers concerning the anti-Christ’s reign, but consider this: When you die, that is when Jesus returns for you! The end of man’s kingdoms will come to an end, but our end may be sooner than the final end. If your or my end comes soon, we will be blessed because we will escape the heavy tribulations to come! No one is guaranteed tomorrow, and men’s hearts will fail them for fear! As we continue on in this year, pray for strength from the Holy Spirit, warn others to repent, and live in holiness! Just live ready to go, or ready to stay and ready to serve! Earth is becoming hell, but Jesus is bringing us heaven, amen!

The Palm Sunday Prophecy (Fulfilled)

The Palm Sunday Prophecy (Fulfilled)                                                By Kelly Durant 3-24-24

 

Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.

 

2. How many of you have been around young people when they get excited about their favorite group coming to town? I recall Renee a few years ago talking all the time about the British band ‘One Direction’, how I had to take her to see them, how they were the greatest, and on and on! (She will probably hate me now for mentioning it since that was ages ago in her mind!) The visit of a rock star, a movie star, a sports star, or of someone of political fame seems to always draw cheering crowds. People love to celebrate those that bring them some kind of inspiration or some kind of words of hope in this life! Isn’t that true? The sad part about praising people though is often people cheer only to get a huge let down once their true self is exposed!

 

Let’s go back about 2,000 years, who were the rock stars then for the people of Jerusalem? It certainly wasn’t any political leader with ties to Rome! They were the enemy, the cruel oppressors! As with many of the world leaders today! Music, sports, and movies were not marketed so what was left? Any prophet or teacher that could bring them hope, a hope of establishing them into power, to be free from the dominance of man, a supernatural person that could bring them honor, salvation, and healing! That was Jesus for them then but He still brings hope, happiness, and inspiration not only just to Jerusalem but to all in the world! The final fulfillment of a world full of love and peace will be in the New Jerusalem Kingdom of God when Jesus returns! 

 

Like an urban legend news about Jesus in Israel had spread from town to town and it spread into Jerusalem that He was the new savior, an amazing miracle worker, a wise teacher, and He even was fulfilling the prophecies of being the expected Messiah! For years and years the Jews were desperate for the Messiah to come and the Rabbis combed over each and every prophecy and the common man got the news that Jesus fit the description of what Zechariah prophesied! And Jesus was arriving in Jerusalem, how world-changing!

 

3. Every Palm Sunday year after year we face the reality that Jesus through His birth, life, and death fulfilled many dozens of prophecies! This is why I could never be a non-believer: the dead Sea Scrolls and unexplained fulfillment of prophecy prove there is a supernatural God behind the scenes who cares for each of us. The prophecy I am focusing in on today is a little one in Zechariah 9:9 but it has great implications.  The Jewish Rabbis and students were familiar with all prophecy; throughout the ages they each learned that the Messiah would fulfill every detail mentioned by every major and minor prophet throughout all the sacred scrolls recorded by their ancestors.

 

So what can we do with this one verse today? Zechariah 9:9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey. 

 

This is a very specific verse with 5 points of fulfilment. For those who think the Messiah has not come, then they should rethink how difficult each of these points are to duplicate in concert with one another, especially if you were to try to replicate it in today’s world. The prophetic points are 1) Rejoicing, a shouting and worshipping of happiness for His arrival 2) The entrance of the awaited Messiah specifically going into Jerusalem 3) He is exalted as the King, an implication that He is recognized as the King of the Jews, the chosen Messiah 4) He is just, having salvation, and lowly, all of which means He is a humble man who is fair to all bringing salvation of the soul 5) And finally He is riding on a colt, which is a very unusual specific action strange for an honored King. 

 

4. Let’s explore this more in depth. Matthew 21:1 Now when they drew near Jerusalem, and came to Bethphage, at the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, 2 saying to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Loose them and bring them to Me. 3 And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.”4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying: 5 “Tell the daughter of Zion,‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey.’

6 So the disciples went and did as Jesus commanded them. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him[d] on them. 8 And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying:

“Hosanna to the Son of David! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’

Hosanna in the highest!” 10 And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?”

 

This report written by Matthew includes the prophecy we are focusing in on today. It is the record of how Jesus obtained the colt (notice that no one yelled out, ‘hey you are stealing my colt’! I doubt that today any person would even be able to go into modern day Jerusalem on a colt with all the traffic! Before I get into the 5 points, let’s consider all the details here. 

 

A separate prophecy was being fulfilled here as well, the one of shouting “Hosanna” at the sight of Jesus. That was a praise to Him and a recognition that He was of the required lineage of David. (Psalm 118:25) Amongst the studious Jews there was no doubt, Jesus was the Messiah. 

 

5. One more thing before getting into the 5 points in the verse. Stand up everybody, yes get up, now take off your tunic or coat…now imagine spreading it out in front of a man on a colt! What an expensive and radical gesture to show honor, right? The rocky and muddy streets of Jerusalem were not too pretty! I doubt the dirt would have even washed out after the tunics got hoof prints and mud embedded in them. 

 

Now imagine laying down the palm branches…this was a gesture of bowing down to share a small gift, a token gesture of honoring a person with the green carpet treatment (before the red carpet came into fashion, ha!).  The entire city was there to see what was going on!

 

As mentioned here in verse 10, “all the city was moved, saying, “Who is this?” The ones who knew “who He was” were shouting and praising God with all their lungs! The rest of the city had never seen such a welcoming! The welcoming of a Roman leader was done out of formality and obligation, but never had people seen such a positive welcoming like this one!

 

6. So the rejoicing of the people of Jerusalem was unprecedented! This praising is the first point, now on to the second one, how is it that this explosion of praise happened in such a small city as Jerusalem? Why didn’t God and His Son not decide to enter into Rome, the capital of the world at that time?  First of all, Jesus was a Jew who came to reach those of God’s own house first, but we know now that His love was intended to extend into all the world, to every tribe, tongue, and race as well. (As it soon did and continues to do) Jerusalem historically is a sacred city, a chosen city, the City of David, the place of peace and blessings. 

 

There were many prophecies over Jerusalem, one is that they were being like a rebellious chick that the Father wanted to protect under His wings but they refused and rebelled (Psa 91:4). Jesus knew the Jerusalemites would reject Him despite their initial praise and acceptance. Notice what Jesus cries out here,Matthew 23:37  “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!”  God wanted them to see the light! They were given the first chance with the sign of loud rejoicing.

 

Jerusalem was where the blessings flourished with God’s chosen bloodline, but it also was where God’s blessings of peace (Salem=peace) ceased. Jerusalem about 40 years after Jesus entrance fell to their enemies, and then many times over were invaded and occupied by others dozens of times over in the past 2,000 years! Jerusalem has seen more war than peace and this conclusively is connected to their rejection of the King or Prince of Peace! (See Isaiah 9:6)

 

7. Now on to point 3, (‘Behold your King’) He was exalted as the King of the Jews there on that first Palm Sunday. The whole city proclaimed it! What was written on His cross by Pilot? Matthew 27:37 “And they put up over His head the accusation written against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” At first they accepted Him as King in truth, but later they retracted their praise accepting the lie of the false leaders instead!

 

The act of crying out the word “Hosanna” was special as it was a Hebrew word to express a deep worship and praise. No Hebrew should have worshipped any man this highly, only God, so the fact that all shouted “Hosanna” to Jesus indicates that they knew He was the true anointed Messiah or King. Otherwise, what they were doing would have been considered blasphemy!

 

We know today that Jesus, by His life, death, and resurrection is the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords! In Jerusalem they worshipped Him as King fulfilling prophecy, recognizing Him for the fulfilment of the prophecies and for the miracles He had done. For a moment they instinctively knew He was King! But Jesus was not finished in demonstrating His power and authority. The ultimate miracle proving His worthiness and Kingship was His resurrection!

 

8. Point 4, The Messiah needed to possess certain characteristics, those of being just, having salvation, and being lowly. For one, Jesus was not elitist, claiming to be of blue blood, or of a special class imposing His superiority and arrogance (contrary to the world’s rulers back then and today). He was the most fair and loving person ever offering justice and equality of salvation and healing to everyone without discrimination. How shocking He was as He even offered healing and salvation to the despised Sumerians and gentiles!  Today he still saves “whosoever will”; all one needs to do is worship and accept Him as savior and as the Son of God, as the King of Kings! 

 

Lowly means humble and Jesus was the ultimate example of it! It hurts me to observe some Christians today who desire riches, praise, or arrogant power. They are damaging the cause of Christ and in my view do not know Jesus! Jesus served all without discrimination not just Jews. He mixed with publicans and sinners, forgave prostitutes, washed the feet of His followers and did unprecedented acts of humility that no other priest or man of God had ever done before. 

 

For me any follower of Jesus must exemplify humility! Some pastors will not even take out the trash!  Serving one another in love to me proves the authenticity of Christlikeness in a person!   

 

9. The final 5^th point, Jesus rides in on a colt to fulfill this prophecy. How many of you ever rode on a colt, raise your hand? We all know that donkeys have a reputation for being stubborn, right? They will buck you off!  How would a small colt act then with a big 180 pound body  (about Jesus size?) on it? The expected is for it to kick and fight don’t you think, especially if no one had ever ridden it. 

 

The Roman rulers would ride into cities on elegant horses or in carriages so to imagine Jesus, who is being hailed as King to be on a humble small colt is actually laughable! What humility he had! Jesus didn’t need to always use words to teach with, His actions taught us volumes as well.

 

The other lesson here is that Jesus obviously was not wealthy to purchase a nice horse or animal, but rather He got this colt by appropriation and it appears by the verses the appropriation of the colt was by divine design. Matthew 21:3 “And if anyone says anything to you, you shall say, ‘The Lord has need of them,’ and immediately he will send them.” No one said, “Hey you’re stealing my colt!” When God has a job for you, it will all happen in His design, He always supplies by surprising ways, and it may be with something that ministers to your humility.

 

10. As we celebrate today with our palm branches as was done over 2,000 years ago, let’s focus in on what it means for us personally. We are to obey Jesus in all His ways. Here are some questions I have for you just based on the 5 point prophecies in Zechariah.

1) Do you get excited, worship and rejoice when Jesus becomes the subject matter of attention? All nature praises Him! Luke 19:40 But He answered and said to them, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.”

2) Is the spirit of the true Jerusalem worshippers where there is unity with others, present in your heart? Revelation 21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. (a future Heavenly Jerusalem awaits as we learn here from Revelation)

3) Is Jesus the King of your life? In other words, are you not ‘living as you please’ but living to please Him with Him ruling all things in your life? Romans 14:11 For it is written: “As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God.

4) Are you fair to all? Do you serve in humility without discrimination? Do you offer others salvation as Jesus did?  How humble and lowly in heart are you? Romans 1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.

5) And finally, to suggest you mount on a colt to imitate Jesus would not serve much of a purpose!  But think of it this way, do you do actions that may put you a position to appear ridiculous to the world? Will you do that if your deeds are humbly fulfilling God’s purpose? 1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time

 

Jesus entry into Jerusalem brought us all these lessons! Let’s pray that we can be as He wants us to be on this Palm Sunday and for the rest of our lives! Praise Jesus, and love Him for His Kingship, salvation and humility! Do you know Him? Let’s pray…