Pain: It Is Killing You!

Pain: It Is Killing You! (If You Are Not Using God’s Medicine)       Kelly Durant 2-23-14

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

2. Ever since I was little I learned that pain usually occurred as a means of persuasion. For example, when I was 2 I learned not to put paperclips in the wall socket. At age 6 if I wandered too far away down the street while playing, and didn’t answer when my mother called, when I got back I would get a switching for disobeying.  At school at age 8 when I would play wrestle with my friends in the sand pit and when they had me or I had them in an uncomfortable hold, the loser had to say “uncle” to stop the pain of the vice grip.

Here is a reality we rarely discuss about ourselves: everyone in life must endure pain of all different kinds. Pain abruptly stops us in our tracks and refocuses our attention on an immediate matter. Pain will cause a reaction! It might be with tears, a slowing down and subduing or humbling, or sometimes the contrary, anger may collectively fester over pain.

a) Pain exists as a part of our fallen world, from the out of control natural world, a product of diseases and sicknesses spread by man’s ignorance or sin. B) Pain also can be something afflicted on us from another human source, an oppressive authority applying instruments of pain for dominion. C) Pain additionally may be a consequence of a wrong personal decision, a bad friends, an abuse of a substance or alcohol, or be a consequence from sins resulting from having a wrong lifestyle or belief system condemned by God.

 And here is what everyone fears, that God may be allowing a certain pain in our lives for a reason and we know only He can stop it so you or I ask in prayer, “How can you and I fix this situation, Lord?  How can I please you, God, to make it stop?” Help!

3. Apart from these 3 of many possibilities of sources for pain there also exists a collective suffering in mass by God’s people that few understand unless they are a child of God and know God’s heart and have suffered in a similar circumstance. Almost everyone has seen a movie on the 10 commandants and knows about the Exodus. What was the situation? Israel, God’s people, had suffered as slaves for a few hundred years and the people were in pain from the unjust degrading Egyptian oppressors. But God hears the prayers of the righteous and He is our liberator through Jesus, right? Egypt’s gods were no gods at all and Egypt has been dominated by other world powers or their own internal oppressors ever since the Israelites were freed! God is always the ultimate winner!

Exodus 2: 23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them.

God hears our cries when we are in pain and God chose Moses to lead them out of Egypt! God always has mercy on his children, but each child of God must recognize that it is only His power that can save them from their pain before God will choose to act. God has a loving heart and He hates suffering but it is our role to recognize that He is the power above all powers and the cure for our aching hearts, minds, and bodies. 

4. I know many of you in this room have endured broken bones, endured different sicknesses, and probably had your heart broken as well. I think everyone has endured an intense pain of some kind! Oh, let me not forget the pain of having a baby! With physical injuries or viruses you have decreased mobility and plenty of time is needed to recover, right? Pain=Time with God.

Like it or not, we must accept the fact that certain diseases exist, and they exist as a punishment on the wicked but God protects his own if they do not participate in the ways of the wicked. Exodus 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

Think about diseases and how they are spread, most sexually transmitted ones come from animals and then they are spread by promiscuity. Because sin abounds today much pain is spread by people who willfully knowingly spread viruses, especially HIV, and others pass germs on by having unwashed hands. Also bio-terrorism (germ warfare) and waste toxins is a new means of destruction. There is a war on humans and for years corporations and governments around the world have for material gain knowingly allowed chemicals and toxins to make sick millions in communities in almost every major city.

We must always pray for those suffering with cancer and other diseases induced by man’s destructive practices as many innocent people suffer from the sins of others in the community.

5. I think we all hate physical pain! When a tooth hurts you will do anything to make it stop right? God has mercy on us and He created certain plants that (poppy, coca, etc.) can put to sleep certain nerves but these substances were not created for continual use, only a temporary one. The sad part is in most parts of the world the people are so poor (1/3 of the people of the world) that they just have to endure pain with no relief. Drugs are sold mostly to the rich and middle class in wealthy nations, not in the poor countries.

I found an article last week that exposes that 70 million Americans are on pain killers or mind altering substances, and there are many consequences from this abuse to try and mask pain. All recent mass murders have been done by people or kids abusing pharmaceuticals. Violence and cold-hearted acts are done by people numbed to pain. Almost every reformed prostitute will testify they abused drugs and alcohol to escape the pain of guilt and humiliation. It took the recent death of an actor to expose that an abundance of killer heroine is currently on the streets of America. Drugs waste away kidneys and livers and minds, killing abstract thinking. Pain relievers have their place but they become Satan’s tools of destruction when abused.  

But here is an interesting thing about physical pain, prayer can alleviate it often as well as a drug! Prayer is an unexplained phenomenon of science. Studies have been done and there is evidence that prayer, especially prayer with others, can relieve pain and even heal. This is the natural remedy God wants us to use more than any other! You must pray to discern when you need a doctor though because it is destructive ignorance to allow an emergency situation to be unattended to!

6. What about pain from oppression?  I know many people will agree with me they would prefer to experience a physical pain rather than a heart break pain. What do I mean? Many people live heart-broken due to the oppression of their abusive spouse, children, bosses, or in particular by their governing authorities.  In all large cities there always exists mafias, pimps, and corrupt authorities that use people as human capital to be exploited. And look at the Ukraine, Venezuela, and N. Korea (amongst many others) right now; the people there are in acute pain and they are just reliving what Russia, China, Cuba, and hundreds of other nations have gone through throughout the ages. People foolishly empower abusers for personal gain! But the gain only goes into the hands of a few!   

Look at the Israelites again, for example. They were suffering in slavery and hard labor, but I think what hurt them the most was the abandoned feeling of hopelessness. They knew that they had a righteous God as their Father, but they felt the pain that He was not blessing them with their own land and nation to live in freedom. They had to endure living under the false gods of the Egyptians and this was humiliating. What a waste of manpower to move stones that were all for the vanity of surrounding a cadaver with luxury.

But what happened in Egypt? How did God fix the problem of their oppression and heart break?  God raised up a leader to free them! He was the man of God for the hour to free the hurting Israelite people to restore dignity. He was a hero, a savior, a redeemer receiving by divine inspiration God’s laws for the formation of their new nation.  In the same manner Jesus steps up and saves men and women from their own sins and destructions, and from other oppressors around them. Today Jesus is our savior, hero, liberator, and healer!

7. Normal love relationships involve pain between couples have complications from time to time and sometimes there are periods of time of not feeling very close to the other. These painful ups and downs may be caused by the sins of one or both, and normal recovery is expected. But when total abandonment occurs, that is a deep pain that needs a long recovery time. Abandoned abused people need many friends supporting them, and especially they need faith in Jesus to know that He heals all brokenness and all things will come out for the good in the end. (Rom 8:28)

You and I have known of many abusive cases between couples after a divorce or abandonment, but haven’t we witnessed how God often raises up another person to love and heal and erase the pain in the one with the wounded heart?  God has always wanted us to live pain free and happy (remember how nice the Garden of Eden was) but when suffering has come either by injustices, sicknesses, or as a punishment, God is still there to heal. Consider this beautiful promise of God to us and to Israel. He restores and inspires us despite any loss or pain.

Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

8. One last horrific thing about pain, there are sadistic people who enjoy seeing others in pain!  Instead of being compassionate like God, Jesus, and a true Christian, these are people who get enjoyment hearing about your pain and instead of rejoicing in God, they get happy over the sufferings of others?!

When you identify a person as being unloving, resentful, revengeful, and merciless, I suggest you tell them about how God wants to love them and convert them so they leave all their bitterness behind and start over with a whole new life. But if they reject God’s message you have delivered your soul and next I suggest you get out of harm’s way and avoid them so you don’t become the next victim they attack! Tormented souls are always trying to bring pain on to others!

I hate the sewage of the bulk of Hollywood’s productions as they love to glorify violence, they make horror and torture seem amusing and fun. If it were real pain it would not be fun, it would make you vomit in fear. I have known in my lifetime political people in So. America who are deeply traumatized due to enduring torture (war vets too) and to hear of their suffering is no fun at all! Some of you here who are Cuban know what fear and pain is about and thank God you have been away from that for a number of years already.  

9. As we started off reading in Romans that the whole world groans in pain! How true is that!  Not just Venezuela, and the Ukraine are in pain; I challenge you to investigate the horrific deeds done by the Communist, Arab, Fascists, and non-Christian countries. (that includes about 5 billion as only 2 billion are Christian and maybe only 10% of them really are authentic!) Look at the U.S. and it’s refusal to address the violence, crime, abortion, and drug abuse issues, the sexual trafficking and in-your-face perversions, and the mafias and unions that oppress and exploit their own people. Crime and indifference has exponentially risen within the just the past few years!

Matthew 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.   I get angry when people do not have compassion! I have written poems, I have expressed it as often as I can, let’s do something to heal the pain of others! Jesus did! When I discover a person is just another selfish rat that does not care about the needs and suffering of others, I consider them a condemned unsaved heathen by their own choice that will get no mercy from God because they showed no mercy when they had the chance! We need to expose the evil of apathy as often as possible!

10. God’s design is for us to be restored and from heartbreak in our past. In order to live happy, blessed, and pain free, and be a blessing to others, you and I must first have our own personal pain erased by the touch of the Lord’s healing. It starts with prayer and often happens when a person accepts Jesus. God’s touch can often make you or I cry and weep and this cleans out the heart.

I compare this to cleaning a wound. It is painful to have a cloth and peroxide go over the open skin, but if it is not done, infection will set in and the temporary burn of pain will be nothing compared to the long lasting damaging pain of unresolved dirt and destructive issues. Or like a rotting tooth or toe, if not eliminated it will rot the whole body to death in a short time!

We suffer now in our hearts, bodies and minds due to ourselves and others allowing Satan’s destruction to trick us. A compassionate Christian feels pain when others suffer, but the Holy Spirit will speak to one’s heart through the word of God and bring healing. The best thing you can do for others is to heal yourself first so you will be able to go out and heal others by sharing hope, faith, love, and prayer! And remember our lives are only a shadow and soon in heaven God will wipe away all tears and suffering from violence, sicknesses and death for us will never be an issue anymore! Let’s pray to heal, ourselves, and others who need us!  

How to Show Love!

How to Show Love!                                         by Kelly Durant  2-15-14

 1 John 3:16

 16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

1. Today we will talk about love! I could talk about love all year! I was young when the Beatles sang “Love, Love, Love…All You Need Is Love!” At that time in a cold love starved cold war society, people wanted to hear that they needed love, “All you need is love! We need God’s love, and the love of each other, or we will shrivel up and die! Harlow, a psychologist, did experiments on baby monkeys and proved that without love babies die right away! The baby monkeys would run from the rough wire monkey with milk and hug up to the furry monkeys. We don’t need psychologists to prove the power of love to keep us alive, we know that instinctly!

In I John 3:16 in begins with; Hereby, perceive we the love of God. The first key word is perceive! Love is not love until you give it away! Love is perceived, a manifestation of an action which is from some feeling, or emotion, or passion. In the Greek perceive means to touch, to see or understand by experience: to know. Love is hard to describe but to give an illustration it is like the wind, that we can see by what it affects but we cannot see the wind itself.

2. The effects of love we can perceive and define in the manifestation of the 3 T’s; time, talent, and treasure. Love is the opposite of selfishness, instead of the person making him or herself as the owner of everything; it is a position that gives up all to another.

In the verse we perceive the implied by knowing all of what Jesus did for us, he died on the cross and gave us forgiveness of sins and healing. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

Jesus gave up all of his time, talent, and treasure. He gave up all, all the time while he was alive and then He gave up all in his death. Laying down his life was something that was a proof and manifestation of his love. He did it while living and then while He was dying. Laying down his life for us means for all people of all nations and tribes, in the past, present, and future!

We know how Jesus gave up all to show us love, so now let’s carry out a study on how to get others and God to perceive our love. Before applying this to the work of God, let’s apply it to the normal universal human relationships which God created as an example for us to learn from.

3. I recall as early as age 14 when you had feelings of love for another girl and the expected was that one should show off your talent, I have written several dozens of poems in my life and I imagine you have too. At this time of year of Valentine’s Day, cards with flowers and poems are mailed and delivered so much that it is multimillion dollar industry!   

Just to erase any doubts the most beautiful and intense songs I have written have been for my wife Regina!

One Chorus states this:

And everyday you choose to stay, shows how love wins anyway!

Hey, I know love is for eternity

Hey, You know love’s what made us to be

Before poems were like this: Roses are red, violets are blue

Sugar is sweet my love, but not as sweet as you!

Poems are only one type of expression but talent applied is imperative.

To prove intensity, or passion in love, you must apply your personal unique talent!

4. Another proof of love is the treasure, or sacrifice part; how much are you willing to spend? If she thinks you have a lot of money and you buy one rose, instead of a dozen you will be in trouble! When there is love, the other person expects to be treated with a more class than the ordinary.

To prove seriousness, or dedication in love, you must apply your personal money, or treasure.

Another imperative factor for love is time. You cannot say to your boyfriend (or girlfriend) I love you but I don’t have time to talk to you because I am so busy. For important people, we all have a tendency to make time to communicate! If you are not sharing all the details of your life, your dreams, your pains, your desires with the one you claim to love, then how do we believe it is love?

To prove credibility, or confidence in love, you must take time to share your innermost secrets.

5.Taking these 3 examples of the expressions and perceptions of love, we can apply them as a thermometer to your life to determine how hot or cold your temperature is in the love for God.

Talent:

Do you share your talent with God and others? Some of you do it well, refereeing to you here, and recall God sees every little thing you do with your talents. You show your love by: cooking, painting, teaching, singing, cleaning, leading meetings, disciplining. God knows your names and everyone does. Applying talent shows love.

Treasure:

Any program, any building, any operation requires money and thank God we are able to keep going due to your tithe and offering support, and the support of outside donations along with the major gifts donated by those who are generous. I know many of you give the maximum of what you can and God knows and he blesses the cheerful giver.

Material gifts from your income prove love and it has been that way ever since the Cain and Abel noting that God expects an offering of sacrifice for us to proof our love!

Time:

I have seen others give their time since they did not have any money and that is very valid as well!

I started the year again by giving a book to most everyone as a tool to help each person spend more time with God. Are you reading them? We are doing more prayer lately too.  Everyone must spend quality time with God, we must study His word and consume it as our daily bread so we learn what it is He desires from us.

6. Imagine having a friend but you never spend time with them and you never learn about their wishes!? Do you know what God wants you to do with your life? We pray and talk to Jesus as our best friend so He knows we are honoring and respecting Him and this is proof of our love through the connection of communication.

And finally, finishing the verse it states: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. The point is, Jesus proved His love, He laid down His life: now all of us are forever challenged to prove our love by showing the same level of sacrifice! We may never die for Him, so we must serve Him daily!

Proof of love requires manifestations in time, talent, and treasure given to God’s work so that another brother or sister, or mate can perceive it!

How good a lover are you?. Do you spend quality talent, treasure, and time with the one you claim to love? Or with your Christian friends and family?

7. And again, how do you love God? If God were to measure your love for Him, what you do to show your love for Him and for your neighbor as yourself?

We have the standard of Jesus laying down His life and this was the maximum love ever expressed by God and by His Son on earth! This type of supernatural, unexplainable, amazing, intense, merciful love provokes a response! How much will you love back?

With God you can never love enough, but with some people we must establish limits of our love. Matt 7:6  “Don’t give pearls to swine”.

You and I both have had bad experiences with other human beings with whom we have given a lot of love to; we have given our passion, our dedication, and our confidence only to be let down because they were too selfish and arrogant to understand what love is and be thankful. Measure love, is the person you are loving thankful, or indifferent, giving or returning nothing, or are they reflecting back your passion?

8. At one time or another, we all have been unloving and unappreciative towards God or some Christian friend in the church who has loved and helped. But no one of us here is full of love to our potential yet! If you were you would be like the young ruler in reverse who was told to sell everything and give to the poor and follow Christ, and you would do it and be right now on fire preaching every day to every one of the love of Jesus for all! You would be giving your life for full time service for Jesus!

How sad it is that some people have been loved by God through you or I, yet they have still remained in a selfish pit of ingratitude! But we love out of obedience to God, not to get loved backed, amen? We simply must love and leave the rest to God!

Love someone today! Love gives a chance and God reveals His love to all in many ways over and over and we should too! He wants us to just love and to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters! Loving God and your neighbor, (and your soul mate) is in obedience to the scripture! Can others perceive that you are giving love? Love as Jesus did, love in Jesus name, and you will make a big difference in those closest to you, and to anyone in your path!

God’s Couples: Love & Suffering

God’s Couples: Love & Suffering. Love Never Fails!                                           Kelly Durant   2-9-14

I Corinthians 13: 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8 Love never fails.

2. This time of year people think about flowers and chocolates. It can be a time that is beautiful for some and frustrating for others. Love is powerful! It is a fact that love is the principle need of man (and woman)! As humans we will die without water and food after a few days or weeks, but what happens to people without love? They dry up inside and die slowly! We all need a family of friends you can trust, depend on, and lean on in hard times. This describes the Christian friends I know!

The very first commandment of God is to love. Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it”. Love, and the desire for intimate love with your mate, is God created. He wants people to enjoy each other and have children. But if you are single, don’t feel left out, Psalm 68:6 “God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.” Are you loving or in the desert?

Adam and Eve, the very first couple, were probably in love at a level beyond what we can understand today! Imagine having the perfect body and mind and all the time in the world for just each other! They were beautiful but soon their world was shattered, not just by disobedience having to leave the garden but by other heart breaks. Think about how much love it took amongst their selves to recover from the loss of their murdered son Able by Cain killing him? Cain was banished, so they lost him too! Couples that have gone through a lot of suffering together usually become more united in love and closer to God, than those who suffer less! And never allow suffering to cause you to play the blame game!

Why do love and pain seem to always cross paths? In all couples it is almost certain some sad event of some kind will happen between them. So you and your mate, or someone else close to you, will face a few big challenges one day. Love will go through the fire of testing! But real love overcomes any test, any trial, and any difficulty! To prevent even more pain amongst yourselves, do not bring up the wrongs and offenses of the past and accuse one another. Love forgives and is kind. God’s love never fails, but what is yours like?

3. Today we see many people disillusioned with love from frustrated relationships. But some people without love may be not the victims at all but instead the ones at fault for not giving love because they choose to shut out another one.  A person’s sins creates pain, barriers, and separations from others. Here is the great misunderstanding about love: Everyone wants to get love, but few know how to give it!

Love is like the mechanics of the sun: it must re-feed itself like converting hydrogen to helium and back in order to stay energized. Love must reciprocate back and forth and communicate and serve with a give and take, if not, it’s warmth and light goes out! It is not God’s fault if we coldly die out without love, He has always loved us and always will, and He never fails!

All the time we hear people say, ‘I need someone who will love me for myself, for who I am!’ What we forget is love is like a plant that grows, but if it is in toxic soil, it will not grow but rather die! The toxic, self-centered, ‘I-am-who-I-am love-me-anyway, prideful, unrepentant, unforgiving, faithless, cruel stance is what kills love relationships! Half of all marriages today end up in divorce, and these stats are about the same for Christians or non-Christians. We live in the time period ‘that the love of many has turned cold.’

4. Today we are studying I Cor. 13, which is often read at weddings, but here is the problem with people, it does not matter what they hear, or what they say they agree to, what matters is how much they have absorbed so that their behavior is strictly governed by their love for God to obey every detail of His Word. God is love, so if there is no love for God, then love for another person is impossible!

Let’s look at ‘love is patient, love is kind’ first. How much patience and kindness do you have really?

There are certain couples in the Old Testament we will study today and the depth of these words will take on a new meaning. Let’s look at the situation of Abraham and Sarah, what was that strange situation that happened after Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed and they had to travel south.

Gen:20 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her. 3 But God came to Abimelek in a dream one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.” Want your patience tested? Try lending your mate to the king!

5. It was the custom of kings to take for their selves any of the women they desired that came into their lands. Maybe Abraham and Sarah feared that if they said they were married that King Abimelek would just kill Abraham so he could have Sarah. It seems as a couple they agreed to this deception in order to be able to live on the land to supply for their animals and family. Imagine your wife going to live in the harem of the palace of a king and she might be there for quite a long time, would you agree to that? What a trying time! So Abraham, the man of faith, had his difficult moments as well!

But God revealed to the king he was in danger for doing something unethical, and that was of having someone else’s wife! God told the king that he and his family would die if he continued with that relationship and he was wise to give her back to Abraham! Imagine, a pagan king had more morals than many people today! Sadly, today many people live cursed by God because they are in a relationship that they should not be in and they cannot understand all the mishaps that come to them. Even in churches, some Christians think dropping one mate for another is fine by God?! Certain principles of respect within love relationships are expected within the universal laws of God, no matter the time period, culture, or race.

So, couples, would your love be that strong that you would give each other up for the greater good and survival of your family if need be? This is patience on a whole new level!  What couples out there have to endure long separations and risk losing the other? Missionaries, military personnel, immigrants who work travelling back and forth and dozens of other life situations put stress on the patience of couples who endure being separated. This is only an example of one type of trial, thousands more exist!

A requisite for love: It has patience! To know all will heal (even after a separation, or any other circumstance).

6. I Cor. 13: 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking.  In my life I have meet many couples where one was betrayed and dumped for another for some reason: usually for another whom they could use because they believed they had more money, better looks, or status. People who think love relationships are just to satisfy their needs may not have a maturity greater than that of an animal.

Love should never boast either. People in relationships often want to show off who they caught. I was all proud one time that my bar tending girlfriend was so pretty that she had had 2 husbands and been widowed twice?! But I was short sighted to realize that soon I would be ex-boyfriend number 5!

I hate love betrayals with a passion, they are acts of whoredom. Gold-digging, betraying, selfish heart breaking ‘users’, have been a horrible scourge on vulnerable humanity since the beginning of time! Since the beginning of time unfaithful law breaking love abusers were not tolerated by most cultures and the sentence on a guilty person was severe (even death by stoning, which is still practiced in some Arab countries!)

How many people today have had their broken spirits totally shattered by an unfaithful love who never loved, but only used you? ‘Love is kind’ (should be), but obviously some people in this world never practice kindness nor do they ever love anyone but their selves. They are self-seeking and their self love is no love at all but darkness. The world calls these unloving, un-natural dishonoring people psychopaths, rapists, and perverts (and more), but actually they are just Godless heathen or demon possessed abusers! Sadly they are condemned to insanity and hell now and hereafter. (Unless they repent, change, and obey Jesus way of a life of love, of course!)  

7. This brings me to the next couple in the Bible that suffered. This couple, Samson and Delilah, was never meant to be, he disobeyed God. He loved her, but she didn’t love back. It is a pity that Samson was not attracted to some woman of his own people, to a woman who obeyed God’s commands of love and respect. He could have been loved but he paid dearly for choosing to love the wrong pagan worshipping person! If you see a person in too much pain, maybe God did not ordain the relationship because a loving forgiving Godly person can never unite as one in heart with a cruel vindictive one.

There is a verse, 2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? The sad part is many Christians never obey this command and they get blinded in love, as Samson did, and they make of their lives a total failure! Don’t fail God, it is never too late to make things right with God!

Samson loved Delilah too much to the point he broke his promise with God to keep his secret. She only loved herself and her cruel Philistine people. Imagine Samson was the one she lied down with in bed every night, the one she shared food with year after year, but she was cold not caring that he would be caught and tortured, blinded, mocked, and made to walk in circles to grind the mill as an ox. What a betrayal of love! Judges 16:15 “And she said unto him, How canst thou say, I love thee, when thine heart is not with me? thou hast mocked me these three times, and hast not told me wherein thy great strength lieth”. What deceit! What a lesson as a warning for the men of God to never be involved with a woman that has no respect for God! Or vice versa with a godless man! With no Jesus, there is no love, and pain will afflict you over and over!

So another requisite for love is: It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking.

8. Let’s look at Moses & Zipporah. I Cor.13: 5b “It is not easily angered”. Anger at times is justified, but it must be controlled and applied for the right motive. Moses married a woman that was from a tribe that was of a much darker colored race. With this choice, God’s man illustrated that love has no discrimination of race. Thank God for that! She must have been respectful to him and of course we all imagine Moses was kind to her, he was God’s valiant man of his era but he still had a fault.

But in the end the character flaw of anger which Moses had from time to time cost him his privilege of entering into the Promised Land. It is a pity that Zipporah suffered the consequences of this fault as well. God puts people together to learn from one another and to correct one another in love. I can imagine she tried to reason with through the years, as all couples usually discuss each other’s faults. What we learn is you had better tell your mate their faults and you must listen to your mate when they tell you yours! Consider the consequences: Both suffer when one sins! Especially with anger!

Vs.6 “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth”. When you are told the ugly truth about yourself it can often hurt, but as we are learning. ‘Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth’. Without truth in a love or friend relationship there is no love! The absence of truth is a life of confusion, lies, and pain with one lie after another; and if you have dealt with a person who tells you one lie after another it becomes so painful you never want to see them again ever! Liars curse their selves with insanity and they separate their selves from God in heaven, who is absolute truth, and He cannot support un-holiness and liars in his presence!

9. So now the final verses of love today are, 7 ‘It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres 8 Love never fails.’ Do you want to do a litmus test to know if your love is real? Ask yourself these questions, ‘Does this person close to me always seek my good to protect me? Can I always trust this person? No matter the hardship, does this person keep on keeping on with me giving me hope? Does this person reveal a perseverance that is of absolute loyalty and faithfulness?

Any person can say, “I love you’ to another but for that to be meaningful, real and not a lie, it must be backed up with the money in the bank of character and acts of kindness coming from a sincere mature person in God who has evidence of time endured trust, hope, perseverance and a faithfulness that never fails!

Love never fails! God always comes through for you and me in one way or another: in the way He knows is best. His love is unfailing and his love endures forever! What a challenge it is for us to act the same way with God and with those closest to us.

10. For love to continue to live on we must try not to make the other person be perfect but we must make ourselves to be the perfect person. Answer this question, Am I loveable? Most people think they are and they really have a lot to work on! Also, to think one can get any love they want just because one is attractive is very faulty reasoning. Plastic surgery does not exist for the beatification of the heart! The pride of the flesh fades and wrinkles over time. The flesh is just the outside, the inside attitudes and qualities, if they are Godlike or Godless are what you have to live with from day to day. If the character of a person is aligned in holiness with God, then that person (you) will overflow with love!

So the Bible reveals to us stories of couples whose experiences is one that is full of challenges or failure! It tells of enduring love while in suffering, and of a love that should never have happened, showing the consequences for choosing the wrong cruel Godless mate. Even with the right love in our lives we still always will be faced with painful situations and only a strong connection to God can give you faith, hope, and love that will help you survive and keep on going! Love will never fail! God’s love never fails to take you back, and our love must never fail others either!

You may not ever have to be in the situation Abraham was in, but you might be faced with another type of challenge if someone tries to flirt with and conquer your soul mate for their selves. Do you always make yourself attractive? Do you have a good attitude, and always appear desirable for your soul mate? Never take them for granted! People get tempted by others when they are ignored, put down, or not cared for! Love has to be maintained like a fire in a chimney, you have to keep putting wood in!

11. As Christians we love everyone! But the special love you have to live with intimately needs to be one that is compatible with your faith, values, attitudes, and unquestioning sacrifice. If not, you will end up like Samson, broken and punished, and too many men live like him today going in circles with no love because they chose wrongly. They can let Jesus change it all, or if they chose poorly and are suffering they may turn to drugs, alcohol, and other sins for comfort. But these things will serve only to destroy them before their time and shame them before God and others! Too many millions have fallen into this trap! Women, as well, must not accept defeat but rather hold on to Jesus first who will fill up all their emptiness if they spend time with Him and seek to serve Him by staying busy serving others.

Basic old school Christian theology says that the purpose of man is, ‘To love God and enjoy Him forever!’ How do we enjoy God’s creation? By loving love each other and serving one another in love! Married or not we all have the same ability to live life loved, fulfilled, and happy! So never give up on love! Love practiced as in the context in I Cor. 13 is a formula that is time proven. Do you want more love in your life? Purge yourself of your own ways and become pure practicing these I Corinthians 13 values of love; then you will live happy and healthy giving and receiving more love that will just keep on growing!

Demons: They Are Amongst Us, But Jesus Defeats Them!

Demons: They Are Amongst Us, But Jesus Defeats Them! Kelly Durant 2-2-14

Matt 8:28 When Jesus came to the territory of Gadara on the other side of the lake, he was met by two men who came out of the burial caves there. These men had demons in them and were so fierce that no one dared travel on that road. 29 At once they screamed, “What do you want with us, you Son of God? Have you come to punish us before the right time?”

2. I recall when I was younger there was a movie of a 12 year old girl that was demon possessed called “The Exorcist”. Considering that people were more pure minded and church going in 1973, it was a very shocking and disturbing movie! It still is, don’t see it! It was the highest grossing film ever in history until “Jaws” came out over a decade later. It really was repulsive and frightening so why was it so popular? Why are people so fascinated with evil and demon possession? Is fear really entertaining?  Without Jesus demonic power is overwhelming!

 Just mentioning demon possession as a sermon topic, I am sure is making some of you uncomfortable because you have had some bad experiences in life already with evil spirits and I have too! It is not a subject I mention very often at all, but every person does have to deal with it sometime or another (especially in Miami). Considering the study we are doing on ‘spiritual battle’ and Jesus in one of His commands in Matt 10:8 says to cast out devils, then we must learn something about it. Last week the Grammy awards included a lot of Satanism, so it is time we learn more about how evil is affecting the world around us! People near us have demons!

The culture today accommodates demonic practices and we as Christians must be aware of this and be sure that not one of us permit any occult or demonic influence to destroy our communication, joy, and peace with God. There are some evangelical churches that see demons in everything and they are every Sunday talking more about Satan and his works than Jesus himself. Some churches do exorcisms every Sunday; have you been to a church like that? It feels like the occult was more exalted than Jesus Christ! On the other extreme, we cannot be silent on this issue either or we will not know how to deal with it. How can each of us conquer demons then? First, start with yourself…

 3. For an outside influence to not have a dominating power over you, you and I must recognize our own weaknesses, and before anything else free ourselves from any sin, fear, temptation, bitterness and in particular pride where demons come in. Jesus spent 40 days tempted in the wilderness and He conquered Satan’s same old tricks through the ages of trying to get him to succumb to the desires of the flesh, to abuse his power, and to get Him to worship him.

So first, how do you cast out any demons you may have? Think of it this way, can a drunk help another drunk to stop drinking? Can the blind lead the blind? One has to abandon all bad friends and start over! I left all my bad friends when younger. No person can ever have power over a demon unless they have replaced their emptiness with the power of Jesus Christ living in them! A demon may grant a person a little temporary power, but Jesus is a power above all powers! With Jesus you can grow your spirit powerful in a position of holiness, which is God’s pure power, into a position of having full control over any weaknesses of the flesh or spirit. To conquer spiritual powers another person who is full of the spirit walking in holiness must pray with you with you asking to be free! Jesus is there where 2 or 3 gather.

Would you not agree that many church going Christians have never taken this first step of ridding their own selves of their own demons? My experience as a young man, getting corrupted a few years by pot and drugs, when I gave my life to God, I had to cry out to God desperately, repenting saying, “Forgive me!”  “Never again do I want to offend You by harming my body that You created, the temple of the Holy Ghost!” I knew that any un-submitted area of my life, any area that caters to the desires of the flesh, allowing any abuse of power on my part, and any fascination with evil which is an unconscious worship of Satan, would be the gap where the demons could get in and overpower me.

Some of you here may know, people with demons lose control in being wild, and they have fits of rage, become addicts, become obsessed and destructive, and in the end suffer mental and spiritual torment which they overflow on those around them! Families suffer greatly due to demon possessed relatives! Total repentance and a concentrated spiritual effort with fasting and prayer is a must for ever new Christian to be free from spiritual oppression!

4.  Satan always jumps in and tempts you and me through pride for power and success. I will use myself as an example again. At age 18 I dreamed of being a rock star and voices in my head told me that if I wanted to be a star, I needed to first sell my soul to Satan, worship him, and then I would become great as the other bands that had done this?! To make it to the top you have to ‘make a deal with the devil’?! Everywhere people always talk about making a pact?!

The Doors, Led Zepplin, The Rolling Stones and dozens of others had done this and they overtly practiced the occult and their lyrics and lives reflected this, and of course drug use was a central part of connecting these persuasive deceivers to the spirit world.  The spirit world is dangerous: I have even heard voices tell me, ‘Kill yourself! Die in glory! Show your power!’ Think, How absurd is that! Drugs, alcohol, and certain repetitive beats of psyche-cracking music open the channels for demonic possession! Avoid all substances and evil music at any cost!

I use to be a very proud and contaminated by the world as a young man. My hippie clothes always had to be just right and cool, my philosophy of life was in agreement with the trends of the culture following Oriental philosophies, and I believed my creativity and empowerment to ‘do as I please’ made me superior to the stupid ones out there in the world around me. But what happens when you are empowered by demons of pride? You have fears, a fear of ‘I will go to hell if I don’t change’. I got tired of the torment so thank God I chose to change because other Christians loved me with the gospel and exposed my shallowness, ignorance, and fears!

5. I love Jesus and I think Jesus is amazing in His power to overcome everything! He was tempted and He overcame! When I compare myself to Him I think, how stupid and how wrong I was to do just the opposite of Him. I did every wrong mistake! I gave into the desires of the flesh, I gave into being immoral and abusive, I was fascinated by musicians who worshipped Satan. I was destined for hell but God’s spirit shocked me and woke me up and Jesus saved me!

All I do now is thank God every day that He rescued me from myself! The old demons are long gone, but still Satan will reappear from time to time to tempt, but after having Jesus love, peace, and power, I would never trade that for anything! I think my experience of ‘doing as I pleased’ is typical of the lives of many youth and adults today as it was back the 70s. The old deceptions and temptations of Satan are still the same today.  

Satan’s demons are very effective in controlling the mind and producing bad behavior, and only a supernatural power, like that of Jesus, can free anyone from their sins of the flesh, abusive nature, and horrific pride. So to be qualified to practice Jesus power of ‘casting out demons’ one must have the testimony that Jesus cast out the demons in yourself first! What is your testimony? When did you conquer your demons? What were they? How did you do it? Lissette got free from oppression, how many do you know into the dark arts that got liberated?

6.  Let’s go back to the verses of today in the part where the demons say to Jesus, “What do you want with us, you Son of God? Have you come to punish us before the right time?” When you or I are a clean vessel, a Christian that is filled with the Holy Spirit, one that walks in righteousness and holiness, the people around you see that and they recognize your authority. The people with demons can see Jesus in us as well, and they fear Him and avoid us. Don’t forget that Jesus said that all authority is given to Him over all creation.

So when a person wants to practice something deceiving, or tempt a person, or practice occult arts such as voodoo, sanitaria, or the conjuring of demons, they can never do it if you as a practicing Christian are present because your light penetrates their darkness! Going to where the demons are, and praying in Jesus name is all that it takes for the demons to be cast out! Spiritually you and I are like the police, we expose deception, invoke guilt and fear and with the need to escape and hide; so when we show up in Jesus name the demons flee.

I have learned this as a Christian, when some people avoid you, it is because they may actually have a demon or they are into something they know is wrong and they do not want to be exposed so they would have to stop their sinful habits. People even can get violent about how they do not want you to visit them or talk with them just as these demons did when Jesus came! Demons torment and yet they accused Jesus of coming to torment them, how ironic.

7.  I recall my biggest fear when I started with a clean slate with Jesus was that of having fear of evil people. When one meets demons that are loud and aggressive and screaming at you, you are tempted to fear! Doing mission work I met for the first time some serious demons in the streets of Rio de Janeiro.  Many times while preaching & praying in the streets demon possessed street people have screamed at me in my face, insulted me, wanted to fight me, and torn up the Jesus tracts I was passing out! If you have ever had a red screaming demon face in front of your face you know well that it invokes a great need to pray for God’s protection!

So how did I conquer the fear? Through the word of God! One of my favorite verses is 1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” So I pray, Lord make me perfect in your love! I recommend you memorize this verse and repeat it often!

Another favorite verse of mine is Isaiah 26:3 “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You”. Trust in Jesus is the victory!

8. Never does a compromise with Satan ever turn out good! Jesus exposes that demons will always get a death sentence and then thereafter darkness and chains in hell! People that accept demons may be freed and healed but only if they chose to be! There have been exorcisms that have not been successful you know, because God respects everyone’s free will. People who want demons in their lives will suffer the same punishment of the demon! Doctrinally most Christians agree, hell was made for demons, not people, but people will go there having one!

 Jude: 5 But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; 7 as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.

And the people who play with fire and think they will not get burned, what happens to them? In the case of the producers of the movie “The Exorcist”, they paid a high price for making such a frightful movie that in the end, made demonic possession appear more powerful than God. The set burnt down while in production, the men who played the Fathers had their mother’s die when the movie was released. The movie was considered cursed due to so many other mishaps. . Many musicians and actors have died young with drug overdoses! And everyone I have ever known who plays around with demons usually ends up physically sick, depressed, and is tormented mentally, and random bad things happen to them. They are cursed now and later!

9. You are responsible for your own salvation. Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

No one can say one day, oh, it’s some Christian relative, or some Pastor’s fault that I never did an exorcism on me to be free from my demons. Being free from spiritual oppression is something only you and Jesus can do but usually you cannot do it on your own so that is when a Christian strong in the faith can get involved in helping you with prayer and fasting.

Jesus gave us the warnings: each of us must free ourselves from demons and evil! Mark 9:43 And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:

10. Ask yourself today, am I proud? Am I violent at times? Am I addicted to something my flesh cannot control? Do I say things that harm others because I am angry? Am I attracted to occult or Satanic practices in movies or music, or do I accept people who practice these things? If you answer yes to any of these questions you may have a demon inside you deceiving you! Does your life revolve around the things of the flesh or the things of God? Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

All it takes is Jesus presence to make all the demons run away in fear! Have you invited Him in all the secret dark places of your life? Some of these questions make some of you think, well yes, I have, I know Jesus is there and I feel no condemnation. If so, then you are blessed! 1 John 3:21 “Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.” If that is true in your life then you should be one of the strong ones who stands up to battle to help a weaker person who needs prayer and help to cast out any demon(s) they may have.

Not all demons make people vomit and scary looking as Hollywood presents it. And I am appalled at the volume of the horrific violent demonic movies that are produced each year! Don’t let the enemy trick you into comparing Hollywood’s idea of exorcisms to the way a demon possession actually appears. Jesus made it simple and showed us by example in the desert that if a tormenting spirit or demon does not leave you alone and you feel powerless, then you should do what? Fast and pray and quote the word of God to the evil voice attacking you! If you keep repeating that you will make the demons flee.

See the world through the lens that there are not just mentally ill people out there, there are people who have opened up their hearts to evil spirits. James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”  I pray that no one here suffers any torment any longer; pray with someone now if you need the Holy Spirit to clean you and make you strong in Jesus.