You May Lose It All Today!

You May Lose It All Today!                                     Kelly Durant (Created 6-1-08)

Luke 12:16-21

16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then

whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

    In Caracas, Venezuela, I had a frightful experience one time in our apartment on the 4^thfloor. We started smelling smoke and we thought maybe someone was burning trash in the neighborhood next door, but it got worse and we decided to open the door and take a look and when we did the entire hallway was full of dark thick smoke! It was so thick, you could not see the stairs, and for sure we were not going to go on the elevator! We put wet rags on the bottom of the door and prayed! I thanked God that at least the kitchen window did not have bars on it so we could jump out but I thought I could throw out my kids one by one if need be! I thought it better to have a broken bone and yet survive, than to die by being burnt up! It turned out to be a car that was on fire and the firemen arrived on time to control it. Later they said that the fire in that car in the lower garage would have spread to all the cars and then there would have been no chance to save the building! It was a sobering experience and once again we were brought face to face with the reality we could all die at any moment. God has allowed me to be scared and intimidated many time and I get his message; honor me, thank me, and love me for my mercy on you!

  This past week has been a difficult one for the Latino community. There have been “round ups” (redadas) near Druid Hills on Buford and deportations. I was contacted to see how to help a mother of 6 kids whose husband went to jail and is being deported. Many people are being deported and losing all they worked for, the few thousand dollars worth of furniture is left behind for another person as trash! Regina also went to the hospital for 3 days to spend time with a family that lost their 18 year old son due to a horrible traffic accident. She cried and prayed with them. Many people are suffering terribly in the community, but how are the rest of the people responding?

  I would like to invite you come with me to Sam’s club to shop sometime. On almost any given day you can come in and find Latino shoppers with flatbed carts full of cases of beer, 10 cases, or even 50 cases! You would think by the attendance at the clubs and restaurants that life in this country was a big party but considering what I just said you can see it is not!

 So what do we have in society? Bad behavior, partying, people living as if there is no judgment, gossip, all happening as if there is no tomorrow despite warnings!

The scripture today addresses how wrong any of us could be to think there is no tomorrow and no consequence for our actions! Some people get a little prosperity, an apartment, a car, a few electronic toys, and they think they have arrived! They are invincible! Compared to your cousins in their countries most of you are very rich! 

What did the scripture say about the man who got a little prosperity and was rich? He wanted even more! When he had no problems, when God was good to Him, what was his attitude? Did he go to the temple and thank God for his prosperity? No! He became more and more selfish, he wanted to build bigger barns! And what provoked God’s wrath on his life? What caused God to decide to not only let Him loose everything but cut his life short?

Read verse 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

He had a heart that only could think about him self, no one else! He wanted to enjoy life without the bother of seeking or thanking God who gave him his life and his prosperity!

He had no fear of God, but imagine now he has to face God; now he is in the predicament of having lost it all and losing his soul go to hell as a punishment!

Don’t you see everyone one of us should have a sense of urgency, we are in a crisis in the community! God is allowing tragedy, persecution, and suffering in the Latino community (and in many communities) to sober them up so they will stop all their foolishness, their lack of respect to God, and stop their pride and arrogant mouths which offend God and others! 

People who never let their heart be converted like the heart of Jesus, people who hear and know the Word of God but do not practice it, people who could come to church and worship but make accusing and exaggerated statements against people in the church, people who reject Biblical thinking and view all things from the carnal, selfish I got to put myself first attitude, are not spiritual and they are exposed to God’s wrath just like the person in these verses at any moment. 

Where else does it talk in the scriptures about the sin of being shallow with God? Or another way to look at it, how does God deal with people who live life as if they are the powerful ones, calling the shots and in control? People who want their selves to appear to be a great somebody by attacking other people? People who believe that because they have a little more than others, they have the right to judge and put down others? What happens when in the church some people put others down? Our words bring serious consequences! 

Luke 12:45-47

45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;

46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

47 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

Always there will be people in the church who are drunk on their own pride of selves despite all the horrible suffering of those of their own culture around them! Why is it some people, and include yourself, always have their minds on their selves and they do not have the capacity to have compassion on others and love as Jesus did and they have to always tear down and attack others in order to make their selves look good? Sin brings death and suffering!  

In the church what happens, some people benefit from our love, God’s love and mercy, and this may include material help, yet some have been known to say the most offensive and ugly things about us and our church members. Why?

It is because they have unrepentant hearts and because they lie to others, they also lie to their selves that people in the church are bad as to way a justify to why they will not seek God and worship with us. 

But the people who put others down, those who hurt others with their words are like the ones in the verse 45 who attack and beat others. And where do these people who do the works of unbelievers spend eternity? In the lake of fire!

Not everyone who comes to church will go to heaven but only those who repent and honor God and do his will! Only those who show love and compassion to others, only those who consider the poor and suffering, only those who sacrifice their pride and forgive and do the works that Jesus did will make it to heaven!

You cannot think you are a Christian and then live and speak in an unholy way!

Matt 12:36-37

36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

Who wants to repent today? Who wants to call their family and friends and warn them, you could loose everything today? Get right with God! Don’t you see God is angry with those who insult good people, His people?  

Help me warn the community! Help me wake people up that God’s wrath already has fallen on thousands in this city and it could fall on any of us who are not living a holy life! 

God Chooses the Young (& Old)!

God Chooses the Young (& Old)!   Kelly Durant    June 2003 (Re 4-22-2018)

 Verses: Prov 4:1-10

4:1 Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.

2 For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

3 For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother.

4 He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live.

5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee.

7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

8 Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her.

9 She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee.

10 Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.

2. The Lord throughout the Bible quite often chose young people to do his work! Who comes to mind when we think of a young chose one?

Let’s take a look at Mary, the mother of Jesus. Before it was accepted that she must have been around the age of 16 or 18 when she was chosen to bear a child which would be the Savior of the world! 

But I have been in shock to learn recently that those who study Jewish history and culture who know of the customs 2,000 years ago, have come to the conclusion that she might have been as young as 12 or 13 since that was the age to marry! 

We may never know the exact age she was, but still it is agreed that she was chosen while she was young, probably a teenager! Lets look up…1 Cor 1:27

27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

3. This does not mean that the young people are foolish (even thought they can be at times), what it means is God will often chose the apparent weak, or someone who is dedicated to Him and loves Him, over the ‘set in theirs ways’ older people who appear to have the power, preparation, and status for the job. 

Another classic example of how God will choose the youngest is when Samuel was seeking whom to anoint to be king of Judah.  The Lord had showed him to go to the house of Jesse, but one by one Samuel went through all his sons and he didn’t find the right one. The oldest one in Jewish custom usually would be the one to obtain the anointing and power but this was not the case here. 

Here it was the youngest son who was David. Let’s read…1 Sam 16:10-13

10 Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these.

11yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he.

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah. 

4. It is important to take note that God will not always choose those that you would think are the most prepared, experienced, or strong to do his work. He often chooses the young and flexible, and radical. If there is one thing we can say about the youth, it is that usually they are radical! 

In Nazi Germany some of the most valiant, ruthless and dedicated (but for the wrong cause) were the very young teenage soldiers. What the truth about the youth is, is that they want to be dedicated to a cause that is extreme, and if we in the church do not put them to use for Christ in something good, then they may go to the opposite extreme and serve Satan through the desires of their own flesh which is what the enemy uses to destroy them with! 

It is amazing that, what is it 35% of all crimes, are committed by teenagers! They love to take risks! They love adventure and I don’t blame them, I was the same way! Life is too short to just live it in a boring routine. 

5. One time I gave a class to a group of 8 young people between the ages of 18 and 23 who are going to Bolivia on a mission trip. There are three teams leaving from our Southern Territory, one to Bolivia, one to Haiti, and one to Maldova, a breakaway republic of Russia. (If any of you young people ever want to go, I will help you apply, but you have to be 18). They were excited!

The Salvation Army is aware that many young people need to work the summer while in college so they even pay them something, contrary to other churches that have you raise your own air fare and then work abroad for free! They are able to do that because they set aside a portion of money from the tithes. 

We give our 10% to God , and our Corps gives 10% to the Territory’s work as well and that is what makes this possible. The Salvation Army, and many religious movements started out with mostly all young people! We all know that young people have a lot of energy, and the great thing is they also are capable of having a lot of conviction to do the right thing when they have been brought up to love the Lord or when the Spirit of the Lord comes upon them as it did with King David, and many youth in the Bible. 

6. Do you know how children learn to love the Lord? Do they learn it at school? No! The American school system right now is as Godless as the communist nations! Do they learn it in church? Maybe a little, but they usually are only here a few hours a week and that is not very much influence at all when you consider there are 168 hours in a week! 

They must learn it from their parents! How many young people here have seen their parents up in the morning praying in the privacy of their rooms? How many young people here have seen their parents reading the Bible at home and studying the Word of God? How many young people have had their parents give them counsel from the word of God when they ask them about life’s issues? 

Did you know that according to the statistics that in the 70’s about 30% of the American youth went to church and knew the values of the Bible and right and wrong, but in the 90’s that number was only 15%? And now the future is here and the Christian social studies gurus believe that as few as 4% of the current young people go to church and adhere to Christian values. They do not even know anything at all about the Bible! 

7. Our entire nation by losing its moral compass and youth for Christ is on the brink of falling, just as Rome fell, not with one big war that wiped them out, but little by little.  An eroding unity and respect for one another, an eroding economy mixed with corruption on all levels foment hate and hostility to those who hold honorable values. What do we see in the future?  More widespread sexual perversion, more laziness and entitlements, and more acts of violence. Rioters, protesters, and terrorists essentially all seek to overthrow the established order but what do they offer? A dictatorship?  And the old Christians like you and me who can teach them wisdom are dying out! Lets look up…

2 Tim 2:2

2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. And lets’ review a few of the verses of today from Provers 4: 5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.

6 Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. 7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

  

We have a great need, and we must pray to put massive amounts of effort into preparing our youth! They are our future! If we take a look at Godless Europe today, we may soon be seeing our fate here. They are somewhat more advanced in the legal acceptance of sins, and the current world’s perversions, and they are closing churches daily there due to a lack of attendance! In a news report in 2002 in Ireland, they reported closed 9 seminar schools, and they only have one left! In England 500 churches closed and 500 Mosques opened up!

8. We need to pray God will raise up radical, on fire youth that will lay down their lives for Jesus and the mission! You know as well as I do Daniel was young when he stood up for God. And Timothy too. Let’s look up…1 Tim 4:12

12 Let no man despise thy youth; but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity. 

So whether you are young, or old, what God is looking for is that you be fully sold out radical and dedicated to Him! And the old have the responsibility to teach to young and be an example and remember Jesus warning that if we cause a little one to stumble that it would be better we kill our selves with a millstone on our necks in the lake! To deprave them the word of God, to be a hypocrite or a bad example as a parent is stumbling them. 

Let’s pray for our youth so that they will be strong, be protected, and be anointed to keep going for Jesus! Which of our youth is God calling? I am here ready to support them to serve God, and you?

The Future Transhumanism: A Coming War Against God

The Future Transhumanism: A Coming War Against God                 Kelly Durant

Psalms 2  Why do the nations rage,
And the people plot a vain thing?² The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,³ “Let us break Their bonds in pieces
And cast away Their cords from us.”

⁴ He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;
The Lord shall hold them in derision.

2. How many of you have ever had a windup toy? I recall having a wind up dog as a kid. But I am showing my age, ha? Let’s start again, how many of you have had a remote car, a tablet, or an electronic toy you can control? A toy is a toy and I recall after watching the mechanical dog walk across the floor in the same manner about 3 dozen times, I was done, it was not fun anymore.

Today the creations of man, his toys, are becoming very worrisome. Man in the past century created tanks, mega flying machines, and colossal ships to employ in war for dominance, and now we have drones and robots that make the judgement call to kill or not by the Artificial Intelligence chip implanted in the machine. Robot drones have already killed without our human control! The robots are made to take the decisions.

The problem with our creations is God never intended for us to be creators of death causing devises, he created us to enjoy life, to love, and to live in harmony with others enjoying his beautiful nature. There are so many people that wish they could just escape this hellish world and live as Adam and Eve, with no worries, no rent, no governments, no worry for food, and just have a great unity with the amazing God that created everything, not just this world but many universes. 

3. The engineers who create things that are inspired by demons will have to be sent to the prison of hell after the judgment where the demons reside who inspired them. Revelation 9:20 ‘And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk”. Many things invented are useful tools in our hands, but I’m not referring to these items.

Man’s creations in themselves cannot see, hear, or walk without man putting in them a program, electricity, with moving parts. One day after Jesus returns all the creations of humankind will be piled up as junk in desolate yards after people realize they were played by Satan and his demons to create all these destructive things that they thought would save us, humanity, from death. Not even nuclear weapons will prevent Christ’s return, and the wrath of God on Satan for having corrupted the entire earth. 

Did you know that many war machines, or idols, were inspired directly by demons as this verse 20 states here? In WW II there were some amazing (or extra-terrestrial, as some attribute) technological advancements, such as the jet plane, gigantic submarines, and massive firepower (even the atomic bomb). Many of the people engineering designs for Hitler’s weaponry were inspired by a group of people who channeled spirits and they wrote down their visions and information. They were from a group of people gathered together, mostly women, called the Vril; the Vril Society. They channeled evil information, and Hitler’s evil was beyond imagination murdering mega-millions. No answers explain how this group disappeared after the war but considering that they inspired killing machines, they were possessed by demons and it proves demons are still alive and at work today through evil people. This is similar to how the king of Babylon (and all evil powers) depend on their sorcerers, astrologists, and spiritualist to guide them. The Iluminati, and many secret societies control our world currently and increasing in power.

4. Here is the problem, these demons from the other side have not gone away. Satan has been scheming ever since creation to rob as many souls from God as possible, and how can he do that? He must get humans to agree to defiling their selves to the point of no return. He knows scripture, and Satan can’t wait for the day that all humans will agree to receiving the ‘mark of the beast’ and desire to be empowered and transhuman. Most people agree the time is near the end of days.

Revelation 14: 9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

So those that get the mark will be condemned, why? Because these people are agreeing to worship Satan and not God and agreeing to fight against God! Humanity has already been warned about the coming hell where Satan and his demons will be condemned but many balk at this, as in the days of Noah, that it will never happen. God has given humanity several thousands of years to decide between worshipping  Jesus, who is pure love, or submitting to Satan and His perverse, filthy, murderous, thieving, rebellious fallen ones.

5. So how is Satan going to deceive everyone? By promising them eternal life and a heaven on earth through the recent technological advancements! I have watched about a dozen Youtube videos that have scared me and convicted me that I need to warn you of what the demons have been planning, it is a brave new world of transhumanism, the compromising mix of flesh with metal and silicon. Already humanity is hooked and cannot live without their cell phones and computers. This is the first step!

If you have never heard of transhumanism let me explain it. There are thousands of scientists that are currently studying how to mesh computers into the human body. Some are proposing that when a child is born that they receive an implant that will record all of their experiences from their brains. It would be like taking a home video of your life from the time you are born until the time you die, but then they say you would be able to live forever, how? By, at the end of your life, planting that memory card into a cyborg robot, which could be a mechanical/bio robot, or into another life form so you could, in essence, live forever getting transferred into another being?! Sounds crazy? They would not be selling you on this idea if they were not already doing it! It reminds me of this verse:

Revelation 9:6 ‘In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them.’ This implantable chip, and many other cyborg type things, have already been developed. International laws already allow countries to mix 50% human DNA with any animal and many chimera (transhuman beings) have been created in the labs and are alive. Sci-fi has a way of becoming reality, as in the ‘Island of Dr, Moreau.’ Revelation 9 describes these creatures as well and they are limitless.

6. Transhumanism includes more than just putting a chip into everyone, it promises to give you endless power to become anything you want to, in other words, the chip is now speculated to be a nano-type DNA modifier that will overpower ever cell in your body and mind. There are many sci-fi books on this, that those who have the smart-chip will become the rulers of society like the Marvel characters, while lesser-chipped are the surfs, or slave laborers. These modified ones, with an intelligence of all the world’s info connected through a google-type brain, (the beast that receives life as described in Revelation) will control those under them who get inferior chips. But once you become ‘one’ with this beast of Satan through a brain computer interphase, there is no turning back. Recently the tech companies are all saying the next phone upgrade will be an implantable device! Some show it off! I don’t want my phone under my skin!

Even now there is a Steven Speilberg movie affirming what I am communicating, ‘Ready Player One’. It predicts a future world where all the people are so bored with this life and the world that they go online all day to live in an artificial computer world to compete, play games. and do anything their minds imagine. And this is already happening!

The movie has a somewhat of an interesting outcome in which people are later forced to live more in this reality, but this is only in a movie. If you know Satan as we do as Christians, we know he will only offer a you a world of your dreams and eternal life at the cost of worshipping Him. After all, he brought light, intelligence and freedom to the first man and woman, right? No, the contrary! Adam and Eve already had that, the fallen snake angel only brought humanity death, and now he wants to bring us into a chipped, computerized, transhumanized, inescapable future hell!    

7. So these developments tie into the verses of today in Psalms 2. The ultimate goal of Satan is to entice everyone with fantastical technology in the final days under his totalitarian influence and then with this army of several hundreds of millions supporting him, fight against the return of Jesus with His angels!

Here is the problem with the world’s future scenario, Jesus warned us that even the elect (or those who believe they are saved) may be deceived and succumb to the propaganda of Satan and his false prophets promising eternal life, intelligence, and god-like powers by compromising your body and freewill with these inventions.

1 Corinthians 3:17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.  So everyone who defiles their body with the new technology, with a chip, or by any other un-natural means is in essence losing their holiness. To remain ‘holy as He is holy’, we must not allow any foreign thing in our body, mind, or spirit and these techno things would alter us beyond the point of return. And never forget that all your life you have been reminded that the Salvation Army is a holiness movement, meaning we believe in being holy for our Lord and we cannot allow any idol to compromise us.

8. My wife and I before as missionaries would pass out salvation tracks to people everywhere, on the buses and in the streets. It was the best way in the 1970s to reach people to stop them and get a conversation going about Jesus. We would often have people open up and tell us their life’s story and pray with us the ‘sinner’s prayer’. I loved connecting with strangers who often became friends in those days.

There was a time when people were approachable, evil was not as prominent as today. Today you cannot get anyone to stop and listen to you for nothing. I am reminded of the warning from the movie produced by ‘The Who’, who sang, ‘…And pray, we don’t get fooled again!’, ‘Tommy’. It had some grotesque scenes but in the movie a point was made that people with technology in the future (now) would wear ear buds, eye googles, and play pinball all day, which is symbolic of time wasting idol worship, and exposes humanity as being weak, dumb sheep, easily dominated by evil leaders. The rebels did smash the idols in the end, and this may represent the people of God who free those enslaved by electronic bondage, those who cut the ties with liars and demons.

It appears today that only by electronic means can we have a chance to reach young people for God, and even that avenue is overtly or subliminally squelched. In China, Russia, and even here any website promoting the Bible, good values, Jesus, and any eye opening, truth exposing, opinion or article gets the ax for being ‘unsafe’, or deemed as propaganda ‘undermining the state’. The liars and ‘fake news’ ones accuse the others of ‘fake news’ and in the confusion those without the Holy Spirit’s discernment swallow the lie, not the truth.  

9. So for those that worship technology, and defile their God created bodies, it is not going to end well. Listen to the rest of the verses in Psalms 2:4  He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The Lord shall hold them in derision. 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure:  6 “Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion.” 7 “I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You  The nations for Your inheritance And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’” 10 Now therefore, be wise, O kings;  Be instructed, you judges of the earth. 11 Serve the Lord with fear, And rejoice with trembling. 12  Kiss the Son lest He be angry, And you perish in the way, When His wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all those who put their trust in Him.

Here the world is getting the warning, don’t join with the bands of Satan! If something is not of Jesus Christ then it is, in the end, from Satan and his demons, and when the final battle takes place, Jesus will win smashing the fragile techno systems of the world into irreparable pieces. Satan’s current technology may open portals from the bottomless pit so limitless amounts of demons invade the earth but still Jesus and the angels will win!

The problem is this, many people today are too hooked on their manmade devices, and they use them in Bible class, even during the sermons they are texting, or searching for something. Already Satan is robbing people of the Word of God that they should be absorbing in order to prepare their selves to resist the future dictatorial system which will be under Satan’s control. 

I fear for many because I suspect too many, even so-called Christians, when faced with giving up their phones or accepting the ‘mark of the beast’,  will choose the ‘mark’ because their phones are so dear to them. Being in church, being around people reading or hearing the Word will not prepare you to be a strong Soldier to fight against the future enslaving systems, only your sincere love and dedication to Jesus and conforming your life to His commands will can make your heart be holy enough to resist temptation and evil when it comes into fruition.

10. If you want to live in a high tech world where your dreams of peace and love come true, where it is an authentic utopia, then serve Jesus in this lifetime so he will invite you into heaven! Heaven is God’s original design of a beautiful eternal world and Satan has been trying to imitate it to offer it to man in exchange for total worship of him ever since. 

Electronic devices break, batteries go dead, thieves steal your things, and nothing in this world will ever satisfy because this world is broken. Who messed up this world with hellish wars, contamination, and destruction? Satan with humankind inspired by his devils! I warn you, be ready to give everything up for Jesus, all your toys and things, even your life if you have too! If you give up your life, you will awaken into the real world, the one where God and His angels rule forever and ever!  

Let us pray to help young Christians, ‘unplug’ enough to absorb God’s Word which will in truth guide them to understand and see through the uselessness of things that do love us as God loves us. Only love can water a soul to bring peace, happiness, and salvation.

It’s Your Turn to Move

It’s Your Turn to Move                                                      Kelly Durant  4-8-18

Genesis 13:12 Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.

2. When I was a teen I use to love to play chess. I’d move a pawn then I’d say, “It’s your move”, then my friend would move a piece and say to me, “It’s your move”. Certain phrases you hear more than others in life and that one is a common one, and I have heard it maybe a few thousand times.

In other words, something happened, someone did something, and then you have to react to what was done. This is a basic in life, an ‘action’ happens, and then the ‘reaction’ must happen. You are a part of the action or reaction, depending upon the event, right? Either way, no one gets to stand still, even not moving at all is a decision, and in a game it means you lost by forfeiting what could have been at least a chance for something unexpectedly good to happen.

But just like in chess sometimes we make the wrong moves. We think we are watching out for ourselves but then we get surprised that because of what we did and where we went, by being self-protective, we may cause ourselves to end up losing. With chess you can play another game, but with life you only get this one and you have to move with God or you will lose much!

3. Today I will discuss moving, how many of you have ever moved from one city to another? From one country to another? I grew up in one city only until I was 16, and then with my driver’s license in hand, I drove to as many little towns nearby as I could. I wanted to discover what was out there in the world. At 18 I had gone to nearby states, and at 21, I moved away for 14 years to So. America to do mission work. In So. America my family and I moved a few dozen times between countries living in 5 different ones and in my life I have moved around probably 10 times more than your average person.

I think it is healthy to want to discover, to be curious, to want to move and grow to be at the stage where you need to be according to your age. There is a time for everything, a time to “go” and a time to “stay.” The trick is allowing God to guide you in where to go or where to stay because when you are not in tune with Him everything seems to go wrong.

I have known people, even I have experienced for myself, that have stayed when they should have gone (went), or went when they should have stayed! Do you know what I am talking about? Over time most all of us experience missed opportunities, we lose because we were either too anxious or too comfortable to move and do what God needed us to do and be where he wanted us.

4. Let’s look at the situation of the scripture today. Abram, or Abraham was a tent dweller and it seems that God chose Him to be an example to the rest of his descendants. He pleased God because He was willing to move where God wanted Him to move. He was a simple man that worshipped God, believed, and obeyed.

He is honored with the title of being the ‘father of faith’ and why? Because He would move when God said move! When God said ‘jump’, he asked ‘how high?! Genesis 12:1 Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee.

Did Abram go? Yes, he did! But before he went he had already had a life style of moving from one place to another in order to feed his flocks of hundreds of animals. He was familiar with the local land, but he was not familiar with what was in another country. When people go to other countries they are often shocked that practically no one can speak their language, and the food, music, habits, attitudes, and customs are all different like you are on another planet. This provokes a reaction on your part, will you copy and learn to fit in, or will you be a misfit, a special case that becomes isolated, condemned to live without connecting to the larger community. You grow or regress depending on your reaction.

5. So here we see Abram moved with God but before He moved far away he was sharing the land with those of his family and he wanted to be nice and give the best land, the bottom fertile land to Lot. How did that turn out for Lot?

Lot lived near the city of Sodom and that became a wicked city, full of violence and lust as most big cities are today. Big cities offer wealth and comfort but are they the best for us really? Lot stayed at Sodom despite the corruption, and he had enough faith, conviction, and purity, to not become a pagan worshipping, carnal, evil person like all those around him, but staying there did cost him. Today we know God’s judgments are overdue on many wicked cities around the world, and you had better be ready to get out when the calamities start to come.

You know the story. God told Lot to move, to “get out!” as Sodom was going to be quickly destroyed by fire. So Lot left with his family but all the goods he had worked for all those years stayed behind. What else did he lose? His wife! She was not as strong as he was in the faith and she repented that she was forced to go and she looked back. When God calls you to go, it is a horrible thing to look back!

6. So we have a terrible 3 word verse in the Bible to remind us to never look back and desire the things of this world when God has called you to move on with Him. Luke 17:32 Remember Lot's wife. She became a pillar of salt!

The problem with us as sinful human beings is we want to find a comfortable spot, make our nest there, and stay there so we can spoil ourselves and ‘be happy’ thinking we have made it in life. But God is not interested in our comfort, He is interested in how many souls we will win for Him! His mission is: Mark 16:15 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. That is the mission of every Christian!

So from today we conclude that Abraham was always ready to move with God and he would go on the dangerous hillsides and go to the valleys as well, moving as he needed to. But Lot went to Sodom and stayed there the whole time and his roots prevented him from pulling out, and he should have pulled out long before he did. If he would have moved earlier, maybe he would have saved his wife from the vanity and comfort she had gotten so attached to. How many of you know people who came from poor places with practically nothing, but once they are here in America, they forget their humble roots and become vain, materialistic, and proud and act like they are better than everyone else? I hate that, and you?

7. So what is your next move? Is God calling you to serve Him and you have been resistant, or do you feel like you are in class still, learning His ways, that you are in a preparation phase? Every action provokes a reaction.

With these words shared with you today I am invoking a reaction from you! Should you go or should you stay? I am no one with any super powers or with psychic ability, nor do I presume a position as some false prophets to tell you what God wants you to do with your life, whether it is time for you to move or stay put. That decision is between you and God. But have you prayed really hard lately to for God to speak to you about what you should be doing with your life? What is important that you have neglected?

If you are alive and breathing, hearing and seeing, then you must recognize how God has been working with people ever since the beginning, ever since Genesis, and you must recognize He has been preparing you for something that is greater than what you have ever imagined. But you’ve got to move, with God.

8. God has great things for you if you are willing to move with Him. 1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.

This verse, I understand it to be applicable not just for heaven, but for this life as well! I could talk to you for years of all of my adventures in So. America and as well of the shocking things I have done in the Salvation Army for 25 years in the worst neighborhoods of Atlanta and Miami, but this what God had for me and my family to do. The way The Salvation Army moves people is actually wise as it helps people to grow, to learn new things, to progress, and to not live in a routine.

But you may respond to my experience in life that what I did was me and that it is not your life, but that is my point, there is something out there unique for you. My life is a testimony of being faithful to move with God for over 40 years now, and I can tell you if I had not moved with Him I probably would be miserable and possibly dead!

9. The fact that Jesus rose from the dead and gave us a mission to “Go (you) into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature” requires a response. You can either start doing it locally today with the talents God gave you, or you could even become a missionary or Salvation Army Officer to obey as far as God can take you. But whatever you do, don’t look back! It’s your turn to move.

Nothing we hear from the word of God is in vain, it has a purpose. It’s like the seed planted, it will either do nothing, grow, or it will die out and God leaves what it produces in your hands, in your free will!

Choose the high ground like Abraham, don’t get stuck in the low ground like Lot. Be mobile, be ready to go, or ready to stay for Jesus. Pray now and ask God to show you His will for you and your life. Remember for each person what God has for you is very different, but you will only find peace if you allow God to move you. Let God decide where to place you, like in a cosmic chess game, and His move for you will bring you an amazing life and eternal rewards in the Kingdom of God!