Christians: Jesus Has Your Back! Be One: A John 17 Study

Christians: Jesus Has Your Back! Be One! John 17 Study.    Kelly Durant 

 

John 17:22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

 

2. The world is getting more sinister, more spiritually dark, more Satanically controlled each year and man’s technology, in the hands of the world’s most evil people, is being used to silence, oppress, and control us. The Orwellian nightmare is already here! There are 2 waring factors always, God and His true Word accomplishing good by acts of kindness through His people, and Satan and his people claiming to do acts of charity while oppressing, deceiving, and dominating with their lies in order to satisfy their greed, lust, and thirst for wealth, violence, and destruction. Do you know where your soul stands? 

 

In the prophecy of how we would know who the Messiah was, there is a part in a verse that few focus in on from Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.  How wonderful Jesus is to those who take Him in! And he had, “the government on His shoulder”. This was fulfilled in Jesus in all aspects.

 

Reflect on how we must be ‘wise as serpents’ to know how to deal with the governing powers, those that were not only suppressing, weighing down, and watching Jesus and his disciples, but also the governments that have been doing this to any Christian ever since Jesus was born! And as you have heard this before, that ‘the government is not your friend’, it is In part true, but they are necessary and we must respect them, see Romans 13:1. But conclusively the governments exist to get your taxes, maintain order, and it is ‘their’ pyramid order that they are maintaining, not the ‘kingdom of God’, or the ‘body of believers’. They only care about self-support. This world is not our home and we endure. But there are exceptions, some people in power are good. It’s a 2 tier system. History seems to show that over time the good ones get murdered by the bad ones! They govern by, ‘divide and conquer’.

 

3. Looking at Jesus last prayer in John 17, He prayed for us to be protected from the evil in the world.  15, I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

 

So the question today is, are you letting Jesus protect you and have your back? He stated it right here that He does! We are for the most part protected from the evil one(s). If your life is lived so that you only live to please Jesus? With His sanctification then you will have His blessings, and you will gain the Holy Spirit to know wisdom and truth to navigate in this evil world being sanctified by the knowledge and obedience to His Word. We will be persecuted from time to time though but Jesus will protect us from the evil one(s)!

 

No matter the schemes of Satan you will come out victorious. The government of Babylon prohibited Daniel from praying to ‘His’ God and the punishment was to get thrown to the lions but did the scheme work? Was he the only Hebrew praying? No! There were thousands but they wanted to make an example out of him, since he was a leader, to show the fate of one if you disobey the government ‘s demand to give up your faith. But who knows what happened? The lions did not eat him overnight and instead the king fed to the lions the ones who came up with that blasphemous law in the first place!

 

4. What we see today is Satan controlling all the governments in the world, whether they be dictatorships, or the so called ‘free’ democracies as we have in Europe and the U.S.. There is so much freedom and equality that the enforcement of the equality is usaully as harsh as a dictatorship, right? Satan doesn’t like freedom, freedom of speech, freedom of the truth, and most of all freedom to preach Jesus!

 

The world is topsy turvy, what we use to know about laws, which were logical, basic, and right, are now within the past few decades the opposite. If you speak one word to say that certain things are sinful, you are immediately targeted which results in a fine, being fired, and you are cut to pieces by internet chatter (mostly robot ‘bots’, not real people) on facebook, twitter, and etc. and you are blacklisted and ostracized by the mega news groups owned by only a handful of divisive despot mega billionaires.  

 

Basically, preaching the Bible, no matter the country, goes against man’s laws! According to most governments ‘manipulated’ by secret societies and the universities, controlled by anti-Christ people, supported by the depressing ‘press’, you are to be labeled a bigot and a fool if you have the view that Jesus is the only truth! Because for them, all truths are equal and you must respect all the same?! This is impossible as evil and good can never mix to be equal. We are to shun those who  are evil! 2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? But Christians do fall, many today mindlessly accept lawlessness.

 

5. So when you need a friend in the world, who are you going to turn to? Will you find a friend amongst your own kinfolk? Maybe but not very often, right? If you can then you are blessed and you both are probably true Christians. But it is usually not so out of the thousands of families I have known in my lifetime; what I see is the ones who have done sins and are unrepentant, have divided families to the point that parents, brothers, children, and cousins do not speak to each other anymore. A sin is not just one of the 10 commandments, not loving God and your neighbor as yourself is the worst and most everyone is guilty of that!

 

Sin divides us but Jesus came to erase that sin so we could have unity with Him and with others. Politics, religion, and worldviews do matter! If you have a relative, coworker, or fake friend who mocks you and insults you because you need Jesus as a crutch to live, then you should rebuke that Satanic person in Jesus name, pray for their soul to be converted, and only interact with them if they will be respectful to you. Jesus cast out demons and we can too!

 

So, in general, your family, your friends, and the government do not have your back so you had better start cultivating friendships with those who are sincere in their love for Jesus because only they will come to your rescue when you need it! I honestly don’t trust Christians who like to be distant, who never want to be available to serve in the church or to do a favor for others. What good are they to be in our fellowships when they are disconnected with the pastors/Officers and their brothers and sisters? Why are some disconnected from the Bible teachers and the mission, and so protective of their private lives? We know it is to hide sins.

 

6. In these end-times you will see this happen, the weak gossipy, distant Christians will cave to the anti-Christ system right away and only a handful from the churches will be ready to continue on for Jesus no matter if it costs them their lives! Some think it is only 3%!

 

According to Jesus final prayer before getting arrested and crucified in John 17, we are to be ‘one” with Him and with each other. Jesus is “one” with the Father, and if we are one with Jesus, we also will be one with the Father and with each other, and the world will see this as a testimony to the supernatural love of God. Love is the answer, God’s love makes us one!

 

Oneness will make us perfect in love! As humans we know our love is imperfect, we fail, and we must always repent and do our best on the next one, but if we are sincerely loving and following Jesus, we will be getting closer to the holiness perfection God can grant us which we will carry on from this life into the next!

 

7. Verse 22, And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one. What was Jesus glory? It was His breaking of the curse of death to be able to be the one who controls who will be granted glory passing on to eternal life! Jesus proved His glory by His submission to sacrifice Himself for our sins and then resurrect from the dead to live on forever. 

 

What is God’s glory like mentioned here? It is not one like the glory in the world where one is praised like a rock star until one fades when there is a new sensation on the market! It is an eternal glory in a supernatural body to live in a perfect heaven, an existence where only the righteous, loving, and worthy are admitted. 

 

So here is the question, will you have that glory? You will if you are being one with Jesus and your brothers and sisters here and now. Matthew 12:30 “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.” All of us who are with Jesus become one with Him but those who are not are doing damage, they are helping Satan by bringing on division, disunity, and causing dispersion.

 

8. Having the mind of Christ means you naturally support everything Jesus taught! I honestly distrust people who claim to be Christian but their convictions and stances model that of the world’s and not that of Christ’s. Holiness and perfection in love only comes by asking the Holy Spirit to remake you into God’s useful vessel and evidence will show your good works and fruits. 

 

Here is the truth on ‘oneness’, a true Christian brother or sister will love you and serve you because you love Jesus and are doing your best for Him. You can feel in the Spirit who those are that are one with Jesus and those who are not. Jesus has our backs, but do you have the backs of those who love Jesus? And do they have your own back as well? God needs our full commitment for His love to be effective in our lives as well as in the lives of others.

 

9. But here is a flip side to this, some Christians will only do things for their pastors and church and never for others in need; this is a wrong and is not obeying scripture. Luke 6: 31 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise. 32 For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love those that love them. 33 And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do even the same. 34 And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to sinners, to receive as much again. 35 But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil. 36 Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.

 

We may never be one with our enemies, (unless they convert) but we are commanded to love and do good to everyone, friend or foe. We must interact and help those of the world, even with those who hate Jesus, but this contrast highlights how special it is to have Jesus as our best friend; He is one with us as long as we are remaining in the vine being one with Him. 

 

10. Jesus was God’s proof to the world that He loves us! John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Consider that Jesus also said: Matthew 11:6

“And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.”

 

God created the universe and our world in love and each person (yes, you!) He has created in love as well! He just needs to get loved back, and those that learn of Jesus and love Him, they are loving God back for all His love to us! The greatest need of people is not just food, water, and shelter, it is love! To exist without giving love and receiving love… is hell! 

 

Jesus has your back! God’s glory is there for you for eternity! Just strive to be “one” with Jesus daily, reading His Word and obeying it, and praying, so that day after day the bond will grow so strong you will never be deceived by anyone evil. Are you “one” with Jesus and your brothers and sisters? If so we will see your perfect love displayed in all that you do! Connect with Jesus today!

 

 

 

           

Hollywood & Halloween Horror! Fascination with Evil Must Stop!

Hollywood & Halloween Horror! Fascination with Evil Must Stop     Kelly Durant

 

1 Thessalonians 5:21 Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. 22 Abstain from all appearance of evil. 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

2. Have you ever tried to reason with a crazy person? You never can win an argument with them because they always justify their way of being, and their evil deeds. They don’t repent, instead, they gloat! There are different kinds of “crazy” in the world, but quite often it is due to an evil spirit possession. The evil people of the world are always raising up evil spirits to influence the youth, the weak, and those that leave behind their faith in Jesus! 

 

Jesus says trying to convert these kinds of people is like trying to reason with a wild dog or pig.  Matthew 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. Groups of wild dogs or pigs can kill you! This is why so called protesters for evil causes always gather in crowds, they have more power together. Evil people want to create a hive mentality so everyone will be overcome by evil!

 

I am bringing this matter of evil up because every year in October we have a whole month of horror films coming out of Hollywood, all the merchants in town also promote evil looking costumes and decorations, and evil decorated houses for Halloween reveal how much people are fascinated by death and evil spirits.

 

3. As Christians we are to abstain from evil and the appearance of evil. It is evident that the further away from Christianity this nation has drifted, the more evil has become the replacement for what our culture indulges in. ‘Halloween retail spending was estimated at $9 billion in 2018. It's a little less than 2017's record of $9.1 billion. Slightly fewer, 175 million, said they would celebrate. They spent a record $86.79 per person, according to the National Retail Federation's annual survey’. https://www.thebalance.com/halloween-spending-statistics-facts-and-trends-3305716

 

Many Christians have been tricked into leaving behind the healthy, good, and Godly habits we once had in society and it is wreaking havoc on everyone. This slow acceptance of violence and evil, of perversions and filth is in direct disobedience to the scriptures as we just read, 21 ‘Prove all things; hold fast that which is good’. Evil is prevailing today because not enough Christians are demanding that the beautiful good things of God be the dominant theme in our communities. 

 

Evil is very seducing! When you see it in movies, hear it in amazingly catchy pop songs, observe it in revolutions in foreign countries, and get informed that evil people are getting away with murder, as our political and famous characters do, one starts to subliminally get convinced that the dark side might just be more exciting and powerful! Christians of light must speak up against evil! Jesus warned us to ‘watch and pray’ and to resist temptation, any one of us can fall to evil and bribes catering to pride and the flesh. Satan will deceive the very ‘elect’ or ‘saved’ if you and I let him by not staying intensely connected to Him! Matthew 24:24

 

4. I think all Christians should get very disturbed by how our society is filling up with hypocritical dysfunctional dystopian crazy evil people who mock and persecute the people of God while glorying themselves in their horrific acts. Even those who murder seem to escape as if all is normal politics and acceptable!

 

Satan knows how to play games with the average shallow, uneducated, non-Christian who does not have the Holy Spirit, as he tricks their minds to respect him and evil and offer evil as the solution from the evil in the world. But you and I know we cannot fight fire with fire! Romans 12:17

Recompense to no man evil for evil. Provide things honest in the sight of all men.

 

Observe how the same old pattern works. Satan inspires evil in people, these people do horrific things to others, destroying and attacking their character or convictions, and some evil rulers exploit defenseless ones for sex or labor. Then the abused get bitter and hate filled; they then (in history and even now) react and murder the oppressors, but sadly they also destroy innocent ones as well in cross fire, so they are no more righteous than the original ones. So whether it be for revenge or for pleasure, division, hate, and murder is accomplished to destroy the beautiful human lives God created. Never fall into the climate of hate of another which evil ones promote, Jesus commands us to love, even enemies! 

 

5. This year, as every year, there is an overrated movie, ‘Joker’ that has the same old theme of Satan trying to invoke sympathy for himself. I don’t even need to see this movie to conclude its contents; it is centered around the idea that we should feel sorry for the abused mentally disturbed people to the point we understand and accept it when they murder others! After all, certain people deserve to be hated and murdered, right? Righteous people in society will not show respect for the perverse evil delusional demonic crowd and in consequence the evil ones want to kill them! The same as it was with Jesus and the hypocrites in his day! 

 

How sick and self-destructive are the appetites of so many as they enjoy seeing violence done to others, but they never want to be the victim of a violent act! Here is the irony, when violence is done in real life, when evil is done as suggested people carry out as in movies, songs, and fake media, then people lose their minds!

 

You soon hear the decrying, ‘How horrible are guns and violence, how sad that our mentally ill are neglected, how is it that no one makes the pharmaceutical companies be responsible! Such was the case with the Colorado mass shooting when James Holmes went in like a ‘Joker’ to kill everyone he could! He was just acting out what he had learned from video games and movies! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Holmes_(mass_murderer)

 

6. Parents that let their kids play murderous video games 8 hours a day, who love evil movies where evil characters are exalted, who abuse their kids with violence and vulgar language, who medicate them with meds from greedy pharmaceutical companies are indeed a part of the problem of the ills plaguing our society. 

 

Before it use to be that 70% of the local kids went to church and everyone had a debt with their neighbor in society to be honest, good, truthful, kind, respectable, and reasonable. Those that did not grow up in the 50s, 60s, and even 70s, do not even know how good it was to feel safe with good neighbors and unlocked front doors!

 

Currently stats show about 70% of kids are not going to church and what do we deal with today? Kids that are dishonest, bad, liars, mean, disrespectful, and unreasonable. Because parents, educators, and Christians have not done their job correctly in punishing evil. Children and adults who proudly boast in their delusions, perversions, and evil, are causing us all to reap the consequences of an evil that is erodingly destroying us! https://www.pewforum.org/2019/10/17/in-u-s-decline-of-christianity-continues-at-rapid-pace/?fbclid=IwAR0WM8wvgNKZCWc5QaTZw7ZYIpowqAQr1Q-qqKy6cARRLivovdS-6nWRK4c

 

 

7. And how did it happen that Christians have had their hands tied and voices muted in most every public square across the country!? A person who will rise up and preach decency, common sense, Biblical values, and punishment for evil offenders and lawbreakers is quickly mocked, ostracized, and shamed! Also, they get banned from Youtube, Facebook, and Twitter!

 

We must pray that we as Christians do not lose our love for others as Jesus warned us in Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 

 

Apart from not participating in Halloween, not going to subversive evil movies, and doing our part to be decent and good, what more can we do to stop evil? Our only hope is Jesus! His Word is like water on the fire of evil! Evil people will not hang around if the subject is going to be Jesus, righteousness, and how to combat evil! Start with yourself, if you are an example of purity and holiness, others will notice, and your light will shine. But speak up too! Denounce evil! 

 

8. We must practice more what we know as in James 4:7 

‘Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.’ The devil always tries to get you to ‘turn’ to his dark side by shaming you, intimidating you, mocking you, and exhausting you to the point you give up in your battle to be righteous and good! But never, never, never give up!

 

Let’s revert back to what was in scripture after we learned we must avoid evil and the appearance of evil, 23 And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

What we see here is a prayer for us that we should pray this for each other! If we are to be ‘holy’, then we must sanctify ourselves (by reading God’s Word, praying, and supporting one another) and we must guard our spirit, soul, and mind! If we do then we will be blameless and ready to face the Lord when we die. And you could die today, never think you can do bad now and repent later, you may never get the chance! Satan does reap souls when young often times and God lets him if the person is given over to him. 

 

9. Ecclesiastes 3:1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. When the culture of a nation enters a season in which it is celebrating a holiday that has its founding roots in evil, such as with Halloween, we should be praying more that we conquer dark evil with the light of Jesus!

 

Israel of old got severely punished and taken away as slaves when they abandoned the worship of God and worshipped Satanic gods such as Baal, Ashtoreth, and Moloch. Today abortionists and secret Satanic cults continue to sacrifice children. Halloween is no joke to some, they truly do practice evil. How did we ever accept equating provoking fear as something fun worthy of a sweet reward?

 

I know many will celebrate Halloween no matter what I or the preachers say, but all of us should remind others that we must avoid the appearance of evil, and avoid evil itself as well!  Ephesians 4:27 Neither give place to the devil. Satan gets others to accept evil when it is done in a joking manner, or a fun manner, but we must be wise to his tricks. His tricks carry no treat, but rather an infernal consequence unless we repent and get Jesus to clean us and save us!

66 and 33 What are God’s numbers for the righteous? Be with the faithful few!

66 and 33 What are God’s numbers for the righteous?  Be with the faithful few! 

Kelly Durant

 

1 Kings 18:21

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

                                                

2. We live in a nation, a Republic, that in general permits the majority to rule. For example , if Congress votes on a law or something, they need a 2/3rds majority for it to pass, or a 66%. In general when people play games, dominoes or cards quite often they play for the best 2 out of 3, right? If 2 is a number that leaves you tied, with no winners, you need a 3^rd or a final deciding factor, right?

 

There is power in numbers and many numbers are considered sacred and we know about them: 1,3,7,9,12, etc. I had a friend that was a math teacher and I asked him how he became a believer, and he said by observing the perfection of absolute numbers which prove there is a God! Our God changes not; 2 and 2 make 4 no matter the time in history, no matter the place in space, on earth or in the heavens. The forces of the universe are measured constant so all is maintained together. But I will advise you not to worship numbers (numerology) as many people guess numbers wrong and the Scripture condemns decisions based on superstitions. 

 

Why is this the topic today? Because who you side with in this life is important! For example, the rebellious angels that sided with Satan and fell to earth to be stripped of heaven’s status were how many? 33% Revelation 12: 3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. 4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: 7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

 

3. So what do we learn from this? That the faithful majority of angels that did not get persuaded were the 2/3rds majority. The angels were 66% and the dragon followers of Satan were the 33%. Be careful with people who esteem 33 as a special sacred number, it represents those cursed to remain forever on or in the earth which is later to be cast into lake of fire!

So would the remaining 66% or even 66.6% be considered those blessed by God? After all there are 10s of thousands of angels. A real number might even be more like 666,666,666! But 666 always brings to mind the ‘mark of the beast’, as something evil. Here is the factor, Satan always tries to rob for himself the things of God, even His numbers! Jesus preached 33 years and we have 33 spine bones!

 

Satan wants to imitate God! But he only has an evil 33%, not the majority 66% of the righteous as his followers. Jesus and the angels are the winners despite Satan’s deception as being so powerful and god like. Satan imitates everything of god, that he is all powerful, that he is the light, that he offers more justice and pleasures than God. But what did Jesus say about him?  John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

 

4. Today we observe that there were angels that sided with God and others that sided with Satan and it is the same with us, with humans! Some people do not even realize they have chosen the losing side of things as people get deceived all the time. We see that all the time. Have you ever had a friend who always sides with a sports team that seems to never win, or haven’t won for 60 years? Don’t ignore the odds of anything. Why would anyone choose the side of Satan who’s going to lose?

 

Why are some people so blind, so rebellious that they always choose poorly and then always have to pay the sad consequences? It’s in part because they are always getting the numbers wrong! They believe in fake numbers or they are believing they can beat the odds, that they are with the majority, and often they don’t believe in real provable numbers. Google search on the odds of winning the lottery: “the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million” So why do people play it?  Knowing numbers and who controls the odds and outcomes is important as you want to be a winner not a loser! I never gamble, the math proves I’ll lose!

 

We live in a society where the wicked majority appear to rule and have chosen the lies over the truth but what does the Bible say? Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. We are God’s creation, He formed us in the womb (Job 31:15) and that being said, the sooner we surrender our will to Him, the better off we will be. 

 

5. Satan and his corrupting and damaging sins are pushed loud and proud from every source imaginable and one would believe 90% of the people in the society are in agreement with his perversions and corruption! But those of us who know the truth know that is not so, that there are few faithful ones that resist his devices and lies and Jesus describes it like this… Matthew 7:13-14 Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in there at: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

 

On earth, where Satan has done a demonic fallen angel coup invasion and highjacked this world temporarily away from God, reality is as things appear to be, Satan is controlling a majority of the people and it is sad for them that they will not find life in heaven being that they are choosing the wide gate of destruction. Ephesians 6: 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

 

So how many are a few? Could it be only 10% of the population are really Christian and understand and obey Jesus commands? In an experiment, to learn answers you sample 10% of the population. One of the 10 lepers came back to thank Jesus,  and 10% in the Bible is common. But 10% of our current 7.6 billion people is still 760,000,000. 760 million! From past history there may be another 500 million too! Try to count that many standing before God! Revelation 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands;

 

6. Remember that when Gideon went to war against the evil kings nearby he only chose 300. That number appears often in Scripture. Judges 7:7 And the Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand: and let all the other people go every man unto his place.

 

God does not need numbers to win, but God does have numbers on His side. Revelation 5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands; (100 million times 1,000s!) In the Bible God wins even with just one, one brave one, like David against Goliath. 

What God needs is for the righteous (all true Christians) to be brave and courageous and to stand up for Him against the wicked majority. You and I must stand against the deceived ones who are complacent with sinful practices in our communities. 

 

7. It is amazing how Satan and his people shield their selves from guilt, capture, and judgment. Isaiah 5:20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! What evil we see today has always been around but since we are in the end-times, it is multiplying. 

 

Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked bears rule, the people mourn. Today corruption of all kinds is legalized and promoted by the top main offenders in power worldwide as normal behavior and if you say anything contrary you are to be demonized as a racist homophobe and hater. Jesus said we would suffer persecution and they accused him of having a demon when they had the demons! Every abusive enslaving despicable practice you can image is being made legal of late with demands that law enforcers go away demonized as entirely evil! This is a huge mistake! Any nation falling into this deception degrades itself until a violent self-destruction culminates. It’s been happening since 1917! People in high places can steal millions of dollars and there is no consequence because we are told that is just the accepted practices! But if you or I steal a $10 watch we will be fined and punished harshly. 

 

So who is buying the lie that evil is good and good is evil? 90%? I think not when you see people upset in the streets. Is it 50%? Or is it more like an evil 33%? The point is who will stand for the righteous causes of God? So what do we as Christians consider righteous? You can google the Salvation Army’s International positions of what we deem as righteous causes to fight for. The Bible is the source.  https://www.salvationarmy.org/isjc/ips

 

8. The Solders in the Salvation Army are supposed to be 100% behind these causes and if not, then they are free to fellowship with us but not free to argue, bring division, bring compromise, or try to shame us into conforming to the ways of the world. Evil of late has escalated! Many Christians are not even aware of all the Satanic ritual abuse and child trafficking for sex happening. It is horrible!  

 

Here are some of evils we speak up for or against; these practices in the world bring destruction to human bodies as well as bring on the enslavement of the soul to demons. They are: Abortion, alcohol in society, ancestorial worship, caring for the environment, corruption, death penalty, euthanasia and assisted suicide, gambling, modern slavery and human trafficking, peacemaking, pornography, racism, refugees and asylum seekers, Sabbath observance, the SA and the State, sexism, suicide prevention, and the use (abuse) of power. 

There are even more stances that the Bible is clear on and this is why many people hate the Bible and hate Christ followers.    

 

9. So I began the message with the question of who will follow God, “if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him”.  God has given each person a freewill to choose and then you are then counted in with the few ones that choose what the faithful angels chose, or in with the vast majority of the condemned fallen ones, those controlled by demons, whose punishment is hell.

 

The true Christians (on this temporary earth) will always be few in number and always in the minority and will need to confront the evil majority. If you are in the corrupted majority crowd it might go well with you for a while, you might be praised as a good little consumer of all the perverse vices, but then you will be judged by God for not discerning with the Holy Spirit the things that are abominable to God. 

 

So who is righteous in our world? Probably the one(s) that get the most attacks, ridicule, and persecution from all sources. Luke 6:26 Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. To be counted in with the righteous do not fool yourself that you can claim to be Christian and then applaud or support those that practice everything contrary to the Christian faith. 

 

10. Jesus asked us this so we see who is evil or not: Matthew 7:16

You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Don’t think you are a Christian if you prefer the company of the thorny people who support everything that a Christian does not. These people are as dried dead leaves on the vine that do nothing good for anyone but are as blackholes condemned astral bodies sucking up every person and thing for their own lustful corrupt selves. 

 

2 Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

 

The wicked majority have the quality of appearing to be righteous as they claim to stand up against oppressors, but they are not righteous at all since they do not have any good fruits in their works to prove it: 2 Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. Ephesians 5:11

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.

 

Remember how Lot had to escape Sodom because not even 10 in the city were found to be righteous!? Pray about where you live. If it is in a place where God’s spirit has departed (Inchabod) you might need to move! Proverbs 22:3

A prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. God is in the middle of all numbers, please be wise with your stances, be saved through Jesus, and be counted in with the number of the righteous! Ask Him in your life today!

Columbus Day or Indigenous People Day, What Do Christians Celebrate?

Columbus Day or Indigenous People Day, What Do Christians Celebrate?      Maj. Kelly Durant

 

Colossians 3:11 Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all.

 

2. What will you celebrate tomorrow, Columbus Day or Indigenous People Day? I think most of us, as in the past, won’t really celebrate anything having to do with either of these cultures, but instead will go out to a local park, or just stay home and enjoy a free day. There are a few cities with festivals celebrating this holiday, but there are a few.

 

In general how are we to celebrate the holidays established by men of certain cultures? This has always been a dilemma for people of conviction from the beginning. For example if you were a Jew, would you celebrate with the Romans their holiday to recognize the goddess of the harvest? Probably not, right? The Jews celebrate Sukkot but that’s not like our modern ones.

 

And the Christians in the Roman times, did they celebrate Roman holidays? Probably not, but converted Romans must have had a hard time because all their life they were use to participating in certain holidays, and to break the habit was not easy. Once Jesus became your, ‘all in all’, nothing else had anything more to offer, it was empty. All worship of idols and gods who reign over seasonal holidays were despised! They were false!

 

3. As the Christians back then and now, we have the discretion to observe or not observe holidays (holy days) but of course anything directing us to the worship of evil, or of an idol or false deity we must avoid. So how should we interpret Colossians 2:16

Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days:

 

I think this verse may confuse some folks as to what it is being reiterated from Romans 14. Basically in Colossians, and this happens anywhere at any time within any culture, there was a blurring of doctrines and ideas. On the eating of meats, for example, are there not vegetarian Christian denominations today that eat only vegetables? Some Christians are vegetarians, as in India and elsewhere, but are they wrong to choose as they do? No, but there is controversy. Back in Paul’s day when you ate in someone’s home serving some meats that were offered to pagan idols you just needed to pray in Jesus name before you ate it, or just not eat it.

 

In their eyes if you were eating meat while you were in fellowship with them then you would need to be looked down upon as doing something they disagreed with. What does scripture say about that? In general it basically says, when with Romans do as the Roman, and when with the Jews, do as the Jew. Romans 14: 21 It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbles, or is offended, or is made weak.

 

4. The rest of Colossians 2:16 says, “or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days”.  What’s that? Did Christians back then celebrate holidays and new moons?

According to this some of them in some places did, and it seems clear we are not to judge them for it. What harm is it to be culturally adapted? If this were a literal worship of the moon goddess (which the Romans did practice with Diana or Luna) then this would be idolatry, but otherwise a new moon it is just a recognition of a special day, a way to reset your biological calendar. Who knows, maybe they did picnics by sea or a vigil or something special to get together but for sure it was innocent of pagan customs.

 

Notice also they liked to honor the Sabbath, and even today some Christians do that as the Seventh Day Adventist or Messianic believers. It was the first day of the week when Jesus resurrected, or Sunday, (See John 20 :1 ‘The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early’…) but to honor a Saturday, what harm does it do? No harm unless we start in fighting and condemning each other as heretical Christians over it!

 

Here is the difference, we may respect a certain holiday, as you know many Christians like to respect some Jewish holidays, but in the observance of it we must evaluate ourselves to be sure we are not doing it in an idolatrous way with alternative motives like doing it for a spiritual pride! Also, no one should be reverencing any part of anything that has total pagan  roots and inferences because anything observed is to be as a means to honor God only, amen?

 

5. So Christopher Columbus or the Native American Indian, which should we honor? With all the new light on history, I think many people have become disillusioned in their admiration for Columbus, not because he himself was so evil, but because he opened the gateway for many other colonists to come over and kill and oppress the Indians and take their lands. So why is he recognized? He is honored because he was first in connecting Europe with the New World. After all, it was a voyage of many months with the risk of death.

 

Columbus, according to new evidence, must have been Portuguese and not even Spanish or Italian as many presume, plus he landed in the Caribbean, not in North America but landing only in the islands. Through him word got back to the Spanish, English, Dutch, Portuguese, Italians and others that there were new places they could immigrate to and many wanted to escape Europe. Europe has a history of cruel kings and dictators with constant war, and in the 1500s there was a lot of religious persecution against those who wanted to not submit to the institutionalized church. The pursuit of freedom or the pursuit of prosperity became a huge motivator for immigration away from the Europe. For sure anyone of us would have risked it too just to come here, to the land of opportunity. And even today we cannot stop the immigration with 700,000 granted visas yearly and another half million more who sneak in.

 

There is record that many Christian colonists (puritans and the like), contrary to recent divisive revisionist history that respected the American Natives and traded with them iron goods for their natural goods such as furs. The beginning started out well. We celebrate another holiday over that, do you know which one? Thanksgiving! A celebration of diverse cultures and good relationships. But what happened? Some new greedy colonists came over that wanted to steal land, furs and natural resources and kill in the process, and thus began the war with invaders. 

 

6. So Columbus did not ‘discover’ America, America was already discovered and inhabited by several million people with many hundreds of Native Tribes. Adventurous Christopher only introduced a new knowledge that there were ‘noble savages’ (this is how they labeled them) and massive land opportunities after his voyages. Also, Columbus brought Christianity to the new world, the Catholic-Jesuit-Templar Knights type. However, the way in which later settlers imposed themselves in the Americas, many would argue their societal model was not so Christian done more in the style of Spanish conquests establishing class distinctions and feudalism. The Catholic Church traditionally honors Columbus for his missionary endeavors which is now a 500 year old holiday!

 

So what has happened in the past 500 years? Atrocities that you and I cannot change! The ancient wars we read about in the old Testament, and the wars we learn about that happened in the Americas and everywhere else reveal how much the world needs our prince of peace, the savior Jesus Christ! We cannot change the past but we can learn lessons from it and pray we do not repeat the same evil mistakes of killing each other over race, greed, power, or ideologies.

 

As Christians we are commanded to be opposingly different from the people of the world! James 4:1 From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. 3 Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. 4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

 

7. Christians historically fought for the rights of the underdog and those who are abused unjustly. Isn’t this the premise for which the Salvation Army was founded? To practice the commands of Jesus to love others as ourselves and provide for the needs of the defenseless and suffering? We do this as best we can but still there is a lot to do, considering joining us! Talking about cultural practices, this is our Salvation Army practice: compassion & love through service.

 

Some Christians feel that one way to honor the Natives that were almost entirely wiped out is to give them a holiday in their honor, the Indigenous People Day. We observe a MLK Jr. Day, a Hispanic day, but shouldn’t we also have a native American recognition Day? After all, they were the dominate culture in the past, and now they are only 1.6% of our entire population!

 

Did you know there were many tribes that had practices to help their young children mature into men and women? The Jewish people do this with Bar Mitzvah, but this is not a common practice with most people anymore. We need to do something to help our youth today, do we not? The solemn ceremonial events the Indians did helped awaken their youth to the reality of respecting God (the great white Spirit) survival and nature’s importance. There was a principle of only taking what you needed from nature and then giving something back to replenish it.  

 

Traditionally in The Salvation Army in our youth programs during the summer camps we have celebrated native American customs, did you know that? The ones who consistently applied their selves well in the life skills programs would get awards and recognition. My wife made many dresses and feathered jewelry for them throughout the years. We talk about ‘best practices’, this is one of them, one to help young people see the value in progressing oneself in the knowledge of many practical things needed for survival in this life. (food prep, sewing, etc.)

 

8. Considering Indigenous Peoples Day, or Native American Day is a holiday in Maine, New Mexico, South Dakota, Alaska, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, Vermont and Wisconsin, and in our neighboring Washington D.C., we can conclude it is legal and acceptable to honor our Native ancestors on October 12^th if we so desire. Considering I am Chickasaw myself, I believe to honor the original American dwellers is a good thing to do. But that being said, I am not going to go on a hate filled rant about the evils of Columbus or the colonists as it leads nowhere. We cannot change the past but we can learn from it; we must learn to respect each other and not keep the hate refueled over the past, over race, or over loses. 

 

Here is what I propose, that we learn the good practices from every culture, glean those into our way of life, and let the evil practices be shunned and forgotten. Was Columbus inherently bad? No. Yet some of those that came after him were the real bad ones. Were the Indians bad?  In general they were not! But some  of the tribes were bad as they owned slaves from other nearby tribes and plundered and invaded in the style of the European Vikings. 

 

When we look at the entire history of the world we observe there has been dominance by certain races for certain periods of time and always all of them used slaves to build their empires. Today in 4/5^th of the world’s people are still in essence slaves as they are oppressed by false religions, evil atheistic governments, or cultural norms that consolidate class distinction which includes the oppression of women and children. In those places a protester or a counter culture resistor of the unjust system is either beaten, jailed, or killed! No rights there! We must appreciate and conserve the few rights we do have and resist top down mandates that do not empower, but rather control: It’s our mind, body, & spirit and the control belongs to Jesus!

 

Here there is a certain amount of freedom, freedom to the extent some governors allow destructions and anarchy, and freedom to worship God or Satan as you please. But personally, as a Christian, I find we should not give place to the devil or to those who destroy, to those who want absolute power, or to anyone who stirs up hate with excuses because usually hate groups attack the good people, or the ones not guilty, and they target Christians! 

 

9. In conclusion there is no harm done in the celebration either of these holidays as long as we are not doing it with an evil motive. Some people want to change our history and make all people appear evil, be they white, black, or Indian, and we need to rebuke them and their vain words as God taught us to love each other! Use all holidays as a means to preach Jesus!

 

Here is a book in the New Testament for Christians that get swayed by divisive history rewritten to instill hate for others, for those that put culture and education above the dominance of their faith in Jesus.  Galatians 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

 

Please do not get pulled into all the current arguments made by anyone, even by false so called Christian leaders that want controversy over anything, over holidays, theology, over gender, over class equality, over race supremacy, over sexuality, over or anything! They are not worth your time as stated in Galatians! They are to be rebuked in Jesus name and exposed as Paul exposed the Galatians who were trying to force Christians to distort their beliefs and simplicity into a submission of practices that would elevate a certain group as more spiritual, righteous, and powerful than another. (In that case it was the Jewish Galatians) In our case today there are several groups vying for power!) We are princes and princesses to God and we must act like it! We are a noble people, not ones to trash, but ones to build and edify with sound doctrine!

 

So everything we do needs to be all about Jesus! He is all in all! No race, no social class, no religious practice, nothing should distort us away from exalting Him in every holiday, amen!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Respect & Let It Go! Or Pay The Price

                              Major Kelly Durant

Matthew 5:25

Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

 

2. How many of you have ever seen someone get involved in someone else’s business and you conclude that they should have just left it alone? In the world we expect to see this type of ignorant carnal conflictive behavior but isn’t it a shame when it is from one of our own brothers? Please pray before you ever get into someone else’s fight, you might end up looking like a fool or even getting arrested! Always be humble, be ready to forgive and back down.

 

One time at a certain Corps I recall on an evening Bible study night a member parked in the designated slot for the pastor’s car. That didn’t usually happen but it did that night. Well, wouldn’t you know it that one of the men wanted to track down the car owner and make him move the car. He wanted that rule breaker to respect the rules, which seems normal, but it escalated into anything but a normal situation.

 

The man was not asked, but told to remove his car. Apparently, neither of these two men knew the Bible verse,  Proverbs 15:1 A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger. So the one with the car was offended by the loud rough tone and the other one was offended because he was being challenged. The situation was, the Captain (pastor) didn’t even mind that someone got his spot, but without him knowing two people were arguing and yelling and insulting each other. The whole Bible class came out to witness two men almost having a fist fight! About five of us had our phones out to call 911 but thank God these two listened and settled down! That heated dangerous situation didn’t have to happen how it did!

 

3. Have you ever been in a room and one person yawns, and then you and others yawn too? Why is that? That is one being affected by the behavior of another! Like it or not we are all subjected to a type of hive influence, and if one is bad, then the others want to follow and be bad too. That one disrespectful bad apple will bring on a new low standard. That’s why bad apples must go, and quickly!

Before in a classroom if a kid was rude and disrespected a teacher, the rest of the class would shut up knowing the one kid was going to the principle’s office and was going to get punished by the school and then by his parents. The hive mentality was, the respectful ones get to remain free to study, while the ones with bad behavior end up having to do boring punishments. What has happened to our systems of late? Now the kids imitate the bad ones and get away with it!

 

As Christians we must give respect to others even when they do not deserve it! Jesus predicted what would be happening in our last days, Matthew 24: 12 “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold”. Today we see lawlessness, rudeness, and disrespect rewarded by social “likes”, media news support, and even some getting a paycheck from evil billionaires! Our world is topsy turvy, or functioning in the opposite way that it should in order to maintain peace and order. Satan and his hateful people want the system to fall apart so they can rebuild it under their draconian dystopian anti-Christ empire. Who is of God and who isn’t? See how much they align with Jesus’ teachings to know.

 

4. But what is a Christian supposed to do? We get disrespected a lot! We are tempted to want to get into the fight to set everyone straight, to correct the lawbreakers and in a harsh way, but we are reminded of what Paul instructed Romans 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. Rom. 12:21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

 

Many people are getting angry and cold hearted due to all the recent nonsensical lawlessness. Seeing how it is we resist any sympathy for the devil and his people; they are causing too much pain and death, we want God’s righteousness!  Romans 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give no place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Satan’s values are the opposite of God’s and in his eyes, and those of his loudmouthed demons, the disrespect and even murder of authority figures (or that of babies) is termed “justice” and justifiable because evil done on whom someone claims as bad is alright. What?! Do you see what horrendous blasphemy is being marketed to our confused youth? We must pray and trust that God’s judgements will come soon! God’s people and His values are the target of Satan and it is hitting home!

 

How is it that anyone with a brain could accept the recent messages that to ‘respect the law’ makes you be a bad person? And notice that labeled ones get targeted, harassed, trolled, and ridiculed into shame as crazy, disqualified, privileged, conservative idiots! The technocrat social-media gate keepers, the evil agenda driven school and college professors, and the mass media news outlet propagandists are pushing evil 86,400 seconds a day! The ‘bad is good and good is bad’ demons amongst us in authority are deceiving multitudes contradicting every instruction in God’s Holy Word! Their messages are always inflammatory lies and deceptions! 

 

5. Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Our fight is against Satan and the demons inhabiting in evil people who spew out hate, mockery, lies and destruction with every breath, and these people are to be resisted, exposed, and denounced. “By their fruits you know them” But discretion must be applied to know that some powers are not purposefully evil but just functional. 

 

Romans 13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. 2 Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. 4 For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. 5 Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake.

 

These verses apply to everyone meaning we must be submitted to the legitimate authorities of society or we will pay the price. But of late many youth and angry people have been getting it wrong, they have been submitting to anarchist voices so they are as barbarians rebelling against all authorities! We must.. Ephesians 4:27 not give place to the devil.  2 Timothy 3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

 

6. So what is the context for the verse of today? Matthew 5:25

Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him. Jesus is basically telling us not to go crazy and want to take matters into our own hands. In the verses in the beginning of the chapter we are reminded that “blessed are the peacemakers” but life is not just ‘love and peace’ many injustices are always happening to you and to others. Here Jesus speaks about controlling your anger, not letting disrespect get out of hand or you will pay the price of punishment. 

 

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. (Side note: Because an injustice occurs, say with an Asian man killing someone, this does not justify making any other Asian man innocent of that particular crime be worthy of death too! This explains the ‘without cause’ as here) Note that being angry is synonymous to murder if not dealt with appropriately!

 

And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. 23 Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift. (Or vs, 25 happens)

 

7. All of this is about respecting others and that there is a Biblical system in place for the correction of injustices and it is better to not respond arrogantly with a vicious fight. In other words, you might insult someone, or express anger so ugly as to say ‘go to hell’ but this accomplishes nothing but to invoke God’s anger. Push it too hard and you will end up in jail! Angry provocative words, (even chants and slogans as in riots), insults, and violence will not serve as a remedy for correcting offenses. The solution is in a dialog, in communication, in a reconciliation, in a an agreement. And take note that according to these scriptures, God will not hear your prayers nor accept your sacrificial gifts if you are in conflict with someone and you do not go to them to fix it. “And forgive us our debts (offenses) as we forgive those who sin against us.” Matthew 6:12

 

What happens to someone with a bitter chip on their shoulder? Someone who is bitter against the world, God, or another person? They usually end up doing some random act of violence on someone (on someone innocent!) and then they have to pay the price for being stupid and out of control!

 

So learn that instead of being an idiot that gets taken to jail over being so cantankerous, heed the warning Jesus gives us that it is better to just back down and agree when confronted by someone, especially someone in an authority. The implication is to be humble, to set aside your anger and pride, to just let it go as it is not worth it to want to create a big emotional altercation over anything. James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

 

8. We all need to come to terms that we don’t need to be in the middle of every fight going on in our family or in our community or nation. The truth always comes out, justice will happen, if not in this life it will when the ‘Great White Throne Judgement’ comes with Jesus overseeing who goes where for eternity. (Revelation 20) We must learn and teach respect to our children and friends, respect for God and authorities and respect for each other to keep the peace.

 

May the Lord help us to recognize that disrespect and anger is a sin. Don’t participate in the anger or disrespect that others may do. Our human anger against any people group over an injustice will not accomplish anything except getting God angry with us for adding fuel to the fire. 

 

Conflicts and our resolutions with others should be with those directly tied to us, with our brothers, family, and coworkers. And now I will end on a positive note with our Salvation Army’s 11^th doctrine. Those who do God’s will, even though unfair in this life, even though we suffer persecution, disrespect, and ridicule, we will go on to be rewarded forever! 

 

11: We believe in the immortality of the soul; in the resurrection of the body; in the general judgment at the end of the world; in the eternal happiness of the righteous; and in the endless punishment of the wicked.