Be like Jesus!

Jesus: Like Him I’ll Be!                              9-25-22     Kelly Durant

 

1 Corinthians 2:16  For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

 

2. Back in the hippie times, if a man had long hair and a beard and was somewhat handsome, friends would usually gaze a moment and then comment, “Look, he looks like Jesus!” Some people with a beard and long hair may remind us of the paintings we have seen of Jesus, but exactly how this olive skinned Jewish man actually looked physically, we will never know, artists can only speculate. 

 

But we can know Him spiritually! Jesus left us with so many teachings that it takes a lifetime to discover all the depths implicated by Him. 1 Corinthians 2:16 

For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

 

You or I can ‘know’ Jesus, but how? Only by His teaching! Are there not in the world too many doctrines and churches, too many books and personal opinions, and too many immoral bad examples to the point that most of us just want to give up? Never give up! Each of us is special and loved by Him and He will show you what your mission is, what your calling in life is, and where you need to go.

 

3. Also, learn this: You learn best when you teach a subject! Jesus’ teachings should be spread and never be limited! Never did Jesus say only have my teachings confined to people going to church! It was the contrary, he sent His disciples out to preach the gospel to every creature! Mark 16:15 

 

Many people form the idea that Jesus is someone only the preacher should mention, and that is occasionally, that He was a good and holy man that we should ‘try’ to be like Him. Jesus told you and me to… Luke 14:23

Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.

 

After Jesus did healings, He would say, go and show yourself in the temple so others could see the miracle; after Jesus would forgive people of their sins like the Samaritan woman at the well, He would inspire to the point that all that person could do was talk about Him to everyone! If Jesus has touched you, you will not be able to shut up about it! Acts 4:13 It will overflow, and people will know you experienced something very real and life changing! We must tell it! It is your story and mine that is authentic, and people see the love of God in us and want it.

 

4. And speaking of telling your story, there are so many people today that have experienced miracles! How many times have you heard, “The doctor gave me 3 months to live but Jesus healed me!”? The miracles have not stopped!

 

I have seen a person get healed from weak knees and get x-rays to prove they no longer needed an operation to stop the swelling after a prayer! I have seen the miracle of Jesus stopping a car from crashing into us! I have seen people stop using addictive drugs after a prayer and stay on the right path healed afterwards. Miracles do happen and we need to recognize it is Jesus doing them.

 

And they happen for all to glorify God! Luke 18:42 Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God. When God does something for you, share the good news, please!

 

5. We can know Jesus’ love by observing the contrast of those who despise Him. Matthew 11:6 “And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.” It is a given, there is a vast majority of people out there that are evil and get offended by Jesus because they do not want to be reminded of their unrepentant ugly, destructive, sins! 

 

The fact that Jesus exposed(s) hypocrites, the fact that His presence brings awareness, the fact that He and His teachings are absolute truth is too much for some people!  Liars, lazy ones, and deceivers hate Him for exposing their schemes and this is what makes Jesus so repulsive to them along with the average carnal corrupt individual that conforms to the perverted ways of the world. 

 

I have been attacked many times over telling others about Jesus and do you know why ‘those people’ never won me over to their side? Because I could feel, see, and hear the hate they had for me just because I talked about Jesus! My logical reasoning mind kicks in these situations and asks, why would I leave the teachings of Jesus who inspires me to do good for others, to love God and others, in exchange for the cognitive dissident no-reasoning and uninspiring rhetoric they defend? I prefer the beautiful spirit world over the ugly flesh world any day!

 

6. How do we know the name of Jesus is powerful? Because in society He is rarely mentioned except when used as a curse word in some Hollywood movies! The most loving amazing Son of God is still rejected by the evil ones in power. Before they accused that Jesus had a demon when it was themselves having the demons!

 

The subject of Jesus has been quarantined by our evil societies to not be discussed in the public arena. Jesus cannot be brought up in the classrooms, in the community city halls, and not in the bar-b-ques of our local civic clubs as it is a topic deemed ‘uncomfortable’ or ‘offensive’ by some. Matthew 18:7

Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes!

 

Who, and I ask unrhetorically who, is defining our freedom of speech?! We have freedom of religion and speech, at least we should have! I am offended by the politically correct demons trying to silence you and me when the spirit moves on us to talk about Jesus. If a few elites controlling our society, the education, the tech world and the media, who sooner or later are revealed to be extortioners, pedophiles, and filthy corrupters wanting to shut you up, why would you let them have the final say? Are we not offended by them!?

 

7. To know Jesus we must be born again and become as a child! John 3:3-8, 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”When you or I were a child going to Sunday School classes we ‘got it’, we saw with a fresh mind that Jesus is real, you could hear his loving words and feel in your spirit that He was (is) the powerful Son of God. 

 

Jesus told us to have the faith of a little child! Matthew 18:3 And said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. To know Him means to become simple, simple in just believing because logic and science cannot explain everything!

 

We can reason and understand a lot but always at some point we will hit a wall of doubt. It is then when we must just simply trust that God knows best that He, like a good Father will protect and guide us through obstacles that are bigger than what we are able to handle. Patience, faith, & trust, will we ever learn them? 

 

8. Your average Christian without the Holy Spirit is unprepared to battle with demonic people who hate Jesus. Jesus must be in you, in your mind, in your deepest convictions, to be real to you in order to give you power. You only can be strong in Him if you are daily reading His word, praying, and seeking to put into practice the example He left us.  1 Corinthians 2:16  For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?” But we have the mind of Christ.

 

The people of the world have no excuse, God can be seen in all the details of His creation. (see Romans 1) Around 300 Old Testament prophecies describe the events in the life of Jesus! There is no doubt that factual evidence abounds to prove Jesus lived, died, and started a revolution to the point that the underground church became above ground 300 years after his resurrection.

 

Despite having 1,700 years of the Catholic Church, and 500 years of the Protestant Church, atheism, materialism, and Satanic religions thrive because the average Christian is not shining their light and fighting for good as they were commanded to by Jesus! Darkness cannot stand the light! Just bring Jesus into the conversation and see what happens! There will be praise and inspiration, or there will be attacks! 

 

 9. All of us can know Jesus in a profound way and there is no excuse. Let’s review:

We can know how to be like Jesus by knowing His teachings.

We can know Jesus by how he has touched and changed our own life.

We know that Jesus’ name is powerful, or He would not be prohibited publicly.

We can know Jesus’ love by contrasting how others that hate Him treat us.

We can know Jesus having the mind and faith of a child.

 

And finally I will end with the verse we started with, “You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” The ultimate followers of Jesus have done what He says here. It requires giving your all to Him, materially and spiritually for all your life! I did that to be a missionary, I did that to serve Jesus as a Salvation Army Officer, and millions have done it to serve Jesus throughout history! Millions have even been martyrs! What have you really given to Jesus? To gain the full joy He offers, He must be in control of your life! Those that give Him all never regret it!

 

God supplies our needs and gives us the desires of our hearts! But too few are willing to just give it all up for Him! I cannot imagine living life without Jesus being everything! The question is how much of Him do you want? All the way, or just a little bit? Jesus wanted all of you, mind, body & soul, service, worship & love!

Jesus Will Return: How ready Are You to Battle Until the End?

Jesus Will Return: How ready Are You to Battle Until the End?    By Kelly Durant

Matthew 24:41-43 New King James Version (NKJV)

 

41 Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. 42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into.

 

2. What if someone told you, “Hey, you need to train your body to be strong for a serious event that will happen to you!” Would you prepare? Let’s assume you keep have a recurring dream that you feel is from the Lord that you crash with a group of cars on the highway and then suddenly you need to be the hero lifting a 220 pound body out of a car turned upside down. 

 

What should you do about it? If you were smart and you believe in communications from God, from the spirit, you would start lifting weights to get strong because there exists a real probability it will happen and only if you are strong enough would you be ready! There is no doubt, an evil storm is coming to attack all Christians, the demons are getting empowered, and are you prepared to battle them?

 

Every Christian, no matter the time period, has had to go through horrible persecutions, and it really does appear like we are in the end times as Christians are being disenfranchised, mocked, silenced, and killed so how can you get ready spiritually? You can be ready only by preparing yourself to be spiritually strong! 

 

3. When things get tough, the tough get going! Never forget, all Christians are to be Soldiers fighting a war, defending yourself from evil. 2 Timothy 2:3 You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. 5 And also if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

 

The rules are to obey Jesus commands! On a scale of one to 10, where are you with Jesus? Are you weak and a 1 or 2? You only tolerate the church, the Corps, and the Majors, so you can enjoy the fellowship or some benefit? Are you a 5? Half the time you complain about how things are not like you like them and half the time you are content? Or are you a 8 or a 10? You really look forward to learning about the Bible and finding a way to serve others and you know having faith is the most important thig in your life? 

 

I always pray for each of you, that your spiritual eyes will be open. Life is so much more than pleasing your own spoiled self like many lukewarm Christians do and as people of the world do today.  1 John 2: 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

 

4. I think all of us want to be more prepared for Jesus to come, to be more spiritual, but spirituality it itself is not the end goal of a Christian. The ultimate goal of a Christian must be to have a relationship with Jesus to the point you live a holy life! The goal is to be connected with Jesus so deep that He makes your mind spark with joy when you hear His Word. His Word and Holy Spirit will awaken indescribable emotions which will spark a passion that makes you just want to go out and love and do good to everyone! And also warn them of the coming judgement! And do something for those who are suffering! 

 

Remember you and I have suffered ourselves in times past and it was to prepare us making us ‘better’ not ‘bitter’! How many of you have ever had a supernatural experience from a dream, a flash of a vision, or some strange circumstance in which you could perceive you were being guided by a supernatural force to get out of danger? Most everyone has! Through the good and bad Jesus prepares us!

 

You like me have probably had a near death experience in traffic and afterwards you felt like God somehow made the car brake faster than normal, or in a milli-second you turned away and only God could have saved the moment! God does have a purpose in your life, and in mine, but we must be tuned into Him to not be a deserter, or a Christian that is AWOL (Away without official leave).

 

5. If we were to travel around the world and look at every culture throughout time you and I could discover that people have always been seeking a unique spiritual experience; as humans we often want affirmation that God really is there, and He really is! The protection, the unexpected, good things, all point to a God who loves us, and He wants us to love Him back!

It is a part of our spiritual nature to want to experience the unexplainable. We are emotional beings and we want to feel something to affirm that we are taken into account by God Himself. You have to be careful today as imitations, and the new age false religions or the false Christian churches, are selling fake hopes and promises filling the ears of the weak Christians with lies so they can possess them. 

 

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 

 

6. Satan will deceive your soul if you are not preparing to battle all the lies he will put in your head. He will tempt you to go to a different wealthy church where the people ‘have more fun’ without asking you to volunteer and help the poor. 

 

I have seen it over and over, the ones that leave our compassionate active churches are not humble loving souls but usually ones that are inflated with pride. These are ones who want to be recognized as extra special and get extra special privileges and be the pastor’s pet, but that is a pride evil that deceives souls so you and I must pray for each other and for our own selves! A person can get lost and compromised not preparing by obeying for the return of Jesus. 

 

If a person is not here, or in any church, for Jesus then they are going to get lost over time, and sadly they will move into a fellowship where the people will praise them according to their own ideas of selfish egotistical ‘I’m more spiritual than you’ standards. We need to warn the weak Christians here and everywhere that if they get deceived by the devil and lose their way, it will not end well for them. Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

 

7. If you are a blood and fire Christian, then you are saved and also baptized with the Holy Spirit fire that Jesus left for His followers, and this fills your hunger for the spiritual like nothing else can! I have met hundreds of people who have gotten ‘God bumps” (like goose bumps) just from hearing the Word, or hearing a testimony of a miracle, and being more than a feeling, the Holy Spirit literally changes (our) people’s lives! Has your life been transformed like this so that you are focused solely on Jesus and not yourself?

 

When I was a teenager, I made huge mistakes in my life getting into the sins of the world. If you love music and Hollywood, Satan will tempt you to imitate those lost souls! I have seen myself and other weak Christians consume drugs and join in with people that inflate your pride. Some get back to Jesus, but others don’t! 

 

A principal danger for Christians today is the new fake Christianity, which promises to fill your inordinate egotistical dreams. It is a temptation to be pridefully recognized for being more spiritual, or more inclusive of the unrepentant sinful folks who are there to cause dissentions. But it is all Satan’s illusion to inflate one’s pride! Satan is getting vast numbers to compromise, to leave church or to submit to some hypocritical church leader instead of the gospel Jesus taught. A little leaven of the prideful self-righteous Pharisees inflates the whole bread! Beware of political leaders! Beware of Global Ideologies!

 

8. You are going to have to prepare your spirit to have enough spiritual strength for that future moment when trials come. This comes from daily prayer, the study of God’s Word, by having a rewired brain controlled by the Holy Spirit, and with a Soldier’s mindset that you resist temptation and evil in your life. 

 

If Satan tempted Jesus, how much more is he going to tempt you to move on and fail God?! You must get ready as evil will attack you personally! You might even get tempted this month to leave the faith, but those who sincerely love Jesus will remain faithful this month, and day by day, for the rest of their lives until Jesus returns.

 

Will you confess today that you have been weak and that you desperately need more of Jesus to help you to endure until the end? Not everyone will make it, only the faithful ones who hear Jesus words and obeys them. James 1:12 

Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Revelation 2:10 (b) Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

 

Get ready! God could take you home when you least expect it as stated in Matthew 24! Never be as the foolish person going through the chores of life who was not vigilant and ready! Prepare now for tomorrow, He’s coming soon!

Make Jesus Proud of You: Be Daring! Be Bold!

Make Jesus Proud of You: Be Daring!     Kelly Durant

 

Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

 

2. Some people love excitement more than others. There are some people that love adventure, being in somewhat dangerous situations, while others are happy to just stay at home and be inside of their safe space wishing the world would just go away.

 

For example, I know of people, who love to drive their Jeeps on top of the Colorado mountains, almost flipping them over, having their hearts pump wildly for the thrill, and this is rewarding for them. This involves risk, but it is fun for them and I hope they have insurance!

 

And then I know some people like how my mother use to be that would only go to the grocery store and to church on Sunday and never wanted any excitement at all. The world has all kinds of people. But all of us take decisions ‘to do or not to do’ many things, but when it comes to our faith and Jesus, we must choose ‘to do’ as it says, “nothing ventured, nothing gained’ as God expects it of us.

 

3. People will do bolder things when they are with others in a group than when they are alone. I recall when I was young there were people who would not want to do anything, but if a group was going somewhere, they would go too, even if it meant danger.

 

Think about Jesus and the disciples, he only had a group of 12, not of 12,000 or more like some mega churches, and they later on their own, going out two by two, accomplished great things spreading the gospel. Mark 6:7 And He called the twelve to Himself, and began to send them out two by two, and gave them power over unclean spirits.  Here we frequently only have a dozen of faithful ones!

 

We must never lose our vision of what we are to accomplish in life as Christians, and that is of the saving of the souls of the lost, of bringing love and comfort to the hurting, of obeying Jesus to love God and others as ourselves. 

 

4. Have you thought about it, The Salvation Army was founded on being risky and exciting! Every day the Officers and Soldiers would go out and preach on the smelly muddy street corners and sometimes a few hundred at a time would come forward around a bass drum to cry, repent, and pray to receive Jesus! How glorious that must have been to have witnessed that!

 

But at the same time, many of them got hit with tomatoes and other objects as they brought the good news to others. But did that stop them? No! Even after they knew about Samuel Logan Brengle almost dying from blow from a brick, they continued on, even going around the world to start up new outposts, missions, and Corps.

 

Samuel Brengle spent about a year and a half in a hospital bed recovering from a skull fracture that some violent demon inspired person did to him. But his heart was for God, and he wrote several books on holiness, he used his time to learn about God and today we honor him by studying his theological contributions. You cannot stop a man or woman of God, wounded or impaired, they will continue on in the fight for good!

 

5. Lately we have studied the book of Acts. What did we learn of Peter, John, and of the other disciples? Many of them went to jail for preaching Jesus! The idol worshipping pagans, and the hypocrite Jews, did not want to hear it. But did even being jailed stop them from talking about Jesus? No!   

 

Have you ever made Jesus proud of you by going to jail for Him? I got that opportunity a couple of times. Once it was in a small southern town in Rio Grande do Sur, Brazil. The police stopped me with machine guns for passing out salvation flyers at some apartments. One policeman got really mad and was yelling in my face that I was preaching blasphemy and if it were for him, I should be locked up and tortured as the way the Catholic Church historically use to do it!

 

He took offense because in the gospel pamphlet as it mentioned that God had to turn His back on Jesus a few hours to allow Him to die for our sins. God allowed Jesus to die on the cross to be the ultimate sacrifice for us, but obviously this man did not know theology very well. I am thankful I was set free after being about 5 or 6 hours in that tiny facility. I have seen angry red hateful faces many times while out preaching a loving peaceful Jesus. God sees what everyone does. The world is a dangerous place and people are lost, ignorant, and really need Jesus! 

 

6. So when something bad happens, it sometimes scares you, or others nearby, to not want to be risky or carry out the mission of preaching Jesus. My friends, if you can ever learn something in life, learn this, never let anyone intimidate or belittle you for standing up for your faith! Remember, Peter and John had boldness, and God expects us to have boldness and the Holy Spirit power as well!

 

Let’s read on the reaction of the people to Peter and John’s boldness. Acts 4:18 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. 20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

 

Can you do that? Can you not do anything in life but proclaim the good that Jesus has done in your life? 21 “So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done”. It happened to them and will to us!

 

7. Later in this chapter we see they prayed for boldness, and they stood on God’s Word to give them strength. They quoted Psalm 2, one of my favorites, as it affirms the final destiny of the evil people of the world who hate Jesus.

 

 Acts 4:23 And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. 24 So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, 25 who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? 26 The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.’ Now look up Psalm 2 to hear the rest of it. Vs.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. 5 Then He shall speak to them in His wrath, And distress them in His deep displeasure: (skip down to the final verses) 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.

 

8. So it is clear, we must be wise and stand with Jesus no matter the cost, no matter how the red-faced demons who hate us for proclaiming Jesus’ message yell at us and insult us, hit us or even jail us, we have God’s boldness power!  

 

To serve in this Salvation Army Church, when you serve Jesus for real, you need to be thick skinned, you need to be bold! No one respects a wimp. I was at the International Market the other day and the young Hispanic cashier I knew went to a Hispanic church (because I had seen him with other Christians before) and I asked him about his faith. I said, “You are a Christian and you go to church, don’t you?” I was hoping to start a conversation.

 

He said, “Hum” and nodded his head about one inch to indicate yes. I thought within myself, how sad! He has no boldness; he is almost ashamed to admit he is a Christian! Then I had another terrible thought, ‘Could it be some of the people in our Corps Church are the same way?’ Are they also afraid to admit they love Jesus and come to worship here’? Please, let’s be bold and make Jesus proud of us!

 

 9. The decision is yours day by day, hour by hour, will you be bold for Jesus? All day long we will meet people who were like the pagans mentioned in Psalm 2 who want to undo us, or like the hypocrite Pharisees who hate us for standing for Jesus who is righteousness, holiness, and God’s love.

 

In the Christian faith, you had better get use to adventure, excitement, danger, risk, resistance, and the battle. You are not in a Salvation Army just to look pretty in uniform, you are here ‘to fight for the good’ and to be so full of the Holy Spirit that your glow attracts others to want to get to know the Jesus you talk about!

 

Is Jesus proud of you? Am I and your leaders proud of you? How long has it been since you have come with a testimony to talk about who you shared your faith with? Jesus expects it of you and if you get persecuted, it will motivate you even more as the Holy Spirit will be filling you up. Be sure you live to reach the poor lost souls out there who need the hope of salvation, or you will regret it after death in heaven when you arrive empty handed! Let’s pray…