Jesus’ Truths: How Scandalous! The Truth Makes You Feel Good!

Jesus’ Truths: How Scandalous! The Truth Makes You Feel Good!                                   Kelly Durant    8-21-16. Re:2-26-23

John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

2. Have you ever thought of Jesus in a way that on a few occasions He was coincidentally a comedian with His actions and statements of truth? You and I should always try to put ourselves in the middle of Jesus stories and try to see the whole picture, and then we will be able to see that Jesus’ teaching more than just what you first take note of. He was the ultimate divine teacher who often applied double meanings, inferences, and other connotations to make His points.

For example, the story of Jesus healing the girl that was already dead. Matthew 9:23-25  23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise 24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn 25 But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

What’s happening here? The singers and everyone are trying to cheer everyone up because the young girl was dead! How sad, right!? And I assume all the noise of the singers was not alleviating the pain and sorrow very much either! So Jesus shows up and he says, ‘She is not dead, she is sleeping’. Everyone knows the difference between a cold dead, breathless body and a sleeping one, so how is it that this healer with great fame shows up and makes such a stupid statement as this?! What, the healer is an ignorant fool!? He can’t discern between sleep and death? (We see Jesus does not mind a laugh, even if the laugh is on Him!)

It says they, ‘laughed him to scorn’. In other words with one sentence, Jesus brought on laughter that may have lasted an hour and helped them get past their pain! But I am sure they did not laugh when he made her come back to life again! They were probably scared, trembling, and in awe, yet very ecstatic at the same time that she was alive again! 

3. Most people focus on the miracle of the healing but what can we conclude observing these unusual words of Jesus? We might conclude that He liked to captivate the listeners with every word He spoke! I find that to understand this from various angles, you must look into the context of the culture and people.

For example, when a comedian tells a joke about anyone, say Latinos, you must know what words that group uses, and how they express their selves in their culture for it to be funny to you. Like the Latino ordering a meal from his car in McDonalds and the young Latino from inside asks, “And what fountain drink do you want?” But there is silence, then the question, “What, what do you say I want?” Reply, ‘Fountain drink’? Silence…What is fountain drink? And the young man inside says, “Es una soda, chico”! And the man in the car says, “Que idiota eres! Why didn’t you just say ‘soda’, stupid? (Soda is always used in Spanish, never fountain drink, which does not translate into anything near the meaning of a ‘gaseous’ drink)

So let me tell you more about how certain things are inferred on the first sermon of Jesus, the one on the Mount. Matt. 5:3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’. Consider this, much of the populous then had the same mindset as many today recognizing what was being said was controversial and they questioned, “What?” The poor are blessed, not the rich?! Wow, alright, finally, a man of truth! Keep it coming Jesus! Sock it to all the evil loudmouthed arrogant oppressive rich people! Remind them that they are not going to get into heaven! That’s right, if a person wants heaven they need to be humble, meek, and poor like us! Praise God! You see? All you rich aggressive governors, Romans and priests don’t qualify for heaven!’ This is the inferred and this brought them inner joy that real justice did exist! The same as today, we long for humble leaders! We long for words from God that make us happy and free.

4. Vs. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. The Romans were extreme in being macho and flint faced. In that culture you were expected to hide your pain and feelings because you were a proud leader! And thinking of the Romans, If a battalion failed in battle, one in every ten Soldiers were killed as a punishment to provoke fear, and forget expressing tears for your friends being murdered! The climate was that no one of authority should mourn death! But this is very unhealthy! So, Jesus granting liberty to express one’s feelings of sorrow, was liberating and healing! He says by mourning that you would receive comfort…meaning from God…what good news! These words of truth brought inner joy and comfort!

Now here is a strong one, vs. 5 “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth”. If I were a poor nobody in that crowd, I would be rejoicing thinking, ‘Jesus you are God’s man for real!’ Jesus was, in an inferring way, insulting all the terrible aggressive political and religious oppressors! He was disqualifying the powerful, the strong, and the proud city leaders by qualifying the little meek ones as those who are exalted by God! 

The inner joy of the listener is this: Finally someone speaks what we needed to hear, that those terrible corrupt people would not keep dominion in the world but rather lose it all! How amazing, Jesus knew how to speak in such way that one could read through the lines and understand the inferred. And as always, in a climate of lies and deception, of religious and political deception, and of manipulation, by default the truth of God becomes the enemy and it is hated! So what was going to be the reaction of the evil people who were going to persecute Jesus? They schemed to punish Him for being the messenger of truth! Jesus made many feel good, but a few evil ones were furious and wanted Him dead!

5.  Jesus continues on and answers that in verses 10-12. Jesus knew that people will persecute you for being righteous and for speaking the truth! 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

What is strange and ironic is that getting persecuted for the truth will make you feel glad and good! Usually when we see an authority or some angry person out to punish, persecute, and mistreat someone we assume the person attacked deserves it because they must have provoked it. This misguided deducted logic comes from our flawed carnal human nature. Jesus’ words must rewire each person’s brain totally to see the truth clearly, because only His Words and virtues are the ones that redeem, save, and purify the soul. We all need to ask for more of the Holy Spirit’s discernment when it comes to all information we hear!

What Jesus wants us to perceive when the truth is spoken, is that you and I will know which group of violators it is intended for, as it is the ‘hit dogs will howl’! The truth on the ears of the righteous makes them happy and even laughing, but to the contrary, those who come out of the woodwork to persecute, defame, hate, and harm the truth bearers are the demonic ones who cannot take the truth of God! Ironically God’s truths, that offend one group of shamelessly guilty people, liberate and bring joy to others who receive them!

6. So did anyone in the crowd get up and say, ‘Shut up Jesus!?’ No, the crowd felt conviction that Jesus was totally right in all that he had to say, the factor was no one had ever said it as concise and as powerful as Jesus had! At that time everyone read from the prophet’s writings, but the ones reading these writings to the people did not practice them; so the truth when communicated by hypocrites brings mockery. And the truths of God repeatedly apply from one generation to the next; we all note that Jesus often quoted the prophets.

The truths of God are universal and they bring liberation and happiness to those who hear them. “The truth will set you free!” John 8:32 And as in the verse of today from John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. What happens is Jesus brings us inner happiness and joy because His words are God breathed and they encourage, liberate, and strike a chord in our being. While uplifting the humble, weak, and suffering ones, Jesus at the same time was exposing the evil that other leaders at the time feared to expose. This was scandalous! He exposed the uselessness of being so caught up in the proud, heavy, disgusting dry sorrow of the world where one loses focus on the joy and heavenly relief, and even laughter, that can be right there in the midst of us.

7. Here is a verse I love: Psalm 126:2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. This verse I believe is intended to be applied to Jesus! Can you imagine Jesus laughing with His disciples? It will be this way in heaven! So many things that Jesus said and did have a funny side to them, if you look for it! And yet so many Christians we know rarely laugh because they are self-focused instead of kingdom of God focused so they are usually upset about something! 

Don’t we all just want to be happy in God? Don’t many people come to church so they can hear the Word of God and just see their brothers and sisters and forget about the problems in the world and at home? When you and I reflect on Jesus the things of earth grow dim in His glorious light! Coming to church for the fellowship melts away that heavy spirit, it makes go away that headache you woke up with, and God’s word brings you and me inner peace, joy, and good feelings! We can catch the joy if we just connect to Jesus’ Word. You should be tuning out the ever present problems suffocating you and getting a fresh renewal of Jesus when you seek God, amen?

C.S. Lewis expressed it well that, “The world is too much with us!” The inferred truth here is that often we as humans have a tendency to pay too much attention to news, gossip, hearsay, rumors, and ungodly people with ungodly agendas and consequently we get depressed, angry at others, and de-syncopated with God. Better it is to spend time reading the scriptures that bring happiness and joy rather than to let the sound of your own wheels (or those of the grind of the world) drive you crazy!! 

8. Try to start making an effort today and from now on to just totally empty yourself and quiet down your own spirit daily. How great you will feel if you can just capture the full joy and emotional intensity of Jesus words which can make you feel like laughing at times. Let His joy and the Holy Spirit will take over your mind, heart, and spirit. Feed the good wolf, not the bad one, on your shoulder!

Do you want to know how good you should be feeling when in God’s will? Open to, Acts 2:15 ‘For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.’ (9 am). What is inferred here is Jesus followers are laughing and having a good time as if drunk! This is the joy Jesus wants you and I to have, like that of a drunk person! Have you ever been drunk? Better yet, let me ask have you ever felt so good talking about Jesus that you were ecstatic and bubbling over with this kind of joy? I have! But if not, then you need to start preaching Jesus because this wonderful feeling comes when you preach His gospel! 

I can pray for you to be happy, for you to lighten up and laugh, for you to see the humor in Jesus, for you to laugh at yourself, but as always, God’s will and your will must line up together or nothing wonderful will happen! I can’t give you joy or make you laugh, and not even Jesus can give you HIs joy unless you are willing to do your part to fully absorb God’s word of truth and its implications and then obey them totally. It requires repentance. Jesus’ joy will remain in you if you keep on connected to Him! Otherwise, with no change of heart, with no Holy Spirt purge, with no seeking after holiness, you will remain as your same old grumpy dry self that neither God nor those around you are able to put up with! Let’s pray…

Tune In: The Holy Spirit; Tune Out: The World’s Confusion

Tune In: The Holy Spirit; Tune Out: The World’s Confusion    Kelly Durant

 

Luke 11:13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

 

2. Have you ever made a wrong or bad choice and then later you could have kicked yourself for being so gullible and stupid? One that comes to my mind is when my wife and I decided in the 1990s to buy a Kirby vacuum cleaner from a friend of a neighbor. It was a time when our 4 kids were in high school and we really had zero money, but it was only $39.99 a month for 3 years!

 

That would be like $100 or more a month today! I grew up in the 1960s knowing it was a good brand and even though we could not afford it, somehow, we got convinced to buy it. So month after month for 3 years we suffered to find the money to pay for it. I now look upon this as something we did without prayer. All of us are vulnerable to make huge mistakes without prayer, without tuning into the Holy Spirit, and asking the Lord what to do about every decision in life.

 

Here is the problem, we are conditioned since are children by the media and the government schooling to just go along and accept whatever is presented to you whether it is fake or real, right or wrong, helpful or destructive! Subliminally we are conditioned to believe, ‘Resistance is futile’! People who want to make money from you, exploit you, control you, and gain advantage from your naivety are aggressively, intimidatingly, and harmfully trying to make you be their next victim. But, if you have God’s Holy Spirit, you will have a chance to escape! This involves what happens to your body and mind, and your soul’s destiny, whether it will be on the path to heaven or to hell!

 

3. The world’s people and countries were on edge from the recent virus, were they not? Now over Ukraine and China… we could have a world war! What happens to people under stress? When a person is in confusion from contradictory messages, under duress from anguish not knowing how to keep on surviving, when the pressure has produced a breaking point, what occurs? That person, you or me, make irrational decisions; these are usually decisions that will provoke our own harm and self-destruction! We are in dangerous times, and we need the Holy Spirit guidance like never before! It comes by prayer and Bible study! Plus, ‘walking in the counsel of the Godly’ helps a lot! (Read Psalm 1)

 

Just like how my wife and I were in the predicament of being pressured by a salesman that you must sign now, you must commit now, this is the only opportunity, tomorrow we can’t offer this deal ever again, we, as weak humans, not guided by God in all our decisions, cave to the bullying of the people of the world who just won’t go away until they have pocketed you and got you under their thumb! A vacuum cleaner is a simple thing, but the decisions about to be made right now in the near future will have a repercussive affect, not just the destiny of our minds and bodies, but of our souls! 

 

Here is a warning from God which applies to all people who do not obey His righteous statutes, and remember how Pharaoh was punished! Deuteronomy 28:20 “The Lord will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me.”

 

4. History proves to us time and again that when certain people or a previously God respecting nation stops obeying God, when the people become prideful, arrogant and God defiant and produce rat on your neighbor betrayal world, a rat eat rat environment, the Lord allows them to fall under the curse of a self-destructive punishment. When you sew to the wind, you reap the whirlwind! Hosea 8:7.

 

One of the curses is the confusion of not being able to distinguish right from wrong, male from female, Satanic form Godly, or healthy from unhealthy. The disobedient to God seem to always fall under a destruction that comes from the collective wickedness of the entire murderous, exploitive, Satanic system governing around the world from ‘high places’. (Eph. 6) 

 

We can talk all day about where a virus originated, about whether it is man-made or animal transmitted but none of it matters if there is not a resolve on how to live Godly so that God blesses each of us with His protection of health! Exodus 15:26 and said, “If you diligently heed the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His sight, give ear to His commandments and keep all His statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you which I have brought on the Egyptians. For I am the Lord who heals you.” Deuteronomy 7:15 And the Lord will take away from you all sickness and will afflict you with none of the terrible diseases of Egypt which you have known but will lay them on all those who hate you.

 

5. You and I will be faced with some life altering decisions in the very near future. You will be pressured to cave and be silent to the new draconian totalitarian ‘new normal’ which means that you will be tracked and spied upon by different means, one being apps on your iphone, mandated for your own good, to control the spread of a plague. And now there are previously prestigious hospitals training people on how to hunt down everyone you have ever met up with because you had the potential to be a spreader of the virus. The so called ‘protective services’ can take your kids away, and you will be forced into a confinement camp. It happened in Australia and several countries! Doesn’t this bring Nazism to mind?! Christians had better toughen up and be Spirit led over all that is happening!

 

The world’s contradictory confusion has produced these results: 

You must self-quarantine whenever the media experts say to.

You must accept being spied on you for your own good.

You must accept being stripped of travel and other privileges.

You must accept a one world technocratic government to control people.

 

Our world’s situation really looks like a nightmarish sci-fi movie, does it not? It has been Satan’s dream for centuries to psych people with fear to the point they will accept Him and his ‘beast control system’ for humanity’s salvation. Some Christians do see through his recent deceptions and tricks but those without God’s Holy Spirit are infected with the virus of the ‘world’s spirit’ and these are the new victims, the useful idiots, the fearful ones Satan uses to subdue all resistors to his ‘new world order’. Revelation 21:8

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

 

6. We all desperately need the Holy Spirit for guidance and discernment!  Luke 11:13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” Do you want to ask God for His Holy Spirit right now? You should, let’s pause and ask Him…(prayer)

 

There are many verses on the Holy Spirit, but I just want you to know that, ‘the Spirit will guide you into all truth’, it will ‘comfort you’ when in any trouble, and it will ‘give you power’ to be a testimony for Jesus. I can say that at one time when young I was very afraid of being looked upon as a fanatical church idiot. I was prideful and wanted to fit in with the vain false crowd of the world and now I ask myself, how could I have been so dumb and deceived to think those unloving, vain stupid people were cool? They never would have accepted me, an ordinary Joe! The people of the world are always too busy stepping on heads to climb the ladder of success to care what happens to you or me! If you want to find authentic loving caring people, it will only be within the bands of a few Christians.

 

The Holy Spirit power is what solves all our spiritual needs! One of the greatest needs right now is the discernment of what is truth and what is not. Should you trust your health, your financial income, and your future by doing what certain authorities with horrible abusive records say to do? Unless the person speaking is a Christian and has good fruits in his past, then you should not listen, and you should do the opposite of what is suggested. Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

 

7. It is a big challenge to let the Holy Spirit rewire your habits and way of thinking. Almost everyone I know are so proud they can never accept that I, or anyone, could ever offer them any good advice. It is a sad reality but too many Christians have never asked God to fill them with His Holy Spirit, to smash and break them, like the clay in the hands of the potter, to be remade into the image of Jesus. Ask God today to remake you, rewire you, and to most of all not let you do any decision without His Holy Spirit ‘s guidance!

 

Jude 1:10 But these (the people of the world without God’s Spirit) speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves.

 

Today we are appalled at how so many people make irrational decisions, like a dumb animal, and like a parrot, they repeat to their friends and family the enslaving loathsome messages of the world that all must submit to the ‘new’ system?! And those not ‘with the program’ get censured and persecuted! John 15:19 If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 

 

8. Better it is to be loved by God and saved for eternity than to be loved by the world’s debauched perverts who only want to use you and then throw you away like garbage! Better it is to let God lead you than the old serpent Satan who only offers pleasures and wealth for a short time before he drags you into the lake of fire and punishment reserved for the unrighteous.

 

Luke:11:9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. 11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? 13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

 

These verses describe exactly what is happening today. The masses of people are living in uncertainty and confusion, they are hungry for love, for a comforting peace, for truth, for reality, and what does the world offer them? A cold stone of nothing! Solutions that are fake and a scam from the world’s evil rich serpent worshipping bloodlines! Solutions from the nation of the flying serpent that hates God and jails and kills Christians at will! Which do you want, the serpent’s spirit, or the Holy Spirit?

 

9. We are in desperate times! Christians with the Holy Spirit saw the recent reality during the ‘shut down’, liquor stores were open, abortion clinics were open, the rich circulated as they pleased while ‘we the people’ were being told that the churches must remain closed and that everyone must stay at home and that ‘for our own good’?! We knew a totalitarian draconian ‘new world order’ was coming but did we ever imagine that it would be implemented with such velocity? And again it will come, we only went through a trial run.

 

So while you are alone, do you pray and experience God’s presence? He speaks into your mind His Word, His comfort, and His peace. When I pray or write sermons verses come into my mind, and that is God’s Spirit. Every Christian needs to ask God for this kind of an experience! John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

 

The only alternative to being guided by God’s Spirit is to be guided by your own prideful self which is as the confusing serpent’s spirit of the world! Christians, please get serious with God and read His Word as never before! Don’t be ignorant to deceptive ones who will entrap you for their own benefit! Only the strong survive, that is the ones strong in Jesus! We can be empowered by something far greater than ourselves, and that is with the Holy Spirit! Ask for it and believe, and you will understand, speak, and act in the way God wants you to. God’s Spirit is beyond words! It’s a fire that warms your soul and shines a light for all to see!

 

 

Valentines: How to Show Love! Can you perceive it?

How to Show Love! Can you perceive it?        Kelly Durant   2-12-23

 

 

1 John 3:16

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

 

2. We will talk about love today! I actually could talk about love all year long! I was about 13 when the Beatles sang “Love, Love, Love”, and at that time that message was speaking to everyone, “All you need is love! It’s true, but what we need is God’s love, and the love of each other, or we will shrivel up and die!

 

In I John 3:16 (a supplement to John 3:16) it begins with; ‘Hereby, perceive we the love of God’. The first key word is…perceive! Love is not love until you give it away. Love is a manifestation of an action which is from some feeling, or emotion, or passion: an action! Love is hard to describe but to give an illustration it is like the wind that we can see by what its affecting, but we cannot see the wind itself. We often try to write about love, millions have, but it’s complicated!

 

Today some people want to degrade love into having a meaning only in s-x, in something only carnal when love is Spiritual. That is a very huge misconception. In perspective: God is love! 

 

3. Love is the opposite of selfishness, instead of the person making him or herself the owner and center of everything; it is a position that gives up all status and possessions to share with another. Look at the way Jesus showed love! He gave up His life! He even died in a horrible way because it was God’s plan for Him to be our atonement for sin. His love was healing, redeeming, forgiving, and beyond!

 

In the verse we perceive what is implied by knowing all of what Jesus did for us, he died on the cross and gave us the forgiveness of sins and the gift of resurrection for eternal life. 

‘Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren’. He set the example of how far love should go!

 

4. Jesus chose to give up all of what he could offer us, and this included His time, talent, and treasure. He gave up all, all the time while He was alive and then He gave up all in his death. Laying down his life was something that was a proof, and manifestation of love all while here on earth. Laying down His life for us implied that this was for all people of all nations and tribes, in the past, present, and future!

 

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

 

5. The effects of love we can understand, or perceive, in the manifestation of the 3 T’s; time , talent, or treasure. I recall as early as age 14 when one had feelings of love for another girl (or guy for the women) the expected was that you show off your talent. You had to reveal your love! I have written several dozens of poems in my life while in school and I am sure most of you have too. And around this time of year Valentine’s Day cards and poems are sent and mailed and delivered, not to mention chocolate and flowers, so love has become a multimillion dollar industry!  

 

Just to erase any doubts the most beautiful and intense songs I have written have been for my wife Regina! One Chorus of a song states this:

“And every day you choose to stay, shows how love wins anyway!

Hey, I know love is for eternity, Hey, You know it is what made us to be.”

 

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

Sugar is sweet my love, but not as sweet as you! (But being commercialized, few respond to these kinds of words anymore, ha!)

To prove love’s intensity, or passion, you must apply your own personal unique creative inspired talent to make a difference!

 

6. Another proof of love is in treasure, or the sacrificial part; how much are you willing to spend or give up? If she knows you have a lot of money and you buy one rose only, instead of a dozen you may be in trouble for being looked at as cheap! When there is love, the other person expects to be treated with more class than the ordinary. Love must have evidence of being over the top!

 

To prove seriousness, or dedication in love, you must apply your personal money, material goods or treasures. In life, whether it is for your mate, children, parents, or a friend, when you show you are willing to sacrifice in way that it counts, costs, or is a sacrifice, then you make an impression. 

 

Until you or I sacrifice something in a big way, we won’t be proving we have much love. The cost of love is that it does have to come with a sacrifice!

 

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

 

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

Taking these examples on the manifestations of love, we can apply them as a thermometer to determine the hot or cold temperature we have in our love for God.

Let’s review this one more time with loving God and others in mind…

 

8. Talent: Do you share your talent with God and others? Some of you do it well and Regina and I, and everyone here, and in particular God, sees every little thing done with your talents. You show your love by: cooking, painting, teaching, singing, cleaning, leading meetings, and disciplining. God knows the names of the faithful and so do we.

 

Treasure: Any program, any building, any operation requires money and thank God we are able to keep on going due to your tithe and offering support, the support of the outside donations, and by the major gifts donated by those who have it and are generous with it! I know many of you give the maximum of what you can, and God knows, and he blesses the cheerful giver. I have seen others give their time since they did not have any money or goods and that is valid as well and I am amazed at how God keeps providing for the church and for each of you!

 

Time: I have given out books to lots of folks as a tool to help each person spend more time with God. We must be doing more prayer, and more prayer in cell groups too.  Everyone must spend quality time with God, we all must study His word and consume it as our daily bread, so we learn what it is He desires from us. Imagine if you have a friend but you never want to spend time with them or learn about their wishes or needs? It takes time to love!

 

9. We pray and talk to Jesus as our best friend, so He knows we are honoring Him and His Father, and our time spent with Him is proof of our connection to Him through mental and verbal communication. 

 

And finally, finishing the verse it states: ‘and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren’. The point is, Jesus proved His love, He laid down His life: now all of us are forever challenged to prove our love by showing the same level of sacrifice! Thank God very few of us will have to die on a cross like Jesus did but we must be as sacrificial as He was. Proof requires manifestation in time, talent, and treasure all given to God’s work, and to another, a brother or sister!

 

With these perceptions out on the table it is time to evaluate how good a lover you are. Do you spend quality talent, treasure, and time with the one you claim to love? Or with your friends? What about your enemies, Jesus even states for us to love our enemies!

 

And with God? If God were to measure your love for Him, what do you do to show your love for Him and to show your love for your neighbor as yourself? Mark 12:30-31

30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

31 And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

 

10. We have the standard of Jesus laying down His life and this was the maximum love ever expressed by God and by His Son on earth! Doesn’t this type of supernatural, unexplainable, amazing, intense, merciful love provoke a response?! How much will you love back then?

 

There is a limit and a balance to loving others, however. Matt 7:6

6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

 

You and I both have had bad experiences with other human beings with whom we have given a lot of love to; we have given our passion, our dedication, and our confidence only to be betrayed because they were too selfish and arrogant to understand what love is and be reciprocating and thankful. Measure if others are thankful or ungrateful, giving something or nothing in return. Returning indifference for your passion, and indifference for your love is hurtful and sad.

 

Are you a person full of love yet? If you are then let’s see and perceive you serving God, loving Him and others, being on fire, speaking up, and giving of yourself! 

Love everyone today! Love God and Jesus back with a passion! Love your brother and give your life for him or her as the scripture spoke!

A Lost Love: Ephesus and The Church Today

A Lost Love: Ephesus and The Church Today                         Kelly Durant Re: 2-5-23

 

Revelation 2

2:1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things said he that holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

2 I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted.

4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.

5 Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.

6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.

7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

 

2. How many of you have heard the words, “I don’t love you anymore”? Those words really hurt! These words create broken hearts, and broken relationships! I am very sorry if you have had to deal with another person who has said this to you before! I know after several years married many couples may doubt, and ask the question inside, do I really love like I did in the beginning? To speak this is damaging! Never forget that real love, God’s love is so much more than a feeling! God’s love keeps on loving no matter what! God’s love forgives, heals, sacrifices and keeps on loving forever!

 

The current lack of love in people is a sign of the times, Matt 24 “the love of many will wax cold”. Anti-Christ like people of the cruel world only live for their selfish up and down feelings in reference to love. This is why a dedicated Christian should never be unequally yoked with an unbeliever because over time the unbeliever will feel entitled to satisfy their desire for love (lust) by whatever means possible instead of trying to invest their energy into the one they married and swore a lifetime commitment to. The best way to live is to choose to live “in love” everyday! In love with Jesus and those He has put in your life! Pray for love to fill you and it will! Pray, Lord, make me live “in love” with my mate and all humanity! And to love the lost and needy as you did!

 

Today we will continue our study of the modern day church in reference to the sins exposed in the first 7 churches in Revelation. We covered the Church in Laodicea before, today we return to the first one mentioned in the context of the seven in Revelation, Ephesus. Sadly, isn’t it obvious compared to a generation ago, that the church of today has lost its passion to win souls to righteousness, lost its love for Jesus, and lost its mission? The church has allowed apathetic worldly people inside to subvert it with the corrupt culture of the current trends. It is urgent that each Christian must evaluate their own self and get back to their first love for God!

 

3. I love how Jesus is described with the seven spirits, the stars and the candlesticks. Jesus is ascribed to being the light which extends throughout the universe in the stars and also as the light in front of you as a candle in the room. Do you recall His words, Matthew 5:15 “Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house”. Jesus is our light! His light is life itself! Many candles make the church shine if they are lit!

 

Go to Verse 2, “I know thy works, and thy labor, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:” Jesus is praising the true ones in Ephesus! They are working hard, have good works, and they have patience with others. We all fail and it is important to put up with each other with love and forgiveness, and here we learn that they are mature in several ways.

 

Jesus is also praising them for not tolerating in their fellowship those that are pretending to be apostles (which are ones who claim they follow Jesus) but instead they are false, hypocrites, and liars. This means they are praying, singing hymns, listening to the Word studied together but they are doing it with false pretenses having no intention of being a true Christ lover. Have we seen people like this in our churches? They seem to do what a Christian does, copying the actions, but when they are out in normal life, they are as crooked as a snake. Sadly, too many churches tolerate people who are false pretenders and hypocrites and these few bad apples causes others to get turned off and never what to come back! How damaging this is!

 

4. Vs3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Interesting, Jesus once again praises them a second time for working well serving in His name, for having patience, and he highlights they have not fainted or given up. This implies they have had problems and resistance. Have you ever felt like giving up? I have a few dozen times! But after I pray about it and give it to Jesus, Jesus seems to always encourage me somehow and I keep on going!  Ask yourself, have I ever fainted? Do I labor as expected?

 

Jesus expresses Himself as any good teacher, He first praises the good, and then He comes down with the bad news. 4 “Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love”.

What was I mentioning a few minutes ago about not being in love? A life without love hurts! The first love refers to how it is when you are first starting out enthusiastic, optimistic, and hopeful as a couple “in love”. You do anything and everything the other person wants because your happiness is their happiness! One who is full of love serves, respects, and has full focus on the needs and desires of the other. Is there evidence of you having a passionate love for Jesus?

 

When you lose your love for someone you do not care to make them happy anymore: in essence you pass from a selfless phase to a selfish phase! Losing love is tragic! This is what happened to the Ephesians in Revelation 2. The whole point of Jesus coming to earth was to teach us to love! A church or Corps should be the most loving place in the city! John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Churches with loveless people are not representative of Jesus, think about that!

 

5. A Christian leader who has been around for a long time and loses their first love for Jesus also loses their love for their brothers and sisters in the church and for the lost outside the church. How is, or not, love? I Cor. 13: 3 “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”  Do you know of Christians who serve the poor but with a bad attitude? They do it just because they are required to by their peer group or their job description but their heart is not really into it! They are not loving those a lot less fortunate than them! It is painful to put up with someone without love! It is also painful to observe many churches in America have lost their first love for Jesus!

 

You and I know people who probably started out loving Jesus but then they lost their first love so how do they act? The opposite of this: 4 “Love suffers long and is kind (they are impatient and mean to  others); love does not envy (they are jealous of those who have a better situation than them); love does not parade itself, is not puffed up (they are arrogant and proud of their power position and accomplishments); 5 does not behave rudely (they are rude and humiliate you and others), does not seek its own  (their self-interests always come to light), is not provoked, thinks no evil (they get angry quickly and want to harm to those they don’t like); It is tragic how each of us suffer under those with no love!

 

Let’s continue to compare how people with love and those without love behave: 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth (they are happy when someone insulting and bad pulls a fast one); 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”(Loveless ones are not tolerant of others claiming they are tolerant but are hypocrites and unjust, they do not expect good outcomes and always bear bad news, they disillusion others and make them lose faith and hope, and they do not want to put up with anyone because only they know how to do everything) Sadly everyone else around them perceives them to be just ignorant, belligerent fools pretending to be good!  

 

6. Vs.5 “Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; (of doing things with a passionate love!) or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.” Jesus is stating He will allow their fellowship to be removed and disbanded if they do not repent and get back to having the passion and love they once had.  Haven’t we already seen too many churches disbanded from a lack of love for God and others! The enemy today is attacking fiercely with apathy and dissention using divisive popularized controversial matters.

 

I can say in my lifetime I have seen several Christian ministries come and go! What happened? People may start off great, loving Jesus, and laboring for Him but then the light goes out if over time some problem gets in the way. It is usually these things that destroy Christian fellowships: false teachings, a lack of patient love gets replaced by a legalistic self-righteousness, or an apathetic laziness to keep up the good work loving and serving others. Also, the light goes out when a person or group of proud leaders in charge refuse to see their faults and their church’s faults! The leader should be bringing everyone closer to God loving Jesus more!

 

Vs. 6 “But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitanes, which I also hate.” Despite the warning, Jesus praises them again for rejecting a group of false infiltrators. Notice that Jesus says He hates these people, the Nicolaitians. So Jesus loves, but He also hates those who are hypocrites and false to profane the will and love of God! If one of these Nicolaitians were to repent, I am sure God would have received him, but the subversion of Jesus’ teachings is an abomination!

 

7. It is speculated by theologians that the Nicolaitians were a local gnostic group that rose to power and faded away after a few years. “Nike” (first part of word “Nic”), in Greek means to conquer, and “laitian” refers to people (as in the word laity), so their name has the connotation of meaning “those who conquer people”. So how did they conquer? By deceit, they were liars and false ones infiltrating the brethren to abandon absolute faith in Jesus and mix it with the world. 

 

From history we know that the early church had a battle with those who claimed there was no resurrection. What conquered thousands of early believers was the conviction with which the disciples retold the story of Jesus resurrection! For a person or group to counter that and say that it is a lie is a huge offense and insult to Jesus’ life, death, sacrifice, and resurrection!  Any resurrection denier is in effect a liar deceived by Satan! Today there are too many loudmouthed disrespecters of Jesus! Jesus’ life and doctrine was pure love, so anything not of that is of Satan!

 

Possible other offenses were that these people being Greeks, thought that since in their worldview no God is pure and holy or capable of saving someone from Hades, (their Greek gods were definitely not divine in their behavior!) then they could justifiably live as hypocrites claiming one could be loyal to Jesus for certain moments, and then participate with the other Greek pagan god’s filthy pleasures as well. This false doctrine meant that they did not have to live a holy life, but rather they could participate in Greek orgies doing abominable things, thinking its fine to please your flesh in unholy ways since the other gods were of this nature. Do you know of any hypocrite person who partakes in all the things of the world during the week yet they go to a Sunday worship thinking its ok with God? Today we see many world-pleasing hypocrites as were the Christians that were in Ephesus! The remedy is to repent, which means to leave it behind and never go back to it! It is all Jesus and nothing else! By observation we see that corruption and modern day Nicolaitian type behaviors have infiltrated every company, government, and church! It’s live mixing love with hate, and they cannot mix!

 

8. Vs. 7 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Basically Jesus is commanding us to be spiritually attentive! We must listen to what He says about the churches, and since He is alive in the Spirit, Jesus still speaks to those that listen concerning the state of affairs of the churches. Those who study understand and see clearly.

 

Where do we read about the tree of life? It is the tree that God prevented Adam and Eve from eating from so they would not live forever.  Genesis 3:24 So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life. But after we die and become spirit, we will be enjoying this tree again in heaven! 

 

But we see a condition here to gaining this privilege, what is that? It is to overcome, “To him that overcometh”. In this case what is Jesus referring to? To overcome what? Within all the context it means to overcome the apathy and falseness He is exposing. What did they need to overcome? What do you personally need to overcome so God will be pleased with you?

 

9. The Christians in Ephesus, and all Christians today must overcome these obstacles:

A) To not lose one’s first love for Jesus

B) To not lose the ability to repent from their failures

C) To hate hypocrisy and evil workers as Jesus hates them.

 

Have you lost your first love? Some people come into our doors excited that they have discovered that Jesus is real, they have their eyes opened, and their hearts are on fire. But then due to their peers or family criticizing them, due to resistance from the world, they stop coming to worship and love Jesus, and they lose their “first love”. How tragic! Like the seed that was sewn and grew, but then died before it could flourish into a beautiful plant!

 

Jesus always offers us a chance to repent! Everyday, and not just on Sundays after the sermon, we should be examining our hearts to repent of any wrong behavior, of any behavior that was not done in love. It is a sin to live without a passionate love for God and Jesus! Pray to love passionately and eternally as God loved us!