Love = Life A Study of Love in I John 3

 Love = Life   A Study of Love in I John 3                       by   Kelly Durant   2-3-13

Money can buy a dog, but only love can make his tail wag! You can give a beggar bread, but if you put butter on in, then that is love!

When I was in college years ago and I was studying all the religions of the world, I was hoping to find one that could meet my spiritual needs and my desire to be loved. Even though my mother was nice, I actually was disappointed in the lack of love that existed in most everyone I knew. God made us to hunger for love! Only His love can satisfy us!

In the early 70’s Buda was popular, transcendental meditation was popular, and I tried these for a while but they did not fill the spiritual emptiness of love that I longed for. It was only when I was invited in the home of some non-judgmental (say this because my hair was long then), loving Christian missionaries that I experienced a hug and love as I had not known it before! It was their love and sincere interest in me that touched my heart my to want to hear what they had to say and make me want serve Jesus and be an on-fire Christian as they were. Love=time: we must show it in some way to prove it!

Today we are in the month of love and will do a study on love as the Bible describes it in I John. I want to tell you, when the news gets back to me that one of you did something loving for another my heart jumps for gladness and I praise God for you!

In the same manner, when someone reports on someone doing something unloving mine and Regina’s heart gets very sad, angry, and disappointed. God has no other hands to serve others with but ours and they do nothing good if they are not motivated by love!

Remember John the disciple was called the beloved because he got that good name from understanding and practicing his master’s love. John is my favorite disciple!

1 John 3

3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are, children of God or of love! That is our main characteristic!

No Christian should ever say that they are unloved or do not know or have love, because only the lovers and followers of Jesus get to be the sons of a God love! You are very special! If the entire world treats you like you are trash, if all your family rejects you, if your life gets complicated, you can still sleep in peace to know that you are special and that you could die happy because you are loved by God!... and that love is enough to make you cry and sing, and praise Him for the rest your life!

2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

The greatest love of all is that Jesus will not let us die just as He did not die! One day we will get to resurrect and have a supernatural body as He has. That is what the verse is stating; that we will be like Him one day! Love is sharing with another the same gifts you have, and Jesus’ love includes giving us in the future a supernatural body as His is! 

3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.

Here is an important detail, just as Jesus is pure, we must be pure in order to feel and experience being in His beautiful love!

Pure people wake up in the morning and purify themselves, and they use God’s word and prayer like bleach and they clean their minds and hearts. Those who are not pure wake up and start throwing dirt on others and in the process get their selves dirty! How pure are you? Love means making your thoughts, your heart, and your spirit clean by prayers, obedience, and the Word.

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.

I want you to see the shift in the context in which John explains it. It implies, you either have God’s love and live in it, or without it you will have sin and with sin you will be separated from God!

This is a good thesis statement for the day: You either have love, or you have sin!

When people do wrong things they are breaking the law. Do not worry, all of us have broken the law in our days of ignorance and Jesus forgave us, but Jesus tells us to go and sin no more! In other words, you will not be able to feel nor enjoy God’s love in your life if you keep on sinning and doing wrong, unloving things. These words in this chapter are of love but they are strong; they say that you do not even know Jesus if you keep on sinning and hurting God and others which means you will not have eternal life and go to heaven if you do not stop doing your sins and start loving God, Jesus, and everyone!

7 Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.

Isn’t that clear, it is as simple as this, if a person does good and loves and stops sinning, then they are in God’s righteousness. People can distinguish between a rose and a weed right away! Unjust people are unjust in everything! Good and righteous people are good and righteous in everything!

 8 He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work.

It does not matter what addiction, what sin, what problem you have, Jesus came to free everyone from it; and if we are letting His love work, all the chains of the flesh will be cut off and Jesus will be the victorious one governing in your life and mine!

Often we forget to remind people that Satan is real. He comes into our minds and even in our lives in this world through evil people to temp us to be participating in a sin, to be cold hearted, selfish, and proud, and to destroy others that are of God that expose your unrighteousness preventing you from getting your wants.

 9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

In the end you will be judged to be a child of God or a child of the devil according your actions, whether you loved your brother or not! And you are either of God or of the devil according to who you love. Did you choose to do what is right or did you not care and sin against God knowing it causes everyone to stumble by seeing your horrible example?

11 This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

My brothers and sisters, up until now we are getting this message over and over to love one another!

 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous.

Now we are seeing a new element that destroys the love between us…jealousy! Cain killed his brother because Able was loved, or accepted by God more than Him over the sacrifice. Able was simple, he just loved and obeyed God; whereas Cain did not want to love and obey God as God wanted and his sin caused him to hate and  attack his brother.

Everyone sees this sin of attacking and killing others verbally every day in the news media and in families. This hate and jealousy is even within the churches and everywhere, and this is a product of having no love, God, or forgiveness at all; It is sin as the jealousy leads to hate, and then it leads to murder!

13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. 14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.

Here we are getting a repeat of how not having love makes a person a murderer whether there is a dead body or not! He wants us to understand, if you hate your brother you will not have eternal life! In the world the non-Christians hate us because we proclaim Jesus, and anyone hating will have to pay with eternal death for their charge of being a murderer. And as stated here only being in God’s love brings us into life eternal!

16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

There is the ultimate test of love, have you laid down your life as Jesus for dis for us? Many people will not give up $10, or even one hour for someone in need! True Christians, however, do what ever they need to for Jesus and for their brothers! Ask your self, how much do I lay down my life for the brothers and sisters? What have I done lately that is proof of a real sacrifice for others? How much love do you have?

 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

In other words, this love is not just talk, “I love you”? No, love makes sacrifices to help and shows pity. That is what the Salvation Army, and every Christian should be about, that we should be doing actions to prove we are loving and showing God’s love by doing actions from our hearts. Many times I have given away my furniture, clothes, and things.

19 This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20 whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

Only you know how you are in your heart, if you feel condemned or not. When you go to bed at night, do you feel restless like there was something you needed to do that God brings into your mind? It says it here clearly that God knows everything! If something is not right, then fix it as soon as possible! If you were unloving, go back and doing something loving!

21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God

So when a person feels guilty for not being loving due to sinning and not helping someone as we are clearly taught to do; it is judgment and consequences that they will have. They will have a disturbed, sad, and restless heart, not just now on earth, but forever in hell as there is nor rest for the wicked!

22 and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

The implication here is God will answer prayer if we are in Him, loving and obeying Him, but if not, God does not answer our prayers! That is only fair right? You do not reward a child with an ice cream who has been disobeying you all week! But those who love by doing deeds of love, these are the ones who have a good relationship with God, and a confidence that He is close and they get their prayers answered in the way God sees fit.

23 And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 Those who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.

Does your spirit sense God near you? You know or not if you really believe in Jesus love: you measure your love by how much you believe, obey, and live in Him! Let’s love and obey all the way! Amen? Ask God for more love!

Today: Leadership, What You Need!

Leadership Jesus Way: What You Need                                 Kelly Durant  1-28-13

I Tim 3:1-7

Forest Gump! Who saw the movie? There is a part where he starts running across the U.S. from state to state and everyone that sees him running thinks he is a wise guru of some kind and that they need to follow and run with him. So from place to place he picks up more and more people following him expecting wisdom. But then after many months, and many people questioning… What are we running for, where are we going?...he breaks down and his words of wisdom are, I’m tired! He wasn’t going anywhere!

Believe it or not this stereotypies many people recognized as leaders in the world, who run from one cause to the next to support any old thing but in the end the followers discover that these leaders weren’t really going anywhere nor, was their cause worth what the public was sold! Like what happened to Lance Armstrong.  

Leadership today is very important! I am very pleased with most all of you as Local Leaders here in Hialeah! Leaders have followers, but have you ever asked yourself, what are my attributes that makes me worthy of having followers?

Let’s review some principles of leadership that can help guide us on what can make us worthy.

Paul in the scripture of today tells Timothy what qualities leaders must possess. These are the basics of holiness, and we need more leaders in all areas, but we need leaders with good qualities and with the same vision as Jesus.

In the scripture we see what qualities a leader, or a bishop, or a Local Officer, (same position) needs with these words, and make the personal with each characteristic looking at yourself:

To be blameless, Can anyone accuse you of a wrong doing?;

Faithful to his mate, Are you still there despite temptations?;

Vigilant, Do you worry about what could endanger others and the church?;

Sober, Do you confront with seriousness matters of concern?;

Hospitable, Will you receive and attend to visitors when they are here?;

Apt to teach, Are you training others for your job?

Not a drinker, Do you always remain without intoxication?;

Not violent, Do you have control over your anger?;

Not greedy, Do you want to be rich and that is your main focus?;

Patient, Can you endure the mistakes and problems of others with kindness and patience?;

Not argumentative, Some people love conflict and always speak the contrary, do you do that?;

Not covetous, Are you happy when someone prospers, or envious and hate them?

Controls his children, Are you involved with your kids to make them be courteous, respectful?;

Not a novice, Are you inexperienced in something but yet you want to be in charge?;

And with a good report with all, How many people like being with you and do they like you because you are an example of a servant?

These are some challenges from the scriptures. Do you possess these qualities as a leader? Most of you do actually, but there are always some areas in which we all must grow. I personally believe in giving people a break, if most everything is good, say passing with a D or C grade, then there is potential! So look over this list and let the Lord speak to you where you could grow.

Regina and I have seen all kinds of leaders in our lives and all kinds of styles & personalities. In the scripture we see that the good is mentioned along with the negative not to have and I will give you the most common 3 bad examples we have seen in our experiences and then 3 positive points on how Jesus taught us to be.

1)            There is the leader who lacks respect to authority to the pastors, the Captains, the leaders in general, or the church to which he or she says they belong to. These are leaders who tell others behind your back they do not agree with things but in front of you they are silent because they know inwardly they are wrong. These are the argumentative and conflictive ones. Have you seen this kind?

We have heard that good followers make good leaders and that is because they listen and learn, but those who never follow never really learn anything to lead anyone with! Do you respect others?

2)            The prideful leader. This is the one who always thinks he or she knows more than you. They are like the taxi driver that you tell him the shortest way home but he insists he knows better than you and takes you on a long route, has that ever happened to you? It did to me all the time in So. America! With no humility this kind of leader will never be useful nor train others because they always want others to see them as a great leader since they know everything, and they are selfish with their skills, knowledge, and delegation.

3)            The novice leader who doesn’t know what he or she is doing but is greedy with the power or position. Regina and I have been shocked sometimes when we have given a person a little power of authority in the church and then this person starts ordering everybody around to be serving them as if they were a slave driving boss! How sad it is when a person can seem nice but then with a title they have a personality change and tell everyone what to do. Have you seen that too?

So what were Jesus’ principle ways of managing things as a leader?

-First point, Jesus called his 12 disciples from very different backgrounds. He formed a diverse teamwork! I want to work with each and every one of you as each person has a unique perspective, and all good leaders include everyone for decisions on their team. You are my team, the only one I have! Do you believe that each person here is valuable even though they may be very different from you?

 If we were to compare you to the disciples in this Corps I think we could see some here that are like John, Peter, and or Matthew, and there are faithful women followers too like Mary and Martha.

-Second, Jesus gave an example to his followers on how to bring the message of God’s Kingdom and salvation to the masses and to the individual people. He starts off in the synagogue reading from Isa 61, how He is the Messiah, God’s chosen, and then He goes on to preach the sermon on the mount to thousands. Later He travels and talks to only one woman at the well, and then to one lone rabbi, etc.

What we see is Jesus shares the message to everyone, anywhere, anyplace, and anytime! A leader is not just a leader in a group but also he is one to individual people as well! He teaches his followers how to adapt and be ready all the time as the scripture says,” Be instant in season out of season.” Do you share what you know with others?

-Third, Jesus is the great Rabbi or teacher so he is constantly teaching his disciples about the kingdom of God, preparing them for their mission of preaching and teaching the gospel to every creature to repeat what He did.

We conclude that if you follow God, He expects you to learn to work together with others of the same mission in teamwork, even though they have their faults; observe and learn teachings while serving; and finally you get equipped to prepare others so they too will understand God’s plan in their lives and obey it and do the same.   2 Timothy 2:2

2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

Now, after Jesus has gone in the clouds, what did the disciples do? The waited on the power of God in order to do the job!  Later they all eventually went in different directions to preach the gospel with their own leadership style! After the day of Pentecost, after Acts 1:8 God gave Acts 8:1, to get the mission done in all places so they hear the preaching of the gospel. And in the end each disciple ended up as leaders for Jesus in many different faraway places!

You may not end up getting killed for the mission as they did but what did they do that you can do too? You can each fulfill the mission that God called you to! Don’t wait until the persecution either!

 3 simple points: Jesus formed a team, Jesus shared the message to everyone along his way, and Jesus taught or prepared his team on what to do to repeat the mission after He was gone.

Something great and wonderful is here in Hialeah and God is raising many of you up as leaders here to take care of all the new people that will be coming in as new members! Don’t forget, your job as leader is YOU must train others!

 You may ask then, well we are to imitate Jesus, to be more like Him, so how are we doing that in the Hialeah Corps? Well, first of all, all of us as a team must continue on empowering each other as better leaders by sharing our talents and skills. Also, always we need to get you signed up and get qualified on paper to be recognized.

Think of how you will be spending time to be getting preparing for your individual tasks. By now most of you have gotten the Local Officer’s Job Descriptions and if not we will give you copy. Many of you have many talents and we just need to get you prepared and get you more busy!

Each of you should be taking care of each other. We had a list of who would be in touch with who, so after one year, did it help? Do we need to revive it? You have already been learning Bible from each other and you time will come for you to have your own band of 10 to 12 followers that you will be training in the Word, in doctrine, and how to keep on doing your job after you go.

Let’s imagine this Corps only 10 years from now. Where will you be then? It will be the ones in their 20’s and teens that will be best equipped to take over, don’t you think? If today you can go back 10 years and remember what it was like here, some of you were here, but you can name only a few that have been here even that long! So time always implies a changing of the guard and a new set of leaders and members, and do you think we have people who are prepared enough to handle the jobs then?

 When I am not here on a Sunday, there are several of you that are very capable of preaching and running things, I hope that when any one of you is absent too, another person here will be trained by you in your job position to replace you too.  Have you prepared someone?

So let’s review, leadership is all about being worthy, holy, qualified, and trained, prepared, and then passing all of that on to the one behind you! In the Salvation Army, do you wear the uniform, be faithful to inform another when you cannot attend to something, and do you volunteer to do what you are capable of doing as much as possible?

Jesus was the model leader to his followers, showing love for all and he took time for the masses and each person who had a need! Jesus taught them, and Paul taught Timothy and the ones after them taught others.

Ask yourself, am I being faithful to train another? Am I being a good example and good mentor? Young people, who do you want to be your mentor to be amongst the more experience ones? We need to make ourselves more likable, more patient, more willing, and more like Jesus, are you ready to lead?

Let’s pray.

    

Missing:Leadership! Be A Real Leader!

Be a Real Leader!                                           By Kelly Durant  1-20-13

Matthew 20:20-28

1.And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared of my Father.

2.There was a movie (Top Gun, 1986) in which some cadet pilots were going out to do a practice flight and dog fight. One arrogant young man said to another, you will be my wingman (meaning he is making himself the main one or leader) but the other one protested, No, you will be my wingman! This is the power struggle in life for everyone, as everyone is always fighting for who will be in charge no matter where you go!

Don’t forget a lot more could get done for God if we did not worry about who got the glory (or credit)! The fact is each and every one of you that come here, in particular Soldiers, are considered to be leaders and we expect you to lead, follow and not “get out of the way” but rather get help for what is happening in your personal life stopping you from doing more for God! When you do something for God or His work, you get blessed for your faithfulness!

In families, in governments and politics, in sales and industrial companies, in youth and adult sports, in every community system, and sadly even in churches, the people desiring power, position, authority, and recognition can many times be jeopardizing progress and be embarrassing! Everyone should forget about who does what and just do whatever is needed!

3.My wife and I are proud of many of you who worked extra hard to make the building nice this past week. Out of the 100 people here on Sunday, we get about 10-15 of you to show up most of the time to work and thank you so much for your hard work!. How many of you have ever gotten an award or recognition for something you have done that took extra effort? It is Biblical to give honor to whom honor is due! And with the Lord’s work you get recompensed in heaven! Hebreos 6:10-12

Leadership in general today, however, needs attention, leaders are scare as few want to do the work, or there are leaders who want a title but they are not leading as they should.

4.There is an old Latino song that says, “Quitate tu para ponerme yo!” {Get out of my way, so I can be in your place (in control)}. This song seems to sums up the idea many people have about positions of power which they think should just be handed to them because they are aggressive sharks and they can just take it. They misunderstand what leadership is and how it requires a great deal of training, responsibility, faithfulness, sacrifice, dedication, and lots of hard-work to produce the results needed. Leaders are not born in royalty, they are common people that get shaped by practice, mistakes, and experience!

Today most everyone agrees, globally we have a leadership deficit in every system no matter where you look. Few people step up to the plate to be totally dedicated, sacrificial and be the one to take the heat when failures occur. It is the lazy human nature in many people to want to enjoy the benefits of being a leader without doing the work! Thank the Lord many of you here do work when it is needed!

But today many people around the world, due to assistance programs and hand-outs have adapted an “entitlement” mentality. Many people have the idea that a leadership position should just be given if you kiss up to the right person. Some people want to be the leader out of pride so they can run the show and just sit comfortably telling others what to do. This is the problem, many people in the world are running the show without a clue of what they are doing! And like the saying goes, If you want to know what a person really is like, give them power and see what they do with it! Many people abuse authority. Personally, I recommend that leaders be as careful as possible while leading so they don’t crash and sink the ship!

5.In the verses of today we see the power struggle, the envy, and the competition of the disciples amongst their selves on who will be the big leader with the most benefits and privileges. Imagine, even in such a group so small as 12, there was politicking going on so that the mother asked for her 2 sons to have more authority than the other 10! And in verse 24 it says the other 10 were indignant, and this is the way any one of us would feel when another person is trying to assume a power over you just because they think they deserve more than you?!  

Let’s expound on these verses so you may gain insight as to how Jesus was teaching certain principles about being a leader. God’s ways are not our ways, and often people think that rank, position, and privileges are achieved by getting the leader’s favor. The world’s systems are unfair and confused and politics may work unfairly but they do not get past a righteous God. 6.(&7).There are 3 clarifications about how positions are gained concluded from the verses of study of today:

1.      Real leaders are not put in authority positions due to favoritism.

Jesus answered the disciples wisely, over positions, telling them they had no say so in the matter and that only God decides. Not even Jesus would make that call: He wanted God and the Holy Spirit in on that one! Who ends up with what position in the end has a lot to do with what that person does, and with what the others involved decide in the decision making. This proves that authority is given not just on one person’s call. The assumption too many people believe is that they can decide things, or manipulate things in their favor through their leader. But when a person tries to affirm power by the back door way, there will always be an expected resistance from others.

2.      Leaders gain position by great sacrifice.

What Jesus replied was oh, you want to have the power I have? Well, then you will have to drink from my cup and suffer what I will suffer, and get the anointing, or baptism, that I have in order to share it with me.  They agreed they would drink from his cup and suffer with Him, but they must have been somewhat pretentious to agree so quickly. Jesus even said you don’t know what you are asking for!

They actually were sacrificing a more comfortable life to follow Jesus around to preach the controversial new good news of a salvation for all, but they did not know at that time that they really would suffer great pain similar to Him! They all suffered a martyr’s death for Him! To reach honor and status one has to give up everything, or basically give your life to the cause!

3.      Leaders must be humble being willing to minister and serve in every way needed.

Jesus said: 26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; 27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:   To be a leader, you cannot just come into any place and start dictating orders to others how you want things changing the system. That leads to disaster! On has to be willing to come in and serve others on their level, and be patient to train others to serve after you leave. You must not care who may see you as less than them, you are a servant to them. We often serve even when you know you know much more than the other one on certain matters. To honor another as greater than yourself is too humiliating for some people but God requires it.     Philippians 2:3

8.Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

I recall my son, Chris, when he was 16 worked a year at the McDonalds just down the street from our house. He first learned to mop floors and do clean-up, then how to cook, then how to do the cash register. He basically took and learned about 6 training courses and then they told him he could become a manager. When the 30 something year olds who worked there for quite some time who were never willing to learn about management heard about how he might could be a manger soon they started hating him! Always leadership comes with a price and then you have to take the heat! Leaders are often lonely as few friends stay as friends when they feel they have to take orders from you. But only good followers make good leaders!

In the world, however, not usually are the hard workers recompensed as they should be. In the world we often see the buddy system at work, and aggressive undeserving, untrained, proud character-less people usually gain leadership positions. But usually their time is not for long as they always make a royal mess of things! Our world’s systems are very messed up due to this.

 Leadership ability: It is not gained by time accumulated somewhere but gained by training, not by a person’s age or skills not relevant to the tasks required, but rather it is earned by integrity and practicing virtues of character. The goal is to be FAT: Faithful, Available, and Trainable!

9.The good news is in the Salvation Army we are always doing ongoing trainings. We have weekend seminars here at the Corps, we have the DLOTS and when someone says they want to be more involved or become an Officer, they will get dozens of books to study, read, and then put into practice. Actually every Soldier age 14 and older is expected to be a leader and be busy doing a program or job of some kind for the Corps, with the youth, kids, or adults. When Jesus said to serve and minister, He left it open as there are dozens of ways to do that!

I think all of us have a natural desire to be the leader of something! But here is a problem of being a leader; it makes you a target for criticism! I always find it ridiculous how some people will complain about things. Complaining is the way some people think they will gain influence over others. They think that by putting down what others do, as if they were the expert, they will make their selves out to be superior to the boss and people will follow them as a leader.

Some people try to make their selves look better than the leader who does all the behind the scenes work. Like the time someone commented on the Corps food, that the meat was too cold, and the rice was too tasteless. The target in my mind was not the cook but the unappreciative person complaining and I thought, yeah, and you have never been in the kitchen to know what it is like to prepare a huge meal and then serve it to over 100 people! We should always praise those that work even though not every time will everything be perfect!

So concerning correcting leaders, you shouldn’t get into as you may lack the facts but you should consult the main leader first. When Peter was out of line boasting, Jesus corrected him, but it did not mean that Peter was disqualified for the job the Lord had called him for. Leaders at times fall and sin just like anyone else because they are human, but if God has a plan for them, trust that God knows how to bring them back into line. Always focus on your mission!

10.Those that work hard should get a reward and recognition for their job well done, don’t you agree? Be one of those that God is proud of. So after studying and preparing yourself with what you like, lead and put it into practice! Is God calling you to lead, follow, or learn how to do one of the two? But don’t be like the disciples that worried about who is first, just start serving!

A real leader learns, earns, and then burns bright for Jesus! Humbly serve in any way that is needed! Pray to lead as God expects from you! God and everyone will support you! 

Does Jesus Discriminate?

What to Discriminate Against!                          By Kelly Durant          1-13-13

2 Today on the calendar is the Sunday when we celebrate cultures or better described, it is when we seek to reconcile cultural differences and this applies quite well in this great country where one in three people are a minority!

This special day is based around Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Thank God for the advancements of his marches in the 60s which affect us today as there is a little more equality and respect and laws were made to lift up the underprivileged. There is still a lot more that needs to be done though! Too bad there was not a Native American MLK; sadly before the time of TV, human rights and minority defenders were just persecuted and killed!

But think about it, the 1960’s were not so long ago! I was 5, some of you here were 20 and others -20 before birth, and we might often wonder, why did it take so many centuries in this country for someone to bring up this issue of in-equality and oppression and suppression? What it amounts to is few people are willing to fight for something that could cost them everything!

We should give credit where credit is due to the perseverance of Dr. MLK Jr. who was an evangelical Christian; he simply demanded that everyone live by the standards of our God of love to “love your neighbor as yourself”, and “do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. Have you ever demanded that? 

3 That is the standard that we as Christians must live up to! The “others” includes e-v-e-r-y-one! If not, we are hypocrites and in Jn 4: 20 we read: If a man says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? The punishment is eternal death for not loving God, Jesus, or your brother or any other person!

Discrimination is always a two-way street, coming from both sides, but one side is usually more in a position of power to abuse than the other side. Present in all races and cultures are hate, discrimination, rejection, oppression and the sins of people devoid of God’s understanding. Our job is to bring light to the dark places!

Discrimination has been, and still is, present in all countries amongst all races with one race against another, one political position against another, one religion against another, and one social class against another. These clashes provoke violence and death!

4 We have to take an honest look at all countries and nations and conclude that most all of them have virtually perpetrated class discrimination, race discrimination, sexism or gender discrimination, and eternal salvation-selection discrimination due to their ignorance or rejection of the Word of God in the Bible.

When we think of discrimination we usually only think of racism, but it also includes education levels classes, and much more. The most amazing thing is that Jesus, being Jewish, contrary to those of the culture of his day, proved Himself to be the most non-racist, non-prejudice all-inclusive person of all time and this unique quality has surpassed all the other religious teachings of the world. 

Jesus heart-warming love is convicting, challenging and supernaturally divine! No wonder about one billion people claim to follow Him, they desire His all-inclusive non-discriminatory love!

5 What are the best proofs of Jesus non-discrimination and acceptance of others? Consider all the controversial people he reverenced such as his own disciples, the Samaritan woman, the non-Jewish prostitute caught in the act of sin, and much more!

Jesus was an intelligent educated Jew in the Torah and he had a social status by race, and multicultural multilingual education that would put Him in a status well above all others around him, yet he was not arrogant, condescending or discriminatory like those similar to himself near him. He was revolutionary and different, reflecting how God is: He is loving and accepting of everyone!

Jesus was never discriminatory of races: He shared the gospel with all cultures and races in his region preaching that the Good Samaritan was God’s hero.

Jesus was never discriminatory against the social classes: He chose 4 poor fishermen and chose a rich tax collector, so he included every economic class!

Jesus was never discriminatory against the sexes: He had women followers and respected all women spending time with them teaching them and healing them.

6 Today different types of discrimination exist and here are just a few: Ageism, Caste Classism, Colorism, Genism, Heightism, Linguicism, Lookism, Mentalism, Racism, Rankism, Religionism, Sexism, Sexualism, Sizeism, and Weightism.

Most all of us experience rejection almost every day in some form or another and sometimes this provokes real lasting pain. How many of you believe you carry some scars from discrimination against you in your past? Raise your hands…

Isn’t it good to know God loves you and me and He accepts us all just as we are? After all He made each of us and God must love all kinds to make us so diverse!

7 But does God discriminate? Yes! God does reject evil which is a not product of His being, or holiness. The more holy and Godly a person is, the more appalled they are by the sin in their own lives and by the sin in the world. 

Jesus discriminated and rejected and condemned the hypocrites and those that would not accept His Word as truth! He cast out demons as well, so He did display a serious discrimination and rejection of evil and of destructive abusive behaviors!

But to those who accepted Him, they gained eternal life! Read…

 1 John 5:12 He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.

8 God is a consuming fire, He is holy and anything unholy in his presence is burnt up! He is good and He rejects evil which is a product of rebellion and pride being the opposite and anti-thesis of what He is. Each of us should reject evil and discriminate against all destructive damaging behaviors as well. We must, as Jesus, play a role in exposing them, stopping them, and in bringing healing afterwards.  

Evil and good is manifested in different ways within all the races, sexes, but our role is to uphold God’s standards of non-discriminating love loving others to Him.

The purpose of God distinguishing and having a chosen people in the O.T. was to expose the evil in the tribes and cultures in that day that had horrible practices. God wanted his people to dominate with righteousness and holiness and He still wants his people extending the Kingdom of God of earth.   Exodus 23:23

For mine Angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the Amorites, and the Hittites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites: and I will cut them off.  

In the O.T. God had to impose dominion because the evil practices of these tribes and nations were horrible and what is shocking and horrible is still some of these practices continue today! By Satan's inspiration these tribes, races, and nations were practicing oppressive idolatry, human sacrifice, the murder of their own children, torture, rape, exploitations, slavery, bestiality, pedophilia, and making war on all their neighbors in order to kill, steal and burn everything for pleasure!

9 If the valiant men of God like Joshua and David hadn't gone on the attack to destroy these destroyers then these pagan people would have attacked and killed God’s people! There is a time for war and there is a time for peace. 

The purpose of God’s Christian people today is to influence and govern over others with fairness, equality, and love teaching non-discrimination upholding righteousness. Jesus opposed the hypocrites! And no one chooses their own sex, skin color, or status at birth. It is never justified that any one should ever harm, reject, or kill another person over these differences.

Killing is the ultimate discrimination as it is genocide and homicide, yet some religions and political philosophies today teach that it is acceptable to practice the killing of the ones who are considered as the “undesirables” or the ones identified as enemies. Jesus answer to this was in his inclusive non-discriminatory statement to, “Love your enemies!” He exposed sin, but the repentant ones had mercy!

10 Obviously a murderer of any kind does not know God who is in pure essence love! 1 John 3:15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him

But God is always fair and just, not all the tribes near Israel were enemies. God told his people to respect the respectful ones.  Exodus 23:9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.  Wouldn’t it be great if all nations practiced this precept?

Despite the world-wide Christian influence, however, you and I may sadly deduct that discrimination will continue to plague the world since people, including many Christians, do not allow God’s love to break and re-make them totally into humble new creatures as Jesus is. So we have a fight ahead of us!

11Today is a perfect day to confess any sin you may have of disliking another person over their color, nationality, race, or sex, language or for any reason! It simply is not Christian, not of Jesus, and not like Jesus to discriminate and not to love everyone inclusively! It is not like the Salvation Army either which has in their mission statement that we serve “all without discrimination”!

 We must free ourselves with the truth from our past dark cultural-societal-traditions which carries the sins-of-the-fathers. These dark influences dominate people’s behaviors by default. But we have hope in Jesus to radically change!

You can ask God to help you to discern that which is evil in order to reject it. Each of us must use correct judgment to discriminate against all types of evil!   

If your past bad experiences or the bitterness of a friend or relative has passed onto you a prejudice or wrong attitude which causes you to discriminate unjustly, then desperately pray to be more like Jesus! Get free from hate with Jesus and love inclusively starting now! You can have a million friends but what for without love for all of them?

Use It or Lose It! By Kelly Durant 1-8-13

Use It or Lose It!           By Kelly Durant    1-8-13

 Matthew 25:14-33

2 .Many people set new goals for the New Year! Everyone should have goals and if not you will be failing God making yourself an unwise steward of your life. If you are not having life happen as you want it, if God isn’t getting His fair share of you,  then who or what is getting in the way? Most always it is your own self to blame. Do you want blessings for hard work, then get busy! There is a lot to do!

Just remember we all praise the honey bee for his busy work, but we hate the mosquito! The busy-ness you choose must be prayed over, planned and counseled about, and then executed. You don’t want to waste time and energy you can never get back! Many people do choose the wrong professions, disregarding God’s will.

In God’s service I do reports, budgets, sermons, I take cars to the shop, and now I need to prepare for the building inspection in 10 days, I stay busy! God keeps me out of trouble this way, ha! But King David, and anyone with too much leisure time will get into mischief! As Christians we must always be serving, studying, working and being productive.

3 Some people, however, would love to use your or my time to take them shopping all day or do errands. I wish we could spend more time with each other but if you and I do not plan our priorities for the day, we would will lose all our time in little the errands of everyone else and not get anything done that we should do!

Today it is a new year and it is time to evaluate where your time, talent, and treasure are being spent and determine if you are dedicating enough of it to God or not. He is the judge, not me, but my role is to inspire you to use what you have for Him, or as in this parable of today, warn you of the consequences of not using what you have for God! All I want is for the Lord to tell you to come into His joy!

4 In the parable of the talents, we can compare this to our lives. Think of it this way, some people may have 5 abilities while others may have one or two. Some people are excellent with math and money while others are average with it, some people are good with people for good relations and sales, or some people have a musical or artistic ability or sports talent. Everyone has the ability to do something and everyone is needed!

The talents Jesus referred to were literally pieces of money. But in this parable the lending of the money implied a time value to it for an investment yield, or to spend it to make more by buying and selling, a work value of using your brain and talents to produce something worthwhile.

God is expecting that you apply what you have naturally been given to make it better and more productive, and most importantly giving a return back to Him who gave it you.

5 The modern problem we have today in our Corps and in the community is that people are not applying their time, talent, and treasure into things that are useful for God and they are wasting away. In the world some people are content to let the government support them all day to watch TV or sit around playing games on the computer and they do not care at all to progress to develop their selves, work or do anything at all because they don’t see the need to. These people have no goals, no ambition, and no future! The poor we have with us always and some are poor due to a lack of production in anything.

And some people who work so hard at things that will never be of any use to anyone, like the kid who plays video games 7 hours a day and they asked him, “How are you going to make a living at playing a video game that will be outdated in 5 years?” There is no response because it is all wasted time. Or from texting, or social media, maybe only 1 out of 100 people can make a living from that!

As in the parable of people who do not use their time, talent, and treasure to produce something for God, they always justify their laziness and self-created limitations, after all they are the victim that no one understands and they want us to feel sorry for them for being so miserable when it is their own fault their situation!

6 Last week we visited coach Ulysses and Maggie who run the basketball program in the Corps for afterschool and summer camps. How many of you ask questions and then just listen? If you have not learned to listen to people, you will miss learning life lessons on how to progress in things for yourself! The question in my mind was, what makes them be willing to sweat in over 100 degree heat 10 hours a day all summer long to do a something that is not making them very rich really?

He explained he had a supervisor’s job for several years to just sit at a desk all day and not do much at all but he often worked long hours, and he was making $18 the hour. But he was discontent since he had studied 4 years sports training and physical-therapy and he was not applying himself in what he loved to do. So he took a cut in pay to half his salary to do his job from his home and also do the summer hoops camp.

He didn’t worry for the money; it made him feel good to work with the kids, it was his camp, his show, his passion, his satisfaction was he finally got to do what he wanted to. Now there are 120 families involved and it has become successful after 3 years of hard work! Now our gym is being used and not wasting away!

He said he use to drive about an hour to work and an hour back and work very late sacrificing his time for a company, so he concluded, why not sacrifice time for something even better?

7 I wish people would come to serve Jesus with this same passion being willing to sweat all day to preach the gospel! Only people with a passion for Jesus pass the test to gain a position of leadership in God’s service. All good things require sacrifice!

Ulises also expressed he even expects us to tell these families about Jesus because he shared that as a kid he had played basketball in our same gym and he recalled that the Captain then always shared a devotional about Jesus. Don’t you and I feel like giving respect to those who respect us and respect our Lord?

So in order to gain something, you have to be willing to give up something! The man with the one talent buried it. Imagine, he was not willing to let it go and take the risk to apply it so he lost what was not his but could have been his if he would have been more willing to work, invest, and use his brains! But investing pays!

8 Not using your body, your mind, your talent, your money, and your time for God is a sin! Some people serve in God’s work many hours a week, others a few hours, but many do not serve at all! In the end you are not the god of yourself to do as you please, you did not make yourself into being, and you are God’s property. So have you asked God in prayer yet, what should I do this year in the Corps and community?

It was your mother that formed you into being by a miracle of God’s design and he brings everyone on this earth for a mission and a purpose, the problem is people are too lazy, too rebellious, and too selfish to do what God expects of them! Because people fail God, we have the world as it is! God is angry when we do nothing!

I heard a quote once that “people just want to find a comfortable spot and then stay there until they die”. This sadly sums up the life of many people quite well.

9 But the most dangerous place for a Christian is a comfortable place! When a person becomes so complacent with all the evil happening around them that they do not care anymore about the sin in the world and the exploitative abuses and extreme poverty and oppressions, and all the souls going to hell, then that person is like that one with the un-invested talent, useless to God! We are soldiers in a war on evil, so tell me about your plan of battle! God and all of us are expecting results.

The fact of life is the majority of people out of the billions that exist everywhere never leave their comfort zone, never leave far away from home to accomplish anything for God, for another, or for their own selves. The majority of people never even consider that they could live a life of adventure living out their passions. Only God can give you and me the vision of how glorious life can be if we will only put him first investing in Him, and most of all being faithful (til death)!

The problem is often people do count the costs or serving and after determining that it would come at a great sacrifice, then this person decides that they are incapable of making the investment required putting in all the hard work it. What a mistake to choose poorly!

10 No sacrifice for Jesus goes unrewarded.  Matthew 19:29

29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

It is sad too few people are willing to have the patience to store up their treasures in heaven, but what I have experienced is just what this verse states, you gain rewards in this life as well and I do not regret serving Jesus despite how it has cost me a few things like suffering a few thefts, getting hepatitis for 6 weeks, and having to move a few dozens of times with 4 little kids but I would not trade this life for nothing else! I have learned to love the ultra-poor and minister to the ultra-rich which is what Jesus did!  

With God you are never allowed to be motionless and unproductive as all things are in motion and like a train, you either get on it when He calls you or you get left behind! You don’t feel it but the earth is spinning at a rate of 1,000 miles per hour and rotating around the sun rotating around the galaxy which is moving through space. God is a God of movement, and He expects production and movement from us!

11 You can’t allow yourself to become like a stagnant pool of water or you will become poisonous form the bacteria generated from no inflow and outflow. What kills people spiritually, morally, emotionally, and physically is the lack of movement; when a person does not take in and then give out.  

And the bad part too is when someone gives their time to God others those who are stagnant immediately criticize them like they are crazy to invest and spend energy in something that does not give them an immediate payback.

We have a Salvation Army today because millions have invested in God’s work voluntarily and this is a proof that is God’s work that does store up eternal benefits. William Booth and his wife Catherine were willing to leave the stagnant Methodist church and they lived out their passion to help the people in absolute misery and addiction!   Will the Lord say to you…

21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

What are you planning on doing for God this year? God and everyone expects more from you. Have you even considered setting goals of doing more for God, in the church Corps and community? Today make a promise to God, and then keep it! You will be glad you did it when you are in heaven and your reward will be there for you!

Happy New Year 2013? I Doubt you are happy!

Happy New Year? 2013     by Kelly Durant  12-30-12

John 13:16 Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.

All the time we have been hearing these past days Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, but how many people are really happy? Have you ever thought about that? We say that wanting to be happy but with the world as it is, with all of its problems and violence it is hard to be happy! Some people sort of smile at these Happy Holidays words, but the reality is a Christmas or a New Year does not bring many people happiness as they live with or in conditions that do not permit them much happiness. We live in a broken world!

The “unhappy” things in our lives come from outside circumstances or they originate from some people reaping their own consequences but the bottom line is “unhappiness” is the product of sin.  God wants us happy:  we have a happy God! Jesus gave us a solution to cure our unhappiness, by serving others.  But the “unhappy” things of life do provoke stress and pain.

Most of you are affected by harsh words or ugly behaviors from those in your world and this brings each of us discouragement, frustration, anger, and depression. Can you identify what prevents you from being more “happy”? These past days we have seen many new people in the Corps, or people out in the street, but not very many are very happy, don’t you think?

People that live with unpleasant conditions experience discouragement day after day and we should show mercy on them and give them support and love: we as Christian Soldiers should be the first ones in the world to try and bring happiness to others! Happiness comes back to you from doing acts of love, kind deeds, saying kind words, and encouraging! Jesus expressed this in these verses in John. New visitors, new people volunteering, people picking up toys, everyone needs our non-judgmental unconditional love! If we are not happier than them then what do we offer?

But what takes away from our happiness often is the unhappiness of others! Unhappy people often make comments that are not from God, and their words or actions reveal that they have a jealous heart, a bitter heart, or a revengeful heart.  When families get together over the holidays quite often the discord and ”unhappy” comments break loose as one is more wealthy than the other, one has more happy kids or a better relationship than the other. And here is the worst one, hatred from someone for you simply because they despise how you love and obey God more than them. This is the jealousy of Cain. This happens with relatives and it even happens within all church families no matter the denomination!

The unhappy part is we let people get away with taking away our happiness! You and I need to change that! Adults and children are the same, they both know how to get under your skin. Like the little kid we saw these past days in the store that starts screaming for a toy and crying at the top of his lungs for his mother to buy it and what usually happens? The mother should say, okay, we are going straight to the bathroom (which implies time out or a swat for bad behavior) but instead what happens? The mother gives the kid the toy just to shut him up! And we ask ourselves what is wrong with our society, why are kids turning into spoiled murderers when they grow up? We need to expose manipulation, and rude and proud behaviors that have the motive to get what they want no matter your pain!

We ended the year with Jesus and we need to start the Jesus! Amen? This world due to greed, bitterness, and all kinds of sin is very messed up and very broken right now, and like and old building, it is showing many signs of needing all kinds of repairs putting our lives in danger. We cannot fix the world and its corrupt politics, we can’t fix the unconverted, or foul mouth bad behaving proud relative, but we can make ourselves into a light of happiness and hope by shining more of Jesus through us! Amen? You can choose to be superior to them spiritually!

Here is a part of Jesus I would like to review that was present with us even before he was born.  Mary was happy for all the good that Jesus would bring her and the world and we should examine what that good includes more often.

Luke 1:46 And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord

47     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has been mindful

    of the humble state of his servant.

From now on all generations will call me blessed,

49     for the Mighty One has done great things for me—

    holy is his name.

50 His mercy extends to those who fear him,

    from generation to generation.

51 He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;

    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.

52 He has brought down rulers from their thrones

    but has lifted up the humble.

53 He has filled the hungry with good things

    but has sent the rich away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

    remembering to be merciful

55 to Abraham and his descendants forever,

    just as he promised our ancestors.”

For several years and for most of my Christian life I have prescribed goals for the New Year and good things to aspire for God’s work, but this year I want to prescribe that you simply need more of Jesus! The humility of Jesus, what Mary’s song proclaims, is what could cure the sins and “unhappiness” today.

The problem with what makes us continually unhappy, the sin, and the pride in ourselves or others, is it almost always not noticed by those that have it! Have you ever had, or do you have, a proud boss or relative, and you can see how he or she is destroying the unity and effectiveness in the company or family by the bad way he/she is handling things? All of us always see the pride and sin in others, but here is the problem, this person usually thinks everything is just fine! They see no problem! Like the song that says, “I once was blind but now I see”; These people think they are so good that it is so unfair that you and others don’t like them and accept their opinions!?   

Proverbs 20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?

Everyone wants to believe each year will be better but the sad reality is you and other people will not change for the better on their own without more of Jesus! No matter even if a serious tragedy happens, people who are not being humble and obeying God still remain the same or even worse and more bitter!

How many of you recall 2 years ago when my wife was in the Palmetto Hospital so they could see why her heart had irregular beats? There was an elderly Cuban lady in the room next door that had a very vulgar mouth. They did surgery on her and found that she had too much cancer and they would not be able to save her so they sewed her back up. Did that lady change and say, oh I want to make it right with God since I only have a few months to live? No! She kept on being her same old vulgar self, insulting everyone even more!

This is an example of the typical human being and each of here you are no exception,  it is a fact you will keep on being how you are now until the day you die unless you decide to let God’s word break you and re-make you into a more humble obedient servant. What verse do we repeat over and over in the church?  2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

This implies that in order to have God’s blessings in this coming year, in order to have a “Happy New Year”, and in order to be healed from all your sin, bitternesses, criticisms, and bad behaviors that are noticed by all (even though you may not see it) you are going to have to go so we become more like Jesus!

Never assume you are good just because you are a Christian and come to church, maybe if you ask Jesus about your inner most self He could reveal to you where you still have sin, maybe some greed, vanity, pride, jealousy, and self-evident unhappiness. You and I must desperately humble ourselves, and if not we will just keep on with more of the same behavior or even getting worse, living one more year of an “unhappy” life!? Get busy helping, serving, and loving, as Jesus taught!

So you may think well, if the Captains or pastors and others imply that some here are “unhappy” and possibly prideful then inside you may ask well, what is the purpose of being a Christian and doing anything here in the Corps church anyway if we are considered as bad, not making progress?  All I want is for you to have more of God’s goodness and holiness, and there is great hope and happiness in obeying Jesus more. A lot of progress has been made, and no matter your age, gender, or time knowing the Lord, you and I all still have room to improve!

The past weeks we read about John the Baptist being born, and what did he proclaim about the future effect of Jesus?

Luke 3:5 Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth;

The Christmas and New Year season always comes as a reminder that there are many people that expect a lot of gifts from their family, or church but often they are not willing to be humble and show others the respect and love and give gifts to others that they deserve. God and His work is like a bank, you have to invest in it and Him in order to get a return! How is it stated? Luke1:53 He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. How hungry are you for God’s ways?

All of us need to start this New Year by cleaning up the sin in ourselves so God can use you in a much more glorious way! I see many of you like a rough piece of stone that could be made into a beautiful statue, but instead, year after year you are not like as in Luke 3:5 with “the rough made smooth”.

In my calculation about one in every 2 people are very unhappy by their own demise and have given up on their self and their situation thinking there is no hope! Now that is “unhappy” for real!  All you and I need is more of Jesus and his humility, to be willing to do anything at anytime for our Lord for all the good and happy things you and I aspire will come back to us!

I am happy serving God! It is a fight though! Over time some people will insult you, mock you, reject you, say you do it for personal interest and stab you in the back, but I have not let these people take away my happiness in God yet! Sure, my wife and I suffer at times, yes we even cry over seeing or experiencing cruelty done to others or ourselves, but because we have Jesus we have peace! Do you have this supernatural peace and happiness? It is a choice! Accept it from God! Happy New Year for real! Be humble and God will exalt you for serving Him!

Kings Worshiping a Baby?

Christmas: The Kings Unconventional Honoring of a Superior 

by Kelly Durant 12-2-12

Matthew 2:9-11  All of us are people surrounded by individuals who are creatures of habit. It is evident that no nation, race, or people will never drastically change past traditions, most are here to stay. As Christians we will always celebrate Jesus Christ’s birth while the people of the world will emphasize celebrating materialism. Consumerism has morphed itself into a magical man who gives out endless gifts. Santa Claus is only famous because he is used as a tool to fill the greed of many.  

It is true that some Christians do not find that Santa Claus so offensive depending on the context and status in which you respect him. He is just a fantasy and many children know that by age 3. The actual historical basis of the story of St. Nicolas giving out gifts to the poor children is a wonderful example of how we all should be!

All of us in Miami, and multi-millions, do gift giving as a tradition! Giving and sharing gifts with one another is rewarding, and especially giving to those in hard times; no one doubts that God blesses those who help the needy!

3. Just on a personal note, what if we really did abide by the list of who is naughty and who is nice in order to qualify who will get a gift and who will not? I think commerce would come to screeching halt if we did! Today some children are terrible and no one, not parents nor teachers are correcting them appropriately. Only when these ego inflated bullies grow up and end up in jail for disrespecting the wrong person and the law do they start to see the light (if they ever do!).

I wish we could grade adults on how naughty or nice they were as well. Some of you I have observed (but what I observe does not matter really, it is God that sees everything!) have been very good at loving, helping, and of humbling serving and caring for those in need.

However, we all also have seen others that when they get their pride just a bit little offended start saying all kinds of rude things. Like when you scratch a veneer surface, the cheap wood underneath shows through!

But let’s understand our tradition better: God was the first gift giver! He gave Jesus Christ to the world to be the savior so everyone would repent and radically change and by becoming as he was, humble, loving, and serving, granting the heavenly gift of eternal life. Our job is to preach the gospel and thereby share the gift of eternal life to everyone we meet.

Let’s now jump to the part of the story about the other ones that gave material gifts to Jesus. These are kings honoring Jesus as the King of Kings. There usually are the 3 kings in the manger scenes, but the 3 are the ones giving gifts. We conclude there were at least 3 but there actually could have been more.

I find it fascinating that they were kings in their lands, yet they came to recognize the authority of a baby who would grow up to be a king. Think how much faith, humility, and supernatural confidence this requires.

Also, consider that if they saw the star stop over the manager, why didn’t other people see it and come as well? Were others just not in tune with the heavenly bodies in space? Or were these men special in their spiritual ability to perceive?

Here is a real Christmas mystery: How did these KINGS from very different cultures and lands very distant from each other all interpret the same reading of the stars and prophesies of their ancient writings or religions that a KING would be found under the newly appearing strange bright star?

Kings, as we know from history, never bow to anyone. Everyone in their lands are expected to bow to them and give them gifts and taxes; never was it heard of that the kings give gifts and that they would bow to another authority, especially kneeling in front of a baby. They not only kneeled, they worshipped Him! That is honor!

Showing respect and honor will always imply sharing something of value to prove honor. All religions ask for something; some 10%, or you can give 100%, it all depends on how much you will give up for God! God is fair and blesses back.

What I hate about governments is they ask for a usual 30% and if you’re rich they want up to 90%! (in Europe) Why do you think the English keep moving to the U.S.? They are escaping the heavy burden of taxes. The burden gets heavier day by day!

Have you ever wondered how each king knew how many provisions they needed to travel 3, or 6 months to a year to reach him to give Jesus a gift? Many people here will give to the Lord a few days of their time, but would you do what they did and spend a big part of your fortune on a trip that would mean camping in extreme heat and extreme cold, crossing deserts, facing thieves, and hiring a crew to help you care for your camels and equipment? The honor of these kings required great sacrifice!

We know the kings came from the Orient, but from where precisely is still undefined by historians. Many agreed that amongst these kings were one or more of the Zoroastrian kings, which were in power in Persia at the time of Jesus’ birth.

The King Vishtapa was Ciro's father, and he had been convinced of the existence of a 3^rd and final savior that would come in the world who would battle in the end of the world and defeat evil. Zoroaster said that a great savior would arise in the world, and his name would be Soasyant, which means one who will fulfill righteousness and this goes with same description of Christ in the bible.

Contained within the writings and prophesies of these kings were the word that a savior would be born of virgin and he live and then be killed but on the third day he would be resurrected. All of this knowledge the wise kings would have shared and known.

Notice as well in Matthew Chapter 2 that king Herod asked the Jews, what the prophecy said and where would the king be born and they replied in Bethlehem. The Jews had the book of Isaiah and all ancient prophecies that co-incited to confirm the birth of the righteous Messiah, the Christ, or baby Jesus.

These were legendary tales and they confirm that Jesus was the messiah, not just for the Jews, but for everyone in the orient and for the rest of the world! What makes me angry is how the people of the world reject truth!

These kings obviously returned home to honor Jesus by telling everyone about Him. They told of all their adventures, of escaping getting killed by Herod over his jealousy, and of finding Jesus below the star but how long did people believe? Ten years? 20 years?

The news of baby Jesus fulfilling ancient prophecies did not last very long because a few hundred years later the religion of Islam was crafted in the orient and new laws were imposed. Islam spread not by gaining the awe of people as the fulfillment of prophecy, but by fear! Those who did not bow to Alla had their heads cut off. Just the other day a 15 year old girl was murdered by her own family because she did not comply with their cruel laws. Did you hear about that one?

So from today’s study we conclude that honor to our Lord and savior Jesus Christ must be done in a similar manner as it was done by the kings.  How was that honor shown?

By sacrifice: they traveled far, and they gave gifts to prove their honor.

By worship: they kneeled in front of Jesus and recognized his divine authority.

By being in tune with the divine: they acted upon seeing the star as a supernatural sign which confirmed that the king they had expected in ancient writings would appear and they honored him as the righteous savior of the world.

If kings honored Jesus, how much more we should honor him! None of us here today are a king or a queen. One day when we join the heavenly host, for sure God will compare who honored Jesus the most. Heavenly rewards will be for those who honor Him now.