Faith…Without it God is not pleased!

Faith…Without it God is not pleased!                           By Kelly Durant 10-29-25

Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

2. How many of you have been in a situation to need “faith”? There was a van load of nuns (or in our case, it could have been Cadets) that were on the side of the road obviously out of gas. The gas station was a block away so one of them said they would go get enough gas to get to the gas station but the only container in the van was a “bedpan” (a urinal used in hospital). Upon returning, one of them was pouring the liquid in the gas tank opening from the bedpan, and big truck of two guys were passing by. The one said to the other, “Look at that! I have never seen so much faith in all my life!”  

Faith does require believing in the impossible. God specializes in doing the impossible as it seems almost every Bible story, ever miracle, and every act done by God required faith. We often focus on God’s love, or on His creation, but when do we focus on having faith as He commanded?

We just read the verse in Hebrews 11 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Read all the chapter!) So, we must ask ourselves, are we pleasing God by having “faith” as God requires? We often want answers to our prayers but do we use our muscle of faith?

3. What did Jesus say about faith? Matthew 6:30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? The lack of faith is the curse of the people of the world! It leads to worry and sickness! Faithless people are always obsessed over having more money, more clothing and luxuries, and over gaining for themselves all their personal things when God wants us all to depend on Him for all our needs.

Matthew 17:20 And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, be removed hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Jesus rebuked folks when they did not have enough faith. Jesus gets upset at those who doubt and lack faith. He even says that if your faith is the size of a mustard seed, like the size of a speck of pepper, you can do impressive impossible things! So basically, few have that kind of faith and it is not good. 

Jesus on the other hand praises those who have faith, like the woman that got her daughter healed.  Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour. What was she healed of? Of being possessed by a demon! This proves that the answer to freeing young people taken over by demons, and doctrines of demons the world pushes on them, is faith in Jesus. And proves that Jesus honors and praises women (or men) of faith for believing.

4. So, what have we learned so far? That we need faith to please God, that we must believe that He is real and blesses those who practice faith in Him. It implies we must humble ourselves and believe in a greater power. Jesus made it clear that to have healing you need faith. 

Jesus made it clear that for life’s necessities you need faith. Even food, for example! Matthew 16:8 Which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little faith, why reason ye among yourselves, because ye have brought no bread? Jesus did the miracle of multiplying the fish and the loaves of bread but his disciples did not even believe that would happen.

The very first sermon of Jesus on the Mount included having faith for your daily needs. Matthew 6:28-30 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

5. So how can you proclaim and practice your faith? For one, you need to ask the Lord in prayer for your needs, for enough to get the food and bills paid, and also for healing when you are sick. Too many people rush to the hospital when they have a little cold or some ache when God is expecting them to pray for their healing first and trust in Him.

What testimony is there when the doctors get the glory for healing you? God does use doctors but we must glorify God for using the doctors! Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusts in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord. We cannot trust in our corrupt broken systems, nor trust in unrepentant sinners who happen to be professionals, God wants the glory for taking care of His children.

Apart from prayer we must act upon our faith. There have been times when people have prayed for rain but how many of those people brought with them an umbrella to church expecting there to be showers within a few hours after prayer? If you have faith, you will step out on the water like Peter did when Jesus invited Him to meet Him and walk on the water too.

6. There have been many times my wife and I have had to have faith in tough situations. More than a dozen times when we have moved, gotten into a new home (in South America) been in the situation to not be able to have the coming next month’s rent and we got desperate. Just arriving in a place implied I did not have English classes yet or supporters to get funds. But then out of the blue someone would pay me a full month of classes up front, or a person would donate to us as they honored missionaries. Even one time in the 70s, the mayor of Santa Cruz, Bolivia showed up to donate $200 which was the exact amount of our rent due!

Psalm 37:25 I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. God will take care of us but it implies we live in righteousness. James 5:16 Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

This verse, along with what Jesus taught, ‘Matthew 18:20 or where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them’ implies God wants us to pray together and have faith as a group together for each other. Faith is not a personal lonely endeavor, it is a reaching out, a connection with God and others believing God will do what you cannot.

7. In the Christian world we often speak of having faith to heal, faith to prophecy, faith to do miracles but faith cannot be something that happens when a preacher gets on television. False faith healers, apostles, and prophets have done Christianity a great disservice! I have seen healing faith work. One time a friend in Colombia was going to get surgery on both his knees but they did one more x-ray before the surgery and found that no surgery was needed! We (a dozen of us) had prayed for a miracle of healing, and that was one time I got to see one happen. The x-rays from the past compared to the present proved he had been healed by a miracle.

Faith happens when it is God’s will. Faith healers that want money for healing napkins or some talesman are an insult to our faith. God wants us to just believe and He does what we cannot do and does the unexplainable act. Some folks do have a gift of faith, but they are never proud, seeking remumeration, or boast that they will heal you because they have “the gift”. None of us can do anything without it being God’s will.

When a miracle happens, when someone becomes cancer free, when someone gets released from the hospital, it is God who gets the glory. Like the lame man who get healed, what did he do? Acts 3:8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. We praise God when a miracle happens, right?

8. Sometimes we are put in dire circumstance when we need God for an answer, when He appears to be our only hope. That is often unsettling, but Jesus always told us often, “fear not”. Not fearing or worrying in hard situations takes practice, it goes against our nature, and it can only come by having a strong faith to override these feelings and impulses.

We can develop a strong faith by first asking God for it. John 5:15 And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. Faith hinges on believing in God’s active involvement in our lives. We must realize that we cannot even take in our next breath unless God is the one keeping us alive! 

We often sing, ‘Great is thy faithfulness’ and this is a reminder of God’s faithfulness to us, but what about or faithfulness to Him? It’s a love relationship, He first loved us, and must love Him back! He saved us by faith, Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

9. It took faith for Jesus to agree to dying on the cross. He had faith God would resurrect Him and give to Him the inheritance of the souls that love Him. Psalm 2:8 Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Isaiah 53: 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. He is on the right side of God’s throne!

Millions of souls throughout all our earth’s history will go to heaven and be rewarded because of Jesus’ faithfulness to do His mission. We need faith as Jesus had to fulfill our mission as well to win souls for His kingdom. If it implies going through a trial and a test of our faith, so be it! We pray we can please God in all that we do, amen! Pray for faith, and then trust in Him!

 

 

 

God’s Laughter, & Ours

God’s Laughter, & Ours                by Kelly Durant   10-19-25

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.”

2. A little boy opened the big and old family Bible with fascination, and looked at the old pages as he turned them. Suddenly, something fell out of the Bible, and he picked it up and looked at it closely. It was an old leaf from a tree that had been pressed in between the pages. "Momma, look what I found," the boy called out. "What have you got there, dear?" his mother asked. With astonishment in the young boy's voice, he answered: "I think it's Adam's suit!" 

How many of you like to laugh? We don’t usually think of the Bible as humorous but from all the different stories, we can conclude God often did some humorous things to get our attention! I think God must laugh at our feeble attempts to understand the mechanics of the universe!  

God made us to laugh and to want to enjoy life! What is the Christian conclusion of the purpose of mankind? “To enjoy God and love him forever!”

3. God seems to have made us with an appetite for laughter! Science cannot explain laughter, it is involuntary. Think about it, can you premeditate laughter? Ok, in 10 seconds I am going to laugh! Hum, it didn’t work! Ha! Maybe it is because we need our internal organs massaged a few times a day, right? Little kids and even teenagers laugh a lot more than us as adults. Sometimes the teens in back laugh during the sermons and I have no clue as to why! It is sad, that many stop laughing with age! Laughter is all about connections and the people we love.

Most laughter is not even sparked by a joke. For example, a Soldier may be telling me about where to buy some shampoo that makes the hair fluffy, and how everyone should use some of it, and I answer, ‘that’s, right that’s how it is’, and she tells me more and when I say it another time, ‘that’s how it is’, we both laugh out loud because we both know I say that when I really don’t know what to answer back on that subject, ‘Isn’t that how it is?’ When I am lost for words, I also love other sayings in Spanish (English too) like, “Oh, don’t tell me that!” Say that 3 times and that’s funny too, right? Well, you can see how what’s funny relates to the relationship you have with person! With some people, one can never be funny though! That’s scary!

So how funny is the Bible? Some parts have funny expressions; did any of you ever finish reading Song of Solomon?  However, other parts are very sobering with heavy lessons. We might actually conclude God matures us more in the sobering trying times than in the fun times in our lives, but the balance is found in Psalm 127:2 “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.” Laughter, seriousness, and sadness all have their time and place in our lives and we must pray to have discernment. 

4. There is a time for everything, and the Bible teaches us to be connected to our family of brothers and sisters as in one collective heart! James 5:13 “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms.” What we can conclude is we will laugh and sing when the mood is right, but if a brother is down or sick, we will be serious and pray for him or her.

There is nothing more irritating than some kid or adult laughing when everyone is trying to get everyone quiet for a serious message, right? And also when everyone is happy and singing “Happy Birthday” laughing that one of our teens is wishing for a new Porsche, how out of place it would be for someone to be hanging around with a bored ugly angry face, right?

Kids seem to help us laugh the most! This is why the Bible mentions children as a blessing!  Psalm 127:3  “Children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward”. Our kids do so many funny things! They even make TV shows on the funniest home videos with kids and people in funny situations. My mother told me that when I was little I was putting ice cream from my bowl into my pocket. When they asked me what are you doing I told the babysitter that I liked this stuff and that I wanted to take some home to eat it later, ha!

5. You can read the Bible and even laugh out loud at times. For example, do you recall Balaam’s ass that argued with him? To begin with, an ass or donkey is an ugly, funny, and temperamental creature. Balaam beat him 3 times to make him go straight but angels were in the way. Imagine, instead of Balaam passing out from fear when the ass spoke to complain about being beaten, Balaam argued back! Isn’t that funny? Many things are humorous in the Bible!

And speaking of funny, just think how silly Jesus looked riding on an ass through Jerusalem? The Romans would ride in chariots or on powerful stallions, and yet Jesus, the King of the universe is on this silly little colt! A big guy on a little animal!

Sometimes we laugh after we have been frightened to death, has that ever happened to you? You fall down playing basketball and everyone thinks you broke your back and is quite and serious but then you jump up and laugh to make the pain go away! Can you imagine the disciples laughing after Jesus calms the sea? They probably could have said, “We were like (terrified face) during the storm and then we were like (mellow face) afterwards!”

6. Certain false churches even included long sessions laughter in their services in the 1990s in the Neo-charismatic churches teaching that ‘holy laughter’ was a Third Wave of the Holy Spirit. It was funny for a few sermons but then the fad passed. Laughter is mentioned in the Bible, KJV, seven times and of those 7 most of the time laughter is put in the context as something not of much value. Ecclesiastes 7:3 Sorrow is better than laughter: for by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.

James 4:8-10 8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

The conclusion here is that God is not happy with people that entertain their selves with laughter while they ignore cleansing their selves from their own sins indifferent to recognize the suffering in the world and how each of us need God. Some people pay big money in big cities to go to big comedy clubs to hear some stand-up comedian tell foolish jokes, even offensive and vulgar jokes and why do they laugh? I can only stand to watch one of these over-rated comedians for about 1 minute when on a show on TV! I think most of the audience laughs because they are embarrassed for the stupidness of it. Is this really a good time? People seem to have to be drunk in order to laugh, how sad! Most all of the mocking is not funny but rather degrading. They laugh, then what? Nothing! Ecclesiastes 2:2 I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

7. There will come a day when we will be able to laugh as much as we want! For the moment, however, laughter helps us forget about how our earth’s basement is on fire and how at any moment of the day an earthquake, a war, or someone’s accident can provoke a sudden life of suffering! As compassionate sympathetic people we always will suffer after some news channel announces another disaster, another plane down with hundreds dead, or another 300 more school kids in Africa captured by extremists into slavery! How much evil, and how much more scandal can we take?  Lately most people are not laughing at what is happening in the world, they are angry at the injustice and apathy, at the lack of resistance to the violence and abuse, and at the fact that their privacy and legal rights are being mocked by officials. The Romans rulers had servants to follow them around and repeat in their ears, “You are a man and not a God”, we need hire a few thousand of these types of servants again to speak to our leaders as blatant disrespect for the law, and abuse has been at an all-time high in recent years!

People when in a crisis will cry in despair and that can haunt and depress you! No one with a heart like God’s heart likes to see any other person suffer. Most of us feel the urgency and the need to help those who are in pain! But many times we are on the other side of the world and we are helpless to act, all we can do is pray, and keep on praying, prayer does do great things! Locally you can do something though by investing your time, talent, and treasure.

So if I, or someone, were to laugh all day while living on this earth in this miserable life we would either be considered as vain and shallow, high on drugs, or out of our minds and mentally insane! The truth is laughter is a gift and a commodity that lasts only a few minutes of every day! We should appreciate it more! 

8. There will be a day when we will be able to laugh all day in heaven! But until then, let’s try to create more laughter! The world knows enough hell, let’s show them a little more heaven!

And finally I am reminded of what the Lord will laugh at. He will laugh at the evil people and fallen angels when they think they have conquered Him in the final battle. Listen to this prophetic Word and what the Lord answers to those who think they will usurp Him, Psalm 2:3-5 “Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4 He that sits in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. 5 Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.  God, who laughs last, will laugh best!

God will separate the evil ones from the good ones and put us under His protection where we will laugh and the evil doers will be punished! 

9. Listen to this prophetic word, 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.” 

In order to laugh, you have to have joy and Joy comes from obeying God's Word.  A person at peace with God will have a happy, free, and forgiven spirit and heart right with God as He brings joy, peace, and the conditions to permit laughter" John 13:17 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them

Do you have Jesus in your life? Jesus can help you laugh with real joy because of the purity you will have in your heart by being in God’s will! Every one of us has to pass through a repentance, a breaking process, an uncomfortable unhappy time period, like going through an operation to extract the sickening infection of sin. But then, after the storm comes and goes the sunshine of happiness comes out and you suddenly feel elated, happy, and laughter will fill your voice! 

Persecution Then and Now: Are you ready to fight for the faith?

Persecution Then and Now: Are you ready to fight for the faith?    By Kelly Durant  

 

Acts 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.

 

2. How many of you have ever been in a fight over your faith? Has someone every attacked you, insulted you, hit you, or tried to get you fired over your faith in Jesus Christ? If you have a real faith, it will happen! It has happened to me and it will happen to anyone who opens their mouth to proclaim Jesus as the Lord of Lords! I have even been arrested and put in jail a few hours a few times over passing out salvation tracts! I remember one time in Brazil the policeman detaining me was very upset because I was giving out evangelical tracts and not Catholic ones! He called me a blasphemer and that I should rot in jail but I was freed with no charges! There were no laws restricting evangelizing then there but today too many laws are in place everywhere! According to Jesus there will be a final great persecution. (Matthew 24)

 

When I was a young Christian and got to know my Bible there were verses that seemed disturbing such as, 2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. Another one is what Jesus said, John 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. Mark 13:11 But when they shall lead you, and deliver you up, take no thought beforehand what ye shall speak, neither do ye premeditate: but whatsoever shall be given you in that hour, that speak ye: for it is not ye that speak, but the Holy Ghost. 12 Now the brother shall betray the brother to death, and the father the son; and children shall rise up against their parents, and shall cause them to be put to death. 13 And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 

 

My first reaction was, what have I gotten into, what now? You and I certainly will be hated by a few over professing Jesus and there is nothing we can do about! And I still am disturbed that even family may betray you to death! Historically people have proven to be loyal to Hitler, Stalin and to any Satanist murderer rather than to the loving harmless Christians! God sees all and each will reap what they sew!

 

3. Why am I bringing this subject of persecution up? Because as Christians we need strength and unity! Because all the news outlets are bringing it up! They point out that certain political positions in this land clash with our Biblical values, and already in the works is a plan to go on to the next steps of persecuting those of faith. Remember in the Salvation Army there have been martyrs and we should be proud of those who go in the streets to bring lost ones Jesus!

 

Certain activists already have announced they plan on suing churches in order to eliminate religious freedom altogether for those who oppose their political, religious, or atheistic worldviews. Suing Christians, or exuberantly fining them, is already a lucrative endeavor where corrupt judges prevail perverting the laws. In the works also are proposals to change the current laws to impose taxes on churches (currently exempt) in order to bankrupt them. Another thing some activists declare is they want the Bible categorized as a ‘hate speech’, a book that needs to be expunged from all the public sectors! Already certain U.S. schools children are taught to recite prayers to Alla and learn about the Satanist’s religion!? The separation of church and state is obviously being violated! This is an imposition by wicked people in high places that need to respect God’s view and innocent Christians.

 

Certain people rapidly brought about the expunging the confederate flag from the conservative southerners with rapid execution! Many contest that it is not a racist symbol but rather a historical reminder to not repeat the past. I observe that this flag was just a pretext to see how far the experiment would go, to see how much resistance, or not, a cultural symbol would endure attack. We must see it, things will get uglier as the Bible is being targeted! Rev. Graham Jr., and a few like him expose this, but it is not a popular message. Sadly, the bulk of Christianity has compromised into a complacent state as the Laodiceans in Revelation 4.

 

4. Haters seem to persuade the masses easily with half-truths and distorted information. We must recall that the majority of the people in the world do not have the love of Jesus, nor the discernment of the Holy Spirit! Sadly, when awakened, the evil side of human nature is passionate and aggressive to satisfy an appetite for destruction! The ones who hate something seem to live obsessed, dedicating 24/7 until they accomplish their dominion. But our hope is Jesus who gave us power to cast out demons and defend the kingdom of God. They can lie about us, defame us, make us illegal, imprison us, charge us huge fines, harass us, use psych ops on us, even torture and kill us but one thing I know is that they will not get rid of us as Jesus and Christians remain strong! Despite all current persecutions and despite all barbaric attacks in world history, His truth keeps marching on! Glory, glory, hallelujah! 

 

It is so evidently hypocritical in society that those that abide by certain religions, or fringe groups, endorsing hateful destructive acts, calling upon their members to attack with violence God’s true followers, are not reprimanded as haters and perpetrators by the bulk of society. People are already preconditioned by the media and government to fear so they do not oppose evil! But people with values and guts who hint a little they will go against the current trends of the world are instantly demonized as racist nazi haters and are defamed by the powerful evil propaganda systems! 

 

Who are those that persecute God’s children today? The same class of opulent, hedonistic despots as those that were ruling in the Romans times when the persecution began with the Early Church! Deceived people today are described well in these verses, 2 Timothy 3 :1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

 

5. Getting back to our verse of today in Acts, what was the situation? Peter and the apostles were filling the city with the gospel of Jesus, preaching daily in the temple and in every house and thousands were being converted until the murderous city fathers found out. People in power always seem to live tormented with paranoia, jealousy, and insecurity and are overcome with passionate convictions to crush anyone opposing their deceitful authority. In this case it was the Jews imprisoning them, as they only wanted control over the people by their ways and traditions not realizing that God had moved on abandoning them for their rejection of his Son, Jesus. They even stoned Steven to death, do you recall?

 

To encourage you as a Christian, recall that no one will ever do anything to anyone of us without a divine retribution punishing the offenders. Jesus forgave his crucifiers, but Christ rejecters still have to pay with eternal torment! Notice this fact, mockers and persecutors identifying with a group, tribe, people, religion, or geographical region cause them to be included when severe divine retribution comes down. This is why you and I must be very careful who we identify with and accept! Today you can identify with whoever you like but the consequences of supporting, endorsing, or being complacent to an evil group activity that is against God’s will… will provoke the Most High to anger!

 

Look in Acts 5. This is a persecution of the believers of Jesus in Jerusalem and what happened? God made his people to get out!  Acts 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.

 

6. This persecution from Saul and zealots actually provoked God’s people to leave Jerusalem for two motives. One was to get the new Christians out into the rest of the world preaching the gospel! It fulfilled the prophecy in Acts 1: 8 ‘But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth”.

 

And the second motive I see was to save the Christians from a dying a horrible death that was soon to come from the Romans invading Jerusalem in 70 AD. Jesus prophesied in Mark 13:2 And Jesus answering said unto him, “Seest thou these great buildings? there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” And this is exactly what happened, the city, and Herod’s glorious massively huge temple built for the Jews was totally torn down!

 

The Roman invasion of Jerusalem in 70 AD was horrific! You can read about it in the writings of Josephus, a Roman historian who recorded the event.  The city was surrounded for 2 years and when almost dead from starvation the Romans went in burning the city and crucifying almost every living thing. An entire forest was used to make the crosses and the stench was for miles! This was the way the Romans dealt with rebellion as they would not allow the Jews or anyone to defy them with independence. The Romans were experts in iron rule and to not submit to their authority was to invoke relentless rage. What a horrible fate for these Jews who rejected Jesus! That event provoked the great dispersion, ‘diaspora’ of the Jews causing them to have to hide their identity for a few thousand years in different countries all around the world. Only in 1947 were they able to reunite as a people again in Israel. 

 

7. But the Early Church, despite persecution, thrived meeting secretly and prospered in many cities and lands despite the general persecution over the next several hundred years. We are familiar that in Rome the Christians were tortured and killed for sport but we may forget to notice that many other Christians reached many people in faraway places for Christ anyway. During the persecutions under certain Cesars their numbers still increased and not everyone was taken with imprisonment and death. We need not fear persecution so much really because, ‘the body they may kill, but God’s truth abideth still’.

 

And in secular and church history we know that the ruler Constantine got converted to Christ and the persecution ended, at least government persecution ended for a while. But what happened to the church after a few more hundred years? The church became too big and powerful, corrupted, self-serving, rich and abusive, disobedient and indifferent to the poor and it was then the scourge of Islamic invasions ravaged Europe and Africa.  The cycle of the church seems to follow this pattern: 1. Persecution: destruction & suffering 2. Repentance, evangelism growth 3. Prosperity & righteousness 4. Pride and wickedness (complacency & apostasy)

 

Even Spain, being so Catholic today, was governed by the Moors from 711 to 1472, which is more than 760 years of Islam! Persecution has always been around and it is not going away! The final endtime persecution will be horrific but we know many will survive it because of 1 Thessalonians 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

 

8. So how do we get ready for the persecution? Here are 3 suggestions of mine. For one, as Christians we must be exemplary and live holy, pure, honest, and loving lives so we will be filled with passion to stand up for the right when needed! When evil people want to accuse us of evil, let us be like Jesus, innocent of any crime, so they will not be able to pinpoint any evil on us! In Acts it says Steven had the face of an angel while they were stoning him to death! 

 

We all know that people of low intelligence tend to generalize, stereotype, and pick and choose the arguments that they select in order to justify their evil aggression against another. As Christians we must denounce the false representatives of the faith, the mainline churches that accept sin, the prosperous doctrine ones as on TV, so others know we are not in this same category to be judged according to their excessively rich lifestyle full of hypocrisy. Satan’s most damaging method is that of getting wolves in sheep’s clothing to subvert and embarrass the faith. Lately he has been too successful! Stay pure, expose evil within false Christianity!  

 

Second, we must be prepared with the scriptures (memorize!) in our hearts to answer people who attack us. Psalm 119:42 So shall I have wherewith to answer him that reproacheth me: for I trust in thy word. 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.  We cannot deny what the scriptures say, and sadly people often want to kill us, the messagers, just for telling them the truth of God’s word!  But it is not our message, it is God’s! The word of God has undeniable power!

               

9. And the third suggestion, we must be active in society exposing evil for what it is or in our apathy we will shame our Lord! How often do you criticize Satan’s governing systems that are fomenting poverty, slavery, sex trafficking, drug addictions, and destructions? Forget being PC, (politically correct) being conformed to this world and rise up with the power of the Holy Spirit!  

 

One example of a man who with convictions that brought about an impacting change to this world by exposing falsehoods and evil is Justin Martyr (St. Justin). Justin was born to a pagan family and lived from 100 to 165 AD. He studied world philosophy but accepted Christ with an elderly Syrian Christian. He became an apologist for the faith and was known in many cities to challenge pagan priests, Christians following errant doctrines, and the pagan magistrates. His ‘First Apology’ (many more apologies and writings followed) was addressed to Antoninus Pius, his sons, and the Roman Senate. His dare was to attain an appeal to express, ‘It is unjust to condemn a Christian without first hearing his cause’. He fought for morality (or as we define it: holiness) challenging Romans, Jews, and false sects. Before martyrdom, he was ordered to sacrifice to the Roman gods but he replied, “No person in his right thinking mind moves from piety to impiety’. He convinced many that Christians were not atheists and flesh eaters.

 

Here is one quote of his: Philosophy is the full knowledge of reality and the clear perception of truth. Happiness is the reward of such knowledge and wisdom. He was foundational in establishing correct doctrinal interpretations of the Holy Scriptures. He was scourged and then beheaded. His death provoked an unexpected interest and respect for his writings which were conserved and studied by Christian scholars for 18 centuries. (Look up his works and read!) Haters and persecutors never take into account that their murderous victories are shallow and short lived. Where’s the pride and gods of Rome today? Gone! 

 

10. Up until this point of history in this country we have been given the right to worship as we choose, but now there are growing groups of Islamists, Atheists, Communists, and bitter haters of all kinds that are getting corrupted judges and politicians to eradicate this freedom! They actually want to kill us, the Christians, just as the demon possessed jealous religious leaders wanted to kill Jesus in his day! We never accept evil and must make waves and be heard so that we will do as the apostles did in Acts, and quote, “We ought to obey God rather than men!”

 

For victory, be reminded, we must fight first! Ephesians 6: 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

 

If any of you, my brothers or sisters, were to get harmed in the near future it would really break my heart! I feel my blood pressure rise daily as I read articles, or see on TV something concerning the persecution killing or enslavement of men, women, and children who are Christians! But these murderers will reap the hell they are causing! Our hope is in the promise of eternal life in Jesus! His Kingdom is forever and it is coming soon! Obey God above men! You are an overcomer if you stay close to Jesus! John 16:33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

How To Live Unhappy! Or happy!

How To Live Unhappy! Or happy!   Major Kelly Durant  9-1-13, Re: 9-28-25

1.John 10:9-11  I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

2. It may sound crazy to you, but there are people in parts of the world who will argue that giraffes do not exist. Did a grandparent or a friend ever tell you crazy stories about crazy people?  If a person lives geographically landlocked, or in a poor village, they have never seen one and if they have never been to the zoo or if they have no trust in outsiders who speak different things contrary to what they know, then to claim there is an animal like a giraffe is just too crazy for them.

For many people, a person with a new concept or a new discovery is seen as stupid in their view and discredited for claiming something they never heard of as really existing! How many of you here have seen a real live giraffe anyway? If you haven’t, do trust they exist because others have seen them, or because they are in books or in pictures? 

How many of you know people that are not happy in life? Usually, they have never seen true happiness, or they refuse to see or admit that happy people exist! These are the non-believers, like people who do not believe in giraffes because they have not seen one for themselves. They are like a blind person leading other blind folks. 

Discontentment, or unhappiness, is a curse on humanity within all cultures and classes of people today! Many people of the world deny that God’s love exists, and that happiness is real! The unbelievers have never experienced the overflowing of the joy of the Holy Spirit! Just because they are miserable doesn’t mean the rest of us are, but they really think that! In their darkened minds they cannot understand joy, so happiness is foolish to them! For them everyone is a hypocrite to be happy in their mind because they think others fake their happiness! But that’s not true if a person has Jesus! 

3. All people everywhere are always limited to judge others and their selves only by their own experiences and knowledge in life, and most of the time this is very narrow scope! Most people copy others, and if the norm in a culture is always to complain, always to blame others, and always to be unhappy about something, then for them that is just normal life! They have the nickname “normies” brainwashed by the fallacies of the world. And if you are happy with the little that you have and are different, then you are seen as a traitor to the culture, race, or social class where others think you belong! 

Think of it this way, when I say the word light, what comes to mind? The sun, light bulbs, and the colors we see from sight, right?  Actually, this part of light that we see, is only a tiny fraction of what light really is! There exists infrared light, x-rays, and a whole spectrum of light that we do not perceive unless we study about it and observe the effects of it. This is the same with our minds and hearts, our fallen human brains exist in a darkened deceived state unless we bring clarity to them with Jesus’ teachings and way of life about being free from evil deeds and being in peace with God and everyone.     

2 Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. May we always seek Jesus’ face above all things!

4. Today my point is actually how to live happy, not unhappy! To be unhappy just comes by default in our fallen human nature! Jesus came to save us from those who steal and kill and Satan knows how to steal and kill your dreams and happiness in your mind and heart! Sometimes it may be all in your head, but outside attacks are real and affect us.

Jesus’ solution is to live life abundantly, and how you interpret abundant, or life to the full, determines whether you will experience it or not! What is Jesus’ life to the full?  I cannot explain it but when I take time to pray and read God’s word I feel like I am alive and full of life and I am rejuvenated. Feeling good about life does not come from some momentary stimulation and excitement: real life comes from the source of life and that is through God’s Holy Spirit and His Word!

John 6:63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Basically, people who live in, for, and with Jesus moment by moment are people full of life and happiness and peace despite the conditions around them.

5. If you want to know how people full of life with Jesus can have a supernaturally strange happiness and peace; consider the martyrs. It is recorded that while waiting to be fed to the lions or burned at the stake, they would sing hymns. So impacting was their love for each other, and joy to die for God for the perverse Roman audience that these Romans actually lost their appetite to see them be killed in these horrific manners! Remember, Rome converted but it took almost 300 years later!

In The Salvation Army we don’t drink, but many of you have at some time or another had a few, or you have been around relatives that have had lots to drink, and they are loud and laughing and appear happy, right? That is how the disciples were described to be when they were full of the Holy Spirit!

Acts 2: 14 But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15 For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.

I wish all of us could be as carefree as the drunken! Wouldn’t it be great if everyone before coming to church would be all prayed up, full of God’s word, and spirit to the point that each of us would appear happy as if from strong drink? I long for the day that all believers will live happy and shine their smile and laughter to everyone around them instead of the typical serious dry scolding faces that displays they want it known they have an issue and are unhappy over something. Satan’s controlled people are miserable and want you miserable too! We are not cursed with misery and guilt like they are.

6. The formula for unhappiness is the same as it has always been, a focusing in on the getting of ones’ own needs (greeds) met above the priority of taking in and the living of God’s words that give life. James 4:1-3 4 From whence come wars and fightings among you? Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members? 2 You lust, and have not: you kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: you fight and war, yet you have not, because you ask not.3 You ask, and receive not, because you ask amiss, that you may consume it upon your lusts.  God answers prayer but not for the greedy, only for the needy!

Unhappy people are discontent because they want more out of life than what they should have because they compare their lives to the people of the world. They want the pride of having more money or fame or power than others, and they are so selfish, and lust driven that they do any and all sinful business transactions in a self-serving manner trying to fill the void in their empty souls with some momentary gain or stimulation. How conflictive these selfish people are! They steal, abuse, and even murder others!

7. Reserved, or introverted people who seek illusive happiness usually work within systems that permit rewards and promotions but they often are so competitive they become miserable because someone else in that corporation or institution got something that they didn’t.  In the end, it is a lust or greed for the pride of recognition that eats at people’s souls for an authoritative position, be it in a job, sports team, political party, school, or even a church.

Other more extrovert personalities with the adventure gene may revert to illicit sex or illegal drugs to try and stimulate their way to happiness. This path never works as it leads to guilt, depression, and hopelessness. Sad to say, I learned this briefly from personal experience as a teenager! The big lie from all the glamourized life-styles of the rich and famous is that they are happier than the rest of us! But the contrary is reality!

When they asked Howard Hughes (the former richest billionaire a few decades ago who owned American Airlines, Hollywood film companies, and many corporations if he was happy with his millions.  He replied, “Well, a million is not worth what it use to be”! In other words, the wealthiest man on the planet who led an extravagant lifestyle like no one had ever done before him was very unhappy because he wanted more! He actually developed an obsessive–compulsive disorder and lived as a recluse suffering in physical pain. Today’s billionaires seek totalitarian control over people and want depopulation.

8. So, in life everyone pursues happiness, right? It is in the fabric of the American dream expectation. "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness" is a well-known phrase in the United States Declaration of Independence. These are "unalienable rights" that all human beings have been given by their Creator. A true statement (for some), but only walking with Jesus’ through Him as the gateway there will one ever get there!

The problem with the illusion of happiness is so many people immorally commit atrocities seeking it disregarding the damage done to those around them. The imbalance of wealth and poverty today is horrific with multi-billionaires hoarding their money while 1/3 of the people of the world suffer grave hunger.  I’ve read that 13 families own 90% of all the world’s wealth! So, many divorces happen because someone demanded the ‘right to be happy’, meaning they wanted more money, drugs, or power but it was not the fault of the other, they were the problem! Sexual freedom for the pursuit of happiness has prompted not just divorces but the spread of HIV and other STDs to the point that 50% of the populous here, in many countries, are affected!  Happiness was the pursuit of power for Hitler, Lenin, Mao, and other dictators who combined killed well over 100 million people in the past 100 years! The pride of power is extremely cruel! 

The personal pursuit of happiness has no limits to its deception and damage so it is inherently Satanic as Jesus points out in the verses of John 10:10. According to the world’s standard, happiness will involve doing something criminal and illicit such as stealing and killing in order to get ahead in wealth or power. 

9. What do people in power do for their happiness?  They mismanage other people’s money for personal gain (corruption), and they eliminate the competition by character assassination, (if not by actual murder). Sounds like mafias, dictators, and politicians, right? It is the philosophy of life for those without Jesus and it is spreading misery!

Jesus’ answer is profound and amazing, the anecdote to this destructive behavior is the pursuit of Jesus way of life (as it is in heaven) which brings on real happiness and it involves doing the diametrically opposed action of our human nature, that of loving God and your neighbor as yourself!

There have been times when I have prayed with someone to accept Jesus and I have felt such happiness that I thought I was drugged, and it was like a shot of endorphins to the brain, and I just wanted to explode with good feelings and laughter! Most of the times the other person felt it as well! Have you ever felt so happy that you have felt your entire body, your chest and brain feel like they going to overflow? That is the Holy Spirit! This flood of refreshingness give some people the Holy Spirit bumps (chicken skin) too!

10. Let’s review what kills our happiness. How does Satan ensnare with his thievery and murder? 1. Comparing yourself to the wealthy (privileged class) people of the world. (Many of which have gained wealth by illegitimate means and exploitation, so they are guilty of stealing before God and men) 2. Desiring more than what you need (Jealous and greedy people cause others to suffer as they try to get something by abusing you, they are guilty of coveting) 3. Pursuing destructive and addictive passions (this includes the bottomless pit of the consumption of drugs, alcohol, illegitimate sex, etc.) 4. The lust for power (Power usually involves betrayal, war and murder so the positions in high places can be available for these ambitious prideful ones) 5. Pride: Demanding worship of yourself and demanding your way only (This leads to many sins being committed to protect a person’s image, and the manipulation of others with much abuse, humiliation, and cruelty taking place) Politicians, artists, false pastors, & corporate leaders are vulnerable.

Take note that people who commit grave sins against God and humanity pursuing their own joys and passions suffer from fear and guilt, whether they will admit it or not! To cover up their immature actions they destroy others around them. And they destroy their selves as their guilt leads to paranoia and depression which usually leads to drug addictions, and then physical illness from bodily abuses takes hold. It’s unhappiness!   

11. Don’t let Satan rob your joy! People who live with demons that have moved in while they keep pushing the limit of what they would try to obtain some satisfaction in life are fatally sick and unhappy! Have you ever walked into a room where a sick person is and then you start feeling sick as well? This is how Satan spreads his discontentment, through the deception of others who are overtaken with his devices. We as Christians do not go with the flow, we go against the flow, the current, the culture, and the trend to be full of your own self and self-pity because we have the victory in Jesus! 

A person not protected by God’s word who idolizes a star with fame and wealth who goes in and out of rehab centers, and in and out of prisons, could get the idea that to be cool on their level, one has to imitate their depression as well! Like with the music industry, you’re cool if you worship Satan and self-destruct (die!) in your 20s!  Absurd right, but people worship and imitate it! Corruption of the soul is a disease that rapidly spreads, just look at the famous ones who degenerate into pathetic hedonism in just a few years! Too many cases we have seen like this! What unhappiness, look and learn how not to be happy!

Don’t let anyone in your family, in your job, or in your world steal the joy of the Holy Spirit that God wants to give you day by day! You will have happiness if you live in God’s Word and obey his words knowing that your reward is in heaven for resisting temptations and living totally free from the snares and chains of our miserable unhappy enemy! A Holy life lived within the Holy Spirit is a life vibrating with the joy of the Lord and that is a strength that can even face death and die happy! Life is in Jesus! The more of Him, the more life and happiness you will find! Let’s pray

HEAVEN! I Can’t Wait To Be There!

HEAVEN!  I Can’t Wait To Be There!            By Kelly Durant  9-14-25

Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.

 

2. How many of you have ever had a dream about heaven? Have you been flying like an angel? You are not alone! Thousands upon thousands of books and testimonies exist of people who have dreamed about heaven! And there are those who temporarily died, and come back to life, and witnessed heaven! Well, frighteningly, some others have reported they witnessed hell!

Heaven is what we all look forward to, and because Jesus spoke about it, it gives us hope of a much better existence than the one we have to endure at this present time!

 

The Old Testament was not very clear about what the spirit world held for us in the future, or how heaven would be. But here it’s made clear by Jesus, John 14:2 “In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you”. I’ve always thought, why do I need a mansion on earth? I prefer the one in heaven! What gain is there to invest so much in this decaying material world and then one day you will leave it all behind? You and I are just pilgrims just passing through this temporary place. Wise people invest in heaven!

 

1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”  In other words, some of the people that have had a little glimpse of heaven in a dream or vision, have really not seen anything yet! It is going to be even better than all our dreams combined!

 

3. Why am I bringing up the subject of heaven? Because everyone wants to know about it! I have never met anyone yet who does not like to talk about heaven! (Well, some atheists deny heaven’s existence even though they accept science’s rendition of a multidimensional universe and how sad for them as they are missing out!) Try to bring up the subject of hell and see if people like to talk about it! It’s not very popular as some people know it is a real place for the wicked and they are afraid to seek God to know if they are one of them bound for there! 

 

Everyone wants to go to heaven; do you not agree? But if they would go there or not, that’s between Jesus and them, their faith, and what they are doing with their life. We can have a role in offering salvation and heaven to them, by offering them Jesus’ saving love, but each person decides for their self. We all need to be reminded of heaven as often as possible, so we live happier in the present because it is our hope and future reality! It is where our Christian loved ones are! What is the heaven of your dreams? How do you want heaven to be anyway? 

 

The verse of today describes something beautiful… “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible! I can’t wait, can you? That’s the way the world should be! Free from pain and suffering!

Imagine a perfect world where all creatures live in harmony and love and live in happiness forever! Imagine getting a new resurrected heavenly body that never will hurt, get sick, or die. And all the suffering we see today will all stop! Rev 7:16 “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.”  This is the way I want the world to be, the heaven I want to live in! Imagine, nothing hurts or bothers you, there is always a natural AC on and there is only the love, beauty, and the light of God’s presence! Now that is a utopian paradise!

 

4. Another favorite verse of mine is in Isaiah 65:25 “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent's meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord”.  I thank God for the book of Revelation as it describes heaven in a way that most of us as clueless thinkers have never thought of. It is described it as a physical place with beautiful elements which we value here on earth.  

 

Heaven will exist in a time and space continuum but in Revelation 10:6b it states, ”That there should be time no longer.” We interpret that to mean measuring time would be meaningless as all things are maintained in an eternal state in a heavenly dimension, we are not familiar with yet. Scientific string theory says 11 dimensions exist, maybe there are 12, who knows but let’s explore the number 12 in heaven.  Rev 21:19-20 And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20 The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolyte; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.

 

I wanted to start a rock collection of all 12 of these stones but I soon realized that it is not in my budget!  One time I wanted to calculate how far man could get if all nations gathered up all the precious stones on earth to build a wall such as this one described in Revelation which is 1,500 miles long, or 6,000 miles in it’s total length & it has a width (?), and the height is 216 feet high! I am sure that on earth we cannot even construct 10 feet of it given earth’s limited resources! And don’t forget the streets of gold! These are hard elements that air, water, and sandstorms cannot erode (but in heaven there are no more sandstorms, ha!)

 

5. Heaven is the eternal City of God that we all are anxiously looking forward to get to! Hebrews 11:16 “But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.” Man starts out in a garden then ends up in a City. I really do not fully understand why God needs heaven to have streets of gold and with precious stone walls, but what it appears like is heaven will be electrified! Energy will radiate and vibrate throughout the whole structure. Why is this a legitimate assumption?

 

Revelation 11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail. Lightning is electric and all the other shakings provoked by it!

Everything has a purpose, and apart from heaven being eternal in its physical composition, it will contain elements of what we are familiar with here along with things we are to learn about. I have had dreams of being in heaven and what I recall is less about the beautiful surrealistic surrounding nature, and more about the indescribably feeling of peace and joy. John 14:27 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.

 

6. God is omnipresent, omnipotent, omniscient, and He can transcend the laws of physics which he established, and with Him the eternal can be maintained over any material. I know that God has precision and reason behind His architectural design in that unknown world. Only Christians are blessed with the Word of God revealing to them the beauty of heaven. Other religion’s versions pale comparatively, and their renditions of heaven often are disappointingly false concoctions of carnal man’s desires of pride!

 

Recall how the High Priests in the Old Testament had 12 precious gems on their breastplates representing the 12 tribes of Israel. God esteems us, his people, to be compared to these beautiful colorful, light emitting stones. Quartz and similar stones capture sound and radio waves, and the mysteries of God are still not yet understood by our tiny 3 pounds of grey brain matter! 

 

In our resurrected bodies we will still perceive light as we do now and all of the colors will be for our enjoyment! The most important thing is that in heaven we will be in God’s house, a house that He is the architect of. And if Jesus is there, I want to be near Him! And you?

 

7.  Just by being in the presence of God we will have eternal light, life, and indescribable joy! The Biblical definition of hell is an eternal existence separated from the presence of God in a burning darkness! God owns all the beauty of all things created and he created and administrates the unique ‘tree of life’ that will sustain all who are allowed to partake of it forever. Why would anyone want to mess up their chance for this? 

 

John gave us the Revelation of heaven because God wanted him to see it and to write down how amazing it is! Rev. 22:1 And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. So, to answer the question of many of you, yes, you will we get to eat in heaven! Fruit, in particular! And it will be there just for the taking and not cost you a whole dollar for one!

 

Heaven is where your memory of this past hellish earth will be over-written with new beautiful experiences, and you will be surround by a new group of pure loving people who are authentically holy and loving being angels many who are transformed former humans. Many of the people there you will know and recognize. Matthew 8:11 And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven. How wonderful is that! I want to talk to them! 

 

8. Heaven will be all of what we could never afford here on earth, and there we will not have to make payments on it either! Jesus paid a high price to pay for it for us in order for us to enjoy it forever! John 10:28 And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. Few people have grasped how valuable this is!

 

Let’s obey God and Jesus in everything, in every way, loving, serving, trusting, and worshipping! Reread Revelation 21 and 22 and be heavenly in your thoughts, dreams, and behavior! If you are not practicing heavenly manners in the present, don’t think that God will assume you will be any better and change in the future. Revelation 22:11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

 

How can you and I be heavenly minded and be holy as God is? Phil 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

 

So, keep dreaming of heaven, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace! Remember, Heaven, is the place of our destiny. It is important to dream about, envision it, and look forward to as it will be our future home where God will wipe away all our tears! And remember these words I love from this old gospel song that says:

When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be!

When we all see Jesus, We’ll sing and shout the victory!

Words: They Kill or They Give Life

Words: They Kill or They Give Life      Kelly Durant   Re: 8-24-25

2.All day long we speak words. An amazing physiological ability really! I recall working with my deaf son as a child and every day for several thousand days it was hard work to get him and myself to learn just a few words each day! An average toddler by age 3 can speak and arrange into sentences over 1,000 words. With 1,000 words you could speak a second language! What is it per day that people speak, 7,000 words for men, and 20,000 for women? That’s 7,300,00 per year! 

Words help us express our needs and feelings but there is a serious factor involved with the words that everyone speaks. Our words are drastically affecting our bodies and spirits, and bringing about eternal consequences: either heaviness or joy, either blessings or a judgment. Matthew 12:37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

3. First, I would like for you to understand a certain precept, God holds us to our words like a seal on a contract. Our words determine our vocal acceptance of salvation or our vocal rejection of it. How many of you have confessed with your words Jesus as your Savior? You are privileged. Romans 10: 9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  The words we speak forge our eternal destiny! Confessing Jesus gives anyone who believes salvation from eternal death! God abides by your own words!

4. Before we get into a case study on people who speak vile words, let’s first lift up the power of positive words! Do you want to always feel encouraged? Psa. 100:4 I will enter into his gates with thanksgiving in my heart, I will enter into his courts with praise! It really works that you will always feel good when you praise the Lord out loud and lift up Jesus! Words are like the air we breathe, like it or not, you must take them in and give them out in order to stay alive! The question is how healthy is your air? 

Why do people love to listen to music? It is because certain words inspire the hearers and makes one want to live, love and fight for the right! (Unless it is evil violent music, of course) Jesus himself said, John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickens; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. And what is the word of life but God’s energy in you? 

5. It is The Holy Spirit which comforts you with words in your mind to make you feel love, joy, and peace like you are in heaven! Don’t you feel you empowered and invincible when you take in God’s word? I do! You gain indescribable strength! But like breathing, you must take it in constantly! Like the song, ‘This is the air I breathe’! However, there are many other times that you or I feel inadequate and stupid. But I have always found comfort in this verse… Psalm 119:130 The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. God’s word and the Holy Spirit will illuminate you and me to make us smarter than what you or I actually are! Do you believe it? God’s word can flow through us if we are pure in tune instruments.

Here is another precept: The more you fill up yourself with God’s word, the more inspired and empowered you will be! When I first started serving the Lord I would memorize a new scripture everyday just to keep my mind on the Lord. Isaiah 26:3 Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusts in thee. I got up to about 500 verses memorized and I recall many of them to this day and I have them in my mind ready to quote when the situation fits. So one way to keep your mind on the Lord and be encouraged all day long is to memorize God’s word repeating it in the morning, noon, and night. 

6. Another thing I have learned by studying God’s word is to always filter the outside words one is hearing through the Bible’s precepts and wisdom found within the Word of God. Are the words someone is speaking to you of truth? Are they making you mad, sad, or glad? If so, determine if it is a manipulation of your emotions or a justifiable truth that requires an action from you or from someone else. Ask yourself, what purpose does the person talking have in sharing these words? Again, you have the responsibility to define in your mind how the words that you hear are affecting you, for good or for evil. It is amazing how words will either torture you or comfort you! Words always seem to play over and over in your mind. Words either inspire you and heal you, or depress you and make you sick! 

Here is a good standard to filter words by, Philippians 4:8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. We are commanded to sift through words; to throw away the trash or worthless words and just keep the good ones in our minds that are pure and worthy of praise. If something is not in essence glorifying God, then we erase it out of your mind. Forget who said something bad too!

7. Some of you, I am sadly conscience of, are forced, by your family or work situation, to interact with carnal, selfish, unsaved unloving people that all day long produce nothing but depressing toxic words. Everything coming out of their mouths seems to be a curse word, a ridicule, a complaint, a sarcasm, or a tale with a plot for their benefit. Being around some people, listening to all their bitterness can cause you to feel sick or depressed!

Haven’t you and I observed how some people in this Corps literally get sick due to unkind words from people close to them? And what is our role? To heal them with Jesus words and pray for them and speak healing words to them! We share the joy we have. Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

8. Another thing, consider how words will condemn a person’s soul to destruction, for example, for people who curse God. Matthew 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. The Holy Spirit is an internal voice of conscience and people who practice the occult, or people who oppose the the presence of God when He eternally speaks to them that Jesus really is real, rejecting conviction, these people live condemned by their own choice. 

I have always thought that the phrase, “Go to hell” was one of the most terrible curse phrases ever used. Because the person speaking it for one, is not God to make that judgment call (God will never be mocked), and two, the person saying it must be truly evil to wish the flames of eternal fire on someone! Matthew 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. The law of curses is that person will eventually reap what they have sewn. 

9. Words, by God’s design, affect our body’s chemicals producing moods of joy or moods of depression. I recall as a young adult I was disturbed by the words of the Bible! You might say to me, excuse me? Why? Because I was living in sin and the Word was convicting me to change to give my life to the Lord and I didn’t want to give up my life of sin at that time! Here is one passage that disturbed me a lot. Luke 9:26 For whosoever shall be ashamed of me and of my words, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy angels. But later when I gave up and surrendered all, and I started living to serve Jesus, these same words brought me great peace, that Jesus would not be ashamed of me because I was not ashamed of Him! Consider this: Words affect you according to how your heart is with God! This might explain why some people love certain words, sermons, or messages and others don’t like them!

10. Here is another factor on words, we should seek words that bring us wisdom. Proverbs 10:19 In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Proverbs 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. 

If you are not full of God’s life giving words having your goals on obeying God to gain rewards in heaven and saving others while here on earth, then you are as an open house vulnerable for anything stray to come in. Not being full of God’s words of wisdom means you will be occupied and taken over easily (deceived) by any ones words. People fall into traps because they seek to gratify their own selfish ambitions.  So how can you protect yourself from deceitful words then? 

11. Focus in on, pray over, and analyze the words that others speak to you. If a person sincerely says, “Oh, you look good today”, don’t you feel good inside? People reap what they sew. People who always say nice things to others also usually get nice things said back to them, have you noticed that? Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. Literally words can heal! This is what prayer is all about, you are proclaiming God’s words of promises for the healing of your (or someone else’s) body or spirit!

Do a research on positive words. You will find hundreds of books on the powerful effects of positive words. Many self-help books are just a basic guide to getting you to speak positively so you will be more successful, and it actually works! For example, a person that usually would say, “I am too old to learn anything”, would seem to live out just that, an inability to learn. But if the person says to their self, “I can learn anything I want because God will help me”, this person gets positive results! It is a law of nature to some degree that you pronounce your own success or fate! Of course your will has to line up with God’s will or it will not work.

12. However, be careful with the non-Biblical optimistic doctrines of speaking into existence your desires. You cannot just say, “I will be rich and I will be a millionaire”, and expect it to happen by magic. God’s will for your life may not be that you become rich but maybe He would prefer you to be rich in souls you would win for Jesus! God is interested in what will last for an eternity and that which is worth a lot more than our desires!

Here is the whole duty of a Christian concerning our words; the words of this verse affected my mind and changed my life. Psalm 19:14 Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.  If you can pray this and practice it you will live blessed!

13. Proverbs 18:8 The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Today we are shocked how many people speak lies and false stories. A few years ago it seemed that we could recognize foolish talk, slander, or bad words at our jobs, or with in our families. Let’s take a typical scenario. Maria is a hard worker and does her job well. But Maria, being one of the prettiest women on the job as the cashier seems to attract all the young men to go to her to register to place their order. What happens? The usual typical reaction is she is getting stories told about her behind her back by the other women workers. Mean things get said about her, things like, “Oh, she is such a flirt (or worse)”. In society, people a few years ago, folks would take this type of talk for granted that it was not true observing the comments were coming from a jealous person. 

However, what has changed today is that the people are not verifying the source of the spoken words they hear. They just hear, swallow and repeat. People today are dangerously vulnerable to being deceived since truth is less valued than something interesting like a scandal. Over 90 years ago when Hitler said to kill all the Jews because they were the reason for their economic depression and poverty, everyone believed him!? And they followed through doing just that, killing innocent people. Today we observe that a majority of people live without God’s wisdom, truth, and knowledge, so this is why they just accept any misinformation of words from anyone. So what can we do? Pray for discernment!

Time reveals the evil or truth of words. You and I must resist the temptation to speak on a matter until we know more about it. Ecclesiastes 5:2Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. Proverbs 21:23 Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

14. In life each of us experience thousands of words every day and we are being constantly tried and tested and these words attribute to our blessings or to our condemnation. Each of us must choose our words, the ones we will hear, and the ones we will speak. Choose to hear the positive ones from God’s word! You will be happy and encouraged and powerful. 

Choose to always praise God and share kind words to others! Choose also to resist toxic words that will make you sick through people who insult God and others. Don’t forget words come to us by personal conversations, by phone, by radio, by TV, by computer, by and newsprint. We choose moment by moment what we will hear, and what we will repeat. Proverbs 13:3 He that keeps his mouth keeps his life: but he that opens wide his lips shall have destruction.

Concerning words: measure them by God’s word! Investigate the source, filter the content, and discern the motives behind them. You cannot control the words of others but you can control your words! Pray to gain wisdom! Repeat that which builds God’s kingdom of love, peace, and joy! Words in the end are power, for good or for evil! How many words do you use a day to pray and to bring about healing and good? 

Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.