In The World of No Love: Love!!

In The World of No Love: Love!!                                                Kelly Durant

I Corinthians13:4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;

2. How many of you recall in your growing years falling down playing basketball, soccer, or having some accident and you got really hurt but no one was compassionate enough to come to your rescue? The others yelled at you, “Hey, get up crybaby and keep going!”, but what do you do when the pain is so sever you actually are paralyzed? We are reminded in many ways we live in an unloving, uncaring world full of indifferent people every day! 

After you catch your breath you sit it out for a while and think about how you felt abandoned for a moment, how the game just kept on going without you, of how you really were of no concern to anyone as the game in the midst of the war battle was more important than you or your life and your pain. How do you respond to the “no one cares for me” reality as you experience pain in your life’s events? Humanity exalts ‘the systems’ of their inventions above life, while God loves His living creatures above all and not even a sparrow falls without him knowing! Matt10:29 He even knows how many hairs you have! 

The good news is Jesus cares and you can feel the Holy Spirit inside you when you ask for it! The good thing as well is, our bodies usually do heal and they hurt a week or a few months but then get mended. You put ice on the bruised leg, but what can you put on the heart when it gets hurt? Who around you will take time with you to listen to you to love you authentically giving you hope to heal? 

3. Many pains and cuts leave a scar and you and I are reminded of the pain until death what happened. But what about the scars on the mind and soul? What do minds and hearts look like with scar tissue? We know. We see the behavior of the wounded everywhere! Now focus on yourself, can you identify your past or present pains, disappointments, and moments of abandonment with no love? Many people are blind to them! When was your wake-up call that you live in a world with no love? The worst pain of all in life is the one of realizing that you are not really being loved by someone you counted on! There is the what was done to you factor, but what are you doing?  How much love do you give anyway? You know how reaping works, to get love, you must sew and give love. 

So when was the first time you felt unloved? I bet many of you who are Christian cannot even recall that well because God has healed you of that pain! But I can tell you this by experience, I am sure many of you felt deep hurt after you had loved, sacrificed, and given your max to someone close and then you woke up one day to see that this person(s) did not appreciate and love you back in return. Jesus said, Matthew 10:36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ That is the pain God feels: He gave His Son to die for us and a vast majority of his created humanity are prideful, unthankful, and unresponsive to His great love!

To appreciate love, God made it so that you and I have to experience this unloving world full of no love! God’s love is an oasis in this world’s horrid desert! It was not God’s original plan to have to allow people to learn this painful lesson of being rejected and unloved (as Jesus was), but this is the predicament our past forefathers put us in, and we cannot change the people of the world’s past sinful destructive practices. Only with the love of Jesus can we change our present! What we can change in the world is those around us and our own heart and mind with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus reshaping our thoughts, character, and actions as He heals our pains with love.

4. In the past after a week in Bolivia I was reminded by my sister-in-law something I said when I left back in 1981. I told her after 3 and a half years there I was done with the unreceptive people of Bolivia! But I actually went back to stay another 3 and half more but in La Paz! I was angry and disappointed then that few people would convert to become true Christians instead of being Christians in name only. The only real disciple converts I got from Bolivia was my wife (and kids!)  But there also was my sweet sister-in-law who still brings tears to my eyes when I remember how she tried her best to grow and read the Bible. She did grow spiritually and progressed materially as well but now she tells me she has a broken heart like mine, sad that very few convert to authentically love and serve God. There are a few others in my wife’s family on fire for God though, and I got filled with hope from them! God’s love is alive around the world despite the selfish survival mode people live contributing to this world with ‘no love’.

I identified then, and still do now, to Jesus words, Matthew 11:16 “But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, 17 and saying: ‘We played the flute for you, And you did not dance; We mourned to you, And you did not lament.” As a missionary I used to give out gospel tracks in the markets, I use to play guitar and sing songs to the market venders and to people in the jails, hospitals, and orphanages. I loved the smiles on the children’s faces and that was a special time in my life. But deep inside I was heart-broken and frustrated that little love for God was returned, few chose to serve Him, but only a little repentance took place. What stubbornness!  I have often felt like Jerimiah who preached for many years and no one repented!

Many people I met were content to excuse their sinful life of excessive partying, adulterous affairs, binge drinking, coca use, extreme greed and arrogance, and the continual excuse that they did not need to know God any deeper because they believed in their own way or went to church (which was usually only once a year!) So where was the all so powerful dominating church in correcting the unloving destructive ways of these resistant people? Imagine Bolivia: it is as most of the world. It has high poverty, crime, and families divided and destroyed, and no one seems to care?! Where is the love? Where is the disappearing love in this country too? No love means no respect or values, ‘no love’ means hell on earth! 

5. The message I had for Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and have for everywhere I go, is what works, 4: “Love suffers long and is kind,” I can tell you now I have meet too many people who are not kind to their neighbors and their own family members, and this lack of love has created deep scars and pain! It is a global epidemic!

But because I love God, I make myself be kind anyway! I have suffered greatly by the indifference and rudeness of others and only because I love God, pray and read every day, have I been able to remain kind through it all! For one, everyone has to at some point forgive offenses. Jesus taught us to pray that in the Lord’s prayer: to forgive offenses! I can’t say to anyone anymore as I did before serving God, “Hey, You go to hell!” With God’s love I humble myself and control my anger and say, “Hey, how would you like to go to heaven? Do you know Jesus?”

How tragic in life that many people usually do not see their own unkindness and sin: that they are not reaping love and kindness from others in this moment in time because they have not sewn love and kindness in the past. Basically the ignorance of not knowing and loving God and being kind is killing their ability to ever obtain love and have peace! 

6. Have you noticed that politicians gain power from the people claiming that the financial divide of rich and poor is over race and the privilege of some (which they will fix of course.. yeah right, they haven’t yet!) These deceptive words are nothing but propaganda to feed the monster of the inner demons of envy and hate. Carnality and anger are opposite the spectrum of love’s values. 

Vs.4:”Love envies not”, who is mature enough to not have envy? The anger between the haves and have nots is very real everywhere. Friends and families divide over who makes more money and who does not. Envy is manifested in political choices with the hope of gaining more from the haves. Some gain for a while, some lose due to poor choices, and this is just life. But to live with envy will kill you! Satan uses human weaknesses to achieve more control and destruction!   

Often when kindness, generosity, and love is shown to a person who is contaminated by this unloving world full of greed and envy one finds that they interpret the gift as indebtedness and dumbness on your part. The factor is, what have you done with your life in the way of being wise, prudent, and blessed by God? Some people refuse to accept that another has gained more than them by merit with God! Envious people are continuous complainers that have not learned the value of loving, of even loving your enemies. How sad and bitter are many. 

7. “Love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;”. This part refers to remaining humble even though you may be a loving, blessed by God person. This unloving world is made up of pride and most of the time people parade their good deeds only for shallow praise from others. Self-praise is arrogance, that ‘I am’ so good. 

Love given to a person who does not have a heart like Christ’s can become an ego-centric thing.  Haven’t you always hated it when someone you know met a famous singer or actor and they were treated indifferently and rudely by them when they said, “Hi”? Be careful who you love! Even though many people may love a certain famous singer, politician, or person, this does not mean that they will get love back from them, or that this vain one will give love to anyone!

Also love, 5 “does not behave rudely,” The world is becoming more and more rude, have you noticed? Matt. 24:12 “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold”. It is up to us to keep on showing love despite the increasing lack of love and rudeness everywhere. Fight rudeness with kindness!

8. And finally we have 3 commands, 5,”does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;” Those who love with God’s love should never do anything with self-interest, that is to seek their own gain in something. Love just loves no matter what may come back or what may not come back.

Love ‘is not provoked’ implies that you do not make a big deal out of how offended you are over stupid words or unkind actions. If you have love, you will just let it go, but in some cases you may need to stand up to defend a Godly cause. It basically means you are not a sensitive crybaby making a mountain out a mole hill but have enough maturity to not let your angry emotions take over your actions. There are too many in this world who immediately allow their emotions to govern their actions!  Be controlled by God’s spirit of love instead!

‘Thinking no evil’ implies not seeking revenge on those who have wronged you or not loved you as you expected. We should never desire evil to happen to anyone! To the contrary, however, do not allow yourself to be abused over and over by someone! You must love yourself too, and if someone is harming you so much you are thinking evil like in dreaming of killing them, then you have to repent, give it all to God, and get as far away as possible from that person with ‘no love’!

9. Today I am challenging you to mature in love! When a person gets authentically full of God’s love they will become so loving, so dedicated to others, so kind and forgiving, and so selfless that the only thing they can see their self doing in this life is serving God! 

I feel so sorry for so many people I meet in life! I can tell by their words and by their faces that they have never felt the intense amazing love of God deep inside! The fact is few people repent and give up their sins! Each person decides to accept God’s transforming love or not. God’s love in one’s spirit is best described (my opinion) as a person crazy in love or high on drugs! Remember how the town’s people thought God’s people were a bit too happy and crazy as in Acts 2: 15 “For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.” It was the Holy Spirit giving them the power of love to preach the Good News to all the different races and people.

The first disciples filled the ancient cities that had a ‘no love’ religion, with love. Millions of Salvationist Soldiers and Christians worldwide keep spreading this same overwhelming emotional amazing love throughout the world! You and I have the task of filling the world void of love with love! Love is supernatural and will cause you to live by the I Corinthians 13 values we covered today. Do you feel called to love God more, even to the point to serve Him full time? Love heals scars and pains! Come now and pray! 

When Jesus Left the World

 When Jesus Left the World                                 by Kelly Durant 6-22-25

 

Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

 

2. Have you seen an advertisement about a web company, a site where you can post things to sell called, ‘Let Go’? You might see a person holding on to some old bowling ball or machine taking up space in the house for years not being used and then it is offered for sale and then someone out of nowhere comes to buy it.

 

This simple commercial represents many things in life. Sometimes we hold onto too tightly to many things but then there comes a time when we have to just ‘let go’ and accept the fact that we no longer can keep holding onto the past. 

 

As humans, we tend to hoard and collect too much stuff. We also as humans have a hard time moving on to see new horizons. Are you familiar with the phrase that says something like this, ‘In order to see new lands you have to be willing to say goodbye to the shore you are leaving’?

 

3. This is a difficult subject. Everyone by now knows we have a new appointment and that we are leaving this Corps and it is not easy at all! It is easier to let go of stuff that it is to let go of people! But always remember that every time God knows what he is doing when a change comes. We love you and will miss you! 

 

Changes are difficult and we are reminded that we are not always in control of everything. Do you recall this verse, Matthew 5:36 ‘Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black’? No matter how hard I concentrate my hair will not change back from grey to brown, so whether we like it or not we cannot stop all that happens to us in this life. We live in a fallen, decaying world and kids grow up, and people pass on to the next life.

 

I think I must have been 2 or 3 years old when I found out that no matter how loud I yelled and cried in the store, if mama wasn’t going to buy ice cream for me there was nothing I could do about. All our lives we discover over and over that some things may go as we want, yet others will not. God has His plans for us, and we have our plans for ourselves, and others have their plans for us, but life can only be lived well by allowing God to guide and take us using us where we need to be. And many times, we do not understand it at all, but we will one day, if not on earth in heaven!

 

4. My wife and I have had to say goodbye to our loved ones and friends too many times in our lives! Remember that even before the Salvation Army we moved around a few dozen times. We do have deep holes of sadness and joy in our heart remembering our friends in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Atlanta, and many places. We would love to have them and you with us all our lives everyday, but it is not possible.

 

What is wonderful though is that from time to time we are able to see a few friends at some camp, but it is not the same, it is hard to catch up on years gone by when you only have a few minutes to chat. Thank God for heaven because there we will be able to spend eternity together and we will finally be able to hear the complete story of everyone’s life, not just parts, and that is fascinating to me. I thank God for your lives and how we know you and that we will spend heaven together.

 

I remember very well the first shepherds or pastors I had in Oklahoma that helped me learn the Bible and prepare me for mission work. I only knew them for about 6 months but when I had to say goodbye to them to go to the mission field. I cried a lot as they prayed over me saying goodbye. I used to never cry but the experience of being loved, and the fact that one has learned to love by someone teaching you God’s word, is invaluable! It is emotional. God’s love takes away our stone hearts and gives us a heart of frail flesh that can feel love and give love!

 

5. So, at age 21 I got my first taste of what it is like to have to say goodbye to your mentors, to my brothers and sisters in Christ. And I said goodbye to my mother! I was afraid, I thought I would not make it, but what I discovered is God will always put good people in your path! In God’s work I have never lacked for friends who loved and cared for me and my family. No matter who you have close to you, you always learn to get along and do the mission God has for you.

 

Do you ever wonder what happens to your friends after you leave a place? There is nothing more satisfying than to hear that one of your friends went on to do good things for God and others. Some of our Corps Cadet kids we met by soccer in Atlanta went on to become Officers! Not everyone has the calling to move around, not everyone can be Officers or missionaries, but we always respect what everyone can do for God. Each person has great value when living governed by love and holiness. We are always made happy remembering our friends that we got to share at least a few years together.

 

Each of God’s children are important to him and God wants you to do great things for Him. Never think that the mission is over just because you have to say goodbye to your Captains or pastors, it only means that your mission is just starting! New is always different, but we adjust and then all becomes well.

 

6. What did Jesus say right before he ascended into heaven? 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. There is nothing more I could add to that!

 

What Jesus is saying, and all of what we can say when we say goodbye is that we hope that our legacy is this, that we taught you to obey God’s Word to do the mission God has for you. And this verse is very meaningful to me because what Jesus saying to you and me is that ‘He is with you and me always, even to the end of the world.’ That means not just until we die, but until the very end of everything! 

 

Jesus is absolutely real! So, when we pray, when we are in danger, when we study God’s Word, it is then we can sense His presence still here. He is still here and alive and His Holy Spirit moves in us. It really doesn’t matter that this world is degrading into hell, Jesus is with us to the very end, and He has the salvation of our souls in His power and all that really matters that He saves and has a heavenly place for us. There is a line in the hymn of “A might fortress is our God” that says, ‘Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also, the body they may kill, God’s truth abideth still, His kingdom is forever!’ These words are powerful!

 

7. One way we experience the love of Jesus is by loving each other. That is Jesus’ legacy.  John 13:35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” It really does change you when you are loved by someone! I have given love, and I have been loved back hundreds of times by so many, no matter the culture. Jesus in us is powerful when we connect by His love!

 

If there is a take away from what we have taught everyone, we pray that it is obedience to Jesus: that you learned how to love, you learned how to be humble, to get hit on the cheek and roll with the punch, and that you learned of your importance to God so you serve Him and others with all your heart in holiness.

 

I was thinking about it, in 2 years if you multiply an approximate 50 times a year you have heard me and my wife preach, it means that you have heard an approximate 100 sermons! And double that with Bible classes! And the number of hours spent together on Weds. and Sundays, and at camps or on visitation implies a few thousand hours of our lives spent with most of you! All of this time, and the experiences through the good and bad times, is an unforgettable treasure we are very thankful for!  

 

8. Here is something to consider, that you and I are never alone, Jesus brought God’s Spirit into the world in His absence, and everyone can receive from Him, and we all share that together. John 14:26 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

 

I have found it amazing that so many times when you are witnessing to someone, counseling, or praying, it often seems like God puts the words in your mouth. You are amazed thinking, where did that come from? How did I remember all of that to say? Wow, that’s God’s wisdom in me! It comes from the Holy Spirit! So many times, we experience Jesus guiding you and me, agreed? We get guidance direct when pastors are not nearby to rely on, so this is a great advantage.

 

So, no matter who your pastors are, Jesus is there, the Holy Spirit is there, and you are never alone in this Christian life. That is what I always have loved about serving God; you are never alone, someone will be there for you, at least a few.

 

9. Everyone deserves our love and respect, and we have given it and received it! We forgive as Jesus taught, and you do as well. You know as time goes by one usually forgets anything bad about the person, and all you recall is the good, or at least I am that way. How amazing is our God of love, amen?

 

Real friends who love one another as Jesus taught have the supernatural Holy Spirit with them all the time. Real friends never forget the good and remain friends all their lives! If we get to see you again a few months from now, we trust that our love and connection will be as it is today! 

 

Memorize this beautiful promise of Jesus Matthew 28:20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  Jesus will return for us all and we all will share heaven together! I can’t wait for the day we are united with Jesus and all our loved ones! 

Samuel Brengle: He taught us what Holiness is!

Brengle: He taught us Holiness!                    Major Kelly Durant. Re 3-9-25

I Peter 1:13 Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; 15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

2.You have heard of Prengles, right? Well, at the CFOT in Chicago we had Brengles! (show can) Ha! Actually, most of us remember by association and this helps, right? Well, you do need to take in, or digest, the holiness teachings! And then practice them!

It has only been about a few years since a talented Major Eddie Hobgood did reenactments at a commissioning on the life of Samuel Logan Brengle. I was reflecting on that and realized some of you who were not there may not have a clue who this man was that the Salvation Army honors for his teachings. When I told everyone that I was going away to a sabbatical at the Brengle Institute in Chicago everyone was like, well okay have a good time, not knowing anything about him and his writings on holiness. The two weeks there were like a refresher course, a refilling of the Holy Ghost, a resting and a calling to live my life in holiness; to live full of the Holy Spirit! Do you want a life full of God’s spirit as well?

3.Samuel Brengle lived in the time that the Salvation Army was at its beginnings in the late 1800’s. He had gone to the University in Indiana and was so well educated that he enjoyed showing off his college education to his colleagues. He was a circuit preacher for the Methodists here in the U.S. and learned about holiness in Boston studying with them. He wrote in those days of his holiness experiences of how the Holy Spirit would touch him praying and he would end up just crying for joy over God’s love and he just wanted to love the lost souls in the world! 

He came to the Salvation Army in an open air in Boston and decided to join the Salvation Army but he wanted to travel to meet General William Booth himself in London.  And as all godly men would do, General Booth evaluated well how to use the young willful Samuel Brengle. Instead of placing him in authority for his university education as Samuel Brengle had pridefully expected, he asked him to first be in charge of shining the shoes of the Cadets that would go out daily to preach in the streets. In other words, he had an idea that he was a cut above the rest and for sure he was not ready to just serve God. Have you ever met people like that? 

4.First, consider what kind of mud and gunk there was in the streets of London at that time? Most people threw away their bedpans in the streets, horse and carriages passed by leaving their business behind, and the smell and appearance of the mud on the shoes was not pleasant at all!

Samuel Brengle was told he could have the job of shining the approximate one hundred shoes every day, day after day. While he would shine them, he would ask himself, what is God showing me? Why can’t others see my value to use me in a better way? How long will I have to do this ridiculous and humiliating job? Shouldn’t I just quit the Salvation Army? Is it worth it? But God showed him that if Jesus washed the disciples feet, he could also do his job with joy. He made the right choice and persisted and God did use him in a way he did not expect! 

5.The next life event that happened to him brought Him close to God for sure. He was sent back to Boston after training and while out in the streets coming from on top of a building someone threw a brick right on top of his head! It was such a serious injury that he needed one year and a half before he was fully recuperated.

That was a horrible attack and injury from Satan, right? Imagine, this man was already giving his all to God, and now this? Well, it was in that year and a half that God came to him in a marvelous way because he became more and more connected to the Holy Spirit because day after day he was taking time for prayer and the study of God’s word and a transformation of holiness occurred in his life. 

6.He experienced a new level of a connection with God that he never knew, holiness and purity beyond the usual and he felt like he wanted to love everybody, even the dogs in the street! After spending much time with God, as he describes it, colors were brighter, things were unexplainable more beautiful and different! This was His authentic experience that he had a burning to share!

In the end, by reaching a higher level of victory against sin, or what we define as living the holy life, he became inspired, being empowered to his maximum potential and he wrote more than 10 books on the subject of holiness. He researched Wesley’s original contributions and practiced staying pure and his writings and contributions have continued to be a great guide for every Christian who has the duty to go deeper with God in their Christian walk.

Some people never in this life experience the bliss of gaining the blessings of the great joy and peace the Lord wants to give! Any Christian can have joy no matter what is happening in their lives. While there I heard the life testimony of over 72 Officers and you would be surprised how many have dealt with recent deaths in the family, cancer and long term sickness, horrible broken-nesses from substance abuse, abandonment, or even sexual abuse when they were children, or some were opposite having grown up protected and blessed in a Salvation Army home and dedicating their lives to Jesus at age 14. Each story was fascinating, and each person was dedicating their life to Jesus as a calling with heavenly rewards disregarding the cost of the earthly sacrifice. “The Holy Spirit, dwelling within, turns our eyes from that which is temporal to that which is eternal; from the trial itself to God’s purpose in the trial; from the present pain to the precious promise.” —Samuel Logan Brengle

7.How many of you want more of Jesus so much so that the Holy Spirit fills you moment by moment to experience God’s love as never before? It makes you happy inside, full of love, and so thrilled about life that you just overflow it from your heart onto others in pure love!

In the future we must study on how to gain more holiness because you and I have an immense need for it, but for today, I will just give you a few illustrations to make it more understandable. 

God is holy and he commands that we be holy. (see verses of sermon) What does that mean? It means that we must obey, and we must work at renewing ourselves with the Holy Ghost deepening our relationship with The Lord day by day. Think of all the muddy shoes, they are ugly and undesirable and they had to get cleaned from day to day, but afterwards they shined as new, as if they had never been dirty! You and I and the Lord need each other otherwise you just remain dirty full of your own self filthy and undesirable. But God makes us shine His glory!

8.Think of your faith as a glass of water. You were dry and empty but when you invited Jesus to come into your life, you were full and felt satisfied. But left alone without refilling, the water evaporates; this means you must refill it with your connection to God by worship (not just on Sunday but daily), reading and absorbing His word, and by obeying his commands to love Him with all your heart mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. Let’s review doctrine 9 and 10 that reflect on this.

We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ. We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9.How many of you are saved and have Jesus in your lives? (hands up) Great! There was given to you a prevenient grace, you could think of it as a special gift of illumination in your heart and mind from God, a Holy Spirit pull on your heart, and you accepted it and had an experience that made you feel a warmth or peace. 

When a person accepts Jesus, they gain a small measure of holiness (which is like a touch of the breath of God), like getting a seed planted, the first getting to know Him meeting took place and the spirit provoked in you or in the person accepting Jesus a will to want to be clean, to not sin anymore, and know more about God and become like this pure loving being… Jesus, God’s Son, to save you from your sins or destructive habits that separated you from God.

Then over time what happens? Well, as you know with the parable of the seed that Jesus told, the seed can either grow up partially, fully, or just die. You are the one who decides. If you water it with God’s word and pray to obey and grow in faith, the product of holiness takes root in the love relationship that grows. You grow and mature and you produce fruit for God. His grace in you then becomes prevalent.

You then have passed on to the phase of having a prevalent grace, a continuing grace, a Holy Spirit power that helps you in the process of growing even closer to God, of helping you to be like Jesus himself! It is a second measure of God’s spirit!

10.Imagine yourself right now as being a pure holy person, a person full of love and Jesus’ love, a person that has lost all desire to sin because you are free from sin, a person who lives every moment guided by God’s spirit. Imagine now a happiness and joy which is more than anything you have ever experienced! 

I know some of you have experienced the Holy Spirit, and felt so wonderful you thought you could fly off to heaven! The infilling of the Holy Spirit which occurs when your heart and mind are clean for the Lord is an amazing experience but it is one that lasts only while you keep the connection alive. Renewing it every day will mean to be faithful until the end! 

Holiness and purity are possible with God and everyone should pray for it, accept it, and allow the lead of the Holy Spirit, and then live moment by moment hearing from the Lord!

The fullness of God comes from abiding in Jesus, God’s word, as the vine in John 15. Imagine every person is comparable to a plant, or the vine that grows, but some give fruit and some don’t. The scripture says, the ones without fruit are thrown away to be burned, but the other ones that stay connected to Jesus absorb all the nutrients and over time mature to grow many grapes. Some of you here have little green grapes, and some of you have large grapes, all of you are in different phases of growth.

11. What does the fruit imply? We know from Gal. 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,²³ Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

If you mature in pureness and holiness you will have these qualities for your continued working at being close to God.  And holiness just keeps on progressing and you feel much less temptation to sin, and you are holy because you have been passing time with the one that is holy! But if not you become lukewarm and neither hot nor cold for God and useless.

You are commanded to be holy by the scripture we read today. Do you think you are prideful and need to improve? Well, just tell God you’re sorry and repent and start right now with a new dedication to Him! Pray for a lifestyle change so you have time for God daily. Pray for a change in character too! I know you and some of you do not yet have the fruits mentioned here in Galatians.  

12. Ask yourself, could I pass the test of shining shoes all day for Jesus? He may have a task for you of helping here, a humble job others will not do. God wants to use so many of us, but we are not cleaned up in holiness as much as God would like. 

Pray Psa 51:10-12 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.   Remember it is a command to be holy as He is holy! Trust and obey, seek holy living, and discover a joy you have never known!

What Love Is...And What It Is Not

What Love Is, And What It Is Not                               Kelly Durant   2-11-18 RE 2-16-25

 

Matthew 22: 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

 

2. When my daughter Renee was little, we would play a little game of words. She started this when she was about 3 years old. I would say to her, “I love you!” And then she would reply, “I love you more!” Then I would say, “No, I love you more!” To the which she would reply, “No, I love you more!”  And we would say this back and forth for 5 minutes!

 

Who wants to be loved? Have you ever thought about it, God gave us the natural hunger to want to be loved, right? When someone loves you, you feel in the clouds, you feel life has a purpose and you only want goodness and love for everyone else! Jesus gave us love as no other and we must explore the depth of this great love. God is love! (See 1 Jn. 4) Specifically, God Yahweh, Jesus’ Father, the great “I am”, is the creator of all things lovely and beautiful.

 

But love exists in many different manifestations. How many of you studied this in school? What is the love for a friend or the church brethren in Greek? Philia. What is the crazy love for your soul mate? Eros. What is the love for God and everyone, the giving love?  Agape. There are others, but the idea is we must learn to distinguish between what love is and what it is not. Some people might say they love ice cream, but we understand that is just an expression of what you crave, but real love is something to value, and we must understand it, and share it.

 

3. What concerns me about today’s culture is that we have lost the original meaning(s) of what love is. Some love ballads in the past decades seemed to have an ability to inspire a love for a man or woman, and that love is powerful, we all want that heart need satisfied as it brings joy. Everyone I know wants someone to love and someone to love them back to make them happy. And a puppy dog or pet is often the only source of love for many lonely souls! What is wrong with people today, losing their love for others? We have moved away from Biblical truths!

 

But in this most recent decade love has been redefined into something foreign, and grotesque and we must return to the roots of what love actually is according to the Word of God. Love is all inclusive, but love does not include loving those who destroy and harm. Stop and pray for common sense! Nature and God’s creation reveals natural love.

 

There has been a concerted effort in the past decade(s) to destroy love, to destroy people who love, to stop playing the music of love, and mock those who do acts of kindness!  Christians, in a majority are real lovers of the hurting, doing acts of love.  Jesus said in the ‘end-times’ “the love of many would turn cold”. This persecution against loving people comes from Satan himself who hates love. Satan and his demons, in positions of power and influence, hate our Jehovah God of love, and most of all he and his roaming demons hate Jesus because Jesus is the very most powerful Loving One! He is the embodiment of absolute sacrifice and love for all humanity! Jesus’ love fills your spirit with happiness it saves your soul for eternity, and for Satan that means you are one that got away. You escaped his deceptions, so you are escaping his enslavement, bitterness, and hell and he hates you for it! You escape by God’s love, He first loved you, but then you must love Him back!

 

4. God wants us to love our enemies. Why? Because haters want to convert you into being a hater as well! Satan’s unhappy condemned followers want to infect you with their unloving disease of hate, but be wise to their game, don’t fall into their trap. Reflect on it, it is not easy at all to keep on loving when you are suffering the damages of hate. But we can only win by love!

 

Because Jesus commanded it, we will obey it! Matthew 5:43-47

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ...The idea is to do your part and try to convert these haters over to your side, to the side of love!

 

Having love, and forgiving others, does not mean you allow any person to continue to enslave, torture, and destroy you! As Christians we must be wise. To forgive evil and then think we need to let it keep happening is insanity; love means you expose evil so that the shame and punishment takes it far away from you. Love is not illogically loving those who are unrepentant and perverted wanting to keep you as their victim! These abusers want to equate lust as love and convert you into being a child of hell as they are! Many Hollow-wood people seem to adapt the same liberal politics as their abusers, which is insanity, you would think they would consider them repugnant and be the opposite! What is love? It is healing, the opposite of pain, shame, and justifiable punishment! 

 

5. Matthew 22: 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Here is a curious detail.

 

You are to love your neighbor as you love yourself. What does it mean to love yourself? Do you love yourself? But when does loving yourself go too far? How many of you love to indulge in pleasures? A movie or a concert may not be so bad, unless the message is perverse. Many people spend most all of the money they make from week to week on their selves, right? Maintaining and loving the body God gave you is important, but it must be kept in a balance, not being excessive in consumption. Love is not mutilating yourself with dozens of surgeries, abusing your body, for an elusive beauty!

 

If you love another as yourself then you will feed them, do nice things for them, and even do things for those unfortunate one, peoples you may not even like. Parents love their children. A parent’s love will even give up new clothes for their own selves in order to buy new clothes for their kids. Love is manifested in being kind to yourself and others, being altruistic, sacrificial, giving, and affectionate. Let’s review what the Bible says about love; many of you know these things, but are they practiced authentically? Do you love God? Then practice these things:

 

1 Corinthians 13: 4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 (a) Love never fails.

 

6. God is love, meaning caring, saving, merciful and protective. But take note how love, as defined by the world, has gotten off track in today’s culture. Remember that our current culture is one in which “good is bad and bad is good”. Satan’s design, through social engineers and demonic influences work through political leaders, through putrid swamp governments, through perverse entertainment, and through commercial music to subvert what love was intended to be. Love today, for many people just implies lust, the embracement of awkward sins, and the catering to perverse appetites.

 

Real love includes you and me loving sinners (we all are saved and redeemed sinners), but as Christians we must hate sin, why? Because it destroys and God’s Word commands it.  You cannot love Satan and his children and God and his children at the same time! Psalm 15:4 In whose (ours) eyes a vile person is despised, But he honors those who fear the Lord. Proverbs 8:13 The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverse mouth I hate. (There are certainly millions of perverse mouths on the news channels and the internet!) People today talk all about what they hate, but when do they proclaim love?

 

Do not let Satan trick you into thinking you are a hypocrite if you do not “love” his shameful sins and his repugnant, evil, destructive people! Never let anyone shame you into thinking you should love and accept horrible people who manipulate with intimidation, lies, deceptions, perversions, and abuses. Satanism is sadly increasing. Much evidence proves human sacrifice is still taking place as it did in the days of the O.T. as it was with the Satanic idol of Moloch. We are on the side of those who denounce and abhor the works of evil, the practices of evil dignitaries who murder, oppress, and exploit. Do not, never let the world tell you who to hate as many mindless uniformed people go with the flow of hating Christians and good people. ‘For wide is the gate to destruction’, and how we see the flow of the masses degrading down to the gates of hell! Listen to me, and to the people of God telling you to love all people and pray for everyone near you! Jesus is the winner and He is God’s love for all who receive Him!

 

7. As a general rule what the world loves and says is “good” is actually “bad” and even Christians choose the wrong side many times because, they are not close to God! Hosea 4:6

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.  God warns us all not to “love the world” nor be ignorant.

 

There is a severe judgment coming for those who “love” and prefer the evil trends of the world over God’s love. 2 Kings 17:17 “And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger.” Loving what’s in the world, such as idolizing politicians, musicians, actors, or any person, implies that you may be aligning yourself with people who are outright Satanic worshippers! Some Christians are so deceived they think they will go to heaven while they never proclaim a “love” for God, telling others of Jesus, or doing anything to prove they are different from anyone else in the world. Love is verb; what action do you do to prove you love as God commanded?

 

The perversion of love today is nothing new. The people of God, the Israelites several thousands of years ago, having a God of purity to guide and provide, degraded their selves to worship Satan’s idols, even giving their own infant children to be burned up horrifically in a huge bronze idol, the idol of Moloch. Imagine being so dead to love you kill your own?! The opposite of love will lead to a degradation into horrific evil! Evil must be conquered by practicing a supernatural love from Jesus that fights for the innocent, the abused, the enslaved, the broken, the hurting, the impoverished, and the corrupted soul!  

 

8. So how will you be able to give and receive real love in our degraded, perverted, abusive world of today? Only by being led by God’s Holy Spirit! It means you must love God above all things and get on your knees and beg Him to give you a loving heart for everyone, everyday! 

 

I have to do it, God has to refill me daily with love and His Divine Word to keep on going despite how much evil there is. The temptation to hate and to stop trying to love is great, but only by love is how we can win and conquer the world for God! Pray for God to send loving people as friends in your lives! God’s love is still out there and it is powerful, but you must search for it. 

 

And loving everyone includes, in particular, those in your own house, those in your family, those in your church Corps, and those in this community. I know you keep yourself alive and cared for so, “Love your neighbor as yourself!” Love everyone, even your enemies. Love is laying down your life for the brothers and sisters!

 

9. Have you heard the quote, ‘It’s not enough to love the flowers, you must also hate the weeds?’ This is how love works, it nourishes the lovely, it loves and is loved back, but love also protects the lovely and weak from the aggressive evil that comes in to destroy. God is love, but He also protects His own children and He is also a burning fire which purifies and burns away evil that gets close to His presence destroying those who would destroy. 

 

So, for all aspects of life, ask God for wisdom on who to love and who to resist! Young people be careful not to fall in love with just anyone, as love is blind, and you may be investing heavily in someone who will never change to be loving as you are as a Christian. In the end, a one-way street love will dry your spirit and make you disillusioned, cold, and void of love for God and others unless you repent and heal and start over. Ask God to bring people who are true and loving in your life, otherwise you are a victim to random unloving people.

 

Without love? What a tragedy that so many people start off life loving everyone (but loving the wrong kind as well, loving what the world tells you to love) and end up getting severely burned and made bitter to the point they become haters and join the ‘hater groups’ to just spout hate, hate, and more hate daily over any little thing. What a sad, trapped, condemned life Satan offers when you leave God’s loving side. We all must repent and learn to love what God loves, and that includes every person! It’s clearly in His Word, do you read it? Will you hate evil and defend the things of God instead of the things of the world? 

 

Chose today, will you stand with God’s faithful lovers, the proclaimers and obeyers of Jesus’ love, message, and salvation? Or will you slide all the way down by hate and bitterness to the level of the degradation of the Satanic hater abusers? The world glorifies hate and perverseness as love, but we denounce it as deception and evil. Daily we see in the news the unloving Satanic ones of the world are falling quickly into their deserved condemnation, shame, and ugliness (and jail). The final judgment will condemn them to an eternal hell! You and I must love as many as we can out of their hell while they still have life, but they must choose love, as God taught us, to be restored. This is our mission, to love! Jesus loves you and I do too!

 

 

How to Show Love! Can you perceive it?

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

 

 

1 John 3:16

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

Sugar is sweet my love, but not as sweet as you! 

(But being commercialized, few respond to these kinds of words anymore, ha!)

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

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

We Are Family! Or We Should Be!

We Are Family!                                  Kelly Durant   1-16-17 Re: 12-29-24

 

Ps 68:4-6

4 Sing unto God, sing praises to his name: extol him that rideth upon the heavens by his name JAH, and rejoice before him.

5 A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

6 God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land

 

   2. Back in the 70s there was a picture of a young child carrying another child on his back. It looked like the one carrying the child was having a hard time since the other one was so big. Someone asked, “Isn’t he too heavy for you to carry?” And the child responded, “He aint heavy, he is my brother.” (A hit song too, remember?)

 

   Those that are family are never a burden, we do not get rid of them, they eat with us, they laugh with us, they share the deepest things of their heart with us, and they are in a special class that others do not have. We are a part of the family of God and His name is above all family names and we must live with the utmost respect, nobility, and honor.

 

  All true Christians and those who know God promote families and the protection of women and children, today we will reflect on this. Part of the reason for my choice of this subject is because families are under assault! Adult and child trafficking, bad immigration, drugs, awkward adulterous lifestyles,, politics, and many factors are destroying families, all by Satan’s prolific design.

 

   3. It was recognized in the past decades that Latinos and many immigrants had strong family ties and values.  I recall in the 70s people would comment that the Latino immigrants always brought with them a strong family value, and that this was good for the country. Today however, the disease of sin, the filth from Hollywood values, has divided many families and immigrants have almost the same statistics as everyone else in the area of divorce, single motherhood, and criminality when compared to the rest of the population.

 

Notice in the Psalm verses of today, that as always we are prompted to praise God, and to be happy in his presence. And why is that? Because He is… A father of the fatherless, and a judge of the widows, God in his holy habitation cares and is aware of all situations. This means that God is there for you and I who do not have a family nearby. God is especially near to those with circumstances that make it hard for them to survive. My emotions went ecstatic when I read this verse for the first time, and I suddenly felt and knew that God had replaced my earthly father and family in a way far beyond my expectations! The Word of my Father God, the wisdom, the comfort, the salvation, has impacted me beyond what any human can offer! The Bible is transformative!

 

  And one of my favorite verses is this: “God setteth the solitary in families: he bringeth out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land”.  Lets’ examine how God does this. This is another verse I absolutely love!

 

   4. Throughout the world, in almost all churches, if you are a brother in Christ, then there is the idea that you have received a new spirit, and new way of life. Therefore, you become a person of trust, and brothers in the faith open their doors to you and you can stay with them as if they were family. If you are a lonely person and solitary, then you could be close to a larger family and this is how we all become one big family in God!

 

Throughout the years Regina and I have stayed with dozens and dozens of Christians while traveling, or arriving in a new country, and most all of them treated us as family, some even lent us their own beds to sleep in! What a great thing to have the same Father God and Jesus Christ, to have a unity of purpose and faith. We too have had dozens upon dozens of people stay in our homes over the years too because this is just how Christian families work. God intended for his created humanity to live in love and harmony, that we would be One under His awesome presence. 

 

Matt 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. 

With this verse you and I are impressed that the followers of Jesus had to give up their families in the flesh to do a greater work for God traveling and evangelizing, but by doing so they gained a hundred more families in the process!

 

    5. Do you as a Christian right now have a half dozen friends that will take you into their home if you need it? Will you take into your home brothers of the faith? Families are not produced by indifference towards others; they are established by love, patience, and a good heart keeping them together! This is freedom, freedom from the chains of the materialistic world that puts money above relationships and compassion. 

 

Let’s look at the second half of verse 6 in the verses of today in Psalm 68:6 

“but the rebellious dwell in a dry land”. Some people do not have anywhere to stay because of their rebellion against God! No one wants complicated sinful people nearby!

 

What does this imply? Let’s look at family situations. What happens when sin gets in the middle of the fellowship, when one of the brothers or sisters starts living unholy, or speaking ugly things, or hurts another? When one is rebellious and does not support the home, when anger or drugs divide, what happens? Conflicts, fights, animosity, bitterness and worse things happen right? 

 

  Someone usually leaves because they do not wish to tolerate all the problems and abuse. And what happens in the end to those that are rebellious, who do wrong against God and their own kind? They suffer the judgments of God and end up alone and are cursed to live a life as one who lives lost in the desert with no friendship, joy, or happiness. I know many people that no one wants to talk to because they have an angry ungodly character.

 

   6. I have seen people leave families and even the church family due to the abuses they have suffered, because of the sins of another which hurt them. This is sad. Look up Prov 18:19 ‘A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle’.  But like it or not Jesus commands us to forgive all! But not everyone knows how to ask God to help them get through what they consider offensive.

 

  Not just in our church family, but I am sure in your flesh family you have seen abuses and divisions, excommunications, and even divorces. Sin is rebelliousness and it has its effects, it destroys family households and Christian fellowships!

 

  In today’s world we see the disintegration of families so severe that only one in three people actually live in a family in the U.S.! Jesus and His love and forgiveness are the only answer to restore and heal and put people back together!

 

  7. Today Satan is at war against families! Satan wants to destroy people cursing them to live in a dry desert land which is a hell, and then when they die the hell continues in the solitude and despair! Notice how has Satan has unprecedentedly destroyed families in the past millennia? We notice how wars between nations and tribes provokes death! The soldiers, families, and dozens of millions are forced to move yearly and immigrate somewhere due to the harsh conditions of suffering of their own land. Divisions, in-fighting, and hate, and war separates everyone on massive scales.

 

   And what about those that would have experienced the joys of having a family had it not been for abortion? What about those who would have fallen in love and made a family had it not been for someone convincing them that they were not cool and that to be accepted by the Hollywood crowd that they needed to have a relationship that goes against nature? Feminism and many other recent movements exist for the sole purpose of contaminating others with bitterness and hate so that people learn to reject the love of God and separate themselves from those that would love and support them. Political correctness is self-sabotaging!

 

   And now, what about families that were united and happy until politics obsessed the minds of a few to the point they preferred to part ways with their brothers and sisters? Satan’s pride and bitterness is alive today through politics and religion and very few want to just ‘let things go’ when they have a different idea or a misinformed view of other people and events. I am tired of the demonization of others with fake news, no one is perfect except Jesus, and only God will judge guilty souls. But you and I should refuse to take part in throwing more gasoline on the fire. Even Paul rebuked others for identifying with men, not men who were political leaders, but spiritual leaders.  1 Corinthians 3:4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?

 

  8. The message of Jesus, and of this church is; we are family! The message of Jesus to all who receive Him is… I am family with you and I lay down my life for you! Despite our sins, despite the sins of others, God’s word promises us that we can still have a spiritual family, even if your own reject you!   John 1:11

He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

So, if you have kin who love to fight, divide, attack, and impose what they believe on you and others, just let them be. The rebellious live in a dry land and you should not follow them out to their dry places of misery! We are heaven bound!

 

  You as a Christian have the job to forgive, heal and restore all who you can into God’s family! But not all will! A horse can be brought to the water but that does not mean he will drink! And it’s so strange when you think about how we as Christians can be close to those who are very different from ourselves in race and customs and it is all because we have the same faith in Jesus. What more does the word say about families? How should you behave?  1 Tim 5:8

8 If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. 

 

Keeping a family alive requires maintaining support, love, and care. In families there exists a required sense of responsibility, but if we are unfaithful to others in our own family of the faith, how can God bless us? 

 

  9. In heaven we will all be one big happy family, and there… there will no longer be any more economic, race, and sin issues! No more need to remember a Dr. Martin Luther King Day so we get reminded to respect those different from us more than what we currently do. We will be dancing in the streets as one big family! Let’s live now on earth full of love for all as it is in heaven!

 

Do feel like you are in dry land spiritually? Do you know someone who is in a dry land in your family or church? Maybe it is because you have not opened the door of your heart and home to make them feel at home! But if you have and they have not wanted it, you did your part. Just pray for them, that’s what we do! Just live holy, loving, inclusive, and heavenly minded!

 

God never blesses selfishness; no one can expect others to take them in as family if they are not willing to take in others themselves! To make families and to be a church which is one family, we must seek to love with God’s love and receive all! Pray to have a spirit of family today! The family of God is our real family, amen?