You or I Could Lose Everything!

You or I Could Lose Everything!                                                 Kelly Durant 6-1-08

 

Luke 12:16-21

16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully:

17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?

18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then

whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?

21 So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.

 

 In Caracas, Venezuela, we had a frightful experience one time in our apartment on the 4^th floor. We started smelling smoke and we thought maybe someone was burning trash in the neighborhood next door, but it got worse and we decided to open the door and take a look and when we did the entire hallway was full of dark thick smoke! It was so thick, you could not see the stairs, and for sure we were not going to go on the elevator! We put wet rags on the bottom of the door and prayed! I thanked God that at least the kitchen window did not have bars on it so we could jump out but I thought I could throw out my kids one by one if need be! I thought it better to have a broken bone and yet survive, than to die by being burnt up! It turned out to be a car in the basement level that was on fire and the firemen arrived on time to control it. Later they said that if the fire in that car in the lower garage would have spread to all the cars, then there would have been no chance to save the whole building! It was a sobering experience and once again we were brought face to face with the reality we could all die at any moment! God has allowed me to be scared and in dire situations many times and I revert to this; I will honor God, thank God, and love Him for His mercy and salvation on me and those close to me!

 

This past week has been a difficult one for the community. I was contacted to see how to help a mother of 6 kids whose husband went to jail and is being deported. Many people have been deported and lost all they worked for, the few thousand dollars’ worth of furniture, and its left behind for another person often as trash! Regina also went to the hospital for 3 days straight to spend time with a family that lost their 18-year-old son due to a horrible traffic accident. She cried and prayed with them! Many people are suffering terribly in every community, but how are you and the people nearby responding?

 

I would like to invite you come with me to Sam’s club to shop sometime. On almost any given day you can come in and find shoppers with flatbed carts full of cases of beer, 10 cases, or even 20 cases! You would think by the attendance at the clubs and restaurants around the city that life in this country is one big party, but considering what I just told you about people suffering, you can conclude it is not!

 

 So, what do we have in society? Bad behavior, partying, people living as if there is no judgment, gossiping, and all happening as if there is no tomorrow despite warnings!

 

The scripture today addresses how wrong any of us could be to think there is no tomorrow and no consequence for our actions! Some people get a little prosperity, an apartment, a car, a few electronic toys, and they think they have arrived! They are invincible! Compared to cousins in poor countries, many are folks here are considered to be rich! 

 

What did the scripture say about the man who got a little prosperity and was rich? He wanted even more! When he had no problems, when God was good to Him, what was his attitude? Did he go to the temple and thank God for his prosperity? No! He became more and more selfish, he wanted to build bigger barns! And what provoked God’s wrath on his life? What caused God to decide to not only let Him lose everything but cut his life short?

 

Read verse 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.

 

He had a heart that only could think about himself, no one else! He wanted to enjoy life without the bother of seeking or thanking God who gave him his life and his prosperity!

He had no fear of God, but imagine now he has to face God; now he is in the predicament of having lost it all and losing his soul as a punishment!

 

Don’t you see everyone one of us should have a sense of urgency, we are in a crisis in the community! God is allowing tragedy, persecution, and suffering in our neighborhoods to sober people up so they will stop all their foolishness, their lack of respect to honor God, and stop their pride and arrogant mouths which offend God and others! 

 

People who never let their heart be converted like the heart of Jesus, people who hear and know the Word of God but do not practice it, people who could come to church and worship but make accusing and exaggerated statements against people in the church, people who reject Biblical thinking and view all things from the carnal, selfish I got to put myself first attitude, are not spiritual and they are exposed to God’s wrath just like the person in these verses of focus today. 

 

Where else does it talk in the scriptures about the sin of being shallow with God? Or another way to look at it, how does God deal with people who live life as if they are the powerful ones, calling the shots and in control? People who want their selves to appear to be a great somebody by attacking other people? Often people who believe that because they have a little more than others, they have the right to judge and put down others? What happens when in the church some people put others down? Our words bring serious consequences! 

 

Luke 12:45-47 45 But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;

46 The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

47 And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

 

Always there will be people in the church who are drunk on their own pride despite all the horrible suffering of those in their own city nearby them! Why is it some people, and include yourself, always have their minds on their selves and they do not have the capacity to have compassion on others and love as Jesus did and they have to always tear down and attack others in order to make their selves look good? Sin brings death and suffering!  

 

In the church what happens, some people benefit from our love, God’s love and mercy, and this may include material help, yet some have been known to say the most offensive and ugly things about others and church members. Why?

 

It is because they have unrepentant hearts and because they, with a false image, lie to others, they lie to their selves, and they tell themselves that people in the church are more hypocrite than they are as to way a justify themselves as righteous enough. A tragedy! 

 

But the people who put others down, those who hurt others with their words are like the ones in the verse 45 who attack and beat others. And where do these people who do the works of unbelievers spend eternity? In the lake of fire!

 

Not everyone who comes to church will go to heaven but only those who repent and honor God and do his will! Only those who show love and compassion to others, only those who consider the poor and suffering, only those who sacrifice their pride and forgive and do the works that Jesus taught us will make it to heaven!

One cannot think one is a Christian and then live and speak in an unholy way!

 

Matt 12:36-37

36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.

 

Who sees a need to repent today? Who wants to call their family and friends and warn them and tell them that they could lose everything at any moment? Get right with God! Be aware that God is angry with those who insult and harm good people, His people? 

 

Warn the community! Wake people up that God’s wrath has been revealed on many cities. Catastrophe could fall on any one of us! We have no guarantee of tomorrow. Build your future plans on doing God’s will and don’t let yourself become greedy, arrogant insulting your brothers, or over indulging in life’s pleasures storing up too much for yourself while others are in need. 

Pain: It Is Killing You! (If You Are Not Taking In God’s Medicine)

Pain: It Is Killing You! (If You Are Not Taking In God’s Medicine) Kelly Durant 2-23-14 Re 11-9-25

Romans 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

2. Ever since I was little I learned that pain usually occurred as a means of persuasion. For example, when I was 2 I learned not to put paperclips in the wall socket! At age 6 if I wandered too far away down the street while playing, and didn’t answer when my mother called, when I got back I would get a switching for disobeying.  At school at age 8 when I would play wrestle with my friends in the sand pit and when they had me pinned or I had them in an uncomfortable hold, the loser had to say “uncle” to stop the pain of the vice grip. 

Here is a reality we rarely discuss about ourselves: everyone in life must endure pain of all different kinds. Pain abruptly stops us in our tracks and it refocuses our attention on an immediate matter. Pain will cause a reaction! It might be with tears, a slowing down and subduing or humbling, or sometimes the contrary, anger may collectively fester over pain. 

a) Pain exists as a part of our fallen world, from the out-of-control natural world, a product of diseases and sicknesses spread by man’s ignorance and sin. B) Pain also can be something afflicted on us from another source like an oppressive authority applying instruments of pain for dominion. C) Pain additionally may be a consequence of a wrong personal decision, of bad friends, an abuse of a substance like alcohol or pills, or be a consequence from sins resulting from having the wrong kind of lifestyle or belief system condemned by God.

 And here is what everyone fears, that God may be allowing a certain pain in our lives for a reason and we know only He can stop it so you or I ask in prayer, “How can you and I fix this situation, Lord?  How can I please you, God, to make it stop?” Help! Repentance=Restoration

3. Apart from these 3 of many possibilities of sources for pain, there also exists a collective suffering in mass by God’s people that few understand unless they are a child of God and know God’s heart and have suffered in similar circumstance. Almost everyone has seen a movie on the 10 commandants and knows about the Exodus. What was the situation? The Israelites, God’s people, had suffered as slaves for a few hundred years and the people were in pain from the unjust degrading Egyptian oppressors. But God hears the prayers of the righteous and He is our liberator through Jesus, right? Egypt’s gods were no gods at all and Egypt has been dominated by other world powers or their own internal oppressors ever since the Israelites were freed! God is always the ultimate liberator!

Exodus 2: 23 And it came to pass in process of time, that the king of Egypt died: and the children of Israel sighed by reason of the bondage, and they cried, and their cry came up unto God by reason of the bondage.24 And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.25 And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them. 

God hears our cries when we are in pain and God chose Moses to lead His chosen out of Egypt. God always has mercy on his children, but each child of God must recognize that it is only His power that can save them from their pain before God will choose to act. God has a loving heart and He hates suffering but it is our role to recognize that He is the power above all powers and the cure for our aching hearts, minds, and bodies.  

4. I know many of you in this room have endured broken bones, endured different sicknesses, and probably had your heart broken as well. I think everyone has endured an intense pain of some kind! Oh, let me not forget the pain of having a baby! With physical injuries or viruses, you have decreased mobility and plenty of time is required to recover, right? Painful periods in life may conduct us to have more alone time with God.

Like it or not, we must accept the fact that certain diseases exist, and they exist as a punishment on the wicked but God protects his own if they/we do not participate in the ways of the wicked. Exodus 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

Think about diseases and how they are spread, most sexually transmitted ones come from animals and then they are spread by promiscuity. Because sin abounds today much pain is spread by people who willfully knowingly spread viruses, especially HIV, and others pass germs on by having unwashed hands. Also bio-terrorism (germ warfare) and waste toxins is a new means of destruction. There is a war on humans and for years corporations and governments around the world have, for material gain, knowingly allowed chemicals and toxins to make sick millions of people in communities in almost every major city.

We must always pray for those suffering with cancer and other diseases induced by man’s destructive practices as many innocent people suffer from the sins of others in the community.

5. I think we all hate physical pain! When a tooth hurts you will do anything to make it stop right? God has mercy on us and He created certain plants that (poppy, coca, etc.) can put to sleep certain nerves but these substances were not created for continual use, only a temporary one. The sad part is in most parts of the world the people are so poor (1/3 or more people of the world) that they just have to endure pain with little relief. Drugs are sold mostly to the rich and middle class in wealthy nations, not in the poor countries. Alcohol is a problem as well!

I found an article last week that exposes that 70 million Americans are on pain killers or mind-altering substances, and there are many consequences from this abuse to try and mask pain. All recent mass murders have been done by people or kids abusing pharmaceuticals. Violence and cold-hearted acts are done by people numbed to pain. Almost every reformed prostitute will testify they abused drugs and alcohol to escape the pain of guilt and humiliation. It takes the death of actors to expose that an abundance of killer heroine and fentanyl is currently on the streets of America. Drugs waste away kidneys and livers and minds, killing abstract thinking. Pain relievers have their place but they become Satan’s tools of destruction when abused.   

But here is an interesting thing about physical pain, prayer can alleviate it often as well as a drug! Prayer is an unexplained phenomenon of science. Studies have been done and there is evidence that prayer, especially prayer with others, can relieve pain and even heal. This is the natural remedy God wants us to use more than any other! You must pray to discern when you need a doctor though because it is destructive ignorance to allow an emergency situation to be unattended to! (You also may apply oil when praying, see James 5:14)

6. What about pain from oppression?  I know many people will agree with me they would prefer to experience a physical pain rather than a heart break pain. What do I mean? Many people live heart-broken due to the oppression of their abusive spouse, children, bosses, or in particular by their governing authorities.  In all large cities there always exists mafias, pimps, and corrupt authorities that use people as human capital to be exploited. And look at the Ukraine, Venezuela, and N. Korea (amongst many others) right now; the people there are in acute pain and they are just reliving what Russia, China, Cuba, and hundreds of other nations have gone through throughout the ages. People foolishly empower (because they are deceived) abusers for personal gain! But the gain only goes into the hands of a few!   

Look at the Israelites again, for example. They were suffering in slavery and hard labor, but I think what hurt them the most was the abandoned feeling of hopelessness. They knew that they had a righteous God as their Father, but they felt the pain that He was not blessing them with their own land and nation to live in freedom as they dreamed. They had to endure living under the false gods of the Egyptians and this was humiliating. What a waste of manpower to move stones that were all for the vanity of surrounding a cadaver with luxury. 

But what happened in Egypt? How did God fix the problem of their oppression and heart break?  God raised up a leader to free them! He was the man of God for the hour to free the hurting Israelite people to restore dignity. He was a hero, a savior, a redeemer receiving by divine inspiration God’s laws for the formation of their new nation.  In the same manner Jesus steps up and saves men and women from their own sins and destructions, and from other oppressors around them. Today Jesus is our Savior, hero, liberator, and healer!

7. Normal love relationships involve pain between couples as complications from time to time arise and sometimes there are periods of time of not feeling very close to the other. These painful ups and downs may be caused by the sins of one or both, but normal recovery is expected. But when total abandonment occurs, that is a deep pain that needs a long recovery time. Abandoned abused people need many friends supporting them, and especially they need faith in Jesus to know that He heals all brokenness and all things will come out for the good in the end. (Romans 8:28)

You and I have known of many abusive cases between couples after a divorce or abandonment, but haven’t we witnessed how God often raises up another person to love and heal and erase the pain in the one with the wounded heart?  God has always wanted us to live pain free and happy (remember how nice the Garden of Eden was) but when suffering has come either by injustices, sicknesses, or as a punishment, God is still there to heal. Consider this beautiful promise of God to us and to Israel. He restores and inspires us despite any loss or pain.

Isaiah 61:3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.

8. One last horrific thing about pain, there are sadistic people who enjoy seeing others in pain!  Instead of being compassionate like God, Jesus, and a true Christian are, these people celebrate enjoyment hearing about your pain, and instead of rejoicing in God, they get happy over the sufferings of others?!

When you identify a person as being unloving, resentful, revengeful, and merciless, demonic, perverted or demented I suggest you tell them about how God wants to love them and convert them so they leave all their bitterness behind and start over with a whole new life. But if they reject God’s message you have delivered your soul and next I suggest you get out of harm’s way and avoid them so you don’t become the next victim they attack! Tormented souls are always trying to bring pain on to others!

I despise the sewage of the bulk of Hollywood’s productions as they love to glorify violence, they make horror and torture seem amusing and fun. If it were real pain and death, it would not be fun, it would make you vomit in fear and disgust. I have known in my lifetime political people in So. America who are deeply traumatized due to enduring torture (war vets too) and to hear the stories of their suffering is traumatizing! Some of our Cuban friends know what fear and pain is about and thank God you have been away from that for a number of years already.   

9. As we started off reading in Romans that the whole world groans in pain! How true is that!  Not just Venezuela, and the Ukraine are in pain; I challenge you to investigate the horrific deeds done by the Communists, Arabs, and Fascists in the non-Christian countries. (that includes about 5 billion as only 2 billion are Christian and maybe only half of them are really authentic!) Look at the U.S. and its frequent refusal to address the violence, crime, abortion, and drug abuse issues, the sexual trafficking and in-your-face perversions, and the mafias and unions that oppress and exploit their own people. Crime, corruption, lawlessness, and indifference has exponentially risen within the past few years! 

Matthew 14:14 And Jesus went forth, and saw a great multitude, and was moved with compassion toward them, and he healed their sick.  I get angry when people do not have compassion! I have written poems, I have expressed it as often as I can to do something to heal the pain of others! Jesus did! When I discover a person is just another selfish rat that does not care about the needs and suffering of others, I consider them a condemned unsaved heathen by their own choice and that will get them no mercy from God because they showed no mercy when they had the chance! We need to expose the evil of apathy as often as possible!

10. God’s design is for us to be restored and healthy and healed from our heartbreak in our past. In order to live happy, blessed, and pain free, and be a blessing to others, you and I must first have our own personal pain erased by the touch of the Lord’s healing. It starts with prayer and often happens when a person accepts Jesus. God’s touch can often make you or I cry and weep and this cleans out the heart. We then walk in the path of holiness and love.

I compare this to cleaning a wound. It is painful to have a cloth and peroxide go over the open skin, but if it is not done, infection will set in and the temporary burn of pain will be nothing compared to the long lasting damaging pain of unresolved dirt and destructive issues. Or like a rotting tooth or toe, if not eliminated it will rot the whole body to death in a short time!

We suffer now in our hearts, bodies and minds due to ourselves and others allowing Satan’s destructions to operate by deception. A compassionate Christian feels pain when others suffer, but the Holy Spirit will speak to one’s heart through the Word of God and bring healing. The best thing you can do for others is to heal yourself first, with God’s help, so you will then be able to go out and heal others by sharing God’s hope, faith, love, and prayer! And remember our lives are only a shadow and soon in heaven God will wipe away all tears and suffering and there will be no more sicknesses and death. For the believers in Jesus, the redeemed, the compassionate ones, pain will never be an issue anymore! Let’s pray to heal, to heal ourselves (this takes letting God speak to you about yourself!), and let’s be there present for others who need us in their times of pain and trials!  

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! 

Compassion: Without Love, One Is Guilty of Hate

Compassion: Without Love, One Is Guilty of Hate

Compassion: Without it you are Guilty of Hate        Kelly Durant 

I Jn 3:14-18 

1 John 3:14-18 New King James Version (NKJV)

14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

 

2.Compassion is sympathy for the suffering and a desire to help!

They say that giving a beggar a piece of bread is a civil duty, but to give him a bread with butter on it, now that is compassion! Compassion is a divine quality something that is in all cultures with a certain measure, but the damaging thing today is that it is something very much lacking in many cultures. 

 

The level of the spiritual, cultural, and moral development of any culture or people could be measured by how much compassion they have on others, especially on others different from their own selves! Reflect on history, I deduct that it has been mostly Christians throughout time that have proven over and over to be the ones to lead and to help when there is a dire need or severe crisis. 

 

Today I want you to ask yourself, how much compassion do I have? How much compassion does this community have? I think it still lacks all that is needed!

 

3. Are you the center of your universe, or is Jesu’s love at the center? 

In order to have compassion, you must have the ability to put yourself into the shoes of the other person. This takes not just a creative mind, but a willing heart! 

 

Think about what is inside of you. If you are only full of your own wants, your own needs, then you are self-focused. You have your-self as the center of your life, or at the center of the universe. This selfishness is what causes societies to come unglued and people start hating each other due to a lack of love. 

 

But if you have Jesus at the center of your life & heart, you will have the same heart of compassion and love that He has, and you will be willing to help anyone, anytime, of any race, just like in the story of the Good Samaritan.

4. Do you, to get what you want, throw a childlike temper tantrum, or do you intimidate and bully, or in hypocrisy spread hate on others who won’t treat you as a king or queen? Being self-focused is hate focused! Having no love means having no God of love in your life which means no salvation either! The verses today, 1 John 3:14,15 have within their context the relationship of how hate is connected to refusing to help someone in need and God equivocates this as murder. 

 

What is the difference between an adult and a child? A child only wants to get what he wants no matter the situation and they scream to get it. Some kids, even as big as teenagers will yell to their parents, “I hate you!” just to try and get what they want from them. We know, we lived through 5 of them!

 

Un-Christian indoctrinated by the world people do not care if you or the government doesn’t have the money or conditions to please them giving them all the power and money they want; they just want what they want and they therefore try to take it by aggressive force! Haters, and those who accuse others over their class or race are harboring death in their souls. They attract demon possessions and often become murders as stated in 1 John 3:15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

 

 

5. Hate=Murder: not giving to others in need! In the state of Alaska, where mostly whites and brown natives share the roads, if a person is on the street with a car motor stalled, by law you must stop and pick up that person. The reason for this is that person could actually freeze to death and die in some -30 below 0 temperatures within 10 minutes!

 

Not helping someone with a need is heartless and insensitive and it could cause their death.  But a real sacrifice to help someone with a need, that is a must, and sacrificial people will often receive honor and praise for being compassionate and saving someone’s life or situation!

 

Only love, not hate makes you pass from death to life! What we do in this life brings us either praise or scorn from God and from those around us. The people who let their selves be touched by Jesus’ love to the point that they want to be like Him, reveals they have entered into life with Him. However, hate, which is a violent rejection, is a carnal, natural occurring human quality, but no one admires this horrible quality unless they are brainwashed by Satan’s people. Terrorists, racists, and warmongerers, are those that bring death and suffering to others and themselves. Everyone is on one path or the other, life, or death! 

 

6. Ask yourself, who do you hate secretly? Have you ever really tried to look deep into your heart as to why you do not like someone or somebody or a certain people? You may have an undiscovered bitterness; everyone does, and you need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you what that is so you can be free from it or it will condemn your soul to hell!

 

Hate manifests itself in bitterness, violence, and a non-stop stream of words that criticize, demean, and divide. Sadly, we see an increase of this of late!

 

These things separate you from the God of love. We hear in the media the hate of races but I have discovered many people secretly hate pastors, or sincere Christian leaders because they are envious of their power and influence over people. 

 

They are jealous over the love they receive because they cannot get love because they do not sew love to reap it! So, they want to destroy anyone loving not being willing to love and sacrifice themselves as Jesus did. Jesus warned that if they hated Him, they will hate you and me as well.

 

7. To get love and compassion you and I must give our lives in service to Jesus! There is no noble society where selfishness is worshipped as virtue, all cultures value the sacrifice of others. But sacrifice to be honored by God should be done in the way as Jesus defined it in Matthew 25, caring for the hungry, thirsty, and poor; caring for the imprisoned and the destitute. 

 

Compare what Jesus taught to this bad example of sacrifice: In India, with the Hindu religion, the tradition has been that wives will allow their selves to be burned alive with their husbands’ dead bodies when they are at their funerals! 

 

That is a type of sacrifice our God of love does not desire! Laying down your life for Jesus means doing as he did, and that was in loving serving sacrifice. But these poor ladies do this because their idea of God is sadly totally distorted from the truth of God. Terrorists operate in the same way praising sacrifice when it involves murder. Do you see how important it is to follow how Jesus defines what compassion and sacrifice really should be?

 

8. By their fruits you will know them! (Matt 7:20) The people that do good things for others and claim they do it for the love of our Lord Jesus, and it is obvious are not seeking glory, compensation, or recognition, should be honored as true and good. Those that do real deeds of compassion must be motivated out of their love for God. In the Salvation Army this ‘love for God’ is even in our mission statement.

 

Notice how in the community every now and then some persons may comment terrible things about someone doing good, and why? These critics obviously have an evil heart and do not understand how people can be sincere in doing good works, that people do good because of pure love. Bad people always falsely accuse, and often these same ones got helped by the ones they criticize! 

 

I have experienced at times hateful words that came from nowhere! For example, there might be a volunteer helping us many days and then later in comes to light that some others would be secretly accusing that they were getting their rent paid by us to help them. Do you see how evil minds fabricate lies? Usually, people who accuse falsely have never been ones to do good works and help with a sincere heart, have you ever noticed that? 

 

9. The compassion of the world?! Satan is compassionate, in his own way, have you ever thought about that? He wants to show you and me he is more just and loving than God. However, in his ‘social justice scheme of things, the sharing of the goods from the rich to give to the poor, or from one people group to another, he murders millions! 

 

Satan works hard with his demons to run this world’s government systems, usurping God’s authority, and how does he do it? He establishes political systems of abusive that with murderous power give some crumbs to the poor to show how he will take care of the people better than what God’s people can.

 

Communism, the forced sharing of wealth offends God (it is imitating and mocking Acts 2:44.45) and enslaves everyone since it puts a gun in the face of those who worked to get what they have in order to give it to those who did not work or do anything to deserve it. What makes these traitors and terrorist feel worthy of these stolen goods is their faithfulness to worship their horrible socialist (or religious) leaders as gods for being so compassionate. Abhorrent, don’t you think? 

 

10. Excuses or compassion? In the end Satan convinces people to follow corrupt systems of false hopes when God’s people are doing too little to help. With all the churches in the United States, you would think there should not be a need that the government give a check to the unemployed or sick. Christians are supposed to be taking care of each other and of others outside of the church who are suffering. 

 

In the New Testament recall God’s sharing system: Acts 2:44-45⁴⁴ All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵ They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. If we’re not helping each other, then we are failing God, and he will accept no excuses.

 

Love implies action! Compassion! Think a minute, what evidence is there for you to prove you have showed compassion to someone? Could you tell me about something you have done recently, and do you have a habit of helping those in need? If you are not in action, if there are not deeds to back up your words of good wishes for others, then compassion to you is just an esoteric term, not a tangible reality manifested in this world. It is not too late to get busy for the Lord!

 

11. Start with us: The SA is known for its compassion. I probably have told you many times that I love the Salvation’s Army way of serving others. Imagine you are not just being a part of a church but a part of a massive social work with over 3 million Soldiers and volunteers, with thousands of shelters, rehab centers, schools, and assistance happening world-wide! For me it is the most compassionate church that exists, that is why I choose to belong to it. But our compassion is limited to each person’s willingness to express it and what you do does affects a piece of the whole picture. It makes you proud to have a good name, right? But how sad when people may report that a certain work is doing nothing to help anyone in need!

 

People with compassion are full of love and compassion is a fruit of that love. Choose today how you are going to live, showing mercy as God shows mercy, or being hard hearted? Consider this: Proverbs 21:13 ¹³Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard. God will deal with each person by how they have dealt with those he has created, your fellow man. Jesus said Matthew 5:7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 

 

12. People without love & compassion have never had a repentance! I am convinced by the verses of today, that those who do not love and help others in need are still full of hate and this makes them guilty before God as being a murderer. 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

 

Those who selfishly only take care of themselves and never show compassion will discover God is angry with them and they will have no part in heaven! If you have the doubt that you are not full of compassion, that you are cold hearted, and you really do not care if your brother or sister’s suffering, then come and pray and ask God to break and remake you. 

 

In heaven there will only be those who have shown compassion which was motivated by their love for Jesus. The ones who have been rich and shared their riches will have rewards in heaven too if they have believed as Zacchaeus did. All the disciples had it, and every true authentic Christian will have testimonies of helping others too as a proof of their love for God, Jesus, and their neighbor! Now is our prayer time to ask the Lord for forgiveness if he is reminding you of sometime that you failed someone with a need. Or if the Lord has not converted your heart, then come and ask for Him to change it today!

Encourage Others To Be Encouraged! A Study in the Book of Acts

Encourage Others To Be Encouraged! A Study in the Book of Acts  

by Kelly Durant  9-16-23                                 

1-Acts 4:36, Acts 9:31, Acts 11:23-24 , Acts 15:32 Acts 16: Acts 18:27, Acts 20:2, and Acts 28:15.

2-How many of you have heard a quote, ‘It is better a hand on the shoulder, that a hand-swat on the rear?’ It’s so true! We all need encouragement often! Do you not agree? In life everyone needs correction and instruction, but my favorite is way to give it is through encouragement! Encouragement is needed from each of us all the time! It is an act of divine love!

Some of you have a difficult life from abusive people around. Some people are more easily depressed than others. Some people are living in very difficult situations. The reality is we all need someone to lift us up from time to time!

In life the average person will suffer discouragement over and over. People live with family problems, broken relationships, health issues, financial worries, corruption in their communities, and just random chaos upsetting our daily lives!  

3-But we have the promises of God from the Holy Scriptures that we are always going to come out alright!  As in Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all.   And Jesus said,  in John 16:33 These 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.

These are a few causes of sadness and discouragement.  I personally think what brings about one of the worst discouragements in our lives a feeling of being unloved and unwanted. Sometimes this is due to circumstances out of our control. 

Sometimes our feelings are not real but distorted imaginations.  Often our minds deceive us, and Satan, our enemy, plants horrible thoughts in our heads! One of his favorite tools is discouragement, so you give up and abandon the faith! 

Mother Teresa once stated, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved”.  I think everyone would confirm that our most important job in life is to love God and to love others and to encourage others in word and with effective deeds of kindness!

4-And then some people provoke upon their selves their own discouragement.  Sad but true, some people are not very loved because they themselves do not give love. Everyone reaps what they sew, or do not sew, in this life and for eternally.

No matter what your situation is, it is important to refresh our minds at how to obtain encouragement. Repeatedly in the book of Acts we read that the disciples got encouragement. God wants Christians to be full of faith, hope, and love and these all bring encouragement! And also the Holy Spirit is with us for that reason! 

Do you like to encourage others? Do you sew it so you can reap it?

5-Consider this, how would you like to have as your name, Encourager? Acts 4:36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”, in modern English), (Other version: Son of consolation).

Imagine, if someone were to say, the son of encouragement will come to my house to visit, do you want to meet him?  Barnabas was true to his name to console others.  He was one of the first Jewish disciples that was considered to be a saint by the old church.

His name was Joses, but he was led to change his name to Barnabas. Recall as well Saul became Paul, and many Christians changed their names to signify their mission in life! Maybe we should change the names of some of you here! I have known in my lifetime a few ladies with the name Dolores (which means “pains”) that I wish I could have renamed Joy!

If Barnabas had the job of encouraging, and he was one of the most important figures travelling with Paul, then I deduct the message we should learn here is that we must develop more encouragers amongst ourselves!

Where does our encouragement from God come from? Through the Holy Spirit!

6-Acts 9:31 Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace and was strengthened. Living in the fear of the Lord and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it increased in numbers.

Here in this Corps, we observe ourselves in this phase as they were, in a time of strength.  We are enjoying a growth phase, but this blessing is only effective if each person here is being sensitive living a pure obedient Christian life which attracts the Holy Spirit! It also attracts others from the world to join us to get relief from their suffering. Jesus stated clearly that the Holy Spirit is the Comforter. 

John 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:

When you share comfort and encouragement you are being a channel for the Holy Spirit to work in you!

7-Acts 11: 22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch. 23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.

So now consider this, Barnabas encouraged others with the Holy Spirit, and many people believed on the Lord due to his way of being, by his loving spirit, and for his concern for others. His influence was like a fire that spread and warmed many hearts to do the same! Let’s keep this fire burning!

This brings each of us to a challenge, ask yourself: How many people have you encouraged in your lifetime to be closer to the Lord? Can you name the person that has encouraged you in your past as well?

The word says in Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

8-Let’s continue on in Acts 15:32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers.

Here we have an example of 2 more brothers who were very good at encouraging others. And a prophet, or one representing God, is one who encourages through prayer and study of the word, and the results bring strength and power in the spirit!

How encouraging are you? How loving are you? How full of the Holy Spirit are you? When people think of you, do they think you are full of comfort, consolation, and encouragement? Or are others indifferent to you because you are indifferent?

9-Acts 16:40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia’s house, where they met with the brothers and sisters and encouraged them. Then they left.

What is the message here? Whenever you have a testimony you must share it to encourage others! Paul and Silas had a big testimony, that God opened the prison doors for them!

These brothers went to a house for a visit, but what about those that are too far away to visit? What can we do?

All of us can encourage friends that are far away by writing to them sharing uplifting words to continue to do good for the Lord! In today’s world we can call them as well! We find more visitation in the next verse, first a letter, then a visit.

10-Acts 18:27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.

Paul, Barnabas and many like Apollos seemed to get around a lot to encourage others. 

Acts 20:2 He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, 

Even when you are in a hard situation you can still be uplifting. Paul was shipwrecked and in a survival situation, but he was always positive.  Look in:

11-Acts 27: 34 Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.35 And when he had thus spoken, he took bread, and gave thanks to God in presence of them all: and when he had broken it, he began to eat. 36 Then were they all of good cheer, and they also took some meat.

Notice how Paul encouraged them that nothing bad would happen to them because God was with them in their journey on the ship. Do you do that? Do you tell others things will come out good because God is with you? The people were made very happy by these words! And his encouragement was not a long exhortation but a short one. Encouragement doesn’t have to be a long speech; it can be just a few words as well. We must follow this example and do this more often!

12-Acts 28:15The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged.

What we learn from this verse is when a Christian brother or sister is close by we should get excited and encouraged we should go visit them as it will bring us up in spirits. If they come near, we should also go to see them!

Sometimes we will get a visit from our leaders; we often get to travel then and this encourages us in the spirit! Encouragement comes from hearing the word through someone who is mature in the spirit. Leaders must travel to inspire others!

13-What has the Book of Acts taught us about encouragement today?

1-Encouragement comes from people who take up the challenge. Ask yourself, am I willing to be a Barnabas to have the ministry of encouragement?

2-Encouragement comes from the Holy Spirit and all we have to do is ask for it. Ask yourself, do I regularly ask for the Holy Spirit to be close to me?

3-The influence of one encourager spreads and causes many others to become encouragers as well.  Ask yourself how many people have I influenced in my life?

4-We must share testimonies and positive words of God’s works to bring encouragement to others. Ask yourself, when have I shared a testimony?

5-Visitation from others brings encouragement. Ask yourself, when was the last time I traveled to get encouragement from someone mature in the faith? Or to give it?

Remember, to love is encouraging, and it is like a cologne, or perfume, and you cannot put some on someone else without getting some on yourself!

Be encouraged and encourage others from this day forward! Prayer…

1- Barnabas: Ministry of encouragement! For you?

2- The Holy Spirit for encouragement! Got it?

3-The influence of encouragement! Have you?

4- Share words of encouragement! Do you?

5-Visitations bring encouragement. Will you?