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?

Pray, Never Quit, Like Jesus: You may also have a garden of Gethsemane experience

Pray, Never Quit, Like Jesus: You may also have a garden of Gethsemane experience 

 By Kelly Durant

Matthew 26:39 He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.”

40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? 41 Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

 

2. How many of you like quitters? None of us do! It’s like you are in a soccer game, or you are at a party and someone with you says, “I’m out! See you later!” Everyone says, “No, we need you now more than ever, don’t quit!” but the quitter quits anyway! This causes his team to lose leaving his friends to miss out on victory. People that don’t follow through are like clouds with no rain, just there good for nothing! 

 

Those that quit on God are described here in Jude 8 (b) They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; 

Today I want you as a Christian to see how you and I, as Jesus, also may have our moments of despair and we really want to quit, to abort the mission, but if we are doing God’s assignments you and I know we cannot fail or quit! We keep on in the ‘strength of the Lord’!

 

The only way to get through a hard trial is to pray and pray long, intensely, and openly, open to do what God wants you to do even though you do not want to do it! Jesus could have quit, but He didn’t. He was chosen to die for our sins, and He knew He had to go through it, but knowing what He went through, we can all understand Him not wanting to have to do it! And on a cross!

 

3. Do you ever pray… “Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will?” That is a very hard thing to pray! It is often easy to pray, oh Lord bless me with a new car, bless me with more income, but how many times do you hear a person pray, Lord do unto me all you need to do to make me be the instrument you need me to be? 

 

When you pray, Lord, give me car, any old car Lord, what happens? You end up, as your faith expected, with some old car! But when you pray you must believe! But exercise great faith!

Mark 11:24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

 

I have known people who have said to me, “Never pray for humility, don’t pray for God to do with you what He wants to because usually it means you will start going through a big trial and problem!” But actually, trails and problems are what we are supposed to go through in this life so you and I get purified! It’s like a fire refining the gold, so we learn meekness and obedience. But those who resist God’s breakings, those who quit early, those who jump off the mountain not finishing the climb, guess what? God makes you do a repeat until you finish the task and get it right! Each time it gets tougher so we must pray we get it right the first time!

 

4. Obedience is a tough word but we must learn it as Jesus did. Hebrews 5:8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. 1 Peter 4: 12 Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial, which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; 13 but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

 

When a Christian has a trial and life or death type moment, it has a purpose and God helps you to get through it for the victory, so you praise Him. When you have had to be in a corner without a seeming exit, when you have felt that it was the end, it is then you somehow experience that God gets you through it. There is no triumphant crown without a test! 1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

 

Jesus had to suffer beyond what any of us can comprehend! Compared to His suffering and death on the cross, anything we have to go through seems to be ‘not so bad’! He sweat blood sweat and tears! But I know that despairing feeling when some trials make you feel like you are at the end of everything! I felt that way when I had 106 temperature with hepatitis, when a truck almost ran us off a cliff, and when depressed and discouraged several times!

 

5. Here is another lesson we can learn from what Jesus experienced in Gethsemane, that He needed his friends beside Him, to support him. Why did he get bothered when the disciples just went to sleep like they did like they didn’t care? Because He wanted them near in His time of despair!

 

When you experience something terrible, when a traumatic event grips you, don’t you want someone with you to support you? Sometimes they don’t even need to say a word, you just need them by you to help you to not be alone in your pain.

 

And, are you willing to be with someone when they are going through pain and suffering? I know it is no fun as I have done it a lot! When you unexpectedly have a serious issue in your life, do you have someone you can go to that will be with you, pray for you, and not let you be alone? 2 Corinthians 1:4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

 

6. Here is another point, Jesus already knew Peter would deny him, He knew His disciples would be shocked, scared, and shaken up by His death, so he wanted to warn them this… “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

 

Jesus needs us to learn to ‘watch and pray’! And what was the temptation he knew was coming at that time? To be doubting Him, like Thomas did, to be abandoning the mission, like Peter and his fishermen disciples did, who went right back to fishing instead of preaching the gospel after His death. We need to learn to pray without ceasing!

 

People that get distant from Jesus, that get distant from you and me, the followers of Jesus, start getting temped and entangled with the things of this world and they become useless to God. 2 Peter 2:20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

 

7. Jesus knew His hour to be betrayed, arrested, and crucified was coming in the early morning. He wanted the last hours of His life with His disciples nearby. He knew when he was going to die, but how many of us know when you are I are going to die? Most of us don’t know the hour that a car wreck, a heart attack, or an infection might grip us with death, and then what? It is too late for anything then! Love everyone today…tomorrow you may not get the chance!

 

That is why you and I must live ready to go, ready to stay, ready to do God’s will no matter what it is! How wonderful it will be to die in peace, assured that you knew Him, that you are connected to Him, assured that you did your best for Him, that you gave your all, and that you practiced what you learned from Jesus’ teachings. 

 

Thank God Jesus took upon Himself our sins, we know we could never be assured of eternal life by trying to be perfect in our own way. Even with obedience to all the Old Testament commands, we would never be perfect enough for God. And it is in God’s mercy we go through some hard times so we become depend on Him for everything, for peace of mind, for provisions and good health. 

 

8. The oldest book in the Bible is Job. How many of you know what he suffered? He was blessed by God, had a nice family, good health, lots of herds and riches. But God allowed him to be tempted, to go through suffering because God knew that Job loved Him and that he would resist and come through as a shining example for the angels, Satan, and all the world for generations to learn that to stay faithful to God does have its reward! He lost his health, wealth, and family murdered, all in one day!

 

Never let yourself be vulnerable to doubt God, never give up, always know that God will bless those that go through hard trials trusting in Him. Job said this, Job 13:15

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. Job 42: 12 So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she asses.

 

We learn so much from Jesus, that He wants us to never give up and to be obedient to God’s will, submitting ourselves no matter what ‘our cup’ of suffering may be! We are to watch and pray and to be desperate and close to God when we are in excruciating times. We are to call upon faithful others to pray with us too! We must know we may be tempted to give up, or like in Job’s case, his wife even said you are so miserable just curse God so you can die to end it all!

 

Never listen to the voices from Satan, through your ‘friends’ or in your own head. Watch & Pray and you will get the victory and come out of the trial with a testimony of how you got through your Gethsemane experience! 

Why I Hate Evil…And You Should too!

Why I Hate Evil…And You Should too!          Kelly Durant.  Re: 10-30-22

 

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. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 Abstain from every form of evil. 3 John 1:11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but he who does evil has not seen God.

 

2. How many of you have watched ‘youtube’ videos of someone getting beat up or being run over by a car and no one stops to help them? It makes you feel sick to see the evil and the indifference of the people, doesn’t it? How disturbing to know we live in a world where few have a heart for those suffering! Satanic indifference and hate produce the same effect, a lack of love for another that could save a life or a soul! It’s a direct disobedience to loving our good God and loving our neighbor as ourselves! Unloving sick people fail to realize that that victim could be them one day!

 

I know my wife and daughter, myself, and anyone with a conscience at all has felt sick to see a video of a person being cruel to an animal or to another human being. And do you recall only a few years ago there were horrific videos of people being beheaded, burned alive, and executed? The murder of Christians continues in dozens of countries and how disturbing very few speak up against this! 

 

These things make you feel sick enough to vomit, and make you feel angry at the wicked people who murder, torture, and destroy God’s innocent people. And have you seen pictures of destroyed cities where evil people have waged war? Think of Africa, Syria, Iraq, or of dozens of cities which have recently been demolished by invaders, making millions of families homeless to move with nothing in their hands. Imagine being sent out in a desert with nothing at all!

 

3. Jesus came to teach all of humankind to love one another, but what do people who do not know Him, or do not accept Him, do? They hate, kill and rob! They hate anyone different from their sinful self selves over differences of ever-changing politics, religious convictions, or certain lifestyle choices. Hate is like an infectious disease and people without the cure, which is Jesus and living in obedience to God’s word, are condemned to carry out evil on those they dislike. This evil in the hearts and minds of the devoid, seriously damages others by their evil words and acts. Their evil also destroys their own soul as stated in Romans 6:23 ‘For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord’.  

 

‘Hate’ today is a hot topic! Usually, you see people holding signs saying ‘Stop the Hate’ while they are the ones red faced ranting and raving, accusing, and defaming, even bearing false witness over how things are not how they want them to be. The question is, Is there any system anywhere in the world that is flaw free and making everyone perfectly happy?’ The answer is, no! People who want to do evil are never happy with God’s people battling against them!

 

The answer to broken systems has always been to change the system, but problems will always continue as the new system brings within itself a whole new set of problems. Venezuela and dozens of countries prove that in the name of fairness and equality and helping the poor much damage can and will happen, so everyone must wise up and be extremely careful as to what changes are being demanded. The righteous must not back down nor cave to the relentless attacks of the erroneous ones who demand change excluding God, love, and freedom to worship Jesus. Evil people always seek power by all means possible!

 

4. David was ‘a man after God’s own heart’, so let’s see what he has to say about evil and ‘hate’. Hate is a passionate rejection (which usually involves inciting anger), an abhorrence, to loathe, and to despise.  

Psalm 5:5 The boastful shall not stand in Your sight; You (God) hate all workers of iniquity. (God hates evil and those who practice it)

Psalm 11:5 The Lord tests the righteous, But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates. (God hates those who bring on violence) 

Psalm 21:8 Your hand will find all Your enemies; Your right hand will find those who hate You. (God knows who are the ones who hate Him)

 Psalm 34:21 Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous shall be condemned. (God will allow evil people to be defeated and God is on the side of the persecuted to defend the righteous, which are the true Christians)

 

We can conclude from hundreds of verses in the Bible that…Psalm 7:11 ‘God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day’! God’s purpose for all of us is to live as in ‘The Kingdom of God’ blessed, happy, healthy, and with peace loving Him and one another as we obey Jesus commands. But rebellious God hating people are not having any of that in their life as they want to raise hell, sew dissention, and divide and conquer hating (while accusing others of hate) those who defend God’s statutes, Jesus, and love. We fight to stop hate & the devil!

 

There are people so perverted with evil, including many world leaders from de-generate family blood lines, that they will never submit to loving God and his humble servants. If one would, it would come only by a miracle from Jesus! Submission to Jesus is opposite to the oppressive pyramid paradigms they rule by. Satan controls this world by evil, and Jesus came to destroy his cruel kingdoms! 

 

5. Listen to their words, evil people will overtly or covertly declare that they ‘hate’ God, and they insult Him by denying that He exists or by breaking every law in His book; the law to love your neighbor above all! These extreme ignorant ones claim the Bible is a lie and contains worthless fables. How ignorant is this claim as any historian knows much of the Bible’s record of past cities and tribes are provably real. The Bible is the most important book in the world exposing evil!

 

Most haters as well reveal that they hate Jesus and His people, the Christians. But as a mirror God reflects back to people what they send up to Him. 

Psalm 18:26 With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward (defiant and aggressive) thou wilt shew thyself froward.

 

All people will reap what they sew; if one sews love, one reaps love. The same, if one sews hate, then hate you reap but much more than what you expected. Hosea 8:7 ‘For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind’. It is gross ignorance to believe one can mock God’s laws or people and not suffer the consequences! In the end, God’s laws are universal and it is common sense to respect others and God so as not to invite anger and wrath on yourself!

 

6. So as Christians how are we to respond to this evil generation of ‘haters’? Proverbs 22:3 A prudent man foresees the evil, and hides himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished. There are times to battle and times to evade.

 

In general, we must avoid getting involved with troublemakers who have offensive mouths, who spew hate and promote violence. To join them in their ‘group think’ is to make one’s self an instrument of them and a fool. You cannot fight them on their level as they entice you to do. Proverbs 26:4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Don’t participate in evil in the cultures!

 

The Holy Spirit must give you and me wisdom and we must not get involved with people who shout out slogans that most usually are misleading with ulterior objectives. Proverbs 14:15 ‘The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looks well to his going.’ Never be ignorant and conform to evil abusers.

 

7. As Christians, as lovers of God and of others, even being lovers of our enemies, we must learn tactics to control our anger, or we will insult back and sin in the same manner these haters do. Jesus always pulled the rug out from under evil hypocrites with questions and tactics that exposed their schemes.

One acceptable way of diffusing attacks is with diversion. Proverbs 26:5 ‘Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.’ You cannot have a serious conversation with an evil aggressive person who is attacking you so you must deflect away their words and vile mouth.

 

Here is an example of how to skew an attack. You might get mocked in a group (or by text) with a slogan, ‘I bet you drink the kool-aid of Fox News! Look everybody, a racist conservative religious freak!” These commonly repeated phrases imply that you will die from the poison that comes from hearing differing opinions from theirs, those whom they identify as on the wrong side. And to counter, on the defensive if you say, “You are wrong, you just can’t handle the truth!”, only brings on more mockery, cursing, vulgarity, and insults by these evil people.

 

In some cases you can divert like this,”Well, medieval kings made their selves strong by consuming small amounts of poison”. (Within yourself you know this is off subject, but it is replying folly for folly; it is just playing with their silly accusation of poison to unsettle them). So, do you see how preparation is needed to not fall into the argument trap of the haters who already have pre-schemed dialogues? They really will not listen, I know, I have tried, better is to spend your time with ‘sheep’ who want God’s word than with these rebellious evil goats.

 

8. Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. 10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

 

We cannot avoid getting attacked for our beliefs, faith, and Biblical worldview in this life! So, if you stand for Jesus, you might as well do it with boldness and let you light shine and remain strong through the attacks, deceptions, lies, humiliations, and hate coming from the evil people of perverse opposition. Do good always to prove you are a child of a good God! Abstain from evil! Onward Christian Soldiers! May your Cry of Battle make hell’s doors tremble! 

 

Proverbs 24:16 For a just man falls seven times, and rises up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief. We will be free from reaping the consequences of evil by remaining faithful to our Lord and Savior, but we have to keep getting up back into the battle. 

 

9. Evil comes in many forms, by words and by deeds, and the counter is by the same, by words (God’s Word!) and by good deeds done for others in need. What is curious is even evil people will often leave you alone when you help and serve others. To fight evil we must do good in place of it! And pray God protects as well! 

 

For example, the Salvation Army in several countries have the circumstance of working in neighborhoods that are full of crime and gangs and it is dangerous work. But I know of several cases (Brazil, Jamaica, & U.S.) of how even the violent gangs do not bother us because they know that if they were to attack us who are doing good and helping others that it would bring on the ire and anger of the neighborhood people to the point they would turn them all in to the authorities. 

 

James 2:19 Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. Never lose sight as to who is going to win this battle against evil doers and haters, against those with terrible pride and arrogance: it is Jesus and His conquering army! And who is in that army? You and me, His soldiers who are already doing battle for Him saving as many souls as we can! A soft answer turns away wrath and the wisdom in of the Psalms and Proverbs guides us concerning evil and hate. Study to make yourself strong in God’s word and put yourself in the front lines so Jesus will use you to do good! Fear God and labor to save souls with Jesus and by this you will be countering the world’s evil, hate, pride, arrogance, perverse voices, corruption, violence, murder, and absence of love in our communities! God hates evil and we do too! 

Have You Had A Desert Experience?

Have You Had A Desert Experience?                                                  Kelly Durant

Luke 4:1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness

2. On the way home with our grandkids we had some hours to kill in the car and we were looking for things to do to make the time pass. We found some self-discovery psychological tests online and we each did them and had fun talking about it. I thought it would be good if you did one of the tests as well as it is connected to the message today.

Imagine you are walking in a solitary desert all alone and then you come across a cube. (pause) What is it made of? How big is it? Take a mental note. Now you see a ladder. Where is it in relation to the cube? What is it made of? Now you see flowers near the cube. How many are there?  A storm is coming in now. Do you see it near or far, as a danger or as something passing? This is just a piece of the test.

Now let’s find out about it. The desert is your journey in life. The cube is your ego. How big is it? Big or small? What is it made of? And the ladder near or far? It describes how close your relationships are to you. And how many flowers were there? This represents your children, or the number of people you take care of. Your fear of the future is revealed in the danger of the storm. If you are curious my cube was as big as a house made of steel, and the ladder was made of aluminum and it was on the front of the cube so you could go on top, and the whole thing had hundreds of flowers all around it! And I saw the storm far away and not a threat! Strange mental games, right? What were your answers? 

3. Here is a reality, life with God will lead you into the wilderness, or the desert at some time in your life! Do you realize how many people had to go into the wilderness because God led them there? I don’t think any of them really wanted to go because as human beings we always seek comfort. But whether they wanted it or not it was a process that was needed for them to understand the deeper things God needed to teach them so they could be rewarded and broken into a vessel that is useful for God’s service.

Adam and Eve were forced into the wilderness out of the garden. Physically and metaphorically all of humanity is still in the wilderness and not home yet! Then after Adam there is Abraham. At a certain point in his life God spoke to him and told him to travel across unknown places. 

Genesis 12: 1 Now the Lord had said to Abram:

“Get out of your country, From your family

And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2. I will make you a great nation;

I will bless you,  And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.

3. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you;

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

 

So for God’s purpose and blessings, whether we decide for it or not, may include that you and I will have to move one day! And who was the next person in Genesis to be forced to leave into the wilderness out of the city of Sodom? Sodom was a comfortable prosperous place, but it was full of sin and violence, comparable to many huge cities today. It was Lot and his family! And then there is another one who had to go into the desert sent away; it was Hagar, who had her son Ishmael. And what about Joseph who is next on this list in Genesis? He was sold into slavery by his brothers and was taken through the desert to Egypt. And after the children’s children of Abraham spent a few hundred years in Egypt how did they escape the idolatry and slavery? God’s man Moses called them out and took them out into the desert! 

 

4. So God’s Word from the beginning describes how his children literally have to move from one place to another, and often move into a desert place for some time for a purpose, and this begs this question, how does this relate to you and me in our life? Can you describe a time in your life in which you felt like you were in a wilderness? A place and time where the heat and survival to live was so intense it was a life changing purge? Or maybe you are feeling that now!

 

God’s word since the beginning has recorded these personal stories of faith journeys in the wilderness for a reason. It is for each one of us to learn and mature by the life threatening experience because we usually do not do that on our own. We must ‘feel the heat’! Each of us have been, or will have to be in the desert at some point in our life in order to learn what God wants us to learn. Some people go through it young as Joseph, while others go through the desert when they are old, as Moses did.

 

Sometimes we get frustrated with each other as many people tend to be impatient, rude, prideful, unsympathetic, and unloving and these characteristics are what we saw in Moses and many others before their purging desert experience. The desert purge will change you because you are in a place where you will die if you do not depend on God! The quicker you and I learn the better!

 

5. So how do we relate to the desert wilderness experience to Jesus as in the verse of today? It is interesting to note that even though He was divine, Jesus still had to learn to dominate His human nature and He had to learn that alone in a desert battling it out with Satan.

 

Here is a verse that always troubled me because I always thought, well, if Jesus had to suffer to learn, how much more I must suffer then to learn as well! Hebrews 5:8 though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. I always pray, “Lord make me a quick learner of your will! Please, Lord, I really do not like to suffer!”

 

The basics of this experience that Jesus had was to allow Him to go through all the situations and temptations that all of us must go through which are temptations to seek for bread alone, (implying the selfish desire for survival or seeking this world’s goods only) forgetting to worship God the provider who provides in His time. Next is the temptation to gain power and riches which Satan can grant by worshipping Him but you lose your soul in rebellion and get hell in the process. And finally there is the temptation to test God and to show off which is spiritual pride. Apart from life’s tests, add in the feelings of extreme discomfort when the heat is on, and these will include hunger, thirst, loneliness, anger, pride, and depression.    

 

6. When I was a young radical passionate Christian I always had in the back of my mind that I too should get away and fast for 30 days as Jesus did in order to connect with God. I always wanted to be just alone with God but I never really got the chance as Jesus did it. I have fasted a few days at a time though. 

 

And then one day God seemed to speak to me in that still small voice that I was not Jesus, so why should I want to copy Him in everything exactly? My life and yours may be on God’s path but it would be spiritual pride to copy Jesus exactly if imitating Him is just to show off that we could be exactly like Him. But obviously we can never will be as holy, as strong, as loving as He was! But we do need to do our best!  I think you or I might get pretty sick after 30 days of no food! And traumatized as well from the isolation, heat, and mind games! 

 

We do seek to imitate Jesus in our lives and I have seen miracles after praying for others, but no one of us can ever be on the deserved respectable level of Jesus in His passionate dedication to God’s will. But we try! We obey to be holy as He is holy! But here is what God showed me then, it was almost as if He said, (in my thoughts) don’t seek a desert, your desert will come, but not the one you imagine, but one I will show you. In other words the purging, the maturing, the time of feeling all alone and having to only depend on God alone will happen but it will happen in God’s time and in the time and place where God will take you. 

 

7. But what do we learn from Jesus? He was called to a mission from God, and He got baptized as a symbol of His start down that path of mission. And then the heavens opened for all to see that the Holy Spirit would dwell with Him and would soon come for all of us, it was at that moment the Holy Spirit was leading Jesus.

 

Luke 4:1 Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. This was the path God had for Him and God has a distinct destiny for everyone, but you have to be sure that it is His Holy Spirit guiding you. How do you know? Believe me, you will know if you are praying and seeking God!

 

When I was called as a young man to serve God, I was a confused mess wanting to escape this world after learning about all the hell and injustices that exist with all the hellish demonic people and wars dominating this world. But after I decided to serve and follow Jesus, I suddenly felt peace, joy, love and an unexplainable desire to help others and to give them what I had found, which was a new start in life, salvation with Jesus in the center of everything! 

 

8. So while serving Jesus the desert experience in my life came after about a year later of serving Him. The first 6 months I was in the clouds very elated with Jesus, studying and preparing to go to the mission field. The next 6 months after that with the people in Brazil, where they were amazingly receptive to the gospel made me love life and God’s mission even more. But then after that there were days in LaPaz Bolivia, where I met many closed cold hearts that I literally cried day after day for a few months out of frustration that no young person would convert to serve Jesus full time. Everyday I would pass out gospel tracts and pray with someone the sinner’s prayer, but no one wanted to forsake their miserable life, poor possessions, and shallow existence to follow Jesus. I felt like all my labor was in vain and that I was sowing in the desert, and I was alone in my fight, but I was not going to quit! What a test!

 

I often felt stupid inside trying love people who would not respond. I felt like a fool and then I read in my Bible that that was exactly what Paul felt as well. 1 Corinthians 4:10 We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are distinguished, but we are dishonored!

 

This is only one of the mini-deserts I have had to cross. But a few years later going back to LaPaz for 3 years I had a better experience. There are moments in our lives that we will feel like we are lost and spinning our wheels, walking in circles in the desert as the Israelites did with Moses because they were not mature and ready for the promised land. I prayed, “God get be out of here, change me totally to be what you need me to be! Don’t let me be a punished rebellious one!”

 

9. In the study of holiness in TSA you will discover Samuel Brengle, the Salvation Army theologian who wrote more than a dozen books on holiness, and how did he gain so much insight into God’s nature and change to become God’s man? He went through several long and trying deserts. For one he was very well educated when he came to The Salvation Army as a young man but the founder, William Booth, chose to put him in charge of shining the hundreds of shoes of all the Officers daily that went out preaching in the muddy streets of London.

 

He must have felt humiliated, confused, and angry, but he was not going to quit, he remained faithful and took it like a test that he was going to pass and after months of being a nobody, God was preparing to use him as a great somebody. But later, after passing through the purge of Cadet training while in one of his appointments do you know what tragedy happened to him next? An evil person who did not like street preachers dropped a brick on his head from a tall building! 

 

That injury almost killed him and sent him to the hospital for more than a year and half! Did he ever doubt and tell God that he was finished because serving him only got him into situations of suffering? No! He used his time alone in that hospital bed to write about how to live in God’s perfect love and holiness. His insight and writings live on, and his life was changed into something supernatural forever after that.  

 

10. So what desert have you been through? The desert is not always a physical one but it is a spiritual one, it is a time when you are tempted and tried, a time when everything around you seems meaningless and is just sand, uncomfortableness and nothing. You feel the heat!

 

Here is something I know, the desert is not forever for the Christian! The desert for Jesus was for 30 days but the desert for some may be for much longer, even years! In the case of the rebellious Israelites under Moses it lasted a lifetime but most of us are not that rebellious! When you feel a trying time coming on, with loneliness and overwhelming heat and trials, it is time to seek God as never before! Today the Holy Spirit talks to us to teach us about where to be in God’s will but we must ask God to mold us and remake us as we, with overwhelming discomfort, learn to listen and obey His Word and will for our lives.    

 

The sad reality is many people in this world, even some Christians are too preprogramed by the culture and system that they have opted for the bread of materialism instead of faith, this world’s power positions instead of God’s future kingdom, and they tempt God by acting invincible with over confidence that God will just do for them all of what they desire. Sad that too many Christians are simply of no use because they are like babies with no maturity! I wish that everyone would have a wilderness experience so they could turn their entire life around and be close to God! That is our goal… holiness, intimacy, and love dominating our lives and love for our amazing Savior Jesus who proved victory over evil and death is possible! Let’s pray…