Selfishness…The Current World Trend Killing Love

Selfishness…The Current World Trend Killing Love            Kelly Durant 8-28-13

1 John 3:17 But whoso hath this world's good, and sees his brother have need, and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwells the love of God in him?

2., 3. (Picture of the 2 tied horses trying to eat 2 piles of hay) Each one is pulling the rope to his side but they cannot reach it to eat until finally they agree to eat together on one side at a time, then they can eat both piles.

Selfishness is placing concern with one’s self or one’s own self-interests above the well-being or interests of others. Doesn’t that describe many people you and I know! The goal of the Christian is to die to our own flesh and from the death of our ego and self, allow Christ to live in you (and me!) As described by C.S. Lewis, one of the greatest Christian apologists and former atheist of our modern day, “Selfishness is the opposite of altruism or selflessness”. Our goal is to have a love that is so sacrificial, so dedicated, that it has no limits to what it will give for the good of others in our community.

To define selfishness in psychological terms, it points to a lack of empathy. People who don’t care for others well-being or feelings are capable of manipulation and they might even be a psychopath who have no behavioral controls, empathy, or remorse, and these anti-social behaviors are very damaging to family and social relations. 

I researched in Wikipedia and found the “Game Theory” outcome of social interaction. “Given two actors, oneself and someone else, there are four types of possible behavior directly impacting the welfare of the actors: selfishness, altruism, spite, and cooperation. Selfishness is harming someone else in order to help oneself; altruism is harming oneself in order to help someone else; spite is harming oneself in order to harm someone else; cooperation is helping someone else and also helping oneself.”

We conclude in the cartoon picture that our horses learned cooperation, are we any smarter than horses? Some people are, yet some are stubbornly selfish!

4. Today in the entire world we in observe governments, religions, and authorities in community clubs, sports teams, and all groups plagued by a small select group of callus and calculating people who are prideful and corrupt. They are participating in the group functions but not for the common good of all, which is the premise of the existence of the group, but they are participating in the community entity for their own personal selfish interests. In the press we hear about the scandals daily!

The current unprecedented corruption, which is pure selfishness, is at an all-time high in all sectors of the community in all countries. Selfishness foments hate and division in communities and in relationships of any kind. Selfishness is an abomination to God because it is an indifference to the suffering and destruction of our fellow human beings. It is in the end selfishness is the absence of love which is an absence of God, for God is love! (I John 4: 8) We live in a world headed for the apocalypse due to the absent of the knowledge of God!

5. The attitude and trends today in the world are functioning on the worship of materialism and greed within an essentially spiritually devoid social environment. There is the increasing antichrist spirit out there that projects itself through the main media, movies, popular music, and polished advertising. The message is if one can’t get all of what one wants, then one is justified to get it however means possible disregarding the abuse done to others. (sin, obviously, is no issue)! What a nobody you are if you are not living the romanced stereotypical high-life of the Hollywood role models, drugged, divorced and in and out of rehab centers!

The current abominable and accepted attitude is that somebody is going to have to pay for the unmet selfish expectations! What sick self-serving-ness! Theft, perversion, and abuse within family members is killing our previously so what healthy society and Christians need to rise up and confront the self-serving evil doers! Get involved! If not stopped, we will see more and more people joining in the organized crime destroying our family members to get what they want!

The unrealistic lifestyles of the extravagant few plant the seeds of selfishness and dissatisfaction within the common populous. The lifestyles of the top 100 politicians, sports and movie stars are offensive are unattainable by the 99.9999 % of us. This dynamic of extremes seems to give some people the idea that they have the right to disrespect those around them and use you for their ambitions; it’s the callus idea that is okay to grab whatever they can from you or someone a little better off than them because you have more than what they do and they deserve what you have just for the taking. It started in Russian in 1917 and spread to a dozen places like China, Cuba, Latin America, and now it’s in our society. Don’t forget the commandment, Exodus 20:17

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

6. Extreme selfishness, or narcissism, is increasing in our society and, like gas on the fire, the media loves to provoke the class warfare, race warfare, the ‘fight for your own’ divisive message. This is Satan’s old plot is to divide and conquer! Jesus describes our current day in Matthew 24:12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.

We are in this terrible situation as a society due to a lack of love. God is love and love is not an option: it is something you should just do because God commanded it! Sadly, selfish unloving people of laugh and joke that they will party with friends in hell, but the reality is hell is a place with the absence of God, or anyone, and the fire of pure darkness of a soul in solitary confinement is a perpetual torment I do not wish on any one! In Jude we read that it is in chains in perpetual darkness, that the eternal soul will remain without love, only the produce of the selfish self exists!

You have heard the phrase ‘live and let live’, that is what love does with no self- motivations. The highest law of God is to love Him and your neighbor yourself, but few people, we deduct from observation, really learn in this life: how to love another as much as they love their own self! Most people, sadly, are just selfish!

7. I recommend that you personally cry out to God and ask Him to give you more love for others! If you love as he commanded, everyone around you will feel it, people will see your authentic-ness and get a blessing from you, and you will have good works to back up your proof of love. A Christian that does not love is not a real Christian and is a person living in sin! People see others sins but not their own. Selfish people are actually insane, blinded by their own ambitions!

The people in the world are without excuses today for their unloving, selfish behavior! Before Jesus walked the earth, people might have said, well, no prophet or man of God has given us an example of total love and sacrifice so I don’t have to love and sacrifice. But when Jesus came and freely performed miraculous healings, gave us life transforming teachings, and the example of laying down his life and dying on the cross, no one can deny anymore that that was not pure love!

Sadly, there are too many people out there who are too quick to complain about sacrificing a few hours, or a few dollars to help a needy cause or the church. It is up to us as Christians to change this selfish attitude by being an example ourselves of love and sacrifice. The selfish unloving people will eventually be ashamed and we, in contempt, will observe the reaping of their consequences. God expects each one of us to do our part to shine His love!

8. Remember the rich young ruler that claimed he was perfect and obeyed God in every way? Jesus challenged him to not be selfish and to give it all away to the poor. Matt 19: 20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.

Jesus on purpose made an example of how not-to-be out of this young man who probably lived out the rest of his life feeling guilty to prove that you cannot boast “I am in good with God” for all my obedience without a total commitment which will love until it hurts. Luke 16:13 No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You can’t serve God and riches. Jesus made it clear that you are either selfish, or selfless, and to prove you are identifying with His love, He requires proof of it, proof of a life that you sacrifice for God’s use.

Jesus knew that the world would always be plagued by successful & rich selfish ambitious people who are good intentioned (but ineffective), un-sacrificial, and self-centered, so he brought to light that God will not tolerate selfishness and a lack of compassion on the suffering. Compassion is love and God requires it.

 9. What has caused Christianity to be rejected by some people today? Some of the disdain is from jealousy of the church’s combined wealth, power and influence, some rejection comes from a clash of worldviews from another religion’s belief system, and some rejection has some justifiable roots because Christians have not been loving, sharing, and compassionate with others.

Like it or not, quite a few people have had a bad experience with the Christians; this is due to someone being rude to them when they tried to connect, or someone was indifferent when they were suffering needing help, or someone did some selfish act proving to them that Christians are false and hypocrites. How sad! Never let yourself be guilty of being a stumbling block for others!

The churches of today should do what Gideon did when he chose his army of 300. Judges 7: 6 Three hundred of them drank from cupped hands, lapping like dogs. All the rest got down on their knees to drink. 7 The Lord said to Gideon, “With the three hundred men that lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hands. Let all the others go home.” 8 So Gideon sent the rest of the Israelites home but kept the three hundred, who took over the provisions and trumpets of the others.

As Christians maybe we should just count on the generous and dedicated few to get things done! Often times you can accomplish more with less and we don’t need massive mega-churches, mega-governments, or community groups that are infested with selfish self-serving, unproductive, unloving, non-soul-winning people. Christianity gets a bad rap over the prideful selfish unloving uncompassionate people who boast their own goodness yet they refuse to surrender all to Jesus proving their love and compassion. Expose it: change it!

10. Here is what is making everyone fed up and sick with all the entities in society: the deduction that selfish people are doing things not the right way, but in their own comfortable and unproductive way being out-of-touch, with no accountability rendered for what they do. God has entrusted each of us who are Christians with talents and treasures and if we are selfish with them we will always be spiritually immature, deficient, and without rewards in heaven.

This verse is important in Proverbs 11:24 One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty.

Are you sharing your love and your personal things when necessary?

Ask God if you have been heeding the conviction of the Holy Spirit to give more of yourself, sacrificing more for God and others as time goes on. The only way to change the world is to be the change yourself!

When someone hears about how you sacrificially served another in need with food, or something, it brings conviction and then others want to get on board too! Selflessness breeds more selflessness and this means simply catching the love of Jesus and transmitting it on to others who will do the same! Are you a selfish psychopathic condemned reject useful to no one not even God, or are you a loving, serving, generous imitator of Jesus generous love and compassion?   

Family: What Kind of House Are You Building?

Family: What Kind of House Are You Building?      Kelly Durant 8-18-13

1.Hebrews 3:1-6 Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. 2 He was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house. 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. 4 For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. 5 “Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house,”[a] bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. 6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

2. All of you who are children of the Lord should be learning from every experience in life! All things are for a purpose, every experience, and every conversation. Have you ever asked God after a visit with someone, or with a family member you don’t know too much about, what good came from this? Do you ask yourself, what should I pray for now? Was I blessing to them?

The young artist Taylor Swift seems to write a song about all the experiences she has with people in her life, be they good or bad. Her music is quite catchy, one of my favorite songs of hers is “Why You Gotta Be So Mean?” It’s a song about a person in the family who mocks and belittles others. In all families there are amazing people who are a great inspiration to all and sadly there are others that are quite terrible and they have left scars on everyone! Well, in my case I either write a poem or sermon about my experiences, ha!

I know my experiences in life are very similar to most of yours. God wants each of us to not live life like a goldfish that cannot remember past 10 seconds always doing the same mistakes as the ones who were before us, but rather God has reversed our path to become a royal priesthood, a superior class, who study and become enlightened with all the wisdom of the Bible of Moses, Solomon, and above all that, that of Jesus. Your and my goal is to build a stronger spiritual house through our children as the years pass, to improve upon the stock, as we cannot reply on the forefathers legacy.

3. The more exposure you and I have to God’s word and to the various people of the world, absorbing the lessons to be learned, the wiser you and I will become. (That is if one practices the Bible, obeys God’s will, and chooses to love Him and others as He commanded!)

I am sure many of you may want to hear about my family and all of what we did on vacation. It was an experience of doing repairs (at my mother’s house), traveling back and forth to many homes, as well as non-stop listening, talking, and often eating! Fellowship, food, and fixing!

I was very pleasantly surprised to meet up with many pleasant and loving relatives!

What I can tell you about my family is probably identical to what you would tell me about yours, that within the group there are good Christians who are faithful, just, loving, and authentic who hold relationships together like glue, but then there are others that due to their own personal issues, sins, or demons, despite some good done, have provoked pain and disillusionment to the many that endured them.  This is a reality of life in this fallen world. Jesus wanted to change life from being a hell on earth to making it a Kingdom of God on earth, a heaven now, and a heaven later in a new body after the resurrection! What a task it is get others to change! Only Jesus through the Holy Spirit can do the miracle in them which He did through us some time ago!

4. In the history of Israel we discover that the 12 tribes were not always united (an understatement) as a family. That is what makes the Bible so realistic and authentic, it is not a fairy tale of a perfect world, but rather a recount of what goes wrong when family people do not obey God and become greedy or excessive with their carnal passions! The nation of Israel many times had their families divided due to punishments from offending God, including divisions from wars, slavery, dispersion by enemy conquerors, and from eternal feuds.

Many immigrants like yourselves can relate to Israel and to how many years can roll by you before you are able to re-connect to family. The sad reality is multi-millions of people, and Cubans are a perfect example, never even get to go back and visit family. A large amount of people lose family contact due to bad political systems, like from communism, and others loose family by death or by choice due to repulsive sinful actions that are too offensive to ignore.

I understand how many of you feel not having family close by in some way because for 14 years while I was in South America I only had as family my wife and kids and my “holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling”, (as stated in verse 1). Family is often considered to be a certain bloodline and name, but real family is only held together by those who have the faith and name of Jesus in common.

5. In 1990 I arrived back to Tulsa from Colombia as a scared immigrant, with no money and 4 preteen kids. I did not get to visit many aunts and uncles then, but in the end a certain aunt did help me to get a good used van so in it we packed all we owned in suitcases and moved to Miami where we got a new start in life.  It almost seems that all the years in between then and now all us were so busy just finishing school and college, doing God’s work and paying bills that it was difficult to keep up with the larger extended family having little free travel time.

For everything in life there is a time or season, as in Ecclesiastes 3:1-12, a certain timing for everything and I thank God I could at this time period in my life get to see not just my 2 grandsons, but also several of my young second cousins in the spring of their lives full of energy and talents. I also saw several others in the seasoned fall years of their lives like myself, and there are others that are in the winter of lives with not many more years left.

6. Staying connected with family is often hard to do but you and I must work at it so we have opportunities to give and receive love as God intended! We are all created to love and that is the most important need in life that only God through family can fill. Are you aware of the scientific experiment that proves a baby left alone with no affection or love dies after a few months?  Scientist Bowlby in 1945 did an observation on delinquent and affectionless children and reported that the effect of a hospital and institutional care can lead to an infant death after a few months. He was commissioned to write for the World Health Organisation's report on the mental health of homeless children in post-war Europe while he was head of the Department for Children and Parents at the Tavistock Clinic in London after World War II. He produced the monograph on Maternal Care and Mental Health published in 1951, which sets out the maternal deprivation hypothesis as a means to explain why 1 in 2 infants die in conditions without love or affection. But God’s solution is this: Psalm 68:6 God sets the solitary in families: he brings out those which are bound with chains: but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.

Jesus cared for the disciples families; people often overlook the fact that they had families! Matt 8: 14 When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. 15 He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up, and began to wait on him. With all the mother-in-law jokes out there, Jesus really did have compassion to heal her!

7. Reverting back to the verses in Hebrew of today: Each family is as an individual house sharing the same common last name and similar genes and also, for example, Levi would indicate you were of the priest tribe. Did you know each name indicated the historical talents of your family? For example my wife’s name Arteaga means one who does art. Castillo (Castle) would mean either one from Castillo (Spain) or one who served in one. In Brazil the Jews under persecution 300 years ago migrated adapting the names of fruit trees as a covert indicator of their heritage.

Your parents and ancestors have either built up, or torn down the family’s reputation, but in the case where Jesus is introduced as supreme over the family, that family acquires an honorable status and salvation. Heb. 3:6 But Christ is faithful as the Son over God’s house. And we are his house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.

Those that do not build on Jesus are set up to fail. Like the two homeless bums warming their hands around a fire in a trash can in a dark and dirty alley; after talking about life one says to the other, “Well, for the record…I did it my way!” The other one looking at his dirty clothes says, “Well, next time I am going to do it Frank Sinatra’s way!” Funny, right? They both should have done it Jesus’ way!

What we learn from how people live is no matter what a person builds,  acquires, or loses for the family in this life, what matters to God is if he or she has built on the foundation of Jesus who is superior to any ancestor, Moses, or any other prophet who ever lived. He is the name above all names! Heb.3: 3 Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself.

8. Families have a past and it is appropriate to recognize them. Many of you know I admire my past heritage of Native Indian (Chickasaw). Have you ever contemplated how brave they were along with all of your great-grandparents to survive in the wilderness? Up until about a hundred years ago people had to homestead on a piece on land, chop down their own trees to build a cabin for their family to live in and then hunt food to survive. As a kid I use to practice shooting arrows and throwing knives and tomahawks into trees; but catching an animal for food is not easy! I’m afraid I would have starved to death or eaten squirrels like the mountain people do!

When you think of family names, there is a famous Afro-American basketball player named Kevin Durant. I saw T-shirts with Kdurant on them while in Oklahoma and my eyes would focus on them trying to understand what I was looking at since my email is kdurant7@gmail.com, and my blog is kdurant7.blogspot.com. Anyway, sometimes people will ask me, are you related to him? I laugh and say, yeah, he’s a cousin I haven’t met yet! Ha!

We know many of you here and we know a lot about your family relatives. Regina and I have known in the past 35 years thousands of cases of families good and bad. In the missionary pastor line of service we have seen cases of extreme love and cases of extreme cruelty.  

9. The heritage or house last name you and I are born with, with our own individual particular circumstances, no one can change. The family, the race, the sex, the health issues, and the time period on earth we were born in, not a single one of us can change! We can choose, however, to either live bitter and complain and blame others for our circumstances, or we can just appreciate the good we have been given and rise above it all. Many people tell me stories of growing up poor in South America and they are middle class now. And middle class in the U.S.A. is like the ultra-rich class compared to most other nations!

In the end, family life is what you make of it, God gives us freewill to “do as we please” but a wise person will control their destructive habits and they will build their house upon the rock Jesus Christ and not on the sand. Great fathers and mothers have been those who have lived holy lives and these great examples that go down in history honored in all families.

Referring to family names, did you know that William Booth the founder of our Salvation Army in 1865, who helped millions out of poverty and saved souls by preaching salvation in Jesus was a cousin to John Wilkes Booth who shot President Abraham Lincoln dead? What a contrast of paths taken! The selfless, holy and wise William Booth drastically changed the world for good, yet the carnally minded politically motivated John Wilkes Booth died in infamy.

10. No matter where you are in your relations with others, Jesus can fix and heal things! The way it works is you allow Him to fix YOU first and then your positive influence will rub onto others that are closest to you. Others may be guilty, you may have to forgive crimes done against you but to focus blame on others is useless; you and I must focus on making OURSELVES be like Jesus!

Here is a promise that we all must stand firm on to claim for our families: Acts 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

We all want our house to be saved, so today, take the decision to love Jesus more! Take the decision to include him as a priority in your schedule. Make Jesus the center of your heritage. Build your house on Him and you will see how everyone close to you will be blessed.

Family is what God originally created in the beginning in the garden with Adam and Eve and it is Satan that wants to divide and rob us of that blessing! Fight to unite others of your family to Jesus and then you will see a loving change take place of love and forgiveness, and you will have a hope and a future with God’s blessings!

Come forward now let’s pray together for your family to be converted. And if you have prayed years for someone and they have not changed, then just rest in God that you have done your part! You are only responsible for your actions so be patient, you may live to see a change but a few years later. But even if nothing changes you have the peace of knowing you let it go and put it in God’s hands and that YOU did the change to have Jesus name above your own! Prayer…

Correction: Nobody Wants It! But Ask God For It! Hebrews 12:9-12 by Kelly Durant

Correction: Nobody Wants It! But Ask God For It!    Hebrews 12:10-12    by Kelly Durant

1. Hebrews 12: 9-12  9 Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live? For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness. 11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

2. ‘Nothing Short of Right is Right’…was written on the entire side of a huge factory back in the 1930s. In the factory if some machine did not work right, if some fabricated part came out wrong, the boss was to be notified immediately so the problem could be corrected to make it right. It was a perfect system and little waste was produced and the standard was excellent for the production of the airplane parts.  

But as progress would have it, one day they got a new 50 million dollar machine. The boss, Fred, told floor manager Joe that it was more important than ever to always do it the right way, and the right way was to call the boss when the machine needed attention. (repeat slogan)

As pride and human nature would have it, Joe one day did have a problem with the machine and he did not call Fred. Why? Because he was a know-it-all! He thought, I’ve been here for 20 years, I can fix it, but the thing is he had no experience with this new complicated machine, it was foreign to him. You probably can guess the next part, the extremely expensive machine heated up and broke and Joe was fined and fired! He cost the company millions all due to his pride and for not wanting to accept help and correction on how to run the machine right.

This story may be an urban legend based on factual events but it can be applied to our personal lives as well as be applied to the community at large. The reality is most people think they know how to do everything, and they hate having someone offer them advice, criticism, or in particular correction, but the fact remains prideful uncorrected people are destined to make some huge mistakes in life due to their incorrigible attitude that accepts no correction.

3. Something that has always troubled me about correction is…have you ever noticed that it usually does not restitute nor repair the damages caused? Like the employee who drives the forklift without the OSHA permit and crashed into a pallet of merchandise. The store lost several thousand dollars on the merchandise but the fine of several thousand, paid by the same store, goes to the federal government?! What kind of correction is that?

Man’s laws and corrections are often unjust, but God’s correction is always fair. There is a message to be learned with correction, however, that there is a standard to meet and if you fall short of it, it will cost you with a price. God’s standard is to live a holy life in love and peace.

4. The price of correction is often abasement or humiliation, and the imposed embarrassment and status reduction limits the person’s potential for a certain time period. Jails are even called Correction Facilities, and despite how certain people may impose discipline and standards on other people, the authentic correction of character flaws in itself depends upon the individual’s admittance to his or her errors and the changing of them to a higher standard.

Why are we studying this? Because it is a part of your holiness growth! You may recall I mentioned I wanted you to learn more about holiness this year. The verses of today contain “that we may be partakers of His holiness,” (implying with correction). Clearly deducted, if you do not change and learn and grow from the correction God and others offer, then you may be fooling yourself that you are in good standing with God. God is Holy, and nothing unholy will stand in His presence, and to get holy you and I need to be corrected daily of our errors!

Are you hearing from God in silence in prayer every day? Correct yourself before God does! 

5. Do you recall the life of Saul and how he did not stop to listen and learn from God? He was a tall handsome man, a natural born charismatic leader, but what caused his downfall? Pride! He was a stubborn king that got many corrections but just ignored them. As king of Israel he was supposed to always submit to God, and follow the counsel of the anointed one, the priest, which was Samuel, to prosper the nation.  Here is one part after he disobeyed again.

I Samuel 13:13-14 ¹³ And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. ¹⁴ But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”

What happened in the preceding verses is that the Philistines were attacking with 6,000 horsemen and 30,000 chariots and it seemed that the nation of Israel could not get a victory against so many and the military went into hiding. Saul was supposed to wait 7 days to proceed with the blessing from God by Samuel doing a sacrifice to God before attacking, but instead Saul took matters into his own hands. He set up his own altar and sacrificed to God on his own and that was not his job to do. He was a know-it-all that would not accept correction.

In other words, for disobedience, there always comes a correction and it may be one of an undoable judgment. In Saul’s case, he predestined himself to lose the battle and part of the kingdom. But wait, wasn’t this Israel? Weren’t they God’s people and God wanted Israel to win?

6. God was in control then as He is now over all nations but He would not tolerate a leader that was insolent, disobedient, and one that over time became full of his own pride not willing to accept correction and be a humble man who honored God. What a bad example to everyone!

Saul disobeyed many times and by rejecting correction he died in shame; he lost battles and the whole nation suffered! The sin of one rebellious incorrigible person trickles down to influence the entire group. What a sobering and frightful lesson that is!

David followed Saul as king and he obeyed God and won many battles!  But what was the difference between Saul and David?  David failed as well at times but when David disobeyed he would accept correction and repent with sincere prayers and sacrifices, and he accepted his punishments as coming from a just God. Saul on the other hand, never would recognize his mistakes. Pride comes before failure and a downfall!

7. Do you know someone in your family that is stubborn and they reject correction for their mistakes? All families seem to have quite a few people like this in them! But how mature spiritually are you concerning this matter? Maybe one of the persons in your family that does not like correction could be you! As humans we want to run away from being made uncomfortable, but that is not the right attitude, you and I must welcome God’s correction.

Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. The spirit should be convicting you and me personally day after day over how to accept and respond to correction. Military personal get yelled at and corrected, so why not you and me?   

When things just don’t turn out right, you need to ask God about it. Some people just seem to always end up in bad situations. Have you ever noticed a person that everything they do seems to come out wrong, sort of like being cursed, or something?  Have you ever met people in hard times, but their terrible situation was not brought on by outside unavoidable circumstances but rather brought on by their own disobediences to God, local laws, or from being so proud they would not listen to anyone?

8. Like a sister in the other Corps that would say, “Well, my husband is in jail again!” I’d reply, “Oh no, what happened”? She’d reply, “I told him not to drive that car he just bought without a tag but he never listens to me and it serves him right to just sit there a few days to learn his lesson!” Many things happened to this poor man over and over. He was rebellious to come to learn about God, and he seemed to get correction all the time from society, God, and especially his wife, but still he would not repent. Do you know of cases and of people like this one?

With repentance and correction there is hope for a person or for a nation, but without correction from the Word of God people are doomed to self-destruct and destroy many others in the process bringing on much pain due to their insubordinate pride.

9. The sad reality is we live in a world full of incorrigibles! There are people who create huge problems over and over and no one ever seems to ever correct them. Usually these people do wrong over and over until one day they go off to jail! The problem is our society is not growing leaders who correct as they should. There are half the homes of the U.S. with no fathers so the children grow up without a stern correction and then the teachers and Sunday School teachers, police, and jailers are later all having to deal with these rebellious hyperactive kids and it is all due to someone else’s sin of a lack of giving correction. Giving and receiving correction is important!   

Now, let’s make this more personal. I want you to reflect a moment and recall a time that the Lord was correcting you. Can you pinpoint an event in your life that came to your mind that the Lord had you under the fire? I accept that the Lord allowed me to suffer through hepatitis B for 6 weeks one time for not wanting to do the mission as I needed to in a certain city but instead I just wanted to work on a farm in the Amazon in Brazil. We all know how Jonah got corrected, so never think you can escape the plans God has for you! I have learned the hard way too!

10. Psalm 106:15 And He gave them their request, But sent leanness into their soul. This verse expresses my experience. I got to be on the farm but in a tent separated from everyone else. I thought, well, I can’t even walk 10 feet without getting tired so now that you have got my attention Lord, what do you want me to do? The Lord showed me to study His word all day and read the Bible from cover to cover so I did. While under correction, God prepares you and me!

I want to put you again under the spotlight. If you cannot pinpoint any moment in your life in which you know the Lord was dealing with you over some failing or sin, then you need to repent of the sin of not listening to God, of not seeking spiritual understanding from the significant circumstances that God allows in your life, and for not praying appropriately allowing God to speak to your mind about your shortcomings. All God’s children do get correction!

11. What everyone needs is to always be in tune with God asking for the Holy Spirit to be your guide and teacher. Have you ever prayed, “Lord if I have wronged someone today, if I have spoken harsh words, if I have hurt someone, if I have been a bad example of your love, show me and correct me”. Almost never do you or I hear of a person asking God for correction in prayer, but we must ask God for correction!  David did it.   Psalm 51:1-4

Have mercy upon me, O God,

According to Your lovingkindness;

According to the multitude of Your tender mercies,

Blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,

And cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions,

And my sin is always before me.

4 Against You, You only, have I sinned,

And done this evil in Your sight—

That You may be found just when You speak,

And blameless when You judge.

Sometimes I pray, “Lord please reveal to me anything that is not of you so I can purge it out of my life, before you have to! I want to be pure and Holy, so please help me to correct what is wrong before you have to correct it!”

12. God is like a father and if the father expects the bedroom clean, the best thing to do is to clean it up so the father does not have to come home later and see the mess and punish you and then make you clean it up anyway!

Here is verse that has always caught my attention. Hebrews 5:8 Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

Imagine what this verse implies: That even though Jesus was divine and human, He still had to get correction and learn how to obey His Father! So if Jesus had to learn by suffering, how much more do you and I need to learn correction as well! Jesus prayed to His Father all the time!

13. I’ll be honest with you, what I feel about correction is I don’t like it, as the scripture says, Hebrews 12:11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. I really do not like to get correction nor give it but it is a fact of life, we must receive it and also give it to others especially when dangerous or sinful circumstances require it. 

And check your feelings over correction, are you self-righteous and condemning? Do you get happy when you conclude that someone is getting correction from God? I have heard people when they don’t like someone say things like, “You see that problem they have, I knew this would happen, its about time God punished them!” We all despise hypocrites, especially Jesus!

Be careful to judge or speak, because when you are having hard times others may have the same attitude towards you because we reap what we sew. Matthew 7:2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. Do you need advice or correction? In the end, God is a loving Father and He wants to protect you and guide you into all truth, love, peace, and holiness and that process began the moment you accepted Jesus as the ruler of your life. Focus on the correction coming in your life and you will prosper spiritually! Pray for others and leaders, and pray always against pride!  

Are YOU a Peacemaker? Matthew 5:9 by Kelly Durant

Are You a Peacemaker?                                                   Matthew 5:9       By Captain Kelly Durant

2.Missionaries have always fascinated me. Today our schools teach history as only secular, sterile, and as considerably boring material since it deals mostly with only politics and power. But the real interesting stories of history are those about people who went to faraway places for the first time like David Livingston, the Scott who was the first white man in Africa in the 1800’s. His stories are like Marco Polo’s. He was almost killed several times but saved by miraculous means; read his stories! How many of you have heard of him or read about him? Not long ago everyone knew of him and his adventures, along with Hudson, Muller, and Wesley!

One missionary story worth bringing attention to is from the 1950s of Jim Elliot. He was one of 5 missionaries that were making friends with the Quechua Indians in the deep jungle of Ecuador which had never had any outside contact with modern man before. For weeks they dropped gifts from their airplane but when the day came to land and meet them they were not received well. All five were killed but here is what I want to emphasize: when authorities examined the area later it was discovered the missionaries had loaded guns but they had chosen not to use them! How Christlike that was! It was in Elliot’s diary that it was better to die for Jesus than to kill for him. He was a man of peace. It is sad that today these Christian values are not exalted.

The most famous quote from his diary which I love is this one: “You are no fool to give a life you cannot keep, to gain a love you will never lose”.  After a decade the Indians did convert, TTL!

3. Blessed are the peacemakers! In the end only Jesus’ way and heart changing words brings the peace to the human race. When the angels announced Jesus birth to the shepherds, their first word was, “Peace on earth”! As the old bumper stickers that use to appear on cars reads: Know Jesus, know peace, No Jesus, no peace. 

Why am I preaching on peace today? Like it or not all of us seem to be exposed to an abundance of people who do not practice peace! Some people have the worldly idea they have to always fight for their own and make their point stick not caring if they are damaging the peace they could have with the larger group. I thought I should address this issue because at times amongst our selves everyone experiences inner family or extended family conflicts. These disturbances happen inside and outside the church and often they expose hypocrisy on BOTH sides of the fight!

James 4:1 (MSG) 4 1-2 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from? Do you think they just happen? Think again. They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves. You lust for what you don’t have and are willing to kill to get it. You want what isn’t yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it.

4. Many opinions on current events are circulating right now and some confused Christians even believe that God’s justice includes doing something harmful to others to make a point. Romans 3:8 And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.” The irony is that even a few so called Christian Reverends may demand justice but justice is never achieved through mob rule, chanted words, or violence. Attacks on others has a way of being counter-productive as it just brings about even more disturbances until finally someone forgives and stops the cycle of revenge. Romans 12:19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord.

5. Regarding our Christian character and how to have a controlled one, concerning how to win by peace, let’s examine Jesus most famous opening statements to everyone for all generations:

3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Those who are not full of themselves and proud are ready for heaven)

4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. (Those who are empathetic, and offer consolation to others in pain get comfort returned to them)

5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. (The humble, non-aggressive people will win and dominate everything in the future kingdom of God under Jesus rule)

6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. (People who want God’s way of doing things are always desiring that which is pure and correct)

7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. (People who forgive & love as they want to be loved will be loved back)

8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. (Those who are not doing anything corrupt, those who are being holy as God is holy)

And now the emphasis of today:

9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. (So agitators by default are the children of who?)

5. Jesus Sermon on the Mount was influencing thousands towards the stopping of the cycle of violence in his day. His entire message was always of peace and of loving your enemies, a feat considered impossible, but that is God’s standard. Everything about Jesus message and life was diametrically opposed to the world’s message, because people for glory subdued others. Recall at that time how badly the Hebrews wanted revenge on the cruel enslaving Romans!

Jesus infused a new diametrically contrary governance model into the world.  One was to conquer by meekness and peaceful means. It was like pouring vinegar on baking soda, the outcome was a reaction that neutralized the harbored bitter properties of both sides. This model eventually served as the means to defeat the aggressive Roman Empire with the new Constantine Holy Roman Empire, which brought peace for a while until corruption ruined it. Here is an oriental saying, the teeth are hard and fall out, but the tongue is soft but remains.

So why do agitators exist trying to stir up division however they can? Do you recall the phrase, “Divide and conquer”, this tactic is Satan at work with the same old game! The recent play on racial wars, class warfare, and religious disunites are a proof of the obvious concerning politically motivated people: They have their own personal agenda for gain, and they feed the inner carnal debauched appetites of others for vengeance, violence, and power to attain them.

6. Contrary to this there are outstanding examples of people who have changed the world for the better and brought peace to family feuds, many thousands, or to millions in entire nations.

Let’s look at just a few of these modern day peace heroes and peacemakers who were blessed and blessed others. Who has been successful in diffusing race and economic power differences preventing massive deaths in our own century?

One of them is Mahatma Gandhi.  The oppressive English lost the battle with him because his way of protesting was by peaceful means, even fasting until the violence and killing stopped. India won independence from England in 1947 after he had protested many times by peaceful means. Non-violence worked because the world felt sorry for the suffering Indians under the English because the violence used against them was excessive. Gandhi attributed the Bible and the Sermon on the Mount as being a big influence in his life.  An International Day of Non-Violence is observed on 2 October on the birthday of Mohandas Gandhi to celebrate the effectiveness of the victory won from the outcome of his peaceful protests.

7. Another hero of peace is Nelson Mandela. You are aware how oppressive and segregated the country of South Africa was and unjustly he served 27 years in jail. When he was released having fame due to his writings and support of being an anti-apartheid  freedom fighter for the oppressed, he was exalted to being voted in as the President of the country. On his release he immediately said he was called to be a humble servant and he pleaded for all tribes to unite and to not take revenge on anyone. He made a court system in which if the white oppressors were to come voluntarily and confess their sins against the people and ask forgiveness, forgiveness was granted. Quote, “For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy, then he becomes your partner”. This outraged all the African blacks that wanted revenge on whites for their crimes, but due to these peaceful measures, he prevented even more bloody massacres from happening. May God bless him in his final days on earth, amen? He turned 95 last Thursday 7-18-13!

8. Americans also recognize one of their own peacemakers, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: a modern day hero of civil rights and peace. He spoke at protests emphasizing peace and due to his marches, many laws were changed for and more equal rights were achieved for Afro-Americans. Quote, (I Have a Dream Speech) ”With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together…” I think it is a pity his Christian principles are not emphasized enough. When we compare Dr. MLK to others such as Malcom X, Luis Farakan, and other current voices, his gospel of influence outweighs in all areas.

9. When we think of peace what verses come to mind? 

Peace emanates from a person pleasing God.

Proverbs 16:7

When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.

The benefits of being a peaceful person brings on God’s blessings and even good health.

Peace comes from knowing God’s word and practicing it.

Psalms 119:165

Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them.  Someone could offend you and it will not even phase you because you have your value in God, not in opinions.

Peace is directly connected to Jesus and the Holy spirit.  John 14:27

Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Galatians 5:22

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

People who have peace almost always have a face (happy and calm) which reflects that peace. In our case as Christians, we bring peace (or take it back) according to how people receive Jesus message. Matthew 10:13

If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.   You should be bringing peace to everyone everywhere you go, that is If they deserve it whether they accept Jesus message of peace or not!

10. The question today is, are you a real peacemaker as Jesus had intended? I have heard some people in the past take pride in saying, “Oh, I’m just brutally honest; I’m just a firey Irish; or I love a good fight”! These qualities are of the world and not of God. Some people always love going against others just because they enjoy seeing people get bothered and red in the face!

Today God is calling you and me to influence everyone with a peace that is supernatural!  A peace that is divine in nature overwriting your human nature! A peace from God!

Peace means not speaking loud to express your point trying to dominate every conversation because you believe you know more than others. That is pride. Some people even argue Bible?!

Peace means talking to a person, or people, whom you feel has offended you in the past.

Peace implies letting others have contrary opinions to yours, and quite often opinions really do not even matter so much. But of course Christians should not tolerate people who offend God’s truth in the Bible when exposed to moral or blasphemous words, practices, or beliefs. Then we must speak the truth even if it does disrupt the peace. But if a complaint is of murder, what other murders are supported in society in hypocrisy? Injustices abounding? What about the politicians with so many scandals and yet no jail time is served for them? Justice implies a lot!

11. There is a time for peace and a time for war according to Ecc. 3: 8  A time to love,

    And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.

One must evaluate what fight God wants you to pursue though. If you are standing up against hypocrisy, and against sin as Jesus did, then you are correct to disturb the peace and to bring on a war cry provoking conviction in the hearts of evil doers.

In the world today, however, beware that many fights are created only for someone’s gain or as a diversion tactic so someone can pull off some bigger scandal and not be noticed (since all the focus is on the hyped conflict). Our world is full of political divisiveness and you have seen this all your life. But by praying (and being watchful) the Holy Spirit can reveal many truths to you not shared by media outlets so you apply yourself to fight for the right things at the right time.

Jesus chose his fight against sin, but not with the drunks and harlots who would easily recognize their wrongs against God; He disturbed the peace with the religious hypocrites and leaders who were damaging the faith of others by misrepresenting the character of our God of love, peace, and mercy!

12. Does your face reflect peace to those around you? Peace-making is a lifestyle that can only be lived out by a person who is filled with Jesus peace and the Holy Spirit.  Luke 1:79 (Jesus came) To give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, To guide our feet into the way of peace.”

If you are full of Jesus, then you are full of His peace! Will you start becoming more peaceful as of today? In Miami I have heard people yell at each other over stealing parking spots; to bring peace to a non-peaceful world is not easy but with the Holy Spirit you can do it! Ask God for forgiveness for your rough nature, and ask Him to remake you into a peacemaker at all costs.

Final prayer…by St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace,

Where there is hatred, let me sow love;

Where there is injury, pardon;

Where there is doubt, faith;

Where there is despair, hope;

Where there is darkness, light;

Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;

to be understood, as to understand;

to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive.

It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.

Prayer: God Matures Everyone in Silence by Captain Kelly Durant

Prayer: God Matures Everyone in Silence    Matt 6:6                      by Captain Kelly Durant

2.There was a ship out at sea with passengers and a storm came up. The ship was getting tossed up and down and everywhere and many people were getting scared as they felt the ship was out of control. One woman went running to the cabin where the captain was gripping very tight the wheel of the rudder and she yelled, “Captain, Will we be alright”? He responded, “Well, just pray, go back in your room and pray for us all! The woman nearly fainted and said, “Oh no, has it come to that”?! This is awful!

To confront the storms of life prayer should not be our last option but our first one! There is one aspect of prayer that so many people overlook, it was right from the beginning as Jesus did it, it was prayer alone in silence, most of the time with no one around. 

All of us need to grow spiritually. I want you to be blessed beyond what you imagine. I want you to contemplate on this: God wants you (and me) to spend more quality time with Him, alone in silence.

3.The way God wants us, is by getting us close to Him in silence.  But sadly in today’s world, few people ever experience a real prolonged silence. Let’s start with a small step, how many of you today will commit to a full 15 minutes of prayer daily in total silence?  Raise your hand!

Matt 4: 1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil (Jesus conquered temptation in the desert)

Before Jesus got started He gave us an example of how to pray, and it was for many days in the desert alone with no one. Many of you may think, yeah, right, do you think I can get a 40 day vacation to go off by myself somewhere to just pray? It is true most of us probably will never get to fully experience what Jesus did, but imagine if you could get at least a small glimpse of it? You would understand Jesus better, you would become more like Jesus as you do what He did and that is the practice of prayer all alone.

4.Here is a reality, most people are lazy and they prefer that another person, like some spiritual church leader, pray for them and they do not want to pray deeply in silence as God intended. Why is that? It is because from the prayer time we spend with God many things come to our minds in our silence, many things God wants to use to bring us closer to Him.

Since these things remembered in meditation can often be unsolved problems, most people usually want to just tune them out and they do not want to think about them; but it is in silence that God can communicate to us the best. Prayer is not just us talking to Him, it is listening also.

Why do you and I pray anyway? Because when we do we get a real connection to God, we get protection from temptation, and we get we get empowered for our specific tasks that He needs us to do for Him.

5.Just looking at Jesus in the desert place, what happened in his experience? Jesus had absolutely no sin at all so Satan, the accuser of the saints could not discourage him with his own faults, or family and personal problems (as he does with most of us), so he had to tempt Jesus not with lust, or money, but with pride and power.

Pride is Satan’s biggest offer. Each temptation exposed to Jesus involved Him doing a miracle that would be an abuse of God’s power. Satan knew Jesus was God’s soon who would bring healing, love, and salvation to everyone, so he played on his pride with the temptation to show off how powerful he could be actually to get Him to manipulate for his own presumably justifiable reasons the laws of nature.

Satan wanted Jesus to alter the laws of physics set in place tempting that a stone to be made into bread; he wanted Jesus to stop the laws of gravity if he were to fall, and worse, he wanted Jesus to submit to the worship of Satan himself by passing over to the dark side of Satan’s destructive kingdom; but deep inside Jesus knew very well that Satan’s kingdom would become hell and the souls of angels and men would be judged, incarcerated, and torturingly punished for eternity for their destructions and rebelliousness towards God.

If Jesus would have done any miracle for personal gain he would have sent all creation on a course of destruction, which was Satan’s motive. Satan is at war with God and all humanity to destroy as much as possible of God’s creation and the souls of people. Satan delights in destroying your happiness, your family, your relationships, and he loves causing discord with our fellow saints in the churches and Corps. How do you defeat him? With prayer!

6. Another time and place..Matthew 14:13  When Jesus heard of it, he departed thence by ship into a desert place apart: and when the people had heard thereof, they followed him on foot out of the cities.

Escaping from people from time to time to be by yourself is actually copying Jesus’ prayer habits! Alone prayer time strengthens you and me in the battle as it did with Jesus to do the work. It obliges you and me to have some alone time with God so He can recharge our spirits, like you recharge a battery.

Prayer is intended to give you a silent time alone with God so He can reveal to you things you do not know about yourself, so you can see your actions as He sees them, and some things about yourself will not be so nice. It is comparing your stained life beside his white holiness that we see clearly. All we need to do is confess our sins and He loving, time after time, forgives them. 1 John 1:9

There is the reality that many people do not see their own actions as God and others see them.

Proverbs 20:6 Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find?  In a group setting some people will boast, I’ll be there for prayer time, I’ll be there to evangelize, I’ll be there to teach a class, but then when the day comes, where are they?  Allow the Holy Spirit to talk to your spirit while in prayer so you remember where you missed God’s mark.

Prayer brings the presence of the Holy Spirit in your life and it causes you to remember and see the truth of your actions and of others around you. Prayer changes your outlook and attitude to be more thankful, to be encouraged, and to be empowered to do jobs & tasks outstandingly.

7.Here is an observation, and I can tell you now by experience, after learning a few things at the Brengle Institute, that there are some people that have difficulty passing a few hours in silence just to pray alone. A majority of people as Christians are not so happy when they have to be all alone for any long period of time. (with no interruptions of cell phones or tv).

Imagine some Officers, as old and mature in the Lord as they are, were confessing how hard it was for them to just sit in silence to commune with God. Most all of us are use to being in action and praying with someone and for someone, but for praying alone, most all of us only do it for a few minutes.

It can be concluded that many people do not like total silence and being alone, but like it or not, Jesus showed us by His example that it is the only way for God to work in your life, helping you to win the victories over the sins you may not see you have.

For the longest time I have been wondering how is it some Corps and churches some people developed into being willing on fire servants for Jesus and yet some other places the people seem so slow, and complainy and do not willing to do much? How is it some really put their heart into things and others do not? The answer is very simple, all things that people do is a reflection of their prayer time with Jesus! A reflection of their depth with God!

8. Mark 6:31  And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

The people that pass time with Jesus start to act and be more like Jesus! If Jesus himself spent time alone with God, not just in the beginning of his calling, but time after time he separated himself from the crowd with the disciples, how much more do you and I need to do it too!

While at Brengle we did a test to see if one were an introvert or extravert type personality. I am more extravert than introvert (but years ago I was more introvert). Do you know what you are? Well, the interesting thing is most extraverts are social, they like to work with others and it came to light they do not like to pray in silence, but they prefer to pray with someone. But even though silent prayer is harder for some, even though it is easier to just be busy for the Lord doing all kinds of activity, if we do not learn to practice quieting down our spirits we will be like the oil lamp that starts burning the wick and not the oil. We will not last long and our light will be flickeringly dark and ugly.

Prayer in silence allows God time to reveal to us things and it allows time for Him to fill us up with His Holy Spirit and living Word. So many times I have prayed and just sat there in silence and even after just 10 minutes God seems to bring to my mind verses from the Bible for my encouragement. Have you ever had that experience?

9.Matthew 6:6  But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

If you do not hear God in silence, then ask yourself, am I treating God lovingly?  Prayer, sadly for some is a let down instead of what it is intended to be, a praise time where you feel the Holy Ghost coming to you teaching you, rebuking you, and guiding you into all wisdom.

How do you pray really? Prayer for some people is never very uplifting and they get tired of it because their prayers are more like complaints than praises. Instead of worshipping and praising our Father in heaven being thankful, they begin with a selfish petition.

“Oh, God, one more time I ask you to give me faith.  You know my needs. I have asked you for years now and I don’t know why you leave me suffering. Give me patience. Help others to respect me more because I do so much for you. In you name amen.”

Can you see what is wrong? There is an approach to God as if He is supposed to do everything for you as you want it. Prayer for some people is actually a selfish thing, not one of just thanking, trusting, and loving God. Done right, prayer fills you with energy and love!

10.Many times our prayer meetings have been one person praying after another, and this is good, all different styles are accepted, but I recall in some prayer vigils when I have told everyone to just be silent for 10 minutes it seems someone could not wait to break the silence after 5 minutes because it seems too uncomfortable.  It is true, prayer is communication by speaking from the heart, but it is also a time when listening to God should take place.

Recall even John in Revelation recorded that he had to wait in silence for half an hour while in heaven.   Revelation 8:1 And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour. And recall John had silence and prayer for the last several years of his life on the deserted island of Patmos. And on the deserted island look how much God spoke to him!

11. Here is something new for you to think about, God may make you uncomfortable in prayer before He comforts you in prayer. He wants to clean you and teach you, but he never can if you will not allow Him all the time He needs to speak to you in silence.

Prayer is like cleaning your house, you walk in at the end of the day praise God for having a home but it is dirty so in order to enjoy your free time in peace, you first clean it up and wash the dishes, and then you are able to make a meal, and then just sit in peace to relax. Or you can do it vice versa, you can eat, relax, enjoy it, and then clean it. Listening brings on cleansing, and talking to God is like relaxing having a family chat.

I want to challenge you. I think there is not a single person here that will fast and prayer in the desert for 40 days as Jesus did. But here is the situation, some of you maybe have not even done it ever in your life for even 40 minutes. How many of you have gone into a closet with no distractions and prayed in absolute silence for even 4 hours? It is not easy, but the benefits are worth it!

Remember each of you, and me included are in God’s progressing plant to mature and grow into more love and holiness. The Holy Spirit will talk to you, so give God, Jesus time. It is your responsibility to love and communicate your heart to God daily without ceasing. I Tess 5:17 Pray without ceasing!  Will you as of today start listening and communicating to God in silence more now since you and I discovered more on how Jesus did it?