Sick? Only Jesus Heals, But With Your Cooperation!

Sick? Only Jesus Heals, But With Your Cooperation!      Kelly Durant

Matthew 9:12 But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick.

2. When you serve on disasters as we do in the Salvation Army you see all kinds of situations with people after a tragic event. One situation is this, a person comes to you to do volunteer work and you think, great, more help. But then as they fill out the form you notice they have not had a shower in several days and that their eyes are red from a lack of sleep, and they are repeating the same phrases like, “I’ve been helping all this time, I just want to help, I just want to help”.

What is you assessment of this person? It becomes apparent that they are in shock and in denial of how they need a rest! In their mind they are there to do good because the tragedy is severe; there to serve and alleviate the suffering, but if they themselves need attention and are not perceiving it, then you and I have to convince them to just stop! They may refuse to hear that they should come back after a few days, that they first should attend to their selves, but otherwise they are in no sane condition to be of a help to anyone and you cannot work with them.

I am using this example as a parallel to what happens in the church. There are many people who come to serve, but they have not perceived how they are not ready to serve correctly due to living in denial of the sins they have, due to not being aware of their lack of being properly trained for the job, and due to a lack of not getting their own healing taken care of first so they serve while healthy.

3. When a Christian shares their faith, what is one of the first steps they must get another person to do? They must help them to see their sin and be aware of their condition so they repent of it. You and I must help others see that they are a train wreck disaster, that they have messed up and sinned and offended God and others, and that they are not able to fix it on their own. Can you still see your sins? Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Name me your past sins right now? Can you? If a person thinks that they are alright, that they don’t need your Christian opinion or God’s word to try and find fault with their life to correct anything, then they are rejecting salvation and they will remain as lost and will keep on damaging others and their own selves! The law is you reap what you sew, so no one escapes. Closeness to God means awareness of what is not right, not by your own definition, but by God’s word.

Proverbs 5:22-23(NIV) 22 The evil deeds of the wicked ensnare them; the cords of their sins hold them fast. 23 For lack of discipline they will die, led astray by their own great folly.

4. So here is another analogy. You were sick, you got afflicted, let’s say you got a broken ankle; you were not walking with God but rather you were walking in places that were dangerous and risky and you had a fall and a wake up call. A common event that happens with most all of us as humans, right? Then what happened next? You went to the emergency room, got a cast, had some time out laying flat looking into the sky that God made, and then you were better but you were not totally well, so what did the doctor recommend? Therapy!

Have you ever thought of church and your time with God as your therapy? You have been healed for the most part of your broken spirit but you must have God’s word, and fellowship with other Christians to keep maintaining your health, like a medicine. Time with God is needed for all of us or we will not heal in the right way. If you do not heal an ankle in the right way it will hurt horribly and make you walk crooked until you die! But if you do God’s therapy you see positive results!

Fellowship with God’s people brings us joy and happiness and makes our hearts glad! Proverbs 17:22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.  God’s word brings wisdom and healing spiritually and even physically! Proverbs 3:7 Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. 8 It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones.

5. So why am I bringing this up? Because I am concerned that some people are more healed up in your broken-ness than others! Christian growth is a process and some of you are cooperating more with God applying your needed medicine and therapy than others!

In general many Christians (and think about how you do it) wake up and pray every day, they take time to read or study God’s word every day, so weekly they are getting 6 days or 6 hours of healing and then another 3 or 4 hours on Sunday so they are making good progress.

But there are others that wait until Sunday, and then they only come one or two Sundays a month, so how do they think that 4 hours a month is going to help? That’s only 1/10^th compared to the progress of others! This is why a person becomes weak, become prey to the enemy, and are not used by God as God would like. God has his will for us, but too often people let their will in the way!

6. Jesus always wanted people to do their part, like when He resurrected Lazarus, he told those near him to roll away the stone. Another example of those doing their part was when Jesus told the lepers to go show their selves to the priest. He did not heal them instantly as with others in the recent past, these lepers had to walk for some time to get to the temple and do what lepers never did, go into the temple!

Luke 17:  12 ‘And as he entered into a certain village, there met him ten men that were lepers, which stood afar off:13 And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. 14 And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go shew yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.’ It was forbidden for a leper to go anywhere near a priest so those that obeyed and went despite knowing that fact were healed! And all 10 went and were healed but only 1 came back to give thanks!

There are many people who get sick and then beg God to heal them but then soon afterwards they forget about the miracle. Consider this, the Lord puts the maintenance of our healing salvation on each us and He wants it to continue. Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

7. What the word makes clear here is that you no one is answering for your obedience to God’s word, not me, and not Paul of Tarsus. Only you are directly responsible for your own salvation and maintenance of living free from not committing further sins and progressing and growing into a spiritually healthy holy saint of God. The doctrines of the Salvation Army confirm what is stated here in the Word as well. Let’s review 7 and 9.

*7. That repentance toward God / faith in our Lord Jesus Christ / and regeneration by the Holy Spirit are necessary to salvation. 9. That continuance in a state of salvation depends upon continued obedient faith in Christ.

So how are we going to keep well and on the right path? We have to have the desire, passion, and will to do the work to make it happen! But there is one thing here in Doctrine 7 that we must take a closer look at.

8. It is the regeneration by the Holy Spirit! That is our medicine and power that keeps us healed, walking firm and strong, not letting us fall down as we use to so easily as before. Titus 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

What brings us success is our connection to the Holy Spirit with our regenerated heart that has lost its desire to sin.  We know there are gifts of the Spirit and there are the fruits of the Spirit. Let’s review some of both.

I Cor. 12 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

9. So how do we know if a Christian is healthy and healing, or not? Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. In the Holy Scripture also we can compare if a person is acting out of their own flesh, or matured and governed by the Holy Spirit.

Galatians 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

10. Everyone is at a different maturity healing level in their walk with Jesus. Some have not fully assessed what made them fall in the first place and recognized how much they need assistance to heal, or how important it is that they should invest a whole lot more into their spiritual well-being.

So many people who come so infrequently, who communicate so little, who may have too much pride, think they can do their own therapy with little council or guidance, but we observe it is not creating the needed healing. Our Church/ Corps fellowships are comparable to like having a classroom that accommodates toddlers, middle schoolers, and college students all in the same building, and it is a difficult situation but God has an individual plan for each person He loves.

The factor is we must be tolerant of each other, and accepting of each person’s level. Years in the Corps, or age does not necessarily equate into maturity. Maturity is a personal ongoing endeavor and others are here to guide, teach, and support but it is each individual that advances or regresses by their daily choice.

11. God loves everyone and the college student should not resent the High Schooler and no one should be a critic of who is where in their spiritual life, that is between them and God. At one point we all started out with the (symbolic) broken ankle. What you are doing to heal as an individual is what matters.

I recall when I was in a room with 5 other people who had broken their hip as my mother had at this time about 5 years ago and everyone was doing therapy. Some refused the therapy and preferred to stay in a wheelchair. Others did their best to get up and endure the pain and strengthen their walk and get back to normal. And others were told they were doing too little exercise on their own and that they needed to improve their self, allowing help, if they wanted to walk correctly and heal appropriately. This image describes the Christian walk and the dedication of people to heal and grow, does it not?

This is the situation here in this piece of God’s Kingdom, in the Hialeah Corps. No one is to blame for where you are at spiritually except yourself! The Captains and Pastors are not to blame for the immaturity of some as some would like to think. Jesus taught Peter and Judas the same things and one turned out to be a powerhouse for winning souls while the other turned out to be a traitor!

Where you are with God, mature or immature, with your fruits and gifts, has been the product of your own work! This church family has offered, and keeps offering plenty of training, sermons, Bible classes, and council but since the truth hurts as a therapy, many don’t want very much of it. Let’s pray that each of us will take conviction and take more imitative to mature and heal correctly so God can use you and me to the maximun for His glory in winning others to Jesus.     

Jesus’ Truths: How Scandalous! The Truth Makes You Feel Good!

Jesus’ Truths: How Scandalous! The Truth Makes You Feel Good!                                     Kelly Durant  8-21-16

John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.

2. Have you ever thought of Jesus in a way that on a few occasions He was coincidentally a comedian with His actions and statements of truth? You and I should always try to put ourselves in the middle of Jesus stories and try to see the whole picture, and then you will see that Jesus was teaching more than just what you first take note of. He was the ultimate teacher who often applied double meanings, inferences, and opposite connotations to make His points.

For example, the story of Jesus healing the girl that was already dead. Matthew 9:23-25  23 And when Jesus came into the ruler's house, and saw the minstrels and the people making a noise 24 He said unto them, Give place: for the maid is not dead, but sleepeth. And they laughed him to scorn 25 But when the people were put forth, he went in, and took her by the hand, and the maid arose.

What’s happening here? The singers and everyone are trying to cheer everyone up because the young girl was dead! How sad, right!? And I assume all the noise of the singers was not alleviating the pain and sorrow very much either! So Jesus shows up and he says, ‘She is not dead, she is sleeping’. Everyone knows the difference between a cold dead, breathless body and a sleeping one, so how is it that this healer with great fame shows up and makes such a stupid statement as this?! What, the healer is an ignorant fool!? He can’t discern between sleep and death? (We see Jesus does not mind a laugh, even if the laugh is on Him!)

It says they, ‘laughed him to scorn’. In other words with one sentence, Jesus brought on laughter that may have lasted an hour and helped them get past their pain! But I am sure they did not laugh when he made her come back to life again! They were probably scared, trembling, and in awe, yet very ecstatic at the same time that she was alive again!

3. Most people focus on the miracle of the healing but what can we conclude observing these unusual words of Jesus? We might conclude that He liked to captivate the listeners with every word He spoke! I find that to understand this from various angles, you must look into the context of the culture and people.

For example, when a comedian tells a joke about anyone, say Latinos, you must know what words that group uses, and how they express their selves in their culture for it to be funny to you. Like the Latino ordering a meal from his car in McDonalds and the young Latino from inside asks, “And what fountain drink do you want?” But there is silence, then the question, “What, what do you say I want?” Reply, ‘Fountain drink’? Silence…What is fountain drink? And the young man inside says, “Es una soda, chico”! And the man in the car says, “Que idiota eres! Why didn’t you just say ‘soda’, stupid? (Soda is always used in Spanish, never fountain drink, which does not translate into anything near the meaning of a ‘gaseous’ drink)

So let me tell you more about how certain things are inferred on the first sermon of Jesus, the one on the Mount. Matt. 5:3 ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’. Consider this, much of the populous then had the same mindset as many today recognizing what was being said was controversial and they questioned, “What?” The poor are blessed, not the rich?! Wow, alright, finally, a man of truth! Keep it coming Jesus! Sock it to all the evil loudmouthed arrogant oppressive rich people! Remind them that they are not going to get into heaven! That’s right, if a person wants heaven they need to be humble, meek, and poor like us! Praise God! You see? All you rich aggressive governors, Romans and priests don’t qualify for heaven!’ This is the inferred and this brought them inner joy that real justice did exist! The same as today, we long for humble leaders!

4. Vs. 4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. The Romans were extreme in being macho and flint faced. In that culture you were expected to hide your pain and feelings because you were a proud leader! And thinking of the Romans, If a battalion failed in battle, one in every ten Soldiers were killed as a punishment to provoke fear, and forget expressing tears for your friends being murdered! The climate was that no one of authority should mourn death! But this is very unhealthy! So Jesus granting liberty to express one’s feelings of sorrow, was liberating and healing! He says by mourning that you would receive comfort…meaning from God…what good news! These words of truth brought inner joy and comfort!

Now here is a strong one, vs. 5 “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth”. If I were a poor nobody in that crowd, I would be rejoicing thinking, ‘Jesus you are God’s man for real!’ Jesus was in an inferring way insulting all the terrible aggressive political and religious oppressors! He was disqualifying the powerful, the strong, and the proud city leaders by qualifying the little meek ones as those who are exalted by God!

The inner joy of the listener is this: Finally someone speaks what we needed to hear, that those terrible corrupt people would not keep dominion in the world but rather lose it all! How amazing, Jesus knew how to speak in such way that one could read through the lines and understand the inferred. And as always, in a climate of lies and deception, of religious and political deception, and of manipulation, -+by default the truth of God becomes the enemy and it is hated! So what was going to be the reaction of the evil people who were going to persecute Jesus later to punish Him for being the messenger of truth?

5.  Jesus continues on and answers that in verses 10-12. Jesus knew that people will persecute you for being righteous and for speaking the truth! 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.

What is strange and ironic is that getting persecuted for the truth will make you feel glad and good! Usually when we see an authority or some angry person out to punish, persecute, and mistreat someone we assume the person attacked deserves it because they must have provoked it. This misguided deducted logic comes from our flawed carnal human nature. Jesus’ words must rewire each person’s brain totally to see the truth clearly, because only His Words and virtues are the ones that redeem, save, and purify the soul. We all need to ask for more of the Holy Spirit’s discernment when it comes to all information we hear!

What Jesus wants us to perceive is that when you the truth is spoken, you and I will know which group of violators it is intended for, as it is the ‘hit dogs will howl’! The truth on the ears of the righteous makes them happy and laughing, but to the contrary, those who come out of the woodwork to persecute, defame, hate, and harm the truth bearers are the demonic ones who cannot take the truth of God! Ironically God’s truths, that offend one group of shamelessly guilty people, liberate and bring joy to others who receive them!

6. So did anyone in the crowd get up and say, ‘Shut up Jesus!?’ No, the crowd felt conviction that Jesus was totally right in all that he had to say, the factor was no one had ever said it as concise and as powerful as Jesus had! At that time everyone read from the prophet’s writings, but the ones reading these writings to the people did not practice them; so the truth when communicated by hypocrites brings mockery. And the truths of God repeatedly apply from one generation to the next; we all note that Jesus often quoted the prophets.

The truths of God are universal and they bring liberation and happiness to those who hear them. “The truth will set you free!” John 8:32 And as in the verse of today from John 15:11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. What happens is Jesus brings us inner happiness and joy because His words are God breathed and they encourage, liberate, and strike a chord in our being. While uplifting the humble, weak, and suffering ones, Jesus at the same time was exposing the evil that other leaders at the time feared to expose. This was scandalous! He exposed the uselessness of being so caught up in the proud, heavy, disgusting dry sorrow of the world that one loses focus on the joy and heavenly relief, and even laughter, that can be right there in the midst of it.

7. Here is a verse I love: Psalm 126:2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The Lord hath done great things for them. This verse I believe is intended to be applied to Jesus! Can you imagine Jesus laughing with His disciples? It will be this way in heaven! So many things that Jesus said and did have a funny side to them, if you look for it! And yet so many Christians we know rarely laugh because they are self focused instead of kingdom of God focuses so they are usually upset about something!

Don’t we all just want to be happy in God? Don’t many people come to church so they can hear the Word of God and just see their brothers and sisters and forget about the problems in the world and at home? When you and I reflect on Jesus the things of earth grow dim in His glorious light! Coming to church for the fellowship melts away that heavy spirit, it makes go away that headache you woke up with, and God’s word brings you and me inner peace, joy, and good feelings! We can catch the joy if we just connect to Jesus’ Word. You should be tuning out the ever present problems suffocating you and getting a fresh renewal of Jesus when you seek God, amen?

C.S. Lewis expressed it well that, “The world is too much with us!” The inferred truth here is that often we as humans have a tendency to pay too much attention to news, gossip, hearsay, rumors, and ungodly people with ungodly agendas and consequently we get depressed, angry at others, and desyncopated with God. Better it is to spend time reading the scriptures that bring happiness and joy rather than to let the sound of your own wheels drive you crazy!!

8. Try to start making an effort today and from now on to just totally empty yourself and quiet down your own spirit daily. How great you will feel if you can just capture the full joy and emotional intensity of Jesus words which can make you feel like laughing at times. Let His joy and the Holy Spirit will take over your mind, heart, and spirit. Feed the good wolf, not the bad one, on your shoulder!

Do you want to know how good yoy should be feeling when in God’s will? Open to, Acts 2:15 ‘For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.’ (9 am). What is inferred here is Jesus followers are laughing and having a good time as if drunk! This is the joy Jesus wants you and I to have, like that of a drunk person! Have you ever been drunk? Better yet, let me ask have you ever felt so good talking about Jesus that you were ecstatic and bubbling over with this kind of joy? I have! But if not, then you need to start preaching Jesus because this wonderful feeling comes when you preach His gospel!

I can pray for you to be happy, for you to lighten up and laugh, for you to see the humor in Jesus, for you to laugh at yourself, but as always, God’s will and your will must line up together or nothing wonderful will happen! I can’t give you joy or make you laugh, and not even Jesus can give you HIs joy unless you are willing to do your part to fully absorb God’s word of truth and its implications and then obey it totally. His joy will remain in you if you keep on connected to Him! Otherwise, with no change of heart, with no Holy Spirt purge, with no seeking after holiness, you will remain as your same old grumpy dry self and neither God or those around you will be able to stand you! Let’s pray…

  

Patience: Without It You Pay A High Price

Patience: Without It You Pay A High Price                    Kelly Durant  8-14-16

Luke 21:19 In your patience possess ye your souls James 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

2. Have you ever known people without any patience? We see them all the time in Miami! I was at a gas station a few days ago and the clerk was counting money with the door locked and I waited outside 10 minutes, along with about 8 others but 3 people took off mad and in a hurry! So the implication is those folks will waste 10 or 20 minutes more driving to another gas station. Impatient people lose more time and have to repeat things again and again all the time!

We live in times that make too many people too comfortable and it is not realistic to expect things to happen instantly all the time. God takes his time to grow a flower, 9 months to make a baby, and season changes happen but slowly. But as humans we lose patience all the time when God is trying to teach us patience. All things must happen in God’s time!

Information and communication happen almost instantly in the news channels. Computers and fast food have us spoiled you and me so we race through the day doing dozens of things asking where did the time go?

3. So today, I want to ask you, how much patience do you have? The reality is we need to work on that, don’t we? Within the context of Jesus message of a future world in tribulation Jesus said, “In your patience possess ye your souls”. When you do a word search in the Bible on “patience” you find dozens of references so you and I must consider it important! We must ask God to cultivate it in us!

Everyone knows about the life of Job, that no matter all of the things that happened to him, he still had the patience to trust God and to believe that his faithfulness to God was going to pay off, and it did. He got back all of what he lost, even double! But at the time he did not know that! He thought it was the end!

 James 5:11 Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.

In the New Testament we see the need for patience not just for getting us through the coming persecution and tribulation, but for our own spiritual day to day development. Patience in the Bible is within the context of putting up with terrible trials and conditions, putting up with each other, and putting up with what God is doing in your life to teach you lessons you don’t really want to learn! Few people ask God to teach them patience because they do not want the trials that go with it to learn it!

4. Here is what I observe about patience: you are going to learn it or else! God often will allow you to pass over the same trial over and over until you learn to be more humble and more patient. Compare patience to some of the students I had when I taught English. Some would do good for 3 months and then right before the exam they would quit! They did not have the patience to prepare just a little bit more for what they already had learned for the test. So what would happen? They would end up repeating Level 1 two, three and sometimes even five times! It is like an old movie, ‘Groundhog Day’! In the movie at 6:00 am the day would be the same day over and over until one day love broke the curse. To repeat and repeat leads nowhere because the lesson is not learned due to impatience!

Church members, be they here in the Salvation Army or in some other Christian work on the other side of the globe have the same challenge, to learn to let God do the work He is doing in your life and not get impatient about it. The lesson is to not lose patience and have to start all over again! Some people with a lack of patience appear like a child in a grown up body making mistake after mistake and it is embarrassing to watch. Without patience we are losing time and progress.

2 Corinthians 6:4-5 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings.

5. So in the scripture of today where we read that when we are in a major crisis with no food or money, being in jail, or being persecuted we must keep on with the faith in patience fasting if we need to. That is extreme and that was 2,000 years ago but even today millions of Christians live lacking in necessities and in terrible affliction! In today’s world a knock on the door by some anti-christ officials (atheists or religious) could mean imprisonment, death, or the permanent loss of contact with their beloved family members! Cubans, many Latinos, Chinese, Russians and Arab countries live with this horrible injustice! Being unjustly imprisoned, beaten up and being destitute and miserable up until death is what tries the patience of millions of Christians! Never forget to pray for them!  

Comparing how cozy, comfortable, and how (only for this moment) non-life-threatened we live in the USA, we must have appreciate how having ‘patience’ here compared with how the early church and other nations have to have it, puts us into a diminished perspective. In our modern day world I have heard of people not having patience for little things and leaving the church over their inability to resolve trivialities. For example in our day of whiners, spoiled so called Christians may leave the church over simple things such as a change of pastors, over a change of paint color in the building, over a brother they do not like, or over not getting to hear the music they want to hear.

How pampered and impatient are many Christians!  This immaturity is a scourge! We live in a shamefully spoiled generation that is going to have a rude awakening when it comes time to having real patience in tribulations. Not practicing patience now over small things could mean the loss of one’s soul, because with no purification, with no maturing, all can be lost.

6. Impatient people are hell to put up with! They expect to receive perfection without giving it. Like a few old girlfriends I had for just a few days back in High School who would say they expected their man to bring them flowers, and their man had better have money, and their man must have this and have that. How is it some people want to demand perfection and yet they are very imperfect, demanding, and selfish their selves incapable of offering perfection? With patience we learn to purge ourselves of our faults!

James 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. 4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

We must note here that in the world nothing will ever be perfect, and due to that fact, we will always be faced with the need to have patience. And we must let patience remold, rewire, and remake us into a humble patient loving servant of God! What needs to become perfect according to the scripture is God’s love in you and me, as you and I will never make the world and everyone else perfect!

7. And lately people have commented that we must not expect to have the perfect church either but we must learn to have patience with all the normal trials of life. Was it German that said that one time he went to the perfect church and all was perfect until he started going there! Perfection in people does not exist, but on our path to holiness we do strive for it, but only God’s love practiced in our life will make it happen. What is repeated is that we are to be perfect in love!

Put into perspective I feel honored by God and blessed to not have to go through more trails than what I have to in this Corps (church)! Believe me putting up with people and their imperfections is not near as hard as being in situations where you have no rent money, no food, and you fear that the government will imprison you deport you for preaching the gospel. And yes, I have survived those situations I just described and millions of other brothers and sisters face these trials and much worse on a daily basis! Again, pray for those in trials around the world!

8. We must keep things in perspective and never allow ourselves to go crazy lacking in patience. What is madness? It is being obsessive and impatient! Obsessiveness is when a person makes a huge mountain over a mole hill. I recall in Georgia one time on the news a high ranking government official was trying to get fired a grocery store clerk who would lick her finger to get the plastic bags open for packing. This person was uncomfortable by this and demanded the person be fired and a war over nothing was started! Why didn’t she just shop at another store!? Why do we as viewers have to put up with abusive people in power inventing squabbles to distract us from the real issues of poverty, addiction, and violence? News outlets love to exalt those with issues and impatience! Don’t be a fool to play into their games of hypocritical accusations.

This is the world we live in today. A world where a bunch of impatient whiners want to make miserable an entire group of people over their preferences and ways of doing things! The abuse of power is killing us! Spoiled politicians turn into murderous despots because they have no patience to listen to those who come to them with legitimate grievances.

A lack of patience and love is making our world become a hell! The lack of patience with others is dividing and destroying societies worldwide. The love of many, and the patience we should be showing one to another, is becoming cold.

How sad it is that too few people in the world know the Word of God and practice it to the best they can. Jesus commanded us to ‘forgive others as we want to be forgiven’. Now that is an extreme example for an emphasis on the practice of patience if I ever heard one!

9. Ask God for patience! Without it you will be a failure at everything and be an angry, hot-headed, reckless, destructive, frustrated, stressed out soul! And we see too many of those kinds all around this city!

So the future of your soul is determined by your dominion over your spirit, whether you can make it learn patience and love or not when you are faced with a trial, confrontation, or persecution. Romans 5:3 “And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience. 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:” We want faith, hope, and love, but they all are learned by having patience!

Pray to learn patience because the need to practice it our day to day experiences (and trials) is a must! People, will try your patience, but so will the weather, things that break, traffic and many other things! Our whole life sort of revolves around processes, and some go slow, so the need for patience in your and my life is imperative! The main process we should be concerned about is our spiritual growth and imagine how patient God has been with you! Prayer…

Not Reading? Then you are lost!

Not Reading? Then you are lost!                        8-7-31            Kelly Durant

Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

2. You have often heard it said that the Bible is like a map, and if you use it, you will know from where you started, and to where you need to go to navigate in life. In life all people must study from the books of their professions. For example, how would you feel if a flight attendant said, “I never studied the flight attendant manual, I just know how to wing it?!” People who do not read and get the information needed are in danger and they also can put others in danger! Reading the right things, the things of God, is what matters!

Most of us are lazy to read! For example, we will buy a new desk from IKEA that has 50 screws and 2 dozen boards and we start putting it together like we have done it before but then we get lost, so what do we do then? We go dig the instructions out of the trash! For any sort of guide in life you must have the patience to read, absorb, and then practice because if not, nothing will fit together!

3. The first book in life to read and study and restudy is the Bible! The Bible has proven to educate in abstract thinking and make wiser any reader on all matters concerning most everything! Psalm 19:7 ‘The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple.’ Most importantly, it is God’s truth given to us documenting His communications through his chosen ones and it educates us on how to live, what to believe and follow. The written Word confirms to the reader that eternal life can be obtained through Jesus! Eternal life we would never have known about had we not read it and seen it in practice by other Christians!

How many of you here read the Bible daily? You could read just 20 minutes a day and read the entire Bible in one year! We can get one of those reading plans if you want one. Actually, the Bible is like the meat and bread but you also need a salad and dessert. I know I was lost in many parts of the Bible until I got a historical contextual commentary: my first one was Halley’s Handbook. That really helped me mentally organize what happened when and where, and opened my eyes to the reasons why certain events happened as they did with God’s intervention. Who has a concordance or commentary of some kind for your study?

4. Take note on becoming wise from reading God’s law: how many of you are a bit worried about the Zika pandemic? The Lord protects us just as in Exodus 15:26 And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the Lord that healeth thee.

Consider this, did you know in the Dark Ages when the Bubonic Plague spread that the Jews were accused of spreading it? Why? Because few of them died from it so people thought they had secret knowledge to send curses and control it!? But why did they not get sick as others? Anyone have a guess? It was because of something simple, they washed their hands and the regular people did not!

Exodus 30:21 So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed throughout their generations.

5. With science today we can affirm Kosher mandates from the Pentateuch are practices that protects everyone’s health, wealth, and spirit from outside attacks. So reading the Bible will enrich the reader with practical applications, apart from it being the inspired God breathed truth which divinely works wonders.

Touching on reading the Bible as the inspired Word of God (not just for information), how do we explain that millions have read from it and millions of people have been inexplicably touched and they even cry when reading it? Have you ever cried reading it? I have! How do words from a book totally change a person’s appetites, goals, and passions in life? The only explanation is it is divine! There is no book like this one!

Nehemiah 8:9 And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, “This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.” What is the context here? The people had been living many years without hearing God’s word and when it was read it touched them so much they wept! I long for that day, to see people come to God with total sincerity, to read and hear the Word, and react profoundly to it!

6. Now that you are convinced of your need to read the Bible, let’s discuss what else we need to read. What would you suggest? I suggest the daily news, history, computer media, and publications of Christians and especially of your church! How many of you read these, The War Cry, The southern Spirit, and others? If you do not read these articles then I know you will look at me like I am crazy when I tell you we may be working with new immigrants, or…

It bothers me somewhat that we pay money for 200 magazines a month and most of them sit there unread. It means that many of our own Soldiers are in ignorance of all the anti-trafficking programs, and new ideas and ways of serving others that many Corps worldwide are pioneering. Who wants one of these now?

Also, a bit discouraging is how most people, even many here, could care less what I say or write. I put up a blog of my sermons and how many have ever visited there? For example, one person left our Corps a few months ago after I preached comparing 5 common points of great men, comparing St. Francis and William Booth, and I was accused of heresy for praising the Catholic Church? What ignorance! St. Francis love, deeds, and compassion for the poor was a rebuke to the Catholic church! Hum, my conclusion is some people in life are destined to never learn much because they do not stop their own brains to listen and read and absorb and mature!

7. Hosea 4:6a My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee.

Referring to what you read for knowledge of God and the world, you must filter it taking out impurities like these Brita water filters as in 1 Peter 3:11 ‘Let him eschew evil, and do good; let him seek peace, and ensue it.’ Billy Graham said we need the Bible in one hand, and the daily news in the other. I read many articles and opinions on world events. Please, seek alternative medias!

Most news outlets today are discredited and not-so-popular anymore such as news groups such as MSNBC & CNN that report misinformation for their owners globalists agendas. They make one feel stupid because you and I can discern that they think you are so ignorant to believe their misconstructions and distortions! This spirit is affecting people in the general public and today most people go with any half-truth or outright lie and repeat it as truth! This practice is wreaking havoc in our institutions and churches! I have always been angry with Univision for their shallow reporting and usual silly programs with girls in bikinis dancing for mariachis. The idea is to distract and corrupt with a barrage of low class passions so in your ignorance you are manipulated by what is hidden.

8. Look how not reading is costing us! The non-discerning non-Christian masses get fooled and side tracked because most people are ignorant of the history that shapes our world today and this ignorance of many things in general is scary because many of these people are in power! When certain political people control the big news groups, as they do now here, then the people obey as sheep to the slaughter.

Christians must seek out alternative news groups but sadly one day all the internet will be controlled to eliminate this freedom as it is in China. In China the government blocks all sites contrary to their agendas and it is slowly happening here. Ignorance is not bliss, it is slavery!

The ignorance of correct information in early Castro’s Cuba caused people to turn in their guns and 3 days later Castro declared he actually was Communist! Just 30 years earlier everyone turned over their guns to Hitler for his total despotic murderous agenda! Always filter, what is their political party, agenda, and deeds. Matthew 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

9. I am so glad my daughter likes to read but I observe many young people do not read anything anymore and they only watch YOUTUBE video clips.     

Electronically you should visit the Salvation Army USA site, or the Youth Down South site, who has ever been there? Well, younger folks, mentor these ones who need help, okay? The media may have a lot of evil but we use it for good, amen? I got use to tuning into the daily news because in Bolivia, for example, the radio or newspaper might read, ‘Oil companies declare a strike’, interpretation: With no bus service I am going to walk everywhere so I need to get out early! We need the news to know who to pray for.

There are Christian web sites that show dozens of thousands living in tents displaced from the ISIS invasions, and the main stream news does not consider that this is important. How sad!

In the world, Satan will always be deceiving us with lies. We must be diligent to not be ignorant of anything! It is up to each one of us to do our homework and study God’s word! 2 Timothy 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 

Control Your Emotions or Pay The Price

Control Your Emotions or Pay The Price                                          Kelly Durant  7-31-16

Numbers 20:7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank. 12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

2. There is a case of a woman on a train holding a child that is crying and crying and will not shut up. It is right after the war finished with Nazi Germany and many people were returning back to their homes where they had fled. It was obvious all of the people on the train were getting bothered and very angry by the crying of the child. No one asked the lady what was wrong, they all started talking amongst their selves getting more and more angry and then someone yelled out, “Hey lady, shut the kid up or get off the train!”

The woman not knowing what to do decided that she had better explain what was happening or it was going to get very severe with all their anger so she yelled back, “I want everyone here to know that this crying child is not mine but it is my niece. My brother and his wife were killed in the war and this child is crying for its dead parents! And I am doing the best I can to console him!”

After that the whole train car was silent and a few people even got up to try to help. With this illustration we can observe that as humans we often get bothered by the things of life, and we know that some people when bothered by others can get very rude, judgmental, loud angry, and offensive. But this brings shame upon them when they learn the whole story of the matter!

3. The story we are covering today is about Moses and a big mistake he did that cost Him a huge punishment from God! What is happening in these verses? Moses was in the desert with the children of Israel after leaving Egypt and the Israelite people were getting impatient that they were not finding water. Did God ever fail them yet? No! So what did Moses do as a leader?  He wanted to take care of the needs of the people! So he went off to pray desperately!

Vs. 6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them. We read here that Moses went to pray with Aaron in their tabernacle tent and the Lord appeared to them.

What is the first thing we should do when there is a serious concern or need? We should take it to the Lord in prayer so he can show us His solution! In this case the Lord’s answer was to speak to a rock that would open up and allow water to run out. Science proves there are rocks barely covering a stream in desert areas, but the miracle here is God lead His people right to one at the precise right time that had enough water for all! And God wants all the glory, always!

Vs. 7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.

4. So what happened? Did Moses go and speak to the rock as he was told to do by the Lord? No! Vs. 10 And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank”.

“Hear now, you rebels?” Was that something the Lord told him to say? No, not at all! To understand the full meaning of why Moses is being angry and violent we must know a bit more of the history of what is happening. Why would Moses get violently upset? Is it okay to be a servant of the Lord and let your emotions overpower you? Is it okay to get ugly and angry?

What we see here is that Moses in this one instance of anger showed himself to be a terrible example to the people! At that one moment he lost control and instead of representing God as a compassionate provider, he represented God as an angry hater! This mistake cost him severely! He let his emotions take over him! He even broke the stone commandments before!

5. The children of Israel were complainers and difficult people and a whole generation of `them died going in circles in the desert as a punishment before reaching the promised land of milk and honey, Israel. They complained all the time about everything! Imagine, God did miracles through Moses to free them from the slavery in Egypt and now they are whining about having to be in the desert, and whining that Moses is not getting them water as soon as they want.

Moses was fed up with their complaints because they had a history of being complainy and these rebellious people had pushed his patience, faith, and wits to the limit many times over. But despite the sins of the people, God expected Moses to always remain strong and be a good example. But Moses failed God because he let his emotions get the best of him.

Few people realize the importance of Moses! Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible which contain the Pentateuch, or the law. It was through Moses liberating actions that the people of God, the Israelites, begin to reign as a people in the Promised Land. Moses is considered to be one of the most holy, connected-to-God, men who have ever lived!

6. But even though the people were misbehaving, God expected Moses to always be a good example and not let others have reason to disrespect him for being out of control. I know some people might think, but what is wrong with getting angry and ugly when people push you? We all do that! Some people get angry and ugly many times in one day! Some may think that it is not such a big sin to get angry over things that bother you. Stop right there. Let’s look at this more closely.

For one, Moses in one of his episodes of anger had murdered an Egyptian 40 years prior to leading God’s people! Exodus 2:14 Then he said, “Who made you a prince and a judge over us? Do you intend to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?” So Moses feared and said, “Surely this thing is known!”

What happened was an Egyptian was beating an Israelite severely, sort of like how we have seen some abusive police beat down an arrested person. And Moses should have walked away and yelled, prayed, and cried out to God over the matter but instead he killed the Egyptian and hid the body. But as you can see, no sin can ever be hid, everyone knew about it! And Moses punishment then was to have to abandon the luxurious halls of wealth in Egypt to wander in the desert 40 years! Moses basically spent 40 years in jail in the desert just watching sheep as a punishment for getting angry and getting out of control!

7. So what are we going to do, don’t we all sin by being angry at some time or another? Anger is an emotion that does have its place sometimes, but I will get to this point in a moment. Most of the time people get angry over not having things as they want them to be. Anger often has its roots in having no patience for something.  It is a selfish emotion because it is intended to disturb another person as much as possible, like wishing them harm. I rarely see people angry over the sins of evil workers who insult God and his Christian people! I get angry and speak often about how I hate those who kill Christians but few ever care! So what we usually see today is out of control angry mobs of people demanding authority to exclude and punish someone they hate. Our fight is often against those that want to legalize sin!

Basically anger is usually used as a tool by some people to get their way with things because who wants to confront a red faced person saying ugly words knowing they will not listen to you anyway? It is sort of like the child that throws their selves on the floor to make a big scene because they are not getting what they wanted.  I spanked all of my kids for doing that! And today some adults get away with angry temper tantrums making everyone else suffer because they never got corrected as a child! Pray and ask God, am I one of those?

I am going to take it even further, today our jails are full of 2 million people in the USA, and many of these people are ones who never got correction as a child for getting angry and out of control! Why am I making a big deal of anger? Because anger leads to big sins and some people sin with insulting words and disrespect to others, while others resort to violence! Anger is like a fire that we must extinguish quickly! And never think, well this is just my character, I am Italian, I’m Irish, or I’m Latino and getting angry is just my culture! God accepts no excuses! He did not forgive the most holy man on earth years ago, Moses, and he will not forgive you!

8. Psalm 4:4 Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Ask yourself right now, do I pray and meditate on my bed concerning things that make me angry? Do I get still and stop and get answers from God over matters? Ephesians 4:26  “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath. Ask yourself, do I forgive at the end of the day? Or do I hold onto what I am mad about making everyone miserable for days or years on end? In most churches there are people who hold onto anger against others for years and by doing so they are in direct disobedience to forgive as Jesus taught!

There are many verses in the Bible that guide us to control potentially destructive emotions such as anger. And you can if you beg God for the Holy Spirit’s help! These verses do not say, ‘never get angry’, that is a human impossibility! But what does it mean that if we are angry we can be that way and not sin? It is within our human possibilities to control our knee-jerk emotions, or what I mean is, you and I can get a hot button pushed, but with prayer and spiritual maturity, and with a healthy fear of getting punished by God, we can choose to not act upon anger or emotions that destroy. I have had to lean to practice this and still am at it!!

But to speak insulting or manipulative words, or to take an action to do something to cause harm to another, to spread words around that are unverified, is sinful and wrong. Another thing about a person that is angry is that they are putting their selves in the position to be seen as an ordinary carnal person and not as God’s representative. This was Moses mistake, is it yours?

9. You can look around anywhere and see people in any room that may be living in the desert of their lives due to certain past sins they committed. They may be living punished right now over anger issues as Moses was. To be honest, you or I do not know even know 1% about of the lives of anyone! Over time, and in trying situations, we do see the problems of others come out. The question is, do you see your sins? (repeat) Some deal with their own sins and others do not, and some people focus a lot on the sins of others to get the focus off of them selves! It is easy to complain about the sins of others, but it is not your place to be so concerned about others as much as it is your place to be begging God to save you from the punishments that will come if you do not authentically repent from your sins that come with out of control emotions.

What we do know is that God has everyone under the fire to purge out all impurities! I 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.

If you have not done it lately, ask God to reveal to you your secret sins. You should have done this when you received Jesus as your savior but that was only the beginning of your sanctification.  Over time the heart gets dirty due to one’s behavior.

10. Here is how it works, Moses could not undo the damage he did! He was a bad example before all showing his temper and lack of faith in God to speak to the rock as God wanted. God did not allow him to step foot into the Promised Land because he was so stubborn, willful, and out of control even when he was an old man!

It is like the folks who go into our rehab centers, they may repent and never use or drink ever again and Jesus forgives them and they get a new start in life, but they still will never be able to get rid of all of the liver and brain damage. Also, never one drink is ever permitted after that!

Ask yourself, when was the last time I was angry? Last month? Today? Anger and angry actions and words create consequences! Do you really want to keep living with those consequences? Too many people take medication for the damage done to their bodies by their out of control emotions! Is God angry with you over your anger? If you have any doubt, beg for forgiveness so that your punishment will not be as that of Moses. Faith, trust, control, and prayer solve matters, not our own impositions.  

God’s Way: Will You Pay the Price?

God’s Way: Will You Pay the Price?                                           By Kelly Durant

Mark 10: 17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ 20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

2. There was a strict dance school where young teen girls would try out to get trained in ballet or a modern dance hoping to be one of the few to get selected so they could prepare for stardom. The teacher who was the judge was so strict it seemed that every girl was lacking in ability and she would only approve of a few to train.

After attending a public presentation, one girl Mary, who had tried to get in the school 5 years before saw the incredible ability of the dancers and cried for joy and frustration. Oh, how she wanted so bad to be a dancer but she gave up on the idea because the teacher said she was not good enough. She spoke to this same judge and teacher after the show and told her, “You, Mrs Stienberg crushed my dreams in life because you told me I did have what it takes a few years ago!” She replied, “Well. why did you give up? I say ‘you’re not good enough’ to everybody and the ones that insist and try again are the ones I know have the spirit to fight to succeed!”

It is sad how many people give up too soon in life on their aspirations, dreams, and passions! It’s like the man digging a tunnel for hundreds of feet and then he gives up just a few feet away from reaching the other side! So many people in life do not pass the tests that God allows them to have. It is painful to watch! All of us love to see others succeed but only the persistent fighters win the battles.

3. Today we are looking at the rich young ruler that was not willing to obey and trust Jesus. Each and every disciple was put to the test to see if they really honestly wanted to follow Jesus and we know many made the grade. Some had to give up their family business of fishing, another gave up the security of working for the government collecting taxes. All of them left a stable situation for an instable one. This is the case for those who decide to be Cadets and then Officers, or anyone serving God. It was that way with my life, but I do not regret it at all!

Why does it appear that Jesus was picking on the rich young ruler? He wanted to make it clear that to serve Him it would cost you everything! Jesus was going to give up everything on the cross and He needed followers who would be willing to forsake everything in life to follow Him for the spreading of salvation to the lost.

In life you must forsake all! Luke 14:33 “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” To a certain degree, many of us are comparable to the rich young ruler, in our minds we are already doing God’s will, but we must take a deeper look into Jesus commands. There is no glory or reward without obedience and sacrifice.

4. To gain much you have to invest much! Matt 13: 45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking beautiful pearls, 46 who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had and bought it. Successful business people know about that! All things that are not mediocre in life involve risk, adventure, danger, and total investment and dedication! Some risk all for worldly gain, but we as Christians do it because it is the only way to make real progress in our life of faith and obedience to God’s Word.

The problem is too many people do not have enough faith in God to step out on the water! (Remember Peter walked on water to meet Jesus?)But fear kills faith!  What was holding the young rich man back? Well several factors. Pride for one, as the way He responded to Jesus about how He had kept the law since His youth revealed pride on his part.  He thought he was so good that he deserved to be a follower of Jesus. To follow Jesus everyone must repent and leave all things at the altar to start a new life.

Here we learn that one cannot qualify to be a disciple because you are a Jew, from a certain wealthy family, or because you are faithful with your God blessed investments, or for being meticulous in your religiosity. Success and wealth often are stumbling blocks as pointed out here because they keep you away from the humble position of needing God daily to help you in all things! You must pay the price of becoming vulnerable not trusting in the things of man (such as money, religiosity, and tradition) to save you.

Take into account Jesus made examples of several of his prideful disciples that thought they were strong and good. Peter got humbled many times by Jesus when he was being a show off, being boastful, or arrogant confident in his own flesh.

5. Pride causes too many people to give up when they actually have the potential to succeed! Pride makes people do big mistakes and lose their patience. If someone criticizes a person that they make a trombone sound like a dying goat, then the average Joe puts the instrument in the corner and gives up on it! But you must realistically look at all situations, some people have some talent for certain things while others don’t, but when serving God, the power for the hour will come if you are humble.

Many people cannot stand to not be seen as less than the best in the group; Embarrassment and anger often over-rides our human aspirations and goals but anything worth anything requires a lot of sacrifice, humility, and work! It is sad but not being humble enough causes too many to give up on many things in life and in particular on serving God! Pride is Satan’s tool!

James 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.”7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

6. God’s peace, love, and trust will over ride our weak human nature to do what Jesus calls us to do if we ask for it. The complete dedication and service to Him requires the giving up of our own trust in our own security pride, and way of doing things. It is a great release to ask for God’s help instead of stressing and worrying over how to accomplish the seemingly impossible.

Matthew 11:29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Jesus is so wonderful, I feel His love and His words are true!

I think all of us are often scared by the thought of committing to a total dedication as Jesus wants because we know His calling requires us to be faithful in all things and even remain faithful if we are called to die for him. Luke 9:23 Then He said to them all (not just disciples but everyone, including you here), “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.

Even though some have been martyrs, the majority of Christians around the world have lived blessed and peaceful lives with ups and downs like all of us. John 16:33 These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

7. Several things stand out to me concerning the rich young ruler. He knelt down to Jesus showing Him respect so what we learn is respect should not be just a show of piety but rather an authentic respect doing all that God asks of you.

Another, he called Jesus good, which in some ways was a sweeting of the ear, and too many times people praise from their lips but not from their heart but Jesus called him out on it. Jesus truly was good, but He was pointing out that all things good are for the glory of the Father in heaven and we can never praise goodness as a virtue in people but rather goodness must always be  associated to God.

And also, Jesus was moved by the fact he really had tried to be good all his life affirming obeying the law. He was not a hypocrite and deceiver as the church leaders in Jesus day. This young man was trying hard and he thought he would be qualified to be a disciple by all of his previous obedience as stated by the law.

8. And notice this part in verse 21, Jesus looked upon him and loved him. In other words, Jesus love extends to all and maybe even in extra measure to those who try hard to please God.  But this rich young man’s way of pleasing of God was his way, not God’s way. Jesus ushered in a new covenant, a new way to obey.

God’s way includes leaving it all behind to follow Him. It means blessing others with everything you have. Now that is the love of God! Imagine if this man would have given it all to the poor? What a testimony that would be to God’s love!

The people of the world would have noticed that act throughout all the land and he would have been taken as a hero to many, as a crazy person by the worldly, but most of all it would have been noted that Jesus had touched Him for real!

9. We cannot appreciate the good that others decide to do for God unless we compare it along-side the wrong choices that other’s make. The disciples, along with preachers, missionaries, and Cadets all chose to follow Jesus no matter the cost so they are sort of like the opposite of this man; they are like a rich ruler that obeys and does give it all away.

But there are too many in this life like this rich young man, probably millions throughout history, who chose not to follow all the way and they ‘go away sorrowful’. Each of us lose it all when we die anyway, why not chose to trade all our treasures and junk in for God’s eternal rewards?

All of us are called to take up the cross and deny ourselves to obey Jesus. But just how far one obeys and gives up has to do with their ability and availability and in part this depends on their age, position, and location in life. But eliminating a false humility, pride, flattery, & self-salvation is a must! Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.” How much have you given to Jesus and His work? Is your love for Him enough that you will do all you can for Him? Let’s pray…

I Did Not Sign Up For This (Life)! The Dilemma of Our Lot In Life

I Did Not Sign Up For This (Life)! The Dilemma of Our Lot In Life  

by Kelly Durant

Ecclesiastes 2:17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind.

2. How many of you have ever ordered a cheeseburger at a fast food place but instead they gave you a hamburger by mistake? And the lines behind you are very long, so what do you do?

There are usually 3 ways that I have seen people react to this situation. One, they may butt into line and start yelling at the clerk, “Hey, are you stupid? I ordered a cheeseburger, not a hamburger!” And everyone stares at the staff and you fascinated by the drama show waiting to see how everyone’s going to react.

Two, many people like myself will just eat it anyway giving thanks to God that at least I can eat something, even though it was not my preference. And three, other people I have seen will just throw it away preferring to be hungry in protest rather than to accept what they got. How have you reacted in the past to this situation?

3. This example we can apply to how people react to what they get in in life, they can either angrily blame God and others, accept their lot in life and make the best of it, or get bitter, hateful, and resentful. There are mega-multitudes of people that do not worship God, nor go to church to learn about God’s love and the deeper things of life but still common sense is out there for everyone to learn from. Sadly, few ask God about His will for their lives! Even a Christian may think that God is unfair to them compared to others, but can prayer reveals purpose.

From the movie ‘Forest Gump’, there is a quote that says, ‘Life is like a box of chocolates and you never know what you are going to get’. That is a pretty true analogy of life, don’t you think? You did not get to choose the country you were born in, the parents and family you have, the amount of wealth you grow up with, your race and the color of your hair, eyes or skin, the good or bad characteristics of your character, body, or mind, nor did you get to choose the year in which you were born in. We are all victims of circumstance!

Summing up these factors for our temporary existence on this planet, it might make one deduct that all of our life is unfair and intimidating! Like it or not we have to reason with ourselves and with God to understand our place and purpose in this world and accept this fact; that we are not as in control of things as we would like to be! All is vanity and vexation of spirit! Some people choose to blame everyone else for their lot in life and hate it all. When life is not as they want it then they think it’s their parents fault, it’s their ex mates fault, or worse, they think everything is messed up so it must be God’s fault! But it’s all in how you choose to play your cards that makes all the difference in the world!

4. Even as children we analyze our situation in life and we notice that we are not as pretty or as handsome as some others, that we are not as rich as some others, that we are more or less healthy than others, and that we are often labeled within some minority category. We are born into a world hijacked by Satan who has generationally damaged our cultures, and harmed our ability to connect with God so being distorted in our human conclusions, we complain and hate the fact that we are having to tolerate living within the stratus of some demon controlled system. Every system of man around the world is a double standard unfair social order ran by liars, bullies, and cheaters! Life is unfair for almost everyone and many innocent ones die young! Some innocent ones don’t even get to be born!

How old were you when the reality of your qualities hit you? 10 years old? Some people even become aware at 7 years old, others at 13 years old, and yet there are some people that never seem to quite fully become aware of where they stand with anything in life analyzing and understanding what their purpose in life is all about and how to make the best of it. There are many intelligent people out there, even with Phds that never gain any understanding or wisdom concerning the deep meaningful things of God, life, or purpose. They may only take notice after certain painful things happen to them and they seek God authentically.

Some people are like a cork in the ocean bobbing around as if with no starting place and with no destiny, distracted and entertained, self-absorbed and confused. Observe how many trains, buses and cars are full of the faithless that live frustrated and futile lives! And to make it worse these kinds of unspiritual ignorant-of-God people believe and follow any current trend, and they will suddenly flip flop in beliefs and accept any crazy idea promoted by the premeditating destructive social engineers as if no common sense existed at all! Too many people have intelligence and no wisdom and it is because they have never developed any connection with God, Jesus, or the Holy Spirit! And they with their wandering hate and foolishness are leading our world to destruction!

James 1: 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

5. Ecclesiastes 2:17 Therefore I hated life because the work that was done under the sun was distressing to me, for all is vanity and grasping for the wind. Why in the book of Ecclesiastes does it mention the work we do under the sun 27 times and do it within the context of being in vain? What is the problem that Solomon has here that he says that he hates life, that all we do is for nothing and is vanity, as if we are trying to catch the wind, which is impossible?

It is not to reveal that in this life, even if you become a king with great wealth as Solomon did, you will never gain satisfaction, heaven, or anything as you want it! Even after you or I work hard to get something it will eventually become meaningless and seem futile because that is God’s design: this world is never enough to satisfy! You can gain the whole world and lose your soul in the process of the pursuit of happiness. All you and I work for is just going to be left behind!

But after a person realizes that despite their box of chocolates they have some freedom to make good choices to accomplish something of value to them, God, and others, this life may offer some temporary relief. But still all we gain will never totally fulfill our hungry souls and hearts that have a God-shaped hole only He can fill. Only by uniting with Jesus in heaven will we find a complete rest and happiness. We must take into account that God blesses us with unique talents and the Holy Spirit to make it through this weary world where nothing is ever going to be as we want it.

6. So what are you and I going to do in the meantime while on this prison called earth? Would it be of any use to curse God for allowing you and other people to be born into this world where life is unbearable and you grow to hate everything because you can never really own or control anything exactly to your liking? I can tell you I would have preferred that all my kids be great Bible teachers, but they chose different paths of their interests. No one ever gets to have their family, their finances, their church, or their life in perfect condition. Perfect does not exist in a broken world! So are you going to complain or pray and make the best of it?

I have concluded that a majority of the people of the world hate their life and they will never be made happy with anything! Look how many embittered argumentative discontent worldly faithless indifferent people there are out there! Christians with Jesus, however, do have a peace and love that is supernatural beyond the normal default of the human condition of dis-satisfaction with life.

Notice how many violent criminals, rapists, murderers, and murderous radicals come into existence all because they are mad at the world! Isn’t it in part because they want to make somebody else pay because they cannot have the wealth and power their greedy little soul desires? If they can’t own it all, then they want to destroy it! There are real demons of envy and hate controlling people!

7, And how alarming it is today to learn about how many embittered followers there are of false religions and oppressive governments that foment relieving your harbored hateful frustrations on others over the unfairness of life. What a disastrous solution that they impose their illogical traumatizing set of rules on others in the name of god or for the good of society (values of Satan from hell!).

How sad that so few people submit to Jesus who gives anyone who chooses Him a good life and a purpose. Due to Satan’s attacks on Christians not everyone gets to have a good life as a Christian because in the world we have tribulation and it comes from Satanic persecutors. But believers do overcome the world!

John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. The best possible life anyone could hope for is that life which is dedicated to Jesus because you know there will be a reward in the next life for you work under the sun.   

8. What we all must remember is that we have been cursed ever since Adam and Eve brought sin and rebellion into the world because they disobeyed God. It is sad but true, we all have inherited this broken world and for some people it is more broken than for others. But despite that God will judge everyone according to what they had and what they did with it.

Luke 12:48 “(But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few). For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more”. Those of us who are blessed (and we are!) should bless others!

We can never be happy in a world where cruel people commit horrific acts of evil against others, where sickness and death sadden and shake us, where worries and fears weight us down until insanity comes, where starvation and government or religious oppression suppresses us from obtaining our basic daily needs of food and shelter. This life is a cruel school for us to learn by, to see just how evil and vain people will be without submission to the true Jehovah God of heaven, who sent His Son to save the souls of men. Thank God the goats and sheep will be divided on judgment day we will no longer be subject to this pain.   

9. The good news is Jesus frees us from it all! He took away sickness, death, and fears! He took away the curse of submitting to a religion of difficult laws. Galatians 3:13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)

If you think your lot in life is bad, consider how Jesus had it. To the carnal thick mind of the unspiritual man, Jesus may appear to have been cursed being called by God to die on the tree, or cross, for unjust humanity, but His seemingly unfair task in life became the life giving eternal blessing and liberation of all mankind!

We have to work together with Jesus and each other! If you dislike your brothers and your church it could possibly stem from suppressed guilt because you are disliking yourself for not accepting who you are and what your responsibilities in life are that God expects you to do while you live under the sun. Each one of us has a unique task and we must learn to deny ourselves, and not desire the hypocritical world with its power and wealth hungry Godless aggressors. Our joy and peace comes by serving God and others expecting nothing in this life in return! 

10. Are you discontent with life and with yourself? I wrote a poem about that.       SELF

Self righteous, self satisfied

Self isolated, self glorified

Selfish, self loving, me, myself

Self pity, self willed, prove thyself

I hate myself, for self causes pain

And speak for yourself,

Self creates the insane!

Self, be condemned!

Futile game!

Let another man praise you,

Not your own name.    by Kelly Durant

Here on earth life will always offer you and me moments of frustration and pain but also of joy and we have our hope of a blissful life in heaven. Rev. 21: 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

Is all vanity and frustration on earth? Well, if you live without Jesus giving you eternal life and a mission to live for then yes! Life for so many is an empty, painful, experience, and then you die! But with Jesus we can get through it all, as you and I learn to trust in Him. Don’t labor for the meat that perishes but for that which brings eternal life!