Sermon Title: Don’t start (None) nothing, won’t be (None) nothing..
2 Kings 4:1-4 New International Version (NIV)
The Widow’s Olive Oil
4 The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.”
2 Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?”
“Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.”
3 Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. 4 Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.”
“We forget to keep the main thing the main thing. You become a prisoner of procrastination” ~Dr. Jamal H. Bryant~
“All you need is a little oil… “
“I am an exception” Exception is not apart of ordinary standard… It does not follow the rules… ” Dr. Jamal H. Bryant…
“You are getting ready to pass some people and go to the front of the line because you are an exception~ I have a little oil… ” What makes you exceptional is the oil that you carry… Dr. Jamal H. Bryant… ~
No notes taken, but I will insert the pod cast sermon…
King James Version (KJV) 2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him; 3 Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God; 4 He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. 5 After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded. 6 Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet? 7 Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter. 8 Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.
9 Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head. 10 Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.
~ I will Insert the Ipod Cast of this sermon at a later date…~
“Just needed to listen this morning~ Minister Evelyn Diane Thomas
Good Morning to my WIFI Subscribers, family and friends… Please join us for the 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. EST. online service at Empowerment Temple.. I promise, you will be blessed…. Remember that if no one has told you they love you on today…. Please know that “Jesus Loves You, and so do I….”
You have received an evite! Join us in person or online for one of our three Sunday worship services. We look forward to welcoming you Empowerment Temple.
You’re Invited!
You have received an evite! Join us in person or online for one of our three Sunday worship services. We look forward to welcoming you Empowerment Temple.
Matthew 22:36-40 (NIV) ~ 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest
commandment in the Law?”~
37 Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
Jesus loves you NO matter what!
~ Jesus loves you unconditionally!
Good morning to everyone on today, especially my WIFI Ministry Family, friend’s
and all my dear loved one’s…
On Today, I just lift my hands and voice up toward heaven and acknowledge to my heavenly creator how much I love and adore him because he is truly worthy of all of our Praise! I dare you to just stop right where you are and begin to lift up you voice and cry out to God and invite him…
I know that I was created to Worship you dear Jesus and thank you for showing me my purpose… Please know that you are a blessing to the entire world.. You are not a mistake, you are a product of our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ… Give him praise!!!
1 Peter 5:7 (KJV) 7 Casting all your care upon him;
for he careth for you.
1 John 2:6 (NKJV) ~6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself
also to walk just as He walked.
Greetings to all my World In Focus International Ministries (WIFI Ministries), family and friends… This morning, I was awakened with a question pondering on my mind: “Do you really care?” As I began to ponder over the question, the reality of the question became more intense in my mind… Do we really care what other people think about us? Our egos tell us NO… I really don’t care, and Heck with what the rest of the world really thinks– I know whats right … Is that the attitude we should possess? Just stop, and ask yourself the question that was asked to me on this morning…. “Do you really care?”
Alright, here’s my answer… Yes, I really do care.. Why? Because it goes back to the basic answer of loving one another… If you say you Love a person like Jesus love us, then we should care… In my 46 years of living, I’ve found out that in this world there are people that will love us to death… Then are people that will like you, then finally, there are people that will plain old hate you for no reason at all…. Now, that part right there is where the answer can change… Do you really value to opinion more of those we love or the ones that tend to persecute us? Of course, the right answer would be the one’s we Love…. But then again, if you
Love the way God has commanded us to Love, can you omit from loving your haters? The right answer is No! We must love everyone because God is Love… Our Holy bible is filled with truths on Love which keepsme going and so intrigued.
I’m reminded of the story in the book of Mark the 4:38 when the disciples was on the boat and a great storm beat upon the ship, and the Disciples woke up Jesus who was asleep on the hinder part of the ship on a pillow… They said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” woke him up and asked him, “Teacher, don’t you care that we’re going to die?” What they were saying to him is, “Our Master, do you not care that we are perishing?!” And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” And the wind ceased, andthere was a great calm.He said to them, “Why are youso afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great fear and said to one another,“Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
This story gives me chills down my spine when I read it… So when we have faith, we care… We do care what other’s think and must learn to do good in spite of any situation.. If I had time on today, I could go on and on regarding the matter on caring . I have decided to let you know that we should focus more on Love and caring like Jesus Loves us… You can’t ever go wrong…
When we are no more… Will you leave your great legacy and mark behind, and will you really be remembered for the person you really were…. Leave your mark on the world by being positive and Loving like Christ did…. I truly believe it’s an easy road to travel… ON that note, I want each and every one of you who reads this piece to Know that : “I really do Care, and Jesus does too”
In the book of ROMANS 12:17
Recompense to no man evil for evil” and for good measure
they will throw in, “We are to love our neighbours as ourselves.”
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, …
But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, alawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. …
At present, however, I am going to Jerusalem bringing aid to the saints. For Macedonia and Achaia have been pleased to make some contribution for the poor among the saints at Jerusalem. For they were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have come to share in their spiritual blessings, they ought also to be of service to them in material blessings.
For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.
He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ …
Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” …
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.
You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.
Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” So he told them this parable: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. …
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. …
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
I have enclosed the view of a great commentary that I really enjoyed reading…
1 John 2 – IVP New Testament Commentaries
Obedience to God’s Commands
In The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer penned the words, “Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate” (1959:47). Cheap grace means living as though God ignores or condones our sins. But forgiveness means that sin is real, and must be dealt with. We cannot ignore it, because God does not ignore it. The denial of sin is not grace: it is a lie. Cheap grace means living without the demand of obedience upon us.
And where there is no call for obedience, then all things are tolerated. “Do your own thing” becomes the motto. And so nothing can be labeled as “sinful.” No act is clearly right or wrong. Thus, there is no need of forgiveness. But because John insists that God calls us to obey the com mands that have been given, he also reminds us that when we fall short of keeping them, there is forgiveness in Christ. And, to come at it from the other angle, where there is forgiveness available, it follows that cer tain actions–whether thoughts, words or deeds–can be dealt with only when one confesses and is forgiven. In short, the call to confession and the offer of forgiveness go hand in hand with the call to obedience. Cheap grace is grace without obedience, and the Elder knows no such grace. It is not the grace given to us in Jesus Christ.Obedience: The Basis for Assurance (2:3)
Even before we come to the question, What does God want of me? many of us may begin with another question, How can I be sure that I know God? Many faithful Christians struggle with this question. How do I know I’m a Christian? How can I be sure that I do indeed know God? How can I know that I’m not mistaken? The Elder assures his readers that they can have con fidence before God. The confidence that he promises is not a subjective feeling or emotion. It is not necessarily equivalent to feeling good about ourselves. Confidence comes from knowing what God asks of us, and knowing that our aim is to live in conformity with God’s standard. Now surely this sounds like a recipe to trouble souls, rather than for calming the troubled soul. And yet John speaks with encouragement and assur ance as he promises we know that we have come to know him. Where does he derive such assurance?
The statement we know that we have come to know him is the first of many such statements offering assurance to the readers of the epistle (2:5; 3:19, 24; 5:2, 15; compare 2:18, 21, 29; 3:21; 4:13; 5:14, 18-20). Here the author is surely casting a glance at those who have left the church, for they undoubtedly claimed to know God. How does one decide between such personal and conflicting claims? Anyone can claim to know God. Is there a way to begin to assess that claim?
The Elder offers the “test” of obedience as the basis of having assur ance of knowing God. Those who know God are obedient to the com mands of God. And yet such a test scarcely seems calculated to offer the needed assurance to the readers! After all, John has just finished writing of the sinfulness of all people (1:8–2:2). Can one really depend, then, on one’s obedience to God’s commands to give assurance of right re lationship to God? This idea is so central to 1 John that we must examine it more closely.Obedience and Knowledge of God (2:4)
It is important at the outset to put knowledge and obedience in the proper order. Obeying the commands of God is not a test we must pass in order to gain knowledge of God, a prerequisite of knowing God or a condition that must be fulfilled in order to come to know God. Rather, obedience is the manifestation or evidence of knowledge of God.
In light of what the Elder has written about human sinfulness and the need for confession, we can conclude that obeying God’s commands does not require perfect obedience, if by perfect obedience we mean living without sinning. But obedience to God’s commands should be more than an interesting addendum or occasional accompaniment to our lives. “Obeying God’s commands” points to the shape of the Chris tian life as a whole, to the consistency of our discipleship, and not to individual acts taken in isolation. What is not in view is hollow adher ence to a check list of rules or directions to be followed, as one follows a map to a destination or a recipe in a cookbook. If we try to map out obedience to God down to the last detail, then the life of faith loses its character as pilgrimage. Discipleship becomes an obstacle course to see whether we can negotiate each successive obstruction on our own. Obe dience ceases to be response to a living God, and becomes instead a check list of rules. This is a dry and sterile view of Christian discipleship. I am reminded of the student who once asked, “Do you want us just to memorize this, or do we need to understand it?” Some Christians seem to live their lives with the grim intent to “just memorize it,” enjoying none of the fullness and mystery that comes with wholehearted response to the God of our faith.
Some readers may be frustrated to think that all we get by way of answer to the question, What does God want of us? is the response, Obedience to God’s commands. But this is deliberate. We are not given directions, but direction. That direction can be summarized as “walking in the light,” as striving to conform our character to that of God. What C. S. Lewis wrote in another context fits here: “We might think that God wanted simply obedience to a set of rules; whereas He really wants people of a particular sort” (1952:77). And the sort of people that God wants are those who hope to conform themselves to the very character of God.
Anyone who has had a hand in raising children knows about the process of shaping people of “a particular sort.” When my daughter throws her food on the floor and I tell her not to do it, I am giving her a command that I would like to be obeyed. But in the end I do not want her to stop dropping her cereal on the floor just because I say so, but because she too recognizes the mess and waste it creates. Rules are given to guide behavior, but they are meant to be appropriated as internal guiding norms, not as external sanctions and prohibitions.
And yet we recognize that the words obey his commands direct the reader toward the concrete and practical. In the Elder’s view, it is inev itable that what is interior must express itself in external and concrete action. “Knowledge of God” is not a sort of vague, unformed, abstract or indefinable private experience, although it may be extremely person al. “Knowledge of God” may express itself in various ways–through love and service to others, in prayer and worship of God, and so on. Here John is concerned to remind his readers that knowledge of God ex presses itself in obedience, and obedience is always measured by con crete actions. After all, Jesus’ obedience was made manifest in the ulti mate sacrifice of his life on the cross.
Thus knowledge of and obedience to God are not entirely equivalent, nor are they unrelated to each other. We may best speak of “keeping God’s commands” as characteristic of knowing God. ” `Keeping the commandments’ (like fellowship with one another, 1:7) is not the con dition, but rather the characteristic of the knowledge of God. There is no knowledge of God which as such would not also be `keeping the commandments’ ” (Bultmann 1973:25). We might say that the question behind these verses is not, How do I get knowledge of God? but, What does knowledge of God look like? How does it express itself? So too the child who knows her parents well also knows their expectations well. And the child who loves and respects her parents, honors their expec tations.
The idea that knowledge of God expresses itself in obedience has its roots in the Old Testament. The prophets especially spoke of knowing God, though more often they rebuked the people for not knowing God (Job 36:12; Jer 9:6; Is 1:3; 5:13; 1 Sam 2:12). The lack of knowledge of God does not imply intellectual inadequacy in comprehending God. Rather it points to a moral failure, to a lack of faithfulness and obedience. Those who know God live according to the way that God prescribes. “Knowing God” is understood in personal, intimate and relational terms.
To claim to love and know God without acknowledging God’s claim upon us is simply hollow. Worse, it is a blatant contradiction in terms. Such a claim manifests a lack of relationship with God, a lack of being in him (v. 5). This phrase calls to mind a sphere in which we live our lives, a realm in which our decisions, choices, behavior and character are shaped. Those who are “in God” are those whose character and behavior are shaped by God’s truth, righteousness and love (Kysar 1986:46). In fact, God’s truth is viewed as something that is active, indwelling and powerful, something that shapes the person in whom it dwells. Obvious ly, then, those who have God’s truth within them, and who know God, will manifest God’s character.
In verse 6 the author speaks of this relationship with God with a new phrase, live in him.Live is the same word that older versions translated “abide”; other modern translations use “remain,” or other variations. “Live” or “remain” strike those of us familiar with the old “abide” as colorless and flat. But the ordinary live serves well for “ordinary people.” First, the term describes “the way in which a human life is determined by a fundamental relationship” (Kysar 1986:46; compare Marshall 1978:127). One lives either in the sphere of light or in the sphere of darkness. Our lives, our daily “walking,” are shaped by the sphere in which we live. Second, in Johannine literature, live regularly connotes faithfulness, steadfastness, perseverance or continuing in allegiance to someone (Jn 8:31). It speaks to ordinary people of the consistency and faithfulness that is required of us. In short, the author’s concept of “abid ing” points to steadfast faithfulness. This is what God wants of us.Obedience and Love for God (2:5)
We come then to the asser tion that if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him. Two important items should be noted. First, obedience and love of God are inseparably linked. Love of God, like knowledge of God, is expressed through “keeping God’s word,” through our allegiance to God. Second, note what the author does not say. He does not say that the more we obey, the more we show that we love God. In other words, the Elder is not criticizing Christians for failing to “do enough.” Rather, his statement is directed at those who had left the church and who may have denied the need for obedience in the Christian life. John contends that it is simply impossible to claim to love or to know God without also living in obedience to God. In obedience to the commands, our love for God is truly made complete, that is, not made morally perfect or without flaw, but lived out as it should be.Obedience and the Example of Jesus (2:6)
The perfect expres sion of love for God is found in Jesus’ own example. And so the Elder writes,whoever claims to live in [God] must walk as Jesus did. This statement seems to raise the stakes to an impossible level. Who can live like Jesus did? All of Jesus’ life demonstrated obedience to God, and that obedience was manifested above all in his death on the cross (see Jn 5:19-20; 10:15, 17-18). Again, the point is not that we must manifest perfect obedience in all that we do. Rather we are to reflect on our lives, asking whether our thoughts, words and deeds show that our primary allegiance is to the God who is light.
The point of the admonitions to be obedient, to live righteously or to follow the example of Jesus is not to get us to start doing a number of things simply for the sake of doing them. Rather such admonitions remind us that we have already charted a course for ourselves. As we walk in that course we are reminded to ask ourselves, do these actions belong in the circle of light? The key here is reflection. We are not to be made anxious, but are rather prodded to reflect on what we say and do, how we think, pray, spend our time and money, raise our children, treat our coworkers, spouses and neighbors. Our aim is to live for one master, God alone, in and with all that we do. That is walking as Jesus walked.
So can we ever be sure that we know God? Some people have deep inner peace in their relationship with God. Others seem continually plagued by confusion and doubts. In seeking peace it is wise to keep the ends and means in proper order. Those who seek God are granted a sense of God’s love and acceptance of them. This is the bedrock to which they return in times of crisis, discouragement and anxiety. Those who chase desperately for feelings of assurance usually do not find what they are looking for. If we focus on God and what God has done for us, we are oriented within the circle and guided by its fixed centerpoint. If we focus on ourselves or our own feelings, even with good intentions, we drift without direction or anchor.
Hello to all my World In Focus International Subscribers (WIFI Ministries)…
As I awake this morning, I can hear the Lord say that He is coming back soon…. I do believe in my heart that he will return soon… I ran across this article from “Bible Prophecy” that I enclosed in the piece for you to review and ponder over… I really did not see any reason to re-invent the wheel when he has it all spelled out for us already… I pray someone is blessed by the article like I was….
10 Signs That Jesus Is Coming Back Soon
“When you see these things happening, know that the kingdom of God is near.” – Luke 21:31
No one can tell us with certainty what tomorrow’s weather will be except the one who causes it – God – but by listening to the weather report or looking at the sky, people use their eyes and their brains to at least make an educated guess about tomorrow’s weather. Likewise, no one can tell us with certainly when the exact timing of Jesus’ return will be except the one who will cause it to happen – God the Father (Mt. 12:36) – but by listening to the right world news sources, people can use their eyes and their brains to at least make an educated guess about how close we are to the return of Jesus Christ. Jesus said that when you see certain things begin to happen,“look up and lift up your heads, for your redemption draws near,”and “when you see them happen the kingdom of God is near” (Luke 21:28,31). Jesus and Paul both taught that the proper way to wait for His return is to therefore be watchful, ready and sober (Matthew 24:42-44,25:13; 1 Th. 5:6).The apostle John wrote that when Jesus appears we who believe in Him shall become like him, and everyone having this hope in Him purifies himself (1 John 3:2,3). He also wrote that the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Revelation 19:10). So two benefits of studying Bible prophecy and comparing it to world events are personal purification and a betterunderstanding of Jesus. Besides, in 1 Th. 4:18 Christians are commanded to encourage each other with words about the return of Christ. Hebrews 10:24,25 says that as we should regularly meet to encourage one another, especially as we see the Day of Jesus’ return approaching.Although we cannot say with certainty how today’s events are related to Bible prophecy, it is unwise to ignore them. Following are 10 for your consideration:
1. Wars and rumors of wars “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.”(Matthew 24:6,7a) Since World War II, many countries have been building up massive arsenals of conventional and nuclear weapons. The potential for war grows day by day. In addition to potential nuclear war, we have war on terror, water wars, weather wars, Albert Pike’s Three World Wars,angel wars, and transhuman wars.
2. Famines, Pestilence, Earthquakes “And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:7b,8). Due to flooding and droughts, world food supplies are running very low. Many people are expecting a global food shortage and famines in many places.
In 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a warning that infectious diseases are emerging more quickly and spreading faster around the globe than ever before, and they are becoming increasingly difficult to treat. The UN said in its 2007 annual world health report that an outbreak or epidemic in one part of the world can easily threaten billions of people in other parts due to large numbers of modern day air travelers.
Regarding earthquakes, scientific data does show that we have been seeing a large increase in seismic activity. According to a number of scientists, another star or large planet is affecting the sun’s magnetic field, which is also affecting the earth’s magnetic field – both the core and the ionosphere. The north pole is shifting at an accelerated pace, and the earth seems to be expanding. Thus, we should see a continual increase in earthquakes and volcanic activity in coming years. Stan Deyo followsearth changes very closely. He’s a scientist and has written a lot on the subject. His web site covers numerous topics related to changes in the world today.
3. Deceivers who claim to follow Jesus And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name saying that I am the Christ and will deceive many.” Mt. 24:4,5
At the end of the Church Age many people will be claiming that Jesus is the Christ, yet their teaching will deceive many. They will teach ideas that are contrary to the Bible. Perhaps the majority of professing Christian teachers in the world today fall into this camp, as most have fallen away from sound Biblical teachings and instead place traditions of men and/or the goal of increasing church attendance figures above the authority of the Bible. Some are subtle, and some are blatant. Sincere followers of Jesus should come out of these wayward institutional churches and seek to fellowship with people who follow and teach what Jesus and His apostles did. If you are unsure about your current church or fellowship, see Should I stay in my church or leave?
4. People of Israel return to their land “Thus says the Lord GOD: ‘Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, and will gather them from every side and bring them into their own land; and I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel.’ ” (Ezekiel 37:21,22).
During the last 126 years Jews from 108 nations have migrated to the land of Israel.
In 1882 the first wave of modern immigration to Israel started as Jews fled persecution, or followed the Socialist Zionist ideas of Moses Hess. From 1882 to 1919 around 75,000 Jews immigrated to Palestine, mostly from Russia. They bought land from Ottoman and individual Arab landholders and established agricultural settlements. During this period the Hebrews language was revived, newspapers and literature were published in Hebrew and political parties and workers organizations were established.
In 1917 during World War I, the British government in its Balfour Declaration supported plans for a ‘national home’ for the Jews in their promised land. Later, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) lost control of the Middle East. This made it possible for hundreds of thousands more immigrants to arrive from Europe. Anti-Semitism drove most there. Many more would have come had it not been for Arab protest and resulting British restrictions on immigration.
During World War II, the Nazis killed around 6 million Jews in the Holocaust, so it became clear to the Jews that they needed a homeland. Many Holocaust survivors immigrated illegally to Palestine. When the British pulled out of Palestine in May 1948, the state of Israel formally declared its independence. It was immediately recognized by the USA, followed by Guatemala, Nicaragua & Uruguay. A few days later, the Soviet Union, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia and South Africa did the same. No Arab states have ever recognized Israel, but several have attacked them. However, Israel has successfully defended itself against numerous Arab attacks. As a result, Jews throughout the Middle East have also been forced to immigrate to Israel, and the nation has grown strong. It has turned a desert into an agricultural success, and it’s technology industry exports cutting edge innovations.
Today, Israel’s population is over 7 million, including around 267,000 who live in Judea and Samaria (sometimes called the West Bank) and 180,000 in East Jerusalem. In 2008, Israel will celebrate it’s 60 anniversary in the face of Arabs who hate it and want to ‘wipe it off the map’. It is still mostly a secular state, but it has a growing percentage of Orthodox Jews.· Today, the Aliyah immigration movement continues to embrace Jewish newcomers, help them become a part of communities and help them learn Hebrew.
5. Increased wickedness & loss of love “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.”(Matthew 24:12) Today, more and more people are living primarily for themselves and their own happiness. The idea of denying themselves, taking up their crosses daily and following Jesus (Luke 9:23) is a foreign concept. What TV and movies show as ‘normal’ has affected the values of those who indulge in them. At the same time, couples are divorcing, and children are growing up with deep unmet needs as a result. Many couples are not even marrying but living together in fornication (any form of sex not sanctioned by God). The result has been the blood sacrifice (murder) of hundreds of millions of innocent, helpless children through abortion and the birthing of even more children who lack a healthy home where they can receive love and training from their own father and mother.
6. Return of the Fallen Angels and Hybrid Heroes The Nephilim were on the earth in those days–and also afterward–when the sons of God went to the daughters of men and had children by them. The were the heroes of old, men of renown. Genesis 6:4
The Nephilim are most likely the fallen angels, since Nephilim comes from the Hebrew word naphal, which means ‘to fall’. Some have mated with human women to produce hybrid offspring, and they were giants who had the ability to lead millions of people away from the true God. Heroes of oldcomes from the Hebrew word gibbowr, which means a ‘mighty man’. Before the flood they corrupted the whole earth. After the flood, they were perhaps not as large, but still powerful. The Bible mentions some of their tribal names: the Rephaim, the Emim, the Anakim, the Horim, and Zamsummim. (See Num 13:33; Deuteronomy 3:11, 12:10-12; Joshua 4:15, 13:12, 1 Samuel 17:4-7; 2 Samuel 17:16-22.) Ancient texts and pictures from Egyptian, Greek and other cultures also talk of giants or men who were offspring of supernatural beings. When these hybrid beings died, their spirits probably became demons, or the evil or unclean spirits that inhabit men. These are probably what Jesus and His followers are commanded to cast out or exercise (Mt. 10:1; Mk. 16:17; Lk. 10:17-24). (Note: the Bible is a bit ambiguous on whether the Nephilim were the fallen angels or their hybrid offspring and whether demons are fallen angels or the spirits of their hybrid offspring, but history and modern eyewitness accounts testify to the reality of both, so semantics should not be an excuse for unbelief.)
7. Strong delusion And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie. (2 Th. 2:11 NKJV)
The primary focus of the deception is use of the media by the Prince of the Power of the Air. TV, radio, Internet, cell phones, PDAs, etc. keep people completely preoccupied and oblivious to the fate that awaits unbelievers. The goal is also to prevent people from hearing the Gospel of Jesus, and if they do hear it to forget about it and be entertained constantly. Most people in developed countries are now in a fog due to the impact of these mediums that lull them into a false sense of security and into a false sense of right and wrong. This delusion can be seen in three areas:
Spiritually, the Emerging Church has become so pervasive that most churches in developed countries will tolerate abortion (murder), fornication (premarital sex, adultery, homosexuality) and almost any other violation of God’s law. Just think: how many churches will excommunicate a person for involvement in these sins?
Politically, most people are also unaware that the international banking cartel has taken over all governments and is quietly re-organizing borders and power centers throughout the world. Evidence of this can be seen in the 911 deception. Most Americans and those sympathetic to the US government think that airplanes caused three steel-frame buildings to fall down into their footprints at almost freefall speed, when this has never happened in all of known history. People who study the facts realize it was a very successful psyop, since jet fuel is not hot enough to do the job. It had to be done by controlled demolitions. This was probably part of a plan to cause a second Pearl Harbor and justify the US military getting a foothold in the Middle East and justify the US government in taking away many constitutional rights of the US people. (For more information, seehttp://www.question911.com/, http://911truthseekers.org andhttp://www.brasschecktv.com/.)
8. One world government
“And the fourth kingdom shall be as strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything: and like iron that crushes, that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.” (Daniel 2:40 NKJV)See also Revelation 13 and the following links:
9. One world ruler and an assistant emerge I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon [Satan, or the devil] gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” (Revelation 13:1-4)
It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.(Revelation 13:7,8)
Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thessalonians 2:3,4,9-12)
Most religions expect a savior or a man who will bring world peace, justice and unity. Here are three examples:
Muslims are waiting for the Mahdi or the 12th Imam. Iran’s president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated that his mandate is to pave the way for the coming of this Islamic messiah. A new Islamic film is out about this: The Coming Is Upon Us. An interview with Ken Timmerman about this in April 2011 reveals the current hope.
Buddhists are waiting for the Buddha of compassion, Maitreya, or a world teacher and unifier, the 5th and coming Buddha of the present era.
Hindus are waiting for their completer and savior, Kalki, the name of Vishnu in his tenth and last avatar. According to the Usborne Encyclopedia of World Religions, “The tenth and last avatar has not yet appeared. It is said that at the end of the present age, Vishnu will come to Earth as Kalki, riding a white horse, to destroy the wicked and re-establish order.” Have you seen the cartoon about the last avatar called Avatar: The Last Airbender? In this show, a boy named Aang shows how he is good and “can save the world.” See also, Maitreya Rising
A false prophet emerges to assist the world ruler and savior. “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence, and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword and lived. He was granted power to give breath to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak and cause as many as would not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” (Revelation 13:11-15)
Muslims are waiting for Isa Bin Jesus to appear with the Mahdi, praying behind him …Jews are still waiting for their Messiah, Emmanuel. Christians are waiting for the second coming of Jesus, but most no longer believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible, so many will be deceived.
10. Technology to control the world “He [the second beast] causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666.” (Revelation 13:16-18)
Today, smart cards are popular, but they can be lost or stolen. It is likely that the eventual solution will be an implantable RFID chip or some form of high tech tatoo on the right hand or forehead. Already, 99% of commercial transactions in many countries are done without cash. Most paper money is not even backed by gold or silver anymore, so it’s value is purely psychological. When the current monetary system crashes, technology is available to redefine currency and commerce in a seamless way that people will want as a solution to their need for quick spending.
The choice of whom you fellowship with is an important matter that requires prayer and a sound Biblical basis. It should not be based simply on social or emotional concerns. If your church does not teach the following Bible truths, then it might be becoming part of the apostate church, and you may need to find another group of believers to fellowship with:
All men are sinners and deserving to go to hell to burn forever.
Only repentance and faith in Jesus will save a person from going to hell and provide a way for him or her to enter heaven.
Only the blood Jesus shed on the cross is sufficient to forgive sin and save a person from hell, demons and the sinful nature.
The Bible is infallible and the highest authority on truth and reality.
Jesus’ followers must follow all of Jesus’ commands.
Jesus is coming back bodily to judge the world after a period of great deception and tribulation.
Note on commas in the text of Matthew 24:4,5:
Most modern English Bibles add three commas to Matthew 24:4,5, and this narrows the meaning of Jesus’ warning:And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.”
However, since the original Greek New Testament was probably written without punctuation, the addition of the three commas may be incorrect, because it is actually more common for false teachers to claim to be followers of Christ than to be the Christ themselves. Paul affirmed this in 2 Cor. 11:13-15, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.”
Besides, Jesus warned of false Christs in Mt. 24:23,24. Perhaps most Bible translators could not imagine the extent to which the institutional church would stray from Jesus and sound Biblical truth, so perhaps they inserted three extra commas to make the meaning fit with their view of Christianity. Even if the insertion of the three commas is correct, and Mt. 24:23,24 is just a further elaboration of Mt. 24:4,5, then the narrower warning is still applicable regarding people who are openly claiming to be Christ, such as the following:
A woman in China who claims that she is Christ and has gathered a large following called Eastern Lightning.
Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda, a leader in North and South America, who says he is greater than Jesus of Nazareth; he teaches there is no sin, no devil, and no hell, and he has followers in 20 countries.(2 min. video)
Hello World in Focus International (WIFI)subscribers, family and friends.. As I was studying today I realize that when you are in Love with Jesus beyond a shadow of a doubt, everyday you should become hungry to learn more about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and his precious Holy Word..
Today I will be focusing on wanting more from God instead of man.. Also, I won’t expound on overeating, but have enclosed some interesting scriptures below to ponder over… I’ve often heard people say that it’s a sin to overeat… On that note, I must say that from time to time I find myself overeating the things I love the most… Sweets, Carbohydrates, etc.. Let’s just round it off to all the stuff that taste so good, but is not necessarily good for the human body if you over do it… I believe anything that is done in excess can deem harmful to the body, so let try and do everything in moderation…
When I was younger, I was surrounded by women where I lived in a community in the suburbs of Long Beach, and there was this burning desire that these women and men of God had to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. I did not quite understand just yet why they were so excited about this man called Jesus… I knew him, but I did not know him on a level to recognize that he was my everything… In accepting him into my life at the tender age of 12-years-old, not only accepting him but was certain that God had called and chosen me as one of his great chosen vessels to do the work of the Lord. I had a burning desire to work for the Lord, but the detours of life had a way of taking you on some journey’s that you or God never intended… I’m just thankful that after many of years of seeking I was delayed but not denied…
The scales began to release from my eyes, day-by-day as I learned more about our Lord and Savior… Being young and driven was not easy being who I was and who I was called to be.. I always knew what the voice of the Lord sounded and felt like. Although, being young in the city was hard because not everyone had the same ideals, and on that note I began to see things and hear things in the air that were not like God, but I still had the people to look up to that were walking upright before God… For I understood the scripture in the book of 2 Corinthians 10:3:For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God…. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” Romans 12:2, 9
I’m reminded of the scripture in the book of James 1:27 : ” Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”
Revelation 7:16-17 (NKJV) 16 They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Kirk Franklin – Revolution
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” Revelation 21:4 (ESV)
To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.”
Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer. Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God’s wrath but also for the sake of conscience. …
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”
For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” …
And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
Saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.”
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited tothe wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” …
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. …
For he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.
Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.
And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying to them, “Speak to the people of Israel, saying, These are the living things that you may eat among all the animals that are on the earth. Whatever parts the hoof and is cloven-footed and chews the cud, among the animals, you may eat. Nevertheless, among those that chew the cud or part the hoof, you shall not eat these: The camel, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. And the rock badger, because it chews the cud but does not part the hoof, is unclean to you. …
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.
And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
Through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
With whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.”
The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath.
He also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.
But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you—see that you excel in this act of grace also.
But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. …
When you come together, it is not the Lord’s supper that you eat. For in eating, each one goes ahead with his own meal. One goes hungry, another gets drunk. What! Do you not have houses to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I commend you in this? No, I will not. For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” …
Now concerning the matters about which you wrote: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.” But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Do not deprive one another, except perhaps by agreement for a limited time, that you may devote yourselves to prayer; but then come together again, so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. …
How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.
Even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him, and he sat down and taught them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery, and placing her in the midst they said to him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in the act of adultery. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. So what do you say?” …
On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” …
In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!
And he said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.
And he went throughout all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people.
Then Ephraim shall become like a mighty warrior, and their hearts shall be glad as with wine. Their children shall see it and be glad; their hearts shall rejoice in the Lord.
I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.
Therefore I have poured out my indignation upon them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have returned their way upon their heads, declares the Lord God.”
Therefore thus says the Lord God: I will make a stormy wind break out in my wrath, and there shall be a deluge of rain in my anger, and great hailstones in wrath to make a full end.
Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts concerning the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them with bitter food and give them poisoned water to drink, for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
Why do we sit still? Gather together; let us go into the fortified cities and perish there, for the Lord our God has doomed us to perish and has given us poisoned water to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord.
And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.
On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves and two skins of wine and five sheep already prepared and five seahs of parched grain and a hundred clusters of raisins and two hundred cakes of figs, and laid them on donkeys.
And at mealtime Boaz said to her, “Come here and eat some bread and dip your morsel in the wine.” So she sat beside the reapers, and he passed to her roasted grain. And she ate until she was satisfied, and she had some left over.
For a fire is kindled by my anger, and it burns to the depths of Sheol, devours the earth and its increase, and sets on fire the foundations of the mountains.
You shall eat no leavened bread with it. Seven days you shall eat it with unleavened bread, the bread of affliction—for you came out of the land of Egypt in haste—that all the days of your life you may remember the day when you came out of the land of Egypt.
“You are the sons of the Lord your God. You shall not cut yourselves or make any baldness on your foreheads for the dead. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. “You shall not eat any abomination. These are the animals you may eat: the ox, the sheep, the goat, the deer, the gazelle, the roebuck, the wild goat, the ibex, the antelope, and the mountain sheep. …
“If the man who is unclean does not cleanse himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, since he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. Because the water for impurity has not been thrown on him, he is unclean. And it shall be a statute forever for them. The one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity shall be unclean until evening.
Whoever touches a dead person, the body of anyone who has died, and does not cleanse himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord, and that person shall be cut off from Israel; because the water for impurity was not thrown on him, he shall be unclean. His uncleanness is still on him.
And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place. And they shall be kept for the water for impurity for the congregation of the people of Israel; it is a sin offering.
He shall separate himself from wine and strong drink. He shall drink no vinegar made from wine or strong drink and shall not drink any juice of grapes or eat grapes, fresh or dried.
And the pig, because it parts the hoof and is cloven-footed but does not chew the cud, is unclean to you. You shall not eat any of their flesh, and you shall not touch their carcasses; they are unclean to you.
And the Lord turned the wind into a very strong west wind, which lifted the locusts and drove them into the Red Sea. Not a single locust was left in all the country of Egypt.
Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose. The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” So they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.
In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on that day all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the windows of the heavens were opened. And rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
Of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of birds, and of everything that creeps on the ground, two and two, male and female, went into the ark with Noah, as God had commanded Noah.
Take with you seven pairs of all clean animals, the male and his mate, and a pair of the animals that are not clean, the male and his mate, and seven pairs of the birds of the heavens also, male and female, to keep their offspring alive on the face of all the earth.
Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. …
And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth.
Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—”
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. …
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” …
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” …
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. …
Posted by: Minister Evelyn Diane Thomas – May 16, 2012
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my HOPE comes from him. [Psalm 62:5]
Greetings to everyone, my subscribers, Facebook friends, family and friends alike… Today, I’m focusing on the word “Rest”, being that resting has become a life long struggle for me… As I went to bed early this morning after awakening at midnight, I realized that not many have the ability to stay awake at the darkest hours of the night… I began to pray last night around midnight concerning some things that have been rattling my mind… The more I prayed, the more God began to reveal to me concerning each situation… My final words would be, I’m laying down once more and please allow me to rest in you dear Jesus.
It worked… I stopped and I prayed sincerely from the bottom of my heart, and my prayers were answered, and through it all, I was able to get some needed rest. My body actually slept until 6:30 a.m. pst. which is rather late for me being that I’m up everyday at 3:30 a.m. or before talking to God, and working on the things God has set before me..
I do realize that rest is truly needed to function properly throughout the day. When the body is rested, the mind is able to function at a higher capacity and able to see things more clearly than it would without the proper amount of rest that is prescribed for our daily regimens…. ~ Minister Evelyn Diane~
Sleep: how much do children and teens need?
I did some research and found that the amount of sleep we need each day varies from one individual to another. However, there are some recommended guidelines for specific developmental stages: most adults need 8 hours of sleep; newborns, 16-18 hours; 3 months, 15 hours; 6 to 9 months, 14-15 hours; 1 year, 13-14 hours; 2 to 3 years, 12-13 hours; 3 to 4 years, 11-12 hours; 5 to 9 years, 10-12 hours; 10 to 13 years, 9-10 hours. Sleep-deprived children tend to achieve less in school, be cranky during the day and have more behavior problems.
Adolescents are nocturnal creatures. They have a natural tendency to stay up late — 11:00p.m. or later — and to awaken late in the morning. But there’s one problem with this arrangement: School! Classes usually begin between 7:00 and 8:00am. As a result, only one-fourth of adolescents get the recommended 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep each night. Twenty-six percent get 6.5 hours or less each school night. Lack of sleep often translates into poor school performance, negative moods (anger, sadness, etc.), increased use of stimulants and risk of unintentional injuries and death. One study found that young drivers age 25 or under (peak age was 20) cause more than one-half of fall-asleep car crashes.
The National Sleep Foundation has some practical advice for sleepy teens: 1) Get into bright light as soon as possible in the morning. 2) On weekends and other mornings when you sleep in late, awaken within 2 hours of your regular schedule. 3) Limit stimulating activities during the hour before bedtime. 4) Remember that sleep is food for the brain. Lack of sleep can make you look tired and feel depressed. Sufficient sleep helps you think more clearly, complete complex tasks better and enjoy everyday life more fully.
(RECOMMENDED WEB SITES ARE LISTED BELOW)
Are you and your children getting enough sleep? According to recent statistics, the majority of Americans are not getting the recommended amount of sleep for good health and optimum performance. One group that is especially sleep deprived is parents. A National Sleep Foundation poll showed that “sleep problems are more prevalent in households with children 18 and younger.” Visit these Web sites for more information:
National Sleep Foundation Web site. Information about children and sleep, sleep disorders, tips on better sleep: http://www.sleepfoundation.org
Find rest, O my soul, in God alone; my hope comes from him.
Let all that I am wait quietly before God,
for my hope is in him.
For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him.
My soul, wait in silence for God only,
For my hope is from Him.
My soul, wait thou only upon God;
for my expectation is from him.
My soul looks for God, from whom is my salvation.
Wait calmly for God alone, my soul, because my hope comes from him.
My soul, wait you only upon God;
for my expectation is from him.
My soul, wait you only on God; for my expectation is from him.
My soul, wait thou in silence for God only; For my expectation is from him.
But be thou, O my soul, subject to God: for from him is my patience.
Upon God alone, O my soul, rest peacefully; for my expectation is from him.
My soul, wait thou only upon God;
for my expectation is from him.
My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
My soul, wait in silence for God alone, for my expectation is from him.
Only — for God, be silent, O my soul, For from Him is my hope.
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible: My soul, wait thou only upon God – See the notes at Psalm 62:1. There is, in the word used here, and rendered wait, the same idea of rest or repose which occurs in Psalm 62:1. The meaning is, that he would commit the whole cause to God, and that his soul would thus be calm and without apprehension.
For my expectation is from him – In Psalm 62:1, this is salvation. The idea here is, that all that he expected or hoped for must come from God. He did not rely on his fellow men; he did not rely on himself. God alone could deliver him, and he confidently believed that God would do it. Often are we in such circumstances that we feel that our only “expectation” – our only hope – is in God. All our strength fails; all our resources are exhausted; our fellow-men cannot or will not aid us; our own efforts seem to be vain; our plans are frustrated, and we are shut up to the conclusion that God alone can help us. How often is this felt by a Christian parent in regard to the conversion of his children. All his own efforts seem to be vain; all that he says is powerless; his hopes, long-cherished, are disappointed; his very prayers seem not to be heard; and he is made to feel that his only hope is in God – a sovereign God – and that the whole case must be left in His hands. This state of mind, when it is fully reached, is often all that is needful in order that our desires may be granted. It is desirable that this state of mind should be produced; and when it is produced, the prayer is answered.
Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible: Wait thou only upon God – There is none but him in whom thou canst safely trust; and to get his help, resign thyself into his hands; be subject to him, and be silent before him; thou hast what thou hast deserved. See on Psalm 62:1.
Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible: My soul, wait thou only upon God,…. Be silent and subject to him, acquiesce in his providences, rest in him patiently and quietly, wait for his salvation; See Gill on Psalm 62:1; perhaps some new temptation might arise, and David’s soul began to be uneasy and impatient; for frames are very changeable things; and therefore he encourages it to be still and quiet, and patiently wait on the Lord, and on him only:
for my expectation is from him; or “my hope”, as the Targum; the grace of hope is from the Lord, and the thing hoped for is from him; he is the author and the object of it; and his word of promise encourages to the exercise of it; or “my patience”; as the Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions. The grace of patience is from the Lord; the means of it is his word; and it is exercised, tried, and increased by afflictions sent and sanctified by him; and “expectation” is nothing else than these graces in exercise, a waiting patiently for things hoped for Old Testament saints expected the first coming of Christ; New Testament saints expect his second coming; and all expect good things from him in time and eternity; nor shall their expectation fail and perish; and therefore is a reason why their souls should wait only on the Lord.
The Treasury of David 5 My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved.
7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.
Psalm 62:5
“My soul, wait thou only upon God.” When we have already practised a virtue, it is yet needful that we bind ourselves to a continuance in it. The soul is apt to be dragged away from its anchorage, or is readily tempted to add a second confidence to the one sole and sure ground of reliance; we must, therefore, stir ourselves up to maintain the holy position which we were at first able to assume. Be still silent, O my soul! submit thyself completely, trust immovably, wait patiently. Let none of thy enemies’ imaginings, consultings, flatteries, or maledictions cause thee to break the King’s peace. Be like the sheep before her shearers, and like thy Lord, conquer by the passive resistance of victorious patience: thou canst only achieve this as thou shalt be inwardly persuaded of God’s presence, and as thou waitest solely and alone on him. Unmingled faith is undismayed. Faith with a single eye sees herself secure, but if her eye be darkened by two confidences, she is blind and useless. “For my expectation is from him.” We expect from God because we believe in him. Expectation is the child of prayer and faith, and is owned of the Lord as an acceptable grace. We should desire nothing but what it would be right for God to give, then our expectation would be all from God; and concerning truly good things we should not look to second causes, but to the Lord alone, and so again our expectation would be all from him. The vain expectations of worldly men come not; they promise, but there is no performance; our expectations are on the way, and in due season will arrive to satisfy our hopes. Happy is the man who feels that all he has, all he wants, and all he expects are to be found in his God.
Psalm 62:6
“He only is my rock and my salvation.” Alone, and without other help, God is the foundation and completion of my safety. We cannot too often hear the toll of that great bell only; let it ring the death-knell of all carnal reliances, and lead us to cast ourselves on the bare arm of God. “He is my defence.” Not my defender only, but my actual protection. I am secure, because he is faithful. “I shall not be moved” – not even in the least degree. See how his confidence grows. In the Psalm 62:2 an adverb qualified his quiet; here, however, it is absolute; he altogether defies the rage of his adversaries, he will not stir an inch, nor be made to fear even in the smallest degree. A living faith grows; experience develops the spiritual muscles of the saint, and gives a manly force which our religious childhood has not yet reached.
Psalm 62:7
In God is my salvation and my glory. Wherein should we glory but in him who saves us? Our honour may well be left with him who secures our souls. To find all in God, and to glory that it is so, is one of the sure, marks of an enlightened soul. “The rock of my strength, and my refuge is in God.” He multiplies titles, for he would render much honour to the Lord, whom he had tried, and proved to be a faithful God under so many aspects; Ignorance needs but few words, but when experience brings a wealth of knowledge, we need varied expressions to serve as coffers for our treasure. God who is our rock when we flee for shelter, is also our strong rock when we stand firm and defy the foe; he is to be praised under both characters. Observe how the Psalmist brands his own initials upon every name which he rejoicingly gives to his God – my expectation, my rock, my salvation, my glory, my strength, my refuge; he is not content to know that the Lord is all these things; he acts faith towards him, and lays claim to him under every character. What are the mines of Peru or Golconda to me if I have no inheritance in them? It is the word my which puts the honey into the comb. If our experience has not yet enabled us to realise the Lord under any of these consoling titles, we must seek grace that we may yet be partakers of their sweetness. The bees in some way or other penetrate the flowers and collect their juices; it must be hard for them to enter the closed cups and mouthless bags of some of the favourites of the garden, yet the honey-gatherers find or make a passage; and in this they are our instructors, for into each delightful name, character, and office of our covenant God our persevering faith must find an entrance, and from each it must draw delight.
“Trust in him at all times.” Faith is an abiding duty, a perpetual privilege. We should trust when we can see, as well as when we are utterly in the dark. Adversity is a fit season for faith; but prosperity is not less so. God at all times deserves our confidence. We at all times need to place our confidence in him. A day without trust in God is a day of wrath, even if it be a day of mirth. Lean ever, ye saints, on him, on whom the world leans. “Ye people, pour out flour heart before him.” Ye to whom his love is revealed, reveal yourselves to him. His heart is set on you, lay bare your hearts to him. Turn the vessel of your soul upside down in his secret presence, and let your inmost thoughts, desires, sorrows, and sins be poured out like water. Hide nothing from him, for you can hide nothing. To the Lord unburden your soul – let him be your only father-confessor, for he only can absolve you when he has heard your confession. To keep our griefs to ourselves is to hoard up wretchedness. The stream will swell and rage if you dam it up: give it a clear course, and it leaps along and creates no alarm. Sympathy we need, and if we unload our hearts at Jesus’ feet, we shall obtain a sympathy as practical as it is sincere, as consolatory as it is ennobling. The writer in the Westminster Assembly’s Annotations well observes that it is the tendency of our wicked nature to bite on the bridle, and hide our grief in sullenness; but the gracious soul will overcome this propensity, and utter its sorrow before the Lord. “God is a refuge for us.” Whatever he may be to others, his own people have a peculiar heritage in him; “for us” he is undoubtedly a refuge; here then is the best of reasons for resorting to him whenever sorrows weigh upon our bosoms. Prayer is peculiarly the duty of those to whom the Lord has specially revealed himself as their defence.
“Selah.” Precious pause! Timely silence! Sheep may well lie down when such pasture is before them.
Psalm 9:18 But the needy will not always be forgotten, nor the hope of the afflicted ever perish.
Psalm 27:14 Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.
Psalm 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Psalm 37:7 Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes.
Psalm 62:1 For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David. My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him.
Psalm 130:5 I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Psalm 34:17 – The righteous cry, and the LORD heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.
Hello to all of my WIFI subscribers, family and friends… I pray that all the mother’s had wonderful mother’s day…. I just wanted to take the time to stop and meditate on how good God is… On today I’m just thankful for everything that has and will take place in my life… I do feel that I’m headed in the right direction, and no turning back now… It may seem that we go through different trials and tribulations in our lives, nevertheless God is always there… Just began to call on his name “JESUS” there is no way you can wrong… God will never steer you in the wrong direction… Just whatever you do, hold on to God’s unchanging hand.. Please know that God will never be like man… He will never leave you or forsake you, no matter what…
I’m willing to pay the price, no matter what other’s do…
I’m Going Through – Bishop G. E. Patterson, “Singing The Old Time Way
Vol 2”, released Mar 28, 2006
Pray for me while times are going well with you… That the Lord will carry me through.. That the will of the Lord be done….
Pray For Me – Bishop G. E. Patterson, “Singing The Old Time Way Vol 2”, released Mar 28, 2006
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Posted by: Minister Evelyn Diane Thomas – May 14, 2012
**Worship and Sermon notes taken by: Minister Evelyn Diane Thomas /
Notes are verbatim, unedited and uncut… 9:30 a.m. Worship notes…
Song Selections: “Trouble don’t last always” ‘He’s worthy, come on let’s praise the Lord!” “How great is though God” – “Your everything to me!”
Give God Praise if you know God is worthy… Clap your hands all ye people… Serve the Lord with gladness…. Celebrate all the wonderful mother’s that are in the room…
Give a shout out the 2012 Graduating Class.
Opening prayer: Dr. Jamal Bryant –
All the Great Grandmother’s make your way to the alter…. – Bless the Lord.. I ask that all the grandmother’s will come… Give God glory for all the grandmother’s….
Any expectant mother’s, I want all the expectant mother to come to the alter….. Push your way in…. Thank you so much… Don’t they look beautiful…
Before I pray over the mother’s, I want all of the mother’s and grandmother’s to stretch your hands towards the expectant mother’s… Pray that God gives them strength… I want you to pray that they don’t make the mistakes you made or your children made.. Pray that the Lord give them an easy delivery… Pray that their body remains strong and they will live a long life.. That God will give them the desires of their heart… The fetus will be strong…
Pray that the Lord give them an easy delivery… Pray that their body remains strong and they will live a long life.. That God will give them the desires of their heart… The fetus will be strong…
I pray that God will give the Mother’s permissions to rest and be at ease,… Give them uninterrupted sleep… I pray you give them their own ideal… While their hands are lifted they are taking their own matters out of their hands and they are putting their children’s matters in God’s hands… I pray that not one mother around this alter die with a broken heart… Say the Joy of the Lord is your strength… .Tell a mother ‘You did an incredible job!”
Praying for those who’s mother is no longer alive… but on this mother’s day you found the strength to come to church… Meet me on this alter right now… ‘How Great is our God!” – Take your neighbor.. I speak over your spirit that today is not a day of depression, sorrow or sadness… Your mother did a good job raising you… She raised you to go to church.. Your life is your mother’s legacy…. Her life will not fade… Speak your mother’s name out loud ______________________. Lord I thank you for____________ .. Insert your mother’s name… I pray the lord flood you with fresh memories where you remember significant times and vibrancy with life.. Knowing that God hand selected your mother to be your mother.. .I did not even bring them to the alter for them… I brought them to the alter for those who’s mother is still living… Those people who have to reconciled… Do you guys know how much these people at these alter would love to be with their mother… Stop tripping, and go find your mother whenever she is… I pray against depression… I pray the be in perfect peace.. I pray that they be at lease 50% of what their mother was… They are Livingston testimonies… Even after the funeral their hearts still have not been fully mended…. Embrace the person next to you and tell them” “Your mother would be so proud of you!”
Pastor Bryant thanked the Lord for his Grandmother: “Pauline Lucas Williams” and His mother: Cecelia Williams Bryant
Dr. Bryant honored and saluted a mother of his congregation that has been free from drugs for the past 12 years.. Her son just graduated from college last week… We thank God for her…
Announcements: There are 735,000 blacks incarcerated… There are a large number of mother’s behind bars… If you have a relative in jail that is a mother…. This represent the forgotten segment of our community… Stretch your hand toward the people who are standing.. I pray that God do something for the life of their children… The enemy meant it for evil but God meant it for good… It’s going to work out…. Give praise for our cyber saints on the internet…
Next Sunday wear pastel colors…. God always sends a rainbow to let you know that the storm is over!!! Stand with the superman women of Empowerment Temple… Trayvon Martin’s mother will be at Empowerment Temple on next week…
Dr. Jamal even saluted the Father’s that have custody of their children… Only at Empowerment Temple…
The Silver Trumpets – 10 The Lord said to Moses: 2 “Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. 3 When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 4 If only one is sounded, the leaders—the heads of the clans of Israel—are to assemble before you. 5 When a trumpet blast is sounded, the tribes camping on the east are to set out.6 At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set out. The blast will be the signal for setting out. 7 To gather the assembly, blow the trumpets,but not with the signal for setting out.
Tribute from Dr. Jamal to his mom: “I would like express my gratitude for my mother: ” Dr. Cecelia Williams-Bryant” that is watching with us today by way of streaming faith internet.”
Sermon notes:
After today, things will never be the same.. Early childhood development administers an elementary exercise test to see if they can identify different objects… To gauge their maturity, is to see if they can identify the difference.. Many of us have not grown to realize what is different… At this juncture of spiritual growth, you she be able to notice and recognize what is not biblical and what is out of order… You cognition is off… You should be able to exact what is different..
Whenever God is about to do something significant or remarkable he always use something different.. .He only uses polar —- to distinguish the difference… If everyone is the same, that is not a healthy church… There should be something in the sanctuary you cannot identify with… God always does the incredible and does not do the things that are the same…
God always does stuff incredible… God restored a man sight by using spit and mud to restore the mans eyes.. Why did God use mud and dirt that has nothing in common… He uses to polar opposites to restore sight.. .He used the dust of the ground because we were made from the dust of the ground… So he goes back and scoop up dust so the man can see so he could go back to his original intent…
God is getting ready to see you operate and function in the optimum position God has you in … Marvin Sapp sang a song “He saw the best in me”
Spit had dismal —-…. God used his own resource….. Can I tell you that you are not going to be healed from outside sources.. You are gong to be healed from the resources of God… Whatever comes out of my mouth will come from him… Those that are believing God by faith…. I believe that everything God has spoken about me is going to come to pass….
Whenever God does something significant he does not use two of the same substances… The God that we tell Gideon… We tell them to give them a torch and a trumpet… In order to have victory over the enemy, you need sound and light…
The truth is light…. The church is in a place where we have a lot of sound, but not a lot of revelation… Woe unto the church that has a lot of sound but it’s not producing any evidence of your light… When we come into a place of light.. Whenever I make a sound of light God gives me a further dream and vision…. The reason I’m crying out is because I need light to happen…
He uses a torch for light and a trumpet for sound…
Jesus was crucified int he middle… On the left side he has thief and on the right he has a robber… A thief comes in and steal when you are not looking… A robber will rob you right in your place… A thief will wait until you are not home… The enemy comes to steal, kill and destroy…. Sometimes the enemy take stuff when you are not looking and other steal right in your face…
In spite of what was taken from me, I still have my joy…. I’m still standing… He won’t be able to take my peace, or my joy because God has put an hedge of protection around me..
He sent the disciples ahead, and he said when you come to that place, you will find a goat and an ass…. God was testing them to see if they would leave the ass alone… God wanted to see if the would bring them the colt… Some of you guys need to leave some stuff alone…
Make sure you choose somebody that is built for you and can handle your ways…. Whenever I am getting ready to do something different…. I bring two different things..
The greatest accomplishment is bringing a child into the world… It’s not what you drive…. Your greatest legacy will be what did you do with your children? Whenever God is getting ready to do something significant…. When he brings birthing… He does not bring a male and male together…. He does not bring a female and female together…
I don’t care if the President the Mayor is endorsing… I serve God and I don’t’ care… .We are not to be intimidated by sale out pastors, bloggers…. We are not of the world….. You want to know why they are jealous? God selected you to be different… I’m different from the people in my family… I’m different than who I use to be… I’m different and the devil don’t like it!!!!
many times the churches are guilty of not practicing what we preach… We have blood on are hands…. We have gay people in the choir on the dance ministry…… That does not mean we are to support them.. .We don’t have a support group for fornicators…. We are suppose to make sinners feel uncomfortable in their sins..
Homosexuality is a sin… I wish there was a church not filled with cowards… I don’t care if it’s Michael Dyson… If God be for me, who can be against me… A coward is someone who don’t speak what they believe…
When you have courage, you may loose some friends… If I perish, let me perish… I’m going to see the King… Things will never be the same since our President did what he did… It’s not always ethically correct… . When Nathan confronted the King, they did not want to kick it with him… The president is black and out of order!!!
Where is the prophetic voice that speaks truth to power… Woe unto us… We live in a time where black preachers are so impressed to being seeing… Prophets will change the city.. You have to be ready to change the environment you are in….
Less I go out on a political tangent… Let me tell the one’s that have ears to hear: Things will never be the same… Those of you that have been in rut and stuck… Those that have been faithful over a few things, he is getting ready to make you ruler of many… Things are about to change.. Hallelujabh…. Be seated please!!!
If God be God… if things are going to be change, he cannot connect you to things that are like you… He have to connect you to somethihng oppostit… Let the wheat seperates…. If you are poor, God is going to make you rich….. God is going to give you the impossible..
In Numbers Chapter 10 – He tell Moses to make two trumpets and make them out of the same material… It is a substance that will not be effected by the weather.. It will be able to hold up in inclement conditions… I need you to blow the trumpet twice… When you blow the trumpet once… You are blowing it to call the people back to order… The 2nd time you blow it to send the people back to Holiness… .Blow the trumpet until America get back on its knees Blow the trumpet until the White House is back in order…. When you hear my shout this time, you will understand that the people who are called by my name would humble themselves…
Lift up your voice…. Lift up your voice for our children to stop dyeing from HIV and aids… Shout for our President to come back to God….. I need you to lift up your voice… God is getting ready to save this nation… I need you to lift up your voice like God is getting ready to change nations… Lift up your voice, lift up your hands and cry out for this nation…
I need you to lift up your hands right where you are…. I understand that some of you may be upset, aggravated and unnerved… My job as a Prophet is not to be your friend… It’s to be a friend of God… You have been called to be different.. You are not to fit in… You being a outcast is a call to your confirmation… You are different… You have a lot of people in your space that are associates, but you cannot call them friends…
How you got to God in the first place… God called you to be different… This sermon is different, but you have come to a different kind of church… I wish I could have given you the Ruth and Naomi sermon on today…. There ought to be a different signal that comes from you … Different than anybody else… I pray God gives you a new job…. It’s time for you to do something different… I pray that God gives a new level of creativity…. When it comes to pass, you will say that this is absolutely nothing but God….
I want you to stand to your feet…. God brought you to a different kind of church.. He knew you would need a different kind of message… You know God has pulled you from a different kind of circle and circumstance… God brought you to a place that you can see you own uniqueness…. Every-time they put you in the box, you break out of the box and come out as a new creature…
There is something different about you…. You are a self starter… You can break out on your own…. Give God some Praise!!! On this mother’s day… Give God some praise for this young man…
Some people are not prepared for something different….. Give them something different just one time…. Some of us have not been to church in years, but you know that God has something different on my life… Turn to you neighbor right where you are that look a little different, or unknown to you…. Ask them: “Are they saved?”‘ No better time than now..
You are in the right place at the right time, serving the right God… I know that’s right…
Empowerment Temple give God some Glory…..
Celebrate our God… How many of us believe that things will never be the same…
What I want you to do different on today… I want you to tithe…. Get your seed in your hand!!
Those on line, I know you have saved Gas money… Give your seed on line…. Give an odd offering.. God is going to do something odd in this season… Give a child next to you an odd off erring… $3.00 – God is getting ready to take a special needs child and do something extraordinary with them.. He is going to take the spirit of rebellion off of them…
I pray that you plant a seed into this house…
“Lord thank you for what you did yesterday, what you did last month, what you did last year… The seed that is in my hand is a gift of my mother that birthed me….” Dr. Jamal Bryant…
