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In this world we have two kinds of people, those who expect others to make them happy and those who believe they are responsible to make others happy. If you think you must make people happy, then you are a target for control and manipulation. It all begins in our childhood, children demand their parents keep them happy or they will pitch a fit and become masters of manipulation. Wise parents will address this behavior before it gets out of hand. As a child I could pout and cry until my mother did what I wanted her to do. My dad was the opposite, he didn't care if you were happy or not, so I could never manipulate him.
Romans 13:8 Be under obligation to no one - the only obligation you have is to love one another. We have no obligation to anyone to be responsible for their happiness. What God wants us to do is treat them like we would treat ourselves. Love does not cater to a controlling, manipulative spirit. If someone makes you happy, then enjoy the moment. If you like it when people make you happy, then go out and make other people happy. But if you sow happiness, that does not obligate anyone to do the same for you. It is more blessed (happier) to give than to receive (take). Jesus said, you will be more happy giving than receiving. You will never understand what Jesus said until you do it! John 8:40 Now seek to kill Me, a man that has told you the truth. The Jews were angry with Jesus because He wouldn't agree with what they believed. They thought Jesus should accept them, which would have made them happy because they claimed Abraham was their father. Jesus would not conform to their faith in the law, He was obligated to love them but not make them happy. The truth has no regard for our feelings. Religion is just like the world, it depends on others in the world to make them happy. Jesus' own disciples lost faith in Him. None of the twelve believed he rose from the dead, only the women believed because He appeared to them. Jesus never counted on men to make Him happy even though some did on occasion. How did Jesus maintain His joy (happiness)? Psalm 16:11 ... in your presence is fullness of joy. Jesus relied on His heavenly Father for His happiness, the Father spoke the truth and Jesus accepted it. Jesus perfectly pleased His Father. Jesus knew that when He went to the cross He would be made sin and His Father would forsake Him. He counted it a joy to obey the Father, He knew He would be made a curse and spend three days and nights in hell. He remembered what the Father spoke to David, weeping may endure for a season, but joy comes in the morning, Easter was coming. True happiness comes from the presence of the Lord and no man or devil can rob you of it. I have always felt that if I was locked away in solitary confinement I would enjoy the uninterrupted presence of the Lord. Jeremiah 17:5 Thus saith the Lord; cursed be the man that trusts in man and makes flesh his arm. We cannot depend on one another, no man is capable of meeting all our needs. We expect men to give us what we need and they do not have that ability, so we become angry with them. Furthermore, we get agitated with people who put a demand on our time. So, what do we do? We should do our best to make people happy but not letting them come to depend on us. We should not make anyone responsible for our happiness. Draw near to your Savior and allow Him to be your source of happiness and then share what He gives you.
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From the day I was saved and filled with the Spirit, I believed the Bible. Most of what I believed I did not understand and I never thought I ever would. But my mentors who taught me the Word appeared to be very confident in knowing God's Word. I grew up in a "religious church" that never used the Bible, they had their own book that was their interpretation of the Bible. l really enjoyed being taught the uncompromised Word of God and things within me began to change.
Jump ahead thirty-nine years and now I have become fully persuaded of what God is speaking to us. I know that faith comes from hearing and hearing. Furthermore, there are levels of faith. Some have little faith, some just have faith, but some have great faith. I know people who can quote the Scriptures perfectly but they have no faith. They talk a good game but they can't play well. I know other folks who can't quote the Scriptures very well, but they have great faith. How do we get to the place where knowledge of the Word produces spiritual results? Hebrews 11:6 Without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that comes to God must believe that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. The first time I read this Scripture, it sounded like the reason we seek after God is to collect the rewards. This did not sound very spiritual to me, it sounded like God was enticing us to follow Him by giving us treats like you would a dog. I had the wrong mind set concerning the Word of God and I didn't know a better way to believe. I have since learned that you must renew your mind in order to use any faith you may have. Philippians 3:10 I gave up all my worldly achievements so I could know (perceive, feel) Christ personally, experience His power and share in His suffering, and even die so I could experience the resurrection from the dead. If we want to have "great" faith we must get to know Jesus on a very personal level. It's one thing to know what someone says but it's quite another to know the one who said it. People who know the Word and are sold to it know the one who spoke it. If you study the Word you are doing something good, but if you get to know the one who said them you will be doing something better. I diligently seek God because He loved me when I was a rank sinner and if He wants to reward me that's His business. God loves me and I love Him, He will bless me with things that will cause me to praise and worship Him all the more. Romans 12:2 Don't fit into the mold of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, then you will know every level of God's will. Renewing our mind means we stop thinking like the people in the world and begin to think like Jesus would think. If we think like He thinks, it's because we have the mind of Christ. In every situation of our life we will know what Jesus would do because we have gotten to know Him. The better you know Him, the better your faith will work. Knowing the Word is good, but we must know the author. When you know Jesus, you then will know why He said what He said. He is not a man that He should lie, it's all good. eems like everyone , the sinner and the saint, associate God with love. The saint has a Scriptural view of God's love, the sinner has their own interpretation of God's love. The saint knows the love of God and they are the recipient of the power connected to His love. The sinner thinks that God's love will protect them from their rebellious nature.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. God loves all men but if any man does not believe in Him, His love will be of no effect. We need to understand the love of God. Love is a commitment to do something for someone that they could not do for themselves. Love is an offer with no conditions, it can be received or refused. If God's love is received it will change the very nature of a man and reserve a place in Heaven for that person. If His love is ignored, that person will not change into the image God's grace is prepared to supernaturally alter them into. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 The devil will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to hell, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. The devil does not want anyone to understand and receive the love of God, he uses deception to keep them apart from God. All this time God's love is one decision away and available to whosoever wants it. We know God wants to spend His love on every man, woman and child but most folks do not know how to receive from Him. Love wants to save people from hell but most people have not considered their final destination. I have heard some people say this, "If God wants me in Heaven, He will put me there". Most folks are ignorant of the fact that when Jesus died and rose again, that men could choose their own destiny. Most people get their knowledge of God from people whom they know nothing about. God made a book of truth for all men to know Him. He sent the Teacher, that is the Holy Ghost to explain all truths. Romans 5:6 When we had no power over sin, in due time Christ died for all sinners. Anyone who reads this account of Jesus laying down His life must conclude that Jesus died for all men on account of the love of the Father. God didn't just say He loved all men, but He proved it at Calvary. In like manner, we cannot just tell God we love Him, we must prove our love for Him just like He proved His love for us. How? John 14:15 If you love Me, keep my commandments. When we obey the Father, we are demonstrating our love for Him and this obedience is a lifestyle. There is a spiritual law recorded in the book of Romans: whosoever you obey, God or the devil, you become his servant. Obeying the devil is easy, just do whatever feels good, whatever you lust to do. If we choose to obey (love) God, we must crucify our flesh along with all it's lusts. Love always requires sacrifice and love is always accompanied with peace. This may sound strange, but we must give God permission to love us, He needs our cooperation. It's sad but true, but most people live and die and never know the love of God. Brethren, let God love you. Many times in my Christian life I have heard believers, mostly prophets, decree a thing. It sounds very spiritual but I didn't understand what a decree was. So I embarked on an in depth study of the word so I could understand what these men and women of God were talking about.
Hebrews 1:5 ..which of the angels said the Father at any time, You art My Son, this day have I begotten You? Again I will be Your Father and You will be My Son? When Jesus hung on that old rugged cross, He became sin. He became the curse of the law. He became sin, so He was no longer the Son of God. But when the Holy Spirit raised Him from the dead and from hell, He once again became the Son of God. God never said this to any of the angels that served Him. What God did in reinstating Jesus to His Sonship was decreed by David in the book of Psalms. I don't think David knew what he was saying but the Father told him to decree it and he obeyed. When David spoke this, the Son was in Heaven and He was called the "Word". When the Word became flesh, He would find Himself in the book of Psalms and other books where the prophets were told to decree a thing. Job 22:28 You shall also decide and decree a thing and it will be established for you, and the light of God's favor will shine upon your ways. A decree is a statement of faith based on the Word of God and it activates the power of God. Jesus' entire ministry was based on what the Old testament prophets decreed. He referred back to the prophets all the time, He would begin with "it is written". I believe David made many decrees, he spent a lot of time in his Lord's presence. Even the disciples quoted David and some of the other prophets that made decrees. A decree cannot be made on a whim, no one should suddenly choose to make a decree. Goliath made such a decree, he boasted that he would kill David and feed his body to the birds. His decree came from the success of other battles and his ego, neither him nor his gods would help him. David also made a decree, I come against you in the Name of the Lord of hosts and I will take your head from you. Now we have two warriors making decrees but the one who spoke as a representative of Heaven won the battle. Luke 4:3 And the devil said unto Jesus, if you be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread. Yes, Jesus was the Son of God but He stripped Himself of all the attributes that made Him God and He became a human being. The devil was trying to get Him to make a decree and take His deity back and Jesus wouldn't fall for the temptation. What did Jesus do? He quoted Moses who decreed that man does not live by bread alone. We must carefully weigh out our desire to make a decree. Is it based on the Word of God and is it God's will at the time. Just like Jesus, we are living on the decrees the prophet's made, we must do it right to be effective. A decree is a spiritual declaration used by God's covenant people that will decide the outcome of a certain event. Acts 16:4 Paul and Barnabas delivered the decrees that were ordained of the apostles and elders. These decrees were explanations of what God spoke to the prophets, we call them Epistles. God spoke His will through the prophets and the apostles of the church wrote the details of God's will in decrees or Epistles. Some people have a heart that is so hard not even God can penetrate it! His own people, the Jews, would not accept the truth He offered them exclusively. God never gives up because He knows ignorant people are the product of the devil. Nevertheless, all men are ultimately responsible for their choices. They can't blame the devil forever. Ignorance is a choice, no one is forced to be ignorant. Many choose to accept the status quo. Some folks believe that they are safe if they align themselves with the majority, no matter what they believe.
Ephesians 4:18 Having their understanding darkened (obscured), being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness (hardness) of their heart. I am ignorant when it comes to computers. If understanding computers would make me closer to God I would learn them. Thank God for the six year-olds who can gather information from the computer for me. Concerning the knowledge of God, why do some folks choose to be ignorant? Because they do not want the responsibility of having to face the truth. Some are so brain washed they are convinced that they are too far gone to be helped by the truth. The truth can convince them that they need the truth! Paul of Tarsus was committed to killing Christians and defaming Christ. He called himself the chief sinner, but God saved him and ordained him to be an apostle of truth. Hebrews 3:7-8 Today if you will hear the voice of the Holy Ghost, harden not your heart. The Holy Spirit can speak to every man just one thing, the truth. Therefore, the Holy Ghost is a manifestation of God's love. He is sent to woo all men into eternal life. Despite God's truth and His love, some men will find something to criticize Him over because they know better than God! Psalm 31:19-20 Oh Lord, how wonderful are all your blessings you lay up for those who honor you. You hide them from those who are full of pride. God loves to bless all those who believe Him and honor Him with their faith. But those who know better, those who are full of their father's pride, never know the love of God. The devil was so full of pride he thought he was equal to God, he thought he could take God's place on God's throne. And now the devil has spawned a large number of ignorant followers who shun God, His blessings, and His love. Ignorant people have no idea of the hell they have invited into their lives, and they spurn the only one who loves them enough to help them. I was the chief sinner in my area, I was totally ignorant of God and truth. Unbeknownst to me, people were praying for me and the Holy Spirit put a desire for truth in my heart, so I began to search for truth. John 8:32 And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. People who are in bondage to the devil don't know they are his subjects and under his tutelage. I did not know I needed to be free until I was made free by the blood of my Lord. I was so mad at myself for letting the devil run my life and he led me to believe I was in charge. When the devil lost his grip on me I was no longer susceptible to the lusts of my flesh. Sin lost its hold on my life. For the first time I became tender hearted, God could speak to me like I was one of His kids. I am a servant of the most high God but I made that choice. The devil never gave me a choice, he just took over. God has set me free and I can follow whosoever I choose. I choose the one who made me free. He did something for me I could never do for myself. |
TEXT FOJCHURCH
TO 84576 OFFERING DECLARATION
God knows I am serious, I bring Him His tithe. I am motivated by love because He first loved me. His presence is my priority. His rewards will find me and when they do, I will give Him all the glory. PRAYER FOCUS “Declarations Continued”
JOB 22:28 You will declare a thing, and it will be established for you Declarations over our children: I declare my child(ren) shall be taught of the Lord I declare great is the peace of my child(ren) I declare my child(ren) hear God’s voice and walk in truth I declare my child(ren) serve God all the days of their lives. Declarations over America: We declare that the power of Christ’s redemption is greater than the power of sin and death in America We declare that America will be saved We declare that truth will win in America. Lord send revival We declare that life and decency will prevail in the United States We declare that the Supreme Court will honor truth and justice, not their own ideals and desires Declarations over our church: We declare that FOJ will have a platform for the Holy Spirit to work from We declare we are making room for the gifts of the Spirit to flow We declare the spirit of boldness is replacing the spirit of fear We declare we are putting every distraction, anything that would entangle us and we run with endurance in our vision. We declare and believe revival is coming |
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