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Most religious institutions have pet beliefs that a lot of the parishioners don't even understand. As a Catholic boy I was told that if I ate meat on Fridays it was a mortal sin and I could go to hell! Nobody dared to question the priest concerning this tradition for fear of being anti-Catholic. Years later after converting to Christianity, I found out the reason for this religious law. In the seventeenth century a pope had a brother-in-law that was a fisherman and business wasn't too good. To this day some restaurants still serve a fish meal on Fridays.
Colossians 2:16 Don't let anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new moon ceremonies or sabbaths. We have two standards we can choose to obey, God's laws or man's doctrine. Choose God's, it's a much easier life. Every believer has the right and obligation to ask "why" does my church believe this? I see people around town that belong to some sect and they all wear the same costume with an old fashioned bonnet. Some day I will ask them why they dress the way they do. Does God require it? Does it get them closer to God? A lot of people are in bondage to some man's ideal because they didn't ask "why". Kathy Duplantis was asked to read a Scripture at the Catholic funeral of her friend. She chose a Scripture from the book of Mathew, but they wouldn't let her read it because only a priest can read from the Gospels. Mathew 24:4 And Jesus answered, take heed that no man deceive you. Deception is not a sure thing, it is not an absolute, it is a choice. Jesus said take heed, that means to pay attention, beware of what someone is trying to feed you. Just because someone is educated and experienced, it does not mean they are right. Most deceivers don't like being questioned because they cannot defend their rhetoric. One day a perspective believer came to our church and he watched people praising God with their arms in the air. After the service he came to me and asked me why the people did this, he had never seen it before. I opened my Bible to the first book of Timothy and read the verse where Paul said "when you pray lift up holy hands". Acts 17:11 These men were more noble (open minded) they received the Word and searched the Scriptures to see if these things be so. Whenever you are trying to persuade someone of a truth, show them in the Bible. No one can successfully argue against the Word but if you tell them what you think, they will argue all day long. A lot of people are convinced that man is responsible for global warming and they say it will wipe out most people. But God said in the book of Genesis that as long as the earth remains there will be hot and cold. These cultists will not accept God's Word, they make God out to be a liar. If I have to choose between science and God, I pick God, He cannot possibly lie. A lot of people claim to know better than God and people believe them because they don't ask "why". Going to the Lord and asking Him "why" is not a failure of faith, it comes from a person who does not wish to be deceived. A lot of church people have a myriad of traditions that mean nothing to God, but they will fight you if you question them. Every Bible believing Christian should be able to use their Bible to answer any question of a potential believer. Have the courage to question what you believe and prove all things.
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As we draw closer to the appearing of our Lord and Savior, the signs of this time are becoming more pronounced. The signs fit every generation but they are better understood as we approach that day.
Mathew 24:12 Because sin shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. Jesus said there would be so much sin, men would forsake any resemblance of love in order to saturate their flesh with the pleasure of sin. One day I asked the Lord about this love, was it for the love of God or for the love of man? His reply was "son you cannot love God and hate man nor can you love man and hate God!" The Bible kind of love must be for God and man, we cannot differentiate between the two. James 3:9 With the same tongue we bless God, even the Father; and with the same tongue we curse men, which are made after the similitude of God. These things ought not so to be. From the very beginning the love of man has been suspect, but in the last days that we are in it is at an epidemic level. The devil has used every invention of man to snare him into habitual sin. The devil has been able to draw more people into sin by using the invention of electronic devices. God gave man the invention of electronics to spread the Gospel throughout the whole world. But the devil has stepped in to use it to spread sin and evil throughout the whole world. When I was a young boy we got our very first television, it had a black and white picture, a bunch of tubes and an antenna up on our roof. We got three channels and I remember watching three shows; Disneyland, Rawhide and the local news. There was not enough trash on the tube to entice anyone into very much sin. Now we have our hundred color channels and most of it is the devil's classroom. 1 John 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. This commandment have we from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also. The Bible kind of love is not a "feeling", it is an action that comes from our righteousness. Love is a desire to treat people the way God would treat them, it comes from the heart. People today that love other people are weirdos and wimps, it is said of them that they use religion as a crutch. The truth of the matter is this: they love one another because they first love God. The depth of Christianity is measured by the love of the parishioners. John 13:34 By this shall all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love one to another. Sometimes it is easier to love a sinner than a brother because the sinner doesn't know any better but a brother does. Often times we must be willing to overlook a lot of things in order to love someone. If we are willing to over look a brother's faults, perhaps the brother would be willing to overlook our faults! Love is a virtue that when it is sown it will in turn reap love. Just like love, if you sow hate you will reap hate. It would appear that there are two groups of people partaking of the end times. One group is creating perilous times by their selfish actions and the other group are believers who are looking for the return of Christ and they inspire hope. I don't know when Jesus will come for us, I stay ready every hour of every day. If I don't meet Him in the air I will meet Him in Heaven when I leave my body. When a saint remains alert and looks for the coming of Jesus, he is in a win win situation. I don't know when Jesus will return, I just know He is coming and no Christian should be caught unawares. The signs of the times are clearer than ever, stay alert and watch the eastern sky. When I was growing up my friends were known for their athletic prowess, I was known for my fits of panic. One day I was hunting with my dad just above the family ranch in the Elk Horns. Dad told me to walk down this well used trail and I would come to the truck. As I walked along I was convinced I would get lost and die alone in the mountains, well it was time to panic. I got myself lost and began to cry and run up and down until I finally saw the truck. Dad asked me why I was crying. I told him I twisted my ankle and even came up with a limp. When a person panics, they stop thinking and the devil can easily step in and take control. I came to the conclusion that panic was natural and I would have it all my life.
Several years later I was in the Navy and they sent me to a fire fighting school in Hawaii. They trained us how to deal with onboard fire in the engine room. They had a mock up of a ship and the bilges full of oil. My job was to lead a crew of four other men into that fire and use high pressure water to extinguish the blaze as we crossed the width of the mock ship. If I panicked and didn't do what I was trained to do, my crew and I would have to retreat out of the mock up with burns and smoke inhalation. I was on the crew of a sailor who panicked and we had to retreat out of the mock up. If we were in the middle of the ocean and the ship caught fire, we would have to extinguish the blaze or go down with the ship. The Navy taught me not to panic, but to think. Hebrews 13:5 The Lord said, I will never leave you, nor forsake you. If a believer believes what God said, then they should never have a good reason to panic. If God is with us always then why not put our trust in Him like we did with our salvation. We don't always need to readily know God's plan, we just need to know He is with us. Everything we fear God has overcome and God is with us, so why should we fear things that our Lord has overcome. The time to deal with panic is before it tries to come on us. When panic comes, it will not catch me off-guard because I already know what I will do. The purpose of panic is to stop you from thinking or trusting in your Lord. But if your mind is settled, panic can't affect you. Job 3:25 For the things which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. If Job knew it was coming, then he should have prepared for it. Now he had to figure out what the problem was and how to deal with it. Some things are out of our control but if we panic we make the situation worse. When large groups of people panic all together some people are going to get hurt and some may die. How many times have we seen large sporting events or concerts where something happens and all the people stampede for the exit? How many times have you heard the phrase, don't panic? Why do they say that to you? Because to panic or not to panic is our choice. We can remain calm or we can put our head into a potential noose. Panic is a path to the devil, he is counting on men to panic and make the wrong move. In the military panic can cost you and your team your life. In some cases, if you panic and run from the battle you can be legally shot by your own men. Make a life long decision that you will never panic again. Some Scriptures in the King James version of the Bible can be very hard to understand. There are two reasons for this. The Bible wasn't written to Americans and the Elizabethan language uses words that we don't understand. For example, the word meat means able and the word conversation means lifestyle. This does not excuse us from understanding what God is saying, we have the material to study out the words and find the truth.
Mathew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the Kingdom of Heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. Now if you take the Strong's Concordance and look up all of these words you can write a paraphrase and come to understand what Jesus is saying. Paraphrase: From the days of all the prophets until the coming of John. The place where God makes His abode has seen men trying to crowd and press their way in. And the energetic will seize, pull, and catch up to it. The Old Testament prophets convinced the Jews that God has a Kingdom that men would be invited into. They were trying to force their way in but under the law they were not worthy to enter in. God is telling them that the violent or energetic will not give up, they will find a way in. So, how does a man get into the place where God dwells? He believes Jesus died for his sins and God raised Him from the dead. Then God translates him into His Kingdom. According to Jesus the violent are the people who are determined to possess the promises of God. I wonder how many people have totally misunderstood the Bible because they misinterpreted what God was saying. Acts 14:21-22 And they preached in the cities, confirming(strengthening) the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the Kingdom of God. Why is it so difficult to get into the Kingdom and remain there as a citizen? The devil has a difficult time overcoming people who are in the Kingdom. People who are committed to the Kingdom can endure many trials and persecutions. The devil hates people in the Kingdom because to him they are in God's house and he is not welcome there. The Kingdom of God is a system established on God's Word so it will work anywhere. The devil always tries to get us to lay down God's system and use his system of defeat. We must be the violent Jesus was talking about, we mist energetically use God's Word to keep the devil out of our lives. James 4:7 Submit yourselves to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. We have been redeemed from the evil one but that does not mean you can ignore the devil and he won't bother you! People who are redeemed have the authority to keep the devil out of their lives. The devil can offer us his thoughts but he cannot read our minds, so we must tell him what he must do. We don't need to exercise any violence over the devil, the Name of Jesus is all we need. Endeavoring to remain in the Kingdom is an act of Bible violence. If you want to know how to act in the Kingdom, study the life of Christ. He calmly put the devil out and He walked in the blessing every day of the world. We have all known great people who were skilled spoken men. Men that could talk a demoniac into becoming a Christian. We could say they have "the gift of gab", and we say this as a compliment. I had a cousin who made a living as a "conman". He talked a lot of people out of a lot of money. Now who would you think was the greatest orator of all time? It would have to be Jesus because He only spoke what He heard His Father say, so the greatest orator would be God. I have always believed that no man could beat God in a debate and I was wrong! I have read all the accounts of Jesus confronting men and He could not convince them of the truth.
John 8:43 Why can't you understand one word I say? Here's why: you can't handle it. You're from your father the devil, and all you want to do is please him. Jesus did not win every argument, but every man who challenged Him lost. Jesus could only speak one thing, the truth, it was the only thing that could set men free. Jesus would not spend much time sparring with these men, if they did not want to be free, then He could not help them. God knows the truth. He has all the answers, but if men won't have any of it, He won't waste their time. Man cannot refute the wisdom of God so they offer an alternative and totally change the subject. Are these fools besting God or are they putting out a guard around their sin! John 15:18 If the world hate you, you know that they hated me before they hated you. The world hated Jesus, there was nothing He could say that would turn their hearts. Those men are among us today, they hate everyone who identifies with the truth that is in Christ. A lot of these people are members of certain churches, but God does not attend their churches. He's not welcome, they just use His Name. Religion is genetically altered truth that claims they are the one true and holy house of God. Their doctrine cannot withstand a challenge, so they label anyone who uses the Bible as heretics. They cannot defend what they believe, so they attack everyone who dares to question their "faith". John 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. The devil is not capable of telling the truth as we know it, what he speaks he believes is the truth. You cannot convert a deceived person until you first deal with their deception, or else you will wear yourself out arguing with the devil. The devil is not a great orator, he is the great liar because there is no truth in him. God gave us His Word, the greatest truth ever known to man but it is powerless over a child of the devil. If we hold fast to the truth we will always be free and in position to help those in bondage to their father the devil. Ephesians 4:15 Speak the truth in love. Love must be our motivation for declaring the truth to all men, we must not lord our freedom over any man. Love is a demonstration of humility, it endeavors to help those who hate it. The truth is in love and love is in the truth and they avail themselves to everyone who is yet to be free. Jesus spoke the truth in love and men became offended but He remained true to His calling to help all men. A lot of people are in the Kingdom of God because they accepted the love of God and now they can minister His love to others. God is the great orator and we are well served to hear Him. He has the words that pertain to life. |
TEXT FOJCHURCH
TO 84576 OFFERING DECLARATION
Prosperity is a God thing, He created the law. He put no limits on me, I can have all I want. I can sow much and reap much, I can sow little and reap little. He will give me seed to sow and a time to harvest. 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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