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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Kicked Out

So I got kicked out of the MIT class. It pretty much sucked. No one knew about it and no one knew how to help. I guess what I hate the most is that I paid for a class and didn't get anything in return. Just a call saying I've learned everything there is to know and I can move no further in the class because I'm not a Baptist. It is statements like this that make me want to shove the bible and every other religious book down peoples throats. To tell be they teach the wholeness of God and the purpose is to find your reason why you are here on this earth, only to then separate you into groups of denominational stupidity.

That makes no sense to me and neither does me not getting my money back. That's right. I asked for a refund of my money because I was kicked out of class based on this one pastor's decision that I was not a Baptist. I guess not being a Baptist served as a threat to the foundation of his screwed up institution that he calls a church.

Too bad those college kids can't see through the reality of the situation. I saw it and thought I could float through it. That by being in that class I would be able to accomplish some type of feat of helping others to realize the truth about God and about that church. But my fire has been stamped out before it even had a chance to get any air behind it.

To others seeking to follow man in order to find God, DON'T. Save yourself the trouble, pick up the bible or whatever religious text you follow, read it and FIND GOD for yourself and not based on some other's view of what God is.

God appears differently and in different ways to us all and we don't need some body telling us that church and a pastor/priest is the only way to God. JESUS is the only WAY.

Friday, June 10, 2011

My Father's Instructions

My Father’s Instructions


The book of proverbs passes on the knowledge, and the experience, that God says we must have to live successfully. In this book, God gives us instruction in wisdom, life, and the ways of life in God’s world. In this book , we find that Solomon’s father, David, is giving him life instructions that were passed to him by his forefathers. Solomon is technically, getting instructions from God through his earthly father.

Now we all have been given instructions to follow by our parents. Sometimes, we follow them, and sometimes we don’t. When are successful at following our parents instructions, we reap the benefits that come with being obedient, but when we don’t follow those instructions, we find that we will be disciplined to no end. But, no matter what happens we still understand that our parents love us and will remained concerned for us. God gave us these instructions to follow but he also put discipline into place so that we don’t get too far out of line, all because he loves us. And within the 5 verses of our text, we find 6 specific instructions that God gives us as our Heavenly Father.

Number 1 hear and receive
Proverbs chapter 4: verse 10 says “Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.

Now I know most of us probably had a hard time listening to our parents growing up, because we couldn’t see past our immediate gratification. We couldn’t see, that our parents had already been there, and done that, that what our parents were telling us would benefit us in the long run. Well, Proverbs contain many statements in which there are benefits given to us, by just LISTENING to God.

Lets take a look at the first half of Proverbs chapter 4: verse 10. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings. The word hear, in Hebrew means to listen to, to yield to, and to obey. The word hear in English is a stative verb and a stative verb refers to something that is not CHANGING, will not CHANGE in the future and does Not have a distinct ENDPOINT. When the two are combined, God is saying LISTEN to me because what I have for you to HEAR is NEVER going to CHANGE. God wants us to listen to him continually and without end.

Receive my sayings this means that whatever you hear you HAVE to receive. WE have to HEAR AND RECEIVE. The two verbs are joined together by the word AND, meaning you CAN’T do one and NOT do the other. Have you ever heard the phrase “It WENT IN one EAR and OUT the other?” Well I’m pretty sure most of us have been guilty of doing this, when we were told to do something that we didn’t like. God doesn’t want us to do that because what WE HEAR, and what WE RECEIVE, is tied up to a storehouse, of blessings that GOD has for us. Let me give you an example, a mother tells a child to clean their room but before she can get the rest of the sentence out, the child has stomped away only to miss the last part of the sentence…clean your room and we going to Disney World.

This brings me to the second half of the verse: “and the years of thy life shall be many.” Here is the use of the word AND again, it ties the first half of the verse to the second half. It means that the person who has to HEAR and RECEIVE is the same person that will RECEIVE a long life. You can’t get one thing without doing the other. You have to HEAR, And you have to RECEIVE and in doing so you will live a LONG LIFE!


BE QUIET! and, LISTEN and God WILL tell you what you NEED to know! And when GOD tells you something and you receive it, you have to take it one step further and retain it, which leads me to the next instruction, Let thine heart retain my words


2 let thine heart retain my words
Proverbs chapter 4: verse 4 says He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments and live.

God is not only just concerned with our actions, but he is greatly concerned with the condition of our hearts. Just because we have HEARD and RECEIVED God’s instructions doesn’t mean that we are RETAINING them.
Like our parents, the Lord is our father and our teacher. We are God’s children, and as God’s children, he has been given us instructions for living BECAUSE He loves us. Most parents show their love for their children, by giving them instructions or guidelines to make sure that their children are safe and prosperous in life. In other words, we as GOD’s, children MUST be directed! In Hebrew the word retain means to hold on to or to hold fast to.

Proverbs chapter 4 verse 4 says He has taught me and said to me let your heart hold fast to my words. In most instances in order for US as human beings to learn anything, and retain what we have learned, we learn through repetition. There have been studies suggesting, that repetition is important to the wiring of the brain. If we are repeating to ourselves the instructions that God has given us; OUR minds become HARD WIRED to and for GOD.

Let me break this down, The first time we learn anything, it goes into our short term memory. OUR Short term memory only last from 20-30 seconds. That means by now you have probably forgotten my first point. And this is how, we sometimes TREAT, what God has to tell us. In that process of hearing and receiving, we have failed to input His instructions into our Long Term memory. But to overcome that short term memory loss, you have to learn how to HARD WIRE your HEART and your MIND to GOD! By reading God’s Word, by going to church, and by living the Word, is how we get God’s instructions to stay Hard Wired in our minds, And as it gets into our minds, it can filter into our hearts.

God gives us instructions that are simple enough for us to understand. This leads me to the next instruction, God says Keep his Commandments

3 keep my commandments and live

Proverbs chapter 4 versus 4 continues with God’s words KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS and LIVE.

Found in Exodus chapter 20, is a list of 10 commandments , that God gives us to live by, and God was SO SERIOUS about these commandments that He sent his SON JESUS to sum them up AGAIN in Matthew, chapter 22, verses 36 through 40 Thou shalt LOVE, the LORD thy God, with ALL thy HEART and with ALL thy SOUL and with ALL thy MIND. And though shalt love thy neighbor as thyself!



Keep God’s commandments and live. Simply enough, God is telling us that we have to FOLLOW His commandments and in doing so we will have a long life. God says Keep my commandments and my commandments will keep thee!
You will be more productive and prosperous in life as long as you are following GOD’s instructions.

Obey the commandments and by doing this you will increase you knowledge of them. Which leads me to the next instruction. GET WISDOM!


4 get wisdom (go to next page)
Prov 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth.
4:7 Wisdom is the principle thing: therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

The Proverbs chapter 4 verse 5 begins with GET WISDOM and proverbs chapter 4 verse 7 begins with wisdom is the principle thing: therefore get wisdom.
The wisdom that Proverbs refers to, is a knowing how the world works and how we should work in the world.

When a person seeks wisdom he will find it in the fear of the Lord (what is the fear of the Lord) The fear of the Lord, IS the BEGINNING of KNOWLEDGE, it IS the BEGINNING of WISDOM, it IS a FOUNTAIN of LIFE that one may avoid the SNARES of DEATH, it IS the INSTRUCTION for WISDOM, and it LEADS to AND PROLONGS LIFE.

Wisdom means the skill of living meaning that a person (you and i) can live a RESPONSIBLE, PRODUCTIVE, and PROSPEROUS life.

God is commanding us to GET WISDOM because you GET WISDOM by praying for it, you GET WISDOM by working for it, you GET WISDOM by your experience. Wisdom is God’s gift, he doesn’t give it to the LAZY and he doesn’t give it to those that won’t USE it.

For unless you have wisdom, knowledge can be dangerous. Knowledge can destroy. Think about this we have created, nuclear energy, but it has only created Devastating Destruction. Wisdom is the principle thing, which means it’s the correct application of knowledge. Wisdom is knowing what to do, with what you know. Thus leading me to the next instruction. God says Get understanding.
5 get understanding (go to next page)
prov 4:5 Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words or my mouth.
Prov 4:7 Wisdom is the principle thing: therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

In Proverbs chapter 4 verses 5 and 7 The getting of wisdom is always followed by the getting of understanding. You can’t have wisdom if you don’t understand it. Proverbs chapter 2: verse 6 says “For the Lord giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
You get your wisdom from the Lord but you also get your knowledge and understanding from him as well. Even when we are seeking God for wisdom you also have to seek Him for understanding. It is through understanding that we become intelligent.

Let’s make that live, have you ever studied for a test and still didn’t pass it, or has someone ever said to you “all you have is book smarts and no common sense” all this is said because you or we lack the understanding of a subject matter. In God’s case, we all, are guilty of lacking the understanding, of the wisdom that God gives to us.

In Proverbs chapter 4: verses 6-10 Wisdom is personified, meaning made to appear as a pleading woman, so that men would pursue her. Take this one step further, and one can say that, wisdom is God, and HE is PLEADING with us to follow Him.

When seeking God, ask for wisdom, but don’t forget to ask him for understanding of the wisdom that you are seeking.

After God has given you all of these instructions, HE still isn’t done with YOU yet. One last instruction from God, STICK to, LIVE by and Don’t forget HIS instruction!


6 Stick to instruction, Live by it and Don’t forget it
Proverbs chapter 4: verse 13 says Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life.

Take a FAST hold of instruction, it doesn’t say take a SLOW hold, but Take a FAST HOLD, because what God gives you, he GIVES to you for the NOW, in order to preserve your future. I remember as a child, that when my mother or father said do something, I did it now, and NOT on my OWN TIME. For if I did it on my OWN time, then I ended up with a RED BEHIND. I’m pretty sure that nobody in here wants GOD giving them RED BEHIND, but He WILL when HE has to get you back INLINE.

You should study God’s instruction as you would study in college to get that degree; 2 timothy verse 15a says study to show thyself approved. Studying God’s word, is the ONLY way to get HIS instruction. Satan is always trying to throw in his two cents anyway he can. BUT The MORE you study, the MORE you will learn to stick to God’s WORD. With CONTINUAL study of GOD’s word, IT will become EASIER to remember . And I’m going to say this again, the HUMAN BRAIN learns through repetition. The more you do something under the DIRECTION of GOD, the BETTER YOU, you will become.

When you follow GOD’s instructions your life changes. You are living For God, Don’t let that instruction go, Don’t Let it leave your MIND, Don’t let it Leave your Heart, because God’s instructions are life. John chapter 10 verse 10 says The thief cometh not, but for to STEAL, KILL, and to DESTROY: I AM come that they might have LIFE, and that they might have it MORE ABUNDANTLY!
The instructions of GOD is for us to have a more abundant life! His WORD IS your LIFE and you should NEVER let it go.

Proverbs chapter 4: verse 5 says Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words or my mouth.

The instructions that God gives us, are a GIFT to us, and they should not be taken for granted. They are the laws by which we should govern ourselves in the world. NEVER FORGET nor TURN AWAY the instructions that God has given you.
Like Solomon, we should not forget the instructions that our Heavenly Father, has given us.
How can you not forget you ask? You commit these instructions to your memory and your heart by sharing them with others. Psalms chapter 78: verses 5-6 can be summarized as, we TEACH or are DIRECTED that we might LEARN ourselves, but that we might TEACH our children, the GOOD knowledge of God.
If we VALUE what God has given us we will NOT forget it and we WILL share it with EVERYONE!

Conclusion:

We must see this instruction coming from God. Our Father in heaven. We Pray to him, we seek Blessings from him, and we seek him for our wellbeing. And ALL he asks us to do is FOLLOW His instructions. It is through God’s instructions, that we will get the ultimate knowledge, and ultimate understanding of how to NAVIGATE this life.
God gives us instruction not to condemn us, but to convict us. To make us look inside ourselves, to make us realize our shortcomings, and how much we NEED redemption. And that our ONLY REDEEMER, is JESUS CHRIST! If we hear and receive Jesus, we can, not only live a long life on earth, but also a long life in HEAVEN.
If you are not allowing God to Direct your life, then you are giving God the permission to END your life any way he sees fit, BUT if you will SURRENDER your HEART and your MIND to him, God WILL fulfill ALL his promises to you. There is NO place mentioned in the bible when GOD failed to DELIVER on a promise. Satan seeks to destroy you but with GOD’s INSTRUCTIONS you WILL RECEIVE DIVINE PROTECTION!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Psalm 62: 5-8

My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him.
He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defense; I shall not be moved.
In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength, and my refuge, is in God.
Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Se'lah.

I have to wait on the Lord, and when I wait on the Lord, I am waiting in expectation. Why else would I wait on the Lord if I had no expectations from Him. Expectation goes both ways. The same with God, he does not have to wait on us, yet he is waiting on us and expecting us to SEEK Him, and to follow only Him. I think me waiting on the Lord is a much greater profit to God than Him waiting on me. I am only one of billions of His children, but yet if I Seek and Follow Him I'm pretty sure that I am meeting His expectations. Psalm 58:11 states in-part that there is a reward for the righteous. And to be righteous is only being able for you or me to maintain our belief in God. Why wait on the Lord if I don't believe in Him. If I'm waiting on the Lord that means I am righteous, I BELIEVE in God and I BELIEVE in my expectations from Him.

He is my rock and my salvation, there is no person on earth that can take the place of God. Who do you know that is said solid as a rock? Who do you know humanly that won't let you down? In my time here on earth, and it hasn't been long, I have learned that people are ever-changing and that God is the only constant thing around, He Never Changes! Friends may come and go but God is still there! Your family may cast you out but God is still there! Your life may be in shambles but God is still there! And if you Believe in God you can expect him to be your rock in your unstable environment, your rock in your times of trouble, YOUR ROCK!
If I God is my rock, then it only makes sense that HE is my salvation. HE IS MY SALVATION! Psalm 34:17 says The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. If I can be delivered from my troubles, then I can be saved by God. Because God is my salvation! He is my defense and I shall not be moved!--- and though the troubles of life come against me, I WILL NOT be MOVED because GOD is my ROCK, and MY SALVATION!

IN GOD is my SALVATION and my GLORY and as long as I have my trust in HIM and my BELIEF is in HIM then I have nothing to lose. For he is the rock of my strength. This is not the game of rock, paper, scissors, but this is the Rock of the LORD! Nothing can come against you when the Lord is your strength. All you have to do is TRUST in him!

Trust in Him at ALL TIMES and he will be your refuge. He will be your comfort! He will be your comfort in the low times and in the high times. TRUST in Him always, He wants us to pour our hearts out to Him that he may be our comfort. Trust in him! Have the expectation of your belief in him fulfilled because He is the only one that can give you what YOU NEED! HE is there for US! Why don't we just use Him like He wants us to. Wait on him with Great Expectation!

Monday, May 23, 2011

Preaching

I am here to follow God's will on my life and not my own will. I pray that what I do will not damage others from receiving what God has for them. I pray that my decision is the right decision and that I am not ruining my walk with Christ in the process. I pray that I am truly able to fulfill my purpose to God's potential and that I don't get in my own way.

As I embark on this journey, may that my love for teaching God's word to others will not be ruined by man's will for me to preach God's word. I pray that God's hands be with me and shield me from whatever enemies my come in my way of delivering his word. I understand that there is a difference between teaching and preaching. I'm not doing this for a show, a title, or some mans ego, but for God.

Amen