Category Archives: Saturday Sabbath

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Thank God for the JOINT

Ephesians 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

 

How many of you remember when you use to run jump and climb bend and stretch? Sometimes your parents use to tell you don’t do that too much because Arthur (arthritis) is going to get you. You never really realize how much you needed your ligaments, tendons, and cartilage that make up your joints until you get older or they get damaged.

How many of you have been suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, torn ligaments, tendonitis or even damaged cartilage?  It is because of these very joint related ailments, which have lead our bodies to its crippling demeanor.
Some of us can’t even walk the way we use to, others can’t even move their arms legs, elbows, fingers….etc. as we need.

A study was done by the CDC of the US in 2016, and their findings where these:

Improving the Quality of Life for People With Arthritis At A Glance 2016.

In the United States, 23% of all adults, or about 53 million people, have arthritis. It is a leading cause of disability.
The term arthritis refers to more than 100 diseases and conditions affecting the joints. The most common type of arthritis is osteoarthritis, which affects more than 30 million US adults. Other forms of arthritis are gout, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.
Symptoms of arthritis are pain, aching, stiffness, and swelling in or around the joints. Some forms of arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, can affect multiple organs and cause widespread symptoms.
Arthritis commonly occurs with other chronic diseases. About half of US adults with heart disease or diabetes and one-third of people who are obese also have arthritis. Having arthritis in addition to other chronic conditions can reduce quality of life and make disease management harder.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) conducts research and supports programs for people with arthritis so they can work and do other daily activities, have less pain, manage their own care, and delay disability.

Public Health Problem Arthritis Limits the US Workforce
Almost two-thirds of US adults with arthritis are of working age (18-64 years). Arthritis can limit the type of work these men and women are able to do or keep them from working at all. In fact, 8 million working-age adults report that their ability to work is limited because of their arthritis.
The most common limitations that adults with arthritis report are difficulty climbing a flight of stairs or walking the equivalent of three city blocks. This means that adults with arthritis could have trouble walking from a parking deck or subway stop to their worksite.
The impact of arthritis on the productivity of US businesses will continue to grow as the percentage of people with this condition increases in the coming decades. By 2040, more than 78 million people (26% of the projected adult population) will have arthritis.

Many People Do Not Know How to Manage Symptoms
People with arthritis can reduce their symptoms in several ways, but many don’t know how. For example, people with arthritis can:
Join a self-management education program, such as the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program, that teaches the skills and confidence to live well with arthritis every day.
Be physically active. Physical activity—such as walking, bicycling, and swimming—decreases pain and improves function, mood, and quality of life. People with arthritis should try to get at least 150 minutes of physical activity each week. This activity can be done for 30 minutes, 5 days a week, or for as little as 10 minutes at a time. CDC-recommended physical activity programs—like Walk With Ease and EnhanceFitness—are community interventions that improve health for participants with arthritis.
Maintain a healthy weight and protect their joints.

People can reduce their risk of knee osteoarthritis by controlling their weight and avoiding types of activities that are more likely to cause joint injuries.

Talk with a doctor. Recommendations from health care providers can motivate people to be physically active and join a self-management education program. People with inflammatory arthritis, like rheumatoid arthritis, have a better quality of life if they are diagnosed early, receive treatment, and learn how to manage their condition.

❊ key> People of God we are literally falling apart naturally!

Let’s talk about your spiritual Arthritis with regard to ligaments, tendons, and cartilage that make up your joints for your spiritual body and the ministry you’re in or over.

Ephesians 4:14 -17 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind…

I would like to ask some questions?
1) How many of you are in a ministry?
2) How many of you have joined and committed yourself to that ministry?
3) How many of you have joined an auxiliary or office?
4) How many of you are active at that ministry?
5) And last, but not least, how many are not satisfied where you are in ministry?

The natural body is sick due to your joints not functioning right and being taken care of the right way. When a saint doesn’t know if they’re loved, and the work they do, is not appreciated, when you’re overworked in the ministry, used and abused, lied on, set up for failure, no place to grow, looked down upon, talked about at the ministry and you feel that your voice is not being heard; This is where saints become torn, damaged, pulled, scarred, overtaxed; Then the body is not jointly fitted together, you’re literally coming a loose at the seams and there are other factors that compound this state that contributes to this equation as well. Then there is no growth in the church or in saints, then what you have is a dysfunctional entity going nowhere fast. You must understand as humans we tend to replicate people like ourselves or congregate around people like us. In other words, there is a commonality that they share. Abused people are drawn to abused people or abusers. You’ve heard the old term “birds of a feather flock together?”

 

Timothy 4:3-4 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

 

There are three main joints in the natural body, the neck, the spine, and hips. There are three main spiritual joints that need to be restored in your spiritual body: your faith, your commitment, and your action! How can the Holy Ghost move in you when your faith has been damaged or your commitment has been lost?  How can the Holy Ghost use you when you don’t know when to go or how to go?

It’s ok just to be ok. You don’t have to be the super-saint or the super well know Pastor!

 

Galatians 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

 

It’s time to become a functional joint again so that the body can function as Jesus planned from the beginning. Won’t you recommit your heart back in the ministry be the joint Jesus is looking for?

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What you See is not what You Get

The following is from an article entitled “The Catholic Church Admits They Made the Change,” from www.sabbathtruth.com.

Was the Sabbath changed from the seventh day of the week to the first day? Well, yes and no. Let’s deal with the “no” first.

God, “with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning” (James 1:17), does not change (Malachi 3:6). The Israelites received two laws from Moses: the law of Moses, that of ordinances and ceremonies; and the Law of God, embodied in the Ten Commandments, which is an expression of God’s character. If God does not change, neither will His Law. “My covenant I will not break, nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips” (Psalm 89:34). “I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it” (Ecclesiastes 3:14). “The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy. They are steadfast for ever and ever, done in faithfulness and uprightness” (Psalm 111:7, 8).

God gave His Law to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai. Amid thunder and lightning, a thick cloud covered the mountain, and a trumpet blasted. Smoke billowed up as from a furnace and the whole mountain shook as the trumpet grew louder and louder. Moses led the Israelites out of their camp to meet with God, and every one of them trembled. Then God spoke (Exodus 19:16-19, 20:1). If this Law were to be changed, it would be reasonable to expect God Himself to announce it, and give reasons for its alteration, amid the same amount of ceremony. Yet there is no indication in Scripture of such an announcement.

What About the New Testament?

In the New Testament, the seventh day of the week is called the Sabbath; it is mentioned 58 times. The first day of the week is mentioned eight times. It is simply called the first day of the week, and it is always differentiated from the Sabbath. This in itself is evidence for the continued validity of the seventh-day Sabbath.

The gospel writers record Jesus and the apostles going to the synagogue on Sabbath as their “custom” (Luke 4:16 ). Jesus said, “I have kept My Father’s commandments” (John 15:10). The women who went to anoint His body after his death “rested on the Sabbath according to the commandment” (Luke 23:56). Nearly all of the incidents reported of the apostles’ preaching occurred on the seventh-day Sabbath. Of all the accusations the Jews made against the apostles, never once did they accuse the apostles of breaking the Sabbath.

Some teach that after Christ’s death and resurrection, the Old Testament law was done away with and a new covenant took its place. But Jesus Himself said, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled” (Matthew 5:17, 18). The law of Moses, which foreshadowed Christ’s sacrifice, was indeed made irrelevant, but Paul maintains that the Law of God is to be kept, though we now be under grace. “Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid; yea, we establish the law” (Romans 3:31).

How It Happened…

Yet for nearly 2,000 years now, millions of Christians have worshiped on Sunday. So was the Sabbath changed from the seventh to the first day of the week? Let’s look at the “yes” now.

“The Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5). Here Jesus staked His claim and forbade anyone to meddle with the Sabbath. Yet He knew there would be those who would claim the power to change God’s Law. Through Daniel he warned of just such a man. Describing a “little horn power” (Daniel 7:8), Daniel says, “He will speak against the Most High and oppress his saints and try to change the set times and the laws” (Daniel 7:25). Paul made a similar prediction: “Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God, or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 4, 7).

Paul warned that this blasphemy was already at work, and that it would come not from an outside influence, but from within the church (2 Thessalonians 2:7, Acts 20:28-30). Sure enough, not long after Paul’s day, apostasy appeared in the church.

About 100 years before Christianity, Egyptian Mithraists introduced the festival of Sunday, dedicated to worshiping the sun, into the Roman Empire. Later, as Christianity grew, church leaders wished to increase the numbers of the church. In order to make the gospel more attractive to non-Christians, pagan customs were incorporated into the church’s ceremonies. The custom of Sunday worship was welcomed by Christians who desired to differentiate themselves from the Jews, whom they hated because of the Jews’ rejection of the Savior. The first day of the week began to be recognized as both a religious and civil holiday. By the end of the second century, Christians considered it sinful to work on Sunday.

The Roman emperor Constantine, a former sun-worshiper, professed conversion to Christianity, though his subsequent actions suggest the “conversion” was more of a political move than a genuine heart change. Constantine named himself Bishop of the Catholic Church and enacted the first civil law regarding Sunday observance in A.D. 321.

On the venerable day of the sun let the magistrate and people residing in cities rest, and let all workshops be closed. In the country however, persons engaged in agricultural work may freely and lawfully continue their pursuits; because it often happens that another day is not so suitable for grain growing or for vine planting; lest by neglecting the proper moment for such operations the bounty of heaven should be lost. —Schaff’s History of the Christian Church, vol. III, chap. 75.

Note that Constantine’s law did not even mention Sabbath but referred to the mandated rest day as a “the venerable day of the sun.” And how kind he was to allow people to observe it as it was convenient. Contrast this with God’s command to observe the Sabbath “even during the plowing season and harvest” (Exodus 34:21)! Perhaps the church leaders noticed this laxity as well, for just four years later, in A.D. 325, Pope Sylvester officially named Sunday “the Lord’s Day,” and in A.D. 338, Eusebius, the court bishop of Constantine, wrote, “All things whatsoever that it was the duty to do on the Sabbath (the seventh day of the week) we (Constantine, Eusebius, and other bishops) have transferred to the Lord’s Day (the first day of the week) as more appropriately belonging to it.”

Instead of the humble lives of persecution and self-sacrifice led by the apostles, church leaders now exalted themselves to the place of God. “This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world” (1 John 4:3).

The Catechism

Recall the ceremony with which God made known His Law, containing the blessing of the seventh-day Sabbath, by which all humanity is to be judged. Contrast this with the unannounced, unnoticed anticlimax with which the church gradually adopted Sunday at the command of “Christian” emperors and Roman bishops. And these freely admit that they made the change from Sabbath to Sunday.

In the Convert’s Catechism of Catholic Doctrine, we read:

Q. Which is the Sabbath day?
A. Saturday is the Sabbath day.
Q. Why do we observe Sunday instead of Saturday?
A. We observe Sunday instead of Saturday because the Catholic Church, in the Council of Laodicea, (AD 336) transferred the solemnity from Saturday to Sunday….
Q. Why did the Catholic Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday, because Christ rose from the dead on a Sunday, and the Holy Ghost descended upon the Apostles on a Sunday.
Q. By what authority did the Church substitute Sunday for Saturday?
A. The Church substituted Sunday for Saturday by the plenitude of that divine power which Jesus Christ bestowed upon her!
—Rev. Peter Geiermann, C.SS.R., (1946), p. 50.

In Catholic Christian Instructed,

Q. Has the [Catholic] church power to make any alterations in the commandments of God?
A. …Instead of the seventh day, and other festivals appointed by the old law, the church has prescribed the Sundays and holy days to be set apart for God’s worship; and these we are now obliged to keep in consequence of God’s commandment, instead of the ancient Sabbath.
—The Catholic Christian Instructed in the Sacraments, Sacrifices, Ceremonies, and Observances of the Church By Way of Question and Answer, RT Rev. Dr. Challoner, p. 204.

In An Abridgment of the Christian Doctrine,

Q. How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
A. By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves, by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
Q. How prove you that?
A. Because by keeping Sunday, they acknowledge the church’s power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin; and by not keeping the rest [of the feasts] by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power.
–Rev. Henry Tuberville, D.D. (R.C.), (1833), page 58.

In A Doctrinal Catechism,

Q. Have you any other way of proving that the Church has power to institute festivals of precept?
A. Had she not such power, she could not have done that in which all modern religionists agree with her. She could not have substituted the observance of Sunday the first day of the week, for the observance of Saturday the seventh day, a change for which there is no Scriptural authority.
–Rev. Stephen Keenan, (1851), p. 174.

In the Catechism of the Council of Trent,

The Church of God has thought it well to transfer the celebration and observance of the Sabbath to Sunday!
–p 402, second revised edition (English), 1937.  (First published in 1566)

In the Augsburg Confession,

They [the Catholics] allege the Sabbath changed into Sunday, the Lord’s day, contrary to the decalogue, as it appears; neither is there any example more boasted of than the changing of the Sabbath day. Great, they say, is the power and authority of the church, since it dispensed with one of the ten commandments.
—Art. 28.

God warned that a blasphemous power would “seek to change times and laws,” and the Catholic Church openly admits doing it, even boasts about it. In a sermon at the Council of Trent in 1562, the Archbishop of Reggia, Caspar del Fossa, claimed that the Catholic Church’s whole authority is based upon the fact that they changed the Sabbath to Sunday. Does this not fulfill the prophecies of Daniel and Paul?

“For centuries millions of Christians have gathered to worship God on the first day of the week. Graciously He has accepted this worship. He has poured out His blessings upon Christian people as they have sought to serve Him. However, as one searches the Scriptures, he is forced to recognize that Sunday is not a day of God’s appointment… It has no foundation in Scripture, but has arisen entirely as a result of custom,” says Frank H. Yost, Ph.D. in The Early Christian Sabbath.

Let us ask the question again: Was the Sabbath changed from the seventh day of the week to the first? The Bible is clear: “And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy” (Genesis 2:3).  “Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11). If God intended for another day to become the Sabbath, He must have removed the blessing from the seventh day and placed it on the day which was to replace it. But when God bestows a blessing, it is forever. “…You, O Lord, have blessed it, and it will be blessed forever” (1 Chronicles 17:27). “I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot change it” (Numbers 23:20). Your birthday, a memorial of your birth, can’t be changed, though you may celebrate it on a different day. Neither can the Sabbath, a memorial of creation (Exodus 20:11), be changed, though some may celebrate it on a different day.

God instructed Moses to construct the earthly sanctuary, all its furniture, and the ark according to “the pattern” he was shown. (Exodus 25:9, 40) The ark was called the “ark of the covenant” (Numbers 10:33, Deuteronomy 10:8, Hebrews 9:4), and the “ark of the testimony” (Exodus 25:22), because in it Moses placed the tablets of stone on which God wrote His Law. (Exodus 25:16, 31:18) John, in Revelation 11:19, describes the scene before him when “the temple of God was opened in Heaven.” John saw the ark of the covenant in the heavenly sanctuary. David wrote, “Your word, O Lord, is eternal; it stands firm in the heavens” (Psalm 119:89). It is safe to assume that God’s Law remains, contained within the ark of the covenant in the heavenly sanctuary.

When God says, “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:10), that ends all controversy. We cannot change God’s Word for our own convenience. “But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).

– Emily Thomsen

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A Divided House will Fall

Genesis 14:1-5

And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations;That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims…

 

Deuteronomy 2:18-20

Thou art to pass over through Ar, the coast of Moab, this day: And when thou comest nigh over against the children of Ammon, distress them not, nor meddle with them: for I will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon any possession; because I have given it unto the children of Lot for a possession. (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;

 

Genesis 14:5-24

…in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emins in Shaveh Kiriathaim, And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness. And they returned, and came to Enmishpat, which is Kadesh, and smote all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, that dwelt in Hazezontamar. And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim; With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five. And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram. And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan. And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth: And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all. And the king of Sodom said unto Abram, Give me the persons, and take the goods to thyself. And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up mine hand unto the Lord, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth, That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I will not take any thing that is thine, lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich: Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.

 

What is this talking about? You have to remember that Abraham was in Egypt, and Lot was taken away. He choose to go and live in Sodom and Gomorrah.

 

Genesis 13:11-13

Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

 

The point is in Genesis 14:2-6 “That these made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, and Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar. All these were joined together in the vale of Siddim, which is the salt sea. Twelve years they served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they rebelled. And in the fourteenth year came Chedorlaomer, and the kings that were with him, and smote the Rephaims in Ashteroth Karnaim, and the Zuzims in Ham, and the Emins in Shaveh Kiriathaim, And the Horites in their mount Seir, unto Elparan, which is by the wilderness.”

So what was going on? All these kings were under the leadership of Chedorlaomer coming together to do one thing: fight giants; Rephaims. What I’m trying to relate to you is Genesis 6 during the time when they had giants, during the time of Noah. That shows you the influence of what angels had done to the point of there being a land of all these giants.

 

Genesis 14:8-13

And there went out the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrah, and the king of Admah, and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (the same is Zoar;) and they joined battle with them in the vale of Siddim;  With Chedorlaomer the king of Elam, and with Tidal king of nations, and Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar; four kings with five.  And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way. And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed. And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.

 

This is when Abraham when to go rescue Lot from Sodom and Gomorrah. When the other kings got together they had to fight giants. So one would tell you, are there giants in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. Before they got there, in Genesis 14:5 it says they came together against the Zuzims. In Deuteronomy 2:20 (That also was accounted a land of giants: giants dwelt therein in old time; and the Ammonites call them Zamzummims;

So these were giants. Is there a connection with Sodom and Gomorrah and the giants?. They fought against these giants right after Noah time, the kings of Sodom (Genesis 14:2) rebelled against Cheorlaomer (Genesis 14:1). The kings Amraphel, Arioch, Chedorlaomer, and Tidal were one group. The kings Bera (King of Sodom), Bisha (King of Gomorrah), Shinab, Shemeber, and Bela were the other group. In Genesis 14:8, both groups came together to fight the giants in the vale of Siddim.

Why did they all come together and fight the giants? All the Kings got together and they wanted to attack this place at one time.  And after that they turned their sight against who? Each other.

 

Genesis 14:10-12

And the vale of Siddim was full of slimepits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and fell there; and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and went their way.  And they took Lot, Abram’s brother’s son, who dwelt in Sodom, and his goods, and departed.

The “they,” who took all the “goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and their victuals,” and “Lot…and his good,” were the group of Kings Chedorlaomer was over. The Kings of Sodom and Gomorrah had already fled (verse 10). Seemingly, during this battle against these four kings with five (verse 9) someone escaped to tell Abram about Lot being taken:

Genesis 14:13-16

And there came one that had escaped, and told Abram the Hebrew; for he dwelt in the plain of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother of Aner: and these were confederate with Abram.  And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.  And he divided himself against them, he and his servants, by night, and smote them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of Damascus.  And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

Then, the king of Sodom comes to meet Abram after the slaughter of Chedolaomer and the 4 other kings with him:

Genesis 14:17

And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the valley of Shaveh, which is the king’s dale.

 

Now, it’s amazing to me that even during the time of Sodom and Gomorrah, they have been fighting giants. Giants are not a myth, but fact. These were in the days of Noah, during Noah, and after Noah. When fighting against the against they all realized they were coming against a greater foe. But the division between the kings was still in existence. We need to resolve all issues and become one, not only against the enemy but one amongst ourselves.

 

Mark 3:25

And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

I believe in these days it still holds truth even for our Country and world. We’ll come together against a foe, but the same old divisioncountryur coutry and world are still there. It will eat at the very fiber of everyone’s being.

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Abused Woman Syndrome

What is a syndrome? If you look at the understanding, and what it brings about…complication of the mind and heart. In other words, you situation in your life has taken over your mind first of all, and then it begins to exhibit its self within your body. Whether it is in health, eating habits, sleeping habits or whatever. But it will exhibit itself in your body as well.

If perchance you are a Child of God and you are hearing this, know that it also will manifest itself in your walk with God. Because of the nature of the incident or situation that has transpired in your life, you take it to heart; we think it doesn’t affect us. We say “I’m affected a little bit.” But we will not own up to the amount effect is taking place, and it is usually a great deal. But we try to so called surfacely say that its not. But its when we get in those quiet moments alone that we begin to scream out, holler out, cry and the we being to point fingers at ourselves and we begin to say why did I do this what did I do…what did I do. You’ve got to realized that as a Child of God its not what you did, its what the enemy has done to you. When you allow the enemy’s tactics to dewell in your heart and mind then you allow the enemy’s mindset to become a part of your mindset, you will reap the fruit’s of that thought pattern.

As of late I’ve been getting a lot of individuals, females, who are going through situations in their lives. It’s not as though its exclusive to females, its also with males, I have been getting a lot of contact and comments from females. I feel that satan what’s to stop or check the last hope that he has in the Church and world, and that is by attacking women on a regular basis. The reason why I’m saying that is because, he basically has a lot of men caught up in the mind set of PMS: Power, Money and Sex. So one of the last things that he needs to do is to disrupt the flow of the Church and world is to go after the weaker sex. They say the praying mother’s of the Church who help and directed the young we, they say well, if you’ve got a good man or a good woman, he wants to go after them. So to totally disrupt the flow of God in House of God, he will go after the women in the church. Whether its by looking for a man which they shouldn’t be, or whether through their husbands who aren’t in the Church, or causing them to get involved with a mate or potential mate who isn’t in the Church. Ladies, before I continue on let me say this, if you are a child of God, calling yourself to be a woman of God, you should not be looking for at mate. In the book of Proverb 18:22, it’s saids Whoso findeth a wife, not a man or a husband finds a good thing. You should allow God to find your mate. You should not be out there on the hunt or the search nor on the dating scene. What you see is not what your going to get. And by all means, the bible says not to be unequally yoked.

2 Corinthians 6:14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

If you are a Woman of God, in the House of God, you should not be dating but courting one man period. You should not be, especially dating men in the world. When the Word of God says unequally yoked, it’s like  when you want to pray, he wants to party, when you want to go Church, he wants to go to the bar, when you want to have family time, he wants to go out and be with his friends. Everything you want to do of the Lord, he/she is totally against that flow or mindset.

Having said all that, understand this, Satan is sifting us like wheat. Satan wants to destroy you, not abruptly, but slow your progress, delay your move in God, your communication with God; he wants to cause disruption in your walk. If he can cause disruption in your walk with God, you will not be where you should be at the right time, so God can use you and or bless you. You will not hear your call in God, nor understand your call in God because Satan come to kill, steal, and destroy. I don’t mean physically all the time, but destroy your mind, destroy your worship, destroy your physical time, destroy your communication with your loved ones or husband, to take your life in control to make you do what he wants you to do, to disrupt the move of God. As you allow satan to use the vices that you are weak in, whether it be men, whether it be food, whether it be clothing, whether it be lifestyle or whether it be the cares of the life, whether it be your children, whether it be desires, Satan will use all those avenues to deter you from your walk, from your talk, and from your mission in God to do the will of God. So, as you allow yourself, if you are a true woman of God, if you will allow God to order you steps, to take and make your steps sure, then you won’t fall, you won’t go out of balance, or to your left or right. There is a powerful man of God who is out there who can’t achieve his full potential in Christ unless he’s got that full potential woman in Christ at his side. The Bible has a particular structure that He set from the beginning. He said there is the man who blessings flow through, there is the woman, then there is the family. So the structure of God is, man is the head, the woman, and then the family. Satan’s structure is woman’s the head, man is the subordinate, and the family is 3rd. If you notice in our society today, everything is depicted as woman this woman this, even the Statue of Liberty, which is also know as the Statute of Isis is a woman in the harbor of New York. Satan wants to esteem the woman higher than man. That is the reason why he spoke to Eve. He didn’t speak to Adam, he spoke to Eve, pronouncing and restructuring what God had always set in place, man first. He knew that if he could convince the woman, he’s got her because she is the weaker vessel. She has three things that work for her that make her susceptible to the will of Satan. 1) Emotions 2)The desire of love of someone 3) Family. Those 3 things Satan has used against women throughout all history whether Biblical or natural, because those things he can control. As of late, he has thrown another one in, namely  power or control of a situation. That is a form of witchcraft and a lot of women operate in that unaware.

Having said that, the whole structure of how Satan wants to defeat you. First of all, a woman should never look for a mate. The word of God explains it very clearly.

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord. Proverbs 18:22

Not she who finds herself a husband finds a good thing. You all have been looking for a good thing, and you can’t find a good thing because that is only found by God for you. Because what you will find is what Satan wants you to have that will deter, destroy and corrupt your life and your walk with God. Some say, “Pastor, well I can’t wait! I need to have a man, I’ve got to have a man.” It is amazing to me a woman can carry a baby for 9 months. She isn’t trying to cut it out and get it out of her. But you can’t wait for God’s will to be perfected in your life when looking for a mate? Some of you don’t even need a mate. Some of you just need a personal relationship with God, because having a mate will take you away from the will of God in your life. Also, it will cause you to lose focus in your walk with God. For those woman whom God will assign to have a mate, He will bring that mate to you.

Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord. Proverbs 18:22

If your mind is so caught up on looking for one, or other things instead of looking for God, you will never find him. Looking for love in all the wrong places, looking for love in too many faces, and the song writer writes. What should a woman do, in the times of burning? The word of God says very simple:

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Isaiah 26:3.

“Well I don’t want to read the Bible every time I get hot, I can’t read, I can’t focus.” There are a lot of time where you will have to change your location, change your surroundings, because it you don’t it will cause you to want to fulfill that fleshly lust, especially for the young women who are out there. The older women should be a little more mature. I think above all things the older women should teach the young woman how to be wives (Timothy 2:3). They aren’t doing that today. A lot of the focus of the young women is to do what they want to do; to look for a man. If you teach them how to be a woman of God, and I don’t mean how to be a mother Theresa or to preach and teach, I mean how to be sober, how to have peace in their minds and hearts, knowing that God is going to fulfill their desires that are good for them. Not all the time are our desires what God wants for us. We think that what we want, God wants for us; not really. We have to really understand that our purpose in asking God, is His will for our lives. So when we ask God, we should be asking for patience so that we may be able to operate in Him with patience, and run that race, saying “Lord prepare me for the husband that is for me.” I don’t want anybody to steal my good thing, because I didn’t know how to receive it or wait for it. A lot of things that come upon us in relationship with God that we can’t do is because we have our own agenda. We only came to God because we found out that He’ll answer what we want. He is not a genie in a bottle, neither is he a box of good gift givings for you. You can’t just rub the side of your Bible and say in Jesus Name and its so. That is not how He works.

While you are getting yourself right in Him, while you are temperate and while you are gaining longsuffering, and while you are working toward being sober, while you are working toward being clear of heart and mind, while you are working toward having faith and patience, and while you are building up your true holy faith in Him, He will be preparing your husband for you. If you can’t wait for Him to do that, then maybe you don’t need one. A lot of women don’t realize that what causes the stress and hardship is moving in your own time, and not in Gods. What do you mean by that, well, when you try to set up your own time schedule for your life for what you want to achieve, you can’t see what tomorrow holds, God can. You don’t know the heart of the individuals that are around you, God does. You do not know what God’s will is for your life as of yet because you are looking to do things in your own time. Its good to have goals, but your goals should be based upon, “God what is good for me?” You should be asking our Lord and savior Jesus Christ, “What can I do to prepare me for that good thing that you have for me?

The Children of Israel cried for years being held captive in Israel saying “we want the messiah, we want to be delivered from our stress, oh Lord deliver us from our oppressors.” During that time they were in Egypt, a lot of them took on the mindsets, habits and traditions of worship of other gods such as Anubis, Isis, Osiris; all these different gods. Even though they said when will we be delivered, the point of the fact is when God brought forth a deliver he wasn’t received. They were looking for the deliver to come with an army and wipe out all of the Egyptians and take them back and free them from their situation. When they got free by God’s powerful, merciful hand through his servant Moses; on the journey home, they couldn’t leave Egypt behind them. Some of you all can’t leave the mess of the world behind you. You hold on to that same mess and you bring it right over into your point of getting to Jordan, not realizing that that mindset you had before you came into Christ, has to be gone. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Philipians 2:5). Some of us are still holding Egypt in our hearts and minds; the times when we went out to have a good time and party; we can not let that go because those felt good. But they only felt good from a fleshly state. Some of us can’t let go of anger; do this to me and I’ll do that to you. Some of the things we’re experiencing today in our lives, stem from the mindset we had before we knew Christ. Getting back to the Children of Israel, after being on the way journey to Jordan, and as you’re on your walk in Christ to get to where He desires you to be, your going to find hickups and problems along the way. Same thing with the Children of Israel, they had battles and fights that they had to deal with along the way. Even when their leader Moses had fallen along the way, the Children of Israel were still to continue to go and make it to Mt. Sini, that is the point of deliverance where Christ is in their life. The same way with you and your walk, trying to make it, to the end, and in the process of doing that, you get to where there is a wall, and that wall is that memory of the past, how you use to act, live and be. The Children of Israel got to a mountain where they’d gotten tired along their journey, complaining they didn’t have enough food and water. We complain to the Lord that we don’t have enough time for Him, or time to do this or that. The Lord says wait we’ll get to that point, you just be obedient to My will, deterring not right or left. The Children of Israel continued on, when they got to the mountain of God and saw the presence of God around them. When they got to that aspect of their life, they were waiting for instructions from God, and while the man of God was there to wait and go and receive instruction, the people had a simple task to do: just wait on God, Hallelujah. In your walk, when you get to the point where you don’t think you can go anywhere, you feel that this is where God wants you, then you need to wait on God. In the process of waiting, Satan is not going to stop what he is doing, what he has been doing to your life all along, persuading, messing you up jacking your spirit all up. He is going to bring the right one along to you, the one whom you think may be right, he will bring up situations right there in your life, and the Lord says wait on Me. He is going to come, though he tarry, He will be there. The Children of Israel could not wait; as soon as the Man of God left their presence, the man who led them from Egypt, they did what came natural to them. Their past became their present. They began to act like they were in Egypt, even though they were free from Egypt. That is the problem we see in the Church today. Many folk get freed from their Egypt in their life, but they don’t know they’re free. When they’re in the presence of being free, they begin to wonder back to their thought when they were in bondage. That is what they desire because that is all they knew, even though they cried to be free. So when they got free, and were in the wilderness, they didn’t have anything to do in their mind. They saw all the great miracles, parting the Red Sea, Moses and the rock gushing with water, the battles they won, but they went back to what they knew in their flesh. This is what we do as the Men and Women of God, we go back and say we know what this situation is about what that situation is about because we have images and pictures of it, thought patterns, I like that emotional feeling. So we long for those things.Satan will bring back that emotion and that physical feeling in your body. Next thing you know you’re performing those things that you did before you knew Christ, and you get swallowed up in it. What happened to the wait on God moment? God had to be put on the back burner because now I’m experiencing who I am, what I am and what I want to do. So now what takes place in your life is an abrupt stop in the walk and growth in Christ. Now you have been captivated by the sins of the past. If you don’t let the sins of the past disappear from your past, they will become your future. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2). How do you get a renewed mind? …whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report (Philippians 4:8) think on these things in the Name of Jesus, and not in your flesh. These are the problems that we, who are called the people of God, the Body of God, the love of God, all these things, everything, these are the people who could not wait.

End of part 1

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The Sower

Matthew 13:1-9

The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side. And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow; And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

When God gives you the ability to understand who He is and what He’s all about, where do you go from there? Do you take what you’ve learned and go cast it to the wayside? Have you even tried to cast any seeds? Have you even bothered to think about it? The Word of God is very clear. Some of the things you’re going to say are going to fall on good ground, some not on good ground. Some of the words that you start out spreading, everyone is not going to receive or understand. But, you will never know unless you sow the seed. Has that seed been sown in you, has it fallen on good ground in you? Has it even begun to materialize in you? We who are called the people of God, who are looking after our Lord and Savior haven’t begun to witness. Witnessing is not where you go out and go door to door or you go out and you begin to proclaim Christ to every person in the neighborhood…but it is when God gives you the opportunity to present the Word of God to that good seed, to that good soil. A lot of people just want to throw the Word of God out there and throw the cards wherever they lie, but that isn’t what it’s really all about. It’s about sowing the seeds in the correct place, making sure the seed 1st falls upon good ground in you. If the word didn’t fall upon good ground in your heart and mind, then you would be encompassed by the weeds or people who flood your mind with things of the world. You hear it but it isn’t rooted in you and the elements around you, the world type atmosphere around you begins to show you a new way of how to live, and you die. The word is very clear:

 

Matthew 13:7

And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:

 

In other words, you minister and witness to someone and they go back to the same environment where there is no help. Or, the word grows up amongst the mess that is in you, and as it does the mess in you chokes it up and you loose the word and go right back into the world. The understanding is that, when God speaks to our heart, we should say “Lord fill me up, because I know I won’t last and I don’t want the word to leave me, but to stay with me.”

 

Matthew 13:9

Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

 

Let him understand that this word is so true. When you look at the understanding that God is trying to root Himself inside you so that you will not forget you will not fall to the wayside, but grow and produce fruit. In other words, people like you. It is very bad when you say you are a child of God and you haven’t witnessed to anyone during your whole life. The 1st day when you come to salvation, God will open up opportunities for you to speak concerning Him. Not everyone, because the Word of God says everyone will not be saved, but you are not to focus on that, but on the opportunities God gives you to witness to someone. It won’t always come out the way you want to witness to someone.

 

Matthew 13:10-32

10 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand. And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive: For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them. Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower. When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side. But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

 

As we have seen and understood that the word is a seed. Your heart is the soil. If you are more in tune to this world, you will have no connection with God. That is the biggest problem we see today with people. People do not understand that it is not about you, but its about God. It is about what you will do as a Child of God in the world. If the very little things that go on in this life cause you to flinch, doubt, or have second thoughts about whom you serve, then you need to “check yourself, before you wreck yourself.” There is a way that seem right unto a man but the end thereof is the way of death. The way of death is everything that leads to your damnation and not your salvation. If you allow this world to become a part of your life, then Christ will not be in you. You can’t serve two masters, you will either hate the one or love the other, or hate them both. You have to make a choice. If you choose God, you have to let go of all the mess in your life, of all the indecision in your life, all the people in your life, family in your life. People will not understand when you say let people go, because you are connected to this world and not to God. As long as you stay connected to this world, God can not connect to you. The Bible says how long halt you between two opinions? If God be God serve Him. You must let go of this world. If you can’t let go of this world then you will never understand who He is. You can’t live half way in the world, and half way out of it. You can’t do the things in this world and go to Church. That is society today. Most people go to Church, they live in the world, doing worldly things, drinking, smoking, cursing, making their own rules, and justify it calling themselves Children of God. That is not true, you aren’t a child of God, you are a child of this world, posing as a Child of God. You’re a tare amongst the wheat, you’re a goat amongst the sheep. You are who you serve. If you walk like a duck, look like a duck, and act like a duck, what are you? A duck. Everything about you is a duck. If you are in the world, dress like the world, talk like the world, look like the world, acat like the world, then you are in the world. You are not in Christ, you are just in a building, in a Church; an edifice. All you are doing is occupying a seat that could be utilized for someone else who really wants to know who God is. God is not calling you to do what you want to do,He is calling you to do what He wants you to do. As long as you’re flesh is involved with you decision making of your growth and walk in Christ, you will never ever be rooted and rounded in God. The words that you speak will be mingled with the words of your own wisdom and this world, and as you mingle, it causes people to sin, fall, and stray away and never come to the full understanding of who God is and His son who has died for our sins.

As you understand, that when seed is sown in you, let it take root in you. If the seed is going to grow, you’ve got to feed it the right nourishment. As a farmer, you feed it water, nutrients, air and sunshine, and the plant will grow. Same with a saint, if you are a new believer, feed them the word, teach them how to pray, keep their surroundings (soil) clean in nature, keep them away from the world, and teach them how to love, they will grow and be a powerful seed rooted and grounded in Him. How long halt you between two opinions? If you’re going to serve God, serve Him. Serving Him does not mean with your mouth, but with your life, heart and mind. You have to pursue God, the one who has created you, whose given you the ability to be alive today. How long will you live in sin, not even noticing you’re walking in your flesh? Sometimes we think we do things thinking are walking in God, when in actuality we are walking in our flesh. (If you FEEL, then its your will and not Gods.) Sometimes we walk through dry places in God, where we can’t feel the spirit of God, and that is that whole spirit thing where as you are not aware, because you are more concerned about feeling God instead of operating. When you can’t feel, continuously do the will of God. We falter in that state and say “I don’t feel the presence of God, I don’t know where I’m going or where I’m at.” Well, when you don’t feel Him, maybe its just that test to see what you can do without having his presence around. Can you still continuously talk about Me, or live holy, or treat everyone with love? Can you still represent? There are many dry places in your life, and you tend to feel them with the word and with the mindset and concept of your flesh hoping that that will sustain you to the next level until you reach and feel God again. It is not like this. The Word says in Matthew 12:44 “Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished.”

 

When you allow yourself to be pulled away, you start doing demonic things. That is because the demons that were in your house, when God came through and wiped them out, say its clean in this place, lets make our home here onece more. He will bring in more demons worse than himself to maintain that territory in you.

 

Matthew 12:45

While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

 

God came to you and dealt with you. As a seed you started to grow, your house became clean, ready for the Holy Ghost to dwell. Then you go back on what God has shown you, in any aspect of your walk. The seed gets choked out and has no root. That evil spirit that was thrown out comes back to make a mess, and says to maintain that person, it will bring seven demons worse than itself, so it will never hear the word of God again. These are the things we have to be careful of. When the seed, which is the Word of God, is sown in the individual, make sure the seed is rooted, keep it nourished, under prayer, around people who walk in the spirit. You are what you hang around. If you are an alcoholic you will hang around alcoholics. Be around people who are true Children of God. Not people who claim to be children of God with a bottle in one hand and a cigarette in the other. The word of God tells us not to defile our bodies. It is all up to you to live and be holy. The roots of a dandelion, as said before in other sermons, are deep, so very deep, so that no matter what you do to it on the surface, it will still grow back and be robust. As a Child of God, you should be so rooted in Him, that no matter what people say or do, you will still be able to preach, teach, live and converse in totality of a spiritual nature. How long halt you between two opinions? Its easy to talk Christ, but how many people can live it? Can you live for Christ if it concerns your Children? Can you live for Christ if its concerning your parents? Can you live for Christ if it concerns your friends, or job, or neighborhood, bad news, good news? Can you still live for Him, and let your roots sprout out? Can you let yourself be strong and grown in Him, so you can do His will? Do you know what His will is? Search and find out what His will is. Let your roots grown in God, let your surroundings be of a good nature, and around those who are like-minded. Maintain who you are; rooted and grounded in the word of God. He will not withhold any good thing to those who love Him.

Lord I’m Available for You.