GOD'S TOKEN: WORTH MORE THAN A BUS RIDE

Praise the Lord everybody!! Let everything that has breath praise His holy name. God is truly moving by His spirit in these last and evil days. I am grateful that He has seen fit to allow me to see what I've seen so far and I pray God allows me to remain until He comes.

With all the trials and tribulations I have endured over the years, you would think that I would become bitter and question my faith. Yet I have given no thought to doing such a thing. The other day I was reminded of one reason why I do not.

I was enjoying another "Hour of Power" service at my church the other day when we read a scripture that grabbed my attention.
 2nd Thessalonians 1:1-7

1 Paul, and Silvanus, and Timotheus, unto the church of the Thessalonians in God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:

2 Grace unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is meet, because that your faith groweth exceedingly, and the charity of every one of you all toward each other aboundeth;

4 So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

5 Which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

6 Seeing it is a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you;

7 And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels,

Paul tells the church at Thessalonica that the trials, persecutions, and tribulations that they are going through are just a "manifest token" of God's righteous judgment, a part of being proven worthy of the kingdom of God.
How many of you remember when we had to buy tokens in order to ride the bus or trains in New York? The token was a little coin that you put in a machine at the subway station and once the machine recognized and accepted the token it would then allow you into the train station to ride the train.

Paul is also telling all Christians that there is a price to be paid by believers to ride the gospel train into the "kingdom of Heaven". The trials and tribulations that we endure for and in Christ are our "manifest token", our proof that we belong on that train. One of the keywords in verse 4 is to "endure". We must endure these trials, standing flatfooted in our faith, and trusting that God will see us through. This is how we purchase our token, not with money but with faith.

Jesus paid the price with His life. If we want to follow Him we must receive our "manifest token".

                 God Bless You All, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

THE FEAR FACTOR: FEAR IS NOT FROM GOD!!

Praise the Lord everybody!! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Happy belated New Year!! to everyone. this is my first post of the new year and I'm looking forward to seeing what God is going to do in the coming year. I recently wrote the following article for another ministry about a week ago, at their request. I pray it blesses you all as it did them, God bless.


              THE FEAR FACTOR: FEAR IS NOT FROM GOD

                                              BY BROTHER DARRELL

Praise the Lord everybody! Today I want to share with you on the subject of “FEAR” as it pertains to God and His word and His people. The dictionary describes fear as this:

1.

a. A very unpleasant or disturbing feeling caused by the presence or imminence of danger: Our fears intensified as the storm approached.

b. A state or condition marked by this feeling: living in constant fear of attack; saved as much as he could for fear of losing his job.

 2. Extreme reverence or awe, as toward a deity.

As Christians we should all be familiar with number 2, the Bible states that “the FEAR of God is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10)

The Fear we will be discussing is not the fear of the Lord but the fears expressed in definition 1, the fears we all have experienced at one time or another. It all started with a lie by the father of lies back in the beginning in the Garden of Eden. In Genesis 3:7-10 states

7 And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

9 And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou?

10 And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.

This is where fear came into being, before this, there wasn’t any reason for man to fear. Man was in right relationship with his maker, he had been given dominion over the Garden and all animal life. Then the devil came in the form of a snake and twisted God’s word and thereby lied to the woman causing her and the man to sin and losing their good standing with God. (Read whole chapter)

Jesus stated in John 8:44 44 you belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Jesus was letting His disciples know not to trust or believe anything the devil says to you, and one of the devils biggest weapons is fear. Paul states in 2nd Timothy 1:7 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

If God did not give us the spirit of fear then who did? It is a lie from the pit of hell, God’s word is full of examples that tell us that we are to live by faith and not fear anything or anyone but to fear/ reverence the Lord only. Too many Christians are allowing fear to paralyze them in their everyday lives. The devil loves to use fear because he can use it to torment the saints. Those Saints need to be reminded whose they are and whom they serve. The Christian movement Apparel company has put out a T-shirt saying “FEAR: IS A LIE” based on 2nd Timothy 1:7, it is a reminder to us all, which I feel is very appropriate for these last and evil days. 

The devil is a liar! And fear is one of his main weapons, so whenever you feel that dread, that anxiety or that helplessness that is associated with fear just remember God’s word and His promises and you will never fall to fear again. God bless you all.
                                                                Brother Darrell