THE GOOD FEAR: IN CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER

Praise the Lord everybody! Let everything that Has breath praise His holy name!! As this year winds down, I have been sitting here contemplating how much God has blessed me this past year. From the outside looking in it might appear to some that all He has given me is a lot of trials, tribulations, and physical pain. In the natural, that would be true, but in the spiritual realm, he has given me so much more. I'm truly looking forward to the coming year where I believe God will allow me the opportunity to put into play the wisdom and understanding He has blessed me with this past year.

I'd like to share with you about something that can hinder your walk and progress in the Lord or enhance your walk and relationship with God, and that something is the "Fear Factor." The use of the word "Fear" in the Bible can lead to confusion if you are not careful in your study of God's word.

I can remember a time when I was newly saved, working in fulltime ministry for the Lord. God was providing for all my needs, I was on fire, fasting, praying, and consecrated unto God. God was using me to win souls by blessing my testimony and anointing my preaching, all was right in my world as far as I was concerned. One day all that changed when I fell back into drug use, and when I fell I fell hard. During that two day run, I brought shame on myself and on God's ministry. It was then that I came to my Pastor and he said to me something I will never forget "Brother Darrell, this happened because you don't fear God."

The words he spoke stung me, and immediately I began to defend myself. "What do you mean? I fear God! I do, I just don't understand how I let the devil trick me." I did not understand what he meant, and that statement haunted me as I went back into rehab and discipleship as God began to restore me.

To me the spirit of fear was a bad thing, didn't the bible say in 2nd Timothy 1:7  7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
I knew that we were not supposed to be afraid of God, and I knew that I loved Him, so what did my Pastor mean "You don't Fear God." I knew the Devil tries to bring fear and paranoia into our lives as he tries to destroy us and hinder our walks with God, but what was I missing? What did I need to do to improve my walk with God?
God's word says in Proverbs 1:7 7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.  I knew this scripture, but I did not fully understand the meaning behind it. This went on for a few years, I made many mistakes and bad decisions. I left the program and fulltime ministry and returned to the working world. It was then, that God began to teach me what it meant to "fear" Him.

First of all, He stripped me down. I had no job, and could not get one, no matter how many degrees or nursing licenses I had or experiences I had. To make a long story short, God used this situation as a teaching tool. For all my love of God, my brokenness when He saved me, all my service, and sacrifice in His name, the bottom line was I did not "respect" God. That was the "fear" that was missing from my life with Him.

I had yet to realize that it was God who was in control of every aspect of my life, not me. There is no job, no career, no life, no anything without God's okay. The fact that I wake up every morning was at His pleasure, not mine. The reality of who God is finally became real to me. I had been trying to hold on to some of my own control, thinking I was doing something, achieving something in my own strength, I had to realize that my WHOLE life was in His hands, and once I did that I felt another burden lifted from me, now I understood what Jesus meant in Matthew 11:28 28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 

Once I put down the burden of trying to do things in my own strength, wisdom began in my own life. I realized what my Pastor meant back then, you don't want to anger or disappoint the one who has your life in His hands. He was right, I probably would not have done what I did if I truly had "feared" or respected God totally for who He was and still is back then. God had mercy on me and allowed me to avoid learning this lesson in jail. He allowed me to learn from my mistakes.
The fear of the Lord is a good thing. I just would like to leave you with the following scriptures.

Matthew 10:28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.

Job 28:28  And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that [is] wisdom; and to depart from evil [is] understanding.

 Proverbs 14:27 The fear of the LORD [is] a fountain of life, to depart from the snares of death.

Ecclesiastes 12:13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this [is] the whole [duty] of man.

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

HOW THE REAL GRINCH IS STILL STEALING CHRISTMAS

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYBODY!! AND AGAIN I SAY MERRY CHRISTMAS ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!!! When I was a child I thought as a child, I thought of Christmas trees and Santa Clause, stockings and toys. As an adult, I thought of Gifts and Secret Santa's and Grab bags and sales. One day I came out of darkness into God's marvelous light. Now I think of Jesus Christ, God's gift to the world, The Lamb of God who was slain from the foundation of the earth, the real reason for the season.
                       I FIRST PUBLISHED THIS IN 2013, BUT FELT IT WAS WORTH REVISITING, GOD BLESS!!

There is a spirit in America that is getting stronger each and every day. All you have to do is look around during this time of year. Signs exclaiming Merry X-mas, Happy Holidays!! and Seasons Greetings!!, all accepted salutations for this time of year but the real reason for the season, the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ seems to diminish every year. Regardless of what His actual birth date is, this is the Churches appointed time to celebrate that occasion. The world has commercialized this Holiday and is trying to remove Christ from the equation. They have also banned Nativity scenes in front of Churches and town squares in many cities. they have X'd out Christ.

This spirit is not only prevalent during the Christmas season but abides all year round. The country is about to remove "In God We Trust" from our money and you can not talk about Christ in most public schools when speaking in a general assembly and they have already removed prayer and movies have been made questioning Christ's Deity and His Holiness. 1 John 4:2-3 talks about this spirit, the spirit of the Anti- Christ.  1 John 4:2-3
King James Version (KJV)
2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

3 And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

It is here and it is getting stronger every day. Man in his own wisdom has decided that the name of Jesus Christ and Christianity is divisive and an affront to other peoples beliefs and therefore it is getting to be politically incorrect to use His name during His own holiday season. In part, they are correct Jesus himself said He was coming not to bring "peace but a sword" in Matthew 10:33-35 
King James Version (KJV)
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.

34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.

He also came to reconcile Man and God, giving us a chance at redemption and everlasting life. He came down from glory to die for our sins. No greater gift has ever been given nor ever will be. Celebrating jolly fat men in Red suits and red-nosed reindeer and toys instead of the Birth of our savior, yes I said OUR savior because He is whether you believe or not, is a heartbreaking shame. In this country that still claims to be a "God-fearing" Christian nation, this should not be happening, just like people leaving their families and running out to shop on Thanksgiving Day should not be happening.

Jesus could have cared less about being "politically correct" as He squared off against the Pharisees and the keepers of the law during His earthly ministry and neither should we. Let's stop dressing up in Red suits and hats during this season and clothe ourselves in Christ. Make Christ visible this Christmas!

              God bless you all, Brother Darrell, Speaking Off The Wall

GOD IS OUR AUDIENCE!

Praise the Lord everybody! Let everything that has breath praise His holy name! Praise Him in the morning, praise Him in the evening, praise Him when the sun goes down! I love to praise Him, and if that is wrong, I don't want to be right.

God showed something to me the other day while I was talking to a good friend of mine and I would like to share it with the Saints of God. He was recounting to me a conversation he had with his Pastor one Sunday after he had led the praise and worship that service. The Pastor began to mention some of the comments made by the congregation concerning his singing and or style of leading the worship and praise. After listening to the comments he told the Pastor, "I can't be concerned about those things because when I'm up there, the Lord is my audience." That statement stuck with me and brought to mind what David did and said in 2nd Samuel 6:12-23

12 And it was told king David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obededom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of David with gladness.

13 And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.

14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod.

15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet.

16 And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.

17 And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord.

18 And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.

 19 And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house.

20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel today, who uncovered himself today in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!

21 And David said unto Michal, It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord.

22 And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor.

23 Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death.

David had it right and so did my friend, our praise and our worship is not for the onlookers here on earth to give their opinion or be a judge of it, it is for God. Praise and worship is not entertainment, it is a way for us to show our love and devotion to God. the Gospel music industry has corrupted what was once pure praise, and has made it just that, an industry, a money-making machine. Gospel Artist are pushing out album after album in order to meet the terms of their contracts, anointed or not it doesn't matter because it's not for God to enjoy, it's for the people and to make money.

We have shows like "Sunday Best" where contestants compete over who can sound more anointed and more consecrated, but God knows who is faking it and who has really consecrated themselves unto Him, Who's about fame and fortune and who are truly worshipping Him out of true love. He knows who wants to be seen and heard by people and those who only want to please Him.

One particular pet peeve of mine are those churches that open their doors to tours of people, especially in Harlem New York, Where Pastors make deals with tour services to bring in busloads of people to their Church services whose only reason they come is to be entertained by the choirs and soloist. They bring food and snacks and sit in the back and get up and leave as soon as the preacher gets up to preach, but he doesn't care because at least they were there for the offering.

The spirit of praise falls on everybody differently, our praise of God is a personal thing, it’s not for entertainment but it can be entertaining. It can not be judged by man, only God.

God is our audience! and not just for our praise and worship but also in our everyday life He is there watching. Jesus tells us in John 4:23 23 But the hour cometh, and now is when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

So worship God in spirit and in truth, worship Him for who He is and what He has done you and for His people, and don't let anybody tell you there's something wrong with your worship or your praise as long as it is in spirit and in truth. Our audience is God, not men.

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