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    "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

    "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." John 1:14

    ​Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.
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    "THE COMFORTER" AUDIO BLOG

    John 14

    1 ​"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.

    2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.

    3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

    4 And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.

    5 Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?

    6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

    7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

    8 Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us.

    9 Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?

    10 Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.

    11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.

    12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

    13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

    14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

    15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.

    16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;

    17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

    18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

    19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.

    20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

    21 He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.

    22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?

    23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

    24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me.

    25 These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.

    26 But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

    27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

    28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

    29 And now I have told you before it come to pass, that, when it is come to pass, ye might believe.

    30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
    ​
    31 But that the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence."

    Thank you, Jesus. Amen.


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    "THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT" AUDIO BLOG

    Matthew 5

    ​1 "And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:

    2 And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,

    3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

    4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

    5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

    6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

    7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

    8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

    9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

    10 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

    11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.

    12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

    13 Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

    14 Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

    15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

    16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

    17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

    18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

    19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

    20 For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

    21 Ye have heard that it was said of them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:

    22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

    23 Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee;

    24 Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.

    25 Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison.

    26 Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.

    27 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:

    28 But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

    29 And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

    30 And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

    31 It hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

    32 But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.

    33 Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

    34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:

    35 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

    36 Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

    37 But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

    38 Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:

    39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

    40 And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also.

    41 And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.

    42 Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.

    43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

    44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;

    45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

    46 For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?

    47 And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so?

    48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."

    Thank you, Jesus. Amen.



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    "THE SOWER OF THE SEED" AUDIO BLOG


    Luke 8

    4 "And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every city, he spake by a parable:

    5 A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.

    6 And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away, because it lacked moisture.

    7 And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.

    8 And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

    9 And his disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?

    10 And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.

    11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.

    12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.

    13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.

    14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard, go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.

    15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.

    Amen.

    ​

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    "SAMSON AND DELILAH" AUDIO BLOG

    Above Image: 1st Century mosaic showing a firebrand tied between two fox's tails.

    "    And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between two tails." Judges 15:4-5
    The Birth of Samson

    ​Judges 13

    1     "And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

    2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and bare not.

    3 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.

    4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

    5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines."

    What is a "Nazarite unto God"? From biblestudy.org

    ​Quote: "Those desiring to take the vow of a Nazarite had to be willing to sacrifice certain aspects of their life for the duration of their pledge. They had to abstain entirely from wine or drinking anything with alcohol in it (Numbers 6:3, see also Amos 2:12). In fact, those who decided to dedicate themselves to God as a Nazarite had to abstain from eating any grapes or any product made from them like juice, raisins and so on.

    "Those who were under the vow could not shave any hair on their head (e.g. beard, mustache, eyebrows - Numbers 6:5, Judges 13:5, 16:17). This meant that those who promised to serve God in such a way were easily recognizable to other people, as they had long hair, bushy eyebrows, a long unkempt beard, etc.

    A Nazarite was not permitted to come near a corpse, even if it was from a close family member, so that they would not be rendered unclean (Numbers 6:6 - 7)." End quote.

    Samson Kills a Lion

    When Samson was older, he killed a lion with his bare hands; he used no weapon.

    "And the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, and he rent him [the lion] as he would have rent a kid [goat], and he had nothing in his hand: but he told not his father or his mother what he had done." Judges 14:6

    It is significant that the scripture tells us he had nothing in his hand to kill the lion, so he killed it with his bare hands, meaning he touched a carcass, an unclean thing, an abomination.

    It is also significant that it tells us specifically that he withheld the information from his parents, who would surely have made him perform the customary rituals for cleansing after touching a dead animal.

    Later, Samson saw the same lion he had killed previously, and there was a beehive in the carcass. Samson scooped up the honey and ate it, and gave it to his mother and father to eat, and they ate it, being unaware that it came from a dead animal's body.

    "Or, if a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcase . . . and if it be hidden from him; he also shall be unclean, and guilty."

    Did Samson break his vow, and also cause his mother and father to sin as well? Clearly, they never repented of this sin, or performed the customary rituals to cleanse themselves, as is borne out by the subsequent life and death of Samson. 

    BLESSINGS AND CURSES

    Samson's first wife, a Philistine, was given away by his father-in-law to his friend. This enraged Samson, who burned down the Philistine corn (see image of 1st Century mosaic above). The Philistines retaliated by burning down Samson's wife and her family.

    Samson then judged the Israelites for some 20 years, before marrying Delilah, who tricked him for eleven hundred shekels of silver from each of the kings, who wanted to know the secret of Samson's strength so they could defeat him. Samson finally told Delilah his secret, that a razor had never touched his head; she told the kings, and then she let them shave Samson's head, while he was asleep on her lap.

    Samson became weak, and the Philistines captured him, put out both of his eyes, and put him in prison as a grinder, one who pushes the grinding or mill stones. Eventually, Samson brought down the building on the Philistine's heads. Quote: "    He perished in the last terrible destruction he brought upon his enemies. So the dead which he slew at his death were more [in social and political importance-the elite of the people] than they which he slew in his life. Straining all his nerves, he bowed: As with the force of winds and waters pent, When mountains tremble, those two massy pillars, with horrible convulsion to and fro he tugged, he shook, till down they came, and drew the whole roof after them, with burst of thunder upon the heads of all who sat beneath, Lords, ladies, captains, counsellors, or priests, their choice nobility and flower." End Quote. From kingjamesbibleonline.org.

    Can you see how Samson was cursed as soon as he disobeyed the angel of the LORD, who represents God's Will?

    God's Word is alive and active and powerful, and it is for us, to receive His blessings! Read it, meditate on it day and night, get it down on the inside of you, into your heart, so that the wiles of the devil cannot not take away your blessings. The devil can test us all day, every day, and if he sees a weakness in us, he will, a weakness in our armor, where God's Word is not protecting us.

    Psalm 119:11 says it best: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee."

    I mean, it cannot be any clearer than that. Hide God's Word in your heart so that you do not sin against Him. Make sure that when the devil tests you, your first response is from God, righteous, morally upright, with love, mercy and compassion for all mankind, especially your brothers and sisters in Christ. 

    Remember, Jesus said Love your neighbor as yourself Matthew 22:39, and Love not the world neither the things in it at 1 John 2:

    15 "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 

    16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

    17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

    He that does the will of God, obeys God, and is blessed.

    There is redemption through the blood of Jesus Christ. Do not be like Samson, Cain, and so many others in the Bible. Many received blessings, great blessings, and also received curses for their disobedience.

    Samson was blessed with strength, but he did not obey God, and he was greatly cursed as well.

    Repent. Jesus said, "Change your hearts, and show by the way you live that you have changed." Matthew 3:8

    Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

    ​
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    "THE MAN AND THE STICKS" AUDIO BLOG

    1 Corinthians 10:11 ​"Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."
    This morning, the meaning of Numbers 15:32-36 below became clear to me. I have to admit that this Scripture has always bugged me. Why would a God of love and light do such a thing?

    I even told our Pastor at one point, "Not. My. God." God bless Pastor David. He has the patience of a saint (as we all should). Of course, I was missing the bigger picture, God's picture.

    Numbers 15

    ​32 "And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.

    33 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.

    34 And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should be done to him.

    35 And the Lord said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.

    36 And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the Lord commanded Moses."

    ​We feel bad for one man (I know I did), because it seems that all he wanted to do was build a fire to cook food, but that is what our eyes see, the man's outward appearance. God looks at our hearts.

    "But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7

    Or as Jesus said at John 7:24, "    Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." In other words, judge on integrity and godliness.

    This blog is not easy to write, but does that mean we should not write it, or speak the truth? The fact is, no matter what some church leaders are teaching their congregations, God never promises a good time for bad people: For o    ur God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29. 

    Remember Noah and the Ark (click for scripture), when only eight people remained to repopulate the earth? 

    Or, Sodom and Gomorrah (click for scripture), when God destroyed the cities and everyone in them, because He could not find 10 righteous men, women or children among all of the inhabitants?

    "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, to day and for ever." ​Hebrews 13:8. And, although we are special, a chosen generation, we are not THAT special that God will overlook our flagrant, in-His-face sin. He will not.

    1 Corinthians 10

    ​1     "    Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

    2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

    3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;

    4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

    5 But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

    6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

    7 Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

    8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand.

    9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents.

    10 Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

    11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come."
    But, they didn't have a book that warned them like we have. There is a darkness coming, a dark silence. Will you be on God's boat?

    Repent, turn away from sin, and turn back to God. Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.