Matthew 5 ... Reading through the Bible

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 by 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 (NASB: You good for nothing), 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. 

(If a man divorces a faithful wife and that wife remarries, she will commit adultery and he will be the cause of her adultery because he divorced a wife who is faithful.  And the man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery, says Jesus in Mt. 5:32)

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Matthew 5

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 cloke 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.

Exhortation 6: Taking Thoughts Captive

Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet

Thoughts sent by the devil are problems to us.

Thoughts generated by our own flesh are problems to us.

Thoughts from God are by the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, who always speaks the truth from God and brings to us the heart of God on the matter at hand so we can know the will of God as we live on this present earth and can choose to go in the way of God.

The apostle John said:

I Jn. 4 … Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God:

Spirits bring ideas to our minds.  Some ideas are from God and the Holy Spirit.  Some ideas (thoughts) are from the devil but sound good and even semi-reasonable but lead us into the way of destruction if we choose to go that way.  Some ideas (thoughts) are generated by our own flesh which contends against the Word of God and the way of God.

It is our role, as Christians, to do what the apostle Paul instructed …

II Cor. 10:5 … Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

As long as we walk on this earth we contend for the faith in the Word of God, in God, in Jesus who is the Word.

The flesh has to be kept under the control of the Word of God. 

Galatians 5 … 19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

We learn to die daily to the flesh, not permitting the flesh to rule, keeping the flesh under the control of God and the Word and the Spirit of God.

Paul said:  27 But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection:lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway. I Cor. 9

This is something we learn day by day while we live on this present earth. And much of our battle is in the mind, in those thoughts that come to us and in the emotions evoked by our flesh and by the flesh of others … the hatred, the resentments, the lusts, the desires for praise of humans, the desire to outdo others … all these are battles which we overcome second by second through God and submitting to God and keeping ourselves under the control of God.

Through God we overcome.

In the book of Revelation, Jesus commissions each of the churches with the charge of overcoming.

Revelation:  (Jesus says to the churches)

2:10-11 … be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

Faithful … unto death … Even when it costs us something we cling to the Word given us by God.  And we do this to the end of our lives on this present earth, choosing what God says to us, ignoring our emotions which are often contrary to God.  Rejecting contrary ways of other humans.  Resisting opposing ways of devils.

All this area of covercoming has to do with deliberately choosing to believe what God says.

There are many times we become weary, especially in sharing things of God with others, in and out of the church.  It can seem to us futile.  But I keep going because of the following 3 scriptures.

Heb. 3 … 12 Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God. 13 But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end;

(Exhort means:  to urge earnestly by advice and warning)

Heb. 10 … 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.

I Corinthians 15 … 58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

Taking Thoughts Captive: Book Available Now on Amazon / Kindle

We are publishing a series of 10 books on Amazon/Kindle.

Several books are currently available for purchase. 

Go to Amazon and type Joan Boney in the search box.  

This will bring up the current books which you can purchase on Kindle for  $ 0.99.

The first book in the series is TAKING THOUGHTS CAPTIVE ...                    

Product Description:  Taking Thoughts Captive

While it takes less than an hour to read this book, it takes a lifetime to live it

These truths for life, shown by the Spirit of God in the Holy Bible, are paths to freedom ... freedoms when fears strike, freedoms from human bondages, freedom from doubts.

If we learn to do these things, we come into the rest provided by God.

It is not difficult to do the various instructions required to Take Thoughts Captive.  But it is difficult to remember to do them in the trials of this life.  And it is important to learn to be diligent.

The apostle Paul said: 
                       
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 

5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

 

This really can be done!
 
This is what this book is about ... teaching us the way of God in dealing with negative and destructive thoughts that plague us in this life.

But this book is not for everyone.  This book is for the person who belongs to God for only those people have the Spirit to believe what Jesus says and to do such on this earth. 


Joan Boney

      

          Life in Christ Series

 

• Taking Thoughts Captive
• Faith
• Following God By His Spirit
• Dealing With Destructive Thoughts
• Dreams
• Prayer
• The New Testament Church
• Promises From God to the Church
• Overcoming in Life
• Building Your House on the Bible 

Isaiah 4-5 ... Viewing the works of God through scripture

Isaiah 4

1 And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.
 
2 In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious,
and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.
 
3 And it shall come to pass, that he that is left in Zion, and he that remaineth in Jerusalem,
shall be called holy, even every one that is written among the living in Jerusalem:
4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion,
and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof
by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
 
5 And the Lord will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies,
a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night:
for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
 
6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat,
and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.

Isaiah 5 

1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill: 2 And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.
3 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. 4 What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it?
wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?
 
5 And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:
6 And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns:  I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.
 
7 For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah HIS pleasant plant: and HE looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

8 Woe unto them that join house to house, that lay field to field, till there be no place,
that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!
 
9 In mine ears said the Lord of hosts, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate,
even great and fair, without inhabitant.
 
10 Yea, ten acres of vineyard shall yield one bath, and the seed of an homer shall yield an ephah.
 
11 Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink;
that continue until night, till wine inflame them! 12 And the harp, and the viol, the tabret, and pipe, and wine, are in their feasts: but they regard not the work of the Lord,
neither consider the operation of HIS hands.
 
13 Therefore MY people are gone into captivity, because they have no knowledge: and their honourable men are famished, and their multitude dried up with thirst.
 
14 Therefore hell hath enlarged herself, and opened her mouth without measure: and their glory, and their multitude, and their pomp, and he that rejoiceth, shall descend into it.

(The ones who rejoice in the pomp of humans will descend into the hell of those humans.)

15 And the mean man shall be brought down, and the mighty man shall be humbled,
and the eyes of the lofty shall be humbled:
 
16 But the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and God that is holy shall be sanctified in righteousness. 

(When God raises up someone to judge the evil doers, then God will be exalted in that judgment.)


Numbers 25 ... 1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. 2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods:and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. 3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor:and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel. 

4 And the Lord said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and hang them up before the Lord against the sun, that the fierce anger of the Lord may be turned away from Israel. 5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men that were joined unto Baalpeor.
 
6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation. 

7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in his hand; 8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly. 

So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel. 9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. (24,000 died)
 
10 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath turned MY wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous for MY sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in my jealousy. 

12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and made an atonement for the children of Israel. 

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Isaiah 5

17 Then shall the lambs feed after their manner, and the waste places of the fat ones shall strangers eat.

18 Woe unto them that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as it were with a cart rope:
19 That say, Let him make speed, and hasten his work, that we may see it:
and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw nigh and come, that we may know it!
 
20 Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!


Comments by Joan Boney  ...Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil ... A Catholic woman called me to tell me of the death of her mother.  She was so excited because her mother (who was very wealthy) wanted her funeral to be conducted by a bishop of the Catholic church and the mother died and they went to the bishop asking him to perform a ceremony in honor of her dead mother.  The bishop had agreed to do this.  This Catholic woman who called me to tell me this was so proud that the bishop would perform this.  (I wondered what would have happened had a poor, Mexican, woman asked they bishop to perform her funeral?)  I suspected if they had been richer they might even had persuaded the pope of the Catholic church to perform her mother's funeral.  But all they seemed to be able to aim for was a bishop and they rejoiced in him.


I sent her an email the next day after she told me this abominable story.  I told her I was sorry she had told this story and that it was an abomination.  She stopped calling me.

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Isaiah 5

21 Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
 
22 Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink:
 
23 Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!
 
24 Therefore as the fire devoureth the stubble, and the flame consumeth the chaff, so their root shall be as rottenness, and their blossom shall go up as dust:
because they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts,
and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel.
 
25 Therefore is the anger of the Lord kindled against HIS people, and HE hath stretched forth HIS hand against them, and hath smitten them: 

(David was described as a man after God's own heart ... desiring to do the will of God and to please God ... David was chosen by God to rule over the kingdom of Israel before the kingdom was divided.)


II Samuel 11 ... 1 And it came to pass, after the year was expired, at the time when kings go forth to battle, that David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabbah. But David tarried still at Jerusalem.
 
2 And it came to pass in an eveningtide, that David arose from off his bed, and walked upon the roof of the king's house:and from the roof he saw a woman washing herself; and the woman was very beautiful to look upon.  

(I Jn. 2 ...  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.)



3 And David sent and enquired after the woman. And one said, Is not this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite? 

4 And David sent messengers, and took her; and she came in unto him, and he lay with her; for she was purified from her uncleanness:and she returned unto her house. 5 And the woman conceived, and sent and told David, and said, I am with child.
 
6 And David sent to Joab, saying, Send me Uriah the Hittite. And Joab sent Uriah to David. 

7 And when Uriah was come unto him, David demanded of him how Joab did, and how the people did, and how the war prospered. 

8 And David said to Uriah, Go down to thy house, and wash thy feet. 

And Uriah departed out of the king's house, and there followed him a mess of meat from the king. 

9 But Uriah slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his lord, and went not down to his house. 

10 And when they had told David, saying, Uriah went not down unto his house, David said unto Uriah, Camest thou not from thy journey? why then didst thou not go down unto thine house? 

11 And Uriah said unto David, The ark, and Israel, and Judah, abide in tents; and my lord Joab, and the servants of my lord, are encamped in the open fields; shall I then go into mine house, to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? as thou livest, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing. 

12 And David said to Uriah, Tarry here to day also, and to morrow I will let thee depart. So Uriah abode in Jerusalem that day, and the morrow. 13 And when David had called him, he did eat and drink before him; and he made him drunk:and at even he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his lord, but went not down to his house.
 
14 And it came to pass in the morning, that David wrote a letter to Joab, and sent it by the hand of Uriah. 15 And he wrote in the letter, saying, Set ye Uriah in the forefront of the hottest battle, and retire ye from him, that he may be smitten, and die. 

16 And it came to pass, when Joab observed the city, that he assigned Uriah unto a place where he knew that valiant men were. 17 And the men of the city went out, and fought with Joab:and there fell some of the people of the servants of David; and Uriah the Hittite died also.
 

18 Then Joab sent and told David all the things concerning the war; 19 And charged the messenger, saying, When thou hast made an end of telling the matters of the war unto the king, 20 And if so be that the king's wrath arise, and he say unto thee, Wherefore approached ye so nigh unto the city when ye did fight? knew ye not that they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who smote Abimelech the son of Jerubbesheth? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall, that he died in Thebez? why went ye nigh the wall? then say thou, Thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.
 
22 So the messenger went, and came and shewed David all that Joab had sent him for. 23 And the messenger said unto David, Surely the men prevailed against us, and came out unto us into the field, and we were upon them even unto the entering of the gate. 24 And the shooters shot from off the wall upon thy servants; and some of the king's servants be dead, and thy servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also. 25 Then David said unto the messenger, Thus shalt thou say unto Joab, Let not this thing displease thee, for the sword devoureth one as well as another:make thy battle more strong against the city, and overthrow it:and encourage thou him.
 
26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27 And when the mourning was past, David sent and fetched her to his house, and she became his wife, and bare him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord.

II Samuel 12

1 And the Lord sent Nathan (a prophet) unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, There were two men in one city; the one rich, and the other poor. 2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds:3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up:and it grew up together with him, and with his children; it did eat of his own meat, and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter. 4 And there came a traveller unto the rich man, and he spared to take of his own flock and of his own herd, to dress for the wayfaring man that was come unto him; but took the poor man's lamb, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 

5 And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die:6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.
 
7 And Nathan said to David, Thou art the man. 

Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul; 8 And I gave thee thy master's house, and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things. 

9 Wherefore hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in HIS sight? thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 

10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house; because thou hast despised ME, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. 

11 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house, and I will take thy wives before thine eyes, and give them unto thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For thou didst it secretly:but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun. 

13 And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. 

And Nathan said unto David, The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die. 14 Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die.
 
15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bare unto David, and it was very sick. 

16 David therefore besought God for the child; and David fasted, and went in, and lay all night upon the earth. 17 And the elders of his house arose, and went to him, to raise him up from the earth:but he would not, neither did he eat bread with them. 

18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead:for they said, Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spake unto him, and he would not hearken unto our voice:how will he then vex himself, if we tell him that the child is dead? 

19 But when David saw that his servants whispered, David perceived that the child was dead:therefore David said unto his servants, Is the child dead? And they said, He is dead. 

20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel, and came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped:then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. 

21 Then said his servants unto him, What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive; but when the child was dead, thou didst rise and eat bread. 

22 And he said, While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept:for I said, Who can tell whether God will be gracious to me, that the child may live? 23 But now he is dead, wherefore should I fast? can I bring him back again? I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.

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Isaiah 5

and the hills did tremble, and their carcases were torn in the midst of the streets.
 
For all this HIS anger is not turned away,
but HIS hand is stretched out still.

26 And HE will lift up an ensign to the nations from far, and will hiss unto them from the end of the earth: and, behold, they shall come with speed swiftly:
 
27 None shall be weary nor stumble among them; none shall slumber nor sleep;
neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken:
28 Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent, their horses 'hoofs shall be counted like flint,
and their wheels like a whirlwind:
29 Their roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions:
yea, they shall roar, and lay hold of the prey,
and shall carry it away safe, and none shall deliver it.
 
30 And in that day they shall roar against them like the roaring of the sea:
and if one look unto the land, behold darkness and sorrow,
and the light is darkened in the heavens thereof.

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Gal. 6 ... 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked:for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

Matthew 4 ... Reading through the Bible

1 Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. 

2 And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. 

3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. 4 But he (Jesus) answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. 

5 Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple, 6 And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down:for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee:and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. 7 Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. 

8 Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; 9 And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. 10 Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan:for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. 

11 Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
 
12 Now when Jesus had heard that John was cast into prison, he departed into Galilee; 13 And leaving Nazareth, he came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is upon the sea coast, in the borders of Zabulon and Nephthalim:14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.

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Isaiah 9 ...1 Nevertheless the dimness shall not be such as was in her vexation,
when at the first he lightly afflicted the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
and afterward did more grievously afflict her by the way of the sea,
beyond Jordan, in Galilee of the nations.
2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light:
they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

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Matthew 4

17 From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent:for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.
 
18 And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea:for they were fishers. 19 And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. 

20 And they straightway left their nets, and followed him. 

21 And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and he called them. 

22 And they immediately left the ship and their father, and followed him.
 
23 And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. 

24 And his fame went throughout all Syria:and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with divers diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with devils, and those which were lunatick, and those that had the palsy; and he healed them. 

25 And there followed him great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan.

Exhortation 5: Taking Thoughts Captive

Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet

The antidote to negative and destruction thoughts is a combination of prayer and focusing on that which is brought to your mind by God after you ask HIM for help.

Many people try to cling to a scripture without prayer.  Sometimes they try to be their own God by hunting a scripture to “stand on” in order to get what they want in this life.

As a young Christian I made this mistake.

I wanted to marry.  I certainly expected to marry.

I never considered the will of God.  That was my own will for myself.

In the prayer group I was attending at one point, all the women were praying for me to find a husband.

But my best friend heard something as she prayed for me on this matter.  She heard, “MY grace is sufficient for her.”

Donna told me what she had heard.  But I didn’t want to hear this! 

Another woman in the prayer group made the following statement one day. “Of course she will marry …”  Then this woman added, “If it is the will of God …”  But then she went on to say, “But of course it is the will of God for her to marry.”

So we continued to pray, except for my best friend.  I think Donna likely stopped praying about this after she felt she had heard from God.

I began to have serious “Satanic attacks” … depression … and such.

One day, I had the following scripture brought to my attention.

II Peter 2:20 (NIV) … 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?

I saw immediately the source of my problem was my own desire of my flesh to have what other people have.

So our problem may not be thoughts from the devil.  It may be desire from our own flesh.

The source of problems could be desire for fame or recognition.  Often people desire money or riches. 

There are many sources of problems. 

Sometimes thoughts are brought by spirits of antichrist who try to get us to reject the way of God … saying to us, “It’s too hard … The cost to you would be too great … God wants you to be happy on this earth so of course God would want you to do this thing (often when it is opposite to instruction giving in Bible) …

Concerning the thoughts from the devil … 

James 4:7 … Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

This is exactly what God has taught me about TAKING THOUGHTS CAPTIVE …

Submit yourselves to God … Pray, taking the problem to God in prayer.  Seeking the help of God.

Resist the devil with that given to you after prayer...

The apostle Paul spoke of breaking down “strongholds” …

II Cor. 10… 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh:4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)

God knows exactly where those “strongholds” lie in our lives and God knows exactly how to tear down those “strongholds”.

And the methods we use are mighty through God, not through worldly ways of man.

We do not clean out closets to get our flesh to forget.

We do not go shopping to change our moods as many of the world do.

Our weapons of our warfare are not “carnal” (fleshly, worldly) but are mighty “through God” …  And as we go in the way of God we will end up like Job … whose end was better than his beginning!

Job 42 … 12 So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning:

And so it is with all people of God who deliberately choose to go in the way of God as they live on this present earth.

Our end is better than our beginning!

There is a labor involved in applying the Word of God and choosing to go in HIS way.