In 2016, I began writing a series of ministry books on various
subjects, which we published on Amazon, in both E-book and paperback. For the next few weeks, we will show an example of the contents in each of these 18 books. You
might find these books helpful in reminding you of godly concepts used
in following God. The E-books are priced at 99-cents each in USA.
Paperback books vary in prices according to the number of pages. Free
E-books are offered daily on selected books through Amazon. At the end
of this writing, you will find a link which takes you directly to Amazon
if you choose to order this book.
One of my favorite subjects is "Building your house on the Word of God."
Joan Boney
Preface
Jesus says:
Mt. 7 Whosoever heareth these sayings of MINE, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.
And every one that heareth these sayings of MINE, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.
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Building your house on the Word of God is doing the Word of God in your life. As you add the doing of scripture, you enter a wise path which will never fail.
Most people, including those who say they are Christians, build their house on wisdom of men.
In this book you should very quickly see the difference between the wisdom of men and the Word of God.
This book is a practical exercise in doing the word of God.
Joan Boney
Dealing With Today … and Tomorrow
Jesus says:
Mt. 6 ... No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? (Can you make yourself an inch taller by thinking about it?)
And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and HIS righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
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Are you troubled over any thought about tomorrow? Is there anything you dread?
To enter into the peace of God we must learn two simple things: Deal with tomorrow through prayer and deal with today through action, doing what God shows you to do today.
Each time a thought comes about tomorrow ... STOP ... AND PRAY ...
Phil. 4:6-7 ... Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
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Talk with God as you would talk with your best friend. Be honest!
What do you want God to do for you?
Do you need wisdom to deal with something? We have God's word that if we lack wisdom we can ask of God in faith and HE will give us wisdom so we can know what to do.
James 1:5 ... If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
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Do you have something ahead that frightens you? Do you have thoughts of fear concerning what might happen?
Lay it out in prayer before God ... Be honest ... God knows how you feel anyway. So ask for help with the situation.
I go to dentist every 6 months to have my teeth cleaned. I've had two very gentle women at dentist but the last time I went, the replacement was rough. I really dreaded going back. I began to pray, telling God how much I dreaded this approaching appointment and asking Him for help. I prayed each time this appointment came to my mind. (It is not weak faith to pray multiple times.) If it troubles you and comes to mind, pray again. God will not fail us when we turn to HIM.
When I sat down in the chair and she looked at my teeth, she said, "Let's do a water pic treatment today. That will clean between your teeth and get everything out that shouldn't be there."
She hardly used her hand pick at all.
Maybe I don't dread returning for next appointment knowing this treatment is available.
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Pray over tomorrow ... Deal with today.
I like to start my day by asking God to show me what I need to do that day.
Prov. 3 ... Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge HIM, and HE shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes:
Prov.4 ... (God says) I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.
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How do we recognize God's plan?
Here are some characteristics of God's way.
Jesus said:
Mt. 11:28-30 ... Come unto ME, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take MY yoke upon you, and learn of ME; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
When something is extremely complex and difficult, I always know I do not have God's plan.
James 3:17 ... But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.
hypocrisy: play acting; trying to present an image which is not really true to get what you want.
Sometimes we want the wrong thing ... the wrong person ... the wrong job ...
God protects us when we pray, speak truthfully, and hold onto HIS word which shows us HIS truth.
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Here is a remarkable example of being saved by speaking truth from God. This happened to Pam Padgett in our little church group.
Pam says:
Several years ago I was engaged to marry a man named Chuck.
Chuck said he was a Christian. He had three grown children from a previous marriage. He and his first wife divorced after she began having an affair with another man. (Since his wife had been unfaithful, I believe he was free to re-marry.)
*****
I had a strong desire to be married, and ignored and kept quiet about things that troubled me.
A few days before we planned to be married, Joan (apostle/prophet) and Barbara (prophet) in our little church group each contacted me saying they were very troubled about this marriage.
I took these warnings very seriously, and we postponed the wedding.
I also prayed diligently about the entire matter.
*****
Then one day Chuck and I were talking on the telephone and he mentioned that his grown son who was in the army and stationed in Germany had called to say he was engaged to be married. The woman he was engaged to marry was divorced. I told Chuck that this marriage was against what we're told in the Bible, that his son would commit adultery by marrying a divorced woman.
Chuck got very quiet and we soon ended the conversation.
Matthew 5:32 Jesus said ... 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.
Although we usually spoke on the telephone or emailed each other every day, after I spoke against his son's marriage, Chuck called me only once and that was a brief call while I was at work.
Something was not right.
After a few days I arranged to meet him so we could talk.
During that talk it came out that he no longer wanted to marry me.
My speaking against his son's marriage had stopped our engagement.
*****
It was very hard for me to comprehend what had happened.
But as I drove away, I heard from the Holy Spirit "Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers".
Immediately I saw that although Chuck said he was a Christian, he was really an unbeliever, for he didn't believe the word of God in which we're told that a man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery.
God delivered and kept me as I believed and spoke HIS word.
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?
for ye are the temple of the LIVING God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be MY people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be MY sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
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Today I have no doubt that had I married Chuck, it would have been a very terrible and hard situation. I would have been continuously troubled by what Chuck and his children said and did, and there would have been problems as I held to what God has told us since Chuck didn't believe and became upset with me when I spoke up about these things.
I am so thankful to have not married Chuck.
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A very common mistake is to make out a list of subjects you want to discuss with another person and to rehearse in your mind what you will say before you have that meeting.
This can get you into very big trouble ... and also can hurt the other person.
It is trusting in yourself.
Instead we need to pray, asking God to bring out the subjects HE wants and let God open the doors.
A woman in our church group, has a son who is separated from his second wife. The woman is a believer in God, the son is not.
Unknown to me, her son was due to arrive at her house about 30 minutes before I called her on phone. She told me what was happening and how she had this list of scripture she wanted to go over with her son. I was horrified at this plan. I told her not to do this. Just pray and trust God to open the right doors and when the subject arose then to have courage to speak.
As I recall, none of the subjects she had planned came up. But other subjects did arise. She spoke God's truth on the issues. The visit went very well and was relaxed.
Wisdom from God ... pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated ... James 3:17
James 3:13-15 ... Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom. But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.
Given the opportunity, go through the door that opens naturally in the conversation, speaking God's truth ... but don't try to create a door where there is no door.
The apostle Paul tell us:
II Tim. 4:2 ... Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.
*****
If you have a bone to pick, everything can turn out very badly. Settle the issue in prayer with God and enter into activities and conversations with a pure heart created by God through prayer.
I have attended many church groups throughout the years. Each time I went to church, I went with a pure heart, greatly desirous of being in the church gathering. I was never looking for wrong doing when I went there. Had I expected to see wrong doing, I would not have gone. I never went hoping to be able to speak something. I went with a loving heart toward the people of God and toward the word of God.
The same should be the case when we "visit" with another person. We enter into the conversation with joy, no bones to pick. Often it doesn't work out, for so few people are godly, but we should enter in with good heart toward the person and with joy. If it does turn out negatively, we can walk away and avoid future events with that person.
I don't try to do things ... I don't try to make things happen.
I relax and enjoy the person until wrong surfaces, then I deal with the wrong.
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