1 Then I turned, and lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a
flying roll (NASB: scroll). 2 And he said unto me, What seest thou? And I answered, I
see a flying roll; the length thereof is twenty cubits, and the breadth
thereof ten cubits.
3 Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.
4 I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.
5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift
up now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth. 6 And I said,
What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth. He said
moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth. 7 And,
behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman that
sitteth in the midst of the ephah. 8 And he said, This is wickedness.
And he cast it into the midst of the ephah; and he cast the weight of
lead upon the mouth thereof.
9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked,
and, behold, there came out two women, and the wind was in their wings;
for they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they lifted up the
ephah between the earth and the heaven. 10 Then said I to the angel that
talked with me, Whither do these bear the ephah? 11 And he said unto
me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar: and it shall be
established, and set there upon her own base.
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Dealing With Destructive Thoughts: Chapter 5 / Book available at Amazon.com
Common Destructive Thoughts
The most common destructive thought is over money. You may even see your own income decrease while expenses increase. This can be very fearful.
What should you do?
-Try to ignore the thought and think of something else? No
-Take the view that God will take care of you, no matter what? No, there may be some action you need to take in your life
The only safe way to deal with this matter is to turn to God asking HIM if there is some action you should take or will it be alright.
After prayer we wait until we are persuaded by God and then "rest" in what we hear from HIM.
I caution you to be willing after prayer to wait patiently and not to try to force the issue which could end up with your imagining the solution rather than hearing from the Spirit of God.
Many times over the past 30+ years I have had fearful thoughts come over money. Each time we must pray and be willing to make changes if needed. But it must be God who shows us what to do.
Another troubling problem comes when something happens to your house and you have no idea what you should do about it. Usually we don't know who to get to fix the problem.
This happened to me this past year. My roof suffered hail damage and the insurance company was going to pay to replace the roof but who should I get to fix the roof. I didn't know what to do so I prayed. Shortly after committing this to God I heard one word (in form of thought) ... "contractor", the man who built my house. I called him and he sent two roofing companies to speak with me. I was troubled with one company but I liked the other company so I went with them though their price was higher. I feel the replacement roof is a better roof than the original roof.
Another example … something troublesome happened and I failed to pray ...
My water bill failed to arrive in mail. I knew if I didn't pay on time there would be a penalty. I tried to call the water company but to get through the switchboard I had to give my 14 digit customer number which I did not have because I did not have a bill showing that number.
Then I tried to reach water company by Internet but again I couldn't get through unless I presented my customer number which I did not have.
There was an emergency number and I called that and reached the mayor's office of the city of Lubbock. I was shocked. But I explained the problem and the woman listening seemed very kind.
Later I found a way to file a complaint with water company by Internet. I had no complaint but I did tell my problem by email. A reply said they would be in touch with me in 2 business days.
And I even wrote a letter to water company telling my problem and asking someone to call me and I sent it US mail.
That same afternoon I went to mail box and there was my water bill. I was so embarrassed.
The next day I received phone calls from mayor's office and water company. I apologized greatly to both. The lady at water company said they have changed their billing program and this caused delay in normal billing so she really understood my concern.
Looking back, I can't remember praying at all about this although at one point the thought did come that the bill would arrive in the mail (Holy Spirit trying to show me what would happen. Jn. 16:13)
We often frustrate ourselves needlessly by failing to pray.
(Now I have my 14 digit customer number in a notebook in case of future problem.)
Jesus said ... These things I have spoken unto you, that in ME ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. Jn. 16:33
As we live on this earth we will have trouble. That Jesus said would happen. But HE has overcome and we overcome through HIM as we pray and pay attention to that spoken to us by God.
God has answers to everything!
Mt. 10:26 ... Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known.
A universal common problem concerns other people ... family members, neighbors, friends, acquaintances, employers, co- workers ...
There is a person who has caused me great grief over and over for 30+ years. I have prayed many times over her. I have counseled her to no avail. Nothing seemed to work. But I have kept turning to God about her. I had 4 dreams showing me she was getting worse and worse. I did keep praying. Then I received a dream where there was a pier where boats dock. We were standing together at the end of that pier. I felt that was showing me at the end she will be okay. I rejoiced. And since that time I have not been troubled at all about her. When we hear from the Spirit of God we anchor our thoughts on that which we heard from God and we just keep refocusing on that word. We now have the basis for faith in the matter at hand for we have heard from God.
I have two troublesome cousins. In both cases, I believe God has shown me just to leave them alone. (I have prayed often over them.) Fortunately for me they do not live near the city where I live. One called recently. I just did not answer the phone. She didn't ask me to return her call and I didn't return her call for I know I can't communicate with her at this time in a profitable way. There are times I want to send her writings but then God reminds me of things which show me that will not work so I do not send them to her. At this point, I just feel to stay still where both cousins are concerned.
The only thing we can do where anyone is concerned is to pray, continually casting our care on God ... and to wait, doing nothing until you are fully persuaded God has shown you to do something or having faith when you believe you have been shown something by God after prayer, resting in that which you believe to be from God. Nothing else will work.
Then there are medical concerns and the many thoughts that come to us as a result. Each of these must be dealt with through prayer Asking God if there is any change you can make to help the situation. Sometimes is it necessary to change doctors. Whatever issue we deal with requires prayer over each issue each time it surfaces and waiting until persuaded by God to do something.
I have an eye disease (glaucoma) and have been going to a specialist for several years. At an appointment he said, "The pressure is very good. What I am concerned about is your loss of vision. Make another appointment in 5 months." And with that he left the room. I was terrified.
I talked with God: What should I do. Can I go to another doctor who explains things to me? How could I even find another doctor?
Immediately I was reminded of the man who fills the lenses prescriptions.
I called and asked if there was a specialist on this side of town and found another doctor and he said my vision problem is cataracts and when they are "ripe" he can operate and I do not have any serious eye disease although I do have glaucoma which they control through daily eye drops.
In this world, as we go through this life, we will have trouble ... but Jesus said to be of good cheer. HE has overcome this world. And as we pray and turn to God with each issue, we have a mighty advocate.
Pam Padgett (Bible teacher) had the thought: "You're getting too preachy." So she acted on that thought and began watering down her teaching until it became powerless. I talked to her about the change. Then she told me of the thought that she was getting too "preachy". But she failed to take that thought to God to see if it was from Him.
Later that night I was reminded of the following scripture:
I Cor. 1:21 ... For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
After this, Pam had following experience: She awoke one morning with a terrible fear that she could not do the work of God. She cried out to God for help and the following was brought to her mind.
Isaiah 41:10 ... Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
The devil brought the negative thought to Pam and the devil brought the fear to Pam. This is what the devil does. Anti-Christ means opposite to Christ ... opposite to the will of God. And the devil especially wanted to stop Pam from doing the work of God.
God brought the truth to Pam when she turned to HIM.
But also note that when she opened the door on the first thought by failing to turn to God, the devil then brought the fear and quickly moved into Pam's "house" with more destructive thoughts.
We have to deal with these thoughts otherwise we open more doors for devils to attack us with thoughts that would take us opposite to the way of God.
Destructive thoughts can come directly to our minds or they can come through people.
Recently a man railed out at me over the writing I've done on the Lord's supper being the handling of the word of God rather than eating crackers and drinking grape juice as many churches do.
I turned to God after the rebuke from this man. I asked God, "What about this?"
Immediately, I felt I heard from God as follows: "Think of your life during the past 30 years."
God has given me many messages and put me on Internet to deliver these messages and had me write books and put me on radio for several years.
I haven't partaken of crackers and grape juice in a church gathering for more than 30 years. As soon as God taught me the message that the Lord's supper is not crackers/grape juice, I quit partaking of such.
The Lord’s supper is partaking properly of the Word of God. This is the power, not crackers/grape juice.
I deal constantly with scripture and the word from God and act upon it and am constantly supported by God and instructed by the Spirit of God in ways of God.
I continually judge myself and correct myself. And this is exactly what we read in I Cor. 11. When we correctly partake of the "Lord's supper", we will judge ourselves by the Word of God through the Spirit of God. We do not judge ourselves with crackers/grape juice. There is no power at all in crackers/grape juice. This is not the Lord's supper. The Lord's supper is the Word of God.
Also when I was praying about this message I had given and about the man railing out against me over the message, I had the following scripture brought to my mind.
I Peter 4:19 ... Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.
And that is what I did in this.
Another example of a destructive thought and what God gave me when I prayed:
In mid-April I had written several writings on Internet the same day and the thought came that I was writing too much. I turned to God with this thought, asking Him for HIS view. Immediately I was reminded of the following instruction from the Bible.
Heb. 10:25 ... exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
The closer we get to the return of Jesus the worse things of this world will get. Jesus said because iniquity would abound the love of many would wax cold. Mt. 24
So as the iniquity of the world increases we need even more exhortations, not less.
This answer from God is solid and gives an anchor for faith in the matter.
One of the most common fears concerns money.
I have had many financial concerns during the past years. Each time the fear comes, I turn to God. I ask God if there is anything I need to do. Do I need to cut back in my spending in any area? Most often God will give me a scripture after I pray and by that I know what to do. But each time the fear comes concerning money I pray again.
Recently I was writing an exhortation for the church and the thought came: "It won't do any good to write these things."
Immediately another thought came that was true: "By the foolishness of preaching it pleased God to save them that believe." 1 Cor. 1
The devil sent the first thought to stop the work of God.
The Holy spirit spoke the second thought to show the truth from God and the will of God.
Paul says we must bring every thought to the obedience of Christ (obedience of the Word).
These books are available in Kindle version and paperback from Amazon.com
Type Joan Boney in the Amazon search box to purchase these books
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Wednesday, July 27, 2016
II Thessalonians 3 ... Reading through the Bible
3 But the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you.
5 And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ.
6 Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us. 7 For yourselves know how ye ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you;
8 Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: 9 Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us.
10 For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.
11 For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. 12 Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
13 But ye, brethren, be not weary in well doing.
14 And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 Yet count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother.
16 Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.
17 The salutation of Paul with mine own hand, which is the token in every epistle:so I write.
18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.
Provoke one another to love and good works
Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
At the time of the 2016, USA presidential election (Clinton vs. Trump), I believe I would have been troubled had I not known the following scriptures:
Daniel 4:25 ... that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever HE will.
Psalm 75:7 ... 6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
7 But God is the judge: HE putteth down one, and setteth up another.
At that time, I remembered a girl I went to high school with ... she was the most political person I've ever known. She was also a Baptist and likely the church. Her husband died a year earlier and after that I talked with her and she made the astounding statement to me that there was no hope in politics. She had changed and obviously saw our hope is not in governments of men.
I sent her a letter and included the above scriptures, telling her no matter who was elected, God was still in control.
Also I know the following:
Jesus said ... My kingdom is not of this world. Jn. 18:36
Peter said this current heaven and earth will be destroyed by God and there will be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteous. (That is where we will be taken when Jesus establishes HIS kingdom.)
II Peter 3 ... 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
God gave the apostle John a glimpse of the new heaven and the new earth and the "new Jerusalem" ...
Revelation 21 ... 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
These scriptures and the truth of these scriptures help me to not be so caught up in governments of men, elections, and things of this present world.
God is in control even in the midst of chaos.
God has HIS time and HIS purpose and will set up things leading to the return of Jesus and the end of this world and the judgments of God over the wickedness of this present world.
Humans today look for a freedom to sin ... and they want society to approve them in their sins.
Unlike the 1940's when society did not approve many of the sins we see today ... adultery, fornication, homosexual-lesbians, divorce-remarriage ... Today public figures are afraid to object to sins of the Bible. When they do object to something as "sin", often the next day they retract the statement they made against that sin, due to the pressure of today's public and employees and governments of men of this world.
I sent this information to this Baptist woman who had once been so political thinking it would be of help to her in this period of time of the 2016 USA presidential election.
The day after she received this material, she called me thanking me and told me this writing was very good and it did help her.
Earlier in the year when we published the 10 ministry books on Amazon, I called her and told her about these books thinking they had the power through God to help her in a very difficult time of her life for her husband of 60+ years had died a few months earlier.
I wanted her to be helped in a godly way.
But I also know there is a blockage where I am concerned. I am a NT prophet. And I know what Jesus said:
Lk. 4:24 ... No prophet is accepted in his own country.
I feel that is keeping her from the 10 ministry books available on amazon.com.
As we spoke by phone, she asked me if I know of Kenneth Copeland. I told her I do and that his mother was one of my best friends in the early 1980's. I told her Copeland has bound himself up with the Catholic pope.
She was horrified at that. She said the president of the Baptist southern association had presented himself with the Catholic pope. She was livid this had happened.
There is one true church and that church is composed of people who have been given the Holy Spirit of God. We are the church.
But all this situation of ministers binding themselves to the pope shows a very different time ... as if they are going to make "one" church which sets forth doctrines that approve sin in the congregations.
I know this is the falling away (from the truth of the scriptures) which Paul said had to come before Jesus returns ... II Thess. 2 ... This allows the "man of lawlessness" (another spirit) to rule in the various churches... There will be a changing of scriptures, another doctrine, set up inside the congregations to approve various sins and to make humans feel approved in their sins.
II Thess. 2 ... that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
NIV translates "man of sin" as "man of lawlessness" ... lawlessness reigns
That is happening right now and that is what we are currently seeing in the church groups where scripture is cast aside, doctrines changed from Bible, and lawless reigning inside the church group and sinners being approved into the church without repentance and departure from their sins against the Word of God.
All this shows us how fast we are moving toward judgment and toward the wrath of God coming upon this present world.
My high school friend told me the churches today are so bad she can't find one she can go to ... Neither can I for this same reason ... She said the Word of God is so watered down now ... I find so much deliberate changing of the doctrine of the Bible by pastors and no repentance or shame in what they are doing when I have gone to individual pastors and have spoken to these pastors concerning what they said in their gatherings.
It has to be antichrist (the man of lawlessness) in the church ... just like Paul said would happen before the return of Jesus.
For us, the only thing we can do when a pastor will not repent when he changes scripture and when we go to him with the sin ... the only thing we can do when there is no repentance is to leave that church group. To sit among them would be a sign of our approval and we would bring condemnation from God upon ourselves to sit there.
II Thess. 2 ... because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
In 1979, God gave me a terrifying dream showing me what was going on in the church groups.
In this dream ... a meeting was going on. I went into the room and began listening to the speaker. A man rushed into the room and said, "Stop ... can't you see ... it's too late ... it's already begun." The first man resumed speaking to the group. I looked out the window to see what was happening. I was shocked at what I saw. There was a tall pole with a yellow, civil defense warning speaker mounted on top of the pole. Out of the speaker I saw a gas coming toward the people. I knew the gas coming from the speaker was poison and would kill us. And the terrible thing is the poison gas coming from our own speaker which was set there to warn us! When I saw this, I looked at the man who was sitting next to me. Again, I was very shocked. This man was a corpse. He was already dead, though he was looking attentively at the man who was speaking and there was a big smile of approval on this dead man's face. I looked around the room and saw the other people were dead also. As I sat there listening, I felt myself becoming drowsy (falling asleep / dying) and I knew if I sat there among them I was going to die.
Later God showed me this is what was happening at that time ... 1979 ... in the church groups.
It is much worse today in the churches.
I gather, by phone, with individuals and we speak things of God by phone. I know this is the church and I remember the scripture where Jesus said: For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Mt. 18:20)
I know this is the church ... by phone and even by emails as we communicate things of God with each other. We assemble together by phone and by Internet ... (Our church group is scattered from NYC to Seattle ... I'm in Texas.)
That's all we can do at this point in time.
At the time of the 2016, USA presidential election (Clinton vs. Trump), I believe I would have been troubled had I not known the following scriptures:
Daniel 4:25 ... that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever HE will.
Psalm 75:7 ... 6 For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south.
7 But God is the judge: HE putteth down one, and setteth up another.
At that time, I remembered a girl I went to high school with ... she was the most political person I've ever known. She was also a Baptist and likely the church. Her husband died a year earlier and after that I talked with her and she made the astounding statement to me that there was no hope in politics. She had changed and obviously saw our hope is not in governments of men.
I sent her a letter and included the above scriptures, telling her no matter who was elected, God was still in control.
Also I know the following:
Jesus said ... My kingdom is not of this world. Jn. 18:36
Peter said this current heaven and earth will be destroyed by God and there will be a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteous. (That is where we will be taken when Jesus establishes HIS kingdom.)
II Peter 3 ... 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
God gave the apostle John a glimpse of the new heaven and the new earth and the "new Jerusalem" ...
Revelation 21 ... 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.
These scriptures and the truth of these scriptures help me to not be so caught up in governments of men, elections, and things of this present world.
God is in control even in the midst of chaos.
God has HIS time and HIS purpose and will set up things leading to the return of Jesus and the end of this world and the judgments of God over the wickedness of this present world.
Humans today look for a freedom to sin ... and they want society to approve them in their sins.
Unlike the 1940's when society did not approve many of the sins we see today ... adultery, fornication, homosexual-lesbians, divorce-remarriage ... Today public figures are afraid to object to sins of the Bible. When they do object to something as "sin", often the next day they retract the statement they made against that sin, due to the pressure of today's public and employees and governments of men of this world.
I sent this information to this Baptist woman who had once been so political thinking it would be of help to her in this period of time of the 2016 USA presidential election.
The day after she received this material, she called me thanking me and told me this writing was very good and it did help her.
Earlier in the year when we published the 10 ministry books on Amazon, I called her and told her about these books thinking they had the power through God to help her in a very difficult time of her life for her husband of 60+ years had died a few months earlier.
I wanted her to be helped in a godly way.
But I also know there is a blockage where I am concerned. I am a NT prophet. And I know what Jesus said:
Lk. 4:24 ... No prophet is accepted in his own country.
I feel that is keeping her from the 10 ministry books available on amazon.com.
As we spoke by phone, she asked me if I know of Kenneth Copeland. I told her I do and that his mother was one of my best friends in the early 1980's. I told her Copeland has bound himself up with the Catholic pope.
She was horrified at that. She said the president of the Baptist southern association had presented himself with the Catholic pope. She was livid this had happened.
There is one true church and that church is composed of people who have been given the Holy Spirit of God. We are the church.
But all this situation of ministers binding themselves to the pope shows a very different time ... as if they are going to make "one" church which sets forth doctrines that approve sin in the congregations.
I know this is the falling away (from the truth of the scriptures) which Paul said had to come before Jesus returns ... II Thess. 2 ... This allows the "man of lawlessness" (another spirit) to rule in the various churches... There will be a changing of scriptures, another doctrine, set up inside the congregations to approve various sins and to make humans feel approved in their sins.
II Thess. 2 ... that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.
NIV translates "man of sin" as "man of lawlessness" ... lawlessness reigns
That is happening right now and that is what we are currently seeing in the church groups where scripture is cast aside, doctrines changed from Bible, and lawless reigning inside the church group and sinners being approved into the church without repentance and departure from their sins against the Word of God.
All this shows us how fast we are moving toward judgment and toward the wrath of God coming upon this present world.
My high school friend told me the churches today are so bad she can't find one she can go to ... Neither can I for this same reason ... She said the Word of God is so watered down now ... I find so much deliberate changing of the doctrine of the Bible by pastors and no repentance or shame in what they are doing when I have gone to individual pastors and have spoken to these pastors concerning what they said in their gatherings.
It has to be antichrist (the man of lawlessness) in the church ... just like Paul said would happen before the return of Jesus.
For us, the only thing we can do when a pastor will not repent when he changes scripture and when we go to him with the sin ... the only thing we can do when there is no repentance is to leave that church group. To sit among them would be a sign of our approval and we would bring condemnation from God upon ourselves to sit there.
II Thess. 2 ... because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
In 1979, God gave me a terrifying dream showing me what was going on in the church groups.
In this dream ... a meeting was going on. I went into the room and began listening to the speaker. A man rushed into the room and said, "Stop ... can't you see ... it's too late ... it's already begun." The first man resumed speaking to the group. I looked out the window to see what was happening. I was shocked at what I saw. There was a tall pole with a yellow, civil defense warning speaker mounted on top of the pole. Out of the speaker I saw a gas coming toward the people. I knew the gas coming from the speaker was poison and would kill us. And the terrible thing is the poison gas coming from our own speaker which was set there to warn us! When I saw this, I looked at the man who was sitting next to me. Again, I was very shocked. This man was a corpse. He was already dead, though he was looking attentively at the man who was speaking and there was a big smile of approval on this dead man's face. I looked around the room and saw the other people were dead also. As I sat there listening, I felt myself becoming drowsy (falling asleep / dying) and I knew if I sat there among them I was going to die.
Later God showed me this is what was happening at that time ... 1979 ... in the church groups.
It is much worse today in the churches.
I gather, by phone, with individuals and we speak things of God by phone. I know this is the church and I remember the scripture where Jesus said: For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Mt. 18:20)
I know this is the church ... by phone and even by emails as we communicate things of God with each other. We assemble together by phone and by Internet ... (Our church group is scattered from NYC to Seattle ... I'm in Texas.)
That's all we can do at this point in time.
Zechariah 4 ... Viewing the works of God through scripture
1 And the angel that talked with me came again, and waked me, as a man
that is wakened out of his sleep, 2 And said unto me, What seest thou?
And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of gold, with a
bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven pipes to
the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof: 3 And two olive trees
by it, one upon the right side of the bowl, and the other upon the left
side thereof.
4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying,
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.
10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? 12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? 13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
4 So I answered and spake to the angel that talked with me, saying, What are these, my lord? 5 Then the angel that talked with me answered and said unto me, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
6 Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying,
Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.
7 Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.
8 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 9 The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.
10 For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.
11 Then answered I, and said unto him, What are these two olive trees upon the right side of the candlestick and upon the left side thereof? 12 And I answered again, and said unto him, What be these two olive branches which through the two golden pipes empty the golden oil out of themselves? 13 And he answered me and said, Knowest thou not what these be? And I said, No, my lord.
14 Then said he, These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth.
Dealing With Destructive Thoughts: Chapter 4 / Book available at Amazon.com
Examples of Dealing With Destructive Thoughts
A woman from my high school sent me a birthday card. In that card, she wrote and told me about her children and her grandchildren and all their plans for holiday and she told me about her husband.
(I have no children of my flesh, nor grandchildren, nor husband.)
Even before I could feel depressed, the Holy Spirit said to me:
"You are dead and your life is hid in Christ."
I shouted: "That's right!"
(I was so excited and thrilled with this information.)
Col. 3 ... 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
When we “dread” something, it is likely a sign that we have gotten ourselves into an appointment or plan that is not of God. Dread is a very important matter which must be dealt with each time it surfaces.
To dread means: uneasiness in face of something ahead
It is so very important to commit the issue to God in prayer when we dread something that lies ahead.
Sometimes we are going in a wrong way and God will lead us to make changes to completely remove the planned event.
We have to be willing to change. Even when we have given our word to someone, if we dread that which lies ahead, we might need to get out of the situation. Two scriptural examples are as follows.
Prov. 6 ... My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger, 2 Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth. 3 Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself, when thou art come into the hand of thy friend; go, humble thyself, and make sure thy friend. 4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber to thine eyelids. 5 Deliver thyself as a roe from the hand of the hunter, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.
Mt. 14 ... At that time Herod the tetrarch heard of the fame of Jesus, 2 And said unto his servants, This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead; and therefore mighty works do shew forth themselves in him. 3 For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for Herodias’ sake, his brother Philip’s wife. 4 For John said unto him, It is not lawful for thee to have her. 5 And when he would have put him to death, he feared the multitude, because they counted him as a prophet. 6 But when Herod’s birthday was kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them, and pleased Herod. 7 Whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever she would ask. 8 And she, being before instructed of her mother, said, Give me here John Baptist’s head in a charger. 9 And the king was sorry: nevertheless for the oath’s sake, and them which sat with him at meat, he commanded it to be given her. 10And he sent, and beheaded John in the prison.
Herod didn't want to behead John the Baptist but "for the oath's sake" and also to save face in front of his “friends”, he did behead John the Baptist. How much better for him had he just backed down from his oath, from his own word, and refused to do this evil.
There are times it is better to cancel the dreaded meeting or event when possible.
Only through asking God, can we be assured in what we should do in such cases.
Here is an example I had many years ago of "dread" ...
I had closed my business in Dallas because I was persuaded I was to go into the ministry. But I had nowhere to go. For six-months I lived off the money from the sale of the business merchandise. I stayed at my apartment and read Bible during this time.
A job opened at Christ for the Nations school in Dallas. I prayed, of course, and seriously considered the job. It was Dean of Women at the college. But I found I just didn't want to go there. (dread)
At one point the thought came, "You just don't want to be that far away from Neiman-Marcus (a department store)" That was so silly. I hardly ever went to Neiman’s and rarely purchased anything there. I knew the devil was trying to get me to take that job. I declined the job and continued staying at home with no prospects for employment but I did have money from my business and had no lack.
About a month later, God awoke me in the night with what I believe to have been the loud voice (like a trumpet sounding) of an angel with the words: Hartford, Seattle, KWJS ... This caused me to go on radio and within a week of hearing this word I was broadcasting exhortations on radio station KWJS. Within the year, I was on radio from east coast to west coast of USA. This was the plan of God for me and not Christ for the Nations where the dread was.
Here is a wonderful example of working through dread by turning to God. This is a report from Pam Padgett, in our little church group and a teacher to body of Christ.
Pam says ... Many years ago when I first started going to college, God showed Himself strong on my behalf. My older sister had been at college two years when I started attending the same school. She dated a man who was a member of a fraternity, and had become a member of the fraternity's "women's auxiliary", assisting with fraternity social functions. She was very excited for me to join the social circles she was in, and especially wanted me to meet members of the fraternity.
The first week of school my sister invited me to go to a student bar where many of the fraternity guys gathered on Thursday nights. I went, but found what was going on there to be so bad (lewdness, drunkenness, etc.) that I was unable to stay and I walked back to the dormitory.
A week or so later my sister asked if I'd go to an outdoor luau with one of the freshmen "pledges" at the fraternity. The luau site was about 20 miles away near a river, and there would be a campfire. The setting was very appealing to me, plus I was excited about having a date, and I agreed to go.
Then, a few days before the luau, my sister told me that arrangements had been made for one of the other fraternity guys to take me to the luau because my date would be spending the day at the luau site building a hut for us ... a young man I had never even met was building a hut "for us"!
Suddenly the reality of this luau became very clear to me. This was not going to be people sitting around a campfire roasting marshmallows. The lewdness and drunkenness I had seen at the student bar was probably mild compared to what would be going on at this luau ... and I wouldn't be able to walk home.
I told my sister that I couldn't go along with this and did not want to go, but she kept insisting that it was too late for me to back out, that it was too late for this guy to find another date.
I turned very strongly to God, asking Him to somehow get me out of this situation. There seemed no way out. At one point I asked God to let me have appendicitis, preferring to be in a hospital having surgery than to go to this luau.
The morning of the luau I woke up and checked to see if I might have any pain that would indicate appendicitis, and was disappointed that I felt fine.
I kept praying for God to somehow work this out. Time was really running out!
When I looked outside, it was raining a little, but not much. However, the rain became heavier and heavier as the day went on.
Around 2 pm I received a call from the fraternity guy who planned to take me to the luau site. He told me how sorry he was to have to tell me this, but the luau had to be cancelled. The luau site had been totally flooded, washing away all the huts that had been built, which would include the hut my date had built for us.
He told me how long the luau had been held at this same site (many years) and, although there had been rain at times in the past, nothing like this had ever happened before, flooding and causing the luau to be cancelled.
I rejoiced, knowing that God had delivered me.
Another example:
I was watching the Ken Burns TV series on The Civil War (1860-65 in USA). As I watched the mistreatment of slaves I was so upset and found myself being pulled deeper into this conflict until I was reminded of the following scriptures which set me in the way of God and removed me from the "good" (and bad) of this world.
Jn. 18:36 ... Jesus said ... My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
I Cor. 7 ... Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. 21Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. 22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.
By these two scriptures, I knew that I was not to involve myself in the strife and worldly disputes of things like The Civil War. ...even when those things are unfair and terrible, for the kingdom of God is not of this world.
We, like those who have gone before us, look for a new heavens and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness (II Peter 3).
We will never be able to make this present world righteousness no matter what we do.
And John said: And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness I Jn. 5:19
And Paul said this world would not get better but worse.
II Tim. 3 ... But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
II Peter 3 ... Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
So by this, I freed myself from my own emotions and preferences and from the campaigns of worldly men who think they do good.
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Tuesday, July 26, 2016
II Thessalonians 2 ... Reading through the Bible
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, (church groups will fall away from scripture) and that man of sin (a spirit reigning over these church groups that fall away from scripture) be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. (antichrist within the churches themselves exalting himself and others above the scriptures, above God, in the churches ... removing scriptures and setting up another gospel to please humans in the congregation and to allow sin to reign in the church groups)
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? 6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
7 For the mystery of iniquity doth already work (Paul & John both spoke of antichrist working in churches in their time ... I Jn. 2 for John's comments / Acts 20 for Paul's warning) : only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. 8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: 9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, 10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11 And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: 12 That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
13 But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.
16 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17 Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.
==========
Concerning antichrist in the churches:
Paul says ... Acts 20 ... 25 And now, behold, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. 26 Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. 27 For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.
28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.
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John says ... I Jn. 2 ... 18 Little children, it is the last time:and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us:but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
(Antichrist spirit in people coming into the church group in day of John.)
anti-christ / opposite to Christ / opposing Christ, The Word
God turns evil to good
JJoan Boney ... apostle/prophet
In the 1990's, a man became angry with me and went to IRS to try to get them to audit me.
Two IRS agents came to my house. I greeting them at the door of my house and the agent said, "Jim Smith?"
I was puzzled and replied, "No ... I'm Joan Boney"
The agent looked embarrassed. I could tell he was not supposed to say the name of the man who was on his clipboard in my investigation. I felt this was the man who caused the audit.
I invited the agents to come into my house.
I told them if there had been an error it was simply that, a mistake, and I would take care of it. I told them they could take all my cancelled check and all my bookkeeping with them and if they found anything wrong I would correct it.
One agent was really shocked that I offered them all my materials. Apparently people do not offer that. She said to the other agent, "Did you hear her? She said we could take all her checks and books."
One agent said to me, I see you do not pay into the social security program.
"No, I don't", I replied. "When the ministry was set up with IRS I signed "a vow of poverty" which ministers can sign as an option. I was told I would never be able to return to social security program if I did this but we had very little money at that time, 1979, and we couldn't afford to pay for this so I signed the vow of poverty statement freeing the ministry from social security taxes."
The agent told me there was no record of this "vow of poverty" with the IRS papers.
He said if I would like to buy back into the social security program I could do so since these papers were never filed. He said it would cost about $8000 for me to enter the program, back taxes. I said I would like to buy back in since we now had more money. He gave me the papers to sign and I gave him a check to buy back into the program. Because of this, I now have medicare/hospitalization ... also I receive a monthly social security check which covers the cost of my food and other needs at this point in time.
I was greatly blessed because of this IRS audit.
And they found no wrong doing when they examined my records.
The evil performed against me by the man who was angry with me at that time turned to good. As a result of that social security monthly check, I do not need to take salary from the ministry today!
I had an accident in 2010. It would have been very difficult had I not been in the social security program for I would have had no medical coverage. This turned out to be very important to me.
In the Bible, when Joseph's brothers sold Joseph into slavery and Joseph was taken down into Egypt as a slave, God used this to save the nation of Israel later.
Genesis 50 ... 19 And Joseph said unto them (to his brothers), Fear not:for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. 21 Now therefore fear ye not:I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
A few years later, I moved to Lubbock and built the current house and the young man who apparently turned me into the IRS even came and helped me in the building of the current house. He was very talented in interior design. We continued friendly toward one another until this day.
Isaiah 54:17 ... No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper;
and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of ME, saith the Lord.
In the 1990's, a man became angry with me and went to IRS to try to get them to audit me.
Two IRS agents came to my house. I greeting them at the door of my house and the agent said, "Jim Smith?"
I was puzzled and replied, "No ... I'm Joan Boney"
The agent looked embarrassed. I could tell he was not supposed to say the name of the man who was on his clipboard in my investigation. I felt this was the man who caused the audit.
I invited the agents to come into my house.
I told them if there had been an error it was simply that, a mistake, and I would take care of it. I told them they could take all my cancelled check and all my bookkeeping with them and if they found anything wrong I would correct it.
One agent was really shocked that I offered them all my materials. Apparently people do not offer that. She said to the other agent, "Did you hear her? She said we could take all her checks and books."
One agent said to me, I see you do not pay into the social security program.
"No, I don't", I replied. "When the ministry was set up with IRS I signed "a vow of poverty" which ministers can sign as an option. I was told I would never be able to return to social security program if I did this but we had very little money at that time, 1979, and we couldn't afford to pay for this so I signed the vow of poverty statement freeing the ministry from social security taxes."
The agent told me there was no record of this "vow of poverty" with the IRS papers.
He said if I would like to buy back into the social security program I could do so since these papers were never filed. He said it would cost about $8000 for me to enter the program, back taxes. I said I would like to buy back in since we now had more money. He gave me the papers to sign and I gave him a check to buy back into the program. Because of this, I now have medicare/hospitalization ... also I receive a monthly social security check which covers the cost of my food and other needs at this point in time.
I was greatly blessed because of this IRS audit.
And they found no wrong doing when they examined my records.
The evil performed against me by the man who was angry with me at that time turned to good. As a result of that social security monthly check, I do not need to take salary from the ministry today!
I had an accident in 2010. It would have been very difficult had I not been in the social security program for I would have had no medical coverage. This turned out to be very important to me.
In the Bible, when Joseph's brothers sold Joseph into slavery and Joseph was taken down into Egypt as a slave, God used this to save the nation of Israel later.
Genesis 50 ... 19 And Joseph said unto them (to his brothers), Fear not:for am I in the place of God? 20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive. 21 Now therefore fear ye not:I will nourish you, and your little ones. And he comforted them, and spake kindly unto them.
A few years later, I moved to Lubbock and built the current house and the young man who apparently turned me into the IRS even came and helped me in the building of the current house. He was very talented in interior design. We continued friendly toward one another until this day.
Isaiah 54:17 ... No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper;
and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of ME, saith the Lord.
Zechariah 3 ... Viewing the works of God through scripture
1 And he shewed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of
the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to resist him.
2 And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. 4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. 5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.
6 And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch. (Jesus Christ)
9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.
2 And the Lord said unto Satan, The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan; even the Lord that hath chosen Jerusalem rebuke thee: is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?
3 Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and stood before the angel. 4 And he answered and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment. 5 And I said, Let them set a fair mitre upon his head. So they set a fair mitre upon his head, and clothed him with garments. And the angel of the Lord stood by.
6 And the angel of the Lord protested unto Joshua, saying, 7 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt also keep my courts, and I will give thee places to walk among these that stand by.
8 Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, thou, and thy fellows that sit before thee: for they are men wondered at: for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the Branch. (Jesus Christ)
9 For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.
10 In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall ye call every man his neighbour under the vine and under the fig tree.
Dealing With Destructive Thoughts: Chapter 3 / Book available at Amazon.com
Let Your Requests Be Known Unto God
We have to do what Paul instructed in the following scripture:
Phil. 4:6 ... Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
The first step is to turn to God with the trouble area and pray. Let your requests in the matter be made known unto God. What would you like God to do in your behalf?
Phil. 4:7 ... 7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
When we fail to deal in a spiritual way with negative thoughts, we may end up "forsaking our own mercy."
Job. 2:8 ... They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.
Example: Recently I wrote something as a teaching example. It was something that happened with another person. Although I have no reason to think this person would ever read anything I would write, still there was a fearful thought. "What if he sees this. He might be angry that I wrote this." (Although I did not use his name, he would know it was what he did.)
Immediately I began praying. I asked God not to let this hurt this man in any way. It was not written to hurt anyone but rather to give the church an example of how things can go wrong if you follow the wrong spirit which I'm persuaded this man had done in this case.
James 4:7 ... Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
We submit ourselves to God in prayer as we take the problem to God.
If we are reminded of a scripture after prayer, we "stand" on that scripture, building our faith on that scripture, thereby resisting the devil with the word God has given us in the matter after we pray. And we have the promise that the devil will flee from us.
Often after prayer when we are reminded of a scripture to help us, we can just sit and think about that scripture and what it is saying to us. Thus we "fill our house" with that scripture by thinking on that scripture.
Devils will not want to move into our house when it is being kept filled with the word of God.
Mt. 12 ... 43 When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. 44 Then he saith, I will return into my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. 45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there:and the last state of that man is worse than the first.
Many of the destructive thoughts that come to us are from spirits of the devil. And those spirits will bring thoughts which are opposite to God, thus the thoughts are "anti" Christ, opposite to the Word of God.
Paul explains: 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;) 5Casting 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; II Cor. 10
When something troubles people of the world they use fleshly ways to deal with the trouble. Some clean out closets. Some go shopping. Some pick up a phone and share their troubles with another person. These people "war after the flesh".
But our weapons are "mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." Brick by brick, as we pray over the situation, and as we focus on scripture given us by the Holy Spirit, we remove that wall that has been built over the years by this type of problem.
"Casting down imaginations" ... Haven't we often been troubled over nothing? Sometimes these imaginations can eat up our lives and cause us to be in a type of paralyses. But we have a secure weapon if we will use it. When we belong to God we have access to the power of God which never fails.
All we have to do is turn to God in prayer and pour out our hearts to God in prayer.
And Paul says when we do this, the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. We place our faith in what God gives us on the matter at hand, what God calls to our mind after we pray.
Sometimes I can even feel the weight lift from my shoulders after I pray when I have been troubled over something.
And there are many "high sounding thoughts" that come exalting themselves against the knowledge we have of God. These are "anti-Christ" ... opposite to the word of God. Nevertheless these are troubling thoughts and must be dealt with through prayer.
Our first way of escape is to STOP ... AND PRAY ...as soon as we realize we are troubled or feeling a little "down".
Sometimes we remember to pray over the "big" things ... but ignore the "little" things ...
Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes. Song of Solomon 2:15
It is important to take those little things that trouble us to God also.
in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. Phil. 4:6
When we fall asleep and let the troubles pile up without prayer, we put ourselves in danger.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: 9Whom resist stedfast in the faith, I Peter 5
One of the aspects of "pure religion" in the sight of God is to keep ourselves unspotted from the world.
James 1:27 ...Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit (judge) the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
This is all a part of taking thoughts captive to bring them into obedience of God.
These books are available in Kindle version and paperback from Amazon.com
Type Joan Boney in the Amazon search box to purchase these books
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Monday, July 25, 2016
II Thessalonians 1 ... Reading through the Bible
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, 8 In flaming fire taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: 9 Who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power;
10 When he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all them that believe (because our testimony among you was believed) in that day.
11 Wherefore also we pray always for you, that our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power:
12 That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.
God gives "signs following" our work
Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
Jesus said ... The Father that sent me beareth witness of me. Jn. 8:18
Once John the Baptist sent his disciples to see if Jesus was the ONE promised or should they look for another.
Lk. 7 ... 20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 21 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. 22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Jesus talked about signs following us who believe in HIM.
Mark 16 ... 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Signs do follow us who believe.
I thought about this in my own life and God reminded me of the following "signs" that followed me.
- Pam Padgett told me she was given a dream from God. In that dream, I (Joan Boney) was her "supervisor" ...
- Barbara Preston in our little church group, was praying, asking God to show her if anything was hidden from her concerning the subject for which she was praying ... I became very troubled about Barbara's situation and called her to tell her the something was hidden from her. (after I told her that which had been hidden, she confessed that morning she had been praying, asking God to show her if something was hidden from her.) This is a sign to both Barbara and to me concerning the calling that God has on my life in the ministry to the church.
- When I was baptized the second time, after being born again, the minister at the church asked me if I would like to say anything before I was baptized. I began telling my relatives who had gathered at the church building to witness my baptism how I had been born again and God told me to be baptized. I just spoke as led by the Spirit of God. My uncle, seated in the audience, began crying. One of my cousins was moving her head up and down saying "YES, YES", as I was speaking. After the baptism, my uncle came to me and said, "I've never heard anything before like you were saying. Could you write that out and send it to me?" I believe this uncle was born again as I spoke.
- Toward the end of his life, my father, who had never gone to church, wrote to me saying, "Come see me and we will go to church." I had sent him a set of tape recordings from my radio broadcasts, and my mother said he wouldn't stop listening to these recordings ... He listened to them over and over. He had a stroke and was physically handicapped at that time. I suspect he was born again as he listened to those recordings.
- My mother who did not go to any church, came to me saying: "I want to have a faith like yours." I had read scripture to her and she believed the scripture and said, "Then I guess we'd better not do that anymore." (Deut. 18 ... concerning things like horoscopes) I believe she was born again as I read these scripture to her. My uncle, the one who was likely born again as I was baptized, wrote me after this saying, "You're mother has changed ... she has really changed." That is what being born again is about ... changed, but changed by God ...
- I was dating a man who worked for a Christian Book publisher. Bob was probably not born again at that time. One of the authors for Revelle publishing came to Dallas and Bob had to supervise her time in Dallas. Bob knew this woman, Dale Evans Rodgers, was very religious. Bob knew I was very religious. So he asked me to go to dinner with them when he took her to dinner. It was just the 3 of us. Dale and I got along very well ... both of us were excited about God and we talked constantly and freely about God. We took Dale back to her hotel and Bob got out of the car and they started walking toward the hotel entrance. Dale stopped and returned to the car where I was sitting and she said to me, "I don't know how I know this but you are going to be mightily used by God. You are going to have to stay very close to HIM."
I know there have been other signs following me ... often people have said to me, "We know the hand of God is upon you." ... and it is.
God had HIS plan for me and HE taught me as HE teaches all HIS people and HE raised me up to do HIS work which I believe strongly centers around helping the church in the end times as the iniquity of this world increases around us... for one of the main needs for us is in area of "godly exhortations" ... which I do constantly ...
See on amazon.com ... Joan Boney ... list of books, currently 13 ministry books ... exhorting the church in the ways of God and helping the church focus constantly throughout the day on things of God which is critical in end times.
Also see blog: Jesus Ministries Exhortation ... presenting daily writings exhorting church in ways of God with current warnings as they arise from day to day. The great advantage to having this blog is it going all over the world instantly and I am able to write fresh warnings that same day they are published.
*****
I'm sure you also have "signs following" if you have Holy Spirit and follow God.
If you ask God to show you, I believe HE will.
These are helpful to our faith in this evil time.
Jesus said ... The Father that sent me beareth witness of me. Jn. 8:18
Once John the Baptist sent his disciples to see if Jesus was the ONE promised or should they look for another.
Lk. 7 ... 20 When the men were come unto him, they said, John Baptist hath sent us unto thee, saying, Art thou he that should come? or look we for another? 21 And in that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. 22 Then Jesus answering said unto them, Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor the gospel is preached.
Jesus talked about signs following us who believe in HIM.
Mark 16 ... 15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. 17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.
Signs do follow us who believe.
I thought about this in my own life and God reminded me of the following "signs" that followed me.
- Pam Padgett told me she was given a dream from God. In that dream, I (Joan Boney) was her "supervisor" ...
- Barbara Preston in our little church group, was praying, asking God to show her if anything was hidden from her concerning the subject for which she was praying ... I became very troubled about Barbara's situation and called her to tell her the something was hidden from her. (after I told her that which had been hidden, she confessed that morning she had been praying, asking God to show her if something was hidden from her.) This is a sign to both Barbara and to me concerning the calling that God has on my life in the ministry to the church.
- When I was baptized the second time, after being born again, the minister at the church asked me if I would like to say anything before I was baptized. I began telling my relatives who had gathered at the church building to witness my baptism how I had been born again and God told me to be baptized. I just spoke as led by the Spirit of God. My uncle, seated in the audience, began crying. One of my cousins was moving her head up and down saying "YES, YES", as I was speaking. After the baptism, my uncle came to me and said, "I've never heard anything before like you were saying. Could you write that out and send it to me?" I believe this uncle was born again as I spoke.
- Toward the end of his life, my father, who had never gone to church, wrote to me saying, "Come see me and we will go to church." I had sent him a set of tape recordings from my radio broadcasts, and my mother said he wouldn't stop listening to these recordings ... He listened to them over and over. He had a stroke and was physically handicapped at that time. I suspect he was born again as he listened to those recordings.
- My mother who did not go to any church, came to me saying: "I want to have a faith like yours." I had read scripture to her and she believed the scripture and said, "Then I guess we'd better not do that anymore." (Deut. 18 ... concerning things like horoscopes) I believe she was born again as I read these scripture to her. My uncle, the one who was likely born again as I was baptized, wrote me after this saying, "You're mother has changed ... she has really changed." That is what being born again is about ... changed, but changed by God ...
- I was dating a man who worked for a Christian Book publisher. Bob was probably not born again at that time. One of the authors for Revelle publishing came to Dallas and Bob had to supervise her time in Dallas. Bob knew this woman, Dale Evans Rodgers, was very religious. Bob knew I was very religious. So he asked me to go to dinner with them when he took her to dinner. It was just the 3 of us. Dale and I got along very well ... both of us were excited about God and we talked constantly and freely about God. We took Dale back to her hotel and Bob got out of the car and they started walking toward the hotel entrance. Dale stopped and returned to the car where I was sitting and she said to me, "I don't know how I know this but you are going to be mightily used by God. You are going to have to stay very close to HIM."
I know there have been other signs following me ... often people have said to me, "We know the hand of God is upon you." ... and it is.
God had HIS plan for me and HE taught me as HE teaches all HIS people and HE raised me up to do HIS work which I believe strongly centers around helping the church in the end times as the iniquity of this world increases around us... for one of the main needs for us is in area of "godly exhortations" ... which I do constantly ...
See on amazon.com ... Joan Boney ... list of books, currently 13 ministry books ... exhorting the church in the ways of God and helping the church focus constantly throughout the day on things of God which is critical in end times.
Also see blog: Jesus Ministries Exhortation ... presenting daily writings exhorting church in ways of God with current warnings as they arise from day to day. The great advantage to having this blog is it going all over the world instantly and I am able to write fresh warnings that same day they are published.
*****
I'm sure you also have "signs following" if you have Holy Spirit and follow God.
If you ask God to show you, I believe HE will.
These are helpful to our faith in this evil time.
If you allow yourself to hate, it will be much harder for you to pray
(This exhortation will be reprinted weekly between now and November. It might help someone.)
Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
The apostle Paul instructed ...
I Tim. 2 ... 1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
If we involve ourselves in this USA presidential election and jump on a bandwagon and hate and fight the other candidate, we have moved back into this world.
Have we forgotten the Bible?
Jn. 18:36 ... Jesus says: My kingdom is not of this world:if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews:but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Col. 3 ... 1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
II Peter 3 ... 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
There will never be "righteousness" on this present earth. Paul said ... 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. II Tim. 3
We will never see righteousness on this present earth. It is the new heaven and the new earth wherein dwelleth rightousness. (II Peter 3)
John told us about the new heaven, the new earth, the new Jerusalem ... in the following scripture:
Revelation 21 ... 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write:for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:which is the second death.
I Cor. 6 ... 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you:but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
We who belong to God have another way, a way not like the people of this present world.
We are commissioned by God through the Holy Scriptures to live in peace as we await for Jesus.
You cannot live in peace if you allow yourself to depart from these scriptures and join this world, focused on men of this world and their actions.
I Jn. 5 ... 19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Our hope is in God and remains in God. And we must deliberately focus on things of God, on HIS truths.
I think the current US presidential race is interesting and it excites the flesh for it is very different. But there will be much hatred spread over the coming days.
If I choose to listen to the hatred, I might be caught up in the hatred.
When it is all over, if the one elected is called to my mind by God, I hope to remember to pray according to I Tim. 2.
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Daniel 4:25 ... The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever HE will.
Joan Boney ... apostle/prophet
The apostle Paul instructed ...
I Tim. 2 ... 1 I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
If we involve ourselves in this USA presidential election and jump on a bandwagon and hate and fight the other candidate, we have moved back into this world.
Have we forgotten the Bible?
Jn. 18:36 ... Jesus says: My kingdom is not of this world:if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews:but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Col. 3 ... 1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.
II Peter 3 ... 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.
11 Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, 12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.
There will never be "righteousness" on this present earth. Paul said ... 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. 14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; 15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. II Tim. 3
We will never see righteousness on this present earth. It is the new heaven and the new earth wherein dwelleth rightousness. (II Peter 3)
John told us about the new heaven, the new earth, the new Jerusalem ... in the following scripture:
Revelation 21 ... 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth:for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:for the former things are passed away.
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write:for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely.
7 He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone:which is the second death.
I Cor. 6 ... 9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived:neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you:but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
We who belong to God have another way, a way not like the people of this present world.
We are commissioned by God through the Holy Scriptures to live in peace as we await for Jesus.
You cannot live in peace if you allow yourself to depart from these scriptures and join this world, focused on men of this world and their actions.
I Jn. 5 ... 19 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Our hope is in God and remains in God. And we must deliberately focus on things of God, on HIS truths.
I think the current US presidential race is interesting and it excites the flesh for it is very different. But there will be much hatred spread over the coming days.
If I choose to listen to the hatred, I might be caught up in the hatred.
When it is all over, if the one elected is called to my mind by God, I hope to remember to pray according to I Tim. 2.
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; 2 For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
Daniel 4:25 ... The most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever HE will.
Zechariah 2 ... Viewing the works of God through scripture
1 I lifted up mine eyes again, and looked, and behold a man with a
measuring line in his hand. 2 Then said I, Whither goest thou? And he
said unto me, To measure Jerusalem, to see what is the breadth thereof,
and what is the length thereof.
3 And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, 4 And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying,
Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: 5 For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
6 Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord.
7 Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.
8 For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
9 For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me.
10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. 11 And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
12 And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.
3 And, behold, the angel that talked with me went forth, and another angel went out to meet him, 4 And said unto him, Run, speak to this young man, saying,
Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein: 5 For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her.
6 Ho, ho, come forth, and flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord: for I have spread you abroad as the four winds of the heaven, saith the Lord.
7 Deliver thyself, O Zion, that dwellest with the daughter of Babylon.
8 For thus saith the Lord of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye.
9 For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me.
10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the Lord. 11 And many nations shall be joined to the Lord in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto thee.
12 And the Lord shall inherit Judah his portion in the holy land, and shall choose Jerusalem again.
13 Be silent, O all flesh, before the Lord: for he is raised up out of his holy habitation.
Dealing With Destructive Thoughts: Chapter 2 / Book available at Amazon.com
My Kingdom is not of This World
As Christians, we are “new creatures”, old things are past away, all things are become new. II Cor. 5:17
While we are created new, born again, instantly by God when HE reveals HIMSELF to us … we grow day by day into the image of Christ, to the image of the Word of God by doing the Word of God in the issue at hand.
As we live in this world, we are continually cleansed and kept by the Word of God.
Destructive thoughts come from our own fleshly desires and from devils who fight against the Word of God and the way of God.
We overcome daily by hearing from the Spirit of God and choosing to go as directed by the Spirit in various scriptures of the Holy Bible.
Sometimes the Holy Spirit will remind us instantly of a scripture to counter a destructive thought.
Other times we have to turn to God in prayer, asking HIM about that thought and depending always on the faithfulness of God to lead us in the way of escape.
I Corinthians 10 … 13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.
It is so helpful if you will learn to live within your financial means rather than living as the world lives, charging things and barely making it from one month to the other.
At the time I was born again, 1975, I owned a small business in Dallas, Texas (USA).
I felt God showed me to get out of debt. I began working diligently on this.
A friend of mine was an executive with Braniff Airlines (now out of business). She was amazed at the way I was operating my business.
She said: “Usually what people learn to do in business is to borrow money and operate their businesses on other people’s money.”
That is common practice in the world.
That is not what God showed me to do. Instead God showed me to pay cash for merchandise and if I could not pay cash do not buy the merchandise.
Also, just before God revealed HIMSELF to me, causing me to be born again, I had accepted a business loan from one of my customers who was not a Christian.
As soon as I became a Christian, I felt I needed to free myself and pay her back all the money she had loaned me for merchandise.
This became my first goal after being born again.
As I remember it, I had fully paid her within a few months after becoming a Christians.
The following scripture was leading me in this matter:
II Corinthians 6 … 14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 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.
17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean; and I will receive you,
18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.
A friend of mine at the time was a very good businessman. He said he was a Christian but his best friend and business partner was an unbeliever. I never could understand how this was possible. He told me he kept his business life and his personal life and his “Christian” life separate … 3 different lives.
I doubt he was really a Christian.
I did get my business out of debt. I worked at it diligently, even in small ways. I didn’t purchase things outside that I could make myself, such as coffee. Even though this was a matter of 50-cents, it was a “way of life” to me.
An important consideration for each of us as Christians is the following.
The apostle Paul said … some people consider gain as a sign of godliness, and Paul said for us to withdraw ourselves from such people. I Tim. 6:5 …
Then Paul went on to tell us … 6 But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7 For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. 8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
9 But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
10 For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
11 But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I Tim. 6
Although we can deal with destructive thoughts with specific scripture, it is important for each of us to lay a good foundation for our new lives in Christ.
A very revealing scripture which will pay very big dividends to us is to learn to live the following way:
Jesus said: My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. Jn. 18:36
When we come to the understanding that our kingdom is not of this world either, we shut the door on many destructive thoughts. We live in far more peace when we view our lives here as the great men and women of faith viewed their lives, reported in Hebrews 11 …
13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for HE hath prepared for them a city.
Rev. 21 … 1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and HE will dwell with them, and they shall be HIS people, and God HIMSELF shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
5 And HE that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And HE said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
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