

# A Sermon to Remember

By: Wayne Hoss

## "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free!" John 10:10

# A Sermon to Remember  
Published by Wayne Hoss

Copyright 2012 Wayne Hoss

## License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

# Table of Contents

Introduction: You can be a friend to God

Chapter One: Prayer. Get God to answer your prayers

Chapter Two: Sin, Beat Satan at His Own Game

Chapter Three: Riches & Rewards

Chapter Four: Tests & Trials

Chapter Five: Faith. Perfecting your faith

Chapter Six: Leadership: It can be compared to the owner of a gun

Chapter Seven: Purpose. "What is my purpose?"

# Introduction

## You can be a friend to God

This book, though separated into several different categories, is basically one long sermon about our precious Lord God Almighty. It contains important information that can be found and verified in the bible, both Old and New Testament.

I have dedicated my life to our precious Lord God Almighty as not only a Christian and a disciple, but as a personal friend as well. You can be a friend to our Lord, you can talk to him just like your own best friend, and he will listen to your worries, fears, triumphs, goals, and needs, plus anything else that is on your mind.

That's right! You can make him your best friend. In Exodus 33:11 the bible says that Moses spoke to God "face to face as a friend." In the book of James 2:23 the bible says "and he was called the friend of God" and in John 15:14 the bible says "You are my friends if you do what I command."

So we can be friends with God, we can actually have a loving relationship with our creator, isn't that wonderful? However, before we can be friends with God, we need to learn how to be friends with our brothers and sisters here on earth. "A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother" Proverbs 18:24 (KJ)

This book is directed at all people, of all ages, and it answers questions that many of us have had in life, about life itself, and religion. Through the pages of this book you will get to know Satan, who he is, what it is that he is after, how he uses his power against us, and how to defeat him. You will learn what sin is, where it comes from, how to identify it and then conquer it. "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" Romans 8:37

Even if you do not believe in God, you should read this book anyway. Even if there is not a God, I would rather live my life as if there were, because as I lay on my death bed I will know in my heart and Soul that I was a good person, an asset to society, and did the best that I could possibly do. If there is not a God, none of us will ever know anyway, but if indeed he does exist, then... well you know the rest of the story.

Even if Jesus were not the Christ that we believe him to be, I would still rather live a good life so that the man that we have come to know as Jesus Christ, whom we know did exist, even if he was not really the Son of God, did not die in vain. Either way you look at it, he loved mankind and believed that we could come to live as decent, loving, caring, human beings, rather than live and act like animals. After all, that is the only thing that separates us from wild animals, our ability to think and rationalize things, and to work things out with calm reasoning. I mean after all, can you tell me that you would have gone through all of the pain and suffering that he went through for mankind? Honestly?

Anyway, I hated to read most of my life because I am very hyperactive and basically can't sit still long enough to read. Even in school I would skip read, but as I grew older I began to wonder what it was that God wanted from me, why I was here on this planet and what was my purpose in life, so I picked up the bible and tried to read it again and again, but I just could not seem to get past all of the "begats," and "begots"; so unfortunately I always sat it right back down again.

Then about twenty years ago I picked up the bible and started reading the New Testament in the book of Matthew. Though I seemed to enjoy reading for the first time in my life, I found it all very confusing and hard to understand. In fact, I did not even know what a parable was; much less understand the meaning of most of them. Then one day my brother-in-law explained to me that a parable was like an allegory, and that in the parable of the fig tree; we were either the good tree that produced good fruit, or the tree that bared no fruit at all, so it was cut down and cast into the fire to make room for another more productive tree.

The fruit that the tree bared (and/or did not bare) was the good and/or bad deeds in our life, or what we have done with the life that God has given us. Once I began to understand what a parable was, the meaning in the bible fascinated me, so I began to pray every single day before I read the bible, asking God to grant me wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of what I was reading and how to apply it to my life.

Before long I was all wrapped up in the bible and amazed at all of the wisdom that it contained. I had always hated to read in the past, yet here I was reading every single chance that I got to the point that I even gave up watching television all together. I would come straight home from work at about five in the evening and read the bible all night long (until about midnight) and my life became the bible. Other than going to Church four times a week, all that I did was work and study the bible for years.

I was utterly amazed by the fact that if I would have read the bible earlier in life, I could have applied all of that wisdom to my own life and suffered much less at the hands of others. Take the parable of the swine for instance, in which Jesus said "Do not cast your pearls before swine, for they are liable to gobble them up and trample all over you"

All of a sudden it hit me like a roadrunner slamming into a brick wall! I understood that parable, and finally my eyes were opened and I understood the parable perfectly. Before I got into Church I was going to bars and drinking, and partying all night long.

I would meet people at the bar who became my friend until about midnight or so, when my wallet emptied, and then they moved on, seeing how they had no more pearls to take from me. I would find myself in tears some nights, asking myself why nobody liked me, why everyone used me and threw me away, and then; when I read that bible verse it all fell into place.

I was suffering such abuse and torment because I was drinking, and buying drinks (or casting my pearls before swine) for alcoholics that would be your buddy as long as you were paying for the party. But then, when you were broke, those people were nowhere to be found. I thanked God for opening my eyes and allowing me to understand that parable, and many, many others.

Now that I had changed my ways and was going to Church, I had real friends; I once again loved life, because rather than casting my pearls before swine (throwing my money away buying drinks for people who used me) I was hanging around with people that I met at Church who liked me for me.

I read the bible at least four hours a day for years, and I read the New Testament from front to back at least seven times, and read the entire Old Testament at least once. Several people from my Church have read this book, as well as my first book "Hell's Gates Wide Open – Judgment Day!" By: Wayne Hoss (My Pen Name) and they said that they simply love the books.

In fact, one man from our Church went so far as to frame a page or two from my book and hangs it on his wall to serve as a daily reminder. The Pastor at my Church says that I am anointed at times, and he too thought that I did an awesome job writing the books, as well as the poetry (some of which is included within the books) and his wife said that my writing inspires her.

This is not for me to decide, but for you the reader to decide, and all glory should be given to God; not me, for I am merely an instrument, it was he that granted me the wisdom to write these books for you. I truly believe that God granted me that wisdom that I asked for and an overabundance of it.

He graced me with my first book "The Fig Tree – A Parable for Life" which I renamed "Hell's Gates Wide Open – Judgment Day!" and I strongly urge you to read it. It is about the last days when Christ comes to gather his elect, and it goes so far as to show (hypothetically) what God may very well say to us on Judgment Day.

My main goal in this book, and all others that I write (through the grace of God), is to make things easier for people to understand. Before you can get up on a roof and shout glories unto God, you need a ladder to get up on the roof.

I pray that this book, as well as my other, is that ladder, and that it leads you to the bible. Once you understand the bible and its secrets, you will be amazed at all of the answers it contains. There is an answer for every question you have ever had about life.

May God grant you wisdom, knowledge and understanding as you read this book, and I pray that this book leads you to the bible, for that is its sole purpose.

Thank you & God bless!

## Dedication

In Loving Memory of my wonderful loving mother; Marie Ann Hopper Hoskison Sorg for her devoted love and for being there for us, and just as importantly, for believing in me and my gift of writing.

Also dedicated to my brother Bryan Keith Hoskison, and a very special thanks to his loving and devoted wife Shannon Hoskison, who has always read anything that I ever wrote and asked her to proof read for me, no matter how long it takes her, she is always there for me. Thanks Shannon for believing in my writing sometimes I think even more than I.

I would also like to give a shout out to all of their kids who have always been cool to me, and loved me no matter how irritating I get at times with my A.D.H.D. Thanks kids:

Dedicated to my loving family:

Bryan Keith Hoskison

Shannon Hoskison

Alan Hoskison

Brittany Hoskison

Samantha Hoskison

Ashley Hoskison

Brandon Hoskison

Christopher Hoskison (My Son)

# Chapter One

## Prayer

### How can I get God to answer my prayers?

"Call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you" Jeremiah 29:12

Prayer, it is perhaps the strongest word that we know today, or ever will know. Through prayer people are healed, rewarded, saved, convicted, and delivered from sin and temptation, and much, much more.

I have had many prayers answered and they are beautiful testimonies, we will get into them in the last part of this chapter, but first we need to know exactly what prayer really is, how and why to do it, as well as when and where.

Many of us know the Lords Prayer, we were taught it as little children, but what does it mean to us? What does it say? Let's examine it closer (you can find the Lord's Prayer in the New Testament at Matthew 6:9-13)

### The Lord's Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom, the power, and glory forever, Amen.

The first thing that the Lord's Prayer does is to glorify God, and then it asks for his kingdom to come, as it truly will someday soon. Next it says "May your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven"

God only recognizes prayers that come from the heart, with true meaning, faith and power. So if you say in prayer "thy will (or your will) be done on earth as it is in Heaven", then you'd better mean that, or you are saying it for nothing. You are just mumbling words that have absolutely no meaning to yourself; and if they mean nothing to you, then they mean nothing to God; you are simply a hypocrite saying the same old boring thing again and again with no heart.

In Matthew 6:7 Jesus told us not to use "vain repetitions" when we pray, or "repetitious prayer"; it says "But when you pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their many words".

This means that we should not just say the same old boring thing over and over again. Sometimes we tend to become like robots, doing things out of habit, but not from the heart. You might say "but I do mean it, I want to see his will done on earth just like it is in Heaven!" but do you?

Are you living a godly life? Are you lifting your brothers and sisters up, rather than being negative and putting them down? Do you help people in need? Do you give food to the hungry? Do you pay your tithes, which go to help others in need and pay the Pastor so that he too can pay his rent, utilities, buy groceries, and have the gas money to drive from house to house helping and speaking to others?

Do you give clothes to people who need them? Are you a good hard worker or a sluggard? Are you loyal to your friends and family? Are you honest and sincere, or do you lie and bear false witness? Do you cheat on your husband or wife? Do you snap at people for no reason at all?

Sometimes we need to be put in check, and if we are in sin, no matter how small, we need to pray to God and ask him for his forgiveness. It is Gods will that we live godly lives, or be "God like". It is his will that we be true Christians (Christ-like) and that we do unto others, as we would have them do unto us, for this is how it is in Heaven.

Heaven is full of love, not anger! Joy and happiness, not rage and jealousy! It is full of brotherly love, not brothers whom envy one another and talk badly about others. So, to truly mean ''May your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" you must continually be living a good, solid Christian life.

The next part of the Lord's Prayer asks the Lord to see to it that we have food for the day. It says in Matthew 6:25 "Give us this day our daily bread" We should tell God our needs, every single day, even our simplest needs such as food, for he is our father and he wants to provide for us. It says in the bible not to worry about our needs, what we shall eat, or wear, for God will take care of us if we ask him to (Matthew 6:25)

The next part of the Lord's Prayer is a very important one, it says, "Forgive us our debts as we have forgiven our debtors" This means forgive us for our sins just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us. Whoa! Think about that for a minute. Do you still have a grudge against someone for something that they may have said or done to you? If so, you had better go to them and tell them that you forgive them, and it better come from the bottom of your heart, for God knows your heart, and if you really do not mean it when you say it, two people will know (besides yourself).

The person you apologize to will be able to tell whether or not you are sincere, and God will too! If you do not forgive that person from the bottom of your heart, so neither will you be forgiven by God for your sins.

In Matthew 6:14-15 Jesus said ''for if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly father will also forgive you for your trespasses. But if you do not forgive men for their trespasses, neither will your father forgive you for your trespasses"

The next part is just as important, it says "Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil" Here you are asking God to watch over you and keep you away from sin, temptation, and all sorts of evil.

Did you know that Satan has to get permission from God before he can tempt us, test us, or do any damage to our lives or us? (Read the Test's and Trials chapter in this book) In the book of Job you will see that Satan had to ask God for permission to attack Job (Job 1:8-12 and Job 2:3-6)

I suggest that you read the book of Job; it is an inspiration and teaches us how to handle Satan's attacks. You probably noticed that in Job 1:8 - 2:3, God asks Satan a question; he says, "Have you considered my servant job? There is no man on earth like him, he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil"

This is because God was proud of Job, and he was bragging about having such a faithful servant. Just as we brag about our children when they are good, so does God also brag on us when we are obeying his laws. This is why he did not destroy mankind long go, because there is always one who finds favor in his eyes.

In the book of Revelation the bible says that Satan is the "Accuser", he accuses us before God night and day. So of course when one of us is doing good God rejoices in us and brags about us. But then Satan says something like ''Yeah, well I bet that your servant is not so good after all, I can break him"

So God, having faith in us, lets Satan test us. So be glad when you are being persecuted or talked about, when people mock you, or when some kind of disaster strikes, because this merely confirms that God has faith in you. (Read the "Test's & Trials" and "Faith" Chapters in this book)

So by saying that verse in the Lord's Prayer, ''Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from all evil' you are asking God to protect you from Satan, his demons, and all who live in sin.

The last part of the Lord's Prayer praises God again and tells him that we know the kingdom, power and all glory belongs to him. So now we know that this one simple prayer that our Lord Jesus Christ gave to us ensures that we will eat, be forgiven for our sins (if we also forgive others), and that we will be delivered from temptation, and evil.

I suggest that you say this prayer the first thing in the morning to help ensure a good day, and as the day goes on pray for other people as well. When you pray, don't just ask for things all of the time. Have you ever had a friend who only comes over when they want something from you? Gets kind of tiresome doesn't it? You finally get to the point where you don't even want to see that friend again.

You might say "I'm tired of him; all he ever does is want. Want, want, and want.

He never comes over unless he wants something from me, I'm tired of it!" Well, you don't want to use God in that same way, do you? Of course not! So pray to God and tell him how much you love him, and why.

When something you ask for in prayer comes about, pray to God and thank him. After all, how do you feel when you rebuild an engine for a friend for free, and he does not even say "Thank you!" or how does a woman feel when she cleans house all day, does laundry, goes grocery shopping, pays the bills and cooks, and she does not even get a "Thank you" from anyone? Pretty discouraging isn't it?

So thank God when he answers your prayers, or when you get a raise, or a job promotion. Thank God every morning for letting you wake up to another fresh breath of air and life. In Luke 17:11 Jesus heals ten different lepers' but only one of them has enough decency to even thank him.

When you ask for something in prayer, have patience. After all, Moses waited on God for seven days on Mount Sinai (Exodus 24:16) God does answer prayers, but you don't always get what you want, because what you want is not always what you need, though at the time you may think that it is.

God is perfect! Everything that God does, he does with perfection; all that he says and does is perfect. So we should feel blessed knowing that if we do not get what we ask for in prayer, there is a perfectly good reason. Perhaps we did not really need what we asked for, or perhaps he is trying to humble us, or teach us strength, or even test us.

In Psalms 18:30 the bible says "As for God, his way is perfect" and in Psalm 19:7 it says, "The law of the Lord is perfect". One of my favorite bible verses tells us even more about our Lord God Almighty. In Deuteronomy 32:4 the bible says "He is the rock, his work is perfect: for all of his ways are judgments: A God of truth and without iniquity (sin), just and right is he."

That's right! God is perfect! His answers are always just what he knows you need and in his perfect time. I remember once when I began attending a local Church and almost all of the men whom attended wore suits. I wanted to be a part of that Church real bad but I was embarrassed when I had to wear those dirty old shoes and old clothes to Church.

That same night I prayed to God and told him about my disability check being late and that I had a hole in one of my shoes, asking him to let me get my check so that I could pay my bills and get a new pair of shoes.

About a week later my check still had not come yet, but I still kept faith in the Lord. I prayed and told God that my shoes were even worse now than they were a week ago, so again I asked him to let me get my check.

The very next day my grandmother pulled up in the drive way, she had drove over four hundred miles to visit my mother and she told me to go out to her car and bring in all of the stuff out of the trunk. Believe this or not, she had brought me a new pair of tennis shoes that fit me just fine, as well as two other pairs of shoes, one of them were expensive dress shoes, as well as three full piece suits and all kinds of socks, pants, shirts, and ties that my grandfather could not wear any more

That same day my check came and I was able to pay my bills and pay my tithes and offerings and I still had plenty of money left over because I had received a huge back pay check that I did not expect to get.

So God knew that I wanted a suit to wear to Church, even though I did not ask him for one; and he knew that I needed money. Even though I had only asked God to let me get my little check so that I could pay bills and buy a cheap pair of shoes, he blessed me a hundred times more than what I asked for.

God is never late, he always answers prayers right on time. Jesus said in Matthew 6:8 that God knows what we need in life before we even ask him, and he does. However I was fortunate to receive those clothes because I did not even ask him for them. I suggest that you always let him know your needs.

In Matthew 6:5-15 Jesus talks about prayer and how to go about it. It says, "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues, and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth; they have received their reward in full.

But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your father, who is unseen. Then your father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your father knows what you need, before you ask him" Amen! And so he does!

In 2 Chronicles 7:14 the bible says ''If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from Heaven, and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place." This tells us that he will hear our prayers if we humble ourselves, pray and seek his face, and turn away from our wicked ways.

You are probably thinking "I have changed, I did quit living the way that I was" but if he is not answering your prayers then you need to take a step back, and look at yourself again! Odds are that there is still a sin in your life that you have not forsaken.

Forsake means to quit doing, completely give up, or do away with that sin. In II Chronicles 7:12 God says, "I Have heard your prayer" so yes he does always hear you, but no, he does not always answer you. Again, God will only answer your prayers if you turn from sin and prove to him that you love him and his ways.

In I John 3:22 the New Testament says "Whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight" You probably noticed that I made those last words bold, that is because I must stress the importance of living without sin.

In II Chronicles 7:15 God says, "I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there!" So God will be with you in sight and mind as well as in heart, if you do as he commands.

In II Chronicles 7:17 God tells Solomon "As for you, if you walk before me, as David your father did, do all that I command you to do, and observe my decree's and laws, I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with David your father when I said 'you shall never fail to have a man rule over Israel.'

But if you turn away and forsake the decree and commands that I have given you, and go off to serve other Gods and worship them, then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and I will reject this temple that I have consecrated for my name.

I will make it a byword, and an object of ridicule among all peoples. And though this temple is now so imposing, all who pass by will be appalled and say 'Why has the Lord done such a thing to this temple?' People will answer, 'because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers, who brought them out of Egypt. And they have embraced other Gods, worshipping and serving them; that is why he brought all of this disaster on them!'"

So by this we can see that if you obey God and live a godly life, he will bless you abundantly. However, if you do not submit to God's laws and commands, he will not only take those blessings away, he will let people ridicule you and let other disasters take place in your life as well!

So when everything in your life seems to be going wrong, then perhaps you are doing something wrong! I know a man that says he does not believe in God, and he says that if there is a God then why is everything in his life always going wrong!

I told him it is because he does not believe in God and he plays these games like dungeons and dragons, and games with warlocks, demons, and wizards in them, and if you do not obey Gods commandments (which command us to stay away from such things) and love him, he will hand you over to Satan. I also pointed out the fact that he told me himself that he steals things from where he works. God will not recognize you if you are living in sin.

So, if your prayers are not being answered, perhaps you are still doing something wrong! If not then you may be going through a test. God does test people to see what they are made of (see the "Tests & Trials" chapter in this book, and to find out what you may be doing wrong, read the "Sin" chapter in this book as well)

In II Corinthians 4:17 the bible says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone out and the new has come in." So my friend; be rid of sin in your life, "out with the old and in with the new''. A lot of people believe that no matter what they do or how much they sin they are saved by grace, by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, but they are headed for disaster.

In Romans 6:11 the bible says "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God thru Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but you are under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that when you offer yourselves to somebody to obey him as slaves that you are slaves to the one who you obey? Either you are slaves to sin; which leads to death! Or you are slaves to obedience; which leads to righteousness and everlasting life"

So you are saved by grace only if you obey the laws and commandments of our Lord God Almighty. You are either a slave to sin (Satan) or righteousness (God). After all, you are merely taking advantage of our Lords kindness when you sin intentionally, thinking that you are saved by grace; and the position that you will hold in Heaven will be determined by the way that you lived your life here on earth. Do you want to be a servant, or rule over a city of your own? If you continue sinning it will not matter, will it?

Wouldn't it be better to be God's friend and live a godly life? After all, this is what pleases him, not taking advantage of his kindness. Jesus Christ died for us so that we could live new lives of righteousness, not so that we could continue in our old ways of living in sin. After all, if sinning were all right that would mean that Jesus died for nothing.

Please read the "Sin" chapter in this book, it will teach you a lot of what you need to know to beat Satan at his own game! Satan is that little voice in your head with negative thoughts, the voice that says when you are fasting or dieting "Oh come on! You are hungry, you need to eat, don't be foolish!" or "Oh come on, one more doughnut is not going to kill you!" when in fact it will, eventually.

When someone makes you angry, the voice of Satan says, "You don't have to take that, yell back at them!" or do this, or that! Get even with them. He is that anger in your chest that feels the need to explode in anger. This chapter is about prayer and fasting, so again I urge you to read the "Sin" chapter.

Daniel use to pray to God at least three times a day. He actually prayed even more than that, but these three prayers he did in the morning, noon, and again at night, in front of his open window; and people could see him as they walked by. The reason he prayed through the open window is because he believed that it was a sort of "Window to Heaven", so to speak.

Keep in mind that people walking by on the streets could see him praying three times a day, without fail, every day. They could hear him and see him praying to God. Now you are probably thinking to yourself, "Hey, I thought you were supposed to pray in secret, not out loud like the hypocrites!"

By Jesus saying this, what he meant was that if you are only praying out loud, or in front of others to make yourself look good, to draw attention to yourself, then you are a hypocrite. You are only trying to impress others and make yourself look good. So you have already received your reward.

However, if it truly comes from your heart (and you must remember that God knows your heart as well as your true intentions) then it is all right to pray in front of others, or out loud. For instance, about twenty-five years ago, before I came to Christ, I was in a religious home for men whom were alcoholics like myself and/or drug addicts. Most of these men were convicts and court ordered to be there, but I was not, I went there on my own free will.

When I prayed in private to God, which was several times a day, he did hear me, and he knew my heart, but I also prayed out loud in front of these men, so that they could hear me. After all, that is how I learned how to pray, and got an idea of what to say to God, by listening to other people.

When I was a "Babe" in Christ (or a new convert), I looked around a lot because I did not know how to pray. I did not know how, or what to say, or even where to begin. So by listening to others I heard what they had to say to God.

The Church that I was going to was a local Church, and let me tell you something, I have been to a lot of different kinds of Church's in my lifetime, but never in my life have I ever seen people that love God as much as these people do; and so, by watching these people pray and listening to them I learned what true Christians who prayed with all of their heart, Soul, mind, strength and power had to say to God.

I only observed people whom I knew were true Christians, whom gave one hundred percent to God and prayed with their whole heart. So, since I prayed out loud in front of these other men in the home you might be asking yourself "Does he get credit for that prayer, does God recognize it since it was done in front of others intentionally?"

You bet! Like I said, God knows your heart and what your true intentions are, and he knew that I was being a good example to these other men. Sure, at first they thought that I was a hypocrite who was just praying and singing praises out loud all day long to gain recognition for myself, but before long they realized that I was sincere, and that I truly did love God with all of my heart, Soul, mind, strength, and power.

Before long one of the men in that home came to me and asked me about prayer and praising God, he said that he wanted to be just like me. When I first came there I was full of happiness and joy. The bible says that you can know a happiness that runs so deep nothing can fully quench it.

For almost an entire month these men, whom like I said were convicts and had been in prison, treated me badly. They picked on me, found reasons to put me down, or to get me in trouble with the leaders, or bosses.

They talked about me behind my back, and constantly mocked me. I remember walking out side one night, and crying to God. I never cursed him once. I just said "I love you God and I hate being here, please deliver me from this place, I can't take this anymore" I had tears in my eyes, I was crying like a little child, and believe it or not, the next morning everything went so well, that I was laughing and praising God, with joy.

It says in the bible in Psalm 30:5 "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning". Let me tell you; I seen those verses from the bible come true that very next morning. The bible also says that God will not give you any more pressure than you can handle, and God knew that I could not take it anymore, so he stopped Satan dead in his tracks.

Why were these guys being so mean to me? Well my second month there one of them came to me when I was packing and was going to leave and he asked me to stay, he said "Please don't go, we want you to stay, nobody wants to see you go!"

He began to explain to me the reason that everyone was treating me so bad, he said, "You know the first few days when you were here and I kept telling you to shut up all of the time, and I was rude to you? Well it was because I was jealous of you. You had so much joy and happiness all of the time that I was jealous of you, I was envious!"

He continued to say "That's why the others treated you bad too. Because I have been mouthing off and causing them to dislike you, and they want what you have also!" That is when I told him that all they have to do is pray to God wholeheartedly, and tell God that they are sorry for the way that they had lived in the past, and repent, and they would be forgiven and receive the joy that I had.

From that point on I began to watch them and I noticed that some of them did not know how to pray, or even how to praise God wholeheartedly. They were holding back, in fear of retaliation from the others, afraid that the others might laugh at them or mock them; they were letting pride stand between them and God. So that's when I began to pray out loud, so that they could get an idea of what to say to God, after all; that's how I learned.

Did it pay off? Abundantly! After about two more weeks of tears and mental abuse one of the guys knocked on my door and said that he was thankful that I was there and he said that he wanted to be a good Christian just like me.

When he left my room I broke out in tears and I thanked God! Those tears turned into a joy that no man can measure. I finally realized that God had placed me there for a reason and it was finally paying off.

These men had never known a joy like I had. I sang songs all day long, almost non-stop, and I prayed to God continually throughout the day. I was always full of joy and happiness, but all that these guys had ever been around in their entire life was gangs, fighting, arguing and backbiting, they never knew that a loving God could bring them so much peace of mind and joy.

So I prayed out loud and also praised God all day long even though I knew they talked bad about me and mocked me behind my back. At first they talked about me behind my back and called me a hypocrite. They said that I was just showing off and trying to get attention. Little did they know that I was doing it all for their sake. All of the abuse that I put up with was for their sake, and they did not even know it.

Before long they were all joining in with me singing praises from the bottom of their hearts, and I noticed that they began to pray longer, and they had more to say in prayer, because by listening to me they learned how to pray to our precious Lord God Almighty.

Does another person's Soul really mean that much to me? You bet it does! And yes I would do it again! I would go through all of that ridicule and suffering again if it helped show others how to live for God, like it did these men, whom now are good Christians, and walk around with smiles of joy on their faces rather than looks of anger and pain.

A true Christian loves everyone, and just like our Lord, it is not our wish that one Soul should perish. I had a couple of people from that Church tell me that they noticed a big difference in the men's attitude after I came there, they both said that they loved the way I praised God with all of my heart, and that the men from this home slowly began to follow my lead.

One of the members from this Church said, "I remember when you first came to the Church with the men's home, all of the guys use to point at you and make fun of you as you sang and danced for the Lord, and praised him out loud, and even Tim, (who was a new convert) would make fun of you, but now he is just like you, he praises God with all of his heart, regardless of what the others may think"

So, after that one man came to me, the others began to see the light as well. That is why the bible says to let your light shine, so that others will see that light and want to be like you.

Now for a confession; the night before that man came to me, I packed my bags and demanded a ride back into town, I said, "I quit!" One of the counselors there talked me into unpacking and staying, he said, "When you are ready to give up and quit, your blessing is usually right around the corner." He said, "That is why most people never get blessed, because they give up right about the time that they are about to receive their blessing!"

He was right! I decided to unpack and stay that night. I went back into my room and prayed to God with all of my heart, I even broke out into tears as I asked him to deliver me from that evil place or to show me why I was there.

The next day at about noon is when one of the men came to my room after they were told that I was packing my bags and going to leave, and he told me that he wanted to be just like me, he even said "You are doing a good thing here, and I am glad that you are here, keep it up!"

This was one of the men who were constantly dogging me and causing me problems a couple of weeks earlier, and now he was my friend. What finally brought him to talk to me? He said that he was curious about the way I prayed out loud, and also that he loved the way that I sang praises to God all day long, and he said that all of the other men thought I was weird and talked about me because of how I praised God out loud from the top of my voice, but he said he didn't care, he wanted to have the joy that I had, at any price.

I told him to begin praising God out loud in Church, to raise his hands and make sure that God heard him. I said, "Don't let the other guys intimidate you and steal your joy. Don't ever let anyone steal your joy. If you are happy and joyful and someone starts glaring at you, or making fun of you, or just tries to be a trouble maker, just smile and walk away, because that's what they are really out to do, they are out to steal your joy, because they want you to be miserable inside just like they are. I said "Give it all to God, no matter what they say, or do, and God will fill you with so much joy it is unbelievable!"

When I first came to that home, this man was always causing me problems and fighting and arguing with the other guys, and was in fact one of the biggest trouble makers, but from that time on he went around with a smile all day long, laughing and praising God, and I was so proud of him that I thanked God every single day for giving that man so much joy.

Two weeks earlier that same man almost drove me off, but now we were doing bible studies together and teaching others how to praise God, and be full of joy. So it is all right to praise God out loud, and even to pray out loud, if your heart is in the right place.

Some people pray quietly, and are quiet in Church, while others shout praises to God from the top of their lungs. Both people are doing it right, as long as it comes from their heart. What if you are doing everything right and God still is not answering your prayers?

Well then, perhaps persistence is the key! In Luke chapter eighteen Jesus tells his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. That parable is in Luke 18:1-8, here is what it says;

One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must keep praying until the answer comes. "There was a city judge," he said, "a very godless man who had great contempt for everyone. A widow of that city came to him frequently to appeal for justice against a man who had harmed her. The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she got on his nerves. 'I fear neither God nor man,' he said to himself, 'but this woman bothers me. I am going to see that she gets justice, for she is wearing me out with her constant coming!"

Then the Lord said, "If even an evil judge can be worn down like that, don't you think that God will surely give justice to his people who plead with him day and night? Yes! He will answer them quickly!

Always remember to call upon our Lord God Almighty to give you strength whenever you need it. In Phil 4:13 the bible says, "I can do all things thru Christ who strengthens me" Also remember that if you first seek God before you seek a husband or a wife, or anything else in life, he will see to it that you get the best. Before you seek worldly things, seek God, Jesus Christ our Lord said this himself.

In Matthew 6:33 Jesus said ''First seek the kingdom of God and all of its righteousness, and all else will be given unto you" Remember to be strong and wise. In Psalms 119:98 the bible says "God, through his commandments, has made me wiser than my enemies; for they are ever with me."

We are told in the New Testament that when we pray he hears us. In I John 5:14-15 the bible says "This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have what we asked of him."

Apostle John guarantees us that God does truly hear our prayers, but we do not always get what we ask for, only what God feels we need. Did you notice that in verse 5:14 John said, "If we ask anything according to his will"? This means that if we ask for anything that is not conflicting with Gods ways, or what is not good for us, he will grant that prayer for us.

However, if what we ask for conflicts with, or are against his will, he will not give it to us. Remember again that God knows what is best for us, and he is perfect. God truly is perfect, in II Samuel 22:31 the bible says "As for God, his way is perfect."

I mentioned earlier that in Deuteronomy 32:4 the bible says "He is the rock, his work is perfect; for all his ways are Judgment: he is a God of truth and without sin, just and right is he." Knowing this, we can be sure that any unanswered prayers are due to one of three things. It is either that what we asked for is against his will, because it isn't something that we need, or it goes against his perfect plan, or it is due to lack of faith, which we will get into later, or it is due to sin.

In Isaiah 59:1-2 the bible says "Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear."

These verses tell us that if we are living a life of sin God will turn away from us and not answer our prayers. Verse three goes on to say "Your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads his case with integrity. They rely on empty arguments and speak lies; they conceive trouble and give birth to evil."

So if you truly believe that what you ask for in prayer is good, and not against the perfect will of God, then you need to take a step back and take a good look at yourself. Do you lie? Steal? Cheat? Are you lying to the city or government just to get a check? Do you gossip and put others down instead of lifting them up? Have you bared false witness against someone causing them problems and/or causing others to treat them badly and ruined their good name for your own wicked and selfish gain?

Are you helping others in need? (The sick, homeless, and the elderly for instance) Do you pay your tithes? God will listen to our prayers, it is up to us as to whether he will answer them or not! In II Chronicles 7:15 God promises the people that he will listen to their prayers, he said, "Now my eyes will be open and my ears attent to the prayers made in this place."

Back then, God was speaking of a place that he had chosen and consecrated as a place of prayer, worship and sacrifice; However, now that place is in our hearts, and in a local Church. You can pray in the Church, in the streets, or even in the privacy of a prayer closet in your home, but if it does not truly come from the heart it is worthless!

In II Chronicles 7:14-15 God says "If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven and forgive their sin and heal their land."

I already mentioned this verse once before, but it is important that I plant this seed in your mind. That verse says that we must pray and seek his face and turn from our evil and wicked ways. This means that we must always be praying and doing God's will.

We must let our life of sin die on the cross with Jesus and begin to live godly lives. In order to do that we must pray and confess our sins (in full repentance) to God and ask him to forgive us and to wash us clean in the blood of the lamb (Jesus Christ his son), and then we must begin to live godly lives.

In Ephesians 6:18 Apostle Paul says, "Pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all of the saints. Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given to me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."

Amen! I thank Apostle Paul for the letters that he wrote to the Churches, and I pray that someday I become such a good disciple, as was he. Even in prison Apostle Paul kept his faith and he sang songs and praises to the Lord our God. Even though he was bound in chains for spreading the gospel, he encouraged and uplifted others.

This was a man in a cold, damp dungeon, if anyone had a reason to murmur and complain it was he, but he did not. If anyone needed a word of encouragement it was him, but rather than feel sorry for himself he stood firm and thanked God for allowing him to be a part of the Body of Christ as he encouraged others.

If a man in chains could uplift and encourage others, how much easier is it for us? We all need to be more like Apostle Paul! You may have noticed that in verse 6:18 he told them to pray all of the time with all kinds of prayers and requests as well as praying for others. So remember that we must continually pray every chance that we get, even for others.

We must remember to thank God for all that he does for us, even when a tragedy strikes, like a death in the family. Now you are probably thinking "What? Is this guy crazy or what?" Even when a tragedy strikes us, such as a death in the family we should thank God, because everything that happens is according to his perfect works. Maybe your loved one whom passed away was desperately needed in Heaven, would you then selfishly deny God that right?

He has perhaps taken them to a better place, a place more beautiful than any vacation resort here on earth. Remember that a caterpillar appears to die when it wraps itself in a silk cocoon like coffin, but then it is reborn to a new life as a beautiful butterfly.

So learn to pray even when things go wrong in your life. In first Thessalonians 5:18 the bible says "In everything, give thanks: for this is the will of God in Jesus Christ concerning you."

Some things happen to us because we are being tested (see the Test's & Trial's chapter in this book), sometimes we do things to ourselves through ignorance, which is no fault of Gods, so God lets us suffer the consequences to teach us a lesson, in order to try and teach us the right way to live, to wake us up "so to speak".

So pray on all occasions like Apostle Paul said and with all kinds of prayers and requests. Pray for conviction so that God will reveal your faults to you, and when he does, be sure to recognize them and confront them, rather than deny your faults and try to hide them. Remember that God knows everything, so there is nothing that you can hide from him.

What is conviction? Conviction is when your heart tells you that you are doing or saying something wrong. When someone asks you to do something for them and you snap at them, a little voice in your head tells you that what you said or did was wrong.

Conviction is that little voice that tells an alcoholic or a drug addict that what they are doing is wrong, yet most ignore that voice of conviction or try to excuse it. They make excuses for themselves rather than face the problem, thus continuing Satan's foothold on their lives.

Conviction is that little voice that tells you what you took from work is wrong! Even though most employee's ignore that voice of conviction and make up excuses like "Well, I deserve it, I work hard around here!" or "That's what they get for making me mad!" or "For not giving me my raise!"

Conviction is that little voice telling you that you were a little hard on that employee, or friend, or perhaps even on your own spouse or children. Conviction is that little voice telling you that it was wrong to talk back at your boss, or your parents. Conviction is basically guilt, and when you feel convicted you should immediately acknowledge that guilt, see it for what it is, and then you should confess and apologize for that sin, because conviction comes from our Lord.

Here is a poem for you, I wrote this about guilt:

Conscious Mind

Fear not a conscience that brings forth guilt

For upon that conscience is salvation built

Guilt is merely acknowledgment of a life of sin

Thus guilt brings out the monster hiding within

Put not this guilt, or its pain aside

Confront and acknowledge those sins that hide

For guilt brings repentance and a life anew

Confessing those sins will open a door for you

To ignore this guilt would be a mistake

So confront that guilt for Heaven's sake

If your pride makes you put it away

It will be back to haunt you another day

All men sin and fall short of the glory of God

But woe unto him that gives guilt not even a nod

Go up to an alter and pour out your heart

Give God that guilt and in Heaven take part

By: Wayne Hoss

Through God we can be a lot more prosperous and fruitful, but without him we are nothing! The only way to be with him is to be a part of him and his righteousness, and to acknowledge our conviction, confess our sins.

We are constantly under attack by Satan the enemy, who never gives up or rests. He is the enemy. He will attack our joy, our family, our finances, mates, friends or whatever else it takes to bring us down, that he will do! Unfortunately, this even includes condemnation. You see, conviction is good and it comes from the Lord, it was designed to show us our faults so that we could confront them and change our ways, thus making us more and more perfect, according to his good will, and without sin.

We must use conviction to our advantage, recognizing that this sin (whatever it is) in which we feel convicted of, is bad and thus avoid it in the future. However there is also a thing such as condemnation, which is of Satan, it was designed by him to use your own sins against you to destroy you, both mentally and spiritually.

Satan can get into your mind and turn conviction into condemnation, thus destroying your self esteem, making you crazy with guilt, and convincing you that there is no forgiveness for that sin, thus leading many to a physical death, either by suicide or a nervous breakdown, or leading to a spiritual death because you become convinced that it is too late for you, so you give up and quit trying to live for God, thus ending in a spiritual death, and literally leading you into the very pits of Hell.

God loves you no matter who you are or what you have done. God does not condemn you he just convicts you. Get rid of condemnation, acknowledge your sin, ask God for forgiveness, and then put it behind you and think of it no more, before Satan turns it into condemnation and uses it against you.

Remember that Satan is pathetic, he backslid when there was no devil! Satan is what we call two-faced, he will tempt you to do something wrong, he will lie to you to get you to sin, to do something that you know is wrong, then he will change roles and become your accuser, saying "you are no good! I can't believe that you did that!" and accuse you before God.

He will try and condemn you by saying that you are going to Hell for that sin, because he wants to rip you apart, and he knows that he is already condemned and headed for Hell, but he wants as much company down there as he can possibly get.

When you pray and ask for forgiveness from the bottom of your heart, then it is truly forgiven. In I John 1:9 the New Testament says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness"

So again I say, "get rid of condemnation", because he did not come to condemn us, but to deliver us from evil. In John 3:17 the New Testament says "For God did not send his son to this world to condemn it, but that the world through him might be saved".

God hates sin, but he loves the sinner, he hates theft, but loves the thief, he hates homosexuality, but loves the homosexual, however, if you die in that sin, then he hates what you were and all is lost.

So many people think that Judgment Day is actually a day, but what if it is not an actual day on earth or in Heaven, but rather the very moment that you die, when the grim reaper comes to collect your Soul. If that is the case, remember that in the book of Revelations it says when Christ comes to gather his elect, one was caught drunken in the fields and left behind, and the other of course goes to Heaven with Jesus.

We must never give up, we must never relax, because that is when Satan gets us, when our guard is down, and that is when we truly become a casualty of this spiritual war! I know that I personally study the bible, not read it, but study it, every single day, usually for hours. But it seems like every time that I say to myself, "Well, I have done enough studying for a few days, I am going to relax and go do this, or that!" that is when I become weak by listening to Satan thus becoming a casualty of this spiritual war that we are all fighting.

When I say, "Today I am going to relax and watch a little television, I deserve it!" that is when I lose my foothold and Satan attacks me. Something either goes wrong that day, or the next, because I let my guard down and weakened my defense. So we need to pray and study our bible every single day.

The bible says in Psalms 1:1-2 "Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night."

"Meditates day and night", this means that we are continually thinking about God and what he wants from us, and concentrating on ways that prepare us for our spiritual conflict against Satan. So stay focused, and when God or a fellow brother tells you that you are in living in sin, pray to the Lord and ask him for forgiveness, respond to that conviction honestly, admitting your guilt, taking full responsibility for it and then forsake it (completely give it up or quit doing it).

Try to find yourself a prayer partner; after all, the bible says that where two or more are gathered in his name, there will he be also. When you pray to God with a prayer partner he will be there in the midst of you and you can tell him your needs, and also remember that he also said that if two or more agree on something it will be answered according to God's good will.

In the New Testament (Matthew 18:19-20) Jesus said "Again I say to you that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my father which is in Heaven. For where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

Again I say that we must pray for conviction so that when Satan blinds us from our sins, God will open our eyes and reveal those sins to us. Then we must acknowledge those sins and completely quit doing them, do away with them (see the Sin Chapter).

Next we must ask for deliverance so that God will give us strength and help to deliver us from those sins. In Psalms 31:24 the bible tells us that God will give us strength, it says "Be of good courage and he will strengthen your heart; all you that hope in the Lord."

In Psalms 46:1 the bible says, "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble." So when we are in trouble we can rely on the fact that God will be there for us. Pray wholeheartedly, with everything you have, and let God know that you are serious.

In Isaiah 40:29-31 the bible says, "He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength; they will soar on wings like eagles; they will not run or grow weary, they will walk and not grow faint."

In II Samuel 22:33 the bible says "It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect". Imagine that! Not only does God give us strength, but he makes us perfect in our ways as well.

God created us with a purpose in mind, each and every one of us. In Ephesians 2:10 the bible says "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." See the "Purpose" chapter in this book. It was only after praying to God and asking him to reveal my purpose to me that I realized I was to be a writer for him. God gives us each a purpose in life. To some he gives the gift of writing, some the gift of teaching, others he may give the gifts of preaching, singing, or helping others (Yes that is a gift! perhaps the greatest one of all!) So again I say read the "Purpose" chapter in this book.

So come to God in prayer and ask him why he created you and what his good purpose is for you. However, do not expect an audible voice to answer you, the answer will only come through prayer and reading your bible. You can read a lot more about this subject in the "Purpose" chapter in this book. I highly recommend that you do read it; especially if you feel a void inside as if you are missing something in life, because that emptiness is a void that only God and your purpose in life can fulfill.

When you pray, don't just pray in Church because everyone else around you is praying, but pray in the privacy of your home, either in your room, or in a prayer closet, or wherever else you may feel comfortable, and pray alone to the Lord.

Our Lord wants us to pray to him because we want to, not because we feel as if we have to. That is when most of our prayers will be answered, when we pray to him in secrecy, all by ourselves.

The third thing that may be wrong if your prayers are not being answered is that you may lack faith. In Mark 11:23 Jesus said "Have faith in God. For verily I say to you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, "be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea"; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.

Therefore I say unto you, "what things so ever you desire, when you pray, believe that you will receive them, and you shall have them." In James 1:5-6 the bible says "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given to him.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. Let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord."

You will need to be persistent in prayer, never giving up, and be exact in your prayers. Tell him exactly what it is that you are asking of him. For instance, if you are sick, tell him exactly what the sickness is, be specific.

When you take your car to a mechanic don't you tell him what is wrong with it? You tell him the symptoms, or what the exact problem is, and then he proceeds to fix it. Always pray from the bottom of your heart and never let anyone else tell you how to pray, for if it is truly coming from the bottom of your heart, then you are doing it right.

For instance, when I pray I look upward toward the sky, or ceiling if I am in a building, or even when I sing praises to the Lord, because my God is up in Heaven. However, a lot of people look down when they pray, which is fine, it still comes from your heart, and God knows what is in our heart, even more so than us.

Every morning after I wake up I pray to God. I usually begin with the Lord's Prayer that we discussed in the beginning of this chapter, and after that I tell him how much I love him (with all of my heart, Soul, mind, strength, and power), and I thank him for all that he has done for me.

In Psalms 5:3 it is written "My voice shalt thou hear in the morning O'Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." So be sure to pray every morning, and if nothing else say "Good morning my Lord!" because if we want him to acknowledge us, we should acknowledge him!

Be sure to pray for others as well as for yourself. Pray for your entire family (brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, etc...), also pray for your preacher and his wife because it takes a lot to run a Church and Satan is continually after a preacher and his wife. After all, if Satan can bring down the preacher, the whole Church collapses.

Pray for the congregation, because they make up the Church and without them it would be nothing. Pray for the Church as a whole and that people continue paying their tithes and offerings, for without money the Church would collapse for sure! And besides, God commands paying tithes of you.

Pray that the Church continues to grow and that new people join every day. If you know people who do not go to Church, or if you do not go yourself then consider this: We must go to Church! You show me a person that does not go to Church and I will show you a person that is most likely unsaved!

There are perhaps a few exceptions to this such as a person who reads their bible every single day and prays, yet, I still question even their salvation. In Hebrews 2:3-4 the bible says "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed to us by them who heard him; God also bearing them witness"

We not only learn from preachers what it is that God wants from us, but from the Holy Spirit as well, who dwells in our preachers and gives us messages directly from the Lord.

In Hebrews 10:21-25 the bible clearly tells us to go to Church, it says "And having a high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; and let us consider one another to provoke unto love and good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as you see the day approaching"

We must go to Church in order to grow spiritually. The bible says that where two or more are gathered in his name, there he will be also. So when we are in Church, our Lord is right there in the midst (Matthew 18:19-20).

If you do not go to Church then you do not know what you are missing. There are plenty of good, cheerful people to talk to and share your problems or ideas with, as well as to help you in your spiritual walk with Jesus. You are missing out on such joy that it is a crime, in fact, a sin! You can meet real friends with real desires, not people bent on using you all of the time! Churches today play all kinds of musical instruments such as electric guitars, synthesizers, drums, piano's, organs, and so forth, which are exciting and wonderful to listen to. In fact, it says all through the bible to "Make a joyful noise unto the Lord "(Psalm 66:1, 95:1).

You are also missing out on potlucks and great sermons, and let me tell you that if it were not for listening to preachers at Church I would not know what I do today, and in fact, I sometimes found new interpretations to bible verses that I thought I understood, and in fact had been wrong about.

Also, in many parts of the New Testament Jesus tells his disciples to feed his sheep, or his lambs (John 21:15, 21:17) So they are told to feed his flock, and by that he means to feed them the word, but if you do not go to Church, how then can you be fed? You will be starved to death! So go to Church and listen to the Holy Spirit as he ministers to you through the preacher.

What good does it do to sit at home and watch television when we could be jumping for joy with others in his Church of praise? Besides, the Church is the "Body of Christ" and "he is coming back for a Church without a spot or a blemish" It says in another place in the bible "Do not forsake the assembling of the Church"

We are in a spiritual war and if we do not start fighting back we will get beat up or perhaps even beat to death; a spiritual death. So we need to go to Church in order to grow spiritually and to be equipped with the armor of God. We also need to go to Church to water those seeds already planted, or embedded in us; for without the Church those seeds would surely dry up and be snatched away by Satan.

I have met many people who drank and partied and said "I don't have to go to Church to be saved, I can be saved right here in my home!" Forgive them Lord, for they know not what they say! They are blinded by the ways of the world. It is obvious that they can't be saved at home or they would not be drinking and partying!

By going to Church we are refreshed by the word of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 20:28 Apostle Paul said "Keep watch over yourselves and over the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseer's. Be shepherds of the Church of God which he bought with his own blood"

You also need to know who to pray to, and that Jesus was God in the flesh. In Matthew 16:20 the bible says "Jesus the Christ" Isaiah foretold about the coming of God in the form of the flesh in Isaiah 9:6, he wrote "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called wonderful, counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the prince of peace"

Amen, and so he is! One of his favorite disciples Simon Peter knew that he was indeed God in the flesh, in Matthew 16:15-17 the Lord Jesus Christ said "But who do you say that I am?" and Simon Peter answered "Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God" and Jesus answered and said to him 'Blessed are you Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in Heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.' Then Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ."

Also in John 1:1-10 the bible says that the word (which is God) became flesh. It says, "In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made"

In John 1:10 the bible says, "He was in the world, the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own and his own received him not." Then in John 1:14 the bible again says "And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us."

Hebrews 2:14 says, "For as much as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same." Just as we are flesh and blood, God himself became the flesh and dwelt among us.

Someone once told me to picture an egg. It is simply an egg, one egg. Yet inside the egg is two more parts, which we can only see if we get inside of the egg. Those two other parts are the yolk and the egg white.

In that same way, the truth will only be revealed to us if we get inside God, spiritually, and ask him to reveal the truth to us. In John 14:8-10 Philip asks Jesus "Lord, show us the father" and Jesus said unto him "As long as I have been with you Philip and yet you still do not know me? He who has seen me has seen the father, so why do you say show us the father? Don't you believe that I am in the father, and the father in me?"

In Colossians 2:9 the bible says "For in him dwells all the fullness of the godhead bodily." This means that he is all three of them. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Now that we understand this, perhaps we have even more to ask him in prayer.

If you are reluctant to believe this, do not feel bad! I too was reluctant to believe, and in fact put up a good fight and refused to believe that Jesus was God. All of my life I thought that Jesus was the Son of God, not God manifest in the flesh.

I told everyone that they were wrong, and I searched out the answers in the bible, where I found all of these verses that I now share with you, so as to save you a lot of headache, and heartaches as well. It says in the bible "test everything that is said to be sure it is true!" The only way to test it is to read your bible and find the answers yourself. Besides, how can anything that stands for good be against God.

I even said, "If Jesus was God; then who was he praying to when he was on earth?" I finally came to the conclusion that he was merely showing us an example of how to pray properly.

You might have noticed that in Acts 20:28 the bible says "Be shepherds of the Church of God". We know that Jesus taught the twelve disciples all that they knew, and it was he that told them to be shepherds of the Church of God. So God told them to watch over the Church and be shepherds of it.

What does God mean by be shepherds of the Church of God? What he means is to watch over his flock, for he is the good shepherd, and we, his children, are his flock. What about those of us that are lost, are we his too?

This is where the parable of the lost sheep comes into light! In Matthew 18:11 Jesus tells us the parable of the lost sheep, whom by the way, we should continually pray for! Jesus said; "For the Son of man is come to save that which is lost. How think you? If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them goes astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine and go after that which is lost? And if he finds it, verily I say unto you, he rejoices more over that sheep, than of the other ninety-nine that did not go astray. Even so, it is not the will of your father which is in Heaven, that one of these little ones should perish."

So we Christians are the shepherds that are to watch over the flock, and likewise, we are to go after that which is lost. We are the shepherds, and the lost sheep are the sinners of the world. It is God's will that we go after the lost sheep and bring them home to the Lord.

If you are a sinner or a backslider and you do not feel worthy enough to go to Church, then I would like to remind you that he came to heal the sick, to save that which was lost. In the parable of the two sons, a rich man has a son who asks for all of his inheritance and then he leaves and blows it all on wild parties and riotous living.

When the son was finally broke and hungry, he returned to his father asking for forgiveness and is quickly received back into his father's house (Luke 5:11-32). Again, the bible says that "It is not his will that one Soul shall perish" (II Peter 3:9) so we should pray for those that are lost continually, and never give up on them, not only because it is Gods commandment, but it will very possibly earn us a jewel for our crown "so to speak".

Here is a poem that I wrote concerning this:

Lost Sheep

If a friend or a loved one has gone astray

Go after them and show them the way

Do whatever it takes to save that lost sheep

For he is more important to God than those in his keep

Remember the parable of the prodigal son

Who partied away his inheritance until there was none

Broke and ashamed he returned to his father's place

He said, "I am unworthy father, and a disgrace!"

He said, "I am hungry and homeless, please accept me back

I will be as one of your servants, my work will not lack"

His father rejoiced and fit him with all of the best

For now his son was home and he could rest

No longer by Satan was his son bound

Alive, well, and repenting, he returned to holy ground

Once he was dead, and for things of the flesh he did strive

His father exclaimed, "Rejoice, for he was dead, but now is alive!"

Remember also the parable of the lost sheep

Once returned to the shepherd such joy did he reap

He said, "Rejoice with me, for I found that which was lost"

So go after that sheep, at any cost

Jesus said "such will be the joy in Heaven over one who will repent"

Even more than over ninety-nine just and righteous whom need not relent

So go after that sheep that went astray

Earn a blessing from the Lord today

Rather than throw that sheep out to the wolves

Send him home safe on his hooves.

By: Wayne Hoss

Also be sure to pray for the sick and afflicted. In James 5:13-16 the bible says "Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing Psalms. Is any sick among you? Let him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.

Confess your faults to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Notice again that in verse 16 the bible says, "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much". So if you are living a godly life, living without sin, and praying and fasting, your prayers are much more powerful.

In James 5:17-18 the bible tells the story of a man named Elias, it says "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the Heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."

How wonderful it must be to be able to pray to God with such a request and have it honored. So now we see that prayer is very, very, powerful, and through it we can accomplish miracles, if only we believe and live according to God's word in the bible. I know that God has answered many of my prayers, as many as three in one day!

In first Samuel 12:23 Samuel says "As for me, God forbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the right way." So by this, we know that it is a sin if we fail to pray, even if we fail to pray for others. We also need the power of the Holy Spirit to avail much in prayer, and the Holy Spirit will not dwell in a dirty vessel, so we need to repent and confess our sins, all of our sins to the Lord and ask him to forgive us, then we must begin to live godly lives and do away with sin completely and keep all of his commandments.

I know a lot of people who believe that they can sin all that they want to because they believe that the old laws perished when Christ died for them, and that they are saved by grace. They are wrong! Dead wrong! In Matthew 5:17 Jesus said "Think not that I have come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.

For verily I say to you, till Heaven and earth pass away, not one letter shall in any way pass from the law, till all is fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach others to do so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of Heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called greatest in the kingdom of Heaven."

So this tells us that we are still to obey the laws, and besides, if we truly love God we would not want to live in sin and grieve the Holy Spirit (see the Sin Chapter) but we would want to live godly lives and please him.

In John 14:21 Jesus said "He that has my commandments and keeps them loves me, and he that loves me shall be loved by my father, and I will love him and manifest myself in him." This not only says that we must keep his commandments, but that if we do he will manifest himself in us.

Do you really want God to answer your prayers? Do you really believe that he will? If not then I say, "Believe it!" for he has truly answered mine. This book would have never been possible without him. I prayed to him daily and asked for wisdom, knowledge and understanding, and you can do the same. I also asked him to reveal my purpose to me, and as you can see, I believe that he has. (Please read the Purpose Chapter to find out your purpose in life).

In the New Testament, Philippians 4:6-9; the bible says "be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God. And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Those things which you have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you." So make your requests known to God and ask him for his help, "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God."

We all need to improve our prayer lives, including me. We need to pray longer, not just a quick "Thank you for this food, Amen!" If we can spend hours watching television, or talk to our friends for an hour or two, then we should be able to spend just as much time with our precious Lord.

In Acts 6:4 the bible says "But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word" Through prayer we become closer to God. This is where spending time with a prayer partner can come in handy. A prayer partner insures that God is with us as we pray, because, as we learned earlier, where two or more are gathered in his name, there he will be also.

However, a prayer partner can also help in the time of trials and tribulation; they can uplift us with spiritual support, rather than be negative like most people in the world. Prayer delivered Jonah from the mouth of a whale (Jonah 2:10), it also held rain back for three and a half years, and saved the Israelites from a massacre (Exodus 17:8-16).

In Psalms 13: 9:23, which will ask God to convict us of our sins and lead us into the path of righteousness. "Search me O' God and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way of everlasting."

Keep in mind that as you continue to read this book, your body needs nourishment (food), and your Spirit does too! The nourishment that your Spirit needs is the word of God. The next subject that I would like to touch base on real quick is "Fasting".

In I Thessalonians 5:17 the bible says "Pray without ceasing" That is a good idea, but what if you had a something else to help you in this spiritual war that we all fight every day of our lives; wouldn't it be great if you could call on one of your super powers like superman does in the cartoons and movies?

Ask and you shall receive! I am going to tell you what that super power is right now, and I hope that you always keep this in mind and near to your heart. God did give us a sort of super power, though most would disagree with me. That power is to be combined with the first and most effective power that we have been given; and that is the power of prayer!

You see; it is true that you should pray without ceasing when you are fighting off demons, but sometimes prayer by itself is not strong enough to do the trick, so to beat the toughest demons, you need to combine the two powers that God has equipped us with. The power of prayer and the power of fasting!

You have no doubt heard the story of when Jesus commanded the demons that possessed a man, to the leave his body and go into the bodies of some pigs nearby, after which they ran crazily to a cliff and jumped to their death.

When the disciples told Jesus that they had tried time and time again to expel the demons from that man, but failed every time, asking him why this was; Jesus told them that for such a strong demon, as was this, they needed to fast for a few days, to beat down the flesh "so to speak" and to pray day and night, this would give them the power they needed to drive those demons out of the possessed man's body.

Fasting teaches us to deny the flesh, for if we let our flesh take control of us then the fight is already over, and we have lost. We must be in control of our lives, not giving in to the demands of our flesh. Jesus told the disciples when they failed to heal that demon possessed man, that something like that demands a lot of prayer and fasting. So we should work on fasting, it gives us much more strength spiritually.

Satan uses any foothold on you that he possibly can, and one of my weaknesses is food. I have a hard time fasting, and this weakens my spiritual defense. One day I promised God that I would fast for forty-eight hours, and I caught myself eating just nine hours later.

I finally made it to thirty-nine hours the second time, which was still short of my goal, so again Satan used food to defeat me, to break me down and burden me with guilt. Then on another day when I said that I was going to fast, and a friend came over to the house (I did not call him or even tell him or anyone else that I was fasting, by the way) and he had brought a big plate full of homemade brownies that his mom made with him.

I said to myself "I am not going to give in. God means more to me than a stupid brownie!" Yet, a few hours later I was watching television with him and eating those brownies, Lord forgive me! By eating that brownie after saying that God meant more to me than it did, was like giving God a slap in the face, or like saying that a brownie meant more to me than God

May the Lord forgive me! Satan was no doubt setting back and laughing, not only at me, but at God as well, I imagine, saying, "Hah, this is your strong disciple! The one that thinks a brownie is more important than you?"

So be careful, because I guarantee you that when you fast you will see how fast Satan works. I challenge you to fast and then to listen to that voice of Satan that says "Go ahead and eat man, don't be silly.... it's been several hours.... eat, you're hungry!"

That voice is Satan; it's obviously not you, because you want to fast. This is good practice for alcoholics, drug addicts, or anyone trying to break a habit such as smoking or drinking alcohol, because once you learn to deny the flesh, you become stronger, and Satan hates that.

If you decide to fast then be careful not to make a promise God. Just simply do it. Because any promises made to God must be honored! As I leave you to the rest of this book I once again encourage you to pray and fast, and read your bible daily, for I love you, just as our Lord does, and I want all of the best for you, as does he.

The next chapter is the Sin Chapter. In this next chapter you will learn more about Satan, who he is, what he is trying to accomplish and how best to defeat him. Here is a poem that I wrote which is about Satan, please read this before continuing on to the next chapter:

The Beast

Life can be confusing to say the least

Every hour of the day we fight an invisible beast

He puts evil suggestions in our mind

He tells us to be mean, when we should be kind

He does all that he can to make our lives a mess

He tells us to lie, when we should confess

He puts knives in our words, sometimes in our palm

He tells us to be angry, when we should be calm

He has come to kill, steal, and destroy

It is his evil wrath we must avoid

He is trying to steal our reservations up above

And put anger in the place of love

Satan is truly the devious beast from Hell

Throwing away souls in a bottomless well

So go to Jesus, avoid Satan's strife

Then you may drink from the river of life

.

Rebuke Satan, Hells masterly beast

Who dwells in our mind, our life is his feast

Ignore Satan's little voice and judge with your heart

Trust in the Lord and someday in Heaven you may take part

By: Wayne Hoss

# Chapter Two

## Sin

### How to beat Satan at his own game

Sin, it is perhaps the deadliest word that we have ever known, because not only can sin kill the body, but it can kill the Soul as well. Sin was brought into this world when Eve ate a piece of fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3:6)

Satan came to Eve in the form of a snake and tempted her to eat a piece of fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. At first Eve was reluctant because God had told her and Adam "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die." (Genesis 2:16-17)

However, Satan lied to Eve and said "You will not surely die; God knows that the day you eat the fruit of knowledge your eyes will be opened and you will become as God's yourself, knowing the difference between good and evil." (Genesis 3:4-5)

So Eve took the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil and ate from it, and then she took it to Adam and he partook of it also. As soon as they ate the fruit, they knew the difference between good and evil, and since then we have all known, in our hearts, the difference between good and evil.

So now we know that it was Adam and Eve who brought sin into this world by listening to Lucifer (Satan) and disobeying God. Imagine that! They had everlasting life in paradise, but they chose to live in sin instead.

So, should we blame Adam and Eve for our misfortunes and our suffering? Of course not! They may be partly to blame, but if you were in the Garden of Eden today, could you guarantee that you would not eat the fruit?

Every time that you sin, you partake of that same piece of fruit! When you lie, steal, cheat, fornicate, curse others, or take part in any other sin, you are taking a bite out of that very same piece of fruit!

In Romans 1:18-20 the bible says "But God shows his anger from Heaven against all sinful, evil men who push away the truth from them. For they know the truth about God instinctively, God has put this knowledge in their hearts. Since earliest times man has seen the earth, sky, and all that God has made and they have known of his existence and his great eternal power. So they will have no excuse when they stand before God on Judgment Day"

So by this, we know that God put the truth in our hearts, and that we have always known the difference between good and evil; or what is right or wrong, and therefore we will have no excuse for our sins on Judgment Day, because we have known the difference between right and wrong from the beginning.

Even if you try telling God "I never read the bible my Lord, therefore I was blind" he will answer, "You have known the truth from the beginning, and it was in your heart!" Not to mention that the bible was always in your reach, you were just too lazy and self absorbed to study it and seek its wisdom. But that is why you are reading this book right now; because you are seeking the truth, and I congratulate you.

In Psalms 40:8 the bible says "I delight to do your will O' God, your law is within my heart." and in Hebrews 8:10 God himself said "I will put my laws in their mind, and write them in their hearts".

We are very fortunate these days because the bible has been simplified for those who do not understand it and its meaning. There is New International Versions (N.I.V) which is in modern day language, and there are books such as this and "Hell's Gates Wide Open – Judgment Day" by Wayne Hoss, which explains things in ways that make it easy for others to understand, that book even explains to the reader the truth about speaking in tongue.

In Romans 2:1 the bible says, "Well," you may be saying, "what terrible people you have been talking about!" But wait a minute you are just as bad! When you say that they are wicked and should be punished, you are talking about yourselves, for you do these very same things."

So be careful when you judge others like Adam and Eve, or anyone else for that matter, because you are just as bad. Also in Matthew 7:12 our Lord Jesus Christ himself said "Do not judge others or you will be judged. For God will judge you in the same way that you judge others!"

Scary isn't it? Have you judged someone lately? How did you judge them? What measure did you use? For that my friend will be the same measure used to judge you. Have you called someone stupid lately or called him or her an idiot or a fool?

In Matthew 5:22 Jesus said "But now I tell you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of Judgment, and whoever calls his brother an idiot shall be in danger of the council; but whoever shall say "you fool!" shall be in danger of Hell fire."

I just prayed to the Lord as I was writing this because I remembered that as I was growing up, one of my brothers was a slow learner and my other brother, as well as my sister and I, used to call him stupid, or retarded, or an idiot. Lord please forgive me. Not only am I in danger of Hell fire for doing such, but also now I realize the hurt and pain that I must have caused my brother as a child. Right this second my heart is heavy; I ask God to forgive me for my ignorance and I shall ask my brother to forgive me as well.

Can you imagine the pain and hurt that he must have felt deep inside when we called him these names? Especially when we had company at the house, or when we were around other kids at school. My God, please forgive me.

You know that sometimes we slow a person's progress down by calling them such names, because we plant seeds of negativity in their mind and they begin to believe that they are stupid and they give up and quit trying to learn.

My brother was hit by a car when he was about seven years old and witnesses said that he flew up almost as high as the top of the telephone poles, and then he landed on top of the hood of the car that hit him, and the back of his head was pierced open by the hood ornament, putting a big hole in the back of his head.

We prayed for him for days not knowing whether or not he was going to live, then years later we were calling him stupid, retarded, and names of that sort when he could not even help it, the accident made him that way.

Every time that he would make one of us mad at him, we used those terrible, cold hearted words as our weapon of choice. I pray that I never stoop that low again, and I pray that I learn to tame my tongue and never cause anyone such pain ever again.

Such foolishness can rip a person apart and ruin their life, yet so many of us do this day after day to fellow workers, other children in school, our neighbors, or our own family members, even our own wives and children. Shame on us! What an awesome world this would be if we only treated others the way we ourselves want to be treated. Even those who do not believe that Jesus really did exist have to admit that whether he existed or not, what he stands for is beautiful, right, and just. We can all learn a lesson from his good example.

The first step is to acknowledge our wrong doings and try to set them straight. Children in school tend to be just as cruel to fellow schoolmates. I have seen talk shows where innocent children break out in tears as they tell the story of how these other children beat up on them, or verbally abused them.

If your children are doing this to other children in school and you know about it and you do not set them straight, then I feel sorry for you and your children on Judgment Day. I have asked our Lord and my brother to forgive me since I wrote those paragraphs above, and I have been forgiven. I pray that by reading this, others will recognize their faults and correct them as well.

Have you called anyone stupid lately or a fool, or mocked them and made fun of him or her? Ask God to forgive you, and ask that person as well, so that there is no case against you on Judgment Day. So again I say beware of such snares, do not curse others, and do not judge, unless you want to be judged, not only by others, but also by God himself.

Do not criticize and you won't be criticized, do not ridicule and you won't be ridiculed, for others will treat you as you treat them. Keep in mind that people mirror what you put out. In Matthew 7:3 Jesus said "Why worry about a speck in your brother's eye when you have a board in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the board in your own eye, and then you will be able to see to help your brother."

Keep in mind that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ, so when Jesus talked about sinning against your brother he did not mean your intermediate family; he meant everyone in the world. By obeying God's laws we are guaranteed a place in Heaven where we will spend eternity. There will be no more sickness and disease, no more hunger or pain and suffering, no more worries or fears; we will live for eternity in a paradise that no man can imagine.

However, accepting God and obeying his commandments does even more for us than that; it gives us a better life here on earth. In John 10:10 Jesus said "I came so that they may have life and have it more abundantly" God wants us to have all of the best, and he wants to see us live a good life. By obeying his commandments, life begins to change for us, because we become happier, we find joy, peace, and love, unlike we have ever known before.

Why? First of all, because when we obey his laws, life works in perfect harmony with the world. We learn to be nicer to others and they in turn begin to be nicer to us. We begin to love and forgive others, and likewise, they, by seeing our good example, begin to love and forgive us as well. Not only do they learn to be like us and love and forgive us, but they learn to love and forgive others as well. It's like a pyramid affect.

In Romans 5:19 the bible says "for as by one man's disobedience (Adam) many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous" This is telling us that Adam brought sin into the world, but one righteous man saves many. Sure, it is more than likely referring to Jesus, whom was that righteous man, but it can also be referring to a righteous man that lets his light shine. He can also save many, because through his good conduct, many will change their ways and want to live a good life like him.

Eve was the first to eat from the fruit and let Satan deceive her, so God said to her "Because you have done this, I will greatly increase your pains in child birth. With pain you will give birth to children, your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you!" (Gen. 3:16) And he said to Adam "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree in which I commanded you not to eat of, cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

It is interesting to note that in the bible I remember reading somewhere that God said "because you have done this I will hide the cures for sickness and disease from your eyes, I shall hide the cures in far out and unlikely places, in herbs and..." Anyway, like I was saying, it is interesting to note that he has hidden the cures just as foretold in the bible. Penicillin is one of mankind's greatest discoveries and cures, and I heard that it is made from mold of bread or something like that. So I would suggest to the scientists searching for cures for cancer and other diseases to keep that in mind.

So Adam and Eve were told that if they ate from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil they would surely die. They did not drop dead right there and then, because God was talking about a spiritual death, not that of the flesh. You see, Adam and Eve could have lived for eternity, but since they ate the fruit, they were destined to die with the flesh rather than live forever.

This is why God said, "The man now has become as one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach his hand out and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever" (Genesis 3:22) You are probably wondering "What chance do I have now that Adam and Eve brought sin and death into the world? I mean, after all, I can't help what they did!"

That's right; you can't help what they did! However, you may have done the very same thing if you were in their sandals (smile), we all sin. Can we die a spiritual death as well? Yes we can! In Ezekiel 18:4 God says "Behold, all souls are mine; as the Soul of the father, so also the Soul of the son is mine: the Soul that sins, it shall die!"

In Romans 6:23 the bible says, "For the wages of sin is death" and in James 1:15 the bible says "Then when lust has conceived, it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, brings forth death." What does a spiritual death mean to us, and what sins cause a spiritual death? A spiritual death means that when our body dies (flesh) we will not go to Heaven to be with our creator; instead we are dead to him and therefore will be cast into the lake of fire (Hell) with Satan and are tormented for eternity.

What? You do not believe that we have a Soul; a separate being "so to speak" I would remind you of the caterpillar which takes the form of a large wormlike creature which spins a web like cocoon (A sort of coffin if you will) to die in, but is reborn a beautiful butterfly.

In the book of Revelation 20:10-15 the bible says "And the devil that deceived them was cast into a lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before God; and the books were opened, including the book of life. And the dead were judged according to the things that were written in the books, each according to his works. And death and Hell were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death and if anyone's name was not found recorded in the book of life; he was thrown into the lake of fire."

Mercy! Can you imagine being cast into a lake of fire and burning forever and ever? Think of it like this; have you ever burned yourself really bad? If so, imagine that pain ten million times worse and never ending. Scary, isn't it?

The cause of a spiritual death is sin itself. The bible says in Romans 6:23 that "the wages of sin is death." So all sin is deadly! Also, in Ephesians 2:1 the bible says "and you he has made alive, who were dead in your trespasses and sin."

God realized over the years that some people did deserve everlasting life, because people like Noah, Abraham, Jacob, David and others found favor in his eyes. So God gave a man named Moses his laws and said that whoever lived by those laws and obeyed them, would have everlasting life with him in paradise. However, these laws were too strict, and no man alive is without sin, yet the "wages of sin is death" (Rom 6:23)

We were headed for disaster from the beginning, because only a few men like Moses were close to being perfect enough for God, but even they sinned at times and upset God. Not because they did not believe in him or love him, but because "All men sin and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 6:23)

Since man was so imperfect and most of the laws of the Old Testament had a penalty of death, God decided to make a way for us to have eternal life. God came down to the earth in the flesh, as the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, so that we could have a relationship with him through Christ Jesus, and be forgiven our sins, no matter how great they were.

In the ways of the Old Testament, to be forgiven for a sin, a meat offering had to be made to God; forgiveness of sins was always through the blood of a sacrifice, which was clean and unblemished, such as an unspotted lamb. Rather than continue with the ways of the Old Testament, Jesus Christ our Lord gave himself as a permanent sacrifice so that we all could be saved through him, for he was without sin and unblemished, the final lamb of sacrifice.

So, how do we get saved? Are we automatically forgiven for a sin the second we commit it? Of course not! The bible says that we must "confess and forsake" a sin before it is forgiven. Confess means to admit that we have done wrong. We should pray to the Lord and confess our sins, and then ask for forgiveness, but we still must forsake that sin in order to be forgiven.

What does forsake mean? It means to give up; completely quit doing that thing which is a sin. Perhaps you have sat in a courtroom at one time or another and heard the judge say, "I am giving you three years probation, and if you make it through the entire three years without committing this same offense again, I will wipe it off of your record as if it never happened.

The judge is basically saying the same thing. He is telling that individual that in order for their slate to be wiped clean, they must forsake that sin, completely quit doing it, or pay a terrible price. However, if in that three years you commit this same offense again, the first will still count against you, and the new offense will be your second charge, and the judge will still hold you accountable for the first offense as well as the second."

Well, that is basically how it works with our Lord as well. We must completely give up that sin or it is not forgiven. After all, if you were truly sorry, you would not go out and do that same thing again.

So my friend, if you find yourself praying for forgiveness again and again for the same sin, then you are not yet forgiven, because you have not forsaken it. So you need to change your prayer and start asking for deliverance. Deliverance means to ask the Lord to deliver you from that sin, completely take it out of your life.

He can do that in several different ways. For instance, he can put conviction in your heart so that every time you commit that sin you will feel guilty, or he can deliver you from the temptation that is causing that sin, or whatever the case may be.

What is sin? Sin can be defined in many different ways. Sin is basically doing what we want rather than what God wants us to do. Sin is breaking the laws of the bible as well as that of our government. Sin evolves in many different ways; it can be from an act of anger, which causes us to curse at someone or hit them, even our own spouse or children.

Sin can evolve from lust, which leads to fornication, adultery and many other types of sex sins. You can read about the many different types of sins in the Old Testament in Exodus chapter 21 to 24, Leviticus chapters 15 & 18, Deuteronomy 22:13-30,23:21-23 as well as in the New Testament which tells us about many types of sins.

Sin also evolves from jealousy and envy, causing us to mistreat people for no reason at all. We think in our minds that they are better than us, so we try to cut them down with a two-edged sword (our tongues) when in fact we are all the same in the eyes of God. If you want to be just like somebody that you know then you are already making a big mistake, because sooner or later that person is bound to make a mistake and fall from the glory of God, causing us to lose faith ourselves and lose sight of our goals, and then we will surely fall as well

If you must model your life after someone, then turn your desires to be like Jesus Christ himself, who was without sin (II Cor 5:21, Heb 4:15, I John 3:5). Sin also evolves dramatically from drinking and doing drugs, because we lose our foothold and give in to Satan and his evil desires when we are high or drunk; we are no longer in complete control of our minds.

When we drink and/or do drugs, we constantly find ourselves doing things that we ordinarily would not do. We begin to lie, steal, cheat, fight and argue, be late for work or call in sick. We start staying out late and leaving our spouses and/or children and other family members home alone, worried sick about us, frightened and alone sometimes for days at a time.

Under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, we are under Satan's control, that's why our ancestor's nicknamed a bottle of alcohol "Satan in a bottle". Keep in mind that our body is his temple; we are not to do it any harm. In I Corinthians 6:19 the New testament says "Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which you have of God, and is not that of your own? For you are bought with a price: therefore glorify in your body, and in your Spirit, which are God's."

Also in I Corinthians 3:16-17 the New Testament says "Don't you know that you yourself are God's temple and that God's Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred and you are that temple."

So now we know what sin is, and how it was brought into this world. But we still need to examine sin up close so that we not only understand it, but know how to defeat it as well. In my previous book "Hell's Gates Wide Open – Judgment Day" by Wayne Hoss (a story about the end of times when Christ comes for his elect, it even goes so far as to show you hypothetically what God may very well say to you on Judgment Day. You can download it at BN.com or Amazon.com) I described sin as Satan himself, living within our minds.

Satan is that little voice in the back of our mind that says negative things. For instance, when I want to diet, I mean really want to diet, Satan is that little voice that says "Oh come on! One little doughnut isn't going to kill you!" Or when you are fasting, he is that little voice in your mind that says, "Oh come on, you have fasted twelve hours, that's enough, besides, that food looks good!" Or he is that little voice that says "I know that I am supposed to be fasting but that pizza looks good, and after all, I don't get the opportunity to eat pizza very often!"

Try fasting some time and see if food that you ordinarily do not have doesn't start popping up everywhere. Satan is determined to break your Spirit, and he has many tricks up his flaming hot sleeve to throw at you... Satan is that voice in your mind when you are at work that says, "Oh man, I don't want to do that! Why doesn't he do it?" or "I will make someone else do it for me!" Why? Because he knows that God does not like a sluggard or a lazy person.

In fact; it says in the bible "Do not work hard only when your master is watching and then shirk when he turns away and become a sluggard; work hard and with gladness all of the time, as though working for Christ (for some day you may), doing the will of God with all of your hearts. Remember that the Lord will pay you for each good thing that you do!"

Now as for Lucifer, (also known as Satan) he is the voice of negativity in your conscious mind, and once you begin to understand this, and separate it from your good conscious that God gave to us all, then, and only then, will you be able to defeat Satan. He is even the little voice in your head that says, "Aw man, the toilet paper roll is empty, oh well, I am not going to change it! I will let the next guy do it!" or "hey, the dishes need to be washed, oh well, I will pretend that I did not notice and let someone else do them!"

Why would Satan put such little thoughts like that in our mind? Because he knows that God dislikes a lazy person, (or a sluggard as it is so referred to in the bible) that is one reason, and also because it is simple little things like that, that build up tension in a home, or the work place, and cause dissention.

Satan is that voice in our minds that says, "Act now!" or "Shoot and ask questions later!" I remember how I used to love birds when I was a little child. I just loved to watch them fly, or to hear them sing as they sat on a tree branch, joyfully singing their cute little hearts out. Then one day my brothers and I asked to borrow my grandfathers B.B. Gun to shoot tin cans, but before I knew it we were killing those innocent little birds.

I loved birds; so I did not understand why I was killing them. I would shoot them out of a tree, or off of a telephone wire, or off of a fence, and when they fell to the ground helplessly flopping around I would feel so guilty that I had to walk up to them and shoot them in the head to put them out of their misery, and at times I wanted to cry, but my brothers and my grandfather said "Oh, they are just birds! There are too many of them anyway, and they keep leaving bird droppings all over my car!"

So, I would walk on with my brothers as they took their turn shooting, telling myself "I am not shooting any more birds!" However, before long I was shooting down another bird. Why would I kill something that I love and admire? I wouldn't! Not the real me anyways, but when that gun was in my hands I became a different person, Satan literally took over. Satan took control of my mind, yet I let him!

Actually, I owe Satan an apology, because Satan did not literally take over my body and kill them himself with my flesh, he simply whispers the thoughts into our subconscious minds and tempts us; but in the end we have the final say. Satan cannot make us do anything that we do not want to do.

So the conviction was there, the guilt too! But I listened to that little deceitful voice in my head that said, "Awe, that's all right, it's not a sin to kill a few birds, I mean look at them, there are too many of them anyways!" But each time I killed one of those poor little birds it bothered me, yet the thrill of the hunt, and the sharp shooting was fun to me. But what about that poor little bird that was doing nothing wrong, hurting nobody? He was just flying happily around and singing praises to God. What did he do to deserve what I did to him? What if we are reincarnated as those that we have tortured or hurt? Scary though isn't it?

Now that we know how Satan tricks us and uses our own thoughts to deceive us, we need to recognize that voice of negativity in our minds, rebuke it, and stand fast in our ways of righteousness. We know also that Satan was kicked out of Heaven along with one-third of the Angels that chose to go with him. Imagine that!

If Satan is clever enough to deceive one-third of God's Angels in Heaven, then we need to be on our guard twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. We need to examine our emotions, our very own thoughts, and evaluate them. What does that thought in my mind mean? What would it accomplish if I did or said what was on my mind?

If it would hurt others, or cause dissention among others, then it must truly be from Satan, but if it is of love and compassion, then we know beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is of our precious Lord God Almighty. Always remember that we are fighting Satan, Demons, and wickedness beyond our comprehension, and knowing this, we must evaluate our every thought, our every move, and think before we act, asking ourselves "What would Jesus or Apostle Paul do in this situation?"

You are not fighting the brother across from you, you are fighting the enemy; Satan, because he wants your Soul at any cost, and in order for him to get it, he must break your Spirit, and he does this through your friends, neighbors, the people that you work with, or even your own relatives.

The saddest part of it all is that we usually do not even realize that we are wrong and being used by Satan. Satan, the deceiver, has us totally convinced that we are right. We will discuss the ways that Satan uses us and how to recognize it; as well as how he uses other people to attack us and break our Spirit, later on in this chapter, but for now let's work on ourselves.

Jesus once said "Why worry about the spot in your neighbors eye when you have a board in your own" The first thing that we need to remember, and the foremost important, is that we are all, each and every one of us, destined to die, it is unavoidable. "The world is not our permanent home; we are simply just passing through on our way to a more permanent destination, Heaven or Hell.

Since we are destined to die, we need not worry about our flesh; we should instead, be more worried about our souls, for that is the true prize. In wars we fight for freedom, territory, our rights, or for the rights of others, and I thank God every day for being in the United States of America. But in this particular battle, we are fighting for our very own eternal souls.

Can you imagine where we would be now if Hitler would have won the war? Or where we would be if Saddam Hussein were the ruler of this world? If you really sit down and study history, you will probably notice the way that other countries were, and some still are, forced to live in poverty, bowing down to a man that they perhaps hate, but he would kill them if they did not bow down to him. God does not want that from you, not if he has to get it the wrong way.

I once wrote a poem that summed what I am saying up pretty well! It said in one paragraph, in which God is speaking to one of his children; "I wanted you to love me by faith not fear; that's why you could not see me but knew that I was here!" I think that pretty well says it all. Sure, God could have just as easily sat on a throne and demanded that we bow down to him or die! But unlike those of the flesh, unlike those kings in the past that forced people to bow down to them, God loves us. He does not want our love unless we choose to give it to him wholeheartedly, without reserve, not because we fear him, but because we love him and his perfect loving ways. Because a man that gets it any other way is surely a thief!

Here is that poem:

The Lords Blessing

Because you came to me before the end

Now it is for your Soul that I will send

You have realized your Sin's and that is good

You are sorry for sinning against your brotherhood

In the end you were no longer fighting Life

You finally gave in to its strife

You finally realized that I wanted you to love me by faith not fear

That is why you couldn't see me but knew that I was here

At first you hated life and its demands

Until you reached out for my loving hands

Tell your family, "Please do not grieve!"

For I promised Eternity to he that would believe

Tell them you will be waiting in the Promised Land

Someday together you will play in the sand

Tell them to go after that one that went astray

Bring them closer; don't push them away

Work together, stay by their side

Teach them my love, but don't insult their pride

Show them my love; raise their spirits high

Do this and they will join you in the wink of an eye

Be a good friend and a good host

Show them the way to the Holy Ghost

Be there when they fall to lift them high

Do all these things and they join you in the sky

By: Wayne Hoss (James Hoskison)

It is true that God has obviously been here with us in the good old U.S. of A, and we have more freedom than any other nation. We above all else, are truly blessed. Now if God will help to protect a righteous nation, though there are a lot of evil people in it too, then you can be certain that he will go even further to protect a righteous person, even though he sometimes does evil and sins The bible says "All men sin and fall short of the glory of God; anyone who says that he is without sin is a liar and the truth is not in him!"

Just as a nation has good and evil people living in it, so also do we have good and evil living in us as well! God knew that Hitler was evil, and if you leave a weed long enough it will choke out a flower, so God put Hitler and Stalin to the sword, "so to speak", and thus ended their reign of terror.

We also have "weeds" in our garden. Think of your mind as a beautiful garden, the Garden of Eden if you will, and now imagine weeds popping up all over the place. It seems like as soon as you chop a weed down, it grows right back! Even bigger at times! That is because you did not dig deep enough the first time! You did not get to the "root" of the problem!

Now that you have that in mind, let's examine this garden we spoke of closer: The garden is our mind; the weeds are our negative thoughts. The reason those same negative thoughts keep coming back is because we did not take care of the problem the first time around, we did not get to the "root" of the problem.

If that sin keeps reoccurring in your life, just like the weed that keeps coming back, then you need to pray for deliverance. That's right! Think of prayer as your weed-eater and the bible as a sort of weed killer. You see, prayer is powerful, and if it is done wholeheartedly, and often enough it will keep the weeds trimmed (see the Prayer chapter in this book).

Think of the bible as the weed killer, for it truly is! Through prayer you can ask God to totally do away with those weeds, and the bible ensures that they do not come back, if you continue to study it every day and pray. There is not a question we have, or have ever had, that the bible does not answer.

Have you ever asked yourself "who am I?" or "Where am I going in life?" Or "What is my purpose in life?" The answers to all of these questions are in the bible and will be revealed to you through the Holy Spirit.

Without the bible, we are like a surfer without a surf board, for once the waves come we will surely sink, in fact, without it, we would never get up. The words of wisdom in the bible plant our feet firmly in good soil, and if we water our souls with words of praise and righteousness, we will surely sprout good fruits.

With the bible we will be standing firm with our feet on solid ground. When we are lost, or backsliding we lose our foothold, but with the bible, and prayer, it comes back quickly. When we sit and read our bible nothing happens, but if we study it, learn it and apply it to our lives, we begin to experience an overabundance of joy, happiness, and a peace of mind as well as many other rewards. Notice the differences that I tried to point out between just "reading" the bible and "studying" the bible.

Once you begin to understand the bible, you have a better understanding of what it is that God wants from you. As we begin to live by God's word, things just seem to come together for us. We get along better with our friends and family, neighbors, spouses, children, and even our co-workers.

The bible says that you can know a joy that runs so deep that nothing can take it away from you, and I am here to tell you that this is true! Since I came to Christ, I have found such love, joy, happiness, prosperity and a better understanding of life, as well as a better way of life that it is unbelievable. I sing praises to God all day long; I am like a fountain of joy, watering those around me with holy water, "so to speak".

Once you accept Christ and let him into your life, things become much clearer to you and your eyes are opened like never before as you begin to see things in a different light. However, before you can receive his blessings you must live a godly life and do away with hatred, violence, anger, jealousy, deceit, lies, envy, and all of the other negative thoughts and/or actions in your life; even gossiping. God hates gossiping so much that when Korah and her tribe were talking about Moses behind his back and gossiping about him marrying an Ethiopian woman, God caused the ground to open up and swallow over two hundred people in her tribe, yet the thousands of people in the tribes next to them were unharmed.

In fact, I even try to stay away from people who gossip, and I make it a point not to gossip about other people myself. I was bad at gossiping when I was younger, and I realized that I got that trait from my mother and her friends that I was always around, and even though I wanted to work on myself and stop gossiping about people, I would catch myself a day or two later doing it again; that is until one day when my favorite aunt taught me a lesson that broke me for good.

You see; as a child growing up I had an aunt that was my favorite, I loved her so much. She was always happy, sweet, and so polite and cheerful toward people. I had not seen her in something like ten years or so, and when she moved back to town I went to her house for a visit.

I mentioned something about a friend or relative that we had in common and something that I had heard that they said and/or did, and before I finished the sentence she said "Lets not talk about other people when they are not here to defend themselves honey, I don't like to gossip"

Bam! Slap! I was so embarrassed that it even made me uncomfortable, and to be honest about it... had it been anyone other than my favorite aunt that I loved so much, I probably would have been mad at them. But I respected what she said so much, and realized that it was the righteous attitude we all should take in our lives, that I stopped gossiping from that day on.

I thank her for those words of wisdom that embarrassed me enough to break me of such a nasty habit. I will never forget those words of wisdom that she spoke that day. Now, keep in mind that Satan was right there (or my negativity itself; the wicked part we all have deep inside of our subconscious mind) and was telling me to be angry and to get up and leave.

Imagine the pain and suffering that gossip causes millions of people every single day of our lives. You will find that most of the gossip going around about somebody is nothing but a pack of lies made up by someone who is jealous of him or her. Gossip leads to nothing but trouble; causing people to fight and argue, even to kill or commit suicide at times.

If you really think about it, we that like to gossip and read those types of magazines are, in a way, partly responsible for Princess Diana's death. If we did not buy those magazines that are full of gossip and lies about movie stars and/or the rich and famous, then there would be no paparazzi in the first place.

You must completely quit giving in to Satan and his evil ways, only then will you receive God's blessings, and an overabundance of them; including wisdom. We must worship God, for whom and what he is, not for what we want him to be! God loves us and wants all of the best for us in life, but if we have a distorted idea of what God wants from us, and who he is, then how do we expect to get along with him?

After all, God created man so that man could know him and have a loving relationship with him as a friend. Think of God as your best friend, for that is what he truly wants to be. Now, to relate to that friend, you must first understand him and know what it is that he expects from you.

Remember that God created all of us so that we may know and understand him. So if you have a deep feeling of emptiness inside of you and you can't seem to get rid of it, then that feeling is the lack of our creator, God Almighty, in our lives. We all have that emptiness, the problem is that most of us simply do not understand it, or even acknowledge that it is there. So we try to fill that void, or emptiness, with food, tobacco, drugs and alcohol, or perhaps even sex.

The bible says that we need to follow God "wholeheartedly" (Numbers 32:12) and to follow all of his laws to the best of our ability. Some people use the excuse for sinning "Well, I have never really read the bible; surely I won't be convicted of wrong doing when I did not even know the laws!" But they are wrong, dead wrong!

Again I must warn you that it says in Hebrews 10:16 "I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them in their minds." In fact, Apostle Paul said "For the laws have been with them since the beginning, in their minds, so therefore they have no excuse!"

We must also remember not to always follow our hearts alone, but to read our bibles too. Even the bible says not to trust your own heart. Satan can use your heart, and your emotions to deceive you, so you need to know the truth, the word of God in the bible. We can learn to love through the bible and to trust in God. Learn to love not only God but also others as well. And yes; even ourselves!

We must continually pray and ask for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. In Exodus 33:13 the bible says "teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favor in your eyes". Wisdom is important, and if we ask for it in prayer continually we will receive it. In James 1:5 the New Testament says "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given to him."

As I explained in the Purpose Chapter in this book, every time that I was going to read the bible, or work on this book (as well as my other book "Hell's Gates Wide Open-Judgment Day!" by Wayne Hoss), I would set the bible down in front of me and put my hands together in prayer, asking God to grant me the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to know what it is that I was about to read and how to apply it to my life, or to his book as I began to work on it.

Never once did I forget to say that prayer before opening the bible or working on these books for him. Ask anyone who personally knows me and they will tell you that I am not that wise of a person, and if they had not seen me writing these books over the years, they would not believe that I wrote them; and that is basically because I did not! I am simply an instrument for God, and extension of his quill, and it is he and the Holy Spirit that guided me.

God uses the most unlikely people to do big things for him, like when he used a little man named David to kill a giant named Goliath. That is because if he used another giant to kill Goliath, it would mean nothing to anyone; people would simply say ... "So what, a giant killed another giant; big deal!"

But by God using a little guy like David, it shows that surely God was in it. That is why he used me to write these books... because if you ever met me and got to know me, you would say "Truly there is a God, because there is no way this guy wrote these books!";0)

The reason that I am stressing this point to you is to help you understand that no matter who you are, or what kind of life you have lived in the past, or how unlikely you are for some particular task, he has a plan for you too.

I have met so many people that are confused about life and often wonder why they were put here on this earth, and they wonder what it is that they are supposed to do with their time here. So when they tell me that they do not think that they have any special abilities I tell them neither did I, or so I thought the first forty-five years of my life, and then by prayer and persistence, and asking God over, and over again, why I was put here on earth and asking him to please reveal my purpose to me, that it was finally revealed to me that I was to be a writer.

That may be your case too! Perhaps you are just unaware of the gift he has given you as well. So by me telling you this, it gives you an idea of what to ask God to reveal to you in prayer. He gives special gifts to each and every one of us, if we seek it with an open heart and mind, and ask God to reveal your gift to you he will, but be patient and keep in mind that it's to be according to his good timing, not yours. However I must stress once again that he can't use you if you are living a life of sin, so seek him with all of your heart with true repentance and the joy will be immeasurable. Please be sure to read the Purpose Chapter in this book, it covers a lot more on this subject.

In James 3:17 the bible says "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy, to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."

So how do we avoid sin? In Exodus 23:2 the bible tells us how to begin avoiding sin, it says "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong" This in itself is a very strong statement. If we do things that are wrong just to "fit in" with the crowd, then we shall never see paradise in Heaven.

We must stand fast in our ways of righteousness, no matter what other people think. We often tend to follow the crowd instead of having a mind of our own. Believe me when I say that you will pay the consequences for that sin, not only here on earth, but in Hell as well. There are a lot of men and women in prison this very day, wishing that they did do what they did, just to fit in with the crowd, or to impress a "so called" friend.

In fact, while I am on that subject, here is a little poem that I wrote many years ago about one of those "so called" friends:

Friendly Voice of Woe!

You meet this person who claims to be a friend

He swears that he will be there until the end

He seems so trustworthy there at first

Little did you know that he was evils worst

He was for you, life's evil thinker

His evil suggestions, your life's sinker

He spoke with a friendly voice of woe

Influencing you to go, where he wouldn't go

Slowly but surely he led you astray

But where will he be come Judgment Day

He said it was O.K. to do a few drugs

Before you knew it you were running from thugs

It was he whom persuaded you to have that first drink

For he knew that under the influence you would not think

It was he whom taught you such good lies

And set you up with false alibi's

Before long your problems did double

Even he knew that you were headed for trouble

Now that he suckered you into a life of sin

He hid himself deep in the shadows within

Your family tried to set off your conscious alarms

As they sadly watched him lead you into Satan's arms

So now you are at that dividing road

Wondering which way to carry your load

Give in to your heart and follow the Lord

Let that friend carry his own sword!

You hear the debates going on when an election is coming up, as to what laws people think should, or should not be passed, and most people do not even know that the answers, even to the simplest questions, are in the bible.

For instance; one man may say "stop illegal aliens from coming into our country" and you may agree with him, but the bible says in Exodus 23:9 "Do not mistreat aliens, for you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt."

Most of these people are only looking for a better way of life, and can you really blame them? Now here is the heavy one that causes us all to fall; it says in the bible to come away from the world and its evil ways.

In Luke 12:30-31 the New Testament tells us that God knows what we need, and he will supply it, but the rest is worldly, and we should seek him first, then he will give us what we need. It says, "For all of these things do the nations of the world seek after; and your Father in Heaven knows exactly what it is that you need. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and all of its righteousness, and these things will be added unto you."

Are you a lonely single person looking for love? Does it seem as though you are never going to find that perfect mate? I knew a man that practically drove himself crazy trying to figure out why there did not seem to be anyone for him, and I told him that verse, and so he did seek God, and now a year later he is happily married.

So God knows what we need, and if we seek him first, he will gladly give it to us; but we do not need most of these worldly things, they just hinder our walk with him. In Romans 12:2 the New Testament says "Do not be conformed to the ways of this world" and in Colossians 2:8 the New Testament says "See to it that nobody takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."

In 1John 2:15 the New Testament says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For everything in the world; the cravings of sinful man, the lust in his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does; comes not from the father, but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

In Luke 21:34-35 Jesus said, "Watch out! Don't let my sudden coming catch you unawares; don't let me find you living in careless ease, carousing and drinking, and occupied with the cares of this life, like all of the rest of the world."

In Matthew 13:22 the Lord Jesus Christ warned us that the cares of this world would choke out the word of righteousness in us, he said "But the cares of a man's life, and his longing for riches, choke out God's word, and he does less and less for God."

In Psalms 101:3 the bible says "I will set no wicked thing before my eyes" Yet we watch filthy movies with bloody violence, nudity, profanity, and we play video games with blood and guts being splattered all over the place; or let our children play them, and then we complain about the rate of teenage violence in the world growing worse every day, just as the Lord predicted it would be in the last days.

Then in Matthew 16:26 Jesus said "What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own Soul?" (See the Riches chapter in this book). In James 1:27 the bible says to "keep ourselves unspotted by this world." In James 4:4 the New Testament says "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone that chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God." Then in 1 John 5:19 the bible says, "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in wickedness." In Leviticus 20:7 God says "Be holy, for I am holy"

Some people say that they can sin all that they want to because they are saved by grace. I personally disagree, but even if they were right, would it not be more profitable to try and live the way that God originally intended for us to live? Even if we were saved by grace, would we not be closer to God by living a godly life? After all, this was truly what he wanted. As I mentioned earlier in the prayer chapter (for those of you who skipped the Prayer chapter in this book, I am repeating this part because it is of the utmost importance)

In II Corinthians 4:17 the bible says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone out and the new has come in." So my friend; be rid of sin in your life, "out with the old, wicked, and sinful way of life, and in with new righteous way of living without sin''. Like I said, I have met many people who believe that no matter what they do, or how much they sin, they are saved by grace, by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord; but they are headed for disaster.

In Romans 6:11 the bible says "In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God thru Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Do not offer the parts of your body to sin as instruments of wickedness, but rather, offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.

Sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but you are under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law, but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that when you offer yourselves to somebody to obey him as slaves that you are slaves to the one who you obey? Either you are slaves to sin; which leads to death! Or you are slaves to obedience; which leads to righteousness and everlasting life"

So you are saved by grace only if you obey the laws and commandments of our Lord God Almighty. You are either a slave to sin (Satan) or righteousness (God). After all, you are merely taking advantage of our Lords kindness when you sin intentionally, thinking that you are saved by grace; and the position that you will hold in Heaven will be determined by the way that you lived your life here on earth. Do you want to be a servant, or rule over a city of your own? If you continue sinning it won't matter, will it?

Wouldn't it be better for you to be God's friend and live a godly life? After all; this is what pleases him; not taking advantage of his kindness. Jesus Christ died for us so that we could live new lives of righteousness, not so that we could continue in our old ways of living in sin. After all, if sinning were all right that would mean that Jesus died for nothing.

In Deuteronomy 5:29 God said "Oh that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all of my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" and in Deuteronomy 5:33 we are told to walk in all of the ways that God commanded us to.

God told the people of Israel this in Deuteronomy 6:5-7, he said, "Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, Soul, mind, and strength. All these commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

I tell you true that those who claim that it is all right to sin all that they want to, as long as they pray and ask for forgiveness each time, thinking that they are going to be forgiven by grace, and tell you (as some have told me) that "You can commit a sin, pray and ask for God to forgive you, and then turn around and do it again, because you are saved by grace after you pray and confess that sin asking for forgiveness" are liars and the truth is not in them!

Do you want proof? Then read on my friend: In Romans 6:1 the bible says, "Well then, shall we keep on sinning so that God can keep on showing us more and more kindness and forgiveness? **Of course not!** Should we keep on sinning when we don't have to? For sin's power over us was broken when we became Christians and were baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ; through his death, the power of your sinful nature was shattered.

Your old sin-loving nature was buried with him by baptism when he died, and when God, the father, with glorious power, brought him back to life again, you were given his wonderful new life to enjoy. For you have become a part of him, and so you died with him, so to speak, when he died; and now you share his new life, and shall rise as he did. Your old evil desires were nailed to the cross with him; that part of you that loves to sin was crushed and fatally wounded, so that your sin-loving body is no longer under sin's control, and no longer needs to be a slave to sin; for when you are deadened to sin you are free from all its allure and it's power over you.

Since your old sin-loving nature "died" with Christ, we know that you will share his new life. Christ rose from the dead and will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. He died once and for all to end sin's power, but now he lives forever in unbroken fellowship with God.

So look upon your old sinful nature as dead and unresponsive to sin, and instead be alive to God, alert to him, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Do not let sin control your puny body any longer. Do not give in to its sinful desires. Do not let any part of your bodies become tools of wickedness, to be used for sinning; but give yourselves completely to God, every part of you, for you are back from death and you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes.

Sin need never again be your master, for now you are no longer tied to the law where sin enslaves you, but you are free under God's favor and mercy. Does this mean that now we can go ahead and sin and not worry about it? (For our salvation does not depend on keeping the law, but on receiving God's grace!) Of course not!

Don't you realize that you can choose your own master? You can choose sin (with death) or else obedience (with acquittal). The one to whom you offer yourself, he will take you and be your master and you will be his slave. The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord".

In I Peter 1:14 Peter says, "Obey God because you are his children. Do not slip back into your old ways, doing evil because you knew no better. But be holy in everything that you do, just as the Lord is holy, which invited you to be his child. He himself said, "you must be holy, for I am holy'".

In II Peter 2:11-12 Peter said, "Dear brothers, you are only visitors here. Since your real home is Heaven, I beg you to keep away from all of the evil pleasures of this world; they are not for you, for they fight against your very souls. Be careful how you act among your unsaved neighbors; for then, even if they are suspicious of you and talk against you, they will end up praising God for your good works when Christ returns."

So, what I am trying to say here is that being a Christian really doesn't mean that you can sin all that you want to as long as you ask God for his forgiveness, that is like gambling with your Soul, because you never know when Jesus Christ is coming back, and Lord forbid that he comes and finds you living in sin.

Here is another part of the bible that backs up my feelings about this; in I Thessalonians 5:6 it says "So be on your guard, not asleep like others. Watch for his return and stay sober. Night is the time for sleep and the time when people get drunk. But let us whom live in the light keep sober, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the happy hope of salvation".

Also, in Hebrews 10:25-26, the bible says "Let us not neglect our Church duties and meetings, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near. If anyone sins deliberately by rejecting the Savior after knowing the truth of forgiveness, this sin is not covered up by Christ's death; there is no way to get rid of it. There will be nothing to look forward to but the terrible punishment of God's awful anger which will consume all of his enemies".

Remember also that one of us is no better than the other person. The New Testament says, "He who has committed the least of sins has committed them all." There was a man named Balaam in the book of Numbers who would not sell God out for a palace full of gold and silver, so why should we sell him out to sin?

Satan is also known as the "Accuser", in the book of Revelations 12:10 the bible says that he accuses us before God day and night. So now that we know that he is constantly telling God every time that we sin, so how can we overcome sin? Well, Satan is like a lion that devours innocent sheep; he will not give up until he has our Soul, so we must always be prepared for the battle! We need to put on our breastplate of righteousness, our helmet of salvation, and be on guard twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Remember that our very souls are at stake here, and we do not want to burn in Hell with Satan for eternity. In I Peter 5:8 the New Testament says "Be careful, watch out for attacks from Satan, your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry roaring lion, looking for some victim to tear apart" Remember that "Satan has come to kill, steal, and destroy" John 10:10.

What Satan is trying to steal is your Soul. Satan knows that he and his demons are doomed to burn in Hells fire for eternity, he and his demons are the only ones whom cannot be redeemed, but we still have a chance, thank God!

In Deuteronomy 28:13 the bible says, "Whoever obeys God's commands will be blessed in everything that they do, and they will never be on bottom, but will always be on top of everything that they do." You must be honest with yourself! What kind of person are you? Are you a kind and considerate person? Loving and caring? How do you wake up in the morning? Are you happy and joyful, or snappy and grouchy? We need to keep ourselves in check constantly!

We should always treat people the way that we ourselves want to be treated! We should be kind, considerate, loving, compassionate, wise, a good listener, as well as helpful, cheerful, and uplifting. Treat other people good and always let your light shine so that others will want to be like you and change their evil ways

If you live a godly life, you will have more joy than a rich man, and people will want a joy like yours. Have you ever noticed that Christians are always happier than everyone else, and that they are more content with life? They are! In fact, rich people are some of the loneliest and saddest people in the world! You can't buy happiness, love, or friendship... Not the real thing anyways.

Be on your guard, because when an evil Spirit leaves your body and comes back to find it clean and swept, he will go out into the desert and find seven more evil spirits even more wicked than himself, and attack you from within (Luke 11:24). Obey God and be kind to his people, for God will destroy those who hate him! (Deut 7:10) However, if you obey him, the rewards will be more than any man could ever imagine (see the Rewards chapter).

"Do not bring sin or sinful people into your home" (Deut 7:26) that is very good advice that he gave us there. Unless of course you believe that you are strong enough to help them, but be careful, for your very own Soul is at stake also. Be careful not to live a lazy and slothful life, for the bible speaks strongly about anyone living in laziness. When you do work, whether it is for money or some other reason, do your best at everything that you do. In Colossians 3:23 the bible says "Whatever you do, do it with your whole heart, not unto man, but unto the Lord".

Always apologize to those who you have done wrong, so that they do not accuse you before the Lord and ask for retribution, and also be sure to confess those sins to the Lord, asking for forgiveness. Once we have confessed our sins, true guilt is gone. Any guilt that we feel after confessing that sin and asking for forgiveness is from Satan himself, using it against us in hopes of weakening our defenses. That is the difference between conviction and condemnation.

When we are convicted of a wrong doing, it is the Lord convicting us, in hopes that we will feel guilty and change our ways, but it is not his wish that we hang on to that conviction and torture ourselves with it, leading to condemnation. So when you are convicted, that is good, however, ask God for hiss forgiveness, as well as the person that you have sinned against and forsake that sin, completely quit doing it and get on with your life! Do not hold on to that conviction and let it eat you up inside.

You must know when to let go, and let God take over. That guilt is not from God if you have truly repented and asked for forgiveness, because he promised to forgive all who confess and forsake their sins. However, you need to remember that you must forsake a sin to actually be forgiven; you must completely quit doing that thing which caused you to sin in the first place.

In I John 1:9 the New Testament says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us for those sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." In the bible at Ephesians 2:1-6 you will learn how we can be forgiven our sins and blessed with a new beginning, which by the way does not mean that we can still live in sin.

We must live this new life that we are given by being baptized and born again as Christians (Christ-like). It says "Once you were under God's curse, doomed forever in your sins. You went along with the crowd and were just like all of the others, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air, who is at work right now in the hearts of those who are against the Lord. (Have you ever noticed when you are angry that strong angry feeling in your chest? Not the heart attack kind of pain, but the one of anger in your heart that makes you angry and makes you want to explode, so to speak, that alone proves that this message is true)

All of us used to be just as they are, our lives expressing the evil within us, doing every wicked thing that our passions or our evil thoughts might lead us into. We started out bad, being born with evil natures, and were under God's curse, just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy; he loved us so much, that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead.

Only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved. He lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in heavenly realms; all because of what Christ did for us. And now God can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all that he has done for us through his son Jesus Christ.

Because of his kindness you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of you; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it. For we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared, even from the beginning, that we should walk in those ways, as even Jesus Christ did himself, and was without sin.

Never forget that once you were heathen, and that the Jews called you godless and unclean. (But their hearts, too, were still unclean, even though they were going through the religious ceremonies and rituals of the godly, for they circumcised themselves as a sign of godliness, yet did not live a godly life).

Remember that in those days, (when you were a sinner), you were living utterly apart from Christ; you were enemies of God's children and he had promised you no help. You were lost, without God, without hope. But now you belong to Christ Jesus, and though you were once far away from God, now you have been brought very near to him because of what Jesus Christ has done for you with his blood. (In the Old Testament people would have to sacrifice a clean, unblemished lamb, or other unspotted animal for a sacrifice to atone for their sins, but Jesus Christ came as a onetime sacrifice so that his blood, the precious blood of the lamb, could save us).

For Christ, he is our way of peace. He has made peace between us Jews and you gentiles (This was Apostle Paul talking to the Ephesians) by making us all one family, breaking down the wall of contempt that used to separate us. (A gentile is anyone other than a Jew, and Christ picked Apostle Paul to spread the good news so that we all could be saved, not only the Jews). By his death he ended the angry resentment between us, caused by the Jewish laws, which favored the Jews and excluded the gentiles, for he died to annul that whole system of Jewish laws.

Then he took two groups that had been opposed to each other and made them parts of him; thus he fused us together to become one person, and at last there was peace. As parts of the same body (for we are all a part of the Body of Christ), our anger against each other has disappeared, for both of us have been reconciled to God.

And so the feud ended at last at the cross. And he brought this good news of peace to you gentiles who were very far away from him, and to us Jews who were near. Now all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, may come to God the father with the Holy Spirit's help because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to Heaven, but you are members of God's very own family, citizens of God's country and you belong in God's household with every other Christian.

What a foundation you stand on now! With the Apostles and prophets; and the cornerstone of the building is Jesus Christ himself! We who believe are carefully joined together with Christ as parts of a beautiful, constantly growing temple for God. And you also are joined with him and with each other by the Spirit, and are part of this dwelling place of God. We are told that we are a part of Christ now, so we must live accordingly, and live as Jesus Christ himself lived, without sin."

Apostle Paul, whom was chosen by our Lord, and in fact; the Lord even spoke to him in an audible voice, continues telling us how we should live. Apostle Paul is one of my most favorite people out of the entire bible (Old Testament and New Testament, besides Jesus of course) and I long to be as good of a man and Christian as he was. In Ephesians 4:1-6:24 he says "I, Apostle Paul, a prisoner here in jail for serving the Lord, beg you to live and act in a way worthy of those who have been chosen for such wonderful blessings such as these."

Even though Apostle Paul was thrown in jail, whipped, beaten, and tortured, he never once lost his faith. He continued to uplift others on the outside, rather than feel sorry for himself and murmur and complain. He continually kept the faith and praised God and sang songs to our Lord, knowing that the best was yet to come, his reward in Heaven.

To continue, he says, "Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for others faults because of your love. Try always to be led along together by the Holy Spirit, and so be at peace with one another. We are all parts of one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future. For us there is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and we all have the same God and father who is over us all, and is in us all, and living through every part of us.

However, Christ has given us all special gifts (see the Purpose Chapter in this book); he has given us all special abilities, whatever he wants us to have out of his rich storehouse of gifts. The psalmist tells us about this, for he says that when Christ returned triumphantly to Heaven after his resurrection and victory over Satan, he gave generous gifts to men.

Some of us have been given special gifts such as preaching the word; some are given the gift of being inspired writers; some have a special ability in winning people to Christ, helping them to trust him as their Savior; still others have a gift for caring for God's people as a shepherd cares for his sheep, leading them and teaching them in the ways of God.

Why is it that he gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is so that God's people will be equipped to do better work for him, building up the Church, the Body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity; until finally we all believe alike about our salvation and about our Savior, God's son, and all become full grown in the Lord, yes to the point of being filled with Christ.

Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different, or has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. Instead we will lovingly follow the truth at all times, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly, and so become more and more in every way like Christ who is the head of the body, the Church. (The Church is the Body of Christ, so we do need to go to Church and partake of that body and learn from each other as he passes out those gifts).

Under his direction the whole body is fitted together perfectly, and each part in its own special way helps the other parts, so that whole body is healthy and growing full of love. Let me say this, then, speaking for the Lord: live no longer as the unsaved do, for they are blinded and confused. Their hearts are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds against him, and they cannot understand his ways.

They do not care anymore about right and wrong and have given themselves over to impure ways. They stop at nothing; being driven by their evil minds and reckless lusts. But that isn't the way that Christ taught you! If you have really heard his voice and learned from him the truths concerning him, then throw off your old evil nature, the old you that were a partner in your evil ways, rotten through and through, full of lust and shame. Now your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly changing for the better.

You must be a completely new and different person, holy and good. Clothe yourself with this new nature. Stop lying to each other! Tell the truth, for we are all parts of each other (part of the Body of Christ) and when we lie to each other we are hurting ourselves. If you are angry, do not sin by nursing your grudge.

Don't let the sun go down with you still angry, get over it quickly; for when you are angry you give a mighty foothold to the devil. If anyone is stealing he must stop it and begin using those hands of his for honest work so he can give to others in need. Do not use bad language. Say only what is good and helpful to those that you are talking to, and what will give them a blessing.

Do not cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way that you live. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete. Stop being mean, bad tempered and angry, quarreling, harsh words, and dislike of others should have no place in your lives. Instead, you should be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you because you belong to Christ. Follow God's example in all that you do, just as a much-loved child imitates his father.

Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, for Christ's love for you was like a sweet perfume to him. Let there be no sex sin, impurity or greed among you. Let no one be able to accuse you of such things; dirty stories, foul talk and course jokes, these are not for you. Instead, remind each other of God's goodness and be thankful.

You can be sure of this: The kingdom of Christ and of God will never belong to anyone who is impure or greedy, for a greedy person is really an idol worshipper; he loves and worships the good things of this life more than God. Do not be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the terrible wrath of God is upon all those who do them.

Do not even associate with such people. For though once your heart was full of darkness, now it is full of light from the Lord, and your behavior should show it! Because of this light within you, you should do only what is good and right and true. Learn as you go along what pleases the Lord, (your lives should be an example to others, constantly bettering yourselves, and letting go of sin).

Take no part in the worthless pleasures of evil and darkness, but instead, rebuke and expose them. It would be shameful to even mention here those pleasures of darkness, which the ungodly do! But when you expose them, the light shines in upon their sin and shows it up, and when they see how wrong they really are, some of them may even become children of light. (Do you see now why it is important to let those in sin know that they have sinned? To those who say, "Do not be a tattle-tale or a rat" they are helping Satan hide the very truths that can save their souls; and if you help hide those truths you are no better)

That is why God says in the scriptures, "Awake, O sleeper, and rise up from the dead; and Christ shall give you light." So be careful how you act, these are very difficult days. Don't be fools; be wise and make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good.

Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to do. Do not drink too much wine, for many evils lie along that path; be filled instead with the Holy Spirit, and controlled by him. Talk with each other much about the Lord, quoting Psalms and hymns and singing sacred songs, making music in your hearts to the Lord. Always give thanks for everything to our God and father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Honor Christ by submitting to each other.

You wives must submit to your husbands' leadership in the same way that you submit to the Lord. For a husband is in charge of his wife in the same way Christ is in charge of his body, the Church (he gave his very life to take care of it and be its Savior!)

So you wives must willingly obey your husband's in everything, just as the Church obeys Christ. And you husbands, show the same kind of love to your wife as Christ showed to the Church when he died for her, to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism, and God's word (having cleansed it by washing of water with the word); so that he could give her to himself as a glorious Church without a single spot or wrinkle or any other blemish, being holy and without a single fault.

That is how husbands should treat their wives, loving them as parts of themselves. For since a man and his wife are now one, a man is really doing himself a favor and loving himself when he loves his wife! For no man ever yet hated his own body; instead he lovingly cares for it, just as Christ cares for his body (the Church). That the husband and wife are one body is proven by the scripture, which says, 'A man must leave his father and mother when he marries, so that he can be perfectly joined to his wife, and the two shall be one.'

I know that this is hard to understand, but it is an illustration of the way that we are the parts of the Body of Christ. So again I say, a man must love his wife as a part of himself; and the wife must see to it that she deeply respects her husband--obeying, praising and honoring him.

Children, obey your parents; this is the right thing to do because God has placed them in authority over you. Honor your father and mother. This is the first of God's Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. And that promise is this: That if you honor your father and mother, yours will be a long life, full of blessing.

And now a word to you parents. Do not keep scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Instead of that, try to bring them up with the loving discipline that the Lord himself approves of, with suggestions and godly advice. Slaves, (or in today's world this could mean employee's), obey your masters (employers), be eager to give them your very best, as Christ would

Do not work hard only when your master is watching and then shirk when he turns away and become a sluggard; work hard and with gladness all of the time, as though working for Christ (for some day you may), doing the will of God with all of your hearts. Remember that the Lord will pay you for each good thing that you do, whether slave or free. And you slave owners, (or employers), you must treat your slave's right, just as I have told them to treat you. Do not keep threatening them; remember that you yourselves are slaves to Christ; you have the same master that they do, and he has no favorites!

Last of all I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord's mighty power within you. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies! We are fighting the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world.

So use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up. But to do this, you will need the strong belt of truth, and the breastplate of God's approval. Wear shoes that are able to speed you on as you preach the good news of peace with God.

In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God! (Your bible and its knowledge is your sword!)

Pray all of the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirits wishes. Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere."

Wow! Is that heavy or what? I suggest that you study the whole book of Ephesians, as well as all of the other books of the bible, for they were put there for our own good. If you read something that offends you, then check your own bible to be sure that what is said id true, and then if it is, accept it!

Conviction is never easy to acknowledge, because Satan would have us believe that we are always right, but only one way is right, and that is God's way! In Galatians 5:13-21 the bible says "For, dear brothers, you have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong, but freedom to love and serve each other. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: 'love others as you love yourself.'

But instead of showing love among yourselves you are always critical and catty, watch out! Beware of ruining each other. I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirits instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won't always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to.

For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things that we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite of our natural desires. These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us and our wishes are never free from their pressures. When you are guided by the Holy Spirit you need no longer force yourself to obey Jewish laws."

In fact, Apostle Paul said "For the laws have been with them since the beginning, in their minds, so therefore they have no excuse!" We must also remember not to always follow our hearts alone, but to read our bibles, for even the bible says not to trust your own heart. Satan can use your heart, and your emotions to deceive you; so you need to know the truth, the word of the Lord God Almighty in the bible.

We can learn to love through the bible and trust in God. We must continually pray and ask for wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. In Exodus 33:13 the bible says "teach me your ways so that I may know you and continue to find favor in your eyes"

Wisdom is important, and if we ask for it in prayer continually, we will receive it. In James 1:5 the New Testament says "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that gives to all men liberally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given to him."

James 3:17 says "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle and easy, to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy, and the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."

So how do we avoid sin? In Exodus 23:2 the bible tells us how to begin avoiding sin, it says "Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong." This in itself is a very strong statement. If we do things that are wrong just to "fit in" with the crowd, then we shall never see paradise in Heaven.

We must stand fast in our ways of righteousness, no matter what other people think. We often tend to follow the crowd instead of having a mind of our own. For instance, these days you see it all the time in the news, several kids ganging up on one kid. First of all, only a wimp gangs up on one person. If you are not man enough to handle the situation by yourself, one-on-one, then let it go, or call the police (after all, that is why we pay the police) I have no respect for anyone that takes part in ganging up on one person. That just proves to me that they are the real losers, they can't go it alone, one-on-one, so poor little wimpy babies go crying to some friends and start a mob.

Not to mention, a real man handles the situation like an adult. Anything can be talked out if the people would grow up and act like human beings instead of animals. Can't you see that when we do such things we are taking away from mankind's best quality, the only one that separates us from animals! Not using our God given ability to rationalize and work things out in a sensible manner, is the only thing that separates us from animals So if you want to go back to being primitive and useless, continue on in the way that you are going, they need useless and primitive people to fuel Hell's fire. God wasn't looking for more animals when he created us. If you want to be one in your next life, keep it up!

The important thing here, getting back to the subject at hand, is that it takes a bigger man to do what is right and walk away, rather than follow the crowd of animals, the herd. When I see more than one person jumping on an individual I always jump in and try to peaceably stop the fight, but if I must take a side, it certainly would not be with the wimps who need spanky and the gang to do their dirty work for them.

Again, if you look back in history, or even visit a prison and talk to some of the inmates, you will find that most of them are there because they were trying to be cool and fit in with the wrong crowd, rather than listening to the voice of God in their mind that was telling them that what they were doing was wrong.

The bible covers many issues, and even speaks about immigrants too. One man may say "stop illegal aliens from coming into our country" and you may agree with him, but the bible says in Exodus 23:9 "Do not mistreat aliens, for you yourselves know how it feels to be aliens, because you were aliens in Egypt."

Most of these people are only looking for a better way of life and can you really blame them? Now here is the heavy one that causes us all to fall, it says in the bible to come away from the world and its evil ways.

In Luke 12:30-31 the New Testament tells us that God knows what we need, and he will supply it, the rest is worldly, and we should seek him first, then he will give us what we need, it says "For all of these things do the nations of the world seek after; and your father knows that you have need of these things. But seek you first the kingdom of God and all of its righteousness, and these things will be added unto you."

So God knows what we need, and if we seek him first, he will gladly give it to us, but we do not need most of these worldly things, they just hinder our walk with him. In Romans 12:2 the New Testament says "Do not be conformed to the ways of this world" and in Colossians 2:8 the New Testament says "See to it that nobody takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."

In 1John 2:15 the New Testament says, "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For everything in the world-the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does-comes not from the father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

In Luke 21:34-35 Jesus said, "Watch out! Don't let my sudden coming catch you unawares; don't let me find you living in careless ease, carousing and drinking, and occupied with the cares of this life, like all of the rest of the world." In Matthew 13:22 the Lord Jesus Christ warned that the cares of this world would choke out the word of righteousness in us, he said "But the cares of this life and his longing for riches choke out God's word, and he does less and less for God."

In Psalms 101:3 the bible says "I will set no wicked thing before my eyes" yet we watch filthy movies with violence, nudity, profanity, we play video games with blood and guts being splattered all over the place, or we let our children play them, and then we complain about the rate of teenage violence in the world growing, just as God predicted it would in the last days.

Then in Matthew 16:26 Jesus said "What will it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his Soul" (see the Riches chapter in this book). In James 1:27 the bible says to "keep our self unspotted by this world." In James 4:4 the New Testament says "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone that chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God."

In 1 John 5:19 the bible says, "We know that we are of God, and the whole world lays in wickedness." In Leviticus 20:7 God says "Be holy, for I am holy" In Deuteronomy 5:29 God said "Oh that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all of my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!" and in Deuteronomy 5:33 we are told to walk in all of the ways that God commanded us to.

God told the people of Israel this in Deuteronomy 6:5-7 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, Soul, mind, and strength. All these commandments I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

Remember that one of us is no better than the other because the New Testament says, "He who has committed the least of sins has committed them all."

There was a man named Balaam in the book of Numbers who would not sell God out for a palace full of gold and silver, so why should we sell him out to sin? Satan is also known as the "Accuser", in Revelation 12:10 the bible says that he accuses us before God day and night. So now that we know he is constantly telling God every time that we sin, how can we overcome sin?

Satan is like a lion that devours innocent sheep; he will not give up until he has our Soul, so we must always be prepared for the battle! We need to put on our breastplate of righteousness, our helmet of salvation, and be on guard twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Remember that our very souls are at stake here, and we do not want to burn in Hell with Satan. In I Peter 5:8 the New Testament says "Be careful-watch out for attacks from Satan, your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry roaring lion, looking for some victim to tear apart"

In John 10:10 the bible says, "Satan has come to kill, steal, and destroy" What he is trying to steal is our Soul. Satan knows that he and his demons are doomed to burn in Hells fire for eternity, he and his demons are the only ones whom cannot be redeemed, but we still have a chance, thank God!

The bible says that God punishes people seven times over for a sin (Lev 7:18) and that he will break down our stubborn pride, and to do that he will do whatever is necessary. For some it takes going to jail or prison to change them and break their foolish pride. He will cause pain and suffering in our lives if it is necessary (Lev 26:14-46), he will cause us to labor for low wages, or cause us famine and turn us over to our enemies, if we do not listen to him and live godly lives.

So be not of this world, but of a godly nature (Romans 12:2), for he promises an abundant life to those who will obey him. In Deuteronomy 28:13 the bible says that whoever obeys God's commands will be blessed in everything that they do, and they will never be on bottom, but will always be on top of everything that they do.

You must be honest with yourself! What kind of person are you? Are you a kind and considerate person? Loving and caring? How do you wake up in the morning? Are you happy and joyful, or snappy and grouchy? We need to keep ourselves in check constantly! We should always treat people the way that we want to be treated! We should be kind, considerate, loving, compassionate, wise, a good listener, helpful, cheerful, and uplifting.

Do good to all people and always let your light shine so that others will want to be like you and change their sinful ways. If you live a godly life, you will have more joy than a rich man, and people will want a joy like yours.

Have you ever noticed that Christians are always happier than everyone else, and content with life? They are! In fact, rich people are some of the loneliest and saddest people in the world! You can't buy happiness, or love, or friendship, not the real thing anyway.

Be on your guard, because when an evil Spirit leaves your body and comes back to find it clean and swept, he will go out into the desert and find seven more evil spirits, even more wicked than himself, and attack you from within (Luke 11:24).

Obey God and be kind to his people, for God will destroy those who hate him! (Deut 7:10) However, if you obey him the rewards will be more than any man could ever imagine (see the Rewards chapter).

Do not bring sin or sinful people in to your home (Deut 7:26), unless you believe that you are strong enough to help them, but be careful, for your very own Soul is at stake also. Be careful not to live a lazy and slothful life, for the bible speaks strongly about anyone living in laziness.

When you do work, whether it is for money, or some other reason, do your best at everything that you do. In Colossians 3:23 the bible says "Whatever you do, do it with your whole heart, not unto man, but unto the Lord".

Always be honest in everything that you do, for if God can't trust you here on earth, why would he trust you in Heaven? In Luke 16:10 the bible says, "If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who then will commit to your trust true riches?"

Always apologize to those who you have done wrong so that they do not accuse you before the God and ask for retribution, and also confess those sins to the Lord, asking for forgiveness. Once we have confessed our sins true guilt is gone. Any guilt that we feel after confessing that sin and asking for God's forgiveness is from Satan himself. It is condemnation and he is using it against us in hopes of weakening our defenses.

That is the difference between conviction and condemnation. When we are convicted of a wrong doing, it is the Lord convicting us, in hopes that we will feel guilty and change our ways, but it is not his wish that we hang on to that conviction and torture ourselves with it, leading to condemnation.

So when you are feeling guilty and/or convicted, that is a good thing. However, ask for God's forgiveness, as well as he whom you have sinned against, afterwards you must forsake that sin, and get on with your life, do not hold on to that conviction and let it eat you up inside.

You must know when to let go, and let God take over. That guilt is not from God if you have truly repented and asked for forgiveness, because he promised to forgive all who confess and forsake their sins. However, you must remember that you must forsake a sin to actually be forgiven; you must completely quit doing that thing which caused you to sin in the first place.

In I John 1:9 the New Testament says "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." In the bible at Ephesians 2:1-6 you will learn how we can be forgiven our sins and blessed with a new beginning, which does not mean that we can still live in sin, but we must live our new life as Christians (be Christ-like).

It says "Once you were under God's curse, doomed forever in your sins. You went along with the crowd and were just like all of the others, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air, who is at work right now in the hearts of those who are against the Lord. All of us used to be just as they are, our lives expressing the evil within us, doing every wicked thing that our passions or our evil thoughts might lead us into. We started out bad, being born with evil natures, and were under God's curse, (anger) just like everyone else.

But God is so rich in mercy; he loved us so much that even though we were spiritually dead and doomed by our sins, he gave us back our lives again when he raised Christ from the dead. Only by his undeserved favor have we ever been saved. And he lifted us up from the grave into glory along with Christ, where we sit with him in heavenly realms; all because of what Christ did for us.

And now God can always point to us as examples of how very, very rich his kindness is, as shown in all that he has done for us through his son Jesus Christ. Because of his kindness you have been saved through trusting Christ. And even trusting is not of you; it too is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done, so none of us can take any credit for it.

For we are his creation, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared, even from the beginning, that we should walk in those ways, as even Jesus Christ did himself, and was without sin. Never forget that once you were heathen, and that the Jews called you godless and unclean. (But their hearts, too, were still unclean, even though they were going through the religious ceremonies and rituals of the godly, for they circumcised themselves as a sign of godliness, yet did not live a godly life).

Remember that in those days, (when you were a sinner), you were living utterly apart from Christ; you were enemies of God's children and he had promised you no help. You were lost, without God, without hope. But now you belong to Christ Jesus, and though you were once far away from God, now you have been brought very near to him because of what Jesus Christ has done for you with his blood. (In the Old Testament people would have to sacrifice a clean, unblemished lamb, or other unspotted animal for a sacrifice to atone for their sins, but Jesus Christ came as a onetime sacrifice so that his blood, the precious blood of the lamb, could save us).

For Christ, he is our way of peace. He has made peace between us Jews and you gentiles (This was Apostle Paul talking to the Ephesians) by making us all one family, breaking down the wall of contempt that used to separate us. (A gentile is anyone other than a Jew, and Christ picked Apostle Paul to spread the good news that we all could be saved, not only the Jews, but the gentiles as well). By his death he ended the angry resentment between us, caused by the Jewish laws, which favored the Jews and excluded the gentiles, for he died to annul that whole system of Jewish laws. Then he took two groups that had been opposed to each other and made them parts of him; thus he fused us together to become one person, and at last there was peace.

As parts of the same body (for we are all a part of the Body of Christ), our anger against each other has disappeared, for both of us have been reconciled to God. And so the feud ended at last at the cross. And he brought this good news of peace to you gentiles who were very far away from him, and to us Jews who were near.

Now all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, may come to God the father with the Holy Spirit's help because of what Jesus Christ has done for us. Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to Heaven, but you are members of God's very own family, citizens of God's country and you belong in God's household with every other Christian. What a foundation you stand on now! With the Apostles and prophets; and the cornerstone of the building is Jesus Christ himself! We who believe are carefully joined together with Christ as parts of a beautiful, constantly growing temple for God. And you also are joined with him and with each other by the Spirit, and are part of this dwelling place of God."

We are told that we are a part of Christ now, so we must live accordingly, and live as Jesus Christ himself lived, without sin. Apostle Paul, whom was chosen by God, in fact, the Lord even spoke to him in an audible voice, continues telling us how we should live.

In Ephesians 4:1-6:24 the bible says "I, Apostle Paul, a prisoner here in jail for serving the Lord, beg you to live and act in a way worthy of those who have been chosen for such wonderful blessings such as these. (Even though Apostle Paul was thrown into jail, whipped, beaten, and tortured, he never once lost his faith. He continued to uplift others on the outside. Rather than feel sorry for himself, and murmur and complain, he continually kept the faith and praised God and sang songs to our Lord, knowing that the best was yet to come, his reward in Heaven).

Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for others faults because of your love. Try always to be led along together by the Holy Spirit, and so be at peace with one another. We are all parts of one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future.

For us there is only one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and we all have the same God and father who is over us all and is in us all, and living through every part of us. However, Christ has given us all special gifts (see the Purpose Chapter); he has given us all special abilities, whatever he wants us to have out of his rich storehouse of gifts.

The psalmist tells about this, for he says that when Christ returned triumphantly to Heaven after his resurrection and victory over Satan, he gave generous gifts to men. Some of us have been given special gifts as Apostles; to others he has given the gift to be able to preach well; some were given the gift of being inspired writers; some have a special ability in winning people to Christ, helping them to trust him as their Savior; still others have a gift for caring for God's people as a shepherd does his sheep, leading them and teaching them in the ways of God.

Why is it that he gives us these special abilities to do certain things best? It is so that God's people will be equipped to do better work for him, building up the Church, the Body of Christ, to a position of strength and maturity; until finally we all believe alike about our salvation and about our Savior, God's son, and all become full grown in the Lord, to the point of being filled with Christ.

Then we will no longer be like children, forever changing our minds about what we believe because someone has told us something different, or has cleverly lied to us and made the lie sound like the truth. Instead we will lovingly follow the truth at all times, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly, and so become more and more in every way like Christ who is the head of the body, the Church (the Church is the Body of Christ, so we do need to go to Church and partake of that body and learn from each other as he passes out those gifts).

Under his direction the whole body is fitted together perfectly, and each part in its own special way helps the other parts, so that whole body is healthy and growing full of love. Let me say this, then, speaking for the Lord: live no longer as the unsaved do, for they are blinded and confused. Their hearts are full of darkness; they are far away from the life of God because they have shut their minds against him, and they cannot understand his ways.

They do not care anymore about right and wrong and have given themselves over to impure ways. They stop at nothing, being driven by their evil minds and reckless lusts. But that isn't the way that Christ taught you! If you have really heard his voice and learned from him the truths concerning him, then throw off your old evil nature, the old you that were a partner in your evil ways, rotten through and through, full of lust and shame. Now your attitudes and thoughts must all be constantly changing for the better.

You, you must be a new and different person, holy and good. Clothe yourself with this new nature. Stop lying to each other! Tell the truth, for we are all parts of each other (part of the Body of Christ) and when we lie to each other we are hurting ourselves. If you are angry, do not sin by nursing your grudge. Don't let the sun go down with you still angry, get over it quickly; for when you are angry you give a mighty foothold to the devil.

If anyone is stealing, he must stop it and begin using those hands of his for honest work, so that he can give to others in need. Do not use bad language. Say only what is good and helpful to those that you are talking to, and what will give them a blessing. Do not cause the Holy Spirit sorrow by the way that you live. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit. Remember, he is the one who marks you to be present on that day when salvation from sin will be complete.

Stop being mean to others, bad tempered and angry. Quarreling, harsh words, and dislike of others should have no place in your lives. Instead you should be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you, because you belong to Christ. Follow God's example in all that you do, just as a much-loved child imitates his father.

Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ who loved you and gave himself to God as a sacrifice to take away your sins. And God was pleased, for Christ's love for you was like a sweet perfume to him. Let there be no sex sin, impurity or greed among you. Let no one be able to accuse you of such things. Dirty stories, foul talk and course jokes-- these are not for you. Instead, remind each other of God's goodness and be thankful.

You can be sure of this: The kingdom of Christ and of God will **never** belong to anyone who is impure or greedy, for a greedy person is really an idol worshipper--he loves and worships the good things of this life more than God. Do not be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the terrible wrath of God is upon all those who do them. Do not even associate with such people.

For though once your heart was full of darkness, now it is full of light from the Lord, and your behavior should show it! Because of this light within you, you should do only what is good and right and true. Learn as you go along what pleases the Lord, (your lives should be an example to others, constantly bettering yourselves, and letting go of sin).

Take no part in the worthless pleasures of evil and darkness, but instead, rebuke and expose them. It would be shameful to even mention here those pleasures of darkness, which the ungodly do! But when you expose them, the light shines in upon their sin and shows it up, and when they see how wrong they really are, some of them may even become children of light.

That is why God says in the scriptures, "Awake, O sleeper, and rise up from the dead; and Christ shall give you light." So be careful how you act, these are difficult days. Don't be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing well.

Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to do. Do not drink too much wine, for many evils lie along that path; be filled instead with the Holy Spirit, and controlled by him.

Talk with each other much about the Lord, quoting Psalms and hymns and singing sacred songs, making music in your hearts to the Lord. Always give thanks for everything to our God and father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Honor Christ by submitting to each other.

You wives must submit to your husbands' leadership in the same way that you submit to the Lord. For a husband is in charge of his wife in the same way Christ is in charge of his body, the Church (he gave his very life to take care of it and be its Savior!). So you wives must willingly obey your husband's in everything, just as the Church obeys Christ.

And you husbands, show the same kind of love to your wife as Christ showed to the Church when he died for her, to make her holy and clean, washed by baptism, and God's word (having cleansed it by washing of water with the word); so that he could give her to himself as a glorious Church without a single spot or wrinkle or any other blemish, being holy and without a single fault.

That is how husbands should treat their wives, loving them as parts of themselves. For since a man and his wife are now one, a man is really doing himself a favor and loving himself when he loves his wife! For no man ever yet hated his own body; instead he lovingly cares for it, just as Christ cares for his body (the Church). (That the husband and wife are one body is proven by the scripture, which says, "A man must leave his father and mother when he marries, so that he can be perfectly joined to his wife, and the two shall be one.")

I know that this is hard to understand, but it is an illustration of the way that we are the parts of the Body of Christ. So again I say, a man must love his wife as a part of himself; and the wife must see to it that she deeply respects her husband--obeying, praising and honoring him. Children, obey your parents; this is the right thing to do because God has placed them in authority over you.

Honor your father and mother. This is the first of God's Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. And that promise is this: That if you honor your father and mother, yours will be a long life, full of blessing.

And now a word to you parents. Do not keep scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving discipline that the Lord himself approves of, with suggestions and godly advice. Slaves, (or in today's world this could mean employee's), obey your masters (employers), be eager to give them your very best, as Christ would

Do not work hard only when your master is watching and then shirk when he turns away and become a sluggard; work hard and with gladness all of the time, as though working for Christ (for some day you may), doing the will of God with all of your hearts. Remember that the Lord will pay you for each good thing that you do, whether slave or free. And you slave owners, (or employers), you must treat your slave's right, just as I have told them to treat you. Do not keep threatening them; remember that you yourselves are slaves to Christ; you have the same master that they do, and he has no favorites!

Last of all I want to remind you that your strength must come from the Lord's mighty power within you. Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand safe against all strategies and tricks of Satan. For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against persons without bodies! We are fighting the evil rulers of the unseen world, those mighty satanic beings and great evil princes of darkness who rule this world.

So use every piece of God's armor to resist the enemy whenever he attacks, and when it is all over, you will still be standing up. But to do this, you will need the strong belt of truth, and the breastplate of God's approval. Wear shoes that are able to speed you on as you preach the good news of peace with God. In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan. And you will need the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God! (Your bible and its knowledge is your sword!)

Pray all of the time. Ask God for anything in line with the Holy Spirits wishes. Plead with him, reminding him of your needs, and keep praying earnestly for all Christians everywhere."

Wow! Is that heavy or what? I suggest that you study the whole book of Ephesians, as well as all of the other books of the bible, for they were put there for our own good. If you read something that offends you, then check your own bible to be sure that it is true, and then if it is, accept it!

Conviction is never easy to acknowledge, because Satan would have us believe that we are always right, but only one way is right, and that is God's way! I know that you read these next two paragraphs earlier, but please bear with me and read them again, for two reasons; that being that they are so important that I want to burn them into your mind "so to speak" and the other reason is that I wanted you to read the next few paragraphs that go with it, that are equally important!

In Galatians 5:13-21 the bible says "For, dear brothers, you have been given freedom: not freedom to do wrong, but freedom to love and serve each other. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "love others as you love yourself."

But instead of showing love among yourselves you are always critical and catty, watch out! Beware of ruining each other. I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirits instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won't always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to.

For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things that we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite of our natural desires. These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us and our wishes are never free from their pressures. When the Holy Spirit guides you, you need no longer force yourself to obey Jewish laws.

But when you follow your own wrong inclinations your lives will produce these evil results: impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure such as adultery, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, witchcraft and spiritism, hatred and fighting, jealousy and anger, the constant effort to get the best for yourself, complaints and criticisms, the feeling that everyone else is wrong except for those in your own little group, and there will be wrong doctrine, envy, murder, drunkenness, wild parties, and all of that sort of thing.

Let me tell you again as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God." That's right! If you are doing these things you will not inherit the kingdom of God!

I have run into a lot of people that say "I can sin all that I want because I am saved by grace!" or "I can even murder someone if I want to again and again as long as I ask for forgiveness, then I am forgiven" Beware! This is not true. I strongly suggest that you study your bible and not just read it. Most people just read their bible to humor themselves and make an appearance to others and perhaps even to God that they are giving it all. Keep in mind that God knows your heart, he knows everything, and you cannot fool him, ever!

There is a big difference between reading the bible and studying it, and just as a child who does not study fails, so will anyone else who does not wholeheartedly seek the truth. I know people who go to Church and claim to be Christians yet they drink, party, fall down in drunkenness and have to be carried home, yet what we just read in the bible says that anyone living that sort of life will NOT inherit the kingdom of God!

We as Christians are supposed to be Christ-like, hence the word Christians. We are to live as Jesus Christ himself lived, free of sin and walking in the ways of righteousness.

In Romans 6:1-23 the bible says "well then, shall we keep on sinning so that God can keep on showing us more and more of his kindness and forgiveness? Of course not! Should we keep on sinning when we don't have to? For sins power over us was broken when we became Christians and were baptized to become a part of Jesus Christ; through his death the power of your sinful nature was shattered.

Your old sin-loving nature was buried by baptism when he died, and when God the father, with glorious power, brought him back to life again, you were given his wonderful new life to enjoy. For you have become a part of him, and so you died with him, so to speak, when he died; and now you share his new life and shall rise as he did.

Your old evil desires were nailed to the cross with him; that part of you that likes to sin was crushed and wounded fatally, so that your sin-loving body is no longer under sin's control, and no longer needs to be a slave to sin.

For when you are deadened to sin you are freed from all its allure and its power over you. And since your old sin-loving nature "died" with Christ, we know that you will share his new life. Christ rose from the dead and will never rise again. Death no longer has any power over him. He died once and for all to end sins power (remember that Adam and Eve brought death into the world by sin) but now he lives forever in unbroken fellowship with God.

So look upon your old sin-loving nature as dead and unresponsive to sin, and instead be alive to God, alert to him, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Do not let sin control your puny bodies any longer; do not give in to its sinful desires. Do not let any part of your bodies become tools of wickedness, to be used for sinning; but give yourselves completely to God every part of you for you are back from death and you want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes.

Sin need never again be your master, for now you are no longer tied to the law where sin enslaves you, but you are free under Gods favor and mercy. Does this mean that now we can go ahead and sin and not worry about it? (For our salvation does not depend on keeping the law, but on receiving Gods grace) Of course not! Don't you realize that you can choose your own master? You can choose sin (with death) or obedience (with acquittal). The one to whom you offer yourself, he will take you and be your master and you his slave"

Ouch! Now if you still say that you can sin all that you want to, you are a liar and the truth is not in you! Notice also again that in Romans 6:23 the bible says, "The wages of sin is death."

In I Peter 2:21-25 the New Testament says "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps." He committed no sin, and deceit was not found in his mouth" (Isaiah 53:9) When they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

He himself bore our sins on his body when he was nailed to the cross, so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness; his wounds have healed you. For you were like sheep gone astray, but now you have turned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls."

In Galatians 2:20-21 the bible says "I have been crucified with Christ: and I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. And the real life I now have within this body is a result of my trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

I am not one of those who would treat Christ's death as meaningless." And in Matthew 5:17 Jesus himself said "Do not misunderstand why I have come, it isn't to cancel the laws of Moses and the warnings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them, and to make them all come true. With all earnestness I have I say: every law in the book will continue until its purpose is achieved. And so if anyone breaks the least commandment, and teaches others to, he shall be the least in the kingdom of Heaven. But those who teach God's laws and obey them shall be great in the kingdom of Heaven."

So you see now that if you continue to sin you are recrucifying Christ over and over again, you are renailing him to the cross. I know from experience how hard it is to toll the line, "so to speak", and it is not something that you can do overnight, but in time, with the help of the Holy Spirit, it can be done.

I have heard so many people these days say "Do unto them before they do unto you!" Is that right? Are you that immature? If you were hanging around people that you are afraid would do that to you, then you are hanging with the wrong crowd in the first place! Not to mention that when you say that, you are in danger of Gods curse, which is on the very last page of the bible, the last four paragraphs of the book of Revelation says:

"For I testify to every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the Book of Life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book"

Imagine that! If you change just one word in the bible, add to, or take away from its true meaning, then every single plague in the bible is added unto you, and by changing that saying from "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" to "Do unto them before they do unto you!"; you are not only mocking God and his words, but you are leading his sheep astray, which has an equal curse and guarantees you a reservation in Hell!

In Proverbs 3:5 the bible says "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding" I bet you thought this thing was going to be easy didn't you? Well, it is easier for us today than it was for Christians before us who were tortured, beaten, and killed for our Lord. When people compete in the Olympics they give it all they have to win the gold, so what is stopping you my friend? There is a prize a billion times greater than that given to one whom wins the Olympics awaiting us in Heaven.

Some might say, well, I am all right, I don't drink or party or do any of those things that I just read above. Well, to them I say hang on, because we have only just begun. You say that you are a Christian? How many hungry people have you turned away or passed on the streets without even blinking an eye? How many homeless people have you turned away from and pretended to be ignorant to their situation? How many people have you seen walking in the cold and refused to stop and offer them a warm coat?

In the book of Matthew Jesus Christ himself said "Come you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you took me in, naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came unto me. Then the righteous shall say "Lord, when did we see you were hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you as a stranger and take you in? Or naked and give you clothes? When did we see you sick or in prison and come unto you? And the Lord shall reply "Inasmuch as you have done it to one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me"

Then he shall say to those on his left hand "Depart from me you that are cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his Angels: for I was hungry and you fed me not, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not take me in, I was naked and you did not cloth me, I was sick and in prison and you did not even visit me" And they shall say to him "Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick and in prison, and did not minister unto thee?" And he will reply "Inasmuch as you did it not to one of these, you did it not to me."

Ouch! If that doesn't wake someone up I am truly going to be offended. In the book of Revelations it makes reference to "The old earth and the old Heaven passed away, and I saw a new earth and a new Heaven was born" (Rev 21.1) and then I got to thinking one day; what if the sun is the old Hell, and the earth which it says will pass away will become the new Hell? They say we are made of energy, what better to fuel Hells fire than our souls (the souls of the damned). My point being this: Think of those hot summer days that you just could not stand how hot it was outside, now imagine being in those flames from the sun for eternity! Scary thought isn't it?

Now that I planted that seed in your head, every time you see the sun you are going to think about how hot Hell will be for eternity, and hopefully think twice about committing that next sin. By the way, you are welcome!;0)

You may be thinking, "Yeah but how can I be perfect, only God is perfect!" This is true, only God is perfect and that is why he gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit to dwell within us and help us to do all that is right.

What is the Holy Spirit and how can it help us? The Holy Spirit is a part of God, just like Jesus Christ, and when the Holy Spirit dwells in us, it helps us to do what is just and right as God has commanded us to do.

In Exodus 35:31 the bible says that God filled the people of Israel with the Spirit of God (Holy Spirit) and they immediately gained more wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, and knew how to make all kinds of things, and build things for him, they received a gift of artistic works.

In the book of Matthew 3:11 John the Baptist said "Indeed I baptize you with water unto repentance, but he that comes after me is greater than I (Jesus), whose shoes I am not worthy to bear, he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire." This tells us that in order to receive the Holy Spirit we need Jesus Christ, for he is the one who will baptize us with it. Let anyone who tells you bad things about the Holy Spirit, or talking in tongues know this, that there is only one sin that is unforgivable, and that is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit (Matt 12:31), though as I covered in my other book "Hell's Gates Wide Open" By Wayne Hoss, not everyone speaks in tongue, it depends on which gift you are given. (See the Purpose Chapter in this book)

In Acts 19:2-6 the bible tells us about some men who have not yet received the Holy Spirit and how they receive it "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" Paul asked them. "No," They replied, "We don't know what you mean. What is the Holy Spirit?" "Then what beliefs did you acknowledge at your baptism?" he asked. And they replied, "What John the Baptist taught."

Then Paul pointed out to them that John's baptism was to demonstrate a desire to turn from sin to God and that those receiving his baptism must then go on to believe in Jesus, the one John said would come later. As soon as they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then, when Paul laid his hands upon their heads, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. So by this example we know that one who already has the Holy Spirit dwelling within them must pray us through.

In Romans 8:4-39 we can learn even more about the Holy Spirit and what it does for us, it reads "So now we can obey God's laws if we follow after the Holy Spirit and no longer obey the old evil nature within us. Those who let themselves be controlled by their lower natures live only to please themselves, but those who follow after the Holy Spirit find themselves doing those things that please God.

Following after the Holy Spirit leads to life and peace, but following after the old nature leads to death, because the old sinful nature within us is against God. It never did obey God's laws and it never will. That's why those who are still under the control of their old sinful selves, bent on following their old evil desires, can never please God. But you are not like that. You are controlled by your new nature if you have the Spirit of God living within you. (And remember that if anyone does not have the Spirit of God living within him then he is not a Christian at all.)

Yet, even though Christ lives within you, your body will die because of sin; but your Spirit will live, for Christ has pardoned it. And if the Spirit of God, who rose up Jesus from the dead, lives in you, he will make your dying bodies live again after you die, by means of this same Holy Spirit living within you.

So, dear brothers, you have no obligations whatsoever to your old sinful nature to do what it begs you to do. For if you keep on following it you are lost and will perish, but if through the power of the Holy Spirit you crush it and its evil deeds, you shall live.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. And so we should not be like cringing, fearful slaves, but we should behave like God's very own children, adopted into the bosom of his family, and calling to him, "father, father." For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts, and tells us that we really are God's children.

And since we are his children, we will share in his treasures, for all that God gives to his son Jesus is now ours too. But if we are to share in his glory, we must also share in his suffering. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.

For all creation is waiting patiently and hopefully for that future day when God will resurrect his children. For on that day thorns and thistles, sin, death, and decay, the things that overcame the world against its will at God's command, will all disappear, and the world around us will share in the glorious freedom from sin which God's children enjoy.

For we know that even the things in nature, like animals and plants, suffer in sickness and death as they await this great event. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as his children, including the new bodies that he has promised us bodies that will never be sick again and will never die.

We are saved by trusting, and trusting means looking forward to getting something that we don't yet have, for a man who already has something doesn't need to hope and trust that he will get it. But we must keep on trusting God for something that has not happened yet, it teaches us to wait patiently and confidently. And in the same way-by our faith the Holy Spirit helps us with our daily problems and in our praying.

For we don't even know what we should pray for, nor how to pray as we should; but the Holy Spirit prays for us with such feeling that it cannot be expressed in words. And the father who knows all hearts, of course, knows what the Spirit is saying as he pleads for us in harmony with God's own will."

So now we know that the Holy Spirit is not only a gift from God, but it is a necessity for a Christian to have, and without it we are utterly lost. We learned that the Holy Spirit guides us through life, keeping us away from sin, and the Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts, telling us what to, and what not to do. We also learned that the Holy Spirit helps us to pray and thus gives us more power. Now how do we go about getting it? It is important to know that the Holy Spirit will not enter a dirty vessel.

The first thing that we must do is repent and show God that we are truly sorry for all of the sins that we have committed in the past. True repentance must come from the heart, deep within. If you pray to God and ask him to forgive you for all of your sins, then you must really mean it! (See the Prayer chapter in this book).

God knows our heart even better than we do, so if you ask for forgiveness for all of your sins, but you cussed someone out a week ago, and you do not really feel sorry for doing it, then God, who knows your heart, also knows that you really are not sorry for that sin, and so, even though you are asking to be forgiven for all of your sins, that sin is still not forgiven, because your heart did not truly repent.

You might say, "Yeah, but the guy I cussed out deserved it!", "he did this to me" or "that", but Jesus says in Matthew 5:43-48 "It has been said, 'love your friends and hate your enemies', but I say: 'love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way you will be acting as true sons of your Father in Heaven.

For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust too! If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even scoundrels do that much. If you are friendly to only your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even the heathen do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect."

In the book of Isaiah 42:1-4 as well as in Matthew 12:18-21 the bible says "Look at my servant. See my chosen one. He is my beloved, in whom my Soul delights. I will put my Spirit upon him and he will judge the nations. He does not shout; he does not raise his voice! He does not crush the weak or quench the smallest hope; he will end all conflict with his final victory, and his name shall be the hope of the entire world."

We all must do our best to be like Jesus, he did not fight and argue, he did not even shout. He did not even raise his voice in anger except for one time. He did not try to crush the weak or try and prove himself better than anyone. People spit on Jesus and cursed him, they even mocked him and tortured him, but never once did he raise his voice in anger at them or curse them. He had the power to squash them like a bug! But for our sake he did not.

Though he had the authority to crush them like an ant, he simply said, "Forgive them father, for they know not what they do!" Amen! I pray to be just like Jesus. After all; "evil begets evil" (I Peter 3:9) so had he cursed at them and called them names, or fought back with them they would have been able to say "See, I told you he was evil, I am glad we killed him!", However by being calm, and meek, he heaped hot coals on their heads "so to speak".

So when we pray to God and ask for forgiveness of our sins we must say it with full repentance, and with all of our heart. We must truly feel guilty for that sin, whether it is cursing a fellow employee, our mother and father, brother or sister, or whomever else it may be.

We must truly regret the nights that we left our loved ones home alone and worried sick about us. We must feel bad about not being there for others when they needed us. We must turn away from sin and begin to live godly lives and quit hurting those that we love, and even those that we do not.

John the Baptist once said "Turn from your sins, turn to God, for the kingdom of Heaven is coming soon" (Matthew 3:2). And so it is! You see, a thousand years to us is only one day to God (II Peter 3:8). So soon to him would be a couple thousand years to us, perhaps more, only God knows. A fly, so I have heard it told, only lives three of our days. His entire life is but a speck to us, just as our time is to God.

John the Baptist also said in Matthew 3:8 "Before being baptized, prove that you have turned from sin by doing worthy deeds." So we must repent and then prove that we are willing to change our life for the better. Repent means to feel pain, sorrow, or regret for something done or left undone by one's self.

In Matthew 3:10 the bible says "Now the axe of God's Judgment is poised to chop down every tree that does not bear good fruit and cast it into the fire." Imagine that, if you will, just as a farmer would chop down a tree that bears no fruit, or bad fruit, and cast it into the fire, to make room for a better, more productive tree, so also will our Lord do to us when he comes if we do not bear good fruit (deeds).

The next thing that we need to do once we have truly repented for all of our sins, wholeheartedly, and asked for forgiveness, is to prove that we have changed our evil ways by doing good deeds and doing away with our old sinful ways, and then we need to be baptized in water, to show God that we are ready to be his children.

Baptism in water is merely a symbolic gesture to God, but an important one, because it is like being reborn or "born again". When we come up out of the water, we are a new person, sort of like when we came out of the water in our mother's womb. Only now we are leaving our past sinful life behind us, the sins are washed away and you are to begin living a new life of righteousness. Now we are coming out of the water, and we are a new person given a new start, a second chance at life by the glorious grace of God.

Do we feel different when we come up out of the water? Of course not! Not all of us anyway! But you are, as long as you want to be. Once we have asked forgiveness, and proven that we have changed our ways and been baptized in the water, we need to be prayed through to the Holy Spirit, that is when you will feel different, and amazingly so.

In Matthew 3:11 John the Baptist said "I baptize those who repent of their sins in water; but someone else is coming, far greater than I am, so great that I am not worthy to carry his shoes! He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire."

You may have been in Church and heard someone say "Man, that guy is really on fire for the Lord!" This means that they have been baptized with the fire of the Holy Spirit and are full of the Holy Ghost. However, sometimes they say that about someone who does not yet have the Holy Spirit, but that person is constantly studying and trying to learn about our Lord, and praising him. You have probably seen a Christian whom is always smiling, meek, humble, and joyful all of the time, and thought to yourself, "Man, I want to be just like him!"

Well, that person did not get that way over night! They had to work hard for the Holy Spirit, they had to suffer and sacrifice, read and study, and then, through trials and errors, they had to fine tune themselves, they literally "Paid the price!"

How bad do you want it? If you want to quit being depressed, lonely, sad, bored, sick, tired, poor (both financially as well as spiritually), then I suggest that you let go of that tiring, sinful life and give it up to God.

It says in the bible that God wants nothing but the best for all of us, but he will not bless us with finances, a good family, or anything else until we let go of our old sinful lives and begin to serve him. Is life getting you down? Perhaps nothing seems to go your way and you are always depressed?

Do people pick on you; persecute you for no reason at all? Remember, my friend that it says in the bible that you will be persecuted by the wicked for being one of God's children. So be glad when people persecute you, this merely confirms that you are one of his children and going to Heaven.

In Matthew 7:13 Jesus says, "Heaven can only be entered through the narrow gate! The highway to Hell is broad and its gate is wide enough for all of the multitudes that choose its easy way. But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow and only a few ever find it!"

Also in Luke 13:24 the bible says, "The door to Heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in, for the truth is many will try to enter but when the head of the household has locked the door it will be too late. Then if you stand outside knocking and pleading saying "Lord, open the door for us," he will reply, "I do not know you!"

By reading these two different examples that our precious Lord Jesus Christ gave to us out of his very own mouth, we see that we must walk the straight and narrow road of righteousness in order to make it through the narrow gate, or door, to Heaven.

Just because we go to Church and pay our tithes and offerings does not mean that we are going to Heaven. You cannot buy your way into the pearly gates; you must earn that ticket! In John 10:1-2 Jesus himself said "Anyone refusing to walk through the gate into a sheepfold, which sneaks over the wall, or climbs up some other way, must surely be a thief and a robber! For a shepherd comes through the gate."

What does Jesus mean by this parable? First of all, let's examine this part of it: "He who sneaks over the wall must surely be a thief! For a shepherd comes through the gate." By this Jesus is saying that you must do all that is right in order to make it through the narrow gate of Heaven.

You can't lie your way into Heaven, because God sees, and knows all! You can't cheat, steal, or fake your way into Heaven. Only the righteous that walks the straight and narrow road will be allowed through the pearly gates. Only those who lived godly lives, or were Christ-like, will be allowed through those pearly gates.

Here is one of my most important poems that were written about this topic:

The Narrow Road

The Lord has laid down a straight and narrow road for his sheep to follow

Satan's flying demons has thrown hot rocks in its path, tis his wrath they do swallow

To either side can be found greener roads leading to and fro

Some are smooth as silk and easier to tread, but I dare not where they go

It's safe to assume that they lead not to Emmanuel's pasture straight ahead

For the bible warns of these winding roads that lead to despair and dread

Those silky green paths, some of which curve in and out wayward out of sight

Lead to an inevitable pit stop, its host the prince of night

Right beside the Lord's narrow road is another that seems just as straight

It is greener, or so it seems and its climb that of a lesser grade

It also has fewer rocks tossed by Satan's winged demons from Hell

As to elude the weak in its devious deception to make them think that all is well

Many people follow that road beside that appears to be straight

But in the end they shall find that it drops off before Heaven's gate

Though they took the simpler path that seemed straight at first

It dropped them off at Hells gate and left their souls accursed

By: Wayne Hoss

Jesus did not drink and party all of the time, no, not at all! Jesus did not curse at someone for stepping on his toes, nor did he fight, argue, lie, steal, cheat, gossip, or murmur and complain! He did not bear false witness against someone and cause them pain and suffering with those lies.

Jesus Christ was without sin, and unless we do our best to imitate him, we shall not make it through those pearly gates. You may say "I am a Christian!" but are you? You can fool some people, you may even be able to fool the Church congregation, and perhaps even the Pastor of the Church, but you cannot fool God, whom is all knowing and all seeing!

In Jude 1:4-23 the bible says "I say this because some godless teachers have wormed their way in among you, saying that after we become Christians we can do just as we like without fear of God's punishment. The fate of such people was written long ago, for they have turned against our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ. My answer to them is: Remember this fact--which you already know--that the Lord saved a whole nation of people out of the land of Egypt, and then killed every one of them who did not trust and obey him. And I remind you of those Angels who were once pure and holy, but willingly turned to a life of sin. Now God has them chained up in a prison of darkness, waiting for the Judgment Day.

And don't forget the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, all full of lust of every kind including lust of men for other men (homosexuals). Those cities were destroyed by fire and continue to be a warning to us that there is a Hell where sinners are punished. Yet these false teachers go on living their evil, immoral lives, degrading their bodies and laughing at those in authority over them, even scoffing at the glorious ones.

Yet Michael, one of the mightiest of the Angels, when he was arguing with Satan about Moses' body, did not dare to accuse Satan, or jeer at him, but simply said "The Lord rebuke you." But these men mock and curse at anything that they do not know or understand, and, like animals, they do whatever they feel like, thereby ruining their souls.

Woe upon them! For they follow the example of Cain who killed his brother; and, like Balaam, they will do anything for money; and like Korah, they have disobeyed God in the hope of gain and they will die under his curse. When these men join you at the love feasts of the Church, they are evil smears among you, laughing and carrying on, gorging and stuffing themselves without a thought for others.

They are like clouds blowing over dry land without giving rain, promising much, but producing nothing. They are like fruit trees without any fruit at picking time. They are not only dead, but double dead, for they have been pulled out, roots and all, to be burned. All they leave behind them is shame and disgrace like the dirty foam left along the beach by the wild waves.

They wander around looking as bright as stars, but ahead of them is the everlasting gloom and darkness that God has prepared for them. Enoch, who lived long ago, soon after Adam, knew about these men and said this about them: "See, the Lord is coming with millions of his holy ones.

He will bring the people of the world before him in Judgment, to receive just punishment, and to prove the terrible things that they have done in rebellion against God, revealing all that they have said against him."

These men are constant gripers, never satisfied, doing whatever evil they feel like; they are loud-mouthed "show-offs" and when they show respect for others, it is only to get something from them in return. Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you that in the last days there would come these scoffers whose whole purpose in life is to enjoy themselves in every evil way imaginable.

They stir up arguments; they love the evil things of this world; they do not have the Holy Spirit living in them. But you, dear friends, must build up your lives ever more strongly upon the foundation of our holy faith, learning to pray in the power and strength of the Holy Spirit. Stay always within the boundaries where God's love can reach and bless you.

Wait patiently for the eternal life that our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy is going to give you. Try to help those who argue against you. Be merciful to those who doubt. Save some by snatching them from the very flames of Hell itself. And as for others, help them to find the Lord by being kind to them, but be careful that you yourselves are not pulled along into their sins. Hate every trace of their sin while being merciful to them as sinners."

Whoa! Was that heavy or what? Lets back up a second here and recap a little of this, shall we? "Godless teachers have wormed their way in among you" This has been going on since Jesus' death, and continues today. People who say that you can sin all that you want to as long as you pray for forgiveness.

They say, "You can drink, just pray the next day and ask for forgiveness" Wrong! The bible says time and time again, that drunks and wild partiers will have "No part in the kingdom of Heaven" Don't get mad yet, I have only just begun, so hang in here and get a little religion, real religion!

I love you, just as Jesus does, so I must open your eyes before it is too late, and I do believe that we are running out of time quickly! A lot of preachers will hold back the truth, there are certain touchy subjects that they prefer to leave be, so as to not upset anyone or hurt any feelings. I mean God forbid they tell the congregation the truth and have them get up and leave, never to come back again

What they do not realize is that by being kind they are killing you! I know how they feel, I have been there myself, afraid to tell someone who asks for the truth, afraid that they won't be able to handle it and they will return to Satan's playground, but I gently give my input, so as to try and tell them the truth, and then, the choice is theirs.

You may have noticed that in the end of Jude there, it said "Save some by snatching them from the very flames of Hell itself!" Well my friend; that is what I hope to do here. Lets cover one subject at a time, and if you disagree, send me an e-mail or letter and we will talk about this.

If once holy Angels are awaiting punishment for turning to a life of sin, then do you think we are going to slide by without a scratch? Of course not! Why did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? It was more than likely because of homosexuality, wild parties and many other disgusting sins. In fact, the men of Sodom used to rape other men, hence the term "Sodomy".

I have heard of gay marriages, taking place in modern day Churches, God help the ignorant priest whom bound that vow! It would be better for that priest if a stone were tied around his neck and he was drowned in the ocean. It would be better for him if he were not even born!

In Matthew 18:6 Jesus warned against those who cause his children to stumble, he said "But if anyone causes one of these to stumble, it would be better for him if a rock (millstone) were tied around his neck and he were drowned in the depths of the sea."

These wanna'be preachers that say gay rights and gay marriage is all right are liars and the truth is not in them! By allowing such weddings they are sending out a message to the world that it is acceptable, when in fact it is not! Am I prejudice? No! One of my best friends that I grew up with, and in fact dated my sister and was like a son to my parents, went in the navy and came back gay.

I love him with all of my heart, but he will be getting a copy of this book! I must try and snatch him, as well as any others who are willing to listen to the truth, from the fiery pits of Hell!

We know without a doubt that according to the Old Testament homosexuals were to take no part in the kingdom of Heaven. Knowing that, now we will see what the New Testament has to say about that. In I Corinthians 6:9-10 the New Testament reads "Don't you know that those doing such things have no share in the kingdom of God? Don't fool yourselves! Those who live immoral lives, who are idol worshipers, adulterer or homosexuals, will have no share in his kingdom. Neither will thieves or greedy people, drunkards, slander mongers, or robbers."

Hello! Are you still with me? I thought so, because a real Christian wants to know the truth, and I praise you for your patience. If you have a friend or a loved one that is a homosexual, then I suggest that you either send them a copy of this book, or read that bible verse to them, or one day soon they may be asking you from the hot, flaming pits of Hell why you did not warn them!

Now for the next issue; I have heard that there is a local Church that set up an alter for white witchcraft. Are we like totally losing our minds or what? In Deuteronomy 18:10-13 God said "There shall not be found among you anyone that makes his son or daughter to pass through the fire, or that practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritualist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the Lord."

I do not know what bible some of these Churches are using, but if it is a King James Version, then I suggest that they go out and buy a new one because that one is missing a few pages, and remember that Jesus said in Matthew 5:17 "Think not that I have come to destroy the laws of the Old Testament, or to cancel them, but to fulfill them!" He did not come to change the old laws at all, and every one of them is still as important as it ever was.

It's a dirty job, but someone's got to do it! This world is falling apart at the seams and nobody seems to have enough courage to put people in their place! We might be able to buy a little more time if we get it together!

I even heard some people say that it is wrong to pray in public schools! Yeah, that's the ticket! I mean the heck with the man upstairs that protected this country through two World Wars, and many other disasters. Who needs him? I do! That's who!

I hear that they are even thinking about taking "In God we trust" off of the money now. That's all right; God didn't want his name on their filthy money anyway! So, let's wrap this up now so I can get to the false prophets like David Karesh of Waco Texas, as well as this man a few years ago in the desert that claimed he was a space alien and he has been every important man in the world.

I bet you he wasn't Jesus! Hello! This man was out in the desert, and Jesus told the disciples that in the last day's false prophets like this would come. In fact, he even predicted that a false prophet would be in the desert; in Matthew 24:26 the New Testament says "Wherefore if they shall say to you, behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: Behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not."

So, let's see what we can make of this thing about sinning intentionally. In I John 5:18 the New Testament says "No one who has become a part of God's family makes a practice of sinning, for Christ, God's son, holds him securely and the devil cannot get his hands on him"

In I John 3:4 the bible reads "But those who keep on sinning are against God, for every sin is done against the will of God." In I John 3:6 the New Testament reads "So if we stay close to him, obedient to him, we won't be sinning either; but as for those who keep on sinning, they should realize this: they sin because they have really never known him or become his.

Oh dear children, don't let anyone deceive you about this: if you are constantly doing what is good, it is because you are good, even as he is. But if you keep on sinning, it shows that you belong to Satan, who since he first began to sin has kept steady at it. But the Son of God came to destroy these works of the devil.

The person who has been born into God's family does not make a practice of sinning, because now God's life is in him; so he can't keep on sinning, for this new life has been born into him and controls him, he has been born again. So now we can tell who is a child of God and who belongs to Satan."

Well, I know that this is a lot to absorb, but time is of the essence, and we need to make reservations above, for a place at that banquet table in Heaven. No one said that Christianity would be easy, just rewarding, and profitable.

In I John 3:13 the bible says "So don't be surprised, dear friends, if the world hates you." The world belongs to Satan; he rules it! And so, when you become a true Christian, and quit drinking and partying, your friends will leave you, and mock you, but be exceedingly glad, for the kingdom of Heaven is yours!

In Matthew 20:16 Jesus said, "Many are called but few are chosen" Also in Proverbs 3:5 the bible reads "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding"

We must trust in God, give our lives to him, and do away with our old sinful lives. Then in Proverbs 3:6 the bible says "In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct you in the way that you should go" (see the Purpose Chapter).

God, in all of his wisdom and understanding, will lead us into doing his perfect will. Paul said in the book of Ephesians to "Put off falsehood, and speak truthfully to each other", as well as "In your anger, do not sin and give the devil a foothold".

Every time we curse at someone we give Satan a "Foothold". Every time we talk bad about others, mock them, talk about them behind their back, or murmur and complain, we give Satan a foothold.

Every time we snap at someone, we give Satan a foothold. By this we mean that fighting, arguing, gossiping, cursing, and all of these sorts of things give Satan something to stand on, "so to speak." In other words, this puts Satan in control and gives him the edge on us, lowering us to his level.

Have you ever been in an argument with a friend or a loved one and decided to go back to them and apologize, only to have them say sarcastically, "What do you want!"? And then, rather than apologize, like you intended to do, you snap back at them and the fight continues? Well, that's because Satan had the foothold on both of you!

When you came to apologize, the other person should have waited to see what you had to say before they got sarcastic with you, they should have held their tongue. However, when they got sarcastic with you, you should have bit your tongue, rather than fuel the fire, and apologized anyway. By doing this, at least you would know, and more importantly, God would know that you tried to put an end to the argument, and they may have even felt guilty for snapping at you.

In Proverbs 25:21-22 the bible says, "If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you" This is very true! I snapped at someone who came to apologize to me before, and when they did not snap back, but apologized instead, I felt guilty all day long; in fact, I apologized over and over to them, and could not do enough for them, to ease my guilty conscious.

You see, evil begets evil. In I Peter 3:9 the bible says, "Do not repay evil for evil or insult for insult" and this is because Satan uses this evil like a devilish ping-pong. He sits back and watches with amusement and laughter while you return one evil gesture with another, back and forth, over and over.

In Proverbs 26:20 the bible says, "Without wood a fire goes out! Without gossip a quarrel dies down!", so try to remember this whenever you are angry: Remember those words of wisdom from the bible," Without wood a fire goes out!" To answer an insult with another insult is like throwing another log on a campfire when you will be leaving soon. Not only does it continue to flare up, but it can cause all else to burn up in a fire as well and can result in severe punishment by the law!

So returning evil with evil just flares things up and threatens to land us all in the fiery pits of Hell, God's place of Judgment for the evil ones. In Proverbs 15:1 the bible says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger!" Also in Proverbs 15:3 it says, "The eyes of the Lord are everywhere, keeping watch on the evil and the good."

I would also like to remind you that as Christians we should accept correction, regardless of who it comes from, for it is the Lord that corrects us, whether we know it or not! In Proverbs 15:10 the bible says, "Stern discipline awaits him who leaves the path; but he who hates correction will die!"

So correction is good for us, and a wise man will correct himself and continually grow, always keeping himself in check, "so to speak." In Proverbs 3:11-12 the bible says "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction: for whom the Lord loves, he corrects, even as a father corrects the son he loves"

In Psalms 32:1-5 the bible says, "Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose Spirit is no deceit. When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord' - and you forgave me the guilt of my sin. Selah." Pray to the Lord and ask him to instruct you in the ways that you should go. In Psalms 32:8 the bible says 'I will instruct you and teach you the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you."

If a travel agency called you and said that they had a spare set of tickets to Hawaii to give away and that you had won them, would you go to Hawaii? Well, God is calling out your name from the bottom of his heart! Are you going to Heaven? Jesus gave himself as a human sacrifice unto God and in doing that "He pulled us out of darkness and broke the chains from darkness to light" (Psalms 107:14)

Jesus died so that we might have life. The reason I said, "might" is because it isn't just ours for the taking, like those tickets to Hawaii. No, we must earn our tickets to paradise by living godly lives, and having faith in Jesus Christ to wash away the sins from our old sinful past, then our names will be written in the "Book of Life" (Revelation 20:12-15)

Remember what you read earlier, think about what Apostle Paul said here "But when you follow your own wrong inclinations your lives will produce these evil results: impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure such as adultery, fornication, uncleanness, idolatry, witchcraft and spiritism, hatred and fighting, jealousy and anger, the constant effort to get the best for yourself, complaints and criticisms, the feeling that everyone else is wrong except for those in your own little group, and there will be wrong doctrine, envy, murder, drunkenness, wild parties, and all of that sort of thing. Let me tell you again as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the kingdom of God."

That's right! If you are doing these things you will not inherit the kingdom of God! In Proverbs 14:12 the bible says "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." If someone has done you harm, forgive them and move on with your life, especially if it was a loved one or a friend, because it is not worth your Soul; and besides that, God will sometime use others to wrong us for the good of his perfect works.

For example; Joseph was always favored by his father Jacob, and his brothers were extremely jealous and envious of him, so together they plotted to kill him, but one of the brothers suggested selling him to the Egyptians as a slave rather than kill him, and to tell his father that a wild animal killed him. This grieved Jacob, his father, for years and years; however, Joseph later became a ruler in Egypt and saved many lives, and made his family wealthy. This was God's plan from the beginning.

So, just as God hardened Pharaohs heart so that he would not let the Israelites go, he also hardened Joseph's brother's hearts so as to fulfill this good works. When Joseph became a wealthy ruler he let his father know that he was alive and he brought his whole family to Egypt to live in wealth with him. However, his brothers were afraid that he would take revenge on them but he simply said, "Do not be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives" (Exodus 50:19-20)

We do not have much time my friend, for the time is drawing near! The predictions of the bible about the end of times have all been coming true for many years (read "Hell's Gates Wide Open - Judgment Day!" by: Wayne Hoss, it is about the last days when Christ comes to claim his elect, in this book it shows what it will be like when Christ comes, and what he may very well say to you on Judgment Day, this book even goes into the final Judgment).

Jesus tells his disciples in Matthew 24:1-51 about the last days, he says "There will be many coming in my name, claiming to be the Christ" This has been going on for many years, Charles Manson, David Karesh of Waco Texas, and many, many more. "There will be wars and rumors of wars" In the last 100 years we have had two World Wars, as well as others, and "rumors of wars" which are taking place right now.

There will be starvation, as well as earthquakes in various places, and diseases that spread rapidly and kill many. Starvation is already taking place and has been for a long time now; we have had many big earthquakes in the last few years, and diseases like AID'S is spreading rapidly and killing many. There are even new diseases popping up now, and some that were curable in the past, but now they are coming back stronger and the scientists are worried because we have no known cures the new, stronger viruses now.

In Luke 13:12 Jesus foretold of great evil abounding in the last days and love growing cold, he said "brother will deliver brother to death! Children will rebel against their parents and cause them to be put to death." This is happening all over the world, kids killing their parents, as well as other kids.

"They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons and you will be brought before kings and governors, because you are mine" This too is going on still today in many countries. Even to this day Christians are being killed in some countries, and imprisoned for their faith.

In II Timothy 3:1-6 the New Testament warns us of what it will be like in the last days "You may as well know this too, Timothy, that in the last days it is going to be very difficult to be a Christian. For people will love only themselves and their money, they will be proud and boastful, sneering at God, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful to them, and thoroughly bad. They will be hardheaded and never give in to others; they will be constant liars and troublemakers and will think nothing of immorality. They will be rough and cruel, and sneer at those who try to be good.

They will betray their friends; they will be hotheaded, puffed up with pride, and prefer good times to worshipping God. They will go to Church, yes, but they will not really believe anything that they hear. Don't be taken in by people like that."

Make sure that you read the Riches chapter in this book, it is of the utmost importance, and it pertains to more than just the wealthy. In I Timothy 6:17 the New Testament reads "Tell those who are rich not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone, but their pride and trust should be in the living God who always richly gives us what we need for our enjoyment.

Tell them to use their money to do good things. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those that are in need; always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. By doing this they will be storing up real treasure in Heaven, it is the only safe investment for eternity!"

In chapter five of the book of Matthew, verses 3-12, you can read the Beatitudes, and these are words directly spoken by Jesus;"

Blessed are the poor in Spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are they that do hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

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

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called "the children of God".

Blessed are they that are persecuted for righteousness sake; for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.

Blessed are you when men speak evil of you and persecute you, and say evil things against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad; for great is your reward in Heaven. They also persecuted the prophets which were before you."

Then there is another version of the Beatitudes in the book of Luke. The reason these differ is because they were written by two different disciples, and written years after the death of Jesus Christ. So of course they will not be exactly the same.

When there is a car wreck and the police come and take police reports from the witnesses, there are usually some slight discrepancies, or differences in their stories, not because anyone is lying, but because no two people remember all of the same details. And that is only minutes after the wreck! These accounts of Jesus weren't written until many years later. We know that anything put in the bible is there because it is God's will, so where one may have forgotten to include something in his account, the other made up for it.

Here is Luke's Version of the Beatitudes:

Blessed are you who are poor; for yours is the kingdom of God;

Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied

Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh with joy (Ps 126:5)

Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you, insult you and reject your names as evil, because you are mine. Rejoice in that day and leap for joy! For great is your reward in Heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.

Woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your reward. (See the Riches chapter) Woe to you that are well fed now; for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now; for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all men speak well of you; for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.

But I say to you; Love your enemies, do good things to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who despitefully use you. If someone slaps you on the cheek, let him slap the other too! If someone demands your coat, give him your shirt also.

Give what you have to anyone who asks for it; and when things are taken away from you, do not worry about getting them back. Treat others the way that you yourself want to be treated. Do you think that you deserve credit for merely loving those who love you? Even the

Godless do that! And if you do good things only to those who are good to you, what is so wonderful about that? Even sinners do that much!

If you lend money only to those who can repay you, what good is that? Even the wickedest of men will lend to their own kind for full return! Love your enemies! Do good things to them! Lend to them! And don't be concerned about the fact that they won't repay you. Then your reward from Heaven will be very great! And you will truly be acting like sons of God: for he is even kind to the unthankful and the wicked.

Try to show as much compassion as your heavenly father does. Never criticize or condemn, or it will all come back on you. Go easy on others; then they will do the same for you. For if you give, you will get! Your gift will return to you in full and overflowing measure, pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, and running over. Whatever measure you use to give, large or small, will be used to measure what is given back to you."

Now; about honesty... I have always been as honest as I possibly could be in this life that I live, in fact; one of my neighbors told me that I am "honest to a fault!" Now there's a new one! I don't believe I read that anywhere in the bible.

Oh, I get it... they say that you are honest to a fault if you tell on them for something that they did wrong, like when he and a friend of his broke in to the landlords garage and stole a bunch of stuff and I told the landlord that it was them so that he could make them give him his stuff back. But the minute someone else does something to him or her, they demand that you tell them who did it! Now hold on a minute... you said the other day that I was honest to a fault, and that I should mind my own business, but now it's all right to be honest to a fault?

Then there is adultery, I have never in my entire life cheated in a relationship, but when I tell other people that, they just give me a strange look and reply "Yeah right! O.K if you say so" as if they do not believe me, and it's obvious why; people who cheat do not believe that it is possible for anyone else to have more strength and morals than them, and that it is possible for someone else to say no.

Now here is the kicker; I have met several guys who cheated on their wife, and that was fine and dandy with them, you couldn't lay a guilt trip on them if you were Jesus Christ himself; but the minute someone sleeps with their wife they break out the gun and want to shoot the guy. I don't get it; why is it all right for them to sleep with another woman, but when their wife says "If he can do it so can I" all of a sudden it's wrong.

Aren't you glad to be a Christian? That's one less thing for you to worry about, because as a Christian you would never do that to God (Knowing that a marriage is bound by one of Gods priests (Or preacher) and is a promise to God).

Speaking of Christians; for all of those people that I have met in my life time that say Christians are weak; I have news for them; it takes more strength to walk away, than it does to do the wrong thing and follow Satan's lead.

To anyone who would say that a Christian is weak, I would ask them if they found a wallet that had almost four hundred dollars in it, and if they did not have much food in the house, and were needing money themselves in a bad way; would they look at the guys drivers license, then find him in the phone book and call him to give his wallet back? Or would they keep it?

I gave it back. Was it easy? By no means, it was extremely hard to do! First of all, my roommate was mad at me and he said, "We need the money for food, and for gas to get back and forth to work, so why give it back?" To which I replied "Because, it is the right thing to do! What if that was his rent money? Would you want to see him get kicked out on the street?"

He just gave me a dirty look and said, "That's stupid; I wouldn't give it back!" To which I replied "Well, maybe not, in fact I doubt that you would, but I lost my wallet once and it had not only my rent money in it but money for food and gas as well, so I know how the poor guy must be feeling."

He asked "Did you get your wallet back with the money in it?" to which I replied in an almost defeated tone of voice "No, and there were only three people in the place where I lost it, but they said they never seen it" He just loved that answer, he more or less set me up for that one; so he said in a victorious tone of voice "That's right; you didn't get it back; nobody ever gets it back! That's why you should keep it, because nobody else gave you yours back! Finders keepers man; don't be stupid!"

Well I stuck to my guns and did the right thing, and perhaps this next little bit of advice that I am about to give you is why I went through that... after all; how could I write for God if I never experienced what I was about to put in a book. The moral of the story is that if everyone did the right thing this would be a perfect world, we would all have plenty, we would all have equal, and there would be no crime, no jealousy, no rich or poor.

So what is this advice that I was talking about? Well, just to get my buddy off of my back while we waited for the guy to come and get his wallet, I said "Besides that. There is a lot of money in there (his wallet) he will probably give us a reward" To make a long story short, the guy shows up, asks for his wallet, and then he says "How much money did you take out of it?" I said, "We didn't take a dime, it is all there dude! Why would I call you to give you almost four hundred dollars back if I was a thief? If I were a thief I would not give any of it back!"

I was upset at his gesture but did the Christian thing and sucked it up, and tried to keep a calm voice and a smile. He opened his wallet and counted the money saying "Yeah, o.k. It's all here!" then he turned around, went back to his car and left. Not even a "Thank you" came from the ungrateful wretch's mouth. If you think that my buddy was upset, you should have seen me. I felt like an idiot, a complete moron.

I kept thinking to myself that if I knew he was going to be like that; rude instead of grateful, and accuse me of taking money out of it, I would have kept it! But, truth be known; no I really wouldn't have kept the money, because most people would have been grateful, and would have given us a small reward instead of accuse us of taking some money out of it.

Now for that piece of advice that I promised you; if someone ever finds your wallet and gives it back with all of the money in it, thank them, and if you can afford to, -give them a little reward. I was not so upset about the money actually; I was more upset at his rudeness, and at the fact that he had the nerve to make an honest man, such as myself, look like a fool. Now I want you to think about this, because this subject that I am about to explain is important, that's why I am giving you the advice.

What are the odds that if my buddy ever finds a wallet he will give the money back after seeing how rude and selfish that man was to me? I can almost guarantee you that he won't. However, had that man been grateful and at least said "Thank you, I really appreciate it!" and especially if he kicked us back a twenty dollar bill, odds are my buddy would have appreciated the kind act that we did and even felt good about himself, and thus perhaps become a more trusting and honest individual.

Please do not ever hand a round to Satan on a silver platter like that man did. It is only through our good deeds that others take notice and come to respect us for being good and honest individuals, and, as the bible puts it, "letting our light shine".

Let's face it; even the wicked respect an honest man, although you may never get them to admit it. When we watch a movie like Dirty Harry, or my favorite true story "Man on Fire", or any other movie like that, we, in our hearts, want to be good just like them, and we want to be brave just like they were, and stand tall in the face of wickedness, but when push comes to shove we leave the movie theater, and just as we exit the building; the very second we close the door to that theater, we change in a "Dr. Jeckle and Mr. Hyde" sort of fashion, and cower at the site of an injustice.

We love characters in movies like that because we love a hero; each and every one of us, somewhere deep down inside, we want to be just like them and stand tall against the evil, greedy and wicked men in the world. So much so, that we stand and cheer at the movie theater when the "Good Guy" stands up to the wicked men, such as Clint Eastwood did in his last movie where he stood up against gang violence; yet when we walk out of that movie theater and see a woman getting her purse snatched, or a man beating up his wife, and even when a boy gets shot by a gang members stray bullet, at that very point we clam up, and act as if we hadn't seen a thing, and rather than run to the woman's aid, or wait with the little boy to comfort him, and if possible stop the bleeding as you both wait for the ambulance to arrive, and even just as important; assist the police with the case, and tell them truthfully, everything that you witnessed so that this horrible thing can't happen to another unsuspecting victim, some of us cower and turn away instead.

If you let your light shine and do the right and responsible thing, then other people will take notice of it, even though you may not know that they noticed, and they may in fact become a better person themselves thanks to your good example.

I have A.D.H.D. and rock quite a bit, and on top of that have a rather loud voice, so at times I tend to get on peoples nerves, by no fault of my own. Someone was talking bad about me one day and another friend of ours said "One thing about Wayne, he may have A.D.H.D. and his rocking may get on your nerves, but all the years that I have known him I have never once seen him ever compromise his morals!"

This is why God wants you to let your light shine, so that others will see that you are a just and honest man and want to be more like you. Always be honest in everything that you do, because if God can't trust you here on earth, why would he trust you in Heaven? In Luke 16:10 the bible says, "If therefore you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth (or worldly wealth), who then will commit to your trust true riches in Heaven?"

Pretty heavy stuff there huh? Also keep in mind the Golden Rule, which leads to all of these. The Golden Rule can be found in Matthew 7:12, it reads, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you!" Then there is the greatest commandment of all written in Matthew 22:37 "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all of your heart, Soul, and mind" and then the second greatest commandment is written in Matthew 22:39, it reads, "Thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself".

If you follow all of these guidelines you are sure to make it to Heaven. So let's end this chapter with a peek at the rewards chapter, which is next. In Mark 10:29 Jesus said "Let me assure you that no one has ever given up anything-home, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, or poverty-for love of me and to tell others the good news, who won't be given back a hundred fold.

# Chapter Three

## Riches & Rewards

Riches! Everyone dreams of it, many strive for it. Men and women have killed for it! Kings and Royalty have lavished in it since we can remember. Even today there are many who are worth hundreds of thousands, millions, or even billions of dollars. But what does the bible say about riches, and does it pertain to me?

Let me begin this chapter by saying that no matter who you are, I beg you to read this chapter. You might say, "I am not rich, merely wealthy!" You may also say, "Well, I don't need to read this chapter because I am poor!" But to you I say, "Read it!"

Not only is there a probability that you may know someone who is rich, but you are also a child of God and it is your job to warn those who idolize riches that they are headed for disaster. Even poor people can love money more than God, which means they too idolize money. Besides, this chapter also talks about the rewards the poor will get in Heaven as well.

We all too often overlook the parts in the bible that warn us of rich people going to Hell. Yet, we do not realize that we who are poor are included in that message too, if we idolize money and seek it more than God. You are rich if you have more than the average man. If you have three cars, two homes, and live in luxury, then you are wealthy to say the least!

In Acts 4:32-37, the bible says, "And the multitude of them that believed was of one heart and of one Soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the Apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, and laid them down at the Apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.

And Joses, who by the Apostles was surnamed Bar'na-bas, (which is being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Le'vite, and of the country of Cy'prus, having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the Apostles' feet."

How beautiful that is! Everyone who had extra, (more than they needed to live) sold it, and gave the money to the poor. I constantly think about what a wonderful world this would be if those who have more gave to those who have less.

Instead, we have people who are supposed to be messengers for God, yet they own more than one house, yacht, etc. I have a real good idea of where they are headed. Do not let people deter you from your true calling. We came to this earth naked, and we shall leave this earth naked. So why do so many people insist on being so greedy, selfish, and self centered?

It says in the New Testament, in Matthew 19:23, that a rich man has little chance of making it into Heaven. The following words are directly from Jesus, "Verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of Heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God."

In Luke 1:53, the bible says, "He has filled the hungry with good things: and the rich he has sent away empty." Why? You might ask, because when they had, they gave not... Jesus said in Luke 6:24, "Woe unto you that are rich, for you have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! For you shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep."

There was a rich man who very much wanted to go to Heaven, so he asked Jesus what he should do; in Luke 18:18-24 the bible says, "A certain ruler asked him, saying 'Good master, what can I do to inherit eternal life?' And Jesus said unto him, 'Why do you call me good? None is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knows the commandments; do not commit adultery, do not kill, do not steal, do not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother'

And he said, "All these have I kept from my youth up" Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, "Yet lackest thou one thing; sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shall have treasure in Heaven: and come, follow me." And when he heard this, he was very sorrowful: for he was very rich. And when Jesus saw that he was very sorrowful, he said, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!"

This man actually seen Jesus heal ten lepers as well as others, and he knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus was the Messiah. Through Jesus he could enter the kingdom of Heaven. Yet, when Jesus told him in order to get into the kingdom of Heaven he must sell all that he has, give it to the poor, and follow him, the man became very sad because he was rich, and he did not want to give up his riches to inherit the kingdom of God.

Do these people not realize that our time here on earth is nothing compared to the life of eternity that we will spend. It could be in a paradise called Heaven, or the flaming hot, torturous pits of Hell.

I would imagine that at that moment, Satan entered into this rich young ruler's mind, and said something like, "Oh, man, come on! You are not really considering selling all that you have and giving it to the poor, are you? This man probably isn't even the Son of God! Don't be foolish, man!"

You see, Satan is the great deceiver, and he is after your Soul at any cost. The bible says in John 8:44 that Satan is a liar, and the truth is not in him. Jesus Christ himself was poor, though he, the ruler of the earth, could have had many riches, had he wanted them. Instead of gather wealth and riches for himself, he chose to be poor and walk among the poor.

Many asked back then, and still wonder to this day why Jesus spent all of his time with the sinners, and the answer is in the bible in many places. He came to heal that which was lost. He did not need to hang around those that were already saved. Just as those who are sick need a physician to heal them, the sinners needed Jesus.

He chose to be poor, yet he had unseen riches that even billionaires will never amass. II Corinthians 8:9 the bible says, "For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich."

Why won't rich people make it into the pearly gates of Heaven? Jesus spoke these words in a parable in Matthew 13:22. "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that hears the Word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the Word, and he becomes unfruitful"

Money and power inevitably choke out the riches of the word of God, just as a weed chokes out a flower. We become blind and a part of this world, rather than a part of the Body of Christ. We become arrogant, selfish, self centered, greedy, big headed, and sons of Satan.

In Matthew 16:26, Jesus says, "For what is it a man profits if he should gain the whole world and lose his own Soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his Soul?"

Imagine burning in the fiery pits of Hell for eternity, while your family is in Heaven. They will be hearing joyful laughter while you will hear screams of pain, suffering, and agony, not only the screams of other souls in pain and agony, but those of your own as well.

Sometimes God blesses us with much in hopes that we will use it to bless others. If you do not bless others, but keep it to yourself, then you have been unfaithful to him. Remember, "He who is unfaithful with little, will be unfaithful with much." So why would God trust you with much riches in Heaven, when you were unfaithful with riches here on earth?

In the book of Matthew, chapter 19, verses 24-30, you will see that in verse 27 Peter said, "We have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?" And Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, that you who have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Imagine that! My friend, I tell you there is no higher honor than that which our Lord Jesus Christ blessed these men with. Why? Because, not only did they give up all of their riches, but also they gave up all of the carnal desires of this world, and faithfully followed him.

Then Jesus said "And everyone that has forsaken (given up) houses, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my names sake, shall receive a hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. But many who are first will be last; and the last shall be first."

What does Jesus mean by this statement in that verse? "Those who are first shall be last; and the last shall be first" What he means is that those who are first in the world, the wealthy, people living in riches, luxury, and popularity; if they do make it to Heaven, they will be the last, or the least in the kingdom of Heaven. Those who are last, the poor, hungry, alone, unpopular, will be first, or the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven for eternity. So, if you are living the glamorous, luxurious life of the rich and famous, you can be sure that you will be last in eternity.

Once again I must bring to your attention that in Luke 9:25, it says, "For what is a man advantaged, if he gains the whole world, and lose his own Soul?" Do you really need that huge mansion that costs millions of dollars when people are starving and living in the streets? How many mouths could you feed, how many people could you give shelter too, how many poor people in your city could you help for the price of that expensive car like a Lamborghini?

How many homes could you open to rehabilitate drug addicts and alcoholics? How many sick and hungry people have you turned away, or passed on the streets? In Matthew 25: 35-46, Jesus says, "For I was hungry, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came unto me.

Then the righteous will answer him saying, "Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? Or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?" And the king shall answer and say unto them, "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, you have done it unto me. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his Angels: For I was an hungered, and you gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and you took me not in: naked, and you clothed me not; I was sick and in prison, and you visited me not. "

Then shall they also answer him, saying," Lord, when saw we thee and hungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?" Then shall he answer them, saying, "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me. And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

Consider this parable in Luke 16:19-31, "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the Angels into Abraham's bosom; then the rich man also died, and was buried.

And in Hell the rich man lift up his eyes, being in torment, and sees Abraham far off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame." But Abraham said, "Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime received thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented. And beside all this, between us, and you, there is a great gulf fixed so that they, which would pass from hence to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us that would come from thence. Then he said, "I pray thee therefore, father, that thou would send him to my father's house, for I have five brethren; that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment."

Abraham said unto him, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them." And he said, "No, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent." And he said unto him, "If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded by one whom rose from the dead."

Man, is that scary of what? I would not want to be that rich man would you? "Inasmuch as you have done this unto one of the least of these my brethren; you have done it unto me." So, when you feed a man that is hungry, it's like you fed Jesus. When you took someone into your home, or paid for his or her shelter, it's as if you did it for Jesus!

Here is another one of my poems that I wrote in regards to this matter:

Carnal Minds

There was a time henceforth when I had ten thousand dollars to spare

Happy with what the Lord hath already blessed me with, I decided to share

Having no need for the money I called two local men to mine house

Rumor had it the second man had the reputation of a cheat and a louse

The first man whose name was Greed, came in and sat as near as could be

Behind him was a man named Wisdom, but he sat afar, as he smiled at me

I told them both that I had five thousand dollars to give to each

Then said Greed, "give it here now!" as he leaned closer so as to reach

While I counted the money, I looked upon wisdom's silence as wise indeed

For I knew he was patient, and of life's carnality he did heed

I counted aloud the word "Five thousand," and then quickly did Greed snatch away

His half of the money, so in life's pleasures he could foolishly play

I looked up expecting a gracious word of thanks from the greedy wretch

But he was already gone without a word; it was Satan's lures he did fetch

Then I looked over at my friend Wisdom, whom was never reeled in by Satan's lure

He always appreciated the life that the Lord hath given him, which in itself was pure

A very uplifting man that always had a smile for me and all that did pass by

For he was happy knowing our precious Lord whom graciously rose in the sky

I handed him his share and he quietly tucked it away

After thanking me, he went about his business until a later day

A week later Greed ran Wisdom's old wagon off the road with his new car

As he laughed about wisdom spreading his money to the poor afar

Then without notice the man in the sky did call

He said the books are open, now come one, now come all!

Greed waited in line, constantly bragging about his carnal things

Until he learned that he traded them for his heavenly wings

He went to a place not fit for a man as he looked up at Wisdom flying by

And pleaded "Just one sip of water I beg you bring me from a cloud up in your sky"

Wisdom smiled and said "dear friend, I stored my money in Gods eternal bank"

It was your earthly treasures that did demote you to a Sergeant in Satan's rank

It was only yesterday that you passed a starving woman in your car so nice

I stopped in my tracks, gave her food and shelter, I didn't have to think twice

Now I am here with her in paradise, the place the Lord set aside

For those with a conscience and a heart, who in his laws did abide

Though I did have a thirst for life's carnal things

I knew I couldn't fly up here without my precious wings

Speak to me no more from the pits of Hell

For justice is served, and I chose well!

By: Wayne Hoss

One day after getting out of Church, a friend and I stopped at a local fast food restaurant and there were two men outside the restaurant. They were homeless and hungry so they asked us to buy them something to eat. I had recently learned a bible verse about entertaining an Angel unawares, and the verse really touched my heart.

Everyone else was being mean and rude to these guys, calling them names, and laughing at them. We took these guys into Taco Bell, bought them something to eat, and offered to give them money to stay in a motel, to which they declined. We also told them about our Church, and invited them to come to our next service. These men were very polite, well mannered, and it was such a blessing to be able to help them. It really makes you feel good inside when you help someone out. Now, what if these men were Angels? What if God was testing our sincerity? Remember, the bible says, that you never know when you might be entertaining an Angel unawares.

Obviously, this scripture is telling us that he does send Angels to earth to test us. Would you have passed this test? In Galatians 6:9-10, the bible says, "Let us not be weary in well doing, for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good things unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith."

You must keep in mind that every man shall be judged accordingly to his works. Your deeds will be tried by fire, and you will be rewarded by what is left after the fire. Kind of like when you melt gold or even lead, the nasty crust that floats on top is no good and discarded, what is left is pure and good.

In I Corinthians 3:12-15 it says, "Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.

If any man's work abides which he hath built there upon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire." Imagine your good deed as gold and a bad deed as straw. Gold being a good deed, one done with all the right intensions in mind, not to glorify yourself, or to make yourself look good, but to help others. When those deeds are tried by the fire, the straw will be burned to ashes, leaving nothing behind, but the gold will remain strong, and purified, and you will be judged according to what is left.

In I Timothy 6:17-19, the bible says, "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."

This scripture is telling the rich to not be proud or arrogant, think that they are better than everyone else, or put their trust in uncertain riches. What does this mean? It means that you should not put your trust in money that can disappear at any moment, and most certainly will be gone when you die. Rather, put your trust in the word of God and store your treasures in Heaven, where they are safe.

Now, why would you want to help convert a drug addict, or alcoholic? Well, the bible says to "Pull the sinners out of the very pits of Hell" and that my friend will be another jewel in your crown. Remember that Jesus came to save that which was lost. He came to heal the sick. Besides, the rich and haughty love this world and their money more than God.

The bible says, in I John 2:15-17, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever."

In Deuteronomy 15: 7-11, God says, "If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shall not harden thy heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: But thou shall open thine hand wide unto him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eyes be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him naught; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be sin unto thee.

Thou shall surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shall open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land."

Wow! Do you really comprehend what you just read? Let's examine this a little bit closer, shall we? God says if there be any among you who are poor, within the gates of thy land, thou shall not harden thine heart, nor shut thy hand against him.

Have you ever passed a homeless person holding up a sign, asking for food or work, and you hardened you heart, thinking, "Go get a job you bum," or, "He deserves to be where he is at!" How dare you judge a man that you do not even know! May God forgive you! Until you have walked in this man's shoes, and seen what made him this way, do not give Satan the glory by judging this poor person.

What if he was an Angel unawares? This person obviously made some bad choices in life, but would Jesus have passed him up like a piece of garbage on the road? Of course not! Jesus was a kind, and loving man. We as Christians are supposed to live like him, hence, the term Christian.

He goes on to say, "Do not shut thine hand from him, or hold back what you possess." After all, God made all that there is, the Heavens, Earth, and all that are in them belongs to him. Your money is his money, and he said to help others in need. Next, He says, "But thine shall open thine hand wide unto him, and shall surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanted." The phrase "Open thine hand wide" means to give graciously. Do not hand this man a quarter, and praise yourself for such a selfish gesture.

You should give freely, as much as you can possibly spare. Offer to buy him dinner, and then gently (wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove) tell him that Jesus loves him. If he trusts in the Lord, he will rise up, and defeat Satan. You could even offer to rent him a motel room for the night. Who knows, after a good night's rest he may be in such high spirits that he may go seek a job the next day.

Most important of all, give that man a bible if you have one and tell him that Jesus loves him, and so do you. I guarantee you that this man will appreciate what you have done and he will never forget it. He will tell people the story of this Good Samaritan that God sent to him in his time of need. By that story others will be touched, he will possibly start going to Church and his life will change for the better, all thanks do you doing such a good deed. Do you see now how wise God is? See how much good can come from that one gracious act of kindness?

Are you an employer? Give him a job. If he works hard, you have been blessed. If he does not work hard, you have been blessed even more. God will reward you a hundredfold for all that you lost. An important thing to remember is that if you give to that man with all the wrong intensions in your heart, or brag about this good deed you have done, then you will have done it in vain.

In Matthew 6: 1-4 the bible says, "Take heed that you do not your alms before men, to be seen of them, and otherwise you have no reward of your father which is in Heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men, verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

But when thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be done in secret and thy father, which sees in secret himself, shall reward thee openly. And when you pray, thou shall not be as the hypocrites are, for they love to pray in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. But you, when you pray, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray in secret; and thy father which sees in secret shall reward thee openly."

God says, in Deuteronomy 15:9, "Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, the seventh year, the year of release is at hand (Every 7 years all debts were to be cleared, or forgiven. The slate wiped clean, as if the debt never existed) and thine eyes be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him naught; and he cry unto the Lord against thee, and it be a sin unto thee."

You see, if a man is poor, or just can't seem to come up with the money he owes you, perhaps because he is out of work, and he owes you money in the last few months of the sixth year, and if you do not give unto him, because you know in a few months all that he owes you will be forgiven; then you have sinned against God.

"Thou shall surely give unto him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him, because that for this thing the Lord thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thee puttest thine hand unto." What God is saying here is that you will give unto them, and you will not be grieved, or wish that you had not given, (Remember that God knows your heart) and if you shall do this thing with a glad heart, God will bless you in everything that you do. He will bless you at work, at home, and in every aspect of your life.

Then, he says, "For the poor shall never cease out of thy land." Wow! That means no matter where you go; there will always be poor people. Why: Well, maybe it is to remind us of how good that we really have it, or to teach us humility. Perhaps once again, that person is simply an Angel unawares!

So, every time that you pass someone in need, or see a neighbor in need, think of that person as an Angel unawares, and help him or her. God will reward you a hundred fold. He will bless everything that you do here on earth, and also store treasures for you in Heaven.

Also keep in mind what Jesus said "In as much as you have done it unto these, you have done it unto me!" Then verse 11 ends, saying, "Therefore, I command thee saying, "Thy shall open thy hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land" In Colossians 3:14, the bible says, "And above all things put on charity, which is the bond of perfection"

Jesus said, in Matthew 6:24, "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. (Mammon means: Wealth regarded as an evil influence or false object of worship and devotion. Or riches)"

In Luke 12:13-21, the Lord Jesus Christ our Savior said, "And one of the company said unto him, 'Master, speak to my brother, that he divide the inheritance with me'. And he said unto him, 'Man who made me a judge or a divider over you?' And he said unto them, 'Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man's life consisteth not in the abundance of the things, which he possesseth.'

And he spoke a parable unto them, saying, 'the ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, "What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits?" And he said, this will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods.

And I will say to my Soul "Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry" But God said unto him, "Thou fool, this night thy Soul shall be required of thee and then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God."

Jesus is telling us," Beware, of covetness." Covetness means, 'greed and selfishness,' or 'to desire another's property wrongfully.' Do not go around saying, "I wish I had what he has," or "I want his stereo, car, or wife". That is coveting, desiring somebody else's property and it is wrong.

They have what they have for a reason, and you have what you have for a reason. That's like being unthankful to the Lord for what you do have. One sin demands another. Perhaps you have been given less because you have been unfaithful with what he gave you in the past. For instance, he gave me many nice cars; good jobs, a wife, and I lost them all to drugs and alcohol. I actually traded some of my cars for drugs. Now that I am a Christian, I look back, and I wonder why God ever blessed me at all; and it says in the bible "Do not cast your pearl before swine"

In Matthew 25:21, Jesus told a man, "Well done my good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, so I will make thee a ruler over many things" This was a verse from the parable of talents. Let's read this parable and see what we can learn from it. (Matthew 25:14-30) "The kingdom of Heaven is as a man traveling into a far country which called his own servants and delivered unto them his goods. Unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one. He gave unto every man according to what he needed; and straightway took his journey.

Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received two, he also gained another two. But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his Lord's money. After a long time the Lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou delivered unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more. His Lord said unto him, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

He also that had received two talents came and said Lord, thou delivered unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them. His Lord said unto him, "Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast no sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

His Lord answered and said unto him, "Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast you the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."

Scary isn't it? Do you want more out of life? Then prove to the Lord that you will be faithful with what you have in the present. Do you help people that you see on the street? Or do you harden you heart against them?

In Matthew 18: 23-35, Jesus says, "Therefore is the kingdom of Heaven likened unto a certain king, which would take account of his servants. And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him, which owed him ten thousand talents; but forasmuch as he had not to pay, his Lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife, and children, and all that he had, and payment to be made.

The servant therefore fell down, and worshipped him, saying, "Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all" and then the Lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him, and forgave him the debt. But the same servant went out, and found one of his fellow servants, who owed him and hundred pence and he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, "Pay me what you owe me"

And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying "Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all" And he would not listen to the man at all and he cast him into prison, till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry, and came and told unto their Lord all that was done.

Then his Lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, "O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desired me to. Should not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?" And his Lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. So likewise shall my heavenly father do also unto you, if you from your hearts do not forgive everyone his brother their trespasses."

In Luke 10: 25-37, Jesus told a beautiful parable called, "The Good Samaritan" It goes like this: "Behold, a certain lawyer stood up and tempted him, saying, "Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?" He said unto him, "What is written in the law? How readest thou?' and he answered and said, "Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy Soul, and with all thy strength, and with thy entire mind; and thy neighbor as thyself."

And he said unto him, 'Thou hast answered right! This do and thou shall live. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?" And Jesus answering said, 'A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.

And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him, and went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an Inn, and took care of him.

And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell among the thieves?' And he said, "He that showed mercy on him" Then said Jesus unto him, "Go, and do thou likewise."'

Isn't that beautiful? Many people just pass up a man like this, but this man helped him. He bound up his wounds, set him on his donkey, and brought him to an Inn to take care of him. Then he had to leave the next day, but he told the Innkeeper to take care of him saying, "Whatever you spend on him, I will come back, and repay you." What a magnificent act of charity, selflessness, love, and humility this man had. Wouldn't the world be a beautiful place to live if all men were such as him?

I have heard people from various Churches say, "Well, we can't afford to help everyone out there. If we did, we would go broke. That's why we only help those in need at our own congregation!" Well, perhaps that is why they can't afford to help anyone else. After all, God will only give you what you will be faithful with. He, who isn't faithful with little, will not be faithful with much. Not only that, but how are you ever going to save other souls if you only open your doors to your own congregation? I would not want to be that man on Judgment Day!

Luke 16: 10 says, "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." If you only help the people from your own Church, and do not reach out to the rest of the world, then how do you expect to help our Lord bring in the sheep? No wonder your Church doesn't grow! Don't you realize that by helping someone off of the streets, they will feel obligated and thankful to you, and bring others to you as well, bragging about what a good deed that you have done for them in the name of God?

Because of such a good deed, they will learn to love you, want to be like you, and go to Church with you. And when that person brags about how you helped him in his greatest time of need, it will be a beautiful testimony for others to live by.

Now do you see how wise God is? He knows that your kindness toward others will touch their heart, and make them want to be like you. Now do you see his wisdom? For instance, remember the parable of the 'Coals?' Romans 12: 20 says, "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shall heap coals of fire on his head." This scripture means that even when someone is being mean to you, you should be kind to them.

This will make them feel guilty, thus bringing them to repentance. Also, this keeps Satan from getting any glory! So, do not only help those you know, but reach out to all. Did the Lord say to love those in your own little group, and help them only? No! He said to love all of your brothers, and sisters 'in Christ.'

Remember that Jesus came to save that 'which was lost.' In Matthew 18:11, Jesus said, "For the Son of Man is come to save that which was lost." Jesus goes on to tell us this parable of the lost sheep, in Matthew 18:12-14. "How think you? If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave that ninety and nine, and go into the mountains, and seek that which is gone astray?

And if so be that he finds it, verily I say unto you, he rejoices more of that sheep, than of the ninety and nine, which went not astray. Even so it is not the will of your father which is in Heaven, that one of these little ones should perish."

The bible is so full of wisdom. Just this chapter alone, that we have been reading, teaches us about mercy, kindness, love, and compassion. It goes on in this chapter to teach us about forgiveness.

Have you thrown someone out on the streets, or disowned them for a sin that they have committed? In Matthew 18:21-22, Peter asked Jesus how many times a man is to be forgiven. It says, "Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times?" Jesus said unto him, 'I say not unto thee, until seven times: but, until seventy times seven.'"

Imagine that! You are not only to forgive them seven times, but seventy times seven. You may ask, "Where is the wisdom in that?" This is some of his greatest wisdom, yet. You see, this very book that you are reading right now, comes from the Holy Spirit, whom blessed me with the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding to relay his message to you.

You would not be reading this book right now, had a Christian family not taken me off of the streets. I myself was a drug addict, and alcoholic. I was given many chances by friends, and family, yet I fell into Satan's trap again, and again. Had I not been forgiven so many times, I would still be on the streets. I would be the victim of self-pity, drinking, and still doing drugs.

Satan will attack the hardest on those for whom God has the great plans. Does a General not attack a fort? So likewise, does Satan attack the fortress and try to steal all of God's gems. It is always when we are closer to God, that Satan attacks the hardest. After reading this chapter, please read the Purpose Chapter. It will help you to understand why Satan attacks those for whom God has great plans. It will also give you an idea of how to find out the plans (purpose) that God has for you.

Also, keep in mind that a lot of people use, as an excuse to miss out on going to Church, a preacher they know or have heard of that did something bad to someone. That is their excuse for not going to Church. This is what Satan wants. You are helping him accomplish his goal. You see, if Satan can 'attack the fortress,' or bring the preacher down, the Church falls with him.

Now, let's get back to our main topic. In Jeremiah 17:11, the bible says, "As the partridge sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not, so he that getteth riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his days and at his end shall be a tool." Also, keep in mind, that there are many rich people, who are unhappy, and miserable.

In Ecclesiastes 5:10, the bible says, "He that loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loveth abundance with increase: this is also vanity."" Also, Ecclesiastes 6:2 says, "man to whom God hath given riches, wealth, and honor, so that he wanteth nothing for his Soul of all that he desireth, yet God giveth him not power to eat thereof, but a stranger eateth it: this is vanity, and it is an evil disease."

We desire riches when we are of this world; because we want all of the things that this earth has, to fulfill our carnal needs, things of the flesh. We want fancy cars, homes, boats, nice clothes, jewelry, and other things. However, these are things that will not do us any good when we die, but they will curse our souls.

James 4:4 the bible says, "You adulterers and adulteresses, don't you know that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God." What does he mean by saying "enmity with God"? Enmity means a feeling or condition of hostility, hatred, ill will, animosity, or antagonism. So, he who loves the world and all of its carnal desires is an enmity to God.

James 5:1-6 says, "Look here you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all of the terrible troubles ahead of you. Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth eaten rags. Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure that you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the Day of Judgment.

For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated out of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven's Armies. You have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; you have nourished your heart, as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and killed the just; and he doth not resist you." So, I ask you "Are the riches of this world worth your Soul? What does a man profit if he gains the whole world, and lose his own Soul?"

It says in Matthew 5:46-48, "For if you love them which love you, what reward have you? Do not even the publicans the same? And if you salute your brethren only, what do you more than others? Do not even the publicans do so? Be you therefore perfect, even as your father who is in Heaven is perfect."

Be wise and intelligent enough to save up good deeds toward your retirement in Heaven. In Matthew 6:19-21, Jesus said, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in Heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

In Psalms 15:1-5 it says "Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walks upright, works righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart and he that does not backbite with his tongue, nor does evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor. In whose eyes a vile person is contemned; but he honoureth them that fear the Lord. Also he that swears to his own hurt and changes not; and he that putteth not out his money to usury, nor taketh reward against the innocent. He that doeth these things shall never be moved."

In Acts 20:35, Jesus said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive" Have you ever done a good deed for someone? Maybe you bought dinner for a homeless man? It made you feel real good inside, didn't it? Remember, you can lie to other people, hide money, or lie to the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) but you cannot lie to God!

In Luke 6:20, Jesus said, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven." Also, in Luke 6:24-25, Jesus said, "But woe unto you that are rich! For you have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full! For you shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now! For you shall mourn and weep" If I was bathing in riches and luxury, I would sell it all, except for what I needed in order to live a normal life. I would give it to the poor.

In Luke 6:38, Jesus said, "Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use withal it shall be measured to you again."

I Timothy 6:10-12 says, "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. But thou, O man of God, flee these things and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. 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."

Once again, remember to use the riches that God has blessed you with to help others. Again I must stress that it is God's money, not your money. In Luke 16:10-13, Jesus said, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much." So just keep in mind that if you want to be the ruler of a great city in Heaven, or trusted by God to do great things and handle his wealth in heavenly matters, you must prove to be worthy here in this life that you live here on earth right now first.

After all, God used to love and trust the Angel that was his right hand man "so to speak", and that great Angel named Lucifer (Satan) proved to be untrustworthy, so why would God trust you or me? God is so clever that he is testing us all right now, here on earth, to see whom he can and cannot trust, so of course he hides in the shadows and watches us from afar. If these wicked people seen him, and knew for a fact he did exist, then they would do what is right - not because they are good people, but only because they know they are being watched."

Have you ever been at work giving the job one hundred and fifty percent, and then looked up to see the boss leaving in his car, so then you started slacking off and working slow, or not working at all? If that boss had a camera hidden somewhere in the shop and came back and watched it, only to find you goofing off after he left and not working, he would fire you. But you would not slack off after he left if you happened to look up and see the camera watching your every move. You would not have shown your true colors "so to speak", but would have instead worked hard so the boss would think that you were a good worker and trustworthy when he came back and viewed the recordings from the camera.

So if you have been unfaithful to God with a little, how can you expect him to entrust you with much? If you take from others, or have been unfaithful to others, then God will not trust you, or bless you.

In Luke 12:33-34, Jesus said, "Sell what you have and give alms; (meaning to give to the needy, or the poor) in doing this you will be providing yourselves with bags which wax not old, a treasure in the Heavens that faileth not, where no thief approaches, neither moth corrupteth. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." By giving to the poor, Jesus tells us that we will be storing bags of treasures for ourselves in Heaven that will never disappear. No thief can take it away.

This world is not our permanent home, we are just passing through temporarily as he weighs us, and some will be found wanting. Someday we will spend eternity in Heaven, or in the fiery pits of Hell. The choice is ours. Do you want to be rich on earth a short time or rich in Heaven for eternity? You can make that choice. I pray that you heed these warnings.

Remember that if we do what the Lord God Almighty tells us to do, we will not only be rewarded with great treasures in Heaven, but he will reward us here on earth too. Perhaps he will lead us to a better paying job, or put a burden on our boss' heart to give us a raise. Psalms 37:23-24 says, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he falls, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand."

In Deuteronomy 28:1-14, the Lord God Almighty said, "And it shall come to pass, if thou shall hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shall hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.

Blessed shall thou be in the city, and blessed shall thou be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Blessed shall be thy basket and thy store. Blessed shall thou be when thou comest in, and blessed shall thou be when thou goest out.

The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face: they shall come out against thee one way, and flee before thee seven ways. The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto; and he shall bless thee in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. The Lord shall establish thee a holy people unto himself, as he hath sworn unto thee, if thou shall keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways.

And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee. And the Lord shall make thee plenteous in goods, in the fruit of thy body, and in the fruit of thy cattle, and in the fruit of thy ground, in the land, which the Lord swore unto thy fathers to give thee.

The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure, the Heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand: and thou shall lend unto many nations, and thou shall not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shall be above only, and thou shall not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe and to go them.

And thou shall not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other Gods to serve them." Isn't that beautiful? All you have to do is turn from Satan, and deny your flesh. Then, God will make you the 'head, not tail, and you will always be on top.'

You see; Satan has many lures. They are the things of this world that the flesh desires or craves but are bad for us and can lead to eternity in Hells fire, such as Paul spoke about in Galatians 5:13-26, he said "For, brethren, you have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, thou shall love thy neighbor as thyself. But if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed one of another.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that you cannot do the things that you would. But if you be led of the Spirit, you are not under the law.

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

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another."

Please, I beg you. If you have not yet read the 'Sin' chapter, please be sure to do it. For, in this chapter Satan is unveiled, and exposed to help you understand how he works. Also, read my book, "Hell's Gates Wide Open - Judgment Day." By Wayne Hoss at BN.com or Amazon.com

You read about the great treasures God would bestow upon you for obeying his commandments, so you should read of what he will do to you here on earth if you do not obey him. Deuteronomy 28:15-47 says, "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.

Cursed shall thou be in the city, and cursed shall thou be in the field. Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep. Cursed shall thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shall thou be when thou goest out.

The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou set thane hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly, because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me. The Lord shall make thee pestilence cleave unto thee; until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.

The Lord shall smite thee with consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish. And thy Heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.

The Lord shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from Heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou are destroyed. The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shall go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shall be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.

And thy carcass shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away. The Lord will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed. The Lord shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart and thou shall grope at noonday, as the blind gropes in darkness, and thou shall not prosper in thy ways: and thou shall be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.

Thou shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shall build a house, and thou shall not dwell therein: thou shall plant a vineyard, and shall not gather the grapes thereof. Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shall not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shall have none to rescue them.

Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the daylong: and there shall be no might in thine hand. The fruit of thy land, and all thy labors, shall a nation, which thou knowest, not eat up; and thou shall be only oppressed and crushed always: so that thou shall be mad for the sight of thine eyes, which thou shall see.

The Lord shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shall set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shall thou serve other Gods, wood and stone. And thou shall become astonishment, a proverb, and a byword; among all nations whither the Lord shall lead thee.

Thou shall carry much seed out into the field, and shall gather but little in, for the locust shall consume it. Thou shall plant vineyards, and dress them, but shall neither drink of the wine, nor gather the grapes, for the worms shall eat them. Thou shall have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shall not anoint thyself with the oil, for thine olive shall cast his fruit.

Thou shall beget sons and daughters, but thou shall not enjoy them, for they shall go into captivity. All thy trees and fruit of thy land shall the locust consume. The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and thou shall come down very low.

He shall lend to thee, and thou shall not lend to him: he shall be the head, and thou shall be the tail. Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou hearkenedst no unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee: And they shall be upon thee for a sign and for a wonder, and upon thy seed forever because thou served not the Lord thy God with joyfulness, and with gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things;"

Does that sound familiar to you? Have any of these things ever happened to you? In verse 30, God said, "Thou shall betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her." When I drank, and did drugs, that happened to me many times. I lived with one woman for four years. We were married, but I drank, and did not obey God's commandments. She slept with other men. I took her back five times, but each time she cheated on me, so I finally left her. However, I did not quit drinking and partying. Again, I turned to drugs. I moved in with another woman. She cheated on me with another, another, and another. So, you see, God is a man of his word. I am so glad that I have been delivered. I have found a joy that most people in the world never experience, but this joy can be yours as well.

In Matthew 6:33, Jesus said, "First seek the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all else will be added unto you." So, if you seek God, and obey his commandments, he will make sure that you have all you need.

How? Well, the bible says not to be lazy, in fact, it says, "Thou shall work six days, and rest on the seventh." So, by obeying this law, we hold down a steady job, and work hard, which in return makes us enough money to supply our needs. If you are working hard, and can't seem to make ends meet, perhaps you are not living a true, godly life.

In Proverbs 13:21, the bible says, "Evil pursueth sinners: but to the righteous good shall be repaid." Proverbs 28:20-28 says, "A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent. To have respect of persons is not good: for a piece of bread that man will transgress. He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considered not that poverty shall come upon him.

He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favor than he that flattereth with the tongue. Whoso robbeth his father of his mother, and saith it is no transgression; the same is the companion of a destroyer. He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat.

He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered. He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack: but he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse. When the wicked rise, men hide themselves: but when they perish, the righteous increase."

Remember to do 'good works.' (Or deeds) In Matthew 16:27, Jesus said, "For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of his father with his Angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works." If you hold on to your riches like 'Scrooge,' so to speak, you will certainly die with them. Those riches will be a witness against you on Judgment Day!

Luke 20:46-47 says, "Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; which devour widows' houses, and for a show make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation."

Psalms 49:6-7 reads, "They that trust in their wealth, and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him." Also, Psalms 73:12 says, "Behold, these are the ungodly, those who prosper in the world; they increase in riches."

Proverbs 11:4 says, "Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death." By 'death' this writer meant 'eternal damnation,' or 'the death of the Soul.' In Proverbs 27:24, the bible says, "For riches are not forever: and doth the crown endure to every generation?"

In Matthew 13:22, Jesus is telling the "Parable of the Sower." He says, "He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the Word, and he becometh unrighteous." This scripture is so true. The cares of this world and all its riches will be the cause of your Soul's damnation if you let it. You cannot love both God, and riches.' In Mark 10:23, Jesus said, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!"

Wealth does not fill the empty void in a man's life. Not even for a king. In Ecclesiastes 2:4-12, we see that King David's son had more wealth than imaginable. Yet, he was not happy. King David's son said, "I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards, I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits. I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees. I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me. I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I got me men singers and women singer, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts. So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.

And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labor: and this was my portion of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored to do and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of Spirit, and there was no profit under the sun

I turned myself to behold wisdom, and madness, and folly: for what can the man do that cometh after the king? Even that which hath been already done"

So you see, he gathered all the riches he ever wanted, and then life became meaningless, and empty. In Ecclesiastes 2:17, he said, "Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under us is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of Spirit." Now he realized that riches did nothing for his Soul. It did not fill the empty void in his life. He also realized that all his hard labor had accumulated riches that would be passed on to someone else.

In the same chapter of Ecclesiastes, verses 18-19, he said, "Yes, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun: because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored, and wherein I have shown myself wise under the sun. This is also vanity."

You see, he realized that riches could not save his Soul, and that all he worked so hard to accumulate in life would be passed on to someone else, perhaps even to an ungrateful fool. He said it was all 'vanity.' Vanity means excessive pride in one's appearance, qualities, achievements, or conceit. It is a lack of real value.

He knew that what he strived for, his riches, had no real value in the end. It would not buy him real friends, or real love. It would not even save his Soul. In the second chapter of Ecclesiastes, we see that King David's son learned how useless it was to store treasures away on earth, rather that store true riches in Heaven.

In Ecclesiastes 4:1, he speaks about the way the rich oppress the poor, causing them many sorrows. Wouldn't it be a wonderful world, if the rich helped others with the money the Lord has given to them? In Ecclesiastes 4:8, he says, "Neither is his eye satisfied with riches."

The reason a man is not satisfied with riches is because God made mankind. Therefore, the void we feel in our life is the lack of our precious creator. People try everything to fill that void, as I have pointed out before. They drink; do drugs, sex, video games, smoking, and many other things that we see as normal, or addictions.

In Ecclesiastes 4:13, he said, "Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king, who will no more be admonished." Also, in verse eight, he says, "If you see someone oppressing the poor, and violent perverting of Judgment and Justice in a province, do not marvel at the matter: for he that is higher than the highest regarded; and there be higher than they."

Here, he is telling us that someday those rich and haughty people, who oppress the poor, will have to face the highest power of all, the Lord God Almighty. In Ecclesiastes 5:10, he said, "He that loves silver shall not be satisfied with silver; nor he that loves abundance with increase."

In verse eleven, the bible says, "When goods increase, they are increased that eat them." That means the more wealth you gain, the more people you attract. They want what you have, and will devour you to get it. In verse twelve, it says, "The sleep of a laboring man is sweet, whether he eats little or much! But the abundance of the rich, will not suffer him to sleep."

This statement, made by King David's son, holds true today. The rich do not sleep very well, for they are too worried about hanging on to their riches. He continues in verse thirteen, saying, "There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners thereof to their own hurt."

His most important statement is in Ecclesiastes 5:15-16. He said, "As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labor, which he may carry away in his hand. And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath labored for the wind?"

He is so right! When you die, all that you worked hard to accumulate is left behind. You can't take it with you. In Ecclesiastes 6:12, he said, "For who knows what is good for a man in this life?" God knows what is good for you. He has a purpose in life for each and every one of us. We must listen to him, and turn from our ungodly, selfish ways. (Please read the Purpose' chapter in this book, it will help you understand what God's great plans are for your life.)

Do not misunderstand me. God wants you to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Ecclesiastes 5:18 in the bible says "It is good and comely for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor." However, you do not need those expensive, top of the line, cars, clothes, and houses.

You do not need a $500,000 dollar house, much less a mansion. If you want a boat for fishing, or water skiing, God doesn't mind. He wants you to be happy, but sale all your extra things, and help others. For, this is how the Lord wants you to be. Store up for you treasures in Heaven, not riches on earth that eventually are lost.

I have a favorite song. It is "Joy Unspeakable." In that song there are some excellent words. They say, "I have found the pleasure I once craved. It is joy and peace within." Riches will not fill the void in your life, only Christ.

I will close this chapter with the last two verses in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter 12. "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into Judgment, with every secret thing, whether it is good, or whether it is evil."

So my friends choose your master: riches and recognition, or God and his good will.

# Chapter Four

## Tests & Trials

### Why do things seem to go wrong in my life?

Sometimes you will think that God is not there and you will wonder why he is letting certain things happen to you. Just remember that God often tests his people to find out how strong their faith is and whether or not they are honest and sincere. (Duet. 8:20)

If you hired a cashier or a servant of some kind and wanted to know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they were honest, or perhaps you simply wanted to test a friends integrity, you could simply lay a twenty dollar bill somewhere around the house or purposely drop it on the floor to see if they would pick it up and give it back to you, or if they would keep it.

Or perhaps you would assign them a very difficult task to do and sit back to see if they could not only handle that particular task, but also to see if they handled everything in a proper manner.

In that same way, God needs to test us for certain qualities. Sure, he could sit in front of us on his throne like all of the kings of the past; demanding that we worship him, or kneel to him, but then we would worship him out of fear. God does not want us to worship him out of fear like the kings of the past; he wants us to worship him because we love him. I think that I said it best in one of my poems when I wrote:

"I wanted you to love me by faith not fear"

"That's why you couldn't see me but knew I was here"

He may test us to see if we are honest, or to see if we would make great leaders, either here on earth or in Heaven. Like I said earlier, if he can't trust us here on earth, why would he want us in Heaven?

In Luke 16:10-12 our Lord Jesus Christ said "He that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much; and he that is unjust in the least is also unjust in much. If therefore you have not been faithful in the wealth of the unrighteous, who then would trust you with true riches? And if you have been unfaithful in that which is another man's, who would give you that which is your own?"

Basically what this is saying is that if you are honest in small matters, then you will be honest in large matters as well, but if you are dishonest and you cheat in small matters, then you will not be honest with larger responsibilities.

If I am an older man and very poor, living from check to check on social security and barely getting by on such a small amount of money and you steal from me, why then would I want you around me if one day I won millions of dollars in the lottery?

If you cannot be trusted in small matters here on earth, why would God trust you with even bigger matters in Heaven? And if you are not faithful with other people's money or possessions here on earth, why then do you think that God would trust you with true riches in his glorious kingdom of Heaven? Much less give you your own city to rule over!

Remember that how we finish these tests and trials now will determine our future, not just here on earth, but for eternity. Our rewards for passing these tests will be great in Heaven, not to mention it will pay off here on earth as well. Remember to read the "Riches & Rewards" chapter in this book as well as the "Purpose" chapter.

God tested most of the great men of the bible. He tested Abraham by asking him to kill his very own son Isaac, which was his only son at that! Abraham took his son to a mountain top, tied him up and laid him on an alter so as to sacrifice him unto the Lord God Almighty; because God demanded that of him (to test his sincerity), then he raised his knife in the air, preparing to thrust it into his son's chest, but the Lord God Almighty stopped him before he did it. Why would Abraham do such a thing? The answer is faith.

Abraham had great faith in God, and I doubt that he knew that he was being tested, but even if he had killed his son Isaac, he knew that God had the power to resurrect him. What if God let him go through with it and didn't resurrect his son? Well it really would not have mattered, because even though it would have been very painful for Abraham, you must realize that sooner or later we are all going to die, and if we love and obey God and his ways, we will go to Heaven and take part in everlasting life.

Abraham loved God with all of his heart, Soul, mind, strength and power, as do I, but Abraham knew the Lord God Almighty even better than we do, because God had spoken to him and his wife on many occasions (like when he spoke to Moses) and he had seen many of Gods awesome miracles and knew what he could do. He knew that nothing exists in the entire world that God did not create, even his son.

Isaac was not Abrahams alone; he belonged to God as well, after all; it was God whom made him in the first place. God had told Abraham when he was way too old to have children that he was going to give a son to his wife. God even spoke to Abraham's wife and told her she would bear a child but she did not believe him because she was way too old to bear a child and thought it was impossible

So Abraham, knowing these things, knew that if his son died, he would be born again in the next life, like a caterpillar that spins a cocoon in which to enclose himself in to die, his own personal coffin, but after death he is resurrected as a beautiful butterfly.

If God did not resurrect his son Isaac, so what! His son would have been in Heaven with his maker, a place so beautiful that no man can imagine it. A place where there is no war, disease, famine, hatred, sin, no more tears; a place so beautiful, peaceful, and magnificent that no man can ever even begin to imagine it.

Another great man of the bible who was tested again and again was one of Isaac's sons, Jacob. Jacob fell in love with a young female named Rachel and he asked her father for her hand in marriage. Her father demanded seven years hard labor of him before they could marry. Then after those seven years, her father tricked him and gave him the older daughter instead.

Back in those days a man was entitled to a dowry for a daughter; so Jacob worked for (Laban) her father because he had no wealth to pay for Rachel. He was told it was not custom to give the younger daughter in marriage first, so Jacob was deceived once again into working another seven years.

During this long test of faith, Jacob still looked toward God for strength and kept his faith. This test was fourteen years long but he still trusted in the Lord and believed that it would all come to him in Gods good time. God stepped in and finally gave Jacob his reward, his true love Rachel. (Gen. 31:40-42)

After 14 years of hard labor, Jacob told Rachel's father that he was taking that which was his and was going his separate way. This time the old man refused to give him the cattle and other things, which he felt, were owed to him. Again Jacob had been deceived, but he kept faith in God and after passing test after test, God stepped in and gave Jacob his reward, almost everything that Laban owned, and Jacob became exceedingly rich and prosperous.

Jacob was later tested again when he actually wrestled with a mysterious man. Alone and afraid Jacob encounters this man. The man is a manifestation of God, who said he would always be with Jacob and he appears in Jacob's darkest hour. They wrestle; and even with his hipbone dislocated, Jacob would not give in until the Lord blessed him, which came to pass, and he was blessed by God, receiving a new name and a renewed covenant.

Perhaps the one tested the most of all the men in the bible was Job. Job was a blessed man; he was blameless and upright in his ways. In fact he was so conscientious and of God, that he actually sacrificed burned offerings to the Lord thinking "perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts" (Job 1:5)

So thinking this, Job planned ahead and asked for forgiveness of sins that had not even took place yet, and he did this on a regular basis. Talk about an insurance policy; let's see State Farm beat that!

One day Satan came to the Lord and asked him for permission to test Job's faith in God; he said "You have blessed Job and all that he has and does, but stretch out your hand and strike down everything that he has and he will surely curse you to your face" (Job 1:11) to which God replies "Very well then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." (Job 1:12)

Then one day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword and killed them and I am the only one who lived to tell you!"

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said "The fire of God has fallen from Heaven, and has burned up the sheep and servants, and consumed them; I am the only one who lived to tell you!"

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They killed the servants and I am the only one who lived to tell you!"

While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept over them, the house collapsed on them and they are all dead!"

Job was literally attacked by Satan, from one disaster to another, back to back, and then on top of all that, he lost his sons and daughters (which were many), what would you have said or done by now?

I know what I would have said many years ago before coming to know the Lord, but now I have a different understanding of life. What do you think that Job did or said? Do you think that Satan was right and he cursed God?

This was Job's reply:

At this Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head, then he fell to the ground and said; "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

In all of this, Job did not sin by cursing God as Satan claimed he would do, or by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:20-22) As Jobs reward God restored all that he had including his entire family (his sons and daughters), all of his flocks, and gave him wealth unimaginable. All of these men passed their tests and trials and they were rewarded handsomely. If you have not read these stories in the bible, I suggest that you do as soon as possible.

The trials Job went through do not stop there. Satan returns to the Lord, and says, "Skin for skin!" as he continues to speak to God; "A man will give all that he has for his own life. Stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face!"

God replied "Very well then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life" At those very words Satan covers Job's flesh from head to toe in boils, blisters, and sores. Imagine this if you will; we complain about a cut on our hand, a fever blister, or a sun burn, yet this man whom was completely covered from head to toe in boils, blisters, and sores and living in great pain and agony stood strong and still did not curse God.

His own family wanted nothing to do with him. His own wife said to him "Curse God so you will die and the misery will be over" yet he stood in his faith and believed in God. Job had the victory, because he held on to his relationship with God.

So what have we learned from all of this? First of all we learned that our relationship with God is the most important thing in the world and nothing should take that away from us, for he made the Heavens and earth and all that is in them.

We also learned that death is nothing to fear as long as we are true Christians; it is simply a permanent vacation to paradise. So we should be happy for our loved ones who pass away, we should rejoice for them, because they are in Heaven, a place so beautiful that no man can imagine it, where the streets are made of gold and each gate from one solid pearl (Rev. 21:18-21)

We also learned that Satan must get permission from God before he can touch a Christian, or even test them. If you are not a Christian and everything seems to be going wrong in your life, then you need to make a change in your life and accept God. We are ever so fortunate in today's modern world, most people are not put through a test like that of Job's, and we can love God unconditionally, say it out loud without the fear of being imprisoned or beheaded like those people whom loved him way back in those days.

We also learned that Satan has the power to cause tornadoes (great winds), and other earthly disasters that destroy and kill. I recall one disaster that I read about in a popular magazine, where a tornado hit a local Church while it was in service, and several people died, including one that was the Pastor's daughter.

The people of the Church, as well as the Pastor, mourned the loss (of course) but rather than curse God or question him about why it happened, they thanked him for bringing those whom died home to a paradise so beautiful that no man can imagine it, and they built a new Church.

Why this disaster? Well perhaps God wanted to test their faith. Perhaps Satan came to God and said "I bet those people in your little Church down there are not as just and faithful as you claim" or maybe God gave Satan permission to test them, just as he gave Satan permission to test Job.

Consider this; we are fortunate, because most of us go through little tests of faith, but in the years before and after Christ, people were beaten, whipped, stoned to death, beheaded and numerous other things too unbearable to mention, yet these people like Apostle Paul, John the Baptist, Abraham, Jacob, and Job never denounced their faith, and they passed the tests and terrible trials that most of us will never have to endure and they were rewarded handsomely.

So with all of this in mind, what kind of tests do we go through, and what should we do? Well, one of the most common tests that we go through and fail every single day of our lives is getting along with others. Sure, you may think that it is a small thing, after all; fighting and arguing are not that big of a sin, right?

Wrong! The bible says, "He whom has committed the least sin has committed them all" and "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23)

Remember that it is natural to be angry when someone attacks you physically or verbally, and even though anger is natural, we must learn to control it. In the New Testament (Ephesians 4:26) the bible says, "Be angry and sin not." Why would we think that it is all right to fight and argue? Don't people know that the only thing that separates us from all of the wild animals and beasts of this world is our God given ability to rationalize and talk things out?

Let's not forget that God sometimes puts anger in another person to test both that person and the person the anger is directed at (Gen. 50:20). It is how you handle that anger (or that test) that will determine what God has in store for you in Heaven. Will you make a good leader? If not, then perhaps you will make a good servant. Will you prove to be worthy or unworthy?

Also keep in mind that people expect you to react with anger to their anger, after all, evil begets evil. Keeping that in mind, just say to yourself "No straw, no fire!" When people spit on Jesus and hit him, he could have hit and spit back at them, or he could have cursed them, or argued with them, but he did not.

Jesus had the power and authority to squash them like bugs, but he said and did nothing. That my friend is how much God loves us! Had it been me, I would have summoned the Angels and burned them like overdone Twinkies!

Remember that evil stirs up evil, so by walking away Jesus showed us an example of how we should react to evil. If we do nothing evil in return, Satan loses his foothold on us. Had Jesus fought back and spit back at them, then people would have said "See; he is evil and mean. He deserves to die!" It is also in hopes that the one doing the evil will feel bad, conviction if you will, and turn away from that sin.

In Proverbs 25:21-22 the bible says "If your enemy is hungry give him food to eat, if he is thirsty give him water to drink, in doing this you will heap hot coals on his head (make him feel guilty) and the Lord will reward you for your kindness.

Apostle Paul once wrote a letter to one of the Churches telling them not to argue among themselves; in fact he talked about this in almost every letter he wrote to the Churches. We, as Christians, should not fight and argue, or argue about what the bible says, but should work things out in a proper manner.

I have seen so called Christians sit and argue over religion in Church or at a restaurant so loud that it chased off and/or embarrassed a newcomer. If you are in a disagreement over something that has to do with religion, sit down and have a bible study together and learn the truth from the bible, for the answers have always been there. Be "Wise as a serpent, harmless as a dove!"

Also remember that you may sometimes think that the person who irritates you (or convicts you) is a "goody two shoes," so to speak. You may say "Who does he think that he is" or "He thinks that he is better than everyone else" when in fact that person is no better or worse than anyone else, and they probably don't think that they are. They might have simply been pointing out the things that they see you need to work on, which will better you and make you stronger and a better Christian.

We all have faults; they just lie in different areas. So where one brother can make you stronger in an area that he has more strength in, you also can make him stronger in an area that you are strong in.

You may say, "For a Christian, he sure is overreacting" to a certain thing, but is he? Remember that in order to get to the yolk you must first break the egg, gently. So perhaps that brother is only trying to help you, not in vengeance, but in good will.

What do I mean when I say break the egg gently? Imagine that person as the egg, and the yolk is their temperament. In order to cook an egg over-easy one must break the eggshell firmly, yet be so gentle as to not break the yolk making a scrambled mess. Or, even better yet, here is how the bible explains it: "Be wise as a serpent and harmless as a dove!" (Again proving that the wisdom in the bible is so awesome)

Listen to those with wisdom, and to your elders, because odds are that they have been there before, in the situation that arises, and they know what you are going through and how best to resolve it; and perhaps they are even being led by the Holy Spirit.

In Proverbs 3:11-12 we are told to accept criticism; it says "My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction. The Lord corrects those that he loves, even as a father or mother on earth would correct their children"

In the book of Revelation 3:19 the Lord says "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten". In Hebrews 12:5-13 the bible says "My son, do not be angry when the Lord punishes you. Do not be discouraged when he shows you where you are wrong, for when he punishes you it merely shows that he loves you. When he whips you, it proves that you really are his child. Let God train you, for he is doing what any loving father does to his children. Whoever heard of a son that was never corrected? If God doesn't punish you when you need it, as other fathers punish their sons, then it means that you are not really God's son at all; that you do not really belong in his family.

Since we respect our fathers here on earth, even when they punish us, should we not all the more cheerfully submit to God's training us so that we can begin to really live? Our earthly fathers trained us for a few brief years, doing the best for us that they know how, but God's correction is always right and for our own good, so that we may share in his holiness.

Being punished isn't enjoyable while it is happening, it hurts! But afterwards we can see the result, a quiet growth in grace and character. So take a new grip with your tired hands, stand firm on your shaky legs, and mark out a straight, smooth path for your feet so that those who follow you, though weak and lame, will not fall and hurt themselves, but become strong."

In the Old Testament, Job 5:17 reads "Blessed is the man whom God corrects, so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty" Notice that in verse thirteen it says "He catches the wise in their craftiness and the schemes of the wily are swept away."

So God knows how to take care of the wicked, and the crafty. The bible says in Job 4:8 "Those who plow evil reap it as well" and in Job 5:2 the bible says, "The crafty and wicked achieve no success"

We all know that what we reap is what we will sow, so be glad when others mock you, rejoice when they curse you, or laugh at you, for yours is the kingdom of Heaven. When Satan attacks you through other people this just means that you must be doing something right and that God has faith in you so he is allowing you to be tested.

After all, if you are already going to Hell then Satan does not need to bother with you at all. However, if you are a good servant and living a godly (God like) life, then Satan will attack you any way he can, whatever it takes to cause you to stumble.

When others attack you, they do so under Satan's curse and we now know that Satan had to get permission from God. So then, God must have faith in you, otherwise he would have told Satan not to waste his time on you.

Again I say be glad, rejoice when bad things happen to you, for that is a sign unto you that Satan is losing his grip on you, he is after your Soul at any price. Keep praying and fasting and he won't succeed. Satan is out to "Steal, kill, and destroy" John 10:10 Satan knows your weaknesses and he will use them against you, and you won't even know it.

We all must endure trials of pain and suffering, but after a while the Lord your God will step in and put a stop to it. God will only let Satan push you so far, until then we must keep our faith and be the conquerors. "In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us" Romans 8:37

Have you ever had a dog or a little puppy that you fell in love with run away and perhaps sometime later you found that puppy with a different master, and when you called his name he refused to come back to you? It hurt to let that puppy go, but you let him go with the master he chose, right?

Well the same can be said of our Lord God Almighty. He made Adam and Eve, and gave them a paradise to live in. God would even come down to the Garden of Eden and walk with Adam and talk to him, just as you would talk to a friend; but God warned them not to eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 3:6), but they listened to Satan and therefore chose their master, just as that little runaway puppy did.

So Adam and Eve brought sin into this perfect life that God had planned for us and now the choice is ours to make, and our Lord God is calling out our name, are we going to come back to him or remain living in sin with Satan?

Always remember that the ways of the bible are perfect and if we all lived by those words we could live in perfect harmony. We Christians are supposed to be disciples for Jesus, and tell the world that through him we could still live in the paradise that Adam and Eve threw away.

Jesus told his disciples this when he said, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like sheep among wolves." Luke 10:1-3

Sending you out as "Sheep among wolves" What he is trying to say here is that being Christians will not be easy. There will be evil, wicked people in the world who mock your kindness, taking it as a weakness and try to use you, taking advantage of you as they sneer at you and mock you. They call it "Taking kindness as a weakness" Little do those foolish enough to use that term realize that they are the weak ones, for it is easier to turn the other cheek than to walk away, but he promised everlasting life to all whom endure to the end.

Yes, we are the disciples of this generation, but we must live by the word and be a good example when we go out into the world, or surely the wolves will prevail. To those whom mock you, detest you, or treat you like an outsider, be not weary, for that just confirms that you are on the right path. Remember that being one of them, in their evil little club is not for you, and even though you may be the least among them, keep this bible verse in mind "He who is least on earth, will be great in Heaven. And he who is great on earth shall be the least in Heaven" (Matthew 23:11-12)

So if others treat you like a misfit and push you away, be glad to be the least among men, because you will surely be greater than them in Heaven. Remember also that "Many are called but few are chosen"(Matthew 20:16) please read the Sin Chapter in this book. You know that man is destined to die, so don't worry about your flesh, worry about your Soul. We are fighting demons, the devil, principalities, but we are sure to abound if we trust in our Lord. Read your bible, it has all that you need to know in order to win the battle raging in our lives.

God wants us to know who we are fighting and why, even how to fight them, as well as what to wear. That's right! What we need to be wearing is the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-18). We need our loving father God like a plant needs water (Job-8: 11)

When a demon leaves your body and comes back to find it clean and swept, he will go out in the desert to find seven more demons even more dirty than himself and return to attack you again (Luke 11:24), so be prepared to fight those demons, after all, it is us that makes the final decision, so do not give in to temptation.

When you are fighting and arguing with a brother, it is not that poor guy that you are fighting with, it is Satan, because he wants your Soul at any price. Continue to fight Satan; he is that little voice in your mind that says negative things to you all of the time. The more you listen to the voice of God, the more the devil will try to convince you to do the wrong things.

We are fighting a war and if we let our guard down we will become a casualty of that war. "Fight the good fight of faith" (1Timothy 6:12). Be kind to strangers, because you never know when you might be talking to an Angel unawares. That's right! You probably thought that kind of stuff only happens in the movies didn't you? Well, where do you think they get some of their ideas from? Again in Hebrews 13:2 the bible says, "Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some has unwittingly entertained Angels".

If you are having problems in life and you still refuse to confess our precious Lord as your personal Savior then I urge you to reconsider. It says in Deuteronomy 28:13 that "God will destroy those who hate him"; so if you are working hard and barely getting by, or if you are constantly sick, or if life just seems to be less than what you expect of it then perhaps you need to get God into your life. The bible says, "First seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all of its righteousness and then all else will be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33)

Be ready for the many different types of tests and trials that you will go through. It may be as simple as a non-Christian trying your patience; perhaps in their own way they are testing you to see if you are really as good of a Christian as you claim to be.

When people poke at you, "so to speak" they are testing you, even though they may not know it, God does. How will you react to them the next time, now that you have read this? Be prepared and simply ask yourself "What would Jesus do?"

When you poke a log in the fireplace ashes fly off of it and it burns brighter than even before, that is what we should do, burn brighter, not get angry, but be calm and let our light shine!

# Chapter Five

Faith

### What is faith & how can I learn to have it?

Have you ever had a friend come to you and ask to borrow money? Perhaps this was your answer; "Sure, I have faith that you will pay be back!" What you are saying is basically that "Yes, I will loan you the money, because I have faith in you and truly believe that you will pay me back."

Faith is basically having complete trust or confidence in someone or something; such as God; and having a strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on the bible and/or all of the proof that they have found in regards to it. In the last few years there have been remarkable archeological digs, which have turned up things that are, even more proof that the bible is accurate, like what appears to be King David's drinking chalice. They even think they found the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. (The History Channel is what your children should be watching)

Faith is to believe that what we want in life can become a reality, even though we cannot see it, or touch it; we know that it is within our reach. Tell me; what are you breathing right now? Did you say "Air"? Good answer! Are you sure that it is air? How do you know that it is air or that it even exists? Can you see it? Can you touch it?

Now, I want you to think about President George Washington. Did he really exist? How do you know? Did you see him? Did you touch him? Did you talk to him? Oh, I see; you read about him in a history book at school.

That history book was handed down from generation, to generation; so you believe its contents; but how do you know that the book is reliable? We are sure that George Washington existed because history books tell us so. What about the bible? Isn't it merely an old history book? The bible was also handed down from generation to generation, just like those history books.

Did you know that some of the cities and buildings mentioned in the bible still stand today? Scientists who recently excavated them have rediscovered some cities. Many people do not realize it, but most of the prophecies foretold in the bible have come true, and they are still coming true even to this day.

Before you can acquire faith, you must gather facts. Earlier I mentioned a person to whom you loaned money to. Why did you do it? Because, after gathering facts, you came to the conclusion that he was a man of his word. You had faith that he would be loyal and pay you back. Why is that? You could not have peered into the future and seen him paying you back, yet you believed that he would; you had faith in him

General Patton carried a bible with him all of the time, in fact; he prayed before battles and studied the great warriors that are mentioned in the bible, as well as the tactics that they used when they went to battle, thus making him one of the greatest men ever to go in to battle. How could he master the art of war simply from studying the bible? You might ask. Simple; he was a very wise man and he studied his own history book; the bible.

The bible is the most accurate book ever written. Did you know that one of the main health problems we endure today is the lack of natural minerals, and vitamins that our bodies need to maintain good health? Scientists said over fifty years ago that the soil in our ground is seriously depleted. You see, food that grows out of the ground feeds on the soil which brings forth the minerals, vitamins, and such, that the plant needs. The plant draws the vitamins and minerals from the rich soil into its own body.

If the Scientists said our soil was seriously depleted over fifty years ago, then how bad is it now? You might be thinking, "What does this have to do with the bible?" In Exodus 23:10-11 God said "Six years thou shall sow thy land, and shall gather in the fruits thereof; but the seventh year thou shall let it rest and lie still; that the poor of thy people may eat: and what they leave the beasts of the field shall eat. In like manner thou shalt deal with thy vineyard, and with thy olive yard."

What could have been God's motive? I mean besides feeding the poor, the animals, the birds and the beasts? He did have another reason for saying that, you can call it punishment for the farmers being too greedy to let a year's worth of harvest go to the poor; you can even call it karma if you like, but the fact of the matter is that God, in his perfect wisdom, knew that the ground needed to be replenished, and fertilized; so what fell to the ground and was not eaten would have fertilized and replenished the soil, that is; had mankind done as God commanded and let it rest and lie still every seven years, then we would not have that problem now.

Now are you beginning to see how wise God is? Doctors and Scientists now admit that problems such as allergies, arthritis, cancer, glaucoma, and common back pains are attributed to the lack of minerals and vitamins in our food, which of course is due to the lack of rich soil. Maybe now the farmers will rethink that commandment.

Wow! Isn't it interesting that the bible contains so much wisdom? In Romans 10:17, the bible says, "So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" What does this mean? Well, it means that by reading the "word of God" or hearing it preached, you learn about God; who he is, how he thinks, all of his ways, and about all that he has done for his people from generation to generation, thus bringing forth wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and faith.

I have already stated that in order to obtain faith, you first need to gather facts. Why did I make this statement? Well, if you are not sure that God even exists, then how are you going to have faith? If someone wanted to sell you some ocean front property in Arizona, would you buy it? Of course not! You know that it does not exist. Does God exist? Of course he does!

I mean, come on; you don't really believe that one day man just appeared out of thin air, or crawled out of the ocean, do you? Think about the human body for a moment, if you will. We have lungs to filter the air, sort of like a car having an air breather. We have kidneys to filter our fluids, sort of like a car's oil filter. We have a liver to filter our blood, sort of like a car's transmission oil filter.

It took an intelligent man to make those parts for cars. Or, did he simply borrow the technology from a more perfect being than himself by studying the human body? We have the sense of smell, taste, touch, hearing, and seeing. A perfect being must have made all of these things, unless of course that was one lucky fish that crawled out of the ocean and became a man (or whatever the scientists claim these days, like the big bang theory).

What about all of the other creatures in the world? Did they also miraculously appear out of thin air one day? What are the odds of that happening again? There must be thousands of different types of animals, birds, sea creatures, etc. And if you believe that man appeared out of thin air, then you must believe that all of them did as well, unless of course that was one Hell of a big bang!

The odds of a man appearing by some astronomical event, whatever event the scientists claim, must be a zillion to one. So now you are saying that this miracle happened thousands of times over and over again? Now, what makes more sense? That a greater being makes us or that these unlikely phenomena happened again, again, and again, literally thousands of times.

We have trees that filter the air, giving us shade, and shelter. Lizards, fish, and many other creatures can change the color of their skin to hide in a matching background, such as the chameleon. Turtles have a shell to protect them. Porcupines have quills. Alligators have their mighty jaws.

The Bumblebee's body weight, and his wing capacity, makes it scientifically impossible for him to fly, yet he does fly, and hover incredibly well! This alone has stumped scientists for years. However, somehow the Bumblebee's wings are perfectly centered, and designed.

So, how did this, as well as all of the other perfection in the world come to be? I challenge you to take a look at all of the things in this world, ponder the perfection, and ask yourself, "Who had enough wisdom to create such perfect things?"

Have you ever watched the Animal Kingdom, or a similar show on your television set? Or perhaps read books or magazines about all of the wildlife, and other creatures in the world? How does a squirrel fly? How is it possible for a leopard to outrun a Jeep at seventy-five miles an hour? How does a heavy two-ton whale jump several feet out of the water? Who gave the kangaroo a pouch to carry their young in? Who made the eagle to fly? If you are still holding on to your thin air or astronomical theory, then I suggest you take a step back, and rethink the matter.

There is more and more proof every day that suggests God does in fact exist. If I were you, I would go to a bookstore and read one of the many books available that attests to this fact. The Rosetta stone verifies the facts stated in the bible, regarding Egypt. The Tel-Armana Tablets prove that Babylon, and many other cultures shared the same language.

They could converse freely with various people as they moved from country to country, just as depicted in the bible. They also prove, after being studied for over one hundred and sixty years that the places and characters in the bible truly did exist.

There is also the Absalom Pillar, located in the Kidron Valley, east of Jerusalem. The bible speaks about it in II Samuel 18:18. The Temple of Apollo still stands in the city of Corinth, mentioned in the bible (Books of Corinthians.) The many books of the bible, though written by several different people, some of them written a hundred year's apart or more, work together in perfect harmony.

The "Dead Sea Scrolls" is a name given to a collection of ancient, Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek manuscripts, as well as fragments of manuscripts, found in a number of caves in the barren foothills of the Judean wilderness, west of the Dead Sea. These documents represent the most important, sensational archeological discovery of our age.

More than one-third of these are books of the Old Testament, which are older by at least one thousand years, than the earliest known Old Testament manuscripts. An Arab shepherd boy looking for one of his missing goats discovered them in the spring of 1947. You can read about these things, as well as many more archeological digs that; in my opinion, prove that God does exist. Some of the things that I just mentioned can be found in the Thompson Chain Reference bible, by Kirkbride Bible Company.

So; we have learned that faith truly comes by hearing, for by hearing these things, you see that there is proof of our Lord's existence; you simply cannot have faith in something that you do not believe in. Like I said, there are many books out there that show pictures of things from the bible, such as Jacob's Well, Potter's field (where Judas hanged himself after betraying Jesus), Bethlehem (the place where Jesus was born), the complete scroll of the book of Isaiah, and much more.

All right then, let's continue our lesson about faith. I have faith that God exists. He gave us each our own personal set of fingerprints. He created DNA, which scientists are just beginning to understand, thousands of years after God created it. DNA is our molecular map that is responsible for transmitting hereditary characteristics, and for the building of proteins.

There isn't any monkey in my DNA, how about your DNA? I guess that pretty well closes the case on the "from ape to man" theory. There is an entire chapter in the bible dedicated to faith. It is the book of Hebrews, chapter eleven.

In verse eleven, the bible says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Verse five says, "By faith Enoch was translated that he should not

See death." Did you know that Enoch did not even have to die to go to Heaven? Just as the bible says in the above verse, "Enoch should not see death."

In the bible, there are only two people that had such great faith in God that he took them to Heaven without them even having to die. They were Enoch, and Elijah. Imagine that! In II Kings 2:11, the bible says "And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them, both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirl wind into Heaven."

Hebrews 11:6 says, "Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he rewards those who diligently seek him" Did you notice that it said, "For he that comes to God must believe he exists?" This bible verse also tells us that without faith it is impossible to please God.

Hebrews 11:7-11 says, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith, Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place for which he would receive an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. He looked for a city, which hath foundations, whose builder, and maker is God.

Through faith, Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised." In that same chapter, verses 17-31, the bible tells us that Abraham had such great faith in God, that he was willing to sacrifice his son.

It says "By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said that in Isaac shall thy seed be called: accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come.

By faith Jacob, when he was dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph: and worshipped leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave a commandment concerning his bones.

By faith Moses, when he was born, was hid three months by his parents, because they saw he was a proper child; and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.

Imagine that! Moses was offered great riches, and the life of a Pharaohs son. He could have eaten the best foods; foods reserved only for a king and his family. He could have lavished himself in great riches, went to the best banquets and lived a life of luxury, but he chose instead to follow God and his ways, because he knows that the real paradise is not here on earth, but in Heaven.

By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the Passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians that followed them were drowned in.

By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace."

We see now that faith plays a very important role in our relationship with God. He is always faithful to us. In the New Testament I John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Please be sure to read the "Sin" chapter in this book.

In Matthew 9:21-22 the bible says "For she said within herself; 'if I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.' But Jesus turned around, and when he saw her, he said, 'Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.' And the woman was made whole from that hour."

Imagine that! This woman, who was sick for over twelve years, was healed according to her faith. In Matthew 9:28-29, the bible says, "And when he was come into the house, the blind man came to him: and Jesus said unto them, 'Believe you that I am able to do this thing?' They said unto him, 'Yea Lord', and then he touched their eyes saying, 'According to your faith be it unto you"

Isn't that beautiful? Do you see the power of faith now? Faith is the key to our relationship with God, but even Jesus, the most kind and loving man of all, has walked the face of this earth and he too tired of man's faithlessness. In Matthew 17:17-18, Jesus said "Oh faithless and perverse generation, How long shall I be with you? Bring him to me. And Jesus rebuked the devil; and he departed out of him: and the child was cured from that very hour."

In Luke 12:28, Jesus said, "If then God so clothe the grass, which is today in the field, and tomorrow is cast in the oven; how much more will he clothe you, Oh ye of little faith?" In Luke 17:6, Jesus said, "If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you might say unto this sycamore tree, be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it would obey you."

Consider this my friends; Apostle Paul kept the faith even while he was in prison, and he was even shackled to chains. The ground shook, the chains fell from him as the prison doors fell open, and he was freed from prison. Acts 16:26 reads, "And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed."

In Timothy 6:12, Apostle Paul said, "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life." I Peter 1:6-9 says, "Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perish, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls."

Romans 8: 24-25 says, "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." Romans 14: 23 reads, "And he that doubts is damned if he eats, because he eats not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

In Deuteronomy 32: 20, God said, "I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end shall be: for they are a very forward generation, Children in whom there is no faith" Habakkuk 2: 4 says, "But the just shall live by his faith." And again in the book of Romans, chapter one, verse seventeen, the bible says, "For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith! As it is written, the just shall live by faith."

Hebrews 10: 38-39 explains, "Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draws back, my Soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the Soul."

In Matthew 8: 26, Jesus calmed the seas. He said to his disciples "Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith?" Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and sea; and there was a great calm. Peter, by the grace of God, was allowed to 'walk on water,' but when he lost his faith, and became fearful, he sank.

In the book of Matthew 14: 30 it says, "But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out to the Lord saying, 'Lord, save me.'" In Matthew 16: 8 the men were worried because they did not have enough food because they forgot the bread, and Jesus said, "Oh ye of little faith, why do you reason among yourselves, because you have brought no bread?"

You probably see now that sometimes we begin to lose faith and begin to reason with the flesh, which is carnal, and brings forth worry, fear, doubt, and all kinds of negative thoughts.

In Matthew 8: 5-13, the New Testament says "And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him and saying, Lord, my servant is laying at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus said unto him, 'I will come and heal him.' The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou should come under my roof: but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed.

For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this man, go, and he goes; and to another, Come, and he comes; and to my servant, do this, and he does it. When Jesus heard it, he marveled, and said to them that followed, 'Verily I say unto you,

I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of Heaven. But the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' And Jesus said unto the centurion, 'Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.' And his servant was healed in the same hour."

Isn't that amazing? This Centurion had faith that Jesus could heal his servant. Yet, when Jesus said he would come to the man's house to heal his servant, the man, being a sinner, said, "I am not worthy that you should come under my roof: but speak the word only and my servant shall be healed."

What humility! This man loved his servant so much that he came to Jesus and asked him to heal his servant. In those days, most servants were treated like garbage. He was so ashamed of the sinful life, in which he had lived, that he did not feel worthy to even have Jesus come into his sinful house.

The most important thing to learn here is that he believed. He had faith that if Jesus just spoke the words, his servant would be healed. This impressed Jesus so much that he said, "I have not found so great faith, no, not in all of Israel."

When the Centurion went home, he found out that his servant was well. His servant had been healed by his faith (by him believing that Jesus was in fact the Son of God and that he could heal this man's servant).

What a blessed feeling this must have been. You know that it must have changed this man's life, and his way of thinking forever. Did you have your bible open just now to this chapter and verse? If so, take a look at verse seventeen. A prophet, named Esaias, foretold that Jesus would heal the sick hundreds of years before it actually happened.

Another prophet in the book of Psalms foretold the exact words that Jesus would say as he hung on the cross. Remember, the Old Testament was written way before Jesus was born. From the time Jesus was born, to the time he parted from his disciples, saying he would return soon, over 300 prophecies came true.

In the book of Isaiah, chapters 28-29, Isaiah foretold the coming of Christ, and the things that he would do. You will learn these things as you read your bible day by day. So, let's continue with this lesson on faith.

In Matthew 9: 2, the New Testament says, "And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Jesus seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; 'Son, be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee.'"

I am pretty sure that you understand now, that faith is very important. If we had enough faith in the Lord, we could perform some mighty miracles in his name just like the disciples did after his ascension. In Mark 10:52, Jesus healed a man and then said, "Go thy way; thy faith has made thee whole."

So, if we had enough faith in him, we could even heal ourselves. However, mankind prefers to remain ignorant, and deny him his glory. The fools of this day say, "I do not believe in anything that I cannot see, or touch." They my friend, are headed for a disaster no man can measure. If you had great faith, you could even heal your children.

In Matthew 15: 28, Jesus told a woman, who came to him about her daughter who was vexed by a devil, (possessed) and he said, '"O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.' And her daughter was made whole from that very hour."

So now you see that "faith" is the key to our happiness and well-being.

# Chapter Six

## Leadership & Parenting

### Leadership; it can be compared to the owner of a gun!

Leadership, the word in itself has great power, and in a way, it can be compared to the owner of a new gun. Some owners of a gun are just dying to go out and shoot it and they will shoot at anything that moves, they are irresponsible as well as very, very, dangerous.

They get a gun in their hands and they go on a "Power Trip" so to speak, they don't care who or what they hurt as long as they are in control. Then again, some gun owners know that guns are dangerous and that they can literally ruin a person's life, so they treat it with great care and respect. Just as an irresponsible gun owner can ruin a person's life, so also, can an irresponsible leader or a parent.

This is one thing that I feel a great need to discuss in this book. This chapter covers the many aspects of leadership and parenting, from an employer, to a parent, and even our leaders in the government should read this chapter.

I have managed several different kinds of businesses, from restaurants to retail stores, and this is one subject that I have a lot of experience in and feel confident with as well. In this chapter we will discuss what makes a good leader, or parent, and what the bible says about leadership and parenting.

I have seen leadership and its effects from many aspects of life. I remember one of my first jobs as a leader at a local fast food establishment. One of the many things that I learned from observation is that when I tried to give orders I ran into walls "so to speak". However, when I asked a person to do something for me, they were usually more than happy to do it. The key word here being; "Asked".

The bible says "Ask and ye shall receive" and that can be applied to life as well as prayer, in many different ways. If you ask a person to do something for you in a kind and considerate manner (politely) they are usually more than happy to do it for you! But, if you bark orders at them you run up against resentment, anger, envy, and many other brick walls that can fall on you in the slightest tremor.

If you ask someone to do something and they refuse, then perhaps you should take a step back and ask yourself; "Am I asking this person to do something that I myself would not do?"

This is perhaps one of the biggest reasons for retaliation that I have ever seen. When I became an Assistant Manager Trainee at a local fast food restaurant I would work with my employee's side by side and help them get the job done.

I would jump in right beside them and help them get the job done rather than tell them to do a job that I did not want to do myself. Let's face it! All jobs have that one particular chore that we just hate to do. However, somebody has to do it, why should it be someone else? Why not you?

In fact; if I caught myself taking the easy jobs, and giving someone else the jobs that I knew deep in my heart that I really did not want to do, and I knew that I was just pawning it off on someone else, then I would quickly put myself in check and go help that person do the job (if not do it by myself) and then the next time that it needed to be done I would make myself do it as a form of self-discipline.

Why? Because I am an adult now and I no longer have parents to correct me. So, should I do whatever I please (and/or don't please – or want to do) since I am an adult and can do whatever I want to do without worrying about getting into trouble? Of course not!

Being an adult comes with a lot of responsibility, something that so many adults seem to forget (or overlook) and it shows in the way that they carry themselves. I was once told to live every second, of every minute, of every day, as if the Lord God Almighty were standing right there beside me.

Think about this now, honestly! If God were standing right there beside me and he knew that when I pawned a chore off on somebody else it was because I was being lazy and did not want to do it, what do you think that he would say or do? What do you think his punishment would be for me?

Exactly! He would probably make me do it myself rather than let me be lazy and order somebody else to do it! One of the beautiful things about reading the bible is that as you read it more and more, you learn how God thinks and how he reacts to certain things.

So the answer is "Yes!" I do discipline myself as often as possible, so that by so doing, some day our Lord God Almighty can say to me "Well done!" Not only for God though, but for myself as well. Lord forbid that I become a lazy sluggard ordering others to do that in which I myself would not want to do. I have had bosses like that and have no desire to be such as them.

Anyway, to continue; I had one of the best crews ever; they were fast, efficient, and dedicated wholeheartedly. Why? Because I did not expect them to do anything that I would not do myself. I treated them with respect; therefore they respected me.

I remember a customer coming to me once and telling me that a toilet in the men's rest room was plugged up and overrunning. I was real busy helping the drive thru teller take and fill orders during a lunch hour rush, so I asked two of my employee's to go outside and take care of the problem, whatever it would take, and I told them to take a plunger with them.

A few minutes later another car in the drive thru pulled up to the loud speaker where the drive thru orders are taken and in an anxious and worried voice said "Hey! You'd better get a manager out here, you have two employee's fighting in the men's restroom out here and it does not look good for your business"

I hurried outside to the restroom and as I approached I heard the two workers arguing real loud. The employee whom had seniority over the new employee said "I have seniority over you, now get your butt down there and fix the toilet!"

I shouted "Hey, what is going on here? We have customers complaining that I have two employees out here fighting in the restroom." The new employee said, "A chunk of paper is lodged in the neck of the toilet and it won't quit overflowing." He said "I could not plunge it down, and even though the water looks clean we can't find the rubber gloves, and I am not about to stick my hands in the toilet to pull it out."

The other employee said "I keep telling him to just reach his hand in there and pull it out because its clean water, some kids just stuffed a bunch of seat covers in the toilet as a prank and caused it to overflow, but he will not listen to me, even though I told him that I have seniority over him!"

I said "Well, why didn't you just do it yourself and then just write him up?" He said "Are you crazy, I'm not about to stick my hands in there!" To which I replied, "Oh, but you expected him to do it, didn't you?" I then reached my hand down in the toilet, pulling the paper out, thus unclogging the toilet, and without saying a word gave them a look of disappointment and went back to work. I could have told one of the employees to do this himself as I stood back and watched him, but I did not want to pass the buck "so to speak" and tell him to do something that I did not want to do myself. I must tell you that I never had a better set of employees after that!

Why? Because by humbling myself and doing something that they did not want to do, and by doing it without complaining, or giving them a write up for refusing to do it, I simply humbled myself and did the dirty task myself, so from that point on they respected me and even became problem solvers themselves.

You would be surprised at how many bosses would have just sent them back in there again the second time and said "Handle it!" or wrote them up, or simply fired them right then and there for refusing to do the task. I personally knew that they were just youngsters, in their late teens, and I knew that they still had a lot of growing up and maturing to do, so I gave them a break and showed them that I am willing to work side by side with them, and that I am not better than they are. By the way, I did wash and scrub my hands in soapy water and then use sanitizer three or four times afterwards!

Now, if I had forced him to do this, he would have resented me and there would have been a wall between us from that point on which would have interfered with production on the job. What would you have done? Honestly! Would you have sent that employee back in there telling him to figure it out and then went on about your business? Many would have to answer "yes" to that question, and no telling how many precious minutes would have been wasted as he procrastinated doing the job during the lunch time rush. Not to mention that from that day on he would have been resentful and not only hated coming to work every day after that, but he would have hated me, and if they hate you, they DO NOT respect you, and every single day that they come to work they hate it, and they resent you for embarrassing them. Remember that a happy employee is a good and productive employee.

I cannot begin to tell you how many jobs that I have worked at where the foreman or supervisor yells and screams at the employees, calling them names like "Stupid idiot!" and so forth. Then that supervisor can't figure out why he is getting chewed out by the owner of the business for lack of production.

A happy employee is a productive employee, but an embarrassed and mistreated employee hates being there and becomes a clock-watcher, like a prisoner counting down the days of his release! This employee counts down the minutes until he gets off of work. He is not there because he wants to be, like he was in the beginning, but he is there because he has to be... to pay his bills, but he hates every minute, of every second, that he has to spend on that job, and you made him that way. He no longer tries to do a good job and impress you because you are a ... Let's face it; you are a freaking "Jerk!" Once you have mentally abused and embarrassed an employee you have very little hope of ever gaining his trust again and getting him to enjoy his job; and let's face it, if he does not enjoy being there, it becomes an eight hour prison term, and you are the warden from Hell.

Any employer that yells and screams at his or her employees and disrespects them should be fired immediately, because once the morale is gone, the love of the work they do is gone, and only a man or woman who is happy to be there every single day, and whom loves their job, is a good and productive employee.

So, moving on, perhaps you would have sent another employee to do the job, knowing that you yourself hated to do plumbing. Many would have to answer "yes" to this as well; they would have sent another employee out there to take care of it.

Sure, I could have rounded up another employee to do that job in which I knew deep down inside that I really did not want to do, but I knew that by working side by side with this new employee I was bringing myself down to his level. By humbling myself, I was showing him that I was no better than he was and that I was just an employee like him, no better, no worse, and I showed him that even I, the boss, was not too good to do the dirty jobs myself.

Sometimes I had to be wise and use a little psychology on them, like late one night that I wanted to clean the restaurant and go home and relax because I was not feeling well, and it always took them several hours after we closed to finish cleaning up, and stocking or preparing food for the next morning.

As bad as I felt, I knew that I would be there several more hours, but then I overheard the employees talking about going out to a bar together and having a few drinks after work. I heard one of the employees say "Yeah, but why go to the bar, we never get out of here until after one o'clock in the morning and the bars are closing just a few minutes after we get there... It sucks!" he exclaimed.

For wanting to go out and enjoy the night after getting off of work, they sure were slow and hesitant about their jobs done. They were working slow, taking their time, putting off the chores they hated, telling others to do them, and I even heard a couple of them arguing over who was going to sweep and mop the floors. There was a lot to be done still, such as sweep and mop the floors, clean the restrooms, but instead of getting it done they were standing around arguing over who was going to do this chore or that (as usual)

I, being wise, knew that they were young and wanted to go out that night, yet it was almost ten o'clock in the evening and the restaurant had just finished closing up. They were not even close to finishing their chores. So after I counted the registers, put the money in the safe, and did my chores, I told them all "Listen up people, I know that you all want to get out of here as soon as possible tonight so you can go to the bar and hang out with your friends, after all, its Friday night, so I am going to pitch in and help you! Let's see if we could get out of here by 11:00"

I pitched in and worked side by side with them, and we were out of there at 11:10 p.m. The next morning the manager told me that she and the district manager were amazed at how spotless the place was and asked how my crew got out of there so early. She was totally amazed and she said that on all previous Friday nights, before I got there, the earliest they ever got out of the building was at 1:30 - 2:00 a.m.

A true leader continually puts themselves in check, and works with his, or her, employees, thus bringing respect, unity, and a sense of loyalty to the work place. It is true! A happy employee is a good and productive employee.

Have you ever had an employee or perhaps even a friend ask you to let them do a certain job that nobody else wanted to do, and ask with an overabundance of enthusiasm? If so, then I think that you will agree with me in saying that this particular individual usually did a better job than anyone else could have. Why? Because that person was enthusiastic and wanted to impress you and perhaps it even makes them feel good to hear a word of praise every now and then, so they work even harder to do a good job and impress you. Say what you want about that, but everyone needs to feel appreciated, and everyone likes to be noticed when they do a good job, even you!

So that person wanted to do whatever the job was for you, whether it be someone at work, or simply a friend wanting to help out and show you they were a true friend, and that they appreciate all of the times in the past that you were there for them. They simply wanted to impress you, and wanted you to see their enthusiasm, and recognize their commitment.

All of your employees can be just as enthusiastic as that person was if you treat them with the respect and dignity that they deserve. Not just as an employee, but as a human being. How dare you yell at them and walk in to the owner's office expecting to be treated with kid gloves. Shame on you! Any person trying that hard to be recognized is worth their weight in gold, because they will give it all that they have.

I also made it a point to continually thank and praise my workers, so that they knew that they were important as a team member. I once told someone that often prayed to God for help, but never prayed to thank God for the great miracles he had worked in this person's life, that you should thank anyone who helps you, especially God.

Have you ever had a friend ask you for your help, only to begin helping them and then they walk off leaving the entire task to you? And then to make matters worse they never even said a simple thank you? What about those friends or family members whom only seem to come around when they want something from you? How does this make you feel?

Then this friend, is exactly how Jesus must have felt when he healed ten lepers only to have one come back and thank him. So when an employee does a good job, let them know that you appreciate their hard work and effort.

Suppose that an employee or a friend asks you to let them do a certain task for you, or asks to help you with a particular job, such as painting a house, or fixing their car or plumbing, and their whole heart is in it, but they make some kind of a mistake or break something on accident. What would you say to them? What would you do? Think of a similar incident in the past where a friend or family member helped you and they accidentally did something wrong or broke something; what did you do? What did you say? How did you react?

Some people become enraged and downright mean when you accidentally break something of theirs or make a mistake. This can be devastating to a person, because the person that they so wholeheartedly tried to help cursed at them or yelled at them for simply making an unintentional mistake and trying to help.

How discouraging it can be to put your whole heart into something as an act of kindness only to have it backfire on you. This can literally eat a person up, rip them apart inside, even bring them to tears; because what began as a kind act of help, and a good deed, you let Satan turn against that kind hearted person and you treated them like trash, like dirt, for simply making a mistake that anyone could have made. That is why when something like that happens I simply say "That's o.k. you were only trying to help!"

Be glad for a friend that is continually trying to help you from the bottom of their heart, for there is nothing better than a friend like that. Do not be a fool and let Satan turn such a good deed into a disaster and ruin a good friendship.

I have been in that exact situation many times. I would offer to help a friend work on his car, do some yard work, or paint their house, things like that, and not only did they not act like they even appreciated it, but when I accidentally dropped a spot of paint somewhere they would blow up and curse me, or call me stupid. Here I was helping them for free, when nobody else came to offer their help, I was a good friend and the only one there when they needed help, yet they treated me like dirt for making a simple mistake. How dare they!

There is nothing like feeling unappreciated or abused. I remember one day when I was at my sister's house, drinking with my brother-in-law (this was in the days long ago when I was an alcoholic) my brother-in-law was showing me all of his rifles in the gun case. He picked one up and showed me how to do that old rifleman move, like the rifleman did on the television show, where he snaps the rifle in a downward thrust and then back up quickly, cocking the rifle and preparing it to shoot, so I asked if I could try it.

My brother-in-law said, "Sure, go ahead!" so I said, "Which rifle do you want me to use?" to which he replied "Just grab any of them; they are not loaded!" So I reached in and grabbed a rifle and when I flipped it down and back up I was surprised by a loud **"Boom!"** The shotgun I was holding had went off and shot his brand new two thousand dollar oak wood television.

My brother-in-law did not even get mad. I was shocked! Even I would have been upset a little bit, as nice as I am, but not him, he just said, "Don't worry about it! It's only money...at least nobody got hurt!" and to this day I still respect guns, but I respect him even more.

Would I respect guns any more than I do now if he would have blown up at me and cursed at me and called me stupid? Of course not! I pray to be as wise and calm as he was that day, every time such a situation arises. If that would have been my oldest brother he would have hit me, yelled and cursed at me and probably never trusted me around his guns again. Not my brother-in-law, we still go out and shoot guns together.

I offered to buy him and my sister a new television of the same value, but he flat refused to let me. He knew that I did not make much money back then, so he bought the parts and fixed the television himself. That, my friend, is a great leadership quality. Not only did he show kindness, mercy and compassion, but he put himself in my shoes and knew how bad that I felt, and most important of all, he knew that as frightened as I was when the rifle went off, I had learned my lesson; to be careful with guns.

When an employee, or even a friend, makes an honest mistake, do not torture them over it, do not curse at them, or call them stupid and other kinds of belittling names, because other employee's or friends will follow your lead and begin treating them bad as well.

A lot of people would have gone ballistic and said "You owe me a new television; I want the money right now!" But he was kind, and wise, very, very wise. How would you have reacted? Would your reaction have made matters worse?

In Matthew 5:22 Jesus said "But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to Judgment. Anyone who says 'you fool!' will be in danger of the fire of Hell" Do you call anyone stupid or a fool? If so then beware! I tell you now that you are in danger of spending an eternity in Hell.

Have you ever been burned real badly? Imagine that pain, how much it hurt; now imagine it 10,000 times worse and never going away! No pain pills in Hell my friends. Scary isn't it?

So, think twice before cursing an employee or a friend, especially over a silly, unintentional sin. In Numbers 15:22-29 the Lord God Almighty said that anyone who commits an unintentional sin shall be forgiven, it says "If anyone commits a sin and it is unintentional, it shall be forgiven them, for it was done out of ignorance!"

Now, if the Lord God Almighty can forgive someone for making a mistake, or committing an unintentional sin, then so can we. It takes a bigger man to hold back his anger, and respond in kindness and wisdom, such as my brother-in-law did, than it does to give in to Satan and yell and scream or curse at someone.

Those who say that Christians are weak are liars and the truth is not in them. I simply say to them "No, you are the one who is weak, for it takes more strength to walk away or to do what is right than to follow Satan's lead and act in anger!"

Now a word to you parents. Do not keep scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Instead be kind and merciful. Bring them up with the loving discipline that the Lord himself approves of, with suggestions and godly advice.

That is what Apostle Paul wrote in one of his letters to one of the Churches. What can be said about parenting? I do not have much to say on this topic and I will tell you why; because I know that parents love their children and do their very best to raise them and bring them up to be good solid citizens. They do the best that they can, according to what they themselves have been taught about parenting and raising children.

If only children of this generation knew how good they have it these days, and "No" I am not breaking off into one of those "You kids have it made; when I was your age I had to walk to school in six feet of snow barefoot" stories.

What I will tell them (your children) is the truth, and it will scare the hell out of them when they read this; or that is what we hope to do by telling them this little true story. We hope by reading this true story that it will scare the devil right out of their lives, and open their eyes to the fact that they are truly blessed

All of my life growing up I wondered about a story that my mother would tell us kids, one of many horrible stories that sounded too insane and evil to possibly be true. When mom would mention this subject (and believe me she did not talk about it very often) we as children tended to scoff at her and think to ourselves "surely she exaggerates"

Mom told us several stories of terrible things that our grandma supposedly did to her when she was a child, not to intimidate us; but to make us see how good we really had it with her as our mother in comparison to what she had as a mother.

She often told a story about how our grandma would take a switch off of a rose bush, leaving the thorns on it and beat her with it. I was close to my mother and I knew that she was not one to bear false witness; she read her bible daily and loved God, as do I. But I did think that perhaps she was way over exaggerating the story and highly doubted that the thorns were really left on that switch.

Then one day a few years ago I went up to stay with my grandma for a week where she lived up in the desert because it was nice and quiet there and I was studying for my Real Estate Examination. While I was there we became closer than we ever were before, and she told me a story about how stubborn my mother was as a child, and went on to say that she thought my mother was possessed by the devil as a child because of her stubbornness.

She went on to say "I would get so mad at her sometimes that I would make her go out to the rose bush out front and cut off a big switch and bring it to me so that I could spank her with it. She said, "I mean to tell you she was so stubborn she would not even cry. I would often leave the thorns on the switch and I am telling you Wayne that I would give her the switching of her life, and when I was done with her you could not even see the pink of her skin anywhere because she was all covered in blood. "

I was shocked by what I had just heard, "Oh my God!" I thought to myself, "Mom was telling the truth!" Not only was she not exaggerating, but also she was holding back and sparing us the bloody details, not revealing the full extent of the hell she had gone through as a child. She would mention being spanked with a switch from a rose bush that still had the thorns on it, but she never told us about all the blood.

That was when it hit me like a ton of bricks; all of those years that we were beaten from time to time (what we as children thought was a beating) yet it paled in comparison to what she went through at the hands of her own mother!

Why did I bring this up? Because there is one very important point that I need to get across to not only the parents of this generation, but to the children as well... so be sure to have them read this one or two pages if nothing else.

You see; we face a terrible dilemma these days. The bible says, "Spare the rod and spoil the child" and as unfortunate as it is, there were some people back in those days that took that quote way out of context, such as my grandma. They were beaten as children and guess what... they grew up to beat their children just as they had been beaten. It is sad that any human being could do such a terrible thing to another human being, much less a little child.

The good news is that we children, all of us, have broken that chain of terror handed down from generation to generation. We do not beat our children, in fact we do not even spank them but perhaps once or twice and even then it was a love tap in comparison to what my mother went through.

So as I was saying; the good news is that by us bringing our children up in good homes and putting an end to the beatings like we and our parents went through, we have successfully changed that terrible curse that went on from generation to generation, and now our children have nothing to fear. Amen!

Ah, but wait. That is incredibly good news, but with it comes a new curse of its own that is just as dangerous in many ways, so we have yet another curse to deal with. What is that curse? I thank God for programs like child protection agencies, because it was parents like my grandma that made such programs a necessity, and programs like that are a blessing, and they are still is need even in today's world, because there are still parents out there who unnecessarily beat their own children, some that even go so far as to murder them.

But every rose has its thorn. Now that there are laws protecting our children, it has gone overboard to the point of this:

I have some close friends who cannot control their son. They never spank him and he curses at them, calling them names that I dare not even consider typing in this book, but it goes way beyond that. I have seen him threaten them and scream crazily at them saying "If you do not buy this for me I will go to school and lie to them and tell them that you and dad beat me and molest me" Oh yes! Believe it or not, I being a true messenger of God would dare not lie to you or even exaggerate the littlest bit.

They are afraid of him and have asked me to contact television shows like Maury Povich and see if perhaps they can do something to help. Maybe send him to a boot camp or something. Not only have I heard him make such threats, but also I have been told that he even carried those threats out and showed up at their door with the school nurse, the principal and the police.

He later even admitted to me that he lied and had the police come out to the house because he was mad at them because they would not let him stay up to watch television. Kids today can literally get away with murder and they know it!

I have seen him throw heavy objects at his parents cutting into their flesh and caused them to bleed, but they still would just walk off and do nothing. How could they? Do they dare? He would say, "Go ahead! You can't touch me or you will go to jail!"

Ah, so it is true, every rose does have a thorn, and this particular thorn has come back to haunt us! In one extreme the children were abused, and in the other extreme it has now become the parents instead!"

I have talked to his mother and father and seen them in tears. They are super nice people, loving and caring, I could have only hoped to have such good parents as them as a child. They buy their children all of the best toys, very expensive cloths, and have a wonderful, beautiful home to raise them in, nothing lacking.

The best advice I could give any parent going through that sort of thing is to call out the sheriff's office or the local police and without the child there explain what has been going on and ask the officer if he could come out when the child gets home from school and have a talk with them.

I also strongly advise them to have hidden camera's around the house that constantly record anything in a room set off by a motion detector, so that if the child does follow through with those lies and false allegations, you will have proof. You can set the camera up to wirelessly record to your computer's hard drive, thereby making it fairly cheap to do.

I know that sounds extreme, but there have been cases where the parents were put in to prison for years by the allegations from their children accusing them of molestation, only to be proven wrong years later. The children confessed about ten years later and the parents were released from prison.

You do not want this to happen to you. Seek help in any way possible. Our police officers are always a little too ready to believe the wife and children over the father, and I can tell you this from one of my own experiences. A long time ago when I was married and I was about twenty years old, my wife talked me into taking her to San Diego for the weekend to visit her sister.

When we got there I sat and watched television while the two of them went out shopping for a while. About an hour after they got back I heard my wife tell her sister to come in to the bedroom so they could talk. It almost sounded like they were arguing at times.

As I sat on the couch watching television, someone knocked on the door and my wife said "Wayne, get the door!" I got up and answered the door just like she told me to do and I was shocked to find two police officers standing there and asking if I was Wayne.

I was even more shocked when they proceeded to throw me up against the wall and handcuff me, telling me that I was under arrest for beating my wife. I kept calling my wife as loud as I could scream, but she did not come.

By the time the officers walked me downstairs and up to the police car, I must have told them a hundred times that they were mistaken and that I did not believe in hitting women. As they opened the door to the police car, my wife's sister came out hollering to the police to stop, saying "Wayne did not do anything; my sister met a friend of my boyfriends earlier today and she wanted Wayne to go to jail so she could drive his Tran-am over to the man's house!"

Beware of such snakes. I thank God for my wife's sister! Had she not been so kind and honest, only God knows how long I would have spent in jail for something that I did not do. I have even heard of some women going through with the false allegations and showing up in court to further their lies. Thank God for Hell, it is going to be quite full!

I will finish this chapter with some advice from Apostle Paul, whom I respect more than words can say, because everything that he said in the bible was wisdom far greater than anyone I have ever met or could ever hope to meet, except for Jesus. Apostle Paul said "Children, obey your parents; this is the right thing to do because God has placed them in authority over you. Honor your father and mother. This is the first of God's Ten Commandments that ends with a promise. And that promise is this: That if you honor your father and mother, yours will be a long life, full of blessing.

And now a word to you parents. Do not keep scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Instead of that, try to bring them up with the loving discipline that the Lord himself approves of, with suggestions and godly advice."

I know that you parents are giving it your all, and no doubt the children could certainly try a little harder; but I am not going to speak much on this matter, because parenting is a day by day learning experience. None of us will ever have it down perfect, because no two kids are alike, and therefore each situation and child requires a different set of skills and attention.

However, think on this poem for a second or two:

Listen to the Children

Listen to the children, to what they have to say

Or somewhere down the road you'll wish you did that day

Listen close when they reach deep within

To say how they feel, or want to confess a sin

Listen intently to their hearts cry

Hold them close, don't let emotions fly

Don't harp on them when they are a sinner

Better yet, rub it in when they are a winner

Because people mirror what you put out

They are calm when you are calm, they shout when you shout

Tell them that you love them when they are young

Or someday you'll pray that the jury comes back hung

Tell them "You are my child and I am proud!"

Make sure you say this nice and loud

Make sure you spend a lot of time with them

Or your relationship is surely condemned

Grab a toy car and hop on the floor

For this he will love you, so much more

Show them attention, show them you care

Teach them you are willing to share

Make sure you are always in their reach

Teach them all that you can teach

When they show you a desire to learn

Read to them until your eyes burn

Make sure you show them a lot of respect

Or someday your relationship may be wrecked

I have these words to he that will listen

Follow them and your life will glisten

Take the family to a picnic under the birch

Even better yet, join them in Church

Where they will learn the world's greatest story of love

And join you someday in Heaven above

# Chapter Seven

## Purpose

### What is my purpose on earth?

God has a special purpose in mind for each and every one of us. In order for us to figure out what that purpose is, we first need to find out who we are, and what exactly it is that God wants from us. That's right! We all have a special purpose in life; a God given talent, such as writing, or to some he gives the gift of preaching, while yet to another he may give the gift of healing, or singing, or to some he may give the gift of prophecy.

No matter what your God given gift is, you can't very well use it if you have no idea what it is or what he wants from you; and in order to find that out, you must do some soul searching, or better yet, humble yourself and ask God in prayer to reveal your gift to you, or ask him what your purpose here on earth is. That is what I did for months, and as you can see, he answered me and revealed my purpose to me, which is one of the books you read this very second.

That is what I did years ago when he revealed to me that I was to write for him. I asked God several times in prayer to reveal my purpose here on earth to me and to guide me in the ways in which I should go, and if you do the same soul searching and pray to God, that purpose will be revealed to you eventually.

We are called to be somebody. In the bible, I Peter 2: 9-10 says "You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into the wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy"

These two verses tell us that we are God's "chosen people". We did not come to him by coincidence or by accident. We were chosen by him to be somebody, "A royal priesthood". This scripture also tells us that we may someday be royalty, priests, or perhaps both, if we follow him and live by his commandments.

Someday we may be given our own cities to rule over. In Luke 19:17 Jesus tells a parable, and in that parable he gives cities to his faithful servants to rule over. In the parable of the ten pounds, a prince gives three servants ten pounds each, and tells them to multiply it. Later, when the prince returns, he asks each of the men what they had done with their share of the money.

The first servant doubled the money he was given from ten pounds to twenty. The great prince said, "Well done, my good and faithful servant!" Then the prince gave him ten cities to rule over. The second servant made five pounds profit, and was given five cities to rule over. However, the last servant buried his money, and made nothing out of it at all, so the great prince took the ten pounds back from him and gave it to the first man.

By reading this parable we see that we will be rewarded greatly for doing what is asked of us. (See the "Riches & Rewards" chapter in this book.) But what is asked of us? What exactly is our purpose here on earth? What are we supposed to do for God while we are here?

In Ephesians 2:10, the bible says, "We are his works, created for his good purpose" So with this in mind, we can be sure that God created us with a good purpose in mind, he has put it in our very heart and soul. He has set aside a special purpose or ability for each and every one of us. In Philippians 1:6 the bible says, "I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns"

That's right! God is faithful to complete the good works that he began in us. The bible says in Ephesians 1: 4-14, "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and without blame before him in love, having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace; wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence; having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself.

That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one, all things in Christ, both which are in Heaven, and which are on earth; even in him in whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who works all things after the counsel of his own will.

That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ, in whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory."

Isn't that wonderful? We were born with a special purpose in mind, each and every one of us. Through God we can achieve that purpose. We are promised redemption through his blood, which he shed on the cross for our sins, the forgiveness of sins he promised to all who will believe and repent.

Then once we have repented, and asked God for forgiveness for our sins, we can ask him to give us wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and to reveal our purpose in life to us. In Acts 2:38 the bible says, "Then Peter said unto them, 'Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost."

You may have noticed that in chapter one verse ten, it reads, "To be put into effect when the times have reached their fulfillment." This may very well mean that whatever our gift is, God knows how and when we will begin to use that gift.

It will be in his good time, according to his perfect works. There is only one thing that can keep us from using our gifts, and that is us, ourselves. Sure, Satan will try to keep you from using those gifts and completing God's perfect plan, but Satan can only hinder us. He can't stop us. Satan doesn't even make us sin, he just tempts us. We have the final say in the end.

I never knew what my purpose was in life, and this was partially due to Satan blinding me. You see; all of my life I hated to read and write, especially as I grew older. I was a good student in spelling and in math when I went to school, but in the rest of my classes, I got C's and D's.

I hated to read! I grew lazy when I had to do a book report for school. I would even try to make myself read the bible as a child and in my later years as well, but having A.D.H.D. makes it hard to sit still long enough to do anything, much less read a book, so I would always find myself putting the bible back down again, as well as all of the other books.

Then one day when I was about fourteen years old, my mom found one of my report cards from the fourth grade. On that report card my teacher put a remark that said; "James seems to have a remarkable ability to write." So I tried writing a book. It was a murder mystery, but again I grew tired of writing, and put it away. However, I should have known then that I was to be a writer, because my aunt and uncle liked my book so much that they offered to give me their brand new Corvette for it. I wanted to, but my parents would not let me.

It wasn't until about twenty-five years ago that I picked up a bible that was easier to understand, named the "Reach Out" bible. I began to understand what I was reading just a little bit better, yet I still had trouble comprehending what I was reading; so I prayed to God, asking him to help me understand what I was reading, and to give me the wisdom, knowledge and understanding to apply it to my life.

I had a bad memory, so I found myself continually taking notes on the parts of the bible that interested me, such as things that had come up in previous conversations with people in regards to the bible, or things that I felt pertained to life today. In other words, I read the bible but did not take notes on things that I already knew, or things like sacrifices that pertained to the old days.

Before I knew it, I was putting my notes together and writing a book named, "The Fig Tree, A Parable for Life." Everyone who read this book was amazed by its contents, and found it hard to put down. In fact, one person from my Church demanded a copy of it, and reads it all of the time, showing it to people every chance he gets; he even went so far as to hang a couple of pages on his living room wall as a reminder of his goals.

You may see now how Satan tried to blind me of my gift of writing. He made me lazy and hyperactive so that I would not like to sit around and read or write. He knew that I was to be a great writer for God. But we will let you, the reader, be the judge of that!

God gave me a bad memory, so that I continually took notes, which eventually led to me becoming a writer. Sound a little farfetched? Well, it's not. Satan controls us in ways that we do not even realize. He makes us lazy, because God does not like a sluggard. He makes us eat a lot, because God says, "Thou shalt not over indulge" He makes us lie, because God does not like a liar.

You may be asking yourself, "Does Satan really have the power to make you hyperactive, or to make you do certain things, like lying, or hating to read or write?" Sure he does! You don't think that it is God do you?

After all, Satan even caused a tornado that killed all of Job's family (Job 1:19) yet some people think that God causes them all. So anyway, my purpose was to become a writer for God, and to help him bring his lost sheep back home. Satan knew this, and so he set up several roadblocks for me "so to speak".

My parents, who were alcoholics for the most part of my childhood, raised me and my brothers and sister, and I don't like to gossip or point fingers, so let's just say that it was a very scary and dysfunctional family life and leave it at that. I was what you might call a "dysfunctional child", so as I grew older, my life seemed to continually fall apart.

I eventually became an alcoholic and drug addict. I began drinking and partying. I wasted all of the money that I made at work buying drugs and alcohol for myself and my so called "friends," who did not even work, most of them anyway, they would not hold down a full time job like I did back then I was always broke, mostly because I was the only one who had the money to pay for the barbeques at the park, or whatever we did from one weekend to the next, which eventually caused me to lose several good jobs, and eventually my wife and kids as well.

I eventually became homeless. All of those years I let people use me because somewhere deep within I felt a calling to be a servant, and to make people happy. Perhaps it was because of the mental abuse as a child that I endured, because I would do whatever a person asked of me.

I would do anything to make them like me, whatever it took, and it was not until many years later, and many years of heartaches and more abuse, that I finally realized that I was trying to buy my friends. When you are so mentally abused as a child that you would do anything it takes to put a smile on your parent's angry faces, and go out of your way to keep the peace in the family, it carries over into your now dysfunctional adult life as well.

Am I just making excuses for myself? You might ask, and the answer is no! I am simply explaining this to you readers out there so that you can avoid making the same mistakes that I made in my lifetime. The only way to avoid making the same mistakes that I made is to get to the heart of the problem, and come to understand why it is that you do the things that you do.

So by you reading that part about how I constantly let people use me due to this constant urge I had to always please people and keep them happy, to the point that even if they were mean to me, or rude, I would still be nice to them and do things for them like buy them things, give them things, etc... all because I could not stand it if I thought that someone did not like me for some reason or was upset with me

If you read that and thought to yourself, "Oh my God that's me! I am constantly being nice to people even when they do not like me, and I too go out of my way to try and make them like me, and they continue to use me and throw me away in tears every time, not just broke, but broken hearted too!" Then perhaps now you see that it may be from your parents always being in a bad mood, or beating you, even mentally abusing you to the point that you spent your entire childhood in fear, and like me, tried to keep peace in the family by constantly pleasing others...

That was my case anyway. I was so afraid of getting hit, or screamed at, that I spent seven days a week, twenty-four hours a day, sucking up to them, trying to make them laugh, or being the peace keeper in the family. Begging the other kids not to do anything wrong because when one of us four kids got in trouble, they beat the other three too!

Anyway, I do not want to get side tracked, I merely brought my past up to prove a point to you. If God can forgive an ex-alcoholic and drug user such as myself, help me to turn my life around, and reveal what my gift is to me; then he will do it for you as well.

I wanted to be honest with you about my past, I am not proud of it, but I would never lie to you or lead you astray, and by being honest with you about my past addictions it merely confirms to you, the reader, that no matter who you are or what you have done in the past, God will forgive you as well, if you ask in full repentance, and then he will reveal your special gift to you too.

So once I began to understand that the problem stemmed from me having to be the peace keeper in the home as a child and doing anything to make people laugh or smile, rather than fight and argue, and constantly doing whatever it took to please people and make them happy my entire childhood, I was able to realize why I let people use me and treat me like crap, even as an adult. Once I recognized the problem, I was able to stop going out of my way for people and letting them use me and take advantage of my kindness, and for the first time in my life I was able to think about myself.

By the grace of God I was able to overcome all of those problems and stop feeling sorry for myself. That help came in the form of a Church full of kind and loving people, and glorious wonderful music-- to help lift my spirits. Let me tell you that if you don't go to Church, you are missing out. That is where I met my real friends, and found people who liked me for me, not for what was in my wallet. Being around the beautiful music and singing, the awesome sermons for which I am so thankful, the potlucks, baseball and volleyball games, etc... opened up a wonderful new world for me. It can for you as well

I was able to stop being so foolish and change the way that I looked at life and people. I told you readers this so that if you have a problem such as mine, hopefully you see it now in your own life, and now that you understand why you have this urge to be so nice to those that would hurt you and abuse you, perhaps now you can recognize where it came from as I did. Once you understand what made you that way, you can finally change your way of thinking and have a new healthier way of looking at things and a better way of life.

You see; a lot of people in this world are snakes and they take kindness for a weakness. I even had one guy tell me "You need to toughen up and stop being so nice...I used to make a good living off of nice people like you" So if your life is a wreck like mine was, change the crowd you hang around with, you won't find better people than the ones at your local Church.

I wanted you to know about my past to make an important point about your special gift, whatever it may be. You see, before God revealed my gift of writing to me, I had to stop drinking and partying and give him one hundred percent. I started going to Church three to four times a week, which I thoroughly enjoyed, and I had to stop hanging around the old crowd which was as bad of an influence on me, as I was on them, and I had to completely give my life to the Lord.

It was only after reading an article when I was in jail for my second driving under the influence of alcohol that I read a book written by a former inmate at some prison in California somewhere, that my life began to change.

He spoke about how he used to be in gangs, and talked about how he constantly fought people, robbed them, and even perhaps committed murder, but while he was in prison, a Christian (whom he hated at first by the way) finally got him to give up his life of sin and to start living for the Lord.

Now he is counseling other gang members and preaching to those who are sinners just like he used to be; and he has had great success at it, because they relate to him better than anyone else, because he has been where they are in life, and he has traveled the path that they travel now, and so he can relate to them unlike anyone else. You can't always preach to an individual, but you can always talk to a brother, a friend, a partner.

Why would God choose a man that was so mean and evil at one time? Because, like Jesus said "Those in good health do not need a physician, but those who are sick do!" and a hard core, lifelong Christian, would never be able to preach to those people that he preaches to and helps in prison and on the streets, because that Christian, hard as he may try, has never been there before (in that life style) and therefore would not be able to relate to them, or to see from the other peoples perspective.

The reason that I got into my past and the other mans past as well is because I need you to understand that you too are worthy of God's gift, if you turn from your life of sin, and I did not want you to feel unworthy. Perhaps now that you have read about our past sinful ways of life, and see that after we changed our sinful ways, how God used us and gladly revealed our gifts to us, you will see what you need to begin working on so that you too can be forgiven and blessed as well.

Before I can help you learn how to find out what your special gift may be, I must first make you understand that you do indeed deserve that gift no matter who you are, or what you have done in the past, as long as you confess your sins, completely give them up, and seek the Lord in prayer asking him to forgive you.

All of those years of pain and suffering that I endured at the hands of others was because I was serving the wrong master, the wrong people. It was God calling out to me all along, yet I ignored his cry for years and danced the folly of the fools, and I was headed for Hell, but he continued to call out to me until I finally opened my mind to him and let him instill his wisdom and knowledge in what little mind I had left...

It was he who needed me for his good purpose, and once I started serving him, my life became so wonderfully blessed that it was unbelievable, and I was happy for the first time in my entire life, because that empty void that I had most of my life was filled with the joy of our precious Lord God Almighty. We have all felt an empty void deep in our souls that we can never seem to get rid of, and that void, or emptiness, that we feel is the lack of our master, our father, our friend whom created us...God in our lives.

Will God use a sinner like me for his good works? Of course he will! And he has! After all; I have been places, seen and done things that most people don't experience in a life time, and I can use those past experiences to help divert others form making the same mistakes.

In Matthew 18:11, Jesus said "For the Son of man has come to save that which was lost" (the sinners. See the "Sin" chapter in this book.) It is not God's will that one should perish (I Peter 3:9) So God has a purpose for each and every one of us, but we must turn to him for the answers.

In Ephesians 1:11 the bible says, "Having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will." So we are predestined to his perfect plan to fulfill our purpose.

It says in the bible "he knew us before we were even conceived in the womb". So God knew our purpose when he made us, but it's up to us to follow through with the plan, whatever it may be, and ask God to reveal that plan (or purpose) to us.

Jeremiah 29:11 in the bible says, "For I know the plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." So God wants us to succeed, but we must want it as well. We have a choice to make in life. We can choose to serve God, which will help us prosper in life, become better people, and guarantee us eternity in Heaven, or we can serve Satan and live a life of sin, which leads to a miserably sad life and a spiritual death as well, eventually putting us in Hell for eternity...

In verse 1:10, you may have noticed that the bible says, "To bring all things in Heaven and on the earth together under one head, even Christ. We are all the Body of Christ. He is the head of the body."

In Ephesians 1:22, the bible says, "God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the Church, which is the body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."

So we need to go to Church, because the Church makes up the Body of Christ, but we each have a different gift or function in that body. I Corinthians 12:12 says, "For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, is one body: so also is Christ."

We are all a part of the body, and we need each other to be complete. Just like the eye cannot say to the hand, "I do not need you!" Neither can we say to another Christian, "I don't need you!" Notice that the bible says, "There should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other"

If one part of the body (the Body of Christ that we make together) suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. So when someone in the Church has a gift, such as singing, writing, or preaching, we should not be jealous and treat him or her badly. Likewise, we should not doubt their gift, but test it to be sure that it is true, and of the Holy Spirit.

Some people will have the gift of singing, and some the gift of preaching. Some people will have the gift of teaching, and others may be given the gift of writing or comforting others. Some will have a gift of healing, and some the gift of helping people in need, such as the sick or the elderly.

Ephesians 4:11-16 says, "And he gave some Apostles; and some prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: that we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love."

All gifts are truly a blessing, and one is no better than the other. They work together in perfect harmony. Whatever our gifts are, we must use them to our fullest potential, or God can take them away from us. He will give them to another whom is more deserving.

When I began writing this book, I finished three chapters in two weeks, even though I was working at my job. Rather than sit and watch television all of the time when I got home from work and ignore my gift, I put it to work full speed ahead. Of course I grew tired, and needed a break, so I relaxed a day here and there, but for the most part I used my gift to its fullest potential.

God gives us gifts so that we can all work together in order to better serve him, and help others. It takes each of us to make the body complete. If you are missing out on Church, and watching television instead, the body does not function at its fullest potential.

We each have different jobs in the Church, and we need each other. God gives us these great gifts so that we can build up his Church, and no gift is less valuable than the next. They are each and every one useful in their own way.

When you discover your gift, you need to be faithful, (dedicated) and devote as much time as possible to utilizing that gift. You must read the bible, attend Church, (for this is where the Holy Spirit answers us) and pray continually, thanking God for that gift.

Ask him to continue blessing you. You cannot do it your own way! If you try, you will most certainly fail. You must do it God's way. You must study your bible, and get to know him like you know your boss, your spouse, parent, etc.

In Ephesians 4:15, the bible says, "We will in all things grow up into him who is the head, which is Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." We must support the Church, (Body of Christ) and learn to work in unity, and share our gifts with one another.

Does one of you have the gift of preaching while another has the gift of writing? If so, then find someone with a clerical gift that can type. Together all three of you can write a book that will help others find the Lord or strengthen their walk. This will store up great treasures for you in Heaven, and at the same time, you will all be blessed. The money that is made could bless the Church when you pay your tithes and offerings.

How can you be sure that God will be with you? In Romans 8:28, the bible says, "And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who has been called according to his purpose.

For those God foreknew, he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son. And those that he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? We are guaranteed God's love and guidance as long as we love him and do his will, rather than our own. (See the "Sin" chapter.)

In Romans 8:37, the bible says, "In all things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us (Jesus Christ)." Romans 12:1-8 says, "I Beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is good, and acceptable, and the perfect, will of God. For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office. We, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one member's one of another. Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teaches, on teaching; or he that exorteth, on exhortation: He that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that rules, with diligence; he that shows mercy, with cheerfulness."

With his help we can accomplish anything, but without him we are nothing. We need God to fulfill our purpose, our destiny. Many people have emptiness inside of them that they just can't seem to fill. They do drugs, drink, party, as well as many other addictions (Including sex or over eating) to try and fill that void, but what they do not realize (as I mentioned before) is that the emptiness they feel inside is the lack of God in their lives, and fulfilling the purpose in which they were made for.

Ephesians 4:1-13 says, "I Therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that you walk worthy of the vocation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as you are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all Heavens, that he might fill all things.)

And he gave some, Apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ until we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:"

What is your purpose in life? Do you enjoy teaching, preaching, writing, or helping others? When you discover your purpose in life, you will find a joy and a peace of mind like you have never known before.

However, you must show God that you are worthy of your calling. Proverbs 16:9 says, "In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." We can't plot our own course in life, or we are destined to be shipwrecked. We need to ask God for his guidance, love, strength, wisdom, knowledge, and understanding.

Proverbs 16:9 tells us, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight." Philippians 4:13 says, "I can do anything through him who gives me strength."

So do not listen to others, who doubt your gift, mockers are bound to come. With jealous envy they shall try to destroy you and make you fall short of your purpose. God says, "Anyone who puts off the work I have given him is not worthy of the kingdom of Heaven."

Philippians 2:13 reads, "For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose. So do not be a sluggard, (lazy) and let Satan dissuade you from doing God's will. Study the bible continuously, pray to God, and he will reveal your purpose to you.

The bible says, in Isaiah 40:28-31, "Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, faintest not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding.

He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increases in strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

In Isaiah 48:17-18, the bible says, "I am the Lord your God who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go." Also in Philippians 3:13, the bible says, "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But this one thing I do: forgetting what is behind, (the past) and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

You must not give up. You must continually seek God and his wisdom. The bible is so full of wisdom that it amazes me every time that I read it. We are all special in a different kind of way; so do not make the mistake of comparing yourself to others. Just be yourself, and ask God to reveal your purpose to you. (Please read the Prayer chapter in this book.)

When you do realize what your gift is, do not be negative and let others get you down. When you try to share your gift, some people will try and degrade you, say that you are boasting, and that you are not special. They are wrong!

The Lord says, "Boast that you know me and my ways." I had these problems when I first started writing. I knew that God chose this purpose, but some people mocked me and what I had written for the Lord, saying I was dreaming and that I would never get a book published, or that I was bragging. Yet, in fact, I was not bragging, I was simply trying to share with them what God had given me to share; my writing. That is why God gives us these gifts or talents, to share with one another and lift each other up. But they would have known that had they been true Christians.

Now that we know that God gives us these special gifts to share with others, we also know that those who reject it are jealous, envious, and being led by Satan. If your gift is playing a musical instrument, or singing, it was meant to uplift people. It should give them joy and a peace of mind, as well as teach them to praise God.

Quit feeling worthless, and seek what God has in store for you. Most people fail, and never achieve great success, because they give up, and have a negative attitude. A man with a positive attitude may fall, but he always gets right back up, and thus becomes an over achiever. Remember, in Philippians 4:13, the bible says, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."

Also, remember that negativity attracts negativity. If you have a negative attitude you will poison those people around you, thus spreading the negativity like a virus. Thoughts of negativity come from Satan. What you do with those negative thoughts is totally up to you.

Hebrews 12:1 says, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us." So lay aside things that weigh you down, like negativity, sin, and other people's remarks of negativity as well.

Does a man enter a race to lose? Does a baseball team play to lose? Of course not! In Hebrews 12:2, the bible goes on to say, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith."

He is the author and finisher of our faith. Imagine that! He will finish perfecting us if we have faith in him, and live by the words that he teaches us. In Revelations 3:8, the bible says, "I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it."

No man can shut it! Isn't that great? We are in control of our own destiny, not Satan, nor anyone else. We have the final say in how we live our lives, and what we will accomplish. So, live up to your calling; "Seek and ye shall find" In Philippians 2:13, the bible reads, "For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure."

In Exodus 35:31, the bible informs us even more; it says "And he hath filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship."

If you turn from sin, and seek God's face, (see the Sin Chapter in this book) he will bless you with these things, and more. In II Timothy 1:9, Timothy says this about God:" Who has saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began."

In order to obtain all these great blessings, we must live a godly life. Psalms 1:1-4 reads, "Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he does shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind blows away."

Did you catch what he just said? He said "Whatever he shall do, shall prosper" How beautiful that would be! To have everything we do, prosper and grow. Hebrews 13:21 says, "Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in hi sight, thru Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."

In Isaiah 43:7, the bible says, "Even everyone that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him." This scripture says that God created us for His glory. We need him in our lives.

This alone fulfills a big part of our purpose, but we still are given gifts in which we are to use to promote his kingdom. Isaiah 48:17 says, "Thus saith the Lord, thy redeemer, the holy one of Israel; I am the Lord thy God which teaches thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go."

That "teaches thee to profit and leads thee in the way that thou should go" Amen! This tells us that he will teach us to profit from life, and lead us in the right direction.

In II Peter 1:2-10, the bible says, "Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lackest these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

Wherefore the rather, brethren give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if you do these things, you shall never fall:" Also, in Matthew 6:33, the Lord Jesus Christ said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all of these things shall be added unto you."

Do you want to fulfill your purpose in life? Do you want to be happy and full of joy? Then you must seek the kingdom of God, and all of its righteousness. The bible says that "He writes visions in men's hearts."

What is your vision? James 1:2-9 says, "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

Let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways. Let the brother of low degree rejoice in that his is exalted:"

Never forget the promise that Jesus made to us in John 10:10. He said, "I am come that they might have life, and have it more abundantly." Psalms 32:8 says, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with my eye." So we also have a guarantee that he will instruct us and teach us in the way which we should go. However, these promises are only to his people. You cannot serve two masters. It must be him, and only him.

In Psalms 32:9, the bible says, "Be you not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no understanding: whose mouth must be held in with a bit and bridle, lest they come near unto thee."

This scripture is telling us to not be stubborn as a horse or mule, which needs a bit and bridle to make him move and steer him in the direction we want him to go. Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."

The Lord God Almighty also promises to make you successful. In Joshua 1:7-8, he said, "Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."

I wanted to type this next couple of important chapters out in this book for you to read, to make sure that you did read them, then I thought to myself "I know that they are seeking the truth and sincerity of our precious Lord, so if I just asked them to read these next two chapters in their bible they would." I was just going to be lazy and trust you to read them in your bible; and I do trust that you would have; until I picked up the bible myself wondering what it was that I made that note for.

Once I read the first paragraph I laughed at myself as well as at Satan, for trying to make me too lazy to type those out for you to read. The reason that I added them in here for you to read in this book, instead of you having to pick up your bible and read it was not because I did not have faith that you would read them, but to show Satan that I am in control, not him. Besides, when you read the first paragraph, you will see, just as I did, that it sums up in just a few words, what I have been trying to convey to you in the last part of this chapter.

In I Corinthians chapter 12 verse 1, the bible says "Now, concerning Spiritual Gifts, brothers, I would not have you be ignorant" It goes on to say in verse 8 "For one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gift of healing by the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues; but all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to each man severally as he will.

For as the body is one and has many members, and all of the members of that one body, being many, are one body; so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we are all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot says 'Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body'; is it therefore not of the body? And if the ear says 'Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body' is it therefore not of the body?"

It goes on to say "If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole body were hearing, where would the smelling be? But now God has set the members, every one of them in the body, as it has pleased him. And if they were all one member, where were the body? But now they are many members, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand "I do not need you!" Nor the head tell the feet "I have no need for you!"

To sum it all up; nobody in your home, in your Church, or even in your group of friends can say that God (Or the Body of Christ-the Church) does not need you, or your talent, or gift, whatever that may be. One member of the Body of Christ would never tell another member of the same Body of Christ that "I do not need you"

I praise God for people like you who diligently seek the truth and wisdom of the Lord God Almighty in the bible. Please continue to do so with an open mind, and God will surely bless you. The Lord has given us all special gifts; he has given us all special abilities, whatever he wants us to have out of his rich storehouse of gifts. Seek his wisdom and guidance to find out what gift he has set aside for you; and as always, God Bless You.

Sincerely: Wayne Hoss

Thank you for reading my book, I hope that you enjoyed it. If you have ideas for an invention try my extraordinary new book "Patent Ease" by Wayne Hoss.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MHO7NMU

# Other books by this author

Wayne Hoss Author Page http://goo.gl/5ZgNZL

A Sermon to Remember Kindle Edition] [http://goo.gl/L3Ni7u

A Sermon to Remember Paperback http://goo.gl/ie1Q5M

A Sermon to Remember Audio Book http://goo.gl/K61GTJ

Leadership & Parenting by Wayne Hoss Kindle Edition] [http://goo.gl/dpovS4

Patent Ease Kindle Edition] [http://goo.gl/0fW2g3

Patent Ease: Paperback] [http://goo.gl/env6po

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Poems from the Heart of Wayne Hoss Kindle Edition] [http://goo.gl/BWjk3n

A book of poetry about every subject from children, to love and life, as well as poems about drugs and alcohol and the deadly effects they have on people's lives, which were written to help deter people from making a mistake that can ruin their lives.

And the new book:

They Could Make a Soap Opera Out of This Kindle Edition] [http://goo.gl/8Oz5cY

