Check back daily for inspiration from the Word of God
Repent and Be Restored Part 5
Acts 2:37-39
New International Version
37 When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38 Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Jesus said He would send His Holy Spirit and He did on the day of Pentecost. What was the message of the Holy Spirit? It was to repent to be forgiven. It was also made clear that it was for all times and that all could receive the presence of the Holy Spirit who is God.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Repent and Be Restored Part 4
Luke 24:45-49
New International Version
45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”
Jesus died in place of us for our sins. He who knew no sin became sin for us so we might be saved. His message to us is one of repentance. If we repent, we will be saved and restored to God. The message of Jesus in Luke 4 is repent and be restored. Our message given by God is for all to come to Him through repentance.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Repent and be Restored Part 3
Luke 5:27-32
New International Version
Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners
27 After this, Jesus went out and saw a tax collector by the name of Levi sitting at his tax booth. “Follow me,” Jesus said to him, 28 and Levi got up, left everything and followed him.
29 Then Levi held a great banquet for Jesus at his house, and a large crowd of tax collectors and others were eating with them. 30 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law who belonged to their sect complained to his disciples, “Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32 I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
Some people tell me that I don’t know what they have done and that they can’t come to Jesus because they are so evil. Jesus came to us and because we are sinners not because we are righteous. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, so He is coming to you offering salvation so you might be restored to God the Father. What must I do to be saved? Repent!
Pastor Jeff Lane
Repent and Be Restored Part 2
Luke 3:1-9
New International Version
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
3 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet:
“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley shall be filled in,
every mountain and hill made low.
The crooked roads shall become straight,
the rough ways smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”[a]
7 John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 9 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
John the Baptist was sent to clear the way of the Lord and turn the hearts of the people back to God. Notice his message was one of repentance. We must repent to know God. Another part of repentance is to be a blessing to others. We are to do as Jesus did as His Father does.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Repent and be Restored Part 1
2 Chronicles 7:13-14
New International Version
13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 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 I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
God disciplines His people. We must remember that when we are undergoing bad times it can very well be God disciplining us. He wants the sin out of our lives so we will be blessed and will be able to come into His presence.
Sorrow for sin is not repentance but can lead you to repentance. It is an important part, but there is so much more. We must humble ourselves, pray, seek Him and turn from our wicked ways. The last part of turning from our sin seems to be forgotten or the hardest to do. You cannot have the blessing and the presence of God and continue in sin. Stop your sinning or something worse will come on you.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 20
Hebrews 11:6
New International Version
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
This scripture says so much. You must walk by faith. Faith is not only believing God exists and is able to do all things but you must believe He will do it for you. Remember God does what He does not because you deserve it but because it is who He is. Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Proverbs 3:5-6
King James Version
5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 19
Deuteronomy 28:1
King James Version
28 And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt 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:
My father said this to me; “And this too shall pass”. I must say it has carried me through the hardest of times. I shared this with my son, and it got him through boot camp and a war. My Father’s father shared it with him and his father before him. Now I share it with you all things will pass just trust in the Lord and obey Him and He will get you through.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 18
Romans 8:31-39
New International Version
More Than Conquerors
31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Are you saved? If so then God is for you, and nothing can separate His love from you. What more can we ask for?
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 17
Romans 8:28
New International Version
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
This scripture had got my wife Becky through the worst of times. When in doubt, just love Jesus and worship Him and He will lift you up.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 16
New International Version
Psalm 91
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 Surely he will save you
from the fowler’s snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
10 no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call on me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”
This scripture was spoken over me when I was 19. I will never forget it. It has brought me peace many times since then as I hope it will you. May God bless and keep you.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 15
Jeremiah 29:10-14
New International Version
10 This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
God took the Israelites into Babylon to discipline them and so they could once again be blessed by Him. He had great plans for their future and ours, but we must obey Him. Obedience is not optional as many seem to think it is. God is not interested in sacrifice as much as obedience. This will ensure God’s plans for you.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 14
Hebrews 12:4-13
New International Version
God Disciplines His Children
4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”[a]
7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.
Discipline seems to be a thing of the past or a bad word. People act like a father who disciplines their children is an abuser. Friends spare the rod, spoil the child or ruin the child. Why would we deliberately destroy our children for a lack of discipline? Only a loving father disciplines, all others are imposters and hate their children. I see so many lazy parents these days not taking the time to train their children. It would seem things have been turned upside down and the children rule the household. It causes nothing but chaos. We are to obey God and this will bring peace and healing to our lives and our children’s lives and their children. You may go through a hard time, but God is training and loving you. He does what is best for you not Himself. Now go and do likewise. Now obey, go in peace for God is watching over you.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 13
Isaiah 55:6
New International Version
6 Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Seek the Lord at all times, don’t wait until disaster overtakes you. We live in changing times and don’t always want to change. The message is the same but the means by which we deliver it are sometimes like hitting a moving target. His ways are not ours. Stay open to change. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever but His methods change as society changes.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 12
Isaiah 55:8-11
NIV
8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
It was not long after that that we would get on Direct TV. I was very ignorant of how things worked in this world and thank God I was because I probably would have thrown in the towel If I had known then what I know now. You just don’t walk into a TV station or the like and throw down money and say hey I want to be on the air, God has called me. You have to have a track record and then find somebody who believes in your ministry. They are very scared of getting a nut who may ruin their reputation and destroy the station. Well WHT had a man who liked our internet program and had seen me on CTN’s You and Me. He gave us a chance and we have been with them I think for five years now. They have been like angels of God to us. We later tried PTL, but they had too few followers. We also tried a few other stations, but things never worked out on them. Mostly because they touted large audiences they did not have. Not everything is always what it seems when working with these stations. Truth can be optional. I was naive and tended to believe them. I mean after all they were Christians right? God saved us from disaster time and again. I have always thought the internet was the way to go but at that time it was not quite where it needed to be.
Always remember if God spoke it over you He will make a way. Also remember to never stop seeking God in what you are doing. Sometimes He can take a new direction. He does know the future.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 11
Matthew 6:25-34
New International Version
Do Not Worry
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Here we were starting a new ministry. The first thing I wanted to know of this builder of studios was what would be the cost? He gave me an answer and even before I could pray about it I said we will have the money. Within 2 hours I had the amount he said we would need and started building. We had a location, materials and funds. God our provider did just that. We were going along fine when I told him we are going to be short. You didn’t figure for the phone system we need, and I think that will be five thousand. He agreed and I told him just keep at it and I will get the money not knowing who or where just that God would provide. I went home and left him there. When I walked into the house Becky said there is a letter on the table, and I think you should open it immediately. I never stopped to ask her why she didn’t open it. I picked it up and there was a check for $5000.
We soon completed the work and were on the internet ministering to people. Now in those days I set it up so I did everything myself. I had no one with me. It could be a little difficult to handle. Soon God started sending help.
God also provided for Becky and I. I don’t know how we made it but He sent provisions time and again. I didn’t want to take money from the ministry at that time and slow things down. God is great!
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 10
Genesis 26:19-22
New International Version
19 Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and discovered a well of fresh water there. 20 But the herders of Gerar quarreled with those of Isaac and said, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they disputed with him. 21 Then they dug another well, but they quarreled over that one also; so he named it Sitnah. 22 He moved on from there and dug another well, and no one quarreled over it. He named it Rehoboth, saying, “Now the Lord has given us room and we will flourish in the land.”
Issac’s first well was called opposition so he moved on. The second was called ‘dispute’ so he moved on again and the third he named ‘room’, because he finally found room and peace in the land. There is a time for everything, a time to plant and a time to uproot.
God told me to move on. I asked Him if I would ever be on TV again but all I got was I got this. I felt uprooted.
God told me the exact time to go in and resign. It was a Friday and I knew that Bob was supposed to be there, but he was not, so I asked for the CFO but he was not there. Finally I asked for the station supervisor and he was there and I went and told him.
As I was walking past the front desk there was a fellow there and God told me to talk to him before I left. I never saw him before nor knew who he was. As I was resigning, I found myself arguing with God over this. I said to God ‘am I hearing right? You want me to talk to this man I don’t know’, and He said do it.
I walked out and there he was still at the desk so I struck up a conversation with him, but it was going nowhere. Finally I just asked him what he did for a living? The lady behind the desk said “you don’t know who this is”, and I said no. She went on to say this is so and so and he builds the best TV studios. I looked at him and he said before I could say a word no, I will not build you a studio. I was standing there thinking I didn’t ask and wasn’t thinking about it. He kept talking and I interrupted and asked, "Well, would you just give me some advice as to how to go about it”? He said “no” then said “OK call me tomorrow”. Well long story short, God sent the money and he did build it. God found room for us and it was time to plant.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 9
Ecclesiastes 3:5
New International Version
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
I started feeling poorly. I went to a doctor and he said all my tests say I am like a eighteen year old. I said I don’t feel like an eighteen year old. I talked with a doctor at the hospital where I worked about it and he said you need to see this doctor I know, so I did. I told this doctor that if you ask the wrong questions you get the wrong answers and that I thought that the previous doctor had asked my body the wrong questions and that I felt like I was very sick. He agreed and took some blood. About twenty minutes later he said I don’t know who you are or what you are doing but you are dying. You have not been sleeping and I give you a month to live. I was floored. Most nights if I got three and half hours of sleep it was a good night. He went on to say “stop what you are doing now”. I told him what I did and asked how long must I take off? He said a year at least but you could try six months but you will be right back here after a month if you go back to doing what you are doing. I asked him for a letter to take to CTN for a leave of absence for a month then I would decide what to do. He wrote it for me and said “please just let it go”. Then he said when you take off in two weeks it will hit you like a train and you will understand. It did.
I took the letter to Bob, the CEO of CTN. I told him I had to take off immediately and that I would be back in a month. He read the letter and then said that he wanted me to extend the program for three more hours a night. Get me a pastor to come in and pray for those extra hours. I want to raise money to bring on this evangelist to do an afternoon program. I asked what he was going to pay them to come in the early hours of the morning and he said they were to be all volunteers, furthermore I was to tell no one about our conversation. I told him that I could never find enough volunteers to do that and left.
I had taken off and two weeks later I got so bad I could hardly function. I knew it was time to go. I was to no longer embrace this program. It was a time of mourning for me.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 8
Proverbs 27:4
New International Version
4 Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming,
but who can stand before jealousy?
Things are not always what they seem. I have said it many times; “Christian TV is anything but.” I was being attacked by some of the other hosts. One even warned me that if I talked to Bob or his wife {the owners} that there would be consequences. There was much demonic activity in the building at night. Someone even put painkillers in my tea and the police had to come down to the station. I am allergic to painkillers and if I would have drank it I might have died. God told me when I started to drink it while on the air, that if I drank it, I would die. The policeman who tested it said they had put so much narcotics in it that it could have killed me even if I was not allergic to it. The person who was responsible for making the tea quit and at the same time someone had been stealing through the building at night. It was all shoved under the rug. I am positive that this incident had nothing to do with the hosts at CTN and don’t mean to imply that at all. God was with me.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 7
Deuteronomy 25:4
New International Version
4 Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.
I asked them for a stipend to cover our expense for gas to come down and do the program. I was told at first that it was a privilege to be on the air and I should cover my own expenses, but we were barely getting by financially. I was just working as a chaplain at the hospital. They finally agreed to it and gave me a small stipend. The program had grown bigger than ever before and was bringing in more money than ever before. Some weeks I would get eleven hundred letters and read every one. They finally started paying me a small hourly wage. Things were going great with the program, and we were very happy. I was told I was the first host who ran everything with the program at night.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 6
1 Samuel 16:14-23
New International Version
David in Saul’s Service
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord had departed from Saul, and an evil[a] spirit from the Lord tormented him.
15 Saul’s attendants said to him, “See, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord command his servants here to search for someone who can play the lyre. He will play when the evil spirit from God comes on you, and you will feel better.”
17 So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.”
18 One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.”
19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.
21 David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”
23 Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
David had been anointed by Samuel to be King but only his family knew it. God’s ways are not ours. God brought David in the back door to begin his training as king. David was not only a boy but a nobody yet God chose him to be King.
I had left the nursing home position and was still a chaplain at the hospital. It was hardly a living wage, but I knew we would survive. I am now working as a volunteer host at CTN on the You and Me program. Days became weeks and weeks months. The former host kept trying to come back but kept having accidents or taking turns for the worse. It was so hard to give up the program because I had become endeared to the audience. They were like family, but I told them I would step aside as soon as the former host came back. By now many times she said she would return but didn’t show up, but this time her and her husband had assured CTN they would be there. I was put to the side without even a thank you. I called Jim and told him I would come down and wait in another room out of sight if she could not do the program. He said after the way you have been treated he could not believe I would return. I told him this is not about me but God’s people. I still was not being paid. Three hours a night five days a week from 12pm till 3 am. She did not show up and they came and got me. I still was not to be the official host for some time. All this time I was being attacked by her husband and others for trying to steal the program. Nothing could be further from the truth. They to this day can’t get anyone to do that program five days a week even if they paid them. It’s a calling not a position. You must be motivated by love. Every other TV person at CTN told me they would never do that program and that’s OK they were not called to it. It had become a very painful time for me but I loved those people. The former host died and they gave the program to me.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 5
Hebrews 13:5
New International Version
5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”
The phone rang as I was walking down the fifth floor of the hospital, I had just walked out of the ICU. It was a familiar voice but somebody I had never personally met. He told me his name but I interrupted him and said I Know who you are and told him his life story. He had been a DJ at a local Christian radio station, had a TV program for a while but then I had lost track of him. He told me he still worked at the TV station and that he was over the “You and Me program”. He went on to say He needed a pastor that night to come down and pray on the air and that their pastor was sick and could not fill in. I asked how in the world He got my name? He told me another pastor friend of mine had been helping out but could not do the program and that he said he thought I would fit in. I said I would come in. I go to the studio thinking this is a one-time thing and would have fun doing what I liked doing praying and helping people get through life.
My training was “there’s the chair, sit, look into the camera, take the call and pray”. Rinse and repeat. LOL! I did it and went home thinking that was that. The phone rang and Jim asked if I could do it again? I said “yes I loved it” and did it again. The next day the phone rang and Jim said “I don’t know how you did it but you are a natural, we would like you to come in more often”. I talked with him and asked how long their preacher would be out and he said two weeks. I said that he seemed stressed about this and that I would come in till she returned. I was not being paid at all but I loved doing the program. The callers were like family soon, and God was answering prayer. All Becky and I had been through helped so much. To be continued…
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 4
Ecclesiastes 8:5-6
New International Version
5 Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm,
and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure.
6 For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter,
though a person may be weighed down by misery.
Everything seemed to be going well. I was asked to transfer to a different nursing home some sixty miles away and knew I was to do it. Things got even better. We both loved our new setting even though we had to drive so far. We enjoyed our time together in ministry, but things began to change and after a year I was transferred to a nursing home very close to us. You would think this was a good thing. It was a living hell. I learned spiritual warfare here. I dreaded waking up in the morning. I hated going to work. I could not believe how bad it got. I will just say the administration made my life a nightmare. The more I did for them the more they wanted. It was during this time that the hospital in Bradenton Florida asked me to be their chaplain because I had helped out there when we worked at the previous nursing home. I accepted and was working at both places, but finally I couldn’t take the pressure any longer and quit the nursing home. We were not making enough money to hardly get by but God worked a miracle and we would pay off our house. Oh, happy day! It had only been three weeks since I left the nursing home and the phone rang. To be continued.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 3
Jeremiah 29:11
New International Version
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
God had a plan for us. Oh, how can He be so mindful of us? Who are we that He should even notice us but He does. This position God gave me would open so many doors. Friends you can never go back because God has a future for you. Just worship and trust Him and He will lift you up.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 2
Malachi 3:13-18
New International Version
Israel Speaks Arrogantly Against God
13 “You have spoken arrogantly against me,” says the Lord.
“Yet you ask, ‘What have we said against you?’
14 “You have said, ‘It is futile to serve God. What do we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly evildoers prosper, and even when they put God to the test, they get away with it.’”
The Faithful Remnant
16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored his name.
17 “On the day when I act,” says the Lord Almighty, “they will be my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as a father has compassion and spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.
Most all my contractor friends lost their houses, marriages, and about everything else. God did not save me because I was more righteous than others but because we walked by faith and obeyed Him. We are saved by faith not our own righteousness. People we must obey Him and then their will be a distinction between you and the rest. Serve God with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding for God’s ways are not ours. He put Becky and I on a new path. We have to much respect and fear of God to disobey Him and not tithe.
The phone rang and at this time I had no job. Construction was out of the question. I was still healing from the neck surgery. I wanted God to heal me but He just said I had to have the surgery, so I did. Listen, God's ways are not ours. I know if I had been healed I would have gone right back to doing what I had been doing, but for now there was this call. The voice was familiar, it was one of our people from a church we had been pastoring before all this went down. She said I applied for a job for you. I hope you’re OK with that. I ask what was it? She said there is a chaplain position in a nursing home. I said I needed work and thanked her. Now this would be a miracle. First I Preached in a nursing home some years before and had such a bad experience that I thought to myself I would never go into one again. Yet here I was but I had not got the job yet. They had another candidate in mind but I did get the interview. I was sitting in a room with about 15 managers doing the interview when the administrator got called out. She left for a while then came back and asked if anyone had learned anything. Me and my silly sense of humor couldn’t help it. I said to her Yes, I learned all kinds of things about you. She laughed and said you will fit right in here. She ended up hiring Becky and I. We fell in love with the residents and still feel it was one of the most precious times of ministry in our lives. This would be a turning point for us.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Surviving Hard Times Part 1
Malachi 3:7-12
New International Version
7 Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.
“But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’
8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’
“In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not drop their fruit before it is ripe,” says the Lord Almighty. 12 “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty.
It was back in 2008 that Becky and I went through one of the hardest times of our life. One Thursday afternoon I got a call that there was no work for our dump truck business and that all the contracts had been canceled. It was at that moment I knew the economy was crashing. If housing goes, everything goes. Most people don’t realize the importance that building is and what an economic indicator it is. Soon our construction business would follow. All our contracts were canceled in one week. I called my fellow contractors and they said they were going through the same thing. Soon the building we were renting for our church was foreclosed on. The owners of the building could not make the payments.
Simply put God would deliver us, but we were about to go through some of the hardest times of our life. The next thing that happened was I was riding in a car, and we were in an accident and my neck was broken. Here we were, lost all our income, our church and now the debt of the businesses had the debt collectors on our door. It seemed as though God had forsaken us, but he would deliver us soon. This lasted for about a year.
Just when we were about to go to court over the business and lose our home, cars, and properties we had left, most had been sold off by that time, I fell on my face before God. I took responsibility for the debt, asked for forgiveness and asked God for help. He told me that He would take care of it. I got up and felt peace like I felt when I knew God would deliver me. It was like when God told me my oldest daughter would live when all the doctors said she had minutes to live. Finally, sweet peace.
God told me that the creditors would start calling and settle with me on the debt and that I would not have to do a thing. The next day they started calling. I didn’t ask them to do anything, they just started saying this is what we will do. I got a settlement from the neck injury that was less than ten percent of what we owed. God had them all offer to settle for what I had. They never knew I had gotten this settlement. They just settled for that amount and in ten days we were debt free except for the mortgage on our house. God is good, but I had one question for God, why? It was the above verse He gave me, because you two tithed. He rebuked the devourer for us. This was the beginning of a transformation of our lives.
I just want to add that there is power in agreement. Becky stood by me. So many couples will fall apart and take the easy way out, but she stood by me. Don’t let the devil steal your inheritance. Money will come and go, but never let him take the love of your life.
Pastor Jeff Lane
The Importance of Weakness Part 10
1 Corinthians 15:35-58
New International Version
The Resurrection Body
35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” 36 How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. 38 But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. 39 Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. 40 There are also heavenly bodies and there are earthly bodies; but the splendor of the heavenly bodies is one kind, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is another. 41 The sun has one kind of splendor, the moon another and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor.
42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we[b] bear the image of the heavenly man.
50 I declare to you, brothers and sisters, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
55 “Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
58 Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
We are saved, being saved and one day will be saved, but it is not until we die will we come into that glorified state. In the meantime I have a deposit of God’s Holy Spirit to guarantee what is to come. Flesh and blood can not inherit the Kingdom of God, I must die to my flesh so His Glory might be revealed in my life. Paul died daily and so must we so we can be used by God and know Him. This way God is revealed to the world.
Pastor Jeff Lane
The Importance of Weakness Part 9
2 Corinthians 12:1-10
New International Version
Paul’s Vision and His Thorn
12 I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. 3 And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— 4 was caught up to paradise and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell. 5 I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. 6 Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, 7 or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
God gave Paul great revelations but also gave him a thorn in his flesh so he would not think of himself more highly than he ought to. Power is made perfect in weakness or humility, not our strengths. It is through weakness God brings glory to Himself.
Pastor Jeff Lane
The Importance of Weakness Part 8
2 Corinthians 11:12-33
New International Version
12 And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Paul Boasts About His Sufferings
16 I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do, then tolerate me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. 17 In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool. 18 Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. 19 You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! 20 In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or puts on airs or slaps you in the face. 21 To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!
Whatever anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. 24 Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, 26 I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. 27 I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. 32 In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. 33 But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.
Satan’s workers masquerade as angels of light as He does. Boasting of their credentials, pedigree, and education. They come to impress instead of boasting about Christ they boast about themselves. They lift themselves up so they can exploit you. There is no love of God in them. They deceive God’s people. Paul on the other hand boasts of his weakness so others would trust in the Lord not the flesh.
Pastor Jeff Lane
The Importance of Weakness Part 7
John 17:13-26
New International Version
13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. 14 I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 15 My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. 17 Sanctify them by[a] the truth; your word is truth. 18 As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. 19 For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.
Jesus Prays for All Believers
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.
25 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. 26 I have made
you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
You don’t need to be taken out of the situation but you need to know Him, for He is able to deliver thee and overcome the situation. God knew you would be in that situation before you got there. He most likely brought you to this day, that He made to show His glory though you. Pray that His will be done.
Pastor Jeff Lane
The Importance of Weakness Part 6
1 Corinthians 1:26-29
New International Version
26 Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him.
God called David, a boy, at the time to defeat Goliath, not a bigger giant. Goliath despised David. David overcame him in the name of the Lord. God calls the weak to show His Glory. When you say “I can’t”, God is looking for you.
Pastor Jeff Lane
The Importance of Weakness Part 5
Luke 22:39-46
New International Version
Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
39 Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his disciples followed him. 40 On reaching the place, he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” 41 He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” 43 An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
45 When he rose from prayer and went back to the disciples, he found them asleep, exhausted from sorrow. 46 “Why are you sleeping?” he asked them. “Get up and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
We see the frailness of Jesus, His human side so clearly in this moment. He is in anguish, exhausted, and tired. He is praying but we see His Apostles could not stay awake. You might say because of prayer He knew this was the final hour. How many times are we taken by surprise by the god’s work or the devil's schemes because of sleeping through the hour of prayer. Jesus can truly empathize with our weakness. He does not condemn us but exhorts us to pray so we don’t fall into the devil’s schemes.
Pastor Jeff Lane
The Importance of Weakness part 4
Hebrews 2:5-18
New International Version
Jesus Made Fully Human
5 It is not to angels that he has subjected the world to come, about which we are speaking. 6 But there is a place where someone has testified:
“What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?
7 You made them a little lower than the angels;
you crowned them with glory and honor
8 and put everything under their feet.”
In putting everything under them, God left nothing that is not subject to them. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to them. 9 But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
10 In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. 11 Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters. 12 He says,
“I will declare your name to my brothers and sisters;
in the assembly I will sing your praises.”
13 And again,
“I will put my trust in him.”
And again he says,
“Here am I, and the children God has given me.”
14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
Oh, how we long to be clothed in God’s glory but for now what do we see, Jesus the Christ sending His Holy Spirit as a deposit of better things to come. Repent and you will be saved. He was made weak as we are weak. He was made fully flesh and weak as we are weak so that He could be that atoning sacrifice that you and I would be made clean and free from our sins. He can sympathize with us having been tempted as we have been tempted. We have no excuse for our sin but must turn to Him to be set free from it.
Pastor Jeff Lane
The Importance of Weakness Part 3
John 17:1-5
New International Version
Jesus Prays to Be Glorified
17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:
“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. 2 For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. 5 And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.
Jesus always was and always will be. He transformed Himself to be like us in every way so that we too could share in the Glory of God. He completed that work on earth and returned to the right hand of the Father and was reinstated to His former glory now fully Flesh the first born of many children. We too will share in that glory being transformed to be like Him. Oh, what a day that will be!
Pastor Jeff Lane
The Importance of Weakness Part 2
John 12:23-33
New International Version
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that was there and heard it said it had thundered; others said an angel had spoken to him.
30 Jesus said, “This voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the prince of this world will be driven out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up[a] from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show the kind of death he was going to die.
The Father clearly understands what is about to happen to Jesus but He watches it happen not stopping for He designed this moment for us. He also tells us this will happen again not that Christ would have to go to the cross but that we also will drink of that cup and follow in His footsteps. Jesus did not need the reassurance of the Father’s voice but those who follow Christ. He knew He must be lifted up on that cross so we could be saved. He didn’t say Father take me out of this situation but understood it was for this very reason He came into the world. This is why Christ told us to pray ‘Thy will be done not mine’.
Pastor Jeff Lane
The Importance of Weakness Part 1
John 12:23-28
New International Version
23 Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
27 “Now my soul is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have glorified it, and will glorify it again.”
Jesus knew what was about to happen to him. He understood He was born to be an atoning sacrifice for all our sin. He had to be made like us in every way so that through the weakness of flesh we could be saved. God brings glory to His name through our weakness. He does through us what we could not do ourselves. It is our weakness that God can bring glory to Himself. It is in weakness that we submit to His will by faith, and He lifts us up. Lord, I ask your will be done not mine. Don’t give me strength to overcome but your grace for it is sufficient in all things to overcome the trials of this life.
Pastor Jeff Lane
A Mother in Israel Part 10
Job 2:3
New International Version
3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
Job 2:7-10
New International Version
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among
the ashes.
9 His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10 He replied, “You are talking like a foolish[a] woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Even Job, one of the greatest men of integrity, did not find a good woman.
Pastor Jeff Lane
A Mother in Israel Part 9
Ecclesiastes 7:27-28
New International Version
27 “Look,” says the Teacher, “this is what I have discovered:
“Adding one thing to another to discover the scheme of things—
28 while I was still searching
but not finding—
I found one upright man among a thousand,
but not one upright woman among them all.
A good woman is far rarer than rubies as the Bible says. She is to be valued and honored. Women, be that jewel, that exception among women. Your influence may seem minuscule at the time, but it can save your sons and a nation. Your efforts will not go unnoticed. They are worth far more than gold and will last generations.
Pastor Jeff Lane
A Mother in Israel Part 8
Proverbs 31:10-31
New International Version
Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character
10 [a]A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
11 Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
12 She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
13 She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
14 She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
15 She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
16 She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
17 She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
18 She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
19 In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
20 She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
21 When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
22 She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
23 Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
24 She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
25 She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
26 She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
27 She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
28 Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
31 Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Hard to be a mother without being a great wife. Mothers, you can’t pick your son’s wife but remember you can have great influence on who he marries. A son tends to marry a woman like his mother. Be the best woman you can be, and he will follow.
Pastor Jeff Lane
A Mother in Israel Part 7
2 Timothy 1:3-6
New International Version
Thanksgiving
3 I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. 4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel
6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
Paul recognizes the character of Timothy’s Mother and grandmother in Timothy. Just another example of a mother’s influence on generations. Faith can be passed down when it is a value of the mother. My own mother passed her faith to me because she held faith in a high position in her life.
Pastor Jeff Lane
A Mother in Israel Part 6
1 Samuel 3:19-21
New International Version
19 The Lord was with Samuel as he grew up, and he let none of Samuel’s words fall to the ground. 20 And all Israel from Dan to Beersheba recognized that Samuel was attested as a prophet of the Lord. 21 The Lord continued to appear at Shiloh, and there he revealed himself to Samuel through his word.
All Israel held Samuel’s word with high regard. Why, because he had the character of his mother. He obeyed God and his word was good. Momma’s influence and her character showed through Samuel. How important is a mother? Her wisdom can turn a nation back to the Lord.
Pastor Jeff Lane
A Mother in Israel part 5
1 Samuel 2:18-26
New International Version
18 But Samuel was ministering before the Lord—a boy wearing a linen ephod. 19 Each year his mother made him a little robe and took it to him when she went up with her husband to offer the annual sacrifice. 20 Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the Lord give you children by this woman to take the place of the one she prayed for and gave to the Lord.” Then they would go home. 21 And the Lord was gracious to Hannah; she gave birth to three sons and two daughters. Meanwhile, the boy Samuel grew up in the presence of the Lord.
22 Now Eli, who was very old, heard about everything his sons were doing to all Israel and how they slept with the women who served at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 23 So he said to them, “Why do you do such things? I hear from all the people about these wicked deeds of yours. 24 No, my sons; the report I hear spreading among the Lord’s people is not good. 25 If one person sins against another, God may mediate for the offender; but if anyone sins against the Lord, who will intercede for them?” His sons, however, did not listen to their father’s rebuke, for it was the Lord’s will to put them to death.
26 And the boy Samuel continued to grow in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people.
God blessed Hanna with a family of her own. She continued to be a part of Samuel's life and I am sure continued to have an influence on Him. Samuel was a man of integrity like his father and mother. People listened to him and respected him unlike Eli’s sons who were scoundrels. We know nothing of their mothers, but I have a good idea as to her character. Mommas, you are raising our next leaders. How would you have them lead?
Pastor Jeff Lane
A Mother in Israel part 4
1 Samuel 2:1-10
New International Version
Hannah’s Prayer
2 Then Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart rejoices in the Lord;
in the Lord my horn[a] is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
2 “There is no one holy like the Lord;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the Lord is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry are hungry no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
6 “The Lord brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
8 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
“For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s;
on them he has set the world.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.
“It is not by strength that one prevails;
10 those who oppose the Lord will be broken.
The Most High will thunder from heaven;
the Lord will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
Under the anointing of God Hanna gave this prayer. The line that is hits me hard is “It is not by strength that one prevails”. It is to the one who prays and trusts in the Lord. Mommas you can change the world through prayer and trusting God. Proverbs 3:5-6
New International Version
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.
He will also make your child’s paths straight.
Pastor Jeff Lane
A Mother In Israel part 3
1 Samuel 1:21-28
Hannah Dedicates Samuel
21 When her husband Elkanah went up with all his family to offer the annual sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vow, 22 Hannah did not go. She said to her husband, “After the boy is weaned, I will take him and present him before the Lord, and he will live there always.”[c]
23 “Do what seems best to you,” her husband Elkanah told her. “Stay here until you have weaned him; only may the Lord make good his[d] word.” So the woman stayed at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.
24 After he was weaned, she took the boy with her, young as he was, along with a three-year-old bull,[e] an ephah[f] of flour and a skin of wine, and brought him to the house of the Lord at Shiloh. 25 When the bull had been sacrificed, they brought the boy to Eli, 26 and she said to him, “Pardon me, my lord. As surely as you live, I am the woman who stood here beside you praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord has granted me what I asked of him. 28 So now I give him to the Lord. For his whole life he will be given over to the Lord.” And he worshiped the Lord there.
Hanna keeps her promise to God because she and her husband are people of integrity. She raises Samuel till he is six years old, the time of weaning a child. A child’s values and morals are instilled in a child by their mother by the age of six. We will see this as Sammuel grows up. Momma had a great influence on his life. Can you just imagine how hard it was to give up this child she so desperately prayed for? Good mommas do the hard and right things for their child. Mommas, you can change the world. Make your child a blessing not a curse.
Pastor Jeff Lane
A Mother in Israel Part 2
1 Samuel 1:1-20
New International Version
The Birth of Samuel
1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim, a Zuphite[a] from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite. 2 He had two wives; one was called Hannah and the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
3 Year after year this man went up from his town to worship and sacrifice to the Lord Almighty at Shiloh, where Hophni and Phinehas, the two sons of Eli, were priests of the Lord. 4 Whenever the day came for Elkanah to sacrifice, he would give portions of the meat to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. 6 Because the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb, her rival kept provoking her in order to irritate her. 7 This went on year after year. Whenever Hannah went up to the house of the Lord, her rival provoked her till she wept and would not eat. 8 Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you weeping? Why don’t you eat? Why are you downhearted? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”
9 Once when they had finished eating and drinking in Shiloh, Hannah stood up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the Lord’s house. 10 In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. 11 And she made a vow, saying, “Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.”
12 As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli observed her mouth. 13 Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk 14 and said to her, “How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.”
15 “Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. 16 Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”
17 Eli answered, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.”
18 She said, “May your servant find favor in your eyes.” Then she went her way and ate something, and her face was no longer downcast.
19 Early the next morning they arose and worshiped before the Lord and then went back to their home at Ramah. Elkanah made love to his wife Hannah, and the Lord remembered her. 20 So in the course of time Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, saying, “Because I asked the Lord for him.”
Being a mother to a Jewish woman was considered a great honor and a disaster if barren. These women long to have a son to bring honor to their husbands, carry on the family name to pass down their inheritance, and just maybe their son would be the messiah. Hanna wanted a son with all her heart. She was a praying woman and sought the Lord’s favor. She wanted to be a mother and she offered her son to the Lord. He would be dedicated to God and he was to be a Nazarite. He was to be set apart to God, like Samson or John the Baptist. Nazarites were types of Christ or deliverers. God granted her request and blessed her for it. Her son was to be like her, a prayer warrior. Mommas you can save the world!
Pastor Jeff Lane
A Mother In Israel Part 1
2 Samuel 20:6-22
New International Version
6 David said to Abishai, “Now Sheba son of Bikri will do us more harm than Absalom did. Take your master’s men and pursue him, or he will find fortified cities and escape from us.”[a] 7 So Joab’s men and the Kerethites and Pelethites and all the mighty warriors went out under the command of Abishai. They marched out from Jerusalem to pursue Sheba son of Bikri.
8 While they were at the great rock in Gibeon, Amasa came to meet them. Joab was wearing his military tunic, and strapped over it at his waist was a belt with a dagger in its sheath. As he stepped forward, it dropped out of its sheath.
9 Joab said to Amasa, “How are you, my brother?” Then Joab took Amasa by the beard with his right hand to kiss him. 10 Amasa was not on his guard against the dagger in Joab’s hand, and Joab plunged it into his belly, and his intestines spilled out on the ground. Without being stabbed again, Amasa died. Then Joab and his brother Abishai pursued Sheba son of Bikri.
11 One of Joab’s men stood beside Amasa and said, “Whoever favors Joab, and whoever is for David, let him follow Joab!” 12 Amasa lay wallowing in his blood in the middle of the road, and the man saw that all the troops came to a halt there. When he realized that everyone who came up to Amasa stopped, he dragged him from the road into a field and threw a garment over him. 13 After Amasa had been removed from the road, everyone went on with Joab to pursue Sheba son of Bikri.
14 Sheba passed through all the tribes of Israel to Abel Beth Maakah and through the entire region of the Bikrites,[b] who gathered together and followed him. 15 All the troops with Joab came and besieged Sheba in Abel Beth Maakah. They built a siege ramp up to the city, and it stood against the outer fortifications. While they were battering the wall to bring it down, 16 a wise woman called from the city, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here so I can speak to him.” 17 He went toward her, and she asked, “Are you Joab?”
“I am,” he answered.
She said, “Listen to what your servant has to say.”
“I’m listening,” he said.
18 She continued, “Long ago they used to say, ‘Get your answer at Abel,’ and that settled it. 19 We are the peaceful and faithful in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up the Lord’s inheritance?”
20 “Far be it from me!” Joab replied, “Far be it from me to swallow up or destroy! 21 That is not the case. A man named Sheba son of Bikri, from the hill country of Ephraim, has lifted up his hand against the king, against David. Hand over this one man, and I’ll withdraw from the city.”
The woman said to Joab, “His head will be thrown to you from the wall.”
22 Then the woman went to all the people with her wise advice, and they cut off the head of Sheba son of Bikri and threw it to Joab. So he sounded the trumpet, and his men dispersed from the city, each returning to his home. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.
Though this is a very gruesome story it shows the power of a mother to stop violence and save a city. Mothers can have wisdom that stops foolish men from destroying a city. This mother had more wisdom than these men. It is so funny the way she talks to Joab and the city like a mother, and they listen to her. Never doubt the power you have to save the world, momma. It is a gift of God. Sons will bow and humble themselves to momma’s reasoning before they will a sword of a man.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Encourage One Another Part 10
Philippians 2:1-4
New International Version
Imitating Christ’s Humility
2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
When we encourage one another, we do it out of humility not for personal gain but often personal sacrifice as Jesus did for us. Interceding for others whether in prayer, conversation, or just listening to their hearts. We are not to do it to gain something for ourselves or interests, but to lift them up. We use the gifts that Christ has given us for the body, not ourselves, just as Jesus did for us. Lift one another up and encourage them from what Jesus has done in and for you.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Encourage One Another Part 9
Acts 15:22-35
New International Version
The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers
22 Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, men who were leaders among the believers. 23 With them they sent the following letter:
The apostles and elders, your brothers,
To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:
Greetings.
24 We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25 So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26 men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29 You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things.
Farewell.
30 So the men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31 The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32 Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. 33 After spending some time there, they were sent off by the believers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them. [34] 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
There will always be those agitators who stir up the body of Christ with a burden that is not of God. They make men doubt their faith and walk with the Lord. Disrupting the body as a distraction to keep them from the work of reconciling the lost to Christ. It is in these times we must encourage all to follow Christ and their faith, so as not to be troubled by these workmen of Satan. Lifting them up in the Word and in prayer so they won’t fall. Restoring the peace of unity in the Body of Christ.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Encourage One Another Part 8
Romans 15:1-6
New International Version
15 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. 2 Each of us should please our neighbors for their good, to build them up. 3 For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: “The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.” 4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We are commanded to endure hardship and to encourage one another. There will always be weaker souls in the church and we who are strong in Christ must lift them up. Whatever you do for the least of these you do for the Father. Do as Jesus did.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Encourage One Another Part 7
Acts 11:19-30
New International Version
The Church in Antioch
19 Now those who had been scattered by the persecution that broke out when Stephen was killed traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus and Antioch, spreading the word only among Jews. 20 Some of them, however, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks also, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord’s hand was with them, and a great number of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22 News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23 When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. 24 He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.
27 During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and through the Spirit predicted that a severe famine would spread over the entire Roman world. (This happened during the reign of Claudius.) 29 The disciples, as each one was able, decided to provide help for the brothers and sisters living in Judea. 30 This they did, sending their gift to the elders by Barnabas and Saul.
Barnabas remembers Paul and goes and gets Him. It had been seventeen years since Paul had been converted. He, like many of us, probably thought God had forgotten him or that he would never be used because of his past. Nevertheless, God had a plan and Barnabas was to carry it out. I don’t know but maybe the church and the Jews would not accept Paul after all they did send him away, but God was ready to reach the gentiles and Paul was itching to preach. God sent the encourager to get him. After preaching with Paul for a year a prophecy predicting a great famine came, and so what do the followers of Barnabus do? They don’t hoard food but send a gift to Judea to encourage the saints there.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Encourage One Another Part 6
Acts 4:36-37
New International Version
36 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”), 37 sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.
I love people like Barnabus who are always encouraging and even to the point of giving to others to help them through rough times. We need more people like Barnabas in the church. People who care and can feel others pain and help them with their cross in life. He forgets no one as we will see. What a name to have “son of encouragement”. That’s like saying Son of God.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Encourage One Another Part 5
Jeremiah 29:11-14
New International Version
11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”
Have you ever felt as though you were exiled or captive to this world? God tells us that He has plans for you and you have hope. {Romans 5:1-5 New International Version 5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.} God’s hope will never disappoint you. He will bring you out of this world’s captivity and set you free. Whom the Son has set free is free indeed. We are encouraged because Jesus has given us hope and a future. A future that will endure forever. He became sin, the curse and shame for us so we would be set free. What greater hope, what greater encouragement than that. So don’t only be encouraged but encourage one another as we see the day approaching for our God has already overcome for us.
John 8:34-36
New International Version
34 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Encourage One Another Part 4
2 Corinthians 13:11
New International Version
11 Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
We are to encourage one another so we can walk in God’s love and peace. Not an option but a command. Lift one another up so that we don’t stumble and fall into the devil’s schemes.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Encourage One Another Part 3
Joshua 1:7-9
New International Version
7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”
Be encouraged because God is with you when you’re with Him. Just as Joshua was told to be strong and courageous, so should you be too. Stand firm in your faith or don’t stand at all. God's word will not return void but will accomplish what he sent it for and has He not said we will be prosperous and successful? So now, be encouraged for He will never leave you or forsake you. He is with you. Greater is He who is in you that He who is in the world.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Encourage One Another Part 2
Psalm 10
New International Version
Psalm 10
1 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you hide yourself in times of trouble?
2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by[b] him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”
7 His mouth is full of lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue.
8 He lies in wait near the villages;
from ambush he murders the innocent.
His eyes watch in secret for his victims;
9 like a lion in cover he lies in wait.
He lies in wait to catch the helpless;
he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net.
10 His victims are crushed, they collapse;
they fall under his strength.
11 He says to himself, “God will never notice;
he covers his face and never sees.”
12 Arise, Lord! Lift up your hand, O God.
Do not forget the helpless.
13 Why does the wicked man revile God?
Why does he say to himself,
“He won’t call me to account”?
14 But you, God, see the trouble of the afflicted;
you consider their grief and take it in hand.
The victims commit themselves to you;
you are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked man;
call the evildoer to account for his wickedness
that would not otherwise be found out.
16 The Lord is King for ever and ever;
the nations will perish from his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the desire of the afflicted;
you encourage them, and you listen to their cry,
18 defending the fatherless and the oppressed,
so that mere earthly mortals
will never again strike terror.
Like the people of God in the days of old so evil men look as though they shall prevail over us, but be encouraged we live by faith not sight. What you see today will be gone tomorrow. The wicked pass away but God’s people will endure forever with Jesus. He who will never pass away will save you.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Encourage One Another Part 1
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
New International Version
The Day of the Lord
5 Now, brothers and sisters, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, 2 for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. 3 While people are saying, “Peace and safety,” destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
4 But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. 5 You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. 6 So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. 7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. 9 For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. 10 He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
It is becoming clearer and clearer that Jesus' return will be soon and that time will be the worst we have ever seen. My friends don’t be discouraged and don’t despair, but encourage one another and all the more as we see the day approaching, because our redemption draws nigh and this all will pass but God’s word shall never pass. Lift up the name of Jesus and the body of believers for this is our day to shine for the Lord. Think of what it was like when the Egyptian army was about to overcome Israel and God drowned them in the sea, so also, He will deliver us in these times and we shall overcome.
Pastor Jeff Lane
End Times Part 7
Isaiah 66:10-24
King James Version
10 Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her:
11 That ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory.
12 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees.
13 As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem.
14 And when ye see this, your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be known toward his servants, and his indignation toward his enemies.
15 For, behold, the Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.
16 For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many.
17 They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the Lord.
18 For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
19 And I will set a sign among them, and I will send those that escape of them unto the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory; and they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles.
20 And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all nations upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord.
21 And I will also take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord.
22 For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so shall your seed and your name remain.
23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord.
24 And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me: for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.
Ezekiel 12:26-28
New International Version
26 The word of the Lord came to me: 27 “Son of man, the Israelites are saying, ‘The vision he sees is for many years from now, and he prophesies about the distant future.’
28 “Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: None of my words will be delayed any longer; whatever I say will be fulfilled, declares the Sovereign Lord.’”
Joel 3:14-17
New International Version
14 Multitudes, multitudes
in the valley of decision!
For the day of the Lord is near
in the valley of decision.
15 The sun and moon will be darkened,
and the stars no longer shine.
16 The Lord will roar from Zion
and thunder from Jerusalem;
the earth and the heavens will tremble.
But the Lord will be a refuge for his people,
a stronghold for the people of Israel.
17 “Then you will know that I, the Lord your God,
dwell in Zion, my holy hill.
Jerusalem will be holy;
never again will foreigners invade her.
Don’t worry about Israel for God will bring them peace on His great and glorious day when he gathers their enemies to that valley of decision, Armageddon and wipe them out. We should be concerned for ourselves that we walk in His ways and holiness before Him. The United States will not bring them peace and safety but God Himself.
Pastor Jeff Lane
End Times Part 6
Luke 21:29-33
King James Version
29 And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees;
30 When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.
31 So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.
32 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass away, till all be fulfilled.
33 Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away.
Israel became a nation on May 14th, 1948 as God said it would happen This is the budding of the fig tree.
Matthew 24
32 “Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it[e] is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Genesis 15:
13 Then the Lord said to him, “Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. 14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. 15 You, however, will go to your ancestors in peace and be buried at a good old age. 16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure.”
Here we see that God referred to 100 years as a generation.
The Day and Hour Unknown
36 “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[f] but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.
We do not know the day or the hour but we know He is coming very soon from the signs. We need to be about the Father’s business
Pastor Jeff Lane
End Times Part 5
Isaiah 66:7-9
King James Version
7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man child.
8 Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? for as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children.
9 Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut the womb? saith thy God.
Israel became and was recognized by the world as a nation on May 14th, 1948. They were birthed as a nation in one day as God had told us they would. Though the world recognized them as a nation they could not have stopped it from happening, but they had fulfilled God's desire. This is one of the greatest signs of the return of Jesus we have.
Pastor Jeff Lane
End Times Part 4
2 Peter 3:10-15
New International Version
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.
11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives 12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.
I am amazed that the day of the Lord will come like a thief to those who are perishing. They know about it and even make movies about Armageddon and yet seem oblivious to the fact it is upon them. They mock and make fun of it like Lot’s sons in law. The church seems to live in sin and condone those who do. Not striving for God’s Holiness but looking for ways to live as far from Holiness as they can and still make it in. I mean really do you see the church making every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him? Sin blinds their eyes to the truth and though they talk about His coming they don’t believe it. Look at their actions. Don’t try the Lord’s patience, but speed His coming with a holy and Godly life.
Pastor Jeff Lane
End Times Part 3
2 Peter 3:3-9
New International Version
3 Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.” 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
I believe and can clearly see Jesus will soon come. Thank goodness God is long suffering not wanting any perish. He is so patient, and all His judgements are to bring us to repentance. Men have become so arrogant in these last days, questioning whether God exists and where is He if He does, but remember after 430 years of bondage HE calls Himself the I AM. He said I am to be remembered by this name forever. He is the I AM and forever will be. God is and on this point, we should never doubt He exists. God will see that His word will not return void but accomplish all He said. If only we could interview those who were destroyed in Sodom or the flood. These were examples of what is to come and yet with all the evidence that they did indeed take place men still doubt.
Pastor Jeff Lane
End Times Part 2
Acts 1:6-8
New International Version
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
We are not given times or dates of Christ’s return, but we are told to be witnesses till He returns.
Pastor Jeffery Lane
End Times Part 1
Daniel 9:27
New International Version
27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’ In the middle of the ‘seven’ he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed is poured out on him.”
When the anti-Christ and Israel sign this covenant the tribulation starts. Some seem to think it starts when the rapture happens but that could be in the middle of the tribulation or even long before the Tribulation starts. We simply are not told.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Why is the LGBTQ wrong for Christians? Part 8
1 Corinthians 6:9
New International Version
9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men
Homosexuals will not go to heaven for they cannot inherit the kingdom of God unless they repent and turn from their sin.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Why is the LGBTQ wrong for Christians? Part 7
1 Timothy 1:8-11
New International Version
8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
Homosexuality is contrary to sound doctrine. It is a sin and like all sin is punishable by Hell.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Why is the LGBTQ wrong for Christians? Part 6
1 Corinthians 6:9
King James Version
9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Cambridge Dictionary
effeminate
adjective
disapproving
UK
/ɪˈfem.ɪ.nət/ US
/əˈfem.ə.nət/
Add to word list
An effeminate man behaves or looks similar to a woman:
He's got a very effeminate manner/voice.
Transgender a sin also? Well according to scripture (God’s word) it clearly is. An effeminate is sin. I have heard lesbians say that it is ok for them because this does not apply to women. Please refer to Romans Chapter one and you can see it applies to both men and women.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Why is the LGBTQ wrong for Christians Part 5
Romans 1:18-32
New International Version
God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
How in the world these LGBTQ groups can say that they are Christians and that God condones their actions is beyond my understanding except God gives them over to a depraved mind. I have said all my life that sin makes us stupid. Who are we to think we can decide what is right and wrong? God put it in black and white. It is clear even from creation that this is a sin deserving death and it leads to death according to God and His scripture. To ignore this is simply ignoring the truth.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Why is the LGBTQ Wrong for Christians Part 4
Judges 19:16-30
New International Version
16 That evening an old man from the hill country of Ephraim, who was living in Gibeah (the inhabitants of the place were Benjamites), came in from his work in the fields. 17 When he looked and saw the traveler in the city square, the old man asked, “Where are you going? Where did you come from?”
18 He answered, “We are on our way from Bethlehem in Judah to a remote area in the hill country of Ephraim where I live. I have been to Bethlehem in Judah and now I am going to the house of the Lord.[a] No one has taken me in for the night. 19 We have both straw and fodder for our donkeys and bread and wine for ourselves your servants—me, the woman and the young man with us. We don’t need anything.”
20 “You are welcome at my house,” the old man said. “Let me supply whatever you need. Only don’t spend the night in the square.” 21 So he took him into his house and fed his donkeys. After they had washed their feet, they had something to eat and drink.
22 While they were enjoying themselves, some of the wicked men of the city surrounded the house. Pounding on the door, they shouted to the old man who owned the house, “Bring out the man who came to your house so we can have sex with him.”
23 The owner of the house went outside and said to them, “No, my friends, don’t be so vile. Since this man is my guest, don’t do this outrageous thing. 24 Look, here is my virgin daughter, and his concubine. I will bring them out to you now, and you can use them and do to them whatever you wish. But as for this man, don’t do such an outrageous thing.”
25 But the men would not listen to him. So the man took his concubine and sent her outside to them, and they raped her and abused her throughout the night, and at dawn they let her go. 26 At daybreak the woman went back to the house where her master was staying, fell down at the door and lay there until daylight.
27 When her master got up in the morning and opened the door of the house and stepped out to continue on his way, there lay his concubine, fallen in the doorway of the house, with her hands on the threshold. 28 He said to her, “Get up; let’s go.” But there was no answer. Then the man put her on his donkey and set out for home.
29 When he reached home, he took a knife and cut up his concubine, limb by limb, into twelve parts and sent them into all the areas of Israel. 30 Everyone who saw it was saying to one another, “Such a thing has never been seen or done, not since the day the Israelites came up out of Egypt. Just imagine! We must do something! So speak up!”
Read Judges chapter 20. God poured out His judgment on all of the tribe of Benjamin for this sin but God destroyed those who try to defend these homosexuals and well as them. He considered all equally culpable in the sin. They did not have a right of choice as so many today believe.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Why is the LGBTQ wrong for Christians Part 3
Leviticus 18:22
New International Version
22 “‘Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.
Is that clear enough or do I have to explain it?
Pastor Jeff Lane
Why is the LGBTQ wrong for Christians Part 2
Genesis 19:1-17
New International Version
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
19 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry[a] his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their homosexuality and sexual perversion. God never changes. He Is the same yesterday, today and forever. His judgements are just and true.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Why is the LGBTQ wrong for Christians? Part 1
Genesis 9:18-27
New International Version
The Sons of Noah
18 The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem, Ham and Japheth. (Ham was the father of Canaan.) 19 These were the three sons of Noah, and from them came the people who were scattered over the whole earth.
20 Noah, a man of the soil, proceeded to plant a vineyard. 21 When he drank some of its wine, he became drunk and lay uncovered inside his tent. 22 Ham, the father of Canaan, saw his father naked and told his two brothers outside. 23 But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it across their shoulders; then they walked in backward and covered their father’s naked body. Their faces were turned the other way so that they would not see their father naked.
24 When Noah awoke from his wine and found out what his youngest son had done to him, 25 he said,
“Cursed be Canaan!
The lowest of slaves
will he be to his brothers.”
26 He also said,
“Praise be to the Lord, the God of Shem!
May Canaan be the slave of Shem.
27 May God extend Japheth’s territory;
may Japheth live in the tents of Shem,
and may Canaan be the slave of Japheth.”
Ham did more than look at his father’s nakedness, he committed a homosexual act to him. The Hebrew is much clearer on this. Our English Bibles water this down. As a result of this he was under a curse. God made one man for one woman not man for man or woman for woman. All through the Bible we see this behavior is an abomination to God and brings on those who do it desolation or God’s judgment.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Abomination that causes desolation Part 5
Joe Biden signed his signature to the below document that was copied from the US government site and in doing so has placed his name on an abomination to God. He also did this and declared this transgender day on the holiest of Christian days setting up an Abomination that causes desolation in a Holy place. I fear for his soul and all who have any part in this including our country. Those who agree with this or continue to promote this man and his administration are as evil and liable to destruction as he is. May God have mercy for him and their souls for our God does not change and He can not be mocked. He is a consuming fire.
Pastor Jeff Lane
A Proclamation on Transgender Day of Visibility, 2024
On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our Nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect Union — where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives.
I am proud that my Administration has stood for justice from the start, working to ensure that the LGBTQI+ community can live openly, in safety, with dignity and respect. I am proud to have appointed transgender leaders to my Administration and to have ended the ban on transgender Americans serving openly in our military. I am proud to have signed historic Executive Orders that strengthen civil rights protections in housing, employment, health care, education, the justice system, and more. I am proud to have signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law, ensuring that every American can marry the person they love.
Transgender Americans are part of the fabric of our Nation. Whether serving their communities or in the military, raising families or running businesses, they help America thrive. They deserve, and are entitled to, the same rights and freedoms as every other American, including the most fundamental freedom to be their true selves. But extremists are proposing hundreds of hateful laws that target and terrify transgender kids and their families — silencing teachers; banning books; and even threatening parents, doctors, and nurses with prison for helping parents get care for their children. These bills attack our most basic American values: the freedom to be yourself, the freedom to make your own health care decisions, and even the right to raise your own child. It is no surprise that the bullying and discrimination that transgender Americans face is worsening our Nation’s mental health crisis, leading half of transgender youth to consider suicide in the past year. At the same time, an epidemic of violence against transgender women and girls, especially women and girls of color, continues to take too many lives. Let me be clear: All of these attacks are un-American and must end. No one should have to be brave just to be themselves.
At the same time, my Administration is working to stop the bullying and harassment of transgender children and their families. The Department of Justice has taken action to push back against extreme and un-American State laws targeting transgender youth and their families and the Department of Justice is partnering with law enforcement and community groups to combat hate and violence. My Administration is also providing dedicated emergency mental health support through our nationwide suicide and crisis lifeline — any LGBTQI+ young person in need can call “988” and press “3” to speak with a counselor trained to support them. We are making public services more accessible for transgender Americans, including with more inclusive passports and easier access to Social Security benefits. There is much more to do. I continue to call on the Congress to pass the Equality Act, to codify civil rights protections for all LGBTQI+ Americans.
Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans: You are loved. You are heard. You are understood. You belong. You are America, and my entire Administration and I have your back.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of the United States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 31, 2024, as Transgender Day of Visibility. I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our Nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this twenty-ninth day of March, in the year of our Lord two thousand twenty-four, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.
JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR.
Abomination that causes desolation Part 4
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
New International Version
9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
Once again it is very clear the homosexual is a wrongdoer and will not go to heaven.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Abomination that causes desolation Part 3
1 Timothy 1:3-11
New International Version
Timothy Charged to Oppose False Teachers
3 As I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines any longer 4 or to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. Such things promote controversial speculations rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. 5 The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. 6 Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
8 We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. 9 We also know that the law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10 for the sexually immoral, for those practicing homosexuality, for slave traders and liars and perjurers—and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine 11 that conforms to the gospel concerning the glory of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.
There are those who have perverted the Bible saying that it is ok to be a homosexual, but the word teaches otherwise. These people are under the law and as law breakers only have Hell’s flames to look forward to. Furthermore when they take over churches and bring this sin into the church it is an abomination that will bring desolation. Matthew 24:15
New International Version
15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—
We cannot bring that which is an abomination to God Almighty and set it up in a holy place and not expect to bring destruction.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Abomination that causes desolation Part 2
Romans 1:18-2:11
New International Version
God’s Wrath Against Sinful Humanity
18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
God’s Righteous Judgment
2 You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. 2 Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. 3 So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? 4 Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?
5 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism.
God’s word is clear on this matter; it is a sin and an abomination to God. Those who participate in this sin or condone it have the same fate awaiting them. They will be destroyed for God is the same yesterday today and forever. He does not change. These people are “God haters” and want to destroy everything that is pure and holy. They indulge in all sorts of sin with a continual lust to sin more. God compares these days to the days of Sodom and Gomorrah and also Noah when he destroyed the earth for its lust and violence. Will this generation be any different than then?
Pastor Jeff Lane
Abomination That Causes Desolation Part 1
Matthew 24:15
New International Version
15 “So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation,’ spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand—
Daniel spoke of the Abomination that causes desolation in the tribulation, were there abominations that caused desolation in the past? The Answer is yes Sodom and Gomorrah are perfect examples. Scripture is provided below. God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for their sexual perversion, especially homosexuality. They even preferred men over women sexually. It was because of this God rained down on them fire and sulfur until they were burned up. Homosexuality is an abomination to God. We will look at this in the word. The Pope says it is now ok for priests to bless these homosexual unions but how can a man bless what God curses? The Bible says God is the same yesterday, today and forever. When we see an abomination in a Holy place or office it is cause for God bringing desolation. The pope has endangered the Catholic church, himself and his office and made them liable to destruction.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Deception in the Church Part 5
2 Timothy 3:10-17
New International Version
A Final Charge to Timothy
10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
I heard a person talking about how things will get better this morning, but they are deceived. Jesus says it will get worse till the end of this age. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. Don’t be deceived by staying and walking in His word. Sure we will be persecuted for righteousness sake but what does it matter for soon Jesus will return and set up His kingdom. As for those deceivers they will continue in their deception and will continue being deceived themselves. They are so convincing to many because they believe the deception they teach.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Deception in the Church Part 4
Matthew 24:9-14
New International Version
9 “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12 Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
Friends, many false prophets will arise to deceive the church. They will call good evil and evil good. We will be persecuted till the end. See to it you don’t falter in your walk. Wickedness will increase as we can well see. The world talks of love all the time, but their love grows cold. Their families are divided, and they divorce at the least of things. They love themselves more than their children. Don’t be deceived by the world’s wisdom but stand firm in your faith to the end. Preach the word till we reach the ends of the earth.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Deception in the Church Part 3
Jude 3-16
New International Version
The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People
3 Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
8 In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9 But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.
11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and fault finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.
These deceivers have slipped in among us even eating with us and acting like they are part of the flock when all they do is bring down the weak willed to participate in their sin. Unlike the deceivers in part two who want you to live by their rules and regulations, these deceivers claim to embrace grace but use it as a license to sin. They live like animals with no thought of righteousness. They practice sexual immorality and encourage others to do the same. Their end will be what their actions deserve. Do not follow them; they follow the rebellious and serve Satan.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Deception in the Church Part 2
Titus 1:10-16
New International Version
Rebuking Those Who Fail to Do Good
10 For there are many rebellious people, full of meaningless talk and deception, especially those of the circumcision group. 11 They must be silenced, because they are disrupting whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. 12 One of Crete’s own prophets has said it: “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” 13 This saying is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith 14 and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the merely human commands of those who reject the truth. 15 To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure. In fact, both their minds and consciences are corrupted. 16 They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him. They are detestable, disobedient and unfit for doing anything good.
2 Corinthians 11:12-15
New International Version
12 And I will keep on doing what I am doing in order to cut the ground from under those who want an opportunity to be considered equal with us in the things they boast about. 13 For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. 15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.
Notice those who try to deceive, as Paul put it are of the circumcised group or religious group. They are among us trying to deceive us into walking away from the grace Jesus has provided for us to be saved. Satan comes as one of our own to deceive us into eating of the tree of knowledge of good and evil again so we try to determine what is right and wrong instead of living into the grace God has given us. Making us a slave again to the law of sacrifice, rules and regulations to be saved instead of Christ.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Deception in the Church Part 1
Matthew 24:4-5
New International Version
4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many.
Jesus warns about deception coming into the church. We are to watch for those who claim to be the messiah or a messiah. They come in amongst us and as Jude says eat with us all the time being used by Satan. They are concerned only for their wellbeing. Using the church for their gain. Let no one deceive you, stay in the word and the Spirit. Jesus is the word and to know the word is to know Him and to know Him is to know the Father.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Things That Bother Me in the Church Part 3
1 Samuel 15:23
New International Version
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination,
and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.”
Proverbs 17:11
New International Version
11 Evildoers foster rebellion against God;
the messenger of death will be sent against them.
Jeremiah 5:6
New International Version
6 Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them,
a wolf from the desert will ravage them,
a leopard will lie in wait near their towns
to tear to pieces any who venture out,
for their rebellion is great
and their backslidings many.
Jeremiah 28:16
New International Version
16 Therefore this is what the Lord says: ‘I am about to remove you from the face of the earth. This very year you are going to die, because you have preached rebellion against the Lord.’”
I hate rebellion and apparently the Father does too. Death waits to take the rebellious from this life. God compares it to divination and backsliding. It will not go unpunished. It is a tool of Satan and those who walk in it are enemies of God. It is the opposite of God’s will and work. It is to raise one’s self above God and make an idol of themselves. Rebellion destroys homes, marriages, and churches. A rebellious spirit is a demon and is serving Satan.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Things that Bother Me in the Church Part 2
Romans 12:1-8
New International Version
A Living Sacrifice
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Humble Service in the Body of Christ
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Verse three stands out to me: (Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought). People who self-importance consume them. They think because of their position they are above others and treat them with disdain and disrespect. We are given a position in the body to serve others not to be served. Serve as God has gifted you to serve and as an act of worship to the Father. Remember as you serve others you serve God. Serve them with all your heart and soul. Love them above yourself for they too have been made in the image of God. If you are anything in Christ it is because God made you that way, not of your own doing. Stay humble.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Things That Bother Me in the Church Part 1
James 3:13-16
New International Version
Two Kinds of Wisdom
13 Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. 14 But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. 15 Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. 16 For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.
Humility goes a long way with God. I have seen so much selfish ambition and bitter envy in the church it saddens me. It always leads to disorder, chaos, and evil practices. It’s not a competition. We all have our place in the body. Politics has no place in the church. I have seen so many hurt by politics and so many overlooked. Unfortunately it can lead to bitterness and the one who is hurt becomes the one who hurts others. God does not always choose the wisest or the strongest, but He chooses the lowly things of this world to confound the wise. He chooses those who listen to Him to do His work not the most qualified. Humble yourself before God and He will lift you up. Read the story in Matthew 20:20-28 and see how it leads to fighting. God knows the heart and He choses what is best in the body of Christ.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Devoted to God Part 7
1 Peter 4:7-10
New International Version
7 The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 9 Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. 10 Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.
The time is short so be about the Father’s business not your own. Use what He has given you for others so you will be welcome in heavenly places. Long to hear well done thou good and faithful servant. God doesn't care how much you accumulated in this life but how much you gave.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Devoted to God Part 6
Luke 16:14-15
New International Version
14 The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. 15 He said to them, “You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of others, but God knows your hearts. What people value highly is detestable in God’s sight.
Pharisees justify themselves, God’s servants are justified by faith and obey God. What do you value highly, the opinion of man or the Father?
Pastor Jeff Lane
Devoted to God Part 5
Luke 16:13
New International Version
13 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
This seems very clear to me. Are you a steward of the things of God and serve Him or do you serve money and are devoted to it?
Pastor Jeff Lane
Devoted to God Part 4
Luke 16:10-12
New International Version
10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. 11 So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? 12 And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?
If you want true riches or eternal riches you must be trustworthy with worldly wealth. Tithe and take care of the poor. It is all God's, you are just a steward of it. No one can take it with them. If you are dishonest in one area of your life you are dishonest in all. Stop kidding yourself and come back to reality. God can not be mocked; you reap what you sow. So be generous.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Devoted to God Part 3
Luke 12:35-48
New International Version
Watchfulness
35 “Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36 like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38 It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak. 39 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
41 Peter asked, “Lord, are you telling this parable to us, or to everyone?”
42 The Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their food allowance at the proper time? 43 It will be good for that servant whom the master finds doing so when he returns. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 45 But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk. 46 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the unbelievers.
47 “The servant who knows the master’s will and does not get ready or does not do what the master wants will be beaten with many blows. 48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
You are not self-made. Some have been given much and some little. Just be a good steward of what you have been given and God will lift you up. We will all have to give an account of what we do with what God has given us. Are you waiting for the master’s return or are you living for yourself?
Pastor Jeff Lane
Devoted to God Part 2
Genesis 39:1-10
New International Version
Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife
39 Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
2 The Lord was with Joseph so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favor in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So Potiphar left everything he had in Joseph’s care; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate.
Now Joseph was well-built and handsome, 7 and after a while his master’s wife took notice of Joseph and said, “Come to bed with me!”
8 But he refused. “With me in charge,” he told her, “my master does not concern himself with anything in the house; everything he owns he has entrusted to my care. 9 No one is greater in this house than I am. My master has withheld nothing from me except you, because you are his wife. How then could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” 10 And though she spoke to Joseph day after day, he refused to go to bed with her or even be with her.
Joseph was one of the greatest stewards of all times and as a result God made him ruler of the world. He understood that as a steward did not mean he could partake of all things. He refused to touch his master’s wife and as a result he was temporarily put in jail. We will suffer for a season oftentimes for doing the right thing but will overcome in the end. God will promote us.
God gives us this life but asks us to give back to Him one day a week, ten percent, or a tithe of our income He gives us so much we don’t deserve and yet people refuse to give it back to Him. It is all His and He will get it all back, but He asks you to be a steward of it and in return you can enjoy it. Men come up with all kinds of ways to hold it back. They don’t believe God will bless them even more when they obey Him. They don’t understand the principles of stewardship. They think God is holding back on them and so they partake of the things for pleasure not realizing that these are not theirs to enjoy and that they will only bring death and destruction to them.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Devoted to God Part 1
Genesis 2:15-17
New International Version
15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Merrium Webster defines steward as follows: one employed in a large household or estate to manage domestic concerns (such as the supervision of servants, collection of rents, and keeping of accounts)
God made the garden of Eden and made man a steward of it. It was all under His control and he could eat of it, enjoy it and do as he wished with any of it as he chose to do except he was not allowed to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Everything else was His to control. He was even given Eve as a wife and helpmate to love and be loved by. Man was not satisfied; he wanted it all and had to eat of that tree. It was no better to eat than any other tree but man just had to have that fruit so he ate of it and lost his position of being a steward in the garden. God was still gracious and let him be a steward of his life and use the rest of the world but now he had to work for his food.
God gave us this life and we are only stewards of it. We can do anything we want but we will have to give an account for it. Will we use it for good or evil, self or others or maybe to serve rather than be served? Let’s see what God has to say about this. Some people are so arrogant they think they are self-made. What fools they are.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Power in the Blood Part 5
Luke 22:7-23
New International Version
The Last Supper
7 Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. 8 Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.”
9 “Where do you want us to prepare for it?” they asked.
10 He replied, “As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, 11 and say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’ 12 He will show you a large room upstairs, all furnished. Make preparations there.”
13 They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
14 When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. 15 And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”
17 After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. 18 For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
20 In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you. 21 But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table. 22 The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed. But woe to that man who betrays him!” 23 They began to question among themselves which of them it might be who would do this.
Today we still celebrate the Passover every time we take communion. It represents the body and the blood of Jesus. Jesus became the curse, sin and shame for us and His blood died so we might live with Him forever. It is a wall about us. We should wear it daily. We are to always put our sins under the blood. Satan is always looking for a way into our lives to kill and destroy us. It is the blood of Jesus that is a hedge about us. Nothing but the blood of Jesus can save and protect us. It is our power over sin and the grave and sets us free from the power of Satan. It also gives us authority over Satan and the powers of darkness.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Power in the Blood Part 4
Exodus 12:1-32
New International Version
The Passover and the Festival of Unleavened Bread
12 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt, 2 “This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year. 3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household. 4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbor, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat. 5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats. 6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the members of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight. 7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the doorframes of the houses where they eat the lambs. 8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast. 9 Do not eat the meat raw or boiled in water, but roast it over a fire—with the head, legs and internal organs. 10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it. 11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.
12 “On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn of both people and animals, and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the Lord. 13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are, and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
14 “This is a day you are to commemorate; for the generations to come you shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord—a lasting ordinance. 15 For seven days you are to eat bread made without yeast. On the first day remove the yeast from your houses, for whoever eats anything with yeast in it from the first day through the seventh must be cut off from Israel. 16 On the first day hold a sacred assembly, and another one on the seventh day. Do no work at all on these days, except to prepare food for everyone to eat; that is all you may do.
17 “Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because it was on this very day that I brought your divisions out of Egypt. Celebrate this day as a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. 18 In the first month you are to eat bread made without yeast, from the evening of the fourteenth day until the evening of the twenty-first day. 19 For seven days no yeast is to be found in your houses. And anyone, whether foreigner or native-born, who eats anything with yeast in it must be cut off from the community of Israel. 20 Eat nothing made with yeast. Wherever you live, you must eat unleavened bread.”
21 Then Moses summoned all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Go at once and select the animals for your families and slaughter the Passover lamb. 22 Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it into the blood in the basin and put some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the doorframe. None of you shall go out of the door of your house until morning. 23 When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, he will see the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and will pass over that doorway, and he will not permit the destroyer to enter your houses and strike you down.
24 “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. 25 When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. 26 And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ 27 then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” Then the people bowed down and worshiped. 28 The Israelites did just what the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron.
29 At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, who sat on the throne, to the firstborn of the prisoner, who was in the dungeon, and the firstborn of all the livestock as well. 30 Pharaoh and all his officials and all the Egyptians got up during the night, and there was loud wailing in Egypt, for there was not a house without someone dead.
31 During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. 32 Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”
Sometimes we just see the fullness of what God does for us. We, like Israel, are slaves to sin. They needed a redeemer. They were no better than the Egyptians, but God in His grace provided them both a way out of their sin by faith. Anyone who believed and obeyed by covering their doors and windows with the blood of a lamb God would pass by and not bring the punishment for their sin by killing their first born. It was not Satan that killed the first born but God. You see Satan is not the one we must be reconciled to but God the Father is. If God is for you who can be against you, but if God is against you who can be for you. It was the blood that put a hedge of protection around them and the blood that set them free. They were to be ready to leave and run from their former life. Run from your sin and dwell there no longer. Yeast represents sin and the were to have not even a little sin so that it would not spread and expand in their lives. It was the blood that freed them from slavery of sin and the blood that brought them under the protection of God. Read Romans 8 John 3:16-18. Plead the blood of Jesus over your life and sin so that Satan can find no place to get in and also so you will not be an enemy of God.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Power in the Blood Part 3
Genesis 3:17
New International Version
17 To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’
“Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat food from it
all the days of your life.
Genesis 4:10-12
New International Version
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
Genesis 5:29
New International Version
29 He named him Noah[a] and said, “He will comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the Lord has cursed.”
Genesis 8:20-21
New International Version
20 Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and, taking some of all the clean animals and clean birds, he sacrificed burnt offerings on it. 21 The Lord smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though[a] every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.
The first blood sacrifice was in Gen 3:21 {Genesis 3:21
New International Version
21 The Lord God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them.} God killed and skinned animals to make a proper covering for Adam and Eves sin. He covered their sin, shame, and curse for them. Oh the boundless grace and love of God! He came to us before we went to Him. Then He provided a way we could be in His presence. The ground was cursed because of man's sin and violence but God accepted Noah’s blood offering and said he would not curse the ground on account of us again. Nothing but blood can take away our sin and curse. Nothing but the blood can put us back into God’s presence and cover our sins. These clothes made of animal’s skins were a reminder of that.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Power in the Blood Part 2
Genesis 4:6-12
New International Version
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[a] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. 11 Now you are under a curse and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
WE see in the life of Abel how God says Abel’s blood cries to Him from Abel’s blood. I can only assume that our spirit dwells in our blood. God has breathed life into us and when we sin scripture tells us dying spiritually we die physically. When we sin we put ourselves under a curse. Cain’s curse was inability to easily grow or gather food. The ground was cursed as a result of his sin. The thing that gives us food to sustain life now is cursed so it takes life from us. Cain had to work harder and longer to just live. It would help to keep him out of trouble until man started wars to take what others had so they could have an easier life. Man was in a mess, his sin needed to be atone for to remove the curse.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Power In the Blood Part 1
Leviticus 17:10-12
New International Version
10 “‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. 11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. 12 Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.”
The Bible clearly states the life of all creatures is in its blood. The only atonement for sin is the blood or life. Blood because life is in it is sacred and we are to hold it sacred by not eating it. God did this so our sin could be atone for.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Death of a Church Part 15
Satanists, witches, or those with a Jezebel spirit try to stop all accurate teaching about Satan, the occult, demons, spiritual warfare, etc. They love to act as though you are crazy to talk about such things, because they don’t exist or they have no power. They want the body to remain ignorant and clueless as possible so they can do their work. They try to make people think there is no Satan or hell. God is a good God and would never let people go to hell or let Satan attack them. They don’t want the church to realize the power they have so they can do their dirty work. They do this by teaching things like we have the Baptism of the Holy Spirit when we get saved or don’t need to speak in tongues. You’re a good person so God won’t send you or your loved ones to hell. They also want the church to believe whoever will be saved will be saved so we don’t have to fight for their souls. Wake up church this is war.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Death of A Church Part 14
Satanists, witches, or those with a Jezebel spirit try to separate the family unit. They like to have a group for everyone. The elderly, parents, singles, teens, grade school, toddlers, babies etc. By doing this they divide and conquer. There is one body, not many. There is a worldly wisdom to this and seems to be right to man but it is not the way of the Lord. When we all learn together it is harder for demons to teach their worldly doctrine. We can keep an eye on what is going on in the church. The family unit is the building block of the church. Children must learn to sit still and listen next to mom and dad. We must stay unified. Separating couples leads to discontent and breakdown of the marriage. Singles groups become meat markets. Teen groups become breeding places for trouble. Wake up church this is not how God designed the Church and is a recent trend. We grow, learn, and protect each other. It has led to parents believing that they don’t know what is best for their kids and being unable to communicate with them. God gave you them and He will give you the wisdom to raise them better than the internet, school system, government, or any other established entity.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Death of a Church Part 13
Satanists, witches, or those with a Jezebel spirit try to change church doctrine, they aim to confuse the people. They love to get into teaching positions, especially with children. Pastors know your teachers and what they teach. Ever wonder why we have lost our young people. Wake up and know who is in the church.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Death of a Church Part 12
Witches and Satanists can be your best attenders. They will try to get to know everybody and also to know who is sold out to God and who is not. They will give to the church and often in large amounts to build credibility and make the church dependent on them. Money talks and they can use this leverage to control. Be wary of anyone who gives but with strings attached to their giving. Whether they are Satanist or not they are definitely being used by Satan. Anyone who gives with strings attached, the Pastor should simply tell them to keep their money God does not need it. This is a Jezebel spirit and does not belong in the church. These people will give to good causes but not God causes. They will try to tell you what you can preach and what you cannot. Rebellion is unto Divination and witchcraft. Pastors be aware when you refuse their money there will be many in the church who will attack you because they think you are foolish or unreasonable. These givers will act hurt and play the people against you. Are you there to please people or God? Try not to let them get the upper hand. Seek the Lord on this and pray, pray, pray.
Pastor Jeff Lane
Death of a Church Part 11
Witches and Satanists go to church. I have had them show up at my own church but be careful exposing them without a witness. They will come in and will act like they are saved and can even speak in tongues but of the devil. They will volunteer and try to build credibility with church people even to the point that they can make you look like a fool if you confront them. Be on your guard and be as wise as a snake but innocent as a dove. They are there to destroy the church but by seeming to help they get in positions of power. They come as angels of light. Above all pray, pray, pray.
Pastor Jeff Lane
