¹And God spake all these words, saying,

   ²I am the LORD thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

   ³Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

   ⁴Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.

   ⁵Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

   ⁶And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

   ⁷Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

   ⁸Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

   ⁹Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:

   ¹⁰But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:

   ¹¹For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

   ¹²Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.

   ¹³Thou shalt not kill.

   ¹⁴Thou shalt not commit adultery.

   ¹⁵Thou shalt not steal.

   ¹⁶Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

   ¹⁷Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.

   ¹⁸And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off.

   ¹⁹And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.

   ²⁰And Moses said unto the people, Fear not: for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.

   ²¹And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.

   ²²And the LORD said unto Moses, Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven.

   ²³Ye shall not make with me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold.

   ²⁴An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

   ²⁵And if thou wilt make me an altar of stone, thou shalt not build it of hewn stone: for if thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it.

   ²⁶Neither shalt thou go up by steps unto mine altar, that thy nakedness be not discovered thereon.

 ¹And afterward Moses and Aaron went in, and told Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go, that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness.

   ²And Pharaoh said, Who is the LORD, that I should obey his voice to let Israel go? I know not the LORD, neither will I let Israel go.

   ³And they said, The God of the Hebrews hath met with us: let us go, we pray thee, three days’ journey into the desert, and sacrifice unto the LORD our God; lest he fall upon us with pestilence, or with the sword.

   ⁴And the king of Egypt said unto them, Wherefore do ye, Moses and Aaron, let the people from their works? get you unto your burdens.

   ⁵And Pharaoh said, Behold, the people of the land now are many, and ye make them rest from their burdens.

   ⁶And Pharaoh commanded the same day the taskmasters of the people, and their officers, saying,

   ⁷Ye shall no more give the people straw to make brick, as heretofore: let them go and gather straw for themselves.

   ⁸And the tale of the bricks, which they did make heretofore, ye shall lay upon them; ye shall not diminish ought thereof: for they be idle; therefore they cry, saying, Let us go and sacrifice to our God.

   ⁹Let there more work be laid upon the men, that they may labour therein; and let them not regard vain words.

   ¹⁰And the taskmasters of the people went out, and their officers, and they spake to the people, saying, Thus saith Pharaoh, I will not give you straw.

   ¹¹Go ye, get you straw where ye can find it: yet not ought of your work shall be diminished.

   ¹²So the people were scattered abroad throughout all the land of Egypt to gather stubble instead of straw.

   ¹³And the taskmasters hasted them, saying, Fulfil your works, your daily tasks, as when there was straw.

   ¹⁴And the officers of the children of Israel, which Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, were beaten, and demanded, Wherefore have ye not fulfilled your task in making brick both yesterday and to day, as heretofore?

   ¹⁵Then the officers of the children of Israel came and cried unto Pharaoh, saying, Wherefore dealest thou thus with thy servants?

   ¹⁶There is no straw given unto thy servants, and they say to us, Make brick: and, behold, thy servants are beaten; but the fault is in thine own people.

   ¹⁷But he said, Ye are idle, ye are idle: therefore ye say, Let us go and do sacrifice to the LORD.

   ¹⁸Go therefore now, and work; for there shall no straw be given you, yet shall ye deliver the tale of bricks.

   ¹⁹And the officers of the children of Israel did see that they were in evil case, after it was said, Ye shall not minish ought from your bricks of your daily task.

   ²⁰And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:

   ²¹And they said unto them, The LORD look upon you, and judge; because ye have made our savour to be abhorred in the eyes of Pharaoh, and in the eyes of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to slay us.

   ²²And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, LORD, wherefore hast thou so evil entreated this people? why is it that thou hast sent me?

   ²³For since I came to Pharaoh to speak in thy name, he hath done evil to this people; neither hast thou delivered thy people at all.

¹And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

   ²And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

   ³And when he had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

   ⁴And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

   ⁵And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

   ⁶And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

   ⁷And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

   ⁸And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

   ⁹And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

   ¹⁰And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

   ¹¹And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

   ¹²And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

   ¹³And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

   ¹⁴And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

   ¹⁵And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

   ¹⁶And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

   ¹⁷For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

Rodney Howard Browne teaches on THE PEACEABLE FRUIT

Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us, 2 Looking away [from all that will distract] to Jesus, Who is the Leader and the Source of our faith [giving the first incentive for our belief] and is also its Finisher [bringing it to maturity and perfection]. He, for the joy [of obtaining the prize] that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising and ignoring the shame, and is now seated at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Just think of Him Who endured from sinners such grievous opposition and bitter hostility against Himself [reckon up and consider it all in comparison with your trials], so that you may not grow weary or exhausted, losing heart and relaxing and fainting in your minds. 4 You have not yet struggled and fought agonizingly against sin, nor have you yet resisted and withstood to the point of pouring out your [own] blood.  Hebrews 12:1-4 AMP

In today’s world, we have so many wonderful conveniences – clean water, an abundance of fresh foods, mechanized transportation, electricity, refrigeration, computers, state of the art medical care, electronic communication and many other things that make our life very much easier than that of our ancestors. The danger is that we can, and have, become soft, lazy, dependant, and spoiled. We are in danger of becoming selfish, self-centered and unwilling to make even small necessary sacrifices. We want to have our cake and we want to eat it too. We refuse to endure anything that doesn’t feel good – even if it is good for us. We insist on our own rights and our own way – even at the expense of others.

Jesus, in contrast, made the ultimate sacrifice without reservation. He withstood enormous pressure to not follow through with the suffering that lay before Him – the rejection, the verbal abuse, the physical abuse, the incredibly painful death and on top of that, the weight of the world’s sin and His own Father laying the judgment and sentence of a sinner upon Him, Who was sinless and undeserving. He went forward to face His destiny, no matter what He had to endure, for the joy that was set before Him. We are His joy – He endured it all for the joy of seeing you and me transformed by the power of God – delivered from darkness and translated into the light – gloriously adopted into the family of God.

And have you [completely] forgotten the divine word of appeal and encouragement in which you are reasoned with and addressed as sons? My son, do not think lightly or scorn to submit to the correction and discipline of the Lord, nor lose courage and give up and faint when you are reproved or corrected by Him; 6 For the Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves, and He punishes, even scourges, every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes. 7 You must submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not [thus] train and correct and discipline? 8 Now if you are exempt from correction and left without discipline in which all [of God’s children] share, then you are illegitimate offspring and not true sons [at all]. Hebrews 12:5-8 AMP

Children need a lot of love and a lot of discipline. Parents, who love their children, will do their best to prepare them to function in the world as mentally, physically, sociologically, and physiologically healthy adults. A parent who does not love and discipline their child has abdicated their divine responsibility. Discipline is not only necessary, but it is essential to healthy growth and development. A parent, who loves their children will take the time and make the effort to train their child. Training includes teaching them the right things to do and correcting them when they do the wrong thing. A child without love and discipline is like an illegitimate child – no one has claimed them and no one cares enough about him/her to help them to grow up to become a healthy adult.

The Lord corrects and disciplines everyone whom He loves and He punishes every son whom He accepts and welcomes to His heart and cherishes. The way that God teaches us is through His Word. The way He disciplines us is by His Spirit. The way He “spanks” us is through His Word and by His Spirit. When you mess up and you feel how grieved the Holy Spirit is, you would almost rather have a real spanking. When you love God, you want to do the right thing to please Him, because you love Him and He loves you, not just because you fear the consequences of disobedience.

We need to submit to the discipline of the Lord, even though it might be unpleasant and uncomfortable at the moment, as we focus on the joy that is set before us – the joy of godliness, the joy of being free from the control of the devil, free from the bondage of sin, and free from the limitations of the flesh!

The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working]. James 5:16b AMP

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us to pray sincerely. When a righteous man prays a continued, earnest, heartfelt, prayer, there is a tremendous power that is released – a dynamic active power that effectively goes to work – producing the desired result. If you want your prayers to be answered, there are a few things that you must do to ensure the desired result – you must walk righteously before the Lord, you must pray sincerely and fervently and you must pray according to God’s will.

12 Now the next day, when they had come out from Bethany, He was hungry. 13 And seeing from afar a fig tree having leaves, He went to see if perhaps He would find something on it. And when He came to it, He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. 14 In response Jesus said to it, “Let no one eat fruit from you ever again.” And His disciples heard it.  Mark 11:12-14 NKJV

Jesus spoke to the fig tree in the presence of His disciples. He cursed it and walked away.

20 Now in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. 21 And Peter, remembering, said to Him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree which You cursed has withered away.” Mark 11:20-21 NKJV

The next morning, Jesus passed the fig tree without a second glance. The disciples on the other hand, noticed that it was dried up from the roots and they were shocked and surprised. Jesus was not surprised. Jesus did not even stop to see if anything had happened to the fig tree since He spoke to it. As far as He was concerned – He had spoken and He had faith in the fact that whatever He said came to pass. He had not one doubt about it at all. He did not have to look at the fig tree to see if His faith was working – as far as He was concerned if He spoke it, it was done!

11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it. Isaiah 55:11 NKJV

God’s Word always accomplishes what He pleases and prospers in the thing for which He sent it. God’s Word always comes to pass no matter what! Believe His Word, speak His Word, stand on His Word, and receive the fulfillment of His promise in your life.

22 So Jesus answered and said to them, “Have faith in God. 23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to pass, he will have whatever he says. 24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. Mark 11:22-24 NKJV

1. Before you pray – have faith in God. Believe that His Word is true.
2. Believe your word – that what YOU say will come to pass.
3. Speak to the mountain.
4. Don’t doubt.
5. When you pray – believe that you have received the answer right then. You are not waiting for it – you have it already.
6. Continue to thank God for the answered prayer.

God’s Word says that if you speak to your situation and command it to change and you do not doubt in your heart, but you believe that what you say will come to pass – then, and only then, will you have whatever you say.

25 “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. 26 But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses.” Mark 11:25-26 NKJV

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us to forgive freely. If you want all your prayers to be answered then, when you are praying, don’t forget to deal with your own attitude. You don’t want anything to stand in the way of your faith. Remember to forgive anyone who has offended you, so that God can also freely forgive you and answer your prayers.

1 You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Galatians 3:1-4 NIV

The apostle Paul went to the province of Galatia to minister to the Galatians, to preach to them the Good News. He came to help them to leave the old life of sin and bondage behind them and to live their new life in the liberty of the Holy Spirit. He suffered many persecutions to bring them the Gospel and he also invested many precious hours praying for them and teaching them and helping them. He felt responsible for them and protective of them as if they were his very own children – which they were, in the Lord.

There were a group of Christians, converted from Judaism, who had not left the law and self-efforts and work-programs behind them. They preached that circumcision was necessary for salvation – even for the gentile converts -and they sowed confusion and bondage wherever they went. This made Paul very angry, because the Galatians were saved and free in Jesus, but now these Judaizers were trying to place a yoke of bondage back on them. Paul writes a letter to the Galatians to try to provoke and compel them to come back from law and bondage to grace and faith.

15 “We who are Jews by birth and not `Gentile sinners’ 16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.  Galatians 2:15-16 NIV

Those who were Jews by birth were descendants of the Jewish nation and of Jewish parents. The Galatians were the “Gentile sinners.”  When Paul refers to them as “sinners,” he is not questioning their morality, but rather he is referring to their non-observance of the law. They were brought up worshipping idols, without any knowledge of God or of the law. The Christian Jews knew that there is no distinction between Jews and Gentiles as far as their salvation is concerned – it is all by faith, not by inheritance or works. Because it is by faith, they are all on equal ground with God.

17 “If, while we seek to be justified in Christ, it becomes evident that we ourselves are sinners, does that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! 18 If I rebuild what I destroyed, I prove that I am a lawbreaker. Galatians 2:17-18 NIV

If we acknowledge that we must be justified by faith in Christ, but we find that we also need to be circumcised, then what we are really saying is that what Christ did is not good enough – it was not a complete work. We are saying that we are not really saved after all and we make ourselves to be sinners again. How can Christ’s redemptive work make us a sinner again? And yet that is what you say when you say that something other than the blood of Jesus is essential for salvation.

This line of human reasoning stems from the belief that God is not pleased with us unless we DO something to earn our salvation, when all along God is telling us that the only thing that pleases Him about us, is our FAITH. The law has been abolished by the death of Christ. If someone acts like a Jew and imposes the observance of the law – which has been abolished – on the Gentiles, then they are building again the things that they destroyed and, in this way, they make themselves transgressors once again, undoing their justification by faith in Christ.

Christ does not promote sin in releasing us from bondage only to bring us back under a legalistic system. We become the transgressor when we revert from Christ back to legalism. The law makes us conscious of sin, but the law gives us no power to overcome sin. The law cannot make us acceptable to God, therefore we must turn from the law altogether.

19 For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:19-20 NIV

I was in Christ when the law executed Him in my place. In Christ, I died to the law and paid the penalty of the broken law and in so doing, died to the law – the law has no further claim on me. When Christ arose, I arose with Him, and now I might live unto God. I was crucified with Him and I live with Him. It is not really my life – it is His life that I am a partaker of. I have died to the old life and have risen to a new life. My new life is a life of faith in Christ. Galatians 3:11 says, “The righteous will live by faith.” I will place my trust in Him alone, not my own efforts, for it is His grace and His mercy and His blood that has saved my soul and my life.

For even when we arrived in Macedonia, our bodies had no ease or rest, but we were oppressed in every way and afflicted at every turn – fighting and contentions without, dread and fears within [us]. 6 But God, Who comforts and encourages and refreshes and cheers the depressed and the sinking, comforted and encouraged and refreshed and cheered us by the arrival of Titus. 7 [Yes] and not only by his coming but also by [his account of] with which he was encouraged and refreshed and cheered as to, while he told us of your yearning affection, of how sorry you were [for me] and how eagerly you took my part, so that I rejoiced still more. 2 Corinthians 7:5-7 AMP

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us to deal with negative emotions. We can all find reasons to be sad or depressed or angry or bitter with life, with circumstances, with other people or even with God. Even Paul went through some moments of discouragement and of feeling sorry for himself. Some people fall into depression very easily, but even normally very positive people experience a certain amount of mental and physical pressure in their daily lives and can be tempted from time to time to think negative thoughts and to begin to feel depressed. It is easier to feel better and have a more positive outlook when you are refreshed, when your body and mind have had some rest and comfort. However, when you have had no opportunity to rest and refresh yourself, when you are pressured from every side, fighting and contentions without, dread and fears within – if it isn’t one thing it is another – then it is not hard to become really discouraged and depressed.

In their discouragement, depression and despair, many people even become angry with God for their circumstances. This is because we don’t think that it could have anything to do with us at all and we choose to find fault with someone or something outside of ourselves. We think – wrongly – that God is our servant and that He is supposed to line everything up in our lives in a way that should always benefit us. We are fine until something goes wrong, or until we are inconvenienced and then we throw our little tantrum, we blame God and everybody else for our problems, and we sink into feeling sorry for ourselves and into discouragement and depression. Many times, the depression and discouragement we feel involves a fair amount of ungratefulness. We do not consider nor appreciate God’s blessing upon our lives.

Rodney Howard Browne tells us that we need to remember that God gives us a choice of good and bad, death and life, cursing or blessing. We live in an imperfect world and are subject to that world system. We need to remind ourselves that God is not our problem, but He is our answer. Stuff happens, but God is our way out. It is God, Who comforts and encourages and refreshes and cheers the depressed and the sinking! If you are a child of God then it is God Who is the One Who is on our side. God is the One Who is for us not against us. When we remember that God is the answer, then we will begin to be grateful for His blessings and we will become encouraged once again.

So David and his men came to the city, and, behold, it was burned with fire; and their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives. 4 Then David and the people that were with him lifted up their voice and wept, until they had no more power to weep. 5 And David’s two wives were taken captives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the LORD his God. 1 Samuel 30:3-6 KJV

The NKJV says, “But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.” And the NIV says, “But David found strength in the LORD his God.”

The Israelite men were grieved at the destruction of their city and the loss of their wives and families. Then they became angry and bitter and they looked for someone to blame. David was as upset as they were, plus he felt the pressure of being at the receiving end of the wrath of his men. Then David did something that was key to his survival and key to his prosperity and the blessing of God upon his life – he turned to the Lord instead of from Him. Many times we take the tragedies of our lives as a sign that God doesn’t like us anymore, but that is not true. Many times, we trust in the strength of our own hand, but at times like these, God is the only One we can turn to and He will come through for us.

David was successful, because he chose to encourage himself in the LORD his God. David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. David found his strength in the LORD his God. When we feel discouraged, disheartened and depressed, we need to remind ourselves that God loves us, He is on our side, He is working for us not against us, and He is the way out, the answer to all our problems and the source of all we need.

Rodney Howard Browne God’s House

In Revelation 2:2-4 the Lord spoke to the church in Ephesus:

I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. NIV

In the Bible, God gives us our standards and our priorities. If we pay attention and do things God’s way, we will prosper and He will see to it that our dreams and desires are fulfilled. Our first priority is God, Himself – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He is – or should be -Number One in our lives. We should worship, praise and exalt Him above all others. We should make His words the standard we live by – above the words of all others. We should carry out His will for our lives and ignore all other voices that speak contrary to His word. He is our first love!

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money. “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 important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 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? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 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, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?’ or `What shall we drink?’ or `What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:24-34 NIV

Rodney Howard Browne shows us that we must seek first the kingdom of God. That means that we must turn the focus of our attention away from the world, and its pull, and turn it toward God and His word. We must focus our energies toward finding His will for us and then walking it out in our actions. God tells us that the things that we think are so important – are not important at all. We think that we must spend all our time and talent in striving for and accumulating things, but He says that those things are not important – there are other things more worthy of our time, attention and effort. God’s kingdom is where our time, energies and resources should go. As for those other things that we think are so important – God says, “That’s not a big deal! Every day I feed the birds and clothe the flowers and you are way up on My priority list! You see to it that you do My kingdom work and leave the rest to Me!” Of course, we all know that when God does something – He always does a far better job than we could. He blesses us way more than we could ever hope to bless ourselves. Don’t sell yourself short – give God a chance to take care of you for a change!

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “These people say, `The time has not yet come for the LORD’s house to be built.’” Then the word of the LORD came through the prophet Haggai: “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” Now this is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.”

This is what the LORD Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build the house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the LORD. “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the LORD Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house. Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the oil and whatever the ground produces, on men and cattle, and on the labor of your hands.” Haggai 2-11 NIV

Rodney Howard Brown teaches that we must make building God’s house a priority and then He will make building our house a priority! If we focus only on our own needs and build only our own houses, then all our efforts will produce little or no results.

We will work hard and yet never seem to have enough. We will save and yet never have much left over. I don’t know about you, but I want God to build my house! He will do a much better job than me, any day. He will take the little I have and turn it into much.

We must let God set the level of prosperity in our lives. We must purpose to give what we have to build God’s house. Then we will always have our fill and be satisfied with good things!

Rodney Howard Browne Purity part 2

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled. They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work. Titus 1:15-16 NKJ

Matthew 12:34 says that, “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” If your heart is pure then your words will be pure and your works will be pure. 1 Samuel 16:7 says that, ”the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” God is always concerned primarily with our heart condition because as Proverbs 4:23 tells us that we should keep our heart with all diligence, “for out of it spring the issues of life.” The condition of our heart determines the course of our life and our eternal destiny. That is why we should guard carefully what we allow to enter our mind and heart through our eyes and ears and make sure that it is pure.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. Philippians 4:8-9 KJV

Before you were born again you allowed all kinds of things into your life. Your heart and mind were callused and hard. But when you were born again, God gave you a soft and sensitive heart. For instance, before Jesus, you cussed up a storm, but afterward, when other people used the Lord’s Name in vain, you felt like someone had punched you in the stomach. Now that you are a citizen of Heaven and a child of the King, you need to filter the information that enters your eyes and ears, because what you know that what you hear and see is what you will be thinking on. You need to be meditating and thinking on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, and a good report if you want to walk in the peace of God. Isaiah 26:3 says that God will keep the person whose mind is stayed on Him and who trusts in Him, in perfect peace.

Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:13-18 NKJ

The earth’s wisdom is envious and self-seeking, resulting in confusion and evil. However, the wisdom that comes from God above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. God is pure and honest and His motivation is pure and honest, putting others first. We are made in His image, and when we see Him, we will be like Him. We will not walk in any degree of peace in our lives unless we walk in the purity and honesty that He walks in! Peace follows when we are in the will of God in every area of our lives, especially our attitude.

Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure. I John 3:2-3 NKJ

Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. 2 Timothy 2:22 NKJ

When the Holy Spirit and the Word of God have purified your heart, you desire to please God, you desire righteousness, faith, love and peace and you actively pursue them. When you allow God to do a purifying work in your life, as you submit to everything that He tells you to do, then you will begin to have pure desires. You cannot walk in purity and allow unclean desires to rule in your flesh at the same time. Whatever your age, whether you are eight or eighty, you need to flee the lust of the flesh and pursue righteousness with a heart that is pure, and you will walk in peace and blessing all the days of your life.

2 Timothy 3:14-17 (NIV)14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have be come 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 man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Pastor Rodney Howard Browne tells us that Millions of people, across the nations, have never seen a Bible. However, there are also countless numbers of people who do have Bibles, yet they never, ever open them up, nor do they apply God’s principles or commands to their lives. People are deceived into worshiping the Bible as a holy object that they proudly display in their homes, but the power and the glory of the Word can only be manifested in one’s life if the Book is opened and read and received and acted upon! Having a Bible in your house won’t help or save you. Having the Word in your heart and acting upon it, allowing it to work in you, is what will make the difference in you. Rodney Howard Browne wants us to know that the devil would like to keep Bibles out of people’s hands. The Bibles that people do have, he would like to keep closed. If the Bible is kept closed, then it will have no impact on lives and families. Whole so-called “Christian” denominations all over the world have forbidden their members to read Bibles, telling them that the leaders of the “Church” will interpret the Bible for the masses. While there is nothing wrong with having someone explain and clarify the scriptures, the Bible stands on its own, with no explanation necessary. The Holy Spirit is our teacher, instructor and guide (1 John 2:27). He is the one who unveils God’s Word to our hearts.

Rodney Howard Browne teaches us that the Bible is not hard to read or understand, unless you are reading with a veil over your own face (2 Corinthians 3:13-15). Even children can receive God’s Word and understand the Bible. The Bible should not be read with religious glasses and should be taken as literally as possible. God says what He means and He means what He says. You can take Him at His Word and you can believe everything He tells you.

2 Corinthians 13:1b (NKJ)1 “By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.” The Bible is not a book written by mere man, like so many other publications that people regard as sacred. Man recorded the Bible, but it was breathed and inspired by God. Scholars have determined that even though many men wrote the Bible over a period of several thousand years, it fits and flows and agrees together so perfectly, that for it to have been fabricated by man, every man, who wrote a book of the Bible, would have had to write his book last! Any one with half a brain should realize that this is not a credible scenario. The Bible is undoubtedly the work of God and not man.

Hebrews 4:12 (NIV)12 For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.God’s Word is not dead words on dead pages. It is real, alive and powerful. It will deeply impact and radically change your life, if you will give it the pre-imminence it deserves and if you will it allow it to have an influence on your heart and life!