Salvation Friday 10/12/12 Are You Hated?

Dear Father in Heaven, it is Salvation Friday on our line, and we ask You this day to forgive us of our sins and to help us to repent of sinning again and again.  We do confess we need help in doing just that.  For those of us who are Born Again, we want to renew today and just keep praying You will use us as we renew with You to help bring in the lost to Your feet and we pray that they will come in faith and be saved.  Lord, I want to talk to You about our upcoming election here in the United States of America.  HELP US, LORD, PLEASE HELP US.  We have a President and Vice President in office now that think nothing of killing an unborn child and also approve of gay marriages.  Lord, we humbly come to You seeking You to intervene in this election and according to Your will, install someone in office that will call on You to get this country back on track.  We Christians need to unite under Jesus and we should have never walked away.  You have been put out of places, Lord, and I for one want You back in.  Please, Lord, and we will honor Your will, hear our prayers for the sick and hungry this day and help us to put feet on our prayers.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Good Salvation Friday Evening, my dear brothers and sisters.  Please, please, pray daily for our upcoming election, and brothers and sisters, I will tell you right now, as for me and my house, we love the Lord and we love life and we will vote life.  Brothers and sisters, we have people coming for food that think that we are handing out food that comes from President Obama ... WE TAKE NO GOVERNMENT SUPPORT, AND WE NEVER HAVE!!!!  I have never seen anything like this, it seems that those in the White House now are trying their best to buy all the votes just by keeping people on welfare.  Even free cell phones now ... But putting it all aside, we need to humble ourselves and pray for God's will and then put feet on your prayers by listening to God and voting what He places on your heart and not what someone might be trying to put in your wallet.  Now I have spoken my heart.  PRAY, WARRIORS, PRAY, AND PRAY AND VOTE.  Now for the message!!

Are you Hated?  10/12/12.

John 15:18 - "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first.  19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.  As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.  20 Remember the words I spoke to you:  'No servant is greater than his master.'  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.  If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.  21 They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the One who sent me."  (NIV)

My dear brothers and sisters, if you are a true disciple of Jesus, not just in name, but if you are a true disciple of Jesus, meaning you are willing to work for Him and take the Good News of Jesus to where He sends you, then, my dear friend, be prepared to be hated by others.  Deep down I think all of us want everyone to like us, but the fact is when we speak out for Jesus we are going to have people who don't just dislike us but deeply hate us and who and what we stand for.  The Bible tells us that some might even be our very own family.  But hey, if we are hated, we are in good company, for they first hated Jesus ...

John 15:18 - "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first."

Today as we know, people are trying to "kick Jesus out" of everything.  No prayers in school, no Bible reading in school, gosh, I was told I could not even pray to open board meetings at the Museum of Bus Transportation where I was a board member and even appointed Chaplain.  A new board member complained and the board voted in a "moment of silence."  MY LORD JESUS WILL BE SILENCED NO MORE ... Someone shout AMEN ... Not being able to do anything about this and still loving those at the museum, I did what the Bible tells me to do ... dust off my shoes and move on.  Oh, just to point out something, within a year after stopping those prayers, 70% of the antique buses went underwater in a major flood.  You say one had nothing to do with the other?  Think again.  Take a look at our schools since we put Jesus out, have they improved or did they go downhill?  You answer that one.  If you are working for Jesus and putting out the truth, expect some to hate you and dare I say, wear it as a badge of honor!!  Please remember if someone hates you, please never stop loving them, even if you dust off your feet and move on.  Remember we must love the sinners, because our Jesus loves us and we are sinners, but we must also hate their sins, because Jesus hates sin.

My dear late mamma told me back when I was in school that we should "overwhelm people who hate us with love for them."   Folks, please do that, not for me, but for Jesus this day.  Walk with Him, talk with Him, and love Him, and know that because of all of this, you will be hated by many.  It is okay, for we are in good company.  Remember, Jesus was persecuted, so expect the same thing.  Folks, it is worth it, for those who stand together in the name of Jesus will stand together very strong and some sweet day will stand together in Heaven.

Jesus is also telling us to remember, for those who listened to Jesus, they also will listen to us ...

John 15:20 - "Remember the words I spoke to you:  'No servant is greater than his master.'  If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also.  If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also."

Be a true fighter for Jesus and His Word ... And brothers and sisters, the very best way you can witness for Jesus, the very, very best way to witness for Him is to live for Him and let others see Jesus in You.  In other words, set a good example by the way you "carry yourself."

And remember this, better to be hated for loving Jesus than to be loved for hating Him.

Now go forth, my dear brothers and sisters and share those blessings and remember that Jesus loves you very, very much, and I love ya also.  Pastor Dan.