Middle East Bible Study & The Revelation of the Garden of Eden

  All right, now, this going to be a long night for some of you. And if you can take some good emotional Evangelistic preaching, you're not going to get any of it tonight. You're in the wrong place. This is a Bible teaching, tonight, Bible study. And l'Il give you some good stuff tomorrow, if you want some hot stuff l'll preach for you tomorrow morning, tomorrow night. But this is Bible study. And it'll be a long drawn on affairs for some of you. And some of you get tired of it, cuz it is going to be one negative blast from one end to the other. Just going to be negative, negative. I believe what they call the power of negative thinking. I believe nothing can be done without destructive criticisms. I'm a vegetable farmer. I'm not a truck farmer from a community but I'm a truck farmer from my own family. l've got 10 homemade vegetable beds out of lumber ties or railroad ties, about 10 by 12 feet. And I grow 17 vegetables in the spring and eight of them in the winter.  And I know something. You can't grow crops without tearing up the ground. If you don't tear up the ground, you ain't going to grow nothing. So it's   negative. Now here's a book  📖 a Bible. As you can see by my book, it is bitten by a dog. One of my German Shepherds likes to feed on the word, he takes it literally, you see. And this is some book. This innocent looking thing her, my Bible , I've read it through 50 times. I quit counting about 5 years ago and I'm still going through it. I've never mastered it. I never will master it. l'Il die before I master it. I don't think any man can master it. I don't profess to be a scholar. I'm a student. I'm a Bible student. And this book, Bible, here is the most treacherous, dangerous double deceptive book I've ever read in my life. And l've read some. I've read a book a day since I was 10 years old. I've read at least 23,000 times the minimum and this book is the greatest book in the world and the best book in the world. 

I recommend it before any other book but it's the most treacherous slippery thing you ever gotten in your life. You realize that every false teacher in the world uses this book. You think about that every one of them CLS it it's so written that it can be used to prove anything. So it is a dangerous book.  But this book here has in it the beginning and the end. And this book we're going to talk about, tonight. We're going to cover about 100 verse of scripture. And it is going to get heavy for some of you.  Going to get dull. I will be right frank with you. But then, a lot of the Bible is dull. Some of the Bible chapters are just dull as mud. You know that. Did you ever tried to read through first Chronicles. What a drag, man. What a drag. Did you ever try to read through Exodus 20 to 30 for the taches and the silver loops of the saled of the coupling the two and 1/2 cub by the blah blah blah you wonder some more time what in the world is going on. And I used to wonder about that at times. I don't wonder anymore. I know why it's there now. But it took me a good while to read through to get it. Well, now, this book here l've got in my hand is not a religious book. That's the first thing. When they put this book in library shelf, they put them in religions section, you see. But this book, I've read all kind of religious books, no religious book begins talking about what to put in your mouth. This book begins with you eat this, you eat this, you don't eat this, you can't eat this. And if you eat this and if you don't eat this. What a way to  start a religious book. They don't start that way. I've read them, the religious books. They begin with deep discussions about the ultimate and the reality, and the true being, and contacting reality, and Ying and Yan, and the one, and the two, and the two and the one and the unite. All that bunk, see. 

This one Bible here begins with two naked people in the garden. I need a very good start for a religious book, two naked people in the garden. And don't eat this, and don't eat that. Don't eat this, don't eat that. And here's this book, here you got one of these books here, turn to Genesis chapter 2. This book is a history book. But it has God stuffs all the way through it, that's why they think it's a religious book. But most religious books are not history books. Their books are about philosophy and thinking and spiritual stuff, not stuff that goes on down here. This book here, is a record of what went on this Earth for 4,000 years. A record of it historically and the trouble with this here book is, if this book is a history book then what it says is going to happen is going to happen. And then when it talks about heaven and hell, that has to be history instead of religion. And that's what folks don't like about this book. The trouble of this book is this book says it's going to be this way, and it comes the way. And it comes and it comes in history, not what you believe in your head. Yeah, let me tell you something. Folks, if you believe that Christ died for your sin, he was bread and roast my dead. Wouldn't do you bit good at all, you go to hell if he didn't, see. What you believe is immaterial, the B die roast from devil is anything if he didn't, well, he did or he didn't, see. So the stuff I'm going to give you here in this book tonight, it's going to happen or it's not going to happen. And l'll say I'm not I'm don't blush about. You may think I'm being irreverent but I'm not, I know the Lord. And I know this book and if what this book says is going to happen, then we're getting ready to get into. If it doesn't happen, this whole book is a lie from start to finish. And I mean that literally. You say well where you bet, you know where I put my money. I put it on the book. I'm betting it's true, see. All right, right now Genesis chapter 2. Genesis chapter 2. Let's begin at the beginning historically we're not. It isn't nothing here about getting to heaven. I'm going to read you nothing about doing good or getting saved.  Nothing like that didn't in there. 

 Genesis 2 verse 8, and the Lord God planted a garden Eastward in Eden and he put the man whom He had formed; and out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is Pleasant to the sight so forth and so on.  A river went out of Eden to water the garden. No religion in that tree, bunch of bushes and water in a  garden. Nothing about heaven. Nothing about hell. No born again. No nothing. And here's a river coming out here. Verse 11 goes around the entire land of Havilah, here's gold in the land. What's that got to do with religion, nothing. Verse 13, the second river is Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush, Ethiopia. The name of the third river is Tigris; it runs along the east side of Ashur / Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.  And where is the religion of that there is , it's a piece of dirt. Talking about a piece of ground . Now you see where he says Euphrates there and Assyria there and Ethiopia there. Those are places that on the ground. You got what you believe, if you didn't believe them, it'd still be there. Well, here's this piece of ground here in Genesis chapter 2 and then God calls a fellow,  a goat herder, a sheep herder. Genesis chapter 15. And calls him out of the Ur of the Chaldeans and says I'm going to give you a piece of land. It's a real estate deal. Genesis 15, it has nothing to do with believing anything. It's a real estate deal. I'm going to give you a title deed to a piece of dirt. Genesis 15:17. 

It came to pass when the sun went down it was dark. Behold a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between the pieces and the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abraham. That's an agreement unto thee under thy seed I have given this land. No Heaven. No hell. No Golden Rule. No Ten Commandments. No nothing. I gave you piece of land from the river of Egypt, that's the Nile over here to the great river Euphrates, right up there like that. And then he names all the people in that place and say, I'm going to give that to you. Now that's what you call an unconditional Covenant. You know what that means, no conditions attached to it, when the Lord said, I'm going to give you that piece of land, that means he gets that piece of land, see. What if he doesn't behave himself that's not even there. The guy is asleep, look at verse 12. He's asleep. Now no conditions to make, God does not tell , if you do this and this and that and this and that and this and that you do this and that and that. Yes sir, okay, l'Il give it to you. It isn't there. The guy is asleep and the Lord says I'm going to give it to you. 

Now that's this piece of land this is called the Middle East. That's where history begins and that's where history ends, right there. What about North, South America, they don't count. You saw about your Asian, Africa that's incidental. It begins right here, Middle East. Now you see this thing here l'm drawing you. Right here, this thing here is a piece of land and he says I'm going to give you, from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates like that. And he said, he planted the garden Eastward of Eden and in Eden that is Euphrates. There it goes and the East to the east of Assyria is Tigris. That's the Tigris goes right there. Then he names two more rivers and one of them goes to land of Havilah and Havilah is down Arabia one went down this way and the other goes to Ethiopia and that happened to go down this way on this map Ethiopia be off in here some place. After the flood two those rivers are gone you can't find where they are but where they went to Kuwait and here's your modern map of the same area when we went to Kuwait and bombed out the ragheads we were dumping bombs around here and the airplane began to fly up around here and fly around the Arabian Desert and when they went across here and made photographs they found two River beds Down Under the sand going across the area.

Now, religion is not a point if you're an atheist. Fine, make yourself at home. I mean just pretend God didn't do it. Well, then who wrote about it. Somebody knew, must have known about it. Whoever wrote the thing must have known about it. I wonder who could have done that, all right. Now if that thing is Eastward and Eden you know what that means. That means Eden is this thing right there. There it is and eastwards over there. Now you know that bedan I told you about that he called out and gave that land too he came from Ur of the Chaldeans that's right there. Know that isn't a modern map it's Kuwait history is going clear around the globe you're back now from where you came from you can't go a foot further you know what that means. I mean history is about over and I see a thing right there out of Ur of the Chaldeans that's where Abraham came from right there. And if the garden was Eastward in Eden then this thing here is Eden. And if you've got a garden Eastward in Eden then it's down there in that corner and that means that if you're messing around here now you're messing around in Genesis 2 well you can't go further back in  Genesis 2 or you're in Genesis 1.  So history is all over. Bye-bye , good night.  Praise the Lord. Gone. Your time, the second coming of Christ now is so short boy you can hard to catch your breath. Glory to God and not because of anything you believe. The problem is history has got you back where you began from. That's the problem now, said strip of land right there. That is some piece of land, right there. That thing I just do right there. That's the land grant that God gave to Abraham. It ain't just Palestine is clean to the Euphrates river and you pick up your Bible read in Ezekiel chapter 40 to 48, you know what you'll find in the Millennium when  Christ comes back. There's Gad, Asher, Dan, Naphtali , Zebulun, Issachar, Ruben, Gad , Judah Benjamin. Clear across there like that's called the Great Arabian desert in there. And the Bible said when Christ coming back, the desert will blossom like a rose that's the desert that isn't irrigation in Galilee. These prophetic spors keep trying to shove you up and shove you up and make you think that the stuff's happening one hadn't happened yet the already put it's that place that goes into the roads and now when God calls Abraham out the Chaldeans, He calls him out of here and he goes right up here. And Haran his daddy dies and he comes right down from Haran and comes right down cheer and he lands right there. That's where lands and that's called the land of Canaan in the Bible not Palestine. Amen. Canaan. Palestine not a Biblical name. That is a Roman name. You'll find that thing in Exodus 15. Palestinia that comes from Philistine. That they God didn't call it, that's the land of Canaan, cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants shall he be to his brethren.

Cain comes from Ham. You know this land down here is called in your Bible in Psalm 105. It's called the land of Ham, that's Egyptian land, you know what Arafat is. He's an Egyptian. He's not a Palestinian. His uncle was the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem in 1929. He is not a Palestinian. He is a liar, you know what his wife is. How come you folks got computers don't know anything what what is your problem anyway I mean start pushing them buttons got the internet in the web you don't know what the world you're doing you don't know. Arafat wife, he goes to mass with her when he's able to. She's a Roman Catholic. Why Muhammad said kill him. Arafat not much of a Muhammad the Catholic wife you know what the Catholic pope said in the Crusade there 1100 Pope Urban he said they're infidels, kill them and you die in battle you go home to glory and then he got a Egyptian married  to a Egyptian Muhammad married to a Catholic my my my what a thing when I  see that mess right there.

 Look at here oh Noah lands up can hear some place might I right when he gets out of that Ark, the Lord says okay buddy sham you get all that everything from there the Pacific Ocean you get that's shim you see that one there okay everything that side of the line European Caucasian you get that line right there. Yeah, Ham if he's in the northern part of the  Equator Northern Hemisphere he settles toward the equator in the southern hemisphere he settles toward the equator shamam and Jesus off I say that thing out like that and that is as far as God is concerned that's just about the only place on this Earth it begins there you know where it's going to end right there you know where Christ died for your sins right there you know where he's coming back right there. 

New York is not a factor, thank God. Beijing doesn't count , Moscow doesn't count. You've been watching The Boob Tube television 📺. And now we take you ain't going to take you nowhere. It begins and ends right there. That's called the city of the great King, right there. l used to wonder about these things. I read in the Bible, you know. What it say. The Lord say, my, this land here, this land here Palestine is the glory of all lands. All lands. I don't believe that. Did you ever see Austria? Did you ever see Germany? You ever see the smokies in the fall? You ever see the Rocky Mountains? What do you mean that's the glory of what, that thing's a goat pasture. Why you ever see the poly, you ever see the sun come up with a poly in Hawaii and that PE green water and that coral reef out there? You ever see, I've seen them. l've seen the sun gone out over, sat over Mount Fuji in Japan.  I've cut bamboo out there in the bamboo thick. Those go over there in corgador and batan. I've been around a while l've been around the equator 80 times plain fair 80 times I've been up in there longing to see, go sore feet.

 And the Lord says this thing here is the glory of all lands. Well, why, amen. It doesn't have any mountain like the Rockies, it doesn't have any rivers like the Missouri and the Mississippi. It doesn't have any  Feld streams of trout and stuff in it. And that Dead  Sea, a bird dropped dead going over that thing flopping and faint. And hitting that water, that salt water, why did he say that. Well, after I've read the Bible through a few times, I found out. I found out a man's interested in his son. Amen .

And the first time love shows up in the my Bible, it's a man sacrifices his son. Genesis 22 . Ladies, I got bad news for you. The first time the word love shows them the Bible has nothing to do with love for a man, love for a woman, amen or a woman love for a man, it had to do with a man's love for his son, amen. Genesis 22 and God's interested in whatever is connected with His son. And that land is connected with His son. So as far as God is concerned, that's the most important land on this Earth. He calls it My Land. He calls it the promised land. He said it's the Jew's land. He said it's the land of my people. l'll give you the references here in a while, oh about 200 times he says it. 

Well, let's turn to your newscast tonight and see if you can find that anywhere where do you find in news cast if that land belongs to God they said that City should be an international City.  Armenian quarter up here , Catholic quarter down here Jewish quarter down here. Muslim 

Why We Must Think Rightly About God 为什么我们必须正确思考上帝

 The Church has surrendered her once lofty concept of God and has substituted for it one so low, so ignoble, as to be utterly unworthy of thinking, worshiping men. This she has not done deliberately, but little by little and without her knowledge; and her very unawareness only makes her situation all the more tragic. The low view of God entertained almost universally among Christians is the cause of a hundred lesser evils everywhere among us.

教会已经放弃了她曾经崇高的上帝观念，取而代之的是一种如此低下、如此卑鄙、完全不值得思考和崇拜人类的观念。她并不是故意这样做的，而是在她不知情的情况下一点一点地做的。而她的无知只会让她的处境变得更加悲惨。基督徒几乎普遍对上帝抱有低下的看法，这是我们各地一百种小恶的根源。

L’Église a abandonné sa conception autrefois élevée de Dieu et lui a substitué une conception si basse, si ignoble, qu’elle est totalement indigne de penser et d’adorer les hommes. Elle ne l'a pas fait délibérément, mais peu à peu et à son insu ; et son inconscience ne fait que rendre sa situation encore plus tragique. La mauvaise opinion de Dieu que l’on entretient presque universellement parmi les chrétiens est la cause de cent maux moindres partout parmi nous.

What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.

当我们想到上帝时，我们脑海中浮现的就是关于我们最重要的事情。 Ce qui nous vient à l’esprit lorsque nous pensons à Dieu est la chose la plus importante à notre sujet.

The history of mankind will probably show that no people has ever risen above its religion, and man’s spiritual history will positively demonstrate that no religion has ever been greater than its idea of God. Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God.

人类的历史可能会表明，没有任何一个民族能够超越其宗教，而人类的精神历史也将积极地表明，没有任何一种宗教能够超越其对上帝的观念。敬拜的纯洁或卑贱取决于敬拜者对神的思想高低。 L’histoire de l’humanité montrera probablement qu’aucun peuple ne s’est jamais élevé au-dessus de sa religion, et l’histoire spirituelle de l’homme démontrera positivement qu’aucune religion n’a jamais été plus grande que son idée de Dieu. L'adoration est pure ou basse selon que l'adorateur entretient des pensées élevées ou basses à propos de Dieu.

For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like. We tend by a secret law of the soul to move toward our mental image of God. This is true not only of the individual Christian, but of the company of Christians that composes the Church. Always the most revealing thing about the Church is her idea of God, just as her most significant message is what she says about Him or leaves unsaid, for her silence is often more eloquent than her speech. She can never escape the self-disclosure of her witness concerning God. 

因此，摆在教会面前的最严重的问题始终是上帝本身，而任何人最不祥的事实不是他在特定时间会说什么或做什么，而是他内心深处将上帝想象成什么样子。我们倾向于通过灵魂的秘密法则走向我们心目中上帝的形象。这不仅适用于基督徒个人，也适用于组成教会的基督徒团体。关于教会，最能说明问题的就是她对上帝的看法，就像她最重要的信息是她所说的或未说的关于上帝的事情一样，因为她的沉默往往比她的演讲更有说服力。她永远无法逃避她对上帝的见证的自我揭露。 C’est pour cette raison que la question la plus grave qui se pose à l’Église est toujours celle de Dieu lui-même, et le fait le plus prodigieux concernant un homme n’est pas ce qu’il peut dire ou faire à un moment donné, mais ce qu’il conçoit au plus profond de son cœur comme étant Dieu. Nous avons tendance, par une loi secrète de l'âme, à nous diriger vers notre image mentale de Dieu. Cela est vrai non seulement pour le chrétien individuel, mais aussi pour le groupe de chrétiens qui compose l’Église. Ce qui est toujours le plus révélateur de l'Église, c'est son idée de Dieu, tout comme son message le plus significatif est ce qu'elle dit de Lui ou ce qu'elle ne dit pas, car son silence est souvent plus éloquent que son discours. Elle ne peut jamais échapper à la révélation de son témoignage concernant Dieu.

Were we able to extract from any man a complete answer to the question, “What comes into your mind when you think about God?” we might predict with certainty the spiritual future of that man. Were we able to know exactly what our most influential religious leaders think of God today, we might be able with some precision to foretell where the Church will stand tomorrow.

 对于“当你想到上帝时，你的脑海中会出现什么？”这个问题，我们是否能够从任何人那里得到完整的答案？我们可以肯定地预测那个人的精神未来。如果我们能够准确地知道当今最有影响力的宗教领袖对上帝的看法，我们也许能够准确地预测教会明天的立场。  Étions-nous capables d’extraire de n’importe quel homme une réponse complète à la question : « Qu’est-ce qui vous vient à l’esprit lorsque vous pensez à Dieu ? nous pourrions prédire avec certitude l’avenir spirituel de cet homme. Si nous pouvions savoir exactement ce que nos dirigeants religieux les plus influents pensent de Dieu aujourd’hui, nous pourrions peut-être prédire avec une certaine précision quelle sera la position de l’Église demain.

Without doubt, the mightiest thought the mind can entertain is the thought of God, and the weightiest word in any language is its word for God. Thought and speech are God’s gifts to creatures made in His image; these are intimately associated with Him and impossible apart from him. It is highly significant that the first word was the Word: “And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” We may speak because God spoke. In Him word and idea are indivisible.

毫无疑问，心灵所能容纳的最强大的思想就是上帝的思想，而任何语言中最有分量的词就是它对上帝的描述。思想和言语是上帝赐予按照他的形象创造的生物的礼物；这些都与他密切相关，离开他就不可能发生。非常重要的是，第一个词是道：“道与神同在，道就是神。”我们可以说话，因为神说话了。在他里面，言语和观念是不可分割的。 Sans aucun doute, la pensée la plus puissante que l’esprit puisse entretenir est la pensée de Dieu, et le mot le plus important dans n’importe quelle langue est le mot désignant Dieu. La pensée et la parole sont des dons de Dieu aux créatures créées à son image ; ceux-ci lui sont intimement associés et impossibles sans lui. Il est hautement significatif que le premier mot soit la Parole : « Et la Parole était avec Dieu, et la Parole était Dieu ». Nous pouvons parler parce que Dieu a parlé. En Lui, la parole et l'idée sont indivisibles.

That our idea of God corresponds as nearly as possible to the true being of God is of immense importance to us. Compared with our actual thoughts about Him, our creedal statements are of little consequence. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Only after an ordeal of painful self-probing are we likely to discover what we actually believe about God. 

我们对上帝的看法尽可能接近上帝的真实存在，这对我们来说非常重要。与我们对他的真实想法相比，我们的信条陈述并不重要。我们对上帝的真实想法可能被埋藏在传统宗教观念的垃圾之下，可能需要明智而积极的探索，才能最终被挖掘出来并揭露其真相。只有经过痛苦的自我反省之后，我们才有可能发现我们对上帝的真实信仰。

Que notre idée de Dieu corresponde autant que possible à l’être véritable de Dieu est d’une immense importance pour nous. Comparées à nos pensées réelles à son sujet, nos déclarations de croyance ont peu d’importance. Our real idea of God may lie buried under the rubbish of conventional religious notions and may require an intelligent and vigorous search before it is finally unearthed and exposed for what it is. Ce n’est qu’après une épreuve d’introspection douloureuse que nous pourrons découvrir ce que nous croyons réellement au sujet de Dieu.

A right conception of God is basic not only to systematic theology but to practical Christian living as well. It is to worship what the foundation is to the temple; where it is inadequate or out of plumb the whole structure must sooner or later collapse. I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God. 

正确的上帝观念不仅是系统神学的基础，也是基督徒实际生活的基础。敬拜是圣殿的根基；如果不充分或不垂直，整个结构迟早会倒塌。我相信几乎所有的教义错误或应用基督教伦理的失败最终都可以追溯到对上帝的不完美和不光彩的想法。 Une conception juste de Dieu est fondamentale non seulement pour la théologie systématique mais aussi pour la vie chrétienne pratique. C'est adorer ce qu'est le fondement du temple ; là où elle est inadéquate ou mal d'aplomb, la structure entière doit tôt ou tard s'effondrer. Je crois qu’il n’y a guère d’erreur de doctrine ou d’échec dans l’application de l’éthique chrétienne qui ne puisse être attribuée à des pensées imparfaites et ignobles à l’égard de Dieu.

It is my opinion that the Christian conception of God current in these middle years of the twentieth century is so decadent as to be utterly beneath the dignity of the Most High God and actually to constitute for professed believers something amounting to a moral calamity.  我认为，二十世纪中叶流行的基督教上帝观念是如此颓废，完全有损至高上帝的尊严，实际上对自称信徒的人来说构成了一场道德灾难。 J’estime que la conception chrétienne de Dieu actuelle en ce milieu du XXe siècle est si décadente qu’elle est totalement en dessous de la dignité du Dieu Très-Haut et constitue en fait pour les croyants déclarés quelque chose qui équivaut à une calamité morale.

All the problems of heaven and earth, though they were to confront us together and at once, would be nothing compared with the overwhelming problem of God: That He is; what He is like; and what we as moral beings must do about Him.  天上和地上的所有问题，尽管它们同时摆在我们面前，但与上帝压倒性的问题相比，这些问题都算不了什么：他是什么？他是什么样子；以及我们作为有道德的人必须对他做什么。 Tous les problèmes du ciel et de la terre, même s’ils devaient nous affronter ensemble et en même temps, ne seraient rien comparés au problème écrasant de Dieu : qu’Il ​​est ; à quoi il ressemble ; et ce que nous, en tant qu'êtres moraux, devons faire à son sujet.

The man who comes to a right belief about God is relieved of ten thousand temporal problems, for he sees at once that these have to do with matters which at the most cannot concern him for very long; but even if the multiple burdens of time may be lifted from him, the one mighty single burden of eternity begins to press down upon him with a weight more crushing than all the woes of the world piled one upon another. That mighty burden is his obligation to God. It includes an instant and lifelong duty to love God with every power of mind and soul, to obey Him perfectly, and to worship Him acceptably. And when the man’s laboring conscience tells him that he has done none of these things, but has from childhood been guilty of foul revolt against the Majesty in the heavens, the inner pressure of self accusation may become too heavy to bear.  一个对上帝有正确信仰的人会摆脱一万个暂时的问题，因为他立即意识到这些问题与他至多不会长期关注的事情有关；而这些问题最多不会让他长期关心。但是，即使时间的多重负担可以从他身上卸下，永恒的单一强大负担也开始压在他身上，其重量比世界上所有的痛苦叠加在一起更令人沉重。这个巨大的负担就是他对上帝的义务。它包括立即和终生的责任，即尽心尽性地爱上帝，完全服从他，并以可接受的方式敬拜他。而当一个人的良心告诉他，他并没有做过这些事，而是从小就犯下了反抗天上至尊的罪恶时，内心的自责压力可能会变得沉重而难以承受。L'homme qui parvient à une croyance juste au sujet de Dieu est soulagé de dix mille problèmes temporels, car il voit immédiatement que ceux-ci ont à voir avec des questions qui, tout au plus, ne peuvent pas le concerner très longtemps ; mais même si les multiples fardeaux du temps peuvent être soulagés de lui, le puissant fardeau unique de l’éternité commence à peser sur lui avec un poids plus écrasant que tous les malheurs du monde empilés les uns sur les autres. Ce puissant fardeau est son obligation envers Dieu. Cela inclut le devoir immédiat et permanent d’aimer Dieu de toutes les forces de l’esprit et de l’âme, de lui obéir parfaitement et de l’adorer de manière acceptable. Et lorsque la conscience laborieuse de l’homme lui dit qu’il n’a fait aucune de ces choses, mais qu’il s’est rendu coupable dès son enfance d’une révolte ignoble contre la Majesté des cieux, la pression intérieure de l’auto-accusation peut devenir trop lourde à supporter.

The gospel can lift this destroying burden from the mind; give beauty for ashes, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. But unless the weight of the burden is felt the gospel can mean nothing to the man; and until he sees a vision of God high and lifted up, there will be no woe and no burden. Low views of God destroy the gospel for all who hold them. 

福音能卸去人心中这沉重的负担，以华冠代替灰烬，以赞美的衣裳代替忧伤的灵。然而，除非人真切感受到这重担，否则福音对他而言毫无意义；除非他看见高高在上的神，否则他便不会感到忧伤，也不会感到重担。对神抱有低微的看法，会使所有持有这种看法的人都无法真正理解福音。 L'Évangile peut libérer l'esprit de ce fardeau accablant ; il peut transformer la cendre en beauté et l'esprit abattu en un vêtement de louange. Mais tant que le poids de ce fardeau n'est pas ressenti, l'Évangile reste vain ; et tant qu'il n'aura pas contemplé un Dieu exalté et glorifié, il n'y aura ni souffrance ni fardeau. Une conception réductrice de Dieu détruit l'Évangile pour tous ceux qui la partagent.

Among the sins to which the human heart is prone, hardly any other is more hateful to God than idolatry, for idolatry is at bottom a libel on His character. The idolatrous heart assumes that God is other than He is – in itself a monstrous sin – and substitutes for the true God one made after its own likeness. Always this God will conform to the image of the one who created it and will be base or pure, cruel or kind, according to the moral state of the mind from which it emerges.

在人心所易犯的种种罪恶中，几乎没有比偶像崇拜更令上帝憎恶的了，因为偶像崇拜本质上是对上帝品格的亵渎。拜偶像之心假定上帝并非祂本身——这本身就是一种滔天大罪——并以一个按着自己形象所造的神来取代真神。这个神总是会符合造物主的形象，其本质或卑劣或纯洁，或残忍或仁慈，都取决于造物主的道德境况。

Parmi les péchés auxquels le cœur humain est enclin, il n'en est guère d'aussi odieux à Dieu que l'idolâtrie, car elle constitue au fond une calomnie contre Son caractère. Le cœur idolâtre conçoit Dieu comme un autre qu'Il n'est – péché monstrueux en soi – et substitue au vrai Dieu un dieu créé à son image. Ce dieu se conformera toujours à l'image de son créateur et sera vil ou pur, cruel ou bon, selon l'état d'esprit moral dont il émane.

A god begotten in the shadows of a fallen heart will naturally be no true likeness of the true God. “You thought,” said the Lord to the wicked man in the psalm, “that I was altogether such an one as yourself.” Surely this must be a serious affront to the Most High God before whom cherubim and seraphim continually do cry, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts.”  一个在堕落之心阴影下诞生的神，自然无法与真神相像。“你以为，”耶和华在诗篇中对恶人说，“我与你完全一样。”这无疑是对至高神的严重冒犯，因为在祂面前，基路伯和撒拉弗不断地呼喊：“圣哉！圣哉！圣哉！万军之耶和华！”  Un dieu conçu dans l'ombre d'un cœur déchu ne saurait être une véritable image du vrai Dieu. « Tu pensais », dit le Seigneur au méchant dans le psaume, « que j'étais tout à fait comme toi. » Voilà assurément une grave offense au Dieu Très-Haut, devant lequel chérubins et séraphins s'écrient sans cesse : « Saint, saint, saint est le Seigneur, Dieu des armées ! »

Let us beware lest we in our pride accept the erroneous notion that idolatry consists only in kneeling before visible objects of adoration, and that civilized peoples are therefore free from it. The essence of idolatry is the entertainment of thoughts about God that are unworthy of Him. It begins in the mind and may be present where no overt act of worship has taken place. “When they knew God,” wrote apostle Paul, “they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.”

我们务必警惕，切莫因骄傲而接受这样的错误观念：偶像崇拜仅仅在于跪拜看得见的偶像，因此文明社会便可免于此。偶像崇拜的本质在于对上帝怀有不配祂的念头。它始于思想，即使没有公开的敬拜行为，也可能存在。“他们虽然知道上帝，”使徒保罗写道，“却不当作上帝荣耀他，也不感谢他。他们的思念变为虚妄，无知的心昏暗了。”     Prenons garde de ne pas, par orgueil, accepter l'idée erronée que l'idolâtrie consiste uniquement à s'agenouiller devant des objets d'adoration visibles, et que les peuples civilisés en seraient donc exempts. L'essence de l'idolâtrie réside dans le fait d'entretenir des pensées indignes de Dieu. Elle prend naissance dans l'esprit et peut être présente même en l'absence de tout acte de culte manifeste. « N'ayant pas connu Dieu, écrivait l'apôtre Paul, ils ne l'ont point glorifié comme Dieu, ni ne lui ont rendu grâces ; mais ils se sont laissés aller à la vanité dans leurs pensées, et leur cœur sans intelligence s'est obscurci. »

Then followed the worship of idols fashioned after the likeness of men and birds and beasts and creeping things. But this series of degrading acts began in the mind. Wrong ideas about God are not only the fountain from which the polluted waters of idolatry flow; they are themselves idolatrous. The idolater simply imagines things about God and acts as if they were true.  随后出现了对偶像的崇拜，这些偶像被制成人、飞禽走兽和昆虫的模样。但这一系列堕落的行为始于思想。对上帝的错误观念不仅是偶像崇拜污浊之水的源头，它们本身就是偶像崇拜。拜偶像者只是凭空想象一些关于上帝的事物，并将它们当作真理来对待。 Puis vint le culte des idoles à l'effigie d'hommes, d'oiseaux, de bêtes et de reptiles. Mais cette série d'actes dégradants prit naissance dans l'esprit. Les idées fausses sur Dieu ne sont pas seulement la source des eaux polluées de l'idolâtrie ; elles sont elles-mêmes idolâtres. L'idolâtre se forge des idées sur Dieu et agit comme si elles étaient vraies.

Perverted notions about God soon rot the religion in which they appear. The long career of Israel demonstrates this clearly enough, and the history of the Church confirms it. So necessary to the Church is a lofty concept of God that when that concept in any measure declines, the Church with her worship and her moral standards declines along with it. The first step down for any church is taken when it surrenders its high opinion of God.  对上帝的歪曲观念很快就会腐蚀其所在的宗教。以色列漫长的历史清楚地表明了这一点，教会的历史也印证了这一点。对教会而言，崇高的上帝观念至关重要，一旦这种观念有所衰落，教会及其敬拜和道德标准也会随之衰落。任何教会走向衰落的第一步，就是放弃对上帝的崇高信仰。Les conceptions perverties de Dieu corrompent rapidement la religion au sein de laquelle elles apparaissent. La longue histoire d'Israël le démontre clairement, et l'histoire de l'Église le confirme. Une conception élevée de Dieu est si essentielle à l'Église que lorsque cette conception décline, même légèrement, l'Église, son culte et ses normes morales déclinent également. Le premier pas vers le déclin pour toute Église est franchi lorsqu'elle renonce à une haute opinion de Dieu.

Before the Christian Church goes into eclipse anywhere there must first be a corrupting of her simple basic theology. She simply gets a wrong answer to the question, “What is God like?” and goes on from there. Though she may continue to cling to a sound nominal creed, her practical working creed has become false. The masses of her adherents come to believe that God is different from what He actually is; and that is heresy of the most insidious and deadly kind.  基督教教会走向衰落之前，必然先是其简单而基本的教义遭到腐蚀。教会对“上帝是什么样的？”这个问题给出了错误的答案，并由此出发。尽管教会可能仍然坚持看似合理的信条，但其实际运作的信条却已然谬误。众多信徒开始相信上帝与祂的真实面目截然不同；而这正是最阴险、最致命的异端邪说。 Avant que l'Église chrétienne ne connaisse un quelconque déclin, il faut d'abord que sa théologie fondamentale soit corrompue. Elle se trompe tout simplement sur la réponse à la question : « Quelle est la nature de Dieu ?» et en déduit des choses erronées. Même si elle continue de s'accrocher à un credo nominal solide, son credo pratique est devenu faux. La plupart de ses fidèles en viennent à croire que Dieu est différent de ce qu'il est réellement ; et c'est là une hérésie des plus insidieuses et des plus mortelles.

The heaviest obligation lying upon the Christian Church today is to purify and elevate her concept of God until it is once more worthy of Him — and of her. In all her prayers and labours this should have first place. We do the greatest service to the next generation of Christians by passing on to them undimmed and undiminished that noble concept of God which we received from our Hebrew and Christian fathers of generations past. This will prove of greater value to them than anything that art or science can devise. 

当今基督教会肩负的最重任，乃是净化并提升其对上帝的认知，使其再次配得上上帝——也配得上教会本身。在教会的一切祷告和劳作中，这应当是首要之事。我们若能将我们从先辈希伯来人和基督徒那里传承下来的那份高尚的上帝认知，完整无损地传递给下一代基督徒，便是对他们最大的贡献。这比任何艺术或科学所能创造的都更有价值。L'obligation la plus lourde qui incombe aujourd'hui à l'Église chrétienne est de purifier et d'élever sa conception de Dieu afin qu'elle soit de nouveau digne de Lui – et d'elle-même. Dans toutes ses prières et tous ses efforts, cela devrait être au premier plan. Nous rendons le plus grand service à la prochaine génération de chrétiens en leur transmettant intacte et fidèlement cette noble conception de Dieu que nous avons reçue de nos pères hébreux et chrétiens des générations passées. Cela leur sera d'une valeur inestimable, bien plus précieuse que tout ce que l'art ou la science peuvent concevoir.

Speaking God's Word Repeatedly Rewires Your Mind

 Your mind is being programmed every day. The question is: who is doing the programming? 

In this powerful biblical teaching, we explore how the Word of God renews the mind, strengthens the inner man, and transforms the way believers think, respond, and live. Drawing from Scripture, the teachings of Romans 12:2, Romans 10:17, Joshua 1:8, and modern discoveries about neuroplasticity, you'll learn practical steps to replace negative thought patterns with God's truth.

You'll discover: 

 ✅ Why most believers struggle with mental strongholds 

✅ How faith comes by hearing the Word of God 

 ✅ The biblical connection between confession and transformation 

✅ How speaking Scripture rewires your thinking 

 ✅ The 5-step process for renewing your mind 

✅ Why consistency matters more than emotion 

✅ How to build a daily Word-centered lifestyle 

The five steps include: 

1. Be Stil 

2. Meditate on the Word 

3. Speak the Word Out Loud 

4. Anchor Scripture to Daily Habits 

5. Commit to 21 Days of Consistency

Respected reader, your mind is being programmed every single day. The question is not whether it is happening. The question is who is doing the programming, the word of God or everything else competing for your attention. 

Stay with us through this teaching because you are going to see and understand exactly how speaking the word of God repeatedly rewires your mind. Not just spiritually, but physically, too. And by the time we finish, you will never approach the Word the same way again. 

Most believers have never seriously asked that question. They assume that because they attend church, read their Bible occasionally, and believe the right things theologically, their mind is being shaped by the Word. 

But we identified something that dismantles that assumption completely. 

 Note: The church as a whole is unfamiliar with the recreated spirit. Because our spirits are undeveloped, we are powerless. We face a crisis and we panic. We face sickness and we run to the world before we run to the Father. Undeveloped, powerless, panicking. 

 Not because the Word is not true, not because God is not faithful, but because the mind, the part of the believer that interfaces with daily life, has never been systematically, deliberately, consistently renewed with the Word of God. 

Romans 12:2, "Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." Transformed by the renewing of the mind, not by getting saved again, not by attending more services, by the renewing, the ongoing deliberate daily process of replacing the old programming with the Word of God until the mind thinks differently, responds differently, and produces a different life.

 And here is where something remarkable happens when you place this verse next to what modern neuroscience has discovered about how the brain actually works. Scientists call it neuroplasticity. The brain 🧠 is not fixed. It changes physically, structurally, based on what you consistently think and what you consistently hear. Every thought you repeat carves a pathway. The more you repeat it, the deeper the groove. The deeper the groove, the more automatic the response until what started as a lie  you heard once becomes a conviction you live from without questioning it. "I am not enough." "I always fail." "God might come through for others but not for me." These are not just thoughts. They are grooves carved deep by years of repetition running automatically below the level of conscious awareness shaping every decision, every prayer, every response to every situation. 

And Romans 10:17 is the verse that gives you the   counter strategy. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

Faith, the governing reality of the inner man, comes by hearing, by the Word entering the ears consistently, repeatedly, persistently until it carves new grooves, new pathways, new automatic responses that come from the truth rather than the lie. 

This is identified not as a motivational technique, but as a spiritual law. 

The Word of God spoken consistently into your own hearing feeds the hidden man of the heart, develops the inner man, strengthens the spirit until it is strong enough to govern the mind rather than be governed by it. 

Today we are going to show you exactly how to do that. Five practical steps rooted in scripture and confirmed by what science now understands about the brain 🧠 that will systematically replace the old programming with the Word of God. 

Not overnight, not in a single emotional experience. But through a daily discipline that is identified as the most important thing a believer can give consistent attention to. 

 The renewing of the mind starting with step one.  

 The battle for your mind is not primarily psychological. It is spiritual. 2 Corinthians 10:4. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds. A stronghold is a false belief reinforced by repetition until it becomes the lens through which you interpret everything.  "Things never work out for me." "God does not hear my prayers."  "I have tried this before and it did not work." Not random   thoughts, strongholds built through years of hearing the wrong things and pulled down by the same mechanism that built them. Repetition, but this time the repetition of truth. 

John 8:32. You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Know it in the hidden man of the heart as a governing reality. The mind has been renewed to think from. That knowing is what the five steps produce. Starting with the most underestimated one. 

Step one, be still. 

Most people skip this step entirely.  They go straight to confessing scriptures, reading the Word, declaring promises, and wonder why nothing seems   to penetrate, why the words bounce off the surface of their thinking without ever reaching the place where change actually happens. We identified the reason. 

Shut yourself in alone with your own spirit where the clamor of the world is shut out.

 The clamor of the world is shut out, not reduced, not turned down to a manageable volume. Shut out. Because the inner man, the hidden man of the heart, where the renewing actually takes place, cannot receive new programming when the outer world is broadcasting at full volume into the mind. 

Psalm 46:10. Be still and know that l am God. Be still and know the knowing comes through the stillness. The Word that is going to rewire your mind cannot get into the deep inner man while your attention is split between your phone, your fears, your to-do list, and the noise of everything competing for your focus. 

 And neuroscience confirms what scripture established thousands of years ago. When the brain is in a state of stillness, when the constant firing of anxious, distracted, reactive thought patterns slows down, it becomes far more receptive to new input. The mental grip of the old grooves loosens, and new truth has the space to land. 

Isaiah 30:15, "In returning and rest shall ye be saved, in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." 

 Quietness and confidence, not straining and striving. Quietness, the deliberate creation of inner stillness as the prerequisite to receiving what God wants to deposit. So the first step is the simplest and the most costly. 

Every day before the world gets the first word, you stop, you sit, you turn off the noise and you give the hidden man of the heart the one thing he cannot develop without space, silence, your undivided attention. 

Step two, meditate on the word. Biblical meditation is not what most people think it is. It is not sitting quietly in peaceful reflection. It is not emptying the mind. It is not a passive spiritual experience. 

The Hebrew word for meditate in Joshua 1:8 is hagger. It means to mutter, to speak softly, to rehearse, to repeat. It describes the sound a lion makes over its prey, the couping of a dove, the process of a cow chewing its cud, eating, bringing it back, chewing again, extracting every particle of nourishment. 

Joshua 1:8. This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. 

 Notice where it starts, not in the eyes, in the mouth 👄. This book shall not depart out of your mouth. Biblical meditation is vocal. It is the active, deliberate, sustained speaking of the word into your own ears until it moves from the surface of your thinking into the governing center of your inner man. It can be described this way. The Word of God must become flesh in you, not information about God stored in the mind. The Word itself becoming a present  living governing reality in the spirit through the sustained practice of meditating until it drops from the head  into the heart. 

Psalm 1 verse 2 and 3. Blessed is the man who meditates on the word day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water. His leaf shall not wither. Whatever he does shall prosper.

 A tree planted by water does not struggle to find nourishment. It does not panic in drought because its roots reach a constant deep source of life. And meditation plants the Word  deep in the inner man. So when the crisis comes when the old groove tries to fire, automatically the truth that has been meditated deep into the spirit rises faster. Not because you worked hard in that moment to believe.  Because you meditated consistently in the ordinary moments before it. That is step two and it is the mechanism through which the rewiring actually happens. 

Step three, speak the word out loud. This is the step that separates believers who experience transformation from believers who only experience information. 

Romans 10:17.  Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. 

Not faith comes by reading. Not faith comes by knowing, by hearing. And you hear yourself more than you hear anyone else. Every word that comes out of your mouth enters your own ears first before it reaches anyone around you. 

Which means the confession of your mouth is not just what you say to others. It is what you are constantly saying to yourself. And what you consistently say to yourself becomes what your inner man eventually accepts as governing reality. 

Let us pressed this point into our spirit with everything we have.  "Man's faith is measured by his confession. His joy is measured by his confession. One does not enjoy more of the reality of spiritual truth than he confesses. One does not enjoy more than he confesses." Which means the ceiling on your spiritual experience is not what God has provided. It is what you have been saying. And what you have been saying has been forming the grooves that govern how you think, how you pray, and how you respond to every situation in your life. 

Proverbs 18 verse 21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. 

 Not some death and some life. Death and life, the full weight of both in the power of the tongue. Your words are not neutral. They are not just sounds that evaporate into the air. They are either carving grooves of truth into your inner man or carving grooves of defeat, lack, fear, and unworthiness. 

And every morning you choose which grooves get deeper. So what does this look like practically? 

You take the verse you are meditating on and you speak 🗣️ it out loud into your own👂🏽ears👂🏽. Not once, not as a formula you rush through, but deliberately with the full understanding that you are   issuing a programming command to the inner man. 

If the lie running on repeat is "I am not enough", the truth you speak is Philippians 4:13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Not I hope I can. Not l am trying to believe l can. I can,  present tense, spoken with authority into your own hearing. 

If the lie is " l am unworthy of God's blessing", the truth you speak is Romans 8:1. There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus.

If the lie is " nothing ever changes for me", the truth you speak is 2 Corinthians 5:17.  If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things are passed away. All things are become new. 

Speak it in the morning. 

Speak it when you are driving. 

Speak it when the old groove tries to fire. 

Speak it before you sleep. 

Let your own voice become the preacher that your inner man hears most consistently. 

Step four, pick one verse and anchor it to your daily habits. 

This is where neuroscience and scripture converge in the most practical way. 

 Scientists call it habit stacking. 

 Anchoring a new behavior to something you already do every day. The new habit piggybacks on the existing one until it becomes as automatic as the original. 

   And the application to renewing your mind is immediate. Tape your verse to the bathroom mirror. Speak it while brushing yourteeth. Make it your phone wallpaper. Speak it every time you unlock your screen. Write it on a card and put it on your desk. Speak it before you open your laptop. Keep it in your car. Speak it at every red light. The goal is not to create a rigid ritual. 

    The goal is to make the Word unavoidable, to engineer your environment so that the truth you are meditating on keeps entering your ears at the moments when the old grooves are most likely to fire. 

Deuteronomy 6:6 and 7. And these words which I command you this day shall be in your heart, and you shalt teach them diligently. You shalt talk of them when thou sitest in thine house, and when thou walst by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. When you sit, when you walk, when you lie down, when you rise up. The Word was never designed to be confined to a 30 minutes devotional in the morning. It was designed to be woven into the fabric of daily life, spoken, heard, rehearsed at every natural transition of the day. That is not a burdensome religious discipline. That is the engineering of an environment where the truth gets more airtime than the lie. Where the groove of God's Word gets deeper every day, while the groove of the enemy's voice gets shallower from neglect. 

Pick one verse, anchor it to what you already do, and repeat. 

Step five, commit to 21 days of consistency. 

      This is the step that turns everything we have covered from a good idea into an actual transformation. 

  Because the rewiring does not happen in a single powerful morning. It does not happen in a week of intense devotion followed by two weeks of inconsistency. 

    It happens through sustained consistent daily repetition over a long enough period that the new groove becomes deeper than the old one. Neuroscientists have identified that it takes approximately 21 days of consistent repetition to begin breaking an old neural pattern and establishing a new one. 

21 days for the brain to start treating the new input as the default rather than the exception. And scripture had already established this principle long before neuroscience caught up. 

   Daniel 10:verses 12 and 13. Daniel prayed and fasted for 21 days. For the first 20 days, nothing visible happened. No answer, no breakthrough, no external confirmation that the prayer was working. But on the 21st day, the angel arrived and said, "From the first day that thou did set thine heart to understand thy words were heard from the first day." The answer was released from day one. But the manifestation came on day 21 because some things require consistency over time, not just sincerity in a moment. And that is precisely what renewing your mind requires. Sincerity in a moment is not enough. One powerful Sunday is not enough. 3 days of intense confession followed by 3 weeks of silence is not enough. 21 days minimum of waking up and creating the stillness before the noise starts. Of taking the one verse and meditating on it, speaking it slowly, letting it sit in the spirit, of speaking it out loud throughout the day, of anchoring it to the habits that structure your daily life, of lying down at night with the Word still in your mouth. 

And here is where the morning and night routine becomes the most powerful tool in this entire process. 

   Neuroscientists call it the alpha state. 

    In the first 30 minutes after waking and the last 30 minutes before sleep, the brain operates at a frequency that makes it significantly more receptive to new input. The conscious defenses that filter and evaluate information are partially lowered. New truth has easier access to the deeper layers of the mind.    Scripture identified this long before science did. 

Psalm 63:1.  Oh God, thou art my God. Early will I seek Thee.

 Early, before the day starts, before the world speaks, before the phone is checked or the news is consumed or the demands of the day begin competing for your attention. Early when the mind is most open, you give the Word . The first word. 

Psalm 16:7. My heart instructs me in the night seasons. 

The night seasons, the last moments before sleep, when the mind is moving toward its most receptive state, are not wasted on entertainment, on scrolling, on rehearsing the worries of the day. 

They are given to the Word, to the verse you have been meditating on, to the truth you want to be. The last thing the inner man hears before the  subconscious takes over during the hours of rest. 

Deuteronomy 6:7. Talk of the Word when you rise up and when you lie down 

FAMILY & MESSAGE OF THE HOUR

 Cultivating A Family of God 

Cultivating A Family of God

Cultivating A Family of God

Cultivating A Family of God

Cultivating A Family of God

Cultivating A Family of God

    a Family of God and Walking in the Message of the Hour

In today's world, building a family that reflects the love, grace, and truth of God requires intentionality, commitment, and walking in alignment with God’s Word. 

A family of God, and one that walks in the Message of the Hour, doesn't just attend church but one that lives out their faith in every aspect of life, parents and children. Parents have a special responsibility to ensure that they not only teach their children about God but also model a Christ-centered life that is consistent, accountable, and rooted in love and truth.

Steps for Fathers and Mothers to Cultivate a Godly Family

Let's go through a few things that we have to make sure are in place. These principles are at the core of ensuring your family has a strong foundation you are able to build from.

1. Establish Christ as the Center

1.1 The foundation of any godly family starts with placing Christ at the center of everything. This means prioritizing time with God both individually and as a family through daily prayer, worship, and cultivating an atmosphere the Holy Spirit is pleased to dwell. If you have rock music constantly playing in the home, do not be suprised if there is tension in the home or your children are dealing with anxiety. The atmosphere in the home is affected by things like music and movies. Establishing Christ as the center is not just reading the Bible, but paying attention to the atmosphere of the home. However, we should also set time aside for time in the Word. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 (KJV) reminds us, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

1.2 Make family worship a regular part of your routine. Create time for praying together, reading Scripture, and discussing what it means to walk in Christ, and walk in the Message of the Hour—the present truth that God has revealed for this time.

2. Foster a Strong, Godly Marriage

2.1 A strong and godly family begins with a strong marriage. Parents must prioritize their relationship with each other before their children, seeking to reflect Christ's love in their marriage. Children see this, and it has a positive effect when Mom and Dad are strong in their relationship. Ephesians 5:25 (KJV) says, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” When parents love and respect each other according to God's design, they create a stable and nurturing environment for their children.

2.2 Be open with your spouse, pray together, and hold one another accountable in your walk with God. A godly marriage sets the tone for the entire household and provides a model of faithfulness, love, and commitment for children to follow.

3. Model Authentic Faith, Avoid Hypocrisy

3.1 One of the most damaging things to children is seeing parents say one thing and live another. Accountability is key. Parents must ensure they live out the values and principles they teach. If children see hypocrisy—parents telling them to live for God but not doing so themselves—it will imprint on them, often leading to rebellion or a superficial faith.

3.2 James 1:22 (KJV) instructs us, “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.” Your children will notice if you’re just going through the motions or if you are genuinely living for the Lord. Make sure your life aligns with your teaching, and be quick to admit when you’ve fallen short. Humility and repentance in front of your children demonstrate true godliness.

4. Encourage Personal Relationships with Father God

4.1 Children need to understand that their relationship with Father God is personal. It’s not enough for them to simply follow their parents to church or participate in family devotions; they need to experience Father God for themselves. Encourage your children to pray, read the Bible, and seek Father God independently, even from a young age.

4.2 Philippians 2:12 (KJV) says, “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.” Help your children understand that they are responsible for their walk with God and that they must develop their own relationship with Him, built on their own faith, not just the example of their parents.

5. Teach Respect for Church and the Lord

5.1 While developing their own personal relationship with God is essential, teaching children to respect church, the Word of God, and the leaders God has placed in their lives is also vital (Ensuring your church leadership is accountable to the Word as well). Hebrews 13:17 (KJV) instructs, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account.” Show your children that attending church and listening to the Word is not about fulfilling a duty but about growing in their relationship with Christ.

5.2 At the same time, ensure they know that their faith isn’t just about rules and rituals but about walking in the Message of the Hour and obedience out of a servant's heart. They must learn to walk with God personally, not simply out of obligation.

6. Create an Environment of Accountability and Grace

6.1 Accountability is a key component of a godly home. Parents need to hold themselves and their children accountable to the Word of God. Create a culture where honesty, repentance, and forgiveness are regular practices. Proverbs 27:17 (KJV) says, “Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.” If a family is accountable to one another, the members will grow spiritually and be more united.

6.2 However, accountability should always be paired with grace. When mistakes are made, offer correction in love, not in anger. Ephesians 4:15 (KJV) teaches us to speak “the truth in love,” which helps the family grow in both character and spiritual maturity.

7. Lead with Intentional Discipleship

7.1 Discipleship is not just for the church; it starts in the home. Make it a priority to teach your children about God’s Word, the Message of the Hour, and how to live it out in their daily lives. Proverbs 4:1 (KJV) says, “Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.”

7.2 Have intentional conversations about Scripture, faith, and moral decisions. Equip them to handle the world’s temptations and challenges through a biblical lens. Let your home be a place of learning, love, and spiritual growth.

8. Involve the Entire Family in Ministry

8.1 Cultivating a family of God involves serving others. Find ways to get your entire family involved in ministry—whether through serving in church, helping the community, or encouraging others in their walk with God. 1 Peter 4:10 (KJV) says, “As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” When your family serves together, it not only strengthens your bond but also reinforces the importance of living out your faith in practical ways.

The Impact of Consistency and Faithfulness

Parents, remember that children will mirror what they see more than what they hear. If your walk with the Lord is inconsistent, your children will likely adopt the same attitude. However, if you are faithful, authentic, and accountable, your children will be much more likely to grow in their faith and develop their own personal relationship with God.

Proverbs 20:7 (KJV) reminds us, "The just man walketh in his integrity: his children are blessed after him." A family that walks consistently with the Lord, led by parents who are accountable to God and each other, is a powerful testimony to the world and a blessing to future generations.

A Family Walking in the Light

Building a family of God that walks in the Message of the Hour takes dedication, intentionality, and a commitment to accountability. Parents must model a life lived for the Lord, not just in words but in action. They must foster strong, godly marriages and create an environment where their children are encouraged to develop personal relationships with God.

When each family member—father, mother, and child—has a genuine relationship with God, the entire family becomes a powerful force for His Kingdom. The home becomes a reflection of God’s love, grace, and truth.

Let your family be one that not only respects the Lord and His Word but knows Him deeply, walks in the Message of the Hour, and lives out the truth in every aspect of life.

The Message of the Hour

Walking in the Light of God's Word

Understanding the Message of the Hour is crucial because God’s Word is not stagnant; it moves and fulfills His purpose in every age. As believers, we must be in step with what God is doing at the time in which we live. 

For example, look at Noah who had a message from God in his time: build an ark to save his family and the world from a coming flood. That was God's Word for Noah's time. 

But Moses couldn't have followed Noah's message. By Moses' day, God was doing something different, calling Moses to deliver His people from bondage in Egypt. 

Neither would it work for any of the apostles to have followed both Noah and Moses' message, because Jesus Christ had come and given what God was doing in that day.

 Similarly, today, we must walk in the light of what God is doing now—through Christ's message for this day.

So what is that Message that God has given His church today?

Prophets: God's Chosen Vessels to Speak His Word

Throughout Scripture, we see that God has always used prophets to deliver His Word to His people. Prophets serve as His chosen vessels to bring clarity and direction for a specific time and season, speaking the Word that fits precisely what He is doing in that moment. The Bible is filled with examples of this, where God raised up prophets not only to communicate His plan but to call His people to walk in the light of what He was doing in their day. Deuteronomy 18:18 (KJV) clearly states: “I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.” From Moses to Elijah, Isaiah, and John the Baptist, Apostle Paul and beyond, God has consistently communicated His will through men He has chosen, anointed, and sent with His message for that specific time.

As Amos 3:7 (KJV) declares: “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” When God is about to do something new, He sends a prophet to announce His Word, to warn, to prepare, and to lead His people into His plan. Prophets are God's mouthpieces, delivering the message that the people need to hear to remain in step with Him. Hebrews 1:1-2 says, "God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;". God was speaking through the Apostle Paul. So the Spirit of God was bringing His Word through Paul, the messenger to the people. To reject Paul's "message" would be rejecting God.

In the New Testament, Paul speaks about being entrusted with the message of the hour for his generation. Paul, called by God and given direct revelation from Christ, preached the gospel to the Gentiles and defended the truth of the gospel, warning against deviating from it. Galatians 1:10-17 (KJV) highlights Paul’s insistence that the gospel he preached came through divine revelation: “For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Paul’s message was specific to the age of the early church, calling people out of Jewish traditions and into the grace of God through Jesus Christ. As Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:13 (KJV): “Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast heard of me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.” His teaching was the present truth for that time, and the people were called to hold fast to it, recognizing that Christ is the Word, and to follow His Word is to walk in the light. As 1 John 1:7 says, "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

A good example of this is found in Acts 19:1-5. This passage describes how Paul encountered disciples who had been baptized by John the Baptist's baptism of repentance, and after learning about Jesus (The Message of the Hour), they were then baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. They heard the voice of God speaking through Paul, and moved forward with what God was doing. They were following Christ's Message for their day.

The Message of the Hour Today

If there was a message all down throughout history, is there a different one today than when Paul spoke?

Yes.

Malachi 4:5-6 says that "before the great and dreadful day of the Lord" another messenger would come.

Malachi 4:5-6 (KJV): "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." Then in Revelations 10:7 we find right before the end time, "But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets."

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Just as in Paul’s day, there is a message for this time. The Message of the Hour in our day is the voice of God calling His Bride to a restoration of the pure Word of God. God is calling His people to return to the original teachings of Scripture and to be filled with the Holy Spirit, preparing for the rapture. The message today is not about creating denominations or doctrines of men but about pointing people to Christ Himself.

We believe that if you say someone is a prophet, you should see it prophesied in Scripture, and their message will align with the Written Word. There have been so many people claim to be this "end-time" messenger, but their message doesn't perfectly fit with the Scripture. The Mormon church believes in their prophet, the Catholic church believes in the Pope, but all haven't aligned with the Word of God.

We believe that there was one that met all the requirements that Jesus and the Apostles said would be there. Today, as in the past, God has a message for this hour, and He has raised up a prophet to deliver that message. 

We believe William Marrion Branham, born in 1909 and died in 1965, meets the qualifications outlined in Malachi 4:5-6 and Revelation 10:7 as the prophet for this time. His message was not about drawing people to himself, a denomination or creating a new system of belief. His message was to bring people back to the pure, written Word of God and to point them to Christ.

That's a big statement. If you Google "William Branham" you will find people that call him the devil, a deceiver, all the way to people who worship pictures of him. What we must look for is not a vindicated man, but a vindicated Message. All God's prophets, including Paul, were a little strange, often unqualified men. What made Elijah qualified? It wasn't the man, it was that God chose him and vindicated the message he brought to the people . God showed that to be true on Mount Carmel by consuming his sacrifice. We don't look for William Branham to be qualified, we look for a vindicated Message, and what William Branham taught was perfectly aligned with Scripture.

“Now, the very essence of the message that was sent - that He is risen from the dead - we, his beneficiaries, we who share the resurrection with Him, draw benefits from this, by proving to the world that He is alive. We cannot do it by word only. We cannot do it by some tradition of man. We only reflect exactly what we're pointing to. I’m afraid today that too many of us are not getting people to Christ. We’re getting them to a church, to a theory. But we must get them to Christ. He is the only One, and the only One that has Life. ‘He that has the Son has Life.’ And if the life of a man that’s dead be projected in you, you will live the same life he lived.” (65-0418M - It Is The Rising Of The Sun)

In a time when there are almost 33,000 denominations, and the Methodist faith believes this take on the Word, the Lutherans believe that take on the Word, seminaries teach all manner of historical theory and thought on the Scripture, it is more mass confusion rather than clarity. When the Bible says in Romans 3:4, "Let God be true but every man a liar."

The message of this time is to get people to Christ, to the Word, because Christ is the Word. Just as Moses couldn't follow Noah's message, and Paul couldn't follow the law of the Old Testament, we must walk in the light of what God is doing today. As 1 John 1:7 (KJV) says: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.”

It is not another denomination we teach, it is not a man that we lift up, it is not a cult we fabricate. It is Christ, and Him crucified, Christ in you the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27).

God’s Message Is Always Timely and Specific

In every age, God sends a timely message, and the people are called to follow that Word. 

In Noah's time, obedience to God's Word meant building an ark and trusting Him in the midst of impending judgment. 

In Moses' time, obedience meant leading the people out of Egypt and establishing them in God's covenant. 

In Paul’s time, obedience meant receiving the gospel of grace and moving beyond the law.

Today, God’s message is calling His Bride to separate from the world, to be filled with the Holy Spirit, and to live in preparation for the soon coming of Christ. 

Malachi 4:5-6 (KJV) speaks of the prophet God would send before the great and dreadful day of the Lord, and Revelation 10:7 (KJV) prophesies that in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be finished. 

That message has come, and now is the time to respond to it, walking in the light of this present truth. Its responding to the voice of God calling out to you personally.

Conclusion: Walking in the Light of God's Word

Understanding the Message of the Hour is essential for every believer. It isn't something you sign your name to, it isn't something you buy, it isn't something any church can give you. 

It is knowing the person of the Lord Jesus Christ in an individual relationship and being filled with His Spirit and walking in the Word.

God does not leave His people in darkness but sends His Word through prophets to guide and prepare them for what He is doing. 

The message is clear: God is calling His Bride back to the pure, written Word, pointing them to Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

The Message of the Hour is the voice of God calling to His true church (Spirit filled believers) in these last days, calling them unto Himself.

Just as in the days of Noah, Moses, and Paul, God is speaking today, and the question is, will we hear and follow His Word for this hour? The call is to walk in the light of what God is doing now, to be part of the Bride prepared for Christ’s return.

If you would like to know more about what God is doing in this day, reach out to us with questions . We pray God speaks to you.