WORDS PART II

PICTURE IN YOUR MIND, A PERSON STANDING IN THE CENTER OF A ROOM. WHEN A NEGATIVE WORD IS SPOKEN, THAT WORD IS CONSTANTLY SHOUTED AT THAT PERSON. THE PERSON IN THE CENTER BEGINS TO LOOK BEATEN DOWN. THEN, WHEN POSITIVE WORDS AND STATEMENTS ARE DONE THE SAME WAY, THE PERSON IN THE CENTER, REACHES OUT AND GATHERS (OR RECEIVES) EACH POSITIVE WORD AND BEGINS TO REJOICE. IF THE PERSON RECEIVES THE NEGATIVE WORDS, THEY WILL REMAIN IN A CAST DOWN CONDITION.

IF YOU CAN GET THIS PICTURE, YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE WHOLE MESSAGE.

SOME OF THE NEGATIVE WORDS AND STATEMENTS; OR WE COULD CALL THEM CURSES, ARE: “FAILURE; NEVER AMOUNT TO ANYTHING; JUST LIKE YOUR FATHER; NO GOOD; GOING TO HELL; DRUG ADDICT; ALCOHOLIC; PROSTITUTE; JOHN; LAZY;” AND PROBABLY THE WORST OF ALL IS: “I HATE YOU; I WISH YOU WERE DEAD; I WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN; WE’RE GETTING A DIVORCE; IT’S YOUR FAULT; I’M GOING TO KILL YOU; REJECTION; DESERTION; GET OUT; YOU’RE SICK!

YOU MAY EVEN BE HEARING VOICES FROM THE OTHER SIDE, “KILL!, KILL!; COMMIT SUICIDE!!”

FEAR AND ANGER ARE TWO OF THE FIRST SPIRITS OF EVLL THAT ENTERS THE LIFE OF THOSE WHO RECEIVE THE NEGATIVE WORDS FOR THEMSELVES, AND BELIEVE THEM. THEY BECOME A PART OF THEIR LIVES; WHAT THEY THINK ABOUT THEMSELVES.

I MIGHT ADD, BELOVED, ADULTS, AS WELL AS CHILDREN ARE SUSCEPTIBLE AND SENSITIVE TO RECEIVING SUCH WORDS AS A PART OF THEM, IF THEY HEAR THEM ENOUGH.

II TIMOTHY 1:7 – FOR GOD HAS NOT GIVEN US THE SPIRIT OF FEAR; BUT OF POWER, AND OF LOVE, AND OF A SOUND MIND.

THE DEMON SPIRIT OF FEAR CAN PARALYZE ANYONE INTO BELIEVING ALL THESE LIES ABOUT THEM.

JOHN 10:10 – THE THIEF COMETH NOT, BUT FOR TO STEAL, AND TO KILL, AND TO DESTROY: I AM COME THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE LIFE, AND THAT MORE ABUNDANTLY (OR IN IT’S FULLEST  MEASURE).

SOME OF YOU CAN HEAR YOUR SAINTLY GRANDMOTHER PRAYING NOW, “O GOD, SAVE MY BABY; DON’T LET MY BABY GO TO HELL!”

MANY OF YOU WHO ARE SAVED, CAN LOOK BACK OVER YOUR LIFE, AND SEE WHAT IT TOOK TO GET YOU TO THIS PLACE OF SURRENDER TO GOD.

IT WAS THE DRAWING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

IT WAS THE PRAYERS OF SOMEONE WHO CARES ABOUT YOU.

WHEN JESUS CHRIST COMES IN TO LIVE, AND WE BEGIN TO STUDY THE BIBLE, AND HEAR ANOINTED PREACHING AND TEACHING, WE BEGIN TO HEAR, AND DISCOVER POSITIVE WORDS IN THE SCRIPTURES: THAT TELL US WHO WE REALLY ARE IN CHRIST.

THAT IS, WHEN WE SEE OURSELVES AS CHRIST SEES US:  LOVED, JOHN 3:16; SAVED, EPHESIANS 2:8; HAVING ETERNAL LIFE, JOHN 3:15; NO CONDEMNATION, ROMANS 8:1; DELIVERED, LUKE 4:18; HEALED, I PETER 2:24; CHILD OF GOD, ROMANS 8:16; JOINT HEIR WITH CHRIST, ROMANS 8:17; FREE, JOHN 8:32, 36; NEVER ALONE, MATTHEW 1:23; RIGHTEOUS, ROMANS 5:19; I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST, PHILIPPIANS 4:13; FORGIVEN, LUKE 6:37; VICTORIOUS, I CORINTHIANS 15:57; A NEW CREATION, II CORINTHIANS 5:17; OLD THINGS ARE PASSED AWAY, II CORINTHIANS 5:17; PROMISE OF HEAVEN, HEBREWS 12:22, 23; WILL REIGN WITH CHRIST, ROMANS 5:17.  REWARDS, PEACE.

CHRIST NEVER TOLD ANYONE, “YOU’LL NEVER MAKE IT; YOU’RE A FAILURE; I HATE YOU; GO TO HELL.”

BELOVED, EVEN IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE, THE MIND IS THE BATTLE GROUND.

WE ARE TO RENEW OUR MINDS DAILY, BY READING AND STUDYING THE WORD OF GOD.

*WATCH FOR  “WORDS” PART III

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HELP MY UNBELIEF

MARK 9:23 –  JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, IF THOU CANST BELIEVE, ALL THINGS ARE POSSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH.

LIMITED FAITH IS MOTIVATED BY FEAR AND UNBELIEF.

LIMITED FAITH RESTRICTS THE POWER OF GOD.

LIMITED FAITH IS CONTROLLED BY CIRCUMSTANCES.

LIMITED FAITH DOESN’T RESIST OR FIGHT FOR THE PROMISES OF GOD, IT JUST LAYS DOWN AND DIES.

FAITH IS PRODUCED BY GOD’S WORD AND IS UNLIMITED, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO THOSE  WHO BELIEVE. ANYTHING THAT IS GOD’S WILL FOR US BELONGS TO US.

FAITH RELEASES THE ANIONTING AND ALSO FAITH RELEASES ANGELS.

THE FATHER OF THE DEMON POSSESSED CHILD SAID, LORD I BELIEVE YOU CAN DELIVER MY CHILD, BUT HELP MY UNBELIEF.

WE ALL HAVE UNBELIEF, BUT JESUS CAN HELP US OVERCOME OUR UNBELIEF.

IF WE GET FULL,  AND STAY FULL OF THE LORD, UNBELIEF WILL DISAPPEAR AND FAITH WILL APPEAR.

IN THE BOOK OF ACTS WE READ OF A MAN CALLED STEPHEN, WHO WAS FULL OF THE HOLY GHOST AND FAITH. THERE WAS NO ROOM FOR UNBELIEF IN THIS MAN’S LIFE.

HE PREACHED WITH SUCH POWER, HIS SERMON’S WERE FULL OF THE WORD OF GOD. WE CAN UNDERSTAND HOW HE GOT FULL OF FAITH AND POWER, HE WAS FULL OF THE WORD OF GOD.

THE WORD OF GOD AND PRAYER  FILLS OUR LIFE WITH FAITH AND POWER, A FIRE BURNS IN OUR HEARTS, A PASSION FOR MORE OF THE LORD. SO STRONG THAT THERE IS NO ROOM FOR UNBELIEF OR LIMITED FAITH. THE FIRE OF FAITH AND POWER THAT CREATES AN ATMOSPHERE FOR GREAT WONDERS AND MIRACLES.

WE CAN BE BAPTIZED IN THE HOLY GHOST AND POWER, THAT GIVES US A PASSION FOR PRAYER, WORD, AND WORSHIP.

DON’T LIMIT HOW MUCH OF GOD IS IN YOUR LIFE, LET’S BE LIKE STEPHEN: FULL OF FAITH AND POWER. WE MEASURE OUT HOW MUCH ANOINTING WE HAVE IN OUR LIFE.

GOD MAKES HIS PRESENCE AND POWER AND FAITH AVAILABE TO US, WE MEASURE OUT HOW MUCH WE WANT: WE CHOOSE.

I DESIRE HOLY GHOST FIRE TO SET THE CAPTIVE FREE, AND TO STAY FREE MYSELF: FULL OF FAITH AND POWER.

       

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OBEDIENCE THE PROOF OF LOVE

JOHN 21:15 – SO WHEN THEY HAD DINED, JESUS SAITH TO SIMON PETER, SIMON, SON OF JONAS, LOVEST THOU ME MORE THAN THESE? HE SAITH UNTO HIM, YEA LORD: THOU KNOWEST THAT I LOVE THEE. HE SAITH UNTO HIM, FEED MY LAMBS.

PETER HAD LEFT JERUSALEM AFTER JESUS WAS CRUCIFIED AND RETURNED WITH OTHER DISCIPLES TO THE FISHING BUSINESS.

PETER WAS DISCOURAGED AND CONFUSED. HIS IDEAS OF MINISTRY WAS LOST. THEIR KING HAD BEEN CRUCIFIED.

JESUS HAD ALREADY APPEARED TO THEM AFTER HIS RESURRECTION, BUT IT WASN’T ENOUGH FOR THESE DISCIPLIES, THEY STILL DIDN’T UNDERSTAND THEIR PURPOSE.

IT WAS EASIER TO RUN AND RETURN TO THEIR FLESH THEN. THEY DIDN’T UNDERSTAND, SO IT WAS EASIER TO RETURN TO THE COMFORT ZONE.

WHAT LOOKS LIKE A FAILURE, IS A STEPPING STONE TO VICTORY.

JESUS WOULD NOT LEAVE THESE MEN IN THIS CONDITION, BUT CAME AFTER THEM.

JESUS LOVED TO ASK PETER QUESTIONS.

HE CALLED PETER SON OF JONAS (DOUBLE REFERENCE HERE, THEREFORE, JESUS WAS IDENTIFYING PETER WITH A DISOBEDIENT  OLD TESTAMENT PROPHET WHO WAS SWALLOWED BY A GREAT FISH).

PETER HAD BEEN A DISCIPLE OF JESUS FOR THREE AND ONE HALF YEARS, HIS OBEDIENCE HAD TO BE CONNECTED TO LOVE FOR JESUS.

OBEDENCE IS PROOF OF OUR LOVE FOR GOD, WE MAY BE CONFUSED BY WHAT IS HAPPENING AROUND US, WE MAY BE DISCOURAGED. BUT IF WE REALLY LOVE JESUS WE WILL OBEY.

JESUS ASK PETER THREE TIMES DO YOU LOVE ME? PETER SAID, “YES LORD”, JESUS SAID, “OBEY ME.”

PETER OBEYED JESUS AND WENT BACK TO JERUSALEM AND TARRIED IN THE UPPER ROOM FOR TEN DAYS.

120 PEOPLE WERE IN THAT ROOM BECAUSE OF THEIR LOVE FOR JESUS.

LOVES ALWAYS CARRIES US TO OBEDIENCE.

JESUS LOVES PEOPLE AND WE ARE A CONNECTED TO WHAT HE DOES ON THIS EARTH.

WE ARE OBEDIENT TO GODS PURPOSE FOR OUR LIVES, BECAUSE WE LOVE JESUS.

LAMBS ARE EASIER TO FEED THAN SHEEP.

JESUS TOLD PETER TO FEED HIS LAMBS ONLY ONCE, BUT HE TOLD PETER TWICE TO FEED HIS SHEEP. SHEEP BITE HARDER THAN LAMBS.

YOU MAY HAVE BEEN SHEEP BIT AND WENT BACK TO THE COMFORT ZONE.

JESUS IS ASKING THIS QUESTION OF YOU. DO YOU LOVE ME?, FEED MY SHEEP.

ODEDIENCE IS THE PROOF OF LOVE.

GO BACK TO THE UPPER ROOM AND TARRY, AND TRY AGAIN.

JESUS HAS COME AFTER YOU, HE NEEDS YOU TO LOVE HIM AND OBEY.

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FROM PRISON TO THE PULPIT PART I

THIS IS AN UNUSUAL TITLE FOR A TESTIMONY, BUT I’VE LIVED AN UNUSUAL LIFE.

MY NAME IS CHARLES SELLERS, FORMALLY KNOWN AS C.A. SELLERS.

BEING A SHARECROPPER’S SON, AND IF YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT A SHARECROPER IS, IT IS TAKING CARE OF ANOTHER PERSON’S LAND. YOU CAN LIVE THERE AND PLANT FOOD ON THAT PROPERTY.

IN OTHER WORDS, MY FAMILY WAS POVERTY STRICKEN.

MY DAD LEFT MY MOM WITH 6 CHILDREN, WHEN I WAS 4 YEARS OLD. SO ME AND MY SIBLINGS HAD NOTHING. WE HAD NO CHRISTMAS PRESENTS, NO BIRTHDAY PARTIES; NOTHING NORMAL CHILDREN ENJOYED. EVEN OUR CLOTHES WERE HAND-ME-DOWNS.

IT WASN’T MY MOM’S FAULT, IT WASN’T MY FAULT; IT’S JUST THE WAY IT WAS.

PROBABLY, IF THERE WAS ANYONE TO BLAME, IT WOULD HAVE BEEN MY DAD.

BUT THAT IS A DIFFERENT STORY WITHIN ITSELF.

MY DAD DIED WHEN I WAS 9 YEARS OLD. MY MOM HAD HIS BODY BROUGHT HOME. WHILE HE LAID IN HIS COFFIN IN OUR LIVING ROOM, I WAS AT MY FRIEND’S HOUSE ACROSS THE STREET, AND STOLE SOME MONEY THAT WAS LAYING ON HIS AUNT’S DRESSER.

AT THAT MOMENT, I STARTED A LIFE OF STEALING.

OVER THE YEARS, I’VE STOLEN EVERYTHING FROM BICYCLES TO ROBBING BANKS. I SPENT MOST OF MY LIFE LOCKED UP.

I’VE DONE TIME IN 8 FEDERAL INSTITUTIONS. SOME, LIKE TERR HUNTA, ATLANTA FEDERAL PENN., LEWISBURG FEDERAL PENN., ASHLAND KENTUCKY CORRECTIONAL INST., PETERSBURG VIRGINIA FEDERAL FORMITORY, TALAHASSIE (FLORIDA) CORRECTIONAL INST., LOUIVILLE KENTUCKY CORRECTIONAL INST.

ALSO, I’VE DONE TIME IN 7 STATE INSTITUTIONS, STARTING AT HOMESVIEW TO PERRY CORRECTIONAL INST., AND SEVERAL MORE.

I REMEMBER AND INCIDENT WHEN I BROKE IN A SCHOOL AND THE POLICE SHOWED UP. I CLIMBED OUT A WINDOW, AND WAS RUNNING ACROSS THE ROOF. THE ROOF RAN OUT AND I DROPPED DOWN 2 STORIES TO THE GROUND, ROLLED, AND KEPT ON RUNNING. FOR THIS ONE, I NEVER GOT CAUGHT.

BY LOOKING OVER THIS EVENT AND MANY MORE IN MY LIFE, I NOW REALIZE, GOD HAD HIS HAND ON ME.

I’VE BEEN SHOT; I WOKE-UP OUT OF A THREE DAY COMA BY FOOD POISONING, AND FOUND MY LIVE-IN GIRL FRIEND WAS DEAD. THE DOCTORS SAID IT WAS NATURAL CAUSES, BUT I BELIEVE SHE ALSO HAD FOOD POISONING.

AS MY LIFE PROGRESSED, I FOUND MYSELF DOING THINGS I THOUGHT I WOULD NEVER DO: LIKE SHOOTING DRUGS IN MY VEINS, UNTIL I DESTROYED EVERY VISIBLE VEIN IN MY BODY; AND TAKING UP A GUN AND ROBBING BANKS IN BROAD DAYLIGHT. THIS WAS A LONG WAY FROM STEALING BICYCLES AS A CHILD.

I GUESS YOU COULD SAY I WAS NOW IN THE BIG TIME: SELLING DRUGS, ROBBING BANKS, BUT THE CONSEQUENCES OF THIS LIFE STYLE TOOK ME FURTHER THAN I WANTED OR PLANNED TO GO, AND COST ME MORE THAT I WANTED TO PAY. YOU SEE, THE COST WAS MY FREEDOM, THE SUFFERING OF MY FAMILY, AND ALWAYS LOOSING EVERYTHING AGAIN AND AGAIN, AS I WOULD REPEATEDLY GET ARRESTED AND CONVICTED, AND SENT BACK TO PRISON.

A LIFE IN PRISON WASN’T EASY. WHEN I STARTED OUT IN REFORM SCHOOL, I HAD TO DIG 10 FOOT DITCHES, 18 INCHES WIDE, WITH A 10 FOOT SHOVEL. I KNOW YOU PROBABLY HAVE NEVER SEEN A 10 FOOT SHOVEL, BUT BELIEVE ME THEY HAD THEM.

I WAS 12 YEARS OLD AT THIS TIME.

WHEN I TURNED 15, I WAS SENT TO THE NATIONAL TRAINING SCHOOL IN WASHINGTON DC. BELIEVE ME, THIS PLACE WAS “HELL”. I WAS IN A FIGHT ALMOST EVERY DAY. WHEN THEY WOULD PUT ME IN LOCK-UP, THEY WOULD STRIP ME OF ALL MY CLOTHES, AND PUT ME IN  A SMALL TILED ROOM. THE TEMPERATURE IN THE ROOM WAS THE SAME AS IT WAS OUTSIDE. SO CAN YOU IMAGINE DECEMBER AND JANUARY? HOW COLD IT GETS IN DC? 

I COULDN’T TAKE MUCH MORE OF THIS PLACE, SO I PLANNED MY ESCAPE AND CARRIED THROUGH WITH IT. AS I CLIMBED THE FENCE SURROUNDING THE INSTITUTION, THEN BARBED WIRE BROKE AT THE TOP OF THE FENCE, AND I FEEL 10 FEET, AND JUST KNEW I WAS GOING TO GET CAUGHT, BUT NO ONE SAW ME BREAK OUT OF LINE GOING BACK TO THE DORM FROM THE GYM.

WE WERE SURROUNDED BY GUARDS. IT WAS AT NIGHT, BUT NOBODY SAW ME.

I MADE MY WAY TO A RAILROAD TRACK, AND THERE WAS A SLOW MOVING TRAIN. I JUST KNEW IT WOULD TAKE ME A LONG WAY FROM WHERE I WAS AT. I DIDN’T CARE WHERE IT WAS GOING AS LONG AS IT WOULD TAKE ME AWAY FROM THERE. WELL I JUMPED IN THE OPEN DOOR OF THE BOXCAR, AND THE TRAIN KEPT ROLLING FOR ABOUT 5 MINUTES; IT STOPPED, AND HERE CAME A TOW MOTOR IN THE BOXCAR I WAS IN, TAKING OUT PALLETS OF FREIGHT. I GOT OUT OF YTHE BOXCAR AND FOUND MYSELF IN DOWN TOWN DC.

TO SHORTEN THIS, I MADE IT BACK TO SOUTH CAROLINA, WENT TO CALIFORNIA, CAME BACK TO SC AND GOT CAUGHT. I WAS OUT FOR 2 MONTHS, AND THEY PUT ME BACK IN THE STRIPP-CELL AGAIN, NAKED. THEY THEN TRANSFERRED ME TO ASHLAND KENTUCKY.

THIS IS NOT THE END OF MY STORY: BUT HOW I CAME TO THE LORD, AND WHERE I AM NOW WILL BE IN “FROM PRISON TO THE PULPIT PART II”, COMING UP NEXT.

    

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