I have always heard if you want to hide something so that no one can find it. You have to hide it in plain sight. A place where everyone can see it and no one can. I have never quite understood the concept completely. Although I have practiced this principle almost all my life. I have been a minister, teacher and preacher. I have never pastored a church. I don’t think I would want to. God has sent me to people to tell them different things. God has had instruction for so many people over my life time. I have never really told anyone what office I hold in the 5-fold ministry, except for my family. I relied on God to tell people what He wanted to say about me. People could see that I knew God and walked close to Him. I personally didn’t want anyone to see me. I want them to see Jesus only. I have done this most of my life. My Life in Christ is very personal and intimate. I didn’t want to share my knowledge of God except that God told me to. So I share what God has taught me over the years. I hope all of this makes sense to you. I know some of you are wondering what I am talking about. I started with nothing. Not knowing about God or what He has to offer me. I learned a little and became a servant of God. I was very happy being a servant. Then I learned I was a son of God. I was adopted into the family of God. Then I was happy at being a son. Then God called me into His work. I began to learn what was required of me. God gave me a choice. I had to decided what I was going do. Then I did and God opened up a whole new world. I have seen so much of the kingdom. I know that what I have seen is just a small portion of heaven. In this blog I am covering many aspects of kingdom life. And you still don’t know who I am. I tell you a truth unless God tells me to reveal who I am, I won’t. God has for anyone a treasure bigger than all the world. And this treasure is for you. To find this treasure, open the eyes your heart and find God.

www.joseph1637.com

josepj1637@juno.com

When I first started walking with God, I had no responsibility in the kingdom except for myself. It was relatively easy to live up to expectations. God loved me and was protecting me from harm. I learned what God wanted me to do in this life and developed my skills in the kingdom. I began to read the bible like I had never done before. I had a bible at home, one in my car and one on my desk at work. I read everywhere I went. I was catching up for lost time. My mind is quick and I learn fast. I don’t remember everything, but just about. I could quote scriptures at any given time. The word of God became part of my life. As I learned I became more confident in my abilities that God gave me. I wanted to do what God was showing me. But the one thing that I didn’t want to do was make serious mistakes that would harm people. God had to walk me through this mine field. You can’t accomplish anything unless you get out there and do something. Doing something is always a risky business. God said He would lead me in the paths of righteousness for His namesake. Not everybody is going to like what you do. Some will even get belligerent about it. God showed me to keep on walking no matter what. I have spoken to people about serious matters. Things that they needed to do in their lives. Very few times has it blown up in my face. But it has happened. I asked God to forgive me and correct the situation. And He has. To where I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and not afraid of sharing it. I have seen God do miracles in people’s lives. I have had people to return to me and say how much I help them through difficult times. God says learn of Me, for My yoke is easy and My burden is light. I don’t fear mistakes anymore. I have learned where to go for help in the time of need.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

As I was growing up, I didn’t read much of the bible except the stories of David in the Old Testament. So I really didn’t know what God has said. I knew the stories were exciting and I wanted a God to do for me just like He did for David. David was the youngest of 12 children of Jesse. That meant that he got the short end of the stick for family assignments. His older brothers apparently didn’t like living in the wilderness with the sheep. Sheep aren’t the brightest animal around. And they don’t smell too good. They don’t smell as bad as pigs, but they still stink. Someone had to be with the sheep to get them out of trouble and keep them in a certain area. In David’s day, there were lions, tigers and bears, oh my, that roamed the wilderness looking for food. Now David had to learn to defend the sheep against all predators. And he had to learn to defend himself against the wild animals. David had 3 weapons, a sling, a club and a staff with a crook. A sling to thrown rocks, a club to beat off animals and a staff with a crook to pull sheep out of the biers or a thorn bush. David would practice each day until he could use these weapons proficiently. A lion came and grabbed a sheep. David killed the lion and got back the sheep. A bear came and took a lamb. David killed the bear and recovered the lamb. David loved the wilderness. It was where he had time to know God and trust Him. After several years in the wilderness, the Philistines marched against Israel. All the young men of fighting age were called up. David was still too young. But His father let him take food to his brothers in the army. The Philistines had a champion named Goliath. He was a giant over 9 feet tall. No one in the Israeli army wanted to face Goliath. The King kept asking for a volunteer. But no one would. Finally David answered and said he would go. He told him he had killed a lion and a bear. He said, this uncircumcised Philistine was no match for the living God. The king offered his armor, but David said no. he picked up stones and ran toward Goliath. David took his sling and a stone and struck the philistine in to head and God push the stone into his head. Goliath died and David took his sword and cut off his head. David was ready with an answer because he had spent time with God and practiced.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

“It was the best of times, and the worst of times, and an age of wisdom, and an age of foolishness”. This is the opening sentence of the Charles Dickens book, A Tale of Two Cities. It is quoted many times for different reasons. But mostly because of the 2 forces at work in this world, good and evil. The most popular books, plays or TV shows are moral plays, the fight between good and evil. It resonates inside every human being. It is showing the struggle inside each of us. The earliest moral play was the marionette play of Punch and Judy. It showed the evil of drunkenness. Unfortunately, it is still popular because of the popularity of drunkenness. As of late, the popularity of moral plays has shifted from good winning to evil. It is what the bible says that will happen in the last days. They, mankind, will call good, evil and evil, good. This happens when people lose hope that their situation will change. I know what it is to lose hope and believe that the world is going to hell in a hand-basket. Mary and Joseph took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem to dedicate Him to God. Out of all the believer’s there, two people saw Jesus for who He was. They hadn’t lost hope that God would deliver Israel. Hope is the beginning of faith. Hope believes that things will change. He that comes to God must have hope that God will do what He says. And when He does, it turns into faith. For faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

I don’t have to really define it because most any one knows what the works of the flesh are. But I am going to talk about it. God made us out of the dust of the earth. He did it to house our spirit, or us. It is a part of our life as long as we live on this earth. I told this story before. God created Adam and Eve. He put them in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned against God not only were they kicked out of paradise, their flesh was cursed. God cursed the earth that it wouldn’t yield it fruits freely to man. Again, our flesh is made out of the dust of the cursed earth. Our flesh wars against us, our spirit. It is an eternal struggle. To be able to control ourselves, you have to control your flesh. This is where the works of the flesh come in. the bible says it better than I can. In Galatians 5:19-22, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (KJV). God is very serious about this. He talks about all the time. Like He says if this is what you are doing, you will not make it into heaven. It doesn’t mean that God will not take you from this state of affairs and bring you on. Because He definitely will help you turn your life around. All you have to do is ask God to forgive you and He will. Thank God for His mercy, otherwise you would be a piece of burn toast. Good for nothing except to be thrown out with the trash. This is no joke and I am not trying to funny or cute. God will do what He says in His word.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

The gift of Divers kinds of Tongues is speaking supernaturally in an unknown language. It is not understood by the speaker and sometimes not by the hearer. When a person is baptized in the Holy Spirit, they will receive their own personal language from God. The language is not earthly. It is a heavenly language. Every person’s language is individual. There are no 2 spiritual languages the same. And God understands them all. This gift is linked with prophesy. It is prophesy in an unknown language. Just like prophesy is speaking supernaturally in a known language, to edify, exhort, comfort and convict. Divers kinds of Tongues are given to edify, exhort, comfort and convict to the people listening to it. now this is where the Interpretation of Tongues comes in. no one will know what it means unless there is someone to interpret the prophesy. God always gives the interpretation, but each person must be willing to speak out. Sometimes it’s difficult because it is in the middle of church with a large congregation. The first now I ever gave a prophesy, it was like lightning striking through me. I had to sit down after I spoke. Anything God does is always subject to the prophet. God will not make you do or say anything. It is always up to you if you are going to obey. It got easier each time I did prophesy. It wasn’t that I wasn’t careful when I spoke. I was very conscious of what I was saying and doing. This is why God says that a teacher is worth double honor or double damnation. But if you don’t try, you will never know the love that flows through you when God speaks. Again, there are conditions to receiving this gift. Each person must first accept Jesus into their heart. Then each person must be baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. When these 2 conditions are met, then God will give the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Again the power of God isn’t for personal use or abuse. God will not give His power to a sinner.

www.joseph1637.com

When I was a child, I would read from our big family altar bible. I loved the stories in the Old Testament. How the prophets went about doing God’s will. They would perform miracles and prophesied. Everybody knew that they were prophets because they prophesied and spoke in tongues. King David before he was king of Israel, was chased by King Saul. Saul wanted to kill David for many reasons. Mostly that Saul didn’t want David to take his place. Saul persued David everywhere. One day he was about to catch David. Then something happened to Saul. The Holy Spirit came upon him. Saul began to speak in Tongues and prophesy.  He did it so much that the priest around Saul ask if Saul was a prophet. When a person is baptized in the Holy Spirit, there are 2 things that will happen. The first is that the person will speak with other tongues. In a heavenly language that only God and his angels understand. The second is that the person will prophesy. When the Holy Spirit comes upon you, you will speak. No one can hold it in, but this isn’t the Gift of Prophesy. The Gift of Prophesy expresses God’s feelings. It is speaking supernaturally in a known language, to edify, exhort, comfort and convict. The known language doesn’t necessarily have to be your native language. I have known a missionary that didn’t speak Spanish. He began to pray in his heavenly language and it came of his mouth in Spanish. I knew another Christian who was in Africa in a church service when she began to pray in the spirit. And all of the natives heard their native language. The Gift of Prophesy is God directing an individual to speak His mind to another person. It is exciting but it doesn’t make you a prophet. It is a gift to help man. Again, there are conditions to receiving this gift. Each person must first accept Jesus into their heart. Then each person must be baptized in the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. When these 2 conditions are met, then God will give the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Again the power of God isn’t for personal use or abuse. God will not give His power to a sinner.

www.joseph1637.com

joseph1637@juno.com

Contentment is being satisfied with who you are and what you have. In today’s world this seems like a tall order. Everybody is pushing to get the latest craze. If it isn’t a new phone, it is a new watch, phone, and a computer put together. Then there is the new car syndrome. If your car isn’t 6 months old or less, you haven’t succeeded. Let us not forget clothes. If you don’t have the latest clothes, you just can’t go out of you house. And if your house is not up to date, Lord have mercy on my soul. There seems to be a driving need to acquire things. We must acquire bigger things or better things or our life isn’t worth living. That idea is a total lie straight out of the pits of hell. It is an idea to make you discontented with your life and everyone and thing in it too. Do you remember when one toy at Christmas was a real blessing? Or do you remember going to get an ice cream cone with your family? I can remember going with my family to get a cold mug of root beer. It was so much fun and I was with my family. Your life is what you make it. If you don’t participate in it, it still goes on without you. That is even sadder than being greedy. Take back your life and be who you are supposed to be. Don’t let everybody else tell you what you are supposed to be. It is for your self-worth and inner peace that you need to do this. Don’t let the world dictate to you what is important to you. Stand up and be yourself. For as God has said that contentment and Godliness is great gain.

www.joseph1637.com

josep1637@juno.com