The Jesus Message

Seven Ways God Uses Revelation

19/08/21 at 10.30am   /   by Dannie Hood   /   0 Comment

August 25, 2019

We travel through deserts of impossible circumstances. We feel the heat of hatred against us. We feel the intense fever of loneliness as the sun bares down on the endless miles. Misery drinks away what desire we have left. Despair laughs at the empty canteens of our already meager determination. We stagger under the weight of regret and it gets heavier as we sweat away any virtue left in this arid climate. Desert miles and lonely moments. Desert sun and little assurance. Desert journeys and absent joy. Why go on? We toss aside our dreams like Hagar’s little lad; we won’t survive and neither will the dream. We won’t make it out of this canyon of sorrow so why even look at what used to motivate us? It’s a dying child in a Sahara land of missed opportunities and rejected faith. You’ve been told to go away. You’ve been shoved out by uncontrollable relationship conflicts. But God shows up. He speaks through His Word. He gives a message of hope in the wastelands of your human weariness. An oasis appears. A well forms before your eyes. In the story, Hagar couldn’t see the well at first. She was blinded by grief. Veiled by rejection. Obscured by loss of self-worth. Why go on if nobody loves you? Why care for a baby that no one really wants now? But God breathes hope into your dehydrated soul. He shows you something that was...listen now.

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The King of Ai

19/08/14 at 10.30am   /   by Dannie Hood   /   0 Comment

August 18, 2019

Drumming sounds of horses riding hard went along with the orchestra of the wind howling in different pitches through the rocks and valleys. Dust clouds swirled. Soldiers yelled impassioned by the blood of war, their contorted faces revealing the hatred of demons. Ai came strong. Not a man was left in Bethel or Ai. Yet, this arrogant king was oblivious to the pincer move Joshua had set up. You see, my friend, your enemy has a plan. But God’s plan is always better. Even when it looks at first like defeat is at hand.

Joshua played his role to perfection. The raging enemies of Ai came with relentless intent to kill. Joshua and his men turned and retreated. Farther and farther they ran away, posing as coward too afraid to fight. Onward and onward the presumptuous predators hunted their prey, the king of Ail wanting to behead Joshua and celebrate for weeks this great campaign. But then something changed. What was the general of Israel doing? Why had he suddenly stopped? And why was he pointing a sword toward what appeared to be behind him?

The ambush had worked. The remaining soldiers tucked away to the west of town darted out of their hiding places when they saw their leader give the sword raising sign to go. Oh, how appropriate that the raising of the sword would unleash the secret attack.

The bible says that the Word of God is sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

When God raises His sword, his word, he can release a host of heaven to come to your aid. Angels are sent to minister for heirs of salvation. So, don’t be afraid of what’s after you. For soon the pursuer will be the pursued. The one who thinks to bind you in bitterness will be defeated by your humility and God’s breaking of the chains. Listen now…

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What Miracles Tell your Enemy about You

19/08/07 at 10.30am   /   by Dannie Hood   /   0 Comment

August 11, 2019

You belong to a Shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep. You belong to a King who took dominion away from the Devil and put his own name brand on the markings of death, hell, and the grave. You can’t be bought by something else or someone else; the perfect price has been paid. Blood has been spilled. Sacrifice of a matchless source, of a spotless lamb has been given.

When you remember this and act on this it cripples the arsenal of the enemy; it blanks his guns of condemnation; it defuses his bombs of self-worthlessness and shame; it paralyses his weapons, disengages his missile defense of hatred and bitterness; it silences his brutal commands to break down your faith or point out your constant deficiencies. It’s like taking a superpower’s military and making no more intimidating than a third world countries’ military. Eternal death can’t touch you if the blood already covers you. Destruction cannot have free access to your life without first encountering the Divine Parent of all hope and salvation…listen now.

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Seated with Kings Part 1

19/08/01 at 10.30am   /   by Dannie Hood   /   0 Comment

August 4, 2019

He was only five years old when the chaos broke out. The smoke of war ascended. The fires of destruction crackled all around. The life altering news of Saul and Jonathan’s deaths morbidly circulated throughout the battle enraged land. And the boy was snatched up in a fury. The nurse caring for him paid no mind to any toys or keepsakes the boy may have had of his father’s. She had to get him to safety, get him away from the malicious grasp of would be assassins wanting to finish off the royal bloodline. The sun hid behind gray curtains. The scent of rain urged a melancholy sleepiness. The coolness of the air contradicted the burning flames of distant villages attacked by vicious Philistines.

The nurse ran with the boy, as fast as she could. She hurried over rugged bumps of the rough fields. She stumbled over jagged rocks and uneven terrain, an obstacle course too challenging for the woman to handle. And along the way she dropped the boy. She didn’t mean to do it. It just happened. She stumbled. He slipped from her hugging grip. And then there he was, lying on the ground wincing in terrible pain. Something snapped. His feet suddenly looked deformed.

He had been dropped. Have you been dropped? You may not be literally crippled, but maybe you are emotionally paralyzed from the soul up. Maybe you struggle with self-confidence because abusive environments haunt you from childhood. Maybe you limp along life’s path unable to trust many; your heart has been crushed too many times. Maybe you are bruised and bitter. Crippled and overly cautious. Spiritually injured and distant from God. You do your best to look well; to put up a good front that everything’s ok. You smile while the storm rages on the inside.

You try to walk fun emotional steps, laugh at jokes, pat others on the back, while you suffer greatly in the secret chambers of your heart. You halt commitment because of past hurt. You are lame in areas of follow through because of one too many failures. You are gimpy with your finances due to a bad investment. On an on the list may go. You try. You cry. You cringe when something similar shows up at the door. You want to crawl back into your hole and disappear from any possibility of being taken for granted or for someone to take advantage of you.

Pro 18:14  The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? 

The word “bear” here means to sustain, to support, to sustain; to lift up. And so, you try to sustain happiness on a soul with an empty stomach; it is starved of love and empty of the Presence of God. You support this grudge, maybe, of what was done to you. And it hampers your walk. It keeps you from getting to the places you really want to go. You are too angry. You are lifting up the dead weight of resentment each and every morning. You don’t want to carry it around. But you do. And it gets heavier each day…listen now.

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Beware of Dogs

19/07/24 at 10.30am   /   by Dannie Hood   /   0 Comment

July 28, 2019

The dogs of this generation are barking. They drool from deadly mouths. Blood stained fangs threaten. Growls from the pits of hell can be heard in every dark alley of sin. Angry. Ferocious. Uncontrollable. Rabid in their self righteousness. Biting mad in their hatred of holiness. Unchained. They are Roaming violent predators without conscious or moral restraint. No one can tell them different. No one can command these vicious Gospel mutilators to heel or stay. They will devour in an instant. They will kill any vestige of authority in a moment. Truth will never tame them. Love will never lead them. Conviction will never corral them. They bark and bite and blaspheme and bitterly moan at any kind of fence or restriction or Biblical standard.

Lawlessness is…1. The Desire to do it your own way. Stubborn steps. Rebellious routes. Roads that lead to destruction but all signs are ignored because of pride and self conceit. It is Cain bringing the fruit of flesh to a God that demanded blood and sacrifice. It is a generation that wants to save itself without a cross. They have altars with staircases into hell. They are stiff-necked and resistant to the commands of their fathers. a. You can’t get them to see it God’s way. They are the blind leading the blind as Jesus stated in Luke 6:39. Their perspective is so tainted that they can’t tell when they are doing wrong as Jeremiah bemoaned in Jeremiah 6:15, “ Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord.” They have no shame. They see no…listen now.

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The Journey Beyond

19/07/17 at 10.30am   /   by Dannie Hood   /   0 Comment

July 21, 2019

The Lord makes a journey prosperous. We can track temptation on short cut roads to eventual regret. But for the seeker of Heaven the trail of truth is not only more important; it is ultimately more rewarding.

Sin will offer you stopping points. Seductive settlements. Enthralling encampments. Rebellion residences. But nothing in this world compares to the glory that shall be revealed when Christ returns for the called, the chosen, and the faithful.

But we have to continue. We have to keep going with doctrine and scriptural instruction. We must push ahead when the journey seems pointless and too wearisome. Listen now…

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The Difference between Promise and Prosperity

19/07/10 at 10.30am   /   by Dannie Hood   /   0 Comment

July 14, 2019

The difference between prosperity and promise. Prosperity looks at what you have now. Promise looks for what’s ahead. Prosperity can make us feel relaxed, sink us into the mire of religion and leave us vulnerable to temptations that come to the luxurious.

Promise is hungry. Promise is searching. Promise journeys to the unknown, looks for something beyond the ordinary; is not satisfied with the ho-hum of where you are, but goes forward looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.

Prosperity has the sense that we’ve arrived. We’ve dug out the mine and found the gold; we’ve plumbed the depths and found the treasure; we’ve investigated the land and found the fertile soils; we’ve grown the best crops and reaped abundant harvest. There is a smile of satisfaction; whereas, promise may still where the grimace of laborious conquest. Prosperity says you are there enjoy it; promise says you still have a ways to go but the journey is worth it.

The difference between prosperity and promise promise.

How can God breakthrough your moral calluses? How can he deliver you from the desensitizing delicacies of modern convenience? How can you show you that your temporary satisfaction threatens eternal reward? We are paupers of what we call prosperity, thinking of kings while playing in the dirt in heavens dominion waits above us.We dress ourselves in the garb of success and failed to see that we are naked in the righteousness of God. Listen now… \lsdlocked0 Lis

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Faith at the Faultline

19/07/03 at 9.00am   /   by Dannie Hood   /   0 Comment

July 7, 2019

I can please myself or I can please the Savior. Often these two platelets of thought and action collide, creating earthquakes in emotions, tremors in relationships, and damage to superficial unsteady beliefs. Everyone is going to arrive at crossroad decision moments. Do I stay or do I go? Should I sell it or keep it? Should I go right or left? We hesitate for fear of losing control. We avoid tough questions as they may reveal that too many steps already taken have been waywardly walked. We guess, when honest, soul searching, introspective prayer would make it simpler and plainer. But clarity is lost is stumbling stubbornness. We think we see it detailed and clear enough, so we journey ahead. We become like Lot of Genesis 13; we survey the land, we life what we see, we calculate the earthly possibilities of prosperity, but we forget to discernably hear what God thinks about it.

Lot chose the twin cities of future destruction because he had no sense of warning in him, only want. Eve proves the deceptive nature of desire, for she desired the forbidden fruit and then desired for her husband to participate in her discovery; afterward, the Lord told her that her desire would be for her husband. In other words, desire lost in the forbidden would be divinely adjusted to be submissive through faithfulness to her husband. Wrong desire get things out of order. And so, Lot, as Eve, saw something good (not godly) in Sodom and Gomorrah. He saw something that favored the legendary extinct Garden of Eden, but didn’t necessarily have the favor of God on it.

You see, you must have faith at the Faultline. You see, a fault is a “planar fracture or discontinuity in a volume of rock, across which there has been significant displacement as a result of rock=mass movement.” Or as Webster’s defines it, “a fracture in the crust of the earth accompanied by a displacement of one side of the fracture with respect to the other usually in a direction parallel to the fracture.” And with that in mind the fault line is a place where the fault can be seen or mapped on the surface.

Spiritually, fault lines deal with what is seen and heard from opposing sources. One being the Word; the other being the World. And we must have faith at the fault line. We must trust God to know what goes deeper than we can see; for instance, we can brag about our One God belief, but the Word states that the “devils also believe, and tremble.”So, you see, one can tremble and not have truth; one can shake with extreme fear of God and in the end not submit to His will. One can even be horrified by possible outcomes of what it means to reject God and still do nothing about it. So, don’t just be shaken; be changed. Don’t just be stirred by a convicting Word; let it transform your thinking; let it redirect your misguided path; let it counsel you away from the dangerous edge of…listen now.

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Hearers and Doers

19/06/26 at 1.57pm   /   by Dannie Hood   /   0 Comment

January 30, 2019

A hearer of the Word observes. A doer of the Word participates. Thousands heard Goliath hurl malicious verbal insults at the frightened Israelites. Only David did something about it. Observation can stay distant. Participation gets up close and personal. You can’t stay on the mountain and get something done. You have to get down in the valley where the threat can be turned into a triumph. Grabbing rocks from a brook, loading your shepherd’s bag with ammunition for your sling shot, and confidently marching toward the enemy is what a doer does. But a hearer simply reports. There were many that day who could initially inform the slinger with more details of what had been heard about the giant, about the reward for killing the giant, and about the King’s daughter. They could quote everything verbatim, but they weren’t willing to do anything about it. Religionists are collectors of things heard, but revivalists are collectors of defeated giants, their swords and their heads. Hey, did you hear? That’s often the verbiage of those who journal someone else’s actions. They can analyze it. They can articulate what they did better than the one who actually did it. They can criticize it with words, but they can’t compare their own experiences of the thing scrutinized.

What you keep in the Word today will help you conquer the world tomorrow. David kept His father’s sheep and one day killed a giant. His relationship with God didn’t just start up on the day he faced the gargantuan Philistine; he had been singing songs on the hills, serenading grass grazing sheep, and writing prophetic lyrics while the willow trees bent in rhythmic winds. Jesus let his disciples know that if they were going to be world changers they would have to keep his Word.(John 14:23); he also stipulated that true love was connected to keeping His commandments. (John 14:15). Listen now…

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Extended Stay Mercy

19/06/19 at 10.04am   /   by Dannie Hood   /   0 Comment

June 23, 2019

She wasn’t used to running. Her lungs revolted in her chest and threatened to shut down. Her heart thumped so fast she felt like horses were galloping in her rib cage. She panted heavily and ran even harder. But then her right foot hit an unseen root sticking out of the ground. She stumbled and before she could regain her balance her embrace of the toddler weakened. He fell. Something snapped. And the boy yelped in pain.

The nurse panicked. She cried out in disbelief. She was trying to protect the boy from harm, not be the cause of it. But she had no time for guilt. She could hear the enemy horses thundering over the hills. She could envision the sharp swords drawn, lifted high, and maliciously brought down on the helpless. And she would not let that happen to this boy.

While the young Mephibosheth whimpered in pain, the nurse scooped him up and ran. She whispered tearful apologies in his ear and pledged to carry him for the rest of her life if necessary. And oh how escape mentalities leave lasting injuries. You are just trying to get away; get some peace of mind; get away from the haunting memories, the hurtful words, and the hateful feelings. But in your dash from death you stumble. You hastily make decisions about things that needed a little more time; you tripped over trust and put your faith in someone who wasn’t really experienced to handle your situation. Now, that you have escaped the pain of the past you live with the pain of hurried decisions. But there is hope, my friend. God knows how to build a bridge of hope from the mangled fragments left behind by a rush to judgment. God can repair what was broken in fear. He can elicit inspiration from an injury. You may feel lame in certain areas of your faith, but the King has plans for you. Just trust him…Listen now.

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