The Kindness of a Stranger

Luke 10:33 (KJV)

33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him

Just a little while ago I went to put some gas in the car. I have so much to do today with the Book Drive/Fundraiser and some other things. But the tank was so low... I grabbed all my change that I had for laundry and headed up to the gas station. (Looking a "hot mess") as they say.

I ended up having only $5.50 in quarters. I put that in knowing it wouldn't be enough.

There was a man cleaning his car at the next pump. I noticed him when I first got out of the car. Something said "just ask" but I wouldn't at first. After I pumped the gas and was about to get in the car to go, again something said "just ask" so I got back out and asked if he could help with just $5 in gas. I handed him my card and began to tell him what I needed to do today. And to tell him about Havilah Christian Center, the book drive and the ministry goals that prompted the book drive.

He put his card into the pump and said, "I don't think $10 will get you that far."

I thought to myself that I had only asked for $5 in gas. When he finished pumping, the meter read $15.

In this little car I'm driving, that should get me there and back, and maybe take me a few other places.

My point in this is, this gentleman could easily have said "I can't help you" as many are so apt to do in today's world. But from the kindness of his heart, he gave more than was asked of him to help a stranger in need.

I don't even know this man's name, and will most likely never see him again. But his actions seemed, to me, to be a living example of the Good Samaritan.

Yesterday, I spoke to you about mercy, today's word is "Compassion"

Let's not neglect to show compassion. Look upon the plight and affliction of others with a heart of love. 

Don't be like the priest, who saw this injured stranger as a potential problem, to be avoided at all costs. 

Don't be like the Levite, who saw a curiosity to be inspected from afar, then left to whatever might come.

Be like the Samaritan, who looked down and saw what culture deemed his enemy, (research Jew/Samaritan relations at that time) yet didn't hesitate to do all in his power to assure the well-being of this helpless stranger.

Indeed, the Samaritan went above and beyond. He didn't just pull the hurt man off to the side of the road; he didn't just drop him off at a doctor; he pre-paid for the man's care during his recovery, with a promise to return and pay for any cost above the deposit he gave.

COMPASSION

The God of Life

Ezekiel 37
God set Ezekiel in a valley filled with dried up bleached out bones.

1 Kings 17
Elijah was presented a dead child, and a mother whose soul seemed to have died with her son.

John 11
One of the Master's beloved became sick and died

sometimes in life we face situations that seem hopeless and beyond repair. sometime we come across people whom the world has given up on. sometimes WE ARE the person that everyone has given up as a dead cause.
i tell you that there is life in you still. the power of God is awesome even unto reviving the dead.
don't give up on yourself, your cousin, your friend.
don't give up on t your dream, your expectation, your hope for the future.
life and death are in the hands of the All-Powerful, and until He says it is dead, there is hope for life.

Who Is Like Our God?

Psalm 113:4-6 (NIV)
4 The Lord is exalted over all the nations,
his glory above the heavens.
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
the One who sits enthroned on high,
6 who stoops down to look
on the heavens and the earth?

and the answer is...NO ONE!!!
we serve a unique God, the One & Only TRUE God.
the Creator of all that ever was, is now, and ever will be.
a God who is not above stepping down into our situation...
didn't he walk in the Garden with Adam?
didn't He show Himself to Moses?
and didn't he walk among to Jew & the gentile, healing, saving, teaching?
didn't He walk through the crowds on His way to Golgotha?
where He gave the world the most precious Gift anyone could ever hope to receive?

NO!!!
there is none like Him!!!
#TeamJesus! forever!!

Waiting...

I truly thank God right now for all that I can see coming to pass.
Friends, if you have ever felt in your heart that God has told you something, don't let anybody tell you different.
It doesn't matter how long the wait, the promise will come to fruition. Look how long the span from God's promise to Abraham to the realization. Look how long the man lay, in his his infirmity, by the sheep market pool. Look again how how long its been that we await the Second Coming of our Lord and Saviour.
I ask you, How long is "too long" to wait on the hand of God? A day? A decade? May a century or three?
Have we waited "too long" for Christ's Glorious Appearing?
The answer is a resounding "NO!" and with that "It's NEVER too long!"
God's time is not our time. It's not meant for His plans to work on our schedule, but for us to live in hopeful expectation of His appointed hour.
Whether you are waiting for your healing, your break-through, your promotion. Whatever it is you're waiting for, wait patiently for God's Perfect Timing!

Love & the Church

We must feel toward our people as a father toward his children; yea, the most tender love of a mother must not surpass ours. We must even travail in birth, till Christ be formed in them. They should see that we care for no outward thing, neither liberty, nor honor, nor life, in comparison to their salvation... When the people see that you truly love them, they will hear anything from you...Oh therefore, see that you feel a tender love for your people in your hearts, and let them perceive  it in your speech and conduct. Let them see that you spend and are spent for their sakes. - Richard Baxter

A church in the land without the Spirit is rather a curse than a blessing. If you have not the Spirit of God, Christian worker, remember that you stand in somebody else's way; you are a fruitless tree standing where a fruitful tree might grow.– Havilah Christian Center 

From an Online Comment Section...

David Tyrone Hyman · Norfolk State University

In religion, a prophet is an individual who is claimed to have been contacted by the supernatural or the divine, and to speak for them, serving as an intermediary with humanity, delivering this new found knowledge from the supernatural entity to other people. The message that the prophet conveys is called a prophecy.

Claims of prophets have existed in many cultures through history, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, in Ancient Greece, Zoroaster, and many others.

PAY CLOSE ATTENTION: Traditionally, prophets are regarded as having a role in society that promotes change due to their messages and actions.

This does not say mention someone saying the following "If you give $100.00 today you will be blessed tomorrow with an abundance". No Prophet sent by God delivered messages of sort. So why are we so bent on following those who proclaim to be a Prophet?

We ( I mean all of us myself included) need to look into our own hearts and mind. Figure out what is wrong and FIX IT. If you are not capable of doing that get some help to do so. And for those who can not do this whatsoever. It is our (those who can) responsibility to help them. Look my brothers and sisters it boils down to your personal relationship with God. Not with the place of worship you attend often out of routine.

Let us stop following someone just because they get us worked up emotionally. Or they speak with some flare ask yourself when you come from any spiritual teaching. What did I really learn? I mean if you really take the emotionalism out of the equation. And just look at the meat of it all "What did you learn?

If there is a man to pray there is a God to answer.

Work as if everything depended upon your work, and pray as if everything depended upon your prayer. make prayers a pat of your daily life.

A Gathering of Witnesses & A Patient Race

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,” Hebrews 12:1 KJV

We stand - at all times - encompassed by a multitude of witnesses, all giving testimony to the Glory and Greatness of God!!!
not just the People called Christian:
From the smallest blade of grass blowing in the wind, to the greatest redwood reaching for toward the heights of the sky;
From the birds singing at the rising of the sun, to the ocean wave playing along the beach under the full moon;
EVERYTHING in Creation bears witness to the Great Creator of All.

Why then should you carry alone your burden? Why should you so easily give in to the lies of the enemy of your soul?

Stop dragging and lagging behind, for, there is a race to be run! The race is not for the winning by the fleet-footed, nor the trained athlete; but, by the Believer who paces himself in tempo with the Word of God and pushes onward - forward - toward the end!

Let your prayer today be that God would increase your PATIENCE so that you can make it through - all the way to the finish line!!!

Book Drive

By the Grace of God, today marks the official start of our Book Drive!

We are a new, small ministry with a heart for the spiritual education of the saints of God. We believe that when the Body of Christ understands the meaning of the Bible, the application of its Teachings, and the Purpose the individual Christian, the Body as a whole is stronger and more powerful.

We are preparing to embark on our mission to carry out the Great Commission by preparing Believers for the work of Evangelism beginning in their own homes and social circles.

We desire to offer EE training classes to teach Believers how to share the Message of Salvation in their everyday life by being alert to opportunities to introduce Gospel, and having a knowledge and understanding of Scripture which would allow them to carry Evangelism through to Discipleship.

We desire to help the members of the Body of Christ live a full life in Christ by addressing the Spiritual Conditions which can hold even the strongest Believer back. There is a need for Believers to be educated in the areas of Spiritual Bondage, Deliverance, and Restoration. These areas need to be explored and explained so that Believers can recognize and directly address them using Biblically sound teaching to the purpose of achieving freedom through the application of Scripture and the Power of Jesus Christ.

Our goal in this book drive is to collect funds for the purchase of the items listed below, to collect the actual items, or to obtain the desired number of each item through a combination of material (Actual Item) donations and monetary donations.

We have a goal of collecting:
100 each: pew Bibles & Hymnals

25 copies of the Evangelism Explosion International Classic EE textbooks,
2 each Level 1 and Level 2 Trainer notebooks
50 EE Level 1 student packets

26 copies of the Kenneth E Hagin books:
Bible Faith Study Course
Bible Prayer Study Course
The Holy Spirit and His Gifts
A Commonsense Guide to Fasting
Bible Healing Study Course

26 copies each of:
Strongman's His Name: What's His Game, books I & II, by Jerry Robeson;

And, one copy each of:
The New Strong's Expanded Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible, Complete and Unabridged in 6 Volumes, with CD-ROM
Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible
KJV Thompson Chain-Reference Bible
The Interlinear Hebrew/Greek-English Bible, 4 Volumes

The Truth Behind Hip Hop (parts 1 - 7) from EX Ministries' G. Craige Lewis

To donate online, please visit:
Havilah Christian Center Book Drive
or you can donate on this Blog through the Paypal Donation button

To purchase and ship directly from Amazon:
Havilah Christian Center Book Drive on Amazon

To donate materials directly, please email us for information on how to do so:
Send an email to Havilah Christian Center
Please put "Book Drive" in the subject line of your email.

UNBOUND!

Acts 12:7
And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison: and he smote Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, Arise up quickly. And his chains fell off from his hands.

to the True Believer:

your chains are broken in Jesus' name! nothing will hold you back from serving the Lord of lords with everything! you are freed from all manner of hindering spirits, people, places, and associations! Light has come, and darkness MUST FLEE!
humble yourself now submit yourself to JEHOVAH GOD and watch the YOUR chains fall off from YOUR wrists!

it is well with you, in Jesus' name!

Be In Motion!!!

We live in a moving world. Only those who are on the move will make the most of it.

If you don’t move, you’ll be left behind and may even be removed from the world.

Even God had to move by His spirit for things to move forward for Him.

In life, either something is moving you or you are moving something.

In life, either something is pursuing you or you are pursuing something.

It is vision that makes life dynamic.

After Abraham’s vision, he removed his tent to arrive at a new destination.

Vision moves people, vision “displaces”, “dislodges,” “dislocates” people. “And Abraham removed His tent...” – Gen.13:18

You don’t have a genuine vision if it is not moving you.

True vision “troubles” people. It makes you “restless.”

It compels action and forces you to be on the move at all times.

True vision puts people on fast track with reckless abandonment.

Life is for runners, and what motivates the running is vision. Hab.2:1-3; Zech.2:1-4

Give a man vision to terminate His idleness and stagnation.

It is vision that makes life dynamic.

After Abraham’s vision, he removed His tent to arrive at a new destination.

Vision moves people, vision “displaces”, “dislodges,” “dislocates” people. “And Abraham removed His tent...” – Gen.13:18

You don’t have a genuine vision if it is not moving you.

True vision “troubles” people. It makes you “restless.”

It compels action and forces you to be on the move at all times.

True vision puts people on fast track with reckless abandonment.

Life is for runners, and what motivates the running is vision. Hab.2:1-3; Zech.2:1-4

Give a man vision to terminate His idleness and stagnation.

STAND STILL!!!

"Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord."
Exodus 14:13

When you find yourself in dire straits with trouble on every hand, this is the command God has given to you the Believer. When you can neither move up nor down, left nor right nor sideways with encountering some new woe, what are you to do?

God’s Word say “Stand still.”

In times like this, it’s best to shut out every voice other than the voice of God. When a believer finds himself in a situation like this, the enemy will try to creep in and give bad advice, "Just give up; throw in the towel and try something different." But, it is God’s desire that, in time of crisis, we put our best face forward - even when things seem hopeless – and cheerfully proclaim His Love and Faithfulness toward the Believer.

The World will say, "call it quits; you never had this kind of trouble before you ‘got saved.’” The World will say “It’s not worth all that just to say you’re a Christian, you need a reality check: God is not working for you. Get off your high-horse do what something about your situation."

But, no matter how hard the enemy of your soul tries to convince you step out of your Christian character, you must continue to hold fast “…the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.” God has given a heavenly command, bidding you to go from strength to strength, and you CAN and MUST do this, knowing that neither death nor hell can turn you from your course.

God says for you to STAND STILL for a time, you need to rest and regain your strength before moving on to the new and greater things ahead. The World, the Flesh and [earthly] Common Sense say, "TAKE ACTION! DO SOMETHING! You will NEVER get through this if you don’t MAKE A MOVE!" we feel compelled - by ourselves and others - to be “pro-active.” We feel that we HAVE TO find a way to (fill in the blank) or else everything is lost.

My friends, this is a wrong notion. Sometimes, God commands inaction so that He can do more than just “do something” – he can handle the WHOLE THING.

Foolish wisdom taunts the Christian who finds them himself in severe circumstance.

Just as Satan taunted Christ saying, “IF, indeed, You are the Son of God…” So also he stands over the shoulder of the Christian in crisis, saying, “If you have such strong faith…”, and will tempt you to act in the extreme, with false confidence of a last minute miracle to save you if you were wrong.

Believers, hear me now: True Faith refuses to hear the ungodly voices urging ungodly actions. True Faith hears the voice of the Father saying, “Stand still, child. Don’t move a muscle. Relax”

"Stand” upright and ready for action when He says “move.” Patiently awaiting the sound of the Commander’s voice directing the next action.

Have no fear, the command you are waiting for will come in its rightful time. Only you must STAND STILL and wait for the voice of Faithful One.