WHATEVER!!!

My Dear Friends in the Faith:

Stress, anxiety and depression are modern day assassins! They are silent killers that cause more problems that you can shake a stick at. But, there comes a point in your life when you need something that will bring you instant relief. For instance, if you have a headache an aspirin can bring you relief. If you have a stomach ache Patois can bring you relief. But, if you have issues, circumstances, tribulations, problems, and heartache that human hands cannot fix or repair and you want instant relief here's what you do. Throw your head back, look towards heaven, and just say WHATEVER!!!

In fact, someone of you reading this devotional right now is stressed to the max. Your entire family leans on you. You have to hold everything up for everybody and keep a smile on your face so that they will think that everything is okay. You have to buy it, cook it, clean it, help it, direct it, pray for it, pay for it, teach it, hold it, mold it, and store it. And there are times when you don't know if you are going or coming. Let me help right quick. Throw your head back, look towards heaven and just say WHATEVER!!!

There are those who are sharing this moment with me right now that struggle with issues of anxiety and depression. People look at you and they have no idea what a struggle it is for you just to be present. In fact, you are living on the edge of quiet desperation. Today is problematic and tomorrow seems too filled with trouble to be worth it. Let me bring you to a point of spiritual healing and restoration right quick. Throw your head back, look towards heaven, and just day WHATEVER!!!

The Apostle Paul knew how to deal with stressful moments and tempestuous times. Here's what he tells the sincere devout believers of Philippi to do. He says, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6-7, KJV).

In other words, you have to learn how to say God I have tried all that I can try, I have prayed all that I could possibly pray, and I have done all that I know how to do, the rest is yours so as far as I am concerned....WHATEVER!!!! So how do we spiritually get to the place where we too can say, WHATEVER?

First of all, you must encounter a release. Here's a personal question for you. Do you worry too much? If your answer was yes I want you to do me a favor. Let it go! Put it down! Quit tripping! Let God have it! Paul says it like this, "Be careful for nothing..." It could better be translated like this, stop worrying about right now and I mean it. Remember this; the beginning of faith is the end of worry. But, the beginning of worry is the end of faith! When one stops the other starts! They cannot coexists! Put it down and let the Lord of heaven have it. He's stronger than you are and He's better at carrying loads than you will ever be! Drop it and just say WHATEVER!

Secondly, you must make a request. One of the tricks of the enemy is to get you to put your burdens down because they are killing you and then pick them back up because you think that you can help God out by carrying them. If you want to live a stress free life you must get to the point where you not only release it but prayerfully let God have for good. Here's what the passage says, "...but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God..." The term prayer used here means to make a list and give it to God. Here's a good devotional question for you today. What's on your list? Who's on your list? Where is your list? Do not give your list to your friends, family and fellow neighbors. Give it to God in prayer and just say, WHATEVER!

And, lastly, you must plan to be restored. Life's worries can knock you off of your feet and take the breathe out of you. But, once you have given it to God you have to be restored and move on. Here's how Paul says it, "...and the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." The term keep is so rich here. It is the Greek word “froreho”. It means to keep bad stuff out and keep good things in. It means to build a gate around something. Here's what it means to you. Once you release it and make a request to God, He literally restores you by building a fence all around you. In short, God's got your back! Are you shouting yet? If you aren't you should be! And, when He has your back you can just say, God's got me covered so, WHATEVER!

For every stressed out saint that's been forced to deal with issues of anxiety, worry, trouble and heartache your healing lies in just this one little word. Say it, internalize it, believe it and practice it and start right now! Here it is one more time, believe it as a fact and declare it in faith to be free, WHATEVER!!!


Your Friend and His Servant,

Dr. John R. Adolph

NOT HALLOWEEN, BUT HALLELUJAH!!!

My Dear Friends in the Faith:

You know that you live in a country that is pressed by demons and needs to be delivered when the devil has his own holiday. To put it bluntly, Halloween is about demonism pure and simple. It is a night in which the belief of ghosts, witches, evil spirits, superstitions, wickedness and dead people are literally celebrated. But, where did all of this madness get its start?

Consider this historical synopsis before you let your kids do any trick or treating this year. "Halloween can be traced back more than 2,000 years to a Celtic festival known as “Samhain” (pronounced SAH-wen) that was celebrated at the end of the summer harvest season. The ancient Celts lived in Northern Europe, especially Ireland, Britain and France. (The "C" in Celtic is pronounced with a "K" sound.) The Celts believed that the spirits of the dead roamed the towns and villages on the night of Oct. 31. Because the Celts were superstitious, they feared that these spirits could create havoc by damaging crops, creating sickness and even taking over the bodies of the living. To ward off danger, the Celts lighted huge bonfires and dressed in animal hides to frighten away the evil spirits. “Samhain” was a pagan (nonreligious) celebration. As Christianity became dominant in Europe, the Catholic Church decided it didn't like people celebrating a non-Christian holiday. Around the year 800, the Church moved a spring holiday, All Saints' Day, to Nov. 1. "Hallows" is another word for "saints," so the night before All Saints' Day became known as All Hallows' Eve. From there, it was just a hop, skip and a jump of the tongue for All Hallows' Eve to become Halloween" (Bennett, pg. 13, Washington Post, 2009).

And get this, trick or treating has its historical roots in the supreme night of demonic jubilation. It was on this night that people believed that the dead would leave their graves and try to find their way back home. In order to appease these evil spirits, town people would leave treats on their front porch (pie, candy, nuts, fruits, etc.) in high hopes that the evil spirits would take the treats and leave them peacefully. This is why we have been taught to dress up like dead folks to get candy from our neighbors and leave on Halloween night. This has nothing to do with Christ, the Bible, the Holy Ghost or the Christian faith at all!

In conjunction to this historical truth a solid word study can shed even more light on this horror of a supposed holiday. Hallo or Halle is the root for the term holy. This is why Jesus taught us to say "hallowed be thy name..." when He taught us the model prayer. This is to be done because the name of our God is holy and should be worshipped. Thus, Hallo in Halloween literally means holy or honored is due. And, “ween” literally means the wicked one. So when we celebrate Halloween we literally worship the wicked one. Now the last time I checked the Bible said, "Ye shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you; (For the LORD thy God is a jealous God among you) lest the anger of the LORD thy God be kindled against thee, and destroy thee from off the face of the earth" (Deut. 6:14-15, KJV). This means that if there is going to be any honor given, any worship presented our God is the one that it should be given to. This is why we shout HALLELUJAH! “Halle” means honor or praise and “lujah” means for jah. “Jah” is the root for the name of God which means the self existing holy one! Thus, when we shout Hallelujah we literally celebrate the God of glory in all of His majesty and splendor!

So listen when little visitors stop by your house on October 31st this year give them the treat of their lives. Share Jesus Christ with them! Stop by a Christian book store and buy some candy with Bible verses on them, get some nice Bible tracts that share our message of salvation of them, and make sure that you let everyone who comes near your door that for you, it's all about HALLELUJAH and not Halloween!!! Celebrate the one ghost that we believe in during this season and that is the Holy Ghost (the 3rd person of the Godhead). Celebrate our resurrected Savior Jesus Christ and truth of His Word! For He is worthy to be praised!!! HALLELUJAH!!!!!!

Your Friend and His Servant,

Dr. John R. Adolph

YOUR SEASON IS CHANGING!!!

My Dear Friends in the Faith:

I was born April 9, 1966 at about 4:28am. Yep, I woke my mother up early in the morning making my entrance into this place that we now live in. I'm now 43 years old and the older I get, the more life that I see and the more issues that I have to deal with I find myself saying some of the same things that I heard my parents say years ago. I find myself saying things like "stop running in my house", "put some shoes on your feet because I do not have time for you to catch a cold", "you're going to do it because I said so and that's whether you feel like it or not", "get off of the arm of that sofa right now", "yes you can go but you better be in before the street lights come on", and of course there is this one that says, "get a jacket before you leave because it is October and the weather changes with the drop of a dime."

I'm now 43 years old. And I can remember being raised with two books on the coffee table at all times. There was an almanac and a Bible. You see, the almanac was the little book that told you when to plant, when to fish, when the full moon would occur, when to expect rainy times and when to reap. And, the Bible was the infallible Word of God. For the life of me, I did not understand what those two books had in common. But, after having times of tears, moments of madness, and times of testing and blessing I now understand it. You see, they both have to do with seasons! The almanac gave you agricultural seasons, but the Bible gave you spiritual seasons. The shouting news of the day is that no season comes to stay. Seasons always change!!!

Now for those of you reading this devotional this week and all is well in your life, your bills are paid, your health is fine, your kids are blessed, your job is stable, your mind is clear, your journey is great and you can see that it is your season of bliss and bounty you owe the Lord a shout of thanksgiving! Get one in right now while you are in this season because seasons change. But, for everyone else sharing this time with me who have had one hell of a year, who have had to cry more in 09 than you have had to cry in your whole life, to those that have had to bury loved ones, to those that have been laid off, hurt, wounded, and have had to really struggle the Word of the Lord for you right now is this, "Your Season Is Changing!!!!!"

How would you act if God sent you a message of hope to tell you that He knows that you have been in a drought, but the rain is on the way? What would you do if God sent you an email that said that He has seen your tears and you are about to enter a season of joy like none that you have ever known? This is the purpose of this missive! Consider this a message from the Lord that has found your heart to tell you what Paul told the churches in Galatia when He said, "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not." (Galatians 6:7-9, KJV). So what are the Biblical indicators that your season is changing?

First, you know that your season is changing when you are starting to see the ruins of your leftover crop. Okay, this section is not for the real holy people that can not admit it. But, all believers have some left over crop. It's the stuff that you planted before you met Jesus that still shows up in your life every now and then. It's where some of your old habits that you just knew that you gotten rid of years ago start rising in your life again. It happens to all of us from time to time. Paul puts it like this, don't think that God has walked away from His divine principle of sowing and reaping. He is not mocked. And some of the crop that you are seeing is the remains of a crop that you planted before you got saved. But, why does God allow your left over harvest to rise again? He permits it because He knows that your old crop and your new crop cannot grow at the same time! So He gives you some time to get the old one completely out of the way because what is about to come is greater than what has been!!! Are you shouting yet? Get this, your tomorrow looks much better that your yesterday did!

Secondly, you know that your season is about to change when your soul grows weary. Has it ever happened to you before? Have you ever reached a point in your life where you just wanted to throw up both hands and just say "I quit!" If you are here right now, please find the words of this devotional as your divine permission to shout right now! You're being tired and wanting to quit is a sign from God that your season is about to change! Here's what the text says, "...and be not weary in well doing..." The term weary is “ek-kak-eo” in the Greek and it is in the subjunctive mood. It means to be tired to the point of exhaustion but still have just enough in the tank for one more battle. But, please get this, there is a reason why God lets you wear down before He lets your harvest come and your season change. He permits it so that you will know that your season changed because of Him and not because of you! He does not want you to brag about your harvest and your season so He lets you get too weak to continue so that you will have to boast about Him and Him alone!

And lastly, you know that your season is about to change when you are prepared to give God a shout for the season that is yet to come. Seasons must change and here's why. The earth spins on her axis at an angel of 23.5 degrees. As she orbits the sun there are times when she receives more sun light and thus the results are spring and summer. And, there are times when she receives less light and thus we have fall and winter. Did you get it? You see, the more of the "SON" we get the more our seasons change!!!! Here's the greatest news of the day. God says, "..we shall reap..." There's the presence of a definite article here. This means that it can't NOT happen. If you have sown, you shall reap! God has a habit of taking His people from leaves to loaves, from nothing to something and from poverty to plenty! If you have been faithfully sowing you should stop right here and give the Lord a huge thank you for your season because it is about to change!

At 43 years old I sound like the folks that raised me. I find myself waking in the morning and saying "thank you Jesus for another day!" I find myself saying "He's brought me from a mighty long way!" I find myself saying "God will make a way somehow!" And, I find myself saying "Yes, weeping may endure for a little while, but if you hold on...if you don't give out...if you don't give up...your season is going to change and joy will come in the morning!" Celebrate the changing of your season and know that God has ordained it to be so!!!

Your Friend and His Servant,

Dr. John R. Adolph

DON'T LET IT GET THE BEST OF YOU!!!

My Dear Friends in the Faith:

I have never seen it on this order before. Christians that outwardly look great and fine, but inwardly struggling with issues of depression. George Barna, one of the greatest church researchers in the world remarks that more Christians privately admit to personal bouts with depression than do our secular counterparts. We worry more and trust less, we panic easier when things go wrong and pray less, and we make an attempt to fix things ourselves instead of turning them over to God and letting Him work it out. We divorce quicker, we give up easier, we fall faster and we boast about a God that is able and awesome. The end result is a person who believes in Jesus Christ, goes to church on a regular basis, and is depressed.

The crux, core and centre of this devotional are really just to make one statement clear the devil is a liar! No matter what happens to you as a believer in Jesus Christ never let life get the best of you!!! Life happens, but If you are wounded you have access to the greatest healer in the world, if you are tired, our God has declared that you can rest in Him, if you are in darkness He is the light, if you are financially strapped He is still Jehovah Jireh and He will provide, if you are sick He is still the great physician and if you are under attack He is still the God of war who fights everyone of your battles for you! Hear this again, don't let it get the best of you!

One day Jesus had a conversation with one of His favorite disciples by the name of Peter. He knew that what was ahead of him was not easy and He did not want him to fall into depression, give up, and throw in the towel. So Jesus says to him, "Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren" (St. Luke 22:21-32, KJV).

In other words, Peter when it happens, when trouble comes (and it will), when you have issues (and you shall), when you have things that fall apart on you, hold your head up, roll your shoulders back, remember this pep talk and don't let it get the best of you!!! But, what does Jesus give Peter that works for us that will help us never to fall into a mode of depression?

First of all He gave him a portrait of the persecutors plans. It's hard to get hit by a bus if you know that it is coming your way. Jesus says, "Simon, Simon, satan desires to have you that he may sift you as wheat..." This is so deep here. Notice Jesus says that satan desires to have you. The word desire is “exiteo”. It means that he wants to get his hands around your neck. The "you" is plural so it translates like this, "the devil wants to choke the life out of all of you all." Jesus gives Peter the devils agenda. He wants to sift him as wheat. In short, the devil wants his life in pieces. Can I ask, have you ever found yourself falling to pieces? If you said yes know that it is the work of the enemy, but I have some shouting news for you. There is a house of healing and restoration whose admission fee is life's broken pieces. Yes, get to the Potters house as fast as you can! Our God takes broken pieces and makes for Himself a masterpiece. Remember this, when life seems to be getting the best of you, God is better at handling your brokenness than you are! Give it to HIM!!!

Secondly, He gave him the prayers of the great high priest. Please hear this, you don't want everyone praying for you. Why? Some people get a joy out of seeing you down and out, broken and hurt, wounded and distraught. But, the great news of the day is this, Jesus wants to see you blessed and not cursed, healed and not sick, above and not beneath! Jesus tells Peter that satan wants to sift him, but here's the shouting news of the text. He says, "...but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not..." Notice that Jesus does not pray for him never to have trouble, heartache or failure. He does not pray that the devil leave him alone or that everything work out fine for him. Jesus prays that his faith does not fail. In other words, God's prayer for you is this, when the dust settles and the rain stops, and the flood gates close, and the storm ceases I want to see you with your Bible in your hand and smile on face looking towards heaven saying, "any way you bless me Lord I will be satisfied!!!" Remember this, when life seems to be getting the best of you, God's prayer for you is this, keep on fighting in the faith and never give up!

And lastly, He gave him the purpose for his pain. People who struggle with depression often ask God why so much pain. Have you ever asked the Lord why before? Here's the answer. So that after you are back up on your feet again you can strengthen others who have been knocked down. Jesus put it like this to Peter, "strengthen the brethren." Strengthen is the term “steridzo” in the Greek. We borrow our term steroid from it. It means to make strong from the inside out. Wow! Are you shouting yet? If you have ever had to cry you should be! The Lord tells Peter the reason I let you go through tough times is because when you get up you are stronger than you were before you went down. And I need your strength! I need you to help people that are down and out, wounded and hurt, tossed and confused. In other words, you can't help them until I have helped you. You can't help me find water unless you've been to the fountain yourself. And, you can't help others until God has helped you! Remember this when life seems to be getting the best of you, God let you get knocked down so that when you get up you'd be strong enough to help someone else!

I have noticed something about being near people that are depressed. Many of them chose to be that way. So it just stands to reason that if you could chose to be depressed you could chose not to be! Make your decision today. Say this to yourself as we conclude this moment together, "I chose not to worry! God is going to take care of me!" "I chose not to quit, my tomorrow is much brighter than my yesterday was!" "I chose not to stay down, God gave me the ability to get up and keep moving forward in the faith!" "I chose not to be depressed; God has given me His joy just to put a smile on my face!" And, "I refuse to let this get the best of me, so instead of complaining I will remain prayerful, thankful, peaceful, joyful, powerful and faithful in everything that I do!"

Your Friend and His Servant,

Dr. John R. Adolph

STUCK IN REVERSE!!!

My Dear Friends in the Faith:

When I was a teenager in high school you just had to have certain things to be with the "in" crowd. If you were a girl you had to have some Chic jeans, a Polo shirt by Ralph Lauren, and some cute shoes. If you were a guy you had to have a Jheri Curl, some leather Nike's low top, and something to drive (Wow, am I telling my age here?) My parents provided their kids with the necessities, but if what they provided was not good enough for you, then you had to get a job and get them for yourself. Okay, as relates to the "in" crowd I had the Jheri Curl (Hahahahaha), I had the leather Nike low top sneakers, but I needed something to drive. So I worked at Burger King, cut yards, saved my money and bought a 1977 Chevy Luv pickup truck. Who cares that it was outdated, rusty, needed a paint job, and had a bad carburetor? It was mine!

Now my Chevy was a four in the floor. And, I drove all over our neighborhood, styling and profiling with no license and one cracked speaker in the back with only AM radio playing for me to boom with. I could handle the clutch with ease. But, I had this real problem with first gear. You see, first gear was right next to reverse. And often times when I thought that I was in first, I would actually be in reverse headed the wrong direction. Now this is not a devotional on my first little rusty truck, but I do see something here worth sharing. You see, forgiveness is an issue like that for many of us. Just when you think that you are going to put your life into first gear and drive on off and do well you get first and reverse mixed up and you end up going backwards instead of forwards. Have you ever been there before?

You know that you are stuck in reverse when you say, "yes I have forgiven them but just keep them out of my face because I just might snap." You know that you are stuck in reverse when you have been hurt by people and your response was to cut them out of your lives and say "since you've hurt me it's over for you and the horse you rode into town on." And, you know that you are stuck in reverse when you punish other people that have done you no harm at all for things that others have done that your new counterparts had nothing to do with. Forgiveness is a real struggle for many Christians and with it many of us end up stuck in reverse! This devotional is for people who can honestly say "it's hard for me to let it go." This devotional is for the person who has been abused, neglected, hurt, lied on, talked about, and cheated on. God never promised us that people would not hurt us. But, forgiveness is that tool that helps us move on with our lives and move from reverse to first without being stuck in reverse!

Jesus Christ is on the cross in Luke 22:34 and He makes a plea to His Father that heals, mends, and restores Him from the possible hatred that He could have had for those who beat Him ruthlessly. He says, "...Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

You see, Jesus knew that if He did not move on past the people beneath Him on the cross, He would never satisfy His Father that was above Him on the cross. So how do you move from reverse to first and move on with your life after people have hurt you?

Remember that you cannot move forward in reverse no matter how hard you try. There were times that I just knew that I was moving forward because I felt like I was in the right gear. But, as soon as I released the clutch I would spurt backwards. You see, being in reverse left me no options when it came to moving forward. The same is true with forgiveness. It does not come with any options. The liberating principle of forgiveness is this, in the eyes of God it is not a maybe, it is a must! Jesus is on the cross and He knows that if He does not forgive those that have harmed Him, He will do harm to Himself. So He says, "....forgive them..." Remember this, true forgiveness happens when you decide to let the person off the hook that has hurt you only to realize that the person that you have released is YOU!

Realize that first is much better than reverse. I noticed while stuck in reverse one day that there was only one gear designed for moving backwards and four gears given to move forwards. The moral here for us is simple. My old truck was designed to spend more time moving forward than it did going backwards. Here's a good devotional question for you today, "haven't you been in reverse long enough?"

The reason Jesus forgives these horrible people is because He refuses to let them keep Him in the wrong gear! He is in first. He is headed to the next level and a new dimension! He is heaven bound and nothing is going to stop that! Not even hurtful evil people that have tried to destroy Him. The word forgiveness is aphemi. It means to let it go; to release. Take a moment and think of all of the people that have hurt you that you struggle to forgive and make a decision that they are not worth you missing what's ahead of you hurting over what is behind you!

Recognize that you reverse leads nowhere, but first leads to second; second leads to third, and third leads to fourth! I don't care what anyone tells you once you get out of reverse everything else just flows and you go forward faster with the passing of each gear. It is like a promotion! Check Jesus out in the text. He knows that He is up for a promotion. We call it a resurrection. And He does not need anything heavy holding Him down because He is going to come forth and He does not need anybody holding Him back but He is going to get up! So to make sure that He does not go backwards in reverse He tells His Father to let vicious murders off of the hook. Three days later it happened! First gear, resurrection! Second gear, the grave is declared empty! Third gear, the angel declares He has risen as He said that He would! Fourth gear, Jesus declared for Himself, "All power in heaven and in earth hath been given unto me!" If I told you that the reason you don't want to stay in reverse is because God had plans for future and the only way to get there was to move on to first, second, third, and fourth would believe me? It's true and it's real! Forgiveness!!! It is the route to your peaceful tomorrow and the road that leads to your next promotion!

Often times I would get stuck between reverse and first and my gears would make that loud grinding sound. It was horrible. But, my father got tired of me doing it so he took some liquid paper and painted a cross on my gear shift. He said, "Bobby, when you get confused between first and reverse look at the cross and you will always move forward!" That was some sound advice that has blessed me all of my days and it will bless you too! For those who have been stuck in reverse look at the cross because the first gear of your future awaits you!!! It's time to move forward, never to be stuck in reverse again!!!

Your Friend and His Servant,


Dr. John R. Adolph