January 21, 2018 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Names of God, Part 1

God is Jehovah. The name of the independent, self-complete being—“I AM WHO I AM”—only belongs to Jehovah God. Our proper response to Him is to fall down in fear and awe of the One who possesses all authority.Exodus 3:13-15

God is Jehovah-M’Kaddesh. This name means “the God who sanctifies.” A God separate from all that is evil requires that the people who follow Him be cleansed from all evil.Leviticus 20:7,8

God is infinite. God is beyond measurement—we cannot define Him by proportions or magnitude. He has no beginning, no end, and no limits.Romans 11:33

God is omnipotent. God is all-powerful. He spoke all things into being, and all things—every micro-organism, every breath we take—are sustained by Him. There is nothing too difficult for Him to do.Jeremiah 32:17,18

God is good. God is the embodiment of perfect goodness. He is kind, caring, and full of favor toward all of creation.Psalm 119:65-72

God is love. God’s love is so great that He gave His only Son to bring us into fellowship with Him. God’s love not only encompasses the world but also embraces each of us personally and intimately.1 John 4:7-10

God is Jehovah-Jireh. This name means “the God who provides.” Just as He provided yesterday, He will also provide today and tomorrow. He grants deliverance from sin, the oil of joy for the ashes of sorrow, and eternal citizenship in His Kingdom for all those adopted into His household.Genesis 22:9-14

God is Jehovah-shalom. This name means “the God of peace.” We are meant to know the fullness of God’s perfect peace, or His “shalom.” God’s peace surpasses understanding and sustains us even through difficult times. It is the product of fully being what we were created to be. Judges 6:16-24

God is immutable. All that God is, He has always been. All that He has been and is, He will ever be. He is ever perfect and unchanging.Psalm 102:25-28

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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January 21, 2018 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Names of God, Part 1

God is Jehovah. The name of the independent, self-complete being—“I AM WHO I AM”—only belongs to Jehovah God. Our proper response to Him is to fall down in fear and awe of the One who possesses all authority.Exodus 3:13-15

God is Jehovah-M’Kaddesh. This name means “the God who sanctifies.” A God separate from all that is evil requires that the people who follow Him be cleansed from all evil.Leviticus 20:7,8

God is infinite. God is beyond measurement—we cannot define Him by proportions or magnitude. He has no beginning, no end, and no limits.Romans 11:33

God is omnipotent. God is all-powerful. He spoke all things into being, and all things—every micro-organism, every breath we take—are sustained by Him. There is nothing too difficult for Him to do.Jeremiah 32:17,18

God is good. God is the embodiment of perfect goodness. He is kind, caring, and full of favor toward all of creation.Psalm 119:65-72

God is love. God’s love is so great that He gave His only Son to bring us into fellowship with Him. God’s love not only encompasses the world but also embraces each of us personally and intimately.1 John 4:7-10

God is Jehovah-Jireh. This name means “the God who provides.” Just as He provided yesterday, He will also provide today and tomorrow. He grants deliverance from sin, the oil of joy for the ashes of sorrow, and eternal citizenship in His Kingdom for all those adopted into His household.Genesis 22:9-14

God is Jehovah-shalom. This name means “the God of peace.” We are meant to know the fullness of God’s perfect peace, or His “shalom.” God’s peace surpasses understanding and sustains us even through difficult times. It is the product of fully being what we were created to be. Judges 6:16-24

God is immutable. All that God is, He has always been. All that He has been and is, He will ever be. He is ever perfect and unchanging.Psalm 102:25-28

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

America’s Battle of the Books

Alonna D. Wentland, Business Manager/Owner

(661) 248-1009

www.battleofthebooks.org

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Hello everyone,

I will be giving you a 7-daily course of reading lessons. I have done some research on the names of God and I thought you might like to read a few names of God each day for 7 days. (Starting tomorrow)

So get ready to learn, to read, to speak and to memorize. Once you know His names, then you can speak them whenever you are in a worshipping mood or in trouble or when you have to prayer over something or some situation in your life.

His Name(s) will change whatever you are dealing with to a positive and fruitful outcome. The names of God–oh, how they move heaven and earth for His will to be done in your life.

God’s rich blessings to you all…steve

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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January 20, 2018 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Spiritual Malpractice

There has always been an assault on the Holy Spirit. Jesus mentions it in the Gospels and it is carried over in the Book of Acts of the Apostles. People were upset with the Holy Spirit, especially the religious leaders of the day and at times the common overly religious person.

The Holy Spirit brought us the ministry of water baptism of John and the teaching and healing ministry of Jesus, but the people of Jesus’s day did not accept what John or Jesus had to say. Sure some believed and followed as disciples but the majority were skeptical and unbelievers.

Jesus said, “Wisdom is justified of her children…Jerusalem would be completely destroyed.” And, it was in 70 AD. Oh, how we ridicule the Holy Spirit. That which we do not understand we make fun of, and we pay for our ignorance and skepticism.

God has judgment for those who do not accept the 3rd part of His Trinity. In fact, God states that all criticism of the three parts of the Trinity would be forgiven, except when you reject the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit brings all of the Father and the Son to us—this is His job. The Spirit displays all of ‘who God is’ to us through the operation of the Gifts, Fruits, Ministries, and Presence of God.

There is legal malpractice, medical malpractice, educational malpractice and of course Spiritual Malpractice. It is Spiritual Malpractice—rejecting who, how and why the Holy

Spirit works—that will usher in the judgment of the Father and the wrath of the Son (Book of Revelation).

If I want to be found acceptable by God at the Judgment Day, it is ‘Spiritual Malpractice’ that need not be written in God’s court proceedings against me. For me, "Give me the Holy Spirit or give me death"—there ‘is no life’ outside of the Holy Spirit ‘in my life’.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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January week 3, 2018 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Ministry

“When ministry becomes a performance, then the sanctuary becomes a theater, the congregation becomes an audience, worship becomes entertainment, and man’s applause and approval become the measure of success. But when ministry is for the glory of God, His presence moves into the sanctuary. Even the unsaved visitor will fall down on his face worship God, and confess that God is among us.” By Julianne Stanz

Thought for the week

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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January 19, 2018 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Let’s Get Saved Series

#1 Iniquity

I still remember the evening at a Billy Graham Crusade in Fresno California when I was 13 years of age. I accept Christ as my Savior and it was a difficult decision for me. I struggled with making a ‘profession of Christ’ and admitting that I needed God’s help.

It was a scary event in my life but one that would change my life forever. I like being saved by Jesus. He has become my friend and I trust in His love for me. It has been a good journey, one with ups and downs yet with excitement and amazement.

Being saved is a process. It is as Jesus stated, “To be born again.” I am still going through that process and its completion is when God invites me to live with Him in heaven forever.

Often we talk about sin, transgressions, and wrongdoings but we either overlook or lump ‘iniquities’ together with our sins. The two are not the same. The term ‘iniquity’ is used often in the Bible but in different contexts. Proverbs 22:8, “He that sows iniquity shall reap vanity.” Iniquity has more to do with ‘not doing the right thing’ rather than ‘doing a wrong thing’.

When you do something wrong, immoral, illicit—then this is a sin or transgression. But iniquity is more about not doing the right, moral or proper action, thought or motive. Yes, we commit offensive acts against God when we do not display the Christian response to the will of God in any given situation.

If we just take a neutral position or avoid what God says our actions or behavior should be, to God this is wrong or as the Bible puts it, we are committing iniquities. God will not just judge us for what we do that is wrong but also not doing what is right. (Remember the story of the Good Samaritan, Luke 10: 30-37.)

Jesus is not just interested in us not sinning but also in doing what is right. When we fail to produce good works (when we make excuses for not doing a good deed when it is our power to do so) then we commit iniquities. God will judge us not just for our sins but also for our iniquities (the good works we failed to do).

So let’s get saved—let produce good works—let our actions, thoughts, and motives be right and just. If we love God then we must show His love to the world around us!

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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January 12, 2018 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Mourning Your Way into Heaven

You do not hear much about “mourning”. I think most people think it is being sorry for your sin, that is not totally correct—not your sin but someone else’s sin.

Mourn: to express or feel grief or sorrow, especially for someone who has died. To express public grief for a death by conventional signs as sorrow, bewail, crying and wearing black. (American Heritage Dictionary)

Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted. (Gospel of Matthew 5:4)

How can one be blessed when in mourning? Someone has died and you are crying over the loss. God’s ways seem so strange to me at times. Ezekiel (9:4) reminds me of Revelation. The people who have the mark of God on their foreheads (not the mark of the beast/Satan) are protected. But God makes a requirement for the Children of God who are indeed set apart, protected and serve Jesus Christ.

Just being saved does not get you into this heavenly club of God. God asks us to “mourn” and it is in the act of mourning over the sins, wickedness, and iniquities that people do, we find the favor and protection of the Father.

Some Christians tend to judge everything and everyone while others cry out to the Father to have mercy. They say, “God their sin is great and your judgment on them is just but won’t you show compassion because they are blind, ignorant, and captivated by their sin?”

Jesus found himself in this same exact place in the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion. Jesus was praying not for himself but for us who were without forgiveness and bound by our sin. We did not believe in God or willing to serve Him. We were lost!

I challenge you to mourn for those that are lost and live only to commit more sin. The only way we can make it through the last days and God’s judgment on the earth is to mourn. It is in the process of mourning that God redeems us and makes us complete in Him. Want to be truly saved, then be sorry not just for your sins but the sins of others.

This is what Jesus was talking about when he said, “Pick up your cross daily and follow Him.” Yes, I am standing in the gap for others. I am carrying their sin to the Cross of Christ as Jesus carried my sin. I choose to mourn for others who cannot mourn for themselves. I love as God loves us and Jesus is my example. I mourn!

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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January 11, 2018 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Challenge #4—Unity in the Spirit

The last and most critical challenge for America’s Christians is ‘unity’. My friend, David, and I talk about this issue often. Most communities in America have no sense of ‘togetherness’ or unity. We are divided at every level in America’s culture—our marriages, neighborhoods, workplace & business environments, schools & colleges, judicial systems, medical practices, and so many churches.

The world is asking that we all come together and agree on important issues. God is just the opposite. God wants unity (unity in Spirit and truth) not copy cutter personalities. God wants unity but Christ is to be the head—He is in charge not individuals in the Body of Christ. In fact, God gives honor to the weaker and less respected members.

Diversity the world offers is so trivial and destructive. Many churches think what the world proclaims as acceptance & diversity is God’s example of unity. The world will never have unity. All of the world’s institutions and communities will eventually crumble. The world will eventually have to look to Satan for purpose and lively hood in order to survive. The world’s diversity goals will give way to dictatorship under the control of Satan.

Unity under Christ is a unity that comes through love, forgiveness, and honor. Just as stated in the Bible, Acts of the Apostles, where the Disciples of Christ had to be in unity, as one, before the Holy Spirit would come to them. Christ cannot return until the Body of Christ becomes one, as Jesus and the Father are one. Unity is that important!

There have been many visions and prophecies about relationships for 2018. I believe this is an important year for developing and healing of our relationships. God is working on unity, and unity cannot be obtained without proper relationships that are based on truth and the Fruit of the Spirit. Lies, darkness and evil works destroy relationships or make them so toxic that unity is never attainable.

We must be completely aware of individuals close to us and even in the Body of Christ that seek ‘their way’ or ‘their power’ over us and others. They are toxic individuals and enemies of the Gospel of Christ. Jesus warned of such individuals (He told His disciples to be servants), Paul gave examples in his Epistles of the actions of toxic leaders in the church, and Book of Revelation gives many examples of toxic persons (calls them enemies of Christ & Church) within the Body of Christ.

Remember, humility precedes unity and wisdom precedes humility, and the operation of the Holy Spirit is what brings wisdom to us. We must strive for unity in the Spirit—this is how God cements His body together and allows His love to be multiplied in our lives.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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January 9, 2018 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Challenge #3

I have been writing about challenges for the American Christian. Some things are merely an everyday annoyance for the believer while others are indeed challenges. Challenge #3 is our search for wisdom. Only wisdom can bring spiritual, physical and financial prosperity.

God’s judgment, as recorded in Revelation, is coming—no, it is upon us. Only a reckless person does not recognize the ‘signs of the times’. Jesus is coming and He is not happy. We live as if there will be a tomorrow—a tomorrow similar to today. We are “poor, blind and naked” when we believe this. The Book of Revelation says to the church to repent and change your ways. What are we to change too—only wisdom can tell us what to become.

I want the Church to be wise! God’s wisdom is simply, knowing what the will of God is—to recognize God, manifesting Himself on earth. When wisdom works in our lives then we see God, we recognize the works of the Holy Spirit, and we understand what is good and what is evil. Without wisdom, we are indeed blind.

Biblical synonyms for wisdom are discernment, understanding, perceive, hearing, fear of the Lord, counsel, reproof, knowledge, and judgment with equity. Got any of those qualities? The world says to get smart, become talented, push yourself, and reach for the stars. But God says to become humble, become 2nd to others, learn to give not take, and esteem others greater than yourself. What a difference between God and worldly values.

I have many Christian friends that have given me financial advice over the years. They have told me to invest in the stock market, buy gold and silver, purchase ammo to barter with when times get hard, and/or move here or there in order to have security. These to me are common sense decisions but in the end (the last days) it is “mourning”—crying for the sins and iniquities of God’s people—that will keep me safe. (Ezekiel 9:4)

“Blessed are those that mourn for they will be comforted,” Jesus said. This is the wisdom of God. It is found only in humility. There is no selfish motive, no jealousy, no pride, or corruptive actions in wisdom. You cannot be “saved” without wisdom. Wisdom is all about God and nothing about you. Wisdom will guide you to the will of God for it is the knowledge of God’s will.

The key to wisdom is to be humble enough for wisdom to speak to you so you can identify the will of God. Once you know God’s will then you can respond to God—this is your faith in action. From wisdom to faith—there is no other way to the Father and His Son. Challenge #3, finding wisdom and in finding God’s wisdom you will find life.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

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January 7, 2018 WWJWMTD by Steve the son of John

Toxic Relationships

Toxic relations are destroying not only the lives of many Christians but hindering their walk with the Lord. Like I stated in the previous article, there are many kinds of relationships—some are good and wholesome while others destroy the persons that are involved in ‘destructive relationships’.

Jesus warned that “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household,” Matthew 10:36. But, often Jesus and His disciples continued to give warnings about individuals that want to have position and authority over others. These are people who prey on those who are weak. We can become weak when we think “love alone can change people” or “if I love someone they will treat me with kindness.”

Remember, God loves us all and His love is far greater and more abundant than all the love I could possibly show in this lifetime. Yet, people have and will continue to reject the impact of His love on the human race and continue to display selfish and destructive behavior.

We need to avoid people who are toxic to “our choice” in serving Christ. We should never enable people to destroy their own lives or others around them. Today we are told over and over again in the media, public education and even in some of our churches that we must accept each other and never display any kind of judgment on their character. This is opposite of the teachings of Christ.

Love demands balance and correctness. Once we accept an individual without requiring them to produce works and words of kindness, purity, faithfulness or wisdom then we are part of their corrupt deeds. When did God ever want us to promote evil behavior?

This is indeed a challenge for the Church today—to avoid toxic relationships and our acceptance of toxic relational behavior. As John stated in the epistles, “If you love God you will keep God’s commandments—this is how we know we love God and our fellow human being.” What are God’s commandments? The center of His commandments is stated in the Sermon on the Mount, Gospel of Matthew chapters 5-7.

It is not easy to obey Christ’s Sermon on the Mount, but this is the only way to avoid toxic relationships. Come on Church; let’s love God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind! It is time to put toxic people on notice and not allow their influence over our lives.

WWJWMTD

What would Jesus want me to do?

Dr. Steven J. Wentland www.wwjwmtd.com

This e-mail, including attachments, may include confidential and/or proprietary information, and may be used only by the person or entity to which it is addressed. If the reader of this e-mail is not the intended recipient or his or her authorized agent, the reader is hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution, or copying of this e-mail is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender by replying to this message and delete this e-mail immediately.