“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him! Psalms 34:8 NKJV

Taste and see that the Lord is good! To taste means to “perceive” or “understand”. The Lord wants us to know and understand that He is good. Not bad, but good! Psalms 100:5 AMP says, “For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.” And Psalms 145:9 NKJV says. “The Lord is good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works.” The Lord is good—always good—He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 NKJV says that, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

Not only is He good, but He is faithful! He is faithful to His word and faithful to His promises. If we trust in Him, we will always be blessed – and happy – because He will never let us down!

1. We are blessed if we trust in the Lord.
• Psalms 84:11-12 AMP – For the Lord God is a Sun and Shield; the Lord bestows [present] grace and favor and [future] glory (honor, splendor, and heavenly bliss)! No good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly. 12 O Lord of hosts, blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts in You [leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, and that without fear or misgiving]!
• Psalms 91:14-16 AMP – Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness — trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never]. 15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.
• Proverbs 16:20 AMP – He who deals wisely and heeds [God’s] word and counsel shall find good, and whoever leans on, trusts in, and is confident in the Lord — happy, blessed, and fortunate is he.

2. If you trust your own mind and skills, you are nothing more than a self-confident fool and you will fail. Trust in the Lord – not in your own understanding.
• Proverbs 28:26 AMP – He who leans on, trusts in, and is confident of his own mind and heart is a [self-confident] fool, but he who walks in skillful and godly Wisdom shall be delivered.
• Proverbs 3:5-8 NKJV – Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.

3. Don’t be afraid of people – their opinions or what they can do to you. No good will come of that. Do not put your confidence in what man can do – yourself or others. Put your confidence in the Lord and you will be safe.
• Proverbs 29:25 AMP – The fear of man brings a snare, but whoever leans on, trusts in, and puts his confidence in the Lord is safe and set on high.
• Jeremiah 17:5-7 AMP – Thus says the Lord: Cursed [with great evil] is the strong man who trusts in and relies on frail man, making weak [human] flesh his arm, and whose mind and heart turn aside from the Lord. 6 For he shall be like a shrub or a person naked and destitute in the desert; and he shall not see any good come, but shall dwell in the parched places in the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land. 7 [Most] blessed is the man who believes in, trusts in, and relies on the Lord, and whose hope and confidence the Lord is.

4. Don’t trust in what you have – in your money or stuff – because you will fail. If you trust in the Lord you will always be fruitful and prosperous.
• Proverbs 11:28 AMP – He who leans on, trusts in, and is confident in his riches shall fall, but the [uncompromisingly] righteous shall flourish like a green bough.

5. If you call yourself a believer, if you say that you believe in Jesus, then you are also saying that you have faith in Him – that you have attached yourself to Him and you completely trust and rely on Him. You are saying that you have entrusted your well-being to Christ – spirit, soul and body!
• John 3:15-16 AMP – In order that everyone who believes in Him [who cleaves to Him, trusts Him, and relies on Him] may not perish, but have eternal life and [actually] live forever! 16 For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.

6. The wicked will have much sorrow, but if you confidently trust in and lean on the Lord you will be surrounded by mercy and loving-kindness. When you focus on God’s promises rather than your problems, your mind will always be perfectly at peace – even in the middle of the storms of life!
• Psalms 32:10 AMP – Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but he who trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on the Lord shall be compassed about with mercy and with loving-kindness.
• Isaiah 26:3 NKJV – You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.
• Isaiah 26:3-4 ERV – Lord, you give true peace to people who depend on you, to those who trust in you. 4 So trust the Lord always, because in the Lord Yah you have a place of safety forever.

Trust the Lord! He will never, ever abandon you or let you down!

“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

“No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon. 25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature? 28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
Matthew 6:24-34 NKJV

From the beginning of creation, before the Father even created man, He prepared the earth to sustain man and provide for him. Man was God’s crowning creation, made in His image and likeness. God gave mankind the dominion over the earth to exercise authority over it and reap the blessing of it (Genesis 1:26-31). They had everything they needed; they lacked nothing; the Father was their complete source and supply. You could say that they lived in the lap of luxury! All they did was spend time with the Father, worshiping Him and enjoying their life. Because they lived in God’s presence, they had no idea what lack was—or hunger; or pain, or sin; or guilt; or fear. Then they sinned and the devil took dominion over the earth and over man and they began to suffer lack and loss. The earth became cursed. Instead of being a home for man where they were completely protected and provided for, it became hostile territory for them. Back in the Garden, they just picked their food off the trees, but now thorns and thistles grew up to choke the trees.

In the Garden, God was man’s complete source and supply, but now suddenly, they had to work really hard to get their food. Now they had to work with their own hands to provide for themselves and their families. However, Father God wanted them to remember that He was still there for them. The Father always has been and always will be man’s source and supply. He loved Adam and Eve before they sinned and He loved them the same afterwards. Even though they were under the devil’s dominion, God still wanted to have a relationship with them and fellowship with them; He still reached out to them to bless them every opportunity that he could. Many people have the wrong idea about God, when they think that God doesn’t care about man, because He cares very much. He wants to be our provider; He wants us to call on Him for the things we need; He wants to bless us, but He can only do it if we allow Him to by serving Him only. Before sin came, man lived on the earth, but was Heaven-focused; however, after sin entered in he became earth-focused. God wants us to remain Heaven-focused—our heart must belong only to Him. If our heart belongs to God, then we will love Him more than earthly things.

Jesus told us that there are only two things that people can worship and they can’t worship both at the same time—only one or the other. If you love one, then you will hate the other, or you will be loyal to one and despise the other. These two things are God or mammon. Mammon is earthly possessions or wealth. The only way to tell if you love Father God is if you love Him with your possessions. From the very beginning, after the fall, God showed man that he would be blessed if he honored God with his offerings. Even though God’s people were in enemy territory, as long as they served God and honored Him with their possessions—with their tithes and offerings—God was able to protect and provide for them. If they would not honor God, the devil was able to take advantage of them.

Before you knew Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you were your own source and supply—you looked to your own ability and resources to take care of your own and your family’s needs. Some people work really hard to provide for their families—some people don’t work and just hope they win the lottery—but they all look to the earth to provide for them. Father God wants you to work, but He also wants you to completely trust Him fully and look to Him as your source and supply. In other words, your job is no longer your source, but it becomes just a channel that God can use to bless us. You must realize that God is bigger than your job and He can bless you with way much more than your job can. All you need to do is put God and His Kingdom first in your life. You do that by giving to Him first—by not being afraid to give what you have in our hands to Him. God tells you to not even worry, because He knows what you need. He says if you seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness—all the things you need and want WILL be added to you!

“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his ancestral possession [which through poverty he was compelled to sell], and each of you shall return to his family [from whom he was separated in bond service]. Leviticus 25:10 AMP

Jubilee was not a man-idea – it was a God-idea. The Father commanded the Israelites to treat the fiftieth year as holy; a year in which fortunes were restored and the people were released from bondage and slavery, and families were reunited and restored. Jubilee was a great equalizer. Debt was cancelled and everyone had an opportunity for a fresh start. Jubilee was a financial deliverance. It is God, Himself, who set the system up as a prevention and cure for poverty!

The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed one, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], 19 To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.] Luke 4:18-19 AMP

In the synagogue, Jesus read from Isaiah 61 and then He proclaimed that the Year of Jubilee – the acceptable year of the Lord – had begun. Jesus IS our Jubilee! Jesus came to bring mankind out of every kind of bondage that we could possibly experience. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law and delivered us from the power of the enemy! Jesus came to heal, save and deliver. He delivered us from sin, from spiritual darkness, from sickness and disease, from mental, physical and spiritual torment, and from the curse of poverty. Poverty is a curse, not a blessing. It is NOT God’s will for us to be poor!

For you are becoming progressively acquainted with and recognizing more strongly and clearly the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (His kindness, His gracious generosity, His undeserved favor and spiritual blessing), [in] that though He was [so very] rich, yet for your sakes He became [so very] poor, in order that by His poverty you might become enriched (abundantly supplied). 2 Corinthians 8:9 AMP

Although Jesus was so very rich, He became so very poor, so that His children might be abundantly supplied and enriched! Father God does not want His children poverty stricken or going without. All through the Word of God, He tells us that He wants us to be blessed and to have our physical and material needs met. He knows what we need and He promised to get it to us if we seek Him first! Through the cross, not only are our sins forgiven and our bodies healed, but our material needs are also met!

Let those who favor my righteous cause and have pleasure in my uprightness shout for joy and be glad and say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, Who takes pleasure in the prosperity of His servant. Psalm 35:27 AMP
Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers. 3 John 1:2 AMP

The Lord takes pleasure in the prosperity of His children who love righteousness and uprightness! The Lord takes pleasure in our prosperity! He delights in our prosperity! The Lord wants us to prosper in EVERY way!

The way religious tradition preaches it, God wants you poor and He doesn’t want you to prosper, however, the Word of God Himself contradicts that view. The Lord has expressed to us His desires and plans for us and His plans are for our good and our blessing! The Father has pleasure in our prosperity – it pleases Him to bless us and meet our needs, and even to give us the desires of our heart. The Hebrew word translated as pleasure, means exactly that – it means: desiring; delighting in; having pleasure in. It is also translated as: willing; favor; wish. This means that if God has HIS way in our lives, we would be so blessed that we would not only have enough to meet our every need, but we would have more than enough to be able to bless many others and meet their needs!

God is able to bless His children and He is also willing to bless them. What do WE have to do in order to be eligible to receive this abundant blessing? What do we have to do in order to release God’s blessing in our lives? We have to keep His commands!

Deuteronomy 29:9 AMP – Therefore keep the words of this covenant and do them, that you may deal wisely and prosper in all that you do.

1 Kings 2:3 AMP – Keep the charge of the Lord your God, walk in His ways, keep His statutes, His commandments, His precepts, and His testimonies, as it is written in the Law of Moses, that you may do wisely and prosper in all that you do and wherever you turn.

Isaiah 48:18 AMP – Oh, that you had hearkened to My commandments! Then your peace and prosperity would have been like a flowing river, and your righteousness [the holiness and purity of the nation] like the [abundant] waves of the sea.

This IS our Jubilee – not just for one year – but we are living in it now, and into eternity. Because Jesus IS our Jubilee and because we choose to serve and honor Him, we can expect to live in the blessing of God as a way of life!

And the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, of your cattle, of your land, for good; for the Lord will again delight in prospering you, as He took delight in your fathers. Deuteronomy 30:9 AMP

God is doing such amazing things in this conference. It is so amazing what is taking place at the river church here in Tampa!! It is so awesome to see the body of Christ rising up and not just stay within the four walls of the church! But going out and taking seriously the scripture go out unto all the world and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I cannot wait to see what is going to take place in other churches as they tune in and get a true passion and hunger for people that are crying out for the peace and joy that only comes from Jesus! I have always had a had a hunger for the lost even at a young age. And have been in many churches that mainly stay within the church to preach the gospel which is a great thing. But we have to go out to the people were they are! It is time for us the church to rise up and go out to a lost and dying world that is trying to fill a void in their lives! So it’s our job for the church to go tell them that the only way they can fill that void is only found in Jesus Christ! It has put a cry in me that I don’t want to be a spectator in this life for Jesus! I want to be and do all that he has called me to do! Not for my glory, but for his! To live a life that is truly pleasing to him!-Jeremy F.

“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. John 10:2-4 NKJV

6. A good Pastor/Minister is a good example: he leads, and does not drive; he feeds and builds, and does not destroy; and he lives what he preaches.

a. In 1 Corinthians 4:9-21 Paul talks about the price he and the other Apostles paid to bring the Gospel to the Corinthians and the other cities and nations. They loved, disciplined, and cared for them like they were their own children.

1 Corinthians 4:15-16 AMP – After all, though you should have ten thousand teachers (guides to direct you) in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the glad tidings (the Gospel). 16 So I urge and implore you, be imitators of me.

b. In 2 Corinthians 4:8-18, Paul talks about how he and the apostles suffered much persecution and hardship to bring the truth of God’s Word to the world, but they did it willingly and joyfully, because of the reward of seeing the fruit here on earth, but most of all the reward waiting for them in heaven when they died.

c. In 2 Corinthians 6:1-10, Paul talks about the fact that he and the apostles did their utmost to set a good example to all, even through terrific hardships and sacrifice.

2 Corinthians 6:3-7 AMP – We put no obstruction in anybody’s way [we give no offense in anything], so that no fault may be found and [our] ministry blamed and discredited. 4 But we commend ourselves in every way as [true] servants of God: through great endurance, in tribulation and suffering, in hardships and privations, in sore straits and calamities, 5 In beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless watching, hunger; 6 By innocence and purity, knowledge and spiritual insight, longsuffering and patience, kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in unfeigned love; 7 By [speaking] the word of truth, in the power of God, with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand [to attack] and for the left hand [to defend]

d. In 1 Timothy 3:1-13, Paul sets the standards for those who would desire a leadership role in the Church. These are the standards required:

He must give no grounds for accusation, but must be above reproach; the husband of one wife; circumspect, temperate and self-controlled; sensible, well-behaved and dignified; lead an orderly, disciplined life; hospitable; be a capable and qualified teacher; not a drinker of alcohol nor a drunkard; not combative, but gentle and considerate; not quarrelsome, but forbearing and peaceable; not covetous or a lover of money; he must rule his own household well and with dignity, with obedient, respectful children (for if a man does not know how to rule his own household, how is he to take care of the church of God?); he must not be a new convert, or he may become blinded by conceit and pride and fall like the devil once did; he must have a good reputation and be well thought of by those outside the church; he must have integrity and be beyond reproach; he must not be shifty and a double-talker, but sincere in what he says; he must preach the truth of the Gospel, with a clear conscience. The woman likewise must be worthy of respect and serious; not gossipers, but temperate and self-controlled; thoroughly trustworthy in all things.

e. Paul instructed Timothy concerning ministry, in 1 Timothy 4:11-16, and his advice applies to all those the Lord calls into ministry. He instructs him to:

Be an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity; study the Word; to preach, teach, exhort and instill doctrine; to not neglect the calling, gifts and anointing on his life that were given to him by the Holy Spirit; to throw himself wholly into doing God’s will and serving the Church; to make sure that he lives what he believes and preaches. This advice is also for the rest of us who are called to ministry.

f. In 2 Timothy 2:1-13, Paul instructs Timothy further:

Be strong; raise up more leaders, who are reliable, faithful, competent and qualified to teach other also; endure the hardships and suffering of a first-class soldier of Christ Jesus, with the aim of satisfying and pleasing only Him; work hard and run the race with integrity; whatever you suffer on earth, you will receive an equivalent reward in heaven; remain faithful to Him, for He is faithful to you; study hard and rightfully divide the Word of Truth; don’t waste time arguing or being argumentative; cleanse and separate yourself so you can be a vessel unto honor; shun and flee from youthful lusts; pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace; be kind; be a skilled teacher; correct your opponents with courtesy and gentleness, in order to possibly win and convert them.

g. In Titus 1:4-16, Paul reiterates what he said before to Timothy, about leadership, including these qualities:

Be a person of unquestionable integrity; not open to the accusation of being loose in morals and conduct, or unruly and disorderly; blameless; not self-willed or arrogant or presumptuous; do not be quick-tempered; be hospitable and generous; be sober-minded; sensible; discreet; upright and fair-minded; devout; temperate and self-controlled; hold fast to the Word and teach it as you were taught it; keep the message pure and accurate; correct those who are in error.

h. These standards do not apply only to the apostles and early church leaders, but they fully apply to us today. We must aspire to be like the apostles and follow and imitate them as they followed and imitated the Lord (1 Corinthians 11:1; Philippians 3:17).

2 Timothy 1:13-14 ERV – What you heard me teach is an example of what you should teach. Follow that model of right teaching with the faith and love we have in Christ Jesus. 14 This teaching is a treasure that you have been trusted with. Protect it with the help of the Holy Spirit, who lives inside us.

“From the Heart” teaching by Drs. Rodney & Adonica Howard-Browne.

5. Grace cannot cancel the death penalty when saved men break the law.

Romans 6:16-23 says that you become the slaves of whatever you give yourselves to. You are either the slave of sin and lawlessness, or the slave of righteousness for holiness. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. If we continue to sin, we will certainly reap death, but if we yield and submit ourselves to righteousness, we will continue to reap eternal life. If we choose to sin and keep on sinning, God’s grace cannot keep us from the death penalty. But if we serve righteousness, then the devil cannot keep us from heaven and the presence of God.

Therefore, brethren, we are debtors — not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. Romans 8:12-13 NKJV

For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has rejected Moses’ law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29 Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? Hebrews 10:26-29 NKJV

God is a loving heavenly Father, who wants us in heaven with Him, but the scripture says that if we decide to continue willfully sin, even after we have learned the truth, then there is no other sacrifice that will take away our sins. If we continue sinning, all that is left for us is a fearful time of waiting for the judgment and the raging fire that will destroy those who fight against God.

“Behold, all souls are Mine; The soul of the father As well as the soul of the son is Mine; The soul who sins shall die. Ezekiel 18:4 NKJV

The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. 21 “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. 23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord God, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live? 24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die. Ezekiel 18:20-24 NKJV (See also Ezekiel 33:12-13)

When the righteous turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, he shall die because of it. 19 But when the wicked turns from his wickedness and does what is lawful and right, he shall live because of it. Ezekiel 33:18-19 NKJV

The soul who sins will die. This is God’s word of warning to all who would think that God tolerates, or allows, or even encourages sin. Some people have the unbiblical idea that because God is love, He will reward sin with eternal life and sinners with heaven. No! God sent Jesus as a sacrifice, to destroy sin and its power – not to put His stamp of approval on it. God’s grace is infinitely greater than sin, but grace can’t cancel the death penalty when men break God’s laws – whether they were previously saved or not.

6. Grace cannot make God a liar, who said every man that sins, must die.

Galatians 5:19-21 says that those who practice the works of the flesh – adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like – will NOT inherit the kingdom of God. And Galatians 6:7-8 NKJV says, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8 For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.”

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 NKJV

But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars — their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. Revelation 21:8 NIV

If God says that those who sin will die, then that is what WILL happen. Grace is not going to make God a liar by excusing sin or giving life to those who sow to the flesh. The law of seedtime and harvest works one hundred percent of the time. The harvest is a multiplication of whatever was sown. We need to give God’s grace an opportunity in our lives, by sowing to the spirit and obeying God’s word.