Shake It Off

Tommy Ray Banks

Description

This book will teach you about God, Satan, yourself, the Bible, the church, sin, temptations, storms, and most importantly, how to shake it off. There are many sacred scriptures as well as reasonable explanations in every chapter. The whole point of this book is that we must shake it off. Turn that snake over to God and shake it off.
God Is Shaking Us Into Something Better!
This book will teach you about God, Satan, yourself, the Bible, the church, sin, temptations, storms, and most importantly, how to shake it off. There are many sacred scriptures as well as reasonable explanations in every chapter. The whole point of this book is that we must shake it off. Turn that snake over to God and shake it off.
In divine light of our comparative study in Acts 28:5, “And he shook off the beast into the fire and felt no harm.” It is evident in verse 5 that Paul looked up and saw that snake in his hand. Now, what do you do when the snake hangs on? (Peace! There is no need to panic!) You do like Paul and shake the snake off into the fire. When people go out of their way to hurt you, you must shake it off.
You must, therefore, get closer, ever closer, to the greatness of Jesus Christ, the Savior of sinners, and allow him to guide you more, and ever deeper, into the mysteries of the gospel. You must be able to shake it off as a Christian. And allow your heart, therefore, to blossom in him.
Every Christian should read this book. If you enjoy reading the Bible, you will love the shake it off. This inspirational book takes you on a lifelong journey of genuine change and phenomenal growth. I recommend this for any reader, young or old.
The process of writing this book has been a pleasure, and I hope you enjoy reading it as well.

Sujets

• Christian Living
• Inspirational
• Philosophie et théologie
• By the way
• Religion
• Barbarians

Informations

• Publié par: WestBow Press
• Date de parution: 15 août 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781664274679
• Langue: English

Extrait

SHAKE IT OFF
 
THE PATH TO LIVE A HAPPY LIFE
 
 
 
 
 
TOMMY RAY BANKS
 
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 Tommy Ray Banks.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.
 
WestBow Press
A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.westbowpress.com
844-714-3454
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
Cover Graphics/Art Credit:
Book Cover Design Artwork –
Estelle J Professional Graphic Designs
(Joni Lane)
 
Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.
 
Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973 1978 1984 2011 by Biblica, Inc. TM. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7466-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7468-6 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-6642-7467-9 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022914281
 
 
WestBow Press rev. date: 08/10/2022
 
In memory of the late Rev. James E. Smith, Sr.
Union Grove Missionary Baptist Church
Memphis, Tennessee
CONTENTS
Opening Prayer
Foreword
Introduction
 
Chapters
1     What To Do When You Feel A Shaking In The Spirit?
2     What To Do When The Snake Hangs On Your Hand?
3     In This Lif e (You Will Face Temptation)
4     What To Do When You Feel Hate In Your Heart?
5     What To Do When Trouble Comes Your Way?
6     What To Do When Friends Forsake You?
7     Shake Your Mind Fre e (While You Get Shaky)
8     Control Your Expectation s (By Shaking Off Those Defeated Feelings)
9     Shake It Off Is Not A Choice (It Is Your Duty)
 
Conclusion: After Shaking Off Things, Now What?
Endnotes
Biography
Preface
Dedication
Special Dedication
Parents Dedication
Acknowledgments
Special Acknowledgments
Author’s Poem
About the Author
General Index
Scripture Index
Closing Prayer
Look For These Other Books By Tommy Ray Banks Sr.
OPENING PRAYER
“Dear Adonai (God our Creator) ,
Today, help us move forward and shake off the anticipation of our excitement and distress.
Thank you for being our great Helper.”
In Jesus’ name, I pray.
“Amen!”
FOREWORD
By
Wanda L. Banks
(Lady B.)
The author of this book is someone I want you to know. I have heard him preach Shake It Off, time after time after time, and every time he has trusted God and bravely done what needed doing. And he has only grown more in Christ and in his ability to live for the glory of God.
Now, this book is valuable because you are valuable. My dear husband, Pastor Tommy Banks, wrote this for you — to recognize you and encourage you to shake off things. Make you feel acknowledged, understood, and respected by giving you some fresh wind to blow into your sails.
Pastor Banks’ goal is to empower you and help you on the path to a happy and fulfilling life. He is glad this book is now in your hands. We pray that God will bless you!
Thank you for giving Pastor Banks the honor of serving you. May God bless you and keep you; make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he continue to lift his eyes upon you and give you peace in the Holy Ghost.
Yours Sincerely in Spirit and Truth,
Lady B.
INTRODUCTION
The Paul Experience
THE BIBLE SAYS, “And he SHOOK OFF the beast into the fire, and felt no harm” (Acts 28:5). But how do we change our mindset to shake off things? What do we do?
The whole point of this book is that we must be able to SHAKE IT OFF. Turn that snake over to God and shake it off.
Sadly, too many people allow their situation to get the best of them. A lot of people let their circumstances get them down. You must be able to shake things off. It is important to shake it off and keep going. Don’t look back but look forward.
In all likelihood, you may have lost the friendship of your best friend. Maybe your boyfriend, girlfriend, or spouse cheated on you. Or you failed a test. It makes you want to give up. Whatever the case may be, you must be able to shake things off and bounce back when things get you down!
For your good, you must be able to roll with the punches! Consider this: the most significant test of life is the ability to adjust. In adjusting to your life, you must shake things off. And never let your problems make you sing the blues. It’s okay to shake off things when your religion has an outward show and minus of an inward glow. You must be able to shake it off.
In a competitive society, when we get criticized for doing good and magnified for doing wrong, we must be able to shake it off. In a world where people will magnify your faults and minimize your faithfulness, you must be able to shake them off. For out of the calm clearness of your day can come the disturbing blackness of a fearful night, you must be able to shake it off.
Fundamentally, this means one day you can be happy—the next day unhappy; you can be in one day but out the next day; you can be up one day but down the next day; you can be healthy one day but sick the next day, and you can have plenty of friends one day and none the next day!
So, when life deals you a terrible hand, it is essential to be strong enough to shake it off. When adversity comes (and we know it will), we have no choice but to shake it off. And when trouble comes, we have got to shake it off.
To illustrate this point, the text presents Satan, having been unsuccessful in killing Paul with a storm, now trying another tactic. Paul and the crew safely landed on the shores of Melita. If only they had listened to Paul and stayed with the ship. But on the other hand, the captain didn’t listen, for Paul had told him not to sail.
According to the Bible, “The captain ignored Paul and sailed away without stopping” (see Acts 27:21; verses 1-44) .
(I can tell you!) He was more than just the captain. He was the owner of the ship. And you know how we are when we think we own something. I want you to be careful (for your sake) how you brag about what you own:
“Yes, this is my car. I own it.”
“Then this is my house.”
“I say this is my furniture.”
All right, be careful how you brag about what you own. As we read in the Bible, it says, “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein” (Psalm 24:1). Since God created the earth; therefore, it belongs to him.
Sadly, it is now in rebellion against God, being dominated more or less by Satan, the devil, and evil spirits. People who refuse to believe the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, have been blinded by Satan (see 11 Corinthians 4:4) ; h o wever , with the Second Coming, everything will be made right when Jesus returns.
Let us make this practical. Perhaps you should be careful how you brag about what you own. What you have now that may be gone tomorrow: You may have a pretty good job; you may have a little money in the bank; you may have a change of clothes; you may not worry about what you are going to eat tomorrow, but all that can change overnight; your job can go out of business; your bank account can dry up; things can change overnight, and when things change for the worse, you’ve got to be able to shake it off! The transition will pass with swiftness, so put your hope in your future (“by loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind”) instead of money. As a result, money will buy a bed, but it will not buy sleep; money will buy food, but not an appetite; money will buy medicine, but not health; money will buy a house, but not a home, and money will buy a diamond–ring, but it will not buy love!
Therefore, you had better build your hopes on things eternal and hold to the Lord’s unchanging hand; they came to Melita, and the Barbarian people showed them no little kindness; the Barbarians showed them much kindness; a lot of compassion.
The term Barbarian meant that they were uncivilized, uncultured, uneducated, and unexposed. They were (un) everything you could think about, but they had sense enough to be kind. Now? What is our problem? We have been to school. Some of us got more degrees than a thermometer, and some of us do not have sense enough to say “good morning and good evening.”
The Barbarians built a fire so Paul and his company could warm themselves. At the same time, Paul went out and got him some sticks. So he could add to the fire. Well, if the church is not what it ought to be, maybe you ought to add to the fire.
(Of course,) I think it is great when you come to a remarkable church on Sunday morning. However, you should naturally seek to add to its Holy Ghost fire. There should be burni