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Is Satan a snake?

Nehemiah 12:9 - Also Bakbukiah and Unni, their brethren, stood opposite
them in the watches.

In today's message we read about 2 Levites Bakbukiah and Unni along with
their brethren who were part of the service of the temple in Jerusalem. One
may think what is there about these 2 people that the Lord is telling us
that may affect our lives today.

It may surprise you when you come to know the meaning of their name.
Bakbukiah means 'curse of Jehovah' and 'Unni' means afflicted. Imagine the
cursed and afflicted of Jehovah serving Him!

Whenever Satan is projected, people show him as a snake. In the movie Son
of God when Jesus is being tempted in the desert the director showed Satan
transforming into a snake. We also have some Christian Churches especially
in the USA who hold services playing with snakes, projecting that they have
power over Satan.

There are many scriptures where Satan is symbolized as a snake, but then
not all of them actually refer to a snake. Like in Genesis when Adam and
Eve were in Eden it is written Satan came as a snake. The Hebrew word
'nachash' used here comes from the word that means 'enchanted'. In the
Bible there are many other Hebrew words translated as serpent, like
'tanniym' which means monster like the mythical dragon or a prehistoric
animal. Also the word 'saraph' which means fiery serpent (creature) is at
times translated as serpent (this word is also used for the Cherubs who are
called the Morning Stars).

Note in the wilderness when the wrath of the Lord was on the people,
serpents came and bit them, such that many died. We see at that time when
people pleaded the Lord, He asked them to make a 'saraph' (fiery creature)
and set on a pole so that any person bit by a serpent (nachash) will not
die but live. What did Moses do? Moses makes a snake (nachash) out of brass
and sets it on a pole. We see the Lord does not correct him and when people
bitten by a serpent looked up on the brass serpent set on the pole they
lived as the Lord said. So indirectly the Lord approved what Moses did. As
we know this brass serpent represents Jesus on the cross, to whom we look
up to and are saved. So we see not only Satan even Christ (on the cross) is
symbolized as a serpent in the Bible.

Serpents are not evil creatures, when God made them along with all other
creatures God as recorded in Genesis chp1, God said they are good. So
serpents are not bad but what they symbolize is bad. In Genesis we see some
of the creatures were made after their kind and some after the Lord's (His)
kind. Their kind refers to the fallen angels (evil spirits) who separated
themselves from God. That is why the Lord classified some animals as
unclean not because there was something bad about the animal but bad about
what they spiritually symbolized. We can eat the animal but not what they
spiritually symbolize.

At times snake symbolizes deceit (that is why it moves in a zig zag
direction. Snake also symbolizes cursed. When God cursed Satan in the
Garden of Eden, He said it is cursed above all the cattle (means mute
beings / those not having authority) and above every being if the land -
levels below the higher Heavens. He also said it will move on its belly
(means its doings - means eat the fruit of its doings) and eat the dust
(symbolizing death) the time of its living.

On the cross Jesus took our curse and our penalty of death on Himself and
became cursed and afflicted by God. By His natural death He went to Hell
for our sins were on Him but since He never sinned Himself and there was no
sin in Him, therefore He could not be kept in Hell and thus He resurrected
(came up from Hell). By His resurrection now anyone who believes in Him by
faith is raised through the gates of Hell therefore being free of the
prison of Hell, he or she does not go to Hell.

In today's message the Lord is telling us not to look at things in the
flesh but see them through our spiritual eyes. We are not called to hate
snakes or any animal but discern them spiritually and hate the things of
darkness, battle them and overcome them with the Light of Truth.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, your people need more and more of your Spirit. They need to learn to
discern things spiritually. They need to

[Reference Scriptures]

Numbers 21:8-9

8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon
a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he
looketh upon it, shall live.

9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came
to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent
of brass, he lived.

Genesis 3:14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done
this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field;
upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life:

Genesis 1:20-26

20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature
that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament
of heaven.

21 And God created great sea creatures, and every living creature that
moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and
every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the
waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his
kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and the beast of the earth after his
kind: and it was so.

25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after
their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind:
and God saw that it was good.

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let
them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air,
and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing
that creepeth upon the earth.
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The thousand years of the waters

Ezekiel 47:3-5

3 And when the man that had the line in his hand went forth eastward, he
measured a thousand cubits, and he brought me through the waters; the
waters were to the ankles.

4 Again he measured a thousand, and brought me through the waters; the
waters were to the knees. Again he measured a thousand, and brought me
through; the waters were to the loins.

5 Afterward he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not
pass over: for the waters had risen, waters to swim in, a river that could
not be passed over.

This message is spiritually very deep and strong food if one understands it
depth they will understand the purpose of God's creation.

Frist the word waters in the Old Testament has other meanings like waste
water of washing of feet and even piss (urine). But in the New Testament
the word comes from its origin which is either rain or river. Waters in
principle symbolized understanding, stagnant water symbolizes sin, fresh
following water like spring, fountain or river symbolizes understanding
that gives life, little rain symbolizes mercy (former rain), sufficient
rain symbolizes grace (later rain) but very heavy rain that kills
symbolizes God's wrath (like Noah' floods).

In the Old Testament even though people had close encounter with the Lord
in the natural, yet they were far from the understanding of the Kingdom of
God. Even a person like Solomon who was blessing in great wisdom was also
far from the true understanding of the Kingdom of God (understanding of the
truth came through Jesus Christ - Spirit of Truth which He gave us). Having
knowledge, having wisdom and having understanding are not the same thing
but are different even though they are closely related to each other.

The Hebrew word 'ephec' translated as ankle actually means 'nothing'. The
word 'mothen' translated as loin means slender (that why translated
sometimes as hip for woman and loin for man). The words 'ets' translated as
trees also means wood and comes from the root word which means shut, so
more refers to a fence. The word 'berek' translated as knee come from the
word 'barak' which means blessing or curse. The Hebrew word translated as
sea also means west and west or right symbolizes righteousness and east or
left side symbolizes away from righteousness. That is why earth and hell
are to the east of Heaven (Eden) that is why God put a flaming sword and
Cherubs to the east to prevent man and fallen angle from entering it.

In today message the waters speaks of evil and the stages of evil. In the
start there was no evil, then evil came into existence and became a curse,
over a long time evil grew and grew but yet was slender but near the end
evil grows to a stage it becomes impossible for man to survive in this
evil. Even though this evil grows God has set a limit to it flourishing.
The Lord is telling us then a stage come where He cause evil to move
towards righteousness and when it comes in contact with righteousness evil
ceases to exist. Later we see the waters change and cause life to blossom.

The Lord is telling us to look around and we will see evil flourishing. He
telling us not to be disheartened He is God and has set a limit to it. He
tells us if we need to do away with evil we need to get people to follow
His righteousness (abide by His Word) and the moment righteousness comes
into the picture, evil will cease to exist.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, when people see evil flourish they get disheartened, but You Lord
have always said do not fear. Lord we know You are Almighty God and
everything is under your control. You have set limits to this evil and You
will not allow it to consume your people for each and everyone's name You
have already written in Book of Life. Lord we pray your people instead of
fearing evil counter it with righteousness and thus overcome evil...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Ezekiel 47:6-10

6 And he said to me, Son of man, hast thou seen this? Then he brought me,
and caused me to return to the brink of the river.

7 Now when I had returned, behold, at the bank of the river were very many
trees on the one side and on the other.

8 Then said he to me, These waters issue out toward the east country, and
go down into the desert, and go into the sea: which being brought forth
into the sea, the waters shall be healed.

9 And it shall come to pass, that every thing that liveth, which moveth,
wherever the rivers shall come, shall live: and there shall be a very great
multitude of fish, because these waters shall come there: for they shall be
healed; and every thing shall live where the river cometh.

10 And it shall come to pass, that the fishermen shall stand upon it from
Engedi even to Eneglaim; they shall be a place to spread forth nets; their
fish shall be according to their kinds, as the fish of the great sea, very
many.

Isaiah 17:13 - The nations shall rush like the rushing of many waters: but
God shall rebuke them, and they shall flee far off, and shall be chased as
the chaff of the mountains before the wind, and like a rolling thing before
the whirlwind.

Isaiah 51:9-11

9 Awake, awake, put on strength, O arm of the LORD; awake, as in the
ancient days, in the generations of old. Art thou not it that hath cut
Rahab, and wounded the dragon?

10 Art thou not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep;
that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over?

11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing
unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain
gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.

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Trapping man like fish so as to consume them

Habakkuk 1:15 - They take up all of them with the hook, they catch them in
their net, and gather them in their drag: therefore they rejoice and are
glad.

I had got this message yesterday and since I had got this message before
and had written about it I was wondering what new the Lord wanted to tell
us through this message and so being lost I did not write and I went to
Sunday Church service. After coming back from the service I switched on the
TV and was watching a news channel and it was then I realized why the Lord
gave this message yesterday. Yesterday the Roman Catholic Church had the
canonizing (legalization) Pope John Paul and another pope as saints.

As a youngster I got to personally meet Pope John Paul II and spend some
good time with him and Mother Teresa for I was the main altar boy for his
mass during his visit in India (Mumbai) February 9, 1986 and sat next to
Mother Teresa near the altar (stage). At that time I was ignorant of
scriptures so I was very impressed with him and looked at him as a greater
than life character. Even his sickness looked like God given boon. His
bending down (due to his back problem) projected him as a humble person.
But after I came to the knowledge of scriptures, grew to discernment and
learned about his life (not his life before he became pope but his life as
a pope, all the crazy things he did) I was astonished how this man could be
called even a Christian? He was the worst anti-Christ than any of the popes
I knew of in my life time and today they have declared him a saint and hero
for others to follow.

One may think of me as a Catholic hater but that is not the case. Can a
person who works for the upliftment of the weak in society hate the poor?
He or she would hate poverty but not the poor. That person's aim would be
bring the poor people out of poverty and into self-sufficiency.

Today's scripture in Habakkuk the Lord tells us what Satan does to destroy
the people. The word translated as 'hook' is the Hebrew word chakkah which
comes from the root word which means to wait (long wait). The word
translated as net (in Hebrew 'Cherem') actually means accursed (destructive
curse - like to destroy) and the word translated as drag (Hebrew
'mikmereth') actually means net.

So the scripture talks of the Chaldeans (Babylonians - the Great Babylonia
in the Bible symbolizes the Catholic Church) takes up all of them with long
waits, they destroys them with their accursed things, and gather them in
their nets (understanding); therefore they rejoice and are glad.

This church goes totally against scripture and claims to be the authors of
the Bible (which they prevent them from studying). They play with the
understanding of scripture with ulterior motives that lead to the
destruction of these people. They may seem to start with good intentions
but due to their lack of knowledge and hardened hearts they become tools of
Satan and do not care even if they put their own people to death.

The Lord told Peter I will made you fisher of men but this Church wants us
to make men into fishes and consume them. They are become agents of Satan
who put a white robe of religion.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, save your people from these religious people who hate You and your
Word. They have become agents of spiritual death and destruction of your
people. Open the eyes of your people oppressed under them and save them
from the bondages of this church...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Zachariah 5:5-11

5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up
now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.

6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth.
He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.

7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman
[false Church] that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.

8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the
ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two
women [the Jewish Church and Catholic Church], and the wind was in their
wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork [holiness]: and they
lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.

10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the
ephah?

11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar
[country of two rivers (understandings)]: and it shall be established, and
set there upon her own base.

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International unrest

Habakkuk 1:6 - For, lo, I raise up the Chaldeans, that bitter and hasty
nation, which shall march through the breadth of the land, to possess the
dwelling places that are not theirs.

When I got this message as usual I thought it would be a spiritual message
but then I felt in my spirit it is to do with our current political
situation.

We know there exist a very volatile political situation right now in east
Europe with regards to Ukraine. Russia is been accused of trying to take
over the country and the western countries are trying to prevent it.

I fell in today's message the Lord is telling us that Russia will indeed
take over either part or the whole of this country. The main issue behind
this whole thing is power games, both the Russians and the western
countries are trying to flex their international powers and thus have
caused this country to pay a great price of loss of freedom.

We can see this message in a spiritual way. When we are not in the Lord,
then the Lord can cause worldly power to have dominance over us and over
our freedom. We land up becoming victims, bait and prey to their power
games.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord You warn of situations that will affect us and our livelihood like You
did in the times of Jeremiah, but like then and now people fail to give ear
to your warnings. We pray Lord, You do not further harden the hearts of
your people like You did then. That the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be
abundant on your people and they do not be victims of vanity...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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Giving alms to the poor

Acts 3:2-5
2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid
daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of
them that entered into the temple;
3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked alms.
4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
5 And he gave heed to them, expecting to receive something from them.

We as Christians are called to be merciful to those in need like the poor
and sick. But is social service the flagship of Christianity?

There are some people who are lifted up and even called saints because of
the social service work they have done in their lives, but when we see them
through the eyes of God (through scriptures) we will be surprised what God
thinks of them.

Let us analyse what Peter and John did in this situation. Note this man was
not the only beggar or sick person outside the synagogue but when this
beggar pursued them for alms they responded to him.

If someone asks you for water, do you give them something to eat or give
them something to drink? We see here the beggar was asking them for money
and Peter and John did not give him money. Surely they did not have money,
but could not they have prayed for God to bless him with money? If God
could provide money through a fish when Jesus was to pay the temple tax and
Peter being the one who caught the fish, surely Peter should have known the
amazing ways in which God can provide money, but we see when they saw the
beggar they saw his sickness more than his poverty. They knew if they had
provided him money they would have helped him for that day or a few days
more but by healing him they made a way for him to provide for himself.
They saw his medical problem more than his financial problem.

When the sick and poor came to Jesus we do not see Jesus everyday looking
after them and feeding them every day, Jesus healed them and sent them
back, He gave them spiritual food more than earthly food. There are 2
incidents where Jesus provided food for the hungry but He did it in a
supernatural way and in both incidents He duplicated the procedure (I have
written about these two great miracles, how they were preformed). Even the
Apostles took care of the widows and the orphans but they themselves did
not, they assigned the young men those who were growing in the Lord to do
this work. They understood these worldly problems were secondary and not
that critical as the spiritual problems. Surely they could not ignore the
worldly problems but if they were to concentrate on solving the worldly
problems all the generations would go yet these problems would not be
removed, but by dealing the spiritual problems the worldly problems would
surely cease to exist.

We Christians alone know the solution to the world's problems like poverty,
sicknesses, sex discrimination, wars, unhappiness, unemployment, hunger
etc. and that solution is Christ. Bring people into the Lord and He becomes
their Jehovah Jireh (God who provides), Jehovah Rapha (God who heals),
Jehovah Raah (God who leads), Jehovah Shalom (God who gives peace), Jehovah
Mekoddishkem (God who sanctifies) etc...

Till the world comes to know God there will be all kinds of problems, we
may have to help them in worldly way for some time but let us remember
these way are not permanent solutions, so let us concentrate more on the
permanent solution - give them Christ.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord You alone are the solution to all our problems. We suffer because we
do not know You. As we come to know You we see the working of your Hand in
our lives. It is our faithlessness and lack of knowledge that blocks our
provisions, our peace and our joy. Lord the world needs You, they need to
know You more than they need food, water, medicine or a job. We pray more
and more people will let them know You so that they will overcome these
worldly problems...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Acts 3:2-10
2 And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid
daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to ask alms of
them that entered into the temple;
3 Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple asked alms.
4 And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him with John, said, Look on us.
5 And he gave heed to them, expecting to receive something from them.
6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have I give
thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
7 And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his
feet and ankle bones received strength.
8 And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the
temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God.
9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God:
10 And they knew that it was he who sat for alms at the Beautiful gate of
the temple: and they were filled with wonder and amazement at that which
had happened to him.

Matthew 10:27-31
27 What I tell you in darkness, that speak ye in light: and what ye hear in
the ear, that preach ye upon the housetops.
28 And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the
soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in
hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall
on the ground without your Father.
30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

Matthew 6:24-34
24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love
the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye
cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall
eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on.
Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor
gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much
better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field,
how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not
arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and
to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of
little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we
drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly
Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take
thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil
thereof.

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Is profit evil?

Luke 3:12, 13 - Then came also tax collectors to be baptized, and said to
him, Master, what shall we do? And he said to them, Exact no more than that
which is appointed you.

In India the Hindus start their Hindu new year with praying over their
financial accounting books. They do all kind of rituals over these books
and then taking saffron coloured powder make all kinds of religious symbols
in many places over the book then they write the words 'Subh Laab' which
means 'Good Fortune' or good profit. In Hinduism profit is very essential
therefore they have a goddess 'Laxmi' / 'Lakshmi' dedicated for this
purpose.

The Catholics too have a saint named Cajetan who is patron for good fortune
among other things.

In the Bible too we see the pagans had gods dedicated to good fortune
(incidentally the English word 'god' comes from a Hebrew word which was a
name of a deity who was a god of good fortune) so we see how deep is this
world in good fortune or lovers of money.

What should be a Christian's attitude towards profit? This is a big
question which runs in the mind of most conscience self-employed or
entrepreneur Christians. The answer to this question is available in the
New Testament and also in detail in the Old Testament.

During the time of Jesus (as man on earth) the tax-collectors were a hated
lot. Since the tax structure was not well defined so how much to tax was up
to the tax collector. If he stated an amount as tax the person had to pay
it or that person became a criminal. In Judah they had flexibility to pay
their taxes by money or even partly by salt. Also people who came into the
city had to pass through a narrow gate which they called the eye of the
needle and if they had more goods that could not pass, they were taxed for
the excess, so clearly undefined things like these gave the tax-collectors
a field day to fleece the people.

In today's message we see Jesus advices some of the tax-collectors who were
baptized to take taxes as appointed. Jesus did not say they should work for
free but told them to be honest in their taking, that is to strictly follow
the guidelines set by the government and take as per they were appointed.
They had a share in the tax collected and to honestly give what belonged to
the government. Not to cheat the people or the government.

In our country India we have a set of business guidelines called business
ethics which are set by the government, they define the reasonable amount
one can make, as profit. As Christians we are called to keep the law of the
land we dwell in. If the country we dwell in does not have a set of
well-defined law for this, then we are called to follow our conscience such
that we do not exploit people but make a decent profit in our businesses.

In the Old Testament the Lord gives further guidelines which state, as per
today's time we need to be more lenient towards other Believer brethren's
and make the minimum profit when it comes to them and when it comes to
others (non-Believers) we should not go over the decent profit margins set
by the law of the land.

We Christians are called to not live like the people of the world but show
the light of Christ in our day to day living. We are not called to make hay
when the sun shine but are called to make the sun shine every day in our
lives by our faith in God.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You set the weekly Sabbath and the yearly Sabbath so that we learn to
trust in You as our provider and almighty God. Lord, guide your people that
they witness You not only by verbal words but also by their way of living.
Let them be example for the world to see and praise You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Exodus 22:21-27

21 Thou shalt neither vex a stranger, nor oppress him: for ye were
strangers in the land of Egypt.

22 Ye shall not afflict any widow, or fatherless child.

23 If thou afflict them in any wise, and they cry at all unto me, I will
surely hear their cry;

24 And my wrath shall wax hot, and I will kill you with the sword; and
your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

25 If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor by thee, thou shalt
not be to him as an usurer, neither shalt thou lay upon him usury.

26 If thou at all take thy neighbour's raiment to pledge, thou shalt
deliver it unto him by that the sun goeth down:

27 For that is his covering only, it is his raiment for his skin: wherein
shall he sleep? and it shall come to pass, when he crieth unto me, that I
will hear; for I am gracious.

Exodus 23:6-9

6 Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause.

7 Keep thee far from a false matter; and the innocent and righteous slay
thou not: for I will not justify the wicked.

8 And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and
perverteth the words of the righteous.

9 Also thou shalt not oppress a stranger: for ye know the heart of a
stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt.

Matthew 22:17-21

17 Tell us therefore, What thinkest thou? Is it lawful to give tribute
unto Caesar, or not?

18 But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, Why tempt ye me, ye
hypocrites?

19 Shew me the tribute money. And they brought unto him a penny.

20 And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription?

21 They say unto him, Caesar's. Then saith he unto them, Render therefore
unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are
God's.
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The mountains shall drip fresh juice and hills flow milk

Joel 3:18 - And it shall come to pass in that day, that the mountains shall
drop down new wine [juice], and the hills shall flow with milk, and all the
rivers of Judah shall flow with waters, and a fountain shall come forth
from the house of the LORD, and shall water the valley of Shittim.

Before I come to the message let me expound some words.

New wine - is the Hebrew word 'aciyc' which comes from the root word which
means 'pressed' and refers to juice that come from the fruit being pressed.
Out of the 5 time it occurs in the Bible 4 times it is associated with
grapes and once referred as plain juice. Here it symbolizes extracts of
fruits - Fruits of the Holy Spirit means a new way of life (that is why we
need to be born again to live a new way of life / to be filled with new
wine).

Milk - here refers to the human milk (mother's milk) that is given to an
infant - it symbolizes teachings. With the coming of Jesus Christ we
started to dwell in the land of milk and honey which means we started
receiving the true teachings and understanding of the Kingdom of God.

Rivers of Judah flow with water - Jesus said when we believe in Him, from
our bellies will flow rivers of living water. Rivers are fresh water bodies
which are essential to sustain life thus symbolizes life. Here it
symbolizes life will flow [preaching of the Gospel] from people who praise
God [Judah means praise] symbolizing Christians today.

Fountain in Hebrew 'ma'yan' is also translated as well or spring and is
essential for day to day provision of water to a family. So here fountain
shall come forth from the house of the Lord, means daily provision shall
come from the Church / means it will provide for its people's needs.

Shittim was the place near the river Jordan to cross into Canaan land which
was the Promised Land. So symbolizes the coming of Jesus Christ when we
cross into Heaven - our Promised Land.

So in short in today's message the Lord is telling us soon we will see a
change in the people of God. People's lives will change and they will not
live like the people of the world. They will have better understanding of
scriptures. Also the Churches will not be looked at as institutes that
collect money, where the leaders run them like partnership firms given
partly to God's work and partly for themselves but will be institutes that
will provide help to the weak. It will give unto its people like it has not
happened since the time of the Apostles. All this the Lord is saying will
happen to prepare the Bride before the coming of the Groom our Lord Jesus
Christ.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, since long people are being filled with secular teachings in your
name. They are twisting and modifying the Word to as to make it
understandable the worldly way. Lord we thank You that You are going to
give us Teachers who would teach according to your Heart. We thank You for
the change You are going to bring in our lives and we thank You for the
revival that is going to come in our Churches. Lord we await these changes
for we await our permanent House where we will dwell with and know our
Heavenly Father...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Matthew 9:17 - Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the
bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they
put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.

John 7:38 - He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his
belly shall flow rivers of living water.

Revelation 7:17 - For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall
feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God
shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

Jeremiah 11:5 - That I may perform the oath which I have sworn unto your
fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this
day. Then answered I, and said, So be it, O LORD.

Jeremiah 3:14-15

14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married to you:
and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring
you to Zion

15 And I will give you shepherds according to my heart, who shall feed you
with knowledge and understanding.

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Testify to give praise to God

Psalms 78:4 - We will not hide them from their children, showing to the
generation to come the praises of the LORD, and his strength, and his
wonderful works that he hath done.

From 2 days I have been trying to send this message and was for one reason
or the other not able to do so. May be God had a reason for this delay so
that it is sent on this very day which is the most important day for
Christianity. The birth of Christianity is founded on this day, the day
Christ's resurrection is celebrated. If there is no resurrection there is
no Christianity.

As Christians we are called to testify Christ and His resurrection to our
children for it is this that set us apart from the beliefs of the world. We
Christians think we are not called to look beyond the Bible when it comes
to Christ and this is very sad. As I started studying the Bible is greater
depths I have personally found so much of evidence from historical sources
which prove every word of the New Testament. It is not only historically
but also scientifically many of the events and facts stated in the Bible
can be proved. So we do not have a belief that depends just on one's faith
but a belief that can be proved is every way. In today's message the Lord
asks us to testify what He did as man so that the hope spreads to all.

Today being Resurrection Day let us go out and testify Christ to all and
rejoice on the hope that mankind will not perish forever and we can live
for on this day He showed us there is hope in Him for He overcame death and
resurrected.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we thank You for making a way when there was no way. You came as man
and paid the price and broke the curse of death that was set on us. Now
anyone who believes in the death and resurrection of Christ is also set
free from Hell. Lord we thank You for this way that You have made for us.
We pray more and more accept the Lamb of God and be saved...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

1 Corinthian 15:1-20

1 Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you,
which also ye have received, and in which ye stand;

2 By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached to you,
unless ye have believed in vain.

3 For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that
Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;

4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according
to the scriptures:

5 And that he was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve:

6 After that, he was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once; of
whom the greater part remain to this present, but some have fallen asleep.

7 After that, he was seen by James; then by all the apostles.

8 And last of all he was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.

9 For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an
apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was
bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they
all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

11 Therefore whether it was I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed.

12 Now if Christ is preached that he rose from the dead, how say some
among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?

13 But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

14 And if Christ is not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith
is also vain.

15 And indeed, we are found false witnesses of God; because we have
testified concerning God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not, if
in fact the dead rise not.

16 For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

17 And if Christ is not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your
sins.

18 Then they also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most
miserable.

20 But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of
them that slept.

Happy Resurrection Day to all

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Have we seen the worst yet?

Deuteronomy 28:54,55 - So that the man that is tender among you, and very
delicate, his eye shall be evil toward his brother, and toward the wife of
his bosom, and toward the remnant of his children which he shall leave: So
that he will not give to any of them of the flesh of his children whom he
shall eat: because he has nothing left him in the siege, and in the narrow
place, with which your enemies shall distress you in all your gates.

In Deuteronomy chapter 28 verses 1 to 14 talk about the blessing that will
be on us if we diligently keep the Word of God, but verses 15 to 68 talk
about the curses that will come upon us if we do not do so. The curses are
approximately 4 times the blessings.

We also need to note when we are cursed by the Lord the curses goes down to
our four generations but when we are blessed the blessings go down to a
thousand generations.

So we see when the Lord is happy with us He does not only sets His favour
over us but goes all out to let it overflow down to our many generations.
But when the Lord gets angry with (which He tries to hold back for He is
slow to anger) He does express His wrath in a strong way but He tries to
avoid His wrath to consume all our generations. He makes a way that our
future generations get an escape to survive His wrath. We see this happened
with the Israelites who exited Egypt were consumed in the desert but their
next generation survived to enter the Promised Land.

We are in the Passover week and soon we will be celebrating Resurrection
Day. The Lord is telling us He did great things for us but even after all
that if we reject Him and His Will then disastrous times are set for us. He
says the worst is not over. He is telling us our enemies will surround us
from all sides and we will consume our own wife and children. This siege
does not need to be a physical siege but even a mental siege where
hopelessness falls on us would be enough to bring us to this state.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we pray we are safe from your wrath. That neither we nor our
generations live a day to have You being against us. If man becomes our
enemy You are there to save us. When fallen angels come against us, You are
there to save us. But if You are against us then who can save us? Lord, we
pray that we diligently keep your Word and be blessed and our generations
remain in your blessings...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Deuteronomy 28

Exodus 20:5-6

5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD
thy God a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth of them that hate me;

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my
commandments.
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What age to start Bible study, doctorate and ministry?

Numbers 1:36 - Of the children of Benjamin, by their generations, after
their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of
the names, from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth
to war;

In the Bible the Lord gave certain guidelines with regards to what
activities one gets involved in, at what age towards the Kingdom of God.
The Jews do follow many of them but the problem lies that the Jews follow
them as traditions without understanding therefore do something else.

We find in scriptures Jesus Himself followed these guidelines set by the
Lord through Moses. As a Jew after the age of 8 one is made to study
scriptures and when he reaches 12 he is called 'son of the law' and we see
Jesus too did that. We see at the temple when He was lost, He was
discussing scriptures with the elders. He was not so small that they needed
to tug Him close to them, they were responsible parents. We also see the
elders did not shun Him away saying you are a kid, but they entertained Him
for they knew as a Jewish child of over 8 years they are students of
scriptures and at 12 they are considered knowledgeable. It was later in
their discussions they were amazed with His wisdom, for He spoke like an
expert.

We also see the disciples and other people during His ministry period
called Him Rabbi which meant 'noble teacher' and in today's term would be
equivalent to calling a person Doctor of Theology (a person who has done
his or her doctorate / PhD in Bible study). Paul as a Jew also went through
the various stages of learning as stated in Acts 22:3.

In today's scripture we see a youth was found eligible for war at the age
of 20. Today we do not battle like the Israelites did in the natural, as in
the Old Testament; but we battle in the spiritual and the first weapon of
battle is truth, therefore our training of higher level of study (Bible
College) should generally start at this age. The Lord desires every
Christian over the age of 20 to be having a good knowledge of scripture not
just knowing them but having a good depth of understanding of them more of
a level like that of a degree in Bible college.

We force our children to do degrees in secular studies but do not do the
same for Bible study for we give more importance to the world than to the
Kingdom of God.

At the age of 30 we are called to get into ministry. We may be having
normal family, a job and children yet we are called to be in ministry since
as Christians we are called to witnesses Christ and evangelize Him to the
whole world.

In Israel we find every young has to be enrolled in the army and server a
number of years, this is strictly implemented especially during war times.
We Christians are always in a state of war in this world and we war against
the spiritual forces of darkness therefore we are all called to be in the
army of God and also arm ourselves with the weapon of truth. Let us give
importance to building our children in the knowledge of the Kingdom of God,
if not more, than at least as much as we give importance to build them in
the knowledge of this world.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, people give more importance to the knowledge of this world than the
knowledge of your Kingdom that is why the children lack fear of God and are
misled. That is also the reason why the lives of the people are full of
yeast. Lord we pray your people give due importance to the knowledge of
your Kingdom and they guide their children according to the guidelines You
have set...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Luke 2:43-50

43 And when they had fulfilled the days [12 years old], as they returned,
the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew
not of it.

44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's
journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.

45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem,
seeking him.

46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the
temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking
them questions.

47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him,
Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought
thee sorrowing.

49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I
must be about my Father's business?

50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

John 1:38 Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them,
What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being
interpreted, Master,) where dwellest thou?

Luke 4:1-2

1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led
by the Spirit into the wilderness,

2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat
nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

Proverbs 22:6 - Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is
old, he will not depart from it.

Genesis 18:18-19

18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and
all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household
after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and
judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of
him.

Deuteronomy 6:7 - And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,
and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou
walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

Acts 22:3 - I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in
Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught
according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous
toward God, as ye all are this day.

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Insane man

Numbers 14:40 - And they rose early in the morning, and went up to the top
of the mountain, saying, Lo, we are here, and will go up to the place which
the LORD hath promised: for we have sinned.

There are some moments in the Bible where man has done or said things which
are just insane which make you stand and think how can man be so crazy.

The Old Testament has many such situations but there are some even in the
Gospels like the time when Lazarus had died and Jesus revealed this to His
disciples just before leaving to Lazarus' house, we have Thomas who
surprisingly tells his fellow disciples 'let us go, that we may die with
him'. This too when they saw many dead people been bought back to life by
Jesus (someday I hope to write on this).

We also have another situation just before Jesus' crucifixion Jesus spoke
of the times which were to come and we have the disciples who disclose they
were carrying swords with them. Imagine near the end of almost 3 years of
teaching them about the Kingdom of God yet these disciples had armed
themselves while they were yet with Jesus.

We see in scriptures and in life when a situation becomes hopeless or death
stares at the face of man unless man is not filled with the Spirit of God
and Truth of God, we see man does insane things. In both the incidents in
the Gospels which I pointed out we see the disciples had yet not received
the Holy Spirit and also the teachings of Jesus were not fully understood
by them. It was only after they had received the Spirit of the Lord that
understanding really started coming to them and they really became
disciples of Jesus Christ.

In today's message after the Lord disclosed the reality to the Israelites
through Moses, they mourned for their past doings and hopelessness started
to fall on them. They then did foolishness even after Moses warned them and
they had to pay for their foolishness.

In life unless we are led by the Spirit of God and hold true understanding
of the Word of God we will behave like people of this world who do insane
things when hopelessness stares in their face.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You gave us your Word which is Truth but yet it is not understood by
man because without your Spirit it is impossible for man to understand the
Truth. Lord Jesus You gave us your Spirit of Truth so that we may know of
the Kingdom of God and of life and be founded strongly in the Truth and not
waver even when grave situations try to bring hopelessness tries in us.
Lord let your people not be fooled that by just believing in You they will
survive this world and overcome it. Let them know You gave us a Helper and
Revealer of the Truth since You know without Him we cannot overcome this
world and come to You. Lord, help us hold on to your Truth by being led by
your Spirit...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Numbers 14

John 11:16 - Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his
fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

Luke 22:38 - And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said
unto them, It is enough.

John 14:26 - But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things
to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

John 15:26 - But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from
the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he
shall testify of me:

John 16:7-15

7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go
away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I
depart, I will send him unto you.

8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment:

9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;

10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;

11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.

12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.

13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into
all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear,
that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it
unto you.

15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he
shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

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A warning to the leaders

Psalms 110:5 - The Lord at thy right hand shall strike through kings in the
day of his wrath.

Our God is indeed a merciful God but then He will not compromise His Nature
or lower His Name. He does tolerate and keeps giving chance after chance to
His children but then remember He is also said about His nature to be slow
to anger, it does not say He does not get angry but says He is slow to
anger. That means our God does get angry, due to His merciful nature He
controls His anger but then if He finds man has hardened his heart then it
is written He hardens their heart further and brings then to destructions.
The term He hardens their hearts means He puts them in testing situations
which exposes their evil hearts.

Today's message says our God is a righteous God and He does unveil His
wrath for in Him is a Holy nature that does stand evil. If there is dirt in
a vessel, the Lord first tries to remove that dirt and wash the vessel
clean that is why He makes the vessel aware that the dirt is not part of
it. But if the vessel becomes one with the dirt and refuses to get go the
dirt then that vessel is of no use and needs to be destroyed.

The term kings used here means rulers or those who are put in charge to
lead. Today's message is not to the rulers of the world but being a message
to the Church, to God's congregation since the message of to those of the
order of Melchizedek therefore it is to the leaders of the Church.

There are people whom God has chosen to lead His people and these people
are filled with corrupt teachings and intentions, due to their not let
going of their carnal nature, the things of the flesh. Today the Lord is
giving a warning to these people to repent from their ways or else He will
vent His wrath on them.

Note the scripture uses the word day and not hour. In the Bible when
something happens quickly in a short time the term hour is used and then an
event happens over a long period of time the term day is used. So these
people may not see the wrath coming until it has engulfed them completely.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, the people are being misled and taken to the slaughter house due to
many of the leaders whom You have set to lead your people are still
worldly, filled with carnal desires. They desire You but do not want to let
go of the things of the world. Lord we pray the leaders pursue holiness and
thus lead your people to righteousness...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Joel 1:1-20

1 The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel.

2 Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land.
Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers?

3 Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children,
and their children another generation.

4 That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that
which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the
cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.

5 Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and wail, all ye drinkers of wine,
because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth.

6 For a nation is come up upon my land, strong, and without number, whose
teeth are the teeth of a lion, and he hath the cheek teeth of a great lion.

7 He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath stripped it
bare, and cast it away; its branches are made white.

8 Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.

9 The meat offering and the drink offering is cut off from the house of
the LORD; the priests, the LORD'S ministers, mourn.

10 The field is wasted, the land mourneth; for the grain is wasted: the
new wine is dried up, the oil languisheth.

11 Be ye ashamed, O ye farmers; wail, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat and
for the barley; because the harvest of the field hath perished.

12 The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate
tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the
field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.

13 Gird yourselves, and lament, ye priests: wail, ye ministers of the
altar: come, lie all night in sackcloth, ye ministers of my God: for the
meat offering and the drink offering is withheld from the house of your God.

14 Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all
the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry to
the LORD,

15 Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a
destruction from the Almighty shall it come.

16 Is not the food cut off before our eyes, and joy and gladness from the
house of our God?

17 The seed hath perished under their clods, the storehouses are laid
desolate, the barns are broken down; for the grain is withered.

18 How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because
they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.

19 O LORD, to thee will I cry: for the fire hath devoured the pastures of
the wilderness, and the flame hath burned all the trees of the field.

20 The beasts of the field cry also to thee: for the rivers of waters are
dried up, and the fire hath devoured the pastures of the wilderness.

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The Lord is clothed with light, are you too?

Psalms 104:2 - Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who
stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:

Today's message tells us our God is cover with light as His clothing. It
also says He has set the Heavens as a curtain. The Lord says He is covered
with light and is asking us today we being His children, are we too covered
in light?

We read when Moses met God face to face Moses' face shined so bright that
the Israelites had to cover his face for they could not bear to see the
brightness of his face. Bible also says the Lord spoke to Moses through
dark clouds so that the Lord's brightness did not consume him. Imagine just
a short encounter with God that too through dark clouds that was the effect
on Moses, then what would be the brightness of God.

Does that mean God shines greater than the brightest star? Even that
comparison would be an understatement towards God. The brightness
associated with God, which today's scripture speaks of has nothing to do
with the brightness like that the light from stars or light as we know in
this world. These are just the shadow of the light of God.

Bible says God is light and God existing from the beginning thus light
existed from the beginning. But then the Bible starts with the recordings
of creation as the existence of God and then the existence of darkness. If
there is light how could there have been darkness?

Scientifically, darkness is defined are lack of light or where light is
obstructed. Till date there is nothing like total darkness for even the
darkness of all darkness is measured. Light in the Bible is symbolic and
refers to the plans of God. God says His plans are good and for the
betterment of all beings.

In the beginning when man did not exist there was no law in Heaven. The
Angels knew the plans of God and followed them. Evil came into existence
when one of the Cherubs went against the plans of God and he caused
darkness to come into existence. Bible says this Cherub (Lucifer also known
as the dragon) later deceived another Cherub (who is known as the beast /
young lion) and the Angels under them, and thus caused a third of the
Angels to fall. To eliminate this darkness God could have just destroyed
the whole lot of these fallen beings but since God is Good therefore He
wanted to do something good even from this situation. He thus created man a
being lower than the Angels (in spirit man is identical to the Angels but
being put in the flesh was lower than them). Then God desired that His
light (plans) shine through man such that it overcame darkness and thus man
takes the place that vacant those fallen in Heaven.

In the start Lucifer the Cherub had not taken revolt against God as people
think. He dwelled very close to the epicentre of the glory of God (the
Throne) and in Heaven all things were good. Bible says even these good
things were to be taken according to need. But Lucifer took things beyond
his needs and then saw these things made him greater than the others; this
greed caused pride to come into him, later he started to deceive others
with his talks thus caused one evil after the other to come into existence
and darkness to grow.

God says when we work or surrender according to His plans we too will be
covered with light like He is. Moses dwelled in the times when Truth was
not known to man and the grace of God was not available to all. Today we
dwell in the times of Christ, times when the Truth has been manifested in
the flesh, God became visible to man that too not through a dark cloud.
Imagine if we totally surrender to the plans of God how much of His light
would shine from us and how we will be clothed with His light.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You are light and all things You have designed for good. Lord, we
pray we surrender to your plans such that your goodness shines in us and we
become the light for the people of this world...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

1 John 1:5 - This then is the message which we have heard of him, and
declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon,
to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the
light thereof.

Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light,
and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of
sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in
me.

Genesis 1:1-4

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face
of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4 And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from
the darkness.

Revelation 12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven,
and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.

Zechariah 13:8-9

8 And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two
parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.

9 And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them
as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call
on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they
shall say, The LORD is my God.

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Deliver not the soul of thy turtledove

Psalms 74:19 - O deliver not the soul of thy turtledove to the multitude of
the wicked: forget not the congregation of thy poor for ever.

When I got this scripture I was wondering why the Lord used the word
turtledove. A turtle dove is a species of dove (looks more like a pigeon)
which is given the name because of the sound it makes which is similar to
the turtle / tortoise. This sound is more like random sounds and at time
sounds like a cat or a hiss like a snake or groaning some really weird
sounds.

If we go into the Hebrew word towr translated as turtledove comes from
roots words which mean curls (like that of a hair) and search. So it too
speaks of random and confusion.

When one studies doves one will understand the gift of tongues and realize
why people make weird sounds when they pray in tongues. The Bible also
specifies pigeons, doves and turtledoves separately. It is only when we
observe the nature and characteristics of these birds and study their names
in Hebrew (including their root meanings) we will understand why they were
part of the offering and what did they symbolize. All these symbolization
was brought to light or written Word became flesh when Jesus Christ (the
man Jesus and the Spirit on Him) fulfilled them; in Him or through Him.

The book of Acts shows when a person was baptized in the Holy Spirit there
was a manifestation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit on them and the usual
gift was the gift of tongues. That is why they were confident about their
baptism in the Holy Spirit.

Turtledove symbolizes an anointed person, one who is baptized in the Holy
Spirit and today's message is a prayer to the Lord not to deliver even one
of His anointed ones for the sake of a multitude of those of this world and
not to forget the humble of His Kingdom.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord You are God and thy Kingdom is not this worldly Kingdom which is
temporary but a Spirit Kingdom which is forever. All flesh is like a dream,
when the Truth is revealed in man and You come in glory all flesh will
perish and only those who have overcome will live to enter your Kingdom.
The rest will suffer for following their flesh. Lord we who are yours are
very precious to You and we thank You for your Hand over us...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Genesis 15:7-10

7 And he said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of Ur of the
Chaldees, to give thee this land to inherit it.

8 And he said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?

9 And he said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she
goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove,
and a young pigeon.

10 And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid
each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

Isaiah 15:5 My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto
Zoar, an heifer of three years old: for by the mounting up of Luhith with
weeping shall they go it up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up
a cry of destruction.

Jeremiah 48:34 From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto
Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as an
heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.

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The New Testament

One of the most serious problems with Christians not being of one mind is
their lack of understanding of the New Testament. Many Christians are of
the concept that the Old Testament is not so relevant and we need to only
concentrate on the New Testament. They think Jesus did away with the Old
Testament and so we can carry it as part of the Bible and refer it for
historic reasons but we follow only the New Testament.

Today the Lord wants us to take a closer look at the New Testament and its
relationship to the Old Testament.

The New Testament is made of 27 books they are classified by Christians as
Gospels, Acts of the Church (Chronicle), Epistles (letters) and the book of
Revelation.

Gospels:-

If we look at the four Gospels we find 3 of them on a similar structure
while one is different. The Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke write of
Jesus, His ministry and His teachings. But when we look at the Gospel of
John it is more a personal autobiography of Jesus and unlike the other
Gospels it discloses some very personal revelations of Jesus which were not
revealed till then.

If we look at the Gospels from the angle of prophecies, we see the
prophecies in Matthew, Mark and Luke are those which were already given
before by the previous Prophets and used here as examples or to expound on
a teaching. But in Gospel of John we see some which are unique in their
nature and not connected to other Prophets. When I say prophecies I am
referring to only those concerning mankind as a whole (salvation of God
people) and not those concerning a specific person or specific situation.

Acts:-

This book without any arguments is accepted by all as chronicles of the
early Church. In this book also there are no (new) prophecies which are
concern salvation of mankind. There is few concerning some specific persons
or some specific event. So this book falls in the category that of Kings
and Chronicles of the Old Testament.

Epistles:-

These letters were written to explain the belief and to encourage the
congregations. If we read all the letters (of Paul and other) they mainly
explain about Jesus Christ, about what He did, about what is expected from
us as Believers and how we live our lives as Christians.

Here too there are no prophecies but lots of explanation of the prophecies
given mostly from the Old Testament, for it is written some of the people
confirmed the teachings with scriptures and the only scriptures available
in the start were the Old Testament. We also see in the later letters we
find some references to the text of the previous letters or letters of
others showing that they were circulated among the Churches (along with the
Gospels).

Now coming to the book of Revelation:-

This book is believed by almost all as a prophetic book. Firstly the name
itself says it is a book of revelations which a disclosure of things. The
book states its writer as John - a person who was imprisoned in an island.
This book was found in a cell of the said prison alongside a skeleton,
people think it was John the Apostle but when one gets to its carbon dating
and the style of its writing, it raises questions of John the Apostle being
its writer. Also this book is identically written like the book of Daniel
and we see when Daniel was meditating on the writings of Jeremiah and other
Prophets, the Lord opened his mind and explained him these prophecies in
the form of visions. The same is the case with the book of Revelations.
They are records of the visions that this John saw. If one uses a good
cross reference it would not take time to find most of them have
connections to the Old Testament prophecies. So in short this book is the
revelations of prophecies already given, mostly from Old Testament and the
Gospel of John.

So we see leaving for the Gospel of John in the New Testament all are
closely rooted to either the teachings of Jesus or the Old Testament.

Now coming to the teachings of Jesus:-

We see Jesus always referred to scriptures from the Old Testament. He at
many places referred to the Prophets and their prophecies, how they were
fulfilled in Him, how they are relevant to the whole of mankind and how
they were misunderstood by the Jews.

Jesus at no place told that the words that the Lord spoke through the
Prophets were not relevant or has become null and void after His coming. He
always said until every scripture (prophecy) does not get fulfilled the end
will not come. Even those sacrifices concerning man that were asked by the
Lord through Moses, even those that looked worldly were fulfilled in Him
i.e. He became the true Pascal Lamb for all mankind, He also became our
Peace sacrifice therefore was hung on the cross.

So we see the New Testament is closely connected to the Old Testament and
cannot be understood fully without the Old Testament. Simple things like
confirming Jesus as the Messiah and Christ requires us to go to the Old
Testament and confirm the 300plus prophecies concerning Him. Even the
sufferings of Jesus during the Passover are detailed not in the Gospels but
in the Old Testament.

Jesus did change some things:-

He became our eternal sacrifice instead of daily animal sacrifice.

Normally a sacrifice was offered after the person was healed, paid the
price for his or her sins etc. but Jesus was sacrificed in faith so that by
faith we have already received.

He manifested the truth so that mankind could have faith and by faith all
could receive grace.

He gave us His Spirit (Spirit of Truth) to reveal the truth so things that
were done in the natural would be understood in the spiritual in its true
reality.

These are a few but none cancel what God stated before but either add or
enhance.

Today the Lord is saying He is not a liar nor like Satan who talks in two
tongues. Whatever He has said holds forever and it will not come back
unless it has accomplished what it was sent forth for. The Bible is a
collection of books which include prophetic books, chronicles, teachings,
revelations and testimonies but yet it is called Word of God not words of
God for all of them are connected to each other as one and do not
contradict or cancel each other, they are God's words and not words of a
man. They are eternal words of instructions for the salvation of mankind.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You are Almighty God and omnipresent. You dwell not only in all
places at the same time but dwell in all times - past, present and future
at the same time. Time is not a factor for You like it is for man. Since
You can see our past, present and future at the same time, your Word is
eternal. Lord, we pray we hold on to your eternal Word and not be like the
Sadducees who told the Word in part therefore never understood it and thus
lived in deception...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Looking at Just Matthew with fulfilment of prophecies

Matthew 1:22 Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying,

Matthew 2:15, 17

15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled
which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I
called my son.

17 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying,

Matthew 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it
might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a
Nazarene.

Matthew 4:14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the
prophet, saying,

Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one
jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Matthew 8:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the
prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

Matthew 12:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the
prophet, saying,

Matthew 13:14 And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which
saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye
shall see, and shall not perceive:

Matthew 13:35 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet,
saying, I will open my mouth in parables; I will utter things which have
been kept secret from the foundation of the world.

Matthew 21:4 All this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophet, saying,

Matthew 24:34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till
all these things be fulfilled.

Matthew 26:56 - But all this was done, that the scriptures of the prophets
might be fulfilled. Then all the disciples forsook him, and fled.

Matthew 27:9 Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the
prophet, saying, And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of
him that was valued, whom they of the children of Israel did value;

Matthew 27:35 And they crucified him, and parted his garments, casting
lots: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They
parted my garments among them, and upon my vesture did they cast lots.

Luke 24:27 - And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto
them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.

Acts 17:10-11

10 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto
Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews.

11 These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received
the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily,
whether those things were so.

1 Corinthians 15:3 - For I delivered unto you first of all that which I
also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the
scriptures;

2 Peter 3:15-18

15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as
our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath
written unto you;

16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which
are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and
unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own
destruction.

17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest
ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own
stedfastness.

18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen

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The idol in the grove

2 Chronicles 15:16 - And also concerning Maachah the mother of Asa the
king, he removed her from being queen, because she had made an idol in a
grove: and Asa cut down her idol, and stamped it, and burnt it at the brook
Kidron.

Asa was a good king of Judah and he did try to walk in the way of the Lord,
his account in chapter 15 ends as there were 35years of peace during his
reign after what he did. Later he did make a mistake for which he had to
bear its consequences but when he walked in ways of the Lord he was blessed
with peace.

Today's message states Asa removed Maacah his grandmother (mother of Abijah
his father) from the position of queen-mother because she made an idol in a
grove. This idol was not an ordinary idol it was like a stone pillar which
the Jews made as a remembrance of God's promise and prayed at but this
pillar had a feminine form. It was in a form of Ashtoreth / Ishtar, the
goddess who had been pursuing the people of God since the times of Noah.
She was a moon goddess, the mother / wife of their chief god Baal who was
the Sun god. She was called Queen of Heaven and was later worshipped by the
Jews.

This goddess was the prime goddess in the tower of Babel where people of
all beliefs came together under her guidance and made a tower which was
more of a tall temple in her name. Bible says they were of one language
(communication) and speech (worldly thinking); this goddess had the power
to unite together people who were void of the knowledge of God with one
motive and one purpose, which was to go against the plans of God. Bible
says God saw they were so blinded by this oneness that God had to intervene
so as to stop them from destroying His plans. So God caused confusion
between them such that He broke their unity and also caused them to not
understand each other. God also bought down the tower of Babel.

In the Bible there were only 2 manmade structures which the Lord Himself
bought down, one was the tower of Babel and the other the wall of Jericho.
Like the tower of Babel, the wall of Jericho also was a connected to pagan
gods. The fortified city of Jericho was a prosperous city which had a wall
which was not just one wall but set of two parallel walls with temples
between them. Even the beggars and outcaste of Jericho dwelled between
these walls (Bartimaeus was healed here).

We see God personally intervened when all pagan religions united and
started coming of one mind. We are living in a time where we see this
happening again. The Catholic Church Popes have been pushing for this unity
since ages and John Paul II did great progress in bringing various
religions together. Today we read of late Pope Francis has managed to bring
heads of various religions together especially the Muslims. The one thing
common between both Islam and Catholicism is their devotion to a woman who
is exalted to a position so high that she is lifted above God, declared as
'Queen of Heaven', 'Mother of God', 'Mother of Creation' and various other
blasphemous titles.

Catholics would say Mary was good woman chosen by God to bear His only son;
a woman who sacrifice and suffered a lot for the purpose of salvation of
mankind (bore the suffering of her son). There is no doubt about that. But
to understand the truth one needs to look at the Mary in the second largest
religion - Islam which routed out of Catholicism.

In Islam Mary (Mariam) is the mother of Jesus (Isa) and here too she is
exalted to be only person other than Isa to be born without sin. The second
largest sect of Islam (Shias) put her as the only woman among few male
prophets to be second to Allah (their god) with the likes of Adam, Moses,
Jesus (Isa), Abraham, Ismail, David, Muhammad among others (they are called
the Twelver). Eve being a mother of creation is considered evil, so also
all women are considered evil in Islam but she alone is considered good, so
she plays an important part in their belief.

Now if we probe further on this Mariam (Mary) of the Muslims we will be
amused. Quran thinks Christians consider Mary as the third figure in the
Trinity - God the Father, Jesus the son and Mary the mother, they have made
the Godhead into an earthly family. In the Quran when Mary was questioned
about her virgin birth she asks the people to speak to the just born infant
Isa and miraculously the just born infant testifies for her innocence.
Bible does not have any such records written but if we trace its source, it
comes from the Gospel of Thomas which is a book written between 300 - 400
AD a period there was a flood of heretic writings and also a time when
Catholic church was born with Roman emperor Constantine converting to
Christianity due to his mother, who converted first. He anointed the Bishop
of Rome as head of all churches thus started the concept of Pope.

Muhammad got all this distorted information of the Bible from his first
wife (who was a rich woman and older than Muhammad) Khadija's uncle
Waqara bin naufal bin asad bin abdul uzza. Waqara was a heretic Christian
who read a lot of the Apocrypha's. He was the person who first declared
Muhammad as a prophet and nurtured him in his early stages of his
'prophethood' because he was influential.

Waqara was not only Muhammad's only source on Mary; he also added his own
confusion to that character. According to the Quran Mary the mother of
Jesus was the sister of Moses and Aaron, thus bridging about 1500years
together. He mistook Mariam the sister of Moses to Mary (Mariam in Hebrew)
the mother of Jesus as been the same person (like he did with other
characters of the Bible since his education was more verbal). The word
Allah means 'the god' and referred to a moon god Hubal who was chief of the
360 idols in the Kaaba. Muhammad's father was named after this god (Hubal
was symbolized by the crescent moon same as the goddesses Ashtoreth /
Ishtar).

We may be amused with the thinking of Mary in Islam but what about the Mary
of the Catholic Church. If one studies it, it is even more amusing. One
will get baffled how any mind can think such things. Like Muhammad due to
his lack of knowledge was confused and in his greed of power landed
deceiving millions, same is the story of the Catholic Church. Catholics
including the top priest do not study scriptures (they study all other
secular writings but not scriptures) and have lack of understanding of the
truth. They think sin is in the flesh and blood, I would like to know do
they check for sins in the blood when they receive blood from another
person during operations or blood transfusion.

If we read in chapter 14 Asa had removed all temples dedicated to foreign
gods and goddesses but he did not see this idol which his own grandmother
was a patron of. The reason being this idol had fused itself with the
beliefs of the Jews like it did /does with all other religions.

Today's message talks of the idol in the grove and in a few days we will be
having most Christians worshipping or giving reverence to this idol by
celebrating her birth. Legend says every year an egg would fall from the
sky and the goddess Ishtar would come out of it and the house that found it
would be blessed, so all looked for eggs on her birthday. This day was
celebrated by the Romans by the name Easter and was on same day as the Day
of Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Roman Catholic Church continued this
pagan celebration by replacing Resurrection Day.

It is high time we also look in our own beliefs like Asa did and remove the
idol of the grove and send the spirit that is behind it to the place
destine to it, that is hell by destroying the idol from our lives, not
getting deceived by its claim to be Mary the mother of Jesus.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, open the eyes of your people who are deceived by this evil spirit
that comes as an angel of light. Lord we pray the bondages of chains put
upon them are broken and their blindfolds are removed, that they see the
truth as it is written in your Word. Let this horrid image be destroyed and
the spirit behind it be exposed...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

2 Corinthians 11:14 - And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into
an angel of light.

Genesis 11;1-9

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a
plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3 And they said one to another, come, let us make brick, and burn them
thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

4 And they said, come, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may
reach to heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we should be scattered
abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children
of men were building.

6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one
language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be withheld from
them, which they have imagined to do.

7 Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may
not understand one another's speech.

8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from there upon the face of all the
earth: and they stopped building the city.

9 Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD there
confounded the language of all the earth: and from there did the LORD
scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

1 Kings 11:5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the
Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

2 Chronicles 14:2-5

2 And Asa did that which was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his
God:

3 For he took away the altars of the strange gods, and the high places,
and broke down the images, and cut down the groves:

4 And commanded Judah to seek the LORD God of their fathers, and to do the
law and the commandment.

5 Also he took away out of all the cities of Judah the high places and the
images: and the kingdom was quiet before him.

Revelation 13:14-15

14 And deceives them that dwell on the earth by the means of those
miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them
that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which
had the wound by a sword, and did live.

15 And he had power to give life to the image of the beast, that the image
of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship
the image of the beast should be killed

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Favouritism in Ministries

2 Kings 4:25 - So she went and came to the man of God to mount Carmel. And
it came to pass, when the man of God saw her afar off, that he said to
Gehazi his servant, Behold, yonder is that Shunammite:

We see in ministries there are certain people who are closer to the leaders
compared to the others. The leader would go out of his or her way for these
people. This starts to cause cracks in the ministry specially when there
are other more gifted and more hardworking people, who are not given the
due attention. Many a times in these situations instead of the Lord
ministering to them, Satan starts to minister to them.

Favouritism can cause great problems and even Elisha was blinded by
favouritism which he had for the Shunammite woman, thus had to pay a price
for it. He did not have any evil or lustful desires for her but was just
feeling obliged towards her favours; this is one of the main reasons of
favouritism.

When people (especially rich people or influential people) are in or
helping ministries, their involvement does help in the work of the
ministry, but if the leader is not wise and not Spirit led then these
people also become the greatest disasters to the ministry.

The Shunammite woman acknowledged Elisha as a great Man of God but was
ignorant of the God of Elisha. She looked more at the man in the Man of God
and not the God in the Man of God. Elisha on the other hand did not consult
God or was not led by the Spirit of God before blessing the woman with a
son so his gift did not last and then he had to fight with God to keep his
own prestige and thus managed to get life restored to the boy.

The disciples of Jesus too fought among themselves for greater attention.
In the start there were issues Jesus had to face with John and James (who
were His first cousins, Salome was His mother's sister and He called her
Mary out of love, taking her like His own mother). Not only John and James
were persuasive, even their mother wanted them to be on the top.

Jesus did give greater attention to John and James not because they were
persuasive but because they were to be the main leaders managing the
operations of the Church along with Peter also in the case of John, he had
to write His autobiography (Gospel of John).

Peter was given in-charge of evangelising the Jewish Christians and Paul
the Gentile Christians, yet all reported to this group of 3 (pillars) for
directions. Later Paul and Barnabas became part of this core group. So it
was neither Peter alone who headed the Church (as Catholics think) nor it
was all the twelve that headed the Church (as many Believers think) but it
was these 5 who headed the Church / were pillars of the Church.

Bible state John the Apostle called himself the 'loved one' so also was
Lazarus, Mary (Lazarus' sister), Mary the Magdalene, Ann (Lazarus' sister),
James (Jesus' brother) among others. Remember we all who are in Christ are
loved by Him and He loved us unto death, so how can Christ love anyone more
He loved us. We all are His 'loved ones'. Yes Jesus did give more
importance to some over the others, like He did to his twelve disciples
over the others in His group, or 3 of the disciples over the other 12
disciples but this was done not according to their relationship with Him
but with the purpose they had in the plans of God.

Bible says Mary His mother was high favoured by God and this favour was not
because she was better than the others but because she was part of the plan
of God and she said yes to it. We can gain or lose the favour of God if we
agree or refuse to be part of His plan.

The Lord is telling us not to have favouritism according what people are in
this world but according to what they are in the plans of the Kingdom of
God. This is a problem in almost every Church or Ministry, and it should be
corrected.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, there are times we do not look at You as our provider but look at the
hand through whom You provide. Lord we prayer we be led by your Spirit and
grow in discernment. Let us be aware of the plans You have over the people
You have given us to lead that we may neither hinder their growth nor puff
them into what they are not and then struggle to tame the monster we
created...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Matthew 20:20-27

20 Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons,
worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him.

21 And he said unto her, What wilt thou? She saith unto him, Grant that
these my two sons may sit, the one on thy right hand, and the other on the
left, in thy kingdom.

22 But Jesus answered and said, Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to
drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism
that I am baptized with? They say unto him, We are able.

23 And he saith unto them, Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with: but to sit on my right
hand, and on my left, is not mine to give, but it shall be given to them
for whom it is prepared of my Father.

24 And when the ten heard it, they were moved with indignation against the
two brethren.

25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of
the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise
authority upon them.

26 But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among
you, let him be your minister;

27 And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

Galatians 2:9 - And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars,
perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas
the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they
unto the circumcision.

Luke 1:28 - And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art
highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.


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Babylon and the temple

Daniel 1:1 - In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah came
Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon to Jerusalem, and besieged it.

The incident of King Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon taking the
Israelites as bondage and destroying the temple, and what happens to him at
the end is all a shadow of the Babylon the Great, the false church that is
currently with us and misleading Christians. But this shadow is not so
simple to understand, it is like the book of Revelation a jigsaw puzzle
that is jumbled up.

Many people think when Daniel read of the seventy years of desolations of
Jerusalem it was concerning the Israelite people, but that is wrong. If one
verifies through history King Nebuchadnezzar captured Judah in 605BC the
very year he became king of Babylon and Israel was free from the rule of
Babylonians way after 516BC. The prophecy of 70years was not to do with the
people of Israel but was with the temple which was destroyed in 586BC seven
years after Ezekiel starts to prophecy (four years after he was taken
captive). The temple was rebuilt exactly 70 years after it was destroyed
(586 - 516).

Before Jesus during the time of Israel (Jews) the Church of God was not the
people but in the shadow or understanding of design the temple and other
objects of the sanctuary, but when Christ came the truth became flesh
(people came to know the truth) and people (Christians - those who follow
Christ) became the temple.

Today too the situation has not changed. The beast who runs the false
church (Satan the beast who is also called the young lion / imitates a lion
/ comes as a righteous person), which is misleading Christians and keeping
them under the bondages does not know who the Bride is. It thinks all those
who come to Christ or call themselves Christians are the Bride.

We need to understand all who believe in Jesus Christ are part of His flock
but all that are part of His flock are not His Bride. Understand in His
flock are both goats and sheep and Jesus says on Judgment Day He will
separate the goats from the sheep. The sheep will enter Heaven and the
goats will be punished.

The Bride of Christ is not the whole flock of Jesus. The Bible says those
who are not of the flock are already judged for all those who do not
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ go to hell after their death, but those
who believe go to sleep and rise when Christ comes. It is the flock that is
judged, the sheep are separated from the goats. The sheep who are the Bride
receive a crown (covering) of righteousness and go to Heaven to be part of
the God the Son (marriage) and the goats are the ones who are punished with
a punishment meant for the fallen angels.

One may ask what defines a goat from a sheep. If one looks broadly on the
exterior, a sheep has no horns and is covered with wool, while a goat has
its own horns (two) and is not covered with wool but with thick hair. In
the Bible we see horns symbolize rulers and wool symbolizes grace. All
goats (irrespective of which church they belong) have two horns that rule
them, one is tradition and other their idols, they also do not believe in
grace (works of faith, where God works through man) but in the works of
righteousness (actually religious works / works of the law where man does
the works). We also have a joke here in Mumbai to differentiate between a
sheep and a goat, a sheep says "baa baa" (baba in Marathi means father) and
goat says "maamaa" (ma in Hindi means mother), in other words the goats
have more dedication to the mother (spiritual mother whom they call 'Mother
Mary') than the Father (Father God / Lord Jesus Christ / Holy Spirit).

To scripturally understand the goats we need to understand the Pharisees
and the Sadducees. Even though both believed in God yet there was
difference between them. The Pharisees where those who were driven by
traditions and the Sadducees even though were people who went only
according to scriptures, yet rejected a large part of the scriptures. They
did not consider many books of the Prophets as canon (certified scriptures
from God) also did not understand what they considered canon. When we
understand this we see the goats are spread more in the Catholic Churches,
Coptic Churches, Orthodox Churches and other Catholic denomination Churches
that believe more in the traditions of the 'fathers'. They are also in
Believer Churches (Churches which claim to be Word rooted) where people
take part scriptures (with half understanding) and ignore others.

When Jesus gave reasons for the goats he said are those who did not cloth
His naked people or feed His hunger people or give water to His thirsty
people or shelter His homeless people, He was not emphasising natural
clothing, natural food, natural water, natural roof but more spiritual
clothing and spiritual food and shelter. Note Jesus and Apostles did not
ignore the poor and sick neither did they spend lots of time serving them.
Christians who are mature in spirit do not look after the sick but heal
them, nor do they tend to the poor (financially support them) but rebuke
the spirit of poverty by the authority they have. In the Bible it is only
those who were growing in Spirit (young) who did these works (this will
give an idea of our state today).

Bible says in the book of Daniel in the fullness of time (seventy years
symbolizes according to the Spirit of God) the temple to be rebuild. Today
the fullness of time is come for the Church of God which was in deceit to
be rebuilt. It is time more sheep fill the Churches and less of goats. It
is time when the glory of God is seen among His people.

[Prayer Starters]

Lord, in your Word You spoke of the times and set limits to evil. In the
season You set the things You said come to pass. Before the season evil
sees nothing is coming against it so thinks it will prosper for ever, and
You laugh at it. Lord, the time is at hand when more sheep will be called
Christians and less of goats. It is time when the manifestation of the
power of your Word will be seen among your people. We thank You Lord for
what You are about to do...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Daniel 9:2 - In the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books
the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the
prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of
Jerusalem.

Matthew 25:31-41

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels
with him, then shall he sit on the throne of his glory:

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say to them on his right hand, Come, you blessed of
my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the
world:

35 For I was an hungered, and you gave me meat: I was thirsty, and you
gave me drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in:

36 Naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in
prison, and you came to me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we you an
hungered, and fed you? or thirsty, and gave you drink?

38 When saw we you a stranger, and took you in? or naked, and clothed you?

39 Or when saw we you sick, or in prison, and came to you?

40 And the King shall answer and say to them, Truly I say to you, Inasmuch
as you have done it to one of the least of these my brothers, you have done
it to me.

41 Then shall he say also to them on the left hand, Depart from me, you
cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

John 5:26-32

26 For as the Father has life in himself; so has he given to the Son to
have life in himself;

27 And has given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the
Son of man.

28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are
in the graves shall hear his voice,

29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, to the resurrection of
life; and they that have done evil, to the resurrection of damnation.

30 I can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is
just; because I seek not my own will, but the will of the Father which has
sent me.

31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

32 There is another that bears witness of me; and I know that the witness
which he witnesses of me is true.

Romans 14:10 But why do you judge your brother? or why do you set at
nothing your brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ.

Acts 6:1-7

1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied,
there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their
widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

2 Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples to them, and said,
It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.

3 Why, brothers, look you out among you seven men of honest report, full
of the Holy Spirit and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business.

4 But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of
the word.

5 And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a
man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus, and
Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch:

6 Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid
their hands on them.

7 And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples
multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were
obedient to the faith.

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Why our Churches lack

Acts 5:8 - And Peter answered to her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for
so much? And she said, Yea, for so much.

If you ever want to get into bad books of any Pastor just disagree with him
about tithing and from that day onwards the shepherd will no longer treat
you as a sheep but as a wolf. If you commit any other sin they will hold
hands with you and pray with you but if you do the sin of speaking against
tithing, they will lay their hands over you and try to caste the demon out
of you.

Firstly I am not against tithing and consider it very important and
personally encourage people to tithe. But it baffles people when I tell
them the Church lacks also due to people tithing. Let me explain.

If you read Matthew 23:23 or Luke 11:42 Jesus called the Pharisees who
tithed as hypocrites for they did not do the main purpose but did the
traditions of tithing. Yes I call it tradition reason they tithed not only
their income but also mint (garden mint), anise (plant used as a spice and
for medicine) and cumin (seeds that have a bitter warm taste and an
aromatic flavour). Note all were not farmers to grow mint, anise and cumin;
also Jesus did not tell them not to tithe them but said there was more than
doing just that.

One needs to know everything that the Lord asks of us has a purpose and
they are part of the instructions for our salvation, which means becoming
Sons of God by overcoming the sin nature.

Firstly tithe is not a law but a statute. Statute is something the Lord
advised us for the betterment of our walk in Him. So it was something that
is a stage for our growth in Him. That means once we pass that stage we are
not complied to do it. If we continue doing it even after we have received
its understanding then we make it a tradition and bondage, and bondages
only destroy.

Let me take as an example another statute which the Jews did not understand
like tithe and that was washing. God said if a person (priest) entered the
Sanctuary without washing his hands and feet he would die. So the Pharisees
fearing death and also due to their lack of understanding made the statute
of washing into a law and thus made washing their hands and feet a must not
only when entering the Sanctuary but even when eating or entering a house.
They made extravagant vessels for washing. Jesus hated their traditions
therefore at times He and His disciples did not wash their hands and feet.
Jesus was called a Rabbi (Teacher / Noble man) since as a Jew He had done
temple studies of scriptures this gave Him permission to preach at
synagogues. So as a Rabbi He was expected to do the traditions of the
Pharisees.

Washing of hands and feet are symbolic to asking forgiveness for the sins
one did knowingly and sins done unknowingly. Breaking of bread at the Last
Supper was symbolic in many ways. It was a sacrifice of gilt that means
forgiveness of sins one did unknowingly that is why Paul says to eat it in
a worthy manner (after reconciling with those against whom we sinned). It
requires us to ask forgiveness for sins we know before taking part of the
sacrifice and not mock it by trying to receive forgiveness for sins unknown
while ignoring the known.

The reason Jesus washed their feet before they ate the bread was because
the bread symbolized the Showbread (which was kept in the Holy place) which
in turn symbolized Him - Jesus Christ, like the Candle Stand symbolized the
Holy Spirit. So when we eat the bread we declare ourselves as priest and
walk into the Sanctuary into the Holy place and eat of the Showbread (Jesus
Christ), as well as consider it a Sacrifice of Gilt for the forgives of our
unaware sins.

Coming back to tithing, if we look at the first incident of tithing that
was by Abraham, we see Abraham gave Melchizedek (God did not tell him to do
that but was led by the Spirit of God) a tenth of all the loot which he had
in his procession. But then the ninety percent, Abraham did not keep for
himself; he also gave from it whatever remained, after his people ate.

We Christians are called to live as sober people in this world, people who
live by needs not the desires of the flesh. We are called to be rich in
Spirit but sober in the flesh. If we read in Acts they shared whatever they
had, such that none lacked. All those who had extra gave that extra to the
common pool which the Apostles managed. The Apostles did not instruct them
how much that extra was, it was the Spirit of God who did that and that is
why we see such a harsh punishment was delivered by the Lord (Holy Spirit)
to Ananias and his wife Sapphira for trying to lie to the Holy Spirit.

We Christians are called to tithe but as we grow in Spirit and have
communication with the Spirit of God we are called to stop tithing and grow
to the stage of Giving unto the Lord like the people in Acts. Also tithing
does not mean only giving tenth of our money but also a tenth of our
service (not social service but serving the community), worship (time) and
prayers (that is praying for others). We understand more of tithe when
study the sacrifices of Moses of which the Lord asked to give a tenth of
(that is why the Jews gave tenth of mint, anise and cumin along with a
tenth of their money for they symbolized worship, service and prayers).

Our Churches lacks because Christians do not tithe properly and more over
they do not grow over tithing and learn Giving.

I know of a Catholic in Mumbai who claims to have converted to a Believer
(Protestant) and then returned back to the Catholic Church and now goes
about proclaiming the Catholic Church is the true Church. When I cross
questioned him, it came out of his own mouth what really happened.

Firstly no one can become a Believer by conversion, he or she needs to have
a revelation of God and of the Word of God (that is why we confess the
repentance prayer to bring a person in the fold) and this man had none. He
started attending Service for social reasons because someone took him
there. Later when he realized he had to tithe, it pinched his flesh hard so
he returned back to the Catholic Church, which does not enforce tithing.

The Lord challenged the sons of Jacob (not sons of Israel - whenever they
were low in spirit or did not walk in the Lord they were called sons of
Jacob and when they walked according to the Lord they were called Israel)
to tithe and He would cause the vessels to be filled fully (shaken, pressed
down) and flowing over. That means we who are growing in the Lord will not
lack in any area and we will flow over, which does not mean we will have
more for ourselves but means the extra we have is to give to those around
us who are in need. But the problem comes Christians are busy expanding
their vessels bigger and bigger to store more and gives only a tenth.

It is a hard truth - a true Christian is not a Christian in need for God is
his provider, neither a rich Christian for he does not tithe but Gives unto
the Lord, even if he has more he does not use it for himself but uses it
for others like Abraham did to the people with him. Remember Jesus said it
is almost impossible for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.
Christianity is all about overcoming our carnal nature like Christ did.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we pray your people learn why You asked us to start tithing so that
they overcome the spirit of greed which bough down even a greatly anointed
Cherub like Lucifer. Lord, we pray the little ones learn to truly tithe and
the others grow in spirit to move from tithing unto Giving unto You. You
Lord are a giver and You do not require our giving for You can provide
yourself to those in need but You made us as vessels to give so that we
overcome own carnal flesh, Help us Lord to understand we give more because
we need to and not because the other person needs what we give...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Matthew 23:23 - Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay
tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters
of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought you to have done, and
not to leave the other undone.

Luke 11:42 - But woe to you, Pharisees! for you tithe mint and rue and all
manner of herbs, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought
you to have done, and not to leave the other undone.

Genesis 14:16-24

16 And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his brother
Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.

17 And the king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from the
slaughter of Chedorlaomer, and of the kings that were with him, at the
valley of Shaveh, which is the king's dale.

18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was
the priest of the most high God.

19 And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God,
possessor of heaven and earth:

20 And blessed be the most high God, which has delivered your enemies into
your hand. And he gave him tithes of all.

21 And the king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the persons, and take the
goods to yourself.

22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have lift up my hand to the
LORD, the most high God, the possessor of heaven and earth,

23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet, and that I
will not take any thing that is yours, lest you should say, I have made
Abram rich:

24 Save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the
men which went with me, Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their
portion.

Luke 6:38 - Give, and it shall be given to you; good measure, pressed down,
and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For
with the same measure that you mete with it shall be measured to you again.

Malachi 3:6-12 (to the sons of Jacob not sons of Israel - whenever they
were low in spirit they were called sons of Jacob and when they walked
according to the Lord they were called Israel)

6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore you sons of Jacob are not
consumed.

7 Even from the days of your fathers you are gone away from my ordinances,
and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, said the
LORD of hosts. But you said, Wherein shall we return?

8 Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me. But you say, Wherein have we
robbed you? In tithes and offerings.

9 You are cursed with a curse: for you have robbed me, even this whole
nation.

10 Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in
my house, and prove me now herewith, said the LORD of hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there
shall not be room enough to receive it.

11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy
the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before
the time in the field, said the LORD of hosts.

12 And all nations shall call you blessed: for you shall be a delightsome
land, said the LORD of hosts.

Matthew 19:23 - Then said Jesus to his disciples, Truly I say to you, That
a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
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Trust in Him, He will take us through

Ezekiel 36:33, 34, 35 - Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall
have cleansed you from all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell
in the cities, and the wastes shall be built. And the desolate land shall
be tilled, though it lay desolate in the sight of all that passed by. And
they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of
Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fortified,
and are inhabited.

Some days back we had received a message about famine and pestilence and
yesterday night while I was doing my office work I was watching the news
and the main story was about the dangerous Abola virus which is spreading
through Africa.

The Abola virus is considered the most dangerous disease known to man as of
today. It is said to be having 90 percent fatality. That means of 100 who
get infected with it 90 die. There is no medicine yet found against this
virus, the only thing they do is quarantine the patient and the sad thing
is the disease spreads to mostly people working in the hospital handling
the patient. The disease is so infectious that the person handling such a
patient needs to be totally covered, every inch of their body. The virus
spreads with just contact with any fluids of the patient. The worst part is
symptoms are normal that it is almost impossible to know the patient is
infected with Abola, for the patient only feels nausea and has stomach pain
and starts with influenza like fever accompanied with chills.

The virus is so dangerous that UNO shuts down the hospital where the
patient has been treated. The first time this virus was known was in 2007
in Congo wherein more than150 people died. By quarantining they managed to
put a brake to this virus but now it seems to have come back with a bang
for as for yesterday 3 African countries have reported it.

When I heard this, I thought if this spreads like bird flu did then imagine
what would happen. But today the Lord is telling us even through these He
will not forsake His people and the world will see His hand over them. He
will not only protect them but will glorify Himself through them; He will
make something wonderful of them. This same message has been repeated to us
just 3 days back.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, your Word is instructions for us for our salvation. It not only tells
us about You but also tell us about us and the things set before us through
our journey through this life. Even though Lord You warn us about the
things that are to come yet You tell us time and again 'do not fear'. Lord,
You always make a way for those who love You, from all situations that may
destroy them. Lord, we trust in You and know You are actively working and
your results are always wonderful...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

2 Timothy 3:15-17

15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are
able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus.

16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good
works.

1 Samuel 12:22 - For the LORD will not forsake his people for his great
name's sake: because it hath pleased the LORD to make you his people.

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Gomer the wife of Hosea

Hosea 1:2,3 - The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD
said to Hosea, Go, take to you a wife of prostitutions and children of
prostitutions: for the land has committed great prostitution, departing
from the LORD. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which
conceived, and bore him a son.

Today as I prayed the Lord wanted me to write about Hosea's wife Gomer and
I wondered what. Everyone knows her as a prostitute whom Hosea married. But
as I was studying on Gomer in my heart I could not digest God telling His
man, a Man of God to marry a prostitute and have children from her for that
would not be a message there was something deeper in it for her father's
name is given. If she was just a prostitute why would her father's name be
given? So I searched the Hebrew text and was surprised.

Since Hebrew is written right to left I will write the interlinear text in
that fashion.

Hosea 1:2

Israel because unfaithfulness and-children-of adulteries wife to-yourself
take! Go! Yahweh from-after the-land

she-is-guilty-of-adultery to-be-guilty-of-adultery and-she-conceived

Diblam daughter of Gomer *** and-he-married so-he-went

Writing it left to right and in readable format (according to English
language)

Hosea 1:2

Yahweh said go! take! Yourself wife from (after) the land and children of
adulteries because Israel unfaithful (ness) she is guilty of adultery so he
went and he married Gomer daughter of Dibalm and she conceived.

Dibalm was the father of Gomer and the name means 'two cakes' (specified as
fig cakes). The Hebrew word translated as Egypt means two or dual strait.
We also know the fig tree represents God's people (parable of the fig tree)
while the olive tree represents the anointed of God (elect).

The Lord became God of those who drew out of Egypt and not those who
dwelled in Egypt. Egypt symbolically represents children of God who are
living a dual life people who know God yet live a worldly life.

If we look at the second marriage of Hosea as stated in Hosea 3:1 it
states:-

Hosea 3:1 - Then said the LORD to me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her
friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the
children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine.

There is no relation between his second wife and his first wife. His second
wife was indeed a prostitute but God told him to love her like the love of
God.

If we look at the Bible from a bird's eye view we see the Jews represented
Gomer (meaning complete). If we study her deeds with the children of Gomer
we see the Lord denied the Jews as His people (Loammi) and showed no mercy
(Lo-ruhamah) because the killed (blood) of Jehu (Jehovah He is -Jesus). So
we see because the Jews denied Jesus Christ thus God denied the Jews as His
people.

If we read of the Christian Church after 200Ad (around 300AD) the Church
became a seat of Satan and all anti-Christ things were done in the name of
Christ. Even though they saw the love of God in the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ yet they deny His sacrifice. One may say brother Catholics believe
in Christ and show great devotion to the cross.

You need to understand the Catholic belief, if they believe in the complete
work of Christ then why do they need Mary as an intercessor? Catholics
believe people cannot be save through Jesus for He has not humbled Himself
enough or His sacrifice was not sufficient therefore they need to go
through Mary (whom they claim to be His mother but in fact is someone else)
who intercedes on behave of them and complements her sacrifice to the
sacrifice of Jesus to save her children.

Today we Christians (Believers) symbolically come from the second wife of
Hosea (the Catholic Church - the Whore of Revelation 17&18) who did not
know God but whom God called and showed His love but yet was worse than His
first wife (the Jewish Church).

Bible says after a period 1260years (from around 300AD to reformation
movement around 1500AD the Church did not know God) He started to work
among His people through His Spirit and His Word, and is in the process of
making them into Sons of God (the true Israel).

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You Word records all things that are concern to the salvation of
mankind. You have not spoken once but warned every important event at least
through the mouth of 3 in your Word. Lord, we pray your people open their
eyes and see the Truth that they draw out the two wives of Hosea and become
your Sons by the working of your Word and your Spirit...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Ezekiel 20:30 - Wherefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord
GOD; Are ye polluted after the manner of your fathers? and commit ye
whoredom after their abominations?

Ezekiel 16

The Jewish Church is symbolized as Samaria

The Catholic Church as Jerusalem (false Jerusalem - there are 2 Hebrew
words used for Jerusalem in the Bible false Jerusalem <03389> and the true
Jerusalem <03390>)

Zechariah 5:5-11

5 Then the angel that talked with me went forth, and said unto me, Lift up
now thine eyes, and see what is this that goeth forth.

6 And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah that goeth forth.
He said moreover, This is their resemblance through all the earth.

7 And, behold, there was lifted up a talent of lead: and this is a woman
that sitteth in the midst of the ephah.

8 And he said, This is wickedness. And he cast it into the midst of the
ephah; and he cast the weight of lead upon the mouth thereof.

9 Then lifted I up mine eyes, and looked, and, behold, there came out two
women, and the wind was in their wings; for they had wings like the wings
of a stork: and they lifted up the ephah between the earth and the heaven.

10 Then said I to the angel that talked with me, Whither do these bear the
ephah?

11 And he said unto me, To build it an house in the land of Shinar [means
country of two rivers]: and it shall be established, and set there upon her
own base.

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Lord wants a Spouse from Lebanon

Songs of Solomon 4:8 - Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from
Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon,
from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.

Solomon was not a Prophet, he was a Man of God who had the calling of a
Teacher therefore he gave great disclosure of scriptures, of the Kingdom of
God.

The book Songs of Solomon really tests the capability of a person at the
fourth stage of Bibles study. If the person does not have a clear
understanding of scriptures, a strong foundation by the first 3 stages of
scriptures study (Commentary, Cross Reference & Word Study) then one would
be thinking Songs of Solomon as a love letter by a man to his wife whom he
loved.

Muslims call Songs of Solomon a book of porn. When a Muslim asks me a
question from this book I have no other option but to take him on a joy
ride so that he forgets the question, because if he had a little
intelligence (wisdom) to understand even 1 scripture of this book then he
would not have been a Muslim in the first place.

Firstly the names in today's message are not names of places but adjectives
or symbolic words. So let us understand the Hebrew words.

Lebanon - means whiteness symbolizes holiness

Amana - means support symbolizes unity

Shenir - means snow mountain symbolizes grace

Lion - symbolizes righteousness

Leopard - comes from the word meaning pure symbolizes sanctified / purified

In today's message the Lord is telling us about His Bride. He is telling us
He desires a holy Bride covered with a gown of holiness and this gown can
come only when she goes over these 4 processes.

To be His Bride covered with holiness we need to be united as one as one
family, caring supporting each other. We need to totally under His grace.
We should realize that by ourselves we cannot but by Him we can all things.
That does not mean grace to do whatever we desire but all that He desires
that too by Him only. He also says we need to be a righteous people keeping
His Commandments; not only the 10 Commandments but every commandment or
instruction that the Lord speaks unto us, for not the Law is written in our
hearts. But to keep them is near to impossible therefore we need to go over
the last point which is sanctification. Jesus by His sacrifice sanctified
us but that does not mean we are free from sin. Jesus by His sacrifice made
it possible to put us on the track to be free from sin. He washed us from
all our sins and gave us His Spirit who would help us to overcome our sin
nature by knowledge of the Truth, so as to be truly free of sin. Therefore
we are called to forgive each other of our sins and encourage each other
not to sin, so let us be the beautiful Bride whom the Lord desires by going
over the four processes.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You put us in this battle to overcome darkness but You did not
forsake us. You made a way for us to overcome. You came as man and gave us
your Spirit and thus became the way. Lord, in Heaven You are covered with
light not the light that comes from destruction of matter but a glorious
light that comes from building, for all your plans are good and for
betterment. Our marriage in Heaven with You is not like the worldly
marriages but means we would become one with You as part of You and You
Lord are Holy God for all proclaim your Name as Holy, Holy, Holy. Lord, we
pray You take us through these four processes and prepare us as your Bride
covered with holiness...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Proverbs 1:1-4

1 The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;

2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

4 To give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and
discretion.

Revelation 21:2-5

2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of
heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle
of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his
people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no
more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more
pain: for the former things are passed away.

5 And he that sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And
he said to me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
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The Lord will rebuild His people Israel

Ezekiel 36:33-35

33 Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day that I shall have cleansed you from
all your iniquities I will also cause you to dwell in the cities, and the
wastes shall be built.

34 And the desolate land shall be tilled, though it lay desolate in the
sight of all that passed by.

35 And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the
garden of Eden; and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become
fortified, and are inhabited.

In today's message the Lord is speaking to His people Israel and not the
nation Israel. If one reads the message it says 'In the day that I shall
have cleansed you from all your iniquities'.

The Jews having rejected Jesus have no hope of reconciling with the Lord;
they have no hope of complete forgiveness. People claim that one day they
will repent and come to the Lord. They do not realize the day they repent
and come to the Lord, can they be followers of Judaism? Judaism is a
religion like other worldly religions. Even though they refer to the OT yet
they do without understanding. Paul used the word 'law' towards them for
they made traditions of the Commandments God had given through Moses.
Stephen stated they worshiped worldly gods even though they took the name
Jehovah.

Islam claims heritance of the promises of blessings of Abraham on Ismail
because he was the first born of Abraham through his maid. But the promise
was on the first born from his wife Sarah. The same way the Jews also claim
the blessing of Abraham just because they carry the name Israel, are
dwellers of the land where the story started or are physical descendants of
Abraham. Jesus Himself told them if they really were children of Abraham
they would recognize Him, but they were children of their father Satan
therefore hated Him and did not listen to his words. So it is nothing to do
with the physical but to do with the spiritual. Paul says we are the true
descendants of Abraham by our faith in the seed of Abraham - Jesus Christ.
Some people call it substitute theory or give other names to it, but if
they look from day one the promise was only for people who abided by the
Word and Spirit of God, it did not changed before, later or in between.

In today's message the Lord is tell us He is going to rebuild His true
people and they will dwell in fortified cities. It does not mean they will
move and all dwell together in one place, it means wherever they dwell the
Lord will protect them and the world will notice something different with
them. The Lord goes to the extent to say the people will be a pleasure like
the Garden of Eden (meaning pleasure).

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You alone are God and You are Spirit. Your Children Lord are those
who walk according to the Spirit and not in the flesh. Lord we pray your
people realize they are the real Israel and all the promises of Israel are
for them, that they accept these promised into their lives and give glory
unto You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

John 8:39-47

39 They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith
unto them, If ye were Abraham's children, ye would do the works of Abraham.

40 But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I
have heard of God: this did not Abraham.

41 Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born
of fornication; we have one Father, even God.

42 Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I
proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me.

43 Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.

44 Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will
do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of
his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

45 And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.

46 Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye
not believe me?

47 He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not,
because ye are not of God.

Acts 7:42-43

42 Then God turned, and gave them up to worship the host of heaven; as it
is written in the book of the prophets, O ye house of Israel, have ye
offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices for forty years in the wilderness?

43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Molech, and the star of your god
Remphan, figures which ye made to worship them: and I will carry you away
beyond Babylon.

Romans 2:28-29

28 For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that
circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

29 But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the
heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men,
but of God.

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A little while and the wicked will not be

Psalms 37:10 - For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea,
thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

To understand today's message I will expound on today's message.

Psalms 37:10 - For yet a little while, and the wicked [condemned] shall not
be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider [discern] his place [space], and it
shall not be.

The Lord is telling us in this world along with His children dwell those
who are condemned and they are for a while. During this time we are called
to discern their space and they will not affect us.

The whole world tells us since all are created by God thus all are God's
children; this is a lie.

True God created all beings even the animals, birds, insects and plants,
but all are not in the plans of God. Man is special because God designed
him especially unique for a special reason.

Man is a spirit being means a spirit with a soul (created in Genesis 1:12,
both man and woman as spirit beings are identical) whom God put in a body
and when this spirit being was put in the body its soul became a living
soul (active).

When God created the spirit although the spirit was alive the soul was
inert, but when this spirit being gets implanted in a body this inert soul
becomes active. All spirit beings have been created in the beginning and
all are assigned to their fathers. That is why God spoke of the seeds in
the lions of their fathers. This seed comes alive when the egg of a woman
is fertilized by a man. The egg is nothing but a cell that is able to start
breaking and forming more cells when it is triggered. Then the cells start
to take specific rolls and thus come the formation of various organs. A
human is formed when the basic organs are formed and blood starts to flow
between them (life is in the blood). It is at this time the spiritual seed
(spirit man) comes alive in this flesh body.

If all humans are made identical then how are they different?

All spirit humans are allocated to different fathers thus the sin nature
and curses of the father get transferred to its children. Even though we
may not be born but if our fathers did good according to the Lord we get
blessed and vice versa. As man sins or walk in righteousness the souls gets
more corrupted or better for the soul of the father affects the soul of his
children that is why we see children go on their parents. The sin does not
get transferred but the sin nature and the curses are. The mother's nature
or soul status affects the child via the father for they become one in
marriage, they may not effect each other with their oneness but it does
affect their children, that is why Lord Jesus Christ was born of a virgin
mother, thus even though Mary was a sinner her sins or corrupt soul did not
affect Him, for His earthly Father was the Holy Spirit and they did not
come together as humans do in marriage.

Each one of us when we come alive in the body we have to work on our soul
and bring it back to how God designed us in the beginning. For this
corruption to be overcome sin nature needs to be removed. Jesus by His
sacrifice deals with our pass sins when we are baptized in Him. He gave us
His Spirit and His Word to help us overcome the sin nature. Thus even
though we are saved from hell by our faith in Him, yet we only go to Heaven
when we work on our sin nature and help each other to overcome it. We need
to help each other to overcome because we ourselves may not fully overcome
but one day someone among us will. God says He only requires two among us
to overcome for all those who are fighting this battle will eat of the
fruit of this victory, for it was two who sinned and got us into this
battle. Thus God considers only those who are in this battle to overcome
the sin nature as His children.

God the Son came as man Jesus and showed us the way to overcome the sin
nature and also made a way (via His Spirit) for us to overcome. Thus we are
truly saved only when we are part of this battle by allowing the Holy
Spirit to work in us and through us.

Today's message talks as 'condemned' those who the Lord knows are not
taking part or giving up this battle to fight the sin nature. They are
people who dislike the nature of God but enjoy the corrupt nature. That is
why they take pleasure in the things of this world and not in things of the
Kingdom of God. These people God tells us to discern for they cause us to
fail or give up our battle against our sin nature. God is telling us today,
when we discern them they stop to influence us or affect us and thus do not
exist or become ineffective in our spiritual walk.

[Prayer starter]

Lord most people of this world think all are your children while others
think because they call themselves Christians are your children. They do
not know unless they desire You in their lives and work to show You in them
they are not considered your children. Lord only your people desire You the
others may call themselves your children but are there to mislead your
people. Lord help us discern the people of this world and especially those
who are not your children and still call themselves your people...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Genesis 2:7 - And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

Exodus 20:5 - Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for
I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Ezekiel 34:6 - My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every
high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and
none did search or seek after them.

Ezekiel 34:12 - As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is
among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will
deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy
and dark day.

John 10:27 - My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:

Mark 8:34 - And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples
also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

John 16:33 - These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have
peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have
overcome the world.

1 Corinthians 15:42 - So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown
in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

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Persistence of the world against you

Mark 14:69 - And a maid saw him again, and began to say to them that stood
by, This is one of them.

We see in today's message the maid was determined to cause problem to
Peter, she not only identified Peter twice but was alerting others about
him. She knew but alerting others about him, his life would be in danger
and she desired that Peter be punished for following Jesus like how Jesus
was punished.

Jesus told us if we are of the Kingdom of God than this world will hate us
for this world hates God. I have heard this preaching many a times and most
preachers will tell you that you will be persecuted for being a Christian
but one thing they do not tell about why we are persecuted even when God is
watching over us or how we overcome persecution.

When I hear or read of persecutions of Christians I always ask the Lord
'why' for I know our Lord is God and there is no other God beside Him and
all things are in His control. Even in the case of Jesus if God the Father
had not allowed they would not have touched even a hair of Jesus. People do
not know the power Jesus had as Son of God (not God the Son) they do not
know what transfiguration means. There are scriptures which state Jesus
slipped from between the crowds that tried to kill Him, He did not hide and
run like a scared person. When Adam had not sinned yet, it states he walked
with God in the garden, people do not realize Genesis 2 does not talk of
just 1 garden but of 2 and only if they knew where these 2 gardens were
they would realize the power we lost due to sin.

There are scriptures which tell us our God will set a table for us before
our enemies, if our God can do that then why do we experience persecution?
Does God desire we be persecuted?

If we study how persecution started against the Church then we would know
why is happens, before that the Apostles were staying in the porch area
outside of the main Jewish synagogue called the porch of Solomon or
Solomon's Colonnade no person harmed them. It was named after Solomon
because it was to do with wisdom. It was an area where the people gathered
to debated or preach. We see Jesus too visited this place (John 10:23-24),
Peter after healing the sick man outside the temple spoke to the Jewish
crowd standing in this place.

In today's message we see Peter was in trouble because he identified
himself as a follower of Jesus but at the same time he was not fully with
Jesus. When the Lord taught me about the stages of spiritual growth He
showed me a stage that was above this world and below the Kingdom of God
and in this place dwelled the beasts of this world which would attack the
people of God.

If we are worldly people who dwell in the desires of the flesh the world
will love us but as we start to deny the flesh and walk towards the Kingdom
of God we struggle with the flesh and are yet to know the power of God. It
is at this time we face the worst persecution in our lives.

When Jesus instructed Peter on how to take care of His sheep as Jesus ask
him 3 times 'do you love me'? Jesus give him instructions feed My lambs,
take care of My sheep and feed My sheep. It is very important we follow
this to build the people of God. We need to first know the difference
between Gospel and Word and should not give teaching of the Word to those
who are lambs but stick only to giving the Gospel. It is only after they
start to have relationship with God after their baptism that we teach them
the Word as they grow into sheep.

Our walk of faith starts with hope and ends with authority. If we grow into
people of authority then neither any being in the flesh nor any spirit
(like evil spirits/fallen angels) can harm us. We really do not understand
the power just in the Name of the Lord. The Lord does not need to come to
destroy Satan or his army but just His Name is enough to bring them to
their knees. At the end when Jesus comes again along with His army of
Angels (the elects who are part of first resurrection) it is by He
declaring His Name (Shout of an Archangel) that He causes all (including
Satan and his army) to come to their knees.

The Lord is telling us to overcome persecution and that will happen only
when we do not dwell in the place Peter was but be righteous people who
walk in the ways of the Lord. We need to be people who do not need to even
pray for the Lord gives them the desire of their heart and whose only
prayer is 'thank you' like Jesus.

If we study the stages of the Church as in seven letters to the seven
Churches (Revelation 2 -3) the next stage (6th stage)in which we are going
to enter is a stage where the Church not only comes together as one but
also grows in the Lord and the world sees the glory of God in her. This
stage is not a stage where people persecute her but fear her for she is
covered by the glory of God. Let us be people who see this stage in our
life time so let us strive to grow in spirit.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we get persecuted for we call ourselves Christian but do not show
people the power of God as Christians. Lord we prayer people of this world
know You and know we are your people. That they fear You and your people
who call on your Name...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

John 19:11 Jesus answered, You could have no power at all against me,
except it were given you from above: therefore he that delivered me to you
has the greater sin.

Matthew 26:53-54

53 Think you that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently
give me more than twelve legions of angels?

54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?

Luke 4:28-30

28 And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were
filled with wrath,

29 And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him to the brow of
the hill where on their city was built, that they might cast him down
headlong.

30 But he passing through the middle of them went his way,

Acts 5:12 - And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders
wrought among the people; (and they were all with one accord in Solomon's
porch.

Psalms 23:5 - You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies:
you anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.

John 21:15-17

15 So when they had dined, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas,
love you me more than these? He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I
love you. He said to him, Feed [bosko means feed] my lambs.

16 He said to him again the second time, Simon, son of Jonas, love you me?
He said to him, Yes, Lord; you know that I love you. He said to him, Feed
[poimaino means tend] my sheep.

17 He said to him the third time, Simon, son of Jonas, love you me? Peter
was grieved because he said to him the third time, Love you me? And he said
to him, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you. Jesus said to
him, Feed [bosko means feed] my sheep.

Acts 3:11 - And as the lame man which was healed held Peter and John, all
the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's,
greatly wondering.

John 10:23-24

23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch.

24 Then came the Jews around him, and said to him, How long dost thou make
us to doubt? If thou art the Christ, tell us plainly.

1 Corinthians 5:4 - In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are
gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

John 1:12 - But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become
the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

Luke 21:12-19

12 But before all these, they shall lay their hands on you, and persecute
you, delivering you up to the synagogues, and into prisons, being brought
before kings and rulers for my name's sake.

13 And it shall turn to you for a testimony.

14 Settle it therefore in your hearts, not to meditate before what you
shall answer:

15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries
shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.

16 And you shall be betrayed both by parents, and brothers, and kinfolks,
and friends; and some of you shall they cause to be put to death.

17 And you shall be hated of all men for my name's sake.

18 But there shall not an hair of your head perish.

19 In your patience possess you your souls.


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Grace and work

2 Chronicles 14:7 - Therefore he said to Judah, Let us build these cities,
and make about them walls, and towers, gates, and bars, while the land is
yet before us; because we have sought the LORD our God, we have sought him,
and he hath given us rest on every side. So they built and prospered.

Just a few minutes back I was discussing with a brother and he made a
statement that 'by grace we go to Heaven' to which I was correcting him.
And as I prayed to the Lord for today's message the Lord gave me this
message and when I saw it, I saw the Lord wanted to be party to our
discussion and had this beautiful scripture on the same matter.

Here we read of Asa who was a righteous person states to Judah that the
Lord has given them rest on all sides. But yet we see they plan to make
cities with walls all around, with gates and bars. We need to ask the
question if the Lord had given them rest on all sides than did they need to
build walls, gates and bars? These were not simple walls they were very
large, thick and long walls running all round the city and took years to
build. They were made to prevent armies from attacking the city.

Grace was there before Jesus (before God the Son came as man) like the
Spirit of God was on a few before Jesus, so also was the Word of God given
before through many Prophets yet we see Bible states grace and truth came
through Jesus Christ and states we received the Spirit of God through Jesus
Christ.

Grace is the necessary mercy to get a job done. Before Jesus grace was in
the lives of a select few and not all did i.e. Abraham and David did not
experience grace but Noah and Moses did that is why they struggled more. As
far as truth was concern even though there were many very wise people like
Solomon yet the Jews were far from the truth. Even Prophets like Moses who
communicated with God face to face, still did not had the full
understanding of what the Lord spoke through them, like Paul says it was
Jesus Christ who reveals the promises made unto them. So Jesus was not only
the fulfilment of many promises but also the one who revealed the promises
of God.

Paul puts our spiritual journey very well in Romans 5. He puts it as a
spiral stairs which starts with faith, faith that gives access to grace,
grace that takes us through trials and pressure, these trials and pressure
brings experience or proof, this proof brings hope and hope is the
beginning of faith. Thus by this cycle we get more faith and thus climb up
the spiritual staircase of spiritual growth. Fullness / growth of faith
make us into persons of authority (Sons of God). Paul refers our efforts
not as works of righteousness but works of faith.

It is by faith in Jesus Christ we are saved by grace. Jesus made peace
between God and man. But that does not mean we go to Heaven. It only means
we are saved from Hell. Going to Heaven requires us to go up the staircase
of faith and this is possible only with the Helper - the Holy Spirit, which
is why both baptisms baptism in Jesus Christ (faith) and baptism of the
Holy Spirit (working of God in us) are required for us to go to Haven.

People before Jesus did works of righteousness and thus had no hope since
they had no faith, but after Jesus Christ by our works of faith grow in the
Lord and in the works of faith grace is a very important element.

In today's message we see the Lord gave them rest from many problems but
that did not mean they could take their enemy for granted. They had to make
the efforts to protect themselves from their enemies. If the Lord had not
given them peace they would not have been able to make a city nor a wall to
protect them from the enemy.

Even if we come in Christ and have peace with God and peace of God, yet our
enemy does not sit silent, he works plans to destroy us. It is only when we
grow spiritually in faith into persons having authority then we do not fear
the enemy but our enemy fears us like the evil spirits feared Jesus.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, people who get admission to KG and pass KG think they have finished
school. Lord, we pray they know by coming to know is just the start of our
journey in You. That inheritance is not for the Children of God but only
for Sons of God. Lord, You gave us your Spirit to make us into Sons. We
pray your people realize they need to grow in You, to walk the Way which is
You...

This prayer we make in Name of Jesus, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

1 Corinthians 15:10 - But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace
which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly
than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-4

2 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our
prayers;

3 Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and
patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our
Father;

4 Knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.

Hebrew 4:9-13

9 There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God.

10 For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own
works, as God did from his.

11 Let us labour therefore to enter into that rest, lest any man fall
after the same example of unbelief.

12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any
twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,
and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart.

13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but
all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to
do.

Romans 5:1-5

1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ:

2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand,
and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations [pressure] also: knowing
that tribulation worketh patience [enduring];

4 And patience, experience [proof]; and experience, hope:

5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in
our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

Romans 15:8 - Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the
circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the
fathers:

John 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be
born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

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God and man

Numbers 23:19 - God is not a man [Ishi], that he should lie [fail]; neither
the son of man [Adam], that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he
not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?

People usually understand today's message as God is not a man that He
should lie or repent (make a mistake) in what He did or spoke and not to
execute what He has committed. But to really understand today's message we
need to compare it with Hosea 2:16.

In Hosea 2:16 the Lord says in that day we shall call Him man (Son of Man)
and no longer will we be able to say we do not know the Lord, for that Son
of Man will show us God in/through Him (Matthew 1:23).

In Numbers 23:19 the first word 'man' is not the Hebrew word 'Adam', it is
the word 'Ishi', but the second word is 'Adam'. Ishi refers to a man not
connected to the nature of Adam or not a son of Adam. In Genesis 5:1-2 we
read God cursed mankind by inducing the nature through the generations of
Adam. God later specifies in Exodus how this nature gets transferred and
that is only through the father.

Hosea 2:16 speaks of God coming as man and this man would not have the
nature of Adam even though He would be born out of man and that this man
will make God visible in Him and through Him. That is why Jesus was born
through a virgin so that He be born out of man and yet does not have the
nature of Adam in Him. Even though Mary was a sinner yet her nature was not
transferred to Jesus for the nature comes via the father only.

It does not mean only the father's nature comes to the child. We see many a
time the child has the mother's nature very predominant. Bible states when
the father and mother come together as one the (spiritual) seed which is in
the father when it comes alive in the womb of the mother also gets the
nature (and curses) of the mother. But here the father can allow or
disallow.

The earthly Father of Jesus was the Holy Spirit and no a man and Mary
conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit. Since it was not a union of a
man and woman so the nature of Mary was not transferred to Jesus, she
became just a pot in which the seed took root. Bible also says the Holy
Spirit groomed Jesus as a child to grow in wisdom and spirit so even as a
child the weakness of Mary and other family members did not affect Him.

So we see Jesus as man was for the generation of Adam but technically was
promised to Abraham and David so was known as son of Abraham and son of
David and not son of Adam.

Today's message say only those who have the nature of Adam and not the
nature of God make mistakes and thus repent, and they fail to fulfil a
promise.

The message is not only for us to know about God and Jesus but is about
ourselves. If we are making mistakes for which we repent or fail in our
task that means we still operate in our old man which is Adam's nature. The
Lord is telling us if we walk more and more in the Spirit and come in the
nature of Lord which is Christ then we will not make mistakes or fail. That
is why Paul says in Christ I can do all things, so let us forsake the
sinful nature of Adam and come more and more in Christ.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, people do not know You because they do not see You in us. We still
struggle in the flesh and battle with our sinful nature. Lord we pray for
more and more of your Spirit that we may overcome the Adam nature and it
not be dead for ever from within us and only your nature be seen in us and
we be called Sons of our Father in Heaven...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Hosea 2:16 - And it shall be at that day, saith the LORD, that thou shalt
call me Ishi [man]; and shalt call me no more Baali [unknown God].

John 14:7 - If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and
from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

Genesis 5:1-2

1 This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God created
man, in the likeness of God made he him;

2 Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called their name
Adam, in the day when they were created.

Exodus 20:5 - Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for
I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

Matthew 1:1-2

1 The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of
Abraham.

2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judah and
his brethren;

Matthew 1:23 - Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth
a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel [God with us], which being
interpreted is, God with us.

John 2:4 - Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine
hour is not yet come.


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God will make us one stick

Ezekiel 37:19,20 - Say to them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I will
take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, and the tribes
of Israel his companions, and will put them with him, even with the stick
of Judah, and make them one stick, and they shall be one in my hand. And
the sticks on which thou writest shall be in thy hand before their eyes.

It has been many years since I got this revelation but did not share it; I
did not dare to for it is strong. Many a time I hear preachers preach on
the testimony of Joseph, how God did great in his life. The thought would
run in my mind, did this preacher really study Joseph? For all see parts of
his life but not the whole.

There is no Israelite (the 12 sons of Jacob) in whom God did great things
as much God did with and through Joseph. He started with wearing
multi-coloured robe given by his father (which symbolize various
understanding given to us by our fore fathers) and then at the end Pharaoh
put a white rob of linen on him (symbolizing righteousness). He from no one
became the most important person in the land (at that time Egyptians were
the greatest power in the world). As the head of the Egyptian empire (all
authority was given to him by the Pharaoh) he did lots of good work even to
his own people, but then we see he was not among the people who entered the
Promised Land. The Lord replaced him from the twelve. We also see a similar
incident with the twelve disciples of Jesus, one of them got left out -
Judas. One may ask can we compare Joseph to Judas. Judas betrayed Jesus for
some money but Joseph did not betray God? Also Joseph cannot be compared to
Judas for he was blessed with riches by the Lord.

Let us look at the life of Judas. He was the son of Simon the Leper whom
Jesus healed so the Lord had done a great thing in the life of Judas.
During the period Jesus was training the twelve we see Judas acted like the
finance manager keeping the money bag with him and was allowed by Jesus to
do so even after Jesus knowing that Judas was dishonest. When Judas died
even though he believed in Jesus and was guilty for his wrong yet he was
condemned as lost. After his death he was replaced by another among the
twelve.

The OT is a shadow of spiritual things thus all things in OT were more of
symbolic and we come to know the Truth when we understand what they
symbolized. The Promised Land symbolized Heaven and their journey from
Egypt to the Promised Land symbolized journey of people of God from a dual
life (living a worldly life while knowing God) to becoming Sons of God and
entering Heaven through their carrying the Ark (Cross). For without the Ark
they could not cross the Jordan River (the word Jordan means inheritance /
thus crossing Jordan symbolizes becoming Sons of God).

We see Joseph refuse to join his brethren to stay back in Egypt. He had
forsaken his brethren for the sake of his position and his commitment to
the worldly people. The promise of Heaven which was on him was given to his
sons but he lost it. I saw this when I noticed something very unique about
him. If we read after the death of all the Men of God or those were in the
Lord when they died, it is written they were 'gathered unto their people /
fathers' but only in the case of Joseph it is written that he died and that
he was not gathered unto his people or fathers. But we see his bones
(symbolizing his character / testimony) were taken by the people unto their
journey to the Promised Land.

We as Christians are part of a large family and only those who are concern
of this family will enter Heaven. That is why Jesus said unless we carry
the Cross (that is gather our family unto God) we will not enter Heaven.
Those who say they love God but do not love this family are hypocrites, for
this family is God's family and He is their Father with the man Jesus
Christ being their head Brother and Saviour.

In today's message the Lord is telling us about Ephraim (who symbolize
prosperity Gospel Christians) that hold the stick of Joseph (those who love
the world more the Kingdom of God but yet seek the blessings of God) and
the stick of Israel (God's people), the Lord is going to make them one
stick, that us unite them by renewing them.

If we look at the stages of the Church as per the 7 letters to the seven
Churches, we are currently going to move from the fifth stage to the sixth
stage; from the stage of evangelization to the stage when Christians come
together as one, as one Church. So soon we will see Christian will no
longer be known by their denomination but by their belief in Christ, having
one mind, one belief and one mission.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we thank You for the things You are going to do in your Church. Lord,
let them know there is One Father, One God and one salvation in Jesus
Christ therefore your people need to be one with one mission, one heart and
one spirit. Unite us Lord so that You be glorified in us...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scripture]

Genesis 35:29 - And Isaac gave up the ghost, and died, and was gathered
unto his people, being old and full of days: and his sons Esau and Jacob
buried him.

Genesis 49:33 - And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he
gathered up his feet into the bed, and yielded up the ghost, and was
gathered unto his people.

1 Kings 2:10 - So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city
of David.

1 Kings 11:43 - And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the
city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

Genesis 50:26 - So Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old: and
they embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.

Hebrews 11:22 - By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the
departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his
bones.

Romans 15:5-6

5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one
toward another according to Christ Jesus:

6 That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of
our Lord Jesus Christ.

7 Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the
glory of God.

1 Corinthians 8:6 - But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are
all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all
things, and we by him.

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus;

John 17:11 - And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world,
and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom
thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

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The Veil that hid the Ark is taken away

Exodus 40:21 - And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the
vail of the covering, and covered the ark of the testimony; as the LORD
commanded Moses.

The Hebrew word 'arown' translated as Ark means 'chest' and comes from the
root word 'arah' which means to gather and the Hebrew word 'poreketh'
translated as 'vail'/'veil' comes from the root word perek means 'cruelty'/
'harshness'.

We know from the books of Moses, Samuel, Kings and Chronicles how the Ark
had power to deliver the Israelites when they carried it in sacredness.
Great armies came against it but if the Ark was with them they carried it
to a mountain top for all to see and get inspirited by it and thus have
victory. But at times when they did not walk in holiness and yet had the
Ark, the power of its presence did not help them. The sanctification was so
important that only a Levite (one separated to God) was only allowed to not
only touch it but also carry it. Anyone else even so touched it would die
immediately. So we see there were 2 factors for their victory one was to
uphold the Ark and second to sanctify themselves.

The Jews carried a symbolic object and did not know what it symbolized; it
was only through Jesus that the real understanding of the Ark was revealed.
Jesus said unless one denies oneself and carries his Cross and follows Him
(His teaching) is not worthy of Him. So we see like the Jews were told to
carry the Ark to enter the Promised Land so also Christians are told to
carry the Cross to enter Heaven for only when one follows Jesus does one
enter Heaven for He is the only way.

The Greek word translated as Cross 'stauros' comes from the word 'histemi'
which means 'stand' or 'cause' (something established). To understand the
stand or cause we need to look at the shadow in the OT which was the Ark,
which meant 'to gather' and we see Jesus is called the Good Shepherd who is
come to gather His sheep. So the real Cross of Jesus was not the wooden
crucifix but the Mission He had come for, which was to gather His people /
sheep and lead them to the Father.

All those who are in Jesus are given a mission which is to witness Him to
the people given unto them, so we too like Him are given a Harvest / a
flock of sheep whom we are to gather unto the main flock, which is the
Father's flock (a shepherd does not own the flock but is the caretaker
until he reaches them home). We are not called to lead our flock but to
gather them and join them to the main flock.

There was also 2 conditions required to carry the Ark one was to separate
oneself and second to sanctify oneself. Jesus said unless one denies
oneself and follow His teaching he or she is only worthy of Him. So denying
oneself means to separate oneself to God, denying this world's teachings
and the pleasures (not needs) of this world. To sanctify oneself, Jesus
tells us to follow His teachings and as we follow His teachings we start to
live a life of holiness.

The wrath of God kept the Cross hidden from us and thus there was no way
for us to go to Heaven. Jesus took the wrath of God on Himself and made
peace between God and man thus tearing the veil revealed the Cross to us.
He not only revealed the Cross to us but made us worthy to carry it and
also gave us a Helper (Holy Spirit) to carry it. Today the Cross is no
longer covered by a veil like it was done before. Let us thank God for the
Cross and thank Jesus Christ for taking the wrath on Himself and revealing
the Cross to us.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we thank You for the Cross, for making us worthy to carry it and be
part of your army. Lord, let every Christian know that unless one carries
the Cross they are not really Christians. Let them know unless they do not
witness You to the people given unto them they are not really Christians.
Let them know unless they do not gather your sheep unto You, they are not
Christian. Lord we prayer that more people who call themselves Christians
become real Christians by the power of the Cross...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scripture]

Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples
also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Matthew 10:38 - And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me,
is not worthy of me.

1 Corinthians 1:18 - For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Mark 16:14-19

14 Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and
upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they
believed not them which had seen him after he was risen.

15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel
to every creature.

16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned.

17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they
cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it
shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall
recover.

19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into
heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.

Matthew 28:18-20

18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me
in heaven and in earth.

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:

20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:
and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.


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Physical manifestation of spiritual power

Acts 4:31 - And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were
assembled; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke
the word of God with boldness.

If we read in Mark 5:22-23 Jairus who is in-charge of a Jewish synagogue
pleads Jesus to come and lay His hand over his dying daughter to heal her.
On the other hand in Matthew 8:5-10 we read about the Roman centurion who
approached Jesus to heal his maid who was very sick, when Jesus told him
that He would come to his place, he insisted that Jesus just command the
sickness to leave from the very place He stood and she would be healed.
Both Jairus' daughter and the Roman centurion's maid got healed but
scripture says Jesus was very impressed with the faith of the centurion. He
went to the extent of commenting that they stood no man in whole of Israel
who had faith like the centurion.

When God instructed Moses to split the Red Sea to make way for His people
or to make water available from the rocks for His people, the Lord had told
Moses to make use or take hold of his staff. But when we see the Lord spoke
to Joshua, Joshua impressed God with his faith by causing even the Sun and
Moon to stand still, and he did not even told any staff in his hand when he
did them.

Laying of hands (touching a person) helps to encourage the people to have
faith, same as holding on to symbolic objects. Lack of faith can caused
Jesus to fail in healing people, even God cannot work in the life of the
person. But a person of strong faith does not need someone to touch them to
be healed, nor to hold on to symbolic objects, the Word does the job.

In today's scripture we read there was physical manifestation of the
presence of the Holy Spirit by the shaking of the place. Personally I have
experienced this shaking of a place during prayer wherein the people in the
room and even adjusting rooms of a house experience shaking like that of an
earthquake but the neighbouring houses in the building having common walls
or houses above or below in the building did not feel anything. This was
not just a feeling for objects in the house moved and some fell by the
shaking. But this happen long time back when I was just growing in the Lord
like it happened in the book of Acts to the just growing Church.

We need to understand physical manifestation is not a necessity to show the
power of God, but as we grow in faith there is less of physical and more
direct working in the spirit.

In today's scripture the shaking of the place when praying helped those in
the room to surrender to the presence of the Holy Spirit, thus were filled
with the Holy Spirit. God is everywhere, even before we start worship in a
place, God is already there. It is only when we try to connect to Him that
we feel His presence or by the manifestation of His working do we feel His
presence. We should not be running after manifestation, instead should grow
in spirit and see directly things happening in spirit. Let us be the man of
whom Jesus said blessed is the man who has no seen, yet believed.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, people run after physical manifestation for they lack faith. They
dwell in the flesh and their thoughts as fleshy. Lord we pray your people
walk more in the spirit and less in the flesh. That their spiritual sense
be more in control of them than their natural senses...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Mark 5:22,23

22 And, behold, there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by
name; and when he saw him, he fell at his feet,

23 And besought him greatly, saying, My little daughter lieth at the point
of death: I pray thee, come and lay thy hands on her, that she may be
healed; and she shall live.

Matthew 8:5-10

5 And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a
centurion, beseeching him,

6 And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously
tormented.

7 And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.

8 The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou
shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall
be healed.

9 For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and I say to
this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my
servant, Do this, and he doeth it.

10 When Jesus heard it, he marvelled, and said to them that followed,
Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.

John 20:29 - Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou
hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
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Lord as an Apologist

Job 9:3 - If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a
thousand.

Apologetics is a field wherein a person is ready to answer questions put by
people with regards to Bible scriptures or Christian belief. The term
Apologist comes from the Greek word 'apologia' which means 'answer' and
most people root Apologetics to the scripture 1 Peter 3:15. But the whole
Bible right from the oldest book (Job) right unto Revelation shows the Lord
as an Apologist who debates with the worldly man.

My journey into Apologetics started without my knowledge when I did not
know what that word meant. I thought it was something to do with being an
Apostle. It was like the Lord directly pushed me into the deep ocean, in
shark infested waters to teach me swimming.

My first encounter was when I was yet a Catholic, not even baptized in the
Holy Spirit and was ignorant of scriptures but would pay good attention to
the Gospel reading during Mass. This incident happened was about 20years
back when I was trying my hand at real estate and the Jehovah's Witness
group approached me for a large land in outskirts of Mumbai to start a
press (which is their lifeline) and community center. I was in a friend's
house whose mother was a member of this group which is not a Christian
group. I was surrounded by at least 9 to 10 Jehovah's Witnesses and that
too among them were their senior most members who had come from Australia
and other countries. They tried their best to grill me and convert me but
even with the 2 cents I knew of the Bible I fought tooth and nail against
them. After about 4 hours they gave up on me. At that time it was all about
defending with not about attacking since I was ignorant not only about my
belief but also of their belief.

The second time it was a better situation where I was well rooted in my
understanding of scriptures and went to a Brethren's place to debate with
some members from Church of Mount Zion, they believe in mother Jerusalem
(their Jerusalem was a town in south India) and in mother god (similar to
World Mission Society Church of God). At this time too I did not know much
about Apologetics but I was in a better position than before because I knew
my belief and was strong in my understanding of Scriptures. They were about
6 persons and I had taken a sister alone this time to accompany me for the
debate.

When we started I let them ask questions and they spoke for about 15mins
after that I started answering them and being led by the Lord unknowingly I
took them through all their corrupt beliefs in the light of scriptures. I
spoke for about 6hrs and they were just dumbstruck, none of us had any idea
how the time passed and it was also 3 hours pass our lunch time for none
had eaten. I came to know later after some days, 5 of that team had left
that cult leaving for one person.

The third time was just some weeks back a brother who is a well-known
Apologist messaged me in the middle of the night to accompany him to a
Muslim debate in the morning. When I read it I was so happy that he
considered me for the debate, later I came to know all others had ditched
him and only when we landed at the venue and met the person whom we were to
debate did I know why they did that.

Our landing there was not just simple, we were told to meet at a venue and
when we reached there after some time we were given a call and asked to
walk to another venue which was at some distance from that place. Even when
we reached there we had to wait, before some young boys approached us.
Later we realized these people were watching us from a distance for long
before they approached us. When we asked them the venue they claimed
ignorance of the address and told us to sit in a car and would drive us
there (not knowing the address themselves!). Even then we sat and one was
always on the phone talking to some people and taking updates. We did ask
more than once about the venue and they again and again showed ignorance of
the address. They stopped at one place and waited for a call before taking
us further.

At the venue we met the person with whom we were to debate, he was the head
of the research unit the largest Muslim apologetic group in India and known
worldwide. He had split ways with the group and was now setting up his own
group. He had called his disciples to that debate to strengthen his
position. Soon the place was filled to maximum capacity with no leg room
but he could not fit much people for the place was very small.

When I had landed there and came to know about him I was quite shaken for I
thought he would really grill or toast us, my only confidence was with my
brother in Christ who was experienced, trusting he would take care. But
when we started I realized this wise man (doctor by profession) was a great
fool. It took time for the debate to really take off because the difficulty
was in coming to his level to communicate with him. Even though I was not
experienced in debating, I wanted to take on this man myself.

I shared these 3 experiences for in each case my position was different, in
the first I was totally ignorant including my own belief, in the second
even though I was knowing my belief I was ignorant of the opponents belief
and in the third I was not only aware of my belief but had a good knowledge
of the opponent's belief so as to confront him.

In today's message we see Job says when we question God, we except an
answer from Him but if He questions us a thousand questions, we would not
be in a position to answer even His one question.

In today's message the Lord is not telling us to prepare to debate Him, but
is telling us if we are His witness and represent Him in this world then
are we prepared to confront the teachings of this world and defend the
understanding of the Kingdom of God?

We are not called to do a PhD in other religions but are called to have
basic knowledge (be aware) of their belief systems so that we are able to
cross question them, while we answer their questions.

Jesus was very outreaching to the regular Jews but with the religious
Jewish leaders which included the Pharisees and Sadducees His approach was
different and we learn a lot about Apologetics from Him.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we pray this message ministers to the hearts of many that they take
up Apologetics seriously and prepare themselves to be defenders of the
Truth. This world is filled with corrupt teachings and is spreading in
leaps and bounds since it lacks people who can confront lies with the
Truth. Lord we pray for more and more of your Spirit on these people, Lord
fill them with wisdom of your Kingdom...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

1 Peter 3:15-16

15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give
an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you
with meekness and fear:

16 Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of
evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation
in Christ.

Matthew 22:35-42

35 Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting
him, and saying,

36 Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

38 This is the first and great commandment.

39 And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself.

40 On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

41 While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them,

42 Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him,
The Son of David.

Mark 12:34 - And when Jesus saw that he answered discreetly, he said unto
him, Thou art not far from the kingdom of God. And no man after that durst
ask him any question.

Mark 11:29 - And Jesus answered and said unto them, I will also ask of you
one question, and answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do
these things.

Matthew 16:6 Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware (be aware) of
the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.

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[size=12.727272033691406]http://www.ToMountZion.com
[/size]

Who do you witness?

Proverbs 19:9 - A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that
speaketh lies shall perish.

When 2 people are debating (does not necessary mean arguing or fighting, it
would mean just a healthy discussion to learn) the people around can take 2
positions pro one and against another, or do not know so will just observer
and take a stand later. But every one soon or later has to take a stand pro
one and against the other (they may even be partly with one and partly with
another, few points here and few points there but to a specific point they
have to take a stand, chose a side).

People follow a belief because of their understanding, but as their
understanding grows and they still continue with their wrong belief then
they are living a lie. And to justify their lie they speak in support of
it, so they speak lies and start to mislead others who lack discernment.

Today's message tells us those who speaketh lies will be surely punished
but even those who support their lies will not go scot-free.

Just today morning I was discussing with someone who was trying to support
Catholics' ignorance to drink alcohol since the Bible uses the word wine.
If you cross question them you will find at the end it is their no-care
attitude towards scriptures that causes them to justify their ignorance and
actions. Man thinks since I close my eyes to the Truth and do not see it
thus I cannot be judged by it. Can a criminal close his eyes in court and
wish the judge would not pass judgment against him since he does not see
the judge? By closing one's eyes truth does not disappear, only we are
trying to make a mockery of the truth and are thus guiltier.

Eve sinned first but Adam is named are the main sinner because he was the
person whom God had personally given the Commandment and due to his
affection towards his wife he did not correct her but compromised with God
and himself fell along with his wife to the deceit of Satan.

Let us not try to fool God like we fool man, for God is not man. We may not
speak lies but by witnessing or supporting it we too are guilty of the
crime, if not equal than more.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, man has always thought himself to be wise and many a times wiser than
You. In his mind he makes a limited god and then equates himself to that
god. Lord we pray we know You for who You are, that we fear You and thus
grow in wisdom. Lord we pray You bless us with courage to stand for the
truth and not to fear man but to fear You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Joshua 2:19 - And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of
thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be
guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall
be on our head, if any hand be upon him.

Ezekiel 33:4-6

4 Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning;
if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.

5 He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall
be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.

6 But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and
the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among
them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the
watchman's hand.
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http://www.ToMountZion.com

Turn to the stronghold O you people

Zechariah 9:13 - When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with
Ephraim, and raised up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and
made thee as the sword of a mighty man.

Today's message talks of 4 lots of people. They have nothing to do with the
people of the places of their respective names, neither of a race of people
but refer to spiritual kinds of people.

Judah means praise - it refers to people who know God though not fully but
truly worship Him.

Ephraim means double heap / double blessing - it refers to people who seek
prosperity (blessings) which come from God, more than God Himself or His
Kingdom.

Greece the Hebrew word Yavan comes from the word Yayin which is a
moderately fermented wine - it refers to people of desires. They may not be
carnal people of lust but people having worldly desires which do not fall
into prosperity but things which are natural, like people who love good
tasty food, good clothes which may not be branded etc. They are people who
love the simple comforts of life and if deprived, their faith gets shaken.

Zion means fortified city - it refers to the Sons of God, those who have
grown in spirit and have authority.

Also the Hebrew words translated as 'bent' means 'tread', the word 'filled'
also means 'concentrate', the word 'bow' comes from the root word 'to
stiffen' / 'harden'.

Today's message tells us the Lord will work on Judah, Ephraim and on Greece
and make them sons of Zion. The Lord is says He will tread Judah, stiffen
Ephraim and use them against Greece to raise sons of Zion, people who are
maturing in Spirit.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, as time is drawing near for your glory be experienced on this earth
You Lord are doing things to shaken man and bring them to know You in
truth. Lord we pray You work on us even if it causes us to be
uncomfortable, but do not leave us to perish. Make us Lord into your Sons...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Zechariah 9:12-16

12 Turn you to the strong hold, ye prisoners of hope: even to day do I
declare that I will render double unto thee;

13 When I have bent Judah for me, filled the bow with Ephraim, and raised
up thy sons, O Zion, against thy sons, O Greece, and made thee as the sword
of a mighty man.

14 And the LORD shall be seen over them, and his arrow shall go forth as
the lightning: and the Lord GOD shall blow the trumpet, and shall go with
whirlwinds of the south.

15 The LORD of hosts shall defend them; and they shall devour, and subdue
with sling stones; and they shall drink, and make a noise as through wine;
and they shall be filled like bowls, and as the corners of the altar.

16 And the LORD their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his
people: for they shall be as the stones of a crown, lifted up as an ensign
upon his land.

17 For how great is his goodness, and how great is his beauty! corn shall
make the young men cheerful, and new wine the maids.

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Do we look back in our lives?

Job 8:8 - For enquire, I pray thee, of the former age, and prepare thyself
to the search of their fathers:

The world advices always to look forward and not to look back, it has
quotes like 'If you keep chasing yesterday's question, you're gonna miss
tomorrow's answer%27s_question%2C_you%27re_gonna_miss_tomorrow%27s_answer./344372/>'.
It also says 'if you walk with your head turned behind you will not see
your way ahead'. But when we do not go why what the world says but see what
it does then we see something else, the world gives a great importance to
the past, 99 percent of the school syllabus is based on the past. History,
Archaeology, literature etc. are all based on the past. Even a subject like
science has all about the achievements of man in the past.

I have heard many Preachers preach about not turning back or looking back,
about forgetting what you were and only look at what you aim to become.

In today's message the Lord is speaking to us through the mouth of Bildad
the friend of Job. The Lord is telling us to enquire of the former age and
search of our fore fathers.

One cannot do Bible Study without doing historical research. It is only
through the records of history we get confirmation of what we believe in.
Today's message not only confirms this but also tells us without looking
back we will never be able to prepare ourselves for our future. What is
that we need to look of the past? The Bible says we need to look at the
mistakes and blessing of our ancestors, not only that of our ancestors but
even our own.

If we get into the grammar of this sentence it shines light of exactly what
we need to do (I love this part of Bible study it makes a person write like
Paul did). If I look at this sentence in English we see 4 verbs enquire,
pray, prepare and search. But when we look at it in Hebrew in the actual
text there are only 3 verbs enquire, pray and prepare, the word search here
is given not as a verb but as a noun. One would say how does this change
much the dynamics of the sentence?

When we get to the foundation it gives us clear direction of what we should
do. How?

A verb is something what we do and noun is not something we do. Noun can be
identified like an object (referred to) and not an activity. So the
scriptures tells us our research (tense Gal which means casual) is
something we do casually to know of the former age so it is something we
get involved in, but when it comes to mistakes and blessing it is not an
activity we are part of but something we look at. That means even our own
past mistakes which we made or the blessings the Lord showered on us should
be just looked at but not something we get attached to. It is after this
'looking at' we need to prepare ourselves for our future journey.

One would say why not look back and keep thanking God for our past
blessings? I would say doing this is like standing at a milestone and not
moving ahead. Imagine a person standing at a milestone and cleaning it with
a cloth again and again and again and not moving ahead. Yes milestones are
very important in our lives, for they record our journey but one needs to
move ahead to further greater milestones.

If one understands blessings one will know they are like milestone that
already exist from before on our journey, we come across them when we move
in the right direction. All our blessings the Lord has already put in our
lives when we were born but we miss them when we do not move in the right
direction or do not move at all. No body adds blessings to us, they only
affect our journey by quickening the distances between milestones or ask
God to direct us to our milestones.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You are an awesome God. You have set all good things in our path but
because of the mistakes we make on our journey in life which are like
craters which make us lose our path or hinder our journey ahead. Lord we
pray we do not put ourselves behind our past craters not get stuck up with
glorifying our past milestones but by thanking You from the bottom of our
hearts for them we move on for greater milestones ahead. Lord help us move
ahead and keep move from milestone to milestone and avoid creating craters
on our path ahead...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Deuteronomy 9:7 - Remember, and forget not, how thou provokedst the LORD
thy God to wrath in the wilderness: from the day that thou didst depart out
of the land of Egypt, until ye came unto this place, ye have been
rebellious against the LORD.

Deuteronomy 15:15 - And thou shalt remember that thou wast a bondman in the
land of Egypt, and the LORD thy God redeemed thee: therefore I command thee
this thing to day.

Deuteronomy 16:3 - Thou shalt eat no leavened bread with it; seven days
shalt thou eat unleavened bread therewith, even the bread of affliction;
for thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt in haste: that thou mayest
remember the day when thou camest forth out of the land of Egypt all the
days of thy life.

Deuteronomy 32:7 - Remember the days of old, consider the years of many
generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they
will tell thee.

Romans 8:18 - For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not
worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

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http://www.ToMountZion.com

Is it good to remain young and open minded?

Proverbs 1:4 - To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge
and discretion.

Let me get to word study before I get to the message (I am elaborating this
so as to show how to study scriptures).

Subtilty - Hebrew word 'ormah' which means shrewdness, symbolizing keen
sense.

Simple - Hebrew word 'pethiy' comes from the word 'pathah' meaning open
space symbolizing here as open minded.

Young man - Hebrew word 'naar' comes from the verb which means shake or
tossed to and fro.

We see in today's message knowledge, wisdom and understanding of God's Word
has a specific purpose that is to give subtilty to the simple, to the young
man knowledge and discretion. When we read in English this does not give
the depth of the scripture but when we get to the Hebrew words and its
root, it opens a great dimension of understanding.

The word says it is good to be open-minded, to be acceptable to various
understandings. Many are so open-minded that their minds are 360degrees
open such that at the end they hold nothing. We read in today's message the
Word of God states it gives sense of keenness to an open mind.

We as Christians are not called to be open minded people and not also
closed minded either, but we are called to be focus or keen minded people.
We should not be a garbage dump wherein everything is thrown or collected.
We are called to be a store house wherein good things are stored and
garbage is not allowed.

The Hebrew words give characteristics of what they point to. The word used
for young talks of a person who is immature mentally and not a person young
/ healthy in body. It uses the word tossed to and fro, a person who is
immature. Here we read the Word of God anchors the mind of the young person
and causes the person who is tossed to and fro to be stable in his or her
thinking.

So let us as Christians study the Word of God and receive its knowledge,
wisdom and understanding so as to be focused and have a strong foundation.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, the world tells us to be open minded and thus fills us with garbage.
It tells us youthfulness is good and thus keeps us from becoming mature
people. Lord, we pray your people understand the Kingdom of God is not for
the open-minded or for the young but for those who know their purpose and
those who are mature in spirit...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Proverbs 1:2-6

2 To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;

3 To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity;

4 To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and
discretion.

5 A wise man will hear, and will increase learning; and a man of
understanding shall attain unto wise counsels:

6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise,
and their dark sayings.

Romans 8:14,16,17,19

14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.

16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the
children of God:

17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ;
if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God.

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http://www.ToMountZion.com

[size=12.727272033691406]God does not speak in secret[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Isaiah 45:19 - I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]righteousness, I declare things that are right.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]When I share great revelations of the Kingdom of God, people get fascinated[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]how did I come to know? One brother messaged me that he desired a double of[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]my anointing so as to know more of the Kingdom of God.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Yes there a level of wisdom that God gives according to one's Calling but[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]the ability to understand things of Kingdom of God is given to all (the[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]Church) for the Spirit of Truth (Wisdom) is given to all who are baptized[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]in the Holy Spirit for it is first of the seven Spirits of the Holy Spirit[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]which we receive. If we read scriptures they state God opened the mind of[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]the person to understand, or opened the eyes to see the Truth. We never see[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]scriptures which state God bought the Truth before them and they saw it or[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]came to know it.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Bible says the Truth existed from the beginning of creation but man could[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]not understand the Truth and was far for knowing it. It was only after[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]Jesus came and manifested the Truth in and through Him did man start to[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]understand the Truth. That is why it is said the main things He added unto[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]us are Grace and Truth for both existed but man was unable to receive them.[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]It was not that He bought Truth but it was that man could not know it and[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]it was He who revealed the Truth to us by His teachings, by His life as man[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]on earth and by His Spirit.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]When any person reads the Old Testament they feel it goes contrary to the[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]teachings of Jesus, the things Jesus stood for, but when one has the wisdom[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]to understand scriptures reads it they see Jesus taught what God had said[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]in the Old Testament, He did not change anything. The problem was with man[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]who could not see it or understand it. Paul preached the Cross of Jesus[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]through the Old Testament scriptures and people of Berea verified it.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]In today's message the Lord uses the term 'seed of Jacob', it is a term[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]used for those who know the Lord but are yet not fully baptized in Him. The[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]Lord is telling them when they seek Him it is not in vanity, since they are[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]yet not baptized in the Holy Spirit and neither have knowledge of reality,[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]nor of the things in store for them. Like I put in my last message unless[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]one does not desire understanding of scripture like they desire life till[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]then they will not grow in knowing the Truth. Like life one does not knows[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]it until one lives it as he or she is aware of it so also to know Truth one[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]needs to live it to really know it.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406][Prayer Starter][/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Lord, your Word is lamp unto our feet for it tells us know to live our[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]lives here on earth and it is live unto our path for it tell us the things[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]set before us not only in time but also things of the spirit world. Lord we[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]pray your people do not way like blind people in darkness but open their[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]eyes by desiring to know You and your plans for them...[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406][Reference Scriptures][/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Matthew 9:30 And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them,[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]saying, See that no man know it.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Luke 24:31 And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]out of their sight.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Matthew 7:7 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find;[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]knock, and it shall be opened unto you:[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]John 1:17 - For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by [to[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]be fulfilled] Jesus Christ.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Luke 8:11-18[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]11 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]12 Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]saved.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]13 They on the rock are they, which, when they hear, receive the word with[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]joy; and these have no root, which for a while believe, and in time of[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]temptation fall away.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]14 And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard,[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life,[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]and bring no fruit to perfection.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]15 But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]16 No man, when he hath lighted a candle, covereth it with a vessel, or[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]putteth it under a bed; but setteth it on a candlestick, that they which[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]enter in may see the light.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]17 For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]18 Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]seemeth to have.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]John 8:31-32[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]http://www.SavedByFaith.info[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]http://www.ToMountZion.com[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Perverting the Cross of the Lord[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Jeremiah 23:36 - And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]every man's word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]the living God, of the LORD of hosts our God.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]As we know Passover is at hand and the Catholics are celebrating a period[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]called Lent. They try to live a holy life during these 40 days before the[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]Passover. What is amusing this period which they call as 'repentance'[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]starts with putting ash on their head without knowing they are denying that[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]Jesus Christ has broken the curse of Hell (before Jesus man who was without[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]hope did put ash on his head) and before the ash they have this period[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]where they celebrate Carnivals.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Catholics may say this is not officially promoted by the Catholic Church,[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]the same things as Muslims say towards terrorists who kill in the name of[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]Allah. We need to ask do the Muslims officially rebuke or condemn the[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]terrorist acts of these terrorists, No, but they condemn people who condemn[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]them. The fact they are silent to these acts means they support or justify[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]it.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Ask how many times did the Pope officially condemn these Carnal Festivals?[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]But when you ask how many times did their Pope condemn Believers for[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]bringing people to the knowledge of the Truth or promote Bible Study and[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]you will find many. This Church prefers to call Believers names but keep[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]silent of its people celebrating Carnal Festivals.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]The Cross Jesus referred to us carrying is not the wooden cross, but as[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]given in today's message is called the Burden of the Lord. The Burden of[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]the Lord refers to the mission of saving His people which Jesus Christ as[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]man took on Himself and we who are in Him are to make it our mission.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]What we see the RC Church does is make this Cross or Burden of the Lord as[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]suffering and persecution that too not persecution from the worldly people[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]but from the Lord, since they are quick to make peace with the worldly[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]people but not with the Lord.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Most Catholics boast that their Church has survived for 2000 years[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406](actually the Catholic Church started in 300AD after Roman Emperor[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]Constantine converted to Christianity, before that Christians were[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]persecuted in Rome), they do not realize the Lord wrote in the Bible when[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]this Babylon would fall and what all it would do and the various stages it[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]will go through. Everything from the dark ages of this Church (300Ad to[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]1400AD) to its current look as 'Church of Peace' (1400AD to 20xx AD) has[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]been written; also written in the OT is how it would start and how it would[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]fall (that is in the court of law where all its property would be annexed[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]and it will go bankrupt and forsaken by its own people, it will leave Rome[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]and take refuge in a communist country until the showing up of the False[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]Prophet who is the last Pope).[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]The first deceit this Church did was to remove the real Cross and give[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]Christians a symbol (the Crucifix) so that the Burden of the Lord gets[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]forgotten and defeated. Today the Lord is telling us these people will see[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]an everlasting reproach and perpetual shame that would be remembered[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]forever so soon the fall of this false Church is at hand.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406][Prayer Starter][/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Lord, your people are not growing spiritually because most are not aware of[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]your Burden. They do vain things in your name claiming to carry your[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]Burden. Lord, we pray that this deceit be exposed and we speak to light[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]your Truth so that people may grow in You and have authority in your Name...[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406][Reference Scriptures][/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Jeremiah 23:33-40[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee,[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]saying, What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them, What[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people, that shall say,[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]The burden of the LORD, I will even punish that man and his house.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]35 Thus shall ye say every one to his neighbour, and every one to his[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]brother, What hath the LORD answered? and, What hath the LORD spoken?[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]36 And the burden of the LORD shall ye mention no more: for every man's[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]word shall be his burden; for ye have perverted the words of the living[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]God, of the LORD of hosts our God.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]37 Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What hath the LORD answered thee?[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]and, What hath the LORD spoken?[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]38 But since ye say, The burden of the LORD; therefore thus saith the[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]LORD; Because ye say this word, The burden of the LORD, and I have sent[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]unto you, saying, Ye shall not say, The burden of the LORD;[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]39 Therefore, behold, I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]forsake you, and the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]out of my presence:[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]40 And I will bring an everlasting reproach[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Matthew 11:29-30[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]1 Timothy 6:1 - Let as many servants as are under the yoke count their own[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]masters worthy of all honour, that the name of God and his doctrine be not[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]blasphemed.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]Mark 8:34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.[/size]

[size=12.727272033691406]http://www.SavedByFaith.info[/size]
[size=12.727272033691406]http://www.ToMountZion.com[/size]