To MountZion

People have a mind to work on

Nehemiah 4:6 - So built we the wall; and all the wall was joined together
unto the half thereof: for the people had a mind to work.

During the time of Ezra and Nehemiah (around 400-450BC, there was 8 years
between them) we see they came from Babylon to build again the wall of
Jerusalem which was a wall all around the perimeter of Jerusalem. Even
today the wall at Jerusalem (a part of what remains) is of great
sentimental value for the Jews. It was called the Wailing Wall and now is
referred to as the Western Wall. The existing wall was reconstructed /
completed by Herod the Great in around 19BC. The original wall of Jerusalem
was made by Solomon. What remains today is just a section of the wall. This
section is considered most sacred by the Jews; they face the wall and
recite their prayers / scriptures.

This wall is not only sacred to the Jews but also to the Muslims. Islam
believes their prophet Mohammed rod on a Buraq (which was like mythical
creature, a horse with a human head - described as handsome, having wings
near its thighs which could hope from mountain to mountain) and came to
this wall ridding on this Buraq from Mecca along with the angel Gabriel,
they prayed there and then they went on a journey (flying) to see the
heavens, all this in one night.

Today's scripture talks of the Jews at that time did complete the whole
wall running around the perimeter of Jerusalem but then they made it half
of its intended height. The scripture says they did this because they had a
mind of their own which they needed to sort out.

In my recent mail I had pointed out how the Ark of Testimony was a symbolic
shadow of the Cross which Jesus spoke about. Everything about it (its
contents, its design and things connected to it) gives us a clear
understanding of the Cross. Similarly the other important objects then too
have great significant understanding for us.

It was just some days back the Lord explained to me the significance of the
wall and when we understand it, we will be amused at the Jews and Muslims
understanding of it.

A wall around the city was built to protect the people living within the
city, but we see David called Jerusalem Zion which means 'fortified city'
even before the wall was built. David had an understanding of the real
wall, but Solomon was a man of wisdom which was worldlier. He was not a man
who was led by the Spirit of God therefore many things were hidden or
misunderstood by him. Solomon took the literal meaning of the word Zion and
built a wall around Jerusalem.

The Lord showed me a wall surrounding a city where people of God dwell
symbolizes the Church. A Church is not just a gathering of people but is a
gathering of people who are spiritually connected; and when that connection
is the Lord, then He becomes the wall that protects them.

We do not realize how important it is to be connected to the right Church,
a Church which is purely centred on the Lord. We see problems in Christians
because we have polluted the core of the Church. We have put worldly things
in the Church due to our lack of surrender and relationship with the Lord,
and then we find ourselves always on our knees begging the Lord for
protection and provision.

Let us clear our minds of all the impurity which is worldly and carnal, and
cleanse our understanding of what the core of the Church believes in. It is
only then we will see the glory of God shine among us. We will be protected
not by our human wisdom, our human ability and our worldly resources, but
we will be protected by a supernatural wisdom, a supernatural potency and a
supernatural provision.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we do not want walls made by man to protect us for we are protected
by your Name. When You are the center of our lives then You become the Wall
that keeps us safe and satisfied. No power can breach You. They will come
but will perish at the wall, only their bones will be found there. Lord we
pray that your people be one in mind and spirit. Let that one thing be You,
your Kingdom and your Spirit...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
2 Samuel 5:7 - Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.

1 Kings 3:1 - And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and
took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he
had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and
the wall of Jerusalem round about.

Philippians 1:27-28
27 Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that
whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs,
that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the
faith of the gospel;
28 And in nothing terrified by your adversaries: which is to them an
evident token of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that of God.

2 Corinthians 13:11 - Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good
comfort, be of one mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall
be with you.

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Capture of the Ark provokes God

1 Samuel 5: 1 - And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it
from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.

Yesterday I was very saddened when I heard a Pastor whom I respected as not
being like most other Pastors, but he too showed he was one like them. He
was furious that his congregation youth were actively taking part in
activities for building God's Kingdom without doing formalities. I was not
to bring this up and give it time but the Lord wants to speak on this today
so that hearts that hear may repent and change before it is late.

Today's message talks of the anger of God when Philistine took hold of the
Ark of God. It was the very Ark which would cause fear in the hearts of the
enemies of Israel. They knew when Israel carried the Ark no army could come
before it, they knew even their greatest gods had no power against the Ark
of God. They later saw how the head of their great god Dagon who was
worshiped throughout many kingdoms, how his head broke and fell at the foot
of the Ark.

Dagon was a god who was half man and half fish. Fish symbolized
multiplication so this god connected to fertility and was their chief god.
Fertility did not mean only of the human race but of all worldly things
like riches and power and kingdom.

The word 'Philistine' means "immigrants" it comes from the word 'Philistia'
which means "land of sojourners". It refers to worldly people unlike Israel
who were Hebrews meaning "from beyond".

In the Gospels we read Jesus tells us unless we do not carry the Cross we
will never be His disciples. Paul in his letters also talks of the power of
the Cross.

People mistake the Cross with the crucifix. The crucifix (sacrifice) was
part of the Cross of Jesus Christ and not the Cross. Our Crosses are all
part of the Cross of Jesus Christ and as one Body we all lift the Cross
which brings us to victory unto the Promise Land - Heaven.

In the Gospels and other books of the New Testament we get only a preview
of the Cross but cannot understand the Cross unless we understand it from
the Old Testament. In the Old Testament the Cross can be understood fully
by its shadow which is symbolized as the Ark of God.

When other people saw Israelite men carrying this object on their shoulders
they may have seen them burdened, labouring to carry it. But the men
carrying it knew what they were carrying and the power it held. They knew
their life depended on it for it was this object that empowered them to
defeat all their enemies, however great they were. It was this object that
crushed the powers of the gods of their enemies. The men never got tried
carrying it and many waited for their turn to carry it, it was a privilege
to bear this object. Only people selected by the Lord could carry it (the
tribe of Levi were selected and the word Levi means "joined to"), any other
person or unclean person carrying it or just touching it would die
instantly. It was this object that allowed them to cross the Jordan
(meaning "inheritance" ) river to enter the Promised Land.

The Cross may look like a burden but it is a privilege to bear the Cross on
our shoulders. Not all can carry the Cross but only those who are one in
Christ, joined to Him by His Spirit, like the Son is one with the Father,
for their Spirit is the same. The Cross holds immense power when borne and
no power can come against us when we carry the Cross.

Jesus said unless the Gospel is preached to all nations the end will not
come, only those that endure to the end will be saved, those who nail their
flesh to the Cross will be a new creation, these and many other
instructions define or identify our Cross in Jesus Christ. Our Cross is our
purpose in the purpose of Jesus Christ which is the coming of the glory of
the Kingdom of God.

As Christian each one of us has to bear our Cross and it is only in the
process of our bearing the Cross we really become Christians. It is when we
are focused on our Cross we overcome our flesh and become a new creation in
Christ. It is only when we carry our Cross we become Sons of God and
inherit the Kingdom of God and enter Heaven our eternal home.

In today's message the Lord is telling the worldly people with their
worldly rules and regulations, and worldly wisdom, who worship the
prosperity of their name, their fame, power, riches etc. who have taken
captive the Cross and put it before their god of fertility. The Lord is
telling them He will cut of the head of their fame, their name, their
power, their riches and bring it to the foot of the Cross. It is time they
repent and remove these gods out of their lives and respect the Cross. If
they do not want to carry it they should at least respect it and not come
in its way or the Lord will make a testimony of them.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, your Kingdom suffers for Christians have gods in their lives and have
given up on carrying their Cross. Christians suffer because all are in the
flesh living a carnal life void of the Cross. In the name of the Cross they
carry their gods. Lord, we pray a change in the heats of these stiff-necked
people that they do not literately take your children as domestic animals;
as their property. A shepherd is a caretaker of the sheep and not the owner
of the sheep. Jesus as man showed us how to be good shepherds, may they too
learn from Him and give glory to You alone and no one else...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Hebrew 9:2-5
2 For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick,
and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.
3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of
all;
4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round
about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod
that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we
cannot now speak particularly.

Numbers 4:5-6
5 when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they
shall take down the veil of the screen, and cover the ark of the testimony
with it,
6 and shall put thereon a covering of sealskin, and shall spread over it a
cloth all of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof.

Numbers 10:35-36
35 And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise
up, O Jehovah, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate
thee flee before thee.
36 And when it rested, he said, Return, O Jehovah, unto the ten thousands
of the thousands of Israel.

Deuteronomy 10:8-9
8 At that time the LORD separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark of
the covenant of the LORD, to stand before the LORD to minister unto him,
and to bless in his name, unto this day.
9 Wherefore Levi hath no part nor inheritance with his brethren; the LORD
is his inheritance, according as the LORD thy God promised him.

Matthew 24:14 - And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the
world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

Matthew 24:13 - But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved.

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

Matthew 16:24 - Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come
after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

1 Corinthians 1:17-18
17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with
wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
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.

Hebrews 12:2 - Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who
for the joy that was set before him endured the cross [even though He did
not carry the crucifix all the way], despising the shame, and is set down
at the right hand of the throne of God.

Ephesians 2:2-6
2 wherein ye once walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in
the sons of disobedience;
3 among whom we also all once lived in the lust of our flesh, doing the
desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath,
even as the rest:—
4 but God, being rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
5 even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together
with Christ (by grace have ye been saved),
6 and raised us up with him, and made us to sit with him in the heavenly
places, in Christ Jesus:

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God gave rulers to oppress and vex

Ezekiel 22:6,7,8 - Behold, the princes of Israel, every one were in thee to
their power to shed blood. In thee have they set light by father and
mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the
stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow. Thou hast
despised mine holy things, and hast profaned my sabbaths.

This message goes out to all those who are praying for the right people to
govern them. They have been troubled with bad people governing them, who
have caused great hardship to come into their lives. In today's message the
Lord is saying there is the reason why this is happening.

The Sunday before last in our church service we were told to form groups
and pray for our country to get good elected people who will govern well
and bring peace and prosperity to come to our nation. And when we started
taking turns I was not praying what they were praying instead I started
praying to the Lord that the Christians of India be a holy and righteous
people who lift your Name high and the nation knows they are different from
rest of the people and the nation knows that their God is God.

The reason I started my prayer like this is because the Bible in simple
words says when the people sin against the Lord and go against His Word the
Lord will cause rulers to rule them who will rob them, oppress them, and
lead them to great hardship and cause bondage of gloominess to come over
them.

Many Christians have a very wrong thinking, as Christians they think God
wants them to rid evil from the whole world. It shows the lack of
understanding they have of the Word of God and of the Kingdom of God. They
do not know the basic reason of Jesus's sacrifice.

Although Jesus bought the message of salvation to all mankind, yet He did
not come to save all mankind. He came to save His people, the sheep of the
Lord. He also comes to punish the goats (those who accept Him but reject
His Word) and those who rejected Him.

Our mission as Christian should fall in line with the mission of Jesus
Christ; that is to take the message of salvation (Gospel) to the entire
world, but to save only those who are the children of God. As Christians we
are called to rid evil, not from the world but from within us. The Bible
says evil will be there and in fact will grow great in the last days. To
rid evil forever the Lord says the Son of Man Jesus Christ will come again
with His Angels.

The Lord is telling us as Christians to stopping looking at other people or
the situation around us to blame for the cause of our troubled life and is
telling us to look inside and see where we as Christians have been going
wrong.

Let us correct our lives and the Lord will do the remaining. Peace and
prosperity does not come from people but comes from the Lord alone. It is
only when we have peace and prosperity from the Lord will we experience it
in this world.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord You called us to be a blessing unto others and not to be blessed by
others, for our blessings come from You alone. Lord, You alone are Father -
our creator and provider. Lord we are always looking out for excuses to
blame others for all our problems and we never look inside to see the real
reason of our problems, we do not trust your Word or understand Who You
are; that You are able to keep our boat perfectly still even in a stormy
weather. Lord, we pray for your people that they may open doors of blessing
unto the nation by being your people, by keeping your Word and abiding by
your Spirit...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Deuteronomy 30:1-3
1 And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the
blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt call
them to mind among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven
thee,
2 And shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and shalt obey his voice
according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with
all thine heart, and with all thy soul;
3 That then the LORD thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion
upon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations, whither
the LORD thy God hath scattered thee.

Deuteronomy 28:12-15, 36-40, 43-44, 48-52
12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the
rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine hand:
and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow.
13 And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt
be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath; if that thou hearken unto the
commandments of the LORD thy God, which I command thee this day, to observe
and to do them:
14 And thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee
this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to
serve them.
15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of
the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes
which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee,
and overtake thee:
36 The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee,
unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there
shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among
all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
38 Thou shalt carry much seed out into the field, and shalt gather but
little in; for the locust shall consume it.
39 Thou shalt plant vineyards, and dress them, but shalt neither drink of
the wine, nor gather the grapes; for the worms shall eat them.
40 Thou shalt have olive trees throughout all thy coasts, but thou shalt
not anoint thyself with the oil; for thine olive shall cast his fruit.
43 The stranger that is within thee shall get up above thee very high; and
thou shalt come down very low.
44 He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him: he shall be the
head, and thou shalt be the tail.
49 The LORD shall bring a nation against thee from far, from the end of
the earth, as swift as the eagle flieth; a nation whose tongue thou shalt
not understand;
50 A nation of fierce countenance, which shall not regard the person of
the old, nor shew favour to the young:
51 And he shall eat the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruit of thy land,
until thou be destroyed: which also shall not leave thee either corn, wine,
or oil, or the increase of thy kine, or flocks of thy sheep, until he have
destroyed thee.
52 And he shall besiege thee in all thy gates, until thy high and fenced
walls come down, wherein thou trustedst, throughout all thy land: and he
shall besiege thee in all thy gates throughout all thy land, which the LORD
thy God hath given thee.

Deuteronomy 30:15-18
15 See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in
his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments,
that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee
in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be
drawn away, and worship other gods, and serve them;
18 I denounce unto you this day, that ye shall surely perish, and that ye
shall not prolong your days upon the land, whither thou passest over Jordan
to go to possess it.

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Speak to the dry bones, bring to life the Army of God

Ezekiel 37:10 - So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came
into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great
army.

Ezekiel was shown a vision in which he is taken around a large valley full
of bone and all these bones were totally dried up. One may have seen dried
bones they look more like a stones, porous and brittle. The Lord tells
Ezekiel in the vision to speak to the bones and when he does a breath of
life comes into them and they all come to life with flesh covering them.
Later the Lord explains this vision to Ezekiel stating these bones
represent Israel.

If we look at the history of the Jews many Prophets including Ezekiel came
and spoke to the Jews, yet they did not become a people of God who
glorified the Lord. They were far from God even though the Lord did great
and mighty things in their lives. So was the vision wrong? No.

If we look in the Gospels Jesus bring this vision to life and to its real
understanding. We need to first understand the symbolism of bones and
flesh. Marriage and Church can only be understood when we understand this
symbolization.

Human bones symbolize the nature of man. Our bones give shape to our body
similarly our nature gives shape to our inner-man. When God created man He
made both male and female in His image in spirit having one gender (male).
But when He created woman in the flesh God did not make her like He made
man. God took a bone of man to create woman, symbolizing that the woman in
natural was made symbolizing man, made in the nature of man. That is the
reason even though biologically we have most organs similar yet we are
different and each complements the other. Paul through this understanding
defines the relationship between God and man in marriage and Church and
thus asks man to love his wife like God loved His church and viscera.

Flesh symbolises desires. Natural flesh symbolizes worldly desires and
spiritual flesh symbolizes spiritual desires. We do not see the glory of
God in the world because we Christians are like dead bone having no
spiritual flesh.

When Jesus gave us authority He gave us authority to 2 things. First He
gave us authority to drive away all evil spirits, so in His Name we can
castaway all evil spirits. Secondly He gave us authority to cure diseases.
The Greek words 'therapeuo nosos' translated as 'cure diseases' does not
mean only healing the sick it means 'healing infirmities' which are not
only of the flesh but also of the spirit.

We as Christians do not exercise our authority which we have received from
Jesus Christ to heal laziness, gluttony, depression, anxiety, inferiority
complex and other spiritual sicknesses. When Jesus has given us authority
to kick these creeps out of our lives but we foolish people consider them
natural, things that take time and process; we love to sit and counsel
using our worldly wisdom.

We Christians are the army of Israel which the Lord wants to wake up and
bring to life. The Lord wants people who can speak to these dead dry bones,
people who can exercise the authority given to us by Jesus Christ. It is
not by our power or by our might or our goodness.

When we give a currency note do we doubt we will get the value of it? No.
The authority given by the Lord Jesus Christ is more real and valuable then
a currency note so why then do we doubt when we speak it? Are we people who
live by sight or people who live by faith?

Let us be people who live by faith. Let we bring to existence what we speak
by the authority given to us. Let us bring to life the army of God.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, your people have bitten the fruit of doubt and find it hard to
believe in what they do not see. Lord Jesus, You as man on earth showed us
You were a man of authority. When You spoke evil spirits abided to your
command. You also spoke to sicknesses and infirmities and they too abided
to your word. Lord You gave this same authority so when we speak in your
Name there is no difference between You speaking it and we speak it in your
Name. Lord, bring out people who will realize the power of this authority
You have given us, who will exercise it to bring your dead and decaying
army to life...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Ezekiel 37:1-14
1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of
the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of
bones,
2 And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very
many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3 And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O
Lord GOD, thou knowest.
4 Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O
ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.
5 Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to
enter into you, and ye shall live:
6 And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and
cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall
know that I am the LORD.
7 So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a
noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
8 And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and
the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.
9 Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and
say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O
breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and
they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11 Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of
Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are
cut off for our parts.
12 Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold,
O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your
graves, and bring you into the land of Israel.
13 And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O
my people, and brought you up out of your graves,
14 And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place
you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it,
and performed it, saith the LORD.

Luke 9:1 Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them power
and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases.

Titus 2:15 These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority.
Let no man despise thee.

Hebrews 4:12 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 [marrow symbolizes spirit - bone which symbolizes
life comes from the marrow - spirit].

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Jesus walked on water
Matthew 14:22-33

Among the other miracles which Jesus did, like healing the sick and
bringing the dead back to life, walking on water is considered one of the
great miracles of Jesus. Many magicians have tried and some even succeeded
to show people that they can walk on water but they succeeded in creating
the illusion of walking on water, not really walking on it.

Some people think walking on water proved Jesus was God - that is a wrong
thinking. Walking on water did prove Jesus as Son of God and not God; for
as God the Son that feat was not even a speck of dust to what God can do.
Note Jesus did not only walk on water but also made Peter to walk on water.
For this He did not do an impartation of power but confirmed by faith Peter
was able to walk on water.

It is sad when people run after miracles and in the process they lose the
ability to perform them.

The Greek word 'semeion' translated as miracle simply means sign. A miracle
is not a great thing but simply a sign. This sign causes wonder among
people because they do not see such signs, and they do not see these sign
because they are far from God. Like walking on water, Jesus also
transfigured to show us that He is Son of God. Jesus as Son of God is
confused with Jesus as God the Son who humbled and came as man. The man
Jesus as Son of God meant He had overcome sin and since He had no sin in
Him the image of God was perfect in Him. It was because of this image of
God that these signs happened. Jesus told us when we follow Him signs will
follow us. In John it is written Jesus came to give us power (the Holy
Spirit) to become Sons of God. Paul states those who are led by the Spirit
become Sons of God. In simple words it means by the Spirit of God Jesus was
not only born perfect (without sin since His earthly father was the Holy
Spirit and sins come from the father to the child and only from mother to
child if the mother and father have copulated - become one), Jesus was also
kept free of sin by the power (working) of the Holy Spirit.

We need to understand the more we let the Holy Spirit work in us the more
we will see signs happening around us and through us. They are just a
confirmation of our becoming (in process) Sons of God. As we grow into
becoming Sons of God signs or miracles are but natural. People run after
miracle and in the process do not let the Spirit of God to work in them and
thus lose on the power to do such miracles.

Signs or miracles can also happen in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ, so
it is not necessary that signs and miracles are a confirmation of our
spiritual growth. But consistent miracles or signs do confirm spiritual
growth, but note these signs do not need to be just healings for healings
can be caused by the gift of healing of the Holy Spirit and may necessarily
not reflex spiritual growth.

Let us be a power house of miracles and not beggars of miracles every time
praying for them, let us surrender to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to
change us from inside. Jesus said we would be able to do far greater
miracles than He did as man on earth for He knew that the Holy Spirit will
work in a far greater way in the later days.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, as man You made us in your image, even though we were made in the
flesh, flesh had no hold on us. It was only after sin bound us to this
flesh we became aware of our nakedness since we lost your Righteousness and
the Truth. It is only by the working of the Holy Spirit we can regain the
Truth and thus receive your Righteousness. Lord, You came as man to pay the
price for the wrath of God to be turned away from man and that we receive
your Spirit. Holy Spirit, work in us and make us like Jesus so that signs
follow us and You be glorified...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Matthew 14:22-33
22 And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and
to go before him unto the other side, while he sent the multitudes away.
23 And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain
apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone.
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for
the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on
the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled,
saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is
I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto
thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he
walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to
sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and
said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.
33 Then they that were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying, Of a
truth thou art the Son of God.

Mark 16:16-20
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.
20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with
them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

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

Romans 8:13-21
13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the
Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye
have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
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.
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.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the
manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by
reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of
corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

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http://www.ToMountZion.com

Your past does not necessarily define your future

Zephaniah 1:1 The word of the LORD which came unto Zephaniah the son of
Cushi, the son of Gedaliah, the son of Amariah, the son of Hizkiah, in the
days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

The first few lines of the book of Zephaniah show the wrath of God against
the people for they worshiped Satan the lord of this corrupted world, they
worshiped the things of nature, deviations and believe in divinations that
were no from the Lord. Zephaniah along with Joel and few other Prophets
were used in a very unique and mighty way, to rebuke not just the people of
the world but also the people of God when they went astray.

What is interesting in today's scripture is the way Zephaniah introduces
himself stating his forefathers during certain kings. One may think he was
proud of his fathers and the kings, therefore names them. On the contrary
his fathers were failures who did nothing when Amom misled the people away
from the Lord. Zephaniah in other words is telling us even though his past
was weak and corrupt but his today is bright because he made the Lord his
God and is led by His Spirit.

The Lord is telling us today we may be coming from a family which may have
been more like vegetation, people who live for themselves without a
spiritual conscience or may even be Satan worshippers, people famous for
the worst evil known to mankind. We personally also may have had a history
of living a life in darkness not knowing the Lord or even a very sinful
life doing the worst things imaginable yet if we have accepted the Lord
Jesus Christ as our Lord and saviour and are led by His Spirit than we are
a different person today and our past is our past not our future, for our
future is bright for the Lord is our light.

Our past is a testimony of how our future changes when the Lord comes into
our lives.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You are God and your thoughts are like light unto man. Lord, even
though we may have been in darkness yet when we make You a part of our
lives everything changes, darkness turns to light for the plans You have
for us and the blessings You promised us become a part of our lives and all
things from You alone are good. Lord, help us remember we are a new
creation in You and our past is history, the story of our old man and not
our story, for our past has nothing to do now with us...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Galatians 3:23-29
23 But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the
faith which should afterwards be revealed.
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we
might be justified by faith.
25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on
Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there
is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according
to the promise.

Romans 13:11-14
11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of
sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off
the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness,
not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the
flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

http://www.SavedByFaith.info
http://www.ToMountZion.com
The Lord threshes the nation in anger to draw His people

Habakkuk 3:12,13 - Thou didst march though the land in indignation;
Thou didst thresh the nations in anger. Thou wentest forth for the
salvation of thy people, For the salvation of thine anointed; Thou
woundest the head out of the house of the wicked man, Laying bare the
foundation even unto the neck. [[Selah]].

As back as historical records go whenever man needed to cultivate a
wasteland he would simple burn all of the land and after it has turned
to ash, he would tilt it and such a land would be a very fertile land
which would give a great harvest.

We know it is sad when disasters come our way but then God does all
things with purpose. In today's message the Lord is telling us in His
anger He threshes the nations but even in that anger His does not let
His people out of sight. He looks at the goodness of His people as the
principal focus of His actions. We may ask why God is so hard hearted
that He takes the people through such suffering.

Let us look at history ever time disaster comes more and more people
turn to God. It is not God but man who is hard hearted, suborn,
rebellious and evil. But our God being a merciful God does not totally
crush the people but shakes them and their lives. Today's message says
He lays bare the foundation even unto the neck. The KVJ is even
harsher and reads:

Habakkuk 3:13 - Thou wentest forth for the salvation of thy people,
even for salvation with thine anointed; thou woundedst the head out of
the house of the wicked, by discovering the foundation unto the neck.
Selah.

Right now we all know about a great disaster super storm Sandy hitting
the east of USA. What is good about all this is, after this has
settled down we will see many hearts turning to God and anointed men
and women of God coming out from this disaster. Like Paul says in
Romans 5:2-3 we people of faith have access to the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ through our faith, and we should rejoice even during the
darkest moments because we know through all things our Lord is going
to be glorified and when He is glorified we too will be glorified in
Him.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, disasters come our way but even in the greatest storms You hold
us and bring calmness into our hearts when our eyes are focused on You
alone. Lord, let your people not be shaken like Peter was when he was
walking on water and his eyes got diverted from You and unto the
stormy sea. Lord, we give glory to You for You are about to do
something wonderful and we praise You for You are going to be
glorified and we in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Romans 5:2-5
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 also: knowing that
tribulation worketh patience;
4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope:
5 And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad
in our hearts by the Holy Spirit which is given unto us.

Matthew 14:24-32
24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves:
for the wind was contrary.
25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking
on the sea.
26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were
troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.
27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer;
it is I; be not afraid.
28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come
unto thee on the water.
29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship,
he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning
to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.
31 And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him,
and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
32 And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased.

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Time to get up and act - be Phinehas

Psalms 106:30 - Then stood up Phinehas, and executed judgment: and so
the plague was stayed.

Before we go into today's message let us go into the background of
today's scripture.

The Israelites went through great difficulties in their journey
through the wilderness. They did rebel and disappoint the Lord by
their lack of faith whenever there was lack of amenities or problems
with leadership but the greatest difficulty they had was not facing
the lack but facing the abundance.

Very rarely did the Israelites dwell near commercial habited areas and
when this incident happened they had settled near the Moabite city.
The Moabites enticed the Israelites with their more comfortable
dwelling-places, and more pleasant mode of life, to lasciviousness,
and the indulgence of filthy lusts. The Moabites on the counsel of
Balaam sent their women to prostitute themselves to the Israelites so
as to remove them from the favour of God and bring them into the wrath
of God.

The Israelites feared Moses and mostly when they went against Moses,
they did so in his absences or without his knowledge. There were
hardly 3 or 4 incidents through the 40years where they openly
confronted Moses and his authority, and this was one among them.

The Moabites were so desperate to destroy the Israelites that even the
princes sent their daughters and sisters to seduce them to worship
their gods and do whoredom with them. The Israelites did, not only
worship the idol gods of Moab but had the courage to bring the Moabite
women into the camp and into their family tents to do whoredom.

One such incident happened right before Moses and some of the
Israelites who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle because
the anger of God was kindled against Israel and a plaque was in the
camp.

What we see, even though there was a plague those who were doing
whoredom with the gods and the daughters of Moab were not moved by it.
They were so blinded by their desires of lasciviousness and filthy
lust that sanity was lost.

At this moment we see even though Moses was there it took the zeal of
a person named Phinehas to turn away the wrath of God and stop the
plague. Phinehas before this incident is introduced simply as the
grandson of Aaron through Eleazar. While all the people were praying
and weeping before the Lord it took the zeal of this young man to act,
instead of just praying and weeping, and this zeal pleased God and
turned away the wrath and made peace with God. Although there was a
great Man of God like Moses who would talk to God face to face in the
dark clouds, yet it took the zeal of this simple no one to turn away
the wrath of God.

We see Jesus did not just prayer all day to make peace between God and
man even though His prayers were more powerful than any man who walked
on the face of this earth, He too acted. I am not against prayer, for
prayer is an essential part of Christian life and should be continuous
and not for short periods. But what disappoints me is when people only
prayer and do not act. They do not go out and witness or preach
(prophesy and teach) the Kingdom of God. During periods of great
difficulties and problems is not the time to just pray, it is time to
get up and act as a Christian and not kneel and cry to God the whole
day.

If water to a plant is equal to prayer to a Christian, photosynthesis
is equal to living of Christian life and experience (testimony) to the
spreading of roots. No plant can survive for long without leaves and
roots.

There is more power in living a Christian life then praying as a good
Christian, for even the act of one person can please God and take away
His wrath from a community.

Today the Lord is telling us it is time to get up and act. It is time
to be Christians and not just talk of Christianity.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, many are deceived from living a Christian life for they think
praying is the greatest part of being Christian and not doing your
Will. Lord Jesus when You commissioned us to be Christians You
instructed us to go out and do all that You instructed and not sit in
a cosy place and call out your name. Lord, when we pray to You, You do
open doors, but there are few among us who walk through these doors,
all desire instant results with the least efforts. Lord, You would not
have written the history of man and of him getting saved over
thousands of years if You desired instant and easy results. You know
it is only through time and experience your Fruits can be grown into
man...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Number 24:1-18
1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit
whoredom with the daughters of Moab.
2 And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and
the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods.
3 And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD
was kindled against Israel.
4 And the LORD said unto Moses, Take all the heads of the people, and
hang them up before the LORD against the sun, that the fierce anger of
the LORD may be turned away from Israel.
5 And Moses said unto the judges of Israel, Slay ye every one his men
that were joined unto Baalpeor.
6 And, behold, one of the children of Israel came and brought unto
his brethren a Midianitish woman in the sight of Moses, and in the
sight of all the congregation of the children of Israel, who were
weeping before the door of the tabernacle of the congregation.
7 And when Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest,
saw it, he rose up from among the congregation, and took a javelin in
his hand;
8 And he went after the man of Israel into the tent, and thrust both
of them through, the man of Israel, and the woman through her belly.
So the plague was stayed from the children of Israel.
9 And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand.
10 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
11 Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, hath
turned my wrath away from the children of Israel, while he was zealous
for my sake among them, that I consumed not the children of Israel in
my jealousy.
12 Wherefore say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace:
13 And he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of
an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God, and
made an atonement for the children of Israel.
14 Now the name of the Israelite that was slain, even that was slain
with the Midianitish woman, was Zimri, the son of Salu, a prince of a
chief house among the Simeonites.
15 And the name of the Midianitish woman that was slain was Cozbi,
the daughter of Zur; he was head over a people, and of a chief house
in Midian.
16 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
17 Vex the Midianites, and smite them:
18 For they vex you with their wiles, wherewith they have beguiled
you in the matter of Peor, and in the matter of Cozbi, the daughter of
a prince of Midian, their sister, which was slain in the day of the
plague for Peor's sake.

Mark 16:15-20
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.
20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working
with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.


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Sing, Praise and Glory

Psalms 108: 1 - O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and give praise,
even with my glory.

Day by day the more we study scriptures the more we come to know how
little we know of it. Things we thought were simple sentences turn out
to be doors to vast resources of knowledge and understanding.

When I started reading the Bible I would read 2 to 3 chapters a day.
Then as I started understanding scriptures the amount I would read a
day did not increase but on the contrary reduced from 1 chapter to a
paragraph to just one sentence a day. Studying one sentence in depth
would cause a flood of knowledge and understanding of the Kingdom of
God that at times I would mentally prostate myself to the Lord and say
Lord enough for today. It would be just too much to receive all that
which just one sentence would bring.

Today's message is a demonstration of what I stated. When we read the
sentence it sounds as a very simple sentence, one would say what is so
magnificent about it? It is only when we analyse it closely we see
things open up.

What caught my attention were the last words 'with my glory'. We know
in the Kingdom of God glory belongs to the Lord so this sentence
caused me to dig in.

In the Bible there are many Hebrew words which are translated into the
English word 'glory'. The word used here is the Hebrew word 'kabowd'
which refers to the abundance; it does not refer to the magnificence
connected to beauty and praise which we associate with the Lord. So in
this scripture the Psalmist says with all that we have which includes
everything physical and otherwise. Then I tried to check what the
Psalmist states as we will do with all we have, and the English words
state as sing and praise. On closer check these words too were not the
simple sing and praise we understand in English; then opened the
floodgates.

I will try to be brief and to the point so that this message is as
short as possible and yet productive.

The Hebrew word 'shiyr' translated as sing is connected to the Hebrew
word 'shuwr' which means to travel. This traveling means not just
moving. The word 'shiyr' in English would mean a strolling minstrel.
Even the word praise is not the simple English praise. The Hebrew word
'zamar' used here is to do with worshiping using musical instruments,
which means playing or actually using something.

Today's message the psalmist says when our heart is stable and not
anxious or depressed or full of lust or in fear, we will move with joy
and praising the Lord with all that we have. The movement is not just
dance but also means impacting people around us and the situation
around us. The praise does not mean only vocal praise using our mouths
but means using everything we have like our gifts, our finances, our
time, our strength etc...

We normally think worshiping God means just lifting our hands and
giving praise vocally. Today's message says our worship should also be
in our living and the things that we do, and that is only possible
when our hearts are stable. Our lives are not our worship because we
are always full of worries, full of fears, full of worldly desires,
full of anxiety, full of depression etc. and they are there because we
do not know God or have faith in Him.

Let us show these things the door out of our lives and having faith in
the Lord, building an relationship in Him let our lives been a
pleasing sacrifice of praise unto the Lord.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we are an external Christians and less Christians inside. Lord,
we pray our worship be not restricted to Sunday mornings or those few
times we attend events. Let our every moment in our lives be worship
to You. Let everything we do glorify You and give praise to You. Help
us Lord to use everything we have to worship You and affect the lives
of all those around us...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Psalms 86:12 I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart:
and I will glorify thy name for evermore.

Proverbs 18:1 - He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire, And
rageth against all sound wisdom.

Matthew 22:37 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.

Psalms 29:2 Give unto the LORD the glory due unto his name; worship
the LORD in the beauty of holiness.

Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me,
Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him
only shalt thou serve.


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Come out of the Strange Woman - Part 2

Proverbs 2:20 - That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep
the paths of the righteous.

This is the first time since 5 years of my sending these daily
devotions that I am writing part 2 of a message.It has been only twice
that I have received the same message (scripture) consecutively the
very next day thus we need to take this message more seriously for the
Lord wants us to understand it truly.

I know yesterday’s message was long but actually it was longer and I
had removed some part of it at the last minute for I felt it would
choke those who are not used to any solid food. Even the solid food
included in the message was just small granules of solid food put with
lots of milk and was not plain solid food.

There were some worshippers of ‘Mother Mary’ who read the message and
still felt I was writing against the mother of Jesus. They could not
clearly see that their ‘Mother Mary’ is not the mother of Jesus but
someone else identified as the mother of Jesus.

This ‘Mother Mary’ is a very complex being for there are 4 parts to her:-
1) A fictitious Mary created by the Catholic Church just to cover up
the blunders made by them, and to continue the false beliefs they
practice.
2) An evil spirit which has been appearing as ‘Mother Mary’.
3) The real character of Mary has been hyped from the weak, simple,
normal, God fearing person to an extraordinary supernatural person.
(The fourth part I will leave out for it is hard food and concern how
Satan is using this character)

1) The Mary of the Catholic Church is different from Mary (mother of
Jesus) in the Bible. If we read the genealogy of Mary given in Luke we
read her father’s name as Heli. The fact this is the genealogy is of
Mary and Matthew the genealogy of Joseph is confirmed by many early
Church fathers like Ignatius (AD110) who was a close disciple of the
Apostle John. Now the Mary of the Catholic Church has parents named
Anne and Joachim. Some people tried to relate Heli to Joachim, but
that can be easily refuted for the name Joachim or Joiakim or Jokim
does appear in the Bible and does not mean Heli in Greek. The former
means "Jehovah raises up" and the later means "ascending" which comes
from the Hebrew root word "ascension" which is to do with inheritance.

According to the Catholic Church this Mary is shown to be a perpetual
virgin even after she gave birth to Jesus. Matthew 1:25 clearly says
‘Joseph knew her not till she gave birth to Jesus’. So the birth of
Jesus was a virgin birth according to the promise, but after that Mary
did have relationship with Joseph and bore about 8 children (according
to Jewish Talmud), James (the little not the Apostle James), Jude and
Joses being among them. If she did not have relation then they would
have been husband and wife, and if they did not have children of their
marriage then they would be considered cursed of God.

Mary is also made to be Immaculate which means born without sin. Their
contention was if Jesus was without sin, how He could be born of a
woman who was with sin. Firstly they do not know the fact that the sin
nature is transferred from Adam to children (Genesis 5:2) and not Eve
to children. Even the sins and curses are passed from father to
children (Exodus 34:7) and of the mother are passed through the father
to children because when they get married the couple become one.
Marriage is a spiritual relationship sealed with a physical union.
Sins and curses are spiritual things not diseases of the flesh. Also
if Mary was without sin then her mother, grandmother and her
grandmother’s mother, so on till Eve would need to be without sin;
which we know as bible says Eve sinned. People should know our calling
each other brother and sister (even though not born of the same
mother) causes the blessing and protection on one’s life to be
extended to the other.

2) The Bible uses the term visions or dreams through which the Lord
communicated to people. There were few to whom the Lord or the Angels
of the Lord appeared in natural forms like fire, light or man. But in
the case of this character the term ‘apparitions’ is used. The word
means ‘a supernatural appearance of a person or thing, especially a
ghost; a spectre or phantom’.

If one says it is a living person then why is this word not used by
this church for Jesus whom the Bible says has resurrected and is
alive?

If one says it is a (holy/good) spirit being, then were the Angels of
the Lord or the Lord Himself unholy that the word was never used with
them.

The word itself declares this to be an evil spirit appearing in
magnificent ways to deceive people.

3) I never wanted to do this part for this may seem as a character
assassination of the Mary of the Bible whom I respect. But the truth
needs to be told so that the Lord alone is glorified and all mankind
is exposed as being unworthy before Him.

If we look at Mary the first thing people talk of is her faith. She is
shown to have the greatest faith but the truth is far from it. If we
look at the scriptures where the Angel Gabriel meets Mary it clearly
shows Mary doubted the Angel and the Angel need to clear this doubt by
testifying that her cousin Elisabeth who was aged and without child
since years was carrying. It was this fact that made Mary to have
faith and believe Gabriel and very next scripture in Luke says she
went to meet her cousin. If it was not for Elisabeth conceiving Mary
would not have believed.

Of late I was surprised when I found from scriptures that Mary did not
really know who Jesus was right until His resurrection. If one studies
the Bible there were 2 saviours promised to Israel one Messias and the
other Messiah; one who was of the type of Moses (greater than Moses),
who was of religious / spiritual background, who would free Israel
from their sinful way of life. The other was of the type of David
(greater than David) who was supposed to be free Israel from its
bondages. Mary knew Jesus as the former and so also did Elizabeth.
Both did not have a clue of Jesus being both promises together (the
word ‘lord’ used by Elizabeth in ‘mother of my lord’ means ‘decider’
pertaining to saviour of the soul and not Theo or God). They both also
did not know Jesus was Yahweh God the Son come as man. The concept Son
of God is not clearly understood by Christians and people confuse it
with God the Son. The Angels are also called Sons of God and Bible
says Jesus came to give us power to become Sons of God, so also Paul
states those who are led by the Holy Spirit become Sons of God. People
use a capital S and small s but do not realize they are the same. Mary
knew Jesus as Son of God according to the Jewish understanding, which
was even more diluted or confused than what we understand.

If we look at scriptures Mary was the first person Jesus rebuke (Luke
2:48-49) and that was not the only time, she was also rebuked 2 other
times. Once at the wedding of Canna when she asks Jesus to turn water
into wine (John 2:3-4) and the other time when she comes running along
with her other son to check on Jesus when there were rumours that He
was with an unclean spirit (Mark 3:28-35).

Jesus loved Mary the Magdalene as well as His mother’s sister Salome
as much He loved his mother therefore called them also by the name
Mary. They were like 3 mothers to Him and that love could be seen
throughout scriptures.

Mary called herself blessed and not holy. Blessed does not mean holy.
Blessed means one who has the promises of God in their life. Mary only
stated she was the privileged woman who received the promise of the
virgin birth and all generations will know her by that.

The Mary in the Bible was a simple God fearing Jewish girl who
developed into a spiritual strong woman along with the other disciples
of Jesus. She was as weak and venerable as the others. She had no
spiritual calling in her life and therefore was lesser than the Men
and Women of God who had a calling in their life. She believed in
Jesus and was devoted to Him till her death and she too went to sleep
like all of Believers will do and would one day rise up along with us
to be judged before the Son of Man Jesus when He comes again. She
would not have any privilege card or side gate to go to Heaven. The
best thing of all she will no longer be she, if she goes to Heaven but
like all of us will be a spirit being like the Angels in Heaven who
are called Sons of God so she too may one day be a Son of God.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, Satan twists and turns the truth to deceive man who is ignorant
of the Truth or weak in the flesh. Lord, open the minds of your people
to the Truth and also give them the courage to walk in the Truth. Like
not the fear of man hold them back...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Luke 3:23 - And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age,
being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,

Luke 1:24-56
24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself
five months, saying,
25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on
me, to take away my reproach among men.
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a
city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house
of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.
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.
29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in
her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found
favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a
son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and
the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his
kingdom there shall be no end.
34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall
come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:
therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God.
36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son
in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called
barren.
37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
38 And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me
according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.
39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with
haste, into a city of Juda;
40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of
Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the
Holy Ghost:
42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou
among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?
44 For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine
ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy.
45 And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance
of those things which were told her from the Lord.
46 And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,
47 And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.
48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for,
behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.
50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation.
51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud
in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of
low degree.
53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath
sent empty away.
54 He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy;
55 As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed for ever.
56 And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.

Luke 2:48-49
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?

John 2:3-4
3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They
have no wine.
4 Jesussaith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour
is not yet come.

Mark 3:28-35
28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of
men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:
29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never
forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:
30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.
31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing
without, sent unto him, calling him.
32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold,
thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.
33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?
34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said,
Behold my mother and my brethren!
35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother,
and my sister, and mother.

Exodus 34:7 - Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty;
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the
children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

Genesis 5:2 - Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and
called their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

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Building the Body

Matthew 5:1,2-And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain:
and when he was set, his disciples came unto him:And he opened his
mouth, and taught them, saying,

We read about today’s scripture even though there was a large crowd of
people following Jesus, He went to the mountain separating Himself
from them and His disciples followed Him. It was at this time Jesus
gave one of His best teachings which had not parables but also had
some amount of solid food.Compared to today’s preachers we see them
giving one of their best teachings only before alarge crowd otherwise
they hardly talk about the Lord.

When we look at our churches and ministries today we see people from
years and years at the same spiritual stage, hardly growing. About a
few days back I was discussing this with a few elders of a church who
came on house visit. They stated the fact that the church has people
who have stepped in for the first time and also those who have just
started knowing Jesus so it is not possible to teach deeper things and
take topics which are hard. But then I asked them about those in the
church who have been in the Lord since years how much have they grown
and they were quiet.

Day before yesterday I came to know of a ministry wherein the main
leaders separated because one found the other’s teaching not in line
with scriptures. Guess what the topic was - it was about Satan! I know
of Satan breaking ministries but this was the first time I saw him do
it this way.

One said God made Satan and the other felt God could not have made an
evil being like Satan. Both knew for sure deep within them Satan did
not exist from the beginning like God so he was indeed created, but
yet they could not agree to it because they both lived on spiritual
milk for years and when a little hard morsel came into their mouth
they started to choke.

Search and let me know if you find churches and ministries which have
internal Bible study groups that have healthy debates within them on
difficult topics that dig deep into scriptures. It is a shame when you
find great church leaders hardly knowing Jesus and the Word of God in
its depth. They survive on anointing and gifts. These things are good
but when the boat rocks then it is only our grip on the Rock of Truth
which will save us and keeps us afloat.

Preachers do good preaching these days thanks to the internet, they
download teachings of others famous preachers make a few
customizations and claim it as their teachings. The stale Manna is
circulated over years and none strive for fresh Manna, they do not
pounder on it, bake it and make Living Bread for their congregation.
Max they distribute Manna by quoting scriptures as they are and do
give Living Bread. Jesus did not say I am the Manna, He said I am the
Living Bread. Jews ate Manna but we Christians are suppose to be
eating Living Bread for we are of Jesus.

The root problem of all this is that although many teach the Bible
(including Bible colleges) but they do not teach how one should study
the Bible according the how the Lord defines in Isaiah. The basic
structure of the Bible (books) is not understood, how one can approach
these books to reach its enormous depths of knowledge and
understanding becomes a dream. Almost 95 percent people think they are
teaching the Word of God but are actually giving only the Gospel. The
Gospel is like a trailer and the Word of God is the full movie. People
look at the trailer and think they know the whole story of the movie.

It is time we see less of children of Israel and see more of Israel,
people of God who are matured in the Lord, people who know the Lord
and walk in His ways, princes having the authority of the King of
Kings.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord we prayer for the Church which is your Body. Even though it has
been more than 200 years since we received the Holy Spirit yet we
having been not letting the Spirit of God minister unto us. We prefer
man and his worldly teachings over what the Spirit talks to us. As man
and as a child You too studied scriptures and grew in knowledge and
wisdom with the help of the Holy Spirit and had Angels ministering to
You. Lord Jesus being perfect man yet You confessed You did not know
all things,for things are kept away from man for the right time to be
revealed. Lord Jesus as man You did not continue to teach your
disciples but bought them to a stage where they can be ministered by
your Spirit, for You know no man including yourself as man could not
take the place of the ultimate Teacher - the Spirit of Truth. Holy
Spirit, become the Teacher of the Church. Give us more and more people
who will build the foundation like Jesus did so that You can minister
to us and be our foundation.. .

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
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.

Luke 10:22-24
22 All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knows who
the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he
to whom the Son will reveal him.
23 And he turned him to his disciples, and said privately, Blessed
are the eyes which see the things that you see:
24 For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see
those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those
things which you hear, and have not heard them.

Matthew 23:5-10
5 But all their works they do to be seen of men: for they make broad
their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,
6 and love the chief place at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,
7 and the salutations in the marketplaces, and to be called of men, Rabbi.
8 But be not ye called Rabbi [spiritual teacher] : for one is your
teacher, and all ye are brethren.
9 And call no man your father [Provider]on the earth: for one is your
Father [Provider], even he who is in heaven.
10 Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ.

Matthew 25:13 - Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the
hour wherein the Son of man comes.

Mark 13:32 But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the
angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.

Matthew 24:3-14
3 And as he sat on the mount of Olives, the disciples came to him
privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall
be the sign of your coming, and of the end of the world?
4 And Jesus answered and said to them, Take heed that no man deceive you.
5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.
6 And you shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that you be not
troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not
yet.
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:
and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in
divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you:
and you shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and
shall hate one another.
11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
13 But he that shall endure to the end, the same shall be saved.
14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world
for a witness to all nations; and then shall the end come.


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The Sabbath

Isaiah 58: 13,14 - If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from
doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the
holy of the LORD, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine
own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own
words: Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause
thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the
heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken
it.

The word 'Sabbath' means 'to rest' or 'to cease from doing work'. The
Bible states the seventh day as a day of rest.

Among a few of the topics in the Bible, the Sabbath is one topic which
causes a lot of confusion in the minds of both Jews and Christians.
One very common question asked by Christians today is the Sabbath on
Saturday or Sunday? They point to the fact that in the Bible Saturday
was the day of rest, so why was it changed to Sunday? The Catholic
Church changed it to Sunday because of Jesus' resurrection falling on
a Sunday which was also the day the Peace (Wave) Sacrifice was
consumed.

This topic has even caused the formation of a sect of Christians who
want to keep Saturday as the Sabbath. This day of rest has caused more
unrest than rest among Christians.

The Jews too were not spared from the problems of the Sabbath. They
have a book that was fatter than the Torah, to explain and give
guidelines to keeping the Sabbath. They killed and brutally tortured
people and their families for not keeping the Sabbath.

Firstly I want to put the question - can any man rest? Forget man,
even an object does not rest even though it seems to be at rest. Let
me demonstrate this with facts.

The earth revolves so ever object on the earth is in constant motion.
If a person stands at the equator he moves at a speed of about
1000miles per hour even though he or she is standing still. If the
person is somewhere in Israel, still the person moves at 875mph.

Forget earth the whole of the universe is in constant motion, for the
whole universe is expanding even though the astrological bodies seem
to be stationary. They expand at a Hubble constant of 74 kilometres
per sec per megaparsec.

We are living beings that have internal organs that are constantly
working, and they only rest when we die. Even after we die some parts
of our body like our hair still grows for a period of time!

Surely God knew all this and much more which is still hidden from us.
So why did God initiate the Sabbath?

There are 2 parts to the Sabbath one is the statutes and the other is
the commandment.

The statutes states as God telling man to rest from his work after six
days of work. This statute was given even before the 10 Commandments
were given through Moses. As all statutes it had a purpose which is
both scientific and spiritual. Once the purpose is known keeping the
statute is an option and that is why Jesus did not rest and yet did
not break any commandment and sin. The statute does not have just the
seventh day as a Sabbath but even the seventh year is considered a
Sabbath for the land.

Regarding the commandment of keeping the Sabbath holy. In Exodus
20:8-11 the Lord commands to keep the Sabbath holy; and to give us a
clear understanding of this commandment He specifies some details to
it. He specifies not only us, those connected to us also rest and the
Lord specifies who all. He says our sons, daughters, male servants,
female servants, cattle and strangers within our gates. It is only
when we understand the symbolic representation of these people then we
would know the Sabbath better. If we see the Lord compares the Sabbath
to Him resting on the 7th day after creating this natural creation.

When one studies these 6 days of Genesis chapter 1 in depth and
compare them to true scientific data, we see science proves the Bible
right. But these '6 days' are not 24 hour days but 6 periods which
expand over 15 billion years. Nuclear scientist Gerald L. Schroeder,
who is on advisory board of many nations also lectures on this matter
at Aish HaTorah College of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem. He wrote many
books on the same.

Not going deep into this topic for it would not be covered in this
short message. But I will shortly put this Sabbath as our spiritual
rest in the Lord when we rest from all our works including mental and
spiritual. This Sabbath is personal to each one and can be in various
areas or events in our lives.

For example if the Lord tells us to go and lay hands on a person who
is sick and He would heal the person. We need to stay on the track of
laying our hands and praying and then drawing back and letting the
Lord take over thereafter. We should not again and again go on praying
over that person and be anxious about the person being healed. We
should trust in the Lord and He does not disappoint those who rest in
Him.

To give another example in the Bible there are many clues that give an
approximate time which Jesus will come again to judge all mankind.
Moses, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel and even Jesus (through His actions)
put this to a period between 2300years to 2500years. When we track the
days of mankind from Adam, we are in the 5773 year today. Which means
in another 227 years (these are approximate measurements) we will
complete 6000years and enter in to 7th 1000 year of mankind which the
Bible states as the Day of the Lord when He comes to judge. At this
time all our works on earth of bringing the Lord's sheep back to Him
will come to a halt, and we who are of the Lord will rest in Him
eternally, being a part of Him.

In today's message the Lord is telling us we may or may not keep the
statute of resting on the natural Sabbath (7th day) depending our
spiritual maturity and the glory of God in our lives, but we should
keep our spiritual Sabbath holy. It is only when we rest in the Lord
for our works in Him then only we will have the favour of God over us.


[Prayer Starter]
Lord, help us not to be anxious. Help us to trust in You when we do
our work in You. You are the giver of the harvest. You alone are the
one who brings fruit to our works for You are in control of all
things. Lord, You allow things to go wrong so that we learn and grow
in You, but when we walk according to your instructions our work is
perfected in You. Lord, help us to be like Jesus the Lord of the
Sabbath, He rested after all His works in You, today He has handed us
over to the Holy Spirit and is in Heaven seated at your Righteous
Hand...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[Reference Scriptures]
Exodus 16:23 And he said unto them, This is that which the LORD hath
said, To morrow is the rest of the holy sabbath unto the LORD: bake
that which ye will bake to day, and seethe that ye will seethe; and
that which remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.

Exodus 20:8-11
8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou
shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy
manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that
is within thy gates:
11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all
that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD
blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Leviticus 23:15 - And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after
the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave
offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:

Leviticus 25:4 - But in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of rest
unto the land, a sabbath for the LORD: thou shalt neither sow thy
field, nor prune thy vineyard.

Matthew 12:1-8
1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and
his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn,
and to eat.
2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy
disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was
an hungred, and they that were with him;
4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread,
which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with
him, but only for the priests?
5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the
priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?
6 But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple.
7 But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not
sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.
8 For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day.

Numbers 15:32-36
32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they
found a man that gathered sticks upon the sabbath day.
33 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses
and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.
34 And they put him in ward, because it was not declared what should
be done to him.
35 And the LORD said unto Moses, The man shall be surely put to
death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the
camp.
36 And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned
him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.


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He recompenses me according to my righteousness

Psalms 18:24 - Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my
righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.

When people read this scripture many think it is relevant to the Old
Testament. They think, now that we dwell in the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ we are not recompensed according to our righteousness but
according to His righteousness.

We need to understand the grace of Jesus Christ does not give us the
license to continue living an unrighteous life. We need to understand
righteousness means something that is right in the eyes of God or good
according the wisdom and knowledge of God. Righteousness does not mean
what is right according to our understanding or what the world
understands as right.

The grace that we receive through our Lord Jesus Christ does do a lot
of things but at no stage does it give us the license to continue a
sinful life. We need to understand when we make mistakes the Lord does
forgive us but the scriptures say only those who repent and turn from
their ways. We also know that it is the grace of God that keeps us
going in every area of our lives but scriptures say only those who set
their eyes to the Lord. Those who turn away from the Lord are normally
consumed quickly if they have experienced God's glory or later if they
have not.

The impact of grace and righteousness in our lives depends on our
spiritual state. When we are spiritual infants it totally grace, but
as we grow in spirit we move more towards righteousness.

It is the grace of God when we repent from our sinful ways that we
come to know Jesus Christ and receive forgiveness for our sins. It is
by the grace of God through our faith in Jesus Christ that our spirits
do not go to Hell to perish. It is by the grace of God through our
faith in Jesus Christ that we receive the Spirit of God. It is by the
grace of God and by the help of the Holy Spirit that we stand up again
when we spiritually fall. It is by grace of God and by the Holy Spirit
we grow in knowing the Truth. It is by the working of the Holy Spirit
in us we become Sons of God. It is because we have the Truth in us and
because we

So we see repentance brings us to grace, it is grace that saves us
from Hell. After receiving the Holy Spirit by grace we move from grace
to truth unto righteousness. Righteousness comes only after we grow in
knowledge and understanding of the Kingdom of God.

Let us not forsake the grace of God by not repenting from our evil
ways, at the same time let us move from grace to righteousness of the
Lord.


[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we pray that your people come to You repenting from their sinful
life and find grace in Jesus Christ. Lord, your grace saves us from
Hell but You have said it is only by the Holy Spirit we are saved from
destruction and have eternal life with You in Heaven. Holy Spirit work
in your people and make us Sons of the Living God by making us more
and more like Jesus Christ our Corner Stone...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.


[Reference Scriptures]
Proverbs 3:33-35
32 For the froward is abomination to the LORD: but his secret is with
the righteous.
33 The curse of the LORD is in the house of the wicked: but he
blesseth the habitation of the just.
34 Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly.
35 The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.

John 1:14,16-17
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of
grace and truth.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

Acts 20:32 - And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word
of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an
inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Romans 5:2 - By whom also we have access by faith into this grace
wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:15-21
15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through
the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the
gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto
many.
16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the
judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many
offences unto justification.
17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they
which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to
condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came
upon all men unto justification of life.
19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the
obedience of one shall many be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where
sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign
through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Peter 5:10 But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his
eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while,
make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

http://www.SavedByFaith.info
http://www.ToMountZion.com

In The Father's Name

John 5:43 - I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if
another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

I have heard and read many preachers and theologians but most of them
fail to know Jesus Christ. This statement may surprise you.

Let us diagnose today's message. In today's message Jesus says He
comes in the Father's Name. Here most theologians believe this name
symbolizes the authority of God the Father. Now if we look at all the
other Men of God including the Prophets, they also came in the name of
God and they exercised the authority of the Lord so that would make
Jesus just another Prophet.

We can see this same unique claim made by Jesus in John 17:12 which
has been mistranslated by many Bible translations.

John 17:12 - While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your
name: those that you gave me I have kept, and none of them is lost,
but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

Most translations including the KJV-AV translate the part 'I kept them
in your name: those that you gave me I have kept'. But when we go to
the interlinear we see that statement does not mean the same. Here a
few translations give a better interpretation.

[NIV] John 17:12 - While I was with them, I protected them and kept
them safe by that name you gave me...

[NASB] John 17:12 - "While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your
name which You have given Me; ...

In this scripture Jesus clearly states He used the Name of the Father
which was given to Him to protect those given to Him. Does that make
the Father's name Jesus? No. The name Jesus or Emmanuel or the other
names Jesus is known by are mission centric to identify Him and His
purpose.

It was this statement which made me dig in to the Hebrew and Greek
words which were given as names to the Lord to understand what is the
Name of the Lord? My research just left me in awe of knowing the Lord
better as to Who He is. It made me know Jesus better, understand Him
better and understand His mission; His purpose for us and our purpose
in Him. That does not mean I know Jesus totally, for this study opened
the door to the fact we hardly know the Lord.

It is sad to see people have settled down with a Jesus they hardly
know. Satan has been playing this game on the people of God by
satisfying them with a Jesus that is like a great star seen from earth
as a spec of light. It is only when we travel near to the star we
realize we and the whole earth are like a spec before it. You will see
this deceit clearly among the non-Word rooted Christians or the so
called Christian like the Catholics. You will see them having statues
where Jesus is portrayed often as an infant as infant Jesus, or an
infant in the arms of His mother or in the arms of the so called
saints of their church. Think the most powerful man in the world is
made to look like a cute child.

It is also true as the Bible (not a scripture but understanding of
scriptures) states nothing can stand before the Name of God for His
Name is as Holy as He is Holy. Even the Angels (not only Satan but
also the Angels of the Lord) fear the Name of the Lord and that is why
Jesus said no one has seen the Father other than the Son.

History states when the Israelites used to write the name 'Jehovah'
they would first go and wash themselves and make sure they were clean
before they wrote the word. It was not that they were some lunatics
but they had some knowledge of God even though they were far from God.

We need to realize Satan does not want us to know more of Jesus
because he knows we will have power and protection when we know more
of the Name of Jesus, for it is also the Name of the Father, not only
the Father but Godhead all three.

When we go to a shop and pick a product, all the products in that
shelf may be same but the barcode on that item identifies that item in
our hands as unique, not only in the whole shop but also among the
thousands of that same brand and product type. People do not realize
the simple thing like a barcode identifies a product so also our real
(spiritual) name identifies us and is unique in the whole of creation
therefore the Lord says He knows even before we were born and from the
foundation of creation and He knows the names written in the Book of
Life. Like we have a spiritual name that identifies us uniquely so
also the Name of the Lord is unique to Him and all of the Heavens take
refuge in that Name.

It is written at the end when the Name of the Lord is revealed every
being will bow before it. The scripture 'every knee shall bow' is also
misunderstood because it has been diluted very much. The word knee
here is not a noun but a verb. It speaks about those who have already
surrendered to the authority of Lord Jesus Christ for those who have
not, will not be there standing before Him when Jesus reveals His true
self or Name. People do not understand what it means when Jesus comes
again. For example it is written all will see Him come even though the
earth is round, note the horizon is max 30kms and we see different
parts of the sky for different continents, so how is everyone able to
see Him.

It is the Holy Spirit who prepares us and makes is worthy to come to
know Jesus more than the man Jesus. It is by the grace of Jesus Christ
received by our faith in Jesus that we receive the Holy Spirit and it
is by the working of the Holy Spirit we are made worthy to be able to
exist when the Lord Jesus Christ reveals Who He is. As for today we
are taking baby step towards that destination of knowing Jesus,
helping each other to continue that journey.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You made us with a purpose and the plans You have for us are
beyond the imagination of man. Lord out of your mercy You have hidden
these things for man, so that the Truth does not consume us corrupted
beings. Lord out of your grace we have received your Spirit to work in
us and made us worthy to know the Truth and Lord You are Truth.
Everything in this world is relative but You alone do not change and
your Name does not change, for You are the same before creation and
will be forever. You alone are Holy...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Genesis 4:26 - And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he
called his name Enos: then began men to call on the name of the LORD
(there was no Torah and before the Lord spoke to Noah or Abraham to
reveal Himself identity, so what was the Name).

Psalms 99:3 - Let them praise your great and terrible name; for it is holy.

Exodus 34:2-9
2 And be ready in the morning, and come up in the morning to mount
Sinai, and present yourself there to me in the top of the mount.
3 And no man shall come up with you, neither let any man be seen
throughout all the mount; neither let the flocks nor herds feed before
that mount.
4 And he hewed two tables of stone like to the first; and Moses rose
up early in the morning, and went up to mount Sinai, as the LORD had
commanded him, and took in his hand the two tables of stone.
5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and
proclaimed the name of the LORD.
6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The
LORD God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the
iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the children's
children, to the third and to the fourth generation.
8 And Moses made haste, and bowed his head toward the earth, and worshipped.
9 And he said, If now I have found grace in your sight, O LORD, let
my LORD, I pray you, go among us; for it is a stiff necked people; and
pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.

Isaiah 57:15 - For thus said the high and lofty One that inhabits
eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with
him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit
of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.

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

John 6:46 - Not that any man has seen the Father, save he which is of
God, he has seen the Father

John 1:18 - No man has seen God at any time, the only begotten Son,
which is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared him.

John 14:9 - Jesus said to him, Have I been so long time with you, and
yet have you not known me, Philip? he that has seen me has seen the
Father; and how say you then, Show us the Father?

Psalms 68:2-3
2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before
the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
3 But let the righteous be glad; let them rejoice before God: yea,
let them exceedingly rejoice.

Revelation 20:10-11
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire
and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be
tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose
face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place
for them.

Philippians 2:10 - That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of
things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

Romans 14:11 - For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every
knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.

Jeremiah 25:30-31
30 Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto
them, The LORD shall roar from on high, and utter his voice from his
holy habitation; he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; he shall
give a shout, as they that tread the grapes, against all the
inhabitants of the earth.
31 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth; for the LORD
hath a controversy with the nations, he will plead with all flesh; he
will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the LORD.

1 Thessalonians 4:16 - For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven
with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of
God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:

Revelation 10:1-4
1 And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with
a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were
the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:
2 And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right
foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth,
3 And cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he
had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices.
4 And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about
to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up
those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not.

Revelation 22:9-16
9 Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy
fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which
keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
10 And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this
book: for the time is at hand.
11 He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is
filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be
righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
12 And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give
every man according as his work shall be.
13 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.
14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have
right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the
city.
15 For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and
murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie.
16 I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in
the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright
and morning star.

http://www.SavedByFaith.info
http://www.ToMountZion.com

A generation whose teeth swords and their jaw knives

Proverbs 30:14 - There is a generation, whose teeth are as swords, and
their jaw teeth as knives, to devour the poor from off the earth, and
the needy from among men.

This scripture had me thinking for 2 days before I could get to the
root of its message. I was stuck with the comparison between 'teeth as
swords' and 'jaw teeth as knives'. The message says they both devour
the poor [weak / afflicted - points to spiritually poor] and the
naturally poor of the world.

The Lord is telling us those who are spiritually weak are like those
who are naturally poor, the spiritually weak struggle daily like the
naturally poor. Even if the spiritually poor are financially rich, yet
we will find them struggling the same way as the naturally poor. The
only thing that gets a person out from the struggle is maturity in the
Spirit.

The interesting thing I learned from this message was the two types of
people that consume the poor (both spiritually and naturally).

The second type 'jaw teeth as knives' - here the word knives refers a
sharp object used to consume or eat. This type talks of greedy people.

The first type 'whose teeth are as swords' - here the word teeth does
not refer to natural teeth but refers to the grinding of teeth and in
the Bible this word is used in two places when a person is in great
anger or in great depression.

The Lord is telling us people who are great wrath, in great depression
and those who have greed in them these people are the ones who consume
the spiritually weak and the naturally poor.

We do not realize being sad is as dangerous as being angry. If we do
not have control of them both along with our desire to have things, we
can become into animals that destroys people around us.

Let us not be people who are blindly led by desires, but let us
discern our desires and the purpose of our desires. Being angry, sad
of desiring things is not wrong but when we have no control over them
then they can make us from humans into dangerous cannibal animals.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we pray we do not be like animals which live by their desires.
Lord, even though You put us in the flesh, You have made us in your
image and gave us wisdom to discern. You desire that we overcome the
flesh and thus defeat sin and death. Lord, we pray we have control
over our desires especially our anger, sadness and greed...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Ephesians 4:31-32
31 Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil
speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:
32 And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one
another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.

Colossians 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath,
malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

Psalms 116:3 The sorrows of death compassed me, and the pains of hell
gat hold upon me: I found trouble and sorrow.

Proverbs 15:13 A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by
sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

Ecclesiastes 5:13-17
13 There is a sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely,
riches kept for the owners thereof to their hurt.
14 But those riches perish by evil travail: and he begetteth a son,
and there is nothing in his hand.
15 As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to go
as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry
away in his hand.
16 And this also is a sore evil, that in all points as he came, so
shall he go: and what profit hath he that hath laboured for the wind?
17 All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow
and wrath with his sickness.

http://www.SavedByFaith.info
http://www.ToMountZion.com

The Eagle's Nest
Acts 8:4 - Therefore they that were scattered abroad went every where
preaching the word.

Eagle is the king of the sky among the birds. It is a mighty bird that
is feared by all the birds in the sky, and the eagle fears no other
bird. No bird or birds will stand an aerie of eagles on attack.

Being born an eaglet in an eagle's nest is the best thing for any
bird. The eaglet knows it will be fed and protected well. But as the
eaglet grows up there comes a time when things start to change, the
protector and provider takes another role.

It sees it parent fluttering its wing over it encouraging it to also
flutter its wings, thus strengthen them and enabling them to fly. But
when the eaglet does not fly, the eagle that made the nest
comfortable, stir the nest and make things uncomfortable. It starts
disturb the young one with its wings striking them against the tree or
branches. When the young eagle starts to fly the eagle keeps an eye on it for the initial time ready to lift it up on its wings if need be.

Being a Christian and being rooted to a good church with a leader who
is spiritually gifted and mature leader is the best thing one can
have. But if one remains in that Church for a long time then there is
a problem with the leader. It means the leader is either not feeding
its members with good spiritual food to help them grow or failing to
do his or her duty as a leader to make leaders of his or her
congregation.

A good church leader will never allow his or her members to continue
for long as a member of his or her church. He or she will encourage
the member to go out and minister unto others and be instrument in
nurturing others.

The Lord is saying discomfort has been bought into our lives so that
we too are an eagle like Christ. He wants us not to remain in a nest
forever.

As a minister of the Word my primary aim is to give the Gospel and
bring people to the Lord and set them to be a part of a congregation
to have fellowship and grow, but my work does not stop there. After
feeding them the Word regularly and strengthening them the next part
of my job starts that is to get them out of that congregation. Yes to
get them out so that they go out and make many more congregations.
During this time I start to do things unthinkable, instead of feeding
I start my demolition activities breaking down the idols and wrong
understandings the person has built. These include bringing down the
preachers or people who has been instrument in nurturing that person
spiritually and has not let go of that person. They have been like a
mother still connected to its grown up baby by its umbilical cord. I
bring down not only people living today, but also people set as
example from the Bible, for none can take the place of the Lord. That
is why every person's limitation or weakness is exposed in the Bible.
People hate me when I take this form, but then that does not matter
for it is necessary for their own good.

The Lord is telling us if we have been in a church since long and our
Pastor or church leader has not been encouraging us to go out and
minister unto others, it is high time we start thinking of change, of
finding another church.

We as Christians are not called only to be saved by believing in Jesus
Christ but are also called to take the burden of Christ of saving
others, of find Him His lost sheep. We are called to be eagles like
Him. We get stuck on Matthew 11:28 and do not go further to 29 and 30.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You have called us to be like You, but since we are far from
You, You came to us in the flesh as son of man Jesus Christ. You
became the corner stone for us to align ourselves to. As man You did
not continue to lead us but gave us your Word and your Spirit to lead
us. You been a perfect man did not try to lead your people but left us
with your Spirit to be led. Lord, You gave us wings like You by giving
us your Spirit. It is only by the Holy Spirit Lord we can soar up in
the sky and lift others. Holy Spirit, You be our wings. Not by our
strength but by your grace Lord we fly...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Psalms 103:5 - Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy
youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Deuteronomy 32:11-12
11 As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young,
spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:
12 So the LORD alone did lead him, and there was no strange god with him.

Hosea 8:1 Set the trumpet to thy mouth. He shall come as an eagle
against the house of the LORD, because they have transgressed my
covenant, and trespassed against my law.

Exodus 19:4 - Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I
bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself.

Matthew 11:28-30
28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will
give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in
heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

http://www.SavedByFaith.info
http://www.ToMountZion.com

The Lord swears by His Life

Ezekiel 17:16 - As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place
where the king dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised,
and whose covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he
shall die.

No other book in the Bible gives a picture of the Heavens or the
Beings of the spirit world (including that of Satan and the Beast)
like the book of Ezekiel. This book is among my favourite books for it
was through it I really understood the Spirit Kingdom of God.

In this book alone we find listed 16 of the 21 times the Lord has
sworn by Himself in the whole Bible.

When we make a contract or any legal document which has great value,
it is made on a stamp paper which carries a stamp of the government.
In the legal agreement or contract the government is made a witness
and since the government is not a person but a conceptual body we have
an authorized representative of the government who signs or notarizes
the agreement or contract.

In these cases where the Lord swears by Himself we find the Lord
giving a very serious declaration between Him and the party concern to
which His existence is a witness and the Prophet is the authorised
notary. There is nothing above the fact that the Lord is God and He is
from the beginning and it is by that He swears.

In today’s message we see the seriousness that the Lord gives to the
incident where the King representing His people breaks a solemn
commitment made with the King of Babylon. The Lord swears by Himself
that the Israelite King will die and when the Lord says that it does
not mean just physical death.

The Lord is telling us today we call ourselves as His people and He
being a keeper of His Word He expects us too, to also keep our word.
He gets very angry when He sees His people breaking promises like they
do not mean anything. This is not only with the people but especially
those who represent the Lord and are called to lead His people. When
they behave like the people of the world who do not mean what they
say, then the Lord is telling them that they will also die like the
people of this world.

We should remember the Lord values His Name very much and gets very
angry when anyone tries to spoil or defame His Name, He will not spare
such a person. All creation knows when the Lord has said it, it is
done and that is what He expects from us. Let our YES be a YES and our
NO be a NO. If we can not commit let us not promise anyone.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You are a keeper of your Word and You expect your children who
represent You also be keepers of their word, especially the leaders
You have set over them. Lord, help us to be honest in what we do and
not to be man pleasers. Even if the Truth hurts let our yes be a yes
and our no be a no. Give us the wisdom and discernment to deal with
every situation and a heart that is true...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Matthew 5:37 But let your communication be, Yes, yes; No, no: for
whatever is more than these comes of evil.

2 Corinthians 1:17-20
17 When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness? or the
things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with
me there should be yes yes, and no no?
18 But as God is true, our word toward you was not yes and no.
19 For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by
us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yes and no, but in
him was yes.
20 For all the promises of God in him are yes, and in him Amen, to
the glory of God by us.

James 5:12 But above all things, my brothers, swear not, neither by
heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your
yes be yes; and your no, no; lest you fall into condemnation.

Ezekiel 17:12-21
12 Say now to the rebellious house, Know ye not what these things
mean? tell them, Behold, the king of Babylon is come to Jerusalem, and
hath taken the king thereof, and the princes thereof, and led them
with him to Babylon;
13 And hath taken of the king’s seed, and made a covenant with him,
and hath taken an oath of him: he hath also taken the mighty of the
land:
14 That the kingdom might be base, that it might not lift itself up,
but that by keeping of his covenant it might stand.
15 But he rebelled against him in sending his ambassadors into Egypt,
that they might give him horses and much people. Shall he prosper?
shall he escape that doeth such things? or shall he break the
covenant, and be delivered?
16 As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely in the place where the king
dwelleth that made him king, whose oath he despised, and whose
covenant he brake, even with him in the midst of Babylon he shall die.
17 Neither shall Pharaoh with his mighty army and great company make
for him in the war, by casting up mounts, and building forts, to cut
off many persons:
18 Seeing he despised the oath by breaking the covenant, when, lo, he
had given his hand, and hath done all these things, he shall not
escape.
19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine oath
that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it
will I recompense upon his own head.
20 And I will spread my net upon him, and he shall be taken in my
snare, and I will bring him to Babylon, and will plead with him there
for his trespass that he hath trespassed against me.
21 And all his fugitives with all his bands shall fall by the sword,
and they that remain shall be scattered toward all winds: and ye shall
know that I the LORD have spoken it.

http://www.SavedByFaith.info
http://www.ToMountZion.com

My People

Lamentations 1:17 - Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none
to comfort her: the LORD hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his
adversaries should be round about him: Jerusalem is as a menstruous
woman among them.

By God's grace when I was studying the Bible the Lord made me
understand what He meant when He said 'His people', when He used the
word 'Israel' whom He was referring to and Paul goes to great extent
to explain this in his letter to the Romans. Bible says it is only
because the children (by flesh) of Abraham carry the name of Abraham
therefore for his name's sake the Lord is bearing them. But the Lord
has written the things set for them. Like in 70AD they faced the wrath
of God so also a time comes again for the world to know that one does
not become 'people of God' by being born in a family or by rituals but
by faith alone, that spiritual is above the natural.

Of late I was reading what the Jews think of Jesus in their Talmud and
I would say if any Christian reads it they will find the Muslims have
more respect for Jesus than the Jews do. About the birth of Jesus a
Jewish scholar Gamaliel wrote in a Talmud, about the two interviews he
took of Mary and her husband with regards to the birth of Jesus and
this is published under the title 'Talmuds of the Jews, 27B -
Interrogation of Joseph and Mary in Regards to Herod's Child in
Bethlehem, Whom He Feared Would be King'. According to the scrolls one
interview was taken in the early years and then the second in the
later years of Jesus. In these records he states neither Joseph nor
Mary thought Jesus was a saviour and the appearance of the Angel was
just a dream (which contradict scriptures). There are many other
records which take the attack on the divinity of Jesus Christ to a
level that show a complete degradation of human understanding.

Ask any Jewish Rabbi where Jesus is today and he will tell you He is
in Hell suffering in a pot of boiling oil for He was a false prophet.
But today due to world politics the Jews shut their mouth for they
need the help of the American and Europeans to survive.

I know that some activity is about to take place in the world stage
very soon and today's message could be pointing to that. Even if it
does not happen this month but soon the Lord says there will be a
shaking for these people.

It is sad when we see Church leaders do not have understanding of
relationship in God's Kingdom and we find in most of their offices a
flag of Israel having the Star of David on it. The Jews do not know
what the Star symbolizes and our leaders do not know who the People of
God term refers to. When this event happens it will shatter many
Christians and may even cause some to lose their faith.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You are the creator of the whole world and God of all things
that exist in this world, in Heavens and also that is in Hell. It is
only the darkness in the hearts of people that causes them to reject
You but as You have written one day every knee will bow before your
Name. Lord, we pray for those who are little in faith that they not
shake or be shaken when this event happens as You have warned us
today. Lord, may your abundant grace cover your people like a thick
covering to protect them...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Acts 6:11 - Then they suborned men, who said, We have heard him speak
blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. [note they put Moses
before God]

Acts 7:35-53
35 This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a
judge? him hath God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the
hand of the angel that appeared to him in the bush.
36 This man led them forth, having wrought wonders and signs in
Egypt, and in the Red Sea, and in the wilderness forty years.
37 This is that Moses, who said unto the children of Israel, A
prophet shall God raise up unto you from among your brethren, like
unto me.
38 This is he that was in the church in the wilderness with the angel
that spake to him in the Mount Sinai, and with our fathers: who
received living oracles to give unto us:
39 to whom our fathers would not be obedient, but thrust him from
them, and turned back in their hearts unto Egypt,
40 saying unto Aaron, Make us gods that shall go before us: for as
for this Moses, who led us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not
what is become of him.
41 And they made a calf in those days, and brought a sacrifice unto
the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands.
42 But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as
it is written in the book of the prophets, Did ye offer unto me slain
beasts and sacrifices Forty years in the wilderness, O house of
Israel?
43 And ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of the god
Rephan, The figures which ye made to worship them: And I will carry
you away beyond Babylon.
44 Our fathers had the tabernacle of the testimony in the wilderness,
even as he appointed who spake unto Moses, that he should make it
according to the figure that he had seen.
45 Which also our fathers, in their turn, brought in with Joshua when
they entered on the possession of the nations, that God thrust out
before the face of our fathers, unto the days of David;
46 who found favor in the sight of God, and asked to find a
habitation for the God of Jacob.
47 But Solomon built him a house.
48 Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in houses made with hands; as
saith the prophet,
49 The heaven is my throne, And the earth the footstool of my feet:
What manner of house will ye build Me? saith the Lord: Or what is the
place of my rest?
50 Did not my hand make all these things?
51 Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always
resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.
52 Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? and they
killed them that showed before of the coming of the Righteous One; of
whom ye have now become betrayers and murderers;
53 ye who received the law as it was ordained by angels, and kept it not.

Romans 4:13 For not through the law was the promise to Abraham or to
his seed that he should be heir of the world, but through the
righteousness of faith.

Romans 4:16 For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according
to grace; to the end that the promise may be sure to all the seed; not
to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the
faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all

Romans 9:6-8
6 But it is not as though the word of God hath come to nought. For
they are not all Israel, that are of Israel:
7 neither, because they are Abraham's seed, are they all children:
but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh that are children of
God; but the children of the promise are reckoned for a seed.

Romans 11:1-8
1 I say then, Did God cast off his people? God forbid. For I also am
an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin.
2 God did not cast off his people which he foreknew. Or know ye not
what the scripture saith of Elijah? how he pleadeth with God against
Israel:
3 Lord, they have killed thy prophets, they have digged down thine
altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life.
4 But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have left for myself
seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to Baal.
5 Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according
to the election of grace.
6 But if it is by grace, it is no more of works: otherwise grace is
no more grace.
7 What then? that which Israel seeketh for, that he obtained not; but
the election obtained it, and the rest were hardened:
8 according as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes
that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear, unto
this very day.

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http://www.ToMountZion.com
Taking the foolish and rejected of the world

Matthew 4:18 - And Jesus, walking by the sea of Galilee, saw two
brethren, Simon called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net
into the sea: for they were fishers.

Galilee was situated near the sea and was one of the busiest ports
during the time of Jesus. The only profession that competed with the
merchants in that area was fishing. Someone took great pain to
chronically put the events of the life on Jesus in order and
accordingly according to date the records. Today's event (Matthew
4:18) as stated by him had happened in the spring of 26AD. This was
the time Jesus after being baptized by John and coming back from His
desert experience started recruiting His 12 select disciples. The
first of those twelve disciples whom Jesus trained were the two
brothers Simon and Andrew. Some claim they were John the Baptist's
followers (since John had a very large number of people who considered
him a Prophet and followed him) and these 2 brothers had overheard
John declare Jesus as the 'Lamb of God' therefore followed Jesus
without questioning Him.

One thing we need to note Simon was nicknamed Peter by the people even
before Jesus met him (people think Jesus gave him the name in Mark
3:16 and Luke 6:14 the word 'he' is not part of the Greek text).
People do not realize Peter was not a nice name that is why Jesus
rarely used it to refer to Simon. Since Simon was a common name people
nicknamed him Peter. The word Peter means a small stone (pebble) it
symbolized a person who was foolish for half crack. If one translates
it into Hebrew it takes an even serious note for the word is used for
Satan. Jesus preferred using the other standard followed in cases like
Simon which was a common name, of calling a person along with their
father's name.

There are only 2 times in the Gospels when Jesus takes the name Peter
to refer to Simon once in (Matthew 16) when Jesus declared His Church
is founded on Truth and how the Simon being called foolish by the
world yet knew the truth on Jesus. It was like Jesus saying 'You are
called a foolish man but this truth which was revealed to you is on
which My Church will be founded on'. But then Simon who was known for
putting his foot in his mouth, soon rebuked Jesus for saying He would
die for mankind. Then Jesus needed to bring sense to Simon telling him
he was influenced by Satan and was mindful of the thinks of this world
(note Jesus was speaking to Simon).

The other place Jesus used the name Peter was to warn Simon that he
would deny His trice. It was like Jesus saying 'I tell you foolish man
before the cock crows for the day you will have denied me trice'. Note
here Jesus starts His conversation with Simon using his original name
Simon and not the nickname Peter.

The word Andrew in Greek means 'manly'.

In today's message the Lord is telling us the world may call us
foolish, insane or people who are rude but yet the Lord has chosen us
to work in us and change us like He did with Simon and Andrew. So let
us not look at the mistakes we may have made in our lives in the past
but look ahead at the Lord working in us and renewing us.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You do not look for people who think they know everything or are
wise, but You prefer to choose people who are ridiculed by the world
or looked down on and by your work in them You show your glory and
make them shine like You did with Simon who was called Peter at
Pentecost. When He spoke no man could answer him and all were stunned
at his authority. Lord, we pray specially for those brothers and
sisters who are depressed and have fear of the world because they feel
they are incompetent. May your Word take root in them and bring a new
hope in them...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Mark 3: 16 And <2532> Simon <4613> he surnamed <2007> (5656) <3686>
Peter <4074>;

Luke 6:14 Simon <4613>, (whom <3739> he also <2532> named <3687>
(5656) Peter <4074>,) and <2532> Andrew <406> his <846> brother <80>,
James <2385> and <2532> John <2491>, Philip <5376> and <2532>
Bartholomew <918>,

Matthew 16:15-23
15 He saith unto them, But who say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of
the living God.
17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon
Bar-jonah: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my
Father who is in heaven.
18 And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock
I will build my church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it.
19 I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and
whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and
whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
20 Then charged he the disciples that they should tell no man that he
was the Christ.
21 From that time began Jesus to show unto his disciples, that he
must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief
priests and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
22 And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far
from thee, Lord: this shall never be unto thee.
23 But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan:
thou art a stumbling-block unto me: for thou mindest not the things of
God, but the things of men.

Luke 22:31-34
31 Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift
you as wheat:
32 but I made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not; and do
thou, when once thou hast turned again, establish thy brethren.
33 And he said unto him, Lord, with thee I am ready to go both to
prison and to death.
34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day,
until thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

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Their horses are swifter and fiercer than leopards and wolves

Habakkuk 1:8 - Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and
are more fierce [sharper] than the evening wolves: and their horsemen
shall spread themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they
shall fly as the eagle that hasteth to eat.

In Habakkuk chapter 1 the Lord is speaking about the influence of the
Chaldeans had on His people. In verse 6 the Lord describes the
Chaldeans as a bitter and hasty nation but in verse 8 we see an aspect
of them which seem to be pleasing to ordinary man.

The Lord describes their horses as more swift than the leopards (this
could also mean a cheetah) and more sharp than the evening wolves
(when they are on a hunt). The Lord also says they spread far and
wide, and when they go for a kill they stoop at the speed and accuracy
of an eagle.

Surely there is no horse that has all these aspects which the Lord
speaks of here so also the Lord is not speaking about the Chaldeans
tribe today (for they do not exist today).

The word Chaldeans means 'cold-breakers' it comes from the word which
means 'increase'.

In today's message the Lord is talking about the people of this world
who live to prosper in things of the world. When we look at the people
of this world we see they are prospering as speeds which amaze
everyone, like the speed of a cheetah. They have a very shrewd way of
doing their business or the daily things in life which the Lord
compares to the sharpness of a pack of wolves out on a hunt. Another
aspect the Lord talks of is their swiftness to take advantage of
opportunities like a snooping eagle.

Most may say brother what is wrong with this. If you had asked me this
question yesterday I could have had difficulties in answering it, but
today even before the Lord gave me this scripture for today He gave
the answer to it as I was discussing a matter with someone in the
morning.

'People of this world work hard to live a good life until death and
the people of God work hard for a good death so that we may live an
excellent life eternally'.

It may disappoint many Christians when I say that the Lord expects us
people to live in tents, it does not mean actual tents. We Christians
live in this world but are just passing through this world. We are not
residents of this world. Our residence is Heaven and if we make our
residence here then we lose our real residence which is Heaven. It
also means we should not have our hearts lost behind the things of
this world for our worldly likes and desires will obstruct our entry
to Heaven like a burdened camel would get stuck while entering the
city through its narrow gates, which were called the eye of a needle.

The Lord says these people may look like people satisfied in life but
the Lord is saying their lives are full of bitterness, there is
nothing sweet in their lives, they have no joy in it. He warns at the
end these people are made to be an example.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You put us in this world not to be part of this world but to
overcome this world and confirm that we are your children. Our
permanent home is not here but is with You in the real world which is
the Spirit world. This natural world is temporary and will perish the
day You come to receive us. Lord, help us to live in this world but
let us not have our hearts set on the things of this world. We know it
is hard but we have confidence because You came as man and overcame.
We have received your Spirit and so we too will overcome...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Habakkuk 1:6-12
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
dwellingplaces that are not theirs.
7 They are terrible and dreadful: their judgment and their dignity
shall proceed of themselves.
8 Their horses also are swifter than the leopards, and are more
fierce than the evening wolves: and their horsemen shall spread
themselves, and their horsemen shall come from far; they shall fly as
the eagle that hasteth to eat.
9 They shall come all for violence: their faces shall sup up as the
east wind, and they shall gather the captivity as the sand.
10 And they shall scoff at the kings, and the princes shall be a
scorn unto them: they shall deride every strong hold; for they shall
heap dust, and take it.
11 Then shall his mind change, and he shall pass over, and offend,
imputing this his power unto his god.
12 Art thou not from everlasting, O LORD my God, mine Holy One? we
shall not die. O LORD, thou hast ordained them for judgment; and, O
mighty God, thou hast established them for correction.

Matthew 19:23-25
23 And Jesus said unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, It is
hard for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through a
needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
25 And when the disciples heard it, they were astonished exceedingly,
saying, Who then can be saved?

Psalms 78:55 - He drove out the nations also before them, And allotted
them for an inheritance by line, And made the tribes of Israel to
dwell in their tents.

Hosea 12:9 - But I am Jehovah thy God from the land of Egypt; I will
yet again make thee to dwell in tents, as in the days of the solemn
feast.


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House of God

Luke 19:46 - Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of
prayer: but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Yesterday I was not well and had taken the day off to rest because of
weakness. Like last time few years back, I was very serious with
dengue and even hospitalized for about 3 days. Although I got healed
miraculously, during these days I was continually getting dreams of
the Church and how God sees His people in the Church. About 2 of the 3
dreams which kept repeating I wrote in my messages. Yesterday too, the
Lord showed me about the Church and in today’s message as asked me to
write it down.

Before I come to come to the dream let me explain what a Church /
House of God means in the Bible.

House of God is not a place where God dwells for God is Spirit, He
dwells everywhere and no structure can be made for God to dwell in.
That is the reason God did not allow David to make a place for Him to
dwell in. It was just a few days back I understood the true sense of
what a Church / House of God means.

We stay in different places in our own houses, but when we are
connected to a Church becoming a member of a Church, we no longer
dwell in different places but dwell in that Church even though not
physically.

Understand the spiritual is more real than the physical. The children
of promise are valued more than the children of the flesh. That is why
we are children of Abraham more than the Jews who were born from his
flesh, because we are children by faith.

The word ‘Church’ is not a Biblical word it is translates from the
Greek ‘ekklesia’ which means an assembly of people. This word is a
composite word which means ‘called out from’ this term is used only
for certain group of people in the Bible which are connected together
in the spirit, like the Christians who were connected in Christ or the
people who were connected to the goddess Diana as in Acts 19 [here the
word ‘ekklesia’ is translated as assembly]. Thus a Church is a group
of people who are spiritually connected.

The Lord made me understand a Church is a place where His people
spiritually dwell. And where His people dwell He sets a wall around
them and protects them. We also see where the people of God gathered
there His glory also manifested.

We need to understand being a part of a Church means spiritually
dwelling in a fortified city that protects us, helps us in receiving
our provision and helps us prosper in the Lord.

Yesterday the Lord showed me that the Churches of today were in
darkness once upon a time and today they have come into light. They do
have communication with the Lord. But even though they have come into
light and have communication with the Lord yet they are not strongly
rooted. He showed me the Churches as something floating around.

We Christians are like sparrows. When a sparrow in born it learns a
tune from its species and puts them together to form its song within
the 10 to 50 days of its birth. It is this song that the sparrow sings
the rest of its life.

Most of us Christians learn during the first phrase of encounter with
Christ. We keep learning till we come to a satisfaction point. After
that point we stop learning and we keep repeating those things we have
learnt word to word for the rest of our life.

We do not realize learning is a never ending process and that is not
only in this world. The Kingdom of God which is even greater than the
natural world so it’s learning is many times that of this natural
world. Till date there is no man (other than Christ) who had all the
understanding of the Kingdom of God. The best part is we as Christians
are called to be better than our human teachers with the help of our
spiritual Teacher the Holy Spirit. But since we are not rooted to the
Holy Spirit for our learning we are under our human teachers and are
like a drifting city.

How many times do we hear in Church a preaching being repeated by the
same person or of another person again and again? Sometimes word to
word and at other times pieces mixed up from various other preachers.

I repent the day the Lord does not teach me something new. In my whole
life (born-again life of 7plus years) I can count on my fingers the
days I did not get anything new. On those days I did not share the
word at the place where I went but had an open house.

Like the Lord says out of our bellies will flow never ending streams
of living water. He did not say stagnant water.

[Prayer starter]
Lord, You made us humans in your image. Even though we are corrupted
by sin yet we are still called your children for a part of You is
still in us. Lord, help us be rooted in your Spirit of Truth for only
when the Truth is in us will we be able to receive your Righteousness
and be set free from this corruption of sin. Lord we pray your people
know the importance of being a part of your Church and that it is You
who sets walls around it not any man...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Isaiah 66:1 - Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the
earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and
where is the place of my rest?

1 Chronicles 17:2-6
2 Then Nathan said to David, Do all that is in your heart; for God is with you.
3 And it came to pass the same night, that the word of God came to
Nathan, saying,
4 Go and tell David my servant, Thus said the LORD, You shall not
build me an house to dwell in:
5 For I have not dwelled in an house since the day that I brought up
Israel to this day; but have gone from tent to tent, and from one
tabernacle to another.
6 Wherever I have walked with all Israel, spoke I a word to any of
the judges of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people, saying, Why
have you not built me an house of cedars?

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.

Acts 2:47 - Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And
the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Acts 7:38 - This is he, that was in the church in the wilderness with
the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers:
who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

Acts 19:32-41

Romans 16:5 - Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute
my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto
Christ.

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

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Paying the price

Jonah 1:3 - But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence
of the LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to
Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go
with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.

I must have written n number of times on this scripture, and when I
got it again today I knew the Lord had something new to teach us,
something which is applicable to us today.

In today's message the Lord wants to bring our attention to the fact,
when Jonah left Gathhepher to flee to Tarshish to avoid doing the task
assigned to him, he did not just abruptly run. He did organize
himself, making sure he would not have any difficulties during his
journey.

I did point out in my last message on this scripture that Jonah was a
Man of God who had good communication with the Lord and he knew he
could not flee from the Lord for there is no place where one can flee
from the Lord. Jonah was just running away from doing the task
assigned to him not because he did want to do the Lord's work or was
afraid to do it. The only reason was that he did not want the people
of Nineveh to be saved for they were among the most inhumane and evil
people. They were known to skin people alive, tying them upside down,
among the many other things they did. They were also known to have
done great brutality towards the Israelites and that was the reason
Jonah wanted them punished. He knew if the time period given to the
people of Nineveh passed and they had not repented, the Lord would
destroy them, and that was exactly what he wanted. In today's day it
is like the Lord telling an American to go to the Taliban or Iranian
President to tell if they did not repent by 4 days they would be
destroyed, surely most Americans would wait eagerly for the fifth day
to see their destruction. Compared to the people of Nineveh, the
Taliban and the Iranian president look good people.

Today's message is about us working according to our understanding and
not according to the Lord's Will. When the Lord telling us to do
something that does not agree with our desires we find we will go out
of the way to get our desire fulfilled. For example among the Pastors
and preachers of India most have one desire and that is to preach in
USA. They think going to USA is like getting a MIT certificate from
the Kingdom of God. They also idolize some Men of God who like
yesterday's message have reached their saturation point and sing the
same song like a sparrow; nothing new is their messages other than
theatrics of words and great showmanship.

The Lord is telling us today because we do not know the Heart of God
like Jonah at that time we too try to do our own things. And when we
find things not going well we call them persecution or our failure as
the will of God and thus bear and not change or repent. We should
thank God most of us have not gone through the 3 days hell experience
which Jonah went through.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, Your people are far from your Heart that is the reason the
Church is unlike the Church during the times of the Apostles when
experienced your glory before it started moving away from your Word.
Lord, today we are trying to add people by marketing your Kingdom
using our wisdom and worldly knowledge. We do not let the people be
added by You By your Spirit because we like Jonah walk according to
our understanding. Lord, we pray that we realize our mistakes and
surrender to your Will and not to our understanding. ..

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Jonah 1:1-4, 15-17
1 Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for
their wickedness is come up before me.
3 But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the
LORD, and went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish:
so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them
unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.
4 But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a
mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken.
15 So they took up Jonah, and cast him forth into the sea: and the
sea ceased from her raging.
16 Then the men feared the LORD exceedingly, and offered a sacrifice
unto the LORD, and made vows.
17 Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And
Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Jonah 2:1-2, 10
1 Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,
2 And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and
he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my
voice.
10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon
the dry land

Jonah 3:1-6, 10
1 And the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the second time, saying,
2 Arise, go unto Nineveh, that great city, and preach unto it the
preaching that I bid thee.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the
LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
3 So Jonah arose, and went unto Nineveh, according to the word of the
LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceeding great city of three days' journey.
4 And Jonah began to enter into the city a day's journey, and he
cried, and said, Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.
5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and
put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them.
6 For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his
throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth,
and sat in ashes.
10 And God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and
God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them;
and he did it not.

Jonah 4:1-11
1 But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he was very angry.
2 And he prayed unto the LORD, and said, I pray thee, O LORD, was not
this my saying, when I was yet in my country? Therefore I fled before
unto Tarshish: for I knew that thou art a gracious God, and merciful,
slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repentest thee of the evil.
3 Therefore now, O LORD, take, I beseech thee, my life from me; for
it is better for me to die than to live.
4 Then said the LORD, Doest thou well to be angry?
5 So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the
city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till
he might see what would become of the city.
6 And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over
Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from
his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd.
7 But God prepared a worm when the morning rose the next day, and it
smote the gourd that it withered.
8 And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a
vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he
fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, It is better for me
to die than to live.
9 And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd?
And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death.
10 Then said the LORD, Thou hast had pity on the gourd, for the which
thou hast not laboured, neither madest it grow; which came up in a
night, and perished in a night:
11 And should not I spare Nineveh, that great city, wherein are more
than sixscore thousand persons that cannot discern between their right
hand and their left hand; and also much cattle?
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The fool triumphs for a short time, perishes forever

Job 20:7 - Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which
have seen him shall say, Where is he?

Today's message comes from the disclosure of Zophar the Naamathite,
one of Job's friends. Zophar speaks about wicket, foolish man. He says
they existed right from the time man was made on earth. So we too
should not be alarmed to see fools amongst us.

One very important point Zophar states in his disclosure, which the
Lord wants us to know today; Zophar says fools are not always failures
they do triumph but the triumph of the fool is short.

The Lord is telling us not to be worried about what is happen in this
world. We see violence and insanity being spread by fools. We see them
growing from country to country and they mean to be chocking peace and
prosperity. They seem to be destroying every value of life that has
been built. The Lord tells us today even though these fools seem to be
triumphant, their time is short and they will perish forever. As the
message tells us, we will search for them and will not find them; not
only do we will not find them, but all the evil that they do will also
cease to exist.

With this knowledge and our faith in God Who surely brings to pass
what He says, let us have joy in us even when we see sorrow
surrounding us. Let not this joy be lost for if it is lost, fear and
sorrow will consume us even before the fool and their foolishness are
consumed.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, at theses times we see all things going to vanity. We see men
behaving like animals and their foolishness destroying everything
around us. But we know Lord, You spoke to us today these fools and
their work will not last for long. Lord if You have spoken it has to
come to pass, so we rejoice in your Word even though trouble surrounds
us...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Job 20:4-9
4 Knowest thou not this of old, since man was placed upon earth,
5 That the triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the
hypocrite but for a moment?
6 Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach
unto the clouds;
7 Yet he shall perish for ever like his own dung: they which have
seen him shall say, Where is he?
8 He shall fly away as a dream, and shall not be found: yea, he shall
be chased away as a vision of the night.
9 The eye also which saw him shall see him no more; neither shall his
place any more behold him.


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Lack of Knowledge

Acts 5:7 - And it was about the space of three hours after, when his
wife, not knowing what was done, came in.

When God made man there was no evil in what God had created, for after
creating each day [period] for the first 5 days God said ‘it is good’.
Even on the sixth after He finished creating man He said all that He
created was good. So we see there was no evil in the natural creation
of God, of which man was a part of; the only evil that existed at that
time as Satan and his fallen angels.

Satan deceived Adam and Eve to eat of the Tree of knowledge of good
and evil which was in the Garden of Eden, so that Adam may know evil
and that evil was none other than Satan himself.

God had made Adam and Eve pure and innocent to evil. Although Adam
and Eve were spiritually made in the image of God but in the natural
Adam was made in the image of God and Eve in the image of Adam for Eve
was made from the bone of Adam and bone symbolizes nature or character
(like our bones give shape to our body so also our nature gives shape
to our inner-man). That is why Satan went for Eve first and not Adam.
Adam due to his love for Eve fell to Satan’s deceit.

Ever since Adam and Eve ate of the Tree of good and evil man became a
corrupt being who lost the Fruits of Truth, Righteousness and
Holiness.

In today’s scripture we see Ananias’s wife was not aware of what
happened to her husband. Had she known what had happened, she would
have repented and could have told the truth and saved herself. Here we
see the lack of knowledge caused her to perish. Here the knowledge was
not about scriptures (good) but was about the evil that happened.

In today’s message the Lord is telling since we are corrupt being,
those who eat solid food (not spiritual milk) need not to study evil
things, but also we should not ignore it. We need to be aware of evil
so that we can discern it. For example, we study about food and
recipes. We study food which is good, but at the same time we also are
aware of the things which are inedible or things that can cause
problem to our dishes. We may not know the taste of the inedible but
we are aware of the bad.

In the world today there are very few Believer Christians who do
comparative study of other religions. Apologetics is a field which
builds a Christian to be ready to answer other religions.

The Lord is not telling us to go into deep study of other religions
but is telling us to be aware of the evil they believe in. But before
we do that we need to have a firm understanding of the good that is
our own belief.

In the Catholic seminary they encourage the student priest to study
other religions but sadly without the foundation of Christianity /
Bible, that is why all Catholic priests have a corrupt understanding
of Christianity. Most Catholic priests do not know the characters in
the Bible or have not heard even some of the names of the books in the
Bible (surprisingly they do not fully study the Bible scriptures in
the seminary).

Paul calls us to be protectors of faith, which does not necessary mean
we need to be going for debates or represent the Church at events. We
need to protect ourselves from the evil of other beliefs.

It may surprise one as to the amount of slippage from other beliefs
that has infected our understanding just because we are not aware of
them.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You have warned in the Bible how no one would be spared from the
Beast except for your Elect who are spared by your grace. Lord, we
pray that your people not only work to root themselves in the Truth of
your Kingdom but also not ignore to be aware of the evil that
threatens the plans of your Kingdom to be fulfilled in their lives...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Genesis 1:31 - And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold,
it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Genesis 2:9,16-17
9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is
pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the
midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the
garden thou mayest freely eat:
17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt
surely[die - the same word is translated as surely] die.

Daniel 1:4 - Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and
skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding
science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king’s
palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the
Chaldeans.

Daniel 1:20 - And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the
king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the
magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

Luke 1:3 - It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding
of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most
excellent Theophilus,

Philippians 4:7 - And the peace of God, which passeth all
understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Colossians 1:9 - For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do
not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with
the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

1 Peter 3:15 - 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:

Colossians 2:6-8
6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have
been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
8 Beware (Be-aware) lest any man spoil you through philosophy and
vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the
world, and not after Christ.


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The little gods

Luke 9:42 - And as he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down, and
tare [him]. And Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit, and healed the
child, and delivered him again to his father.

In this incident we see the evil spirit threw the little boy to the
floor and started to tear him from inside (not literally, the term is
used to describe the pain he experienced) . The evil spirit started
this manifestation the moment Jesus walked towards the boy. The Greek
word used here to describe the evil spirit is the word ‘daimonion’, it
comes from the Greek word ‘daimon’ which is also translated as devil.
The word daimon actually means ‘little gods’. For Plato and Socrates
‘diamonion’ were divine guardian and guiding powers. Both the words
‘daimonion’ and ‘daimon’ have the root Greek word ‘daio’ (to
distribute fortunes).

We see these evil spirits were worshiped by the Heathens for they
believed that these spirits had powers to guide them to fortune.

Islam too speaks of these spirits and referred to as Genie or Jinn.
Mohammad in one surah (51:56) states Allah created Jinns along with
man to serve him. In one place (37:6-10) he writes Allah uses
meteorites (shooting stars) to deter them from eavesdropping. There
are Muslim scholars like Ibn Kathir who state that jinns will also go
to Paradise. He puts jinns have gender as being male and female. Like
humans when they enter Paradise will be rewarded with many virgins so
also will the jinns be rewarded with female jinns.

When we note the Greek word daimonion it is neither male nor female
but neutral gender, but when we see the word diamond it is referred at
time in male gender and at times in the female gender.

Evil spirits are nothing but the fallen angels. Like angels they are
spirit beings who like man are corrupted. Since they were closer to
the glory of God before they revolted against the plans of God they
turned their hearts worst than man. Their thoughts and their works are
works of darkness.

Since the heathens do not have the light of God in them, they cannot
discern the evil spirits/fallen angels and thus get fooled when they
come to them as little gods that bring good fortune. In Hinduism we
find thousands of these spirits are worshipped as gods. Some days back
a person waited for 90 hours in a queue to touch on of these gods and
receive its blessing. They do exercise power on those who submit to
them. In the start they seem pleasing but at the end it all ends with
destruction of those connected to them.

These evil spirits/fallen angels/jinns are not only working among the
heathen as their gods, they also are very active among so called
Christians. Like Paul said, beware Satan (deceivers - plural) comes as
an angel of light. That is why among some ‘Christians’ who are not
rooted in the Word find certain characters appearing as intercessors,
guides, mother, protectors, providers etc. very contrary to God’s
Word.

In today’s message we see Jesus had just demonstrated His power as Son
of God by transfiguring and when he approached the boy with the evil
spirit, the evil spirit could not bear to stand before Jesus thus
started tormenting the boy. Jesus immediately rebuked the spirit and
cast it away, freeing the boy from its powers. Jesus had given His
disciples the authority to chase away these spirits just some days
before this incident, they had also experienced this power when they
were sent in twos but their lack of faith at this moment caused them
to fail, that is why Jesus asked them to fast and pray to strengthen
their faith and keep it consistently up.

Today the Lord is telling us as we gradually grow towards becoming
Sons of God, the more will Satan and his goons throw their tantrums
and this is the very thing we see happening in the world today. Let us
like Jesus with authority rebuke them and cast them away from our
surroundings, since Jesus has given us the authority to do so and we
should not doubt it. Let us also fast and pray so as to strengthen our
faith and our authority.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord Jesus You are Bin Elohim / Son of God having power over all
creation including the fallen angels. Lord Jesus You gave us authority
to chase these spirits away and the power to break the bonds they set
on man. Lord, help us to understand what this authority means and help
us to exercise it without doubting...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Mark 1:27 - And they were all amazed, insomuch that they questioned
among themselves, saying, What thing is this? what new doctrine is
this? for with authority commandeth he even the unclean spirits, and
they do obey him.

Luke 4:36 - And they were all amazed, and spake among themselves,
saying, What a word is this! for with authority and power he
commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.

Luke 9:1 - Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them
power and authority over all devils, and to cure diseases [heal
infirmity].

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


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They abused and mocked Him; are we doing it today?

Matthew 26:67 - Then did they spit in his face, and buffeted [punched]
him; and others smote him with the palms of their hands,

One thing we should note the New Testament does not give a detail
account of the events leading to the Passion of Christ. It is only
when we connect the Old Testament (especially the books of Moses,
Psalms and Isaiah) to the New Testament records do we get the correct
picture of the events that occurred during the Passion of Christ.

What we see in the picture Passion of Christ may seem gruesome but
that too is not even 50 percent of what really happened. There was a
preacher who had come from USA who had done deep study from historic
Roman records on this matter and when he was preaching on this topic
everyone was flabbergasted, but I wasn't because when I was studying
the books of Moses the Lord has shown me through his books about an
idea of what actually happened with Jesus i.e. most people think Jesus
was arrested the day before He was taken before Pilate and crucified.
In reality after Jesus was arrested at the Garden of Gethsemane He was
kept in remand for 5 days (since He was the Passover Lamb) partly with
the Jews and partly with the Romans. It was not only the Jews who
whipped Him but even the Roman also whipped Him. The Jews gave Him 30
lashes and the Romans gave a 100 that too with a whip having 9 to 13
whips connected to one and having things like bone pieces, glass
pieces and sharp metal pieces like nails tied to the ends of it. Each
day they took Him from place to place and abused Him every day, all
this time He did not say a word, for He had to fulfil scriptures and
the promise of God.

In today's message Matthew records the Jewish officials spitting on
Jesus's face and punching Him and others also joining them by slapping
Jesus on His face.

One may think, of all the things Jesus endured which included parts of
flesh torn out so deep that the bones were visible, why did Matthew
record these little things?

Firstly God did not desire us to know all details of the suffering
Jesus endured since the blood of the Pascal Lamb was put on the outer
side of the door post, for God to see and man to be aware of and be
protected by it.

The Lord wants us to be aware of something through this scripture; the
people did not only abuse Him physically but tried to abuse His
character. The face of a person represents the character or
personality of the person. That is why the Bible shows the favour of
God on someone by stating His Face shinning on that person.

Spitting on someone's face in Middle East culture shows the person as
dirt, of no value, it is one of the greatest insults a person can
give. Punching Jesus on the face by the Jewish officials showed their
anger against who Jesus was. They could not tolerate the personality
of Jesus and the things that He did which angered them all this time.

People may wonder what is slapping doing here compared to what Jesus
went through. Even a thousand slaps were not equal to a single slash
of the whip of the Romans. When the Romans whipped, the person who hit
did with all his strength for if the victim died on his hit he would
receive a great reward and 4 soldiers did this in pairs taking
frequent turns in between.

When I was young I was quiet mischievous and did get a lot of
punishment with the ruler, cane etc. from many people, but none of
them had a great impact on my life as much as the couple of slaps that
I received in my whole life.

The hitting face of a person with the palm of the hand is not a minor
thing. It is equal to physical abusing the person's self-respect and
causing a scare to that person's life. One can be hit any place on the
body of the person but the face is slapped to not impact just a
physical injury but also a psychological injury to that person. The
physical injury will heal in a short time but the psychological injury
may not heal for years.

These 3 factors the Jewish leaders and the Jewish people did to Jesus
showed the depth of their hatred towards Him. Even today things have
not changed; even today it is Israel-US diplomacy that keeps a real
Jew from venting his real hatred towards Jesus. Ask a hard-core Rabbi
what he feels about Jesus and he will say Jesus is in Hell in a pot of
boiling oil paying for what He did.

The face of a person is the identity of the person as a name is.

In today's message the Lord is telling us what hurts Him more is not
the physical abuse but the times we let His Name down or speak against
His Name. Let us not be part of the mob that abused Jesus, but let us
uphold the Name of Jesus by upholding His Character in us since we
call ourselves His disciples. If we cannot make that effort, let us
not call ourselves Christians.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You suffered great for us when You became our sacrifice on the
cross, but Lord even today many of us put You through suffering when
we do not live our lives worthy to what we call ourselves. We call
ourselves by your Name and we let your Name down when we live a
worldly life a life void and against of your principles. Lord, we do
not need a list of what is right and what is wrong for whatever that
goes against your principles we know is wrong. As we come to know You
more Lord give us the strength to walk in your path and not let your
Name down...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Exodus 12:3-7
3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth
day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according
to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his
neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the
souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the
lamb.
5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye
shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month:
and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in
the evening.
7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side
posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat
it.

John 1:29 - The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith,
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

Exodus 20:7 Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain;
for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

Psalm 22

Isaiah 53

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Because Ye are Sons

Galatians 4:6 - And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the
Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

We learned from last message that Jesus as man was the only Son of God
and He came to make us into Sons of God by the working of the Spirit
of God in us. But since we were full of sins He needed to wash us to
an extent that we be worthy to receive His Spirit. It did not need us
to be perfect and completely sinless for the sin nature still remains
in us even after we accept Jesus Christ and His sacrifice. It is for
dealing with the sin nature that Jesus Christ gave us His Spirit. It
was the Holy Spirit that kept Him free of sin and thus made Him able
to resurrect from Hell. The power was not exercised in Hell but
exercised here on earth when He was man and manifested when He was in
Hell. Our becoming Sons of God is a process in which all are part and
the result comes at the end. That means individually we will not
become but as the Bible states 2 among us near the end become, and
then God says ‘it is sufficient’ for 2 left Paradise and cause us from
Sons to be sinners and by the working of the Spirit in 2 we are made
perfect and caused to return back.

Now there are scriptures which seem to state that we have already
become Sons of God like today’s message, also in Romans 8:14 and 1
John 3:2.

The 12 Apostles were led by the Holy Spirit to rewrite the half
completed books of the New Testament from Aramaic to Greek because the
written text of Greek gives just the perfect expression and meaning of
God’s Word.

The Greek language is one of the riches language, its grammar (TVM -
Tone Voice Mood) of the verb gives the perfect rendering to what the
person wants to express. The Lord taught me the Tone of TVM is to do
our natural being, Voice with our inner man / soul and Mood with our
spirit and thus every single scripture by itself is complete; when
gets into this one can write like Paul did.

When we check the TVM of the verb ‘are’ in both the above scriptures
verb ‘are’ the TVM number is (5748).

TVM: Present 5774, Not Stated 5799, Indicative 5791

The Tone states as Present and this tense is not as simple as the
present tense in English. The Greek language states-
‘The present tense represents a simple statement of fact or reality
viewed as occurring in actual time. In most cases this corresponds
directly with the English present tense.
Some phrases which might be rendered as past tense in English will
often occur in the present tense in Greek. These are termed
"historical presents," and such occurrences dramatize the event
described as if the reader were there watching the event occur. Some
English translations render such historical presents in the English
past tense, while others permit the tense to remain in the present.’

The Voice not being there shows Sonship is not directly connect with
the inner-man but the spirit of man in Heaven and in body on earth
(this enabled Jesus to transfigure and do many other mighty wonders),
even though it is though the refining of the inner-man that we gain
our Sonship.

Mood being indicative tell us Sonship is a matter of fact or promise
to us that cannot change.

If we put this in picture we see that we were Sons of God when Adam
and Eve had not sinned, but by their sinning we too lost our Sonship.
Now by the working of the Holy Spirit in us we will gain our Sonship,
even though today we have not received it fully. We have a hold to the
title ‘sons’ only because of the Lord’ promise to us in His Word.
Jesus shows us this whole picture in His parable of the prodigal son.
When the son left the father’s house he did not consider himself part
of the family but when things did not go well with him he started
linking himself back to the family. The father on other hand never
thought his son to not be a part of the family and waited daily for
his return. Even from far the father knew his son had truly returned.
And when the son returned the father reconfirmed his sonship by
putting the family ring of authority on his finger.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You made us for great things but sin kept us far from You. Even
though we were far from You, You always kept yourself close to us and
your mercy kept us alive. Lord, today we love You because You loved us
first. You welcomed us with open arms and a heart full of love. Lord,
we pray your people who have yet not returned, will return and we all
will gain Sonship in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Romans 8:14 - For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are (
the sons of God.

Luke 15:11-24

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:

Romans 8:14-21
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For you have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but
you have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba,
Father.
16 The Spirit itself bears 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.
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.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the
manifestation of the sons of God.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by
reason of him who has subjected the same in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of
God.

Galatians 4:3-7
3 Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the
elements of the world:
4 But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son,
made of a woman, made under the law,
5 To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the
adoption of sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son
into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
7 Why you are no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an
heir of God through Christ.

Philippians 2:14-16
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without
rebuke, in the middle of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom you
shine as lights in the world;
16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of
Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither labored in vain.

1 John 3:1-3
1 Behold, what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we
should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knows us not,
because it knew him not.
2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it does not yet appear
what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be
like him; for we shall see him as he is.
3 And every man that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

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He came as man
Luke 2:1 - And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a
decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.

The birth of Jesus Christ is well documented even historically in the
Gospel yet we find many people are not very clear with it.

There are many things which are more of traditionally based which
people blindly accept and believe simply because they do not study
scriptures thoroughly.

For instance there is not place it is written Jesus was born in a
stable or a cave and yet we see people picture that in His birth in a
crib. Bible simply says when Jesus was born Mary wrapped Him in a
cloth and laid Him in a manger. Note that they were waiting for room
outside an inn. A manger does mean a stable but means a wooden
container used to feed animals. Luke simply states Jesus was born in a
place where the donkeys, horses or camels (animals used by travellers
living in the inn) were fed while Mary and Joseph were waiting for a
room in the inn to be free.

I will not get into the dates of Jesus’s birth but about Him coming as
a man. Muslims find it hard to believe God could come as man. Their
first question is if God came as man then who is running the world?
Then there are the Catholics who think Jesus was part God and part man
when He was on earth (even many Believers believe in this). Paul
clearly says whoever does not believe Jesus Christ was 100percent
human / born in the flesh is not from God.

What confuses people is being man Jesus had powers which no man had,
thus they attribute the God factor to Him. The other problem is the
references of Jesus being the Son of God is confused with Him being
God.

Jesus was God the Son Who humbled Himself and came as man. As man He
was 100 percent man. Being God who is omnipotent He is able to do
anything, so humbling Himself and becoming His creation was not a
great feat but a great risk, for He gave up His omnipotence when He
became man. He was God the Son Who came from the Father (not created)
meaning He was within the Father as part of the Father before He was
declared by the Father as being an entity by Himself. That is why He
is identical as the Father and They have the same Spirit.

As man He was without sin and uncorrupted and perfect thus He was
called a Son of God for that title is for all those who have the image
of God in them, that is why Adam before he sinned was called a Son of
God and so also are the Angels given the same reference.

As Son of God He had power and authority, and He as man remained being
the Son of God meant man had got victory over sin and had overcome it
that is why He is called the Corner Stone and example for us. He gave
us His Spirit by Whom He overcame so that we (all those who believe in
Him and are connected to Him, not each one, for fully overcoming is a
gradual process over generations) will also overcome and become Sons
of God. For us to receive His Spirit He had to pay the price by His
death.

Jesus died as man but like all humans when they die their spirits do
not die but go depending on their situation at death. When Jesus died
Jesus was forsaken by the Father since our sins were on Him thus He
went to Hell and since no sin was in Him He could not be kept there so
He resurrected (rose). He came back in the flesh because His flesh was
not corrupted and as promised He returned in the flesh (since our
flesh is corrupted we do not resurrect in the flesh). Since He broke
the curse of Hell whoever believes in Him does not go to Hell but
sleeps (their spirit exist in a dimension called Grave but does not go
to Heaven).

Jesus is the only one who has ascended to Heaven for He was complete
and He will come again as man (Son of Man - thus He will never appear
in the flesh till then) on the Day of the Lord to judge all those who
believe in Him. All those who are asleep will resurrect and those who
are alive at that time will be transformed (caught in the air as Paul
puts it) and all will stand before Him to be judged. Those who have
Word of God in them (whatever is revealed to them that they have kept
and have received the Fruit of Truth from the Holy Spirit) will be
covered by the Righteousness (Blood) of The Son and will thus will be
eligible to receive the Fruit of Holiness from the Father and enter
Heaven. We in Heaven will become a part of The Son taking the place of
the place of the fallen Angels, thus The Son comes back in glory
before the world was.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we thank You for risking all when You came as man so as to
enable us to return to Heaven and to be part of You. We thank You for
enabling us to be able the receive the Fruits we lost when sin came
into us by the price You paid, your Word and by your Spirit. We pray
Lord more and more people may know You and by the knowledge of You and
by your Spirit be a part of You...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Luke 2:7 - And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in
swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room
for them in the inn.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are
in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

1 Corinthians 12:3 Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man
speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus accursed: and that no man
can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

1 Thessalonians 4:13-17
13 But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them
which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no
hope.
14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them
also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him.
15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which
are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent
them which are asleep.
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with
the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in
Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we
ever be with the Lord.

John 17:4-6
4 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do.
5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was.
6 I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of
the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have
kept thy word.

Revelation 20:11-15
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose
face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place
for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of
life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written
in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell
delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every
man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire.

John 3:13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came
down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

John 5:22-29
22 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the
Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which
hath sent him.
24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and
believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not
come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that
hear shall live.
26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the
Son to have life in himself;
27 And hath 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, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.

Revelation 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in
my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in
his throne.

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:

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the
sons of God.

Acts 2:30-35
30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an
oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh,
he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that
his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having
received of the Father the promise of the Holy S, he hath shed forth
this, which ye now see and hear.
34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself,
The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand,
35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool.

Acts 17:31 Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will
judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained;
whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised
him from the dead.

Romans 14:10-12
10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at
nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ.
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow
to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.


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Tempting or testing

Acts 5:9 - Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed
together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them
which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee
out.

There are some words in the Bible which are not understood well in
their English translations i.e. the word 'tempt' which is also
translated as 'test' or the words 'bless' or 'curse' which have the
same Hebrew or Greek words. In English we have two different words
test and tempt but in Greek and Hebrew the word is the same, 'peirazo'
and 'nacah' respectively. What complicates matters further is when we
have scriptures like:-

James 1:13 - Let no man say when he is tempted [peirazo], I am tempted
[peirazo] of God: for God cannot be tempted [peirazo] with evil,
neither tempteth [apeirastos - negative of peirazo] he any man:

But then we have scriptures shows God tempted:-

Genesis 22:1 - And it came to pass after these things, that God did
tempt Abraham, and said unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold, here I
am.

Even though tempting and testing is the same word in Greek or Hebrew
yet we see God is not attributed with tempted but He does test and it
is through the testing that we grow and mature in Him. He does test
only when we are far from Him and He desires us to bring us closer.
That is the reason in the prayer Our Father we ask God not to test us
but by His grace bring us closer to Him. James clears the confusion
between testing and tempting with a clear emphasises on the purpose or
intention of testing by using the word 'tempted / tested with evil'.

When Jesus was tempted or tested by Satan He could have easily done
that task but He refused to oblige Satan's request because Jesus could
discern the purpose of Satan's testing or tempting.

Yesterday in our message we read how we can lose everything for
something insignificant if we do not discern things. Today, the Lord
is bringing our attention to the importance of discerning the purpose
or intention of desiring things, when the purpose or intention is evil
than it can destroy or relationship with the Lord and if it is good
than it will bring us closer to the Lord.

Having desires is not evil for in Psalms 34:8 the Bible says 'taste
and see the Lord is good'; without desire we will never taste or see
the goodness of God. What the Lord is telling us today is when we
desire let is first understand the purpose of our desire and what
fruit it will plant in us and then only we should entertain the
desire. A Carnal person is a person who entertains all his or her
desires and such a person lands up far from God and close to Satan who
is the father of evil desires.

Jacob was a sober person compared to Esau not because Jacob did not
have desires, but because his desires were not worldly like of Esau.
We should also keep in mind that Esau was a God fearing person and a
person blessed by the Lord, yet due to his lack of self-control and
discernment of his desires he fell from the eyes of God.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, help us be sober and not reactive to our every desire. Help us
not to be carnal minded but reflect on the purpose or fruit of our
every desire. Give us more of your Spirit of discernment. ..

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Psalms 34:8 - O taste and see that the LORD is good: blessed is the
man that trusts in him.

1 Corinthians 10:9 - Neither let us tempt [ekpeirazo - tempt / test
thoroughly] Christ, as some of them also tempted [peirazo], and were
destroyed of serpents.

Luke 4:12 (when Satan tempted Jesus) And Jesus answering said unto
him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt [peirazo] the Lord thy God.

1 Corinthians 10:13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is
common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be
tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make
a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

Psalms 10:17 - LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou
wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

Matthew 6:13 - And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from
evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for
ever. Amen.

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