World Wide Christians Partner with Jesus' Place/
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.
Who is online?
In total there are 24 users online :: 1 Registered, 0 Hidden and 23 Guests

Admin

[ View the whole list ]


Most users ever online was 386 on Sun 25 Apr 2021, 2:56 pm
Latest topics
»  Chip Brogden CHURCH WITHOUT WALLS
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyToday at 9:23 pm by Admin

» Israel War UPDATE
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyToday at 9:09 pm by Admin

» ZAKA Tel Aviv
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyToday at 9:07 pm by Admin

» israelAM
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyToday at 9:04 pm by Admin

» WHY DID GOD CREATE EVIL
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyToday at 4:36 pm by Admin

» WORTHY NEWS
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyToday at 2:37 pm by Admin

» JIHAD WATCH
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyYesterday at 11:38 pm by Admin

» Gatestone Institute
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyYesterday at 11:18 pm by Admin

» AISH
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyYesterday at 10:24 pm by Admin

» BIBLE STUDY on VERSE
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyYesterday at 10:13 pm by Admin

» ISRAEL BREAKING NEWS
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyYesterday at 9:54 pm by Admin

» Pressure from UN Threats
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyTue 26 Mar 2024, 11:45 pm by Admin

» Ship that obliterated Baltimore bridge
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyTue 26 Mar 2024, 11:44 pm by Admin

» PROPHESY NEWS WATCH
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyTue 26 Mar 2024, 11:08 pm by Admin

» Be Fervent in Spirit
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyTue 26 Mar 2024, 10:54 pm by Admin

» Remain in God - iBelieve Truth
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyTue 26 Mar 2024, 1:25 am by Admin

» Amir Tsarfati BEHOLD ISRAEL
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyTue 26 Mar 2024, 12:43 am by Admin

»  HONEST REPORTING Defending Israel from Media Bias plz read REGULAR UPDATES
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyMon 25 Mar 2024, 11:40 pm by Admin

» WORTHY NEWS
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyMon 25 Mar 2024, 11:00 pm by Admin

» Israel 365 News
Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 EmptyMon 25 Mar 2024, 8:54 pm by Admin

Navigation
 Portal
 Index
 Memberlist
 Profile
 FAQ
 Search

Source:- GOOD NEWS

Page 12 of 16 Previous  1 ... 7 ... 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16  Next

Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Thu 21 Oct 2010, 2:43 pm

Learning The Truth
As Christians it is important to read and study all of God's Word, it amazes me whenever a person tells me that the Old Testament is not significant for us today because we are
to follow the New Testament. You know, the New Testament was taken fromthe Old Testament, in fact, it is a reflection of the Old. While we are not bound by many of the laws that were given through Moses, the same principles still apply.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in
righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.- II Timothy 3:16.
It is important that we know all the Scriptures so
we can learn the truth about everything the God wants us to know.
The center of the entire Bible is Jesus, they knew it back then as
well, just like we are awaiting His return, they were waiting for His
first coming. David himself said, Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee...Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Psalm 2:6,7,12. Jesus will return one day and just like all the
prophecies came to pass regarding His birth, death, burial, and
resurrection, everything will come to pass regarding His return.
The Pharisees, scribes, and Sadducees were very religious, but they
were determined to destroy Jesus. Why? They did not want anyone proving them the liars that they were and would do anything necessary to keep the truth from being revealed. Jesus explained this further in a parable.
And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat,and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country....But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.' And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others....And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way. Mark 12:1,7-9,12.
These men were determined to kill Jesus, they thought themselves to be righteous and God fearing, but the reality was they made up their own religion, instead of studying the Scriptures and learning the truth they did what they learned by bits and pieces of what they heard of God's Word, not by what they read. Religion is what destroys God's Word and it was the death of Jesus, piece by piece they remove God's truth and create their own image of who He is and what His truth is.
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,Romans 1:21,22. The right knowledge of the Scripture and the foundation on which it is built, is the best prevention against error and being deceived by false religion.
The Sadducees believed in God, but not the resurrection, trying to
catch Him in off guard they questioned Him about the resurrection using an example about a widow woman. Jesus responded, Do
ye not therefore err, because ye know not the scriptures, neither the
power of God? For when they shall rise from the dead, they neither
marry, nor are given in marriage; but are as the angels which are in
heaven. And as touching the dead, that they rise: have ye not read in
the book of Moses, how in the bush God spake unto him, saying, I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? He is not the God of the dead, but the God of the living: ye therefore do greatly err.- Mark 12:24-27.
The scribes, whom although knew a bit of Scripture, represent men and their traditions. They are the ones that put their own thoughts down, and call it "of God". They are the ones that think more of themselves and how they appear to others, than how God looks down upon them. Jesus is watching them as they cast their money into the treasury.
And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much. And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them,
Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all
they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of
their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.- Mark 12:41-44.
Jesus sat there and watched the people cast their money into the offering plate, Jesus watches as this poor widow woman cast in two mites, which were the smallest piece of money that could be accepted as an offering.
This little bit of money meant more to Jesus than all that the scribes gave.
Why? This says a great deal about this woman and her love for God. She cast all she had into the treasury, trusting in God to provide for her.
Christian's have nothing to fear when we put our faith and trust in the
Lord, Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and if
anyone questions your loyalty to Him all you have to say is, I am a
forgiven child of the Living God, saved by the blood of Jesus Christ Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.
For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement Romans 5:9-11.
Our Lord Jesus, when He ascended on high, left something for all His
servants to do. We ought to be always upon our watch, in expectation of His return.
Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is. For the Son of Man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch. Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning: Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping. And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch. Mark13:33-37.
Jesus is returning and when He does all the false prophets and
religious leaders will see God's wrath. However, in the mean time, Jesus is trusting us to keep telling the truth and setting ourselves as the examples that we need to be to show all that they too need Jesus.
For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:..For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:...Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 5For ye were as sheep going astray; butare now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. - I Peter 2:15,21,24,25. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have a great week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Wed 20 Oct 2010, 11:24 am

Increasing Faith
The word faith is defined as having confidence or trust in a person or thing, it is also defined as having a strong or unshakeable belief in something, especially
without proof or evidence. Okay, the world seems to have it half right,
it sees our faith in God as without proof or evidence, it is good to
know that we can find the truth from the book of all knowledge, the
Bible. The true meaning of faith is, Now
faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not
seen....Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear....But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
- Hebrews 11:1,3,6. Okay, so, the Bible tells us that faith is the core
or center of putting our confidence or trust in God, whom we can not
see, and receiving them with proof of His existence through our belief
in Him.
Our faith in God is like a line graph chart, sometimes it is way up
high a we feel God is with us and sometimes it is so low that we feel
God is no where to be found. You know, if you are saved God is always with you, even if you are not, God is always there nudging you to get saved. The truth is this, our faith increases by the things we receive, the more we receive the more faith we have, but if we start losing things our faith decreases. The big reason for this, we want to receive things on our terms and not God's. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will
of God, ye might receive the promise. Hebrews 10:25,26.

The key to all blessings from God is knowing His terms and the only
way to know His terms is to be saved and get in His Word. Reading His Word without being saved is like trying to find a house with absolutely no directions, you will never find or increase your faith in God if you are not saved. If I had stuck my face in this great book years ago it would have kept me from a lot of suffering, but thank God that He got meto read it before I suffered even more by marrying a man that had been divorced twice. Yes, divorce is not in the will of God, Jesus said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, and marry another, committeth adultery against her. And if a woman shall put away her husband, and be married to another, she committeth adultery.- Mark 10:11,12.
While divorce is not in the will of God, He does give us a way out of
every situation and is forgiving to those who have divorced. But
if the unbelieving depart, let him depart. A brother or a sister is not
under bondage in such cases: but God hath called us to peace. For what knowest thou, O wife, whether thou shalt save thy husband? or how knowest thou, O man, whether thou shalt save thy wife? But as God hath distributed to every man, as the Lord hath called every one, so let him walk. And so ordain I in all churches. - I Corinthians 7:15-17.
God will often place circumstances in our lives in order to increase
our faith in Him, Jesus is always with us, we need, but to call Him,
such as the case of a blind beggar who heard that Jesus was passing by. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, and say, Jesus, thou son of David, have mercy on me. And many charged him that he should hold his peace: but he cried the more a great deal, Thou son of David, have mercy on me. And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee. And he, casting away his garment, rose, and came to Jesus. And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. And Jesus said unto him, Go thy way; thy faith
hath made thee whole. And immediately he received his sight, and
followed Jesus in the way. Mark 10:47-52.
Although Jesus was in His presence and knew what the man wanted He did not give Him what He wanted until first, he cried out to Him, and secondly, Jesus saw his faith. It is important that we have faith, but equally important to call Him. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him....So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God - Romans 10:12,17.
While nothing is impossible with God, sometimes the things we ask God for are just ridiculous, so, we should not expect them. Think about it, do you think God is going to give you gun to kill yourself? That is just something people do out of their own will and not God's. When Jesus was explaining to His disciples the things that were about to take place before He leaves the earth two of His disciples asked Jesus for something that He just could not give them.
And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory...But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. -Mark 11:35-37,42- 45.
Stop and think of what these were asking of God, the cup that Jesus is about to drink from, is His crucifixion, as well as the cup that he
will pour out upon the earth at His return. However to be baptized with their baptism that Jesus is speaking of here is all the suffering and death that is right in from of Jesus. They cannot be there and go
through those times and troubles, for Christ must go through it alone.
Jesus is on the right hand of the Father, these two are asking to take
the place of Almighty God. Their request is asked in ignorance, as are
many of the requests that we ask of Him each day. Thank God that He doesnot give us our every request, and wishful desire. We need to remind ourselves that, the higher we rise in seeking to be like Christ, the lower we shall willingly stoop to serve those around us. A Christian should always be available to do what will the will of God and that willincrease our faith and the blessings we receive. That
the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that
perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and
honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ: Whom having not seen,ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith,even the salvation of your souls. -I Peter 1:7-9. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have an awesome week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Tue 12 Oct 2010, 9:26 am

Allowing Christ to Abide in Us
As Christians, it is a wonderful
comfort to know that no matter what we have done or will even do in the future that we do not have to worry about where we are going when our time here on earth is complete. It is not our works that get us to heaven, but our faith, acknowledgment, and trust in the Gospel of the
Lord Jesus Christ that gets us to heaven. If you do not know Christ, youdo not know God. The Bible says, Whosoever
denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth
the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye
have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the
beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in
the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even
eternal life.
-I John 2:23-25. While our works do not get us eternal life, they do
get us to remain faithful and allow Christ to abide in us. Since Jesus
came here in the flesh to show us how to live in the will of God, it is
important that we allow Him into our lives beyond salvation and do the
things that He did.

Word had gotten around all over the country about the amazing and
wonderful things that Jesus was doing for the Jews and even Gentiles,
so, naturally when He came into Jerusalem he was cheered and praised
upon entering. The first thing Jesus did when He entered Jerusalem was
go into the Temple of God. And
Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and
bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and
the seats of them that sold doves, And said unto them, It is written,
My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den
of thieves. And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he
healed them.- Matthew 21:12-14.

The people were buying and selling worldly things in the Temple, that
was to be used just for worshiping God, Jesus cast all of them out and
destroyed all the tables. Now, do not get this confused with giving
tithe, giving tithe helps keep the church maintained and helps minister
to the people, but selling things in the church for personal gain is
what has Jesus all fired up. Will
a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we
robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye
have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into
the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now
herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of
heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room
enough to receive it. - Malachi 3:8-10.

Just as Jesus cleansed the Temple we too our to cleanse our Temples,
God no longer dwells in a building, but in every person who accepts
Christ as their Savior. We are to cast away all things that defile our
Temples. Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.- I Corinthians 3:16,17.

The amazing thing is that the more we allow Christ to abide in us the
more faith we have in Him, the more blessings we receive. Jesus explains
this further through a mere fig tree. Now in the morning as he returned into the city, he hungered. And when he saw a fig tree in the way, he came to it, and found nothing thereon, but leaves only, and said unto it, Let no fruit grow on thee henceforward for ever. And presently the fig tree withered away. And when the disciples saw it, they marvelled, saying, How soon is the fig tree withered away! Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you,
If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is
done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be
thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all
things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.- Matthew 21:18-22.

As our faith in Jesus grows we learn to trust Him more and lessen our
doubt that He can deliver the things we are asking Him for. When we
pray, we must pray as though we see it right before our eyes and that is
the faith that gets prayers answered. Butwithout faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that
diligently seek him. - Hebrews 11:6.

Once again, all are invited and encouraged to accept Jesus Christ as
their Savior, but not everyone will accept. Jesus explains this further
in this parable, And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready:
come unto the marriage.... And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment?
And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen.-Matthew 22:1-4,11-14.

Receiving Christ as our Savior
is much like a wedding, God is the King, and we are all invited to a
wedding feast, Jesus is the Son and bridegroom, we are His bride, just
as a man and woman become one when they marry, we become one with Christ when we ask Him to save us. The man that did not have on the wedding garment, was a person who hoped in his works to get him to heaven, but did not actually receive Him as his Savior. No matter who we are or what we do for God, unless we have accept His invitation we will be cast into the darkness (fire). And
death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire - Revelation 20:14,15.

When we allow Christ to abide (remain, continue) in us there is no
better way to live, we not only learn the true meaning of what He
actually sacrificed to give us eternal life, we also find peace,
comfort, and and amazing blessings because we allowed Him to lead us. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
- I John 3:22 Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and weekend.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Sun 10 Oct 2010, 9:30 am

Following Traditions

The word tradition is defined as handing down the same customs, practices, beliefs, and information by word of mouth from generation to generation.
The key to a tradition is, “by word of mouth, regardless of whether or
not we know something to be true, it is by what we hear others tell us
by the mouth that makes it a tradition. Why? Because people will act
upon what they hear, if a person hears from someone else that it is okay
to do something, especially if it is someone they trust, then they will
do it, continuing the tradition onto the next generation.



Everything we do in life needs to line up with the Word of God,
including the traditions we follow, just because we follow a tradition
from our family it does not mean that it lines up with the Word of God,
in fact, most do not, they are just family traditions. When the scribes
and Pharisees questioned Jesus about His disciples violation of the
elders traditions, He said, “Why
do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God
commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth
father or mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say
to his father or his mother, It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest
be profited by me; And honour not his father or his mother, he shall be
free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your
tradition.� - Matthew 15:3-6.



Jesus confronted them about their violating the fifth commandment by
altering God's law to fit their needs. Additions to God's laws reflect
upon His wisdom, as if He had left out something which was needed, which
man could supply. How thankful ought we to be for the written Word of
God! We are to never follow the traditions of others who claim that
there are missing words or books missing from the Bible and especially
wrote their own versions. This is not following God's Law, it's
following mans, and will always lead us to in one way or other to
disobey God. “Beware
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. - Colossians 2:8.



Jesus continues and explains how God's law gets changed, This
people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with
their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship
me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called the
multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which
goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the
mouth, this defileth a man....Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever
entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the
draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from
the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil
thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,
blasphemies: - Matthew 15:8-11,17-19.



Many religions talk about Christ and even His death, but they do not
acknowledge His burial and resurrection. And those that do acknowledge
it, add to or take away from the doctrine of the Gospel. This is vain
worship and following the traditions of man, in other words, following
what others tell them instead of the truth from the Word of God. How do
they even get to that point? Not following God with all their heart.
Following God halfheartedly always leads to man altering His Word to fit
their lifestyle, not altering their lifestyle to fit His Word. “For
the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when
they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but
became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was
darkened. -Romans 2:20,21.



If we want to follow God's traditions, first, we must believe in the
Gospel, secondly, we must be saved, and third, we must live by Every
Word of God. Those who are not saved are those who question the Bible
and alter it to fit their needs. Those who are saved live by or work to
live by Every Word of God. Man's traditions also deceive people into
thinking that they have to be a particular religion or race in order to
be saved. Christ saves all and this is shown when a Caanite woman came
to Him, And,
behold, a woman of Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto
him, saying, Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is
grievously vexed with a devil. But he answered her not a word. And his
disciples came and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she crieth
after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost
sheep of the house of Israel. Then came she and worshipped him, saying,
Lord, help me. But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the
children's bread, and to cast it to dogs. And she said, Truth, Lord: yet
the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then
Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it
unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that
very hour. - Matthew 15:22-28.



Jesus was testing this woman's faith, the children represent the Jews,
the bread represents Jesus, who is the bread of life, and the dogs
represent the Gentiles. He said, “I was sent here for the Jews, why
should I give my bread to the Gentiles?� The woman persisted, worshiped
Jesus, pleaded for His help, and acknowledged that she was aware that He
was sent to save the Jews, but even dogs get to eat the crumbs from the
table, even though I am not a Jew I am willing to accept whatever I can
get. Jesus saw her faith and healed her daughter. It does not matter if
we were born of the Jews or Gentiles, Jesus came to save all and saves
all who believes in Him. For
by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or
Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink
into one Spirit. -I Corinthians 12:13.



We all have family traditions, but it is important to realize that if
you are saved you are heirs with Christ, making you family, which means
the most important family tradition to follow is that of Jesus Christ. “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.- Galatians 4:7. Since we are heirs with Christ we need to be aware
that some of the customs, practices, and beliefs that we use to follow
are ones that we need to avoid.But
the Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from
evil...And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into
the patient waiting for Christ. Now we command you, brethren, in the
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every
brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he
received of us. - II Thessalonians 3:3,5,6.



Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.

God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Sat 09 Oct 2010, 1:08 pm

Be Not Conformed
A parable is a short story that uses familiar events aimed to teach truth and morality, Jesus
often spoke in parables. He wanted people to see how simple it was to
live life for God the right way and still enjoy life. To be moral means
to have respect for yourself, to go against what the world sees as
normal and respect the body and mind that the Lord gave you. Anytime a person conforms to the standards of the world by wearing clothes that reveal the nakedness of the body, listening to music that only livens the flesh, and gives their body away to anyone is not only disrespecting the body God gave them, but also disrespecting God. The Bible says, beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. -Romans 12:1,2.

God makes it simple for us to get into His Kingdom, accept that you are a sinner, believe in His Son, confess that you are a sinner, and ask
Jesus to save you from your sins. However, man makes it more
complicated, they add in that you need to do all these things to get to
heaven and throw in these extra rules that are not from God and tell you that if you will not follow them you will lose your right to heaven.
Can I tell you that being moral does not get you to heaven, only Jesus
does, but once we do get saved it is up to us whether or not we become transformed by what we have learned. Jesus explains how people receive this simple truth through a sower sowing seeds, And
when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some
thirtyfold. - Matthew 13:4-8.
No matter how much we learn through God's Word there is always more to
learn and we are going to have some questions concerning what we read.
Jesus' disciples were right there with Him in the flesh and they still
had questions. They asked Jesus why He spoke in parables, “He
answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.. ..For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should
be converted, and I should heal them.� - Matthew 13:11-13,15.
What Jesus is saying here is that He speaks in parables to make things
easier to understand for those who are willing to be taught, but makes
them harder for those who are willingly ignorant. He knows that those
who really have no interest in what He is saying is not really
listening, but those who do will hear and see what He is saying and be
saved. This I say therefore, and testify in the Lord, that ye henceforth walk not as other Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, Having the
understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their
heart:...And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on
the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true
holiness. - Ephesians 4:17,18,23,24.
Jesus also explains to the disciples who the sower is, Another
parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is
likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men
slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then
appeared the tares also....He answered and said unto them, He that
soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. - Matthew 13:24-26,37- 42.
The sower is Jesus, the field is the corruptible world, and the tares
or weeds are Satan. There are going to be many weeds among us to corrupt us, some will remain faithful to God, some will get saved and will fall from God's grace, but when Jesus returns, those who truly believed in and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior will be found and saved from
the fire. Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God. Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto
unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently: Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. -I Peter 1:18-23.
The great thing is when we allow Jesus to be Lord of our lives He is
always watching over us and even if we fall He is right there waiting
for us to return to Him. And
in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the
sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were
troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But
straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid
me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink,
he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith,
wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the
wind ceased.
- Matthew 14:25-32. Jesus is not going to save anyone that does not
want to be saved, but He will save all who ask Him to save them. We have faith in Jesus to save us, let's have faith in Him to lead us and guide us to the simple, moral, incorruptible, life that God truly blesses to those who believe in His Son.“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. - Revelation 22:13. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Fri 08 Oct 2010, 11:06 am

GOOD NEWS
Opposition & The Devil
As Christians we are constantly facing opposition over our faith in Jesus Christ, we even have family members that mock us and treat us like we have the plague or something because we stand by our faith in Him that live in the world. You know, it is actually a good thing that we have the opposition that we do? If we did not have the opposition that we have then would not be able to understand the importance of even having faith in Jesus. The Bible says, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. 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." -I Peter 5:8-10. The devil will use anyone he can to get us to agree with him and walk away from God, but by remaining faithful to God, he can not stand. The more opposition we face from the devil the more we know we are following the will of God.
If we are facing opposition can you imagine the opposition that Jesus got Himself, the Pharisees were the largest group of Jews and the most influential. Their religion centered around obedience to the law, which they added to over the years, and oral traditional law interpreted for the people to be of God, and enforced it upon the people. This time the Pharisees were opposing the disciples picking corn in the field on the Sabbath, "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. 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. But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; 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? 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? But I say unto you, That in this place is one greater than the temple. But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless. For the Son of man is Lord even of the sabbath day. " - Matthew 12:1-8.
The Sabbath was a day of rest, no labor of any kind was allowed, they were not even allowed to cook a meal, so, when the disciples began picking the corn the Pharisees saw it as breaking the law. Religious people try to throw you off by knowing a little bit about Scripture, but they do not tell you all of it so, you are left putting your trust in them to show you what they believe the truth to be. Jesus is the Lord, He is not going to make us do something that goes against God and His Word. That is why it is so important to read the Bible for yourself and find a church that actually follows the doctrine of the Bible, not those made by man. "Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do....Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust." - I Timothy 1:4,9-11.
When Jesus healed on the Sabbath He got opposition from that as well, the Pharisees actually tried to tell the people that He was the son of Satan. "Then was brought unto him one possessed with a devil, blind, and dumb: and he healed him, insomuch that the blind and dumb both spake and saw. And all the people were amazed, and said, Is not this the son of David? But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, This fellow doth not cast out devils, but by Beelzebub the prince of the devils. And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand? And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you." -Matthew 12:22-28.
What Jesus is saying here is that if He were the son of Satan He would be casting out everyone that was evil and opposed God and if He did that then there would be no one left, but God's people. So, naturally Satan is not going to cast away those who believe as he does because there would be no one left to take away from God and he would be cast out. The Christian life is a constant battle between good and evil, but it is our faith and trust in the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ that gets us in the Kingdom of God. Worldly people and false religion will always oppose the Gospel.
"Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from thee. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here." - Matthew 12:38-41.
The world seeks a sign in front of them that God exists and that the Gospel is true, but but true Christians live by faith, holding on the the Gospel. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen....But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him." - Hebrews 11:1,5. It is only by our faith in Him that we can see wonderful things happening in our lives right before our eyes.
I can not stress enough how important it is for all to realize that religion is the biggest downfall of Christianity and will be what destroys the world. Religion goes well beyond Christianity, religious leaders create their own rules, books, and even gods, those who create occults and even evolution is a religion. Many so called Christian religions also make up their own rules rather than do what the Bible says. Oh, they read a little bit of Scripture to deceive the people, but have no idea what it means to be a Christian, in fact, religion is what actually led to Jesus being crucified. We are going to face opposition from the devil because we follow Christ, but it is a good thing because we are now family with Christ. All who believe in and accept Him into their lives become family with Jesus and God's Kingdom. "While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother."-Matthew 12:46-50. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Thu 07 Oct 2010, 8:06 am

God, The Servant
Did you know that Jesus, although the Son of God, was a servant? In fact, it was God Himself who came here in the flesh of Jesus to be a servant to us? "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." -Philippians 2:5-8. Does that sound impossible? With God, nothing is impossible. God is omnipresent, meaning He can show up everywhere at the same time and still do some miraculous things in every place. If He can heal a thousand people from all over the world He can most certainly come here in the flesh and be a servant.

Why would He do that when He has so much power? His love for us. He loves us so much that He would rather give His life for us than to see us end up in hell. He came here to show us that even though we carry around this wretched flesh we can still live right and serve God. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man....For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted." - Hebrews 2:9,16-18.

So, what exactly is a servant? A servant is a person that is employed by another person, in other words, when we serve God we are employed by Him. Can you think of anyone better to work for? Jesus had a job for the apostles, an apostle is a disciple that worked with Jesus in the flesh, they were to go out and preach the Gospel.

"And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand...Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet...For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." - Matthew 10:7,10-14,20.

The apostles were to visit everyone in the city they were visiting and present them with the Gospel. They were instructed to just bring themselves to the door and offer only the Gospel to them. He advised them that some will accept them and the Gospel, while others will not, but keep going, shake it off, do not take it personally, and understand that God is working through them. Jesus said, "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known." -Matthew 10:24-26.

A servant is not above his lord, in other words, an employer is not above his boss, if the boss gets a bad reputation so will the employer no matter how good the company is. The master of the household is God Himself, Beelzebub, is Satan, Satan is constantly attacking those whom work for God, Therefore, Jesus advises all who work for Him that they are not above Him, they will fave the same persecution that He did. However,

Jesus assures us that we do not need to fear what Satan tries to do to us because God will protect us, "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." - Matthew 10:30-33.

All Christian's will face persecution at some point in our lives simply because they chose to follow Christ, those who are determined by faith, will not be intimidated or stopped by family members, friends, or fierce opposition against their Lord and Savior. They put their trust and protection in the Lord, "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." -II Timothy 4:18.

Since we are all called to be God's servants, we must expect to enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations. However, we can not forget the master of the house, when we remain faithful to Him He will defend us from evil, and supply us with peace through it all. "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:27-30. Our Savior has invited all that labor and are heavy-laden, to come to him. The convinced sinner is heavy-laden with guilt and terror and the tempted and afflicted believer has labors and burdens. Christ invites all to come to him for rest to their souls. He alone gives this invitation, when, feeling their guilt and misery, and believing His love and power to help, they seek him in fervent prayer.

If God can be a servant, that means we can be a servant as well, in fact, God has given every believer a job, the most important is to preach the Gospel to the lost, however, He gives us all an opportunity to serve Him in at least one other way. "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:" - Ephesians 4:11-13. The more we do to serve God the more knowledge we give to those who live in the world that a wonderful life can be lived with Jesus in it. Little by little I went from helping out a little bit at church to a soul winner, to a teacher, and now I sing in the church choir. I ran into an old friend I use to work with yesterday and when she heard all that I was doing she stopped and asked, how did you get from where you were to where you are now? I said, Jesus. Jesus was truly what I was missing in my life and I never want to go another day with Him not in it. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Thu 07 Oct 2010, 8:05 am

God, The Servant
Did you know that Jesus, although the Son of God, was a servant? In fact, it was God Himself who came here in the flesh of Jesus to be a servant to us? "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross." -Philippians 2:5-8. Does that sound impossible? With God, nothing is impossible. God is omnipresent, meaning He can show up everywhere at the same time and still do some miraculous things in every place. If He can heal a thousand people from all over the world He can most certainly come here in the flesh and be a servant.

Why would He do that when He has so much power? His love for us. He loves us so much that He would rather give His life for us than to see us end up in hell. He came here to show us that even though we carry around this wretched flesh we can still live right and serve God. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man....For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted." - Hebrews 2:9,16-18.

So, what exactly is a servant? A servant is a person that is employed by another person, in other words, when we serve God we are employed by Him. Can you think of anyone better to work for? Jesus had a job for the apostles, an apostle is a disciple that worked with Jesus in the flesh, they were to go out and preach the Gospel.

"And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand...Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat. And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, enquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence. And when ye come into an house, salute it. And if the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it: but if it be not worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet...For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." - Matthew 10:7,10-14,20.

The apostles were to visit everyone in the city they were visiting and present them with the Gospel. They were instructed to just bring themselves to the door and offer only the Gospel to them. He advised them that some will accept them and the Gospel, while others will not, but keep going, shake it off, do not take it personally, and understand that God is working through them. Jesus said, "The disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Fear them not therefore: for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; and hid, that shall not be known." -Matthew 10:24-26.

A servant is not above his lord, in other words, an employer is not above his boss, if the boss gets a bad reputation so will the employer no matter how good the company is. The master of the household is God Himself, Beelzebub, is Satan, Satan is constantly attacking those whom work for God, Therefore, Jesus advises all who work for Him that they are not above Him, they will fave the same persecution that He did. However,

Jesus assures us that we do not need to fear what Satan tries to do to us because God will protect us, "But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven." - Matthew 10:30-33.

All Christian's will face persecution at some point in our lives simply because they chose to follow Christ, those who are determined by faith, will not be intimidated or stopped by family members, friends, or fierce opposition against their Lord and Savior. They put their trust and protection in the Lord, "And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." -II Timothy 4:18.

Since we are all called to be God's servants, we must expect to enter into the Kingdom of God through many tribulations. However, we can not forget the master of the house, when we remain faithful to Him He will defend us from evil, and supply us with peace through it all. "All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 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. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:27-30. Our Savior has invited all that labor and are heavy-laden, to come to him. The convinced sinner is heavy-laden with guilt and terror and the tempted and afflicted believer has labors and burdens. Christ invites all to come to him for rest to their souls. He alone gives this invitation, when, feeling their guilt and misery, and believing His love and power to help, they seek him in fervent prayer.

If God can be a servant, that means we can be a servant as well, in fact, God has given every believer a job, the most important is to preach the Gospel to the lost, however, He gives us all an opportunity to serve Him in at least one other way. "And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:" - Ephesians 4:11-13. The more we do to serve God the more knowledge we give to those who live in the world that a wonderful life can be lived with Jesus in it. Little by little I went from helping out a little bit at church to a soul winner, to a teacher, and now I sing in the church choir. I ran into an old friend I use to work with yesterday and when she heard all that I was doing she stopped and asked, how did you get from where you were to where you are now? I said, Jesus. Jesus was truly what I was missing in my life and I never want to go another day with Him not in it. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Wed 06 Oct 2010, 7:49 am

Dead or Alive
If you think that you never have a second to yourself think of how Jesus must have felt when He was constantly approached. He could not get to one stop to help someone without having several people stop Him in between on the way. The amazing thing is that Jesus loves helping people, He will help anyone who calls Him for help. What is the key to Jesus saving and healing so many people? Faith. The Bible says, "Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?...For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." - James 2:18-20,26. The path that leads to eternal life is more than just joining a church, paying tithes, or helping others, as good as these works are, without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ our works are dead.
True followers of Christ are not perfect, but have faith in, accepted, and follow Christ as Lord and Savior of their lives. Life is not easy, there are so many temptations and circumstances in the world that it is impossible to handle them all on our own. Why do you think that there are so many people addicted to drugs, alcohol, and living immoral lives? We need someone to show us and guide us through all these trials in life. Jesus said, "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." - Matthew 7:11-14.
Jesus is who gives life to a dead spirit, it is not always easy to follow Christ, but imagine how much more joyful life is when we allow Him to lead and guide us, especially through our suffering. We have to accept that whether we live for Christ or not we are still going to suffer from time to time, Christ suffered as well, no one suffered more than He did, but He got through it and lived to tell about it. If we allow Christ to guide us through our trials we also will live to tell about it and find joy through them. "Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy." -I Peter 4:12,13.
We can find exceeding joy in the Lord, but remember, God knows our heart, so, if we are going to follow Christ the most important thing to understand is that unless we personally ask Jesus to save us and come into our heart, nothing we do for Him will make a difference in our lives. Jesus only recognizes our works when we accept Him into our loves. Jesus said, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." - Matthew 7:21-23.
A dead soul is one that does not have the Spirit of God in it, when we are born we are born with a body and a soul, even though we have life in us we are dead spiritually until we call on Jesus to save us. When we call on Jesus to save us the Spirit of God enters our soul and it comes alive, giving life to our dead soul, this is also known as being born again. When we say we are going to follow Him, He expects us to follow Him wholeheartedly. "And a certain scribe came, and said unto him, Master, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. And another of his disciples said unto him, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the dead bury their dead." - Matthew 8:19-22.
The amazing thing is that Jesus is just as faithful to us as we are to Him, it may not seem like He is around at times, but He is always with those whom put their faith in Him, even if it is just a tiny bit of faith. "And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us: we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm." - Matthew 8:24-26.
Jesus lives right there inside us through the Holy Spirit, we have nothing the fear because He will always be with us and calm every one of the storms we face through our faith in Him. "And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." - Matthew 9:10-13.
Is your faith dead or alive? Can you say? "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." - Galatians 2:20.
Jesus gave His life for each and every one of us, it is not by our works that we can get saved, it is only our faith in Him and the gift of God's grace that we can be saved. "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 6:22,23. Praise God!
Jesus is with all who call on Him to save them, no matter how long it has been since they got saved, even if they walked away from Him. He does not get mad or take away anyone's salvation, but patiently waits for all who put their faith in Him to save them to follow and or return to Him. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. " - I John 1:9. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have a great week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Tue 05 Oct 2010, 1:37 pm

GOOD NEWS
You Are The Light
One of the reasons Jesus came to earth was to see what it was like to carry around the flesh that we all have and show us how we can overcome the devil and sin while still in it. Jesus got tempted, just like you and I, at any time He could have forfeited His purpose to give His life as the sacrifice that would save the human race. However, He remained sinless and was able to fulfill the prophecies given long ago. How did He remain sinless? God. He never did anything without God, He studied His Word and every time He was tempted He resisted the temptation by reminding Himself that God and His Word was with Him. "Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." - Matthew 4:1-4.
The devil waited until Jesus was weak and severely hungry before he tempted Him. You see, the devil waits until we are at our weakest moments to tempt us and that is how many strong Christians fall into sin. However, allowing God and His Word to be in every part of our lives gives us the strength to resist that temptation, even at our weakest moments. God never allows the devil to tempt us without giving us a way out of that temptation. "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." - I Corinthians 10:13.
When Jesus began to preach, He knew He was going to need some help, so, He began gathering disciples, those who would not only be believers of the Gospel, but help preach it as well. "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. And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And they straightway left their nets, and followed him.... And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people." - Matthew 4:18-20,23.
While Jesus saves anyone who asks Him to save them, not everyone will go beyond knowing Him by salvation. Jesus knows this and encourages all that follow Him that there are great rewards waiting for them in the Kingdom of God. "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." - Matthew 5:19. Amazingly, those who do choose to follow Him after their salvation become one of His disciples. Jesus chooses every one of His disciples, even today. "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." -John 15:16.
Since we are chosen to be one of His disciples that means we are to follow in the footsteps of Christ, remember, we are capable of doing in our flesh whatever it is that Jesus did while He was here in the flesh. By following in Jesus' footsteps we shine, Jesus shines through us, and we shine so bright that everyone is effected by it. "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." - Matthew 5:14-16.
Even those who do not know Jesus or do not want to follow Him see the light of Jesus in us. Some will embrace it right away and follow Jesus as well. Some will observe a bit until they know for sure it is Jesus that shines through us then will follow Him too. Some will run or make fun of and mock us and never follow Him. Either way we are His light, the more we do what He did the more we shine, the more we shine the more blessed we become. "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him....Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." - James 1:12,17.
We have nothing to fear by following Jesus, He is our strength to withstand the devil and everything that He tempts us with. Jesus said, "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." - Matthew 6:31-34.
God knows what we are in need of and He will always provide for those who put Him first in their lives. You do not have to know the entire Bible, no one does and no one will know all of what God has to say to us, just seek Him and be the example that Jesus knows you can be. In the flesh it is humanly impossible to please God and do everything He calls us to do, but when we allow Jesus to lead us nothing is impossible. "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." - Matthew 19:26. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and weekend.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Mon 04 Oct 2010, 11:43 am

God's Purpose For You
The Book of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament, the fortieth book of the Bible and it contains twenty-eight chapters. The author of the book is Matthew and it was written to all believers, although it was the first directed to the Jews to whom Jesus was presented as the Messiah, the Son of David. The purpose of the book was to present the ministry of Jesus, stressing His role as King of the Jews. What we are to learn from the book is the Gospel of Christ and to follow the final command of Jesus to His followers and that is to teach all nations the Gospel. "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 24:14.

Matthew, a Levi, was a publican, or tax-gatherer under the Romans at Capernaum, before his conversion. The contents of this Gospel, and the evidence of ancient writers, show that it was written primarily for the use of the Jewish nation. He particularly selected such parts of our Savior's history and addresses issues that were best suited to awaken the Jewish nation to a sense of their sins, to remove their expectations of an earthly kingdom, to abate their pride and self-conceit, to teach them the spiritual nature and extent of the gospel, and to prepare them for the admission of the Gentiles into the church. Matthew is an example of how God can convert the biggest sinner and make him a disciple of Christ. The book of Matthew opens with the genealogy of Christ, "The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham....And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ." -Matthew 1:1,16.

The genealogy of our Savior is important as it proves that our Lord Jesus is of the nation and family out of which the Messiah was to arise. It was promised to Abraham that Christ would descend from his lineage and also David's, unless we know Jesus is a son of David, and a son of Abraham, than He would not have been the Messiah. Notice that verse 16 states Jacob begat Joseph, the husband of Mary, proving that Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. Both Mary and Joseph were descendants of David. However, if Joseph had been the biological father of Jesus, he would have passed on to Him the sin nature of Adam. This would have made Jesus a sinner by nature and unable to die as the sinless substitute for our sins. "Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:" - Romans 5:12.

Mary of Nazareth was engaged to Joseph, also of Nazareth, The Jewish custom was that a woman had to be betrothed to a man for one year before they could legally marry, a betrothal lasted for one year and there was no physical consummation until after the actual wedding. However, the betrothal was as legally binding as marriage and required a legal divorce to dissolve it. When Joseph learned Mary was pregnant, he considered divorcing her, but the angel of the Lord encouraged him to stay with her. "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily. But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." - Matthew 1:18-21.

Joseph is told that Mary was about to bring forth the Savior of the world and that His name would be Jesus. Joseph did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, speedily, without delay, and cheerfully, without dispute. It is important that we as Christians do whatever God asks us to do without delay, and cheerfully. God has a purpose and plan for every one of us, the longer we take in doing His will the harder it will be on us. "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work:" - II Corinthians 9:6-8.

By applying the general rules of God's Word, we should in all the steps of our lives, seek to do what God has called us to do, even through the difficulties of life. When the Son of God was pleased to take our nature, he came near to us, in our fallen, wretched condition, to save the human race. We are all blessed to know Jesus, therefore, if we truly want Jesus to be a part of our lives we need to follow God's will as Jesus did. Incidentally, whatever Jesus did, we can do, he is our example to follow, this includes getting baptized. "Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." - Matthew 3:13-17.

Many people have been deceived into thinking that an infant baptism can save them or that when they get baptized they are being baptized into a particular religion. This is false, baptism does not save anyone, only accepting Jesus does, and in order for you to accept Jesus you need to believe in the Gospel and ask Him to save you. A true baptism is meant to be a public profession of your faith and acceptance of the Lord Jesus Christ in your life. "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: " -Romans 6:4,5. Now, one thing I would like to point out is that infants are not held accountable for the sin debt because they are unable to ask Jesus to save them. Once a child is able to understand the Gospel and accept it that is when He is held accountable and should be saved (this is explained further in the Gospel of Luke). Jesus saves all who call upon Him, but you must ask Him into your heart. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. " - Romans 10:9. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Sun 03 Oct 2010, 7:38 am

Serving God
The Book of Malachi is the thirty-ninth book of the Old Testament/Bible, the final book of the Old Testament, and contains four chapters. The author of the book is Malachi and it was first written to Israel. The purpose of the book was to call the nation to repentance and return to righteousness in order to restore the nation. What we are to learn from the book is that it is not enough to repent, if we want all of God's blessings upon our lives we must show Him that we want Him in our lives. God is a loving and forgiving God, but if we are not sincere in asking Him for forgiveness God will not hear or see us. "Then they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened, and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name. And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return, and discern between the righteous and the wicked, between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not." - Malachi 3:16-18.

The first generation of Israelites that returned to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple had died, and with no direction or instruction to the new generations the people had lost sight of God and really had no idea what purpose God had for them as His people. Many had developed an attitude of religious formality toward God and began questioning God Himself. This easily lead to the toleration of evil, including witchcraft and sorcery, in the Temple. Through God, Malachi addresses these people, "I have loved you, saith the LORD. Yet ye say, Wherein hast thou loved us? Was not Esau Jacob's brother? saith the LORD: yet I loved Jacob, And I hated Esau, and laid his mountains and his heritage waste for the dragons of the wilderness.. .. A son honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible. ...For from the rising of the sun even unto the going down of the same my name shall be great among the Gentiles; and in every place incense shall be offered unto my name, and a pure offering: for my name shall be great among the heathen, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye have profaned it, in that ye say, The table of the LORD is polluted; and the fruit thereof, even his meat, is contemptible. " -Malachi 1:2,3,6,7, 11, 12.

The problem here was that the people were relying on these false religions to tell them who God was and how to live instead of seeking the answers from God Himself and now God is seen as someone who is evil and only picks a certain kind of people to be His people. This is false, God loves everyone He created and will allow anyone into His family, regardless of race or financial status, but they must first seek Him through Jesus Christ. "For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." - Romans 10:11-13.

God has something to say to the wicked religious leaders who use Him in a wicked way to prosper for their own financial gain, "And now, O ye priests, this commandment is for you. If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the LORD of hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings: yea, I have cursed them already, because ye do not lay it to heart. Behold, I will corrupt your seed, and spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn feasts; and one shall take you away with it.... For the priest's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the LORD of hosts." - Malachi 2:1-3,7. God is addressing the priesthood, the religious leaders, whom are men of God as well as those whom are spiritual priests (teachers, missionaries, prophets, etc.) They have kept His Word hidden and created their own ideas of what it means instead of letting the people read and learn for themselves. People look to these spiritual leaders for guidance and direction, but only get deceived because they are telling lies. Heads up to those religions who use other books as God's Word, if churches do not encourage you to read the Bible or read from the Bible in the church then they are deceiving you.

There is nothing more satisfying than serving God, it is amazing the feeling of accomplishment you get when you, from the bottom of your heart, serve the Lord. The word serve is defined as, to render assistance to, to be of use to someone, and to be of help. In other words, when we serve God, we are assisting Him, we are representing Him through us, and helping Him show others just how important and rewarding it is to have Him in our lives. So, if we as Christians are not living our lives as the example that God wants us to be you can imagine why so many people reject Christ and think that it is no different than living their lives the way they are living now. We are representatives of Christ, do not be ashamed of it, embrace it, God blesses all who wholeheartedly serve Him. Part of serving God means that we are to also give tithes and offerings, through Malachi God said, "For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." -Malachi 3:6-10.

We are to give tithes and offerings to our church, a true church of God serves God for the spiritual needs of the people, tithing demonstrates our love and gratitude to Him as our Savior and Lord. Returning just one-tenth of all our income to God expresses our faith that all we are and all we have belong to the Him. Think you can not afford to tithe? You can not afford to tithe, God promises that He will bless us, if we put Him first, including tithing. Tithing is more than just giving money, the word tithe is also defined as a tenth or very small part of anything, in other words, tithing also means giving God a tenth your day each day. When we serve God wholeheartedly there will be so many blessings given to us that we will be overflowing with blessings. "Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart." - Psalm 119:2. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Sat 02 Oct 2010, 6:52 am

Piece By Piece
Did you ever see a house being built? First the foundation is laid, then the frame is built, then the bricks or wood is put in place for the exterior of the building, and so forth until piece by piece the house is complete. Every day I pass by this house that is being built, it is something that the owner is building on his own. He has been working on it for about five years now and is still not done, but he keeps going piece by piece he builds a great work upon that foundation. The Christian life is built in this same manner, Jesus said, "Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it." -Matthew 7:24-27. We need a good, strong, foundation, which only comes from knowing Christ as your Savior, and once the foundation is laid, piece by piece we do a great work for God.

God stressed to the Israelites the importance of a good foundation, but also urged them to continue building the Temple. "Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Behold, I will save my people from the east country, and from the west country; And I will bring them, and they shall dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God, in truth and in righteousness. Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Let your hands be strong, ye that hear in these days these words by the mouth of the prophets, which were in the day that the foundation of the house of the LORD of hosts was laid, that the temple might be built....And it shall come to pass, that as ye were a curse among the heathen, O house of Judah, and house of Israel; so will I save you, and ye shall be a blessing: fear not, but let your hands be strong...Yea, many people and strong nations shall come to seek the LORD of hosts in Jerusalem, and to pray before the LORD.." - Zechariah 8:7-9,13,22. God assures His people that if they believe in Him and His Words He will always be with them and they will be safe. Today, we are God's Temple, through every trial, circumstance, and test, piece by piece He is building upon the foundation and we are becoming stronger and more confident in God's ability to help us through any of Satan's attacks. However, if we do not do anything to build upon the foundation we will never have that strength to withstand him.

Sometimes it takes a while to build upon our Temple, some of the circumstances we go through seem to never come to pass, but we can never stop trusting in God. The hardest part about being faithful to God is patience, we anticipate things to happen quickly, however, God hardly ever makes things happen that fast. Although his prophetic message was fulfilled centuries later, in great anticipation, Zechariah foretells the coming of Christ. "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth." - Zechariah 9:9,10. Five hundred and fifty years passed when this prophecy was fulfilled as Jesus entered Jerusalem during the last week before His crucifixion. "Tell ye the daughter of Sion, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of an ass." - Matthew 21:5. This was Jesus' formal presentation as King to His loyal supporters and the common people. Today, we have the anticipation of waiting on His return, until that time comes we need to be prepared because He is going to come when we least expect it. Although it can take a while for something to come to pass, God always follows through on His promises. Just keep pressing forward in faith and He will allow all your circumstances to come to pass.

While our works do not get us to heaven, they do help us to build upon our foundation. God is pleased with those who are eager to do His will and when He is please nothing or no one can stop His blessings from pouring in. Piece by piece we build upon our foundation by reading His Word, obeying His commands, and communicating with Him through prayer. The more we learn about Him the more we want to do for Him, the more we want to do for Him the more our trust and faith in Him builds up our Temple. The more our trust and faith in Him builds up our Temple the more we do a good work for Him. Trust God, trust in His Word and His Son, and piece by piece He will build us up into strong, God fearing Christians, blessed beyond anything the world can offer. "Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy; That they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate; Laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life."- I Timothy 6:17-19. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Fri 01 Oct 2010, 9:49 am

Twisted Roads
The Christian life is like a highway, it will lead you along roads that can have so many twists and turns that is seems that you will never reach your destination, but as long as you keep going and follow the signs you will get there. There is a road near my home that looks straight, but about a mile into it it literally stops and does not pick up again until you follow the sign, go down another road, then turn, it does that at least four times that I can remember. It is a road that I only went on once and do not care to go down again, but I know I may have to again, at least, the next time I will know what to expect. The Bible says, "Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day....All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as keep his covenant and his testimonies. " -Psalm 25:4,5,10. As long as we keep following the sign that leads us in God's truth we can travel down the twisted roads of life and not get lost, but you can be sure if you take a wrong turn that you are going to get lost.
The Book of Zephaniah is the thirty-sixth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains three chapters, the author of the book is Zephaniah and it was written to the people in Israel during the time that king Josiah reigned in Judah. The purpose of the book was to warn Israel and all nations of the coming judgment of God. What we are to learn from the book is that God rather save then destroy us and is mighty to save all who come to Him. Through Zephaniah, God says, "I will utterly consume all things from off the land, saith the LORD. I will consume man and beast; I will consume the fowls of the heaven, and the fishes of the sea, and the stumbling blocks with the wicked: and I will cut off man from off the land, saith the LORD. I will also stretch out mine hand upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and I will cut off the remnant of Baal from this place, and the name of the Chemarims with the priests; And them that worship the host of heaven upon the housetops; and them that worship and that swear by the LORD, and that swear by Malcham; And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him." -Zephaniah 1:2-6. God is addressing all the heathen nations, those who never sought Him, and those who worship the false gods or worship Him and them as well. He is saying that He will destroy everything and everyone who worships these false gods and or never sought Him. You can pray a thousand times a day and spend 24/7 in church, but unless you seek the Lord through Jesus Christ you are going to join those whom have turned their backs on Him. God will not acknowledge anyone who does not acknowledge His Son.
Zephaniah encourages the people to put their trust in God and assures them that He will save them. "The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. I will gather them that are sorrowful for the solemn assembly, who are of thee, to whom the reproach of it was a burden. Behold, at that time I will undo all that afflict thee: and I will save her that halteth, and gather her that was driven out; and I will get them praise and fame in every land where they have been put to shame. At that time will I bring you again, even in the time that I gather you: for I will make you a name and a praise among all people of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, saith the LORD." - Zephaniah 3:17-20. God willingly saves and rejoices over anyone who comes to Him. He promises that although we have been afflicted He will save us and even take away the pain. Praise God!
Sometimes, a person is going to get lost along those twisted roads, but amazingly God is right there to show us the right roads to take to get us back on the right path. He will wait until we ask Him for directions, but that does not stop Him from at least pointing us in the right direction. "For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." - Revelation 7:17.
Although God did allow the destruction of Jerusalem to take place and had all the people taken into captivity by Babylon, He used the experience to get them pointed them in the right direction, at least some of them. Now, they are back in Jerusalem and in the process of rebuilding the Temple. Of course they had opposition and because of that it caused them to slack off on the repairs, eventually stopping all together. Now, God is encouraging them to get back to work.
The Book of Haggai is the thirty-seventh book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains two chapters, the author of the book is Haggai and it was written to Israel, after the exile; particularly the Jews who had returned to Jerusalem from Babylon. The purpose of the book was to inspire Israel to have a new zeal for God and make the leaders aware of their responsibility to rebuild the Temple of worship. What we are to learn from the book is that building God's Kingdom should be the priority of every true believer. Haggai was among the first exiles to return from Babylon under the leadership of Zerubbabel, the governor, and Joshua, the high priest. Their purpose was to rebuild the Temple. "Then came the word of the LORD by Haggai the prophet, saying, Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie waste? Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways. Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes....Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD....And the LORD stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua the son of Josedech, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people; and they came and did work in the house of the LORD of hosts, their God, " - Haggai 1:3-6,8,14. God was saying, all your labor is going to waste because you have not put me first, stop laboring for things that you waste your money on, get back to rebuilding the Temple and you will be taken care of and upon hearing the Word of God, the people renewed their commitment to rebuilding the Temple.
Sometimes we get lost as we try to bring in the money to pay the bills and keep a roof over our heads, but God knows what we are in need of and He will provide us with them as long as we put Him first. Of course, we need to work, God rewards us for our labor, but everything we do in life from a homemaker, to a cashier, to a bus driver, needs to be laid on the foundation of Christ. "Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. " -I Corinthians 3:8-11. As we enter the world planted on the foundation of Christ we will be able to stay on the right path of life's twisted roads.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have a great week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Wed 29 Sep 2010, 12:47 pm

GOOD NEWS
Today's Message:
Praise The Lord, Always
Often, we may not feel like praising God because of some of the circumstances we
face. Satan loves to keep us wallowing in our sorrows, but when we praise God
through them we will not only find joy, we will kick Satan to the curb.
David faced constant danger, grief, trouble, or humiliation, but regardless of
what he was facing he always trusted God and went straight to Him in prayer. "In
thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy
righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong
rock, for an house of defence to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress;
therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me. Pull me out of the net that
they have laid privily for me: for thou art my strength." - Psalm 31:1-4. As a
Christian we seem to face more challenges then others simply because we choose
to follow Christ. Satan will stop at nothing to use our circumstances as a way
to prove to the world that we are fools for standing up for Christ. However, the
great thing is that God is right there with us and no matter what He will
deliver us out of the net that Satan casts over us.
David gives all of us hope that no matter how new or old we are at serving God
we are forgiven of our sins when we come to Him. As godly as David was, there
were times in his life where he let his flesh make decisions for him instead of
God. When Nathan the prophet confronted David with his iniquity, he confessed
his sin and his need for mercy and forgiveness. "I acknowledge my sin unto thee,
and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto
the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah." - Psalm 32:5. The
word Selah, means to pause for a moment and reflect on that verse. When we
acknowledge our sin we are telling God that we admit we did wrong, when we
confess our sin to Him we are telling Him we are not hiding our sin, but
confessing that we did commit the sin. Then, God is merciful to forgive us and
it is all forgotten. The truth is, God already knows what we did, I always
imagine Him sitting on His throne, looking down at what we are doing and just
shaking His head as He sees His children try to hide their shame for the sins
they just committed. He knows that we have this flesh that is hard to control
sometimes, especially when we are not walking with God. Remember, we are like
sheep who easily become lost when we are not guided by our shepherd. We do not
have to be ashamed, we did wrong and we have to admit that, but that's the
hardest part. Once we confess, we are forgiven and a huge burden is lifted off
of us as God takes it all away. What a wonderful God we have!
What a privilege we have to join with David and the multitudes since his time,
praising the Lord for all the blessings He has given us, even the blessing of
discipline. "I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be
in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear
thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name
together. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my
fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not
ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all
his troubles. The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him,
and delivereth them." - Psalm 34:1-7. David praised God no matter what he was
going through and he always encouraged those around him to do the same. When we
praise God during church services, at mealtime, and during daily devotions is
good and right and fills our hearts with joy, but if we take that even further
and do it throughout the day, especially when we have burdens in our heart we
will always see joy in the midst of them. Those who live in the world and even
some Christian's never understand how a person going through so much pain is
always so happy. That is the joy of the Lord. Amen!
I will tell you that for the past few weeks I have been writing a commentary for
my website on God vs science and I will tell you what, there are so many
deceived people out there. The more I learn the more I praise God every day that
I know the truth. I will gladly shout off the rooftops that, "I Am A Child Of
God! Praise God! Halleluiah! Amen!" It is those constant praises and the power
of God that keeps me lifted and full of joy as I see so many corrupted people
defending Satan himself. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it
is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek." - Romans 1:16.
Today's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
There are so many opportunities for praising You and rejoicing in You. Your
mercies are renewed daily and Your provision is experienced in our lives each
moment of every day. Though we cannot predict the future we can predict Your
faithfulness because You are a God that does not change. Every promise You've
made is true as we have seen in the Biblical records. This gives us reason to
trust You for the dawning of a new year where we will once again experience Your
guiding presence in our daily lives. In Jesus' Name........ .....Amen.
Have a wonderful and blessed day/night and enjoy the rest of your week.
God Bless
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Tue 28 Sep 2010, 7:35 am

Remain Faithful
We all want the best for our children, often, we use our own experiences to teach them, the Bible says, "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." - Proverbs 22:6. It is important that we as Christians train our children to fear the Lord, not be afraid of Him, but fear (honor & respect) Him. I have only one regret in my life over the years and that is that I did not have God's Word in me as a child. I imagine life could have been a lot easier and I would have stayed away from some of the trouble I caused myself had I learned from it when I was younger, but praise God He got me to see the truth when He did because He truly saved me from making one of the biggest mistakes that I would have ever made. God is amazing, in the midst of our worst errors in life He is right there to help us and get us out of trouble. However, we can not expect God to get us out of any trouble unless we humbly come to Him, ask Him for help, and remain faithful to Him.
The Book of Nahum is the thirty-forth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains three chapters. The author of the book is Nahum and it was written to the city of Nineveh. The purpose of the book was to warn them of the coming judgment on Nineveh, the capitol of the Assyrian empire which took God's people into captivity. What we are to learn from the book is that we need to be aware that God avenges all evil. Nahum prophesied during the reign of Hezekiah, about 150 years after the great revival of Jonah's day when the city of Nineveh repented in dust and ashes. They had come to know the One True God through Jonah's preaching. However, the people failed to keep Him in their lives, nor did they give their children the opportunity to know who God was and now they are facing judgment for returning to their idolatrous and sinful ways. "The burden of Nineveh. The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet." - Nahum 1:1-3. God will not spare any nation or person that continues to live wickedly. He is slow to wrath and ready to forgive, but He will by no means acquit the wicked, therefore there will be tribulation and anguish for every soul that does evil.
Why is God jealous? The word jealous from God's point of view means that He is intolerant of ones disloyalty or infidelity. He is not speaking here to those who just do not know who He is, He is speaking to those who know Him and are ignoring Him. "For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring... . And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:" - Acts 17:28,30. God will forgive anyone who repents He always forgives even the most sinful person who truly repents and has received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of their lives.
The Book of Habakkuk is the thirty-fifth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains three chapters. The author of the book was Habakkuk and it was written to the people of Judah. The purpose of the book was to Awaken Judah to their spiritual needs and warn of impending judgment from God. What we are to learn from the book is that the just shall live by faith alone. Habakkuk prophesied in the latter years of Josiah, he was more concerned with the holiness of God than Israel's escape from chastisement. "The burden which Habakkuk the prophet did see. O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! O LORD, how long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear! even cry out unto thee of violence, and thou wilt not save! Why dost thou shew me iniquity, and cause me to behold grievance? for spoiling and violence are before me: and there are that raise up strife and contention." - Habakkuk 1:1-3. Habakkuk expresses the attitude that many righteous people have. He is outraged at the violence and injustice in his society. There was sin, wickedness, destruction and violence, no justice in the courts, and the wicked outnumbered the righteous. He asked God how much longer will we have to suffer and keep praying for things to change when they keep getting worse.
Since we do not know all the facts, in the midst of our numerous, perplexing injustices, where too often evil seems to triumph, we should not express doubt in the One and Only True God. He is just as uncompromising toward sin today as He was then. God is telling us that no wickedness will go unpunished, we may not see things happening, but He is watching and listening to everything that is going on. He also assures us that no matter what we are going through or how long it seems to take to receive an answer He is at work and will bring all to pass. He is going to do something so marvelous that we as Christian's will find it hard to understand and believe. Through the tribulations of this day and age we can join in with Habakkuk and say, "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds' feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places." - Habakkuk 3:18,19.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have an awesome week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Mon 27 Sep 2010, 10:13 am

God's Trust
This past week we had an Old Paths conference at my church, it is designed to revive the Christian and get their hearts back on our ultimate authority, the Bible. The Bible is God's Word and none of it should be disregarded, yes, time changes, but the Word of God never changes, it was, is, and will always be the same. Now, there will be people who try to rewrite His Word or write books to explain it more clearly, but regardless of what they do, the Word of God never changes, it was, is, and will always be the same. Did you know that the Bible is designed so that a twelve year old can understand it? So, there are no excuses as to why an adult can not understand the Bible. Well, there is one reason why a person can not understand the Bible, that reason is, the person is not saved or has not received Jesus Christ as their Savior.
That's right, God only reveals His truths to those who are saved. Jesus said, "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father: and no man knoweth who the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and he to whom the Son will reveal him. And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see: For I tell you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them." - Luke 10:21-24. No matter how smart you think you are unless you are saved you will never understand the Bible. Think about it. Do you think that God is going to trust an unsaved person with His Word? Would a person trust a thief with his bank account? God despises those who destroy His Word, who claim to know Him and deceive His people and those who truly do want God in their lives, but are being deceived by false gods and religion. God has a warning for all those whom have been telling lies or half truths about Him.
The Book of Micah is the thirty-third book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains seven chapters. The author of the book is Micah and it was written to the people of Judah and Israel. The purpose of the book is a call to repentance to avoid judgment, what we are to learn from the book is that God judges the oppressors of His people, those who deceive others and distort His Word. Micah was raised up to support Isaiah, and to confirm his predictions, through God, he encourages the Northern Kingdom of Samaria and the Southern Kingdom of Judah (Jerusalem) to repent. "The word of the LORD that came to Micah the Morasthite in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem. Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord GOD be witness against you, the LORD from his holy temple. For, behold, the LORD cometh forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth....For the transgression of Jacob is all this, and for the sins of the house of Israel. What is the transgression of Jacob? is it not Samaria? and what are the high places of Judah? are they not Jerusalem? Therefore I will make Samaria as an heap of the field, and as plantings of a vineyard: and I will pour down the stones thereof into the valley, and I will discover the foundations thereof. And all the graven images thereof shall be beaten to pieces, and all the hires thereof shall be burned with the fire, and all the idols thereof will I lay desolate: for she gathered it of the hire of an harlot, and they shall return to the hire of an harlot." -Micah 1:1-3,5-7. God is addressing everyone and warning them that He is going to come down to earth and destroy everything that causes His people to sin. The high places were where the Israelites were forbidden to set up altars, Jerusalem is actually on a hill and the reason it is referred to as a high place is because it was to be the only place to offer sacrifices and to worship Only God, but they were offering sacrifices and worshiping false gods there.
At the conference one of the preachers talked about how there may be some things that we are doing in life that could be hindering our communication or relationship with God to the point that He does not hear our prayers. Things like hidden sin, disloyalty, and indifference were mentioned, disloyalty is when we place other things like jobs, hobbies, and people before God. Now, there are times when a person can not get out of working on a day when they should be in church, but God knows the difference between someone who has a willing heart or has other things to do before they commit to God. Micah said, "Trust ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom....Therefore I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me....I will bear the indignation of the LORD, because I have sinned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgment for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I shall behold his righteousness. " - Micah 7:5,7,9. At times we all do things that hinder our relationship with God, is important that we, like Micah, look to the Lord and let Him guide us at all times. If we sin there is going to be some chastisement, but it is better to come forward instead of hiding it because the chastisement will be less severe that the suffering we have to deal with over the guilt.
700 years before Jesus was born, Micah was led to prophesy about Him, "But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. ... And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the LORD, in the majesty of the name of the LORD his God; and they shall abide: for now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth....And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many people as a dew from the LORD, as the showers upon the grass, that tarrieth not for man, nor waiteth for the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles in the midst of many people as a lion among the beasts of the forest, as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, if he go through, both treadeth down, and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver. Thine hand shall be lifted up upon thine adversaries, and all thine enemies shall be cut off." - Micah 5:2,4,7-9. Micah revealed that Jesus would be born in Bethlehem and would one day be King of Israel and all His people, Jew and Gentile, and only His remnant would be able to be saved from the destruction that was about to take place. If you accepted that you are a sinner, that Jesus, the Son of God, born of a virgin, was sent here to save you, that He died, was buried, and three days later arose from the dead, and personally asked Jesus to come into your heart and save you, then you are apart of the remnant that will enjoy eternity with Jesus. "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." - Romans 10:9. Praise God!
Trust in God's Word, if you are saved, He will reveal wonderful things to you through it. Everything that I quote from and write in these devotions comes from and can be backed up by the King James Bible, but do not completely put your trust in me because I am human and I will err from time to time. We all need to join in with the Apostle Paul when he said, "Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing ye be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." Philippians 3:13-15. I know that I can not completely trust my own reasoning, but I can trust God's because He will always reveal the truth to those who are loyal to Him. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Sun 26 Sep 2010, 12:45 pm

All Who Call
As Christians, we are commanded to love one another and at the same time we are also commanded to separate ourselves from those who live in the world. So, how do we love one another yet remain separated from the worldly people? Jesus said, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." - Matthew 5:43-45. Jesus died for every one, that means regardless of who we are, every person has the right to know how He can save them. God does not want us to do the things that they do nor does He want us to blend in with them, but if we show love toward them too then they also have the opportunity to see how amazing Jesus is and that He can save them too. You know, we can get into the habit of judging people by their behavior, but the Bible says, "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" - Romans 3:23. We have all done things that God hates, but we can praise Him for His love for us and that He never gave up on us. Praise God!
The book of Jonah is the thirty-second book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains four chapters. The author of the book is Jonah and it was written to the nation of Nineveh. The purpose of the book was to to warn them of the consequences of their disobedience to God and to document for Israel and all nations that salvation was not for the Jews only. What we are to learn from the book is that salvation is not restricted by race, culture, or other barriers, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
As I said yesterday, as Christians, it is our duty to tell the Gospel to all who are not saved. When God calls upon us to do something for Him He means business and He will do whatever it takes to get us to obey His command. Jonah was a native of Galilee, God commanded him to go the Nineveh to warn them of their destruction if they did not repent and turn to Him. "Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me." -Jonah 1:1,2. Jonah believed Nineveh was a threat to Israel and deserved to be destroyed so instead of doing what he was told, he ignored God's command and took off on a ship. "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. 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." - Jonah 1:3,4. Jonah thought that he could escape from the presence of God, he soon found out that no one can run from God. Is there a storm going on in your life? Maybe it is because you have been trying to run from God?
Did you know that when we are not doing what God commands everyone around us suffers as well? Jonah fell asleep on that ship thinking that he was leaving his troubles behind, the longer he laid there the worse the storm got. The other people on the ship were scared and trying to figure out what was going on, they finally approached Jonah. "Then said they unto him, Tell us, we pray thee, for whose cause this evil is upon us; What is thine occupation? and whence comest thou? what is thy country? and of what people art thou? And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him. Why hast thou done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them. Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous. And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you." - Jonah 1:8-12. Jonah was so selfish that he would rather be cast into the sea and let thousands of other people die instead of follow God's command. We may not like those who hurt us, but it is not our call to choose who will live or die. God hates the sin, not the sinner. We are commanded to give all the opportunity to get saved.
To make Jonah understand this, God did not let him die, but allowed him to be swallowed up by a big fish. For three days and nights, Jonah sat in the belly of a fish. "Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly, 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. For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me. Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward thy holy temple." - Jonah 2:1-4. After three days and nights of soul searching, a repentant Jonah was vomited onto dry land. He then became the greatest evangelist of his day, and saw the entire city of Nineveh repent of its wickedness. God could have chosen another prophet and let Jonah sink to the bottom of the sea, but God was merciful, demonstrating His love toward both the prophet and the repentant people in Nineveh. The willingness of God to forgive even the greatest of sinners who repent was made known when Nineveh's king and his people repented and were spared from the destruction prophesied by Jonah.
Incidentally, Jesus used this historical event as an illustration to tell of His death, burial, and resurrection. "For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, behold, a greater than Jonas is here." - Matthew 12:40,41. When we are saved and get baptized we too illustrate the likeness of His death, burial, and resurrection. "Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." - Romans 6:4-6.
Jonah's plan gave him an opportunity to escape, but favorable circumstances when ignoring the will of God never lead to a successful end for any one. We are more diligent in working toward our ruin than in seeking to do the will of God. However, Jonah soon discovered that ignoring the God is always expensive and eventually leads to suffering that could have been avoided. "But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD." - Jonah 2:9. Jonah discovered that God's love was not limited to Israel, but open to everyone. God will do whatever it takes to get us to follow His will. Remember, no matter who we are or where we have come from Jesus saves all who call upon Him, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." - Romans 10:13. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have a great weekend.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Sat 25 Sep 2010, 12:06 pm

good news
Spiritual CPR
Years ago I got certified in CPR and first aid training, that certification meant that I was qualified to administer CPR or first aid to anyone who may be in need of it. CPR is an acronym for cardiopulmonary resuscitation, it is a life saving procedure used to revive someone who has stopped breathing or whose heart has stopped working. Once I got that certification I had to carry a card around with me at all times showing that I was qualified to save a life. If I saw someone hurt and no one else was around it was my duty to assist them until more advance medical assistance arrived. You know, if I ever passed someone up that needed medical attention and they died I could have been held responsible for their death because I had the ability to save them and did not fulfill my duty.
True Christians, those whom have accepted the Gospel of Christ and called on Him to save them, are qualified to administer spiritual CPR to those who are dying spiritually. That means that we are to carry around our certification at all times and administer spiritual CPR to anyone who may be in need of it, it is our duty. Jesus commands all that are saved to, "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen." - Matthew 28:19,20. Jesus will return one day and when He does we are all going to have to answer to Him as to why we had the opportunity to save a life and did not do it. In fact, we will not even have to wait until Judgment Day, if someone dies and we have not given them the opportunity to get saved the guilt of it alone will haunt us until we die.
Many people claim to call themselves Christians, yet are far from being close to one, oh, they got saved, but that is about it. They have no regard for what Jesus has done for them or God's Word, continue living in sin, and try to conform to the world instead of Christ. Through Amos, God addresses those whom are His people, yet disregard Him. "Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near;...The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein." - Amos 6:1-3,8. God is talking to those who have been enjoying the finest pleasures of life, yet have not given one word of thanks or worship to Him. They have the mentality to think that they can hide their sins, create music that elevates themselves to think that they are as important as David was to God, and get away with serving Him because they are His people. It is no wonder why people of the world do not think it is necessary to know Christ? They do not see a change from the world.
God is amazing, you know, He does not force anyone to come to Him, He really does not judge those who refuse to accept His Son, in fact, Jesus said, "And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world." - John 12:47. God only saves those whom want to be saved, but if you get saved and do not follow through with your part of the agreement do not expect God's blessings. And if you think God is blessing you with material things, think again. You will be judged too, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day." - John 12:48.
In vision, Amos saw God standing upon the idolatrous altar at Bethel and people fleeing to escape the destruction that was taking place, "I saw the LORD standing upon the altar: and he said, Smite the lintel of the door, that the posts may shake: and cut them in the head, all of them; and I will slay the last of them with the sword: he that fleeth of them shall not flee away, and he that escapeth of them shall not be delivered…Behold, the eyes of the Lord GOD are upon the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the face of the earth; saving that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, saith the LORD. For, lo, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all nations, like as corn is sifted in a sieve, yet shall not the least grain fall upon the earth." - Amos 9:1,8,9. Wherever sinners flee from God's judgment, it will overtake them, there is no escape. Just as corn is shaken in a sieve and some are left behind, He will save some from among them. Those whom God brings to heaven by His grace, shall never be cast down, but those whom think they can reach heaven by vain confidence in themselves, will be cast down and filled with shame. God will set His eyes upon them for evil, not for good.
The Book of Obadiah is the thirty-first book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains one chapter. The author of the book is Obadiah and it was written to the people of Edom, descendents of Esau, Jacob's brother. The purpose of the book was to warn them of God's punishment for being a sinful nation and against His people. What we are to learn from the book is that God brings down all whom have been sinfully exalted. "Thou shouldest not have entered into the gate of my people in the day of their calamity; yea, thou shouldest not have looked on their affliction in the day of their calamity, nor have laid hands on their substance in the day of their calamity; Neither shouldest thou have stood in the crossway, to cut off those of his that did escape; neither shouldest thou have delivered up those of his that did remain in the day of distress. For the day of the LORD is near upon all the heathen: as thou hast done, it shall be done unto thee: thy reward shall return upon thine own head." - Obadiah 13-15. The message of Obadiah also gives a sense of assurance, encouragement, and hope to the people of God. Even when faced with overwhelming odds, the justice of God and the assurance of His faithfulness gives us courage that the principles of right and wrong never fail.
As Christians it is our duty to show the world that living life with Christ is rewarding and life saving, we must do our part in giving spiritual CPR to all who need it. You know, at times, even when giving CPR, a life is lost, but it is important to realize that you did the best you could to save a life, the same is true with spiritual CPR, not everyone will get saved, but you did what you could and that means a lot to God. "He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him." - I John 5:10-15. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Fri 24 Sep 2010, 2:12 pm

Whatever It Takes
Everything that God places before us in life is used to teach, inspire, encourage, and correct us, sometimes He has to use some unusual circumstances or harsh judgment to get us to listen, but He will do what ever it takes to get us to understand that we need Him. Do you know what the problem with every person who rejects God is? The Bible says, "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;...But they shall proceed no further: for their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as their's also was." -II Timothy 3:1-4,9. People who reject God think they do not need God, they have it in their minds that they can do whatever they want, no matter the cost, to get what they think they need. In the end they are the ones who are going to suffer.
The book of Amos is the Thirtieth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains nine chapters. The author of the book is Amos and it was written to the people Israel. The purpose of the book was to call Israel back to God. What we are to learn from the book is that God calls all nations to prepare for the day they will meet the One and Only God of all creation. Israel was a chosen nation, an elect people. God had delivered them out of Egypt and miraculously helped them conquer the promised land, but Israel continuously rejected His commands. God sent Amos to warn the Israelites that judgment was while Israel was still prosperous. "The words of Amos, who was among the herdmen of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash king of Israel, two years before the earthquake. And he said, The LORD will roar from Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the habitations of the shepherds shall mourn, and the top of Carmel shall wither. Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they have threshed Gilead with threshing instruments of iron: But I will send a fire into the house of Hazael, which shall devour the palaces of Benhadad." -Amos 1:1-4. First, Amos warns the surrounding nations, one by one, nation upon nation is mention and the judgment that they were facing for mocking and persecuting God's people. God is so gracious that He will not force anyone to live for Him, but He will not stand for anyone who even touches one hair on the head of His people. "And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake. But there shall not an hair of your head perish." -Luke 21:17,18.
Now, God sends Amos to the Northern Kingdom to deliver his prophecy of impending judgment in city of Bethel, the site of one of Israel's two false worship centers and one of several residences of King Jeroboam II (See II Kings 14:16-29). "Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying, You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.. ..Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts, That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD." - Amos 3:1,2,13-15. The Israelites were warned will in advance of the coming judgment of God and because of their sins and ignorance destruction was inevitable. Being ignorant and not knowing God are two different things, those whom do not know who God is can not help themselves, for they know not what they are doing. However, those who know who God is and deliberately ignore Him know what they are doing and are completely ignoring Him or trying to fit Him in their world when they feel like it, that is when God gets angry and causes judgment upon His people.
God does not want to place judgment upon any of His people, He really and truly does not want to see any of His people suffer, but those who continuously live in sin and ignore His warnings will face judgment. "The Lord GOD hath sworn by his holiness, that, lo, the days shall come upon you, that he will take you away with hooks, and your posterity with fishhooks. And ye shall go out at the breaches, every cow at that which is before her; and ye shall cast them into the palace, saith the LORD. So two or three cities wandered unto one city, to drink water; but they were not satisfied: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. I have smitten you with blasting and mildew: when your gardens and your vineyards and your fig trees and your olive trees increased, the palmerworm devoured them: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD. I have sent among you the pestilence after the manner of Egypt: your young men have I slain with the sword, and have taken away your horses; and I have made the stink of your camps to come up unto your nostrils: yet have ye not returned unto me, saith the LORD....For, lo, he that formeth the mountains, and createth the wind, and declareth unto man what is his thought, that maketh the morning darkness, and treadeth upon the high places of the earth, The LORD, The God of hosts, is his name. " - Amos 4:2,3,8-10,13. As the Israelites persisted in rebellion and idolatry, God was coming against them as an adversary. The more they resisted, the more destruction He allowed. We are all prone to desire material things and prosperity, but nothing takes the place of God, whether we choose to acknowledge that God is always in control or not we will all realize one day that nothing takes the place of God.
God will do whatever it takes to get His people to return to Him, one day we will all face judgment, so, it is important that we use our time here on earth wisely. He does not want to hurt us, He wants us to be the best we can be. The only way we can do that is to get in God's Word, allow the Holy Spirit to work in us, start serving God the way He intended for us to serve Him, and keep warning those who do not know Jesus that they need Him. The Bible says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." -II Timothy 3:16,17. God's Word teaches us, inspires us, corrects us, and most of all allows us to have a good relationship with Him. The more we read it, the more we learn, the more we understand that we need God. Life is hard, but we do not have to face it alone, let God guide you and He will give you peace, comfort, and all that you will ever need. "Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart." - Psalm 37:4
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Thu 23 Sep 2010, 8:17 am

God's Grace is Enough
You know how hard life can be, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing something that looked impossible become possible. As Christians, we can become so guilt stricken over things from the past that we can literally feel like there is no possible way God will ever forgive me for what I have done. The truth is this, God's grace is enough and all we need, oh, we might have to face some consequences for sin, but once we repent, it's over and done with. God has Alzheimer when it comes to our confessing sin. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. " -I John 1:9. Since God can not lie, praise God for that!

The Book of Joel is the twenty-ninth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains three chapters. The author of the book is Joel and it was written to the people in Judah. The purpose of the book was to warn Judah of their sin and need for repentance and to inform them of God's future restoration plans for the nation. What we are to learn from the book is that even in the midst of corrective judgment, God plans future blessings for His people. "The word of the LORD that came to Joel the son of Pethuel. Hear this, ye old men, and give ear, all ye inhabitants of the land. Hath this been in your days, or even in the days of your fathers? Tell ye your children of it, and let your children tell their children, and their children another generation. That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten. Awake, ye drunkards, and weep; and howl, all ye drinkers of wine, because of the new wine; for it is cut off from your mouth....Sanctify ye a fast, call a solemn assembly, gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the LORD your God, and cry unto the LORD, Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come." -Joel 1:1-5, 14,15. God is reminding all church leaders and all His people that they were going to suffer the consequences of their sins, but it is time to listen to me, repent, and do not stop with yourselves, tell every generation it is time to get right with me.

Jesus will return and when He does there is no second chances, we must keep telling the lost the Gospel before it is too late. There is no purgatory, there is no soul sleeping, or whatever else these false religions are trying to deceive people with. There is only heaven and hell and when you die you go to one of these places. The only way to go to heaven is through your faith in Jesus Christ and asking Him to save you. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life." -Titus 3:5-7. We Are Not Saved By Works, But By The Blood of Christ! Praise God! Like I said earlier, we may have to suffer the consequences of our sins, but it's not something we can avoid, so, if you sinned, and we all do, just deal with the punishment, seek forgiveness, and move forward. If you have ever gotten a good whupping by a parent, you know it hurts, but you learn or you should have learned not to do it again, then after the pain wears off and you seek forgiveness it's all over and done with forgotten about. God is the same way, He promises all of us that if you sin you will have to take the punishment, but you will learn from it and when you come to me and repent I will forgive you and bless you for your faithfulness.

God's grace is enough to repent and be blessed through it, God promised the Israelites that if they repent and return to Him He will take care of them and bless them even more. "Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the latter rain in the first month. And the floors shall be full of wheat, and the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you. And ye shall eat in plenty, and be satisfied, and praise the name of the LORD your God, that hath dealt wondrously with you: and my people shall never be ashamed. And ye shall know that I am in the midst of Israel, and that I am the LORD your God, and none else: and my people shall never be ashamed." -Joel 2:23-27. God never stops providing His people with the things that they are in need of. He only stops if we stop trusting Him and continue to live in sin. God will restore everything He has taken away from us and then some, but all we need to do to receive those blessings is to repent. It's that simple.

God's grace is enough to save every person, but you must ask Him for it first. He promises that He will cleanse all who come to Him. "The LORD also shall roar out of Zion, and utter his voice from Jerusalem; and the heavens and the earth shall shake: but the LORD will be the hope of his people, and the strength of the children of Israel. So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more....For I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed: for the LORD dwelleth in Zion." -Joel 3:16,17,21. Zion is the hill in Jerusalem, on which the Temple was built, God dwells there and it will be the final gathering place for all His people, whether Jew or Gentile none are strangers to God if they repented and asked Jesus to save them. "If thy children will keep my covenant and my testimony that I shall teach them, their children shall also sit upon thy throne for evermore. For the LORD hath chosen Zion; he hath desired it for his habitation. This is my rest for ever: here will I dwell; for I have desired it. I will abundantly bless her provision: I will satisfy her poor with bread. I will also clothe her priests with salvation: and her saints shall shout aloud for joy." - Psalm 132:12-16. Today, God's covenant is trusting in and accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." - II Peter 3:9.

Okay, so you have been living in sin after you got saved and you do not know what to do. Repent, God's grace is enough to forgive you. You are still saved, nothing removes our salvation from us, Jesus died once on the cross so that means we only need to get saved once. However, you still need to repent for you current sin, God has more grace for you. "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble. Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up." - James 4:6-10. God will lift us anyone who humbly come to Him. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Wed 22 Sep 2010, 5:11 pm

The Right Ingredients
Bread is made from flour, water, oil, salt, and a leavening agent, such as yeast. Five simple ingredients that are mixed together, kneaded, set aside to rise, then baked until golden brown. There is nothing more satisfying to the sense of smell than bread baking in the oven. However, the key to making good bread is in the leaven, if it has not been allowed enough time to rise it will end up coming out like a rock and even though it still smells good baking it is good for nothing except a hockey puck. Jesus said, "The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened." - Matthew 13:33. The key to the Christian life is three ingredients, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. While only Jesus can save us, without God there is no Jesus and without Jesus there is no Holy Spirit, without all three we are not whole and complete. Amazingly these three ingredients make up One Great God and a wonderful spirit filled life.

The first ingredient we need is Jesus, He is the only way to get right with God, Jesus said, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." - John 6:51. Jesus is the bread we need to give life to the spirit, without His bread our soul is has no life to it and is just as the bread that is not edible. Jesus was crucified and sacrificed His life (flesh) for every person God created and still creates. To eat of this spiritual bread one needs to accept that he is a sinner, believe in Jesus, and ask Him to save him. It's that simple, yet billions of people will never take of this bread. Why? They follow the wrong doctrine, they listen to what man is telling them and not God. The Bible says, "Beware 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. For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:" - Colossians 2:8-10. People make the mistake of listening to other people tell them who God is instead of seeking the truth. If a church does not enforce that Jesus, who is God in the flesh, is the only one who can save them by grace and not works, than it is false doctrine. This is not something that people were just made aware of over the past few centuries, this has always been. If we truly want to live a complete, God filled life we need Jesus first.

The second ingredient we need is God, once we get saved we are reconciled with God and a relationship with Him can begin. We need to follow Him completely in everything that we do, it is not going to be easy, but we need to learn to depend in Him. He is our provider and will always give us what we need, but if we continue to do things all on our own without God we will never be complete. Of course, we need to make an effort to do things, but we need to let go of our total dependence on people and the things that are around us because they do not last forever and can often make things worse. Israel had foolishly put its trust in the powerful nations of Egypt and Assyria for help. This led the Israelites into worshiping their idols and forsaking the One True God. God compared the Israelites to unleavened bread. "When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face. They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneaded the dough, until it be leavened." - Hosea 7:1-4. What God is telling them was that all they had to do was come to Him and He would have provided them everything they needed, but because they trusted in the heathens they too have become heathens and about as good as bread that has not been allowed to rise before it has been baked. There are many people who get saved, but they never go any further than that, they never allow God to come into their lives and because of that they never become complete or useful to God.

In order to show us that we need to be dependent only on Him, God is going to place chastisement and suffering in our lives. In the midst of their troubles as a nation, the Israelites never thought of seeking help solely from God, they put their trust in men promoting false gods instead of the One True God. However, God did not give up on them, through Hosea He said, "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy; break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the LORD, till he come and rain righteousness upon you. Ye have plowed wickedness, ye have reaped iniquity; ye have eaten the fruit of lies: because thou didst trust in thy way, in the multitude of thy mighty men." - Hosea 10:12,13. False religions destroy people and sadly, many are just too stubborn to realize that, however, if they would just seek God through Jesus Christ they would see that, only He is what completes is. "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." - John 14:6.

The third ingredient we need is the Holy Spirit (Ghost), the Holy Spirit is the one who helps us understand God and His Word. Without the Holy Spirit, the Bible is just words in a book, but when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us (who can only come to us through Jesus) it is no longer just a book, but God's Word and something we need to hold on to and cherish. "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men." - Romans 14:17,18.

If we truly want God's blessings and to be complete, we need have all the ingredients that make up one complete God and person in you. There are so many Christian's whom sincerely love God, yet are at a cross between doing what is right in the eyes of the Lord and putting their faith and trust in worldly family or friends in order to keep the peace or have some security in their lives. They are not allowing all the ingredients to come together to make them complete and whole. God will take care of us, we just need to call on Him, only He can give us spiritual victory over the problems we are facing. God willingly waits for everyone to return to Him, "O israel, return unto the LORD thy God; for thou hast fallen by thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the LORD: say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods: for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy. I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him.... Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? prudent, and he shall know them? for the ways of the LORD are right, and the just shall walk in them: but the transgressors shall fall therein." - Hosea 14:1-4,9. As we mix up all the ingredients we will walk with Christ and know that His ways are the right ways and when we do God will be pleased and we will be blessed abundantly. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have a great week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Tue 21 Sep 2010, 12:06 pm

Acknowledge Him In All Things
As Christians we are prone to thank God for seeing answered prayers or protecting us from some kind of tragedy that was avoided. However, we tend to forget that God gives us everything, blessings such as seeing, hearing, smelling, and talking are often disregarded. We have to be careful that we do not lose sight of all of God's blessings, what we think is just normal comes from God as well, and if we lose sight of the normal things we can lose sight of the amazing things and just forget God all together. The Bible says, "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." - Proverbs 3:6. While I do not think God gets angry if we do not always say "Thank you for blessing me with sight" every day, He does get angry when we do not acknowledge Him for the blessings He gives us or only acknowledges Him if we are in trouble. We can not serve God and live in the world, it is simply impossible, Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." - Matthew 6:24. Those who commit to live their lives for God, take His blessings for granted, and still live in sin are considered adulterers in the eyes of God.

The book of Hosea is the twenty-eighth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains fourteen chapters. The author of the book is Hosea and it was written to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The purpose of the book was to alert Israel to her sinful condition and bring her back to God. What we are to learn from the book is that, it is only from experience that we can learn of God's love, compassion, and grace for all who repent and turn to God.

Just because we accepted Christ as our Savior and are God's people it does not mean that we are exempt from the consequences of sin. It is one thing for example, to slip with the tongue and swear, you repent and God forgives you and forgets what you have done, but if you constantly do it with no regard of what you are doing and still want God's blessings that is when He gets angry and starts taking things away. The Israelites were the people God chose to set as an example for the rest of the world, His intention was to show all nations how blessed they can be by acknowledging and following God. However, from the time of the Exodus to their current state they did not always acknowledge God. The problem is, all it takes is for one person to stop acknowledging God and before you know it you have false religion and false gods everywhere and very few people acknowledging the One and Only Living God, which is where we are today. "For therefore we both labour and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe....Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." - I Timothy 4:10,16. We are going to suffer from time to time, but as long as we trust God and acknowledge Him then we are not only blessed others become blessed as well.

The Northern Kingdom of Israel had no godly influence at all, out of the nineteen kings to reign not one of them attempted to lead the people to worship in Jerusalem as God had instructed. Hosea was a prophet who lived and prophesied just before the destruction of Israel in 722 BC. To illustrate and warn the people, He commanded Hosea to marry a prostitute, whom would become unfaithful to him. "The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD. So he went and took Gomer the daughter of Diblaim; which conceived, and bare him a son. And the LORD said unto him, Call his name Jezreel; for yet a little while, and I will avenge the blood of Jezreel upon the house of Jehu, and will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel. And it shall come to pass at that day, that I will break the bow of Israel, in the valley of Jezreel. And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away. " - Hosea 1:2-6. Hosea represents God and his wife represents the unfaithful, idolatrous house of Israel. The word Jezreel means, God scatters, and is probably indicative of the fact that God was going to punish and scatter the nation for its sinfulness. After the Assyrians defeated the northern kingdom of Israel, those who were left scattered (See II Kings 18-19), still today, families are scattered all over the world because of this.

Although Hosea's wife was faithful for a time she left him for all the pleasures she thought other men could give her. Hosea was heartbroken, he had a legal right to have her stoned and put to death, but he still loved her and chose to redeem her. Hosea actually purchased his wife's debt and brought her back home, then she turned from her wicked ways. "Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine. So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley: And I said unto her, Thou shalt abide for me many days; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man: so will I also be for thee. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim: Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days." - Hosea 3:1-5. This is an exact mirror of Jesus Christ, because we are sinners we have a debt to pay and that debt is death. However, Jesus purchased that debt for us with His Blood and now we have been redeemed. Right now we can not see our king, but one day, sooner than we think, Jesus will return and every person who accepted Him will fear the Lord, and enjoy His physical presence and goodness.

Those that seek a relationship with God, must apply Christ to their lives, and become His willing people. Not only are we to fear the Lord and His greatness, but the Lord and His goodness, meaning not only His majesty, but His mercy. Though the first fear of God arise from a view of His holy majesty and righteous vengeance, yet the experience of mercy and grace through Jesus Christ, will lead the heart to reverence so kind and glorious a Friend and Father, and to fear offending him. God said, "I will go and return to my place, till they acknowledge their offence, and seek my face: in their affliction they will seek me early." - Hosea 5:15. God does not want us to suffer, He willingly and patiently waits for His people to return to Him. He even promises to return His blessings, but first they must acknowledge Him. "Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also. Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father. And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life." - I John 2:23-25. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and the Lord's day.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Mon 20 Sep 2010, 7:59 am

The State of Being Wise
The word wisdom is defined as the quality or state of being wise, it is having the knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment. How do we get to the state of being wise? Scholars will tell you that wisdom comes from what you learn from schools. However, the Bible says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth for ever." - Psalm 111:10. The fear of the Lord means to acknowledge, respect, and honor God as God. When we acknowledge God for who He is and respect Him we receive knowledge, wisdom, and even His blessings.
Another meaning for the word wisdom is common sense, common sense is what tells us the second we are born that God exists and created everything. However, scholars are the ones who try and convince the world that there is no such thing as God. Do not believe me? It's in the Bible, "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things." - Romans 1:20-23. God has given us enough of a conscience to know that He created every living thing on earth. However, if one does not believe in creation now, it's only because they have allowed themselves or others to educate themselves out of God's existence. This is not wisdom, this is foolishness. Everything we do in life needs to line up with the Word of God, including how we educate ourselves. Of course, we all need to learn and the only way to learn is from instruction and experience, but we need to be careful where we seek our instruction, if it does not line up with the Word of God we need get out of there.
So, how do we know if what we are learning lines up with the Word of God? The only way to know is to read the Word of God for yourself. Daniel saw visions that would be utter nightmares for you and I, he really did not understand all that God was showing him, but he did understand that God was with him and would reveal as much as he could handle. He was so shaken up by what he saw that he literally fell to the floor and could not think straight, but God gave him the strength to get back up and reason again. "Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me, And said, O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong. And when he had spoken unto me, I was strengthened, and said, Let my lord speak; for thou hast strengthened me." - Daniel 18,19. The man that touched Daniel was no one other than Jesus Himself. God only gives us what we are able to handle, the trials of life can utterly make us so weak that we lose our ability to reason with even common sense, but Jesus gives us the strength we need to get back up and able to reason again. Praise God!
God revealed to Daniel that over time nation upon nation will be utterly destroyed, but first they will align themselves as one. "And in his estate shall stand up a vile person, to whom they shall not give the honour of the kingdom: but he shall come in peaceably, and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. And with the arms of a flood shall they be overflown from before him, and shall be broken; yea, also the prince of the covenant. And after the league made with him he shall work deceitfully: for he shall come up, and shall become strong with a small people....And the king shall do according to his will; and he shall exalt himself, and magnify himself above every god, and shall speak marvellous things against the God of gods, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished: for that that is determined shall be done. Neither shall he regard the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god: for he shall magnify himself above all. But in his estate shall he honour the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honour with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. Thus shall he do in the most strong holds with a strange god, whom he shall acknowledge and increase with glory: and he shall cause them to rule over many, and shall divide the land for gain." - Daniel 11:21-23,36- 39. Does any of this sound familiar with what is going on today? There is a movement going on to create a one world religion, heathen nations are lining up with one another, and our own president (US), whom has just the right words to say to encourage the small people, is endorsing false religions. As Christians, we better be prepared because it is only going to get worse. Praise God that we have Jesus!
God even reveals to Daniel that even though all this destruction will take place all of His people will be safe and escape the destruction. "And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book. And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased... .And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand." - Daniel 12:1-4,8-10. The name Michael means, "Who is like God", our great prince and Savior Jesus Christ will deliver every one of those who put their trust in Him, the only ones written in the book. "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels." - Revelation 3:5. Praise God!
While we may not understand everything written in God's Word, over time we will learn more and more. Wisdom as in common sense tells us that God is the one and only God who created everything. Wisdom as in the state of being wise comes from the fear of the Lord and is only gotten by reading God's Word. I spent years thinking I had enough knowledge to get me to heaven, that I had to do this or that to get to heaven, but I was a fool because I listened to what others were telling me. It was only when I began reading the Bible and understood that it was only by confessing to Jesus that I can get to heaven and nothing else will get me there that I became wise.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and your weekend.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Admin Sun 19 Sep 2010, 11:51 am

Reconize False Gods

.

Today we will read and learn about Passover being restored; the destruction of Jerusalem and Temple being foretold; the death of Josiah; the fall of Jerusalem; and the captivity of Judah. Today's message focuses on the importance of reconizing false gods and putting our trust and faith on our One True God.

Josiah was the last godly king of Judah before the destruction of Jerusalem, "And the king sent, and they gathered unto him all the elders of Judah and of Jerusalem. And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant." (II Kings 23:1-3)

Josiah went beyond Judah, into the Assyrian-controlled former northern kingdom to Bethel, where Jeroboam had built one of the golden calves, this was propheized almost 300 years ago. ( I Kings 13:1-3). "And he brake in pieces the images, and cut down the groves, and filled their places with the bones of men. Moreover the altar that was at Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, had made, both that altar and the high place he brake down, and burned the high place, and stamped it small to powder, and burned the grove. And as Josiah turned himself, he spied the sepulchres that were there in the mount, and sent, and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burned them upon the altar, and polluted it, according to the word of the LORD which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these words." (23:14-16).

Just twenty-three years after the death of Josiah, the Southern Kingdom of Judah was defeated and Jerusalem and the Temple were destroyed. Under the reigns of its last four kings, who were mere puppets of Egypt and then Babylon, it was trodden down by successive conquests and the pitiful deportations into heathen lands. Jerusalem was invincible while its people were obedient to the Word of God. But eventually it became powerless because of sin. As a result of unfaithfulness and continued disobedience to the Word of God by its national immorality and violence, they were reduced to suffering and loss of everything.

Nebuchadnezzar, with an immense army, swept down upon the northern parts of the country and marched directly against Jerusalem to beseige it. At length, the city was reduced to starvation. King Zedekiah, with his wives, children, and guards, fled through an opening that was made in the wall, but they were captured in the plains of Jericho. "And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came, he, and all his host, against Jerusalem, and pitched against it; and they built forts against it round about. And the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of king Zedekiah. And on the ninth day of the fourth month the famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land. And the city was broken up, and all the men of war fled by night by the way of the gate between two walls, which is by the king's garden: (now the Chaldees were against the city round about:) and the king went the way toward the plain." (25:1-4).

Zedekiah was forced to witness the horrifying death of his family; then his own eyes were gouged out and he was forced to walk more than 800 miles in chains to Babylon (II Kings 25:7). The agonizing ordeal fulfilled two prophecies that had appeared contradictory: Zedekiah would be taken to Babylon, but would not see it.

How gruesome pathetic was the fall of the once-wonderful Kingdom of Judah. At that time in history, only Judah was known as the worshipers of Jehovah God and the prophets that God used to provide the Old Testament dwelt there. We need to see the handwriting on the wall. The United States is recognized as worshipers of the One True God. But our sins betray our trust.

This great nation known throughout the world as a Christian nation cannot survive the rejection of God and His righteousness. America, like the Kingdom of Judah, is experiencing similar sins before its destruction. We are reminded, "Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it. Thus shall they be unto thee with whom thou hast laboured, even thy merchants, from thy youth: they shall wander every one to his quarter; none shall save thee." (Isaiah 47:13-15).

For a nation to forsake the One True God is utter madness and chaos. May every nation see the example of Israel and turn to the Lord.

In today's messgae Jesus Christ is revealed through the Passover (II Kings 23:21-23), which was a type foreshadowing how Jesus Christ, our Redeemer will keep us from spiritual death by His having overcome it. "I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death." (Revelation 1:18).

Today's Psalm: 80:3
"Turn us again, O God, and cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved."

Have a wonderful day and Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers.
God Bless
Admin
Admin
Admin

Posts : 81238
Join date : 2008-10-25
Age : 78
Location : Wales UK

https://worldwidechristians.forumotion.com

Back to top Go down

Source:- GOOD NEWS - Page 12 Empty Re: Source:- GOOD NEWS

Post  Sponsored content


Sponsored content


Back to top Go down

Page 12 of 16 Previous  1 ... 7 ... 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16  Next

Back to top

- Similar topics

 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum