R.D SOUZA Saved by faith

What is your name?

Luke 1:60,61 And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be 
called John. And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that 
is called by this name.

There are many people whom I know who hate their names. If they had a 
chance and it was not complicated or lengthy they would change their 
names immediately. I too was one among them for my name was made to 
rhyme someone else's name in the family. It took me time to accept my 
name. Here in today's message the comment of a relative of Elizabeth 
shows by tradition that names were given after another relative or 
ancestor.

In the Bible we see all important individuals had names which had 
meaning and this meaning was important to understand the individual or 
the mission of the individual.

To understand the level of Christian misunderstanding is to understand 
their understanding of names, for i.e. the very first name in the Bible 
is not understood by them. It was good I am in Information Technology 
that to understand names it became easy for me. When I teach on name the 
first question I ask people which takes them aback is 'what is the name 
of Adam?'

If one uses Strong Hebrew Lexicon will find 2 records for the word Adam 
one 0120 and one 0121. 0120 is recorded as 'man' and 01021 is recorded 
as 'red' / 'reddish'. Coming back to my question 'what is the name of 
Adam',this may sound foolish but if one realizes this word occurs 561 
times in the Bible and only 27 times it is used as a name all the other 
times it is translated as man or as an adjective meaning reddish 
(symbolizing full of life).

Did Adam have a name no and yes. When God created the first human He did 
not give him a name and referred to as 'man' since he was the only one 
of his species and being the only one he did not have a name for the 
name of his species was his name.

Understand when we have only one object of its kind at home like a TV we 
refer to it by just saying 'TV' but if we have 2 or more then we need to 
add something to identify which TV. We may say 'bedroom TV', 'drawing 
room TV' etc. thus letting the person know which TV we are referring to.

Names are given to identify a person or object from among others. In the 
NT we see people who had common names were given nick names or called 
along with their father's name so as to identify them from among others 
in society. In case of John the son of Elizabeth whose name was common 
we see he was referred to (nick named) as John the Baptist identifying 
him by what he did.

The first person to have a name was not Adam but was Eve, which Adam 
gave to Eve. Later in Genesis 5 we see the term Adam became a name since 
it was also adjective when God called all the generations of Adam as 
Adam. This also was a curse since the nature of Adam was passed down all 
his generation that is why we need to disconnect from the nature of Adam 
and connect to the nature of Christ to be saved. Man became corrupted by 
default not because the sin of Adam is passed down unto us but because 
the sin nature is passed down.

This terminology of name I understood because of my name which if it is 
unique (on the internet) and if one googles will direct them to me 
alone. But then with others all have someone or the other with that 
name, that too just in this life time, just think across ages how many 
people will exist with the same name. I too now have people (young 
relatives) having my name (but they are not live on the internet yet), 
so I asked the Lord what 'name' is written in the 'Book of Life'. Then I 
understood the name by which the Lord knows us is not our natural name 
but by our spiritual name and what amazed me is learning about our 
spiritual names. The spiritual name we are known by is not what we are 
but what we will be (finished product); so all of us live towards our 
spiritual names.

Just think of it our God calls us by what we will become not by what we 
are, and we worry about what we will become.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord God You alone are God and there is none other than You. When Moses 
and Jacob asked your name You were not pleased. Lord we pray we 
understand the name You call us by and do not fear or have anxiety of 
what will happen to us. We pray we be focused on our mission knowing it 
will be done in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scripture]

Genesis 2:7-8,19

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

8And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put 
the man whom he had formed.

19 And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, 
and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam [man] to see what 
he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, 
that was the name thereof.

Genesis 5:1-2

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

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

Genesis 3:20And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the 
mother of all living.

Exodus 3:13-14

13And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of 
Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me 
unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say 
unto them?

14And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou 
say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

Genesis 32:29And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy 
name. And he said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And 
he blessed him there.

Ezekiel 20:44And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have wrought 
with you for my name's sake, not according to your wicked ways, nor 
according to your corrupt doings, O ye house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD.

Isaiah 65:15And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for 
the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:

Isaiah 66:22For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, 
shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name 
remain.

Luke 6:22Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall 
separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out 
your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

Revelation 3:5He 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 20:12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; 
and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the 
book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were 
written in the books, according to their works.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Infant Jesus!

Acts 4:30 By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and 
wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

One thing that amazed me even when I was a Catholic is the people 
worshiping 'infant Jesus'. They make statues of a baby and pay homage to 
it, burning candles, putting flowers etc... My question was why a baby 
to be adored when we (as Catholic) were doing it to a grown up Jesus? It 
was the grown up Jesus who saved us not the infant Jesus.

The Catholics have 3 types of Jesus, one an infant, one of 12years and 
one of 30plus, all these because the Bible records them - assumingly. I 
used the word assumingly because if one checks today's scripture the 
Greek word translated as child is the word 'pais' which means servant. 
The few times it is translated as child or son it refers to a servant 
child or young male servant, thus this word is not about the age but 
about the status of being a servant.

I was studying about slaves for I am preaching on this topic this Sunday 
at a Church. I was surprised to know the word occurs only twice in the 
whole Bible, once in Jeremiah and once in Revelation. In Jeremiah it is 
added to the text for readability so in the whole Bible the word slave 
is only once that is in Revelation and it is connected to man becoming a 
slave to the false Church. One may say the Bible is full of slavery 
specially the OT is full of slavery (most Muslim point to this), I too 
thought so until yesterday. It is only yesterday when I studied the 
words slave and servant (the different types) did I understand. Then I 
became more proud of the Bible - our God hates slavery.

The Greek word for slave is rendered with 2 meanings one which means a 
dead body and the other shadow. A slave means a person who has no life 
of his or her own and no independence or identity for one self. A slave 
is a person owned or possessed forever like an object bought.

The word which is mostly mistranslated as slave is the word which refers 
to bonded servant. A bonded servant means a person who is possessed for 
a period of time, for reasons like not being able to pay a loan or even 
a hired person for a job is called bonded servant.

We all work or have worked in offices as employees; can we call 
ourselves slaves of the company? We are hired for a job and are paid for 
a period of the day to do a specific job. Since we have given a period 
of our time we are under a bond for that period so we are bonded 
servants or employees of our company. We see the Roman commander used 
the same word bonded servant to his soldiers. What is more interesting 
is even those won over by the Israelites by war were considered bonded 
servants not slaves. They were free to go after a period of 7 years 
(Sabbath year). If they wished not to leave then they were considered as 
an extended part of the family having rights in that family.

The Lord's choosing 7 years as a period of release is not because the 
Lord loves the number 7 or the Lord is in numerology. Numbers in the 
Bible are symbolic and is studied in a field called Bible Numeric. The 
number 7 (called cardinal number) is to do with the Holy Spirit (the 7 
Spirits of God that is why symbolizes wholeness).

We too are called bonded servants of Christ when are baptized in Christ 
for our lives is bought for a price. The day we are baptized in the Holy 
Spirit (symbolizing 7 years) we are no longer bonded servants but we are 
set free and now become family having rights.

When we lay hands to heal it is by the authority of Lord Jesus Christ of 
who He is. He being Part of God and God Himself had humbled Himself and 
became man to serve man. So when we call Him a servant, He became not a 
servant of God but a servant of man, He served and serves man. The day 
He finishes His job of bringing man back to Heaven He will un-humble 
Himself and return to His glory which He had before the world was 
created (the time He humbled Himself). Paul and Peter used the term 
bonded servant to themselves even after their baptism in the Holy Spirit 
because they were bounded to the job of Christ. Being Christians, we who 
were bought for a price and are free and are yet bonded, bonded to the 
job of Christ bringing people to the light of the Truth and doing it 
with signs and wonders.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we pray your people be blessed with wisdom and understanding to be 
free from the vanity and deceit they are in. We pray they understand the 
price You paid for them and they understand the freedom they have in 
You. We pray they understand You hate slavery and love Sonship and have 
called us to be Sons in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Jeremiah 2:14Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn [slave]? why is he 
spoiled?

Revelation 18:10-13

10Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, 
that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy 
judgment come.

11And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no 
man buyeth their merchandise any more:

13And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, 
and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, 
and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.

Acts 4:27-32

27For of a truth against thy holy child [servant] Jesus, whom thou hast 
anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the 
people of Israel, were gathered together,

28For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be 
done.

29And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, 
that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

30By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may 
be done by the name of thy holy child[servant] Jesus.

31And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were 
assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and 
they spake the word of God with boldness.

32And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one 
soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he 
possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

1 Corinthians 9:17-18

17For if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my 
will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto me.

18What is my reward then? Verily that, when I preach the gospel, I may 
make the gospel of Christ without charge, that I abuse not my power in 
the gospel.

19For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto 
all, that I might gain the more.

Matthew 23:11

11But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant [diakonos].

Matthew 8:9For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me: and 
I say to this man, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he 
cometh; and to my servant [doulos], Do this, and he doeth it.

1 Corinthians 6:20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God 
in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Your Unique Assignment
October 29, 2015

 Jesus coming to our Churches

Mark 14:49 I was daily with you in the temple teaching, and ye took me 
not: but the scriptures must be fulfilled.

Jesus was born in a Jewish family, He fulfilled prophesy given to 
Abraham and David. But we see Jesus was like Martin Luther of the Jews, 
He caused Jews to be reformed into Christians. He taught them 
understanding which was contrary to the Jewish understanding and thus He 
was considered a heretic and false prophet by the Jews. They hated Him 
and still do that their books write as He died and was sent to Hell and 
is burning in pots of boiling oil.

In today's message we see Jesus went to the Jewish synagogue (temple) 
daily. Let us ask the question did Jesus go to the synagogue as a 
Jew?The answer is NO.

A Jew goes to the synagogue to pray for he or she thinks the presence of 
God is in the temple. But we see with Jesus when He wanted to pray He 
went to a garden or to mountain tops or in the wilderness to be alone 
with His Father.

Jewish synagogues do not have any statues of people like say a Catholic 
Church has, yet Jews are strong idol worshipers if not as much as the 
Catholics. If one goes to a Jewish synagogue it is full of symbolism and 
these people worship the symbols without understanding.

Does a Jew know the Star of David symbolizes Jesus Christ; that the Key 
of David refers to authority in Christ; the 7 stick Candle stand 
symbolizes the Holy Spirit? Everything in the Jewish Synagogue is 
symbolic and almost all fulfilled in Jesus Christ so the existence of 
these symbols now become idolatry, it is like a Christian still killing 
a lamb on Pascal Feast.

Symbols are for understanding and they themselves are not holy but what 
they symbolize may be holy. Like a crucifix is not holy but the 
sacrifice of Jesus Christ on it is holy. Can we kiss the sacrifice of 
Jesus Christ? Thus kissing a crucifix or even wearing it as a holy 
religious symbol terms into idolatry. Jesus said the world will know us 
as His disciples not by what we wear but with what we are, the way we 
live our lives.

We Believers may say we do not have any idols or symbols in our place of 
worship but you may be surprise even today if Jesus Christ were alive as 
human amongst us He may not worshipped His Father in our gatherings, He 
would still go to a remote or excusive place to worship.

Our Churches may not have physical idols or physical symbols but yet are 
full of idols in form of traditions. Many of Believer denominations 
follow traditions or rituals rooted from the Catholics Church. Some of 
them have made new ones which may surprise a spiritually mature person. 
Like there is a 'Word rooted Church' were a preacher is asked to share 
the message which the Lord has put in his heart. After he shares the 
message the Pastor adds his input to the message confirming the message 
as authentic and then comes the senior Pastor who also has to say a word 
for at least 5mins on that what the other Pastor said. So he certifies 
the authenticity of the Pastor's message which legitimized the message 
given by the Lord to the preacher. One would say this is ok if it 
happens once a while but when it happens at every service it come as an 
amusement.

Yesterday we received a message on worshiping the Lord in spirit. Today 
the Lord is telling us to ask ourselves if He was alive as man amongst 
us would He come to our Churches and worship amongst us. Or would He do 
like He did to the Jewish synagogues come only to preach in our Churches 
but worship elsewhere.

[Prayer Starter]

Father God your Word says our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak. 
We desire You but our carnal nature is so bonded in traditions and 
natural things that we fail to worship You in Spirit. We pray Lord we 
see what we are doing and change our ways. We pray we are led by your 
spirit and not by the understanding of man...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Matthew 14:23And after he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into 
the mountain apart to pray: and when even was come, he was there alone.

Matthew 26:36Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, 
and saith unto his disciples, Sit ye here, while I go yonder and pray.

Luke 6:12And it came to pass in these days, that he went out into the 
mountain to pray; and he continued all night in prayer to God.

Numbers 21:9And Moses made a serpent of brass, and set it upon the 
standard: and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, 
when he looked unto the serpent of brass, he lived.

1 Samuel 6:5Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images 
of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of 
Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off 
your gods, and from off your land.

2 Kings 18:4He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut 
down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had 
made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: 
and he called it Nehushtan.

Acts 7:42-43

42But God turned, and gave them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is 
written in the book of the prophets, Did ye offer unto me slain beasts 
and sacrifices Forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?

43And ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch, And the star of the god 
Rephan, The figures which ye made to worship them: And I will carry you 
away beyond Babylon.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Praying always in spirit

Ephesians 6:18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the 
Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication 
for all saints;

Like some questioned me initially I too had that question. If we were to 
pray in spirit then why do we need to speak? God is not man that He 
needs to hear our words, since He can read our thoughts even if we think 
He will answer.

Yes it is true we do not need to speak words when we pray, BUT that is 
when our spirit is in tune with the Spirit of Lord. Bible says the 
desires of the righteous are answered by the Lord, even before they 
speak out He will answer them.

One needs to be a person who worships the Lord not just in words but 
also the way you live your life. Righteousness (what is right in the 
eyes of God) is wrongly understood. We cannot by any way measure or 
touch the righteousness of the Lord. The righteousness the Lord expects 
from is according to our little understanding of His Kingdom, not our 
misunderstanding but our right understanding. So according to God, it is 
not just what we don't do but what we do also has more value. That means 
we cannot call ourselves righteous just because we do not rob, do not 
tell lie, do not hurt others etc., we are called people pursuing 
righteous when we bless others, love others, help others, guide others 
etc... By doing the Will of God we automatically stop doing things that 
displease God. The Greek word translated as supplication is the word 
'deesis' which means more 'seek', 'indigence'. Paul says we need to seek 
in spirit.

We pray vocally, more for ourselves to know what we are praying and for 
others to hear, for us and them to be encouraged because our spirits are 
weak. Even when we speak words but our hearts speak otherwise, God will 
hear more the words of our hearts than the words of our mouth.

We may impress people by praying in many words or by screaming and 
shouting but God does not get impressed with all this. What God hears 
and answers is the words that come from our heart, seeing from what 
depth they come from and how true they are.

I always tell people the most powerful prayer that Jesus said was the 
prayer 'thank You' and the prayer Our Father is just the ABCD of prayer. 
We are not called to narrate the prayer 'Our Father' but to prayer like 
that, which means use it as a template and prayer. Also to say the 
prayer 'thank You' requires very strong faith.

As Catholics we would narrate standard prescribed prayers. The first 
time they would make you feel good but then they came out like nursery 
rhymes. The prayers were so automated that even if the person was half 
asleep yet the 'praying' would continue. Later when I came in the Lord 
and I learnt about prayer I realized they angered God more than pleased 
God. Firstly the way they were said and secondly what was said since 
almost all Catholic prayers speak contrary to the Word of God. They are 
like accusing God of lies or mocking God by mocking His Word. It was one 
of these so called prayers which is so dedicatedly said by all Catholics 
that is the 'Rosary', which opened my eyes to the truth of Catholicism.

Let our prayer be our personal communication to God. We may communicate 
as an individual or as a group. As a group let us all know what we seek 
and let us all agree in spirit with the person if there is someone 
leading others in prayer.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord your Word says we do not receive because we do not ask. Your people 
Lord also do not know how to ask that is why they do not receive. Lord 
we pray You teach your people to pray and that they may live a prayerful 
life not by continual praying but a life that makes prayer more effective...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Psalms 37:4-6

4Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of 
thine heart.

5Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it 
to pass.

6And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy 
judgment as the noonday.

Isaiah 1:15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes 
from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands 
are full of blood.

Matthew 6:9 After this manner therefore pray ye. Our Father who art in 
heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

James 4:3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may 
spend it in your pleasures.

Mark 11:24Therefore I say unto you, All things whatsoever ye pray and 
ask for, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

1 John 3:22and whatsoever we ask we receive of him, because we keep his 
commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

You Egyptian fishermen will mourn

Isaiah 19:8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle 
into the brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters 
shall languish.

We learned in one of our recent messages the Lord spoke to us about what 
he meant by the term He used for Simon Peter 'fisher of men'. Previously 
due to lack of understanding of the term I used to use the term 
'fishing' to 'evangelizing', but then I was uneasy using this.

Christians who nurture or lead others growing in Lord are called 
Shepherds or Pastors, but we cannot use the term fishermen to them.

The scripture the 'Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want' has nothing to 
do with worldly needs or wants. It speaks of spiritual needs or 
guidance. The green pastures symbolize spiritual nourishment.

Just to refresh when the Lord told Simon Peter He would make him a 
fisher of men, He did so because Peter was a very business minded person 
(he used to do fishing business along with John and James). To get Simon 
Peter to acknowledge Him, Jesus had to show him a sign and the best sign 
for a business man is a big sudden unimaginable boom in his business.

Today the Lord is going to do the antithesis of what He did to Peter. 
Today's scriptures speaks to all those who are business minded. It 
speaks of Egyptians which in Hebrew means 'dual strait' and symbolizes 
people of God living a worldly life.

The Lord is our provider and He provides us all our needs. But those who 
replace the needs by wants and put them ahead of the position the hold 
for the Lord and expect God to meet them will be in for a great 
disappointment.

In Church there is a person who comes from a business community and has 
accepted the Lord. But the purpose he has done this is because the Lord 
saved him from financial disasters. He looks up to the Lord only for his 
financial problems since he does not have time or importance to give to 
other things. He comes to Church and stands many a times to testify how 
the Lord has blessed him in business and the other times he sleeps. Of 
late has become more honest, he leaves before the preaching starts.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord You love your people and there are times when out of love You need 
to disappoint them or chastise your own. Lord we pray that your people 
overcome this materialistic world. Let them know the difference between 
need and wants. Let them understand the difference between desire and 
greed...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Isaiah 19: 4-10

4And the Egyptians will I give over into the hand of a cruel lord; and a 
fierce king shall rule over them, saith the Lord, the LORD of hosts.

5And the waters shall fail from the sea, and the river shall be wasted 
and dried up.

6And they shall turn the rivers far away; and the brooks of defence 
shall be emptied and dried up: the reeds and flags shall wither.

7The paper reeds by the brooks, by the mouth of the brooks, and every 
thing sown by the brooks, shall wither, be driven away, and be no more.

8 The fishers also shall mourn, and all they that cast angle into the 
brooks shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall 
languish.

9Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, 
shall be confounded.

10And they shall be broken in the purposes thereof, all that make 
sluices and ponds for fish.

Psalms 23:1 Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

The appearance of things

Luke 24:11 And their words appeared to them as nonsense, and they 
believed them not.

We see in today's message when the women returned from the tomb and 
reported about the resurrection of Jesus Christ the scripture says the 
eleven did not believe. The scripture uses very appropriate words while 
recording this, it does not say that they just did not believe, it says 
'it appeared to them nonsense' so they did not believe.

The ability to know something requires the person to have the basic 
foundation very firm. If I do not know the ABC of a thing than the DEF 
would be foolishness to me. When anyone does not understand something 
the person is not to be blamed for the misunderstanding, we need to 
realize that the basic understanding is lacking thus the person fails.

The eleven disciples of Jesus were taught by Jesus and one cannot argue 
about the wisdom and capability of Jesus as a teacher, yet we see the 
disciples had problems in understanding what Jesus taught them. The 
problem was not with Jesus but the problem was their pass knowledge of 
the Judaism religion was too strong to allow the truth to settle in. 
Jesus as man was 100percent man thus when they heard another man teach 
them they had many difficulties to accept it fully. Doubts and previous 
misunderstand became their hurdle to accept the Truth.

The only one who could deal with them was the Holy Spirit and it was 
through the Holy Spirit they understood all what Jesus taught them. 
Jesus knew of this problem therefore told them that the one whom He 
sends would clear everything for them.

When I was a Catholic my understanding came from the Catholic Church, so 
based on that understanding I would see all things and thus all other 
things seem nonsense. But when the Holy Spirit exposed the true face of 
this Institute, the face of deception and one which is under the power 
of the great deceiver, it was after that I made my mind not to believe 
even the smallest thing of this Church. It was only when I erased every 
understanding that I had received from this Church that I started 
quickly understanding the Truth.

We see Catholics are so prone to deception due to their false 
understanding of the Truth that they believe the spirit (woman) that 
appears as Mary is actually Mary the mother of Jesus. Because they 
believe this woman is Mary the mother of Jesus they shut their ears to 
every word spoken against her or things this spirit protects or professes.

Yesterday I managed to get a brother out of this Church because he knew 
about Islam and when he saw the Pope acknowledge Islam and its books as 
holy he got shaken. He questioned his priest and they failed to justify 
him with an answer. Ultimately they spilled out the truth that they knew 
it was wrong yet they have to keep quiet because they feared their 
master the Pope. The brother told them he feared Christ for Christ is 
his master.

Deception is not restricted only to the Catholic Church for even the 
Believer Church which has separated itself from this Church has not 
separated itself fully from the understandings of this Church. Even 
today Believers unknowingly follow the traditions and false beliefs of 
this Church.

It is only boldness and thirst to know the truth that can break barriers 
of falsehood and deceptions.

Bible says the Spirit of God gives us boldness and also the initial 
Spirit of God we receive by faith in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is 
the Spirit of Truth which is one of the seven Spirits of God (we receive 
the promise, after that we need to claim Him).

If we believe in the sacrifice if Jesus Christ and have yet not received 
and baptized in the Holy Spirit let us claim the Spirit of God. Let us 
ask Him to come into our lives, and let us surrender to Him. When He 
comes into our lives He fills us with boldness and opens our minds to 
understanding of the Kingdom of God.

[Prayer Starter]

Father God You sent your Son to become man and pay the price for our 
sins so that we can receive your Spirit. It is only by the working of 
your Spirit we receive back the image of You that was lost by sin of 
Adam and Eve. Lord we pray your people receive your Spirit and they 
surrender to your Spirit. That your Spirit of Truth works in them and 
sets them free...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Matthew 23:8-10

8But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your teacher, and all ye are 
brethren.

9And call no man your father on the earth: for one is your Father, even 
he who is in heaven.

10Neither be ye called masters: for one is your master, even the Christ.

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

John 16:12-15

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

13Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he shall guide you into 
all the truth: for he shall not speak from himself; but what things 
soever he shall hear, these shall he speak: and he shall declare unto 
you the things that are to come.

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

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

Acts 4:31And when they had prayed, the place was shaken wherein they 
were gathered together; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, 
and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Romans 8:15For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear; 
but ye received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.

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Across the brook of Kidron unto the Garden

John 18:1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his 
disciples over the brook Cedron, where was a garden, into the which he 
entered, and his disciples.

We read in today's message Jesus crossed the valley of Cedron / Kidron 
(Hebrew) to enter the garden. The Lord wants us to mediate on this 
aspect of crossing the valley of Kidron to enter the Garden for we too 
will have to do so. The Lord is not talking of the valley which is in 
Jerusalem but the valley that is in our life and in the life of every 
human. To understand this we need to understand the brook.

The Hebrew word Kidron means darkness. Darkness by itself does not exist 
for it needs to be created and one needs to proactively create darkness 
like light is always at work (light are particles traveling in a 
direction). We also say this because by default light exist and darkness 
comes to existence when light is restricted. To keep darkness one needs 
to always keep obstructing light similarly evil needs always keep 
breeding evil to be evil, if evil just stops breeding evil light will 
overtake it and remove darkness.

God is Light and He exists from the beginning or before the beginning. 
Why I say before the beginning because the Bible starts from the time 
when darkness was created by one third Angels rebelling against the 
plans of God and God making man with the purpose to be the source of 
light. The Bible ends with the darkness being removed by the light 
shining through man (who is lower than the Angels and went through 
darkness himself for a period) overcoming the fallen angels. So in short 
the whole Bible is about crossing the valley of Kidron / darkness.

Let us study the history of the valley of Kidron in the Bible to 
understand Kidron.

We read about David passing this valley with his close associates, when 
he fled his own son Absalom. After the adultery affair of David with 
Bathsheba his son Absalom won the hearts of the people and revolted 
against David. It is written David was ashamed at he did and crossed 
this valley with weeping when he fled his own son.

The valley also became famous for being a place where flit of the city 
and specially the temple was discarded into this valley. It was like a 
city sewer where unclean (spiritually unclean) things were discarded. We 
even see the idols connected to the vain beliefs of man being discarded 
here. Later we see even the 'unclean' people cast off from the city 
dwelt here. It is this place which gave birth to concept of hades / hell 
being a place of fire burning since there was perpetual burning of 
garbage here in this valley.

Initially this valley was called a cemetery of the common men. The 
people who were poor would usually bury their relatives here in this 
valley. Later the Jews started considered this place as being the most 
sort after place to bury their dead because of their misunderstanding of 
referring this valley as the valley of Jehoshaphat. Since they lacked 
understanding they thought this valley was a promise of God for their 
dead. Jesus said God is the God of the living not of the dead so you 
will not find any special or extra ordinary instructions towards dealing 
with dead bodies.

Over all we see the things associated with this valley of Kidron 
symbolizing Hell are darkness, death, filth, vain traditions, 
backsliding, spiritual uncleanliness and lack of understanding.

Jesus crossed the valley of Kidron and entered the Garden and His 
disciples who followed Him also did. It symbolizes the Son of Man Jesus 
overcoming Hell to ascend to Heaven and we who are His disciples will 
also overcome the valley darkness and enter Heaven for He did.

The people who will be caught in Kidron are those who are spiritually 
unclean (even though they know God for the filth of the Temple were 
discarded here), people who have made man made traditions a religion and 
humans or human made objects as gods, people who backslide even if they 
were great Men of God, people who hate the plans of God and love 
darkness, even those people who have the wrong understanding of the 
plans of God will land up in this place.

The Lord is telling us even if we are not God haters but are believing 
Christians yet we have the danger of landing in destruction. So let is 
make our feeble feet strong, let us walk the path of holiness, let us be 
clear of the plans of God so that we are not deceived to believing vain 
things.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we pray You help us strengthen our weak feet to be strengthen. We 
pray for grace and courage so that we fall not and if we do we instantly 
get up and are back on our feet. We pray for discernment that we know 
the things holy from the things unholy and keep ourselves from the 
unholy things. We also pray for clear direction of your plans so we do 
not waver in our path to You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

2 Samuel 15:23And all the country wept with a loud voice, and all the 
people passed over: the king also himself passed over the brook Kidron, 
and all the people passed over, toward the way of the wilderness.

2 Samuel 15:30And David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, and wept 
as he went up, and had his head covered, and he went barefoot: and all 
the people that was with him covered every man his head, and they went 
up, weeping as they went up.

2 Chronicles 29:16And the priests went into the inner part of the house 
of the LORD, to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that 
they found in the temple of the LORD into the court of the house of the 
LORD. And the Levites took it, to carry it out abroad into the brook Kidron.

2 Chronicles 30:14And they arose and took away the altars that were in 
Jerusalem, and all the altars for incense took they away, and cast them 
into the brook Kidron.

1 Kings 15:13And also Maachah his mother, even her he removed from being 
queen, because she had made an idol in a grove; and Asa destroyed her 
idol, and burnt it by the brook Kidron.

2 Kings 23:3-6

3And 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.

4And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, and the priests of the 
second order, and the keepers of the door, to bring forth out of the 
temple of the LORD all the vessels that were made for Baal, and for the 
grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burned them without 
Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried the ashes of them unto 
Bethel.

5And he put down the idolatrous priests, whom the kings of Judah had 
ordained to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah, and 
in the places round about Jerusalem; them also that burned incense unto 
Baal, to the sun, and to the moon, and to the planets, and to all the 
host of heaven.

6And he brought out the grove from the house of the LORD, without 
Jerusalem, unto the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and 
stamped it small to powder, and cast the powder thereof upon the graves 
of the children of the people.

Jeremiah 26:23And they fetched forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought 
him unto Jehoiakim the king; who slew him with the sword, and cast his 
dead body into the graves of the common people.

Joel 3:2I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into 
the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people 
and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, 
and parted my land.

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Luke 5:10 And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which 
were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from 
henceforth thou shalt catch men.

We see Jesus tells Simon (whom He named Cephas - later translated to 
Peter, this is after He named him) that He would make him a fisher of 
men. Before I come to the main point let us also look at the same record 
of how Jesus gets Simon to follow Him in the other Gospels.

We know Luke wrote the Gospel to bring in line the things which were 
missing or matters that needed details (not correction but adding or 
emphasizing the important points). Luke records Jesus's interaction with 
Simon to get him to follow Him. If we ignore Luke's record we may think 
this catching of fishes was the first interaction of Jesus with Simon. 
But we see in chapter 4 after preaching at the synagogue and before the 
incident of catching abundant fishes Jesus left for Simon's house and 
heals his sick mother in law. It shows Jesus knew Simon from before and 
this is again highlighted by Luke stating Simon was a business partner 
of John and James Zebedee.

We know John and James were first cousins of Jesus for they were 
children of Salome the sister of His mother (whom Jesus also called Mary 
for He gave her the status of His mother like He also did to Mary the 
Magdalene). Salome/ Mary was the wife of Cleophas who was nicknamed 
Zebedee (people with common names were given nick names or called along 
with their father's name). So we see Jesus was closer to John and James 
than He was to John the Baptist who was the son of His mother's cousin. 
Since Jesus knew John and James from before He also knew their partner 
Simon. It was only after Jesus' commission of becoming Rabbi not just 
master but official teacher which enabled Him to preach in Synagogues by 
His 40days fasting in the wilderness according to that of Moses else He 
would have had to study under another Rabbi like Saul/Paul was doing, 
that He got His 12 select disciples in place. So Luke was clearing the 
matter by adding the missing details. On the other hand we see the 
Gospel of John starts with the incident of Jesus naming Simon as Cephas.

Why I wanted to clear this because Jesus used the words 'Fear not; from 
henceforth thou shalt catch men (be fisher of men)'. Note Jesus 
highlights 2 things towards Simon 'fear' and relating 'souls to fishes'. 
Simon and his group were astonished with the large catch of fishes so 
there was an element of surprise not an element of fear but we see Jesus 
uses the word fear. Also are souls of the Kingdom of God fishes? In what 
way can anyone relate the two? One is catch to kill and consume which 
the other is not caught but released from bondage of death and 
destruction and set free and given eternal life.

Like in the case when Saul came to know the Lord, the Lord prophetically 
spoke of the mission of Paul, here too when commissioning Simon we find 
Jesus prophetically spoke the 2 weak areas of Simon which he would 
overcome. We know from the later incidents of Simon how fear took hold 
of him and he denied Jesus 3 times so fear was a factor of Simon. 
Secondly we also see after the death of Jesus the first thing that Simon 
does on turning back to his regular life is go for fishing which was his 
business. We also see he was so engrossed in his business that Simon did 
not realize that his clothes were fallen off and he was naked, but he 
continued fishing. It was when he was told Jesus was there he puts his 
clothes on.

When Jesus told Simon 'I will make you a fisher of men', Jesus was not 
relating the souls to fishes but was telling Simon that his focus will 
not be business but the Kingdom of God.

Today the Lord is talking to all who have the spirit of Simon (alike to 
Simon), all those who have fear in them and all those who give more 
importance to their livelihood or business than to God's Kingdom.

Our Churches are filled with lots of these Simons. They love God but due 
to fear do not boldly witness Him, they do not have time for God's work 
since business is the first priority for them and when they get some 
free time they will then think of doing God's work; but due to their 
zealous passion for their work they rarely get this free time.

The Lord is telling them today 'fear not, I will make you a fisher of 
men'. He will fill them with boldness and He will change the focus of 
their life and the passion of their life.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we thank You today for speaking unto the Simons in our Church. We 
thank You Lord for filling them with boldness and for redirecting their 
focus and purpose of their lives. We need more and more laborers filled 
with boldness and those who know the importance of saving souls...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Luke 1:1-4

1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a 
declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us,

2Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were 
eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word;

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

4That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou 
hast been instructed.

Luke 4:38-39

38And he arose out of the synagogue, and entered into Simon's house. And 
Simon's wife's mother was taken with a great fever; and they besought 
him for her.

39And he stood over her, and rebuked the fever; and it left her: and 
immediately she arose and ministered unto them.

Mark 1:16-17

16Now as he walked by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his 
brother casting a net into the sea: for they were fishers.

17And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you to 
become fishers of men.

John 1:40-42

40One of the two which heard John speak, and followed him, was Andrew, 
Simon Peter's brother.

41He first findeth his own brother Simon, and saith unto him, We have 
found the Messias, which is, being interpreted, the Christ.

42And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said, Thou 
art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by 
interpretation, A stone.

John 21:7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved saith unto Peter, It 
is the Lord. Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he girt 
his fisher's coat unto him, (for he was naked,) and did cast himself 
into the sea.

Acts 9:15But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen 
vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the 
children of Israel:

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Who hates God the most?

Luke 23:4,5 Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I 
find no fault in this man. And they were the more fierce, saying, He 
stirreth up the people, teaching throughout all Jewry, beginning from 
Galilee to this place.

Pontius Pilate was a Roman procurator appointed under the Governor of 
the province. His job was to make sure the taxes towards the Roman 
Empire were paid and that law and order was maintained in his territory. 
So one of his activities was to judge over civil and criminal issues.

We see Jesus was found to be innocent by Pontius Pilate according to 
civil laws of the land. But we see it was the Jewish High Priest and his 
troupe that accused Jesus as being a criminal and they were doing so 
according to their law. So according to them (their understanding) they 
were fully justified in punishing Jesus. What law did the Jews follow 
and are following? Can they by the Law given by the Lord find the Lord 
Jesus Christ guilty?

The Jews followed and follow a law which they think is the Law of the 
Lord given through Moses but that was and is their thinking and not 
reality. Paul in his letter to the Jewish Christians in Rome exposed 
that these people followed a law that led to death and not life which 
the Law of God gives.

Jews due to their lack of understanding followed the Law in the text / 
letter and not in its understanding. Paul used the term the letter kills 
but the spirit gives life. Paul was not talking of the Holy Spirit but 
the spirit or understanding of the text.

One should give this matter a deep thought. We get our understanding of 
the Kingdom of God via the written Word and how is it that following the 
written Word can cause death?

The problem lays in taking part of the text or taking a matter out of 
its actual reference and building an understanding on one's 
misunderstanding.

Jews follow scriptures partly or without its context of reference and 
based on that mistake they created the 'law of Moses'. It was these 
misdirected people who thought they were 'people of God' who made them 
the worst enemies of God for they hated Him.

Today's message opens our eyes to the worse enemies of God and those are 
the half knowledge and misled religious people. Ask many Christians why 
they do not thirst the knowledge and understanding of the Kingdom of 
God; why they do not study deep the things of the Word and Kingdom of 
God? They will say they are happy with knowing what they know they do 
not want to get confused by studying deeper things. That is why the 
Preachers also teach them what they already know and this pleases them.

The Lord is telling us we can actively or passively become enemies of 
God by our attitude towards His Word. Jesus said either be warm or be 
cold but if we are lukewarm He would spit us out of His mouth.

One can be an active or passive religious person by one's attitude 
towards God's Word. God hates halfhearted people / stiff-necked people 
who are active or passive religious people for they make directly or 
indirectly make God their enemy. They may say 'Lord, Lord' and may be 
attending daily prayer services but due their confused understanding 
they misled others whom the Lord loves. They may think they are doing 
God work but they do not know how much wrath of God they are bringing on 
themselves.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord your Word says a foolish friend is worse than an enemy. Lord the 
people who call themselves Christians, your people and have no knowledge 
and understanding of the basics of your Word they are misleading the 
world. They fail to show the Living God in them and thus cause people to 
worship Baal a god unknown. Lord we pray the people have a thirst for 
your Kingdom and your Word and not let their foolishness make You their 
enemies...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Romans 2:29But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is 
that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is 
not of men, but of God.

Romans 7:6But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein 
we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the 
oldness of the letter.

2 Corinthians 3:6Who also hath made us able ministers of the new 
testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, 
but the spirit giveth life.

John 8:43-45

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

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

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

John 7:19Did not Moses give you the law, and yet none of you keepeth the 
law? Why go ye about to kill me?

Acts 28:23And when they had appointed him a day, there came many to him 
into his lodging; to whom he expounded and testified the kingdom of God, 
persuading them concerning Jesus, both out of the law of Moses, and out 
of the prophets, from morning till evening.

Revelation 3:16So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor 
hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.

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For the sake His Kingdom be one

Romans 15:5 Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be 
likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

I like the NASB translation of this verse; it uses the more appropriate 
words 'perseverance' and 'encouragement' instead of patience and 
consolation.

Generally speaking the term patience is too broadly used, but 
technically and biblically patience is the most difficult virtue to have 
and one requires many Fruits of the Spirit to have patience. It is not a 
Fruit but more a Fruit Salad.

Today's message talks of being of one mind. People think being of one 
mind means to have the same understanding which is just impossible.

We all can have the same understanding on certain topics but in all 
topics we will surely have some of other difference. That difference 
would be small like in importance, definition or big in sense of 
theological differences, but there will always be some deviation.

If we look at the Apostles they too even though being one had difference 
(highlighted between Peter and Paul, Paul and Barnabas). Their 
difference was in the level of understanding and not in purpose. The 
oneness in them was the purpose and that purpose was the purpose of 
Jesus Christ.

We Christians fight over differences of knowledge and we belittle people 
who know less or even if they know more than us. This nature is contrary 
to the nature of Christ.

Bible says Truth came through Christ even though the Word was with man 
even before the Lord came as man Jesus. As man Jesus Christ the Lord was 
100percent man and He studied scriptures like you and me do, but since 
He had the fullness of the Spirit and was blessed optimally in all 
spiritual gifts, He had the most perfect knowledge and understanding of 
scriptures and of the Kingdom of God. Do we find Jesus mocking people 
for their lack of understanding of scriptures? Even when Jesus rebuked 
the religious Jews He did not belittle them for their understanding, He 
exposed their wrong or deceitful intentions, but not their understanding.

Let us not look of what or how much we know, for true understanding of 
the Kingdom of God does not come by our efforts but comes as a gift (a 
revelation) from God that is why Bible says we who are in Christ will 
make the wise of the world look fools. If knowledge and understanding of 
the Kingdom of God would come purely by human efforts than the wise who 
put great efforts to learn would have had it all. Understand this also 
does not mean we need to sit under some tree and meditate on God and we 
will know all. Each revelation that comes from God is like a tool which 
helps us dig better and search better and understand better. The more 
and better tools we have we can search and understand better. Here we 
need both tools and we also need to search, so efforts are required to 
know more of the Kingdom of God.

The wise man as well as the man blessed with revelation both put effort, 
the difference between the wise person and the person blessed with 
revelation is that the wise man digs with his bare hands while the 
person with revelation digs with heavenly tools. The wise man just 
barely scrapes the top and is pleased but a man blessed with revelation 
digs deep, also he knows the more the tools the more deep he can get and 
what he receives comes not by least efforts and thus does not take pride 
in himself. So a man of revelation will never boast of his efforts or 
his knowledge and understanding for he or she knows it is a gift of God 
and the efforts he or she put was nothing compared to what he or she 
holds. Jesus did not say 'you will know all things by your efforts'; He 
said His Spirit will lead us to all understanding and show us all things 
of His Kingdom.

The Church is filled with wise people and it is because these people 
know by efforts that is why they take pride in what they know. To change 
one would require surrender to the Spirit of God and one of the most 
effective surrender is praying in Tongues.

Let us be one, if not by understanding but at least by our purpose which 
should be the purpose of Jesus Christ.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we pray the division between us be removed let your people operate 
less in the flesh and operate more in the Spirit. Lord we pray your 
Spirit take hold of your people and lead them in oneness and that your 
glory come soon on earth as in Heaven...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

1 Corinthians 1:19-21

19For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will 
bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

20Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this 
world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

21For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, 
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

Matthew 11:27All 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 to whomsoever the Son will reveal.

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

John 7:39(But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on 
him should receive: for the Holy Spirit was not yet given; because that 
Jesus was not yet glorified.)

John 20:22And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto 
them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit:

John 16:13-15

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

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

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

Romans 16:25Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my 
gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation 
of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began,

Galatians 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught 
it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 3:3How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; 
(as I wrote afore in few words,

Ephesians 1:17That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of 
glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the 
knowledge of him:

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Laying of hands to heal

Acts 28:8 And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a 
fever and of a bloody flux: to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and 
laid his hands on him, and healed him.

When one joins any Church the Church elders or the Pastor will ask you 
if you have done your foundation course.And what do they teach you in 
the foundation course - the Gospel, Salvation, grace and faith.

If you look at the Bible this is just the first part of the foundation 
course which every Christian should go through. The second part of the 
foundation course is rarely taken in Churches and they are – Baptisms 
(Water and Spirit), laying of hands, Resurrection of the dead and 
Eternal Judgment.

What I have noticed many leaders themselves are not clear of the later 
topics and that is the cause of misunderstandings and doctrine issues in 
the Church. It is lack of understanding of these foundational topics 
which have caused denominations and breaking of the Body. If the 
foundation is weak and not set can a structure stand?

Today's topic speaks of laying of hands. Laying of hands is done for 2 
reasons one for imparting of the Holy Spirit and for healing. What is 
interesting in both cases it is not necessary to physically lay hands to 
do those tasks.

First we need to understand why we need to lay hands. Man is weak in the 
flesh and relies more on his natural senses. So what he hears sees or 
feels make great impact on his faith. These can work both ways they can 
build as well and destroy. When a person hears a good report it can 
encourage the faith of that person. When a person sees the manifestation 
of the Word of God it can encourage the faith of that person. The same 
way touch also encourages the faith of the person. Like a good report 
encourages so also a bad report discourages and shakes the faith.

Jesus or His Apostles did not need to use touch with every person to 
heal them but those who were weak in faith they did. One does not need 
to touch the part of the body which needs healing for it is not the 
touch that does the healing; the touch is for encouraging the faith. 
Surely touching that part of the body may increase the faith of the 
person but matters what part of the body it is. Touching certain parts 
may cause discomfort to the person or may cause disturbance to the 
spirit of the person praying, more over important is the people around 
should not have misunderstanding of what is happening, so it is safe to 
lay hands on the head for all purposes of praying for healing.

We also lay hands for imparting of the Spirit. Again it is not necessary 
to lay hands, when Jesus imparted the Spirit of God to His Apostles He 
breath in them after His resurrection. At Pentecost what happened is the 
manifestation of the Spirit and baptism of the Holy Spirit. Paul advices 
imparting of the Spirit is not to be taken likely and one should be very 
careful before doing so since the Spirit of God can build as well 
destroy for the Spirit quickens. If the person surrenders, the Spirit 
builds, if the person resists, the Spirit will break that person. So 
first bring the person to surrender to God before imparting the Spirit 
by laying of hands or speaking the Word (prophesying).

To be perfect in healing one needs to understand sicknesses. Healing is 
a gift and also a Calling but in both cases it works through authority. 
As one grows in his or her understanding the person perfects healings. 
It is not necessary every person has to get healed even Jesus could not 
do so for the cooperation of the recipient is required. Faithlessness 
can block healing that is why we need to encourage the faith of the 
person to heal.

Worship is one great way for encouraging faith that is why most Healers 
during big events have worship before they start healing. In smaller 
groups we can use testimony for encouraging faith before doing healings. 
Faith can be in God, His Word or even the Man of God and his authority 
to get healed. Like the woman (who was not a Jew) who suffered 13 years 
with bleeding issue touched the hem of Jesus clothes to get healed. 
People think she was humble and perseverant that is why she touched the 
hem. Understand in a crowd the worse thing to do is bend; one can cause 
stampede and people to topple over one another. She did that for she had 
understanding of the Jewish dress and what the blue hem of their clothes 
symbolizes. What she touched is the authority of Jesus thus she could 
steal a healing / get healed without the knowledge of the person 
involved in doing the healing.

Putting or anointing a person with oil is also similar to laying of 
hands. In scriptures they have specified the oil to be olive oil that 
does not mean we need to now start using olive oil or since coconuts 
were not available there and olive was common thus they used Olive oil. 
In the Bible Olive tree symbolizes the people and olive oil symbolizes 
testimony. We are called more to encourage the person with testimonies 
before laying hands and healing, applying oil / laying hands is not 
necessary (while applying we touch the person so both is done). We see 
many leaders who lack knowledge of scriptures sell 'holy oil' to make 
money. Even taking personal objects of an anointed Man of God is not 
approved by God. When the people did God that with Peter, Peter not 
stopping them but encouraging them (they even considered his shadow 
holy) caused God to get angry and we see the persecution in the Church 
started after that. In the case of Paul they stole his work clothes to 
heal themselves and since it was not with Paul's approval thus nothing 
happened.

God has given us authority and it is His Word that heals so let us not 
let the process take the center importance place but be focused on what 
actually does the healing but use the process for the advantage of 
getting the work done.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord your Word says when man sinned the image of You in man got 
corrupted and sickness started to manifest, man realized death was at 
hand and he was mortal. It was then man realized the danger of being far 
from You and how life comes from You and death come when we distant 
ourselves from You. Lord we pray we realize as Jesus You gave us all who 
believe in You the authority to heal. Let us encourage people weak in 
faith by laying hands and they come to know You and glorify You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Hebrews 6:1-2

1Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go 
on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from 
dead works, and of faith toward God,

2 Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of 
resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

Matthew 9:20-21

20And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve 
years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:

21For she said within herself, If I may but touch his garment, I shall 
be whole.

Matthew 14:36And besought him that they might only touch the hem of his 
garment: and as many as touched were made perfectly whole.

James 5:14Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the 
church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name 
of the Lord:

Hebrews 1:9Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore 
God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy 
fellows.

Acts 14:9-11

9The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving 
that he had faith to be healed,

10Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and 
walked.

11And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their 
voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us 
in the likeness of men.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Focus is on the little

Luke 16:10 He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also 
in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.

All those who have a passion for the Kingdom of God want to do something 
big, a great event, a great revival, a grand Church and so on. Every Man 
of God dreams of great things. But when God had to give an example of 
His most righteous He did not name Abraham, nor did He name Moses, or 
David, or Jacob, or Jeremiah, or Isaiah, or even Elijah. Like any person 
when God had to give names He did not name the least or average but 
named those that shine on the top in His eyes, and we see God named 
Noah, Job and Daniel.

Understand in this world we may be most famous Men of God but in the 
eyes of God we may be average or even little. God does not look at how 
famous we are in this world for doing His work or how many people we 
bought unto Him or for being a blessing unto millions.

We are like vessels, we may be used to serve the most finest of things, 
we may be put on the top or even at the center of the banquet table but 
when God needs to value the vessel He does not look at what was served 
in that vessel or where the vessel was placed, since He is the one who 
provides what is served and it is He who places the vessels at its 
position. What God looks at is what the vessel is made of.

Understand more than what we do outwards, Lord looks at what we do 
inwards. He looks at things like perseverance, persistence, consistence, 
endurance, patience etc. for these are impossible to possess without 
having Fruits of the Spirit.

Today the Lord is saying He is a gemologist, a goldsmith, a diamond 
dealer. He looks at quality more than quantity. He does not look at what 
you do but at what you are. He looks at the little things that you do in 
your everyday life. You may not have a big following here on earth but 
God has planned greater things for you in Heaven. Do not be surprised if 
we find the most famous Men and Women of God may not be holding top 
positions in Heaven when we all meet there. They may be standing with 
the common Angels and some simple ones on earth may be stage most near 
to His glorious Throne in Heaven.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You are God, all-knowing and all-seeing. There is nothing that is 
hidden from You even if it is done in the darkest of places. You know 
weakness and You Lord do not look at our mistakes but look at the 
efforts we take to fight them. Lord we pray we pay attention to the 
little things in life more than doing big propaganda, that we show Who 
You Are more than what You can do. May we not be among those who asked 
You your Name...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Ezekiel 14:14Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, 
they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith 
the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 14:20Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith 
the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall 
but deliver their own souls by their righteousness.

Genesis 32:27-29

27And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for 
as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

29And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he 
said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed 
him there.

Exodus 3:13-14

13And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of 
Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me 
unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say 
unto them?

14And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou 
say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

The coming back of Elijah

Matthew 17:11,12And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall 
first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is 
come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever 
they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.

When I came in the Lord and having a Calling of a Teacher of the Word 
the Lord led me to write on various topics, among them was on Creation. 
As the Lord was teaching me on this He bought to my understanding the 
design and purpose of His creation. I was made to understand life and 
death and Judgment Day but there was one thing that did not fall into 
all this and that was people like Elijah and Enoch who did not die and 
were lifted up. At that time this did not logically fit into the design 
of Heaven and Earth. Later as I was meditating on this the Lord opened 
my understanding to this too by making me understand the levels of His 
Kingdom. Paul too was make to understand this and he was so lost in this 
vision at that time that he could not confirm if he really was lifted up 
or he had a vision of it. Later we see Paul was cleared of this doubt too.

When we say Heaven we by default refer of the upper 3 levels of Heaven 
which are separated or guarded and no corrupt being can enter there 
including man or fallen angel. The only being ascended up is Jesus 
Christ for no corruption (sin) was found in Him. All who die believing 
in the Lord sleep in the Lord in a level know as Grave which is below 
the level we live in. Below Grave is the level called Hell which is not 
under the control of Satan (as Catholic doctrine states) although he is 
bound there. Hell like Peter rightly states is a prison in control of 
the Angels of the Lord. There is no fire in Hell, the fire which the 
Bible talks of is inside the being imprisoned there it is their sins in 
them that burn like never ending coals of fire (that is why in the 
parable the rich man asks for water to be put on his tongue not on him).

What I could not place in all this understanding of the levels was these 
2 people from the Old Testament who were lifted up, if they could not go 
to the upper 3 levels of Heaven (since they were yet not redeemed from 
corruption), where did they go? If they have to die and be judged to 
enter Heaven then when would they return? The Jews somewhat also knew of 
the fact no man can go to Heaven unless they were redeemed and judged 
that is why they eagerly await the promised Savior (they are still 
awaiting since they have rejected Jesus Christ). It was only when I was 
made to understand the level between us and Heaven that I understood 
where these people who were lifted up went.

When the Jews raised the question of Elijah coming back as prophesied 
Jesus told them that he had already come and they had put him to death 
and that person was none other than John the Baptist. Jesus said like 
Elijah came as John the Baptist with a mission and was put to death so 
also He (Son of Man) who came with a mission would be put to death by 
them (though not in the same fashion).

To understand the penance oriented mission of John the Baptist, reason 
of him living in the desert and eating things like locus, baptizing 
people in water etc. one need to understand the spirit of Elijah. No 
other Prophet in the Bible exists of whom his spirit is referred to in 
particular other than Elijah.

Enoch and Elijah were not taken up because they were better than other 
or just like that; they were taken to return back to play an important 
role in the timeline of mankind. Elijah came as John the Baptist who 
declares the arrival of the Savior. In the timeline there are 2 other 
characters 'the two witnesses' who are very important and they show up 
just before Lucifer being released, the rapture and thereafter coming 
again of Jesus Christ and Judgment day. When I knew this the thought 
came to my mind who is that person who will come with Enoch as the two 
witnesses; is there an opening for application? But like the Bible says 
it is complete so also this part of the story is complete and then I was 
told who the second character of the two witnesses was.

The Lord wants us to understand life, death and the Heavens. It is not 
possible to do justice to this topic in this short message so each one 
should study it in depth. Let us not be deceived by Catholic doctrines 
(understanding) which are unbiblical and sadly still believed by most 
Believers leaving for their concept of Purgatory which they created to 
make money and which caused the Reformation movement.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord You are Spirit and Omnipresent, even though You are present 
everywhere including Hell, yet your Throne / Seat of glory is in the 
Uppermost Heaven where no one has access to other than the Son. After 
man sinned You exiled all corrupt living beings from the Upper 3 levels 
of Heaven. But your love for man caused You to send a Part of You to be 
humbled and become man and via your Spirit You redeem and make man whole 
so as to be able to return back to the Upper Heavens. Lord we pray your 
people understand these basic things so that they are not deceived by 
this world...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Malachi 4:5-6

5Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the 
great and dreadful day of the LORD:

6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the 
heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth 
with a curse.

Genesis 5:24And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

2 Kings 2:11And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, 
that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and 
parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

2 Corinthians 12:2I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, 
(whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I 
cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven.

Revelation 11:3-12

3And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a 
thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

4These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before 
the God of the earth.

5And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and 
devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this 
manner be killed.

6These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their 
prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite 
the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

7And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that 
ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and 
shall overcome them, and kill them.

8And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which 
spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

9And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see 
their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their 
dead bodies to be put in graves.

10And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make 
merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets 
tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

11And after three days and an half the Spirit of life from God entered 
into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them 
which saw them.

12And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up 
hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies 
beheld them.

Luke 23:43And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day [it is 
'that day' the day when Jesus comes in glory, the topic they were 
discussing - Jesus Himself went to Hell and resurrected on the 3rd day 
and did not go to Heaven that day] shalt thou be with me in paradise.

1 Peter 3:19By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

Revelation 20:7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be 
loosed out of his prison,

Luke 16:24And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and 
send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool 
my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Take care of your feet and your walk

Job 31:5,6If I have walked with vanity, or if my foot hath hasted to 
deceit; Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine 
integrity.

We see in Church during certain worship songs which have the words kneel 
or bow we see people kneel or bow as the songs suggest and when the word 
worship comes some even lie on the floor face down. When one sees it for 
the first time one feels nice but when a person does it as a routine 
then feeling is not very good, looks more like PT drill.

In today's message we read the words 'walked with vanity' and 'foot hath 
hasted to deceit'. We know feet do not have a mind of their own or have 
a mouth or have the ability for deceive or discern good and bad. The 
Bible uses a lot of symbolism and we know walk symbolizes journey of 
life and feet our living.

When we kneel it symbolizes surrender or humbling of one's self to God 
or the one we kneel before. In the Bible the Greek word worship is 
associated other than bowing to a person, to things like kneeling to a 
person or even kissing the hand of the person. Thus knelling before a 
statue means nothing but worshiping it, so also kissing the hand of a 
person in love or with respect like Catholics do to the Pope or priest 
is nothing but worship, but since they do it often and has become a 
routine they do not realize it. They say 'we say we are not worshiping, 
we are just respecting or venerating'. Are we to go by their words or by 
the Word of God? It is like saying 'I am not robbing; I am just picking 
what is not mine and pocketing it without informing'.

We see when Moses approached the burning bush Lord told him to remove 
his sandals for it is holy ground. Understand Moses was on a mountain 
and the ground is made of dirt/mud. It wasn't that near the bush there 
was marble flooring and the Lord told Moses to not step on the marble 
flooring with his sandal. Also holiness does not have a radius that 
Moses was coming into that radius therefore needed to remove his 
sandals. The same we see Israel was warned not to enter the Tabernacle 
without washing one's hands and feet. Is God a cleanliness freak to kill 
people for being dirty?

The Lord told Moses to remove his sandals symbolic to come as one is 
before Him. The Lord told the Israelites if they came before Him with 
sinful works (dirty hands) or sinful lives (dirty feet) they would die. 
It is only the righteousness of Christ that enables us to go before the 
Father and for that we need forgiveness of our sins and that we get 
through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. Also by holding a soap 
no one becomes clean so also by just saying 'I believe in the sacrifice 
of Jesus Christ' one does not get forgiveness, one needs to apply it by 
faith to those areas of one's life.

Mohammad who took things for the Jews, the Christians and the Sabians 
made a concoction which we today called Islam. In Islam like in Judaism 
washing very important and Muslims call it Wudu. It involves a whole 
series of procedures on washing hands, feet, face including mouth and 
nostrils. In Christianity even though Torah is part of our Bible yet we 
do not follow these instructions of washing before worship not because 
they are invalid but we are called to do it in spirit and not in the 
physical. The Jews like Muslims are under bondage of their traditions 
and Jesus many a times did provoke the Jews by He and His disciple 
eating without washings. He knew it was not more for cleanliness but 
more for tradition even though they denied it. They made elaborate 
vessels for this purpose.

The Word of God is lamp unto my feet and light unto my path since it 
exposes our lives and our destination. Let the Word and the Spirit show 
us how we are living our lives, and where we are heading towards. Let 
our kneeling, bowing, lifting hands and washing of hands and feet before 
worship be not physical for they anger God more. Let us understand they 
are symbolism and the real thing is more important.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we pray your people do not become like the people of the world 
whose spirit is spiritually dead and who do things senselessly in the 
name of religion. Lord let our action be backed our thoughts and our 
commitment. When we lift our hands lets our hearts be lifted unto You, 
when we kneel let our lives be humbled before You, when we bow to You 
let it be in surrender...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Acts 7:33Then said the Lord to him, Put off thy shoes from thy feet: for 
the place where thou standest is holy ground.

Exodus 30:20-21

20When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they shall wash 
with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the altar to 
minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:

21So they shall wash their hands and their feet, that they die not: and 
it shall be a statute for ever to them, even to him and to his seed 
throughout their generations.

Isaiah 1:15And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes 
from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands 
are full of blood.

Hebrew 12:11-13

11Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: 
nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness 
unto them which are exercised thereby.

12Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;

13And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be 
turned out of the way; but let it rather be healed.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Jacob, Joseph and Esau will suffer

Obadiah 1:18And the house of Jacob shall be a fire, and the house of 
Joseph a flame, and the house of Esau for stubble, and they shall kindle 
in them, and devour them; and there shall not be any remaining of the 
house of Esau; for the LORD hath spoken it.

Like I previously said in the Bible names are very important for its 
understanding. Even after the Lord changed the name of Jacob to Israel 
we see many a time he is still referred to with his old name showing the 
scripture was not specifying the person but the character.

Today's message speaks of 3 characters of the OT:-

Jacob - one who is not totally renewed in the Lord; Israel means 'Prince 
of God', symbolizes a Son of God and the journey of Jacob to Israel is 
our journey form Adam to Christ. The wrestling of Jacob with the Lord as 
a man to become Israel is our [worldly person] wrestling with our 
inner-man [who is made in the image of God]. The Lord dislocating his 
thigh /pelvic bone in the wresting symbolizes a win by prophecy and not 
by physical perseverance [in OT they used to prophesy by placing they 
hand in this place].

Joseph - the man who refused to go to the Promise Land with his 
brothers.Since Joseph gave importance to his worldly responsibilities as 
chief of Egypt [symbolizing dual life - worldly and spiritual] he 
refused to go the Promised Land [symbolizing Heaven] but his bone 
[symbolizing his testimony] was later taken to the Promised Land. When 
he died it is not written 'he was gathered with his people' or fathers 
like written for his father and brothers, but just 'died'.

Esau [means hairy] symbolizing man who had abundant grace of God on him 
but due to his greed for pleasures of the flesh lost his blessing. Esau 
for a silly bowl of food lost his inheritance same as we losing our 
Heavenly inheritance for our craving for pleasures of the flesh like 
lust, beauty, luxury, power, fame, riches etc...

Today the Lord is not referring to these 3 characters of the OT but of 
our time. These people are not from among non-Christians but are from 
among Christians. These people will be found in Churches, in prayer 
meetings or even standing on the stage and preaching.

The Lord is telling them what they have built will not stand but will be 
destroyed.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, as your Word says anything that is not built on the Rock will 
perish. Your Word says everything we built will be tested by fire and 
only things built with metal will survive all else will be destroyed, we 
ourselves may be saved but what we built may not. Lord we pray that the 
Jacobs become Israel and the Josephs and Esaus may give up the worldly 
and fleshly desires and seek the true riches of Heaven...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scripture]

Genesis 32:24-29

24And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the 
breaking of the day.

25And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the 
hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, 
as he wrestled with him.

26And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not 
let thee go, except thou bless me.

27And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.

28And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for 
as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.

29And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he 
said, Wherefore is it that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed 
him there.

Genesis 50:25-26

25And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel, saying, God will 
surely visit you, and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.

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

Genesis 25:28-30

28And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but Rebekah 
loved Jacob.

29And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:

30And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red 
pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.

31And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.

32And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit shall 
this birthright do to me?

33And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he 
sold his birthright unto Jacob.

34Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and 
drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.

1 Corinthians 3:13-15

13Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, 
because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's 
work of what sort it is.

14If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall 
receive a reward.

15If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he 
himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Christian Apostates

Zephaniah 1:6And them that are turned back from the LORD; and those that 
have not sought the LORD, nor enquired for him.

In Islam the most hated by Allah are the Muslim apostates. In Islamic 
countries anyone found becoming an apostate not only that person is 
killed (beheaded or stoned to death) but all the close ones in the 
family are also punished. This measure of judgment according to them is 
justified since according to Islam if anyone converts or kills an 
infidel (non-Muslim)then not only that person gets to go to paradise 
(ironically this is the only confirmed way and easiest way in the Quran 
to go to paradise) but also the person's family gets to go to paradise 
(a family ticket!).

Christianity on the other hand is not a religion like no person becomes 
a Christian by conversion of religion or change of name or traditions or 
culture, in the same a person does not need to change religion to become 
an apostate.

Ask anyone what Christianity is and they will tell you Christianity is 
relationship with God, but it does not end there. Christianity starts 
will one knowing God and having a relationship with Him but it goes on 
with that person taking the journey to Fruits of Truth, Righteousness 
and Holiness, on the way the person grows the other (9) Fruits of the 
Holy Spirit. When we die we have not achieved the goal but by our being 
on the journey qualify us to enter Heaven.

In today's message the Lord tells us of 2 conditions that makes a 
Christian apostate, one is when the person abandons the Christ journey. 
This does not require the person to deny God, even if the person chooses 
to live his or her live the worldly way the person is considered 
Christian apostate.

The other condition which would surprise many is even if the person 
believes and remains a good person but yet does not seek God that person 
is considered a Christian apostate.

A Christian is a person who seeks God, seeks His knowledge and 
understanding of His Word and also seeks more and more of His Spirit, 
for He knows it is only by His Word and His Spirit one can reach Him. So 
let us not think we are Christians when we stop trying to know Him more 
and more and do not seek Him more and more in our lives. Not just in 
knowledge and understanding but also in the way we live our lives.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord Jesus You said You are the only Way to the Father. Lord we pray 
your people are not deceived into think they are still Christians when 
they turn back from your Way or stop moving on the Way. It is like the 
Israelites turning back to Egypt or stopping their journey in the 
wilderness, how would they have been called your people had they done 
that? Lord we pray every Christian be a persevering Christian, 
persevering Christ in their lives...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

John 14:6-7

6Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man 
cometh unto the Father, but by me.

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

John 16:7-15

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

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

9Of sin, because they believe not on me;

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

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

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

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

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

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

Matthew 7:22-24

22Many 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?

23And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, 
ye that work iniquity.

24Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I 
will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

Ephesians 5:8-13

8For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk 
as children of light:

9(For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness [holiness] and 
righteousness and truth;)

10Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord.

11And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but 
rather reprove them.

12For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them 
in secret.

13But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for 
whatsoever doth make manifest is light.

-- 
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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Have boldness to speak His Word

Acts 4:29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy
servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,

In Acts 4:27 we read the term ‘holy child Jesus’. It is this words which
caused Catholics to start dedication to ‘infant Jesus’. Today you find many
Catholics having pilgrimages and novenas dedicated infant Jesus where very
large crowd rattle out scripted prayers, burn candles, offer flowers, offer
various types of offerings (objects) to these statues of a child with a
ring on its head (ring on the head symbolizing holiness).

If a Catholic comes to know the word used in the scriptures as ‘child’
actually means ‘male servant’, would they stop their infant Jesus
pilgrimages? No. The reason is too much money and tradition is at stake,
and the later part is the most hard to give up it crushes their belief all
together.

The word used in today’s message as ‘servant’ actually means bond servant,
a servant bought for a price or out of debt. Unlike the word used in verse
27 where the word is voluntary this servant is out of compulsion.

We Christians are bought for a price which we can never give and thus we
have no option but to work for the Lord’s Kingdom. But we see God does not
demand such a requirement for us even though He has all the right to do
that. He on the other hand gives us the free will to serve Him or not to
serve Him.

We all know in business or even personal lives every financial year we need
to submit our accounts. Our debit and credits are tallied and at the end
the result is checked. People with simple minds think everything will be
summarized and then the total will be made.

Islam has some very funny system according to a Hadith Allah balances all
good deeds and bad deeds himself. Anyone who has intended a good deed and
has done it gets a full 10 to 700 good deeds recorded (score). If he had
intended to do a bad deed and does not do it then he gets 1 good deed
recorded, but if he intents a bad deed and does it then he gets a 1 bad
deed recorded. So we see according to Islam Allah allows to write of 10 to
700 bad deeds by doing 1 good deed done with intention (irrelevant of how
big or small this deed is). Can this be a righteous judgment?

Even in worldly accounting system we have different account heads and we
cannot move the debit or credit from one account head to another account
head. It looks like man’s accounting system more righteous than Allah’s
accounting system. I cannot write off my lust sins by donation or helping
the poor, nor a murder by paying blood money.

If we as Christians would have had to be stuck to God’s accounting system
none of us would go pass Him. So how much ever more good we do or less bad
we do it is not going to justify our entry to Heaven. Our entry is always
going to be a paid fair by the Lord and if the Lord is paying for our entry
to Heaven aren’t we obliged to be doing His work or executing His plans
here on earth? Even if the Lord does not demand of us yet we are obliged to
Him.

Let us have boldness in doing what we have to do irrespective of how people
respond to us. If they go against us yet we are not called to draw back in
our shells. Even to the last breathe of our lives we are obligated to Him
for what He has done for us, so let us ask the Lord like the Apostles did
for boldness to speak His Truth.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we pray your people may understand the price You paid for their
salvation and freedom from death and suffering. Today they may not realize
but one day they will know by faith in You, You have set them free for the
debt which was impossible for them to pay and from a suffering which they
cannot imagine. Lord we pray who are called by your Name may know their
responsibility and do they work and give your Truth with boldness...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Acts 4:27-28

27 For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed,
both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of
Israel, were gathered together,

28 For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be
done.

Roman 6:19-22

19 I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh:
for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity
unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness
unto holiness.

20 For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

21 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for
the end of those things is death.

22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have
your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

-- 

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Kings and Rulers

Acts 4:26 The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered 
together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

This Monday I was preaching at one of my house churches and the topic 
was on Kings and Rulers. When the Lord gave me the topic I wondered what 
I would teach that too I had just 1-2 hours to prepare, that too between 
my office work. But then as I started some new things started coming up 
and I started getting excited but as I was sharing the Word what I 
landed learning surprised me and took hours (even after the preaching) 
for me to digest. I will not be able to share it in this restricted 
message, so will share some part of it.

We normally think king and ruler is almost the same profile, one being a 
monarchy and the other an administrative person having legal rights, but 
Biblically they do not carry that meaning.

The Greek word for 'king' comes from the word 'foot' symbolizing 
foundation. A king is supposed to be the foundation law giver, governor, 
caretaker, provider etc. If the king is strong the kingdom stands and if 
the king is weak the kingdom falls. So this single individual becomes 
very important for the whole kingdom.

The Greek word for 'ruler' comes from the word 'to lead' symbolizing a 
leader. So when the Bible uses the word ruler it means a person who 
leads by example or makes people to follow the thinking or beliefs or 
lifestyle of that person.

Paul uses the words throne, dominion and power (various foundations) as 
substitution for the word king and he uses the word principality for 
ruler. There are kings and rulers of this world (carnal world) so also 
there are kings and rulers in the spiritual world. In today's message we 
see the kings and rulers of the carnal world go against the Lord and His 
Christ. We may see it as no surprise but if we examine the words 'Lord 
and His Christ' is used.

When we use the term 'Christ' it refers to the man who God (part of God) 
humbled and became and the Spirit of God on Him. We need to understand 
when God created us we were given dominion over this world. In other 
words we were made kings (princes) of this world but due to sin our 
sight /understanding corrupted and we lost the knowledge of our 
authority. Jesus showed Himself to be a man of authority and thus showed 
us what we are. Being renewed does not mean a new being as in 
substituting the one inside, it means the corruption (sin) on the 
outside being removed and the perfect person (whom God created) inside 
being revealed.

Jesus Christ as man is referred as the Chief of kings (princes) on the 
world which means He is our Head. But when we use the word 'Lord' or put 
the term before His name as in 'Lord Jesus Christ' we refer to His 
divine status as God. Thus we see in today's message these carnal powers 
are not only standing or going against the rule of God on earth but also 
in the Heavens. It is not that they are challenging God. Even the Devil 
knows who God is and trembles, what he challenges is God's rule, God's 
plans. We see in the next scripture King Herod tried to kill the infant 
Jesus. He was not just trying to destroy the life of a human (Anointed 
Son of Man) but was trying to destroy our lives for Herod was part the 
carnal kings and rulers and did not want the plans of God to save the 
lives of His people. Herod knew if he killed the Savior before He did 
His work, Herod would have destroyed not only us but also the rebuilding 
of the Heavenly Jerusalem - the Heavenly Temple.

Let us not take the things of the world likely, let us understand their 
intentions and let us know our authority over them since God has given 
us that authority.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we pray we understand the things of the carnal world and the things 
of the spirit world. Help us Lord to discern their intentions and help 
us to know our authority over them. Help us to overcome them and destroy 
their intentions by our obedience in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Colossians 1:16For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, 
and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, 
or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by 
him, and for him:

Colossians 2:15And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a 
shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

Titus 3:1Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to 
obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,

Acts 4:25-28

25Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen 
rage, and the people imagine vain things?

26The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together 
against the Lord, and against his Christ.

27For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, 
both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of 
Israel, were gathered together,

28For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be 
done.

Revelation 1:5And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and 
the first begotten of the dead, and the prince [Chief] of the kings of 
the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his 
own blood,

-- 
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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

The struggle of the man Simon, nicknamed Peter

Mark 14:66 And as Peter was beneath in the palace, there cometh one of the
maids of the high priest:

We see in the Bible names have importance role for they all have meanings
and when the name was translated from one language to another the phonetics
was not maintained but the meaning was maintained since the identity or
character of that person was projected in the name.

When God called Abram as Abraham and we see his previous name was never
taken, but in the case of Jacob (means ‘heel holder’ or ‘supplanter’
symbolizing a cunning person or one who deceives others for one’s benefit)
even after God called him Israel (means Prince of God symbolizing Sons of
God) many a times we see he was yet referred by his old name Jacob, even by
the Lord. His children also were at times called children of Jacob, at
times children of Israel and at times Israel. There are times that in one
verse both the name children of Jacob and children of Israel are taken.

In the New Testament we see many are given nicknames and this was the trend
at that time for many had similar name so for identification sake they were
given nicknames or called along with their father’s name; even the
nicknames were given related to the character or something connected to
that person. So we see names throughout the Bible have purpose and place.

Saul (Shaul) is a Hebrew word and means ‘desire’. The Saul of the New
Testament was born to mix parents; his mother was Jew and his father a
Roman. Saul was a name from his mother’s side. When Saul was converted from
inside and had understanding of the Kingdom of God he took on his father’s
side name which was Paulus (which means ‘small’). Theologians’ state his
name was actually Paulus Saul and being hardcore Jewish fanatic (if we use
today’s terminology) thought Jews were the promised people of God thus used
the name of his mother’s side as his first name and not the one of his
father’s side. As a Jew he rejected his father kept name but after knowing
God is the God of all and for all those who are in Him there is no
partiality. Our God is merciful to all mankind but all mankind are not His
children only those who have the seed of faith are. Jesus said ‘my sheep
will hear my voice and come to me’. God loves all His children the same
irrespective of their prior race, religion, color, gender, calling, mission
or any other characteristics, once they come to Him, He transforms them and
puts the character of His Son in them so He sees His Son in them. Israelite
or Indian or American or Chinese; Jew, or Hindu, or Catholic, or Atheist,
or Voodoo worshiper, God loves us all the same when we come to Him and are
in Him. So conversion from Saul to Paul was proof of him being worthy to
minister to the Gentiles.

Like the struggling character Jacob of the Old Testament we have Simon in
the NT who is referred to as Peter in the New Testament. Firstly Jesus may
have never spoken the word ‘Peter’ to Simon since Jesus spoke mostly Hebrew
and Aramaic with His disciples, ‘Peter’ is a Greek word. In fact the
disciples also never called Jesus as ‘Jesus’ but called Him ‘Yeshua’
(Aramaic) or Joshua / Jeshua (Hebrew). It was when the Gospels and Epistles
were translated from Aramaic to Greek (under the supervision of the
Apostles) the words Jesus and Peter came up, keeping the identity /
character of the person in the name.

Jesus gave Simon (which in Hebrew means ‘heard’) the nickname Chephas
(which means ‘stone’ or ‘pebble’). In Aramaic there was no confusion with
the meaning (since rock in Aramaic is Su’ha) it was only when this name was
translated to Greek that the confusion came, since Petra means rock and
Petros (Peter) means stone / pebble, and also because Jesus told to Peter
‘on this Rock I build my Church’ people tried to identify Simon as the
rock. Jesus said ‘Simon you are a pebble (Petros / Chephas) and on this
rock (Petra/Su’ha) I build my Church’ thus not indicating Simon as the
rock.

Yes Simon Peter was indeed used to lead the Church but not the global
Christian Church. Simon along with John and James were specially trained by
Jesus so as to handle the Christian Church of people of Jewish background
that is why Peter was mostly in Jerusalem interacting with the Jews and has
no record in the NT of going to Rome. We also see Simon Peter picked the
linen garments from the tomb floor keeping to the Jewish law given in the
book of Moses for the one taking over from the Jewish High Priest. It was
in fact Paul assisted by Barnabas who was selected to lead the Church of
the gentiles like the Church of Rome. There were some moments Peter
interacted with the gentile Christians and messed it, then Paul had to
intervene. Jesus Christ alone is the Head of the global Church and no one
else, including Peter or Paul.

One may wonder why Jesus gave Simon the name Chephas. This name is not a
good name like is Jacob of the OT. Rock or Petras or Su’ha symbolizes Truth
and Pertos or Chephas or stone symbolizes little truth which in other words
means white lies or confusion. We see in OT Satan is associated with the
name Tyrus which is the Hebrew version of the name Peter (Petros / stone).
Satan is a liar but he does not say pure lies but being a master/ father of
lies he says ‘white lies’, lies with little truths. Simon was not a liar
but more a confused person and having little knowledge many a times he put
his foot in his mouth when he spoke. He was a very imbalanced person in
life who was rebuked many a times by Jesus as well as Paul.

Simon Peter like Jacob of the OT struggled a long time of his life with his
character. Even after being baptized in the Holy Spirit Simon Peter
struggled unlike Paulus Saul who took about 8 years for a transformation
from inside confirming Holy Spirit baptism is not a short incident but a
long process.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, when we are baptized in You, we are transformed from inside. This
transformation does not happen in a day but is a time consuming process and
a battle that lasts years at time. It is not that You are capable of
changing is in a day but You Lord to not desire we be broken but desire a
free will change unto You. Lord we pray we surrender easily so that our
transformation be quicker and easier...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Mark 3:16 And Simon he surnamed Peter;

Luke 6:14 Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James
and John, Philip and Bartholomew,

John 1:42 And he brought him to Jesus. And when Jesus beheld him, he said,
Thou art Simon the son of Jona: thou shalt be called Cephas, which is by
interpretation, A stone.

Mark 14:37 And he cometh, and findeth them sleeping, and saith unto Peter,
Simon, sleepest thou? couldest not thou watch one hour?

Mark 16:7 But go your way, tell his disciples and Peter that he goeth
before you into Galilee: there shall ye see him, as he said unto you.

Luke 24:12 Then arose Peter, and ran unto the sepulchre; and stooping
down, he beheld the linen clothes laid by themselves, and departed,
wondering in himself at that which was come to pass.

Leviticus 16:23,32

23 And Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of the congregation, and shall
put off the linen garments, which he put on when he went into the holy
place, and shall leave them there:

32 And the priest, whom he shall anoint, and whom he shall consecrate to
minister in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, shall make the
atonement, and shall put on the linen clothes, even the holy garments:

Ezekiel 42:14 When the priests enter therein, then shall they not go out
of the holy place into the utter court, but there they shall lay their
garments wherein they minister; for they are holy; and shall put on other
garments, and shall approach to those things which are for the people.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Can a Christian be a person just of words?

Acts 4:16Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a 
notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that 
dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.

During the time of Jesus the Jewish Church had 2 major sects one the 
Sadducees and the other Pharisees.

The Sadducees were people who pursued knowledge and thus always 
questioned and reasoned. But the amusing part was their basics were not 
clear thus they were nothing but highly confused intellectual people.

The Pharisees on the other hand were people who sort after signs and 
wonders. They were prayerful people who fasted and prayed most of the 
time, and always did charity. They also never failed to show what they 
did to the people. These people had no knowledge or understanding of 
scriptures even though they did read scriptures every day and even 
memorized them but they never understood them.

If we look at today's Christian Church we see nothing different the same 
thing which God hated in the Jewish Church is happening in the Christian 
Church. We have the large part of the Church which behaves like the 
Pharisees. They are always involved in religious activities. They are 
always having prayer meetings, fasting, scripture reading, helping the 
needy, doing healings etc.. Then there is a smaller section which is 
growing of late, these are the people who are pursuing knowledge and 
understanding of scriptures. They are people who study manuscripts, read 
books of other theologians, read history, study all kinds of things 
related to the Bible. You ask them a question and they will rattle for 
hours and hours. But investigate their basics and you will find their 
foundation itself is weak. These people lose faith and backslide quicker 
than the Pharisee type for these people have not relationship with God 
on a daily basis nor do you see Christ in them. Their so called 'Bible 
knowledge' becomes a barrier for God to speak to them.

If we look at the early disciples they were people who were blessed with 
wisdom and understanding but at the same time they were not people just 
of words but people of action too. They spoke the Word, gave it 
understanding and also manifested the Word.

This Sunday a sister from our Church had been to US and was sharing her 
experience there. When she went there she was surprised to see people 
had great knowledge of the Bible but were helpless when it came to 
deliverance. They did not know who to go to if a person had a spirit 
problem. Ask anyone which country has the best Bible teachers and they 
will point to the US.

Our Church is full of infants who sit like audience and the few who are 
moving around are limping on one foot.

How far will our Church go with limping people? Let us be like the 
Apostles who were people with knowledge and understanding of the 
scriptures, they studied them and also manifested the power of God as 
given in the scriptures and this will come only when the Holy Spirit 
reveals us the things of the Kingdom of God and also works through us. 
Let us understand the importance of the Spirit of God over the Church.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we call ourselves people of the Living God and when time comes we 
struggle over small things. The world thinks our God is like their gods 
which do nothing and are made in vanity. We pray Lord the world knows 
You through your people. We pray your people have the right foundation, 
right understanding and are vessels that manifest your power. We pray 
they are filled with a fire in their bones...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Deuteronomy 15:21And if there be any blemish therein, as if it be lame, 
or blind, or have any ill blemish, thou shalt not sacrifice it unto the 
LORD thy God.

2 Samuel 5:6-8

6And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the 
inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou 
take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: 
thinking, David cannot come in hither.

7Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city 
of David.

8And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and 
smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of 
David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The 
blind and the lame shall not come into the house.

Romans 15:18-19

18For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath 
not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed,

19Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; 
so that from Jerusalem, and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully 
preached the gospel of Christ.

-- 
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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Custom made for the mission

Romans 2:27 And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it 
fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost 
transgress the law?

Sometimes we wonder why we were born in certain society or religion and 
not born in a Believer family and why the Lord took time to open our 
eyes to the Truth, to bring us to know Him?

When I was a Catholic I thought everything about my spiritual life was 
ok since my eyes were focused to the people and to myself since looking 
at other people I was ok. But when I eyes started focusing upwards, 
towards God things started changing, questions started being raised in 
my mind 'is there one God or do all gods of the various religions 
existing together?', 'Is it that we all are somewhat right and are 
calling the same being via different names?'. Then came the tougher 
questions 'how could one god speak differently to different people?' 
(Sounds more like Satan) and then came the other extreme thoughts 'may 
be God does not exist at all and we are just playing 'god, god' like 
child play with toys imitating roles'.

Catholicism did not allow me to question beyond a certain limit; beyond 
that I was told to trust the priest or 'church authority'. It was only 
when God started responding and showing He truly existed that my eyes 
opened and I came to know Him. I was very happy that all my previous 
questions were answered. But then the main question was why did God take 
so much time to respond, had He responded earlier things would have been 
different?

It was only later I realized my journey in life was like the journey of 
David as a shepherd, had David not gone through those lonely and 
difficult moments he would have not been the king, the psalmist and the 
Man of God who had a great heart for the Lord. Now that I am aware of 
the mission that God has set ahead for me, and when I look back and see 
I see there was no better route God would have taken me know the me I 
was to make the me what I am today. There are lots of things I may have 
missed but what I have today is more precious to me than those I may 
have missed.

Why am I talking of all this in today's message of circumcision and law?

If we read the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, it is basically addressed 
to the Jewish raising mostly Jewish topics but yet addressed to the Romans!

Paul was both Jew and Roman; there was no one more custom made to do the 
task he was set for. His letter to the Romans was not his first letter 
yet it is not coincidentally that it is put first for it projects the 
real Paul. Paul in his letter to the Jews in Rome takes on the topic of 
what a Jew is. Even after 2000 years we still see people running after 
the words 'Israel' and 'Jew' without understand what a Biblical Jew is 
and what a Biblical Israelite is. They pick bits and pieces from the 
later and do not consider the letter in totality. They do not understand 
why the Israelites were stopped being referred as 'Israel' and were 
called 'Jews'. People are deceived to run after the wrong people just 
because the carry the name tag 'Israel' or 'Jew' and not knowing who God 
referred to as His people.

I do not blame the people for this confusion because the blame falls on 
the Pastors and Church leaders. When Jesus advised His disciple on the 
process of making a Christian, He told them to give the Gospel of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, get them baptized in Him and then in the Holy Spirit 
and after that teach them the Word. What we see people are given the 
Gospel and without proper baptism they are taught the Word. Now can any 
person without baptism of the Holy Spirit be able to understand the Word 
of God? The result is it becomes knowledge for them like it was for the 
Jews. And like the Jews these Christians are also far from God and 
worship Baal (a God they do not know) therefore when problems come their 
faith is shaken.

In science when a scientist makes something they use the term invented 
or created but when they find something that existed but was not known 
they too use the word discovered and not invented or made or created. 
Religions of the world can be studied and reasoned for they are made but 
Christianity is not a religion that can be reasoned. Christianity is 
something that needs to be discovered since it is a relationship with 
God and existed from the foundation of creation. Unless God reveals we 
will never know or understand God, His Christ, His Spirit or the Kingdom 
of God.

A true Christian can never take credit to know of the understanding of 
the Kingdom of God for had he or she tried and tried, he or she would 
have never understood, they would have been like others in this world; 
worldly people are not dumb, they are intellectual but blind. It is the 
favor of God and His purpose that He reveals things which are hidden 
from others and brings to our understanding what the wise of this world 
do not understand.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we pray your people know that their life is a testimony in You and 
that without that testimony they would not be the messenger for your 
Kingdom that could do the mission set for them. Lord we pray we remember 
in all things You do good for us. We also remember we are unique and the 
mission set for us is unique and that there is no one else who can do 
what is set for us...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Acts 21:39But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in 
Cilicia [Rome], a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer 
me to speak unto the people.

Romans 1:16For 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 
[ones who believe in signs and wonders] first, and also [even] to the 
Greek [ who seek knowledge and understanding].

Romans 2:8-9

8But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey 
unrighteousness, indignation and wrath,

9Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the 
Jew first, and also of the Gentile;

Romans 2:16-24

16In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ 
according to my gospel.

17Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy 
boast of God,

18And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more 
excellent, being instructed out of the law;

19And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light 
of them which are in darkness,

20An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form 
of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

21Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou 
that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?

22Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit 
adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?

23Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law 
dishonourest thou God?

24For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as 
it is written.

Romans 2:28-29

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

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

Romans 3:1-3

1What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?

2Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the 
oracles of God.

3For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith 
of God without effect?

Romans 10:12-13

12For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same 
Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.

13For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Matthew 28:19Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Worshiping the Image of the Beast

Revelation 13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the 
beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as 
many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.

Those who have seen TV soaps the stories may look shocking, with all 
kind of twists and dramatic exposures, but these stand no place compared 
to the great soap running in this world run by Satan.

Firstly when people read the word Satan they think of an individual and 
are unaware this word is plural and not singular. Throughout the Bible 
from Moses to Genesis, the Lord has been talking of the evil army of 
fallen Angels led by 2 characters and yet the world is deceived or 
blinded to not see two but see only one. Because of this they are unable 
to place Lucifer being put in the pit for thousand years (it is not 
written as one but many - plural) and being released at the end.

If we see Moses talks of the serpent (adder) and the young lion (as a 
lion) [Psalms 91], Revelation talks of the dragon [devil/serpent] and 
the beast, Ezekiel speaks of the king of Tyrus and the prince of Tyrus. 
Revelation also in 2 verses writes of the character 'who was, is not and 
shall ascend out of the bottomless pit'. Ezekiel 28 has a great detail 
of the 2 characters with a brief of them.

Jesus never gave much importance to fighting Satan but concentrated on 
fighting his works in us. Jesus knew when and how the battle will be and 
how the Devil and his army will be overcome (even Devil and his army 
know their end).

Today's message talks of the image of the beast which is brought to 
life. This image is not something which shows up at the end, in fact 
from the start this image has been there and has been changing identity 
and names. This image was the deity in the tower of Babel which unified 
all people of the world at that time and was the reason God bought the 
tower down and caused confusion between all the people by the way of 
languages. In the end also it will be this same image but with a 
Christian identity which will again cause the world to be untied for it 
will manifest itself to be alive and anyone who does not worship it will 
be put to death.

If one looks at all non-atheist religions one would see this image or 
character lurking in the shadows. In one religion this character is very 
prominent and takes the front seat. In Revelation 17 we see this 
religion's fall is spoken of. The image coming to life happens a long 
period later to the fall of this religion when the false prophet revives 
it. This religion is equated to Babylon because there are a lot of 
common things between that kingdom and this religion, one can study 
through the book of Daniel.

Today people are worried about radical Islam and other radical religions 
for they go by sight but if one goes by Word one would know the religion 
which today looks very peaceful and silent will someday be worse than 
any radical religion existent now. We have seen a preview of the true 
face of this religion between 300AD and 1500AD but that was just a 
preview. Christianity has not suffered much by any other religion 
including Islam more than by this religion.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we pray the eyes of the people be open to the great deceit. You 
have warned us time and again that the deceiver will come as an angel of 
light. Lord people today worship this image of the beast thinking that 
this image leads them to You but they are ignorant to the fact this 
image is the works of the beast and its master the dragon who has no 
other aim but to destroy them. We pray their eyes open and they be saved...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Revelation 20:2-3,7

2 And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, 
and Satan, and bound him thousand years [thousands is plural],

3And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal 
upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand 
years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.

7And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of 
his prison,

Revelation 20:6 Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first 
resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be 
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him [the - BGT] 
thousand years.

Revelation 17:8-9

8The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the 
bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth 
shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the 
foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is 
not, and yet is.

9And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven 
mountains, on which the woman sitteth.

Revelation 17:11And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the 
eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.

Psalms 91:13Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and 
the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

Ezekiel 28:2,12

2Son of man, say unto the prince of Tyrus, Thus saith the Lord GOD; 
Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am a God, I sit 
in the seat of God, in the midst of the seas; yet thou art a man, and 
not God, though thou set thine heart as the heart of God:

12Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto 
him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, 
and perfect in beauty.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Christian - What is your intent?

Philippians 2:2 Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded [himself], 
having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind [thought / intent].

We see Paul in today's message is saying to have joy like he had we need 
4 things.

1) Be ourselves - that means we need to know we are unique and God has 
set us for a unique mission to reach a harvest which no one else can 
reach. He set us through a journey of life and knowledge so as to build 
us that we can understand and be in a position to save those whom He has 
set us for. Paul was told about his harvest (children of Israel, kings / 
rulers and gentiles) if we do not know our harvest we may take time to know.

2) Have the same love - the word love is least understood. People 
normally associate emotion, concern, affection to this word. The closest 
English word for the Greek word 'agape' is charity. Love requires 2 way 
communication but charity can be a one way communication. When we did 
not love God or even know Him yet He loved us. Thus to really understand 
love is very difficult and a lengthy process.

3) Be of one mind - Christians can be of one mind only when they have 
the right understanding of the Bible. Since 300AD worldly corruption has 
been systematically induced into the minds of Christians so much so 
Christianity hardly existed between 300AD to 1500AD. For 1260years 
Christianity was almost in exile. It is only after Reformation movement 
that Christianity started coming back. Now imagine the task at hand, 
dealing not only of finding the Truth but also discerning all the 
falsehood that has infected the minds and beliefs of Christians since 
1260years. So this too is a lengthy process.

4) Be of one intent - every Christian is a person on mission. If a 
Christian is not a missionary then he or she is hardly a Christian. It 
is not required of him or her to travel across the world to minister or 
bring souls to Christ, he or she can do to those around him or her. We 
as Christians are called to carry the voice (which means His Gospel) of 
the Master to His lost sheep. It is not necessary all whom we preach 
will accept Him but those who are His sheep will surely hear His voice 
and respond.

Now if we look at the four points the first, second and third points are 
not something which we can solve in a day or short period but the fourth 
point is something which we can immediately start on.

Is it difficult for us who know Christ to speak about Him unto others? 
If we who have experienced the love, joy and glory of the Lord, is it 
difficult to share them with those who are ignorant of Him? We who are 
in the light can't we reach out to those still in darkness?

If God had only one purpose of saving you then the day you came to know 
Him and were baptized in Him, would have been your last day on earth. If 
He has kept you alive then He is doing so with a reason so that you may 
reach out to others like He sent someone to reach out to you.

Now think every day you get up and thank God for the day and do not put 
that day for His purpose then can He say 'son/daughter thank you for 
using my gift of this day fruitfully'?

Every day is a gift of God so let us put this gift of God to good use, 
let not a day go by without reaching out to someone so in the night when 
we go off to sleep the Lord should say 'this is my son/daughter in whom 
I am well pleased' like He said to Jesus.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You alone are God and there is nothing that is not possible for 
You yet You did not try to manifest your glory to man and show man who 
You so as to bring people to You. You only desire people of faith, who 
will believe your Word and come to You, not those who come by 
manifestation of sign and wonders but by faith. Lord we pray like You 
sent someone to reach out to us with your Word, we too may reach out to 
others who are far from You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Matthew 28-19-20

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

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

Mark 16:15-18

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

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

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

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

Revelation 12:5-6

5And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a 
rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.

6And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared 
of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and 
threescore days.

Hebrews 12:1-2

1Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of 
witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so 
easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set 
before us,

2Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the 
joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and 
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Matthew 3:17And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, 
in whom I am well pleased.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Our earthly bodies and our heavenly bodies

1 Corinthians 15:40 There are also celestial [heavenly] bodies, and 
bodies terrestrial [earthly]: but the glory of the celestial is one, and 
the glory of the terrestrial is another.

Some time back I went to a funeral (funerals are the best place to hear 
and see all the wrong things being done) and at the funeral a very 
senior pastor was preaching. He shared a story of a boy who nearly died 
and went to heaven and then returned back and then his family asked him 
if he could recognize some of their ancestors / relatives in Heaven so 
they showed him pictures of their relatives especially one of their 
uncles. They showed him a picture of his uncle at the time of death (old 
with beard and glasses) and then he denied seeing such a person there. 
Later when he saw a picture of his uncle in his thirties he immediately 
said he saw such a person there. Imagine men being in their twenties / 
thirties and women, I think they would opt for the teens in Heaven!

I have heard many such stories (testimonies) and if one has to believe 
them then one needs to throw the Bible away. Not only among Christians, 
even unbelievers have stories of 'out of life' experiences so do we 
believe them too? Like Hindus going to swarg /narg (heaven / hell) and 
meeting their gods.

If I go into details of how these so called out of life experiences are 
contrary to the real Kingdom of God one would be amazed, I will just 
stick to the bodies, our earthly and heavenly bodies.

The Greek word used for heavenly is 'epouranios' and is a compound word 
meaning 'upon heaven'. The Greek word for heaven is 'ouranos' which 
means 'on height' coming from the word mountain and has the root meaning 
'all visible'.

Heaven is not a physical place but a spiritual place that is much higher 
than the dimension we live in. It is more real than this universe in 
which we live. Our universe can be compared to thick smoke which is very 
visible for a period but over time disintegrates into the air.

There was a German restaurant which played a hoax on people by claiming 
to be willing to sell gourmet made of human flesh. Later it was known 
they were advertising their tender beef and they did this since human 
flesh tastes like beef. If one analyses animal flesh and human flesh it 
is not very easy to differentiate them physically unless one has prior 
knowledge of texture and composition.

In the verse before we see Paul talks of flesh of man being different 
than flesh of animal and flesh of birds or fishes. Paul was not talking 
of natural flesh, but when one renders this word in Hebrew than one 
would know this word comes from the root word meaning 'message'. When 
Jesus said unless we eat His 'flesh' we will not have anything to do 
with Him, He was not talking of natural / earthly flesh but His message. 
And we know all those so called miracles of the Catholic Church of 
communion becoming human flesh, if they are not demonic then what are they?

In Heaven we will not be people in bodies of flesh but spiritual being 
and Jesus describes us to Angels. If one have ever encountered an Angel 
they are like Paul saw visible as being made of light. They may seem to 
have an almost human kind outline figure but then one cannot outline the 
exterior borders of their being. That is why sometimes they appeared at 
human sizes and at times gigantic.

Angels do not have gender like we have of the flesh so there are no men, 
no women in Heaven all are referred to as Sons or male because they have 
the image of the Father.So when we go to Heaven we will be neither 
earthly male nor female but all will be spiritual males (Sons and that 
includes Mary the mother of Jesus). Like our earthly body has a form so 
also our heavenly body has a form and this is projected in our earthly 
body and Paul equates their compassion to the Sun and to the moon. We 
know what is the size of the Sun to the Earth then imagine the Sun to 
the Moon. From Earth both may look of the same size but one is 400 times 
further than the other. Also Moon is just a dead rock / a satellite 
while the Sun is a star, alive and active.

God took lots of pain to show us what we will be after we leave this 
earthly body but you will not find this in a scripture or verse but when 
one goes deeper and sees the patterns of things in scriptures, you will. 
So this is not for those of simple minds but only for those who truly 
thirst the hidden things of the Kingdom of God.

Let our lack of knowledge of the Kingdom of God not mislead us to 
believe vain things. Let us see all things through the Word of God and 
not just one scripture or two but put all scriptures together, not 
ignoring even one.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord You are not man but Spirit and You are not only Omnipotent but also 
Omnipresent. Heavens is your dwelling place and when we are reconciled 
to You we too will dwell in Heaven and You will be with us and we in 
You. Lord we pray more and more may be able to see the things You have 
set for us in Heaven which no eyes have seen or minds have visualized...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

1 Corinthians 15:39-41

39All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of 
men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.

40There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory 
of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

41There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and 
another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in 
glory.

Matthew 22:30For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given 
in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Revelation 19:10And I fell at his feet to worship him [Angel]. And he 
said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy 
brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the 
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Being in the presence of God

Acts 22:11 And when I could not see for the glory of that light, being 
led by the hand of them that were with me, I came into Damascus.

In today's scripture Saul/Paul narrates the series of events that 
changed his life. The Lord appeared to Saul not as a human but as a 
light form like an Angel and we see later also Paul has another 
experience of the presence of the Lord as an Angel in Acts 27:23.

If we look at the Old Testament people feared the Lord and thought if 
they came before the Lord they would die and they were not wrong in 
their belief for they knew the Lord was Holy and they were unholy. We 
see even those things which were symbolic and considered holy and if 
they did not keep the sanctity of the things God warned with death, God 
had given them these statutes so they understand Him and understand 
Holiness.

Moses actually did not see the Lord even though the Lord spoke to him 
like a man spoke to another man, face to face; the Lord always appeared 
unto him in a thick cloud, the Lord did this so that Moses would not get 
consumed and die in His presence.

When Adam and Eve sinned they realized their nakedness thus covered 
their nakedness and hid themselves. It is written they hid themselves 
not because they were ashamed of their nakedness but because they were 
afraid. A person does not be afraid when naked but is ashamed to show 
their nakedness, but we see here it is written they were afraid and not 
ashamed, for they knew the Lord and knew what holiness is.

The Son and Spirit of God are preparing us to come before the Father and 
it is only through the Son we can receive the Spirit and it is only 
through the working of the Spirit can we come before the Father.

We see the Son humbled Himself and became man and thus we could be in 
His presence since He humbled Himself, even with the Spirit we see the 
Spirit of God who is one is yet symbolized by candlestick with seven 
candles / Seven Spirits. We see light refracts into basic 7 colors 
(rainbow) when it enters another medium like water. God made a Covenant 
of the Rainbow with Noah (and his generation) promising He would not 
consume mankind till the Rainbow was in the sky / His Spirit was with 
(working with) man.

Standing before a Heavenly being even an Angel can be too heavy for us 
and in such situations like light exposes all unclean things so also the 
presence of a Heavenly being exposes our unclean selves to us. Imagine 
what will happen to us when we come before the Father who is truly Holy, 
would we unclean beings be able to stand before Him? It is only via the 
Son and Spirit that we are able to be in a position to come before Him 
and dwell with Him.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord it is only because You humbled yourself and can unto man that we 
have a hope to be restored back unto You. Lord we pray we know what 
holiness means and we always remember that You are Holy and we who are 
your children are called to be holy. Lord You are everywhere, we pray we 
always experience your presence and may your presence work in us and 
help us cleanse ourselves of our infirmities...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Acts 27:23For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, 
and whom I serve,

Revelation 22:8-13

8And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and 
seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed 
me these things.

9Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, 
and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of 
this book: worship God.

10And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this 
book: for the time is at hand.

11He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, 
let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous 
still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.

12And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every 
man according as his work shall be.

13I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Exodus 30:20When they go into the tabernacle of the congregation, they 
shall wash with water, that they die not; or when they come near to the 
altar to minister, to burn offering made by fire unto the LORD:

Leviticus 16:13And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the 
LORD, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is 
upon the testimony, that he die not:

Numbers 17:12-13

12And the children of Israel spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, we die, 
we perish, we all perish.

13Whosoever cometh any thing near unto the tabernacle of the LORD shall 
die: shall we be consumed with dying?

Leviticus 16:2And the LORD said unto Moses, Speak unto Aaron thy 
brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the 
vail before the mercy seat, which is upon the ark; that he die not: for 
I will appear in the cloud upon the mercy seat.

Genesis 3:6-11

6And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was 
pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she 
took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband 
with her; and he did eat.

7And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were 
naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.

8And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the 
cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence 
of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden.

9And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?

10And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, 
because I was naked; and I hid myself.

11And he said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of 
the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?

Genesis 9:13-15

13I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a 
covenant between me and the earth.

14And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that 
the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

15And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every 
living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a 
flood to destroy all flesh.

Revelation 21:17 And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty 
and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.

Revelation 21:1-4

1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth [nation]: for the first heaven 
and the first earth [nation]were passed away; and there was no more sea.

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

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

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

5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. 
And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.

6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning 
and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the 
water of life freely.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Is the Bible self-contained?

John 21:25 And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the 
which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the 
world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen.

When you speak to Catholics regarding the Bible many will point to this 
scripture to justify the contrary beliefs which they claim to be 
traditions of the Church fathers. They say since everything is not 
written in the Bible then we need to rely on other sources too.

Just few days back a Catholic was discussing with me on the Apocrypha 
(the additional books to the 66 books of the Bible). He was told the 
Church fathers added the 6 books to the Bible.

Bible so truly says people suffer due to lack of understanding. 
Understanding comes when one gains the right knowledge and works on the 
right knowledge with the right wisdom to gain the right understanding. 
There are Catholics who are blessed with wisdom but due to the wrong 
knowledge they lack the right understanding.

Firstly the book Gospel of John unlike the other Gospels (which are just 
pure teachings and recordings of life of Jesus), this book is more a 
personal autobiography of Jesus. Jesus was close to (spend more personal 
time with) John not because He loved John more (God loves every one of 
His the same) but only because John had a task / mission to do. The same 
was the case with Peter, James and John compared to the other disciples, 
because they were to run the Church later (not just Peter).

Now every incident written in the Gospels have a purpose and only those 
necessary have been recorded. These incidents were selected so as to 
give us a guideline concerning our Christian belief and life. There are 
many, many things which Jesus did are not recorded simply because what 
is recorded is sufficient. For example every person Jesus healed is not 
recorded. There were times thousands came to Him and He healed all with 
none going back without being healed. Imagine recording each ones 
testimony! Similarly even the personal things that Jesus did as human 
are also not recorded since those are not important concerning out 
belief or Christian life.

With regards to the additions to the Old and New Testament from so 
called 'reliable sources'.

Firstly we need to understand other sources like early Church Fathers do 
not need to be ignored for they gave a clearer background of the life 
and belief of the early Christians. But if any so called early Church 
father contradicted what Jesus or the Apostles have written in the NT, 
are you going to believe Jesus and His Apostles or the 'Church father'?

Understand as times passes corruption or distortion crept in. The 
Christian understanding from the time of Jesus right until second 
century showed no distortion that is why all historical documents found 
in that period were included as Canon, but after the second century 
especially in the third and fourth century we see lots of heretic 
writings came into existence, we find 'Gospels' written in the name of 
the Apostles being written in 300AD and 400AD!

The Catholic Church stands on 3 pillars one is Scriptures, second Church 
Traditions and third Church Authority. This may sound good but when a 
person understands the relation between them one will get shocked, 
according to the Catholic Church Traditions rule over Scriptures and 
Church Authority over traditions. So for a Catholic who is doing some 
ritual and has been doing it since long than that ritual over writes 
scriptures. Now the Head of their Church that is the Pope alone has 
authority to change or modify that tradition (even though most of them 
have changed themselves slowly over long periods, they are ignored). So 
the Pope can tell you what of the Bible a Catholic should believe and 
which they should not. He also has right to change traditions of the 
Catholic Church since for them he is Christ in the flesh. Pope Francis 
may be famous with the people but to the Catholic Church heads he has 
been giving sleepless night since he has be changing lots of traditions 
and they cannot question him (though at times he landed putting his foot 
in the mouth, they saved him).

Normal Catholics do not know the Roman Catholic Bible has 6 Apocrypha 
books added to the Old Testament (which came from the Jews) and not New 
Testament, while other Catholic denominations have more books as 
Apocrypha. So can they argue between themselves as to how many books 
would they like to add?

Many of these books were used as references by early Church fathers but 
never referred as Canon. It was only in 1400 AD when the Catholic Church 
was questioned about its traditions and beliefs and could not find any 
reference to them in the Bible they started looking for them in the 
Apocrypha. On finding something possibly to be used as justification 
among these books, they tried to make these books Canon in 1500AD.

Let us understand the Bible does not hold every bit of information of 
the people listed in them or events listed in them, but all the required 
information of those people and events with regards to our belief and 
faith understanding is in them. The Bible is a collection of Prophetic 
books, Chronicles and Teachings. The book(s) within itself explains all 
things concerning our faith. So anything needed with regards to faith is 
there and anything addition can be referred to for chronicle reasons or 
for teaching but if it goes against the Bible then that book needs to be 
put in the dustbin where it belongs.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You are God and for You time is not a factor like for man. You 
live and see all things visible and invisible and across time at the 
same time. Lord You knew how people would try to distort your Word and 
that is why You auctioned us before hand in your Word. Lord we pray your 
people understand the importance of your Word and why even the Angels 
refer to it as Instructions to Life. We pray the distortion be removed 
and the deceived may open their eyes...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

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

Acts 17:11These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they 
received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the 
scriptures [OT] daily, whether those things were so.

2 Timothy 3:16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is 
profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in 
righteousness:

2 Peter 3:16As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these 
things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that 
are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, 
unto their own destruction.

Revelation 22:19And if any man shall take away from the words of the 
book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of 
life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in 
this book.

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Same Baptism, same food and same Rock

1 Corinthians 10: 2-4 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and 
in the sea; And did all eat the same spiritual meat; And did all drink 
the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that 
followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Jesus spoke of 2 baptisms which are essential that is of water and 
spirit. We see here Paul speaks about the Israelites who also had 2 
baptisms that are of Sea and Cloud and Paul compares their baptism to 
our baptism. What is interesting is Paul says they ate the same 
spiritual meat and drank the same spiritual milk and the Rock that 
followed them was Christ.

In simple words Paul is equating the following

The Israelites crossing of the Red Sea, to our baptism in Jesus Christ 
(water).

The Israelites being led by the Pillar of Cloud / Fire, to our baptism 
in the Holy Spirit.

The food (teachings) received from Moses, to the teaching we received 
from Jesus Christ (spiritual meat and spiritual drink).

The Rock that followed them (there were 2 mentioned) to Jesus and the 
Holy Spirit (the word Christ means the One with the Spirit of God).

By this equation Paul makes things easy for us to understand.

When we understand the situation of the Israelites near the Red Sea we 
will understand water baptism.

When we understand the leading of the Israelites through the desert by 
the Pillar of Cloud in the day and Pillar of Fire at night, we will 
understand what it means being led by the Holy Spirit.

The Gospel of Matthew, Mark and Luke are pure teachings of Jesus Christ 
and there is no prophetic Word (concerning Salvation of Mankind) in any 
of them leaving for the Gospel of John. Both Jesus (in these 3 Gospels) 
and Paul preached from the Old Testament yet we find what both preached 
may sound complete different yet was the same. The Jews never understood 
what the Lord had spoken through Moses it was only through the Spirit of 
Truth (whom we received through Jesus Christ) did the right 
understanding of scriptures started being revealed.

Moses was allowed to strike the first Rock which symbolized Jesus (the 
Son) but was not allowed to strike the second Rock (the Holy Spirit) 
that is why when he struck the second Rock he was punished and not 
allowed to enter the Promised Land symbolizing to us those who grieve 
the Holy Spirit will not enter Heaven.

When we compare the beliefs of the Jews and the Christians there is a 
great difference between them and us, like between the sky and land. The 
Jews had everything which we have yet they were far from God and His 
Kingdom. They were so far that they did not recognize God the Son; they 
hated Him and thus killed Him.

You may say God may have been unjust with them for not revealing to them 
His Son, since scriptures say unless the Father brings them to the Son 
no one can come to know the Son and the Son being the only way to the 
Father thus no one can go to the Father without the Son. So why did God 
reject them?

If you read the next set of scriptures (verses 5-12) we see God was not 
pleased with the Israelites for the evil in them therefore they perished 
in the wilderness.

We need to understand by we becoming Christians God does not assure us a 
green ticket to Heaven. Being baptized in Jesus Christ and the Holy 
Spirit does not mean a onetime event but means a continual process. By 
grace we come to Christ but grace alone does not take us to Heaven. God 
did not say 'by My grace' but said 'by My Spirit'.

Being born again or being renewed does not means putting something new, 
it means removing the old and bringing back that being within which God 
created before sin corrupted it. It is about cleansing and shedding off 
the wrong that covers us.

We see many Christians do what most people do to their walls, if they 
find the wall dirty they put a new paint over it and thus make the wall 
looks new externally, God is not into this. In the Kingdom of God we 
need to scrub that dirt away by the help and guidance of the Holy Spirit 
and become a wall on which even if dirt is thrown, dirt will not stick.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord may your people understand what it means to be born again. May they 
not be stiff-necked like the Jews and thus perish in the hardness of 
their hearts. Lord help us work from the inside with the help that come 
from above...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

John 6:44No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me 
draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Matthew 11:27All 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

1 Corinthians 10:5-12

5But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were 
overthrown in the wilderness.

6Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust 
after evil things, as they also lusted.

7Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The 
people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

8Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell 
in one day three and twenty thousand.

9Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were 
destroyed of serpents.

10Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed 
of the destroyer.

11Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are 
written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

12Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall.

John 3:3-8

3Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, 
Except a man be born again [from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he 
enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

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

6That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the 
Spirit is spirit.

7Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again [from above].

8The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, 
but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every 
one that is born of the Spirit.

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

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

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Plundering the strong man's house

Mark 4:27 No man can enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his 
goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil 
his house.

Just before today's scripture Jesus was talking of the unity in the 
house of Satan. Jesus was not praising Satan but was showing us our 
weakness. There are times we need also look at the strong points of our 
enemy and the weak points in our own house.

Did you ever see demons having a joint meeting time again and again or 
even once? Do they ever meet to discuss how they are going to overtake a 
person or destroy a Church (congregation)? Do demons leave a possessed 
person for a short time to go for a demon meeting?

Demons or fallen angels do not need to meet and discuss for they know 
their intention and purpose. They are united in their intention and in 
their purpose. Since they are united in the purpose they do not step 
over each other's foot or come against each other.

But see us meeting after meetings, discussions and discussions yet we 
are so divided. Look at Christianity we are so divided that to study our 
division would require a book many times bigger than the book that 
guides us to God. It is not that there is a problem with the Word of God 
or the ability required to understand the Word, but the problem is our 
flesh, our carnal nature, a part of us that loves corruption. Our flesh 
is like shades that we wear that covers or distorts the Word and 
prevents us from understanding it.

We read time and again the Lord / the Spirit of the Lord opens their 
eyes and they understand, we also read places where the Lord 'revealed' 
the understanding. The Word was there from the beginning so also was the 
understanding, nothing new was made, only God worked on the spiritual 
sight and allowed the person to see that which was not visible to due to 
the spiritual shades the person wore.

Saul became Paul and this transformation required an operation of his 
sight, of his spiritual sight. Saul was very educated and knew all 
things but never understood them that's why an operation of his sight 
was needed; this the Lord showed us by the symbolic cataract operation 
He performed on Saul to make him Paul. We read after Saul had his first 
encounter with the Lord he was blinded and later when he was prayed 
over, scales fell off his eyes and he could not only see but he was 
transformed from inside, in his understanding.

If we want to be united we need to remove the scales of our eyes, we 
need an operation of our spiritual sight. It is only when we have a 
clear understanding of the Word, will we be united.

People talk of love, they talk of brotherhood and many things; if they 
do not understand the basics of the Bible how will they understand love 
or brotherhood? If one goes by our unity we as Christians are a doomed 
lot, but then there is hope for us. In today's message Jesus says no one 
can plunder a house until the strong man of the house is overcome. We 
Christians have hope because we have Christ as the strongman of our 
house and we know Christ told us not to fear for He has overcome. If He 
has overcome then the result of the battle is already written it is only 
a matter of bring the result to completion.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we ask You to perform an operation of our sight like You did on 
Saul and made him Paul. We pray an internal transformation so that we 
become one in our understanding. We pray Lord we overcome quickly like 
You overcame and thus bring your Kingdom's reign over all things...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Mark 4:26 And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he 
cannot stand, but hath an end.

Acts 9:1-18

1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the 
disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,

2And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he 
found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring 
them bound unto Jerusalem.

3And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined 
round about him a light from heaven:

8And Saul arose from the earth; and when his eyes were opened, he saw no 
man: but they led him by the hand, and brought him into Damascus.

9And he was three days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink.

17And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his 
hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, that appeared 
unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that thou mightest 
receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.

18And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he 
received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.

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

John 17:22And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that 
they may be one, even as we are one:

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

1 John 2:13-14

13I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the 
beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the 
wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the 
Father.

14I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is 
from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are 
strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the 
wicked one.

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SavedbyFaith.info - Daily Mail

Are we walking, running Christians or are we hopping Christians?

Acts 4:32,33 And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart 
and of one soul (mind): neither said any of them that ought of the 
things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things 
common.And with great power gave the apostles witness of the 
resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

We talk about Christ and we give great 'knowledge' about the Bible and 
of Christianity but I have yet to meet a true Christian (including 
myself). We people are far from calling ourselves Christians. It is true 
you will not find greater hypocrites anywhere than among 'Christians'. I 
am not saying Christians are worst, the others are ignorant of the Truth 
but we who know yet behave like them than can we point a finger at them.

When I started my Christian journey I though with the grace of God I 
will manage through but as my understanding grew I saw this was an 
impossible task for there is nothing of me that I can take on this 
journey. Unless I give up all of me and shed off all my desires it will 
be like passing through the eye of a needle (a gate to the city where 
only the animal could pass sans all its goods). It is only by the Spirit 
of God working in us that makes being Christian possible.

Today's scripture talks of two important aspects that need change in us 
one is our heart and other our understanding. Heart does not mean just 
feeling but means our character, our priorities / will, our knowledge, 
our discernment and our desires. The change in our hearts will improve 
our understanding of the Word, for less of the obstacles or distortion 
will help us get a better picture of the Kingdom of God and thus a 
better understanding.

Our heart condition and our understanding help each other to grow. 
Understanding of the who we are and who God is causes us to change our 
hearts and this makes us receptive to know God more and this knowledge 
humbles us further and brings us to know God more. That is why you can 
see the heart / character of a person and discern if that really person 
knows God or does not know God.

Love for this world, things of this world or holding on to the old man 
and not letting change happening inside one's self will always restrict 
the person from really knowing God. We need to bring ourselves to zero 
to really know God and His Kingdom.

I see a lot of Christians hopping on one foot that is why they do not 
grow and thus get into spiritual mess or confusion. They will half 
heartily change and then try to understand God; since they cannot 
interact with God directly they try to know Him through the knowledge of 
men.

The Jews were and are very knowledgeable people there is no race which 
stands out like them but still they are far from God and far from 
knowing Him all because their hearts are not right. God has time and 
again called them stiff-neck people (both OT and NT).

We can use reason to understand man and manmade things but things of the 
Kingdom of God are hidden and unless they are revealed we will never 
know them. Can anyone reason the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ as 
a victory? It is the revelation of the promises of God that makes us to 
understand the crucifixion as a victory and not by our reasoning. Same 
with the Kingdom of God which cannot see, touch, or feel, or taste, or 
hear thus which cannot be left by our senses, can they be reasoned? Note 
the understanding and revelation of God and His Kingdom is symbolized as 
precious diamond / gems and these are not made but discovered. Since 
these are spiritual gems it is only by the Spirit we find them.

We see Jesus as man was an example of perfection, He taught His 
disciples for many years yet they did not know Him, it was only when the 
Holy Spirit started working on them did they came to know who the Lord 
Jesus Christ is and this understanding made them bold.

Understand if we know God we will see change in us and if there is 
change in us will we know God more, these are the 2 spiritual legs which 
help us go further in our spiritual walk.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord no man can come to You without repentance and repentance comes only 
when there is a change in heart. Lord we pray we do not hold unto our 
sinful nature and be willing to surrender all our worldly desires. Lord 
may You grow in us and we grow in You. May we not be like the Jews who 
experienced your favor and glory yet rejected You. Lord we pray we 
change and grow in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Romans 2:17-24

17Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy 
boast of God,

18And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more 
excellent, being instructed out of the law;

19And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light 
of them which are in darkness,

20An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form 
of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

21Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou 
that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?

22Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit 
adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege?

23Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law 
dishonourest thou God?

24For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as 
it is written.

Romans 10:2-3

2For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according 
to knowledge.

3For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to 
establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto 
the righteousness of God.

Romans 11:33-36

33O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how 
unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!

34For who hath known the mind of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor?

35Or who hath first given to him, and it shall be recompensed unto him 
again?

36For of him, and through him, and to him, are all things: to whom be 
glory for ever. Amen.

1 Corinthians 12:7-8

7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

8For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the 
word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

2 Corinthians 4:6For God, who commanded the light to shine out of 
darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge 
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Ephesians 3:19And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, 
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Luke 24:30-31

30And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and 
blessed it, and brake, and gave to them.

31And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of 
their sight.

Hebrew 4:12-13

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

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

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