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Losing all for something insignificant

Hebrew 12:16 - Lest there be any fornicator, or profane person, as
Esau, who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright.

Paul uses a beautiful example of Esau to describe how people lose all
for something insignificant. For this we need to understand he
scriptures Paul in referring to in his letter (Genesis 25:27-34).

In Genesis 25:27 Esau is described as 'a cunning hunter, a man of the
field'. If we expand the meanings of the Hebrew words it means a
person having good knowledge and ability to make provisions (not
having any lacking in ability to get ones needs met) that would means
not only by hunting but also farming, a person who knows the world and
how to 'live' in this world.

On the other hand Jacob was described as 'plain man, dwelling in
tents'. It did not mean he really lived in tents for he live in the
same house as Esau and their parents. The words mean a simple man
having not much desires and one for whom it did not matter where he
lived, a person not attached to any land, property or worldly things.
In other words Jacob was a sober man with not materialistic desires.

We see in the scripture that Esau comes from work and is exhausted. He
over reacts on his tiredness and gives away his birthright for just a
bowl of soup. His birthright did not primarily mean property or
riches; birthright was the right to carry the name of the family. Esau
in his exaggeration said that his tiredness would kill him then what
would be the use of having a right to the family name when he is not
alive. Surely Esau would have not died if he had not eaten but by his
inability to control his small desire he lost his birthright.

In today's message the Lord is telling us we have received a
birthright from the Lord Jesus Christ to hold the Name of the Lord as
Israel - the Sons of God. This Name is no ordinary name; it has power
over everything living that has been created. But we for small
insignificant desires of our flesh like Esau give away our birthright
so that we can satisfy them. Like Esau these desires are not something
that we cannot control or something that will kill us but since we
over exaggerate our desires we fall prey to them. That is why the Lord
says only when we have the Truth in us we will truly discern desires
and thus do not fall prey to sin.

Like Esau we are worldly wise people and people who believe in the
ability to exist or make our lives. We need to be like Jacob a person
who is sober, satisfied in simple things and not materialistic. Being
Jacob will help us to value things in its true worthiness.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, help us not to be like Esau, worldly smart people who believe in
one's own ability. Help us be sober in our lives like Jacob whom You
loved. He had not longing for worldly things but knew what is truly
valuable and what to desire for. Lord, we pray we do not lose our
rights to Heaven for our in ability to control the insignificant
temptations that come our way...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Genesis 25:27-34
27 And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the
field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
28 And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison: but
Rebekah loved Jacob.
29 And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he was faint:
30 And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that same red
pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
31 And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
32 And Esau said, Behold, I am at the point to die: and what profit
shall this birthright do to me?
33 And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and
he sold his birthright unto Jacob.
34 Then 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 Thessalonians 5:6-10
6 Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.
7 For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken
are drunken in the night.
8 But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the
breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of
salvation.
9 For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by
our Lord Jesus Christ,
10 Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live
together with him.


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Blasphemy in the Bible

Matthew 12:31 - Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and
blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the
Holy Spirit shall not be forgiven unto men.

The blasphemy case against the little girl in Pakistan has caught
everyone's attention. It was refreshing to hear she was given bail
yesterday. Even though they got the person who framed her yet she was
kept in jail, that too a small girl like her, this made everyone to
take note of the happenings in Pakistan.

In today's message the Lord wants us to understand what blasphemy
means and what the Bible have to say about it.

Blasphemy in simple words is opposite to praise and directed towards
God. We cannot blasphemy a person for that would be called 'cursing'
and not 'blasphemy', the word blasphemy is solely related to God. When
we praise Him we lift His Name up and glorify Him and blasphemy means
doing the opposite of it.

The word translated as blasphemy in the Old Testament is the word
'naqab' and in the New Testament is the Greek word 'blasphemia' .

Hebrew Strong number <05344> naqab pronounced naw-kab'
The same word is translated in the Bible as - curse 6 times, expressed
6 times, blaspheme 3 times, bore 2 times, name 2 times, pierce 2
times, Appoint 1 times, holes 1 times, pierce through 1 times, strike
through 1 times; total 25 times.

Greek Strong number <988> blasphemia pronounced blas-fay-me' -ah
The same word is translated in the Bible as - blasphemy 16 times,
railing 2 times, evil speaking 1 times; total 19 times.

It is interesting to note in Hebrew unlike in Greek it does not only
reflect only vocal abuse but also physical action.

When we discuss on this topic with Muslims they are fast to point out
that the Bible in the Old Testament as in Leviticus 24:13-16 states a
person needs to be stoned if found guilty of blasphemy. They also
point to incidents in the Bible where the Israelites and Jews did
stone people for blasphemy. Christians without knowledge on this
matter get into fix to answer them.

Like in blasphemy and other cases where the Lord instructed that a
person be stoned to death we see Jesus' action did not tally with the
understanding of the Israelites or Jews. We see Jesus not only did not
stone the women condemned of adultery but saved her from getting
stoned by others. Did Jesus break God's Law? If He did He would have
been a sinner, which He was not. So the question comes what did Jesus
understand of the Law which the Jews did not?

If we inspect the scripture in depth, it does talk of the person found
guilty of the crime to be stoned and none can deny that. But the catch
comes on the conditions set for stoning that person; the person needs
to be taken 'without the camp'. It is these words that the Jews did
not understand which Jesus did. The Jews were people not led by the
Spirit of God and people of the flesh so for them without the camp
meant outside the town or city. But when God said it, it did not mean
outside the town.

When Jesus died it is written He died without the camp it meant He
died among sinners. God's Word is Spirit and Truth and should be
understood in Spirit and spiritual Truth. If without the camp meant
outside the town then in the incident during the times of Moses when
there was sin in the camp and the Tabernacle was put outside the camp
and when the 70 elders started prophesying like Moses when the Spirit
on him was put on them, in that incident God stands breaking His own
rules for 2 inside the camp also prophesied.

Yes people who are accused of blasphemy will; be stoned to death but
only outside the camp, when we stand before the Throne of Judgment on
the Judgment Day.

In today's message the Lord is also telling us by His sacrifice He has
even forgiving the sin of blasphemy, provided it is not against His
Spirit. It is only when we realize the relationship between the
Godhead we will know why blasphemy against the Father or Son are
forgiven but not against the Spirit.

God is Spirit and our physical actions do not hurt Him but our words
do. The Hebrew language put our abusive words against God are like
stone cast at Him. Let us be careful what we speak, if we are not
glorifying or praising His Name let us kept our mouths shut and not
take His Name in vain, especially of His Holy Spirit.

Even if any person by mistake tears the Bible it is not blasphemy but
when someone by thoughts or vocal words speaks against God, abuses,
mocks or makes fun of Him, His Word or His work it is blasphemy.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, help us to take control of our tongue and our mind that we may
not blasphemy You even when we are not alert. Lord, we ask You to
forgive us for the times we have out of fun spoken against your Word
or the work among your people. Help us to always be alert in spirit
and sober in the flesh...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Leviticus 24:13-16
13 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
14 Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all
that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the
congregation stone him.
15 And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying,
Whosoever curseth his God shall bear his sin.
16 And he that blasphemeth the name of the LORD, he shall surely be
put to death, and all the congregation shall certainly stone him: as
well the stranger, as he that is born in the land, when he blasphemeth
the name of the LORD, shall be put to death.

1 Kings 21:9-11
9 And she wrote in the letters, saying, Proclaim a fast, and set
Naboth on high among the people:
10 And set two men, sons of Belial, before him, to bear witness
against him, saying, Thou didst blaspheme God and the king. And then
carry him out, and stone him, that he may die.
11 And the men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who were
the inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent unto them, and as
it was written in the letters which she had sent unto them.

Acts 6:9-13, 57-60
9 Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the
synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of
them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen.
10 And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by
which he spake.
11 Then they suborned men, which said, We have heard him speak
blasphemous words against Moses, and against God.
12 And they stirred up the people, and the elders, and the scribes,
and came upon him, and caught him, and brought him to the council,
13 And set up false witnesses, which said, This man ceaseth not to
speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law:
57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and
ran upon him with one accord,
58 And cast him out of the city, and stoned him: and the witnesses
laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul.
59 And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus,
receive my spirit.
60 And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not
this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Leviticus 20:10 - And the man that committeth adultery with another
man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's
wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.

John 8:3-11
3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in
adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4 They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the
very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but
what sayest thou?
6 This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him.
But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as
though he heard them not.
7 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said
unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a
stone at her.
8 And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
9 And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience,
went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and
Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
10 When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he
said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man
condemned thee?
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I
condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

John 5:22 - For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son:

John 8:15-16
15 Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.
16 And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I
and the Father that sent me.

Numbers 11:25-30
25 And the LORD came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, and took of
the spirit that was upon him, and gave it unto the seventy elders: and
it came to pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they
prophesied, and did not cease.
26 But there remained two of the men in the camp, the name of the one
was Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the spirit rested upon
them; and they were of them that were written, but went not out unto
the tabernacle: and they prophesied in the camp.
27 And there ran a young man, and told Moses, and said, Eldad and
Medad do prophesy in the camp.
28 And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of Moses, one of his young
men, answered and said, My lord Moses, forbid them.
29 And Moses said unto him, Enviest thou for my sake? would God that
all the LORD'S people were prophets, and that the LORD would put his
spirit upon them!
30 And Moses gat him into the camp, he and the elders of Israel.


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To Timbuktu from the presence of the Lord

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

Jonah was a Man of God who had a good relationship with God. He would
communicate with the Lord and would hear the voice of God, He knew the
Lord. Yet in today's scripture we see Jonah was trying to flee from
the presence of the Lord!

Tell me brothers and sisters in Christ can anyone ever flee from the
presence of God?

Some days back my daughter heard from her school religion teacher that
God has a throne like a chair on which He is seated in Heaven (sadly
many Christians believe this). She was surprised at that statement
asked me if it is possible.

I explained to her by example, consider God as air. If we are in the
house there is air here and if we go out air is there too. If we go
high on the mountain, air is there too although there would be less
air but it is there. There is no place on earth where air is not
there.

God is Spirit and there is no place, where God is not there. Even in
Hell one cannot run away from God or His presence. Satan may be in
Hell but yet Hell is under God's control and His Angels are in charge
in Hell. Hell is not what is shown in photographs but a prison where
the souls of sinners suffer for their sins (Jesus went to Hell for the
sins of the Word were on Him but He did not suffer there for there was
no sin in Him - Peter's letter states He preached to the souls there
and those who accepted His message were released with Him when He
resurrected) .

Jonah was no fool to even think of running away from the presence of
God so then why did he try to flee to Tarshish? If you notice the
title of the message I put as 'to Timbuktu from the presence of the
Lord'. The phrase 'to Timbuktu' means to go far away where a person is
unreachable. Jonah was not running from the Lord but was running from
the purpose or task the Lord had given him. Timbuktu for us today is
what Tarshish was during the time of Jonah. Tarshish was the furthest
point where a ship could reach out. It was considered as the end of
the world since they thought the world was flat during those times.

What is interesting to note is Jonah started his running away from
Joppa and the name means ‘beautiful'. The Lord is telling us when we
running from the Lord or the task He has given us as Christians we are
running away from a beautiful place. When we are in to Lord doing His
Will we dwell in a beautiful place and when we do not do His will we
are running to Timbuktu or Tarshish. The Jews believe that Jonah
actually died in the belly of the fish, went to Hell and returned
(which is not the truth but a figurative term; Jesus knew of the Jews'
understanding and thus used it in His teaching). All of us were or are
like Jonah who come back or came back to do God's Will only when we
had or will have our born again experience.

Jonah did not have this belly of the fish experience again and again
in his life so also we should not expect the grace of God to keep
bringing us back to the purpose of God in our life, when we take His
grace for granted.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You have made us for with a purpose and for a purpose. It is
only when we have the knowledge of the purpose You created us, will we
clearly know your purpose in our lives. Lord, we prayer that your
people know the purpose You created us and not be deceived with the
lie they have been told since ages. That they abide by the purpose You
have for them in their lives and not run away from it. Jesus said as
His disciple each and every one is to witness Him to all the people of
this world and to baptize people in your understanding and teach them
your purpose. Lord we pray this be fulfilled by all Christians.. .

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Hebrew 10:23-27
23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering;
(for he is faithful that promised;)
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner
of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see
the day approaching.
26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge
of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery
indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.

1 Peter 3:18-20
18 For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the
unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the
flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
19 By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;
20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of
God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein
few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

Matthew 28:18-20
18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given
unto me in heaven and in earth.
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name
of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded
you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.
Amen.

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Doing God's Will

John 19:28 - After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now
accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.

Believing in Jesus Christ saves us from Hell by breaking the curse of
imprisonment in Hell till our spiritual dead (at the same time
suffering there the sins we committed in our earthly life), but then
we do not go to Heaven unless we do God's Will in other words keep
God's Word.

People who do not have the understanding of what Jesus meant by
keeping His Father's Word, would get very uneasy for there is no
possibility one can truly keep every Word of the Father. Does that
mean we all have no chance to enter Heaven?

Today's message is a very good example of understanding the factor of
keeping God's Word. This is not the only scripture which states Jesus
fulfilled all scriptures in the books of Moses and the Prophets
concerning Him. But we need to ask ourselves did Jesus really fulfil
all scriptures concerning Him at that moment? How is it possible that
even before His resurrection it is said He fulfilled all things. Again
after resurrection when Jesus explaining about Himself to the two
persons in the wilderness He again claims to have fulfilled all
scriptures concerning Him.

Even today there are scriptures concerning Jesus which still has to be
fulfilled like that of His second coming and His coming in glory
written both in the books of Moses and the Prophets.

We also see this same factor when the scriptures state 'He finished'
or Jesus says 'it is finished', yet we find the work yet in process.

We find when Jesus finished His teachings on the Mount of Olives it is
written 'finished' meant Jesus completed His job of teaching and when
He completed His task of suffering for His people He said it is
finished as in today's scripture.

If we read the first commandment of the two commandments that
summarize the Law of God we see a small variation between it when
stated in the different Gospels.

Matthew 22:37 - Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

Mark 12:30 - And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy
strength: this is the first commandment.

Luke 10:27 - And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength,
and with all thy mind; ...

We see Mark and Luke added 'with all they strength' to it. They were
not changing any part of the commandment but were bringing out the
meaning of the words 'with all they heart', 'all thy mind' and 'all
they soul'.

We need to realize we are all still studying and understanding the
Word of God even after 2 millenniums of Christ's coming therefore
there is no way we came keep what we do not have a full understanding
of.

God does not expect us keep at any time to fulfil or keep every word
of His Word / Will. What He expects of us is that, what we know till
that point which has been revealed, received and have understood by
us, to be kept.

It is written on the Judgment Day it is the Word of God which will
judge us. The Word will judge us not comparing one to another but
according to what we have received and kept. Therefore we cannot be
and should not be as good or righteous as what the person next to us
is or a person known to us, but we need to be true and keeping the
Word according to what we have been given by the Lord. It is also the
reason that the more that is given to a person, the more is expected
of the person and also the reason we cannot by our human ability judge
anyone for how good or bad the person is and that that person will
enter or not enter Heaven. We need to just do our part of keeping the
Word we received and encourage others to do the same. We can only warn
people who become a stumbling block in the lives of others.

Today's message also does not mean knowing less is safer for we need
to realize the more we know and follow the greater strength and
ability we get in keeping what we know and will know. So we need to
keep moving on as Jesus did from stage to stage and also fulfil as He
did from stage to stage.

[Prayer Starter]
In the beginning your Word existed, yet to man it was not revealed.
Even when You gave most part of your Word to man before Jesus came
there were hardly any who really understood even a large part of it.
It was only through the coming of You as man, manifesting the Word in
flesh and our receiving the Spirit of Truth that man started to really
understand the Word. Lord, we pray as You reveal your Word to our
minds and our heart give us also the strength to keep it and fulfil so
that we do not fail and be put in the Lake of Fire, a punishment worse
than Hell...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Matthew 7:21-27
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in
thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from
me, ye that work iniquity.
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,
I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a
rock.
26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them
not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon
the sand:
27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

Luke 12:48 - But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of
stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is
given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed
much, of him they will ask the more.

John 12:48 - He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath
one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall
judge him in the last day.

John 5:28-31
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that
are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.
30 I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my
judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of
the Father which hath sent me.
31 If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

Romans 2:16 - In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by
Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

Romans 14:9-13
9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he
might be Lord both of the dead and living.
10 But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at
nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of
Christ.
11 For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow
to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this
rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his
brother's way.

Matthew 19:1 - And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these
sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judaea
beyond Jordan;

Matthew 26:1 - And it came to pass, when Jesus had finished all these
sayings, he said to his disciples,

John 17:4 - I have glorified you on the earth: I have finished the
work which you gave me to do.

John 19:30 - When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said,
It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the Spirit.

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Judgment before the accusers

Acts 23:35 I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also
come. And he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.

Ever since I started to take interest in Apologetics (a field in Bible
study which means ‘speaking in defence of the faith'), I found it
easier to debate with people with regards to defending one's faith.

There are some simple principles we learn to use here which many of us
know, but do not apply when we debate with people of other beliefs to
defend our faith. For example - one is innocent unless proved guilty
and only an insane judge would announce all as criminals unless proven
innocent. When we apply this to people's accusation against the Bible
or our faith it puts the ball in their court to give proof that the
Bible is corrupted or is not God's Word. Surely we need to study to
refute their accusation but it eliminates all the vain and baseless
ones and makes them also to get to study to find faults and prove
themselves and not just shoot they mouths out.

In today's message we see the governor Felix who was a good man at
heart was sitting in judgment over the accusation against Paul,
knowing that he was a Roman Felix did not want to take any change of
being found at fault so waits for the accusers to be in presence
before him and Paul so that their accusations are proved or refuted.
He used the most logical approach to the judgment and this same
approach is what is used by God on Judgment Day.

God is light and existed from the beginning. When we say God is light
it does not mean that God is a lamp or some bulb like how the Quran
puts it (the Quran describes God as an actual lamp describing the lamp
in detail). When the Bible projects God as light it speaks about the
plans of God being light (His plans are revealed through His Word
therefore His Word is also referred to as light). The plans of God are
always good and made for the one purpose, which is to let all things
to prosper like light does. When Satan rebelled against the plans of
God he caused darkness to come to existence. God could have easily
crushed Satan and the Angels he deceived to follow him by just a word
and eliminated the darkness. But God in His great wisdom wanted to
prove the beauty of His light and make this correction an example for
ever, therefore made a being although same as the Angels but put in
the flesh was made lower than the Angels and desired to let His light
shine through this little being so as to eliminate the darkness.

Satan like all beings are created by God, leaving for God the Son Who
existed within the Father before He was declared. Therefore it is
written He existed from the beginning and is identical to the Father
in all aspects. Although coming from the Father (a subset) He is as
omnipotent as the Father for part (subset) of infinity is also
infinite. When God created man, Satan being more able and gifted than
even the Angels (for he is a Cherub) saw God's love for man and did
not like it, he tried his best to cause man to be destroyed therefore
infected man with evil. God being Righteous and Just through His Son
and His Spirit let His light shine through mere man so that even
though man compared to Satan is like an ant before an elephant, would
yet defeat him. The Son did not do this job as God but humbled Himself
and does it as man so that the victory would a victory of mankind.

The Greek word ‘Satan' means ‘adversary' - a person who accuses and
holds the accusation against another.

After God allowed Satan and also allowed the Son of Man Jesus Christ
to do their work and then sits in judgment. Like in today's scripture
here too the accuser is allowed to be present therefore we see Lucifer
the Satan would be set free in the last days for God is Just and all
He does, He does in Righteousness.

Today the Lord is telling us unless we do not have the plan of God
shinning from within us we will stand no change before the accuser,
and that is the reason only those who abide by the Word of God as
saved on the Judgment Day, for in the Word is the plan of God.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, your Wisdom and Ways are beyond the understanding of any being,
yet You make your plans known to man through your Word. Even though
You made us lesser than the Angels by putting us in the flesh yet make
it possible we have victory over the fallen cherubs. Lord, we pray we
abide by your Word and know it is only by your Spirit we can abide by
your Word and not by our efforts alone. Fill in us a thirst for more
and more of your Spirit...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Acts 23:31-35
31 Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul, and
brought him by night to Antipatris.
32 On the morrow they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned
to the castle:
33 Who, when they came to Caesarea, and delivered the epistle to the
governor, presented Paul also before him.
34 And when the governor had read the letter, he asked of what
province he was. And when he understood that he was of Cilicia;
35 I will hear thee, said he, when thine accusers are also come. And
he commanded him to be kept in Herod's judgment hall.

Revelation 20:7-15
7 And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out
of his prison,
8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four
quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to
battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the
camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down
from God out of heaven, and devoured them.
10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire
and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be
tormented day and night for ever and ever.
11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose
face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place
for them.
12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the
books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of
life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written
in the books, according to their works.
13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell
delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every
man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the
second death.
15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire.

Matthew 7:21-23
21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven.
22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not
prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in
thy name done many wonderful works?
23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from
me, ye that work iniquity.


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Know Your Four Fathers

2 Timothy 1: 3 [KJV - AV] - I thank God, whom I serve from my
forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have
remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;

In case anyone misunderstands today's scripture I am noting below the
New KJV version of the same.

2 Timothy 1: 3 [NKJV] - I thank God, whom I serve with a pure
conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you
in my prayers night and day,

Paul wrote this to Timothy in his second letter and surely when Paul
spoke about his forefathers he did not mean his father nor his
grandfather or his great-great- grandfather, for they were Jews and
Romans and had no knowledge or understanding of God, thus there is no
question of them truly serving God with a pure conscience
(understanding) .

To understand this we need to understand who we are as humans and our
relationship with each other.

The Bible talks of 4 types of fathers - earthly fathers, Heavenly
Father, spiritual fathers and fathers by faith.

Earthly father - they are the ones through whom we are bought into
this world. Our parents are connected to us as long as we are in this
flesh, but the moment we cease to be in this body of flesh they cease
to be our parents. Christians need to understand when we are in Heaven
we will be no person's son or daughter, brother or sister for we will
be neither natural male nor female but spirit being like the Angels
who are just connected to God in their upward relation and among each
other on the same level (not taking into account the hierarchy). Only
those who are ignorant of scriptures hope to meet their father or
mother in Heaven. It will be so humorous when they realize all will be
brethren. We see this relationship with Jesus and His mother. When
Jesus was man, Mary was referred to as His mother but we see when
Jesus died and had not resurrected yet (when He was in Hell) He was
not man, and during this period Mary was not referred as His mother
but as the mother of James and Joses (Matthew 27:56, Mark 15:40 & Luke
24:10). But after He resurrected again in body as Son of man (for His
body was not corrupted, since no sin was in Him - He alone resurrects
in body for it was a promise fulfilled - Psalms 16:10 & Acts 2:31).

Heavenly Father - We have only one, but even in this One there are 3.
God the Father as well as God the Holy Spirit and God the Son are our
Father for they created us and the Greek word 'Father' referred in the
Bible has 2 meanings one which means creator or giver of life and the
other provider. Our true life giver is the God Head and our true
provider is God the Father (Matthew 23:9) through the Holy Spirit and
Son.

Spiritual father - these are those who bring us to know God and build
us in our faith in Him. This could be a Pastor or any Believer who is
instrument in bringing us up in faith. The interesting part here is
that one does not remain always in this position. As soon as we grow
in maturity more than the one building us then that person ceases to
be our spiritual father and becomes our companion or associate. We see
this relationship between Paul and Timothy, Paul acknowledges this
with great humility in his later letters. From calling him a son he
starts to call him associate and brother.

Fathers by faith - this is one very important relationship which is
very misunderstood in the Bible. This relationship is the second
strongest father relationship after our relationship with our Heavenly
Father. It is stronger than our relationship with our earthly fathers.
Paul in his letter to the Romans states we become the children of
Abraham and the true Israel (Jews) through our faith in Jesus Christ.
All the promises of God come to us through our fathers and most
prominent among them is Abraham. All those through whom the Covenants
were made with man right from Noah to Jesus, including Isaac, Jacob,
Moses and David become our fathers of faith. (Romans 4:10-18 & 9:4-8)

With Jesus we have a multidimensional relationship for He while being
our Father/s (God & Covenant) He also is our Brother which is very
important because of which relationship we have the 2nd relationship
and become Israel for He is the first true Israel - Princes of God /
Sons of God.

Paul in today's message speaks of the fathers of faith in his letter
to Timothy. And the Lord is telling us today, if we are the children
of our fathers (of faith) we need to imitate their faith like Paul
did.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord Jesus, You are God our Creator who came as your creation man. You
called us your brothers so that we become children of Abraham. You
also became our Father of faith for by your Covenant we receive our
blessings. Lord, help us realize who we are as human and the real us
as spirit beings. Help us focus our eyes on your plan for us and be
led by your Spirit and not by our natural desires and understanding. ..

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Matthew 27:56 - Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of
James and Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.

Mark 15:40 - There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was
Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses,
and Salome;

Luke 24:10 - It was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna, and Mary the mother of
James, and other women that were with them, which told these things
unto the apostles.

Matthew 22:25-30
25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had
married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his
brother:
26 Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
27 And last of all the woman died also.
28 Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the
seven? for they all had her.
29 Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the
scriptures, nor the power of God.
30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in
marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven.

Psalms 16:10 - For thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; neither wilt
thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

Acts 2:31 - He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ,
that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see
corruption.

1 Timothy 1:18 - This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy,
according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by
them mightest war a good warfare;

2 Timothy 1:2 - To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and
peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Philemon 1:1 Paul, a prisoner of Jesus Christ, and Timothy our
brother, unto Philemon our dearly beloved, and fellowlabourer,

Hebrews 13:23 Know ye that our brother Timothy is set at liberty;
with whom, if he come shortly, I will see you.

Romans 4:10-18
10 How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in
uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the
righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that
he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not
circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:
12 And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the
circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our
father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised.
13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not
to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the
righteousness of faith.
14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and
the promise made of none effect:
15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no
transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end
the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is
of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is
the father of us all,
17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,)
before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and
calleth those things which be not as though they were.
18 Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father
of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed
be.

Romans 9:4-8
4 Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory,
and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God,
and the promises;
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ
came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are
not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all
children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not
the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for
the seed.

Matthew 23:9 - And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is
your Father, which is in heaven.

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Love or Bridle
Acts 11:20 - And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which,
when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the
Lord Jesus.

When I again got this same scripture I wondered what the Lord wants to
tell us that I missed. My attention went to the words Cyprus and
Cyrene, as usual being aware that the names in the Bible were not
given just for the sake of it, but had meaningful understanding. I was
surprised when I found the meanings of these words.

The word Cyprus means 'love', it also has another rendering which
means to 'blossom' or 'be fertile'.

The word Cyrene means 'supremacy of the bridle', bridle or hook in the
Bible symbolizes an object that is used to forcefully bring a being
into obedience like an ass or oxen and also used to put a being into
bondage or captivity, or to lead it for the slaughter.

We see in today's message people of Cyprus and Cyrene preached about
the Lord Jesus Christ to the ethical Greeks at Antioch. These people
were people totally into pagan traditions. Surely those who preached
the Lord Jesus Christ did not teach them scriptures or explain them
theology but gave them the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord is telling us when we give the Gospel to anyone we should
understand we put the person's life forward into 3 possibilities;

1) We open a door for God's love and His prosperity to come into
their lives. That means the anger of God is removed when they accept
the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they stand to inherit all the promises
promised through Jesus Christ.

2) Those that refuse the Gospel and are not children of God stand
condemned by the Gospel for they have now no excuse for not knowing
the salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. They stand to receive a
greater punishment and many start to see the wrath of God even before
death.

3) But then there are those who refuse to accept Gospel but are the
children of God then the Lord put a bridle in them to bring them to
obedience and knowledge of Christ. We will find such people's life
start to become topsy-turvy after we shared the Gospel with them.

The greatest challenge for us comes is to save the 3rd category of
people from going through the experience and they preferably being in
the first category. For this reason we need to pray for those whom we
go out to give the Gospel for hardening or not hardening the heart
depends on the Lord and His mercy. So once we claim by faith the grace
of Jesus Christ into the lives of those we give the Gospel we see a
better response and acceptance to the Gospel. Those in the 2nd
category we cannot help it may seem better to not give them the Gospel
but then if we are not sure we land to loose which is more dangerous.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we pray your people who have taken your burden know that You
have not given them to carry the burden all by themselves but have
also given them a Helper. Lord we pray they realize it is up to You to
harden a heart or have mercy and bring it to accept You, for only
those called by You can come to You. Lord, help us to always pray for
those who we go out to minister...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Acts 11:18-21
18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified
God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance
unto life.
19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that
arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and
Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they
were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord
Jesus.
21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number
believed, and turned unto the Lord.

Psalms 32:9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no
understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest
they come near unto thee.

Isaiah 30:28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to
the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity:
and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to
err.

2 Kings 19:27-28
27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and
thy rage against me.
28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine
ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy
lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

Psalms 32:8-10
8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go:
I will guide thee with mine eye.
9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no
understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest
they come near unto thee.
10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the
LORD, mercy shall compass him about.

Romans 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

Luke 4:26 and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to
Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow


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His eyes are always on us
Mark 1:2,3 - As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my
messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make his paths straight.

There are many Muslims who claim that these verses in the Gospels were
written about Mohammad their prophet. Then there are those among them
who make fun of these very scriptures. For example Muslim dawagandist
Ibn Anwar mocked at the inaccuracy of these scriptures since they are
quoted from the Old Testament and were not accurately quoted.

Firstly the translation into English misleads this scripture for the
word translated as 'in' in 'as it is written in the prophets' is the
Greek word 'en' and is also translated as 'by' and 'with'. We cannot
just choose any one of the words we wish but when we get into the
understanding of the sentence we see Mark was not quoting one but more
than one Prophet. He was quoting both Isaiah and Malachi therefore the
word should have not been 'in' but should have been 'by', for it does
not refer to the Book of the Prophets but to the Prophets.

The Greek word 'prophetes' < 4396> is again used in Mark 6:15 and that
scripture refers to Elias as being one of the Prophets and in both the
singular and plural words the same Greek word 'prophetes' < 4396> is
used.

Mark 6:15 - Others said, That it is Elias. And others said, That it is
a prophet, or as one of the prophets.

Therefore the better translation would be -

Mark 1:2,3 - As it is written by the prophets, Behold, I send my
messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.
The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make his paths straight.

The way the Lord complied the Bible; all things are confirmed in the
Bible by at least 3 scriptures. All important prophesies are confirmed
within the Bible, therefore if one has a very good understanding of
scriptures there is no way he or she can be misled.

Since Mark was quoting 2 Prophets together he recorded the prophecy
and not the sentences. It would only take a foolish mind to state why
Mark did not use the quote unquote words of both the Prophets in one
sentence.

If one goes into the context of both the Prophets (Malachi 3:1-6 and
Isaiah 40:2-8) then one understand these prophesies were not speaking
only of John but more of the Lord Jesus Christ.

People look at these scriptures in the natural thus find them
fulfilled in John but when one looks at it in the spiritual then one
would see it speaks of the Lord coming as man and preparing the way of
His people for the judgment before His own glorious coming. This same
matter is noted in the books of the other Prophets like Amos and Joel
to name a few. In the book of Moses our journey in the Lord is
depicted as the journey of the Israelites through the desert and
everything that happened on their way is symbolic to us today.

A silversmith needs to place the silver over the fire to purify
/refine it. If the silver is placed for even a short time longer than
due, the silver will get destroyed. When a silversmith was asked, 'how
do you know when to pull the silver out of the fire?' he said 'I keep
my eyes unceasingly on the piece of silver and the moment I see my
face in the silver I pull it out'.

In today's message the Lord is telling us it is not that He needs us
but we need Him for without Him we are not in any position to survive
the Great Day of the Lord when He sits in Judgment. It is only in Him,
by Him and through Him that we will be able to be made worthy to
survive the Judgment Day.

So let us abide to Him and surrender to the One who refines us, prunes
us and makes our paths straight. He knows how much we can endure and
also knows when to pull us out of the fire. His eyes are always on us.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You made us not as the grass also not as the flowers of the
field which blossom for a short time and wither away. You have made us
into Fruit bearing trees which are most cherished and preserved. Lord
we thank You for your salvation, for coming and showing us the way and
also being the one who helps and prepares us to receive your
salvation. Help us Lord to trust in You more and more...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Malachi 3:1 - Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare
the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to
his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:
behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Isaiah 40:3 - The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare
ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our
God.

Malachi 3:1-6
1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way
before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his
temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in:
behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
2 But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when
he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
3 And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall
purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they
may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
4 Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto the
LORD, as in the days of old, and as in former years.
5 And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift
witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against
false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his
wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger
from his right, and fear not me, saith the LORD of hosts.
6 For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not
consumed.

Isaiah 40:2-8
2 Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, that her
warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned: for she hath
received of the LORD'S hand double for all her sins.
3 The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way
of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be
made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places
plain:
5 And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall
see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is
grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the
LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God
shall stand for ever.

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Love or Bridle

Acts 11:20 - And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which,
when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the
Lord Jesus.

When I again got this same scripture I wondered what the Lord wants to
tell us that I missed. My attention went to the words Cyprus and
Cyrene, as usual being aware that the names in the Bible were not
given just for the sake of it, but had meaningful understanding. I was
surprised when I found the meanings of these words.

The word Cyprus means 'love', it also has another rendering which
means to 'blossom' or 'be fertile'.

The word Cyrene means 'supremacy of the bridle', bridle or hook in the
Bible symbolizes an object that is used to forcefully bring a being
into obedience like an ass or oxen and also used to put a being into
bondage or captivity, or to lead it for the slaughter.

We see in today's message people of Cyprus and Cyrene preached about
the Lord Jesus Christ to the ethical Greeks at Antioch. These people
were people totally into pagan traditions. Surely those who preached
the Lord Jesus Christ did not teach them scriptures or explain them
theology but gave them the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord is telling us when we give the Gospel to anyone we should
understand we put the person's life forward into 3 possibilities;

1) We open a door for God's love and His prosperity to come into
their lives. That means the anger of God is removed when they accept
the Gospel of Jesus Christ and they stand to inherit all the promises
promised through Jesus Christ.

2) Those that refuse the Gospel and are not children of God stand
condemned by the Gospel for they have now no excuse for not knowing
the salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. They stand to receive a
greater punishment and many start to see the wrath of God even before
death.

3) But then there are those who refuse to accept Gospel but are the
children of God then the Lord put a bridle in them to bring them to
obedience and knowledge of Christ. We will find such people's life
start to become topsy-turvy after we shared the Gospel with them.

The greatest challenge for us comes is to save the 3rd category of
people from going through the experience and they preferably being in
the first category. For this reason we need to pray for those whom we
go out to give the Gospel for hardening or not hardening the heart
depends on the Lord and His mercy. So once we claim by faith the grace
of Jesus Christ into the lives of those we give the Gospel we see a
better response and acceptance to the Gospel. Those in the 2nd
category we cannot help it may seem better to not give them the Gospel
but then if we are not sure we land to loose which is more dangerous.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we pray your people who have taken your burden know that You
have not given them to carry the burden all by themselves but have
also given them a Helper. Lord we pray they realize it is up to You to
harden a heart or have mercy and bring it to accept You, for only
those called by You can come to You. Lord, help us to always pray for
those who we go out to minister...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Acts 11:18-21
18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified
God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance
unto life.
19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that
arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and
Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.
20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they
were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord
Jesus.
21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number
believed, and turned unto the Lord.

Psalms 32:9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no
understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest
they come near unto thee.

Isaiah 30:28 And his breath, as an overflowing stream, shall reach to
the midst of the neck, to sift the nations with the sieve of vanity:
and there shall be a bridle in the jaws of the people, causing them to
err.

2 Kings 19:27-28
27 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and
thy rage against me.
28 Because thy rage against me and thy tumult is come up into mine
ears, therefore I will put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy
lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.

Psalms 32:8-10
8 I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go:
I will guide thee with mine eye.
9 Be ye not as the horse, or as the mule, which have no
understanding: whose mouth must be held in with bit and bridle, lest
they come near unto thee.
10 Many sorrows shall be to the wicked: but he that trusteth in the
LORD, mercy shall compass him about.

Romans 9:15 For he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I have
mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.

Luke 4:26 and unto none of them was Elijah sent, but only to
Zarephath, in the land of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow
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Who causes the Church to grow?

Acts 11:20,21 - And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which,
when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the
Lord Jesus. And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number
believed, and turned unto the Lord.

In Matthew 16:17 Jesus told Simon of Jona (Peter) that it was not
flesh and blood that revealed him who Jesus is but it is the Father
who revealed him who Jesus is. Again in John 16:7-9 Jesus states that
it is the Holy Spirit Who will convict people of their sins and of
righteousness and of judgment.

Unless any person does not realize that he or she is a sinner he or
she cannot come to Jesus. Unless one does not know that any good or as
much good they possibly do is not sufficient for them to enter Heaven
they will not come to Jesus and that it is only the Righteousness of
Jesus gained through perfection of faith that gets us to Heaven. Also
unless a person does not realize that the Son of Man Jesus Christ will
come again one day to judge all mankind will not come to Him; that
only those who believe in Him and keep His Father's Word will enter
Heaven.

So we see unless the Holy Spirit does not bring anybody to know Jesus
Christ nobody can come to Him. Jesus as man was born of the Holy
Spirit and thus referred to the Holy Spirit at times as His Father and
His Spiritual Father as Heavenly Father or Father Who are in Heaven
(this has caused some to be confused and think only Jesus and His
Spirit exist).

In today's message we see when people from Cyprus and Cyrene went to
Antioch and preached a great number believed and turned to the Lord.
They did not turn to the Lord because of the way they preached or what
they did. They only turned to the Lord because the Hand of God was
with them. It is the Holy Spirit Who is referred to as the Finger or
Hand of God in scriptures. So again we see that it is only because the
Holy Spirit was with the people of Cyprus and Cyrene that caused the
people they preached to, to know the Lord Jesus Christ and turn unto
Him.

After about 300AD when the Church fornicated with the things of the
world and became the New Babylon the Spirit of God was not with the
Church and therefore Christianity did not grow. Thus we see people of
the R.C. Church mainly relied on bruise force or temptation to worldly
things to convert people to become 'Christians' .

When we go through the flow of events of the Church between 500AD to
600AD (mainly actions of Popes Gregory I, Benedict I and Pelagius
among few) we see although Mohammad started Islam but it was the R.C.
Church that prepared the bed for its birth. This will also make people
understand why their Quran has a lot of the Bible in it. One can
literally say Pope Gregory I (also known as 'Gregory The Great') is
more the father of Islam than Mohammad is.

Through history and scriptures we see when the Lord was with the
people the people of God increased and when the Lord was not with the
people the opposition people to the people of God increased,
confirming the curse of the Lord in Deuteronomy 28, 29.

In today's message we see the Church struggling to increase and expand
to the ends of the world. Like we read in the message few days back
the Lord stating that the people He entrusted have failed Him, we see
them trying to do God's work with their own wisdom and strength.

Jesus gave us His Spirit and said He will be our Helper.

God does not want us to help Him in His work but wants to help us in
our work in Him. This work is for us, it helps us perfect our faith in
Christ and bring the lost sheep of the Lord who are no one else but a
part of us, for we are the Body of Christ.

Let us not struggle or use our own wisdom and strength but work
according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit so that the glory of God
may be seen in His Church, when many will come to Him and experience
Him.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, it is only by your grace we have come to know You and have the
confidence to approach your Throne. Lord, if it was not for your grace
we would have been children of vanity, living a life aimlessly and
doing thing that do not bear fruit but things that only cause more
problems. Lord it is not us but us through You that enables things to
happen. Without You Lord the works of our hands with not bear good
fruit. Lord, we pray like Moses unless You do not go before us we do
not go...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Matthew 16:17 - And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art
thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto
thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

John 16:7-9
7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth: It is expedient for you that I
go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;
but if I go, I will send him unto you.
8 And he, when he is come, will convict the world in respect of sin,
and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 of sin, because they believe not on me;

Exodus 23:22-23
22 But if thou shalt indeed hearken unto his voice, and do all that I
speak; then I will be an enemy unto thine enemies, and an adversary
unto thine adversaries.
23 For mine angel shall go before thee, and bring thee in unto the
Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Canaanite, the
Hivite, and the Jebusite: and I will cut them off.

Read Revelation 2:1-17 - (the stages of the Church)


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The Righteous shall live by faith, unto faith
Romans 1:17 - For therein is revealed a righteousness of God from
faith unto faith: as it is written, But the righteous shall live by
faith.

The term 'believe' or 'belief' is so generalized that it has caused
people to not understand it or grow in it.

The twelve Apostles of Jesus decided to translate the partly written
Gospels and complete the unfinished Gospels in Greek because the
language, its grammar and rich vocabulary gave a perfect rendering to
what the Lord wanted to say. On the other hand Hebrew and the Aramaic
languages depended a lot on the vocals to deliver the expressions.

The Greek language has many words which are translated as 'faith'.

Elpo - to anticipate with pleasure
Elpis - to hope in, trust
Elpizo - trust
Oligopistos - little faith
Pistis - faith

Among these the word Elpo does not exist in the Bible for the faith
connected to God is not an anticipation connected with pleasure but
connected with knowledge and relationship.

Many people call themselves Christians - 'people of faith' but have
Elpo. They are the ones who do not know how Christ has saved them and
what He has saved them from, the ones who do, become Believers.
Believers are called Born-Agains because they actually believe in the
salvation of Jesus Christ by His death and resurrection; that is why
things like Purgatory do not exist in their vocabulary. But that does
not means every Believer is a person of faith. Believers start with
Elpis and when they start to have experience or have encounters with
the Lord this Elpis becomes Elpizo. As they start to study the Word of
God this Elpizo starts to become Oligopistos. It is only when they
start to walk in what the Word of God instructs them and start to
perfect their Oligopistos soon they start to move to Pistis.

Pistis does not mean a person who has read the Bible, goes to Church,
gives alms to the poor, gives Tithe, shares the Gospel... these are
just the baby steps in Pistis...

The perfection of Pistis makes one a 'Son of God' for the Truth is
complete in that person. For now none of us will reach that stage, nor
did the Apostles even in their peaks did reach that stage including
Paul or Peter or John.

Does that mean there is no hope for us when they had such great
understanding of the Word and did such mighty things by the power of
the Holy Spirit?

Jesus said in the later days we would do greater things than He did.
He said this because He knew how the Spirit of God would work among
the people in the later days and how the power of God will manifest
among them.

We need to understand the Church was growing with the Apostles but
after 300AD the Church ceased to exist and was driven in the
wilderness by Satan's works. It was after 1260years the church came
back and started again growing.

We need to first come to the state we were just before 300AD and grow
from there on to become the Bride which the Lord speaks of in the
Bible. It is only when the Bride is ready will the Groom come to
receive her. The Bride will be ready only when our Pistis is perfected
and the image of God returns in us. When the corruption that entered
us through Adam's doubt is removed and the Truth is completed in us.
That is the time we will be called Sons of God like Adam was before
sin entered him.

Many are waiting for Jesus to come again, but the Lord is asking us
where do we see ourselves on this bar and how long have we been at
that place? If we do not keep moving along this bar we will only delay
the coming of Jesus Christ.

Carrying the CROSS means to help others to grow along this bar as we
keep growing ourselves, in the affirmation that at least 2 among us
will reach the end and that it satisfies God as it is written.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, when You made Adam and Eve they were made in your image and
flesh had no hold on them even though they existed in it. But when sin
came into them they were trapped in the flesh and found themselves
naked. Lord, your anger drove them away from You, but then your Love
desired to bring man back to You. But to come to You the Truth needed
to be returned in them and to remove the anger that stopped them from
receiving the One Who can bring the Truth in man You needed tp pay the
price of an Eternal Perfect Sacrifice as man. Lord, we thank You for
the gift of the Holy Spirit and the price You paid for us to receive
Him so that by Him we can have the Truth perfected in us. We pray Lord
your people understand the need of understanding your Word and having
relationship with your Spirit...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Genesis 1:26-28
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created
he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and
multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every
living thing that moveth upon the earth.

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

Genesis 3:22-24
22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to
know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also
of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to
till the ground from whence he was taken.
24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden
of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep
the way of the tree of life.

John 1:10-13
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world
knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the
sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor
of the will of man, but of God.

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will
guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but
whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you
things to come.

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

John 14:12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me,
the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these
shall he do; because I go unto my Father.

Revelation 11:3-15
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall
prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in
sackcloth.
4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing
before the God of the earth.
5 And 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.
6 These 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.
7 And 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.
8 And 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.
9 And 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.
10 And 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.
11 And 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.
12 And 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.
13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part
of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven
thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God
of heaven.
14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.
15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in
heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of
our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.

Revelation 12:3-9
3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his
heads.
4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did
cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which
was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was
born.
5 And 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.
6 And 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.
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out
into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

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The Potter's Hand

Acts 20:3 - And there abode three months. And when the Jews laid wait
for him, as he was about to sail into Syria, he purposed to return
through Macedonia.

In today's message we see Paul was led by the Lord and we see this
proof. Paul had made plans to go to Syria and then suddenly the Holy
Spirit alerted Paul either directly or through the people about the
danger which lay ahead and he immediately changed his plans.

Paul may have had a desire or plans to do something in Syria. We see
Paul did not get on his knees and bind the powers that came against
him or ask the Lord to cause confusion in the minds of those who
conspired to attack him. Nor did he pray for God's judgment on those
who planned to harm His anointed one.

Some days back some people approached me to be an important part of a
great historic event and for me it was like a dream come through. This
one event could change a lot of my ministry in the Lord, but then I
waited on the Lord to confirm it. Firstly I was surprised that such a
great thing came all of a sudden for the Lord mostly alerted me of big
things or changes in my life. It so happened that night when I asked
the Lord for His confirmation I was repeated a vision which I had the
night before (before the proposal came) and the Lord through the
vision alerted about a danger. So I immediately backed out for the
event and over the days I can see a confirmation of the danger coming
true.

We may say then Paul must have been having a smooth sailing all
through his life for the Lord must have alerted him on every issue,
but we see that was not the case. Paul did have problems in his life
and troubles which caused great hardship for him.

Was it that the Lord had given up on Paul during those moments, No.

We need to understand as the Lord (Holy Spirit) is our Guide, Helper
and Comforter; He is also the Potter who moulds us. The potter to
bring shape to his creation needs to touch the mould and bring shape,
he knows how much pressure and where the pressure needs to be put,
even these touches are done with wet hands (water symbolizes mercy).
He does not let any harsh touch or anything to break or destroy his
creation.

We are the moulds which are in the Hands of the Potter and Jesus by
His sacrifice has made this possible. When we are tuned to the turning
of the Potter's wheel we will also be tuned to His touches. It is only
when we try our own paths that we get into problems that do not
benefit us. No doubt later the Lord turns even our wrongs into the
right part but then it requires more touches of the Potter's Hand and
sometimes drastic changes with instruments.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, help us to be in tune with You so that we have less of drastic
events happening in our lives that take us by surprise. Lord, You are
always communicating with us but all the noise of this world and the
anxiety in our hearts drowns your Voice. Lord, help us to be still
during the times we are not doing as per your instructions. ..

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Isaiah 29:15-17
15 Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD,
and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who
knoweth us?
16 Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the
potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me
not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no
understanding?
17 Is it not yet a very little while, and Lebanon shall be turned
into a fruitful field, and the fruitful field shall be esteemed as a
forest?

Jeremiah 18:2-6
2 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause
thee to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he wrought a
work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the
potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the
potter to make it.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? saith the
LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine
hand, O house of Israel.

Exodus 13:21-22
21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to
lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them
light; to go by day and night:
22 He took not away the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the pillar of
fire by night, from before the people.

Exodus 40:36-38
36 And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the
children of Israel went onward in all their journeys:
37 But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till
the day that it was taken up.
38 For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire
was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel,
throughout all their journeys.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to
them that love God, to them who are the called according to his
purpose.


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

In a Catholic Church when one enters one sees that idols take the
center stage of the place. Some months back I went to a Believer
Church in a city near Mumbai and was taken aback by their boldness.
This is not the boldness in Christ which we learned 2 days back but
the boldness like the traders had in the temple during the times Jesus
was man on earth. This Church hall had a very large vessel grandly
designed to collect tithes and 'offerings' with scripture printed on
it concerning the same, kept just before the preacher's table, taking
the center stage of the Church hall.

Many believe Jesus drove the traders only once from the Jewish temple
but someone put the flow of events of the Gospels in chronicle order
and showed all the Gospels together recorded the 3 different times
Jesus drove the traders away from the Jewish temple.

1st time in John 2:12-17 (after coming from Capernaum to Jerusalem)
2nd time in Matthew 21:9-13 & Luke 19:45-46 (after His triumphant
entry into Jerusalem)
3rd time in Mark 11:11-17 (after going from Jerusalem to Bethany and
coming back, after the teaching of the fig tree and before Mary
anointed His feet)

Firstly let us raise the question - were the traders wrong? They were
just providing the facility to those who came there to make their
dedications of the animals or birds or money as written in the book of
Moses. Now tell me where would have Mary offered the 2 turtle doves
from which she did for her cleanliness, as per the Law given by the
Lord in the book of Moses. Did Jesus expect Mary or any other woman to
catch the birds from a tree or bush or bring all the way from the
market to the temple?

Firstly Jesus knew the instructions of offerings or sacrifices told by
the Lord in the book of Moses were statutes and symbolic. The Jews due
to their lack of understanding of scriptures and craving of their
carnal nature had made these statutes into rituals and gave them a
level equal to or more than God.

In today's Believer Churches we see that many Church leaders give
great importance to tithes and to other statutes than the very purpose
people come to Church - have fellowship with God and among themselves.
Like the Jews did concerning the sacrifices they do with tithes and
statutes concerning Jesus.

When Jesus drove the traders away from the temple He removed the rope
which was used to tie the robe at the waste, it was like a person in
the present times taking out his belt. We need to note Jesus did not
hurt any person He overturned their money tables and set the animals
and birds free, He primarily used His ropes to scare away the animals
and birds.

In today's message the Lord is telling all those who are called to be
Pastors and Shepherds of His flock have made His Father's House into a
den of thieves.

I used the word dacoit in the title to give a clearer picture of the
Church leaders whom the Lord speaks of. Like a dacoit they too leave
their families or worldly social circles. Like the dacoits all do not
necessarily live in grand palaces (only the real big and powerful ones
do). Like the dacoits the main reasons they rob is to take care of the
others in the gang. Like the dacoits they do not take from the
collections to meet their needs but take a share according to their
status and the role they played in collecting the loot along with the
gang.

I am not prophesying but just simply stating the message which the
Lord put in my heart today to give. Like Jesus used His ropes to drive
away the 'loot' of the Jewish temple traders in the same way the Lord
is going to drive away the funds or resources of these modern temple
traders because they have not made His Father's House a place to bring
people to God, to have relationship with Him but a place of commerce.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You are awaiting the day when You come back as Son of Man to
take your people to the Father's true House. But your return is
delayed because those whom You have given charge to fulfil the
conditions for your return are not doing it, but are misusing your
House on earth for their own purposes. Lord, we pray that You quicken
things here and at the same time we pray for the innocent souls that
they do not get crushed in this mayhem...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
John 2:12-17 (coming from Capernaum)
12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his
brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days.
13 And the Jews' passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves,
and the changers of money sitting:
15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all
out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the
changers' money, and overthrew the tables;
16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make
not my Father's house an house of merchandise.
17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of
thine house hath eaten me up.

Matthew 21:9-13 (after His grand entrance to Jerusalem)
9 And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried,
saying, Hosanna to the Son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the
name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest.
10 And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved,
saying, Who is this?
11 And the multitude said, This is Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.
12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that
sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the
moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves,
13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the
house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Luke 19:34-38,45- 46 (after His grand entrance to Jerusalem)
34 And they said, The Lord hath need of him.
35 And they brought him to Jesus: and they cast their garments upon
the colt, and they set Jesus thereon.
36 And as he went, they spread their clothes in the way.
37 And when he was come nigh, even now at the descent of the mount of
Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and
praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had
seen;
38 Saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord:
peace in heaven, and glory in the highest.
45 And he went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold
therein, and them that bought;
46 Saying unto them, It is written, My house is the house of prayer:
but ye have made it a den of thieves.

Mark 11:11-17 (after going from Jerusalem to Bethany and coming back)
11 And Jesus entered into Jerusalem, and into the temple: and when he
had looked round about upon all things, and now the eventide was come,
he went out unto Bethany with the twelve.
12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry:
13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he
might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing
but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet.
14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee
hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.
15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and
began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and
overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that
sold doves;
16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through
the temple.
17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall
be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a
den of thieves.

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The oppression faced by Christians

Psalms 106:42 - Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were
brought into subjection under their hand.

I have mentioned before that the book of Psalms were previously
divided into 5 parts each reflecting a book of Moses and that is the
reason the Psalms of David are not listed in order they were written.
Psalm 106 comes in the book of Numbers and 107 onwards in book of
Deuteronomy.

In the book of Numbers we see when the people walked according to the
instructions of the Lord not even one soldier was lost in any battle,
but when they went against the instructions of the Lord running after
the gods of Egypt or fornicating after the desires of their flesh they
experienced great human loss. It was the same soldiers who fought
indestructible being when they were with God and like normal earthly
being prone to destruction when they were away from God.

In today's message the Lord is exposing something through Psalms which
is not seen clearly in the book of Numbers. The enemies were not the
only ones who oppressed the Israelites. The scripture says 'their
enemies also oppressed'. If the enemies also oppressed then who along
with the enemies oppressed the people. When we read the book of
Numbers we see the other things that caused many to dies were the
plagues, forces of nature and human stupidity (of people). These
happened due to the wrath of God was on them and God loathed their
inheritance (Ps 106:40).

In yesterday's message the Lord spoke about how our boldness in Christ
leads us to receive the promises (inheritance) of the Lord and in
today's message the Lord talks of why we do not receive it.

Christians are not made to struggle and experience difficulties in
life but since we struggle with our flesh and fornicate with the
powers of darkness we face problems and calamities. God know we will
take time to grow in Him that is why He has warned us about
persecutions coming our way.

When we are new in Christ like a Good Shepherd carries the lambs in
His arms, but no shepherd carried any sheep other than the one which
was lost and he brings back to the sheepfold (for sheep have the
tendency to sit put in a place and bleat when they realize they are
lost, even when danger comes in its face, the shepherd needs to carry
the sheep to its flock and then only it behaves normal).

The Lord is telling us not to take His grace any sacrifice for
granted. As we grow in Him let us also start to walk more upright and
let the world know our God is God.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we Christians have the usual tendency to blame Satan for
everything that we do not like. We do not realize we ourselves are of
greater danger for ourselves than Satan is for us. Satan plays with us
so that we do not overcome ourselves for he knows the day we grow from
hope to faith and faith to authority his days are over. Lord, we pray
your people grow stronger in faith and do not just stay there but have
authority, the authority You gave us...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Psalms 106:40-45
40 Therefore was the wrath of the LORD kindled against his people,
insomuch that he abhorred his own inheritance.
41 And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated
them ruled over them.
42 Their enemies also oppressed them, and they were brought into
subjection under their hand.
43 Many times did he deliver them; but they provoked him with their
counsel, and were brought low for their iniquity.
44 Nevertheless he regarded their affliction, when he heard their cry:
45 And he remembered for them his covenant, and repented according to
the multitude of his mercies.

Mark 4:16-17
16 And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who,
when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
17 And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time:
afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake,
immediately they are offended.


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Hold on to your confidence to receive the promises

Hebrew 10: 35,36 - Cast not away therefore your confidence [boldness],
which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience,
that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the
promise.

In today's message the Lord is telling us to hold on to our boldness
in Christ for it has the ability to get us a great reward. This
boldness as Paul says comes after we have done the will of God and to
hold this boldness we require patience. The reward is the promise.

What is the promise we receive in Jesus Christ?

The promise is not just one promise is a collection of promises which
has been given through many before Jesus, including those of Jesus.
They are the ones given to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David
and Jesus.

We need to understand in Genesis 5:2 when God created man He did not
just name Adam as Adam but all his generation as Adam, which means
what is of Adam was for the all his generations, this included the
good and the bad. But in the mercy of God He did not let the bad pass
down to more than 4 generations from father to son (that is why Jesus
was not born of a human father or He would have not been free of sin),
but allowed the good to pass down thousands of generations. That is
why sins and curses go down only 4 generations (if the next 3
generations do not follow in the ways of their predecessor) .

God in His mercy allowed an unfilled blessing in the life of a person
to be received by his or her ancestor for His Word does not return
without being fulfilled.

All the promises given to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and David
are fulfilled in Jesus Christ including those given unto Jesus Christ.
That means when we are in Christ we too are recipients of those
promises of Christ like we received from Adam as descendants of Adam.
The more we overcome the nature of Adman the further we get from the
tree of Adam thus the less we receive of Adam and more we connect to
the nature of Christ the more we receive of Jesus Christ. In Christ we
are all brethren (just one level) therefore the curse from generation
to generation does not affect us and we receive what we sow (Jer
31:29-34).

Coming back to today's message which talks of boldness; boldness is
not being fearless for ignorance also causes a person to not have
fear. The boldness written here is which comes after fulfilling
scriptures and requires faith, temperance, joy and peace at the
minimum which is what patience is.

People think patience is a fruit but that is not the case. People
confuse it with temperance which means self-control. Patience is not a
Fruit but a Fruit salad and includes many Fruits. A person with just
one Fruit will never be able to have patience.

Today the Lord is telling us if we need to receive of the promises in
Christ we need to hold on to the Nature of Christ and that means to
hold on to the Fruits of the Holy Spirit and grow in them. I do not
want to go through the long list of promises from Noah to Jesus. But
they include the Lord being our God and dwelling among us, not letting
His anger consume us, receiving His Holy Spirit, opening again of
Heaven (which was shut for Adam - his generations) , cancelling the
curse of Hell, making us Princes of God who have authority, becoming
His Sons and eternal life.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, help us have boldness in You, to grow in our faith by increase
of knowledge and understanding of your Word and by our abiding in it.
Lord, help us grow the Fruits of the Holy Spirit that we may have more
and more of Christ in us and thus receive more and more of His
promises...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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

Exodus 34:6,7
6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The
LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in
goodness and truth,
7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression
and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the
iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's
children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

Galatians 3:14-18
14 That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith.
15 Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a
man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth
thereto.
16 Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not,
And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is
Christ.
17 And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of
God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after
[times of Moses], cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of
none effect.
18 For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise:
but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

Jeremiah 31:29-34
29 In those days they shall say no more, The fathers have eaten a
sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge.
30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity: every man that
eateth the sour grape, his teeth shall be set on edge.
31 Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in
the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of
Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto
them, saith the LORD:
33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of
Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their
inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and
they shall be my people.
34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every
man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me,
from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for
I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.


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Jesus paid the Temple Tax for us

Matthew 17:27 - Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou
to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh
up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of
money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

Tribute or capitation-tax was an annual tax of half a shekel charged
to every Jew as a ransom for his soul so that there be no plague among
them. It was a fix tax that was charged across all classes. Even if
the person was rich or poor they had to play the same amount towards
the service of the temple.

In 1500s Pope Leo X's sold indulgences which were pardons from going
to purgatory in exchange for large amounts of donation for building
the St Peter's Basilica. This venture of the Pope caused the
Protestant Reformation to start with a letter written by Martin Luther
on 31st October which is even today Believers celebrated this day as
Reformation Day or Reformation Sunday (since it is celebrated on a
Sunday on 31st Oct or before if it is not a Sunday). On the other hand
the Catholic Church celebrates the giving of these indulgences as All
Souls Day on Sunday on or before November 1st.

Was the Pope doing what the Lord instructed in the book of Moses
(Exodus 30:12-15)?

Firstly Purgatory is unbiblical and not a part of Christian teaching
but part of Catholicism. The Bible states the various stages the soul
(with the spirit) of man goes through as Earth (not planet earth but
physical creation when the soul and spirit is in the body), Hell (if
it does not believe in the Lord Jesus Christ), Grave (those who
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ sleep here until His second coming),
Heaven (after those in grave and those still alive on earth at that
time are judged and found to be keeping the Word of God) and Lake of
Fire (all those still in Hell and those in Grave who were judged and
found not to be keeping the Lord's Word are put here, a place worse
than Hell).

Coming back to today's message we see that Jesus got angry with Peter
when Peter confessed to a person collecting Temple Tax that his Master
did not pay the tax. As Peter entered the house Jesus questioned him
on this matter.

Was Jesus going against God's commandment given to Moses by not paying
the tax? Jesus we see askes Peter ‘if the Kings tax their sons or
strangers'? To this Peter confessed ‘stranger'.

Jesus is the Son of God and taxes from God are not for Sons. Yet we
see Jesus agreed to pay it so that He does not offend the Jewish
authority, but to teach Peter obedience Jesus made him get the money
out of a fish's stomach after catching a fish with a hook (not a net).

Did Jesus compromise with the Truth by paying the tax? No.

These laws were given to Moses as statutes by since they lacked the
understanding they never understood and thus continued the statutes as
instructed. Jesus understood and therefore was free from following the
statute.

The Lord instructed us to keep the statutes so that we understand the
things hidden. But once the hidden is understood then the statues
becomes unnecessary and is kept only to let others know its
understanding.

For Peter to catch a fish with a hook was not as simple as catching
with a net and the changes of catching a fish with a coin it's stomach
that too with a hook and that too the first fish was unbelievable.
Peter needed to kill the fish to open its stomach to remove the coin
and pay the tax. Jesus was that fish with the coin in its belly which
was sacrificed for us so that the ransom for our souls could be paid.

The Lord is also telling us today we are the Temple and He has given
us His Spirit of Truth Who leads us to all understanding. It is time
we spend time with Him and come to the understanding of the
instructions given in the Bible and stop following things like the
Jews did/do.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, even after more than 2000years of receiving your Spirit man has
been resisting your Spirit. Holy Spirit teach us to surrender to You
and to hear your voice. To be led by You to all understanding. Man
made of flesh, walking by sight cannot even imagine a spirit forget
about imagining or understanding Heaven. Lord work in us teach us so
that the Truth may grow in us...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Matthew 17:24-27
24 And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute
money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?
25 He saith, Yes. And when he was come into the house, Jesus
prevented him, saying, What thinkest thou, Simon? of whom do the kings
of the earth take custom or tribute? of their own children, or of
strangers?
26 Peter saith unto him, Of strangers. Jesus saith unto him, Then are
the children free.
27 Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea,
and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when
thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that
take, and give unto them for me and thee.

Exodus 30:12-15
12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their
number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the
LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them,
when thou numberest them.
13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are
numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel
is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD.
14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty
years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD.
15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less
than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make
an atonement for your souls.

1 Timothy 2:3-6
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth.
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.
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Justus - The Just rejected!!

Acts 1:23 - And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was
surnamed [nicknamed] Justus, and Matthias.

When the twelve disciples selected by Jesus saw that there was 1 less
between them, after Judas Iscariot killed himself for betraying Jesus.
To fulfil scriptures they decided to select another to fill his place.

Among the two purposed by them was Joseph called Barsabas, who was
surnamed (nicknamed) Justus and Matthias.

Like in the other cases we saw since Joseph was a common name this
person was called Barsabas which means son of Sabas or Tsaba. But in
this case we see he was given a nickname Justus even though they
already called him by another name. The nickname Justus which they
gave him means ‘the just’. This nickname was because of his nature or
characteristic of being righteous that showed prominent in him. The
same was the case of Simon who was nicknamed Peter because he was
overzealous always thinking he had the answer or solution to things
even though he had little knowledge of it (the term Peter means
‘pebble’ which symbolizes little truth).

We see even though Barsabas was a righteous man appreciated by
everyone yet we find he was not selected by the Holy Spirit to be one
of the Twelve! Was the Holy Spirit selecting the better of the two?
That is not the case for all were unworthy and were made worthy by the
Lord, leaving for Judas for his end was written. Like Saul became Paul
similarly each one were similar to Saul in their lives before they
were selected by the Lord, trained by Jesus and given the Holy Spirit
to become what we know them as.

To understand why, we need to first understand the concept of Twelve.

The ‘twelve’ count was a statute to understand the things which Heaven
is made of. The selected twelve Apostles of Jesus by fulfilling
scriptures continued the statute so that one day we understand the
thing which was hidden. Paul was at least equal if not a greater
Apostle than the selected twelve Apostles they did not add Paul later
to make thirteen nor was Paul given less respect than any one among
them. The Lord also had done this ‘twelve’ business with the twelve
tribes of Israel, when He counted the Levi tribe unto Himself, so from
the eleven He split the tribe of Joseph into two so as to keep the
count to twelve. The link to the twelve understanding lies in the
understanding of the twelve stones which represented the twelve tribes
and are the same stones (some are called by their other names) of
which Heaven is made of. The foundation of Heaven is another scripture
is stated as based on twelve pillars with the names/reference of the
twelve Apostles, it has twelve gates and twelve Angels to guard the
twelve gates to enter Heaven. These numbers are symbolic to explain
things which are hidden from the understanding of earthly man.

For example if one really understands Heaven, one will realize there
cannot be gates to this spirit world, Heaven has no boundary for what
would be beyond the gate if earth, grave and hell (lower Heavens) is
not found, as recorded in the book of Revelation (Rev 20:11)? Even if
anyone disputes that scripture, can anyone size Heaven where God
dwells and put gates to it?

Barsabas was as dear to the Lord as Matthias was, but the Lord had
purpose for Matthias to be part of the twelve and Barsabas for some
other.

The Lord says in Jeremiah 29:11 the plans He has for us is to bring
out the fullness of us and these plans are good and not evil.

The Lord is telling each one of us today. We may look at others at
different places and ask the Lord ‘why I am not there’ or ‘why was I
not given that chance’? The Lord telling us He has us in the palm of
His Hand and is in control of us. Even when we go haywire He turns
that event too around for our good. So let us just surrender unto Him
and know of His plans for us in our communication with Him (prayer).

[Prayer Starter]
Lord there are many times we look at others and hope we were in their
shoes or are depressed for things that have not happen in our lives.
Lord You are the Potter and You alone know what best can be made of
which clay. You alone know the shape and size that can be given to a
vessel without breaking it. Lord, help us surrender to You and trust
in You to lead us in our walk of life. We also pray Lord You reveal to
us your plans that w may not struggle and loose on our harvest...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Colossians 4:10-11
10 Aristarchus my fellowprisonersalut eth you, and Marcus, sister’s
son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come
unto you, receive him;)
11 And Jesus, which is called Justus, who are of the circumcision.
These only are my fellowworkers unto the kingdom of God, which have
been a comfort unto me.

Exodus 28:15-21
15 And thou shalt make the breastplate of judgment with cunning work;
after the work of the ephod thou shalt make it; of gold, of blue, and
of purple, and of scarlet, and of fine twined linen, shalt thou make
it.
16 Foursquare it shall be being doubled; a span shall be the length
thereof, and a span shall be the breadth thereof.
17 And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of
stones: the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle:
this shall be the first row.
18 And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.
19 And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.
20 And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper: they shall
be set in gold in their inclosings.
21 And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel,
twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet;
every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

Revelation 22:9-27
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of
the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you
the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain,
and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from
God,
11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like
a jasper, clear as crystal.
12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates
twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the
sons of Israel were inscribed—
13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south
three gates, and on the west three gates.
14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were
the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to
measure the city and its gates and walls.
16 The city lies foursquare; its length the same as its width. And he
measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width
and height are equal.
17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which
is also an angel’s measurement.
18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, clear as glass.
19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every
kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third
agate, the fourth emerald,
20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the
eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh
jacinth, the twelfth amethyst.
21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of
a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, transparent
as glass.
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God
the Almighty and the Lamb.
23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the
glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.
24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth
will bring their glory into it,
25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.
26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations.
27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what
is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s
book of life.

Matthew 19:28 - And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That
ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man
shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve
thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.

Revelation 20:11 - And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on
it, from whose face the earth and the heaven (lower Heavens) fled
away; and there was found no place for them.

Jeremiah 29:11 - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the
LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a
hope.

Romans 8:28 - And we know that for those who love God all things work
together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

John 17:12 - While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy
name: which thou gavest me I kept, and none of them is lost, but the
son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.

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God's business is Family business

Luke 23:24 - And Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they required.

In our last message the Lord told He called us to be part of His Family.

When we sinned we were cast off from the presence of the Lord and His
wrath kept us away from Him. Adam and Eve who dwelled in the presence
of the true glory of God and knew Him, due to sin were cast off and
thus his generations did not know God.

The initiative to know God started with Enoch and it pleased God that
man wanted to come back to Him but sin had corrupted man and Truth was
not in him thus He did not know God. God came as man so that His image
which was in Adam before he sinned may be known to man (He became our
Cornerstone) , by the eternal sacrifice (He became our Pascal Lamb) the
wrath of God may be removed, man may receive His Spirit (Spirit of
Truth) Who will bring back the Truth and thus the image of God back in
man and man may come to know God once again like Adam did thus again
dwelling in the presence of God's true glory.

We as sinner by our faith in Jesus Christ receive grace and
forgiveness of sins. From Saviour and saved relationship we are called
to the next stage of relationship of Master / Lord and disciple when
we walk according to His teachings but our relationship does not end
here. The Lord wants us to grow from being His disciples to being a
part of His Family and this only happens when we take on the Family
business.

When we do Family business we do not it as if we are working for
anyone else but do it as our own business - part owners [Associates] .
The goal of any business is profitability, so also God's business has
a goal and that is about bringing His lost sheep to Him, winning the
lost souls by bringing the image of Christ - the visible image of God
in them.

In today's message we see Pilot out of fear handed over Jesus even
though he knew He was innocent. Pilot feared because the people
declared Jesus as a traitor to Caesar by saying they had no king other
than Caesar. Now Pilot worked for Caesar and as an employee he feared
his master thus gave up on Jesus.

As we grow in relationship with God we stop working for God but work
for our Father handling our Family business as our business and
therefore fear is not a factor for us. Jesus never feared anyone for
He knew until His time came none could touch Him. Nor did He do
foolish misadventures; there are times He needed to move out from the
presence of His confronters and at other times He faced them face to
face all because He kept the goal of His Father's business as prime
importance more than Himself.

Let our purpose be the focus of our work, we also need to remember our
ways project the ways of our Father so let our ways be not our ways
but His ways.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You called Abraham your love and called us who are in him by our
faith in his seed Jesus Christ your bride. Lord, You also called us to
be part of You - Family. Lord let us also realize every time You asked
us to do anything You included Yourself as part of the process of
doing the work so that our success is confirmed. You came as our
Helper and Comforter becoming both Father and Mother for us. Lord, we
pray we do our duty as Family members knowing we ourselves will
benefit by our work...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
John 19:13-16
13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth,
and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the
Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha.
14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth
hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
15 But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him.
Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests
answered, We have no king but Caesar.
16 Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And
they took Jesus, and led him away.

Genesis 5:21-24
21 And Enoch lived sixty and five years, and begat Methuselah:
22 And Enoch walked with God after he begat Methuselah three hundred
years, and begat sons and daughters:
23 And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years:
24 And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.

2 Chronicles 20:7 - Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the
inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to
the seed of Abraham thy friend [‘ahab means love] for ever?

John 15:13-16
13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life
for his friends [philos also means Associate].
14 Ye are my friends [Associate], if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not
what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends [Associate]; for
all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you
(friends are not part of one's business but an associate is).
16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you,
that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should
remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may
give it you.

Revelation 21:2 - And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her
husband.

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He is Family and will not forsake us
Mark 14:50 - And they all forsook him, and fled.

Every prophecy about Jesus was fulfilled accurately, leaving those of
His second coming which are yet to fulfil.

We know more about what happened during the crucifixion from the Old
Testament than from the New Testament because the blood was applied on
the outer side of the door post not for man to see but God to see. The
sacrifice of Jesus Christ is not written in detail in the New
Testament because God does not desire common man to know how much the
Son suffered. God required man (those who come to Him - in the start)
to only know that the eternal sacrifice was performed and now the
angry of God that stood between God and man was torn (the veil) and
removed, it is written the sacrifice pleased God.

In the times of the former rain (times of mercy) a sacrifice was
necessary to please God every time the mercy of God fell on the
people, but now that an eternal sacrifice has been made that
completely pleased God we have moved to the times of the later rain
(times of grace). The Ark which was carried ahead of the people and
gave victory was hidden from the congregation by the wrath of God
(veil) but now has been revealed to all. Previously only a Levi could
carry the Ark but now anyone who is baptised in Jesus Christ,
separates from the knowledge and ways of the world and joins to God
(since the world hates God) becomes a Levi (which means joined). So
now all baptized in Christ can carry the Ark and have victory
(symbolizes the Cross - the study of it gives great details of the
meaning of the Cross which we need to carry).

Today's scripture says all Jesus' disciples fled. The scripture
specifies 'all' not 'all leaving John' or 'all leaving Peter'.
Therefore at the crucifix too none of His twelve disciples were there
else the prophecy is not fulfilled. The person written as 'one whom He
loved' to whom Jesus handed over Mary saying 'Woman, behold thy son'
was not John so we need to know who he was.

John was not the only person recorded in the Gospels as one whom Jesus
loved. Lazarus, Mary Magdalene, Martha, Martha's sister Mary were
among the others whom Jesus loved. John 13:1 states as all that are
His in this world are the ones whom He loved. So even we who are His
are called as the ones who He loved. The term was a general term used
to those in His group and not a specific term for a person.

Some ancient Jewish records from those times state as James (brother
of Jesus) was 'the disciple' or 'one whom Jesus loved' who was with
the 3 Marys at the crucifixion. But to accept these records we need to
have proof from within the scriptures.

James is stated as being the 'brethren' who was with Mary (Matthew
12:46) who out of fear of rumours went to check out on Jesus to see
that nothing wrong had happened to Jesus, which caused Jesus to be
upset. James the brother of Jesus is recorded in the Gospels as James
the less or as the brother of Joses and Juda (Jude). He was not a
disciple of Jesus, he like other siblings of Mary did not believe in
Jesus as Messiah. He became a disciple later during the crucifixion
of Jesus.

At the crucifixion there was a large crowd of rowdy people gathered
around, among them were some Jewish official like the high priest,
chief priests and Pharisees. At this time there was fear in the people
close to Jesus to go there and as usual James was the escort for Mary
his mother for he was the eldest after Jesus.

To confirm James was the one stated as the one Jesus loved we need to
study about the third Mary who was with Mary His mother and Mary
Magdalene.

When I got this message I did not know how to put it but in my study I
found the following which give sufficient proof of who this Mary was.

In the other 2 Gospels are records concerning of time before the
crucifixion of the 3 women (Matthew 27:54-56, Mark 15:40 - Luke does
not record the details of this event). In these 2 Gospels the 2 names
of the same person are given. Mark continued using the original name
of the person as Salome as being with the 2 Marys even after the
crucifixion (Mark 16:1). Her name was Salome and she was the sister of
Mary Jesus' mother who in the Gospel of John is recorded as Mary the
wife of Cleophas. At first like all others I thought they were
different people but in spirit I could feel the Lord telling me to
confirm this (that is why I took time to send this message).

The name Cleophas is the same as the name Cleopas but due manuscript
translations mistake the h got added. It was common name like Simon,
James, John or Judas. Like the other names the person of this name got
nicknamed or referred to along with the name of the place of origin or
their father's name. Mary's brother-in-laws real name was Cleopas but
was called Zebedee. She was the aunt of Jesus like Elizabeth was. That
is the reason she had freedom to ask of Jesus to give her sons
important positions in His Kingdom. It was not just because she was
just his aunt but Jesus loved her also very much and nicknamed her
Mary His mother's name because He loved her like His mother. This was
because she left the company of her husband and followed Jesus most of
the time.

Jesus also had the same motherly relationship with Mary Magdalene (she
was a woman who lived a sinful life in her younger days). It is out
of motherly love that Jesus which with them that he called his aunt
Salome and Mary of Magdalene (her original name is not written
although some claim her to the woman in Lu 7:36-50). Please note
'Mary' the name was not a nice name for it meant 'rebellious one'.
Jesus was not referring them to as being rebellious but loved and
respected them like He did to His mother.

When Jesus said 'Woman, behold thy son' to Mary His mother, He was
remind her that she had a son who would look after her. James then
took her to his house (he must have been married and was staying
separately). The Greek word used for 'behold' comes from the word
'care' and Jesus was telling James to care for his mother Mary and
Mary to care for her son.

Why the Lord wanted us to know that the 3 Marys and James being the
ones who were at the crucifix?

In today's message the Lord is telling us when trouble confronts Him,
His disciples ran away deserting Him but the only ones who stood by
Him were His family. A family relationship is most strong it does not
fear danger.

The Lord is telling us He has called us His brethren and gave us to
call His Father our Father and because of this the Lord will never
desert us. Even when the whole world comes against us He will stand
with us and support us. He will never forsake us.

[Prayer Starter]
Father God, You gave us the right to be called your sons through the
sacrifice of your Son Jesus Christ and by the working of your Spirit.
Lord, we know You will always be with us and will never forsake us.
But in the time of trouble our problems stand before us like Goliath
stood before the Israelites. Let us not forget that You are with us
and let us be fearless like David for when You are with us who can be
against us...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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

Zechariah 13:7 - Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the
man my fellow [associate], saith the LORD of hosts: smite [scourge]
the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine
hand upon the little ones [insignificant] .

Psalms 22

Isaiah 53

John 13:1 - Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that
his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the
Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them
unto the end.

Mark 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of
James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here
with us? And they were offended at him.

Mark 15:40 There were also women looking on afar off: among whom was
Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of Joses,
and Salome;

Matthew 27:54-56
54 Now when the centurion, and they that were with him, watching
Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those things that were done, they
feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of God.
55 And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus
from Galilee, ministering unto him:
56 Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and
Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.

John 19:24-25
24 They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast
lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled,
which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture
they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's
sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

Mark 15:40 And there were also women beholding from afar: among whom
were both Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James the less and of
Joses, and Salome;

Mark 16:1 And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the
mother of James, and Salome, bought spices, that they might come and
anoint him.

John 19:25 These things therefore the soldiers did. But there were
standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's sister,
Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

Luke states as other women also joined them after the crucifixion i.e. Joanna.

Luke 24:18 And one of them, named Cleopas, answering said unto him,
Dost thou alone sojourn in Jerusalem and not know the things which are
come to pass there in these days?

Easton Bible dictionary 846
Cleophas
(in the spelling of this word _h_ is inserted by mistake from Latin
MSS.), rather Cleopas, which is the Greek form of the word, while
Clopas is the Aramaic form.

John 19:25 (ASV) - These things therefore the soldiers did. But there
were standing by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother's
sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene.

Matthew 13:55 - Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother
called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

Matthew 12:50 - For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is
in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother

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Keeping your Sabbath Holy
Romans 15:23 - But now having no more place in these parts, and having
a great desire these many years to come unto you;

Paul all his ministry years desired to go to Rome and minister unto
the people there in person. To preach before Caesar was one of the
zeniths of his ministry which Paul looked forward too.

In today's scripture Paul is shown as been free and able to go to Rome
but yet did not jump for the opportunity, Paul waited on the Lord for
the right time to visit Rome.

Today's message goes out to both the Believers (Congregation) and also
to those who also work in the Lord's Vineyard (Shepherds).

To the Congregation the Lord is tells normally faith requires one to
act in what one believes. Faith to come to fullness requires it to be
put into action but then there are times when faith requires you to be
still. It is only when you learn to rest in the Lord at these times
that you can be still.

To the Shepherds the message goes - you are called to do the work of
the Lord. The Lord has given you a mission and that mission is the
purpose of your lives but then there are times the Lord needs to work
in you before you carry forward the next step of your mission. At
these times the Lord requires you to be still in Him. There are also
times God is preparing the place for you to go and work in. If you do
not learn to be still and rest in the Lord you will start to get tired
when doing the Lord's work, also you will find yourself struggling
against odds for you have reached before time and thus will struggle
till the right time and then will things happening.

One of the commandments the Lord gave was to keep the Sabbath holy.
The Jews due to their lack of understanding of scriptures had made the
Sabbath a ritual and had made a law greater than the Law of the Lord.
Their book on do and do not with regards to the Sabbath was fatter
than the Torah. One of the greatest tiffs between the Pharisees and
Sadducees with Jesus was on Jesus being called a Teacher of the Law
yet broke the Sabbath at many occasions.

Jesus was called the Lord of the Sabbath for He kept the Sabbath in
spirit and truth yet He did not follow the ritual of resting on a
Saturday (or Sunday).

It is only when we are led by the Spirit of the Lord we will know when
to halt and where to halt and rest in the Lord. We may be full of
passion for the Kingdom of God, we may also be gifted with many skills
and gifts of the Holy Spirit but yet we should not try to use them
according to our wisdom and understanding. We should always depend on
the Spirit of God. We should know how to follow the Pillar of Cloud
and Fire that leads us. Let us learnt during our rest enter the
Tabernacle of the Lord and be before His presence and be re-energized
in Him. Let us learn to keep our Sabbath holy.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You gave us the Sabbath to keep. The 7th day was made a day of
rest as a statute so that we learn the true Sabbath and like Jesus
become the master of the Sabbath. That we be led by your Spirit and
know when we should rest in You, be re-energized and when to allow You
to go ahead of us and prepare the place for us to walk in and be
fruitful. Lord, we pray your people grow in Spirit and do not make the
Sabbath a ritual but understand it in Spirit and Truth...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Romans 15:21-24
21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall
see: and they that have not heard shall understand.
22 For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.
23 But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great
desire these many years to come unto you;
24 Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I
trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way
thitherward by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company.

Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.

Exodus 31:15 Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the
sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the
sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

Matthew 11:1-5
1 At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and
his disciples were an hungred, and began to pluck the ears of corn,
and to eat.
2 But when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto him, Behold, thy
disciples do that which is not lawful to do upon the sabbath day.
3 But he said unto them, Have ye not read what David did, when he was
an hungred, and they that were with him;
4 How he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread,
which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with
him, but only for the priests?
5 Or have ye not read in the law, how that on the sabbath days the
priests in the temple profane the sabbath, and are blameless?

Mark 2:27-28
27 And he said unto them, The sabbath was made for man, and not man
for the sabbath:
28 Therefore the Son of man is Lord also of the sabbath.

Matthew 24:15-22
15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken
of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let
him understand:)
16 Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17 Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing
out of his house:
18 Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19 And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck
in those days!
20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the
sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the
beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh
be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.

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Celebrate Him
John 13:1 - Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the
Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them
unto the end.

You may wonder why for a scripture like John 13:1 I gave a title like
'Celebrate Him'.

There are some things which great theologians and biblical historians
ignored, which has caused many confusions and (wrong statutes)
traditions to be followed by Christians.

Again and again many scripture in the Gospels Jesus Himself speaks
about Moses writing all about Him and He fulfilled everything that
Moses wrote.

In today's scripture we see Jesus knew He was the Passover Lamb and it
was time for Him to be a sacrifice for the people to pass over from
mercy to grace, from the later rain to the former rain (before sin,
man did not need rain for the plants received water from the ground).

Every part of the Pascal sacrifice was fulfilled in Jesus. He was
arrested and kept under observation for 5 days, killed the night
before the Passover (the special/high Sabbath John 19:31 - this was
not the weekly Sabbath and was on a Friday therefore Jesus died on a
Thursday). But in the name of tradition lies covers the eyes of the
people and deceives them from following statutes and coming to truly
know the Passover Lamb - Jesus Christ.

The feast of the Unleavened Bread was what Jesus celebrated as the
Last Super [there was no lamb at the table which was a must for the
main Passover) which was 7 days before the Passover and that too has been corrupted in the name of traditions. Since people do not
understand this, we have Christians using wafer and leaven bread and
breaking them as the Body of Christ broken for us, again corrupting
statutes in the name of tradition.

Every sacrifice written in the book of Moses concerning the healing of
man was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Even if one had not been fulfilled
there would have been no hope for us.

God was not fool to give such details in the book of Moses to be
celebrated as statutes for the Passover or any festival or the design
of the Tabernacle and Ark. Every detail lets us know more of Jesus
Christ and His Kingdom.

Like the Passover also the other festivals were all about Jesus Christ
(His resurrection, receiving of His Spirit and even His birthday all
were celebrated in the book of Moses) and when we understand them will
we know the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord instructed not to keep His statutes but instructed to follow His
statues and keep His Commandments. When we follow we do have authority
or control to twist turn or modify anything, we just need to follow as
instructed.

So let us as Christians not celebrate any traditional festival but let
us celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ and by it know Him more and more.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, the deceiver has blinded the eyes of your people with
traditions, preventing them from knowing You. These traditions have
made them feel they are following You but in reality they are
following vanity. Although the Israelites left Egypt but the gods and
understandings of Egypt did not leave them but pursued them through
the wilderness. Lord we pray your people forsake the traditions of man
and follow your statutes, keep your Word thus come to know You and
have authority over the carnal nature of Adam...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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

Luke 24:44 - And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake
unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled,
which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in
the psalms, concerning me.

John 1:45 - Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have
found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write,
Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

John 3:14 - And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even
so must the Son of man be lifted up:

John 5:46 - For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for
he wrote of me.

John 19:31 - The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that
the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for
that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs
might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

Genesis 2:5 - And every plant of the field before it was in the earth,
and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not
caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the
ground.

Matthew 26:17 - Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the
disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we
prepare for thee to eat the passover?

Leviticus 23:1-14
1 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, Concerning
the feasts of the LORD, which ye shall proclaim to be holy
convocations, even these are my feasts.
3 Six days shall work be done: but the seventh day is the sabbath of
rest, an holy convocation; ye shall do no work therein: it is the
sabbath of the LORD in all your dwellings.
4 These are the feasts of the LORD, even holy convocations, which ye
shall proclaim in their seasons.
5 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD'S passover.
6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of
unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened
bread.
7 In the first day ye shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no
servile work therein.
8 But ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto the LORD seven
days: in the seventh day is an holy convocation: ye shall do no
servile work therein.
9 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
10 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye be
come into the land which I give unto you, and shall reap the harvest
thereof, then ye shall bring a sheaf of the firstfruits of your
harvest unto the priest:
11 And he shall wave the sheaf before the LORD, to be accepted for
you: on the morrow after the sabbath the priest shall wave it.
12 And ye shall offer that day when ye wave the sheaf an he lamb
without blemish of the first year for a burnt offering unto the LORD.
13 And the meat offering thereof shall be two tenth deals of fine
flour mingled with oil, an offering made by fire unto the LORD for a
sweet savour: and the drink offering thereof shall be of wine, the
fourth part of an hin.
14 And ye shall eat neither bread, nor parched corn, nor green ears,
until the selfsame day that ye have brought an offering unto your God:
it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations in all your
dwellings.

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Do not tempt the Spirit of God

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

In today's message it may seems to people like Peter punished Sapphira
the wife of Ananias and she died instantly but that was not the case.

The time this incident happened the Church was full of the glory of
God and the Spirit of God was great in the Church. It was the Spirit
of God Who had instructed the people of how much each should give and
we read Ananias and Sappahira thought they were able to cheat the
Spirit of God like a man fools another man.

Another point we see a small crime like cheating resulted in they
instantly dying; was God very harsh or unjust in what He did while
there were many other unbelievers who did far worst then them?

If we read in the Bible there are many times the people were greatly
in sin and nothing happened to them but when a Man of God was among
them things started to happen and God punished them for their sins.

Did God send His Messengers to punish people? No.

We need to understand whenever the glory of God was great the judgment
of God also was quick. God did not send His Messengers to primarily
punish people but since His anointed ones carried His glory therefore
His judgment came.

People, understand as His anointed ones are among us we will be
protected and will receive great blessings from the Lord, but there
also is another side we need to remember that we will be also pulled
up and punished in that same measure and speed as we receive from the
Lord. It will not take you time to realize if there is a true Anointed
Man of God amongst you or not.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You said in your Word the latter times would be worse than the
former times and You also state that your Spirit and grace will be
abundant during the latter times. Lord, people think since your grace
will be abundant they will be able to sin more, they do not know that
as the presence of your Spirit is more they will suffer unlike any
time in history. Lord, let the fear of You grow in your people as your
glory start to grow. We pray your people do not perish due to
foolishness. Let them realize when Jesus comes in glory how great His
judgment will be...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Acts 4:31-37; 5:1-18

1 Samuel 2:11-36

2 Peter 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the
world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they
are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse
with them than the beginning.

John 5:25-29
25 Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is,
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that
hear shall live.
26 For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the
Son to have life in himself;
27 And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he
is the Son of man.
28 Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that
are in the graves shall hear his voice,
29 And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the
resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the
resurrection of damnation.

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


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Knowledge and wisdom of God

Proverbs 4: 11 - I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led
thee in right paths.

In today's message the Lord is telling us it is only when we are
taught the way of His wisdom then only we are kept in the right path
and we find many of the Christians being led astray because they are
not taught wisdom by the Lord. There are lots of new influxes into
Christianity which are not from God and these happen also because man
is not working in the wisdom of God but using the wisdom of this world
given in the Bible as Cosmic (Cosmos) wisdom.

If one sees the religions of the Heathen they will always rooted on
cosmic energy, cosmic powers and cosmic wisdom. As Christians we are
told to separate from this world and dwell in spirit.

Most people wonder how can we reject this worldly knowledge but yet
live in this world?

Some days back I was attending an event where a famous Indian comedy
actor who preaches God's Word was sharing on this topic. I loved the
way he put it. He did add a lot of hilarious acting and dialogues to
the preaching which I doubt anyone there would ever forget.

He put man as a ship that moves on water and water as the knowledge of
the world. A ship needs water to move around so also does man need to
know things of the world to survive. When the water level reduces the
ship finds it hard to move around and may even get stuck, but if the
water totally dries the ship could even tilt sideways and overturn.

We need to note although water is very essential for the ship, it also
is the biggest enemy of the ship. If the water gets into the ship it
will sink the ship. The very thing that keeps it up will bring it
down.

The knowledge of the world is essential for us to live in this world
but we should not let the knowledge of the world to take hold in our
lives. In the Old Testament the knowledge of this world was symbolized
as leavened bread and in no place did God allow leavened bread with
His holy sacrifices leaving for just one sacrifice and that was the
sacrifice of thanksgiving. That means the only place we can use our
worldly wisdom towards the Kingdom of God is when we thank God other
than that we need to keep worldly wisdom far from the Kingdom of God.

In the letters of Paul the English (KJV) translation has translated 3
different Greek words with the same word 'knowledge' these are -
general knowledge 'gnosis' <1108>, precise knowledge 'epignosis'
<1922> and understanding 'sunesis' <4907>. When we have knowledge of
the Kingdom of God we need to know what kind of knowledge we have, is
it just general knowledge, or is it precise knowledge or it is the
understanding. When we say understanding it means something that is
proven and now a part of us.

We can have knowledge of the world and even precise knowledge of the
world but never have the understanding of the world. But when it comes
to Kingdom of God we do not just pursue general knowledge or precise
knowledge but pursue understanding. The knowledge of the Kingdom of
God needs to be a part of us and Jesus said the only way it can be
part of us is when we follow what we learn. That also means what we
learn of this world we should not follow so as to avoid being a part
of us.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You have said in your Word if we ask of You good things You do
give us. Lord we pray You bless your people with wisdom and knowledge.
And we pray Lord that they do not let the knowledge and wisdom of this
world be a part of them but let the knowledge and wisdom of your
Kingdom be a inseparable part of them...
This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Luke 11:52 - Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of
knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering
in ye hindered.

Romans 2:17-24
17 But if thou bearest the name of a Jew, and restest upon the law,
and gloriest in God,
18 and knowest his will, and approvest the things that are excellent,
being instructed out of the law,
19 and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a
light of them that are in darkness,
20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having in the law
the form of knowledge and of the truth;
21 thou therefore that teachest another, teachest thou not thyself?
thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?
22 thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou
commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou rob temples?
23 thou who gloriest in the law, through thy transgression of the law
dishonorest thou God?
24 For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of
you, even as it is written.

1 Corinthians 8:1-3
1 Now as touching things offered unto idols, we know that we all have
knowledge. Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth.
2 And if any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing
yet as he ought to know.
3 But if any man love God, the same is known of him.

1 Corinthians 13:8 - Charity never faileth: but whether there be
prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall
cease; whether there be knowledge [general knowledge], it shall vanish
away.

Colossians 1:9-10
9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to
pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge
of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being
fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Colossians 2:2-3
2 That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love,
and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the
acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of
Christ;
3 In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

1 Timothy 2:3-4
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour;
4 Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth.

John 8:31-32
31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye
continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.


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Traditions - a weapon of Satan

Christians mistake traditions with statutes and instead of following
statutes given by the Lord they start to follow traditions. The Bible
is very clear against traditions and shows them as killers of the
conscience of man. After fear traditions is one of the most successful
ways of Satan to destroy the faith of man and consecutively destroy
him. It can be attributed to someone going on pouring water into milk.
In the start it is difficult to identify when the water is of less
quantity but slowly as the amount of water increases the mixture may
look white but looses most properties and benefits of milk. Adult
drinking it will never see any benefit of it but a child who depends
on it for nourishment may die. Worst problems comes when the water
mixed is unclean water, then even the adult drinking this along with
the child lands up become sick.

Traditions like statutes are activities / practices which are
continued / carried forward from generation to generation, they both
are done with purposes and one among them is to keep the people
practicing it unity.

There is only main difference between traditions and statutes.
Statutes were practices instructed by the Lord to the people which
were connected to an event to keep doing it from generation of
generation so that the next generations or people who did not know it
come to know of it. Although both helped spread the practice or things
connected with it, but statutes were mainly done with the purpose of
other people to know, unlike traditions which are even done only with
people who already know. Statute is a tool to preach about an event
and preaching is done only to those who do not know not to those who
know. Imagine if you’re Pastor or Priest, on every Sunday preached the
same sharing of the Word / sermon, Sunday after Sunday; after a few
Sundays of tolerance the people who come would sleep through it. And
that is what happens with traditions; it makes your conscience to
sleep and kills faith.

Statutes on other hand needed to be followed exactly as they were
given. Every symbol or detail of it cannot be changed for they are all
symbolic by changing or modifying them the meaning or purpose changes
that is why the Lord gave every small detail when it came to statutes.

Statutes were given as tools to teach and also for those practicing to
know more therefore builds faith. i.e. keeping the Passover is an
tradition but by it the children (spiritual children) know about what
happened during the time of Moses but the adults came to know of how
it symbolized Jesus’ sacrifice, both learned and built faith.

In the Bible (KJV-AV) the word ‘traditions’ is used only once with
Christianity (the other time it is used with the traditions of the
Jews. Even this one time it does not mean practices but means
ordinance which is more of decree, order, edict or rule and the later
part of the scripture specifies in what form it was given like
teaching, word or letter. And in the teachings or letters there is not
even one tradition which the Apostles gave that is not one of the
statutes which the Lord had already given in the Bible. In fact Paul
states anything done without faith is sin (faith is believing in the
Truth - Word of God).

We have many Christians who are like spiritual zombies just because
they do not follow Christianity but follow traditions which they claim
as ‘Christian’. Many among the traditions that they keep are in fact
imported from pagan practices and mixed into Christianity like dirty
water mixed in milk.

Let us discern traditions from statutes and kick out the traditions
from our lives so that we spiritually resurrect in conscience and
become living Christians.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You moved the tomb stone when You resurrected as a symbol even
though You could pass through walls after resurrection. Without
removing traditions from our lives we will never experience your
resurrection power. Lord we pray for all Christians who are bond under
the iron chains of traditions; set them free and bring them alive in
You...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Exodus 12:24-27
24 And ye shall observe this thing for an ordinance to thee and to
thy sons for ever.
25 And it shall come to pass, when ye be come to the land which the
LORD will give you, according as he hath promised, that ye shall keep
this service.
26 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you,
What mean ye by this service?
27 That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the LORD’S passover, who
passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he
smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses. And the people bowed
the head and worshipped.

Leviticus 10:9-11
9 Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee,
when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die: it
shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations:
10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and
between unclean and clean;
11 And that ye may teach the children of Israel all the statutes
which the LORD hath spoken unto them by the hand of Moses.

Leviticus 18:2-5
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, I am the LORD your God.
3 After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye
not do: and after the doings of the land of Canaan, whither I bring
you, shall ye not do: neither shall ye walk in their ordinances.
4 Ye shall do my judgments, and keep mine ordinances, to walk
therein: I am the LORD your God.
5 Ye shall therefore keep my statutes, and my judgments: which if a
man do, he shall live in them: I am the LORD.

Galatians 1:14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my
equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the
traditions of my fathers.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the
traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle.

Romans 14:23 And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he
eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

Acts 7:51 - Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do
always resist the Holy Spirit: as your fathers did, so do ye.

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Threshing or tramping over…

Habakkuk 3:12 - Thou didst march through the land in indignation, thou
didst thresh the heathen in anger.

In yesterday’s message the Lord spoke about some being a threshing
stone for His people but in today’s message the Lord brings our
attention to a scripture which shows the Lord in His anger marches
through the land and threshes the heathens / (Godless) nations.

We learnt in yesterday’s message threshing although is a painful
process but has good ramifications. In the KJV (AV) version and in
most versions the Hebrew word ‘duwsh’ has been mistranslated as
‘thresh’ and should have been ‘tread’ or ‘tramp over’.

Threshing is a cleaning process while treading is a destructive
process. God does get anger both with His people and with the
heathens. When He gets angry with His people He threshes them and
makes them better like He did with David. But when He gets angry with
the heathens He treads or breaks them and consumes them. Also the word
translated as ‘march’ is not a slow march but means ‘run over’.

Our God is a good Father who is slow to anger but He does not forget.
When He gets angry with His children He uses His anger constructively
and brings out a good result of His anger. It is only those who are
not His that really face His anger in its true sense.

When we are threshed, no doubt God is angry with us but it is because
of His love we are threshed and not tramped over. So let us not be sad
but rejoice when the Lord is correcting us or working on us, it only
proves that He has not given up on us and still loves us.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You love us and it is our of your love that You prune us. It may
hurt when are pruned but You never cut off the good of us but the
things that are bad for us. Lord we have plans and desires but Lord we
ask not that they be fulfilled but ask only those which are according
to your will be fulfilled in our lives. Yes Lord, we surrender into
your hand, work on us, prune us but love us and keep us in your
Hands...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Psalm 2

Jeremiah 18:1-6
1 The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying,
2 Arise, and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause
you to hear my words.
3 Then I went down to the potter’s house, and, behold, he worked a
work on the wheels.
4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the
potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the
potter to make it.
5 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
6 O house of Israel, cannot I do with you as this potter? said the
LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in my
hand, O house of Israel.
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The one stone most people hate

Jonah 1:2 - "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out
against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me."

Just yesterday I was attending a very historical moment in Church
history in Mumbai and it was so great to see all the churches come
together and that moment caused me to think on the very topic which we
got from the Lord for today. I had the opportunity to be part of this
historic moment but was make to stand out by the Lord.

We all love life to be easy and nice, we look at God to be full of
love and compassion, ever forgiving, ever patient, slow to anger etc..
But we forget our God is also a righteous God, He is patient but not
forgetful, He is full of love but also hate sin, He is forgiving but
not forgetful, He keeps His wrath for the last for those who walk the
path of darkness and do not turn to Light.

In the farm all stones are removed and thrown away, for they cause
problems for the farmer in tilling the soil and also harm the growth
of the crop of the seeds which he sows. But there is one stone which
the farmer depends greatly on and guards dearly. This stone unlike the
other stones is very large. Without this stone the purpose of the crop
would not be fulfilled and the crop may land as cattle feed or will be
eaten but the birds and not for the purpose he planted. This stone is
the threshing stone.

Since history of farming people have used the threshing stone or
threshing board (a multi pointed surface) to separate the grains from
the stalk and the husk from the grains.

When God planted man He put the man's spirit in a body of flesh made
of soil of the earth. As man grows and is nurtured by the Lord, during
this time He separates His people from those who are not His. He then
calls His people to overcome the very flesh they dwell in so that they
can return to Him.

In today's message Jonah is sent to be a threshing board / stone for
the people of Nineveh. Similarly we have Men of God like Jeremiah and
Joel in the Bible who were not loved by the people for they were sharp
threshing boards / stones for the people.

In the Kingdom of God there are those who tilt, there are those who
sow, there are those who water, there are those who protect and care,
these all are loved by everyone. But there are also those who are not
loved by everyone for these are those who are called to do the
threshing.

Jeremiah cried many a times with the Lord for most of the things which
the Lord told him to do were things that the people hated. He must
have thought of been a nice person speaking kind things and thus being
acceptable to people and thereafter bringing some change of heart in
them, but the Lord did not desire that of him. The Lord knows the
hearts of people and knows the results of the work that can be
achieved from each person.

Jeremiah's mind desired to be good to the people but his nature, his
inner-man was burning with fire of passion for the Lord and that could
not allow him to turn away from what the Lord desired of him.

We should remove and cast away the stones that create obstacles to the
growth of the people of the Lord but do not hate the stone that is
used by the Lord as a threshing stone. Remember without the threshing
stone the whole crop becomes a waste for the beasts of the land or the
birds of the air. So prayer for those who are called to be a threshing
stone, for they are people of sorrow who may smile outwardly but
inside daily cry with the Lord like Jeremiah did or battle with the
Lord like Jonah did. Jesus, Himself became the greatest stumbling
block for all mankind, He separates God people from the people of
vanity.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, there are few among us who are called to be threshing stone they
are people of sorrow. They are hated by many and very few understand
or love them. They are looked like critics and agents of the enemy but
become stumbling blocks for those who walk in the flesh. We ask You
Lord to blessed them and do the delicate job they are called for, that
they do not walk according their understanding but according your
Spirit...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Jeremiah 20:9 - If I say, "I will not mention him,
or speak any more in his name,"
there is in my heart as it were a burning fire
shut up in my bones,
and I am weary with holding it in,
and I cannot.

Lamentations 1:13 - "From on high he sent fire;
into my bones he made it descend;
he spread a net for my feet;
he turned me back;
he has left me stunned,
faint all the day long.

Isaiah 41:15 - Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing
instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat
them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff.

Isaiah 28:26-29
26 For his God doth instruct him to discretion, and doth teach him.
27 For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument,
neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches
are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod.
28 Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it,
nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his
horsemen.
29 This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful
in counsel, and excellent in working.

Luke 2: 34 - And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother,
Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in
Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;

Matthew 10:34-36
34 Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to
send peace, but a sword.
35 For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her
mother in law.
36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.

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The brass vessels of the Sanctuary

Acts 5:6 - And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out,
and buried him

We read in today's message about a group of young men who were there
when Ananias and his wife Sapphira died due to their disobedience in
their givings and then lying to the Holy Spirit. The recordings of the
incident in the book of Acts does not state that these youth were
instructed by the Apostles or anyone to wound up, carry out and bury
the bodies of Ananias or Sapphira. They knew what was required and
immediately moved in to do the job. The scriptures state that all the
people present there were shocked at the speed at which judgment was
executed and so were the young men among those them but they did not
remain in that state of shock, they knew what was required of them and
immediately acted.

In the Bible there are many who did small or big jobs for the Kingdom
of God and whose names are not highlighted in bold or even noted but
these people have played important roles in history recorded in the
Bible.

In the Church there are many who will not stand on pulpits or have
callings in their lives (should not be mistaken with mission for all
have a mission as Christians), yet they play very important roles in
the Body of Christ. Sometimes they are like the cement between the
bricks of a wall.

In the Tabernacle there were 2 types of vessels which were considered
as holy vessels by the Lord and they were 2 kinds of metals some were
of gold and some of brass. Even though they were made of different
metals yet the Lord considered them both equally important to Him.
They both were put together, not that the gold vessels were given a
separate higher place and the brass a lower place, they had their own
respective place and purpose. God loved the brass vessels as much as
He loved the gold vessels.

The gold vessels symbolizes people who have a spiritual calling as
part of the Body of Christ and the brass vessels symbolizes those who
are called to serve the Body of Christ but do not have a spiritual
calling.

In our Churches today we find the gold vessels are put on pedestals
and the brass vessels are not bothered for. They are sometimes used
like door mats by those who have a spiritual calling.

There is a young preacher whom we love to invite to the events we
organize in various places. He comes all the way from Bangalore to
Mumbai or the remote places in Maharashtra. It is not that Mumbai
lacks preachers but there is some different about him that makes us
love and prefer him. Other people around also notice this something
about him and do not fail to say he is different. They see he sits
with us, eats with us and fellowships with us unlike other preachers
who prefer to have privacy all the time. They want a better room and
food than all the others. They only meet and fellowship with the top
or important people. Their smiles and love is as real as actors in
movies.

In today's message the Lord is telling us we need to realize the
importance of the brass vessels. We need to understand the Lord loves
them as much as He loves the gold vessels and they too are anointed
for a purpose in the Body of Christ. They may not be Apostles,
Prophets, Teachers, Evangelists, Pastors (Administrators) or Healers
but yet they as important as anyone of those stated. They play a very
important role in the Body of Christ and should be given equal respect
for they too are the anointed of God.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, there are many in the Body of Christ who do great work from the
Kingdom of God and are faceless to the people. We know their rewards
will be great for they do not advertise the works of their hands.
Lord, we pray for all these people that they be encouraged and be
blessed to continue the work You have given them. May your Spirit
increase in them abundantly. We also pray that they be given due
respect, even if they are doing small jobs for they too are your
anointed vessels...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Exodus 27:1-4
1 And thou shalt make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and
five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height
thereof shall be three cubits.
2 And thou shalt make the horns of it upon the four corners thereof:
his horns shall be of the same: and thou shalt overlay it with brass.
3 And thou shalt make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels,
and his basons, and his fleshhooks, and his firepans: all the vessels
thereof thou shalt make of brass.
4 And thou shalt make for it a grate of network of brass; and upon
the net shalt thou make four brasen rings in the four corners thereof.

Exodus 27:19 All the vessels of the tabernacle in all the service
thereof, and all the pins thereof, and all the pins of the court,
shall be of brass.

Exodus 38:3 And he made all the vessels of the altar, the pots, and
the shovels, and the basons, and the fleshhooks, and the firepans: all
the vessels thereof made he of brass.

Exodus 39:32-43
32 Thus was all the work of the tabernacle of the tent of the
congregation finished: and the children of Israel did according to all
that the LORD commanded Moses, so did they.
33 And they brought the tabernacle unto Moses, the tent, and all his
furniture, his taches, his boards, his bars, and his pillars, and his
sockets,
34 And the covering of rams' skins dyed red, and the covering of
badgers' skins, and the vail of the covering,
35 The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat,
36 The table, and all the vessels thereof, and the shewbread,
37 The pure candlestick, with the lamps thereof, even with the lamps
to be set in order, and all the vessels thereof, and the oil for
light,
38 And the golden altar, and the anointing oil, and the sweet
incense, and the hanging for the tabernacle door,
39 The brasen altar, and his grate of brass, his staves, and all his
vessels, the laver and his foot,
40 The hangings of the court, his pillars, and his sockets, and the
hanging for the court gate, his cords, and his pins, and all the
vessels of the service of the tabernacle, for the tent of the
congregation,
41 The cloths of service to do service in the holy place, and the
holy garments for Aaron the priest, and his sons' garments, to
minister in the priest's office.
42 According to all that the LORD commanded Moses, so the children of
Israel made all the work.
43 And Moses did look upon all the work, and, behold, they had done
it as the LORD had commanded, even so had they done it: and Moses
blessed them.

Exodus 40:9 And thou shalt take the anointing oil, and anoint the
tabernacle, and all that is therein, and shalt hallow it, and all the
vessels thereof: and it shall be holy.


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They sell their righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes

Amos 2:6 - Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel,
and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because
they sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;

There are many people who are very particular about keeping their
principles even if it calls to hurt another person but when money or
property or riches of the world come between them and their principles
then they give their principles a holiday.

In today's message the Lord is telling us of the things that He hates
about His people, their love for the riches of the world which is so
much so that they twist principles or take the side path in their
righteous walk.

In the Old Testament the Lord did give a few tips on how a person can
live a righteous life but throughout the Bible there is no complete
set of instructions what one should do or not do in their personal
life. The only option to all of us is to have a relationship with the
Holy Spirit Who will guide them to all things including what to do or
not to do. The Law of God now does not limit to those few commandments
given in the Bible but what the Spirit of God instructs us (this will
never go against those given in the Bible for God never changes or
goes against His own Word).

Silver, like I put in my previous messages symbolizes worldly riches
and gold symbolizes Spiritual riches. Without going deep into the
first part of today's message which can only be understood through
Bible Numerics and Image study, the Lord speaks of those
transgressions which man does against Him which they think is worldly.
The sin of compromising one's righteous way of life for the riches of
the world is a transgression against the Lord and not a worldly sin.

Another important aspect the Lord opens our eyes to, is the sin
against the poor. The Lord is a merciful God and He shows mercy to the
poor and we who are called to be His people are also required to
imitate Him. Thus we who claim to be His people need to show mercy to
the poor by supporting them in their needs.

What the Lord hates about His people is the way they make a show about
helping the poor or being merciful while they are honestly far from
it. There is a big difference between a poor man giving a 100 and a
rich man giving a 100 to the poor. When we give we are always required
to give according to the measured we have and not according to what
the world thinks. If we are blessed more and we give a 100 the world
may admire us for having a good heart but not the Lord.

There are people who put a 100 for charity and will spend a larger
amount advertising the 100 they gave. These people cover up their
sinful life with a false godliness and these are the people the Lord
states as those who sell the poor for a pair of shoes.

We as Christians are called to give according to what the Lord has
blessed us, not according to the world's measure. Let us also not
fornicate after the lust of our carnal hearts and compromise with
living a true Christian life.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, the world does not know You therefore You came as man Jesus
Christ so that man can know You. Today we who call ourselves Christian
- followers of Christ are supposed to represent You to this world and
we have been doing a pretty bad job of it. Lord we pray as You are
blessing us more and more, guard our hearts that we not forget the
hand that feeds us and go the worldly way of vanity. That we walk
according to your Spirit and overcome our carnal flesh...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Amos 2:6
6 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Israel, and for
four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because they sold
the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;
7 That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and
turn aside the way of the meek: and a man and his father will go in
unto the same maid, to profane my holy name:
8 And they lay themselves down upon clothes laid to pledge by every
altar, and they drink the wine of the condemned in the house of their
god.

Mark 12:41-44
41 And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people
cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
42 And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites,
which make a farthing.
43 And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily
I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they
which have cast into the treasury:
44 For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want
did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

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