R.D SOUZA Saved by faith

Believer and Disciple
Proverbs 19:8 - He that getteth wisdom loveth his own soul: he that 
keepeth understanding shall find good.

If we look at today's scripture it seems to contradict itself. When a 
person has wisdom then understanding is something the person 
automatically has for any person not using his wisdom (to gain 
understanding) automatically loses it. There is no wise-man who does not 
use wisdom.

When we check the Hebrew words of this scripture it gives all together 
another text than what we read.

Proverbs 19:8 He that getteth <07069> [qanah - purchase / acquire from 
God] (8802) wisdom <03820> [labe - which refers to inner-man / heart] 
loveth <0157> (8802) his own soul <05315> [nephesh - refers to life of 
the soul]: he that keepeth <08104> [shamar - guard] (8802) understanding 
<08394> shall find <04672> (8800) good <02896> [towb - goodness].

So if we put the scripture in its right perspective it stands as follow:-

Proverbs 19:8 - He that acquireth heart (his inner-man) loveth his own 
soul (life): he that gaurdeth understanding shall find goodness.

This scripture in very simple words highlights the difference between a 
Believer and a Disciple. A Believer believes in Christ and works for his 
own salvation that comes from God. Being saved from Hell comes by just 
believing in the Christ the Saviour, but for entry to Heaven one need to 
work on one's inner-man with the help of the Holy-Spirit, meaning being 
Born Again. Scriptures state no doubt a Believer who works for his 
salvation will be saved but then it says only one who understand the 
purpose of Christ and follows it, becoming a Disciple will not only have 
his own salvation but will receive great things in Heaven. These great 
things Paul, James and Peter call as a crown (royal position).

Every Christian just wants to go to Heaven, receive eternal life and be 
with God forever but they do not realize Heaven is not a flat plateau, 
it is described as a mountain meaning its center is at the topmost level 
and the sides slope downwards. God is everywhere but the Throne of God 
meaning the place where the glory of God is most is the place to be. It 
is the place where the Cherubs (Living Beasts) and the topmost beings in 
Heaven are seated.

Let us just not pursue just our own life, but let us pursue the fullness 
of life in the Lord by pursuing the understanding of Christ and His 
Kingdom and being His Disciples. Let us not be called just Believers but 
Disciples of Christ.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, many live for their own lives that is why many souls are lost, but 
those who live for the sake of others live not only to gain their own 
lives but also gain to receive the fullness of life for eternity. Lord, 
we pray that the hearts of your people change and they receive the 
understanding of your purpose and of your Kingdom so that they receive 
the crowns set for them in Heaven...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

2 Timothy 4:8 - Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at 
that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his 
appearing [brightness] .

James 1:12 - Blessed is the man that endureth temptation [test]: for 
when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord 
hath promised to them that love him.

1 Peter 5:1-4

1The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a 
witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory 
that shall be revealed:

2Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, 
not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

3Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the 
flock.

4And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of 
glory that fadeth not away.

Revelation 2:10 - Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: 
behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be 
tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto 
death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Remember, Remember

Ezekiel 16:43 - Because thou hast not remembered the days of thy youth, 
but hast fretted me in all these things; behold, therefore I also will 
recompense thy way upon thine head, saith the Lord GOD: and thou shalt 
not commit this lewdness above all thine abominations.

Lately I attended a leadership training organized by our Church. The 
preacher (who had come from abroad) of this training was teaching on the 
topic 'change&# 39; and gave some excellent examples as he was teaching but 
due to his lack of study of scriptures his message went against 
scriptures and the topic. I do not blame him for he depended on 
translation and anchored on one scripture which is Isaiah 43:18. If one 
reads the scripture as per the translation it reads as God instructing 
not to remember the former things or consider the things of old. His 
message was every pleasing and nice. All Christians love to hear such 
messages and he delivered them just what their ears twitched to hear.

He was a senior Pastor and headed a large group of churches with 
presence all over the world and it was sad to hear this from him. If he 
was only taught how to study the Bible the right way he would not have 
made such grave mistakes (this was one of the 2 serious mistakes he made 
in his one session and being a senior Pastor he has no excuse).

Isaiah 43:18 - Remember <02142> (8799) ye not the former things <07223> , 
neither consider <0995> (8709) the things of old <06931> .

If one goes through the Hebrew text the word translated as 'neither 
consider' actually means 'discern&# 39; and the word 'former things' is just 
'former&# 39;. Thus the right understanding of the scripture is as follow:-

Isaiah 43:18 - Remember not the former, discern the things of old.

In the scripture God is instructing not to remember what we were before 
the former us but at the same time we should not forget the things of 
the pass. This means we should not remember the bad person we were, or 
the evil we did, or the foolish mistakes we did but God tells us to 
remember the wonders He did in our lives, the things that changed us and 
took us on the path to know God and His mission for us. These things are 
the testimonies which were kept in the Ark of Covenant, like the pot of 
Manna was a testimony of how God fed them in the wilderness every day 
for 40years. It was for the reason for them to remember the wonders God 
did in their lives that the Lord told them to celebrate festivals. This 
was not just for them but also for them to tell their children and 
others put in their lives.

We need to realize this remembering is very important and God did not 
tell us because He wants credit and praise for it. No doubt He is due 
all praise for every good in our lives, for all things are only because 
of His mercy; but the main reason is so that we do not turn back to the 
way we were before. Remembering certain things like our testimony of the 
day God changed or delivered us from our bondages is always good for 
they keep us from backsliding, at the same time God warns us not to 
bring back to mind the carnal person we were and thus reignite the 
desires of the flesh, of such things God instructs us to put to death.

In today's message the word used as 'youth&# 39; does not refer to young age 
but means early life, it refers to early stages of our spiritual life. 
In today's message again the Lord warns, it is because we do not 
remember regularly the things that the Lord did in our early walk with 
the Lord we make grave mistakes and thus bring God to anger. Thus it is 
a very good practice at least once a week to share one of our 
testimonies with someone and if we do not get anyone to share it with, 
let us bring it to our minds by ourselves and giving glory to God, thus 
strengthening our walk in the Lord.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You are a wonderful God. Even before we could turn to You, You had 
made a way for us by your sacrifice. You knew of all the sins we had and 
will commit and yet You chose us to be your inheritors. You did and are 
doing great and wonderful things in our lives. Lord we pray we bring to 
minds these things every day and thus not backslide and thus come into 
your wrath...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Isaiah 43:18-19

18Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old.

19Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not 
know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.

Exodus 25:21-22

21And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark 
thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

22And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from 
above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the 
ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in 
commandment unto the children of Israel.

Psalms 25:7 - Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: 
according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness' sake, O LORD.
*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Significance of the ring

Luke 15:22 - But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best
robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

There are many things in the Bible which the world has made a different
meaning for and people follow what the world says thus are deprived from
the real understanding of scriptures, today’s message is one such case.

We read one of the things the father did for the lost son on his return is
put a ring to his finger.

The world tells us the finger ring is a symbol of love because it is round
without end, some others have another theory related to the finger it is
put on which also symbolizes it as love (something to do with the heart).

If we look at the Bible the first mention of a ring in with Joseph the son
of Jacob in the land of Egypt. We see when Joseph is made a Prime (Chief)
Minister of the kingdom, Pharaoh took off the ring of his own finger and
puts it on Joseph along with the other things he did as putting a robe of
fine linen and a gold chain on his neck; all these were symbolic. Pharaoh
did not put the robe on Joseph because Joseph was not wearing anything, nor
put it because it was looking netter and had designs or embroidery on it.
The scripture describes the robe by only the material it is made of and
that is stated as fine linen which was symbolic to royalty and was also
used in the priest’s vest. It is a very important symbol in the Bible such
as to perfectly complete the sacrifice of Jesus, God had a young (mad)
person to appear out of nowhere in the Garden of Gethsemane and then flee
naked leaving his linen robe behind.

Even in the book of Esther we see the ring symbolizing authority. In the
parable of the prodigal son the father puts the ring on his son symbolizing
restoring sonship. The son had left the father taking his part of the
inheritance and thus lost relationship with the father. Thus we see the
first thing the father did on seeing his son come back was to restore the
relationship by putting the ring on his son’s finger, thus gave the son
authority in the family.

In marriage exchange of rings are very important, but truly marriage is not
connected with it. Bible states marriage happens when a man and a woman
come together (have relationship) with the intension to start a family.
Thus same sex marriage is not a marriage; also live-in relationships are
not considered marriage when they do not want to start a family. If those
in live-in relationship have a child then they are already considered
married. Marriage is less to do with the couple and more to do with the
family. That is why it is related to a Church where importance is given to
the souls we bring in the Church even though Christ is the Head of it. The
rings in marriage are symbolic gestures from the family of the opposite
sides to the couple; they symbolize the acceptance of the new person into
the family as son/daughter.

The Lord is telling us through the parable; before man sinned he was called
son of God for the image of God was in him. Due to the lust of the flesh
man ate of the fruit of doubt and thus corrupted the image in him and lost
sonship. The God (The Son who was within God and was declared by the
Father) humbled Himself and came as man Jesus and dwelled amongst us but
yet kept the image uncorrupted in Him He overcame corruption that is why He
is called Son of God. He made a way for us to return to the Father by His
Spirit. The Father is telling us when we come back we will retain the same
sonship we had before we sinned, we will again have the same authority as
we had before we sinned, and we will walk with God in the Heaven like we
did before we sinned.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, when You made us we were made in the flesh but yet were called Sons
of God like the Angels. We lost the honor due to the lust of our flesh, but
You did not give up on us. The book of Revelations has the Angels calling
fellow servants and brethren for we will again be restored in relationship
with You and those in Heaven. Lord, in the parable none went to search for
the lost son but in reality You did. You did not just wait for us the
prodigal sons to return but came yourself for us to restore us to You, we
thank You Lord for your love...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Genesis 41:42-43

42 And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s
hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about
his neck;

43 And he made him to ride in the second chariot which he had; and they
cried before him, Bow the knee: and he made him ruler over all the land of
Egypt.

Mark 14:51-52

51 And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast
about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him:

52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.

Esther 3:10 - And the king took his ring from his hand, and gave it unto
Haman the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, the Jews’ enemy.

John 1:12-13

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.

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

Revelation 22:9 - Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy
fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the
sayings of this book: worship God.

*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Unbelieving people

Mark 9:19,20 - He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how
long shall I be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.
And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit
tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

In today’s message we read the disciples of Jesus could not deliver a boy
tormented by a spirit. This boy used to be normal most of the time but
would suddenly roll on the floor and foam in the mouth.

When we read this in the Bible we know for sure that such symptoms are
connected to evil. We read the disciples tried to free the boy from the
tormenting of this evil spirit but due to their lack of faith they could
not, then Jesus had to intervene and after confirming with the father of
the boy He rebukes the foul / evil spirit and frees the boy from it. We see
the Bible mentions here the kind of spirit unlike in other cases, it states
it as a deaf and dumb spirit. Nowhere in the Bible is the boy stated as
being deaf and dumb but only as being tormented by the spirit.

Like anointing (of the Holy Spirit) can be transferred from person to
another person by laying of hands (not by just by touch but by acceptance),
or by believing, or by being influenced by a person so also evil can also
be transferred.

Now coming to main point:-

If we read Islamic religious books which are considered importance for they
are written by the early Islamic scholars, we read Mohammad used to have
the same symptoms; he used to roll on the floor, foam in the mouth and get
knocked out. He would claim Allah spoke to him and inspired him some Surah
(verses) when he would show such symptoms.

What we as Christians need to realize that although there were many
Christians in the close circle of Mohammad (his sister in law was a Nun)
yet due to lack of faith none of them could deal with the spirit that was
in affecting Mohammad. Today we have hundreds of people dying daily because
of this deaf and dumb spirit that has spread to all those who believe in
him and follow him. They are not just killing others but even killing those
among themselves for they are spiritually deaf and spiritual dumb.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, when Adam and even ate of the Tree of doubt they lost the image of
God in them and got corrupted. Today also we suffer due this fruit of
doubt, it does not let us grow in faith and today many are dying due to
their lack of faith. Lord, we pray for a deliverance from the deaf and dumb
spirit. Build us in faith that we may take authority and rebuke this spirit
from those who are led by it and thus save lives...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Mark 9:17-27

17 And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto
thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit;

18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him: and he foameth, and
gnasheth with his teeth, and pineth away: and I spake to thy disciples that
they should cast him out; and they could not.

19 He answereth him, and saith, O faithless generation, how long shall I
be with you? how long shall I suffer you? bring him unto me.

20 And they brought him unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the
spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.

21 And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him?
And he said, Of a child.

22 And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to
destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and
help us.

23 Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to
him that believeth.

24 And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears,
Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.

25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the
foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee,
come out of him, and enter no more into him.

26 And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he
was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.

27 But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.

Spells were cast on muhammad before he became a "prophet" ; he often showed
possession signs (shaking, fainting, was closing his eyes and foamed at the
mouth, fell asleep suddenly, etc) [Ibn Ishaq, Al Halabeyah, vol1, pag 407]

Khadija was the one who told a terrorized and shaking in fear muhammad
that the jinn that violently attacked him in the Hirra cave (Sahih Bukhari
1:1:3; Sahih Muslim 1:301) is actually "the angel Gabriel" (Sahih
Al-Bukhari Hadith - 9:87:111 ).

The christian monk that Khadija took muhammad after the initial possession
in the cave of Hirra says that "the angel Gabriel" is a demon who immitates
angels in order to corrupt people [ Ibn Kathir, The life of the prophet
muhammad (Al-Sira al-Nabawiyya) , Vol I]

Satan put words in the mouth of muhammad [Ibn Ishaq, Biography of the
prophet, page 165-166] in the time when he needed to attract followers, but
when muslims became numerous there was no more need for the teachings of
satan and they were replaced [Al-Tabari, History of Al-Tabari, vol6, p.
111; Ibn Ishaq p. 165-166 versus Quran 53:19-23 (satanic verses)]

Muhammad is afraid he is possessed after a demonic experience in which he
is thrown to the ground by two white demons[Ibn Ishaq, Life of muhammad,
page 36]

When receiving "revelations&q uot; muhammad was sweating heavily, turned red,
was breathing heavily [Bukhari, 1,1,2; Bukhari 6,61,508]

People in Mecca thought muhammad was mad [Sura 44:14, 37:36] and he felt
the need to deny that he is possessed by demons [sura 81:22-25].

*-*-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*

SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Which God do you worship?

Luke 12:34 - For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

The word ‘God’ is a word that is coined like the word ‘Church’ and both
these do not exist in the Bible. The Greek word translated as Church refers
to a congregation, but not just any congregation but specifies it people
gathered for spiritual purposes. Thus even though the word is not Biblical,
using the word ‘Church’ does not cause any issue (as far as my knowledge
goes). But about using the word ‘God’ we need to understand more.

Bible words used for the Creator are usually Lord or Divine One etc., what
is interesting is the word ‘God’ was coined later and coincidently is
similar (phonically) to a pagan deity (Hebrew Gawd / Gad) who was provider
and keeper of the fortune of this world and is mentioned in the Bible
(Isaiah 65:11).

Like in today’s message we read of 2 types of treasures, one which is of
this world and the other that is of Heaven. The treasures of this world can
be seen and even held in the hand but the treasures of the Heaven are not
visible to everyone, only those who are spiritually mature will be able to
see them.

What the Bible mentions as treasures of this world do not only mean money,
gold, silver, precious gems but means everything of this world that is
precious. It would also include things like fame, social status /
relationships, career, social power, physical/external beauty, clothes,
electronic gadgets, automobiles, house and even earthly family
relationships among other things.

When the Bible uses the word Heavenly treasures, it refers to things like
revelations that come from God, Fruits of the Holy Spirit and gifts of the
Holy Spirit among others.

We all have a spiritual pocket in our inner man wherein we store our
treasures; when we put earthly treasures, as soon as we put them in they
increase in volume and weight. Thus as we put more and more of the worldly
riches they spiritually puff us and burden us and cause us to come to a
point that they drag us spiritually and cause us not to enter the narrow
gates of Heaven. But in case of Heavenly treasures, even though we put them
in our spiritual pocket here they actually get deposited in Heaven in our
account there, thus as we fill our spiritual pockets they show we have
nothing.

An interesting fact is as we get any Heavenly treasure, each leads us to
places where more Heavenly treasure is available. Thus those who are rich
in Spirit are meek in Spirit, because even though they have a lot yet they
know how much they lack. Another fact people are ignorant of is the riches
that we store in Heaven are not like insurances or fixed bank deposits
which cannot be touched or use unless it matures (unless we go to Heaven).
Understand the riches we deposit in Heaven can be of use for us here on
earth, in our lifetime, but have its principles of usage.

When we use the word ‘God’ do we mean the pagan god of this world or do we
mean the God of the Heavens. If our God is the God of the Heavens then why
are we hoarding the fortunes of this world and are penniless in the
fortunes of the Heavens?

Today’s message asks a question to us which we alone can answer for
ourselves - who is our God?

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You who dwell in the High places of the Heavens alone are our God.
Lord, your riches are unlimited and eternal. Help us Lord to realize the
rich of this world is temporary and many a times cause of our destruction.
Lord we pray we pursue the riches of your Kingdom and gather of this world
only that what we need and what we desire...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Isaiah 65:11 - But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy
mountain, that prepare a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink
offering unto that number.

The Hebrew words translated here as ‘that troop’ is the word Gawd - a pagan
deity – god of fortune. Therefore the scripture should be :-

Isaiah 65:11 - But ye are they that forsake the LORD, that forget my holy
mountain, that prepare a table for Gawd, and that furnish the drink
offering unto that number.

Matthew 6:24 - No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the
one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the
other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

The coming of the Ransomed to Zion

Isaiah 35:10 - And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to
Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain
joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.

Isaiah 35 talks of the second coming of Christ and this chapter is like
Songs of Solomon written with lots of symbolization. This chapter gives
a good idea of how things would be when this world will cease to exist
with the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the verse before Isaiah states leaving for the redeemed, none will
walk. This means even though the unredeemed will exist at that time they
will be serving their death. Bible says all those who are not redeemed
by the Lord will be put in the Lake of Fire on Judgment Day, the Lake
described also as Lake of Sulphur would be worse than Hell. The
suffering between them is like a teacher beating with a ruler and spy
being tortured by the military. The people in Hell suffer their sins
(never dying worms / fire within) and those in the Lake of Fire suffer
for rejecting the Word of God even after knowing the Lord.

One of the main reasons people do not take God seriously is because they
are ignorant of what lies behind the curtain of their natural death.

Here the term 'Zion' is not referred to a place but to the people. If we
see when David became King he called Jerusalem as Zion which means
fortified city even though there were no walls around the city. It was
Solomon who built walls around Jerusalem. Also if we read the Jebusites
(meaning of the threshing stone - symbolizing Satan and the fallen
Angels), the lame and blind were not allowed in the city and were slain.
Similarly those among humans (Believers) who do not know the Truth and
those unwilling to walk in the way of the Lord would not enter Heaven.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, this world may seem wonderful to many but the world awaiting us is
beyond imagination. Lord, it is beyond the imagination of man or
impossible to come in his heart the things You have set for is in
Heaven. Lord, we thank You for finding us worthy to dwell in your
presence in the glorious place called Heaven...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Revelation 20:7-15

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

8And 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.

10And 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.

11And 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.

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

13And 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.

14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second
death.

15And whoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into
the lake of fire.

Revelation 21:7-8

7He that overcomes shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and
he shall be my son.

8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers,
and fornicators, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have
their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone: which is the
second death.

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

2 Samuel 5:6-8

6And the king and his men went to Jerusalem to the Jebusites, the
inhabitants of the land: which spoke to David, saying, Except you take
away the blind and the lame, you shall not come in here: thinking, David
cannot come in here.

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

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

-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Haters of God
Romans 1:28-32

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God
gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not
convenient;

29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness,
covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit,
malignity; whisperers,

30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of
evil things, disobedient to parents,

31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection,
implacable, unmerciful:

32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are
worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do
them.

Yesterday I was watching a Youtube video of Islam extremist preachers
talking of love in Islam. These preachers (mostly young men) first spoke of
love but as they went on they emphasized whom Muslims should love. They
mocked the teachings of Jesus to love everyone including the enemy. One
also referred to the instruction of Jesus ‘if someone slapped you on the
left cheek, show them your right cheek’ and called it stupidity. They
explained Islam’s attitude towards love, they stated Islam instructs to
love only those who love Allah, his prophet Mohammad and his teachings and
to hate those who hate them. They were very clear their hate was not only
against the wrong the people did, but to hate the people along with the
wrong they did. This gives any explanation why we see so much violence
exist in Islamic countries or people who dedicatedly follow such teachings.
They hate the people of the world and even each other for they accuse
people within their folds for not following ‘the teachings’. At the end
what happens is pure vanity, they send each other quicker to the bottomless
pit - Hell.

Today’s message talks of people who hate the knowledge of God and these
people the Bible classifies as haters of God and this is a very important
fact for us to understand.

There are people who advice you not to go too deep into the Bible, or study
of scriptures, lease do not listen to them. If one loves God one will
desire to know God and if one desires to know God one has to study the Word
of God and walk with the Lord. The Bible is not a school syllabus which can
be mugged up. Leave alone God it does not take time for a person in the
Lord to identify such people. They soon or later fall terribly when the
ground under them shakes even a little.

No doubt the Gospel is simple yet the Word of God cannot be understood even
by the wise of this world. Gospel means the Good News or the hope that
comes through Jesus Christ and that does not require someone to have great
wisdom. But when we accept Christ and are baptized in Him we are given the
promise of the Holy Spirit. That does not mean we receive the full of the
Holy Spirit. Bible says only in Christ the Lord dwelled in fullness. We on
accepting the Gospel and being baptized receive a token of the Holy Spirit
and that too a token of the Spirit of Truth. It is the Spirit of Truth who
starts to reveal the Word of God to us. That is why things which we could
not understand start to become clearer and simple to us. As we grow in the
Spirit of Truth we grow in knowledge and understanding of the Word. That is
why to truly grow in the knowledge and understanding of God one cannot do
that studying the Bible like worldly books but needs to grow in Spirit.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, your Word was Manna to those who did not know You and is the Living
Bread for those who are baptized in You. Lord, You have said in your Word
those who eat your message will have eternal life and drink of your Spirit
(water) rivers of living water (understanding) shall flow from their
bellies. Lord, we pray You increase our hunger for your Word and a thirst
for your Spirit such that we may not hunger for the things of this world
and thirst for the understanding of this world...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

John 6:51 - I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man
eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give
is my flesh [in Hebrew the word comes from the root word ‘tiding’], which I
will give for the life of the world.

John 4:10-14

10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and
who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of
him, and he would have given thee living water.

11 The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the
well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?

12 Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and
drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?

13 Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water
shall thirst again:

14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never
thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water
springing up into everlasting life.

1 Corinthians 2:6-8

6 Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom
of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought:

7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom,
which God ordained before the world unto our glory:

8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it,
they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

John 16:12-13

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

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

The thorn of Paul

1 Corinthians 2:4 - And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing 
words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

Theologians since ages have not able to nail down as to what was the 
'thorn&# 39; Paul referred too which caused him great suffering and took him 
to a point of death. Some state it to be an ailment for which he had 
Luke (a doctor by profession) to accompany him. Others have their own 
theories. When I inquired about this with the Lord I was in for a big 
surprise. Had I not had be taught about Callings, I would have never 
accepted what the Lord revealed.

To understand this matter we need to have a bird's eye view of Paul's 
spiritual life through his letter putting them in the order he wrote or 
authored it.

Paul is admired for his great knowledge, his dedication to the Lord's 
work and his humbleness. Some of the other strong points of him are also 
for being a man of no nonsense, being fearless and a person of great 
self-respect. All this was in him yet he was not perfect and the Lord 
exposes one of his greatest weaknesses through his letters. The Lord did 
this not to put down Paul but to show Paul was Paul only because the 
Spirit of God worked in him and through him. Without the Holy Spirit 
Paul could have been the greatest villains of the NT. The most important 
letters that brings out the thorn of Paul is his letters to the Church 
in Corinth. We see a great transformation in Paul from his first letter 
to Corinth to his second letter and his last letters his letters to 
Timothy and Philemon. The book of Acts also comes as an important 
evidence to this transformation of Paul wherein he overcomes his thorn 
by God's grace.

Today's message is one of the important verses that highlight the thorn 
of Paul. Although Paul had great knowledge and understanding of 
scriptures yet he had a problem with delivering that knowledge and 
understanding unto the ordinary people. Paul could not hold on to their 
attention for a long period of time. People who were very interested to 
learn, Paul had no problem to hold on to their interest for long 
periods, but ordinary people would find Paul's preaching boring after a 
while and this we see happened in Acts. Acts records in one of Pauls 
long preaching a person dozes off while sitting on the window edge and 
falls and dies. Paul then miraculously brings his back to life, even 
though did this great miracle yet it states people were not happy.

We have preachers who make their preaching very exciting and interesting 
by the show they put on the stage. They shout, jump around, crack jokes, 
and do funny actions among other things, for they know the worldly ways 
of how to handle the masses, but at the end of it when one analyses 
their preaching, there was nothing much they taught the people. They 
mostly tell people what they knew in the first place, with very little 
new and these things are thing which do not cause them to be shaken or 
cause a great change to their life, things which the Bible states smooth 
things that are pleasing unto the ears. They are masters in serving 
yesterday' s food again and again by just warming it and still satisfying 
the people. Paul did none of these and was blunt at what he had to 
state, that is why most of the time part of the people accepted his 
teaching and changed while the other part landed becoming more hardened 
and worst. Paul did not make just believers but made many disciples unto 
the Lord.

The worst point for Paul was when he was compared to one of his own team 
mates and that too someone whom he was nurturing in the Lord considered 
as a spiritual son, and that was Timothy. Timothy was an Evangelist by 
Calling and thus carried power in his preaching and was able to handle 
large crowds of people even if they were hearing the Gospel for the 
first time, or people who knew the Lord but had not yet surrendered unto 
the Lord. This comparison by the people of Corinth upset Paul very much. 
They stated Paul's letters were strong but his speech week.

Even though Paul spoke humble words yet he had an area in which he 
needed to overcome and that is associating as a part of the Body of 
Christ. Even though we can do all things in Christ each one is given an 
ability to excel in some areas according to our Callings which others 
cannot... i.e. a plane can fly as well as drive (run) on the road and 
even may beat many cars in speed on the tar road but a plane cannot 
sustain this speed for long or go long distance or far places being on 
the road or travel rough roads. A plane is made to fly; it is the 
creator of the plane who made it to fly and not an ability any plane can 
take pride in its self, for it is natural for it to do so. Same way a 
boat can navigate on water; that does not make a boat greater than a 
plane or a plane greater than a boat.

We all who are Called by the Lord have an ability in us given by the 
Lord, which we cannot take pride or claim any credit for. But surely if 
we do not use it or we misuse it, we surely are responsible and 
answerable for it and have to take the shame and consequences for it.

I have seen in my life the Lord pull up people whom He had a Calling for 
in their life but chose to use it for worldly uses, to glorify 
themselves or sustain their worldly needs.

Our Church today suffers for we do not give importance to Callings. It 
is like the planes are driving on the roads like cars, and also are the 
boats moving on the roads on carts all carrying people on them. People 
see they are moving somewhere, so are satisfied. They do not realize the 
boundaries they can cross or the heights they can reach if the people 
Called operate according their Callings in the Lord.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You have shown us in the flesh we are weak and only by your Spirit 
we can overcome. The Bible shows us even a great man like Paul struggled 
in his life, but by your Spirit he to overcame. He once said 'work for 
your salvation with fear and trembling' later this same man was very 
confident that he had finished his race and was sure not only of his 
salvation but to receive a high crown in Haven for he overcame his 
thorn. Lord, each one of us has at least one thorn in our lives which we 
need to overcome. Help us Lord to overcome those areas and be recipients 
not only of a place in Heaven but receive a High place in Heaven...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Acts 20:7-12

7 And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together 
to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; 
and continued his speech until midnight.

8And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were 
gathered together.

9And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being 
fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down 
with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.

10And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble 
not yourselves; for his life is in him.

11When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, 
and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.

12And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.

1 Corinthians 2:1-4

1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of 
speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.

2For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, 
and him crucified.

3And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.

4And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's 
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:

2 Corinthians 1:1 - Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, 
and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, 
with all the saints which are in all Achaia:

2 Corinthians 10:9-13

9That I may not seem as if I would terrify you by letters.

10For his letters, say they, are weighty and powerful; but his bodily 
presence is weak, and his speech contemptible.

11Let such an one think this, that, such as we are in word by letters 
when we are absent, such will we be also in deed when we are present.

12 For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves 
with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by 
themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.

13But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to 
the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to 
reach even unto you.

2 Corinthians 12:6-10

6For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will 
say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above 
that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me.

7And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the 
revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger 
of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

8For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength 
is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory 
in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

10Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in 
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when 
I am weak, then am I strong.

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,

2 Timothy 4:5 - But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the 
work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

2 Corinthians 7:15 - And his inward affection is more abundant toward 
you, whilst he remembereth the obedience of you all, how with fear and 
trembling ye received him.

Philippians 2:12 - Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not 
as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your 
own salvation with fear and trembling.

2 Timothy 4:8 - Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at 
that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his 
appearing.
*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

The day Mary doubted her Savior

Mark 3:32 - And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him,
Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.

We all look up to Mary and admire her for surrendering to the will of God.
Even though she was not married yet and marriage was just short time away
for her, she was told by the Angel of God that she would conceive a child
by the power of God. Initially she was hesitant and wondered how it would
be possible. But on hearing the testimony of her cousin Elizabeth, she
abided and was pregnant with a child. Her fiancé Joseph had to wait until
the child was born to get married unto Mary, because according to Jewish
tradition a marriage commenced only when the couple came together in
relationship.

We also admire for most of the time she left her other children and was
part of the troupe that followed Jesus. She along with her son James and a
few other women stood with Jesus when He was crucified even though the
closest disciples of Jesus forsook Him.

But in all this good of her, the Bible also shows her spiritual weakness as
a mother and as a person. One incident was at the marriage of her daughter
in Cana where she forced Jesus to convert water to wine even against His
wishes. Jesus showed His unwillingness to do it but on her insisting He
obliged, but this went against Jesus wish to do only things that glorify
God the Father and not Himself.

The worst among them was the incident recorded in today’s message. In this
incident she manages to get Jesus really upset. What really happened can be
understood by the flow of scriptures. We read in Verse 30 people started
accusing Jesus of having an evil spirit and this caused Mary, out of
concern to come running with one of her sons to check on Jesus. They were
very anxious to see Him and check He was okay therefore did not wait
patiently outside for Him to finish but chose to interrupt Him by sending a
word in to come out to meet them. On this Jesus got very upset and did not
step out immediately but in fact made a statement that His true brother,
sister and mother are those who do the will of His Father.

Today’s message is not to put down a great woman like Mary but to expose
that no man or woman in the Bible was worthy except for Jesus. It was only
by the grace of God that they were used for the glory of God.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You have time and again showed how weak man is. Even though your
grace was there upon them yet their weakness was visible. Lord, we know we
too can be history makers like them even thought we are weak like them for
your grace makes the difference.. .

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Luke 1:35-38

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come
upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore
also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God.

36 And behold, Elisabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in
her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren.

37 For no word from God shall be void of power.

38 And Mary said, Behold, the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me
according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.

John 2:1-11

1 And the third day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the
mother of Jesus was there:

2 And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage.

3 And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have
no wine.

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

5 His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.

6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the
purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece.

7 Jesus saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled
them up to the brim.

8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the
feast. And they bare it.

9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and
knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the
governor of the feast called the bridegroom,

10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good
wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast
kept the good wine until now.

11 This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested
forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him.

Mark 3:22-35

22 And the scribes which came down from Jerusalem said, He hath Beelzebub,
and by the prince of the devils casteth he out devils.

23 And he called them unto him, and said unto them in parables, How can
Satan cast out Satan?

24 And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

25 And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.

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

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

28 Verily I say unto you, All sins shall be forgiven unto the sons of men,
and blasphemies wherewith soever they shall blaspheme:

29 But he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost hath never
forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation:

30 Because they said, He hath an unclean spirit.

31 There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without,
sent unto him, calling him.

32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy
mother and thy brethren without seek for thee.

33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren?

34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold
my mother and my brethren!

35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my
sister, and mother.
- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Submission

Acts 21:5,6 - And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and 
went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and 
children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the 
shore, and prayed. And when we had taken our leave one of another, we 
took ship; and they returned home again.

I heard a Pastor time and again preaching of how Paul submitted to 
church authority but when we read the book of Acts along with the 
Epistles we do not read any such thing. Paul was spiritually built in 
the church of Antioch and the person who was instrument in building him 
was Barnabas but we see Paul had the same love to all the churches under 
him and there was a time when he overgrew the one who was his spiritual 
mentor and rebuked him when he made a grave mistake. The only things 
Paul submitted was to the Lord and to the mission the Lord had in his 
life (his Cross).

We as Christians are called to love all mankind but to love like Christ 
loved only our brethren and not all mankind. Christ humbled Himself and 
came for all mankind but died for the sins of only those who are His 
that is why only those who believe in Him are saved. Scriptures does not 
say all the sins of mankind are forgiven because of Christ's sacrifice, 
it says those who repent and come to Him, acknowledge as their Lord and 
Saviour, accepting His sacrifice as a payment for their sins, are forgiven.

Respect and submission are two different things. Respect is a subset of 
submission. We as Christians are called to submit only to God and His 
Word. On the other hand we are called to respect our parents, church 
leaders, elders and all those whom God has put to rule over / 
administrate over us.

In the Bible during the time of the early Church it was Peter (Simon), 
John and James (the brother of John) who were the core people who headed 
the Church, later we read Paul and Barnabas got included in this core 
group. This group of five were basically for administrative and 
theological co-ordinations. All the churches worked independently but 
yet they co-ordinated with each other, and this core group was 
instrument for this; that is why we see Paul moved around and so also 
did the others (for Acts records there was a time when Peter who usually 
was stationed in Jerusalem for he was commissioned by the Holy Spirit to 
minister to the Jewish Christians, was not there in Jerusalem).

Paul was a no nonsense person who was very stern in his ways. He never 
held back when it came to rebuke anybody, even his own core group 
members, but he did show a lot of patience at the same time.

In today's message we read Paul was on his third and last tour visiting 
the churches he was instrument in building. Many of the churches he 
visited tried to persuade Paul to not go to Jerusalem for they knew in 
spirit that Paul would be arrested there and that would lead to his 
death. But we see Paul did not oblige them but was very firm of doing 
the mission the Lord had put in his life. He respected the Christian 
church leaders as well as the Jewish church leaders and the worldly 
rulers but did not abide to their every word.

Submission is total surrender and respect is submitting after 
discerning. When we know it is God's Word we submit even though we may 
not have the full understanding of it, for Bible says it is after we 
submit we will have its understanding and thus know the Truth and then 
the Truth shall set us free. But when the people we respect speak we 
discern their words and see if they do not lead us away from God and 
does not harm any person in any way, then only we submit to them.

Let us learn from Paul to be bold, to whom we submit and whom we respect.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, the center scripture of your Word says (Ps 118:8) 'It is better to 
seek refuge in the LORD than to put trust in man'. Lord, we pray your 
people do not blindly follow man just because they claim to represent 
You. That they discern every word that comes from man and know if it is 
your Word or it is their flesh that speaks. Lord, we pray they learn 
whom to submit to and who to respect and when to say YES and when to say 
NO...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Psalms 118:8 - It is better to trust [seek refuge <02620> ] in the LORD 
than to put confidence [trust <0982> ] in man.

John 8:31-32

31Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue 
in my word, then are you my disciples indeed;

32And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Acts 4:5-33

Galatians 2:11 - But when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to 
the face, because he was to be blamed.

Acts 9:26-27

26And when Saul was come to Jerusalem, he assayed to join himself to the 
disciples: but they were all afraid of him, and believed not that he was 
a disciple.

27But Barnabas took him, and brought him to the apostles, and declared 
to them how he had seen the Lord in the way, and that he had spoken to 
him, and how he had preached boldly at Damascus in the name of Jesus.

Acts 11:22-26

22Then tidings of these things came to the ears of the church which was 
in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as 
Antioch.

23Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and 
exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would hold to the Lord.

24For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and 
much people was added to the Lord.

25Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul:

26And when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And it came to 
pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and 
taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in 
Antioch.

Acts 15:37-40

37And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark.

38But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from 
them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.

39And the contention was so sharp between them, that they departed 
asunder one from the other: and so Barnabas took Mark, and sailed to Cyprus;

40And Paul chose Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brothers 
to the grace of God.

Luke 18:20 - You know the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not 
kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor [revere] your 
father and your mother.

Ephesians 6:1-4

1Children, OBEY your PARENTS IN THE LORD: for this is right.

2Honor [revere] your father and mother; which is the first commandment 
with promise;

3That it may be well with you, and you may live long on the earth.

4And, you fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up 
in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Washing of hands

Matthew 15:1,2 - Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees, which were of
Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the
elders? for they wash not their hands when they eat bread.

When I was not having any understanding of scriptures on reading this there
was a thought in my mind, was Jesus and His disciples unhygienic people?
Did they did eat their food with dirty hands, not washing them? How could
this be a good example to children or even adults?

It was only some time back when a preacher was preaching on the topic of
special (expensive) vessels used by Jews for washing of hands I got a
thought to Google and find how they looked and I was in for a surprise.

Washing of hands for the Jews had nothing much to do with hygiene but was
to do with traditions. Only when one knows how they did their washing of
hands, then would one understand why Jesus rebuked them for the tradition.
We will understand this when we see this in another religion which copied
many things from Judaism, including this and that is Islam.

In Islam washing of hands (including other parts) is called Wudu. Wudu
ideally has 9 steps which are:-

1. Washing the hands up to the wrist.

2. Washing the mouth.

3. Cleaning the nose.

4. Washing the face.

5. Washing the hands up to the elbows.

6. Rubbing the head.

7. Cleaning the ears.

8. Washing the feet and the ankles.

9. Reading the DU’A at the end.

When one reads this one would say what is wrong with this? It seems a good
thing that promotes hygiene. But surprisingly this has little to do with
hygiene but more to do with their tradition and crazy beliefs. Every step
is to be followed in the same order. Washing of each part is done with
applying water a fixed number of times and when during each step a person
is required to recite some set words. Some things are done only with the
right hand and not the left hand. When doing a step like taking in water in
the nostrils 3 times it is done using the right hand and when discharging
it out, it is done with the help of the left hand. We also see when they
wash their right hand they are supposed to say ‘god give me the book in the
right hand’ and when washing the left hand they are supposed to say ‘god do
not give me the book in the left hand’ for they believe the left hand is to
do with evil while the right hand is to do with good. The most interesting
part is after performing Wudu they are considered themselves clean until
they ‘break it’, and this breaking happens when they go off to sleep, which
means sleep makes them unclean.

One may find this amusing but like I said Muhammad did not invent this but
like almost all things he copied from 3 main religions of his time, this
too was copied, and that too from Judaism.

The Jews too had and have some very crazy traditions connected to washing
and surprisingly this they justify this pointing to scriptures. Due to
their lack of understanding of scriptures they came up with weird
traditions which Jesus disliked.

The Jews have 3 types of washing one called ‘tevilah’ which was concerning
full body washing (water baptism/immersing ), the second was ‘netilat
yadayim’ which was washing of hands with a cup and ‘mayim acharonim’ which
was washing of the fingers. The Jews thought by washing one would be
spiritually clean and this cleansing lasted till evening or till one had a
long nap. The washing cups used by them were not ordinary cups. They had
special designs and were made as elaborate as possible and made with
precious metals mostly silver or even gold, and had beautiful carving or
designs on them. One would know the financial status of a household by just
looking at the cup used for washing.

In the scripture they refer to God had instructed Moses to build a brazen
vessel at the entrance of Tabernacle so that any person (priests) who
enters, they do so by washing their hands and feet. There was a very stern
warning with it, if they failed to do this they would die.

Think of it was God who is Spirit so concern with the hygiene of the
physical body? Why did God said only hands and feet and not the face or
other parts of the body? And the height of it, death for not being clean
that too by a God who is merciful to forgive even the worst sinner?

Jesus did not follow the traditions and understanding of the Jews. He
disliked their exaggerated external religious actions but internal
hardening of the soul. Jesus must have washed His hands in the normal way
but not the way the Jews did. We also see when the woman with the issue of
blood touched Jesus; He did not shout at her nor consider Himself unclean
and go to have a bath.

If one understands the scriptures in the books of Moses all things
concerning the Tabernacle or sacrifices were symbolic. Washing of hands and
washing of feet too were symbolic. Hands symbolized man’s works and feet
his way of life. Thus washing hands or feet symbolized asking for
forgiveness for one’s wrong doings and the unrighteous life one lived. If
we come to God without repentance and asking for forgiveness we will surely
die the real death (death of the spirit) on Judgment day.

Similarly man (woman) with an issue of blood had to do with the spirit man
and not with the physical man (woman). Any Man of God who has a spiritual
miscarriage or fails in delivering to the people of God due to one’s
mistake needs to take a cooling period (come out of ministering people) and
come back only when he or she is rejuvenated in the Lord.

[Prayer Starter]

Father God, You are Spirit and You see the thoughts and intensions of man
more than his actions. You hate traditions for they cause man to hide their
true nature behind them and cause man to harden himself more and more.
Lord, we pray we follow and worship You in Spirit and true understanding
and not in traditions.. .

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Exodus 30:17-21

17 And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,

18 Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, and his foot also of brass, to
wash withal: and thou shalt put it between the tabernacle of the
congregation and the altar, and thou shalt put water therein.

19 For Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and their feet thereat:

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

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

Leviticus 15:13-14 “‘Now in case the one having a running discharge would
become clean from his running discharge, he must then count for himself
seven days for his purification, and he must wash his garments and bathe
his flesh in running water; and he must be clean.14And on the eighth day he
should take for himself two turtledoves or two young pigeons, and he must
come before Jehovah to the entrance of the tent of meeting and give them to
the priest.

Mark 5:24-34

24 And Jesus went with him; and much people followed him, and thronged him.

25 And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

26 And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that
she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

27 When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his
garment.

28 For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

29 And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in
her body that she was healed of that plague.

30 And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of
him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

31 And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging
thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

32 And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

33 But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came
and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

34 And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in
peace, and be whole of thy plague.
-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Offerings

Numbers 28:9 - And on the sabbath day two lambs of the first [son] year 
[measure of time] without spot, and two tenth deals of flour for a meat 
offering, mingled with oil, and the drink offering thereof:

There are many Pastors who give a lot of importance to tithes and the 
'other&# 39; money that is given during service. When I inquired with one 
Pastor on this since he spoke a lot on it, he called it 'offering&# 39;.

Every Sunday during worship one would find a person announcing before 
collections to bring out the 'tithes and offerings' unto the Lord so as 
to be blessed in multiple by the Lord. When I checked up with the Bible 
the word offering was never related to money but always to some 
sacrifice which was symbolic like in today's message.

Christians are programmed to give money to the Church on the basses that 
they will receive in abundance, like they are buying a lottery. They 
think one day the Lord will sure call out their number and they will hit 
a jackpot. Their giving is only done with greed even though they say do 
it joyfully. The joy they give with is not the joy for building the 
Kingdom of God (His people) but with a joy with an eye for the jackpot 
they will receive because they bought a 'lottery&# 39;.

Jesus fulfilled all blood (righteous) sacrifices written in the book of 
Moses. Today's sacrifice which was called a burnt sacrifice too was 
fulfilled by Jesus. It speaks of two (first born) lambs without blemish 
to be made as a sacrifice unto the Lord. Even this was fulfilled. One 
may say Jesus was the Lamb of God without blemish so who was the other 
lamb so as to fulfil the scripture?

If we read the scriptures above one will note one lamb was made as an 
offering in the morning and the other in the evening. Jesus Christ on 
the cross was the lamb that was offered in the evening since Jesus died 
in the evening. One would then ask how Jesus could also be the other 
lamb offered in the morning.

If one reads the Bible, it says God the Son became a sacrifice from the 
beginning of creation for He humbled Himself in the beginning of 
creation and then at the said time came as man Jesus. As God the Son 
(being the Frist and Only of the Father) the Lord became a sacrifice in 
the beginning and then coming as man He again became a sacrifice. Before 
we could offer a sacrifice, God had Himself made a sacrifice, even 
though the sacrifice we made was itself made available by the Lord Himself.

A burnt offering was an offering symbolizing an offering of praise since 
the Hebrew word means something that goes up. So when we start out 
Sabbath (meaning our rest in the Lord) we start with the Lord and 
conclude with the Lord. It is only by God the Son (Lord Jesus Christ) 
and the Son of Man (Lord Jesus Christ) that we enter into our Sabbath 
and our Sabbath is made complete.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You are our provider and everything comes from You alone. Even the 
sacrifices You desired of man to be offered unto You was also made 
available by You alone. Lord, we have nothing to offer other than 
ourselves for everything else is provided by You. The only thing we can 
offer is what we make of ourselves for You. Lord, we pray You find our 
offering as a pleasing aroma giving glory unto You...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Numbers 28:3-4

3And thou shalt say unto them, This is the offering made by fire which 
ye shall offer unto the LORD; two lambs of the first year without spot 
day by day, for a continual burnt offering.

4The one lamb shalt thou offer in the morning, and the other lamb shalt 
thou offer at even;

1 Peter 1:20Who truly was foreordained before the foundation of the 
world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Revelation 13:8And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, whose 
names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the 
foundation of the world.

Hebrews 4:3For we which have believed do enter into rest, as he said, As 
I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest: although the 
works were finished from the foundation of the world.

* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Did Jonah die and resurrect?

Jonah 2:2 - And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the 
LORD, and he heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou 
heardest my voice.

When Jesus spoke about His death and resurrection He spoke to the Jewish 
Pharisees and Sadducees with the example of Jonah in Gospels of Matthew 
and Luke. During the time of Jesus (and even today) Jews thought Jonah 
had died and gone to hell and came back to life on the third day in the 
belly of the fish. Did Jesus agree with their understanding to have used 
Jonah as an example?

There are 2 reasons why people do not have right understanding on this 
matter. Firstly they do not read the scripture minutely and secondly 
they do not have the right understanding of human life, death, 
resurrection, Hell and Heaven.

If one reads the scriptures where Jesus refers to this event of Jonah, 
Jesus did so saying it would be as 'a sign', referring it to be symbolic 
and not literal. In Matthew Jesus refers to this event of Jonah (Jonas) 
twice and both the times He refers to it as 'a sign'. Secondly and most 
important is in both the times Jesus refers to it (also in Luke) as a 
sign that is unto the wicked / evil generation only. It is only when we 
understand what human life (earthly and spirit) is then alone would one 
understand why Jesus said it to be a sign unto the wicked. One should 
note Heaven and Hell do not abide by solar days (Earth's revolution 
around the Sun - earthly 24 hour days) yet Jesus resurrected on the 3rd 
day. Did He spend 3 earthly days in Hell? Take note Peter says He 
preached unto the souls from the time of Noah. What happened to the 
souls before Noah why were they not there or not preached to?

We read in the Gospels the souls from Hell heard His voice and came up 
almost instantly on His death cry. His cry at death caused not an 
earthquake only on earth, even Hell and Grave shook by His cry, if all 
this happened instantly then why Jesus wait on the 3rd day to resurrect.

His resurrection again was a sign and this sign is to do with the coming 
again of Jesus. By His resurrection on the 3rd day (before the 3rd day 
was over) Jesus confirmed before the 3 days (period of time - before 
3000 years) gets over He will come so as to save all those believing in 
Him. When we understand this we will understand, why Jesus said during 
His time that there were those present hearing Him who will not see 
death (2nd death) until His coming again.

Understand if one goes to Hell one cannot come out. Hell is a prison 
where a person having sin who has forsaken the Lord or whom the Lord 
forsake goes to. Jesus as man / son of man went there because He at time 
of death was forsaken by the Father since our sins covered Him and thus 
drank the cup of the Father's wrath. But He could not be kept there 
since no sin was in Him, thus He broke the curse of Hell. Now any one 
believing in Him is also free from the curse of Hell but that does not 
mean the person goes to Heaven.

Heaven also is not a place anyone can go with a corrupted body (corrupt 
/ incomplete spirit and soul). Jesus is the only man (son of man) to go 
to Heaven since He was perfect / complete. We all lost the Fruit of 
Truth and Righteousness when man sinned would go there only after we are 
judged, after the Fruit of Truth (which we get from the Holy Spirit) is 
found in us, and we receive the Fruit of Righteousness from the Son.

It was not possible for Jonah or any human to go to Hell and resurrect 
as Jesus did. We see in today's scripture Jonah did not die in the belly 
of the fish. The word showl /sheol translated as Hell also means a place 
of no return. Peter describes Hell as a prison that does not mean every 
prison is Hell. We see Jonah used the word hell as an adjective, for in 
the very next scripture Jonah acknowledges he was in the deep sea and 
deep waters surrounded him.

Jonah was in the belly of the fish for 3 full days and Jesus stated the 
sign of after 3 days was a sign of no hope of eternal life for the 
wicked since the coming again of Christ will not benefit them / be too 
late for them.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, through your Word You have assured us of eternal life and by you 
resurrection on the 3rd day You confirmed this to us. We are assured our 
faith and dedication in You will not go in vain, but will see its fruit 
in You. We thank You Lord for confirming our hope into faith and faith 
into authority...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scripture]

Jonah 2

1Then Jonah prayed unto the LORD his God out of the fish's belly,

2And said, I cried by reason of mine affliction unto the LORD, and he 
heard me; out of the belly of hell cried I, and thou heardest my voice.

3For thou hadst cast me into the deep, in the midst of the seas; and the 
floods compassed me about: all thy billows and thy waves passed over me.

4Then I said, I am cast out of thy sight; yet I will look again toward 
thy holy temple.

5The waters compassed me about, even to the soul: the depth closed me 
round about, the weeds were wrapped about my head.

6I went down to the bottoms of the mountains; the earth with her bars 
was about me for ever: yet hast thou brought up my life from corruption, 
O LORD my God.

7When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer 
came in unto thee, into thine holy temple.

8They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.

9But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will 
pay that that I have vowed. Salvation is of the LORD.

10And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the 
dry land.

Matthew 12:38-41

38Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, 
Master, we would see a sign from you.

39But he answered and said to them, An evil and adulterous generation 
seeks after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign 
of the prophet Jonas:

40For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so 
shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the 
earth.

41The men of Nineveh shall rise in judgment with this generation, and 
shall condemn it: because they repented at the preaching of Jonas; and, 
behold, a greater than Jonas is here.

Matthew 16:4 - A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; 
and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet 
Jonas. And he left them, and departed.

Luke 11:29-30

29And when the people were gathered thick together, he began to say, 
This is an evil generation: they seek a sign; and there shall no sign be 
given it, but the sign of Jonas the prophet.

30For as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man 
be to this generation.

Matthew 16:21 - From that time forth began Jesus to show to his 
disciples, how that he must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things of 
the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised 
again the third day.

Matthew 17:23 - And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be 
raised again.And they were exceeding sorry.

Matthew 20:19 - And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to 
whip, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

Matthew 27:64 - Command therefore that the sepulcher be made sure until 
the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and steal him away, and 
say to the people, He is risen from the dead: so the last error shall be 
worse than the first.

Acts 10:40 - Him God raised up the third day, and showed him openly;

Matthew 27:50-54

50Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

51And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in two from the top to 
the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

52And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept 
arose,

53And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the 
holy city, and appeared to many.

54Now 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.

Luke 9:27But I tell you of a truth, there be some standing here, which 
shall not taste of death, till they see the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 15:52In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last 
trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised 
incorruptible, and we shall be changed.

1 Peter 3:18-20

18For Christ also has 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:

19By which also he went and preached to the spirits in prison;

20Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God 
waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, 
that is, eight souls were saved by water.

-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Prophecy against top worldly preachers

Amos 1:13-15

13Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of the children of 
Ammon, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; 
because they have ripped up the women with child of Gilead, that they 
might enlarge their border:

14But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah, and it shall devour 
the palaces thereof, with shouting in the day of battle, with a tempest 
in the day of the whirlwind:

15And their king shall go into captivity, he and his princes together, 
saith the LORD.

Let me expound the message we receive for today with their Hebrew 
meaning, root words or symbolization so one understand the message more 
easily. (I have removed words added to the scripture by translators for 
readability) .

Amos 1:13-15

13Thus saith the LORD; For three [symbolizing set period] transgressions 
[rebellion] of the children of Ammon [tribal / nation], and for four 
[symbolizing the world], I will not turn away thereof; because they have 
ripped [divided] up the women with child [symbolizing spiritually 
expecting people] of Gilead [symbolizing people with unsure 
understanding] , that they might enlarge their border [ that is increase 
in wealth and fame]:

14But I will kindle a fire in the wall of Rabbah [among the great], and 
it shall devour [burn up] the palaces thereof, with shouting [signal] in 
the day of battle [war], with a tempest [whirlwind symbolizing God's 
anger] in the day of the whirlwind [God's wrath]:

15And their king [top ruler] shall go into captivity, he and his princes 
together, saith the LORD.

Thus the scripture expounds to:-

Thus saith the LORD; For a set period He bore the rebellion of the 
children of the nation, and of the world, I will not turn back thereof; 
because they have divided up the spiritually expecting people of people 
with unsure understanding, that they might increase in wealth and fame:

But I will kindle a fire among the great, and it shall burn up the 
palaces thereof, like a signal in the day of war, with a anger as in the 
day of the wrath:

And their top ruler shall go into captivity, he and his princes 
together, saith the LORD.

Today's message is against those top preachers that show themselves as 
dong God's work but are more working towards building their own wealth 
and fame. They are shamelessly devouring up people coming to the Lord, 
who are thirsting for the Lord, just to feed their greed.

Yesterday someone was talking of a pastor, who found his own son doing 
drugs. His wife started questions why this happened when they were doing 
the Lord's work. I have seen such happen in a worst way when I was still 
a Catholic, to a Catholic charismatic woman leader from Bangalore with a 
calling of a Prophetess but not rooted in the Word. People used to call 
her every day to ask her what word she had for them and this word she 
gave use to come true in their lives. This woman due to her lack of 
foundation, but great gifting was the cause of leading my elder sister 
to become a devote Mary worshipper. My sister too having a calling of a 
Prophetess was guided by her. Later when I came out of the Catholic 
Church and was learning about callings I inquired from the Lord about 
this woman and the Lord exposed her. This woman lost her daughter due to 
drugs overdose. She used to tell others about their future but did not 
know her own present.

In today's message the Lord is warning those who are not building His 
people but doing their own thing. He is going to come hard on them in 
ways they would not expect. Today's message says soon we will see one 
famous preacher and his disciples being decommissioned and I hope this 
happens in India for the state among the celebrity preachers is very bad 
here, in fact I was praying for this. India needs a shaking.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, as your Word says there are those whom You have anointed as Men of 
God and then there and those whom people anoint as Men of God and also 
those who anointed themselves as Men of God. People think gifting is 
what makes one a Man of God. Lord we pray those who are misleading your 
people due to their lack of understanding realize and repent and those 
who are misleading for their personal reasons be exposed and removed 
from the places they hold. Lord your people need true shepherds, your 
anointed ones to led them...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Matthew 19:12 - For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from 
their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs 
of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the 
kingdom of heaven's sake. He that is able to receive it, let him receive it.

Joel 1:2-15

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

11Be ye ashamed, O ye husbandmen; howl, O ye vinedressers, for the wheat 
and for the barley; because the harvest of the field is perished.

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

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

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

15Alas for the day! for the day of the LORD is at hand, and as a 
destruction from the Almighty shall it come.
-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Overcome this world

Luke 12:33,34 - Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves
bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not,
where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth. For where your
treasure is, there will your heart be also.

Being a Christian is the most difficult and almost impossible thing for
any human. If Churches really start preaching the uncut Word of God most
of the Churches will be empty and that is a guaranty.

If following Christ was as easy as what preachers put then Jesus who is
an ultimate icon as Preacher / Teacher / Healer / Prophet / Apostle /
Shepherd should have had a very large amount of followers. There is none
who preached like Him. There is none who taught like Him. There is none
who healed like Him. There is none who spoke the Word like Him. There is
none who abided in the Word like Him and there is none who led the sheep
of God like Him. Bible shows even though tens of thousands followed Him,
heard Him and were benefited from Him (fed, healed and bought to life)
yet only 120 stood with Him at the end. If preachers give the truth as
it is in the churches we would hardly have a few attendees; everyone
else leaving the church like the people then who left Jesus.

In Acts we see people later had the courage to truly follow Christ and
this happened only because they had received the Holy Spirit and were
baptized in the Holy Spirit. It was the Holy Spirit who gave them the
boldness to face every situation even unto death.

People think the greatest, courageous thing to do is dying for
witnessing Christ, they are wrong. It is no doubt difficult to die for
witnessing Christ but it is more difficult to live a Christian life
everyday fighting one's desires and the things of the world. It is like
dying every day to one's flesh and being resurrected every day to one's
spirit.

Jesus Christ did not say 'but be of good cheer; for I will die for you',
but said 'but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world'.

Today's message is one such Christian factor which Jesus told those who
had dedicated their life for the Kingdom of God. These people did
nothing what Jesus instructed them during His time, but after they
received the Holy Spirit and were baptized in the Holy Spirit, we read
of them abiding by the Word.

Today the Lord is telling us unless we do not abide by the Spirit we
cannot live a true Christian life. It is only by the power of the Holy
Spirit we can do what the Lord calls of us.

We see many preachers who claim to have dedicated their life for the
Kingdom of God, doing the opposite of what today's message tells us.
Their lifestyle is more luxurious than middle class citizens forget
living a sober life. Some dress like rock stars when they preach.

No doubt as shepherds they can rightfully claim a fee for the work they
are doing but they do not realize they lose the greater things of
Heaven. These people have encashed their cheque for smoke instead of the
precious gems of the Kingdom of God.

People think because we are a blessed people we rightly should be rich.
Yes we as people of God should be rich - rich in spirit, blessed
abundantly in spirit and in earthly things we should be sober, having
things that are needed for we like Jesus are not citizens of this world,
Heavenly Citizens like today's message Jesus said desiring and
collecting the precious things of the Kingdom of God, things that we
carry unto our permanent Home - Heaven, and not collecting things that
we leave behind here on earth, things that could hinder our going home.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we pray your people realize they are just passing through this
world. They realize they are here in this world because You have a
mission for them and by this mission they be blessed with eternal things
in the permanent House that is Heaven. Lord help us loss and overcome
our desire for things of this world and fill us with a thirst and hunger
for things of your Kingdom...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

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

Matthew 13:22 - He also that received seed among the thorns is he that
hears the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of
riches, choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.

John 8:23 - And he said to them, You are from beneath; I am from above:
you are of this world; I am not of this world.

John 12:25 - He that loves his life shall lose it; and he that hates his
life in this world shall keep it to life eternal.

Luke 18:25 - For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye,
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Matthew 19:23 - Then said Jesus to his disciples, Truly I say to you,
That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.

James 1:11 - For the sun is no sooner risen with a burning heat, but it
wither the grass, and the flower thereof falls, and the grace of the
fashion of it perishes: so also shall the rich man fade away in his ways.

-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Is the Lord unable to protect His Church?

Daniel 9:11 - Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing,
that they might not obey [hearken] thy voice [call aloud]; therefore the
curse is poured upon us, and the oath [the curse] that is written in the
law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him.

The hand that protected Israel from the time of Moses was the Lord and the
one being who caused the maximum damages to Israel was none other than the
Lord. About the former all would agree but about the later one many wonder
how?

We read like in today’s message because Israel transgressed the Commandment
(Law) of God, the Lord bought curses on them and they suffered for them.
These are the curses which are given in Deuteronomy - book of Moses. They
were warned about these curses but yet they chose them by choosing to break
the Commandments.

In today’s message we read the people of God chose to transgress against
the Lord and it is written how. In the English translations it is written
‘transgressed’ ‘by departing’ ‘that they might not obey thy voice’. But
when we get into Hebrew words (half of Daniel’s book is in Aramaic and half
in Hebrew) we get a better understanding of it.

The Hebrew word ‘abar’ translated as ‘transgressed’ , means to ‘pass over’
or ‘pass through’ or ‘alienate’. In English these terms would not be
grouped together but the Hebrew word means to do it or do something thing
showing as doing it but in reality not doing it.

The second word ‘cuwr’ translated as ‘departed’ means to ‘turn aside’ or
‘remove’. Here too it really means to change or edit thus not fulfil it.

This message is for us today. If one truly understands the Word of God one
would be amazed at what the Church is doing and what the Word of God asks
of us is so far apart. The Church does many things which makes the people
feel good and righteous but in reality they are either diverting from the
Word or doing their own thing. I am not talking here of just the Catholic
Church who can be easily identified but also the Believer Churches who call
themselves Bible followers. The leaders blindly follow what their
predecessors did without understanding or confirming with the Word. We saw
this happening even during the time of Jesus. The Pharisees were followers
of traditions and the Sadducees called themselves scriptures followers also
did their own thing because they denied half of the scriptures and its
understanding.

God is telling us He is not incapable to protect and provide for His
people. But yet we see His people suffer like the Israelites did. They are
destroyed at the hands of the heathens. It is in His mercy that He does not
let them be totally consumed, but by them not abiding to His Word they have
caused the curses to come over them.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, when your people walked in your ways not one of them died
unnaturally. They battled the greatest enemies yet they were safe. No
natural disaster harmed them but You took them through them all. Lord, your
people today follow men more than You, or twist your Word and show
themselves as keepers of your Word. They fool man but You are no man to be
fooled. Lord, we pray they repent for their ways and walk according to your
Word...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Deuteronomy 28:15 But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto
the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and
his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall
come upon thee, and overtake thee:

Deuteronomy 28:16-44

Deuteronomy 28:45 Moreover all these curses shall come upon thee, and
shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be destroyed; because thou
hearkenedst not unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep his
commandments and his statutes which he commanded thee:

*-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Ministering each other in carnal things

Romans 15:27 - It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are.
For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things,
their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

In today's message the Lord wants to tell us 2 things.

Firstly we see even during the time of the Apostles there were various
different churches like we have various Christian denominations today,
but then they were not differentiated by their understanding or leader
but by the place and congregation (people according to the culture they
came from). Even though they were separate Churches yet they were one
and we see Christians of Macedonia and Achaia, which included churches
of Philippi, Thessalonica and Corinth, contributed financially to the
church of Jerusalem. This they did not do because the church of
Jerusalem was considered a head church or a center of administration.
The only common thing between the various churches at that time other
than the belief was the people working for the Kingdom of God.

Although Paul initiated these churches he was never possessive of them
being 'his church'. He surely was passionate about them but he did call
other likeminded (in understanding and mission) colleagues working with
him for God Kingdom, to help minister to these churches.

What we lack today is the people working for the Kingdom of God becoming
small minded and working only at church level, we have very few who work
across churches or denominations. Sadly those who work soon or later
also get pulled into local churches.

Secondly we read the word translated as carnal means things of the body.
The churches were not united only in helping each other spiritually but
also in worldly needs. There was no famine or disaster in Jerusalem that
these churches thought of helping or reaching out financially to the
church in Jerusalem. It was just that they were sharing their blessings
with each other. Pauls says in other words it was like saying thank you
for giving them the Gospel since the Gospel came from the Jews even
though most Jews rejected Christ, yet for the few it is the duty of
Christians to thank them for being a source for Christ.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, your Kingdom is divided for your people are not united in You but
are divided by their understanding. Lord, we pray You teach your people
to reach out to their brethren in other churches or denominations. Lord,
bring us to be one in heart and one in mission...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Romans 15:25-28

25But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.

26For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain
contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem.

27It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the
Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty
is also to minister unto them in carnal things.

28When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this
fruit, I will come by you into Spain.
-*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Trembling of hands and feet

Daniel 10:10 - And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me [shivers /
trembling] upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.

There is always a question among Christians with regards to someone’s hands
and feet trembling when the ‘anointing’ of the Lord comes upon that person
or on the congregation during worship. Some think it is to do being gifted
and others think it is to do with problems in that person’s life.

There were times in the start I too asked the Lord if it was of Him that
such happen, this I asked because I had an experience of something not of
the Lord that is misunderstood as an ‘anointing’ by many Christians and
that is called as ‘joy of the Lord’.

We have seen TV evangelists (some years back it was very in thing) they
would touch people and set them to laugh and act senseless. Many preachers
/ Believers who are disciples of these TV evangelists receive this
‘anointing’ from them like by laying hands on televisions when asked.

The Lord had allowed me to experience this ‘anointing’ in Goa many years
back when I was yet in a Catholic (Charismatic) ministry. People going
flying off their feet for a distance and laughing crazy when hit by this
‘anointing’. I was part of the ministry that organized the event and half
the crowd was laughing insane and the other half crying insane. People had
to say ‘peace of the Lord be upon’ to stop this and I thought what was this
that we needed to command in the name of the Lord to stop it? Everything
that of the Lord is good and to prosper, but this thing did no such thing.

Later the next few days the Lord taught me what real joy of the Lord was
and that joy came with (spiritual) victory when we overcome. That joy
builds us and strengthens us. It was after some months I also learned what
this false ‘joy of the lord’ ‘anointing’ was and I was really surprised to
learn it was prominent in Hinduism and was known as Kundalini spirit. It
also had its hold in other religions like in Islam (mainly in the Sufi
sect). I was surprised to learn famous TV evangelist and Church leaders due
to their lack of discernment were instruments in bringing this spirit into
evangelistic church and spreading this. This ‘anointing’ was exposed when a
then preacher Todd Bentley spread it around the world as ‘Toronto
anointing’. Great icon Christian preachers were also party to spreading
this evil deceit.

Coming back to trembling I knew in my heart there was nothing wrong in this
but I wanted to be double assured it is Biblical. The Lord did help me to
lear this through scriptures.

In today’s scripture we read when the Angel of the Lord touched him
Daniel’s feet and hands started to tremble. The scripture says it was
because of fear of the Lord that Daniel’s hands and feet started to
tremble. A similar situation was in the books of Moses when the Israelites
gathered around the mountain which Moses went to, to speak to the Lord, it
is written the mountain trembled. Note Moses went many times to the same
mountain and spoke to the Lord yet it did not tremble but when the
Israelites gathered around it, it trembled. Thus the trembling was not to
do with Moses or the glory of God coming on the mountain but was to do with
the Israelite being there when the glory came.

Fear of the Lord is acknowledging God for Who He is or in other words
acknowledging the Name of the Lord. But as we grow in the Lord this fear
starts to change into love since the Nature of God (Who God is) starts to
become a part of us. That is the reason in the start of our spiritual life
many have experienced trembling but as we grow in the Lord we see less of
this. We also read when the minor (smaller) Prophets spoke historians state
the people knew the Word of the Lord had come to them for there was some
manifestation, but when the matured Prophets spoke at times they did not
believe them for the Word did not come with manifestation on the Prophet.

As we grow in the Lord we mature in Spirit and thus physical manifestations
take the back seat. With Jesus there was nothing like this. That also does
not mean all kinds of trembling and shaking is due to the fear of God when
His glory is present. The things of the Lord are peaceful for our God is
gentle with His people, so all like of violent shaking or falling with
great force is not of the Lord. We do see many famous preachers swinging
their coats or blowing at people and making masses to fall, all this is
done to glorify themselves and not the Lord. I have seen people who fall
within and change become better Christians than those who fall physically
by an ‘anointing’.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You are a gentle God towards your people and everything that You do
has purpose and these plans as your word says is for the good of your
people/ Lord we pray your people grow in discernment and they do not run
after manifestation but in spirit and truth after You and your Kingdom...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Exodus 19:10-18

10 And the LORD said unto Moses, Go unto the people, and sanctify them to
day and to morrow, and let them wash their clothes,

11 And be ready against the third day: for the third day the LORD will
come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai.

12 And thou shalt set bounds unto the people round about, saying, Take
heed to yourselves, that ye go not up into the mount, or touch the border
of it: whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death:

13 There shall not an hand touch it, but he shall surely be stoned, or
shot through; whether it be beast or man, it shall not live: when the
trumpet soundeth long, they shall come up to the mount.

14 And Moses went down from the mount unto the people, and sanctified the
people; and they washed their clothes.

15 And he said unto the people, Be ready against the third day: come not
at your wives.

16 And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were
thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of
the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp
trembled.

17 And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God;
and they stood at the nether part of the mount.

18 And mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended
upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace,
and the whole mount quaked greatly.

Acts 7:32 Saying, I am the God of thy fathers, the God of Abraham, and the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Then Moses trembled [shaking], and
durst not behold.
*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

sorry in my haste to post this inadvertently went into wrong thread.

Coffee Break
"God' s Plan"

"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." Ephesians 2:8,9

I woke up this morning with these words repeating over and over again in my mind. "Oh, the love that drew salvation' s plan. Oh, the grace that brought it down to man. Oh, the mighty gulf that God did span at Calvary." The cross was a place of shame, pain and death. But it was also the plan that God devised in order to redeem mankind from sin. This was the plan of God that would settle the sin debt that we owed. The cross, the death of God's Only Begotten Son, this was the only plan that could save men.

We have tried to come up with our own plans. The Pharisee' s plan was through the keeping of the Law. The heathen through worshipping idols and giving gifts to them. The rich young ruler's plan was through keeping the Commandments. Saul tried through his education and knowledge. Countless numbers throughout history, including today, have a plan that they believe will save them. Their plan is called-- salvation by works. They think that church membership, water baptism, giving offerings, singing in the choir, serving on some church committee, or going to church once or more a week will save them. 

If salvation through works was a good plan, if it was the best plan then God would have come up with it-- it would have been God's plan and way. That would have been the plan He put into place. But it wasn't. It is a faulty plan. It is a plan based on our own ability. We have no ability to save ourselves. No matter how hard you work at accomplishing your plan of salvation, it won't work. The rich young ruler accomplished it rather well to a point-- he did the works, he kept the commandments- - but he still went away sorrowful not receiving salvation because he fell short in his plan, and then would not surrender to God's plan. The only plan that will work was Jesus dying on the cross. This plan is perfect and without fault. Whose plan are you working on to receive salvation? Are you working on your own plan as to how you are going to be saved? It won't work. 

Have a great day. Our plan for salvation is by doing good works. God's plan for salvation is by grace through faith in the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. That is the only plan that will work. 

For further reading:
Titus 3:5
Matthew 19:16-22

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< 
Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell
and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from
About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.
Please feel free to
call (601) 833-5278 or
Email: mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net
Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org 
You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge. 
You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

Power of prayer

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

In my spiritual life I have seen great things happen when I prayed unto 
the Lord, some of them are so unimaginable that I cannot even share them 
openly. And among them was shaking of the place when praying in tongues. 
I live on the 3rd floor in a society and this shaking was not just a 
feeling but physical for the plates kept on a stand in my house fell and 
even the chandeliers and fans shook but yet there was no earthquake or 
anything like that at that time. My adjacent neighbours did not feel 
anything but only those in my house did.

People may think I am a very strong prayer warrior, but on the contrary 
I have been accused many a times of 'weak prayers' . In fact the very 
first time the Lord told me to go and preach to people after a long 
period of sitting and learning from Him, I said a prayer while 
ministering to a sister. The prayer I made, I, myself did not expect 
much from it. By my worldly understanding I would have rated 2 out of 10 
for my prayer, yet when I opened my eyes after praying I was in for a 
surprise. The sister was touched and her eyes were full of tears, not 
only that the situation for which we were praying for had completely 
changed the very next day, something none of us could imagine. So 
praying is not about using strong or big words, nor about screaming and 
shouting or jumping around. I would not be surprised if Jesus were to be 
among us as man and was called on stage to pray, today's leaders would 
have send Him back for His simple, short prayer, they would possibly 
call His prayers too, as 'weak prayer'.

We also see in today's message the place shock when they prayed, so 
should we ask for the place to shake when we pray?

We see this happened for a reason and the reason was to build those in 
the congregation with boldness and this was the very thing that happened 
with me when the shaking happened. The people praying with me were 
charismatic Catholics and they were praying for me and then the Lord led 
me to pray in tongues and after that incident I have not seen them come 
again to pray with me and it has been years since. More than the shaking 
of the place they were shaken within.

When praying external signs are not important but spiritual results are 
so we should not be praying for or seeking signs. They may happen or may 
not happen, let us leave it to the Holy Spirit for that, but the main 
reason concerning His people, we should only seek that.

Prayer should start with acknowledging God for who He is and then 
thanking Him for revealing Himself to us by blessing our lives, is the 
next most important thing in prayer. Jesus' most powerful prayers were 
simple words of thanking the Father, and they followed with great miracles.

The Bible says signs and wonders with follow us who seek the Lord and 
His Kingdom in spirit and truth. So let us learn to really pray and 
experience the real power of prayer not in signs but in glory of the 
Lord and then signs and wonders will fail to show up.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You are God, You do not seek big words nor loud voices, You seek 
depth of the cry that comes from our hearts. Even in the silent on our 
lips we can make might prayers that can change history only if they come 
from our hearts in spirit and truth. Lord, our prayer will have power 
only when we know You more and seek You more. Lord, we pray reveal 
yourself more and more unto us and fill us with more and more thirst and 
hunger for You and your Kingdom...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Luke 11:1-20

Matthew 15:36 - And he took the seven loaves and the fishes, and gave 
thanks, and brake them, and gave to his disciples, and the disciples to 
the multitude.

John 6:8-11

8One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,

9There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small 
fishes: but what are they among so many?

10And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the 
place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

11And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he 
distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set 
down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

John 11:41-45

41Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. 
And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou 
hast heard me.

42And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people 
which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

43And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come 
forth.

44And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with 
graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith 
unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

45Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things 
which Jesus did, believed on him.
 -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Why we lack and have problems

Haggai 1:10 - Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew [cover], and
the earth is stayed from her fruit.

We live in this creation which are a part of the God’s world and are part
of the various levels of Heaven. The highest 3 levels (dimensions) of the
Heavens (Paul called it the third / three Heavens) are the dwelling place
of God. Even though Gad is everywhere this place is called His dwelling
place because His glory is most here also known as His throne, also known
as the Holy Mountains of God. The Garden of Eden is in these Upper Heavens.

Between our level and the Upper Heavens is a level which separates and
restricts entry to the upper Heavens. This is this level wherein lies the
fiery Sword of God and where the Cherubs keep guard.

When man had no sin in him he could move between the various levels like
the Angels do, since this level did not exist. This level was made more to
restrict the fallen angels thrown down (removed) from the Upper Heavens and
sinner man from entering the Holy Mountains of God / Upper Heavens.

Below our dimension are two levels one called Hell which is the lowest
level and then the level called Grave or Sea which lies between Hell and us.

Hell is a place where spirits of all humans who die and are not in the Lord
or are forsaken go. Hell is not a valley where endless fire burns, this is
a Jewish misunderstanding which is also carried by the Catholic Church.
Hell is like a prison (as Peter puts it) also described as an endless pit,
for every cell is in total isolation and every spirit that is bond here
suffers for the sins in them. They can feel others suffering there but not
see them. No one tortures them there; in fact each one brings in their own
torturing machines with them, since the sins in them are the endless fire
or never dying worms that cause them to suffer. Jesus went here since He
was forsaken by the Father on the cross when He was covered with our sins,
but since there was no sin in Him, He did not suffer in Hell nor could be
held here, that is why He resurrected. His purpose to go there was firstly
to break the curse of Hell (curse of dust Genesis 3:19) so that all who
believe in Him do not go there and perish there, secondly to fulfil the
promise of God to Noah for all the spirits from the time of Noah who
existed there were heard His voice and those who accepted Him were set free
from Hell.

No man goes or has gone to Heaven (other than Christ), for none can enter
it unless all mankind is judged and those having the Truth receive
Righteous covering from the Son, thus God made a provision or level where
the spirit of those who believe in Him go that is the level below us and
between Hell and us, also called the Grave or Bosom of Abraham / fathers.
From the time of Noah all those who are in the Lord have been gathered
here, written as ‘slept with his fathers’ or ‘gathered unto their people’
in the OT and ‘slept’ in the NT (Stephen) or ‘sleep’ as Paul put it. The
incident of Samuel highlights this in the OT.

Bible says after the Judgement Day when all those judged and fallen, and
those still alive in Hell will be put in a place called Lake of Fire or
Sulphur. There people will not suffer for their sins but suffer for
rejecting the Word of God. Here the suffering is worse than Hell. Bible
also says the various levels will cease to exist as they are and the Upper
Heavens will come in a new level of glory.

Today’s message talks of the glory of God being delayed because of us and
thus creation also suffers. If we read a few scripture before it talks of
rebuilding the temple with wood from the Mountains. It is not talking of an
earthly temple but a spiritual temple that is us. The scriptures also says
we people are lost in building earthly temples/bodies of flesh and worldly
understanding but are failing to build our spiritual temple. God is saying
His Hand is not short nor is He incapable to sustain us or provide for us.
Let us concentrate on building our spiritual temple and stop depriving the
Heavens its glory and ourselves the provisions of God.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we like fools plan great things for ourselves here on earth as if we
are to dwell here forever. Lord, we pray your people realize how short life
is and how the time is at hand to finish the work we are assigned. The work
of bringing your sheep to You, of leading the lambs and making them sheep,
since lambs do not enter Heaven but sheep do...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Genesis 2:7-8

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.

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

Genesis 3:23-24

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.

Genesis 25:8 - Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age,
an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

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

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

Numbers 20:26 And strip Aaron of his garments, and put them upon Eleazar
his son: and Aaron shall be gathered unto his people, and shall die there.

Numbers 27:12-13

12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and
see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.

13 And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy
people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered.

Judges 2:10 - And also all that generation were gathered unto their
fathers: and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the
LORD, nor yet the works which he had done for Israel.

1 Samuel 28:9-15

9 And the woman said unto him, Behold, thou knowest what Saul hath done,
how he hath cut off those that have familiar spirits, and the wizards, out
of the land: wherefore then layest thou a snare for my life, to cause me to
die?

10 And Saul sware to her by the LORD, saying, As the LORD liveth, there
shall no punishment happen to thee for this thing.

11 Then said the woman, Whom shall I bring up unto thee? And he said,
Bring me up Samuel.

12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried with a loud voice: and the
woman spake to Saul, saying, Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.

13 And the king said unto her, Be not afraid: for what sawest thou? And
the woman said unto Saul, I saw gods ascending out of the earth.

14 And he said unto her, What form is he of? And she said, An old man
cometh up; and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul perceived that it was
Samuel, and he stooped with his face to the ground, and bowed himself.

15 And Samuel said to Saul, Why hast thou disquieted me, to bring me up?
And Saul answered, I am sore distressed; for the Philistines make war
against me, and God is departed from me, and answereth me no more, neither
by prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayest
make known unto me what I shall do.

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

Matthew 27:50-53

50 Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.

51 And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to
the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;

52 And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept
arose,

53 And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the
holy city, and appeared unto many.

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.

Haggai 1:7-11

7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways.

8 Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will
take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the LORD.

9 Ye looked for much, and, lo, it came to little; and when ye brought it
home, I did blow upon it. Why? saith the LORD of hosts. Because of mine
house that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.

10 Therefore the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is
stayed from her fruit.

11 And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and
upon the corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon that which
the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the
labour of the hands.
-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Jesus a Nazarite of Nazareth

Mark 14:67 - And when she saw Peter warming himself, she looked upon 
him, and said, And thou also wast with Jesus of Nazareth [Nazarene].

I have received this scripture numerous times and every time I ask God 
what new is He going to reveal or speak to us via this scripture. Today 
also as I got it the first words that came out of me was 'oh no, not 
again'. But when I started to meditate on this I noticed the way the 
maiden acknowledged Jesus. She verifies with Peter that he was with 
Jesus of Nazareth.

I use a NASB Bible in hand (when I sit to write) and have many 
electronic versions from KJV, NIV etc. on my computer system, in the 
NASB and also KJV the scripture states and 'Jesus of Nazareth' but when 
I checked with Greek words on the face I saw a mistake been made by the 
translators. The Greek word in this scripture is Nazoraios which should 
mean Nazarene and not Nazareth that is the name of a place.

Like we have seen in previous cases also due to lack of spiritual 
understanding of scriptures the translators by their seer linguistic 
expertise and limited spiritual understanding translated the scriptures. 
Knowing the restrictions in the English language there are many words 
that comes to a situation of 'choose one of the following' .

I do not point a finger at the translators for even if this scripture 
was given to a Jew for translation he or she would have very likely done 
the same mistake.

Firstly we need to understand the Greek word Nazoraios translated as 
Nazarene in NT has 2 meanings one that is Nazarene which means 'a person 
of Nazareth' and second a Nazarite which means 'a person separated to 
God'. Matthew 2:23 says when Joseph was instructed by the Angel in Egypt 
he went with his wife Mary (they were married after Jesus was born) and 
the infant Jesus to Nazareth. There Jesus grew up and was called 
Nazoraios, when they said it they considered it to mean a Nazarene - a 
citizen of Nazareth. But calling Jesus Nazoraios was necessary to fulfil 
a prophecy given through the Prophets which stated He would be a 
Nazarite - separated unto God.

It is interesting to note that the prophecy was fulfilled and people 
called Him a Nazarene but yet not understand what the prophecy was truly 
about and how they fulfilled it.

A Nazarite was a term used for a person who separated oneself to God and 
had some conditions to fulfil. Jesus as being an example of a dedicated 
worker of the vineyard of God separated Himself to God. When the evil 
spirit as we saw in yesterday reference scripture Mark 1:24 acknowledged 
Jesus they too called Jesus as 'Jesus the Nazarene' there too the 
translators did the mistake of translating as 'Jesus of Nazareth' . The 
same is the case with Mark 10:47 when Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus. 
Bartimaeus was not a Jew, he was a Roman and from history it is known 
that he was a son of a high official in Jericho and had rebelled against 
the authorities therefore blinded. When he heard Jesus a Nazarene was 
passing by he knew a Nazarene was not an ordinary person. Bible records 
very few people as a Nazarene. In the New Testament Jesus was the only 
one who was called by the name. In Acts we see Paul to please some 
people went to do the Jewish customs of a Nazarene along with a few 
others and got himself in trouble with the Jews, was arrested and later 
taken to Rome by the Romans to be killed.

Bible does not says Jesus cut or did not cut his hair but yet it says He 
was called a Nazarene. As per Jewish customs a Nazarene was not to touch 
wine but Bible says Jesus did drink wine. These were among the other few 
things which caused the Jews not to acknowledge Jesus as a Nazarene but 
by this way of life and the glory of God around Him many others 
acknowledged Him as one.

Jesus showed us a glimpse of what it means to lead a holy life even thou 
we are not totally like God. He being man yet was acknowledged as the 
Holy One of God not only by man and the Angels but also the evil spirit 
(fallen angels) knew Him as the Holy One of God.

God is asking of us to be a Nazarene not according to the customs of the 
Jews but by the true understanding of the Word of God as manifested in 
Jesus Christ. To be a holy people we need to be people totally living 
under the grace of God, not getting intoxicated with spiritual things 
[desire the good as per our need and keep away from the bad], keeping 
distant from the things of the dead [not physically dead but thing that 
lead to death], not relying on worldly knowledge nor running after the 
lust of the flesh.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord we pray for wisdom and understanding for your people. We pray that 
they do not seek You in customs but in Truth, Truth that comes by 
understanding and following your Word. Lord, like your Word says in the 
end days your people will follow You in Spirit and Truth, we pray this 
in fulfilled in our time...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Matthew 2:22-23

22But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of 
his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being 
warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:

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

Numbers 6

Mark 10:46-47

46And they came to Jericho: and as he went out of Jericho with his 
disciples and a great number of people, blind Bartimaeus, the son of 
Timaeus, sat by the highway side begging.

47And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out, 
and say, Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me.

Mark 1:23-24

23And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he 
cried out,

24Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of 
Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the 
Holy One of God.

Isaiah 1: 1And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse 
[father of David], and a Branch [netser] shall grow out of his roots:

Acts 24:5 - For we have found this man [Paul] a pestilent fellow, and a 
mover of sedition among all the Jews throughout the world, and a 
ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes [Nazarites]:

*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

God alone is Good
Matthew 19:16-19

16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing
shall I do, that I may have eternal life?

17 And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but
one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments.

The Gospel of Matthew tells us about a young rich man who lived a good
life, did his duty towards God and never harmed anyone. This man comes to
Jesus and calls Him Good and Jesus rebukes him for calling Him Good, Jesus
tells him no man (including Himself) is Good, leaving God alone.

One will wonder why Jesus who was God who humbled Himself and came as man
said He was not Good even though He was without sin?

Some translations could not understand this scripture therefore changed its
meaning like NASB states instead of ‘Why callest thou me Good?’ into ‘Why
are you asking me what is good?’.

In the Bible there are many Greek words translated as good like ‘kalos’ or
‘ischuo’ but the word used here in today’s message is ‘agathos’. This
adjective is more a superlative tense and unlike the previous 2 words which
are comparative adjectives.

This same word is used by Paul in Ephesians 5:9 as one of the especial
Fruits of the Holy Spirit which man cannot grow but is given as a gift.
This word can be translated as best but the most appropriate English word
is Holy. You may have noticed I have been using a capital alphabet G for
the word Good stated here for Holiness is a unique character of God.

We need to understand holiness to understand why Jesus said God alone is
Holy and did not associate Himself with that character even though He was
perfect as a human being and had not committed any sin.

We need to understand Holiness is just not about not sinning. Holiness is
about being perfect and God alone is perfect; man including the Angels and
the Cherubs do not count in the category of being Holy or perfect this we
see by the fact they fell. We also see in Heaven the Heavenly Beings call
out the Name of God as Holy, Holy, Holy for He alone is Holy.

We need to understand JESUS WAS GOD THE SON WHO HUMBLED HIMSELF AND CAME AS
MAN. I wrote this in caps since it is very important for us to have this
written in our hearts and minds.

In the Gospel of John Jesus in His prayer to the Father, asks the Father
for the glory HE HAD before the world was, and the Bible says He became a
sacrifice in the beginning (of creation). Thus this scripture is a clear
proof of Jesus leaving His God (The Son) power or God (The Son) status when
He became man and that He became a man like you and me. He overcame sin as
a man and became our sacrifice for our sins because He was a 100percent man.

The only God power He had was - as Christ, the power was the power of the
Holy Spirit. We who are in Christ, who receive the Holy Spirit, have the
same power which Jesus had as man. There was only one thing that was unique
to Jesus and that was He could transfigure, and that was only because He
had overcome the corruption of this world and the image of God was perfect
in God and that is why He was called Son of God. Transfiguration is coming
out of the flesh and having the ability to move between the dimensions of
Heaven. In Genesis Adam and Eve had this ability before they sinned, note
there are 2 gardens mentioned in Genesis - Eden which was in Heaven and the
other which was on earth (written as garden to the east of Eden). As we
grow in Spirit and overcome the corruption of sin (nature of Adam) and
become Sons of God we too will have the power to transfigure and that is
what happens in the end days and is known as rapture.

In today’s message Jesus is assuring us that He was man as you and me, and
He had victory over sin as man and that was by the power of the Holy
Spirit. We too if we submit to the Spirit of God we will be like Jesus and
one day man will be able to overcome the flesh and transfigure as Sons of
God.

God says this will happen for by faith Bible says we are Sons of God and a
Holy nation, and when the Bibles says, it comes to pass.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, after man sinned and corruption came into man, man lost the Truth and
righteousness left him. Bible says none were found righteous therefore You
came as man and became our sacrifice. You also became the way for us to
receive Truth and Righteousness. Bible says the Angels our brethren in
Heaven also await for us since we all will receive Holiness when You dwell
with us in Heaven. Lord, what is man that You lifted him up and made a part
of You. We thank You for yoor mercies...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Ephesians 5:9 - (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and
righteousness and truth;)

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

Luke 4:33-34

33 And in the synagogue there was a man, which had a spirit of an unclean
devil, and cried out with a loud voice,

34 Saying, Let us alone; what have we to do with thee, thou Jesus of
Nazareth? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art; the Holy
One of God.

Genesis 2: 8 - And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and
there he put the man whom he had formed.

Revelation 13:8 - And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him,
whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world.

1 Peter 1:20 - Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Hebrews 9:26 - For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of
the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put
away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

John 17:5 - And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the
glory which I had with thee before the world was.

--*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

They that have the rule over you

Hebrew 13:24 - Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the 
saints. They of Italy salute you.

The Greek word translated here as 'salute&# 39;, is also translated as 
'greet&# 39; and means to draw near. The word means to be kind, to impress, 
to show love, to go out of one's way for the person.

This letter of Paul (some think it is by Barnabas) is written to the 
Hebrew Christian, people of Jewish faith who became Christians but were 
contemplating to turn back to Judaism. In his letter Paul at the end 
asks them to greet the people that are set over them. Christians think 
these are the Church leaders and Elders of the Church. Yesterday I heard 
church Pastor stating those who evangelize without taking guidance from 
him or his church elders are 'not authorized&# 39; by him. These words gave 
me the shivers. Being coming from a Catholic background it frightened to 
hear the same words even in a Believer Church. I thought it was the 
mission of every Christian to evangelize and witness Christ to every 
people put into their lives.

I was going through some financial states which are eye openers. 
Frontier Harvest Ministries start in their world mission statistics as 
tens of thousands of dollars spend to baptize one Believer. This happens 
because most Christians are putting their tithes and donations into the 
wrongs places. They mostly give financial support to main stream 
Churches and ministries which do the fruitful evangelizing. The 80% 
finance goes to people who do the 30% of the work.

Please have wisdom do not go blindly by what people claim or the stats 
they put. Verify everything and discern people and their claims.

Paul tells us to greet people set over us and then says also all the 
saints. The saints refer to those who are spiritually mature. If we go 
by people's understanding, unless the Church leaders are not spiritually 
mature then they would not fall in the 'saints&# 39; category and would fall 
in 'those set above us'. Understand Paul asks us to greet those who rule 
over (set over) us irrespective they are Believers or non-Believers. He 
does not say to obey but to go out of our way attract them to us.

As Christians we only obey God and give respect to people whom God has 
put in our lives or those through whom God speaks to us. Obey and 
respect means two different things. Respect is a subset of obey.

When people speak on behalf of God and stand in the shadow of God we 
obey them, but when they operate in their flesh they move out of the 
shadow of God and then we should not obey them. That does not mean we 
outright confront them. As Christians we who are called to love even our 
enemy should approach such people who are misled brothers with love and 
patience. But there are times we need to be hard like how Paul was to 
Peter or Barnabas those who were instrument over his spiritual growth in 
his early spiritual life later we see he was spiritually more mature 
than them and they respected him over themselves.

People have a wrong understand about spiritual growth and mentors. A 
student in Kindergarten would obey his or her teacher but when he or she 
has grown up and done a double Phd is she to listen to her teacher of KG 
who has just done graduation?

In spiritual walk a mentor can become a student and a student a mentor 
of his or her mentor. It all matters on one's spiritual growth. Those 
who are passionate for God, have better relationship with the Lord and 
mature in time (not worldly time but their work in the Lord - here size 
does not matter more but consistence does) grow faster. For a vineyard 
worker where the result depends on the Lord cannot take credit for the 
great harvest but can get credit only for constantly going to the field 
and working whole heartedly in the field.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, we pray your Church becomes more fruitful, they receive more 
wisdom and discernment. That they discern the words of man and learn to 
trust You more than man. There are people who are put as leaders but are 
not rooted in You or your Word they are spiritual infants and just due 
to their age, skills, spiritual gifts and worldly positions are given 
high places in your Church. Lord, we pray for a revamp a total 
restructuring in your Church...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Hebrews 13:17 -- Obey [peitho - means persuade] them that have the rule 
over you, and submit yourselves [do not resist]: for they watch for your 
souls [life], as they that must give account, that they may do it with 
joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.

Matthew 8:27But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, 
that even the winds and the sea obey [Hupakouo] him!

Greek Hupakouo = Obey

Greek Peitho = Persuade
-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail

Circumcise the fleshy person

Galatians 6:12 - As many as desire to make a fair shew in the flesh, 
they constrain you to be circumcised; only lest they should suffer 
persecution for the cross of Christ.

Today the Lord gave us this message and many will think how it is 
relevant to us? We do not promote physical circumcising.

In the Bible it was the Lord who asked Abraham to form the first Church 
(congregation) by circumcision of the (male) people. God had not 
commanded this of Abraham so as to repent later. But In the New 
Testament we see Paul rebuked Peter before the people with regards to 
this matter, and here we see Paul who wrote Galatians shows here a pro 
circumcision stand, then why was he against it before Peter.

We need to distinguish between physical circumcision, spiritual 
circumcision and religious circumcision.

Physical circumcision is done for medical reasons and is not forbidden 
biblically. It is like we cut our hair or shave to keep ourselves tidy. 
Doctors have found that circumcision of males is recommended since it is 
hygienically and medically good.

Spiritual circumcision is what the Lord asks of us in the Bible. We are 
Born-again when we are circumcised in our hearts (inner man/nature). 
Inner circumcision simply means cutting off the carnal nature in us and 
we no longer live for our desires but for the purpose (Cross) of the 
Lord in our lives.

Something very beautiful I learned of late is that we cannot repent for 
our sins. It does not make any sense to us to repent for our sins and it 
is here where most people fail to become true Christians due to their 
lack of understanding repentance.

We need to realize we are not forgiven because we repent. All sins need 
to be paid for. We are forgiven only when we come to God and offer the 
sacrifice of Jesus as our payment for our sins. We cannot offer the 
sacrifice of Jesus as a payment for our sins unless we come to God, 
because it was a sacrifice make available by God.

What is most important that we need to know is without repentance none 
can come to God, thus without repentance none can offer the sacrifice 
and be forgiven. If we are not repenting for our sins then what are we 
repenting for?

When we repent we need to repent for our sinful nature and not for our 
sins. It is the moment when we realize that God is Holy and we have been 
living a life full of sins and thus cannot come to God. To come to God 
we want to do something about the burden of sins we carry and this He 
alone can help if we change our ways so starts our repentance. But if we 
do not make a decision that we will not live the same life we lived 
before we will not be able to come to God and thus we will not receive 
forgiveness. It is only when we make the decision to change we will be 
able to come to God and receive forgiveness. Repentance is another word 
for Inner circumcision and another word for being Born-again. John the 
Baptist started his preaching with repentance and so also did Jesus. It 
is the key to being a Christian.

The circumcision Paul was against is religious circumcision. Religious 
circumcision is circumcision done to fulfil tradition and this is what 
the Jews followed and took pride in. The Jews desired people to follow 
their traditions and become another Jews. In reality it had nothing to 
do with God even though on the face they took the name of the Lord.

A person may be physically circumcised or not be circumcised but unless 
one is not spiritually circumcised one cannot become a Christian. A 
religious circumcision on the other hand undoes spiritual circumcision 
and destroys a Christian.

We may say as Christians we do not promote the Jewish tradition of 
physical circumcision for religious purposes so this message is not for 
us. In fact as I got this message it opened my eyes, many Christians do 
promote religious circumcision without promoting physical circumcision.

Things imposed on people mindlessly / without true understanding by 
telling them this is Christian living are the religious circumcisions 
the Lord wants to open our eyes to. Let me take 2 examples to explain these.

Prayer is our communication to God. Pray builds us and helps us to have 
a better relationship with God. Prayer is a Christian thing. But when 
people make you recite a set of lines mindlessly like on beads just to 
fulfil a religious duty it become religious circumcision, a Christian 
killer. It kills faith, the very seed that makes us children of God.

We as Believers may not be reciting prayer on beads like pagans but when 
Believers impose rules on people as to how a person should pray, how 
long they should pray and how loud they should pray, has the same effect 
as praying on beads. Giving guidelines to those who do not know how to 
pray (like Jesus did) is different from setting rules of how a person 
should pray. As a child it may be justified but when people follow it 
for years it shows the Christian in them is dying.

Bible says it is the Holy Spirit who is the ultimate one who teaches us 
how to pray. We need to grow spiritually to communicate with the Holy 
Spirit to grow in our prayer life. If we do not grow in spirit we will 
never learn to pray and thus lack as Christians.

Another example is fasting. Fasting can make an ordinary person into a 
strong Christian soldier but only when a person knows what fasting is 
and why one needs to fast. There are people who set a fasting timetable 
like pagans do, they fast on a particular day of the week, mostly that 
day is chosen due to some ungodly reason. Then there are those who think 
they please God by their fasting and those who think their fasting cries 
out to the Lord in their prayers. These may look good on the face but 
internally they land up killing the Christian in us.

Paul says in today's message there are things that people do that may 
look good on the surface but internally they deprive or undo spiritual 
circumcision and the main reason Paul says is that they fear the 
persecution of the Cross of Christ. This persecution does not necessary 
mean the things that unbelievers do to stop Christianity but this more 
has to do with those who live a name sake Christian life and hates it 
when someone truly preaches Christ.

[Prayer Starter]

Lord, You are a Holy God and You command of us to lead a holy like to be 
your children. You also know God that by ourselves we cannot be holy. 
You just demand a desire and will from us to be like You and it is You 
Lord who helps us to be holy. Lord, we pray your people understand 
repentance and truly repent and become true Christians, that they do not 
free the persecution from those name sake Christians.. .

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]

Genesis 17:10-14

10This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your 
seed after you; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.

11And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a 
token of the covenant between me and you.

12And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every 
man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought 
with money of any stranger, which is not of your seed.

13He that is born in your house, and he that is bought with your money, 
must needs be circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an 
everlasting covenant.

14And the uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not 
circumcised, that soul shall be cut off from his people; he has broken 
my covenant.

Deuteronomy 10:16 - Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and 
be no more stiff necked.

Deuteronomy 30:6 - And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart, and 
the heart of your seed, to love the LORD your God with all your heart, 
and with all your soul, that you may live.

Jeremiah 4:4 - Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the 
foreskins of your heart, you men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: 
lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, 
because of the evil of your doings.

Romans 2:25-29

25For circumcision truly profits, if you keep the law: but if you be a 
breaker of the law, your circumcision is made uncircumcision.

26Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, 
shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?

27And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfill the 
law, judge you, who by the letter and circumcision do transgress the law?

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

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

Matthew 4:17 - From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: 
for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Acts 3:19 - Repent you therefore, and be converted, that your sins may 
be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the 
presence of the Lord.

Acts 26:15-18

15And I said, Who are you, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom you persecute.

16But rise, and stand on your feet: for I have appeared to you for this 
purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of these things which 
you have seen, and of those things in the which I will appear to you;

17Delivering you from the people, and from the Gentiles, to whom now I 
send you,

18To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from 
the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, 
and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*-*-* -*-*-*-*- *-*-*
SavedbyFaith. info - Daily Mail