R.D SOUZA Saved by faith

Jesus paid the Temple Tax for us

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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

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

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

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Justus - The Just rejected!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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God's business is Family business

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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

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

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

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

Revelation 21:2 - And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
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He is Family and will not forsake us

Mark 14:50 - And they all forsook him, and fled.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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

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

Psalms 22

Isaiah 53

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

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

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

Matthew 27:54-56
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.
55And many women were there beholding afar off, which followed Jesus
from Galilee, ministering unto him:
56Among which was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James and
Joses, and the mother of Zebedee's children.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Keeping your Sabbath Holy

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

Matthew 24:15-22
15When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of
by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him
understand:)
16Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains:
17Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out
of his house:
18Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes.
19And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in
those days!
20But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the
sabbath day:
21For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the
beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be
saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened.
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Celebrate Him
John 13:1 - Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that
his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the
Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto
the end.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Knowledge and wisdom of God

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Traditions - a weapon of Satan

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Romans 15:21 - But as it is written, 'To whom he was not spoken of, they
shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand'.

In today's message we read about Paul who desired to go to Rome and
preach to the Romans but could not do it. The Lord worked mightily
through Paul yet he struggled to fulfil one of the greatest desires in
his life that was to go to Rome to preach there especially to the Roman
emperor - Caesar.

Paul was a half Roman yet most of his communications with the Romans,
after he came in the Lord was through letters only. Paul states his
activities kept him busy so that scriptures would be fulfilled in Isaiah
(52:15) that the people who did not know the Lord would see Him and
those did not hear of Him would understand Him.

The Jews did see the Lord Jesus Christ but did not recognize Him. They
even heard Him preach but did not understand it. The salvation that
first came to the Jews went to the people of God who were not Jews
(Gentiles - lost sheep), people who were of God but did not know Him.

We also read in the Bible, in all things that Jesus did He fulfilled the
scriptures.

Did Paul and Jesus plan their lives according to scriptures? No. Paul
and Jesus knew scriptures for they studied them from childhood. Paul
before he came in the Lord was a student of one of the best Jewish
scholars of his time and was respected by the Jews for being a student
of Gamaliel. It was like in UK being a student of Cambridge, in US of
Harvard's or in India of IIT. I am sure at that time Paul would narrate
scriptures like a parrot (like most good religious Jewish students do)
even though he had no understanding of them.

Both Paul (after he came in the Lord) and Jesus did not plan their
activity by scriptures but were led by the Spirit of God to do things
which caused the scriptures to be fulfilled.

The Word of God are guidelines to us. We should not try to follow them
with our strength but do according to what the Spirit of God leads us.
But then we should check if we are been led by the Spirit of God, for
what we do will be in-line with the scriptures, fulfilling them.

The Lord is telling us there are many among us, who are trying hard to
keep the commandments, to follow the Bible with great struggle and are
tired. The Lord is telling them that although He gave the Word yet He
did not expect us to succeed in keeping them or following them by our
own strength that is the reason He gave us His Spirit.

The Lord is telling us to be led by His Spirit and automatically we will
find ourselves fulfilling scriptures and keeping God's Word. Success
comes only through the Spirit of God.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we pray your people realize the importance of your Spirit. That
they realize it is not possible for anyone to keep the Word or become
overcomers without the help of your Spirit. Holy Spirit lead us your
people that we be blessed and all the promises of Christ be fulfilled in
us...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Romans 15:20-25
20Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was
named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation:
21But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see:
and they that have not heard shall understand.
22 For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you.
23But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire
these many years to come unto you;
24Whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I
trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward
by you, if first I be somewhat filled with your company.
25But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.

Luke 4:16-22
16And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and he entered,
as his custom was, into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up
to read.
17And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And
he opened the book, and found the place where it was written,
18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, Because he anointed me to preach
good tidings to the poor: He hath sent me to proclaim release to the
captives, And recovering of sight to the blind, To set at liberty them
that are bruised,
19To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
20And he closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant, and sat
down: and the eyes of all in the synagogue were fastened on him.
21And he began to say unto them, To-day hath this scripture been
fulfilled in your ears.
22And all bare him witness, and wondered at the words of grace which
proceeded out of his mouth: and they said, Is not this Joseph's son?

Matthew 13:13-17
13Therefore speak I to them in parables; because seeing they see not,
and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
14And unto them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By
hearing ye shall hear, and shall in no wise understand; And seeing ye
shall see, and shall in no wise perceive:
15For this people's heart is waxed gross, And their ears are dull of
hearing, And their eyes they have closed; Lest haply they should
perceive with their eyes, And hear with their ears, And understand with
their heart, And should turn again, And I should heal them.
16But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.
17For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men
desired to see the things which ye see, and saw them not; and to hear
the things which ye hear, and heard them not.

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

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

Zechariah 4:6b... saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit,
saith Jehovah of hosts.
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Threshing or tramping over…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Psalm 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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The brass vessels of the Sanctuary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

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

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

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Whom does Jesus love?

John 14:21 - "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who
loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will
love him and manifest Myself to him."

One will hear many Christians say that Jesus loves everyone and died for
the sins of everyone; this is not what the Bible says.

Sure God's love and grace is available for everyone but when Jesus died
God knew who He died for and the sins of whom He has forgiven through
His sacrifice. God says only those who are accepted Him and His
sacrifice are the ones whom He died for.

God knows who will accept Him and who will not and those who reject Him
are the ones He calls as the children of Devil.

In today's message Jesus specifies who He loves and whom the Father
loves and He is very clear about it. He says those who have His
commandments in them and who keep them are the ones whom He and His
Father loves and would manifest their love to and also who Jesus Christ is.

God's love like His grace is also for everyone but yet not all will
avail of it. Only those who show their love for Him by having His
commandments in them and make the efforts to keep them would avail of
His love.

Having God's commandment in us does not mean to study the Bible but
means those who are baptized in the Holy Spirit. It is when a person
gets baptized in the Holy Spirit that the Lord writes His commandments
in the heart (soul) of that person. To keep then also it is not by the
person's own efforts but by the help of the Holy Spirit alone that the
person can keep the commandments that is written in him or her.

The Lord is telling us if we claim to be loved by Jesus we need to ask
ourselves are we baptized in the Holy Spirit. You will ask me brother
how do I know if I am baptized in the Holy Spirit?

If we read the Bible in the book of Acts the people were not clear with
baptism of water but when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit they
were very confident. The baptism of the Holy Spirit was always
manifested with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. They would speak in
tongues, prophesy or other gifts of Holy Spirit were manifested in them.

The disciples did receive the Holy Spirit long before Pentecost when
Jesus breath in them and said 'receive My Spirit' but they were only
baptized when they surrendered to the Holy Spirit when they were all
collected in the upper room during Pentecost (Feast of Harvest - it was
the day the Church not only the Apostles received His Spirit). If anyone
does not have the gifts of the Holy Spirit in them should remember
because of their belief in Jesus Christ as their saviour they have
received the promise of (as a token) the Holy Spirit. All they need to
surrender their lives to the Holy Spirit and they will be baptized in
the Holy Spirit and would be loved by Jesus Christ and by the Father and
they will come to really know who Jesus really is.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord Jesus, Your love and grace was manifested for the whole of creation
but only those who are your sheep hear your voice and come to You are
the ones who really receive your love and grace. Lord we pray for those
who are fooled to believe that they are loved by You just because they
believe in You. Lord we pray that they are baptized in your Spirit and
really receive your love and are saved...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
John 14:15-24
15 If ye love me, keep my commandments.
16And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter,
that he may abide with you for ever;
17Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it
seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth
with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
19Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me:
because I live, ye shall live also.
20At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I
in you.
21He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth
me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love
him, and will manifest myself to him.
22Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will
manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?"
23Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My
word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our
home with him.
24"He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which
you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me.

John 4:41-47
41"You do the deeds of your father." Then they said to Him, "We were not
born of fornication; we have one Father---God. "
42Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I
proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He
sent Me.
43"Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to
listen to My word.
44"You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you
want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in
the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he
speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.
45"But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.
46 "Which of you convicts Me of sin? And if I tell the truth, why do you
not believe Me?
47"He who is of God hears God's words; therefore you do not hear,
because you are not of God."

Mark 12:30-31
30And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the
first commandment.
31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as
thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

John 5:42-43
42But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.
43I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall
come in his own name, him ye will receive.

John 20:22 - And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to
them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:38Then Peter said to them, "Repent, and let every one of you be
baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you
shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 10:45-47
45And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as
came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out
on the Gentiles also.
46For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter
answered,
47"Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have
received the Holy Spirit just as we have?"
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Your testimonies and knowledge of God will save you

1 Samuel 17:34-36
34And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and
there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
35And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his
mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and
smote him, and slew him.
36Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of
the living God.

David came from a God fearing family. Like him, his brothers too were
people who had faith in God so also were most of the Israelites. But
when Goliath stood before them this one man caused the faith of all the
Israelites including David's brothers' faith to be shaken.

First thing Goliath was not a surprise for the Israelites. When they
went to war with the Philistines they were aware of the strengths and
weaknesses of the enemy as any other good armies do. They had many
experiences of battling with giants even bigger than Goliath but yet we
see this one individual caused all the Israelites to tremble. What they
did not expect to happen stood before them staring at their faces and
bringing fear in them.

The Philistines and the Israelites regularly fought against each other.
The Philistines knew the strengths of the Israelites so this time they
tested them in a new area. The Israelites, even though lesser in number
than the Philistines, had at numerous occasions defeated them and even
larger armies. So this time around the Philistines did not come to the
Israelites as an army but send forth an individual. They had their most
fearful solider Goliath to challenge them. This solider was in reality
no giant but a larger than normal person. True giants in the Bible were
stated to be about 12 to 13 feet tall but Goliath was only about 9 feet
9 inches tall. The weight of his coat was about 71kgs / 156 pounds and
the weight of his spear was about 17kgs / 37.5 pounds. To carry such a
weight would require him to also be a very heavy person more like one of
the huge WWF giant superstars wearing a great metal coat, armed with
great spear, a sword and a shield.

King Og was the last of the real giants which were the outcome of fallen
angels impregnating the women whom they found attractive / pleasing.

What took the Israelites on a back foot about this huge individual
Goliath was that he did not challenge the whole Israelite army but an
individual from the whole army. The battle between the two armies now
took a form of a battle between individuals, one champion against
another. Since now the battle was not against an army with another, the
Israelites started looked at themselves as an individual and not as an
army that was blessed by the Lord, and since each one did not find
themselves worthy they started having fear enter themselves
individually. Then they started speaking out this fear and thus fear
started griping them collectively even more.

David as an individual never thought of himself as a great person
therefore took the humble job of looking after the sheep and doing the
house chores while his brothers joined the army, but on the other hand
David had testimonies of the Lord doing great and mighty things in these
little jobs and these testimonies stood between him and the fear of
Goliath. David did not compare Goliath to the lion or the bear he killed
while protecting the sheep. Like here even then there was not much time
between David and the lion or the bear, one hit of the paw of the lion
or the bear or bite of them can dismember a human. David believed in the
extra ordinary power of God working through him. He knew since the Lord
had done those great things through him even now the Lord would not fail
him and would do the same.

When the traditional armory of King Saul was put on him David could not
carry it, leave alone fight with it, for King Saul was a very tall
person possibly a seven footer since ancient traditional Israelites were
about 5and half feet tall and Saul was taller than them. David knowing
only two weapons a staff and a sling very well thus preferred going to
the battle only with them. He knew even if he wore the armory one hit of
Goliath's heavy spear or sword would not save him and was enough to kill
him.

A staff / rod symbolize authority. A shepherd does not fear the wild
animals because of the staff in his hand. He knows how to use it, how to
protect himself and his sheep with it. One more were important thing we
need to note is David picked up 5 stones even though he was aware once
Goliath charged at him there was very less chance of him getting to use
another stone. The only way David would have been able to use more than
one stone would require him to run away from Goliath while having
Goliath chasing him, and this was not on David's mind since he charged
at Goliath to hit him. He also spoke against his enemy as he charged
against Goliath. If one knows Bible Numerics 5 symbolized man and 1
symbolizes God (Godhead). God being Truth, David fought Goliath with the
truth of knowing who his God is and who he was in God. The stone which
hit Goliath bought him down in an unnatural way for even though it hit
him in the forehead he fell face down. David did not start jumping with
joy at the moment Goliath fell down, he still had to go to the fallen
Goliath, take Goliath's sword out of its sheath and cut of his head.

Today the Lord is telling us when situations come to test us or bring
fear in us we should remember the testimonies where the Lord has done
great things in our lives or in other people's lives. These testimonies
will prevent fear to come inside us. These testimonies will not defeat
the enemy, but when we take the truth of who God is and who we are in
Him, that will empower us in a supernatural way to overcome our enemy.
The truth will bring the enemy down but yet we will need to act.
Confessing scriptures or speaking the truth is not sufficient we need to
act in the truth to complete our belief in it.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, the enemy starts his destruction in us by imputing his worms like
fear into us. Lord, like the Israelites carried the pot on Manna which
always remained fresh in the Ark everywhere they went so also help us
keep a fresh reminder of our testimony in You. Lord, help us always
remember Who You are and who we are in You. Help us have courage be
people of action and only words, to act in what we believe and have
authority over things as You have given us. Help us to be like David who
face his Goliath. Like David took truth as his weapon against Goliath
help us remember at times we can also use love as our weapon for You are
also love...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Deuteronomy 3:11For only Og king of Bashan remained of the remnant of
giants; behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron; is it not in
Rabbath of the children of Ammon? nine cubits was the length thereof,
and four cubits the breadth of it, after the cubit of a man.

1 Samuel 9:2And he had a son, whose name was Saul, a choice young man,
and a goodly: and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier
person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of
the people.

Read 1 Samuel 17

The rust of your gold and silver will eat your flesh like fire

James 5:3 - Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall
be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye
have heaped treasure together for the last days.

In today's message the Lord speaks about a matter which most Christians
do not like to hear and would misquote many scriptures to justify
themselves. They really have no idea of how serious the consequences of
their love for riches would have on their real (spirit) life (after death).

James gives a great insight to the truth about riches. He uses the word
cankered to describe riches the Greek word means which is covered with
poison. He also says the rust of it will be a witness against us and
then says it will eat our flesh like fire.

A metal rusts only when kept over long periods and is untouched. If a
metal object is regularly used it does not rust. To have riches is not a
sin but to store riches without purpose can have serious consequences on
us. James is talking of the gold and the silver not being poisonous or
dangerous but the rust that has collected on it as being poisonous and
dangerous.

We are vessels and God says He will bless us such that we will overflow
or spill over. Understand what overflows or spills over are not for the
vessel but for the other empty vessels around.

We people are such that when we see the vessel is going to overflow we
enlarge ourselves so that we hold more and more soon the purpose of the
vessel gets lost, then the vessel becomes something else and this
displeases the maker of the vessel who made the vessel with a design and
purpose.

The Lord warns us that these riches cause the corruption of the flesh
and will destroy us like fire destroys flesh. When flesh is heated over
fire it starts to harden, so also we do when we have extra riches in our
lives. From mouldable clay in the hands of the Potter we start to become
a stone, and potters have no purpose for stones so He throws them away.

What is very interesting is James uses the term silver and gold for
riches. When we understand these terms in the Bible, they were used to
symbolize worldly and spiritual riches respectively.

The Lord is telling us not only worldly riches but even spiritual riches
in excess are dangerous. We have a habit of asking the Lord to bless us
with more and more spiritual gifts and anointing. When we do that do we
have a purpose for them? Do we use them for the Kingdom of God? Most
anointed Men fall here, when they receive more gifts of the Spirit and
do not use them for the purpose they are given for. This then makes them
proud and poisonous for the Body of Christ like a tumour. So then the
Lord needs to cut them off and throw them in the waste to be burnt, for
all organic waste is disposed by fire.

Let it be riches of the world, skills or spiritual riches, whatever we
ask should have a purpose and a good purpose. Anything we have if we do
not use it over long period of time, we should be aware they would cause
more harm than good to us.

If we look at the early Church in the book of Acts, when the Spirit was
great over them they did not tithe but gave all that was extra. How much
extra they needed to give was done by guidance of the Holy Spirit. The
common man gave the extras and those dedicated to the Lord gave
everything, not that the later did better than the former, but both did
equally as the Spirit guided them.

I personally know enough testimonies of people having a calling in their
lives and not using the giftings connected with the calling for the
Kingdom of God. Either misusing it or not using at all both have led
them to great destructions.

Let us not keep asking God for things which we have no good purpose in
our lives and also let us make sure we make good use of all the things
we have in our lives and glorify God through them.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we know from the testimony of Lucifer who was an anointed Cherub
and how he craved for good things without purpose and how the extra led
to his downfall. Lord, it does not take You any efforts to do all that
man over thousands of years have failed to do in the Church but yet You
being patient wait for man to do it for You desire man to overcome the
things which bought the anointed Cherub down. You desire us to have
victory over that darkness through the Light of your Word. Lord, help us
that we do not overcome our guilt and your Spirit, for then there is no
hope for us...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Matthew 19:23-25
23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a
rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven.
24And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the
eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
25When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who
then can be saved?

Matthew 5:16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your
good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Matthew 7:21Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father
which is in heaven.

Mark 10:21Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One
thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to
the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the
cross, and follow me.

Acts 2:43-47
43And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by
the apostles.
44And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
45And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as
every man had need.
46And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking
bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and
singleness of heart,
47Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord
added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Acts 4:33-37
33And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of
the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.
34Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were
possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the
things that were sold,
35And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made
unto every man according as he had need.
36And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being
interpreted, The son of consolation, ) a Levite, and of the country of
Cyprus,
37Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the
apostles' feet.

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The Foolish and Worthless Shepherd

Zachariah 11:15-17
15 And the LORD said to me, "Next, take for yourself the implements of a
foolish shepherd.
16"For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care
for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are
broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of
the fat and tear their hooves in pieces.
17"Woe to the worthless shepherd, Who leaves the flock! A sword shall be
against his arm And against his right eye [hand spring]; His arm shall
completely wither, And his right eye [hand spring] shall be totally
blinded [faint]."

In today's message the Lord talks about the foolish shepherd who does
not care for the welfare of his sheep. He does not care if the sheep are
growing in numbers or are fed properly and in good health. His eyes are
also beyond the main purpose of a sheep and the only thing that is on
his mind is when he can consume the sheep. Even a worldly man looks at
sheep as a source for wool and not for meat, for meat goats are preferred.

The other kind of shepherd the Lord speaks against is the one who leaves
the flock, in other words does not care about them. The Lord calls such
shepherds as worthless shepherds.

The Lord is talking about those whom He has entrusted His people to care
for them and nurture them. The Lord calls those leaders as foolish
leaders who have just one purpose and that is to make others leaders
under them just for the purpose of feeding their carnal hunger. Some
hunger for more finance, some for fame, some for power and other carnal
desires. These desires are like a burning furnace inside them and they
look out to the leaders they made to shove people's lives to please
their fire, like shoving coal in the furnace.

The other leaders who are called worthless are the ones who just dream
about occupying a position of Pastor, Bishop or church leader and keep
the day to day activity running. Like a pundit does his rituals in a
temple so also these people organize services and do the activities of
the Church like performing rituals. The Lord calls these people
worthless for they will not receive anything for the service they rendered.

The Lord is telling these people the Lord would be against the work of
their hand and against their resources. These people will tire in their
work and will encounter obstacles every step that they take. Their
strength will wither and their resources will grow faint.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, the most important aspect of the shepherd is love. Unless the
shepherd really loves his sheep and is not willing to lay his life for
his sheep he will not be a good shepherd. A good shepherd never fears
for he knows he has his shaft (authority) in his hand not only to chase
away the sheep's enemies but also discipline the bad sheep. Lord, we
pray for your shepherds that they be not foolish or worthless shepherds.
That they honestly do their duty fearfully and with great passion...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
John 10:8-16
8All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did
not hear them.
9I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall
go in and out, and find pasture.
10The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I
am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more
abundantly.
11I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
12But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep
are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and
the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep.
13The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling, and careth not for the
sheep.
14I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.
15As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my
life for the sheep.
16And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must
bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and
one shepherd.

Luke 9:1Then he called his twelve disciples together, and gave them
power and authority over all devils [chase away evil spirits], and to
cure diseases [heal sicknesses, diseases and weaknesses].

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Baptism in water

Matthew 3:13,14 - Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John,
to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be
baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?

When John was baptizing people in water he would first bring them to
repentance and then baptize them in the hope of the ‘one who was to
come’ after him - that was Jesus Christ. Thus John’s baptism of water
simply symbolized rejecting the old life of sin and having hope of a
new life in Jesus Christ.

In today’s scripture we see John who was Jesus’ cousin was very
surprised when Jesus came to him to be baptised. This surprise was not
just about being alarmed but about making sense. John thought firstly
how can this man who is without sin repent and secondly why would He
want to be baptized in Himself?

It was true that it seemed foolishness for Jesus being baptized in
water except for the one reason which He stated. Jesus said ‘Suffer
now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness’ . In NKJV it
is written much simpler as "Permit now, for thus it is fitting for us
to fulfill all righteousness. " [Italic words removed]

Jesus said that it should be allowed so as to fulfil all
righteousness. Jesus did not say for Him to fulfil all righteousness
but for ‘us’ including John to fulfil all righteousness .The word
righteousness in Greek ‘dikaiosune’ comes from the word ‘dikaios’
which means ‘fulfilling the divine laws’. We need to understand Jesus
did a physical dip in the river Jordan just for the reason to fulfil
the scriptures. Had Jesus not taken the dip then He would not have
declared Himself as the Christ and King. For it was after the dip the
Spirit of God manifested above Him and fulfilled scriptures by
declaring Him as the Christ.

Jesus as man fulfilled two promises from God that is of being the
Messias and the Messiah. One was to deliver the Jews (people) from
their sins and the second was to free the Jews (people) from
oppression by establishing an everlasting Kingdom.

Jesus once again did the same of fulfilment of scriptures and the same
2 aspects of Himself when He entered Jerusalem sitting on a colt and
its young one. It was this odd posture of Jesus being seated on a colt
and its little one that made them remember the prophecy of Zachariah
and thus made them shout ‘Hosanna’ which in Hebrew meant ‘the
deliverer come to save now’.

Like Jesus sitting on the colt and its little one did not make Jesus
the deliverer similarly it wasn’t the immersing of Jesus in water that
caused the Spirit of God to descend on Him. Jesus was Christ (One with
the Holy Spirit) right from the womb of Mary. It was just that the
baptism of Jesus in water and the manifestation of the Spirit and
Voice of God confirmed Him as the one in scriptures. Baptism in Jesus
Christ is very necessary for every Believer but dipping oneself in
water is an option. Jesus encouraged others like His disciples to
baptize people in water but He Himself did not baptize anyone in
water.

It is not that we should ignore baptism of water since it is an
option, for baptism of water is a sign of our confirmation of belief
in Jesus Christ as Messias and Messiah our Christ and our King. When
we get ourselves immersed in water after repenting from our sinful
life we are declaring or witnessing to the people our faith in Jesus
as our Saviour and our King.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord Jesus, the world likes to see their deliverer come as a grand
conqueror with a great number of people, but You came as a meek alone
man to save all mankind. People expected You to take up arms and form
an earthly army to defeat the rulers of this world, but You spread
your empty pierced arms out on the crucifix with a body that was
bruised beyond recognition but yet destroyed the plans of destruction
of your people. People expected You to call out to the armies of
Angels for help but did not know that this world which was made out of
a word would also end by your one word (shout). Lord as your people
witness their faith in You give them the courage to be immersed in
water and declare You as their Christ and King...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Matthew 3:13-17
13 Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him.
14 But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee,
and comest thou to me?
15 And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for
thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the
water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
17 And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in
whom I am well pleased.

Isaiah 11:1-10
1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a
Branch shall grow out of his roots:
2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit
of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
3 And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the LORD:
and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove
after the hearing of his ears:
4 But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and reprove with
equity for the meek of the earth: and he shall smite the earth with
the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips shall he slay
the wicked.
5 And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, and
faithfulness the girdle of his reins.
6 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie
down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling
together; and a little child shall lead them.
7 And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie
down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the
weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den.
9 They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the
earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover
the sea.
10 And in that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand
for an ensign of the people; to it shall the Gentiles seek: and his
rest shall be glorious.

Isaiah 42:1-4
1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul
delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth
judgment to the Gentiles.
2 He shall not cry, nor lift up, nor cause his voice to be heard in the street.
3 A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax shall he
not quench: he shall bring forth judgment unto truth.
4 He shall not fail nor be discouraged, till he have set judgment in
the earth: and the isles shall wait for his law.

Psalm 2

Psalm 118

John 4:1-2
1 When therefore the LORD knew how the Pharisees had heard that Jesus
made and baptized more disciples than John,
2 (Though Jesus himself baptized not, but his disciples,)

John 3:5 - Jesus answered, Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a man be
born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of
God.

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Commandments and Statutes
Mark 3:4 - And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the
sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held
their peace.

In all religions there are commandments and statutes. In pagan religions
these take the form of rituals and traditions. In a few they are
considered as law.

In Christianity traditions are taboo for traditions are the doings of
man unlike statutes which are of God. Statutes unlike traditions are
temporary. Traditions over the years binds man and become a yoke of
bondage that gets stronger and stronger on man making him spiritual
blind, but physical and mental slaves to them. Statutes on the other
hand are instructions that are followed over long periods to make one
understand something that is hidden from the person.

Celebration of festivals for example are statutes, they have only one
reason that is to witness the events connected to them and to make
people to know about it so as to understand the things connected with
the event and their purpose. Once their purpose is fulfilled the
statutes are stopped in the physical but their purpose continues in
spirit and understanding. Per say statutes are not for the spiritually
mature but are kept for the purpose of those who are spiritually little.

Commandments on the other hand are not like statutes they have to be
followed irrespective of one's spiritual state.

Statutes have a purpose to build spiritual understanding likewise
commandments too have a purpose and that purpose is to build character.
Both target the inner-man, one builds the contents and the other builds
the vessel.

If we look at sin, it was born because of commandment. Had God not
commanded Adam and Eve not to eat of the Tree of Good and Bad they would
not have sinned. When we look at Paradise after the redeemed enter it,
there is no Tree of Good and Bad but just the Tree of Life. Why then did
God put that tree in the start, had it not been there Adam and Eve would
not have sinned and we all would have been yet in Paradise?

When we look at Adam and Eve in the start even though they were made in
the image of God and were without sin and called sons of God yet they
were not perfect. In order to bring perfection in man God had to bring
commandments into the life of man. No doubt commandments gave birth to
sin but they exposed the imperfection that was in man. Had that
imperfection not been exposed, it would not have been dealt with and
removed.

Like statutes can take a poisonous form of tradition when done without
understanding so also commandments can take a poisonous form when done
without understanding. Like in today's message Jesus rebukes the Jews
for abusing the purpose of the Law of God. The Jews made the Statutes
and Commandments of God into traditions and spiritual yokes that did the
opposite of their purpose. It only hardened their corrupt nature and
blinded their spiritual eyes.

Commandments should not be done from the human mind or human body; they
need to be done from the heart (spiritual mind and spiritual
body-nature) . In the start even though God gave man a few Commandments
yet man was unable to keep them and because they kept it by mind and
body. They took the opposite form of their purpose, this bought death
and hardness of their heart. But when man received the Holy Spirit and
when the Law got written in the hearts of man by the help of the Spirit
of Truth the Laws started becoming easily to keep. They started bring
out the perfection in man and making man more and more like the perfect
image known to us in Jesus Christ the corner stone.

Jesus revealed the foundation of the Commandments which is love - love
for God and for His people. Let us not try to keep the Commandments of
God but just keep it. Let it not come from our human efforts but through
the Spirit of God working in our inner-man. When we do this we will
start to love the Law of God for His Law brings life and fullness.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we thank You on the day of Pentecost when You gave the Church your
Spirit and wrote the Law into the hearts of the people with your Finger
like you wrote on stone tables during the times of Moses. This Manna is
now no longer Manna but Living Word from which flows springs of life.
Lord, help us not to keep your Commandments by our strength and our mind
but by surrendering to your Spirit...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Psalms 119:97 - O how love I thy law! it is my meditation all the day.

Psalms 119:113 - I hate vain thoughts: but thy law do I love.

Psalms 119:163 - I hate and abhor lying: but thy law do I love.

Psalms 119:165 - Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing
shall offend them.

Zechariah 7:12Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they
should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of hosts hath sent in
his spirit by the former prophets: therefore came a great wrath from the
LORD of hosts.

Jeremiah 31:33But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the
house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in
their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God,
and they shall be my people.

Hebrew 10:15-16
15But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He (Holy Spirit )
had said before,
16"This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,
says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds
I will write them,"

Luke 10:26-28
26He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all
thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou
shalt live.

John 13:34-35
34A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have
loved you, that ye also love one another.
35By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love
one to another.

Galatians 5:14 - For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this;
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

James 2:8 - If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou
shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:

Romans 7:5 - For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which
were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

Romans 8:2 - For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 3:20 - Therefore by the deeds (things done by the flesh) of the
law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is
the knowledge of sin.

1 Corinthians 15:56 - The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin
is the law.

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All things were created through Him and for Him

Colossians 1:16 - For by Him all things were created that are in heaven
and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through
Him and for Him.

Life and how it started, has always intrigued man. Man always wanted to
know his origin as to how he has been created or form even though he
believed in a creator or not. One of the most interesting things I enjoy
about Bible study is studying God's creation through the Bible. It is so
awesome that I get totally lost and am truly humbled in awe of Who God
is. People normally think science goes against the Bible but when we get
into the root of science and the pure understanding of the Bible (void
of the corruption that the false Church induced which is yet believe as
part of the Bible), we find that science proves the Bible and Bible give
a better understanding of science.

One preacher very beautifully said there are 3 things of which our
knowledge needs to be right. If any one of them we get wrong
automatically it affects the other 2 and the knowledge of them too gets
corrupted. These 3 things are God, man and the universe. If we
understand God rightly we will understand man and the universe. If we
understand man rightly we will understand God and the universe. If we
understand the universe rightly we will understand God and man.
Similarly if we have the wrong understanding of anyone of them then
automatically we start to have the wrong understanding of the other 2.

I am so grateful to God for finding it worthy to teach me many of these
things and giving me the ability to understand things which I would not
have done so in my wildest dream or even imagined them.

One of the best things that the Lord opened my mind to was to image
study, to understand the design or image in which God has created the
various things in nature and understanding their purpose, not only the
things of this world but even many things of the Heavens. For the things
of the Heavens are spirit beings and can be understood by man only by
their designs.

According to science, in this world all things that are visible are not
even 30 to 40percent of the things existing (some claim it as just
4percent). The things that are invisible are referred to by science as
'dark matter'.

When we understand the Bible and the Kingdom of God (creation), through
it we understand this natural life and come to realize how temporary
this natural world is. We also realize the purpose of man, as putting
gold through fire so as to have only the pure gold for the making of the
Glorious Temple, the Glorious Temple being no monument but the Lord -
God the Son Himself.

Life takes a total new meaning when we see life through God the Son. God
being spirit we cannot see or understand well, but Jesus the humbled
human form of Him we can and it is only through Jesus we come to know
Him and be part of Him. So life is only and only through Jesus Christ.

God the Son existed since beginning as part of the Father, yet it was
later that the Father revealed Him as an individual and gave Him an
identity of His own. God the Father desires His Son be glorified and we
too being part of Him also be glorified in Him.

So this natural life is nothing but a process of purification. The less
of this natural word is in us the more of us will be in the real spirit
world - His Kingdom. We were created through Him and are created for Him.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we are humbled when we come to know the Truth. When we know You
and your Kingdom then this world and the things of the world looks of no
value. This creation is just a process of purification of eliminating
the darkness with light for You are Light and only when we become light
like You can we be part of You. You came as Jesus to show is the Light
and only by your Spirit we too can have this Light in us and thus be a
part of You. Lord, work in us and purify us, take the worldly things out
of us and let us have more and more of your Kingdom in us...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Colossians 1:13-22
13He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into
the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
16For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on
earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or
principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him.
17And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.
18And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the
firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
19For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,
20and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things
on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His
cross.
21And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now He has reconciled
22in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and
blameless, and above reproach in His sight-

Zechariah 13:8-9
8And it shall come to pass, that in all the land, saith the LORD, two
parts therein shall be cut off and die; but the third shall be left therein.
9And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them
as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall
call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and
they shall say, The LORD is my God.

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

Revelation 21:22 - And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God
Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.
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Jerusalem the Lord cries for you

Luke 19:41-43
41 And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
42 Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day,
the things which belong unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine
eyes.
43 For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a
trench about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side,
44 And shall lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within
thee; and they shall not leave in thee one stone upon another; because
thou knewest not the time of thy visitation.

In the incident stated in today's message shows Jesus before entering
the city of Jerusalem wept looking at it. The only other time where
Jesus cried was at Lazarus' death. He cried not because Lazarus had died
but because the people (especially Mary - Lazarus' sister) were far from
understanding the Truth and God.

In today's message Jesus cried looking through His Spirit at the
destruction of Jerusalem. This destruction was not something that was to
happen very soon but a destruction which was to happen nearly 40 years
in the future. It is said the destruction was so bad that the Romans did
not leave one Jew alive in the whole of Jerusalem. They killed millions
of Jews including women and small children. They not only killed them
but hung the bodies of the Jews on wooden stakes. It is said they used
all the wood they could lay their hands on even those from furniture and
door posts. Jerusalem was totally ruined and all the houses and
monuments were bought down. The Romans let off all the anger that was
built in them due to humiliation they were put to a few years back by
the Jews when they were seemingly made to look as they were defeated by
the rebel Jews, but in reality the chief of the army had to suddenly go
back to Roman because the Roman emperor was on his death bed and he had
to be crowned in his place.

Today also the Lord is looking at His Jerusalem and crying bitterly. He
sees the people who call themselves His people but are far from being
true Christians. These people have gift wrapped themselves with
gift-wrapping paper called Christianity but inside are full of the
world. They mislead others and prevent them from knowing Lord by their
way of life and the things that they do in the name of the Lord but are
the traditions of man. These people are spiritually crucifying the Lord
again and again.

It is not that this Jerusalem will fall tomorrow but like then today
also there is time before this Jerusalem sees destruction. Like then
today also the message to this Jerusalem is the same flee to the
mountain. This mountain is the Mountain Zion.

You would say brother how do I go to this spiritual mountain - Mount Zion?

If we look at the event when David entered the city he name Zion there
were 2 types of people he did not allow to enter into that city one were
the blind and second the lame.

No spiritually bind or lame person can go to Mount Zion. A spiritual
blind person means a person void of the Truth. The Lord does not say we
need to have perfect eyesight. Even a person having slight sight
problems is not considered blind. We may not have an answer to every
question regarding the Kingdom of God but do we have a clear view of the
basics of the Kingdom of God? Many people think that the teachings of
man in the name of Christianity are sufficient, these are the
spiritually blind. They do believe in the Lord but have put man above
the Lord.

The spiritual lames are those who lack spiritual legs. Legs symbolize
the way of life therefore washing of feet symbolize forgiving of sins.
The Lord is not asking us to be spiritual sprinters. The basic the Lord
is asking of us is to have legs, which means a desire to walk in the way
of the Lord.

We also need to realize it is very difficult to keep alive this desire
for long if we are going to stand still but it becomes easy when we
start taking steps. This desire becomes stronger are we keep moving
faster and from walking start to run.

Get out of Jerusalem people of God and move to Mount Zion. Do not be one
of them whom the Lord weeps for, but be one in whom the Lord takes
pleasure and joy.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You asked us to pray specially for the people of Jerusalem. Lord,
we lift our hands up towards your Throne of Mercy and lift up the people
of your spiritual Jerusalem that they do not become victims of the
calamity that is to come their way. In those days it was angry people
that destroyed the natural Jerusalem and created a disaster that would
never be forgotten in history. This time it would be angry beasts of
nature which will do the job and we cannot image how grave this disaster
would be. Lord, let your mercy be upon the people of Jerusalem that they
harden not they hearts towards You. That they open their spiritual eyes
and build a desire for your Kingdom and thus enter Zion...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
John 11:32-36, 4, 11-15
32Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at
his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had
not died.
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which
came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
34And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
35Jesus wept.
36Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
4When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but
for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
11These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend
Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
12Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
13Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken
of taking of rest in sleep.
14Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
15And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye
may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

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

2 Samuel 5:6-8
6 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the
inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou
take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither:
thinking, David cannot come in hither.
7Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city
of David.
8And David said on that day, Whosoever getteth up to the gutter, and
smiteth the Jebusites, and the lame and the blind, that are hated of
David's soul, he shall be chief and captain. Wherefore they said, The
blind and the lame shall not come into the house.

Isaiah 28:14-20
14 Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this
people which is in Jerusalem.
15Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with
hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass
through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge,
and under falsehood have we hid ourselves:
16Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a
foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure
foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
17Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the
plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the
waters shall overflow the hiding place.
18And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement
with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass
through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
19From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by
morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a
vexation only to understand the report.
20For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and
the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it.

Read Jeremiah 4

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A Vessel of God

Job 12: 4 - I am as one mocked of his neighbour, who calleth upon God,
and he answereth him: the just upright man is laughed to scorn.

When we come in the Lord and things are good then it is very easy to
lift our hand up and praise God and give glory to Him. But when things
do not go our way, first we start wondering 'what is happening, I am not
such a bad person so why is this happening to me?' As things get tougher
we start to doubt 'does God love me?' Then there are times when things
get unbearable then we land to a point 'does God exist?'

Job in today's message went through one of the worst experiences but
never came to a stage of losing hope in God.

To understand life as a witness of the Lord Jesus Christ we need to
understand vessels. The word used for vessels in the Bible refers to
home utensils. Home utensils (vessels) are used only for 2 purposes one
is to cook and the other to serve. The good part (from man's point of
view) is when a vessel is put out on grand display, decorated and put
out to serve. When the food in it is garnished with good aromatic spices
and decorated with colourful ingredients that make the vessel ever more
important on the buffet table. Everyone like this position, what they do
not like is when the vessel in put on the flame to cook the food, before
it goes on the buffet table.

The Lord is telling us to understand vessels to understand the things He
takes us through in life. The vessels we use for cooking are mainly
metal vessels and the material they are made of are either aluminium or
steel. These metals are chosen because they are inert metals which do
not affect the cooking but at the same time are good conductors of heat.

We need to understand an expert cook knows best to handle the vessel and
accordingly uses the right vessel for the right dish. He sets the flame
to the vessel according to the amount held in it and the kind of dish
that is getting prepared in it. If the dish resists the heat (does not
conduct the heat well) then the cook needs to either set the flame on
high or keep the vessel on the flam for a longer time. Time to time
depending on the dish the cook will open the lid of the vessel to stir
its contents thus releasing the heat build inside it. Each dish has its
own place on the buffet table. The most sought after vessels on the
table are those that hold the main dishes. Their sizes are usually
larger than the others and they are the ones which were longest on the
flame. They were also the ones to which the cook gave the maximum
attention. A good cook never lets the vessel get blackened on the flame;
he knows how much max to set the level of the flame for that vessel.

We are the vessels and the dish inside us is the testimony and the
mission which the Lord has put into us. God has created us and He knows
our limits. He did not create us for vanity. He will never take us to a
breaking point and allow us to be broken. He puts on the flame not
because He hates us or wants to punish us but to prepare something
beautiful in us. The flame depends on the testimony which He is
preparing in us and our capacity to handle heat. If we resist the flame,
the longer we will be on the flame. So it is best to surrender to His
plan and faster we come off the flame. But then that does not mean we
fully surrendered so we should be off the flame immediately. If that is
done then the dish in us will be half cooked and rejected at the buffet
table.

Another factor very important is if the vessel is releasing its own
metal into the cooking and that affects the cooking then the cook
discards that vessel never to be used again for edible food. All vessels
do affect the cooking in very minor quantities but when the effect
increase to a stage that the taste of the dish changes greatly or the
vessel makes the dish inedible or poisonous then the vessel is
discarded. They are not thrown away but used for other purposes like
washing, collecting garbage, hold burning coals, etc...

If we are vessels of the Lord then we should realize we will be put on
the flame. We will experience difficulties in our lives and this happens
not because god hates us but because of His love He us using us for
greater things and not discarding us. From the day He made us He knows
how much flame we will have to bear and thus made us fully capable to
handle it.

So let us just surrender to Him Hands. As we are put on the flame let us
rejoice and praise Him for He is working on us and preparing something
great in us. Let us thank Him at all times not only when we are spread
in grandness on the buffet table but also when we are put on the flame,
for if we were not the flame we would not land on the buffet table.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You made us with great care in your limitless wisdom. You being
all knowing also know everything of us. You put us into tests regularly
not because You do not love us, but out of your love You want to prosper
us. Lord we thank You for choosing us as your vessels and using us. Help
us surrender to your plan and let nothing of our carnal self be added
unto what You are preparing in us. Teach us to thank You and give You
glory at all times...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Acts 9:13-16
13Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how
much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem:
14And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that
call on thy name.
15But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto
me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of
Israel:
16For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake.

Romans 9:17-23
17For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have
I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name
might be declared throughout all the earth.
18 Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will
he hardeneth.
19Thou wilt say then unto me, Why doth he yet find fault? For who hath
resisted his will?
20Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the
thing formed say to him that formed it, Why hast thou made me thus?
21Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one
vessel unto honour, and another unto dishonour?
22What if God, willing to shew his wrath, and to make his power known,
endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction:
23And that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of
mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory,

1 Thessalonians 4:3-8
3For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should
abstain from fornication:
4That every one of you should know how to possess his vessel in
sanctification and honour;
5Not in the lust of concupiscence, even as the Gentiles which know not God:
6That no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any matter: because
that the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also have forewarned you
and testified.
7For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness.
8He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also
given unto us his holy Spirit.

2 Timothy 2:20-21
20But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver,
but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
21If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto
honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto
every good work.

Psalms 34:19 - Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD
delivereth him out of them all.

Revelation 6:9 - And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the
altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the
testimony which they held:

Revelation 12:11 - And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and
by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the
death.
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Divisions in the Church

1 Corinthians 1:10 - Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our
Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be
no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in
the same mind and in the same judgment.

We all face the poisonous head of division which is eating into the
Church and keeping us from experiencing the glory of God. Even the
Apostles faced this problem and we read the first records of division
among Christians in the book of Acts chapter 6. It is by this we
understand one of the root causes of division.

When the Church was growing in strength and increasing in numbers
Satan also tried hard to destroy the Church. We read the Hellenistic
or Grecians Jewish Christians complained against the Hebrew Jewish
Christians because their widows were being overlooked in the daily
service.

The Grecian were people who followed the Greek traditions. Even though
these people had migrated to Judea since many years they had not let
go of their traditional ways which they followed of their native land.
The native Jews were known as Hebrews and were easily identifiable
from the Grecian for the Grecians spoke Greek while the Hebrew Jews
spoke Hebrew / Aramaic. The lifestyle of the Grecians was also
different they treated their women like Muslims treat their women.
Those who could afford had separate rooms for the women of the house
and were kept away from the eyes of other people. Their clothes were
uniform and utilitarian in the extreme. There was hardly any
difference between the dress style of the rich and the poor except for
their footwear.

We see these people identified themselves between each other mainly
because of their traditions.

I thank God that I was born in India a land extreme filled with
traditions. Not that I am proud of traditions but when things are done
in extreme they expose their root foundations.

In India we see traditions like the cuisine, clothes, festivals and
practices are dependant according to the part of the country the
people dwell. Since India has different climates in different parts of
the country, therefore the vegetation also is different and thus the
supplement ingredients in the food also vary and have caused different
kinds of traditional cuisines. Similarly the dressings also are
influenced by the climate and the terrain. Another factor that
primarily influences the traditions is the belief of the native people
and that also affects their dressing and their food habits. Some
traditions practiced over very long periods start to stick so hard
that they are no longer identified as tradition but are considered
de-facto way of life and anyone not doing it is looked on as an alien
or a crazy person. For example women wearing ear rings is no longer a
tradition by the people, so if they find a woman without them is
looked on as an alien or something wrong with the gender. People do
not bother to find the root of this tradition, if it is from a belief
or of pagan practice?

What is interesting is when people of one region move to another, they
do not change their way of life or traditions but continue the ones of
their native land. Even though that tradition was based on the
climatic conditions they lived in before, now that they moved to
another region with a totally different climatic condition and terrain
yet the traditions of the previous region are continued.

Tradition is one of the biggest factor that spiritually kills people.
It blinds the mind and spirit of the person. It is also one of the
biggest factors that cause division after doctrines (difference in
understanding - read 3rd July 2012 message). It may not be the way of
dressing or food that affects Christianity but the others do affect
Christianity. People try to fuse the beliefs, festivals and practices
from their pagan religions which have taken the form of way of life
into Christianity. Slowly they start to modify the doctrines of
Christianity and start creating different forms of Christianity and
thus cause divisions.

Language is a way of communication and should not be used to put
communication barriers between people by grouping them.

The Lord always detested the traditions of man. If we look the name
‘Jesus’ given to the Lord as man was more a Greek name instead of a
Jewish name. Paul was born in a family half Jew and half Roman and
would blend in either environment; he was also at home with the
Greeks.

The external traditions of man do not affect us Christians so much,
but the others do i.e. the concept of balancing genders in Heaven by
introducing a female gender came from pagan Babylonian/ Roman belief
inducted into Christianity. The great religious importance given to
objects or relics also is another factor (Bible gives a symbolic /
meaningful importance to objects but does not issue them a religious
status).

The Bible tells us we need to be born again to be Christians. We need
to be free of the yokes of traditions. We should renew our
understandings and start like a child to build our understanding of
the Kingdom of Heaven. Only then will we experience the Resurrection
Power in our lives. It is this Power which keeps us united together.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, even though we believe in You yet many of us are yet bonded by
the traditions and understandings of the world. Lord, we pray that we
start anew in You, like a child being innocent of the world but
learning all things through your Word and by your Spirit. Fill us Lord
with the gift of discernment that we may reject the things of the
world and thus be of one mind and one understanding, united in You...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Acts 6:1 - And in those days, when the number of the disciples was
multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the
Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily
ministration.

Acts 21:37-39
37 And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief
captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?
38 Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an
uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that
were murderers?
39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in
Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to
speak unto the people.

Galatians 2:1-4
1 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with
Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.
2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel
which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of
reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.
3 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to
be circumcised:
4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in
privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that
they might bring us into bondage:

Galatians 3:27-28
27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free,
there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

1 Corinthians 6:13 Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but
God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for
fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body.

1 Corinthians 7:29-31
29 But this I say, brethren, the time is short, so that from now on
even those who have wives should be as though they had none,
30 those who weep as though they did not weep, those who rejoice as
though they did not rejoice, those who buy as though they did not
possess,
31 and those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of
this world is passing away.

1 Corinthians 10:25-26
25 Whatever is sold in the shambles, that eat, asking no question for
conscience sake:
26 For the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.

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

Galatians 1:13-14
13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’
religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and
wasted it:
14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine
own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my
fathers.

2 Thessalonians 2:15 - Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the
traditions [what was spoken] which ye have been taught, whether by
word, or our epistle [reconfirmed here].

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After death what?

1 Corinthians 2:9 - But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God
hath prepared for them that love him.

The last 3 messages the Lord wanted us to understand death and what
happens to the body and spirit. That is good for knowledge and for
causing people to give a thought to their way of life so as to enable
them to repent and turn to the Lord. But today the Lord wants us to give
a thought to what is in store for us in Heaven.

Fear of the Lord like the fear of the law will prevent us from going too
astray from the path we are supposes to walk on. But it is only love,
like love for our country or the love for the Kingdom of God that keeps
us perfectly on the path. In love we do not have to worry of the
consequences of breaking the law or facing the wrath of God. It is not
that the law does not exist or God does not get angry, but for us when
in love it does not become a matter of concern.

People have so many questions about life. Like why God created us in the
flesh? Why God made man and woman when in Heaven we will be the same?
Why God allowed Satan(s) to exist when He knew what would happen? Did
God the Son need to humble Himself and suffer when He had the authority
to expel the darkness at a word? Why are the Angels so involved in our
salvation that at a word they move in to help us? Why only the Son and
the Spirit are in the front for the salvation of man and the Father has
separated Himself till the end?

Then come the personal and tricky questions. Why was Adam and Eve
allowed to sin, when God is omnipotent was He not aware they were
sinning? In the start He made the Tree of Good and Bad in the Garden of
Eden but at the end there is no Tree of Good and Bad, if it was not
there in the start man would not have sinned so why did God let it? When
we are baptized our previous sins are completely forgiven but then why
is the sin nature not removed immediately, if it was removed we would
not sin anymore, nor need to go through all the trouble in life, nor
would the Holy Spirit be required to work on us? Why do we need to grow
in the Holy Spirit, God would have given us all the 7 Spirits in full
and all the Fruits of the Spirit in the start itself and life would have
been easy? Why overcome when God can do all things in us in an instant?

It is only when we know our destination and what God has set for us in
Heaven that all these questions get answered very easily.

We know by today's scripture that no man can see, or hear or imagine in
his heart what god has stored for us in Heaven. But when we read it
carefully it says no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no heart has
imagine. It speaks of the natural parts of the body as not having the
capacity to understand the things of Heaven.

So to find the answer there are 2 important things that we need to do.

First we need to come out of the natural thinking process. We need to
discern the worldly knowledge, the worldly wisdom and worldly belief
from the Truth. It is only when we reject the things of the world than
only can we be able to get our answer. That is the reason yeast was
forbidden in the broken bread that represents our body in Christ.

Secondly we need to know the Lord Jesus Christ for we are a part of Him.
He is the vine and we are the branches. This is not just conceptual but
a spiritual reality. In Heaven also we will be an integral part of Him
(some days back we had the message 'Ancient of Days' which touched the
factor who the Lord Jesus Christ is). Another factor we need to get into
is, knowing what marriage means. Since we do not understand marriage we
imagine the Heavenly wedding to be like an earthly one we are used to.

Marriage is imitating a Heavenly event in our earthly life. It is by
this imitating this statute we understand this very important spiritual
event. We then understand why God said that 2 become one and how it is
compared to us becoming part of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It truly is unimaginable the things that the Lord is set for us in
Heaven. Since these things are only for the perfect and mature, thus God
needs to work in us and make us His sons.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we pray that we overcome this world, its teachings, its
understanding and its way of life. Help us separate ourselves
spiritually from this world the things of man but let us understand the
things of your Kingdom in which image You have created all things. Holy
Spirit reveal the Lord Jesus Christ unto your people and what it means
to be part of Him, so that we know our destination and thus have courage
to face all things...

This prayer we make in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Philippians 3:20-21
20For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for
the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,
21who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His
glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to
subdue all things to Himself.

Ephesians 4:13-16
13till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the
Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the
fullness of Christ;
14that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried
about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the
cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,
15but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him
who is the head---Christ- --
16from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint
supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does
its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Revelation 21:2-3
2Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of
heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of
God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His
people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.

Revelation 22:16-17
16"I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the
churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the Bright and
Morning Star."
17And the Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say,
"Come!" And let him who thirsts come. Whoever desires, let him take the
water of life freely.

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Ghost
Acts 5:5 - And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the
ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

It is the first time in the last 5 years that for 3 consecutive days I
am getting the same scripture. Today as I got it the first thing came
across my minds, 'Lord, now what do I write on', then my attention came
to the word ghost.

If one looks up a dictionary the word ghost (as a noun) refers to the
spirit of a dead man. We should be careful to use this word with other
spirits; many people wrongly use the word ghost with the Spirit of God.
The Spirit of God is not a spirit of man that we can use this word. When
we use this word with the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ for the Spirit
of our Lord Jesus Christ is also the Spirit of the Father.

We also cannot use this word towards evil spirits for they are not
spirits of man, although all the time they deceive man to be spirits of
man, they are really fallen angels. Do we use the term ghost towards the
Angels of God even though the Bible uses the word spirits for them?

The Greek word translated as ghost is 'ekpsucho' and this word is a
combination of 2 words one is 'ek' which means 'out of' or 'away from'
and the other word is 'psucho' which means 'wax cold' something to do
with coldness due loss of breath symbolizing spirit lacking life.

If we look at this word it more refers to a spirit that is lifeless
(metaphorically speaking). The spirit of a Believer in Jesus Christ is
not a ghost for even though it goes to sleep it is living, bubbling with
life. The Greek word used for the Spirit of God is not 'ekpsucho' but is
'pneuma' which means just 'spirit'. Another place where many translators
have made a mistake with using the word is when Jesus died on the
crucifix it is written He gave up His ghost. That place neither the word
'ekpsucho' nor 'pneuma' is used but the word 'ekpneo' which is
combination of 'ek' and 'pneuma' that is 'out of spirit'.

The word 'ekpsucho' meaning ghost in the Bible is used only 3 times.
When we look at the places it is used then we will have a good idea of
where to use the word ghost.

Acts 5:5 - And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the
ghost: and great fear came on all them that heard these things.

Acts 5:10 - Then fell she [Ananias' wife] down straightway at his feet,
and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead,
and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband.

Acts 12:23 - And immediately the angel of the Lord smote him, because he
gave not God the glory: and he was eaten of worms, and gave up the ghost.

Ananias and his wife had grieved the Holy Spirit by disobeying Him and
thus their spirits were condemned after their death. Again in Acts 12
the word is used to a person who is smote with disease by an Angel of
God. So we see the word ghost can only be used for the spirit of a man
who is condemned to vanity. The word cannot be used for the spirit of a
Believer and certainly not for the Spirit of God.

We should be careful when we use this word for man for it is in this
area the Lord says not to judge, for if we are wrong we will be paying a
very heavy price. Thus we can use it only when we have been told so by
the Holy Spirit.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, we ask your forgiveness for the times we have unknowingly
condemned the spirits of your loved one by using the term ghost for
them. We also seek forgiveness for using this term for the Spirit of
God. Lord, we know You do not hold a wrong done out of ignorance but
today as we have come to the knowledge of it we are expected to abide by
it. Lord, we thank You for Jesus Christ for by Him when we die we will
not be ghost but be a spirit full of life...

We make this prayer in Jesus' Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Acts 5:1-11
1 But a certain man named Ananias, with Sapphira his wife, sold a
possession,
2And kept back part of the price, his wife also being privy to it, and
brought a certain part, and laid it at the apostles' feet.
3But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to
the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
4Whiles it remained, was it not thine own? and after it was sold, was it
not in thine own power? why hast thou conceived this thing in thine
heart? thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God.
5And Ananias hearing these words fell down, and gave up the ghost: and
great fear came on all them that heard these things.
6And the young men arose, wound him up, and carried him out, and buried him.
7And it was about the space of three hours after, when his wife, not
knowing what was done, came in.
8And Peter answered unto her, Tell me whether ye sold the land for so
much? And she said, Yea, for so much.
9Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to
tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried
thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out.
10Then fell she down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost:
and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth,
buried her by her husband.
11And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard
these things.

Acts 12:1-23

Hebrew 1:13-14
13But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand,
until I make thine enemies thy footstool?
14Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them
who shall be heirs of salvation?

Matthew 5:22 - But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his
brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and
whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca [empty- referring to lifeless
spirit or a non-living soul], shall be in danger of the council: but
whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

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Breathe of Life
Acts 5:5 - Then Ananias, hearing these words, fell down and breathed
his last. So great fear came upon all those who heard these things.

Continuing yesterday’s message today, since I got the preceding
scripture. Today’s scripture talks of Ananias falling down and
breathing his last suddenly and this caused fear to come into all.
What shocked them was a healthy Ananias suddenly dies in an instant.

Death has always been the most important factor to make people to
change their hearts, their thinking or way of life. I know of Pastors
and Workers of the Lord’s Kingdom who never miss the opportunity to
preach God’s Word or to minister to unbelievers at funerals since they
have had great success in bringing people to the Lord at such events.

My yesterday’s post did stir many and there were many different
responses. Some thought we would be resurrected in the body therefore
our body needs to be buried and not cremated. For them my question
goes what happens to a believer who is amputated or their body broken
into parts in an accident or eaten by animals or fishes. Will they
also be raised in such a state?

Some state we will have revived body. To them then my question goes if
a infant dies will he or she be a infant eternally in Heaven? Or if an
elderly person dies will that person be looking like that forever in
Heaven, then woe unto them that die of old age.

Some say we will have a renewed body. If the look changes by the age
then what age would their body be and who decides the age? Will all
women be sixteen year looking and men twenty one looking?

The main factor we need to understand is - what is human life?

When God created Adam it is written God made man (body) out of dust
yet that body was not living until God breath into him and that caused
him to become a living soul.

Firstly what did God breathe into the body of flesh? The word used
here also means spirit. Did God put in him His Spirit, if so then that
would make Adam a Christ for Christ means one in whom the Spirit of
God is. Since Adam was not first Christ so the spirit was not God’s
Spirit.

We need to go to the part where it says after God breathe into him he
became a living soul or soul that became alive. Scriptures state God
created everything and rested. Scriptures also states God has already
written the names of those who will be truly saved in the Book of Life
even before they are born. It also says God knows us even before we
are formed in the wombs of our mother. Lord also states He knew us
from the foundation of creation. There are many other scriptures like
these which conclude that we already existed even before we were born
as humans or came into this world.

Let us go back to when God put into Adam a spirit and he became a
living soul. The word ‘soul’ refers to the person, who he is, the
inner man. It states when the spirit was put into Adam his soul came
alive.

We all know that we are made of 3 parts spirit, soul (inner-man) and
body. A soul refers to the inner man and is made of multiple parts
like our body is. Our faith, our skills, or character, our knowledge,
our curses etc. are all in our soul along with our deeds and the words
we speak and the thoughts we think. We are judged on the last day
according to our soul. Therefore we will not be able to justify
ourselves before the Lord, for our lives will be an open book.

Man in this world is a living soul as far as the spirit is in the
body. The moment the spirit leaves the body the soul does not die but
becomes inert. Any changes we need to do is when the spirit is in the
body after that nothing can be done to change us or change our
destination after death or on Judgement Day. People think they can
pray or bribe priests to saves the souls of their dear dead ones, they
are just deceived.

Being baptized in the Lord Jesus Christ and His Spirit can be done
while we are a living soul not after the spirit leaves the body.
Similarly working for a high place in Heaven by fulfilling the mission
which the Lord has assigned to us also can be done only when the soul
is alive.

Since we do not know when our spirit will leave our body, so every
moment lost is an opportunity lost.

[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You made us in the flesh to put us in the test. You also have us
all the help we need to pass including your grace marks, but only to
those who require it from You. Those who do not know You will lose
everything. Lord, eternal life is just not about believing but also to
do with the Image of God in us, therefore You came to make Sons of God
of us. Lord, we pray your people do not lose the precious moment of
their lives, that they believe and also mould their souls into your
image with the help of the Holy Spirit while the soul is living...

This prayer we make in Jesus’ Name, Amen.

[Reference Scriptures]
Genesis 1:26-27
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness:
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created
he him; male and female created he them(plural and male gender).

Genesis 2:7, 21-23
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.
21 And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he
slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead
thereof;
22 And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a
woman, and brought her unto the man.
23 And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

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