Tag: Faith

In the context of religion, one can define faith as confidence or trust in a particular system of religious belief, within which faith may equate to confidence based on some perceived degree of warrant, in contrast to a definition of faith as being belief without evidence.
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From Faith to Reality

I hope I’m not the only one with such questions in mind. Yes, I know we are to have faith that the “…father give good gifts…” Mat 7:11. But because we live in dual dimensions, it’s easy to get things twisted. Getting the real mixed up with fantasy. Spiritual with carnality. 

From imagination, we tend to develop an idea of what God has planned for us verses what He actually has in mind. How wonderful it would be to finally have and to hold a promise. But would it really be as wonderful as we’ve dreamed about? 

Yes I know that He’s “…able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we may ask or think.” Eph 3:20, but can He really? 

Would it really be wonderful?  I mean will it look like what I think it should look like? Will I recognize it when it appears?  Will I like it? Now that’s the real question, “Will I like it?”.

And especially since he’s said “… my thoughts are not your thoughts…” Is 55:8. What does he mean by that exactly? Will what he perceives as good for me be not good to me? After all, he is a father looking out for what’s best for his children. 

I believe it’s only natural to imagine our response and the feelings of joy and fulfillment in receiving fulfilled promises. But what if what we imagined coming to manifestation wasn’t quite what God had in mind? Boy would that be disappointing. What if, what He called a “good thing” scared the bejesus out of you? 

No matter what, there is one thing that I know for sure. And that is that he will give me, “…the desires of my heart.” Ps 37:4 And since, “…the father and I are one” Jn 10:30, I shall have, “whatsoever I say.” Mk 11:24 from faith, to reality. 

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A True Miracle: 5-Year-Old Thrown Off Balcony at Mall of America Suffers no Spinal Damage, no Nerve Damage and no Brain Damage

A True Miracle: 5-Year-Old Thrown Off Balcony at Mall of America Suffers Spinal Damage, no Nerve Damage and no Brain Damage

A man called Aranda approached the little boy’s mom at a group at the mall on the 12 of April 2019. Landen mom asked him if they were in his way and should move. Without hesitation or warning the stranger picked up Landen and threw him from the balcony at the Mall of America.

Surprisingly, this isn’t the first time 24-year-old has committed crimes at the mall. Aranda has two prior assault convictions from 2015 and was apparently banned from the the Mall of America for a period of time. He was also instructed to undergo psychological evaluation following those earlier attacks.

Later that day Aranda admitted to throwing the boy off the balcony to Police after they captured on a light rail train leaving the mall. He also told the police that he had attempted to kill somebody the day before (preferably an adult), but it didn’t “work out.”

He is being held in Hennepin County Jail in lieu of $2million bail and is scheduled to appear in court on May 14.  

The suspect’s uncle, Francis Aranda, told KSTP that his nephew had displayed violent tendencies since childhood.  

‘He has a serious mental problem, he was diagnosed as a child,’ the relative said.

He added: ‘We are going to pray for that baby [Landen] because what happened is so unfortunate, but it’s going to bring light to mental illness, I hope he [Aranda] doesn’t go to jail, he needs help.’

Pastor Mac Hammond (above) at the church Landen Hoffmann’s family attends in Woodbury, Minnesota, updated the congregation on the five-year-old’s condition on Sunday, nine days after he was thrown off a third-story balcony at the Mall of America on April 12

In spite of being thrown off a balcony that could have killed him, doctors have reported that Landen is thankfully doing much better than expected to the point where even the medical staff are chalking it up to nothing but a “miracle.”

This is truly a miracle. It’s like he fell off a bicycle instead of off the third floor of the mall.”

Mac Hammon, the pastor of the family’s church, was contacted by Landen’s grandpa on Sunday during the Easter sermon.

The results were obtained after a 5-hour MRI. “Doctors said they found no brain damage – not even any swelling,” Hammond told church congregants on Easter. “No spinal damage, no nerve damage ”¦ doctors are saying it is truly a miracle.”

Mac Hammon, shared that the boy did suffer many broken bones, including fractures on his arm, leg, and face. He will also need to have his spleen removed.

The GoFundMe page set up for Landen posted this encouraging update a week after the incident:

“The power of prayer is simply amazing. We all have been extremely humbled by the outpouring of support and prayers from everyone. Thank you for showing us there is so much good not only in our community but across the globe. Condition is again similar to previous days, another peaceful night of sleep — small steps towards the healing process. Each new day is a good day. Landen’s recovery is expected to be ongoing for a long time, while it’s hard to estimate costs, this will change everything for their family and require much of their time and focus.”

Over 27,000 people have donated to a GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $961,000 as of Tuesday morning.   

Mental Health Facts, Stats, and Data

  • Over 44 million American adults have a mental health condition. Since the release of the first State of Mental Health in America report (2015), there has only been a slight decrease in the number of adults who have a mental health condition (from 18.19% to 18.07%)
  • Rate of youth experiencing a mental health condition continues to rise. The rate of youth with Major Depressive Episode (MDE) increased from 11.93% to 12.63%. There was only a 1.5% decrease in the rate of youth with MDE who did receive treatment. Data showed that 62% of youth with MDE received no treatment.
  • More Americans are insured and accessing care. We can continue to see the effects of healthcare reform on the rate of Adults who are uninsured. This year there was a 2.5% reduction in the number of Adults with a mental health condition who were uninsured.  
  • …But many Americans experiencing a mental health condition still report having an unmet need. 1 in 5, or 9 million adults reported having an unmet need.
  • Mental health workforce shortage remains. Many states saw some improvement in their individual to mental health provider ratio. But in states with the lowest workforce there was almost 4 times the number individuals to only 1 mental health provider.


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Spiritual Growth Equals Daily Watering

Spiritual Growth Equals Daily Watering

How’s your faith? Do you want to have more faith? Did you know faith can grow and increase? Notice the Bible doesn’t say, “faith comes by having heard the Word of God one time.” It says that faith comes by hearing – present tense. We have to hear the Word of God over and over again in order for it to take root in our hearts and transform our minds. God’s Word can transform us in an instant, but most of the time, our faith grows as we hear the Word of God again and again.

Like a seed needs water daily to grow, your spiritual seed needs the water of God’s Word daily. The more you hear God’s Word, the more you know Him. The more you know Him, the more you will be able to believe Him–and that’s what faith is!

Today, let your daily focus be God’s Word. Choose a few Scriptures to listen to and meditate on? Write them down and carry them with you. Let that truth sink down into your mind and heart. Let the truth of the Word transform your faith, and belief in a God that can move you forward into the abundant life God has prepared for you!

“Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.”

(Romans 10:17, NKJV)?

Pray With Me
Yahweh, thank You for Your Word that is living and active. I pray that it will take root and grow in my life. Father, I submit myself to You and ask You to teach me Your ways. Give me the appetite to daily bask in Your promises in order to build my faith in You. God, give me a deeper insight into Your Word, so I will become more faithful to You and know You personally, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.

A special word from the Lord, from Pastor Ray Patrick

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Conspiracy Theory or Not?

When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, telling them, “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we ere asleep. If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble.” So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. (Matthew 28:12-15)

I do love a good conspiracy theory. As I’m studying a postgraduate degree in criminal investigation, I’m very keen on having many hypothesis and theories when researching a case that has multiple conclusions, so that each can be eliminated to find the right answer. What about the events of 9/11 or the disappearance of Madeleine McCann? Does the Illuminati actually exist? The whole Flat Earth Theory? The disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370? How about the one where Jesus’ body was stolen from the tomb?

The Bible itself contains the first mention of the Stolen Body myth. After the Resurrection, some of the soldiers who had been guarding the tomb reported to the chief priests what had happened. The chief priests bribed them to say the body had been stolen while they slept.

Hide-and-Seek

Some people today still imagine that the disciples played a game of hide-and-seek with Jesus’ body. But a load of facts make this conspiracy theory impossible to believe. The stone, for example, that sealed the tomb wasn’t the kind of stone you can skip across a pond. According to textual information and the calculations of two Georgia Tech engineering professors, it might have been a five foot high circular stone weighing around two tons. When the tomb was first prepared, a team of labourers likely would have set the stone in place, using a wedge to keep the stone from rolling down a trench that sloped down to the opening of the tomb. When Jesus was buried, the wedge was removed and gravity did the rest, sealing the tomb so it could only be reopened by a gang of noisy, grunting, strong men. That’s why the women, on the way to the tomb on Easter Sunday morning, wondered who could roll the stone away.

Mark 16:1-3 says,” When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb and they asked each other, “Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?”

As well as this, the chief priests requested a detachment of soldiers from Pilate, the Roman governor, to guard the tomb. The Roman guard unit could have numbered as many as sixteen highly trained soldiers. Those who entertain the Stolen Body myth suppose that a scared little group of disciples confronted a guard of heavily armed, battle-trained soldiers. The disciples either overpowered the soldiers or snuck past them in their sleep to heave a two-ton stone up an incline without waking a single man. Then, so the theory goes, the disciples carted off Jesus’ body, hid it and – over the next several decades – endured torture, ridicule and martyrdom to spread what they knew to be a lie!

This is hilariously ridiculous! I was reading an article this week about the research of a Harvard Law professor called Simon Greenleaf. He lectured for several years on how to break down testimony and to determine if a witness was lying. He said, “It was… impossible that [the disciples] could have persisted in affirming the truths they narrated, had not Jesus actually risen from the dead and had they not known this fact as certainly as they knew any other fact.”

What Does This Means To Me?

As Easter Sunday is tomorrow where we remember Jesus’ resurrection, I find it incredible how one man can be raised from the dead. This cements itself in my mind that Jesus WAS and IS the Son of God, the reason for my existence and the purpose of my life. Like the first Christians who saw that open tomb with their very eyes, I can have complete confidence that my Christian faith is based on the solid, historical fact of the empty tomb and the risen Christ… and that is why I believe in the right answer!

Happy Easter!

dontfearonlybelieve

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Holy Laughter

Holy Laughter

On this weekend where the focus is on the death, burial and resurrection of Christ, joy – not sorrow – should be our spiritual response. Did you know that it’s God’s will for you to be joyful always? God wants you to be happy and carefree. He wants you to love your life no matter what your circumstances look like. In fact, when you have joy in the midst of difficult circumstances, it’s the evidence that you have faith and trust that God is going to bring you through.

In Christ, joy is strength. When you have His joy, you can stand strong, no matter who or what wants to crucify you. You might say, “I’m just not a real jovial person. I’m more serious. I never laugh much.” I realise God made us all differently, but you can experience real inward joy, which should externally make you happy and excited. So let yourself laugh and have fun, because that’s why Christ came and died. I read where the average child laughs over 200 times a day, but the average adult only laughs 4 times a day. What happened? We’ve allowed the pressures of life, stress and responsibilities to steal our joy.

Today, on this Spiritual weekend, make the decision to get your joy back. Decide that you are going to look beyond Friday’s problems, to Sunday’s resurrection and hope, and know that God will see you through. Ask Him every day to fill you with His supernatural peace and joy, so that you can live in Christ’s strength and victory all the days of your life!

“Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.” 

(1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, NLT)?

Pray With Me
Yahweh, I humbly receive Your Word today. Father, on this weekend, I choose to open my heart to You, and invite You to fill me with Your joy and strength that the resurrection brings. Yahshua, thank You for showing me Your goodness, and empowering me with Your grace. I bless You today for Your amazing sacrifice, in Jesus’ Name! Amen

A special word from the Lord, from Pastor Ray Patrick

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Faith-based Methods For Overcoming Stress

Is it possible to overcome work stress?

Maintaining a spiritual connection is an integral component to developing good mental health habits and negotiating conflicts between ourselves and others. Current research suggests that the health advantages of spirituality are long term: one recent study found that women who went to any kind of religious service regularly had a 33% lower chance of dying within 16 years than their secular peers. However, spirituality also plays a role in overcoming short-term and ongoing health issues, including mental health concerns, as they emerge in our everyday lives.

Confronting Our Stressors

Though they may seem obvious at first, it’s important to address the root causes of your daily stressors, so that you can better understand why you experience stress. For instance, many individuals become angry during cycles, or phases, of high stress, such as when facing a big deadline or travelling constantly for work. During these moments, playing and talking to God plays a fundamental role in helping persons of faith heal from stress and panic. According to many psychiatrists, spirituality is actually a form of preventative medicine, because it helps foster good mental health habits to cope with the onset of negative emotions.

Stressing A Community Focus

Researchers hypothesize that a central reason spirituality positively impacts mental health is because of the community-building emphasis held within churches and other religious services. Going to church provides parishioners with support from their community and affirms a sense of belonging. In fact, one study found that a third of people who go to church every week were ‘extremely satisfied’ with their lives. Of course, not all churchgoers are ‘extremely satisfied’ with their lives and many do, in fact, experience ongoing mental health issues like stress. However, the Church is a form of communal and emotional support for those looking to heal from their distress.

Mindful-Faith Healing

At its most basic level, mindfulness is the practice of staying in touch with your spiritual wellness during everyday life. Though mindfulness has Eastern origins, many Christians and other religious denominations use mindfulness as a tool to talk to God and practice humility. Clinical approaches to treating anxiety with mindfulness are called mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) therapy. MSBR therapy is highly effective: in fact, many studies indicate that MSBR is on par with anti-anxiety medication in lowering levels of stress.  To begin, use your five senses to focus on the present moment instead of the future stressors. Staying focused on your breathing is also a good way to be mindful and steady yourself during times of high stress.

Overcoming mental health issues takes time and contemplation, but spirituality plays a critical role in helping patients understand the root origins of their symptomatic distress. Increasingly, individuals with mental health disorders are turning to their parishes, and in fact their larger communities, for guidance towards a path of healing and reconciliation.

By Lucy Samuels

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Move Forward

A Letter to YOU from the Devil

What was your past like? Have you made a decision to forget the negative things of your past? Many people don’t fully understand what that means. They wonder, “how can I forget something that’s happened to me?” But one definition of the word forget is to disregard intentionally, or to overlook. In other words, you have to choose to disregard your past so that it doesn’t keep you from moving forward. That could mean the good and the bad. 

Sometimes our past victories keep us from rising higher as much as past failures. Sometimes if we don’t let go of the old, we’ll never be able to embrace the new. It doesn’t matter what’s happened in your history, it’s time to forget what lies behind and live in the present – live forward.

Today, make the choice to move forward. Trust that God has a better future in store for you. Trust that He’s working on your behalf. As you forget what lies behind and press forward, you’ll automatically move forward. You’ll see increase and blessing, and live the abundant life He has in store for you with excitement and vitality!

“I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead”

(Philippians 3:13, NLT)

Pray With Me
Yahweh, today I choose to move beyond my past. Father, I don’t want anything to hold me back from what You have in store for my future. I choose forgiveness and peace. God, help me, by Your Spirit, to press forward into the life of blessings and excitement You have in store for me, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.

A special word from the Lord, from Pastor Ray Patrick.

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Right Friends – The Right Destiny

Don't put fullstop where God has placed a comma in your life

Ponder this, in Christ your destiny is too big to accomplish on your own. That’s why it’s so important to be connected to the right people. You have to understand that God has already placed certain people around you to speak faith into you. He has already placed people in your path that will inspire you, challenge you, and help you accomplish your dreams.

The reason some people never reach their highest potential is because they never get away from the wrong people. Recognise that not everyone is going where God is taking you. You’ve got to connect with people who understand a God given destiny, and can see your spiritual potential and your seeds of greatness.

Today, remember, you don’t have time to spend on people who are always pushing you down, telling you what you can’t do, or never giving you their approval no matter how hard you try. Those are not the friends you need, life is too short to drag people along. If you can get the wrong people out of your life, maybe then God will bring in the right people so you can fulfil the destiny He has mapped out for you.

“One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.

Proverbs 18:24, NIV

Pray With Me
Yahweh, thank You for preparing the right people to place in my life. Father, please help me to discern the right people You have for me. God, give me the strength to release the wrong relationships, so I have room in my life for the people You have chosen to connect me with my destiny, in Jesus’ Name! Amen.

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GOD is Love

GOD is Love

“He who does not love does not know God, for”¦ God is love”

1 John 4:8

“I AM WHO I AM”

Or in other words I am the one who is ‘eternally existing’, outside of time and space, which He has created.  John wrote in his Gospel account of the life of Jesus that:

“In Him was life, and the life was the light of men”

John 1:4 

Later in the same Gospel Jesus spoke the following awesome words:

“Most assuredly I say unto you, before Abraham was, I AM”

John 8:57

No wonder the soldiers fell before Jesus when He spoke the words “I Am”¦” to them.  “I Am” is the name of God which translates into the Hebrew tetragrammaton – YHWH (Yahweh).  It is in this name that we discover the essence of God — who He really is.  He is life that has always existed, exists now and will exist forever.  The flames that Moses encountered in the burning bush did not destroy it because the bush had been created by the Creator. We also read in Scripture that God is a consuming fire – fire as in energy or life. The word “life” in Greek is the word “Zoe” which means a life giving force or energy. 

Just imagine for a moment an energy source far more powerful than the stars or even the sun. The sun itself is a ball of energy with billions of atoms and molecules whizzing around at high speed. Yet God created the sun and the stars and indeed the whole universe. When we contemplate the night sky or the world around us the evidence of the existence of God is plain for all to see. Nature adheres to laws that have been set in place by a Creator God. For there to be a design in nature there has to be a designer – God. Only a fool says in his heart there is no God! (Psalm 14:1).  Atheists are like clay pots who say there is no potter! 

What does all of this energy do?  God is a consuming fire — but not a fire that destroys — else the bush would have been burnt to cinders.  No, this fire is a fire that burns with life. So how does this fire or life express itself?  Where does all that energy go? Or does it just burn where it is — just being, just existing, just “amming”? 

When we examine the Scriptures it is clear that God did not want to just ‘Be’ or ‘exist’ on His own. When we read Genesis 1 we see God creating light, the stars, the planets and the earth, plants and animals and then finally man, in His own image.  Man was the crown of God’s creation; but why did God create man in His own image? Well, what did God do with Adam and Eve after he had created them? Did He just ignore them and let them get on with tending the Garden? No!  Instead we read in Scripture that He fellowshipped with them in the ‘cool of the evening’. This energy, force, power, this life created mankind for a purpose — relationship.  Why? The Godhead itself is a loving relationship — intertwined and inseparable. The love relationship within the Godhead was to be reflected in God having the same intimate and loving relationship with mankind. We read in Genesis 1:26:

“Let Us make man in Our image according to Our likeness”

Well, that statement in the Word of God just blew away all monotheistic religions!  God is ONE but that oneness expresses the UNITY in love of the triune Godhead. A perfect love expressed in a oneness that is indivisible. Didn’t Jesus Himself command us to be one — as He and the Father are one? One united in a bond of love. So, God is one but also three. This is the very nature and mystery of the Godhead. We are also, individually, triune beings — spirit, soul and body made completely in His image. Isn’t that an awesome thought?

Let’s now consider the first three verses of Genesis Chapter 1. Here we find the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the waters — the Holy Spirit brooding, like a mother hen, full of energy but, as yet, no direction or purpose for that energy to flow.  In the Hebrew the Word for the Holy Spirit is Ruach or Chai. This word literally means ‘breath’. Then God, the Father of this triune entity, thinks ‘Creation’.  However, nothing happens until the Father speaks the Word, the ‘express image’ of the Father (Hebrews 1:3). The Word is, of course, Jesus. He is the ‘Wisdom’ of Proverbs:

“When He marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside Him as a master craftsman’

Proverbs 8:29, 30

And the ‘Word’ of John’s Gospel

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us”¦

John 1:14

Notice that the very first thing that God created was light — again energy, power and life:

‘Then God said “Let there be light”; and there was light.’

Genesis 1:3

In order for God to extend the relationship already existing within the triune Godhead it was necessary for Him to create another being in His image – a creature that would be able to freely converse and have relationship on the same level as God.  Why did God do this? Because ‘God is love’ — love within a triune entity. The ‘all consuming’ fire that Moses met in the burning bush was and is a passionate love; a desire for intimate relationship. This desire can only be expressed fully when there is someone to pour out that love upon. However, love is a gamble. Will that created creature reciprocate or return that love? Rejection is painful. It was a risk that our loving creator God was prepared to take.

Herein lay the challenge — creating a being that can freely choose to love — or not to love. That creature has to have the freedom to choose — otherwise it’s not love but control or manipulation.

Adam and Eve fell into sin and that was their free will choice. They chose to eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This violated the ‘Covenant of Love’ they had with God – just as a marriage is broken by adultery so Adam and Eve committed spiritual adultery. Instead of love and life, sin and death came to rule and reign in their hearts. The enemy enticed them to break their covenant with God — but he could no more make them sin than God could make them love Him. 

So, why didn’t God wipe mankind off the face of the earth and start all over again?  Love constrained Him. Love seeks restoration and reconciliation — never separation.

The closest relationship we have in the human sphere to this expression of God’s love is the covenant relationship that exists between a husband and a wife. That’s why divorce is so painful. When there is no one to shower your love upon; you suffer bereavement. Yours raison d’etre (reason for existing) is removed.  Likewise God suffered bereavement when Adam and Eve committed spiritual adultery. Sadly, we often look at things from our own selfish perspective — rarely from God’s. How Adam and Eve’s transgression must have pained Him!

So, a God, who is love, could not wipe out mankind when Adam and Eve sinned.  Instead He provided a way to restore that fellowship – so that love divine could continue to flow and express itself.

The Father part of the triune God sent the Word, the Son, to provide a way for the world to be saved through Him:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever  believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life”

John 3:16

Notice the word ‘gave’ — love always seeks to give and never to take. Just as Jesus hung, in naked agony on the cross — so the Father heart of God was naked for the entire world to see. Just as Jesus’ heart was pierced by the Centurion’s sword — so the heart of God was pierced and a river of love gushed forth cleansing the world of sin — for all who choose to come and drink from His cup of sacrificial love. Such amazing love!

Love also trusts. Trust is an attribute of love. You always trust the one you love.  That they will never hurt you, leave you or forsake you. When Adam and Eve sinned they broke that trust. The serpent cast doubt upon God’s Word. Remember his words:

“Did God really say?”

Genesis 3:1

Oh if only Eve had adhered to the Wisdom of Solomon in Proverbs 3:5:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding”

Adam was as much to blame. He was standing beside Eve. He did not rebuke the serpent and so failed in his duty as steward over God’s garden. He broke the trust God had placed in him to take care of His creation. Their suspicion, that perhaps God was hiding something from them, gave birth to a rejection of His love.

They doubted His kindness, His goodness and His love for them. They were told not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for their own benefit; just as a loving mother may tell her child not to touch the fire — or it will burn them.

However, love is always ready to forgive. God’s first action was not to destroy, to seek revenge, or even to teach them a lesson.  He is not a God of wrath — whom we must seek to appease — lest He come and strike us dead with a bolt of lightening!  Oh no, far from it! Instead He immediately sought a way to restore fellowship. Love does that.  God sacrificed an animal and clothed Adam and Eve with its skin. This was the first blood sacrifice ever recorded in the Scriptures.

Why was a blood sacrifice necessary to restore man’s relationship with God? 

Adam and Eve saw that they were naked. The glory covering of the Father’s love was gone and the glory of God cannot rest upon anyone who is in sin. Sin brings separation just as adultery separates a husband and wife. Only a blood sacrifice can bring restoration to a broken relationship with a holy God. Fig tree leaves will not suffice. Their sin, in that animal blood sacrifice, was covered. However, it was only a covering. Their sin could not be completely erased. Only the shed blood of God Himself could do that.

Imagine a coffee table that has a stain upon it. Visitors are coming and you don’t want the stain to show so you cover it with a white tablecloth. Hence, the blood of animals covered the sin nature of man – but they could never remove it. However, the blood of Jesus was more than sufficient to erase the stain completely. So Jesus, who is God, came and shed His blood, the blood of God Himself, on the tree of Calvary. His sacrifice has now given life to all who seek restoration of their love relationship with God. 

But why was it necessary for blood to be shed? 

We find the answer in Leviticus 17:11:

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul”

Leviticus 17:11

And:

“”¦without shedding of blood there is no remission” [forgiveness]

Hebrews 9:22

God is love and life is the expression of that love. When life-giving blood is shed as a sacrifice of love then un-forgiveness becomes forgiveness and separation becomes reconciliation and restoration.

God always seeks to have fellowship with us. That’s why Enoch was translated (taken up out of the world to be with God forever).  God could no longer bear to be without him (Genesis 5:24).  We all need to spend quality time with the Lord. The very first ministry of every Christian is to fellowship with God. Remember the first commandment – to love the Lord, our God, with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. He created us for that reason. All too often we get busy doing things for God instead of being with God. That’s why Jesus told Martha that Mary had chosen the better portion (Luke 10:42). It is only from a deep intimate love relationship with God that everything else will flow.

Jesus admonished us to build our house upon the ‘Rock’. Without our foundational relationship with the Father being in place we can forget about anything else (Luke 6:47-49). The marital analogy is a good one. When a husband and wife begin to spend less quality time together it won’t be long before that marriage will begin to crumble.  It’s exactly the same concerning our relationship with the Lord.

Oh, how many times have I been in a Church meeting and the Pastor ministers to his congregation our of ‘dry bones’!  He/she is so busy they have little time to spend with the Lord. Often this is because the five-fold ministry is not in place in many Congregations and the Pastor is trying to do everything. No wonder there are undernourished sheep everywhere living on stale manna instead of on the fresh and living bread of the Lord. Fresh manna can only be given out of an overflow of the heart of the person ministering who has been, and continues to be, in deep intimate communion with the Lord.

“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.  A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things”¦”

Matthew 12:34, 35

Proverbs 8:17 states that our Father loves those who love Him and who diligently seek Him. The word diligent means to be thoroughly industrious – to attend to everything with proper care and attention. We all need to ask ourselves the question — are we seeking God’s hand i.e. what He can give us or are we seeking His face i.e. God the Father for Himself regardless of any reward.

In Proverbs 4 we are admonished by the Lord to give:

“”¦attention to My words;

Incline your ear to my sayings.

Do not let them depart from your eyes;

Keep them in the midst of your heart;

For they are life to those who find them,

And health to all their flesh.

Keep your heart with all diligence,

For out of it spring the issues of life.”

Proverbs 4

To ‘attend’ to something means to give our full undivided attention.  How many times, however, do we leap out of bed in the morning and dash off to work without even saying grace over our eggs! Or hurry our lunch and fail to say thanks to the Lord for blessing the work of our hands that morning! How many times do we rush home at night, have our supper, and then collapse in front of the T.V. – feeding our souls on programs that Jesus would never dream of watching. Then, finally, we crawl into bed at night, setting our alarm for the next day too exhausted to even say goodnight to our Lord and Saviour — let alone pray! If we treated our wives/husbands in the same way they would soon be filing for divorce. Too many of us reserve God for ‘Sunday only’. 

Oh, how we daily pain our Father’s heart – and then we have the audacity to expect Him to reward us!  However, the writer of Proverbs, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, quite clearly says that God rewards only those who diligently seek Him.  Our heavenly Father causes those who truly love Him to inherit wealth and to fill their treasuries (Prov.8:21). This is the key to walking in God’s divine prosperity.

“I love those who love me and those who seek me diligently will find Me”¦

That I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth,

That I may fill their treasuries.

Proverbs 8:21

The apostle Paul admonished us not to grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30).  God is easily grieved. Why? – Because He is love.

Only as we truly love the Lord for who He is and not for what He can give will we be blessed with long and prosperous lives. The Lord looks upon the heart. He sees our heart motives in everything we say and do (1 Samuel 16:7). So, let’s repent of our luke-warmness towards God lest we suffer the consequences:

“”¦because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.” (Revelation 3:16)

When we are lukewarm we are covenant breakers — we are guilty of breaking the first commandment as I mentioned previously:

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart with all your soul with all your strength, and with all your mind”¦”

Luke 10:27

With the awful possibility that Jesus may say to us at the judgement seat of Christ:

“Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” and then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you’”

Matthew 7:22, 23

Intimacy with our Father must always be the number one priority in our lives.  Everything else will then fall into place. Whatever trials, tribulations or troubles we may face our heavenly Father has the answer to every one. Nothing is too difficult for our Father who created the Universe. The size of your challenge is dependent upon the size of your God. Remember David and Goliath. David knew that he was well able to slay the giant as he did not consider this ‘mighty warrior’ towering over him. Instead his focus was on his much mightier Father God with whom he had a blood covenant.

How will you hear your heavenly Father’s voice, from many other voices speaking to you, if you don’t spend quality time with Him? How can we know whether it’s His wisdom speaking into a situation? It could be our flesh speaking to us, the pizza we ate last night, or, worse still, the devil.

If an acquaintance of mine phones me I might not immediately recognize their voice.  Perhaps I have only spoken to them once or twice before. However, if my son phones up I will at once recognize his voice.  Place him in a crowd of a million other boys of the same age and similar appearance and I would still be able to tell him apart from all the others.  Likewise, with our heavenly Father. We need to make Him the number one priority in our lives and then we will know His voice. This is easy to do when we have a deep revelation of His love — for He loves us with a love deeper than the deepest ocean, wider than the east is from the west and higher than the highest mountain! 

Jesus Himself said that His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him (John 10:27). So, if you are one of the Lord’s sheep then you will hear His voice and you will follow Him.

Finally:

“”¦We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose”

Romans 8:28

I will never forget the day when divine love pierced through the darkness of my life.  I had recently returned from Greece where I had been responsible for overseeing a travel business. I had a baby to bring up by myself and my mother, whom I loved very much, had just died of cancer. I had no money at the time — just a pile of debts. I was suicidal. I knew exactly how many paracetamols to take to end my miserable existence. However, I myself was constrained by love — love for my baby son. Who would look after him if I took my life? There was no one. Nobody cared — or so I thought.

As my son was sound asleep one night I picked up an old Bible. I’d not read the bible since I was a child. I remembered with affection my father, who was a God-fearing man. He always insisted that my older sister and I attended Sunday school every week. We had to walk two miles to the local village and back from our Devonshire farm house. I remembered the worksheets we were given to do at school and the strict Christian R.E. teacher urging us to complete them before the bell went for the next lesson. I remembered the times that I was in the Sunday school play and the detestable poetry verses I had to memorise. Once I obstinately refused to memorise them — to the horror of my sister who glared at me from the audience as I stumbled over my lines. ‘Who cares?’ I thought ‘It’s only a stupid Sunday school play for stuffy old pew warmers!’  I was quite rebellious at times but, in my own way, I believed that there was a God — out there somewhere who had some purpose for my life. I remembered walking through the beautiful countryside near our home.  I’d try to reach up and touch God — but this Creator God seemed to live far, far away up in the clouds. He remained, for me, aloof and distant.

Now, as I took the slim black, rather dusty old Bible in my hands, I remembered with affection, the parables of Jesus I used to read as a child. So I decided to read them again. There was nothing else to do and I was tired of watching the everlasting soap operas on TV — after all the actors on these programmes always spent their time gossiping, bickering and falling out with one another. They certainly didn’t have any of life’s answers.

As I began to read those parables again the love of an ‘aloof and distant’ God began to touch me. The darkness in my bedroom, where I sat, began to brighten until it felt as if the sun itself was shining on those old, worn out pages. I felt an awesome presence of love’s warmth break through my clouds of despair and embrace me.  It was like a shaft of sunlight on a summer’s day — warm and inviting with the assurance that the long, cold winter was over. Love embraced and enfolded me with Her arms – a love deeper than any I’d experienced in my life before. Tears rolled down my cheeks and, before I reached the Gospel of John, I had received a taste of the divine love of God. A love willing to sacrifice everything for me, even a horrific death on a cross, so that I might have a deep, intimate relationship with Him.

No one had ever died for Alison — no one, apart from my mother, had ever really cared. However, here was God, the majestic, awesome, sovereign Creator God of the Universe, reaching down and wrapping me, a mere ‘speck of dust’ in the Cosmos, in the warmth of His intense, passionate embrace.

One of my favourite hymns is the one that was written by Charles Wesley – ‘Love divine all loves excelling’. This hymn epitomizes, above all else, the supremacy of the Agape love of God. Finally, after struggling with such a deep revelation of God’s love for a pitiful, lonely, depressed and suicidal single mother, I fell on my knees before my Creator.

I didn’t know any eloquent prayers.  I didn’t even know how to pray.  I simply responded to His love. How? I told Him I loved Him. But that was enough! God, who is love, came rushing into the open door of my heart and I’ve never been alone since. Whatever happens in life I now know that God loves me.

I had sought for unconditional, sacrificial love all my life. I’d sought for it in my parents, in friendships, in the arms of a lover, even in my work. I mistakenly thought that, if I were a successful business woman, people would love and respect me for it.  I was trying to find my identity and my true worth in what I did. I now know that the only place to find such love, such true and ever lasting love, is in the arms of a loving Saviour. In the arms of the One who will never leave you nor forsake you — no matter what silly, stupid mistakes you might make. That’s unconditional love.

The love of God is the all-consuming fire that Moses experienced. It’s just as intense, if not more so, than if you touch a hot stove. That’s the intensity of the love of God.  If we truly reciprocate His love then we will never seek to hurt Him. Instead we will always try to please Him in all that we do every day of our lives. It’s upon this ‘Rod of Love’ that everything else, all of God’s laws and principals, will hang in place.  Remove this Rod and everything else will simply fall down – just as a pair of curtains will if you remove the curtain rail. So, let’s ensure our ‘Rod of Love’ is always in place — burning passionately and intensely for God – who is love.

By Dr Alison Brown

Extracted from ‘Images of God — reflected in a Victorious Christian Lifestyle’

Available from Amazon

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You Don’t Control The Outcomes Of Your Life, Principles Do.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:27

There always have been and always will be two classes on the earth to the end of time–the believers in Jesus, and those who reject Him.

Sinners, however wicked, sinful, evil, abominable, and corrupt, by faith in Jesus Christ will be purified and made clean, through the doing of His word. and the blood of Jesus Christ which was shed on calvary.

Those who reject Christ and refuse to believe the truth will be filled with bitterness against those who accept Jesus as a personal Saviour. But those who receive Christ are melted and subdued by the manifestation of His love and His humiliation, suffering, and death in their behalf.

The peace that Jesus Christ gave to His disciples, and for which we pray, is the peace that is born of truth, a peace that is not to be quenched because of division. Without may be wars and fightings, jealousies, envies, hatred, strife; but the peace of Christ is not that which the world giveth or taketh away. It could endure amid the hunting of spies and the fiercest opposition of His enemies…. Christ did not for an instant seek to purchase peace by a betrayal of sacred trusts. Peace could not be made by a compromise of principles.

It is a grave mistake on the part of those who are children of God to seek to bridge the gulf that separates the children of light from the children of darkness by yielding principle, by compromising the truth. It would be surrendering the peace of Christ in order to make peace or fraternize with the world. The sacrifice is too costly to be made by the children of God to make peace with the world by giving up the principles of truth…. Then let the followers of Christ settle it in their minds that they will never compromise truth, never yield one iota of principle for the favor of the world. Let them hold to the peace of Christ.

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Abortion: A License to Kill

Abortion: A License to Kill

The world went from calling a ‘clump of cells’ nonhuman, to allowing abortions when the clump of cells begins to ‘look human’, accepting third-trimester abortions, and now pushing for the termination of babies moments before birth, or in some cases, just after birth. It seems that what they are seeking is an all-inclusive licence to kill.

Just the other day, a cousin wanted help with writing up an argument for a school debate. The debate? Whether you agree with abortion or not, and why. She took the pro-life route, but not without some backlash for it. Another pro-choice family member said that the world did not need any more unwanted children and that women who were not ready to have children and take care of them must abort their babies to save the rest of the world some trouble. I sat there for a moment, merely listening to the debate going back and forth. The pro-choice side was quite strong and appeared to be winning, but I decided to speak up and deliver one line: you will answer to GOD for what you have done, I hope you’re ready for it. Everyone sort of looked away, looking for something to say, but as they were supposed professing Christians, they had nothing to say. Murder is murder, no matter the stage of life. The excuse that a woman should have a right over her own body at the expense of the growing baby in her stomach is weak. No amount of getting angry or violent will change that fact.

I believe that most people reading this are aware of what the Scriptures say about murder, life, and being known by GOD before even conception has taken place. The most beautiful verse about growing life is Psalm 139: 13-18, verses that I take comfort in during times of uncertainty concerning my purpose and worth. As Believers, we know that we can turn to GOD’S Word and find the words that we need to overcome whatever challenges we are facing, but the rest of the world does not. They are hellbent on living their lives as they will, not accepting the consequences for their choices. Every problem must be looked at in context, but sin does not need a framework to be considered sin, it just is because GOD has said it is, and murder is a sin. For example, a young cousin of mine has recently fallen pregnant due to her promiscuous lifestyle. She is 18 this year, and instead of being in her last year of school, she is only beginning her high school year as she has failed several times. This can be blamed on her lack of school attendance. You dig deeper, and you’ll find that she was not disciplined as a child growing up, in fact, she was primarily left to live her life as she wished. Both her parents have now passed away due to AIDS, and she lives with family members but does not respect them. Most of my family wanted her to get an abortion because her baby would mean one more mouth to feed as she is not working. According to the world, this context for abortion would be acceptable, but to GOD it is not. What they are saying is that a life should be extinguished due to the mistakes of the mother. So, if I was to use their reasoning then the family of a murder victim should be allowed to kill the murderer’s mother, father, siblings, or child to atone for what the murderer has done. It doesn’t sound so acceptable when used in another situation, does it?

Another family member had a botched abortion, by botched I mean that the baby lived. She is also living with HIV, and the father of the child is also HIV positive. We all (or should) know that HIV can be avoided being passed down to the foetus; however, her situation led her to take the abortion route. She already has three children by three different men, does not have a stable job, and is an alcoholic. She does not take care of her children, in fact, two are now considered adults and can mostly defend for themselves. The last born is taken care of by family members. The local clinic told her to have an abortion due to these circumstances, but she waited until she was five months to do so. Off to the hospital she went to remove the child from her womb, thinking that she would not have to deal with another baby in her life. They removed the baby, put it in a black bag, and tossed it on the cold floor of the morgue. A nurse entered the morgue several hours later only to find mewling noises coming from the bag. She opened it and realised that the aborted baby was alive! This sent the hospital into a panic. They quickly got the baby into an incubator and informed the mother that the baby was alive. Could you imagine the shock? For the next five months, the baby was kept in an incubator, damaging her eyesight in the process. When she was finally allowed to be taken home, the mother was told that her baby would never be able to walk, talk, and would likely die as a toddler. To top it all off, the baby was HIV positive. Ten years later, the little girl is walking, and though she cannot speak, she uses sign language. She is the sweetest little girl with a cheeky attitude of her own and is well aware of all that goes on around her. She goes to a special school, is learning how to write more clearly, and loves anything to do with drawing and colours. In short, she is a girl like any other, even with her special needs.

Abortions can bring about emotional trauma that may not be experienced immediately after, but let me tell you that when it comes to bite your rear end, it takes a chunk. I know of an old woman who is riddled with guilt for the two abortions she had as a young woman. It gets so bad that she becomes gravely ill and has to be admitted into hospital and put under observation. Her mind comes and goes, sometimes not recognising her living children and calling out for those who have died. Her reasons for abortion were tied to the hard times of the country when Apartheid was still in effect. She is a black woman who had had relations with white men (I do not know if it was rape) resulting in two pregnancies. She managed to abort two of those pregnancies for fear of being found with a mixed-race child, but she was not able to do so with her third pregnancy. Now as an old woman, those abortions have come back to haunt her and do not give her peace.

Of course, the argument of high-risk pregnancies also comes up. Let me stress here that I may speak frankly, but I do not feel disgust for the people but for the sin. People will say that a medical reason to abort the baby is acceptable, especially if it puts the mother at risk. Also, if the baby is to be born with a deformity, then it would be better to abort the baby before he/she is born. I hear what the argument is, but my stand does not change. Abortion is wrong because it is murder. People would sooner laugh in my face when I say that Jesus is the Great Physician than listen, but it is true. Do you not think that He would be able to save both mother and child? Do you not believe that He can help that child with the deformity? The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is within us today if indeed we are His. Nothing is impossible for GOD, but only if we believe. To doubt is to tell Him that we do not believe that He can do anything for us. He created the world, for goodness sake, will He not help a mother in need? But the world chooses to reject Him still, and even His own people doubt His power to heal. People would sooner find an excuse for their sin than humble themselves and fall to their knees before Him to seek grace and mercy. Or, worse yet, His own people deny that He still performs miracles and wonders in the world today.

Forgiveness is available to those who have had abortions in the past but regret having done so. If you serve our Sovereign LORD, then you should know that He will forgive you for there is no condemnation for those who believe. He scatters your sins away and makes you clean. Do not miss this opportunity due to your guilt. He loves you in spite of your sin, but you need forgiveness from Him and yourself to be set free.

All I know is that the GOD we serve does not change, neither is He cold to the plight of people. He loves us all, but not all of us are His. He loves the downtrodden, the deformed, the unwanted- all of them! The world may reject them, but Jesus stands with open arms to accept them. What He did back then He can do today, and what He considers sin is a sin no matter the reasons the world may give. At the end of the day, you need to understand that there are consequences to everything, and perhaps you will not experience those consequences now and go about your life as you want to. But when you stand before the Ancient of Days and give an account of your life, do not say that you were not warned.

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What Am I Putting First?

What Am I Putting First?

One of the most charming love stories in recent history was that of former United States President, Harry Truman, and his wife of 53 years, Bess. Having met in Independence, Missouri, in 1890, the love story began to unfold. Harry wrote 1,300 letters to his beloved wife during the war, his career and tenure of presidency. Harry had a lifelong rule: write to Bess every day they were apart.

Diplomatic and historical scholars examining these letters hoped to shed some light on historical events of the time. However, what is more fascinating and striking is Harry’s simple desire to continually write to his wife amidst dealing and negotiating with the world’s most powerful leaders. Priority. Harry desired Bess to know that she always came first, no matter what business and political decision-making he was in the process of. Harry prioritised his beloved wife.

Just as Harry wanted to demonstrate that Bess came first, in Luke 2:41-52, Luke wants the Christian to see what comes first in their life. What is the priority for the Christian? Who or what is the primary object of our affection and devotion? I wonder, is God our priority?

After Jesus parents have been on a wild search for their only child, they find Jesus sitting in the temple. Residing there, Jesus claims “why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). Instead of an apology, which we expect following his parents’ stressful and anxious search (2:48), Jesus insists they should have known where he was. In a moment of tension between parents and son — Jesus claims a priority to God above all. Jesus is claiming it is necessary he be about the Father’s business first and foremost. As John Calvin highlighted:

The responsibility that Jesus owes to his Father in heaven ought to be immeasurably preferred to all other human responsibilities.

This does not mean we become lazy and laid-back to the responsibilities of life. It means in view of everything we do, God must be first priority. Preferring Him and His business to everything else.

Revolving Around:

For the Christian, God is our priority now on earth. Not soon, not when you think you have sorted everything out, not when you clean up your act or tick off that bucket list! God as priority tops every list.

However, it can be difficult. We live in a ‘revolving around’ generation. There is so much information coming our way: notifications, alarms, buzzers, texts, emails, news alerts, an endless list. We are stressed and anxious; exhausted with the toil of life. What often happens is that our world revolves around ourselves. Revolving around our own heads and hearts we try to press through life.

Yet, Jesus, in the very first recorded words we have from him, indicates everything revolves around God. The priority for Jesus is God. With all the noise around us, why do we not take the time to sit with our Father like Jesus?

Yes, we will fail. But, we stand in great recognition of the grace God has lavished on us through His Son. Put aside the weights and burdens of this world, deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Christ. It is not an easy call; trials and tribulations will come. But even when we fall in our sin, Jesus upholds us. The mistakes and failings of our lives can be taken to the cross and forgiven. Past, present and future.

With the indwelling Spirit, pray God would point us towards Him first that we may grow to be more like Christ. And to recognise He is the centre of it all. The first words of Jesus are some of the simplest, but they capture the essence of Christian living. It is not about us; it is about submitting gladly and obeying joyfully the Father first because of His great love for undeserving sinners.

Riches I heed not nor man’s empty praise; Thine my inheritance now and always. Thou and thou only, first in my heart. High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

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More than these

More than these

Growing up with several siblings can make you feel like you have fallen through the cracks. This creates in you a desire to be special, a favorite of somebody’s, anybody’s. Thus, began the life pursuit of trying to be somebody’s favorite whatever. I tried it on as a favorite child, a favorite friend, a favorite singer. I even used to want to be one of God’s favorites. But, Praise God, He doesn’t have any favorites, and that is where healing from this malady began. I picked up on what may have been a similar struggle in the Apostle Peter’s life.

So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,

“Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.

(John 21:15-17)

This is a precious passage where I believe Jesus is restoring Peter from the three denials he committed, as Jesus stood being questioned before His death (John 18:25-27). By asking Peter if he loved him three times, Peter was able to be restored by saying three times. “Yes, Lord, I love you.” But I believe there is more going on here than just restoration.

The first time Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him has an extra phrase, “more than these.” Peter was a natural leader, which is seen as you watch him in several passages of Scripture, which I cannot expand on now. But one obvious indication of his leadership call, is prophesied by Jesus Himself.

And Jesus said to him,

“Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

(Matthew 16:17-19)

Now perhaps I am taking liberties here but bear with me. Peter perhaps thought he must be a favorite of Jesus by being called the Rock and building the church on that rock. Perhaps we have thought more highly of ourselves through a similar call or position God has put us in.

I believe the fall of Peter, through the denial of Jesus, was something Jesus used to help Peter realize that God has no favorites. “Do you love me more than these?” is a question that God has shown me I was unconsciously asking and believing for quite a long time. I longed to be somebody’s favorite, so I tried to be God’s.

But the true freedom is found in belonging to a God who has no favorites in His Kingdom at all. He just has Beloveds. He loves us all equally, completely, perfectly. Perhaps God is having to show you that He has no favorites, just beloveds. He showed me through the same kind of fall that Peter went through. I was knocked off my high horse like the Apostle Paul in Acts 9. But it was the love of God that knocked me off that horse, and it was the love of God that left me in a suffering situation longer than I would have liked. It was the Love of God that told me I was not a favorite of His because He has none. I don’t try to be a favorite anymore. I don’t need to because like all the children of God, I am a favored one, a beloved one, a treasured one; as are you all, Dear Believers. Rest in His all-consuming, never-ending, completely restoring Love.

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A Letter to YOU from the Devil

A Letter to YOU from the Devil

I am working.


I do not care, and although people tend to depict me as an ugly two horned beast and a fork tail, this is false.

The truth is whoever knows the bible knows very well that I can still appear as an angel of light.

Actually, I go to church more often than many and feel particularly happy when I come across Christians who neglect to pray or read the Bible on a regular basis.

It is in this that I am filled with joy and even applaud.

This is because the less you pray and read the Bible, the more control I can exert over you.

My greatest joy is when at the moment of preaching, many are talking, distracted on the their mobile phones or to concerned with their appearance.

My greatest sadness is when I see the church singing. I turned against God along time ago, because I wanting to be his equal. As a result I was expelled from heaven and lost all my privileges and so I have made this earth my home.


Today in the church, *music is what I hate most*.
Therefore *I have set a spirit of pride and prostitution for the musicians*, (Ezekiel 28: 12,13,14,15).

*My end is near*. That is why in recent times I am working hard to bring crowds with me to hell.

My mission is to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10).

I attract crowds with songs, dances, parties, alcoholic drinks, drugs, social networks, soap operas, movies, fame, fashion, lust, money, sexual pleasures etc.

I like to see women exposing there bodies to arouse the sensuality of men.

Many go to church with tight pants and short skirts.

I’m not afraid to reveal my secrets. I know very well that even when all this is said, there will be no improvement in you.

The things that make me angry in the church are: *fasting, prayers, intercession, and offerings*.

When I want someone not to go to church, I put thoughts like:

‘You are tired’, you are not fit to go to church … Then do not go!

‘The services are long and tiring’, do not go !!!

‘Rest, enjoy the TV!’

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Almost Done

Math is not a strong suit of mine. I can do it, I’m just not crazy about it. I can perform math functions without even realizing it and it pleases my brain to do so that way. If math turns out to be a side note or byproduct of another action, even better. But perform math deliberately, nah.

As I was eating breakfast this morning it dawned on me that as I was equally distributing my portions, I was actually performing mathematical functions. Perhaps percentages, as I needed to know how much bacon per forkfull of cakes. Maybe some geometry and a little algebra. I frequently needed to solve for “x” or what it was I was going to put into my mouth next to complete this full bodied, flavorful bunch of sweetness.

Have you ever noticed the way that we eat our food? I mean the way that we portion each item just so. I ate each bite of pancake with a bite of bacon. I even took a sip of juice according to the amount of moisture, or lack thereof, into my mouth as needed. Why is this topic important you may ask. Well, it shows that we are much smarter than we think.

Here I am performing percentages and partial geometric equations and solutions over a stack of pancakes and bacon. Including the liquid adds another dimension of smarts to my repertoire. It reminds me that being intelligent is apart of our being whether we’re conscious of it or not. We are smart. You may say, “That doesn’t take smarts, just hunger.” and you would be partly correct. However, that’s even more of the miraculous about our makeup as human beings.

Even in a state of lack or deprivation, our brains still have the capacity and wherewithal to perform the most trivial of tasks by proportionately allocating bite-sized morsels into our mouths in just the most satisfying of combos. Whew, that was a mouthful. (no pun intended) If God created, and he did, such seemingly complex features in just this small area of our makeup, how much more will he complete the major things in our lives. Especially when it comes to our purpose.

God always finishes what he starts, know that what he started in you he will most definitely complete. So the next time you sit down to have a stack of pancakes remember, you’re a mathematical genius and enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that you too are not half done.

Scripture references: Colossians 2:10; Philippines 1:6

dorothy’s page © 2018 Dorothy E. Young

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I’m here

I'm here

If I’m with you when it’s cool

And not with you when it’s hot

What kinda friend am I

When courage I have not

To shield you

To stand in the gap

To intercede for you

As a matter of fact

My love is proven

As I’m with you in life’s heat

Good times are for fairweatherers

But true loyalty isn’t beaten

When public opinion yells

“Crucify him! Hang him high!”

I’ll still be in your corner

Sending prayers toward skies

Of God’s mercy and

His unmerited Grace

For he alone is able

To save you, today

Dorothy’s page © 2019 Dorothy E. Young

 

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