Monday, October 30, 2023

THE WAY OF THE CROSS II

 

We saw in our last studay that to be a disciple we have to be willing to forsake all our possessions, and love Jesus more than our father, mother, wife children and our lives as well.

Jesus also said that we must deny ourselves daily and carry our cross daily if we are to be His disciples. 

The cross have a horizontal and a vertical line +. The horizontal line shows my own way and my own will whereas the vertical line shows Gods will and Gods way. This simply means that in everyday of our lives, we will have opportunities where our wills will CROSS with Gods will and that is where we will have to deny our own will, plans, ambitions and desires and chose Gods will. Since this is something that must be done daily; we can never sit in relaxation and congratulate ourselves that we have carried the cross today and yesterday and in previous days; tomorrow you may never choose to carry the cross. 


The phrase “being led by the Spirit” is used by believers many times; but have you ever asked yourself where does the Spirit lead us? Rom 8 and Gal 5 speak much on the subject and we can closely examine them.

Rom 8:13-14 says, IF YOU THROUGH THE SPIRIT PUT TO DEATH THE DEEDS OF THE BODY, YOU WILL LIVE, FOR ALL WHO ARE LED BY THE SPIRIT OF GOD ARE THE CHILDREN OF GOD.

Reading the two verses together, we realize that the Spirit leads us to put to death the desires of the body. He leads us to the cross; for example, if have money and you desire to buy a new shirt or dress, but you also have a debt you have not repaid, the Spirit will lead you to put to death that desire to buy a new shirt and lead you to clear your debt first of all. If you have hurt someone and you are going to offer an offering, the Spirit will lead you to go FIRST and be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your offerings. Mat 5:23,24


Gal 5:16-25 says that if we are led by the Spirit we will not gratify the desires of the flesh. The Spirit fights against the flesh and the flesh against the Spirit…those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its appetites, passions and desires and lusts. 

We see again here that the Spirit leads us to the cross, to crucify our fleshly desires. the natural man desires to be recognized, appreciated, famous, great in the world, approved by men but Jesus told the disciples to only seek the honour that come from above, to be servants of men and never to be men-pleasers. Mat 20:26,27; Joh 5:41-44; Gal 1:10 This is the way of the cross, it is the way Jesus went and it is centrally to the way the world thinks.


When we walk this way, we will not fall prey of the false prophets. Peter in 2Pet 2:18 says that the false prophets trap, entice, seduce people into their crowds through the desires of the flesh. For example, in much of todays preaching, the most messages preached will not offend the hearers as is written, the people tell the prophets to speak to them smooth words, tell us what we want to hear, things that will make us feel good. Isaiah 30:10. 2Tim 4:3 also says that the people will gather for themselves teachers who will tickle their ears telling them what they want to hear. People do not want to listen to the message of repentance and self denial; what they want to hear is that God will prosper them and that it does not matter how they live, and that sin is not serious; angels will come and take them to heaven when they die.

If we learn to take the cross, we will not fall prey of these false teachers.


It is in taking the way of the cross that we experience the peace that no circumstance can disturb and the joy that no man can take away. Let us then not shy away from this way.


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THE WAY OF THE CROSS

     

The way of the cross that have been neglected today and if you do a research on believers on what they understand about the subject, you’ll discover that most believers have no clue on what it means, and many have never even heard that there is such a way that is described in the new testament. This is the reason there is shallowness in most believers lives; there is no lasting joy and peace.

Jesus said that the joy which he offered, no man could take it away, John 16:22. If we stop for a moment and think, how many things that people have done to us and because of that thing we lost our joy? We see that not many believers have truly experienced the joy that Christ offers. He also promised to give us peace that is different from the one the world offers; the peace that the world offers is one which is only present when everything is going on well but is disturbed when calamity or loss or injury occurs. Jesus offers us a peace that nothing can disturb, whether a loss, or calamity or eveil done against us by others; there is nothing external done against us that can disturb the peace Christ offers. John 14:27


This life is not offered to everyone; but note that these promises were promised only to the disciples and therefore it is only disciples who can experience such a life.

So who is a disciple? It is not one who repeats the sinner’s prayer. A disciple according to Jesus is one who loves Jesus more than father, mother, brother, sister, wife, children and even his life. One who has forsaken all his possessions, denys himself and carries his cross daily. Mat 10:37,38; Luke 9:23; 14:26,33


What does this mean in simple terms?

To love Jesus more than father, mother, brother, sister, children means that whenever you have a choice of pleasing Jesus or any of the mentioned above, you’ll always chose to displease your family members and please Jesus. You are always ready to displease everyone if that’s the only way to please Jesus.

Loving Jesus more than yourself is even hard; the devil even said to God concerning Job, than a man will give everything he has for his life, Job 2:4. If you greatly desire something and you discover that that is not Gods will for you; you will give it up. For example, a young man may greatly desire to marry a girl and may have even imagine himself in the near future have a family and the intended girl being the wife, but after much time seeking God concerning the matter, he may discover that God has different plans for His life and that that is not the girl God wants him to marry. There, the young man has to choose between God and his own desires. A true disciple will always choose God against himself.

A disciple must also forsake his possessions. Possessions are thing that possess us. For example, when Abraham had Isaac, God said to him, take your son, the only son, the one you love most and sacrifice him. here, he possessed Isaac but later when he came back, he had Isaac but did not possess him. it is the same today, we must forsake all that we have; i.e. whatever we have or is in our name, we must hold on an open palm such that whenever God may require it from us, we will freely and easily give it away. Therefore, anything in our name which we are not willing to give up if God requires it, is our possession and we must forsake it; i.e. be willing to give it away anytime God may require it.

In the next study we are going to see more of this



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3 THINGS THAT DESTROY YOUNG PEOPLES DESTINIES.

If we look around in our churches and fellowships, we see zealous young people who have great potential in themselves to do exploits for the kingdom of God. But from our own experience, rarely do this come to pass. Many destinies are aborted along the way and this phrase is written in the hearts of many concerning many young people; “HE COULD HAVE BEEN A GREAT PERSON IN THE KINGDOM, BUT HE DESTROYED HIMSELF”. It is said that experience is the best teacher; but the best thing is to learn from the failures of other people and take warning for ourselves.


PRIDE

There is a great tendency in young people to be proud especially when they get educated. This shows itself in their arrogance and lack of submission to their parents, and elders in the church.

They tend to think that know more than their unlearned parents and if they have read through the bible at least once, they tend to think that they can even preach better than their pastors. When they are given a leadership opportunity; they think they are the most important people in the society and that everyone should respect them. God seeing this attitude begins to oppose them for God always opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. 1Pet 5:5 and it continues to say that the devil is looking for someone to devour in verse 8, and therefore the devil devours the young people by first making them proud. These leads many into heresies and a life of sin.


      2) SEXUAL IMMORARITY

This is another giant that over the years have destroyed destinies of young people. Everyone is tempted in this area, not just once, but numerous times. It is written about Joseph, when he was tempted by Potiphars wife and he said that he could sin against God; Gen 39:7-9. One could have thought that after making such a broad statement, it was the end but looking at the next verse; we see that the temptation continued for many days. Gen 39:10 SHE KEPT ON PUTTING PRESSURE ON JOSEPH, TRYING TO CONVINCE HIM DAY AFTER DAY. What could be more clear than that? She may have continued for weeks or even months until she realised that she could not prevail with Joseph. What saved Joseph was that he never entertained such thoughts but continued in the fear of God. 


Prov 14:27 says that the fear of God is a fountain of life to depart from the snares and traps of death. This temptation seeks to first weaken us in a slow process which we’ll not realize but over a period of time, it maybe months or even years, strike when we are weak and we wonder what happened to so and so. Hosea 7:8,9 says that Ephraim have mixed himself…STRANGERS HAVE DEVOURED HIS STRENGTH AND HE DOES NOT EVEN KNOW. This is why we need to be more careful. James 1:15 says that when lusts(evil desires) conceive, they give birth to sin. We all know that the time conception takes place is not the same time of giving birth. Giving births comes after a long period after conception; in the same way; if we allow evil desires to CONCEIVE IN OUR MINDS, one day they’ll give birth to sin. 

If we are to fight this temptation; we must not allow these desires to conceive in our minds; but reject them whenever they come; and also do away with anything that tempts us or brings such thoughts to us. It may may a TV programme, internet sites, magazines…

 DO NOT MAKE ANY PROVISION FOR THE FLESH TO GRATIFY ITS DESIRES. Rom 13:14


        3). LOVE OF MONEY

 This is another trap many young people fall into. How to get rich quickly.

Judas who could have become one of the great apostles fell away due to love of money. John 12:6

Balaam who was a prophet of God became a sorcerer due to pursuit of unrighteous money. Num 22 5-24:25, Josh 13:22, 2Pet 2:15

Gehazi who could have become Israel’s next prophet and get a double portion of Elisha’s anointing lost the opportunity for pursuing unrighteous money. 2King 5:20-27

Jesus said that there are only two masters in the world; God and wealth, and you could not serve both. Mat 6:24. NB there are two terms, master and servant; i.e. If God is to be your master, you have to make money your servant and vice versa.

1Tim 6:9 says that those who are determined to be rich fall into temptations and traps and many foolish and hurtful lusts which plunge people into ruin and destruction.


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Tuesday, October 24, 2023

PEACE

 Peace is a very important component in our lives which we ought to maintain at all costs. The kingdom of God consists of only 3 things; RIGHTEOUSNESS, PEACE AND JOY IN THE HOLY SPIRIT. Rom 14:17. Since if we are to experience the kingdom of God fully we must have peace, its important also to see ways in which we can lose peace.

One thing that causes us to lose peace is anxiety; being worried about things. The cure for anxiety according to Phi 4:6,7, is telling God specifically what is causing you to worry and thanking Him for listening and answering you. This will then cause God to flood your heart with peace which will be a guard both to your mind and heart and such peace that no one can explain it.


Another thing that causes us to lose peace is sin. Isaiah, 57:21 declares that there is no peace to the wicked. Sin will always cause us to lose the peace of God in our hearts and the only way to come back to it is to set the matter right which has caused us to lose peace. We may need to confess our sin to God and also make restitution.


Col 3:15 teaches us that peace should be an umpire(AMP) which simply means a referee. The referee in any sports, as we know, whenever he brows the whistle, a foul has been committed. The game cannot continue unless the foul is settled, and even if someone afterwards scores a goal, it will not be counted.

We see therefore how important peace is our hearts; whenever we lose our peace, it means we have committed a foul and unless we settle it first, all the other things we may do afterwards will count for nothing. Remember that whatever we do one day will be tested by fire, 1Cor 3:12-13. Every good work we do with wrong motives or to impress, and the works we do without settling matters our hearts convicts us will one day go up in smoke.


Remember Jesus said that if you go to offer something and then remember that you brother has something against you, you should FIRST be reconciled with your brother and then offer the offering afterwards. Mat 5:23-24. What if you ignore that and first offer without being reconciled, do you suppose that God will accept your offering? Of course not.


It is always good to listen to the referee in your heart and set the matters right that he shows you.

There are some things which are only accomplished in and through us only when we are at peace. They include but not limited to;


OUR SANCTIFICATIUON; that is, to be set apart for the masters’ use, we need to be at peace. 1Thes 5:23-24 tells us that that God of peace will sanctify us wholly. If we desire to live a godly life and a life usable to God, we must need to have peace in our hearts.


OVERCOMING SATAN; for God to crush satan under our feet, peace is necessary. Rom 16:20 tells us that the God of peace will crush satan under our feet. Since we are in a constant battle with satan, we need to have perfect peace (Is 26:3) in order for us to always win.



PRESENCE OF GOD WITH US; It is only when we practice what we learn in the word, receive and hear from anointed servants of God, and when we follow their godly examples that the God of peace will be with us. We see that if we rebel against the authority of the word of God and of the servants of God, there can be no peace in our lives. Phil 4:9


EQUIPMENTS TO DO THE WILL OF GOD; God will equip us with everything we need to do His will and to produce what pleases Him. Heb 13:20-21. In our desire and pursuit to do the will of God, it is only in the place of peace that God will equip us to do His will.


We see how important peace is in our lives and we cannot afford to lose it.

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Monday, October 23, 2023

JESUS A WORTHY EXAMPLE TO FOLLOW

 There are many things revealed I n the scriptures which shows us Jesus as an example for us to follow. We will look at some of them.


When Jesus came to earth, he emptied himself of all the privileges he had as God and took the form of man. Phil 2:6-7, if He came to us as God, He could not say to us, as He always said to His disciples, follow me. Since He became like us, we have no excuses for not following him.


He was made like us in every way. Heb 2:17. This further reveals to us that it was not in some areas that He was like us, but it was in every area. He hungry, he got tired and asked His disciples to go and rest, he had emotions and wept, he had a will of His own, he grew up like other children, had to be taught and learnt to obey and every other way; Jesus was like us. Mat 21:18, Mark 6:31, John 11:35, 6:38, Luke 2:52, Heb 5:8.


He was tempted like us in every form of temptation that we will ever face and overcame. Heb 4:15 reveals to us that Jesus experienced the entire range of temptations that human being experience. There is not a single temptation that we will ever experience in our lives that Jesus did not experience. The circumstances we face are different from the circumstance that Jesus faced, but the temptation in those circumstances is the same as Jesus experienced. For example, you may have an experience on roads with a driver driving you to your destination as he maybe going slower and stopping many times and you maybe in a hurry to reach the required destination on time- under that circumstance, the temptation is to be impatient and angry and maybe speak rudely to the driver; Jesus while on earth, experienced the same temptation though his circumstances were different. The same applies to every area in which we are tempted.


Having seen the above, we now see that God does not mock us while he tells us in 1 Pet 2:21-22 to follow the example of Jesus in not sinning and not deceiving anyone. John also says that if we claim to be Christians, we must live as Jesus lived, or walk as He walked. 1John 2:6


We can ask ourselves, what is the secret that we need to know?

The answer is in Heb 4:15-16, which tells us that since Jesus was tempted in every way we are tempted and overcame, whenever we are tempted, we should go to the throne of grace to seek for mercy and grace to help us overcome the temptation. This is the way to escape and overcome every temptation that we will ever face in our lives. Any time, any day in any place we are tempted, let us run to the throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help us overcome the temptation as Jesus overcame.

Let us therefore follow the example of Jesus in our day-to-day lives.


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LIVING FULL LENGTH OF OUR DAYS

 We are living in a period where there are numerous cases of premature deaths all over and around us, both of believers and unbelievers. This has somehow brought fear in our hearts, for our loved ones and our lives as well. Does the bible have an answer to this?


When God made us, He also wrote down the number of days we are to live from the very first day to the last. Ps 139:16, and Job 14:5 says also that a mans days are already determined, and the number of months is wholly under Gods control and he cannot pass beyond his allotted time. God having taken time in His wisdom to plan our lives definitely wills that each of us should live the full length of our days and everyone of us have different time periods which God has determined.


Premature death is dying without fulfilling the number of our days. For each day there is what God has planned for us, dying early will cause us not to fulfill all of Gods will in our lives; we therefore can also say that premature death is dying without fulfilling the purpose that God had for us. It does not mean as we know dying before 70 years for Jesus and Paul never reached the age of 70 years and yet they fulfilled their purpose on earth.


Jesus said in John 10:10 that the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy. He steals our focus and attention and instead of focusing on things that have eternal value, we concentrate on what is temporal, and he then kills our passion and desire for God and our willingness to fulfill our God given and then he destroys our lives by hardening our hearts, and other ways. When we give the devil a foothold in our lives, then he will accomplish the three works in our lives and finally we may end up dying prematurely.


If we are to live the full length of our days as God has planned, we have a responsibility and we take it, WE WILL BE FREE FROM THE FEAR OF DEATH for Christ came to set us free from the fear of death. Heb 2:14-15

KEEP YOUR TONGUE FROM SPEAKING EVIL AND YOUR LIPS FROM LYING

Ps 34:12,13, 1Pet 3:10 tells us that the first requirement for us to live the full length of our days is in relation to the way we use our tongue. We have to stop speaking evil, i.e. gossips, slandering, cursing, lying…

       2. TURN AWAY FROM EVIL AND DO GOOD. SEEK PEACE, PURSUE IT AND WORK TO MAINTAIN IT

The second requirement in Ps 34:14, 1Pet 3:11 turning from evil, running from places you will be tempted to do evil, and doing good, i.e. looking for opportunities to do good and also seeking peace with everyone including those who hate us and always seeking each moment to be at peace with everyone as far as it lies with us.

     3. FEARING GOD

Prov 10:27 says that the fear of God prolongs life. Fearing God means fearing to do anything or say or even keep in heart or mind that will grieve or hurt God.  

   4. HONORING PARENTS

Deut 5:16 tells us that if we want that it may go well with our lives and that we may live the full length of out days, we must honor our parents. This unfortunately is something that is taken lightly today and that is why we have parents burying their children instead of children burying their parents,

  5. LETING THE HEART KEEP GODS COMMANDMENTS  

Prov 3:1,2 tells us that if we want long life we have to keep the commandments from the heart. This is a deeper way of keeping the commandment, it includes delighting in obeying God.

If we delight in obeying God, we will reach the full length of our days.

  6. GETTING WISDOM

Prov 3:15,16 tells that wisdom offers us long life. The seven characteristics of wisdom in James 3:17 are; PURITY, PEACEABLE, GENTLE, WILLING TO YIELD, FULL OF MERCY AND GOOD DEEDS, WITHOUT PARTIALITY AND SINCERE (without hypocrisy). Let us seek with all our hearts this wisdom.

If we seek with all our hearts to live as seen above, we need never fear that we can die prematurely. We can boldly say “ I AM IMMORTAL UNTIL MY LIFES WORK IS EENDED. GOD WILL PRESERVE AND KEEP ME FROM ALL EVIL” 

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NO MAN OR DEVIL CAN STOP YOU FROM FULFILLING YOUR GOD-GIVEN PURPOSE

 When God made us, He had a definite plan for us to which He created to fulfill. He knew all the circumstances that we would face and made provision for it that we may overcome.

1 Cor 10:13 tells us that the temptations that we face are common to man and he will not allow us to be tempted beyond our ability, but with every temptation, He will make a way for us to escape. Rom 8:28 tell us that for those of us who love God, God will cause everything to work for our good. All the circumstances that we face, whether good or evil, God will turn them to work for our good

Jesus said that those who love him are those who keep his commandments in John 14:21 and therefore we should not think that this applies to you if you do not keep the commandments of Jesus.

 An example of how God changed evil for good is in the crucifixion of Jesus. It was the greatest evil ever committed on earth, Jesus had not committed a single sin yet we are told that His body was destroyed that you could not recognize that He was a man, and His face beyond human recognition. Is 52:14. This evil done, the crucifixion of Jesus, God turned it to be the greatest blessing ever done, resulting in the salvation of Humankind. 1Cor 2:8 tell us that if the devil knew that what he planned on crucifying Jesus would result in the salvation of humankind, he would not have crucified him. The devil does not know everything. Even the evil that he plans against you, if you are among those who love the lord, evidenced by keeping His commandments, you need not fear, God will turn it for your good.


Rom 8:29 tells us that good that God allows in our lives, will cause us to be more like Jesus in our character. This is the greatest blessing we can receive from God. He continues to say that nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Rom 8:35. Therefore the love of God is our bulwark and source of our confidence. It is therefore necessary for us to know how our love can increase for God.

In Luke 7;41-43, Jesus talks about two creditors who were both forgiven, one 50denaree and another 500 denarii. And Simon said the one who was forgiven more would love more. We see therefore our love will increase when our knowledge of how much we have been forgiven increases. The more you see your sins that you were forgiven, the more you will love the Lord.

In 1John 4:19, we are told that we love him because he first loved us. This teaches us that we will love more when we realize how much we have been loved. We need to have a fresh view of Calvary’s cross. If we are to love God more, we need to constantly meditate on the cross of Jesus Christ.


Having established how our love can grow more and more, we now need to see the things that try to quench that love and separate us from the love of God, for each of us will face some from time to time in our Christian walk. They are all listed in Rom 8:35-39.


Tribulation-frustrating events

Distress-psychological suffering

Persecution- doing something to cause someone to suffer

Famine-lack of enough food

Nakedness-lack of enough clothes

Peril-danger

Sword-threats of being killed

life- promise to live for compromise

angels or demons- supernatural things to distract you

fears for today or worries about tomorrow

the powers of hell to bring fear in our hearts

nor heights- temptations to be proud

nor depths-temptations to be discouraged

nor created thing-including human beings



Paul makes this bold statement in verse 37 and 39 that we are more than conquerors through Christ and none of these things mentioned above can separate us from the love of Christ.


Let us therefore get established in the love of Christ and shake all our fears, and let us not move out of this love. Let the vision of Calvary always remain fresh in our memories and how much we have been forgiven.


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Friday, October 13, 2023

THE BLOOD OF CHRIST


FORGIVENESS AND CLEANSING OF SIN.

In the old testament, sin was covered, Ps 32:1, but in the new testament, sin is cleansed. 1John 1:7-9, Mat 26:28. An illustration to help us understand the difference is for example if you have dirty utensils in the kitchen and all over sudden you hear a knock at your door; you will cover the dirty utensils to hide them from being seen. They are still dirty but covered. The blood of Christ on the other side, cleanses, just like you washing the utensils. You will not need to cover them, they are clean. The latter in contrast to the former gives boldness whereas the former brings fear as someone may uncover it and discover all the filth inside. 


Heb 9:9, 10:2-4 tells us that the people in the old testament still had a consciousness of sins for the blood of bulls and goats would not take away sins; but thank God for the blood of Christ, it purifies our conscience and there is no more remembrance of sins. See Heb 10:17-22

      2.     PURCHASING/REDEEMING THE CHURCH OF CHRIST

The church as we know, the body of Christ, believers were bought from the slave market of sin. We were dead in our sin, Rom 6:17, Eph 2:1, without hope, without God, without Christ stranger and aliens from the commonwealth of Israel; Eph, 2:12 but Christ came and bought us. He paid the full price and said on the cross that it was finished. He paid the debt we owed to set us free. Act 20:28, Eph 1:7

     3.       GODS MERCY SEAT-PROPITIATION

We read of the mercy seat in the old testament. It was in the holy of holies and it was the place through which the Israelites received Gods mercy. Thank God that through the blood of Christ, we access the mercy seat even today through the blood of Christ. Unlike in the old testament, where only the high priest could access it, we each have the privilege of going their ourselves for the vail was rent. Rom 3:25, Heb 10:19, 4:16

     4. JUSTIFICATION THROUGH THE BLOOD

Being justified is to be made right with God. We who in our lives are full of sins, rebellion against God, our lives are made right with God through the blood of Christ. We become as ones who have never sinned in our lives, we are clothed with the righteousness of Christ and when God looks at us, He sees the righteousness of Christ. This is the privilege we have as sons of God. Rom 5:9, Gal 3:27

    5.  PEACE WITH GOD

Sin made us all enemies of god. It brought separation between us and God, but because of the blood of Christ the gap is bridged and we are now reconciled to God. We who were enemies of God become friends of God. Col 1:19-22

   6. THE NEW AND EVERLASTING COVENANT

God promised to make a new covenant with the house with the house of Israel, not according to the former. Jer 31:31. It continues to say in Ezekiel 36:25-27 that difference in between the first and second will be, cleansing as we have already seen, a new heart replacing the stony heart and a new spirit, causing us to desire and give us power to walk in the ways of God.

It is the blood of Christ that has brought to a new covenant which also an everlasting one. Heb 13:20. Unlike in the old covenant where we told, you shall do and shall not do, in this new covenant God says I WILL DO IT FOR THEM. HEB 8:7-13


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FALSE PROPHETS

 When the disciples asked Jesus what would be the mark of the end times, He replied by first warning them to beware of deception. Mark 13:3-6, Mat 24:3-5. Take heed that no man deceives you, for many will come saying, I am Christ, and then deceive you. So we see here the first thing that the deceiver will do is to say that Jesus is Christ, or messiah, and it is only then that he will be able to deceive disciples. 


Deceivers will need to first acknowledge Jesus as the Christ who came to save us to gain the hearts of the people. When the believers here see him acknowledging Jesus, they will then open their hearts, and then afterwards they will secretly bring damnable heresies and will mislead many. 2 Pet 2:1, Jude 1:4


Mat 24:11-13 tell us that false prophets will arise and deceive many and iniquity will abound and the love of many will grow cold. We see here that one mark of a false prophet is that through his preaching, it will lead to his listeners taking sin lightly, continue to increase living in sin and thus quenching the love that God had lit in the disciples. Loving God with all our hearts, soul, strength and mind and our neighbour as ourselves will not be his emphasis.


Peter says in 2Pet 2:2,3,14 that they teach there is nothing wrong with sexual immorality, AND IN THEIR GREED, THEY WILL EXPLOIT YOU TO GET HOLD OF YOUR MONEY, their eyes are full of adultery and their HEARTS ARE TRAINED IN GREED, and in verse 19 they PROMISE FREEDOM, while they themselves are slaves of corruption.

Jude 1:8 says that they claim authority from their dreams but they live immoral lives, defy and reject authority, and scoff at supernatural beings. Vs 11, they follow Cain who killed his brother, for he was jealous, and BALAAM, THEY DECEIVE PEOPLE FOR MONEY, vs 16 says that they are complainers and grumblers, LIVING ONLY TO SATISFY THEIR DESIRES AND FLATTER (praising people insincerely) TO GAIN ADVANTAGE.


The other thing we are told in Mat 24:24 that they will perform great sign and wonders. It is unfortunate that many get deceived into believing that someone is a servant of God because he performs signs and wonders. Vs 25 says, BEHOLD, I HAVE WARNED YOU IN ADVANCE. I wish Christians take this warning, not to follow miracles.


Jesus in Mat 7:16-23 that it is by their fruits that we shall know them. A good tree t brings good fruits and a bad tree bring forth bad fruits. If the results of listening of a preacher instead of you becoming holy and drawing closer to God Rom 6:22, Eph 5:9, Gal 5:22-24, you become enslaved t sin and your bodily desires, that is a false prophet even if he/she performs miracles. Your love for God and joy for serving Him, and putting to death the desires of the flesh should be continuing to increase, as well as love for your neighbors especially those who do you harm.


He continues to say that not everyone who calls him Lord, Lord will inherit the kingdom of God. He many will say they prophesied and did miracles in his name but he will deny them because they lived in sin.

we therefore see that someone prophesying and performing miracles in the name of Jesus will not be important in the last day, but the important question in that day what was my and your attitude to sin.

Let us therefore not get side-tracked to what will be important in the last day, OUR ATTITUDE TO SIN.


DO NOT BE DECEIVED, I HAVE WARNED YOU IN ADVANCE

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COMING GLORY AND DECEIVING SPIRITS

 "When I visit My people in mighty revival power it is to prepare them for the darkness that lies ahead. With the glory shall come great darkness. For the glory is to prepare My people for that darkness. I will enable My people to go through because of a mighty visitation of My Spirit. Take heed to yourselves lest you be puffed up and think that you have already arrived. Many shall be puffed up in that hour as in the days of old. For many then did receive My message, but they did not continue in it. Did I not anoint Jehu? And yet the things I desired were not accomplished in his life.


Listen to the messengers that I will send, but do not hold any man's personality in admiration. For many whom I shall anoint mightily with signs and miracles and wonders shall become lifted up and put upon a pedestal, but they shall fall by the wayside. I do not do this willingly, for I have made provision that they might stand. I call many into this ministry and equip them, but remember many shall fall in that hour. For Babylon shall not stand. They shall be like bright lights, and the people shall delight in their ministries, but they shall be taken over by deceiving spirits and lead many of My people astray.


Hearken diligently concerning these things, for in the last days shall come seducing spirits. (1 Timothy 4: 1) They shall turn many of the anointed ones away. Many shall fall through diverse lusts, and because sin abounds in their lives. But, if you will seek Me diligently, I will put My Spirit within you. When one shall turn to the right hand or one shall turn to the left hand, you shall not turn with them.


My people must be diligently warned concerning the days that lie ahead. Many shall turn after seducing and deceiving spirits. Many already are in the midst of the body seducing My people. It is those that do righteous that are righteous. Many cover their sins by their great theology and their great theological ways. But I warn you of seducing spirits who instruct My people in an evil way.


Many of these I shall anoint, that they may purify and sift My people, for I would have a holy people. Many shall come with seducing spirits and hold out lustful enticements. You will find, that after I evicted My people again, the way shall become more and more narrow, and few there are that shall walk therein. Be not deceived, it is the way of the righteous that is My way. For though Satan will come as an angel of light, hearken not unto him.


For those that perform miracles and speak not righteousness are not of Me. Those that have large crowds that follow them, but speak not of purifying and holiness are not of Me. I warn you, with great intensity, that I am going to judge My house, and have a Church without spot or wrinkle when I come. I desire to open your eyes and give you spiritual understanding that you may not be deceived, but may walk in uprightness of heart before Me, loving righteousness and hating and despising every evil way. Look unto Me and I will make you to perceive with the eyes of the Spirit the things that lurk in darkness. They are not visible to the human eye. Let Me lead you in this way, that you may precede the powers of darkness and battle against them. It is not a battle against flesh and blood, for if you battle in that way you will accomplish nothing.


But if you let Me take over and battle against the powers of darkness, then they are defeated and liberation is brought unto My people. I warn you to search the Scriptures diligently concerning these last days, for the things that are written shall indeed be manifested.


There shall come deceivers among My people, in increasing numbers, who speak for the truth and shall gain the favor and the hearts of the people.


For the people shall examine the Scriptures and say, "Is not what these men say true?" Then, when they have gained the hearts of the people, then and only then shall they bring out their wrong doctrines. Therefore I say unto you and warn you, 'Oh people, do not give your hearts to men, nor hold people in admiration, for by these very persons shall Satan enter into My people.' Watch for the seducers. Do you think a seducer will brandish a new heresy and flaunt it before the people? No, he will speak the words of righteousness and truth, and will appear as a minister of light declaring the Word.


And the people’s hearts shall be won over by their words, then, when their hearts are won, they shall bring out their doctrines, and the people shall be deceived. The people shall say, 'Did he not speak this and that? Did we not examine it from the Word? Therefore, he is a minister of righteousness. This that he now has spoken, though we do not see it in the Word, it truly must be right, for everything else he has said is true.'


Be not deceived. For the deceiver will first work to gain the hearts of many, and then bring forth his false doctrines. You cannot discern those who are of Me and those who are not of Me when they start to preach, saith the Lord. But seek Me continuously, and when these doctrines are brought out, you shall have a witness within your heart that they are not of Me. Fear not, for I have warned you. Many will be deceived. But if you walk in holiness and uprightness before the Lord your God, your eyes shall be opened, and the Lord God shall protect you all the days of your life. If you will constantly look unto the Lord, you will know when the doctrine changes. And you will not be brought into this thing, if your heart is right, saith the Lord. I will keep you. And if you look constantly unto Me, I will uphold you. The minister of righteousness shall be on this wise, saith the Lord: his life shall agree with the Word, his lips shall give forth that which is holy truth, and it will be no mixture in his ministry. When the mixture appears, you will know that he is not a minister of righteousness. The deceivers speak first the truth and then error, to cover their own sins which they love.


Therefore, I exhort and command you, saith the Lord, to study the Scriptures relating to seducing spirits, for this is one of the greatest dangers for the Church in these last days. I desire you to be firmly established in My Word, not in the personalities or the ministries of men. You shall not be moved as many shall be moved. I would keep you in the paths of righteousness. Seek Me, diligently inquire of Me, that you may hear something, that you might know. I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly, and that you might triumph, even as I have triumphed. On the cross I triumphed over all the power of Satan, and I have called you to walk in the same path. For those who will not minister the crucified life and cross of Jesus Christ, do not understand righteousness. It is when your life is on the cross that you shall have victory which I have experienced. As you are on the cross and seated in Me, you shall know the power of My resurrection. When I came in My glory, the principalities and powers in heavenly places were broken.


Fear not, for I have given you power whereby you may tread upon the powers of darkness and come forth victorious. It was on the cross that I triumphed over all things. My life shall flow through you as you enter into these precious truths. Look unto Me and appropriate My life. As your eyes and desires are towards Me, and you know what it is to be crucified with Me, then you shall also know what it is to be resurrected by Me. It was not in My life that I walked upon the earth, but it was in My life when I was upon the cross that I openly spoiled the principalities and powers of darkness.


I am showing you truths, that you shall come to know, that you too can be an overcomer to have power over the wicked one. This truth shall liberate you, and it will liberate those around you. You shall know also the fellowship of My suffering, saith the Lord. There is no way by which you can be partakers of the heavenly glory and reign with Me without drinking of the Cup of My suffering. If we suffer with Him, the Word says, then we shall also reign with Him. I desire to make these truths real within you. Have revelation given to you, that you may have power to overcome the wicked one and bondages that are in you life. If you will indeed judge yourself, you shall not be judged. As you shall seek My Face and desire to be cleansed by Me, in all truth and sincerity of heart, I will judge you in the secret place. And the things that are in the secret place of your heart shall not be made manifest to others round about you. I shall do it in the secret place and no mind shall know it. And the shame that shall be seen on many faces in this last hour shall not be seen on your face.


Therefore, in love and mercy I am instructing you. And therefore, I have said that if a man judges himself, he will not be judged. It is not My good pleasure, that the shame of My people be seen by all.


How can I judge the world if I judge not first My own house? Hearken unto these things which I tell you. If you will not hearken unto Me, then the shame shall be evident unto all. I would have you consider My life on earth: the anointing upon Me was great and yet, the temptation was great on every side. In one form and then in another, offering Me first the glory of the kingdoms of the earth, and then reviling and courting and intensifying on every point and persecuting Me. There will be great glory given to My people, and yet, I would have you to know that in this last hour, the temptations shall intensify on every side. The glory to My Church shall be great, and so shall be the temptation from the enemy to turn My people from the directed paths which I have ordained.


I warn you, that when the glory shall be manifested, the temptations shall be great, until very few that start shall finish the race. First, they shall be offered the great worldly possessions, prosperity and then reviling and unbelief shall overtake them. Consider your purpose in this last hour. At times everyone shall rise up against and try with everything to turn you from that course of holiness. It is written of Me, that I set My face as a flint to go the direction My Father had prescribed for Me.


So, hear the Word of the Lord, if you are to finish the race with great victory and glory, you must determine to set your face as a flint with great determination. You must walk in the course laid before you.


Many of your loved ones and those who follow with you shall persecute you and even try to turn you from your course. With many words that seem right in the natural mind, they shall try to turn you. Did not Christ rebuke Peter who tried to turn Him off the course that God had prescribed for Him?


Understand these two things and meditate upon them solemnly in this last hour. The persecution and the darkness shall be as great as the glory, in order to try to turn the elect and the anointed ones from the path which the Lord God has laid down for them. Many shall start, but few shall be able to finish the course, because of the greatness of grace that shall be needed in that hour to endure to the end. The temptations and the persecution of your Lord were continuous. He was tempted by Satan in many forms through him, and He listened not, but He laid down His life upon the cross.


Think not that there shall be a time of no persecution. Think not that there will be a time of no temptation. For it shall be from the time of your anointing until the end of the course. Difficulties and great persecutions unto the end. The Lord must prepare you to be an overcomer in all things that you may be able to finish the course. The persecution shall increase, even as the anointing shall increase. Hear these words, 'My grace is sufficient for you' in that hour. In paths of justice and of righteousness shall the Lord God lead His people and bring them into a place which He has chosen for this time. For the Lord has chosen a place of righteousness. It is a place of holiness where He shall encamp round about them, and all who will be led of the Lord shall be brought into this holy place. For the Lord delights to dwell in His people. The Lord delights to manifest Himself through His people. The holiness of the Lord shall be manifested through His people. Let the Lord lead you into difficult places.


He led His people of old through a place where no man dwelt, where no man had passed through. It was a place of great danger and in the shadow of death. The Lord will indeed lead His people through such places, and yet, He will bring them into a place of great glory and victory. Understand that the way towards glory is great danger, but the Lord shall grace thee in that hour. Put your trust in Him and He will bring you into this place of holiness. For He desires to bring His people into this great joy and life. Put your trust in Him. Trust no man. It is a place where God will protect those from the voices that would try to turn them from the given path. He will bring them into a place where He will speak and lead His people. It is a place of great grace and glory. He will indeed camp round about them. Put your trust in Him and He will surely bring you into this new place. Fear not the days to come. But fear only this: that you shall walk in a manner pleasing unto the Lord. It is a time I am ordering and setting up My Church. It shall indeed be without spot or wrinkle. I will do a work in My beloved that has not been seen since the foundations of the world.


I will show you these things that you might seek the Lord diligently, with all your heart, and that you may be preserving of His marvelous grace. Run not to this or to that one, for the Lord has so ordained thy salvation, it is in Him and in Him alone. You shall not turn to this shepherd or to that one, for there shall be a great scattering upon the earth.


Therefore look unto Him, for He will indeed make these things clear unto you. You shall not look here or there for wells that once held water, they shall be no more.


But, as you diligently seek Me, He shall increase your strength and your faith, and His grace and enable you to prepare you for the time that is to come. The truth that I have revealed unto you must become a part of you, not just an experience, but a part of your very nature. Is it not written that I demand truth in the innermost parts? It is a truth of the Lord expressed in your very being that shall hold you and sustain you. Many shall experience the truth, but the truth must become a part of you and your very life. As men and women look upon you, they will hear not only the voice, but see an expression of that truth in our innermost being. Many shall be overcome because they are not permitting the truth to become a part of them at all times. But I am showing you in these truths, that they are to be a part of you, that you might be prepared and having done all, to stand, stand in this last hour. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit now speaks to His Church."


(Summer 1965)

Stanley Frodshams

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

BEING GRATEFUL TO MEN

 

We live in a time which are dangerous which Paul prophesied and said that one characteristic of it was that people who had a form of godliness, that is professing Christians, but deny the power that makes them truly godly. One of the mentioned characteristics is that they are ungrateful. 2Tim 3:1-5. Note that this whole passage is one paragraph and the full stop is in verse 5. Therefore, all those characteristics mentioned are people who profess to be Christians. 


The power that makes us to be truly godly is the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said in Acts 1:8 that when the Holy Spirit comes upon us, we will receive power to be His witnesses. Being a witness is different from witnessing. Witnessing is by speech but being a witness is primarily by our lives and then our speech. Our lives are to witness Jesus, in other words, when we get filled with the Holy Spirit, the evidence of is that when people look at us they will see something of Jesus in our lives. 


In Eph 5:18-20, we are told to be continuously filled with the Holy Spirit, and this will lead on to our hearts being filled with thanksgiving to God. Jesus said in Mat 10:42 that whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of even the least disciples, will not lose his reward. Jesus remembers even the smallest mercies that anyone shows to a disciple of His and has a reward for such.


In Mat 25:36-40, He says that whatever is done to the least of his disciples was done unto him and therefore a reward for the righteous who did anything for His disciples. The Jesus of the bible does not forget even the smallest thing we do unto Him, that is, any of His disciples. And this is what the Holy Spirit seeks to show us and then transform us into. 2Cor 3:17-18. When we are truly filled with the Holy spirit, we will naturally become grateful to people who do us even the smallest thing. We will not take anything for granted.


Many people claim to be filled with the Holy Spirit, but their lives are filled with murmuring and complaining and faultfinding in people; no matter the experience they had, the lack of power in their lives shows that they are not filled as they claim.


Jesus told His disciples Mathew 20:26-28 that whoever wanted to be greatest must be the servant and whoever wants to be first must be a slave, and He says that that is why He came. The Holy Spirit comes to transform into the image of Christ, and we come to an awareness that we are to serve others and not to wait to be served by others like a king. A slave has no rights of His own. He has no salary. He is owned by His master, he has to work for his master and his master does not have to do anything for Him. Realizing that he deserves nothing, this will make him very grateful to anyone who shows him the least mercies. And this is how we are to be as disciples of Jesus, we naturally should be very grateful to anyone who does us the least mercies.


As I conclude, Jesus said that whatever was done to a disciple was done to him and Paul said that whatever we do, we should do as unto the Lord, Col 3:23. This means whatever we do, it is for the Lord, therefore, if we expect any thanks, it should not be from the people we do it for, but from Jesus. Just like if you worked in shop, you will not be paid by shop2.


Therefore, let us learn to be grateful to men for whatever they do for us and at the same time, let us learn not to expect thanks for anything we do for anyone but only from God.


You are blessed to be a blessing

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@blessed mambo 

MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESSS

 This is a common statement that is used frequently on our need to concentrate on the things that concern us and leave others alone. Naturally seeks to control the lives of others and wanting them to do this the way he wants or thinks is best and when do done according to the rules, he is quick to criticize, judge and condemn. 


We are asked in Rom 14:4, who are you to judge the servant of another, it is before his own master he stands or falls, he will stand for the Lord is able to make him stand. It is the same as you having someone working in your house and also your neighbor having someone working for him. It is not your business to judge the way your neighbor’s servant is working or even telling him how he should work, he Is not your servant. Let your neighbor tell him what to do, it’s his responsibility. In the same way, we become servants of the Lord, Rom 6:22, when we are freed from sin. Each of us is directly answerable to God and we will individually give an account of our lives to God and therefore we should stop condemning, judging, criticizing and blaming others. We are to decide to never put a stumbling block in a brothers way. Rom 14:12-13. We should instead of judging others, judge ourselves. There are so many areas of unchristlikeness in our lives which we will not see unless we decide to mind our own business and not judge others.


Paul says in 1Thes 4:11 that if we make it our ambition to lead a quiet life, minding our own business, and working with our hands.


Jesus in John 21:18 told Peter how he was to die, and Peter looking at John asked Jesus in vs 21, what about him Lord? Jesus told him in other words to mind his own business, he should follow him. It is the same thing that Jesus says to his disciples today, when you see the difficult circumstances that you face yet you are a faithful disciple, and you look around at other disciples and wonder why they are having a more comfortable time. We should be distracted by others, our vision should be in Christ alone and we ought to follow him. 


In 1Sam 6:1-19, the Lord had stuck the philistines and they decided to send back the ark of the covenant back to Beth-Shemesh so that the plague would be taken away from them. In vs 19, the Lord killed 70 men because they looked into the ark of the Lord. These people were curious to know what was inside the ark of the Lord, but that was not their work and God therefore killed them. This still happens even today though not physically, we die spiritually when we go beyond the limits God has set for us, minding things that do not concern us.


We need to recognize the limits that God has set for us and not go beyond them. A leader in one department is responsible for people in that department but not in other departments. If such a leader does not concentrate in his department and constantly thinks of other departments which are not his responsibility, his department will fail, but all his concentration is only in the department which has been entrusted to Him, it will succeed. This has applications in many more areas.


You are blessed to be a blessing

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@blessed mambo 

Monday, October 9, 2023

DISCERNING THE VOICE OF GOD

 Tre are many voices around us which we hear, some from our soul, others from our environment, others from evil spirits and many other voices and the voice of God which comes to us. We need to distinguish all these voices which we hear that we may not be deceived. The voice of God will never be contrary to what He has revealed in the scriptures and therefore it is important to read the scriptures for ourselves to know what God says in them.


Since we know that the voice of God will never be contrary to scripture, we can apply a test to see whether the voices we hear are from God or not

DOES IT MAKE GOD MORE GLORIOUS IN MY EYES?

God is always seeking to reveal himself to us. He longs that we may know him. Isaiah 50:2, 60:5 says that God came and found no one, He called but no one answered. He spreads out his hands to rebellious people all day long

This voice whether it is coming from a preacher or not, if it is not drawing you closer to God and making you desire to know him more, it is not from God.


        2. DOES IT DISTRACT MY VISION FOR JESUS

We are told to run this race fixing our eyes on Jesus; Heb 12:1-2. Peter begun to sink in the waters when he looked at the waves he began to sink. Mat 14:28-30. We conclude therefore that if the voice you are listening is making you to look at the storms or difficult situations we all face instead of looking unto Jesus who is able to overcome the situations is not from God. Any voice that bring discouragement or fear in our hearts is not from God. Our hearts will always be at perfect peace if our eyes are on Jesus. Isaiah 26:3


      3. DOES IT MAKE ME HATE AND FORSAKE SIN?

The God of the bible from Genesis to Revelation is always against sin. More than anything else in the bible, sin and holiness is the thing that is most spoken about. The prophets spoke to Israel warning them to turn from sin, the epistles spoke against sin and every other part of the bible. Therefore, if the voice you are listening is making you comfortable in your sins, it is not of God. See Isaiah 55:7, Jer 3:12, Ezek 33:11, Gal 5:19-21, 1Cor 6:9-11, Rev 22:8


     4. DOES IT MAKE ME LOVE THE WORLD

The bible says that God has called us out to be separate from the world unto Him. John 15:19. It continues to say the if we love the world we become the enemies of God. Jam 4:4 and all that we should not love the world or the things I the world for all that are in the world, craving for physical pleasure, craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements in our possessions are not of the Father. 1John 2:15-17. Therefore, any voice that attracts to the world is not of God.


    5. DOES IT MAKE ME LOVE MY NEIGHBOUR AS MY SELF.

              Jesus said that the second greatest commandment is to love my neighbor as myself. Mat 22:39

The voice of God will lead you to love you neighbor and not wish evil to them even if they hate you. Jesus in Mat 5:44 said, that we are to love our enemies, and do good to those who hate us and pray for those who mistreat and persecute us. Paul continues to say in Rom 12:14, 19 that we are to bless those who persecute us and never curse. We are not to avenge for ourselves because vengeance belongs to God

Therefore, any voice that tells to avenge, or pray or wish evil or death of your enemies, persecutors or those who mistreat you, or even utter curses, that NEVER BE FROM GOD even if today many are taught in churches to pray and wish calamities to hit their enemies


   6. DOES IT MAKE ME LOVE MYSELF   

When Jesus called His disciples, one requirement was for each disciple to deny himself and take up the cross everyday. Luke 9:23 Paul says in 1 Cor 15:31 that he died daily. 

The voice of God will lead us to die to our will and in the situations that we face and not in fighting or arguments or strife.

You are blessed to be a blessing

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@blessedmambo

KEEPING A CLEAR CONSCIENCE

 The difference between man and animals is that a man has a conscience. Consciesnce is what tells you what you have done is wrong and therefore it is a blessing from God. Just like pain, whenever there is something wrong in our bodies, whtheer the head, stomach, or dislocated muscles or broken bones any other part of the body, the way God has made us aware that there is a problem somewhere is through pain. It is because we feel pain that we go to the hospital. Imagine if there was no pain in our bodies, we would all be dead. It is because we felt pain that we sought for treatment.


In the same way, pain in our conscience is what makes us aware that there is something wrong with us. Just like if we ignore physical pain we would suffer and not be able to do anything and we may even finally die, if our conscience pricks you and you ignore it, your spiritual growth will be stunted and you may even die spiritually. Just try to remember when you first became born again and many thing things you would not do. You would not speak lies, nor watch filthy movies, nor enjoy gossip, but look at now, what happened that the things you hated when you first became a Christian you now do, you killed your conscience.


Jesus says that the eye which here refers to the conscience, Luke 11:34(AMP), is the light of the body. When it is clear( healthy sound), your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body will be full of darkness. We see therefore that if we keep our conscience clear we will walk in light, remember that God is light. 1 John 1:5 and it is in Gods light that we see light, Psalm 36:9. 


We therefore see that if we want to walk with God and receive more light from Him, if we really desire to hear His voice and know Him more and more, it is mandatory that we keep our conscience clear.


Paul says that because there will be resurrection of the righteous, he did his best to keep a clear conscience before God and before men. Acts 24:15-16. What does Paul mean here, we see an example of it in the previous chapter, 23:3-5, when he reviled the high priest and called him a whitewashed wall, and when those standing near him told him that it was the high priest he insulted, He repented immediately. To keep a clear conscience does not mean you will not make mistakes but that when you do, when you become aware, you are quick to repent before God, and if you have wronged someone, you are quick to ask for forgiveness and if there is anything you need to restore, for example if you had borrowed something and is past the deadline you had stated, or made a promise and had broken it, you will be quick to set if right.


The purpose or the goal of the writings of Paul, which still is the purpose of the whole scriptures, 1Tim 1:5, is that believers would have a pure heart that is filled with love and the second is that they would have a clear conscience. It continues to say that it because believers miss this point that they engage in meaningless discussions. He says that people fall from the faith going astray for not keeping a clear conscience. 1Tim 1:19

If you and I want to remain in the faith and be not among the many who will fall from the faith, we must learn to keep a clear conscience. Let us stop silencing the voice of our conscience, but let us repent where we need to, and set right the matters that need to be set right in our lives. The blood of Christ cleanses even the conscience. Heb 9:14


You are blessed to be a blessing

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@blessedmambo

Wednesday, October 4, 2023

DANGERS OF SELF-JUSTIFICATION AND BLAMING OTHERS

 When man fell, he became corrupt and depraved and his desire is to do evil always. Every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is evil continually. Gen 6:5 Christ came to save us from this corruption that we may live unto him. One of the most difficult evil habit for man to forsake once he becomes a child of God is self-justification.


When Adam sinned and God asked him whether he had eaten the forbidden fruit, instead of saying yes, he blamed his wife, implying that on his part, there was nothing wrong with him. Eve also blamed the serpent. This habit of self-justification and blaming others for our sins is as old as Adam. Gen 3:1-13


It is very difficult for a man to take blame for his sins. You hardly find a Christian who can say, I WAS WRONG, THAT WAS MY MISTAKE, PLEASE FORGIVE, LET ME KNOW HOW I CAN SET IT RIGHT. 

David when he was confronted by Nathan after sinning with Bathsheba and killing Uriah, did not blame Bathsheba. In His repentance prayer in Psalm 51, there is not even a case of self-justification but he wholly owns the crimes. Not like Saul who blames his soldiers when he disobeyed of not killing the fatted cow and king Agag. 1 Sam 15:9. We can see if you want to end up like king Saul, justify yourself and blame others for your sins, but if you want to end up like David, take full responsibility for your sins and never blame anyone,


Jesus in Luke 16:15 says; YOU ARE THOSE WHO JUSTIFY YOURSELF IN THE SIGHT OF MEN, BUT GOD KNOWS YOUR HEART. FOT THAT WHICH IS HIGHLY ESTEEMED AMONG MEN IS ABOMINABLE IN THE SIGHT OF GOD. Here we see that man values self-justification very highly, but it is an abomination to God. Abomination means something horrible and disgusting and repulsive, sewage for example. We see then when we justify ourselves, we are like sewage, horrible, disgusting and repulsive in the sight of God.


In Ezek 14:3-9, we read the phrase, “SET UP IDOLS IN THEIR HEARTS, AND PUT THE STUMBLING BLOCH OF THEIR INIQUITY BEFORE THEIR FACE”. Putting a stumbling block of iniquity before their face is simply to pretend that there is nothing wrong and justifying themselves. The danger is that when they pray God will answer according to the multitudes of idols in their heart: vs 4. This means that they will get deceived, and will see nothing wrong with them. We are surrounded by multitudes of such in the church. They nothing wrong with them even when they are corrected by the leaders. Many people in the church are living in immorality, continue speaking lies and all other types of evil, but because they prayed for someone who was sick and got healed, or because they speak in tongues, they think they are pleasing God. May god save us from falling in such deception.


Paul in 2 Thes 2:10-11, says that people fall in strong delusion because they did not receive the love of truth so as to be saved. Saved from what? Mat 1:21 tell us that Jesus came to SAVE HIS PEOPLE from their sin. It simply means, that children of God (His people), when they got convicted by the holy Spirit of something they were doing wrong, instead of acknowledging they were wrong, they justified themselves and God allowed them to be deceived and believe a lie. There are multitudes of people who believe themselves to be saved who are not. There is nothing in their lives that has changed yet because they repeated the sinner’s prayer like a parrot, they think they are saved. Multitudes believe they are filled with the Holy Spirit but when you look at their lives, there is nothing of Christ or holiness and many other ways that Christians have been deceived.

Let us learn to say, I WAS WRONG, THAT WAS MY MISTAKE, PLEASE FORGIVE ME, SHOW ME HOW I CAN SET IT RIGHT and this will be our salvation against falling into deception.


You’re blessed to be a blessing

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@blessedmambo 

Tuesday, October 3, 2023

SECRETS OF GODLY MEN IN THE OLD TESTAMENT


God has not changed and will never. He is never partial. What He did for others, He can do for you and me if we fulfill the same conditions that the others did. It is therefore wise if we can see the qualities that some of the godly men in the old testament had that made God use them as He did. If we acquire these same qualities, then God will be able to use as He used these old testament saints, not to accomplish what He accomplished, but to accomplish what God desires to accomplish through us.

1. ABRAHAM

We know him as the father of faith. God called him out of an idol worshipping nation where he was born to go to where God was to take him. This can be a picture of how God calls us out of the world into fellowship with His Son Jesus Christ.

We read in Gen 24:40, when he was sending his servant to find a wife for his son Isaac, he told him THE GOD BEFORE WHOM I WALK will send an angel… this is the secret of Abraham. He walked before God. If God is to accomplish anything in and through us, we must learn to walk before God. This simply means, walking and doing everything realizing that God is watching you. The things you do in secret, the way you treat your juniors, how you speak, what you read or even watch in the TV and everything. If we do it in an awareness that God is watching us, we’ll cleanse ourselves from a lot of things that we’d not want God to see us doing. 2Cor 7:1, 1John 3:3

2. ELIJAH

Elijah just appears in the bible when is a prophet. We know nothing of his parents or his youthful life or his dealings with God, but the bible has not left us without revealing what the secret of his power with God was. In 1Kings 18:15 he says, as the Lord lives BEFORE WHOM I STAND… if we are to have power with God, we must stand before God. This simply means to first listening to Him and then God and also means waiting for His approval in everything. We are always in a hurry but God is waiting for us to give us His instructions on what He wants us to do. We can never accomplish anything of eternal value if we do not learn to first listen to God and seeking His approval in everything. We are mostly worried by what men say or think of us. This is the main reason we do not have even faith. John 5:44. Let’s learn to listen and seek Gods approval only.

3. MOSES

Moses is another man God used mightily. It is written in Num 12:7 that He was FAITHFUL IN ALL THE HOUSE OF GOD. Yes, faithfulness in the house of God is a requirement if we are to be used in fulfilling Gods purpose for our lives. We are the house of God, Heb 3:6. We must be faithful in every part of our body not to give it to sin, Rom 6:13. Our eyes, our tongue, our thoughts, hands and every part of our body together with everything we have must be used for the glory of God.

4. DAVID

David is known as the man after Gods own heart, 1Sam 13:14. In Acts 13:22 we read that… HE WILL DO ALL THE WILL OF GOD. Many Christians say that they want to do the will of God, but very few say that they want to do ALL the will of God. This was David’s secret, he sought for the will of God and did all of it, whether it was convenient or not. It must be so if our lives are to be used maximally for God, we must decide once and for all to seek to know and to DO ALL THE WILL OF GOD in our lives whether it is convenient or not.

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THE FEAR OF GOD

  The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.   Wisdom will multiply your days and ...