Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Christian Leadership pt.5- Spiritual Ethics
Spiritual ethics are very important in the church. Learn to give honour to the one who invited you or who handed over to you.
Do not talk behind the back of people. As a visiting speaker, don’t start taking phone numbers of church members and then call them as if you can pastor them better than their own pastor. As a church member, there is the temptation to think that a visiting Pastor is far better than your Pastor because he just ministers occasionally in your church. The bible says “a prophet has no honour in his house”.
Finance: Matthew23:23 “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgement, mercy and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone”.
Jesus Christ sanctions the fact that we should pay tithe. It was practiced in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Malachi 3:8-10 God required the people of Israel to give to his store house.
What was the store house used for?
The reason why God wants you to tithe is for there to be meat in the storehouse for the priest and the poor. Numbers 18:21-24-The Levites had no inheritance.
Deut 14:27-29 For the Priest, the stranger, the fatherless, the widow which are within thy gates shall come and eat and be satisfied that the Lord thy God may bless the work of thy hand which thou doest.
1Cor 4:2,7b. “Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
Our motivation is as it’s stated in 2Cor.9:7-8 Everyone has to be a cheerful giver not out of compulsion, it shouldn’t be as if it’s a tax, but it should be from the heart.
Don’t be greedy giver where you have a lot but give very little but give freely and willingly
So let’s see how the New Testament Church did give:
Acts 4:32-35, 1 Cor. 9:7-10,14
1. None among them lacked, and as many as were possessors sold what they had and brought it to be redistributed among them.
2. This means they took care of the Priests and the needy among them. Every one was ministered to according as he had need.
3. No one gave out of compulsion. They all gave willingly, freely and cheerfully. No one withheld what he or she had. No one was a greedy giver. Every one helped minister to the need of the whole congregation.
You will realise that the New Testament church was not restricted to just 10% but they gave their all and their best. Jesus gave us an example of giving. He gave himself for us. He gave his all. He left his throne and came down to sacrifice his life for us.
2 Cor. 8:8-9, 13-15
Even though he was rich, he became poor for us and so does he expect us to do the same to others.
The rewards of giving:
Matt19:29-30, Mark 10:29-30 “And every one that has forsaken houses or brethren or Sisters, or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake, shall receive an hundred fold now in this life and the life after”.
Luke 6:38 “Give and it shall be given unto you, pressed down shaken together, running over shall men give unto you. For with the same measure that ye mete withal shall, it shall be measured to you again”.
Prov3:9-10”…So shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine”.
Ps 126:5-6 “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him”.
Philp 4: 15-19 “…But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.
Do not talk behind the back of people. As a visiting speaker, don’t start taking phone numbers of church members and then call them as if you can pastor them better than their own pastor. As a church member, there is the temptation to think that a visiting Pastor is far better than your Pastor because he just ministers occasionally in your church. The bible says “a prophet has no honour in his house”.
Finance: Matthew23:23 “Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgement, mercy and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone”.
Jesus Christ sanctions the fact that we should pay tithe. It was practiced in both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Malachi 3:8-10 God required the people of Israel to give to his store house.
What was the store house used for?
The reason why God wants you to tithe is for there to be meat in the storehouse for the priest and the poor. Numbers 18:21-24-The Levites had no inheritance.
Deut 14:27-29 For the Priest, the stranger, the fatherless, the widow which are within thy gates shall come and eat and be satisfied that the Lord thy God may bless the work of thy hand which thou doest.
1Cor 4:2,7b. “Moreover it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful. And what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?
Our motivation is as it’s stated in 2Cor.9:7-8 Everyone has to be a cheerful giver not out of compulsion, it shouldn’t be as if it’s a tax, but it should be from the heart.
Don’t be greedy giver where you have a lot but give very little but give freely and willingly
So let’s see how the New Testament Church did give:
Acts 4:32-35, 1 Cor. 9:7-10,14
1. None among them lacked, and as many as were possessors sold what they had and brought it to be redistributed among them.
2. This means they took care of the Priests and the needy among them. Every one was ministered to according as he had need.
3. No one gave out of compulsion. They all gave willingly, freely and cheerfully. No one withheld what he or she had. No one was a greedy giver. Every one helped minister to the need of the whole congregation.
You will realise that the New Testament church was not restricted to just 10% but they gave their all and their best. Jesus gave us an example of giving. He gave himself for us. He gave his all. He left his throne and came down to sacrifice his life for us.
2 Cor. 8:8-9, 13-15
Even though he was rich, he became poor for us and so does he expect us to do the same to others.
The rewards of giving:
Matt19:29-30, Mark 10:29-30 “And every one that has forsaken houses or brethren or Sisters, or father or mother or wife or children or lands for my sake, shall receive an hundred fold now in this life and the life after”.
Luke 6:38 “Give and it shall be given unto you, pressed down shaken together, running over shall men give unto you. For with the same measure that ye mete withal shall, it shall be measured to you again”.
Prov3:9-10”…So shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine”.
Ps 126:5-6 “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him”.
Philp 4: 15-19 “…But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”.
Let’s Reflect – (Divorce)
1 Corinthians 7:10-11 "And unto the married I command, yet
not I, but the Lord, Let not the wife depart from her husband: 11 But and if she depart, let her
remain unmarried, or be reconciled to her husband: and let not the
husband put away his wife."
Luke 16:18 "Whosoever putteth away his
wife, and marrieth another, committeth adultery: and whosoever marrieth her
1 that is put away from her husband committeth
adultery."
If this is the case then could we lose our eternal life through
divorce and remarriage?
Check this quotation: Galatians 5:19-21
"1 Now the works of the
flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication,
uncleanness, lasciviousness,
20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath,
strife, seditions, heresies,
21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like:
of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do
such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God."
1 Peter 4:17-18 "1 For the time
is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and 2 if
it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that
obey not the gospel of God?
18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and
the sinner appear?"
We are in serious times. A
time for serious and sober reflection; A time to turn and make the right
decisions; A time to do God’s will; A time to do what the Bible says without
putting our own twist to it to suit our desires. The time to make God the ultimate in
everything we do is now.
Stay Blessed.
Helen
Kotey
Tuesday, 20 March 2012
ENTREPRENEURSHIP 2
First, have a financial plan. The first year and a half involves a lot of sacrifice where every penny earned will have to be reinvested in the business, the owner may not be able to take a salary. Plan to draw less on salary so that more money can be reinvested.
Plan ahead on how you are going to fund the business. You can take loans if the turnaround time of your business is very short so that you can pay back the loan quickly
Plan to keep costs as low as possible. You must know your cash flow, know what you have in cash and plan for contingencies. Cut your initial budget to the barest minimum- second hand computers, printers etc. work with volunteers at the beginning. You can even hire them as and when you need them. Strip your expenditure to as low as possible.
Secondly have a marketing plan. You may have the best product or service or you may be good at what you do in the world but that does not guarantee that people will patronise your product. It will depend on how good you are at marketing and sales.
McDonald’s don’t make the best burgers but they sell most in the world because they know how to market it. It takes money to make money but word of mouth is the best and cheapest form of advert. Work hard to beat the expectation of first few customers, do some networking, take advantage of free press etc.
Above all have a marketing strategy to target your advert at your intended recipients so that you can focus on the job/business.
"Marketing is really not about telling [people] how great your products are. Good marketing is based on a deep understanding of the problem your customer has and doesn't want, or the result they want and don't have. When you focus your marketing message on the customer's problem and desired result, they notice and come over and ask for more."
Importance of relationships in business: Play to your strengths: Bring your strengths to bear in the business. Where you are weak, let those who are strong in that area help you. No one is good at everything, if you partner with someone, you build synergies with your strengths. You partner with someone who compliments you. Working alone can paralyze many would-be entrepreneurs, so consider getting a partner or two to share the workload and the risk.
2 Chronicles 2:7 Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.
Learn from your mistakes: One of the things young entrepreneurs should learn is to learn from their mistakes. As you go along, don’t let your mistakes bring you down but rather use it as a learning curve.
Start: Start whatever God is laying on your heart no matter how small it is.
Job 8:7 “Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.” Do not despise small beginnings. It is said that taking advantage of small opportunities will get you there faster than waiting for one big opportunity.
The grace of God will always be there with you so don’t be worried about how you start.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”
Many great businesses started small. Many started when the owners went through die financial situations and crises. Many started out of necessity. Many started as ideas without any capital. Start no matter what. You may think that you are going through a difficult time but God at times allows you to go through that so that He would glorify Himself. Joseph told his brothers that “ye meant it for evil but God meant it for good. Things are not going to get any better so start. The best time to start is now.
May whatever you are experiencing now turn out for your good.
Plan ahead on how you are going to fund the business. You can take loans if the turnaround time of your business is very short so that you can pay back the loan quickly
Plan to keep costs as low as possible. You must know your cash flow, know what you have in cash and plan for contingencies. Cut your initial budget to the barest minimum- second hand computers, printers etc. work with volunteers at the beginning. You can even hire them as and when you need them. Strip your expenditure to as low as possible.
Secondly have a marketing plan. You may have the best product or service or you may be good at what you do in the world but that does not guarantee that people will patronise your product. It will depend on how good you are at marketing and sales.
McDonald’s don’t make the best burgers but they sell most in the world because they know how to market it. It takes money to make money but word of mouth is the best and cheapest form of advert. Work hard to beat the expectation of first few customers, do some networking, take advantage of free press etc.
Above all have a marketing strategy to target your advert at your intended recipients so that you can focus on the job/business.
"Marketing is really not about telling [people] how great your products are. Good marketing is based on a deep understanding of the problem your customer has and doesn't want, or the result they want and don't have. When you focus your marketing message on the customer's problem and desired result, they notice and come over and ask for more."
Importance of relationships in business: Play to your strengths: Bring your strengths to bear in the business. Where you are weak, let those who are strong in that area help you. No one is good at everything, if you partner with someone, you build synergies with your strengths. You partner with someone who compliments you. Working alone can paralyze many would-be entrepreneurs, so consider getting a partner or two to share the workload and the risk.
2 Chronicles 2:7 Send me now therefore a man cunning to work in gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, and in purple, and crimson, and blue, and that can skill to grave with the cunning men that are with me in Judah and in Jerusalem, whom David my father did provide.
Learn from your mistakes: One of the things young entrepreneurs should learn is to learn from their mistakes. As you go along, don’t let your mistakes bring you down but rather use it as a learning curve.
Start: Start whatever God is laying on your heart no matter how small it is.
Job 8:7 “Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.” Do not despise small beginnings. It is said that taking advantage of small opportunities will get you there faster than waiting for one big opportunity.
The grace of God will always be there with you so don’t be worried about how you start.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 “Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.”
Many great businesses started small. Many started when the owners went through die financial situations and crises. Many started out of necessity. Many started as ideas without any capital. Start no matter what. You may think that you are going through a difficult time but God at times allows you to go through that so that He would glorify Himself. Joseph told his brothers that “ye meant it for evil but God meant it for good. Things are not going to get any better so start. The best time to start is now.
May whatever you are experiencing now turn out for your good.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Every business starts with a gift or identification of a need. You either have a gift or identify a need which results in producing a product or a service.
The Bible says Proverbs 5:15 “Drink waters out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well”.
The word cistern, according to the Collins English dictionary means a water tank or an underground reservoir. This means tap into your own resources, tap into your God given reservoir of gifts, tap into your underground, unseen talent, tap into your skills and tap into your talent. It is a resource that God has given you so make the best out of them. Use what God has given you.
Use your skills to identify opportunities, cease them and make the most of the opportunities. Be influenced to take action. Don’t just identify them and sit down.
Proverbs 18:16 A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men. Identification of a need helps you spot an opportunity that you can take advantage of.
But having the gift alone or spotting an opportunity is not good enough.
You set objectives: Objectives are goals that you want to achieve. These are the reasons why you are putting your talent to use.
Proverbs 31:16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
They are the set SMART targets.
S - specific, significant, stretching: i.e. well defined, clear to anyone that has a basic understanding of the project
M - measurable, meaningful, motivational: Know if the goal is attainable and how far away completion is, Know when it has been achieved.
A - agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented: Aim for results
R - realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented: Within the availability of resources, knowledge and time
T - time-based, timely, tangible, trackable: enough time to achieve the goal, Not too much time, which can affect project performance.
A goal may be what you want to achieve in two, three or five years time
Get organized: Plan effectively. Planning is necessary to achieve those goals you have set for yourself. If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Have a plan of action. Have a plan that is clear, concise, compelling and consistent. Have a plan in place how you intend to achieve those targets set above.
Proverbs 21:5(NLT) Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
Prov. 24:3-4 “An enterprise is built by wise planning, it becomes strong through common sense and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of facts.” (Living Bible)
Write your plans down. Hab.2:2-3. Only 3% of people write their purpose, plans and goals down. 10% keep them in their head. The remaining 87% just drift through life. They have “the whatever will be will be syndrome”. Research shows that the 3% achieve 50 to hundred times what they write down.
The Bible says Proverbs 5:15 “Drink waters out of thine own cistern and running waters out of thine own well”.
The word cistern, according to the Collins English dictionary means a water tank or an underground reservoir. This means tap into your own resources, tap into your God given reservoir of gifts, tap into your underground, unseen talent, tap into your skills and tap into your talent. It is a resource that God has given you so make the best out of them. Use what God has given you.
Use your skills to identify opportunities, cease them and make the most of the opportunities. Be influenced to take action. Don’t just identify them and sit down.
Proverbs 18:16 A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men. Identification of a need helps you spot an opportunity that you can take advantage of.
But having the gift alone or spotting an opportunity is not good enough.
You set objectives: Objectives are goals that you want to achieve. These are the reasons why you are putting your talent to use.
Proverbs 31:16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
They are the set SMART targets.
S - specific, significant, stretching: i.e. well defined, clear to anyone that has a basic understanding of the project
M - measurable, meaningful, motivational: Know if the goal is attainable and how far away completion is, Know when it has been achieved.
A - agreed upon, attainable, achievable, acceptable, action-oriented: Aim for results
R - realistic, relevant, reasonable, rewarding, results-oriented: Within the availability of resources, knowledge and time
T - time-based, timely, tangible, trackable: enough time to achieve the goal, Not too much time, which can affect project performance.
A goal may be what you want to achieve in two, three or five years time
Get organized: Plan effectively. Planning is necessary to achieve those goals you have set for yourself. If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. Have a plan of action. Have a plan that is clear, concise, compelling and consistent. Have a plan in place how you intend to achieve those targets set above.
Proverbs 21:5(NLT) Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
Prov. 24:3-4 “An enterprise is built by wise planning, it becomes strong through common sense and profits wonderfully by keeping abreast of facts.” (Living Bible)
Write your plans down. Hab.2:2-3. Only 3% of people write their purpose, plans and goals down. 10% keep them in their head. The remaining 87% just drift through life. They have “the whatever will be will be syndrome”. Research shows that the 3% achieve 50 to hundred times what they write down.
Friday, 7 October 2011
Overcome Your Limitation
For us, almost every month, God gives us a testimony, but I believe God is ready to move to a higher level. He is ready show us more of him like never before and for that to happen, we need to overcome our limitations. God wants our blessings to come and overtake us. He wants to take us to a position of overflow.
We need to be able to break any barrier that has been set against us.
In some families, the enemy has put a barrier of poverty. All kinds of limitations have been put in people’s lives and you need to break up any limitation.
Ezra4:1-4
“…Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building”
This implies, they were being discouraged, frustrated, and they were being demoralised. When you are demoralised, you become week and feeble physically, psychologically, you can’t move forward. You are limited, when your mind is limited, the body can’t do anything, your mind itself becomes the barrier. When God wants you to take a step of faith, your mind will tell you its not possible and then you also accept it.
It is said that elephants have a very big memory so they can remember things easily. So what people in a circus do is that when the elephant is in its youthful stage, a thick rope is used to tie it up. At that stage, because it is young it will do all that it can to break away but it can’t. After some time, the young elephant gives up and just stays within the limit the rope gives it. When it grows up even though it is strong enough to break the rope, its mind becomes the limitation because it always remembers that it could not break the rope and therefore gives up without trying.
Some of us, from the beginning of the year, the enemy has put so much limitations in our way so much that we have given up. We have been so much frustrated that we have given up trying. We have given up on the promises of God.
We have given up on the fact that our God is still in the business of doing miracles. You have given up on the fact that this is the year of the Lord’s visitation. The year where we hear the sound of abundance of rain.
Don’t give up, don’t let up, you feel like stopping but don’t.
It is time for you to overcome your limitation.
The same thing happened in Nehemia4:1-4
Sambalat and Tobias threatened the Jews frustrated them and made mockery of them so in order to overcome this in verse 13, the Bible says
“…I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears and their bows”
Vs.13-17
1.That is the people began to build the wall but this time, they were constantly ready to defend against the attacks of the enemy. They had their swords and their spears ready each time.
You have to press forward despite the challenges the enemy is putting in your way. You have to go and possess your possessions. But in doing so you must arm yourself with the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.
When the enemy comes to frustrate you and make mockery of you, begins to call you a failure, just be ready to tell him that the Lord has declared you the head and not the tail.
When he tells you that your enemies are coming to overcome you tell him it is written “stand still and see the salvation of my Lord for the Egyptians you see today you shall see them no more”. “Even though you will walk through the valleys of the shadows of death, you will fear no evil for the Lord is with you”.
When he brings debt to you tell him it is written in
Psalm 37:25 “I have been young and now I am old but I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread” so poverty shall never be your portion.
When the enemy comes against you like a flood the spirit of God will raise a standard against it. Therefore no weapon fashioned against you shall prosper and every tongue that rises against you, you shall condemn.
You tell the devil that in Revelations3:8 God says that God has opened a door for you and no one can shut it.
When he attacks you with sickness, tell him by his stripes you are healed.
Numbers 14:28 says As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
So just keep confessing the word, it becomes like a sword against the enemy.
2. The second thing you have to do is to getting direction from God and walking in obedience. (Jos.6:1-) The walls of Jericho were brought down by praise and by faith. But if the people of Israel had used their common sense and said this command of God is weird so we will not obey, they wouldn’t have overcome Jericho. It was not the shout that broke the walls of Jericho, but the obedience set forth the power of God to work for them. Obedience is important for victory. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
Genesis 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
Isaac had no land and had to obey God’s command by borrowing somebody’s land and sowed that year. The bible says that in the same year he received a hundredfold. May be he had a just few grains left to live on but he obeyed God and sowed. Others had reaped nothing yet he still obeyed God.
The children of Israel were able to cross the red sea whilst the Israelites drowned because they obeyed the command of God. They did not argue or debate or disobey God. But they did just as He said they should do.
That is the next tool you need. Our walls of limitation can be pulled down through obeying the command of God on how to deal with the situation. It is not by might or by power but by the spirit of God.
2 Samuel 22:30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.
We need to be able to break any barrier that has been set against us.
In some families, the enemy has put a barrier of poverty. All kinds of limitations have been put in people’s lives and you need to break up any limitation.
Ezra4:1-4
“…Then the people of the land weakened the hands of the people of Judah and troubled them in building”
This implies, they were being discouraged, frustrated, and they were being demoralised. When you are demoralised, you become week and feeble physically, psychologically, you can’t move forward. You are limited, when your mind is limited, the body can’t do anything, your mind itself becomes the barrier. When God wants you to take a step of faith, your mind will tell you its not possible and then you also accept it.
It is said that elephants have a very big memory so they can remember things easily. So what people in a circus do is that when the elephant is in its youthful stage, a thick rope is used to tie it up. At that stage, because it is young it will do all that it can to break away but it can’t. After some time, the young elephant gives up and just stays within the limit the rope gives it. When it grows up even though it is strong enough to break the rope, its mind becomes the limitation because it always remembers that it could not break the rope and therefore gives up without trying.
Some of us, from the beginning of the year, the enemy has put so much limitations in our way so much that we have given up. We have been so much frustrated that we have given up trying. We have given up on the promises of God.
We have given up on the fact that our God is still in the business of doing miracles. You have given up on the fact that this is the year of the Lord’s visitation. The year where we hear the sound of abundance of rain.
Don’t give up, don’t let up, you feel like stopping but don’t.
It is time for you to overcome your limitation.
The same thing happened in Nehemia4:1-4
Sambalat and Tobias threatened the Jews frustrated them and made mockery of them so in order to overcome this in verse 13, the Bible says
“…I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears and their bows”
Vs.13-17
1.That is the people began to build the wall but this time, they were constantly ready to defend against the attacks of the enemy. They had their swords and their spears ready each time.
You have to press forward despite the challenges the enemy is putting in your way. You have to go and possess your possessions. But in doing so you must arm yourself with the sword of the spirit which is the word of God.
When the enemy comes to frustrate you and make mockery of you, begins to call you a failure, just be ready to tell him that the Lord has declared you the head and not the tail.
When he tells you that your enemies are coming to overcome you tell him it is written “stand still and see the salvation of my Lord for the Egyptians you see today you shall see them no more”. “Even though you will walk through the valleys of the shadows of death, you will fear no evil for the Lord is with you”.
When he brings debt to you tell him it is written in
Psalm 37:25 “I have been young and now I am old but I have never seen the righteous forsaken nor his seed begging for bread” so poverty shall never be your portion.
When the enemy comes against you like a flood the spirit of God will raise a standard against it. Therefore no weapon fashioned against you shall prosper and every tongue that rises against you, you shall condemn.
You tell the devil that in Revelations3:8 God says that God has opened a door for you and no one can shut it.
When he attacks you with sickness, tell him by his stripes you are healed.
Numbers 14:28 says As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you:
So just keep confessing the word, it becomes like a sword against the enemy.
2. The second thing you have to do is to getting direction from God and walking in obedience. (Jos.6:1-) The walls of Jericho were brought down by praise and by faith. But if the people of Israel had used their common sense and said this command of God is weird so we will not obey, they wouldn’t have overcome Jericho. It was not the shout that broke the walls of Jericho, but the obedience set forth the power of God to work for them. Obedience is important for victory. Obedience is better than sacrifice.
Genesis 26:12 Then Isaac sowed in that land, and received in the same year an hundredfold: and the LORD blessed him.
Isaac had no land and had to obey God’s command by borrowing somebody’s land and sowed that year. The bible says that in the same year he received a hundredfold. May be he had a just few grains left to live on but he obeyed God and sowed. Others had reaped nothing yet he still obeyed God.
The children of Israel were able to cross the red sea whilst the Israelites drowned because they obeyed the command of God. They did not argue or debate or disobey God. But they did just as He said they should do.
That is the next tool you need. Our walls of limitation can be pulled down through obeying the command of God on how to deal with the situation. It is not by might or by power but by the spirit of God.
2 Samuel 22:30 For by thee I have run through a troop: by my God have I leaped over a wall.
Thursday, 29 September 2011
The Glory must return
1 Samuel 4:1-11
The Israelites were losing the battle and thought that if they brought the Ark of the Lord to the battle field, they would be assured of victory just like in the days of old.
When it arrived, they made a great noise that even the Philistines were scared when they head that the Ark of the Lord had arrived at the camp of the Israelites.
With great confidence they went into battle but they lost heavily, the two sons of Eli the high priest were slain and the Ark of the Lord was taken.
What went wrong? They were counting on their previous experiences with God and assumed that God was with them.
Their shouts were empty shouts, without the power and presence of God. These were vain religious repetitions and noise.
1Samuel 4:19-21
This situation was summed up by the wife of Phinehas when she named her son Ichabod meaning the glory is departed from Israel.
Many Christians and churches may be operating from this angle today. There are many churches that look vibrant, shouting, singing and making a joyful noise yet God has written on the doorpost ‘Ichabod’. What they may be practising would be well rehearsed repetitions of religious activities.
They may be doing all that seems on the surface to be Godly, they may be running all the religious programs but the spirit of God may have departed from them a long time ago. Ichabod means the glory has departed. The glory of God may have departed from these ministries and they may not even know it. The fact that God was with them in times past does not mean God is still with them. The fact that God used them previously does not mean God is still using them. Most of them are just holding on to their previous relationship with God.
There are many Christians today who also do everything called Christian yet on the door to their hearts, God has written Ichabod- the glory has departed from this person. He may be speaking in tongues yet it may not be inspired by the Holy Spirit. He may be professing to be Christians, they may be still used to heal the sick and great miracles may be taking place but the presence of God may have left him/her.
This teaches us that past experiences with God including miracles and answers to prayer are never a proof that God is still with us. People around him may not realise it because he may still be doing all the religious activities yet when God looks down into his heart, God sees an empty shell. No freshness of the relationship with God. That relationship has become dormant.
It is important that people who are called by God to fulfil purpose in this life make sure that they are always close to Him and do not blindly rely on the past or even on miracles that are happening today because;
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
The fact that He was with you yesterday does not necessarily mean He is with you today. That’s why we need to maintain a constant relationship with Him. That’s why our personal relationship with God must always be on a high tempo.
God is always doing new things. He is always making new wines which need new wine skins. You cannot put new wine in old wine skin. The problem with us is that we want the new wine but we want to maintain our old wine skins which cannot contain it.
What causes us to come to this point is self-centredness. The God who delivered them from slavery and from the hands of the enemy has now become an idol in the figment of their imagination. He is just there to do as they wish and nothing more or less.
Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not;
This means to acquire the truth by all rightful means and cleave to it, guard it and defend it even to the risk of your life.
Many have sold the truth, we have not held on to it even at the least challenge. We have forgotten so soon what our God did for us and is able to do in the face of the pending challenges
We have forgotten that we were made for Him alone and have to love Him supremely above all else. We are to lay aside our own plans, ambitions and purposes and seek to fulfill His will only. This will keep us coming to Him every day for fresh instructions on what He expects of us.
We have forgotten how to have compassion on the needy, do medical and disaster relief, help people in slums, take care of widows and the abandoned children, empower the poor, give water to those who don’t have i.e. wells, Bibles and literature to those who need them most, support missionaries, livestock for the needy etc.
How do we restore our relationship with the Lord?
1. We need to seriously repent from this sin which has separated us from the Lord and come back to Him. 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2. We have to humble ourselves in the presence of the Lord so that He will lift us up. James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
3. We have to seek the things that are above only and not on the things of this world. Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
4. Love not the world neither things of the world that seperates us from the Lord. 1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
The Israelites were losing the battle and thought that if they brought the Ark of the Lord to the battle field, they would be assured of victory just like in the days of old.
When it arrived, they made a great noise that even the Philistines were scared when they head that the Ark of the Lord had arrived at the camp of the Israelites.
With great confidence they went into battle but they lost heavily, the two sons of Eli the high priest were slain and the Ark of the Lord was taken.
What went wrong? They were counting on their previous experiences with God and assumed that God was with them.
Their shouts were empty shouts, without the power and presence of God. These were vain religious repetitions and noise.
1Samuel 4:19-21
This situation was summed up by the wife of Phinehas when she named her son Ichabod meaning the glory is departed from Israel.
Many Christians and churches may be operating from this angle today. There are many churches that look vibrant, shouting, singing and making a joyful noise yet God has written on the doorpost ‘Ichabod’. What they may be practising would be well rehearsed repetitions of religious activities.
They may be doing all that seems on the surface to be Godly, they may be running all the religious programs but the spirit of God may have departed from them a long time ago. Ichabod means the glory has departed. The glory of God may have departed from these ministries and they may not even know it. The fact that God was with them in times past does not mean God is still with them. The fact that God used them previously does not mean God is still using them. Most of them are just holding on to their previous relationship with God.
There are many Christians today who also do everything called Christian yet on the door to their hearts, God has written Ichabod- the glory has departed from this person. He may be speaking in tongues yet it may not be inspired by the Holy Spirit. He may be professing to be Christians, they may be still used to heal the sick and great miracles may be taking place but the presence of God may have left him/her.
This teaches us that past experiences with God including miracles and answers to prayer are never a proof that God is still with us. People around him may not realise it because he may still be doing all the religious activities yet when God looks down into his heart, God sees an empty shell. No freshness of the relationship with God. That relationship has become dormant.
It is important that people who are called by God to fulfil purpose in this life make sure that they are always close to Him and do not blindly rely on the past or even on miracles that are happening today because;
Romans 11:29 For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.
The fact that He was with you yesterday does not necessarily mean He is with you today. That’s why we need to maintain a constant relationship with Him. That’s why our personal relationship with God must always be on a high tempo.
God is always doing new things. He is always making new wines which need new wine skins. You cannot put new wine in old wine skin. The problem with us is that we want the new wine but we want to maintain our old wine skins which cannot contain it.
What causes us to come to this point is self-centredness. The God who delivered them from slavery and from the hands of the enemy has now become an idol in the figment of their imagination. He is just there to do as they wish and nothing more or less.
Proverbs 23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not;
This means to acquire the truth by all rightful means and cleave to it, guard it and defend it even to the risk of your life.
Many have sold the truth, we have not held on to it even at the least challenge. We have forgotten so soon what our God did for us and is able to do in the face of the pending challenges
We have forgotten that we were made for Him alone and have to love Him supremely above all else. We are to lay aside our own plans, ambitions and purposes and seek to fulfill His will only. This will keep us coming to Him every day for fresh instructions on what He expects of us.
We have forgotten how to have compassion on the needy, do medical and disaster relief, help people in slums, take care of widows and the abandoned children, empower the poor, give water to those who don’t have i.e. wells, Bibles and literature to those who need them most, support missionaries, livestock for the needy etc.
How do we restore our relationship with the Lord?
1. We need to seriously repent from this sin which has separated us from the Lord and come back to Him. 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2. We have to humble ourselves in the presence of the Lord so that He will lift us up. James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
3. We have to seek the things that are above only and not on the things of this world. Colossians 3:1 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.
4. Love not the world neither things of the world that seperates us from the Lord. 1 John 2:15-17 Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 17 And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
BROKENNESS
Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.
What will cause someone to talk like this? Why would Job make this statement? Of what condition is his relationship with God to cause him to talk like this?
If we want to have a right relationship with God, then the first thing we must learn is that our wills must be broken to His will.
Brokenness is the beginning of Revival in us. It is painful and humiliating but is the only way.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
“C” is a bent “I”
The Lord Jesus cannot live in us fully and reveal Himself through us until the proud self within us is broken.
Every form of me, myself and I must give way for His will.
The hard unyielding self, which justifies itself, wants its own way, stands up for its rights, and seeks its own glory at last must bow its head to God’s will. It must admit it is wrong and give up its own way to the way of the Master Jesus Christ.
It must surrender its rights and discard its own glory, that the Lord Jesus might have all and be all.
This implies dying to self ant its attitudes. It is self which tries to live the Christian life ( the fact that you use the word try means that is self)
It is self too who is often doing the Christian work.
It is self which is irritable, envious, resentful, critical and worried.
Self is shy, it is self conscious and reserved. No wonder we need a breaking. So long as self is in control, God can do little with us.
We need to crucify self and resurrect with Christ.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Our Lord Jesus was willing to be broken for us and this the more compelling reason for us to be broken. Why do we call ourselves Christians and yet are not willing to be broken.
Philippians 2:6-7 Who, being in the form of God,, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
He who was in the form of God, counting not equality with God a prize to be grasped and hang on to, but letting it go for us and taking upon Himself the form of a servant-God’s servant, and man’s servant.
Jesus was willing to have no rights of His own, no home of His own, men reviled Him and He did not retaliate or defend Himself.
Prayer: Lord bend this stiff necked I, help me bow to the will of Christ. Help me die to self and let Christ rule and have dominion over my life.
Dying to self is not a one day thing but it is continual. We constantly die to self.
2 Corinthians 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
It means every day, we are confronted with choices in a thousand ways, we need to die to self and let Christ do the choosing.
It means constant yielding to the will of Christ.
No longer my will but the will of Christ. As we are confronted with challenges that tempt the self in us, that is God’s way of breaking us so that we will be deeply rooted in Christ.
Every form of self centredness must die because it is the exact opposite of wht the will of God is.
We must be prepared for God to break this self-centrednes so that His will will grow in us.
We must cooperate with God to achieve this.
It is in the process of brokenness that we find strength;
It is in the process of brokenness that we find victory;
It is in the process of brokenness that we find the faithfulness of God;
Goodness and mercy follows us as we go through brokenness;
Unstoppable favour becomes our portion as we go through brokenness.
What will cause someone to talk like this? Why would Job make this statement? Of what condition is his relationship with God to cause him to talk like this?
If we want to have a right relationship with God, then the first thing we must learn is that our wills must be broken to His will.
Brokenness is the beginning of Revival in us. It is painful and humiliating but is the only way.
Galatians 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
John 3:30 He must increase, but I must decrease.
“C” is a bent “I”
The Lord Jesus cannot live in us fully and reveal Himself through us until the proud self within us is broken.
Every form of me, myself and I must give way for His will.
The hard unyielding self, which justifies itself, wants its own way, stands up for its rights, and seeks its own glory at last must bow its head to God’s will. It must admit it is wrong and give up its own way to the way of the Master Jesus Christ.
It must surrender its rights and discard its own glory, that the Lord Jesus might have all and be all.
This implies dying to self ant its attitudes. It is self which tries to live the Christian life ( the fact that you use the word try means that is self)
It is self too who is often doing the Christian work.
It is self which is irritable, envious, resentful, critical and worried.
Self is shy, it is self conscious and reserved. No wonder we need a breaking. So long as self is in control, God can do little with us.
We need to crucify self and resurrect with Christ.
Psalm 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Our Lord Jesus was willing to be broken for us and this the more compelling reason for us to be broken. Why do we call ourselves Christians and yet are not willing to be broken.
Philippians 2:6-7 Who, being in the form of God,, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
He who was in the form of God, counting not equality with God a prize to be grasped and hang on to, but letting it go for us and taking upon Himself the form of a servant-God’s servant, and man’s servant.
Jesus was willing to have no rights of His own, no home of His own, men reviled Him and He did not retaliate or defend Himself.
Prayer: Lord bend this stiff necked I, help me bow to the will of Christ. Help me die to self and let Christ rule and have dominion over my life.
Dying to self is not a one day thing but it is continual. We constantly die to self.
2 Corinthians 4:10 Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body.
It means every day, we are confronted with choices in a thousand ways, we need to die to self and let Christ do the choosing.
It means constant yielding to the will of Christ.
No longer my will but the will of Christ. As we are confronted with challenges that tempt the self in us, that is God’s way of breaking us so that we will be deeply rooted in Christ.
Every form of self centredness must die because it is the exact opposite of wht the will of God is.
We must be prepared for God to break this self-centrednes so that His will will grow in us.
We must cooperate with God to achieve this.
It is in the process of brokenness that we find strength;
It is in the process of brokenness that we find victory;
It is in the process of brokenness that we find the faithfulness of God;
Goodness and mercy follows us as we go through brokenness;
Unstoppable favour becomes our portion as we go through brokenness.
DEALING WITH THE AFRICAN MENTALITY
For us to do this, there is the need for a change in our mindset. Our mindset about our situations and circumstances must change. You are where you are because of the choices you made yesterday. Your future is dependent on the choices you make today.
Deuteronomy 30:19 “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”
Common perceptions of Africans
Permanently portraying themselves as victims? (More than 50 yrs of independence, we have to stop blaming the white man).
They work hard, but not enough to live beyond their means. (Laborers work the hardest but are paid the least)
Our attitude towards work has always been wrong. We are apathetic, lackadaisical, unmotivated and cannot work without supervision. We think bribery is the order of the day and cannot earn an honest day’s wage. Prov. 6:6-9
We don’t show initiative and when someone does that and is successful, everybody wants to copy.
We are not competitive enough in the market place. We think we can produce any shoddy goods and still make money from it. We accept mediocrity, we don’t strive for perfection. Anyone who pushes for perfection is called too known.
We have entitlement mentality. We think everything must be done for us. We can build an 8 bedroom house and think that the government must provide public toilets for us. Every development we do must be funded by the white man.
THE TURN AROUND
Despite our weak position, God takes the weak things to confound the mighty. 1Cor. 1:27-29.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
God expects us to just take little steps out of the situation we find ourselves. Those are the steps He will use to confound the mighty. Just like the 4 lepers as they took steps to come out of the situation they found themselves in. God magnified their steps that the mighty Syrian army was scared and ran away.
David fought Goliath not because he was strong but because he partnered with God. That the same God who helped him overcome the lion and the bear will help him overcome Goliath. All he took was five little stones and God used only one to confound Goliath.
Like the Israelites when they were asked to spy on the land of Canaan in Numbers 13.
In Numbers13:27-33; 14:6-9. The twelve brought their reports. 10 brought an evil report. In fact they spoke about the facts on the ground. But Joshua and Caleb had the truth. The fact on the ground may be that your financial situation is horrible, but the truth is God can use that weak situation to confound the mighty.
The fact on the ground is doctors can tell you, you have a short time to live. The truth is God can heal you of that disease.
The fact on the ground is we Africans have a weak position economically. The truth is God can use this to show how mighty He is. In our weakness is He made strong. If we learn to partner God in such times as this and take steps as He directs us. He will surely take us to the top of the mountain. He will make a way where there is no way. All we need is to have the right attitude. We need to take little steps which God in turn will magnify it.
PROGRESS COMES WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE
Steps like learning the values of self-reliance, self improvement and risk-taking. Steps like having the values of drive, discipline, temperance and hard work. The values of self responsibility.
These values are rooted in a basic optimism about life and faith in free will—confidence in the fact that through hard work, sweat and tears, each of us can rise above circumstances of our birth. You may have been born in poverty but you do not need to remain in poverty. You may be born in a difficult situation but you do not have to remain there.
Steps like having a single mind focused on good work ethics, using technology and education as a right.
Steps like learning how to create wealth.
The West is not rich due to plunder or slavery -wealth is created through the development of saleable products which get sold to, and stimulate, external markets; consumers globally realise the value of items which enrich their lives, and change their behaviour to afford these.
Steps like having a can do attitude towards any work that confronts us and saying together with Obama that yes we can.
A never say die attitude. A readiness to what is humanly possible and let God do what is humanly impossible.
When we partner with God and take such little steps, we will be surprised what God will do with that. Just as He magnified the steps of the four lepers to confound the mighty Syrian army, He will do the same for your efforts. As you confront your Goliath in your life, God will use the little stones that you will pick to overcome your Giant. God will make you mighty. He will make you an achiever. He will make you more than a conqueror.
Never give up. Never accept the status quo. Never say never. God bless you.
Deuteronomy 30:19 “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:”
Common perceptions of Africans
Permanently portraying themselves as victims? (More than 50 yrs of independence, we have to stop blaming the white man).
They work hard, but not enough to live beyond their means. (Laborers work the hardest but are paid the least)
Our attitude towards work has always been wrong. We are apathetic, lackadaisical, unmotivated and cannot work without supervision. We think bribery is the order of the day and cannot earn an honest day’s wage. Prov. 6:6-9
We don’t show initiative and when someone does that and is successful, everybody wants to copy.
We are not competitive enough in the market place. We think we can produce any shoddy goods and still make money from it. We accept mediocrity, we don’t strive for perfection. Anyone who pushes for perfection is called too known.
We have entitlement mentality. We think everything must be done for us. We can build an 8 bedroom house and think that the government must provide public toilets for us. Every development we do must be funded by the white man.
THE TURN AROUND
Despite our weak position, God takes the weak things to confound the mighty. 1Cor. 1:27-29.
1 Corinthians 1:27-29 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence.
God expects us to just take little steps out of the situation we find ourselves. Those are the steps He will use to confound the mighty. Just like the 4 lepers as they took steps to come out of the situation they found themselves in. God magnified their steps that the mighty Syrian army was scared and ran away.
David fought Goliath not because he was strong but because he partnered with God. That the same God who helped him overcome the lion and the bear will help him overcome Goliath. All he took was five little stones and God used only one to confound Goliath.
Like the Israelites when they were asked to spy on the land of Canaan in Numbers 13.
In Numbers13:27-33; 14:6-9. The twelve brought their reports. 10 brought an evil report. In fact they spoke about the facts on the ground. But Joshua and Caleb had the truth. The fact on the ground may be that your financial situation is horrible, but the truth is God can use that weak situation to confound the mighty.
The fact on the ground is doctors can tell you, you have a short time to live. The truth is God can heal you of that disease.
The fact on the ground is we Africans have a weak position economically. The truth is God can use this to show how mighty He is. In our weakness is He made strong. If we learn to partner God in such times as this and take steps as He directs us. He will surely take us to the top of the mountain. He will make a way where there is no way. All we need is to have the right attitude. We need to take little steps which God in turn will magnify it.
PROGRESS COMES WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE
Steps like learning the values of self-reliance, self improvement and risk-taking. Steps like having the values of drive, discipline, temperance and hard work. The values of self responsibility.
These values are rooted in a basic optimism about life and faith in free will—confidence in the fact that through hard work, sweat and tears, each of us can rise above circumstances of our birth. You may have been born in poverty but you do not need to remain in poverty. You may be born in a difficult situation but you do not have to remain there.
Steps like having a single mind focused on good work ethics, using technology and education as a right.
Steps like learning how to create wealth.
The West is not rich due to plunder or slavery -wealth is created through the development of saleable products which get sold to, and stimulate, external markets; consumers globally realise the value of items which enrich their lives, and change their behaviour to afford these.
Steps like having a can do attitude towards any work that confronts us and saying together with Obama that yes we can.
A never say die attitude. A readiness to what is humanly possible and let God do what is humanly impossible.
When we partner with God and take such little steps, we will be surprised what God will do with that. Just as He magnified the steps of the four lepers to confound the mighty Syrian army, He will do the same for your efforts. As you confront your Goliath in your life, God will use the little stones that you will pick to overcome your Giant. God will make you mighty. He will make you an achiever. He will make you more than a conqueror.
Never give up. Never accept the status quo. Never say never. God bless you.
Tuesday, 3 May 2011
Purpose
Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
God has a plan for you. When God called us from among the crowd and said come out from among them and be ye separate; He had a purpose for calling us.
There is no one on earth here who is here as a decoration. There is a reason why God calls you. He never intended for you to be a pew warmer. His intention was for you to fulfill your purpose. Rom.8:28 tells us that everyone is called according to God’s purpose.
A Call: A calling is your office. What God has called you to do.
Purpose is the reason why you are here on earth. Purpose gives reason and a sense of direction to your call. Look at the following examples:
Jeremiah’s purpose;
Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jeremiah 1:10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
His calling was a prophet but his purpose was unto the nations, to root out, to pull down and to destroy the works of the enemy and to build and plant all that exalts God. He lived to fulfill his purpose.
Samuel was a prophet to the Kingdom of Israel.
1 Samuel 3:19-20 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.
Paul’s purpose;
His call was to preach the gospel i.e. 1 Corinthians 9:16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
However his purpose was Acts 9:15; “for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:” Paul fulfilled his purpose.
Acts 26:28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Paul would preach the gospel at every opportunity.
Noah’s purpose was to save as many people of his generation as possible into the ark and he fulfilled it. Gen.6:8. The fact that there is sin all around you is not an excuse for you to sin. The fact that there is sin all around you does not mean you cannot fulfill purpose.
God requires us to fulfill our purpose before we leave earth. Many Christians are looking out for success. In fact many Pastors are saying you must be successful. But the God whom we serve is looking out for faithfulness in fulfilling purpose.
God rewards faithfulness
Faithfulness is a prerequisite for fulfilling purpose. It is when we are faithful that we can find success. Many Christians have found success without faithfulness and God does not reward just success.
Many of us are doing what we think God wants us to do without coming to his presence to ask him. If we learn to come to his presence to seek him, he will show us what our purpose is. We have a form of godliness but we deny His leadership and direction. You just have to obey him. You may not necessarily be successful but you would be found faithful. If you read Mt.7:21-23 all the works listed there were the works of God, but the people had not identified their purpose.
Mt25:14-30 i.e. the parable of the talents.
Note that in verse 15 He gave everyone’s purpose according to your ability so you have no excuse not fulfilling it.
Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things:: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
God rewarded the man for his faithfulness and not necessarily for his success. They entered heaven because they had been faithful with their purpose.
Matthew 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Many people in the house of God will go to hell because they were not faithful with their talents. They were unprofitable servants of the Lord. They did not fulfill their purpose.
What is your talent and if God comes today will he find you faithful?
There are three kinds of people:
Those who do nothing,
Those who watch things happen in excitement and shout ooh, Aah and
Those who make things happen.
May you cause things to happen in your life. May you identify your call and fulfil your purpose.
God has a plan for you. When God called us from among the crowd and said come out from among them and be ye separate; He had a purpose for calling us.
There is no one on earth here who is here as a decoration. There is a reason why God calls you. He never intended for you to be a pew warmer. His intention was for you to fulfill your purpose. Rom.8:28 tells us that everyone is called according to God’s purpose.
A Call: A calling is your office. What God has called you to do.
Purpose is the reason why you are here on earth. Purpose gives reason and a sense of direction to your call. Look at the following examples:
Jeremiah’s purpose;
Jeremiah 1:5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
Jeremiah 1:10 See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
His calling was a prophet but his purpose was unto the nations, to root out, to pull down and to destroy the works of the enemy and to build and plant all that exalts God. He lived to fulfill his purpose.
Samuel was a prophet to the Kingdom of Israel.
1 Samuel 3:19-20 And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground. And all Israel from Dan even to Beersheba knew that Samuel was established to be a prophet of the LORD.
Paul’s purpose;
His call was to preach the gospel i.e. 1 Corinthians 9:16 For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of: for necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!
However his purpose was Acts 9:15; “for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel:” Paul fulfilled his purpose.
Acts 26:28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Paul would preach the gospel at every opportunity.
Noah’s purpose was to save as many people of his generation as possible into the ark and he fulfilled it. Gen.6:8. The fact that there is sin all around you is not an excuse for you to sin. The fact that there is sin all around you does not mean you cannot fulfill purpose.
God requires us to fulfill our purpose before we leave earth. Many Christians are looking out for success. In fact many Pastors are saying you must be successful. But the God whom we serve is looking out for faithfulness in fulfilling purpose.
God rewards faithfulness
Faithfulness is a prerequisite for fulfilling purpose. It is when we are faithful that we can find success. Many Christians have found success without faithfulness and God does not reward just success.
Many of us are doing what we think God wants us to do without coming to his presence to ask him. If we learn to come to his presence to seek him, he will show us what our purpose is. We have a form of godliness but we deny His leadership and direction. You just have to obey him. You may not necessarily be successful but you would be found faithful. If you read Mt.7:21-23 all the works listed there were the works of God, but the people had not identified their purpose.
Mt25:14-30 i.e. the parable of the talents.
Note that in verse 15 He gave everyone’s purpose according to your ability so you have no excuse not fulfilling it.
Matthew 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things:: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
God rewarded the man for his faithfulness and not necessarily for his success. They entered heaven because they had been faithful with their purpose.
Matthew 25:30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Many people in the house of God will go to hell because they were not faithful with their talents. They were unprofitable servants of the Lord. They did not fulfill their purpose.
What is your talent and if God comes today will he find you faithful?
There are three kinds of people:
Those who do nothing,
Those who watch things happen in excitement and shout ooh, Aah and
Those who make things happen.
May you cause things to happen in your life. May you identify your call and fulfil your purpose.
Wednesday, 27 April 2011
Honour the Lord
1 Samuel 2:30 “Wherefore the LORD God of Israel saith, I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before me for ever: but now the LORD saith,, Be it far from me; for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed”.
God in this scripture was telling Eli the High Priest that though He had promised Eli’s house, be it far from Him. That promise will not be fulfilled because Eli’s sons have not honoured the Lord in their life. They were the next in line to be High Priests but because they dishonoured God, the promise concerning their lives will not be fulfilled.
God says that “for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed”.
The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were sinning against God at the door of the Temple. They had no regard for the law of God neither did they honour God in their lives so this law had to come in operation for them to be punished. God therefore sends Samuel to announce the consequences to Eli. The sons of Eli die in a war with the Philistines, there is a great slaughter and Israel flees from its enemies, the Ark of the Lord is captured and Eli falls backward and breaks his neck thereby he also dies. The consequences of dishonouring God are very grave.
However for those who honour God, He in turn honours them. Samuel decided to honour God all his life and was lifted up as the High Priest and prophet of Israel. He who was not in the lineage of Eli, he was not the next in line to be the High Priest, he merely ministered before the Lord but God had to change the order so that he would become the next High Priest. Joseph refused to sin against God by refusing to sleep with Potiphar’s wife. He refused to fall for the woman’s advances. This was something that many would think will cause the woman to speak to her husband on Joseph’s behalf. But Joseph refused to sin against God so God rewarded him by lifting him up to become the prime minister of Egypt. From slavery to prison to Prime minister.
God always honours those who honour him. Daniel refused to eat food offered unto idols and was rewarded to serve as governor under about four kings. Daniel again refused to obey the commandment not to pray to God. He honoured God in this action and yet when he was placed in the lion’s den, the angel of the Lord shut the mouths of the lions such that they could not eat him up and he was released the following day. Even the King of the day fasted for him. May you stand for God no matter how difficult the situation is. No situation should cause you not to honour God. No circumstance that you find yourself in should stop you from glorifying God. When we learn to honour Him, he will also honour us. Despite all the faults of David, God called him his friend because he knew how to honour God. God even overlooked his faults. May God honour you. May he call you his friend.
God will honour you if you learn to honour Him. If you learn to honour Him in your marriage by honouring your husband as unto the Lord, then God in turn will touch his heart and before you know it, your husband becomes a new person. If you honour the Lord by loving your wife even as Christ loved the church, then very soon God will also honour you and the marriage that was heading towards divorce will turn over a new leaf.
If you learn to honour God in your business by respecting your customers, by being honest and treating them right, then God in turn will honour you by giving you more customers than you can imagine. This will lead to an increase in your income. If you honour God in your work place by doing what you are paid for and not forcing people to pay you bribes but rather earn an honest day’s wage, then God will also honour you and grant you promotion. If you honour God in everything that you do, then God in turn will honour you. May you honour God all the days of your life. May God come through for you and honour you so that it will be known that the Lord that you serve has honoured you.
There are certain specific ways that we can honour God.
1. We honour God by honouring His commands. Keith Miller said “We Christians have developed a kind of selective vision which allows us to be deeply and sincerely involved in worship and church activities and yet almost totally pagan in the day in, day out guts of our business lives…..and never realize it”. This sums up the depravity and shallowness of Christianity today. We go to church and pretend to be holier than thou but our lights do not shine when we are in our homes or when we go to our secret places and in the communities. We mistake being busy and active participation in religious activities to mean holiness. We are dishonest in our businesses, we do not have integrity in our circle of influence, we fuel the perception that Christianity is a religion of mere words and no action. Unbelievers make mockery of our God because of our level of hypocrisy and depravity of our conscience. We mistake religious conformity to mean honouring God. We have to honour God by honouring His words.
2. Honour the Lord with all your heart, soul and spirit.
Isaiah 29:13 “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men”.
Do not relate to God in a superficial way or in pretence because He can see right through you. The genuineness of your relationship with God will be revealed when your faith is tested. That is when you will know what you are truly made off. Many people who call themselves Christians have allowed the gospel of convenience to override what God tells them in scripture so much that they do not even realise when they start to drift. A lot of Christians today accept relative truth instead of the absolute truth in the Bible. Relative truth is when you only see something to be true in relation to some other circumstances. When the circumstance changes, then that same thing may not necessarily be truth. Many find themselves in the category of people who worship God with their lips but their hearts are far away from him.
3. We honour God by honouring our parents and people in authority.
Ephesians 6:2-3 “Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;). That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth”.
God has placed them over us and we need to offer that honour unto them. We honour them not because of what they do for us but because God requires us to do so. Some parents and people in authority may have treated us unfairly or may have not performed their duty as they should but we do not have the authority to judge them. All we can do is to obey the word of God and treat them with respect and honour. When we do this, we are honouring God.
It is in our own interest to honour the people in authority. It is when we honour and pray for them that we will be able to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
4. We honour the Lord by coming to His house. Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching”.
It is the plan of the devil for you never to go to church. Please honor God tomorrow and come to church. You have stayed home for too long a time, start coming to the house of God to fellowship with people of like faith. God is calling you to honour Him and come to His house to have fellowship with Him.
God in this scripture was telling Eli the High Priest that though He had promised Eli’s house, be it far from Him. That promise will not be fulfilled because Eli’s sons have not honoured the Lord in their life. They were the next in line to be High Priests but because they dishonoured God, the promise concerning their lives will not be fulfilled.
God says that “for them that honour me I will honour, and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed”.
The sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas were sinning against God at the door of the Temple. They had no regard for the law of God neither did they honour God in their lives so this law had to come in operation for them to be punished. God therefore sends Samuel to announce the consequences to Eli. The sons of Eli die in a war with the Philistines, there is a great slaughter and Israel flees from its enemies, the Ark of the Lord is captured and Eli falls backward and breaks his neck thereby he also dies. The consequences of dishonouring God are very grave.
However for those who honour God, He in turn honours them. Samuel decided to honour God all his life and was lifted up as the High Priest and prophet of Israel. He who was not in the lineage of Eli, he was not the next in line to be the High Priest, he merely ministered before the Lord but God had to change the order so that he would become the next High Priest. Joseph refused to sin against God by refusing to sleep with Potiphar’s wife. He refused to fall for the woman’s advances. This was something that many would think will cause the woman to speak to her husband on Joseph’s behalf. But Joseph refused to sin against God so God rewarded him by lifting him up to become the prime minister of Egypt. From slavery to prison to Prime minister.
God always honours those who honour him. Daniel refused to eat food offered unto idols and was rewarded to serve as governor under about four kings. Daniel again refused to obey the commandment not to pray to God. He honoured God in this action and yet when he was placed in the lion’s den, the angel of the Lord shut the mouths of the lions such that they could not eat him up and he was released the following day. Even the King of the day fasted for him. May you stand for God no matter how difficult the situation is. No situation should cause you not to honour God. No circumstance that you find yourself in should stop you from glorifying God. When we learn to honour Him, he will also honour us. Despite all the faults of David, God called him his friend because he knew how to honour God. God even overlooked his faults. May God honour you. May he call you his friend.
God will honour you if you learn to honour Him. If you learn to honour Him in your marriage by honouring your husband as unto the Lord, then God in turn will touch his heart and before you know it, your husband becomes a new person. If you honour the Lord by loving your wife even as Christ loved the church, then very soon God will also honour you and the marriage that was heading towards divorce will turn over a new leaf.
If you learn to honour God in your business by respecting your customers, by being honest and treating them right, then God in turn will honour you by giving you more customers than you can imagine. This will lead to an increase in your income. If you honour God in your work place by doing what you are paid for and not forcing people to pay you bribes but rather earn an honest day’s wage, then God will also honour you and grant you promotion. If you honour God in everything that you do, then God in turn will honour you. May you honour God all the days of your life. May God come through for you and honour you so that it will be known that the Lord that you serve has honoured you.
There are certain specific ways that we can honour God.
1. We honour God by honouring His commands. Keith Miller said “We Christians have developed a kind of selective vision which allows us to be deeply and sincerely involved in worship and church activities and yet almost totally pagan in the day in, day out guts of our business lives…..and never realize it”. This sums up the depravity and shallowness of Christianity today. We go to church and pretend to be holier than thou but our lights do not shine when we are in our homes or when we go to our secret places and in the communities. We mistake being busy and active participation in religious activities to mean holiness. We are dishonest in our businesses, we do not have integrity in our circle of influence, we fuel the perception that Christianity is a religion of mere words and no action. Unbelievers make mockery of our God because of our level of hypocrisy and depravity of our conscience. We mistake religious conformity to mean honouring God. We have to honour God by honouring His words.
2. Honour the Lord with all your heart, soul and spirit.
Isaiah 29:13 “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men”.
Do not relate to God in a superficial way or in pretence because He can see right through you. The genuineness of your relationship with God will be revealed when your faith is tested. That is when you will know what you are truly made off. Many people who call themselves Christians have allowed the gospel of convenience to override what God tells them in scripture so much that they do not even realise when they start to drift. A lot of Christians today accept relative truth instead of the absolute truth in the Bible. Relative truth is when you only see something to be true in relation to some other circumstances. When the circumstance changes, then that same thing may not necessarily be truth. Many find themselves in the category of people who worship God with their lips but their hearts are far away from him.
3. We honour God by honouring our parents and people in authority.
Ephesians 6:2-3 “Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;). That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth”.
God has placed them over us and we need to offer that honour unto them. We honour them not because of what they do for us but because God requires us to do so. Some parents and people in authority may have treated us unfairly or may have not performed their duty as they should but we do not have the authority to judge them. All we can do is to obey the word of God and treat them with respect and honour. When we do this, we are honouring God.
It is in our own interest to honour the people in authority. It is when we honour and pray for them that we will be able to lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
4. We honour the Lord by coming to His house. Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching”.
It is the plan of the devil for you never to go to church. Please honor God tomorrow and come to church. You have stayed home for too long a time, start coming to the house of God to fellowship with people of like faith. God is calling you to honour Him and come to His house to have fellowship with Him.
Message from Hell
Luke 16:19-31; FACTS:
1. This is a true story and not a parable (vs 19 There was. In no parable is someone named)
2. There is life after death. (vs 22 because this happened)
3. Heaven and hell are real (vs. 22-23)
4. Lazarus didn’t go to Heaven because he was poor. He went because his name was found in the book of life. He was in right standing with God. Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
5. The rich man didn’t go to hell because he was rich. He went because he was a sinner, his name was not in the book of life. Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
6. Lazarus was in a place of comfort, joy, and happiness. No sorrow, no regrets, no torment.
7. The rich man cried for mercy, he was in torment, he was in suffering, he regretted the life he had led, he was thirsty. (vs. 24)
8. When you die, your soul and spirit go to one place, either Heaven or hell. The soul is your mind/intellect, your emotions and your will.
9. There is a gulf between Heaven and Hell. (vs. 26)
( vs 23-31 main message)
You cannot repent after death. Now is your opportunity to repent.
There is a message from hell for you. Someone in hell wishes he had the opportunity that you have today so that he could have repented.
He wishes that he had listened when he heard the word of God. The Bible says now is the day of salvation 2Cor.6:2.
Someone in hell wishes he can change his position with you today because you are not doing God’s will. He wishes that you take advantage of all the opportunities you have today because tomorrow does not belong to you.
No one will come from the dead to testify to you. There are enough true preachers in the world today that you have to listen to. He is praying to God that you will listen to the men of God and be obedient.
Someone in hell is praying that you preach to his family members about Jesus. He is counting on your obedience.
Someone is praying that you will not keep your mouth shut until everyone you come into contact with is saved.
Someone is praying that anytime you meet his family member, you sit in the car with them, meet them at work place, that you will share the gospel with them.
Some of you say Oh we are sitting on the fence, There is a message from Hell for you, the fence belongs to the devil so you can’t sit on it. Awake from your sleep and slumber and seek after Jesus.
You say Oh I am standing in the middle of the road, we know what happens to people standing in the middle of the road, they get ran over by a car. God is calling you to come to His house.
Some of you have been wounded and even your faith has been killed by the Church. Christianity is the only army that kills it’s wounded soldiers. But god is saying that is not an excuse for you to go to hell. Rise up and still come to the mercy seat of God because you will find mercy there. Let nothing stop you from the love of God.
Romans 8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
1. This is a true story and not a parable (vs 19 There was. In no parable is someone named)
2. There is life after death. (vs 22 because this happened)
3. Heaven and hell are real (vs. 22-23)
4. Lazarus didn’t go to Heaven because he was poor. He went because his name was found in the book of life. He was in right standing with God. Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
5. The rich man didn’t go to hell because he was rich. He went because he was a sinner, his name was not in the book of life. Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.
6. Lazarus was in a place of comfort, joy, and happiness. No sorrow, no regrets, no torment.
7. The rich man cried for mercy, he was in torment, he was in suffering, he regretted the life he had led, he was thirsty. (vs. 24)
8. When you die, your soul and spirit go to one place, either Heaven or hell. The soul is your mind/intellect, your emotions and your will.
9. There is a gulf between Heaven and Hell. (vs. 26)
( vs 23-31 main message)
You cannot repent after death. Now is your opportunity to repent.
There is a message from hell for you. Someone in hell wishes he had the opportunity that you have today so that he could have repented.
He wishes that he had listened when he heard the word of God. The Bible says now is the day of salvation 2Cor.6:2.
Someone in hell wishes he can change his position with you today because you are not doing God’s will. He wishes that you take advantage of all the opportunities you have today because tomorrow does not belong to you.
No one will come from the dead to testify to you. There are enough true preachers in the world today that you have to listen to. He is praying to God that you will listen to the men of God and be obedient.
Someone in hell is praying that you preach to his family members about Jesus. He is counting on your obedience.
Someone is praying that you will not keep your mouth shut until everyone you come into contact with is saved.
Someone is praying that anytime you meet his family member, you sit in the car with them, meet them at work place, that you will share the gospel with them.
Some of you say Oh we are sitting on the fence, There is a message from Hell for you, the fence belongs to the devil so you can’t sit on it. Awake from your sleep and slumber and seek after Jesus.
You say Oh I am standing in the middle of the road, we know what happens to people standing in the middle of the road, they get ran over by a car. God is calling you to come to His house.
Some of you have been wounded and even your faith has been killed by the Church. Christianity is the only army that kills it’s wounded soldiers. But god is saying that is not an excuse for you to go to hell. Rise up and still come to the mercy seat of God because you will find mercy there. Let nothing stop you from the love of God.
Romans 8:35-37 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Sorry Folks
I had to go to Africa on a missionary trip and have since not been able to update this blog. I am really sorry for this long break. However I am still there but have found a means to access the internet now so can regularly put up new update. Stay tuned. God bless you all.
Saturday, 5 December 2009
Ps. Cox speaks on "Jay z disses Jesus"
Where are all the Pastors with large congregations?
Watch the part two below.
Sunday, 29 November 2009
DRIFTING
If you truly believe in Jesus, why is he not the top of your priorities? What caused him to come down on your scale of priorities?
When you got born again, you always wanted to do the will of God and to please him, what caused the shift?
Have we become too much interested in me, myself, and I so much that everything is about our interest and nothing else?
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
The level of priority you give to God shows the genuineness of your relationship with him. What caused you to move from pursuing the will of God to become self conscious? Have you been drifting without knowing?
Christianity? Try hypocrisy. Many people profess to be Christians but they are seen as hypocrites because their lights do not shine. They are seen going to church everyday but they are not the salt of their world. When salt loses its taste, it is thrown out and men walk on it. We pretend to love God but genuinely, we don’t. We love ourselves more than we love God.
When we are in our circle of influence, do we glorify God or do we just blend with them and try to be politically correct?
We prefer to remain in our comfort zones rather than be relevant in our society.
Matthew 25:32-40 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye 1 blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Whenever you are not relevant to your society, we deny him. Our actions speak louder than our words.
If we are willing to die to the flesh for him, then we can live for him. If we are willing to stand firm even in the face of death then we will be able to live for him and share the gospel to every one.
Matthew 24:45-46 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
God will come back looking for a remnant who would not have compromised or drifted from the truth. He will come back for those who have remained faithful to the call, who have not been carried away by the things happening around us. He will come back for a remnant who have not defiled themselves.
When you got born again, you always wanted to do the will of God and to please him, what caused the shift?
Have we become too much interested in me, myself, and I so much that everything is about our interest and nothing else?
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
The level of priority you give to God shows the genuineness of your relationship with him. What caused you to move from pursuing the will of God to become self conscious? Have you been drifting without knowing?
Christianity? Try hypocrisy. Many people profess to be Christians but they are seen as hypocrites because their lights do not shine. They are seen going to church everyday but they are not the salt of their world. When salt loses its taste, it is thrown out and men walk on it. We pretend to love God but genuinely, we don’t. We love ourselves more than we love God.
When we are in our circle of influence, do we glorify God or do we just blend with them and try to be politically correct?
We prefer to remain in our comfort zones rather than be relevant in our society.
Matthew 25:32-40 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye 1 blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? 39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Whenever you are not relevant to your society, we deny him. Our actions speak louder than our words.
If we are willing to die to the flesh for him, then we can live for him. If we are willing to stand firm even in the face of death then we will be able to live for him and share the gospel to every one.
Matthew 24:45-46 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
God will come back looking for a remnant who would not have compromised or drifted from the truth. He will come back for those who have remained faithful to the call, who have not been carried away by the things happening around us. He will come back for a remnant who have not defiled themselves.
Thursday, 12 November 2009
Islamic Demographics
It's time for every beleiver who is a pew warmer and an armchair christian to wake up from your sleep and begin to evangelise.
Saturday, 7 November 2009
Christians persecuted in England
I just can't beleive this. A christian country persecuting Christians in the name of political correctness. God save us.
All beleivers must rise up in prayer.
Friday, 6 November 2009
CALL TO ACTION Rifqa's life is in great dangerFrom Jamal Jivanjee...
To all those who value life,
Please take a few minutes to consider the life of our sister in the faith Rifqa Bary, which is once again in grave jeopardy. On Tuesday October 27’th, Rifqa Bary was handed over to Ohio authorities for placement in foster care in Franklin County. Over the previous weekend, a very unfortunate deal was made by Rifqa’s former Florida Guardian Ad Litem, Krista Bartholomew, with Rifqa’s parent’s attorney David Colley that allowed Rifqa to be transferred back to Ohio. The gist of this (behind the scenes) deal was the following:
1. Because Rifqa’s parents are in the U.S. illegally, they refused and defied numerous court orders to produce documents detailing their immigration status. As a result, Rifqa’s parents were in danger of being arrested for contempt of court. The Florida judge who had emergency jurisdiction over the case said that even though the jurisdiction is transferred to Ohio, he was not going to release her until they produced the proper documentation that satisfied the court.
Well, in order to have the immigration issue go away for Rifqa’s parents, Mohammad Bary’s attorney, David Colley, cut a ‘behind the scenes’ deal in which the Florida court would drop the contempt of court issue regarding their immigration situation in exchange for an assurance that they would leave Rifqa alone and let her stay in foster care for the next 9 months until she is 18. This sounded like it was too good to be true, and it was! As soon as Rifqa was transferred into Ohio custody and the Florida court gave up their emergency jurisdiction over Rifqa and the immigration issue, Rifqa’s parents fired their own attorney that made the deal! Simply put, now that Rifqa was in ‘favorable’ hands in Ohio, all deals are off! They trusted Rifqa's parents hoping they would live up to their word, and because of this, Rifqa is in a dangerous situation and there is nothing the Florida court can do now because the (G.A.L.) gave the entire house away! Let this be a lesson about Mohammad Bary's real intentions.
In my opinion, this was all part of a premeditated plan on the part of Rifqa’s parents and the organization called C.A.I.R. who has been advising them according to the Florida department of law enforcement report released to the public. They have since hired a Muslim activist attorney named Omar Tarazi that is no doubt influenced by the mafia like C.A.I.R. organization whose sole agenda is to paint a positive picture of Islam in America at any cost. (The slander of the Lorenz family and the slander of 17 year old Rifqa’s own character by releasing her prayer journals to the media are perfect examples of how C.A.I.R. ruthlessly operates to accomplish their agenda.)
They completely went back on the agreement that they made to leave Rifqa alone, and I believe they now are planning to continue to pursue to get her back against Rifqa’s will. C.A.I.R. wants her silenced both now, and in the future, because they know that Rifqa’s story of abuse is common among many Muslim families. Apostasy in Islam is not something they want to shine a light on. They know that as her story gets out there, there will be a massive exodus of Muslims just like her. Indeed, it has already begun!
2. If that was not bad enough, Rifqa went back to a hostile environment in Ohio right away. In an article posted on Saturday October 24’th, three days before her return to Ohio, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Eric Fenner, the executive director of Franklin County Children Services, has said that he has stated that he “has no reason to believe that Rifqa wouldn’t be safe with her parents.” Remember this is coming from the very person who has charge over protecting her!
Rifqa then arrived back to Ohio on Tuesday October 27’th. Upon her arrival came a new set of restrictions that her parents and Muslim attorneys have been trying to impose on her from the beginning…solitary confinement! While Rifqa was being protected in Florida, they repeatedly tried to separate Rifqa from other Christians that she leaned on for strength and encouragement. Rifqa’s Muslim parents have been saying from the beginning that they don’t believe that Rifqa became a Christian on her own accord, rather they believe that her real problem is that she has been brain washed by other people through facebook and over the phone.
Immediately upon Rifqa’s arrival to Ohio, came new draconian measures to limit her freedom already! Franklin County Juvenile Magistrate Mary Goodrich put these restrictions on Rifqa at the request of the Franklin county children's services agency immediately upon her arrival back to the state of Ohio.
“Bary's use of Facebook was one issue that led to the situation, said Jim Zorn, a children's services attorney, who asked Goodrich to restrict Bary from using the Internet and her cell phone. "What we want to restrict is the other people, the other organizations, the other forces, that have interjected themselves into this case inappropriately, and has caused the additional problems that we've seen," Zorn said.
Zorn’s account of Rifqa’s situation is absolutely false! Where is he getting his information? It seems as if the Ohio director of children’s services in Franklin County is reading right out of the C.A.I.R. and radical Muslim playbook for this case. Facebook did not in any way lead to this situation. What led to this situation was the fact that a very bright and intelligent girl decided to leave Islam and become a Christian. According to numerous passages in the Qur’an and other Islamic scriptures, this is called apostasy and is punishable by death. Like many others all over the world, Rifqa faced this threat of death, or even deportation back to Sri-Lanka by her own family along with pressure from the Columbus Ohio mosque that her family was actively apart of.
What crime did Rifqa Bary commit that she would be held with such restrictions from communicating to the outside world? While it is legal for 17 year old girls in this country to have abortions without parental agreement, this 17 year old girl is forbidden to have unrestricted access to her phone or facebook friends of her choosing! Is she under house arrest because she is a Christian? This sounds like Sharia law in Ohio!
Immediate Call to Action:
Before I get into the specifics of how we can help, let me say this about a very common misunderstanding that many Christians have regarding God’s sovereignty and fighting for justice. Many of my well meaning brothers and sisters in the church have wondered what the balance is between sitting back, trusting God, and actively fighting for justice. Some have said that because I am fighting for justice in Rifqa’s situation, I am taking the situation in my hands and I am not trusting that God is sovereign over this situation. That is ridiculous to say the least. First of all there is a tremendous amount of support in scripture that commands the people of God to not remain silent in the face of injustice, and to speak and defend those who cannot defend themselves. For time’s sake, I will not list those passages here. If you need help finding these scriptures along with their proper context, let me know and I’d be glad to help direct you to the appropriate passages.
All actions of justice should come from a heart of prayer first and foremost. It is from this place of prayer and intimacy with the Lord that we will find the courage, specific direction, and strength to understand and actually do what He is calling us to do! While not everyone will be called to do the same thing, the Lord will burden our hearts for the things that burden His heart as well. His sovereign heart and actions are carried out through the church, which is simply people! We cannot separate ourselves from this. We are His body, His hands, His feet, His mouth, etc…
A lack of a proper understanding between God’s sovereignty and His heart for justice is what allowed the church to sit passively by in Nazi Germany as Jewish people were slaughtered by the millions while Christians were paralyzed by fear and did nothing. Corrie Ten Boom was an exception to the rule. She was not afraid, and she knew what God had called her to do. There should have been millions of Corrie Ten Booms in Germany at that time. This same cowardice and passivity is also what has allowed over 3000 children to be murdered by abortion each and every day in this nation with little or no outcry in prayer and public against this tragedy. We must get this right! Now with that said, here are some specific things we can do for Rifqa right now:
Since most of Rifqa’s Florida support base is cut off from her, and she is now under the care of authorities that do not take the threat to her life seriously, I would like to ask you to help them understand that Rifqa is not alone and that there are many people who will not sit idly by while Rifqa is sent back to her demise. This does make a difference. Rifqa’s story must continue to be told for her sake, and for the sake of many others! Feel free to repost this article and pass it along to anyone you would like for the sake of getting the word out.
Please contact Franklin County Children Services, and the Ohio governor’s office at the following addresses and let them know that you want Rifqa to be able to have the basic freedoms to communicate to the outside world, and that she needs to be protected from her parents & the radical Islamic community:
Please take a few minutes to consider the life of our sister in the faith Rifqa Bary, which is once again in grave jeopardy. On Tuesday October 27’th, Rifqa Bary was handed over to Ohio authorities for placement in foster care in Franklin County. Over the previous weekend, a very unfortunate deal was made by Rifqa’s former Florida Guardian Ad Litem, Krista Bartholomew, with Rifqa’s parent’s attorney David Colley that allowed Rifqa to be transferred back to Ohio. The gist of this (behind the scenes) deal was the following:
1. Because Rifqa’s parents are in the U.S. illegally, they refused and defied numerous court orders to produce documents detailing their immigration status. As a result, Rifqa’s parents were in danger of being arrested for contempt of court. The Florida judge who had emergency jurisdiction over the case said that even though the jurisdiction is transferred to Ohio, he was not going to release her until they produced the proper documentation that satisfied the court.
Well, in order to have the immigration issue go away for Rifqa’s parents, Mohammad Bary’s attorney, David Colley, cut a ‘behind the scenes’ deal in which the Florida court would drop the contempt of court issue regarding their immigration situation in exchange for an assurance that they would leave Rifqa alone and let her stay in foster care for the next 9 months until she is 18. This sounded like it was too good to be true, and it was! As soon as Rifqa was transferred into Ohio custody and the Florida court gave up their emergency jurisdiction over Rifqa and the immigration issue, Rifqa’s parents fired their own attorney that made the deal! Simply put, now that Rifqa was in ‘favorable’ hands in Ohio, all deals are off! They trusted Rifqa's parents hoping they would live up to their word, and because of this, Rifqa is in a dangerous situation and there is nothing the Florida court can do now because the (G.A.L.) gave the entire house away! Let this be a lesson about Mohammad Bary's real intentions.
In my opinion, this was all part of a premeditated plan on the part of Rifqa’s parents and the organization called C.A.I.R. who has been advising them according to the Florida department of law enforcement report released to the public. They have since hired a Muslim activist attorney named Omar Tarazi that is no doubt influenced by the mafia like C.A.I.R. organization whose sole agenda is to paint a positive picture of Islam in America at any cost. (The slander of the Lorenz family and the slander of 17 year old Rifqa’s own character by releasing her prayer journals to the media are perfect examples of how C.A.I.R. ruthlessly operates to accomplish their agenda.)
They completely went back on the agreement that they made to leave Rifqa alone, and I believe they now are planning to continue to pursue to get her back against Rifqa’s will. C.A.I.R. wants her silenced both now, and in the future, because they know that Rifqa’s story of abuse is common among many Muslim families. Apostasy in Islam is not something they want to shine a light on. They know that as her story gets out there, there will be a massive exodus of Muslims just like her. Indeed, it has already begun!
2. If that was not bad enough, Rifqa went back to a hostile environment in Ohio right away. In an article posted on Saturday October 24’th, three days before her return to Ohio, the Columbus Dispatch reported that Eric Fenner, the executive director of Franklin County Children Services, has said that he has stated that he “has no reason to believe that Rifqa wouldn’t be safe with her parents.” Remember this is coming from the very person who has charge over protecting her!
Rifqa then arrived back to Ohio on Tuesday October 27’th. Upon her arrival came a new set of restrictions that her parents and Muslim attorneys have been trying to impose on her from the beginning…solitary confinement! While Rifqa was being protected in Florida, they repeatedly tried to separate Rifqa from other Christians that she leaned on for strength and encouragement. Rifqa’s Muslim parents have been saying from the beginning that they don’t believe that Rifqa became a Christian on her own accord, rather they believe that her real problem is that she has been brain washed by other people through facebook and over the phone.
Immediately upon Rifqa’s arrival to Ohio, came new draconian measures to limit her freedom already! Franklin County Juvenile Magistrate Mary Goodrich put these restrictions on Rifqa at the request of the Franklin county children's services agency immediately upon her arrival back to the state of Ohio.
“Bary's use of Facebook was one issue that led to the situation, said Jim Zorn, a children's services attorney, who asked Goodrich to restrict Bary from using the Internet and her cell phone. "What we want to restrict is the other people, the other organizations, the other forces, that have interjected themselves into this case inappropriately, and has caused the additional problems that we've seen," Zorn said.
Zorn’s account of Rifqa’s situation is absolutely false! Where is he getting his information? It seems as if the Ohio director of children’s services in Franklin County is reading right out of the C.A.I.R. and radical Muslim playbook for this case. Facebook did not in any way lead to this situation. What led to this situation was the fact that a very bright and intelligent girl decided to leave Islam and become a Christian. According to numerous passages in the Qur’an and other Islamic scriptures, this is called apostasy and is punishable by death. Like many others all over the world, Rifqa faced this threat of death, or even deportation back to Sri-Lanka by her own family along with pressure from the Columbus Ohio mosque that her family was actively apart of.
What crime did Rifqa Bary commit that she would be held with such restrictions from communicating to the outside world? While it is legal for 17 year old girls in this country to have abortions without parental agreement, this 17 year old girl is forbidden to have unrestricted access to her phone or facebook friends of her choosing! Is she under house arrest because she is a Christian? This sounds like Sharia law in Ohio!
Immediate Call to Action:
Before I get into the specifics of how we can help, let me say this about a very common misunderstanding that many Christians have regarding God’s sovereignty and fighting for justice. Many of my well meaning brothers and sisters in the church have wondered what the balance is between sitting back, trusting God, and actively fighting for justice. Some have said that because I am fighting for justice in Rifqa’s situation, I am taking the situation in my hands and I am not trusting that God is sovereign over this situation. That is ridiculous to say the least. First of all there is a tremendous amount of support in scripture that commands the people of God to not remain silent in the face of injustice, and to speak and defend those who cannot defend themselves. For time’s sake, I will not list those passages here. If you need help finding these scriptures along with their proper context, let me know and I’d be glad to help direct you to the appropriate passages.
All actions of justice should come from a heart of prayer first and foremost. It is from this place of prayer and intimacy with the Lord that we will find the courage, specific direction, and strength to understand and actually do what He is calling us to do! While not everyone will be called to do the same thing, the Lord will burden our hearts for the things that burden His heart as well. His sovereign heart and actions are carried out through the church, which is simply people! We cannot separate ourselves from this. We are His body, His hands, His feet, His mouth, etc…
A lack of a proper understanding between God’s sovereignty and His heart for justice is what allowed the church to sit passively by in Nazi Germany as Jewish people were slaughtered by the millions while Christians were paralyzed by fear and did nothing. Corrie Ten Boom was an exception to the rule. She was not afraid, and she knew what God had called her to do. There should have been millions of Corrie Ten Booms in Germany at that time. This same cowardice and passivity is also what has allowed over 3000 children to be murdered by abortion each and every day in this nation with little or no outcry in prayer and public against this tragedy. We must get this right! Now with that said, here are some specific things we can do for Rifqa right now:
Since most of Rifqa’s Florida support base is cut off from her, and she is now under the care of authorities that do not take the threat to her life seriously, I would like to ask you to help them understand that Rifqa is not alone and that there are many people who will not sit idly by while Rifqa is sent back to her demise. This does make a difference. Rifqa’s story must continue to be told for her sake, and for the sake of many others! Feel free to repost this article and pass it along to anyone you would like for the sake of getting the word out.
Please contact Franklin County Children Services, and the Ohio governor’s office at the following addresses and let them know that you want Rifqa to be able to have the basic freedoms to communicate to the outside world, and that she needs to be protected from her parents & the radical Islamic community:
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
Halloween: A Celebration of Evil
Dear Friends,
As Halloween approaches, I think this piece provides a useful reflection.
Modern celebrations of Halloween may appear on the surface to be quite harmless, but the spiritual implications of dabbling with the spirit world are extremely serious.
What must an unfamiliar observer think of Halloween? Parents dress their children as monsters, vampires, devils, witches and ghosts and encourage them to approach total strangers to ask them for candy and other treats. Homeowners decorate their houses with images of black cats, ghosts, goblins and carved pumpkins and sometimes transform their yards into make-believe graveyards. Adults dress in similar strange and outlandish costumes and go to parties in rooms decorated like dungeons or crypts.
Why are such bizarre practices so popular? Why would anyone celebrate a holiday emphasizing the morbid and macabre? Where did such strange customs originate?
As with Christmas and Easter, we can trace the roots of Halloween far back into the pagan past. The Encyclopedia of Religion says, "Halloween, or Allhallows Eve, is a festival celebrated on 31 October, the evening prior to the Christian Feast of All Saints (All Saints' Day). Halloween is the name for the eve of Samhain [pronounced sow-en], a celebration marking the beginning of winter as well as the first day of the New Year within the ancient Celtic culture of the British Isles. The time of Samhain consisted of the eve of the feast and the day itself (31 October and 1 November)" (1987, p. 176, "Halloween").
Besides Halloween, the Celts observed many other holidays including the winter solstice (later transformed into Christmas), spring fertility rites (reborn later as Easter) and May Day as a harvest festival.
Concerning Halloween The Encyclopedia of Religion continues: "On this occasion, it was believed that a gathering of supernatural forces occurred as during no other period of the year. The eve and day of Samhain were characterized as a time when the barriers between the human and supernatural worlds were broken. Otherworldly entities, such as the souls of the dead, were able to visit earthly inhabitants, and humans could take the opportunity to penetrate the domains of the gods and supernatural creatures.
"Fiery tributes and sacrifices of animals, crops, and possibly human beings were made to appease supernatural powers who controlled the fertility of the land ... Samhain acknowledged the entire spectrum of nonhuman forces that roamed the earth during the period" (pp. 176-177).
On this holiday "huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits ... The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature. In addition, Halloween was thought to be the most favourable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. 4, p. 862, "Halloween").
Ancient practices continued today
As with Christmas and Easter, church leaders adopted this ancient celebration to serve their own purposes. "Samhain remained a popular festival among the Celtic people throughout the christianization of Great Britain. The British church attempted to divert this interest in pagan customs by adding a Christian celebration to the calendar on the same date as Samhain. The Christian festival, the Feast of All Saints, commemorates the known and unknown saints of the Christian religion just as Samhain had acknowledged and paid tribute to the Celtic deities" (The Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 177, "Halloween").
Several ancient Halloween practices still exist in modern observances. Bobbing for apples was originally a form of divination (fortune telling) to learn of future marriages. The first person to bite an apple was predicted to be the first to marry in the coming year ... The jack-o-lantern ... represent[ed] a watchman on Halloween night or a man caught between earth and the supernatural world" (Jack Santino, All Around the Year: Holidays & Celebrations in American Life, 1994, p. 26).
The Bible condemns the occult
Although some may dismiss the demonic symbolism and divination associated with Halloween as harmless fun, the Bible reveals the existence of evil spirits, led by Satan the devil, whom God holds responsible for great suffering and sorrow inflicted on the human race. Revelation 12:9 speaks of "the great dragon ... that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan ... [who] deceives the whole world ..."
The name given him in the Bible, Satan, means adversary or enemy. The apostle John tells us that "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). Satan and the other fallen angels (demons) constantly try to keep humanity spiritually blinded, turning them aside from their awesome destiny as part of the family of God.
As a loving Father, God commands us to avoid things that can harm us. Concerning the spirit world, notice what God says to His people: "Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:31).
In addition to this command to avoid practices that pertain to evil spirits, God warned ancient Israel to avoid any kind of occult practices: "There shall not be found among you anyone who ... practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord " (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
God has called His people to a different standard. Instead of superstitions and myths, God tells us to look to Him for our blessings, direction and future.
Modern celebrations of Halloween may appear on the surface to be quite harmless, but the spiritual implications of dabbling with the spirit world are extremely serious. Fortune-telling, Ouija boards, astrology, voodoo, clairvoyance, black magic and the like can all be related to occult, satanic forces or the worship of natural phenomena and are forbidden in Scripture.
Jesus Christ tells us that "the first and greatest commandment" is to love our Creator "with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37-38). God alone is the giver of life and all good things. To give recognition to false gods, and to imitate practices that honored them, is unacceptable and idolatrous.
As Halloween approaches, I think this piece provides a useful reflection.
Modern celebrations of Halloween may appear on the surface to be quite harmless, but the spiritual implications of dabbling with the spirit world are extremely serious.
What must an unfamiliar observer think of Halloween? Parents dress their children as monsters, vampires, devils, witches and ghosts and encourage them to approach total strangers to ask them for candy and other treats. Homeowners decorate their houses with images of black cats, ghosts, goblins and carved pumpkins and sometimes transform their yards into make-believe graveyards. Adults dress in similar strange and outlandish costumes and go to parties in rooms decorated like dungeons or crypts.
Why are such bizarre practices so popular? Why would anyone celebrate a holiday emphasizing the morbid and macabre? Where did such strange customs originate?
As with Christmas and Easter, we can trace the roots of Halloween far back into the pagan past. The Encyclopedia of Religion says, "Halloween, or Allhallows Eve, is a festival celebrated on 31 October, the evening prior to the Christian Feast of All Saints (All Saints' Day). Halloween is the name for the eve of Samhain [pronounced sow-en], a celebration marking the beginning of winter as well as the first day of the New Year within the ancient Celtic culture of the British Isles. The time of Samhain consisted of the eve of the feast and the day itself (31 October and 1 November)" (1987, p. 176, "Halloween").
Besides Halloween, the Celts observed many other holidays including the winter solstice (later transformed into Christmas), spring fertility rites (reborn later as Easter) and May Day as a harvest festival.
Concerning Halloween The Encyclopedia of Religion continues: "On this occasion, it was believed that a gathering of supernatural forces occurred as during no other period of the year. The eve and day of Samhain were characterized as a time when the barriers between the human and supernatural worlds were broken. Otherworldly entities, such as the souls of the dead, were able to visit earthly inhabitants, and humans could take the opportunity to penetrate the domains of the gods and supernatural creatures.
"Fiery tributes and sacrifices of animals, crops, and possibly human beings were made to appease supernatural powers who controlled the fertility of the land ... Samhain acknowledged the entire spectrum of nonhuman forces that roamed the earth during the period" (pp. 176-177).
On this holiday "huge bonfires were set on hilltops to frighten away evil spirits ... The souls of the dead were supposed to revisit their homes on this day, and the autumnal festival acquired sinister significance, with ghosts, witches, hobgoblins, black cats, fairies, and demons of all kinds said to be roaming about. It was the time to placate the supernatural powers controlling the processes of nature. In addition, Halloween was thought to be the most favourable time for divinations concerning marriage, luck, health, and death. It was the only day on which the help of the devil was invoked for such purposes" (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th edition, Micropaedia, Vol. 4, p. 862, "Halloween").
Ancient practices continued today
As with Christmas and Easter, church leaders adopted this ancient celebration to serve their own purposes. "Samhain remained a popular festival among the Celtic people throughout the christianization of Great Britain. The British church attempted to divert this interest in pagan customs by adding a Christian celebration to the calendar on the same date as Samhain. The Christian festival, the Feast of All Saints, commemorates the known and unknown saints of the Christian religion just as Samhain had acknowledged and paid tribute to the Celtic deities" (The Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 177, "Halloween").
Several ancient Halloween practices still exist in modern observances. Bobbing for apples was originally a form of divination (fortune telling) to learn of future marriages. The first person to bite an apple was predicted to be the first to marry in the coming year ... The jack-o-lantern ... represent[ed] a watchman on Halloween night or a man caught between earth and the supernatural world" (Jack Santino, All Around the Year: Holidays & Celebrations in American Life, 1994, p. 26).
The Bible condemns the occult
Although some may dismiss the demonic symbolism and divination associated with Halloween as harmless fun, the Bible reveals the existence of evil spirits, led by Satan the devil, whom God holds responsible for great suffering and sorrow inflicted on the human race. Revelation 12:9 speaks of "the great dragon ... that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan ... [who] deceives the whole world ..."
The name given him in the Bible, Satan, means adversary or enemy. The apostle John tells us that "the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one" (1 John 5:19). Satan and the other fallen angels (demons) constantly try to keep humanity spiritually blinded, turning them aside from their awesome destiny as part of the family of God.
As a loving Father, God commands us to avoid things that can harm us. Concerning the spirit world, notice what God says to His people: "Give no regard to mediums and familiar spirits; do not seek after them, to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God" (Leviticus 19:31).
In addition to this command to avoid practices that pertain to evil spirits, God warned ancient Israel to avoid any kind of occult practices: "There shall not be found among you anyone who ... practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord " (Deuteronomy 18:10-12).
God has called His people to a different standard. Instead of superstitions and myths, God tells us to look to Him for our blessings, direction and future.
Modern celebrations of Halloween may appear on the surface to be quite harmless, but the spiritual implications of dabbling with the spirit world are extremely serious. Fortune-telling, Ouija boards, astrology, voodoo, clairvoyance, black magic and the like can all be related to occult, satanic forces or the worship of natural phenomena and are forbidden in Scripture.
Jesus Christ tells us that "the first and greatest commandment" is to love our Creator "with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind" (Matthew 22:37-38). God alone is the giver of life and all good things. To give recognition to false gods, and to imitate practices that honored them, is unacceptable and idolatrous.
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