Rooted and Built Up in Him

2012-01-22T17:51:00.001+08:00

Spiritual Beauty
J.R. Miller

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. (1Jn 3:2)

2012-01-20T17:22:00.000+08:00

The Hearing of the Gospel

He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto youto know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is notgiven. (Mat 13:11)

Hearing with the faith to believe lies many times with thecondition of our heart (Matt 13:15). This is one thing we cannot fault God, itis His desire that none perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Pet3:9). Sadly there can be selectivehearing, not receiving the whole Gospel truth, accepting only what is convenient. Thisphenomenon of accepting what we desire is probably because we do not like to bechallenged. If our standards or beliefs are challenged and requires a completechange of our minds an automatic wall of resistance appears.

From the parable of the sower it warns us of only a quarterof listeners will be saved to live fruitful Christian lives. Half the listenersreceived the Gospel but were disqualified; listening but not hearing. Hearinggoes very deep into the spirit and birthing forth faith (Rom 10:17). It ispurely the grace of God that we been given all the opportunity to hear themysteries of salvation and of the Kingdom of God. Mysteries are meant to behidden from those who are hard at hearing. The test of whether we have heardclearly is when testing of what our faith is grounded on and on what affectionslies deep within our hearts (Matt 21:21, 22).

We have to deal with two issues that can potentiallydisqualify us. Firstly, have we been ‘rooted and built up in him, andstablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein withthanksgiving’ (Col 2:7)? The abounding fruit is practicing the will of God (1 Thess5:18). Secondly, have we laid down ouraffections down, whatever that hinders our love for the Savior and love for thebrethren (1 John 3:15, 16)?

Have we truly heard the Gospel? Check for evidence anddemonstration of the righteous fruit and affections in our daily living.

2012-01-18T19:57:00.000+08:00

A Secret of Victorious Living
J.R. Miller

2012-01-18T19:44:00.003+08:00

Grace Denial
Octavius Winslow

2012-01-10T13:35:00.002+08:00

I Will Bless You While I Live
Psalm 63:1-5

2012-01-09T14:26:00.001+08:00

True Fellowship

…… therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew himnot. (1Jn 3:1)

Fellowship, as defined in Scripture differs from the world’sperspective. It signifies communion, a giving and receiving in the realm of thespirit. It is union to the God-head through Jesus Christ and partaking of thesupernatural life, not sharing any form of human commonality. For us itrequires death of the soulish and the fleshly to trod down this road of fellowshipwith the Father and with the Son (1Jn 1:3). The cost is high and pure, not to be cheapened bycompounding it with filth of flesh and spirit (2 Cor 7:1).

Are we known of God or known by the world? The ‘know’ thatthe apostle stated is whether there has been a perception, understanding,recognizing through personal experience. How can we who have a personalexperience with Jesus Christ bear ourselves to the world that rejects Hissovereign Lordship? ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that thefriendship of the world is enmity with God?’ (Jas 4:4). Never takefellowshipping as a casual Christian activity wasted over conversations thatdoesn’t edify nor glorify God. It has to be spirit communicating with spirit,resulting in growing in greater Christ likeness, lesser of self and loving thebrethren at the level of daily mundane life in the most practical manner. Itbegins in the realm of the spirit and worked out in the physical, never theother way around.

2011-12-30T13:37:00.000+08:00

Presumptuous Sin

……. hath God said…..? (Gen 3:1)

Whenever we reason over what God has already said, it speaksof the condition of our heart that is bent on disobedience given the slightestexcuse. Believing God is not to be grappled in the mind but begins in the heart (Rom10:10). Once we have settled to believe God in our heart, all other affectionsshould become dead. Death is where the voice of the world, sin, evil, etcbecomes incoherent but only what God has said becomes clear. Perhaps the reasonwhy the love of God has difficulty to be completed in us (1 John 2:5), is becausethere is lack of single heartedness toward Jesus Christ.

Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secretfaults. (Psa 19:12)

Don’t underestimate the power of the deceitful heart thatcan lead us to gross error (Jer 17:9). Being presumptuous is to take theposition that we have the boldness and ability to take charge. Keep ourselvesyoked to Christ in humility and ‘be sober, be vigilant’ (1 Pet 5:8). Don’t putourselves in the place where there is a room for questioning. If we do, we can becomepresumptuous and another insidious power dominates us, leaving us unpreservedto the end (Psa 19:13, Prov 30:5).

2011-12-22T09:38:00.001+08:00

The Principle of Sin
Oswald Chambers

From the book, "If Thou Wilt be Perfect."

2011-12-19T15:08:00.000+08:00

Truth in Acknowledging the Messiah

Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? …. (1John 2:22)

Fact is a knowing that something exists. Truth is when factbecomes a perpetual reality, transcending the realm of the intellect of thesoul, piercing into the spirit of a man. It is the shedding of God’s light atthe spirit level that it becomes revelation. It is one thing to intellectuallygrasp that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah, He is eternal life (1 John 1:2) to allwho have the revelation. Truth has a life that brings the things of the Spiritinto the soul which is subsequently evident in practice (1 John 1:6).

Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruisedreed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, andpierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him. (2Ki 18:21)

The very moment we receive the revelation that Jesus is theMessiah, immediately all other forms of salvation or help or deliverance becomedead to us. Though there may be temptations to seek others, the Holy Spiritwill remind us to run to the God of our Salvation. Any other means would be abominable.There is only One Savior, only One Messiah. Not judging the outcome butfaithful to endure regardless of outward circumstances and what our eyesbehold. We will find out that Jesus our Messiah is faithful and cannot denyHimself (2 Tim 2:13).If we mentally accept that Jesus is Messiah, and our responseshows otherwise, could we be living in a lie?

2011-12-09T15:24:00.001+08:00

Natural Outworking

Whethertherefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory ofGod. (1Cor 10:31)

The outworkingof our faith is from what God has built in not the reverse (Php 2:13). We don’thave to be overly conscious of the outworking, if we are than there is apossibility that we are trying to please God. If we continually abide in Christwe are already in the place of God’s pleasure. It pleases the Father to workinto us and out of that building on that foundation (Jude 1:20), which He haslaid comes forth actions that will glory God. Often we may not be aware of itbecause in that abiding in Christ, self consciousness is diminished…’because asHe is, so are we in this world’ (1 John 4:17). How else Jesus Christ is leavingHis handprints in this crooked and perverse generation unless it’s through theChurch, His body.

For the pooralways ye have with you; but me ye have not always. (John 12:8)

There is afamily that is currently in financial need and the brethren have been sharingtheir evening meals with them. One day there was a cut in the water supplyhence no cooking could have been done that day. The mother was at a lost as tohow to supply the family with food and purchasing KFC was the best option atthat time. Later that evening the water supply was restored and the mothereventually cooked dinner for her family. Later a message came from the fatherthat KFC was an answer to his children’s request for the week and couldn’t doso due to their financial situation. God had to intervene to shut the watersupply in order to answer a child’s request. Who else could have engineered thewhole situation? The Father’s heart is toward the poor, the fatherless and thewidows. God allows poverty for His body to demonstrate mercy (Mic 6:8), inorder to test if indeed we are walking in the Light (1 John 2:10). Don’tconsider great exploits if we can’t even fulfill daily needs of others.

2011-12-01T13:40:00.001+08:00

Purpose of Anointing

But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth inyou, …….., and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him. (1Jn 2:27)

The Apostles looks at it as ability in relationship that bringsus into the possibility of abiding in the Son of God, not to be sort after for the purpose of havingthe ability to perform a task. It is the oneness with Christ that we have Hismind to do His task on earth. Simon mistaken the power for outworking, inreality the outworking comes out of our abiding in Christ (Acts 8:18).

.......The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Fatherdo: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. (John 5:19)

A servant is not greater than the Master. Jesuspreached, performed miracles, gave everlasting life as well as laying down Hislife was out of His abiding in the Father. If it is for works that we seekanointing we can ask amiss (Jam 4:3), Jesus did because He saw the Father doing.In that stature, the doing will always glorify the Greater. Check our hearts,who is the focus. Do we behold Jesus (John 14:9)? If we do, we will do His greaterworks (John 14:12).

2011-11-24T08:31:00.001+08:00

The Distraction of Contempt
Oswald Chambers

Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt (Psalm 123:3)

What we must beware of is not damage to our belief in God but damage to our Christian disposition or state of mind. “Take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously” (Malachi 2:16). Our state of mind is powerful in its effects. It can be the enemy that penetrates right into our soul and distracts our mind from God. There are certain attitudes we should never dare to indulge. If we do, we will find they have distracted us from faith in God. Until we get back into a quiet mood before Him, our faith is of no value, and our confidence in the flesh and in human ingenuity is what rules our lives.

Beware of “the cares of this world . . .” (Mark 4:19). They are the very things that produce the wrong attitudes in our soul. It is incredible what enormous power there is in simple things to distract our attention away from God. Refuse to be swamped by “the cares of this world.”

Another thing that distracts us is our passion for vindication. St. Augustine prayed, “O Lord, deliver me from this lust of always vindicating myself.” Such a need for constant vindication destroys our soul’s faith in God. Don’t say, “I must explain myself,” or, “I must get people to understand.” Our Lord never explained anything— He left the misunderstandings or misconceptions of others to correct themselves.

When we discern that other people are not growing spiritually and allow that discernment to turn to criticism, we block our fellowship with God. God never gives us discernment so that we may criticize, but that we may intercede.

2011-11-17T22:06:00.001+08:00

Calmed and Quieted Soul

Surely I have behaved and quieted myself, as a child that isweaned of his mother: my soul is even as a weaned child. (Psa 131:2)

‘Surely’ is a certainty and being in a state of doubtlessnessthat we can attain as God’s child. It is not to be considered waveringly butsteadfastly. Our certainty is not in ourselves but because we are ‘rooted andbuilt up in him, and stablished in the faith’ (Col 2:7), abounding withthanksgiving because it is a done deal. There isn’t a need to ask if we can;faith is bringing into substance that we can, in Christ. If we say we will ‘try’,then it is of the flesh and not of the Spirit (Eze 36:27). There is a cause becausethe Spirit is effectual.

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, andheard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Php 4:9)

We will subconsciously enter into the Shalom of God. Thereis an overwhelming benefit of experiencing the Peace of God as well as havingthe God of Peace being with us. We become what we feed our minds (Phil 4:8).Fill our minds with truth, honesty, justice, purity, loveliness, good report,virtuous and praise worthiness. Regurgitate on these things. The only things isof any worth has the essence of Christ in them. Be utterly dependent on Christ(1 Cor 2:16) and we will know how to deal with the rest (Matt 6:33). Defeatbegins in the mind; we have the God given privilege as sons to be overcomers.

2011-11-15T08:42:00.001+08:00

Consistency
Oswald Chambers

Beware of being obsessed with consistency to your own convictions instead of being devoted to God. If you are a saint and say, “I will never do this or that,” in all probability this will be exactly what God will require of you. There was never a more inconsistent being on this earth than our Lord, but He was never inconsistent with His Father. The important consistency in a saint is not to a principle but to the divine life. It is the divine life that continually makes more and more discoveries about the divine mind. It is easier to be an excessive fanatic than it is to be consistently faithful, because God causes an amazing humbling of our religious conceit when we are faithful to Him.

2011-11-10T21:18:00.001+08:00

Indecision in Religion
Asahel Nettleton

2011-11-10T21:12:00.001+08:00

The State of the Church and Coming Judgment (Excerpt)
A.W. Tozer

2011-11-03T20:58:00.000+08:00

True Knowledge is in Keeping His Commandments

He that saith, I know him, and keepethnot his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. (1John 2:4)

Liars face a terrible end in judgment (Rev21:8). What is worst than being deceived is self-deception. Our glorious destiny is independenton if we know Him, but rather if He knows us (Matt 7:23). There is so muchemphasis on the love of God in the antinomian gospel, however it is in keepingHis commandments that the love of God is made complete and full in us (1 John 2:5).

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and thelife: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:6)

The way to salvation is only one; the path of salvationis based on truth. Without truth we are liars and sons of the father of it(John 8:44). Therefore we can be either abide in truth or abide in lies. Truthis precise, not gray but black or white. Truth is a sword that divides thatwhich is self centered and that which is of the Spirit. Truth stands the testof time. Truth is neither a philosophy nor ideology. Truth brings life. Truthis Jesus Christ.

To obey is to love God. We do not obey to be loved byGod. Obedience is bringing into reality His promises. Not obeying so thatwe can receive His promises. Obedience brings us into great knowledge. We donot know we if can walk until we start walking (John 5:9). God never contradicts, He revealsHimself through truth. Practice the truth and we will receive greaterrevelational light (1 John 1:6).

2011-10-28T14:00:00.002+08:00

Deterrence to Fulfilling Our Spiritual Destiny

Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mineheart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem forthe name of the Lord Jesus. (Act 21:13)

Reality cannot be the reason not to continue on in faith.Faith is beyond seeing the natural, but the ability to behold our spiritualdestiny and whole heartedness to substantiate the things God has laid hold ofus. Don’t let situations, fear, danger and uncertainty deter us. If we are notwilling to lay our lives down and rise to the occasion in fulfilling thepurposes of God in and through us, He will not fail, He will raise another (Est4:14). Natural reality can never stop God from intervening in human affairs forHis glory, it is whether we are willing to avail ourselves to be vessels ofhonor for His divine purposes. Following Jesus would mean heartaches to loved ones and ourselves, don't let these be the enemy in fulfilling our spiritual destiny.

2011-10-22T21:21:00.000+08:00

True Measure of Life

We know that we have passed from death unto life, because welove the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. (1 John 3:14)

Don’t measure existence of the life of Christ in anyfellowship by the amount of spiritual activity. It is not how much faith thatbears witness of the disciple but how much love toward each other (John 13:35). Even faith requires action. We love one another not because we agree in a matter or share common interests. We lovebecause we are brethren. To love the brethren is to over look each other faultsand shortcomings, ‘love covereth all sins’ not some sins (Prov 10:12). This isthe cross we ought to bear. This is the walk we ought to walk after thefootsteps of the Master (1 John 2:6).

We want God to love us. Selfishness is when we don’t sharethe love of God with others, especially of the household of God. We know thelove of God because Jesus laid down His life for us, similarly the outworking ofthe love of God toward the brethren (1 John 3:16).

Christian love is practical not just talk (1 John 3:18). Don’tjust say that we love one another, show it. We know that the love of God dwellsin us by ensuring our brethren have what we have. Sin is shutting up compassion and selfishlyhoarding for ourselves. The true measure of Christ life in us is when we loveunconditionally, not wanting anything in return. God gave, so do we in likemanner.

2011-10-21T08:45:00.002+08:00

O Lord, my Strength and My Redeemer

Psa 19:12-14

2011-10-14T16:08:00.000+08:00

Integrity

I will behave myselfwisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within myhouse with a perfect heart. (Psa 101:2)

A disciple is notpassive otherwise we would have been created as mindless automatons. Work outthe little the Lord has built in and He will work in more of Christ nature,lest spiritual laziness and passivity set in. A son of God has to’ will to do’(John 7:17), don’t say ‘I will do as He moves me’. God will never move us; Hemoves and the sheep follows.

Integrity is to adhereto God’s moral principles which are evidenced by our behavior in light ofpublic eyes or in secret. It soulish to do the honorable in public to garnerhonor from man (Matt 6:4, 6, 18), seek God’s approval by carrying the samemoral stature in private. It is in the private when our thoughts and actionswill be tested and judged. Integrity need to be demonstrated consistently inthe light of man’s eyes and in the light of God’s eyes.

The integrity of theupright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroythem. (Prov 11:3)

A child of God who livesin integrity in God’s light has the reward of a pure conscience toward the Lordand others (1 John 1:7). There is unwavering security even in the midst of externalstorm. There is a peace that surpasses human understanding. Steadfastnessbecause one is anchored in the Savior and the pathway of our pilgrimage is veryclear with a certain glorious end. Conversely those who transgress against therule of integrity will bring about self destruction.

2011-10-12T11:28:00.002+08:00

Lust Kills Compassion

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and thelust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of theworld. (1Jn 2:16)

What massive consumerism did was to create a superficial'need' for things. Things have become so part of us that has defined ourculture of narcissism. Fellow human suffering and especially that many aretravelling the broad way to destruction is no longer a cause for concern aslong as 'I' can keep my toys and play them.

But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother haveneed, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the loveof God in him? (1Jn 3:17)

Not having compassion to the poor and needy is blindness. Itis looking at gratifying self that is the cause for blindness. ‘I’ want to be loved,‘I’ need attention, ‘I’……there is a grave concern that ‘I’ is satisfied. Thisis a big deception because the ‘I’ can never find its fulfillment (Prov 30:15).How can God pour His love to this generation? It is only to the cross bearerswho deny lust of things and undeniably choose simplicity which is in Christ (2Cor 11:3).

2011-10-07T15:46:00.000+08:00

Fearing God

But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, whichafter he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fearhim. (Luke 12:5)

The warning was not an apostolic or prophetic one, but fromthe Lord Jesus Himself. Fearing God is not to be misunderstood lest it canbring about an unrealistic form that could lead to the pride of pseudo spirituality.For some rejecting what God commanded because its misinterpretation resultingin cowering and coldness, void of lovingkindness. Without the fear of God, thereis a danger of subconsciously denying the reality of hell, likewise alsodenying the existence of Kingdom of God. This denial is to say that God is notjust, hence claiming blasphemously that God doesn’t judge.

What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days,that he may see good? (Psa 34:12)

On the contrary,fearing God is demonstrated in the most practical way (Psa 34:11-14). This waythat the Lord has paved for us is always for good not for evil (Psa 34:12). Itbenefits us, putting us in the light of having more to gain. Resolve in prayerto fear God, not being double hearted about it (Psa 86:11). Fearing Godbenefits others and brings the Shalom of God into relationships (Eph 5:21).Wholeness in relationship will flourish with the fear of God. This peace willbe the outworking of our lives to place us in the glorious position to becalled a child of God in His Kingdom (Matt 5:9, Rom 14:17).

2011-10-06T09:07:00.001+08:00

The Uncritical Temper
Oswald Chambers

2011-10-03T21:20:00.003+08:00

Love Where You Are Not Respected
Oswald Chambers

2011-09-30T14:20:00.000+08:00

Hardening Our Hearts

And when he had looked round about on them with anger, beinggrieved for the hardness of their hearts…. (Mar 3:5)

More often than not the cause of Jesus grief wasn’t amongthe unreligious, but among those who have knowledge of the Word and even Hisdisciples. Not among the ignorant, but among the informed. The opposition Jesushad was almost always in everyday circumstances. God will confront us in thedaily working out of our lives to see if the knowledge and mountain topexperiences lasts and deeply rooted. Spirituality requires anexpression in the natural, never to be experienced and left behind at the mountain topexperiences.

Few like confrontation, especially if truth is directedtoward us. Never say that we will readily believe everything the Lord and HisWord says. There is a danger in thinking that believing is a result in knowledgeand spiritual experiences. Belief becomes reality when the knowledge is workedout in daily application.

Jesus will come to challenge everything we believe in to seeif we believe in Him. Is it prayer, the Word, good works versus Christ andChrist alone? Is He our exceedingly great reward? He will confront us becauseHe is a jealous God. Confronting us to reveal what is our truest affections.

Hardening our hearts is to be unbelieving (Matt 6:14). Hewill come to right us, are we willing to receive His correction? Continue in the place of meekness and humilityso that when the Holy Spirit brings light into areas of our darkness, pride orpoor character which we may never know existed, yielding to allow the Potter todo all that is necessary to transform and conform to His image. Though painful,sons of God are always ready to expose all of their insides to God’s refiningfire.

2011-09-26T17:49:00.000+08:00

The Night of Weeping
Horatius Bonar

2011-09-22T10:42:00.000+08:00

The Cross, True Discipleship

…….. let him now come down from the cross, and we willbelieve him. (Mat 27:42)

The cross is a stumbling block and foolishness; firstly itis an open display of meekness and lowliness void of worldly pomp and glory,secondly, human understanding and reasoning resist the cross (1 Cor 1:23). Thecross can be averted on these two counts. It is easy to reconcile that thecross of Christ is the entrance for our salvation, however do we believe Jesuswhen He says ‘the disciple is not above his master, nor the servant above hislord’ (Matt 10:24)? Acceptance of salvation of the cross of Christ ispalatable, simultaneously the pilgrims progress requires a cross bearing life.

In denying this narrow and difficult way (Matt 7:14) thedevil will be our insurmountable nemesis. If the choice is to follow the crossbearing way of the Master, the devil would not be a problem (Rom 16:20). Veryquickly there will be a discovery that self is the greater enemy of thesalvation of our soul (Matt 16:22-26). Peter knew the cost of discipleship butdesired to avert the way (as we often do), hence daring to rebuke his Lord. Denyingthe cross is satanic in nature which goes against every grain of the will ofGod (Matt 16:23).

In order for the manifestation of life of the Son of God,the old man has to be put to death. Remove the filth that the Holy can bepoured in. The old man and its lustful appetites wars against Christ nature,how can the two mix and find its homogeneous form? The Christian life is blackor white, not gray.

Salvation is free. The cost of discipleship is high. It willcost us everything in exchange for son-ship (Php 3:8).

2011-09-21T13:55:00.004+08:00

The Difficult Way to Life / The Broad Way to Destruction
Matthew Henry

2011-09-19T14:48:00.001+08:00

Cross Evasion: The Subterfuge of our Modern Christianity
Art Katz

God’s actual visitation, the coming of Himself, and the form that it took, and the way that it was culminated in His crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection has got to be the single greatest epochal event in the whole history of the human race. I marvel that the nations are completely oblivious to that fact, and that the Jewish people themselves have found a way to remove the event from their own consideration. But even in Christendom the event has become modified, sentimentalised, trivialised, cheapened, and rendered almost into a “non-event.” There are unplumbed meanings in the cross that wait to be unearthed, or we will remain participants with those who seek to modify and remove the cross of its content and power—even in our ignorance.

“Nothing reveals the falsity of man more than the evasion, the side-stepping of man from God, and from the crucified Christ” (See footnote). In other words, by side-stepping the crucified Christ, we reveal that man is, in his very nature, a liar, phoney, false, and flees from truth. What shall I say about my own Jewish people? The event took place in our history; our Messiah, in our Jerusalem; and yet we rejected Him, and made of His life a non-event, as if Jesus was some kind of pitiful Presumer who ran afoul of the political authorities and had to suffer their judgments. We missed the entire truth of His coming, as the very Son of God, as Sin-Bearer, fulfilling a necessary sacrifice that no animal could provide, and was Himself both the sacrifice and the High Priest—and we suffered the consequences for our dismissal of Him.

Read full article

2011-09-15T10:21:00.000+08:00

Spiritual Journey

They shall abundantly utter the memory of thy greatgoodness, and shall sing of thy righteousness. (Psa 145:7)

What are the most important milestones of our Christian pilgrimage?It is easy to recall what God has done 'for' me, but have we considered and able togive praise to our gracious Savior for what great things the Lord has done 'in' me? His benefits are tremendous for He commands His loving kindness over us(Psa 42:8), do we recall His faithfulness in the evening years (Psa 92:2)?

.........few and evil have the days of theyears of my life been........(Gen 47:9)

What has God done in Jacob’s life to transform him toIsrael? He was a man who lived for himself, selfishness and deceitful. His respond to the beginningof God building into him was to build a monument out of his pillow (Gen 28:18).At his return to the same starting point he built an altar (Gen 35:3, 7). Firstit was a vision of the Lord’s lovingkindness to preserve him, the latter analtar to recall of His faithfulness. First it was a monument of haphazard andshabby from what he had used and the latter an altar of worship. The Lord hadstripped him of self confidence, then worship out of deepest recesses of whatGod has built into Him poured forth (Php 3:3). Out of such a life comes anability to bless others and not self (Gen 47:10) because he has been dealt withby the Blessor and taken on His imange. He saw the dealings of the Lord in His life as therighteousness of God. Declare of His right doings, for He is not concern with our comfort but desire the fruit that abounds to our account. God only bother with sons (Heb 12:6).

2011-09-09T14:08:00.002+08:00

Innocence, the Beginning to Spiritual Victory

Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordainedstrength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and theavenger. (Psa 8:2)

What are the things that proceed from our mouth? Does itcause a stir to the spiritual environment in which we speak into (Matt 21:15),or the devil isn’t too bothered. The Father is looking for children in Hisquiver that has the spiritual stature to unashamedly ‘speak with the enemies inthe gate’ (Psa 127:5) and to ‘possess the gate of his enemies’ (Gen 22:17).

Babes are not those who have towering physique norexceptional vocal volume, but a company of believers that have the innocence,not in the sense of ignorance but in the sense of harmlessness (Matt 10:16) orgentleness (Php 4:5). Untainted by the world and living the realm of theFather’s love; whose eyes are fixed and unfazed by the glitter of the temporal(Psa 123:2). Suckling that feed on one life giving source (1 Pet 2:2), whosepalate has not touched that which defiles. It is from such mouths that the Lordcan use to still the enemy and the avenger unto spiritual victory.

Have we been winning spiritual battles lately? If not, checkout what do we regard in our heart (Psa 66:18) and our secret desires (Prov9:17). Not only God know, the devil does to.

2011-09-02T16:11:00.000+08:00

Discipline

Before I was afflicted, I did err; but now I observe Thyword. (Psa 119:67)

Godly discipline or His dealings is a reality in followingChrist that we cannot and should not avoid. We have to submit to the boundariesthat the Lord has set for us (Gen 3:3). It is for our own good. Disobedience isour choice and so is bearing the cross and following Jesus daily (Luke 9:23).We disobey because we don’t believe the full extent of His Word. God rules by HisWord, but if necessary the rod is applied (Prov 20:30). We disobey becauseit is our will we desire to exercise over His.

…… My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, norfaint when thou art rebuked of him (Heb 12:5)

It is the ‘flesh’ in us that resist God’s discipline and it should be tested to the very limits of the human soul. That is precisely thework of the cross so we reach the bottom of the barrel and reckon ourselvesdead indeed but alive to Christ (Rom 6:11). Whenever we resist and do notsubmit ourselves under the mighty hand of God we despise the dealings to us assons (1 Pet 5:6). It takes meekness and humility to accept His dealings. We can avert His dealings, but we also avert being a son.

The cross is a choice we chose to carry. No onelays it on us but our loving Savoir. It is the building in us Christ characterand to learn of Him (Matt 11:29). How much are we willing to yield? The more we yieldthe less the striving. The end is that we observe His Living Word that has beenworked in being worked out (Php 2:12, 13). It is His working in, His dealings thatwill align us to His Word. His Word Who become flesh that ‘as He is, so are wein this world’ (1 John 4:17), now not after He returns.

2011-09-02T15:37:00.002+08:00

Bring Back our Captivity, O LORD / Psalm 126

2011-08-23T11:41:00.001+08:00

Excerpt From 'The Salvation of the Soul'
Watchman Nee
Chp 3, Its Manifestation: The Kingdom

When the Son of God was on this earth, the cross was the only thing that He had as a possession; all the rest He borrowed. The manger was borrowed, the inn was borrowed, the ass on which He rode to Jerusalem was borrowed, the room in which He ate the Passover feast was borrowed, and finally the tomb in which He was buried was borrowed. Everything in the world except the cross was borrowed by the Lord. Yet how very unlike Him we are!

2011-08-22T17:05:00.000+08:00

Being Living Patterns

Those things, which ye have both learned, and received, andheard, and seen in me, do: and the God of peace shall be with you. (Php 4:9)

Many are willing to be consultants with regard to theChristian life because it lack the responsibility (1 Cor 4:15). Godly fatheringtakes maturity. Desire to mature beyond overcoming the evil one, being strongin the faith and having the abiding Word (1 John 2:13, 14) that is a depth fartherthan experiencing victory, believing and having our minds transformed (Rom12:2). It is a depth of relationship with the Father of fathers. A father iscalled one by virtue of reproduction.

There are spiritual fathers and non spiritual ones (John8:44) where the former is one where truth of the Word is demonstrated. Truthfulin the sense of us being consistent and not living double lives. Natural childrencan be confused by the double lives parents demonstrate. An inconsistentstandard set in morals, values and virtues can lead to disillusionment and manya Christian children have walked out of their faith in Jesus when they grow up.

Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them whichwalk so as ye have us for an ensample. (Php 3:17)

Spiritual fathers live their daily lives by carrying theirown crosses and single mindedly following their master daily. Walking is asimple everyday necessity in our conduct with regard to all aspects of themundane as well as the extraordinary occurrences. Spiritual fathers whose eyesset on one Good Shepherd and not flippant about choosing their heroes orbeliefs. Our confidence of being a goodfather to both physical and spiritual children does not lie in our ability orexperience. It is a relationship yoke with the Savior and walking to the same end (Php 3:21). It is a relationship that continues to yield everything to theMaster and laying down of self daily.

2011-08-19T15:27:00.000+08:00

Many Are Called, But Few Chosen
Commentary by Matthew Henry

2011-08-19T15:22:00.001+08:00

Surely Your Salvation is Coming (Isaiah 62)

2011-08-19T15:19:00.003+08:00

Bible Commentary on Isaiah 62
A.R. Fausset

2011-08-18T16:07:00.002+08:00

Guidance

For such is God, our God, for ever and ever; He will guideus eternally. (Jewish Publication Society, Psa 48:14)

Can we fathom that God is our Elohim, the Supreme Creator isour portion and we have become His? He even considers details of our being thatwe are ignorant of (Matt 10:30). He who feeds the fowls of the air yet asparrow falling to the ground is within His will (Matt 10:29). Knowing His willis not an elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It is as real as thesun rising in the east and setting in the west. He governs over all and ableeven to subdue all things unto Himself (Php 3:21).

It is not an issue of whether He is able; it is whether welike children willing to believe Him with regard to all things. Not reckless and blind by presumptuously thinkingthat God will shield us from every danger due to our imprudent conduct (Matt4:7). A faith that is founded on knowledge of the Truth which has led us to reckonour self will dead. It is a calculated death according to the standards of thecross we chose to bear (Luke 9:23). A cross not forced upon, but of our ownchoosing to take up or not, the laying down our will. Not some form of selfimposed religion by inflicting pain in the name of self righteousness.

A laid down will takes us to a position as a meek son of Godthat can be lovingly led by the Good Shepherd unto eternity. We will find thatour life is unlike vapor, but glorious.

2011-08-16T10:18:00.001+08:00

Seek to Stop Sinning or Have I stopped Sinning?
Oswald Chambers

"Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin." (1 John 3:9.)

Do I seek to stop sinning or have I stopped sinning? To be born of God means that I have the supernatural power of God to stop sinning. In the Bible it is never - Should a Christian sin? The Bible puts it emphatically- A Christian must not sin. The effective working of the new birth life in us is that we do not commit sin, not merely that we have the power not to sin, but that we have stopped sinning. 1 John 3:9 does not mean that we cannot sin; it means that if we obey the life of God in us, we need not sin.

2011-08-11T17:23:00.000+08:00

Generosity

The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye besingle, thy whole body shall be full of light.(Mat 6:22)

One of the biggest enslaving idol today is called mammon. Jesus has a lot of things to say about money; He warns of the danger ofthe love of it (Matt 6:24, 1 Tim 6:10) and provides a solution. No one can bemore practical in handling issues as with our Lord. In this context, Jesus is saying that love ofmoney can cause us to lose focus and not be singular with regard to Him as our Light.We can become blind to people around us in greater financial need and becomeinward looking. The remedy is stated in the preceding verse ‘herefore when thoudoest thine alms’ (Matt 6:2). He did not use the word ‘if’ but ‘when’. God allowedpoverty (1 Sam 2:7) to exist along with those who have more than enough (therich) that His mercy may be manifested through the generosity of His saints(Matt 5:7).

….. Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD willdeliver him in time of trouble.

(Psa 41:1)

The trap of this form of idolatry brings, interestingly is darkness to the body. Show mercy that we will receive mercy, which is how Heworks (Psa 41:1-3). In our generosity we exemplify our trust in Him ‘who givethus richly all things to enjoy’ (1 Tim 6:17); in this our getting more thanenough (richness) ‘he addeth no sorrow with it’ (Prov 10:22). The problem ofinability with regard to the issue of generosity is the issue of contentment (1Tim 6:8). Poverty is the state of the mind, not the state of being (2 Cor 8:2).

2011-08-09T17:16:00.002+08:00

Faithful in What He Givs Us

His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithfulservant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler overmany things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. (Mat 25:21)

Above all, the Lord is looking for faithfulness in our beingand faithfulness in our doing with regard to the things that He has given us, not what things we conjureup out of ourselves. Whatever He bestows upon us is not for our safekeeping butto be multiplied and presented back in full to Him. This Multiplication is notfor our own kingdom building plans, but dying to ambition of the self and havingonly His Kingdom in mind. Bearing fruit of which is of Him not that whichrepresent us (Gal 5:22).

Keep good accounts of what He bestows, we mustn’t becareless. Work out what He has put in (Php 2:13), to the degree we haveattained, walk by them (Php 3:16). Live in constant urgency, looking for Hiscoming as though it is the next moment. Yet living each day faithfully, in patientendurance in all that life will throw at us though it is ‘after a long time’(Matt 25:19). Don’t let go of what He gave, but multiply. Add on; faith, tofaith virtue, etc (2 Pet 1:5). Faith without working it out is dead.

The Lord will do the accounting, it is faithfulness Hedesires. Faithful only in what He gave,anything else extra is not credited. The end of faithfulness is to enter intoHis Joy and greater rule. Count all else loss, take on what He gives. Rule ortake action over the ‘very little’ (Luke 19:17) He gives to us, in that He willmultiply it back to us.

2011-08-06T18:53:00.003+08:00

Transcendent Life
Watchman Nee

And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. (Mat 5:41)

Our transcendency is before the Lord for no one demands more than the Lord. The most people can demand is only one mile, but what Lord requires is the second mile.

May the Lord’s hand be on me. If I lose all, I will not be able to lose any more. When I am totally dead, I will not be able to die further. As long as I may yet die, I have not died enough. Since I may still lose, I have not lost enough. I am willing to increase the Lord’s hand on me, rather than to lighten it.

If we are able to stand on the Lord’s side and deal with ourselves, we will never entertain the thought of revenge on others.

2011-08-02T13:41:00.002+08:00

Burden or Life

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide mycommandments with thee; (Pro 2:1)

The Torah and the Sermon on the Mount can either be viewed as a heavy burden or we see the grace to abundance of life. If the Commandments are considered information on what we ‘should be’ and what to shun, then we have an unbalanced view of a tyrannical God. His commandments are never meant to be grievous (1 John 5:3).

Experiencing abundance of life comes by taking the first few steps of obedience in faith than realization that we can do it because it is by His grace. We should not ask for evidence before we keep what He says, but believe without seeing by doing first, in that we will be blessed (John 20:29); ‘in keeping of them there is great reward’ (Psa 19:11).

2011-08-02T08:15:00.002+08:00

Hear My Cry, O God ( Psalm 61:1-4 )

2011-07-27T17:35:00.002+08:00

Glorious Pursuit

I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Php 3:14)

There is something about pursuing God that He loves in a man and a woman. It is a trusting in the Unseen God and thrusting our life, future and in fact everything into His loving hands, sojourning into the uncharted territory where man’s council and experience could never articulated. God’s ways are beyond all scope of human understanding and history.

Once we have been called, He is faithful to keep calling us. Whenever we forget, face discouraging hurdles, pain, suffering, despair, He keeps reminding us of the call. Don’t give up as much as He doesn’t; He cannot deny His character of faithfulness.

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: (Heb 12:14)

Our pursuit is ‘in the Kingdom’, not outside. This pursuit of holiness only avails to those who believe and testify that Christ is Savior and Lord. Christians are not to remain idle, but to pursue. Never boast (Prov 27:1) of any form of spiritual attainment (Php 3:12, 13) nor compare ourselves against others who haven’t attained but remain faithful in whatever station of life we are in and continue to press on (Php 3:16).

Our reward is great. We will discover that in our pursuit, there will be much rubbish that requires shedding off to complete the race gloriously, clothed with nothing but His righteousness (Job 29:14, Php 3:9).

2011-07-26T17:26:00.002+08:00

What is the original Hebrew name for Jesus? And is it true that the name Jesus is really a pagan corruption of the name Zeus?
Dr. Michael Brown

I am continually amazed by how many people write to our ministry and ask us questions like this one, which came in last week: “Some Christians say we have to use the Hebrew name, Yashua. They say calling on the name of Jesus is calling on Zeus. That Jesus is a disguise name for Satan. What answers do you have for this? Where can we prove the name of Jesus is correct to use in its English translation and pronunciation?”

As bizarre as these questions are, the fact that they keep coming up means that they need to be addressed, so here are some simple responses (for more details, see What Do Jewish People Think About Jesus, question #38).

The original Hebrew-Aramaic name of Jesus is yeshu‘a, which is short for yehōshu‘a (Joshua), just as Mike is short for Michael. The name yeshu‘a occurs 27 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, primarily referring to the high priest after the Babylonian exile, called both yehōshu‘a (see, e.g., Zechariah 3:3) and, more frequently, yeshu‘a (see, e.g., Ezra 3:2). So, Yeshua’s name was not unusual; in fact, as many as five different men had that name in the Old Testament. And this is how that name came to be “Jesus” in English: Simply stated, this is the etymological history of the name Jesus: Hebrew/Aramaic yeshu‘a became Greek Iēsous, then Latin Iesus, passing into German and then, ultimately, into English, as Jesus.

Why then do some people refer to Jesus as Yahshua? There is absolutely no support for this pronunciation—none at all—and I say this as someone holding a Ph.D. in Semitic languages. My educated guess is that some zealous but linguistically ignorant people thought that Yahweh’s name must have been a more overt part of our Savior’s name, hence YAHshua rather than Yeshua—but again, there is no support of any kind for this theory.

Read rest of article

2011-07-22T08:33:00.004+08:00

THE GATEWAY TO THE KINGDOM
"Blessed are the poor in spirit." Matthew 5:3
Oswald Chambers

Beware of placing Our Lord as a Teacher first. If Jesus Christ is a Teacher only, then all He can do is to tantalize me by erecting a standard I can not attain. What is the use of presenting me with an ideal I cannot possibly come near? I am happier without knowing it. What is the good of telling me to be what I never can be - to be pure in heart, to do more than my duty, to be perfectly devoted to God? I must know Jesus Christ as Saviour before His teaching has any meaning for me other than that of an ideal which leads to despair. But when I am born again of the Spirit of God, I know that Jesus Christ did not come to teach only: He came to make me what He teaches I should be. The Redemption means that Jesus Christ can put into any man the disposition that ruled His own life, and all the standards God gives are based on that disposition.

The teaching of the Sermon on the Mount produces despair in the natural man - the very thing Jesus means it to do. As long as we have a self-righteous, conceited notion that we can carry out Our Lord's teaching, God will allow us to go on until we break our ignorance over some obstacle, then we are willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. "Blessed are the paupers in spirit," that is the first principle in the Kingdom of God. The bedrock in Jesus Christ's kingdom is poverty, not possession; not decisions for Jesus Christ, but a sense of absolute futility - I cannot begin to do it. Then Jesus says - Blessed are you. That is the entrance, and it does take us a long while to believe we are poor! The knowledge of our own poverty brings us to the moral frontier where Jesus Christ works.

2011-07-21T15:11:00.002+08:00

Parashat Pinhas: Leadership through speech
By SHLOMO RISKIN

“Moses spoke to the Lord, saying, ‘Let the Lord God of all the spirits of mortal flesh appoint a person of stature over the witness congregation’” (Numbers 27:15).

Moses was the master of all prophets, and the individual who came closer to God than any other mortal in history. Now, after a chorus of rebellions against him, God tells him that he is about to be taken from this world without entering the Promised Land. His response to God demonstrates his deep and abiding commitment to his nation. He does not seek a reprieve for himself, but rather a fitting successor for his people. In so doing, he identifies the area in which he himself failed, and the qualities which his heir must have in order to succeed, thus defining the sine qua non condition of leadership for future generations, and so leaving a crucial legacy to “Knesset Yisrael.”

The biblical words are stunning in their simplicity: “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Climb to the top of this Abarim Mountain [just in front of Mount Nebo] and gaze upon the land which I am giving to the Israelites. After you see it, you will be gathered to your nation, in the same manner as was Aaron your brother. This is because you rebelled against My word at the Zin desert, just as the witness-congregation were engaged in dispute and you neglected to sanctify Me before their eyes with the water…” (Numbers 27:12-14) God is now exacting the punishment He had meted out to Moses in last week’s biblical reading, when the prophet was instructed to take his staff and “speak to the rock”; but instead, “struck the rock with the staff twice.” Although at the time much water gushed forth, God proclaimed that as a result of this transgression, Moses and Aaron would not be permitted to lead the nation into the Land.

Why did God command Moses to take the staff but only to speak to the rock, whereas almost 40 years before, after the splitting of the Red Sea, when the Israelites also bitterly disputed with God over the lack of water, He instructed Moses to take the rod and strike the rock with it? Why was striking the rock a commandment then and a transgression now? Apparently, Moses himself had pondered this question, and in this week’s portion, he arrives at the reason.

There are two types of leadership: leadership with a staff, and leadership with words; leadership by means of power and leadership by persuasion.

A slave people, beaten into submission by a powerful despot, will be moved only by a greater and mightier power. Slaves lack the emotional energy and the rigorous reserve to respond to logical thought or inspirational visions. They require a God with plagues more powerful than the Egyptian Nile, and a leader with a staff more efficacious than that of Pharaoh’s magicians.

But almost 40 years have passed since then, years of wandering in an alien desert and years of being protected by a loving Deity, years of commitment to God’s laws and years of studying God’s words.

And now, when history is repeating itself, when the witness-congregation is again panicked by the lack of water, God adjures Moses: Take your staff of leadership, but instead of striking with your hand, speak with your mouth; instead of commanding with the fiery law of a written Torah from God on High, try convincing with a song of an Oral Torah whose chorus is composed and sung by the souls of all of Israel; the Written Torah is a strict law, eternal, absolute and unchanging, emanating from the Lord, Creator of the Universe, while the Oral Torah is a soft law, born of dialogue with Israel and informed by the compassion and loving-kindness of the God of history.

And so Moses understands that the next leader of Israel must be less a prophet of God and more a man of the people, less a conveyor of God’s eternal law and more a mediator between God’s words and the people’s needs. Moses is at peace with his realization that if the staff was crucial to bring Israel out of Egypt in order to form a nation committed to God and His law, the next leader must use the word – speech and dialogue – to convince, inspire and extract new insights and interpretations of Torah from God’s partners in history, the nation of Israel.

“Moses spoke to the Lord saying, Let the Lord God of all the spirits of mortal flesh appoint a person of stature over the witness-congregation. Let him go out in front of them and let him come in before them, let him take them out and let him bring them in, so that the witness-congregation of the Lord shall not be as sheep without a shepherd” (Num. 27:15-17).

2011-07-21T14:57:00.002+08:00

Finally

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord…..(Php 3:1)

What is the ‘finally’ in our Christian life we are experiencing? Conclusively is there rejoicing? Not in what we have done, achieved, accumulated or any form of spiritual trophy placed on the pedestal of a Christian’s hallway of fame. The finality of our faith is Christ and Christ alone (Php 3:8) and to be found in Him (Php 3:9). To be established where our enduring existence is not of our own but His only.

I am my beloved's, and my beloved is mine…… (Son 6:3)

Exclusivity comes with a price of suffering loss and reckoning all else as dung (Php 3:8). As with a marriage there has to be a leaving and a cleaving unto oneness; our position where He will spread His banner of love over His church (Son 2:4). His joy will sustain us (Neh 8:10). Our pursuit is not then aimless and our destiny laid out; the path has been drawn out. We keep our eyes focus on the goal of our upward call. It is upward glorious resurrection to save us from all forms of depreciating corruption that surround us daily, into an everlasting Kingdom. Rejoicing now and rejoicing in the end.

With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought: they shall enter into the king's palace. Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee for ever and ever. (Psa 45:15-17)

2011-07-08T18:04:00.004+08:00

Consistency

And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. (Luke 9:23)

Have we asked ourselves why we roller coaster through our Christian walk? Victory sometimes can be grasps at an arm’s length and other times it does not seem to avail to us. David knew about the importance of consistency (Psa 51:10).

For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? (Luke 14:28)

Victory requires reckoning or accounting with regard to the issue of the cross. Weigh not on what is the gain, but on the loss. The next step of faith is to cut off (Matt 5:30) and put off (Eph 4:22). His grace avails deeply for us, but we have to weigh and be willing to suffer loss (Phil 3:8). There is no short cut but always remembering that His grace avails always. Keep in mind that the person who carries the cross is not dead but a living sacrifice (Rom 12:1). 'Dead' yet alive to a higher life (Rom 6:11), it is a mystery that can only be fully realized if we live on the foundation of grace. An Old Testament sacrifice is severed, place on the altar, burned with fire and reduced to the lowest irreversible and consistent form, ashes. The Lord is not concerned with the gruesomeness of the sacrifice but in the aroma it finally emits.

Consistency is a narrowing journey (Matt 7:13). We have to reckon and account for loss in order to end at the gates of the ‘Celestial City’ (Pilgrims Progress, John Bunyan). Loss in order for great gain (Matt 14:36). The secret to consistency is carrying the cross and following Jesus. He will never lead us the wrong way. Cross equals loss, the end of great gain.

2011-07-01T14:46:00.000+08:00

What Glory Do We Seek For?

And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: (John 17:22)

The bride is the focus of attention in any wedding, which is how much glory Jesus bestows upon His church. It is not ours to earn nor striving nor fighting to gain (John 18:36). It takes faith to receive. Looking at not with human senses, but having a belief full of unshakeable substance and able to behold things not seen (Heb 11:1).

The glory is not then, but now. The manifestation of the glory is unity. Oneness is in Christ where the bond of brotherhood becomes thicker than blood which is of the spirit (Eph 4:3). The humanly base idea of glory is exaltation of self to prove we are better. God’s glory is founded on love, not the sentimental kind but one of action toward others, never self seeking nor arrogant. This is the true mark of discipleship (John 13:35). Christ’s glory given to the church is deeply founded in His love (John 17:24, 26), what else do we desire or seek for?

2011-06-28T13:31:00.000+08:00

The Church and the World
Catherine Booth

When the church and the world can jog comfortably along together, you can be sure something is wrong. The world has not compromised - its spirit is exactly the same as it ever was. If Christians were equally as faithful to the Lord, separated from the world, and living so that their lives were a reproof to all ungodliness, the world would hate them as much as it ever did. It is the church that has compromised, not the world.

2011-06-26T08:21:00.000+08:00

The Pulpit by J.C. Ryle

‎Without Christ crucified in her pulpits, a Church is little better than a dead carcass, a well without water, a barren fig-tree, a sleeping watchman, a silent trumpet, a lighthouse without fire, a stumbling-block to weak believers, a comfort to unbelievers, a hot-bed for formalism, a joy to the devil, and an offence to God.

2011-06-22T10:15:00.000+08:00

Rulership

And he gave them into the hand of the heathen; and they that hated them ruled over them.
(Psa 106:41)

It is a fearful thing to be delivered to the hands of man because of God’s wrath and abhorrence (Psa 106:40). David knew it and in great strait asked to ‘not fall into the hand of man’ (2 Sam 24:14). ‘Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all men’ (John 2:24). We may not be conscious that we are being ruled by man, it will show when the crunch comes.

So why it is that man is sought first before God? Man’s help and out stretched hand can become a dangerous crutch; a ‘broken reed…..whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it’ (Isa 36:6). When man rule or control our destiny than God’s sovereignty is left out. When God rules, we trust Him in getting alone with Him and faith is when we hear no answer, seeing greater promises afar off (Heb 11:13) and hearts at perfect peace that our cries have been heard in heaven; ‘having obtained a good report through faith’ because ‘God having provided some better thing for us' (Heb 11:39, 40).

The difference of rulership can be subtle. Man’s rule seeks human intervention, selfish and long term untrustworthiness. God’s rule is eternal and glorious even if it requires to die in faith (Heb 11:13). After all, everyone must die, the finality is where we stand in the last judgment (Heb 9:27).

2011-06-21T08:23:00.001+08:00

Have You Come to "When" Yet?
Oswald Chambers

"And the Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends." Job 42:10

The plaintive, self-centred, morbid kind of prayer, a dead-set that I want to be right, is never found in the New Testament. The fact that I am trying to be right with God is a sign that I am rebelling against the Atonement. "Lord, I will purify my heart if You will answer my prayer; I will walk rightly if You will help me." I cannot make myself right with God, I cannot make my life perfect; I can only be right with God if I accept the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ as an absolute gift. Am I humble enough to accept it? I have to resign every kind of claim and cease from every effort, and leave myself entirely alone in His hands, and then begin to pour out in the priestly work of intercession. There is much prayer that arises from real disbelief in the Atonement. Jesus is not beginning to save us, He has saved us, the thing is done, and it is an insult to ask Him to do it.

If you are not getting the hundredfold more, not getting insight into God's word, then start praying for your friends, enter into the ministry of the interior. "The Lord turned the captivity of Job when he prayed for his friends." The real business of your life as a saved soul is intercessory prayer. Wherever God puts you in circumstances, pray immediately, pray that His Atonement may be realized in other lives as it has been in yours. Pray for your friends now; pray for those with whom you come in contact now.

2011-06-14T13:49:00.001+08:00

The Tension of the Ages
Rebekah Mui

Talk has been going on for quite awhile in the church about “the end times” and “the last days”. What exactly are the end times and the last days? How do we know for sure where we are on the Biblical calendar? And how are we youths supposed to live our lives since time is so short?

“End times” is not a phrase found in the Bible at all. The phrase used in the Bible is “last days”. Jacob prophesied over his sons over what would befall them in the last days (Genesis 49:1). Isaiah 2:2 and Micah 4:1 speak of YHWH’s house being established and all the Gentiles flowing towards it.

In the New Testament scriptures, the first mention of the last days is at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell (Acts 2:7). The fact is, the “last days” and “end times” began 2,000 years ago. The early church was very conscious of Jesus (Yeshua’s) return and lived soberly and in vigilance. Hebrew 1:2 speaks of “these last days”. 2 Timothy 3:1 says, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”

The Hebraic and Biblical understanding of the times is that there is this present evil age and the age to come. Last month, I mentioned the Hebrew word “olam”, meaning age or universe. The Olam Hava is the age to come, hava meaning come. (Baruch hava b’shem Adonai means "Blessed is he who comes in the name of YHWH.”). Olam Hazeh literally means “this world”. As the Scriptures say clearly, this earth was created by God (Elohim). The world in which we live in today is temporal and sinful. The Messiah comes to usher in the eternal Kingdom of God.

We know that Yeshua the Messiah of Israel has come. The last days have already begun, because with His coming, He brought the Kingdom of Heaven into individual lives. “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand (within reach)”, Jesus preached. We know that Yeshua is the Messiah because He has fulfilled, is fulfilling, and will fulfill all the word of the Tanakh (Old Testament). The olam hazeh is passing away and the olam haba has already come.

Jesus taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” The Kingdom of God is already established, the feast has been prepared. We are living in the overlap of the ages, between Jesus’ two comings. The tension between the ages must be a part of our Christian life! The literal, physical, worldwide, and total bringing in of the Kingdom will come when Jesus comes again, but it is our duty as sons of God who has entered into the Kingdom to preach the Gospel to every creature (Mark 16), bringing the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Peter warned us in 1 Peter 3 that in these last days scoffers will come, that deny that God created the heavens and the earth, and also deny that Jesus will come again. (One common objection is that the church has been waiting for 2,000 years already and He still hasn’t come). Actually, as Peter says, it’s because God is very patient and doesn't desire any should perish. The New Testament scriptures are full of exhortations to the church to live soberly and be vigilant in these last days.

“But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand yearsas one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless. And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own steadfastness. But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen." (2 Peter 3:7-18 KJV)

It is our duty to store up our treasure in heaven (Matthew 6) and set our minds and hearts on things above (Colossians 3). It is our duty to be watchful and vigilant. It is our duty, as Jesus commanded, to go into all the world and preach the gospel.

And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:14 KJV)

Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak. Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. (Colossians 4:2-6 KJV)

Let us live godly lives and pray for the salvation of the peoples of this world and for our governmental authorities. Let us pray and preach the Kingdom of God to the lost peoples of this world. Let us remember the words Jesus spoke in Matthew 24 and 25 about watching and praying, staying awake. Don’t be like the virgins who fell asleep. The reason why we still have time is to bring souls into the Kingdom of God in the harvest of these last days, not to idle away and spend our lives on the things of this world. Let us not be distracted by the cares of this life, the pursuit and vanity and riches. Let us pray for laborers in the harvest fields of the kingdom! Let us never lose hope in the promises of God found in the Prophets.

Let us have faith in Jesus that will stand no matter what fiery trials and tribulations come our way. Let us have peace in our hearts, the true shalom of YHWH, that will stand sure and strong on the Rock of Ages, YHWH the God of Israel. Let us stand with Israel and bring the gospel back to Jerusalem where the Holy Spirit was poured out 2,000 years ago!

Let us live every day of our lives in eager anticipation, expectant hope, watchful preparation, sober vigilance, and solidarity as a body, for the coming, returning, glorious King Messiah and His Kingdom (of which there will be no end), the fullness, completion, and beginning of all, for He is all and He is in all of His! Amen

2011-06-14T13:31:00.002+08:00

"Is prayer your steering wheel or your spare tire?"
—Corrie Ten Boom

2011-06-06T17:42:00.000+08:00

Bonhoeffer’s Cost of Discipleship – An Excerpt Loosely Reworded in Simple English
Rebekah Mui

"Cheap grace" is the deadly enemy of our church. What we must fight for today is to retain the true value of God's costly grace.

"Cheap grace" is a lousy discounted stuff sold for several cents at the flea market, (cut-rate, a real steal, practically sold for nothing or given away) which people throw away without thinking and take for granted. (It is a waste, a terrible disastrous waste.) It is simply presumed and assumed that the central meaning of grace is that the account for our sins has been paid for well in advance.

Cheap grace means the blood and body of Christ, the forgiveness of your sins, and the comforts of a "religion" practically thrown away at ridiculously low prices. The church portrays grace as its never-ending resource which she can just give away indiscriminately. "Grace can be had here, cheap!"

Cheap grace means grace held as belief system and generalized assumption by the church. "Everyone can have their sins forgiven freely!" The precious love of God is exploited as a selling point. "God loves you! As long as you believe this and pray a little prayer your sins will be forgiven. Won't you like that?" In this kind of “Church” the world can find a cheap covering for their sins - no repentance needed, you don't even need to feel sorrow for your sins or fear the wrath of God - you don't even need to really desire to be set free from sin. In the end, cheap grace is DENIAL of the living Word of God and a denial of the Word of God become flesh (Jesus).

Grace is "peddled" cheaply today, as if it were cheap and lousy trinkets sold by the streets, given without thought to people who would not treasure it, appreciate it, or value it, and would most likely end up throwing away (casting away beautiful, genuine pearls and freely feeding it to swine). We must fight today to retain the precious treasure, the costly grace of God which we can never achieve, buy, nor afford.

Cheap grace is just saying to the sinner "God has justified you - forgiven you - and is alright with your sin" - without emphasizing or even mentioning the face that you need to get right with God! "Grace, grace alone" they say, so that everything can just remain as it was before. "Let the Christian live like the rest of the world, let him model himself on the world's standards in every area of life, and not presumptuously aspire to live a different life under grace from his old life under under sin... (that would be striving, you see)"

Cheap grace is actually grace which we imagine, conjure up, and give ourselves. Cheap grace says you can be forgiven without even being repentant or the least bit sorry for the wrong you’ve done, you can be baptized into the church without having to submit yourself to church rules, disciplines, etc., you can enjoy communion as a body without the “unnecessary discomfort” of confessing your sins. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship; grace without the cross; grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.

Costly grace is the treasure hidden in the field; a man’ will gladly go and sell all that he has to buy the field. It is the genuine and luxurious pearl worth billions which a trader will sell all his goods to purchase (he would take great pains to care for it, insure it, and guard it, wouldn’t he?). God didn't give us a cheap little free gift.
Costly grace is about the kingly rule of Christ for which man will zealously even pluck out the eye which causes him to stumble!

Costly grace is the call of Jesus Christ at which the disciple leaves his nets and follows him.
We must strive today to maintain the costly value of God's grace and reverence it. It is no common thing to be doled out indiscriminately. It is given to those who ask it. Costly grace is the gospel which must be sought again and again and again, the gift which must be asked (or begged) for, the door at which a man must keep knocking.

Costly grace is costly because it calls us to follow, and it is grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It is costly because it costs a man his life, and it is grace because it gives a man the only true life. It is costly because it condemns sin, and grace because it justifies the sinner.

Above all, costly grace is is costly because it cost God the life of his Son: “you were bought at a price,” and what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us. Above all, it is grace because God did not reckon his Son too dear a price to pay for our life, but delivered him up for us. Costly grace is the manifestation and incarnation of God!

Costly grace is the holy, set-apart sanctuary of God; it has to be protected from the world, and not thrown to the dogs. Costly grace is the living word, the Word of God, which he speaks as it pleases him. Costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus. Costly comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. Grace is costly because it compels and calls a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: “My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

On two separate occasions Peter received the call, “Follow me.” It was the first and last word Jesus spoke to his disciple (Mark 1.17; John 21.22). A whole life lies between these two calls. The first occasion was by the lake of Gennesareth, when Peter left his nets and his craft and followed Jesus at his word.

The second occasion is when the Risen Lord finds him back again at his old trade. Once again it is by the lake of Gennesareth, and once again the call is: “Follow me.” Between the two calls lay a whole life of discipleship in the following of Christ. Half-way between them comes Peter's confession, when he acknowledged Jesus as the Christ of God....

This grace was certainly not self-bestowed. It was the grace of Christ himself that forced itself upon Peter and caused him leave all and follow Christ. It was the grace of Christ himself that worked in Peter that confession which to the world must sound like the ultimate blasphemy, and it was the grace of Christ himself that now invited Peter to the absolute highest fellowship of martyrdom for the Master he had denied. It was the grace of Christ that consequently forgave him all his sins. In the life of Peter, grace and discipleship cannot be separated. He had received the grace which costs.

As Christianity spread, and the Church became more secularized, the costliness of grace was gradually forgotten. The (Western) world was “Christianized”, and grace became just like any other common object. It was to be had cheaply.

Summary: Grace is not the license to do what we want – it is the power to do what God wills! Grace is not the forgiveness of sins doled out – it is infinitely more powerful and of greater value. Grace doesn’t just leave us as we are but compels us and leads us somewhere. It is easier and quicker to define cheap grace and to “use it”, but it takes the cross plus a lifetime to understand and come into a complete revelation of God’s costly grace

2011-06-02T19:31:00.001+08:00

Sin Leading to Apostasy
Matthew Henry

2011-06-01T14:24:00.002+08:00

What Have We Handled?

……. which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (1Jn 1:1)

We hear to believe (Rom 10:17) and receiving revelation of Christ’s grace and truth to begin the journey of salvation (John 1:14). That is not enough, there is required a deepening relationship which is to handle or to touch, a verification of all that we have heard and seen that we are wholly His and live for Him. Relationship is a personal experience; not hearsay nor by observing what others have.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus (Php 2:5)

Phileo is to be a friend, agape is love in action. The former may go as far as a feeling, concern or even shedding a tear. The latter is laying oneself down to give, a deliberate choice and action of the will (John 3:16). It concerns the welfare of others over self (Phil 2:4). It is a pouring out and not withholding back an ounce of good that others may progress ; higher than sacrifice, it is pouring out on sacrifice (Php 2:17). I cannot give what I haven’t experience or what I don’t possess. Water flows downstream, from top to bottom. That is an unchangeable natural law. I have to experience life in the higher plane of Christ life in order to give life. This is all possible if I have handled or verified who Jesus is to me and in me. When that happens there is a clear and distinct mark of Christ ownership (Gal 6:17). The trouble with us is that we have not been single hearted and touched many things that doesn't concern Christ.

2011-05-27T11:04:00.001+08:00

Speaking That Challenges

But I say unto you …… (Mat 5:22)

There is a speaking that reverberates, transcending time and space (Psa 19:2), an articulation without involving the faculty of speech. It reveals who God is; power, righteousness, wisdom harmoniously in sync with love and mercy. It is life (John 6:68). Yet it challenges the core belief system that has gradually built an impenetrable citable where His Truth has yet to piece to make free. This fortress is a sum total of our understanding and experience mixed in with self conclusions.

The speaking is everywhere; it becomes a life transforming epiphany when Jesus personalizes the Truth to us. He begins by saying ‘but I say unto you….’ When He does that, the wall come crumbling down and we are loosed into the realm of His grace and glory (Rom 5:2). Or conversely, the wall gets higher and thicker. We can hold on for dear life to all that we have believed, from our worldview. Yet He will continually speak ‘but I say unto you….’ Receiving the subsequent words requires faith. No disputing or arguments. Just believe.

Jesus never sugar coats His words. It is a sword that will divide asunder (Heb 4:12) and brings us into a stature where the soul does not rule. The spirit triumphs (Rom 8:2).

He mercifully continually speaks, am I willing to allow His piercing Words to do a permanent liberation in my life so that the completeness of the Father dwells in me (Matt 5:48)? If I resist, my belief system will become my god of my own imagination (1 John 5:20, 21).

2011-05-25T16:56:00.001+08:00

The Righteousness of God
David Pawson

David Pawson speaking at International House of Prayer (15 May, 2011)
http://mediasuite.multicastmedia.com/player.php?v=qxmpuvn8

2011-05-25T16:44:00.001+08:00

Blameless Sons

That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; (Php 2:15)

There are essential two fathers, God or the devil (John 8:44). God’s sons are the ones without rebuke or blameless to all in right being and right doing; before man, to the devil and toward God. God gives the redeemed a clear conscience in all aspects (1 Pet 3:16), hence if we were to suffer, it would be better for good alone (1 Pet 3:17). There is a blessing of the Kingdom to those persecuted for righteousness sake, not for evil (Matt 5:10).The state of blamelessness is defined by other parties, not of self (Prov 27:2). God recognizes and bestow inseparable love to the unblemished led to the slaughter for being and doing right (Rom 8:35, 36).

Jesus gave us the capacity to be unhidden light, unconsciously and naturally shining His glory (Matt 5:14-16). We have become what He ordained for us when there is an imputed Christ-like meekness to ‘do all things without murmurings and disputings’. In the ability to ‘do all things’ that exalts the Father with Godly attitude we become ‘blameless….’. It takes dying to self ambition and vainglory (Php 2:3).

The servant takes after the Master (Matt 10:24). The son takes after his or her father. Who is our father?

2011-05-16T12:01:00.000+08:00

The Spiritual Man
Watchman Nee

2011-05-12T14:22:00.000+08:00

Prevailing

….. If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou shalt not prevail against him, but shalt surely fall before him.(Est 6:13)

Being set apart is not earned but providential by the grace of God (Duet 10:15). The disposition of a Jewish man living under the covenant will be required to circumcise the flesh (Gen 17:11) and YHWH requires a deeper circumcision (Duet 10:16). The circumcision of the heart is beyond an outward recognizable separation but also of affections (Duet 30:6) and spirit (Rom 2:29). The acknowledgement is beyond that which human eyes behold but an eternal transaction in the spirit realm with a secure guarantee (Eph 4:30).

Holding fast to His love and thrusting ourselves into His tender mercies will guarantee our prevalence (Jud 1:21). These are the hardest to do because our human tendency is to work it out with our mind and hands without being on our knees. It is God that will ensure that we prevail if we would do it within the confines of His divine wisdom. Our prevailing is an observation by even our enemies because of the distinction in Christ, not in ourselves. How desperate are we to prevail? The determining factor lies in whether our life stem from the olive tree of Israel (Rom 11:17).

2011-05-08T17:03:00.000+08:00

The Normal Christian Life: Reckoning of Faith
Watchman Nee

Watchman Nee Playlist: http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=FF7506AC2682B24B

An excerpt from the book "The Normal Christian Life," by Watchman Nee (1903-1972).

Watchman Nee became a Christian in mainland China in 1920 at the age of seventeen and began writing in the same year. In 1952 he was imprisoned for his faith; he remained in prison until his death in 1972. His words remain an abundant source of spiritual revelation and supply to Christians throughout the world.

Romans 6:6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.

Ephesians 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ...

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

2011-05-06T14:18:00.000+08:00

Worthiness of Our Lives

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ…. (Php 1:27)

There is nothing more devastating than Christianity without Christ. Without the centrality of Christ, there are no glad tidings of good things (Rom 10:15). The climax of the week is found in triumphalism celebratory Sunday 'worth-ship' (Col 2:20) and holding on to creeds and denominations rather than holding on to Christ and in obeying His Word (1 Cor 1:13). The world is in darkness and lies under the sway of the wicket one (1 John 5:19), do we see people heading down the road to eternal damnation or still quibbling over matters that bring ‘spiritual’ goose bumps .

But this shall be the covenant …. I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jer 31:33)

God has given us the capacity to be epistles or message to be read by all men (2 Cor 3:2). The same capacity that principalities, powers and rulers of this darkness will acknowledge our existence (Acts 19:15). We are the light of the world that illuminates the dark sphere surrounding us. We are the distinguishing factor that will show men and women that they are bound in sin by demonic forces and we have been made free (John 8:36). Without Light people cannot see. Without light, darkness cannot be dispelled. People cannot be drawn to Christ without light. What gospel are we preaching through the way we live (2 Cor 11:4)? Is there a 24-7 preparedness of the gospel of peace (Eph 6:15). Are our lives worth measured in the Good News of Christ?

2011-05-05T18:03:00.000+08:00

Why Jews Don’t Believe in Jesus
Dr. Michael Brown

Audio recording

2011-05-05T17:58:00.002+08:00

Tradition Today: The saddest day of all
By REUVEN HAMMER (jpost.com)

Let it be a day of remembrance and mourning, of tribute to those who suffered, those who perished and those who offered help and comfort.

When Pessah comes, the two newest sacred days of the Jewish calendar are not far behind: Yom Hashoah V’hagevura (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and Yom Ha’atzmaut. Without positing a causal link between them, these two days commemorate the two most significant events in modern Jewish history and the polar opposites that they represent. Holocaust Remembrance Day signifies the worst tragedy we have ever experienced, that which brought the Jewish people as close to extinction as we have ever been. Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrates the great triumph of our return to our national home, the phoenix-like resurrection of the Jewish people from the ashes of near-destruction.

To my mind, Holocaust Remembrance Day is the saddest and most tragic day of the Jewish year. Nothing even remotely like it ever occurred before. The systematic destruction of six million individuals, one-third of our people, the elimination of a great center of Jewish life and learning – it is beyond imagining. Each year, I listen to the reading of Megillat Hashoah, a liturgical retelling of the events of the Holocaust, written by Avigdor Shinan under the auspices of a special committee of the Rabbinical Assembly and the Schechter Institute. It is chanted aloud in synagogues throughout the world, and I contemplate an event that I cannot begin to comprehend. I ask myself questions about it and I read many excellent books that describe aspects of it, and I still cannot grasp fully what happened and why.

......

Among them was Europe’s long history of anti-Semitism, which was at least as strong in France as it was in Germany. Another was the built-in anti-Jewish teachings of Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant. The accusation of Jews as killers of God taught in every church and religious school had its effect. However, at least the Church had a teaching that Jews should be kept in misery but kept alive to show what happens to those who reject the son of God. Nazism taught that they should be denied life. As a matter of fact, it taught that Jews were not human, they were a kind of vermin that should be eradicated just as one would kill rats. If there is anything that we can learn from the Shoah, it is that is it forbidden to categorize human beings as inferior species, or any group as superior to any other.

......

Full article

2011-05-03T14:12:00.000+08:00

The Towers Have Fallen But We Missed the Message
by David Wilkerson, October 8, 2001

On Tuesday, September 11, 2001, the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City were destroyed. Five days later, as I was preparing this message, I looked out the window of my study in our 30th-floor apartment. Huge clouds of smoke were still smoldering from the ruins. They rose from the rubble and drifted out over the Hudson River, passing above the Statue of Liberty.

The following Sunday, just before I preached this message at Times Square Church, I wept at the sight of the utter devastation. I pleaded with God for mercy: mercy for the grieving families who lost loved ones. Mercy for the workers still digging through the rubble, hoping to locate survivors, but finding only corpses and severed body parts. Mercy for all the police officers, fire fighters and volunteers, who wept openly over the indescribable horrors they saw.

Our church was allowed to set up a relief tent at ground zero of the disaster. Ministry leaders and volunteers from our congregation worked tirelessly around the clock, helping to feed and encourage the weary workers.

Six weeks prior to the disaster, the Holy Spirit forewarned our pastoral staff that a calamity was coming. We had scheduled several major events for the weeks ahead, including our Missions Conference and Youth Convention. But God's Spirit prompted us to cancel them all. Instead, we felt stirred to call our congregation to prayer.

We decided to hold prayer meetings four nights a week. From the very beginning, each meeting was marked by an awesome stillness that settled over the congregation. We sat quietly in the Lord's presence, often without a sound, for up to an hour, followed by soft weeping and heartrending repentance. In one meeting, I had to steady my knees with my hands, to keep them from trembling in God's awesome presence.

During this visitation from the Lord, the Holy Ghost revealed there was a reason for the weeping in our hearts. We were being so moved because a tragedy was coming. A severe calamity was coming to the nation. And even though we didn't know what it was, our hearts were stirred to intercede concerning it.

Then suddenly, the calamity struck. And it hit not only our city, but the nation's capital. One network anchor declared, "Think of it, our two symbols of power and prosperity have been smitten in one hour." Little did he know, he was quoting Revelation 18:10: "Alas that great city Babylon, that mighty city! For in one hour is thy judgment come."

As a policeman from our church helped out at ground zero, his fellow officers kept asking him, "What's this all about? What's happening?" Meanwhile, the whole nation has been asking, "Where is God in all this?"

Read rest of message

2011-05-03T14:05:00.001+08:00

A Call to Anguish
David Wilkerson

2011-04-28T13:51:00.000+08:00

When All Means Fail
David Wilkerson
Last blog entry prior to his death. April 27, 2011

To believe when all means fail is exceedingly pleasing to God and is most acceptable. Jesus said to Thomas, “You have believed because you have seen, but blessed are those that do believe and have not seen” (John 20:29).

Blessed are those who believe when there is no evidence of an answer to prayer—who trust beyond hope when all means have failed.

Someone has come to the place of hopelessness—the end of hope—the end of all means. A loved one is facing death and doctors give no hope. Death seems inevitable. Hope is gone. The miracle prayed for is not happening.

That is when Satan’s hordes come to attack your mind with fear, anger, overwhelming questions: “Where is your God now? You prayed until you had no tears left. You fasted. You stood on promises. You trusted.”

Blasphemous thoughts will be injected into your mind: “Prayer failed. Faith failed. Don’t quit on God—just do not trust him anymore. It doesn’t pay!”

Even questioning God’s existence will be injected into your mind. These have been the devices of Satan for centuries. Some of the godliest men and women who ever lived were under such demonic attacks.

To those going through the valley and shadow of death, hear this word: Weeping will last through some dark, awful nights—and in that darkness you will soon hear the Father whisper, “I am with you. I cannot tell you why right now, but one day it will all make sense. You will see it was all part of my plan. It was no accident. It was no failure on your part. Hold fast. Let me embrace you in your hour of pain.”

Beloved, God has never failed to act but in goodness and love. When all means fail—his love prevails. Hold fast to your faith. Stand fast in his Word. There is no other hope in this world.

2011-04-26T13:29:00.003+08:00

A Lighted Lamp
Rebekah M

What does it mean to be a lighted lamp? What is light, anyway?

The dictionary has 15 meanings for light. The scientific definition for light is that is it a “visible radiation about 0.4 to 0.7 microns in wavelength considered in terms of its luminous efficiency, that is, evaluated in proportion to its ability to stimulate the sense of night.” In Physics, light is “an electromagnetic radiation that can produce a visual sensation”.

God has a lot to say about light. In fact, in the beginning, God said, “Let there be light”, and there was light.

God first created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless, shapeless, full of water, and dark. The Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and then God, (Elohim in Hebrew), said, “Let there be light”. And there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good, and God divided light from darkness. God called the light “Day”, and the darkness He called “Night”.

From the beginning Elohim (God) made a distinct separation between light and darkness, day and night. Then on the fourth day Elohim created the lights in the firmament (sky), resumable the sun to light the day and the moon to rule the night, and also the stars. The creation of light and the creation of light sources are two different events.

(Hebrew words in brackets)
- Light (Or) Darkness (Cho-shek)
- Day (Yom) Night (Layil, Layla)
- Sun (Shemesh) Moon (Yareach) and Stars (Kokab)
- Life(Chai, pronounced Cha-ee) Death (Maveth)

We know that Light means Life. Without light, life on this earth would cease. Plants would stop generating food. A lot of processes shut down. Without light there is no life.

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2011-04-25T09:23:00.000+08:00

Remembering the Future
By Yanki Tauber (chabad.org Passover 2011)
(Helpful Passover thoughts from our Hebraic roots)

"In every generation," say our sages, "a person is obligated to see himself as if he himself has come out of Egypt."

Mitzrayim, the Hebrew word for "Egypt," means "boundaries" and "constrictions"; yetziat mitzrayim, "going out of Egypt," is the endeavor to rise above all that inhibits the soul of man, be it limitations imposed by an outside force, or the physical, psychological or spiritual limitations imposed by habit and nature.

One of the most constricting elements of the human condition is the phenomenon of time. Time carries off the past and holds off the future, confining our lives to a temporal sliver of "present." But on the first night of Passover we break the bonds of time, having received a mandate to experience the Exodus "as if he himself has come out of Egypt." We recall the Exodus in our minds, verbalize it in the telling of the Haggadah, digest it in the form of matzah and wine. As we passover the centuries, memory -- those faded visages of past that generally constitute our only answer to the tyranny of time -- becomes experience, and history is made current and real.

Rest of article

2011-04-24T09:04:00.000+08:00

Intimacy and Profitability

…. and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing. (Jer 13:7)

Programs and activities are always the easy part. It takes discipline to purposefully lay aside what we think is right to do to allow His priorities to take precedent. To know His will is to die to ours. To know He is God requires our abandonment to busyness and achievement (Psa 46:10). Never mistake busyness for even ‘godly’ matters as the gage for spirituality.

The opposite is equally devastating. Not taking necessary action in obedience leads to slothfulness, faith requires action (Jas 2:14).

Intimacy with the Savior is never sentimental, it will challenge everything that we stood and acted for (John 21:17). True love is about the other’s concern (Phil 2:3), never complaining about the thing He asks us to do. There will come an occasion when the Master will untie the girdle of intimacy to wipe feet (John 13:5). The deepest intimacy with Jesus leads to profitability which nary a complain regardless how mundane the task. Profitability for the Kingdom of God comes after intimacy and serving out of intimacy is the right divine order.

2011-04-23T19:03:00.001+08:00

Easter/He Shall Glorify Me
Oswald Chambers

2011-04-18T20:15:00.001+08:00

The Significance of Passover - Dr. Michael Brown

April 14, 2011

http://www.lineoffireradio.com/2011/04/14/the-significance-of-passover/

[Download MP3]

How does the Passover point to Jesus? Is it just a Jewish holiday, or does it have meaning to believers in Jesus today? Join Dr. Brown as he talks about the prophetic significance of passover!

Hour 1:

Dr. Brown’s Bottom Line: There ought to be no separation between Passover and Easter on our calendars; and where there is a separation, let the church join with the Jewish community and celebrate the Passover season, the death and resurrection of Jesus season–along with the Jewish Passover, unleavened bread calendar. And let us emphasize not Easter egg hunts, but the death and resurrection of the Messiah, and within the context of the Passover let us provoke the Jewish people to jealousy by showing them not only was there redemption from Egypt, but there is redemption from sin and death. The Messiah has come, and He will come again, in accordance with the Scriptures.

Hour 2:

Dr. Brown’s Bottom Line: Jesus’ death and resurrection must be central. If you are able to do that in conjunction with the Passover season and incorporate that into the Jewish calendar, all the better. It has biblical roots, and it will further identify our faith with the Jewish people, and perhaps even more, provoke the Jews to jealousy. If the Good Friday, Resurrection Sunday schedule is sacred to you, as long as Jesus is central and He is exalted, and as long as you do not separate that in your thinking from the Passover and your Jewish roots, so be it! Hold to Jesus, hold to your roots, and move forward!

2011-04-18T10:36:00.001+08:00

By His Stripes we are Healed - Isaiah 53

Film clips from the movie, "Jesus of Nazareth"

Isaiah 53

3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth.

2011-04-17T08:56:00.000+08:00

Judgment

She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more. (John 8:11)

When sinners confront the Holy God, what would He say? When sinners confront us our stature of self righteousness wells up and lay a condemnation that he or she must attain to ‘my’ standard. Jesus did not lay condemnation but just declared over them ‘go, and sin no more’. In judging sinners, the Holy, Holy, Holy God does not put the sinner down, trample and squash them till they cannot rise above their sin. That is what we do. His words are loving, ‘go, and sin no more’, that is ‘I have given you power not to walk in sin anymore, my child, live in that promise’ (Jer 31:34). There is power of life that is imparted. But we can potentially impart death (Prov 18:21), remember, don’t be the one to drive the last nail into the coffin.

2011-04-12T14:58:00.001+08:00

Being Effective for the Kingdom

It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. (Luke 14:35)

Jesus said we are salt of the earth (Matt 5:13), no requirements of standard of holiness, spiritual maturity nor any form of achievement. It is not a potential that we have to live up to, but as ones saved by grace the 'being salt' has become ours intrinsically. It is God’s gift to His beloved children, but it requires that we are warned that we can lose this state of our being and the consequences is devastating (Matt 5:13).

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain…..(John 15:16)

Salt and fruitfulness; Jesus was using salt not from the domestic kitchen sense but from agricultural benefit. Israel is a big producer of potash, the form of salt widely used as fertilizers. We have been chosen to call forth those who are in darkness into the Kingdom of Light (1 Pet 2:9) in alignment with the Father’s heart that none perish (2 Pet 3:9). Not many, not a few, but none perish. We sow, but He gives the increase (1 Cor 3:7) of thirty, sixty and some a hundred fold (Mark 4:20). Fruitfulness in souls is the aim of the Kingdom.

Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? (1Cor 5:6)

Secondly, sin leads to contagious corruption and finally destruction. Jesus beckons us to be antiseptic in dung heap of the world to eliminate the spread of evil (1 Cor 15:33). There are many in darkness who desires to come into the light, the Lord of the Harvest will reveal to us that the harvest is truly great (Luke 10:2). What would be our response to that revelation? Pray and be those who would be willing in the day of His power (Psa 110:3) and we have been duly endued (Luke 24:49).

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. (Pro 11:30)

There is great wisdom in our ministry to reconcile man to God (2 Cor 5:18), lasting fruits of righteousness that bring God the glory (Phil 1:11) through the furtherance of the Gospel (Phil 1:12), this is the heart beat that is the pumping life force that drives the early church to see the coming Kingdom established on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 24:14). God’s plan cannot fail; it is whether I fail to fall in line or out of line with His divine will.

2011-04-05T15:22:00.001+08:00

The LORD is my Light and my Salvation - (Ps 27:1-4)
Music by Esther Mui (more songs available here)

1 The LORD is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the strength of my life;
Of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked came against me
To eat up my flesh,
My enemies and foes,
They stumbled and fell.
3 Though an army may encamp against me,
My heart shall not fear;
Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.

4 One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.

2011-03-31T15:27:00.000+08:00

What Moves Heaven

I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance. (Luke 15:7)

Heaven is not moved by tumultuous worship or by the greatness of our service. Heaven is moved by even a single soul responding in utmost humility and thankfulness to God’s merciful saving grace. Jesus is less concerned about the ninety and nine sheep but His heart goes all out searching for the one lost soul. Jesus did not destine His church to be a feel good holy huddle or worst to degenerate to become monastic recluse. The church is to be sent into the world yet not of the world (John 17:16, 18).

Go ye therefore, ….. lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Mat 28:19-20)

Discipleship is not a classroom activity but lived out in the world with eagerness to find that man of peace (Luke 10:6), baptize and make disciples who will in turn make more disciples. It is in the going into the world to fulfill the God given commission that we experience His Presence with us. He promises to be with us and desires that we share heavens joy. Are we willing to obey His decree or continue to warm pews to experience goose bumps of the trappings of ‘modern Christianity’? Is it no wonder that the criteria for many to find a home church is if 'they could fit in'. Rather we should find open hearts and open homes to plant a church among the heathens that we experience the joy of His salvation.

2011-03-22T17:23:00.000+08:00

Parashat Vayikra: The terrorism of Torah
Shlomo Riskin

Why does Mount Moriah have greater sanctity than Mount Sinai?

“An individual who will sacrifice from yourself a sacrificial offering unto the Lord…” (Leviticus 1:2)

My teacher and mentor Rav Joseph B. Soloveitchik would often speak of the two great biblical mountains – Mount Moriah where God sent Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac, and Mount Sinai, from which God presented the Torah to the Israelites.

Conventional wisdom would maintain that Mount Sinai should have been the more sacred, since there is nothing on Earth more sacred than our divinely given Torah – the very words of God. Nevertheless, the sages of the Talmud endowed eternal sanctity only to Mount Moriah, upon which our first two Holy Temples were built, and which will be the foundation for the third Temple as well.

Mount Sinai, by contrast, sustained its sanctity only during the period when the Divine Voice emanated from its heights; today it is no longer sacred, and could therefore be given up as part of Israel’s peace agreement with Egypt.

Why does Mount Moriah have greater sanctity than Mount Sinai? Rav Soloveitchik explains that whereas on Mount Sinai God presented Israel with His Torah, on Mount Moriah Abraham was willing to sacrifice his beloved son to God.

My teacher insisted that sanctity requires sacrifice, and the greater the sacrifice, the higher the degree of divine sanctity.

Read full article HERE

2011-03-22T14:39:00.000+08:00

Those Who Wait on the Lord
Isa 40. Music by Esther Mui

2011-03-21T13:58:00.000+08:00

Degree of Our Serving

Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;) (Gal 1:1)

If we live for ourselves we will be disillusioned and people around us will be affected negatively. If we live for people, we will be disappointed because expectations will never be met (Psa 62:5). But if we live for the Lord the reward is lasting (John 15:17). Our calling is of the highest authority of Heaven; don’t degrade that which has been bestowed from above. We are not of men, that we please men. We are not by men to serve any finite purpose. Our life is by Christ where there is a powerful manifestation of the resurrected life; beyond the natural is a life that is farther along in space, time or degree. It is always above and ahead (Duet 28:13).

And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ. (Col 3:23-24)

The intrinsic core of our service is love for the Higher which does not have any bounds whose language can be seen by the blind and heard by the deaf. A servitude heart that is not calculative and executed in deep confidence. A servant that has so learned Christ (Eph 4:20) unto meekness and humility (Matt 11:29). It is no longer seeing the insurmountability nor smallness of the task, but am unflinching focus that looks at the Highest where no carnal mind can grasp (Psa 123:2).

2011-03-15T11:35:00.000+08:00

Unbounded Soul

So that my bonds in Christ are manifest in all the palace, and in all other places (Php 1:13)

Not easily falling prey to the herd mentality is evident that one has yielded to the leading of the Spirit (Rom 8:1) and know the fundamentals of one’s life is in a higher realm of His Shalom. There is a fountain of joy that wells up from within that can be uncapped to release praises to the God of one’s salvation, even if the outward circumstances seems gloom. Not a form of escapism but a true a living relationship with God Who is entirely sovereign. There is a state of readiness which continually boasts of the good news and wondrous works of Jesus in and out of season.

Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful…. (Pro 14:13)

An unbounded soul is one that has character and stature inside. It is not the countenance that determines the inward being, it is the inward being that forms our countenance. The Lord is waiting for those whose souls are downcast to cry out ‘Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name’ (Psa 142:7a), He is faithful to deliver us to be with Him where He is that our beholding would remain glorious in Christ (John 17:24).

2011-03-11T10:33:00.001+08:00

Spiritual Laxity

….. but they shall be snares and traps unto you, and scourges in your sides, and thorns in your eyes, until ye perish…. (Josh 23:13)

Are we overwhelmed and cannot rise above the circumstances? Is there a continual lack of joy and hope as though the imprisoned soul cannot praise God (Acts 16:25)? It is a message from God that we should examine ourselves; it is His mercy lest we end up reprobates (2 Cor 13:5).

Is there misplaced love (Josh 23:11)? Have our love gone astray and the Father’s love seems cold (1 John 2:15). The appropriation of His promises amount to nothing, nary the spirit to overcome (Josh 23:10); have we been faithful with a clinging dependency on our God (Josh 23:8, 12).Examine if we taken lightly His Word and brush aside the dealings of God (Heb 12:6) and allowed a foothold for the enemy to get at us (Eph 4:27).

By this I know that thou favourest me, because mine enemy doth not triumph over me. (Psa 41:11)

We have to examine ourselves to see if there is any spiritual laxity in our lives. The invitation of our gracious Savior is to come with all our heavy laden and find our rest (Matt 11:28) and learn of Him. It takes humility and meekness to acknowledge that we have misplaced our love and clung on to other distractions. The latter is idolatry.

2011-03-03T19:54:00.001+08:00

Possessing a Deep Concern for Lost Souls
J.C. Ryle (More JC Ryle quotes - http://jcrylequotes.com/)

We know but little of true Christianity, if we do not feel a deep concern about the souls of unconverted people. A lazy indifference about the spiritual state of others, may doubtless save us much trouble. To care nothing whether our neighbors are going to heaven or hell, is no doubt the way of the world. But a person of this spirit is very unlike David, who said, “rivers of waters run down my eyes, because men keep not your law” (Psalm 119:136). He is very unlike Paul, who said, “I have great heaviness and continual sorrow of heart for my brethren” (Rom. 9:2). Above all, he is very unlike Christ. If Christ felt tenderly about wicked people, the disciples of Christ ought to feel likewise.

2011-02-26T17:45:00.000+08:00

Forgive, Lest Satan Should Get an Advantage

To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also…… Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.(2Cor 2:10-11)

Forgiveness not only ensures that the Father forgive us (Matt 6:14), but it protects us from the accuser of the brethren. The worst thing that anyone can experience is to be taken advantage of. This is a feeling of being stripped naked, laid bare and void of any protection. It is an intrusion into the deepest part of our being and leaves us with an emotional state of being violated and ashamed.

……how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? ….(Mat 18:21)

The ultimate demonstration of forgiveness is to love our enemies, bless them, do good to them, and pray for their best (Matt 5:44). The cross is the truest demonstration of forgiveness (Luke 23:34). We should not reckon why we cannot forgive, but give deepest consideration why we should. We can pen a whole shopping list of reasons not to forgive. But why should the devil take advantage of us? Never underestimate the damage he can do and he is constantly looking for victims (1 Pet 5:8). What a powerful weapon of spiritual warfare we can garner, forgive!

2011-02-22T14:47:00.004+08:00

Where God's Judgment Begins

For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? (1Pet 4:17)

In the midst of the Middle East turmoil an earthquake hit Christchurch today (22 Feb 2011) at 12:51pm local time. Yeshua predicted that earthquakes will occur in diverse places (Matt 24:7) and geologist are reporting more than doubling of these geophysical events:

 DATES FROM TO      PERIOD            NO. EARTHQUAKES (Mag.> 6.99)

  1863 to 1900 incl            38 yrs         12
 1901 to 1938 incl            38 yrs          53                                         Reference list 1901 to 1938
 1939 to 1976 incl            38 yrs          71                                         Reference list 1939 to 1976
 1977 to 2014 incl *          38 yrs         156 (to Sept. 2010) predict >190 in total.Reference list 1977 to date

(Data from http://www.earth.webecs.co.uk/)

Since this is the first major earthquake for 2011 and I wonder if there is any significance? Especially that 'Christchurch' was affected. Something for us to ponder, but not to remain in the state of awe but be watchful and in prayer always that we may be accounted worthy to escape 'these things' that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:36). The context is with regard to the 'fig tree' (Matt 24:32), Israel, for the Kingdom of God is at hand. Even Bible scholars of yonder years like Matthew Henry and Clarke make mention to watch for the coming attack on Israel and Jerusalem before the great and terrible day of the LORD.

And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. (Zec 12:10)

'In that day' is a repeated statement by YHWH in Zechariah 12 that He will perform His Covenant and promises made with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David and all Israel will be saved (Rom 11:26). And we the gentile church who have been grafted (Rom 11:17) into the vine of God's covenant will be finally one with Israel.

God has to judge the His household first, lest He be accused of being unjust. My brothers and sisters, are we ready for that Day of the Lord? Are we in the continual stature of praying and watching, our spiritual eyes toward Heaven and physical eyes looking at the events taking place in and around Israel. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem till YHWH makes that city a praise in all the earth (Isa 62:7). Pray and make disciples for the fullness of the gentiles is at hand (Rom 11:25) and the door will close, but be opened for the salvation of the Jewish nation. We have a glorious destiny, are we ready and willing to lay down even our lives for that which is eternal and glorious.

2011-02-18T14:19:00.001+08:00

‘Methuselah’, the Patience of God

And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years: and he died. (Gen 5:27)

The length of days of Methuselah reminds us of the patience of God in a situation of going grossly out of God’s created order of things in which one of the saddest statement was recorded in Scripture; ‘And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart’ (Gen 6:6). It is as though parents regretted having their children. Methuselah means ‘when he dies, it shall be sent’ which is the mark of the coming of the flood in Noah’s days. God had to grieved for as long as until He found a remnant that is just and upright (Gen 6:9).

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2Pet 3:9)

Can Jesus find in this generation those who have the same spirit and heart as Noah for He will be returning soon to judge the quick and the dead (1 Pet 4:5)? Do we share the same grief that He has for the world? Just as important, do we share His desire that none should perish? Knowing His desire, how do we pattern our lives? Our ‘willingness’ in life tells of the condition of our heart if we live for ourselves and self-interest or for His. One of the greatest conflicts in human history is not with the devil, it is on the grounds of ‘will’. The message for us is do we fall under God's condition of being patient with us or are among those who have found ‘grace in the eyes of the LORD’ (Gen 6:8).

2011-02-14T11:21:00.004+08:00

A Conscience Void of Offence
by Rebekah

“And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of offence toward God, and toward men.” (Acts 24:16 KJV).

There are three types of consciences:
1) A good conscience - when we know when we have sinned and humbly make confession
2) A guilty conscience - when we know when we have sinned and hide it. This leads to a dead conscience.
3) A dead conscience - when we don’t even know when we have sinned. We have deadened, or dulled our conscience, putting it to sleep. Paul speaks of those with seared (cauterized) consciences.

It is ever so important in our relationship with God that we maintain a clear and pure conscience before Him. What is the most important thing in life? Our eternity. The life that goes beyond this world. What we need is the eternal life of God. What is that eternal life of God? As Jesus said, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3 KJV).

Read I Peter 1:18-19 and Romans 3:24-25.
When we realize how indebted we are to God, it should motivate us to clear up our offences!

Read I Peter 3:16-17, Titus 1:15, and 2 Corinthians 1:12. What do these verses tell you about why you should maintain a clear conscience?

Read I Timothy 4:2 and I Timothy 1:19 and review Titus 1:15 and I Peter 3:16-17. What can happen if you don’t maintain a clear conscience?

When we harbor sin, we not only open the door for the enemy to come in, but we also put a blockage between ourselves and God. Read Revelation 12:10. The devil is the accuser and wishes to accuse us and make us doubt the blood of Christ, and one way he does it is by reminding us of past sins. If he can convince us that he still has victory over us, then we have lost. When we stand firm in Christ’s victory then we are standing by faith in God, who is on our side!

David was a man who always sought to maintain fellowship with God and to restore the relationship, clearing out any sin and blockage. After David sinned with Bathsheba, he wrote Psalm 51, a prayer of repentance and brokenness. David never took his relationship with God for granted but sought God with all his heart.

....Dietrich Bonhoeffer says in his book, Life Together, “God can only meet us on the condition of truth. He Himself is truth, and He will not meet us on the basis of phoniness or pretense. His grace is available, copiously and freely, but on the condition of truth alone. That is why so many Christian lives remain fixed at an unhappy level. They do not meet Him on the level of truth because they do not meet the saints on the level of truth. We can measure the truth of our relationship with God by our relationship with men. If it is deceitful, phony and secretive there, and withholding and unloving, then we are not to presume to think that our relationship with God is somehow better or separate. The two are inextricably joined together. It is our relationship to men that unmasks us, and it is our relationship with men that is the true requirement and reveals our condition before God.”

Read the rest at http://www.lightedlampmagazine.yolasite.com/resources/February2011.pdf

2011-02-02T13:29:00.000+08:00

Exposing the Heart

Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you. (Pro 1:23)

The act of reproof or rebuke is something which is gravely missing today in society, churches and families. It is a two edged sword if done in the wrong spirit will bring condemnation when the person rebuking does it from the judgmental stand point. The Godly intent of reproof is to turn a person around to the God’s best. The reproofs of God results in the pouring out of His Spirit which David having received the rebuke of the prophet in the correct light and knew immediately that he lost the right or steadfastness of spirit (Psa 51:10). A judgmental rebuke results in making the person being rebuked unable to rise above the sin or character flaw that can drive them further away from the path of righteousness and God’s truth. There is only on Righteous Judge (2 Tim 4:8), don’t usurp His position. Therefore the person who rebukes must be one that has learned the humility of Christ (Matt 11:29).

Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear. (1Tim 5:20)

God will chastise those whom He loves (Heb 12:8) and will send people to reproof us; hence we should not allow pride to stand in the way of the greater work of God to build a strong spirit within us. Poor character is the fruit of having a weak spirit that easily yield to pressures, people with an excellent spirit will not be shaken (Dan 5:12), dwelling in the place of safety without the fear of evil (Prov 1:33). A person reclaimed from transgression will exchanged the fear of everything else for the fear of God.

Create in me a clean heart…… (Psa 51:10)

Godly reproofs expose the heart condition; self will which have taken the place of God’s will. Love for self rather than to love Him with all our heart. Allow godly reproofs, He will take away the stony heart and replace it with a tender heart (Eze 36:26), He will put His spirit within us (Eze 36:27), He will put His Law in our mind and write it on our hearts (Jer 31:33). Thence we will be under the New Covenant of Grace and not of requirements that we will never fulfill….. it is living in the place where ‘He will’.

2011-01-28T14:06:00.000+08:00

But It is Hardly Credible That One Could so Persecute Jesus!
Oswald Chambers, January 28th

"Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou Me?" Acts 26:14

Am I set on my own way for God? We are never free from this snare until we are brought into the experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire. Obstinacy and self-will will always stab Jesus Christ. It may hurt no one else, but it wounds His Spirit. Whenever we are obstinate and self-willed and set upon our own ambitions, we are hurting Jesus. Every time we stand on our rights and insist that this is what we intend to do, we are persecuting Jesus. Whenever we stand on our dignity we systematically vex and grieve His Spirit; and when the knowledge comes home that it is Jesus Whom we have been persecuting all the time, it is the most crushing revelation there could be.

Is the word of God tremendously keen to me as I hand it on to you, or does my life give the lie to the things I profess to teach? I may teach sanctification and yet exhibit the spirit of Satan, the spirit that persecutes Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus is conscious of one thing only - a perfect oneness with the Father, and He says, "Learn of Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart." All I do ought to be founded on a perfect oneness with Him, not on a self-willed determination to be godly. This will mean that I can be easily put upon, easily over-reached, easily ignored; but if I submit to it for His sake, I prevent Jesus Christ being persecuted.

2011-01-22T21:38:00.002+08:00

The Ways of the Theological Method - Oswald Chambers
More videos available at http://www.youtube.com/user/stack45ny

2011-01-21T11:30:00.001+08:00

Danger of Self Derived Theology

......even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.(2Pet 3:15-16)

Theology, unfortunately can be a self developed belief system or conclusion from readings of books, including the Bible. Most of the time, it is fitting what is read to within the confines of the self understanding instead of being renewed in the mind (Rom 12:2), we filter and interpret 'truth' according to our heart's desire or even according to personal or moral defeats or perhaps even ignoring the God given conscience. There is only One truth, not a thing by itself, truth is the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, The Way. Our eternal life is based on the relational reality 'that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent' (John 17:3). There is only One standard of life that requires our total yielding to, not that Life complying to our convenience.

2011-01-19T14:37:00.000+08:00

Effective Evangelism

Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.
(Matt 9:38)

There is only one strategy that the Lord Himself taught us to employ, to pray. It does not begin by drafting elaborate plans to spread the Gospel, but it does require men and women who will humbly and quietly pray for souls. It does not begin at looking at the demographics of the community, but it requires looking at ourselves to examine if there is anything that stands in the way of our relationship between the Holy God and us. If we are to stand between the living and the dead to plead for souls, we cannot afford to regard, consider or approve sin in our heart (Psa 66:18). Are we willing to be absolutely transparent under the search light of God (1 John 1:17) that we will be first led in the way everlasting before leading others to Christ (Psa 139:23, 24)?

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29)

There is one message of the Gospel; God in His love saving mankind from sin. Never water down God’s conclusion of sin, the price of redemption is His Son. Sin is death, life is only found in Christ. Preach the cross! It is the entire force of God power to save, yet to those that perish foolishness (1 Cor 1:18). Never water down the message that coming to Jesus is to come to an end of self.

Don’t send to preach the Gospel, pray first. He knows that those whom He send are ones with eyes of faith to see the harvest as truly great (Luke 10:2). Can He send you and I to participate into the true greatness of the harvest? Yes He will, first transact with our Holy Saviour and He will lead us to do the rest.

2011-01-12T16:01:00.003+08:00

Love, Void of Self

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16)

The outworking of Christ likeness is the evidence of loving God first and loving others (Matt 22:37-40) and self takes a back seat. The basis of our salvation is because He first loved us (1 John 4:19) while we were yet enemies of God, haters of God, rebellion without any desire to seek Him. God’s choosing of Israel to be a special people unto Himself was on the same basis (Duet 7: 6, 7). What have we to boast but to thank Him for this is the truest demonstration of grace.

…….. Bless me, even me also, O my father. (Gen 27:34)

Knowing that our salvation is on the ground of love, todays danger is a love that is us-ward rather than God-ward and others-ward. We are loved so that we can love. We have the capacity to esteem others better than ourselves (Php 2:3). There is little evidence of self love because I am secure in His love. We are to be a non-striving weaned child (Psa 131:2) and not pampered brats that continually echo ‘give, give’ (Prov 30:15). Don’t be like an Esau who despised our birthright (John 1:12) for that which is temporal but would cry over lost blessing.

Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone. (Jas 2:17)

Faith pleases God and the demonstration of it is the reality of the love of God working through us toward others. It is the royal law (Jas 2:8) and all the law is fulfilled in one word, love (Gal 5:14). Not self love but to love others. There is diligence required in adding to faith; the end is brotherly love (2 Pet 1:5-7). Fruitfulness of our knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ is brotherly love (2 Pet 1:8). The Gospel begins with God’s love toward us; the outworking to the end is love God and love others. Self love is not the true understanding of God’s viewpoint on love. The intrinsic value of love is found in the content of our prayer, how we spend our money, what we occupy ourselves with and whose good we seek. Love is not word or feeling, it is action.