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Showing posts from July, 2011

Who are used by Christ?

The teachers of the olden days when Christ began His ministry used to take the cream of the crop as their students; the intelligent, the gifted and astute students. The rest would then go back to their family business as carpenters, doctors, fishermen etc. When Jesus began His Ministry, he chose those that had been considered as chaff by the prominent teachers of the day, the common everyday people, as His disciples, a telling example. They were not masters of the law. It is evident that Christ came for sinners and works through them. Paul was the most accomplished apostle having written many of the new testament books and being accredited with championing the spread of the gospel to areas outside the Hebrew lands. But before being commissioned into Christ´s mission, he was a persecutor, a blasphemer and a man of violence which he concedes himself in 1 Timothy 1:15-16,´Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus into the world for sinners – of whom I am

Psalm 150: Praising God Indeed

Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens. Praise Him for his acts of power; praise Him for His surpassing greatness. Praise Him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise Him with the harp and lyre, praise Him with tambourine and dancing, praise Him with the strings and flute, praise Him with the clash of cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord.

My Shepherd

The safety and comfort I feel since I accepted Christ Jesus as my Lord and Saviour is unmatched. I know that He is always there for me, guiding my steps, watching over me and protecting me from my enemies. That he willingly died for me even before I knew and accepted Him, not because I deserved it but due to my Holy Father´s Grace reveals to me the extent of love that my God has for me. There is a passage I read that just blew my mind away in terms of my Lord´s love for me and felt like sharing it with you in hopes it will bring the same conviction it did for me. Psalm 23, ´The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. (In Him I overcome my sinful desires), He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul. (You need to hand over the reins of your life to Him so that he may guide you to salvation) He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name´s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evi

Faith

We receive salvation by faith but what is this faith? We are told what faith is in Hebrews 11:1, ´Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.' How do we exercise this faith, by accepting that the universe was formed at God´s command and that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God, given as sacrifice to atone for our sins and only through Him do we attain salvation. Without faith we cannot be with God, why? we are told this in Hebrew 11:6, 'And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.' By faith We accept that the Scriptures are a revelation about God by God. All those who were faithful to God till in death did not receive what God had promised them but saw and welcomed them from a distance. Abraham, who had been promised by God that through Isaac He will raise a great nation still was willing to offer him as sacrifice be

Contentment

The world has misled us to put so much faith in material wealth, put so much emphasis on accumulating more at all expense. It causes some of us to be envious of those who have more than us, taking them as our role models in life striving to live as they do even when if what they do is wrong. On the other hand, some of us who are rich tend to be arrogant and put our hope in our money, a vanity. The fear of losing our wealth and thus our power makes us to be so selfish becoming stingy and selfish. This is best explained in 1 Timothy 6:9-10, 'People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.´ We are required to accept our circumstances with grace, during both the good times and the bad. We acknowledge that everything comes from God as sh

The Lord´s Protects His People

Psalms 125:1-2, ´Those who trust in the Lord are like mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures for ever. As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people both now and for evermore.´ Wouldn´t it be something to be watched over by the full force and mighty power of God. It is possible for us to be protected by Him and all we have to do is to place our TRUST in our heavenly Father. Just imagine having the angels of the Lord at your disposal. It is attainable, all you need to do is believe.

Praying For Our Leaders

How many of us pray for our leaders when we pray to the Lord. Did we know that the Lord advocates for it because it His plan to save everyone. This is found in 1 Timothy 2:1-4, 'I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of truth.´ So today, as you say your prayers, remember your leaders whoever they are.

Sharpen the Saw

When an athlete is preparing for a tournament, he undergoes a rigorous training regiment to make himself physically fit. This scenario is replicated elsewhere when we are preparing ourselves for something major; a warrior cleans and sharpens his weaponry, a carpenter sharpens his saw, a teacher sharpens his mind. We need to train ourselves to be godly and alert, as we prepare ourselves in living in righteousness now and forever more. Paul told us this in 1 Timothy 4:8, 'For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.' If we do this the outcome will be reflected in our lives in how we relate to our neighbors, how we act, what we say. If we live in pretense of being righteous, our lack of genuineness will always come out the same way it will also come out if we are sincerely righteous. All will come out before men and before our Living God as revealed in 1 Timothy 5:24-25, 'Th

Wages of Sin

When Adam sinned and rebelled against God he was told of the consequences by God in Genesis 3:16-19, namely pain, hard toil, death (separation from God). This is reinforced in Romans 6:23, 'For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.' Death of man is separation from God and His Kingdom and without God man will always fill incomplete, unfulfilled, always yearning for something that will never be found in worldly things. The mind of the man who lives in sin is not open to God. He sees the word of God as foolishness, trying to prove the Word a fallacy as shown in Romans 8:6-8, 'The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God. It does not submit to God´s law, nor can it do so. Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.' Sin makes us blind to the love of God and His master plan for our salvation. We deny God´