Jonah

By Odon Bulamba (April 2011)

Jonah - April 2011

Revelations 9 (Part III) The Three Baskets

THE THIRD BASKETS


By Odon Bulamna (Friday 15th July 2005)


The third one was one from a man called Jesus. When he was walking with his disciples after feeding all the people they collected the left over bread and filled 12 baskets. It’s a basket of miracle. From where did those baskets come? People were there to listen to the gospel; the Bible doesn’t tell us that they were bringing baskets from their home. The Bible doesn’t say that God told them to bring baskets because a miracle will be performed today. People ate whatever they ate and after eating 12 baskets were filled with what was left. We don’t know how big or small the baskets were.


In our lives we have to also ask God for a miracle. “God I know that you gave such a gift to such person, I know that your spirit has been acting through many people but I like to see the remains I need to see the left-overs. Every time the left-overs are a lot, more than what other people have consumed.


For us human beings if we organize a party and people eat, what remains will be little but for God it’s different. People can eat a little and if I ask Steve if he can eat a basketful of bread he will say, “No, never.” But if you tell God give me the remains you will have all the 12 baskets. Steve may eat a few slices of bread and says this is enough for me but people who ask for the remains can get a lot, although it requires collecting it, they can earn more than the people who ate the right amount.


If you want to serve God today don’t just look and say, “Oh my God I’m not Pastor Tamaki how can I perform miracles, I’m not Benny Hinn I’m just little I’m nothing.” God will say if you are nothing, you need those left-overs. They will make you to become someone.



After the disciples collected the bread, do you know what they did with them? The bread was something that they could not throw away. They wanted their families to taste this bread because it was not normal bread. God prepared it and they needed to take it to their families. The baskets were taken away, they were not left there.


Now we have to choose. Which type of basket will you be? Will you be the basket that held Moses? Will you be the basket that held all the impure animals? Will you be the basket that held the bread from God? Or if not shall I deal with the content of the basket? Shall I deal with Moses, with the animals or with the bread? Moses was a human being like you and me. The impure animals represent human beings like the Christians that are animal Christians. The bread represents the Word of God.


So whom shall I deal with? You have to deal with Christians only as Moses, servants of God, people who were chosen by God. So that will be my mission to look after them, deal with them and only pray for them. Or shall I pray for people who are away from God – the content of the second basket and commit my life so I can support and assist them? Or finally shall I just spend my time reading the gospel, talking about the gospel, concentrating and praying about the Word of God? These are 3 choices that we have to choose.


The first basket was floating, the second one came from heaven and the third one came from the crowd. Which one do I prefer? Do you want also to come out of the crowd and be known by the crowd? Do you want to come from the heaven and God can expose you and say that this person’s content or heart is full of impurity? Or do you want to be the third basket where God will say the content of that basket is something pure. We need to make our choice because all of us represent the basket. But you have to know now which type of basket you are. Am I that someone who holds the Word of God? People will ask me, “Odon what is Matthew 17:12, Galatians 2? That’s a good basket, the Word of God.



Or what’s going on around the world with the unsaved people in Samoa? Someone has been praying for them this year, God has been doing something through that prayer. Or brother Steve has met with Billy Graham. “Steve how is Billy Graham?”


“Oh I spoke to him yesterday, he is such and such I have been praying for him I have been praying for Creflo Dollar (Servant of God) too.”


Where are you? You have to know. Do you commit yourself to support the servants of God, to support the lost people or to support only the Word of God? If you are not sure where you are at the moment then we can pray together. If you support the servant of God, you need to be wise and know exactly what’s going on. If you are supporting the others who are impure, you need to be wise and also if you are supporting the Word of God you need to collect all the remains and put them together so that the Word can go far and far away. We will stop there are there any questions?


“Why do we have to choose one of these 3 baskets?”  We have to choose one of them because this is our time to tell God how we are ready to save him; how we know exactly how strong we are; and which category we fit in. You have to first of all say to God, “God accept me as I am, I know that I can pray and it is easier for me to pray for your Word rather than praying for others. So if you find my choice is different to yours do with me whatever you want. If I chose the wrong choice this is the time to show me the right choice.” It’s just like offering to God to guide us, this is the purpose of this Word tonight. To try to look at ourselves; where we are and what we think we can do for God. So what do you think you can do for God? That is the question.



“Are any of them better than others? Are you able to recommend which ministry is better or are they all on equal footing?” All of them are good but you have to tell God I want or I prefer to do this show me the way, lead me, guide me. There are some difficulties in each of them. The first one is on the river, dangers are there but you need to float. The second one is coming from heaven. Gifts and ministries and all of that come from there but people who will be with you all the time will be sinners. How will you deal with that? The third one - around the crowd, you can make or do whatever you want to do but only for the Glory of God. Does that make sense? So let’s pray.

SIGNS OF DEAD CHURCH

By Odon Bulamba

1. Have lost their sense of mission to those who have not heard about Jesus Christ and do not pant after the Great Commission – (care less for the lost souls and want to see the church full of physical representation members) 

2. They are concerned about social change than they are about seeing people changed by the power of God.

3. Exist primarily to provide fellowship for the "members of the club" – preach what pleases to members than telling them the truth

4. Expect their pastors to focus primarily on ministering to the members' personal spiritual needs (formalities, rituals) than God’s recommendation;

5. Design ministry to meet the needs of their members than the need of God;

6. Have no idea about the needs of the "stranger outside the gates;"

7. Are focused more on the past accomplishment than the future and satisfied with its present state;

8. Often experience major forms of conflict;

9. Is more concerned with material growth than it is with spiritual growth (church is more concerned with pleasing men than pleasing God)

10. A dying church is one that loses its conviction that the Bible is the Word of God. They accept some parts and reject others. Policies, point of views and rules have replaced the Bible

11.  The often use corrupted Bibles to cover their nakedness

RESURRECTING A CHURCH

1. The church turns outward in its focus.
2. Jesus, not the institution, will become the object of our affection.
3. The Great Commission will become our mandate, and we will measure everything we do by how many new converts we make rather than whether we have a black bottom line.
4. Membership in the Kingdom will replace membership in the church.
5. Pastors will cease being chaplains of pastoral care and will become modern-day apostles of Jesus Christ.
6. And those who try to control the church with an iron fist or intimidate the church at every turn of the road will be shown the door.

N.B. Jesus’ advice to Sardis is on top of the list (Revelation 3:1-6)

More Signs of a Dead Church:

1. Don’t start on time
2. No opening or closing prayer
3. Leaders are unprepared
4. A loud minority runs the church
5. Slogans in church to praise the leader(s) rather than God
6. What they say, more than what is right or wrong
7. Complain about what’s wrong, but never how to fix it God’s way
8. Tell what to do but not how to do it
9. No order/silence in church (Habakkuk 2:20)
10. Act like they are perfect and others are not
11. Take credit for others work
12. Always looking for glory and honor
13. Members aren’t allowed to make final decision in any matter including personal life
14. Want the praise too much (anything done in your life, you have to testify in front of the church that they prayed for you)
15. No appreciation given for those that do serve the Lord
16. Censure of all preaching
17. No effort to bring anyone
18. All messages are about physical church projects
19. Discipline without love
20. Uncomfortable talking about the things of God
21. Most of them don’t carry bibles to church programmes
22. Little or no spiritual activities
23. Before praying you have to ask for leaders permission
24. Preacher not given a raise in pay
25. Not aware of other servants needs
26. No goals, programmes or church objectives for the coming season
27. Working without understanding for whom they are working
28. They have lost their first love
29. Lukewarm
30. Afraid and unfaithful
31. Tolerate sin and name it error or mistake
32. False teaching and no repentance
33. Asleep
34. Respect for the wealthy more than others
35. Not aware of God’s plan
36. Minimal knowledge of the Bible
37. No calling out or crying out to God
38. Division
39. Cliques
40. Emphasis on social rather than spiritual
41. Rejection of spiritual ideas (‘this belong to old time’)
42. Resistance to change
43. It won’t work here syndrome
44. Everything seems too much of an effort
45. Not willing to give any time
46. They are birds of same color
47. Sacrifice is out of the question
48. Not familiar with the danger of apostasy (backsliding)
49. Don’t know how to fix it
50. Blame each other
51. Not willing to take a stand for anything
52. Isolation from other churches
53. Against new ministers
54. Against revelation and the work of the Holy Ghost among them
55. Dislike new songs
56. Not against sin                        
57. Sunday school is socialization
58. Pastor(s) dominated by leadership - often wealthy people/elders
59. Problems poorly handled, ignored or magnified unless you are wealthy
60. No plans for growth
61. Little or no show of love for new comers
62. Curious to know your life – if rich you’re warmly welcomed. If poor no fellowship
63. Competition in ministering
64. Threats to kick believers out of the system
65. Forget the purpose of the church
66. Church priorities are unclear and confused
67. Lose touch with God
68. Fail to seek God’s advice and direction
69. Bitterness, hatred and a lack of forgiveness
70. Critical with a focus on people mistakes
71. Holy Ghost is not accepted to act
72. The joy of salvation and serving Jesus is lost
73. Routine, rut, ritual and action without meaning
74. Problems are not looked at as opportunities to learn from
75. Things are thrown together and done second class with God getting the leftovers
76. Confusion
77. Disorganization
78. Signs of end of time are not known or recognized by most of their members                       
79. No soul winning
80. Power struggle among the leaders
81. Preachers expect salary that eternal crown
82. Worship team likes to be glorified than God
83. Some worship team members don’t know Christ – they’re unsaved
84. Life is taken for granted
85. There’s no testimony of what God is doing in lives
86. Visitors feel that the church is cold and dead
87. Lack of unity
88. Birthday are loudly celebrated in church that a worship song
89. Long prayers for wealthy members and short ones for poor
90. Not meeting the needs of the church or the community
91. No equipping of Christians for ministry
92. No discernment
93. Pastors and elders are not teachers
94. Sermons lack power
95. No Biblical application to everyday life
96. No fear of God
97. Giving is minimal, few tithers
98. No missions or constant struggle against any giving outside the local congregation         The Biblical purposes of the church are lost
99. Church becomes family property or business entity
100. Canceling services
101. Much gossip and backbiting

Happy Holidays

1. What were the names of the three Feasts/Holidays that the Israelites were required to celebrate?


Ex 23:15, Dt 16:16
Ex 23:16a
Ex 23:16b

2. What was the name of the month when Passover was celebrated?


Dt 16:1


3. Which season of the year was this?


4. What event in the NT replaces this Feast for Christians?


5. In NZ, which season of the year is this?


6. The first Feast/holiday of the religious year was celebrated in three parts. What were they?


Lev 23:5

Lev 23:6-8

Lev 23:9-14


7. Fifty days later another Feast/Holiday was held. It was called


Lev 23:15-21 Or


8. The last Feast/holiday occurred at the end of the religious calendar which was the beginning of the civil calendar and is part of the New Year celebrations.


What are the three parts?

 Lev 23:23-25
Lev 23:26-32; Lev 16

Lev 23:33-36

 9. Sabbaths (Lev 23)


Every …………………. Day is a Sabbath of ………………. a day of sacred

……………………………, when no ………Is done (Lev 23:3)


Every ………………… years, the land has a …………………………….


Do not ………………… or ……………the land (Lev 25:1-7)


Every seven Sabbaths of years or ……………………….. years (Lev 25:8), is ………………………………..(Lev 25:10)


Or …………………………………………………………………………






10. Apart from the sacrifices which were performed by the priests, what were the Israelites required to do at their Feasts/Holidays?


Dt 16:14

Dt 16:17,25

Lev 23:7,21,26

Lev 23:21,28

Lev 23:27




11. Do you think we as Christians should celebrate more or different days of celebration than Sunday, Christmas and Easter? Which would you include/exclude and why?

 Happy Holidays!


















The Bible says that ‘All Scripture is God breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.’ (Tim 3:16)


Now when Paul wrote this he only had the Hebrew scriptures, what we call the Old Testament, but we have so much more - 27 writings in the NT – 4 gospel accounts, 1 historical account, numerous letters exhorting, explaining, encouraging, and one account of what is to come. How much more have we got – 66 books by 40 authors!


Do we need to be equipped for the work of God? Yes, let us not neglect the study of His Word.


Tonight, we will look at the topic of Feasts or holidays that the Israelites celebrated. I’m not suggesting that we copy these Feasts, but we study what they meant, why they were celebrated and how they were celebrated in order to learn a little more about the abundant mercy and grace of our God – to grow in knowledge and wisdom so that we may be fully equipped for every good work!






There were three feasts or holidays throughout the year that the Israelites were required to celebrate by coming to Jerusalem (Ex 23)


Feast of Unleavened Bread, Feast of Harvest, Feast of Ingathering


The first group of Feasts included Passover and was celebrated in the month of Abib (Dt 16:1) or Nisan as it was called by the Babylonians. This was a spring feast and is equivalent to our Easter which we (in NZ) celebrate in the autumn.


Passover started on the 14th of the month, followed by the Feast of Unleavened Bread from the 15th to the 21st, in which bread without leaven or yeast was eaten and culminating in the Feast of Firstfruits on the 16th of the month, in which a sheaf of barley was waved before the Lord


In the pagan world, spring was a time to remember new growth, new life in Agriculture and new born animals, but Israel was different and their spring feasts commemorated their liberation from bondage and slavery in Egypt and how God acted to save his people, bringing His people out in haste and providing for them.






The Feast of Unleavened bread is known as the Spring Feasts.






The Feast of Weeks is a summer Feast and occurred 49 days after the first sheaf of the harvest was waved (Feast of Firstfruits). Also known as the Feast of Harvest and Pentecost (which means 50, the number of days after the Feast of Unleavened Bread), and occurs sometime in May.


.


Both the Spring and Summer Feasts are prophetic and have been fulfilled in the cross of Jesus and the giving of the Spirit with the establishment of the church






The Autumn Feasts were a time of presenting Israel before the Lord for his favour, of cleansing and purifying from sins and to commemorate the journey from Egypt to the land of Canaan. But more than that to give thanks to God.






The prophetic fulfilment of the Autumn Feasts is believed to coincide with the future rapture of the church, and the return of Jesus. Therefore, accordingly, the Lord may return in Sept, which is the beginning of autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.






However, the exact date is not known for sure and we should live as if the Lord is returning tomorrow! (Matt 24:45)






The autumn feasts/holidays, known as the Feast of Ingathering began with the Feast of trumpets and according to the civil calendar was the first day of the year, New Years day, trumpets were blown and Israel presented herself to God for his favour, followed by the day of Atonement, 10days later which was a day of fasting and repentance and concluding with the Feast of Tabernacles in which the people of Israel lived in tents to commemorate their time in the desert.






The Sabbaths were another holiday they celebrated, and included a weekly day of rest for people and animals, a seven yearly cycle for the land and a 50 year cycle for the poor, known as the Year of Jubilee. God said that He was the landowner and the people His tenants and that the land ownership needed to be redeemed if it had been sold for any reason. Slaves were set free and debts were cancelled.






Apart from the sacrifices which were performed by the priests, what were the Israelites required to do at their Feasts/Holidays? (Dt16:14; Lev 23:21)


• Be joyful


• Bring a gift


• Hold a sacred assembly


• Do no regular work


• Deny themselves ie fast maybe from food but also temporal pleasures






To conclude, times of remembrance and celebration are important to God. What and who do we remember and why? How do we celebrate the gift of God and all His blessings? What do we give to Him as freewill offerings? Do we come with a joyful heart or a resentful heart?


May God who is rich in mercy and grace be glorified in all we do!

Revelation 9 (the three baskets) Part II

By Odon Bulamba (15th July 2005)


The second type of basket which you find in the Bible:


One day a servant of God was praying and he saw a basket that came from heaven. That basket was full of impure animals. He saw them coming from heaven. Imagine that something impure can come from heaven. Let’s say we are here tonight praying and God knocks on the roof and says, “Here I am, I am God look at me, satan and his angels are coming from heaven. Drunkenness, lies and everything that we call sin is coming from heaven”.


What would you think? You will think this is not God because you know that in heaven everything is pure. That man of God saw the basket coming from heaven but the Bible doesn’t tell us that it was hanging by a cord. He saw it contained impure things and was told to eat them. God said you have to eat them because this is a teaching. What can we learn from that? Who was the person that saw the basket coming down from heaven? Peter. Peter was there by himself and when he saw the basket he thought, uh oh what should I do? I don’t need impurity but God is offering it to me.


As Paul says, my body is weak and in the same way, you don’t need your body. Sometimes people can say, “I’m really afraid because I am ugly. I’m not happy because I am short, thin, fat or tall.” From our bodies we can start to find some little mistake that God did. God didn’t give me good nails so I need to buy some so I can have the prettiest ones. I don’t have nice hair maybe I can dye it or I don’t have a good face I need plastic surgery. We can start to offend God because we want to correct him.


Peter who was like a rock when he was told to eat from the basket was shocked. What also do you refuse to swallow from whatever God gives you? Some people say, “I hate this child, I hate my daughter because she is naughty.” I hate this person because of such and such. All that I get from heaven, God gives it. “God I don’t want my nose, I hate it. Doctor remove this I want it a different shape.” After 10-15 years maybe you will look like Michael Jackson. “This is really ugly now I want to change it and be the way I used to be.”

You can see all those baskets are coming. For example, technology; around the 1960s and 70s only a few people had a TV. People were not really interested to watch TV and also because TVs were expensive there were not many who had one. Today that market of impurity is opened. You can go to the Warehouse and find a TV for $200-300. Even a Second Hand Shop will sell it for $150. Even friends can offer you one for free. That is the way. Whoever will receive a TV will think this is nice and you can’t imagine something impure can come from the TV, untill the time that you switch it on, change channels and then you can start to learn. From there you will see people can kill each other, there is good news, bad news, and you can say I hate this program but all this technology came from someone. God gave brains to people so they can make something for His glory but people continue to make it impure.


When Peter saw the basket what did he do? Did he eat the animals? He refused and it was really only a vision. Today we have got a vision. We can see where the world is going. Everything is open we can see from outside. Look on the streets. Sometimes I used to drive around town just to look around and you can see how people are going closer and closer to death. They are trying to push themselves to the limit of life. They will drink, take marijuana and think this is life, we are enjoying life but they are destroying and killing themselves.

One day I visited a man and he bought to me some food. He said he had tomato sauce but by mistake his daughter mixed it with some chemicals. He couldn’t throw it away because he said he did not have any money to buy another one. He believed that if I was a Christian and prayed the poison will not have any affect on my life. So he insisted I eat it. I asked, “What chemicals did she put in the sauce?” He went and checked in his garage and returned with a tin that had a picture of a skull on it. It was a sign of danger. I asked him why he kept this poison in his home. He said he kept it for whoever does something wrong against him. He will give it to them by mixing it with food or water and they will die. “That is the answer for me too” I replied. “So you have offered me that tomato sauce so I can die?”


“Oh no, no I believe that you can pray and God will do something but eat it first so I can also experience how God is so powerful.”


God tells us that we don’t have to drink poison and test him to see if He will act so I told him that I couldn’t do that. “Okay if you cannot do that, drink it so you can show to me that your body is protected. If you do it, I will become someone who will believe in God from now.”


“It will be easier if you can drink it then I can pray for you. If you believe in that then you will get saved and you will never die.”


“Really?”


“Yes.” Then I asked for a glass. I put some in it and told him to drink it, then I will pray but he said, “I cant”


“Why? Have you already seen someone who has died from poison?”


“No, I have never but I know it is dangerous”






Peter in his vision saw that there was a danger in front of him (Basket of impure animals). God gives us visions so that we can know there is a danger coming and we have to protect ourselves or we will die. When I was younger I had 2 sparrows. One day a small lizard came and laid an egg in their nest. I knew that the sparrows had only laid 2 eggs and I was asking myself, where did the 3rd egg come from? It was the same size as the other eggs, I couldn’t believe it. The 2 birds didn’t know the 3rd egg was there. The day I was expecting to see the little chicks I saw something else - a little lizard. But because the bird did not cover the 2 eggs properly they were destroyed. I didn’t get to see the outcome from them because they were rotten and I wondered if I should keep them or not.






Who can look after a lizard? For me personally I couldn’t because firstly I don’t have time to look after it, secondly I could not feed it and thirdly it is not something that I like. So I put it aside.






We also who are Christians, if God offers us something we have to make sure that we like it. We have to accept it according to the way that God gave it to us. Thirdly we have also to control it properly so we cannot get into confusion. To confuse something with what we have been learning to something that we will learn later.






If people today are taught about a vision they try to limit that vision for the time that they see it. They forget about the coming time, that is the biggest danger of the church today. We who receive visions have to look to the future. We don’t have to only limit our vision for the present because the present has got its realities. Whatever God shows to us, we will see the consequences later.






For Peter the visions he had were completely different to what God told him to go and do. God was telling him about human beings, God was telling him about people like himself. Go and pray for someone. Many people are impure in this world but do you really pray for them? How do you support them? God bring that basket down in front of us and say, “Look Ange, look, Odon, look Michael this is full of impurity. Many people are inside many souls are lost.”


Look at the situation around New Zealand, around the world. What did you do? The vision is there do something, pray. For example, on Monday I will pray for Tonga, God give these people in Tonga salvation. On Tuesday you’ll pray for Sweden, Wednesday it will be for Yugoslavia and so on. You have to pray for different countries. Sometimes it’s a shame when you ask some people if they have any prayer requests, they say, “Umm, umm maybe we can pray for Nathan so he can become taller” or “Can you pray for me so I can receive such and such.” We have a lot of prayer requests around ourselves yet there are a lot of people around us that need Jesus Christ.






Visions are there. Pray for Hamilton or even an area of Hamilton, like Nawton. “Jesus people who are in this town now, I want them to get salvation, I want for them to meet with you.” Don’t pray about how God can meet with them, it’s not your business, just tell Him. God is so happy, and I will say even more happier when you pray for souls rather than material things. That’s why he told us that there is a party in heaven when souls are saved. Imagine, who could organize a party in heaven, who could do that?






Today if someone here will say, “Jesus this is the soul I have bought to you.” In heaven there is a party. People in heaven will ask who organized this party? Someone will answer your name. People in heaven will say, “How come?” and the answer will be, “He bought a soul to God.” That’s why our Almighty says we need a party in heaven. Imagine only a short prayer of yours can bring a soul to God and then all the heaven will be shaken because of you. God will really be proud of you. But if you tell God I need new shoes, I need this and that, then God will say there is a lot of impurity around, you can’t you see them. I gave to you a vision and you don’t even have a prayer request, you don’t find the time to pray but only tell me about your own problems. Aren’t you really selfish? We need also to pray for others to show God the situation around us. So that was the second type of basket.

Revelations 9 (the three baskets) Part I

By Odon Bulamba (15th July 2005)


Tonight we will talk about baskets and this will be an introduction to Revelation 9.


In the Bible there are different types of baskets, but tonight we’ll just look at 3 of them.



A basket is just a simple, human-made instrument, whose purpose is to help human beings carry or hold things. That is the only purpose of baskets for men. But for God, baskets have a great meaning. Not only dothey hold clothes, meals or little things but they also fulfill God’s plan. It’s up to us to understand what plan He has through a basket, and sometimes we find it tricky, it seems to be over our head.


The first time a basket is mentioned in the Bible is in Exodus chapter 2. At that time, Pharaoh had ordered to kill any baby boys at birth and when Moses was born, his mother didn’t know how to hide him. The more he grew up, the more he cried and made a lot of noise. The king of Egypt was afraid of the growing number of boys as he thought that when they grow up, they might become a threat for his government and destroy it so he preferred to eliminate the boys and he thought that victory was just killing.



In today’s in this world, it’s OK to fight to take something by force from someone. A nation will fight another nation. Someone will fight someone else.


For example, if I kill Peter I can take everything here from his house but for God that’s not a solution. God has a better way to win battles, a good solution to give people freedom, but unfortunately Pharaoh didn’t use it. So he decided to kill the boys and when newborns were killed, I don’t think there was joy. If you were a mother or father at that time and your boy was killed because the king feels threatened that one day he might lose his power, I think you will not be happy.



Let’s say if today a father has a newborn baby and he is told his baby must be killed so that the primeminister of NZ can continue to reign he will say, “What is this? This is strange I can’t accept it”. The courts will have a lot of complaints if all the newborn boys were killed!

But Pharaoh didn’t think of that, his problem was just to stay on his throne, forgetting that above him there was God. God is the one who provides life, and he could take it from Pharaoh at any time if He wanted. He could say, “Okay I’m finished with you” and take his life away. His reign could then stop and his kingdom given to someone else. So, first of all he forgot that he could die and planned to kill others in order to keep the power.

 The same system exists in our world today. For example, in order for France or South Africa to control their colonies and continue to reign, they kill mainly men and boys. Many years ago, people thought it would be better to have an army of women because men are always killed. That strategy started in the Middle East. We can see Muslim women who don’t know anything, showing they are good fighters with a gun in their hands.

 This strategy already existed at the time of Pharaoh. Pharaoh wanted to use the midwives as a weapon, so he commanded them, “Since you are assisting ladies in childbirth, whenever you see a son, just kill him.” But these ladies were servants of God, they knew God was The Almighty, so they thought it was better to let God do His justice. “Let’s not kill, killing is bad. It’s better for us to protect the lives of these people. The mothers have suffered a lot and it would be terrible to lose a son.” So they stood against Pharaoh’s decision.


But Pharaoh attacked them:


-Why didn’t you kill the boys?


- Hebrew women are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive. They can deliver their babies without our assistance. They can support themselves.



We are called to be midwives in this world, to assist others in their second birth under the sun, to bring them to life, to take them from darkness to light. In order to do it, we need wisdom and we need to remember that we fight for God. We are the people who have the lives of other’s in our hands. If I don’t educate my people or my nation then who is going to educate them? If I don’t share the gospel with my friends, my family or others, then who else is going to do it? No one.


The biggest problem for the church today is that it’s very hard for a pastor to preach to his wife, a father to preach to his son, for a mother to preach to her daughter and so on. So the people who are closer to us, mostly they are the ones who gain little chance to be taught about the Word of God. We may prefer to talk to people who are far away, people who we don’t know instead of talking to our own.


But those ladies who were Hebrews they were there to protect firstly the interest of Hebrew people. Satan will never go in a family where it is full of pagans and say I have to attack these souls so they will not turn toward God. He will never do that because he knows they already belong to him, in the same way that Pharaoh knew that all Egyptians belong to his kingdom. But when Pharaoh or Satan will see that in such a family someone will come from there and that person will struggle against something, that is the time where he will raise up his army and say, “Go and fight.”


To go and fight, Satan will not go far away. First of all he will come through a husband to get to his wife or his daughter. He’ll say to the husband, “Look if you can do this, it will be good, encourage your daughter to live a type of life, encourage your wife to do such and such.” That’s what we are calling modernization. The husband will think that it’s modern and the that the wife needs to be on the same page as other modern wives and the husband will open his Bible and say “Yes that’s true in the Bible its written in Hosea such and such”. And he will also think to himself, “anyway she’ll only do it one or two times and that’s all”.


But first of she’ll do it; secondly she’ll feel pressured and three times later it will become like a habit. When that habit will grow up it will become a character. To change that character will not be easy at all.



Then we’ll see someone who is really standing in Jesus Christ that doesn’t have the courage to talk to his daughter. When it is a matter of the gospel the daughter will say, “Oh Dad shut up, what are you talking about? I’m sick of hearing every time about Jesus, it’s boring.”


The father will say, “Why is that? I’ve been telling you every time about Jesus, why don’t you want Jesus anymore?”


“Because I’m young, I am a teenager, I want to live my life according to my will.”


The problem is not because you have been talking to your child but the problem is that you didn’t find enough time to kneel down and commit your daughter or your son’s life into Gods hands. That requires good preparation. You need to sacrifice your time so that your nation and your people can be saved.



In front of Pharaoh the midwives said, “No, we are unable to respond to your needs.” Sometimes we have to stand up and tell Satan, “We cannot respond to your needs. I will never accept my son to be a liar. Satan I will never accept my daughter to be a thief. I will never allow my mother to be a magician. Satan I am telling you, you have to give them freedom. They must be free because Jesus has paid the price.” We have to tell him so that he can know that in this family there is a resistance. But if we say “Oh no my daughter is doing such and such, what can I do?” If you are complaining instead of standing up and reminding Satan, he will see that this is a good way, I can go through this.



In one of the descendants of Israel, which was one of the descendants of Levi, a son was born but he did not have a name. When he was 3 months old, he was crying a lot to the point that his mother could not hide him anymore. She decided to make a basket to hide her son. But she thought, where could she hide him? If I leave him in the house it will be dangerous. I have to take him somewhere on the river. But on the river there was also a danger, perhaps it was even more dangerous than keeping him home. I have to make a basket that is different to other baskets, it has to float. It must resist water so it will not destroy my son.


She needed wisdom she needed to think about what materials are needed so that it will not leak. All the mothers here will tell us that any child born needs to be covered properly and protected against cold. So why is that, why do you protect your children against cold? Imagine if you take your baby and put her on the Waikato River for 5 days, what will happen? It will be really hard and the baby can even lose her life.


The mother of Moses knew there was a danger but she knew that God exists and will continue to protect her son. She had faith. As you know the Nile River is full of crocodiles. She knew that at a certain time, maybe around 6 o’clock it would be dangerous for even an adult to walk along the river. For example, if I tell you to go and walk along the riverside and there is no moonlight what will happen? What would you be scared of? Would it be darkness or of other people coming along that could cause you to die.


But the mother of Moses knew that Miriam could never resist the power of darkness but she said, “My daughter go there, this is your brother you have to look after him. If there is any danger come back and tell me.” I’m not sure if Miriam can run faster than a crocodile or other people, but God said that you have to stay with your brother. The brother didn’t talk to her at all; he was only 3 months old. Whenever he was hungry Miriam couldn’t feed him, he was just in that small basket floating maybe he was crying. We can see a simple basket made by human hands can hold a life of someone like Moses (among the biggest men of the Bible who was serving God). The simple basket that his mother made could protect him from death.


You need also to make a basket. The basket represents all the members of your family so they can come to Jesus. For example if I invite my mother here and she is not a believer and I say Mum before we eat we have to pray. She’ll say “Okay pray then.” If before bed I say “Mum can you pray?”


She’ll say, “I’m tired I have to go to bed you pray.”


“Thank you God for giving me a lovely Mum and such and such in Jesus name Amen.” I’m sure your Mum will be quiet. “Mum can you say amen?”


“Why! Why do you say amen, are you forcing me?”


“No, it’s just of way of saying that you believe so God can protect you”. She will say it and go to bed. Tomorrow morning when she will wake up you can ask, “Mum how was your night? I’m so happy to see you because God protected you during the whole night.” Your mother will start to hear about God whether she accepts it or not. But the more you are talking it will be like a seed that you are putting in her heart. As Paul says our job is just to plant seeds, you don’t know how seeds grow up that’s not our work. God is the one who deals with that.


When I was a young boy around 5 or 6 I asked my mother why can’t people plant meat to grow. One day I took a piece of meat to plant it to see how the tree of meat will grow. I dug the ground, placed the meat in it and covered it. Everyday I was going there to water it. Five days later I went back and my meat wasn’t there anymore, it was gone. I asked my Mum where my meat was. Beans are just small seeds and they can produce life why can’t my meat? My mother told me that whatever contains blood in it will never become a tree, you can’t plant it. I used to ask myself, why is that? This was a big question for me.


For God he asks us now to make a basket and to make a basket, Moses’ mother chose what type of grass she would use or what type of tree to make it. For you, what types of strategies do you use to push, invite or intoxicate your family members to become Christians? Do you have any strategies or not? If you don’t have any, this is the time to choose them. For example, my mother can be 25 years old today so this is the opportunity to write a card for her. I will write Happy Birthday, I thank God because you are now 25. It’s really a joy to see that God has been protecting you for so long. She can read it and be happy or unhappy but the message will be passed on. One day God will make it to grow up. For our children that’s the same strategy, for our bosses or where ever we go we have to make up that basket.


To make a basket, it won’t really take a long time, only a matter of a few minutes. When I was younger I made a basket myself, I was learning how to do it. Making a basket is just like knitting; you need to know what to do and how to do it. Someone must show you. When I made my first basket it looked really ugly because it was my first time to do it. You and I when we are trying to plan which strategy to use so we can protect the lives of others, maybe the first time it will be hard. Don’t be disappointed, try again and maybe at the 4th or 5th time it will be fine. Don’t feel bad whenever you talk to your father, friend or colleague about God and they don’t respond positively. Don’t say okay I will not continue anymore. Persevere and things will come at the right place.


Moses mother put the basket there and she left. She said, “God I did my job and I commit Moses’ life in your hands, look after him, do whatever you will do. Miriam cannot do much but she has to look after him because I have other things to do.” Miriam will represent the picture of the church. If you talk to your father or mother about the word of God, or just give little things about God, invite them along one day to church. They can say yes or no but maybe one day they will go and listen to something and God will do whatever he will do.



Moses was there but unfortunately his sister was unable to look after him properly. She saw the princess come; the princess didn’t know what was inside the basket. She heard the voice of the baby crying so she followed the voice. She thought this is an opportunity to take this son out of the basket. Miriam could not stop her. So she offered to find someone to help her with him. Today we can also prepare our family members. God help them, support them but sometimes Satan can come and take them away from us. But we don’t have to let Satan take them. We have to say, “Satan stop, I know someone who paid the price for the life of this person. Jesus died on the cross because of him. Where are you taking my father? My father has been a drunkard for 15 years why are you taking him? My mother is a murderer, where are you taking her? Someone has paid the price please leave her. I know someone who will look after her properly and that person is Jesus Christ.” The princess didn’t say no, she accepted the suggestion of Miriam to have Moses’ mother feed her son. That is the first type of basket.