By Odon Bulamba (2nd Feb 2001)
King Ahab was a King in the Bible (1 Kings 22). Jehoshaphat came to see King Ahab because they thought it was the right time to fight. Ahab then gathered 400 prophets and said to them, "We must go to war, what do you think?" The false prophets said, "King, you already have the victory!" If you read this well you will see that these 400 prophets where trained very well by Ahab's government. They were not trained by the spirit of God but by Ahab's government, and they were there only to give glory to Ahab. If Ahab knew God’s time it would have been good, unfortunately he was blind being lead by other blind people. So how can a blind man lead another blind man? You know the consequences. Ahab said, "My 400 prophets prophesied that I would win, so I must go”. Jehoshaphat said to him, "Be careful for I can see danger, have you not another prophet apart from the 400”? Ahab said, "There is one man but he always says bad things against me and is forever condemning me, he is not a good man and I hate him”. But that was not to be true. Micaiah was there to say the truth, but Ahab found that the truth always hurt him so he went against the truth.
This is happening today in Christian life, when you speak about the truth people say, "You are just here to judge me, go away”. In God's family there are no enemies. Ahab accepted to listen to Jehoshaphat but refused what Micaiah had to say. Jehoshaphat said, "Because you are a friend, get another prophet if there is one”. How often do we invite our brothers and sisters to come and be with God in Spirit and in truth? Do we just stick to what we have read in books or what we have learnt at university? Do you know anyone who has a diploma in the Holy Spirit? Do you know anyone who has a diploma in healing? Do you know anyone who has a doctrine in the gift of miracles? Do you know of any university that teaches the gift of the Holy Spirit? Remember the young man who met Paul; do you remember this young man who met Peter? He said to Peter, "I will give you some money so you may give me the gift miracles”. You know what happened. You can't buy it.
Jehoshaphat said to Ahab, "Call Micaiah the prophet we must talk with him”. Ahab said, "We have 400 prophets and you want him”? “Yes I want Micaiah because he too is a prophet and also has the right to speak”. Prophecies are not to comfort Christians but prophecies are to awaken Christians. So they called Micaiah and Ahab started shivering, “not him again I know he'll say something against me”. And deep in his heart something was eating away at him. The devil was there also because Ahab forgot what Elijah prophesied nearly 200 years before and said that the dogs would lick Ahab’s blood. Because Elijah spoke of this disturbing news about Ahab, Ahab refused to hear the truth. So that is why Ahab didn’t like Micaiah because Micaiah spoke the truth.
1 Kings 22:37 37So the king died, and was brought to Samaria; and they buried the king in Samaria. 38And one washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria; and the dogs licked up his blood; and they washed his armour; according unto the word of the LORD which he spoke.
Be careful when God speaks about time, you must understand the message. We all wear watches to know the exact time and have clocks in our homes. This tells us that time is very important to every human being. For example winter days are short. If you don't look at your watch time will fly by and before you know it time has passed, so if you don't have a watch it will be difficult to fulfill what you have to do.
That’s why God wants us to recognize the time. When the trees blossom we know that the fruit will come and when there is less rain you know that the production of milk will decrease in New Zealand. We must get closer to God so He can tell us the exact time. When God told Moses to come closer to the burning bush Moses left everything to observe what was happening. The flock continued eating grass while Moses came closer to the burning bush and then he heard a voice saying, "Take off your shoes”. Moses didn't discuss, he just took off his sandals and came closer. "Moses stop here!" And he did. Try to understand what we have today. How many of God's servants are called today to leave their flock and to confess their sins? How can you go before God with your sandals to lead a flock? We must take off our sandals and before that we must see the burning bush first.
Many servants have not seen the eternal fire or God's fire yet. They haven't discovered the power of God in their lives yet. So what do you want to witness if you don't even know the power of God? If I come to you and say, explain this to me please I don't understand, what are you going to say? This is the consequence of the diploma we buy in the shops. We don't have on earth a school that trains in the Holy Spirit. Evangelisation is a gift from the Spirit, so an evangelist must know about the Holy Spirit more than what books teach us, because a book always has an author and authors sometimes contradict themselves, but the Bible never contradicts itself
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Friday, December 25, 2009
Revelations Introduction (Part I)
By Odon Bulamba (2 February 2001)
I really thank God for each one of you tonight. It is a grace we have because people try to find what we have but look in vain. Go to a hospital and you'll see that people want to pray, but because their bodies are so weak it limits them. They really want to seek God's face but don't have the opportunity. In some Arabic countries, people try to find God's Word but struggle to find it. But here in New Zealand you can get a Bible freely. It's a grace. Because we also come together and meet to share the Word of God that also is a grace. Most people want to find this opportunity but can't. In order to get this knowledge we share one might have to go to university and will buy this knowledge with money, and when they have finished their studies they say there are some things they still don't understand. God's grace is with us because God loves us very much. We are going to speak about the sign of the times and recognize in which days we are living.
Hosea 6:1-11
1 "Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
3 Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his going forth is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth."
4 ¶ What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings. 7 But at Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood.
9 As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests are banded together; they murder on the way to Shechem, yea, they commit villainy.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim's harlotry is there, Israel is defiled.
11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed. When I would restore the fortunes of my people.
We can see the prophet wrote something about God's people, and as we know the Word of God is the same yesterday, today and forever. It does not mean that this passage is for just the Israelites, it does not mean it was for the tribe of Judah, or the people from Gilead, but it is for us Christians today. It is now time that God wants His people to come back to Him, it's now time that God wants them to think about what they are doing with their time. God wants His people to think about what time they are passing through on this earth. A time of wounds has been but now it is a time of healing. It is time that God will call His own for healing.
Remember what happened with Moses and the bronze serpent? Moses raised a stick on which he put a bronze serpent and said that if anyone looks at this serpent he will be healed. So whoever had been bitten by the snake and looked at this bronze serpent would be healed. Today God always invites us to look at this snake but we don't want to. People of God today refuse the total healing of God, they look for other things where there is death, they look at things that are very dirty to God, and they forget that the cross is there to find salvation. Remember what happened in Moses’ life? Moses was someone like you and me. God chose him to release his people from Egypt, and God said to Moses, "It is now time to leave pharaoh’s house, forget about royalty and forget your power, you must leave all that you have”.
If I was Moses I would have said, "Who am I going to give all these treasures to follow a God I don't know, how can I abandon all this success and loyalty from the people to follow a God I have never seen?" That is exactly what the church lives today: "Because I am a pastor, I don't have to confess my sins, people must think that I am above the rest, and if I kneel down before the church I will lose my success and glory”. The glory doesn’t belong to us but God. So God said to Moses, "Moses because you are my son, listen to me, you must leave”. God did not come down from heaven to speak with him, but because of the way Moses’ mum looked after him, she taught him everything. Moses knew who God was right from his childhood. He learnt the Hebrew language from childhood even though he was working for the Egyptians.
The time came for Moses to leave Egypt. What did he do? He came and took a stand against injustice. That's what the church today doesn't want. If you fight against injustice you are unjust. If you want to show that Satan is unjust, Satan will fight you through other Christians. If you want to show the world that it is not fair or unjust, you will be fought in many ways. Moses left Egypt and did not take anything with him only the breath of life.
So what would Pharaoh think or do? Pharaoh was wasting his time trying to make his city beautiful. He made the slaves work over time and beat them seriously, for what? To make Egypt more magnificent on the outside? Pharaoh forgot to make his heart more beautiful and forgot to work over time for his spirit. This is what we live today in many churches and in Christian life. People work hard all their life to own a house, have flash cars and do their best to have nice skin, but they forget to make their hearts more beautiful. This worldly sickness has come into the church and Christians don't want to take care of their souls. They just live like Pharaoh. They are authoritarian, they are the leaders, and they are kings, but they forget where this authority comes from.
God said to Moses, "You must go back to Egypt”. Moses knew it was the right time because God said that after 400 years He would release His people from slavery. Pharaoh didn't know that is was time for God to free up His people. This is what we are living today on this earth. Jesus is knocking on the door of our hearts and He is saying, "Leave Egypt for now is the time to start your journey and go to Canaan”. What are we waiting for? Some Egyptians who followed the Israelites understood the strength of God, and those who had the spirit of discernment followed. Pharaoh knew that he had lost everything and instead of 1000 bricks per day the production would be only five bricks per day. So who will whip the people now? For if they are not whipped how will they work towards a more beautiful Egypt. Pharaoh forgot that these people needed freedom.
I really thank God for each one of you tonight. It is a grace we have because people try to find what we have but look in vain. Go to a hospital and you'll see that people want to pray, but because their bodies are so weak it limits them. They really want to seek God's face but don't have the opportunity. In some Arabic countries, people try to find God's Word but struggle to find it. But here in New Zealand you can get a Bible freely. It's a grace. Because we also come together and meet to share the Word of God that also is a grace. Most people want to find this opportunity but can't. In order to get this knowledge we share one might have to go to university and will buy this knowledge with money, and when they have finished their studies they say there are some things they still don't understand. God's grace is with us because God loves us very much. We are going to speak about the sign of the times and recognize in which days we are living.
Hosea 6:1-11
1 "Come, let us return to the LORD; for he has torn, that he may heal us; he has stricken, and he will bind us up.
2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him.
3 Let us know, let us press on to know the LORD; his going forth is sure as the dawn; he will come to us as the showers, as the spring rains that water the earth."
4 ¶ What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? Your love is like a morning cloud, like the dew that goes early away.
5 Therefore I have hewn them by the prophets, I have slain them by the words of my mouth, and my judgment goes forth as the light.
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God, rather than burnt offerings. 7 But at Adam they transgressed the covenant; there they dealt faithlessly with me.
8 Gilead is a city of evildoers, tracked with blood.
9 As robbers lie in wait for a man, so the priests are banded together; they murder on the way to Shechem, yea, they commit villainy.
10 In the house of Israel I have seen a horrible thing; Ephraim's harlotry is there, Israel is defiled.
11 For you also, O Judah, a harvest is appointed. When I would restore the fortunes of my people.
We can see the prophet wrote something about God's people, and as we know the Word of God is the same yesterday, today and forever. It does not mean that this passage is for just the Israelites, it does not mean it was for the tribe of Judah, or the people from Gilead, but it is for us Christians today. It is now time that God wants His people to come back to Him, it's now time that God wants them to think about what they are doing with their time. God wants His people to think about what time they are passing through on this earth. A time of wounds has been but now it is a time of healing. It is time that God will call His own for healing.
Remember what happened with Moses and the bronze serpent? Moses raised a stick on which he put a bronze serpent and said that if anyone looks at this serpent he will be healed. So whoever had been bitten by the snake and looked at this bronze serpent would be healed. Today God always invites us to look at this snake but we don't want to. People of God today refuse the total healing of God, they look for other things where there is death, they look at things that are very dirty to God, and they forget that the cross is there to find salvation. Remember what happened in Moses’ life? Moses was someone like you and me. God chose him to release his people from Egypt, and God said to Moses, "It is now time to leave pharaoh’s house, forget about royalty and forget your power, you must leave all that you have”.
If I was Moses I would have said, "Who am I going to give all these treasures to follow a God I don't know, how can I abandon all this success and loyalty from the people to follow a God I have never seen?" That is exactly what the church lives today: "Because I am a pastor, I don't have to confess my sins, people must think that I am above the rest, and if I kneel down before the church I will lose my success and glory”. The glory doesn’t belong to us but God. So God said to Moses, "Moses because you are my son, listen to me, you must leave”. God did not come down from heaven to speak with him, but because of the way Moses’ mum looked after him, she taught him everything. Moses knew who God was right from his childhood. He learnt the Hebrew language from childhood even though he was working for the Egyptians.
The time came for Moses to leave Egypt. What did he do? He came and took a stand against injustice. That's what the church today doesn't want. If you fight against injustice you are unjust. If you want to show that Satan is unjust, Satan will fight you through other Christians. If you want to show the world that it is not fair or unjust, you will be fought in many ways. Moses left Egypt and did not take anything with him only the breath of life.
So what would Pharaoh think or do? Pharaoh was wasting his time trying to make his city beautiful. He made the slaves work over time and beat them seriously, for what? To make Egypt more magnificent on the outside? Pharaoh forgot to make his heart more beautiful and forgot to work over time for his spirit. This is what we live today in many churches and in Christian life. People work hard all their life to own a house, have flash cars and do their best to have nice skin, but they forget to make their hearts more beautiful. This worldly sickness has come into the church and Christians don't want to take care of their souls. They just live like Pharaoh. They are authoritarian, they are the leaders, and they are kings, but they forget where this authority comes from.
God said to Moses, "You must go back to Egypt”. Moses knew it was the right time because God said that after 400 years He would release His people from slavery. Pharaoh didn't know that is was time for God to free up His people. This is what we are living today on this earth. Jesus is knocking on the door of our hearts and He is saying, "Leave Egypt for now is the time to start your journey and go to Canaan”. What are we waiting for? Some Egyptians who followed the Israelites understood the strength of God, and those who had the spirit of discernment followed. Pharaoh knew that he had lost everything and instead of 1000 bricks per day the production would be only five bricks per day. So who will whip the people now? For if they are not whipped how will they work towards a more beautiful Egypt. Pharaoh forgot that these people needed freedom.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
WOMEN - THE HOLY SPIRIT
Women were created for Adam as a "helper". The Holy Spirit is also called a "helper".
Genesis 2:18, "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
John 14:16, "And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He might be with you forever."
The Holy Spirit was given to us, so was Eve given to Adam.
Romans 5:5, "God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
Wives cannot carry prayers of the husband directly to God, and they cannot give gifts. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
But the wife can be like the Holy Spirit in many ways.
John 16:13, "But when the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose it to you what is to come."
John 16:14, "He will take of Mine and disclose it to you."
Mathew 27:19, "While sitting on the judgement seat, his wife sent to him saying, 'have nothing to do with that righteous man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him."
The role of the wife is to "help" the husband to see spiritual truths that he may not have otherwise seen.
John 16:8, "And when He comes, he will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness and judgment."
Psalm 119:75, "I know O Lord that Thy judgments are righteous."
Galations 6:1, "Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness."
The role of the wife is to "help" her husband to see where he must change. He must be humble enough to listen, accept and then change. Obviously she must also be humble and ready to hear where she should also change. The wife will be more "helpful" if she listens to her husband and changes accordingly.
The Holy Spirit never argues with the Father and the wife must never argue with her husband.
1 John 1:7, "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin."
Ephesians 5:8-10, "Now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead expose them."
The role of the wife is to "help" her husband by being the light in his life. Being humble enough to expose herself and being brave enough to expose him.
Galations 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control."
I Corinthians 13:4, "Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous, love does not brag, and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things. Love never fails."
DOES NOT BRAG - the Holy Spirit never talks about Himself
LOVE IS NOT ARROGANT - the Holy Spirit knows His role
James 4:16, "As it is, you boast in your arrogance, all such boasting is evil."
LOVE DOES NOT ACT UNBECOMINGLY - the Holy Spirit came as a dove
1 Peter 3:1-4, "In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. And let not your adornment be merely external - braiding of the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God."
Judges 14, "Get her for me, she looks good to me."
I believe she looked good not physically but because she had a gentle and quiet spirit.
DOES NOT SEEK ITS OWN - the Holy Spirit seeks to do the will of Jesus
I Corinthians 10:24, "Let no one seek his own will but that of his neighbor."
I Corinthians 10:33, "I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, that they may be saved."
Ephesians 5:22,23, "Wives be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He himself being the Savior of the the Body."
The role of a wife to "help" her husband is to submit in humility.
There cannot be two heads in a family. This will be like a siamese twin with two heads. Which direction will the body take if two heads are deciding? There will be confusion!
LOVE NEVER FAILS - the Father has sealed us with the Holy Spirit.
PATIENCE - the Holy Spirit is patient with us and is not discouraged. The Holy Spirit doesn't become angry over small issues (who cares if your husband leaves the dirty towel on the bathroom floor).
KINDNESS - He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men (Lk 6:35). A wife needs to show kindness at all times to her husband even if she doen't think he deserves it. She should welcome him home every time with joy and kindness.
GOODNESS - everything God does is for our good. Everything a wife does should be for the good of her husband and others.
FAITHFULNESS - God always keeps His promises. A wife should always tell her husband the truth and should always keep her promises.
SELF-CONTROLLED - God cannot contradict the Truth. A wife must be able to control her emotions and her way of speaking so that she continue always to be a helpful to her husband and not make his life more difficult.
JEALOUS - God is jealous in a good way. A wife should not be jealous.
Women must be helpful according to the Word of God!
Genesis 2:18, "Then the Lord God said, 'It is not good for man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him."
John 14:16, "And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Helper, that He might be with you forever."
The Holy Spirit was given to us, so was Eve given to Adam.
Romans 5:5, "God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us."
Wives cannot carry prayers of the husband directly to God, and they cannot give gifts. Only the Holy Spirit can do that.
But the wife can be like the Holy Spirit in many ways.
John 16:13, "But when the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose it to you what is to come."
John 16:14, "He will take of Mine and disclose it to you."
Mathew 27:19, "While sitting on the judgement seat, his wife sent to him saying, 'have nothing to do with that righteous man; for last night I suffered greatly in a dream because of Him."
The role of the wife is to "help" the husband to see spiritual truths that he may not have otherwise seen.
John 16:8, "And when He comes, he will convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness and judgment."
Psalm 119:75, "I know O Lord that Thy judgments are righteous."
Galations 6:1, "Brethren, even if a man is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness."
The role of the wife is to "help" her husband to see where he must change. He must be humble enough to listen, accept and then change. Obviously she must also be humble and ready to hear where she should also change. The wife will be more "helpful" if she listens to her husband and changes accordingly.
The Holy Spirit never argues with the Father and the wife must never argue with her husband.
1 John 1:7, "If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin."
Ephesians 5:8-10, "Now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. And do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead expose them."
The role of the wife is to "help" her husband by being the light in his life. Being humble enough to expose herself and being brave enough to expose him.
Galations 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, self-control."
I Corinthians 13:4, "Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous, love does not brag, and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things. Love never fails."
DOES NOT BRAG - the Holy Spirit never talks about Himself
LOVE IS NOT ARROGANT - the Holy Spirit knows His role
James 4:16, "As it is, you boast in your arrogance, all such boasting is evil."
LOVE DOES NOT ACT UNBECOMINGLY - the Holy Spirit came as a dove
1 Peter 3:1-4, "In the same way, you wives, be submissive to your own husbands so that even if any of them are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word by the behavior of their wives, as they observe your chaste and respectful behavior. And let not your adornment be merely external - braiding of the hair, wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God."
Judges 14, "Get her for me, she looks good to me."
I believe she looked good not physically but because she had a gentle and quiet spirit.
DOES NOT SEEK ITS OWN - the Holy Spirit seeks to do the will of Jesus
I Corinthians 10:24, "Let no one seek his own will but that of his neighbor."
I Corinthians 10:33, "I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit but the profit of the many, that they may be saved."
Ephesians 5:22,23, "Wives be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He himself being the Savior of the the Body."
The role of a wife to "help" her husband is to submit in humility.
There cannot be two heads in a family. This will be like a siamese twin with two heads. Which direction will the body take if two heads are deciding? There will be confusion!
LOVE NEVER FAILS - the Father has sealed us with the Holy Spirit.
PATIENCE - the Holy Spirit is patient with us and is not discouraged. The Holy Spirit doesn't become angry over small issues (who cares if your husband leaves the dirty towel on the bathroom floor).
KINDNESS - He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men (Lk 6:35). A wife needs to show kindness at all times to her husband even if she doen't think he deserves it. She should welcome him home every time with joy and kindness.
GOODNESS - everything God does is for our good. Everything a wife does should be for the good of her husband and others.
FAITHFULNESS - God always keeps His promises. A wife should always tell her husband the truth and should always keep her promises.
SELF-CONTROLLED - God cannot contradict the Truth. A wife must be able to control her emotions and her way of speaking so that she continue always to be a helpful to her husband and not make his life more difficult.
JEALOUS - God is jealous in a good way. A wife should not be jealous.
Women must be helpful according to the Word of God!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
REVIVAL (Part III)
In the book of Ezekiel chapter 37 God showed the prophet Ezekiel something. In the valley there were bones and they were dry. The Lord showed Ezekiel these facts. Later there was a wind coming, this wind made the bones come together to become a whole army. I won’t talk about that because we talked about it 2 years ago. This whole army was strong and it was in front of Ezekiel. Ezekiel saw it and believed it, although no one else could see it. This wind is what we call the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit that gives revival. If the Holy Spirit doesn’t revive you you’ll never live in peace. After receiving the truth you must make an effort. Suppose I tell you I will run for 5 minutes and after 40 metres I start to breathe quickly because I’m not used to it, but if you ask Peter who does sport everyday to run, 40 metres for him it is nothing. Why is that? Because he practises it everyday to the point where he becomes strong; he is able to do the impossible.
In my country there is a tribe, they see who can go underwater and stay there for 3 hours. For example if a boat sinks, he can plunge and go into the boat and gather things or people and take them back. When a submarine flees they can go under and they wear no oxygen, nothing. I thought it might be because of sorcery, but I was told it was not that. From an early age they train the children, for example they put water in a tank and put the head of a child in it and start counting the seconds, after a certain time they pull it out. When a child grows up it can go easily underwater. As for me who has never swum, even if you put 10 kilos of gold 2 metres deep and you tell me, “take this it is yours”; I will never risk my life and I’ll say, “you can keep it”.
I remember one day when I was swimming I drank the water and I nearly died and so I said goodbye to swimming. So for those who train all the time they will easily go under 2 metres and get the gold. So what does this teach us? It teaches us that we have to practise the Word of God all the time. If I pull a 40-kilo load and I’m not ready to lift this, but I train everyday with weights, after a certain time I will be able to lift 40 kilos of weight. If I keep training I will be able to lift 80 kilos. Participation and practise make people perfect. Unfortunately for us Christians we never participate in the Word of God and never put it into practise. We say God give us strength, we want to be strong so when we pray for the sick people they may be healed, or when we pray for the dead they might find back their life. Put the gospel into practise first and then strength will come.
God is there and it’s your part to make an effort to accept what God gives you. Unfortunately we don’t do it.
The army that Ezekiel saw was a big army. God is able to change the life we have, from bones only he can make bodies that are strong, and the flesh and the eyes and the skin will be there. Everything is possible for the one who believes. Everything is possible for God. God is able to do anything. You may say, “I can’t I can’t”. Who told you that you can’t? Ask God and he will give you an answer. There are many servants of God in this world who wouldn’t even dream that one day they would serve God and live a normal life as before. But the day they made up their minds God used them, and why not us?
In a place where I used to live in Kenya there were birds called Ostriches. We know what an Ostrich is, they are big birds with a long neck and are very strong. When they run you can hear a noise, when they make steps it is not easy to catch them. All the other birds respect this bird, even the eagle would not easily attack an ostrich; they respect them.
When an ostrich is walking, small animals like dogs flee. If you go hunting with a dog and they see an ostrich the dog will curve his tail and put it in between his legs to say I’m not going after that. You will tell your dog, go attack and the dog will come behind you. Why is that? It is because the dog fears the bird. The bird is strong, but there is something, when this bird sees a man coming it starts running. After 2 metres it stops to look at you and tilts it head, it says if you’re strong follow me. It starts running and after 20 metres looks at you as if to say come on and after 2 kilometres you’ll be tired. The bird will try to take you far away. When this bird is tired, what does it do? It runs to find a small hole somewhere and puts its head in the hole. The bird thinks it is hiding his whole body, but the bird only hides its head in the hole. Man can come closer to the bird and say it is not very clever; I will take the machete and cut its head, the body will keep moving but life is not there anymore, life will be gone.
Why is that? Because the bird made a mistake, although the bird knows he is strong, he knows he can run well, but he forgot where he could hide. As for us who are in Christ we have to hide under the rock who is Jesus Christ. We cannot hide behind Michael or Sylvie’s back or anyone else, but we have to hide under Jesus Christ the rock. An arrow will never pierce this shield; no man or even the forces of darkness will ever be able to catch us. We have this opportunity only if we believe that we have revival.
One day there were four hens, and these hens were together. They would eat maize, one of these hens looked at the other and said how good it is to eat together, but the other one said that’s good but who knows what is going to happen soon. The other one said of course, that is why I said it is good that we eat together. A lady who was beside them said cast them away from the maize, because they are eating my maize. A child shooed the hens away. The hens said, “you see, man never allow us to eat together”. Another one answered, “it is because we are weak, if we were as strong as the wind we could change everything, maybe we could declare our rights. Men fear the wind, it takes off rooftops and people tremble in front of the wind”. You see, even the birds need strength.
So what is your strength in the Lord? Maybe you are strong at maths, or English, or sport but what is your strength in the Lord? Is it only to carry your Bible?
One day I asked a group of people, tell me after the book of Nahum what is the next book? Everybody looked at me, Nahum? Umm…Joshua. No. Umm Psalm. NO. Micah, people would start giving any sort of names from the books. Then I asked who is the 3rd child in the royal family of England? Everybody knew. Then I said who are Diana’s children and everybody knew they would even give their date of birth. But when it’s the Word of God things become more and more heavy. So who is going to help us to carry it? We are called to live in the truth and the spirit and without the truth the spirit will not be able to work and without the spirit, truth doesn’t have any value. That’s why Jesus gave us an example; one day while he was walking he saw a tree without fruit and he wanted to eat the fruit but unfortunately there was none on the tree, this tree was cursed and the next day it was dry. You and I today might know the Word of God, we might recite the verses, and we might associate them to other people’s lives.
If people say I’m really hungry; man won’t live only by bread but by the Word of God. If he will say I’m sick, by the name of Jesus Christ we put our hands on all the sick people and find healing and find all the possible references for people’s lives. But when it’s about me I don’t even know what reference I can find for myself in the Bible. Between us lets be sincere, we have a disease us Christians. When you tell a Christian, my brother you are a thief, it will be better to stop what you do. Automatically this Christian becomes angry. If you were friends you become enemies. Although you talk to him in truth because you live in the truth, he will find it’s something that goes against his will. He will always say, this man is not good, always he thinks he is someone while he is nothing, so he gets more further away from the Word of God.
So this was the introduction to Revival. If you want to know more on revival read Ezekiel 37, read John 3 and 5:2 and Ephesians 2 can help. I believe I soon will touch these verses more. So you know how to glorify God, you know what the truth is, you know what to practise the truth means. So today we see how revival will be something important in our lives. If you want to get anything, respect the Word of God and everything will be better. If you don’t respect the Word of God be sure that God won’t respect you either. Whoever comes to Him, he will accept easily, but if you reject Him you’ll be lost. So we are going to pray altogether and everyone has to pray for his own personal life. Ask God to help you to find strength that is revival, strength that will help you to progress in the Bible.
In my country there is a tribe, they see who can go underwater and stay there for 3 hours. For example if a boat sinks, he can plunge and go into the boat and gather things or people and take them back. When a submarine flees they can go under and they wear no oxygen, nothing. I thought it might be because of sorcery, but I was told it was not that. From an early age they train the children, for example they put water in a tank and put the head of a child in it and start counting the seconds, after a certain time they pull it out. When a child grows up it can go easily underwater. As for me who has never swum, even if you put 10 kilos of gold 2 metres deep and you tell me, “take this it is yours”; I will never risk my life and I’ll say, “you can keep it”.
I remember one day when I was swimming I drank the water and I nearly died and so I said goodbye to swimming. So for those who train all the time they will easily go under 2 metres and get the gold. So what does this teach us? It teaches us that we have to practise the Word of God all the time. If I pull a 40-kilo load and I’m not ready to lift this, but I train everyday with weights, after a certain time I will be able to lift 40 kilos of weight. If I keep training I will be able to lift 80 kilos. Participation and practise make people perfect. Unfortunately for us Christians we never participate in the Word of God and never put it into practise. We say God give us strength, we want to be strong so when we pray for the sick people they may be healed, or when we pray for the dead they might find back their life. Put the gospel into practise first and then strength will come.
God is there and it’s your part to make an effort to accept what God gives you. Unfortunately we don’t do it.
The army that Ezekiel saw was a big army. God is able to change the life we have, from bones only he can make bodies that are strong, and the flesh and the eyes and the skin will be there. Everything is possible for the one who believes. Everything is possible for God. God is able to do anything. You may say, “I can’t I can’t”. Who told you that you can’t? Ask God and he will give you an answer. There are many servants of God in this world who wouldn’t even dream that one day they would serve God and live a normal life as before. But the day they made up their minds God used them, and why not us?
In a place where I used to live in Kenya there were birds called Ostriches. We know what an Ostrich is, they are big birds with a long neck and are very strong. When they run you can hear a noise, when they make steps it is not easy to catch them. All the other birds respect this bird, even the eagle would not easily attack an ostrich; they respect them.
When an ostrich is walking, small animals like dogs flee. If you go hunting with a dog and they see an ostrich the dog will curve his tail and put it in between his legs to say I’m not going after that. You will tell your dog, go attack and the dog will come behind you. Why is that? It is because the dog fears the bird. The bird is strong, but there is something, when this bird sees a man coming it starts running. After 2 metres it stops to look at you and tilts it head, it says if you’re strong follow me. It starts running and after 20 metres looks at you as if to say come on and after 2 kilometres you’ll be tired. The bird will try to take you far away. When this bird is tired, what does it do? It runs to find a small hole somewhere and puts its head in the hole. The bird thinks it is hiding his whole body, but the bird only hides its head in the hole. Man can come closer to the bird and say it is not very clever; I will take the machete and cut its head, the body will keep moving but life is not there anymore, life will be gone.
Why is that? Because the bird made a mistake, although the bird knows he is strong, he knows he can run well, but he forgot where he could hide. As for us who are in Christ we have to hide under the rock who is Jesus Christ. We cannot hide behind Michael or Sylvie’s back or anyone else, but we have to hide under Jesus Christ the rock. An arrow will never pierce this shield; no man or even the forces of darkness will ever be able to catch us. We have this opportunity only if we believe that we have revival.
One day there were four hens, and these hens were together. They would eat maize, one of these hens looked at the other and said how good it is to eat together, but the other one said that’s good but who knows what is going to happen soon. The other one said of course, that is why I said it is good that we eat together. A lady who was beside them said cast them away from the maize, because they are eating my maize. A child shooed the hens away. The hens said, “you see, man never allow us to eat together”. Another one answered, “it is because we are weak, if we were as strong as the wind we could change everything, maybe we could declare our rights. Men fear the wind, it takes off rooftops and people tremble in front of the wind”. You see, even the birds need strength.
So what is your strength in the Lord? Maybe you are strong at maths, or English, or sport but what is your strength in the Lord? Is it only to carry your Bible?
One day I asked a group of people, tell me after the book of Nahum what is the next book? Everybody looked at me, Nahum? Umm…Joshua. No. Umm Psalm. NO. Micah, people would start giving any sort of names from the books. Then I asked who is the 3rd child in the royal family of England? Everybody knew. Then I said who are Diana’s children and everybody knew they would even give their date of birth. But when it’s the Word of God things become more and more heavy. So who is going to help us to carry it? We are called to live in the truth and the spirit and without the truth the spirit will not be able to work and without the spirit, truth doesn’t have any value. That’s why Jesus gave us an example; one day while he was walking he saw a tree without fruit and he wanted to eat the fruit but unfortunately there was none on the tree, this tree was cursed and the next day it was dry. You and I today might know the Word of God, we might recite the verses, and we might associate them to other people’s lives.
If people say I’m really hungry; man won’t live only by bread but by the Word of God. If he will say I’m sick, by the name of Jesus Christ we put our hands on all the sick people and find healing and find all the possible references for people’s lives. But when it’s about me I don’t even know what reference I can find for myself in the Bible. Between us lets be sincere, we have a disease us Christians. When you tell a Christian, my brother you are a thief, it will be better to stop what you do. Automatically this Christian becomes angry. If you were friends you become enemies. Although you talk to him in truth because you live in the truth, he will find it’s something that goes against his will. He will always say, this man is not good, always he thinks he is someone while he is nothing, so he gets more further away from the Word of God.
So this was the introduction to Revival. If you want to know more on revival read Ezekiel 37, read John 3 and 5:2 and Ephesians 2 can help. I believe I soon will touch these verses more. So you know how to glorify God, you know what the truth is, you know what to practise the truth means. So today we see how revival will be something important in our lives. If you want to get anything, respect the Word of God and everything will be better. If you don’t respect the Word of God be sure that God won’t respect you either. Whoever comes to Him, he will accept easily, but if you reject Him you’ll be lost. So we are going to pray altogether and everyone has to pray for his own personal life. Ask God to help you to find strength that is revival, strength that will help you to progress in the Bible.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Purity: the seemingly impossible target
By Michael Bahjejian
Mat 8:2-3
1. Introduction
1.1 Uniqueness of the Bible
Before starting my message, I’d like to make a few comments about the Bible:
I believe it is the word of God, the revealed and uncorrupted word of God to humankind. Islam says the Bible has been corrupted, but no trace of these so called ‘uncorrupted version(s)’ has ever been found.
It is the only Holy Book. No other so called ‘holy book’ exist as there is only one God and He cannot contradict himself. Our Bible does not accept that a single word or even a comma might be added to or removed from it.
In our Bible, there are the New and the Old Testaments. The New Testament does not contradict the Old one but fulfils it. It reveals the spiritual reality of practices and symbols, like the practice of sacrifices that were given to humankind before the coming of Christ. Paul says it was the mere shadow of what was to come or the good things to come with the substance belonging to Christ (Col 2:17; Heb 10:1). But even a ‘biblical shadow’ is not to be despised, since the shadow of Peter the Apostle could heal sick people that were placed on its path (Act 5:15).
The New Testament itself reveals our Lord Jesus, who is among other things, God among us, the testimony of God’s love and the fulfilment of God’s plan of salvation for humankind. Even if we still see spiritual things in a mirror dimly (1Cor 13:12a), what is behind this blurry glass is the right thing and one day at last, we will be able to see God face to face and know Him as well as He knows us.
1.2 Availability of the Bible
For centuries, it has been very difficult or even impossible to read the Bible. One of the reasons was that most people could not read. It is still partially true today, especially in India and in Africa. Also, it was impossible to read it because it was only written in a language that was different from the one people used everyday. Only religious people of the time knew Latin and that was the only language used to read the Bible and talk about it in most of the developed world of that time. It was then forbidden to translate the Bible in everyday language and those who braved the interdiction faced death and many died on the stake, burnt alive. Now that by God’s grace, the Bible has become available in many languages, many countries have forbidden its production, distribution and possession. When you think that just over a century ago, it was still impossible for a Catholic nun to read the full Bible, you realise that we are living in a changing time. Today, the Bible is available online in many languages and this is a great opportunity for many to have access to the word of God and praise God for those who work in that field.
1.3 Satan is still at work
As we know that the devil does not give up easily, he has started poisoning the very Bible we use. In the Left Behind 3 movie, that is the physical way the New World Order leader tries to kill Christians. Be aware, dear brothers and sisters of the bad translations of the Bible that cannot feed your souls spiritually properly. Key passages are removed, key words are replaced and the very dynamic of the Scripture is changed. Nowadays, everyone has to do his homework and decide by themselves which Bible they want to be fed with. May God bless you in this sometimes hard work.
One of the strategies of the devil is to paraphrase the scripture and present it as a authentic Bible. The ‘Message’ version, for example, introduces itself as a reading Bible and not as a study Bible. The website introducing ‘The Message’ reads:
“The goal of The Message is to engage people in the reading process and help them understand what they read. This is not a study Bible, but rather "a reading Bible." The verse numbers, which are not in the original documents, have been left out of the print version to facilitate easy and enjoyable reading.”
Although it is true that Jesus did not quote the verses he rebuked Satan with, it is nevertheless a help that has been useful for centuries. Also it reads:
“When we hear something over and over again in the same way, we can become so familiar with it that the text loses its impact. The Message strives to help readers hear the living Word of God—the Bible—in a way that engages and intrigues us right where we are.”
In this, it contradicts Joshua 1:8
“This Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
I personally do not think that God agrees with making a difference between reading and studying his word. As for the ‘artificial’ way of making the Bible attractive and easier to read, it is most likely to make the reader lazy in his mind by selecting for them a single interpretation where God had willingly left it open to discussion on purpose. ‘The Message’ and other similar ‘successful new versions’ of the Bible try to do what the work of the Holy Spirit is, that is to make the Scriptures alive in our hearts. I think it is a short-sighted view to make something new for the sake of it, since ‘The Message’ itself will grow older too with time and what will refresh it then? On top of that, who would go back to a ‘study Bible version’ when they have been used to reading a type of ‘easy listening’ one. For those who like children movies, do you remember how hard it was for the edge hook from the “Over the Edge” movie to go back to the healthy bark, after having tasted chips and other junk food.
So today, it is our privilege to have in our hands a Bible where the key words have not been ‘tempered with’, to be able to read and study it, to have the time and the motivation to do it and to be able to listen to messages about it. Praise God for that. Amen.
The Bible is unique as it is self explanatory. It is like these fruit trees that are auto fertile. With the Bible only, and the help of the Holy Spirit, you can understand the Bible and live it. Many commentaries and preaching, although not all of them, are often a distraction and a waste of time. The Bible explains the Bible. That is the reason why you need a good version. At the end of many Bibles, you can find what is called a Concordance. Each translation has his own one and you can also find entire book that are the Concordance of a specific version and they can be quite exhaustive. They are very useful to find passages you sometimes know, but are unable to find otherwise.
After this lengthily but hopefully useful introduction, it is time to go to today’s message:
2. Our message: Purity: the seemingly impossible target
2.1 Three passages among others mention purity
1 Pet 1:22
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit[a] in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
James 4:8
8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Phil 1:22
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Peter asks us to purify our souls, James asks us to purify our hearts and Paul asks us to meditate on whatever things are pure. What does that mean? There, we are the ones who are asked to do the purification. Furthermore, we are told how to do it:
Our souls are purified through obedience to the truth through the Holy Spirit
Our hearts are purified by coming closer to God and being single-minded
We are to assess whatever things are pure to meditate on them.
2.2 Obedience
1 Pet 1:22
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit[a] in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
Obedience is central to our Christian walk. In people’s life, the Holy Spirit is revealing progressively how to obey God’s commandments then it becomes a dialogue about what to do and not what to be, who to be and not to be. Jesus himself showed us the way: He was obedient unto death (Ph 2:8), he accepted the truth that was revealed by the prophets in the Scripture that he had to die (Luc 24:25-27)
8And being found in the fashion of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death--even the death of the cross.
As Christians, we are everyday asked to choose between two masters who require our obedience. Matthew 6:24 (21st Century King James Version)
24"No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
This obedience leads to righteousness, one of God principles as it is written in:
Rom 6:16
16Do you not know that if you present yourselves(A) to anyone as obedient slaves,[a] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
This does not mean, as the devil would like us to believe, that if we sin, we become his slaves as long as it is not our choice to live in sin. We have to constantly throw our sins at the foot of the cross, as our sins belong to Christ who bore all of them and use the gift of repentance to come right before God one more time.
According to 1Peter 1:22, the purification of our souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit will lead us to love one another more fervently, with a pure heart. Obedience dissipates the risk of being hypocrites in our mutual love. Alleluia for that!
2.3 Being single-minded
James 4:8
8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Being single minded is certainly a key to holiness as it is so hard to be. Single minded means:
1. Having one overriding purpose or goal
2. Steadfast; resolute:
A quotation from WikiHow reads: "single-minded" has to do with the power of focus. Your ability to focus is ultimately your biggest ally in accomplishing tasks and projects. With practice, this is an ability one can develop. Your level of achievement and success depends upon it. The good form of "single-minded" is the ability to block out distractions and erroneous thoughts in order to concentrate better. Your desire to become more single-minded will enable you to finish projects with more efficiency in less time.
To purify our heart is to constantly remove from it any ideas, thoughts and desires that are not in agreement with the Holy Spirit who lives in us. This is an active process that never ends, and that is not related to our growth in the Christian faith as the devil attacks with more determination those who are a danger for him and his kingdom of darkness. He is single minded too in his determination to destroy God’s plan.
2.4 The things that are pure
The world is obsessed with what is pure. Pure water, pure gold, 100% pure NZ. ‘Pure’ is a very attractive word. However, it brings many people under the slavery of what to do and what not to do, especially about food. Halal for Muslims, Kosher for Jewish, Vegan for animal lovers. Although God himself, in the Old testament, gave a lot of commands concerning many aspects of life, this has been replaced now by the rule of our conciences enlightened by the Holy Spirit. This rule is not accepted by other religions like Islam. They think that only the threat of a harsh punishment can prevent them from immorality.
In Arabic-speaking countries, the term is used to describe anything permissible under Islamic law, in contrast to haraam, that which is forbidden. This includes human behavior, speech communication, clothing, conduct, manner and dietary laws.In non-Arabic-speaking countries, the term is most commonly used in the narrower context of just Muslim dietary laws, especially where meat and poultry are concerned, though it can be used for the more general meaning, as well.Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose.[1][2] Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind.[3] The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are ethical commitment or moral conviction concerning animal rights, the environment, human health, and spiritual or religious concerns.[2][4][5]Of particular concern to many vegans are the practices involved in factory farming and animal testing, and the intensive use of land and other resources for animal farming.Vegan diets (sometimes called strict or pure vegetarian diets) are a subset of vegetarian diets.
All these concerns keep many people busy, others obsessed and others rich but it is in God’s eyes a distraction from what he calls pure. To mention only a few, here are some things that the Bible considers pure:
The fear of God Ps 19:10
The fruit of wisdom Pr 8:19
The commands of the Lord Ps 19:9
The wisdom from on high James 3:17
The New Jerusalem made of pure gold Rev21:18
What God declares pure Act 11:19
3. Conclusion
Mat 8:2-3
And behold, a leper[a] came to him and(B) knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." 3And Jesus[b] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Leprosy in the Bible represents sin and its result on the skin. I believe that God wants us to be pure and clean. And what seems impossible to us because we are so weak, our God will do it, because He is strong. However, He requires from us to persevere and keep his words alive in our hearts and keep the faith.May God bless you in this walk in and towards purity. Amen
Mat 8:2-3
1. Introduction
1.1 Uniqueness of the Bible
Before starting my message, I’d like to make a few comments about the Bible:
I believe it is the word of God, the revealed and uncorrupted word of God to humankind. Islam says the Bible has been corrupted, but no trace of these so called ‘uncorrupted version(s)’ has ever been found.
It is the only Holy Book. No other so called ‘holy book’ exist as there is only one God and He cannot contradict himself. Our Bible does not accept that a single word or even a comma might be added to or removed from it.
In our Bible, there are the New and the Old Testaments. The New Testament does not contradict the Old one but fulfils it. It reveals the spiritual reality of practices and symbols, like the practice of sacrifices that were given to humankind before the coming of Christ. Paul says it was the mere shadow of what was to come or the good things to come with the substance belonging to Christ (Col 2:17; Heb 10:1). But even a ‘biblical shadow’ is not to be despised, since the shadow of Peter the Apostle could heal sick people that were placed on its path (Act 5:15).
The New Testament itself reveals our Lord Jesus, who is among other things, God among us, the testimony of God’s love and the fulfilment of God’s plan of salvation for humankind. Even if we still see spiritual things in a mirror dimly (1Cor 13:12a), what is behind this blurry glass is the right thing and one day at last, we will be able to see God face to face and know Him as well as He knows us.
1.2 Availability of the Bible
For centuries, it has been very difficult or even impossible to read the Bible. One of the reasons was that most people could not read. It is still partially true today, especially in India and in Africa. Also, it was impossible to read it because it was only written in a language that was different from the one people used everyday. Only religious people of the time knew Latin and that was the only language used to read the Bible and talk about it in most of the developed world of that time. It was then forbidden to translate the Bible in everyday language and those who braved the interdiction faced death and many died on the stake, burnt alive. Now that by God’s grace, the Bible has become available in many languages, many countries have forbidden its production, distribution and possession. When you think that just over a century ago, it was still impossible for a Catholic nun to read the full Bible, you realise that we are living in a changing time. Today, the Bible is available online in many languages and this is a great opportunity for many to have access to the word of God and praise God for those who work in that field.
1.3 Satan is still at work
As we know that the devil does not give up easily, he has started poisoning the very Bible we use. In the Left Behind 3 movie, that is the physical way the New World Order leader tries to kill Christians. Be aware, dear brothers and sisters of the bad translations of the Bible that cannot feed your souls spiritually properly. Key passages are removed, key words are replaced and the very dynamic of the Scripture is changed. Nowadays, everyone has to do his homework and decide by themselves which Bible they want to be fed with. May God bless you in this sometimes hard work.
One of the strategies of the devil is to paraphrase the scripture and present it as a authentic Bible. The ‘Message’ version, for example, introduces itself as a reading Bible and not as a study Bible. The website introducing ‘The Message’ reads:
“The goal of The Message is to engage people in the reading process and help them understand what they read. This is not a study Bible, but rather "a reading Bible." The verse numbers, which are not in the original documents, have been left out of the print version to facilitate easy and enjoyable reading.”
Although it is true that Jesus did not quote the verses he rebuked Satan with, it is nevertheless a help that has been useful for centuries. Also it reads:
“When we hear something over and over again in the same way, we can become so familiar with it that the text loses its impact. The Message strives to help readers hear the living Word of God—the Bible—in a way that engages and intrigues us right where we are.”
In this, it contradicts Joshua 1:8
“This Book of the Law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.”
I personally do not think that God agrees with making a difference between reading and studying his word. As for the ‘artificial’ way of making the Bible attractive and easier to read, it is most likely to make the reader lazy in his mind by selecting for them a single interpretation where God had willingly left it open to discussion on purpose. ‘The Message’ and other similar ‘successful new versions’ of the Bible try to do what the work of the Holy Spirit is, that is to make the Scriptures alive in our hearts. I think it is a short-sighted view to make something new for the sake of it, since ‘The Message’ itself will grow older too with time and what will refresh it then? On top of that, who would go back to a ‘study Bible version’ when they have been used to reading a type of ‘easy listening’ one. For those who like children movies, do you remember how hard it was for the edge hook from the “Over the Edge” movie to go back to the healthy bark, after having tasted chips and other junk food.
So today, it is our privilege to have in our hands a Bible where the key words have not been ‘tempered with’, to be able to read and study it, to have the time and the motivation to do it and to be able to listen to messages about it. Praise God for that. Amen.
The Bible is unique as it is self explanatory. It is like these fruit trees that are auto fertile. With the Bible only, and the help of the Holy Spirit, you can understand the Bible and live it. Many commentaries and preaching, although not all of them, are often a distraction and a waste of time. The Bible explains the Bible. That is the reason why you need a good version. At the end of many Bibles, you can find what is called a Concordance. Each translation has his own one and you can also find entire book that are the Concordance of a specific version and they can be quite exhaustive. They are very useful to find passages you sometimes know, but are unable to find otherwise.
After this lengthily but hopefully useful introduction, it is time to go to today’s message:
2. Our message: Purity: the seemingly impossible target
2.1 Three passages among others mention purity
1 Pet 1:22
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit[a] in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
James 4:8
8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Phil 1:22
8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.
Peter asks us to purify our souls, James asks us to purify our hearts and Paul asks us to meditate on whatever things are pure. What does that mean? There, we are the ones who are asked to do the purification. Furthermore, we are told how to do it:
Our souls are purified through obedience to the truth through the Holy Spirit
Our hearts are purified by coming closer to God and being single-minded
We are to assess whatever things are pure to meditate on them.
2.2 Obedience
1 Pet 1:22
22 Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit[a] in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart,
Obedience is central to our Christian walk. In people’s life, the Holy Spirit is revealing progressively how to obey God’s commandments then it becomes a dialogue about what to do and not what to be, who to be and not to be. Jesus himself showed us the way: He was obedient unto death (Ph 2:8), he accepted the truth that was revealed by the prophets in the Scripture that he had to die (Luc 24:25-27)
8And being found in the fashion of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death--even the death of the cross.
As Christians, we are everyday asked to choose between two masters who require our obedience. Matthew 6:24 (21st Century King James Version)
24"No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
This obedience leads to righteousness, one of God principles as it is written in:
Rom 6:16
16Do you not know that if you present yourselves(A) to anyone as obedient slaves,[a] you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
This does not mean, as the devil would like us to believe, that if we sin, we become his slaves as long as it is not our choice to live in sin. We have to constantly throw our sins at the foot of the cross, as our sins belong to Christ who bore all of them and use the gift of repentance to come right before God one more time.
According to 1Peter 1:22, the purification of our souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit will lead us to love one another more fervently, with a pure heart. Obedience dissipates the risk of being hypocrites in our mutual love. Alleluia for that!
2.3 Being single-minded
James 4:8
8Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Being single minded is certainly a key to holiness as it is so hard to be. Single minded means:
1. Having one overriding purpose or goal
2. Steadfast; resolute:
A quotation from WikiHow reads: "single-minded" has to do with the power of focus. Your ability to focus is ultimately your biggest ally in accomplishing tasks and projects. With practice, this is an ability one can develop. Your level of achievement and success depends upon it. The good form of "single-minded" is the ability to block out distractions and erroneous thoughts in order to concentrate better. Your desire to become more single-minded will enable you to finish projects with more efficiency in less time.
To purify our heart is to constantly remove from it any ideas, thoughts and desires that are not in agreement with the Holy Spirit who lives in us. This is an active process that never ends, and that is not related to our growth in the Christian faith as the devil attacks with more determination those who are a danger for him and his kingdom of darkness. He is single minded too in his determination to destroy God’s plan.
2.4 The things that are pure
The world is obsessed with what is pure. Pure water, pure gold, 100% pure NZ. ‘Pure’ is a very attractive word. However, it brings many people under the slavery of what to do and what not to do, especially about food. Halal for Muslims, Kosher for Jewish, Vegan for animal lovers. Although God himself, in the Old testament, gave a lot of commands concerning many aspects of life, this has been replaced now by the rule of our conciences enlightened by the Holy Spirit. This rule is not accepted by other religions like Islam. They think that only the threat of a harsh punishment can prevent them from immorality.
In Arabic-speaking countries, the term is used to describe anything permissible under Islamic law, in contrast to haraam, that which is forbidden. This includes human behavior, speech communication, clothing, conduct, manner and dietary laws.In non-Arabic-speaking countries, the term is most commonly used in the narrower context of just Muslim dietary laws, especially where meat and poultry are concerned, though it can be used for the more general meaning, as well.Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose.[1][2] Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind.[3] The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are ethical commitment or moral conviction concerning animal rights, the environment, human health, and spiritual or religious concerns.[2][4][5]Of particular concern to many vegans are the practices involved in factory farming and animal testing, and the intensive use of land and other resources for animal farming.Vegan diets (sometimes called strict or pure vegetarian diets) are a subset of vegetarian diets.
All these concerns keep many people busy, others obsessed and others rich but it is in God’s eyes a distraction from what he calls pure. To mention only a few, here are some things that the Bible considers pure:
The fear of God Ps 19:10
The fruit of wisdom Pr 8:19
The commands of the Lord Ps 19:9
The wisdom from on high James 3:17
The New Jerusalem made of pure gold Rev21:18
What God declares pure Act 11:19
3. Conclusion
Mat 8:2-3
And behold, a leper[a] came to him and(B) knelt before him, saying, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." 3And Jesus[b] stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
Leprosy in the Bible represents sin and its result on the skin. I believe that God wants us to be pure and clean. And what seems impossible to us because we are so weak, our God will do it, because He is strong. However, He requires from us to persevere and keep his words alive in our hearts and keep the faith.May God bless you in this walk in and towards purity. Amen
Monday, December 21, 2009
REVIVAL (Part II)
Truth is something very simple in man’s life, if you really want to use it.
For example; a man had stolen money and was arrested. He said, “I didn’t steal it, prove that I stole it”. There was no proof.
His wife came to him and said my husband you really made me ashamed. He said, “my wife I tell you the truth, you know, I took this money, it will help us for our future life. If I tell these stupid people we will be poor forever, so keep this secret and we will be rich, half of this money will go in your bank account”. The wife just rubbed her hands and when people would come she would say my husband never stole and I will never accept it. This family were Christians and they would always hold their Bible’s to go to church on Sunday. On Sunday they would say, thank you God because you kept us. God visited them and said what you did is not right. The conscience of the husband woke up and he said, “yes I stole”. The wife looked at him and only her eyes talked to say, “what are you saying?” The husband said, “yes I really stole and my wife kept half of the money”. The wife said, “look at this man he is mad, I think you must first check his mental health because he has got a mental problem”.
You see because of money, only paper, people put truth aside and sacrifice their souls to sin. So as for us, if we don’t walk with the truth; there will never be good fruit. You
might know the Word of God by heart or you might know all the important passages but if you don’t put this passage into practise, people won’t see the proof of your faith.
Fourteen years ago there was a man who was very rich. His son finished secondary school and he said when you get your results I will buy you something. The son said there were motorbikes, Suzuki 100cc that were very trendy. I want that because all the young people have them. The father asked, “Is that all that you want? Well I will get it for you, but there is something, I will change your identity, your name will be changed, and you will be called something else”. ‘By your wounds you have been healed’; this is the name the father gave his son. One-day the son’s results came and his father said I am very happy and proud of you. I have never known a son like you. You work very well.
He took a passport and gave it to his son. This passport bore the name ‘by your wound you have been healed’ the son put it in his pocket and said, “I am still waiting”. The father said, “you can go”. “No dad, what about your promise?” The father said, “yes I remember. To ride a bike you have to learn first. Did you learn how to ride a bike?” “Dad it’s not a problem, in 2 days I will be ready”. “Okay my son because you say that I will give it to you”. He took a New Testament and gave it to his son. The child looked at his father and changed his attitude. He took his passport and chucked it on the floor. “What’s that? Lying dad!” He left and slammed the door behind him. His dad let him go. Twenty years later his son got married and had a family. He learnt on the radio that his dad had died. He thought because his dad had died it’s time to go back and get an inheritance. His wife said, “be quick you have to go there, before people start sharing your father’s things, you have to be there”.
When he went home he didn’t go to see the body of his father, all he wanted was the inheritance. When he got there everybody was crying and he said, “where are the documents that he left?” People asked him, “what documents?” He said, “the will”. His mum said if you need a Testament there are two, the Old Testament and the New Testament, which one do you want? He said, “No, the will that my father wrote that is all that I want”.
After the burial the lawyer came. He told the son he could leave the house for it has been given to someone. The son asked, “how could that be, let me go to the bank”. The bank told him his father had 15 million dollars but he had given it to someone else. “But it is me who has to inherit it”. The lawyer asked for his passport. He showed him the passport with his original name of Floyd on it. He said it is not you so you can leave. The son remembered, my father said that my name had changed, I have another name, ‘By your wound you have been healed.’ “Well where is the proof, this is the true name but where is the proof?” Twenty years ago he had thrown away the passport that his father had given him. Where could he find it? He came back home and tried to find it and by chance he found the New Testament and the passport. He started crying. “What did I do against my father?” When he opened the New Testament he saw a key. It was the key to the ignition of the bike that had been bought twenty years ago. But because he had rejected the New Testament he also rejected the bike. It was written clearly that everything had been paid for. He went to the bike company but the company had already closed its doors. He went to the bank with this passport and he was given the money.
That is the way us Christians live today. We always call ourselves Children of God but the name and identity our Lord gave us, do we keep burying it or do we throw it away in front of His eyes? If you are a Christian do you carry the Christian identity with you?
Or do you have the Congolese or French identity? What is your identity? Your identity must always have facts that come with it
For example; a man had stolen money and was arrested. He said, “I didn’t steal it, prove that I stole it”. There was no proof.
His wife came to him and said my husband you really made me ashamed. He said, “my wife I tell you the truth, you know, I took this money, it will help us for our future life. If I tell these stupid people we will be poor forever, so keep this secret and we will be rich, half of this money will go in your bank account”. The wife just rubbed her hands and when people would come she would say my husband never stole and I will never accept it. This family were Christians and they would always hold their Bible’s to go to church on Sunday. On Sunday they would say, thank you God because you kept us. God visited them and said what you did is not right. The conscience of the husband woke up and he said, “yes I stole”. The wife looked at him and only her eyes talked to say, “what are you saying?” The husband said, “yes I really stole and my wife kept half of the money”. The wife said, “look at this man he is mad, I think you must first check his mental health because he has got a mental problem”.
You see because of money, only paper, people put truth aside and sacrifice their souls to sin. So as for us, if we don’t walk with the truth; there will never be good fruit. You
might know the Word of God by heart or you might know all the important passages but if you don’t put this passage into practise, people won’t see the proof of your faith.
Fourteen years ago there was a man who was very rich. His son finished secondary school and he said when you get your results I will buy you something. The son said there were motorbikes, Suzuki 100cc that were very trendy. I want that because all the young people have them. The father asked, “Is that all that you want? Well I will get it for you, but there is something, I will change your identity, your name will be changed, and you will be called something else”. ‘By your wounds you have been healed’; this is the name the father gave his son. One-day the son’s results came and his father said I am very happy and proud of you. I have never known a son like you. You work very well.
He took a passport and gave it to his son. This passport bore the name ‘by your wound you have been healed’ the son put it in his pocket and said, “I am still waiting”. The father said, “you can go”. “No dad, what about your promise?” The father said, “yes I remember. To ride a bike you have to learn first. Did you learn how to ride a bike?” “Dad it’s not a problem, in 2 days I will be ready”. “Okay my son because you say that I will give it to you”. He took a New Testament and gave it to his son. The child looked at his father and changed his attitude. He took his passport and chucked it on the floor. “What’s that? Lying dad!” He left and slammed the door behind him. His dad let him go. Twenty years later his son got married and had a family. He learnt on the radio that his dad had died. He thought because his dad had died it’s time to go back and get an inheritance. His wife said, “be quick you have to go there, before people start sharing your father’s things, you have to be there”.
When he went home he didn’t go to see the body of his father, all he wanted was the inheritance. When he got there everybody was crying and he said, “where are the documents that he left?” People asked him, “what documents?” He said, “the will”. His mum said if you need a Testament there are two, the Old Testament and the New Testament, which one do you want? He said, “No, the will that my father wrote that is all that I want”.
After the burial the lawyer came. He told the son he could leave the house for it has been given to someone. The son asked, “how could that be, let me go to the bank”. The bank told him his father had 15 million dollars but he had given it to someone else. “But it is me who has to inherit it”. The lawyer asked for his passport. He showed him the passport with his original name of Floyd on it. He said it is not you so you can leave. The son remembered, my father said that my name had changed, I have another name, ‘By your wound you have been healed.’ “Well where is the proof, this is the true name but where is the proof?” Twenty years ago he had thrown away the passport that his father had given him. Where could he find it? He came back home and tried to find it and by chance he found the New Testament and the passport. He started crying. “What did I do against my father?” When he opened the New Testament he saw a key. It was the key to the ignition of the bike that had been bought twenty years ago. But because he had rejected the New Testament he also rejected the bike. It was written clearly that everything had been paid for. He went to the bike company but the company had already closed its doors. He went to the bank with this passport and he was given the money.
That is the way us Christians live today. We always call ourselves Children of God but the name and identity our Lord gave us, do we keep burying it or do we throw it away in front of His eyes? If you are a Christian do you carry the Christian identity with you?
Or do you have the Congolese or French identity? What is your identity? Your identity must always have facts that come with it
Sunday, December 20, 2009
REVIVAL
By Odon Bulamba (16 MAY 2003)
It’s a joy to meet again tonight. It’s a grace that we have that we might be together.
I thought about what happened in my life these last 10 years. One day like this one, my life changed, my life became something new. This day reminds me of something important in my life.
In our everyday life we remember about things that happened, we remember what happened 2 or 3 years ago, so sometimes we have memories. But sometimes we forget the big memories of God, for example if someone shared the gospel with you 2 years ago it’s very easy to forget. But if someone gave you a pair of shoes 2 years ago you remember who gave you these shoes. Why is this? Because sometimes we don’t give God the importance that He has, sometimes we forget that God exists. When we plan our day, every morning we think about what our children will eat and what they are going to do. It’s very easy to say at 9 o’clock I’ll take my son to school and at 3 o’clock I have to pick him up. This is a duty. But when it’s about God it’s rare to say everyday at 8 o’clock I have to pray, although the Bible says pray without ceasing. We remember sometimes to meet God. For us as Christians we are called to live according to the truth and the truth is the Word of God. The truth is Jesus Christ himself, He said I am the way the truth and the life. He also said the Word that you have is the truth, it is John 17:17. Because of that, truth is important in our life.
I meditated a little bit on my life; when you have to go to a court trial, for example, you find a witness who will give an oath to say; I give you the truth and only the truth. When you leave there you go to Christian people and they say only the truth will set you free. If you leave the Christians and go to the politicians they will say I will tell you the truth, the truth is this. When a parent corrects his child he will say; tell me the truth. Because everybody needs truth in his life. When the truth is there, there’s nothing to add to it.
When scientists do research and they find the truth, the research is over. The truth is the last thing of everything. When a journalist interviews someone he says I’m going to go in depth to find the truth. Even people when they argue together they say; what I say is the truth. They are eager to convince people what they think because they think it is the truth. Truth is truth only if it can be proven with facts. If there are no facts coming with this truth then this truth is vain. Why do I say that? Facts are very necessary in Christian life. Suppose I say today that I’m a Christian and the Word of God says Christians must live this way and if for example there are no facts proving that I’m a Christian will I keep saying that I’m a Christian? Suppose a child will say, “I can play a piano”, it’s true his talent won’t be visible on his fingers, but show him a piano and you’ll see.
When Lebon first came here to New Zealand he was only 7 years old but in everything he would say, “I know”. So we had to say prove it. Then he would say, “um, um, um…” We would tell him that if he doesn’t know then he has to learn and that’s the same thing in Christian life. When we say we belong to the truth there will be facts to go with this truth. If your truth were not facts it would be better to stop and see where it’s wrong.
Today we are talking about Revival. Revival is a very important step in Christian life. It works with the truth and the facts that go with the truth. Revival means strength or to find strength or to give strength. The facts around us give strength to our belief. One day when Jesus will be back, our actions will be there to be with us, and each Christian will be there with his acts. That will be the acts that will come with this faith.
If these facts prove that really you didn’t believe you would be one of those that say in the Bible, “Lord, Lord I walked with you”, but are not acknowledged as such. After having learned to glorify God we are going to learn a little bit about the truth and the facts that come with truth, to have a solid basis on revival. Who is a parent or a person who wouldn’t like the truth in their lives? When your child tells a lie, what do you feel in your heart? Do you feel joy or sadness? Sometimes you even feel you might punish this child, because the child has to change and walk in the truth. In front of God we live in the same situation. When for example we lie and say I am a Christian it’s not good for God because your actions don’t prove you are telling the truth when you say you are a Chrisitian. God feels uneasy in his heart and he sends people to teach you how to change your behaviour.
The Bible says a light will never be put under a table. If you want your lamp to lighten the house you have to put it on the table. If you hide this lamp underneath something it is covered. Many Christian’s have known the truth but they prefer to put the truth under the carpet. On Sundays they lift up the carpet and say, “I’m here, Praise the Lord Pastor, God bless you Pastor”. Only on Sundays you will hear their voice. Find them on the road on Mondays and you will see even the way they talk changes. They are evil, but on Sundays they are the first one to praise God.
This week I went to the IRD office in town and I found someone who works there and told him “I have a letter from you”. Because he saw me, maybe my race, I don’t know, he started talking in English I have never heard in my life. When I told him, “what do you say?” He said, “come on!” So I said, “but I have the right to understand what you say, could you at least speak slower and nicer please, because English is my sixth language, so if I talk to you in my 1st language you won’t understand, so please try to be considerate”.
Thank God another man came. He said, “how are you my friend?” I said, “I am all right”. I saw you somewhere, you were talking with other servants of God and I was happy with what you said. The man who first dealt with me looked at me and said, “are you a Christian?” I said, “yes I am”. He said, “oh, ok maybe we’ll talk later”. When this second man left, the 1st man said, “I am a Christian too”. His way of talking changed, he remembered there is a gift of the Holy Spirit that is kindness. He spoke with kindness and I started thinking if this is Christian life, when Jesus will be here nobody will know if it’s Jesus or not because I don’t know what Jesus’ face looks like. So we must put the truth on the table and practise it.
It’s a joy to meet again tonight. It’s a grace that we have that we might be together.
I thought about what happened in my life these last 10 years. One day like this one, my life changed, my life became something new. This day reminds me of something important in my life.
In our everyday life we remember about things that happened, we remember what happened 2 or 3 years ago, so sometimes we have memories. But sometimes we forget the big memories of God, for example if someone shared the gospel with you 2 years ago it’s very easy to forget. But if someone gave you a pair of shoes 2 years ago you remember who gave you these shoes. Why is this? Because sometimes we don’t give God the importance that He has, sometimes we forget that God exists. When we plan our day, every morning we think about what our children will eat and what they are going to do. It’s very easy to say at 9 o’clock I’ll take my son to school and at 3 o’clock I have to pick him up. This is a duty. But when it’s about God it’s rare to say everyday at 8 o’clock I have to pray, although the Bible says pray without ceasing. We remember sometimes to meet God. For us as Christians we are called to live according to the truth and the truth is the Word of God. The truth is Jesus Christ himself, He said I am the way the truth and the life. He also said the Word that you have is the truth, it is John 17:17. Because of that, truth is important in our life.
I meditated a little bit on my life; when you have to go to a court trial, for example, you find a witness who will give an oath to say; I give you the truth and only the truth. When you leave there you go to Christian people and they say only the truth will set you free. If you leave the Christians and go to the politicians they will say I will tell you the truth, the truth is this. When a parent corrects his child he will say; tell me the truth. Because everybody needs truth in his life. When the truth is there, there’s nothing to add to it.
When scientists do research and they find the truth, the research is over. The truth is the last thing of everything. When a journalist interviews someone he says I’m going to go in depth to find the truth. Even people when they argue together they say; what I say is the truth. They are eager to convince people what they think because they think it is the truth. Truth is truth only if it can be proven with facts. If there are no facts coming with this truth then this truth is vain. Why do I say that? Facts are very necessary in Christian life. Suppose I say today that I’m a Christian and the Word of God says Christians must live this way and if for example there are no facts proving that I’m a Christian will I keep saying that I’m a Christian? Suppose a child will say, “I can play a piano”, it’s true his talent won’t be visible on his fingers, but show him a piano and you’ll see.
When Lebon first came here to New Zealand he was only 7 years old but in everything he would say, “I know”. So we had to say prove it. Then he would say, “um, um, um…” We would tell him that if he doesn’t know then he has to learn and that’s the same thing in Christian life. When we say we belong to the truth there will be facts to go with this truth. If your truth were not facts it would be better to stop and see where it’s wrong.
Today we are talking about Revival. Revival is a very important step in Christian life. It works with the truth and the facts that go with the truth. Revival means strength or to find strength or to give strength. The facts around us give strength to our belief. One day when Jesus will be back, our actions will be there to be with us, and each Christian will be there with his acts. That will be the acts that will come with this faith.
If these facts prove that really you didn’t believe you would be one of those that say in the Bible, “Lord, Lord I walked with you”, but are not acknowledged as such. After having learned to glorify God we are going to learn a little bit about the truth and the facts that come with truth, to have a solid basis on revival. Who is a parent or a person who wouldn’t like the truth in their lives? When your child tells a lie, what do you feel in your heart? Do you feel joy or sadness? Sometimes you even feel you might punish this child, because the child has to change and walk in the truth. In front of God we live in the same situation. When for example we lie and say I am a Christian it’s not good for God because your actions don’t prove you are telling the truth when you say you are a Chrisitian. God feels uneasy in his heart and he sends people to teach you how to change your behaviour.
The Bible says a light will never be put under a table. If you want your lamp to lighten the house you have to put it on the table. If you hide this lamp underneath something it is covered. Many Christian’s have known the truth but they prefer to put the truth under the carpet. On Sundays they lift up the carpet and say, “I’m here, Praise the Lord Pastor, God bless you Pastor”. Only on Sundays you will hear their voice. Find them on the road on Mondays and you will see even the way they talk changes. They are evil, but on Sundays they are the first one to praise God.
This week I went to the IRD office in town and I found someone who works there and told him “I have a letter from you”. Because he saw me, maybe my race, I don’t know, he started talking in English I have never heard in my life. When I told him, “what do you say?” He said, “come on!” So I said, “but I have the right to understand what you say, could you at least speak slower and nicer please, because English is my sixth language, so if I talk to you in my 1st language you won’t understand, so please try to be considerate”.
Thank God another man came. He said, “how are you my friend?” I said, “I am all right”. I saw you somewhere, you were talking with other servants of God and I was happy with what you said. The man who first dealt with me looked at me and said, “are you a Christian?” I said, “yes I am”. He said, “oh, ok maybe we’ll talk later”. When this second man left, the 1st man said, “I am a Christian too”. His way of talking changed, he remembered there is a gift of the Holy Spirit that is kindness. He spoke with kindness and I started thinking if this is Christian life, when Jesus will be here nobody will know if it’s Jesus or not because I don’t know what Jesus’ face looks like. So we must put the truth on the table and practise it.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
