By Odon Bulamba (2 March 2001)
Exodus 12:8, that same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs and bread without yeast.
We must eat the meat and bread with bitter herbs. Jesus Christ is the bread of life, (John). When we read the word we must not read it with yeast. When we read the word, don’t just eat it to enjoy the taste, but eat it with bitter herbs. It means that we have to assess things and before doing anything for God we must meditate on our life.
How many times have you reacted against someone? How many times were you a stumbling block for someone? You must feel this bitterness in your heart and say, “Who am I to read God’s word if I have a problem with someone, I’ve done this before, so how can I carry on Lord”? If you humiliate yourself before God He will heal your soul, then you will eat meat and bread without yeast.
Many Christians today want to eat this meat and bread without the bitter herbs. Their desire is to go to church and be seen by others. Esau lost his birthright because he didn’t consider the value of his soul. He thought, “I was born first so how can I go back to my mother’s womb?” When Esau became hungry he lost his patience. His brother, who had a plan from birth wanted Esau’s birthright. Jacob said, “I will give you something to eat if you give me your birthright”.
God doesn’t want His children to despise their second birth because He has chosen you and it breaks His heart when you are ungrateful. God puts you first but you put Him second. God puts you in a church to teach others who He is, but you say, “I’ll take one thing at a time because I need time for my own life”. If the Lord says to you to change and you don’t, He will remove your lamp stand. This will bring shame to you.
Revelation 2:6 but you have this in your favour: You hate the practices of Nicolaitians, which I also hate.
Nicolaitians is a Greek word. It means to change what is religious. God uses people to lead others. When people learn from others they take with them what they have learnt. There are also people who help others grow, but there are also those who accept the principles of the Nicolaitians.
It means that when a person is learning to be a Christian, he or she can accept to be taught by the world. This is what we call the moderate Christian. They say to be a Christian doesn’t mean to be a slave, for God has set me free. God gave me teeth to crush bones, God gave me hands to fight others and God gave me a mouth so that I can lie, if God gave me a mouth then why doesn’t He accept the things, which come from it. The principles of the Nicolaitians came into the church. Fortunately the church had discernment and knew the system of the Nicolaitians.
Revelation 2:7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the spirit says to the churches.
Many Christians have ears but don’t want to hear what the Spirit says. Jesus said to the Pharisees, “You have ears but don’t listen, so woe to you because you don’t understand what is happening”.
Let’s open our ears to listen to what the Spirit has to tell us. There are Christians who live like the Christians in Ephesus. If you find that you are a member of this church and you’ve made an effort to please God and if God has talked to you about what has been mentioned in these verses, don’t hesitate to confess before going to bed. Come close to God and confess, then change your attitude.
To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
Those who overcome have the right to eat this fruit. It means that in the church you have two groups, those who have victory and those who don’t. So let’s keep in mind this question, am I keeping my first love? Will I keep this first love I had for Oscar at the beginning? If not, try and find the tools to fix it. If you don’t love Oscar you can’t love God. Even if Oscar is my enemy I have to love him and pray for him. Look for this first love, do not be a member of this church like many Christians are today. You may think you belong to an Anglican or Baptist church, but if you are not listening to the Spirit of God and you are not producing fruit; really you belong to the church of Ephesus. Remember this.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Revelations Chapter Two (Part I)
By Odon Bulamba (2 March 2001)
Revelation 2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: these are the words of Him who holds the 7 stars in His right hand and walks among the 7 golden lamp stands says this:
This letter was written to the church of Ephesus. Ephesus means to keep your first love. John the Pastor of this church was given this message to inform everyone about the Lord’s return. As God does with all the churches on earth, if there is a problem or something is not right, God doesn’t hesitate to talk. If God talks it is only to improve the way of that church.
An angel wrote this letter to the church of Ephesus and said, “It is not me, but the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven lamp stands”. Jesus said, “I know your deeds”. It tells us that God knows everything we do on this earth and nothing is hidden. Whatever you do under the water or under the stars, He can see everything. God also mentions positive things about the church of Ephesus. God said, “I know what you have done for Me and not the for the devil’s good, I am thankful for what you do”.
This is a message of encouragement. Many Christians don’t acknowledge what people do for them. God wants us to acknowledge those we live with and to acknowledge what they do for us.
“I know the hardship you are going through”. These people use to work hard for God’s glory; they were not afraid to suffer for God’s glory and accepted to be humiliated so that God’s name would be lifted high.
How many times do we suffer for others? How many times do we give our lives for others? How many times do we sacrifice our own interests for others? The Bible says that, “It is impossible to love God if you don’t love the one next to you”. You must love your neighbour as you love your own soul. A soul has great value in God’s eyes and nothing on earth has a higher value than a soul. As Jesus said, “What would you profit if you were to gain the whole world but lose your soul?”
Today many Christians sacrifice their souls to win bread. A Christian can sacrifice their soul to win money.
God acknowledged the patience of the Ephesus church. Patience is very useful for Christian life. If you are not patient it will be hard for you to humiliate yourself in a given situation. It is difficult to carry on in Christian life if you are not patience. Remember when Jesus was arrested. Jesus was tortured and suffered a lot but He did not complain or answer back, even at the end He said, “God, forgive them”. Who can suffer this way and forgive after it? Jesus was abused everywhere He went. Jesus did well to people but He received evil in return. God wants us to show Him our patience. He needs to see our patience in everything we do.
Remember Jacob and Esau. These two men were twins born at the same minute. Their father was holy and their mother was holy. They lived in the same womb until they were born. They were educated Christians and served God according to His will.
Esau use to work harder than Jacob. Esau showed people he was a hard worker. He hunted in the forest, he could go to the mountains and find food, but Jacob was always at home with his mum in the kitchen. Maybe Jacob was a lazy person. In Africa there are some cultures that forbid a man to go into the kitchen and can even be fined. If I compare this with Jacob’s life everybody in Africa will hate him.
Jacob had a reason to be in the kitchen. Although people talked against him, although he was weak physically, the one thing Jacob wanted was Esau’s birthright. Jacob wanted to be born first. As a church today we cannot live and show people that we are good if we are not born again.
We need to have this birthright in our lives in Jesus Christ. You can work for 1000 years and do whatever you can on earth, but if you haven’t had the second birth your work is useless before God. This is why God said to the church of Ephesus, “I know everything you do, you have made an effort to please Me, you have worked hard to please Me and you have had patience through your suffering, but I am going to tell you something. The way you have discernment to know true and false apostles I the Lord of eternal life will teach you something so that you will know yourself”.
Everybody in this church was probably surprised when God said this, “how can God tell us this, we have the spirit of discernment, we can discern evil people among us, we have done everything for God’s glory, so why does God say this?” So they wondered among themselves thinking of what was happening as Jesus’ disciples did. “Is it I”? Everybody wanted to know who was guilty. Jesus said, “People just want to hear positive things, so I’m going to give them something written in Revelation 2:4. “I hold this against you, that you have left your first love, it is true that you have suffered because of me and I acknowledge that you were not discouraged, but you have lost you first love.”
This is the meaning of Ephesus. We must keep our first love. When people get married and can’t see their loved ones it becomes a problem. However, after living with one another for 5 or 10 years things start to change. This love starts getting old. They forget that God Himself is love and that God never gets old. It means that love should never grow old because love is eternal.
(Example) When Michael and Sylvie were first married, they used to see each other 10 times per day. Now Michael stays at work for two weeks without seeing Sylvie. This is how people make love under felt, at the beginning love is strong, but over time it loses its strength.
This is what happened with the church of Ephesus. When you are a new Christian you are always willing to read the Bible, pray and be with God’s servants so that you can give glory to God, but after a time you lose interest.
People in Ephesus would make excuses before John their Pastor hoping that John would tell God about their problems. People made God’s love become old. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says that, “love is patient". Because these people lost their first love for God, patience was lost as well. Kindness also was not among them anymore because kindness is a part of love. Without these fruits envy becomes a problem and with envy comes pride. People were doing shameful things before God. They became selfish and unforgiving Christians.
Christians rejoice when someone has a problem, but when the truth is spoken everybody loses their joy. With time the church of Ephesus started losing their faith and hope. They started losing God. Even though they continued with God’s program, (praying for example), love was not with them. God says that, “if I let My people carry on this way, I will lose them completely, this is why I am telling you because you need that first love, remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first, if you do not repent I will come to you and remove the lamp stand from its place”.
Christians today find it hard to know where they have fallen; they always want to be right. A Pastor or great Prophet today cannot accept to kneel down and repent before the church. To go before a child and confess is a problem. If you go to God only for forgiveness and not the child you offended; God won’t listen to you.
The Bible says that, “if you have a problem with someone and you want to give an offering to God, first, go and make peace with that person, then give your offering. If we are in sin God will refuse it. This is why we should meditate on our day to know where we have fallen and repent.
After each discussion, after each action, assess what you have done to know where you have fallen. Then we must change. Once you have acknowledged that you have done something wrong it must touch your heart. Nothing is higher than forgiveness and nothing is higher then humility. When you know how to humiliate yourself and know the secret of forgiveness, you’ll be a great Christian.
Revelation 2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: these are the words of Him who holds the 7 stars in His right hand and walks among the 7 golden lamp stands says this:
This letter was written to the church of Ephesus. Ephesus means to keep your first love. John the Pastor of this church was given this message to inform everyone about the Lord’s return. As God does with all the churches on earth, if there is a problem or something is not right, God doesn’t hesitate to talk. If God talks it is only to improve the way of that church.
An angel wrote this letter to the church of Ephesus and said, “It is not me, but the One who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven lamp stands”. Jesus said, “I know your deeds”. It tells us that God knows everything we do on this earth and nothing is hidden. Whatever you do under the water or under the stars, He can see everything. God also mentions positive things about the church of Ephesus. God said, “I know what you have done for Me and not the for the devil’s good, I am thankful for what you do”.
This is a message of encouragement. Many Christians don’t acknowledge what people do for them. God wants us to acknowledge those we live with and to acknowledge what they do for us.
“I know the hardship you are going through”. These people use to work hard for God’s glory; they were not afraid to suffer for God’s glory and accepted to be humiliated so that God’s name would be lifted high.
How many times do we suffer for others? How many times do we give our lives for others? How many times do we sacrifice our own interests for others? The Bible says that, “It is impossible to love God if you don’t love the one next to you”. You must love your neighbour as you love your own soul. A soul has great value in God’s eyes and nothing on earth has a higher value than a soul. As Jesus said, “What would you profit if you were to gain the whole world but lose your soul?”
Today many Christians sacrifice their souls to win bread. A Christian can sacrifice their soul to win money.
God acknowledged the patience of the Ephesus church. Patience is very useful for Christian life. If you are not patient it will be hard for you to humiliate yourself in a given situation. It is difficult to carry on in Christian life if you are not patience. Remember when Jesus was arrested. Jesus was tortured and suffered a lot but He did not complain or answer back, even at the end He said, “God, forgive them”. Who can suffer this way and forgive after it? Jesus was abused everywhere He went. Jesus did well to people but He received evil in return. God wants us to show Him our patience. He needs to see our patience in everything we do.
Remember Jacob and Esau. These two men were twins born at the same minute. Their father was holy and their mother was holy. They lived in the same womb until they were born. They were educated Christians and served God according to His will.
Esau use to work harder than Jacob. Esau showed people he was a hard worker. He hunted in the forest, he could go to the mountains and find food, but Jacob was always at home with his mum in the kitchen. Maybe Jacob was a lazy person. In Africa there are some cultures that forbid a man to go into the kitchen and can even be fined. If I compare this with Jacob’s life everybody in Africa will hate him.
Jacob had a reason to be in the kitchen. Although people talked against him, although he was weak physically, the one thing Jacob wanted was Esau’s birthright. Jacob wanted to be born first. As a church today we cannot live and show people that we are good if we are not born again.
We need to have this birthright in our lives in Jesus Christ. You can work for 1000 years and do whatever you can on earth, but if you haven’t had the second birth your work is useless before God. This is why God said to the church of Ephesus, “I know everything you do, you have made an effort to please Me, you have worked hard to please Me and you have had patience through your suffering, but I am going to tell you something. The way you have discernment to know true and false apostles I the Lord of eternal life will teach you something so that you will know yourself”.
Everybody in this church was probably surprised when God said this, “how can God tell us this, we have the spirit of discernment, we can discern evil people among us, we have done everything for God’s glory, so why does God say this?” So they wondered among themselves thinking of what was happening as Jesus’ disciples did. “Is it I”? Everybody wanted to know who was guilty. Jesus said, “People just want to hear positive things, so I’m going to give them something written in Revelation 2:4. “I hold this against you, that you have left your first love, it is true that you have suffered because of me and I acknowledge that you were not discouraged, but you have lost you first love.”
This is the meaning of Ephesus. We must keep our first love. When people get married and can’t see their loved ones it becomes a problem. However, after living with one another for 5 or 10 years things start to change. This love starts getting old. They forget that God Himself is love and that God never gets old. It means that love should never grow old because love is eternal.
(Example) When Michael and Sylvie were first married, they used to see each other 10 times per day. Now Michael stays at work for two weeks without seeing Sylvie. This is how people make love under felt, at the beginning love is strong, but over time it loses its strength.
This is what happened with the church of Ephesus. When you are a new Christian you are always willing to read the Bible, pray and be with God’s servants so that you can give glory to God, but after a time you lose interest.
People in Ephesus would make excuses before John their Pastor hoping that John would tell God about their problems. People made God’s love become old. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says that, “love is patient". Because these people lost their first love for God, patience was lost as well. Kindness also was not among them anymore because kindness is a part of love. Without these fruits envy becomes a problem and with envy comes pride. People were doing shameful things before God. They became selfish and unforgiving Christians.
Christians rejoice when someone has a problem, but when the truth is spoken everybody loses their joy. With time the church of Ephesus started losing their faith and hope. They started losing God. Even though they continued with God’s program, (praying for example), love was not with them. God says that, “if I let My people carry on this way, I will lose them completely, this is why I am telling you because you need that first love, remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first, if you do not repent I will come to you and remove the lamp stand from its place”.
Christians today find it hard to know where they have fallen; they always want to be right. A Pastor or great Prophet today cannot accept to kneel down and repent before the church. To go before a child and confess is a problem. If you go to God only for forgiveness and not the child you offended; God won’t listen to you.
The Bible says that, “if you have a problem with someone and you want to give an offering to God, first, go and make peace with that person, then give your offering. If we are in sin God will refuse it. This is why we should meditate on our day to know where we have fallen and repent.
After each discussion, after each action, assess what you have done to know where you have fallen. Then we must change. Once you have acknowledged that you have done something wrong it must touch your heart. Nothing is higher than forgiveness and nothing is higher then humility. When you know how to humiliate yourself and know the secret of forgiveness, you’ll be a great Christian.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Love Your Enemies and Pray
By Hayley Boud
Mathew 5:43-46, “You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy’ but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those you love you, what reward to you have? Don’t the tax-gatherers [non-christians] do the same?
Love your enemy? Who is your enemy? I don’t really feel like I have enemies. That is such a harsh word, I don’t really think I have enemies but I think that any person can at different points be an enemy to us when they do/say things that push us to sin. This can include our children, our husband/wife, our friends, our parents, our work mates. We love these people, we don’t hate them but from time to time they annoy us, or disturb us, or offend us, or disrespect us or don’t understand us. This makes us feel in our hearts (even just for a moment) that they are our enemies.
They are our spiritual enemy because they are pushing us to sin, to become angry or jealous or to complain but we have to remember in that moment that we must love them and we must pray for them. It’s important not to give in to that temptation to have negative thoughts or to complain or to become angry, even when they are pushing you to the limit.
The Bible is clear, we must pray for THEM. Usually when someone is disturbing me I pray for myself, “help me God not to sin, or help me to love them, or help me to not be sad/ angry etc” or if I do pray for them it’s so I can have some kind of justice or satisfaction. For example, “God, help him/her to understand how he/she is disturbing me” instead of praying genuinely for the person, “God, help him to feel your love, your peace, your joy, fill them with your mercy, your grace, your love, give to them everything they need.....” Praying for THEM will take your mind off yourself! Think deeply about what that person needs and remember that God likes to bring sun and rain on all of His children so pray for God to bless them.
Luke 6:27,28 But I say to you hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you
When somebody does something or says something that curses you, don’t curse them back but bless them. If your husband is home late for dinner, don’t curse him, “where have you been?” but bless him, “hello darling, how are you? I’ve missed you, I’m so happy to see you, what happened to make you so late, are you ok?”
When someone does something that disturbs you pray for them, pray for blessings. Don’t pray for revenge as we are sometimes tempted to do but pray for their protection, for God’s help over them. Bless them with prayers and bless them with your kind voice, don’t curse them with your harsh tone. If they talk to you harshly, don’t talk harshly back but talk with a voice full of blessings.
John 15:12,13, This is my commandment that you love one another, just as I have loved you. No greater love than this that one lay down his life for another
We are commanded to love each other, it’s not a choice and that means loving people even when they are not lovable, the same way Christ loves us. Christ loved us when we didn’t love him, when we didn’t respect him, when we betrayed him, cursed Him, dishonoured Him. We must continue to love others even when they don’t love us, or don’t respect us, or betray us, or curse us, or dishonour us or push us to hate them.
Laying down your life for someone doesn’t necessarily mean dying physically but can also mean dying to ourselves, our flesh, our own desires, our plans, our pride, our fears, our own needs and our need to be right or to win the argument. So loving others will mean putting our needs aside, just as Christ did. He left heaven where he was quite happy and He left His pride behind and humbled himself. He left His glory behind and accepted to die for people who didn’t appreciate it, didn’t care, didn’t even want to know. We also must lay down our own desires, plans, pride, fears, needs and comforts.
Romans 12:9, Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor evil, cling to what is good.
Our love must be genuine, not just pretend or acting. It’s not always easy, I know sometimes I pretend that I love someone but really I don’t even like them. But that’s when I pray for true genuine love for that person and it helps when I also pray for them genuinely, it makes me put myself in their shoes and understand them better and it helps me to love them sincerely.
We have to abhor what is evil which is sin. We have to hate the sin that people do but never hate the actual person. Everybody sins and we have to remember that the sins that they have done, those sins are to be abhorred but not the person who did the sins.
We have to cling to what is good. When God created the earth He said, “it is good” and that included us. He loves us and considers us as good in His eyes but not our sin. He detests our sin but He loves US and clings to US. We must do the same for others. Hate what they do but love them, cling to them, no matter what they do.
Mathew 22:35-39, And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? And He said to Him, “You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbour as yourself.
If we love our God and our neighbour as ourselves everything just falls into place.
First love God with everything that you have.
With all your heart = with all your emotions, with every feeling that you have – feel it.
With all your soul = with everything that you are, with all your personality, with all your life, all your desires.
With all your mind = all your thoughts. If we love God like that, then living with others is easier because we are convinced we are living in a right way with God and others. If we love God with everything we have, we don’t have anything left for ourselves so we become less selfish and less self-centred. If we love God enough to give our entire life to Him then we won’t really care when people abuse us, or annoy us, or disappoint us ‘cos our life belongs to Christ. If we give all our thoughts to Christ, then we won’t have negative thoughts when people do things or say things. If our thoughts are on God and His Kingdom then we won’t hate anyone or be jealous or angry or react in a wrong way.
If we love others as we love ourselves then this world would be a very nice place to live. Whatever I love for myself, I will do for others and whatever I hate for myself, I will NEVER do for others. If I like to eat, then so do those around me, so when I prepare myself something to eat, I should think of also preparing food for others.
Usually wives are good at preparing dinner for their husbands but they forget about breakfast, the husband has to get his own. The wife loves herself enough to make her breakfast so she should love her husband in the same way and also prepare his breakfast. Husbands also can remember that.
Whatever you would do for yourself because you love yourself, do for others. But don’t expect that it must be done back to you. Just do it ‘cos you love and for no other reason. Not to be thanked, or praised or recognised or rewarded but simply ‘cos you love that person as much as you love yourself.
From your example others will learn. E.g. my dad now can say “I love you”. My flatmates from when I was 18 have learnt to share ‘cos I started to share with them.
It’s easy to think how to love someone in that context ‘cos we all love ourselves. We all know how to take care of ourselves. Nobody here will choose not to eat for a week, or choose not to shower for a month, or choose not wear clothes or put on a jersey when it’s cold. We all know how to love ourselves.
I Cor 16:14, Let all that you do be done in love
That means EVERYTHING we do must be done with and in love. Is everything I do out of love for others or out of love for myself? Usually we love ourselves most of the time and are completely unaware that we do it.
E.g. a wife wants to study but the husband knows he will have less money and will have to help more with the children so he thinks of how much this will not be good for him rather than thinking of his wife.
E.g. a work mate tells you they are sick and you think, ‘oh, no, I will have to work in the weekend’ instead of thinking how hard it must be for your workmate to be sick.
E.g. a husband wants to go on holiday with his mates but the wife thinks how hard it will be for her to be at home by herself rather than thinking how her husband will enjoy.
E.g. your friend tells you excitedly he/she is getting married and you think how things will change for you rather than for her/him.
E.g. your flatmate tells you they are going overseas and you think about what you will do rather than being happy for them.
Often we also pray for others in that same light. Thinking of the benefit to me rather than that person. E.g. I used to pray mum would stop smoking so I would benefit rather than caring about her health.
These are all natural responses but they show that we love ourselves more than others sometimes. So everything we do must prove we love others more than ourselves and everything we do must be done in love. God loved us so much that He gave His only Son, He was not selfish, He thought of us first.
John 13:34,35, A new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you....by this all men will know that you are my disciples
If we were to love others in the same way that Christ loved us, then we would be really different to the world and it would be obvious and a testimony to ALL – including people who we think are impossible to touch. When we don’t argue, or discuss or talk rudely but we are kind or peaceful or helpful or welcoming or servant- like, people notice.
How does Christ love us? Example: lady from England who is very wealthy and each year she rescues thousands of slaves in Sudan. She spends thousands of dollars for people she has never met, plus her time and her comfort. As she is very wealthy she could spend her time enjoying life back in the UK, enjoying her $ but because of love, she leaves her warm/cool house with hot/cold running water and her servants and she takes off her fine clothes and jewellery and puts on simple clothes and goes to a country full of sickness, sand, heat, corruption, smells, hunger, thirst, poverty and gives away her money to corrupt slavers to save people she’s never met.
Just like JC: He did that for us. He took off His glory and left His comfy heaven to live on earth with us. He left His place of honor with servants, with joy, with riches, with peace, and came to earth with sickness, corruption, poverty etc and gave His life for us slaves. We didn’t deserve it or even ask for it, but He just came because of LOVE.
When we pray for others we do the same. We leave our house, our comforts, and we give up our time (we could be studying/relaxing) our money (we could be working, we spend petrol, food etc to be together to pray) and we choose to go to another country – we are putting ourselves in the shoes of others. Jesus came as a man putting himself in our shoes and that lady comes to Sudan as a simple woman putting herself in the shoes of the poor and when we pray for others we are putting ourselves in the shoes of that person. We have to ask ourselves, how does it feel to be that person? We have to put ourselves in their shoes because of love.
Mathew 5:43-46, “You have heard that it was said, ‘you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy’ but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those you love you, what reward to you have? Don’t the tax-gatherers [non-christians] do the same?
Love your enemy? Who is your enemy? I don’t really feel like I have enemies. That is such a harsh word, I don’t really think I have enemies but I think that any person can at different points be an enemy to us when they do/say things that push us to sin. This can include our children, our husband/wife, our friends, our parents, our work mates. We love these people, we don’t hate them but from time to time they annoy us, or disturb us, or offend us, or disrespect us or don’t understand us. This makes us feel in our hearts (even just for a moment) that they are our enemies.
They are our spiritual enemy because they are pushing us to sin, to become angry or jealous or to complain but we have to remember in that moment that we must love them and we must pray for them. It’s important not to give in to that temptation to have negative thoughts or to complain or to become angry, even when they are pushing you to the limit.
The Bible is clear, we must pray for THEM. Usually when someone is disturbing me I pray for myself, “help me God not to sin, or help me to love them, or help me to not be sad/ angry etc” or if I do pray for them it’s so I can have some kind of justice or satisfaction. For example, “God, help him/her to understand how he/she is disturbing me” instead of praying genuinely for the person, “God, help him to feel your love, your peace, your joy, fill them with your mercy, your grace, your love, give to them everything they need.....” Praying for THEM will take your mind off yourself! Think deeply about what that person needs and remember that God likes to bring sun and rain on all of His children so pray for God to bless them.
Luke 6:27,28 But I say to you hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you
When somebody does something or says something that curses you, don’t curse them back but bless them. If your husband is home late for dinner, don’t curse him, “where have you been?” but bless him, “hello darling, how are you? I’ve missed you, I’m so happy to see you, what happened to make you so late, are you ok?”
When someone does something that disturbs you pray for them, pray for blessings. Don’t pray for revenge as we are sometimes tempted to do but pray for their protection, for God’s help over them. Bless them with prayers and bless them with your kind voice, don’t curse them with your harsh tone. If they talk to you harshly, don’t talk harshly back but talk with a voice full of blessings.
John 15:12,13, This is my commandment that you love one another, just as I have loved you. No greater love than this that one lay down his life for another
We are commanded to love each other, it’s not a choice and that means loving people even when they are not lovable, the same way Christ loves us. Christ loved us when we didn’t love him, when we didn’t respect him, when we betrayed him, cursed Him, dishonoured Him. We must continue to love others even when they don’t love us, or don’t respect us, or betray us, or curse us, or dishonour us or push us to hate them.
Laying down your life for someone doesn’t necessarily mean dying physically but can also mean dying to ourselves, our flesh, our own desires, our plans, our pride, our fears, our own needs and our need to be right or to win the argument. So loving others will mean putting our needs aside, just as Christ did. He left heaven where he was quite happy and He left His pride behind and humbled himself. He left His glory behind and accepted to die for people who didn’t appreciate it, didn’t care, didn’t even want to know. We also must lay down our own desires, plans, pride, fears, needs and comforts.
Romans 12:9, Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor evil, cling to what is good.
Our love must be genuine, not just pretend or acting. It’s not always easy, I know sometimes I pretend that I love someone but really I don’t even like them. But that’s when I pray for true genuine love for that person and it helps when I also pray for them genuinely, it makes me put myself in their shoes and understand them better and it helps me to love them sincerely.
We have to abhor what is evil which is sin. We have to hate the sin that people do but never hate the actual person. Everybody sins and we have to remember that the sins that they have done, those sins are to be abhorred but not the person who did the sins.
We have to cling to what is good. When God created the earth He said, “it is good” and that included us. He loves us and considers us as good in His eyes but not our sin. He detests our sin but He loves US and clings to US. We must do the same for others. Hate what they do but love them, cling to them, no matter what they do.
Mathew 22:35-39, And one of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? And He said to Him, “You shall love the Lord Your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, you shall love your neighbour as yourself.
If we love our God and our neighbour as ourselves everything just falls into place.
First love God with everything that you have.
With all your heart = with all your emotions, with every feeling that you have – feel it.
With all your soul = with everything that you are, with all your personality, with all your life, all your desires.
With all your mind = all your thoughts. If we love God like that, then living with others is easier because we are convinced we are living in a right way with God and others. If we love God with everything we have, we don’t have anything left for ourselves so we become less selfish and less self-centred. If we love God enough to give our entire life to Him then we won’t really care when people abuse us, or annoy us, or disappoint us ‘cos our life belongs to Christ. If we give all our thoughts to Christ, then we won’t have negative thoughts when people do things or say things. If our thoughts are on God and His Kingdom then we won’t hate anyone or be jealous or angry or react in a wrong way.
If we love others as we love ourselves then this world would be a very nice place to live. Whatever I love for myself, I will do for others and whatever I hate for myself, I will NEVER do for others. If I like to eat, then so do those around me, so when I prepare myself something to eat, I should think of also preparing food for others.
Usually wives are good at preparing dinner for their husbands but they forget about breakfast, the husband has to get his own. The wife loves herself enough to make her breakfast so she should love her husband in the same way and also prepare his breakfast. Husbands also can remember that.
Whatever you would do for yourself because you love yourself, do for others. But don’t expect that it must be done back to you. Just do it ‘cos you love and for no other reason. Not to be thanked, or praised or recognised or rewarded but simply ‘cos you love that person as much as you love yourself.
From your example others will learn. E.g. my dad now can say “I love you”. My flatmates from when I was 18 have learnt to share ‘cos I started to share with them.
It’s easy to think how to love someone in that context ‘cos we all love ourselves. We all know how to take care of ourselves. Nobody here will choose not to eat for a week, or choose not to shower for a month, or choose not wear clothes or put on a jersey when it’s cold. We all know how to love ourselves.
I Cor 16:14, Let all that you do be done in love
That means EVERYTHING we do must be done with and in love. Is everything I do out of love for others or out of love for myself? Usually we love ourselves most of the time and are completely unaware that we do it.
E.g. a wife wants to study but the husband knows he will have less money and will have to help more with the children so he thinks of how much this will not be good for him rather than thinking of his wife.
E.g. a work mate tells you they are sick and you think, ‘oh, no, I will have to work in the weekend’ instead of thinking how hard it must be for your workmate to be sick.
E.g. a husband wants to go on holiday with his mates but the wife thinks how hard it will be for her to be at home by herself rather than thinking how her husband will enjoy.
E.g. your friend tells you excitedly he/she is getting married and you think how things will change for you rather than for her/him.
E.g. your flatmate tells you they are going overseas and you think about what you will do rather than being happy for them.
Often we also pray for others in that same light. Thinking of the benefit to me rather than that person. E.g. I used to pray mum would stop smoking so I would benefit rather than caring about her health.
These are all natural responses but they show that we love ourselves more than others sometimes. So everything we do must prove we love others more than ourselves and everything we do must be done in love. God loved us so much that He gave His only Son, He was not selfish, He thought of us first.
John 13:34,35, A new commandment I give to you that you love one another as I have loved you....by this all men will know that you are my disciples
If we were to love others in the same way that Christ loved us, then we would be really different to the world and it would be obvious and a testimony to ALL – including people who we think are impossible to touch. When we don’t argue, or discuss or talk rudely but we are kind or peaceful or helpful or welcoming or servant- like, people notice.
How does Christ love us? Example: lady from England who is very wealthy and each year she rescues thousands of slaves in Sudan. She spends thousands of dollars for people she has never met, plus her time and her comfort. As she is very wealthy she could spend her time enjoying life back in the UK, enjoying her $ but because of love, she leaves her warm/cool house with hot/cold running water and her servants and she takes off her fine clothes and jewellery and puts on simple clothes and goes to a country full of sickness, sand, heat, corruption, smells, hunger, thirst, poverty and gives away her money to corrupt slavers to save people she’s never met.
Just like JC: He did that for us. He took off His glory and left His comfy heaven to live on earth with us. He left His place of honor with servants, with joy, with riches, with peace, and came to earth with sickness, corruption, poverty etc and gave His life for us slaves. We didn’t deserve it or even ask for it, but He just came because of LOVE.
When we pray for others we do the same. We leave our house, our comforts, and we give up our time (we could be studying/relaxing) our money (we could be working, we spend petrol, food etc to be together to pray) and we choose to go to another country – we are putting ourselves in the shoes of others. Jesus came as a man putting himself in our shoes and that lady comes to Sudan as a simple woman putting herself in the shoes of the poor and when we pray for others we are putting ourselves in the shoes of that person. We have to ask ourselves, how does it feel to be that person? We have to put ourselves in their shoes because of love.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Revelations Chapter One (Part VI)
By Odon Bulamba (23rd Feb 01)
Revelation 1:15, His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.
What do the feet represent in the church of God? What do you do with your feet? Your feet are the foundation for your life. They help you to walk, run, work and play, so feet are essential for life. If you lose your balance your feet are there to help you stand up. When you have a foundation in Jesus Christ you must shine because we are all members of His body, but first we must know where our foundation is?
His voice was like the sound of many waters. This means that when He speaks everybody will listen. Jesus said, “Before I come back, everybody will hear the good news and that the whole world will know the gospel. To know it or not, you will know the name of Jesus. You will hear the sound of many waters even if you are miles away.
When the first church started the fruits they produced were original because it came from God. People were filled with the Holy Spirit and would sing, perform miracles and do just about anything. This is written in the book of Acts. After this the revolution started. People stopped singing for joy because the satanic revolution began. Those who still sung for joy were separated and then people started abusing them, “he is shouting like an animal in the forest”! We cannot live this way we must respect everyone.
Little by little another group will say, “there are too many halleluiahs and it’s giving me a headache, stop that shouting! In our church we must be polite and respectful, so you are not welcome here anymore, get out of our church”. Churches separate because of physical reasons and then man starts making rules. “Oscar is speaking in tongues which is from the devil”. The Pastor will tell Oscar to stop otherwise he will not come back to this church. However if Oscar’s offering is a large sum the Pastor will tell him to be quiet. This is how servants of God quench the Holy Spirit; they have left the foundation that was the feet of Jesus. It’s like cutting your nails; you cannot put them back. That is why there are so many denominations whose foundation is not in the word of God, so they resort to theories.
Revelation 1:16, In His right hand He held 7 stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword: and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
The Bible says that this person held 7 stars in his right hand and a two-edged sword came out of his Mouth and His face was shining like the sun. We know God created stars. If you are called a star people want to know you. You are only human but have been given values over others because of what you are doing.
Jesus had 7 stars in His right hand. They give off a small light to enlighten the world. Jesus said that, ‘if you have faith as big a mustard seed that is enough”. Jesus put the stars in His right hand to protect them, but a double-edged sword came from His mouth.
As you know in the book of Hebrew it talks about this double-edged sword.
Hebrews 4:12, for the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged Sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrows, and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The word of God is living and is sharper than any other two-edged sword. Its role is to separate soul and spirit. Its role can be to separate body and spirit. This came out of Jesus’ mouth. You must know how to separate your body from your spirit. Some people live as Christians but mix their Christianity with the world. They neglect the soul by mixing it with the flesh. You must separate the two.
His face was like the sun shining in its strength. This is a picture of the Old Testament with Moses. Try to be the light for others and know what kind of fuel and tank to use. If you use up all your oil that’s your problem, but try to have a lot of oil stored that comes from the Lord. If you sow a seed of corn today make sure you reap corn. Jesus saw the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. On the day of harvest the same events will happen as in Pentecost. If 3000 people were saved, at the end there will also be a big number. If ten people were speaking in tongues that day, the crop will be great. Many people don’t accept the gifts the first church had, but this is what we need to have on the day of harvest.
Beans have different colours. If you plant a red bean you will reap a red bean. If they are white beans, then you will reap white beans. Although the beans spend many days in the field the day of harvest will be the same. You will never say, “I planted white beans to reap yellow beans”. This is the confusion in the church today. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit but now the church wants to use their own rules and standards. People want to correct what God did by taking away things and adding more to it. Who are you to correct God? Who are you to think that what God has done is not good? That is why on that day the truth will be revealed and when Jesus’ mouth will be opened, it will be like a double-edged sword and a sword can cut on both sides. If I use the word of God on Oscar, it will come also on me.
Revelation 1:15, His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.
What do the feet represent in the church of God? What do you do with your feet? Your feet are the foundation for your life. They help you to walk, run, work and play, so feet are essential for life. If you lose your balance your feet are there to help you stand up. When you have a foundation in Jesus Christ you must shine because we are all members of His body, but first we must know where our foundation is?
His voice was like the sound of many waters. This means that when He speaks everybody will listen. Jesus said, “Before I come back, everybody will hear the good news and that the whole world will know the gospel. To know it or not, you will know the name of Jesus. You will hear the sound of many waters even if you are miles away.
When the first church started the fruits they produced were original because it came from God. People were filled with the Holy Spirit and would sing, perform miracles and do just about anything. This is written in the book of Acts. After this the revolution started. People stopped singing for joy because the satanic revolution began. Those who still sung for joy were separated and then people started abusing them, “he is shouting like an animal in the forest”! We cannot live this way we must respect everyone.
Little by little another group will say, “there are too many halleluiahs and it’s giving me a headache, stop that shouting! In our church we must be polite and respectful, so you are not welcome here anymore, get out of our church”. Churches separate because of physical reasons and then man starts making rules. “Oscar is speaking in tongues which is from the devil”. The Pastor will tell Oscar to stop otherwise he will not come back to this church. However if Oscar’s offering is a large sum the Pastor will tell him to be quiet. This is how servants of God quench the Holy Spirit; they have left the foundation that was the feet of Jesus. It’s like cutting your nails; you cannot put them back. That is why there are so many denominations whose foundation is not in the word of God, so they resort to theories.
Revelation 1:16, In His right hand He held 7 stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword: and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
The Bible says that this person held 7 stars in his right hand and a two-edged sword came out of his Mouth and His face was shining like the sun. We know God created stars. If you are called a star people want to know you. You are only human but have been given values over others because of what you are doing.
Jesus had 7 stars in His right hand. They give off a small light to enlighten the world. Jesus said that, ‘if you have faith as big a mustard seed that is enough”. Jesus put the stars in His right hand to protect them, but a double-edged sword came from His mouth.
As you know in the book of Hebrew it talks about this double-edged sword.
Hebrews 4:12, for the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged Sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrows, and is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
The word of God is living and is sharper than any other two-edged sword. Its role is to separate soul and spirit. Its role can be to separate body and spirit. This came out of Jesus’ mouth. You must know how to separate your body from your spirit. Some people live as Christians but mix their Christianity with the world. They neglect the soul by mixing it with the flesh. You must separate the two.
His face was like the sun shining in its strength. This is a picture of the Old Testament with Moses. Try to be the light for others and know what kind of fuel and tank to use. If you use up all your oil that’s your problem, but try to have a lot of oil stored that comes from the Lord. If you sow a seed of corn today make sure you reap corn. Jesus saw the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. On the day of harvest the same events will happen as in Pentecost. If 3000 people were saved, at the end there will also be a big number. If ten people were speaking in tongues that day, the crop will be great. Many people don’t accept the gifts the first church had, but this is what we need to have on the day of harvest.
Beans have different colours. If you plant a red bean you will reap a red bean. If they are white beans, then you will reap white beans. Although the beans spend many days in the field the day of harvest will be the same. You will never say, “I planted white beans to reap yellow beans”. This is the confusion in the church today. Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit but now the church wants to use their own rules and standards. People want to correct what God did by taking away things and adding more to it. Who are you to correct God? Who are you to think that what God has done is not good? That is why on that day the truth will be revealed and when Jesus’ mouth will be opened, it will be like a double-edged sword and a sword can cut on both sides. If I use the word of God on Oscar, it will come also on me.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Revelations Chapter One (Part V)
By Odon Bulamba (23 February 2001)
Revelation 1:12-13, then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lamp stands; and in the middle of the lamp stands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden lash.
When John was called to see everything that was promised, John didn’t see it with his physical body but with his spirit. When we have spiritual eyes we can see what the world cannot. The world can only see what they have in front of them, but with spiritual eyes you can see what will happen in a thousand years. So with spiritual eyes John saw seven lamp stands. Once again the number seven comes to mind. What do the seven lamp stands represent? Let’s go back to the book of Exodus 25:37.
“Then you shall make its lamps seven in number: and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it.
God commanded Moses to build a sanctuary. The sanctuary is not the first part of the church, but the second. This was built in advance. To see this lamp you must reach a certain level, a level a spiritual baby cannot see. God told Moses that the lamp must be placed in the sanctuary and the reason for this lamp was to give light. These lamps had to be of gold.
When we go back to Revelation we read that John saw seven golden candlesticks. These seven lamps represent the seven ages of the church. Each lamp has its own meaning and are the churches we read about in Revelation. Each church has a meaning to teach us Christians today to see who we are. We see that you can find seven different types of Christians. Church is not the building but people.
When John saw the seven golden lamps he didn’t see a torch or a match, but he saw that the lamps were alight all the time. In Exodus 25 you can read about how these lamps where lit and I tell you it is something extraordinary. When he would light the first lamp the fire would reach the second lamp and so on until the seventh. It would go from one lamp to another. The Bible says that, “this fire is eternal”. A lamp without a wick and fuel cannot work, as we know it. As we know a lamp gives us light during the night.
This means that the time we now live in is a dark time. A time where the world needs light but to have this light we need to know what is in our tank? What is in your tank? Petrol? Water? When John saw the lamps he thought, “this must be a lesson for the future”. God talked with Moses and Zechariah along time ago. Zechariah 4:1-2.
Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and roused me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep. He said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a lampsatnd all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it:
We can see how these lamps were well controlled and fed by petrol tanks. When John saw this he remembered what was in the past. He thought that if there is a lamp, there has to be a tank full of petrol, but if you have petrol in the tank you will have smoke. If you use diesel instead of petrol the lamp might explode, but if you use carousal it will be safe.
From this point God wanted to show the churches what different kinds of fuel they use to make it work. In the Old Testament in Zechariah’s time, olive oil was used to fuel the lights. The olive tree can last a long time and has many characteristics. God wanted to use this picture for us today. When the olive tree first starts to grow you cannot see the trunk, but when you pluck its green leaves only then can you see it. The leaves on an olive tree don’t grow side ways but upwards because the olive tree doesn’t have branches like other trees. From here God wanted to teach us something about light.
What kind of lamp have we got? If I light a candle it will not last forever. God asked Moses to make a lamp that would give light all the time. So what kind of light do I use to light my lamp? Is it a fire from God? In Zechariah it is said that, beside the lamp you can find olive trees on its left and right, this represents the Old and New testaments.
Zechariah asked the Lord, “What’s that?” If you carry on reading you’ll find the answer that God gave him. Jesus is the tree of life and we are His branches. Jesus said that, “He is the true vine, and you are the branches”. We know that the trunk feeds branches. Today the church of God has changed its face by using the system of grafting. We take a sample of a lemon tree and put it on the trunk of an orange tree. When this tree grows people will say, “Is this a lemon tree or an orange tree? Only when the tree bears fruit will they know exactly what kind of tree it is. If you take a branch from a lemon tree and put it on an orange tree, the branch from the orange tree will gladly feed on the soil from the lemon tree. It will use it to grow but the fruit will always be different.
The Bible is there to feed us. Each denomination or Christian has his own point of view about the Word of God and each Christian can interpret the Bible his own way. This can be useful to help grow what is in us, but it’s by the fruit we’ll see if it is an orange tree or a lemon tree.
Those who are in Jesus Christ must be careful, the seven lamp stands that John saw are very important for Christians because they tell us what spiritual state we are in. Jesus said that, “we are the light of the world”. So if we are the light of the world how can we enlighten others? How do we know when to turn our light on so others can see? We as Christians must know the time we are living in so that our light can shine. We must not be like the five foolish virgins that used their lamps during the day and when night came they ran out of oil. We must know what time we live in and practice what we have learnt. We can all see stars during the night. Science tells us that the sun lightens the stars, so even though the sun is not seen during the night, its projection during the day gives the stars its power to shine at night. As Christians we must project the light that we have received from the Lord.
Jesus is not among us as a man but He gave us His light to enlighten others. So what are we doing with it? What is the product of our light? Why do we have to stay as a star? If you have this light in you and this light is not shining, why don’t you do something so your light can shine? In Exodus it says that this light must project forward, it means that your light will show pagans the way to heaven. If you have a torch during the night you are able to help those who need guidance. It means that when you have light you can help others know the way. However, if you keep your torch to yourself you are a selfish Christian.
We as Christians need oil in our lamp to keep the light shinning in the world. We can see among the seven lamp stands that there is someone similar to a man. In Genesis 1 we see that God created man in His image. Jesus Himself is among the seven churches. He is clothed with garments from head to toe.
There are many churches in this world but only seven are chosen and it is only among that seven that Jesus will manifest Himself. He doesn’t come as a king but a judge. When I did some research on how the belt can be worn around the chest instead of the waist, I found out that most judges in this world wear a belt around their chest. This is a sign of judgement.
What is a belt? The Bible says the belt is the truth and this truth is the word of God. This truth will be on Jesus’ chest and these seven truths will help people know if they are true or not. When Jesus will wear the seven truths on His chest He will visit each church to look for the truth. Only then will people know if they are true or not.
Revelation 1:14, His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow: and His eyes were like a flame of fire.
Jesus had a robe. A robe is used to cover nakedness; a robe is to cover up what is shameful before God. When Jesus Christ was arrested the Bible says He had a robe that everybody wanted. The robe was taken from Him and He was crucified with no clothes on because He bore all the sins of the world. It means that Christian or sinner, we are all naked before God.
In Revelation 3 Jesus says, “come to me and I will cover your nakedness”. He was wearing a robe to say He was holy and that no sin was found in Him. He also had white hair. Jesus lived to the age of 32 on earth. The Bible says that in heaven there is no old age and everything is always the same. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. When He was born it doesn’t say that He was born with white hair. So where did His white hair come from?
It was a sign that could teach the world something. Everything that is happening in this world has a teaching in the Bible. What is happening in Court today? You can find judge’s wearing white wigs, which shows you the supreme authority they have. It’s the same thing with God, God is teaching us and this white hair shows God’s supreme authority as judge of this world.
His eyes were like a flame of fire. It means that nothing is hidden from Jesus. The Bible says at judgement day everything will be exposed. If you are a sinner your sins will be exposed and you won’t be able to take a robe and cover up because judgement will be there
Revelation 1:12-13, then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lamp stands; and in the middle of the lamp stands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden lash.
When John was called to see everything that was promised, John didn’t see it with his physical body but with his spirit. When we have spiritual eyes we can see what the world cannot. The world can only see what they have in front of them, but with spiritual eyes you can see what will happen in a thousand years. So with spiritual eyes John saw seven lamp stands. Once again the number seven comes to mind. What do the seven lamp stands represent? Let’s go back to the book of Exodus 25:37.
“Then you shall make its lamps seven in number: and they shall mount its lamps so as to shed light on the space in front of it.
God commanded Moses to build a sanctuary. The sanctuary is not the first part of the church, but the second. This was built in advance. To see this lamp you must reach a certain level, a level a spiritual baby cannot see. God told Moses that the lamp must be placed in the sanctuary and the reason for this lamp was to give light. These lamps had to be of gold.
When we go back to Revelation we read that John saw seven golden candlesticks. These seven lamps represent the seven ages of the church. Each lamp has its own meaning and are the churches we read about in Revelation. Each church has a meaning to teach us Christians today to see who we are. We see that you can find seven different types of Christians. Church is not the building but people.
When John saw the seven golden lamps he didn’t see a torch or a match, but he saw that the lamps were alight all the time. In Exodus 25 you can read about how these lamps where lit and I tell you it is something extraordinary. When he would light the first lamp the fire would reach the second lamp and so on until the seventh. It would go from one lamp to another. The Bible says that, “this fire is eternal”. A lamp without a wick and fuel cannot work, as we know it. As we know a lamp gives us light during the night.
This means that the time we now live in is a dark time. A time where the world needs light but to have this light we need to know what is in our tank? What is in your tank? Petrol? Water? When John saw the lamps he thought, “this must be a lesson for the future”. God talked with Moses and Zechariah along time ago. Zechariah 4:1-2.
Then the angel who was speaking with me returned and roused me, as a man who is awakened from his sleep. He said to me, “What do you see?” And I said, “I see, and behold, a lampsatnd all of gold with its bowl on the top of it, and its seven lamps on it with seven spouts belonging to each of the lamps which are on the top of it:
We can see how these lamps were well controlled and fed by petrol tanks. When John saw this he remembered what was in the past. He thought that if there is a lamp, there has to be a tank full of petrol, but if you have petrol in the tank you will have smoke. If you use diesel instead of petrol the lamp might explode, but if you use carousal it will be safe.
From this point God wanted to show the churches what different kinds of fuel they use to make it work. In the Old Testament in Zechariah’s time, olive oil was used to fuel the lights. The olive tree can last a long time and has many characteristics. God wanted to use this picture for us today. When the olive tree first starts to grow you cannot see the trunk, but when you pluck its green leaves only then can you see it. The leaves on an olive tree don’t grow side ways but upwards because the olive tree doesn’t have branches like other trees. From here God wanted to teach us something about light.
What kind of lamp have we got? If I light a candle it will not last forever. God asked Moses to make a lamp that would give light all the time. So what kind of light do I use to light my lamp? Is it a fire from God? In Zechariah it is said that, beside the lamp you can find olive trees on its left and right, this represents the Old and New testaments.
Zechariah asked the Lord, “What’s that?” If you carry on reading you’ll find the answer that God gave him. Jesus is the tree of life and we are His branches. Jesus said that, “He is the true vine, and you are the branches”. We know that the trunk feeds branches. Today the church of God has changed its face by using the system of grafting. We take a sample of a lemon tree and put it on the trunk of an orange tree. When this tree grows people will say, “Is this a lemon tree or an orange tree? Only when the tree bears fruit will they know exactly what kind of tree it is. If you take a branch from a lemon tree and put it on an orange tree, the branch from the orange tree will gladly feed on the soil from the lemon tree. It will use it to grow but the fruit will always be different.
The Bible is there to feed us. Each denomination or Christian has his own point of view about the Word of God and each Christian can interpret the Bible his own way. This can be useful to help grow what is in us, but it’s by the fruit we’ll see if it is an orange tree or a lemon tree.
Those who are in Jesus Christ must be careful, the seven lamp stands that John saw are very important for Christians because they tell us what spiritual state we are in. Jesus said that, “we are the light of the world”. So if we are the light of the world how can we enlighten others? How do we know when to turn our light on so others can see? We as Christians must know the time we are living in so that our light can shine. We must not be like the five foolish virgins that used their lamps during the day and when night came they ran out of oil. We must know what time we live in and practice what we have learnt. We can all see stars during the night. Science tells us that the sun lightens the stars, so even though the sun is not seen during the night, its projection during the day gives the stars its power to shine at night. As Christians we must project the light that we have received from the Lord.
Jesus is not among us as a man but He gave us His light to enlighten others. So what are we doing with it? What is the product of our light? Why do we have to stay as a star? If you have this light in you and this light is not shining, why don’t you do something so your light can shine? In Exodus it says that this light must project forward, it means that your light will show pagans the way to heaven. If you have a torch during the night you are able to help those who need guidance. It means that when you have light you can help others know the way. However, if you keep your torch to yourself you are a selfish Christian.
We as Christians need oil in our lamp to keep the light shinning in the world. We can see among the seven lamp stands that there is someone similar to a man. In Genesis 1 we see that God created man in His image. Jesus Himself is among the seven churches. He is clothed with garments from head to toe.
There are many churches in this world but only seven are chosen and it is only among that seven that Jesus will manifest Himself. He doesn’t come as a king but a judge. When I did some research on how the belt can be worn around the chest instead of the waist, I found out that most judges in this world wear a belt around their chest. This is a sign of judgement.
What is a belt? The Bible says the belt is the truth and this truth is the word of God. This truth will be on Jesus’ chest and these seven truths will help people know if they are true or not. When Jesus will wear the seven truths on His chest He will visit each church to look for the truth. Only then will people know if they are true or not.
Revelation 1:14, His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow: and His eyes were like a flame of fire.
Jesus had a robe. A robe is used to cover nakedness; a robe is to cover up what is shameful before God. When Jesus Christ was arrested the Bible says He had a robe that everybody wanted. The robe was taken from Him and He was crucified with no clothes on because He bore all the sins of the world. It means that Christian or sinner, we are all naked before God.
In Revelation 3 Jesus says, “come to me and I will cover your nakedness”. He was wearing a robe to say He was holy and that no sin was found in Him. He also had white hair. Jesus lived to the age of 32 on earth. The Bible says that in heaven there is no old age and everything is always the same. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. When He was born it doesn’t say that He was born with white hair. So where did His white hair come from?
It was a sign that could teach the world something. Everything that is happening in this world has a teaching in the Bible. What is happening in Court today? You can find judge’s wearing white wigs, which shows you the supreme authority they have. It’s the same thing with God, God is teaching us and this white hair shows God’s supreme authority as judge of this world.
His eyes were like a flame of fire. It means that nothing is hidden from Jesus. The Bible says at judgement day everything will be exposed. If you are a sinner your sins will be exposed and you won’t be able to take a robe and cover up because judgement will be there
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Revelations Chapter One (Part IV)
By Odon Bulamba (16th Feb 01)
Revelation 1:10
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet
What is the Lord’s Day? In Africa we say the Lord’s day is on Sunday, the Adventist think it’s on a Saturday, so what does the Lord’s day mean? Is the Lord’s day a Sunday? Is it a Saturday? Who wants to speak about the Lord’s Day? Is it the day of judgement? The Lord’s Day is the day of everything and that is what the Hebrew’s call the Sabbath! The Bible says in Genesis that, “on the seventh day God rested”. The Lord’s Day is a day of accomplishment.
Exodus 25:31-40. 31 And thou shall make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. 32And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: 33Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.
34And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. 35And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. 36Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. 37And thou shall make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. 38And the tongs thereof, and the snuff dishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. 39Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. 40And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.
The Lord’s day is what God promised He will do in the last day, it means judgement day, a day where all sinners will be somewhere, a day where Christian tears will be wiped away, a day where the moon will be changed into blood and the sun will become dark.
The moon was created by God and gives the night-light because during the day the sun over powers it and the moons light cannot be seen. The moon is there but is not as strong as the sun and has a weaker light. Why does the moon bring light only at night? This moon that gives us light will be changed into blood, and it’s something that God created to teach us. We know that the sun represents God Himself. The sun is powerful and God is powerful, the sun is a power of fire and God is a power of fire.
In the sun you have heat, light and fire. These are the three dimensions of God. You also have the stars. When Jesus was born there was a bright star shinning and we as Christians represent the role of this star. It teaches us about the Holy Spirit and how He leads us.
When Abraham was counting the stars he was counting the great achievements of the Holy Spirit in his life. How many times do you count what the Holy Spirit has done in your life? I remember when I was ten I knew I could find faith looking at the stars and counted thousands over many years. I wanted to know the meaning physically but not spiritually. On the Lord’s Day when the moon will be turned to blood, the mildness we know about the moon will disappear and the light it produces will not be seen anymore because it will be turned into blood. When we see blood we know that there is life. Blood as we know is always there when a person or animal is killed, so during the Lord’s Day we will see what will happen, but those who have the Spirit of God will go up in the air to meet our Lord. The spiritual will be taken towards the Lord and a strong voice will come from behind them and this is what we call the trumpets.
When the trumpets will ring the dead will rise, the Christians will be transformed and the eyes of the sinner will be opened, they’ll try to find the light but in vain. This is when the Bible says, “we are the light of the world”. On this day sinners will go towards Brenda and say, “I want you to pray for me Brenda”, but Brenda won’t be found. The Bible says, “People will look for the Word with all their strength but will not find it”. This word was freely given to them but they rejected it. All those who are left on the earth will buy their own life with blood and it won’t come cheap.
Revelation 1:11.
“ Write in a book what you see, and sent it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea”.
Before John was given the order of writing the trumpet sounded. John heard the sound of trumpets and after this sound he heard another voice say, “Write everything you see in a book”. Did John have books with him? Did he have ink to write with? What is a book according to spiritual life? The book is what we call the secret of God given through people. A book is what we call, The Revelation of the Lord through Christians, it’s what will call the knowledge of God in our lives.
The Bible says in Joshua 1:8, “you have to meditate on God’s word day and night” and by doing this you will be blessed in everything you do. It was also said in Joshua, I must know everything by heart and in Psalm 119:11 David says, your word I have hidden in my heart so that I may not sin against You.
It means that the word of God must hide in your heart and this will keep you from sin. One day I left the camp to head to the capital city. On the way we where stopped by bandits. They lead us to the forest with many Somalia’s who were mostly Muslims. The bandits wanted to have a competition to see whether or not I knew the Bible. So I had to defend the Bible and they had to defend the Koran. However I didn’t have my Bible. When they asked me a question I had to give a Biblical reference. The Muslims were the same; they had to give a reference to the Koran. God really helped me that day and we ended up talking for days and God showed Himself.
If I hadn’t written the Word in my heart, what would have happened? There is a good thing Christians should do, you should find five minutes a day or week to memorise a verse from the Bible. It means that if we talk about the life of Moses we must know where it is in the Bible. So you have to learn one verse a day, if it is too hard to learn do it once a week! So write this verse on a sheet of paper so you can see it easily.
God told John to write everything he saw. John didn’t write, “I can see lizards or spiders on this island of Patmos”. As people in this world see things they look only materially and forget they need spiritual vision. When a servant of God writes a book about salvation you can read it but you will understand nothing from it. Maybe you will learn grammar or spelling but in depth you see nothing spiritual speaks because authors contradict themselves.
God said, “write what you can see and send it to the 7 churches”. John discerned that he had to write spiritual things and not material things. He discovered it was God who was talking to him because he didn’t hesitate to write it down. The Bible says that, “John was taken in by spirit”. It wasn’t his body working but his spirit. How often do we work for God spiritually? When you prepare a message, is it the Spirit of God leading your mind? Do you pray to God and say, “give me your Spirit so it can talk through me? Do you ask God, “God lead my prayer so the Holy Spirit will organise my prayers?
The 7 churches had characteristics appealing to God. Although these churches had problems they were interesting for God because they had a meaning. When God created the world in 7 days everything He created was good, but today if you meet with a lion you will find that the lion is not good. If you meet a bear, you will say, “this bear isn’t very friendly, it wants to eat me”.
It’s the same with the church of God today, some have positive aspects and some have negative aspects. It is the same when the Bible talks about the ten virgins. Five were foolish and five were wise. Wisdom only comes with the fear of God; if you don’t fear God you will not be wise. It was said to John that, “the first church you will talk to is Ephesus” [the church where John was a pastor]. Ephesus is the first church; this is how God works spiritually. God won’t ask you to correct someone if you are not corrected yourself. God won’t send you far away if you have a problem with yourself. The secret to succeed is to respect what God has said, before removing the speck in your brothers’ eye take out the plank in your own eye first, then you will see clearly and can help others.
We know what the church of Ephesus had and we know who they were, and we also know that Paul prayed for them and that they were in unity with God.
Let’s look at Joel. Was Joel a lady or man? Where can you find this book? Joel was a man of God. God would use him at anytime to save His people. Joel 2:1-2.
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand: A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong: there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. And rend your heart, and not your garments, turn unto the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
If you read all these verses you’ll see that what we read in Revelations is summarised in this little book that concerns the day of the Lord. Satan hates the book of Genesis and Revelations. In the book of Genesis God took his power from satan and humiliated him to the point he would crawl on his belly and man was given the power to crush his head. Satan thought he was strong but was humiliated before man. These books expose the devil. Satan doesn’t want you to know about these books.
The book of Revelation speaks his judgement and end, so if you love this book the devil will not be your friend. Satan fears when people read this book because he knows that it talks about they way he has lost, so he’ll try his best to confuse people. Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega”, Jesus Himself is the first and the last. So Joel warns us to be careful on the day of God’s anger because grace won’t last forever. Woe to the man who won’t stand firm to what he has because the little he has will be taken from him. Woe to you Christians who have been Christians for years but don’t stand 100% for Him, for Jesus will tell you, “I don’t know you”.
Revelation 1:10
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet
What is the Lord’s Day? In Africa we say the Lord’s day is on Sunday, the Adventist think it’s on a Saturday, so what does the Lord’s day mean? Is the Lord’s day a Sunday? Is it a Saturday? Who wants to speak about the Lord’s Day? Is it the day of judgement? The Lord’s Day is the day of everything and that is what the Hebrew’s call the Sabbath! The Bible says in Genesis that, “on the seventh day God rested”. The Lord’s Day is a day of accomplishment.
Exodus 25:31-40. 31 And thou shall make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. 32And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: 33Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.
34And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. 35And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. 36Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. 37And thou shall make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. 38And the tongs thereof, and the snuff dishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. 39Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. 40And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.
The Lord’s day is what God promised He will do in the last day, it means judgement day, a day where all sinners will be somewhere, a day where Christian tears will be wiped away, a day where the moon will be changed into blood and the sun will become dark.
The moon was created by God and gives the night-light because during the day the sun over powers it and the moons light cannot be seen. The moon is there but is not as strong as the sun and has a weaker light. Why does the moon bring light only at night? This moon that gives us light will be changed into blood, and it’s something that God created to teach us. We know that the sun represents God Himself. The sun is powerful and God is powerful, the sun is a power of fire and God is a power of fire.
In the sun you have heat, light and fire. These are the three dimensions of God. You also have the stars. When Jesus was born there was a bright star shinning and we as Christians represent the role of this star. It teaches us about the Holy Spirit and how He leads us.
When Abraham was counting the stars he was counting the great achievements of the Holy Spirit in his life. How many times do you count what the Holy Spirit has done in your life? I remember when I was ten I knew I could find faith looking at the stars and counted thousands over many years. I wanted to know the meaning physically but not spiritually. On the Lord’s Day when the moon will be turned to blood, the mildness we know about the moon will disappear and the light it produces will not be seen anymore because it will be turned into blood. When we see blood we know that there is life. Blood as we know is always there when a person or animal is killed, so during the Lord’s Day we will see what will happen, but those who have the Spirit of God will go up in the air to meet our Lord. The spiritual will be taken towards the Lord and a strong voice will come from behind them and this is what we call the trumpets.
When the trumpets will ring the dead will rise, the Christians will be transformed and the eyes of the sinner will be opened, they’ll try to find the light but in vain. This is when the Bible says, “we are the light of the world”. On this day sinners will go towards Brenda and say, “I want you to pray for me Brenda”, but Brenda won’t be found. The Bible says, “People will look for the Word with all their strength but will not find it”. This word was freely given to them but they rejected it. All those who are left on the earth will buy their own life with blood and it won’t come cheap.
Revelation 1:11.
“ Write in a book what you see, and sent it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea”.
Before John was given the order of writing the trumpet sounded. John heard the sound of trumpets and after this sound he heard another voice say, “Write everything you see in a book”. Did John have books with him? Did he have ink to write with? What is a book according to spiritual life? The book is what we call the secret of God given through people. A book is what we call, The Revelation of the Lord through Christians, it’s what will call the knowledge of God in our lives.
The Bible says in Joshua 1:8, “you have to meditate on God’s word day and night” and by doing this you will be blessed in everything you do. It was also said in Joshua, I must know everything by heart and in Psalm 119:11 David says, your word I have hidden in my heart so that I may not sin against You.
It means that the word of God must hide in your heart and this will keep you from sin. One day I left the camp to head to the capital city. On the way we where stopped by bandits. They lead us to the forest with many Somalia’s who were mostly Muslims. The bandits wanted to have a competition to see whether or not I knew the Bible. So I had to defend the Bible and they had to defend the Koran. However I didn’t have my Bible. When they asked me a question I had to give a Biblical reference. The Muslims were the same; they had to give a reference to the Koran. God really helped me that day and we ended up talking for days and God showed Himself.
If I hadn’t written the Word in my heart, what would have happened? There is a good thing Christians should do, you should find five minutes a day or week to memorise a verse from the Bible. It means that if we talk about the life of Moses we must know where it is in the Bible. So you have to learn one verse a day, if it is too hard to learn do it once a week! So write this verse on a sheet of paper so you can see it easily.
God told John to write everything he saw. John didn’t write, “I can see lizards or spiders on this island of Patmos”. As people in this world see things they look only materially and forget they need spiritual vision. When a servant of God writes a book about salvation you can read it but you will understand nothing from it. Maybe you will learn grammar or spelling but in depth you see nothing spiritual speaks because authors contradict themselves.
God said, “write what you can see and send it to the 7 churches”. John discerned that he had to write spiritual things and not material things. He discovered it was God who was talking to him because he didn’t hesitate to write it down. The Bible says that, “John was taken in by spirit”. It wasn’t his body working but his spirit. How often do we work for God spiritually? When you prepare a message, is it the Spirit of God leading your mind? Do you pray to God and say, “give me your Spirit so it can talk through me? Do you ask God, “God lead my prayer so the Holy Spirit will organise my prayers?
The 7 churches had characteristics appealing to God. Although these churches had problems they were interesting for God because they had a meaning. When God created the world in 7 days everything He created was good, but today if you meet with a lion you will find that the lion is not good. If you meet a bear, you will say, “this bear isn’t very friendly, it wants to eat me”.
It’s the same with the church of God today, some have positive aspects and some have negative aspects. It is the same when the Bible talks about the ten virgins. Five were foolish and five were wise. Wisdom only comes with the fear of God; if you don’t fear God you will not be wise. It was said to John that, “the first church you will talk to is Ephesus” [the church where John was a pastor]. Ephesus is the first church; this is how God works spiritually. God won’t ask you to correct someone if you are not corrected yourself. God won’t send you far away if you have a problem with yourself. The secret to succeed is to respect what God has said, before removing the speck in your brothers’ eye take out the plank in your own eye first, then you will see clearly and can help others.
We know what the church of Ephesus had and we know who they were, and we also know that Paul prayed for them and that they were in unity with God.
Let’s look at Joel. Was Joel a lady or man? Where can you find this book? Joel was a man of God. God would use him at anytime to save His people. Joel 2:1-2.
“Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain: let all the inhabitants of the land tremble: for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand: A day of darkness and of gloominess, a day of clouds and of thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the mountains: a great people and a strong: there hath not been ever the like, neither shall be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. And rend your heart, and not your garments, turn unto the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and repenteth him of the evil.
If you read all these verses you’ll see that what we read in Revelations is summarised in this little book that concerns the day of the Lord. Satan hates the book of Genesis and Revelations. In the book of Genesis God took his power from satan and humiliated him to the point he would crawl on his belly and man was given the power to crush his head. Satan thought he was strong but was humiliated before man. These books expose the devil. Satan doesn’t want you to know about these books.
The book of Revelation speaks his judgement and end, so if you love this book the devil will not be your friend. Satan fears when people read this book because he knows that it talks about they way he has lost, so he’ll try his best to confuse people. Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega”, Jesus Himself is the first and the last. So Joel warns us to be careful on the day of God’s anger because grace won’t last forever. Woe to the man who won’t stand firm to what he has because the little he has will be taken from him. Woe to you Christians who have been Christians for years but don’t stand 100% for Him, for Jesus will tell you, “I don’t know you”.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Revelations Chapter One (Part III)
By Odon Bulamba (16 February 2001)
We all know that John the divine wrote the book of Revelation. John the divine was an apostle whom Jesus loved a lot and was the last one to die out of all the apostles. When this book was revealed to him he was a pastor at Ephesus mentioned among the 7 churches. Pastor John was arrested because he preached against Roman rulers and laws. The Romans were against Christianity so it was said by them, “let us arrest and kill him”. John was arrested and accused of being a sorcerer. They threw him into oil and put him in a heated fire but it didn’t burn him. How can this be possible? Let’s think about it. A servant of God is arrested and killed, but it seems that death doesn’t want to touch him.
Why? Because faith dominated his life and he decided to love Jesus as much as Jesus loved him. When Jesus was on this earth John didn’t love Him as much, but later he discovered that Jesus’ love for him was really great and said, “I must love Him too”. To love someone is to die for them and John accepted to die for Jesus Christ. This is what many Christians today don’t accept. We fear death more than God Himself, we don’t fear sin but we fear death and forget that sin leads to death. What kind of Christians are we?
Is the book of Revelation for us today? If I’m afraid of death, can I resist what this book speaks about? This book says that John was sent to the island of Patmos. This island was 50km away from everything and on a little boat it will take two days to reach it. The Bible says there were lizards and scorpions on this island. Because they couldn’t burn John they decided to take him to the island of Patmos. John was in isolation and was hated by everyone, but when he was isolated it became the right time for God to be near him.
When we face difficult times God is not far from us, and if we have faith and consider His Word, He will bring a solution. Jesus sent His angel to visit John for he had spent two years already on the island. You might ask yourself how did he eat or sleep? Only God knows. During these two years an angel visited him. We know that an angel is a messenger from God. In a time of distress and isolation John found a visitor. How often do you visit people who are in difficult situations? There are many people in this world who suffer from sin, so how many times do you visit them? Aren’t you a messenger from God? Can’t you tell others about the salvation you received from Jesus Christ? Revelation 1:9
I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance, which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus
We know that Revelation means, “to reveal”. For a few years the church walked in darkness. They knew that Jesus would be back one day because of what Jesus said in a parable, but they didn’t understand. Jesus said, “I will reveal myself to man to accomplish what was said long ago”.
When Moses face was shining he had to wear a veil to cover what was shining on his head. When Jesus Christ came to earth people couldn’t see that He was the light. They couldn’t see that the veil had been uncovered. So the veil has been removed and the revelation is here for us today. In verse 9 John says, “I am your brother”. Even though John was a Pastor he called himself a brother like everybody else. This is how he humiliated himself to put himself on the same level as other Christians. Even though the church of Ephesus was persecuted and hated by the government, John knew Christ united it with His love. John discovered that Jesus Christ loved his dear brothers and sisters.
So who is a brother? Why is John called a brother here in verse 9? What does it mean to be called a brother? A brother is a friend. A brother is a person from the same descent; a brother is someone who you share the Word of God with. John said, “it is me John your brother”. We know that the love of God is stronger than the love of man. Don’t be amazed at how Jesus loved His brothers but rejected His family. It means that the love of God is deep. For us to leave our loved ones for the love of Christ is not easy.
John suffered and was isolated from his brothers. John said, “you are far from me, but I share the suffering you are going through”. This is the way you have to encourage others. We must share one another’s problems. John was strong spiritually and wanted to help the church. John said, “if you don’t have 100% faith in Jesus Christ you will be exempt”. So let’s encourage one another and share the same problems in unity for Jesus Christ.
How do you encourage people? How much time do you spend encouraging others? Do we encourage others to stop sinning, or do we allow them to do evil? Some Christians help others because they think it is only human to help those who are in need. Although there were nasty creatures on Patmos, God wasn’t far from him. God destroyed the power in these lizards so they wouldn’t touch him. If you can identify what a scorpion is, you can imagine how it would feel if you got stung and if you want to know just ask Oscar [who was stung once in Africa]. It’s such an unbearable pain. If you are given milk to drink you will just vomit it back up and you sweat when it’s cold.
It’s an insect that can be despised because it doesn’t use its claws but uses its tail. It means that these animals are dangerous when they come from behind. With a scorpion his face is not a problem for danger comes from the back. In spiritual words you can have situations that look good but in the end turn terrible. It means Satan can use all sorts of strategies. Satan comes the same way a scorpion does. When he finds that you are a child of God he tries to frighten you. He’ll distract you first and then what will come later will kill you.
Also there are different types of lizards. Some can be poisonous and their skin horrible, however they are nice to eat! So there are things that God gives and you think are ugly. In Isaiah the Bible says, “Jesus wasn’t much to look at”, but in photo’s you’ll see Him portrayed as a handsome man. The Israelites rejected Jesus because they stayed on the superficial level and forgot God was with them. The prophet wrote, “Emanuel, God is with you.” They didn’t recognise the truth what John was preaching at that time because they stayed on the physical level.
We all know that John the divine wrote the book of Revelation. John the divine was an apostle whom Jesus loved a lot and was the last one to die out of all the apostles. When this book was revealed to him he was a pastor at Ephesus mentioned among the 7 churches. Pastor John was arrested because he preached against Roman rulers and laws. The Romans were against Christianity so it was said by them, “let us arrest and kill him”. John was arrested and accused of being a sorcerer. They threw him into oil and put him in a heated fire but it didn’t burn him. How can this be possible? Let’s think about it. A servant of God is arrested and killed, but it seems that death doesn’t want to touch him.
Why? Because faith dominated his life and he decided to love Jesus as much as Jesus loved him. When Jesus was on this earth John didn’t love Him as much, but later he discovered that Jesus’ love for him was really great and said, “I must love Him too”. To love someone is to die for them and John accepted to die for Jesus Christ. This is what many Christians today don’t accept. We fear death more than God Himself, we don’t fear sin but we fear death and forget that sin leads to death. What kind of Christians are we?
Is the book of Revelation for us today? If I’m afraid of death, can I resist what this book speaks about? This book says that John was sent to the island of Patmos. This island was 50km away from everything and on a little boat it will take two days to reach it. The Bible says there were lizards and scorpions on this island. Because they couldn’t burn John they decided to take him to the island of Patmos. John was in isolation and was hated by everyone, but when he was isolated it became the right time for God to be near him.
When we face difficult times God is not far from us, and if we have faith and consider His Word, He will bring a solution. Jesus sent His angel to visit John for he had spent two years already on the island. You might ask yourself how did he eat or sleep? Only God knows. During these two years an angel visited him. We know that an angel is a messenger from God. In a time of distress and isolation John found a visitor. How often do you visit people who are in difficult situations? There are many people in this world who suffer from sin, so how many times do you visit them? Aren’t you a messenger from God? Can’t you tell others about the salvation you received from Jesus Christ? Revelation 1:9
I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance, which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus
We know that Revelation means, “to reveal”. For a few years the church walked in darkness. They knew that Jesus would be back one day because of what Jesus said in a parable, but they didn’t understand. Jesus said, “I will reveal myself to man to accomplish what was said long ago”.
When Moses face was shining he had to wear a veil to cover what was shining on his head. When Jesus Christ came to earth people couldn’t see that He was the light. They couldn’t see that the veil had been uncovered. So the veil has been removed and the revelation is here for us today. In verse 9 John says, “I am your brother”. Even though John was a Pastor he called himself a brother like everybody else. This is how he humiliated himself to put himself on the same level as other Christians. Even though the church of Ephesus was persecuted and hated by the government, John knew Christ united it with His love. John discovered that Jesus Christ loved his dear brothers and sisters.
So who is a brother? Why is John called a brother here in verse 9? What does it mean to be called a brother? A brother is a friend. A brother is a person from the same descent; a brother is someone who you share the Word of God with. John said, “it is me John your brother”. We know that the love of God is stronger than the love of man. Don’t be amazed at how Jesus loved His brothers but rejected His family. It means that the love of God is deep. For us to leave our loved ones for the love of Christ is not easy.
John suffered and was isolated from his brothers. John said, “you are far from me, but I share the suffering you are going through”. This is the way you have to encourage others. We must share one another’s problems. John was strong spiritually and wanted to help the church. John said, “if you don’t have 100% faith in Jesus Christ you will be exempt”. So let’s encourage one another and share the same problems in unity for Jesus Christ.
How do you encourage people? How much time do you spend encouraging others? Do we encourage others to stop sinning, or do we allow them to do evil? Some Christians help others because they think it is only human to help those who are in need. Although there were nasty creatures on Patmos, God wasn’t far from him. God destroyed the power in these lizards so they wouldn’t touch him. If you can identify what a scorpion is, you can imagine how it would feel if you got stung and if you want to know just ask Oscar [who was stung once in Africa]. It’s such an unbearable pain. If you are given milk to drink you will just vomit it back up and you sweat when it’s cold.
It’s an insect that can be despised because it doesn’t use its claws but uses its tail. It means that these animals are dangerous when they come from behind. With a scorpion his face is not a problem for danger comes from the back. In spiritual words you can have situations that look good but in the end turn terrible. It means Satan can use all sorts of strategies. Satan comes the same way a scorpion does. When he finds that you are a child of God he tries to frighten you. He’ll distract you first and then what will come later will kill you.
Also there are different types of lizards. Some can be poisonous and their skin horrible, however they are nice to eat! So there are things that God gives and you think are ugly. In Isaiah the Bible says, “Jesus wasn’t much to look at”, but in photo’s you’ll see Him portrayed as a handsome man. The Israelites rejected Jesus because they stayed on the superficial level and forgot God was with them. The prophet wrote, “Emanuel, God is with you.” They didn’t recognise the truth what John was preaching at that time because they stayed on the physical level.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
