Why do we fear God?
Here is an excellent teaching by by Ralph I. Tilley
http://www.lsministries.org/articles/whom_fear_1.html
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Thursday, November 1, 2007
A.W Tozer - The Pursuit of God
He is eternal, which means that He antedates time and is wholly independent of it. Time began in Him and will end in Him. To it He pays no tribute and from it He suffers no change.
He is immutable, which means that He has never changed and can never change in any smallest measure. To change He would need to go from better to worse or from worse to better. He cannot do either, for being perfect He cannot become more perfect, and if He were to become less perfect He would be less than God.
He is omniscient, which means that He knows in one free and effortless act all matter, all spirit, all relationships, all events. He has no past and He has no future. He is, and none of the limiting and qualifying terms used of creatures can apply to Him.
love and mercy and rightousness are His, and holiness so ineffable that no comparisons or figures will avail to express it.Thursday, October 11, 2007
Do we all worship the same God?
This is what the bible says about Jesus Christ our Lord.
Acts 4:12
"Salvation is in no one else. God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved." (NLT)
"Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" KJV
Acts 4:12
"Salvation is in no one else. God has given no other name under heaven by which we must be saved." (NLT)
"Neither is there salvation in any other for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" KJV
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Desperate situations
Have you ever been in a situation where you thought there was no way out? Disheartened. Hopeless. You zombie walk each day without any clue what tomorrow brings. You exhausted every effort, squandered every penny but to no avail.
Although the degree of the situation widely varies, we all have been there.
Isn't it amazing in itself that our faith is the last thing we fall back on when we encounter what seems to be insurmountable difficulties of our life. Why is that? Have you ever asked yourself that? Why can't we blindly trust God to carry us thru and pray that He turns the situation around? We know He can and will!
Remember the story of Moses? Can you imagine yourself in his parent's situation? A horrible sentence has been passed that your little ones will be snatched away form you and be harmed simply because of their gender is a threat to the authority. What would you have done?
Faith is describe in the English dictionary as "secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will"
Do you have a secure belief in God? Do you have a trusting acceptance of His will - come hell or high water?
Would you have operated in faith and entrusted your little ones in God's hands?
Because of their secure belief in God, Moses family's desperate situations were evaporated into vapours of success and happiness that came back to shower not only the whole family but the entire Hebrew slaves of Egypt.
Someone once said, "The success of life is when you are having fun everyday and you're getting paid for it."
Isn't that exactly what happened to Moses mom? She was employed to nurse her own son!
Can life get more successful than that?
Here is what the bible says and I hope and pray it will give you the same courage to strengthen your faith as it did mine.
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13
Although the degree of the situation widely varies, we all have been there.
Isn't it amazing in itself that our faith is the last thing we fall back on when we encounter what seems to be insurmountable difficulties of our life. Why is that? Have you ever asked yourself that? Why can't we blindly trust God to carry us thru and pray that He turns the situation around? We know He can and will!
Remember the story of Moses? Can you imagine yourself in his parent's situation? A horrible sentence has been passed that your little ones will be snatched away form you and be harmed simply because of their gender is a threat to the authority. What would you have done?
Faith is describe in the English dictionary as "secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will"
Do you have a secure belief in God? Do you have a trusting acceptance of His will - come hell or high water?
Would you have operated in faith and entrusted your little ones in God's hands?
Because of their secure belief in God, Moses family's desperate situations were evaporated into vapours of success and happiness that came back to shower not only the whole family but the entire Hebrew slaves of Egypt.
Someone once said, "The success of life is when you are having fun everyday and you're getting paid for it."
Isn't that exactly what happened to Moses mom? She was employed to nurse her own son!
Can life get more successful than that?
Here is what the bible says and I hope and pray it will give you the same courage to strengthen your faith as it did mine.
"No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it." 1 Corinthians 10:13
3:16
This is a true story, I heard it on Dr. Ed Young show.
An American Evangelist, in one of his many African missions, approaches a displaced looking African and hands him a bible and said "Here brother, salvation lies within".
The confused looking African opens the bible, gently feels the smooth, warm and crisp pages and says to the American
" I would probably roll the pages and use them for my cigarettes so I suggest you give it to somebody else who really cares. " and hands it back.
But the American presses on.
"I tell you what. Go ahead and use the pages for your smokes."
"Are you sure? " The African asked.
"Sure! Go ahead take the bible. " The American said with positive attitude. " But you have to promise me something. "
"Sure what can I do for you? " The African asked.
"You have to promise me that you read the pages before you smoke 'em"
The African promises and leaves with the bible.
15 years passed and the same American missionary found himself in the same African territory.
While he was out on the street handing out bible to the pedestrians. A nicely dressed African approached him and said
"Hello, brother do you remember me?"
The American looked at the African and asked. " I am not sure, why don't you refresh my memory?"
"15 years ago, you handed me a bible against my will. Even after I told you I was gonna roll and smoke the pages."
At that moment the American eyes lighted up.
"Oh yeah! now I remember. I hope you kept your promise."
"I did indeed," The African answered.
"I smoked Mathew, I smoked Mark, I smoked Luke and I smoked John chapter 1, chapter 2.....
but when I read John chapter 3:16, something happened to me and I broke down and cried like a baby. I run to the nearest church and gave myself to the Lord right away. I have now been saved for 15 years."
What a story!
An American Evangelist, in one of his many African missions, approaches a displaced looking African and hands him a bible and said "Here brother, salvation lies within".
The confused looking African opens the bible, gently feels the smooth, warm and crisp pages and says to the American
" I would probably roll the pages and use them for my cigarettes so I suggest you give it to somebody else who really cares. " and hands it back.
But the American presses on.
"I tell you what. Go ahead and use the pages for your smokes."
"Are you sure? " The African asked.
"Sure! Go ahead take the bible. " The American said with positive attitude. " But you have to promise me something. "
"Sure what can I do for you? " The African asked.
"You have to promise me that you read the pages before you smoke 'em"
The African promises and leaves with the bible.
15 years passed and the same American missionary found himself in the same African territory.
While he was out on the street handing out bible to the pedestrians. A nicely dressed African approached him and said
"Hello, brother do you remember me?"
The American looked at the African and asked. " I am not sure, why don't you refresh my memory?"
"15 years ago, you handed me a bible against my will. Even after I told you I was gonna roll and smoke the pages."
At that moment the American eyes lighted up.
"Oh yeah! now I remember. I hope you kept your promise."
"I did indeed," The African answered.
"I smoked Mathew, I smoked Mark, I smoked Luke and I smoked John chapter 1, chapter 2.....
but when I read John chapter 3:16, something happened to me and I broke down and cried like a baby. I run to the nearest church and gave myself to the Lord right away. I have now been saved for 15 years."
What a story!
Saturday, September 22, 2007
the snare of the fowler
"Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies:.." Psalm 27:12
Who is our enemy? What is his will?
Our enemy is the devil and his wills are that we fail to walk the honest and righteous road of life that God is required of us to walk on.
You might consider yourself as a keen Christ follower and the quick-witted devil's enticements are no match for your spiritual power. That might be so, but remember King David, King Solomon, Samson, and quite a few others biblical individuals, who God showered with stupendous amount of His grace, all failed, short of achieving the spiritual goals they were set to accomplish.
The Fowler knew exactly what snare to use, at what time and place and to who!
King David's snares were adultery and murder ( two of the top ten commandments).
King Solomon's snares included self-gratification and idolatry.
The English dictionary describes "Snare" as such:
Something that leads one into a place or situation from which escape is difficult
We all know who that "something" is!
Every single minuet of the day, the enemy tries to lure us to his bait using one of the many snares that he knows our flesh can't resist.
I say this prayer everyday and I hope you will find it encouraging to do so.
"God our father, we pray that you acknowledge the weakness of our flesh and we ask you not to deliver us over to the will of our enemy. We pray that you will always embrace us with your everlasting arms and protect us from the snares of the Fowler.
Cloth us with the impenetrable, the holy garment of your words and shield us with the helmet of your eternal salvation so that no amount of snares formed against us shall prosper.
In Jesus name, Amen."
Notice also the word "difficult" ( from which escape is difficult) . Yes it might be difficult to break free but Not impossible! If we found ourselves entangled with the snare of the Fowler, We should right away beg for forgiveness and ask for guidance and spiriual strength and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ and He will break the snare and set your free.
But don't wait lest the snare becomes bondage!
Who is our enemy? What is his will?
Our enemy is the devil and his wills are that we fail to walk the honest and righteous road of life that God is required of us to walk on.
You might consider yourself as a keen Christ follower and the quick-witted devil's enticements are no match for your spiritual power. That might be so, but remember King David, King Solomon, Samson, and quite a few others biblical individuals, who God showered with stupendous amount of His grace, all failed, short of achieving the spiritual goals they were set to accomplish.
The Fowler knew exactly what snare to use, at what time and place and to who!
King David's snares were adultery and murder ( two of the top ten commandments).
King Solomon's snares included self-gratification and idolatry.
The English dictionary describes "Snare" as such:
Something that leads one into a place or situation from which escape is difficult
We all know who that "something" is!
Every single minuet of the day, the enemy tries to lure us to his bait using one of the many snares that he knows our flesh can't resist.
I say this prayer everyday and I hope you will find it encouraging to do so.
"God our father, we pray that you acknowledge the weakness of our flesh and we ask you not to deliver us over to the will of our enemy. We pray that you will always embrace us with your everlasting arms and protect us from the snares of the Fowler.
Cloth us with the impenetrable, the holy garment of your words and shield us with the helmet of your eternal salvation so that no amount of snares formed against us shall prosper.
In Jesus name, Amen."
Notice also the word "difficult" ( from which escape is difficult) . Yes it might be difficult to break free but Not impossible! If we found ourselves entangled with the snare of the Fowler, We should right away beg for forgiveness and ask for guidance and spiriual strength and trust in our Lord Jesus Christ and He will break the snare and set your free.
But don't wait lest the snare becomes bondage!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Thanks Giving
Be thankful and never cease to thank Him not only for the things that you have now but also for the things that God will make sure that you will have.
"always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 5:19-21
To me, the story about the 10 people with leprosy that Jesus healed has a powerful meaning.
See Luke chapter 17:11-17
As you can see, out of the 10 people, only one returned to give thanks...
15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
I always wonder what the Lord meant by "Your faith has healed you". Didn't He also heal the other 9? but if you look the king James Version:
19And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
Leprosy is a progressive disease and ,if left untreated, causes and CONTINUE to CAUSE permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs, and eyes.
This might mean that the 9 lepers were merely healed. The Lord healed the lepers by simply terminating the progressive and damaging effect of the disease that was eating them alive. This also means the 9 lepers who might have already lost their limbs or eyes or some of their nerves would still be the same as they were but the disease would not make any more damage.
But the one leper who came back to glorify God, The Lord told him that his faith made him "whole". Could this mean that the 10th leper's degenerated body was restored back to its original look? Did he get back all that he lost. His limbs, eyes etc and became whole? Rejuvenated?
Hallelujah!!
"always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 5:19-21
To me, the story about the 10 people with leprosy that Jesus healed has a powerful meaning.
See Luke chapter 17:11-17
As you can see, out of the 10 people, only one returned to give thanks...
15 One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!” 16 He fell to the ground at Jesus’ feet, thanking him for what he had done. This man was a Samaritan.
17 Jesus asked, “Didn’t I heal ten men? Where are the other nine? 18 Has no one returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19 And Jesus said to the man, “Stand up and go. Your faith has healed you.”
I always wonder what the Lord meant by "Your faith has healed you". Didn't He also heal the other 9? but if you look the king James Version:
19And he said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee whole.
Leprosy is a progressive disease and ,if left untreated, causes and CONTINUE to CAUSE permanent damage to the skin, nerves, limbs, and eyes.
This might mean that the 9 lepers were merely healed. The Lord healed the lepers by simply terminating the progressive and damaging effect of the disease that was eating them alive. This also means the 9 lepers who might have already lost their limbs or eyes or some of their nerves would still be the same as they were but the disease would not make any more damage.
But the one leper who came back to glorify God, The Lord told him that his faith made him "whole". Could this mean that the 10th leper's degenerated body was restored back to its original look? Did he get back all that he lost. His limbs, eyes etc and became whole? Rejuvenated?
Hallelujah!!
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