My Dear Friends,
Our Lord Jesus speaks. He speaks! Oh I pray that He grants you and me an understanding, for He alone has the Words of Life. May God the Father, and Jesus our Lord bless you mightily, and may God Himself speak out of this sharing the words that He alone knows you need to hear today. For we are all flesh, but He the Spirit knows all things, and He alone is true.
In Jesus Name. AMEN.
Friends;
May God in His mercy bless you in the name of Jesus-Christ our Lord. I thank Him for His mercy. As we study the exchange between God and Solomon, I pray that the Father give us true desires as He did to Solomon, so that we might all be primarily preoccupied with our duties as children and servants of His Kingdom. In His Name. AMEN.
Blessings in our Lord Jesus;
May God’s peace be with you. I am pleased to share with you a sharing on the 3 pillars of the Christian life. I pray that I have found God’s mercy to speak the truth untainted. In His Name. AMEN.
Friends;
Blessings in the name of Jesus. While it’s been a while since an article has been posted here, I praise God that He has continued to use me for His work, overcoming the unbearable weakness of my flesh. Through COVID-19, He has allowed us to record sharings which we will now be posting on YouTube and here. May He bless you through this one entitled “Do Not be Ashamed of the Testimony: Share in the Suffering”. The main passage is 2 Timothy 1.
In His Name. AMEN.
Friends;
May the grace of God be upon you, in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior. The notion of God’s protection has taken on a whole different dimension in light of the Coronavirus outbreak. It certainly goes without saying that we should all follow the practical tips our officials are giving us, and apply some common sanitary sense.
But with the Lord’s permission, I would like to give you, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, a very important advice:
DO NOT JUST CLAIM GOD’S PROMISES
Yes, you can comb through the Bible and find all the promises of God’s protection. You may recite them, claim them, appropriate them for you and your family. BUT THAT IS STILL NOT ENOUGH.
You need to TALK TO GOD. You need TO PRAY FOR PROTECTION. You need to COMMUNICATE WITH GOD. Simply claiming God’s promises without speaking to Him about the issue for which you are claiming them is more a reflection of your reliance on yourself (i.e. how strongly you can claim them, how high your faith may reach, or even how well you can memorize them), rather than your reliance on God.
How about speaking with Him about this problem in prayer? How about petitioning for you, your family, and for your neighbors? How about seeking insight from God as to why this is happening, rather than conjecturing with your own mind?
It is easy to recite and to declare Bible verses boldly. But where is the humble Spirit to kneel at the Lord’s feet to intercede and to listen?
Our Lord Jesus is a personal Lord. GOD our Father, is a GOD OF RELATIONSHIPS. Do not just attempt to take what is HIS (i.e. His promises). BE WITH HIM in PRAYER.
BE WITH HIM IN PRAYER MY DEAR FRIENDS.
And let His peace guide you. Let Him reveal you His secrets (if He so chooses). Let Him show you how you should navigate and how you should strengthen your brothers and sisters, and why not, even the unbelievers. For just as He did with the Apostle Paul, when He committed to him all the souls on the ship he was traveling on, who knows whether He will commit to you some souls for their protection?
Acts 27:23,24 – …last night an angel of the God I [Paul] belong to and serve stood by me 24 and said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul. It is necessary for you to appear before Caesar. And indeed, God has graciously given you all those who are sailing with you.’
Run to the Father. PRAY. Talk to HIM. SEEK HIM.
In His name.
AMEN.
May the grace of God be with you in Jesus, our Lord and Savior. The messages of truth you are least likely to love are among the ones that give the most definite proof that you are saved.
Did you know that you have not only been appointed to believe in Jesus, but also to suffer for Him?
Phil. 1:29 – …it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him
Do not choke your zeal for Jesus, to fight to live in a many worthy of Him, to fight for the right Gospel to be taught, because of your fear of the consequences, the afflictions and sufferings that will come. Far too many churches have abandoned this message…You must bear your own cross, You must share in Christ’s suffering, which is done by imitating Christ. It is proof of your salvation.
Phil. 1:27,28 – …live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ…not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God.
Search the scriptures my friends, develop a zeal for Jesus, and move boldly forward, proving to yourself that you are indeed saved.
May the Lord strengthen you as you embrace this message and share in His suffering.
In His Name.
AMEN.
Dear friends;
May the Lord open our spiritual eyes, that we may understand His Will. Allow me to dig into the well-known story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well of Jacob, as it relates to God’s children being spiritually fed by carrying the Will of God through good works.
We understand indeed from the scriptures that we have been created to do good works, as the Apostles, and most notably Jesus Himself have expressed in so many different ways. Doing good works is our purpose, our very reason for existing:
Ephesians 2:10 –…we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared ahead of time for us to do.
Matthew 5:13 – You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt should lose its taste, how can it be made salty? It’s no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
Matthew 5:14 – “You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden.”
But arguably the most expressive and forceful way of conveying this truth is by labeling the performance of good works as our food!
John 4:34,35 – “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work”
Now, our life itself is tied to doing the will of God. Food is not optional. One must eat. While we may choose not to eat, the consequences – the discomfort of hunger – are anything but a choice. And if left to persist, starvation will ensue.
This truth was vividly displayed at the encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. Jesus was desperate to eat…He was desperate to do the Will of God: to save souls, to recover the lost sheep.
1. Jesus and the Samaritan woman
As recorded in John 4, Jesus, was resting at Jacob’s well from his travel to Galilee from Judea, when a Samaritan woman came to draw some water. Jesus was exhausted, thirsty and hungry from the trip, and His disciples had gone into town to buy some food.
When they came back, they found Him right in the middle of something: He just had an exchange with the woman in which He showed her that He was the Christ, and that He could offer her the living water that leads to eternal life.
John 4:27-29 – Just then his disciples arrived, and they were amazed that he was talking with a woman. Yet no one said, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”
2. The hunger to do God’s Will
Note that the disciples were already amazed to see Jesus speaking with a Samaritan woman. That alone was peculiar, but what followed was far more disturbing for the disciples: they were about to witness the extent of Jesus’ hunger to do the Will of God, in ways they had never seen before. Although He was hungry, He refused to eat!
John 4:28-33 – Then the woman left her water jar, went into town, and told the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They left the town and made their way to him. 31 In the meantime the disciples kept urging him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” 33 The disciples said to one another, “Could someone have brought him something to eat?”
Although His disciples insisted, Jesus refused to eat. And the reason He gave was that He already had food to eat…
John 4:34 – “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work,” Jesus told them.
Jesus was starving to do God’s Will, and the disciples found Him right in the midst of having this hunger satisfied.
Please note that the woman left the jar. She was to return, and she did indeed return, and this time, with many people!
This is the meal Jesus was waiting for. One soul (the Samaritan woman) and many more with her about to be saved. He saw a harvest, and that was an opportunity He could not pass.
3. But why was Jesus starving to do God’s Will in the first place?
While we could simply say that Jesus always did the Will of His Father, the reason Jesus was traveling in the first place is revealing.
John 4:1-3 – When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (though Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were), 3 he left Judea and went again to Galilee.
Jesus was traveling by constraint, because the Pharisees had learned about the expansion of His ministry, and that He was even making more disciples than John the Baptist. He had to stop doing the Will of God in Judea and leave town.
Then, just like an oasis in the middle of the desert, he saw a single person, even if it was just a woman, and a Samaritan at that. Everyone would have passed by, but Jesus was hungry, Jesus was starving to do the Will of God. While his disciples contemplated his physical hunger, He was eagerly waiting the return of the woman, and not just herself, but an entire crowd…a true feast!!
John 4:39 – Now many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of what the woman said when she testified, “He told me everything I ever did.”
No wonder Jesus had said to His disciples…
John 4:32 – “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.”
4. Our discomfort when we do not do His Will
This state of discomfort resulting from not doing God’s Will is akin to the discomfort one feels when hungry. It is not a choice, it just is, because just as it is a basic necessity to eat, it is a basic necessity for God’s children to do His Will.
This discomfort may manifest itself in various ways. But one of the common ways is for us to feel unfulfilled. Christians who habitually resist the Will of the Spirit carry with them the heavy burden of feeling unfulfilled.
Another way is when feels saturated, when one keeps learning but does not release that Spiritual water erupting from their inner spring.
Your prayers are not like what they used to be, they lack intensity, connection, and passion. Your learning makes little progress, you open the Bible but you are unsettled, the drive to devour the scriptures is nowhere to be found, and no matter what you do, and how many times you pray, that overall discomfort is there and it grows…
…until you start releasing…until you start “doing” – not just learning – the Will of God…until you start eating!
John 4:34,35 – “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work”
My friends; I exhort you to recognize when you are hungry, when you are starving. Release, Release, Release! Do the Will of God, believe in Jesus and do not resist His Will.
In Jesus Name, to the glory of God, our Father.
AMEN
Dear Brothers and Sisters;
May the peace and grace of God our Father, and of our Lord Jesus-Christ be with you. This letter is addressed primarily to married couples, husbands and wives. It is also addressed to those of you who are aspiring to get married soon. I pray through my Lord Jesus that He grants me the love and wisdom to share with you one of the reasons your genuine prayers, as a married individual, may go unanswered.
It has to do with your spouse, and how you treat her (or him). God, through the prophet Malachi said the following to the Jews.
Malachi 2:13 – This is another thing you do. You are covering the Lord’s altar with tears, with weeping and groaning, because he no longer respects your offerings or receives them gladly from your hands.
In the Book of Malachi, God was really displeased with the Jews. In the verse above, He was no longer accepting the offerings from the people. Why? Please note that the people were still making offerings in this verse. In addition, note that the fact that God was refusing their offerings had a very clear impact on the lives of the people. And that impact brought them to tears!
To translate in today’s terms, you may understand the verse above as no longer receiving blessings from God, despite your prayers, your singing, and your work at Church, and even your good deeds in your community! Why?
You pray genuinely, but your situation is not improving. You are generous in the community, but it does not seem to matter. Your health takes a dive. Your business does not prosper. None of your plans seem to work. You no longer have favor from anyone. Nothing is working and therefore, you are brought down to tears like the Jews in Malachi above.
And therefore, just like them, you are wondering why God is not hearing you!
Malachi 2:14 – And you ask, “Why?”
The answer: Because of the way you are treating your spouse!
Malachi 3:14,15 – And you ask, “Why?” Because even though the Lord has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, you have acted treacherously against her. She was your marriage partner and your wife by covenant. 15 Didn’t God make them one and give them a portion of spirit?
Acting treacherously against your spouse is a sure way to damage your relationship with God, and there are at least two reasons given.
First: God was a witness of your marriage and made you one
God was a witness between the two of you when you got married. Naturally, we are not speaking of marriages where God was not a witness, of which, I am sure, there are many of such today. But if, with the little you knew when you got married, you did invoke God as you made the covenant of marriage, then it is safe assume that God was indeed a witness! And acting treacherously against your spouse is a disregard for who God, who was a witness, is!
Second: You are robbing God from what He is seeking: Godly Offspring
Malachi 2:15 – Didn’t God make them one and give them a portion of spirit? What is the one seeking? Godly offspring.
God is seeking Godly offspring. He is a witness of a marriage and makes the two one. He then goes straight to work to unite these two individuals, given them His Spirit (this is a mysterious thing, and beyond my capacity to understand, for the language in the verse seems to indicate that God gives a spirit that is only shared between the two individuals, making them truly one!).
This unity will ensure Godly offspring, what God is seeking…until one starts to deal treacherously against the other. The husband no longer loves his wife. The wife has no more reverence for her husband.
You are breaking what God is building! You dishonor your spouse, make light of that Spirit that unites you, jeopardizing God’s plan to have God-fearing children…and you expect to be prosperous? You expect to be heard? No, NOOO, NOOOOO…YOU WILL NOT BE HEARD!
Repent, and deal kindly with your spouse. Honor your husband. Love your wife. Ask for your forgiveness, for He is willing to pardon. He will hear you.
AND ONLY THEN, YOU CAN EXPECT TO BE HEARD. For you will be once again back on track to bring up Godly offspring. Children who fear Him, children who revere Him.
May the Lord of Mercy bless you all. AMEN.
Dear Friends;
May God the Father, and Jesus our Lord be blessed, and may the Lord sanctify you and give you a heart to understand His Will.
Yes, what’s the use of serving God? What’s the use of enduring suffering and injustice for His name, while others seem to have it easy. While others, who do not fear Him, actually prosper?
There is nothing new under the sun, and neither are these questions. Look at what the Jews used to say in the times of Malachi.
Malachi 3:14,15 – “It is useless to serve God. What have we gained by keeping his requirements and walking mournfully before the Lord of Armies? 15 So now we consider the arrogant to be fortunate. Not only do those who commit wickedness prosper, they even test God and escape.”
Do not fall into that sin. It is a death trap! While many of the Jews were speaking and thinking that way, a few did the opposite…
Malachi 3:16 – At that time those who feared the Lord spoke to one another.
And God took notice
Malachi 3:16 – The Lord took notice and listened. So a book of remembrance was written before him for those who feared the Lord and had high regard for his name.
Friends; think very carefully about what you are thinking and harboring in your heart. The Lord may seem quiet at times, but He takes notice and listens.
Malachi 3:17 – “They will be mine,” says the Lord of Armies, “my own possession on the day I am preparing. I will have compassion on them as a man has compassion on his son who serves him.
In His Name. AMEN.
