Jesus’ invitation is that we come follow after Him…
John the Baptist said, “It is necessary for Him (Jesus) to increase and for me to decrease.”
If we are so full of ourselves — our thoughts, our habits, our way of doing things — then we have no room to grow.
We must of our own free will and volition empty our vessel in order that Jesus may fill it.
Another way of putting it is, we must learn to relinquish more of our self nature in order that we may experience more of God’s nature and God’s power in our lives.
He’s the Good Shepherd and we must choose each day to trust in Him, with all of our heart (not leaning on our own understanding); and then to follow Him, by faith (meaning we cast the whole of our life and our life’s circumstances upon His reliability and trustworthiness), because He alone knows the path that He has destined for us to follow (see Rom 8:28-29; Eph 1:11).
As Christians, we are no longer guided by our self interest, because we realize that because of Christ’s propitious sacrifice on Calvary’s cross, our life no longer belong to ourselves.
Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me”
Every Christian is now called to live by FAITH, which by definition is the action we take, based upon our belief and reliance upon God and the truth of His Word; which action is sustained by our confidence that when God promises something He is well able to perform.
His promise is that He is with us ALWAYS, to help us in our daily problems and difficulties; but we must learn to cooperate with Him, taking His yoke upon us daily (Mat 11:28-30), meaning we must sign over the deed of our life and give Him the keys to our life, making Him Lord over every area of our life.
Jesus’ promise is that He never leaves us, but we must learn to cooperate with Him each day, through the Holy Spirit.
5 Let your character or moral disposition be free from love of money [including greed, avarice, lust, and craving for earthly possessions] and be satisfied with your present [circumstances and with what you have];
For He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support.
[I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]
6 So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?
And our Marching Orders require that we strive each day to become more like Christ.
Romans 8:29
“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.”
As we grow closer to Jesus, as we daily are growing in our knowledge of Him and His work, by our daily immersing ourselves in His Word, then we will find ourselves having a longing to become more like Him; and this is God’s goal for all of us, in our preparation for eternity.
The Bible tells us that our purpose in life is that we become like Jesus, to be conformed to His image — to think like Him, to speak like Him, and to behave like Him in every area of our life.
Living a Repentant Life
We do this by allowing the Holy Spirit, each day, as we immerce ourselves in God’s Word, to rewrite the corrupt programing we’ve all have received from this corrupt world system.
By our practicing the presence of God, in our lives each day, we are putting away our old habits, patterns, and passions and are replacing them with new and better habits, patterns, and passions.
We need to learn to live for Christ, from the moment we wake up each day to the moment we fall asleep; to live in such a way that we draw attention to Jesus and bring glory to His name.
We need to learn to live as Christians, to love as Christians, and to serve as Christians — and to do all we do in a distinctly Christian way.
1 John 2:6
“Whoever claims to abide in Him (Jesus) must walk as Jesus walked.”
This is our God given assignment each and every day — To Practice the Presence of God and to learn to walk as Jesus walked, as we meditate and study in His Word.
We all want blessings, happiness, and fulfillment, and we associate a happy condition with a certain amount of ease.
Jesus promises blessings and fulfillment to those who follow Him (John 4:14), but many people have been surprised that the way of Christ is not as easy as they had hoped.
Sometimes, following Christ can be downright difficult.
John 16:33
Jesus speaking: “I have told you these things (in the Bible) so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take courage; I have overcome the world!”
So let’s get our heads on right this morning and every morning that to follow Christ means that we must learn the importance of denying ourselves and living for Him — living for Christ every single day.
Matthew 16:24
Jesus speaking: “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross (symbol of our death to self will) and follow Me.”
This is what it means to be a follower of Christ — it means as act of our will, by faith — that we, by faith, seek to live for Him every day.
This is our mission and our assignment today and every day, if we choose to accept it, which means that we each have to choose to die to our self will daily, and to live for Christ.
God Gives What Is Good
1 The Lord says, “All you who are thirsty,
come and drink.
Those of you who do not have money,
come, buy and eat!
Come buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
2 Why spend your money on something that is not real food?
Why work for something that doesn’t really satisfy you?
Listen closely to me, and you will eat what is good;
your soul will enjoy the rich food that satisfies.
3 Come to me and listen;
listen to me so you may live.
I will make an agreement with you that will last forever.
I will give you the blessings I promised to David.
4 I made David a witness of my power for all nations,
a ruler and commander of many nations.
5 You will call for nations that you don’t yet know.
And these nations that do not know you will run to you
because of the Lord your God,
because of the Holy One of Israel who honors you.”
6 So you should look for the Lord before it is too late;
you should call to him while he is near.
7 The wicked should stop doing wrong,
and they should stop their evil thoughts.
They should return to the Lord so he may have mercy on them.
They should come to our God, because he will freely forgive them.
God’s Word to you today…
The Oracle: The Jubilean Mysteries Unveiled
by Jonathan Cahn
“Now,” he said. “Never another time. Never tomorrow.
You can only come to Him when the time is now. No other time is real. So the only one who can come is you . . . the only place is here . . . and the only time is now.
“And so the voice of God would now call to the one who is here and now and to each one who would hear His voice wherever and whenever they are . . . The voice of God would say to you this . . . I have known you from the beginning, from before you took your first step, before you breathed your first breath, before you were even conceived.
I have seen all your tears and have known all your sorrows and wounds and pains, all your longings and hopes, all your fears, your dreams and heartbreaks, your burdens and weariness, your times of asking Me why, your cries of loneliness and emptiness, your times of separation, your mourning for what was lost, your weaknesses and failings, your wanderings, your sins and shame . . . And I have still loved you with an everlasting love . . . And now I call you to leave the darkness and all that is passed and all that I never willed or purposed for your life . . . that the days of your separation would come to an end. It is time now to return. It is time to come home . . . to enter the inheritance of blessing you never knew but were born to enter. It is time for your Jubilee.
Come to Me. And I will not turn you away but will receive you. And I will wipe away all your tears. I will forgive all your sins. I will heal all your wounds. And I will turn all your sorrows into joy.
And you will forget your days of darkness and wandering, the days of your separation.
And I will make all things new. And I will bring you into a land where the crippled walk, where deserts bloom, where the blind see, where the defiled become pure, and where that which was lost is found again.
I will bring you to a place you have never known and yet have always longed to be, to your Promised Land.
And I will never leave you. And you will never again know what it is to be lost. For in that day, you will have come home. You will be Mine, and I will be yours . . . forever.”
“He didn’t say a word after that. Nor did I. I couldn’t. It was enough to just take it all in.
And there was nothing I could think of to say that wouldn’t have sounded inappropriate or inadequate in the wake of what had been spoken.
There was nothing else to say. “So we just sat there in silence as the wind swept over the mountaintop and as the light of the rising sun broke through the cloud beneath us.”
(from The Oracle: The Jubilean Mysteries Unveiled – pages 269 – 270)
JESUS (Heb: Yeshua) is Our Savior, Our Refuge and Strong Tower…
Psalm 46:1
God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.
Proverbs 18:10
The name of the Lord is a strong tower;
The righteous run to it and are safe.
Understanding the POWER in the Name of Jesus
The name of Jesus is so powerful that ignorance of it is robbing many of God’s blessings and fulfilment in life.
The enemy will do anything to keep man in the dark so that he can continue to oppress him. The truth is that the power in the name of Jesus brings deliverance from all oppression of the devil and delivers dominion to mankind.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved
— Acts 4:12
And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
— Acts 3:16
God understanding the power of names carefully chose the name of Jesus to reflect His purpose while on earth and after resurrection. The name of means saviour
Salvation means
Deliverance from sin and its consequences.
Preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss.
Therefore, there is no deliverance from sin and its consequences nor preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss except through the name of Jesus.
For you to enjoy the benefits, including healing in the name of Jesus you need to understand the power in the name.
Therefore what to know about the name Jesus:
1. His name gives us our identity
“… And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.” Acts 11:26
As a Christian, you are identified with God because you believe in the name of Jesus and are expected to live like Him
2. Jesus’ name is above every other name.
Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Philip 2:9-11 (KJV)
The name of Jesus is above the name of any sickness or disease or situation. Whatever has a name is below the name of Jesus and must give way to it, no matter where it may come from: heaven, earth or hell.
3. Only through His name can you get anything from God
And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full – John 16:23-24 (KJV)
God has designed it that after the death and resurrection of Jesus, no man can relate with Him for any reason whatsoever except through Jesus. He is now the gateway to God and His blessings: you can only go in and get your blessings, including healing through Him.
4. Everything Jesus is and carries is in His name
And these signs shall follow them that believe; in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover – Mark 16:17-18 (KJV)
Whatever Jesus can do, the power in the name will do it when you use it. Whatever God can do you can do in the name of Jesus. You can say – let there be in Jesus name and there will be. We exercise our God-given authority only in the name of Jesus.
5. His name is at work 24/7
I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death – Revelations 1:18 (KJV)
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen – Matthew 28:20 (KJV)
Because Jesus lives forever and He is with us always, His name is never on break. Look for Him, or call Him anytime, anywhere and the power in the name will work.
6. The enemy knows and understands the power of names, most especially the name Jesus.
He trembles at the name Jesus.
And behold, they shrieked and screamed, What have You to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? Have You come to torment us before the appointed time?
— Matthew 8:29 (AMP)
The devils trembled at the presence of Jesus. They still tremble at the name of Jesus
And she did this for many days. Then Paul, being sorely annoyed and worn out, turned and said to the spirit within her, I charge you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her! And it came out that very moment
— Acts 16:18 (AMP)
Command healing or deliverance over your life or loved one in the name of Jesus and the spirit of infirmity will leave immediately.
7. The name of Jesus is a strong refuge.
The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe – Proverbs 18:10 (KJV)
The power in the name provides protection, covering for them that believe in it. When you call His name in time of danger, Jesus quickly shields you from any imminent evil.
8. His name commands instant delivery.
And Peter said unto him, Æneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately.
— Acts 9:34 (KJV)
When you call His name for help, the answer is dispatched immediately.
Most of the time you see instant manifestation but some other times you see the result after a while as you walk in obedience to God’s word.
9. The power in the name of Jesus is invoked through faith
And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
— Acts 3:16 (KJV)
If you call Jesus’ name in unbelief or carelessly, it will not work.
Therefore, anytime you are mentioning Jesus’ name do it in faith and with the understanding of the power that lies in His name.
Don’t call His name in vain; it is not acceptable unto God.
10. You are qualified to use His name only if you are born again
Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying,
We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so.
And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?
And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified
— Acts 19:13-17 (KJV)
It is very dangerous to use the name of Jesus if you have not identified with Him. You have to give your life to Jesus first before you can exercise the power in the name.
In conclusion, there is healing, deliverance among other things in the name of Jesus.
With all you have read above, you are now in a better position to exercise authority over that illness or situation in Jesus name.
God has His way of stirring up our nest, in order to force us out of our comfort zone, on to the path He has destined us to travel.
Do you remember when Jesus took a young child onto His lap and told His disciples that unless they become as this child they cannot experience the Kingdom of Heaven (Mat 18:3).
Children are like sponges, always looking for new experiences, always trusting, always teachable.
We were like that once ourselves, what happened?
The older we get, as a rule, most people do not like change.
They would rather stay in the safe harbors of their nostalgic past, where they feel most comfortable, where they are no longer challenged or forced to learn new things.
This is NOT God’s way at all!
As Christians, if we are to be used of God, we have to be prepared to flow with the Spirit and to launch our faith out into the deep, wherever He leads us.
Jesus was constantly challenging those who counted their religious traditions on a par with God’s word; those old religious practices that have long ago gone stale, their original meaning long forgotten and now have become empty ritual.
You don’t want to be an old wineskin.
“No one puts new wine into old wineskins: otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins: but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins”
— Mark 2:22
Catch the imagery in the following verses regarding the eagle:
“He found him in a desert land, and in the howling waste of the wilderness; he encircled him, he cared for him, he kept him as the apple of his eye.
Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions, the LORD alone guided him, no foreign god was with him.”
— Deut. 32:10–12
Moses penned these words at the end of his life. In his final song, his parting words, Moses likens God to an eagle stirring up its nest.
Likewise, God often will stir our nest up, to make us uncomfortable, in order to get us to move.
In the Bible, we find that God NEVER does a miracle the same way twice, He’s always doing things differently, so we also have to be willing and able to adjust to whatever He’s doing and the way He does it.
John 3:5-8
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’
8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.
So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
None of us, as Christians, are built for safe harbors; we all need to learn to launch our faith out into the DEEP because that’s where the Spirit is moving today.
The Winning Walk
YOU CAN’T STAY WHERE YOU ARE
There is one place that God will never let you stay…and that is the place where you are.
Once God touches our life, we can be certain that we will never be the same. He will move us; He will change things; He will shake us up to get us where He wants us to go.
For the Christian, there is simply no such thing as status quo.
Change was the hallmark of the early church, but many churches today resist change.
Someone has said that the seven last words of the church are: “We’ve never done it that way before.”
When God revealed His plan to spread the Gospel to the Gentiles, the Jewish Christians were faced with the need for radical change.
Old beliefs and attitudes had to die so that new ones could take their place.
The Christians at Jerusalem were content to be a Jews-only brotherhood, but God had other plans. Change was in order.
There is a chorus I have sung with thousands of teenagers over the years on beach retreats.
I never get tired of it. It challenges me as much as it does them:
“Will you stay where you are, or will you reach for a star?
Play the game? Be a fraud? Or die to self and live to God?
This could be victory’s hour, claim His grace, claim His power. Will you stay where you are, or reach for a star?”
Memory Verse
II CORINTHIANS 5:17
Therefore if any man is in Christ he is a new creature; the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come.
Jesus said… “Enter by the narrow gate; for wideisthe gate and broadisthe way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
Because narrowisthe gate anddifficultisthe way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
— Matthew 7:13-14
Which road are you on?
Being born-again is not a religious experience, and neither is it simply about saying a” “sinner’s prayer” either, unless that prayer is preceded by true faith and repentance (changing the way you think), that results in a changed life, that now is guided by faith and obedience to God’s Word and the leading of the Holy Spirit.
No, we are not talking here about a RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE, which tries to earn something the Bible says CANNOT be earned, but rather we’re talking about a TOTAL change of life experience.
This is what Jesus is saying, in John 3:5, where He said, “That unless you are born of both WATER and Spirit you cannot enter into the Kingdom of Heaven!”
Our being born-again means that we are born of both WATER and SPIRIT.
John 3:3-8
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he CANNOT see the kingdom of God.”
4 Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of WATER and the SPIRIT, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
In Acts 2:38 we are told to REPENT, be BAPTIZED and you shall receive the HOLY SPIRIT.
To REPENT means literally, in the Greek, to change the way you think.
In other words, allowing the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to rewrite the corrupt code, the programming that we all have received from this world; and the BAPTISM is not just a symbol or religious ritual (because that by its self won’t save anyone), but rather the baptism that Jesus is talking about was illustrated when the children of Israel left Egypt and passed through the Red Sea; they were literally leaving the bondage and slavery of the past (their old life); and as they passed through the waters of the Red Sea, they were passing into a new life, where the sins of the past (of Egypt) were all washed away.
So where are you on these journey, which road are you traveling on, the narrow road that follows Jesus; or are you on the wide road, where everyone is doing what seems right in their way of thinking, but gives no thought or consideration to what God says, or what God’s plans are — which by the way is what the nature of sin is.
Isaiah 53:6
All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Whereas you CANNOT purchase or earn your salvation, as the Bible is very clear that we are saved ONLY by grace through faith (Eph 2:8-9); there is however a cost to our being a disciple, a follower of Jesus, and that cost is that we must deny ourselves and pick up our cross (the symbol of our death) every single day (see Matt 16:24and1 John 2:6).
The importance of our allowing the Holy Spirit to change the way we think…
[NOTE: The word REPENT, in Greek metanoéō, means to change the way we think]
The Bible tells us to fear NOT and be anxious for NOTHING!
Here’s a quote taken from John Wayne, in a movie called “In Harms Way” (1965), that tells it like it is,
“All battles are fought by brave men, who are scared and would rather be some place else.”
Fear and apprehension are a part of life; and the things you worry about appear to be real (FEAR = False Evidence Appearing to be Real).
However the fact is many of us allow our fears to torture us with thoughts and scenarios that just aren’t in touch with reality, and 90+ percent of the things we worry about never come to pass.
All that worrying is just a waste of our time, that does not change our circumstances at all, and the worrying only causes us harm.
So what’s the solution?
As Believers, we are NOT to allow our fears to control us; we are instructed rather to live by faith and not by sight, learning to cast our cares upon God (1 Pet 5:7).
Listen to what God said to Joshua, after Moses was graduated to Glory and God was handing off Moses’ baton and mantle to Joshua:
Joshua 1:6-9
New Living Translation (NLT)
6 “Be strong and courageous, for you are the one who will lead these people to possess all the land I swore to their ancestors I would give them.
7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you.
Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left.
Then you will be successful in everything you do. 8 Study this Book of Instruction (the Bible) continually.
Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it.
Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do. 9 This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For theLordyour God is with you wherever you go!”
“Hewho dwells in the Secret Place of the Most High shall abideunder the shadow of the Almighty.”
I will say of theLord, ‘He ismy refuge and my fortress‘ “
When you’re in the secret place of the Most High, the enemy can’t even see you, and NOTHING from the enemy can actually touch you.
He doesn’t even know how to locate you. He can run right at you and not even see you.
Our Secret Place is like a Star Trek cloaking device; that renders us invisible to the enemy’s sensors and attacks
The Bible tells us that it is because of Christ’s propitious sacrifice on Calvary’s Cross and our faith in Him, that we can NOW boldly and confidently come into God’s presence (Eph 3:12).
And it is in Psalm 100 that we are given the keys of entry into God’s Presence:
Psalm 100:1-4
Makea joyful shout to theLord,all you lands!
Serve theLordwith gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
Know that theLord, HeisGod; It isHewhohas made us, andnot we ourselves; We areHis people and the sheep of His pasture.
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, Andinto His courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him,andbless His name.
These are the rules for engaging the enemy in spiritual warfare that the Apostle Paul is talking about in 2 Corinthians 10:3-6.
Adjusting our thinking and putting on the Mind of Christ is something that we, as Christians, have to practice everyday.
The Lord is Our Refuge
Written by Dick Mills
“The eternal God is your refuge and underneath are the everlasting arms”
— Deut. 33:27
A refuge is a place of safety. In a game of refuge, the animals instinctively know they will not be trapped or shot at.
Likewise, we Christians have a refuge, a place of safety and security from the traps and direct attacks of the enemy.
In speaking in this sense of security in the Lord, the psalmist David wrote:
“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them”
(Ps. 119:165).
In modern versions, this word “offend” is usually translated, “snare, trap, capture.”
Thus, this is a Biblical terminology for Satan’s attempts to capture believers and make them into prisoners of fear, poverty, sickness, anger, lust, insecurity, etc.
In the original Hebrew, the word translated “refuge” here is me’ownah (meh-o-naw’), meaning “a lair, den, asylum, retreat, or home.”
As believers, our place of safety, of retreat, of refuge from the assaults of the enemy, is the Lord God of hosts.
“Refuge” (me’ownah) is also the word used for the tabernacle or temple where God dwells.
We Christians have our individual dwelling places, our me’ownah. God also has His tabernacle, or me’ownah – His dwelling place.
We not only have the security of our own homes, but we also have an added spiritual security in the place of worship.
When we worship the Lord in spirit and in truth we find a beneficial refuge from doubt, disbelief, distrust, despair, dismay, and disturbance.
The Lord is our refuge: our lair, den, our retreat, our home, and our tabernacle!
[Source: The Spirit-Filled Believer’s Daily Devotional by Dick Mills]
The Bible says that when you feed your enemy, it’s like heaping coals of fire upon their head…
Proverbs 25:21-22
“If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat; And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; Forsoyou will heap coals of fire on his head, And theLordwill reward you.“
So what’s with the coals of fire on the head?
God’s ways and thoughts are certainly different from ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).
This whole wording happens to be another Jewish idiom that makes absolutely no sense to us, in our Western mindset.
We’re told in the Bible that when you feed your enemy you will heap coals of fire on their head.
Heaping coals of fire on one’s head:
In the Bible lands almost everything is carried on the head water jars, baskets of fruit, vegetables, fish or any other article.
Those carrying the burden rarely touch it with the hands, and they walk through crowded streets and lanes with perfect ease.
In many homes the only fire they have is kept in a brazier, which they use for simple cooking as well as for warmth.
They plan to always keep it burning. If it should go out, some member of the family will take the brazier to a neighbors house to borrow fire.
Then she will lift the brazier to her head and start for home.
If her neighbor is a generous woman, she will heap the brazier full of coals.
To feed an enemy and give him drink was like heaping the empty brazier with live coals, which meant food, warmth and almost life itself to the person or home needing it, and was the symbol of finest generosity.
[From B.M. Bowen, Strange Scriptures that Perplex the Western Mind]
Agape love, as explained in the Bible, is the God kind of LOVE, that’s freely given and comes without strings; and is God’s true nature and our source of power to overcome this world.
“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of theseislove!”
— 1 Corinthians 13:13
This is what LOVE (Agape) looks like and how it is to be expressed in our life, if we are willing to get ourselves out of the way and be God’s conduit.
It basically means that we, as Gods ambassadors in the Earth, that we must learn to treat other people, based on the value God has placed upon them.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Living Bible (TLB)
4 Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud,5 never haughty or selfish or rude. Love does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable or touchy.
It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. Love does not demand its own way.
It is not irritable or touchy.
It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. 6 It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out. 7 If you love someone, you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him.
Part of our “PUTTING ON THE MIND OF CHRIST,” every day (as we’re told to do in Philippians 2:5), involves our learning to think and react as Christ would in our everyday situations.
The reason being, we’re here as His ambassadors, to represent His interests and not our own.
We’re here to be His distributors of LOVE and LIGHT into all the dark places of this Earth.
So here are our marching orders from on High:
Matthew 5:43-48
The Message (MSG)
43-47 “You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’
I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst.
When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves.
This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to EVERYONE, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.
If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that.
If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.
48 “In a word, what I’m saying is, GROW UP. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it.
Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”
The importance of seeking God’s face – His PRESENCE in your life & be in relationship with Him 24/7 365 – above all else…
April 27 My Utmost for His Highest
WHAT DO YOU WANT?
Do you seek great things for yourself?
— Jeremiah 45:5
Are you seeking great things for yourself, instead of seeking to be a great person?
God wants you to be in a much closer relationship with Himself than simply receiving His gifts— He wants you to get to know Him.
Even some large thing we want is only incidental; it comes and it goes. But God never gives us anything incidental.
There is nothing easier than getting into the right relationship with God, unless it is not God you seek, but only what He can give you.
If you have only come as far as asking God for things, you have never come to the point of understanding the least bit of what surrender really means.
You have become a Christian based on your own terms. You protest, saying, “I asked God for the Holy Spirit, but He didn’t give me the rest and the peace I expected.”
And instantly God puts His finger on the reason– you are not seeking the Lord at all; you are seeking something for yourself.
Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you…” (Matthew 7:7).
Ask God for what you want and do not be concerned about asking for the wrong thing, because as you draw ever closer to Him, you will cease asking for things altogether.
“Your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him” (Matthew 6:8).
Then why should you ask?
So that you may get to know Him.
Are you seeking great things for yourself?
Have you said, “Oh, Lord, completely fill me with your Holy Spirit”?
If God does not, it is because you are not totally surrendered to Him; there is something you still refuse to do.
Are you prepared to ask yourself what it is you want from God and why you want it?
God always ignores your present level of completeness in favor of your ultimate future completeness.
He is not concerned about making you blessed and happy right now, but He’s continually working out His ultimate perfection for you—
“…that they may be one just as We are one…” (John 17:22).
