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DEVOTION
These comandments i give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road. When you lie doen and when you get up...(Deutronomy 6:4-9)
Many of us forgot that everyone of us has a ministry field to take care of for God. This is a commandment. It is not an option for us to ignore or not to follow. God commanded us love Him with all our heart, soul and mind. And then He commanded us to tell our family members. The ministry field for each and everyone of us is our own family- especially our children! They are the first to know that they must love God. Do not go elsewhere if you haven't told your children. Do not go to foreign lands if you fail to tell your own siblings about God. We must we need to tell our children? Because your children is also God's and they are given to us to take care of! If you do not tell them, they will perish and you will be responsible. They must be saved so that they will go to heaven with you and the rest! Do you want your children to be saved? Tell them!
Lord, we want to tell our children to love you with all their hearts, mind and soul. We ask this in Jesus Name.Amen.
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20.08.2010
"But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in fire so you can become rich and white clothes to wear so you can cover your shameful nakedness and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see."(Rev. 3:17-18)
We are all naked, but cannot see it with our own eyes. We are putting our trust in things which are not eternal. I mean we are putting our trust or focuss on things which are perishable. We should be seek for things above. We need to be refined, in the new birth. The new birth enables us to be cleansed and forgiven and be made a new. The new birth means we are to be clothed in purity and righteousness. Holiness or purity is the white clothes that we should be wearing. Those who accept Jesus as Lord and saviour will have themselves be in the light and become children of light, because God is light. In Him there is no darkness.
Let us come to God and seek for forgiveness. Let us humble ourselves by acknowledging that we are all sinners and needed Jesus to put things right in our lives. When God enter our lives, He will open our blindness and we will make us see how much we need Him.
God be blessed. Lord, open the eyes of our hearts.Amen.
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15.08.2010
" Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today."......"Look Lord! Here and now i give half of my possessions to the poor, and if i had cheated anybody out of anything, i will pay back four times the amount." (Luke 19:1-9)
This is one of our favourite story in the Bible. We tell the children about it, and a lot of emphasis is on his height and how he has to climb a tree to see Jesus. Then how he gave some of his possessions to the needy. But let us look at it in another way. Zacchaeus wants to see Jesus. To ensure that, he did something that many of us would not want to do. Run a head, climb a tree and wait for Jesus. Remember he was a chief tax collector..our present job could be a director or manager! To climb a tree will make him a centre of redicule. Besides, it would be quite difficult for him to climb a tree. He must have made quite an effort to do so.
No wonder, because of his effort, Jesus took notice and wants to stay in his house. Imagine how glad he was when someone wants to come into his house, because no one like him.
His extraordinary effort, earned him Jesus' visit to his house. The joy that Jesus brought to him caused him to part with some of his possessions!
We want to get something extraordinary, we have to do something out of the ordinary. extra Effort and sacrifice are some of the things that can produce desired results. We want revival, we need to increase our effort and persistence. The widow and the bad judge is an example. We always want something more or different, but we never want to do something more or different. We are controlled by fear of being redicule, critisized and the like. That is why we can never move from where we are. Unless we act!
Lord, help us to be willing to go the extra mile, and to do something more than what we are so used to do. Give us the courage and the willingness. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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04.08.2010
The supremacy of love (1 cor 13:1-13)
This chapter needs to be studied and meditated by all of us, because this is the answer to all the challenges and problems that we face today. Most of the difficulties that we face are as a result of who we lack the true love for others and ourselves. We or others are often the reasons for the difficulties that we face today. The sins in us make us act badly against others. The sins in others cause misery to us or others. All because the love of God is yet to be shed abroad in our hearts. Paul mentioned in the epistles that the problems that most of us face is due to envy, hatred etc. These cause us to dislike others.
...keep no record of wrong..be kind hearted..does not delight in the wrong, are some important reminder to everyone of us. These will prevent us from treating others badly. It makes our life free of hate and anger. It releases us from being a slave to jealousy and anger. When we keep no grudge or record of the wrong of others, we are forgiving and merciful. We do not cause shame to others. We are mercyful because we do not inflict wound in the hearts of others who fall.
Read this chapter and meditate upon the beautiful verses and our life will be changed towards others.
Lord Jesus, let your love be in our hearts, we pray.Amen.
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26.07.2010
See that you excell in this grace of giving."(2 Corinthians 8:7)
Part of grace is giving. To excell one must learn to do what must be done in order to be skillful. How does a footballer become skillful? By practice kicking and playing with the football on the field! Practice makes perfect isn't it? We need to practice giving until we excell in it. Its not an easy matter to part with money, time etc for others. Its not easy, especially if had not been a feature or practice in our lives before. But it will really be a liberating experience if it becomes part of our life. More so if we excell in giving. Many years ago i had a dream or vision. I was running away from the top of a TALL building while everyone was trying to go up instead. I tried to cover my face as i try to go down so that noone will identify me. Down to the ground, many people saw me. I tried to run away from them. I was able to run some distance, but when i decided to jump or fly away, i couldn't do it.I was stopped! A power stopped me. So i turned to the people and told them, "I have time for you.." I must give my time too, to help other people. That is also giving. Be generous too. That blind man, was lucky Jesus was passing by. The generous Son of God healed him! The blindman, who has nothing exploded into praises instead. He gave back praises to God!
So we must learn and become very good at giving which will please our Father in heaven.
Father in Heaven, we want to learn to give and be excell in giving. Give us a generous heart. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen
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06.07.10
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.(Heb. 13:8)
Jesus is the everlasting God. He never will end. He is faithful to us and will not forsake us, although at times we often go our own way. The power of Jesus will remain forever to protect us from evil. Jesus Christ will forever love us. He will keep all His promises to us, for He never change. He is trustworthy and He is always there for us when we need Him. We can lean on Him and depend on Him in all circumstances. Jesus is everything for us, yesterday, today and forever. The ancient people met Him. We also met Him during our time. We will meet Him during our tomorrows.
Jesus is the everlasting God and He knows no end. When we put our trust in Him, we are safe and secure. He will protect us and love us with an everlasting love.
Heavenly Father, I praise you because of Jesus Christ, your Son, in whom I trust. I am forever grateful because I trust and believe in Jesus Christ. Now my future is in Your hands, I am so blessed. Thank You Jesus.Amen
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04.07.2010
How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your Word.(Psalms 119:9)
We all admit that we are not perfect and our many excuses always blame on the imperfect nature of Man. I believe, God created us perfectly but due to our own natural desire, we made ourselves imperfect. We destorted ourselves in many ways due to sins and eventually, we become slaves to the imperfect nature. Therefore, everytime we commit mistakes, we say we are man. We are not perfect. In the first place God made us perfect but we chose not to, so we are all sinners.
We can reclaim the perfect nature by reading the Word of God and obedience to the Word. The word of God can renew our thinking and our spirit and and make us new. The new life will make us more and more like Christ. Therefore there is a benchmark for all of us..to be holy and righteous. To do that, the Sprirt of Truth will do that through His Word.
The verse above is telling us clearly that we can be clean by reading and obeying the Word of God. Forinstance, the Bible says, "Don't steal!" And to obey it is not to steal!
To tell ourselves that we are not perfect andnever will be is to tell our God that He cannot make us perfect. God can make us perfectly clean. Nothing is impossible to God.
Lord make me love to read your Word everyday. I ask this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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26.06.2010
Who is wise and understanding among you?Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in humility that comes from wisdom.(James 3:13)
There are two kinds of wisdom, ONE is from heaven, the other is earthly. The earthly one is envious, unspiritual and from the devil(vs 15).The earthly ones are of course human philosophies, human religions, idealogies etc. But the one which is from God, is the one that brings us to fear God and to submit oneself to the truth. This one enables us to live good life and good deeds done in the humility that comes from God. To fear the Lord and acquire knowledge of God is true wisdom. One that put God away is no widsom at all. Its from the devil and from the world. The devil will try to distract man from God by introducing man made ideas and philosophies! Beware. Reda the Bible more for God's wisdom.
The book of proverbs speaks widom that comes from God. A person who has accepted Jesus as Lord and saviour will have the indwelling Holy Spirit who will gives us the wisdom of God to manage our lives, become light and salt to the world. They provide insights into life and prevent miseries and suffering from ruling over man. Get God's wisdom from within, when the Holy Spirit is within us.
To fear God and believe and trust in Him is truly wisdom.
Those who live good lives and produce good deeds are those who understand life and understand what God intended for life on earth.
Heavenly Father, teach us Your wisdom everyday so that we can fully understand how much you love us. We ask this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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19.06.2010
Jesus said, "I am the way, the Truth and the Life. Noone comes to the Father but by Me."(John 14:6)
No one who was born into this world from earliest times ever claim to be the Way, the Truth and the Life. All the founders of any religion did not dare to say such as this. All of them died. But Jesus died and then rose again, witnessed by many people..including Paul, who at first was opposed the spread of Christianity. He met Jesus on the road to Dasmascus. A proof that Jesus is alive.
Jesus is the only way to eternal life in Heaven. If we want to live in heaven, we must believe and receive Jesus as our Lord and saviour. Anyone who does not believe and receive Jesus Christ will not go to heaven! All other beliefs are lost!
Jesus is the truth. He speaks the truth. If you look at other beliefs, those who are true follower of such belief does not speak the truth to others or among themselves. They cheat, they tell lies and they do not do good things. Why? There is not truth in what they believe. Their belief does not change them to be a trustworthy person. But true Christians will not lie, cheat or speak falsely because the Truth lives in them. The light of Christ is in the heart of the Christian.All lies and deceit run away from the heart which has Christ in there! If Christ is in our hearts, we will know the truth and the truth will set us free. He will reveal things are hidden from non-believers.
Jesus is the Life. God life becomes our life once we receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. The life of God, which is eternal life is given to us. We become a New life..or we are born again. If we are not born again, we will not be able to go to heaven. To get this life, we must receive Jesus Christ. He will forgive and cleanse us. Then He gives to each one of us the gift of eternal life. No other religion ever can do that. Even there are teachings on eternal life..they are vague and untrustworthy.
Yes, Jesus is the only Way, the only Truth and the only One who gives eternal life.
Thank you Lord for accepting me as I am, to be heir to your Kingdom. I pray this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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07.06.2010
Because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.(1 cor 16:9)
Paul said that he will stay on in Ephesus because the door of opportunity has opened. We must be wondering why he said that a great door of effective ministry is opened when Ephesus is one city where many people opposed him? He said this is an opportunity, not a close door. To many churches or Christian, unless someone invites them, the door remains close. That is why our kind of evangelism always depend on invitation and favourable circumstances, which is not what Paul is thinking about. When he is opposed, he has the opportunity to explain and opportunity to struggle against opposition. He will no longer depend on his own ability but upon God. In this circumstances, he will seek God to help him. That is why in fact, opposition is an opportunity, not a wall or closed door. There is always a way. Based on experience, the devil will oppose us if what we plan to do will destroy his activities. Opposition means, that is an indication that the opportunity is there and evil activity is exposed.
Heavenly Father give us courage to spread the Gospel especially where opposition is great. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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06.06.2010
Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or hour.(Mat 25:13)
The parable of the ten virgins tells us about 5 virgins who were ready with their lamps waiting for the bridegroom, while 5 others were not ready. When the bridegroom suddenly appeared, the 5 virgin who were not ready were left behind. They were not ready and therefore they missed what they had hoped for.
We are like that, everyone of us. Even though some know God, not everyone is ready to receive Him. They plan to receive Him at the eleventh hour. Their reason is, they want to enjoy life first. But thinking that the new life in Christ is losing all the fun is the most unfortunate thought. You will never know how wonderful it is to be saved and living in the new life. True happiness and joy dwell in our hearts and we do not want that old life again. Its so wonderful if you receive Christ because God alone knows how to satisfy our every need.
So some unfortunate people plan to jump into the ship at the last minute..and that is glambling with life. That is why many people refuse to accept Christ. They are not ready because they think that God is not coming yet. The verse above tells us that, Jesus is coming soon and we better always be ready. Make sure that the Spirit of God is in us as a seal for eternal life. The Spirit in us should keep us on fire for God. If the Spirit of God is not in us, we are heading for condemnation. Keep the lamp burning.
Heavenly Father, let your Spirit remains in us to keep our lamp burning and ready for your coming. Do not leave us. We ask this in Jesus' name.
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31.05.2010
Be not deceived; neither fornicators...nor drunkards..shall inherit the kingdom of God.(1 Cor.6:9-10)
The verse above is very clear to us all. It says that people take for granted that is all right to be immoral and to get drunk. Some people think that these habitual sins are not serious! But the verse really says that its very serious indeed. It will disqualify a person from entering heaven. Why? Its dirty and rotten for a person to have such activities in his or her life. We will not be permitted into the city of God, if we remain in that condition. So beware, and try to get that out of our life.Keep our lives in the new life, which has nothing to do with the craving and desire of the old life.
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23.05.2010
Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins, a man commits outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body.(1 Cor. 6:18)
Sexual immorality is one sin that makes us unfit to enter the city of God-heaven. We read that in the Scriptures, especially Revelation. Its a serious contamination of the body and the soul. Something that we must be very sensitive about. Lust is part of this problem, and it is solved through marriage, but still our body, if not discipline will indulge in immorality. The body has its natural desires and passion, and the Christian is often drawn back because of this passion and desires of the flesh. Lust makes us unclean in the inside, that whats' Jesus said, refering to the darkness of the heart.
Paul says in the verse after this one that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when we open our hearts to God, we should be controlled by the desire and will of the Spirit. Our body will tempts us but we stay focus on God, we will be in control. The youth must stay pure by keeping the Word of God in their hearts. That will prevent us from sinning. Our sinful desires, including lustful desires are crucified on the cross. Let the Word of God find a place in our heart to keep us morally pure.
Heavenly Father, give us the strength to fight the sinful desires of our body. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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19.05.2010
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature, its passions and desires(Gal.5:25)
That is why Jesus Christ came. To save us from sins and our sinful nature. To enable us to overpower our sinful passions and desires and submit to the will of the Spirit of God. So if we belong to Christ, we must remain in Christ and not turning back by becoming slaves to our sinful nature. God gave us a new life and so we must remain in the new life. The new life is eternal life. The old life is the old nature which leads to death- eternal condemnation. By going back to our old nature means to accept death. We must not give in to the pressure of the old life.
Our nature, its passions and desires was crucified on the cross and we should no longer be part of the old life again.
Grow in the new life.
Father, we want to remain in you all the time. Give us the strength each day to stay focus on You. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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14.05.2010
Let the Beauty of the Lord be upon us. (Ps. 90:17)
Beauty unaccompanied by virtue is as a flower without perfume, said T. Adams. Before we were born again, we were dead in sins. There is no beauty in death! But when we gave ourselves to Jesus, He gave us life and made us beautiful after cleansing us from sins. Jesus made us beautiful inside and outside. This is the beauty from God. He not only make us beautiful outside, but also inside. What beauty is it? Virtue. God makes our life meaningful not only to ourselves but to others through the virtue that He gives to us. That "love" that he puts in us, makes us love others and bring light to others. Beauty is the handwriting of God. It bring the sweetness of God in our life.
God had made everything beautiful in its time. The beauty of character, the beauty of friendship, the beauty of kindness, the beauty of love, the beauty of truth and the beauty of honesty are the many beauty that Jesus gives to us. Let us have the beauty of Jesus right in us.
Let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me..all His compassionate..purity..all my spririt divine, all my nature refine...let the beauty of Jesus be seen in me.
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02.05.2010
"Like a father pitied his children, so the Lord pitied them that fear him. (Ps 103:13)
Our earthly father loves his children and will do all that he can to provide for his children. We as parents are aware of that and try our best to make our own children in the best of care. We fail if we ignore this important role. Its a natural instinct to help our own children and have pity on them. God our Father in heaven also pity us when we fear Him. When we put our trust in Him and obey Him, He will provide for that we need. His love for us cause Him not to ignore us. Just that we sometimes ignore Him and try to work our own ways. When we got into trouble, we cry to Him. In fact He is always there to help us. He often hold some blessings in order to pass them to us, but we just do not want to take it from His hands. We trun our back. Even what we get, we never say thank you God.
But God never gives up on us. He loves us and have pity on us, even though sometimes we ourselves have no pity on ourselves. God care for us more that our earthloy parents.
Thank You Lord for your love so true.
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29.4.10
Be happy young man, while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the way of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you to judgement.(Eccles. 11: 9)
Man will go through life only once. He won't go back to childhood once he is already an old man. Man is destined to die and afterwards face judgement. I have seen many young people not looking happy at all. They are not happy because want they want in life elude them. Some are not happy because of this and that. But we should not be as such if we know who Jesus is. God will give us the real joy and satisfaction in life. Some don't want to be Christians because they are afraid that they will not enjoy life. That is wrong! Enjoying life is living life to the fulless and doing things that will benefit us and not destroying us. If Christ is in control, you will see how enjoyful the Christian life is. The verse above should bring us to the positive side of life. The positive side will bring us the light and the joy and true love. We do that, we will not face adverse consequences. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We must always know that this life can be enjoyed if we have that discipline that pervent us from getting into trouble. Remember we cannot run away from God. Enjoy youselves in the joy of the Lord and you will always do the right thing.Keep in the right track and put God's word in your heart and you will enjoy the true joy.
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23.04.2010
A man that flattered his neighbour spread a net for his feet.(Proverbs 29:5)
Jesus commanded us to love God and then our neighbour. Who is our neighbour? The others are our neighbours, especially those living nearest to us. But more often than not, we always spy on our neighbours and talk about them. We do not tell the truth with our neighbours some times. This is not right. The verse above warn us that if we flattered our neighbour, we are putting ourselves in a trap, created by ourselves. We place the trap but we are caught in it. It is not right to flatter our neighbour. We must not tell lies about other people by creating all kinds of stories about them and afterwards pretent to be nice to them. That is flattering.
We are commanded to love them.
Father in Heaven, give us love in our hearts so that we will love those around us. That we seek to make friends with those whom we come into contact with. We ask this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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18.04.2010
Those who know your name will trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you.(Psalms 9:10)
Many people do not really know the Lord God. They thought that they already know God when they first give their lives to God. But they are wrong. Many people do not really know God because they do not move on in their Christian faith. They just receive Him and after that they just wait or the do not move on. That is where they miss the mark. God is sure to forgive us and cleanse us when we first become a new babe in Christ, but we must grow. To grow here means to grow in the knowledge of God by reading His word so that we will really know Him and then He will reveal more of Himself to us. To grow also means to grow in grace and that can only be possible if we remain in the vine and practise the word in our lives. Thus may people therefore did not really experience the Christian life. So when the storms of life comes, they fall. They go back to where they came from, they change their faith through marriage etc. They disown or deny the Lord. The real problem is, they did not really know God.
In fact, the verse tells us that God will never forsake us, who seek Him. He is always waiting for us to deepen our knowledge, love of Him. If we seek Him, He is sure to reveal more of Himself. So seek Him through reading His WORD. Read Christian literature to know more. Share with people.
God is always there for us.
Thank you Lord for being faithful to us.
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11.04.2010
If my people who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn away from their wicked ways, then will i hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and heal their land."(2 Chronicles 7:14)
The first few words says that even some of God's people does sin and are wicked and should humbled themselves by returning to God and seek for His forgiveness. If they humble themselves and pray and seek God and turn away from their sins, God is going to hear them and forgive them. The main words- humble, pray, seek and turn away. A person who humble himself will admit his weaknesses. Aperson who choose to pray wants to communicate with God to acknowledge Him. A person who seek God is a person who wants to get help from God and seek His counsel. A person who turn away from his sins is a person who wants to start a fresh and want to repent. If these are done, God is going to listen to us, forgive us and heal our lands. Heal our lands means to make it productive to us, make the government stable and good and keep us at peace in the land.
Heavenly Father, help us to see all these so that we reap the benefits of your Love and care. Protect your people from sins and make us eager to seek you all the days of our life. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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10.04.2010
Live in harmony with one another.Do not be proud, but willing to associate with people of low position.(Rom 12:16)
Living in harmony with all people is what true love is all about. Paul was once an enemy of God, but here he is telling everyone to live in harmony with all people including with those who persecute us. Those who make us angry, sad or who shame us are also persecuting us. But to douse the fire of hate or revenge, forgive them and think of doing good to them. We need to learn to live in peace with others. We are all the same, we should mix with anyone regardless of position. To let go our personal pride is wise for the sake of unity. To let others be better than ourselves will get rid of jealousy from our heart. To live a simple life will erase any disatisfaction and disappointment in our life. We will be contented wit what we have. Make friends with anyone, and there love will increase, so is peace and quiet. Jesus made friends with the down trodden of society of those days. We can do that too and receive the peace of God in our heart.
Father, let your love flow in my heart so that i will be able to shine for you and bring the light of Christ around. I ask this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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04.04.2010
"Don't be alarmed,"he said, "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified, He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go tell the disciples and Peter."(Mark 16:6-7)
The Resurrection, is whats the main difference among all beliefs in the world. The founder of all the religions of the world died and did not rise again. But Jesus, who began Christianity, was crucified but on the thir day, rose again. This event is the most important event and it is the foundational teaching of the Christian faith. Opponents of the Christian faith created all kinds of stories about this episode and real happening but they had never fail. They try to blind their followers of who Jesus is and they try to make a mockery of the resurrection of Christ. The Resurrection of Jesus cannot be hidden from anyone who want to know Jesus. The reason why we are not worried about how Jesus rose is because JESUS IS ALIVE TODAY AND IS WITH US NOW. THAT HE HAD REVEALED HIMSELF TO US ON MANY OCCASSION. We need not worry how He rose on that day, but what we know now cannot be taken from us who believes in Jesus. As He is on our heart and life, that is all that matters. Let the world try to deny or try to hide this great happening from the eyes of their followers but surely, they will know it. Like what experienced on the road to Damascus, he thought that Jesus had died and was forgotten. But, he wast mistaken. He met Him on the road to Dasmascus when he was supposed to persecute the believers! HE BECAME A BELIEVER AND BECAME GOD'S INSTRUMENT after that. WHY? He met God. He met the risen Jesus. So today, let us offer a sacrifice of praise to God for His amazing love.
Try to sing "AMAZING LOVE"
Thank you God for Jesus Christ.
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29.03.2010
Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath(1 Thes 1:10)
Receiving Jesus as our Lord and Saviour means we are no more condemn now and after death. He has taken the punishment on our behalf. God has sacrificed His Son Jesus so that we will be set free. When we die, we will no longer be punished as sinners will be, but instead we will enter heaven because of Jesus. There is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, the Scriptures says. This is our hope in Jesus. He rescues us from the coming wrath. The coming wrath is the punishment that God will do upon those who do not receive His Son Jesus Christ. There is no other way, no escape for anyone on earth. How can we escape from the Creator? To escape that eternal punishment, Jesus will be our hope.
Receive Jesus now, if you havent.
Thank You Jesus for receiving me unto salvation. Guide me all the way so that I will not run away from you. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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27.03.2010
Train up a child in the way he should go; but when he is old, he will not depart from it.(Proverb 22:6)
This verse is for the parents and the school teacher. This is a verse that will guide the parent to play their role in their family. It is important for the parents to acquire the necessary skills to bring up their children. The future lifestyle of the child depends on how he perceive things as he grows up in the family or outside the family. If the parents train the child accordingly, the child will be such when he or she grows up. If the child is not train accordingly, then, when he is old, he is sure to live a life that is not to our liking.
God wants us to teach our child about God and His word. God wants us to teach the child to love God and to learn to obey God. He must learn to fear God and worship Him. This is what God wants us parents to do. To bring the child to the knowledge of God. This is our calling. Tell our children about God, and they will love God when they are old.
Father our children are a gift from you. Help us to teach them your ways. I ask this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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20.03.2010
Some of the wise will stumble, so that they may be refined, purified and made spotless until the time of the end, for it will still come at the appointed time. (Daniel 11:35)
When Job lost everything he has, people must be wondering what sin he had committed that caused him to lose everything. But all those things happened to Job because God permitted. Many christians stumbled too. They were rediculed, laughed at and made as an example by their friends or enemies. But looking at this verse and what had happened to Job, we need to be quiet at times, because God permits sometimes, for his children to undergo purification or to be refined. These may stumbled but once they get up, they would be a humbled person, much better than previously. We must learn to know that God teaches us and there are lessons in the things we go through. When someone stumble, we lift them up quickly.
Lord, give us a humble heart and a caring heart too so that we learn to receive lessons that come our way from You. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen
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19.03.2010
"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise; be thankful unto Him and bless His name. For the Lord is good, His mercy is everlasting; and HIs truth endureth to all generations. Ps 100:4-5
The first part is telling us to come before God with thanksgiving, with gratefulness and joy because of His love and salvation. We enter with praise and adoration to a God who cares for us, each single day, for each day is a gift from God. He blesses us more, by giving us life and the things to meet our daily needs. You see, we often sadden Him by forgetting Him, by denying Him and trying to avoid Him. But by His grace, we are given mercy and we are taken care of by His everlasting love. Such a loving God. How long will we be living under His grace? As long as we live. His truth is what we need everyday, to sustain and make us grow in grace. We must read His word so that we will be able to know Him more and give Him due praise and adoration and thanksgiving.
Heavenly Father, thank you for being my God and my Lord who looks after me every moment of my life. I love you as always. Be in my life and keep me safe in your arms. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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13.03.2010
Who is God like unto Thee, that pardon iniquity?(Micah 7:18)
Our God is like no other. He is the God of love and peace and righteousness. Therefore, He is always good and faithful. He forgives us if we ask for forgiveness. He is the one who is always wanting to give us eternal life. Why God is there to pardon us? Because He loves us.
We will seldom get pardon by anyone. That's the nature of man. He always want to get the better over another. He wants others to suffer if they cause them wrong. That is man. You give a person power to forgive, he will not use it over another. In fact, he will manipulate it.
But God will pardon us no matter how bad we had become.As long as we repent and come back to Him, God will pardon us. Such a merciful God. So awesome but so gentle and loving.
If God dwells in us, His love will flow through us and we will be merciful to others as well.
Father thank you for forgiving me of all my sins. I say this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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11.03.10
Honor thy father and thy mother(Ex.20:12a)
Exekiel also says "As is the mother, so is the daughter(Ex 16:44b) This is very important for children. They must always honour their parents, their mother in particular. It is important to understand the role of the mother in shaping the attitudes and future of the child. At the same time, the mother must always be supported due to the importance of her role in the family. The parents must learn to teach their children because their children will be parents as well, for their grandchildren. They will learn to look after their own, by learning form their mother. That is why, the mother must alwyas be honoured by the children as well as the man. The mother's heart is the child schoolroom (Beecher). The children learn from their mothers and therefore they are indebted to her. It is wise to honour her, by loving and taking care of her. By speaking kind words to her, she is honoured.
Heavenly Father, teach us to love our earthly parents.
We ask this in Jesus' name.
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10.03.10
Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.(Mathew 5:48)
Many people say that we will never be perfect. No man is perfect is whats on the lips of every human being. But the verse above points to us that we can be perfect by being obedient to our Lord Jesus. According to Arndt, perfection is denying of our will, the acknowledgement of our own vileness, constantly resignation to the will of God, and unweared love for our neighbour. The most perfect Christian is he who has all his graces, like the strings of an angel's harp, in the most perfect harmony. When we manage to live according to God's will, He is the one who will make us perfect. The cleansing of the Blood of the Lamb makes us perfect. Not a bit, not some, not half, not almost BUT wholly perfect. So why do we think that it is not possible? With God, nothing is impossible. Paul encouraged us to run the race until we receive the crown of life.
Father, make us willing to learn from You alone, and to commit our lives to You. You will make us holy. Live in us so that Your holiness will be in us. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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28.02.10
The confession from our mouth is heard by everyone including the angels and God in heaven. Thats very important. What we utter down here is heard up there. Its recorded by witnesses that our eyes cannot see. At the same time, our fellow brothers hear it from our lips too. Believing in our heart means that our heart must be involved. Anything that enters our heart, is accepted or permitted by the heart. Things that we do has been granted permission by the heart. That is why, we must make sure that what enters the heart are good things. Otherwise we bear evil fruits if our heart is evil or occupied by bad things. God the Holy Spirit must dwell in our hearts so that we bear fruits of the Holy Spirit. That is why, Paul says that we need to confess with our mouth and believe in our heart.This things go together.
Father thank you for giving such a simple way to receive you and be saved. Protect our lips and our heart so that we are committed to You. We ask this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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27.02.10
Many people have reasons for accepting Jesus as their Lord and saviour. Some believ in Jesus because they thing that they will get blessings for a good life on earth. It is true, God will bless us if we put our trust in Him. Our life on earth will experience joy and peace because of God's grace. But not all what comes to us on this earth will be good. We meet all kinds of difficulties, sorrows or all kinds of affliction.This sometimes cause people to leave Jesus because they couldn't get what they had hoped for in this world. That is why, some people left the faith, for they hope for success while on this earth. But Jesus is not for this world only but for the world to come. This world does not offer the joy and peace that we can only find in Jesus. The most important thing is that Jesus is our hope in the next life. He is the one who enables us to enter heaven. Without Him, we will all be condemned to hell. That is why, we must hope for the next life. It is indeed a great pity if we only trust in Jesus just because we want to be successful in this world. We must accept Jesus because He is the only way to heaven.
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20.02.10
"bear with one another and forgive whatever greivances you may have against one another.Forgive as the Lord forgive you."(col.3:13)
Paul says that we must always be tolerant and patient with one another. We need to bear with one another so that the love that God puts in us grow and enlarge in our lives. This is telling us not to keep grudge because keeping grudge makes us dislike and eventually hate one another. Many people want to keep what bad other people did and this is keeping greivances, which are not good for us too. Greivances will cause our hearts to be bitter with one another. The verse above tells us to forgive the wrong that others do to us so that we are free from hate or bitterness in our hearts. Most of the time, jealousy causes us to be angry with other people. Some people do this and we are angry for simple reasons. This is not good at all. We need to be patient and protect the love that God puts in our heart so that there is peace among us. The effect of God's love in our lives are that we are quick to forgive people and we will not keep any bad things in our heart about other people. We will want others to be happy, good and better than us..this is what love that Paul teaches in 1 Corinthians 13 meant.
Free our heart form bitterness and hate and forgive others as God has forgiven us. If we forgive others, God is sure to forgive us too.
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02.02.10
Our people must learn to devote themselves to doing what is good, in order that they may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives.(Titus 3:14)
Doing good is not an automatic thing but rather something that we need to learn. You see, before we became a Christians, we had learned to do things that are sinful and unbeneficial to us. We follow our own desire and ways and like what the Book of Romans say, we are inclined to sin. But when we receive Christ into our lives, we are born again. So we have to learn to do things according to the will of God. The things that we need to learn is doing what is good, because we were used to doing sinful things. Therefore, we need to learn and devote to doing what is taught in the Bible. The reason given in the verse is so that we may provide for daily necessities and not live unproductive lives. This point to doing something good for our daily needs, such as to work deligently, to help others, to do honest work to earn our living and at the same time, not to do things that could harm our bodies or ourselves. Unfruitful lives are lives that do not bring any good to ourselves and others. Lives that are spend on piling riches that are not lasting will not bring us good in later life. We must learn to live godly lives and live to be a light or blessings to others. Hence, we must learn to live as a true believer of Jesus Christ.
Father, thank you for giving us a new life that will lead us to eternity with you. We pray that You will help us to live in accordance to your ways. I ask this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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30.01.10
This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifice being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.They were only a matter of food and drinks and various ceremonial washings, external regulations applying until the time of the new order.(Hebrew 8:9-10)
The Israelites had done everything as sacrifice to God but they kept on doing things that displeased God. The writer is very clear about such gifts and sacrifice as merely ceremonial washings and external regulations. He said when Jesus was sacrificed, the inner washing becomes possible. The person is renewed in his inner self, in his spirit and in his soul through the cleansing by the blood of Christ.This forgiveness and cleansing enables the person to obtain the free gift of eternal life for God. Without this, a person will not have the new birth mentioned by Jesus, John, Peter and Paul and the other disciples. Because without the new birth, NO ONE WILL BE ABLE TO ENTER HEAVEN!
Likewise, even if we offer all kinds of sacrifices to please God, If we did not give our life, accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and receive Him, we will still be offering ceremonial washings..an outward regulations..for our outer self and not the inner self. Our conscience will not be cleansed at all. If this happens, we will still be unable to know whether we are heavenbound or not.
Give your life to God and receive the new life form Him.
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27.01.10
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His child as well.(1 John 5:1)
Belief in Jesus means a person is born of God. He is given the newlife, eternal life, or the Apostles mentioned as the new birth. Believes here means trusting and obeying and not believing in any other gods for there is no other GOD. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and therefore is God the Son. Anyone who believs in Jesus believes in the Father, that is God the Father. Our love for Jesus is also our love for the Father.
To go to the Father, or to go to heaven, the way is through His Son Jesus Christ. That is very clear in John 14;6. Noone can go to heaven, except through Jesus. Therefore we must trust and believe in Jesus or otherwise we are lost forever!
There are many religions in the world, and everyone hopes to go to heaven, BUT only those who believes that Jesus is the Christ will go to heaven.Only Jesus can give eternal life and there is no other!
We believe in Jesus, we believe in the Father too.
Thank you Lord God for sending your Son JESUS to earth so that we can obtain salvation by believing in Him. I pray this in Jesus' Name.Amen.
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23.01.10
Since the children has flesh and blood, he too shared their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death-that is the devil, and free those who all their lives had been held in slavery by their fear of death.(Hebrews 2:14-15)
Many people are held to certain things because they fear for their lives. They are afraid that they might be killed or they might die. In other words, they are afraid to die.The reason why people are afraid to die are many.One of the main reason is that they are afraid of their destination after death. Will they go to heaven or hell.So they are in constant fear of death. Some are afraid because they will lose their wonderful life on earth..wealth, family and friends.They don't want to let go. Some fear the pain of death etc. Obviously, the fear of death had held them as slaves. Jesus came to free us from this fear by telling us that if we believe and accept him as our Lord and saviour, we will be saved..and even if we die, we will go to heaven and given eternal life! Yes, those who is forgiven and given this gift of eternal life, he becomes a new person and the fear of death no longer rule over him. The devil will not be able to cause fear in him anymore because the devil cannot threaten him with death.
Some people refuse to believe in Jesus and leave their previous belief because their family will persecute of even kill them if they leave their religion. This is indeed very unfortunate because the devil will not permit people to receive Jesus and obtain eternal life. That is how fear will do to people.
Jesus will take our fear and we will know that we belong to Him.
Jesus thank you for freeing myself from the fear of death. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen
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17.01.10
"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."(James 5:16)
Farmers know what they would need if they go to the farm. They will bring farm implements, otherwise, they would not be able to do much work. They would not be able to do effective work. The hunter must bring a gun or otherwise he wont be able to kill an animal effectively. If he uses spear, it would be difficult for him.
The christian is given a powerful tool-PRAYER. This is very powerful weapon for the Christian because prayer MOVES THE HANDS OF GOD. We ask God to help, and He will listen and act, according to our prayers. BUT our prayers will not be effective or powerful if God is not involved! To get God involved, we must be born again, becomes his children and live righteously. The prayer of a righteous man is very powerful. How to be righteous, by being cleanse of all sin and forgiven by God. By trusting and obeying the will of God. This will make the Christian very powerful. That is the secret of being very powerful and effective..that we live a life of truth/righteousness. God do not listen to sinners because they have yet to receive Jesus as Lord and saviour.
SO IF YOU ARE A CHRISTIAN, KNOW what you have in Jesus.
Lord, teach us to pray and to live a life according to your will.Amen.
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16.01.10
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, "Are you for us or for our enemies?" "Neither," he replied, "But as commander of the Lord's army I have now come."(Joshua 5:13-14)
Joshua was ready for battle, as commanded by God. Yoshua saw this angel- ready for battle, as the commander of the Lord's army. Perhaps, Joshua thought all this while that they will fight alone against his enemies. When this angel appeared to him, Joshua must have realized that God had sent his angels to fight with him. God wanted to tell Joshua that He is there to help him. This is the God of yesterday and also today. He is helping those who believe in His Son Jesus Christ. There is no other God. God had sent His angels to the prophets, to the Apostles and to us today to tell us that He is real and He will be there to help. We need not worry when the odds are against us. The battle is God's and He will avenge. All we need to do is put our trust in Him.
When Christians meet steep opposition, we know that the evil forces of the spiritual realms are at work. They are behind all these opposition and attack. That is why, even when Joshua was fighting against his enemies, the forces of God and the forces of evil in the spiritual realms were fighting. God had to sent His army because His believers are being destroyed or attacked by the evil forces.
Today, the battle is going on, as God's enemies try to destroy the Christians through persecution, temptation etc. We must know that our God is the true God who is in control of the situation. He will act if things get too rough for His people. Take heart.
Father, there is no other God. You are the true God, the Father of our Lord Jesus' Christ. Protect your people now, as you had done since ancient times. We ask this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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10.01.10
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Christ.To him be glory both now and forever.Amen.(2 Peter 3:18)
As a born again Christian, as a new life in Christ, Peter urged us to grow into maturity. From a babe in Christ, we must grow up and be established in our faith. He gave us two areas of growing. First is to grow in grace. When we talk about grace, is is by God's grace that we are saved. His love and forgiveness and mercy is God's grace. He wants us to grow in love, that is to love one another, including those who hate or hurt us. We must grow in love with our God. To love what is of God and to all what God had created. What is love? Paul explained what is love, in 1 Corinthians 13. tHAT IS ONE OF THE AREAS TO GROW IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE! Then we will be more and more like Him! That is the objective of growing in love.
We have to grow in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, as the second area of growth. Reading the Bible is to learn more and more of Jesus. We search for God, is by reading and meditating upon the word of God. Then He will reveal Himself to us. Our growth in this area is to deepen our love and grace and knowledge of Him. We must therefore increase our study of God's word so that His blessings will be upon us.
Heavenly Father, help us to grow up day by day, in Grace so that others will be drawn to You. I ask this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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27.12.09
She will give birth to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins...And they will call him immanuel, which means God with us."(Mat 1: 21-23)
Christmas illuminates the whole world with lights, joy and good will.And most of the homes are lit with Christmas lights. What a joyous occassion. Everyone exchange gifts or open their houses to extend goodwill among men. But Jesus is the reason for the season. He was the reason for Christmas. The unsaved world must be watching and was brought into the joyous mood of the Christians.
The verses above give us two important impact of Jesus birth upon mankind. Firstly, He will save his people from their sins. The wages of sin is death- which refers to the second death. Those who sins will be condemned and thrown into hell when Jesus comes the second time. The sickness of mankind now is sin. God sent His Son to save us from sins.Whoever believes in Jesus will be saved from sins. If cannot stop sinning, it is because we are under the bondage of sins. But Jesus came to break that bondage and free us from sin and the consequences of sin. The second point is that Jesus birth means God is with us, living with and inside us!Immanuel means God with us. The presence of God brings blessings, healing and the fruits of the Spirit. It means eternal life is in us. The light of Christ illuminates our heart and bring joy and peace as well as God's love in us. In other word, Jesus is born in our heart too, to give us a new life! This means we are being born again.
Therefore, all Christians should be full of joy because they have the promise of eternal life and the promise that God will be with them at all times.
Bless be the name of the Lord.
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15.12.09
A large herd of pigs was feeding on the nearby hillside.The demons begged Jesus, "send us among the pigs, allow us to go into them!"(Mark 5:11-12)
Many people ignore the dark forces of evil because they cannot see them. True, we cannot see them with our own eyes, but that doesn't mean that they do not exist. During Jesus' ministry, He had to cast out demons because the demons are the main reason why many people are suffering! The demons caused people to fight among themselves! The demons put in evil thoughts like what one did to king Saul. The demons are the reason why some people are under all kinds of bondage. Some people become insane, some people become mute, deaf etc largely because of what the demons did. Some demons eventually enter a person because of the evil the person did. Involving in witchcraf etc will permit oneself to be inhabited by demons!
Therefore, we must have Jesus in our life because only Jesus can get rid of the demons. Demons are not afraid of those who do not believe in Jesus.
I had some experience with evil spirits or demons. The demons love to break relationship, particularly marriage! Demons are like human beings who love "cock fighting!" The demons work hard to cause division,quarrels, fights among God's people.
We can see the demons through spiritual eyes..I often see them as serpents or snakes! Once some of my lady staffs were quarreling among themselves. God showed to me of a serpent.
Brothers and sisters, the existence of demons are very real. We need Jesus to be in us. The name Jesus cast out demons. Don't give any opportunity for a demon to live in you.
Heavenly Father, protect us from the dark forces of evil. We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus. I pray this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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13.12.09
To him who overcomes, i will give some of the hidden manna.(Rev. 2:17)
Jesus' message to the seven churches refered to in the Book of Revelation, is a message to us today too. Central to this message is the word "OVERCOME". If you read each letter to the seven churches, it ends with "those who overcome".
In other words, God wants everyone of us to live a victorious Christian life. We have to remain faithful to God and remain faithful to His Word. According to Paul, he will fight the good fight until God takes him to Himself. This is very important. To be a Christian or a believer in Jesus Christ, we must remain in Him. We must be an overcomer. We must overcome the old life or old desires. We must overcome the worldly life and desires. We must overcome sins. We must be victorious because that is what the message of God to the churches is.
To the first church, He said that if they overcome, they will be given the hidden manna! What is this hidden manna? This hidden manna is from God, which is what we must ask and will be given to us. This is the spiritual food from heaven. It is God provision for us. Surely God knows what is required by us.
Therefore, we must be an overcomer. Yes we must live a victorious Christian life.
Heavenly Father, give us the strength to overcome the old life's desire as we live in the new life. Give us the strength to overcome temptation. We ask this in Jesus' precious name.
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9.12.09
Dear friends, do no imitate what is evil but what is good.Anyone who does good is from God. Anyone who does evil has not seen God.(3 John 1:11)
There are three things to learn from this verse, imitate, good and evil. John ask us to imitate what is good. In other words, to do good in not always an automatic choice when we first become a Christian. In the beginning it is a struggle fo those who had not been good before they accept Jesus Christ. We have to learn and train ourselves to do do good things. One of the ways is to imitate. Eventually it becomes a habit. Doing good is a godly habit. That is the nature that God wants of us. Every good things, or good values are form God. When we do good, we are doing what God wants all people to do. What to imitate? John asks us to imitate what is good..not what is evil. All things evil is from the devil. Evil is the opposite of good. So evil is against God. Evil work tries to destroy what is good. Murder, killings etc are evil. God does not permit His people to destroy one another. God will destroy those who does evil to others. There is no escape. We do not act on behalf of God to kill others or destroy others. God only ask us to make peace and build friendship with all people. God wants peace in this world, not chaos or war. God wants us to love Him more because once we look God, we are sure to love what God had created..thats mean our fellow men and women and other living creatures.
So let us learn to do good things everyday. In this way, we will make our world a peaceful place. We must never give the devil freedom to make use of us to destroy.
Heavenly Father, teach us to do good to others. Help us to love one another. We pray that You will train us to do what is good, for Your glory. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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28.11.09
Yet i have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes.They will walk with me, dressed in white. He who overcomes will, like them be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and His angels.( Rev. 3:4-5)
The born again Christian, the person who is given the new life, must overcome the old life
and worldly life if he is to remain in the new life.The verse above is very clear about us being able to remain faithful to our Lord, to remain holy and to continue to walk in righteousness. This is to remind us that we must not commit sin any more or go back to our old life because that would mean to dirty our clothes once more. That would mean to be defeated by the old life or the world. The consequence is that our name might be blotted out from the book of life. Yes, when we first gave our life to Christ. He cleanses us and forgives us. He writes our name in the book of life because the new birth enables us to get that gift of eternal life from God. Our clothes are cleansed and become white. But if we return to the old life, we soiled our white clothes and He will blot our name from the book of life. So, therefore we must depend on God and trust Him to help us so that we will remain in God and that our clothes remain clean. Jesus will invite us to walk with Him and that He will acknowledge our name before God the Father. Yes, those who overcomes will reach that goal- as citizen of heaven.
Father, help us to remain faithful and true to You. Prevent us from sinning and going back to the old life. We want to overcome our enemies and overcome our weaknesses. We want our clothes to remain white. We ask this in Jesus' name.Amen.
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24.11.09
You say I am rich, i have acquired wealth and do not need a thing. But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.(Rev. 3:17)
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