Thu, Jan 31st - 1:12PM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

ABRAHAM’S JOURNEY

Brothers and sisters, we see the patience of God. He makes no attempt to argue or nag Abraham to believe when he questions God’s ability to fulfill His promises. Yet, this does not mean that God is tolerant of such things, because we see by Abraham’s repeated questioning, he delayed his own blessings by many years.

 Again, God does not need us to glamorize, sanitize, or clean up the Bible. He does not present the people in this chapter as superheroes, for whom it is impossible for ordinary Christians to emulate. On the contrary, we see ourselves in our master’s hands and understand and find relief too in His tough love and faithfulness in molding us and shaping us His clay, more and more in His image.

We note again that most certainly the devil is the tempter, however, he plays no part in the sense that he tempts Abraham to doubt.

Dearly beloveds, one thing is clear, Abraham was absolutely no coward. So, why was he afraid when God commanded him to not be afraid? He was a warrior and had no fear of death. Why was he afraid then? Better is who was he afraid for?  

Abraham had his vulnerabilities centered on his family. He would fight for them, lie for them and even sleep with another woman at the request of his wife to get a son for her out of the woman. He would even send certain persons to their deaths that he deemed a threat to them against the command of God. Of course, we should protect our families, but we still have to trust God and do it in the right way.

Then as now God is not going to ever accept being second place in the lives of His people: Mat 10:37 - He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 - And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Luk 10:27 - And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.

God tries Abraham

Holy people, God did not tempt Abraham to doubt Him. This all came out of Abraham. Now the time would come to test Abraham, God did not give him failure as an option.

The day came when God told Abraham to take Isaac and sacrifice him, to put it frankly to kill his son that he loved so dearly and was so protective of, and burn his body on an altar of wood in sacrifice to Him.

God did not want this to be done in Abraham’s front or back yard. Abraham was to travel three days to a certain mount and there carry the deed out. Abraham would have three long terrible days to think about the deed and to be tempted to turn back without doing it. We know from past verses that Abraham had a mouth on him and did not hesitate to express his opinions to God in the past, but now after hearing this most dreadful command from God, Abraham said absolutely nothing in reply.

Brothers and sisters, as we fellowship together in the scriptures, we see that God designs our tests specifically for us, which can be short in nature or as long a God deems it necessary for us to bear fruit in steadfast trust in Him.

Brethren, let us pray for the clueless brothers and sisters among us. Remember, I raised my hand that I am among them, and God has knocked me in the head a few times until I got Him. Did some of you raise your hands too?

Father God we pray for our clueless brothers and sisters to know that you are a God who is near, even in us, intricately, intimately deeply involved with us in an unending love relationship in Jesus Christ. Help us to walk in trust that in putting you in your rightful place as our first love, which you alone are worthy of, then we will be safe people, holy people able to well please you and love and give others our very best out of the treasury of your love.  Amen.

Love

Sat, Jan 26th - 5:17PM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

ABRAHAM’S JOURNEY

Brothers and sisters, we should avoid trying to sanitize things or people of the Bible. The Bible lays everything bare for God’s purpose for teaching, for examples, for understanding, reproving, encouraging and guidance in serving Him.

Due to an incident, Sarah came to believe that Hagar and her son was a threat to her son and told Abraham to throw them out. Recall how Abraham ( Gen 21:11) was so terribly grieved and God told him to obey Sarah, which he did.

Abraham was rich. Since he was so grieved about having to cast out Hagar and her son, why didn’t he give Hagar a caravan loaded with everything she and her son would need to live on for a life time? Why didn’t he take her to the nearest town where she could establish herself and put down roots? No, he did none of these things. Instead: Gen 21: 14And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child, and sent her away: and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beersheba.

Abraham obeyed God in casting Hagar out. However, he did not even bother to give Hagar a camel to ride on, but cast her and her son out with just the clothes on their backs a bottle of water and some bread. There was no way he did not know that they would eventually die due to lack of water and exposure. He would not have to fear them  ever being a threat to his son and heir Isaac.

Abraham did not have to fear anyone as God promised and demonstrated he would protect Abraham and all that he had. It was clearly not God’s intent that Hagar and her son should die, for He promised to make a great nation of them too. God rescued Hagar and her son. Feel free, brethren, to read more about Hagar and her son on your own.

 God Is said to try and prove men by adversity, in order to prove their faith. Conversely, God can prove men by their abundance to prove that their faith is in Him, rather than in their abundance making it their god.

Abraham tested and tried God who proved Himself at every level and in every way, now it was God’s turn. God prepares Abraham’s report card.

Tested: to test, try, prove, tempt, assay, put to the proof or test in the sense of smelling. Would Abraham pass the smell test of God?

Love

Fri, Jan 25th - 6:21PM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

ABRAHAM’S JOURNEY

Brothers and sisters, it is clear that as long as Abraham kept putting his agenda first, what he wanted rather than what God wanted, God delayed his journey. See, it must be abundantly clear that God cannot use us or anyone else not yet mature in their understanding of who He is and committed to doing what He wants.

Praise God for the multitude of faithful men of God who preach the whole gospel without fear. Then there are some among them who in their journey feel  that the gospel is too harsh, and fear it will turn people off or scare people away from their ministry. So, instead, they hire a band, singers, maybe even dancers etc. to play nice music to draw people in and to get the people in the mood to hear the message. They avoid using the word sermon and even rarely the gospel. because they fear it is a turn off. They may put on an old shirt and a pair of jeans to appear “folksy”. There is nothing wrong with such clothing but it is used as a uniform to appear non -threatening to their audience. They dumb the gospel down to little more than mild advice giving and the golden rule, the name of Jesus Christ is avoided or rarely mentioned. They wonder why the people who come to them do not seem to grow and do not connect this lack of growth to their neglect of the full gospel message and encouraging people to actually read and obey the Bible. They bleed cash trying to pay for the band, the singers, etc. God keeps on giving them the same clues from His Son: Jhn 12:32 And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.

Jhn 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

God did not change His plan of salvation in the past and He is not going to change His plan now or ever for anyone.

Since neither Abraham nor Sarah thought God could give them a child in their very old age, that is exactly where God determined to meet them, at the weakest point of their faith and gave them their own biological son Isaac in His timing exactly as He had promised.

Saints (G40 hagios), we can perceive Sarah’s awe and gratitude to God. The embers of her faith and yes that of Abraham too kindled to a roaring fire: Gen 21: 6And Sarah said, God hath made me to laugh, so that all that hear will laugh with me. 7And she said, Who would have said unto Abraham, that Sarah should have given children suck? for I have born him a son in his old age.

IS ANYTHING TOO HARD FOR GOD? God changed them and brought them to spiritual maturity. Now they understood that God had all power of death and resurrection too. They were forever changed by God and would never ever be the same again.

Love

Thu, Jan 24th - 10:34AM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

ABRAHAM’S JOURNEY

Brothers and sisters, certainly our minds are percolating and cogitating that despite the fact that Abraham questioned the ability of God to fulfill His promise, God still counted him faithful. Certainly, we know that God in no wise approves of anyone doubting Him repeatedly. However, yes, God knowing the intents and motives of Abraham’s heart and indeed every heart understood and saw his faith and belief in God.

God invites us to see Abraham as a real person, a real human being like us and we can identify with him. He also presents the intimacy between Himself and His people. Dearly beloveds, in understanding the journey of Abraham, God wants to give us insights and help in our own Journey with Him. Just as God was intimately teaching, and helping Abraham to understand His purpose in his life and to grow in faith through various tests and trials He is doing no less for us now through His glorious Son Jesus Christ.  

Are there any Christians who are clueless at times and have to be hit over the head to get the answer? If so raise your hand. I had to raise mine. Did you raise yours too?

The Bible tells us that God assured Abraham ( Gen 15:1) that he had no reason to fear anything because God would protect him. The Bible shows us that Abraham was afraid that someone would kill him to take his wife. To prevent this he said they were brother and sister as they went along the way. A ruler did take her but God prevented the man from touching her, dried up the wombs of the man’s entire household and rescued them both for the second time:Gen 12:13 . 

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Gen 20:18 - For the LORD had fast closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech, because of Sarah Abraham's wife.

 Gen 20:17 - So Abraham prayed unto God: and God healed Abimelech, and his wife, and his maidservants; and they bare children.

This shows that Abraham at the time did not grasp the truth that God is also the God of creation. The fact of God’s power to keep people from conceiving and giving people the ability to conceive seemed to go over Abraham’s head and Sarah’s head too.

Brothers and sisters, God did not ignore Abraham’s questionings, challenges, and expressions of doubt that He could bring life out of people, dead in the sense that they were past the time when the conception of children was possible.

It was easy for Abraham to wrap his mind around the fact that God had the sovereignty and power to annihilate and destroy, well evidenced in the flood in the world that was. Abraham would know that with pen point accuracy God destroyed the cities that sinned by raining down fire and brimstone from heaven exterminating even everything growing in the ground, leaving unscathed the areas around them. After all he had seen the smoke of them burning in the distance. Then, there was lots wife, turned into a pillar of salt when she turned back to look upon the cities God was destroying. All these stood as a fearsome testimony of the power of God Sovereign Lord and Destroyer of unmatchable power.

They tested God who proved Himself faithful every time; yet they still questioned God’s ability to bring life out of the dead. After all they had seen plenty of the dead, none of whom they ever saw return.

God does not give us this story to smirk at Abraham. Have you ever got scared and told a lie to avoid a problem rather than trust God for help to deal with it?

God in His mercy and great love would not destroy them, but He did prolong their journey, as He led them to the place of faith.

Brothers and sisters, let us pray for those among us who in their journey have yet to grasp the love and power of God, that they will know the fullness of His love and power, and trust Him according to His word.

Love

serola

Sat, Jan 19th - 4:30PM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

ABRAHAM’S JOURNEY

Brothers and sisters, God shows people’s warts along with their good. Praise Him for He is able to remove our warts and keep and strengthen our good. Abraham was a warrior as shown in the battles he fought and won. He, however, along with Sarah failed to germinate their plans to bring in Hagar and her child into the promises of God. Interestingly, Sarah’s name is not included in the promises to Abraham until she is ninety years old.

They messed with the lives of two people and clearly made them miserable, but for the kindness of God who released them and gave them his blessings and mercy upon the intercession of Abraham. Don’t some of us wish we had waited for God too? Of course, there are those who will learn and have learned that God wants better for His people than they want for themselves. 

Okay, now God approaches Abraham again with the promises He made to Abraham now including Sarah. Abraham is one hundred years old, Sarah ninety, 25 years have passed.

Dearly beloveds, now, I mean now after all this time you would think the two of them would jump on board thanking God for His promises, but no, no it did not happen yet, for the Bible tells us that after God gave Him the promises again this is what happened:

Gen 17:17Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

Abraham, at this time, still sees his own ideas as better than God’s: Gen 17:18 And Abraham said unto God, O that Ishmael might live before thee!

God keeps on repeating His plan which excludes Hagar and Ismael.

After Sarah  hears God making the promise to Abraham including herself this is her reaction:

Gen 18:12Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

Gen 18:15Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.

Surely, some might recall this earlier passage regarding Abraham:

  Gen 15:6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.

The question is how could God consider Abraham righteous in believing in the face of his laughter and expressions of doubt?  This might surprise or even shock some, but Yes God nevertheless did, think about that.

There is no devil tempting, doubters goading Abraham and Sarah. In the journey of faith, the one to first conquer is our selves.

Love

Wed, Jan 16th - 3:13PM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

Abraham’s Journey of Faith

Had Sarah only trusted God, and waited, had she not sought by manipulations to be in control of God’s plan through seeking to control another woman her slave through which she would bare children and be in control of them too and keep from losing her place and her husband. If only Abraham had waited too. They did not lose faith but their patience took a hit after not seeing God fulfill His promises according to their timing. However, we know they would learn later that God is never late, He is always on time-His time.

Gen 12:4So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

Brothers and sisters ten years later  and no child in sight, Sarah puts her plan into action to get children and Abraham is a willing participant: Gen 16:1Now Sarai Abram's wife bare him no children: and she had an handmaid, an Egyptian, whose name was Hagar.

Gen 16:2And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

Gen 16:3 And Sarai Abram's wife took Hagar her maid the Egyptian, after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan, and gave her to her husband Abram to be his wife.

Now things begin to go badly for Sarah. Hagar, knowing she was pregnant looks down on Sarah who cannot have children. Sarah blames Abraham for this:

Gen 16:5 And Sarai said unto Abram, My wrong be upon thee: I have given my maid into thy bosom; and when she saw that she had conceived, I was despised in her eyes: the LORD judge between me and thee.

Sarah beats Hagar, who runs away in fear. However, God intervenes and sends Hagar back, and she later gives birth:

Gen 16:16 And Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram.

After this no other children were born from Hagar, and in fact Abraham grew too old to father any more children. Time has passed, 14 years in fact and we find Abraham in his one hundredth year and Sarah is ninety years old.

Aww some might say this is such a downer we ought to not include it in any study. That would be a mistake, brethren, because God put it here to serve His purposes. For one thing is sure among His lessons, primary is that IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU OR ME, ITS NOT ABOUT US AND WHAT WE WANT, ITS ABOUT GOD, AND WHAT GOD WANTS. God alone is always in control. Nothing they did changed God’s plan nor His mind at all.

Love

Mon, Jan 14th - 11:36AM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

Brothers and sisters as we return to Hebrews 11, the Bible turns us again to Abraham in verse 17. However, let us step back a bit to see God’s big picture, and not just see this chapter as a collection of different stories about the faith of various believers of the past.  AFTER THE FLOOD GOD GIVES MANKIND ONE LAST CHANCE

We must comprehend the whole of scripture within the framework of the terrifying power of God, dread Sovereign Lord who can make alive and also judge destroy and kill them who refuse to obey Him, which He did in the flood saving only Noah and the seven souls with him in the Ark.

 We fully understand within this framework that God, in offering His covenant through Abraham, is offering this final Ark of safety-the last chance to all men to turn to Him in faith and escape the final destruction of the wicked, this present earth and its heavens in the fiery furnace of His eternal indignation and wrath against the wicked.

We must look at something more about Abraham’s journey of faith and Sarah’s too.

Abraham is a descendent of Shem one of the three sons of Noah: Gen 11: 29And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

There was no way to know a woman was barren then except that over time the fact that she brought forth no children was a good indication of it. The Bible gives no explanation or cause of her bareness.

God first visits Abraham (aka Abram at that time), in Gen 12 commanding him to depart to a land God would show Him. No problem, He did as God commanded without question. God promised him many children and land, but records no comment from Abraham about this. So far so good. Sarah at this time was not mentioned as a part of God’s plan in his promises to Abraham. In chapter 13 God renews His promises of children numberless as the dust and land to Abraham but again,  God does not mention Sarah as having a part in this at all, at this time.

Brethren, we don’t know if this made her fearful of being left out of Abraham’s life all together. He was to be a father of many and she was barren. Next, we will look at how in not seeing the big picture she decided to write her own narrative and by what means she plotted to put herself into God’s plan, although we know later, she would regret it.

Love

Mon, Jan 14th - 11:35AM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

Brothers and sisters as we return to Hebrews 11, the Bible turns us again to Abraham in verse 17. However, let us step back a bit to see God’s big picture, and not just see this chapter as a collection of different stories about the faith of various believers of the past.  AFTER THE FLOOD GOD GIVES MANKIND ONE LAST CHANCE

We must comprehend the whole of scripture within the framework of the terrifying power of God, dread Sovereign Lord who can make alive and also judge destroy and kill them who refuse to obey Him, which He did in the flood saving only Noah and the seven souls with him in the Ark.

 We fully understand within this framework that God, in offering His covenant through Abraham, is offering this final Ark of safety-the last chance to all men to turn to Him in faith and escape the final destruction of the wicked, this present earth and its heavens in the fiery furnace of His eternal indignation and wrath against the wicked.

We must look at something more about Abraham’s journey of faith and Sarah’s too.

Abraham is a descendent of Shem one of the three sons of Noah: Gen 11: 29And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

There was no way to know a woman was barren then except that over time the fact that she brought forth no children was a good indication of it. The Bible gives no explanation or cause of her bareness.

God first visits Abraham (aka Abram at that time), in Gen 12 commanding him to depart to a land God would show Him. No problem, He did as God commanded without question. God promised him many children and land, but records no comment from Abraham about this. So far so good. Sarah at this time was not mentioned as a part of God’s plan in his promises to Abraham. In chapter 13 God renews His promises of children numberless as the dust and land to Abraham but again,  God does not mention Sarah as having a part in this at all, at this time.

Brethren, we don’t know if this made her fearful of being left out of Abraham’s life all together. He was to be a father of many and she was barren. Next, we will look at how in not seeing the big picture she decided to write her own narrative and by what means she plotted to put herself into God’s plan, although we know later, she would regret it.

Love

Sat, Jan 12th - 3:24PM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

Brothers and sisters, let us take a brief break here, keeping our eyes on Jesus Christ, as we sit encamped together, warmed by the flaming memory of those past saints (G40 hagios) He reveals; whose hearts He set on fire with faith.

Most of us know that God absolutely forbids any Christian from commanding or giving a tithe to anyone on earth, although we are still absolutely commanded by God to give and support generously those who minister the gospel and care for the flock of God on earth, as well as to give and serve Him with our time, talent and treasure only within the standards and boundaries commanded by God as established under the new covenant of grace of Jesus Christ. None of our physical works, labors and materials done and given on earth can ever be considered a tithe which can be given to men on earth, but instead constitutes our reasonable service to Him. Our works show and prove to God that we are His- bearing fruit in producing good works, serving out of a good heart and faith in God.

So, this is for those still grappling with understanding the new covenant of grace tithes. I will try to make it as brief as I can. Yes, brethren, there are voluntary incidents of tithing in the Bible preceding the Law.

However, once God brought in the Law, He put all men under the Law of sin, the curse, death and punishment for His purposes (See Gal 3). Nevertheless, He absolutely closed off this voluntary type of tithing on earth and set tithing directly by His command exclusively explicitly and finally on earth to the nation of Israel alone. God set His final standards and boundaries of the Levitical tithe in general, specific and even to the minutiae of who alone on earth could command the tithe-only the Levitical high priest- who alone could receive the tithe -only the Levitical priesthood, and even those who could give the tithe-only those of the nation of Israel on earth. God set the death penalty for anyone trying to serve in the Levitical priesthood not of the tribe of Levi. Let us keep in mind that The Levitical priesthood was not just to haul in the tithes to use solely for themselves alone, for God also commanded them to tithe too.

When Jesus returns in person to Jerusalem in His revelation on this present earth, He will be the sole high priest for both gentiles and the believing Jews of the nation of Israel.  Be wary of those who falsely teach that salvation is automatic to the nation of Israel. Let us give thanks to Jesus for spreading the gospel by the wings of His apostles from the nation of Israel who preached Jesus Christ for faith for both gentiles and Jews. Please feel free to study this further on your own.

THE CHRISTIAN TITHE

Through the final finished and complete work of Jesus Christ, God brought forth the new covenant of grace, and set Jesus His Son, eternally, explicitly and exclusively as the sole Saviour, Mediator, and high priest of it for all who believe in Him. Whether they be Jew or gentile, all believers are delivered from the Levitical Law of sin, the curse, death and punishment through faith in Jesus Christ and are eternally delivered from it.

The human high priests under the Levitical Law, being mere men, had no ability to know the quality or value of the tithes the people gave in terms of whether they gave grudgingly or freely, whether they gave the best or sneaked in the worst, or even if they gave their full tithe or held some of it back. Certainly, the Bible tells us that even the Levitical high priest and the priests under him failed to sacrifice the best of certain animals, but instead sacrificed the blemished sick animals that they were forbidden to offer to God, but did so anyway.

Our high priest Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour being fully man without ceasing to be God the Son, always does the will of God, which pleases God His Father perfectly. Therefore, Jesus Christ is incomparable to any of the merely human Levitical high priests under the Law. Jesus Christ’s one- time sacrifice in offering of Himself to God for our sins once for all, completely met all of God’s commands and requirements for Jesus Christ to be appointed as the sole high priest over the house of God forever.

Our new covenant of grace tithes consists of all of our works that we do on earth dedicated to Jesus Christ alone out of love and trust in Him. Our tithing is deeply intimate with Jesus Christ who gave everything for us to save us and bring us to God. Our tithing is absolutely to be understood and carried out explicitly and exclusively within the standards and boundaries set by God under the new covenant of grace alone.

In His omniscience, omnipotence and omnipresence His spirit indwelling us Lord Jesus, without error appraises all of our works done on earth out of love and trust in Him, this is our tithes which He weighs, determines their intrinsic spiritual value and puts them in store to reward us on earth and later in the world to come. Needless to say, holy people, those works not done out of love and trust in Jesus has no value to Him as a tithe and are burned up.

We need to be extremely careful here, brothers and sisters, of depraved unbelieving persons who falsely teach people will inherit the kingdom of God who have no faith or love for Jesus which makes all of their works, if any, unacceptable to God, even regardless of how great they might appear in the eyes of men. Those who do such should repent and come believing lest they be burned up in the lake of fire along with their wicked works of unbelief and rejection of Jesus Christ.Men, that is people look on the outside, but God looks upon the heart, nothing can be hid from Him.

Brothers and sister, pray with me: Lord Jesus I praise, love and worship you. I exalt your name above all others including my own. I humble myself in your presence, under your mighty hand. I thank you that you will receive my tithe of love and trust in you as I serve you here on earth in working for you, supporting your ministry on earth, loving my brothers and sisters and all men while taking the gospel message to all that I can. AMEN!

Love

Thu, Jan 10th - 6:33AM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

Heb 11: 13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Brothers and sisters, these believers died in faith. God is never ashamed of such people. It is true that they lived worked, played and even served in some of the nations where they lived. So, God never said that believers cannot participate in governments to the fullest extent He allows.

 However, nevertheless they firmly consistently resisted/rejected and refused the snares of earthly nationalistic entanglements having heard and believed God that:  Isa 40:17 - All nations before him are as nothing; and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity.

They could not be seduced to lay down their cross and pick up the flags of their respective nations to serve at the altar of mere men. They would not yield to the allure of the power of the nations to seek through them the cure for what aileth mankind.

They well knew what was in the nations with their glittering cities, the glory of their wealth and the power of their armed might, the streets thereof running red with blood and violence, the stench of their corruptions reaching down to the lowest pits of hell itself.

There were grave social issues in their day too and we see how they cared for the poor and even were against cruelty to animals, but understood there would be no end of these on this present earth and continued to look to God who would one day set everything right once and for all.

The righteous having received the promises, believing without the attainment or manifestation of them had foresight of faith, for seeing them afar off they agreed with their God: Zec 4:6 - Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

Dearly beloveds, let us who have now received the fulfillment of the promised atonement through Jesus Christ, embrace Him, believing, convicted, convinced and fully persuaded to the end confessing that we too are strangers and pilgrims, on earth having become citizens of the kingdom of God, waiting for that city to come whose maker and builder is God.

 (See Eph 2:19).

There is nothing here in any manner, brethren, advocating taking up arms to over throw the nations and force them to believe. Instead God has left us the standards and boundaries written in the Bible as to how we are to live on this present earth: There is more than can be put here and feel free to look further on your own, but I know this will be helpful to us all in a comprehensive way:

Romans 13:1-7 

Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;read more.

1 Timothy 2:1 First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men,

1 Peter 2:13-17  Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.read more.

Jeremiah 29:7 'Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare.'

Matthew 22:17-21 They said to Him, "Caesar's." Then He said to them, "Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's; and to God the things that are God's." "Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?" But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, "Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?read more.

THE BOTTOM LINE FOR ALL CHRISTIANS

Acts 5:29 

But Peter and the apostles answered, "We must obey God rather than men.

Love

Tue, Jan 8th - 3:27PM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

Heb 11:8By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. 9By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: 10For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

Brothers and sisters, we feel the fire building up, God’s insistence on the need to step into faith more and more compelling. The word of God,  with power, springing up borne on the super surging wave of the Spirit of Christ-leaves us breathless, our hearts set on fire, grasping, reaching, desiring to please God too with this same faith in God and His seed, Jesus Christ.

Umm, I know there are some brothers and sisters out there who might say, just a minute, Sarah laughed when God told her she would have a son, and didn’t Abraham have a son by Sarah’s maid?

This is true and the Bible hides none of it, but lays out everything bare to us concerning them. God is neither encouraging nor endorsing an endless veering off track of anyone with no stability of faith, for those who do this show that they never had any faith in the first place.

There are, however, take away lessons here, saints (G40 hagios), the bottom line is that as they began in faith, so they ended in faith. They got back on track and finished their journey through faith in God. Some among us too have gotten off track in our walk of faith.  We have to repent and stay on our path just as they did to please God rather than ourselves. It’s a warning also to not lose patience and try to accomplish the work of God through carnal efforts. The final lesson here is that we must absolutely stick to God’s program-God’s way is the only right way and the only right way is God’s way.

Say it with me holy people and let us believe it and mean it from our hearts:

GOD’S WAY IS THE ONLY RIGHT WAY AND THE ONLY RIGHT WAY IS GOD’S WAY.

Love

serola

Mon, Jan 7th - 12:29PM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

Brethren, again, the Bible is not encouraging us to brag about how great our faith is: Ro 14: 22Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. Bragging about our faith is forbidden, because we can cause a weak Christian to stumble because they have little understanding about the biblical knowledge and boundaries under which Christians can do certain things without offence to God.

Heb. 11: 7By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.

God is not asking Christians today to build an ark for another day coming in which He will destroy everything living on earth by a flood as He told Noah. But note Noah being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear in obeying God and bringing his household alone to safety.

Noah did not twiddle his thumbs doubting, or thinking maybe it would be best for him to wait until he saw the rain coming down and then build the ark. His faith in God, that God is who He said He is, and that God would do what He said He would do was the substance all the evidence that Noah needed to get cracking in building the ark.

Just as Noah was warned, God is warning His people now, that the day of God’s vengeance is coming to the wicked. Jesus warns us all: Luk 17:26 - And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.Luk 17:27 - They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus is not forbidding marriage, eating or drinking, but warning us to not let any of this temporal world distract or lull us to think that this is all there is and it will go on forever, for Jesus has decreed it will not: 2Pe 3:10 - But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

 Mat 13:41 - The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; Mat 13:42 - And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth.

Mar 9:44 - Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched.

 God will bring the day of His seismic fiery wrath in final judgement of condemnation to those who reject salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. For all eternity they shall have eternal death, that is they will be fully conscious of ever dying without ceasing, in pain and torment, in the lake of fire and brimstone with the devil and his angels: Mat 25:41; Rev 20:10.

Brothers and sisters, we too, having not yet seen, also by faith in God know for certain without doubt that God is who He said He is and He will do what He said He will do. Let us also move as Noah did, with fear, and compel men to come into the of Ark salvation Jesus Christ, that even some will escape the wrath of God that is surely coming.,

Hey, wait a minute what if some think it’s a joke and refuse to believe. Well even so it is totally irrelevant to God, for just as he destroyed the unrepentant in the flood during the time of Noah, and in the time of Lot, so will those who resist Him be destroyed in the day of the Lord, in fire anyway. No one will ever mourn for them or even remember them for all eternity.

Say it with me holy people: I BELIEVE WITHOUT DOUBT THAT GOD IS WHO HE SAID HE IS AND THAT GOD WILL DO EVERY THING HE SAID HE WILL DO.

Love

serola

Sun, Jan 6th - 1:55PM

Fri, Jan 4th - 5:22PM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

Holy people, we cannot but admire the faithful saints {G40 hagios) of old. However, God did not leave us their example only to admire, but to follow. The Bible gives us the solid eternal answer to the question of HOW DO WE OBTAIN A GOOD REPORT TOO JUST LIKE THEY DID?

The Bible tells us that: 2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Dearly beloveds, here and throughout, the Bible gives us meticulous, painstaking, careful, focused and an over- abundance of instruction as to the absolute only kind of faith that all who claim to be saved must absolutely have that pleases God, thereby obtaining a good report.

Heb 11:4By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

What a comparison/contrast we have here, Abel offering his acceptable animal sacrifice than the unacceptable one from Cain, who brought his produce from the earth that God had cursed. So, we can see that when God commands us to obey Him it is not optional.

Heb 11: 5By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.

Brothers and sisters, we can greatly rejoice because we too have pleased God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ, who has translated us into His kingdom and given us eternal life: Col 1:13 - Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

The Bible is not speaking of nor to anyone who after knowing the gospel remains “fashionably doubting” or a so- called  “healthy skeptic”, which is an insult to God and worse blasphemy for:

Heb 11:6But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Knowing and understanding the sole source of faith keeps us from going astray to see faith as acts of conjuring up our personal wants by sincerely believing we will get them, or that faith originates out of the person, tempting some into occult practices forbidden by God.  Before going into detail about what faith is the Bible is careful to declare unto us that the only source of true faith comes from God, through hearing believing and obeying the gospel message of Jesus:  Christ: Rom 10:17 - So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Everything we have comes from God even our faith: Rom 12:3 . God is not encouraging His people to brag or hold contests to see who has the greatest faith. Most of us know this, but some among us might even be shocked to know that God expects for all of us to have the same great faith that He shows pleases Him by the many examples He has given.

Love

Tue, Jan 1st - 3:08PM

JOURNEY IN HEBREWS

Heb 11 1: 1Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 2For by it the elders obtained a good report.

3Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

Praise God for a new year. Happy new year brothers and sisters with peace and love from our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ. Thanks for hanging with me throughout this study of Hebrews.

What a powerful, marvelous, wonderful preamble to this chapter 11 of Hebrews.

However, we must look at what faith is absolutely not. The false teachers of prosperity gospel and the word of faith movements among others teach that these verses mean that people can create their own reality by speaking it into existence. Secondly, they teach in error that God will not and cannot violate the will of man. Therefore, whatever man wills God has to obey and perform it.

Then there are those who falsely teach that dangerous acts or activities can be done by people if they only have faith, such as handling deadly snakes, or doing dangerous acts. All of this is man centered false teachings hurtful to the true gospel of Jesus Christ. People commanding God to make them a CEO, give them money and homes without working along with those tempting God by doing dangerous acts and many dying out of a false understanding of faith causes the world to mock that great name of Jesus Christ, and turn away from Him.

Then too, there are the intellectual gurus who falsely teach “creation science” who instead of worshipping God through faith in Jesus Christ, and preaching the gospel to the lost, they choose to make a career of trying to “prove” God created the earth and it is a young earth or some other physical aspect of nature to oppose the unbelieving scientist who say the earth is very old and came into being out of an explosion or nothing and no one. This shows these intellectuals are false converts, since we understand that the world was not made by God from things which are seen, weighed and measured.

Love