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Monday, December 31, 2012

As long as the earth endures

Greetings dear readers!

We are sending away the year of 2012 and receiving the another new year tomorrow.

May the Grace of God the Father and the Love of Christ, the Son and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you and your family abundantly in 2013! Amen.


We read in, Genesis 8:22;

"As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease."

Clarke's Commentary on the Bible explains;
"There is something very expressive in the original, עד כל ימי הארץ (od col yemey haarets), "until all the Days of the earth"; for God does not reckon its duration by centuries, and the words themselves afford a strong presumption that the earth shall not have an endless duration."

As we continue to experience the passing and coming of our years of life, let's not forget the Word of the Lord in Revelation 1:8;

"I am the Alpha and the Omega--the beginning and the end," says the Lord God. "I am the One Who is, Who always was, and Who is still to come--the Almighty One."

The Lord Jesus will come soon and all we have to do is to wait for Him while we are preparing ourselves blameless and fit for His Kingdom people status.

In the new year, I will keep writing to tell everybody that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of the world and He is coming soon to rule the earth as the King of kings and Lord of lords.  Amen.

See you in 2013! 

Friday, December 21, 2012

Jehovah-Jireh

God Provides

On my way to bus stop early this morning, I noticed a man-shaped object in a crouching posture behind the bush off the road. I was reluctant to approach there because it was still dark. So I kept going. Then I went back there and asked, “Is there anyone?” Then I heard a man's voice, saying faintly, “No English, no…”  I approached the man and gave some cash that I had and hurried back to the bus stop.

While walking, I prayed to the Lord Jesus Who is “Jehovah-Jireh” earnestly that He would provide what the man needed – job, place to stay, the food, health and reunion with family if he had. Overnight, I slept a good sleep in a cozy and warm bed which the man behind the bush was not privileged to have. I felt sorry deep down in my heart as a fellow human being.

We believe that God provides everything we need for the sustenance of life– air, water, sunshine, rain, seasons, food, family and home etc. He is a Provider.

So He says in Matthew 6:31;

“So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’”


We read in, Genesis 22:14;

“So Abraham called the name of that place, “The LORD will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the LORD it shall be provided.””

Jehovah - jireh : יהוה יראה Yehovah-yireh, when literally interpreted, “God will see”; that is, God will take care that everything shall be done that is necessary for the comfort and support of them who trust in him: hence the words are usually translated, “The Lord will provide.”

When we call Him, “Jehovah-jireh, or yireh”, He is more than a Provider. He sacrificed Himself for us by sending His Son and provided the salvation through Him.

This is the true meaning when Abraham said when he was commanded to sacrifice this only son Isaac on the Mount Moriah 4,000 years ago (Golgotha or Calvary at Jesus’ time).

It was not God’s intention that Isaac should actually be sacrificed, yet nobler blood than that of animals, in due time, was to be shed for sins of the world, even the blood of the Only Begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.

United In Christ

The union of believers with Christ is indissoluble. His love holds them fast. “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ” (Romans 8:35-39). “Having loved His own, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1). His power holds them fast; “Neither shall any pluck them out of my hand” (John 10:28).  

Such is our union to Him that our life is said to be in Him, and He is called our life. Christ calls Himself to be the Way, the Truth and the Life for us (John 14:6).

The life of the Risen Jesus is the life of His people, and such is their union with Him, as to render this life operative in them: “If when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Romans 5:10).

As Christ’s sacrificial death was efficacious to bring us into a state of reconciliation with God, His life, now that He has been raised from the dead, and is ever living to make intercession for us, and is the source of our life, hid in the Godhead, will much more preserve us in this state of reconciliation, and secure our final and complete salvation.
 
Lord Jesus, we believe we are in You, You are in us, which is inseparable and indissoluble by any means. Grant us to keep remaining in You as branches of the True Vine, and the Gardener of which is ourFather in Heaven.
Amen.

Abundant Life


An Afghan woman whose nose and ears were hacked off after she fled a forced, abusive marriage has spoken of her ongoing recovery. Aesha Mohammadzai was mutilated by her Taliban husband and in-laws and left for dead three years ago. Having passed out through pain and shock, Aesha came to on the side of a mountainside, choking on her own blood, and managed to walk to her village where her father took her to hospital.  Currently living with a host family in America, she is being treated by doctors at Walter Reed National Military Medical Centre in Bethesda, Maryland. At present, Aesha’s forehead is swollen with saline and her nose is slowly taking shape with gradual tissue transplants taken from other parts of her body. In six months time, she hopes to have the nose she wants.

I am so glad to hear that Aesha would have her cut nose and ears restored soon and pray that she could live a happy life.

When I heard the news about her horrible experience she underwent, I forgot the word what to say. When I heard the good news about her recovery, I remembered what the Lord said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

 

My prayer:

Lord Jesus, man tried to kill her and destroyed her life, but You can give Aesha new life abundantly if You will. Please give her an eternal life also. Amen.

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Spirit of Adoption

Spirit of Adoption
 






















Adam vs.Christ

We read in, Romans 5:19;
 













Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Grace - χάρις, xáris


























ἀρραβών arrhabṓn


Deposit - ἀρραβών arrhabṓn

When I bought a home many years ago, the procedures were roughly like this.

I searched for a suitable home for my family in terms of the size, location, most importantly the market price and its value for investment. I made an initial offer to the seller. The seller agreed to my offer and we both went into a purchase contract at the realtor’s office.

At this time, the seller asked the deposit money amounting to 3% of the purchase price. And I did it. That was called an “earnest money” deposit to give assurance to the seller that I will buy the home if everything works fine. When I made a deposit, I have already owned the home 3% worth and the rest of the money (97 %) I needed to pay at the closing of an escrow.

My home buying experience can be compared to that of the salvation in Christ.  The one thing which is different from this transaction is that in Salvation, the Purchaser is Jesus Christ and He paid 100% of the price once for all by His Own Blood, and the Holy Spirit becomes the deposit guaranteeing the inheritance of our salvation in Christ.
 

We read in, Ephesians 1:13-14;

“And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.”

ἀρραβών arrhabṓn (“down-payment pledge”) is the regular term in NT times for “earnest-money,” i.e. advance-payment that guarantees the rest will be given. It represents “full security” in business documents and agreements, backed by the purchaser who supplies sufficient proof he/she will fulfill the entire pledge (promise).


 






Monday, December 17, 2012

God the Spirit

The heinousness of the sin against the Holy Spirit, is proof of His Divinity.


















 

 




 







Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit is a Person in the Bible testimony.

Some think erroneously that He is not a Person but a mere influence or operation of God. They do not give the same honor and thanks to Him as we should do to the Father and the Son.  

This grieves the Holy Spirit in a real sense.




 












 

 











God’s Own Blood

We do believe that God is Spirit Who has no blood and flesh like we have.

But we read, in Acts 20:28;

“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His Own blood.

Greek text

προσέχετε ἑαυτοῖς καὶ παντὶ τῷ ποιμνίῳ ἐν ᾧ ὑμᾶς τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον ἔθετο ἐπισκόπους ποιμαίνειν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ, ἣν περιεποιήσατο διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου.


Which he has purchased - The word used here “περιεποιήσατο periepoiēsato occurs but in one other place in the New Testament - 1 Timothy 3:13.  The word properly means “to acquire or gain anything; to make it ours.” This may be done by a price, or by labor, etc. The noun (περιποίησις peripoiēsis) derived from this verb is used several times in the New Testament, and denotes “acquisition” in 1 Thessalonians 5:9, God hath appointed us “to obtain” (unto the obtaining or acquisition of) salvation”; 2 Thessalonians 2:14, “Whereunto he called you by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ”; 1 Peter 2:9; Titus 2:14; Ephesians 1:14.  

In this place it means that Christ had “acquired, gained, or procured,” the church for Himself by paying His Own life as the price. The church is often represented as having thus been bought with a price, 1 Corinthians 6:20; 1 Corinthians 7:23; 2 Peter 2:1.  The blood was His as Man; yet so close is the union between the Divine and human nature, that it is there called the Blood of God, for it was the Blood of Him Who is God. This put such dignity and worth into it, as to ransom believers from all evil, and purchase all good.


Lord Jesus, we thank You for the Church of God which You bought with Your Own Blood. We believe that the power of hell will not prevail against the congregation of the Lord.

We will serve Your blood-bought Church as we would serve You. Amen.

Friday, December 14, 2012

Good God

Goodness of God









 

Much of the suffering in the world is clearly the effect of sin, and is to be considered an infliction of Divine justice. The justice of God claims scope for its exercise, as well as His goodness. The goodness of God is infinite, if it confers happiness as widely as is consistent with the other perfections of His nature.

It is a favorite theory with some, that God aims at the greatest possible amount of happiness in the universe; and that He admits evil, only because the admission of evil produces in the end a greater amount of happiness than its exclusion would have done. According to this theory, justice itself is a modification of benevolence; and the pain suffered by one being, is inflicted from love to the whole. But whether justice is a modification of benevolence, or a distinct attribute, its claims must be regarded; and goodness does not cease to be goodness, because it does not overthrow the government of God, or oppose His other perfections.



Moses had requested God to show Him His glory, and God promised to proclaim or fully declare the name Jehovah. God Himself interprets His name in Exodus 34:6;

“And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed Yehovah (יהוה) the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.”

These words contain the proper interpretation of the venerable and Glorious Name Jehovah.

The different names in this and the following verse have been considered as so many attributes of the Divine nature.
 

1. יהוה Jehovah.

2. אל EL, the strong or mighty God.

3. רחום Rachum, the merciful Being, Who is full of tenderness and compassion.

4. חנון Channun, the gracious One; He whose nature is goodness itself; the loving God.

5. ארך אפים Erech Appayim, long-suffering; the Being who, because of his goodness and tenderness, is not easily irritated, but suffers long and is kind.

6. רב Rab, the great or mighty One.

7. חסד Chesed, the bountiful Being; He Who is exuberant in His beneficence.

8. אמת Emeth, the truth or true One; He alone Who can neither deceive nor be deceived, Who is the fountain of truth, and from Whom all wisdom and knowledge must be derived.

9. נצר חסד Notser Chesed, the preserver of bountifulness; He whose beneficence never ends, keeping mercy for thousands of generations, showing compassion and mercy while the world endures.

10. נשא עון ופשע וחטאה Nose avon vaphesha vechattaah, He who bears away iniquity and transgression and sin: properly, the Redeemer, the Pardoner, the Forgiver; the Being whose prerogative alone it is to forgive sin and save the soul. ינקה(לו) נקה לא Nakkeh lo yenakkeh, the righteous Judge, Who distributes justice with an impartial hand, with Whom no innocent person can ever be condemned.

11. פקד עון Poked avon, etc.; He Who visits iniquity, Who punishes transgressors, and from Whose justice no sinner can escape. The God of retributive and vindictive justice.

These eleven attributes, as they have been termed, are all included in the Great Name Jehovah, and are, as we have before seen, the proper interpretation of it.

 

Above all, we read in, Mark 10:48 in Aramaic Bible in Plain English

“Yeshua(Jesus) said to him, “Why do you call me good? There is no one good but The One God.”

Amen.

Omniscient God

Is God all-knowing(omniscient)?






The extent of God’s knowledge is unlimited. He knows all things; all things possible, and all things actual. He knows Himself perfectly, though unknown by any other being. The attributes which we labor in vain to comprehend, He understands fully. His ways, to us unsearchable, are fully known to him from the beginning of his works. All creatures are known to Him, and everything that appertains to them: the angels of heaven, the men who inhabit the earth, and every living thing, even to the sparrow, or young ravens, He knows, and carefully regards. The thoughts of the mind He understands, and the secrets of every heart he fully searches.

 
All events, past, present, or future, are known to God. Past events are said to be remembered by Him; and He claims the foreknowledge of future events, challenging false gods to a comparison with Him in this respect (Isaiah 41:22). His foreknowledge of future events is proved by the numerous predictions contained in the Bible, that have proceeded from Him. It was given to the Israelites (Deuteronomy 18:22), as a rule for distinguishing a true prophet of the Lord, that his predictions should be fulfilled; but a foreknowledge of future events could not be imparted to them from the Lord, if the Lord Himself did not possess it.


Even the Holy Scriptures, which reveal God to us, do not supply the elementary conceptions necessary to a perfect knowledge of God. They speak to human beings in human language, and the knowledge which they impart is sufficient for our present necessities, and able to make us wise to salvation; but we should remember, that human language cannot express to us what the human mind cannot conceive, and, therefore, cannot convey a full knowledge of the deity.

That’s the context when the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 13:12;

“Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.”


We, His children should remember the Word of God in our speech and act because 1 Samuel 2:3 says;

“Stop acting so proud and haughty! Don't speak with such arrogance! For the LORD is a God Who knows what you have done; He will judge your actions.


Read more : http://www.pbministries.org/

Thursday, December 13, 2012

Does God Change?

We read in, 1 Samuel 15:29;

“He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”

Also 1 Samuel 15:34;

“And the Lord was grieved that He had made Saul king over Israel.”

His purpose, also, is unchangeable; it is called “His eternal purpose” (Ephesians 3:11). He says: “My counsel shall stand” (Isaiah 46:10). He is said, in Scripture, “to repent”; but, in the same chapter (1 Samuel 15), in which it is twice said that God repented, it is also stated: “He is not a man, that He should change His mind.” God is said to repent when He effects such a change in His work as would, in human actions, proceed from repentance. Repentance, in men, implies grief of mind, and change of work.

To destroy the world by the great flood, God remained unchanged. No other language could so impressively represent God’s abhorrence of man’s wickedness to be the cause of the deluge, as that used by the Genesis writer: “And Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and it grieved Him in His heart.” (Genesis 6:6).
 

Lord Jesus, Rock of Ages cleft for us, We believe Your Word stands forever and You are the same, yesterday, today and forever.

Amen.

Spirit

God is Spirit