Monday, June 28, 2021

THE SHUNAMMITE WOMAN

THE SHUNAMMITE WOMAN

HER CHARACTER: Generous and hospitable, she was a wealthy and capable woman who showed great kindness to one of God's prophets. 

HER SORROW:
To lose the son that had been promised her.

HER JOY:
To experience just how deep God's faithfulness goes.

KEY SCRIPTURES:
2 Kings 4:8-37; 8:1-6

HER LIFE AND TIMES

HOSPITALITY

Elisha stayed for a meal at the Shunammite woman's house after she "urged" him to do so. He felt so well taken care of, so comfortable, and so at home that he made a habit of coming to her home whenever he was in the area - often enough that the woman asked her husband to have a special room added just for Elisha.

Hospitality played an important role in the lives of the people of the Middle East. Desert travel was strenuous, and Holiday Inns hadn't yet been invented. When travelers came to a town at the end of the day, they would stop in the town's center or near the town gates and wait for an invitation for the night. If no invitation came, they would spend the night outside.

Hosts were responsible not only to feed and provide sleeping arrangements for their guests but also were expected to ensure the safety of the guests, protecting them from robbery and harm (Genesis 19:8). When meals were served, the host acted as a servant, serving the guests and watching over their needs. If one guest was particularly favored over another, he or she would be served an extra large or extra special portion of the food (Genesis 43:34).

Examples of hospitality are plentiful in the Scriptures. Abraham made a sumptuous meal for the three strangers who visited him (Genesis 18), preparing bread, a tender calf, curds, and milk. Rebekah practiced a basic form of hospitality when she offered water to Abraham's servant and his animals (Genesis 24:15-21). Solomon fed everyone in his palace, plus aliens and visitors to the region. His list of daily provisions in 1 Kings 4:22 provides a picture of what was required to feed a staggering number of people. Nehemiah not only refused to demand "the food allotted to the governor," he also generously fed at least 150 people each day (Nehemiah 5:17-18).

Six times the New Testament exhorts believers to be hospitable. There's no talk of fatted calves or extravagant dinners in these passages, just a simple exhortation to make sure you care for those around you. As Romans 12:13 puts it, "Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality." You never know, you just might entertain angels without knowing it (Hebrews 13:2)!

HER PROMISE

The Shunammite woman knew there was hope even in the most devastating of circumstances. She had been promised a son when she was barren, and now she tenaciously held on to that promise even though her little son lay dead on Elisha's couch. "It's all right", she said to her husband, knowing full well that their boy was gone. The God who had given her the promise wasn't gone. She knew he wouldn't forsake her.

"It's all right." Can you express that sentiment even when your world is crashing in on you? Perhaps not. Remember, however, that even in the most agonizing of circumstances, even when you feel abandoned, even when tragedy strikes - God is there. Trust his word and gain assurance from the Shunammite woman who, in the midst of appalling circumstances, could say, "It's all right."

Promises in Scripture

God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?-NUMBERS 23:19

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.-2 CORINTHIANS 1:3-4

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ.
-2 CORINTHIANS 1:20

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful -HEBREWS 10:23

HER LEGACY OF PRAYER

"About this time next year," Elisha said, "you will hold a son in your arms. 2 Kings 4:16

REFLECT ON: 2 Kings 4:8-37

PRAISE GOD:
That he never overlooks even a small kindness performed out of love for him.

OFFER THANKS:
For the kindness you have experienced at the hands of others.

CONFESS:
Your tendency to overlook others' needs because you are so focused on your own.

ASK GOD:
To make you jealous for opportunities to care for
others in basic and practical ways. 

Lift Your Heart

The Shunammite woman is a wonderful example of someone who anticipated Jesus' words to his disciples to "seek first his [the Father's] kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). Like the lilies of the field, she didn't worry about God's provision and so experienced it abundantly. Ask for an opportunity this week to perform an act of practical kindness or hospitality for someone else. Consider lending your prayers, your gifts, and your energy on a regular basis to a group or ministry working to bring justice to those most in need of it.

Father, show me someone's need today. Then help me break out of my own small world and find a way to show your love to that person.

Thursday, June 24, 2021

THE WIDOW WITH THE TWO COINS

THE WIDOW WITH THE TWO COINS

HER CHARACTER
Though extremely poor, she is one of the most great hearted people in the Bible. Just after warning his disciples to watch out for the teachers of the law, who devour widows' houses, Jesus caught sight of her in the temple. He may have called attention to her as a case in point.

HER SORROW:
To be alone, without a husband to provide for her.

HER JOY:
To surrender herself to God completely, trusting him to act on her behalf.

KEY SCRIPTURES:
Mark 12:41-44; Luke 21:1-4

HER LIFE AND TIMES:
MONEY

Two tiny coins. Mark identifies them as two Greek lepta, tiny copper coins worth less than a penny.

Coins didn't come into use in Israel until after the people returned from exile between 500 and 400 BC. Before that time people bartered, exchanging produce, animals, and precious metals for goods and services. A woman might barter a flask of oil for a new robe or the wool from a lamb for a new lamp.

By Jesus' day, a large variety of coins had come into use in Palestine. New Testament Jews used coins from Rome and Greece as well as their own Jewish form of coinage. The temple tax had to be paid in Jewish currency - in shekels. Money changers set up their businesses in order to change other coinage into shekels for temple worshipers, then, adding insult to injury, cheating their customers. Jesus was not opposed to the operation of such businesses, but to their dishonesty and to their operation within the temple itself. He furiously scattered them, declaring that his Father's house was a house of prayer, not a business site (Matthew 21:12-13).

While money is necessary for life in most cultures, the Bible warns against placing more importance on it than it should rightfully have. The widow who gave all she had furnishes us with the best example of recognizing the need for money - she had money, although very little - but also the need to hold it lightly - she willingly and lovingly gave it away. Peter warns us not to be "greedy for money" (1 Peter 5:2), and the writer to the Hebrews admonishes us to keep our "lives free from the love of money and be content with what [we] have" (Hebrews 13:5). When writing to Timothy, Paul penned those famous, and often misquoted, words about money: "For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs" (1 Timothy 6:10).

The pervasive lure of money and what it can provide - the need to have more and do more and get more - is probably more prevalent in our culture than in any other in history. Christians are just as susceptible to its enticements as anyone else. Money drives an effective and forceful wedge between our Savior and us. Jesus knew that and pointedly reminded us with these words: "No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money" (Luke 16:13).

HER PROMISE

Earlier, God had promised Abraham he would spare the city of Sodom if he could find only ten righteous people in it, but not even ten could be found. So God sent his angels to Sodom to rescue Lot and his family (Genesis 18) from the coming destruction. Hesitant to the last minute, the angels had to take Lot, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and lead them out of the city.

Did God know Abraham was thinking of Lot when he begged for the cities to be spared if fifty, forty-five, thirty, twenty, only ten righteous people could be found? Was God's mercy extended to Lot for love of Lot or for love of Abraham? We don't know. But we do know God's mercy was available for Lot and his family. And his mercy is available to you as well, even in the worst of times, the most difficult situations, the hardest of circumstances. He's there, stretching out his hand to lead you to safety.

Promises in Scripture

The men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them -GENESIS 19:16

He will show you mercy [and] have compassion on you.-DEUTERONOMY 13:17

Remember, O LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.
-PSALM 25:6

"I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful," declares the LORD, "I will not be angry forever,"-JEREMIAH 3:12

HER LEGACY OF PRAYER
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything - all she had to live on."-MARK 12:43

REFLECT ON: Mark 12:41-44.

PRAISE GOD: For judging not by outward appearances but as one who sees the heart.

OFFER THANKS: For blessings of money, time, energy, and emotional resources.

CONFESS: Any tendency to act as though your security depends more on you than it does on God.

ASK GOD: To make you a generous woman with the faith to believe that even small gifts are worth giving.

Lift Your Heart

This week, think of an area of your life that feels particularly empty or impoverished. You may be lonely, financially stretched, or worried about the future. Whatever it is, pray about it. Listen for the voice of the Holy Spirit. Is God inviting you to do something to express your trust? What kind of offering would be the most pleasing to him? Once you hear his voice, go ahead and give him what his heart desires.

Father, you are the source of every blessing. This week, help me to give, not only out of my wealth, but out of my poverty. Remind me that I belong to you, body and soul, heart and mind, past, present, and future.

Thursday, June 17, 2021

How To Identify A False Prophet/Religious Leader and False Religious Sects!

How To Identify A False Prophet/Religious Leader and False Religious Sects!
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In this turbulent end times, it is necessary to always be spiritually discerning in order to identify false prophets/religious leaders who are pretending as genuine servants of Lord Jesus Christ. Don't be deluded by false prophets/religious leaders.

A religious sect refers to a group of people with different religious beliefs typically regarded as heretical from those of a larger group to which they belong. 

A religious sect may share some overarching beliefs with other Christian denominations but has its own beliefs, traditions and rituals as well.

A religious cult or sect can be broadly defined as formal religious veneration or a system of religious beliefs and its body of adherents or a religion regarded as unorthodox (spurious).

A religious cult or sect also refers to great devotion to a particular person, object or idea as well as group of people united by devotion or allegiance to an artistic or intellectual movement or figure.

A typical religious sect or cult has a charismatic, unaccountable religious leader, persuades by coercion and exploit its members, economically, sexually or in some other ways.

What are the most common features shared by religious cults or sects?

1. Absolute authoritarianism without meaningful accountability

A charismatic leader, who increasingly becomes an object of worship as the general principles that may have originally sustained the group lose power. 

That is a living religious leader, who has no meaningful accountability and becomes the single most defining element of the group and its source of power and authority. 

2. A process of indoctrination or education is in use that can be seen as coercive persuasion or thought reform commonly called brainwashing. 

The culmination of this process can be seen by members of the group often doing things that are not in their own best interest, but consistently in the best interest of the group and its leader.

3. Economic, sexual and other exploitation of group members by the false religious leader and the ruling coterie. 

The destructiveness of religious cults varies by degree, from labor violations, child abuse, medical neglect to, in some extreme and isolated situations, calls for violence or mass suicide.

¶ What are the warning signs of a potentially unsafe religious group or false religious leader?

1. Self-Righteousness: There is a general tendency for dependence on gifted spiritual leaders, who by claiming to speak for “God” put themselves above question and perceived to be “holy” perpetually. 

Also, view of truth changes from what is honest to what is in the interest of the deluded religious group. 

In essence, the false religious group or false prophet/religious leader is always right or perfect without any blemish (self-righteousness).

2. Loss of Freedom and Perversion:
Through gradual manipulation, individual thoughts, feelings and choices are increasingly replaced by group thoughts, feelings and decisions. 

Also, there is a tendency for loss of conscience as the deluded religious group and its leadership draw the new members into perverted behaviors (often sexual) that destroy moral courage.

3. Bait-and-Switch Tactic: The grand delusion of deceptive religious sects is usually the adjustment of expectations from what was originally promised to what is received. 

This pervasive tendency end up in betraying the trust of the deluded followers. 

4. Manipulative Dependence: Through chanting and singing, new members are manipulatively subjected to constant repetition, which blocks their rational thought processes. 

The false prophet/spiritual leader demands absolute submission to his control and the deluded followers are taught to accept without question the revelations and interpretations of their false spiritual leader.

5. Induced Fear: The pervasive tendency of deceptive religious sects is that negative thoughts or doubts about the particular religious group or its false spiritual leader are said to be soul-threatening. 

Therefore, anyone leaving the false religious group is warned about harsh consequences, loss of eternal life and reward or untimely death.

6. Manipulative Mind Control: New members are tactically conditioned to stop thinking and to accept without question the revelations and doctrines of their false spiritual leader. 

The self-respect of the new members is manipulatively broken down through persuading them to share their innermost secrets with the group.

7. Intense Love Bombing: Committed sect members tactically give new prospects an overwhelming sense of acceptance, belonging and significance by “bombing” them with flattery, touching, hugging and false feeling of communal love. 

Through removal of privacy, new recruits are not left alone to discover their own thoughts.

8. Isolation Strategy: New recruits of deceptive religious sects are usually isolated from their real family members, close friends and News media in order to screen out opposing points of view. 

9. Family Perception: Within a deceptive religious sect, there is often an intense sense of identity and “family” perception. 

Perceived “family members” are viewed as “brothers and sisters,” united against the outside world.

Their unity is not found in Lord Jesus Christ, however, but in their false spiritual “father,” mentor and sole teacher.  

10. False Biblical Emphasis: Some deceptive religious sects give much attention to Bible study. However, their biblical learning is often carefully orchestrated by clever leaders who provide their own false interpretation of Scriptures. 

The deluded members are warned about reading authors who are outside of their secluded religious group.

11. Religious Exclusivism: Deluded members of deceptive religious sects often develop the false belief that they alone have been entrusted with the truth. Therefore, the opportunity to be a part of a select group of God’s chosen servants is attractive.

12. False Indoctrination: A distinct mark of many deceptive religious sects is their use of sophisticated methods of recruitment and coercive persuasion. 

This ensures the breaking down of individual thinking rather than allowing new converts to make decisions of faith based on their own sense of good judgment. 

Through peer-group pressure, potential converts are subjected to intense persuasion by fellow sect members.

13. No tolerance for questions or critical inquiry.

14. No meaningful financial disclosure regarding budget or expenses, such as an independently audited financial statement.

15. Unreasonable fear about the outside world, such as impending catastrophe, evil conspiracies and persecutions. 

16. There is no legitimate reason to leave the false religious group. Former followers are always wrong in leaving, negative or even evil.

17. Former members of false religious groups often relate the same stories of abuse and reflect a similar pattern of grievances.

18. There are records, books, news articles, or broadcast reports that document the abuses of the false religious group or false religious leader.

19. Deluded followers of a false prophet/religious leader feel they can never be good enough or perfect if they leave the false religious group.

20. The false religious group or false religious leader is the exclusive means of knowing perceived “truth” or receiving validation, no other process of discovery is really acceptable or credible.

In conclusion, it is vital not to fall victim to hypocritical spiritual leaders who describe themselves as something they are not, as they try to deceive many people with persuasive words. 

As ravening wolves in sheep clothing, they often disguise themselves as representatives of Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 11:13-15), however, later on, they show themselves to be serving the grand deceiver known as Lucifer or Satan (2 Corinthians 11:4).   

 Author: Evangelist Olusola Awolaja

YOU CAN REGAIN YOUR VIRGINITY:

YOU CAN REGAIN YOUR VIRGINITY:

◾There Is Hope For You:

One of the greatest gifts that God gives to all girls and boys from birth is "Virginity" 

....for girls, their virginity is more obvious because it can easily be established by physical examination — but that of boys is less obvious .

Virginity is a precious gift and it deserves to be preserved  — Whoever is able to persevere his or her own and safely hands it over to his wife or to her husband become a highly rated husband or wife . 

Most men and women will like to marry a virgin — To marry a virgin is like getting a new car that nobody else has used 

.....such a car is far above any second-hand car — It's fresh from the maker - undefiled, untouched and clean .

That is why even the most wayward man  wants to marry a virgin and the worst corrupt girl wants a man that is purely for her alone .

Although virginity is precious.......
It has proved very difficult for many boys and girls to preserve. If you kept your own until now — well, thank God for your life.

▪️You are a special girl or boy.
▪️ you are fortunate and I pray that God will help you to continue to keep it to his glory, in Jesus name.

Now, many have lost their own even before it was time for them to marry — In case you are one of them — I have good news for you ! 

Dear, you can still regain your virginity!

I will tell you how but before I Evangelist  Paulinus Paul do that, .... let us find out who is a virgin and see various types of virgins.

🚦WHO IS A VIRGIN ?

The Oxford Dictionary defines a virgin as "a person (especially, a woman) who has never had sexual intercourse — It's also means untouched and not yet used.

From this simple definition we can deduce that a boy can also be a virgin though it's more commonly used for women.

Generally, anybody who has not had sexual intercourse is a virgin — But, this isn't the only types of virgins .

There are basically two types of virgins in the sight of God — a person can become a virgin in two ways namely :

♻️ Virgin By Birth (Physical Virgin) and.. 

♻️ Virgin By A New Birth (Spiritual Virgins)

Now, you can be a virgin by any of these means... 

 1️⃣ VIRGIN BY BIRTH (Physical Virgin) 

Every body is born a virgin. A Virgin by Birth is any girl or boy who has never had sexual intercourse from Birth — for a boy, this is difficult to determine but for a girl, who is a virgin, her virginity is established by examining the opening that leads to her Vagina.

A sheet of membrane called the hymen covers that opening from birth. It only has a little opening for the girl to pass urine or menstrual flow.

Once a girl has her first sexual intercourse, the hymen is torn or ruptured by the man's penis — from that time onwards the person stops being a virgin  — The hymen continues to tear, especially during childbirth.

The hymen also get torn when a girl masturbates — It can also be medically removed.

The tearing of the hymen during the first intercourse can cause minor pains and lead to drops of blood — a wife uses this bloodstain as evidence to prove her virginity.

In the old testament, any girl who could not prove this would be treated as a non-virgin — She would be stoned to death for being promiscuous (Leviticus 22:13—21)

To lose one's virginity is a disgraceful thing — It was punishable by death in the old testament. At that time it was only the actual act of sexual intercourse that can deflowered a person.

Now, The New Testament standard is higher . 

In the New Testament a person can be a virgin by birth technically but actually a non-virgin 

According to the New Testament, fornication can be committed by mere sight 

Jesus said " ... But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart — (Matthew 5:28).

If you want to be a virgin according to Jesus standard you must avoid all kinds of lust — You must avoid such things as kissing , pornography, caressing and other lustful act with opposite sex.

If you have engaged in these immoral living, even if your hymen is still intact, you are not a spiritual virgin because God still punish immorality.

⚠ Be Warned!

2️⃣ REGAINED VIRGINITY (Spiritual Virgin):

As I said, you could regained your virginity, even if you have had sexual intercourse before , even if you have lived a wayward life in the past, even if you are already married and have some children, and even if you have been a prostitute before now —you can regain your virginity.

Yes Sis, it's possible! 

Bro.. Did you know how I was able to found out?

Let see the confirmation.. ..

. ... "And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible —("Mark 10:27)

......"I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me,  "son of man, can these bones lived?  I said, "O sovereign LORD, you alone know" ....Then he said to me... Says to them, "Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD!

 This is what the sovereign Lord says to these bones .. I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD"

.... They came to life and stood up on their feet — a vast army 
— (Ezekiel 37:2-6 & 10)

Now, if God can make dry bones to lived again and add tendons, does, skin and breath to the bones — then he can restore your virginity if you want him to because with him nothing is impossible.

He has restored multitude of others and he can do the same to you today. 

Now, let me tell you how? 

You can regain your virginity by the new birth. This is called "BORN AGAIN"

When a person is Born Again, he goes into Christ and Christ goes into him,  The person becomes regenerated and totally transformed. He or she becomes a new person entirely . 

The scriptures explained what happens to such a person... 

...." Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new — (2nd Corinthian 5:17)

....."Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently ..... Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever — (1 Peter 1:22-23).

🚦 HE IS A NEW CREATION

When a person is Born Again, he is a completely new person. 

Although he still bears his or her former name and his height and complexion remain the same... He or she is changed.

A new person enters his former body. That person is CHRIST .

God recreates that person and gives him a new beginning. That person's opinion about life will change.  His desires change and his character changes — he becomes completely new inside .

🚦OLD THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY 

When a person is Born Again his or her old life is gone. God changes his or her records — He or she stops living in his or her past sins. If he used to be a thief he would stop stealing. 

If she was a harlot she would stop prostitution — Once this change takes place  God says.. 

....." For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more — (Hebrews 8:12)

......" old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new — (2nd Corinthians 5:17)

If you have lost your virginity in the past, it's one of the old things that have passed away — Your hymen that was broken is already broken, but spiritually you are a newborn child .

As a new born child you are therefore a spiritual virgin. God treat you as a virgin.

Thank God for giving us the opportunity for a new beginning — Each new day, each new week and each new month is an opportunity for a new beginning.

Since a Born Again person is a new Born baby because of the new birth — if the person is able to keep himself pure from the date or time of being Born Again he becomes  a virgin spiritually.

Even now, you too can become a Spiritual Virgin if you decide today to keep your body pure for Jesus and for your spouse — Keep your virginity! 

Do not lose it for any reason because very soon you too will be glorified.

Spiritual virginity is the highest and the best level of virginity.

....Two Things Makes It Special.

1️⃣ Firstly,.... this is the type of virginity that qualifies you for Heaven — being a Spiritual Virgin means you have kept your body pure and undefiled (or by women)

It makes you part of the Bride of Christ — You will be a part of the Heavenly wedding called "The Marriage Supper Of The Lamb"

......" And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth ..... Let us be gladden and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready — (Rev 19:6-7)

....."For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie — (Rev 22:15 ).

Spiritual Virginity makes you a part of a great multitude — The Bride Of Christ .

In fact, it's better that a person isn't a physical virgin but a spiritual virgin instead of being a physical virgin without being a spiritual virgin  — if you are physical Virgin but still commit others sin's, you are classified as dog's — You have no part in the wedding above.

2️⃣ .....Secondly, spiritual Virginity cannot be taken away by marriage or by age — You can remain a spiritual virgin even after you are married .

Sexual relationship with your spouse will not make you a non-virgin 

 — This is because it's God who has approved that enjoyment.

It's written... 

....." Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity: for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labour which thou takest under the sun — (Eccl 9:9).

....." Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth..... Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love — (Prov 5:18-19)

A man who has properly married a wife cannot defile himself by enjoying life with his wife — A woman cannot defile herself by enjoying life with her husband, provided they are properly married — God approves such!

Thus, a married person may not be a virgin physically, but he can still be a virgin spiritually — A person who married 10 or 20 years ago can still be a virgin today, if he keeps himself undefiled by the world.

However if you certainly knew, you are engrossed or already entangled into below sinful  lifestyles.

... Dear, you need to earnestly do something about your life today because you are "HAVE BEEN DEFILED AND NO LONGER A VIRGIN before the sight of the Almighty Creator 

 🚦SALVATION MESSAGE AND REPENTANCE:

If you wish to become a Virgin and remain a Virgin in the sight of God  to make HEAVEN — you must accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal saviour today because tomorrow is never promised — You must restitute and confess all your sin unto God and also ensure you joined “ A Bible Believing Church for more spiritual growth”

However, if you are a Christian and still indulges into various kinds of sins such as......

Envy, anger, unforgiveness, lying, hatred, malice, murmuring, gossiping, stealing, taking or giving bribe, exams malpractice, fraud, smuggling and robbery.

Perhaps you into masturbation, fornication, adultery, prostitution, Lusting after Money and sexual immoralities, abortion, lesbianism, homosexuality, kidnapping, ritual killings and assassination — You must confess and repent today.

Perhaps you into drunkenness, fighting and quarreling, alcoholism, smokers, divorcee, polygamous marriage, occultism —Consultaton of native doctors for charms making — Praying in the name of Mary or any Saints or Angels, Bowing Down or Honouring Them — You must renounce all these abominables and plead for God's mercy because you have already been defiled.

Sister's who are given up into vile affection "Changing The Natural Use Of Their Body Into That Which Is Against Nature" Therefore indulging themselves into......

▪️Makeups 
▪️Earrings
▪️Hair Attachments.
▪️women trousers 
▪️ nails polished 
▪️eyes lashes
...... (Romans 1:26).

Dressing nudity, short skirts, exposing cleavage with transparent dresses to Seduce men..

You must repent, dispose and burnt  them off and ensure you maintain your natural beauty because unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Please repent now before it becomes too late!

Remember; your soul is precious and was costly purchase by the Blood of Jesus Christ and you can't afford to lose "yours" in Hell for the next billions and trillions of years in Eternity with eternal sorrow, tears, anguish and hopeless of ever coming-out due to mere pleasure and fashion of this world that PASSETH-AWAY which you can easily forsakes NOW and run to Heaven.

Oh Heaven —  a place of an everlasting joy, without tears, sorrow and neither pains but rather filled with happiness and God's glory.

Please my beloved, "Don't Miss Heaven" and I pray to see you in that Glorious City very soon.

🚦CONFESSION AND ACCEPTANCE OF CHRIST

Dear Lord Jesus Christ; I admit that I am a sinner. I have done many things that don’t please you. I have lived my life for myself only. I am sorry, and I repent. I ask you to forgive me. I believe that you died on the cross for me, to save me.

You did what I could not do for myself. I come to you now and ask you to take control of my life; I give it to you. From this day forward, help me to live every day for you and in a way that pleases you. I love you, Lord Jesus, and I thank you that I will spend all eternity with you in Jesus name i pray. Amen

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

18 Facts Every Believer Should Know About Intercession

THE HOLY SPIRIT INTERCEDES FOR YOU CONTINUOUSLY

18 Facts Every Believer Should Know About Intercession
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1. The Holy Spirit Is On Earth Interceding For You To The Father. “He maketh intercession forthe saints according to the will of God,” (Romans 8:27). So, there is an incredible and beautiful scenario of intercession occurring 24-hours-a-day, every day of your life. You may feel alone. You may feel isolated. You may even have tormenting thoughts that nobody really cares for you at all. But, the opposite is occurring. TheHoly Spirit continuously talks to the Father about yourneeds and desires. While you are asleep, He is praying for you.While you are working, He is praying for you.When you have doubts, He is praying for you.

2. Jesus Is In Heaven Praying For You Also. "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again,Who is even at the right hand of God, Who also maketh intercession for us,” (Romans 8:34).

3. You Truly Are The Apple Of Your Father’s Eye. “For the Lord’s portion is His people; Jacob is the lot of His inheritance. He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness; He led him about, He instructed him, He kept him as the apple of His eye,” (Deuteronomy 32:9-10).

4. Your Father Has Committed Himself To Your Protection. “As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings,
taketh them, beareth them on her wings: So the Lordalone did lead him, and there was no strange god with
him,” (Deuteronomy 32:11-12).

5. Your Father Wants You To Experience Uncommon Success And Provision. “He made him ride on the high places of the earth, that he might eat the increase of the fields; and He made him to suckhoney out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock;
Butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with fat of lambs, andrams of the breed of Bashan, and goats, with the fat of
kidneys of wheat; and thou didst drink the pure bloodof the grape,” 
(Deuteronomy 32:13-14).

6. You Cannot Even Imagine The
Magnitude And Greatness Of God’s Desires For You. That is why our prayers are often ineffective, incomplete and unanswered. “Eye hath not see, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that lovehim,” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

7. The Holy Spirit Has Searched Out, Photographed, Inventoried And Documented TheDesires Of The Father Toward You. “But God hath
revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the Spiritsearcheth all things, yea the deep things of God,” (1 Corinthians 2:10).

8. The Holy Spirit Is The Only Person In The Universe Who Knows The Heart Of The Father. “For what man knoweth the things of a man,save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God,” (1 Corinthians 2:11).

9. The Holy Spirit Is Given To Us To Reveal The Desires Of The Father Toward Us. “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that arefreely given to us of God,” (1 Corinthians 2:12).

10. Your Natural Man (The Self Life) Con￾tinuously Rejects The Things Of The Holy Spirit.“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him:neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned,” (1 Corinthians 2:14).

11. Humans Simply Do Not Know How To Pray Effectively In A Way That Pleases The Heart Of God. “For we know not what we should pray for as we ought,” (Romans 8:26).

12. The Holy Spirit Is Our Committed Personal Intercessor Every Day. “Likewise theSpirit also helpeth our infirmities...but the Spirit itself
maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered,” 
(Romans 8:26).

13. The Holy Spirit Is In Total Agreement With The Desires And Will Of The Father For You.“And He that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because He maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God,” 
(Romans 8:27).

14. The Holy Spirit Is Passionate About Your Needs And Desires Being Fulfilled. “...but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us withgroanings which cannot be uttered,” 
(Romans 8:26).

15. The Holy Spirit Stirs Others To
Intercede For You, Too. He did this in Samuel's heart for the people of God. “Moreover as for me, Godforbid that I should sin against the Lord in ceasing to pray for you: but I will teach you the good and the right way,” (1 Samuel 12:23). The Apostle Paul experienced
the same kind of stirring to intercession by The HolySpirit. His protegé, Timothy, received this word fromhis mentor. “I thank God, whom I serve from my fore￾fathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night andday,” (2 Timothy 1:3).

16. You Are Never Alone In The Storms Of Your Life. Ever. Jesus promised it. “And I will praythe Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever,” (John 14:16). Your success is not limited to your efforts alone. Your future is not controlled by just your personal knowledge only. Your victories are not dependent on your personal abilities alone.

17. The Holy Spirit And Jesus Are Your Personal Intercessors Throughout Every TrialAnd Difficult Place Of Your Life. That is why the Apostle Paul could shout with joy and thanksgiving inthe midst of the most difficult, cold, damp prison expe￾riences: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine,or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...Nay, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through Him thatloved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord,” 
(Romans 8:35, 37-39).

18. Your Survival Is Guaranteed Because Someone Is Interceding For You. “Wherefore He isable also to save them to the uttermost that come untoGod by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them,” 
(Hebrews 7:25).

Monday, June 14, 2021

MARTHA

MARTHA

HER NAME, THE FEMININE FORM OF "LORD," MEANS "Lady"

HER CHARACTER:
Active and pragmatic, she seemed never at a loss for words. Though Jesus chastened her for allowing herself to become worried and upset by small things, she remained his close friend and follower. 

HER SORROW:
To have waited, seemingly in vain, for Jesus to return in time to heal her brother, Lazarus. 

HER JOY:
To watch as Jesus restored her brother to life. 

KEY SCRIPTURES:
Luke 10:38-42; John 11:1-12:3 

¶ HER LIFE AND TIMES 

WOMEN'S WORK

The work expected of a woman in Bible times was much more clearly defined than it is in our culture. There were things the women did and things the men did; things the female children did and things the male children did. 

Martha was just doing what she thought was expected of her. She had been raised to take care of her guests, to care for the people in her household. Mary was the one who stepped outside of the cultural expectations of her time, sitting at the feet of Jesus with the men rather than working with Martha in the kitchen. When Martha complained, Jesus responded with characteristic boldness, ignoring the dictates of his time and urging Martha to stop and consider the choice Mary had made. 

Women of that time kept busy from morning to evening with a daunting array of household tasks: 

• Grinding grain for bread, then mixing, kneading, and baking the bread for the day 

• Purchasing meat at a market or preparing an animal from the household's flock for meat to eat, then cooking that meat 

• Carding, spinning, and weaving threads of various kinds to make cloth for clothing, bedding, and other household uses 

• Sewing clothing for household members 

• Drawing the water for each day's requirements 

• Cleaning the house 

• Washing the utensils and dishes used in meal preparation and eating 

• Washing the family's clothing 

• Teaching, disciplining, and loving the children in the household 

The list could go on and on, and it is not so different from the lists many women today could make of their responsibilities as wives and mothers. The tasks may be overwhelming. They may seem tedious and exhausting. But they are never unimportant. 

Jesus' words to Martha should not be construed to mean that "women's work" should be ignored and left undone. That would be unrealistic. However, such work should never take the place of daily and intimate contact with the members of our families and the Lord of our lives.

HER PROMISE

Marta meets Jesus again in John 11 after the death of her brother, Lazarus. With characteristic forthrightness, she tells Jesus that if he had come earlier, Lazarus would not have died. Her statements open the way for Jesus to declare for all to hear including us today - that he alone is the resurrection and the life. If we believe in him, even if we die, we live. What a promise! What a comfort! Through Jesus, death no longer has any power over us.

Promises in Scripture

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die."
-JOHN 11:25-26

The saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

"Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?"

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
-1 CORINTHIANS 15:54-57

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
-1 PETER 1:3

HER LEGACY OF PRAYER

Lord, don't you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me! -LUKE 10:40

REFLECT ON:
Luke 10:38-41

PRAISE GOD: For his patience

OFFER THANKS:
That God meets us where we are, rather than where we "should be."

CONFESS:
Any tendency to resent other women in your life.

ASK GOD:
For the grace to be completely honest with him.

Lift Your Heart: 
Martha took her complaint about her sister directly to Jesus. Is someone in your life causing you trouble - your daughter, mother, coworker, sister in faith, even a rival? Rather than expressing your grievance to anyone who will listen, take your complaint directly to God. Tell him everything that's bothering you. Ask him to give you understanding about how to respond to this person, even if it means that you, not she, are the one who needs to change.

Father, you know how difficult it is for me to relate to..... Please help me to know what you think of our difficulties. I ask you for the grace to let go of my own sense of hurt and grievance. If you want me to do anything at all to try to improve the situation, please make it clear to me. Help me to be sensitive and obedient to your guidance, I pray.

Thursday, June 10, 2021

HELL & DEATH (Rev 1:18)

Min. Mimi 

Seeking the Truth, let the Bible speak and allow the Holy Spirit to teach you 

END TIME SPIRITUAL AWAKENING.

¶ HELL & DEATH (Rev 1:18)

The word Hell didn’t exist before the 8th century. The NT describes the condition of the dead more than the OT. The words Sheol, Hades, Tartarus and Gehenna are used in reference to hell. (Deut 32:22 & Mat 5:22). 

• Sheol is the Hebrew word for  the place of the dead. It's used 65 times in the Bible. 3 times it referred to the pit. 31 times it referred to the grave and 31 times it referred to hell. 

• Hades is the Greek word for the unseen world. It's used 10 times for hell, and once for grave.

• Tartarus is the Greek word used once for the place of punishment for the most wicked angels in hell. (2Pet. 2:4)

• Gehenna is the Greek word
used 12 times in the NT for hell and the lake of fire. Gehenna in Hebrew is hinnom. It got it's origin from the valley of Hinnomis, outside the south walls of Jerusalem, where some Jews burned their children as an offering to the Ammonite god Molech. It had become a city garbage dump of animal carcasses where people burnt their trash. It has been burning since biblical times and the fire never went out. (Jer 7:31-33, 2Kin 16;3, 2Chro 28:1-3, Lev 18:21, 1Kin  11:5,7,33, Mark 9:43-48, Mat 5:22,29-30, 10:28, 18:9, 23:15,33, Luke 12:5, Jam 3:6).

Some Christians have falsely teach that sheol and hades only refer to the grave. This erroneous teaching leads to the denial of the existence of hell. The false doctrine of soul-sleep and others that teach the unconscious state of the dead before resurrection, spring from this error. 

Grave is a pit where lifeless dead bodies are deposited to corrupt and decay. It can be a hole in the ground, cave, specially prepared vault or other place used for internment. There is no consciousness of the lifeless body in the grave. Queber is the common Hebrew word for grave. In the OT it is used 64 times. 34 times it's used for the grave. 26 times it's used for sepulcher. 4 times it's used for the burying place. 5 times it's used for Kibroth-hattaavah, or graves of lust. (Job 33:22). 

¶ Difference between Sheol (Hell) and Queber (the Grave) as used in the OT

1. The Bible never said that the body goes to sheol. But 37 times the Bible speaks of the body going to queber. 
2. Sheol is never said to be located on the face of the earth. Queber is mentioned 32 times as being located on the earth.
3. An individual’s sheol is never mentioned. An individual’s  queber is mentioned 5 times
4. Man is never said to put anyone into sheol. Individuals are put into a queber by man 33 times.
5. Man is never said to have dug or fashioned a sheol. Man is said to have dug, or fashioned, a queber 6 times.
6. Man is never said to have touched sheol. Man touches, or can touch, a queber 5 times.
7. It is never said that man is able to possess sheol. Man is  able to possess a queber 7 times. 
8. Sheol is never used in plural form. Queber is used in the plural 29 times.

¶ Reference book: (Life and Death by Caleb J. Baker, Bible Institute Colportage Ass’n, 1941).

The above points clearly shows that sheol and queber do not mean the same thing in scripture. Queber is associated with words like quabar a verb meaning to bury or to be buried and Qeburah a noun meaning a grave or place of burial. Quabar and Qeburah shows the difference between Queber as the grave and a burial place and Sheol as hell. There is also Shah-ghath in the OT and  taphos, mnema, and 
mnemeion in the NT to mean grave, ditch, sepulcher, tomb, burial, burying place, destruction, pit, hole or a trap. (Psa 7:15, 16:10, 35:7, 49:9, 55:23, 94:13, Prov. 26:27).

Again the above points refutes the doctrine of soul-sleep, eradication of the soul, the universalism, Purgatory, No hell, Hell is not really that bad, a God of love and grace, Conditionalism and the annihilation of the lost. These are satanic doctrines to dishearten believers and blind the lost to the reality of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and subvert the truth of the immortality of the soul. The soul of man lives on and will always remain conscious after. (Phi 1:21-24, 2Cor 5:6-10)

• Hell is our righteous God's way of demanding absolute justice of the wicked. Hell is a spiritual realm located in the heart of the earth where the dead sinners soul and the wicked angels are thrown. Hell is pits of darkness, an underground location in lower part of the earth with continual terror. Going to hell is a choice not destiny. Souls in Hell are separation from God's kindness, mercy, grace, and goodness. Hell punishment is physical, mental, and emotional. 

Souls in hell are tormented day and night by unquenchable fire, burning, gnashing of teeth, melting away, weeping, chains of darkness, thirsty, covered by worms and maggots, pain, heat, bondage, cut in pieces, flogging, continuously awaiting judgment to the lake of fire. The Bible leads us to conclude that hell is real and even worse than we can imagine. Hell is different from the lake of fire. (Mat 12:40, 13:40-42, Mark 9:42-48, Luke 12:46, Eph 4:9, 2 Peter 2:4, Jude 6, Rev 20:10, 2Pt 2:4, Isa 14:4-20, 33:14, Eze 31:14,16,18, 32:18,21,24).

The Bible uses vivid, horrible, and fearsome language in descriptions of the punishment people will suffer in hell. Enough is revealed about hell so that every sane, right thinking person will keep out of that place. Those who protest the biblical doctrine of hell as being excessive betray their inadequate understanding of the gravity of sin against the purity of holiness of God. For sinners to be consigned to anything less than the horrors of eternal punishment would be a miscarriage of justice. Believing the truth about hell will motivates us to persuade people to be reconciled to God. (John 5:28-29, Mat 25:46).

The words hell, sheol, hades or gehenna do not simply refer to a grave. Heaven and hell are real and are sperated by a great fixed gulf preventing anyone on one side from going to the other side. The Bible clearly states that souls of the righteous and the wicked continue to exist in a conscious way after death. Both are alive spiritually and their experience in the intervening period is an anticipation of the different destinies that await them after resurrection and judgment. Abraham and Lazarus were not part of hell. The rich man's soul was in hell torment, but Lazarus and Abraham's souls were in paradise or Abraham’s bosom. 
Also, they were all conscious after death. Because there could not be a conversation between lifeless, decayed corpses if sheol/hades/hell is just a grave. (Luke 16:19-31). 

To those who argue that this is a parable Jesus Christ said that it did take place. Parable by definition is a true to life story used for illustration. Parables have meaning, and is a story that could have actually taken place whether it ever did or not. 

Souls in hell or heaven are aware of what is going on around them. They have memory, recognition, and able to speak there. (Mat 12:40, Psa 16:10, Acts 2:25-32, Isa 14:4-20). The souls of Samuel, Moses and Elijah were conscious and able to speak. (1Sam. 28:8,11-19, Mark 9:4). Jesus promised the thief immediate Paradise not future Paradise nor grave. (Luke 23:43). Jesus Christ's spirit after death was conscious and went to preach and freed captives from hell  prisons. (Eph 4:8-10, 1Pet 3:18-20, Acts 2:27, 31-32, Psa 16:10). Apostle John saw the souls of the martyrs under the altar in heaven speaking (Rev 6:9). Bible clearly states that death and Hell will empty the souls in them into the Lake of Fire. This tells us plainly that after death our lifeless body and the soul separate to different locations not together unconscious in the grave. (Rev 20:13-14).

Hell is different from the lake of fire where the fire is of burning sulfur and brimstone. It is the eternal condemnation of torment for the soul and the body of the wicked. It is a real place of outer darkness originally created by God for Satan and the angels that rebell against God. It's a place of unspeakable agony of an unrelenting eternal punishment for all souls and spirits who rejected Christ, both angelic and human. Every soul and spirit in hell will be thrown into the lake of fire as their final destination. The Lake of fire is bigger than Hell for both death and Hell will be cast there. (Rev 2:11, 19:20, 20:6,14, 10-15, 21:8, Mat 8:12, 10:28, 13:42, 25:30,41,46, 2Pet 2:17).

• Heaven, paradise, and  Abraham’s bosom are all in the presence of God. Jesus used the words Abraham’s bosom and paradise once as a synonym for heaven. Since the Cross, souls who die in Christ do not go to Hell, they go directly to the presence of God in paradise the 3rd heaven. It is a place of peace, rest, and joy. They join with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in consciousness awaiting judgment to their final destination the New Jerusalem.(Luke 16:19-31, 23:43, 2Cor 5:8, 12:2-4, Phi 1:23, Rev 2:7). 

• Death is a spiritual realm with an angel whose operation is due to the penalty of sin. It is the separation of man’s spirit from his body and separation of man from God. Death and Sheol/Hades/Hell are linked together at least 33 times in the Bible. Death shows the distinction between the body and the soul. Death and the grave claims the lifeless body of man and expose it to corruption and decay, while Sheol/Hades/Hell claims the soul for punishment after death. The grave represents the gates of hell. (Job 38:17, Psa 9:13, 16:8-11, 89:48, 107:18, Jer 2:6, 2Cor. 4:16, Acts 2:25-31).

¶ Death could be physical, spiritual and second death.

1. Spiritual death is death of the soul under the power of sin. It is being under the judgment and the condemnation of God. These are both living believers and unbelievers who are disconnected from God and grieving the Holy Spirit due to sin. It is the spiritual separation from Christ. (Gen 2:17, Rom 8:6, 6:23: Eph 2:1-3, Col 2:13 

2. Physical or Biological death 
 is the termination of life. It is the separation of the body from the soul or spirit. Agents of heaven and hell contend over the body then the soul is taken to heaven or hell temporary. (Psa 104:29, Eccl 12:7, Jude 1:9).

3. Second death is the eternal separation of a person from God. It is called the second death because is from the hell punishment to eternal severe pain. Anyone whose name is not in the book of life will face the second death. (Rev 21:8, 2:11, 20:6, 14-25)

To those who believe that God gives endless life even to the wicked should know that, the worms never dies and the fire never quenched both in hell and in the lake of fire. The objects that are being eaten by worms and consumed by fire are the souls of those who rebel against Christ. (Isa 66:24, Mat 10:28, Jam 4:12).