How Wealthy are You?

How wealthy are you my friend? To be wealthy, rich or being well-off in life is probably the most common dream of everyone. However, we always imagine affluence in our mind to be the familiar picture of luxury, prosperity and comfort. We believe so many things that are evidently clear but still misleads us to intricate situations and consequences. A belief which is not according to the righteousness of God will surely direct us to the muddy waters in life.

How wealthy are you will not fill the emptiness in your heart. The abundance of things does not assure us of happiness and peace of mind. A burst of euphoria may be achieved but never with a long lasting effect. Happiness may be rarer among the wealthy and the rich. It is so difficult to chase and reach it without the help of people around us and of course a different perspective from above. Although being impoverished has its downsides and almost unsurmountable drawbacks, it does not mean you will never find happiness and peace at all. Remember, the rich are at a staggering low in number compared to the poor. Most people are poor. But it does not necessarily mean that there are no many happy and peaceful people in the world.

Ecclessiates 7:12 – For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.

how wealthy are you
How wealthy are you in life should not be about the amount of material things. It should be about happiness, content and peace of mind.
How wealthy are you with priceless commodities?

Yes, being rich offers major leverages and relatively strong support on almost anything. The Holy Bible acknowledges it too and yet it does not tolerate and promote it as the principal thing. But it is only a negligible resolution, an immediate action under certain circumstances. What then are the principal things? Of course, the gifts of the Holy Ghost and the greatest things of life. Which cannot be bought by any amount. They are priceless and beyond any abundance in this life. What will money do if you have no hope in your life? Can you literally buy hope and have confidence in your heart? You may gain some friends because you are wealthy. But are they going to be true to their friendships and stay with you through thick and thin. Friendships are mutual in nature but most friendships can be parasitic – selfish, clingy and exhausting. True friendships are trustworthy and dependable. You may be poor but having a true friend makes you a lot richer than most.

How wealthy are you to Him?

You are rich when you truly fear God and adores Him above all. Since the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Getting interested and seeking Him is the best thing a man could ever do in his life. Fearing Him is the secret of having more knowledge and eventually it is the path to success and happiness. Are you wise and right? Wisdom and righteousness is relevant in wealth building. Without righteousness and the understanding of choosing the right things to do, you are left with wrong decisions and  perilous days ahead of you. Who are the people who surrounds you and the people who actually loves you makes it distinct when you count your real wealth in life. You may have a few acquaintances but what counts are the people that matters to you the most. Are they around to support you and to cherish every moments of your ups and downs? Material wealth and abundancy does not matter without anyone to share with.

Ask yourself this, what are your wants and desires? How many of them makes you anxious and uneasy? How many of them have this urge of fulfilling them as soon as possible? You know what,   wealth is measured in the fewness of wants. The less things you desire the richer you are and the richer you become. Wanting and longing for more exhibits poverty and discontent. I believe greed and covetousness was always the culprit that causes discontent and anxiety.

How wealthy are you? It can be answered by asking another question with – what is your perspective in your own life?

 

How Salvation can be Lost Forever?

Is there a moment time when God is not present?

Can God the Almighty be lost for a moment, perhaps just for a few seconds? Is there a possibility that God can be lost forever? The Holy Scriptures does not bluntly say it but it does state that it is possible. The Bible itself introduced the possibility and reiterated the consequence of what if. Thus, without God – salvation can be lost forever as well.

We are not certainly making this up but got the idea from the Holy Book. Let us closely study and review the verses I’m referring to. If the Bible was open minded on this controversy, why can’t we?

1 Corinthians 15:26 – The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

According to the verse above, the last enemy was death. Why not lust of the flesh or the devil himself? Why was it that the death was the last enemy? Being the Almighty God, death should not be a problem at all to Him. Death should have no power or influence on Him. He is God the giver and taker of life. Death should never be an issue to Him. After all, God is eternal and immortal.

salvation can be lost
No creature shall escape death without His permission. Death is an inevitable moment of all creatures. Without Him, salvations is non existent. Without His resurrection, salvation can be lost forever.
Why consider death to be His last enemy? Because it really was His enemy

Death became His greatest adversary.  Because during those times, He was not God. He was a pure 100% man. When God became man there was absolutely no God in Him and in any way nor there was no Godly character in Him. There was no God in heaven, earth and anywhere else because God became flesh. He was not God but a man. It was an effective transformation. He needed to defeat death as man. It was the greatest challenge of God. The God who can not die experienced death by becoming a man. He needed to be raised by the Spirit whose task is to raise our mortal bodies, Romans 8:11. It was an immense exhibit of faith as man. How salvation can be lost forever? If God did not come back to life, salvation would have been lost.

How did He defeat death? He was the first man to die and be resurrected. He defeated death by rising back from the dead.  He proved His promise by performing it all through faith. His promise was life after death and He showed us that it is true. It is the best way to demonstrate and validate His promise which is founded by faith. It was an affirmation of the Spirit whose purpose is to resurrect the dead.

Salvation can be lost forever only if He was defeated  by death

Being God, everything was easy and possible. But without God, that was the real challenge. That is why He created His host of angels and made all the natural cycles and systems of all things. God does not need to watch and do all the works in the universe 24/7 forever. Becoming man was the greatest risk of God. Because He can be lost forever. To manifest in flesh was His greatest secret of all that no one knew. No one was able to uncover and expose Him that He will be in flesh as a mere man, not even His angels and the devil. If God hid it, no one can find it unless He reveals it upon His appointed time.  God was not weak but when He was a man that was His weakest point in time. He has no power, authority and glory. But He succeeded with flying colors graciously.

1 Corinthians 15:14 – And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

1 Corinthians 15:18 -Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

1 Corinthians 15:21- For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

We believe that God was manifested in flesh. Therefore, Jesus was God from the beginning and beforehand. If Jesus was not risen, then God can be lost forever. Satan’s plan was to kill Jesus and stop Him from preaching the gospel. He thought he had won since Jesus died. But He never knew that Jesus will rise on the third day. That was the very first resurrection of the dead.

1 Corinthians 15:20 – But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

God promised salvation from the old and pushed it through the new times. He didn’t fail us. Jesus rose from the dead and this was never ever done before. Resurrection was a mystery and a controversy until Jesus proved it to us exceptionally. He performed it Himself. He proved us that it was a perfect plan with the greatest promises in a flawless execution. Salvation can be lost but it never did happen. Thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ, the faithful and true.

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you today.

The Mystery of The Gospel

Hello Philippines and the Rest of the Gentiles.

hello philippines
The Mystery of the Gospel kept secret before the foundation of the world. Let us praise and worship Jesus Christ.

Welcome to Mystery of the Gospel where you can see all things about the Gospel of Jesus Christ in accordance to Apostle Paul’s understanding (Ephes. 3:3-4). Since he understood things differently from the rest of the apostles. He is not called the apostle of the gentiles and the teacher of the gentiles in faith and verity for no reason. He was separated from the rest of the disciples to know the truth about the son (Gal. 1:15-16). However, we as gentiles are meant to read, find and eventually figure out the hidden wisdom of God. In order for us to give the highest form of praise and worship to our Lord Jesus Christ (Mal. 1:11) . We should know Him in truth. The unveiling of the mystery of the gospel is at hand.

The Mystery of the Gospel by Apostle Paul

Let us uncover the great secrets of Paul (as he wrote them in few words) that originally belongs to God which was kept hidden for a very long time. Apostle Paul was so committed to share this wisdom that it became his bond till the end (Ephes. 6:19).  We should feel the rich love, comfort and full assurance of understanding to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God (Col. 2:2-3).

We feel excited and entertained knowing some things about actors or politicians so try to imagine what you can feel and achieve knowing the secrets of the Creator of our universe.

It is our greatest honor and pleasure to share to everyone the lost glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Keep scrolling this site for our main intention is to share the gospel to all for free. We desire to be a blessing to many by letting everyone know the greatest sacrifices of our Lord. Hello Philippines and the rest of the world!

We will keep you updated and posted as we go further along the journey to the truth. To God be the glory.

Please subscribe to the MysteryoftheGospel.com for more.

May the Lord Jesus Christ bless you today.

For KJV Bible click here.

mystery of the gospel

Severity of God and His Goodness

The goodness of God is not far-fetched from His love. He is good because He loves us. His goodness is the greatest kindness of all as His love. The greatest love is not the love of the mothers’ nor the fathers’ love but the love of God. God’s love is the greatest love above all. Our Lord God is the father of mercies and God of all comfort. No one is comparable to His love and goodness. God is love Himself. He is the God of love and the love of God is the greatest love that one can ever feel and have. His goodness is everywhere until such time His severity takes over them who will disobey and forget Him. He can be harsh and cruel at the end of the day. Don’t test His temper.

severity of God
The creation of heaven and earth is part of His gracious plan of goodness and love.

 

 

Romans 11:22 – Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

He created everything for His goodness and severity

God created everything for a purpose. He designated every object in certainty. He was sure with His creations. He knows the end game. He was right and victorious from the beginning to the end. He succeeded and will succeed no matter what. His last enemy was already defeated. Nothing and no one will win against Him. It was already predetermined and done since He defeated death – His last enemy that can actually make the difference. However, that was a few thousand years ago. He devised only two paths, nothing more and nothing less.

Get ready and be prepared for His coming and judgment. He will come. He is closer and nearer than ever before. Are you ready? Are we confident to meet Him face to face? Are we inclined to see our love ones who we dearly missed because of their sudden departure? If not, then let’s get ready and be prepped for His coming. For the believers and saints, His coming is the greatest hope of mankind. And that is precisely the truth.

Fear His severity

Philippians 2:12 Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

You can cry before you are hurt. This is how serious the matter is. Let us fear Him beyond any of these around us. Let us not fear anything or anyone that could hurt us physically but fear God even more and give reverence to Him. We are foolish not to fear Him. Be warned and be cautious. To fear Him is to depart from evil.

Proverbs 16:6 – By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil.

severity of god
Even in this modern world, a dreadful day will come. Though, it will only exhibit the partial severity of God. Since it is beyond our imagination.

He is not visibly and concretely around. Although His presence is everywhere, thus He can do the worst and make things end anytime He pleases. He is that powerful and mighty. He is not called the Almighty for no obvious reasons.  He is equally the giver and taker of every single piece of anything including our dear lives. Let Him be your dread upon all the frights.

Don’t get me wrong. He is an awesome God, full of marvels and wonders but He is the scariest when He is. His goodness is unmatched as well as His severity. He can be furious and show His wrath as He pleases. He is hard and cannot be bended. No one can advise nor teach Him. He is always sure and certain of His desires and plans. No one can endure His indignation. We should never be against Him. His violence is ironclad and cannot be contained by anyone. When it is late then it is really too late. There is no more clemency and grace. Repentance and penitence has no power and influence anymore. If the end has come, you already had missed the boat. And there is no force nor power that can turn it back. His mercies are depleted and exhausted. It is the end.

 

 

 

Giving and Sharing as an Investment

Why give and share? Is it really important to give? Giving and sharing is the easiest act of showing and expressing your compassion, mercy and love. Giving is also a form of obedience otherwise not giving translates into disobedience. And giving and sharing your love to others is the only way to God’s promises.  There is no other path that can lead you to the everlasting reward. You can not enter His kingdom without giving and sharing. Love by giving is the essential and the fundamental reason and purpose of salvation, without it salvation has never and will never take its course.

giving and sharing
Image courtesy of fantasista at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Easiest way of Giving

Giving financially should be the easiest form of giving. Though others may disagree with me because for some people this act of giving is very challenging. Time, effort and personal touch is not directly involve and necessary. There is no specific amount to impose but there is a measure which it only applies to each and every person. God measures us base in our own situations and capabilities. You may give a lot but it may mean nothing to God because it lacks in measure. We give and God searches the heart.

Giving financially should be easy. The more you give the more you become blessed and wealthy. You may not notice the latter, but you will be richer sooner or later. Since all efforts will be rewarded in many ways too many to mention. This kind of giving literally requires you to just open your wallet, get some cash, hand it over and you are supposed to be done.

Giving your tithes and offering is an essential sacrifice that should be taken seriously and not for granted. Take a look on what happened to Ananias and his wife Sapphira in Acts chapter five. If not giving can displease God then without a doubt, giving financially can bring you closer to God and may benefit you with numerous compensations at the end of the road.

To whom giving is due? Giving and sharing is an investment.

The greatest recipient of our charity is our Lord God. But it will be impossible for Him to receive it. He is an invisible God and literally does not need any of them. He owns and created everything. When you decide to give and share there is a good way, the best way and the worst method to do it. There is a hierarchy of recipients and  a pyramid of giving on how you will endow your aid to others. Though it may be easy to give any help and support but there is a appropriate way of giving and sharing. Don’t give aimlessly without a heart and right understanding. Giving and sharing is an investment. There is always a return when you give and you have to max out the return of your investments. Give wisely, correctly and righteously.

Matthew 19:29 – And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

Forsaking is a way of giving. Since you are giving up something for the service of the Lord and His ministry. Through this you might receive a hundredfold return of your investment. Whatever we decided to give and donate, the church and the workers should be our primary recipients. It does not stop there. There are some more routes that we can follow and reach through His words and with our own rationale. Remember, not all giving is the same and equal.

Image courtesy of Master isolated images at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Image courtesy of Master isolated images at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
The greatest giving of all

The greatest love is laying your own life for others. Giving your own precious life for others is the rarest and most valuable act of all. You can give your money, time and effort but not all can give their life for others’ sake. The willingness to lose your own life for your friends is the champion of all good deeds. There is no greater love than this. Our Lord Jesus Christ did this for us without any hesitations. He died at the calvary to redeem and give us a chance to salvation. If there is a moment or an opportunity for you to give your life to save others do not be afraid.  It is the single greatest giving a man can do to others and the reward is immeasurable.

John 15:13 – Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Giving and sharing is a chance and a privilege that everyone should grab and practice whenever a moment arises. It can be a great power or an inevitable curse depending on how you live it. It typically comes with influence and leverage that can subdue almost anyone. It can also be abused to bend and do anything. You can also be trapped and be taken advantaged. There is no accessible button to make it stop right away. It can build and destroy cities nor friendships. Giving and sharing is a responsibility that requires knowledge, wisdom, faith and love. Let us give righteously in accordance to His will. Think of it as the greatest investment that you can do where no moth nor rust can take it away from you.

Improving Towards a Good and Clear Conscience

Let us improve our conscience in order to have a good and clear conscience. Conscience can be upgraded and be improved. There is a good conscience, an evil one so on and so forth. What is conscience then? There is no exact few words to explain it perfectly. Even Wikipedia’s conscience definition seems broad as well. Since it occurs universally from different views  and perspectives. Though, in my own layman’s term to make it plain and short, conscience is your knowledge, wisdom and understanding of things, principles and beliefs. Thus aggregately, creating a system in you… Conscience will directly assist you in your thoughts, judgments and actions. I simply put it as “it is who you really are” and the inner you that makes you – you.

Hebrews 11:13 NIV – Pray for us. We are sure that we have a clear conscience and desire to live honorably in every way.

1 Timothy 1:19 KJV – Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:

Any action cannot be judged righteously without considering their clear conscience

A naturally good deed is externally right but it can be an immoral act too. Sharing and giving for instance are basically good actions. But being generous with hidden agenda and dark motives will make your conscience shady and not clear at all. Probably no one can see it, but God can. There is no way He will be pleased with you. Instead, it will just make Him furious and be annoyed. You are now deemed guilty and punishable. 

clear conscience
A clear conscience towards God without guilt. Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Given the situation about the clear conscience:

Where you found a wallet full of cash and you saw a distressed and distraught man roaming around. He seems as if he is uneasily looking for something on the ground. He looks exactly like the photo ID inside the wallet that you found a few minutes ago. What will you do with the wallet and cash? You needed cash direly since the rent is a couple of months due and your baby’s formula milk was unfilled for the past two nights. How would you react and think given the situation. God led you to the wallet and it is His way of helping and saving you. God is so good. His help is always on time. Or should you return and find the owner right away, since the wallet was never yours in the first place. You will never be able to live peacefully against your principles. Keeping the wallet was one thing but taking pleasure with it while watching the real owner looking all over the place is a different side of the story. How you react and respond to the situation is partly or wholly that is who you really are. Conscience is at work wether we like it or not. As there is an act there is an exact opposite judgment that awaits us.

You can escape the law but you can not escape your own conscience. You may argue and try to justify you actions in your own mind but conscience is – it is, what it is. It is plainly accurate and fairly inexcusable individually. You can not deny the feeling of guilt or pleasure whatever the case maybe.

Romans 2:15 – Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another

A clear conscience should be our guide to follow in such instances.

It is not necessarily the laws because there is no explicit laws written for specific cases and individuals. Each and every situation is different and unique. General philosophies and morally accepted truths may not apply literally to each and everyone. Therefore, conscience is the most effective law in ourselves. We always carry it with us and we don’t need to worry about forgetting it. We already know it by heart and soul. We know and understands its consequences. We individually process things differently but conscience can adjust in split seconds and has the ability to haunt us for the rest of our lives. While governing laws of our land takes so much time to perfect it. It may need dozens of revisions and decades or centuries of observations and explorations.

Titus 1:15 – Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.

If conscience can be defiled then it can be cleansed and purified as well. You can improve your conscience by correcting your way of thinking directly by enhancing your wisdom and learning things the right way – the Bible way. You know what I mean…

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you today.

 

Why Should We Stop Making More Church Laws

The making of rules and laws is necessary for convenience, comfort and orderliness. We should only create church laws by constituting it from the Bible to keep order and proper functions of the different departments of the church. Sufficient arbitration and careful conception should be performed thoroughly before any implementation and approval of any new church laws not found in the scripture. Creation of new moral church laws can always be done but I strongly discourage it. We should avoid making more and new church laws when it concerns our morality and religion (in regards to committing a sin). It becomes a very sensitive and a delicately serious matter. If you can save others, then you can also equally harm others as well with whatever they may hear from you.

1 Timothy 4:16 -Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

Standard rules and regulations on how to keep peace and order in the church organization is substantial and essential on daily activities. It can be revised and provisions can be added anytime without difficulty. But new church laws not specifically found in the Bible that will directly  impact our morality and godliness are the ones Im referring to. They may actually cause more harm than good.

Stop making more church laws since we have inner laws written in our hearts
church laws
Creating church laws is not that easy and simple. Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Conscience should be enough in many instances. The general knowledge of what is right and wrong should help us in our decision making. There are almost 200 countries that make up the United Nations. Each country has their own cultures, traditions and festivities. There is no way we can technically understand and assess them correctly. But the people who belong to their community should know the nature of every occasion or tradition. They will generally know what is good and evil for their own families.

Stop making more church laws because the Bible should be enough. The laws in the Bible are enough to judge us righteously.

There are so many things and activities at present day that is not literally written in the scripture like celebrating Halloween, Valentine’s Day, watching movies, going to carnivals, entering politics and voting, and there are so much more all around us. Many conservative Christian churches are forbidding in part or as a whole their members from watching tv, surfing the net or joining social media networks. What then is necessary and going overboard? How can we determine their weight and significance in the society? What will be our grounds of reason based on the scripture? Are we supposed to have ruling on each and everything of them? Are we going to research, study and be a watchdog of every single activity not found in the Bible? We can make rules no questions about that. But who will be the judge of each and everyone of us? No one among us can be qualified to make a “just” rule since every person is unique, perspectively speaking. And absolutely, no man should compare himself to be more righteous than anybody. The Almighty God is the only perfect and righteous judge.

church laws

The rule of thumb should be what is generally right and wrong. Let us also include the motive, perception and understanding of an individual, a family and or a society. What is right to you is not necessarily right to other families. And what is wrong to them is not necessarily wrong to you. The generally accepted knowledge of what is good and evil should be our primary basis of our decisions. We can not make rules based on a single person’s perception and understanding. It will not be applicable to all. If we forbid thousands or millions of situations and day to day activities, it would just be a source of confusion and complications to each and everyone’s system of beliefs. It would also cater a lot of disbelief, disagreements and arguments.

These are some of the reasons why we should not make more laws of the church. If it is unavoidable, church laws should be done carefully and only upon necessity or urgency.

1.We are called in liberty. Do not use liberty for the occasion of the flesh. Galatians 5:1 (this law should be enough in so many ways).

2. We have inner laws. Romans 2:15, 2 Corinthians 3:3 & Hebrews 10:16

3. Making more rules does not mean anything to someone unless he understands and accepts it by heart. It all goes down to the belief system of every person.

4. Making more rules or laws does not directly prohibit someone from doing it. Every person decides on his own not the laws or rules. A punishment is not necessarily or always created in such ethical functions. Violator’s actions on most cases may not directly be punishable.

5. More rules means more difficulty and hardships towards being an obedient follower.

6. Creating a standard policy for a single situation by creating a rule or law will just complicate things further. Forbidding in part or as a whole  of a single festivity like the Valentine’s day is just the beginning. It will be a cycle of never ending policymaking and revisions. How about birthdays, Independence day or Black Friday, so on and so forth? Think about the hundreds or thousands of holidays and festivities around the globe.

7. More laws means more prejudgment, hatred and hypocrisy. We can not deny people are generally or mostly judgmental. Please analyze this thoroughly. John 8:3-4

8. Introducing and creating more laws, means more restrictions and more violations, Romans 4:15. Productivity and efficiency should be maintained and improved all the time if not – most of the time. This requires more resources, time and effort.

9. Why create more laws when we ourselves should not/cannot judge offenders and violators?We have no right to judge, discriminate and blame even the convicted felons since we don’t know what really happened and their honest thoughts. It is a sensitive and fragile situation that we shouldn’t always dig in. Let us leave the judgment to the involved proper authorities like company management, government agencies or to the judicial body of the land.

10. Whatever we bind in earth will be bound in heaven… God will honor anything that we have decided on. If there are more “no-nos” – more violations, more sins and at the end more sinners. Therefore, heaven will be restricted even more.

Example #1: Removal/Reversal of a law in the scripture (we should never do this)

Law: Adultery will now be permissible.

It means that adultery will not be a sin anymore. Adulterers will also go to heaven. A complete reverse of the scriptural laws.

Example #2: Addition of a law. (We can do this individually, as a family and by company managements but should be avoided by a congregation if possible)

Law: Christians should absolutely never take part in anyway on Halloween celebrations and practices. (This is a real “scary” law to implement.)

Since Halloween is everywhere.

church laws
We should be very careful in making church laws and regulations. Image courtesy of Simon Howden at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

If these are all forbidden: wearing a mask/costumes, eating candies from Halloween, giving candies, laughing and getting scared with people who are in Halloween costumes, going trick or treating, going to Halloween parties, watching horror movies and shows, going to stores or buying items during Halloween sale and so much more…. If you violate one of these situations it only means you are a sinner and failed to obey God’s will.

I admit many Halloween practices may not be acceptable considering its ugly origin and history. On the other hand, I can not judge everyone that takes part on it as evil or not a faithful servant of God. I will never say that and should never do that. That is plain judgmental. Most kids nowadays only think of it as a way to see their neighbors and ask for candies. There is nothing wrong with that unless you think you are holier than others. The need for you to condemn and getting annoyed is now over the top. Imagine who will be the disobedient in the sight of God, the kids who just wanted some candies or the Christians who think better of themselves because of the existing law?

Where and how should we draw a line which will apply to everybody

It is really hard to draw a line to distinguish what is right or wrong based only on general information. You have to reconsider your own point of view and understanding as well. In reality you will be the sole responsible to decide and act for your family on what is admissible or not. You will always decide on your own based on your outlook and not solely because of the rules or laws. In short, we could never draw a line that would be perfect for everybody. The Bible cannot even draw a clear line. The real substance of our actions can only be found in the deepest part of our personality and individuality. If the supreme court can make mistakes how much easier a regular Christian or even a mega-church can commit one mistake. There is no exception. Lost time and embarrassments from wrongful judgments and punishments are always irreversible. All judgments should never have the luxury of making mistakes and excuses. Unfortunately in this life, that is sordid and murky.

 

church laws
The Capitol Building

This is how the Bible draws a line – the mark of truthfulness, genuineness and purity of motives. It will never be clear to us, but to God it is crystal clear.

1 Timothy 1:5 – Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

Recommendation for church laws: Grow a righteous conscience and knowledge in the word of God

On anything common sense is needed. No one knows your family the best but you. You and your family should decide on what is acceptable and not. Do not let anyone decide for you and your family unless you are incapacitated and mentally disabled.  But the written laws in the scripture and common sense should be enough. There are so many reasons, policies, provisions and laws that are found in the Bible. They should be more than sufficient like Philippians 4:8.

Conscience can learn and grow the right way. Let us guide believers and Christians alike to improve and teach their conscience according to the scriptures, not against it and never more than what is written. Sins and laws that are written in the Holy Bible should be enough as our foundation and shelter of our personalities and faith. Let us follow the scriptures as it was written clearly. The church should be the best guide of righteousness and should not be the source of confusions and difficulties in obedience.

There are so many laws and commandments in the old testament. There is a reason why Jesus just made it into two main commandments. Let us not make more. Let us not push for more. Let us not put pressure unto making the world full of restrictions.  Let us not be blinded by pride and hypocrisy. Whatever rules and laws we may create, at the end it is not us who will judge but Him. Why create more laws when we will be the guilty ones?

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you today.

NOTE: If I have the right, authority and power to create new laws, I will make as many laws as I could to prevent Christians from being tempted to the works of evil and lust of the flesh. But I fear that the soul of many will be in my hands and that is the worst feeling and position ever. I couldn’t live with that no matter what. I will let God do His job for He is the best in it.

This article is my opinion and suggestion only but should never be taken lightly. I never say that we are free to do anything that we want without any consequences. I never say that we cannot make new laws for the church… I simply say we have to be really careful in doing so. Since the Bible in itself has enough laws to keep us holy and make us receive the promised everlasting life. Laws will never save us but it is the pure goodness of heart and righteousness of faith. You can disobey the law but can still be saved. It is because of His loving kindness and grace. It was never the laws. Romans 5:16

 

 

Instant Healing Comes Differently

Instant healing comes differently to every person. How long will you bear, suffer and struggle for your illnesses?  Healing comes with a price from regular check ups, altering your daily habits and to having faith in God. It is a price to pay that should be worth it, since it is for your relief and comfort. It is another shot to be back in a healthy shape again.

If you are one of the few that is always healthy and never been to a hospital, then you are fortunate. However, all of us will be ill atleast once in our lifetime. Ranging from minor aches to severe complaints of complications. If time is in our hands and we may live long enough to make our physical conditions fall apart due to old age, sadly to say, a moment will come that sickness will overwhelm us. Going in and out of clinics and hospitals will become a routine. We can’t avoid our physical breakdown and deterioration as time passes.

An instant healing with a simple faith

John 4:50 – Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way.

The father simply believe that his son will not die and it happened. It is not just a simple faith but truthful and genuine. It seems there was no doubt when he believed Jesus’ words. An ordinary person would force Jesus to come with him to his house to heal his child. The father simply trust our Lord from the bottom of his heart. He believed without seeing.

Instant healing that waited for 38 years

John 5:5 –  And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

The man was sick for 38 long years and had been waiting by the pool. We can evaluate from the story back then that the man have faith even before Jesus talked to him. I can say that he has been doing that for a long time. It became his habit to stay by the pool and hope for it to move. Almost four decades had past and an instant healing was given by our Lord Jesus Christ out of sympathy and kindness. He was healed and made whole without going to the pool. Right at that moment he was healed.

An instant healing but with procedures to follow

Another man was healed after washing at the pool of Siloam. It was an instant healing but not as instant as others did. There was a procedure to follow. Without finishing the process the healing would never push through. Jesus used clay on the blind man’s eyes and asked the man to wash it in a certain pool. How difficult it is to go to a certain place when you are blind? However, that was the final step. He had to go.

John 9:7 – And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

instant healing
instant healing

No healing at all

Surprising to say, not all faithful men will be healed. Apostle Paul had a thorn in the flesh and there was no relief. The grace of God was sufficient already to Apostle Paul. And there is the necessity to exhibit weakness in order to show the perfect strength of God.

II Corinthians 12:7 – And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.

Healing has many faces but they are all considered healing when you got better and felt relief afterwards. To restore your usual functions, it may require an assortment of remedies. But an antidote will not cure everyone the same way and not all lanes will lead to the same destinations. It should always be God’s way, not our way or anybody’s way. We have to follow Him no matter what. Just keep on praying and believing, never lose hope. God is the greatest healer and doctor of all. Healing is just near through Him. It is rarely distant and of course, better promises awaits to His servants.

When servants of God get sick it is for a reason and purpose.  Beyond doubt, it is always for the better. Therefore, be a servant of God before it is too late. It is never a loss.

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you today.

Image courtesy of voraorn at FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Long Life that Everyone Desires

Our own life is the most important and most valuable of all things that we have. If only it is a tangible commodity, this life of ours will be taken care with extreme diligence and fragility. We will hide it where no one can get and keep it in fortresses and vaults that have intensive security protocols. We will be so paranoid on how to keep it safe and be guarded all the time. God is so brilliant and good. He did not create our lives to be confined like that. Our life is intact to our own selves. Imagine if life is in a crystal ball, this restless world will become unrulier and even more chaotic.

long life
An apple a day keeps the doctor away? God is the giver and taker of life. He can definitely grant you a peaceful long life or He can easily cut it short.

Man is fairly mad on how to have a long life.

Everyone wants peace and long life. Who doesn’t want to live longer? Many are glued with herbal medicines and snake oil alternatives. We tend to be optimistic to whatever marketers are telling us that can promote our health magically or extraordinarily. Gluten free foods are now the trend. They cost a lot more but it is ok for the health conscious and affluent. Vegetarians are becoming widespread anywhere for good and clean health, of course for a long life span. Proper diet and enough sleep are being encouraged by health professionals to improve our well being and personal health. We spend thousands of dollars for our family to be healthy and free from illnesses and diseases. There are so many things out there on how to keep us looking and feeling younger.  But in reality with all of these things, death does not exempt anybody because of age, practice or diet. Everyone will come to an end and there’s no fountain of life at least in this world. Death can get to anyone anytime, regardless.

What then should I advise to assure us of a long life? I have no knowledge of my own to share. Although, I have something that everyone should give reverence to. It is the Holy Scripture where the Words of God can be found. The first commandment about long life with promise was to honor your father and mother. Why?

Ephesians 6:2-3 – Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth.

It is clear that to have a long life is to obey your parents. This is generally true and acceptable since they are the one who is responsible and committed to take care of us from the moment we were born. Rebellious and disobedient children tend to immerse in vices and become friends with the wrong people. Without conversion, life is always cut short when this happens.

Proverbs 3:16 – Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honour.

Long life is one of the promises of God to His obedient servants.

Envision a death that you are willing to take. There are no sufferings, pain and difficulties. You feel accomplished and content that you can accept death with a smile and no fear. What a remarkable death indeed! Moses died without losing his eyesight and vigor. He died fairly strong and healthy but full of age. Like Abraham, Job, Joshua, Gideon, David, Joseph and many more, they all died with an old age with riches and honor. God did not abandon nor forsake them. A very good and long life was given to them. All things they asked, they were granted. Good health, long life and salvation was assured by God to them.

Psalms 91:16 –  With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

The greatest and easiest remedy for our life to be longer is obeying God. Serving and making Him our number one priority in our lives is the antidote to death. We will not live forever but we will live a fulfilling and satisfying long life. A life that ends but we will never fear and be scared of death because He will make our life full and complete. Death will be our finish line where the rewards are waiting at the end. Since the rewards will never be given without finishing the race. In this case, our life needs to end in order for us to be rewarded.

Certainly, health is wealth but serving the true God makes you the wealthiest of all.

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you today.

Obeying God, How Much We Can Give?

Obeying God is simply offering, giving and sacrificing for Him. Sounds easy huh? But what is the worth of our obedience to God? How much is it? Do we really give our faith its true value and worth? How much risks and sacrifices are we willing to take or offer in order to please Him. These are only some of the basic questions we encounter personally when it comes to making choices to our faith.  We worship and give something to God but how much can we really giving Him. No one can judge us since no one really knows what happens in our heads except maybe ourselves and God Himself. We know and understand how we decide on things. We are entitled to decide on how we respond and act on situations that concerns us. What to choose? What to do and what to say?

obeying God
Obeying God should be our priority, family is second only. Image courtesy of imagerymajestic at FreeDigitalPhotos.

To serve God without competition is manageable and apparently a child’s play. The real challenge emerges when there’s another conglomeration of desires on the opposite side of your cognizance and perception. It makes it difficult to resolve especially when your faith is somewhere below at the middle of your preferences. Your obedience to God is at risk. Choosing between double pay in your workplace against a Sunday service is a mere walk in the park when you really don’t value your faith and needed the money so much. Linking faith at the end of the food chain is the worst thing that you could ever do. Your faith will always be antagonized by something irrelevant in your life. You can not unstop thinking of reasons of not doing it. There will always be work, exhaustion and dozen excuses of not going to church. There will always be something to make you not believe on Him. It is not because of anything outside but it is all in your head.

Obeying God is not easy when we don’t feel the need of Him.

Obeying God should be simple and real easy. However, for many it is never easy because it was never practiced and thought as an essential part of of our lives. We should always feel the desperation of needing Him more. The passion of serving God should evolve and mature within ourselves. Serving and pleasing God is a sacrifice. Having and practicing faith in God is a necessary sacrifice we should do and complete. We have to give up on certain things we like for something we even like more (which is pleasing God). Worshipping God is not something we should not appreciate but we should learn to enjoy it. To delight on something you needed is the most satisfying purpose of one’s life. It is hard to go to work when you don’t enjoy doing your job but you do need to make a living for your family. So you go to work everyday without a spirit and dedication.

Going to church because you are forced or just fulfilling a favor for someone is somewhat dim and meaningless. Our faith and services to Him all goes down to our hearts and purity of our motives. It is not in numbers, value in money or any other external features we may posses.

Faith in Him should become a fundamental and basic necessity in our lives. How? We have to get use to it and do it all the time. We have to always experience it. It should be part of our daily routine. As we always have it in us, it becomes part of us of who we really are. Without it, we are not us and we will never be complete. Obeying God becomes us.

Mark 12:30 – Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.

Let us start raising Him in the hierarchy of our desires and priorities. We should move now before it is too late. Mankind often seek God when our lives are declining and failing never when it is blossoming and flourishing. We are foolish and stubborn in so many ways. But before it is late we should be wiser and be prudent in the sight of God. Let us start needing Him more everyday.

May our Lord Jesus Christ bless you today.

 

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