Salvation: In Three Dimensions. What Does It Mean?

[Greatness4life]

Continuation on Salvation Of my Body

Hi everyone and thank be to the Lord for another time to share from the gospel of His words. I also want to use this medium to apologies for not posting as I promised last time, It was due to some ''work''.

So we bless the Lord for today and appreciate His grace in our lives. Lord, all we want to say is that You are worthy of all things. May the increase of your government in our lives have no end, may You continue to increase as we are daily decreasing. We bless You for this time again to share Your. We ask that You give us understanding of all what You are showing to us and make us willing to obey and follow You. We thank You and bless Your wonderful name in Jesus name Amen.


So, we'll continue from where we stopped last time. Having laid the foundation for this topic, I will like to go into the detail of this topic.

The different between a man that is following God on a daily basis and the one that only attend programs and engage in activities, is this, a man that is following God on a daily basis will not only have the Life of God in his spirit-man but the preeminence of Christ will be some much in all that he does. That is, Christ has covered the three aspect of his personality which are SPIRIT, SOUL, and BODY.
But for the latter, the Life in God in his spirit-man will just remain kinetic energy that is not explore, for such people they may be 100yrs in a group/fellowship or even be a pastor in a denomination but growth is not part of their lives. They have not only failed in not allowing Christ to have preeminence in their soul but more importantly they have failed in not giving their body to the Lord. I'm afraid, in the face of persecution and trials they will give up Christ, in fact they will deny Him.

If a man has not given his Soul to the Lord there is no way he can present his body to Him. The first thing you need to do is to give your Soul to Him then, presenting your body will not be a problem.
These are just the foot-note I felt I should make before proceeding.

2 Cor 1:8-10

8 For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:

9 But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;


This was the testimony of Paul when he was speaking to the Corinthian, more importantly about what they were going through in reaching people through the gospel of the Kingdom. We will not go into all that but the verse I want us to pick is verse 10 of that chapter which says:

10 Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;
What does Paul mean by this statement? I believed Paul was speaking from the Spirit and showing to us what Christ has done and the practical application of it.

Christ has delivered us, He delivering us and He will yet deliver us so was the statement of Paul.


When you and I came to Christ despite the fact that the total deliverance and salvation has been wrought on our behalf even before we were born, by Christ, there was a specific day that God has put down as the day of our Salvation.
When we received Him by the way of born-again experience, the first Deliverance that was wrought in us was in our SPIRIT-MAN which means He Delivered us. As we journey with Him on a daily basis, He is Delivering us and this deliverance is in our SOUL but a day is coming, as we continue to follow Him that the third aspect of the deliverance which is He will yet deliver us will be fulfilled in us which is Immortality swallowing up
mortality(our body being change).

So lets look at how we can present our Body just as we were admonished by Paul in Romans 12:1;
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

When Paul was speaking of body here, He pluralized it (bodies) which means the members of our body. These are our ears, eyes, noses, hands, legs, heads...and so on. So, if understand what he was saying then we''l know that what you and i uses our ears to hear, our eyes to see, our noses to smell, our hand to do, our leg to walk to and many more are very important.

Lets look at some of the things:

Matt 12:36
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. This has to do with our my mouth, what we altered


Jesus said: Take heed of how you hear (Luke 8:18, Mark 4:24). This also has to do with our ear.

James 3:2;

For in many things we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body. This again has to do with our mouth

James 3:5-6;

5 Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

6 And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.


We see from those scripture above that there is a need to put our tongue(mouth) and ear under the subjection of the Holy-Spirit and this cannot be achieved without presenting our body to Him.

I have been in a place where people( I mean christian) spoke out unconsciously things that are not edifying and when they were asked, their answer were ''they didn't know when they spoke those things out'' some of them even denied of ever saying that.
This show that in their daily work with the Lord they have not been presenting their bodies to Him or should we say that they have not offered their Souls to the Lord.

Let me give you a practical example of what it means to present our body to the Lord:

When I began to offer my soul to the Lord, I began to see that God was not only interested in My soul but also in my body. There were some period in my life that the Lord started to deal with the issue of my hand, what i have used my hand to do. I was in the room waiting on God, suddenly i felt a shaking in my hands as if someone placed hands on my hands, as this was being done, then I began to hear the Lord saying His working on my Hand and heart. Truly after that experience I knew something within me changed and the result of the placing of hands was so tremendous.

At another time the Lord began to deal with my belly concerning what I eat. In fact, it look like the Lord was against some of the things I thought were good food for me. Some of those time I suffered Heart-attacked, Sometime, I vomited those things I have ate. But as this result were coming I began to obey and honor the Lord on how I eat and what I eat, I knew the Lord was just showing me His mercy by allowing me to walk in that truth.

There was also a period in my Life that the what I used my body for were being required by the Lord. This was where I suffered many kinds of sickness, most especially some stubborn sickness that drugs(medicine) refused to cure. But when i start to present my body to the Lord, The Lord told me that ''John you are overriding your Horse and if your Horse break down, it won't be able to carry you to where you ought to go''. This when I started to turn to the Lord, repenting of how I have been misusing my body and the Lord heard and heal my diseases but that lesson i learnt it and by His grace, I'm still working in it.

So many christian suffered many kind of pains or sickness not because they have committed any sin or done anything that was evil but just because they MISUSED THEIR BODY either in the past or in the Present. They way out of those pain is to present your body to the Lord and if you have not presented your Soul to Him before, that is where to start from.

All I'm showing you is that, the Kingdom of God is not something you have to experience when you die but it can be experience here on earth. In fact, the Lord want it to be so. This is why He's so much interested in every thing about us.

Jesus said in John 3:13;

And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

So Jesus was both living in Heaven while He was fulfilling His ministry here on earth.
Let's re-read that passage;

No man has ascended up to heaven(past-tense) but He that came down from heaven(past-tense), even the Son of man which is(Present-tense) in heaven


This means whIle He(Christ) IS speaking to Nicodemus here on earth, He(Christ) at the same time IS in the Heaven.

This is where we belongs folks, when the Lord take over our Spirit, Soul and Body the same thing Christ uttered shall we also utter. We will be living on earth while in heaven.

So, the clothes I wear, the food I eat, the places I visit, the jokes i crack, what I use my eyes to watch, ear to hear and part of my body to do are all important to the Lord. In fact, you no longer own your body but it belong to Him.

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Here is a message extracted from <link rel="STYLESHEET" type="text/css" href="pcsbStyle.css">Spurgeon's Daily Devotional:

<link rel="STYLESHEET" type="text/css" href="pcsbStyle.css">"Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body."

Romans 8:23



This groaning is universal among the saints: to a greater or less extent we all feel it. It is not the groan of murmuring or complaint: it is rather the note of desire than of distress. Having received an earnest, we desire the whole of our portion; we are sighing that our entire manhood, in its trinity of spirit, soul, and body, may be set free from the last vestige of the fall; we long to put off corruption, weakness, and dishonour, and to wrap ourselves in incorruption, in immortality, in glory, in the spiritual body which the Lord Jesus will bestow upon His people. We long for the manifestation of our adoption as the children of God. "We groan," but it is "within ourselves." It is not the hypocrite's groan, by which he would make men believe that he is a saint because he is wretched. Our sighs are sacred things, too hallowed for us to tell abroad. We keep our longings to our Lord alone. Then the apostle says we are "waiting," by which we learn that we are not to be petulant, like Jonah or Elijah, when they said, "Let me die"; nor are we to whimper and sigh for the end of life because we are tired of work, nor wish to escape from our present sufferings till the will of the Lord is done. We are to groan for glorification, but we are to wait patiently for it, knowing that what the Lord appoints is best. Waiting implies being ready. We are to stand at the door expecting the Beloved to open it and take us away to Himself. This "groaning" is a test. You may judge of a man by what he groans after. Some men groan after wealth--they worship Mammon; some groan continually under the troubles of life--they are merely impatient; but the man who sighs after God, who is uneasy till he is made like Christ, that is the blessed man. May God help us to groan for the coming of the Lord, and the resurrection which He will bring to us.

I pray the Lord give us understanding of these in Jesus name Amen.

So, we'll stopped here today and trust the Lord for another day to shed more light on this topic if the Lord permit.
Then, I will also be sharing on the Gospel of the Kingdom (THE FAITH THAT WAS ONCE DELIVERED TO SAINTS).

Till then, may Lord continue to lead us into all truth and may we be willing to follow Him suit in all things in Jesus name.
Lord we thank You for this in Jesus Name. Amen

 

[Greatness4life]

The Conclusion of everything!

Hello everyone, It's good to be here again and I appreciate God for how far He has led to into all these. I'm rounding up this thread, i.e This thread is coming to a close on the subject matter we've been discussing over time. But before that I will like to share something that may be needful and also review some of the things that has been shared.

Lord, we bless Your Holy Name for how far You have led us in this subject of the completeness of our lives in You. We're very grateful for all that has been shared so far. So, we pray that Your Kingdom come and Let Your will be done in our lives. May the increase of Your government have no end in us. May Jesus continue to increase as we are decreasing in Jesus name Amen.


THE REVIEW ON SALVATION OF MY SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY


''According to the foreknowledge of God in bring many to Sonship in Him and through Him (Christ), He want to bring everyone to the knowledge of salvation. For in Him, He has predestinated everyone that has ever come to Him to be conformed to the image of His son, Jesus Christ, and among these people that were predestinated, are also called, and by this, He may Justify and glorify them that are faithful (meaning OVERCOMERS)''. (Please re-read for understanding)

Rom 8:29-30
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.


But the fearful thing is this: not everyone will desire for this. Although, God can accommodates everyone but not everyone will or can accommodate Him. The problem is not that the hands of God is short so that He can't save everyone but not everyone are willing to be saved, not everyone will be saved even among the saved not all of them will be glorify, some will not even be justify to enter into the Kingdom Of God.

Matt 22:2-14:
2 The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son,
3 And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come.
4 Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage.
5 But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise:
6 And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them.
7 But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city.
8 Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy.
9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage.
10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.
11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment:
12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless.
13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

This passage of the scripture is loaded but I will not go into them but let me share a Revelation I had sometimes ago:

On that fateful day I was sleeping and I saw myself beside a man who happened to be someone that I don't know. But in that revelation, my understanding was that I was (am) the bridegroom's friend and the man that I seems not to know was(is) the Bridegroom. It was a great feast in this man's house, where everyone were eating and dinning.
Suddenly, the Bridegroom turned and saw a man that was invited as guest to the dinner wearing some kind of strange clothes ,and He asked the man where is your WHITE GARMENT(weeding garment) and the man was speechless. My thought was that, may be the bridegroom will allowed him to continue in the feasting but to my surprise, The Bridegroom commanded this man to be cast out of the weeding. So, the man was casted out and the the vision was taken from me.


When I had this revelation, I did not know that such a thing was written in the Bible neither did it occurred to me that the revelation I saw was about the Lord and His people. Until a day when I was reading the scripture that I came to know that such thing was written in the Bible.


What is the point? The point here is that, everything the Lord has done, is doing and will still do has to do with His own counsel and will. He will not be any means reduce/lower that standard for the sake of any of His children. The earlier this revelation dawn on us the better, we have to come up and meet His standard.

The vision I shared and that verses of the scripture above has the same messages which are very clear. The messages are these:

The first stage of this vision and parable is this:

Once you gave your life to the Lord at salvation according to the foreknowledge of Him, you are automatically bidden to come to the weeding- (you are predestinated for the weeding) but, you may choose to say no to the call to journey to that weeding. Worldly activities and deceptiveness of riches may so occupy your mind to extent that you forget the reason why you are saved.
Just like the children of Israel, that forgot why they were taken out of the Land of Egypt to journey to the Kingdom. The Lord gave them good leader to lead them to the Land but, the pleasures, the life, the foods and things they have seen in Egypt overtook them. Look at what they said:

Numbers 11:5-6;

We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlick:

6 But our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.


Num 11:20;

But even a whole month, until it come out at your nostrils, and it be loathsome unto you: because that ye have despised the LORD which is among you, and have wept before him, saying, Why came we forth out of Egypt?


Num 14:2-4

And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them, Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt ! or would God we had died in this wilderness!

And wherefore hath the LORD brought us unto this land, to fall by the sword, that our wives and our children should be a prey? were it not better for us to return into Egypt?

And they said one to another, Let us make a captain, and let us return into Egypt .


Num 14:22-23

Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;

Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it:


That was the end result of the first type of people that were bidden to come to the weeding: THEY ALL PERISHED IN THE WILDERNESS AND NONE OF THAT GENERATION ENTERED INTO THE PROMISED LAND EXCEPT JOSHUA AND CALEB.
This was exact thing that happened to the first set of people that were bidden for the weeding.
Yes, one may say this relate to the children of Israel but more importantly to us, for we are the Spiritual Israelities, and whatever happened to physical Israelities, it is a pointer to us. The issue here was not their complaint and murmuring but their refusal to hearkened to the voice of their God: ''and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice;'' God was even counting the time!!
How many time have you refused to hearkened to the VOICE OF YOUR GOD? How many time and occasions have you refused His way and did your own things? Even the one you are doing, is it from Him, are you hearkening to His voice? The more you refused Him, the more you return back to Egypt and by and by you will start by doing exact things that those that were bidden for the weeding did. The cares and things of this world will no becomes your paramount goals, the Kingdom will no longer be in your view but how to fulfilled your ambitions and dreams.
Although, you are predestinated for this but, your attitude and character to Him (i.e when He call you) will prove if you will partake in the weeding or not.

The children of Israel were predestinated for the Promised Land but their attitude and behaviour toward the VOICE OF GOD denied them from entering. The problem wasn't with God but with who they were. So also it apply to everyone today. The subjective and objectives side of God's word are of great important.

''There is always a working out of them, that is to proved that, what God said about you and I is true''.


Rom 11:21;

For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee.


The second stage of this vision and parable is this:

to be continue....
​

 

[Greatness4life]

The Conclusion of everything! continuation..

The second stage of this vision and parable is this


Hello everyone, its good to be here once again and I appreciate the Lord for given me another privilege to share in this thread today and also for everyone that is reading through this thread.

So, dear Lord, I appreciate You gracious love and mercy toward us, I bless You for being there for us in all our ups and downs. I thank You for the
gifts of Your Holy-Spirit this hour and for Your Kingdom that You are
making manifest in all ways. Thank You for decreasing everything so that
Christ may fill all things. I thank You for everyone, for the multitude,
followers, christian and the disciples, You are calling everyone to Your
counsel and purpose, May we make ourselves available for You in
whatsoever levels we are in Jesus name. Amen.


Lets continue from where we stopped. I have explained earlier that the first people that were bidden for the weeding make themselves unworthy by their reaction and attitudes to the VOICE OF GOD. They took pleasures in the things of the world rather than the things of God. They didn't stopped there but went further to become a murderer by killing the Lord's servant. And what was their rewards? They Lord was displeased with them and went ahead and killed the murderers.
The second group that were counted worthy were the group that was referred to as BAD AND GOOD. This were the kinds of people that were called on the Highways.
Let elaborate on two things here, first, Bad and Good then, the Highway.

BAD AND GOOD

The first thing I will love us to put in our heart is this, the bad and Good the Lord was referring to here doesn't mean Unbeliever and Believer, Pagan and Christian, Jew and Disciples or Jew and Gentiles. The Bad and Good in this content has nothing to do with that but the meaning of Bad and Good are these; Those who are following the Lord on a daily basis and those who are following the Lord at their own convenient time, those who has and still experience death through the carrying of their cross and those who professed to love the Lord but despise His cross. Those who has left religion and follow Christ and those who cherished their religion and failed to recognized Him in their midst. The foolish and wise virgin. The Goat and the Sheep. BOTH OF THEM ARE ON THE HIGHWAYS.
A pagan doesn't know anything about the Highway neither does a Gentile that is still wallowing in his sins recognized anything about the Highway not to even talk of walking in it.
Often time, when the Lord referred to His people as a wicked nations what He's simply saying is that His people have refused to hearkened and followed Him so, they have turned themselves to be a wicked nations. ( Isaiah 30, A rebellious people are also a wicked people there is no different between the two)
So, the bad and Good here are ''Christian'', those who has accepted Christ, eagerly waiting for His return. These are the People the Lord was addressing in this verse:
So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests.

Now let explain the second thing here:

HIGHWAYS

Judges 21:19
Then they said, Behold, there is a feast of the LORD in Shiloh yearly in a place which is on the north side of Bethel, on the east side of the highway that goeth up from Bethel to Shechem, and on the south of Lebonah.


1 Sam 6:12
And the kine took the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, and went along the highway , lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Beth-shemesh.


2 Sam 20:12-13

And Amasa wallowed in blood in the midst of the highway . And when the man saw that all the people stood still, he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and cast a cloth upon him, when he saw that every one that came by him stood still.

When he was removed out of the highway , all the people went on after Joab, to pursue after Sheba the son of Bichri.


2 Kings 18:17

And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rab-shakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller's field.


Prov 16:17

The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.


Isa 7:3

Then said the LORD unto Isaiah, Go forth now to meet Ahaz, thou, and Shear-jashub thy son, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool in the highway of the fuller's field;


Isa 11:16

And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which shall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt.


Isa 19:23

In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the Assyrians.



Highway from all this scripture speaks of a path, a road that leads to something of great important. The blind Bartimaeus was sitting at the side of the Highway begging for money, there and there He received his miracles (Mark 10:46). If you read from the scriptures that was quoted above you will see that there are specific thing that was linked to each Highway.

So, the emphases here are these: the Highway was to lead people to the Bethel, to Shiloh and also connected to Lebanon. This Highway was also the way the Ark of the covenant tread before reaching the Levi.(1 Samuel 6:11-15). The Highway was also a way or path by which Army of David pursue the enemy of David.(1 Samuel 20:10-18). The Highway was also a way or path where the Lord gives answer to prayers (Isaiah 7:3-7). Also, the Highway speaks of path of Holiness ( Isaiah 35:8). The Highway speaks of where people received their sights (Mark 10:16). More importantly, it is meant for the ''Christian'' those who has being saved by the Blood of the Lamb.

So what is the application?:

The application are these:

When the Lord referred to the Highways(note plural), He is referring to His people who is on a journey, though they may not be at the same level, their experience may be different, the way they see things may also be different, but one thing is sure, they are at one level or other. Some may be just followers, other may be Christian and the remain one may have moved beyond those levels and become His Disciples indeed. All the same, they are on the Highways, at a different pace and time.
Just like the first group that were qualified for the weeding, so also were the second group qualified; whether they were good or bad, they were carrying their cross or not, they were obedient or not, but one thing is coming to them all, they were all on the Highways. And the King wanted them to be in the weeding.

These kind of people were called and they obeyed the Calling of the King's servant. Just like the 10 virgin, they also embarked on the journey to the King House for the weeding. But, what a tragedy!! one of them was without weeding garment.

How come? where did the other got their weeding garment from? were they not on the same Journey? If they were, why was he not qualify for the garment? or should one say that the King was partial by not given him a garment?.

These are some of the questions that needs an urgent answer in the time we are now.

Before I stop, here is what the Lord said:

Rev 16:15

Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.

Rev 3:18
I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
KJV

Isa 61:10;

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels.

What was this man lacked? He lacked Watchfulness and he failed to Keep himself, When other were watchful, he was living his life on the Highway as if he will not be called home one day; the applications of God's words has no indwelling in him. He refused to work out his salvation by leaning on Him that has saved him with fear and trembling, rather he chose to trust in the arm of flesh.

1 John 5:18;

We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God Keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

Until the day we come to this understanding and start agreeing with the Lord concerning His will and counsel not about us but ABOUT HIM then, shall we truly see light in His light and Know that we are already complete in Him. And on that day, we will cease to exist or try to live for Him, But He will be the one Living His Life through us, in us and for us. That is the place where what has being given to us can be rightly claimed, but as long we remain under tutor, we will continue to be toss here and there.
Lets surrendered our totality to Him, our Spirit, Soul and Body. Let Him no longer remain just our Saviour but Let make Him Lord over everything and all that we are. Lets give up our religions and pride and embrace the Lord Himself.
What we all need is not a ''thing'', all that we need is JESUS on a daily basis of our life. What we all need is not a Kingdom but all that we need is the King JESUS, the One that reigns in the Kingdom.
All that we ever needs is CHRIST!!!
Our inheritance is not the Land neither is it the world but Our Inheritance is JESUS CHRIST.

May the Lord open our eyes to this Truth. Amen

 

[Greatness4life]

The Conclusion of everything! continuation..

Hi everyone, blessed be the Lord for another time again to look at His law of Liberty and be transformed to His image.

I appreciate the Lord for all thing because it is not of him that willeth but of You that giveth grace to man. For the Lord is the one, who worketh in us both to will and to do of His good pleasures in us.
All I want to say is Lord, Thank You for giving Yourself to us, may we also do the same in Jesus name. Amen


I will have love to close down this thread but I felt there are other things the Lord may want me to touch, in that case, this thread will still be running until the Lord indicate for its closing down.

God's willing tomorrow, I will start with the review of what we've shared so far and from there I will be Sharing on the GOSPEL OF THE KINGDOM and some other things the Lord is teaching me presently.

In conclusion, I believed we should endeavour to pray for one another in doing this, the Kingdom of God will be thorough establish on earth.

As many that lives in China and Indian, I believed the Lord is extending His gracious Hand to you(I mean Christians), The Lord said He is able to keep and see you through in whatsoever may come your ways. All you need to do is to lean on Him in the time of your distress and He shall attends to you( Psalm 4:1-8).

Lord, may Your Kingdom come to all the nations of the Earth and may Your will be done. As many that are called by Your name in this hour we are in; Lord I pray that You will keep them by Your gracious Love, nothing will be able to snatch them away from Your mighty Hand. I pray for your Peace in their Homes, Works, Businesses and let everything pertaining to them be at Peace in Jesus name. May You established Your counsel in our lives and by this may the world know that We are them that love our Lord out of a pure heart. May there be no end in the increase of your government in our lands, in Jesus name. Amen

 

[Greatness4life]

Review

Hello everyone, blessed be the Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ, for this wonderful time in a wonderful day like this. I thank everyone that are reading through this thread and blessed be the Lord for everything that we have been sharing so far.


May His Holy name be exalted and may Jesus continue to increase in us as we are daily decreasing. Lord, I identify with all the Saints all over the globe that has be crying, groaning and praying for the manifestation of Your Kingdom here on earth and I say: Lord, do not delay any longer, let the Glory, the Power and the Honor of Your Kingdom make manifest in our lives.
Deliver us from all kinds of religions that has blindfolded our eyes from seeing You, open our ear to hear Your voice, ignite our heart with Passion for Your Kingdom. Make us ready for what You are about to do in our day. Take away all these veil of Religions, Denominations, Doctrines and difference from us and unite our heart in Your Spirit, so that we may thoroughly see the Hope of our calling in You. Lord, hitherto we've not been asking, today we turn our heart and lift up our voice to You that You will bring down Your Glory; We ask in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ that all that You have spoken concerning this generation of ours that You will fulfilled it without any delay. We will praise and glorify Your name for that which You will do in us, by us and through in Jesus name.
I also pray for the Shepherds You have called for Your purpose, that You will set their faces like flint, You will make them like a pillar that cannot be shaken. You will established them in Your Truth and lead them aright, so that the Sheep You have committed to their hands may grow to the stature of You. Father, grant them Faith, Peace, Wisdom and understanding. All I am asking is that You will give to them Your Totality; For You is our Peace, Wisdom, Victory, Understanding, Faith and all things pertaining to Godliness. May we all see You as You are in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen

Review of all that we've shared

So, we've shared so far concerning the needs for our SOUL AND BODY to experience SALVATION just as our Spirit-man experienced it at born-again. I also brought to lime-light that we have a part to play in this journeying; ''Though we are not saved by works but we are saved for work''

Ephesians 2:10;
For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.



1 Corinthians 3:9;
For we are labourers (workmanship) together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God's building.


All that are pertaining to us has been accomplished by the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our role is to know them and apply them to our daily living, and these cannot be achieved until we carry our cross and follow Him on a daily basis. The Cross is not an instrument of building but it is an instrument of destruction, God want to destroy all that we've ever built our lives on outside of Him, then Change whom we are to who He is. And this changes takes place in our Soul because, at salvation our spirit-man has experienced that but, our soul has not for its still remain carnal.

The salvation of our Spirit and Body is a gift from the Lord but for our soul to experienced it, it is not a gift, because everyone of us has a role to play. We are admonished to work out our salvation with fear and trembling, and the salvation we needs to work out is in our soul.
So, the battle line is in the soul and that is where Jesus want to take preeminence, this where Jesus becomes our Lord.
The conclusion of all that we've shared is this: Christ want to have the totality of me and you. It is either He have us totally or He never have us. He will not take half of us, all He want is us.
Our salvation is far from completing when we have not experience Christ in our Souls( in our Will, Mind, Emotion, Reasoning, Desire..), thus hence the saying: He MUST increase and I MUST decrease. This is a universal Law, whether we know it or not, like it or not, it doesn't matter how it sound to us; this Law Must be and Will be Fulfilled.

All I have shared so far and will still share hang on that Law. But the best we can do now is to surrender willing to Him. It is not a crime not to be willing, in fact, to be willing comes from the grace of God. What we can do is to speak to Him that: ''Lord, I've heard all that you are saying concerning Your eternal Purpose and will, I believed everything You said to be true. Here I am Lord, I want Your increase in Me, I want Your cross to have is ways in me so that I may decrease and Christ may increase in me and by that Your Life may be made manifest in me. Lord, here is my problem, I'm not willing for all these, Please Lord, I do desired and pray that You will make me willing for Your counsel and will''

Don't forget , if one refuse to fall on this Rock and be broken so that Christ may increase and the life of Christ may be made manifest, one day this Rock will surely fall on such a person and that will result to grinding to powder.

May the Lord give us understanding in Jesus name. amen

I will stop here and I believed those are the re-cap of everything we've shared so far.

Eph 1:17-23;

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to usward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power,
Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,
Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come:
And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.

Col 1:9-11
For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;
Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;


May the Lord bless everyone that Love Him out of a pure heart

 

[Greatness4life]

Hello everyone, How are you doing and enjoying this seasons? I hope the Lord has always been there in all that we do and say. Blessed be the Lord for everything and may His love continue to radiate in our lives in Jesus name.

So, I appreciate the Lord for another opportunity to start posting and sharing on some of the things the He has been teaching me and others here, which also the Lord brought many confirmations to by the witnesses of them that are following Him.

Thought for Food:


<link rel="STYLESHEET" type="text/css" href="pcsbStyle.css">"Knowest thou not that it will be bitterness in the latter end?"

2 Samuel 2:26


If, O my reader! thou art merely a professor, and not a possessor of the faith that is in Christ Jesus, the following lines are a true ketch of thine end.
You are a respectable attendant at a place of worship; you go because others go, not because your heart is right with God. This is your beginning. I will suppose that for the next twenty or thirty years you will be spared to go on as you do now, professing religion by an outward attendance upon the means of grace, but having no heart in the matter. Tread softly, for I must show you the deathbed of such a one as yourself. Let us gaze upon him gently. A clammy sweat is on his brow, and he wakes up crying, "O God, it is hard to die. Did you send for my minister?" "Yes, he is coming." The minister comes. "Sir, I fear that I am dying!" "Have you any hope?" "I cannot say that I have. I fear to stand before my God; oh! pray for me." The prayer is offered for him with sincere earnestness, and the way of salvation is for the ten-thousandth time put before him, but before he has grasped the rope, I see him sink. I may put my finger upon those cold eyelids, for they will never see anything here again. But where is the man, and where are the man's true eyes? It is written, "In hell he lifted up his eyes, being in torment." Ah! why did he not lift up his eyes before? Because he was so accustomed to hear the gospel that his soul slept under it. Alas! if you should lift up your eyes there, how bitter will be your wailings. Let the Saviour's own words reveal the woe: "Father Abraham, send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame." There is a frightful meaning in those words. May you never have to spell it out by the red light of Jehovah's wrath!


I trust the Lord by tomorrow I will start sharing on this subject: THE GREAT HOUSE according to 2 Tim 2:19-21 which says:

19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.

21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
KJV

Till then, May the Lord be with us in Jesus name. Amen

 

[Greatness4life]

Hello everyone..

I appreciate the Lord for all that He's doing through us, in us and for us. May His name be glorify forevermore. Amen

I've been busy here, that is why I was unable to start posting on the Subject ''THE GREAT HOUSE''. Still trusting the Lord for the right time.

Until then, May we be matured to the Stature and fullness of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

 

[Greatness4life]

THE GREAT HOUSE


This was one of the teachings the Lord taught me while He was leading me out of the organized religion. It was the dawn of 2007, when the whole issues started.

I pray that as many that will read through this, the Lord will open their eyes to see, their ear to hear and may their heart be illuminated to understand all that Lord is saying.

I also appreciate the Lord for teaching me this; To You alone, I'm indebted to, for all Your wonderful works and ways of doing things which literally I cannot not comprehend nor understand if not for Your gracious mercy and Love. For out of the mouth of Babes and Suckling thou, O Lord, have ordained strength (perfected praise), that You might put your enemy into derision. May Your name be praise forevermore. Amen.

Introduction


The books of Timothy were messages from Paul to Timothy, there he, Paul revealed many things concerning Timothy and people he (Timothy) was facing in that city. According to the letters of Paul to him, Paul made known that Timothy was not just a disciple but a Son to him; for Paul took him and circumcised him while Timothy was still living with his mother, nothing was said about his father but all we know was that Timothy father was a Greek (Act 16:1-3). Since it takes a Father according to the custom of Jew to circumcises a Son, we can then say that Paul was a father to Timothy, not naturally but a Spiritual Father(An Authority, Timothy’s father in the Faith), for many time Paul called him, My Son, My dearly beloved Son.(see 1 Timothy 1:2, 2 Timothy 2:2).

All the letters of Paul to Timothy dealt with three aspects of what was going on in that city.
The first thing that He mentioned after greeting Timothy was:

Charge the people not to teach other doctrines nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies. (1 Timothy 1:3-4, 4:1,7, 6:20-21. 2 Timothy 2:16,4:3-4)

then;

Godly character (1 Timothy 2:9-15, 3:1-13, 5:1-25, 6:1-19, 2 Timothy 1:5, 2:3-4)
Worldliness (1 Timothy 4:1-4, 6:8-10,17-18, 2 Timothy 3:1-9)

These three things were repeated over and over in Paul letter to Timothy, more importantly, the most Common among them was ''give heed not to Fables, Strange doctrines, endless genealogies and Worldliness''.
Paul knew that when people are into such things godliness cannot be emphases to them rather; their work has to be expose so that they can repent from them. All they needed is light to dispel their darkness.

Why would Paul keep on repeating words in these ways? I believed there was something that Paul saw/was seeing that brought about these.
These were the issues in Ephesus where Timothy was staying; these were things that led Paul to be repeating words over and over again:

If there were no false teachings, there will be no place for Fables and endless genealogies. If there were no unrighteousness among the leaders, Paul wouldn’t have talked about Godly characters neither would he have mentioned Worldliness? These were the things that invaded Ephesus Christian and they needed to be address.

No wonder when Christ was sending letter to the Church in Ephesus in the book of Revelation, He said:
Rev 2:1-4, 6
1 Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things saith he that holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks;

2 I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:

3 And hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name's sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted.

4 Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.
6 But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate


What led to these? Why will a Church full of Works, Patience, Labour and Spiritual gifts (Ephesians 4) left their first Love? What it is even the FIRST LOVE?

Paul wrote the same things when he called the Elders from Ephesus together in Miletus.

Acts 20:28-31;
Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.

30 Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

31 Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.

The first thing here is not the sheep but the leaders of the sheep;the shepherds of the sheep must first take heed to themselves before they are asked to consider the flocks, because whatever they do or are doing, automatically affect the flocks. They must have renounce strange doctrines, perverse things and more important they must reject being ‘’LORD’’ over the Lord’s Sheep (this is the doctrine of Nicolaitans) before they can teach the sheep of the Lord the same thing

But what will be the end result when the leaders failed to take heed to themselves, when they first started to look at the mote in their sheep eye without first considering the beam in their own eye, when they refused to carry their cross and make God first, and not their bellies? They will be heading toward wrong directions.

So, the case is always with the shepherd, the problem often generate from them. And that is why we believer of nowadays must take heed to ourselves, what we preached or what we are preaching, things we do and things we refuse to do are all pointer to where we are heading.

In all, when all these: strange doctrines, perverse teaching, fables and endless genealogies begin to manifest, then there will be another House different from the one that Christ is building. A house that is full of Mixtures, a place where you can find wood and earth at one side and Gold and silver at the other side. These two suppose not to have fellowship together, though they may be in the same place, the same vicinity, but they are not to fellowship together.

Just as light and darkness cannot and will not fellowship together so also the gold and silver cannot have fellowship with the Earth and wood. And if they do, then, such a place is divided, though outwardly they may appear to be together but they are not. It is a House that is divided against itself. It is a House where vessels unto honour and dishonour are having fellowship together. It is a house that will not stand but will definitely collapses. And such a house cannot be the Household of God neither can it be His Zion but it is a GREAT HOUSE

I was speaking with a brother which happened to be one of my leader when I was in the denomination, in the midst of our discussions, the brother quoted a scripture which was one of the parable of Jesus in Matthew 12:24-25 which says:
24. Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:
25. But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
26. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him. Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From when thence hath it tares?
30. Let both (the wheat and tares) grow together until the harvest: and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into MY BARN.


After this scripture, this brother arrived by saying that God want both the tares and wheat to grow together in His Church. At first I seem to believe it until I got home and the Lord raised it again with me. Then, the Lord showed me that He doesn’t say that the tares and wheat should grow together in His Church rather in the World.

Wait... What has this brother done to me? He taught me wrongly not deliberate but out of ignorance of that scripture. Just imagine, if I have swallowed it like that and went around teaching the same thing, what will be the end results?
This is where it all started from; ''A little leaven leaveneth the whole lumps’’ (1 Corinthians 5:6).

I pray the Lord give us understanding as we go into this message fully in Jesus name. Amen.

I will also plead with everyone that; don’t swallow everything I will be posting here without going back to the Lord. If what I post contradict the doctrines and teachings of Christ, please, if you can correct me; I will greatly rejoice to receive your correction and if you cannot, just ignore this messages.
All I want this message to do for you by the Holy-Spirit is to propel you to seek the Lord and embrace Him the more. Everything I want to post here will be what the Lord has taught(and is teaching) me and causing me to experience.

May the Lord help us. Amen

 

[Greatness4life]

The great house (i)

THE GREAT HOUSE (I)


2 Tim 2:19

Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let everyone that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.


Reading from the preceding verses of this scripture, we could see what led to:
1. The Foundation
2. The Seal
3. The iniquity

Taking these one after the other as the Lord will be leading us, we will understand what was Paul intentions or the revelations He got before saying those things out.

THE FOUNDATION


The foundation speaks of a beginning of a thing.There are many things in the natural realm that do have foundation. Consider the houses, the trees, the rivers and many other things both created by God and also invented by man, they all have a foundation.
The technology has a foundation, the Automobiles also have there own foundations; though their foundation may differ but they definitely have a foundation.
So there is nothing on earth that doesn’t have a foundation or Beginning.

We know that everything that we see is an evident of spiritual things (Of what we cannot see). ''The natural first then, that which is spiritual’’.

When refers to the foundation of God: then, its referring to the beginning of God dealing with man, i.e. those that believed on Him. When you give your life to Him; He established that foundation in you. This foundation is not Two but ONE in all believers and that foundation is Christ

Psalm 87:1 describe this:

''His foundation is in the holy mountains''


Who Foundation? God! The foundation of God is in the Holy Mountain. Why will God built His foundation in the Mountain why not in the Heaven of Heavens or Somewhere else? Does that mean that God has a Foundation/Beginning? If so, God must definitely have an End, because everything that has beginning MUST definitely have an End, but that was not what that scripture means; it take a revelation to see beyond the letter.

So, what then is the Mountain in the context of this scripture? If God foundation is in the holy Mountain, then you and I must understand what that Holy Mountain represents.

The Holy Mountain here speak of God’s people, in the Old Testament its referred to the children of Israel but after the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, it represent those who have acknowledge Him as both their Saviour and Lord. In general content the Holy Mountain means the Body of Christ where Christ is laid as foundation. (Revelation 12:14. Daniel 2:35, 45).

Mountains in other context of the bible represent difficulties, problems or systems of this world (Zechariah 4:7. Revelation 6:15-16). But in this context, The Holy Mountain represents the people of God. This is why the next verse of that passage went on to say:

''The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob'' (Psalm 87:2)


THE SEAL


Brother Paul admonished us not to grieved the Holy-Spirit in the book of Ephesians;

Eph 4:30;

''And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption''


Also in Eph 1:13-14;

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise,


Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory’’


2 Corinthians 1:22

''Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts''


From the scriptures above, it can be rightly said that the Holy-Spirit is that seal we saw in 2 Timothy 2:19.
INIQUITY


This refers to sins as an act of overthrowing of another man’s faith through false teachings (false teaching begat false doctrines), profane words, fables and vain babbling as it’s recorded in the context of this Chapter. We can then go on to re-read that verse of the scripture with this understanding now.

Nevertheless the foundation of God (in dealing with those that believed on Him through and IN Christ) standeth sure, having this seal (Which is the Holy-Spirit); The Lord knoweth them that are his (By this Seal- The Holy-Spirit). And, Let everyone that nameth (calleth) the name of Christ depart from iniquity (from overthrowing another man’s faith through false teaching, fables, vain babbling and profane words (endless genealogies).

I hope we are able to see that now; because when people begin to do such things worldliness will set in, traditions of men will replace the doctrines of Christ, and following the Holy-Spirit will be replaced with obeying the doctrines of men.

Having explained the verse 19 of that 2 Timothy 2, let’s go on to verse 20 which is our main subject.

2 Tim 2:20

But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.


That was a big But and that signified that once such things are not corrected, when they are ignored and men keep on doing them, then know for surety that that house has become a Great House. The end result will be that verse 20.

*Before I continue on this subject, I will like to make some footnotes and emphases that the Church of the Living God was never and has never being referred to as Great House in the scriptures, rather she was/is called THE HOUSE OF GOD (1 Timothy 3:15), The HOUSEHOLD OF GOD (Ephesians 2:19), CHURCH OF GOD (Act 20:28, THE BODY OF CHRIST (Colossians 1:18)*


As recorded in this verse of 2 Timothy 2:20; the Great House is a house that is full of mixtures of Gold, Silver, Wood and Earth.
And brother Paul admonished us that; ''If any man therefore purge himself from these mixtures in this great house, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified and met for the Master use, and prepare for/unto every good works.

What is the reverse of that verse? ''If any man therefore refused to be purge from these mixtures that is in the Great House, then, he shall be a vessel unto dishonour, not sanctified(unholy) and will not be met for the Master use, and prepare unto every Evil works”.

This condition are often overlooked by many, therefore, they could not moved beyond the Great House rather they are wallowing inside it day in and day out.
''IF'' is a condition! and that suggested that you have a role to play as regard these things.

May the Lord open our eye to see, ear to hear and heart to understand these things in Jesus Name. Amen

 

[Greatness4life]

The great house (ii)

THE GREAT HOUSE (II)

So, we can conclude by saying that the Great house represent the mixtures of Holy seed with unholy seed, believers with ‘’unbeliever’s’’, or better still we can call it a place where Gold (signifying God’s natures) and silver (signifying Salvation or Redemption) mixed together with Wood (signifying carnal works) and Earth (signifying the Flesh).


This Great house can also be liken unto individual believers, for the coming together of the believers is what bring this house to full measure.
Above all, the Great House is a Backslidden Church that has a name that she is still living but she is dead!!


Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts,
That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground. And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD (Amos 3:13-15)


Footnotes: As we will see here that the great house is nothing but the backslidden church, church here does not referred to the physical building but the People of God.
What we want to discussed here are related to the issue of the ‘’Churches" better still ''denominations’’ not only that but also the Believers cause the coming out of the Systems of the world to serve the Lord is called the CHURCH- Ekklesia. And this has to with you and me.
With that understanding, we can vividly understand this message of the great house; I trust the Lord to help and illuminate our heart, that the eye of our understanding will be open so that we might these things in Jesus name. Amen


Reading through the book of Amos chapter 3 from verse 1, we will discover that God was against the promiscuity and abominable things done in Israel even in Samaria her capital. Although the Lord has redeemed and saved them from the land of Egypt (the world) nevertheless, as they multiplied, their sins and iniquities were grievous. The Lord declared that He will not overlook their wickedness without judging them.

In verse 11, God revealed His judgment and what He will use to judge Israel for their sins- Egypt {the heathen Nation/the World}. This is Why the Outer court in Revelations 11:2 which was without the Temple was leaved out without measurement [But the court which is without the Temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city-Israel shall they under foot forty and two months(40 means Wilderness)]. This show that, if any Jew as a physical Israel or believer as a Spiritual Israel does not move or refused to move beyond this Realm of the Outer Court, the Heathen nations which is the World will come in her fullness to tread them down.

I wouldn’t go into that now. The outer Court, The Holy Place and The Holy of Holies have a Revelations of their own and they cannot be fully discussed here. But I will just touch them partially in this message as we continue.

Amos 3:12

Thus saith the LORD; As the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus in a couch


To best understand these; Samaria which was the Capital city of Israel represent a Nation of Mixtures, it also signified those who worship what they know not [John4:22].Whereas Damascus speaks of those who draw back in the things of God into carnality. These two has no differences because they both served the same Idols. The Lord is saying those who lived in Samaria {the Land of Mixtures} and refused to know their God, and those who took pleasure in carnality {Damascus} will be as those who shepherd takes out of Lion’s mouth{Devourer) not in peace but in pieces.

Amos 3:13-14

Hear ye, and testify in the house of Jacob, saith the Lord GOD, the God of hosts; That in the day that I shall visit the transgressions of Israel upon him I will also visit the altars of Bethel: and the horns of the altar shall be cut off, and fall to the ground.


The word ‘’transgression’’ means going beyond the limit or boundary, it also means the breaking of Law. The Lord required the children of Israel to stay where he has place them, they must not at any time go beyond what he has taught them, that is, His Statutes, His commandments, and His Judgements; but the truth of the matter were these; they went ahead, started doing their own things, not only that, they committed various abominations in the House of God – Bethel (Gen 12:8, 13:3-4, 28:17-19, 35:15, Judges 20:18-28).

Bethel means the house of bread; this is a place where the words of God proceed from. But once it is polluted; strange words, teachings and doctrines will set in. The unadulterated words of God will become adulterated, why? Because the Sanctuary of Holy bread has been polluted, the House of unleavened Bread has turned into house of leavened bread. Here you have the choice to choose the one that fitted your agenda and self glory.

How come that Bethel became a den of wolfs and all manners of fowls? The King Jeroboam was the first King that made it a place of Idolatry.

1 Kings 12:28-29

Whereupon the king [Jeroboam] took counsel {not of God neither from Him}, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them (the Children of Israel),”It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem”: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel (in the House of Bread), and the other put he in Dan (The place of Judgment)

How many God brought the children of Israel out of the Land of Egypt? Is it not ONE God? How many gods did Jeroboam presented to them? Two, and from that, those gods began to multiply.

To get the ‘’people’’ out of the way is just a matter of twisting the gospel of Christ into something else; Jeroboam succeeded in doing that by deceiving them into believing in something else.


[I recommend the remaining of that chapter to you]

That was the beginning of journey to the great House, the beginning of retrogression in the house of Jacob. Though we may say that their problem started with their leader, their leader was the one that introduced another gods to them, it was also them that built abomination in the house of God but more-also, the problem of the leader is also the problem of the followers. The followers love it so.

Is there any different with what we have here and what is going on in various denominations and christian organization today? Is there any different between these chapters of the scriptures with what Paul was warning Timothy against?

In order for the people of God not to see Christ, the True Church, the House the Lord is building, altar that resembles THE TRUE ALTAR OF GOD has being built, ‘’THINGS’’ has taken the place of “CHRIST”. This have they presented to us as Christ and His Church just like Jeroboam said; ”It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold these are the gods that brought you out Egypt-World’’ the same things are they telling us day by day.

The issue has always been the issue of going UP, anything that has to do with that, it always invites the enemy to war front.


Can’t we see the abominations that make desolate in our Christianity today? The Bethel that was known for the house of bread turned to the house of Money changers through the generations of them that know not the God of the House.

The Lord aims and purpose was not only to visit the Bethel that was polluted but also to cut-off the horns that polluted it and cast it into the ground. The horn here speaks of the Leaders; these are the strength that upholds this altar. They are the one that built corruption and abomination in Bethel.

Amos 3:15

And I [The Lord} will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.


We see from this scripture above that once a house begins to emerge different from the one the Lord is building, such a house will begins to increase both in numbers, names and in different patterns.
And here we have four categories of houses; four means Flesh or carnality, the third and fourth house were not singular but plurals which means that there are many houses of ivory and great houses.

For better understanding, let’s take these houses one after the other from the accounts of the scriptures and see what the Lord has to say about them and what they represent in our days as used in this verse.

 

[Greatness4life]

Wow!!! Quite an age here. Good to be back and see the Grace of God upon His Beloved.

Lord Thank You for this New Year.... A Year to know more and more.
It is not just a Year of DIVINE REVELATION AND MYSTERY neither is it only a year of Judging all that are contending against your Kingdom and pre-eminence but, It is also Year in which You want to reveal Yourself to us. For You are our REVELATION. May Your name be Blessed forever more. Amen

So, I trust the Lord to get this thread back on its track as the lord will be helping. Till then, God bless everyone that Love Him out of a sincere heart.

 

[Greatness4life]

Hello everyone, how has your faith being in the Lord Jesus Christ? I hope by His grace you have been pushing through the challenges and storms that has been coming your ways. I bless God also for my life here, though, I've been a little busy with work and some of the things the Lord has been leading me to do. Above all, I'm glad to be back here after a long period of silence which I felt might be from the Lord to whom be the glory in Church forever more. Amen.
So, I trust Him to lead me on how to continue from where I stopped and finished what He laid in my heart to teach. "May the Lord enrichly bless us from everything we'll be reading from this thread in Jesus name amen."
<b>Come quickly Lord Jesus</b>.

 

[Greatness4life]

Hello everyone, how has your journey with the Lord being? I hope you are growing in faith of our Lord Jesus Christ. May the name of The Lord be praise.
I believed the Lord want me NOW to continue from where I stopped on this thread, I'm trusting Him that by His grace and mercy, I shall continue starting from Thursday.

"Till then, May we embrace the Lord more and more as we see the day approaching. May our heart not fail us in this hour, for men hearts are failing them both in Government, Economic Sector, Banking sector, Political. Just call it anything, Many are falling, Nations are crying and there are many songs of lamentation around.
But the Lord we keep His own, He will see them through this hour and cover them under the shadow of His wings" Amen.

 

[Greatness4life]

Hello everyone.....

With sincere apology, I apologies for not been able to post yesterday as I have promised... Some issues arouse that I couldn't avoid than to attend to it. Which means that I will not be posting till next week(Monday).

But in the mean time, You can read this:

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites... but when you pray, enter into your closet and pray in secret... and when you pray, do not use vain repetitions... after this manner therefore, pray... (Matthew 6:5-9ff)."

For too long we have practiced and preached prayer as a means towards our own ends. I am thinking of several popular teachings and books on the market today which make prayer out to be a ritual through which we can induce God to give us what we want. This philosophy gives us the illusion of a manageable deity, a "god" who is under our control, having no choice but to respond to a prayer properly worded or recited. A person of average intelligence should be able to see that this is a ridiculous caricature of God - it is a misrepresentation and a deception. The widespread popularity and success of these teachings should make us at least a little suspicious as to the spirit which prompts men to perpetuate it. It cannot be the Holy Spirit.

Jesus takes it for granted that His disciples will pray. This is why four times in a row He says, "WHEN you pray" and not "IF you pray." But from these brief excerpts of Scripture we learn that there are at least two classes of prayer. One is unacceptable to God, and the other is well-pleasing to Him. One is of hypocrites, the other is of a pure heart. One is done openly to be seen of men, the other is hidden to be seen of God alone. One is nothing more than vain repetition to accomplish my own ends, and the other accomplishes God's purpose.

Now if we pray the prayer of the hypocrite we are wasting our time. God will not respond, He will not move, He will not listen to such praying. That is not to say that someone (something?) will not answer this self-centered prayer: but the answer, when and if it comes, will not come from the Father in heaven. Much praying is done in vain because the one praying has never gone to the Word to investigate the kind of prayer that is well-pleasing to God. Just as there is a worship that is "spirit-and-truth" and there is a worship which is fleshly and vain, so there is a "spirit-and-truth" sort of praying and a flesh-and-blood praying which is done in vanity.

So by the grace of God we would like to look to the Lord to teach us to pray. Let us ask Him to show us the sort of praying that is acceptable to Him.


HOW NOT TO PRAY

"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners that they may be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have already received their reward (Matthew 6:5)."

What makes a prayer hypocritical? It is a prayer which is done in public to be seen of men. It is an outward show to make one appear spiritual to others. It calls attention to one's self through loud volume, lengthy discourse, or spiritual-sounding vocabulary. It is primarily done for ceremonial benefit only, for the listening ear of men, and not for God. We want to be seen and heard and observed. We wish to be known as "prayer warriors" so we prefer to do our praying in public, by the altar, in church, or at the prayer meeting, so everyone can see us. We would have people know us as watchmen, prophets, and intercessors. But what matters most is not how people perceive us, but how we truly are before God.

Hypocrites typically use public praying to preach or make demands upon others. I was in a meeting once when a newcomer was asked to pray. Before long he began talking about his financial needs as if he were talking to the Lord, but it should have been obvious that he was merely letting it be known to all present that he expected a monetary gift. He even said, "I pray that someone will give me the money I need." And of course, after the meeting, someone did. But neither the one who prayed nor the one who "answered" his prayer were in the Spirit. This man should have been rebuked, but no one rose to the occasion, including myself. So we all missed the Spirit, but we learned a lesson. And we never heard from the man again.

Preachers are equally guilty of hypocritical long-windedness. It is interesting to observe how differently someone prays when standing upon a platform before others compared to how they pray in other places. They seem to believe that the spotlight calls for certain words and phrases to be used that they would not otherwise use. This, too, is done for the benefit of the listeners. "Oh, he can pray such powerful prayers!" they exclaim. But this does not mean they are necessarily powerful with God.

Particularly in a day when prayer meetings, prayer gatherings, prayer retreats, and prayer warfare is being emphasized, it is important to understand what the Lord is looking for so we do not fall into a trap of vanity. The experience of many saints seems to indicate that the more we pray in private, the less we will pray in public. The words will be fewer, but they will be far more weighty and valuable. One brother was so broken before God privately that whenever he stepped into the pulpit to pray publicly, all he could do was fall over the lectern and weep, "Oh God!" That is the proper spirit, and how I wish we had more of this kind of prayer.

"But when you pray, enter into your closet, and after you have shut the door, pray to your Father in secret; and your Father, Who sees what is done secretly, will reward you openly (Matthew 6:6)."

Why does the Lord prefer secret prayer to prayer done in the synagogue (or in the church building)? Prayer which is most valuable to God is done in secret, in the prayer closet, in the inner chamber where no man's eyes can see and no man's ears can hear what is said and done. Thus, everything said and done in secret is for the Lord's sake. Most public praying is done to be seen of men; hence, it has virtually no worth. An abundance of public prayer cannot make up for a lack of secret prayer.

As a child I took this Scripture literally. I would go into a closet and close the door, praying to the Lord in secret. When I got older I would climb to the top of a tree to pray and read. Or I would sneak out while it was still dark so I could pray. As I look back on my life these are the sweetest times of prayer and communion I have ever experienced.

It does not matter whether your closet is a literal closet or not. The issue is the sort of prayer that is offered, whether it is done to be seen of men or if it is done to be seen of God. If we are praying to the Lord for the Lord's sake then we will want to keep holy things holy, private things private, and sacred things sacred. We will not easily repeat to others the intimate details of these encounters with God. It would seem almost sacrilegious to do so.

Is prayer and worship a lifestyle, or is it an event? If it is an event, if most of our praying is done once a week when we gather together, then we will be lacking spiritually. We will sense this lack when we try to flip a switch and become spiritual enough to pray. But our corporate prayers have their basis in our secret prayers. The real value is not what is seen outwardly, but what we are inwardly, beneath the surface, as we minister to the Lord in secret.

"But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do: for they think they will be heard for their much speaking (Matthew 6:7)."

The Greek word for "vain" here is interesting. It comes from the base of another word which means "to handle or squeeze" and implies manipulation, as someone would manipulate clay to make it into something like a bowl or a vase. It is used by Jesus in another context, Matthew 15:7-9:

"You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me, for in vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.'"

There is such a thing as vain prayer and vain worship. There is such a thing as a sacrifice acceptable to God and a sacrifice unacceptable to God (see the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4). We know exactly what God seeks, and that is, "Spirit and Truth." We also know what He considers to be vanity, manipulation, a waste of time, and self-centered. Vanity includes drawing near to Him with our mouth and honoring Him with our lips while our heart is far from Him. It includes teaching the things of man as if they were the things of God. It includes repeating the same prayers over and over again with a view towards manipulating God. It includes 95% of all that is said and done in a typical church service on Sunday morning. Continually asking God to bless our unacceptable worship every single week is an example of vanity. "In vain do they worship Me."

It may come as a shock and a surprise to most people to learn that much of what they are doing, even the spiritual things (especially the spiritual things), are vanity. People have been taught that so long as they attend church and pray the right prayers for protection, blessings, power or anointing then everything will be well with them. People who relate to God in this way are behaving like heathens - Jesus says so. Heathen people are not irreligious. They worship! They pray! Hypocrites give! Hypocrites fast! Hypocrites do mighty works in the Name of Jesus! But according to Jesus, it counts for nothing. It is all in vain. They do not really KNOW Him, and He does not "know" them either.

"Do not be like [the heathen], for your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him (Matthew 6:8)."

Here is something interesting! Jesus says not to pray as if we would be heard for our much speaking or grandiose speech, because the Father knows what we need before we ask Him. Well then! What is the point of praying? If God knows what I need before I ask, why ask at all? If prayer is nothing more than making my needs known to God then perhaps we can stop praying, since He already knows what they are. But perhaps prayer, as Jesus teaches it, has very little to do with making requests to the Lord for my own needs to be met. If so, then to continue praying on the basis of my needs is vanity. Vanity is not only futility, but it is self-centeredness. Thus, "Do not be like the heathen, who vainly repeat the same prayers with a view towards getting their own needs met."

Jesus does not say that since the Father knows what we need, we do not HAVE to pray - but if He already knows what we need then it should definitely change the WAY we pray. When we do pray we should not behave like a hypocrite or a heathen, obsessed with ourselves. Our needs are already known to the Lord. So it is not as though we have to go to God and inform Him as to the details of our situation in order to fully appraise Him of what is happening. We might give our doctor such detailed information so a proper diagnosis can be made, but the Lord does not need any assistance from us in order to help Him figure out the problem. Nor does He need us to tell Him what needs to be done, as if we know what is called for and He does not.

What if prayer is something deeper than rehearsing my needs to the Lord? What if prayer is a means toward a higher end than getting my circumstances and my surroundings in order? In other words, what if prayer is not about my needs, my desires, my wants, my requests, or my situation at all? What if prayer is meant to meet the LORD'S need? What if, instead of coming to the Lord with OUR expectation as to the outcome, we come to the Lord, interested in knowing what HIS expectation is? What if prayer is not about giving voice to MY will at all, but is about giving voice to HIS will?

This concept may be too radical for some, because it will require a further death to their Self. But since the Father knows what we have need of before we ask, prayer must not be primarily concerned with telling Him what He already knows. Since we are to pray, and since the Lord knows our needs already, does this not indicate a higher calling and a deeper work to be done in prayer than merely voicing my personal prayer requests? To the heathen and the hypocrite, who are so absorbed with Self, vanity (futility and self-centeredness) is evident everywhere, and in their praying in particular. According to the Scriptures, it appears that Jesus is bringing us to a deeper understanding of prayer. So after what manner SHOULD we pray then? Jesus makes it very plain.

HOW TO PRAY

"Pray after this manner: 'Our Father in heaven, may Your Name be hallowed, may Your Kingdom come, may Your Will be done: as in heaven, so in earth (Matthew 6:9,10).'"

Now that we know the kind of prayer which is not acceptable to the Lord, it is time for us to look at the kind of prayer which is acceptable. The Lord Jesus is not giving us a prayer to repeat word for word, for that would be contrary to everything He has told us up to this point (observe how we still cling to it ritualistically anyway). Instead, He gives us a pattern, a prototype, a foundation of all prayer by saying, "Pray after this manner", or, "Pray along these lines."

At once we are lifted up from the earthly situation and are made to focus upon a heavenly Father, a heavenly Kingdom, and a heavenly Will. I believe it is so important for us to see this. Prayer does not begin on the earth, it begins in the heavens. It does not begin with man, it begins with the Father. It does not begin with man's need, but with God's will. Our praying is ineffectual because we pray as earthly men with an earthly perspective concerning earthly things. See how far and above this manner of praying is when compared to the hypocrite, praying in public to be seen of men! Prayer ought to bring us up into the heavenlies, not bring us down deeper into the earth. It ought to focus our vision on the Father, not on man, or the problems of man. Spiritual prayer begins in the Spirit; heavenly prayer begins in the heavenlies.

When we pray "after this manner" we are transported and elevated beyond flesh-and-blood, beyond the natural, beyond the earthly, beyond the seen-and-felt universe in which we live. We are at once brought into alignment with Someone larger than ourselves, Someone higher, Someone greater. This Someone has an agenda, and is working all things together in one accord towards this agenda. What is the agenda? It is the Will and the Kingdom. So what is the Will and the Kingdom? The Will is "all things in Christ" and the Kingdom is the fulfillment of that Will, when Christ has the preeminence. All of God's movements are towards this End.

So the chief objective of prayer is to bring us into cooperation with the Father so that we are harmonious with Him - with respect to our love relationship as well as our working relationship. Much time and effort in prayer is spent trying to get God involved with OUR agenda, with OUR plans, with OUR goals, with OUR cause, with OUR needs, real or imagined. But after all, who is the Master? Who is the servant? Whose will are we seeking anyway: ours, or His? If we have not touched upon the Will and the Kingdom in our praying then we are praying in vain, because God cannot contradict Himself, and cannot answer such prayer. If our agenda is not harmonious with His then our agenda has to go. Most of our prayers are simply too small, too narrow-minded, and too constricted. We do not see anything beyond our present surroundings. We have not seen the big picture. We do not have a heavenly perspective. So to begin with we must empty ourselves of all preconceived ideas and seek the Lord's Will and the Lord's Kingdom when we pray, for this truly hallows the Father.

"Give us today's bread again as usual; and as we have forgiven others their sins, so forgive us our sins (Matthew 6:11,12).'"

The Lord does not tell us NOT to make our requests known to Him. It is appropriate to thankfully acknowledge Him on a daily basis as our Provider and the One Who forgives. The difference is this. When we pray the Will and the Kingdom, when we lose ourselves and our agenda, when we come to the Lord to meet His need, then we will find our needs are met: but even if they are not met, we will not care. Our desire is for Him, and so long as we are in His Will and in His Kingdom, the issue of whether or not my personal needs are met becomes of secondary importance. Prayer is not the vehicle whereby I get my needs met. It is the means through which God's Need is met. Now that I am praying on behalf of God's Will and God's Kingdom, now that I am praying in alignment with God's desire for the ages, He will be sure to supply me with what I need (indeed, nothing can prevent it, for nothing has been able to prevent it for billions of years). As I have sought first the Kingdom, all that is required will be added to me. Not for my sake, you see, but for His sake. As I have vested myself into His Kingdom, He has vested Himself into my well-being. How could it be otherwise?

For after all, where is the Kingdom? Here, or there, in the future, in the past? No, the Kingdom is within you (Luke 17:21). When we pray God's Will and God's Kingdom, are we not asking for Christ to increase and for us to decrease? Are we not asking for Christ to have the greater preeminence in us individually as disciples? For the moment, forget about bringing the Church together or getting everyone to see the same thing. If each of us prayed this with no greater goal but for ourselves, would this not by extension include the entire Church, of which we are members? So we are praying for Christ to have the preeminence in us individually as disciples; in the Church corporately; and in all of creation collectively. We are aligning ourselves with some very powerful forces, all working together towards God's Ultimate Purpose.

Now whether or not you consider the bread to be physical or spiritual (or both), it is provided daily. And, on a daily basis, forgiveness of sins is provided. Bread speaks to our Life, and forgiveness of sins speaks to our walk. Daily we require Life in order to live. Daily we offend others, and daily we offend God. So daily we have need of forgiveness. Quite frankly, whatever else we may think we need is summed up into these two things. Everything else is good to have, and God may be pleased to grant them, but they are not absolutely necessary. No one has a Scriptural "right" to make demands upon the Father for whatever they want, no more than my children should expect me to give them everything they ask for.

Since we are already blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3), the bulk of our prayers ought to be centered on God's Will and not our wants. UNLESS - and here is where it gets interesting and powerful - UNLESS what WE want is what HE wants. God will deny no prayer that is in agreement with what He Himself wants to do. In fact, He is the One Who makes His Will known to us, so we can voice our agreement to it in prayer, so it will come to pass. Conformity to Christ includes wanting what He wants, and if this is taking place in us, the first place it will manifest itself is in our praying, for this is where the exchange of His Life for my life is taking place. And by now we should already know that God only wants ONE THING. Eventually, that is all we will want, and that is all we will be able to pray. The easiest way to get your wants met in prayer is to only want ONE THING.

"Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: for the Kingdom is Yours, the Power is Yours, and the Glory is Yours. May it be so forever. (Matthew 6:13).'"

As we begin with the Kingdom, so we end with the Kingdom. On what basis may we claim deliverance from evil? On the basis that the Kingdom is of God, the Power is of God, and the Glory is of God.

What is evil? All that is of Antichrist is evil. Antichrist resists God's movement towards Christ as All in All. Whether or not this culminates in a last days dictator is beside the point. Antichrist has been with us from the beginning. The spirit of Antichrist has always resisted the preeminence of Christ, from Lucifer's rebellion to the sins of your flesh. A thing does not have to be bad to be evil. It could be as an angel of light. Of course, bad things are evil, but even seemingly good things are evil if they are not bringing us further into Christ as All in All. So if God's Highest Good is Christ, then anything less than Christ or apart from Christ is evil.

So many are under the impression that the devil has a kingdom, but a search of the Scriptures fails to produce a single shred of evidence to suggest this. "Thine is the Kingdom." The Kingdom belongs to God. God never gave anything to the devil. Even in the Old Testament, before Jesus walked the earth, it is said, "The earth is the LORD'S, and the fullness thereof: the world, and they that dwell therein (Psalms 24:1)." Again, many are obsessed with the alleged "power" of darkness, and anyone who has the ability to deceive another has the ability to control them, but here we are told "Thine is the Power." There is no intrinsic power of darkness, there is only power over individuals gained through deception. The True Power is not held by darkness, but by God, through Jesus Christ, in heaven as well as in earth (Matthew 28:18). Finally, "Thine is the Glory." It is this Glory of Christ as He in fact is that manifests to us by revelation, and this Glory is indeed manifested in the heavens as well as in the whole earth (Psalms 8).

Now if we carefully look at these three items - the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory - we see that it is as much for earth as it is for heaven. It truly represents all that "as in heaven, so in earth" means. Yet there is, on the earth, something which seems to challenge the preeminence of Christ, as if to say that there is another Kingdom, another Power, and another Glory, whether it be of men or of satan (Luke 4:5,6). To pray in this manner is to declare otherwise. It is to stand upon the earth and give testimony that there is only One Kingdom, One Power, and One Glory, and these belong to the Father and to His Christ. Of course, we must see this and believe it in order to pray it. But this, essentially, is the Testimony of Jesus and the ministry of the overcomers.

The thing which hampers our praying the most is the smallness of our vision. Prayer is only a means to an End, and the End is to see Christ established as the Preeminent One on the earth as in heaven. Prayer aligns us with the heart of God so that we only desire the One Thing that He desires.

We cannot, we should not, have faith in prayer itself. How easy it is to put our confidence in a method or a technique for praying and begin relating to God like a heathen. How easy it is to put our confidence in man and begin relating to God like a hypocrite. It is interesting to see that as powerful as "the Lord's Prayer" is, it is nevertheless done behind closed doors, and in secret. We are not told that we must go to strategic points on the globe in order to exercise our authority. We are not given the names of demons or principalities with which we must engage ourselves. Not at all. In our prayer closet, once the door is shut, we merely pray in this manner to the Father, and He will reward us openly.

And lest we forget, Christ is our reward. We seek not His things, but Him. We seek not our Kingdom, but His. We rely not in our power, but in His. And as we are decreased, He is increased, and His glory is revealed and made manifest in us and through us. This is true prayer, provided we are willing to leave our ground and come onto His ground, praying His Will and not ours.

O Father, reveal Your Son in us. Teach us to pray. Your Name be sanctified. We stand for your Kingdom and for Your Will in the earth. May Your Kingdom come - in us. May Your Will be done - in us. As in heaven, so in earth. We thank you that as we seek first Your Kingdom, everything we need is provided. Deliver us from all that is Antichrist, from all that is natural, from all that is flesh-and-blood, from all that is carnal, from all that is earthly, and establish us in the Kingdom of Your Dear Son. We recognize no kingdom but Yours, no power but Yours, no glory but Yours. May it be so forever. Amen.

CHIP BROGDEN

 

[Greatness4life]

The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory

The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory
Chip Brogden

"For Thine is the Kingdom, and the Power, and the Glory forever. Amen (Matthew 6:13b)."

This three-fold benediction concludes what is commonly referred to as the Lord's Prayer. It is a fitting conclusion to what we call the Prayer of the Kingdom, or the Prayer of the Overcomer.

This confession is the summation of all that precedes it, the end result of what we are asking: "FOR..." Why do we bless the Name of the Father? Why do we pray for the Will and the Kingdom to be accomplished? Why do we pray for daily bread and forgiveness of sins? Why do we pray to be kept from evil? "FOR..." We ask for all these things BECAUSE the Kingdom is Yours, the Power is Yours, and the Glory is Yours. All the others are requests, but these three are declarations. "Thine IS the Kingdom... Thine IS the Power... Thine IS the Glory." That is the conclusion that we come to, and it is the reason that we pray in this way.

The Testimony of Jesus is committed to the Church, and the matter of His Kingdom, His Power, and His Glory is an intrinsic part of that Testimony. The Testimony answers to everything which man or the devil may challenge us with. So let us look at each one respectively.

THINE IS THE KINGDOM

There is a tremendous battle taking place in the spiritual realm. This conflict began long ago when Lucifer rebelled against the Lord and His Christ. There is this conflict of light versus darkness, good versus evil. There is that which represents the interests of God the Father and His Son, and there is that which represents another interest, an alien interest, something that is absolutely opposed to the Will, Plan, and Purpose of God - it is Antichrist, opposed to Christ. It refuses to submit itself to the preeminence and sovereignty of the Lord Jesus. We can see that plainly enough just by looking to the earthly ministry of the Lord and how even the religious system, especially the religious system, rejected Him and sought to destroy Him. We see in the Book of Acts how this enormous energy and antagonism was then poured out upon the Church in an attempt to obliterate the very Name of Jesus.

This spirit of Antichrist is active today. It is at work in the world, and it is at work in the Church (or, what is called "the Church"), and it is at work within each one of us individually, trying to draw us out into something - anything - other than Christ. Hence the Lord's need for overcomers to rise up and demonstrate that in spite of all appearances to the contrary, THE LORD JESUS REIGNS, and He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. This demonstration begins with each individual disciple, then finds expression within the corporate synthesis of Believers, before finding its ultimate expression and release in all creation. If the Lord does not have the preeminence in us as individual disciples, if we remain unsurrendered to Him in our own lives, how can the Church as a whole ever hope to bear His Testimony to the world? This is a critical point.

What assurance are we given? It is this: that in spite of nation rising up against nation, kingdom rising up against kingdom, political tumults and global confusion, "THINE IS THE KINGDOM - Your Throne is everlasting, Your Kingdom is established, and of the increase of Your Government there shall be no end (Isaiah 9:6,7). In other words, as Daniel would say, the Heavens DO rule, and it is the Most High God Who governs the affairs of men. THAT is the heart of the matter. THAT is what we are moving towards, from our day-to-day affairs as followers of Jesus, to the course and direction of this entire age.

This Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and His throne endures forever. This is a Kingdom made without hands, invisible, but filling the whole earth one disciple at a time, and then spreading through the little companies of "two or three gathered together" in His Name, moving forward and destroying everything that fails to put the Son of God in His rightful place and anything that fails to make Him the First, and the Only. By our very declaration we are aligning ourselves with an awesome, holy force which will one day gather (or, should I say, RE-gather) "all things in Christ (Ephesians 2:10)."

THINE IS THE POWER

The only legitimate power in the universe belongs to the Lord Jesus - all other power is either illegitimate or temporal. If THE power belongs to Him, then it cannot belong to anyone else. Jesus says, "All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth." That is a very broad statement, is it not? Absolute power over all of creation!

We might expound upon the difference between the Greek words for authority and power. But such an exercise is irrelevant when it comes to the qualifications and credentials of the Son of God. This Jesus has both the authority and the power. Whether He is teaching, or speaking, or rebuking, or remaining silent, we at once know that we are in the presence of One Who has the authority of God in Him. And, when we see Him heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out devils, and purge the Temple of its moneychangers, we know that this Man also has the Power of God in Him. Who is like unto Him!

This is the sort of power that can arrest Saul of Tarsus and transform him into Paul the apostle. This same Paul, who has touched upon this mighty power, prays that we would be given wisdom and revelation to know "the exceeding greatness of His Power to us-ward who believe (Ephesians 2:19a)."

In a world in which men (and devils) wrestle for dominion, joust for position, seek the preeminence for themselves, strive to exert their influence over others, and lust for more and more control over one another, we as the Church may simply raise our hands to heaven and lift up our eyes to the One in Whom God has vested all of His omnipotence and declare to the universe, "THINE IS THE POWER, and apart from You, we can do nothing."

THINE IS THE GLORY

"We beheld His glory," the apostle John writes, "the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14)." The Kingdom and the Power are seen in the Glory. The Glory is the revealing of the preciousness of this One, the Only Begotten, the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Over and over we read in the Scriptures, "To Him be the glory." He alone is worthy to be praised; He alone is worthy of our adoration and exaltation.

But everyone cannot see this Glory. To many who look, Jesus of Nazareth is a prophet, a teacher, a good man, a miracle-worker, the founder of Christianity, but not God Incarnate. They do not see the Glory of the Son, so they cannot appreciate the extreme worth, the vast wealth, summed up and contained within this Man.

One day the entire world will see Him as He is, and will finally give Him the place He deserves: for every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that JESUS CHRIST IS LORD, to the GLORY of God the Father (Philippians 2:10,11). Yes, this is how it will all end. But what about now? "All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's (Philippians 2:21)."

Thankfully, this is beginning to change. There is a Remnant of called-out ones who have seen the Glory of the Son and WILL seek the interests of God's Only Begotten One. In a time when men solicit the glory and honor and power from one another, there is a Holy Nation of priests and kings who will give the Son the glory He deserves, declaring, "THINE IS THE GLORY, we will render to You, and to You alone, the glory due Your Name."

And the final word: "Amen - may it be so, henceforth and forever." We proclaim it, not to bring it forth (as if it depended upon our confession), but to acknowledge it as a present reality which is breaking forth upon all that stands in opposition to it, and to establish once and for all that we have chosen - individually and corporately - to align ourselves with God's Ultimate Purpose and Will, making us co-workers together with Him towards the Goal of CHRIST FILLING ALL THINGS. He MUST increase, and all else MUST decrease (John 3:30). We can observe this decrease taking place in the world around us, but we should also be able to see that WE, the Self, is being decreased in order to prepare us for Kingdom in which it is no longer "I" that live as a thing outside of Christ, but it is Christ Who lives in me, conforming me to His image, and reproducing His character and nature within me (Galatians 2:20).

When He has gained the preeminence in us personally, then He will have gained the preeminence in the Church. Towards this end, may the Lord establish His Kingdom, manifest His Power, and reveal His Glory: to each disciple individually, to the Church corporately, and to all Creation collectively. Amen! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

 

[Greatness4life]

Grace unto everyone who has one time or other read through this forum. May the Lord continue to Bless as such who hearts stay on Him.

Once again, Happy new year and welcome to the year and years beyond that Lord has made to show-case His greatness in the world by and through His Church(The overcomers).

Indeed, its a favorable season for God's people and also to the world, because all that the Lord is doing is out of His mercy and grace. So, let's embrace the Lord more and more and continue to raise our voice to Him in prayers and supplications for all saints in every place.

May the Lord be gracious to us all in Jesus name. Amen

 

[Greatness4life]

I found this written by a brother! Warning; Its a hard

The Growing Madness Called "Church"

Many of the articles I write, I enjoy because they sort of ‘burn out’ of me through my fingers and all I have to deal with is grammar and formatting. I am not particularly writing this because I enjoy the topic but I feel that there is a need to speak the truth. It will then be up to individuals to love or hate it, act or remain passive as people tend to do – or even fight it – but I would have spoken the truth.

I sat down in a gathering where I was about to do a gig, focusing on going up to the stage to play some songs. Just before I went up, a guy went up to the podium and started speaking freely about ‘Church’ and ‘Christianity’ – and I sat in my seat and felt fed up… again – but in a nice sort of way. I was glad that someone who has never read any of my articles or had a discussion with me, but who is evidently given to the God-Chase had similar things to say about the filthy stench of ‘Church’, if I may.

Now, when I say Church, I refer to its usage as is commonly used, a place where people gather to do fast-paced music they call ‘praise’ and slow-paced music they call ‘worship’, where the gathering of one person speaking to a large group of passive listeners is ‘fellowshipping’, where the ‘pastor’ is the leader of the ‘flock’ which is the congregation and where he is respected and worshipped as a demi-god because he is ‘the man of God’… But the truth is, no congregation or gathering of people is perfect, so let me not flog these issues.

But then, there are other things.

The church intends to ‘grow’ and by that, it means increase in numbers and branches with more individuals who take on board the practice that characterizes the mode of worship of the denomination, its style of dressing, style of speaking, style of living, which is, more or less, an off-shoot of the church’s ‘founders’.
These may not be the best scenario, ideally, but then, there are other things.

Tithe and Offering are gathered to aid in the ‘growth’ of the church. What is hard to understand is that people are actually discouraged from finding out what these are used for. Is it not in the New Testament church that they had all things in common – and in the Old Testament where offerings for the widows and orphans were gathered, was it not the responsibility of EACH Israelite to carry out the disbursement of these things and NOT the priests? If there is true community, how can tithes and offerings be used to build schools and institutions that ‘members’ of the ‘church’ cannot afford to attend? If there is true community, how can there be people who lack, not because of unwillingness to work, but because of a lack of support? How can a church have 4 keyboards and other such things when right in its (Note: NOT her) midst are the homeless, the widows, the poor – and yet, like the gentleman aptly said, the church sends out money for ‘prison mission’ and ‘missionary missions’ when people die and are broken right there in the midst of the congregation from lack and poverty?

But it’s hard to understand because you are most likely reading this article on facebook, on the internet, and on your smartphone – because you often can afford the basics and are completely clueless about the struggling of those who are truly ‘poor’.

But John, you say, didn’t Jesus say ‘The poor you will always have’ – and to that I say, yes, he did. That was because he was referring to the hypocritical systems of the world that are nothing less than systems to extract resource and give to those who are wealthy and in power – and who who make the laws. Do you not understand when he said ‘ Ye are in the world, but NOT of the world’? Actually, in the Church system he left behind, the book of Acts says, NO MAN had need of anything because everyman brought what he had and resources were given equally to all…

But we don’t even understand equality.

The gentleman spoke of a madness that roiled my spirit and churned my stomach. He spoke of seats in a congregation reserved for financial ‘partners’ and how he stood because there were no seats till near the end of the ‘service’ or rituals, and then just at the end, the partners came in…just in time for grace.

What madness! What blindness! What folly!

Was it not James who said the rich should be treated as equally as the poor and was it not scripture that says we should condescend to men of low estate. Heck, these aren’t even Christian principles. They are just proper.

Truth must be told, and let me be hated for it! ‘Churches’ are often temples of hypocrisy where lying, filth, slander and greed rise up before the nostrils of the Most High like the putrid incense of fools who have no clue of the greatness and purity of God. Truth be told, most people in Church in this land are there mainly for what they can extract out of God and man under the disgusting guise of faith and fellowship – the latter being nothing more than business networking. The corruption, hypocrisy and decadence of the nation screams forth of the actual fruit of a nation where there are almost more churches than stars in the heavens! It is in a church that a man who has looted the national funds can go to for thanksgiving and give thanks to God.

What madness!

Truth be told, there are just too many pastors who are often shallow, weak, godless, irreverent men who have gone from the worship of the true God to being CEOs of corporate religious factories as they lick the slime off the anal openings of evil godless men, corrupt politicians, dishonest leaders, not able to speak the truth – and in the perverse government of the day, one hardly talks of ANY Christian standing up against a depraved government – but one can speak of FELA who wasn’t even a pastor and yet stood against evil and corruption in his own way. Are we not the SALT and LIGHT?

Shame! Shame!! Shame!!!

Truth be told, there are many in denominations who serve God, love God and seek God – but beyond desire, like an adoring fan would want to learn an instrument but is not able to follow through, the MASSES are talkers, pointers, who are ready to sacrifice nothing, lose nothing, not be persecuted and would rather resort to ‘wisdom’ as they fear to speak truth to their little idols, their ‘men of god’ – but would rather serve them at every turn with the words ‘my pastor said’, never hearing the Spirit say ‘Come’. Madness and folly! Like salt sprinkled in a bowl of salt and like light shining in an already lighted room, so is their weak ‘expression of faith’ – so ‘wise’ and ‘worded’ around other saints, so useless, godless, pointless, faithless – and powerless around sinners.

Ask yourself the last time you saw a miracle – or even ask yourself the last time you spoke to someone about Christ. Ask yourself the last time you sat with a drunk or prostitute, an addict, a gambler, a cultist – or did you not read what the scripture said that ‘they that are whole need no physician’? Like the parable of Jesus, instead of being cocooned in our little silly gatherings, tearing each other in spiritual boredom over stupid theological differences and ‘Greek’ interpretation that is a guise for our spiritual hollowness, are we not to go to the ‘highways and byways’, to the lost out there – but hey, even the lost are among us – they sit in the high places in our gatherings and steer the course of the sermons with their donations and cash.

The message is lost as every man becomes a God to himself, interpreting scripture through the lens of his societal point of view, each man armed with his caricature of what God is, from Santa Clause to Goblin, to fiery killer, to marriage counselor to a God who is concerned with taking wealth from the wicked and giving it to ‘his own’, who, really, are equally as wicked, godless, loveless and do not understand the basic fact of: Love your enemies.

Where did it all go wrong? Yes, many will rise to defend how ‘good’ their gatherings are, because they know nothing or have not been schooled to understand that the Church is ONE. A sick member means the whole is affected, and denominations are man’s tents and his puny attempts to compartmentalize the divine. Like grasping of the wind…futility!
Do you foolishly think you have the Holy Spirit trapped in your bottle of anointing oil or that you will command the angels and they will obey you and the words that come out of your imperfect, unwise, inept lips, lips that conveys messages from a brain that cannot comprehend mere quantum physics and yet thinks it has the know-how to command changes in the heavenlies? Folly!

The heathen laugh because they turn to ‘sons of God’ for truth, and all they see are bickering, fighting, greedy talkers who love more talk and more programs – and yes, they love celebrities and red carpets too – and all in the name of doing all for ‘the glory of God’.

The call is simple. Many will fall away from the faith giving heed to doctrines of devils. Do you think you will make heaven as you live the lie you call your life? I have no answers to cure the maladies – but I do know there is a way – THE WAY.
No one comes to the Father, except through Him – and no one stay with the Father except they abide IN Him. Those who abide may be lonely and unpopular, but the ones who will follow the Lamb wherever he goes love not their lives unto death… They have left Babylon and Egypt and follow the cloud of the Lamb, without rituals, as the wind blows – because those who are actually led by the Spirit are like the wind.

Friend, time is truly too short to be diplomatic and rambling.

Do you really love Him more than THINGS that will pass away or will you keep giving excuses till the darkness sweeps over you completely and you start to fight the light in your blind deadness?

Forget your friggin buildings and caucuses!

It was never about them, your tin-foiled pastors – or even you.

It’s all about HIM.

Maranatha...