Saturday, June 27, 2020

DEDICATED TO THE PERSECUTED CHURCH

This is dedicated to all our brothers and sisters in Christ, who suffer for the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. worldwide.

Here is how to pray for the Persecuted Church, courtesy Open Doors:

1. Pray that whatever their circumstances, God will give persecuted Christians the right words.

2. Pray that persecuted Christians will understand and find peace in the sufficiency of God’s grace, even in their weaknesses.
3. Pray that Christians facing hardship will draw from a source of power larger than themselves.
4. Pray God would be present with persecuted Christians in their hardship, protecting them according to His will.
5. Pray their witness would inspire those who seek to harm them.

PSALM 69*
Save me, O God!
For the waters have come up to my neck.
I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
Those who hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
still must restore it.
O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also [e]made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
12 Those who [f]sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You,
Lordin the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.
18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.



Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

IN THE PRESENCE OF THE GOD OF PEACE

TEXT:

PHILIPPIANS 4:9
What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Friday, June 19, 2020

THE PRINCIPLES OF BIBLICAL POSITIVE THINKING

TEXT:

Philippians 4:8 

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

CAST YOUR CARES UPON GOD, HE CARES FOR US

TEXT:

Philippians 4:6-7 

6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Thursday, June 18, 2020

LIVING IN THE LAST DAYS...SOME THOUGHTS


“…not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:35 ESV).

In the beginning of the Quarantines/Lockdowns, which covered almost the entire world, the excitement to reach previously unreachable via all kinds of social media was sky high. It did work for a time. Sermons, prayers, worship music, daily live devotionals and more were flooding Facebook feeds, Twitter timelines and LIVE YouTube streams.

Somewhere along the way, as the lockdowns (or shelter in place or quarantines) dragged on, interest started waning.  As of now, the majority of some of the largest states in the United States and Canada are still under lockdown. On the west coast it seems it may drag on through the summer to September! From the first, when the quarantines and mandated church shutdowns started in March, it was sold as just for weeks only. Now over three months later, with many more to go, the sense of anxiety, depression and lack of interpersonal communication are taking heavy tolls on a lot of people, not just Christians.

There is a reason Scripture exhorts us to be very careful to assemble as a body of believers- REGULARLY. We now see the fruits of not doing this for months on end.

For every Elevation Church, which I discover can have 48,000-50,000 viewers watching the Elevation Worship Band and Pastor Steven Furtick LIVE on YouTube, there  are 1000 more churches in our immediate regions, who are just struggling to pay their electric or airconditioning bills, never mind have the capability to stream services. 

Some of them have managed to improvise by having church leaders record a video on his phone at home, and post it to YouTube of Facebook, but some of our more traditional and older churches are simply out in the cold, filled with loneliness and despair, having not being able to meet for going on half a year now, being technologically or financially unable to stream services.

Why did the Lord tell us to not “neglect to meet together” as is the “norm” now? The answer can be found in the verse above Hebrews 10:25…”encouraging one another, AND ALL THE MORE as you see the Day drawing near” (emphasis mine).

The key word here is ENCOURAGING”, which in the original New Testament language is the word “parakaleo”. We are to assemble together in worship for the purposes of “parakaleo”.

This means we meet at church to invite others (to come); to admonish (by the convicting preaching of the Word) another from the pulpit; to comfort one another (whether in grief or to come along side a fellow saint who is having a hard time) and to exhort each other, via words of enthusiastic encouragement or literal cheering on! These are just a few of the characteristics of this powerful word, “parakaleo”. It also means to instruct (Sunday School and bible study groups) and to plead or come along side someone else, to buffet their spiritual growth.

All of this is included in the meaning of this one Biblical word “PARAKALEO”! This is the sum total of the function of the church’s call to assemble regularly. When this is suddenly cut off, we are now in territory where most of our brothers and sisters in China, Asia, parts of Africa and the Middle East, North Korea, Russia etc. are experiencing due to persecution. Recently, over 250 churches in China were literally destroyed by the communist party.

Why do we do all of this “encouraging”? The verse tells us here: “as we see the Day drawing near”. Which Day? The Day of the Lord, which means Judgment Day, when the Lord Jesus comes to judge everyone who has ever lived. In many places, it is called the "terrible day of the Lord”, because Judgment Day is not going to go well. It is a time of approaching horror to the vast majority of mankind, which has unfortunately rejected both Jesus and His Plan of Salvation. At the same time, it will be a time of joy for the saints who will persevere throughout these long days of separation from brothers and sisters in Christ. The Day of the Lord will be a day for the Redeemed who have persevered, to stand before our Savior and be judged not for the purpose of getting into heaven, but for rewards (or lack thereof) for the kingdom work we did on this earth (or not).

So how do we continue to persevere throughout these times of isolation and quarantine, even as some churches, in many places slowly reopen? 

We reach out to as many as we can, by all means necessary to encourage them in their walk, to discern their prayer requests, to ask about their needs or if all is well okay with them, and to just drop by and be a friend. 

Let us continue to encourage each other, as the times are evil and the days are little flying towards an inevitable conclusion. Let us also continue to remind each other, that the Joy of the Lord is our strength and that Jesus is there fore us, now and until the End of the Age. Amen

Monday, June 8, 2020

THINGS GOD ABSOLUTELY HATES

TEXT:

16   There are six things that the Lord hates,
    seven that are an abomination to him:
17   haughty eyes, a lying tongue,
    and hands that shed innocent blood,
18   a heart that devises wicked plans,
    feet that make haste to run to evil,
19   a false witness who breathes out lies,
    and one who sows discord among brothers.

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

FOR A POWERFUL PRAYER, PART 2

In Part 2 of our study of the amazing prayer life of the great prophet Daniel, we go deeper and study his relationship with the One True God - Yahweh. His love, respect, devotion to Yahweh was so authentic and deep, that God sent an angel to tell Daniel the following:
"He said to me, "O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.(Daniel 10:11)

While we study various passages from Daniel Chapters 6 and 7, we camp on Daniel 9 for most of this message on developing a prayer life like Daniel, himself. We all have the ability and capacity to accomplish this, with dedication and self-discipline.



Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved

FOR A POWERFUL PRAYER LIFE, PART 1

The great prophet of the Old Testament, Daniel, has been a shining example of a person of prayer for over three thousand years. 

In this two part study of the incredible, organized and disciplined prayer life of Daniel, we walk through the entire book of Daniel, all the way up to Chapter 10, beginning at Daniel Chapter 1, verse 8

We will see that Daniel was:
   -  Bold in Prayer
   -  Bold as A Witness for God
   -  Bold in Seeking God



Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved