‘Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked, for the evil man has no future and the lamp of the wicked will be put out’ (PV 24:19, 20).
Why worry about someone who has no future? Why fret about someone who goes backwards? The wicked are part of the History of sinners; they live only in past ‘glory’! There is no hope, no light and no life for them ahead.
God created you. God loves you. If you are aware of it or not, God is actively involved in your life. God is never taken by surprise about anything concerning you. He does not have just a vague idea about some guidelines of your life.
According to His personal revelation, God has made detailed plans about all the areas of your life. God has personally designed these plans. He that designed them, He will not stop until His plans for you are fulfilled. Whatever God starts, He finishes it.
God Has Been Good To Me
John Paul was kidnapped for ransom by assasins earlier this year. They blindfolded and chained him in a lonely house, in the bush. He was told that if he cannot pay the ransom, he will die.
Then he repented of sins, especially of taking God for granted, for giving too much time and interest to his (successful) business and too little to God. He asked for mercy and vowed to change. His wife (of only two months) was praying for a miracle.
Uncompromising Faith In God
People of this world think that bending the rules and compromising their conscience is the way to riches, promotion and success. The Bible tells us the opposite. Daniel is a wonderful example on how ‘not compromising’ – but obeying the Word and serving the Lord is the way to true prosperity, spiritual and material.
You need to have faith in God and to be bold to be successful. Cowards and cheats will never last long as leaders. Every seed planted, good or bad, will produce an harvest, sooner or later. There is labor involved in all fields. It is not even easy to be a lazy deceiver. Why not invest your time, emotions and strength in things eternal? Why not try to live a righteous life? Taste and see that the Lord is good!
Father’s House
“Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying…she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white…she turned around and saw Jesus…supposing He was the gardener…Then Jesus called out to her: ‘Mary!’ She turned around toward Him and cried out…’Rabboni…Teacher!” (Jn 20)
Even in the midst of tragedy, disappointment and loneliness do not be in a hurry to quit seeking God and go home. Mary was left alone in the cemetery’s Garden. Most people will not feel comfortable to be there alone. But she stayed, weeping for the loss of her Lord. Jesus died and disappeared from the tomb. Double sorrow and no answer to the puzzle…
Jemine Leigh says this:
“I was a really good student in high school. But somehow or the other I struggled in the University classes and I failed two courses my first year. I didn’t even know what it was like to have a C yet alone an F!
The Battle Is Not Yours
I thought my parents will go mad but my dad told me… “you won’t know how sweet success is till you fail”. He reminded me that a strong man (or woman) is not one who walks and never falls but a man who falls 7 times and rises 7 times.
Later, I graduated with Honors, but I will never forget the need to constantly pray for God to guide me, to help me. As much as I studied, I always felt the need to feel God’s presence for every exam and every project.
Bread Of Life
We are outside the country for a short break. Yesterday we attended a midweek service in a church here in the US. The building was very big and beautiful! The lights, the ACs and the loudspeakers worked perfectly. People came, many in wheel chairs or with walking sticks.
The program announced a popular guest speaker. The praise was good but too short. Then the preacher gave just enough of the Word of God so that the people did not faint of hunger, as they were going home.
There were words, there was music, but the glory of true worship and the wonder of anointed gospel preaching was missing. I suddenly felt a great compassion for the people who came from far distances just to take ‘a bite’ of blessings.
There was no ‘looking unto heaven’ no ‘giving of thanks’ and no multiplication of loaves according to the need of the multitutde! O, Lord…
So different from what I know about Jesus who gave the people not just enough to survive, but ‘to be satisfied’ (Mk 6:41, 42).
Blessed are you if your pastor feeds you with the bread of life and gives you water of life to drink, asking nothing in return, but just to give glory to God from whom all blessings over- flow!
HAPPY WITH CHURCH TONIGHT
THE NAMES OF GOD: JEHOVAH SHAMMAH (The Lord is There)
‘And the name of the city from that time on will be: The Lord is there (Jehovah Shammah)!’ (Ez 48:35)
The name of God Jehovah Shammah appears in the last verse of the Book of Ezekiel. The prophet sees a future temple, perfect and beautiful. What makes the temple so special is the fact that God lives there.
The revelation of the name Jehovah Shammah connects the manifested presence of God and His glory revealed to men. It is revealed in particular as the Owner of a house living inside.
HAPPY WITH CHURCH TONIGHT
THE WOMAN – THE WELL – THE WATER – THE WORSHIP‘Jesus declared: “Believe Me, woman…” (Jn 4:21)
Jesus ‘left Judea’. His own people ‘received Him not’. He goes to Samaria for a particular mission. O…the sovereign grace of God!
The Jews detest the Samaritans and had no dealings with them. According to the Jews, they are not worthy of heaven. But Jesus goes there to meet with a (low class) woman.
She was married 5 times and now living with the sixth man. She was a failure, according to men. She was an outcast of the outcasts.
PROPHETIC WORD By Gerri Saiz
Lift up your heads, My children, and walk with Me. I have not forgotten you. I’ve watched over you from the day of your birth. I have followed you on the path of life. I have brought you through circumstances even as I brought the three Hebrew children through the fire without the smell of smoke on them. I have been with you, I have loved you, and I have shown you the way. I am for you and not against you.
‘For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of God’ (Rom 8:20)
Again, let me make it personal: before I read the Bible for the first time in my life, I did not know what is called sin. I did not believe in a holy God that could be offended by my sins. I thought that even if God exists He is too far and too detached from me; that my sins are my own business and not his.
One Encounter With God
I had my own idea of what is good and what is bad and I judged myself and others based on that. I was my own god and I invented my own righteousness. Looking back I see my foolishness all the more!
I remember the first time I read the Bible. My encounter with the Word was terrifying. I just came face to face with God who hated sin. I saw myself for the first time in my life as a sinner in need of salvation. I tried to read just my life based on what I discovered in the Bible, but all that new behavior still did not bring peace to my soul.
I thought that I will die and go to hell. All my arguments, all my good deeds and all that I stood for, became useless to me. I needed something else to cling to. God did not reveal to me the hope in Christ until the Holy Spirit finished His work of conviction.
Then the light shone in my heart…I saw Christ Crucified praying for me…His Blood shed for me…Too good to be true? Is that what you say? It may be so, but the grace to believe the impossible came, descended on my dying soul…and I became saved.
Except you have passed this path, this valley of the shadow of death…you can never believe so to be saved!
HAPPY WITH CHURCH TONIGHT
THE NAMES OF GOD:
JEHOVAH TSIDKENU (The Lord our Righteousness)
(THE HOPE FOR REVIVAL)
‘Righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a disgrace to any people’ (PV 14:34)
Any true believer will soon discover that God will give him a hatred for sin and a burden to pray for revival.
The Holy Spirit gives him a vision of what his city can be if most people live upright and obey God. Even the unbelievers like that idea and have created utopic societies, trying to convince people that they should obey their laws and love one another.
John Leonard Dober and David Nitschman are names you may not readily recognize. John was a potter and David a carpenter. Ordinary occupations. Extraordinary men. They are men who left the security of their jobs and families in Copenhagen to become the first Moravian missionaries in 1732. They are unsung heroes.
These men were not going on a nice short term mission to the Caribbean, or even Africa or China but they sold themselves into slavery to answer the call ‘come and minister the gospel to us’. It gives new meaning to the phrase “sold out for Christ”.
Dreamer
I am a dreamer. I am not speaking of dreams in the night, good or bad. I have a purpose, an identity and a hope. The fountain of all these is found in Christ alone. He encourages me to dream. We dream together. We laugh together. When men are sad and withdraw from the light, together we find a million reasons to sing a new song.
My plantation is the first on the right as you enter the land called ‘Perfect love drives out all fears’. My harvest is plentiful. Each apple, each bluebell exists for the pleasure of my Prince. Peace is the dew and joy is the fragrance of flowers never seen by men.
Green Pastures 