Jan. 14, 2021

The violent take it by force

Matthew 11:12(NMB) From the time of John the Baptist to now, the kingdom of heaven is sorely pressed, and those who go to it with effort seize it for themselves.

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.(NKJV)

From the time of John the Baptizer until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful people have been seizing it.(GW)

And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize—a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].(AMPC)


The above verse in different versions outlines that God's kingdom is advancing forcefully despite violent assaults and in order to grab a hold of it we need to be filled with zeal and enthusiasm. We need to be active in our faith as opposed to passively sitting by allowing the enemy to steal from and oppress us. As we hear so often in the business world, we need to think outside the box. We need to protect our health,  our finances, our families and our faith. In order to do that we need to be violent against the enemy of our souls, satan. We need to actively bind him and resist his assault on us and on our families. We need to seize our blessings by force. We need to be blessed in order to aid in the advancement of God's kingdom. If the enemy keeps us oppressed and we are barely able to keep our head above the water, we will neglect the advancement of God's kingdom. We need to exercise our dominion over the kingdom of darkness and allow the light of the gospel to shine through us. The Lord is our light and our salvation, whom shall we fear, the Lord is the strength of our hearts of whom shall we be afraid. We are living in perilous times as the enemy is raising its ugly head and throwing the world in a tizzy. We need to forcefully claim our protection, our provision, our health and wellness, the salvation of our families and all the many blessings that the Lord has promised us. We take it by force in order to establish Christ's dominion in our land. Blessed is the land whose God is the Lord. In closing,  an exhortation to be bold in your faith and to zealously possess what Christ has won for us, health, prosperity and salvation, wholeness in spirit, soul and body. Reclaim the promises of God and establish Christ's dominion in the world. Amen. 

Jan. 13, 2021

The God who answers by fire

1Kings 18:20-39
Ahab did as Elijah asked, sent word throughout the entire community of Israel, and gathered all the prophets atop Mount Carmel. Elijah (approaching the people): 21 How much longer will you sit on the fence, refusing to make a decision between the Lord and Baal? If you believe the Eternal One is the True God, then devote yourselves entirely to Him. If you believe Baal is your master, then devote yourselves entirely to him.All the people who were gathered together atop Mount Carmel were completely silent. They didn’t know what to say to this. Elijah: 22 I am the last remaining prophet of the Eternal. Baal has 450 prophets. Let us do a test to reveal the true quality of our deities. 23 Bring us two young bulls, the common sacrifice to your master whom you depict as a bull. The prophets of Baal may choose first which bull they want. They will kill it, chop it up, and prepare it for a fire by placing it above wood; but they will not light it. I will do the same with the other bull and prepare it for fire and place it above wood, but I will not light it. 24 Then you call upon your god, Baal, and I will call upon the Eternal. The God who answers with fire is the one True God.
Everyone liked this idea and said, “This sounds like a worthy plan.” Elijah (to the prophets of Baal): 25 You have the pick of the bulls. Take the one you want, and prepare it first because there are many of you. Call upon your god, but do not set fire to the wood. 26 The prophets of Baal picked out their bull and prepared it. They called upon Baal from dawn till noon, crying out, “Baal, answer us with fire!” But there was no voice, no reply. Nothing happened. All they did was dance around the altar they had built and cry out to an elusive god.
27 At about midday, Elijah began provoking them.
Elijah: You have to shout louder than that! The one to whom you cry out certainly must be a god! Perhaps he is daydreaming or napping or away from his heavenly throne. Perhaps he is in a deep sleep, and you must wake him up. Shout louder! 28 So all the prophets of Baal began to shout at the top of their lungs pleading with all their might. They cut themselves with knives and swords and spears until they were covered in their own blood. 29 Midday passed by, and the prophets of Baal kept on with their antics until it was time for the evening sacrifice. But still, there was no voice, no reply. No god heard them.
Elijah (to the people): 30 Gather around me.
So all the people gathered around him, and he fixed the Eternal’s altar that had been torn down. 31 Elijah gathered 12 stones, one for each of Jacob’s tribes. Jacob was the one who wrestled with God and whom the word of the Eternal One visited, saying, “Your name will be Israel.”32 Elijah took the 12 stones and constructed an altar in honor of the Eternal One and carved a ditch out around it large enough to hold 13 quarts of seed. 33 He set up the wood, chopped up the bull, and placed it on top of the wood.Elijah (to the people): Go get four big jars, and fill them all up with water. Then pour the water out over the burnt offering and the wood. 34 Now, do the same thing again.
And so they did it a second time.Elijah: All right, now do the same thing a third time.
And so they did it a third time. 35 The water covered the altar and even filled up the ditch. 36 When it was time for offering the evening sacrifice, Elijah called out to the Eternal.
Elijah (praying): Eternal One—God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel—reveal Yourself on this day as Israel’s God. Make it known that I serve You and have done all this because You commanded it of me. 37 Answer me, Eternal One. Reveal Yourself so that everyone here will know that You, Eternal One, are the True God—the only God. Do it so that everyone knows You are turning the gaze of their hearts back to You again.

38 Right then the Eternal One’s fire landed upon the altar. The flames consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the ground. The flames even drank up all the water in the ditch. 39 When everyone witnessed this extraordinary power, they all put their faces to the ground in fear and awe and wonder.
People: The Eternal One is the True God! The Eternal One is the True God!

Showdown:
Elijah, being a prophet of God, was exasperated with the evil leadership directing the people to worship Baal, an idol, in defiance of God. He challenged the prophets of Baal to a showdown to prove to all the people who the real God was. As we see in the passage above, the real God answered by fire and consumed the sacrifice, thus proving His existence to His people. We see a parallel in the world today. The people wavering between following idols set up by the worldly leadership and following the God of the Bible. As Elijah said in the passage above "the God who answers by fire is the real God ". Many times we fall into the trap of following religious rituals and forget that serving the Lord is exclusive. We cannot have one foot in the world and one foot in the Church. It's an all or nothing deal with Christ. We surrender all to Jesus because He shed His blood to redeem us. It cost Jesus all to save our souls. He wants us to give Him our all in order for us to enjoy His blessings on our lives. Let the fire of God consume the dross in our lives and purify our hearts to serve Him diligently. We need the fire of the Lord to ignite our spirit to venture out into the realm of the Spirit. We need to be aware that we are seated in heavenly places with Christ. We need the fire of God to illuminate our hearts. On the day of pentecost, when the disciples of Christ were together, the fire of God fell on them which allowed them to change the world. They were accused of turning the world upside down. In reality the world was already upside down and they turned it back the right way. Also, the disciples were accused of having been with Jesus. The world can recognize a person who has been with Jesus and who have their lives ignited by the Spirit of God. Therefore as God's people let us stop wavering and let us serve the Lord with gladness. In the words of Joshua let us choose this day whom we will serve. As for us we will serve the Lord. In closing, let the fire of God ignite our spirit and cause the world around us to be transformed by the power of His love. He is the God who answers by fire. Amen. 

Jan. 4, 2021

Wise Bridesmaids

Matthew 25:1-13
At that time the Kingdom of heaven will be like this. Once there were ten young women who took their oil lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish, and the other five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any extra oil with them, 4 while the wise ones took containers full of oil for their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was late in coming, so they began to nod and fall asleep.
6 “It was already midnight when the cry rang out, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come and meet him!’ 7 The ten young women woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 Then the foolish ones said to the wise ones, ‘Let us have some of your oil, because our lamps are going out.’ 9 ‘No, indeed,’ the wise ones answered, ‘there is not enough for you and for us. Go to the store and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 So the foolish ones went off to buy some oil; and while they were gone, the bridegroom arrived. The five who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast, and the door was closed.
11 “Later the others arrived. ‘Sir, sir! Let us in!’ they cried out. 12 ‘Certainly not! I don't know you,’ the bridegroom answered.”
13 And Jesus concluded, “Watch out, then, because you do not know the day or the hour.

The parable above relays a message to the Church awaiting Christ' return. The bridegroom refers to Christ and the young women refer to His Church. The oil refers to the Holy Spirit. Notice that in the beginning both the wise and the foolish had oil in their lamps. Initially, everyone was filled with the Spirit and were illuminating the darkness around them. However, the initial infilling of the Spirit will not always sustain us through the night. Jude 1:20 But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; Jude advises us to continue in prayer in order to continue being filled with the presence of God. It looks like 50% of the Church missed the second coming of the Lord. Only half brought extra oil to sustain them. The anointing on the other half ran out. Notice that as the Bridegroom delayed His return, all of the young women slept. The error was not in the fact that the Church was asleep, however in the lack of anointing of the Holy Spirit. It was alright to fall asleep as the trumpet will sound prior to Christ' return and wake us up. However it was not alright to be empty of the anointing of God. As we see Christ' second coming approaching, we need to ensure that we are continually being filled with the Spirit. We need to have our lamps trimmed with extra oil. There will be no time to muster up the anointing once the trumpet sounds announcing Christ' return. As Paul says,  finally my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Be ready to welcome the Bridegroom, having abundant oil in your lamps. Illuminate the surrounding darkness. Let your light shine so men will see your good work and glorify the Lord. Amen.