Posts Tagged ‘lord’
We believe that Jesus died and came back to life. We also believe that through Jesus, God will bring back those who have died. They will come back with Jesus.
Death is an unknown thing, we are much in the dark about the state of the dead, the state after death, yet there are some things concerning those who die in the Lord that we ought not to be ignorant of it.
If these things are really understood, they will be sufficient to allay our sorrow over our lost ones, we should be able to comfort those who mourn for the death of their closed ones, relatives and friends that died in the Lord, to be able to dissuade them from excessive grief and sorrow.
Those who have died in the Lord are actually retired out of this troublesome world, to rest from all their labors and sorrows, and they sleep in Jesus. Their souls are in the Lord’s presence. If we understand this, then we must not be immoderate in our sorrows because happy are those who die in the Lord. They have rest from their hard labors and works. Though they were laid in their last earthy resting place, weary and worn out, but such shall not be their awakening when the fullness of time come !
When the fullness of time come, those who died in the Lord shall be raised up from the dead, and awakened out of their sleep, for God will bring them with Him. They shall be awakened from their deep slumber and the Lord will give unto them the fullness of their redemption. They wake up in beauty and glory with a glorifying body. What an awaking! Through the divine power of our God, we will put on the wedding garment of incorruption.
Unlike the Gentiles, who had no hope of a better life after this life, we Christians have a most assured hope, the hope of an eternal life after this life, which God has promised us. This hope is more than enough to balance all our grief which we suffer in this present life.
The death and resurrection of Christ are fundamental articles of all the Christians to give us hope of a joyful resurrection, for Christ, having risen from the dead, has become the first fruits of those who slept. His resurrection is a full confirmation of all that is said in the gospel which has brought life and immortality to light.
Those who “sleep in Jesus”, their souls are now before the throne of God praising Him day and night.
Blessed are those who “sleep in Jesus”!
To become a child of God, you must believe and receive Lord Jesus Christ as your savior. You must not only believe Him for who He was and what He did, but you must receive Him as your personal life savior. We receive Him by asking Him to come into our heart.
Jesus said, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me ” (Revelation 3:20)
Lord Jesus will come to live in our heart. The Bible says,
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God “(John 1:12)
A truly repented believer who receive Christ will have the desire to share Christ with others. He always wants others to experience the joy and peace that he has found in Christ. He will also love those who are his brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Bible tells us, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death” (1 John 3:14)
A person who is truly saved cares for the things of the Lord,
The Bible says, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new ” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
A truly born again believer will have the Holy Spirit living in him.
The Bible says, “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Romans 8:16)
Christ will definitely come to live in the heart of every true Christian.
Paul said, “Christ lives in me” (Galatians 2:20)
Have you taken Christ as your Savior? Are you a child of God now?
Some people say there is no God, some believe that man came from Evolution. Some believe that when they died, everything will come to an end.
These are all godless concepts. These are the people who anti-God, anti-Christ, living a life full of the flesh.
Praise God for the Rapture! We know the Bible talks of this day coming and what an awful day it will be in this world. The Bible assured us that it is the truth.
We know that Man is incapable of ruling his own life by His own strength so it is either God or the Devil, Christ or the Flesh who is ruling over their life.
God in His love and mercy has given us Christ to save us from our sins.
According to the Bible,
- There is a God.
- It is God who created us.
- He has provided us a Savior (Christ) to deliver us from sin and gives us eternal life.
- We are to live for Him and to serve Him only. Since Jesus Christ died to save us from our sins, we must die to self-will and live to glorify Him only. He, in turn will give us abundant life on this earth.
- We are to obey God’s commandments. All mankind will be judged for the way they live on earth, the unsaved will be judged at the Great White Throne Judgment and the saved at the Judgment Seat of Christ.
- He promises to give us spiritual victory and a holy living. All Christians must abstain from moral impurity.
- He promises to give us spiritual freedom, the fruit of the Spirit and an abundant life.
Jesus Christ is our King! We are to be faithful to God, His son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. We must also be faithful to our country, and our leaders because they are all set up my our God.
Grace has often been defined as “God’s unmerited favor”. It is something God does for us.
Grace is
- God’s mighty power working for us.
- Do things for us that we could never do for ourselves.
- Our salvation is all of God’s grace.
God loved us and saved us by His grace. The Bible says,
“And you He made alive, you were dead in the trespasses and sins.” (Ephesians 2:1)
When we were “dead in trespasses and sins”, it was God’s power working in us that made us alive spiritually. It was all God’s grace.
The Bible tells us, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8)
What is God’s provision for us now? His provision is His grace, His mighty power working in us. Regardless of what our situation might be, God says to us, “My grace is sufficient for you”
God’s grace for us is simply Christ living in us. When God says, “My grace is sufficient for you” He is saying, “My Christ is sufficient for you. Trust Him. He can give you victory in every of your situation.”
If, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17)
Believing the facts that Jesus is the Son of God and that He died on the cross for the sins of the world, but do not love Him nor willing to obey Him and follow Him. This kind of faith is not true faith in Christ and it will never bring salvation.
God’s salvation is a person—the living Lord Jesus Himself. The Bible says, “He who has the Son has life.” (1 John 5:12).
“Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”(Acts 16:31)
To believe on the Lord Jesus Christ means to believe that He is the Son of God and that He is worthy to be praised, loved, worshiped, and obeyed by us. We must obey Him, obey what His words. Love Him truly!
The Bible not only stresses on faith only but it also stresses on love. We must give our heart to the Lord completely.
The Lord Jesus was asked one day, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”
And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37, 38)
Loving the Lord must be the choice of our will. We must lift our heart to Him and say like what David said,
“I love you, O Lord, my strength.” (Psalm 18:1)
Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” (John 14:23)
May we be able to know Him more clearly, love Him more dearly and follow Him more nearly day by day!
Jesus is the Word of God，He is the Lamb of God，He is the living Bread which came down from Heaven. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, He is the Resurrection and the Life, Jesus is the true Vine, He is the One who died for our sins. He is the living, resurrected Christ.
“For the Lord takes pleasure in his people” (Psalms 149:4)
There is no part of his people’s interests that the Lord does not consider, and there is nothing which concerns us that is not important to the Lord. How comprehensive is the love of Lord to us!
“The very hairs of your head are all numbered.” “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighted in his way.”
We, as believers of Christ must be rest assured that the heart of Jesus cares about our smallest affairs. We can turn to him regarding all matters, for in all our afflictions he is afflicted also, and just like how a father pities his children, so does he pity us also.
Christ’s love has brought to us – justification, adoption, sanctification and eternal life! The riches of his goodness are unsearchable, we shall never be able to tell them out or even conceive them.
We are all beloved children of the Lord, watched over by the Lord, taken care by the Lord, provided in all things by the Lord, and defended by the Lord – all through the precious blood of Christ.
All his corrections are sent to us with love, to purify us and to
draw us nearer to himself. We have to accept it with a heart of gratitude and be rejoice over it.
“For God has not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”（2 Tim. 1:7）
The spirit of fear is from Satan. Don’t accept it! God does not give us the spirit of fear; instead, He gives us the spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
If you are God’s child, God has begun a good work in you. He will continue that work until the day you go to meet Him
“Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” （Phil. 1:6）
“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” （Phil. 4:13）
“Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.” （Eph. 6:10）
We are not to be strong in ourselves but we are to be strong in the Lord.
“If God is for us, who can be against us?” （Romans 8:31）
Child of God, God is for you. Since God is for you, it doesn’t matter who is against you.
“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” （Romans 8:28）
To overcome temptation, we must not make any provision for the flesh.
The Bible says,
“Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfil its lusts.” (Romans 13:14)
Saturate your mind with God’s Word.
The Bible tells us, “Your Word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.” (Psalm 119:11)
For we, the Christians, our spiritual food is the Word of God.
The Bible says, “Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up to salvation.”(I Peter 2:2)
When we read and meditate God’s Word into our lives, His words become a part of us.
How to let His words become a part of us?
We must obey what the Bible tells us to do. The Bible says, “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”(James 1:22)
When we read God’s Word, let us believe what the words say, its truths, claim its promises, and obey its commands. We must not have any doubt!
When you read the Bible, ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand it.
We have to memorize some important verses in the Bible because at times we do want to witness to others, but we do not know what to say. If we have memorized the scriptures, we can say, “Here is what God says,” and we will be able to say it with confidence because it is the Word of God. The Holy Spirit will always guide us to use the right words and verses.
As we memorize a portion of God’s Word, we are equipping ourselves with to serve God.
Our relationship with God is built on the foundation of an unbreakable blood covenant that God first made with Abraham and then with Jesus Christ.
God made the blood sacred. In all the covenant making, the blood has always had special importance.
When people of the Old Testament times enter into a blood covenant with each other, blood was looked upon not only a symbol of life but also the very life itself. It was the priority relationship. It superseded all family relationships. A blood brother was closer than a natural born brother.
The blood covenant is also a pledge. It’s the pledge of life, it was a totally unqualified commitment of each one to the other. Failure to live up to the demands of that covenant meant death. When two people or families made a blood covenant together, if one person were to break that covenant the other party was obligated, by the terms of the covenant, to kill the covenant breaker.
This was symbolic of the blood of Jesus Christ shed on our behalf to atone for our sin.
Exodus 4:24-26 tells us that when Moses was on his way back to Egypt. “The Lord met him to kill him.” Moses had broken the terms of the covenant because he had not circumcised his son which was the sign and the seal of that blood covenant. God, by the terms of that covenant, was obligated to come down and to challenge Moses. If Moses refused to abide by the terms of the covenant God would have to kill him. The terms were fulfilled and Moses’ life was spared. We must realize this is a powerful pledge.
Similarly, God is obligated to fulfill His part of the terms of the covenant. God is alive, He cannot die because He is the source of life, therefore, God cannot break His blood covenant with you and I. The pledge is irrevocable.
In the Old Testament times the pouring out of blood in animal sacrifice and an eating of that flesh was a sacred ceremony that brought the participants into communion with our God. They made the sacrifices, spilled the blood, went through the ceremony, and then ate the flesh of the sacrificial animal, symbolically they were becoming at one with their god.
When we go through the Bible, we find many times where God talks about “cutting a covenant” or “remembering a covenant.” Throughout the Scriptures we find little scattering of how a covenant was made. We have it here in Gen. 15, we have it in the story of David and Jonathan, and we also have it in many other stories.
We need to understand how solid the promises of God are to you and I. God is 100% committed, He doesn’t look for loopholes.
God has put the body of Christ together as it has pleased Him. In the members of Christ, when one member is strong another will be weak and you’re weak I will be strong. Sometimes we get upset with one another because we compare our strength with their weakness and wonder why they cannot be like us. We need others to support us in our weaknesses while we support them in their weak areas. When we do that the body of Christ will function in strength and in perfect harmony.
We know that God is perfect and complete in every way. How could God have an area of weakness? God doesn’t have an area of weakness but God has a desire. God created us because of His Love and His own free will. God desired and had a heart for a family. He created Adam and Eve that the earth might be filled with a Godly seed that related to God as children relate to their father.
When sin came in and destroyed that relationship, a blood covenant was cut because God wanted something that we could provide. We needed forgiveness. We needed to have fellowship with God. We needed God’s provision. We needed God’s strength. We needed God’s health. We needed all of these things and so God’s strength flows to our weakness and a covenant was cut from strength to weakness.
”He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32)
Because of God’s covenant with us, we don’t have to carry anymore condemnation. We don’t have to carry sickness, diseases, bondages and attacks of the enemy anymore. God’s strength flows to our weakness. God’s committed to us by covenant. He didn’t spare His only Son, He made Him the covenant, He made Him the covenant sacrifice.
What is your area of weakness? Is it physical, spiritual, mental? God’s strength flows to that. By His stripes we were healed.
If it involves spiritual or mental sin in our lives, what we need is to REPENT – repent means not only to be sorry for but also to turn away from our sin, our weakness because His strength will flow to your weakness. You’re free because the covenant blood has already been shed, and you’re free. It’s yours.
We have a Savior who is our covenant, who is our representative and who is also the representative of heaven. By the blood of Calvary, the families of heaven and earth have become one.
Adam was created in the image of God. Adam’s original nature was pure and he was sinless.
However he had a free will to choose to obey God or to disobey Him.
God caused Adam to go into a deep sleep and took a rib out from Adam and with it formed a wife for him. Adam named his wife as Eve, which means “mother of all living ”
God blessed Adam and Eve and said to them,
“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:28)
God placed Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden called “the Garden of Eden.” Their duties are to care of everything in the garden.
There were many different types of trees in the garden, but two types of trees were different from all the others. One of these was called “the tree of life” and the other, “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Adam and Eve were permitted to eat freely of every tree in the garden except one type of tree — “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God commanded them not to eat the fruits of this tree and warned them,
“but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die ” (Genesis 2:17)
Adam and Eve were living happily in the Garden of Eden and they enjoyed the wonderful fellowship they had with God, their Creator. In the cool of every evening, God would come and visit them in the garden.
But one day, Satan, in the form of a serpent, entered the garden and began talking to Eve. He said to Eve,
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)
Satan’s plan was to deceive Eve into disobeying God.
Eve replied, ”We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it, nor shall you touch it, lest ye die.” (Genesis 3:2- 3)
Satan’s said, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4, 5)
Satan was implying to Eve that, by eating the fruit of “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” Eve and her husband would be as wise as God.
Eve looked at the fruit and thought about what Satan had told her. She decided to believe Satan! Eve was being deceived !!!
Satan was successful in deceiving Eve. Eve actually believed what Satan told her! She was deceived into believing the lie of the enemy. Why was Eve deceived? Because she chose not to believe God’s word.
We too will be deceived if we do not believe what God has said!
Eve offered the fruit to her husband, Adam. Now, Adam had to make a choice. Adam knew what God had said. However, he took the fruit and ate it. Adam fell into sin ! He was deceived also !!!
Adam’s sin was disobedience. He disobeyed the direct command of God. He chose his own will instead of choosing God’s will. Adam rebelled against his Creator, God and chose to obey Satan, the first great rebel.
Adam’s disobedience brought death upon himself ! But what kind of death was it? It was a spiritual death. He died spiritually that very day.
Physical death is separation of the spirit from the body. But Spiritual death is the separation of God’s Spirit from man’s spirit. It means to be cut off from the life of God, to die spiritually.
When Adam and Eve sinned against God, their spirits were cut off from God’s Spirit. They died spiritually.
Click on the icon on the right to subscribe to our RSS feed.