The Message for us Today.

 

Jesus rarely gives the kind of answer we expect. For instance, when John was in prison, and sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Luke 7:19), I would have expected Jesus to say, “Go and tell John, ‘Yes, I am the one.’”

But he did not.

Instead, he gives what strikes us as a rather roundabout answer. First, he healed many people, cast out evil spirits, and gave sight to the blind. Second, he tells these messengers to report back to John what they have seen and heard, “The blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by me” (Luke 7:22-23). 

What kind of answer is that?

It’s a very biblical answer.

Rather than simply saying, “Yes, I am the Messiah,” Jesus instead tells them:

(1) Pay attention to what I am doing.

(2) Read what the Scriptures say will happen when the Messiah comes.

(3) Draw the only appropriate conclusion.

You see, Jesus is alluding to Isaiah 35, where the messianic kingdom is pictured as a place where reversals abound: deserts blossom, the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame leap, and the mute sing. That is precisely what Jesus is doing.

What Jesus told John’s disciples is still the message for us today. You want to know who Jesus is? Watch what he does. Compare it with how the prophets described the coming Messiah and his kingdom. There’s your answer.

Jesus did not simply show up making claims; he came fulfilling the Scriptures. So to those Scriptures—to the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings of the Old Testament—let us give heed. Here are the words that lead us to only one conclusion: “Yes, Jesus of Nazareth is the Anointed One of God.”

The Devil's Trap.

 All religions strike the vital point, but people are terribly clueless.

Most Christians don't even understand the Bible, and the same goes for every other religion and its sacred texts.

People are blinded by their obscurations. Their own IGNORANCE, HATE, and GREED.

They pretend to believe in a God that encourages Good (no doubt about that), while hating someone for performing an evil act -- not realizing that in so doing, they also become Evil themselves.

It is very simple, you can not hate or vilify others without hating a part of yourself and that is the greatest evil known to man

Because God is part of all of us, by hating a part of yourself, you are hating God.

And this is what the devil wants. You cannot fight Hate with Hate the same way that you do not extinguish a burning house with more fire.

And yet, almost all of us do, while thinking that we don't.

"Because they are Ignorant. They know not what they are doing."

The Bible explicitly WARNS us to not hate or cause suffering to others.

The Bible also WARNS how easy it is to fall into the Devil's trap.

And yet, we have all jumped headfirst into the trap, while completely convinced that we never will.

Please Lord, may we see our foolish ways and may the WISE shine His light brighter than ever, to illuminate for us  the way out of our Ignorance.

THE PRAISES OF MEN

 The day you realize that the "Praise from men" is totally different from the "Praise from God".

That day, you will finally see that most times, the PRAISES of men and a larger percentage of society, is always and often opposite of the PRAISES of God.

That day, you will instantly and completely be freed from the need to please all or most men.

The common temptation to please people, including or especially yourself, at the expense of Divine Approval, at any cost, will lose all appeal to you, once and for all.

In life and destiny, in ministry and service, our main audience is one.

The one to please, whose approval and otherwise matters, is still one.

Pleasing the father by all means, in every way, is the true Hallmark of anyone, who wears or desires to wear the honour of the name "Son of God".

Remember, the temptations of Jesus is all about querying if he was truly a "Son of God" (Luke 4:1-13)

SONSHIP is all about extreme focus on the disposition of the Father, against all odds. 

A child is born into the kingdom, but only a son can be given the kingdom.

Only true sons can wield the authority of representation and demonstrations bestowed by our heavenly father.

You must be born again, and by all means, you must become a SON. Nothing else really matters.

Your Audience Is Forever ONE! Focus on him alone!!! Reject Distraction. Be still and hear his voice loud and clear!!!

Let The Joy of Your Heavenly Father be the only JOY set before you, to endure the cross of true discipleship, and despise the shame of being labeled a fool for Christ.

Matthew 17:5 While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

John 3:35; The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

We receive Grace to grow into Him in all things, and count everything else on earth as dung, for the excellency of winning Christ. Amen.

       -Apostle Godfrey Emuze, of Bridechamber Church.

On My Way Down

I Once Fell..! But...

It was on my way down I realised I could actually FLY. Not presently superb at it, still learning though, but now I have an idea about what I can do!

More often than not, we do everything to run away from challenges and confrontations of any kind, we're quick to retaliate and even put down those who have disappointed us. 

But challenges are there, not to kill but make you stronger; for what cannot kill you?

Let's look at it this way; The aim of FALLING is not to make you experience the impact of the FALL, actually, it is to let you know that you are stronger than you think; that you've always had that ability; that you can FLY! 

God's Forgiveness Is Not a Layaway Plan

God’s forgiveness is never a layaway plan, where you finally get to take it home once you’ve satisfied the payment plan with enough acts of repentance. That’s because forgiveness does not originate from repentance; it originates solely from Christ.

The father did not forgive the prodigal son because he returned home, said he was sorry for his sins, and was unworthy to be called a son anymore. The father had forgiven his son even while that son was feeding swine in a faraway country. The father had forgiven his son before he saw him a long way off and began running toward him. The father had forgiven his son because he was his son, because he loved him as only a father can.

So it is with us. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). “God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself,” (2 Corinthians 5:19). The world was absolved on Good Friday. And that forgiveness, given to you in the here and now, is not earned, or allowed, or sweetened, or strengthened, or made more real by your repentance.

Should you repent of the wrong you’ve done? Of course. You must. Should you continue to repent as you struggle to un-love that ex-sin? Of course. You must. You will never repent enough. You will never repent sincerely enough.

But forgiveness is not based upon having enough repentance or having sufficiently sincere repentance. Absolution is based entirely upon the atoning work of Jesus Christ. His atonement is enough. His sacrifice was perfectly sincere. His blood covers not only the sin of which you repent, but your imperfect repentance for that sin.

The entire life of believers is one of repentance, but more importantly, the entire life of believers is the life of Jesus Christ, whose love for us is always more than enough (Gal. 2:20).

So, if the prodigal son left 3, 5, or 99 more times for that faraway country, and dragged himself home again, reeking of alcohol and cheap perfume and pig slop, would the Father still welcome him home with a hug and a party?

Yes, without a moment’s hesitation! 

TRAPPED

If you like wide open spaces, you probably don’t like the situations in which God often places you. For He hems you in on every side, presses you between a rock and a hard place, so that there seems to be no way out.

You feel like Joseph, behind the bars of an Egyptian dungeon; like David, hounded by Saul year after year; and like the Israelites, trapped between the Red Sea and a red-eyed army thirsty for blood. God used Moses to tell old Pharaoh, “Let my people go,” but then God turns right around and lets his people go down a one way street with a pack of Egyptian wolves howling at their heels.

But such are the ways of our wonderful God. He's always doing things his way and not our own. He has Israel right where he wants them: a body of water in front of them, their enemies behind them, and God above them, ready to save. Our Lord is always undoing us that he might redo us, killing us that he might enliven us. He baptizes us into a Good Friday sea that we might walk to yonder Easter shore.

Our fathers were all under the cloud of God’s glory, and all passed through the sea; and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. The Red Sea was one vast baptismal font in which Israel learned that the Lord fights for them. The Spirit breathed upon these waters, they split in two like a temple veil, and through them the people of God walked into life and freedom. And behind them, their enemies pursued and were buried beneath the waves.

Pharaoh’s chariots are rusting at the bottom of every baptismal font. Your sins litter the ocean floor, never to resurface. For on the day of your baptism, there was a body of water in front of you, your enemies behind you, and God above you, ready to save. And save he did. He let his people—he let you go—out of bondage, out of death, out of sins, into the promised land of celestial Canaan.

The God who kills and makes alive, has drowned all your foes in the baptismal Red Sea and brought you safely through to life in Jesus Christ.