Rejoice With Those Who Rejoice

Rejoice with those who rejoice- mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12_15

Godly Reminders 7 (1)

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. (1 Corinthians 12:26 NKJV

Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? 2 Corinthians 11:29

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Romans 12:15

This Scripture reminds us about pure love, commitment and devotion towards others. We, as Christians need to love one another to the extent that we actually suffer with others and rejoice when others are honored. Envy and jealousy should have no place in the life of Christians.

We are a family and one body in Christ and the genuineness of our faith is proved when we have empathy towards one another and practice altruism. The promotion and blessing of another should make us rejoice and the suffering of others should make us sad.

Feeling other peoples pain and selfless concern for the wellbeing of others is a necessary emotional intelligence tool and emotional skill that we must embrace to be more Christlike.

 

 

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The Excellent Way

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But covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet show I unto you a more excellent way. 1 Corinthians 12:31 KJV

But earnestly desire and strive for the greater gifts [if acquiring them is going to be your goal]. And yet I will show you a still more excellent way [one of the choicest graces and the highest of them all: unselfish love]. 1 Corinthians 12:31 AMP

The Bible instructs us to pursue love and calls love the perfect and excellent way. God is love. So we see that pursuing love is the same as pursuing God and pursuing God is pursuing love. We are instructed to seek and pursue love. Seeking the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness means seeking love.

Gifts, knowledge, wisdom, faith etc are good but the Bible never called them the excellent way or the perfect way – the Bible calls love the excellent and perfect way. Knowledge, wisdom, faith etc are all means to an end. The end result must be love.

When the perfect comes the imperfect will disappear. When we are filled with love for God and one another and practice love, all the imperfect including fear will disappear, fade and pass away because perfect love casts out all fear. When we are filled with love and pray, the aura of love will surround us. That aura is power. Without love and purity, there will be no power. Any power that comes without love and purity is demonic, magical and destructive. Love is the only true way.

There is a good way and an excellent way. There are many good ways but love is the only excellent way and is the greatest of all virtues and fruits.

 

 

 

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A Preacher Of Righteousness

Noah was a preacher of righteousness. Jesus, Paul, the Apostles and Prophets were also preachers of righteousness.

Righteousness, prayer, praise, thanksgiving, worship, rejoicing in the Lord, persistence and the manifestation of the glory of God are all evidences and reflections of faith. They are the fruits that will prove that you really have faith. If you claim to have faith, knowledge and wisdom and do not bear any fruit at all, then you are self deceived.

To have faith is to know and understand the word God. If you know the word of God and are not practicing it, you are destroying your faith. Faith can be destroyed by your actions. Faith is also expectation. It is believing God for answers to prayers but sin is a hindrance to prayers. When you destroy your own faith with your own hands and actions and call on God, God will not hear. You have to meet an anointed vessel of honor to anoint you and pray for you. God is merciful and gracious and will hear, deliver and forgive sins.

Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers. 1 Peter 3:7

And do not give the devil a foothold. Ephesians 4:27

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Corinthians 2:11

Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16

Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. James 5:24

I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” John 11:42

You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy. Psalm 45:7

It is only a person of faith that will manifest all the fruits of love, righteousness, praise, prayer, thanksgiving, worship, persistence, rejoicing in the Lord and the glory of God. The prayer of a righteous man is effective and avails much. There are no hinderances that will block or delay the answer. Jesus’s prayers were always heard and answered because He was a righteous man on earth and had no blockages or hinderances to His prayers. He was a preacher of righteousness and practiced righteousness. He hated sin and loved righteousness.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Mathew 5:6

May we all love righteousness and encourage one another by preaching righteousness.

 

 

 

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Jesus Christ Defied And Defeated Death

But it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. 2 Timothy 1:10

After achieving forgiveness for the sins of all human beings, he sat down in heaven at the right side of God, the Supreme Power. Hebrews 1:3

No other human, spirit or god has ever been able to defy death. It is only the one who defied death and lived above and beyond death that should command our respect. Jesus Christ defeated death for us and also promised us victory over death, the grave and eternal life. Christians are pilgrims in this world looking forward to their future existence in heaven.

People are out there preaching all sorts of religions and ideologies including Atheism. My own reality is this – if you have never defied death like Jesus Christ, do not expect me to listen to your wisdom. Any wisdom that cannot create the world, humans and defy death is a worthless and deceptive wisdom.

Christ alone defied and defeated death and He alone commands my respect. He is the only Lord and all other gods are fake and false. They are simply figments of man’s imagination, they are not real.

Christ is softly beckoning to all, today to accept Him as Lord. He paid our debts with His blood and achieved forgiveness for human sins. He has freely given and offered us mercy, love and life. He alone has the guarantee and assurance of eternal life.

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He Surrounds Us with His Favor

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The Lord our God is our strong tower and hope. He will surround us with His favor as with a shield.

Psalm 5

For the director of music. For pipes. A psalm of David.

Listen to my words, Lord,
    consider my lament.
Hear my cry for help,
    my King and my God,
    for to you I pray.

In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice;
    in the morning I lay my requests before you
    and wait expectantly.
For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
    with you, evil people are not welcome.
The arrogant cannot stand
    in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
    you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
    you, Lord, detest.
But I, by your great love,
    can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
    toward your holy temple.

Lead me, Lord, in your righteousness
    because of my enemies—
    make your way straight before me.
Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
    their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
    with their tongues they tell lies.
10 Declare them guilty, O God!
    Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
    for they have rebelled against you.
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
    let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may rejoice in you.

12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
    you surround them with your favor as with a shield.

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Our Deliverance Comes From The Lord

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Our deliverance comes from God alone, He is our light and salvation. He will deliver us from mighty enemies and show us His face. He will defeat stubborn persistent enemies and bring us to the place of great glory.

Psalm 3

A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.

Lord, how many are my foes!
    How many rise up against me!
Many are saying of me,
    “God will not deliver him.”b]”>[b]

But you, Lord, are a shield around me,
    my glory, the One who lifts my head high.
I call out to the Lord,
    and he answers me from his holy mountain.

I lie down and sleep;
    I wake again, because the Lord sustains me.
I will not fear though tens of thousands
    assail me on every side.

Arise, Lord!
    Deliver me, my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
    break the teeth of the wicked.

From the Lord comes deliverance.
    May your blessing be on your people.

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He Makes Men Solve Problems

The Spirit Of The Lord

26: He makes men solve problems

But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. ” (Daniel 5:16 ESV)

O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods (Daniel 5:10 – 5:11 ESV)

The Holy Spirit is a problem solver and He makes men solve problems. Jesus was constantly solving problems when He was on earth and He is still solving problems by His Holy Spirit. When He was on earth He said He was only imitating His father and doing what He saw His father, doing.

The Holy Spirit was with Daniel and enabled Him to solve problems. The Spirit of the Holy gods is the Holy Spirit. He is the only Holy one and God because He has life in Himself and does not depend on human flesh and blood to solve problems like idols.

He is the only God that does not use sacrifices to bless. He blesses from the capacity that comes from with Him as the life giver and creator. That is why He solves problems and makes men solve problems. Idols are dead and do not have life so they solve problems by deception. They use trade by barter, magic, tricks, bribes and sacrifices to solve problems.

Daniel was able to interpret the handwriting on the wall because the Holy Spirit was with Him and gave Him that special ability. He effortlessly solved the Kings problem by the power of the Holy Spirit. The prophets, Jesus and the apostles were also empowered to solve problems by the Spirit Of God.

The Holy Spirit makes men solve problems and He is still effective in the world if only we can recognize His power and give Him a chance. If we abide in Him, desire Him and wait upon Him, He will definitely give us wisdom and special gifts and make us problems solvers to our generation.

Blessed be the name of the Lord. Come Holy Spirit. Amen.

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He Gives Conviction And Assurance

The Spirit Of The Lord

23: He gives conviction and assurance

Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. “And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: “of sin, because they do not believe in Me; “of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you see Me no more (John 16:7 – 16:10 NKJV)

The Holy Spirit is the one that makes us sure and certain that we are saved. He makes us hold steadfastly to the good news of salvation without shaking or wavering.

The Holy Spirit also gives conviction. Conviction is a firmly held belief or opinion. Where there is total darkness or doubt, He will step in to shine His light and let it reign. We are not able to accept light and truth without the Holy Spirit’s enablement. As the giver of life, knowledge, wisdom, revelation and truth, conviction will not enter and stay in our hearts concerning any topic or subject in the word of God without the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the one that gives life and light to the mind and soul.

Deadness of the mind and soul is darkness. Darkness exists where there is absence of truth and where there is absence of truth, sin, evil, death and judgement reign. People without truth commit sin without even knowing that their actions are sinful or destructive.

They cannot discern between good and evil. What their religion teaches them is good is evil and what they believe is evil is good. That is because the devil has perverted truth and the scripture and turned everything upside down in their minds and souls. These are known as hidden sins. These sins are hidden from the consciousness and knowledge of man.

Redemption

The Holy Spirit convicts us about our redemption – He is the one that enables us believe that all our past and forsaken sins are forgiven and cancelled. He makes us stand on the word of God to resist the devil steadfast in faith, conviction and confidence. He exalts the finished work of the cross and makes us rejoice in our salvation.

Without Him, we will keep on making sacrifices and offerings for sins like pagans. Without Him, we will be ruled by guilty conscience that exalts death and looks down on the word of God. When people exalt death and judgement they ultimately believe that judgement and death is greater than God’s grace.

This leads them to offer sacrifices for sins. They believe that God cannot forgive sins or that God has not forgiven our sins and that they have to offer sacrifice to Him for sin and that human beings must pay for their sins. They refuse to believe that God Himself can be so gracious and that He Himself paid with His own blood in the form of Jesus.

Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. Acts 20:28

A believer, however believes that God’s grace is greater than all our sins and that mercy triumphs over judgement. They rejoice in the Lord’s grace, mercy and love and exalt Him. Even when they experience adversity, they do not renounce God and His grace and become negative about God. They still cling to His mercy even in torture and drowning.

Therefore I want you to know that no one who is speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed,” and no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit. 1 Corinthians 12:3

The Holy Spirit is also the one that convinces us that Jesus is Lord. He is the one that makes you believe that Jesus is Lord.The same way He makes us believe that Jesus is Lord is the same way He makes us believe in the blood of Jesus. He is the one that makes us believe that the blood of Jesus has set us free. The Scripture says that no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. Likewise, no one can say my sins are forgive and the blood of Jesus has set me free except by the Holy Spirit.

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All Blessings

Good News And Faith

  1. All Blessings

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, (Ephesians 1:3 NKJV)

He gave us life, love, forgiveness and eternal blessings. We were once sinners, lost in the world without hope and stumbling around in the dark. God knew from the beginning of time that we would need grace and forgiveness and He gave us grace, mercy, love and forgiveness. He sent His only son to die in our place and He purchased our redemption and delivered us.

But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. 2 Peter 1:9

As redeemed, sanctified children we are free from past errors, mistakes and sins. Death, hell and the grave have been defeated and we have life. Confessed, forsaken sins no longer have power over us.

The only sin that has power over a redeemed child of God is active sins that have not been forsaken and discarded. Praise God there is hope for the hopeless. All we need to do is divorce any active sins that are openings doors of judgement and death into our lives.

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11

For all the brethren struggling with afflictions inherited from the womb or suffering for sins they committed when they were in the world or even sins committed as a believer which has been renounced and forsaken there is a good news. The good news is that, that sin has been destroyed by the blood of Jesus and has no legal power over us..

All we need to do is to keep praying with faith, thanksgiving, praise, worship, and persistence until God uses His mighty power to enforce that freedom and deliverance.

The word of God is superior to all the forces of nature because everything was created through the word of God – when Jesus says yes, no one can say no and His word is yes and Amen. The word of God says we are free, cleansed, washed, sanctified, justified, redeemed and delivered. Praise God!

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My Name Is Grace

Revelations and messages 2

 

2. My name is grace

A very long time ago, I was in a dream and was trying to climb over a wall. The wall was very high and difficult to climb. I became very frustrated and gave a tired sigh before giving up. Suddenly, a man walked up to me and said, “ I know the way, I will help you.” Surprised and pleased at the man’s magnanimity, I looked closely at him as I queried, “ Who are you?” He replied, “Grace, my name is grace.” Then I woke up.

 

 

His name is Grace

Jesus is the grace of God and the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of grace. A lot of Christians have forgotten about grace and are doing things their own way. I know because I was once like that. As a human being the temptation is still present and I constantly watch my back and examine myself and my doctrines. Also, a lot of false doctrines focus on one thing – self dependence.

Self dependence is not very far away from the devil because the devil is the god of self. self dependence, self promotion self satisfaction at the expense of others is a foundation for devil worship.

Most Churches including orthodox and non orthodox believers have fallen into the error and trap of self dependence without even being aware of it. Most of the visions and revelations that the Lord has given me is for correcting errors and false doctrines in His Church.

Do not let all kinds of strange teachings lead you from the right way. It is good to receive inner strength from God’s grace, and not by obeying rules about foods; those who obey these rules have not been helped by them. Hebrews 13:9

Guard against turning back from the grace of God. Let no one become like a bitter plant that grows up and causes many troubles with its poison. Hebrews 12:15

The Lord Himself kept correcting and teaching me until I became much more submissive. It is certainly human nature to forget about grace and rely on ourselves but that is not the will of God. If we could do it and experience God by our own effort, Jesus would not have died for us and we would not have been given the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of grace as a gift.

What, then, of those who despise the Son of God? who treat as a cheap thing the blood of God’s covenant which purified them from sin? who insult the Spirit of grace? Just think how much worse is the punishment they will deserve! Hebrews 10:29

Jesus as the grace of God is a need that we can never deny. Everything comes by Him and through Him and without Him – the grace of God, we can do nothing. We can continue trying to climb high walls and mountains by our own effort but that is a road to futility.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. John 15:5

He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” John 6:65

God wants us to depend completely on Him for our needs because we have a high priest that is able to meet our needs. He made and designed us that way. Paul had this secret and he utilised it to get to become the mature believer that he was on earth. God even permitted thorns to afflict Paul in order to make Him more dependent on His grace.

But to keep me from being puffed up with pride because of the many wonderful things I saw, I was given a painful physical ailment, which acts as Satan’s messenger to beat me and keep me from being proud. Three times I prayed to the Lord about this and asked him to take it away.  But his answer was: “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” I am most happy, then, to be proud of my weaknesses, in order to feel the protection of Christ’s power over me. I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and difficulties for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:7

 

His grace is all we need

His grace is all we need and it is only the wisdom of God that will teach us and make us realise this. The Bible says that we should ask for wisdom is if we lack it. His strength is perfected in weakness because it is in the place of weakness that we hear God better.

God permits weakness to give us the revelation of self awareness. It is a gift and a grace in itself. Most of the visions and revelations I have had, have been when I was in difficult places. As I matured and knew the way, God took away the difficult places because there was no longer any need for me to be in “ Spiritual Prison.”

The weakness that Paul experienced enabled Him to keep humble and remain in the place of self awareness – man’s power is of no use. A lot of deceived people are the way they are because they have not experienced the kind of weakness that leads to self awareness. They exalt themselves because of money, fame, power, success and influence. They keep thinking they are great and look down on God until they die and find themselves at the gates of hell. Hell is a place of absolute weakness. It is better for us to know our true condition as human beings on earth than to realise our true condition and powerlessness in hell.

Self dependence leads to frustrations

In the very vision that I described above, I stated that I became frustrated after a while. That is what happens in reality in our daily lives as Christians. If we are frustrated by failures in our Christian lives and lack of spiritual growth then God is trying to tell us something. He is letting us know that we need to depend more on Him and His grace to get the the pinnacle of the Christian Experience.

Self dependence is pride

It is pride that leads to self dependence and the Bible tells us that God resist the proud but gives grace to the humble. When we become humble by true self assessment and realisation of our need for God’s grace, we will keep praying and asking for more grace and God who is faithful will provide great grace. He is the God of all grace. No matter the level and type of grace that we need, God is ever willing and ready to meet us at our point of need.

But the grace that God gives is even stronger. As the scripture says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” James 4:

He knows the way

Jesus is the way and knows the way. He is the one that can tell us how to climb the tallest walls and mountains. He is the one that will tell us the root of our problems and the solutions to our problem. He will also tell and teach us us how to become mature Christians by His wisdom. He definitely knows the way and He is waiting for us to come closer to Him to learn more about “The Way.”

He can Help us

He is our helper. He said to me, “I know the way and I will help you.” All I needed to do was ask for his help and depend on Him completely. We all need to realise that the Holy Spirit is our helper. If we ignore Him, He will ignore us and if we invite Him, He is ever ready to help us.

Several times in the past I have found myself in visions and trances where I asked the Lord, “Lord, why are you ignoring me.” These were periods when I was not enjoying deep fellowships with the Lord and not hearing Him the way I was used to hearing Him. They were periods of spiritual dryness. The Lord would reply me and say, “you are the one ignoring Me.” I would come out of the trance and vision and admit that I was the one ignoring Him.

If we draw close to Him, He will draw close to us. I was ignoring Him by not depending on Him, spending long hours with Him or talking to Him. Yes, the Lord loves it when we talk to Him even if we think He is not hearing or responding to us. He loves it. This is a separate topic that I will talk about in another post.

Throne of Grace

Grace is so paramount that the throne of God is called the throne of grace. It is that grace that helps us to be victorious in our Christian lives. Grace comes from the mercy of God and Jesus is also the mercy of God. May we never ignore the throne of grace and keep approaching God’s throne in prayer everyday day.

Let us have confidence, then, and approach God’s throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it. Hebrews 4:16

We must continue growing in grace

Grace is in levels and we must continue growing in grace and not give up until we get to a place of all grace and great grace. The apostles enjoyed great grace upon them and Jesus was full of grace. If Jesus and the apostles needed grace, we also need grace and we must keep climbing the mountain and tower of grace until we get to the top. At the top of that Holy Mountain is where we will enjoy glory, power and touch precious stones.

We will swim and dance constantly in the living water. He will become our soap and perfume, constantly cleansing us, purifying us, protecting us and empowering us. At the holy mountain of great grace, we will constantly bathe and soak in the latter rain.

But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, now and forever! Amen. 2 Peter 3:18

Brethren, let us realise that Jesus is the grace of God and depend on Him – “God’s Grace” completely. That is the only way to victory in Christ.

 

 

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