Posts Tagged ‘oppression’

1 Sep

COURAGE

Posted by AgapeFocus in COURAGE, Problems in our world today. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

Courage is the power or quality of life that makes a person able to meet threats or deal with dangers to life without fear. Courage is needed by all; needed by young and old; needed in the battles and struggles of life. At home, at work, in the school, in the church and in the community, courage is needed. Courage is needed to break new grounds. Courage is needed to maintain the old paths and qualitative standards of good and strong moral conduct. Courage is needed to ignore all distractions, face oppositions positively and learn from antagonists and their antagonisms. Courage is needed in marriage and all human relationships. Courage is needed at the battle field in order to fight; keep alive, and stay on to win. Courage is needed when wrong to say “I am sorry”. Courage is needed when wronged to be willing and accommodating enough to forgive. Anyone who uses courage negatively to perpetrate evil is the enemy of human society in any generation. Courage is needed with hope when faced with bereavement; and for the Christian, there is the hope of a better future dawn at the resurrection. Courage is needed to know, think and change location in order to experience freshness and guidance from God! When at the crossroads of life, needing to take decisions, courage is needed to see it through. Each person is divinely imbued with varying degrees of courage to face the problems or challenges of life. Several examples do abound of persons who faced problems, misfortunes, and hardships in many human generations, who with fortitude overcame those challenges.

Moses needed courage with his faith in the LORD to stand before Pharaoh in Egypt and through all insults and provocations, he stood his ground before leading out the Israelites out of bondage! God spoke to Joshua, the assistant of Moses, as he stepped on to continue in his new role as leader of Israel, after the death of Moses. “Be strong and courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you, do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth, meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful”. (Joshua 1: 7&8).
David needed courage in addition to his faith in God to kill a lion and a bear and eventually defeat the intimidating giant, called Goliath of Gath! (1 Samuel 17:33-51). Elijah had courage which he applied to his faith in the LORD as he confronted and defeated the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of Asherah, who ate at Jezebel’s table, on Mount Carmel! (1 Kings 15:19-46). Call it various names. Call it boldness, heroism, bravery, valour, fortitude, confidence or fearlessness; you are referring to the same thing; courage!
The greatest example of human courage is seen in Jesus Christ. Jesus showed the greatest act of courage in history when he left his glory in Heaven to volunteer to come into this world in order to die for the sins of every person ever born and every person yet to be born! The best action any living person can take is to respond to the love move of Jesus by making a U-turn to God. The Almighty God says: “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” (Isaiah 45:22). Demonstrate true courage by looking unto God. Ignore liars, deceivers and oppressors. Trust God who truly loves you. Jesus has already paid the price for your condemnation and death. He died instead of you. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
In these days, commonly referred to as the last days, courage is needed more than ever before. Courage is needed by the Church in order to face many challenging and intimidating counterfeits in the world today! There are the counterfeits of Al-Qaida, Boko Haram and Isis! The frequent abuses by these and other similar violent religious fanatics and extremists continue to pose threats to the peace and security of nations across the world, especially in Africa and the Western world! There are cases of renewed slavery and women oppression! There is the counterfeit of re-emergence of oppressive regimes as in Russia, Syria, Iran and North Korea! Mere economic sanctions have not been effective enough to stop these regimes! The ploy of Islamic fanatics and extremists to lure the United Kingdom into gradual Sharia law practice; soon to be compelling on the entire nation, is being viewed as harmless by the innocently spiritually-ignorant, unsuspecting leadership! The accommodating stance of secularism does not imply that Britain is no longer a Christian country statutorily! HAVE THE STATUTES BEEN CHANGED? No Christian dares to practice openly in Saudi Arabia or Iran as these Islamic fanatics and extremists are doing in the United Kingdom, with reckless abandon! A peace-loving and accommodating society is being taken for granted and used as a training ground for Islamic extremism and terrorism! God Almighty shall judge these acts of ingratitude, intolerance, unpatriotism and inhumanity! The frequent and recent barbaric acts of killings, kidnappings, raping, forced marriages and decapitations of fellow human beings clearly demonstrate that those perpetrators do not love humanity, do not know God and therefore cannot truly claim to be serving God! The LORD who made Heaven and the Earth shall expose these ruffians and they shall have no hiding place. All nations who fund these vicious activities shall continually experience the judgement of God. The financiers of terrorism across the globe shall not escape the punishment of God; unless they repent quickly and make a U-turn to God!
The Church should continue to pray for the innocent majority in society and governments for wisdom and alertness! The Church does not use or need physical weapons to overcome these challenging counterfeits! The Bible states: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds; Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. (2 Corinthians 10:4-6).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, let us go on to follow the LORD fully! Let us follow the LORD in obedience, in love, in unity and with courage! Let nothing be found within that exalts itself against the knowledge and the will of God. Let nothing be done through strives and vain glories! Let us build up one another in love and humility. Let the combined resources of the Corporate gifts and Anointing be made available to strengthen the people of God at such a time as this. No more of back- biting and back- stabbing should be found in the house of God! If a brother or sister makes a mistake or sins, the Church should not start a celebration party along with the world and Satan! Let there be a distinction! Let us make a difference! Let us throw strong long rope to a brother or sister who fell into a pit or ditch! Let us stop throwing stones of condemnation. (Ecclesiastes 4:10). With love and compassion; faith, hope and courage; let us put on the WHOLE armour of God to fight the intimidating, challenging counterfeits of our generation! Let us go on to win. On our knees praying; we shall win! On our feet standing, watching and praying; we shall win. With our wills and mouths reducing delicacies and meats; we shall win. In the powerful name of Jesus, we shall win. Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; we shall win. Ministers of the Church have been appointed as watchmen and women! Indeed, all true Christians are watchmen.
In conclusion, we should remember that we do not fight or battle against flesh and blood! We are drawn in battle against rulers, authorities, and powers of this dark world; we are confronting the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. That is why we need the whole might of God in us to be at work against these agents of evil in society and our contemporary world, this Century! Finally, brothers and sisters, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.(Ephesians 6:10-18). To stand properly in these evil days we must not toy with sin and worldliness! We ought also to watch our brothers’ backs! We should not ask the foolish question of Cain again, who asked God: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” The answer comes quickly to you and me. Yes indeed, you and I are our brothers’ keepers! BE COURAGEOUS! Shalom. Grace be with you.

18 Mar

THIS WORLD SYSTEM AND SAVING FAITH

Posted by AgapeFocus in christian issues, The World System and Saving Faith. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , .

This world and its lusts plus its corruption are soon passing away, but anyone who does the will of God abides forever.We are all advised not to put our lives’ hopes on worldly possessions,acquisitions,fleshly desires, pride and arrogance. The craze after sexual lusts and all forms of sexual perversions should be deleted from our lives. All forms of greed, drunkeness, gluttony, drunkeness with power, star-gazing,palmistry, reflexology, witchcraft,satanism and all forms of idolatory, should be got rid of out of our lives and society. Human body and life are precious in the sight of GOD , the MANUFACTURER! Therefore, all forms of bodily abuse,anti-semitism, racism, terrorism, and all forms of human oppression and abuse, should be discarded. There is no small or big error.There is no small or big sin! Sin is sin;no matter how big or small. Every form of disregard for the CREATOR is sin.Sin in any form,hidden,open,small,or big is punishable. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord(Romans 6.23). It is written: Whosoever transgresseth,and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. II John 1.9. It is not a matter of religious debate.  This is the end time.This present world and its systems are coming to an end very soon!Reference to man in this message is referring to the entire human race and not to any gender. God made man perfectly in the begining and had regular fellowship with them. Man was given power and dominion to rule this Earth. However, man fell from his position by selling out to Lucifer who came deceitfully in the form of a snake(serpent). Man was specially made to live successfully on Earth. Lucifer(also commonly called the devil, Satan, prince of the power of the air)was originally made to live in Heaven, but because he committed high treason, he was cast down from Heaven and thus became a rebel and vagabond, having no settled place. Satan chose to disposess man from his privileged position by successfully tricking him to obey him while disobeying Almighty God. From that time in the Garden of Eden, the ways and life of mankind became corrupted, because Satan took a prolonged, but temporary control. After thousands of years of sending messages through many prophets, mankind was not truly repentant for their corrupted ways. A designed master plan was therefore unfolded by GOD. He decided to send His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, Who came as GOD in human flesh in order to rescue sinful mankind from sin and its consequences, which is death,(both spiritual death and physical death). As the only one born without the usual human conception, Jesus Christ did not share in the sinful nature of mankind. He was therefore qualified to be the true, one and only SIN-BEARER, for the entire human race, right from Adam to the last person who shall ever be born into this world; and that includes all of you reading this message. This is not a case of debate, argument or logic. This is a matter of great divine, present and eternal importance, put in place by the Almighty God ; MAKER of Heaven and Earth.  Anyone may argue or try to excuse or exonerate himself/herself, but that would not be tenable on the dreadful day of judgment, when GOD shall judge the secrets of the hearts of ALL PERSONS, by that MAN (Jesus Christ) chosen by HIM. The Almighty God gave this approval to Jesus Christ, by raising Him from death on the third day, after Jesus gave His life as a ransom for ALL HUMAN BEINGS. Jesus Christ was too holy for sin, sickness, death, hell and the devil to hold him down! Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph over his foes. He arose , a victor from the dark domain! The blood of Jesus Christ was an offering made to blot away ALL sin. That blood forever speaks for mercy. However, EVERY PERSON needs to respond to the mercy of God shown through the shedding of the blood of the INNOCENT JESUS CHRIST, Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the whole world!  GOD would not wait indefintely for a person to repent and come to Him through trusting in Jesus Christ. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it; but that the world, through him, might be saved (John 3:16-17). What happens if a person keeps on postponing the surrender of his/her life to GOD through Jesus Christ? He /she may die before doing so. Another person may suddenly become too sick to respond and ultimately die unsaved. Yet another, through arrogance or pride may delay this all-important decision of life and eventually end his life unsaved! Imagine a person who fell mistakenly into a 500 feet ditch. That person had a lifeline of a very strong cord let down to reach him. For such a person to be rescued, he /she must take hold of the lifeline, grasp it and follow any instruction given to him/her from above! That is a simple physical illustration. GOD ALMIGHTY has sent THE BEST LIFELINE (Jesus Christ) from Heaven above. It is written that if you confess Jesus Christ as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from death, you shall be saved. (Romans 10:9-10). The  wages of sin has been paid with the blood of Jesus Christ. Approval and confirmation for this fact is the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day. By his resurrection, God made Jesus Lord over all principality, power, might, dominion, and every name under the earth, on the earth and in the heavenly places. At the mention of the name of Jesus every knee must bow. Every tongue must confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! This is not a matter of choice. Soon or later, the LORDSHIP OF JESUS CHRIST over ALL the Earth shall be fully established, when He comes back as King of kings and Lord of lords! This is very imminent because the world system by its own disobedient will is already setting the stage for the LORD OF GLORY to take over. A false world government would soon come up, offering great economic and social solutions to world problems. That is of the Anti-christ.This would be short-lived. Then would come the true government ushering 1000-years reign of Jesus Christ, the MESSIAH. We shall treat this in greater detail soon. But before then; Come to Jesus today before it is too late. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. JESUS died and rose again for ALL human beings, but EACH person must call upon Jesus personally! Are you saved ? Then go on to give diligence to make your calling and election very sure. God bless you all.