Wednesday, 12 June 2013

God's Word

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

 He was with God in the beginning.Jesus is called the Word or in the Greek, Logos. The written Word is also called the Logos. God the Father wrote the Bible through the Holy Spirit for you and me. The Words of the Bible are full of life! These precious Words are a gift from God the Father to ALL who take hold of them. The Words of God promise salvation, eternal life, righteousness, redemption, deliverance, protection, prosperity, healing and wholeness of spirit, soul and body. In Hosea 4:6 God says that “My people perish for lack of knowledge.” In order for you and I to take hold of the blessings of God and know His will for us, we need to read His instruction manual, called the Bible. In the Bible you will find Words that give you answers in ALL areas of your life. “As for God, His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord is tried: He is a buckler to all them that trust in Him” (2 Sam. 22-31). God’s Words are proven to be true and full of wisdom, why choose to follow any other way? “Every Word of God is pure: He is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him” (Prov. 30:5). God has a lot to say about the words you speak. In Mat. 12:34 God says, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” What you continually feed on is in your mind, and eventually it gets into your heart and comes out of your mouth when you speak. You can speak either blessing or cursing, the positive or the negative, faith or fear. You choose what you speak by what you feed yourself daily! Do you feed on God’s Word? Do you speak God’s Words or words of doubt, fear, or unbelief? Romans 12:2 says, “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” To be transformed means to change.


 In order to renew your mind you need to see what God says about a situation, believe and follow through by speaking His Words over the situation. This is how you change from what you formerly used to do. Believe the Word, do it, and begin to follow God instructions for your life. You may need to discard the way you used to believe if it was contrary to God’s Word, and replace how you act, think and do in accordance with the Word. God says in Duet. 30:19, “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.” God even tells you what to choose! He tells you the right decision to make, but He allows you to make the choice! Let God’s Word dwell in you richly in all wisdom (Col. 3:16). You’re walking in wisdom when you follow God. John 15 is talking about Jesus being the true vine. We are the branches attached to that vine. We have already been made clean by the Word spoken to us. He tells you to abide in Him, because you can’t bear fruit of yourself, for without Jesus you can do nothing. But if you abide in Jesus and His Words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done for you. In order to abide in Jesus, you have to accept Him as your Lord and Savior. At the moment you do this, you are born again. You are cleansed of your sins, they’re completely remitted, and you’re made the righteousness of God through Jesus Christ. You may desire to make Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life now! You can pray your own prayer in your own words to God or repeat the following prayer. Father I thank you for your love for me and for your Son Jesus Christ. I know that He died for me while I was still a sinner. I believe He is your Son and that He was resurrected and sits at your right hand. I now ask you Father to forgive my sins and ask Jesus to come into my life, I want to dedicate my life to you. I desire for you to live in me and be Lord over my life. Thank you Jesus, for I am now born again, my sins are taken away and I am saved by your grace and I will have eternal life with you and the Father. When you are born again, you become a new creation. Your desire will be to change from doing things your own way in order to please the Father and live the way Jesus lived. You’re now attached to the true vine. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life. “And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20.32). ALL the answers concerning your life are covered in the Bible. You can be built up, you can receive your rightful inheritance as a son of God when you know what God promises are through His Words in the Bible. You can take on the very nature of God and Jesus by living by the Words of the Bible! God says that He sent forth His Word (Jesus and the written word) and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction’s (Ps. 107:20). If you love God you will keep His Word, and the Father will love you and both Jesus and the Father will make their home with you (John 14:23). God’s Words are not hard to keep. Jesus says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. When you act on God’s Words, your life will be full of peace and free from worry; full of joy and not sadness, health not sickness, deliverance not depression, financial blessings not wondering where you’ll find the money to pay your bills! “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Mat. 4:4).

We have food to nourish our bodies, but God’s Word gives us life. Jesus quoted this scripture to Satan on the Mount of temptation, He began by saying “It is written.” Jeremiah the prophet says that your Word gave me joy and gladness of heart (Jer15:16). Nothing in this world can fully satisfy your needs. You will be lacking in one area or another if your joy and peace doesn’t come from God. Job says that he esteemed the Words of God more than the food necessary for his body (Job 23:12). “For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the Word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in trough the Word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. Jesus did not speak His own words but the Words the Father gave Him to speak (John 12:49). He knew the Words of God were tested and true, no one can fail by following God. The Word is very important, God says to preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine (II Tim. 4:2). God says people will turn their ears away from the truth (thy Word is truth) and will turn to fables (vs. 4). You have to know the Word to be able to instantly teach people when they ask questions! Power comes from the Word when you hear it to reprove, rebuke, teach and strengthen you. This says it all! Preach the Word and don’t deceive people by adding or taking away from it. God will hold you accountable! Acting On the Word Everyone who hears these Words of Mine and does them. . .is a wise man who builds on a sure foundation. Just having mental knowledge of what the Words say is like building your foundation on sand. If you don’t believe the Word, you won’t act on the Word, even though you may have a sense knowledge of it. You’re only acting in hope, and not faith in the Word. Faith, which is believing and trust, is for now; hope, is for the future. When you believe, act on and do God’s Word then your faith can take hold of hope and bring it into “the now realm.” Hope is a “maybe” word, but God doesn’t work with maybes—He works with the truth! He says that His Word is “Yea and Amen” (2 Cor. 1:20). Now, it’s up to you to “act on the Word” for it to become “Yea and Amen” in your life. At some point in your life you’ll have to take the Words of God and shift them from yourmind into your heart. No one can do this for you, not your family, friends, pastor or church! When you do this, they’re no longer just Words in the Bible, but promises for you to take hold of and claim. When you claim them, God says “He will hasten My word to perform it” (Jer. 1:12). What He says is true, and when you take hold of the promises in your heart and act on them, you will receive the fulfillment of His Word via the blessings in your life. God is saying, that until you look into the perfect law of liberty and continue therin, and become a doer of the Word you will not be blessed (Jam. 1:25). Liberty means to be set free! You may pride yourself on reciting from memory many verses of the Bible. God says that won’t get you anywhere, even though you may look good to others. You have to do what it says! Knowing about Jesus,will not help you very much, you need to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and then you will be saved (Rom. 10-9-10).

Knowing that there is a God will not help you very much, you need to have a relationship and fellowship with Him. You have to know how to live your life by the standards He wants, and this is learned from His instruction book, the Bible. God is for you, not against you! He instructs you from His Word to make your life easier, not harder! He says that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. God wants to give you peace, happiness, joy, health, and financial blessings, right now while you’re living here! “The entrance of Thy Words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple” (Psalm 119:130). If you want understanding and wisdom on how to handle something look into the Bible and let God show you what to do. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life! When you follow Him you’ll be blessed beyond measure! God says that He will give you abundantly more than you can even ask for or imagine. He really wants to bless you! You’re His child, He loves you so much! Jesus even gives you His armor to wear! “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God” (Eph. 6:17). When you use this two edged sword against the situations in your life then you will have victory! The rest of the armour is spoken of in verses 10-18. “For the Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12). How many people worry? God says to give Him your cares, all of them, and He will take care of you. You’re not left on your own, never. God will never leave you or forsake you. In Luke 12:27-31, God speaks of clothing and caring for the lilies of the field, how much more you are to God than the lilies. Understanding what God says about love and forgiveness and actually doing it will bring you peace of mind. Jesus says that “My peace I give unto you, not as the world gives” (John 14:27). Knowing that God can heal may not do you a bit of good when your sick. Only when you know what God says about healing and believe it and begin to act on it, will it work every time in your life. Now, I’m not saying that God cannot heal you if you don’t understand what His Word says on healing. He is definitely the God of mercy, compassion and miracles! But for me, I want to be sure and confident in the promises of God, and not be worrying if it’s “His will or Not.” Especially when He tells me what His will is throughout the Bible. “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (1 John 5:14-15). God’s Word is true—this is how He communicates His will to you—through the written and spoken Word. So when you know His Word is true and you act on it—you can have the confidence that you will receive what you asked for! “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper...” (Isa. 54:17). God is saying that you will make it through your valley of troubles! Don’t just sit or lay down in the middle of going through something and give up! Take the Words of God and stand on these promises in faith. Standing on these promises will take you through, and give you peace, joy and contentment while you’re having the troubles! “As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in My love” (John 15:9). Throughout this chapter, Jesus speaks about love. He is the vine, we are the branches.

 If we abide in Him then His Words will abide in us. If you believe God’s Word, then you will do what it says to do! If someone doesn’t believe something, then most likely they won’t do it! You have to make a choice! Word’s can be beautiful—even poetic, but just repeating them from memory won’t do you any good, unless you believe what they say! This is not mind over matter, this is trusting in God every time to do what He says He will do! God says that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Are your words positive or negative? Are the words that come from your mouth based on God’s Word, or cursing? When trouble comes against you, how do you react? Do you speak what God says over the situation? Or do you speak words full of worry, fear, and confusion? God’s Words are forever, He says that heaven and earth will pass away but His Words will never pass away (Mat. 24:35). God’s Words are so important, that He doesn’t want anyone tampering with them and changing them around to say anything else. His Promises are “Yea and Amen.” “For I testify unto every man that heareth the Words of the prophecy of this book, if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the Words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book” (Rev. 22:18-19). As you read the Bible, thank God for His Word. Take what it says personally, and act on it and you will begin to see God move in your life, as He fulfills His Word through you.

Friday, 7 June 2013

A Study on John 6 (1-15)

Before I jot down what I understood from the Word of God. I would like to say, I am no theology student, I am no expert in the Word, you can correct me if you may :)

What is True Salvation ?

Time and again, we are constantly hit with the word “Salvation”.“Are you saved?” or “Are you Born Again?”  are rather common questions in our churches these days. More so, for today’s teens between the age of 13 to 19, since parents believe this is the right age for kids to recognize the love of Christ and be saved, and baptized.

Well, I have been part of this system as well. I did, in all my enthusiasm and sincerity “make up my mind” that I would not sin from the next day, and that “I” would control all thoughts, actions and deeds by reading the bible, and praying. That was however, not true!

Need for salvation-

Based on Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and fallen shortof the glory of God” I wouldn’t want to extrapolate on the “Fall of Man”.  

We lived in the flesh, as in Romans 7:5  “For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death.” We did what pleased us. In other words, I was my own god! Nothing satisfied us, Nothing gave us hope and happiness. That’s when God, The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins.

What is Salvation-

God sent his only son, who bore the sins of the entire world, both past, present  and future, died for us on the Cross and Rose up victorious, Crushing sin, Satan and Death under His feet.

Believing upon Jesus is a necessity to being saved: John 3:18, "He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God."

We must turn from our wicked ways: Luke 5:32, "I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." and also Luke 13:3,"I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

We must be born again: John 3:3, "Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." If you continue reading in John chapter 3 verses 14 through 21 tells you how you can become born again.

Having said that, I would like to address another issue. Many of the present day churches have so conveniently distorted the entire salvation message. “ Do you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ? And that he died for your sins and you are now set free”. There is a very important aspect we have missed out! The second part of the salvation message, Are you willing to accept Jesus Christ as the Lord over your life?! That would mean, He is Lord over all my thoughts, actions, deeds. Lord over all that I have and do! That is the crux of the salvation message.

There will be a change in my wineskin (my mind) and my heart(heart of Christ). My old self, will die daily, as you give your Lordship of all “I am” to Christ, and we become more and more Christ- like. It is a growing process! I for one, am still undergoing the entire growing process of being Christ-like!

Things to do: Read the word of God, Let God (Holy Spirit) convict us of sins, empower us daily to live like Christ, and have a communion with God at all times. There are NO secular and spiritual days or moments! Like Apostle Paul says, Invest into your spirit man, your flesh will eventually die!

When we look around, Man still wants to feel  forgiven, He dips himself in the Holy River, visits Holy Places, hurts himself, sacrifices kids, and still doesn’t find an answer which comforts his soul. Now it’s upto us to reach out to this dying world with the Gospel! 

Who wants to change the world?! The Change is Here, 
The Change is You (living in Christ, and living like Christ) Let’s reach out!

In His Majesty's Service
Sam John