Test All Spirits

The saying goes that “you can’t believe everything you hear” and “things aren’t always what they seem”. Those two phrases cannot be truer today. There's much deception in this world. Even worse, there's deception within the Church. With so many Christian denominations, which one is right? Granted, no single church congregation is perfect, for we are all human at the end of the day, but there are churches at least strive to do their very best to stand strong in the Lord.

As it says in 1 John 4:1, King James Version, Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. With the way the world is today, we cannot be so naïve, especially when it comes to spiritual matters. As aforementioned, within Christianity, there are so many denominations, which one is true? To avoid division, we cannot put the particular denomination that a believer associates with to be above all others. Jesus warned against this when one of His disciples told Him that they forbade someone who was casting out demons in Jesus’ name [Luke 9:49]. 

In Acts 17, while Paul was in ministry, he went to preach in a church of Berea and the congregants were wise in verifying his speech by searching the Scriptures (Old Testament).

As Jesus also did forewarn, that we have to be wise as serpents but harmless as doves [Matthew 10:16] because there are many false prophets out in the world. I’ve come to believe that it’s worse for someone’s heart to be turned away from God but in whatever that person is doing still believes that they’re serving God than for one to be turned away and convert to other religions all together. 

We even have to test what is preached in our own churches. We have to be aware of things like “prosperity gospel” and “replacement theory”. Prosperity gospel is teaching that one just has to believe and tithe a whole lot to “get rich quickly” in a sense, that all of one’s natural needs will be met through faith. The prosperity gospel’s underlining message is that one’s natural needs, namely money/wealth & health, are above worshiping God for who He is; putting natural/earthly blessings above spiritual blessings.

Sadly, I believe that all parties involved in prosperity gospel are victims: the congregation for tithing & offering in order to obtain blessing above having an intimate relationship with the Lord and the “pastors” that teach on this. The congregants are the obvious victims because they are being fed a false doctrine and believing that faith alone will get them rich. The pastors are victims in a spiritual sense. Jesus said that what comes out of a man defiles the man [Matthew 15:20; Mark 7:15] and therefore are defiling themselves and risking eternal damnation. Their preaching of “prosperity” ends up feeding their own and not their sheep. 

We’ll get to replacement theory in another blog.

Now, maybe you’re church isn’t preaching on this but sometimes what you hear in a Sunday morning sermon just doesn’t sit right with your spirit. Don’t be afraid to do some biblical research on it or even ask the preacher on it.

The Truth about Repentence

What is repentence? Repentence is asking to be forgiven of your sins; it's coming to terms with them and true repentence resutls in NEVER going back to that sin. People would often ask for forgiveness, and are forgivene, but then would fall again. That doesn't happen with true repentence, which results in newness of life (Acts 11:18). It's the goodness of God that leads us to that repentence (Romans 2:4), since He is just a God of love & mercy.

Though repentence is a New Testament doctrine, the best Old Testament expample us Psalm 51, where David repents for his ilicit relation with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of his best generals, Those events can be read in 2 Samual 11.

Abide in the Father

1 John 1:6-10 KJV

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

2:15-17 KJV

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.  And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

I've seen a few times in social media that a Christian can't serve God while holding hands with ghr devil. I recently read the above passages and that's when I realized nothing can be further from ghr truth.

We can't say we love God while consciously living in sin. Let's put the phrase actions speak louder than words in this situation: if you're a Bible-believing christian, yet you're hitting up the clubs on Friday and Saturday, hooking up with a different person each time. What part do you have with God, living unrepentant? You're not walking in His truth when you're living for yourself.

You cant it both ways, as the righteous God, YHWH, the Light, mix with unrighteous darkness. Walk in the light, as we are children of the light.

Don't walk in your own righteousness, either. Don't think of yourself as above sin, like your sinless and/or have never sinned. Jesus is the only sinless person that has walked this earth, hence His qualification for being the perfect sacrificial lamb to redeem us from our sins. At ghr end of the day, we are imperfect human beings, prone to sin, saved or not. Christ is the only One who helps us overcome and avoid sin, as long as we walk in the Word (for He is the Word - read John 1).

I'll leave you with this note: 1 John 2:15-17 warns us to not love the world. Verse 16, in particular, describes the three types of sins:

1. lust of the flesh
2. lust of the eye
3. pride of life

Beware of sins as it'll come in either of these three forms. It was through these three sins that man fell in the garden.

How to win a Muslim for Christ

There's no specific way to win anyone for Christ. We just have to preach His word and display His love. But if you want to win someone of another religion, such as Islam, you would have to know a thing or two about it -- namely, it "holy" text, the Qur'an.

Our brother in Christ does a great job in proving to the Muslim who questioned this brother's preaching of Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the true Savior. The Christian brother quotes both the Bible & Qur'an by stating that only Jesus has the ability to atone for man's sins, being sinless, while Mohammad was sinner like everyone else.

Enjoy & God bless :)

Every Christian needs Prayer

Every Christian needs prayer. Not the prayer where s/he is reciting something to God or for others to see and hear, not the prayer that asks God for something, and that's it, but the prayer that brings spiritual intimacy with God. Prayer should be a conversation between you and God; it's a two-way street. Prayer is the spiritual communication that binds and strengthens your relationship with God, as natural communication keeps earthly relationships strong.

We, as believers and children of the Most High God, must make time to spend with Him each and every day. This, I know I'm guilty of not doing lately. This conviction came upon me while reading a Bible plan via The Bible App (developed by YouVersion) called Prayers of Jesus. Though Jesus is the Alpha and Omega, King of kings and Lord of lords, He still needed prayer during His earthly ministry. He often "went to a private place and prayed", away from the multitudes, and away from His discilpes. Not only did He need His space, sorta speak, He needed to spend time with the Father.

We all need to spend time with out Heavenly Father. Let's make a point to do so every day.

We Will to Suffer as Christians

We have to suffer as children of the Most High. The suffereing we have in this present life nothing compared to the glory of heaven (Rom. 8:17-18). When someone is ill, are we to pray for healing? Yes. Are we to be all that Isaiah 61:1-3 describes? Absolutely. But, at the same time, who are we to go against God's will? If someone is ill and it is for the glory of God for that person to be healed either immidetely or a month or a year from that time of pray, then we have to be the ones to spiritually discern that.

No matter what's going on, let us just focus on Him; on building our relationship with the Almighty Father. He uses trials and tribulations for His children to grow closer to Him, as they are a test of faith, and we can call the blessings/promises of God "side effects", if you will. We just have to focus our heart & mind on the Creator.

Persecution is a prime example of these trials. Jesus said it Himself in Luke 21:12, 17 that we will be persecuted for His name's sake. Not that we may, but that we will. This fact is reaffirmed in 2 Timothy 3:12 and Peter adds to this in his first epistle, 4:16, that whoever "suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf." Persecution can be open, meaning a natural manifestation of the spiritual war like what's happening in the Middle East, North Africa, Asia & Southeast Asia now, "religious liberty" court cases in the West, or even just our battle with our indwelling sin. Focusing and strengthening our relationship with our Savior will help us stand in His armor (Eph. 6:12).

And, to close, let's not go looking to be persecuted.

My Dream is to reach out to Muslims for Christ

I dreamt last night that I was in some cafe (possibly a Starbucks), where there were a few Muslim girls, and two in particular stood out to me -- they were reading Bibles! The two girls, each looking about 10 & 17 years old, had different colored hijabs, one dark pink to red and the other light blue. I started talking to the younger and ask her either why she was reading the Bible or if she knew who Jesus was. From there, I started to tell her about the salvation that Jesus offered for us on the cross. Then I looked over to the other girl, sitting at another table, but this time her hijab was off, around her neck, with her curly blond hair out and hanging over the scarf that was around her neck. I started a conversation with her about Jesus, as well, and then I woke up.

Ever since I started reading about Islam and researching the "Islamization of the West", I grew a fondness to reach the average Muslim-American, which I'm sure are mostly moderate, with the gospel. I've begun to believe that the only way to combat Islam rising in the West, after getting the word out about it, was to bring the gospel to any Muslim who would litsen, any Muslim who is searching for truth. So many of them have come to know Christ by seeing Him in a dream/vision, a Christian telling them about His everlasting love, or both by one way confirming the other.

The truth is, there are Muslims out there that are genuine people -- just wanted to live out their lives like everyone else, to be happy. We can't label them all as "terrorist". Granted, the vast majority of the world's terrorists are Muslim, but the vast majority of Muslims are terrorists.

Therefore, if you, as a believer & redeemed of the Lord, are asked by a Muslim about the truth of Christ, lovingly tell them. Display Christ and rememeber, we love Him because He loved us first (1 John 4:19).

God bless :)

Do not give evil for evil

See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all. Bible.com/app
1 Thessalonians 5:15 NKJV

This verse really spoke to me this morning. In a world where one takes vengence on another for a wrong-doing, even within the Church sometimes, you probably would ask yourself, where is the love in forgiveness? That's why it's more important every day to show the love of Christ. Let us not render evil for evil, but show love & forgiveness to those who have wronged you, just as Christ has forgiven us. Whether that person has asked for your forgiveness or not, hold no grudge. Jesus did say that if we cannot forgive another person, He will not forgive us.

Active vs. Passive Faith

It troubles me that many have what I would like to call "passive faith". I'm troubled by the fact that many Christians think that God is just going to take care of everything and they can just sit back. That isn't always the case, though. Yes, there will be situation where there is nothing we can humanly do to change it, but many lack the wisdom to discern when those situations arise. For example, someone may have inoperable cancer where doctors can no nothing, where it's out of human hands. Praying for healing, believing for that healing, and walking as if you have been healed will bring the healing. That is the spiritual active part of having faith for something to happen. We all can have that spiritually-active faith but when it comes to situations like finding a job in a slow economy or a married couple trying to have a child, one needs to have that active faith but spiritually and naturally. One cannot pray for a job and NOT look for one online, in the classified in the newspaper or even applying in-person, resume in hand. One cannot pray that s/he passes his/her final for their Master's WITHOUT studying. A married couple cannot pray for a child WITHOUT being physically intimate (i.e., Abraham & Sarah) and/or looking into adoption.

While praying and believing for a miracle is great, there's an underlining factor -- believing in the One who gives the miracle. Many believe on the name of Jesus of Nazareth as Savior but don't always walk in His ways in their daily lives, just on Sundays. One cannot save the souls of the household, workplace, etc., if one does not live in Christ (meaning following His teachings). One cannot say to another: "hey, can I tell you about Jesus?" when they aren't even rooted in Jesus themselves. Passive faith in Jesus is praising Him in church on Sundays (if you have the desire to go) but being angry and miserable, neither praying nor reading the Bible Monday through Saturday. Active faith in Jesus is praising Him in church on Sundays, including while you're getting ready to go, on the way there, and when you leave, AS WELL AS living in His joy & love while praying and reading His word (and doing what it says) Monday through Saturday. Think about that phrase "actions speak louder than words". If you want someone to come to faith in Jesus, let that person see your actions and joy as a true worshiper of Christ and tell them what He had saved you from. If you wish to have others in your household to know the Savior, be sure your actions DO speak louder than your words.

Now I just want to leave you with this: Romans 12:2 says "do not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that ye may prove what is the good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." Psalms says "as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." The Bible also says to "put on the mind of Christ.:" Therefore, if we are to think and ponder on His ways constantly, we are transformed in Him. Let us also "walk by faith and not by sight," meaning, in a way, to walk with our faith in Jesus and not by what we see in this world. You will not only discover the truth about yourself but also of Christ Jesus. Call upon Him and He will show you (Jer. 33:3).

God Bless!

PS, for more biblical teaching on active faith, read James 2:14-26

Mercy Christmas

I just want to thank those who kept the true meaning of Christmas this year by celebrating the birth of our Lord & Savior Jesus. May God bless you all for keeping the CHRIST in CHRISTMAS.

We starting saying in my church "Mercy Christmas" because God showed mercy on us that day by the birth of His only begotten Son. Jesus knew that He came to this earth to suffer, but it was to suffer for our sins. He knew what would happen 33 years down the line. Jesus came to complete a mission, and He did just that. He came down to save us from our sins, from the evil one who had control over our lives. Jew and Gentile alike, He loved us so much that though we were sinners, He died for us (Rom. 5:8). Let's stop trampling people over for those crazy sales in the mall as the "after Christmas" sales come upon us and just show the love, grace, and mercy unto others that Christ showed unto us at His birth, ministry, death, and resurrection.

Mercy Christmas!

Shame

Shame. It grips our lives more than you think. It shapes the things we avoid - avoid to do something, to say something (to someone, or just thinking out loud), to go some place.

Shame could have been caused by something you did, voluntarily or involuntarily, or something that happened to you that was out of your control.

Shame keeps you in the dark, keeps you from enjoying life.

Shame causes doubt, causes fear, causes depression.

Shame makes you feel exposed -- everyone knows your wrong. It is a thick, black veil -- thicker than a Saudi woman's veil -- that you wish you wore 24/7. You wish you could hide in plain sight.

Shame keeps you from seeking help; it makes you think you're alone. It makes you feel unaccepted.

How does one get rid of shame? Admit the wrong? Yes. Ask for forgiveness? Yes. What if the person won't forgive? God will. When all else fails, He's there. You may not know it, feel Him there, or even believe it, but He's there.  He loves us too much to see us down & out. I am feeling every bit of shame as I write this. I'll be honest: I've lost much of my faith. It comes back here and there, but it's not constant. But all really one needs is that mustard seed to move that doubt of God accepting us through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Most of us believers struggle with their emotions when Satan throws bad situation and circumstances are thrown at us. Keep fighting the good fight of faith.

I ask for your prayers as I go through this trialing time.

God loves, Allah doesn't

http://bible.us/114/1JN4.19.NKJV We love Him because He first loved us. Bible.com/app

As you see above, 1 John 4:19 says that God loved us first. If you want to bring Muslims to Christ, this is a good Scripture to start with. Devout Muslims, or what the West has masked as "radical" and "extremist", are willing go die for Allah, especially if they're engaging in jihad (holy war against "infidels" or non-Muslims). Since they are so willing to die, any devout believer in Christ would wonder why. Well, this question was sort of answered already but when sharing the Gospel with a Muslim, I ask what Allah did for them that they're so "hopelessly devoted" to the seventh century pagan idol. They cannot answer the question because there is no answer.

Coming back to this Scripture, God loved us first. This also connects to the famous John 3:16 "for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (NKJV). But all in all, God loved us first and STILL loves us today... even the Muslims.