Dead works or Living works?

Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto maturity; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God... Hebrews 6:1

DEAD WORKS in Greek is Nekros Ergon.

Nekros (dead) comes from the primary word Nekus (a corpse).

Ergon means the things we do, our deeds.

We are to repent of DEAD WORKS and do LIVING WORKS, works of faith. If we are spiritually a dead corpse we will do dead works – the works which dead people do.

If we are ALIVE in Christ by faith we will do living works, the works which those who are raised from the dead do, the works which He does.

This term DEAD WORKS is very insightful. It doesn’t necessarily define such works as inherently bad or evil, but as DEAD – that is, non-productive, useless, a waste of God’s time, and giving no glory to Him.

Unified by the Pastor’s vision?

The unity being taught in many circles of Christendom is simply business organizational principles designed to keep people quiet and submissive and supportive of the Pastor’s vision. Jesus has a greater vision and the heaven birthed children of the Most High are compelled by the Spirit of God to follow that vision.

Lack of unity is not the problem; lack of separation is.

Read whole article:

http://glennchristopherson.wordpress.com/2011/02/28/lack-of-unity-is-not-the-main-problem-lack-of-separation-is/

Doing the things the Apostles commanded

And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you both do and will do the things which we command you. 2 Thessalonians 3:4 (Please read all of Chapter 3)

Are we doing the things Paul and the Apostles commanded the Church to do?

How much confidence would Paul have in us today, to do the things he commanded?

YOU HAVE MAGNIFIED YOUR WORD ABOVE ALL YOUR NAME

I will worship toward your holy temple, and praise your name for your lovingkindness and for your truth: for YOU HAVE MAGNIFIED YOUR WORD ABOVE ALL YOUR NAME. Psalm 138:2

God’s name represents His authority, yet He has exalted His Word as the highest authority, above all other authorities, and even higher than the authority of His own name!

It suggests that we will only understand His name (His authority, nature and attributes) WHEN we respect His Word above all else as the highest authority.

I think the application for mankind is that men often claim to honor the name of God, and yet they don’t take His Word as the highest authority. The traditions of men usurp the authority of the Word, many times.

This verse says that the way to truly honor God is to take His Word as the supreme authority in your life, which is even higher than calling on His name.

Your word has revived me

Are you feeling weak? Is your spiritual weakness even affecting your physical strength, so that you often feel fatigued?

Then be strengthened by the Word of God. Wait on the LORD and you shall renew your strength (Isaiah 40:31) and wait on His Word. Let Him lead you into the Scriptures where He will speak to you and strengthen you today.

My soul clings unto the dust: revive me according to your word.

My soul melts for heaviness: strengthen me according unto your word.

This is my comfort in my affliction: for your word has revived me.
Psalm 119:25, 28 & 50

Revelation

Dived back into the Book of Revelation and one thing i feel God wants His people to know, thru this book of prophecy, is that when the frightening, earth-shaking and cataclysmic events spoken about there actually take place, and we find ourselves in the thick of this stuff, that we would be comforted to know that it’s only happening bcos HEAVEN HAS ALREADY DECREED these things should happen and when they should happen. It “connects the dots” for us, so we aren’t confused and scared when we see the whole world shaking and coming under judgment. He wants us to know that these things have already been decided in heaven, “things which must take place soon”.

Spare a thought for Aleppo

What a disgusting world. Come quickly LORD Jesus!

Kingdom means Order (among other things)

When we pray for precious people that the Kingdom come in their lives, what we are praying for, in the first instance, is for the RULE of The King to rule their life. When the rule of Jesus comes into a person’s life it means that He will ORDER things according to His will, His Words, His nature, and His desires.

So, that means that Jesus will ORDER their lives – from disorder, which is the result of sin, to His order, which is the fruit of His righteousness.

What I’m getting at is that when we pray Your Kingdom come in a person’s life, we may think of that only in terms of “blessing” and good things, and prosperity, when the reality could well be that Jesus ORDER or dealings with a person may indeed be quite tough. His Kingdom and Order coming will mean the removal of that person’s own personal kingdom and fleshly order. The Kingdom coming in their life today could be very painful. But His Kingdom must come. We must submit to Jesus ORDER and WAYS, or be found opposing Him.

Father

John 17

Jesus looked up and said, Father! Let us also look up and say, along with our LORD Jesus, Father! to the same Father He has. We have the same Father.

Take the time to consider what it means for God to be your Father.

Talk to Him

I exhort you, go and talk to Him now.

You’ll feel a lot better.

Child Rearing

How we did our child rearing was to keep holding the Gospel before them, and make them obey us, and explain why they should obey their parents, and we trained them from babyhood with fair and loving corporal punishment, and kept on being an example to them of Christ’s righteousness and love, and instilled into them that the Word of God is the only authority and non-negotiable, and to guard against them becoming fake Christians we never forced them to pray, read the Bible (though we encouraged) or put on any spiritual act or performance, we always taught them that if its not from your heart don’t do it, and so far, by God’s grace alone, things are looking good.

We made it clear to them always that they are not Christians just bcos we are Christians, or bcos they come from a Christian family, and they are not Christians bcos they do religious things, read the Bible, pray or go to Church, but they are only Christians when they truly repent of their sin and are converted and born again. We never told them they are Christians, but we said we are praying for the day when you tell us you are a Christian, and we see that you really are.

Judgment Toolkit

Please see COMMENTS

Giving an account to God

If you were summonsed to the highest court in the land to stand in the dock, all alone, and give an account for your actions, it would be slightly unnerving.

But do people realize that one day soon they will stand all alone in a much higher court and give an account to God for their actions? How many are ready for their day in court?

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. Matthew 12:36

So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. Romans 14:12

For we know him that has said, Vengeance belongs unto me, I will recompense, says the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Hebrews 10:30-31

And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. Revelation 20:12

And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:15

Two things must happen before Jesus comes

Please see COMMENTS

The world’s most dangerous regime

The world’s most dangerous regime must not be allowed to have the world’s most dangerous weapons – Benjamin Netanyahu

See this latest interview with Netanyahu.

The present world system is unsustainable

This is a good article! and puts it in very understandable terms, that the present financial system is simply unsustainable, and this will lead to a new system, that of the Beast. The world and civilization we know of has been built on credit, and the money ran out some time back, and now governments are simply tweaking the figures to try and delay the inevitable collapse.

We obey Him by faith, and by faith we obey Him

We obey Him by faith, and by faith we obey Him. God commands that men believe the words He has spoken, and He has spoken to us thru His Son (Heb 1:1-2) and therefore to believe Him is to obey Him – the obedience of faith (Rom 16:25-26). To be disobedient is to be disbelieving.

Jesus is easy to please

Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

Do you trust and obey the LORD Jesus? Then He is pleased with you (Hebrews 11:6). Believe Him! His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Just trust Him right now.

Don’t make your trust in Him conditional upon anything. Trust Him unconditionally. You may be bewildered by some things, but trust Him anyway. Life in the last days, as the world rushes to Armageddon, IS bewildering, but we are to trust Him emphatically.

Even Paul got perplexed at times (2 Cor 4:8-10).

Yes, many times it’s hard to understand why things happen the way they do, and sometimes we lack a clear vision ahead, yet we are to trust Him anyway, and do what we know we should do.

Our life shows our faith, which is what James explained (James 2:18).

This is an inescapable law. Whatever people say they believe, the way they live their life reveals what they really believe. How we respond to trials and adversity shows what we really believe.

Are you in a hard place? Trust and obey. Live unto Jesus, not unto man.

Living unto man, and society, and even unto the Church, is a heavy burden.

Live unto Jesus alone, and you will find His burden is not heavy, it is light.

And you will find yourself rejoicing (Philippians 4:4).

Jesus is easy to please. Rejoice in Him today.

If Jesus came down into your house today

…and you take Him and show Him round the house, He may say, I already know this place, I’ve seen your kitchen, your dining and living rooms already, I’ve been watching this place.

You take Him outside and show Him the garden. He may say, Yes, I know this place very well.

Then you introduce Him to your family members, This is John! And Jesus may say, Oh, no need to introduce me, I know John very well. I know all of you very well and I’ve been watching you all your lives. In fact, I knew you all before you were born!

The family is shocked. Jesus may ask, Why are you surprised that I know your house and I know you and everything you do? Why are you shocked that I’ve been in your home before? Don’t you know who I am?

Walk in His mercy He has shown you

So then it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy. Romans 9:16

Then we can only boast of His great mercy on us.

If you saw a pardoned criminal stride out of the jail boasting you would think it a great evil under the sun. He should boast of the One who bought His pardon on the Cross.

Walk in His mercy and by the mercy He has given to you. Whatever is not mercy is not of God.

Live today as one who has obtained mercy thru Jesus Christ, and not as one who WILLS and RUNS – it is not of him that wills, nor of him that runs, but of God that shows mercy.

If it is ALL ABOUT that God shows mercy, then the realization that He has had mercy on us should shape our whole outlook and approach to God and life. It becomes a matter of overwhelming thankfulness, gratitude and love.