The fact that Jesus is raised means you are cleared from all sins and is righteous!
If God forgives us by righteousness, then where is His mercy?
Resurrection is the divine receipt of your payment of your sins.
You are no more in your sins.
God works in threes. Like time, there’s past, present and future. Similar to God’s arch angels, Michael, Gabriel and Lucifer.
Lucifer was created with musical instruments built in him. He was a cherub until iniquity was found in him.
If today i ask you to show me the works on saturn, you would point to the drug traffickers, ladies of the night, drug lords, etc. Yes, those involves the power of the darkness but it is the low level demons at work. The true work of saturn is making you believe you are under the law. No doubt today, saturn thinks in a perverted way that he is the responsible for the line of righteousness. I say, perverted.
If you are a sinner, you cannot say you are righteous. Thats hypocrsy.
Likewise if you are righteous, you cannot say you are a sinner. Similarly, if you condemn another brother, that's abnorminity to God. The same goes if you condemn yourself.
My part is not to assess the blood. My part is to let God assess the blood.
Isaiah 54:13-14
You must be establishes that you are righteous in the Lord to your children. How we are established affects our children. When you declared that, God is satisfied.
Isaiah 54:17
God says no weapons formed against you will prosper because of God's righteousness in you.
Matthew 6:31-33
God says do not worry about what to eat or drink. Seek the kingdom of God. This kingdom of God is God's righteousness.
In closing,
People are pursuing the physical things in life which is secondary.
The primary main focus is knowing you are God's righteousness, all the secondary things like clothings, food will be added to you.
Today is the most highly anticipated service of all time. The crowd was overwhelming. If you managed to book seats to the Star, well done bro/sis. The seats were all snapped up in 10 mins when NOAH was opened for bookings! I happened to be the unfortunate one who failed to book a seat. Nevertheless, I still went ahead to the Star without any seats.
My jaws dropped when I was there. The crowd was amazing, the queue was even better. I joined the queue only to be directed to the amphitheater. So depressed when that happened.
But thank God, I managed to get in to the auditorium with the help of... That's another story altogether. Share with you in person if you're interested? hehe.
God is good? All the time! And all the time? God is good! Familiar to some of you? :)
In the auditorium, all the seats were all taken up (totally expected). But it's kind of frustrating when you see members choping the seats and their faces tell you that they ain't going to give it up for you yo. Saying this reminds me of Pastor's favourite phrase, "bapised in tomyum soup" (referring to the faces). Ok, please don't get angry with me over this. Relax and enjoy the message alright! God bless! :D
Praise and Worship:
We sang some great songs today. Not only that, we had a song item where three guitarists came up to guitarise the atmosphere, accompanied with some great singing. It was too good. If you were there, I'm very sure you felt the same way.
- Grace Revolution
- Hearts On Fire (New song)
- Anthem Of Grace
- Amazing Grace
- Oh Lord You're Beautiful
- Jesus Be The Center
- I Exalt Thee
Song item:
Whom shall I fear (played with electric guitars)
Our God is an awesome God (played with electric guitars)
(Singing)
In Christ alone, I place my trust And find my glory in the power of the Cross In every victory, let it be said of me My source of strength, my source of hope is Christ alone
Topic: Vision Sunday 2015
God has clearly given us the theme for this year.
God always has a plan and a divine order. He has a specific message for the seven churches in Revelation. It's very specific to each church.
Which church you attend can literally mean life and death. We are supposed to be studying God's word. His word and will is one.
Psalm 91 is still valid today. If not, why are we singing songs from Psalm? It's all about divine protection in Psalm 91. God's protection comes in 30, 60, 100 fold. Keep believing. Don't blame God for not protecting your car from being scratched. Make sure the church you attend believes in God. God's order is to preach the word, faith comes so that you are able to receive His blessings.
Pastor joked that today's crowd is amazing, the same as every year. He joking asked if it is for luck that you are here today? The thing is, today's sermon can carry on for weeks. Today's sermon is not the end. To be fair, he will share the 2015 message in the weeks to come or services.
Last year this time, Pastor prophesied that there is a strain of virus coming. Today we know it is the Ebola virus. He also asked us to look at Israel. If you recall, Israel was so peaceful before Gazza saga came in.
One morning Pastor woke up, he saw the theme of the year. He saw the world boiling and a mayhem in the scenes. He saw hands of claws trying to squeeze Israel. A lot of things will happen this year. You might ask why because the world wants to destroy and remove Israel from the map.
Zechariah 12:3
Verse 3: There will be lots of opposition against Israel this year. This very heavy stone is planted by God. Those who heave it away will be cut into pieces. God will never allow the status of His nation to be changed. Remember to pray for this nation. The devil hated this nation because of Israel came Jesus.
God is getting ready to bless you with something greater in 2015. Just because we left the year of Greater Glory doesn't mean we move away from that. It is still increasing in the subsequent years and still goes on.
God is saying this this year:
The Year of His Restoration
God wants us blessed in every way. Because God is holy, He cannot ignore every drop of sin. But He sent His son for us. He cannot pass by sin but He can block it out. Folks, that's accurate preaching.
Today's God's justice is justified. There's no more condemnation and a favour that can never be broken. It is going to be a year of His restoration. Not man's restoration. When man restores a chair, it is no more the same as original. But when God restores, it is always greater in quality or quantity, or both. God will give you a quality relationship, seven times better.
First and foremost, He's going to restore to you the years the locust has eaten, etc in Joe 2:25.
The time you spent in sin is wasted years. If you return to Him, He will restore the years. When He says that, it means He will restore. It's like God is saying no one believes He can restore and that is why many are in bondage.
Isaiah 42:22
Verse 22: ".. no one says, " Restore!"" The reason no one said cause no one believed back then.
The Lord will focus on restoring your soul this year. Psalm 23:3
He will restore health to you this year. Jeremiah 30:17
Verse 17: "Wounds" refer to chronic problems. This word is not the same as Christ taking our sicknesses on the cross. This word is from "great and prolonged plagues" in the bible. If you're on medication for life, He will restore to you His health.
God wants to restore your mind. He will give you mind sharper and bring you to the days of a child, quote from the book of Job.
Exodus 22:1
Verse 1: It's a law we are reading here. That's God's law. If you have lost an ox, you get five oxen, four sheep for a sheep. The greater the loss, the greater the restoration. If you have lost a child, you will have a hundred fold. Start saying, "Restore!" Get ready for the five for one oxen. This is the principle of God's law.
Paul argued from the law. 1 Corinthians 9:8-11
Verse 9: Paul pointed out is it about oxen? There is a deeper principle in this verse.
Verse 10: Or God is saying for our sake?
Verse 11: He's arguing for full timers to be well taken care of.
Paul argued about the law again in 1 Timothy 5:17-18.
Leviticus 5:14-16
Verse 15: This is the trespass against the Lord. The person brings a ram without blemish.
Verse 16: This is the trespass against the holy things of God. The person shall make restitution for the harm he has done and shall add one-fifth (20%) to it and give to the priest. So now, the priest has 120%. These are all natural visual aids but picture God put to tell us what happened at Calvary.
Psalm 64:4
Verse 4: This is a Psalm of Jesus. Jesus said He restored that which I took not away. Today, we are not the one doing the restoration. This verse is quoted in the gospel of John 15:25 in the upper room.
Even if it is your fault, God restores.
Pastor says, he is glad Adam fell. God breathed into him but Adam didn't have the relationship with God. This is not recorded. Adam hold the keys to earth but had no relationship with God. Think about it, if Adam was obedient, today we will not have a family with God.
But Pastor, we would be paradise today. In paradise, there was an area which was forbidden. In heaven, there is no forbidden areas yo. The enjoyable garden hangs on the tread of his obedience. If today Adam didn't sin, someone else like his grandson will still sin. There's no security in that garden. In heaven, there is no snake. If Adam never fell, angels will never be able to sing songs of the redeemed. God has gained a family that is eternal. Today it is not our obedience anymore. It is His obedience. Man is now a new creation and has long life.
In the coming weeks, we will looking at the word "redemption" because this word ties very closely with restoration. God's delight is to spend closeness with us. What Christ did is much more.
Back to Leviticus 6:4-6
Verse 5: One-fifth was first mentioned in the story of Joseph, interpreting the dreams of the Pharaoh. First seven years of plenty and the next seven years of famine. They put aside one-fifth every year. Pastor shared the story of Joseph and pointed out that his story is for businessmen. Joseph sold grains to the people. Then gave them the seed when they have nothing to give Joseph. Joseph told them to give the 20% to Pharaoh when the harvest comes. The people were so happy he saved their lives.
Jesus restores what He did not take away. Five times in Romans 5:17, "much more". God restores much more. The work has been done.
Pastor shared that Justin was a restoration. Wendy was holding a child of 9 weeks only to find out there's no heartbeat after that. Pastor saw how bad his wife cried. During times like this we don't ask why. He may be discouraged but he sees Justin as the 100 fold because he loves to learn, dance.
So Pastor how do I position myself?
The battle has been accomplished. It's a fight of faith. We fight from victory. All we need to do is to believe. The physical symptoms may not show your restoration. But it is the fight of faith.
Did you realize that the word "restoration" has the word "rest" there? God says to Pastor that He will come when you rest, shown this way.
rest
Psalm 23:1-3
The words "He restores my soul" is sandwiched between the words "He leads me" in verses 2 and 3. He wants you to be in the place of resting. True faith always issues in rest.
For pastors and leaders, the people needs to be restored in their soul so that they can walk in paths of righteousness. In Israel, the path of righteousness is a mountain. It takes great strength to go up that mountain.
Ruth 3:18
Verse 18: "Sit still". The Lord says to tell My people, sit still. If God reveals everything, you will be fearful. In the year to come, He will reveal more and more things. God will not satisfy curiosity onlookers. ".. for the man will not rest.." This man is Boaz, a type of Jesus.
When you work, God rest. When you rest, God works. This statement is from this verse.
This is a life of directed activity, not a life of no activity. Most of the time God will tell you to sit down and loosen your shoulders. Because your restoration is coming. It is not finished and it will be a wonderful year.
There is a covenant thing where God will not move until someone prays. We need to pray like Boaz. It does not mean we will not be tested but we should pray.
A video showcasing the happenings in 2014 was aired.
You are in for another exciting year in 2015.
Pastor thanked God for New Creation Church and he's so proud of his pastors.
For e.g. Pastor Lawrence has a love for mission trips. Pastor Lian has a love for kids. Pastor Mark is leading the Chinese ministry very well.
Isaiah 60:1-5
Verse 2: This is our verse in 2014. It talks about the end times.
We see deep darkness over the earth, such as the Ebola virus, people are killing children. Actually, they hate the people of God. To follow God's way is to love. We need to differentiate hating sin and hating people.
We are living in that kind of world. You'll see depression like never before. Once you put a taste in your child's mouth, there is no turning back. We all grow up with a taste in our life. Put a Jesus taste when they're young.
There are some things we cultivate the spiritual taste when young. You make your children like. They need your leadership and need you to say no to them sometimes. Teenagers are not at the age where you can reason with them.
According to this verse, when darkness comes, His glory will be seen on you.
Verse 3: Gentiles are non-believers, the non-Jews. If sinners come to you and see the light on you, it's literally wow.
Verse 4: When God's spotlight shines on you, your children will want to come to you.
2 Corinthians 3:6-9
Verse 6: The spirit gives life. When the commandments were given, 300 died. When God gives grace, 3000 were alive.
Verse 7: Grace transcends the law. The second forty days of Moses, he broke the two tablets and his face shone. You can find this story in Exodus 34. There is a glory on Moses' face that made everyone run away.
Matthew 17:2
Verse 2: The law makes people flee. It says that if you broke one commandment, you are guilty of all. The law punishes you. We need to understand that all these things are not because we want to excuse ourselves from moral excellence.
Isaiah 60 says kings will come to you because the glory of God is on your face.
Verse 9: If the ministry of law had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more. One demands righteousness and one supplies righteousness. Which do you want?
God wants us to walk in Isaiah 60. People will see God's glory on us.
Back to Isaiah 60:5, when you become radiant, the wealth of the Gentiles (non-believers) will come to you. This is going to happen when darkness covers the earth. The glory of the Lord will be seen upon you. In Verse 4, your sons will come from afar and your daughters shall be nursed at your side.
Your face reflects how you feel. Pastor always makes it a point to smile at Jessica.
Have you seen people who remove their eye bags, tighten, loosen. Yes, they look different. After 20 minutes, they still look grumpy. It's not how pretty you are, it's how radiant you look. Attraction changes. There's no right and wrong, taste changes.
Psalm 42:11
Verse 11: David was depressed. He says, ".. who is the health of my countenance.." originates from the word "Yeshua".
Literally our church members shine. Pastor shares about meeting a lady during the youth services many years ago, whose face shone and eyes sparkle. Till date, he cannot forget and he believes it is God's glory.
If you listen to the message till now, you should know that this Greater Glory will not end on 31 Dec 2014. His glory increases year by year. Don't cover up that radiance. We are talking about radiance from within.
The best argument is a shining face to your naysayers. Just like the dog barking to the moon. The moon never barks back, continue shinning.
But Pastor, the one barking at me, I married to. Continue to shine and pray that God causes your light to shine. Your bosses will see it too. Even Joseph's face shone and people could see it.
Acts 6:7-15
Story about Stephen who went around doing miracles. He was brought to the high council after the people were roused by his actions. In Verse 15, when he was brought to the high council, everyone stared at him because his face became as bright as an angel's.
If the people back then can see it, even the Gentiles can see it today too.
God can restore everyone's radiance. We are living in a world of suspicion. You be nice, people think there's a catch. You drive but you look behind your back. The world is cynical today.
You complain about every little thing about the government. Tell me, which country's government do you want? North Korea? Be happy with where you are and continue to shine.
Listen to songs or sermons that point you to Jesus. Your face will shine.
Psalm 34:5
Verse 5: We need this vertical look to God so that our faces will shine. Don't look around to people around your age or profession and compare. You are beautiful as you. You are smart as you. There's no one else that will be as good as you. If you are slower, go with your slow because your slow is anointed. Slow can be anointed. Fast can be anointed too.
Your English may not be good but God can anoint your words. By all means improve, don't compare.
Jesus says, what is that. Focus on what you have to focus and follow Me.
Ecclesiastes 8:1
Verse 1: Who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man's wisdom makes his face shine. When God's revelation comes in, the sternness of his face us changed. Spending time with God's words makes your actions changes and face shines.
You know when Jesus was captured and beaten, battered and bruised, and when they asked Him if He was the son of God, He said "I am." His face shone.
Luke 22:60-62
Verse 61: Jesus was captured so that you can be liberated. The Lord turned and looked at Peter. What do you think the look says? Everything that He did was a divine exchange for us. He took all the spit so that your face will shine effortlessly. God will not force radiance into your life. Ask the Lord to give you that radiance. Tell Him you want it.
That look was a radiant look that says "Peter, I love you." Jesus also prophesied to Peter that he will strengthen his brethrens. If it was a stern look, Peter will not return. That look kept Peter steady. There's repentance for Peter, his eyes was steady. For Judas, he also betrayed Jesus, but he did not repent. For Peter, he looked to Jesus.
This coming year, we are in for an exciting year. Get ready for an exciting Sunday. Pray to God and ask for three prayer requests. Things that go through God and back to Him will definitely be fulfilled. Mediate on these prayer requests. Justin was one of the three prayer requests back then. Pastor asked for a boy, he do not know why but he asked for it.
So what's so special about this three requests? It's a corporate anointing. Jesus says where two or three are gathered, He is in our midst.
Praise and Worship: Today's the Christmas service and we all sang Christmas carols. The stage was an awesome sight with wonderful setup and decorative props. As I happened to sit in the front few rows, I managed to snap some pictures (kind of secretly)! Will be sharing some wonderful pictures in this blog entry :)
Praise and Worship commences!
Song item by three teenagers with wonderful voices.
Here comes Pastor Prince on stage.
Christ is born King of the Jews. He did not come as a prince. This King loves children. We live in a fallen world. In the midst of these, God gave us His Son.
Isaiah prophesied many things but one thing he prophesied, he said in Isaiah 9:6.
A Child is born and unto us a Son is given.
Pastor goes on to sing this verse as a song.
Pastor went on to sing another song titled "Love Has Come Down":
================================================
By Galilee Emmanuel walked
And to the broken and humble He talked
In streams of beauty men could not see
Angels of Glory watched over thee
Love had come down
Love had come down
Oh the joyful sound
Love had come down
Oh gentle Saviour, so kind and good
We took and nailed you to a cross of wood
You prayed for me, I pierced your side
You took a thief to Paradise
Love had come down
Love had come down
Tell it all around
Love had come down
You went away back to your home
But you had said we would never be alone
You sent your Spirit down from above
Your gentle Spirit, Spirit of love
Love has come down
Love has come down
Oh the joyful sound
Love has come down
================================================
In an instant, God can heal you if the doctors tell you that you have a chronic condition. God is not bounded by time and space. Men may have good intent but men is limited. In God there are no limits.
John 17:24
Verse 24: "... for You loved Me before the foundation of the world."
Long before you and I were there, Christ was already there.
The bible tells us that God has emotions. God loves men. How much you hate the cancer is how much you love the child. God loves you and He can kill the sinner and the sin. He can create another creation but He did not because He loves you deeply.
Everything after creation has fallen. That is why we need to be born again.
John 3:16-17
Verse 16: Don't you love the word "so"? This verse is actually for Nicodemus. It's not just for the Jewish people. It's for the world. He was sent as a physical person to die for the world. If man can save himself, God would have said "Do you best."
The name Jesus means Saviour. He will save you from you sins, guilt, situation and even in your temporal needs. He does not know but to save. He cannot but save.
Majority of the stars in the universe are bigger than earth. Our earth can fit into one star and still have lots of room. This is not exaggerated but calculated.
God treats everyone unique. That is why everyone don't have the same fingerprint. He loved us long before He sent Jesus.
Love comes with a price. God literally came to our level and kissed us, sent His Son to die for us.
Apostle Paul says if God is for you, what can be against you?! If He is for you, what is your enemy? The question is, we have this doubt. Majority of mankind have bad thoughts about God. It take preachers to preach the truth. The bible tells us God is for us. It must be a man for a man. Sin starts in the blood. When a person dies, the first place that decays is the blood. That's where destruction begins. And hence, there is a need for virgin birth. A fetus does not receive blood from the mother. All the blood comes from the Father. It is royal blood, divine blood. That blood was shed at Calvary and one drop shook the earth. God was for us even when men were against Him. God sent His Son unasked.
Why didn't God just let us perish? Romans 8:31-32
Verse 32: This is called divine logic. When God reasons, it is always for us. The Son is the best of heaven. If God gave you a gift that is eternal, then what temporal need is? God wants you to have confidence in His love. The devil will always come to you to make you lose confidence. If God does the greater, will He not give us the lesser? Clothings, material needs are deemed as the lesser. Do you think He will not give it to you?
Matthew 6:30
Verse 30: Jesus said, if God takes care of grass, will He not much more clothe you? What is grass to God? Notice the "much more"? Matthew 7:11
Verse 11: Jesus said, if you being evil, knows how to give good things to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!
These are examples of divine logic.
Romans 8:31-32
Verse 32: God that spared not His own Son. Is this the Son whom God loved? You might think you are a face in the crowd but Jesus loves you. This verse tells us that He cares for our temporal needs. You'll never know how much God loves you until you know how much God loves His Son.
"... for us all," God is for you. Knowing God's love is so vital. God must really love us to sacrifice His Son.
".. shall.." Shall is future tense. Both now and forever and ever, God will supply freely all things that you'll ever need. How shall He not, the divine logic.
"... freely..." Freely means you cannot merit it, cannot buy it and cannot earn it. God cannot give it to you freely if you can earn it. It becomes a necessity. It is under-served and unmerited.
Do you know why you cannot buy God's blessings?
You are far too poor to buy His blessings and;
God is far too rich to sell you His blessings.
Friend, it's a simple message. When God says it, believe it. Judge God's love by His Son, His sacrifice on the cross. Prince Ernest will never forget his mother's love demonstrated by her kiss.
Do you know God raise Jesus from the dead? Death comes from sin. But Jesus took our sins. The moment the price is paid, He died. He gave Himself to death because the wages of sin is death. Death is behind Him and so He rose from the dead. There is no fear of death for believers. To believers is just a sleep. If there is one speck of sin in you, Jesus cannot be on the Father's right hand today seated. He is there because He has removed every sin and not even one speck of sin is on you.
If you were to die tonight, do you have a shadow of a doubt you will have an eternal home in heaven. We are not talking about having plenty of money. We are talking about the abundant life. Christ is my Lord, God I believe you are a good God and is for me. If that is you, say, as your word declares, God dies for sinners. I qualify all of your blessings and I believe you love me. You sent your Son to die for me. I thank you for the blood you shed cleanse me from all my sins. You raised Jesus from death and I believe I am highly favored, deeply loved. Amen.
We ended the service with additional great Christmas songs!
We sang a new song today. Not sure if this is the first time we're singing it cause it's my first time hearing it. Didn't manage to locate the lyrics on the Internet. In fact, I've also forgotten the tunes to this song. Maybe at a later stage we should have something on this song!
Topic: How God Sees The Tenth
Pastor shared that he has started to see snippets of how 2015 would look like. He shared that there will be a financial earthquake this coming year. There will be lots of shaking in the banking and economy of the world. Just last month, Jesus began to speak to Pastor for our church to be ready for this coming year. Every time that the world experiences a downturn, God's children will experience an upturn.
There is a teaching about rest for Israel. Israel's new year sometimes is in September or October. Lately since 2001 and 2002, there was a great financial crisis. The next financial crisis was in 2008. And that year was Israel's year of rest. As it looked like a trend, Israel is expecting another financial earthquake in the coming year.
One thing for sure, nothing catches God by surprise.
In the bible, the Egyptians gave Israel their gold and silver due to the back pay towards the Israelis. At that time, Egypt was in a financial crisis. So it depends on whether you want to be an Israeli or a Egyptian today. If you are an Israeli, now is the best time to receive your blessings.
Hebrews 5:1
Verse 1: Pastor believes that Apostle Paul is the author of Hebrews though his name is hidden in the book of Hebrews. Paul wrote about the high priest.
The high priest is not a prophet. The function of the high priest is, He receives gifts and offers to God. We know there is no more sacrifices but we still bring gifts to God; our praise and worship. God is well pleased when you are generous. God says that in Hebrews 13.
If the priest is good, God receives the whole nation. The high priest is the one who receives the people's prayer.
Prayer puts God in the place as Giver. It puts us in place as the Receiver.
When we pray, we are activating our covenant. We need to pray for our child, not just expecting he will grow up blessed.
Hebrews 5:10-11
Verse 10: This verse is quoted from Psalm 110:4. Melchizedek is only mentioned three times in the bible; the books of Genesis, Psalm and Hebrews.
Verse 11: We have much to say about Melchizedek but you have become dull of hearing. If you can understand the truth of Melchizedek, you have matured as a believer. Dull of hearing means they are not open hearing more.
Melchizedek brought bread and wine, the communion. Jesus is our Melchizedek. We are blessed with the blessings of Abraham. Salvation is literally coming to God with nothing in your hands.
Abraham defeated four armies and came back with all the gold and silver. Melchizedek brought bread and wine to strengthen him. Abraham then gave one tenth to Melchizedek.
God is always looking out to bless you. Rich people doesn't mean they are generous. Wealth and generosity does not go together.
Luke 11:42
Verse 42: Jesus says to the Pharisees to tithe. He says have some justice to the poor. Focus on the love of God but don't leave tithing undone.
Melchizedek and Abraham were not under the law, so why did they give a tenth of their money?
Hebrews 7:1-10
Verse 1: King of Salem is King of Peace.
Verse 4: What in the world has the tenth got to do to declare how great the person is?
God puts Melchizedek in the prime books.
If love is there, you would like to respond or serve. Some believers may become lazy to the point they do not want to go to church, or even if they are in church, they do not sing or raise their hands believing that it is not through their own works. It is true but they do not know we still need to respond. Just imagine your wife kisses you and you stand there like a wooden block. You need to respond isn't it.
The last time Pastor preached a sermon of tithing was six years ago. Some Pastors preach on that every month but not in our church. For the Miracle Seed Sundays, only four times were conducted. Pastor shared that the church has not ever received a cheque of one million for any Miracle Seed Sundays. How the church is only left with 10% today, no one knows how it's done. It has to be God.
The way we demonstrate how great God is is through the tithe. It's part of your worship. We all have to learn how to worship. Worship is literally coming close to kiss God. A deep intimacy with God, your spirit combines with God and a birth is born.
Verse 5: Now this is talking about the Levitical priesthood. We are no more under the tithing of the law. We are under the tithing of Melchizedek. Pastor ever hear a preacher shared that Abraham tithed only one time. That's funny because would we want every paragraph in the bible saying that Abraham tithed? Abraham brought Issac up the mountain and when God spared him, he was so appreciative that he tithed that month. Yes?
Verse 8: Bread and wine is to proclaim the death of Jesus Christ. Tithing is to proclaim that Jesus lives and keeps on living. He died and rose again. He asked for one tenth and with that tithe, take some time to remember the love of God.
Genesis 45:26-28
Verse 26: Jacob's heart stood still. He does not believe that his son Joseph is alive. Today, Israel believes that Jesus is a historical figure and He is dead. One day, they gonna look and say, "My God, Jesus is alive."
Verse 27: In other words, faith comes by hearing.
Verse 28: Then Israel believed.
The truth of the tithe will make unbelievers see the goodness in your life. Through the mercy shown to us, it will provoke the Israel to jealousy. It will provoke them when they see the wagons of Christ in your life. When Israel sees us, they know Jesus is alive.
Back to Hebrews 7,
Verse 9: Levi was the great grandson of Abraham. Levi receives tithe from his brethens, paid tithes. They are trying to compare tithing to Melchizedek and through Abraham. Tithing blesses you all the way down to your generations.
Even George Muller says we should give our tenth to God.
James L. Kraft, head of Krate Cheese says the only investment he has made is the consistently increasing dividends to the Lord.
Revelation 22:3
Verse 3: The things you touch in this world is cursed. Everything that comes from the ground in cursed. Even money, it is made from the bark of the trees. And trees come from the earth, which is cursed.
God never says He will curse you in Malachi. In the very same chapter, he is saying about tithing. God's storehouse today is the church. God says bring your tithes to the storehouse. The first mention of "Windows of Heaven" was during the Noah's flood. It flooded the earth forty days and fourth nights. So today if you tithe, God pours down blessings to you for forty days and forty nights.
Romans 11:16
Verse 16: God is saying all things are cursed. Set apart a tenth to Him and it will become blessed.
Genesis 24:10
Verse 10: The servants took ten of his master's camel, and all his master's goods were in his hand. What does "all" means here? It means God regards ten as all (a whole).
The world is cursed, put your worship to the priest. The priest is not your pastor.
1 Corinthians 15:23
Verse 23: When you take the communion, it reminds God of His beloved son. Every time there is an offering, God is reminded.
Why are there ten commandments? To God, that is all of God's commandments. With one commandment that is broken, all is broken. That is the logic of the tenth. When you bring a tenth to Him, He blesses all (every part) of you.
But Pastor, why does God likes to be reminded on the death of Christ?
It is like when you are under the weather or feeling down, watching a video of your child will always bring a smile to your face.
When Joseph sent the wagons, the command came from Pharaoh.
Genesis 45:19-20
Verse 19: The command is given.
Verse 23: He sent ten donkeys, ten female donkeys,, grain, bread and food. The good things of Egypt. So why ten? Why not fifty donkeys? Ten represents the whole.
Ezekiel 44:1-3
Verse 2: Jesus rode a donkey and went through the gate of the sanctuary. Jesus went in to Jerusalem via the eastern gate. Who would have thought this will be predicted.
Verse 3: This chapter talks about the future temple. It never ends. Holy communion will end only when Jesus comes in the second coming.
Genesis 28:20-22
Verse 22: Jacob said to God that of all that He gives him, he will surely give a tenth to God.
Refer to Genesis 31:13, God did not forget the vow made to Him. God says He is the God of Bethel and He remembered the vow Jacob made to Him.
In closing, Pastor shared a great man of God,
John D. Rockefeller:
This man would have worth $336 billion today. He was a baptist. He said he tithed every dollar God has entrusted to him. He was a oil magnet. Oil wasn't popular back then but God gave him the idea. The tithe is a picture of Jesus Christ and is an ongoing thing. No matter what happens to the world's economy, you will not be shaken. Don't have pride in your tithing, instead have a love for Christ. Under the new covenant, you don't have to tithe, you get to tithe.
It has been almost three months since I last stepped into
church. How I missed church to be honest. I must say, I'm currently in
the most eventful time of my life.
Denise and I have a new addition to the family and God has blessed us with heaven's best by bestowing to us an angel,
Sarah Zoe. We decided to give Sarah a middle name, because the word Zoe comes from John 10:10.
Jesus says, "I come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly." In other words, this Zoe life is the God-kind of life, in abundance. Similarly, it acts as a reminder to me that God has given me this God-life after going through an uneventful accident mid of this year, everytime when I look at Sarah.
Sarah is now 12 weeks old and it's such an enjoying process
to watch her grow bit by bit each day. Maybe I'm Christ-bias, but we do
see that she's set apart from the world, the parenting process is easy-going and taking care of her is not mind-wrenching as most makes it out to be. Like you would remind me, it is Christ who is doing the work for us.
Am reminded of a verse, Jesus says, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." in Matthew 11:30. A beautiful promise of Jesus in our lives!
Creation
is such an amazing thing when I witnessed how she came into this world
on Day 1. I truly believe it surpasses one's imagination when a
non-believer invites Christ into their life. It should be an explosion in the unseen realm.
Quoted from 2 Corinthians
5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" Time to embrace the new and enjoy every little moment, like us!
Sharing some pictures of Sarah Zoe with my beloved readers.. hope you enjoy the pictures!
Sarah says, "Hello!"
Sarah smiles at you!
Sarah poses!
Blog entry titled "16 November 2014" will be up soon!
Praise and Worship: Today worship was led by Bob Fitts. We sang some oldies and it felt like I was in Praise Kids in my younger days. Here you go!
Topic: Continuation of Psalm 91 series
We will be continuing the series for Psalm 91.
Yesterday, Pastor saw the news reporting the Ebola virus hitting Nigeria. Today, it is known to be a deadly virus that spreads very fast.
What you should not suffer is because of Jesus who died for you.
Jesus tells us to leap for joy and tells us how great is our reward in heaven. It literally means our rewards are made in heaven.
Job 5:19
Verse 19: Sometimes we get into trouble and we ask where is the protection. Don't ask where is the protection. God wants to deliver you out of the trouble. Pastor believes that we are coming into the seventh day.
Psalm 91
Verse 1: Most High (Elyon). Every time Elyon is mentioned, it talks about the Lord's supper.
Verse 3: The snare of the fowler is a picture of a trapped bird. It means God will deliver you from the traps from the devil. Pestilence means open pestilence, like SARS.
Verse 4: Now we see God as a picture of an eagle. Sheild is a large shield that covers your front. Buckler is a shield that goes around a person. To live under Psalm 91, you need to be under grace. Grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. Grace and truth is one.
Deuteronomy 32:11-13
Verse 11: This is a song of Moses before he passed on.
Exodus 20 is where you find the ten commandments.
Exodus 18:3-4
Verse 4: God wanted them to keep the covenant of Abraham. God is saying from Egypt to Mount Sinai is the period of eagles' wings. God will bear you on eagles' wings. This period of pure grace is now permanent for us.
God wants you to come close to Him. It's not how many times you read Psalm 91. It's the relationship.
Matthew 23:27-39
Verde 37: Only when Israel says this verse then Jesus will come in a bang!
John 17:25-26
Verse 26: A beautiful verse of God's love.
Genesis 22:1-2
Verse 2: Think about it. Abraham has two sons. Why did God say to Abraham to bring his only son? God is referring to Hinself. Jesus says no one knows the Father except the son.
Genesis 24 is the longest chapter in Genesis. It talks about a bride for the servant. The story of Rebecca is a story of the church.
In closing,
The first mention of love is father's love for the son. The second mention of love is the love for the bride.
God knows it was hard on Abraham but knows he's a man of faith.
Genesis 22:6-8
The son asked where is the lamb? Abraham said God will provide the lamb. God spared Abraham's son but did not spare His own son.
