Don't Provoke the Lord to Jealousy

As I set to meditate this morning on 1 Cor. 10, it occurred to me that through the entertainment industry, the devil has succeeded in leading millions of Christians across the globe to provoke the Lord to jealousy by partaking to the table of demons and the table of the Lord simultaneously like Paul points out in the hilighted text below.

Sadly, many so-called church leaders are even using church platforms to amplify the voices of satan's apostles and evangelists under the pretexte of being a seeker friendly church. So we project secular movies, play secular musics and even encourage our children and youth to have for role models these "celebrities" whose lifestyle is an abomination to God. 

We are provoking the Lord to jealousy...

And we wonder why the average believer is powerless??? Come out of them!!!

Selah!

1 Corinthians 10:19-22 ESV

[19] What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? [20] No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. [21] You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. [22] Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? 

https://bible.com/bible/59/1co.10.19-22.ESV

This Mountain Belongs to God!

I now claim this Space for The King and His Kingdom, even YESHUA HA MASHIACH!

Surrender and Yield NOW!!!

#TheSupremacyofGod!

Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus, Come. What I love about this promise is not only the fact that God's will will prevail by bringing the entire creation in subjection to Himself but also that in the hearts ❤ of men there will be no doubt that God is the only one worthy of worship. The works that God will perform in the last days will compel humanity to bend knees and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord to the Glory of the Father, The Ancient of Days.

#Loveistheanswer!

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
1 Corinthians 13:1 ESV

https://bible.com/verse-of-the-day/1co.13.1/62609 

Rom.12:1

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.
Romans 12:1 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/rom.12.1.ESV 

#Forgiveness!

Amen! 

There are certain kinds of hurt in our lives that may give us a sense of entitlement to hold unto unforgiveness and grudge, or even quietly meditate on getting even with the people we deem responsible for our hurt.

However, today's scripture gives us a unique spiritual insight on why we should always forgive and never hold grudges. 

Jesus tells us that there is a direct link between the way we deal with unforgiveness and our own final judgment before the judgment seat of God in the last days. This is a huge revelation! Unforgiveness may put our Eternal destiny in jeopardy. Does this seems a bit too harsh? Well, not at all when we consider that God himself suffered a great offense with Adam and Eve rebellion but he did not retaliate by annihilating them. Instead, he covered their nakedness and drove them out of his presence with the promise of redemption in the fulness of time. He showed us mercy and covered us with grace. To this very day, God continues to show us mercy and cover us with grace... so when we are in a position where we feel we can't forgive we must remember that we are endangering our souls because if we die harboring unforgiveness, we would have wasted our chances to respond adequately to God's goodness. Unforgiveness is in fact an open expression of unbelief in God's Justice. Yet, without faith, it is impossible to please God.

So my friend, let it Go! For your soul's sake and good physical health... Forgive!

#TheSubstitutionIsComplete!

Through the fall of our first parents (Gen.3) Humanity has been declared guilty by divine decree and condemned to outer darkness far from the presence of God (Rom.3:23). In other words God's Law found us guilty and unable to free ourselves from our shackles.
To be freed from this verdict, a subsequent verdict by the same law had to be pronounced on our behalf. This is what today's text is for me. The word substitution in legal terms means one in the place of the other.
In our text Paul is using legal language when he states that Jesus was made to BE SIN for our sake so that we may BECOME THE RIGHTEOUSNESS of God. Of course alluding to those who have put their complete trust in the finished work of Christ.
Spiritually the divine law has rendered a different verdict from that which hangs on all unregenerated individuals. We have been acquitted of our guilt by a substitutionary transfer of our sinfulness for Christ's Righteousness. In other words, we walk free of the charges that previously held us captives of sin and death.
So, if you are a blood bought believer, boldly tell satan and all his minions that they have no legal right over your soul, your body, your belongings and your productivity (all that your mind and hands generate). You go free unto a new life in the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom of light! Claim your freedom from the outer darkness and step up into your Freedom in Christ.
Praise God!

#BeBlameless!

Today's scripture is a go to text for Christian Apologists who find in it Peter's encouragement to give an answer to anyone who asks us regarding our hope and faith in the Lord. However, Peter's primary motivation according to context is to strongly encourage his readers to be above reproach by living blameless lives in honor to Christ to have God's approval and blessing and to put to shame the slanderers who may seek to discredit them because of their hatred of Christ and the gospel. 

How can we live blameless lives? By doing good and committing to what is good at all time. The key to this Character transformation is to always honor in our hearts Christ the Lord as Holy, that is to constantly give Him preeminence in our thinking, planning, affections, desires, pursuit and daily living.

When we live this way, we will not struggle to give an answer to whosoever ask. According to the context, Peter does not have in mind curious individuals simply wanting to know more about our faith. The accurate picture is that of Paul before King Agrippa in Acts 26. Giving an answer to critics or an angry mob (or hostile crowd). This is very relevant to us today considering the woke movement and cancel culture phenomenon that swipes across the globe. Because for many faith in Christ is a problem they would love to do away with because it doesn't satisfy their view of a perfect world. So to this hostile crowd we should be able to provide a defense of the hope within us and do it with gentleness and respect even when that is not how they confront us.

Be blameless!

#ForThoseInChrist!

This statement is such a well known scripture and an encouraging word that everyone one wishes to appropriate without considering the prerequisite "Being in Christ."
What does is it mean to be in Christ? Paul makes a case for it from Romans 1 to 7, and here in Chapter 8 he concludes that there is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
He is not saying those who attend church, or those who love Christians, or those who admire Jesus or again those who own a bible.
No, only those of us who have understood that God's justified wrath is expressed against all unrighteousness of mankind who have rejected God and any form of godliness because of an innate predisposition to cherish wickedness and resist goodness as defined by God. Yes, those of us who have realized that no man is exempt from this defect and that everyone is deserving God's appropriate punishment for our collective and individual fallen condition (Death). Again those of us who accept that the solution to our predicament could only come from God alone. And it did!... yes, God, because of His infinite Love toward us, provided His own begotten Son as the only acceptable atonning offering to die a substitutionary death to grant those of us who accept this gracious gift by faith alone the possibility to escape God's wrath and be given eternal life as we commit to give our bodies over to God to become slaves to righteousness in the same way we did offer them to unrighteousness in our previous fallen condition.
Yes, those of us who clearly identify with Christ's crucifixion as our propitiation, do receive His life and become His siblings. So to us, ONLY to us, there is NO CONDEMNATION because the life we have and now live... we live IN CHRIST never to be forsaken ever again.
So, the $1,000,000 question? Are you in Christ? 

#HumilityByObedience!

Selah! There is a reason why Paul is reminding the Philippians about what it took for the Eternal Christ (the beloved Son of the Living God) to visit earth in a human suit.
Paul's purpose here is to highlight the mind of Christ and invite, even appeal to his audience to emulate the Character of Jesus Christ. Focusing only on verses 7-8 here, it is clear that Paul wants the reader to appreciate the legendary humility it took for Christ to become a man. Earlier in the text we are told that He did not look at His equality with the Father as something to cling unto "7 BUT Emptied Himself..." This unique humble attitude of Christ was further proven or established by His unwavery obedience unto death, EVEN DEATH ON A CROSS.
It is no secret that death by crucifixion was at the time not only the most gruesome way a person could die but also the most shameful way ever imaginable. As the Eternal Word of God and an effective member of the Godhead, He should have died in a dignified way, isn't it? Why should He have died like a common criminal, with zero dignity or reverence? Well, come to think about it, this is the same way he came into this world, isn't it? (Born in a manger, selah!)
In case you haven't got it yet, Jesus Christ is the epitome of HUMILITY and those who claim to be His Generals, Disciples, Sherpherds, Followers, Worshippers, Servants, Ministers, Apostles, Prophets, etc... We all should display this unique Character and quality when observed "Humility unto Death (the death of self)." From the way we talk, walk, act and live our lives, the true people of Christ are extremely Humble like our Master -  the Lamb of God.
Arrogance can only be found in the people of the one who said to himself "I will be like the most high." (Isaiah 14: 12-14)
Happy Easter week Y'all!

#YouAreLove!

If you are a believer reading this, I need your undivided attention real quick. Look, if there was ever a time when God should have wanted to have nothing to do with you, it would have been before you embraced the salvation He offered through His Son. Yeah, it would have been while you were deeply entrenched in a life of sin and open rebellion against Him. But He never turned His back on you back then... Instead, He pursued you, sought after you and made sure that you are made aware of the infinite depth of His Love towards you.

Why then, now that you belong to Him, have you allowed Satan to convince you that God is at war with you, that He has forgotten about you, that He has forsaken you and that you are not good enough or deserving of His love.

Come on! You have got to know that those thoughts are from Satan and there is not a ounce of truth in them. 

Know the truth! Submitted to God and resist the devil. Take your stand and claim your identity. You are loved!

#PraiseJehovahGod!

Herein lies our Duty. This call is not optional. It is mandatory. Psalm 150 says let everything that has the breath of life in it Praise the LORD.
Man was created for worship and to praise the living God through an acceptable service as God Himself would prescribe. To believe what scripture says, mankind cannot find peace and genuine fulfillment unless we find a way to relate to God in worship. Inbuilt in our deepest part is an unshakable desire and need to find an object of worship and bow to it.
Worshiping any other entity, person or object beside God has devastating spiritual consequences which leads to an alienation of our true self from God and from our humanity.
So once again, Praise God... that is your Duty!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CLTKepYnwBS/?igshid=mivfdbz62jc2 

#ChristLiveInMe!

As soon as we get to perceive the profundity of this statement and believe it with all our heart, we will begin our journey into a truly victorious Christian living.
I will encourage you to look up two books by the author Neil Anderson (Victory over darkness and Bondage breaker). He addresses in depth what Paul is talking about here.
We must understand that the key to a victorious Christian living lies in our belief and embrace of the truth expressed in today's scripture Galatians 2:20.
Most believers walk around professing that they are still sinners counting on God's grace day by day. It sounds very Christian, does it not?
I use to believe and preached the same. But today's scripture makes it abundantly clear. We have been crucified... meaning, at our conversion we died to sin to be made alive in God! We were justified by embracing Christ. Subsequent to the new birth is our walk of sanctification where we progressively unlearn the habits of our old self. It is this progressive process of transformation that has many confused to think that we therefore must continue to consider ourselves as sinners in the process of becoming saints. This is one of satan's greatest deception in these last days.
Proverbs 23: 7  "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he".  If we keep on believing that we are sinners, guess what! We will keep on sinning and find it completely normal. If we live like that we can't claim that Christ lives in us because Christ cannot identify with sin. It is all a matter of perspective.
If you have accepted Jesus as Your Lord and Savior, begin to view yourself as a saint who no longer lives in darkness but stands in the light of Jesus's glorious presence. For It is done, you are a new creature. What about the sin you occasionally do? Your occasional sins are simply behaviors of your former life you need to unlearn. It can no longer define you. It is part of your old self memory that need to be flushed out of your mind.
The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God...
Selah!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKxvvQKniBn/?igshid=4tz4pkru2vqq 

#ChristLivesInMe!

As soon as we get to perceive the profundity of this statement and believe it with all our heart, we will begin our journey into a truly victorious Christian living.
I will encourage you to look up two books by the author Neil Anderson (Victory over darkness and Bondage breaker). He addresses in depth what Paul is talking about here.
We must understand that the key to a victorious Christian living lies in our belief and embrace of the truth expressed in today's scripture Galatians 2:20.
Most believers walk around professing that they are still sinners counting on God's grace day by day. It sounds very Christian, does it not?
I use to believe and preached the same. But today's scripture makes it abundantly clear. We have been crucified... meaning, at our conversion we died to sin to be made alive in God! We were justified by embracing Christ. Subsequent to the new birth is our walk of sanctification where we progressively unlearn the habits of our old self. It is this progressive process of transformation that has many confused to think that we therefore must continue to consider ourselves as sinners in the process of becoming saints. This is one of satan's greatest deception in these last days.
Proverbs 23: 7  "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he".  If we keep on believing that we are sinners, guess what! We will keep on sinning and find it completely normal. If we live like that we can't claim that Christ lives in us because Christ cannot identify with sin. It is all a matter of perspective.
If you have accepted Jesus as Your Lord and Savior, begin to view yourself as a saint who no longer lives in darkness but stands in the light of Jesus's glorious presence. For It is done, you are a new creature. What about the sin you occasionally do? Your occasional sins are simply behaviors of your former life you need to unlearn. It can no longer define you. It is part of your old self memory that need to be flushed out of your mind.
The life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God...
Selah!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKxvvQKniBn/?igshid=pn6mbt07n645 

#SufferingAsChristians!

What can this statement possibly mean? Well, it is all in the text!
We must understand that when Faith in Christ first showed up on the scenery of world religion, it was considered a threat because it claimed exclusivity on truth and demanded total allegiance to Christ alone and His way of life.
Most religions of the time were the result of an amalgamation of cultural practices, traditional beliefs and superstitions around which were built an entire system of religious practices and observances that permeated the whole of life. Christianity with its exclusive claims threatened the statu quo and brought a complete disruption to the way many lived their lives for many generations. This disruption had a major economic impact on well established religious systems and the auxiliary industries that supported and maintained the pompousness of these religions through the production of artifacts and various items used in religious practices (Acts 19). This is how persecution came about to begin with! It was a push back against a belief that was perceived as a threat to an established way of life. From the Jerusalem persecution to the Roman persecution, and any other persecution unleashed against Christians the world over, the motivation is usually an open resistance to the change that incarnate Christianity.
From the first century AD to our present day, there has been a widespread campaign against Christianity in order to isolate the true followers of Yeshua and cause them grief, pain, loss and even death. We carry a message that threatens the kingdom of darkness.
Today's scripture comes as an encouragement to the believers persecuted today because of their faith in the Lord.
Rejoice and do not regret your troubles because they will win you a crown of glory when you stand before Christ. Those who persecute you are motivated by fear... conquer them through love. Perfect love casts out all fears (1John 4:18).
Shalom!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKvmAz5nH_O/?igshid=nf9xuql4fkz8 

#ComeBeSatisfied!

Every human being is born with a heart defect which has but one remedy. We are all born with a dead spiritual heart unable to respond to God and know Him. This reality has a devastating consequence. We cannot know true satisfaction or genuine fulfillment until our spirit-self is made alive in God through our embrace of his only begotten Son by grace through faith.
But our innate arrogance and ignorance lead us to seek for our own remedy to the inner emptiness we cannot shake off of our lives.
So we invent all kinds of ways to create for ourselves a sens of selfworth, achievement, happiness, entertainment, etc... with the promise of finding inner peace and lasting satisfaction. But we constantly fall short!
At the close of a life without Christ, only one word towers over all our accomplishments "Vanity!"
To avoid this to be your case, listen to the appeal of Isaiah this morning. It is a free invite  to your freedom and guaranteed fulfillment. Come drink from the well that never runs dry, come eat to your heart satisfaction. Come and be made alive in Christ so that your works may preceed you into eternity. Your toil and struggle will not Go in vain.
It is time to come home!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKqM1ImHRDy/?igshid=1xi2g3dnjeb4l 

#SanctityofHumanlife!

Selah! Herein lies the source or origin of the sanctity and essential worth of the human life in all its forms. From conception to the grave, the whole of live is sacred because God's finger is all over it.

We live in days where the above conviction is challenged and questioned in many ways. But scripture stands written and it cannot be broken. God is the source and the author of the human life and God always creates with Purpose and Elegance (Imago Dei - Genesis1: 26, Job 32:8, John 4: 24, 2 Corinthians 3: 17, James 4: 5).

So it doesn't really matter in what package you have showed up out of your mother's womb. From the minute there was a heartbeat with your name on it, God was at work in you. Jeremiah goes further to say that before we even took expression in our mother's wombs, we were in the mind of God (Jeremiah 1: 5).

So say it loud: I AM FEARFULLY AND WONDERFULLY MADE. 

That's right! Don't let the lies of Satan which has filled the earth affected the truth God says about you. Yes, the world will hang your worth on your race, your nationality, your ethnicity, your education, your industry, your bank account, your possession, your circle of influence, etc... I think you get my point! NONE of that determines your worth. You are Holy Ground because your DNA says "Human" and that is the work of God. 

Praise His name!

#EternalThings!

The human spirit never dies. But our present actions or entire life experience on earth is a determining factor for the quality of life we will awaken to after our spirit is separated from our body (physical death).
One of the ways to guarantee that we awaken to a pleasant experience after death will be to be aware that we (the soul/spirit) live forever. This awareness coupled with the understanding that our actions determine our eternal destination will lead us to a unique way of living as expressed in today's scripture.
Pain, suffering, lack, persecution are all trivialized in favor of the weight of glory awaiting those who will endure and overcome the flesh and its weaknesses, the world and its sinful appeals and satan with his temptations.
God's glory in the face of Christ remains our ultimate pursuit; not comfort or fame, or any other worldly pursuit.
Today's appeal to you is simply that you will live as if eternity matters. Selah!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKfuvR8H-3b/?igshid=1090bzepfyfqt 

#ReturntoGod!

That's right! Our Loving precious God and Father is a merciful and gracious God. Don't let your past or your present keep you from coming home. No one is beyond redemption!!!
Remember the prodigal son? Luke 15: 11-32.
So call on the Lord whole he may be found. Now is the acceptable time. If you are reading these words while finding yourself far from God, know that this is not by chance... God is directly appealing to you to return home.
If you don't know where to start then reach to someone who can lead you through the steps.
In a nutshell, bend your knees and call on God in Jesus name from your heart.
Be blessed!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKdGsLPn5k5/?igshid=vki36gye7wlu 

#Peacemakers!

We live in days and times where peace is often imposed by force. The UN frequently talks about peace keeping forces deployed across the globe. But this morning text has nothing to do with such understand of peace. 
Before conflict and war is manifested outwardly in an argument with a co-worker or a spouse, or in an ethnic conflit, or again in an all out war between nations; we must understand that unresolved tensions and conflicts reside in the heart of all unregenerated men and women. Fallen humanity is at war with Self because sin has alienated us from our Maker and Hevenly Father. This situation has robbed us of our inner peace which can only be restored through our embrace of the Prince of Peace. 
PEACEMAKERS therefore are the believers who introduce unbelievers to the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 52:7) resulting in the restoration of their inner peace. 
May you this day choose to be a peacemaker for there is great reward attached to it. 
Know the Lord!
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKLIf_9HoaL/?igshid=1cj75e1s2yfou