Sunday, July 18th in all the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Like God, the devil also works with words; he uses words or thoughts of doubt that cause fear and worries. As a consequence, people become emotionally unstable and they become vulnerable to harm. It’s a recipe from hell to kill, to steal, and to destroy.
There’s no medicine that can neutralise these attacks, but we have to set our minds on God’s promises and react. React immediately in our mind, through thoughts that are based on the Word. Faith’s counterattack combined with a good dose of trust and perseverance will make the devil run. That’s what it means to submit to God and resist the devil (James 4:7).
Good music, wise advice, a word of comfort, entertainment, or anything else is like taking an aspirin. It sooths the pain, but it doesn’t solve the problem. We must use the same tactics our Lord used when He resisted Peter’s emotional “advice”, saying: “Get behind Me, Satan!” (Matthew 16:23).
Bishop Macedo
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
To better understand the relationship between the Lord Jesus and His servants, we need to go back to the origins of the relationship between master and servant.
In ancient times, the only difference between a servant and an animal was that the former was rational and the later was not. A servant or slave did not have possessions, had no right to express his thoughts, nor did he have the right to make his own choices.
Thousands of years ago, there were various ways for a person to end up as a slave.
The first was the slave trade, in which servants were bought and sold as mere objects, and became the property of those who bought them. This is the case of the true servants of the Lord Jesus Christ, since He paid a price for us—not with money, but with His precious blood.
The apostle Paul explains it better: "For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s" (1 Corinthians 6:20).
The apostle John also said: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth" (Revelation 5:9,10).
As servants of hell, we were rescued when the Lord Jesus paid the price of His blood, making us kings and priests to God.
The second way for a person to become a slave in the past was by losing a war, whereupon prisoners of war were made into slaves.
The third method of becoming a slave took place at birth, because the children of slaves were automatically slaves themselves.
This last point leads us to reason that the children of those who serve the Lord Jesus should serve Him as well. And yet we see that many children of servants of the Lord (Christians) do not serve God because the personality and behaviour of their parents does not tie in with those of a good and faithful servant; when parents set good examples at home, their children become faithful followers of Christ.
The fourth way of becoming a slave in ancient times was by means of compensation. If a thief could not return or pay for what he had stolen, he could be sold into slavery. An amazing lesson can be learned from this fact: human beings are incapable of paying for their sins—unless they give their own lives to Jesus.
The fifth method was indebtedness. People who didn’t have money to pay off their debts would either sell their children into slavery, or their children would be confiscated by the money lender. In fact it was very common for the entire family of people who went bankrupt (husband, wife and children) to become slaves of their creditors. As long as the debt was paid, the level of sacrifice that people had to endure was not an issue. The situation of the widow who appealed to the prophet Elisha is an example of this. The passage reads:
"A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, ‘Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves.'" (2 Kings 4:1)
According to the Law of Moses, a Hebrew slave had to work for six years to gain his freedom. When that period of time was finished, his master had to reward him with a certain amount of money so that he could begin a new life.
The sixth way of becoming a slave in ancient times was self-inflicted. A person could voluntarily sell himself into slavery to escape a life of misery. As in the previous example, after six years he would be free again and would leave with financial compensation from his master.
Likewise, many people volunteer to serve the Lord Jesus to escape the miserable life they are living, or to avoid the eternal lake of fire. However, after some time, they redeem themselves from the condition of servants of the Lord Jesus, seeking in the law of the world their right to some crumbles to begin a new life.
And finally, the seventh method: kidnapping. According to Moses’ Law, anyone who kidnapped and forced another into slavery was to be punished by death (Exodus 21.16). The brothers of Joseph, for example, were guilty of this crime, and they feared very much.
Whatever the method used to acquire servants (slave trade, debt payment, political imposition, etc), it didn’t give them any rights, only obligations. No wages or rewards. Masters would give their servants food, water, and time to sleep just so as they could gather strength to work the following day. Slaves worked non-stopping, and they had to be always available, whenever their masters needed them.
Jesus is only Lord over those who serve Him
Bishop Macedo
Monday, July 5, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
It is Not Easy
One big mistake I've seen many who claim themselves Christians making is to wrongly think that because they have surrendered their lives to God then they will no longer face problems in life. What a big mistake! They become prostrated in a false sensation of well-being saying, "now God will do everything I need and want from Him, they persevere no more, they don't come to Church as many times as they should, they don't put their faith into action as they used to do before when they started to come. That's when most of people who gather in churches face the problems that one day they had overcome, they now see those problems coming over them again.
Life with God is an eternal battle especially if you want to keep yourself into His presence and guarantee your salvation. It was not in vain that He said, 'He who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." Mt 10.38
God will never do what we have to do. He gave us His anointing for us to fight our battles.
Be blessed
Bishop Carlos
God’s will
5 July 2010
The care that a servant takes to do the will of God shows the level of communion he has with the Lord. To please God is to freely and spontaneously do His will. This is the most beautiful desire that motivates the lives of those who are truly servants of the Almighty.
It’s nothing new that most people are worried about their lives, busy pursuing their own pleasures. But it’s painful to see that among them there are those who, despite their vast knowledge of the Bible, still have not had a personal experience with the Saviour.
How can we serve Someone we don’t know? How can we please or do the will of an Unknown God?
Yet those who are born of the Holy Spirit don’t have this problem. They know perfectly well what the will of the Lord is because they are servants; they were born to serve, and not to be served. They know what the will of their Lord is. Whether they do it or not, that’s a different matter. But when they please their Lord, He causes their dreams to come true naturally, without anxiety, stress, or anything else. Besides, God’s will never goes against the well-being of His children.
As a Father, He knows what is best for His children. Many times, or almost always, people try to use their faith in order to have what they want before the right time. Now I ask: Can a child handle a thousand dollars?
Using faith to receive material blessings is fine, but it should always be done with a faith that is in line with the will God, so that their blessing does not turn into a curse.
Bishop Macedo
Monday, June 21, 2010
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)