The strong and the weak

The weak are emotional.
They are indefinite with their decisions and their faith. They are enslaved by other people’s opinions.
This causes them to be unhappy, even though they believe in God.
“While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal,” 2 Corinthians 4.18.
Those who are born of the Spirit are spirit. They live by a rational faith and disregard visions, feelings and emotions.
They believe in order to see, and do not need to see in order to believe.
Is this foolish? Certainly, it sounds foolish to the world.
But not to the world of faith, which is the Kingdom of the Spirit of God.
Unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of the Spirit of God, John 3.3.
Unless you are born of water and the Spirit, you cannot enter the kingdom of the Spirit of God, John 3.5.
Only those who are born of God are able to overcome the war for salvation because they use supernatural faith.
In contrast, those who are born of emotions, flesh or the natural man do not have the Holy Spirit and therefore, do not recognize the world of supernatural faith.
Because of this, they do not have the courage to assume a serious commitment with God, deny their own will, take up their cross and follow Him.
Instead, they are literally cowards. At the slightest sound of the war drums, they flee.
They do not have courage to deny sin and face the injustices of evil.
Their emotional faith makes them shy in front of their relatives, friends and acquaintances.
This does not happen with those who are born of God. Their faith is solid, well established and deeply rooted in the Word of God. They do not care about other people’s opinions…
And if everyone turns their back on them because of their faith, then that is when they become stronger.
They extract strength from their weaknesses and take possession of the promises.
“But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned,” I Corinthians 2.14.

By faith, the revolt of the Righteous

Because of His spiritual nature, Jesus was a Man of Revolt. He couldn’t have been any different; after all, He was possessed by the Spirit of Righteousness and would never submit to the dominion of the spirit of unrighteousness.

Everyone who possesses the Spirit of God is revolted against moral and spiritual corruption. For such people, it is unacceptable to have the Spirit of God and at the same time be subject to the injustices that come from hell.

 

Although God allows these things to happen, it does not mean they are His will. On the contrary, God has allowed the enemies of righteousness to attack His children, the children of Righteousness, so they can revolt against, fight and overcome them.

 

This will awaken the faith of those who are sincere, yet are being misled. It will allow them to see that there is a Living, Almighty God ready to deliver them. This happened in the past. The Promised Land was not a free gift. Although it was a guaranteed promise, it had to be taken by force, that is, its conquest cost many lives. However, as the children of Israel moved forward, they took possession of that territory.
God’s presence with them did not mean their journey would be easy.

 

Today, it is no different. It has not been any different in my life either.
Just as God exists, I know He is with me. However, my journey has never ever been easy. I am sure that you know at least one person who hates me, don’t you?

One fine day, many years ago, I complained to the Lord, “Why has everything been so difficult for me? You know what my goals are and whom I am fighting for. Why must I face so many unfair obstacles?” At that very moment, the Holy Spirit answered, “The battle may be fierce, but victory is certain.”

I immediately regained my strength and gave it my all. After all, I did not have, nor do I have anything to lose.

 

So here is some advice for all those who persecute me: I will break through! And whatever laws try to stop me will serve as a stepping stool for me to climb even higher.
And if my Lord allows you to kill me, know that the seeds I have sown will bear much more fruit than when I was alive.

God bless those who have a living faith in the Living God!

“God is a just judge, and God is angry with the wicked every day.” Psalm 7.11

They weren’t spared, will you be?

The evil spirits that steal, kill and destroy nowadays used to be pure angels and saints, who faithfully served the Creator thousands, millions or maybe even billions of years ago. They were brought into existence to serve as messengers of the Almighty. They lived in His presence, shared His Light and they were also lights in the kingdom of heaven.

Today, doomed to be demons for all eternity, they fight fervently to divert those who seek to gain what they lost. What did they do to lose their angelic nature? They sinned. They disobeyed the discipline of the Kingdom of God. Because of that, Divine justice did not spare them. They were cast to hell and chained to the pits of darkness, where they will wait for Judgment Day. Conclusion: If God did not spare the rebellious angels back then, will He spare those who rebel against His Word today?

The same happened with mankind during the time of Noah. The Lord saw that people were corrupt and decided to put an end to all life on earth by sending a great flood. Of thousands of people, only Noah and his family were saved. That corrupt society was not spared, will He spare today’s corrupt society? Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous.” Genesis 18.20

Having proved that those inhabitants lived a life of debauchery, indulging in filthy lusts of the flesh, to the point of turning sex into cult worship, along with performing many other wicked acts, the Lord brought down fire and brimstone upon them. He turned them into ash and made an example of them, warning others who wished to live a similar lifestyle. Weren’t there innocent children? Newborns? Animals? No one escaped Divine judgment that day, except for Lot and his two daughters. So will He spare those who live in a similar or even worse situation nowadays? For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly (2 Peter 2:4-6) … if the Almighty did not spare sinners in the past, how can we be spared unless we repent before the salvation He has proposed?

God bless you!

ONESIMUS

Onesimus was Philemon’s slave. He was probably influenced and convinced to become a Christian by his master, Philemon. But, after taking advantage of his master’s good faith, which is a character trait of those who are convinced, he stole and then fled.

Knowing that sooner or later he would be arrested and sentenced to death, he sought refuge with the apostle Paul in Rome. While in prison, Paul taught him that the life span granted to us in this world is short and worst of all would be spending eternity in the lake of fire and brimstone. And even though he was in prison, he was still a free man. He was free to think about and determine his eternal future. The Lord Jesus is the only One who is able simultaneously to guarantee freedom and eternity. After leading him to a true conversion, Paul sent him back to Philemon with a recommendation letter.

Note his words to Philemon: “…I appeal to you for my son Onesimus, whom I have begotten while in my chains”, which show slave and thief Onesimus’s true conversion into a free man, and above all, he was identified as Paul’s son by faith. This is exactly what we expect to happen with those who, for whatever reason, fled from the Lord’s presence and are lost somewhere out there, threatened with a death sentence in hell. Because, like Paul, we believe that they have departed for a while, so that we may receive them forever, not as slaves of sin but as beloved brothers.

For perhaps he departed for a while for this purpose, that you might receive him forever, no longer as a slave but more than a slave—a beloved brother, especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. Philemon 1.10 and 1.15-16 If you are reading this and find yourself in the position of being a fugitive Onesimus, lost in this world, know that the UCKG is always ready to give you a new chance.

Be free of your sad past in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

God bless you!

My 25 doubts

I doubt that someone…
I doubt that someone who is possessed by the Spirit of God is indecisive, unsure, or faltering;
I doubt that he doubts he is of God;
I doubt that he is hesitant;
I doubt that he is weak in the faith;
I doubt that he is unwilling to sacrifice;
I doubt that he is a coward;
I doubt that he is fearful;
I doubt that he sits on the fence;
I doubt that he falters between two opinions;
I doubt that he will fall away from the faith;
I doubt that he feels faith;
I doubt that he doesn’t know what he wants;
I doubt that he likes double-minded women;
I doubt that she likes double-minded men;
I doubt that they will get along with double-minded people;
I doubt that he will commit suicide;
I doubt that he will be discouraged because of a loss;
I doubt that he will be swayed by other people’s opinions;
I doubt that he is overly sensitive;
I doubt that he is a prisoner of his emotions;
I doubt that he is shy;
I doubt that he has complexes;
I doubt that he is weak;
I doubt that he is foolish;
I doubt that he is not objective, decisive and transparent when it comes to his faith.

The character of a servant of God

TWhen the Spirit of God dwells in someone, he possesses God’s character and therefore, will naturally stand out from those who don’t. Noah, Daniel and Job were servants who stood out because of that. Noah’s story, for example, can be summed up in one verse: “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among his time, and he walked faithfully with God ” (Genesis 6.9). Job was no different: “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil” (Job 1.1). And even though Daniel was held captive in Babylon, he “resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine” (Daniel 1.8). That is, if he refused to defile himself with the king’s delicacies, he’d do the same with regard to any other sin. A divine character can be summed up as follows:

1. Integral and true – in regard to others;

2. God-fearing – in regard to God, and

3. Turns away from evil – in regard to the world.

Those who live within these boundaries will survive this world and gain eternal life.

Bishop Macedo

A deadly couple

At first glance, they seemed like a couple with lots of faith.

Especially, since they were an eyewitness of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit over the early church.

But by this time, faith and emotions were already walking hand-in-hand.

As proof of that, when they saw their friend Barnabas sell his possessions and deposit the money at the apostles’ feet, they also felt motivated to sell a property and put it to good use at the service of the Kingdom of God.
However, after seeing the amounts of money that was being collected, Ananias agreed with his wife to keep back part of the proceeds and only bring a certain quantity to be laid at the apostles’ feet.

There are many couples out there who share this same kind of faith, just like they did.
A faith that is divided between the Lord and money.
Conclusion: they end up losing their money and, worse of all, their life.

Bishop Macedo

Vision

Every human being is born unique and carries the signs of this individual identity. Our fingerprints are the most visible feature of our uniqueness. Continue reading →