Author: Jacinta da Cruz Rodgers

I have been committed to teaching the truth of the Word of God beginning with Trans World Radio on Bonaire, N.A and Swaziland, Africa (1969-1980), then through churches in the United States in both English and Portuguese and then through ministry in Israel (2005-2006). This ministry continues through local Bible studies and outreach to the world via the internet. I have written a book about my life from that of an orphan in Brazil to missionary in 5 countries. You can find out more on the "Book" page of our blog site.

Reconciled by Means of The Cross

In the days of Adam and Eve, when sin entered the world, men and nature suffered the separation from God. Men lost their relationship with Him, and found themselves under condemnation, deserving God’s judgment. But God, in His long-suffering, reached out to them by providing a way for their reconciliation with God. After many years, when the wickedness of men reached to the sky, God sent judgments to the world, saving just a few, who had not defiled themselves against God. His promise of long ago to redeem them, came in the fulfillment of time, when God sent His Son to the world to be the sacrificial Lamb to erase their sins through forgiveness. It started while He was being nailed to the cross; He prayed forgiveness for those who were crucifying Him; it continued when the thief acknowledged YAHSHUA, as the Son of God, asking to be remembered when YAHSHUA entered heaven. He promised him saying, “Today you will be with Me in Paradise.” When He uttered these words, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” A cry expressing the extent of His agony, when facing hell in our place. It was then that He released forgiveness to the entire world, reconciling men to God. It was then that He had accomplished that for what He had come to do in fulfillment of Scripture. He said, IT IS FINISHED! Men were now reconciled with God!

Cursed is everyone, who is hung on the tree, (Gal. 3:13). YAHSHUA became a curse for us in the process of reconciliating the world to Himself and to the Father. He broke the chains that held us subjected to the power of sin, in order to reconcile us to God. There is nothing better than to walk in freedom from condemnation; peace that emanates from being forgiven. We owe all to our Lord, and Savior, YAHSHUA our Messiah. Just think, where would we have been without His grace and mercy? Without His love and forgiveness? The book of Lamentations declares: “It is because of the Lord’s mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His tender compassion fails not; they are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23). Paul writes to the Ephesians saying, “May blessing be to the God and Father of our Lord YAHSHUA Messiah, Who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm: He chose us before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, blameless in His sight; He adopted us as His own children through YAHSHUA Messiah in accordance with the purpose of His will; In Him we have redemption through His blood in accordance with the riches and the generosity of His gracious favor; in Him we also were made [God’s] heritage and we obtained an inheritance; in Him we have who have heard the Word of Truth of our salvation and have believed, were stamped with the seal of the long-promised Holy Spirit, guaranteeing of our inheritance” (Eph.1).

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Until I Acknowledged My Sin

Sin is a trap ready to hold man enslaved to its power. Embedded in the soul and DNA of men, even before birth, when he was being created, it became part of man’s behavior, because he lost God’s image, when he inherited the sins of iniquity, which are carried from generation to generation. Psalm 51 says, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity; my mother was sinful who conceived me [and I too am sinful]. “The DNA, as an organic chemical of complex molecular structure, codes genetic information for the transmission of inherited traits.” It is complex, because it is God’s signature. It registers God’s deep wisdom and knowledge men can never figure it out scientifically on their argument to support evolution. Years of trying to carry on their belief in evolution, men get stuck on the theory, without proof. Complex as man is in his formation, created in the image of God Himself, according to Elliott’s commentary, “the verb created indicates, first, that man shows that he was never a development or evolution, but he is without a doubt, the most perfect work of the creative energy, and he is different from the animals and he is an organized body, indicating the rejoicing of the Deity at the completion of God’s purpose.” So, man is not only flesh and blood and skeleton; he is much more than that. He is spirit- the eternal part, he is soul the part that defines who he is. And body, the physical and visible part. Man was created in the image and likeness of God (Gen.1:27)

Created in perfect harmony with the Creator’s plan, without sin, pure and blameless, living in a perfect and peaceful environment nested in a beautiful garden, the Garden of Eden. We have no idea of the length of time men lived in that perfect environment, before they sinned, but we do know that it came to an end at the time they sinned. David, the man after God’s heart, found himself in gross sinful behavior, when he committed the sin of adultery and homicide. Victim of the consequences of his sinful behavior, King David suffered spiritually, mentally and emotionally and physically. Continuing living his life as if nothing had happened, it came a time when he was stricken by God. He said, When I kept silence, my bones wasted away through my groaning all the day long; for day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my moisture was turned into the drought of summer (Ps. 32:3-4). King David was suffering from arthritis and kidney problems. He was pressured to do what was right in order to restore his relationship with God, once enjoyed. Diseases are for most part, a result of sin in our life, expressed through our mental and physical experiences. We pray for healing, but continue committing the very sin that has brought us diseases. Prayers are not answered, at that time, but it will be, when we acknowledge our sins before God with repentance to receive forgiveness. King David took this route and enjoyed forgiveness through the healing of his mental and physical ailments. Acknowledgment of sins with repentance is the key to open heaven. As King David prayed, “Have mercy upon me O God, according to Your steadfast love; according to the multitude of Your tender mercy and loving-kindness, blot out my transgressions; wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and guilt and cleanse me and make ne wholly pure from my sin! For I am conscious of my transgressions and I acknowledge them; my sin is ever before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done that which is evil in Your sight, so that You are justified in Your sentence and faultless in Your judgment” (Ps. 51). Until he acknowledged his sin before God, King David carried the weight of his non-confessed sin’s guilt. The spirit of guilt is without a doubt, a tormenting spirit. It can either lead us to repentance, or remorse. In the case of Judas, and Peter in relationship with the betrayal and denial of YAHSHUA, one suffered remorse and committed suicide; Peter repented and was forgiven and restored.

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By This I Know That You Are a Man of God

Actions speak louder than words. Do what I do; do not do what I say. If I tell you, I am a born-again Christian, but my actions deny the very essence of my faith, I am a hypocrite, and the Holy Spirit is not abiding in me. Look at what YAHSHUA called the Pharisees of His day. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, pretenders! You blind guides, you are like tombs that have been white-washed, which look beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything impure; blind fools! These are just a few definitions extracted from Matthew chapter 23 where we find a host of definitions our Lord uttered against the Pharisees. This religious sect is alive and well in our churches today. Hypocrisy is evident in the life style one chooses to have. Some are performing miracles in the name of the prosperity gospel; they prophesize falsely to acquire fame. The gospel they preach is not the gospel from the Bible. However, time will confirm who they are. Woe are they, for condemnation has been pronounced by our Lord, YAHSHUA. “I never knew you; depart from Me.” He told the crowd, “Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done many mighty works in Your name? And then I will say to them openly, I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who act wickedly” (Matt. 7:22-23). YAHSHUA gives us a picture of someone active in the church. Their activities are those of prophesying, performing miracles, casting out demons. These are well received as from God. They performed these, but did not have a relationship with God. Their lives were instruments for their own gain. They own mansions, airplanes, fancy and expensive cars in the name of miracles, but their insides are filled with hypocrisies and love of money. A god they love more than the true God they presumably serve.

YAHSHUA entered the synagogue in Nazareth, where He had been brought up, as was His custom on the Sabbath day and He stood up to read…He opened the scroll and read Isaiah 61:1-2). He stood as the One Who had come to fulfill the Law and the prophets. He stood as a messenger of the word of God. He said to the people, Today, this Scripture has been fulfilled while you are present and hearing. But the people wondered about Him, saying, Is not this Joseph’s Son? That’s all they thought of Him. For this reason, they rejected His message in disbelief. YAHSHUA then responded, saying, “I say to you, no prophet is acceptable and welcome in his [own] town. But in truth I tell you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heavens were closed up for three years and six months, so that there came a great famine over all the land; and yet Elijah was not sent to a single one of them, but only to Zarephath in the country of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow” (Luke 4: 16-26). Here, we have the reason why Elijah was not sent to a widow in Israel. It was because of their unbelief. Naturally, they would have not believed him. Miracles happen when faith is present. God’s plan to save Elijah, rewarded the widow from Sidon, because she believed Elijah to be a man of God, sent to her by God. Before Elijah performed the miracle of bringing her son to life, she did everything Elijah told her to do, even giving him her last substance. That was faith in action, for she did not know for sure, but believed the words of Elijah, “Fear not, go and do as you said. But make me a little cake of first and bring it to me, and after ward prepare some for yourself and your son, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: The jar of meal shall not waste away or the bottle of oil fail until the day that the Lord sends rain on the earth. She did as Elijah said. And she and he and her household ate for many days” (I Kings 17:13-15). Her first step of faith opened heaven to bless her as Elijah, the man of God was blessed. In the death and resurrection of her son, she saw the glory of God shinning through His servant, Elijah, who faithfully served Him. It was no small thing to her when Elijah brought her son to life. As a widow, she needed her son to provide for her and was depended on him for everything else. He was to her strength and security for her future. The Lord God honored her faith and blessed her for it. YAHSHUA mentioned her to the crowd, who lacked faith in Him. He stood in the synagogue of Nazareth as the Son of God in all the miracles He performed before the eyes of all people. Yet, He was not believed to be the Messiah that was to come by His own, especially those of His town called Nazareth. In contrast, the prophet Elijah performed only one miracle, and that was sufficient for that widow to believe him to be a man of God: “By this I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.” This was her confession (I Kings 17:24).

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God Will Swallow Up Death

O Death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (I Cor. 15).

When our forefathers heeded to the voice of the enemy of their souls, death came to them as a curse and was carried out to all born of men. Disguising himself through a serpent, who was more subtle and crafty than any living creature of the field which the Lord God had made, (Gen. 3:1), he tempted Eve to doubt God’s reason for not letting them eat the fruit from the tree of the middle of the garden. He succeeded when Eve fell to his temptation. The seed of death entered into the world and from then on, humankind was subjected to condemnation of physical and eternal death, with Satan their master. However, in spite of all his power, Satan is resistible. James wrote, “Be subject to God, resist the devil [stand firm against him] and he will flee from you” (4:7). God has provided us His spiritual armor in order for us to wrestle with Satan. In the epistle to the Ephesians, Paul admonishes us to put on the armor of God, for we are not wrestling with flesh and blood but with Satan and his hosts. Satan manifests himself as an angel of light, changing his appearance in the auspice of good, when he is the prince of darkness, according to Scripture (Eph. 6). Satan is a liar, a deceiver, a tempter and an accuser of men. He was not happy when God created men; so, he became men’s enemy with the purpose to destroy them physically and eternally. His sting of death has taken many with him to hell, because men rejected God, choosing him, instead.

Satan was called the anointed guardian cherub. We read this in the Bible about him: “You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, the carnelian, topaz, jasper, chrysolite, beryl, onyx, sapphire, carbuncle, and emerald; and your settings and your sockets and engravings were wrought in gold, On the day that you were created they were prepared; You were the anointed cherub that covers with overshadowing, and I set you so. You were upon the holy mountain of God; you walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire [like the paved work of gleaming sapphire stone upon which the God of Israel walked on Mount Sinai].” (Ezek. 28:13-14). What more did this angel want? He wanted to be God. In his pride, Satan rose against God and corrupted the beautiful garden God had created. Not only the garden, but the entire world. The Bible says, “All have sinned and became short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). Separated from God and His mercy, goodness, and love, men were destined to eternal death, for there was none that had not sinned. Men’s heart is perverse and contrary to God’s laws. The Prophet Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). The world in its entirety suffered the consequences of sin. It left a stain only YAHSHUA could wash away. The stain of physical and eternal death; nature was also subjected to decay as Paul so said in Romans chapter 8:19-22: “For even the whole creation waits expectantly and longs earnestly for God’s sons to be made known, for the creation was subjected to frailty, not because of some intentional fault on its part, by by the will of Him Who so subjected it with the hope that nature itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and corruption into the glorious freedom of God’s children. We know that the whole creation has been moaning together in the pains of labor until now.”

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Not Everybody Has Faith and Is Held By It

We can have saving faith, but not the practical faith we need to hold unto it in our troubled times; that faith that casts out worries, anxiety and fear, when the storm is above our heads; when the mountain in front of us seemly hard to climb; when left at the mercy of circumstances with no visible way out. The disciples showed this lack of faith, when faced with a storm of great proportion, even when YAHSHUA was in the boat with them, in spite of all the power He had demonstrated through miracles He performed. He mentioned that faith, as small as a grain of mustard, can do wonders, if we had it. There would not be mental or physical illnesses, because there would not be worries, anxieties and fear in the presence of faith. These three spirits affect the mind and body in ways that we are kept prisoners unto death. Slaves to the power of drugs, we become dependent of them to survive, day by day, year by year and finally unto the grave. When we are held by these spirits, faith is non-existent to perform miracles in our bed of sickness. The reality of God’s promises is voided and doubt takes over the mind, making us even more prone to the power of sickness. “By His strikes we are healed,” are the words frequently used in our prayers for healing. Why they are not doing what they are supposed to do? Because they are not mixed with faith. We have uttered them over and over, but they stay in our head, never coming down to the heart – the soul, where the emotion, the will, and the intellect are working together to bring them into reality. We repeat them as a parrot repeats words without understanding their meanings. Practical faith depends very much on our believing from the heart.

Noah built an ark without seeing rain falling on the earth before. He heeded to God’s command and performed it as he was told to do and behold, his salvation! (Gen. 6) Abraham took his son to be sacrificed at the command of the Lord. Behold, he became the father of all nations; YAHSHUA came from his descendants and through Him the world was blessed. (Gen. 22) Daniel and his friends were saved from the lion’s mouth and from fire, because their faith overwrote worry, anxiety and fear. They cared not for their lives, but to obey God’s commandments. (Daniel 3,6). King Jehosaphat did what the Lord commanded him to do to be saved from his enemies and Jerusalem was saved, without them having to fight them. He believed that the battle belonged to the Lord, and behold, the Lord God performed His promise (II Chron. 20). Moses stood in awe facing the Red Sea; the enemies were approaching him and his people to destroy them; mountains stood on the other side. Moses, however standing firmly in his faith said, Fear not; stand still and see the salvation of the Lord which He will work for you today. For the Egyptians you have seen today, you shall never see again. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace and remain at rest. The Lord told Moses, Lift up your rod and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the Israelites shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea (Ex. 14). So, it was that held by faith, Moses obeyed the words of the Lord; they were saved, but their enemies were left buried in the depth of the Red Sea. Not yet knowing Who YAHSHUA was, at His command, Peter and his partners were told to put their net out into the deep water and lower their nets for a haul; Peter, after toiled all night, catching nothing, said, On the ground of Your word, I will lower the nets. Held by his faith, Peter and his friends caught a great number of fish; and as their nets were breaking, they signaled to their partners in the other boats to come and take hold with them. They came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink (Luke 5).

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A Watchtower and a Flock

What links these two in their commonality? I would like to bring to you the most amazing story known to the entire world, not like you have heard before, but according to facts hidden from translations. When we hear about the Birth of Christ story we think shepherds, star, manger, sheep, goats, donkeys, the three wise men, and their gifts. It is a story of light and angels singing; a story of hope of salvation. We understand that and we rejoice that our Savior has been born. “For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). However, there are specific insights missing in this wonderful story hidden from us in the past, but now revealed. Thanks to those dedicated students of the Bible. These are specifics of great significance that confirms the divinity of our Savior, YAHSHUA, and His role as the Lamb of God. I have written about this before just in passing, but now I want to bring this story to you in its entirety and meaning. Perhaps you will never celebrate the birth of Christ the same way as before.

The book entitled The Life and Times of Jesus Messiah by Alfred Edersheim (1899) reveals that the Jewish belief and conviction were not only that the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, but that He was to be revealed from Migdal Eder- the Tower of Flock. This tower was not a watchtower for the ordinary flocks, which pastured on the barren sheep ground beyond Bethlehem, but these lay close to town, on the road to Jerusalem. They were destined for temple sacrifices and those shepherds who watched over them were not ordinary shepherds either. These watchtowers were like forts from where the shepherds would observe their flocks from the second floor. In the occasion of births, the shepherds would wrap the newborn lambs in swaddling clothes for their protection, keeping them without blemish and then laid them in a manger.

The beauty of this story reflects the report of YAHSHUA’S birth, which we read in Luke 2: 6-12: And while they were there, the time came for their delivery, and she gave birth to her Son, her Firstborn; and she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room or place for them in the inn. And in that vicinity there were shepherds living in the field, watching over their flock by night. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord flashed and shone all about them, and they were terrible frightened. But the angel said to them, do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which will come to all the people. For to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord! And this will be a sign for you: you will find a Baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. This language was familiar to those shepherds. But they did not associate the Messiah to be the Sacrificial Lamb of God for the sins of the world.

The truth of the matter was that our Savior was not revealed in a manger somewhere in an unknown location, devoid of the meaning that represented His role and purpose for His incarnation. No. He was to be revealed in that point of time as a baby in a specific location destined by God. His purpose was to be fulfilled in every detail in the life of His Son. Micah so prophesized: And you, O Tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, even the former dominion shall come the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem (Micah 4:8). The light of His presence in that place carried out the truth of Whom He was- The Lamb of God that was to take the sins of the world, when He was to lay down His life. At that moment when the shekinah glory has shown in the heavens, it shined the promise given to Adam and Eve at the time of their spiritual fall: And I will put enmity between you (the serpent) and the woman and, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel (Gen. 3: 15). YAHSHUA’S coming was the beginning of the human race’s redemption. The lambs which were chosen for temple sacrifices were without defect, they were perfect. They had their beginning there at the Migdal Eder. The Son of God was received into the world in that place also. It was not a place where donkeys, goats and other farm animals roamed or stayed, as we have believed. This practice was observed many years before Messiah came. It foreshadowed where He was to be revealed in the space of many years to come. The shepherds followed specific regulations concerning these special flocks: They had to be within five miles of the temple; the male sheep was a burnt (sin) offering and the female was for a peace offering. Our Lord YAHSHUA took the position of a male lamb and was offered as a burnt sacrifice for our sins.

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To Him Who Is About To Faint

The world parties while the sufferings increase; indifference that causes blindness toward compassion, expresses itself in obvious manners seen in the victims of circumstances. This is seen in one of the parables of YAHSHUA to answer a lawyer’s question,” Who is my neighbor.” A neighbor is anyone we encounter in the path of life. There is such a warm feeling in the word neighbor in its meaning. It connects all of us to forget ourselves in order to help, to serve, and to love those who are in difficulties, including foreigners. The behavior of a neighbor should be one that does not measure sacrifice to help one in need, no matter who the person is, even our enemy. Be it psychologically, financially or in any other way we are faced with, compelling us to help. Leaving our comfortable zone, interrupting our schedule to extend a hand is to be a “Good neighbor.” For the believer in YAHSHUA, it is imperative to perform actions of a good neighbor to fulfill the command of our Lord, “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The church of Christ is to be the lighthouse, beaming its light to save one from perishing in the storm of suffering. The beams of light are expressions of the love of YAHSHUA sent out through us into the world lost in sin, and perishing, chained to its power. Proverbs 24:11-12 commands us “to deliver those who are drawn away to death, and those who totter to the slaughter, to hold them back. If you [profess ignorance and] say, Behold, we did not know this, does not He Who weighs and ponders the heart perceive and consider it? And He Who guards your life, does not He know it? And shall not He render to every man according to his works?” This is a solemn warning not to be ignored.

The Patriarch Job was found in a miserable situation, when his friends became accusers instead of comforters. They separated themselves from him, when treating him as worthy of the circumstances brought to his life, even when not his fault. It is easier for us to act this way than to invest our time with those in need. However, we forget that tomorrow we could be found in their situations and in need of help from them, for no one is exempt from sufferings life brings. The Bible tells us to strive to save others, snatching [them] out of [the] fire; on others, take pity with fear, loathing even the garment spotted by the flesh and polluted by their sensuality (Jude 23). The world is filled with such people today. Taken by addictions, which controls the mind causing the loss of self- identity, losing the core of whom they are, becoming more like animals than humans, yes, probably guilty of wrong choices made in their life time. The odor they project for not having had baths and their outlook appearances, separates them from society. They are treated as leprous, when in fact, their mental estate requires a little compassion to position them back to human standards. After all, that’s what they are. YAHSHUA died for them, too. If He, being God incarnate, lowered Himself as to become human in order to reach out to sinners, why is it that we can’t have the heart of God to touch another human with His love? God’s love is to be passed on, like a river that overflows to its tributaries. “To him who is about to faint and despair, kindness is due from his friends, lest he forsake the fear of the Almighty” (Job 6:14). Ignoring to help one in need, touches the heart of God. Solomon wrote, “He who oppresses the poor, reproaches, mocks and insults his Maker, but he who is kind and merciful to the needy honors God” (Prov. 14:31). Our response to the needy – positive or negative, connects us to the very presence of God. Our Lord was often criticized by the religious men of His days for being with those forsaken by society. In Mark 2:15-17, as we read the report of YAHSHUA eating with sinners, that is, the tax collectors: “And as YAHSHUA, together with His disciples, sat at table in his house, (Levi’s) many tax collectors and persons with sin were dinning with Him, for there were many who walked the same road; and the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that He was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to His disciples, Why does He eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? When YAHSHUA heard it, He said to them, Those who are strong and well have no need of a physician, but those who are weak and sick; I came not to call the righteous ones to repentance, but sinners.” Israel’s religious authorities often separated themselves from the rest of the people, for they considered themselves holier than the rest, when as a matter of fact, YAHSHUA defined them as whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness (Matt.23).

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Job Walked With God and Was Tried

The life of the Patriarch Job is one of fear of God. Described by God Himself as His servant, a man with no equal on earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and abstains from and shuns evil (Job 1:8). Often, we mention Job as an example of patience, as in “The patience of Job.” There is much to consider in what God described Job. His life brings to mind Paul’s spiritual guidelines in his letters. In the letter to the Romans. He said, “I appeal to you therefore, brethren and beg of you in view of the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and well pleasing to God which is your reasonable service and spiritual worship; love one another with brotherly affection, giving precedence and showing honor to one another, never lag in zeal and in earnest endeavor; be aglow and burning with the Spirit, serving the Lord” (12:1,10,11). Job walked with God, shinning the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). One very important fact in Job’s life was that God, the all- knowing God, knew that Job would be faithful to Him, when challenged with temptation to forsake Him. Job, in his unweaving integrity, was a man God trusted with a tremendous trial. One that we surely would fail, for where there is no understanding, ignorance dominates the feeling of man with doubt and fear and despair. When Job had lost most of his precious belongings, including his children, in perseverance of faith, he arose and rent his robe and shaved his head and fell down upon the ground and worshiped and said, “Naked came I from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord! In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly” (Job 1:20-22). That was a true faith in God.

Job’s faith shone in the midst of his trials. His words of hope kept him secured in his faith when he uttered, “For I know that my Redeemer and Vindicator lives, and at last He will stand upon the earth and after my skin, even this body, has been destroyed, then from my flesh or without it I shall see God, Whom I, even I shall see for myself and on my side! And my eyes shall behold Him and not as a stranger!” (Job 19:25-27a). Job, in His utterance, spoke of the present and of the future concerning the resurrection of the saints. “One way or another, I will be healed here on earth and if I die now, I will be rewarded with life eternal when in heaven, I shall behold my Redeemer. For He knows the way that I take. When He has tried me, I shall come forth as refined gold.” (Job 23:10). “I have not gone back from the commandment of His lips; I have esteemed and treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. But He is unchangeable, and who can turn Him? And what He wants to do, that He does” (vs.10,14). In short, Job confessed his enduring faith in God even amidst circumstances he himself did not understand. For while he was walking with God in communion with Him, this trial fell on him, for reason unknown. His wife told him to “Do you still hold fast your blameless, uprightness? Renounce God and die! But he said to her, You speak as one of the impious and foolish women would speak What? Shall we accept only good at the hand of God and shall we not accept misfortune and what is of a bad nature? In all this, Job did not sin with his lips” (Job2:9-10). His unwavering love for God even in the midst of his trial, showed him to be genuine and steadfast in his faith. To him, God was God, unchangeable in ways Job could not comprehend. The wall of anguish and despair did not separate him from His Redeemer, Who was going to reward him in His time.

Job walked with God and He trusted him to walk through the fire, so to prove his faithfulness to Him. Satan, who so much wanted to destroy Job and disprove God’s All-knowing attribute, suffered major defeat. Job was in the battlefield without knowing it. Living as a Christian should live, under God’s grace, Job excelled. For he did not have a Bible in those days to guide him. But Job had the fear of God guided by his faith in Him. Strong in his beliefs, he stood the test of time. Wrestling against the despotisms, against the powers, against rulers of this present darkness, against the spirit forces of wickedness in the heavenly sphere, he was properly dressed with God’s armor. He resisted and stood his ground on those evil days; he had the belt of truth around his waist, the breastplate on his chest, his feet shod to stand firmly and ready against the enemy; he quenched the flaming missiles from the enemy through the shield of faith; and wore the helmet of salvation, which protected his mind; and he fought with the sword of the Spirit which was his knowledge of God. Job’s prayers came up to God as part of the battle in his battlefield, for the battle was not his, but God’s (personalized from the book of Ephesians 6).

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Where Everything Is Visible, There Is Light

God created two great lights to brighten the earth; one for the day, the other for the night. Light is this case, gives life, warmth, and good health. The world very much depends on this great light, called the sun. It thrives on its warmth as its beams reach far and widely day after day, and without It, vegetation, as our food source, would not survive, and without its warmth our body would not function; our soul would fall into depression. “From promoting the growth of plants and crops to keeping people warm, sunlight is essential for life. In addition, many people enjoy the feeling of sunlight, and there is increasing evidence to support its many health benefits.” All lives depend on the light of the sun. Places where the sun is limited, people are prone to cancer of various types. So, the sun is life sustainer. Its light rises up lowly in the dark of the day, announcing its arrival with its rays dispersing the dark of the night, bringing in the dawn, the beginning of a new day. Everything becomes visible at its light and fear disappears. This is the Lord God displaying His faithfulness day after day. The Bible says, Of the heavens has God made a tent for the sun, which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber and it rejoices as a strong man to run his course. Its going is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the ends of it; and nothing is hidden from the heat of it (Ps. 19). While the sun makes its round, the earth rests; we close our eyes as in a sleep till the sun wakes us up with its light, calling us to our duty. Our earthly life functions around the sun’s schedule.

As our physical life depends on the light and warmth of the sun, so does our spiritual life. YAHSHUA is the sun of the earth; He is Light, exposing the darkness in us and in the world. He said, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not be walking in the dark, but will have the Light which is life; you will have the Light only a little while longer. Walk while you have the Light, so that darkness may not overtake and overcome you. He who walks about in the dark does not know where he goes. While you have the Light, believe in the Light, that you may become sons of the Light and be filled with Light.” (John 8:11; 12:34-36a). “In Him was Life and the Life was the Light of men; and the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it. There was – the true Light coming into the world that illumines every person.” (John 1:4-5). His presence in us shines truth, guiding us in the way we must go, keeping us from stumbling and falling.

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Covenanting with Peace (part 2)

World wars constitute fear, hatred, anxiety, worry, and envy in man’s heart. A seed was planted many years ago at the first garden – the Garden of Eden, when the serpent, the father of all these mental and emotional feelings, deceived and misguided Eve. Then and there was first a garden of peace, where God Himself would “walk in the cool of the day.” Peace reigned there, because there was no sin in that first garden that God had planted for Adam after He created Him. However, from the time that sin entered the garden, peace no longer secured it. The air was now filled with Satan’s dominion; the heart of Adam and Eve leaned toward him, for he became their lord. Their first child, Cain inherited the spirt of hatred, causing him to commit the first homicide. Cain’s heart was filled with jealousy and pride, all in the family of hatred, a force that controlled his emotion to cause him to express it by taking an innocent life. The tendency for evil prevailed in his life and in the lives of his descendants. Isolated from the rest of the world, Cain lived a lonely life. The absence of peace in his life opened the way for other spirits to master him. So, it was that the seed of hatred, with its roots, deepened and spread its wings to the entire world.

What really caused the first and second world wars? Wasn’t it the same reason why Cain killed his brother? The first world war begun after the assignation of Austrian Archduke, Franz Ferdinand. The second seemly was the continuation of the first world war. The reasons behind were fascism, Nazism, aggression. (Wikipedia) The world is trying to be united as one in order to bring peace. But the motive behind is not really peace but control of the masses. In the beginning after God created man, His plan was for them to multiply and scatter abroad. One World Order is a plan contrary to God’s plan, as it were in the days after the flood, when they tried to build a city and a tower to reach the sky, not to be scattered over the whole earth (Gen. 11). That seemed to be a good idea in the sense of togetherness as one people. But that was not in line with the Lord God’s plan. The spirit of rebellion will never bring peace into the hearts of men. Any time men behave and act according to their own hearts, disregarding the holy and sovereign God, there will never be peace for them, for the Bible says, there will not be peace for the wicked, says the Lord. Because men lost the image of God, they can never have peace in themselves apart from God, Who is Peace. When sin entered their hearts, The image of God was removed from them. God’s perfect creation was tainted and separated from Him. Hatred, envy, jealousy and the rest of evil feelings made their homes in the soul of men, where the enemy took control. Under Satan’s control, men became God’s enemy by disobeying Him. If the source of peace is not God’s source, men are doomed to torment.

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