Tag: Fellowship

To Know God, Is To Be Known of Him

The desire of all who claim to be God’s children should be that of wanting to know Him; to know Him as Lord of our life, as we seek and acknowledge Him in every aspect of circumstance that we face.  Walking with Him day by day in the newness of life in Him. The key word here is relationship, for it is in relationship that we are connected with our Lord in good times, and in bad times. Relationship binds us to Him, while empowering us with spiritual and physical strength. This should be our most important and determined purpose while here on this earth. Paul counted everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege of knowing Christ YAHSHUA his Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him; perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly that was his determined purpose (Phil. 3). For this reason, he was empowered by God’s strength in his trials, which were many in his life time as God’s minister. Paul’s life is an example of someone’s determined purpose to know God. It shows in his bodily and emotional sufferings when persecuted for the sake of the Gospel, without losing focus of his desire to know God. Suffering persecution for the sake of the Gospel is a true sign that we are in relationship with God.

The misconception that we are exempt from trials and sufferings when we walk close to the Lord, is one that has caused confusion and weakness of faith, for we were called to be molded into the image of God’s Son (Rom. 8:29). That means, our old and sinful nature, which is the soul comprising of the intellect, the emotion, and the will must submit and conform itself to God’s nature. The molding process is hard and painful, for we were born in sin, carrying the weight of iniquity of our forefathers. For this reason, we tend to be evil and contrary to God’s nature, as He has said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). The Lord, often calls us to the still waters, a place where we can be alone with Him. It is a place where we are spiritually refreshed in His presence, for water speaks of the Holy Spirit. His comforting presence refreshes us, and leads us close to God, by convicting and shaping our nature to His nature. The closer we get to Him the more that we see ourselves for what we are. YAHSHUA said to His disciples when life was so busy for them without even the leisure to eat, “Come away by yourselves to a deserted place, and rest a while” (Mark 6:30). That’s what we should do today in our busy life style, and not run away from His presence. YAHSHUA wants our friendship with Him, as He told the disciples, “You are My friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do” (John 15:3,14). Friendship is strengthened by doing what is pleasing to a friend and vice-versa.

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He Makes Me to Lie Down

Life is for many of us a go, go without making time to ponder on its spiritual consequences. The physical part of life demands without excuses. People work three jobs to meet the everyday needs. Not making time for enough rest or sleep to restore the body’s energy. Life is without a doubt a run, run 24/7 for some. Like robots disregarding the importance of caring for the body, people live under the influence of having to work for things, in many cases to pay for unnecessary accumulated debts.  We Christians follow the way of the world, sinking into the love of things as well. They are the sheep who strayed from the way that led them to a closer relationship with God. The Bible, yes, their Bibles lie collecting dust, while they find time to go to church once a week to appease their conscience. YAHSHUA, our Shepherd, faithfully leads with His staff and His rod, calling all to hear and follow Him. Always providing, always listening to the needs of His sheep.

He even gave His life to save them from eternal destruction, offering forgiveness and restauration of their soul to unite with Him. He says, I am the good shepherd. The good Shepherd risks and lays down His life for the sheep; “I am the good Shepherd; and I know and recognize My own, and My own knows Me- even as [truly as] the Father knows Me and I also know the Father- and I am giving My [very own] life and laying it down on behalf of the sheep” (John 10:11,14-15). That’s the love our Shepherd has demonstrated to us.

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Is God’s Mouth Muzzled Not to Speak to Us Today?

“My people perish for lack of knowledge.” These are words of profound and consequential meaning, as we read in Job 36: 12: But if they do not listen, they perish by the sword and die without knowledge. The rejection of knowledge is a dangerous attitude to have. For it is hearing, but not listening, hearing but not perceiving; hearing but not understanding; seeing but not discerning. It is being deaf and blind spiritually.  For God speaks not only once, but more than once, even though men do not regard it (Job 33:14). The spirit of unbelief is very predominant in the world today in spite of all the information being available in every avenue of life. Words found in the book of Job 33:15 seals the matter that men hear God’s voice in a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls on men while slumbering upon the bed. Then He opens the ears of men and seals their instruction. The Prophet Daniel experienced dreams and visions and interpretations by angels. The entire chapter seven of the book of Daniel reveals the three visions he had and the interpretations of them. Those visions served to warn the world of yesterday and of today’s what were and what is going to happen in the future because our God desired and desires that none of us should perish.

In the days of Noah, when evil had taken over the world of yesterday, God chose Noah the only just man found among all who lived then, to save him from the coming earth destruction. As it is consistent with God, He confined in Noah, His servant, the news. At the same time, Noah was to warn the people, so they would repent to be saved. For 120 years Noah faithfully warned the people. Unfortunately, they did not listen to take the message to heart and repent of their way of life. They continued living their lives as usual, until the flood took them by surprise. The message heard in those days, if mingled with faith, salvation would have come to more than just a few. As it was, all died, except Noah and his family, eight in all. The days of Noah are days in which constitutes signs of the coming of YAHSHUA. He said, As were in the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and given in marriage, until the day when Noah went into the ark. And they did not know or understand until the flood came and swept them all away – so will be the coming of the Son of Man (Matt. 24:37-39). The ark, Noah was building, constituted a testimony, and a sign confirming what God had spoken to him to warn the people of God’s coming judgement upon the earth. The message, however, was not received with faith, and they perished in their sins. God gave the people a time line of 120 years to be warned about His judgment. A long time so it seems; so, they were without excuse.

God has been speaking to men since the beginning of time; His message has been carried on one way or other, through His prophets of old and new. He spoke to Noah, He spoke to Abraham, He spoke to Moses, to Joshua, He spoke to all the prophets and gave them warning messages to give the people, for not desiring that people should perish, but have a chance to repent.

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Things That Matter Most

(Colossians 3)

The walk of life leads us to many directions in its distractions, accomplishing a lot, sometimes, but again, not a lot of great significance. At the end of the day, we ask ourselves, What did I accomplish today? Priorities get misplaced in the order of which we favor most. The things that demand more from us are those which we dearly care about. But what do we make of Paul’s words to the Colossians? If then you have been raised with Christ…How can we have been raised with our Messiah, if we are still in this body of decay? That’s a question we must consider in our spiritual walk. For many of us Christians, there is the thought that our salvation was free and that there is nothing else we have to do. I do pity the idea, for first of all, salvation was not free for our Lord, Who paid it with His life; and it is not free for us, who must deny ourselves, carry our cross and follow Him. We are not exempt from our duty before God to do our part, if we are to be saved.

Read the words from Paul: And if we are [His] children, then we are [His] heirs also; heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ; only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory (Rom. 8: 17). To be raised with Christ, it is to have died for oneself; raised with Him is He controlling our inner being; it is losing all that has to do with one’s desires; it is, “not I, but Christ lives in me.” The mind, the control center of the body, Paul says to keep focusing on what matters most- on the things above, where YAHSHUA is seated at the right hand of God (Col. 1:1). Dead to the world, we are of no concern to it, neither should it be to us. We, believers in YAHSHUA, are seeds which went through the process of death in order to be alive. The seed that does not die, will never become a tree. In YAHSHUA’S death, he planted in us the seed of life eternal; however, it does not finish there. In dying unto self, the believer gains sanctification, which is a process to attain glorification. Without it one cannot see God. When we go through the new birth, the Holy Spirit seals us with Himself. I call this a ring that unites us with YAHSHUA, confirming our engagement with Him. And that is the most important thing we must pay attention to while in this world. Although, the human heart tends to lean more toward the things of the world than heaven’s. We must make an effort to switch the priority’s direction to heaven. Our citizenship is not of this world; the longing of every Christian should be heaven, because Paul said, Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord YAHSHUA Messiah, Who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself (Phil. 3:20-21)

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Under His Wings I Delight to Sit

God’s banner- the protecting and comforting covering over us is His love. Under His wings we find a place of refuge and strength as the storm  passes by, with faith, believing that He is preparing us a place; and someday, not far away, He will come for us with the loud cry of summons, with the voice of the Archangel and with the blast of His trumpet. (John 14:1-3; I Thessalonians 2:16). Under His wings, oh glorious feeling that is, being covered with His peace! The Lord has promised complete peace for those whose minds are set on Him with trust. In the midst of chaos and confusion, YAHSHUA’S promise is certain and comforting: Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God believe also in Me….I am going to prepare a place for you, come back to fetch you, so that where I am you will be also.(John  14:1-3). The beauty of God’s love through YAHSHUA’S words fills our hearts with peace. Under His presence we find comfort and refuge in times of storm. Only by being close to Him will we be the recipient of His protection.  There is no better place to be than close to Him, as we read in Psalm 91:1: those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High, shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty.

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The Middle Man

And Israel said to Moses, you speak to us and we will listen, but let not God speak to us, lest we die… And the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was (Exodus 20:18-24).

When Adam and Eve sinned, they hid themselves from the presence of God, at the sound of His voice while walking through the garden (Gen.3:8).  A routine of the day when God would come to commune with them in the cool of the day, became a fearful experience. Peace was replaced by fear and guilt, when they made the decision to believe the serpent, instead. Sin had taken them away from the presence of God and robbed them of their relationship with Him. No longer could they feel comfortable in the presence of the holy God. What was so important to them, they lost in the decision they had made. Now, instead of welcoming God in their midst, they hid from Him as if to tell Him, leave us alone. When Israel experienced the holiness of God marked by thunders, smoking mountain, lightning, they feared Him and begged Moses to speak to them, instead. It had been three months since Israel had left Egypt in a supernatural and powerful way, when God expressed His love, His faithfulness through miracles and signs, when He walked ahead of them providing shelter from the sun and light for the night through a pillar of clouds and fire, when He opened the Red Sea and guided them through it in dry land and at the same time killing their enemies. But seemly, Israel lacked God’s holiness, and in their sinful condition, they acted like Adam and Eve – fearful.

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Under His Shadow I Delight To Sit

(Song of Solomon 2; Psalm 91)

The beauty of this Song lies on the fact that this is a picture of a marital relationship with spiritual roots and meaning between Christ and His bride. She confesses to finding delight under His shadow, the secure place for her to be, as Psalm 91 so declares: He who dwells in the Secret Place of the Almighty shall remain fixed and stable. While the bride of Christ delights to be in His presence feeding on His Word, she makes a proclamation that His fruit was sweet to her taste. His Word, like a fruit, nourishes and satisfies the craving of her soul. I will say of the Lord: He is my refuge, my fortress and my God, in Him I will trust. He delights in covering His bride with His love. In His presence, she experiences the abundance of a banquet- a spiritual banquet. While He spreads His love over her she is sustained, and protected, refreshed and completely absorbed in Him. She is enveloped by His embrace, a symbol of complete protection from all evil. He covers her with His pinions and under His wings she finds refuge. No one will be able to harm her. His truth and faithfulness are a shield and a buckler. He is to her a Protector and a Defender. Therefore, she will not fear terror, arrow, pestilence, and destruction that attack and surprise at any time of the day. Even though a thousand may fall at her side and ten thousand at her right hand, nothing will even come near her. Secured under the shadow of the Almighty, she becomes only a spectator or a witness of all that is happening around her.

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Lazarus, Mary and Martha

(John 11-12; Luke 10)

Lazarus, Mary and Martha were close friends of YAHSHUA. They lived in a village called Bethany on the slope of the Mount of Olives, two miles east of Jerusalem. Bethany is identified with the West Bank today, the city of Al-Eizariya- place of Lazarus in Arabic. Bethany is often mentioned in connection with important events in the life of our Lord, YAHSHUA. Lazarus, Mary and Marth, each had a memorable and personal experience with Him. Lazarus seemed to be the youngest of the three, for he was uninvolved, and passive. His name in Arabic was Eliezer, meaning, God will help. Eliezer was the name of Abraham’s eldest servant; he was from Damascus. He was a trusted servant, who found Isaac a wife at the request of Abraham.

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