INVEST IN THE THINGS OF GOD – HE WILL REWARD YOU

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An old saying has it that, “You can’t take it with you.” Yeshua (Jesus) contradicted that adage by citing the common Jewish belief that resources given to the needy will be repaid and rewarded in the Messianic Era and the World to Come.

“Treasures in heaven” does not refer to literal treasure stored up someplace beyond the sky; instead, it means “treasure with God.” That is to say, “Invest in the things of God, and He will reward you.”

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A person who accrues wealth for himself risks losing that wealth. Life is temporary and uncertain. Thieves might steal. Time destroys. Wealth depreciates. James, the brother of the Master, expounds upon Yeshua’s teaching as follows:

“Come now, you rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasures for the last days” James 5:1-3

How does one store up treasure with God? Yeshua says, “Sell your possessions and give alms. Provide yourselves purses that do not grow old, an unfailing treasure in the heavens, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” Luke 12:33-34

A man’s heart (that is, his mind, thoughts and intentions) will be focused on the accumulation of his wealth. If he has accumulated wealth on earth, his mind will be focused on earthly matters, but if he has invested in the things of God, his mind will be focused on matters of godliness.

In the Apostolic Era, the famous convert to Judaism, King Izates of Adiabene, sent an enormous sum of money to Jerusalem for famine relief. His brothers and countrymen criticized him for squandering the family inheritance. His reply, recorded in the Talmud, reveals influence from the teaching of Yeshua:

“My fathers stored up below and I am storing above … My fathers stored in a place which can be tampered with, but I have stored in a place which cannot be tampered with … My fathers stored something which produces no fruits, but I have stored something which does produce fruits … My fathers gathered for this world, but I have gathered for the future world” (Talmud Tractate Bava Batra 11a).

Daniel Thomas Lancaster is a writer, teacher and the Director of Education at the Messianic ministry of First Fruits of Zion (www.ffoz.org),

THE MAN BEHIND MR. ETERNITY!

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The Australian evangelist John G. Ridley was a purpose-driven communicator and a painter of word-pictures whose pen was mighty, because of the sword of the spirit. He was not one to shy away from confronting his hearers with the truth of their eternal life and challenging their hearts to trust his everlasting Lord. He sowed faithfulness to the message of salvation here on earth and reaped fruitfulness in the ministry and service for time and eternity.

And speaking of eternity, God used his preaching to influence Arthur Stace (Mr. Eternity) to go out and write the word Eternity on the streets of Sydney and beyond.

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Here is a little of what happened. It was a Sunday night November 14th at the Burton Street Baptist Tabernacle, Darlinghurst, Sydney, where John was preaching his now famous message  “The Echoes of Eternity”. 

The veteran evangelist stood with the power of scripture in his hand and the love of Christ in his heart and stressed the word Eternity. He pointed out how the Echoes of Eternity are heard not only in Creation and the Christian but also in The Cross .
Then suddenly, laying his prepared notes aside and seemingly in an impromptu fashion, the highly disciplined soldier-like preacher, raised his loud voice and cried: “Eternity, Eternity, I wish that I could sound or shout that word to everyone in the streets of Sydney. You’ve got to meet it, where will you spend Eternity.” 

Arthur Stace converted  to Christ at the  St Barnabas Church, Broadway in Sydney a few years before, was one of many in the large congregation that God-ordained night. “Eternity went ringing through my brain” was Stace’s statement” and suddenly I began crying and felt a powerful call from the Lord to write Eternity. I had a piece of chalk in my pocket and outside the church, I bent down right there and wrote it…. The funny thing is that before I wrote it, I could hardly write my own name. I had no schooling, and I couldn’t have spelt  for a hundred quid. But it came out smoothly, in a beautiful copperplate script. I couldn’t understand it, and I still can’t.”

Arthur knew this was God’s task for him and rain or shine he faithfully went out six nights a week to write Eternity on the streets of Sydney until  the very night God took Arthur home. God powerfully used Arthur’s faithfulness to impact the lives of many for Jesus Christ.

 

WHERE WILL YOU SPEND ETERNITY?

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JESUS TELLS US WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE ON THE NEW EARTH

In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
John 14:2

The largest private home in the world is Istana Nurul Iman Palace, the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah. The home consists of more than 2 million square feet of space, 1,788 rooms, 257 bathrooms, 5 swimming pools, a 110-car garage, air-conditioned stables for 200 polo ponies, a banquet hall, and a mosque large enough for 1,500 worshippers. It cost around $1.4 billion to build in the mid-1980s.

Grand as it is, that mansion pales in significance to what Jesus is preparing for His followers. The home He is preparing is called the New Jerusalem in the book of Revelation 21:2—and it is large.

John sees it descending from the new heaven to the new earth. Shaped like a cube, it measures 1,500 miles in each of its three dimensions—length, width, and height (Revelation 21:16). It is built of precious stones and minerals, and its worth, in human dollars, would be incalculable. But more important than its worth in dollars is its worth in security and joy for all who dwell there for eternity.

When comparing man’s greatest with God’s greatest, there is no comparison. Make sure you have secured your reservation in the mansion Jesus is preparing.

The nearer to heaven in hopes, the farther from earth in desires. William Gurnall, from The Christian in Complete Armor

Powerful Testimonies – JESUS MOMENTS

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These testimonies by forty indigenous Australians are having a powerful witness to all Australians. Only a restored relationship with our Heavenly Father, that Jesus alone can provide, will bring life – eternal life.

What is more important than life? ETERNAL LIFE

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God defends the eternal life of all who, in true faith, stand for Him. This raises the question: If God defends them, why do they die? Which begs an answer to this question: What does it mean to be defended by God?

The story of Stephen in Acts 7 gives insight. When Stephen stood firm for Christ in the face of Jewish persecution in Jerusalem, he was stoned. But just before the stones began to fly, Stephen had a vision of Jesus in heaven standing at the right hand of God, waiting to receive Stephen’s spirit. Normally, Jesus is pictured seated at the right hand of God (Ephesians 1:20; Hebrews 8:1). But Jesus stood in honour of Stephen’s courage and commitment. It also says, “Then he (Stephen) knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this he fell asleep. Acts 7:60

picture of Stephen being stoned
There is something more important than life, and that is eternal life. God defends the eternal life of all who, in true faith, stand for Him.

BUILD UP TREASURE IN HEAVEN – IT LASTS FOREVER

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My ebook Living Eternal Now – Empowered by the Holy Spirit will be available on Amazon as a FREE download from June 1st to 5th, 2016.

If you don’t believe God exists, the Bible is God’s Word, that God loves you and that He has provided a way for you to restore the lost relationship with Him, then you need to read my ebook “Living Eternal Now – Empowered by the Holy Spirit”.

You need to be born again by the Holy Spirit. You then know God is real and you have eternal life. The world becomes a different place, you notice the beauty of God’s creation in a new way, your priorities change. His priorities become your priority. The Holy Spirit living within your spirit (your body becomes a temple of the Holy Spirit) produces the fruit of the spirit in your life: love, joy, peace, faithfulness, goodness, gentleness, kindness, patience and self control. As the Holy Spirit enables, many of the nine gifts of the spirit will become evident in your life. Each one of these gifts are major power gifts, and they are all direct, supernatural, miraculous manifestations direct from the Holy Spirit: 1. Word of Knowledge, 2. Word of Wisdom, 3. Gift of Prophecy, 4. Gift of Faith, 5. Gift of Healing, 6. Working of Miracles, 7. Discerning of Spirits, 8. Speaking in Tongues, 9. Interpretation of Tongues.

Your life is transformed and God will use you to build His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. You will truly enter into the joy of the Lord knowing you are a child of God, loved by your heavenly Father.

LIFE’S BIGGEST QUESTION HAS ETERNAL CONSEQUENCES

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In Matthew 16, Jesus is having a conversation about His identity with Simon Peter, and Jesus asked him an all-important question: “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And he got it right.

Getting this question right is both the quintessence of salvation and the starting point for an eternal journey. You are saved when you come to know and believe in Jesus as your Lord and Saviour, but that is only the beginning of your relationship with Him.

When Simon correctly identified who Jesus was, Jesus identified who Simon was.

He said, “I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.” From then on, Simon was known as Rock. That’s what petros, or Peter, means in Greek.

“And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18 ESV

What changed in that moment wasn’t who Peter was but rather his view of who he was. Jesus said he was a rock. Suddenly Peter could see the man he really was. Mind you, when it looked like his world was about to end, he denied Jesus three times just as Jesus said he would. Our journey will be no different. There will be times we need to repent and ask God for His forgiveness, which He freely grants.

Knowing God is paramount to finding out why He made you and who He means for you to be.

So who do you say Jesus is? It’s life’s biggest question.

God wants to give you a revelation of who you are too. He wants to show you your value now, and He wants to open your eyes to who you can become in Him. Jesus made it possible for our heavenly Father to send the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit to dwell within you to be your Counsellor, Comforter and Teacher. You have all you need to be who God meant you to be.

Stop talking about who you are not and what you cannot do, and start listening to what God says about your life. Stop labelling yourself, and start letting God do whatever He wants in, through, and with you. Dead to self, alive to Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I would like to thank Pastor Steven Furtick for providing much of the content for this post. For more information, please visit:   http://www.iamunqualified.com

RELIGION OR JESUS?

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Like the Pharisees and Sadducee’s are we playing church. The Book of Acts (Bible) tells us what the Christian life should look like and what is the church. Back then, the church grew phenomenally (3,000 on day 1) as believers operated with the gifts of the Holy Spirit given at Pentecost . Paul taught that when people repented of their sins, accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour and were baptised (demonstrated their dying to the old life and born again), they would be filled with the Holy Spirit. They were dead and now in Christ they are alive, eternally alive. Their body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and they are now the church. He taught the priesthood of all believers. Jesus expects us to make disciples wherever He has placed us, whatever our calling, bearing in mind work is a calling whether it is business by building culture and meeting people’s needs, a teacher, a farmer, a lawyer, a plumber.

The big question, is the church functioning today as presented in the Book of Acts and if not why not?

Torben Sondergaard is doing a great job demonstrating the church as it was in the book of Acts. The following video provides an answer to the question I have just posed. You need to watch Torben’s video, The Last Reformation (YouTube) to see Christians operating in the marketplace as in the book of Acts.

AS MANY AS I LOVE, I REBUKE AND CHASTEN

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Yes, this quote is by Jesus. We don’t like to think of God’s discipline, chastening and judgement but it is essential we do.

As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Revelation 3:19
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As you read the Gospels, notice that some of Jesus’ sharpest rebukes were directed to those He loved the most.

To Martha, Jesus said, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part” (Luke 10:41-42).

Jesus told Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan!” (Matthew 16:23)

Jesus told His disciples, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith” (Matthew 8:26).

Jesus rebuked James and John, telling them, “You do not know what manner of spirit you are of.” (Luke 9:55)

Jesus never rebukes us to tear us down but to build us up. When He reproves us, it’s to prove His love. Sometimes He uses our conscience to rebuke us. Sometimes it’s a sermon, book, or article. Occasionally, He will send another person to admonish us. As you read the Bible, sometimes a verse will strike you with conviction.

Don’t shrug off the chastening word. As many as He loves, He rebukes and chastens. But it’s always out of love and designed to help us, to make us pleasing to Him and more effective in our service for the kingdom.

Chastening is not God getting even—it is preparing that person for something better, more valuable, and worthwhile.
R. T. Kendal

Extract from Dr David Jeremiah’s article “The Lord’s Rebuking Ministry”

 

LUIS’S TESTIMONY WILL TRANSFORM YOUNG PEOPLE’S LIVES

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Make sure you get your sons and daughters, or in my case, my grandsons and granddaughters, to watch this testimony by Luis West, a young indigenous Australian. We all need to be as sure of who you are in Jesus as he is.