LABELS

"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."
Acts 9:13-14 (NIV)

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Just like the believers in the book of Acts, we have a tendency to place a label on others. We sometime go as far as to remind God what kind of an individual He is dealing with just like Ananias, as if we know more than God. We label people based on their past and what we have heard about them. Even after an individual has given their life to Christ, we still hold their past against them and many times we are watching with a close eye waiting for them to make a mistake so that we can justify the label we have placed over them.

We do that so that we can feel good about ourselves thinking we are better but the reality is that we all have a past. Paul was known for the nasty things he did to the believers, dragging them from their homes and having those who resisted killed all in the name of serving God. Now that he was born again, how was he supposed to fit in the family yet the people already had labeled him as an enemy of the faith? How was he to change their perception of him? What was he to do to make them believe that he was a changed man?

Paul simply forgot about the past that God had already forgiven him about and he focused on where God was taking him and who God was changing him to be. No wonder he was able to write; Philippians 3:13-14 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

What have people labeled you? What do they call you? Do you find that as much as you are trying to move on in the things that God is calling you, your past is always brought before you? Do they still call you a thief or a loose woman, or a womanizer? Do not allow those labels to stick on you and deter you from fulfilling your God ordained purpose. The thing about a label is that it is always found on the outside. It does not determine the contents of the package. When a product is manufactured, it is only the manufacturer who has the authority to label the product he has created.

Only God therefore has the authority to label you. There are 2 kinds of labels, one that is stuck on the product and another that is printed or engraved on the product. Peel off the different labels that others have stuck on you and as you endeavor and continue to pursue God, expose the label that the Lord has engraved on you. Just like Saul, though people may talk about you, forget those things that are behind you and become Paul to fulfill the purpose that God has for you.

His label over you says that you are more than a conqueror; His label over you says that you can do all things through Christ who give you strength. He has called you the righteousness of God. That is what you are so focus on that and move on and don't focus on any other label that others may put on you! Peel off and burn all the labels that others have put on you believe the label that God has put on you and like Paul move on to do great things in His name!

100,000 Atheists Become 'Unbaptized'

October 22, 2014 | Jim Denison

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The National Secular Society offers certificates to atheists who want to revoke their baptism. It estimates that 100,000 people have downloaded such documents from their website over the past five years.

Unbaptism.org offers a similar service. Their certificate reads: "[Name] having at one time willingly submitted to the Rite of Christian Baptism and subsequently having realized my beliefs were in error, hereby publicly revoke any and all implications of that Rite and renounce the Church that carried it out. In the name of human reason, I reject all that Church's Creeds and all other such Superstitions. I wish to be excluded henceforth from claims of church membership numbers based on past baptismal statistics."

Last month, an atheist group calling itself Sunday Assembly launched new services in 35 cities across the world. Started in 2013 by two British comedians, it already holds meetings in 11 U.S. cities and is launching new services in 16 others. The leader of one such service outside Cleveland, Ohio told an interviewer that he had recently been "debaptized" and has the certificate to prove it.

Two questions follow. One: can a person genuinely become a Christian and then choose to become an atheist? The man in Cleveland said he had been "saved twice" but that it "obviously didn't take." What would Scripture say to him?

John told his readers, "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13). Note the present tense: you "have" eternal life. If you have genuinely asked Jesus to forgive your sins and become your Lord, in that moment you became the child of God. Paul adds: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come" (2 Corinthians 5:17). Note the tense: a Christian "is" a new creation.

My sons cannot "unbecome" my sons. They cannot reverse their birth and biology. In the same way, those who are "born again" as God's children will always be his children (John 3:3). Those who claim they were Christians but now reject Christ and claim atheism were never genuinely converted. They have been deceived twice.

Two: why is atheism becoming more prominent? In many ways, this phenomenon is part of a larger trend away from all authorities and institutions. Only 34 percent of Americans trust the medical system; 30 percent trust the Supreme Court; 29 percent trust the presidency; 18 percent trust television news; seven percent trust Congress. We live in a day when our opinion is our authority. A person can state "I don't believe in God" as though his rejection affects God's reality. Imagine saying "I don't believe in England" and assuming that settles the question, despite all who claim to have been there.

How should Christians respond? One way is to be "rebaptized" every day—not physically, but spiritually. Every person I baptized as a pastor made the public statement, "Jesus is my Lord." Have you made him your Lord today? Will a skeptical culture see the difference he makes in your life?

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2014/October22/223.html#suYGxZ1W1aJWE3lD.99

GOD’S GIFTS

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
1 Peter 4:10-11 (NLT)

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Christian Service

A blind man was on a journey and it so happened that he got to a very bad road at the same time as a lame man also got there. The road was too rough and it had too many potholes and boulders for the blind man to navigate through it alone and as for the lame man, it would be a slow and painful experience for him to travel the road without help. The blind man asked the lame man to guide him through the difficulties because he could see what lay ahead.

"How can I do that?" replied the lame man. "I am barely able to drag my sorry body along this same path." Then he had an idea and he said "Why don't you carry me and then I can warn you about any danger that lurks in our path: my eyes will be your eyes while your feet will be my feet." "Great idea!" said the blind man. "Let us serve one another." So taking his lame companion on his back they travelled with safety companionship and pleasure.

As I read this scripture I was reminded of the ants that were becoming a menace in my house. These tiny things can really get on your nerves. I remembered them and I thought, if the ants behaved like the human race, they would be extinct within a short while. Why do I say this? Well ants work like an engine, each part doing its very best to serve the other. They work in unity with one purpose and they serve one another whole heartedly.

We on the other hand need lots of help in this area. Honestly, when was the last time you served someone simply to bring a little bit of joy into their life and you were not thinking about yourself at all? Even as Churches and different denominations, Christian service is almost becoming extinct. We are so consumed with our own personal agendas and God blessing me, that we have no time to include anyone else in our agendas.

Like the blind man and the beggar there are times we would greatly benefit if only we served each other and worked as a team but many times we are so selfish to even see it that way. Many of us are quick to serve those in authority over us like our pastors or bosses simply because we want to get favor with them. The true test of service is serving those that are beneath us just like Jesus served His disciples and even washed their feet. We are the body of Christ, we are one.

In heaven there will be no denominations. If only we got the revelation to work together and serve one another like the blind and lame man, we can accomplish a lot more for God and find fulfillment in our lives. Philippians 2:3-4 says Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

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DON’T GIVE UP THE FAITH

REF: Luke 22:31-32 (NLT)

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to have you, to sift you like wheat, but I have pleaded in prayer for you that your faith should not completely fail. So that when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen and build up the faith of your brothers”.

COMMENT:

Like the case of Job, Satan the accuser of brethren (AOB) has an access to heaven. That gives him a chance to accuse us to God when we have sinned knowingly or unknowingly. Even when we have not committed any sin, Satan as in the case of Job, may incite God by claiming that we obey Him not because of loving Him, but because of prosperity and protection accorded to us by the same God. 

The above scriptures indicate that Satan asked for permission to attack Simon and it was granted. God in his divine wisdom allowed this for the benefit of Simon. Indeed, Simon was sifted like wheat but his faith did not completely fail because the Lord had prayed for him. Simon then repented and turned to God again. He regained his faith and therefore, his strength. He was, in turn able to strength the others.

The prayer for Simon not to fail completely was offered by Jesus to the Father and as usual it was heard. He recovered and went on with his work of encouraging others.

 Problems are capable of killing faith completely even to men like Simon Peter, but with the promise by Jesus to intervene in the midst of suffering, all ends well.

The solution is repentance and turning to Jesus again. It should be noted that Jesus being God would have prevented the suffering Simon went through but he was not planning to do that for a good reason. Simon was a student (disciple) of the Lord Jesus and was required to face adversity so that in future he could tackle any problem. Likewise, all believers are disciples of Jesus and therefore are to face problems for a good reason.

Problems although painful and stressful, and are capable of causing failure in our faith, can also be used to achieve growth of the same faith. God does not want baby believers but seasoned warriors able to do exploits and achieve much in the ministries they are involved in.

PRAYER:

The Lord Jesus Christ! Train me in order to become like you.

POPULATION CONTROL: AN OPEN SECRET

REF: Exodus 1:16-17 & Matthew 2:16-17

‘When you help the Hebrew women in childbirth and observe them on the delivery stool, if it is a boy, kill him, but if it is a girl, let her live.” The midwives, however, feared God and did not do what the king of Egypt had told them to do; they let the boys live. Ex. 1:16-17

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according with the time he had learned from the Magi. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning …………………………………. Matthew 2:16-17

COMMENT:

Population control did not begin yesterday. It was there even in the ancient Egypt and the biblical times as can be seen in the above scriptures. The Red Indians and the Aborigines of America and Australia respectively were subjected to inhuman conditions which lead to massive deaths which drastically reduced their growing populations. The number of the Red Indians in North, South and Central America was estimated at 100 million when the Europeans begun to settle there. Today, their number is hardly half of the estimated number. Population control methods were applied and the goal was achieved.

Dear esteemed readers, the midwives of Egypt are still around and continue to take orders from the king. They are the current scientists who develop suspicious vaccines and viruses in the labs and some doctors who defend the diseases rather than people who will get sick and die. They are not in health but disease business. For the last two weeks, the infamous tetanus vaccine has been discussed by both religious leaders and medical professionals in a poor African country. No solution has been arrived at, but the targeted people know something is amiss. 

The whole world is involved in population control in many different ways. Think of wars and conflicts, climate change advocacy and the famous evolution theory which is taught in schools as truth.  All these activities and many others including gay lifestyle are for population control. The theory of evolution is exploited fully in redefining human life making it look like nothing more than animal life or machines and therefore can be terminated at will.

The not very well known policy of zero growth is meant to slowdown any economic growth in the world. They use global warming as an excuse for cutting down production by killing industries. Unemployment and other forms of frustrations, especially to the youth to make them delay in getting married, and therefore reduce fertility rate, are ushered in everywhere on daily basis. The youth blame leaders for  unemployment and lack of other means of earning their livelihoods, from one election to the next, but nothing changes.

Anything done to raise production of food such as construction of dams for irrigation water, is fought right and left and finally the project collapses. Corruption and disputes with the local people are encouraged by individuals or groups connected to those behind population control.

Human life is sacred despite the notion that childbearing is today taken as a burden. The first human being on earth was created by God in His own image and was bestowed with abilities and powers to perform nearly everything. He was initially created to live forever although God has not changed His mind. Human beings are of a type of their own and no crossover has ever occurred. No human being has originated from monkeys and Africa is not the cradle of human beings. Those who have tried to mix a donkey and a horse have been disappointed because what is produced cannot reproduce itself. The same happens in the case of plants. The GM plants do not reproduce themselves.

Human life must be protected at all cost because it is precious. Can anybody imagine a world without the human resource?

PRAYER:

Almighty God! Please intervene and protect human life which is being endangered daily.