GOD DISCIPLINES HIS SONS

Ref Hebrews 12:10-13

Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.

COMMENT

How do we become sons or daughters of God? Simple! Just accept and receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour. John 1: 12-13.

On becoming a child of God, a lot happens to us. We are no longer sinners but saints        and that’s what the bible teaches. Those who teach that we must die and then be declared saint because of the good works we performed on earth are wrong. That is contrary to what the bible teaches. Paul in his letters addresses all believers as saints. It is only by exercising faith in the finished work on the cross by Jesus Christ that the grace of God takes over and transforms us. We are made the righteousness of God. Rom 5:19.

The bible declares that we become new creation and therefore the process of transformation begins. God in his wisdom disciplines us to make us holy just as he is. By the suffering, we learn obedience and endurance in all circumstances.

Philippians 4:4 commands us to rejoice always and in the same verse, repeats the same command. It does not matter what may be happening, the rule is that we rejoice in the Lord. We are also urged to give thanks in all circumstances because it is God’s will in Christ Jesus for us. 1Thessalonians 5:18.

The two commands from God to us may appear unreasonable but nothing awkward or irrational can come from God. Everything that takes place on earth is well known and understood by God and is allowed for a good reason. His ways are not our ways. He is not confined to time and space as we are. One day, to him, is the same as one thousand years and vice versa. 

God sometimes allows us to suffer for our sins and mistakes in life; hence the statement often repeated by people that, sins committed on earth are paid for, in the same earth. The statement may not be biblical but can help to explain the following cases of two dear brothers who messed up their lives by getting involved in sin. Both suffered for a long period of time before they finally died in a lot of pain.

The first one was a school teacher and a highly respected born again leader. His sin was deception in an arrangement where he obtained a poor man’s land. The deceived man on realizing that he had lost his land, committed suicide. The brother suffered bodily for a long time and finally lost his mind. He died not even knowing who he was but, I believe, he did not deny or denounce the Lord Jesus. He was not able to make such a decision or take such action due to his health condition.

The other brother was an ordained minister and a close friend. He served in the Presbyterian Church and he was a spiritually gifted evangelist who led many to Jesus Christ. He easily preached salvation and many accepted Jesus as their personal saviour. Towards his old age, he got involved in adultery and as a result he contracted AIDS. As a result, he suffered for several years and died a painful death. Like the other man, his condition made it impossible to denounce his salvation and for that reason, I believe his name is still in the book of life. I also believe both had a chance to confess their sins and forgiveness was granted.

In both cases, people around them were able to learn something important for their lives.

Finally, in Hebrews 5:8-10, it is written, “Although he was a son he learned obedience from what he suffered, and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.

 Please note that the person here referred to as “son” is JESUS CHRIST himself when he was on earth. If Jesus had something to learn through suffering, what about us?

INSTANT SALVATION

Luke 23: 39-43(NIV)

One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him. “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”

But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God” he said. Since you are under the same sentence? We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”

Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Jesus answered him; I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

COMMENT

I thank the Almighty God for making salvation simple so that no human being will miss it unless they are too young to comprehend or mentally challenged to understand the message.

To young children, it is the faith of the parent or  the guardian that matters in case of their salvation. To prove this, the children in Sodom and Gomorrah perished with their parents yet they were not sinning as their parents.

The thief on the cross was promised salvation by Jesus Christ just the same time he believed and confessed his faith in the Saviour. On expressing his faith in saving ability by Jesus, he said, “Remember me when you come into your kingdom”. Jesus in answering the thief’s prayer, said, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

This is the example of instant salvation. The thief had no time to do good things to earn salvation as wrongly taught by some churches. He just believed in Jesus and instantly his faith was credited to him as righteousness. Romans 4:3. His identity changed; from thief to saint and he was already on his way to paradise with Jesus.

 On the cross Jesus had already done everything that was required for salvation and that is why he said, “It is finished.” We are not supposed to do any work except expressing our faith in the person of Jesus Christ and his completed work on the cross.

Despite the change in his identity, the thief's legs were deliberately broken by the Roman soldiers before he died in order to hasten his death and teach him a lesson or two according to God’s wisdom. God punishes those he accepts as sons. See Hebrews 12:5-6. The thief, (now saint) suffered for the evil he had committed despite his forgiveness and assurance of a place in paradise. 

Forgiveness of sins and salvation point to the future but consequences of the crime committed must be faced while still on earth. Suffering is therefore  mandatory and the reason should be understood and accepted. David suffered the consequences of his sins even after his painful confession and complete forgiveness by God. See 2 Samuel 12:10-13.

Repentance and forgiveness provide eternal life but cannot remove the suffering for the sins committed. As long as the forgiven man is alive and had committed sins before or after salvation, will suffer the consequences but his identity as a saint will not change. He should suffer in enjoyment. He is still on the way to heaven as long as he has not denounced the Lord Jesus and his salvation.

Thank you Holy Spirit for sustaining us even when suffering for the negative and foolish things we engage in, when we are still in this difficult life on earth. Shalom!

Last Days? Heavenly Signs Abound During Netanyahu Speech

February 23, 2015 | WND.COM

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Religious leaders are warning that the United States is nearing a day of judgment based on its treatment of the nation of Israel.

What’s more, they say, signs in the heavens are coinciding with what is shaping up to be an unexpectedly controversial address by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on March 3 and a fiercely contested Israeli election weeks later.

Pastor Mark Biltz of El Shaddai Ministries warns that “our nation will be judged” based on whether the United States sides with or against the Jewish state.

Biltz believes signs in the heavens and correlations with feast days on the biblical calendar show such a judgment may be coming soon.

“When Netanyahu speaks before Congress on March 3, this is the day before the Fast of Esther when the enemies of Israel, specifically Persia/Iran, had planned to destroy the nation of Israel,” he said. “The next day is Purim, which celebrates the day Israel achieved victory over Iran. The timing significance of this is just as important as the timing of the blood moon.”

Biltz, author of “Blood Moons: Decoding the Imminent Heavenly Signs,” warns that the next blood moon is scheduled to appear over Passover, which begins April 3, just one month after Netanyahu’s speech.

And this will be preceded two weeks earlier by a total solar eclipse on March 20, three days after the Israeli election, and coincides with Nisan, the beginning of the New Year according to the biblical calendar.

Total eclipses don’t take place on any other known planet, point out intelligent-design scientists. They only take place on Earth, the finely tuned planet where life exists that can actually view them. Biltz points out that the Bible says in Genesis that the sun, moon and stars were created specifically as signs for mankind, so His creation would know about the feasts (or appointed times) to have relationship with their Creator.

These prophetic warnings come amid unprecedented tumult in the American-Israeli relationship.

President Barack Obama and other leading Democrats say they will not be attending Netanyahu’s speech, and the White House condemned House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation as a breach of protocol.

Rep. Keith Ellison, the first Muslim elected to Congress, is circulating a letter signed by 22 other House Democrats urging Boehner to delay the speech.

Top staffers in the Obama administration are also heavily involved in the political opposition to Netanyahu, who faces an election on March 17.

“God tells us in Genesis 1:14 that the heavenly bodies were created to serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years,” Biltz said. “But the word seasons is better translated as divine appointments, and here we have a solar eclipse and then a blood moon falling on the New Year and Passover respectively – all at a time when the Jewish state is under great persecution. God is trying to tell us something about a divine appointment.”

Pastor Ray Bentley of Maranatha Chapel in San Diego, California, enthusiastically agrees with Biltz and warns that Christians need to be “praying like they never prayed before.”

“Rabbis have a saying,” Bentley said, “that the word coincidence is not a kosher word. These kinds of signs show we are in a powerful, phenomenal time, a time of great testing for both Israel and the world.”

Bentley believes Israel is facing a “second Holocaust” and that Christians need to become more vocal in their defense of the Jewish state.

Pastor Biltz agrees and says the fact that Israel has become a partisan issue is nothing less than tragic.

“This shouldn’t be political,” Biltz said. “This is about the survival of Israel. Iran is the issue of the day. It is developing nuclear weapons. And our own nation will be judged depending on how it acts in this moment.”

Both Biltz and Bentley cited Joel 3:2 to justify their positions. The verse says the nations will be judged by God for having scattered the people of Israel among the nations and divided its land.

As Biltz puts it, “God says he will divide the sheep from the goats, one nation from another, and he will do it on the basis of those who supported Israel and those who didn’t.”

Laurie Cardoza-Moore, founder of Proclaiming Justice to the Nations and special United Nations envoy for the World Council of Independent Christian Churches, said Israeli-American nations are at a crucial juncture.

“This is a critical turning point,” she said. “It seems that with Obama’s presidency, every year that goes by the relationship between Israel and the United States becomes more strained, and not because of the Israeli prime minister. The overwhelmingly majority of Americans support Israel and believe Israel has the right to defend itself against terrorism. But this president is trying to undermine Prime Minister Netanyahu.”

Cardoza-Moore believes Obama’s agenda goes behind simple opposition to Netanyahu.

“I see this as anti-Semitism,” she said. “The president of the United States has bought into the BDS movement.”

The BDS movement is the “Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions” campaign taking root on college campuses and in churches around the country. The goal of the campaign is to economically strangle the Jewish state to force concessions to the Palestinians.

However, Cardoza-Moore believes Netanyahu will receive a rapturous reception in Congress, “the body that really represents that American people. You will see standing ovation after standing ovation for this man.”

In her film, “The Forgotten People: Christianity and the Holocaust,” producer Laurie Cardoza-Moore documents the growing hatred of Jews, the parallels between Nazism and radical Islam and why Christians must take a stand for justice and defend the people and nation of Israel.

Pastor Bentley warns that “the nations will be judged collectively” on what they do in this moment. And he believes Christians need to be talking just as much about prophecies of the End Times as they do about prophecies of the past.

“We are told that Israel will be alone during this time,” Bentley said. “We may be seeing the beginnings of that process.”

Cardoza-Moore sees the controversy over Israel as core to the survival of the United States.

“There will be judgment upon this nation based upon how we act right now,” she said. “That’s all I can say.”

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2015/February23/231.html#1mhDKBowRJQSBfZM.99

Former Megachurch Pastor Rob Bell – Christianity Irrelevant If It Continues Quoting The Bible

February 20, 2015 | LEONARDO BLAIR

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Former Mars Hill Bible Church pastor and best-selling author Rob Bell told media mogul Oprah Winfrey on Sunday that the American church is "moments away" from embracing gay marriage and thinks "it's inevitable."

Bell made the statement during a Valentine's weekend episode of Winfrey's "Super Soul Sunday" television show where he appeared with his wife, Kristen, to discuss marriage and their new book, The ZimZum of Love: A New Way of Understanding Marriage.

"Marriage, gay and straight, is a gift to the world because the world needs more not less love, fidelity, commitment, devotion and sacrifice," she noted.

Winfrey then tells the couple that she thought it was great that they made a conscious choice to include gay marriage in the book, and asked them why?

"One of the oldest aches in the bones of humanity is loneliness," replied Rob Bell. "Loneliness is not good for the world. Whoever you are, gay or straight, it is totally normal, natural and healthy to want someone to go through life with. It's central to our humanity. We want someone to go on the journey with."

His response then prompted Winfrey to ask: "When is the church going to get that?"

"We're close," he began, answering slowly before his wife interjected "I think it's evolving."

He then added: "Lots of people are already there. We think it's inevitable and we're moments away from the church accepting it."

Bell warned that if the church keeps resisting same-sex marriage it would "continue to be even more irrelevant."

"I think culture is already there and the church will continue to be even more irrelevant when it quotes letters from 2,000 years ago as their best defense, when you have in front of you flesh-and-blood people who are your brothers and sisters, and aunts and uncles, and co-workers and neighbors, and they love each other and just want to go through life," he said.

"There are churches who are moving forward and there are churches who are almost regressing and making it more of a battle," added his wife.

Read more at http://www.prophecynewswatch.com/2015/February20/205.html#ZFQvkWdGXXfx867l.99