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Showing posts with the label Kingdom

A shoot from the stump of Jesse

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meditation There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse 1 , and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him 2 , the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. Isa 11:1-2 ... In that day the root of Jesse 1 , who shall stand as a signal 3 for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious. In that day the Lord will extend his hand yet a second time to recover the remnant that remains of his people 4 , from Assyria, from Egypt, from Pathros, from Cush, from Elam, from Shinar, from Hamath, and from the coastlands of the sea. He will raise a signal for the nations Isa 11:10-11 Notes: 1 Paul quoted this verse in Rom 15:12. referring to the Messiah: “The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in him will the Gentiles hope.” "A ro...

Anxiety vs Sovereignty

God is not crippled by self doubt or anxiety. His throne is established forever. Enjoy being in his presence frequently so that you grow in confidence & assurance of his sovereignty not only as a biblical doctrine but a reality that brings peace & poise to your life. Terry Virgo

Cause and Effect

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meditation I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of slavery. You shall not... You shall not... You shall not... Exodus 20:2 .. call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me. Psalm 50:15 In your steadfast love give me life, that I may keep the testimonies of your mouth. Psalm 119:87-88 “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11-13 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Mt 6:9-10 ..seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:32-33 Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that ...

Wedding at Cana

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respecting the rank Human perspective VS Kingdom perspective ..a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there 1 , and Jesus and His disciples were invited 2 to the wedding as well. When the wine ran out 3 , Jesus’ mother told Him, 4 “They don’t have any wine.” “What has this concern of yours to do with Me, 5 woman?” Jesus asked. “My hour has not yet come.” “Do whatever He tells 6 you,” His mother told the servants... “Fill the jars with water 7 ,” Jesus told them. So they filled them 8 to the brim. Then He said to them, “Now draw some out and take it 9 to the chief servant.” And they did. 8 (the water had become wine, Jesus took away the shame) 10 ... "You have kept the fine wine until now" 11 - said the chief servant. judaite decanter - zaksantiquities.com Now, let we see the dynamic in the record by faith. 1 the text suggest that Mary already was there, probably before Jesus came with his discipl...

From Guilt to the Throne

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Guilt or Throne? spiritual, mental hygiene, mutual need, purification, confidence, etc. This article is part of the "Vitalize" pack Dear saints and beloved! I recently visited a church which has a beautiful family life but suffers from a typical 21 century sickness. The guilt. Interestingly, leaders have told me that members are not as eager to come and get their lives back on track when they commit sins. They simply do not confess them openly. Since it is pastoral responsibility first - I really don't understand, why... The place we came from I believe that guilt is one of the most serious attacks on the humankind. People, nations can do "amazing" things to get rid of guilt. They walk thousands of miles, they squeeze themselves, they oppress themselves and unfortunately they oppress others just to see their own lives as superior and better. In fact, we see whole networks promising "grace" without any chanc...

Character of Kingdom Citizens

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(Matt 5:1-16) by Andreas Köstenberger In his monumental Gospel, Matthew introduces Jesus as the descendant of Abraham and David, narrating his miraculous virgin conception and birth and recounting his flight to Egypt and return to Nazareth. At the inception of Jesus’ public ministry, John the Baptist cries out, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (3:1). Later, when hearing of John’s arrest, Jesus begins to proclaim an identical message (4:17). Yet while John is only the forerunner, Jesus is the Messiah. At this, Jesus gathers a large following and travels far and wide “proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction among the people” (4:23). After this preamble, Matthew opens the first of five major teaching sections of Jesus in his Gospel. The number five is reminiscent of the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses. Similarly, the reference to Jesus ascending a mountain brings to mind Moses’ ascent of Mount Sinai when recei...

The Gospel, spreading throughout the Roman Empire

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by Lex Loizides A number of factors helped the somewhat surprising spread of the Christian Faith across the Roman world which began in the first century. 1. The political unity of the Roman Empire did produce a certain economic and political stability, notwithstanding its many faults. This encouraged trade between large cities and regions. 2. The military and trade routes meant relatively easy access to large numbers of people (both by land and sea). Joel Kotkin writes, ‘Rome allowed considerable self-government to individual cities; the empire itself, notes the historian Robert Lopez, functioned as a ‘confederation of urban cells.’ Europe would not again see such a proliferation of secure, and well-peopled cities until well into the nineteenth century. People, products, and ideas traveled quickly through the vast archipelago of ‘urban cells’ over secure sea-lanes and fifty-one thousand miles of paved roads stretching from Jerusalem to Boulogne… Christianity’s rapid...

Pensamos que sólo nosotros podemos

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del libro: "Autoridad" por Martyn Lloyd-Jones ... Una declaración en los Salmos dice, 'El que habita en los cielos se reirá', y yo creo que Dios a veces se ríe de la Iglesia. Nos ve dispuestos a extender nuestras manos para sostener el arca. Pensamos que sólo nosotros podemos hacerlo. Estamos muy preocupados. Celebramos nuestras conferencias y sacamos nuestras propuestas. Pero no llegan a nada. Entonces, cuando estamos completamente agotados, después de todas nuestras grandes campañas, conferencias y nuestra brillante organización, y después de que hemos gastado todo nuestro dinero, y las cosas han ido aún de mal en peor, Dios inesperadamente -en el último lugar donde jamás hubieras esperado que lo hiciera y a través de la última persona en la que hubieras pensado- derrama de repente el Espíritu. Entonces la Iglesia se eleva a un nuevo período de gloria, de poder y de influencia. Hombres y mujeres se convierten en masa, y el poder de la verdad está d...

Padre nuestro que estás en los cielos

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Es una oración muy conocida incluso para los no cristianos. Sin em­bargo, no mucha gente sabe que se trata básicamente de un patrón de oración y no de un mantra que pierde su significado al cabo de un tiempo. Hoy en día, muchas personas la rezan automáticamente. Pero Jesús Rey lo reza sistemáticamente . Algunas de las frases a continuación incluso necesitan ser actualizadas, entendiendo el significado. Necesitamos ver que Jesucristo mostró este patrón a sus discípulos para darles un marco para su oración diaria. Es una preferencia & referencia también: para Jesús, la cuestión clave es que los nombres de Dios sean conocidos y Su Reino esté aquí en la Tierra con el esplendor y el poder como está en el Cielo . En otras palabras, que el Cielo toque la Tierra y la restauración de Dios se ponga en marcha. Cuando el Cielo toca la Tierra, nuestra perspectiva se restablece. Así lo enseña en Mt 6:9-13 Padre nuestro que estás en los cielos, Que mora en el Cielo en el Re...

Our Father in the Heaven

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[You can listen this with audio assistant]   It is a well-known prayer even for non-Christians. However, not many people know that it is basically a prayer pattern and not a mantra that loses its meaning after a while. Many people today pray it auto­matically. But Jesus the King prays it systematically . Some of the phrases below even need to be updated for the better under­standing of meaning. We must see that Jesus Christ showed this pattern to his disciples to give them a framework for their daily prayer. It is a preference & reference too: for Jesus, the key issue is that God's names be known and His Kingdom be here on Earth in the splendour and power as it is in Heaven. In other words - that the Heaven would touch Earth and Gd's restoration would be at work. When Heaven touches the Earth our perspective is restored. We can read in Mt 6:9-13: Our Father in the Heaven: Who dwells in the Heaven in the heavenly Realm, sitting...

Praying for revival

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from the book: "Authority" by Martyn Lloyd-Jones ... the trouble is that we always start with ourselves and our efforts and ask God to bless them. When did you last hear anyone praying for revival, praying that God might open the windows of heaven and pour out His Spirit? When did you last pray for that yourself? I suggest seriously that we are neglecting this almost entirely. We are guilty of forgetting the authority of the Holy Spirit. We are so interested in ourselves and in our own activities that we have forgotten the one make us effective. By all means let us continue to pray for the particular efforts, for the minister, and his preaching every Sunday, for all essential organizations and for evangelistic campaigns, if we feel led to have them. But before it all, and after it all, let us pray and plead for revival. When God sends revival He can do more in a single day than in fifty years of all our organization. That is the verdict of sheer history which ...

Isa 8:12 and 1Pt 3:13

The parallel verses about the Lord of Hosts Isa 8:12 Do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, Him you shall honor, sanctify as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary... 1Pt 3:13 who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor, sanctify Christ the Lord as holy. ♜

Is Heaven real?

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Heaven is indeed a real place. The Bible tells us that heaven is God’s throne (Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:48-49; Matthew 5:34-35). After Jesus’ resurrection and appearance on earth to His disciples, “He was taken up into heaven and sat at the right hand of God” (Mark 16:19; Acts 7:55-56). “Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence” (Hebrews 9:24). Jesus not only went before us, entering on our behalf, but He is alive and has a present ministry in heaven, serving as our high priest in the true Tabernacle made by God (Hebrews 6:19-20; 8:1-2). We are also told by Jesus Himself that there are many rooms in God’s house and that He has gone before us to prepare a place for us. We have the assurance of His word that He will one day come back to earth and take us, {believers} to where He is in heaven (John 14:1-4). Our belief in an eternal home in heaven is based on an explicit prom...

Depression or Glory

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Who I am? Depression exists when we under­estimate ourselves. When we look at ourselves on the natural way & observe the visible things: we turn away from the Heaven. The writer of the Ecclesiastes {King Salomon} says: “Absolute futility,” says the Teacher. “Absolute futility. Everything is futile.” What does a man gain for all his efforts that he labors at under the sun? Ecc 1:2-3 Perspective The above-mentioned section shows a problem. The problem of the perspective: " under the sun ". King Salomon started his life with splendour and glory and finished with multiple wives and concubines - alongside their multiple gods/goddesses... Well... We're not meant to focus on things "under the sun". If we did, we missed the point. Let us only be illuminated from the side of heaven! When adoration & praise happen, alongside with the worship – Heaven happens. This was the original, Davidic heritage for Salomon! 2Chron 5 7 The ...

Prepare the way of the Lord

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"a voice crying in the wilderness" What does it mean? "John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness of Judea, proclaiming, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” This is the one of whom the prophet Isaiah spoke when he said, “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’ ” Now John wore clothing of camel’s hair with a leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey. Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going out to him, and all the region along the Jordan, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins." Before that coming .. {John} prepares us for the coming of Jesus. Before that coming, there are many pioneers/heralds: - Many times {often times} suffering comes before him and prepares the way for the coming of Jesus, on the way, as the plough-sower ploughs the field before he sows the earth. - The ground of o...