|
For Those Seeking The Truth & Dynamic Living Christ is Victor March/April 2002 Volume 15, Number 2 |
"Dwelling In Love"
Genesis 33:1-4
After twenty years, these two brothers meet. Esau had already vowed vengeance after the death of his father. Though his father was yet alive he felt the moment of reckoning had now come. The bitterness of twenty years would now find expression. If you keep bitterness against anyone for any reason in your heart even for a day, your spiritual system will be poisoned. You may feel fully justified. But the Bible says, "Let not the sun go down on your wrath." That is God's law. Why can't we keep God's law? Why don't we fear God-- because of pride. Why is it difficult to say 'sorry' to a brother or sister? When did we become so perfect that we consider ourselves so infallible?
It is just a proud heart that is willing to forfeit the presence of God. Is that not terrible? Anybody who enjoys the presence of God will say, 'I would not lose the presence of God even at the cost of my life.' When you become spiritually insensitive, various things begin to accumulate in your mind. In a spiritually insensitive person, a lot of rubbish accumulates. Ill-will, resentment, evil thoughts, some ambitions which are outside God's will- all these things accumulate.
We have learnt not to speak lies. We have learnt not to steal. We have learnt not to use foul language. We have learnt to give God the tithes and offerings. We have learnt to pray and give God the time that we should. But in weightier matters we are failing. The devil's trick is to disturb us in our relationship with one another.
Generally, we see tension between in-laws everywhere in the world. Who is a spiritual person? A spiritual person is one who has victory in the relationship with in-laws. Whatever may be the provocation, a spiritual person overcomes. Are we living in perfect peace with one another?
Life does not consist of smooth and easy situations. Generally, we come across some smart person like Jacob to provoke us. He outwits you. How do you react towards such a person? Esau was a very imperfect man and so disobedient as to be rejected by God. But in this situation, it is amazing how well he fares! He kissed his brother and almost behaved like the father of the prodigal son. Forgiving words came out of this man's heart.
"No man hath seen God at any
time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in
us, and his love is perfected in us." (1 John 4:12). I want
everybody who enters our places of worship to feel the atmosphere of God's
love. "God dwelleth in us." How
do we know that? By the positive love we have one toward another.
This love does not crack down when rebuked. No, it is a steady
flow. Can you stop a river? What massive barrages have to be built
to interrupt the flow of a river? Sometimes even those are swept
away. The
The Lord Jesus gave us a very simple rule. "... if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift." (Matt.5:23,24). I have asked pardon of some brothers, not once, or twice or thrice but four times. I am convinced that I am not wrong. Something from me has managed to hurt him. So I will say, "sorry" and say it again and again, if necessary. I do not want that river of love to stop from my heart. I do not want to lose the presence of God. Be very careful, dear people.
If you want to dwell in God, you should dwell in love. If you do not dwell in love, you are not dwelling in God. You are dwelling in an organization, and are not dwelling in God: what a dangerous thing that is! When you do not dwell in God, no good work comes out of you, only evil- only evil words, evil thoughts, evil reactions, evil deeds, poison and pollution will come out of you. But, if you dwell in God you dwell in love.
Where are you? Are you at least in Esau's state to forgive and love a brother who has injured you? When Isaac died, both Esau and Jacob buried him together. Are we at that place where we are sanctified and made ready for such reconciliation? We should humble ourselves and examine our hearts and see that we do not stop revival.
-Joshua Daniel
"Inevitable Inheritance"
Unfortunately, few people today know enough about their forefathers to know what their sins were. However, their lives are affected by those sins whether they know about them or not. Christians today have lost this concept. Failure to confess and deal with the sins of the forefathers often results in failure when attempts are made to break inherited curses.
I have a friend with whom I have corresponded for some time. She is a committed Christian, who serves the Lord with her whole heart. A couple of months ago I received a letter from Sandy telling me that she didn't know what was wrong with her physical body but that she was gravely ill. As I read her letter my heart was grieved because the symptoms she described to me fit perfectly that symptoms of cancer of the pancreas.
I called her immediately. She told me that she had just been to see her doctor that day to get the results of an abdominal CAT scan. He told her that the scan showed what appeared to be a large tumor in her pancreas which was most likely malignant. She was scheduled to be admitted to the hospital the next day for surgery to biopsy the tumor to determine if it indeed was cancer. People with pancreatic cancer at that stage usually live only three to six months after receiving the diagnosis. There are no known effective treatments for this condition.
I asked
My response was, "Sandy, the Lord knows your heart. He knows that you want to do His will. You can rest in that. If you don't have a clear answer from God that it is His will to take you Home now, then I believe you should resist death with all your might."
I asked
The Holy Spirit had just been
teaching my husband and me the importance of the principle of confessing the
sins of the forefathers. I shared this information with
"But what if you don't know all the sins?" She asked. "I do know that my family has an extensive history of sexual immorality and divorce. In fact, I am the first one to remain in a marriage, and that's because I accepted Christ. Very few in my family ever became Christians."
I told
I further suggested that she and her husband join together and anoint her with oil, covering her whole epigastric area and the area of her pain with the oil. While they applied the oil, she should command all demons associated with the curse to leave her at once in the name of Jesus. I also suggested that she specifically command any demon afflicting her pancreas or causing the tumor to leave at once in Jesus' name. Finally, she needed to ask the Lord to heal all the damage that had been done.
How many Christians have not received healing because they have not dealt with the sins of their forefathers?
-Selected
Reality
Check!
“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.” – Psalm 46:1
"Raise Your Praise"
"Let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing" (Psalm 107:22)
This is a psalm of praise. Thanksgiving is like offering sacrifice to God. We often fail in giving thanks because we are not God-conscious. We depend upon our self-effort and we also pray. When we receive what we ask in prayer, we congratulate ourselves. This is not of faith.
Religion is more of self-effort and less of experiencing God at work. People have put religion into physical actions like pilgrimages and social work. The man who does these works is pleased with himself. There is nothing to praise God in all this. But Christian work is just the opposite of this. You cannot get praise or merit in the presence of God by your efforts. By their own efforts, some Christians try to merit salvation and build up credits with God. Even obeying His word is possible only with the help of God. No man can obey the Word of God as God wants him to, without God's help. God's standards are so high that we by ourselves cannot please Him.
There is nothing in us that can
merit God's mercy. Man is sinful from head to foot. "Lord I
bring these offerings to you," says man. He does not stop to see
with what hands and what heart he is bringing those offerings. God
notices that he is coming with hands full of blood and a heart desperately
wicked. "As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one:
There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are together become
unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is
an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used
deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips: Whose mouth is full of cursing
and bitterness" (Romans
We may bring into an operation theatre a beautiful scarf. But will the doctor accept it to dress the wound? Doctors are very careful not to accept anything that is not sterilized. You may say it had a thorough wash in good soap powder. But he will tell you that both you and your washed scarf are not clean enough for the operation theatre. How are we with God? Our best righteousness is as filthy rags. That is God's estimate of our best righteousness. Unless a man accepts that, he can never obtain mercy. He must accept that the motives behind his best actions are selfish. He needs to be cleansed at the foot of the cross. Saul of Tarsus who was blameless according to the law had to be cleansed at the foot of the cross. There he saw how much Jesus suffered to cleanse him from his sin and sinfulness.
We conducted revival meetings and we prayed that people's eyes may be opened. There was a man who would not accept that he was a sinner. In a day when the Spirit of repentance came on the people, this man was weeping very much. He saw Jesus coming into the midst of the people with a crown. Though he called on Jesus, He would look at all the others but not at him. Jesus is full of mercy but He has no mercy for those who are not sinners.
At the foot of the Cross is cleansing. Man has to be grateful to God for the great sacrifice Jesus made to deliver him from sinfulness. How grateful I should be to God for the great deliverance He gave me from sin in the days of my youth even in my thoughts and imaginations. Do we start our day with this sacrifice? Many Christians start their day with Holy communion. But is there real gratitude? Heaven descends where there is grateful praise.
-Late Mr. N. Daniel
"Thanksgiving"
True thanksgiving means that we need to thank God for what He has done for us and not tell Him what we have done for Him... It is rather sobering ... to remember that the one person Jesus mentions as going up to the temple to give thanks is picked out, not for praise but for censure. ... The Pharisee began his prayer with words which are on countless lips ... at Thanksgiving time, "God, I thank Thee." Yet he left the temple with divine disapproval. ... Are we not guilty of thanking God that we are not like other people. ... Let us beware of our boasting. ... Let us forget how much we have done for God, and remember what He has done for us in Christ, and what He is continuing to do for us every day.
-Selected
PLEASE PASS THIS ON TO A FRIEND