Secrets Revealed

“Have no regard for his outward appearance, nor for the maturity of his stature, because I have refused him. For man does not see as God sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord sees into the heart.” -Samuel the Prophet of God It was spoken that “your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.” The focus of this teaching was the basics of spiritual living: prayer, fasting, and alms giving (Matthew 6:1-18). However, God is not simply interested in what you do, but why you do it. The Apostle Paul wrote that faith without love is nothing and there is no profit in our works if they are not done in love (1 Cor.13:1-3). God is seeing if what we are doing is to obey His commandments to love Him above all things and others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). Some do works and proclaim faith as hypocrites. They are like actors in a show, strutting and fretting their hour upon the stage, hoping to get something from their audience. However, when all is said and done actors only play pretend and though they may fool the world, they cannot fool God. Some even try to do good works to fool themselves. They work hard at doing good, hoping to feel like a good person. However, this feeling is meaningless since all have sinned and will probably sin in the future. The rag which they try clean themselves with is already dirty with the filth of their past. No matter how they try to clean themselves, their past dirt is always upon them. Then where is the “secret place” if even in the isolation of our hearts we deceive ourselves? This is because isolation is not the goal of Spiritual living. The goal of a Spiritual life is one which is in communion with God who sees into the heart. If what we do is about pleasing God, then we must look into the heart of God and see if our hearts are aligned with His. What we need to clean ourselves is not our old tired rag filled with stains we can never wash off. What we need is a clean rag, one which can never get dirty regardless of its use. This is the Grace of God given to us through the Lord Jesus Christ. Spiritual living is about living for Christ and through Him so that we no longer need to play pretend but can learn to live in truth. This concludes the introduction to Secrets Revealed. This three part series will continue tomorrow with fasting through the Testimony of the Prophet Daniel

HOW TO SAVE A LIFE FOR REAL!

After reading Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan; my spiritual eyes were open wide. I learned greatly about a missionary ministry he started called Gospel for Asia and how somebody half way around the world like me can be directly involved in saving lives in South Asia. In South Asia alone there are 2.7 billion people that haven't been reached by the gospel of Jesus Christ. The good news is that God has blessed us with abundance so we can do something about their dire need! Follow the link to see how you can fulfill the Great Commission by planting churches and ministries by supporting gospel for Asia. Revolution in World Missions is available for FREE download as an audio book at www.gfa.org. Be compelled. Be empowered. Be blessed.

Many are called. Few will answer.

“I have some doubts about Christianity.” “I’m not a religious person.” “People will judge me by my past.” “What will others think of me?” “I’m not good enough to go to church.” “I can’t control my sinful habits.” “I don’t believe there is a God.” “I’ve been betrayed by so-called Christians.” “I belong to another religion.” “I’m a good person.”
Well I have some news for you! The gospel of Jesus Christ has everything to do with you! You’ve been created and since then has taken part in infecting the world around with sinful actions. Your sins will always have a hold on you and hurt the people around you until you surrender your will to Jesus Christ. Try using your own goodness to go a day, a week, a month without sinning and you’ll learn very fast that your “goodness” does not add up. It can’t supply you and it definitely can’t supply anyone else around you with the power to live life in a righteous manner. Whether you are a believer or not the wages of sin will still affect you and everyone around you. Because there is sin in this world there’s death in this world also. Everyone is a victim. Our only hope is the grace given to us through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Through it we know that we can be transformed into righteous people and live a godly life that leads us straight into an eternal one in Heaven. We can only see the effects of the gospel of Jesus Christ when people stand up and act out on faith. We see light overcome darkness, forgiveness overcome resentment, healing overcome pain, and life overcome death.

MY WORLD

“Let's make the world a better place!” We hear this slogan so often. But with the bad shape this world is constantly in, words just aren't enough. When my life was filled with hate, envy, greed, pride, lust, and profanity, I felt like I was lost cause. I knew God would not let me into heaven with the things I used to do and feel towards myself and others. In fact I was trapped in my own lifestyle. When I wanted to stop, the bad habits just kept creeping up and taking over again. That was it! I wanted to pray to God but I didn't know if he even would listen to me. I was reluctant to find out that His mercies are new every morning. I was ready to receive a new lifestyle from God! He doesn't care what you look like, where you come from or where you've been. He took me in like an adopted orphan. Like a heavenly Father he called me his own child. Salvation was right under my nose the whole time! All I had to do was confess my wrongs with my mouth and believe that Jesus died for a sinner like me in my heart. I was set free! My world is a better place because I have Jesus in it today. Heaven isn't so far away after all!