Day-by-DayWord

Vol. 3

Mthobisi Dladla

GIVEN AUTHORITY Luke 10:19(NIV) I have GIVEN YOU AUTHORITY to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.

The opening scripture just explains itself. However there is sometimes a thought in our minds, a moment of wondering actually, a question; "did Jesus mean what He said literally or was He just saying, was He exaggerating? " it all depends on how much we believe. One thing is for certain; whatever Jesus said was TRUE in every sense and context of the word. The same people Jesus told of their new given authority testify before hand saying to Him with joy "Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name."(Luke 10:17). Amazingly they had done this wonder before Jesus let them know of their authority. In other words, first of all He was confirming to them that what they were testifying is TRUE because He had given them authority to do what they did even though He had not told them and secondly, that same authority is from God and IT WORKS. It has always been God's plan to give us authority over all things especially over the enemy . We see Adam for instance how God gave him authority over all the animals and even over ALL THE EARTH (Genesis 1:26), even entrusting him with the naming of them, "and whatever Adam called every LIVING CREATURE that was its name" (Genesis 2:19) - we will talk about that in detail in one of the

following notes. It is God's plan to let the enemy know about His power through the authority given to the church that is why Paul by the Spirit in his letter to the Ephesians says "His intent was that NOW, THROUGH THE CHURCH, the MANIFOLD WISDOM of God should be MADE KNOWN to the RULERS AND AUTHORITIES in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 3:10). God intended that through us, His power of wisdom should be known to the rulers and authorities of the spiritual places, which are holy angels, demons and fallen angels and even the devil himself. This is the authority that Jesus gave to us that in His name we should cast out demons, heal the sick and not get harmed by ANYTHING (Mark 16:17-18) that no weapon formed against us should prosper (Isaiah 54:17). The writer of Hebrews also says something powerful, which testifies of this authority that God has given us - he says "You put all things under his (men) control." For when He put all things under his control, HE LEFT NOTHING OUT OF HIS CONTROL. At present we do not yet see all things under his control," (Hebrews 2:8). God put everything under man's control or authority and Jesus was the very revelation of that. He would speak to blind eyes and they would open, to deaf ears, to storms and winds and they would keep calm, to fig trees. When Jesus received the Holy Spirit a voice from heaven came testifying, saying "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased." (Matthew 3:18). That voice did not just speak to the people who were nearby but also to EVERY part of creation, in another place that same voice also says "this is my Son, whom I love. LISTEN TO HIM!" (Mark 9:7). Therefore because God had said so

creation had to listen to Him, creation was subject to Him. Amazingly because we have received the Spirit of His Son (Galatians 4:6), that same Spirit that testified, now bears witness with our spirits that we are sons and daughters of God (Romans 8:16). The voice that spoke now speaks for us to all creation as well, telling creation that it should listen to us. No wonder Elijah filled with the Spirit could tell King Ahab that "as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years EXCEPT AT MY WORD." (1 Kings 17:1) - WHAT POWER. God had given Elijah authority over the rain, He has given us authority over all things. Elijah doesn't say it will not rain except at God's Word, NO, but he says "except at my word". Because Elijah wasn't given authority over the enemy as we have, he hid for his life when he heard Jezebel was pursuing him. If only we could take charge of this authority, if only we could move in this power of faith, no oppression from the enemy would exist, no fear, no doubt but only the manifold wisdom of God. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the REVEALING of the sons of God (Romans 8:19). Let us MANIFEST to the glory of our Father. God Bless You.

DARK WORKS 2 Corinthians 11:14(NLT) But I am not surprised! Even Satan DISQUISES himself as an ANGEL OF LIGHT.

There are things that we really need to get clear with, these are things that concern the basic elementary principles of the heavenly places. There's too much to say but we will go straight to the devil. There are too many people who have not recognized the devil for who he is. Peter calls him the adversary (1 Peter 5:8); he is the enemy of the faith, the enemy of the cross. Unfortunately a lot of us don't see him that way because as our opening scripture says, "he transforms himself to an angel of light"(2 Corinthians 11:14). He doesn't want to be seen as the devil, he wants to be recognized as God, he didn't want to be the devil, he wanted to be God. So much is happening in the world and all that people are asking is "why is God doing this and that?" Its a very saddening question but we will try and find an answer to it. There is a prayer that Jesus teaches His disciples, which we have named the Lord's prayer; there is a line in that prayer that is very interesting, Jesus says "YOUR (God) WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN"(Matthew 6:10), now why are we praying that God's will should be done on earth if it is already done? That means God's will is not done on earth by force, well at least before WE PRAY, because we are PRAYING for its

manifestation. Not everything that happens is God's will. Before we go to a specific point let us analyze something; why do people blame God for what Satan does? Let's look at two scriptures, 1 Chronicles 21:1 and 2 Samuel 24:1. The latter says "again the anger of the Lord was aroused against Israel, and He moved David against them to say, Go, number Israel and Judah", this one says God moved David to number the people of Israel, however the former says "now Satan stood up against Israel, and moved David to number Israel", wait a second - it is the same scenario only this time the writer declares Satan stood up against Israel. Now it is clear that even in the olden days people were unsure as to who is responsible for the bad that happened. God is such a good God, His goodness is everywhere, Jesus says "He is kind to the evil and ungrateful"(Luke 6:35), David says "I would have perished unless I had believed I'd see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living"(Psalm 27:13). Let's go to death because that is the worst case scenario. God DOESN'T KILL PEOPLE, in fact even though some people say "God takes a life", the bible says differently. It says "GOD DOESN'T TAKE A LIFE..."(2 Samuel 14:14). Death is God's enemy, that's why Paul says "the last ENEMY that will be destroyed is DEATH"(1 Corinthians 15:26). How then does God kill people? When Adam was commanded to not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, God said "if you eat it you will DIE"(Genesis 3:11), not "I will KILL YOU". Death in the last day will be judged and put in the lake of fire (Revelations 20:14). Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life, He says "he that believes in Me though he may die, he shall live and whoever

lives believing in Me shall NEVER DIE"(John 11:25-26). When will we ever truly see God for who He is, for that loving and kind God He is? If you saw what Jesus did, you saw what God did, because Jesus is the EXPRESS IMAGE of His PERSON (Hebrews 1:2). The evil works are done by Satan, God is light and in Him there is no darkness AT ALL (1 John 1:5), God can't be tempted by evil (James 1:15). Let's draw close to God and know Him more, know Him PERSONALLY. God is hurt by our pain, He can't bear it, He knows how painful losing a loved one is; He once lost His Son. Jesus was MOVED with compassion when He saw the widow who had her only son about to be buried (Luke 7:12-14), in fact Jesus never attended a funeral where He didn't raise people from the dead while He was still on earth. Thank you Holy Spirit. God Bless You

GOD DELIGHTS IN SUCCESS Jeremiah 29:11(NIV) 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.

Every time when we get into the topic of success a lot of us close our ears purposely. We have heard a lot of ministers talking about it and we have branded this particular topic as the "prosperity message" or the "grace gospel" and we just can't bear it. Maybe the questions that we need to ask ourselves are where does prosperity come from? Who came up with that concept and why? This is a concept that we seem not eager to hear about from Gods point of view. We are willing to hear from everybody how to be successful but not God. They tell us to "hustle" and work hard, give us steps and other philosophies and we gladly receive them. God doesn't need men to help us with our success, that's why He said "put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom THERE IS NO HELP"(Psalm 146:3). It appears that we have made up our minds that God doesn't want us to succeed - but that's a lie from hell itself. Now why are we so resistant to such a reality? IT IS AN UNDOUBTABLE FACT that God wants us to succeed in life, that's what our opening scripture actually expresses. In another place David speaks this way "let them shout for joy and rejoice, who favor my vindication; and let them say continually, "The LORD be

magnified, who DELIGHTS IN THE PROSPERITY OF HIS SERVANTS"(Psalm 35:27) NOW IF GOD DELIGHTED IN THE SUCCESS OF HIS SERVANTS, HOW MUCH MORE HIS SONS AND DAUGHTERS? In the plans of God to prosper us He didn't leave behind the formula for our success, He has revealed it to us. In other words as long as God expects us to succeed and delights in our success, He will help us with achieving the full measure of it. He has made Himself all the help we need - His Spirit is the Helper (John 15:26); Oh if only we could yield to the Holy Spirit. When Joshua is about to head up the children of Israel to the promise land, God gives Him a formula for success, a formula too simple yet too powerful, He says to him "keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be PROSPEROUS AND SUCCESSFUL."(Joshua 1:8). Why would God tell Joshua such a powerful secret if He didn't desire to see him successful and prosperous? He obviously did or else He wouldn't have revealed it to Joshua - "then YOU WILL BE PROSPEROUS AND SUCCESSFUL". If it's God's will for us to be successful, He will work it in us, His grace will labor in us mightily, no wonder Paul says "for it is God who WORKS IN YOU to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose."(Philippians 2:13). It is time for us to see ourselves the way God sees us. In one place God reveals the amount of success we will attain to when Isaiah says "You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands."(Isaiah 55:12)

God Bless You.

WORK OUT SALVATION Philippians 2:12(KJV) Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION with fear and trembling.

The most essential part of our belief is SALVATION. It is what surrounds us, we think about it all the time - this great grace, it is the expression of God's love for people, we see it when Jesus says "for God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever BELIEVETH in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life."(John 3:16). We BELIEVE that God raised Jesus from the dead and confess Him as Lord and that's our SALVATION (Romans 10:9-10), that's ETERNAL LIFE. However the "once saved always saved" ideology of the CHRISTIAN SALVATION doesn't necessarily apply. Salvation is received by GRACE (Ephesians 2:5) and it is kept by GRACE. Grace is what keeps us in Christ and that is why Paul warns us to "see to it that no one FALLS SHORT OF THE GRACE OF GOD"(Hebrews 12:15) and also "not to receive the GRACE OF GOD IN VAIN"(2 Corinthians 6:1). It is easy for a person who is a believer to wind up in hell and that because NOT of constant sinning BUT having a heart that doesn't want to repent. Therefore Paul asks us "to WORK OUT OUR SALVATION with FEAR AND TREMBLING". Before we get to

working it out, we need to be clear about the kind of fear and trembling that he is referring to. This fear and trembling is not timidity, it is GODLY FEAR - it is that fear that Moses had when he saw the glory of God and even said "I am trembling with fear."(Hebrews 12:20), it NOT is that fear that Peter had in the Mount of Transfiguration at the vision of Jesus, Elijah and Moses where after him, John & James entered that same cloud of glory(Luke 9:34), it is a realization of the nature of God's HOLINESS, "for our God is a consuming fire"(Hebrews 12:29). Paul also speaks in this way, "having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, PERFECTING HOLINESS IN THE FEAR OF GOD."(2 Corinthians 7:1). So now we understand that the fear he is talking about is the reverential fear of God. Let us come back to working it out; how do we do it? It is interesting that the same guy who told us to work it out in our opening scripture also said in the verse that follows, "for it is God which WORKETH IN YOU both to will and to do of his good pleasure."(Philippians 2:13), wait a second! so IT IS GOD who gives us the energy, the zeal and the desire to WORK IT OUT, with His own POWER, His OWN way, no wonder He says to Zerubbabel, "not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit"(Zechariah 4:6) - THANK GOD. A lot of us have made laws for ourselves to try and attain to the SALVATION of God, while all the while God had made a way for man to be saved, He says "He is able to SAVE COMPLETELY those who come to God through Him(Jesus)"(Hebrews 7:25). There is nothing outside of God that could help a man get saved, every object of salvation

God has provided; His Spirit and His Word. We work out our own salvation by remaining in Christ, grounded and rooted in Him, having our hearts ALWAYS ESTABLISHED BY GRACE, as even Paul says to Titus that GRACE "teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age..."(Titus 2:12). In the New King James Version, there is a certain verse in Hosea, where he says "so you, BY THE HELP OF YOUR GOD, return; observe mercy and justice, and wait on your God continually."(Hosea 12:6), Hosea says BY GOD'S HELP, REMAIN IN GOD. Anything that we do without God, for God, will leave us with PRIDE in our HEARTS, Paul says "for we are laborers together with God."(1 Corinthians 3:9). It is for that same reason that God in the days of Gideon, asked Gideon to decrease the number of soldiers that went out to war with the Midianites, saying to him "the people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands, LEST ISRAEL CLAIMS GLORY FOR ITSELF AGAINST ME, saying, MY OWN HAND HAS SAVED ME. (Judges 7:2). Oh that question holds weight which Paul asked the Galatians in Christ "Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? (Galatians 3:3). Let us allow grace to work in our heart; it does work, or else Paul wouldn't have said "...but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, BUT THE GRACE OF GOD WHICH WAS WITH ME."(1 Corinthians 15:10). He said it better who said "do not be carried away by all kinds of STRANGE TEACHINGS. It is good for our hearts to be STRENGTHENED BY GRACE, not by eating ceremonial foods, which is of no benefit to those

who do so."(Hebrews 13:9) - These strange teachings are the teachings of men concerning observations and man's commandments. Let us hold on to Christ, stand fast in the faith and put away the body of sins. God Bless You.

SELLING THE ANNOINTING Micah 3:11(NIV) Her leaders JUDGE FOR A BRIBE, her priests TEACH FOR A PRICE, and her prophets TELL FORTUNES FOR MONEY. Yet they look for the Lords support and say, Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.

The reality is that even to this day this form of merchandising is taking place, almost in every place. A friend of mine likes to say "for every gift there is judgment". These gifts of God which are enabled by the anointing of His Spirit are there to help grow the church of Christ and also to bring many who don't believe to the eternal salvation that was bought by the blood of Jesus. He says "when He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men."(Ephesians 4:8). We have been given gifts, as many as have come to know Jesus and been filled with His Spirit - however these gifts come at a price. It is not good for us and for the whole body of Christ, to misuse what Jesus has given to us. Jesus once told Peter and the other disciples that they should "heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. FREELY YOU HAVE RECEIVED FREELY GIVE"(Matthew 10:8) - it was too powerful. That same unction still applies even to us His disciples in these last days, that as we have freely received that blessed anointing, we should freely give it and let others enjoy and be blessed by it FREE OF CHARGE. But as we look around,

discerning through the eyes of the Spirit, we see that the unction has been tempered with. The selling of the anointing is a ministry of Satan, that is very clear because he himself sold the anointing when we read about him in Ezekiel, it says OF HIM "by the ABUNDANCE OF YOUR TRADING, you became filled with violence within, and you sinned;"(Ezekiel 28:16) - Satan had an abundance of trading, but what could he have been trading in the hearts of heaven since heaven has everything? It was that very gift he was given he used to gain fame, in his intention to be praised and be like God. We see that a lot in his ministers, who pretend to be ministers of God, even Paul says "it is no great thing therefore if his ministers also fashion themselves as ministers of righteousness ;"( 2 Corinthians 11:15). In our opening scripture, Micah is speaking being full of power by the Spirit to declare the iniquities of the people (Micah 3:8), and he tells of the judges, priests and prophets who do the work of the Lord for a price, and he lets them know that what they are doing is a great sin and God will judge them for it. If we do the work of God for any other form of gain except bring souls to Christ and grow the church, God will judge us as sinners. Other forms of gain could be fame and recognition like in Satan's case and not just money. Paul in his 1st letter to Timothy he speaks about the kind of men that Timothy should separate himself from and one of the characteristics of these men is that they "suppose that godliness is a means of gain." (1 Timothy 6:5). These are men who use the power of God to gain something else than that which we mentioned above - souls and growth of the body of Christ. We are to be

ministers of light always, giving freely as Jesus gave Himself FREELY for us. It is scary to hear the words of the prophet Jeremiah when he says "CURSED be he that doeth the work of the Lord DECEITFULLY"(Jeremiah 48:10). It is without a doubt that God still award those who work for Him with their necessities for their livelihood, that is why Paul is commanded by the Lord "that those WHO PREACH THE GOSPEL SHOULD RECEIVE THEIR LIVING FROM THE GOSPEL"(1 Corinthians 9:14). Even in the olden days "those who served in the temple got their food from the temple, and those who served at the altar shared in what was offered on the altar"(1 Corinthians 9:13). Even God spoke concerning tithes through Moses saying "I give to the Levites all the TITHES in Israel as their inheritance IN RETURN FOR THE WORK THEY DO WHILE SERVING AT THE TENT OF MEETING"(Numbers 18:21) and even the Levites and singers of Nehemiah's time had to be given portions for the work they did in the house of God (Nehemiah 13:10). It shouldnt be a strange thing when worshipers in church are given something for their service. However they are not to worship for what they receive it is not a business. These cases are different than what our opening scripture presents. Let us do the work of the Lord diligently and we will receive what God has apportioned for us, Paul encourages us to "not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time WE WILL REAP A HARVEST if we do not give up."(Galatians 6:9). Let us hold careful to that precious anointing and use it in accordance to God's will. Let us pray right now about the anointing, to

experience more of it and that through that same anointing many may be blessed, "Dear Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus, You are precious, You are wonderful, You are amazing, we thank You so much for being who You are to us, for loving us so much, we love You because You first loved us, and with that love which You poured out abundantly on our hearts by Your most precious Spirit and for that we thank and appreciate You, we ask this moment that You infill us with the fresh oil of Your anointing, that through that very blessed anointing our families be blessed, our friends be blessed, our loved ones in general be blessed and all that concerns us be blessed, and as You said to Abraham "look upon the north, the south, the west, the east - as far as your eyes can see", we ask Blessed Father that you bless all the people as far as our eyes can see with that precious anointing of Your Gentle Spirit, and keep us close to You, clothed with Your humility, in the glorious name of our Lord Christ Jesus of Nazareth we ask, Amen and Amen." God Bless You.

EXEMPLARY WOMEN Titus 2:4-5(NLT) These older women must TRAIN THE YOUNGER WOMEN to love their husbands and their children, to live wisely and be pure, to work in their homes, to do good, and to be submissive to their husbands. Then they will not bring shame on the word of God.

It is always important for us to be careful of what we are getting ourselves into not just for our sakes but for the sake of others who are watching close by. The whole concept of LOVE is to come out of one's self, to die to self and to put others before us; its a choice that the Holy Spirit allows us to make with joy. There are things that we shouldn't do, not because they affect us per say but the people who learn from our behavior. Solomon says "TRAIN UP a child in the way he should go..."(Proverbs 22:6), and the best way to train up someone is by practice. If you've ever done science in your life you would know that, all the theory in the world doesn't come close to how much learning you receive from the practical study, the laboratory experiments, etc. Peter wrote to the elders of the church, telling them how they should carry out their duties as leaders of the flock, he says "...not lording it over those entrusted to you, BUT BEING EXAMPLES TO THE FLOCK."(1 Peter 5:2-3). Our conduct and our way of life are a great deal to those who are outside the faith, they look upon us, eager to see Christ in us and as long as we are

in this earth, we need to reflect Him. Nonetheless what we are speaking of here is not merely the idea of being examples to others but how women can affect other women by their way of life (I guess this post is meant for women). In our opening scripture Paul charges Timothy to teach older women a godly lifestyle so that they in turn may teach the younger ones. However they could not be teachers unless they had been taught as well, as he also says in Romans, "...you who preach against stealing, do you steal?"(Romans 2:21); before we can teach others, we have to teach ourselves first - we need to be our own scholars. Men have been going out preaching the gospel in every place but it seems as if women have been left behind. It is time now to see women initiating women's prayer meetings, cell meetings, bible study meetings, etc. It was a woman who first preached the gospel charged by an angel, it was that very Mary whom Jesus loved who went to Galilee to meet the disciples and declare to them the good-news that the Master had risen however they did not believe(Mark 16:911). This witnessing that started with Mary was not to end with her. However we need older women who have been in the faith longer to train up younger women, to admonish them in the things of God. We look at Naomi for instance who was a woman who knew and feared God, she was a very exemplary woman, to the point that when she went back to Bethlehem, the bible says "THE ENTIRE TOWN WAS EXCITED by their (Naomi and Ruth) arrival. Is it really Naomi? the women asked."(Ruth 1:19) - Amazingly it is the other women who were excited, because they knew the kind of woman she

was. Naomi had been an inspiration to the other women, they admired her that is the kind of women we need now. Ruth (who was Naomi's daughter-in-law) had realized the kind of woman Naomi was and the bible says "Ruth clung tightly to Naomi."(Ruth 1:14). Ruth wanted to be like Naomi, she was inspired by her way of life and her relation to God, the statement that Ruth made expresses how much she admired Naomi's way of life when she says "dont ask me to leave you and turn back. WHEREVER YOU GO, I WILL GO; WHEREVER YOU LIVE, I WILL. Your people will be my people, and YOUR GOD, WILL BE MY GOD."(Ruth 1:16) - How lovely is that? If we carry on to read about what happens to Ruth we understand that she married a wealthy man and gave birth to Obed, the grandfather of that great king David. Oh how blessed was her womb. We need woman like Naomi in this present age, women like Sarah, the virtuous women of old (Proverbs 31:10). There are women like Queen Vashti who was never submissive to her husband the King Ahasuerus (Esther 1:12) and as a result she was divorced from the king's presence forever (Esther 1:19) and another woman was chosen to replace her. However the reason for her divorce was bigger than just her refusal to be with the king but the effects her actions would have on all the other women of the provinces, as the bible says "Women everywhere will begin to despise their husbands when they learn that Queen Vashti has refused to appear before the king. Before this day is out, THE WIVES OF ALL THE KINGS NOBLES THROUGHOUT PERSIA AND MEDIA WILL HEAR WHAT THE QUEEN DID AND WILL START TREATING THEIR

HUSBANDS THE SAME WAY. THERE WILL BE NO END TO THEIR CONTEMPT AND ANGER."(Esther 1:17-18). That very little incident would cause women all over to BEHAVE THE SAME WAY as Queen Vashti towards their husbands. There are women like Jezebel who ruled even their own husbands filled with the spirit of rebellion, who urged her husband to commit evil in the eyes of the Lord (1 Kings 21:25). Women need to be trained in the things of God and we need devout and faithful women for that. Paul says "now it is REQUIRED that those who have been given a trust MUST PROVE FAITHFUL."(1 Corinthians 4:2). God is looking for women who will be readily available to teach the younger ones in the faith the right way. Women are as much a part of this kingdom as men and the body of Christ needs them, we need their support, "from Him the whole body, joined and held together by every SUPPORTING LIGAMENT, GROWS and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."(Ephesians 4:16). God Bless You.

FATHER AND SON IN THE GOSPEL Philippians 2:22(NIV) But you know that Timothy has proved himself, because as A SON WITH HIS FATHER he has served with me in the work of the gospel.

It appears that God had something special in mind for the families of the earth concerning this gospel. It all started with John who is also the coming Elijah (Matthew 17:11-13), who according to Malachi, "will turn the hearts of fathers to their children, and the hearts of children to their fathers."(Malachi 4:6). God has decided to make this gospel a legacy, something that fathers will leave behind for their children and them for their own children. Isaiah does prophesy in one place in this way, as for Me, says the Lord, this is My covenant with them: My Spirit who is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth, shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your descendants, nor from the mouth of your descendants descendants, says the Lord, from this time and forevermore.(Isaiah 59:21). It is not just the gospel that God had in mind for our children but the Holy Spirit as well, as Peter confirms "...and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, the promise is for YOU AND YOUR CHILDREN."(Acts 2:38-39). However God also purposed that fathers would labor with their children in this gospel, as Timothy, whom Paul calls "a true son in the gospel"(1 Timothy 1:2) did with him. Jesus was the first expression of

this reality, because He Himself labored with His Father in preaching and doing the work of the gospel, He went everywhere witnessing the kingdom of God, telling people to believe in the message He gave to them, and the words He said concerning His messages are extraordinary, He said "... whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.(John 12:50). Jesus spoke only that which His Father said he should speak, in other words He preached a gospel that His Father preached, they were working together, He even says "the Son CAN DO NOTHING BY HIMSELF; HE CAN DO ONLY WHAT HE SEES HIS FATHER DOING"(John 5:19) POWERFUL. God needs sons who will pass on the gospel to their sons for a nation of God. We might not have our biological fathers to minister with us, but God the Father is always available, in fact God Himself is called "a father to the fatherless..."(Psalm 68:5). Paul says "we then, as workers TOGETHER WITH HIM..."(2 Corinthians 6:1), Paul was God's fellow worker and they worked together in all Paul's expeditions of the gospel. These days we have spiritual fathers, who bring us up in the things of God, who teach us and admonish us how to become what God wants us to be, those are also sufficient for this work of the gospel. Our spiritual fathers are not always our pastors, who are most of the time busy with the work of God in the pulpit, but they are also the people who evangelized to us the gospel - these are the people we should cling on to. We should go with them wherever they go, evangelize with them and grow with them in the work of the Lord. Paul was Timothy's spiritual father and they went to preach together the gospel, to a point that

Paul entrusted him with overseeing a group of believers. We also who are spiritual fathers need to take the children that God has given to us under our wings, as Paul charged us to "not provoke our children to wrath, BUT BRING THEM UP IN THE TRAINING AND ADMONISHING OF THE LORD."(Ephesians 6:4). God Bless You.

A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP Genesis 18:1(NIV) The LORD APPEARED TO ABRAHAM near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.

There are no words on this earth to explain the reason Jesus died for us because each reason has another one that follows, and it becomes a chain reaction of reasons however there is ONE that predominates them all. "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."(Genesis 1:1). That was a very sacred moment to God, that was the beginning of God's plan, but what was the plan for? "So God CREATED MANKIND in His own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female he created them."(Genesis 1:27). Mankind is the only creation that God gave the privilege to possess His image and likeness. David also speaks in this way, filled with wonder, saying "what is MAN that You ARE MINDFUL OF HIM, and the son of man that YOU CARE FOR HIM?"(Psalm 8:4). God had a bigger plan for us, a plan higher than that He had for angels and other beings. In all the creation God has longed for one thing among many, A FELLOWSHIP WITH MEN. Somewhere Paul says "from one man he made every nation of humanity to live all over the earth, fixing the seasons of the year and the national boundaries within which they live, SO THAT THEY MIGHT LOOK FOR GOD, somehow reach for Him, AND FIND HIM. Of

course, HE IS NEVER FAR FROM ANY OF US."(Acts 17:27). It was God's desire that every man gets to know Him, and have some fellowship with Him. However after a man sinned, that became impossible day by day. People started to forget God, went after other things, even to the point of worshiping statues, but God had planned that ONE DAY, all His people will return, "He now commands ALL MEN to repent"(Acts 17:30). Our opening scripture is the beginning of one of the most fascinating stories in the bible, it was a day that God visited Abraham accompanied by angels, Abraham prepared food for them to eat and even gave them water to wash their feet. It is just wonderful thinking about God sitting down under that tree with Abraham next to Him, talking - they were friends. That is what God has always wanted, a relationship with men, and that is what Jesus came to restore. Paul says something to the Thessalonians, stating the reason behind Jesus' death, its quite powerful really, he says "HE DIED FOR US SO THAT, WHETHER WE ARE AWAKE OR ASLEEP, WE MAY LIVE TOGETHER WITH HIM"(1 Thessalonians 5:10). Wow, "THAT WE MAY LIVE TOGETHER WITH HIM", to share in His life, to have a personal experience with Him, while we are STILL ALIVE and when WE HAVE LEFT THIS PLACE. That is what our daily lives should be about, an experience with God. I was attending my uncles funeral sometime ago, and the pastor who was preaching that day said something that I will remember for the rest of my life, he said "ALL THAT GOD EVER DESIRED WAS A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH MAN", what he said confirmed everything in my life. Jesus came to bring back

that which was lost, to reconcile us with God (2 Corinthians 5:18), to mend a broken relationship. Now that the relationship has been fixed He desires to come close to us and enjoy that blessed relationship with us. That relationship we now enjoy by His Son Jesus Christ, He is the one that connects us to God the Father through the Holy Spirit. John speaks so excellently when he says "OUR FELLOWSHIP is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. "(1 John 1:3). We enjoy a relationship with the Father and Jesus. To enjoy a relationship with Jesus is what God has called us for and that is why Paul says "God is faithful, WHO HAS CALLED YOU INTO FELLOWSHIP WITH HIS SON, Jesus Christ our Lord."(1 Corinthians 1:9). Oh how great is our God, He deserves all the glory. All that matters at the end is our relationship with Jesus, we might love to work for God and be clean in His sight but without a relationship with Him, we will never know if we are serving the right God or not, we will never experience the full measure of God's love for us. Jesus said "many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name and in Your name drive out demons and in Your name perform many miracles? then I will tell them plainly, I NEVER KNEW YOU. Away from Me, you evildoers!"(Matthew 7:2223). How can we know Him unless we have a relationship with Him? How can we know Him unless we follow what He says? He says in one place "Anyone who loves Me WILL OBEY MY TEACHINGS. My Father will love them, and WE WILL COME TO THEM AND MAKE OUR HOME WITH THEM."(John 14:23). Can you imagine God making His home with us? Oh but Job did say "Oh, for the days when I was in

my prime, WHEN GOD'S INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP BLESSED MY HOUSE"(Job 29:4) - INTIMATE FRIENDSHIP, WOW. If we could only experience a bit of that intimacy, if only we could experience that which God longs for us, nothing would ever move us. When we have a relationship with Jesus, we are able to recognize Him in others. It is not hard to love others as He loves them because He teaches us and reveals to us that love, by showing us how much He loves us. No wonder He said speaking concerning that Faithful Day whatever you did for ONE of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, YOU DID TO ME."(Matthew 25:40). We can do it to them because we see Him in them, we see Him because we know Him, we know Him because we have a personal relationship with Him. God Bless You.

AFFECTIONS OF JESUS CHRIST Philippians 1:8(NKJV) For God is my witness, how greatly I long for you all with THE AFFECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.

There is a difference between LOVE and natural affection. Natural affection is a feeling of fondness towards somebody that you have known for some time. For instance, a person who has a roommate who does the same course at school as him will tend to get fond of his roommate because the roommate is the first person he sees when he wakes up (usually) and the last person he sees when he sleeps. Nature has taught that person's heart to be fond of somebody they share their space of living with for a long period of time. However LOVE is different. The reason we say LOVE is different is based on our definition of LOVE - even though there is really no conclusive definition. We cannot define love outside of God, even the bible says "God is LOVE"(1 John 4:8), therefore to define love you need to have God in the picture. According to our opening scripture Paul is writing to the Philippians about his great longing for them with, as he describes, "THE AFFECTION OF JESUS CHRIST". Affection here is a direct definition of LOVE. Who could be a better definition of LOVE than our Lord Jesus Himself, who has LOVE like Him? Jesus' LOVE is a love beyond any love imaginable, it is GREATER than any love, He expresses it this way, "GREATER LOVE HAS NO ONE than this: to lay down ones

life for ones friends."(John 15:13). Jesus' very deed on the cross was the definition of REAL LOVE, even John says "THIS IS HOW WE KNOW WHAT REAL LOVE IS: Jesus gave His life for us. So we should give our lives for our brothers and sisters"(1 John 3:16 -NCV). But how could Paul attain to this measure of love for the Philippians? - THE AFFECTION OF JESUS CHRIST, THE LOVE OF GOD. There is a question that we ask ourselves every time people talk about the love of God , how can we LOVE as God loves? His love is so perfect, unconditional, pure, holy. Unfortunately unless we love like God, we cannot be like God. But God who is rich in grace did something that at the glance of it, every fiber of our being moves. Paul says this in Romans, "Were not ashamed to have this confidence, BECAUSE GODS LOVE HAS BEEN POURED INTO OUR HEARTS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, WHO HAS BEEN GIVEN TO US."(Romans 5:5) - This is one of the most powerful verses in the bible. Can you imagine that? that love that withstood the shame of the cross, that love that let go a Father's Son for many, that love that laid down its life for others, IS NOW IN OUR HEARTS, OUR VERY OWN HEARTS? God did say "I will give you a NEW HEART and put a new spirit in you;"(Ezekiel 36:26). Oh how precious is the Holy Spirit for this reality. This heart is the heart of God Himself, it is the heart that Jesus had for the people of God, even as a MAN. The only way we can realize the amount of love that God has for us is by revelation, or else we cannot know it at all, Paul when he prays for the Ephesians he includes a point that is just amazing, he says "I pray that you and all Gods holy people will have THE POWER TO UNDERSTAND THE

GREATNESS OF CHRIST'S LOVEhow wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. CHRIST'S LOVE IS GREATER THAN ANYONE CAN EVER KNOW but I pray that you will be ABLE TO KNOW THAT LOVE. "(Ephesians 3:18). The difficulty of explaining these words is beyond them. The POWER TO UNDERSTAND that Paul is taking about is revelation. He points out that CHRIST'S LOVE IS GREATER THAN ANYONE CAN EVER KNOW but also prays that we might receive ABILITY from God to understand it. It is evident that Paul had grasped by revelation the measure of Christ's love because to the Romans he says "Can anything SEPARATE US from the LOVE Christ has for us?"(Romans 8:35) and then he responds by saying "YES I AM SURE that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor ruling spirits, nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us, nothing below us, nor anything else in the whole world will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."(Romans 8:38). How could Paul be so sure unless he had received a REVELATION of Christ's LOVE? God has now called us to love as He does, for us to be filled with the affection of Jesus; the same affection He has for us God has granted us to have for others - what a privilege it is to LOVE like the Master Himself. There is nothing that is stopping us from loving others, except our own selfish desires. John says "if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. "(1 John 4:11). The new commandment is based on LOVE and only LOVE, if we are people who are truly obedient to God's word then that's the commandment we need to keep, even "the purpose of this COMMAND is for people to have LOVE,

a love that comes from a PURE HEART and a good conscience and a true faith."(1 Timothy 1:5). Let us love with the love of the Holy Spirit, the love that is pure and holy, a love that puts ourselves second, and lays its life for the brethren, a love that was reported among the Colossians to be a "love in the Spirit."(Colossians 1:8). Thank you Holy Spirit. God Bless You.