Jeremiah 46:25-28
EGYPT PUNISHED, ISRAEL SAVED
“But fear not, O Jacob my servant, nor be dismayed, O Israel; for lo, I will save you from afar, and your offspring from the land of their captivity..." Jeremiah 46:27, RSV
Billy Graham was once charged with speeding while driving through a small town. He admitted his offence, but the officer insisted that he had to appear in court. When the judge asked him, "Guilty or not guilty?", Graham replied "guilty" and he was fined ten dollars. But almost immediately, the judge recognised the famous minister, and said, "You have violated the law; the fine must be paid, but I'm going to pay it for you." He then took a ten dollar note from his own wallet, and attached it to the ticket. Billy Graham said, "that is how God treats repentant sinners."
The Lord gave Jeremiah a message of mercy and love for His people Israel. He assured them that when Egypt, her kings and all that trust in her would be punished, He would spare Israel. He would correct Israel in measure, but would not destroy her as he would do Egypt. Mercy describes the prerogative and sovereignty of God in intervening in human situations. When God's mercy speaks for you, your life becomes inexplicable to others; where others have failed, you will see yourself succeeding. God chose Israel, not because of anything they have done, but because of His grace. May His grace and mercy speak for you today.
• Birthday Blessing: “I cry aloud to the Lord, and He answers me from His holy hill” Psalm 3:4
Read Bible Through Passage: Micah 1-7
God's mercy is beyond our reasoning. - Anonymous
THE GREATEST LOSER.
Have you ever thought about who the greatest loser in the Bible is? So many names would probably run through your mind.
The devil: who had the opportunity to reign eternally with God, but fell because of rebellion.
Pharaoh: who God gave many chances to allow the children of Israel leave peacefully, but refused until he was destroyed.
Judas Iscariot: who betrayed his Master Jesus for money he didn't live to spend.
Gehazi: who would probably have become the greatest prophet in the Old Testament, with at least four times the anointing on the life of Elijah, but died a leper because of his greed for filthy lucre.
Esau: who sold his future for a mere plate of pottage, and couldn't get it back.
Samson: who God sent to deliver the Israelites from the Philistines, yet he died in the hands of the Philistines, with his eyes plucked out.
Moses: who had a glimpse of the promised land, but was not allowed to enter because of a simple act of disobedience.
Adam: whose sin brought death upon humanity.
However, the greatest loser in Bible history was the man who did not make room in his inn for the birth of the Saviour. If only he knew that Mary was carrying the hope of the world, maybe he would have driven every other person out of his inn, to make room for Jesus. He missed his only opportunity to connect with Jesus. Consequently, the greatest loser is the person who has not made room for Jesus in his/her life. If you refuse to accept Jesus as the Lord and Saviour of your life, you have indirectly made a choice to lose your soul; and there is no greater loss than that. Jesus loves you and wants to dwell in you, make room for Him in your life today.
"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." Rev. 3:20
WHAT IS CHRISTIANITY??
(Updated Repost)
I was driving behind a very loud VW GTI and everyone in it was just having a party. Then someone opened the window and threw bottles outside the window. Somehow this seemingly innocent incident which happens all the time, people throwing their rubbish out of the window, got me thinking...and I got a sermon... “What is Christianity?”
You know, Christianity is the everyday small things we do every day. People want to get the BIG THINGS right. People want to fast for 40 days and 40 nights, others want to go up the mountain and pray for 7 days. But really, is that what Christianity is?
Jesus tried to show us what a Christian life is.
Read Matthew 25-31. He will set the sheep on His right hand, and the goats on the left. Then the King will tell those on his right hand, ‘Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry, and you gave me food to eat. I was thirsty, and you gave me drink. I was a stranger, and you took me in. I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you visited me. I was in prison, and you came to me.’
“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You; or thirsty, and give You a drink? When did we see You as a stranger, and take You in; or naked, and clothed You? When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’
“The King will answer them, ‘Most certainly I tell you, because you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to Me.’
The sheep in this case are those people that are going to heaven. So Jesus tells them why they are going to heaven. He starts narrating to them the things they did in their ordinary day to day life. If you look at Matthew 25-31, none of the sheep is counted worthy because of any religious activity they did. Nope!! Jesus does not say.., come to My right hand side because you went up the mountain and prayed so loud. Jesus doesn’t say, 'Come to My right hand side because you spoke in tongues more than anyone else. NOPE!!
The things which get the sheep in heaven, are those things that they do every day without even noticing it. That is why the sheep are actually surprised; they ask Jesus, "When did we see You hungry and feed You? When did we visit You in Prison? Jesus said, 'It’s the things you do every day to ordinary people. See, you were actually doing them to me!!'
Can you imagine, it’s not even the things you did to the president, because, of course, everyone wants to respect the president. If the president came to your house today, you will take out the best crockery, the ones that have been plated with gold. Not even your spouse is allowed to eat from them as they are reserved for special visitors! So Jesus says, 'Well, those things which you did to the high and mighty, the who’s who of this world, is not what gets you on My right hand side.'
The Bible is very specific, those are the things you do to the LEAST of these. In other words, the NOBODY’S of society.
Jesus puts the goats on His left and says to the goats, 'You know what, I was hungry but you never fed Me. You never visited Me in prison. I was sick but you never came to see Me.
And they ask the Lord, 'When did we see You hungry and we did not give you food?'
Jesus tells them, 'It’s what you did to people whom you regarded as insignificant that you were actually doing those things to me.'
Then Jesus orders them to be cast in the eternal fire!! Oh what a painful sight!!
Yes, you lived all your life in church! Yes, you prayed and fasted for 40 days! yet you never had a heart that cared for anyone else but yourself.
That is why all your prayers are so selfish. Every time you come to God it is just to ask things for YOURSELF!!
'I WANT FINANCIAL BREAKTHROUGH!'
'I WANT MY MONEY TO BE RELEASED BY THE BANK!'
'I WANT TO GET MARRIED THIS YEAR!'
I WANT MY ENEMIES TO DIE!!'
'I WANT...'
'I WANT...'
'I WANT...!!!'
Selfish prayers! It’s all about you.. you.. you!!! Yet you speak in tongues like there are pop corn popping in your mouth! And you live a self-righteous greedy life for yourself! And you are expecting Jesus to welcome you with open arms?!
Let me tell you today, Christianity is not about the BIG things you try to achieve for God!!
I went to an all-night prayer meeting... and we all fell because of the power!! Let me tell you something...
Just the way Jesus was born should already give you an Idea of what really pleases God. You see, when the angels came to announce to the world that Jesus had been born, the angels did not go to the biggest church with the mighty prayer warriors. The angels did not go to the house of the king or the president. The angels did not go to a prophetic conference to announce the birth of Jesus.
The angels went to the shepherds! The shepherds, the lowest of the low, were busy looking after the sheep and they got a mighty visitation from the angels. You would think, 'Wait a minute, but there are mighty prophets in the land, why are they not the first to be told about the birth of Jesus?! There are plenty of Bible school graduates, why are they not being told about the birth of Jesus?!
You see, God doesn’t think like us. What a human considers great, God considers to be veeeery foolish. You might think, 'Wow, this is mind blowing!' But God sees the same things and say.. 'How low could my people go?!'
You are busy bowing down to a man worshipping him because he telling you your ID number, which you know yourself..
God is shaking His head... “How low could my people really go!”
You see, when it was time for the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords to be born, God never chose a 5 star hospital bed with blue and white sheets to receive Jesus. God could have chosen the best surgeon in the world to deliver baby Jesus. But nope, baby Jesus was born in a manger! Horses were the midwives..This is so contrary to our materialistic gospel of 2017!
If we can't learn something here about the REAL nature and character of Jesus Christ, then we are going to COMPELTELY miss the point.
You see, it’s really not the big things you achieve, but rather those small things which make up your character.
Jesus says in Matthew 5:23 -24, that if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, to leave your gift there before the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
If you come to offer money at the altar, and you remember that someone has something against you, Jesus says, don’t offer the gift yet, don’t give whatever money you intended to give, just go and make right first. In other words, Jesus says that your relationships with your fellow brethren count much more than whatever gift it is that you are trying to give to God.
But we are not doing that.. we are always trying to get the BIG things first. People are fasting now. How many of those people who are fasting have grudges against an ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, an ex-spouse? Mother in law, daughter in law, neighbour ect.
There are some people whom they are avoiding. They are not speaking to those people! They have been owing someone money for some years, and each time the person calls, they don’t pick up the phone! They don’t have the decency of saying, 'Can I pay you a little by little?' No, they are not doing that!
Many hate their in-laws and they call them names!... But come January, then they are religious! They fast for 21 days.
They think God is going to clap hands for them? What a waste of time!
You are trying to get the Big things right, but it is the little things you have left undone! That domestic of yours whom you treat so badly? And then you act all religious?
Your neighbor was sick with cancer, and she has since passed on... but you never even went to see her once?! Yet you think you are on a highway to heaven? You think God is going to roll out the red carpet for you after your 40 days of fasting?!
It is not religious practices that are going to make you take position on the right hand side of Jesus. Small things, those small things you do.... Someone lent you a car, and you drive around the whole day, and returned it without petrol? You scratched it and you didn’t tell him? But on Sunday you are singing and jumping in the Spirit? You are rophesying like prophecy was invented by your grandfather? It will help you nothing!!!
That is why people are busy running around after everyone with an impressive title; CHIEF BISHOP APOSTLE so and so.. SENIOR GREATER MAJOR BAZOOKA PROPHET so and so... etc. Because people think Christianity is for “big things”? People think Christianity is when we fill the stadium? People think Christianity is when the dead are being raised..
No, Christianity is an everyday humble life lived before God. Christianity is what you do when the church service ends. In Church we are all busy with religious activities, that is why men have taken out the best three piece suits and women make sure their shoes are matching the hand bag... and the hand bag is matching the lipstick.
I remember speaking to the Lord and saying, 'Because of so much religious activities associated with a Sunday morning meeting, I would rather have my meetings on a Saturday afternoon. If someone was coming from gym, they could just pop into church! If someone was jogging, let them jog into church with their track suits and running shoes! Let people forget about the religious obligation and duties of Sunday morning religion.
Then we can sing Gospel music, we cook veggies and nice meat, in Setswana we call it Dijo tsa Sontaga which means 'Sunday food', the food we eat after fulfilling our religious activities. Is that what Christianity is all about??
Do people see Christ in you or do they see a religious person? If we go to a restaurant you visit the most, will the waiters say, 'There is something different about that man or woman.' Or they will say, 'We are always avoiding to serve her because she is always bullying us around and speaking down upon us'?
In the Book of Revelation, God tells us about the church of Laodicea.
Rev 3:17 'You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.'
This church believes that it is rich and has acquired wealth. This church believes that they have arrived. They have mistaken physical wealth and material gain for “blessings”. They think they are so “blessed” because they have all the money in the world. But God says, 'they don’t realize they are pitiful, poor, blind and naked.'
What a state of the church to be in! They want to the get BIG THINGS right, but miss the most important things which are too small for them to care about. A man doesn’t treat his wife right. He doesn’t buy her nice clothes. He is always shouting at her and abuses her. But when he is in church, he is the one speaking the loudest in tongues?!
You have left a string of girls pregnant with broken hearts... yet because you are the one who is carrying the Bible for the Chief Major Apostle, you think you will enter heaven running?!
I have said it before, if you are abusing your wife, you have no right to come and tell me about false prophets. I would rather befriend a false prophet who treats his wife with respect and treats her well, than befriend a so called Christian whose wife is always crying and looking shabby, while you are wearing expensive shoes!! You are trying to get the BIG things right, but you can't get the real basics right!
You want to get a Master’s degree, but you can’t even write ABC. You want to come up and shake the world with your evangelistic anointing, but you let your neighbor die of hunger? What is that?
You spend your days gossiping about everyone; you have a PHD in gossip, but now you are on day 15 of the fast? Do you think God is impressed? Do you think you are impressing God?
Leave your gift at the altar. Even if you left R3million at the altar, it would still not help you if you have something in your heart against someone else. That is why Paul says, 'Even if you could speak with tongues of men and angels, you could even give your body to be burned... yet you have no love, you are just really wasting your precious time.'
It is sad that when I would have wanted to teach you on the deeper things of the Word, I have to keep going around the same things! I constantly have to tell people the basic fundamentals of what a Christian life is all about! I have to tell people to treat the domestic workers right, to treat your neighbor right. If you can't repay someone a loan, tell them. Don’t ignore their phone calls! I need to be telling so called mighty born-again Christians who go on a 40 day fast to please stop gossiping about people! You are hurting the heart of God!
I am trying to dig up pure nuggets in the word, the tribulation series, unpack the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.., but what does it help for people to understand mysteries.., if they have missed the basic humility and simplicity that is in Christ?
I'm just trying to break the age old habits, traditions and rituals that have made the church of the living God to be where it is today. A revival which the whole world is looking forward to, is not going to start in a stadium, or in a church, etc. It is going to start in the hearts of His children! My aim is to prepare your HEARTS for the coming of the Lord, and this is my calling. This is my commission.
I don’t know what others are teaching out there, and that is none of my business. What they teach is between them and God, but I have a duty and an obligation to do as commissioned! So today I speak like Isaiah 28:10 'To whom would He teach knowledge, And to whom would He interpret the message? Those just weaned from milk? Those just taken from the breast?'
Tell me, who will God teach the deeper things of God? Will God teach babies who have just stopped being breastfed?
Isaiah was wondering the same thing. There is so much KNOWLEDGE to bask in, but how do you start teaching babies who have just left breast milk these beautiful truths?!
I also speak like Paul in Hebrews 5:12: We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.
Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to re-teach you the basic principles of God’s Word. You need milk, not solid food! Everyone who lives on milk is still an infant; inexperienced in the message of righteousness.
Even today, can you believe it, I still have to tell people to stop idolizing men. I have to tell people the water they have sold you is useless! I have to repeat as I have repeated a trillion times before that Satan is not scared of your annointing sticker..its basically a scam!!
I still have to say, 'If you are hosting a party at a park, don’t leave the park dirty! Leave it so clean that the workers in the park will notice something DIFFERENT about you, and give their lives to Jesus. The way a Christian should leave the park after a party, can't be the same way as when Tboze leaves the park after a night of drunken partying with his friends!
We are a holy people. Holy means different. This is now the basics I have to speak about..
Christians going on 40 day fasts but are not talking to other family members?.. This makes me sad. So sad.
Jesus asked, 'If the righteous be scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly be?'
Lord, I pray that you will strengthen your servants
spirit so that they will continue to declare Your truth, if only one soul repents Lord and turns back to You.. it will be enough for us. All our preachings, tears and sweat and midnight cries... all the agony will be worth it. They are Your people, Lord. You LOVE them much more than I could ever love them. So grant us Your grace, and carry us through.
We thank you for the #BACK2GOD campaigns. We thank you for hundreds of souls who have already turned their hearts towards you, just by reading these writings which are inspired of the Holy Spirit. We thank you for the volunteers and donors, men and women who have taken it upon themselves to make sure the campaigns are a success. I couldn’t have done it alone Lord. Bless Your people now, I pray, as I ask it in the precious Holy Name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
