Pray For My Friend Who Is Paranoid And Delusional

Will Our Prayer Affect Positively Those Indulging In Occult Activities To Turn Toward God?

Question: My friend is paranoid and delusional. She is a trauma survivor and may be schizophrenic. She has been meddling with new age things, Buddhism, the secret, and angel cards. She talks about magic and hexes. Please pray.

Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name! I don't know how much truth your friend has come to know about the true and living God who rules over the whole of mankind, yet it has been clearly revealed in the Bible that, "9 "When you come into the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to follow the abominations of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. 12 For all who do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God drives them out from before you. 13 You shall be blameless before the Lord your God." (Deut 18:9-13). In other words in our New Testament times, we do not come in to a physical land of Canaan, instead God has promised to send the prophet and Messiah Jesus to us, and through Him has promised an abundant life of Canaan to live on earth always rejoicing in Him like in heaven (Deut 18:14-21; 11:21; John 10:10). This kind of spiritual Canaan life is given to us by God after we are born again or in other words, born from heaven by the will of God through believing in the Lord Jesus Christ as our personal Lord and Savior of our life (John 3:3, 7; 6:39-40; 1:12-13).

Every child of God who indulges in these abominable things that God has cautioned against will lose the abundant life that Jesus provides, and may get caught severely in the deceit of the enemy. God has revealed that in the end times, many people will be deceived by lies of the devil who works false signs and wonders to mislead those who are perishing, and God will give them to deception because they have no love for the truth but rejoice in wickedness (2 Thess 2:9-12; Matt 24:24; Mark 13:22). All those who do not have love for the truth but rather dabble in the occultist activities after being born again, will come to realize about the Satanic deception only after the rapture of the Church will take place, and so they will have only one option, that is to die as martyr for the Lord during the Great Tribulation. This will come to them as a result of not keeping themselves alert and pure for the Lord, and they will have to endure to the end which they will by the strength of the Lord (Rev 13:7-8; 3:10; Matt 24:13).

If your friend is a Christian and is indulging in satanic activities for fun, God has revealed, "16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. 18 We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him." (1 John 5:16-1). In the above verses we see that if a born again person who is a friend of us is committing sin that leads to death, apostle John says not to pray for that person. But if he is committing sin that does not lead to death, we should pray for him so that the Lord may give him life abundant again to enjoy in his earthly life now and forevermore. If we ask the question, what is the sin that leads to death? The answer is, all unrighteousness is sin, but the sin not leading to death is the sin we do out of our weakness rather than willingness on our part (Rom 7:8, 11, 15-23). A born again person cannot enjoy sin for a long time and will not plan to sin, because the conviction of the Holy Spirit and His goodness will lead him to conviction and repentance (Rom 2:4; John 16:7-15). But those who harden their heart to start to enjoy sin and willingly go against the conviction of the Holy Spirit to practice sin like as a unbeliever (1 John 3:9), will end up in a state of lack of repentance and are therefore will get caught in the bondage of sin to reap the wages of it which is lack of any fruit to live in an unrepentant state of condemnation (Titus 3:11; Jude 1:18-19), serious chastisement through demonic torturers from the Lord (Matt 18:34), and even death physically as judgment upon them for their lack of repentance (Heb 6:4-6; 10:26-31; 1 Peter 4:17; 1 Cor 11:28-32).

The life of Saul the king has been a great example to all of us of what can happen in a believer whose life has been misled by rebellion and disobedience to God's voice and command through indulging in fleshly life (1 Sam 15:23), the once great king who terrorized witches by the power of the Lord had started to continue this activity later to gain favor from God and gather people for war (1 Sam 28:3, 4-6), but to no avail before finally he had come to a sad fallen state to finally approach a witch among them to hear their lies and be led to death as a result of such rebellion against the Lord (1 Samuel 28:7-25).

So dabbling with occult and playing with the abominations that our Lord and Savior Jesus hates, should not be entertained in the life of any believer as it has some serious consequences. So if a friend is really going through a struggle because of the weakness of sin nature, we ought to pray for them and help them get out of such abominable sins that God hates, to help them regain the life of God which they are entitled to enjoy as the child of God. Remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins (Jam 5:20).

Matthew Henry the great man of God says, "For six thousand years He has been multiplying pardons, and yet his free grace is not tired nor grown weary. Certainly Divine mercy is an ocean that is ever full and ever flowing. May the Lord give us a part in this abundant mercy, through the blood of Christ, and the sanctification of the Spirit." We are partaking in the ministry of reconciliation along with Jesus, to bring back people to the streams of the mercies of God which leads to the ocean of living water and abundant life (John 7:37-39), may we do it willingly and bring pleasure to the heart of God through our acts of faith to release His abundant mercies through our prayer of faith (2 Cor 5:18; James 5:15-17).

I will be praying for your friend to get out of this delusion and lies of the evil one, so that he or she may comes to his/her spiritual senses to become a great testimony for the Lord to help many more people to stay away from such occultic abomination that brings great curses upon a child of God. Never play with the devil, because he is a snake who will seem to play and dance to ones tune until a person gets so lulled to sleep for him to safely bite and inject with the poison of sin and consume their life before they even become a threat to him and his kingdom. May the Lord show his mercy to your friend. If your friend is a unbeliever, do not continue to have intimate friendship and close communion in any way with him or her that causes you to be influenced and compromise in your walk with the Lord as this may start to affect your life in a negative way (2 Cor 6:15-18; 1 Cor 15:33). I mean I do not say not to have any contact at all with a unbeliever, for that to happen we cannot live anymore in this world, and it will happen only when we enter Heavenly Jerusalem one day to be with God and the saints forever (1 Cor 5:9-10; Rev 21:1-8). In fact, God desires all unbelieving humans to be saved in this world and want you to include them in your prayer so that you may live in peace a godly life now, and that includes your friend if she is a unbeliever (1 Tim 2:4-5, 1). By doing this prayer for a unbelieving friend, you are fulfilling God's desire and He will reward you at the right time (Matt 6:6; Luke 11:5-8). Your contact with an unbeliever is to show the unconditional love of Christ to them, share with them the gospel and pray for them to get saved. We never know, when they might get saved by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, but something will happen in the spiritual realm to influence your friend for salvation (1 Peter 2:12; 3:1, 2). But make sure you never get intimate with such unbelieving friends in fellowship or follow their ways, as it may spoil your good communication that the Lord has given you to make an eternal impact for Him in this world (1 Cor 15:33). May God bless you for your concern for your friend! May she get saved if she is a unbeliever, so that she could get saved from sin to stay away from the sway and wiles of the devil to become a family of the Household of Faith to glorify God and be a part of our eternal friends circle forever and ever (1 John 5:19; Gal 6:9-10; Luke 16:9). 

Much Love and Blessings....

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Where Is The United States In Bible Prophecy?

Is The U.S. Discovered In The Bible?

Question: Many people have pointed to Daniel 7:2-4 and have speculated it to be the USA as being present in the Bible? What is your thought about it?

Answer: Greetings to you in Jesus wonderful name! Even though Daniel 7: 2-4 is a exciting prophecy to think as though it is USA, it is not a discovery for sure as many have already debated about it for a long long time based on the symbolic message that it conveys which is very close to the present situation we see in our times. Daniel 7:2-4 says, "2 Daniel spoke, saying, "I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the Great Sea. 3 And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. 4 The first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it."


Four Beasts Of The Earth

The four great beasts of the earth are four empires or kingdoms that God pointed to Daniel and said that they will rise from the earth to rule it (Dan 7:17), but at the end the saints of the Most High will receive the Kingdom and will posses it forever-yes forever and ever which will happen after the war of Armageddon (Dan 7:18; Rev 19:11-21). We know that Daniel wrote these things around 550 B.C, yet at the end of these writings he said that "no one would be able to understand these prophecies until the time of the end" which means to me that there are hidden nations of old that will continue to hold that place of prophetic positioning until the prophecies get fulfilled later during the end time in which it shall be revealed how those nations of old will fit the prophetic time line to align themselves at the right time to fulfill the prophecies of the Bible (Daniel 12:9). Most traditional commentaries teach that the Four Beasts of Daniel’s dream are the same four successive empires represented in Nebuchadnezzar’s statue: Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome, to the extent we look in to the Scripture according to the context, it is absolutely true, but the point we can see is that these kingdoms or empires exist until Jesus returns to defeat them during the final war of Armageddon to them establish the saints of his heavenly kingdom to rule the whole world with Himself as the King of kings. This interpretation can be verified through Daniel 7:12, where Daniel saw that the other beasts “had their dominion taken away: yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.” In other words, the fourth beast will be still in power when Jesus comes with the saints, because “little horn” on that beast, “made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” (Daniel 7:21-22).


Are The Modern Nations Represented in the Bible?

First of all to say we can identify the modern nations represented by the Russian bear, the German leopard with wings of a fowl, the French Rooster, and Daniel’s dreadful Fourth Beast, the last superpower on earth, and continuing to say that in modern times, the lion, the first Beast is associated with Great Britain and further saying that the British Lion is universally recognized in the Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom and several national emblems, flags and British coins is very speculative and overblown as what we are trying to do is to relate to the Scripture by imposing it with our idea of what we see in our present times. The basics we should maintain in interpreting the Scripture should be to, interpret the Scripture by the Scripture in other part of the Bible to explain itself. The basic rule to interpret the Scripture is to interpret all of it first literally, if still it makes no sense, interpret it symbolically and typologically, but still if it makes no sense at all, interpret it spiritually. 

But still we can come to conclude that the geographical places of the old empires described in the Bible still stays the same, through identifying it, we can at least come to know that the change of names given to those nations and empires makes no changes to the prophecy that the Bible points to will happen in our times.

For example we can take the nation of Egypt, Assyria (The Assyrians typically lived in Northern Iraq, Iran, Southeastern Turkey, and the eastern borders of Syria), Babylon (Iraq), Medo-Persia (Iran), Greece, Roman Empire (Italy, Vatican, Europe, extended in to many nations of today), Revived Roman Empire (European Union and its extended control over the world which includes Turkey and many other Arab nations). Interestingly, the modern-day nations that were once a part of all four kingdoms in Daniel [lion=Babylon, bear=Medo-Persian, leopoard=Grecia, beast=Roman] are Israel, parts of Turkey, Armenia, parts of Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. We see the modern day Israel and Palestinian problem are projected to be the thorn in the flesh of all the nations we see above. So mapping the nations in the prophecies of the Bible, we can at least come to the rough idea of a revelatory picture of what will happen in our times before Jesus will come to take over this earth to rule it for a thousand years period (Rev 20:4-6).


What About The Eagle’s Wings That Were Plucked?

Some people would like to see Dan 7:4 in this way saying, the American Eagle can easily be associated with the British Lion because the United States of America was plucked up from the British Empire when the citizens of the thirteen original American colonies declared their independence from King George III in 1776. Can this interpretation be true? In other words, did Daniel see prophetically the Declaration of the Independence of American colonies, one of the most important documents ever written in the history of mankind?

Let us see from the Bible that the same four empires or kingdoms that God pointed to Daniel as four individual beasts to come up in the earth to rule all over it, is also described in one other place in the New Testament in Revelation chapter 13, where the Apostle John saw a vision of one beast instead of four. The one beast was described as having the body of the leopard, the feet of the bear, the mouth of the lion, and the ten horns of the ten-horned beast.

If "eagle's wings" as America of the present day is read in to text of Dan 7:4, then geographically the lion in the same verse points to Babylon which is the present day Iraq which it further explains as "the first was like a lion, and had eagle's wings. I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it". So the question we ask here is, in what way present day USA can be related to the olden days empire of Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar? We can see a lot of similarity, but what about the literal geographical area of it that Babylon represents? We know that today Iraq is under the control of USA and nobody knows how this connection in 2017 may work out to become! Will those in the nation of Iraq under the control of America, will they play an important role in the time of the end? Only God know how it will play out, but we can establish a connection here to it. But still based on exegetical standards, we are reading in to the text certain speculative ideas which may happen or may not happen the same way we expect. The Scripture "I watched till its wings were plucked off; and it was lifted up from the earth" can be interpreted as, once America withdraws its support after rebuilding the nation of Iraq, the Antichrist may come out of this place so that it will be lifted up from the earth to the place where it rules the entire earth just like Nebuchadnezzar started to rule the entire earth from Iraq of the olden times. And this government was made to stand on its feet like a man with a man's heart, but still he is a beast, as it was given to it does mean that Antichrist will start to use the cleverness from the friendship he will have had with the unbelieving nation of Israel which is the earth symbolically and the false prophet's from Israel whose persuasive supernatural power which is denoted in the Bible will be used to influence the world to take advantage and gain control over the whole world (Rev 13:11-12).

The false prophet who will rise from the nation of Israel will bring fire from heaven to be seen by the nation of Israel. Because of this miracle the nation of Israel will believe that he is the true Elijah of the Old Testament because of this sign that he was granted to perform by God, but would be deceived because they have rejected the truth of God which is in Jesus Christ (Rev 13:13; 2 Thess 2:8-12; Duet 18:15-22; 13:1-3). The false prophet is described in the Bible as coming out of the earth (Rev 13:11). The Jews who will be expecting that Elijah will come before the coming of the messiah, will be completely deceived by the false prophet who will declare himself to be the true Elijah (Malachi 4:5; Matt 17:11). The nation of Israel is the only nation that has been described by Jesus as earth in the New Testament. As the rendering of 'erets’ in the New Testament, "the earth" denotes the land of Judea (Matt 23:35); also things carnal in contrast with things heavenly (John 3:31; Col 3:1, 2). Hence the false prophet will be a Jew who will rise from the nation of Israel. When the Jews believe that he is the real Elijah, it will be during the time of the first three and a half year period of false peace and covenant of the Anti-christ (Daniel 9:27). So the whole point of emphasis here is, once America leaves in to "America First" isolationism, then Israel becomes a world wide power to reckon with economically and militarily (Ezek 36:24; 38:11-12, 13, 14; Zech 12:3, 6), after which the Antichrist from Babylon of the present day Iraq will act like a man rather than presently as a donkey by fighting and destroying themselves due to the difference in opinion of Shia and Sunni belief (Gen 16:12), he then will lift himself up as one unified man from the nation of Israel through deceitful influence of the false prophet from the nation of Israel and will finally come against the nation of Israel to destroy it at the time of Armageddon.

In short, the beast of Revelation 13 which is depicting the end time world government of the Antichrist which is the unified beast contains all of the beasts in Daniel chapter 7 which has all got merged into this one unified beast…except for one which is the "eagle's wings" which were plucked off before the end. When the eagle’s wings are not mentioned in the description of the world government beast, but rather in the place where Daniel explains by dissecting the single beast in to four beasts, why not we delve deep in to the symbolic meaning and try to understand what it means to us in the present time? Remember, New Testament is Old contained, Old Testament is New explained. So it is not wrong to see this way as we have backed it up from the Scripture, but to a serious literal student of the Word of God, he might deduce it as a bit speculative.

But remember, Israel is the nation most often mentioned in the Bible. But do you know which nation is second? It is Iraq!

However, that is not the name that is used in the Bible. The names used in the Bible are Babylon, Chaldean, Land of Shinar, and Mesopotamia. The word Mesopotamia means between the two rivers, more exactly between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The name Iraq, means country with deep roots. Indeed Iraq is a country with deep roots and is a very significant country in the Bible. Here's why:

1) Eden was in Iraq-Genesis 2:10-14. Mesopotamia which is now Iraq was the cradle of civilization!

2) Adam & Eve were created in Iraq-Genesis 2:7-8.

3) Satan made his first recorded appearance in Iraq-Genesis 3:1-6.

4) Nimrod established Babylon & Tower of Babel was built in Iraq-Genesis 10:8-97; 11:1-4.

5) The confusion of the languages took place in Iraq-Genesis 11:5-11.

6) Abraham was from Ur, which is in Southern Iraq-Genesis 11:31; Acts 7:2-4.

7) Isaac's wife Rebekah is from Nahor which is in Iraq-Genesis 24:3-4; 10.

8) Jacob met Rachel in Iraq and spent 20 years in Iraq-Genesis 27:42-45; 31:38.

9) The first world Empire was in Iraq-Daniel 1:1-2;2:36-38. Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, carried the Jews captive into Iraq.

10) Daniel was in the lion's den in Iraq! The 3 Hebrew children were in the fire in Iraq. Belshazzar, the King of Babylon saw the "writing on the wall" in Iraq.

11) Assyria which is in Iraq conquered the ten tribes of Israel (2 Kings 17:1-6).

12) Jonah preached in the city of Nineveh, which is in Iraq where the greatest revival in the history of the Bible was recorded-Jonah 3.

13) Ezekiel preached in Iraq-Ezekiel 1:1-3.

14) The events of the book of Esther took place in Iraq-Esther.

15) The book of Nahum was a prophecy against a city in Iraq-Nahum.

16) Babylon which is in Iraq destroyed Jerusalem (2 Kin 24:12; 25:8; Jer 52:28–29).

17) The book or Revelation has prophecies against Babylon, which was the old name for the nation of Iraq-Revelation 17 &18. The "Empire of Man" described in Revelation is called Babylon which was a city in Iraq!

No other nation, except Israel, that has more history and prophecy associated to it than Iraq. This clearly shows how much value the place of Iraq which was the old Babylon mean to God at the end times, next to Israel in God's time clock towards the end of the world.


Will The United States Be Destroyed At The End?

We know from Revelation 9:13-21, at the time of the end it depicts a war that will wipe out one-third of mankind. Is there a chance that the United States of America will be wiped out in this war that is going to kill 2.3 billion or even more people?

We can see that being a super power of the end time, USA has played a very important role in protecting the nation of Israel right from the inception of its birth to this very day. Now in the very end as we see from the President Trumps call for "America First" Isolationism that has made it to withdraw itself from the New World Order of all nations [e.x. Paris Accord recently], perhaps the United States may have got awakened to what has been happening in our world, [i.e. the sinister scheme of the antichrist’s one-world governmental system that is coming] and might have pulled back in to isolationism and even might have revival of the Christian principles that have once ruled this nation and have lifted it to the top of the world to become a "city on a hill" to all the nations around the world (Matt 5:14).

Is there any evidence in the Bible that the United States is still here after World War III which might cause a Nuclear Holocaust which also might make the world to come together in the midst of chaos to root for peace and safety through which Antichrist will establish himself over the world (1 Thess 5:2-3), which the Bible describes as the Euphrates River War in Revelation 9:13-21?

Yes indeed, there is a chance that the moment the "eagle's wings" of USA be plucked off by force from the outside world of the New World Order of the Antichrist from Babylon of Iraq of the modern times, immediately as usual, "the woman [of the nation of Israel] were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent." (Revelation 12:14). In Rev chapter 12, the woman was the people of God which was the nation of Israel which gave Jesus Christ to the world, but then the Church takes over that place until the rapture which might happen anytime after the abomination of desolation takes place in the temple of the Holy Place in the nation of Israel (Matt 21:43; 23:39), after this officially the people of God as woman on earth will be the nation of Israel which it will become again by God's providence and mercies (Matt 24:15-16; 2 Thess 2:3-4; Rev 3:10; Rom 11:17-21, 22-25). In other words, once USA becomes Isolated but still powerful enough to continue as a prominent nation in the world but no power to influence the world to come its way, it will start to defend the nation of Israel to the end because of its immovable friendship with Israel which might end only at the time of the coming of Jesus in which seeing Antichrist go against Israel, USA will have no power to oppose the world army under Antichrist and so it might stay rather quiet during the time towards Armageddon.

But hurray, Jesus with His supernatural army of heaven will come and defeat Antichrist during the Armageddon war after which He will rule the earth with the saints for a thousand years. O Lord Come!

Thus this hypothesis which is based Daniel 7:4 and Revelation 12:4 is not quite as explicit but rather implicitly points to USA being a Christian nation to fulfill the intended purpose of its existence to the end till Jesus comes to rule the whole earth for a thousand years. Hallelujah!

Much Blessings.....

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Does God Have Anything To Do With Having More Kids?

Why God Gave More Kids Yet I Can't Take Care Of Them?

Question: I'm a father of 10 kids and 1 grand child and currently not having anything to show for the past 40 years of my life. No house and currently living on the street. Can't pay school fees and feed my kids properly. My family is not even aware I'm staying in my vehicle as I can't afford rent. Truly frustrated, and living a life of lies as I pretend that I'm ok when I pitch to work as I arrive very early at work and use the work facility to shower properly. No money nothing to show. Why did God give such responsibility to have more kids yet I can't take care of them?

Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name! I understand how you feel when there is nothing that you can save for you and your children due to the size of your family that you have to feed. I can tell you that God made the rich and the poor alike (Prov 22:2), to me that does mean, it is not wrong to be born poor but to stay that way till the end of life is a crime. A diligent hand makes a man rich the Bible says (Prov 10:4). In other words, God has made all humans alike with an equal opportunity to prosper in life, even though all do not have the same resources with them to prosper in the same way as the other, and also there are injustice in the world that makes a rich man richer and keeps the poor man to be poorer.

The question, "Why did God give such responsibility to have more kids yet I can't take care of them?", is not a practical question, rather I would tell you, God gave you so much brains to decide how much is enough, but by your free will you have decided ten is enough. That means God has honored your decision to go for ten children and have blessed you with enough. You must be first and foremost be forever thankful for them all, when people are not able enough to have even one kid in their life with so much wealth with them which they leave to no one but to strangers when they die which I have seen in my life, time and time again with so many people. Vanity of vanity, when they do not know who is going to utilize their wealth with them having no children (Eccl 4:8)! But thank God that He has given you all the children as a great wealth to you. They are your inheritance that you will pass on to glorify God at the end of your life, so bring them up in godliness and fear of God (Psa 127:3-5; Prov 22:1). Rejoice in what you have with you rather than depress yourself with for what you do not have, and use the same as a weapon to destroy the poverty of the spirit within the mind which causes poor people to be poorer when they have a rich God over them who will honor them somewhere down the line if they are rich in faith (Jam 2:5). Teach faith for all your children, they will become a blessing to the world.

Most of the times either we do not plan things or take decisions without thinking of the consequences, then when we find our going difficult we blame God and not take responsibility for our faulty decisions (Prov 19:3). That is what our forefather Adam did after he failed to obey God and took his own decision for himself unthinkingly to later fret and fume against the Lord God whom he accused against to have given a wife who did influence him to take such a bad decision, when in fact it was Adam's disobedience to God that brought such a evil curse of sin upon himself and his children forever (Gen 3:11-12; Rom 5:12). Take responsibility for your own decision and act as a true man of God and a believer, then God will help you come out of the mess you are in right now.

Also it is not wrong to have ten or more kids in our time and age, but looking to the economy we can easily know that, having one or two kids itself bring a lot of financial commitment to us to feed them and supply their need fully than have a lot of kids and supply the meager to sustain them in their life. I understand that in those days past, it was wise to have a lot of children because by the time they all grew up, due to lack of medicine and technological advancement, many children would die due to the high mortality rate so that at the end at least whatever children left will live to old age to keep the name of the family. But now in our days it is wise to go for family planning and a smaller family which we can manage with the income that we get. Jesus said, "28 For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it— 29 lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, 30 saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish’? 31 Or what king, going to make war against another king, does not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? 32 Or else, while the other is still a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks conditions of peace." (Luke 14:28-32). Here in the above verses we see Jesus telling people to plan much before executing a plan, or else the plan becomes a failure because of lack of planning. A plan always equates the execution to the resources available, and cuts the excess to make things happen practically according to the ability of each person. In having godly counsel and guidance, there is always victory and security (Prov 11:14). You could have planned it differently with godly counsel to manage your family better, but now that you decided to have a large one, I can say that it is also a blessing if you could change your mindset and trust God for all the provisions in your life. Only when you have a lot of children, you can have enough to be around your table like a olive tree in a garden (Psa 128:3).

Though you may be working hard to make your children grown, all the hard work will pay off when your children will grow in the fear of the Lord, and then they bring in a lot of money through the hard work they have learned from you when they see you work so hard to make them survive. "As wine makes the heart glad, and bread strengthens the heart, so does oil make the face to shine." (Psalm 104:15). The olive oil [i.e. resources and riches] that your children will produce will make your face shine in the coming days. Olive trees develop deep roots, last a long time, and produce fruit for years, so in a godly family, the children are like olive plants, sturdy and strong and productive to last a long time of a lifetime of achievement (Jer 11:16).

Now the call of the New Testament is not to amass wealth in this world, rather to amass wealth in heaven that will stay with a believer for eternity ahead, and not just temporarily in this earth (Matt 6:19-24). You could live a miserable life just on earth for a while, but if you could end up in the bosom of Father Abraham just like Lazarus in Jesus Parable, it will be worth the living through all the miseries on earth which is only a while compared to the unending eternal riches of eternity of heaven (Luke 16:19-31; 1 Peter 5:10). According to the Scripture, the poor are the humble and afflicted within the world who turn to God in great need and seek His help, they learn to be content with what they have on earth and look forward with great faith by doing good deeds, generosity and willingly sharing with those in need what they have, they continually seek for heavenly provision and wealth that God is going to give them in the future (John 14:3; 1 Tim 6:17-19). These poor are truly rich in faith (Jam 2:5). So first make sure you and your family learn to become rich in faith with the circumstances that God has allowed in your life, then automatically God will bless you all with riches materially and in all other aspect so that you can continue as a family to be a blessing to many many people in the coming days (2 Cor 9:8; Jam 5:10-11; Matt 6:33).

So I encourage you and your family to seek and love the Lord in faith (2 Cor 5:7), you need to walk by faith because you cannot see with your natural eyes what good God has in store for you and your family through this suffering, lack and need that you experience in this life and wait in hope for a rich and a best future from God who rewards without fail all those who live by faith (Rom 8:24-25; Heb 11:1; 2 Cor 2:9). Even apostle Paul went through extreme suffering that God allowed in his life, to make him a eternal excellency of blessing to all generations thereafter (2 Cor 11:23-26, 27; Isa 60:15). As a son of missionary and as a faith worker in the Lord's Vineyard I know what it is to go through all the need and lack in my own family and in my life. But when I look behind to see the great spiritual heritage I have gained to bless my family and the whole world, I thank God and praise the Lord for taking us through it all to teach faith to us unlike other families that had it all, and lost the faith equivalent to the lack of need in their lives. So rejoice in the Lord always, no matter what, again I say rejoice (Php 4:4). Something good is in store for you and your family, wait patiently for the Lord and He will bless you and your family in the right time which He has already planned for you all ahead.

Much Love and Blessings....

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Does Christian Marriage Has No Exit Out At All Till Death?

Does "Death Us Do Part" Is From The Bible Or Not?

Question: Does "death us do part" which is used as the basis of the promise we make in the Christian marriage ceremony and thereafter keep it in our married life is from the Bible or not? Also is it a physical death that it conveys or a emotional death of severing of oneness that has been just spiritual joining of two people?

Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name! The biblical basis for the phrase in the wedding vows that state, “till death do us part,” is based on the first declaration of vows God pronounced over in the first marriage ceremony He conducted saying, "24 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed." (Gen 2:24-25). We can infer from the fact that when God first joined a man and his wife as one flesh before Him through the way He sees them, it is forever as Jesus Himself referred to this marriage conducted by God in the beginning, and further said " 4 ..., "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' 5 and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? 6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate" from which we can infer that before sin came in to this world God wanted marriage to be a eternal union, but because of sin it rather became a physical union and even divorce has to be given because sin have come to affect the union of marriage by hardening men and women's heart to depart from each other even before death (Matthew 19:4–6).

In other words in Matt 19;4-6, Jesus says that since God has joined a husband and wife together they should not separate. Because God wants eternal union by His original intent, God hates divorce of any kind for any reason (Malachi 2:16). To explain in a simple way, if Adam and Eve had not eaten the forbidden fruit, then they would have lived forever and their marriage would have been eternal. However, they ate, and divorce is a result of living in sin-cursed world. God’s original plan for marriage was for it to be a permanent relationship between a husband and wife forever.

When a marriage is conducted by a priest or a pastor, the vows spoken by them are commands to be repeated by the couple which are meant to be obeyed when it is repeated in the Presence of God before all people. Marriage is a commitment, a covenant, a promise that we make to our spouse and to God who is present in all the marriages that take place in all the earth first and foremost, and also we make it before people who witness it during marriage so that they can become a witness for or against us when we keep it or break it unfaithfully. Whether it is a ceremony that is conducted or just a joining of two people in relationship with no one but them to witness it before God doesn't matter. But marriage is kept before witnesses at least two or three, so that the couple cannot take marriage lightly as it is the institution of God, and that they are accountable to the God who they do not see and also to the brethren whom they see around them during marriage (1 John 4:20-21), so that in case of any broken promises, they can be taken to court of law before those who have witnessed the marriage, to keep them accountable before God and men.

We now know that in Christian marriages the vows are based on inferring from the above doctrine of first marriage conducted by God, and are usually phrased like the following for the couples to repeat, "I _____, take you ______, to be my wedded wife/husband. To have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish till death do us part. And hereto I pledge you my faithfulness." So we know that the very word "till death do us part" is not taken directly from any Bible verse but rather from the idea of the first marriage conducted by God whose institution is marriage till today.

We also know from Scripture that the phrase in the marriage vow "death us do part" is not just spiritual oneness but essentially physical oneness that it talks about because apostle Paul said, "2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man." (Rom 7:2-3).

Therefore Paul also says that, "Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled; but fornicators and adulterers God will judge" (Heb 13:4), which in other words means, because God is the one who stood at the time of marriage commitment made by a husband and wife, He is the one who will judge the person who unfaithfully will break the promise between them which is "death do [them] part" physically restraining their accessibility to their partner. If one of the partner in marriage dies physically, the other partner is freed from the promise of the earthly marriage, and are free to marry anyone in the Lord which means marry any other Christian, as their spouse will be no more (1 Cor 7:39). So in a Christian marriage even though the promise "till death do us part" is primarily a physical vow, it also includes the spiritual aspect of their partner as the oneness is a union of two spirit, soul and body which becomes one in union in marriage through God who makes it to become one in every aspect as they keep God in the center of their marriage life and living.

In today's world even Christians wants to divorce a husband or a wife, for reasons other than adultery or fornication by saying that if you feel emotionally, intellectually, or mentally “dead” towards your spouse then it’s okay to divorce them (Matt 5:32), remember saints, God considers such cases as unfaithful breaking of covenant, adulterous and fornicative act against God. He will be the one who will judge such person at the right time in their life, be they a preacher, teacher of the Bible or any great gifted man or a woman, or a saints whom nobody knows except God. Also the great apostle Paul clearly repeats the same saying in 1 Cor 7:10, "To the married I give this charge (not I, but the Lord): the wife should not separate from her husband".

Jesus said, "And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” (Matt 19:9), in other words, only when a husband or wife has been unfaithful to keep their promise of staying in chastity and are involved in adultery, the other spouse can divorce him or her Biblically. The only other reason a husband can let go of his wife is when she doesn't want to live with him voluntarily because of his faith in the Word of God which she doesn't believe, and has no regard towards his faith, in this case he can let go of the unbelieving spouse for God has called the believer to live in peace and not in turmoil of peacelessness (1 Cor 7:11-13, 14, 15-16). If the wife is a believer, we know that the "wife is not to depart from her husband. But even if she does depart, let her remain unmarried or be reconciled to her husband. And a husband is not to divorce his wife." (1 Cor 7:11). The husband must learn to love her believing wife like Christ loved the Church (Eph 5:25), which is 'while the saints were still sinners Christ loved them' (Rom 5:8), so that they could be saved by His love (John 3:16). In other words, God says that while a Christian wife still has so much of failings in her and is not perfect in her submission to her husband, the husband as a man under the authority of Christ should learn to love her and accept her in her imperfection. How long can a Christian wait if the believing wife separates herself from the believing husband or vice-versa? It depends upon whether the wife is really a believer who has a Christian world view and conviction or a name sake Christian who has no regard for the Word of God and the faith which the believing husband holds, so that she openly declares that she has no intention to cohabit with the husband and says she will not live with the husband for no valid reason she has against the husband except his faith and work he does for God which he is called to fulfill by God (1 Cor 7:12-13). Also it depends on whether God has shown the husband whether the wife will return back in a dream or a vision and confirmed it with others too who work for the faith of yours to grow, like the Pastor or a spiritual guide who mentors you as a Father (Acts 2:17-18). Finally it also depends on whether the husband without the wife, can control himself sexually and not burn with passion so that Satan tempts him to fall in to adultery when the wife is not willing to come back to live with the husband for years together (1 Cor 7:5). In such cases, the husband should carefully under the guidance of some godly counselors and the conviction of the Holy Spirit, should let God guide them to fulfill His will for their lives (Rom 12:1, 2; Prov 11:14; John 16:8; 2 Tim 3:6-7; 1 Tim 5:11-16).

So a Christian marriage being a institution of God directly under His control, we as believer in Christ Jesus should carefully in all fear of God and with all due respect to God we should deal these matters that are related to marriage. Through marriage our intention should always be to glorify God within this institution appointed by God. The highest of our desire should sanctified within marriage to make it more than a physical existence, that is, to make it a existence of divine glorious oneness in spirit, soul and body, through God becoming the glue between the husband and wife to gel them together to fulfill God's plan and purpose for their lives within that divine oneness.

Much Blessings....

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