Forget Not All Their Benefits!

What Have I Done For My Parents?

As a son or a daughter, never boast how much you have done to your mother or father or family, but rather learn to ask yourself, "For how much my parents have done for me by bringing me in to this world and keeping me hale and healthy until now, what have I done for them?"

The parents you see who are alive today, may not be there tomorrow as their assignment on earth will be over soon and they will return to the Creator who has created them and have given an assignment of taking care of you in this short journey called life.

If you are blessed with parents who are alive, I will say, "Forget not all their benefits" done for you!

There were some so called spiritual people who added their own words and interpreted the Word of God wrongly to wash their hands of their responsibility to take care of their parents in their old age by saying 'Corban' meaning “devoted to God as a gift” (Mark 7:11), which practically means that whatever money might have been used to provide for aging parents could be dedicated to the temple treasury instead. In other words saying, “It is Corban” would exempt a person from his responsibility to his or her aging parents. Then they were left alone to suffer during the time of Jesus, these people were rebuked by Jesus and was told by Him that they neither know the Word of God nor the power of God that works behind it.

It means, Jesus was saying and interpreting the words of Moses that instructed God’s people to “honor their father and mother” (Exodus 20:12) by saying, that every son or a daughter who takes care of their parents in whatever way, (i.e.) financially, emotionally, physically,..etc in their old age is seen by God and therefore God replicates the same thing to them in their own old age through their children. Apostle Paul agreed with the above saying by writing in his epistles, “‘Honor your father and mother’—which is the first commandment with a promise—‘that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth’” (Ephesians 6:3–4). In other words, honoring your parents is so highly valued to God that He rewards it with long life for yourself on earth. What a promise and what a guarantee from God? Are we really honoring our parents? Have we pleased God by valuing our parents in their old age?

All of our parents may not be perfect in their expression of what they see or do, but our heavenly Father who is perfect wants us to forgive their imperfection as He has forgiven us of our sins, in their old age (Matt 6:14-15). Let us see Jesus who is our example (1 Peter 2:21), and treat our parents with respect and honor in their life, so that even when Jesus was dying for us on the cross for our sins we could see how He called his loving and youngest disciple John and handed over his very own responsibility of taking care of His earthly mother to him so that he could honor and continue on behalf of Him till her death (John 19:26-27). Let us learn and live like Jesus to glorify God with our lives and be blessed with all His blessings till the end of our long life that is guaranteed by Him for honoring our parents.

"Never ask your parents, 'what have you done for me?', instead ask them, 'what can I do for you?', this is what honoring your parents that promises a long life for yourself from God is!" — Abraham Israel

Much Blessings....

Share:

Do You See The World Around You Rightly?

"What Do You See?", Asks Jesus!

When God asks us to look around and answer His following Question, "What do you see?" What will our answer be? Will we say to Him, I see all things as usual and normal as before or we will look with the prophetic information that He has already given to us to know the end times and say to Him, "Even so, come Lord Jesus! Amen!"

We are only as much ready as our faith which will qualify us for the rapture, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. As we look in to the spiritual reality of the times we are living in and see all things with faith through the Word of God and prayer, then we become separate and sanctified for the use of our Master Jesus, until he comes and takes us to the palaces He has prepared for us in heaven to live with Him.

One of the key sign that Jesus said of the end times are mockery of the unbelieving and religious fanatics like how the apostles reminded of it to us, "3 First, I want to remind you that in the last days there will come scoffers who will do every wrong they can think of and laugh at the truth. 4 This will be their line of argument: "So Jesus promised to come back, did he? Then where is he? He'll never come! Why, as far back as anyone can remember, everything has remained exactly as it was since the first day of creation." 5 They deliberately forget this fact: that God did destroy the world with a mighty flood long after he had made the heavens by the word of his command and had used the waters to form the earth and surround it. 6 [See 3:5] 7 And God has commanded that the earth and the heavens be stored away for a great bonfire at the judgment day, when all ungodly men will perish." (2 Peter 3:3-6, LB).

I believe that when God first created the land and the seas, when the land was at one side and the seas were at other side, the earth was divided in such a way, that one half was the land and other half were the seas. But when Noah's flood happened, the water canopy which covered the earth and gave it a air conditioned climate was taken away, and that water has filled the earth to make it become two third of water and one third of it to be land to inhabit. Thus at that time we come to know that a change has happened in the earth forever which was initially created for humans to inhabit forever. Thus the conducive climate which supported humans to have a long life span of hundreds and thousands of years were totally destroyed, because God had already decided a better place for humans to live forever than this present sin tainted earth and heavens. God has his own new heaven and new earth for all the new creations who are becoming his children by faith and are hoping for a heavenly home to dwell with Him (Rev 21:1-5; 2 Cor 5:17).  

Now in our generation we know that population is increasing multiple fold like never before, but the space for human habitation becomes less and less as we draw near to the end times. The space for the wild also has become less, and we are seeing more and more of wild animals and human conflict as men encroach their space day by day.

So what is our answer to God who is asking us the question, "What do you see?". Will you say, "I see all things as usual and normal as before or we will look with the prophetic information that He has already given to us to know the end times and say to Him, "Even so, come Lord Jesus! Amen!"

If you say, "Even so, come Lord Jesus! Amen!", it shows that you are not spiritually blind to what is happening around, but rather you are able to realize the darkness and deep darkness surrounding all the earth because of the light of Jesus within you that will lead you to a life eternal with Jesus in the future, soon and very soon.

Jesus testifies to the Churches, "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work." (Rev 22:12, NKJV).

So let us say, "Even so, come Lord Jesus! Amen!"

And the Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let him who hears say, “Come!” (Rev 22:17).

Maranatha (1 Corinthians 16:22)! "Our Lord is coming, and he will judge those who have set him and his words of life at no value [i.e. nought] by their unbelief." (Compare Phil 4:5 ; James 5:8 James 5:9).

Much Blessings......

Share:

What Is Your View On Child Baptism And Which Baptism Is Right, Immersion In Water?

Is Child/Infant Baptism Biblically Right?

Question: Please share your views on child or infant baptism. Is it Biblical?

Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name! There is a right way and meaning God has given for the ritual of baptism within the Church. It is not pouring and sprinkling of water like many traditional denominations and orthodox churches do, but rather it is immersion that Jesus took from John the Baptist in the river showing us an example to follow. How do we know for sure that Jesus took immersion baptism? Because apostle Matthew says about the incident describing like the following "After his baptism, as Jesus came up out of the water" (Matt 3:16) and also Mark the writer of the gospel agrees with him saying "And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him" (Mark 1:10). How can a person come out of water until he or she is immersed within it? Jesus was immersed and was baptized by John the Baptist in the river Jordan. So we know right from the Scripture that out of two or three witness every word shall be established, so immersion is the right way to baptize any believer who becomes a disciple of Jesus Christ (2 Cor 13:1).

The baptism is one of the five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus, the others being the Transfiguration, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension. The baptism of Jesus is as an important event and a basis for the Christian rite of baptism (Acts 19:1-7).

For years before Christ, the Jews had used baptism in ritual cleansing ceremonies of Gentile proselytes. John the Baptist took baptism and applied it to the Jews themselves—it wasn’t just the Gentiles who needed cleansing. Many believed John’s message and were baptized by him (Matthew 3:5–6). Even the religious leaders needed to repent of their sin, although they saw no need of it (Matt 3:7-8), because their religious pride and love for money prevented them from getting saved in the will of God (Luke 7:30; 16:14-17).

The origins of baptism might be found in the book of Leviticus where the Levite priests were commanded to perform a symbolic cleansing in water before and after performing their priestly duties (Lev 16:4, 23-24). Though John was the messenger of God sent before the ministry of Jesus Christ, to cleanse and make ready the people of God to receive their Messiah by introducing Him to them, and we know that he would have started his ministry in A.D. 29. as the actual reign of Tiberius was from August 19, A.D. 14 through March 16, A.D. 37 according to Roman Tradition and Scripture (Luke 3:1), baptism itself did not originate with Christians, nor by John the Baptist, but were followed by them, as it was a Jewish tradition of cleansing before meeting the Lord their God Jehovah (Acts 11:26). John’s “baptism of repentance” (Luke 3:3; Acts 19:4) followed this paradigm of cleansing, although the final cleansing from sin is only available through Christ, and John’s baptism was the foreshadowing of that. John the Baptist cried and shouted to people saying, 'cleanse yourself to meet the Lord your God who is coming to you after me by inwardly repenting of your sins and externally taking baptism from me, so that you will be cleansed and can be ready to meet the Messiah your Lord God according to His Divine will and timing' (Luke 7:28, 29-30, 33-34; Acts 20:27; Mal 4:5-6). John the Baptist did immersion Baptism, so did the disciples of Jesus within the ministry of Jesus as they themselves came out of the ministry of John the Baptist being his disciple they ministered it like him (John 3:23-36; 4:1-2; 1:35-42). With John’s baptism, a person repented of sin and was therefore ready to place his faith in Jesus Christ. John did not baptize using any name. John's baptism is called "baptism of repentance" in Acts 19. So until Jesus gave the express command during ascension, no name was used during baptism because Holy Spirit came only after His ascension in to humans (John 7:39; 20:21, 22-23; Luke 24:48-49; John 16:7; Acts 1:4-5; 2:1-4; Matt 28:19; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:47, 49). Those who were obedient to John's Baptism were “prepared for the Lord,” which most reasonably points to preparation for citizenship in the establishment of the Kingdom for the King's service (Acts 2). The disciples became citizens already in the Kingdom of God, and so they needed no further baptism and were qualified as Kingdom citizens to baptize and welcome subjects of the King Jesus to be His citizens. Actually this baptism that the disciples of Jesus gave was the extension of John's baptism because the second baptism (by fire or by the Holy Ghost) didn't come until Jesus was resurrected.

How does pouring or sprinkling illustrate the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ? It can never symbolically or even spiritually represent it, as it does not have any true meaning to bring a change in our thinking or life. Only immersion can symbolize Christ's death, burial and resurrection to bless us spiritually in our lives. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross completely washes away our sins, and we are raised to new life empowered by the Holy Spirit which is the baptism we take symbolically (2 Corinthians 5:17–21; Romans 6:1–11).

Baptism in itself does not save a person even when it is done by immersion, it is the first step of obedience to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt 28:19-20; Acts 2:38), to become His disciple we must actually repent to God expressing to Him that we are sinners and we need Jesus as our Savior by believing that the life, death and resurrection of Him identify us by our faith that we have gone through the same process in our life, which is also a prerequisite for every humans to receive the promised gift of the Holy Spirit from Jesus the Christ who baptizes all in Him (Luke 24:49; Acts 2:38; Rom 4:3, 4-6; Luke 3:16), so that we having died to our old fleshly life, should live the new life of Jesus Christ towards God (Rom 6:10-11; Col 2:12, 13-14).

Some people confuse the Old Abrahamic root that we have inherited spiritually with the natural root Israelites has physically inherited with him (Gal 3:7), and then try to equate baptism as the worthy equivalent of circumcision which is done to eight days old infants to identify them as the natural root of Abraham which was mandatory, and further God commanded it as the only sign of covenant that separates these Israelites from the unbelievers around them (Gen 17:6-7, 8-14). It is a misunderstanding we as Christians have got, we should understand that those who circumcise have to keep the law as Abraham's physical descendants, who are actually under the curse because no humans can keep the law perfectly (Gal 6:12-13; 3:10, 12), but for us who live by faith are not justified by keeping the law, but by our faith in Christ Jesus as we begin our new life and are also perfected by it, His righteousness is credited to us as our righteousness by God, and then we do righteous works by His grace that works in us thereafter "grace [dispersed] through faith" which ends in good works done for the Glory of God (Gal 3:2, 3-4, 6, 11, 14, 22; Rom 4:5-6, 9-10; Eph 2:5-6, 8-10; Jam 2:14, 17, 18, 22, 24). In the New Testament, the sign of circumcision is done by God in our heart after our salvation, where He circumcises our old heart to give us a brand new heart as a sign of His covenant to us who believe who are Abraham's spiritual descendants, [(i.e) who are all the people "in Christ Jesus" who are in this world and in heaven (Eph 1:4, 5-6; 3:14-15)], so that with Abraham we start to trust God's promise for us in the Bible for all of it to be fulfilled in our lives as believers and become blessed like him (Rom 4:11-12, 13, 16, 20-25; Eph 2:11, 12, 13; Rom 4:12, 16, 20, 21-22, 23, 24-25; Gal 3:9).

Now we are the true spiritual descendants of Abraham who have the spiritual circumcision of having no confidence in the flesh as the sign of the covenant that we have made with Jesus towards God and it is revealed to the world through our good works of the new life we live towards other people and in humility before God (Php 3:3; Rom 2:29; 4:4; 11:35; Gal 2:21; 5:3-4, 5-5; Col 3:9-11, 12; Jam 4:10). So circumcision unlike the Old Testament, we humans do not initiate it as a work, but rather it is God who does the circumcision within our heart as a sign of the New Covenant life of grace to make us live holy and separated as the people of God (Col 3:1-2, 3-4, 5). In fact, when Christ was circumcised, at that time itself we were circumcised in Him, which spiritually we realize through believing the gospel and receiving a new heart of flesh instead of stone from God (Col 2:11; Eph 1:13-14; Ezekiel 11:19; Ezekiel 36:26; Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10). Then comes the baptism of commitment to become a disciple, which is a external sign of getting immersed in water which we do after our belief in Christ and knowledge that we have died and a new life of Christ has come up within us (Col 2:12). In our mind, we renew baptism as a form of doctrine to believe and see the new life of Christ to be seen through us, believing in our mind by renewing it and then giving to God our bodily members day by day in surrender to God, which always without fail brings the evidence of the new life to be displayed through our lives for the Glory of God (Rom 6:3-4, 5-6, 10-11, 12, 16, 17, 19; 12:1, 2; Titus 3:5, 8; Eph 4:22, 23, 24).

Coming to the subject of infants, they are too small to be ready for immersion baptism physically and also there is no need for a baptism when they are under the age of accountability. As far as God is concerned regarding children who are grade schooler: 5–12 years and child: 0–18 years, he justifies the children until the age of accountability because they do not have the judgment to take a decision as right or wrong apart from the influence of their parents as they are under their custody (Rom 7:9), and they can be considered as saved in Christ Jesus and will go to heaven if they die (2 Sam 12:23; 1 Kings 14:12-13; Deut 1:39; Num 14:29-30). What is the age of accountability? It depends on how much children are exposed to the world to gain a knowledge of good and evil (Deut 1:39; Gen 3:22). So if a child can come to have the knowledge of good and evil to know that he is a sinner who needs the Savior to get saved from sin, from that point of time, God counts the child to be accountable to him. It may be 7, 8....10...or even 15 or 20 years. As we are living in the end time where knowledge explosion is happening day by day like never before, the children come to maturity very early in their lives (Dan 12:4; Luke 18:8). So therefore, when a child understand the faith and comes forwards to take baptism, there is no reason why we should not give them immersion baptism even as a child, teen age youths and young adults, as it is an outward testimony of an inward faith they already posses.

When children were brought to Jesus by their parents for his blessing, the disciples tried to brush them aside (Mark 10:13–16). But Jesus said, “Permit the children to come to Me ... for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” These children might have included babies too along with young little children (Luke 18:15). Jesus “took them in His arms and began blessing them” (Mark 10:16), in order to teach us all a lesson that when they posses and want to profess their faith through baptism, we should never deny them the opportunity to express their faith before the brethren and to the world, which will help them be blessed greatly in their lives, and also will help them become a great blessing to others through their lives by receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, as apostle Peter declares that the promise of the Holy Spirit from God through Jesus is “for you and your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God shall call to Himself” (Acts 2:39).

So when a father of a family is saved, the whole family becomes saved under his guidance as they are all under the spiritual covering of the father over them (Acts 16:31), and God graciously extends this privilege of the spiritual covering even for merely one parent who might be the mother, who is the manager of the child when she has a unbelieving husband who have no spiritual covering over their family as he is not under Christ's covering (1 Cor. 7:14; 1 Cor 11:3, 7, 10, 11; Prov 1:8; 6:20).

So infant baptism below the age of 5, and circumcision for a infant is a strict no, no and no in our Christian faith. But as we have seen before if any parent wants the children to be dedicated to God as infants itself, they can do that in a baby dedication service to declare to all that the child they have is a gift given to them by God, and they as a parent will take all necessary care to bring them up in the way and discipline of the Lord, and will release them in to service of the Lord and support them even if they are called by God in to full time service (Psa 127:3-5; Prov 22:6; 13:24; 23:13-13). Yet the child himself should come to have a personal experience with God, when He will realize himself as sinner and that he/she needs the Savior Jesus the Christ of God in order to get saved from sin and inherit eternal life to become a child of God (Acts 4:12). In other words, a parent can become a facilitator, but the recipient of salvation have a clear God given choice to accept or reject His call to salvation (2 Cor 6:1-2). A child of a good disciplined parents tend to take the discipline of the Lord in the right way when they grow up and become easily the man and woman of God, God wants them to be (Heb 12:5-8, 9-11; Eph 6:4). From the age anywhere from 5 and above, they can be baptized if they have the salvation faith in them for the Glory of God!

Much Blessings......

Share:

Does Forgiveness Has An End In Marital Infidelity?

My Unfaithful Wife, Should I Divorce Or Should I Keep Forgiving?

Question: My wife has been going back to her weakness by committing adultery. After forgiving her the first time, after 4 months she continue to contact the same person again, after 8 months, she did the same thing again. What shall I do, keep on forgiving her or file for divorce?

Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name! The will of God is that none should perish, but all must come to eternal life, this is the very reason God is delaying His second coming and giving more people the chance to repent and be saved (2 Peter 3:9). In other words, God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2:4). Our God is a God of all forgiveness, even when we were enemies of God and were ungodly by living in sin without hope and having no strength to overcome sin, Christ died to save us from our sins (Rom 5:6). This is the pure unconditional love of God that we receive and practice it in our lives, it comes to us when we are saved by faith and live by faith (Heb 10:38), and hope in the promises of Christ who fails not, who gives a token of appreciation through pouring His love in to our heart to show us the way to inherit his promises is through receiving His Love and developing His patience, which helps us to wait patiently for our inheritance of His promises which we receive at the end in the appointed timing of God through the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5; 1 Cor 13:13; Heb 10:35-36).

God knows and understands how much frustrating it is when a wife becomes unfaithful, because God kept the nation of Israel as his chosen peculiar wife through a covenant of marriage where He called them to faithfully follow Him so that He would reciprocate to bless them greatly above all the peoples of the earth (Exodus 19:5-8), but the way they continued in sin unrepentantly, God divorced her and sent her away in to Assyrian bondage.

God's prophets had warned the people of impending judgment for their sins for hundreds of years ahead, making it very clear that they would not escape punishment if they persisted in breaking the commandments, statutes and judgments. In Jeremiah 3:14, we read the words of God spoken to His people through the weeping prophet Jeremiah, "Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I AM MARRIED UNTO YOU." Through the prophet Isaiah God reminded His people saying, "For thy Maker is thine HUSBAND; the LORD of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah 54:5).

When ever His people indulged in worshiping idols, it was equivalent to them committing adultery within the covenant of the marriage clause, which actually happened right after God gave the marriage certificate of Ten Commandments through Moses by the hand of angels (Gal 3:19), even before God's certificate of marriage could reach them they started worshiping the golden calf instead of the Lord who redeemed and bought them out in to liberty of spiritual marriage to Himself, instead of the slavery of Egypt where they were all slaves for hundreds of years (Exodus 20:1-3). God gave the promise of His marriage to the people of God first to Abraham who was the father of faith, through him to the people of Israel, but the criteria of the law was given later so that people of God could get convicted of sin and repent of their evil deed to return to the Lord Jehovah who has married them all. Law spoke of God's existing spiritual marriage with them, and reminded them to stay faithful to Him by living a holy life only for Him and for no other.

The Old Testament speaks frequently of Israel whoring after or playing the harlot with other gods (e.g., Deut. 31:16; Judg. 2:17). Jehovah had told Israel from the beginning that he would not share her with others. “You shall have no other gods before Me” was the first of his ten great commandments (Ex. 20:3).

In fact, virtually all the prophetic books [i.e. more than one quarter of the Old Testament] are concerned solely with God's dealings with the SINS of Israel and with the other nations which negatively influenced them. For over seven hundred years God continually pleaded with His people through His prophets (Jer 25:4), giving them every opportunity to return to Him, but they would not.

In fact, God told prophet Hosea, "“Go, take to yourself a wife of harlotry, and have children of harlotry; for the land commits flagrant harlotry, forsaking the Lord” (Hos. 1:2), through which the prophets life was to become a object lesson to the people of Israel. Even though Gomer his wife runs away from Hosea and sleeps with another man, he loves her anyway and forgives her. Likewise, even though the people of Israel worshiped other gods, God continued to love them and did not abandon his covenant with them. But then one day she thought after bearing three children, that she has found true love and eloped with a stranger. But still Hosea wanted to see Gomer restored to his side as his faithful wife. And he believed that God was great enough to do it and bring her back to him and his children.

Gomer was still beloved of Hosea even though she was an adulteress, and God wanted him to seek her out and prove his love to her. How could anyone love that deeply? The answer was right there in God’s instructions to Hosea, “even as the Lord loves.” (Hos. 3:1). Only one who knows the love and forgiveness of God can ever love this perfectly. And one who has experienced His loving forgiveness cannot help but love and forgive others. Christian husbands are commanded to love their wives as Christ loved the Church (Eph. 5:25), and Hosea is an outstanding biblical example of that kind of love.

One fine day he heard gossips that Gomer had been deserted by her lover. She had sold herself into slavery and had hit the bottom. So he began his search, driven by that indestructible divine love, grieved and longed for her to come home. So he began his search, he found her chained to an auction block in rags and dirt all over her, in a filthy slave market as a thrown away poor destitute, a repulsive shadow of the woman she once was. Hosea bought her from her slavery for fifteen shekels of silver and thirteen bushels of barley (Hos. 3:2). Then he said to her, “You shall stay with me for many days. You shall not play the harlot, nor shall you have a man; so I will also be toward you” (Hos. 3:3). He actually paid for her, brought her home, and eventually restored her to her position as his wife. God used Hosea’s supreme act of forgiving love to melt her heart and change her life.

When God's mercy was rejected blatantly by His own people which is the nation of Israel [i.e. the ten tribes], God put an end to his merciful ways to initiate divorce towards the people whom He had earlier married in His life. Finally God's patience ran out and reluctantly He gave them a divorce bill according to their own lustful evil desire, declaring: "And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also" (Jeremiah 3:8). Even though His intention was to compel them to come under its [i.e. the Law] terms by the operation of the 'But' clauses of the covenant which set forth the penalties for its violation, God wanted the divorced wife to return back to Him and promised that one day He will bring her back in to the same covenant again (Ezek 20:33-37). What this divorce meant was that Israel will be no longer under the direct control of God, thus was soon conquered by Assyrian and Babylonian armies, and most of the people were carried away captive into exile, from which the majority never returned and became the "lost sheep of the House of Israel" (Matt 15:24; Jer 10:21, 11:15, 23:1; 50:6). After 130 years of Israel's exile, later Judah was carried away to Babylon because of disobedience to the covenant of marriage, yet Judah returned back to Israel after 70 years of Divinely set punishment in Babylon because unlike the nation of Israel, Judah was not divorced and so some remnant of the nation of Israel returned with them because of God's mercy. Again Judah hardened her heart and crucified the very prince of life whom God sent to save her from sin (Matt 1:21; Acts 2:36; 3:13-15).

But in an act of Divine mercy God again after nearly 2000 years of exile in to four corners of the world, God brought his wife who has been scattered all over the world back to the nation of Israel on 14 May 1948 and fulfilled His promise and restored His love towards them again, God has promised that no one will be able to drive them out of their land forever and ever (Amos 9:15), but still He expects them all to repent of their past and present sins through the tribulation that is coming upon then (Jer 30:7; Ezek 36:24-25; 37:21-23), and to receive Him at the time of His second coming (Zech 12:10-11; 14:1-2, 3-4, 5, 9).

What can be learn from the experience of God and Hosea to apply the time tested principles in our marital lives that can never fail?

1) When there is unfaithfulness in our marital life, we should openly tell our spouses to repent, and then forgive them.

2) When they choose not to repent of their sinful adulterous hidden life, we should tell them strongly how we will give divorce if they continue in their sinful ways without repentance (Matt 19:9). Yet we should understand that divorce is not the end, but a means to an end for all sinful life pressing them towards repentance that we should expect positively.

3) Then, we must pray for our partner sincerely if we come to know it as weakness in the flesh like Gomer the wife of the prophet Hosea, and still continue to love her with the undying love that God gives us.

4) We should forgive our wife when she tells us sincerely how she wants to stop this evil thing of adultery and stay faithful to us. When there is repentance, we should never stop forgiving, just like the Lord forgives us of all our sins which we do in the present time and then confess to Him saying sorry to Him even after a long time of living with in our salvation (1 John 1:7, 9). God restores our fellowship, when we confess to Him our sins. We should also do the same in our lives.

How many times should a husband or wife forgive? Some contend, “If I keep forgiving I simply affirm him in his pattern of sin.” Or “If I keep forgiving, she’ll think she can get away with anything she wants.” Others say, “If I keep forgiving, it’s like putting my seal of approval on his/her behavior.” Or “I can’t take another hurt like that. If he does that one more time, I’m leaving.” Those are human responses.

Listen to the response of the Lord Jesus. You see, Peter had asked the Lord this same question: “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” The Lord’s answer was, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven” (Matt. 18:21, 22). That is a great deal of forgiveness. In fact, Christ was simply saying in a captivating way that there is no end to forgiveness.

5) Even when we know that a stubbornness has come in to the heart of the partner to break the covenant of her/his youth to run with others (Mal 2:14, 15, 16), keep praying for her (Matt 5:44; 1 Tim 2:1-2), forgive her and allow God to deal with her heart and turn her towards you to come back home. That is what Hosea did and also God as our Father in heaven does when we knowingly get addicted to sin and run away from Him spiritually as He revealed in the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15:11-32).

6) When we hear the plight of the slavery and grief that our wife/husband goes through in her/his life, we should search for her and tell her that we still love her and want her to be back in our home. We should tell her that she should repent of her old ways and should stay faithful to us, and we should renew our covenant and promise her that we will stay faithful to her/him as she/he stays faithful to us.

7) THINK THROUGH: What interests do you both share in common? What else could you do together to strengthen your bond of oneness? What positive steps can you and your mate take to keep certain sins from repeating themselves in your lives? Having pondered over the points we have discussed, make sure that you apply it by God's help to bring a lasting solution in your life.

Having also learned the lesson of undying love from God and Hosea, know that God is very much concerned about our marriage, us and our children than we can ever be towards our children and our family, so he will judge all those who dishonor the marriage covenant which is His institution (Heb 13:4). Through out the time of great distress and sorrow in our soul for the marital problem we face, we should understand that the devil doesn't want our family life to prosper and therefore is contending with us before the Lord (John 10:10). Therefore we should take the hand of the Lord and we should learn to walk through the troubles we face in our life and through it all having the promise of God, that He will never leave us nor forsake us no matter what may happen in our life and family, we shall be content with such things as whatever we have (i.e.) the very Presence of God along with troubles which might even include a unfaithful, deceiving or a nagging wife or a husband. Once we understand and apply the above and practice the Presence of God, we will come to a place where the Presence of God will become our tower of refuge, joy, peace and merriment in the midst of all the troubles we face. Thus this higher place of faith will make us to declare boldly, "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Heb 13:6). Our faith will save us and our family, and the Lord will bless us eternally.

You have every right to divorce according to the law, but you also have every choice not to condemn her according to the love of the Lord (John 8:3-10, 11, 12), and help her by forgiving her mistake to help her receive the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, which will make her not to sin anymore (Rom 6:14; Tit 2:11). I believe as your wife who is unfaithful because of her strengthlessness to overcome sin, when she experiences the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and His love through your life, her heart will be won over by the power of the grace of God to overcome all sins in her life (Heb 4:14-16). Encourage her to approach the throne of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in the time of her need during her temptation, if she loses her trust in her own fleshly strength to trust in His strength, she will be able to overcome with the strength of the Lord (1 Cor 10:12-13; Php 3:3). As for you, though it might be tough through it all, you will come forth like a gold and diamond through all the pressures of life, your life will be a great example to all, and more than that you will be blessed and favored by the Lord God of heaven and earth because of being transformed in to His very image in your life and character. I believe you will be a great blessing to many many in the coming days as you live by faith and overcome all trials that have come to you in your life (1 John 5:4).

Much Blessings....

Share:

Is It A Sacrilege To Pay Tithe Out Of Wine Or Beer Trade?

Is Running A Beer Parlour As A Trade Is A Sin Or Not?

Question: Praise the Lord. We know that God doesn't want us to be Idle. A question that disturbs my mind is, "Is running a beer parlour as a trade is a sin or not? If yes, could the tithe paid from such a trade is a sacrilege or not? God bless."

Answer: Greetings to you in Jesus wonderful name! Praise the Lord! God says in His Word, "Idle chatter and mere talk leads us only to poverty, but all hard work will bring much profit." (Prov 14:23, Paraphrased). So from this above Scripture we know that God never wants us to waste our time in idle talk, talk talk and talk without definite plan and action to succeed. But He wants us to work hard day by day with a definite God given plan which He has already planned for us, of which we should seek Him and get the plan going with the gift He has invested in our lives. Each moment of time He gives us breath to live, He expects us to use that unique gift which He has given to us to make a positive difference in this world for His Glory (Rom 12:6; Eph 4:7).

The difference between a believer and a unbeliever is, a unbeliever lives for his own survival, seeking comfort and more riches (Matt 6:31-32), while we as believers are told to seek the Kingdom of God and His right way of living in this opportunistic world of the survival of the fittest, and God has promised us that He will add by and by all the things we need in our lives to fulfill His will for our lives. In other words, when we walk with the vision that God has given to us personally, we will experience His day to day provision for all of its fulfillment, when we walk for our own survival, we will perish because of the lack of vision in our lives (Matt 6:33; Prov 29:18). When we worry about ourselves and our lives rather than being full of peace and joy received through uploading prayer to God as per His instruction (Php 4:4-7), it shows that we are more concerned about ourselves and have lack of concentration towards the fulfillment of God's vision for our lives (Matt 6:34). God can never bless lethargy and disobedience.

Is running a beer parlour as a trade is a sin or not? If yes, could the tithe paid from such a trade is a sacrilege or not?

In the broadest sense, “beer” is any alcoholic beverage made by the fermentation of grain, just as wine is any alcoholic beverage made by the fermentation of fruit. So what does God reveal about wine? God has said in His Word that He gives water pool in the wilderness and water springs in the dry lands of the earth, so that people can establish a city to dwell, sow fields and plant vineyards, so that they may yield a fruitful harvest to make bread out of the grain for the heart of man to be strengthened [i.e. also beer] and wine out of the vineyard to make the heart of man glad so that he can rejoice and be joyful in the Lord and also be thankful to the God who has given it all in its season as a blessing for man to multiply and glorify Him in all things (Psa 107:35-38; 104:15).

As God has instructed us through apostle Paul, "...whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31). Does drinking beer glorify God? As I said above, if this beverage is taken moderately to be glad in a feast occasionally for all the hard work we have done and be thankful to God, it does glorify God because you are merry and thankful to God and He will acknowledge it through blessing you more than before (Deut 14:22-24, 25-26, 29). Even this we see in the incident of Hannah's prayer which was done in bitterness of soul where she wept in anguish before the Lord in His Presence for a child birth as she was barren for years. Now Eli the priest who was sitting on the seat by the doorpost of the tabernacle of the Lord, watched her mouth moving but her voice was not heard as she was praying from her heart straight to the Lord, immediately Eli the chief priest thought that she was drunk (1 Sam 1:9-13), then she explains that she was not drunk and is not a wicked woman to do so without reverence and awe for God's Presence, which clearly shows that when people come to the Presence of God, they could come to drink wine or similar drink and eat oxen or sheep or whatever their heart desires which they bring before the Lord as tithe, and therefore fellowship with God and rejoice in His Presence for whatever blessing he gives to them (Deut 14:24-26).

We as humans become addicted to anything that makes us merry, we should also be careful to avoid regular drinking of it or become rip roaring drunk where we lose control over ourselves and may dishonor God instead of glorifying Him, such habits once becomes rooted in us will destroy our lives instead of building it for the Glory of God (Prov 23:29-35). Anything habitual will become addictive and is not healthy either physically or spiritually (Prov 31:4-5). So we as God's children must understand that "wine is a mocker and beer a brawler; whoever is led astray by them [i.e. by drinking without moderation] is not wise." (Prov 20:1, NIV). Does having strong drinks of wine or beer which will cause mocking and riotous raging to stagger in to all evil works, will it glorify God? By no means it can bring any glory to God.

Even the great man of God Noah errored in his way, when he became rip roaring drunk, it caused division and curse to come upon his children (Gen 9:20-24, 25-27). So a man like Noah who walked with God day by day to please Him in all things and glorify God in all things (Gen 6:9), could later be tempted in his life by wine to bring shame momentarily to his family and the great name of God he represented, then all of us who are the children of God are in the same boat and could easily be led astray by wine in our own lives to bring disgrace and shame to our lives and families, and above all bring dishonor to the great name of our God whom we represent as His dear children, if we would take drinking of wine and beer lightly to play with it. So it would be wise to stay away from anything alcoholic if we think that we could lose control in our lives.

Never allow yourself to be tempted (Jam 1:12-16; 1 Thess 5:22), nor tempt anyone through your wine or beer drinking lifestyle, which might cause them to fall in to addiction and destroy their lives. Say, you have perfect control over taking wine or beer by the grace of God, but others who see you and get involved in it are not be able to keep the moderation, but due to their circumstances and lack of depth of spirituality in their lives fall prey to destruction, you become the reason for their sinful fall in to destruction though you might not have done it intentionally (Prov 31:6-7; Rom 14:16). So do not boast and blow horn to tempt others which may cause them to be destroyed for which you have a responsibility as a brother in Christ (Rom 14:12-13). God has given a worthy and wealthy alternative instead of wine which costs us so much financially with risk of losing wealth temporarily and eternally when we indulge in it, that is, instead of wine, we can be filled with a better effect of merriment through making melody in our heart, submitting to one another, thanking, praising, worshiping and singing in and through God to God always at all times, which fills us more and more with joy unspeakable and peace unthinkable that never gets dissipated unlike a wine, the effect of merriment stays with us as we continue to keep close fellowship with God (Eph 5:18-21; Isa 55:1-3, 6). Drinking in itself is not sin unless you get drunk with it, or cause other weak person weaker by your bold faith without love towards others (Rom 14:14-17; Gal 5:6). Any believer who wants to glorify God in their lives should not be "given to much wine" (Titus 2:3).

When you ask me the question, is running a beer parlour as a trade is a sin or not? Please answer me with another question, is running a exclusive knife shop as a trade is a sin or not? I know what you will say, it is not a sin you will answer easily. But if you know beforehand that someone will take those knife and use it to kill someone else, and act lawlessly for extortion, will you still say that it is not a sin to have such a shop? To know the root of the problem, we must go to the sin nature within the heart of all humans that we have inherited as the sons of Adam in the flesh (Rom 5:12; 3:23). Jesus said, out of the heart of humans all evils originate and defiles them (Mark 7:21-23). Wine or beer goes in to our stomach and is thus eliminated (Mark 7:19), so trading wine or beer in itself is not a sin as much like trading a knife exclusive shop in itself is not a sin. As we know it is good when people drink moderately and enjoy to go modestly, but we cannot avoid people who come in to such shop to be drunk and also cause mockery or riot in their inebriated state. So if we are a believer, then our soft conscience which is the voice of God in our soul might get oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked (2 Peter 2:7).

And regarding tithing, God said "You shall not bring the hire of a whore or prostitute, or the price of a dog, into the house of the LORD your God for any vow: for even both these are abomination to the LORD your God." (Deut 23:18), which shows that God does not accept the tithe that comes through doing certain type of businesses that are a abomination to Him. I believe that a dog is a faithful animal and people should not make a business out of it, and also women are created in the image of God and so should not be commercialized but rather must be kept as a private treasure to nourish and cherish (Gen 1:27; Psa 128:3; 144:12; Prov 5:18; Eccl 9:9). At the same time spiritually, dogs are a type of unsaved people who act like they are saved, but they have no transformation within their lives (Psa 22:16; 2 Peter 2:22; Php 3:2; Rev 22:15), in the same way, weak-natured and spiritually dwarfed women who are ungodly or unsaved women become the vessels through which Satan operates to bring temptation to make people fall in to sin (Eccl 7:26; 2 Cor 11:3; 1 Tim 2:9-10; 1 Peter 3:2-3, 5; Rev 17:5; Num 25:1-18; 31:16). No I do not think God has put restrictions to a wine trader not to bring a tithe out of the earnings which he gets through it. But generally I would say, avoid all evil appearance of the wine trade as a believer as it has the potential to lead any human in to bondage of alcoholism and death through evil addiction. Even when you want to keep a wine shop, discourage people from getting drunk which should be a written rule which will deny mockery and riots of sinful and lustful works of evil. No, it is not a sacrilege when a wine trader brings his tithe to God. All things like drinking beer/wine etc...without getting drunk are lawful for a believer, but is it profitable spiritually for us (1 Cor 6:12)? All things are lawful for us who are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior (1 Peter 1:18-19), who can accuse us or take us away from the Love of our Lord (Rom 8:31, 33-34, 35, 37, 38-39)? Nobody!, but we should make sure that we are not brought under the power of any thing for it to become a sinful habit which will never glorify God (1 Cor 6:12).   

See if you are a believer and you feel uneasy about moving in this wine/beer business, it means that the Holy Spirit is specifically speaking to you and disturbing you through His voice in your conscience (John 14:17; 16:8, 13-14), it means God wants you to move to something of a higher level and deeper depth than before in your spiritual life, so that you can glorify God better through your life and business than ever before. Though certain things may not be sin in itself, when God speaks and nudges us to consider something higher and greater and deeper, our disobedience to his voice can bring things sinful in to our lives. You may not be understanding today when God sees in to your future, and tells you to avoid things that will not glorify God in your future, because God knows your future in the present while you cannot see it like Him. So leave the wine/beer business if you feel that you are disturbed by the voice of the Holy Spirit, and pursue that higher plan that God has for you in whatever business or ministry that He has for you to do. After all, if you are a believer and a child of God, He is the boss and your Father, you must learn obedience from hearing His voice and walking according to it even when it does not seem comfortable or even when it brings huge loss to you personally and financially (Heb 12:4, 5-8, 9-11; Mal 1:6; John 13:13-17; Matt 10:24-25). God can bless you in a single day, than you laboring for a thousand years and still toil without achieving the blessing which you are after (Gen 22:17; Heb 6:14, 15). It is better to obey God, than to give foolish sacrifices or tithe of great proportion which is nothing to God without you obeying His voice (1 Sam 15:22-23; Psa 50:10). Trust and obey, for there is no other way, for you to be happy in Jesus, than to trust and obey.

Thank you.

Much Blessings.....

Share: