What does it mean when Jesus said that he is the true shepherd? Is it about spiritual shepherding, that Jesus is speaking about? Who is the gate and its true relationship to the sheep?

What Is The Spiritual Significance Of The Sheep, Gate And Shepherd?

Question: What does it mean when Jesus said that he is the true shepherd? Is it about spiritual shepherding, that Jesus is speaking about? Who is the gate and its true relation to the sheep?

Answer: Greetings to you in Jesus wonderful name!

Here we go with the Scripture:

John 10:1-5,6, 7-18 - "1 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”

6 Jesus used this illustration, but they did not understand the things which He spoke to them.

7 Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. 10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.”"

Many people who do not have an idea about Jesus of who He is and what He has come in to the world for, often tend to see the plaques of Jesus as a shepherd taking care of the sheep, and wrongly come to the conclusion that he might have been a literal shepherd. But that wrong understanding comes due to ignorance, Jesus was a carpenter by profession, and by inheriting his earthly father's business (Mark 6:3; Matt 13:55; Luke 4:22; John 6:42).

Usually only saved people understand that Jesus is God and that He is the one and only true spiritual Mediator between God and humans, and to the saved who believe Him to be the Savior He further continues to be a Chief Shepherd sent by God for all to be guided in to eternal life of God (1 Tim 2:3-6; 1 Peter 5:4; 1 John 5:11-13).

"Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. 8 All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. 9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture."

The one who makes a legal way of entry for the sheep to enter the flock is the shepherd, only the thieves and robbers usually come the illegal way to rob the sheep. But the true sheep that has been fed by the shepherd will not hear the voice of the thieves and robbers. Who are the thieves and robbers? They are the religious priests and scribes and pharisees of all religions who claim to lead the devotees towards God, but instead only rob the devotees of their belongings to lead them in to darkness of self and not toward the the true one and only God the Creator. Not only that, Jesus claims himself as the one and only door for all humankind to reach toward God. He who believes Jesus as the only begotten Son of God, becomes saved and then will go in and out of fellowship with God because of the inherent sin nature within them , but will be able to constantly find pasture spiritually because of the new nature of God that has become a part of them that sanctifies them to be among the sheepfold under the Chief Shepherd's guidance to find pasture now and forevermore eternally. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!

"10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. 11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. 12 But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own."

Who is the thief who steals everything that belongs to humans and uses them as his own to build his own kingdom of darkness? Every good and perfect gift comes from God above who is the Father of Lights (Jam 1:17), these He has given to humans as a gift which Satan and his demons have stolen to build his own empire which takes people away from God. Satan enflames the fallen sinful selfish nature, and then when people get addicted to their own nature, then Satan starts to steal and empty everything within them to make them spiritually empty and take the God given life out of them. O what a pity!

First Satan and his cohorts steals the joy of life which is a gift from God through addiction to sin and self, then kills the life they were supposed to enjoy and chokes them enough to keep them empty, and then finally Satan's tries to destroy the souls of people completely through his evil deception of suicide, murder, sickness, fornication, adultery, jealousy, hate, anger, malice, etc... finally it all leads to death.

Coming back to God through Jesus restores the life that God has given spiritually to enjoy, God's presence becomes real to make us all enjoy more abundantly like in heaven, on earth now itself for the Glory of God.

Jesus presents himself as the one and only good shepherd, and there is no substitute to him because as a sinless shepherd His life that was sacrificially given to redeem the sinful human sheep's, his unique life has no one to match because it is the only acceptable sacrifice God has accepted to bless humans supernaturally on behalf of Him when they follow him.

Who is a hireling? Hireling is not the shepherd, he is not the one who owns the sheep, when he sees the wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. In other words, a hireling is not really a shepherd but rather they are religious people who do what they do for money without real love behind it. Their true color of their character becomes know only when some spiritual danger begins to come for the sheep. At those critical times these hireling will run away from the sheep to save themselves and their own empire. These hireling who are hypocrites who hypocritically act as though they are people's true savior, they reveal their sinful fallen nature of their character to all sheep when danger comes to the sheep. These run away hireling cannot save a single soul to make them go to heaven, but instead will lead the soul in to the darkness of hell fire and lead them away from God eternally. These hireling are deceptive agents of Satan and his cohorts who transform themselves as the angel of light (1 Cor 11:13-14, 15), but at the end they will judged by God for their works as they all remain unsaved to the end. The wolf is Satan and his evil minions, along with the false prophet in whom they work to deceive people and take them away from God. These wolves always catch the sheep's and will scatter them because their intention is to kill them to fill their own belly and voracious appetite for money and fame. The hireling is a religious shepherd who does it for money and therefore a hireling, and they consider the sheep's who follow them as a item and a commodity for their own use, and therefore when in danger of being led to hell fire by Satan and his cohorts along with the false prophets who are wolves in sheep's clothing (Matt 7:15-20), immediately they flee fearing for their own lives and does not take care of the sheep to protect them.

But Jesus who is the good shepherd knows each saved person individually by name and He is known personally by his sheep through the Spirit of God who has been sent on behalf of him who is like him in everything to reveal Jesus to all his sheep's individually (John 14:15-18, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15). Praise the Lord!

"15 As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. 16 And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. 18 No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father."

The true character and sacrifice of a good shepherd has been lived and accepted by God, and displayed by Jesus before the whole Universe. The Father has put His approval seal over the earthly life of Jesus as He declared from heaven, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt 3:17). Jesus too declared about the Father God right from his childhood days onward through his life and character of purity, and declared it even through his ministry to all people who believed him (Luke 2:49-50; John 2:16; 5:17, 19-20; 8:29; 14:7). When it was know that the Father has accepted Jesus as the Mediator between God and humans, John the Baptist cried out, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29). Thus, only Son of God could become the one and only legal heir of the Father, who has Begotten Him in fulfillment of his previous promises through the resurrection of Jesus in a glorious body to never see death anymore (John 1:34; Acts 13:33, 35). Truly Jesus who knew the Father and who is known by the Father, finally was able to lay down his life for the believing sheep in the nation of Israel who saw it all to live with him and were called by Jesus as friends (John 15:13, 14-15; 3:29). The same message of the good news of his virgin birth, death and resurrection was preached in all the world and have been believed outside the nation of Israel for the last two thousand years time have been brought in to the sheepfold of Jesus from all Gentile nations (1 Cor 15:1-4; Acts 13:47-48; 15:12-17), as they were all been under his guidance, have heard his voice personally through salvation, and were kept by him as one flock and under the one Chief Shepherd who is Jesus who have guided them in to eternal life (1 Peter 5:4). Hallelujah!

Father God in heaven loved the sacrifice of Jesus and accepted it perfectly because it was given by Jesus the Christ voluntarily for us humans, and Jesus took back the God-head power back again once all things got fulfilled as per the requirement (Luke 23:46; John 17:3-5, 6; 19:28, 30). Jesus voluntarily laid down his life for us His sheep, because of His love for us who have been sin sick and ready to go to hell and receive eternal death as a wages for our own sins. But thank God, Jesus as the sinless Son of God, had the power to lay down his life as a acceptable sinless sacrifice, which only could be accepted by the Father in Heaven as He demanded it. Jesus' sacrifice was accepted by God the Father, because He was the one who commanded Jesus to lay his earthly life down for the sheep followers so that they could all be saved and have eternal life! Praise the Lord!

Jesus as God could not cease from the form of God which was in his spirit, but what he did was that he voluntarily gave up the rights to use the power as God even though he did not consider that making Himself as equal with the Father on earth as a robbery because He was in fact God (Matt 1:23), and by making himself as a bond-servant and coming in the likeness of men, Jesus emptied Himself of His privileges of God voluntarily and humbled himself to learn obedience to the point of death as a perfect human, which extended even unto the death of the cross (Php 2:5-8; Heb 5:7-9). GLORY!

O what a humble Jesus and a powerful master we have to follow in our own life as His sheep! Truly we are blessed more than all the people of the earth.

Because Jesus the Christ our Messiah is the True Shepherd, He has become our Good Shepherd! May we stay faithful to follow our Chief Shepherd all the days of our earthly life, and continue to be guided by Him in our eternal life too!

Much Blessings....

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Will God Increase Our Faith If We Ask Him To Increase It?

What Does The Parable Of The Master And The Servant Teach Us Regarding Faith And Duty?

Question: Will God increase our faith if we ask Him to increase it? What does the parable of the master and the servant teach us regarding faith and duty?

Answer: Greetings in the most holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ and Savior!

Parables are earthly stories of this world used by Jesus to reveal the heavenly realities and truth of the Kingdom of God that cannot be seen, but exist already to rule over this world. The Kingdom of God is recruiting new citizens of heaven from earth, and parables are the guidelines given by God to understand and get trained to have this attitude of heaven fixed in each of its citizen's heart to get trained for heavenly living through growing in the nature of God more and more to love it and live through it in the future for the Glory of God.

Faith and forgiveness always go together. One who forgives the most, needs the most amount of faith to let go of others debts, which he or she believes will be restored by God in His way as a double blessing in His time. And if repentance for sins happen in the heart of a brother who feels bad and convicted by the Holy Spirit for his or her actions, then forgiveness for the offence should be given back to the offender through faith. Thus, the prayer of faith will only operate in the atmosphere of the forgiveness that we practice by the grace of God (Jam 5:15-18).

When a person tries to sincerely walk in the nature of God by receiving it, and thus co-operating with God to let Him live out His life through them (Gal 2:20), then it will be easy for them to hear God and fulfill His command through which faith increases rapidly through their lives.

Here is the parable of the Master and the Servant:

""5 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.” 6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you. 7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”" (Luke 17:7-10).

Having the power of faith and the ability to increase in it to express the work of heavenly supernatural faith on our earthly surrounding, depends on how well we know that we are bound to God, and not he to us, because He is our creator and we are the clay (Rom 9:15, 20-24).

God is a debtor to no human, the Bible asks the question, " 34 “ For who has known the mind of the LORD? Or who has become His counselor?” 35 “Or who has first given to Him and it shall be repaid to him?”" (Rom 11:34-35). Humans are creation, and God is the one and only Creator of all humankind and angels alike. So the righteous God as a owner of the whole Universe, doesn't need to pay any humans or angels alike. God is the owner and we are the servants of Him, who are all created for His Glory to be relished and revealed to all through us. God is the King of Kings and Lord and Lords, we are the citizens of His Kingdom. God is the Father of all spirit, we are His spiritual children. God is the potter and we are the clay vessels. God has every right to use the vessels as He likes, whether it is vessels of wrath or the vessels of mercy like us who are saved by faith through grace.

When Jesus insisted the apostles to believe and have faith for miracles to happen to them and through them, immediately they approached Jesus to help them increase in their faith. Immediately Jesus said to them, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you".

Mustard seed is the smallest seed that we use in our day to day cooking and other activities like it, but the mulberry tree roots grow very horizontal roots over a wide area where it stands and also goes deep enough to withstand any storm pull, therefore it is impossible to easily uproot as it grows to a great height of even 40 to more than 70 feet or even 80 feet. Jesus teaches us a very important lesson about faith, what is it? It is not the size of the faith but the quality of the faith that will always work to do impossible task to become easily possible.

In other words, our faith may seem to be like the size of a mustard seed, but if that faith comes in to us by hearing the true word of God from heaven, our words will carry the power of heaven to make impossible things to be made easily possible (Eccl 8:4). The incalculable power of God without fail gets unleashed in the lives of those with true faith (Rom 10:17).

So there was a "sound of (angelic) marching in the tops of the mulberry trees" that directed David the King of Israel to victory after victory against his enemies the Philistines (2 Sam 5:24-25). Every times the voice of God is heard rightly and understood and obeyed, each time the Lord Himself goes before you to make impossible things to become possible. When we are living in the center of the will of God for our lives by faith, we have been given so much rights as God's children, that God has taken upon himself to fulfill even every word of command we speak with the authority of God (Isa 45:11).

So what is so important than even increasing our faith is, to know whether the word we have heard already from God is a genuine one (2 Cor 13:5-6), or else it is never too late to hear from God and exercise the right spiritual authority on earth to fulfill the heavenly will of God through our powerful actions (Rom 10:17; Heb 11:6). Showing true faith within will always display powerful action of faith without, because God will be the one who fulfills our command of faith towards Him (Jam 2:18, 26). The grandest of our spiritual relationship with God always start to happen, when we the servant, serve God so obediently that He gets so pleased enough that he starts to serve us at the end of it all. Glory!

This is what Jesus explains in the following parable by saying, "7 And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and sit down to eat’? 8 But will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9 Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. 10 So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’”

Every true man of God or a woman of God understands the concept of their duties to fulfill and please God, before they see great, wondrous and supernatural things happen for them by God. At the end of such great blessings, they will remain humble enough to acknowledge that they did nothing great except be faithful in their duty to serve God, but God will always be magnified and glorified when they truthfully say that, 'God chose to bless them supernaturally with all the blessings of heaven which they do not least deserve.'

The master servant relationship with God is always there, even though there is a Father child relationship that exist already with Him. Understand the imperfect nature of all humans, who become his child. They still sin and are in training to avoid it more and more which separates them from God and His goodness. So the servant humility that is learned in humans, get their due respect and recognition from God when He begins to see a pleasing nature of His as a master get imbibed in them. Will as a master we will want the same or different for our servant? In other words, will we want a servant who robs to remain with us without any change, will we want a sexual pervert to remain as a servant forever with us, etc? No. We want the servant to be trained to become perfect more and more as they remain longer with us. That is the same God wants from us too! Hallelujah!

A true servant will do everything without any expectation as he or she will understand that it is their duty to serve their master. But when the master is a good master, the reward for serving will always outdo the work they have done to deserve it. So likewise, God being a good master whose very nature is to reward, will always outdo it to all His faithful servants to bless them and make them a great blessings to their locality and even to the whole world. Praise the Lord! No master will ever ask a servant to come and eat something, when he himself is hungry. Instead even when the servant has come from plowing field or tending sheep, he will say to the servant to serve him first with all the food that is available and cooked. But every servant even though hungry will serve him without any expectation and will look to the reward of his master which comes at last. We too as a good servant of God, should look to God's answer and reward at the end of serving him first through our lives without any expectation. Every powerful word spoken by us, will be answered by God when we have already lived a life pleasing to Him. That is what happened in the life of Jesus, who served his Father God for thirty years and then every word Jesus spoke God fulfilled it for the Glory of heaven for the rest of his life (Matt 3:17; John 11:41-42)! Amen.

The best way to live a balanced spiritual life is to serve God without any expectation as long as we live, and also say when great things happen for us, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do,’ knowing within us that it is not our work that has earned us our reward but rather the goodness and benevolence of God is what has showered us with all the blessings of heaven which we do not deserve the least. We will always remain unprofitable servants of God, because we have a sin nature that could easily trip us from the right path of God by our spiritual pride which made Lucifer the great archangel to become a devil that he is now (Gal 6:1, 3). Never forget the duty to serve God first with patience and perseverance, and without fail you will receive His great temporal as well as the eternal reward forevermore! Hallelujah!

GLORY TO GOD!

Much Blessings...

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What Does The Parable Of The Unforgiving Servant Teach Us?

If We As God's Children Are Not Ready To Forgive Others Of Their Mistakes And Debts, Will God Allow Demons To Torture Us Until We Choose To Pay Our Debts?

Question: What does the parable of the unforgiving servant teach us? If we as God's children are not ready to forgive others of their mistakes and debts, will God allow demons to torture us until we choose to pay our debts?

Answer: Greetings in the awesome name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior!

Parables are earthly stories told by Jesus to reveal the heavenly realities and truth that really matters, because knowing the truth can only set us all free from the earthly way of thinking and instead transform us all who are believers in to heavenly way of thinking (John 8:32).

Heavenly way of thinking is to think and see the way God sees our earthly life and situation through His eyes. Actually it is to see this temporal life on earth as a training ground of truth to actually inherit the eternal life in heaven with God (Rom 12:2; 2 Cor 4:18; 5:7).

These parables are not for the unsaved, even though they hear it, they will have a good time of a little intellectual stimulation or a short laugh, but the spiritual message behind it is exclusively given by God for the seeking disciple who will be able to understand it for the Glory of God, so that he or she might become a practitioner of truth to live it on earth!

Here we go and delve in to the parable,

"21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven. 23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”"

God's Family Business

When we come to God, we humble ourselves to tell him that we are sinners in need of the Savior who can save us from sin and death (Luke 18:9-14), God sees our faith and get pleased to save us from sin (Eph 2:8-9). In other words, we just came to God in desperation and asked him to forgive our sins and make us new, but God in His love chose to draw near to us, and that too not only forgive our sins but above all make us His children too (1 John 1:9; 2:12). O what a privilege!

God's family business is forgiveness. In fact, God gives and gives and forgives always, we as humans get, get and forget always. This is the saga of the whole human race since the fall of the first man our forefather Adam in to sin, after which we all became sinners not just by our choice, but by our birth itself (Rom 4:12, 19; 3:23; Psa 51:5; 58:3; Eph 2:3).


We are sinners not just because we sin, we sin because we are sinners by our very nature as the sons of our forefather first Adam (1 Cor 15:22). So what was God's idea to redeem us from sin and make us receive His eternal life? His plan was already in place even before the foundations of the world (Eph 1:4), which was sending His very own Son who had no sin nature to this earth and help him live a sinless life, and to sacrifice his life for humans like us to redeem us all through this ultimate sacrifice for all humanity to believe Him and receive eternal life (2 Cor 5:21; 1 Pet 2:22; Rev 13:8; 1 Cor 15:21-22, 23; Rom 8:15-16, 17-18, 19, 20-21). Hallelujah!

So we did not choose Christ to get saved just by accident or incident, Christ Jesus chose us in Him to get saved because of His love for us (John 15:16; 1 John 4:19). How did we get forgiveness? Is it just because we confessed our sins that we were forgiven? No, confession is just a means for the restoration of fellowship with God through Christ (1 John 1:7), but the ultimate reason we were forgiven is because Christ Himself willingly gave us His life sacrificially on the Cross first so that we could accept Him as our Lord and Savior of our life (Rev 13:8; Eph 4:32; 2:8-9).

So when God forgave, did he forgive just our past and present sins? Or the forgiveness of God includes our future sins too? God who knows the end from the beginning, to Him all of our sins were foreseeable, and therefore He is not surprised by our past, present and as well as our future sins (Isa 46:10). Because Christ died once and for all time for all of our sins, God's counsel has stood to do all His pleasures in the life of Jesus Christ, so that salvation for us and its righteous demand could be accomplished for the Glory of God (Heb 9:22, 12; John 19:28, 30; Rom 3:24, 25-26), because all of our sins of the past, present and future has been paid by Jesus, there is no longer an offering for sin because of God, once and for all time forgiving all of our sins in Christ Jesus (Heb 10:7, 10, 12, 14, 17-18). Hallelujah!

When we become a believer in Christ Jesus, all of our sins are forgiven by God forever and ever (Col 3:13), we are on our way to new earth and new heaven to be with God and Christ forever and ever for the Glory of God (2 Pet 3:12-13). When we are forgiven, we forgive others because of receiving His nature as we have all become a member of God's family to do His business (John 1:12; 2 Pet 1:3-4; Eph 4:32). Not only we preach and teach the forgiveness of sins to others who are in need of it (Luke 24:45-48), but we also do learn to practice more and more, to forgive the debts of others as God in Christ has already forgiven all our debts (Matt 6:12). Glory to God!

How Many Times Should I Forgive, How often Should I Forgive?

""21 Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?” 22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.""

The context of the following Parable comes through the above questions that Peter the apostle asked to Jesus. Peter asks Jesus how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? We know that when others come to see that we are forgiving their mistakes, faults and debts easily, then they themselves get tempted to take advantage of our forgiving heart to irritate us and again sin against us a little more. If they still find that we forgive them of their mistakes that they have again made, they try to make a mockery of our forgiveness towards their sin and become bold enough to sin more and more against us which makes us look like a circus joker to them.

Understanding this nature of humans to take advantage of forgiveness, Peter the apostle expected Jesus to answer him back with a well balanced answer of a few times. But to Peter's surprise, Jesus says, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven." In other words, Jesus' answer does mean that He wants Peter to forgive his brother's sin not just seven perfect times, but even if he takes advantage of your forgiving heart, He wanted Peter to forgive seventy times seven which means infinite number of perfect forgiveness. Hallelujah!

People say , "To err is human; to forgive, divine," means that it is the nature of a human being to make mistakes, because humans are not perfect. However, forgiving someone for his mistakes is an imitation of the mercy of God. Of course, the idea is that it is good and moral to forgive people for their human failings.

As much as it is not in the nature of man to be perfect, still we all want to be perfect, in the same way, it is not in the nature of any human to forgive, but still we all need to forgive because God expects humans to forgive others just as He has chosen to forgive all the countless fault done by us humans, so that God could continue to supply good things in our lives so that we could enjoy God's life on this earth who are not worthy of it by sin nature.

If humans fails to forgive, then God starts to feel sorry and grieved for making man because it is to learn forgiveness by receiving it from Him that He has been created Him, and thus reflect His nature on earth without which violence will start to increase day by day to make it a living hell (Gen 6:11). The thoughts of humans will become evil and wicked more and more through sin if he chooses to live without reflecting the nature of God which is forgiveness (Gen 6:5-6).

So the bottom line is, even if a brother sins against us again and again, and comes again and again to say sorry with repentance for what he has done, we should choose to forgiven him of his sins towards us (Matt 18:15; Luke 17:3-4). In other words, we should be ready to always forgive others faults even when they do not turn up to ask sorry from their heart (Matt 5:23-26). Why we need to do this if this will make ourselves look like a joker to others? It is to keep ourselves from getting in to a prison of hate, malice and wrath which then day by day will grow and spring up to become a root of bitterness to cause trouble to our spiritual life, and thus defile our life to cause spiritual fornication which will deny us later from inheriting the blessings of repentance even if we seek at that time with tears (Heb 12:15-17). So it is better to bless others who sin against us and forgive them in our heart, to avoid ourselves getting caught in the prison of unforgiveness which will cause us to be kept away from the holy Presence of God because of lack of reverence towards it (Matt 5:43-48). The more we learn to forgive the debts of sins others do against us, the easier it is for us to connect to God because of walking in this perfect nature of God which is forgiving the sins of others which they do against us.

Remember saints of God, unforgiveness is like drinking poison yourself and waiting for the other person to die. The heaviest thing in your life you can carry is a grudge, which when left by itself will suck your life and bring you death. Never go to grave, much before time because of drinking the poison of unforgiveness to die a untimely death.

Praise the Lord!

Jesus Opens Up About How The Kingdom Of Heaven Works Positively With Forgiveness Through This Parable!

"23 Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. 26 The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 27 Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. 28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”"

In the above Parable, we see how the Kingdom of God works positively for a person with forgiveness and negatively against those who fail to forgive others. How often does a king will want to settle accounts with his servants? We can say as long as the king wants to show his glory to others, he will want to settle accounts with his servants. So here was a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants, and especially one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. Think about it, a talent is 6,000 denarii, or 20 years of daily wages for a six-day workweek. That means this servant actually owes the king 60 million days of wages, which is actually an infinite amount for him to pay back to the king.

But as we know he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. In spiritual life, how much do we owe God, we owe him an infinite amount of debt because of our sins (Rom 6:23). God tell us to pay him back according to the law, which tells us that we along with our family which includes our wife and children, will all be liable to pay up for our mistakes. We all as un-spiritual people, were sold as a slave to sin to pay our debts (Rom 7:14; 1 John 2:2).

Then we see, the servant therefore falling down before the king, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt. All humans seek to pay God back through their religious way of life, but in spite remain unsaved in their sin to get curses for it in their own lives and families (Gal 3:10). But thank God, for all those who ask God to forgive of their unpayable debts of sin through sincere repentance, God in his benevolent nature who is the master of that servant and also ours too will move with compassion, release us, and forgive us of the unpayable debt of sin to give us eternal life and thus release us from the fear of death (John 3:16; Heb 2:14-15). The servant who fell down before the king, received the goodness of the king because of His very own benevolent nature. In other words, we get saved from sin for eternal life to live with the King in His Heavenly jurisdiction and the Presence of His goodness and His Kingdom, but once we are saved to live with God through the restoration of His nature within us, He expects us to forgive others just as he had forgiven us of our sins in our own lives (Eph 4:32).

So Then What Happened To The Saved Servant Who Was Forgiven By God?

"28 “But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!’ 29 So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ 30 And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. 31 So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. 32 Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. 33 Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ 34 And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. 35 “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”""

When we were forgiven by God, God expects us to forgive others just like he has forgiven us. So only 'forgiveness' is God's family business. But that servant who was forgiven by the King, went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred days wages. That servant fell down at his feet and begged him to have patience with him so that he could be able to pay soon. See how he reacts to his subordinate servant who owed him so little? First of all he does not want to forgive the debts of his servant but instead threw him up in to the prison of bitterness against him, till he will be able to pay the debt he owes to him.

Every fellow servant who reports of such unforgiveness to God the king, whether it is the senior servant of God or junior who holds unforgiveness in their heart does not matter much, but rather will be taken seriously and dealt with His chastisement until that unforgiving person repents of his unforgiveness towards that fellow servant in prison (Heb 12:3-11, 12-17).

Putting the other person in prison is to offend the offender by defending ourselves through vengeance (Heb 10:29-30). God says that vengeance belongs to him as he is the king and we are the servant (Rom 12:18-19). God gets the glory when he executes vengeance for us in His time, which will be the perfect time for us too. But when we try to execute vengeance through anger, it never fulfills the righteous requirement of God to continue to bless us in our life (Jam 1:20).

So when the king heard what has happened through his forgiven servant to the imprisoned servant of his, he too must have felt grieved in his heart and said to the unforgiving servant, 'Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?' In other words, when God forgives us and saves us from sin, he expects us to forgive the sinners who sin against us because we have received his very own nature as his dear children. The unforgiving servant has no valid reason to say before God because of the infinite amount of debt that God has already forgiven him by saving him from sin to make him his servant to serve him. Serving God after salvation is a privilege given specially because of the compassion and pity that he had on sinners like us who pleaded him to forgive us (Eph 2:1-10). We are saved to serve him all the days of our earthly life and thereafter in our heavenly life too!

So for a saved person, no reason can ever be a valid reason for him to remain in unforgiveness, because of the uncomparable amount of debt for sins which he had been forgiven by God through the payment He had made through the sinless life of his very own Son, Jesus the Christ to redeem us, and save us from death which is the rightful wages of sin (2 Cor 5:21)!

Finally God is angry when we remain in unforgiveness and will surely deliver us to demonic torturers to torment us on earth, because of our bitterness against our fellow humans who have offended us and are in debt to us. Remember, the torture in this life will go on until we pay up what was due of us, which is to forgive our fellow human servant who are in debt towards us because of their sin against us. In short, until we choose to forgive others of their fault, our fault of unforgiveness will be kept against us.

I have seen personally in my life and in other believers life, when those who have failed to forgive their husband, wife, son or daughter or relatives or strangers or neighbors of their faults and sin against them, went to the extent of dying miserably in their unforgiveness which must have been a untimely death, and a miserable one too in their lives. Let us let go of all unforgiveness in to the hands of God, who will help us to forgive others when we ask Him to give us His strength. God always without fail will give grace to the humble so that they will never stumble in their lives (1 Pet 5:5). Praise the Lord!

Have we forgiven all the debts of all who have sinned against us day in day out before that end of that day, before the lights could go off in our home (Matt 6:11-12; Eph 4:25-27)? If we have failed to forgive others of their sins against us after the end of that day, we have already given place to the devil to gain control with a foot of his inside the house of our body which is the temple of God. So let us keep our slate clean by forgiving others before we go to the bed to sleep overnight. O Lord help us!

When the Father in Heaven fails to forgive our sins because of our unforgiveness, the devil will have a open door to attack our lives because of the lack of the presence and power of God. May we always remain loyal to our Heavenly Father and be like him in forgiving others of their sins and faults done against us, so that through our lives God will be glorified in all things. Hallelujah!

Only when we live like Jesus, God will be glorified the most through our saved lives. Forgiveness is mandatory for every citizen to continue to live in the Kingdom blessing of Heaven by remaining in the Presence of God! GLORY!

Forgive others no matter what, because remember no matter what, you are already forgiven by God!


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Do We Realize That A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed Especially In Spiritual Things?

What Did Jesus Reveal To Us Spiritually Through The Parable Of A Friend Who Comes At Midnight?

Question: Do we realize that a friend in need is a friend indeed especially in spiritual things? What did Jesus reveal to us spiritually through the parable of a friend who comes at midnight? Does persistence with God pays off when it comes to saving of souls?

Answer: Greetings in the mighty name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Luke 11:5-8 - "5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’? 8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs.".

Plainly reading the above parable, makes us to think of certain things deeply. Is God our friend? Yes indeed, Abraham our Father of faith was called as a friend by God because of His faith in the Word of God (Jam 2:23; Isa 41:8). We too become a children of God and a friend to Him, when we start believing the Word of God that He has spoken to save us, God becomes our friend indeed when we believe Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior (Gal 3:9; Eph 1:6; 2:13; Heb 11:6).

Let us hear the Parable thrown to us as a question to answer from Jesus, ""5 And He said to them, “Which of you shall have a friend, and go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; 6 for a friend of mine has come to me on his journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within and say, ‘Do not trouble me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give to you’?".

In other words, think about it, will we ever go to a friends home at midnight and wake him from his sleep just to lend for our visitor friend three loaves? My honest answer is a big no. Even if we have the courage to disturb our friend at midnight for a loaf, what if he answers like this, I am asleep with all my children and the door is already shut, I cannot rise and give to you, so better get lost friend to come in the morning. It is like a slap to our face, self-respect and dignity, so better we will get lost at that moment itself. Jesus answers in the same way just like us, to a casual friend, the other friend who is in sleep will not rise up and give that three loaf to him who is in need because he is just a botherful brotherly friend. If he had been a stranger, he would have caught the attention of that friend who would have risen up from his sleep, because every stranger will be considered a thief in the mid-night time to be driven away harshly or punished, or else he must have been a mad-man to be handed over to the judge for his intrusion at midnight. Every friend have the right to privacy at the night time to sleep.

Has God Become Our True Friend To Make Us Ask For The Salvation Of The Unsaved Friends?

Then Jesus goes on to a deeper level, come let us deeply delve in to the spiritual message. A friend in need is truly a friend indeed, which means a friend who helps us when we really need help is a true friend. If we are a casual friend, we will not let go off our self-respect, dignity to intrude and barge at midnight in to a friends house who are all already asleep with his family, and then further dare to ask him for three loaves of bread. But if we let go off the self-respect and dignity and become a botherful and shameless friend, then we will venture out to ask and disturb that friend till he rises up from his sleep and gives the three loaves we have asked for. For this to happen we cannot be a stranger but a true friend who is ready to bother our sleeping friend, until we get what we want. In other words, we need a faith that persists in humility ready to get mocked by any one, a trust in the true friendship that will never fail. When we are too confident of our friendship with our sleeping friend, only then we will be able to do that unthinkable act of disturbing at midnight just for three loaves of bread and as a result of it, get it even if that is silly to know that we have become empty completely not able to supply to others who have come our way.

Think about it saints, even if we have asked for our own house that three loaves, that friend would have risen up easily knowing our need, but when he realizes that it is for another friend who has come to our house, he will not even bother to provide it at midnight. But what will make that friend to rise up and give three loaves of bread at that time is the shameless persistence of the know friend and his good heart of kindness towards others. Remember saints, the Greek word for “persistence” is actually “shamelessness” (anaideia). Hallelujah!

Three loaves are the one substance of the Trinity, who give themselves in three separate persons to give life to the dead or hungry unsaved friend to become alive in Him, who is able to do it spiritually, so that supernaturally the bread of life continues to endure in them for eternity (John 6:26-27, 32-33, 34-35, 49, 58, 63; 10:30; 6:63).

Even when it is late at midnight time before the Rapture which is the secret coming of the Lord (Rom 13:11-12; Jam 5:8; Acts 16:25; 20:7; Job 34:20; Matt 25:6; Mark 13:35), people who are seeking God even at that late hour will receive salvation when someone perseveres enough to ask God to supply the eternal bread of salvation to such friend who come to them in their spiritual need (1 Tim 2:1-4). One person at a time can be saved even up to the time of rapture freely through the Church (John 20:21-23; Matt 25:9), but the hard question is, have we persisted enough to ask the Lord and get from Him heavenly manna that could save people from sin and make them a saint in an instant (Acts 2:36-39; 16:30-34; Matt 9:37-38)?

Only people who realize that they are empty to help others of their own selves, can come to God in humility asking him for three loaves of the bread of salvation, very late even at the mid-night time for a friend who is in need.

God Delays Are Not Denials, In fact It Is His Willingness That Tests Our Worthiness?

"8 I say to you, though he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will rise and give him as many as he needs."

God is amazed always at persistent faith that never lets him go, such faith carriers are so shameless enough to beg him to let His willingness be shown to others at their own cost of self-sacrifice done personally to reveal His love for them (Matt 15:28; Luke 7:9; Gal 5:6). The three loaves of bread that the friend asked the sleeping friend was not for himself, but for a visitor friend who had come to his house. God sees such sacrifice of faith, and is pleased to answer such persistent shameless demanding prayer of faith that saves, and never lets go of God's willingness to answer always at all times even when it is delayed, so that the Glory of His love for them can be testified before the whole universe for eternity! Praise the Lord!

God's delays are not denials, in fact it is His willingness that tests our worthiness to receive His answer (Luke 21:36). God always is willing to answer us, but how many of us are serious enough to claim the promises of God that are ours as God's children, and persist shamelessly to wait until we receive our answers from God (Matt 8:2; 2 Cor 1:21-22, 24)?

For those people who want to be great soul-winners, but do not have a persistent faith to shamelessly ask God to give them the three-loaves to save others of their eternal hunger and save them from sin and death for eternity cannot receive an answer from God (Jam 1:2-8). Their faith without works is useless and dead (Jam 2:26).

But those people who never let go of God's willingness, and are bold enough to dare to say to God, that I will never let you go unless you answer me for the salvation of my friend in need, even at the cost of leaving all to follow Him will receive both socially and materially from Him for the Glory of God later in this life (Mark 10:26-28). Surely they shall receive even up to a hundred fold for their faith now in this time and in the age to come eternal life of treasures in God who will reward them without fail in Glory for their faith practiced on earth (Heb 11:6; Mark 10:29-31). Hallelujah!

A casual believer cannot become a great soul-winner (John 21:18-19; 1 Tim 3:1-7), because he is just a friend of God who is not serious enough to let go of His dignity and self-respect and become shamelessly persistent before God until he answers him with the salvation of one soul at a time or many at a time because of His willingness to save them (2 Pet 3:9).

But every disciple of the Lord Jesus who bears fruit in their lives for the Glory of God by abiding in Jesus Christ and letting His words abide in them (John 15:8, 7), who consistently pay the price of denying themselves and carrying their own cross daily to follow Jesus will always become great soul winners by their shameless persistent faith that will please God and make Him to give them as many bread as he needs to collect more and more treasures in heaven (Luke 9:23-26).

GLORY TO GOD!

Have we become a disciple of Jesus Christ in our lives for the Glory of God? Are we bearing the fruits of God's character in our lives so that we could become a channel of blessing to the unsaved world in need of salvation? Are we praying shamelessly and persistently till we get the answers from God to see people saved from sin and death to receive eternal salvation faith in their lives for the Glory of God? Have we asked the bread of life from God to save others as many as we need or have very limited interest in others to be saved for eternity? Remember, faith without works is dead, may our faith be active and alive enough to save others, heal them and cause them to inherit eternal life for the Glory of God! Every soul saved through your persistent faith is a eternal testimony of treasure in Glory that will stay with you for the rest of eternity. Hallelujah!

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What Is The Real Cost Of Discipleship?

What Does It Mean To Leave All To Follow Christ?

Question: What is the real cost of discipleship? What does it mean to leave all to follow Christ?

Answer: Greetings in the most wonderful name of Jesus Christ!

"25 Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, 26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. 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. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:25-33).

Always when people come to experience the miraculous power of God and His supernatural works, "great multitudes" will always follow Him without fail to receive more of His goodness in their earthly lives for earthly benefits (John 6:26-27). But Jesus does reveal his goodness to all humans without precondition, but only to His disciples He does reveal His spiritual goodness for their eternal benefits (John 6:28-29, 40).

Nearly everyone who believes in Jesus is called to become a disciple of Jesus (John 6:66), but only those who know the price of being a disciple and in spite choose to follow him become a disciple for the Glory of God (John 6:67-69).

A disciple is student learner who learns the character of his Master by being obedient to all His commands, and become loyal enough to serve others with that same attitude of mind for the Glory of his teacher and Master. A disciple of Jesus is a worshiper, a servant, and a witness. A disciple cannot be greater than his master, but can be like his master (Matt 10:24-26)!

The True Cost Of Discipleship

A person can believe Jesus and can seek to follow Jesus, but to be a real disciple, one needs to acknowledge the Lordship and Kingship of Jesus Christ, and then forsake one's own will and instead seek to fulfill the desire, will and purpose of Jesus. So many stumble at this point of time, when they realize the huge earthly cost of being a disciple costs them (Mark 10:27-22; Matt 8:18-22; Luke 9:57-62). Being a disciple of Jesus is to die to our own will by denying it and instead take up our cross by seeking to fulfill His will for our lives and then follow Jesus (Luke 9:23).

There is a personal cost that we have to pay in order to be a true disciple of Jesus.

Certain people get confused when they read the cost of discipleship, "26 “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. 27 And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:26-27). The confusion in their heart goes to the extent of making them ask the following question, "Why does Jesus want us to hate our immediate family members?" Does Jesus teach us to hate? No, please do not misunderstand and stumble in your spiritual life. We can get better clarity regarding this verse when we read another saying of Jesus that says, "He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." (Matt 10:37).

In other words, Jesus throws a hyperbole, and says that when our love for the Lord Jesus and Master who has given for us His very own sinless life, is compared to the love we have for our biological parents and immediate family members, it should seem as though we are hating them when it is compared to the love we have for Jesus Christ. The supreme love of Jesus demands no less love in return than that highest love in response to His as a disciple. Any love that we give to Jesus in return that is lesser than that of our biological family members which is the highest for any human born on earth, is deemed as unworthy for the cost that a true disciple of Jesus has to pay.

Even if our parents or immediate family members such as our wife, children or brothers and sisters are able to make us disobey Jesus because of our love and commitment for them, it means our love for Jesus is less than the love we have for them. We are disqualified from being a disciple. So have we truly learned to hate our parents or all our biological family members? Are we carrying the cross that God has told us to lift up? Are we ready to leave our everything and follow Jesus as His disciple whole heartedly? Our cross carrying life is not an option for a disciple of Jesus, rather it is mandatory as the Lord Jesus wants them all to follow Him spiritually.

Will You Count The Cost For Building The Body Of Your Heavenly House And Be Ready For Spiritual Warfare To Overcome And Inherit Eternal Riches?

"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. 33 So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:28-33).

A lot of people have a desire to become spiritually great and glorified by God, but when it comes to paying the cost of discipleship, many many believers fall on the way because they have not fully counted the cost whether they have enough ability in their life to lose anything in their earthly life, and instead gain everything in their heavenly life that awaits them eternally? Other worldly people who see the life of a disciple without the power of God and the supernatural working of God through them will mock their lives because it will be no different or unique than the lives they as unbelievers already live on earth in their abundance, spending it according to their own lust (1 Cor 15:19).

The cost of discipleship demands all of our desires to be given completely to our Lord Jesus and instead be ready to fulfill the desires of the Lord anytime and anyplace. Only such disciples will be able to see a finished house of great value within the lifetime of their lives on earth, after which they will be judged and rewarded, after which they will be made rulers in the world to come (2 Cor 4:16-18); 5:1-8, 9-11).

Not only that, to be a disciple of Jesus also means that we as a king under the King of Kings who is Jesus have to wage a good spiritual warfare against the devil who is "the prince of the power of the air" (Eph 2:2) and also the "god of this age" (2 Cor 4:4). We learn to wrestle in our spiritual life as a disciple of Jesus by standing against principalities, powers, rulers of the darkness of this age and spiritual hosts of the wickedness in the heavenly places, through which the wiles of the devil are prevented from being executed in the life of a disciple, thus fulfilling the will of God and extend the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven (Eph 6:11-12). There are a lot to consider, especially regarding the spiritual warfare aspect, and that Satan is working constantly with much more of the evil angels against those who are half heartedly following Jesus to be a disciple of his. When the enemy is far off to attack someone spiritually, if that person is not ready for it, and honestly as a believer if he asks God for protection and peace in order to stay away from the evil attack, God sends a delegation of angels to protect his children and thus ask for peace (1 Cor 10:13; Job 1:10, 11-12; Matt 18:10-14; 26:53).

Unfinished Spiritual Buildings And Defeated Wars! Make A Turnaround For His Glory!

I have seen enough unfinished buildings and defeated armies because Of miscalculations and lethargy. So many people who have had no plan of how to finish construction were never able to finish their building. So many kings have been defeated mostly because of lack of planning to weigh the opponents strength and weaknesses as well as theirs.

In order to be a good disciple of Jesus Christ, we should first count the cost and then pay the price of giving up our own will and desires to fulfill the will of God and His desires and purpose for our lives, more and more day after day. By giving up and dying to our self, we receive the power and supernatural force of heaven which makes us alive and well to fulfill His plans, purposes and desires for our life and in the lives of countless millions around the world, and thus make us a blessing to the world around which is in need of the heavenly life of God (Php 1:21; 3:8, 10-11).

God rewards every believer according to their works (Rev 22:12), every work that is done outside of the will of God in their lives will be burnt to ashes (1 Cor 3:14-15), things that are not burnt in the judgment of God will remain as eternal rewards for the believer who has built his spiritual house for eternity by investing in it (Matt 6:19-21), these who have also waged intense spiritual warfare and have stood in the armor of God which has empowered them to stand strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Eph 6:10), will finally be eternally rewarded by God with His power, might and Glory (Php 4:19; Matt 6:4, 13; Jude 24-25)!

So the bottom line is, a life lived as a disciple of Jesus will need a forsaking of all their earthly desires in order to fulfill the will of God for their lives.

We have some hard questions to ask ourselves if we are considering ourselves as a disciple of Jesus Christ, so that we could align ourselves better in the exact path of Jesus Christ our Lord that he has prepared for us and also check ourselves to see whether our faith is active enough to rewarded eternally.

Do we love Jesus more than all our immediate biological family members like our father, mother, wife, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters? Have we forsaken all of our earthly desires to fulfill the heavenly desire of God for our life? Are we pursuing the plans, purpose and power of God to fulfill God's destiny? Are we lifting up our own cross daily by denying our will to fulfill God's will? Let us not call ourselves as disciples of Jesus by our own words, but let our actions and zeal for God make us to be called as disciples of Jesus by all people around us for the Glory of God (Acts 11:26; 4:13). May we become finished spiritual eternal palaces to the Lord, and continue to remain as undefeated victorious champion of spiritual warfare against the evil one as His disciples that strikes terror within them in the name of the Lord for His Glory! Truly we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus, because He has loved us eternally, and therefore because of it has saved us by paying the price for it by giving His own sinless life to redeem us and make us remain with Him forever and ever in His Presence. Amen.



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