Amazing Grace of the New Testament

Grace, Grace to the Mountains

In the Old Testament times, the key word that was used often is 'mercy', which means God's forgiveness for all our sins which deserves only God's wrath. God's forgiveness in itself is great because it frees us from guilt and condemnation but it does not give us the power to overcome sin. Even when the word 'grace' is used in the Old Testament, it meant not God's overcoming power but a goodness and benevolence of God to His people.

The Law came through Moses (John 1:16). In the Old Testament once the people realised that they have sinned, they will bring a sin offering of bulls and goats to the anointed priest in order to lay their hands on it and transfer their sin upon it, and then kill and sprinkle its blood on the horns of the altar [i.e. which was situated on the outer court], and pour all the remaining blood at the base of the altar (Lev 4:27-35). And also once a year the High Priest will sprinkle the blood of bulls and goats upon the mercy-seat in the same way, and before the mercy-seat for the atonement of the soul of himself, his household and for all the assembly of Israel (Heb 9:22; Lev 4; 16:15, 17; 17:11). The mercy seat was the golden top cover which was placed upon the ark of the Testimony in the Most Holy place (Exod 26:34; 25:17), upon which the very Presence and glory of God stayed literally (Exod 25:17). God promised to speak to Moses from above the mercy seat where He tangibly dwelt from between the two cherubim (Exod 25:22). God had also promised these Israelites that all their sins will be temporarily covered for the bygone year when blood is sprinkled on the mercy seat. God had promised to forgive their sins when they would reverently approach him for His mercy and atonement through the blood sacrifice of animals which reminded them the value of God's forgiveness and His hate towards all sins (Heb 9:13). Through the Law God restrained people from sin and wanted them to realise that they were desperate sinners in need of a Savior, so that by their faith in the coming Messiah they could be saved in their future (Gal 3:19, 22-23).

The maximum the Law and the prophets could promise was the forgiveness of sins, but no more than that. No Old Testment Prophets could ever promise a victory over sin. But thank God something amazing happened when Jesus incarnated to become one among us humans. Jesus who owns all the good things of heaven legally, started to disperse it as the grace of God's blessing upon blessing to everyone who believed Him and started to ask Him for more and more (John 1:16; Matt 7:7-12). The very key word of the New Testament is 'grace'. The acronym for grace at best can be desribed as 'God's Riches At Christ's Expense' (2 Cor 8:9). Once Jesus began to give His grace to over come sin, Paul made a magnificent statement of promise under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit saying, "For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace." (Rom 6:14). In other words, no matter how sin tries to pull you down spiritually and intimidate you to make you believe that you can never overcome its wicked hold, once you ask Jesus humbly and persistently for more grace, sin will immediately have to loosen itself and run away from you because of the mighty power of God that will begin to be released to you and through you (Jam 4:6-7). The word of God says that when you submit to God and resist the devil, he will flee from you. To submit to God is to agree that as a sinner made righteous by God's mercies, we do not have the power to overcome its lure in our lives and that only God can help us overcome it. To resist the devil is to speak the word of faith against Satan and his demonic cohorts that will make them flee away from us (Rom 10:10; Matt 4:3-4, 11; Rev 12:11). The thoughts that cause us to do the sinful actions usually comes from the wrong root of the sinful heart inside us, so the root will be dealt by God when we start to cooperate with God to overcome sin in our lives (2 Cor 10:3-6). The Prophet Zechariah by inspiration cried out to declare that all our mountains of problems that stand unmoved before us will become plain when we say with our mouth, "Grace, Grace to it!" (Zech 4:7). This grace is received and spoken to victory only in the name of Jesus who is described by the prophet Zechariah as the capstone (Matt 21:42). Jesus was the stone rejected by men but approved by God to build the great house of God in and through the very physical body of believer's world wide for God to dwell in them through the Spirit (2 Cor 6:16; Eph 2:22).

Now as believers under the new covenant, we do not have a physical mercy seat but the one that is originally in heaven which is called as "the throne of grace", where we not only obtain mercy of forgiveness for our sins but find grace to overcome sin at the time of need in the midst of our temptation when we come confidently by faith (Heb 4:16). Our temple is now in heaven where God resides and speaks to us in our spirit-man inside us (Heb 12:22, 25). Because of Jesus taking his own blood once and for all time on our behalf and have sprinkled it in heaven's original tabernacle, we have been now given a direct access to the throne of God in heaven through our spirit-man (Heb 9:12, 24). Now as we confess our day today sins to Jesus Christ our High Priest who represents us before God, we are forgiven by the blood of Christ and our conscience is cleansed without spot from dead works to serve the living God (Heb 9:14; 4:14)

Praise the Lord! "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh"...[so that] "now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life [which is God's heavenly life experienced beforehand on earth itself]." (Rom 8:3; 6:22). I pray that our Lord might enlarge our inner spirit man to not only understand this beautiful theme of overcoming life over sin but also help us receive the grace to reign over sin in this life as He has promised to us (Rom 5:17).

"A man can no more take in a supply of grace for the future than he can eat enough for the next six months, or take sufficient air into his lungs at one time to sustain life for a week. We must draw upon God's boundless store of grace from day to day as we need it." — Dwight Lyman Moody

★·.·´¯`·.·★[ www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com ] ★·.·´¯`·.·★

Live Now or Never

Graced With A Present

Each day is a new day that God gives us everyday of our life. There is nothing new in appearance under the sun, whatever has happened will happen again according to the set plan of God (Eccl 1:4-11). But what makes each day special is the new mercies that comes brand new each day from the throne of God (Lam 3:22-23).

As each new day comes, new needs arises. We face tempations, trials and sorrows that need to be met supernaturally by God. Or else we will soon sulk in dissappointment beneath a heavy heart. So the writer to the Hebrews says in the Bible, "Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace (the throne of God's unmerited favor to us sinners), that we may receive mercy [for our failures] and find grace to help [us overcome] in good time for every need [appropriate help and well-timed help, coming just when we need it]." (Heb 4:16, AMP).

For each new day the challenges we face can only be met when we confidently and boldly approach God's throne by faith through the completed work of Jesus. The moment we call God as "Abba Father in Heaven...." he will respond without fail in the present time if we come to Him in faith by the qualifications given to us through Jesus.

The greatest enemy to make us deny this beautiful relationsip with God which rejuvenates and restores our soul is when we fail to thrown away our guilty, shameful and condeming thoughts that comes from our past experience under the blood of Jesus through faith and give our worries about our uncertain future to God. The soul is at its best state when it is neither weighed with the past nor is shaken by uncertainties of our future life, but is firmly grounded in the gift of God's present time.

The past is a good place to visit to learn our lessons, but it is not a right place to pitch our tent and live there. The future stares at us when we strain to see the past without realising that we are made not to look back but just give a half glance and look forward. When you look upfront, you are ready to walk now and keep moving to a place where you have not seen yet. When your feet are grounded now in God's present time, you will realise that your future may be a mystery but it will surely be solved supernaturally as you have already started unwrapping the present God has graciously given to you.

Why don't you choose to make a difference in your life by saying this prayer with me to the God of your life, "Dear God, I have been weighed down by my past and have been shaken like a reed thinking about my uncertain future all these past days. I have not lived to enjoy your abundant life that you freely give to those who ask for it. From today I choose to give to you all my past and future to walk from now on in the present time moment by moment. Help me enjoy every moment of my life day today through Your Presence which multiplies the forgiveness of your mercy and the overcoming power of your grace. I will look up and be satisfied each morning when I wake up renewed in your image and light. Help me be thankful and to praise you all the days of my life for what you have done for me in my life. Bless you and ask you in Jesus name I pray! Amen!"

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

╰☆╮¤°.¸¸.·´¯`»® www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com ®«´¯`·.¸¸.°¤╰☆╮

Talk The Walk

A Living Bible

His name is Tim. He has wild hair, wears a T-shirt with holes in it, jeans, and an ugly old shoes. This was literally his wardrobe for his entire four years of college.

He is brilliant. Kind of profound and very, very bright. He became a Christian while attending college.

Across the street from the campus is a well-dressed, very conservative church.. They want to develop a ministry to the students but are not sure how to go about it..

One day Tim decides to go there. He walks in with informal shoes, jeans, his T-shirt, and wild hair. The service has already started and so Tim starts down the aisle looking for a seat.

The church is completely packed and he can’t find a seat. By now, people are really looking a bit uncomfortable, but no one says anything.

Tim gets closer and closer and closer to the pulpit, and when he realizes there are no seats, he just squats down right on the carpet.

By now the people are really uptight, and the tension in the air is thick.

About this time, the minister realizes that from way at the back of the church, a deacon is slowly making his way toward Tim.

Now the deacon is in his eighties, has silver-gray hair, and a three-piece suit. A godly man, very elegant, very dignified, very courtly. He walks with a cane and, as he starts walking toward this boy, everyone is saying to themselves that you can’t blame him for what he’s going to do.

How can you expect a man of his age and of his background to understand some college kid on the floor?

It takes a long time for the man to reach the boy.

The church is utterly silent except for the clicking of the man’s cane. All eyes are focused on him. You can’t even hear anyone breathing. The minister can’t even preach the sermon until the deacon does what he has to do.

And now they see this elderly man drop his cane on the floor. With great difficulty, he lowers himself and sits down next to Tim and worships with him so he won’t be alone.

Everyone chokes up with emotion…

When the minister gains control, he says, ‘What I’m about to preach, you will never remember. What you have just seen, you will never forget.’

‘Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some people will ever read!’

••¤(`×[¤([ www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com ] )¤]×´)¤••

Live Big and Die Empty

Live Rich and Die Rich, With Riches Stored Out of this World

The businessman was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The businessman complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them. The Mexican replied only a little while.

The businessman then asked why he didn't stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family's immediate needs. The businessman then asked, but what do you do with the rest of your time? The Mexican fisherman said, "I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take a siesta with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine and play guitar with my amigos; I have a full and busy life, señor."

The businessman scoffed, "I am a Harvard MBA and I could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat you could buy several boats; eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman, you would sell directly to the processor and eventually open your own cannery. You would control the product, processing and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City where you would run your expanding enterprise."

The Mexican fisherman asked, "But señor, how long will this all take?" To which the businessman replied, "15-20 years." "But what then, señor?" The businessman laughed and said, "That's the best part! When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions." "Millions, señor? Then what?" The businessman said, "Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take a siesta with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos."

The fisherman, still smiling, looked up and said, "Isn't that what I'm doing right now?"

What can we learn from this beautiful story? When our life is all about acquiring material things so that that we believe that at the end of of our life we will be able to enjoy it, we have actually become fools deceived by the philosophy of the world. The educated world runs on the basis of the motto, "The person with the most toys wins." This is the reason the buisness man was telling this content fisherman to get in to the deathly and coveteous drive of acquiring more and more things of the world. Greed has a cousin named as 'the grave'. Both of it never ever chooses to say, 'it is enough and we are satisfied.' Both these personalities are hellish in their pursuit. The humans who get caught in snare of these two hellish personalities of greed and grave will only stop their journey of greed unto grave when they finally end up in hell fire.

Jesus spoke nearly the same lines in the following parable usually called 'The Parable of the Rich Fool' in the Bible. Here is what Jesus said, "15 ..., “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.”’ 20 But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”" (Luke 12:15-20).

Dear people of God, we must understand that our life does not consist in the abundance of the things we posses. In other words, even though we have all the things of this world at our disposal, if God is not pleased with our life and does not give the power to enjoy life, then all the possessions at our disposal are as equal to as having nothing at all (Eccl 6:2-3). God has clearly said that a coveteousness man who is materialistic in his pursuit will never be satisfied with his wealth and will long for more and more of it (Eccl 5:10). Unless God satisfies a man's soul with His goodness, he will never be able to enjoy it. This is why the word of God agrees with the wisdom of the mexican fisherman and says, "12 ...there is nothing better than to be happy and enjoy ourselves as long as we can. 13 And people should eat and drink and enjoy the fruits of their labor, for these are gifts from God." (Eccl 3:12-13, NLT).

In short, if our goal in life is to please God and walk in His ways, whether we have much or little, God will empower us to have a heavenly contentment and enjoy this life fully. He will fill our God-thirsting soul with His goodness and will make it to be like a watered garden that never goes dry even during the drought (Psa 107:9; Isa 58:11). We can now choose to live rich in contentment and die empty, at the same time we should also choose to die with riches accumulated out of this world by spending our life doing God's will on earth. We do not have the sovereign rights to move our riches out of this world because we have brought nothing in to the world and will not take out anything away from this world (1 Tim 6:7).

Live in the present of God's gift. Living in the past will sap your life out of you, living in the future will blow your mind off with doubt and worries, but the best way to live life is to enjoy the abundant life that God gives through Jesus moment by moment as we depend on Him and live our life by faith. This is why godliness with contentment is a great gain, contentment without godliness is also a gain but with out the eternal dividends and benefits of a accumulated rich life everafter our earthly one (1 Tim 6:6). But make sure your richness in life is based on your attitude and passion to please God and live a blessed life under the shadow of his wings. It is better to be a poor man and live richly than to be a rich man and live poorly.

"A poor man with Jesus is the richest person in this world and a rich man without Jesus is the poorest person in this world" — Abraham Israel

•°o.O( www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com )O.o°•

Smile! Jesus Loves You!

Don't Wait Till The Last Minute

Å℘◎ṧṫℴℓḯ¢ Ħüмøüґ : A minister waited in line to have his car filled with gas just before a long holiday weekend.

The attendant worked quickly, but there were many cars ahead of him. Finally, the attendant motioned him toward a vacant pump.

"Reverend," said the young man, "I'm so sorry about the delay. It seems as if everyone waits until the last minute to get ready for a long trip."

The minister chuckled, "I know what you mean. It's the same in my business!"

Moral : Don't wait to get saved until the end of your life, it may become too late for you to reach your right destination. You may end up in the wrong place, when you wind up your earthly life without the spiritual petrol of the Holy Spirit's presence which is the guarantee seal of our salvation that will surely take you to heaven. By the time your turn comes to leave this earth, you may have to leave everything except whatever riches you have already stored up in heaven. So use your time and money wisely to collect eternal riches in heaven where the holiday never ends. ♏υḉн ℬℓεṧ﹩ḯᾔ❡ṧ▣▣▪▪▪▣


•°¤*(¯`°(☺)(( [ www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com ] ))(☺)°´¯)*¤°•

The Loving Mother And A Boyish Son

Love Works For No Wages

A little boy came up to his mother in the kitchen one evening while she was fixing supper, and handed her a piece of paper that he had been writing on.

After his Mom dried her hands on an apron, she read it, and this is what it said:

For cutting the grass: 35/-

For cleaning up my room this week: 25/-

For going to the store for you: 10/-

Baby-sitting my kid brother while you went shopping: 10/-

Taking out the garbage: 35/-

For getting a good report card: 25/-

For cleaning up and raking the yard: 10/-

Total owed: 150/-

Well, his mother looked at him standing there, and the boy could see the memories flashing through her mind.

She picked up the pen, turned over the paper he’d written on, and this is what she wrote:

For the nine months I carried you while you were growing inside me:

No Charge

For all the nights that I’ve sat up with you, doctored and prayed for you:

No Charge

For all the trying times, and all the tears that you’ve caused through the years:

No Charge

For all the nights that were filled with dread, and for the worries I knew were ahead:

No Charge

For the toys, food, clothes, and even wiping your nose:

No Charge

Son, when you add it up, the cost of my love is:

No Charge.

When the boy finished reading what his mother had written, there were big tears in his eyes. And he looked straight at his mother and said, “Mom, I sure do love you.” And then his mother took the pen and in great big letters she wrote: “PAID IN FULL” and embraced her little boy with a kiss on his cheek.

What can we learn from this beautiful story? We as the sons and daughters of God, many a times boyishly demand God to pay the wages and bless us for the little work we do for God. We begin to show him our list of what we have done for Him and put our own self estimated price for each individual work, and finally add it all up to show God a grand total of how much we have done for Him to pay us. God in His love toward us many times chooses to write on the back side of the list our debt and show to us of how much we owe Him because of our past, present and future sins.

Then in a smiling way, he starts to shows us of our sins one after another and at the bottom of each sin He writes "No Charge". At the end of it all, with tears in our eyes we begin to realise how much God loved us unconditionally and has forgiven us of our debt for all of our sins, even though we owed a lot of debt which we could never be able to pay off to Him, even if we try to work our whole life for Him as bond servant. Then God takes a pen and writes on the bottom of our account "PAID IN FULL" and shows us the promise that He has already forgiven our sins and the full payment He made for us through His only begotten Son Jesus Christ in His Love Letter named as the Bible.

In the Bible when Jesus died for our sins, He cried out at last, "PAID IN FULL" and he gave up His spirit to God (John 19:30). As a sign of confirmation for our justification, God raised Jesus from the dead and have promised to us who have believed Him that we have become now His adopted sons through Jesus Christ our Lord (1 Cor 15:17; John 1:12). We who have realised God's awesome love now look straight in to the eyes of God with confidence to say, "Dear Heavenly Dad, I sure do love you.” Then as usual our God with great love He embraces us and kisses us from the recesses of our hearts and will say, "As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; and you shall be comforted in [the spiritual] Jerusalem [of your inner spirit-man, the place where My Presence and Glory dwells]." (Isa 66:13). I really praise God for teaching us the value of His love and our loving response of gratitude which He expects from our hearts voluntarily! Praise the Lord!

¤♥¤Oº°‘¨☜♥☞¤[ www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com ] ¤☜♥☞¨‘°ºO¤♥¤

Bible Arithmetic

Åρ☺ṧ☂◎ℓї¢ ℐᾔ﹩℘ḯґαт☤☺η :

What is the shortest chapter in the Bible? (Answer - Psalms 117)

What is the longest chapter in the Bible? (Answer - Psalms 119)

Which chapter is in the center of the Bible (Answer - Psalms 118)

Fact: There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118

Fact: There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118

Add these numbers up and you get 1188

What is the center verse in the Bible? (Answer - Psalms 118:8)

"It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man." (Psalms 118:8, NKJV).

Message : God expects us to trust in Him through His Word and not just settle with trusting the man/woman who draws our attention for their excellence or great words of promise. Man's words are not infalliable and so cannot be trusted for eternal saftey and security. So choose whom you will trust today? I pray that you might trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. When you do this, surely God will direct your path with His very own eyes.

Be Wise and Stay Rich With Contentment!

The Rich Son and His Poor Dad

One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people live.

They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.

On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?"

"It was great, Dad." the son replied.

"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.

"Oh yeah," said the son.

"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.

The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them."

The boy's father was speechless.

Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."

What do we learn from this short story? The son of the rich man understood what his dad had never learnt in his entire life. It is not how much we have that matters most in life, it is how content we are with what we have that truly makes a person to be rich in this short pilgrimage that God has gifted each one of us in life. A person can be rich on the outside and can be so prideful about it that God might see him as a poor fool and give him no contentment in the heart. His security will be his riches and on the day he loses it, he will have nothing in life to live for and die for. Most rich men who have trusted in their wealth, killed themselves when they lost it. They saw no purpose for their life without their riches.

But even a poor man can be blessed by God spiritually in such a way that he could live a very content life with whatever he has. This is the reason the Bibe says, "The rich and the poor have this in common, the LORD is the maker of them all." (Prov 22:2). In other words, no matter how rich or a poor a person is, the real riches to enjoy the light of life is given by the same God who rules righteously over both the rich as well as the poor (Prov 29:13).

So from now on begin to see each day as a priceless and the most valuable gift from God. Thank God for the life that he has given for you to enjoy. Just see things as they are rather than comparing it with who you are. Comparision makes you poor, but gratefulness to God makes you content and rich to enjoy life as they are. Don't wish that life would have been better if it was what you wanted it to be, rather thank God that it is as God has planned it to be. Whether you are poor or rich doesn't make a much of a difference to God, he will bless you greatly if your heart attitude is full of gratitude towards Him for His indescribable gift named life given to you freely. God sees people's heart attitude and blesses them according to it. If you have been wise enough to humbly accept your life as it is and thank God for it, truly God will make you a blessing to the world around you. Who knows, you might become a wise father to a little wise son of yours in the future, and become a blessed family together to the world around you.

♏ü¢н ℬʟℯ﹩﹩їᾔ❡﹩......

—(••÷[( www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com )]÷••)—

Together The Weak Thrive, But Apart They Perish

Fable of the Porcupine

It was the coldest winter ever. Many animals died because of the cold.

The porcupines, realizing the situation, decided to group together to keep warm. This way they covered and protected themselves; but the quills of each one wounded their closest companions.

After awhile, they decided to distance themselves one from the other and they began to die, alone and frozen. So they had to make a choice: either endure the pricks of their companions or disappear from the Earth.

Wisely, they decided to go back to being together. They learned to live with the little wounds caused by the close relationship with their companions in order to receive the heat that came from the others. This way they were able to survive.

The best relationship is not the one that brings together perfect people, but when each individual learns to live with the imperfections of others and can admire the other person's good qualities.

It is not just Christians, but this happens even in the family settings as time goes by when we are not able to adjust with the difference of opinion, liking and the personality of one's spouse. So I believe the grace of God is like a supernatural glue that can keep the family, believers, brothers and sisters, Christians and colleagues together wherever God has placed us. But we need to take a decision to stick together by inculcating this type of mindset in us that will make God to work in our lives.

May God help us to bear each other's weakness and at the same time cherish and encourage the other person's strength. Remember, together we thrive but apart we perish.

Much Love and Blessings of the †,

Abraham Israel 

«-•·.·´¯`·.·•雪[ www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com ] 雪•·.·´¯`·.·•-»

Focus on Jesus Always

The Puzzle

A father wanted to read a magazine but was being bothered by his little daughter, Kelly. Finally, he tore a sheet out of his magazine on which was printed the map of the World.

Then tearing it into small pieces, he gave it to Kelly, and said, "Go into the other room and see if you can put this together." He was sure that would keep her busy all afternoon!

After only a few minutes, Kelly returned and handed him the map, correctly fitted together. The father was surprised and asked how she had finished so quickly.

"Oh," she said, on the other side of the paper is a picture of Jesus. When I got all of Jesus back where He belonged, then the World came together.....

What can we learn from this short story? First of childrens are smarter than we think, they would love to have our attention. We must not be frustrated to engage them in the wonderful work of teaching Jesus to them. Susanna Wesley said to her absent husband, “I am a woman, but I am also the mistress of a large family. And though the superior charge of the souls contained in it lies upon you, yet in your long absence I cannot but look upon every soul you leave under my charge as a talent committed to me under a trust. I am not a man nor a minister, yet as a mother and a mistress I felt I ought to do more than I had yet done. I resolved to begin with my own children; in which I observe, the following method: I take such a proportion of time as I can spare every night to discourse with each child apart. On Monday I talk with Molly, on Tuesday with Hetty, Wednesday with Nancy, Thursday with Jacky, Friday with Patty, Saturday with Charles.” As a result we all know how God used all her children, especially John and Charles Wesley to be a blessing to the whole world. For each day of the week she set a time to spend time with each child of her own. During these hours she would get to them know them as an individual and wanted to teach them about the Lord and make sure they were growing in their faith.

What ever we do to them in their young age will make them who they will be in the future. A superb tamil proverb says like this, "If you cannot bend at 5 years, then you cannot surely bend at 50 years." What does the Bible say about this, "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it." (Prov 22:6). We must train up our children by the way of being a living example to them.

The other point we can learn from this story is, when we try to derive our meaning in life based on our fleshly relationship of family, friends and acquaintances, our life will be torn in to pieces when they get frustrated and do not understand what we expect of them. But when we focus on to Jesus and bring Him as the central focus of our lives, all the world will come together with a rich meaning which our parents, kith and kin will not be able to provide individually to us. When they see how blessed our life is, they too will start to focus and trust on Jesus individually. Then we will become blessed to be a blessing.

MAY OUR FOCUS ALWAYS BE ON JESUS!

♏υ¢ℌ ℬℓεṧṧḯᾔℊṧ▣▣▣▣▣

«-•·.·´¯`·.·•雪[ www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com ] 雪•·.·´¯`·.·•-»

Faith Walk Cannot Lose

God is a Rewarder!!!

"But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him."(Hebrews 11:6, NKJV).

God is a rewarder, His very heart beats to reward His children who trust in Him. We cannot follow the Lord without being rewarded for our devotion, sacrifice and piety. How can someone lose and do great sacrifice to the God who rewards the sacrificer more than he could ever imagine to gain through his own ability. It is a joke when people say that I have sacrificed greatly for the Lord with a frowning look of something lost. I believe that these people have done their so called great sacrifices as a philanthropist without faith in their heart, which will never please God for a million years. The so called religious doctrine of asceticism in Christianity is devil's substitute to God's very character of being a rewarder. You either believe He is and He is a rewarder or do your own religious work of philanthropy that God never accepts even though it is done before man in God's name.

We lose really only when we sacrifice something that we cannot gain. Those who live by faith are the most joyful people on earth because in God we sacrifice only those things which we cannot lose. This includes our materials, body and life itself. It is returned back pressed down, shaken together and overflowing back from the God who says, 'My heart beats to reward my faithful children always. It is imbibed in my soul. I enjoy rewarding my children.'

May God help us all to live by faith and get rewarded for all eternity ahead. God is the richest person in this universe and reveals it only to those who keep trusting in His benevolent character by faith that originates from His word. May we read the word of God and meditate in it enough to always keep our heart saturated with the faith that comes from heaven's throne. Jesus walked on this earth by faith and pleased God perfectly. He never frowned, fretted and fumed about the Sacrifice he did while on earth because he looked forward to the benevolent rewarding Character of God as something to be trusted.

Here is what the Bible says of what motivated Jesus while facing hardship while doing the will of God, "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 12:2). WHEN WE LOOK TO THE FUTURE REWARD THAT GOD GIVES AS A MOTIVATION, OUR PRESENT HARDSHIP BECOMES JOYOUS TO CARRY BECAUSE WE WILL BEGIN TO REALIZE THAT ALL THE SACRIFICES WE MAKE FOR GOD HAS A MEANING AND GREAT REWARD IN HIM AT THE END. God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have done and are doing by ministering to the saints (Heb 6:10). In due time your reward will come to you if you continue in faith (Heb 10:35). Let us look to Jesus and walk like Jesus to bring a radical change to the world that is longing for meaning, purpose and joy in this life!

“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” — Saint Augustine (Ancient Roman Christian Theologian and Bishop of Hippo from 396 to 430. One of the Latin Fathers of the Church. 354-430)

MucH BLesSIngS....

•÷±‡±( www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com )±‡±÷

Smile Jesus Loves You!

Jesus is Watching

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables, and when he picked up a CD player to place in his sack, a strange, disembodied voice echoed from the dark saying, "Jesus is watching you."

He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off, and froze. When he heard nothing more after a bit, he shook his head, promised himself a vacation after the next big score, then clicked the light on and began searching for more valuables. Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard, "Jesus is watching you."

Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice. Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.

"Did you say that?" he hissed at the parrot. "Yep," the parrot confessed, then squawked, "I'm just trying to warn you." The burglar relaxed. "Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?" "Moses," replied the bird. "Moses?" the burglar laughed... "What kind of people would name a bird Moses?" "The kind of people that would name a Rottweiler Jesus."

♏υ¢♄ ℬʟℯ﹩ṧїℊᾔ﹩▣▣▣

╰☆╮¤°.¸¸.·´¯`»® www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com ®«´¯`·.¸¸.°¤╰☆╮

Apostolic Inspiration

Åρ☺ṧ☂◎ℓї¢ ℐᾔ﹩℘ḯґαт☤☺η :

♥------[]------ ♥ † Tʜᴇ ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ Cʀᴏss † ♥
♥--[][][][][]-- ♥ is foolishness ♥
♥------[]------ ♥ to those who are perishing, ♥
♥------[]------ ♥ but to us who are being saved ♥
♥------[]------ ♥ Iᴛ ɪs ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏᴡᴇʀ ᴏғ Gᴏᴅ (1 Cor 1:18). ♥

♥ The true essence of the message of the Cross to us is that we have received the forgiveness of sins because Jesus was born as the Son of God, lived a sinless life, died on the Cross as a substitute before God, rose up to justify us before God and finally give us His very own power of the resurrection life to overcome sin, sickness and death and glorify God in our daily lives. Never forget, it is done all because of His unconditional and unceasing love towards us who were actually enemies by birth because of our sin nature within us, but now in Christ Jesus we have been adopted as His children. May the power of the Cross be availed daily for our soul to prosper spiritually! Mᴜᴄʜ Bʟᴇssɪɴɢs.... ♥Abi

Intimacy With God

The Empty Chair

A man's daughter had asked the parish priest to come and pray with her father. When the priest arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows. An empty chair sat beside his bed. The priest assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit.

"I guess you were expecting me," he said.

"No, who are you?" said the father.

The priest told him his name and then remarked, "I see the empty chair; I figured you knew I was going to show up."

"Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?" Puzzled, the priest shut the door.

"I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man. "But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer, but it went right over my head.

"I abandoned any attempt at prayer, until one day about four years ago my best friend said to me, 'Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus. Here is what I suggest: Sit down in a chair and place an empty chair in front of you. In faith see Jesus in that chair. It's not spooky because he promised: 'I'll be with you always.' Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me right now.' "So I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day. I'm careful though. If my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown or send me off to the funny farm."

The priest was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey. Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the priest that her daddy had died that afternoon.

"Did he die in peace?" he asked.

"Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me on the cheek. When I got back from the store an hour later, I found him dead. But there was something strange about his death. Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head in the chair beside the bed. What do you make of that?"

The priest wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I wish we could all go like that."

May the prayer of our heart to our dear God be to die on His loving lap which has comforted us all the days of our earthly journey. May we intimately be one in heart with Jesus privately now so that even in our death we may be joyful enough to be one with Him publicly and be a blessing to someone.

♏υ¢♄ ℬʟℯ﹩ṧїℊᾔ﹩▣▣▣

||¯|_|¯|_([ www.apostolicrevelation.blogspot.com ] )_|¯|_|¯||