Thursday, January 1, 2015

It’s Not What I Believe . . .

It’s Not What I Believe . . .

There is a story about a passenger ship that is sailing, and everyone can see a bearded man on a small island who is shouting and desperately waving his hands. One passenger asks the captain, “Who is that?” The captain responds, “I have no idea. Every year when we pass, he goes nuts.”
Lol. Oh, I know it is a silly story, but it is one you live every day. Oh? You don’t recognize it do you? Well, yesterday while you were driving down the road you saw that car on the shoulder of the road, but did you stop to help? What about that guy who was standing on the side of the road with that sign, “Will work for food.” How about that family in your neighborhood who lost their father? Did you offer any comfort to them? I think you get my point.
Oh, I realize that is rather tough, but in truth, we are ambassadors of Heaven, empowered by our Lord’s Spirit, and we need to act like it. I told a friend of mine about the time I was in the hospital, I was able to share the message of Christ, pray with a couple of the nurses — who one in fact, still receives these emails!
My friend was surprised that I would speak to so openly, but I explained that my Christian Faith is not what I believe . . . it is what I am. Some will refer to their heritage by saying, “I’m Dutch, or I’m German . . .” Me? I say, “I’m a Disciple of Jesus.” It describes who I am and how I behave. I make no apologies nor any excuses. Jesus is my Lord, my Messiah, my Redeemer — and my dear sweet friends. I call on our Father every day, and I rejoice that we are all one (see John 17).
Now every day I send out these messages in the hope you will be encouraged to change and be able to make the same claims to your identity. So, here is my invitation to start your New Year: First, call on Jesus to be your Lord and Redeemer. Secondly, allow the Spirit of Yehoveh to come alive in your life and guide you to the Truth of His Word. It is just that simple!
Once you have done that, allow the Spirit of God to move you to touch those who have needs. Ask Him to open your eyes to see the needs, and then urge you to meet them! Sometimes, that is what we need the most: an “urge,” a “nudge,” to touch those around us. So, once the Spirit of God “nudges” you, you must follow His prompts, and reach out to those in need. Yes, it may be so momentous that you sell your house and all of your belongings and move to the other side of the world. But more than likely, it will as simple as taking cookies to your neighbors who just had a baby. Be guided by our Father’s love, and what He has done in your own life.
Ooh, ooh! I felt the Spirit of God prompt me to caution you! Do NOT mistake His promptings from those “urges,” of the flesh. If you follow your flesh, it may cause you to make severe and costly mistakes. Listen to that still, small voice. I will NEVER scream or override your own will.
Nickolas
(I send out messages like this each morning in emails, and if you are interested in receiving them, send me your email address and I will add you to the list. However, you can also find these messages at: Thought For The Day)
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    "Shanghai Stampede" 36 Dead 47 Injured New Year's Eve Celebration



    Published on Jan 1, 2015
    Shanghai China a New Year's Eve celebration turns deadly http://www.paulbegleyprophecy.com also http://news.yahoo.com/35-killed-48-in...

    The “Leprosy” In Our Life

    The “Leprosy” In Our Life

    I want to discuss a pretty interesting guy. You see, the Jews have always venerated Moses above everyone except God, whereas the Church sees him as pretty much just another Bible character. Now Yahweh sure seemed to see Moses as very special because he received such impressive credentials. Moses was miraculously delivered as an infant; later YHWH gave Moses the Torah; allowed Moses to see His face; allowed Mose to perform miracles, and received the sole privilege of speaking as God. No person ever had that honor, before or after Moses, not even prophets. That is until Jesus arrived, a few thousand years later.
    What an incredible responsibility! No wonder he didn’t want the job. Moses was truly a man touched by God, supernaturally called and full of revelation about who God was. He was humble, pious, and burdened for the honor of God. He was permitted to know guidance as few other men have known as he loved God and grieved over the sins of the people.
    However, in Exodus 4:1, we discover that Moses was reluctant to trust YHWH — which is not what you would expect from a potential prophet. Or, maybe it was downright fear that was starting to show in Moses’ heart. In fact, if we look closely, we can see that Moses flat-out did not believe YHWH. Because in the last chapter, YHWH told Moses, unequivocally, that the elders and people would listen and pay attention to Moses. But Moses turns right around and says to his God, “No they won‘t.” But, because he is quite merciful, YHWH didn’t zap him with a bolt of lightning. Instead, He began to give Moses a series of proofs — that the Bible typically calls signs — of YHWH‘s ability to carry out whatever it is He ordains.
    Now YHWH gives Moses the power to bring about miracles. The power to perform miraculous signs had never been given to any man before it was given to Moses. However, we have to remember that this power wasn’t Moses’ power, it was God working through Moses. Moses didn’t become a godly magician. This was the same mysterious stuff we struggle to understand about the faithful Believer today. Whatever power we have isn’t our power, nor does it come through our minds or our flesh, in fact, it has nothing to with ourselves, it is God in us. As a result, whatever we do with these powers must first be done strictly by His will, and second by means of the power of His spirit — that person we call the Holy Spirit.
    Anyway, the first sign YHWH gave, dealt with Moses’ staff. Now understand this “staff” was nothing more than a stick, a Shepherd‘s staff, which he used while taking care of the sheep. However, YHWH was going to transform the purpose of both Moses and his staff: instead of shepherding sheep, Moses was about to shepherd the people of Israel.
    Now what is so significant about turning Moses’ staff from a piece of dead and dried-up wood, into a snake, and then back again? Well, it is no coincidence that the staff was turned into a snake because the snake was the official Egyptian symbol for royal power and authority — both religious and civil. This is confirmed when we discover all the Pharaohs wore a golden serpent symbol on their heads. The snake represented the patron cobra-goddess of Egypt.
    What this means is that while showing Moses the tremendous supernatural ability to turn a dead, dried-out piece of wood into a live animal, and back again (at His command), as a former prince of Egypt, Moses must have instantly recognized the symbolism of the serpent. Through YHWH’s power, Moses was about to overcome Egypt, whose very symbol was a serpent and that Old Serpent, Satan himself, who guided Egypt. A simple Shepherd was going grab the serpent, Egypt, by its tail and shake it. And it is not coincidental that Moses’ snake, devoured the snakes that the magicians created.
    The second sign, which I wanted to focus on, is a little more straightforward. Moses was told to stick his clean hand into his garment, and it became diseased — defiled. Then Moses put the defiled hand back into his garment and it became clean!
    Now catch what this is saying. this sign was as much directly related to Israel, in the same way, the first sign with the staff directly related to Egypt. YHWH‘s chosen people began pure, and then the Lord allowed them to become impure. But, He is able to redeem anyone. He can take the most defiled person (or nation), and purify them.
    When Moses removed his hand the first time, the skin disease that had instantaneously consumed his hand, was not Leprosy. Yeah, I realize that most translations call it that, but the Hebrew word is Tzara’at. We are not sure what the disease was in medical terms, but the Hebrews considered it not only ugly and contagious but as an outward sign of the infected person‘s inward spiritual condition. In other words, a person with Tzara’at was seen as being disciplined or cursed from God. What I mean is that Moses’ diseased hand represented Israel‘s (and Moses’) inward spiritual condition. Just as important, When YHWH removed the Tzara‘at from Moses‘ hand, it was saying that He was able to, and going to, purify Israel (and Moses) from all their defilement.
    What amazes me in this episode, Moses never knew about the “leprosy” in his own heart. Yahweh said to him, “Put your hand inside your shirt.” So Moses did this, and when he took his hand out, it had a skin disease. It looked as flaky as snow.” (Exodus 4:6).
    That has got to shake someone up! I mean to stick your hand in your coat and when you remove it and you see it covered all flaky as snow, is rather sobering! What an object lesson on the utter depravity of the flesh. Was God indulging in a little magic with Moses? No! It was a powerful lesson the man of God had to learn. It was Yahweh’s way of saying to his man, “When self is in control, you end up hurting people and bringing reproach on my work. When you attempt to do my work in spectacular, fleshly ways, you minister death, not life.”
    The Lord was declaring, “I cannot use that old nature from Egypt — it cannot be transformed, it will always be leprous. There must be a new man; one who is caught up in the glory and power of the I AM!”
    Moses was commanded to put his leprous hand back into his cloak. “. . . when he took it out this time, it was healthy again like the rest of his body” (Exodus 4:7).
    Stretching out the hand represents our ministry. And what is leprosy, but sin? Hidden, unexposed, unforsaken sin! So what happens when a man of God gets on holy ground? His inner soul is exposed. His deepest, hidden sins are brought to light before his eyes, and he is driven to the tender mercies of Christ for healing and restoration!
    I’ll tell you what, we better thank our God for that second, sanctifying touch! That cleansing moment, when by faith, the old flesh is crucified, and the hand of ministry is purified — when we are once again clothed in the proper flesh — His flesh. Thank Him that we can rejoice in the cleansing by the precious blood of Christ.
    Nickolas
    (I send out messages like this each morning in emails, and if you are interested in receiving them, send me your email address and I will add you to the list. However, you can also find these messages at: Thought For The Day)
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      Wicked 'Supernatural' Gift Among 2014's Christmas Sell-Out Items

      Wicked 'Supernatural' Gift Among 2014's Christmas Sell-Out Items
      Ouija boards were one the top sell-out gifts this Christmas.
      The spiritual world is beyond our physical senses. (Nimish Gogri/Flickr)
      When my friend told me that ouija boards were going to be this Christmas' sell-out item my initial reaction was that this was another "urban myth" best treated with a healthy dose of skepticism. Who, in an age of the Internet, online gaming, Facebook and 3-D televisions would want to move a pointer around on a board in the hope of getting messages from the spirit world? The astonishing answer is, quite a lot of people!
      The story turns out to be true. Promoted by an apparently truly dreadful film (sponsored by Hasbro, the toy firm that holds the rights to ouija boards), sales of the £20+ boards have gone through the roof. And it's not just me who is mystified. As Simon Osborne wrote in the Independent, "What better time to talk to dead people for fun than the festival to celebrate the birth of Jesus?"
      Three observations. First, this is yet another phenomenon reminding us that, for all the bold claims of the new atheism that the world is moving into an age of rational thought in which every form of the supernatural is rejected, the reality "on the ground" is very different. The hunger for the supernatural, the paranormal and the mystical remains intense and almost universal. Indeed, it seems as if the more a "universe without God" is talked up, the more people flock to the supernatural. If atheism is true, then it's very odd that no one seems to follow it.
      Second, a ouija board is not, in any way, a game. Let's be honest. To use it is to seek to contact spirits, whether of the dead or of any other sort. Here it is worth stating that the Bible is clear that there is a spiritual world beyond our physical senses; it contains both good and evil forces and we are not to seek to communicate with either for news of the future or for any other purpose. Good spirits are off limits because we are commanded to pray to the God whom they serve, and bad spirits are forbidden because they always seek to deceive and harm us. 
      Some relevant Bible verses include Leviticus 19:31 ("Do not turn to spirits through mediums or necromancers. Do not seek after them to be defiled by them: I am the Lord your God.") and Deuteronomy 18:10-12 ("There must not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or who uses divination, or uses witchcraft, or an interpreter of omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts spells, or a spiritualist, or an occultist, or a necromancer. For all that do these things are an abomination to the Lord, and because of these abominations the Lord your God will drive them out from before you."). It's not just the Bible that is negative either. Every minister I have ever talked to on the subject has been able to tell me of people they know personally whose lives have been very negatively affected by using (I refuse to use playing with) a ouija board.
      It is my view, and it is shared not just by other Christians but by many other people, that evil spiritual forces do exist. To use a ouija board or anything similar is rather like sneaking into a zoo and unlocking cages at random. You may get far more than you bargained for. Ouija boards are potentially dangerous things.
      Thirdly, there are only two interpretations of what goes on when people use a ouija board. The first is that any movement of the pointer is purely a subconscious psychological effect of those involved and the whole exercise is worthless. (Interestingly enough, one of the first people to demonstrate that this kind of claimed 'supernatural' motion had a purely human origin was the 19th-century scientist and devout Christian, Michael Faraday.) In that case, the purchase of any ouija board is a complete and total waste of money.
      The second interpretation is that use of a ouija board can result in contact being made with harmful forces or individuals "out there," in which case its possession or use is appallingly dangerous. In either case, they are to be avoided. The word ouija is often claimed to originate from a merger of the French and German words for "yes"; everybody would be far wiser simply to say "no." 
      What if you have one of these boards? I'd take a tip from Acts 19:19, which says, "Many who practiced magic brought their books together and burned them before everyone." If you have a ouija board, then I think only serious question you face is this: Where am I going to burn it?

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