Learning To Trust And Obey

Now if thou shalt kill all this people as one man, then the nations . . . will speak, saying, Because the Lord was not able to bring this people into the land . . . therefore he hath slain them in the wilderness.

Num_14:15-16.

The Lord had fulfilled the word that He spoke to Abraham when He declared that after the children of Israel had been in bondage four hundred years, He would deliver them. . . . Yet here, on the border of the Promised Land, they dishonored Him by giving way to unbelief.

We shall be brought into strait places, but we do not want to wait until then before we learn to trust and obey. Now, just now, is our day of opportunity and privilege. When the light of truth is shining upon us, we are to learn the lesson. Let us plead with God to give us a true conception of His character and a willingness to obey Him.

We are to stand in the strength and power of Israel’s God. Shall we do it, brethren and sisters? Or shall we murmur and complain, looking at the obstacles in the way and making a mountain out of a molehill? Today God gives His people, to confirm their faith, evidences of His power such as He gave to Israel. Will they make these evidences of no effect? Will they act as if God had not wrought in their behalf? The Lord wants us to acknowledge His power and His grace and His great salvation, which He has brought us at an infinite cost-in the death of His only-begotten Son.

We are living in a day of trial, a day of probation, a day of test. God is proving His people, to see whether He can work in their behalf. He cannot work for them if they open their hearts to the impulses of the enemy. He cannot cooperate with them if they trust in human beings in the place of looking to Jesus, and rejoicing in His goodness and His love. He wants to make of us a people through whom He can reveal His grace, and He will do this if we will only give Him opportunity, if we will open the windows of the soul heavenward and close them earthward against human rabble, against murmuring, complaining, and faultfinding. . . .

Those who today murmur against God’s appointed agencies, weakening the confidence of the people in them, are doing the same work that the children of Israel did. The Lord hears every murmuring word. He hears every word that detracts from the influence of those whom He is using to proclaim the truth that is to prepare a people to stand in the last days.

E.G. White, Manuscript 10, 1903 (General Conference Bulletin, March 30, 1903).

Power of the self

Philippians 4:12-13

I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

 I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.

So many make the mistake by thinking that the power to change their lives is within themselves. So many turn to the power of the mind thinking that the answer is within them. We bow down and worship the powers of the universe and what it holds for us. Is the bread greater than the baker? There are only two powers in this world and in the universe. One who seeks to set you free from the alluring shackles of this world and bring you home with Him. The other who promises wealth and prosperity but omits to mention that it is only for a short while. His deception has made man to believe that within himself is a god who can do all through his own self believe, discipline and endeavours. He made gods between us whom we worship and stay up late hours just to obtain a little more wisdom from them. Is the bread greater than the baker? Can the bread rise up and create more bread? No. It will rot even before it is able to move an inch. Just as the gods among us will fade away by either self destruction or death. But the Baker lives on and creates new bread. Manor from heaven. From His own Body. And will place it in the Most Holy Place.

Dont be deceived by the promises of wealth and prosperity seen so much on these pages. These things are temporary. Like the blink of an eye. We sacrifice eternity for a few moments of pleasure. We turn away from that which is real, pure and everlasting. The deceiver whispers in our ears that which caused us to fall in the first place...that which had brought only pain, suffering and death to our world and sadly we still fall for the same lie...He lied to Eve making her believe that she can be a god. He deceives us with the same lie and the same fruit and yet we are to blind to see and our hearts are to hard to understand.

God asks that we should not conform to the things of this world because we are not from this place. Satan promises us wealth and prosperity to trap us in this world. God asks us to allow the Holy Spirit to transform our minds but Satan says the power to change the way we think lies within ourselves making us gods. Its ok to be wealthy and prosper but its not ok if wealth and prosperity takes us away from God. Christ said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the hole of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. But He never said its impossible. People like Job, Ester, Abraham and others come to mind which shows its not impossible. All can be wealthy, But not all of us are strong enough to be wealthy and serve God righteously.

God cursed the land so that it may be difficult for us to bring fruit for our own good and not for His pleasure. Because He knew that prosperity will cause us to serve our wealth more than what we would serve Him. Look around you. Look into history. Wealth has brought only destruction. Are you able to praise God when you loose everything? Most likely no. We are more likely to curse Him.

Wealth attracts evil in all forms. There are more divorce cases amongst the wealthy than amongst the poor. And the poor are murdering each other because of men seeking wealth through the selling of alcohol and drugs to the poor. It is sad. And we turn around and curse God. We blame Him for everything bad which happens in our lives forgetting that we made our own decisions and the bad things that are happening are as a result of the decisions we made. Adam made the same mistake and they bore the consequences of their fatal decisions. Unfortunately we are caught in the crossfire. But the ransom has been paid in full. It is up to you to accept it or not. Amen.

Battle of the Elected: Part ii

Romans 7:15-20 (NIV)

¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.^[a] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

 This is the battle that exist in each and every human in each and every moment of their lives. Christians seek to understand the reason why sin keeps taking control of their lives even though consciously trying to do good and be good. Our goal on earth is to be transformed into the image of God as we were created before sin took over this world. But this is a difficult and hard road.

Conflict within ourselves is a daily occurrence. And conflict with our interaction with the world and how we absorb its complexities is an occurrence each second of our lives. Sin greets us at every corner, looks at us through every window and grabs us at every opportunity. Scripture in 1 Peter 5:8 says:
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

And how discouraging it becomes when we fall. Sin pulls us into a dark pit that seems to have no bottom. And as we try to slow down our fall through our own power we discover that the pit has no sides to grab hold on to. Why is this? The simple reason is that we seek justification for our sin. A cheating husband or wife will try to justify their infidelity by pointing out flaws in the character of their spouses. Forgetting that their characters are just as flaw.  1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

When we fall it is not that obvious at first which in itself can be expected as satan wouldn't want us to recognise our fall until it is too late. He places us into situations which appear to be good at first (2 Corinthians 11:14And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.), and as Christians if we do not seek light from God in everything we do we become easy prey for the deceiver. And as Christians we like to confess ignorance in our sin and declare that we did not know what we were doing was wrong. But to Christians even this is not an excuse because it is written in Jeremia 31:31-33 Behold, the days come, said the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they broke, although I was an husband to them, said the LORD:
 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, said the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And even before we can argue that this is old testament writing God repeats it  in Hebrews 10:15-16 The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First He says: 16“This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put My Laws in their hearts and inscribe them on their minds.”

We need to understand that the Law was not inscribed in us to convict us but to point us to Christ for redemption. The Law is is like a mirror which reflects to us our sinful nature, so that we can seek repentance at the cross. John 3:17-18 reads that "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
He that believes on him is not condemned: but he that believes not is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." 

Our sinful nature was carried to the cross by Christ and believing that His sacrifice redeems us from our sin starts the process of healing our flawed character. Num 21:7-9 "Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against you; pray to the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
 And the LORD said to Moses, Make you a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looks on it, shall live.
 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it on a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived." Just as the Isrealites had to look at their sinful nature on the cross and believe that they will be healed, so too we have to look at our sinful nature that Christ bore on the cross for us. 

The elected will be targeted by satan mercilessly. He will place an obstacle in our walk with Christ every step of the way. He will construct colourful deceptions to tempt our senses around every corner. We should pray that we keep our eyes fixed on Christ in our life's walk with Him and that He becomes the our guide. 

Psalm 119:105-112 " Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.

 I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep your righteous judgments.

 I am afflicted very much: quicken me, O LORD, according to your word.

 Accept, I beseech you, the freewill offerings of my mouth, O LORD, and teach me your judgments.

 My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget your law.

 The wicked have laid a snare for me: yet I erred not from your precepts.

 Your testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart.

 I have inclined my heart to perform your statutes always, even to the end."

 

Battle of the Elected: Part i

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

John_15:19 

Christians and man at large have been made to believe that the Elected of Christ is those people who have been solely elected by God to be saved at the Second Coming of Christ. They have also been made to believe that God writes the names of these “elected” in the Book of Life and that only those are the ones who will benefit from the Second Coming.

If this was true then I would stop serving God today. Why? Firstly, none of us have seen the Book of Life so how would you know whether your name appears there or not. Yes, such a book does exist as seen in Phillipians 4:3 and the Book of the Revelation of Christ. And we have a clear template of what the book is on earth, namely the character of Christ. As the Law reflects God's character so too does those whose names will be written in the Book.

Secondly, if the names were predetermined then it takes away our freedom of choice which God's character does not allow. He created us not to put us in bondage, but to love and serve Him freely. It was for this reason that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was placed in the midst of the garden to enable Adam and Eve to choose to either trust God's Word or follow the lies of satan. If God did not allow us to have this free will we would be serving Him out of fear and not because we love Him. Which in effect would make Him a dictator and therefore prove satan's claims correct.

God gives us the opportunity to choose. He has a plan for each and every person who has ever lived, and who must still come to being, to choose Him and follow Him. But "whosoever believeth in Him" will not perish but have eternal life. It is our choice to have our names written in the Book of Life or have it removed. We choose either eternal life or to be ash on the earth. God is Love and because of the love that He has for us He remains just and faithful to us. It is unfaithful mankind who perverts God's teachings and writings in the Bible to justify our sin. 

Paul's Shout of Victory

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Rom_8:35-37

Paul suffered for the truth's sake, and yet we hear no complaints from his lips. As he reviews his life of toil and care and sacrifice, he says, "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." The shout of victory from God's faithful servant comes down the line to our time: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." 

Though Paul was at last confined in a Roman prison--shut away from the light and air of heaven, cut off from his active labors in the gospel, and momentarily expecting to be condemned to death--yet he did not yield to doubt or despondency. From that gloomy dungeon came his dying testimony, full of sublime faith and courage that has inspired the hearts of saints and martyrs in all succeeding ages. His words fitly describe the results of . . . sanctification. . . . "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love His appearing." 

The wounds and scars of our warfare will be to us, as to Paul, the trophies of victory. 

My Life Today - EGW

Christ's Victory as Complete as Adam's Failure

For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

Rom_5:19

Christ is called the second Adam. In purity and holiness, connected with God and beloved by God, He began where the first Adam began. Willingly He passed over the ground where Adam fell, and redeemed Adam's failure.

But the first Adam was in every way more favorably situated than was Christ. The wonderful provision made for man in Eden was made by a God who loved him. Everything in nature was pure and undefiled. . . . Not a shadow interposed between them [Adam and Eve] and their Creator. They knew God as their beneficent Father, and in all things their will was conformed to the will of God. . . .

But Satan came to the dwellers in Eden and insinuated doubts of God's wisdom. He accused Him, their Heavenly Father and Sovereign, of selfishness, because, to test their loyalty, He had prohibited them from eating of the tree of knowledge. . . .

Christ was tempted by Satan in a hundredfold severer manner than was Adam, and under circumstances in every way more trying. The deceiver presented himself as an angel of light, but Christ withstood his temptations. He redeemed Adam's disgraceful fall, and saved the world. . . .

In His human nature He maintained the purity of His divine character. He lived the law of God, and honored it in a world of transgression, revealing to the heavenly universe, to Satan, and to all the fallen sons and daughters of Adam that through His grace humanity can keep the law of God. He came to impart His own divine nature, His own image, to the repentant, believing soul.

Christ's victory was as complete as had been Adam's failure. So we may resist temptation, and force Satan to depart from us.

My Life Today - EGW

Be Steadfast, Unmovable

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

 1Co_15:58

Those who stand in defense of the honor of God, and maintain the purity of truth at any cost, will have manifold trials, as did our Saviour in the wilderness of temptation. The yielding temperaments, who have not courage to condemn wrong, but keep silent when their influence is needed to stand in the defense of right against any pressure, may avoid many heartaches and escape many perplexities, and lose a very rich reward, if not their own souls. 

Those who in harmony with God, and through faith in Him, receive strength to resist wrong, and stand in defense of the right, will always have severe conflicts and will frequently have to stand almost alone. But precious victories will be theirs while they make God their dependence. His grace will be their strength. Their moral sense will be keen, clear, and sensitive. Their moral powers will be equal to withstand wrong influences. Their integrity, like that of Moses, of the purest character. 

It will require moral courage to do God's work unflinchingly. Those who do this can give no place to self-love, to selfish considerations, ambition, love of ease, or desire to shun the cross. . . . Shall we obey His voice, or shall we listen to the soothing voice of the evil one, and be rocked to a fatal slumber just on the eve of eternal realities? 

Our Saviour longs to save the young. . . . He is waiting to place upon their heads the crown of life and hear their happy voices join in ascribing honor and glory and majesty to God and the Lamb in the song of victory that shall echo and re-echo throughout the courts of heaven.

My Life Today - EGW

The Will is the Deciding Power

Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Rom_12:2

There is nothing that can keep you away from God but a rebellious will. 

The will is the governing power in the nature of man. If the will is set right, all the rest of the being will come under its sway. The will is not the taste or the inclination, but it is the choice, the deciding power, the kingly power, which works in the children of men unto obedience to God or to disobedience. 

You will be in constant peril until you understand the true force of the will. You may believe and promise all things, but your promises and your faith are of no account until you put your will on the right side. If you will fight the fight of faith with your will power, there is no doubt that you will conquer. 

Your part is to put your will on the side of Christ. When you yield your will to His, He immediately takes possession of you, and works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. Your nature is brought under the control of His Spirit. Even your thoughts are subject to Him. If you cannot control your impulses, your emotions, as you may desire, you can control the will, and thus an entire change will be wrought in your life. When you yield up your will to Christ, your life is hid with Christ in God. It is allied to the power which is above all principalities and powers. You have a strength from God that holds you fast to His strength; and a new life, even the life of faith, is possible to you. 

You can never be successful in elevating yourself, unless your will is on the side of Christ, cooperating with the Spirit of God. Do not feel that you cannot; but say, "I can, I will." And God has pledged His Holy Spirit to help you in every decided effort.

My Life Today - EGW.

Has God turned against Israel?

Is the believe held by many Christians around the world true that God has turned against Israel after the crucifixion and rejection of Christ by the Jews and the subsequent stoning of Steven? Is there any proof that Israel is still the chosen nation of God and that He is with them today as He was in the past. Does the land that Israel occupy still belong to them after being taken captive to the nations for nearly 2000 years?

On that day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying,

 "To your offspring I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river,

the river Euphrates,the land of the Kenites,

 the Kenizzites, the Kadmonites, the Hittites,

 the Perizzites, the Rephaim, the Amorites,

 the Canaanites, the Girgashites and the Jebusites."

Gen 15:18-21  

Yes, God gave the land to Abraham and his seed, but then the Jews TURNED AGAINST Jesus and crucified Him. How can they then still claim the land is theirs after “God drove them from the land”? Our answer is in the following text:

Therefore prophesy concerning the land of Israel, and say to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I have spoken in my jealous wrath, because you have suffered the reproach of the nations.

Therefore thus says the Lord GOD: I swear that the nations that are all around you shall themselves suffer reproach.

"But you, O mountains of Israel, shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit to my people Israel, for they will soon come home. (which happened in 1948 after WW2.)

For behold, I am for you, and I will turn to you, and you shall be tilled and sown.

And I will multiply people on you (6 million Jews killed in WW2, but 2500 years earlier God already promised that He will restore the population. In 1948 Israel was repopulated by 800 thousand Jews. Today there is over 6 million Jews in Israel), the whole house of Israel, all of it. The cities shall be inhabited and the waste places rebuilt.

And I will multiply on you man and beast, and they shall multiply and be fruitful. And I will cause you to be inhabited as in your former times, and will do more good to you than ever before. Then you will know that I am the LORD.

Eze 36:6 - 11

It is a historical fact that since the declaration of independence of Israel in 1948 there has not been a decade in which Israel was not involved in a war or some sort of armed conflict. Immediately after the signing of the declaration in 1948 the Arab-Israeli War (which before the signing since 1947 was a guerrilla styled civil war between Israel and Arab nations) erupted into a full scale war. Arab nations had tanks, aircraft and all types of modern warfare (of 1948) to their disposal. The Israelis only had their rifles and a few artillery. The Arab nations who participated in the attack all together had a population of more than 50 million people against a mere 800 thousand Jews in Israel.

“I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem;
They shall never hold their peace day or night.
You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent,
And give Him no rest until He establishes
And till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.”
- Isaiah 62:6,7 NKJV

That year a miracle took place, one that can only be matched by Biblical history. In July 1949 the tiny nation of Israel managed to drive back their invaders and humiliate them before the world. The victory of Israel in 1949 clearly showed that Israel had turned their faces back to God.

Even though this was a clear sign that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had not forsaken His people, and a history of how He has protected Israel  as witnessed through the Bible, was not a deterrent for the Arab nations as they continued to build their armies and continuously organised Arab guerrillas to infiltrate from Syria, Egypt, and Jordan into Israel to carry out attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. As a result the Israelis launched what was known as the reprisal operations between the 1950’s and 1960’s destroying strategic targets and killing thousands of Arab troops, humiliating them further in the eyes of the world.

In June 1967 a war known as the Six Day War was fought between Israel and its Arab neighbours Egypt, Jordan, and Syria. The nations of Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Algeria, as well as Russia contributed troops and arms to the Arab forces. Miraculously, following the war, the territory held by Israel expanded significantly ("The Purple Line") : The West Bank (including East Jerusalem) from Jordan, Golan Heights from Syria, Sinai, and Gaza from Egypt. As its name suggests, this war by so many Arab nations against Israel lasted only six days and saw the seed of Abraham rising to their inherited status. 

It is unimaginable that a country the size of Gauteng Province in South Africa can defeat so many nations which were further supported by Russia. How is this possible if God has turned against Israel? Is there something more to this than what we as Christians originally believed or taught to believe? One of these answers can be found in the following scripture which reads:

And I will establish my covenant between me and you

 And your offspring after you throughout their generations

 for an everlasting covenant

to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

Genesis 17:7

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

 Heb_13:8

 

Next… what role has Israel to play in the last days?