Humility Test

Now without going into how one develops humility, let's consider how one might measure the level of one's humility. These are some ideas following the  Implicit Association Test (IAT)

• Do you respond to rebuke by getting angry or by giving careful consideration to the rebuke?
• If someone disagrees with your opinion, do you demonize and slander the person, or do you do you try to understand their point of view?
• Do you read the Bible looking to obey it, with an application oriented mindset, or do you try to read into your own ideas and your own chosen lifestyle? Do you find that your study is dominated by trying to get around what it says?
• Do you submit to legitimate human authority figures as the Bible directs?
• If you are a wife, do you accept and practice your God-given role of being subordinate to your husband?
• If you are a women do you accept and practice the politically incorrect gender specific commands in the New Testament?
• For those who speak and teach spiritual things, is your speech and reasoning dominated by your own words and ideas, or those of the Bible?
• When you hear the phrase "Word of God" do your own words and ideas come to mind or does the Bible come to mind?
• Are you generally afraid of what people think of you? (This indicates pride!)
• This is generally a misconception. It is not characteristic of Biblical humility for one to place a high value on other people's opinion of them. The humble are more concerned about doing what is right than doing things to make themselves more popular. Thus "the righteous are as bold as a lion." Prov 28:1 Confidence in God is characteristic of Biblical humility. "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded."Heb 10:35
• When you think of leading someone to Christ, do you tend to replace the "gospel" with your own personal testimony?
• Do you talk more about Christ of the Bible or more about yourself and your own personal experience of Christ?
• Do you tend to pray more for yourself or more for others?
• Are you involved in regularly meeting the practical needs of others?
• Concerning you secular career and ministry objective, are you trying to make something of yourself, or are you trying to make nothing of yourself? (Joh 3:30 "He must become greater; I must become less.") Is your objective to serve, or simply to make a name for yourself?

SoulMates - Bible

Q. Did really God create someone specifically for You?

Nope, he said, a husband/wife is not only not a biblical promise, it is also not a specific element of God’s “plan for my life.” God’s plan is for us to be made more holy, more like Christ… not marry a certain person. There is no biblical basis to indicate that God has one soul mate for you to find and marry. You could have a great marriage with any number of compatible people. There is no ONE PERSON for you. But once you marry someone, that person becomes your one person.”

Having one predestined, predetermined soul-mate always sounded too fairy tale to me.

Eve Made for Adam

Genesis 2:20-25 “But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.”

A soul mate isn't someone you discover; it's someone you intentionally and prayerfully become. I don't believe that society's definition of "soul mate" is healthy or spiritual. It's great for the movies  but no one's marriage is like the romantic movies you've seen. Anyone in a successful marriage can tell you that "success" in marriage doesn't come from finding that one person you were meant to be with. It only comes from giving up the selfish behavior that served you while you were single, and focusing on selflessly serving your spouse instead. 

Nowhere in the Bible does God say anything about soul mates. God gives us the simple details on how to have a great marriage: Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. Wives, respect your husbands. Both of these are intentional acts of selfless sacrifice that will guarantee us to have a happy marriage.  

Most people don't like the idea of having to work for a soul mate. But you will never speak with a happily married couple that will tell you that they haven't had to work hard for the happiness they have together. 

The Adage of soul mate has been spread my those that love themselves. As the bible says, in those times men will become lovers of themselves.. what other way can this been shown than to love yourself so much to the extent of thinking that out of the billions of people; there is one who was specifically made for you.

Methuselah

"And about these also Enoch, [in] the seventh [generation] from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord came with many thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."
( Jude 1:14-15)
 
Methuselah comes from muth, a root that means "death"; and from shalach, which means to bring, or to send forth. The name Methuselah means, "his death shall bring"
Methuselah's father was given a prophecy of the coming Great Flood, and was apparently told that as long as his son was alive, the judgment of the flood would be withheld; but as soon as he died, the flood would be brought or sent forth.

Gen 5:21Enoch lived sixty-five years, and became the father of Methuselah. 22Then Enoch walked with God three hundred years after he became the father of Methuselah, ...

It was after Enoch received a prophecy from God about the future that he walked faithfully with God. Jude 1:14-15.

Seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood Methuselah died. Apart from having Noah give the people of the message of the flood God and graciously given them a living prove for every-time they mentioned Methuselah they knew that the day the man would die there would come destruction for the earth by flood.

Many have preached about the flood without ever mentioning the oldest man who ever lived, hiding the mercies of God of how lonhg our Lord postponed Judgement on earth. Already currenlty we are told we are on borrowed time for our Lord is coming but graciously has he extended the time.

969 years -- this were the years man was reminded of the flood and requested to repent and for 969 years men still refused to heed to the call.

The Lord says "For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies," declares the Lord GOD. "Therefore, repent and live." (Ezekiel 18:32).

Matthew 24:37 ...'But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.'

Luke 17:28-30 ...'Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.'

Get Ready

Moses preached to the Egyptians day in day out but their hearts were harden and they couldn't hear him. One day he preached to the children of Israel and told them to get ready and that was that. A time has come for the born again Christian to get ready, The Lord is coming to get you out of the world, smear yourself with the blood of the Lamb, that you might not be forgotten. For now, the message is no longer to the world but to the church ---- Get ready to go

A time has come for the Offering, Sacrifices and Tithe to speeak to those who embrace them it. They say "I will bear witness against you"

What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? Says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; ... Trample my courts no more; bringing offerings is futile; incense is an abomination to me. ...When you stretch out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. (Isa. 1: 1 I- 1 7)

Today I look back and see how many born again christian are oppressed in the very buildings we call the church and places of worship. Where many claim to sacrifice  to the cause of the Almighty and at the same time oppress the those that have little to to the Lord apart from their service. Since they got no big cash to offer to  to the "church god".

With what shall I come before the Lord, bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has told you, 0 mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (6:6-8).

You sacrifice alot and yet oppress the poor, in humbleness you walk before your peers but in the midst of those that can give you nothing, you oppress them making sure that they remain the same way so that they may continue to serve you. Dangling hope before their eyes, keeping them trap in the hope that one day you might changed their future, showing to them that you are a small "god" to them.

"The covering that you had is now gone"  says the Lord. "The one righteous person that would have made Sodom not to be punished is now taken away from you. Will you turn back to Me?" asked the Lord

Why would one pay one wages and not pay the other wage in the name that one is sacrificing for the Kingdom and the other one honestly did ask for a wage. It is a matter of incorporating the world into the church ---  The employed and the Intern

Does it feature in your church?

Workers of the church are at increased risk of sadness, despair, stress, frustration, anger, and disappointment. There are inherent vocational risks involved when your job is to serve others and these risks are increased when one's vocation is to connect human experience and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These risks are increased even more as workers of the church walk closely with the life experience of the people that they serve.

 

When a worker of the church walks closely with his or her people, sees the Gospel-to-human experience connection in the lives of people and acts on that connection, often meets more-than-the-average stressors, and is in a people-oriented service vocation, the odds rise dramatically in terms of the risks to body, spirit, and self. 

 

Is it not the work of the offering and tithes to support those that server in the church or is it to only support the Bishops, Pastor and Apostles. I appluad the churches that take into consideration the welfare of their workers but a time is coming and the time is now, that the tithe and offering will speak against those that have taken them and and used it to finance their comfortable life.

Speak for the poor, seek justice for the oppress, cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow. That is what the Lord is asking.

SHOES

Since I was born, I have worn many shoes,
some cheap, other expensive,
others I took good care of them but they still got old,
others I didn't mind if they r clean or not and they are still with me,
I have worn plastic, leather, wood, canvas, rubber,

Some were open others closed, laced and those without --

In All of them I would pick them up regardless of where they stepped
And I would dust them and wear them again,
Some I would polish, or brush, wash, and sometimes others would require soaking
What mattered is at some time in live,
I worn them

Some were torn on the upside
Others on the downside
Yet others on the sides
Others the sole became oboslute
What mattered is at some time in live,
I worn them


Some I took to the cobbler
Cause I loved them,
He repaired them and they were good again
And I worn them yet again
What mattered is at some time in live,
I worn them


Some, torn beyond repair
I threw them into the dustbin
For someone to help himself with
What mattered is at some time in live,
I worn them

Like shoes, I have made mistakes
Had lot of sorrows and lost
Yet God keep picking me up
Dusting me off and sending me on my way again

Like shoes there have been friends in my live
All type of friends that God brought my way.
I strived to norish, protect and water the friendship
But time and I again I have lost many
What mattered is at some time in live,
They were my friends

The Qualifications and Blessings of Priesthood ------- Prt 2

   Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God. A priest must have a clean heart to approach the presence of God and so that we can enlighten sinners with the Gospel. David prayed in (Psalms 51:10-13 NKJV)  Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. {11} Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. {12} Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. {13} Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You.

      A priest must have a clean heart to get revelations from God and about God. Holiness allows us to see God. (Hebrews 12:14 NIV)  Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

      Having a clean heart before God gives us confidence and faith to receive the promises of God from His Word. (1 John 3:21-23 NKJV)  Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. {22} And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. {23} And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.

      Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God. A peacemaker is one who reconciles people. A priest is a peacemaker that reconciles people to God. The Bible says that when we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ then we are given the ministry of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21 NKJV)  Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. {18} Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, {19} that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. {20} Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God. {21} For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

     As priests we also pursue peace between people. (Romans 14:17-19 NIV) For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, {18} because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. {19} Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

      We are to use our God given authority in Jesus name, and our access into the throne room, to bring the Holy Spirit into every relationship that we are concerned about, man to man, and man to God relationships. (Colossians 3:12-15 NIV)  Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. {13} Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. {14} And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. {15} Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

      When we bring the Spirit of compassion, the Holy Spirit, into a situation then we also bring all the fruits of the Holy Spirit to the people also. (Galatians 5:22-25 NIV)  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {23} gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. {24} Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. {25} Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Compassion contains all of the fruits of the Spirit.

      Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the Kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:11-12 NIV)  "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. {12} Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

      Persecution is how you know that you have arrived into the Kingdom. (2 Timothy 3:12 NKJV)  Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. The good news is (Psalms 34:19 NKJV)  Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the LORD delivers him out of them all.