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The Final Message

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“And He said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near. Let the one who does wrong, still do wrong; and the one who is filthy, still be filthy; and let the one who is righteous, still practice righteousness; and the one who is holy, still keep himself holy.” “Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”

Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying. “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost. I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.” ‭‭

(Revelation‬ ‭22:10-21‬ ‭NASB)

Beware Of Mosquitoes

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Do you know what animal kills the most humans every year? It is not the untamed tiger or the mammoth elephant or the venomous snake. It is the tiny mosquito. One study found that mosquitoes kill 20 times more humans than snakes every year.

And the mosquito doesn’t kill you by its strength. It kills you by a small little prick that infects you with a deadly disease. Then it is off to transmit it to the next human being.

If I found a venomous snake in the house, I would drop whatever I am doing to get rid of that snake. It doesn’t matter if I am talking to the CEO of the company, or even the president of my country. I will drop whatever I am doing to drive the venomous snake out of my house.

But because I live by what my eyes see, I dismiss the harmless-looking mosquito. And I am a fool if I do not recognize the FACT that the infection-carrying mosquito that flies around in my house is 20 times more dangerous than a venomous snake in my house.

This has a simple spiritual application. A lot of us are worried about the huge trials. We marvel at people who are able to stand strong for Jesus when faced with threats of great evil or death. And we absolutely should: To be willing to die for Jesus is a tremendous act of courage, and an evidence of a deep loyalty and the supernatural grace that God makes available at such intense times of trial.

But these kinds of spiritual persecutions are like venomous snakes that enter our house. The vast majority of us do not face these kinds of spiritual threats on a daily basis. What we do face are spiritual mosquitoes that slip into our house and are ignored.

  • The small mosquito of inconvenience because of changes in the routine, children growing up, etc. The Lord asks us to drive out all the mosquitoes of complaint (in thought and word and feelings). Philippians 2:14
  • The small mosquito of being offended by the actions of someone else. The Lord asks us to violently drive out all self-pity. Matthew 16:23
  • The small mosquito of envy towards the blessing of God on another brother. Jesus tells us to love as Christ loved us (1 Corinthians 13:4; John 13:34)
  • The small mosquito of lust in my interactions with others. The Lord tells us to repent of lust just as we would repent if we had committed physical adultery (Matthew 5:28)
  • The small mosquito of unkind words towards loved ones. Jesus tells us that anger in our heart or words is as serious as murdering our loved ones (Matthew 5:22)

Spiritual mosquitoes cause the most havoc in Christians. The devil and his forces might find that sincere Christians watch for spiritual serpents and tigers and lions and so on. But we can be casual to allow his spiritual mosquitoes to fly in and out of our everyday lives. And the biggest cause for spiritual death among Christians are the tiny mosquitoes that are allowed to remain.

Solomon used a similar analogy of “little foxes” that were ruining the vineyard that was in blossom – Song of Songs 2:15 – Catch the foxes for us, the little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, while our vineyards are in blossom. These were not the adult scary-looking foxes. These were the foxes while they were still cute and harmless-looking.

So may we always be on guard.

**By Sandeep Poonen © Copyright – Sandeep Poonen. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author. https://nccf.com/ 

Photo by icon0.com from Pexels

7 Characteristics of the Bride

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Seven Characteristics of the Bride of Christ

The Bride (Wisdom), we read builds her house on SEVEN PILLARS. These seven pillars are listed for us in James 3:17, and the true church is built on these pillars. By these characteristics, we can identify the Bride of Christ anywhere:

Purity : The first and most important pillar in the true church is purity. This is not a hollow pillar of a merely external purity. No. It is solid through and through. It is purity of the heart, and it grows from the seed of the fear of God deep within the heart. It is not by clever brains but by pure hearts that the true church of Christ is built. We cannot build the church if we don’t have spiritual revelation on God and His ways – and only the pure in heart will be allowed to see God in their hearts (Matthew 5:8).

Peaceableness : Righteousness and peace always go together. They are twins. The kingdom of God is righteousness and peace (Romans 14:17). True wisdom is never argumentative or quarrelsome. It does not strive. It maintains harmonious relationships with everyone, as far as possible. It is impossible to quarrel with a man who is filled with Divine wisdom, for such a man is a peaceable man. He may be firm and he may be hated by compromisers. But he is always peaceable. Jesus told His disciples that when they travel to preach the gospel, they should stay only in the house of “men of peace” (Luke 10:5-7). We must be men of peace, if we are to build God’s house.

Consideration : The Bride of Christ is always fair to others, gentle, patient, forbearing and courteous. She is never harsh or rough but always considerate of the feelings of others. When the church is supported by this pillar, it becomes easy to bear with one another – even if some are slow of understanding or crude in their manners. The problem, we begin to realise, is not the crudeness of our brother or sister, but the impatience that dwells within us. And so we fight the right enemy – our Self-life – and not our brothers and sisters.

Willingness to Yield : One who cannot receive admonishment and exhortation, or who feels that he has gone beyond that stage, is truly foolish, even if he is an elder or an older man ( Ecclesiastes 4:13). In India especially, many people have the heathen idea that “older people are wiser”. This may be true in earthly matters but certainly not in spiritual matters. Jesus did not choose any of the older people in the synagogues to be his apostles. He chose young men. Older people in the church often find it difficult to receive exhortation from a younger brother who may be the elder in the church and also far more godly. But that is because of their pride. Those who are willing to receive correction become wise (Proverbs 13:10). And so where the brothers and sisters in a church are eager to receive exhortation and correction, a truly glorious church will be built. The wise man loves those who exhort him faithfully and will eagerly seek out their company. ‘Submit to one another’ (Ephesians 5:21) are the words written on this pillar.

Fullness of Mercy and its Good Fruits : The Bride of Christ is full of mercy – not just occasionally merciful. She has no problem forgiving anyone, freely and cheerfully from the heart. She does not judge or condemn others, but rather exercises compassion towards them like her Bridegroom. This mercy is not just a mental attitude but finds expression in good fruits that are brought forth in her actions. She does good in all the ways she can to all the people she can at all the times she can.

Steadfastness : A brother who has Divine wisdom will be free from all crookedness. He will be wholehearted and straightforward, with a single eye, free from doubts and hesitation. He will not be double-minded, but strong in faith in God, and he won’t be looking at his own weaknesses, but at the promises of God. Such a brother knows that victory over all conscious sin is possible here and now. He is a dependable person – who can be trusted at all times to keep his word. He is steadfast and unmovable. You cannot make him bend his convictions or to compromise in any matter. He is straight and upright as a rod.

Freedom from Hypocrisy : The Bride has more spiritual content inwardly than others can see in her externally. Her hidden life is better than the opinion that others have of her external life. This is the exact opposite of the ‘spiritual adulteress’ or the ‘Harlot,’ whose so-called spirituality is only meant for receiving the honour of men. What she has is actually ‘religiosity’ and not true spirituality. The bride watches her inner thoughts, motives and attitudes far more than her external words and actions. She longs for God’s approval over her inner life and cares nothing at all for man’s approval of her external life. By this test, each of us can know whether we are part of the Bride or of the Harlot.

The Bride of Christ has the seed of wisdom implanted in her heart and so she will have these seven characteristics growing in her year by year. Although she is still far from perfect, she is pressing on and growing towards perfection.

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**By Zac Poonen © Copyright – Zac Poonen. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author. https://www.cfcindia.com/ 

**Photo by Secret Garden at Pexel

Let Christ Be the Centre of Your Life

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The New Testament teaches that in order for a man to be saved, he needs to repent first. Repentance means turning from our old way of life. It means a whole lot more than just giving up some bad habits, like drinking and gambling, etc. Our old way of life is a self-centred life; and repentance means saying, “Lord, I’m tired of being centred in myself and I want to turn to You now and to be centred in You.”

“To delight ourselves in the Lord is to put God at the centre of our lives.”Jesus came to save us from sin. In other words, He came to save us from self-centredness. Put the word “self-centredness” instead of the word `sin’ in the New Testament and you’ll see what meaning comes up in many passages. “Sin shall not be master over you” (Rom. 6:14) becomes “Self-centredness will not be master over you”. That’s God’s desire for His people. And yet if we examine our lives, we’ll find that even in our most sacred desires, there is self-centredness. To ask God to fill us with the Holy Spirit can be a self-centred desire, if we want this power in order to be a great preacher, or a great healer etc. That’s as self-centred a desire as wanting to be great in this world. Do you see how sin enters even into the most holy place?

That’s why Jesus taught us to pray, first of all, not even that we might be filled with the Spirit, but that God’s name might be hallowed (Matt. 6:9, Luke 11:2). Only a truly spiritual man can pray this prayer in sincerity. Anyone can repeat this prayer, of course. Even a parrot can do that. But to really mean it, from the depths of our hearts, will require a total devotion to God, where He is first in our lives, where we are centred in Him, and where we are not seeking His blessing as much as Himself. If He gives us His gifts, well and good; and if He does not give us any gifts that’s all right with us too, because we long for God Himself, and not His gifts. Why did God teach the Israelites to love Him with all their hearts and to love their neighbour as themselves? Only to deliver them from their self-centredness.

There is an acrostic on the word joy that says, “Put J – Jesus first, O – others next, and Y – yourself last. Then you can have joy.” God is perpetually full of joy. There is no sorrow or anxiety in heaven, because everything is centred in God. The angels are always rejoicing, because they are centred in God. The reason we lack joy, peace, and so many other spiritual virtues is because we haven’t found our proper centre. We tend to use God for our own ends. And even prayer becomes something like this, “Lord, please let my business prosper……Help me to get a promotion in my job…..Please let me get a better house…..” etc. We want God to become our servant, helping to make our earthly lives more comfortable – like the genie in the story of Aladdin and his lamp.

This is the type of God that so many believers pray to – one who is a means to their own advancement and profit in this world. But the God of the New Testament is not one who helps you to win the 100 metres race in the Olympics or to outwit your competitor in a business deal. Our prayers reveal how self-centred we are.

“Delight yourself in the Lord” the Bible says, “and He will give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37:4). To delight ourselves in the Lord is to put God at the centre of our lives. And so, it is only a God-centred person who can have all the desires of his heart. “No good thing will God withhold from those who walk uprightly (that is, from those who are walking with their head on top – who have God controlling their lives)” (Psalm 84:11). “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man accomplishes much”(James 5:16) – and the righteous man is the God-centred man. On the contrary, the fervent prayer of the self-centred man, even if he prays all night is going to avail nothing. It is the type of life we live that gives value to the prayer we pray.

That’s why the first three longings of our life should be: “Father, Your Name should be hallowed. Your kingdom should come. Your will should be done.” (Matt. 6:9-10) We may have many other requests such as, “Heal me of my backache, help me to find a better house to live in, help my son to get a job,” etc. These are all good requests. But if you can say, “Father, even if you don’t grant these requests, my primary desire is that Your Name will be glorified” – then you’re a spiritual man.

 

By Zac Poonen © Copyright – Zac Poonen. No changes whatsoever are to be made to the content of the article without written permission from the author. https://www.cfcindia.com/

Picture by Adam Kontor at Pexels

Child of God Wait Patiently

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Child of God Wait Patiently

O child of God, wait patiently when dark thy path may be,

And let thy faith lean trustingly on Him who cares for Thee;

And though the clouds hang drearily upon the brow of night,

Yet in the morning joy will come, and fill thy soul with light.

O child of God, He loveth thee, and thou art all His own;

With gentle hand He leadeth thee, thou dost not walk alone;

And though thou watchest wearily the long and stormy night,

Yet in the morning joy will come, and fill thy soul with light.

O child of God, how peacefully He calms thy fears to rest,

And draws thee upward tenderly, where dwell the pure and blest;

And He who bendeth silently above the gloom of night,

Will take thee home where endless joy shall fill thy soul with light.

By Fanny Crosby