Thursday, August 22, 2013

BAD PEOPLE GO TO HEAVEN AND GOOD PEOPLE TO HELL

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE GOOD TO MAKE HEAVEN 
Mark 10:21 "Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me."MARK 10:21-27 The scripture speaks of Jesus loving this young businesman despite the fact that he was visibly lying about keeping God's commandments. This is stated after this young man said he had kept all of God's commands, which was not the truth. Jesus was showing him that he had broken the very first commandment that states, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Ex. 20:3), and also the tenth commandment that says, "Thou shalt not covet..." (Ex. 20:17). Jesus' tough answer of "sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor" was not intended to hurt this young man. It was said from a heart of love and intended for his own good.  Money had become his god and it had to be dethroned before Jesus could become Lord.This young man lacked faith in Jesus as his Savior the one thing needed to be saved. He was trusting in his goodness and not in the salvation that Jesus offered as a gift. So many people are making the same mistake today. They trust in there religious devotion instead of God.Jesus only came to save sinners.Those claiming to be good are living in denial .Ecclesiastes 7.20  Unless an individual acknowledges that he is a sinner, he cannot be saved. Because the whole world is guilty before God, He has provided one way of salvation for everyone. In the same way that everyone is guilty, everyone also has been justified freely by God's grace.That does not mean everyone is saved. Everyone has had the sacrificial offering of Jesus made for their sins by grace but grace alone doesn't save.We have to put faith in what God has provided for us by grace. Although the price has been paid for the sins of the whole world, only those who receive it by faith will benefit from the salvation that Jesus offers. Receive grace as you read this now for an undeniable encounter with God that would confirm your place in heaven as you ask Jesus to be your lord . Amen.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

QUICK WAY TO OVERCOME TEMPTATION

FRUSTRATION
 [1] Definition: A feeling of disappointment or defeat at being unable to accomplish one’s purpose.
1 Frustration is an indication of a lack of faith and trust in the Lord.  ·   · Philippians 4:6,7 · Hebrews 10:35, 36 meditate on God's word
2  Sometimes the Lord allows our plans to be frustrated because it’s simply not His time or His will.   · Numbers 22:18b · Proverbs 13:12 (God’s delays are not always denials.) · Proverbs 21:30 (If the Lord doesn’t want something done, no matter how “good” your ideas and plans are, they won’t work!) · Ecclesiastes 3:1 · 2 Corinthians 13:8 · James 4:13-15 · Psalm 37:4,5 (If you put the Lord first and trust Him, He’ll help things to work out.)
3 Frustration can result from trying to do things in our own strength.  ·   · Zechariah 4:6b · John 15:5
4 Sometimes frustration results from attempting a task that is beyond our training and experience or is not our “calling.” · Psalm 131:1 · Proverbs 15:22 (Taking good counsel before an endeavor is a good way to avoid potential frustrations.) · Jeremiah 45:5a      
5  Regardless of the source of frustration, pray to be more patient, trusting, and depending upon the Lord.     · Galatians 6:9 · 2 Peter 1:5,6 6.  Let the Lord do it through you – in His way and in his time.  · 2Corithians 3:4,5 · Matthew 26:39b (Jesus had to yield His will to God, too.)
  7. Regularly attending fellowships and listening to other peoples testimonies will encourage you. Heb 10: 24-25, psalm 73: 2,3,14-17. Question ; how do we overcome frustrations? Prayer: lets pray for those that are frustrated for comfort and strength.    

Monday, August 19, 2013

The works of your hands shall prosper

And the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, of your cattle, of your land, for good; for the Lord will again delight in prospering you, as He took delight in your fathers
Deuteronomy 30.9,

FREE WILL

Everyone acknowledges that we have at least the illusion of free will. I take it that my sense of freely choosing is not mere appearance only, since if it were, nothing I think or do is of any significance whatsoever. Even the decision to believe in determinism would be meaningless, no more significant than having a toothache. Since freedom of the will is a necessary condition of the meaningfulness of my life, I may as well assume that I do have it. After all, if I do not have free will and my life is meaningless, who cares?

So I think that determinism is incompatible with free will, but that determinism has not been demonstrated to be true. So what does it mean to have free will? Some thinkers have said that it is the ability in causally identical situations to choose either A or not-A. It seems to me, however, that this so-called Principle of Alternative Possibilities is not a necessary condition of willing freely. I’m persuaded by illustrations like that given by Harry Frankfurt to show that freedom does not require the ability to choose other than as one does. Imagine a man whose brain has been secretly implanted with electrodes by a mad scientist. The scientist, being an Obama supporter, decides that he will activate the electrodes to make the man vote for Obama if the man goes into the polling booth to vote for Romney. On the other hand, if the man chooses to vote for Obama, then the scientist will not activate the electrodes. Suppose, then, the man goes into the polling booth and presses the button to vote for Obama. In such a case it seems that the man freely votes for Obama. Yet it was not within his power to do anything

Such thought experiments have been criticized on the grounds that no one could know what the man was going to do before he actually attempted to do so; hence, his free decision must be aborted by the activation of the electrodes. But while this objection seems cogent against human examples of prevention or intervention, it occurs to me that if God has middle knowledge and so knows what a person would freely do in any set of circumstances God might place him in, then the objection has no force. Suppose, for example, that had God known that Pontius Pilate would not send Jesus to the cross, He would not have placed Pilate in such circumstances. In that case, Pilate did not under the circumstances have the ability to let Jesus go. Yet he freely sent Jesus to the cross, since nothing determined him to do so.

This suggests that what is critical to free will is not the ability to choose differently in identical circumstances but rather not being caused to do something by causes other than oneself. It is up to me how I choose, and nothing determines my choice. Sometimes philosophers call this agent causation. The agent himself is the cause of his actions. His decisions are differentiated from random events by being done by the agent himself for reasons the agent has in mind.

This understanding of free will has relevance to the case of God Himself. Jesus, being divine, was impeccable (could not sin). Therefore, there was no possibility of his yielding to Satan’s temptations in the wilderness. Yet he resisted sin freely because nothing external to him determined his choices. Like the man with the electrodes implanted in his brain, Jesus could not have chosen to sin, but he freely resisted sin. Again, God cannot choose to do evil, yet He freely does the Good because nothing outside Him determines Him to do so.

So, to return to the case of human agents, certainly a free choice influences physical events, most obviously in the case of basic actions in my own body, like freely lifting my arm. We are not causally determined to make all the choices we make; rather many choices are up to us and are therefore free choices. We are held accountable for such choices because they are not the result of random brain events but are undertaken for reasons which we weigh and act

I’m not sure what you mean by “some ethereal and unintelligible source,” but if you are referring to God, I agree that if God secretly determines my every thought and action, then I am but a puppet whose actions are meaningless. But a God endowed with middle knowledge of what persons would freely do in any set of circumstances God might place them in can be provident over human affairs without infringing on human freedom.
William Lane Craige

Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction. [

HOLINESS IS A  ASSOCIATED WITH BEAUTY
Worship the lord in the beauty of  Holiness.
"Give to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness or in holy array." Psalm 29.2
Whenever the word 'holiness ' is mentioned it evokes a sense of awe, fear and obsolete distasteful worship. However , when we take a critical look at the etymology of the word against the backdrop of a historical -theological critical analysis,  we discover that ,what has been hitherto displayed as piety is a far cry of the true concept of Holiness as stated in the holy scriptures.
Definitions
Holiness means ,the state of being set apart for God's use. Can you imagine if a set of Chinaware were set apart for the use of a special guest at our  christmas dinner , say, if the governor were to visit, I guess we would sort for the most exquisite Chinaware or borrow in other to creat a lasting impression. Those Chinawares would be sanctified  or made holy for the governor's  use. Likewise the church is a type of Chinaware reserved for the  mornarch of the universe and the king of kings, Jesus Christ, now ,what state should the church be.? The answer is best seen in the presition and detailed approach in the building of the temple by king Solomon 1kings 6. 1-38 the process involved exquisite decorations running in to millions of dollars that took seven years to accomplish .
The bible describes the born again Christian as the temple of the Holy spirit. Now ,how beautiful should a place where the most influential personality worships. A picture of what it should look like is best left to the immagination .God says we should worship Him in the beauty  of holiness.
Beauty
The etymology of the word as used in scripture is that which connotes decoration from the Hebrew word, 'hădârâh' and is  Feminine as in the decoration of a woman : depicting honour,magnificence as in the splendor of an ornament :it also exhibits as it's characteristics ,  comeliness ,excellency ,glorious , majesty.

ISLAM A BLESSING TO CHRISTIANITY

What do Muslims think about Jesus?

Muslims love and respect Jesus. They consider him one of the greatest of God's prophets and messengers to humankind. A Muslim never refers to him simply as "Jesus," but always adds the phrase "may the peace and blessing of God be upon him." The Qur'an confirms his virgin birth, and a special chapter of the Qur'an is entitled "Mary." The Qur'an describes the Annunciation as follows:

"The Angels said, 'O Mary! God has chosen you, and purified you, and chosen you above all the women of all nations

'O Mary, God gives you good news of a word from Him, whose name is the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, honored in this world and in the Hereafter, and one of those brought near to God. He shall speak to the people in infancy and in old age, and shall be of the righteous.'

She said: ' O my Lord! How shall I have a son when no man has touched me?' He said: 'Even so; God creates what he wills. When He decrees athing, he says to it, "Be!" and it is."' (Qur'an 3:42, 45-7)

Just as God created Adam without a mother or a father, He caused Jesus to be conceived without a father:

"Truly the example of Jesus in relation to God is as the example of Adam. He created him from dust and then said to him, "Be!" and he was." (Qur'an 3:59)

During his prophetic mission, Jesus performed many miracles. The Qur'an tells us that he said: "I have come to you with a sign from your Lord: I make for you out of clay, as it were, a figure of abird, and breathe into it and it becomes a bird by God's leave. And I heal the blind, and the lepers, and I raise the dead by God's leave." (Qur'an 3:49)

Jesus, like Muhammad, came to confirm and renew the basic doctrine of the belief in One God brought by earlier prophets. In the Qur'an, Jesus is reported as saying that he came: "To attest the Torah that was before me. And to make lawful to you part of what was forbidden to you; Ihave come to you with asign from your Lord; so be conscious of God and obey me." (Qur'an 3:50)

The Prophet Muhammad said: "Whoever believes that there is no deity except God, alone without partner, that Muhammad is his messenger, that Jesus is the servant and messenger of God; His word which he bestowed on Mary and a spirit proceeding from Him, and that Paradise and Hell are true, shall be received by God into Heaven."

Culled from Discovering Islam.