READY for PENTECOST ?

"PENTECOST"
watercolor by Estella Canziani, 1936
courtesy of  
www.dwellingintheword.wordpress

Matthew 3 

courtesy of www.biblegateway.com

¹¹ I [ John the Baptist ] indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but HE+ that cometh after me is mightier than I, Whose+ shoes I am not worthy to bear: HE+ shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

¹² Whose+ fan is in His+ Hand, and HE+ will throughly purge His+ floor, and gather His+ wheat into the garner; but HE+ will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

PENTECOST  

WHAT DOES IT COST ?

What did it cost the Apostles?

What did it cost the Early Christians?

More importantly, 

what is it costing us ? 

The Day of Pentecost is GLORIOUS because the followers of JESUS were endued with flaming, Heaven-sent Power from on High. They were seeking The LORD with one accord. HE+ came, sending forth His+ Blessed HOLY SPIRIT, so that they could be witnesses of HIM+ throughout the whole earth.   

The HOLY SPIRIT power did not fall on them to make the followers of JESUS famous nor rich nor popular. The Power from on High was not given to enhance their own lives and make them comfortable, healthy, and able to live their lives without trouble. 

Indeed, the very opposite happened. 

In the face of ugly death and cruel torture and horrific slaughter by the demonized enemies of CHRIST JESUS, the HOLY SPIRIT power made them UN-STOPPABLE in proclaiming The LORD JESUS CHRIST.  

They were enabled to stand for JESUS  even in the face of their children and families and friends being butchered.  

This is WHY The Power of Pentecost  is given. We yearn for that power. Do we yearn for what accompanies the out-pouring of the true HOLY SPIRIT ?  

The HOLY SPIRIT is not given to make us comfortable in this life.

The HOLY SPIRIT is poured out to make us holy.  

The HOLY SPIRIT is given to help us stand, like CHRIST JESUS stood in the face of His+ enemies as HE+ was nailed to the Cross. It is invincible. 

Can we stand like these Nigerian Brothers and Sisters did THIS VERY WEEK,  on Wednesday, June 4, 2014 ? 

Can we bear testimony like that 80-year-old saint did, who is now clothed in a white robe, residing under the Altar of the THRONE in Heaven, with the other martyrs ?  

Revelation 6 

⁹ And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the Word of GOD, and for the Testimony which they held:

¹⁰ And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O LORD, Holy and True, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

¹¹ And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

( Courtesy of www.biblegateway.com )

The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Church.  

Massacre of Christians in North Nigeria (Gwoza)

Update:Death toll rises to 168 

Posted on June 4, 2014 by VOICE OF THE PERSECUTED  

 By Our Nigerian Foreign Correspondent  (Voice of the Persecuted) 

The death toll in the bloody attack on the Christian community continues to rise this morning. As of 4^th June 2014, a reliable source who went to Attagara reconfirmed the number of casualties stating that an additional 88 bodies were found, bringing the total to 168 casualties. 

“I counted the corpses with my hands”, he said. Most of them were children and youths.

Another source gave some information on the figures.

• 52 people died at the church compound.
• 48 in the nearby village, Aganjara.
• 29 were found death in a cave after the insurgents trapped and opened fire on them.
• 3 were roasted in a fire.
• 36 were slain with a knife and thrown on the street.

“The attack was so terrible that the actual figure could yet be determined,” he said.

A woman who witnessed the slaughter of her 9 year old son, wailed as she spoke to our correspondent by phone describing the terror. They drug her son and slew him. 

They then grabbed for her younger child who is still nursing, intending to slaughter the innocent. She gripped the insurgents and was able to escape with her baby. “I ran for over 40 kilometers. Only God knows the people that were killed,” said the woman.

An elderly Christian man faced the Boko Haram and died a martyr when the insurgents slashed his body, part by part, with a sword. He had bravely told them,

“IF YOU DON’T REPENT OF KILLING INNOCENT CHRISTIANS THAT BELIEVE IN JESUS, THEIR BLOOD WILL JUDGE YOU.”

This statement provoked the insurgents and they beheaded the 80 year old man, a witness said.

It was gathered that more people were still missing and many of the dead had not yet been retrieved from the hills and nearby bush. 

“I don’t know how to explain this tragedy,” a Pastor lamented. “We just found 2 children lying dead in the toilet.” 

A Community leader who demanded anonymity, confirmed that so many corpses were seen without heads. Many are still in hills and backyards,” he noted.

Very early this morning, the insurgents were seen headed towards Jubrili village with over 400 goats and sheep, 50 cows and valuable items they had looted from the Christians. 10 of them were seen carrying AK 47’s and  moving the animals, a witness said. 

“Go there, you will see them,” he told our correspondent. “They would never cross to Cameroon because the border is being well guarded. But they were trying to move the animals to Sambisa, because our security would never be there,” he added.

Note: Soldiers are claiming they could not go to the areas because they did not receive orders from their command headquarters. We ask, “Why not? ---- Question asked by blogger: I AM NOT ASHAMED OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST. wordpress.com Article may be reprinted with credit to Voice of the Persecuted

And they overcame him by

The BLOOD of The LAMB+

and by the Word of their Testimony,

and they loved not their lives unto the death. 

Revelation 12:11

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"PENTECOST"  watercolor by Estella CANZIANI, 1936

Matthew 3 

courtesy of www.biblegateway.com

¹¹ I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but HE+ that cometh after me is mightier than I, Whose+ shoes I am not worthy to bear: HE+ shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

¹² Whose+ fan is in His+ Hand, and HE+ will throughly purge His+ floor, and gather His+ wheat into the garner; but HE+ will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

GOING FORTH in SPIRIT and in POWER...

Welcome, Friends indeed !

This is the Season of Outreach and Evangelism on the Church Calendar. The liturgical color is GREEN... perhaps, for new growth ?

It is NOT the season of political rallies, concerts in the park, and national holidays... for the serious-minded Christian.

The ancient church calendar focused on the events surrounding The LORD JESUS and His+ bodily entrance into the human race and the church calendar  took its shape from those happenings. 

Starting with Abib, the first month in the Jewish calendar, in the Spring of the year, we have the Passover Season. That leads into Passion Week, followed by the Great and Glorious Resurrection Season.

Then, 50 days after Resurrection we enter into the Season of the Pentecost, when the HOLY SPIRIT was visited upon the believers in great power and glory.

After that, some churches call it "Trinity" Season, meaning that now The FATHER, His Beloved SON+, JESUS CHRIST, and  The HOLY SPIRIT have been made manifest unto mankind... the fullness of the GODHEAD bodily, through CHRIST JESUS. 

And as in Acts, the outpouring of the HOLY SPIRIT upon the believers meant that The WORD+ would go forth in power and great glory, bringing others into the flock from every kindred, tongue, people, and nation. 

This is the great, power-filled 

Season of Evangelism

for the Church
following the outpouring
of the HOLY SPIRIT !

Now, the church goes forth in victory because death has no more dominion over it! Death was swallowed up in Victory through the Resurrection of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST ! 

Thus, we boldly and un-ashamedly proclaim the Saving Gospel of CHRIST JESUS to each and every person. His+ love, His+ forgiveness for repentant souls, His+ newness of life offered for each and every one of us  is proclaimed with Resurrection Power of the HOLY SPIRIT during the Trinity Season.  

One of the house group churches in China works out this season by calling it "Evangelism" month. Each person in the congregation is instructed to bring 3 new persons into the fold during the month of July. They go house to house, door to door, to find potential new members of the flock. 

The result? The China house church in that area grows exponentially! 

• So, let us GIRD UP OUR LOINS.
• Let us equip ourselves with hearts of joy, spirits of determination, and pockets of tracts, being ready "in season and out" to proclaim the Salvation of CHRIST JESUS offered to all.  
• Let us claim the Resurrection Power of Our LORD JESUS CHRIST in our prayer closets, over our families, friends, neighbors, and communities.
• And then, let us come forth out of our prayer closets and spread the Good News: 

 In CHRIST JESUS

you , too, can have a new life,

both now,

and for all Eternity !

Furthermore, this can only happen

when you yield

the control over your life...

your sordid, broken, unhappy life...

over to the ONE+ Who+

loves you best...

CHRIST JESUS Our LORD.
+  +  + 

In the Name of The FATHER,

WHO begot thee,

And HIS Beloved, Only-Begotten SON+

WHO+ saves thee, 

And their Blessed HOLY SPIRIT, 

WHO empowers thee

to proclaim the Salvation offered to mankind

Through Our LORD JESUS CHRIST. 

Amen 

Whoever Breaks the KING'S + SEAL....

... dies !

.

Whosoever breaks the seal of the authority

of the KING

dies,

regardless of who it is

that breaks it.

.

Why else would King Darius fast and pray

ALL NIGHT LONG

when he was tricked into throwing Daniel into the lion's den?

.

If King Darius of the Medes and Persians

could have broken through HIS OWN SEAL

to free Daniel

he would have.

.

Several Scriptures speak of seals --- sphragizO, in the Greek forms --- and sometimes it means "certified as TRUE or VALID." This is seen in John 3:33 when John the Baptist bears witness unto CHRIST The LORD. Listen to the simple Greek verse when John said , " The one receiving HIS+ testimony has sealed that GOD true is."

.

But other Scriptures indicate that "seal" means SEALED UP with the KING'S + stamp of authority: In WHOM+ ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of Truth, the gospel of your salvation: in WHOM+ also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that HOLY SPIRIT of promise," ... Ephesians 1:13

.

And grieve not the HOLY SPIRIT of GOD, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of liberation [KJV: redemption]. Ephesians 4:30

.

In Revelation, we see the Angel of GOD setting "a seal upon the slaves of GOD on their foreheads" in order to keep them safe from harm during the judgments of GOD. Rev. 7th and 9th chapters.

.

Then we see in Revelation 20 that there is a seal set upon satan, that he should deceive the nations no more UNTIL the seal is allowed to be broken after 1000 years and satan is set free for a short season.

.

SO.

.

Are you sealed unto GOD,

through the HOLY SPIRIT of Promise,

marked by the Blood of the LAMB+

in the True Covenant of GOD ?

.

.

Woe, woe , woe

My+ children,

if you break that seal I+ have put upon you

and walk away from ME+.

.

There is nothing more I+ can do

once My+ Seal is broken.

.

Woe, woe, woe

to him who breaks

the seal of protection

and stamp of authenticity

that I+ have placed upon him.

.

Death comes to everyone

who breaks My+ Seal...

even if it is broken

by the believer's own hand.

.

CHOOSE LIFE+.

.

+ + +

.

.

In the Name of The FATHER,

HIS BELOVED SON+ JESUS CHRIST,

and the Blessed HOLY SPIRIT.

.

ONE GOD, forever and ever,

world without end.

Amen

Beating the Strongman... Step 1

The Epiphany of 2009
[ The Epiphany Season continues to the Passover Season on the Christian Calendar ].
The Manifestation of the CHRIST Child to the Gentiles
or, Wise Men Seek HIM+

Beating the Strongman
Step 1

Our LORD JESUS CHRIST gives us the power

to attain spiritual fruits;

it is our part to embrace the labor.

This is what Scriptures mean when it says to

“walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing…”

Col. 1:10

This is the first step in beating the strongman.

<(((><

.

The GIFTS of the HOLY SPIRIT are to HIS+ credit; the FRUITS, however, are laid to our account, through the Grace and Mercy of The LORD. Not to use GOD’S gifts for His+ Kingdom’s work, to do His+ Will, is equivalent to burying what GOD has given us. Note this: HE+ did not give us His+ talents for our benefit, but for the Kingdom’s benefit.

The judgment the servant faced who buried the Master’s one talent entrusted unto him was exactly the same as the branches being cut off from the Vine+… by that very same Master and Husbandman. That servant of The LORD buried his Master’s talent and then absorbed himself in the doings of his own life. He did not trouble himself to be about his Master’s interests. He did not concern himself to work primarily for the one he called “master.”

GOD forbid that any of us take advantage of GOD’S grace and mercy toward us! We were not saved to “better our lives” for ourselves but to live for CHRIST JESUS our LORD.

.

.


Accepting this
is the first step in beating the strongman.

.

.

Do we have faith to believe that IF WE PUT the Kingdom of GOD first, that all things we have need of will be given unto us? [That IS the Word of The LORD, you know.]

Can we believe… have we trust in the fact that… our families will be well cared for IF WE do The LORD’S work first? If properly done according to the will of The LORD, not only will our young ones and spouses be rightly cared for, but they will be concerned about the Kingdom of GOD also, to the glory of GOD our FATHER!

.

.


Acknowledging this truth
is the first step in
beating the strongman.

Let us pray:

Dear LORD and Heavenly FATHER, In the name of Thy Beloved SON+ JESUS CHRIST, we ask for help to seek THEE first and Thy Righteousness. We do this in accordance with the Words of Thy SON+. Help us to turn away from the insistent cares of this life and focus only upon the VITAL, the ONE THING that Thy Beloved SON+ said was necessary. Grant us wisdom and strength to do this, according to Thy Will and leading, to the glory of Thy Holy Name. Amen.

+ + +