Consciousness

Consciousness

The book of Hebrews is so rich because anything that has to do with coffee brewing is awesome.

Lameness aside. Hebrews totally whacks the old covenant and brings in the New Covenant, revealing that Christ is way Better and Greater! If you read Hebrews and still have a mixed covenant mindset, you have not understood Hebrews.

For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. - Heb 10:1-4

I like to read verses front to back and back to front. On top of that, I like to read it literally with the New Covenant replacing the old by looking at the opposite of what it means.

The law is a shadow. This means Christ is the true Form.

The law cannot perfect those who draw near because the sacrifices have to be offered continually.

This means that Christ has perfected us who draw near, since the Sacrifice was offered once and completed.

The law doesn't remove the worshipers' consciousness of sins. This means that Christ has removed our consciousness of sins.

The law's sacrifices remind people of their sins. This means that Christ no longer has to remind you of your sins.

The law cannot take away your sins. This means that Christ has removed your sins.

You become what you are conscious of. If you are conscious of sins, you live in sin. If you are conscious of the Son, you live in Him.

Conviction of sins won't change a person. If it does, you don't need Jesus. You just need religion to convict you. 

Conviction of the Son is what changes us. We don't think about what we have done wrong. Knowing your wrong won't change you. We think about what we could do right. Knowing what we could do right is what transforms us because we start acting and living right.

Living our day conscious of the Son is what we can do to walk out our identity in Him.

Immortality

Immortality

Throughout history, all who claimed that they could live forever without experiencing first physical death, died.

There are some who teach immortality using the Bible. But the Scriptures are all quoted out of context.

A text without the context always becomes a pretext for a proof text.

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for Him. - Heb 9:27-28

Man is appointed to die once. In this context, it is referring to physical death, not spiritual death. Read the whole chapter.

After the first physical death, judgment comes for men. But for believers, bodily redemption comes. There are so many Scriptures that talk about this. Jesus has not yet destroyed the last enemy (1 Cor 15:26), which is bodily death.

While it is appointed for men to die once, the Bible does not say WHEN men are appointed to die. So neither should we swing to the other extreme to say that God is calling someone home because his time is up and appointed by God.

Divine health is possible for believers, but not immortality because it is not biblical. Period.

Encounters

Encounters

The Bible is full of encounters, but even more so in the Word of truth.

John, Peter, Paul, etc. all wrote so much about the Word. Yes, they had encounters with Jesus. But they were so rooted in truths.

Some of us are yearning for encounters, because you were taught the Word since you were born. You grew up in the church. You went to Sunday schools, youth groups, and finally adult services. But you almost never had encounters with God.

1) You are not defined by any encounter with God. You are defined by what Christ has done for you on the Cross.

2) Going after encounters is fine, but they don't mark your life. The Author of Life is the one who marks you.

3) It is not the encounter, but what you do with the encounter that changes you. Mind renewal is the only way for transformation (Rom 12:2).

4) It is not difficult to encounter God, if you focus on the Word and DO the Word. It's not a charismatic kind of encounter where you fall backwards, shake, laugh, vibrate, or whatsoever. That's fine but not life-changing. What you want is a Word-experience where you see the Word coming alive in and through your life.

i.e. The Word tells you to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. If you do it consistently, you will encounter God. It's a Word-experience due to obedience to His Word.

Word -> Obey -> Encounter

5) If you can believe God purely based on His Word, despite not seeing an encounter yet, you are extremely blessed (Jn 20:29). And your faith is MORE steadfast than anyone who goes from encounters to encounters.

Staying in the Word, abiding in the Word and living in the Word supersedes every charismatic encounter, because you will become God's ENCOUNTER for the world.

Enduring Faith

Enduring Faith

...but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. - Heb 6:12

Grace is... ---- "For all the promises of God in Him are Yes..." - 2 Cor 1:20a 

Grace has freely given ALL things. Christ paid for them. You cannot earn them. You can only receive them.

Faith is... ---- "...and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us." - 2 Cor 1:20b

Faith takes what Grace has already provided. The word 'Amen' means 'so let it be'.

Mary said in Luke 1:38, "Let it be done according to Your Word." She understood Grace. So she responded in faith.

Jesus said in Mark 9:29, "Let it be done according to your faith." Jesus is the Grace of God manifested. He taught how the grace (promises of God) can be manifested ------ by faith.

When we say, "Let it be done according to Your Word", God says, "Let it be done according to Your faith." 

Faith is simply believing that Grace has been released; it is true and it is done. It is about believing NOW that you have received it (Mk 11:24).

However, it is not enough to have faith. Patience/endurance is sometimes needed. Biblical patience is not thinking, "It's not yet here. I just need to wait patiently for it." If we think that way, we have just canceled faith.

Biblical patience for inheriting the promises of God is to CONTINUE to believe NOW that you have received it. Because the moment when you think that you have NOT received it, you destroy faith and move back into hope.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. - Prov 13:12

The desire fulfilled is the tree of life. Since the tree of life is Christ, your desire is fulfilled (Haggai 2:7) when Christ is in you. You can no longer have hope deferred because all of the promises of God are within you. Biblical hope is already within us.

Therefore, all we need to live victoriously on earth is faith AND patience/endurance to inherit His promises (both for now and future).

P.S: Knowing this will transform your prayer life and your prayer can never be the same again.

Can Christians Judge?

The answer is Yes. Let me explain.

Well, religion has taught us not to judge others. They said, "Judge not, that you be not judged..." (Matt 7:1). As a result, it produces hypocritical believers who have a form of godliness but denying its power ----- for they STILL judge inwardly, but they appear as though they don't judge outwardly.

A word without a context always becomes a pretext for a proof text.

Continue reading Matt 7 and you will see this --- "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞." (Matt 7:5)

In other words, Jesus was teaching that you should not judge others when you have the same problem! Because that will make you a hypocrite. He wasn't teaching that you should NOT judge at all.

Jesus Himself said, "Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment." - Jn 7:24

The word 'appearances' refer to 'sight'. Paul confirmed the same truth in 2 Cor 5:16. We are not meant to judge or perceive others by sight (according to the flesh).

But we are called to judge between right and wrong according to the word of righteousness (Heb 5:13) by looking at the person's fruits (Matt 7:19).

God is the Judge. We are created in His image. Therefore, we have been given the power to judge (1 Cor 6:2-3). If a Christian cannot judge, then a Christian cannot work as a judge in the judiciary system.

...for everyone who lives on milk is 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, since he is a child. But 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞, for those who have 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 by constant practice 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥. - Heb 5:13-14

Immature believers are unskilled in the word of righteousness. They cannot judge because they do not know what is right and wrong.

But solid food aka the word of righteousness is for the mature believers. They have their powers of discernment aka senses ------ organ of perception (Strong's G145) trained to distinguish aka judge ('diakrisis' in Greek) between good and evil.

In a nutshell, we are called to judge with right judgment (Jn 7:24). How? By having our spiritual perception trained in the word of righteousness, so that we do not judge according to the flesh/sight, but according to what is RIGHT in the eyes of God.

Did Jesus Waver In The Garden?

Did Jesus Waver In The Garden?

In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 because of His reverence.

If we read this in context, it seems that God delivered Jesus from death. If this is true, then this death cannot be the Cross.

We were all taught to think like human when it comes to Jesus' emotions. But Jesus IS the mind of Christ. He thinks like heaven, because He came to represent the Father. He rebuked Peter for thinking like human.

Why do we lower Jesus' standard to conform into our standard, when we are supposed to think like Him?

“Father, if You are willing, 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐌𝐞. Nevertheless, not My will, but Yours, be done.” And there appeared to Him an angel from heaven, 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐢𝐦. And being in agony He prayed more earnestly; and 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 falling down to the ground. - Luke 22:42-44

This is the famous prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane (read also in Matt 26 and Mark 14). In the book of Mark, Jesus used 'this hour' instead of 'this cup', since Mark was written in a way that focused on urgency and action.

What if this cup (or this hour) had to do with premature death in the Garden before the Cross? What if the stress and the burden of the sins of humanity rejecting & betraying Him (Mark 14:41; Heb 12:4) were weighing on Jesus in the Garden such that He was sweating blood? What if satan, who waited for opportune time, (Luke 4:13) was tempting Him in the Garden to the point of death?

And He said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 (also in Matt 26:38). Remain here and watch.” And going a little farther, He fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐇𝐢𝐦. - Mark 14:34-35

The word 'hour' is used for 'the fatal hour of death' in this context according to Thayer's Greek Lexicon. This was a crucial hour for Jesus in the Garden, which is differentiated from the hour of the Cross in many other passages.

The hour was so important that Jesus rebuked Peter. “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not watch 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫?" - Mark 14:37

It seems that Jesus wasn't asking the Father to save Him from the hour of the Cross, but the hour of premature death in the Garden.

Look over here...

“Now is My soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour." - John 12:27

Jesus was clear on His purpose of going to the Cross. He made this rhetorical question, proving that He would NOT ask the Father to save Him from the hour of the Cross. Read also Luke 9:51 (Jesus set His face to go towards the Cross) and John 17:1-4 (the High Priestly Prayer).

What if Jesus, our courageous and bold Saviour, did NOT waver in the Garden about the Cross? What if He was so focused and intentional, and was looking forward to the Cross (Heb 12:2)? What if He didn't want premature death, so that He could be perfected on the Cross and become the Source of our eternal salvation (Heb 5:9)?

Maybe we need to raise our standard in seeing Him for who He really is. Our God and King.

Falling Away From Grace

Falling Away From Grace

Over the years, I have studied, researched and listened to the topic on whether a believer can walk out of his spiritual salvation.

I still don't have the answer. There are very convincing preachers who are fully convinced about 'Once saved, always saved' and 'Yes, you can lose your spiritual salvation.' 

But the Scriptures are not as plain as we would want it to be when it comes to this topic. Since God doesn't focus on that explicitly, it means that it is not of significant importance, in my personal opinion.

The focus in the Scriptures, however, is about going after Him and His Kingdom. When we focus on that, we won't be bothered about the topic on spiritual salvation. Those who keep harping on it usually is not focused on Him and His Kingdom ----- this is when they need to be worried about that topic.

"Take care, 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 from the living God." - Heb 3:12

This passage is obviously talking about believers (Jewish Christians in the context). The word 'fall away' in Greek is where you have the English word 'apostate'. See also 1 Tim 4:1 (depart from the faith).

Believers, therefore, can fall away from God or depart from the faith because of unbelief in their hearts. But this does not necessarily mean that they lose their spiritual salvation, since it is not explicitly written by the Spirit of God.

Falling away from grace, however, keeps us from experiencing the REST that God wants us to enjoy. Just as the Israelites, with unbelief, did not enter (and experience) His rest in the Promised Land, we can miss experiencing the Promises that He has given us through the Promised Spirit (Gal 3:14).

Unbelief leads to unrest (Heb 3:18-19). The opposite is true. 𝐁𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭.

The factor which reveals if we are believing or not is whether we 'experience' rest or unrest. If you have unrest within, you are not believing. If you have rest within, you are believing.

Praying doesn't manifest the answer. Believing does (Mk 11:23-24).

This is why Phil 4:6-7 is important. God wants us to be free from unrest. Thanksgiving, before the answer is manifested, releases the peace of God that guards our hearts and minds so that we can 'enter' His rest.

Since resting = believing, when we have rest within, the answer will manifest.

I can't tell you how many times I encountered the difference between rest and unrest when it came to property deals in the past. When I had unrest within, the deals often fell apart. When I had rest within, even if the deal was pretty impossible, it still went through.

Majority of the surprised deals came through when I was MOST AT REST. In other words, when I simply believed (resulting in rest), the answer manifested.

This is how the Kingdom operates. By resting in Him. Because if we have unrest, we have unbelief that causes us to fall away from (experiencing) His grace and goodness.

P.S: As believers who are also property agents, our best gift to our clients is not diligence (which is important and needed), but to be at rest (believing).

Test His Faithfulness

Test His Faithfulness

Wilderness is not a test on your faith. It's a test on His faithfulness. Since Christ lives IN you, and you IN Him, when wilderness comes, the One IN you gets tested.

“Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, on the day of testing in the wilderness, where your fathers put Me to the test and saw My works for forty years." - Heb 3:8-9

Wilderness puts God to the test ----- on His faithfulness. Since He is faithful and He never fails, He ALWAYS passes the test.

Christ lives IN you. The Faithful One lives IN you. 

When you are faced with a challenge, when you are walking in the wilderness, when you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, your eyes must not look to yourself. You look to the Author and the Finisher of faith, for He is faithful!

You put Him to the test. Test how good He is. Test how faithful He is. Test how powerful He is. Test how loving He is.

Every wilderness is an opportunity to put God to the test, and recognise that He lives in you.

When you realise that wilderness is NOT about you, when you forget yourself completely in the wilderness and focuses on Him who is being put to the test, you will always come out victorious. For the Victor lives in you!

Angel's Healing at the Pool??

Angel's Healing at the Pool??

John 5 is the only passage in the Bible where an angel seemed to stir the water occasionally, resulting in possible healing.

Every other passage had Christ as the Healer. In fact, if we want to be sticky about it, Christ still revealed Himself as the Healer in this passage for the invalid man of 38 years.

I did a study on this, because we cannot just take one incident to build a doctrine around it.

Many of the early manuscripts (ancient copies) did not contain verse 4. Check out the literal translations such as ESV, RSV and NASB (latest). In fact, many of the scholars agreed that verse 4 was added much later.

Note: Verse 7 does mention about the stirring of the water, but it does not mention anything about an angel.

If the writer John excluded an angel in the passage on healing, his focus must be on Christ, since John wrote to point to the Divinity of Christ.

Nowhere in the entire Bible shows us that an angel heals. God either healed directly in the Old Testament, or did it through the Word (spoken through His prophet). Because He healed through His Word (Ps 107:20).

Some scholars believe that the stirring of the pool by an angel was the belief of the people in those days.

Dave Miller, a professor of Biblical and Theological Studies in United States, said, "The Bible is not to be blamed as giving sanction to this idea merely on the basis of the personal sentiments held by the people of the day, since the Bible merely reports their beliefs — as indicated by the sick man’s own remarks. Jesus certainly said nothing to give that belief credibility."

Food for thoughts:

1) If an angel is involved in healing, it would have contradicted the nature of God, who is Himself Jehovah Rapha ----- the One who heals (Exo 15:26)

2) If God allows the sick to compete with one another to get healed one at a time in the pool, it would have contradicted His nature ----- not found in Christ (Heb 1:3; Col 1:15)

3) Such healing in the pool would have been anti-Christ, since it does not point to God (Jn 5:19; 14:9; 20:21). Jesus HAD to REVEAL Himself as the Healer to the invalid man (Jn 5:6, 5:8, 5:14).

The man was so stuck with his healing and his own belief, that he failed to recognise the Healer standing in front of Him.

May we recognise Christ alone as our Jehovah Rapha.