Learn to Discern Between Spirituality and Religiosity

One of the greatest dangers that faces the Christian in his pursuit of a holy life is that of ending up being religious and not spiritual. Religiosity is often mistaken by the undiscerning believer for spirituality. But there is a world of difference between the two. The former is human, the latter is divine. The law could make people religious, but not spiritual. Religiosity is being taken up with the external, visible things. Spirituality is primarily a matter of the heart. God's word warns us that there will be many in the last days who have a form of godliness without its power - in other words, they will be religious, but not spiritual (2 Tim. 3:5). They will go religiously to meetings, pray and read the Bible daily and even attend all-night fasting and prayer meetings, tithe their income, etc. But they will still seek honour from men, live for themselves, love money and be interested in gossiping, etc. Such people are religious, not spiritual. They have a form of godliness without the power. Here are some examples.

·         If you are more interested in going to meetings than in crucifying the flesh (Gal.5:24), you are religious, not spiritual.

·         If you are more interested in reading your Bible every morning than in controlling your tongue the whole day, you are religious, not spiritual.

·         If you are more interested in fasting and praying than in being free from the love ofmoney, you are religious, not spiritual.

·         If you are more interested in evangelism than in personal sanctification, you are religious, not spiritual.

·         Religious people are interested in the written word alone (`the letter') and end up having the righteousness of the law. Spiritual people, however, are interested in the Word being manifested in flesh and blood and, thus, end up having the righteousness of God, the divine nature.

·         Religious people justify their actions by quoting the words or actions of some man of God. Spiritual people, however, never seek to justify themselves before men.

·         Religious people are more interested in men's opinions than in God's opinion. Spiritual people care only about God's opinion.

·         Religious people can meditate for years on the words of praise that some elder brother spoke concerning them. Spiritual people, on the other hand, like Jesus, refuse to receive testimony from men (Jn. 5:34). They know that other men do not know the corruption that they see within themselves, and so they realise that the praise of men is worth less than nothing.

·         Religious people are legalistic and are under the law. They think in terms of the minimum necessary in order to please God. This is why they calculate exactly how much 10% of their income comes to and then offer it reluctantly to God. In the Old Testament, this attitude finally ended up in the Israelites offering blind sheep and sick bulls as sacrifices to the Lord (Mal. 1:8). It is possible to have an identical attitude to the New Testament commandments.

·         A sister can think in terms of the minimum necessary in order to keep the letter of the word that commands her to be subject to her husband or the minimum necessary covering required for her head in the meetings - without the beauty of her hair being totally hidden!

·         Men and women can think in terms of the minimum necessary in order to be 'spiritual' without altogether giving up everything. "What is the minimum that I have to give up of this world?" is a question that is always in the minds of such people. Such can never be spiritual. They can only be religious.

·         The attitude of mind that thinks "What can I get out of the Lord?" leads to religiosity. On the other hand, the attitude that thinks "What can the Lord get out of the one earthly life that I have?" will lead to true spirituality.

·         All the activities of religious people mentioned in the above examples are good. But it is a question of priorities. It is right priorities that make a man spiritual.

Zac Poonen

Christian Fellowship Church, Bangalore, India

http://www.cfcindia.com

The Sorrowful Mystery: The Crucifixion of our LORD

Luke 23:33-34,44,46. When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified Him ...Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing"...There was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour...and Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.”

Reflection: The place of the Skull, also called Golgotha, was just a garbage heap outside the gates of the sacred city of Jerusalem. So, when Jesus was led outside the walls to die in the city dump, the Jewish leaders were exiling him not only from their city, but also from his unique heritage as a son of Israel. He was being cut off from his own people and from a place deeply associated with his cultural identity. At the same time, Jesus experienced a profound interior darkness on the cross, a descent into the experience of total abandonment by his Father. Because God is holy and Jesus was the Lamb burdened with all of human sin from the start of human history to the end, his punishment was to be exiled from the presence of the Father, and to die in that darkness, buried under the trash of all our sins. He was cut off from both his people and his God. What tremendous, aching solitude he must have experienced! And what a sense of being rejected, unwanted, and stripped of everything that was most sacred and beloved to him.

As human beings, we need relationships in order to be whole and complete. We need others, and most of all, we need God; these relationships make us whole, human, and happy. Some people inflict a terrible isolation on themselves by turning away from God or by making themselves inaccessible to other people. At times, this can be the result of sin—inflicted or received—or it could be a way of guarding one’s own wounds, punishing oneself or others, or acting out a twisted self-concept of unworthiness. But self-imposed isolation has the unfortunate consequence of shielding people from the experience of being loved and understood by others, of belonging, and even of being redeemed. We discover our own value not by self-appraisal, but by experiencing how we are loved and valued by God and by others; our identity is illuminated by our relationships. A life lived without God and others is a kind of living death. In this mystery, we can pray for all those who live their days in the darkness and loneliness of a personal Calvary.

God Looks for Faithfulness in Little Things

In 1 Kings 19:19-21, we read of Elijah calling Elisha. Elisha was working hard in the fields with his oxen when Elijah called him.

Notice first of all that God always calls those who are working hard and are faithful in their secular occupations. Moses was faithfully looking after his father-in-law’s sheep when God called him. David was looking after sheep and fighting with lions and bears. Amos was a hardworking herdsman. Peter, James, John and Andrew were hardworking fishermen. Matthew was sitting at the table working on his accounts. We never see anywhere in the Old Testament or the New Testament that God called a lazy man for His service.

We don’t find Elijah going to Elisha’s house when he was fast asleep and calling him there - because we would have thought he was a lazy man. Jesus also never went to Peter’s house in the evening to call him. He called him when he was fishing. All these examples show us that God wants us to be faithful and hardworking in our secular jobs before He can call us to serve Him. If you are not faithful in earthly matters, how can you be faithful in heavenly matters? If you are young and still living at home, then be a faithful son or daughter at home.

Notice secondly that all these men dropped everything and went as soon as God called them. We see that with Peter, John and Matthew and also here with Elisha. God calls those who will respond to His call immediately and wholeheartedly. They may seek to confirm God’s call on their lives with godly people in order to be certain that they are not acting on their own emotional feelings. But once they are sure, they act quickly. God can use only such people to serve Him, because His service requires instant obedience, total commitment and hard work.

God tests us in our secular occupations to see whether we are faithful. If you are asked to clean a room and you are careless about the way you do it or you are slipshod about it, I doubt if God will ever call you to serve Him. Because, if that’s the way you clean up a room that will probably be the way you clean up your heart as well. How then can God use you to clean up His church? It is faithfulness in the little things that God looks for.

Zac Poonen

www.cfcindia.com

Trust in the Lord Alone for All Your Needs

Elijah was a man who was instantly obedient to every little thing that God said. God told him one day to go and hide himself by the brook Cherith – and he went at once (1 Kings 17:3). There the ravens brought him bread and meat and he drank from the brook (v.6). At 8 o’clock every morning, a raven would bring him some food. Again at 5 o’clock in the evening, another raven would bring him some food. These crows would bring him meat. If the crows had brought him vegetables, that itself would have been a miracle. But for a crow to bring meat (which it loves) is a greater miracle. That’s how God provided for Elijah. But gradually, after a few days, Elijah began depending on the ravens and not the Lord!

Many servants of the Lord start out trusting the Lord for their financial needs. But after a few years, they are no longer depending on the Lord, but on some ravens – human beings who send them regular support! That is exactly what happened to Elijah. So what did the Lord do? He stopped the ravens. God wanted to shake off Elijah’s dependence on ravens and to teach him once again to depend on the Lord. So thank God when the ravens stop coming – when the promised support doesn’t come. Then you willlearn once again to trust the Lord alone for your needs. I have been through experiences like that. I thank God for the times when He has turned away my eyes from ravens to Him Who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and Who has said that He will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus.

The Lord then changed His method and told Elijah now to go to Zarephath. Zarephath was outside Israel. Elijah may have imagined that some rich businessman there would take care of him. But when he reached Zarephath, what he found was not a rich businessman, but a poor widow who was just about to have her last meal! And the Lord told Elijah, “She will support you!” God’s ways are truly amazing. God does things like that because He is a jealous God. He wants us to trust in Him and not in ravens or rich businessmen. He will use a weak person whom you least expect to be able to help you, and use him, so that no flesh may glory in His presence.

The widow said, “We were just about to have our last meal and die.” Elijah told her, “Don’t be afraid. Make me a little bread cake from it first. The bowl of flour shall not be exhausted nor shall the jar of oil be empty, until the day the Lord sends rain on the face of the earth” (1 Kings 17:13, 14). And the bowl of flour was not exhausted and the jar of oil did not become empty.

There are many preachers today who use this incident to teach poor people to give them money. But that is a total misinterpretation of this incident. First of all, most of today’s preachers are not prophets like Elijah. Secondly, most of today’s preachers are lovers of money, unlike Elijah. These two facts alone put Elijah in a different class altogether from most of today’s preachers who exploit the poor. Further, Elijah asked the widow for just a bare meal to survive in a time of famine; and he ate the same food that the widow and her son ate. Today’s preachers are not asking for money to survive but to support their grand lifestyles. There are multitudes of false prophets around today.  Unfortunately, since most of God’s people do not know how to distinguish between a true prophet and a false one, they are deceived.

Zac Poonen

www.cfcindia.com

Clear Your Debt to the Whole World and to the Church

In 2 Kings 4:1 to 7, we read of a preacher’s widow who was in debt. It’s a sad thing when husbands die and leave their wives with a debt. That’s something all of us should avoid at any cost. And preachers especially should avoid getting into debt because that is a bad testimony. Now the creditor had come to take away her two children as slaves to repay the debt. Elisha asked her what she had in her home. She replied, “Nothing, except a jar of oil.” She called the jar of oil “nothing”, and yet the solution to all her problems lay right there. The Lord asked Moses something similar in the desert, “What do you have in your hand?” He only had a shepherd’s staff. That was enough. With that staff, he split the Red Sea, brought water out of the rock and led Israel right up to the borders of the promised land. The widow in Zarephath (whom Elijah visited) had only a small bowl of flour and a little jar of oil. But those contained the solution to all her family’s problems and saved her and her son from death. We too may have some ability that we don’t value and say, “I can’t do anything with that.” But that may be the very thing the Lord wants to use.

This jar of oil here is a picture of the Holy Spirit. Sometimes those who serve the Lord say, “I don’t have much money or knowledge. I am not gifted or clever. I don’t have any supporters to give me money. The needs are so great for the Lord’s work. What shall I do?” So you ask them,“Have you received the Holy Spirit?”   “Yes.”   “Then what else do you need?”

This woman did not realize that the solution to all her problems lay in that jar of oil. Elisha told her, “Go and borrow many large vessels from all your neighbours. Then go into your room, shut the door, and keep pouring from your jar into these vessels. They will all get filled up. Don’t let other people see this miracle. Do it in secret” (2 Kings 4:3, 4). This was just like Jesus said, “Go shut the door and pray and fast and give your gifts. Don’t let anybody see you do these things” (Mt.6:1-18).

A man of God must have a secret walk with God where he has dealings with God before he can stand up in public. Shut the door and you can experience the Holy Spirit ministering to all your needs. Then open the door and share that with others. Thus you can clear your debt.

We have a debt to the whole world – to give them the gospel. Paul said, “I am a debtor to Jews and non-Jews, to the cultured and to the barbarians - to everybody - to give them the gospel of God” (Rom.1:14).

We also have a debt to the whole church – to every believer – to show them love. The Bible says, “Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another” (Rom.13:8).

How are we to clear this two-fold debt – to share the gospel with the world and to love every child of God? Is it money we need or human abilities primarily? No. We need the power of the Holy Spirit. That was what Jesus told His disciples to wait for (Acts 1:8). That is what Paul told Timothy to kindle afresh within him (2 Tim.1:6).

Shut the door and seek God in secret. Pursue after love and seek earnestly for the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit, and especially for the gift of prophecy (1 Cor.14:1). You can then go forth and clear your debt. That is the message of this passage of Scripture.

That widow filled every vessel she could find. She not only cleared her debt with that oil but blessed and enriched her neighbours too – for she must have sent those vessels back to them full of oil. That is our calling too – to bless our neighbours and everyone we meet. This is why we need to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Zac Poonen

www.cfcindia.com

Be a Servant Always - Till the End of Your Earthly Days

In 2 Kings 3:11, we see a beautiful title given to the prophet Elisha by others in Israel: “He who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.” Each time, after Elijah had finished eating, Elisha would bring some water and pour it for Elijah to wash his hands. He did that job so regularly and faithfully that others observed it and gave him that title! That is how Elisha started out on his ministry.

God will test our faithfulness in little things before He commits a ministry to us. Joshua had served Moses faithfully for many years before he became the next leader. Timothy served Paul faithfully and became an apostle.

Elisha was not known as a great preacher or a great prophet when he started out. He was known only as a servant. Many young people miss God’s best because they look for fame in the ministry and not for the opportunity to serve others.

Jesus taught us by His example that we should wash people’s feet till the end of our lives. It’s not that we begin by washing people’s feet for a few years and then move up to more senior ministries! No. We are called to wash people’s feet until the end of our lives. We must always be ready to do the lowly tasks.

Jesus said that He had come to serve others and not to be served by others. Be a servant always - till the end of your earthly days. If you want to be a servant of the Lord forever, be a servant of peopleforever. Always consider yourself a servant of others and nothing else. When you serve the Lord, others will be kind to you and serve you. But don’t ever take any delight in that.  Don’t ever look at them as your servants. They are your brothers. Be willing to serve them and to wash their feet. Most preachers today have become “lords”, and that’s why the anointing has gone from their ministry.

BY Zac Poonen  www.cfcindia.com

Pray with full faith... GOD will deliver and hear your prayer... GOD Bless All :)

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears. 
(Psalm 18:2-6)

God Commands Us to Build a Home for Him to Live In

By Zac Poonen www.cfcindia.com

We all know how when we go into some homes that we don’t feel at home there. Whereas in other homes, right from the moment we enter, they make us feel completely at home. It is difficult to explain this feeling, but we all know it.

A Christian home must be a place where Jesus feels completely at home. That means that He is happy about everything He sees there. He is happy about the books we read, the magazines we get, the conversation between husband and wife, the things we talk about, the programs we watch on TV and everything else. In many Christian homes, they have Bible-verses hanging on the wall. But Jesus does not feel at home there.

Can you imagine with what tremendous anticipation God brought Adam and Eve together. What wonderful plans He had for them as a Father. He hoped that they would have a wonderful home where He would always be first. But how soon God was disappointed. He was not angry with them, He was sad. I believe there is a lot of sadness in God’s heart today when He sees the condition of many a Christian home, where there is no peace, but only quarreling and fighting. They turn to Him only when they are in trouble. The people of the world turn to God only when they face some problems. But as Christians we are to be different. God is not an emergency number that we are to call when we are in some difficulty. No. God must be the Centre of our lives at all times.

God’s Word has been given to us exactly like the “Manufacturer’s Instructions” that we get with any gadget that we buy. All of us are so careful after buying an electronic gadget to follow thoseinstructions exactly. If your gadget has some problem and you take it to the manufacturer, the first question he will ask you will be, “Did you follow the Manufacturer’s instruction-booklet exactly?” In fact, in most guarantee cards it is clearly written that the guarantee becomes invalid if you don’t follow the instructions exactly.

The wonderful thing about God however is that when we go to Him with our messed-up life at any time, He is still willing to rectify it. His is not a one-year guarantee! It’s a life-long one! If you come to Him with your broken life, He will straighten it out. That’s the wonderful thing about God - He is a loving Father. And it’s very important that we know that the One Who is asking us to make a sanctuary for Him in our home is a loving Father. He is very, very interested in our lives and He wants us to be happy until the day that Jesus returns.

I can tell you that the most wonderful life we can ever live is one where Jesus is the Centre of our life, and where everything in our home is determined by whether it makes Jesus happy or not – the way we spend our time, the way we spend our money, and the way we do everything else. If we live like that, then when we come to the end of our life, or if Christ returns before that, and we stand before Him, He will say, “Well done”. It won’t matter then what others thought about us.

One characteristic of man is that he judges by the outward appearance. I did that myself for many years, when I was a legalist. But I now see more clearly that it is the heart that God looks at. It is important to remember that it’s our heart that should always be pure. Whether our home is a palace or a hut is secondary - the outward appearance is secondary. It’s our heart that God sees. So make sure that our hearts are together a sanctuary – a holy place – for God to dwell in.

Novena to St.Antony of Padhuva

Trust and pray and be Blessed... GOD Bless All :)

Novena to St.Jude.

Pray with Full Heart and Trust, testify and be blessed :) GOD BLESS :)

LORD JESUS CHRIST IS OUR SAVIOUR , WE SHALL NOT WANT

Look for the Anointing of God and the Grace of God upon a Man

WORD FOR THE WEEK by Zac Poonen www.cfcindia.com

In 1 Chronicles, Chapter 12, we read of those who stood by David when Saul was persecuting him. It was easy to join David after he had become king. But here we read of people who joined him at a time when he was rejected and being hunted for his life. It’s easy to live totally for the Lord in heaven but quite another matter to follow Him totally here on earth where He is rejected and despised. In the same way, it is easy to join a church after it has become famous and popular, but quite another thing to join it when it is despised, because you see that the anointing is there.

The men who became David’s army generals later were those who followed him at a time when he was being persecuted by Saul and rejected by Israel. In our day also we see something similar. God raises up a man to do a work for Him in a particular place, but very few have eyes to recognize God’s anointing on him and on his ministry. These few join him and don’t care what ‘Saul’ or anybody else says about him. Thus they accomplish an eternal work for the Lord in their generation. We need to train our senses to recognize where the anointing of God is today.

A true servant of God will never be popular, even as his Master was unpopular. Jesus said,“Woe unto you when everyone speaks well of you, because they spoke thus about the falseprophets. But blessed are you when all men speak evil of you, because that’s how they treated all the true prophets.” (Lk.6:22, 26) Very few people have understood this fact. A true prophet is almost never fully recognised or valued in his lifetime.

The history of the church shows that even the true apostles were rejected and despised by others in their lifetime. Paul was rejected by the believers in Corinth. He said in 2Tim.1:15, “All those in Asia have forsaken me.” Paul was true to God until the end of his life, but most of his fellow-believers forsook him. Jesus was true to His father and most people left Him too.

Some of the sons of Benjamin came to David when he was in a cave (12:16). David met them and told them, “If you have come peacefully, my heart will be with you. But if you have come to betray me to my enemies - my conscience is clear - may God punish you.” We have to be careful, because even today there are people who can come to us pretending to be our friends. But if our conscience is clear, God will deal with them.

But look at the wonderful example of Amasai (12:18): “The Spirit of God came upon Amasai, who was the chief of the thirty valiant men, and he said, ‘We are yours, O David. We are with you, son of Jesse. Peace to you and peace to him who helps you. Your God helps you.’ Then David received them and made them captains of his band.” People like Amasai recognised God’s anointing upon David, despite David’s outward circumstances, because the Holy Spirit was upon them.

If you read the history of the church you will find that the truly godly men who stood against the established religious system in Christendom were always persecuted. You have heard of how Martin Luther was persecuted by the Roman Catholic system. Perhaps you have heard of John Calvin too. But there was another group of wholehearted believers at that time called theAnabaptists, who were persecuted not only by the Roman Catholics but also by the followers of Martin Luther and John Calvin!! These Anabaptists were godly people who sought to live godly lives, totally separated from the spirit of this world – and they were persecuted severely for their stand. They met in the forests and many of their leaders were killed. Church history may not have written much about them. But one day when Jesus returns, we will discover that these people were the men who stood wholeheartedly for God in their day. And this is true in our day too.

Look for the anointing of God upon a man – not for supernatural gifts (even Satan has supernatural gifts) but for the anointing and the grace of God – those are the proofs that God is with a man. And if God approves of a man, we better approve of him too! Amasai had that much sense!

Notice another characteristic of David (in 13:1): “David consulted with the captains of the thousands and the hundreds, even with every leader.” A true man of God works in fellowship with others. One reason why David got such tremendous support from the people was because he discussed things with them. His attitude was, “I am a weak brother and I need your opinion. What do you think about this?” He sat down and discussed things with people who were junior to him and together came to a decision along with the other men. And then we read in verse 4, “All the assembly said that they would do so, for the thing was right in the eyes of all the people.”

Very Very Important !!! GOD BLESS ALL :)

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9:26 that he had a very definite aim in what he was doing. He didn’t fight or run aimlessly. He ran towards a definite goal. He fired at a definite target.

I remember the days when we cadets were being taught to shoot with rifles in the military academy. We had to lie down on the ground, a few feet apart from each other, with rifles in our hands. Each of us had a target-board some yards in front of us, marked with a number of concentric circles, with a point in the centre called the “bull’s eye”. When we first began shooting, our aim was highly inaccurate. Some of us would be hitting the next person’s target and not our own!! After a while we learnt to hit our own targets.

That’s how it often is with many Christians too. They hit other people’s targets and not their own. They are busybodies in other people’s matters. But if they work out their own salvation, they will gradually learn to hit their own target and finally hit the bull’s eye. Then their aim would have become perfect. Paul’s aim was perfect. He didn’t judge others. He judged himself and subdued his own body. And so he fought a good fight and finished his course (2 Tim.4:7).

Our eyes and our tongue are the two members of our body that we need to discipline the most.

We invite unbelievers to give their hearts to Christ. But the Lord asks us to give Him our bodies (Rom.12:1) - and He asks especially for our eyes and our tongues. If we don’t give Him these, all the time, we cannot expect to be bondslaves or spokesmen of Christ, or to stand approved by God in the final day.

If we don’t keep our eyes under control - at home, in the bus, on the road and in our place of work - we will find that even if we preach like angels, we will be disqualified by God in the final day. Many servants of God through the centuries have fallen because they were not careful with their eyes. They allowed their eyes to wander and look at pretty girls, and soon one thing led to another, and they fell into sin. It is not enough to say that we don’t lust after women. The Bible warns usnot even to admire a woman’s BEAUTY, lest it bring us to spiritual poverty (Prov.6:25,26). How careful we must be then.

We have to be careful in the same way with our tongues. God will not use the tongue of a man to preach His Word, if that man allows his tongue to be used by Satan at other times. The Lord told Jeremiah, “If you separate the precious from the worthless (in your conversation), then you will become My spokesman” (Jer.15:19).  We must never speak anything that does not come from a heart of goodness. That’s not easy to do, because we are so weak in this area. We have to be ruthless if we are to discipline our tongues.

I am sure there must have been many young people in our land whom God had called in past days to His service, whom He had planned to make His prophets in India. But they did not become prophets, because they were not careful to discipline their eyes and their tongues. They did not subdue their bodies.

We are called members of the Body of Christ, because that expresses anintimate, inward relationship with Christ the Head, just like our bodily members have with our brains in our physical bodies.

Jesus was faithful to keep every part of His body available exclusively for His Father (His Head). It is written in Romans 15:3 that He never pleased Himself. He never sought His own pleasure in the way He used His eyes or His tongue. He did not look at what He wanted to. Nor did He speak what He wanted to. He always sought to do what pleased His Father. Thus He presented His body without any blemish to His Father and became the perfect spokesman of His Father to the world (Heb.9:14). That is how we are to live too, as members of His spiritual Body now.

To be a wholehearted disciple of Jesus is to have a burning desire to present ourselves to God without any blemish.

If we want to build the church as the Body of Christ, we must gather together all those who are eager to present their bodies to God thus, and who are really keen to make their bodies their slaves.

Each time we miss the bull’s eye, we must mourn for our failure. We must mourn when our eyes are not absolutely pure. We must mourn when our tongues have spoken something that was not spoken in absolute goodness.

GOD IS ALL POWERFULL

Galatians 6:7
Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. WHO mocked God : Proverbs 17:5
Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

John Lennon (Singer):
Some years before, during his interview with an American Magazine, he said:
'Christianity will end, it will disappear.
I do not have to argue about that.. I am certain.
Jesus was ok, but his subjects were too simple, today we are more famous than Him' (1966).
Lennon, after saying that the Beatles were more famous than Jesus Christ, was shot six times.

Tancredo Neves (President of Brazil ):
During the Presidential campaign,he said if he got 500,000 votes from his party, not even God would remove him from Presidency.
Sure he got the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President, then he died.

Cazuza (Bi-sexual Brazilian composer, singer and poet):
During A show in Canecio ( Rio deJaneiro ),
while smoking his cigarette, he puffed out some smoke into the air and said:'God, that's for you.'
He died at the age of 32 of LUNG CANCER in a horrible manner.

The man who built the Titanic
After the construction of Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe the Titanic would be. With an ironic tone he said:
'Not even God can sink it'
The result: I think you all know what happened to the Titanic

Marilyn Monroe (Actress)
She was visited by Billy Graham during a presentation of a show. He said the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what the Preacher had to say, she said:
'I don't need your Jesus'.
A week later, she was found dead in her apartment

Bon Scott (Singer)
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang: 'Don't stop me; I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell'.
On the 19th of February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, he had been choked by his own vomit.

Campinas (IN 2005)
In Campinas , Brazil a group of friends, drunk, went to pick up a friend.....
The mother accompanied her to the car and was so worried about the drunkenness of her friends and she said to the daughter holding her hand, who was already seated in the car: My Daughter, Go With God And May He Protect You.'
She responded: 'Only If He (God) Travels In The Trunk, Cause Inside Here.....It's Already Full '
Hours later, news came by that they had been involved in a fatal accident, everyone had died,
the car could not be recognized what type of car it had been, but surprisingly, the trunk was intact.
The police said there was no way the trunk could have remained intact. To their surprise, inside the trunk was a crate of eggs, none was broken

Christine Hewitt (Jamaican Journalist and entertainer) said the Bible (Word of God) was the worst book ever written.
In June 2006 she was found burnt beyond recognition in her motor vehicle.

Many more important people have forgotten that there is no other name that was given so much authority as the name of Jesus.
Many have died, but only Jesus died and rose again, and he is still alive....
'Jesus'
PS: If it was a joke, you would have sent it to everyone. So are you going to have courage to share this?.
I have done my part in sharing.

Do you believe that Jesus is Holy and His name should be Glorified and not Mocked?
If you believe in him, Click write Amen!

Passion of our Saviour Lord JESUS CHRIST

60 seconds with GOD!!! THE (SCIENTIFIC) DEATH OF OUR SAVIOUR; THE

ONLY WAY, THE ONLY TRUTH & THE ONLY LIFE, LORD JESUS CHRIST

         

At the  age of 33, Jesus was condemned to the death penalty.

At the  time crucifixion was the "worst" death. Only the worst criminals condemned to be crucified. Yet it was even more dreadful for Jesus, for unlike other criminals condemned to death by crucifixion, Jesus was nailed to the cross by His hands and feet, rather than tied...

 

 Each  nail was 6 to 8 inches long.

  

The  nails were driven into His wrist. Not into His palms  as is commonly portrayed. There's a tendon in the wrist that  extends to the shoulder.  The Roman guards knew that when the nails were being hammered into the Wrist, that tendon would tear and break, forcing Jesus to use His back muscles to support himself, so that He could breathe.

Both of His feet were nailed together. Thus He was forced to support Himself on the single nail that impaled His feet to the cross. Jesus could not support himself with His legs for long because of the pain, so He was forced to alternate between arching His back and using his legs just to continue to breathe. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering, the courage.

  

Jesus Christ endured this reality for over 3 hours.  Yes,  over 3 hours! Can you imagine this kind of suffering? A few minutes before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water from his wounds. 

From  common images we see wounds to His hands and feet and even the spear wound to His side...But do we remember the Many wounds made to his body.  A hammer driving large nails through the wrists, the feet overlapped and a nail hammered through the arches, then a Roman guard piercing  His side with a spear. And...before the nails and the spear, Jesus was whipped and beaten.  The whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating so horrific that His face was torn and his beard ripped from His face. The crown of thorns (two to three inch thorns) cut deeply into His scalp. Most men would not have survived this torture.

He had no more blood to bleed out, only water poured from His wounds.  The  human adult body contains about 35 liters (just less than a  gallon) of blood. 

  

Jesus  poured all 3.5 liters of his blood; He had three nails hammered into His members; a crown of thorns on His head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a spear into His chest..

All  these without mentioning the humiliation He passed after carrying His own cross for almost 2 kilometers, while the crowd  spat in his face and threw stones (the cross beam was almost 30 kg of weight, to which His hands were nailed).

Jesus had to endure this experience, so that you may have free access to God.  So that your sins can be "washed" away. All of them, with no exception!  Don't ignore this.

OUR LORD JESUS  CHRIST DIED FOR YOU !!!

For you, who now read this and for the entire world

 

 He died for you!  It is easy and fun to share/spread jokes or silly photos/mails/messages, but when it comes to God, sometimes we feel ashamed to forward a message about Him on to others. We are worried of what they “may think.”  Accept  the reality, the truth, that 

JESUS IS THE ONLY SALVATION FOR THE WORLD.  

God has special plans for YOU! Share this with all your friends and family... about what He went through to save you. Really think about it! May God bless you all !                                                

If you are not ashamed to do this, please, follow Jesus' instructions.  He said (Matthew 10:32 & 33): "Everyone therefore  who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge  before My Father in heaven; but whosoever denies Me before  others,  I also will deny before My Father in  heaven".  

If you  believe, spread this message to all by either copy paste/mail or what ever way you fell comfort... But send it only if you believe in Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior.                             

Yes, I love God. He is my source of life and my Savior. He keeps me alive and safe, both day and night. Without Him, I am nothing, but with Him "I can do all things through Him  who strengthens me". Philippians 4:13.

MAY GOD BLESS ALL & THE MERCY OF OUR SAVIOUR LORD JESUS CHRIST BE SHOWERED UPON ALL PEOPLE AND THEIR FAMILY...

Good Friday...The Day GOD suffered maximum to save the world

GOD so loved the world that he gave his one and only one SON to the world so that the world will be saved. Our lord Jesus Christ suffered to the extreme for the cleanness of our sins. May the sacred heart of our Lord JESUS CHRIST be loved, adored, honoured, glorified and worshiped throughout the world now and forever ... AMEN...  

GOD Bless all..

Redemption through Lord JESUS CHRIST's Body and Blood...

HOLY THURSDAY is the most complex and profound of all religious observances, saving only the Easter Vigil. It celebrates both the institution by Christ himself of the Eucharist and of the institution of the sacerdotal priesthood (as distinct from the 'priesthood of all believers') for in this, His last supper with the disciples, a celebration of Passover, He is the self-offered Passover Victim, and every ordained priest to this day presents this same sacrifice, by Christ's authority and command, in exactly the same way. The Last Supper was also Christ's farewell to His assembled disciples, some of whom would betray, desert or deny Him before the sun rose again.

On Holy Thursday there is a special Mass in Cathedral Churches, attended by as many priests of the diocese as can attend, because it is a solemn observance of Christ's institution of the priesthood. At this 'Chrism Mass' the bishop blesses the Oil of Chrism used for Baptism and Confirmation. The bishop may wash the feet of twelve of the priests, to symbolize Christ's washing the feet of his Apostles, the first priests.

The Holy Thursday liturgy, celebrated in the evening because Passover began at sundown, also shows both the worth God ascribes to the humility of service, and the need for cleansing with water (a symbol of baptism) in the Mandatum, or washing in Jesus' washing the feet of His disciples, and in the priest's stripping and washing of the altar. Cleansing, in fact, gave this day of Holy Week the name Maundy Thursday.

The action of the Church on this night also witnesses to the Church's esteem for Christ's Body present in the consecrated Host in the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, carried in solemn procession to the flower-bedecked Altar of Repose, where it will remain 'entombed' until the communion service on Good Friday. No Mass will be celebrated again in the Church until the Easter Vigil proclaims the Resurrection.

And finally, there is the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament by the people during the night, just as the disciples stayed with the Lord during His agony on the Mount of Olives before the betrayal by Judas.


Message courtesy.. Tifna Thomas