Friday, July 29, 2016

Secrets of Abraham Model of Wealth Creation by Lance Wallnau



Secrets of Abraham Model of Wealth Creation

I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Stan Bullis, CEO of Unbridled Solutions. As I’ve been exploring the theme of “getting back to the garden” I noticed something interesting in the details Stan shared with me about how he built his company.
 
Stan has seen his company expand again and again into six or seven new profit centers. About 90% of these sectors were birthed out of his own employees exploring their gifts and their dreams and waiting for the right time to walk in those dreams. Think about that! Stan Bullis is modeling Abraham’s method of supernatural wealth creation. With a small group of 300 “household” servants Abraham expanded into seven or more areas of supernatural prosperity. If you looked at him in the natural you would not see it, but there were angels engaged in the prosperity of this patriarch’s life. They were all working in Abraham’s garden, his territory, his assignment.
 
Why am I bringing this up? Because there are some frequently missed keys in the Bible that help us understand God’s plan for supernatural wealth creation.
 
It begins in Genesis.
 
1. It started in the garden. The first model of increase shows us that the original building block was a couple. The first business enterprise didn’t require 300 household servants—it was Adam and his wife in the garden. In time, like Abraham, this enterprise was designed to grow. Eden was meant to be a family enterprise!
 
Here is a prophetic word for many of you– “God has already given you and your family a sphere—or an Eden—that you are to cultivate. There is new territory in ministry and prosperity for you if you will slow down and listen to what each other is saying. Your children are ready to step into new responsibilities. Explore each other’s dreams and look for the overlap. Be open to family callings and assignments.”
 
2. Your Eden or garden is the space God has given you to occupy and cultivate. Every garden is designed to expand! Each garden starts in your home. It will expand to your work. This garden will touch your business or may be an expansion into a new area of ministry. Explore this space. I almost missed a MAJOR area of ministry by overlooking the next generation. My WIFE had the burden and a staff member suddenly came alive with the vision.  We discovered there is a calling on us to impart to the sons and daughters of those who listen to my teaching. We call it the “7m Gen.” God had this expansion project inside of us for years but it came alive when I stepped out of the way and honored the burden my wife had and the gifts others were given to make this a reality.
 
3. The key to discovering new areas of divine expansion lies in cultivating relationships with those God has planted in your garden. Abraham’s model of wealth creation (like that of my friend Stan Bullis) involved exploring the gifts and dreams that are in the people with whom God has blessed you. It starts with husbands and wives exploring what each other is called to do. The next step is to explore what each child is dreaming right now.
 
Question: What is your family’s assignment within the garden of your home? Share here the kingdom ideas the Lord is stirring in your spirit. Seek Him for your unique vision for wealth creation.
 
As One,  
Lance Wallnau
CEO 
Lance Learning Group

 

Thursday, July 28, 2016

Tree analogy by Tyler Perry Shared by Gerard NINZIZA


Tree analogy by Tyler Perry
Shared by Gerard NINZIZA 

have this tree analogy when I think of people in my life, be it friends, family, acquaintances, employees, co-workers, whomever...They are all placed inside what I call my tree test. It goes like this:
 
LEAF PEOPLE
Some people come into your life and they are like leaves on a tree. They are only there for a season. You can't depend on them or count on them because they are weak and only there to give you shade. Like leaves, they are there to take what they need and as soon as it gets cold or a wind blows in your life they are gone. You can't be angry at them, it's just who they are.
 
BRANCH PEOPLE
There are some people who come into your life and they are like branches on a tree. They are stronger than leaves, but you have to be careful with them. They will stick around through most seasons, but if you go through a storm or two in your life it's possible that you could lose them. Most times they break away when it's tough. Although they are stronger than leaves, you have to test them out before you run out there and put all your weight on them. In most cases they can't handle too much weight. But again, you can't be mad with them, it's just who they are.
 
ROOT PEOPLE
If you can find some people in your life who are like the roots of a tree then you have found something special. Like the roots of a tree, they are hard to find because they are not trying to be seen. Their only job is to hold you up and help you live a strong and healthy life. If you thrive, they are happy. They stay low key and don't let the world know that they are there. And if you go through an awful storm they will hold you up. Their job is to hold you up, come what may, and to nourish you, feed you and water you.
 
Just as a tree has many limbs and many leaves, there are few roots. Look at your own life. How many leaves, branches and roots do you have? What are you in other people's life?

The Power of Association. By Azarias Nkengu

The Power of Association.
By Azarias Nkengu


Association brings assimilation which brings impartation.

You can not be different from those whom you closely associate with.

You can not afford to associate with everybody.

Don't walk with people that are going your direction.

I can tell you, youth, it is your time to reflect on your association.

Two can not walk together unless they are agreed.

I know you are choosing your friends, I want to let you know that you are choosing your destiny.

The people in your life:

1. They either make you or break you.

2. They either exhaust you or exalt you.

3. They either train you or develop you.

4. They are either a help or a hindrance.

5. They either increase you, decrease you or neutralize you.

Love is a must but relationship is a choice.

Anybody that is not making you better is making you bitter, let them go.

Anybody that is a burden and not a blessing, let them go.

Don't make every people your friends, don't go with people that are not going your direction.

Your destiny is greater than your history.

Your future is greater than your past.

They are two kinds of people: wasters and investors.

When wrong people leave your life, wrong things stop happening.

When toxic people leave your life, toxic things stop happening.

Wrong association will kill your joy, your dreams, your passions, your faith and even your success.

Then ask yourself, who do I call My friends?

The kind of people nobody can help By Joseph Matrera


The kind of people nobody can help 
By Joseph Matrera 
Adapted by Josimar Salum

People willing to be helped seek God's Kingdom first, they have a vision for the future and a positive outlook on life, they take responsibility for theirs lives, they always pay a price for success, they are accountable, radically true to themselves, kingdom oriented, transparent, humble, wholesome and they keep covenant."

I’ve been involved in pastoral leadership for over 30 years, and I have a desire to help everyone. But, I have learned the hard way that I cannot help every person who attends our church or who comes to me for input.

The following are ten kinds of people I have identified that are so entrenched in certain habit patterns that I cannot help them advance to the next level unless they make the necessary shift in their attitude or behavior.

1 - Those that do not have a heart to seek God 

The Bible teaches us that “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”. (Proverbs 9:10). 

Those who do not respect God enough to seek Him and study His word so they can make wise decisions in life are violating Scripture (Joshua 1:8-9) and cannot be helped either by myself or any other leader. 

“Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.””

Those who do not obey what God requires for success have decided to try to be successful in life without God’s blessings!

2 - Those that refuse to have a vision for their future 

There are many very talented and anointed people I have been in relationship with who live their lives without any strategic plan or vision for their future. They are just living from day-to-day to prepare for their retirement. 

Those who are successful have a compelling vision that drives them daily and which feeds their souls even more than the desire to make money! 

Inside of every believer is a God-given kingdom vision for their future. If a person refuses to tap into that as their guiding light–and value that vision as their barometer for success–then my continual pep or enthusiasm talks will not do the trick either!

3 - Those who insist on having a negative outlook on life 

There are some people who refuse to exercise faith in God or think positively as the Word of God commands us in Philippians 4:8. This is because some have a propensity to expect the worst in life so they are never disappointed by anyone or anything! 

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

This is a weird way some folks attempt to shield their emotions from the pain of disappointment; it is a very common practice with many people.  

Jesus often told people that they would receive according to how they believed (for example Matthew 8:13). 

“And to the centurion Jesus said, "Go; let it be done for you as you have believed." And the servant was healed at that very moment.”
I cannot empower a person who refuses to think God’s thoughts about themselves and about life.

“God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”” Hebrews 13:5-6 

4 - Those who do not take responsibility for themselves 

The first step towards self-improvement is to remove all excuses for mediocrity or failure. Those that continually blame other people for their failures will never go to the next level. 

Leaders can complain about their spouses, the income level of their congregations, the lack of staff, etc. but I have learned that within every challenge is the seed of opportunity for success which requires the creativity of problem solving.

5 - Those who do not want to pay the price for success 

There are many people that want the perks of success but don’t want to pay the price for success.

When I was a teenager I had a goal of becoming a master guitar player. For seven years I practiced the guitar for 3-8 hours per day as well as playing in numerous bands. While my friends were outside playing ball or wasting time doing drugs I would shut myself up in my house and study jazz, rock, blues, classical, etc. and spend hours doing scales on my guitar (which I often did even while watching television). Because of this sacrifice I gained mastery over my instrument in various kinds of music and was in high demand as a musician.

Whatever we do in life, we are called to sacrifice our time, invest our talents, and be committed to a long, grueling process with many setbacks until we reach our peak performance. 

This kind of sacrifice is needed in every area we desire success in including our marriages, relationships with our children, schools, associations, community centers, leading a company and ministry, etc.

Consequently, I have found that I am not able to empower a person to the fullness of their destiny if they don’t want to work hard at self-improvement.

6 - Those that create distance so they are not accountable 

There are certain people I have met in our church who only let others get so close before cutting off the relationship. Many go from one church to the next because they fear becoming too close to a leader who will hold them accountable. 

Often some will attempt to attend a megachurch where they will be able to hear the word of God in the context of a large crowd so that no one will really know who they are. 

Whether it is fear or rebellion, those who live like this have put a low ceiling on their lives and will not grow past the infant stage concerning their potential in life.

7 - Those who live in self-deception 

There are many people who are living lives of denial regarding their relationships with God and their families and all things regarding their inner and outer lives. 

The sad thing is that denial is the first step to outright deception in which a person concocts an alternate, false reality that continually feeds their mind and emotions the things they want to hear about themselves and their key relationships. This insulates them from the word of the Lord from others and the Holy Spirit. 

When you confront people like this they become upset and blame you for not understanding them or for wrongfully accusing them of something. 

These are the people I cannot help unless God steps in and delivers them from satanic deception (read 2 Timothy 2:23-25).

“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,” 2 Timothy 2:23-25 

8 - Those whose primary agenda is individualistic and not kingdom-oriented

There are some people whose only agenda in life is to advance their own agenda. They don’t want to work with a team or flow in the context of a local church. They want me to pour my life into them but they are rarely ever willing to pour back into other people's lives  and serve in the Kingdom of God. 

I have learned that those who only want to use the their mentors or God to advance their own agendas (even if it is ministry related) have greatly limited their own lives. Thus, I back away from these people until they change. This is because we are all called to seek first God’s kingdom in which we need to die to our individualistic sense of destiny and sacrifice and invest our time for the good of other people and our communities, and especially our family of God.

This in turn will do more to release our greatest destiny–even more than if we only concentrate on our own agendas!

9 - Those who lack transparency, humility, and integrity 

The Bible teaches us to walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7). It also teaches us to confess our faults to one another and pray for one another that we may be healed (James 5:16). Those that do not admit their faults and confess their sins cannot have the kind of relationship with a mentor suitable for personal growth. 

It is important for me to have a transparent relationship with those I am mentoring since a person who conceals their sins from me is not giving me a chance to fully speak into their life and help them in their areas of weakness. 

Those who want to progress in their spiritual formation have to learn to practice the spiritual discipline of confession of sin (Proverbs 28:13).

“Whoever conceals their sins does not prosper, but the one who confesses and renounces them finds mercy."

"People willing to be helped seek God's Kingdom first, have a vision for the future and a positive outlook on life, take responsibility for theirs lives, always pay a price for success, are accountable, radically true to themselves, kingdom oriented, transparent, humble, wholesome and keep covenant."

10 - Those who refuse to keep covenant 

I have been with very talented individuals with great calling on their lives that I had to back away from because they did not know how to remain faithful to their obligations or because they broke confidence by continually talking behind other people’s backs. 

God says that a person who doesn’t keep their word (whatever the cost) and who slanders their neighbor cannot dwell in His tents (Psalm 15:3-4) so who am I to think that this kind of person can dwell in my inner circle for personal development!

“Lord, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? Whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the Lord; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind;” Psalm 15:1, 3-4 


Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Real (00) You are the righteousness of God.


YOU ARE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD!

"Him who knew no sin became sin for us; so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. "2 Corinthians 5:21

YOU ARE NOT A SINNER!
God has not sinners as children!
What is your identity?
Are you sinner or a saint? Sinful or holy?
Have you been born again? Do you have eternal life?

You are just!
You are Holy!
You are a child of God!
You are a son!

God is not holier than his children!

Be holy as I am holy!
He said!

How can I be holy as God is holy? 

For God sanctifies me! Jesus is our sanctification.

The one God justifies is just!

The one God sanctifies is holy!

The one who received the Lord Jesus, God has given him/her the power to be made a child of God!

Just as God is we are!

"Herein is our love made perfect with us, so that on Judgment Day we trust; because as he is, so are we in this world. "1 John 4:17 ARC

JSalum

Thursday, July 21, 2016

REAL (00): Who is this man of the picture?


Jesus, the One seated on the Throne right now, once died on the cross and through His blood made us righteous and holy. He transformed sinners into the image of His Father. He changed sinners into holy sons of God. 

We do pray without ceasing as we cherish our relationship with Him all the time, every day, not as a religious practice, but as our life style. 

Sons and daughters, please, do not make  a face full of blood and a head wearing a crown of thorns of someone who could not even close illustrate Jesus. Please, don't make a time event to be transformed into a perennial representation of Jesus. Don't freeze history. Don't freeze the revelation of God into pieces. In His face there is no blood anymore! Please don't crucify Jesus again!

This picture may seem to represent Jesus, but this is not even a Biblical representation of Him.

Jesus is not a baby! Don't hang a picture on your walls of a baby "Jesus"!

Don't hang on your walls a crucifix with a dead body and call that "Jesus"!

Please do not make the face of Jesus like a white European or American deity. That  is not even close Jesus who lives forever and ever! Billions of different alive faces  would represent Him much better,but even so, don't freeze a face and call it Jesus. Jesus is beautiful beyond description! Jesus is alive and well! He was raised from the dead. Jesus is so full of Life. Draw an empty tomb, but please don't show any body!

Do you want to draw a picture of Him?  Do you want to make a sculpture of Him? 

Try one that could come close to this following description! I could not find yet an artist who had the inspiration to make these words real!

“Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

"I am the Alpha (Aleph) and the Omega (Tav)," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."

I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day (not Sunday, of course not) and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 

The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. 

His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 

In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. 

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. 

But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.” Revelation 1:5-6, 8, 10, 12-18 ESV

Please, read this again. And look at the pictures and representations of Jesus you have seen to check if there is a match! Of course, there is not! All of them can become idols if we petrify them as the ultimate representation of the Lord.

Don't be offended! Don't look into man made pictures to contact Jesus. Do what the psalmist did. 

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” Psalms 121:1-2 ESV

Jesus doesn't wear a crown anymore. Not with thorns. Are you kidding me?

Real (00: A Word of Challenge


A WORD OF CHALLENGE.
JSalum

We do nothing good if we are educated but we don't apply in practical ways what we learn. 

We are being mentored here. Wow! That is so great! Really?

How many of you are mentoring another person? Is there a child in your family or in your neighborhood that you are teaching and passing on what you are learning, and living and practicing?

Transformation is not intellectual, it is practical. 

Nobody is transformed just learning and learning and nothing else. 

I get very annoyed with speakers! If you get to know me well I am always moving, doing something useful and always learning and teaching. I am thirsty and hungry for new things, for knowledge and instruction, for God. I am always interacting and pursuing and sometimes, only sometimes, I quite myself down to hear the silence of God!

Mango is a delicious fruit, so sweet, so nutritive. It is so beautiful! I have chosen mango to be our fruit in REAL. 

The last time I went to my farm in Brazil I planted about 30 mango trees and 70 different fruit trees: oranges, tangerines, and other types of trees. I have always been fascinated by seeds and trees. My younger brother has learned this and decided to plant banana trees. He planted already about 120. Now our neighbors are planting fruit trees also like never before. 

You know that when you root out cassava from the ground you have to plant the branches if you want to harvest more cassava in the future. Cassava has no seeds as far as I know. Now in our farm we have decided that for every cassava tree we harvest we have to cut the branches and plant all of them again. If we keep doing this we may be able to end the hunger in the cities around very soon with cassava. Cassava is a powerful food. How much of space available you have around you to plant cassava? 

I just found out some berries in my condo where I live. I am amazed to have found these fruits that nobody have planted! I mean, birds may have planted them. Even birds plant berries! They eat and leave some for the ground!


Wherever I go I want to get seeds of fruit trees to plant in my farm. When I visited Madagascar I ate a fruit that I love dearly. I got the seeds and went outside, to the yard of the mansion Dr. Taylor and I were hosted and planted them. 

Have you planted a mango tree in your life? How many mangos have you eaten in your entire life and how many mango seeds have you planted? Don't be frustrated if you did not. Do it now! And in the very near future whenever you have a seed, plant it, wherever you are. Is there a seed in your house today that you can plant? Now?

Is there a seed of the Kingdom in your heart today that you can sow on somebody's life?

Is there a family in your country that need to be transformed? Is there a community in your country that need to be transformed? Is there a nation in your country that need to be transformed?

Are there any garbage and trash in your street or road or yard? Start cleaning out the world by collecting this piece of paper on the floor at your side and properly discharge it! Let us clean our environment! I hate trash and garbage! What a terrible thing an unclean house, an unclean town and an unclean country! It reminds me a place where demons dwell. Let us cast out some demons by cleaning our communities!

What about a little act of love? Let us share a banana with a neighbor, a piece of cake, a cookie today. Find a kid on your way out to work and give him or her a candy. Let us teach a younger friend a principle for life! Let us be doers and not talkers.

Let us forward all these teachings to our friends list in your Whatsapp! What about this? Let us share on Facebook what we have learnt, what we are learning! Let us share some of the thoughts to somebody in any way we have. Let us translate these teachings and share at the church! At a school class! Anywhere to anybody!

What is your imagination telling you how you can sow all these seeds, lots of them, you have in store? Don't keep them just for you! They will get rotted! Don't eat them all! Share! Give them away! Sow! 

Here is my challenge! Don't talk! Stop any nonsense talking! Talking is just talking! It is cheap and just produce laziness! Let us change the way everybody do things. Like in the Nike logo! Just do it!  

JSalum

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

Grace Quiz: Jesus is the propitiation of the sins of the whole world by JSalum


Jesus is the propitiation of the sins of the whole world by JSalum

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2 KJV

Propitiation is the Mercy Seat of God. It is the place in God Himself that all men whoever they are and wherever they have done can find mercy. Jesus is the atoning sacrifice who with his atoning blood has appeased Himself not just for all confessed sins, but all sins. There is no sin that He didn't die for. Alleluia! A thousand alleluias!

“And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.”
Hebrews 9:5 KJV

The redemption and forgiveness of sins are eternal! He did at once! 

We need to be conscious of God. Unfortunately there are many "believers" who are sin conscious. They are not free yet. They did not receive yet the forgiveness of sin. They are not able to accept the powerful and unquestionable truth that they need nothing, but only faith in Jesus, only repentance into the amazing Grace of God.  

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” Hebrews 9:12, 14-15 KJV

Preaching the Gospel is not announcing  a list of things to be done right so you can have the right to the benefits of God. No. The Gospel gives knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins through the tender mercy of God! The Gospel is the annunciation of God's total provision through the blood of Jesus. The people need to have knowledge of salvation by the remission of their sins. 

““And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;”
Luke 1:76-78 NKJV

There is a New Covenant. And the New Covenant depends on Jesus alone. 

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." Hebrews 8:10-13

There is nothing you and I can do to help God to save us. It is done already! It is completed! There is no way you can explain this, if you do, you became God! I myself simply can't!

When the children of God grasp the understanding of this extravagant Grace they will not live in fear anymore, they will not be manipulated to do anything under fear or constrain by anyone, by anything, but they will be totally free to enjoy their Relationship with their Father. If I was already accepted before when we believed in Him how much He does accept me now! Why doubt about his forgiveness and love? Why doubt we are accepted by him or not? Why let somebody else blame you, accuse you and make you fear that you are less, you are undeserved or still a sinner when God has made you holy and righteous?

 “Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!”
Romans 5:6-11 MSG

My brother, my sister! Rejoice in the Lord! Shout praises to His name. Dance with Him! Let us romance with the Lover of our soul, our Friend Jesus, our caring God!

Monday, July 18, 2016

Grace Quiz: Proclaiming the forgiveness of all sins


PROCLAIMING THE FORGIVENESS OF ALL SINS by Josimar Salum
 
The apostles were to proclaim what Jesus had already done and not what He would do in the future. Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. We do not preach: Repent and be forgiven. The message of the Gospel is: You are all forgiven! Repent! Receive God's forgiveness.

“Then he opened their minds (the minds of the apostles and others who were with them) to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgivenesses of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Luke 24:45-47 ESV

God has forgiven all sins of all men and all women. The Gospel carries an outstanding and extravagant message. God forgave us of all sins we have committed and shall ever commit in our entire life. In Jesus we have redemption through His blood. Redemption is the forgiveness of our trespasses.

We were not redeemed when we received Jesus as our King and Lord. We were not redeemed when were born again, or delivered, or when we were saved. Actually we were not saved when we received Jesus. When the Scriptures say we will be saved, it is because we were saved. And we were not saved simply when we said the "sinner's prayer." We were saved before the world began. We were saved when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.

“Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” I Peter 1:18-21 NKJV

“In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”
Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV

Read this again in a similar perspective:

“Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.” Ephesians 1:7-10 MSG

We don't need to ask God for forgiveness and the cleansing of our sins. He already did. 

“Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?” Peter said, “Repent. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.”” Acts 2:37-39 MSG

Repent! Turn to God! Be baptized! Your sins are forgiven! Because your sins are forgiven do not continue thinking the way you think, do not keep on sinning! Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit! 

The forgiveness of sin is a completed matter for God. The death of Christ has completed all that it is needed for salvation, redemption, healing, forgiveness and everything else for all human kind. Men and women should repent and confess sins to receive what it is already available in Jesus. Confessing and repenting is not a condition to be forgiven, it is our side to receive what Jesus has already done. He has forgiven us, then we confess, then we repent. We don't receive forgiveness because we have repented. We receive forgiveness because Jesus has already forgave us! 

“Forgiving  one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”
Colossians 3:13 NKJV

 “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Acts 26:18 KJV

They receive what it is already provided, it is done!

“Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:38-39 KJV

Sunday, July 17, 2016

REAL (00): Sons of God and daughters of men

Someone asked me about Gen.6:2. What can I answer him? Who are those sons of God who married those girls of men?Please, help me answer him because I know nothing about it.Thanks. Jeremy


They were angels who took the form of men to foster a new generation to avoid the coming of the SEED, the Messiah! 

“And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.”Jude 1:6 KJV

That is the reason God destroyed all humans and left only Noah and his family! 

“And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.

There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown. And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them.”
Genesis 6:1-2, 4-7 KJV

JSalum

Friday, July 15, 2016

Grace Quiz: Forgiveness: a message of the cross By Josimar Salum


Forgiveness: a message of the cross 
By Josimar Salum

What is there about the message of the cross that is folly, that makes no sense for Gentiles and it is a stumbling block for the Jews? 

“Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own. 

Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! 

Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. 

God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. 

God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-20 MSG (v.17, ESV)

It may be difficult to completely understand what God has done already to forgive all our sins, so let me show you this passage in another versions:

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." 2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV

“It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).” 2 Corinthians 5:19 AMP

That is overwhelmingly marvelous. What Jesus did when he died? He forgave all sins of the world, he forgave the sins of the entire humanity, he forgave all sins committed by all people since Adam, all sins that will ever be committed even the sins of the last human that will be born on Earth or in any place of the universe!

Jesus was not pretending, he was not faking when He asked to the Father to forgive all those people who made Him suffer and crucified him on the cross. Even if after they heard him asking the Father to forgive them they kept doing the same things. What do you think? Did God forgave them even if they didn't repent? Is God forgiveness conditional? Even if they did not ask for forgiveness, even if they had never repented they were forgiven! Simply because Jesus asked the Father. It is so simply. Jesus Himself had forgiven them! 

“And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments.”
Luke 23:34 ESV

Thursday, July 14, 2016

REAL (00) - Sinful cycles of religion by JSalum & Paul Taylor


Sinful cycles of religion by JSalum & Paul Taylor 

Burgeon means sprout, flourish, bloom. 

The old life is fine, the new life sprouts!

The old life is fine for many Christians and it includes all religious obligations. Many live in the same way they lived before. If they were Catholics they use to confess the sins to the priest and the next time they would confess the same sins. 

Many Pentecostals are in the same way! Adventists! And many others! Many are always struggling with the old life while trying to live the new one, as if the new life would be lived by their own endeavor.

They act like this! I have to pray! To read the bible! To come to church every day! If I go to church every day I will be more holy, I will sin less, and so forth.  

There are Christians that if they missed a Sunday service they feel so guilty for the rest of the week!

The old life was a cycle: sinning, asking forgiveness, then sinning with the same sins, then asking forgiveness. And then after they became Christians they sin, feel guilty, then go to the "altar at the church" to ask for prayer, then sin again! What a miserable life! 

Jesus wants to set you free from this cycle! 

Burgeon means sprout, flourish, bloom. 

The old life IS GONE, the new life sprouts!

You don't have to make any effort to bear fruits of righteousness in the same way a mango tree doesn't sweat to bear mangos! 

Dr. Salum, 

You were just describing my life. I was raised to be in church as often as the doors of the church were open. If my family and I were on vacation camping, I would make everyone get around the campfire and we would have our service.  The guilt would be unbearable.  So great to be free and getting freer every day. Amen 

Dr. Taylor




REAL 57 - 1/12 - Grace Quiz - Should God’s children ask Him to forgive and cleanse them when they sin? Josimar Salum


1/12 - GRACE QUIZ- Should God’s children ask Him to forgive and cleanse them when they sin? Josimar Salum

“For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV

“For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18, 21-24 ESV

What is there about the message of the cross that is folly, that makes no sense for Gentiles and it is a stumbling block for the Jews? 

“Our firm decision is to work from this focused center: One man died for everyone. That puts everyone in the same boat. He included everyone in his death so that everyone could also be included in his life, a resurrection life, a far better life than people ever lived on their own. 

Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. 

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! 

Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. 

God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. 

God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.” 2 Corinthians 5:14-20 MSG (v.17, ESV)

It may be difficult to completely understand what God has done already to forgive all our sins, so let me show you this passage in another versions:

“To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." 2 Corinthians 5:19 KJV

“It was God [personally present] in Christ, reconciling and restoring the world to favor with Himself, not counting up and holding against [men] their trespasses [but cancelling them], and committing to us the message of reconciliation (of the restoration to favor).” 2 Corinthians 5:19 AMP

That is overwhelmingly marvelous. What Jesus did when he died? He forgave all sins of the world, he forgave the sins of the entire humanity, he forgave all sins committed by all people since Adam, by all sins that will ever be committed even the sins of the last human that will be born on Earth or in any place of the universe!

Jesus was not pretending, he was not faking when He asked to the Father to forgive all those people who made Him suffer and crucified him on the cross. Even if after they heard him asking the Father to forgive them they kept doing the same things. What do you think? Did God forgave them even if they didn't repent? Is God forgiveness conditional? Even if they did not ask for forgiveness, even if they had never repented they were forgiven! Simply because Jesus asked the Father. It is so simply. Jesus Himself had forgiven them! 

“And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments.”
Luke 23:34 ESV


PROCLAIMING THE FORGIVENESS OF ALL SINS 

The apostles were to proclaim what Jesus had already done and not what He would do in the future. Repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. We do not preach: Repent and be forgiven. The message of the Gospel is: You are all forgiven! Repent! Receive God's forgiveness.

“Then he opened their minds (the minds of the apostles and others who were with them) to understand the Scriptures, and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgivenesses of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” Luke 24:45-47 ESV

God has forgiven all sins of all men and all women. The Gospel carries an outstanding and extravagant message. God forgave us of all sins we have committed and shall ever commit in our entire life. In Jesus we have redemption through His blood. Redemption is the forgiveness of our trespasses.

We were not redeemed when we received Jesus as our King and Lord. We were not redeemed when were born again, or delivered, or when we were saved. Actually we were not saved when we received Jesus. When the Scriptures say we will be saved, it is because we were saved. And we were not saved simply when we said the "sinner's prayer." We were saved before the world began. We were saved when Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead.

“Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” I Peter 1:18-21 NKJV

“In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth." Ephesians 1:7-10 ESV

Read this again in a similar perspective:

“Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.” Ephesians 1:7-10 MSG

We don't need to ask God for forgiveness and the cleansing of our sins. He already did. 

“Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?” Peter said, “Repent. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.”” Acts 2:37-39 MSG

Repent! Turn to God! Be baptized! Your sins are forgiven! Because your sins are forgiven do not continue thinking the way you think, do not keep on sinning! Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit! 

The forgiveness of sin is a completed matter for God. The death of Christ has completed all that it is needed for salvation, redemption, healing, forgiveness and everything else for all human kind. Men and women should repent and confess sins to receive what it is already available in Jesus. Confessing and repenting is not a condition to be forgiven, it is our side to receive what Jesus has already done. He has forgiven us, then we confess, then we repent. We don't receive forgiveness because we have repented. We receive forgiveness because Jesus has already forgave us! 

“Forgiving  one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.”
Colossians 3:13 NKJV

 “To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.” Acts 26:18 KJV

They receive what it is already provided, it is done!

“Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” Acts 13:38-39 KJV


Jesus is the propitiation of the sins of the whole world. 

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:1-2 KJV

Propitiation is the Mercy Seat of God. It is the place in God Himself that all men whoever they are and wherever they have done can find mercy. Jesus is the atoning sacrifice who with his atoning blood has appeased Himself not just for all confessed sins, but all sins. There is no sin that He didn't die for. Alleluia! A thousand alleluias!

“And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.”
Hebrews 9:5 KJV

The redemption and forgiveness of sins are eternal! He did at once! 

We need to be conscious of God. Unfortunately there are many "believers" who are sin conscious. They are not free yet. They did not receive yet the forgiveness of sin. They are not able to accept the powerful and unquestionable truth that they need nothing, but only faith in Jesus, only repentance into the amazing Grace of God.  

“Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” Hebrews 9:12, 14-15 KJV

Preaching the Gospel is not announcing  a list of things to be done right so you can have the right to the benefits of God. No. The Gospel gives knowledge of salvation by the remission of sins through the tender mercy of God! The Gospel is the annunciation of God's total provision through the blood of Jesus. The people need to have knowledge of salvation by the remission of their sins. 

““And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Highest; For you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, To give knowledge of salvation to His people By the remission of their sins, Through the tender mercy of our God, With which the Dayspring from on high has visited us;”
Luke 1:76-78 NKJV

There is a New Covenant. And the New Covenant depends on Jesus alone. 

“For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away." Hebrews 8:10-13

There is nothing you and I can do to help God to save us. It is done already! It is completed! There is no way you can explain this, if you do, you became God! I myself simply can't!

When the children of God grasp the understanding of this extravagant Grace they will not live in fear anymore, they will not be manipulated to do anything under fear or constrain by anyone, by anything, but they will be totally free to enjoy their Relationship with their Father. If I was already accepted before when we believed in Him how much He does accept me now! Why doubt about his forgiveness and love? Why doubt we are accepted by him or not? Why let somebody else blame you, accuse you and make you fear that you are less, you are undeserved or still a sinner when God has made you holy and righteous?

 “Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!”
Romans 5:6-11 MSG

My brother, my sister! Rejoice in the Lord! Shout praises to His name. Dance with Him! Let us romance with the Lover of our soul, our Friend Jesus, our caring God!



Redemption through the blood of Jesus

We have redemption through the blood of Jesus, even the forgiveness of sins because and solely for what He did.

“Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light: Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:” Colossians 1:12-14 KJV

What then we should do? Ask Him for something He already gave? 

"For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven."

(THE KINGDOM IS ALREADY FINISHED, prepared since the foundation of the world.)

And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.

(This verse and similar ones are the only occasion someone ask God for forgiveness for their sins in the New Testament. But if you pay attention properly this is not much of a prayer in words than of a calling for true actions. If you forgive others you don't even need to pray this prayer. The point is not that you may pray forgive our debts, but that you have forgiven your debtors. That is what Jesus taught. 

“For if you forgive people their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins, leaving them, letting them go, and giving up resentment], neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses.”
Matthew 6:14-15 AMP

It is about benefitting from God's forgiveness as we forgive others. Remember that the work of the cross is not just reconciliation with God, but reconciliation with one another and all things.

Again: "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:8-10, 12, 14-15 NKJV

God wants repentance and confession. Repentance reaches out for our changing, to our transformation inside out and a complete turning into the newness of life in Christ. And it is about fellowship with one another, and it is not just related to our own status with God. No child of God stands alone before Him. We are a family!

“But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” I John 1:7-9 NKJV

Here lays a question. Are we forgiven today or were we already forgiven when Jesus died on the cross? 

Forgiveness is the very nature of God.  God does not just loves us. He is love. God is not just merciful. God is mercy. God is not just gracious. God is Grace! He did not just forgave us. God is a forgiving God.