Sunday 15 April 2012

Impact Weekly for 15th - 21st of April


“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preach unto you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand; by which also you are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain” 1 Corinthians 15:1.
Notice from the above scripture that you ought to keep in memory the things which you have heard. That is one of the reasons why we buy messages; so we can remind ourselves of what we’ve learnt and keep the word in memory.
In Hebrews 2:1; the bible reminds us to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. We have to keep these things in memory, the things which we have heard.
“Grace be to you, and peace, from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father”. Galatians 1:3-4.
There are a lot of folks who feel that Father God is wicked, but the bible says; that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son. The Father gave His Son because He loves you. So you are loved by God. You are the reason He gave His Son.
In Romans 5:8; the bible says; “God commended His love towards us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us”. In other words the death of Jesus Christ was God’s way of showing you that He loves you. So if you ever doubts whether God loves you, the question I want to ask you is; did He die for you? Yes, He died for you. That means He loves you.

Paul said Christ Jesus came to save sinners of whom I am chief. He personalized it. You too must personalize the death of Christ and say Jesus died for me, He was buried and He rose again for my justification.
He gave Himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world. The world is evil that is why the bible says the whole world lies in darkness. So how can I be spared from all the evil happening in the world? How can I be safe from accidents you may want to ask? This is the answer; the bible says He gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world. His death was God’s way of telling you that your deliverance in all kinds of mishaps has been paid for. So the next time you travel, know that there is no armed robber waiting for you because He gave Himself to deliver us from this present evil world.
This world is evil. I heard a story of someone that was bathing his child and he said he heard a voice telling him to drown his child in the bath tub, and he drowned his own child. What about the woman who gets pregnant, and then goes to get an abortion; and kills her baby. Or the girl who gets pregnant and the boy that have been telling her he loves her begin to threaten her to get her to abort the baby. No he didn’t love her. The proof of love is evident when it is challenging, difficult and displeasing. So if you claim to love someone, you must be willing to bear the shame with that person.
Jesus claimed to love you, and in your state of sin; which brings shame, He became sin for you on the cross where He bore your shame because He loves you. So if you love someone, you will stick with them when it is challenging, difficult and displeasing.
The bible lets us know from our opening scripture in Galatians 1:3; that Christ died for us in order to deliver us from this present evil world. But what about persecution you may want to ask? Persecution is different, in persecution you offer your life to die. Go and read Foxes Book of Marty or Hebrews 11:33 you will see this clearly.
“Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouth of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fights, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, women received their dead raised back to life again and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection”. Hebrews 11:33-35.

Those that were tortured were tortured not because God did not want to save them, but they wanted to offer their lives so they did not accept deliverance. They had faith wanting to go through the torture and to be killed for the gospel sake. This is what you need to understand about the persecution of the apostles, they offered their lives. Not because God could not save them, but they chose to offer their lives. Paul said it is time for me to be poured out as a drink offering; Peter said it is time for me to shed off this tabernacle; this shows that they were ready to die.
The bible says; Jesus gave Himself for us, to deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God our Father. God wants you to be delivered. Someone may ask saying; where was God when so and so was killed in an accident? No, he did not accept deliverance. I have never had an accident; I will never have an accident. I’ve been saying it. The devil knows that I should not have an accident.
 You may want to know why I said that. Now I want you to answer this; did you hear that Jesus boat capsized and Peter was asking; Master is this how you will die? Instead you hear Jesus rebuke the wind saying; Peace be still, wind be calm, hush, and then He turned to them and asked; where is your faith? He accepted deliverance. When Jesus was coming in the fourth watch of the night walking on the water, the disciples were been faced with a storm. He saw them and would have passed by, for out of fear they said it’s a ghost, but Peter said if it is thou bid me come to you on the water. Jesus did not say Peter, this thing is risky, have you written your will? He just said come. (Matthew 14:24-32). Don’t forget that there was a storm. Know this that things are not a smooth ride for us because there is no trouble, the presence of the trouble lets us know that it is God that is letting us have a smooth ride. Someone may say the reason why things are difficult is because they have not paid us for a while. No you should be walking on water.

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