Year: 2017

Being Persecuted

Bethany Christian Living

Jesus warns us we will be persecuted for our faith in Him. Especially we are now noticing it is getting harder and harder to witness the truth about Jesus in these times. Including reaching out to other Christians who believe you can pick and choose what you want in the bible.  They are drawn to teachers that teach them what they want to hear. Some truths are hard, but in the long run obeying them makes life is a lot easier than disobeying them. I haven’t much to say on the subject but the three verses below says so much to me, when I stop and meditate on them.

John 15:18-20.
Just remember, when the unbelieving world hates you, they first hated me. If you give your allegiance to the world, they would love you and welcome you as their own. But because you won’t align yourself with the values of this world, they will hate you. I have chosen you and taken you out of the world to be mine. So remember what I taught you, that a servant isn’t superior to his master. And since they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

Jesus also assure us that our reward will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Matthew 5:10. How enriched you are when you bear the wounds of being persecuted for doing what is right!…

Matthew 5: 11-12. How ecstatic you can be when people insult and persecute you and speak all kinds of cruel lies about you because of your love for me! So leap for joy – since your heavenly reward is great. For you are being rejected the same way the prophets were before you.

So hang in there when you are being tried and tested. When you are in heaven you are going to be so amazed that God will reward you far more than you suffered for Him.

 

Prayer is Very Powerful

Bethany Christian Living ,

Not everybody is in a position to help many different types of people in all situations. Prayer is powerful and you can pray for everybody in all different situations. For example you might grieve very strongly about people who are caught in the sex traffic, but are no way in a position to help. Most of us can’t help others physically, but we sure can pray for them.

When you hear of bad news you can always pray for the people or animal, or country’s concern. Sometimes God is happy with a quick short prayer and at other times He wants you to pray long and hard for months and sometimes for years over it. He places such a heavy burden on your heart that you need to pray for them. If you don’t have a burden pray for one and He will give you one or two or more.

One thing I love about prayer it is versatile. You are limited in your help physically but never spiritually. You can’t help the whole world, but you can pray for the whole world. Many people think their prayers are not powerful. They would be so surprise to find out, they are extremely powerful and God is waiting for them to help out, through their prayers. God’s way of answering prayers I find are usually different from what I expect. He always has a better plan. For example I got a burden for animals that are dumped and on T.V. that night the media reported about a female dog that was  pregnant and dumped and was then looked after. I find that happens over and over again. At first I thought it wasn’t related to my prayers, but it kept happening and then I finally said it was an answer to my prayers. And you will too be surprise how often that happens, once you start saying prayers for other people. And of course others know better than me how true this is.  

We must pray all the time, every chance we can get. And offer up our days for people and different things that God has placed on our heart.

James 5:16. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

Don’t mistake a righteous person to be somebody who doesn’t fail God from time to time, but rather somebody who seeks to please God with all their heart.

Mark 11:24. “Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

 

 

Having Positive Thoughts

Bethany Christian Living

Philippians 4:8.  Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honourable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

There is so much negative thinking these days. During terrible hard times it is hard to keep your mind off the problem. We can think about it so much so that the thoughts just go round and round until we think we are going insane. Doing what is right and healthy always seems more difficult than to do what is not right and healthy.

Since more and more negative things keep happening in this world, the verse above is even more needed to be obeyed. It is the way Jesus would have done things. And there is plenty of good things going on around us, if we are willing to stay focus on them. If we obey we would be sure to get the peace only Jesus can give, that the world cannot give. He would give us this peace gladly. The peace helps you to be victorious in your situation. You would be able to think more clearly and be able to hear God’s voice more clearly in each and every situation, you find yourself in. It takes a lot of practice for most of us, but it is worth it. 

Putting our Faith and Trust in the Lord

Bethany Christian Living

For many of us being pessimistic about our trials is the norm. We have to watch out for that. If we are not careful we can forget all the promises of God when we let fear take over our lives. We are told that Jesus has already won the victory and all we have to do is believe and obey. Then God will turn things around for us for His Glory sake. His Glory is always based on love. And we all want to be truly loved especially for ever. We have to see God as our loving Father. Head knowledge won’t save us in a crisis. We have to really believe God is love and that He is all Wisdom. If we step out in faith and trust we will see God’s promises fulfilled. Most of us rather put our trust in what we see. What we see is only temporary. What is eternal is what we can’t see. God is more real than what we are. Trusting God is proof of our love for Him is real. We get tested a lot so that we will grow in all virtues, such as faith and trust. If we always live sheltered lives we will never grow and become strong in the Lord.

Deuteronomy 20:3-4. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is He who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.

Psalm 118:14. The Lord is my strength and my song; He has given me victory.

Praying for Our Enemies

Bethany Christian Living

Forgiving can be very difficult. It is a lot easier when the person has repented from their transgression against us. It can be another matter when they are not sorry for mocking, slander or being unkind etc. to us. But Jesus insist on it.

Matthew 18:23-35. Is the parable of the unforgiving servant. Where the king forgives a servants and lets him off paying a very, very large debit, only to find the servant demands a much smaller debt to be paid by his fellow servants. The king finds out about it and becomes furious with the servant and sends him to prison to be tortured, until the debit he owed to the king has been paid.

That parable frightens me. Jesus doesn’t make empty warnings. So how do we go about it? I believe praying for our enemies helps. To pray for their welfare and for their salvation might start out more like a duty at first, but with grace doing this after a while softens our hearts towards them. Keep it up and try to pray with eagerness. When you do the best you can, God will do what you can’t do. If we are too proud to admit we are also a very bad sinner needing forgiveness from God every day ourselves, then we might be tempted not to forgive, which is a serious mistake.

I heard of a story that somebody went to hell escorted by Jesus to show him around. The person saw a women there who was in the ministry for thirty years, but because she refused to forgive her husband she had to read a verse in the Bible about forgiveness as a punishment forever in hell.

Luke 6: 35-36.But you must love your enemies and you must do good things to them and you must lend expecting nothing; then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and evil. You must become compassionate, even just as your Father is compassionate.

Loving our enemies is what makes us different from other religions. God is a God of unconditional love. To please Him we need to grow in love and be like Our Heavenly Father. It’s what makes our religion so special apart from being the true religion. God forgives those who are sorry for their sins, doesn’t matter how grievous they are. He loves us all whether we deserve it or not. Matter of fact nobody actually deserves His love at all. He is so Holy and Majestic we all fall short of His glory.

What You Believe is Very Important!

Bethany Christian Living

Many people just follow the crowd without much thought into it. That is dangerous. Jesus said He is the Way. He is the only way. He teaches truth. It is not always popular, but truth is beautiful. There is no other choice. If you don’t believe all that Jesus teaches you are in danger of soul. There are beliefs flooding most churches today that are lies. We all have blind spots that we need to pray that God will open our eyes to. Satan is working overtime, deceiving people that you can serve mammon and God. That you can serve two masters. Jesus warns us against this. We have to remember God is a very jealous God.

Too many people think you can have it both ways. Being part of the world and still be a Christian. That is being lukewarm. And God says He will spew us out of His mouth if we are lukewarm. A follower of Jesus is to be pure of heart, humble and faithful to His word. Not only some if it and then toss out the rest that you don’t want to hear.

We are in dangerous time. Satan wants your soul, so guard it with your life by the power of God. He will look after you, but you have to serve Him faithfully. There is so much deception, if it is an easy way out that should make you alert that there could be something wrong with the message. To follow Jesus is the hard and narrow road, not the easy wide road that MOST people follow.

Beliefs for too many people are just like fashion, whatever is the flavour of the month they follow. God doesn’t change. The truth doesn’t change from year to the next. The truth is always the truth for ever it will be the same. What you believe in, backed by action will either sentence you to heaven or hell. So beliefs are very important. Call on God for wisdom, understanding and knowledge, to face your daily decisions. None of us know it all and we all can be deceived if we set our guards down. And judge everything at face value can be deceiving.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to fill you and guide you in everything you do. Jesus shows us the way. Be wary of popular beliefs, it might sound good, but look much deeper with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit will open your eyes and you will see things that the majority won’t see. You have to put God first! in your life, or you will fall and be deceived.

 

Holy Communion

Bethany Christian Living

What is Holy Communion? There are different beliefs about it. Some Churches believe what Jesus said about it is just symbolic. Others Churches believe what He said about it, He meant it as He said it. Just an example of what I am trying to say, look at John 6:51 as an example. ‘I am the living bread which comes down from heaven: if anyone eats this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give is for the life of the world is my flesh.’

Some Church leaders keep away from verses that contradict their denominational beliefs so that the congregation don’t get to hear of these verses unless they read verses like John 6: 51 for themselves. There are so many verses that back up what Jesus said as what He says He means. For example 1 Cor. 11:27… Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup unworthy will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.

Those who don’t believe the bread and the wine turned into the body and blood of Christ is for today, please read John 6:22 onwards. I am sure it will convince you the truth of Jesus’s words to be exactly what He meant it to be, if you ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you.

Another thing some churches don’t practise Holy Communion at all, while others practise it once a month some once a week and very few every day. I believe in doing it every day. Not only does it please God (God has told me to do it every day), but it strengthens you to tackle your trials throughout the day. I know most of us are being heavily attack by the devil, so think about it. I am sure you won’t regret doing it every day and you will see what I mean by strengthening you, if you do it with faith.

Doing Holy Communion at Home

For His blood I use raspberry cordial because it is the most convenient thing I have. I remember the first time I did Communion at home, I raised the bread up to be consecrated to be the body of Jesus without any trouble, but when I raised up the cordial, I said to God I won’t consecrated to be your blood, because it is too unworthy, meaning not wine like Jesus used. The moment I said that I felt a very strong and really sad presence, because He wanted me to. So from then onwards I used cordial because I know God will accept it. I often call Jesus God, since He is God the second person, so I hope I am not confusing anybody.

Just because your Church doesn’t celebrate Communion every day, doesn’t mean you should be without. You can do it anyway you feel God’s Spirit leading you. Any prayer you feel is urgent to say, say it in Communion. The way I do it just to give you an idea is I start with a reading a Psalm that I randomly open up to, believing God has chosen it for me. Then I read about three pages of short Bible promises and then some more prayers, mostly from the Crusade of Prayer book. Just before consecrating time I read out John 6:53-58

Jesus said. ‘I tell you most solemnly if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in you. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I shall raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives in me and I live in him. As I am sent by the living Father, so whoever eats me will draw life from me. This is the bread come down from heaven not like the bread our ancestors ate. They are dead, but anyone who eats this bread will live for ever.

And then some more prayers after I have eaten and drunk His Blood.

Of course you can do your own Communion anyway you like. As long as you are sincere about it. God will bless it.

Picking Up our Cross and Following Jesus

Bethany Christian Living

Today I was asked to do a small favour and I wasn’t too happy about it. Then I started thinking to do it with joy in my heart, knowing that it is what God wants of me. I found it hard and then I was reminded of Jesus teaching us in the Gospel pages, to pick up our cross and follow Him. The cross is anything that your flesh would not want you to do. It is a way to die to self for the love of God and be reborn of Him more each time you deprive yourself for Him. Then I was thinking about martyrs for God. Some people will obey God and be a martyr for Him, which is good. There are others who love God even more and see it as a privilege and a great honour to share in the sufferings of Jesus while there is still time to do it. While I was thinking about that a thought came to me those martyrs only suffer a shadow of what Jesus suffered for them. Nobody is so strong in the love and faith of God that we are willing to suffer what Jesus suffered for us totally.

I am now praying in earnest for the grace of a great love of God that I am willing to pick up my cross doesn’t matter what it is and follow Jesus. In some things I am already doing that, but there is plenty of other areas that I am not, such as housework. And to think of putting a smile on Jesus face when we please Him is a marvellous reward in itself.

Listening to God’s Voice

Bethany Supernatural Gifts from God

I haven’t written for quite some time now. God has been very patient with me, teaching me lessons like the difference between head knowledge and heart knowledge. Heart knowledge pleases God a great deal more, He responds to it, not so much with head knowledge. It has been a rough journey for me and is still an ongoing one, which I think most people are finding their journey just as hard as well. My biggest lesson is God’s forgiveness is extraordinary. It takes me by surprise when I see after torturing myself and God in not believing I am forgiven to see just how much He does.

I have a CD that teaches you how to hear God’s voice. The CD is called ‘The hearing God experience’ by Mark Virkler. It is one of the best teachings I have heard on hearing God I have ever heard. But there are plenty different CD’s out there if you went searching for it. It is so simple. I have been doing it for about nine months now. He suggest that you should have other people check it from time to time to make sure it is God really talking to you. I have made a serious mistake thinking the Devils words was from God and it got me into a lot of trouble. But when it is from God it is so encouraging and strengthening. I write it down, I find it is easier for me to do it that way.

I am still learning about humility, it is one virtue God wants me to concentrate on the most. We all have weaknesses and to see His patience first hand makes a big difference to your life. I have had beautiful visitations from Jesus that I loved so much, but also wonderful to be able to ask God a question and get an answer, it is real comforting. God is talking to us all the time, it is a matter of learning how to listen to Him.  Most of us haven’t be taught how. It is not so much a voice but a thought.

 

Reasons Why We Should Be water Baptised

Bethany Christian Living

The most important reason is that Jesus himself was baptised. John even question him, because John knew he was unworthy to baptised Jesus. Jesus replied to him. Matt 3:15 But Jesus answered him, ‘let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness. ‘

Jesus considered it to be a righteous thing to do. Who are we to think we are superior to Jesus. If Jesus was humble enough to be baptised by a mortal, why should we think we shouldn’t get baptised at all.

John 2:5. Unless one is born again of water and the Holy Spirit, one cannot enter the kingdom of God.

The wording is very straight forwarded. He is simply saying we have to be baptised with water and the Holy Spirit.

Col 2:12. You were buried with him in baptism in which you were also raised.

Gal 3:27. For as many of you who were baptised into Christ have put on Christ.

Matt. 28:19. ‘Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

1 Peter 4:21. Baptism, now saves you, as an appeal to God for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Acts 2:38. You must repent… and every one of you must be baptised in the Name of Jesus Christ for your sins, and you will receive the GIFT of The Holy Spirit.

You won’t receive the GIFT of the Holy Spirit without baptism.

 

Do you know God will accept another Christian to baptise you if they is no pastor to baptise you. And once more if there is absolutely no one to baptise you God will accept you to do it yourself. God is a fair God, He knows the circumstances we are in. You don’t have to be completely immersed in water either. Like it is popular to do these days. All you have to do is sprinkle water on your forehead after each time you say I baptise you in the name of the Father, sprinkle some more water on your forehead and say an in the Son and again in the Holy Spirit.

I remember when I decided to become a Catholic. I was originally baptised in a Protestant Church as a baby. I was all set up to be baptised again in the Catholic Church but both God and the priest let it be known to me, it was unnecessary. The priest just told me all I have to do is be confirmed in the Catholic Church since my baptism was accepted.

I rather be safe than sorry. It is clear in scripture we are all meant to be baptised. I rather be baptised and know there is a place for me in heaven, because I believe in Jesus Christ as my saviour and I obey him, wouldn’t you?