Who’s mantle do you carry?

Past servants of the Lord have left Mantles for us to take up and continue.

A great example of a spiritual mantle which passed from one person to another is Elijah and Elisha.

Elijah was a prophet in Israel and Elisha was his disciple. Elisha studied under him, earnestly desiring to operate the way he did. He realized that the time was drawing near when Elijah would leave the earth. Elijah also knew the time was soon and repeatedly told Elisha to depart from him. Instead, Elisha pressed in closer and refused to leave him.

Before Elijah was translated into heaven, he said; “‘Ask what I shall do for you before I am taken from you.’ And Elisha said, ‘Please, let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.'” (2 Kings 2:9) It was Elijah’s mantle which proved whether or not Elisha received his request.

Elijah told him; “‘You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.'” (Verse 10) Elisha did see Elijah leave in a chariot of fire. He then tore his own garment in two pieces and “took up the mantle of Elijah that fell from him.” (Verse 13) Thereafter, he also took up the work of his spiritual father and operated in his anointing.

Remember that Elisha asked for a double portion? And so it was. The Bible records twice as many miracles for Elisha as are recorded under Elijah’s ministry. Do spiritual mantles have a modern application? Can a spiritual mantle be passed today from one person to the next or one generation to the next?

Yes and I would say in some cases you don’t need to wait till the actual passing away of your spiritual superior.

Numbers 27:18-23 confirms this:

And the Lord said to Moses, “Take Joshua the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay your hand upon him;  cause him to stand before Elea′zar the priest and all the congregation, and you shall commission him in their sight. You shall invest him with some of your authority, that all the congregation of the people of Israel may obey. And he shall stand before Elea′zar the priest, who shall inquire for him by the judgment of the Urim before the Lord; at his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, both he and all the people of Israel with him, the whole congregation.” And Moses did as the Lord commanded him; he took Joshua and caused him to stand before Elea′zar the priest and the whole congregation, and he laid his hands upon him, and commissioned him as the Lord directed through Moses.

Also if you read Timothy 1:1–7, the laying of hands by the anointed of God makes you a partaker of the Divine work that God is equipping you for, as given below:

This letter is from Paul, chosen by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus. I have been sent out to tell others about the life he has promised through faith in Christ Jesus.I am writing to Timothy, my dear son.

May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy, and peace.

Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.
I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. 

This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

Just as the above verses speak of how God has been passing on the mantles through his servants and apostles, I exort you to do your due diligence. And then prayerfully take the mantle that God’s kingdom will offer you.

Christ be with you!

Obey God so that you truly learn from the Bible

There are people who read the Bible and benefit from it, but then again there are people who read the Bible but don’t truly learn it. Because of the dullness of heart due to their love of what is impure and rebellious, there are those who deprive themselves of the blessings and deliverance that comes from the Lord God. Never be such a person that you read the Bible but don’t truly understand not learn from it. Therefore cut off all disobedience to God from your flesh. Crucify your flesh O brother, crucify your flesh O sister, crucify your flesh O you who dwell in the land of the living, so that you receive true healing that comes from Jesus Christ.

Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear; for they are a rebellious house. (Ezekiel 12:2)

For the heart of this people has grown dull, and they barely hear with the ears, and they have closed their eyes, lest ever they should see with the eyes, and they should hear with the ears, and they should understand with the heart, and should turn, and I will heal them.’ (Matthew 13:15)

 

 

O you who call your self by the name of Christ, make your calling worthy of the Holy Name that comes from the above. Hear the Lord your God with gladness of heart, so that you bear good fruit in plenty. Do not be like those who follow the darkness because they are ashamed to live in the light of God because they love the darkness and hate the light. So be willing to receive the Word of God with the fully intent do as God wills you to do and live.

Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded and came forth from God; I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word.You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But, because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? He who is of God hears the words of God; the reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.” (John 8:42-45)

Obey God so that you truly learn from the Bible, for then your blessing will be surely assured by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. Its a blessing to both read the Gospel of Jesus Christ and believe in it, in all your thoughts, words and deeds.

With them indeed is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah which says: ‘You shall indeed hear but never understand, and you shall indeed see but never perceive.For this people’s heart has grown dull, and their ears are heavy of hearing, and their eyes they have closed,lest they should perceive with their eyes, and hear with their ears,and understand with their heart, and turn for me to heal them.’ But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears, for they hear. Truly, I say to you, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. (Matthew 13:14-16)

The Bible is written to change you so don’t try to change it

Some people in vain try to change the Bible. They try to re-interpret it as per their convenience. However, when it comes to understanding the Bible, context is king. In fact text without a context is just pretext.

 

 

Jesus himself condemns the misuse of the Bible regardless of what reason anyone would give. He even exposed them in the following Bible verses of Mark 7:8-13:-

You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men.” And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die’; but you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban’ (that is, given to God) — then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do.”

 

If Jesus condemned the Pharisees of those days, how can we even expect the Risen Lord to now condone anyone to rewrite the Holy Scriptures! I’m not telling you sometime thing new. This has already been confirmed in the Bible:

 

1)Rejecting the Scriptures (the Word of God) by not doing as per it results in Judgement

If any one hears my sayings and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world.  He who rejects me and does not receive my sayings has a judge; the word that I have spoken will be his judge on the last day. (John 12: 47-48)

2) God will prove all those who add to the Scriptures to be liars

Do not add to God’s words Or He will reprove you, and you will be proved a liar. (Proverbs 30:6)

3) God has not given anyone permission to removing anything from the Scripture

You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2 )

 

You might ask what makes this relevant to today’s context. I’d answer that by saying people are still doing the same error like the one’s Jesus condemned the Pharisees for. People still come up with many crafty religious explanations to justify their vile deeds.

I remember many years ago, a preacher and some of his helpers came to my house reminding my family to pay our offerings to God. I happened to notice one of them was someone who had just passed out of college. So I asked this girl, “Are you going to pay your offerings to God as well?”. And she angrily replied, “No, since I sing in the Church choir my service equals all financial offerings that I could ever give”. Immediately the preacher was upset with her answer and said, “I’d deal with you later” to her. And he continued to speak to my family about why we should be making our financial offering to God.

Therefore, you must always follow the Holy Scriptures (the Word of God) in the right context or you will just find ways to avoid doing what God told you in the first place. Try to understand why the Holy Scriptures are given to us and you will do well.

 

What are the Holy Scriptures given to us for?

1. First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation (2 Peter 1:20)
2. All scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ^that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
3. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God; but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law. (Deutronomy 29:29)

 

Instead of trying to rewrite the words of the Scripture in our own image and likeness, simply follow it as God meant it to be followed. It will save you a lot of trouble and give you a lot of benefit as well.

 

And finally please do remember the punishments for trying to add or removing are not just one-off punishments that end in a few minutes. These are eternal punishments! So take heed because you have been warned for your own good.

I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues which are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book.  (Revelation 22:18-19)

God calls you to overcome sin

“The call of God to man, ever since he fell into sin has been to be an overcomer. God told Cain, “Sin is crouching at your (heart’s) door…but you must master it” (Gen.4:7). In the last book of the Bible that call is repeated, “He who overcomes shall inherit these things and I will be his God and he will be My son” (Rev. 21:7).” – Zac Poonen

Quick Reminder: God’s not going to rewrite the Bible

1. “For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle [a tiny mark in the original spelling of a word] will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” (Matthew 5:18)
2. “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one tittle of the law to fail.” (Luke 16:17)
3. “You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.” (Deuteronomy 4:2)
4. “Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it;you shall not add to it nor take away from it.” (Deuteronomy 12:32)
5. “…if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:9-10)
6. “For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, you may well put up with it!” (2 Corinthians 11:4) [I.e. don’t tolerate heresy]
7. “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him. Do not add to His words, lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar.” (Proverbs 30:5-6)
8. “If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.” (Revelation 22:18-19)

The Bible is a spiritual sword

Honour God’s Word lest you sin

Prayers leading to Christmas – 10

O Lord God help me to be focused on you and your Holy Word. Give me the understanding of your laws, promises and blessings. Grant by your Holy Spirit that I grow in the knowledge and experience of your Son Jesus Christ. Save me from all wisdom that is earthly, sensual and demonic, so that I receive your graces without any hindrance. Let me experience your love as I read the Scriptures and meditate on them. Cause me to experience your deliverance and healing as I pray to you O Lord. Help me to know you more and more as I walk with you. I ask this in the name of your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

The most hilarious line in the Bible

The Pastor stole our spoon

Note: Though I don’t encourage hiding stuff in the Bible’s of others, the above story does advise you to check upon your Bible daily. You never know what you might be missing otherwise.