Always win the test of your faith

 

Times that are difficult. Times that have temptations. Times that are of the VUCA type (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity). Times when others lose the faith. Any of these or all of these or a combination of these is what you get when your faith is tested.

It doesn’t matter how big or small the test is. It doesn’t matter what is the source of the test. What matters is that are you willing to win against everything that is trying to fade away your faith? I’m not talking about faith in yourself, not about faith in doctors nor about faith in your nation or state. What I’m talking about is your faith in the Lord God!

Whether its a pandemic called Covid 19, or World War 3 itself, you should always strive to keep your faith in Jesus Christ. Keep it lest you lose your Godly reward!

 

Verses for reflection:

Jesus said to them, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. (1 John 5:4)

Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10)

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

A Testimony Of A Former Hezbollah Muslim Soldier (Video)

Note: This video is from Living For Christ Channel on Youtube.com

A Jew converts to Christianity – Bob’s Story

Note: Video from cmtvaustralia.org

 

Salvation – I Believe In Christ (Video)

Note: Credit for the Video goes to Panda Bear Media Group. This song was sung by NC Christian rap artist who goes by the monicker ‘Salvation’. Also check out the singer’s online account at : http://www.myspace.com/salvationingod

 

Verses for reflection:

Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:29)

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. (Hebrews 11:6)

And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” (Acts 16:31)

When Stigmata had to be dealth with

A few years ago, I had been contacted by a representative of a local church and this was about a case that sounds extremely odd. There was a woman who would attend their church and perhaps still attends it. She would exhibit Stigmata while the church services would go on. This caused the church goers to be in wonder of her and the church leadership was suspecting demons at work. Because in certain types of demon possession, the affected individual also exhibits Stigmata. The people were getting too interested in her instead of praying to the Lord. So I was asked for a strategy to deal with her, since they didn’t want to directly cast her out of the prayer services, since part of the congregation believed her to be genuine. Eventually following my advice this was tackled cleanly and effectively.

Let me now give you a few definitions of what Stigmata stands for:

• Stigmata: bodily marks or pains resembling the wounds of the crucified Jesus and sometimes accompanying religious ecstasy. (As per Merriam-Webster dictionary online)
• Medicine/Medical.
  1. a mental or physical mark that is characteristic of a defect or disease: the stigmata of leprosy.
  2. a place or point on the skin that bleeds during certain mental states, as in hysteria. (As per Dictionary.com)
     

stigmata on palms

 

Stigmata on palms with blood

Now the church representative was very concerned that the Stigmata ie the bleeding wounds on the woman’s hands were of the devil. I told him not to get too presumptuous about that but let me give him my advice on it. So I decided to ask him a few questions and by this analyze the situation. So for your convenience let’s call the church representative as George. Here’s how our chat went on:

Myself: Where do the wounds show up on her?

George: On the palms, both of them.

Myself: Not anywhere else?

George: Only the palms.

Myself: Strange, because these even happen on the feet, sometimes on the forehead and even on the chest.

George: I’ve not faced this before so I’m not sure what you are talking about.

Myself: No problem. Let me ask another question?

George: Sure.

Myself: Does she belong to your denomination?

George: No, she’s from so and so denomination.

Myself: Do you suspect this stigmata that shows up in her might be a ploy to poach your existing church members in her denominational church?

George: (A bit startled) Nothing yet. She didn’t tell anyone to join her church.

Myself: Are you sure?

George: But she does attend other churches too?

Myself: Then why does she attend your church. Are you not aware that certain denominations proclaim other denominations as heretics?

George: I’m not sure but she is regular with us.

Myself: What’s the attitude of others in church towards her?

George: They are awestruck by her and are eager to see her every church service.

Myself: (Concerned) Does this mean she attracts others to Christ?

George: Can you be more specific?

Myself. Yes. By her getting the mysterious blood marks on her palms, do people at your church feel like praying more to the Lord? Do they feel like reading the Bible even more? Do they feel like fasting? Do they pray for more miracles to happen in your church?

George: (Stumped) I’ll have to check on this. This will need me to research on what’s going on.

Myself: Can I suggest a thing?

George: Yes.

Myself: Don’t put her on a position of prominence in church. Make sure that people at the time of praise and worship are focused on Christ. You are to keep track of what messages she gives the others in your church and check if it is consistent with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

George: We always focus on Jesus Christ at the church services but I will make sure people continue to focus on the Lord and not her.

Myself: That’s fine enough. I also want to ensure that somebody preaches the Gospel to her.

George: We preach the Gospel at church. I’ll make sure some woman also reaches out to her in this regard.

Myself: I also suggest that you keep track of your people. I mean you don’t want a situation that her stigmata causes people to switch over to her denomination?

George: No. We preach the true Gospel, why should people leave us?

Myself: That’s not my point. I’m not blaming your church. I’m only asking you to make sure your church is not carried away into impulsiveness.

George: What about demons? Don’t you suspect her stigmata could be a demonic manifestation?

Myself: I’d say its demonic if she abhors the name of Jesus that she ends up getting fits (epilepsy) all of a sudden on hearing the name of the Lord. Or she reacts violently and screams a lot.

George: Ok, thanks. I will keep track of the things you’ve said.

Myself: No problem. I will pray for her and your church services to not be affected negatively.

George: Thanks.

 

Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.  Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5: 19-24)

Now it took the church representative a few weeks to get back to me as to what happened. He told me he tried the stuff I told him. They made sure someone preached to the woman who got the Stigmata. The church services were done with the wholesome preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Plus the worship was purely focused on the Lord. George said the woman didn’t have any specific revelation nor prophecy to give to the church nor did she cause any people to join the other churches she would go to. Most importantly, the woman no longer manifested the Stigmata on her palms. She instead prayed and read the Bible and leads an upright life to George’s best knowledge. The people were not attracted to her but instead focused on the Lord God.

The point here is not just Stigmata, it might have been levitation in mid-air or even holding poisonous snakes without getting harmed, what should be our reaction?

1. It definitely does not mean that we consider such people as worthy of more respect than Christ.
2. It does not mean that we throw away our knowledge of the Gospel in exchange for untested visions or revelations accompanying the “miraculous” person in question.
3. It does mean that we continue to worship the Lord God without deviating from principles of the Bible.
4. It does mean that we do not worship false gods on the insistence of any person who can even perform supernatural feats.
5. It does mean that we document such cases, including the mental state of the person having Stigmata etc to be able to clearly analyze the situation instead of being clueless.
6. It does mean that if we don’t know how to deal with such cases we are humble enough to ask some other Christians who are aware of such situations.
7. Above all pray and read the Bible and do research by yourself too.

 

Verses for reflection:

• Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,  and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and is already in the world. (1 John 4: 1-3)
• But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1)
• “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruit. Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit. But a corrupt tree bears evil fruit. A good tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a corrupt tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore, by their fruit you will know them. (Matthew 7:15-20)
• How is it then, brothers? When you come together, every one of you has a psalm, a teaching, a tongue, a revelation, and an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification. If anyone speaks in an unknown tongue, let it be by two, or at the most by three, and each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him remain silent in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God. Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge. If anything is revealed to another that sits by, let the first keep silent. For you may all prophesy one by one, that all may learn and all may be encouraged. The spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. (1 Corinthians 14:26-33)

An experience this year that I faced

I recently shared a prayer called ‘Uproot in me every evil seed‘ and then a prayer called ‘Plant in me O Lord’. Now there’s a good reason for it. This year has been quite a dramatic year for me on various fronts. Especially on the spiritual front. So I felt like I better share this one up before the year ends. It’s possible that by knowing this, you too might ask God for the right things in life and elimination of evil from your life.

Just before this year could begin and even right up to April 2015, I’d be encouraged to pray that every evil seed is uprooted from my life. I received such suggestions from various people. Originally, the context of such a praying attitude was to ensure one doesn’t get sick or unwell. However, the field of view expanded. With faith in the Lord Jesus, I kept praying every time there was a call to remove all obstacles that come in the will of God in my life.

Then things started unfolding themselves in my life by the grace of God. I found that evil seeds can also be people, not mere illnesses alone. Suddenly I started noticing some the people who profess the Christian faith and who were good friends and allies of mine at that time for many years, were not all that much into the faith. I mean their view of the Gospel didn’t go by with the true Gospel at all. Let me make it real to you, for starters some believed that once forgiven they do not need to ever repent if they happen sin again. (I’ve already covered this in a much earlier post called as The heresy of pre forgiven sin). And this was surprising to me that they conveniently kept this hidden for a long time from me though they were much aware that I do believe in repentance every time a person sins, not just one time only.

There were another bunch of folks who were of the opinion that God will automatically grant his ‘stamp’ of approval on everything they do, even if meant using deceitful means. For them it was not a case of doing God’s will in their life. It was the opposite, which is their own thoughts and opinions are ‘deemed’ as God’s will for them on the assumption that everything they do is by default approved by the Lord without checking with the Bible. They seemed to conveniently ignore the following verses of the Bible:

• There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 16:25)
• Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him,and he will make straight your paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Then there was the legalistic brigade which believes that one must fast for almost everything and at every season. Legalism works as a counferfeit of discipline and I surely have had a tough time dealing with such people until I realized that the best way to tackle them is by the Holy Scriptures. And they were the most hostile to deal with but eventually they couldn’t prevail against the principles of the Bible.

I mentioned only three types of deviations in short without going too much in to the specifics, but there are more such deviations from the Gospel I noticed among others this year (again!), which I intend to expose in the future, but these should suffice for now.

A common trend that I noticed among such people is that they were cherry picking Bible verses as per their liking instead of taking the whole of the Bible in context. Besides this they were obsessed with their denominational tags and doctrines far much more than normal. And this led them to label anyone (not just me) as one who is ignorant and in need of their ‘guidance’. Well it didn’t work on me especially when I realized they had an aversion to the teachings of the Epistle of James and also of the Letter to the Hebrews in the Bible. One even said they hate such and such Bible verse and I’d be shocked by such replies. They again ignore the fact that ‘Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. (Proverbs 30:5)’. So I also didn’t ignore that they were repeatedly trying to spoil my name in the preaching of the word obviously behind my back since they knew they stand no chance in a debate with me, though I at many times asked for face to face discussion about their points of view. So, I immediately went on guard against them and now they are totally out of my life, for good.

The effect was a lot of peace and joy, which was almost instant. I didn’t realize that they were such a negative influence of me until they actually got removed from my life. I could pray really well again! It came to my mind, that not a single part of me being happy depends on them but it’s only up to the Lord alone. Oddly, I didn’t even have to try too hard. The Lord just made it turn out in such a way that they by their own actions are now in a different direction from me. My only judgement on them was that I won’t be wasting my time on those who hinder my walk with the Lord God. As simple as that!

To those curious about the judgement part I’d suggest that you read a few earlier posts of mine titled Do not judge or do no repent?  & Some people seem to read only the words ‘Judge not’ in the Bible. Under those circumstances it had become less of judgement and more of respect to the Lord. One couldn’t remain with such people without them in return attempting to undermine the rightful knowledge of the Gospel.

My own observation was that whatever that I’d ask them to pray for me wouldn’t happen but in fact the reverse would happen. I mean challenges in life would seem to overpower me. But then when they got out of my life, I kept a very basic level of prayer and saw good results. I’d just would read the Bible and then ask the Holy Spirit to help me understand it correctly and then pray as plainly as possible. So the part of the part removing every evil seed prayer, came out well for the glory of God. This was in a way trying to keep only Christ as mediator between myself and God.

There’s the part of planting in one’s life not by one’s own standards but by the will of God. This part is not yet complete but let me say this year as I prayed for the best alliances and friendships in life, the Lord God has indeed given me these things really well. And I know that more is due in the future. It’s just that I was initially more focused on removal of evil. But I know for sure that now in the future, it also needs to be about acceptance of the good things of God by asking in faith.

I do hope that now you know the context of the two prayers about removing evil seeds and planting right seeds and are so are able to pray much better. This doesn’t actually stop at praying effectively alone. It’s more about the will of God going right in your life in terms of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

God be with you, always!

Former Porn Producer’s Amazing Testimony

One day in 2008, Wayne reluctantly accepted an invitation to attend a local church service at In His Presence Church in Woodland Hills, California. In this clip below, Wayne tells you the rest of the story, in his own words….

The above video is from porntopure.wordpress.com

Story behind two great hymns

Here is the story behind a great Christian hymn “I have decided to follow Jesus”. Didn’t realize this had its origin in India. These are the last few words of a Christian who was martyred and then later his very own killers changed from their evil ways over to Christ. Do watch the video and be blessed.

And now the story behind the hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus”. This is part of an Irish man’s testimony. He had tragic experiences, he had a choice to choose to be down in life or look to the perfect counselor of all time. The rest is history.

By the Grace of God I’m encouraged by these testimonies. Hope they inspire you too!

Related articles

• “He Who Glories, Let Him Glory in the Lord”
• Powerful Hymns – Part 1
• Jesus. the Name Which I Whisper. Hymn. God.