As a united church, we are all in a time of preparation, getting ready for the return of Christ and the wedding feast of the lamb.
In early Jewish culture, when a woman was betrothed to a man, that covenant relationship was seen to have already started and there would be a time of preparation where the man would go away and the woman would be getting ready for the wedding feast. At the wedding feast, that is where the marriage was completed and the bridegroom received his bride. The reason why the church is called the bride of Christ is because, that covenant started at the cross with Jesus’s death and resurrection and from that point when he left, as his church we were betrothed to him and are now in a time of preparation, which will be completed at the marriage supper of the lamb: Rev 19:6 And I heard as the sound of a great multitude, and as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of strong thunders, saying, Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns! Rev 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice and we will give glory to Him. For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself. Rev 19:8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white. For the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints. Rev 19:9 And he said to me, Write, Blessed are those who have been called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he said to me, These are the true sayings of God This is why unity in the body of Christ is so important, because we are in that preparation time and during this time, the true worshipers will be identified from the false ones. Jesus said this is how you will identify a true worshiper or disciple of his: Joh 13:35 By this all shall know that you are My disciples, if you have love toward one another. This love for another will cause us to be united not divided, because love always unites because love is God and God is love. This is why we are ours brother’s keeper, we are all interdependent on each other and completely dependent on God. So we should always ask God to give us a word of encouragement for one of our brothers or sisters each day. We should always put ourselves in a position to help someone each day, not because we get something out of it in return, but out of a true motive to help that person. If we see our brother or sister doing something off key, then in love we should come alongside that person to help them get back onto the right path. When you try to help people, sometimes you hear them say “You can’t judge me, only God can” and they are right, God is the final judge, but as members of the body of Christ we are to judge each other by the standards of the word, that is why the bible says” You should know them by their fruit” Joh 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judgerighteous judgment. Paul demonstrates this here: 1Co 5:11 But now I have written to you not to associate intimately, if any man called a brother and is either a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a one not to eat. 1Co 5:12 For what is it to me to also judge those who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? 1Co 5:13 But God judges those who are outside. Therefore put out from you the evil one. So we are to sharpen each other as Iron Sharpens Iron, so that each one of us in this time of preparation can be ready for the marriage feast of the lamb with the right clothes on, as if we stand before God with the wrong clothes on we will be escorted out of the feast: Mat 22:2 The kingdom of Heaven is like a certain king who made a marriage for his son. Mat 22:3 And he sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they would not come. Mat 22:4 Again he sent out other servants, saying, Tell those who are invited, Behold, I have prepared my dinner; my oxen and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the marriage. Mat 22:5 But not caring, they went their ways, one to his field, another to his trading. Mat 22:6 And the rest took his servants and treated them spitefully, and killed them. Mat 22:7 But when the king heard, he was angry. And he sent out his armies and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Mat 22:8 Then he said to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they who were invited were not worthy. Mat 22:9 Therefore go into the exits of the highways, and as many as you shall find, invite them to the marriage. Mat 22:10 So the servants went out into the highways and gathered together as many as they found, both bad and good. And the wedding was filled with reclining guests. Mat 22:11 And the king coming in to look over the guests, he saw a man there who did not have on a wedding garment. Mat 22:12 And he said to him, Friend, how did you come in here without having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Mat 22:13 Then the king said to the servants, Bind him hand and foot and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mat 22:14 For many are called, but few chosen. Parallel Principals Without unity in your business, your business will die, because everyone will be pulling in their own directions and nobody working together. Please remember the sum of the masses is far greater than the sum of the individual. You have to truly love people to build a Reliv Business and that love will be evident by your actions. You will know what people are truly like by observing them over time and once you know how they are, you will know how to work with them. Longevity comes from unity. So promote unity by your actions and everyone will be successful.
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When a group of people are all pulling in the same direction there is power, because the sum of the masses is greater than the sum of the individual.
Throughout the scriptures God speaks about the power of unity and he starts with himself. The first statement in the bible is: “ In the beginning God, created the heavens and the earth”. The word for God is Eloyhim which is a plural noun, there is another Hebrew word that could have been used, which is a word in the Hebrew that could have been used which is a singular noun to describe God and that is Eloah. So straight away God gave us insight into the fact that he is a Tri Unity. There are many, many occasions in the scriptures both old and new testament where God shows us his triune nature, another such occasion is in Deut 6:4: famously own as the Shema and is recited by every Jews as a constant reminder of who God is: "sh'ma yisrael Adonai elohaynu Adonai Echad (Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one) What is interesting to note about this is again is the word in Hebrew used for ONE, the word Echad, which again is a plural noun. Moses could have used yichad which is a singular noun. So straight away Moses was already giving Israel insight into God nature. The same words is used for when two people are married and become “One Flesh”. God always leads by example, so in order to show us the importance of unity he had to first demonstrate it. In the old testament when Israel allowed themselves to be directed by God and they were united, they were strong, when they were not united they were weak. Satan uses division as a very important tool when attacking God’s people because he knows what the scriptures say: Palms 133:1 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unityof the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ: Satan understands that the way the gospel message is going to be spread through the whole world, is when the body of Christ is UNITED. Therefore if he can keep it divided he can try and stop the effective spreading of the word. Unity is key whether we are talking about a Church, a marriage, a job, a business, a club, a society, what ever. When everyone is pulling in the same direction whether positively or negatively, there is power. I will continue this next week VISION
As believers we have been given the gift of vision, in other words seeing into eternity, knowing our destiny is to be with Jesus. That gift was opened the moment we accepted Jesus as our Lord and savior. Now we are able to see what others do not see. Sin blinds people to the truth and keeps them in bondage, this is why Jesus said in John 8:32-34 when speaking to a group of Jews who there just religious; “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free. Joh 8:33 They answered Him, We are Abraham's seed and were never in bondage to anyone. How do you say, You will be made free? Joh 8:34 Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, Whoever practices sin is the slave of sin. You see a slave who does not want to admit to being a slave, is still a slave, no matter how good he or she thinks the slave master treats them. The African slave trade lasted over 400 years and was one of the saddest times in human history, with regards to how one human being treated another. Within that time many people were brought into bondage, within Europe and the America’s. Even through these people were so far from home, there was a remnant of those people that were never willing to accept slavery and would always try to escape. The rest of them learned to live in bondage and eventually had children who were born into bondage, so the only thing they knew was bondage, so they thought that was just the way things were. For those people who knew different, on many occasions they would try to escape, some made it and some did not, however they would never stop trying because they knew slavery was not right. The majority of the other slaves thought that they were crazy, because their mindset was, why would anyone want to leave the comfort of the slave masters house and grounds. You see they had been conditioned to take ownership of the slave masters property as if it were theirs, even though they had no rights. This is exactly what Satan has done. We read in scripture that the first sin was committed by Satan when he let pride get in and he rebelled against God. (Ezekiel 28:14). Then when he caused man to fall in Genesis, he got man to take ownership of sin which rendered us with no rights before God. But then man created religion and tried to gain rights with God without getting rid of sin. This was like those slaves trying to act free by taking ownership of the master’s property and treating it even better than the master treated it. But God is so gracious that while this was going on, he had already made a way out for those people who chose to see what others do not see. A good example of this is what happened as a result of John The Baptists preaching. Once a person knows the truth they were ready to act on it and immediate action was taken: Mat 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of Heaven is taken by violence, and the violent take it by force. This is Jewish idiom and what it means is, when John began his preaching the message of the Kingdom was being fought down, but when the people began to understand their state through the message they chose to rush into the kingdom upon receiving the knowledge of the truth and they acted immediately. See what others don’t see and you will experience what others will not experience. Parallels Principals There are so many strong parallels in this, it is amazing. In order for you to be successful in your Reliv Business, you have to see what others do not see. Many people you are going to speak to are going to be comfortable in accepting mediocrity, so when you bring an opportunity like ours to them, they will not see it. Does that stop YOU SEEING? People who are looking for freedom WILL NOT accept security, because security will put you in a comfort zone and that is where many people will perish. This business will stretch you, it will challenge you, it will test you and not everyone will stay the course. But for those who do, the freedom you get will be immense. It is always easy to give up, but what are the options? 1. Give up and go back into bondage 2. Continue forward and gain your freedom God has already made your way straight, for those who put him first and are will to operate in the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self-control So see what others do not see, so you can experience what others will not experience. |
Click Image below to see an opportunity to work with a group of believers, passionate about helping people with their health and their finances. Click image Now!Me and Aneela with the European Chairman of Reliv International Click below to watch some powerful Christian videos KINGDOM PEOPLE AuthorFor the past Eight years, I have been hosting a weekly prayer call for the believers in the offline company that i work alongside. Looking at biblical principals and seeing how we can apply them into our businesses. Archives
May 2018
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