Go to Nineveh! Speak Up! NOW!

 

When Jesus set us free his sacrifice included every area of our lives. The freedom we share as children of God because of His sacrifice gives us a hope that is beyond any hope the world or any other religion can give us. So why are we afraid to go to Nineveh?

The Prophet Jonah, as depicted by Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel

We've been delivered from strongholds, but do we really know what that means? We know that there is none righteous, no not one. We know that we have become the righteousness of Christ and that who the Lord sets free is free indeed. When we allow fear to block our path, we may be neglecting the things that God has called us to do.

Going to Nineveh, Jonah had to tell a whole town that they were steeped in sin and that God was going to destroy them if they didn't change. He didn't compromise with them and try to reason out their evil the way we are trying to compromise and reason with evil today, instead he ran. He ran away from his home of blessings and ended up spending three days in a stinking, fishy hotel. Jonah 1:17 Now the Lord had prepared and appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.

Finally, when Jonah did what God asked him to do, he was blessed, but he wasn't happy and still argued with God that it wasn't fair. He thought it wasn't fair for sinners to have the same covering that he, as a 'self' righteous person had, until God showed Jonah that everything he had belonged to God and that Jonah had no right to question God's judgement.

Yes, every sinner has a chance for redemption. But many are called and only a few are chosen. Why? Maybe because we refuse to go to Nineveh. We refuse to do what God has asked us to do. We try to compromise and reason with evil instead of pointing it out for what it is.

So how can we be assured of a house full of blessings instead of a stinky fish hotel?

Nineveh. The Mashki Gate. Reconstructed. One of the fifteen gateways of ancient Nineveh. The lower portions of the stone retaining wall are original. The gateway structure itself was originally of mudbrick. A few orthostats can be seen at the right of the passageway. Height of the vault is about 5 m. (Photo credit: Wikipedia

5 Biblical tips to understanding the will of God.

1. Give God due credit. God is omnipotent. Expect that in his omnipotence and loving nature he is also forgiving to everyone, not just you.

Micah 7:18 Who is a God like You, Who forgives iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He retains not His anger forever, because He delights in mercy and loving-kindness.

2. Submit to God with a humble heart as you would to a father you love and trust. God does not belong to us for our own private interpretation. We belong to him.

Psalm 62:5 My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him.

3. Do what you are asked to do. When God asks us to do something he has a purpose we may not understand or notice at the time, but because God in his omnipotence sees and knows everything, he knows the outcome and that outcome is to bless.

John 6:29 Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent [that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger].

4. Go to God whenever you slip and he will keep you from falling (or from being swallowed up).

Hebrews 12:7 You must submit to and endure [correction] for discipline; God is dealing with you as with sons. For what son is there whom his father does not [thus] train and correct and discipline?

5. Trust God. There's nothing more to be said. If we can trust him we can humbly submit to him and know that our lives are in his loving, wise, intellectually superior, omnipotent and perfect hands.

Genesis 15:6 And he [Abram] believed in (trusted in, relied on, remained steadfast to) the Lord, and He counted it to him as righteousness (right standing with God).

Psalm 52:8 But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in and confidently rely on the loving-kindness and the mercy of God forever and ever.

Written by Christian author, Pola Muzyka.

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Go Ahead! Celebrate Christmas, Celebrate Jesus

Jesus never told us not to worship him. Nor did he [Jesus] tell us not to celebrate a day for his birth. In fact, he never told us not to celebrate birthdays. The stronghold of religion should not be allowed to overtake joyful Christian [Christ centered] celebrations.

         The gift of Christ's birth.
Remember, a religious spirit does not glorify God. It attempts to oppress, distress, depress, suppress, and otherwise harm God’s people. This stronghold of religion is found in many different types of religious groups. We should not allow it place in our lives. If we do, it will permanently give Christmas and other Christ-centered holidays over to a pagan spirit. A spirit of darkness will replace a time of joyfully celebrating Christ.

Gift giving at Christmas time is a God thing. God gave us the greatest gift of all. When we share gifts at Christmas time or in the celebration of Hannukah, we symbolically celebrate the gift of salvation and the gift of light. Just like when we take communion, we symbolically celebrate our oneness with Christ.

Although Jesus was not born on December 25th, the day of his birth celebration shouldn’t matter. What should matter is that he is the reason for the celebration.

Technically, Jesus was born during the time of taxing. The Jews were to be taxed in on the New Year in the old calendar. If we give this day to Satan it will be distorted and twisted to take glory away from the one and only savior and light of the world.

God gave us this life. In the very least, the day of our birth, and particularly that of the birth of Christ, should be a day of praise, re-dedication, and retrospect of this great gift of life we’ve all been given.

Where's the Line to See Jesus?

5 Biblical tips to overcome antichrist in Christmas:
1. Know what you believe and believe what you know. Don’t ever allow anyone to deceive or confuse you with modern anti-Christ thinking.

Matthew 28:8-10 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. ⁹ Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. ¹⁰ Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself and God our Father, Who loved us and gave us everlasting consolation and encouragement and well-founded hope through [His] grace (unmerited favor),  ¹⁷Comfort and encourage your hearts and strengthen them [make them steadfast and keep them unswerving] in every good work and word.

2. Keep Christ in Christmas. Take your stand.

John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the world’s Light.

John 12:46 I have come as a Light into the world so that whoever believes in Me [whoever cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me] may not continue to live in darkness.

John 6:32-33 Jesus then said to them, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Moses did not give you the Bread from heaven [what Moses gave you was not the Bread from heaven], but it is My Father Who gives you the true heavenly Bread. ³³For the Bread of God is He Who comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.

John 6:35 Jesus told them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never become hungry, and whoever believes in me will never become thirsty.

3. Move. A church that won’t allow a time to celebrate Jesus, his birth, resurrection, or his goodness, could be an anti-Christ church, false religion, or a church filled with a religious spirit. Some religions actually believe that Jesus is an angel.

John 1:1 In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Acts 26:18 to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Matthew 4:10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ”

Matthew 2:11 And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense, and myrrh.

Hebrews 1:8 But of the Son he [God] says, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of uprightness is the scepter of your kingdom.

Colossians 2:18 Let no one defraud you by acting as an umpire and declaring you unworthy and disqualifying you for the prize, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, taking his stand on visions [he claims] he has seen, vainly puffed up by his sensuous notions and inflated by his unspiritual thoughts and fleshly conceit,

4. Don’t put the focus [of celebrating] on your gift to someone else or from someone else. The gift of Christ is the reason for the season. The gift(s) you give are symbolic of the greatest gift. Never teach your children to focus on what they get but instead to focus on what Jesus gave.

2 Corinthians 5:18 But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself [received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself] and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation [that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with
Him].

5. By all means, decorate. But decorate with celebrating Christ in mind.
Psalm 118:27 The Lord is God, Who has shown and given us light [He has illuminated us with grace, freedom, and joy]. Decorate the festival with leafy boughs and bind the sacrifices to be offered with thick cords [all over the priest’s court, right up] to the horns of the altar.

Colossians 2:16-17 Therefore let no one sit in judgment on you in matters of food and drink, or with regard to a feast day or a New Moon or a Sabbath.  ¹⁷Such [things] are only the shadow of things that are to come, and they have only a symbolic value. But the reality (the substance, the solid fact of what is foreshadowed, the body of it) belongs to Christ.

Luke 2:11 For to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, Who is Christ (the Messiah) the Lord!

Matthew 2:16 When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he became furious. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys two years old and younger in or near Bethlehem. This matched the exact time he had learned from the wise men.

Luke 2:8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

Written by Christian author, Pola Muzyka

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