My Notes

Prayer There are many aspects of prayers. This is in context of questions being asked "if God answers all prayers then why all this trouble?" Are there unanswered prayer in the Bible? Verse: Matthew 12:38-40 38 One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” 39 But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.  40 For as Jonah was in the belly of the great fish for three days and three nights, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights. Here is one prayer that was made to Jesus and Jesus flat out denied the request. He then goes talk of Jonah and the Queen of Sheba Jonah Jonah did very little talking in his prayer time. He often wanted to hear from God. And God spoke to him and it was not what he expected. What happens when we...

Salt of the World Verse: Matthew 5:13 13 “You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless. The Christians are the salt of the world. Salt is a very important ingredient to most food we eat. And when used in the right proportion, it makes a world of difference Salt Characteristics We are going to look at some of the characteristics of Salt and connect it to the spiritual significance and how this influences the community around us Salt as a Neutralizer Salt is Sodium Chloride. Sodium and Chlorine by itself is harmful for life. But when it is brought together, it goes beyond being harmless.  Our human nature is evil. But the word of God neutralizes the harmful nature. People in our community see this difference and will be drawn to us and eventually see God.  Salt adds flavor Salt of added for flavor. The flavor signifies purpose. Hence we can become purpos...

Networking for Good Works Introduction We are focusing on the theme of the year - Networking for Good works. There are two aspects in this vision  Networking  Good works Why is networking important? This is because people are more effective when they connect with each other. So this is important to reach the goal of Good Works.  One Body - Church So what is the level of Networking we should achieve? Verse: 1 Corinthians 12:14, 18, 20, 25 14 For the body is not one part, but many.  18 But now God has arranged the parts, each one of them in the body, just as He desired.  20 But now there are many parts, but one body. 25 so that there may be no [s]division in the body, but that the parts may have the same care for one another. The comparison is made between the body and the church. The body has all the members are involved for the right function of the purpose of life. So it is with the church.  In our observation there are various level of engagement Att...

Double Portion Introduction Here are some verses where the Bible mentions a double measure of what God is intending to give. The double portion comes to us as a result of position, situation, actions, prayer.... etc Verse: Deuteronomy 21:17 17 He must acknowledge the son of his unloved wife as the firstborn by giving him a double share of all he has. That son is the first sign of his father’s strength. The right of the firstborn belongs to him. NOTE: This was the right of the first born son. This is an entitlement because of the position. Do you understand your position in Christ Jesus? Verse: 1 Samuel 1:5 5 But to Hannah he gave a double portion because he loved her, and the Lord had closed her womb. NOTE: The husband gave double portion to his wife. This is an entitlement because of intense love. Do you understand God's love for you? Verse: Isaiah 61:7 7 Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion , and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And s...

You are worthy!!! When God made the earth, the most beautiful of his creation was Man. We as Christians know that Man is the highest of His creation. But often we feel unworthy. And the reason for this unworthiness is sin.  The different ways the world handles this situation, is to substitute the description of our condition with pleasing words. We call sin as 'way of life', 'preferences', 'your truth'. Perhaps this makes us feel good for a while. But your true worthiness comes only when sin is removed. That can happen only through Jesus. This masking of our actual condition is 'lies'. See how Jesus addresses lies as it should be.  Verse: John 8:44 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. So let us listen t...

Watchmen Verse: Ezekiel 22:30 30 “I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one. We enjoy God's gift of salvation because of Jesus died on the cross for us. Jesus stood in the gap and stopped the wrath of God. As Christians God is expecting us to stand in the gap and point people to Jesus to stop God's wrath. God is looking out for an interceding people Verse: Isaiah 6:8 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” Isaiah responded to this call. There are several people who responded to the call.  Abraham for Lot (and Sodom and Gomorrah) Moses for the people of Israel  Daniel for people in exile Let our names also figure in the list of people who will intercede. The land and the people around us will be blessed. How do we intercede? Since intercession is a spiritual battle, our co...

A New Thing! Verse: Isaiah 43:18-19 18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 19 See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. In our looking back, we may have made mistakes. And God is reminding us that we need to let go of it. God is doing something new. God is asking us, ' ... do you not perceive it?'. Are you sensitive to what God is doing? Are you ready for what God has for us? Verse: Psalm 1:1-3 1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, 2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord , and who meditates on his law day and night. 3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water , which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither — whatever they do prospers . Here is picture of the new thing that God is doing in our lives. .... 'like a tree planted by st...

Deuteronomy Study Methodology: Verse by Verse Verse: Acts 20:18-20 18 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia.  19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents.  20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house.   Paul was diligent in teaching the word so much so that he taught the Word from house to house. And this is the approach he would have taken in teaching the Word.... he would have taught the Word verse by verse as he went from house to house. So this is an encouragement to study the Word, verse by verse. And Jesus used one verse at a time, to thwart the Devil's temptation during the 40 day fast. Why Study Deuteronomy? And in our Study, we will go through the book of Deuteronomy as detailed as possi...

Birkat Kohanim (Priestly Blessing) The priesting blessing verse is the verse spoken over us for the new year. The blessing is threefold. See explanation in the verse below (underlined within the verse) Verse: Numbers 6:24-26 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; That is the reassure, protect and support. "If you need help, come to me. I won't hold it against you" 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; God's Word promises you in his blessing, as the Son smiles at you with forgiveness and delight 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. The peace of God in the priestly blessing embraces even more aspects of life. It includes good health, security, inner harmony, wellness Additional information The priest puts his hand together in a formation. This formation is similar to the letter 'shin' in Hebrew. The appearance of the alphabet is similar to the English alphabet 'w'. The letter shin stands for Shaddai which is the ...

Network for Good Works  The verse of blessing for the year Verse: Numbers 6:24-26 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. Here is a beautiful promise for this year. God wants to bless you. There is a purpose in all His blessing. And His purpose are 'God sized'. And this means that get ready for something great. And here is the direction of the church - Network for Good Works We can do a lot of good works. But this year, we can bring a synergy to our efforts. And synergy brings about a multiplication that we will be amazed at the results that we reap. In regard to this thought, we will study * Healing of the Paralytic Man * Disciple Networking * Issac's obedience Healing of the Paralytic Man Verse: Mark 2:1-5 1 A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.  2 They gathered in such large numbers that there was no r...

Promise of the year 2021 Here are thoughts to ponder on for the Year 2020 Year 2021 Theme of the New Year Year 2020 We made it through the last year in spite of the Pandemic.... being hard pressed, persecuted, in despair. And we made it though only because of the treasure inside of us - JESUS. We end the last year thanking God for his protection. And every experience of ours is to reflect that treasure to the world outside. Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:7-8 7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.  8 We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair;  9 persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.  10 We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body.   Year 2021 Verse: Numbers 6:24-26 24 The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 the Lo...

Networking for Good Work + Promise Verse Verse: Mark 2:12 12 He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all. This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, “ We have never seen anything like this !” The year 2021 will be a year where we will witness things that we have never seen before. The people will be amazed by the works of your God in your life. Get ready to understand the way of the Lord to be this witness.  What is the way of the Lord? The way of the Lord will tell us what God likes and does not like. And if you don't know, we must put our effort to learn the ways of the Lord. And the Lord will be more than willing to teach you. Please see verse below Verse: Psalm 32:8 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you. Here are some pointers on the walking in ways of Lord Signs and wonders God will work through you Doors of Faith Godly desires Covenant  Signs and wonders Verse: Mark 16:20 20 ...