New Life For The Nations

The Power of Forgiveness    

The same Jesus who forgave the woman caught in adultery, the thief on the cross, Peter for denying Him and those who beat Him and drove nails through His hands and feet is still the same Jesus today (Hebrews 13:8).

As the body of Christ, we should show the same compassion and mercy to those caught in similar situations as Jesus did.  Forgiveness isn’t condoning sin; it opens a door for the heart to receive mercy. God uses mercy to purge the heart of sin (Proverbs 16:6).  A person’s ability to forgive comes from knowing and believing how God has forgiven him/her.  You cannot give to others what you do not possess yourself.  You cannot lead others where you have not gone. 

                                         Ed Elliot

     WHAT IS THE HARDEST PART?

Sometimes the hardest part about “walking in love,” is believing God loves and forgives us unconditionally.  Until that truth is established in your heart, walking in love will be an impossible way of life. Believing God’s love for you is the exact same as it is for His Son Jesus, is not that easy, but it is an undeniable fact.

“I in them and you in me–so that they may be brought to complete unity.  Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me”  (John 17:23).

“What shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  As it is written:  “For your sake we face death all day long;  we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord,”

(Romans 8:35-38).        Ed Elliot        

You are Priceless in God’s Eyes!

The Bible teaches all people are unworthy but that does not mean we are “worthless.”  God paid a great price to redeem mankind.  The value of something is always determined by the price one is willing to pay.

We use the term, “priceless” today to illustrate no amount of money on the earth could buy or purchase what one considers “priceless.”  All the gold, diamonds, and wealth of the earth could not purchase man’s redemption.  It took something of far greater value to pay the price.  All the gold, precious stones and the pearly gates in heaven could not pay what was required.  It required something of far greater value, so God sent the most valuable and precious gift He had to pay the price for man’s salvation:  His dear Son, Jesus.  Therefore, in God’s eyes, we are “priceless.”

Nothing on earth could purchase us, but the value God saw in His Son is the value He sees in us.  “For you are bought with a great price.  Glorify and bear God in your body” (I Corinthians 6:20).    

How do you see yourself?

“For as he thinks in his heart, so is he,”  Proverbs 23:7.

The Bible says, “As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”  This means that how you see yourself determines your physical health.  So how do you see yourself in the midst of your symptoms, or after hearing your doctor’s negative report?   

Beloved, the truth is that through Jesus’ finished work at the cross, you are completely righteous and completely redeemed from every curse of sickness (Galatians 3:13).  You are God’s beloved child for whom Jesus did a complete work to save, heal, and deliver.

So don’t see yourself as the sick trying to get healed.  You are the healed, righteous  and beloved child of God facing some symptoms.  Be of good cheer!  There is no disease or condition that is greater than the perfect, finished work Jesus has accomplished for you.  Declare that you’ve been made in Christ and see your body manifest this truth! 

Joseph Prince                 

God has not lost track of you!!

Isaiah 40:31   Message Bible

 Why would you ever complain, O Jacob, or, whine, Israel, saying, “God has lost track of me.  He doesn’t care what happens to me”? Don’t you know anything?  Haven’t you been listening?  God doesn’t come and go.  God lasts.  He’s Creator of all you can see or imagine.  He doesn’t get tired out, doesn’t pause to catch his breath.  And he knows everything, inside and out.  He energizes those who get tired, and gives fresh strength to dropouts.  For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall.  But those who wait upon God get fresh strength.  They spread their wings and soar like eagles.  They run and don’t get tired, they walk and don’t lag behind.

How to Judge Spirituality   Kenneth Hagin

“One Sunday morning during the summer of 1943, I was preaching at a church in north-central Texas.  My text was Colossians 2:9,10, where it says ‘ye are complete in him,’ and my title was “What is Spirituality?”  I have never been brave enough to use that text again.

I asked the question: Where would you go to look for a spiritual person?

Some thought of people in our church who were quick to jump, quick to dance, quick to shout, and they said, “they’re spiritual.”  I told the congregation, “That’s not spirituality.  You can’t judge spirituality by that.”

Somebody else said, “So-and-so is always talking in tongues and is always giving messages in tongues, so he’s really spiritual.”  I said, “No, no.  You can’t judge spirituality by that, because God will use any kind of vessel He can.  I read where He talked through a donkey one time.  That doesn’t mean that the donkey was spiritual.

“No,” I said, “I know that spiritual people do go to church, but I wouldn’t even go to church if I were looking for a spiritual person.  You know the first place I’d go?”  They all said, “No.”

I said, “ I’d go to a person’s home.”    You see, when it comes to religious things, people are two faced.  They’ve got one face they wear on Sunday, and another face they wear another day.  I’ve seen them as pastors.  I’ve knocked on their doors and heard them whisper, “ Put that UP!  Put that  UP!  Put that UP!”  There was something they didn’t want me to see.  And you never heard such scurrying around.  I thought they were never going to open the door.  

“No,” I told that congregation, “I’d just like to become the invisible man; walk through the door, and look and listen.”  And I said, “People who are spiritual–people who have really got something–live right at home.  And if you don’t live right at home, you haven’t got anything!”

The Story of Two Babies in a Womb

In  a mother’s womb were two babies.  One asked the other:

“Do you believe in life after delivery?”  The other replied, “Why, of course.  There has to be something after delivery.  Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”

“Nonsense!” said the first.  “There is no life after delivery.  What kind of life would that be?”  The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here.  Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths.  Maybe we will have other senses we can’t understand now.”

The first replied,  “That’s absurd.  Walking is impossible.  And eating with our mouths?  Ridiculous!  The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need.  But the umbilical cord is so short.  Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”

The second insisted,  “Well, I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here.  Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”

The first replied, “Nonsense.  And moreover, if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there?  Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion.  It takes us nowhere.”

“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “But certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”  The first replied, “Mother?  You actually believe in Mother?  That’s laughable.  If Mother exists then where is She now?”

The second said, “She is all around us.  We are surrounded by her.  We are of Her.  It is in Her that we live.  Without Her this world would not and could not exist.”

Said the first, “Well, I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”

To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and you really listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”  I believe there is a reality after delivery and we’re here to prepare ourselves for that  reality.                                              (Matthew Warner)

Why it is important to never give up on God’s goodness!             Ed Elliot

“I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for and confidently expect the Lord;  Be strong and let your heart take courage;  Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord”  (Psalm 27:13-14, AMP).

The Psalmist makes a powerful point that if he had given up on trusting in God’s goodness towards him, he would have given up.  Knowing God and the fact He is a good God helps us no matter what we are facing in life to hold on to Him and His ways because we can be assured to see His goodness manifest in our lives.  

You never need to give up on yourself or life as long as God is a good God, and He tells us He will never change.  

“I the LORD do not change.”  Malachi 3:6

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

If You Know Jesus, You Can’t Hide It!                      
Notice how the public viewed the disciples after the resurrection. “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus” (Acts 4:13).                                                                   
People who know Jesus are bold and courageous. It has nothing to do with their education or lack of it. It has nothing to do with their family, ethnicity, or the country they were raised in. People who know Jesus are easily identified by their faith in Him, which enables them to be bold and courageous when the world is fearful and timid. There is something about knowing “intimacy” with Jesus that you just can’t hide.  Intimacy with Jesus changes our characters and gives us the boldness of a lion. People take notice when a person has been intimate with the Lord; it is something one cannot hide.                                   
“But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him [believing and relying on Him], not having any righteousness of my own derived from [my obedience to] the Law and its rituals, but [possessing] that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did]; so that I may attain to the resurrection [that will raise me] from the dead.” Philippians 3:8-11  Ed Elliot