The evil of Halloween

Every Bible Believer, if not everybody, ought to know this. We should not be partakers of such evil. This is deadly stuff. Please pay attention and read carefully, for this is the truth behind the evil of halloween:

A covenant with DEATH and HELL

Our God is a Consuming Fire

The inspiration behind this post comes from sitting in front of my fireplace on a rainy and cold Saturday. Watching the fire and its sparks got me thinking of Hebrews 12:29, For our God is a consuming fire.

I love that verse, our God is a consuming fire. He is so amazing that He consumes the hearts and the lives of those He touches. He first loved us; we did not love Him (1 John 4:10). He drew near to us; we did not draw near to Him. When we finally experience His touch and taste and come to realize that the Lord is good, we at last seek after Him. When we get hold of the depth of the cross of Calvary we experience the glorious joy of being filled with the Holy Spirit. Such is a heart set on fire for the living God, Jesus Christ.

To consume is to eat or drink-up; to use up, to spend; to devour; and to burn up. This is precisely what the Lord does to our soul when He reveals His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). God melts our hearts with His goodness, which causes us to see the error of our ways and brings us to repentance.

And yet, as beautiful and fascinating as fire may be, fire is also scary and can be deadly.

For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God. Deuteronomy 4:24

Understand therefore this day, that the LORD thy God is he which goeth over before thee; as a consuming fire he shall destroy them, and he shall bring them down before thy face. Deuteronomy 9:3

Just as the Lord gets a hold of the meek and feeble soul and fills Him with His might, the Lord will devour and do away with the haughty soul who does not come to repentance and chooses the path of sin.

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone. Revelation 21:8

Fortunatley for the believer, the two last verses of Hebrews 12 read as follow:

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: For our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:28-29

Those with godly fear receive Chirst’s salvation which was given to all men by grace (Ephesians 2:8) and rather than being consumed into everlasting fire shall be saved from such torment and will experience everlasting joy and peace with Jesus Christ their King.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. 1 Peter 1:3-4

I Need Thee Every Hour

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.

Refrain:
I need Thee, O I need Thee;
Every hour I need Thee;
O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

Refrain

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.

Refrain

I need Thee every hour; teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill.

Refrain

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son.

Refrain

Listen to the music here

The bondage of doubt

Doubting is a spiritual conflict, it is rebellion on our side. Our fight is to be a fight of faith. The moment we give in to doubts, our fight ceases, and our rebellion begins. Just like all sins, doubting is displeasing to the Lord. Doubting can become a bondage of which deliverance is only from Lord Jesus Christ. Only He can free us from the bondage of doubt!

If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed. John 8:36

Perhaps that bondage is due to a false conclusion that God has forsaken us and does not love us, and is indifferent to our welfare. We convince ourselves that we are too wicked for Him to care for us. We may not necessarily intend on blaming Him, or accusing Him of injustice, nevertheless, we are guilty of such for we have doubted His Word.

Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Matthew 6:30

Truth is, it’s is always sinful to indulge in doubts throughout our Christian life. Doubts and discouragements come from Satan and they are always untrue. Deliverance from such bondage must be by the same means as deliverance from any other sin. It is to be found in Christ and in Him alone. We must hand our doubting over to Him as we have learned to hand our other temptations. We must give it up to the Lord and pledge not to doubt any longer.

Like any other sin, the stronghold is in the will, and the will to doubt must be surrendered exactly as we surrender the will or purpose to yield to any other temptation. God always takes possession of a surrendered will. If we come to the point of saying that we will not doubt, and surrender our wills to Him, His Holy Spirit will begin at once to work in us and we will find ourselves kept from doubting by His overcoming power.

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

Doubting is a temptation from Satan. The moment the attack comes, we must lift up the shield of faith against him. We must hand the very first suggestion of doubt over to the Lord. We must refuse to entertain even the thought of doubt. When Satan tries to attack we can always remember Isaiah 59:19 "the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him," and our doubts will be put to rest.

We have to rely on His faithfulness, not on our own. After all, we have committed the keeping of our soul to Him and we should never again admit the possibility of His being unfaithful. We must believe He is faithful, not because we feel it, or see it, but because He says He is.

Faithful is he that calleth you, who also will do it.
1 Thessalonians 5:24

4 souls, and counting!

I can’t even describe just how amazing these past few weekends have been at church. Yesterday, for example, none of the usual Saturday tract passing people really “felt” like going to the metro. Nevertheless, the Lord placed it on all our hearts and four of us showed up for the tract passing. The metro was swarming with fishes! Four souls prayed and accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour. Humm…four people went tract passing….four souls got saved!!!

Today, after the morning service, many of us hit the streets of downtown Montreal for street preaching and further tract passing. Let me tell you, the WORD was HEARD!

Tomorrow night, we are heading down to the Welcome Hall Mission. The Welcome Hall is a Christian-based shelter for the homeless of Montreal. Our church has the privilege of ministering there once every four weeks. The night consists of hymn singing, one in English and one in French, followed by preaching (English and French, also) and the rest of the time by passing out tracts and speaking to those who are interested in the Lord Jesus. After two amazing days such as yesterday and today, I can hardly wait to witness some more souls saved!

~He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.

2 Corinthians 9:6

How to know you’ve got your Saviour on your mind

I have been working on accounts this past week, as it’s billing time at work. We always type “Personal and Confidential” on all envelops. This afternoon, I distractingly typed “Personal Saviour” and printed out my envelop…

Decision-Making and God

When it comes to decision-making, we often fail to consult the Lord Jesus Christ, or choose to consult Him last, whereas, we are taught otherwise by His Holy Book.

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the LORD, and depart from evil. Proverbs 3:5-8

We should know by now never to trust our own heart (Jer. 17:9) and should come to realize that understanding is given us by the Lord (Ps. 119.104). Bearing that in mind, Job 28:28 tells us that to depart form evil is understanding

Here, we see from Proverbs 3:5-8 that it is crucial to acknowledge the Lord in everything and in everyway. We want Him to be the one who directs our path. God doesn’t want us to make bad decisions; He already knows which way is best for us. He just wants to lead us in that right path.

Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word. Psalm 119:9

Let us heed to His word and seek His counsel. The Old Testament is full of examples of men who did not seek the Lord’s counsel, such as Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, who consulted the old men, and then the young men, only to have failed in consulting the Lord (2 Kings 12). We want to be wiser than that!

What role does God play in our decision-making?

Singing Hymns

~Sing praises to the LORD, which dwelleth in Zion: declare among the people his doings. Psalm 9:11

Last night was spent in blessed fellowship with my church’s young adults. We went to China town for supper, and yes, the food was great, but the fellowship was even greater.

After satisfying our bellies and paying our bills, we stepped out into the dark cold night and stood by a corner. We lifted up our voices in hymns, as a few others from our group passed out all the tracts we could scramble out of our pockets. We sung hymns such as “At Calvary”, “Nothing but the blood”, “I am resolved”, “We’re marching to Zion”, and so on, only to close the night with “I have decided to follow Jesus”.

We hadn’t planned none of this, it was done on the spare of the moment. I guess the Lord wanted a few people in China town to receive some tracts and hear the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I’m really thankful for my church family. It’s all a bunch of young people who want nothing to do with the world, but just want to serve the Lord!

Delighted

I love to meditate upon my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Just the very thought of Him gets me through my days. Only He gives me peace, strength and hope for tomorrow. When I feel “lousy” He reminds me that when I am weak, then I am strong (2Co 12:10).

Where else could I go but to King Jesus. His words soothe and comfort my soul. Each day, I realize more and more that He is my only source of true happiness. As I fixed my heart upon Him tonight, He reminded me of Psalm 37:4:

“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”

I thank Him for His standing promises. Of a truth, He has given me most desires of my heart, and I know of a certainty that He hath heard my requests. In due time, He will show forth all the riches He’d kept hidden for me, and I will praise Him and declare His goodness among the people.

Here’s another great verse:

~Psalm 145:15-16 The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

There’s nothing like the Word of Lord to comfort the soul!

Pastor's Pen

Each week in our church bulletin, there’s a section entitled “Pastor’s Pen”, which Pastor Larry publishes. I always enjoy reading what he’s got to say. Here’s this past Sunday’s entry which I thought might be helpful to us all, even the ladies!

The Servant of the Lord

2 Tim 2:24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, 2:25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; 2:26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.

Paul the Apostle is giving some instructions on how to be a servant of the Lord to Timothy, a young man he evidently led to the Lord Jesus (2 Tim. 1:2).

Instruction #1

Study by rightly dividing the word of truth, verse 15.

Instruction #2

Shun certain individuals who are named in verse 17. People who are profane (ungodly) and vain babblers that eat away our faith as a pest (canker) so as to overthrow the faith of others by teaching false things (the resurrection is past), verse 18.

Instruction #3

Stress the great truth in verse 20-21 which will explain how these profane babblers can say they are saved.

Instruction #4

Sanctify yourself (set apart), from youthful lusts by fleeing (run from), following after righteousness, having faith in the Lord of whom you are to SERVE.

Instruction #5

Strive not: This seems to be contradictive to our seeking to obtain the position we desire (servant of the Lord), but the truth is we must avoid (verse 23) foolish and unlearned questions that gender (give birth to) strives: To obtain anything we must strive for this lawfully (2 Tim 2:5).

Instruction #6

Save some sinners from the snare of the devil (verse 25-26)

Give ear young man, Do you desire to SERVE the LORD? Paul’s instructions to Timothy are how he says this is to be accomplished.

The young man who truly seeks to SERVE the LORD will not immediately know all heresies that overthrows the faith of some, but if, and I do emphasized IF, he will continue to study and avoid things he doesn’t understand (resurrection is past) the Lord will use him to save sinners from the snares of the devil and will show him personally the false teachings and how to bring those snared to them to freedom.

Canadian Turkey Day

Tomorrow is our Thanksgiving Day! Other than having the day off, I am very thankful to the Lord for numerous things.

I’m a born-again Bible believing Christian (Glory, I'm Saved!) and attend an excellent Bible believing church. All my family on my mother’s side is saved and walking uprightly with the Lord. My father might be saved (...), but I know for certain that my uncle and his oldest daughter are saved. After many years of separation with my brother, I finally have him back in my life. Not only so, but He is truly a man of God, and his testimony alone fires me up. My mother, what can I say, she’s as bold as a lion and is a woman after God’s own heart. All my family (mom’s and dad’s) loves me very much.

The Lord has won many battles for me. Just this past summer...WOAH! I faced my biggest fear by reuniting with my dad after 8 years, and since then, it has been a victory after another.

I have good health, I have a great job, I have a car and possessions far beyond my satisfaction. I love my church family and I love Pastor Larry. I love my Lord Jesus Christ with all my heart, with all my soul and with every fiber of my being.

Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Psalm 103:1

And this is only scratching the surface. My Heavenly Father has blessed me with so much more, and none of which could have been possible without the love He has bestowed upon me. I am forever grateful.

O LORD my God, I will give thanks unto thee for ever. Psalm 30:12

A rare gem

Far above rubies

Lunching in good company

One of my dear friends from church came downtown to my work to have lunch with me. This is a sweet and Godly young lady, whom, though I’ve known her for three years, seems that we are now becoming closer and closer. Lunching with her was nice and loads of fun.

I then brought her up to our firm to meet some of my co-workers. I really wanted her to meet my closest friends from work, Mitchelle and Virginia, which she did. I thought this might especially encourage Mitchelle to finally come to church, as she always promises, yet never does. I know that the Lord is working on Mitchelle, and I just have this strange feeling that all this girl needs to do is come to church to hear a strong salvation message by which she will then yield her life to Jesus Christ. May it be so, O Lord!

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12

The Armor of God

Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:13:17

Loins girt about with Truth

There is but one truth, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He is our salvation.

~I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

Breastplate of Righteousness

The breastplate covers the chest. A soldier with his breastplate on goes out boldly into battle and full of confidence. Once we put on the belt of truth, which is Jesus Christ, we fall immediately into battle. Our breastplate of righteousness allows us to stand before men and before the enemy. Clothed in righteousness, we can also stand without spot or wrinkle before the captain of our army, Jesus Christ.

~But and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled

Feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace

In battle, taking steps backwards is dangerous. This is usually caused when the seed of doubt is sown. When our feet are clothed with the gospel of peace, this seed quickly disintegrates, hence we can take steps forward. All fear is gone, and our hope is renewed.

~Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27

Shield of Faith

The shield moves with the attack. A skilled soldier will use the shield to hold back the darts of his adversary, no matter which direction they come from. As soon as this shield is down, the other weapons are exposed! Faith is the very essence of our Christian walk and we can’t afford to let go of it.

~For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

Helmet of Salvation

The next piece of the armor is a helmet; something to cover the head. It covers our mind, reasoning and thoughts. A soldier can survive a broken arm and /or a broken leg, but the chances of surviving a head-wound is minimal. We have seen how our loins are girt about with truth, Jesus Christ, but it is crucial to keep the Lord on our mind constantly, day by day, lest the enemy gets hold of our mind.

~For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. 2 Corinthians 4:16

Sword of the Spirit

This needs no further explanation than the verse itself (Eph. 6:17). The Sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.

God’s Word counters spiritual deceptions and accusation. This is the two-edged sword used for attack and for defense. Without the Word of God, we are not ready for battle, for what soldier in his right mind goes out to war without His sword?

~For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Hebrews 4:12

The armor of God brings victory for it is far more than just a mere protective covering. It is the very life of Jesus Christ Himself. That is why in Romans 13:14 we read “But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ”. We must be clothed in His righteousness alone. Clothed in Him, we can count on His victory, for He not only covers us as a shield, He also fills us His life. Jesus Christ assures us VICTORY.

~But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:57