(by pastor Norman)
The prophet Isaiah quotes the Lord as saying, “No weapon formed against you shall prosper” (Isa 54:17a; NKJV). That is God’s protection. In Psalm 91 we read a lot about God’s protection. God is our refuge and fortress (verse 2), our shield (verse 4) and He covers us with His feathers (verse 4). Isaiah also wrote that others may fall beside us under the evil attacks of satan but God and His angels will protect us (verses 7-11, John 10:10a). Elsewhere in Psalms we read that God is our hiding place and preserves us from trouble (Psalm 32:7). God is also described as our strong tower (Ps 18:10), our rock and stronghold (2 Sam 22:3,4). Are you getting the picture? The apostle Paul wrote, “Yes, and the Lord will deliver me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. All glory to God for ever and ever. Amen” (2 Tim 4:18; NLT). God guards us from all the attacks of satan and satan cannot touch us (1 John 5:18b). With God on our side, we don’t need to fear, people cannot hurt us (Ps 118:6) and no one can snatch us out of His hand (John 10:28). I love Psalm 121, we are assured that, “The Lord keeps watch over us as we come and go, both now and forever” (Ps 121:8; NLT) and that, “He who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps” (Ps 121:4; NLT). God has us protected no matter where we are or what time it is. “I will both lie down in peace and sleep; For You alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Ps 4:8; NJKV). God’s protection is ours, but we need to have revelation of this promise and receive it by faith.
(by pastor Norman)
“The Lord is very compassionate and merciful” (James 5:11b; NKJV). The word compassionate here has the sense of tender mercy, love and affection, a very deep love, compassion, pity and sympathy. When Jesus saw the crowds that came to Him, He was “Moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd “(Matt 9:36; NKJV). His compassion moved Him to heal the sick (Matt 14:14), feed the 5,000 (Matt 14:13-21) and raise the widow of Nain’s only son from the dead (Luke 7:13). Jesus in His teaching, gave us powerful accounts of compassion. The prodigal son asked his father for his share of his inheritance. The son went away and wasted everything. He returned humbly to his father who greeted him with compassion and celebration, overjoyed to receive his son home alive (Luke 15:11-31). A man on a journey from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by thieves and left badly wounded (Luke 10: 30-37). A priest and a Levite saw the man lying there but simply walked away. A Samaritan stopped, had compassion and cared for the wounded traveler. Samaritans were descendants of Jews who had intermarried with Gentiles. Jesus tells us, “You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate” (Luke 6:36; NLT). In the apostle Paul’s epistle to the Colossians, he tells us to, “Clothe yourselves with compassion” (Col 3:12; NIV). Let’s follow God’s word and have compassion on those around us.
(by pastor Jean)
February 14th is the big day that the world celebrates love! However, as Christians we get to celebrate it every day! If you are born again you are born of love because God is love (1 John 4:7,8), love is part of our recreated spirits. “God is love, whoever lives in love lives in God and God in Him” (1 John 4:16). As this love grows and develops in our lives it becomes the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22). It was love that led Jesus to heal the sick and perform all the miracles that He did. That same “love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit” (Rom 5:5; NKJV). Jesus told us in John 15:9 that we are to abide in His love. To abide means to stay, dwell or remain. Jesus wants us to remain in His love because He wants us to not only love Him but also share this love with others (John 13:34, Matt 27:40, James 2:8). God commanded us to love but love is a decision that we have to make. It's not always easy but the word helps us with this. 1 Corinthians 13 verses 4-8 gives us specifics on what love looks like. If we meditate on all the love passages in the Bible, God’s love will become a part of us and it will become easier to put it into practice. Faith cannot work without love so when we get out of love our faith is affected (Gal 5:6, Mark 11:25). If we remain in love as Jesus commanded it will be easier to stay in faith and therefore, we can be victorious, “So now abide faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor 13:13; MEV).
(by pastor Norman)
In the beginning Adam and Eve were deceived by the devil into disobeying God by eating an apple from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen 2:17; 3:1-17). This brought sin (Rom 5:12), spiritual death (Eph 2:1; Col 2:13) and separation from God on all mankind (1 John 1:6-7). In Old Testament times yearly animal sacrifices were made for the forgiveness of sins by God’s people Israel (Lev 16). Christ died on a cross as a sacrifice to deal with sin (Heb 9:26), a perfect sacrifice to wash our minds from sinful ways (Heb 9:14). This opened the way for God’s forgiveness, salvation and restored fellowship with God (Rom 10:9-10; AMP; 1 John 1:7-9). Jesus by His sacrifice, His death and resurrection, defeated satan and stripped him of all power and authority. “Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it” (Col 2:15; NKJV). “For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3:8; NKJV; see also Heb 2:14). We must believe that Christ won victory for us (1 Cor 15:57). Satan will try to bring sin into our lives and attack us using people, situations and circumstances; however, Jesus brings us victory over all tribulations (John 16:33). If we have Christ in our lives, we are more than conquerors (1 John 5:4; Rom 8:37), God leads us in triumph (2 Cor 2:14) and we have authority over the works of satan (Luke 10:19). We walk in Christ’s victory by using our faith (1 John 5:4b).