Comment: Jesus repeated this over and over again to the church! He that overcometh I will give the crown of life! He that overcometh will escape the second death! What does the word really mean? Let us go to the Greek root word. The word is “Nikao”. The word means to subdue and conquer! To have success in victory! The Greek root word also has a root word! It is the word “Niki”. You got it! It is the athletic foot wear company named Nike! It means conquest! If you are in the body of Christ and believe you will never have a fight with the devil in this life you are in denial! You are in “La La” Land! This life in your generation just as in all preceding generations is a battle between good and evil! You can try to ignore it but it will not go away! You can wish it away? You can try to isolate it away? You can try to spend it away? However you have to join a team and play! Your team can win but you must fight the good fight of faith and face your enemy! Jesus has given you the tools to overcome! To win the victory! His Word! His Spirit! His power! His love! We conquer in Christ’s name! Satan was conquered on the Cross! However in his stupidity he thinks he can still win! He will try to take as many down as he can in defeat! This week a young man went on a mission trip to a remote island where a remote tribe lived! He was martyred! Others will follow to take the Gospel to the ends of the earth! This missionary gave his all to take the Gospel into all the world! If I live my life sheltered, protected, financially secure, and die of old age in this condition I have wasted my life for nothing! The church of Jesus Christ is a conquering army! It is an offensive army! We have real sacrifices and we take some casualties in this war against evil! But we win and will eat of the Tree of Life forever! Remember you are using the blood of a martyr to conquer! The blood of God shed on a Cross for you! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Tag: island
Read! Hear! Speak! Revelation 1:3
Blessed is he possessing the character of God expressed as a believer in Christ who is well spoken of and is fully satisfied regardless of the circumstances. God’s Kingdom is in your heart. These blessings come when you read and hear the word of this prophecy. The prophecy of telling God’s word where His grace and empowerment are to be exercised in the church. You are to keep those things which are written therein: For the time or season of opportunity is given for these events to take place. Comment: The word Blessed used here could not be better expressed than in the life of the Apostle John! Regardless of circumstances! A lot of 21st Century preaching today says you are blessed only if your circumstances of money, wealth and health reflect it! John was boiled in a pot of oil! When that did not kill him the Roman Emperor had John exiled to a slave labor camp on the remote Greek island of Patmos working in a stone quarry! The 21st Century Christian would have trouble understanding his blessings? Lord if you just help me win the lottery I will serve you! The word Blessed has nothing to do with your external circumstances but everything to do with your internal condition! Your soul. It is all about Christ living and dwelling in you! His presence comes through reading his word and hearing his word and then speaking His word to others! Evangelism! The word time used in this scripture passage is not the word chronology and does not mean a succession of time! The Greek word for time, used here, Strongs #2540, means a season of opportunity for events to take place. You might call it grace! Your season and my season of opportunity will only come by once in your life! Use your opportunity today and the rest of your life to read, hear and speak His Word! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
How Did The Apostle John Decrease? John 3:30
John was arrested in Ephesus when his enemies threw him into a pot of boiling oil. However John was miraculously delivered from death! The authorities then sentenced him to a slave labor camp in the marble mines of Patmos! On this island on the Aegean Sea John under impossible odds had a vision of Jesus Christ and wrote the Prophetic Book of Revelation! John years later was freed due to his old age and returned to Ephesus in now modern day Turkey. He died an old man sometime after 98 A.D. He was the only Apostle to die peacefully! Comment: If we will decrease Jesus will increase! Most 21st Century Christians think of decreasing as missing a meal now and then or even a whole day! When you find yourself in a pot of boiling oil up to your neck you could easily think I am having a bad day! Especially when the local natives are cutting up vegetables and putting them in your pot! To be sentenced to a slave labor camp on a remote island under Roman guards in a stone quarry might cause you to think you are having another bad day? John probably said all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose! James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com
Hear It and Practice It ! Matthew 7:24-27
Here Jesus gives the final benediction. Jesus demands and compels us to take the narrow gate, produce the right fruit and make the right choice! He required of us that we build on the right foundation. We are to examine ourselves and practice Holiness. Jesus repeats these requirements a second time because they are so important. Jesus was talking to believers not non-believers. The rain, wind and storms will come to us all. Good and bad days are ahead. The wise build on the rock and the foolish on the sand. If we build on the right foundation we will thrive through the storm. We have great days ahead! We can feel His Blessings! The disciples were passionate. They did great things! There were glorious days and there was also trouble. Eleven of His disciples were martyred! One was imprisoned on a remote island in a cave. John 16:33 — Peace and Tribulation? Jesus has come to give us peace. The world gives us trouble. Jesus has overcome the world! Stay strong and keep the Faith. Nothing shall shake you! The place of stability in Christ leaves no terror. The unstable world leaves us with fear. Love and fear are opposites. How do we practice words? We practice them by doing them. Action! Breath in His Holy Spirit. Get saturated with the Gospel! Breath out and go do His Word. Are you receiving but not giving? Gandhi said,” I like your Christ but not His followers! ” Christ’s followers cannot save Gandhi but Christ could! James 1:27– Pure religion is to take care of widows and orphans. Also keep your heart pure. Find some widows and orphans! Get busy. Do! Act! Along life’s path do His Word. Do you have a vision? That vision will deceive you if you are not doing His Word! A medical doctor is useless unless he is practicing his knowledge! Luke 8:15– There are four types of soil. The seed is the word. Good soil is a pure heart. Hear His word and do something about it. Hear it, retain it, talk about it and do it. Cares of the world will choke the word. Know the will of God and cooperate and do it. Good work does not earn our salvation. But the good works help to mature us. Put your hands and feet to His Word. The Bible is a living, breathing document. The Holy Spirit puts boots on the ground through you! Live out your revelation. Matthew 7:28– Jesus taught as one having authority. It is not about Plan A or Plan B. Make disciples teaching them to obey me! Christ will be with you always even to the end of the ages. Have a secure place and build on the right foundation. What are you building your life on? What and who is shaping and forming your life right now today? Source: Pastor Brady Boyd, New Life Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado. Message given Sunday, September 15, 2013. Thankyou. James and Hamsa Sasse. GodWhoisGod.com