WHENCE IS THIS KINGDOM?

Today I gave thought again to what heaven might be like. Of course my comprehension of what heaven is can never come anywhere close to even a stroke of the real picture! But what I found most comforting was the fact that all the people over there who are forever dwelling in HIS presence must be so blessed to constantly bless HIS name as they shower praises upon HIM. Once I thought it might be very boring in Heaven if all there was to it was endless praise of God! But I can tell you dearly, there comes a point in the life of a pilgrim when all you just feel is an insatiable desire to praise HIS name endlessly. That’s where I am at now. And for a moment there, I was a trifle jealous of the people already up there, who are blessed to dwell in HIS house, forever praising HIS name. I later made a mental note, “I gotta make heaven, I gotta!!”

In our previous post here, I mentioned that we would tackle the issue of where/when is/comes the kingdom of God. I picked this out of Matthew’s gospel: “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” Matthew 13:24-30

{side note: Isn’t it amazing folk, how sometimes God’s words seems like such an open letter to us; without any break in continuity too, pre-empting our next questions and just….words fail me!! See the next paragraph}

Reading on through the verses 36-43 of the same chapter: Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear.

The Parable of the Weeds tells us that, like the farmer who sowed good seed, Jesus has brought God's kingdom into the world. However, it will not be totally fulfilled in this age. Like wheat growing among weeds, God's kingdom will exist and grow amidst the forces of evil that are so prevalent in our world. We should not look for ease or perfection in this life. Those who belong to the kingdom and serve God will continue to live among those who (knowingly or unknowingly) serve the powers of evil. In the end, though, if we are able to cling to our faith despite all the surrounding evil, we will be freed from the evil of the world and live in perfect harmony with God. The ultimate fate however, of those who serve the forces of evil in the other kingdom (the one that’s not of God), whether by design or neglect, shall be very grim to say the least. Simultaneosuly, the Kingdom of God is a future realm into which we must enter when Christ returns. Our Lord Himself frequently referred to this future event. "And I say unto you, That many shall come from the east and west and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 8:11). This future coming of the Kingdom will be attended with great glory. Jesus told of the day when the angels "…and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity; Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father…" (Matt. 13: 41,43).

Being born again and entering the kingdom of God is a process of gradually coming to obey God's commandments instead of a "sin now, pray later" attitude. It is learning to truly obey Jesus' great commandment to "Love God with all your heart and soul and to love your neighbour as you love yourself." It is listening to our consciences and spending time in prayer to ask for guidance and wisdom. It is feeling secure that God will give us the strength to face whatever challenges come our way and will take care of us in the end.

Dear friends, the Kingdom of God is a present reality (Matt. 12:28), and yet is still also a future blessing (I Cor. 15:50). It is an inner spiritual redemptive blessing (Rom. 14:17) which can be experienced only by way of the new birth (John 3:3), and yet it will have to do with the government of the nations of the world (Rev. 11:15). The Kingdom is a realm into which men enter now (Matt. 21:31), and yet it is still also a realm into which men will enter tomorrow (Matt. 8:11). It is at the same time a gift of God which will be bestowed by God in the future (Luke 12:32) and yet which must be received in the present (Mark 10:15). Obviously no simple explanation can do justice to such a rich but diverse a variety of teaching. God bless you all. I hope I can meet you all in heaven. Be sure to be there!

Not a means to an end, but an end in itself

I want to thank you all that took your time out to pray for my friends and their families, when Shiran sent the call out to pray here in our previous entry. And I feel that I should update you too on how efficacious your and our combined prayers have been – it’s our best weapon against the wiles of the evil one - since we all started out when the call to, was sounded. We can safely say that my three friends mentioned here who survived that tragedy are now ‘out of the woods’ idiomatically speaking. And we thank and glorify God for that! And day by day they are all progressing towards absolute normalcy. I bring you news of their gratitude to you for all of your prayers!!! And just so you know too, our prayer line here is also open to you reading this. Click here.

In the previous post here last week, Shiran shared with us about how the Kingdom of God is like a hidden treasure and many of us are constantly going about our daily business but missing the very treasure buried under our noses, treasure that if one knew it’s true value, they would sell all that they had and return to partake of. The analogy that Jesus used in that parable could never have been put better. And why He dwelt on that subject (of the Kingdom of God, even of giving countless analogies of the Kingdom of God), I have oft heard people give varied reasons. Some go ahead to say that this message of the Kingdom of God was ensconced in Christ’s message of Love, the love for your God and neighbour. Truth be told, Jesus Christ taught about love. But love was not the core of His proclamation. And true to that, Jesus’ preaching about love didn't get Him crucified. In retrospect, neither the Romans nor the Jewish authorities at the time would have been particularly bothered by a “Jewish prophet” who ran around telling people to love God and people. Quite a few Jews would have been distressed over the thought of having to love their enemies, however. But the Romans – who were the obvious enemies - wouldn't have crucified someone whose chief crime was telling Jews to love them and turn the other cheek! The core of Jesus' message must have been (actually, was) a more contentious, more scandalous one, than a call to simply love. It is conceptually common for people to reduce the message of Jesus to something all too simple and if we can say, all too similar to the biases of whosoever may be doing the reducing. You'll see this in many of the contemporary "scholarly" attempts to summarize the message of Jesus. Whatever Jesus preached, it got people excited. Even the demons were riled up. And Jesus' message angered most of the religious leaders whom he encountered. In the end, it got him killed on a Roman cross. But thanks be unto God “they did not know what they were doing” and behold…the resurrection of the Christ! So what exactly was this inspiring, challenging, goading, and apparently subversive message of Jesus all about?

It was, ladies and gentlemen, like we have been sharing with you: the message of the kingdom of God. A message that riled the powers that were at the time -because it posed a threat to their egotistical way of life. One thing that is distinctive about kingdoms is their demeanour. It always reflects on the citizens of the kingdom, the subjects of the king –in all manner; of dress, talk, lifestyle, etc.. When Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God, this was no exception to that rule. The Kingdom comes complete with its own lifestyle, a reflection of the King’s choice of life upon His subjects. And of course to conform to that, one must be a subject/citizen of the Kingdom. The world over, we have seen miracles; physical, spiritual and any other as there may be, messages of prosperity, devil trashing, etcetera… preached and still being preached. Where we get this all wrong in my simple (and humble) opinion is accepting that all of these are actually ends in themselves. Nay, they are only means to an end, which is the kingdom of God. Al of the afore-mentioned things are simply the status quo of the kingdom reflecting upon the subjects, things of which we shouldn’t be much excited but should praise God for nonetheless. For it is the same Jesus who says, “greater works shall ye do (when you have faith even as small as a mustard seed)” and also in Matt. 6: 33, that: “…seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you”. “All these things…added unto to you” are actually to me like that kiswhahili term, “nyongeza”. Meaning there is something bigger, which is the Kingdom of God in which one is really. Not to downplay the significance of the things added unto one, but really, I think we first must rejoice over being in the Kingdom of God, for those who are, and for those who aren’t to quit tarrying and rush over! For preaching this news of the kingdom, was really the mission of Jesus on this earth. There is the one saying that goes, “we are what defines us”. If I were sent to Iraq (and God bless all the people of Iraq) to give a live report of what is going on over there and I went over and did a live stream with people shouting in the background et al, to the watcher, that might be interpreted as there are people living, there are people that are angry, or whatever else. In the day of Jesus, John the Baptist, when at the threshold of a breaking point (and glory to God that he persevered!), seeing as he wasn’t being delivered from his prison hole by the “messiah”, doubted whether Jesus was really the “promised one”and asked his disciples to go question Jesus about this. On getting there, these men from John spent the whole day with Jesus in his trademark workshops-of-sorts. At the end of which they popped the big question to him, “Are you the “promised one” and He replied (Oh, how so beautifully!!), “the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the dead are raised to life, demons cast out”, “Go tell John what you have seen”. I am sure when those men went back to John, it must have clicked with him too. The “yongeza” of the Kingdom of God. An even-greater testament to the fact that they had with tehm already the bigger thing!!!!

Let’s just examine two or three of the signs and wonders that accompanied this message of the kingdom of God:

1. Healings: Throughout the gospels Jesus healed people of various diseases and ailments. His extraordinary popularity came, not only from the authority of his preaching, but from his authority over human bodies. Yet healing was not an end in and of itself for those familiar with the Hebrew prophets. It was also a sign of the presence of God's reign on earth. In Isaiah 35, for example, God comes to save and redeem his people. In this context we find the following promise: "Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped; then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing:" Isa 35:5-6. The fact that these things were happening in the ministry of Jesus proved the presence of the Kingdom. And relating once again to the John the Baptist prison experience, Jesus himself said this when he was asked by the disciples of John the Baptist whether he (Jesus) was the one through whom the kingdom was coming. Jesus said, "Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see: The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them" Matt 11:4-5. In other words, "Because the healings promised in Isaiah are happening in my ministry, yes, I am the one through whom God's kingdom has come."

2. Exorcisms: One of the most peculiar aspects of the gospels for most readers is Jesus' repeated expulsion of demons. Most of us simply aren't familiar or comfortable with such things, unlike so many contemporary believers in the power that is present in the Word. But, whether we like it or not, exorcisms were and are central to the ministry of Jesus, and, according to Jesus himself, clear evidence of the presence of the kingdom. In Matthew 12, for example, some of the Pharisees accuse Jesus of casting out demons with demonic power. He answers them, first by citing the now classic line about a house divided against itself being certain to fall. Matt 12:25. Then he adds, "But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out devils, then the kingdom of God is come unto you" Matt 12:28. Whatever we might think of Jesus' exorcisms, for him and his fellow first-century Jews they are a demonstration of the presence of God's reign.

3. Nature Miracles: According to the gospels, Jesus multiplies food, walks on water, and stills the storm. Once again, these mighty works are associated with God's kingdom. In Psalm 89, for example, the Lord says, "I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to my servant David: “Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations.” Ps 89:3-4. Then, only four verses later the Psalm continues, “O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong Lord like unto thee? Or to thy faithfulness round about thee? Thou rulest the raging of the sea; when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them” Ps 89:8-9. So Jesus' power over nature suggests that God's promised kingdom has arrived and, indeed, that God himself is mysteriously present in the ministry of Jesus.


I recognize that for many people today the miracles of Jesus are harder to accept than simple fables. In some circles and even among a few New Testament believers, the miracles of Jesus are not considered as historical events so much as symbolic legends. Yet if you take away the miracles from the message of Jesus, you severely truncate his announcement of the kingdom and, at the same time, you are left with a Jesus whom most people would have ignored. Yet even many sceptical modern scholars, at least believe that Jesus must have been a "healer" of sorts, one who used psychosomatic cures and the power of suggestion to help people feel better. I shall mount a defense for the genuineness of the miracles in the gospels at another time but for now, whether one believe that the miracles happened or not, they are clearly essential to the picture of Jesus painted by the writers of the gospel. The mighty works of Jesus, more than showing his love for people, are part and parcel of his announcement of the reign of God. Take away these works and there's no reason to believe his words.

Which brings us to the whole point of this post; all of those things were and still are means to an end and not particularly ends in themselves as most of us have been led to (falsely) believe. The end of which is the Kingdom of God. A case of the message actually being more important than its messenger. Case in point: the message being the Kingdom of God and the messenger being the miracles and signs and wonders.

*Next: We share with you when/where is the kingdom of God! Stay tuned lads and lasses. Thank you for churching with us on this one today. May God’s perfect peace be upon you and all members of your house. And may you continue to grow in the peace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN, THE KINGDOM OF GOD: an introduction

In this first part of many forth-coming series, we share about the Kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. The primary focus of Jesus’ three year ministry when He walked this earth as a man and was later crucified for our sins, and rose again conquering hades and death, and ascended into heaven where He is seated at the right hand side of God and preparing places for us in the Father’s house of many mansions. The message of the Kingdom of heaven, Kingdom of God represents Jesus’ whole teaching; also we can perhaps say it was the determinative subject of his discourse.

Briefly, I’ll labour an explanation of the two different phrases as might perhaps be confusing unto some of us. The Kingdom of heaven versus the Kingdom of God; in the Bible, those two statements are one and the same thing that were only used interchangeably. In reading the synoptic gospels, we notice that it is only Matthew who used the title “the Kingdom of Heaven. Take for instance:

Matthew 3:2 And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. versus Mark 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

Matthew 5:3, 10 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven... Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. versus Luke 6:20, 22 And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God... Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.

Matthew 11:11 Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. versus Luke 7:28 For I say unto you, Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist: but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.

The term "Kingdom of Heaven" occurs 31 times in Matthew. And it is worth mentioning that it appears nowhere else in the New Testament. In contrast, the term "Kingdom of God" occurs 63 times in the New Testament. 9 times in Acts and Paul's epistles, only 5 times in Matthew -- the balance being found in Mark, Luke and John. In tackling the question as to why Matthew preferred "kingdom of heaven" to "kingdom of God," the explanation has long been that Matthew, writing to specifically Jewish readers, inserted "heaven" for "God" so as not to offend the Jewish sensibilities regarding uttering the name of God or the term that describes Him. So for our readership here, it is important that you know this bit of history so that we can then go on together with the same mind that in this new series, the two phrases have no difference in meaning.

Having established this truth, we are still left with the question, "What is the Kingdom of Heaven/God?" In trying to define something, I also labour to find out what it is not. Applying the same concept here, I have found out that the Kingdom of Heaven is not the same thing as heaven. When the New Testament uses the phrase “the Kingdom of Heaven” it is not referring to heaven. Instead it is referring to the Millennial Kingdom which has been ordained from heaven, that is, from God -hence the interchangeability between "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Kingdom of God." The Kingdom of Heaven is a kingdom from heaven, not a kingdom in heaven. God reigns supreme in heaven. Heaven is the locus of His authority. Heaven is the point from which God rules the universe. The words “of heaven” in this case are referring to the origin of this Kingdom. It is the place from which the Kingdom is coming, not a destination to which we are going. So we see that although the Kingdom of Heaven is heavenly in character and origin, it is not the same thing as heaven.

From the book of Matthew to Mark and Luke and to John, it is plainly visible that Jesus, whenever he taught, was always constantly talking about the Kingdom of God. “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”. Matt. 4:17. And then to one of my favourite passages from the Bible, God’s own account:

“Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body more than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet I say unto you, That Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” Matthew 6:25-34

The point ladies and gentlemen, that we’re trying to make here is that while we live out our earthly lives, we actually are living in one of two kingdoms. And if you’re not living in the kingdom of God, then you are by default living in the other kingdom, the kingdom of Satan and his demons. I remember a movie I watched once where someone said the biggest lie that the devil has had very many people believe and still wants to keep them believing is that he (the devil) does not exist. In this series, we are dispelling that. It is your choice to which kingdom (of the two) you are going to live, but it isn’t your choice who your king is going to be in either kingdom. God, our Heavenly Father is the king of this kingdom and in being “our Heavenly Father”, He is not the Father of sinners. To listen to some folk talk ‘we are all children of God; God is the Father of all of us, and we are all brothers and sisters’ is not something right, I believe. Because the Bible does not say so! Because you see, the devil is the father of some people. John 8:44, Jesus said to some of the most religious people of that day, “Ye are of your father the devil”. Jesus didn’t say our Heavenly Father was their father. He said the devil was their father. For the natural man is motivated by demons. He is ruled by Satan. I’m not saying he is demon-possessed. What I mean is all those who have never been born-again have Satan as their god, king and father, whether you knew it or not. They are in the kingdom of darkness; a kingdom ruled by Satan and demons. “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” I Cor. 2:14

By faith, we shall continue to share with you in our subsequent posts, each one, our opinions on the message of the Kingdom of God and what it means for you/us. But in all, the question still begs, in which kingdom are you living or choosing to live? And is that the best choice you could make? God bless you.

My Prayer For You Today: And may the grace of God enable everyone reading here to have their minds and eyes opened up by the Spirit of God to the realisation of the power that lives and operates in the kingdom of God. And may as many as read here choose wisely which kingdom of the two that they shall choose to live in this day. In the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN.

PRAYING ALWAYS...

Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” EPHESIANS 6:18

SHIRAN isn’t with us this week. Going back over our posts together however, I am more than pleased that at some point, we tackled this aspect of this part of the Christian’s armour. Albeit, in a different sort of way!

Before I go on here, I thought it imperative that you all read this piece (again) before we go any further. The LORD is good and ever continually so. Blessed be the name of the LORD. It was always the habit of Jesus to strike right at the heart of the matter. He knew what was essential and He knew what wasn’t. He didn’t tell men they ought to pray. That instinct was born in their hearts: the most ignorant heathen prayed, the prophets of Baal prayed, the hypocritical Pharisees prayed. What Jesus was interested in was showing men the right way to pray, so that they could have miracles in answer to their prayers. “And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men…But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.” Matt. 6:5-6. The great secret of prayer is to realise and understand that God is also in the very room where you are. It is this realisation that God is actually present that makes prayer vital and powerful. The Psalmist David in Psalms 139:6-10, realised that God was present wherever he was, although he admits he did not fully understand it. God is everywhere –He doesn’t come and He doesn’t go.

But what is it to pray? The disciples said (unto Christ), “Lord, teach us to pray”. See Luke 11:1-4. Our Lord didn’t hesitate to grant their request. He never was one to keep His secrets to Himself. He came into this world to teach others to do what He did. Jesus was willing that His disciples should learn to do even greater works. John 14:12. And reading our Lord’s account of how to pray, we see that true prayer begins and ends in worship. “Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…” and “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.” Successful prayer also means daily contact with God. When one’s spiritual life begins to deteriorate, generally the cause can be traced to a lack of consistent daily prayer. It is no wonder that the forces of darkness are able to mobilise against so many people and in some cases completely paralyze their efforts. The things of which a successful life is made are shaped in the crucible of the daily hour of prayer. God must work with the material given Him and if there is a paucity of material made available, He is limited in what He can do. Many people do not realise that there is an actual substance to prayer. In Revelations 8:3, we are shown God’s repository of the prayers of His saints for the use at the proper time. In a vital way, the prayers of God’s people have a part in the execution of His plan on earth. God has ordained that His people should have at their command the resources of heaven. However, this is only available to those who day by day keep in contact with their God. “Give us day by day our daily bread.” Jesus did not ask us to pray for a year’s supply or a month’s, or even a week’s supply of bread. God wants us daily to be in utter dependence of Him. He wants us to daily feel the need of His presence, of His sustaining power. God’s plan involves a daily dependence on Him. Without Him we can do nothing. And if we are to successfully accomplish His will in our lives we must not allow a single day to pass without that vital communion with God.

Once again, “Praying always” covers all seasons and all manner of praying - praying with our natural understanding and also praying in the spirit. I Corinthians 14:2 says, “For he that speaketh in an unknown tongue speaketh not unto men, but unto God: for no man understandeth him; howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries.” Paul is saying here that God has given the Church a supernatural means of communication with Himself. This call to prayer entails effort, wrestling, and struggling -putting out the full energy of the spirit in order to frustrate the foe and to come out, finally, more than conquerors through Christ Jesus. And as I like to say, this call is no primrose path. It’s no rose-scented flirting. From the time we first draw our swords, we are compelled to endure hardness, as a good soldiers of Jesus Christ. See II Tim.2:3. Some prayers are prayed too late; some people seek God earnestly after they get into trouble, not realising that had they prayed sooner, they might have avoided the pitfall. There is such a thing as foreseeing evil and avoiding it. “A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.” Prov.27:12. How can one hope to escape the the traps that the forces of darkness continually devise against them? The answer to that is, not in human foresight or wisdom. See Prov.3:5 “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Prov. 3:5. Also see Psalms 91. In the latter (Psalms 91), is promised deliverance from Satan’s traps. The expression “snare of the fowler” is a clear allusion to the work of Satan who is busy setting snares for God’s people.

And finally I would like to share with you in relation to what we’re onto here, the story of the Christian Armenian merchant who was carrying merchandise by caravan across the desert to a town in Turkish Armenia. This [true] story illustrates the importance of daily prayer in our lives as pilgrims, soldiers of Christ. A Christian Armenian merchant having had a Christian upbringing from his childhood had formed a life habit of daily committing himself into the hands of God. At the time of this incident, the country was infested with “Kurds”, that is bandits who lived by robbing caravans. Unknown to the merchant, a band of these highwaymen had been following his caravan, intending to rob it at the first camping place on the plains. At the chosen hour, under cover of darkness, they drew near. But all was strangely quiet, and as there seemed to be no guards, no watchers, but as they pressed up, to their astonishment, they found high walls where no walls had been before. They continued to follow and the next night, they found the same impassable walls. The third night the walls stood but there were breaches in them through which they (bandits) then went in. The captain of the robbers, terrified by the mystery, awakened the merchant. “What does this mean?” he asked. “Ever since you left Ezerum, we have followed, intending to rob you. The first night and the second night, we found high walls around the caravan, but tonight, we entered through broken places. If you tell us the secret of this, I will not molest you.” The merchant, himself, was surprised and puzzled. “My friends,” he said, “I have done nothing to have walls raised about us. All I do is pray every evening, committing myself and those with me to God. I fully trust in Him to keep me from all evil; but tonight, being very tired and sleepy, I made a rather half-hearted lip prayer. That must have been why you were allowed to break through!” The “Kurds” were overcome by such testimony as this. There and then, they gave themselves to Jesus Christ, and were saved. From caravan robbers to God-fearing men, the “Kurds” became. The Armenian merchant however, never forgot that breach in the wall of prayer.

Let’s constantly give ourselves to prayer saints of God. “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,…Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;” EPH. 6:12-18.

And I pray that He might cause your eyes to be opened up to the mystery of praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit. And I also pray that the grace of God, and His love, and the power of His Holy Spirit be with you all. Now and always. AMEN.

CAST DOWN, NOT DESTROYED!

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;” –Paul, to the church at Corinth, in II COR. 4:8, 9

Dear Readers and Guests here at “Fear Not the Sons of Anak”,

Those words of the Apostle Paul still reverberate in my mind since an event that happened here towards the beginning of last weekend. We (Shiran & I) have been away from attending to this blog for the most part of a couple of months now and on behalf of the both of us until last weekend, I am sorry to both God and man for allowing complacency on our part to get to us so much so we did not keep our promise to further the good news of the kingdom of God here every week or so for the past month or so, through our sharing of knowledge on the word of God in our hitherto long conversational posts. One thing I know about God is that if men and women fail to “cease the moment” and be used of HIM, the Lord will always raise up ‘soldiers in the sidelines’ (credit phrase to her sister). There always is a ‘remnant’. Question is, are you gonna let this knowledge elude you by pretending to be an ‘only one’ or are you gonna let HIM continue to count you, a part of that ‘remnant’. I’m posting here to ask for as many of you as read here to pray for 1) the cause of this blog to continue to be furthered here, and 2) for the blessing and guidance of HIS Holy Spirit on the part of the author/authors. 3) for our spiritual eyes to opened up so we may see that which we are up against, and 4) to bind all powers of evil as may be against the advancement of this blog in bringing more soldiers to Christ and in strengthening battle-beaten warriors. On my part, I will sure appreciate all prayer and God bless you in advance for this. In spite of what happened here, God speaks to us again through Paul in his letter to the Romans that: “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to HIS purpose…Moroever whom HE did predestinate, them HE also called: and whom HE called, them HE also justified: and whom HE justified, them also HE glorified. What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? …Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through HIM that loved us.” Romans 8:28-37. In our final series this weekend before we begin on something new, we shall be tackling the final bit of Paul’s instructions to the church of Ephesus in putting on the whole armour of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

In the meantime, I request you to bear with any and all template changes at this blog over the next week or so as we try to get one that is more representative of this blog and what it is intended for. God bless and be with you today and always.