The privilege of serving on the altar

When you decide to serve God on the altar, you have to leave everything behind, all your personal dreams, house, cars, possessions even your family.

For some just the thought of doing it discourage them, as they want to live their life's here on earth and make the most of it.

But when you serve God on the altar you are privileged.

God said: “It shall be, in regard to their inheritance, that I am their inheritance. You shall give them no possession in Israel, for I am their possession. (Ezekiel 44:28 NKJV)

Is it not a great privilege, you have no inheritance or possession apparently but at the same time you have everything, because God himself is your inheritance and your possession.

Are ready to leave all and serve him?

God bless you

What have you been talking about?

I was meditating on this verse:

"Do not be rash with your mouth,
And let not your heart utter anything hastily before God.
For God is in heaven, and you on earth;
Therefore let your words be few.
³ For a dream comes through much activity,
And a fool’s voice is known by his many words." Ecclesiastes 5:2,3 NKJV

How many times we say things without thinking, joking etc... But for every word we speak we will give account.

It says let our words be few, God gave us two ears and one mouth so we can listen more and speak less.

A fool's voice is known by his many words, in other words he talks too much.

I am not saying we should not speak at all, but let us be careful with what is coming out of our mouths. 

God Bless you

Repentance, new birth and baptism in the Holy Spirit

Repentance, new birth, and baptism in the Holy Spirit

Many still have doubts about conversion, the new birth, and the baptism in the Holy Spirit. There is a difference between the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the new birth. Many, for example, are anxious about speaking in tongues, and see it as the sign of baptism in the Holy Spirit. These people think, “If I don’t speak in tongues, that means I’m not baptized in the Holy Spirit.” I want to tell you right now that there are many people who speak in tongues but are NOT baptized in the Holy Spirit, and there are many people who do not speak in tongues but ARE baptized in the Holy Spirit!

What I’m about to tell you is a fundamental principle of faith…

Repentance must come before anything else in our relationship with God — which we can also call conversion. In the time of John the Baptist repentance meant turning away from sin and living a pure life, which involved turning away from all that is unjust and living a just, clean life. This is repentance. This is CONVERSION.

If you are a thief you will have to stop stealing, convert to Jesus, and not only stop being a thief, but also stop everything else that you are doing wrong, and start doing what is right, what is pure — that is conversion. A person has to leave his sin and begin to live a clean, honorable life, one that is in line with the Word of God, giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s. 

This is conversion or repentance.

When a person converts, he begins to walk in God’s direction. If he was walking “north” on a path of sin, when he converts he makes a 180 degree turn and starts walking “south”. If he was walking “south” on a dark path, when he converts he’ll turn 180 degrees and start walking “north” — letting go of all that was evil, all that was wrong. This is what we call conversion.

Conversion is not an encounter with God, the new birth, or baptism in the Holy Spirit.

“This is the Lord’s declaration — TURN TO ME with all your heart, with fasting, weeping, and mourning. Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God,”  Joel 2:12.  “Turn to Me” has the same meaning as convert to Me.

God also said, in response to Solomon’s prayer: “If My people… TURN FROM their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land,” 2 Chronicles 7:14. Once again, “turn from” has the same meaning as convert.

Conversion is a purely human act. We are the ones that choose to turn from what is wrong. When a person walks in the path of God, begins to live a good life, leaves all that is wrong behind, and allows himself to be molded by the Word of God, this is conversion.

As a person walks in this direction, this path, the second step will occur, which is an encounter with God. He will experience the new birth which the Holy Spirit performs in his life. First a person converts from his sin, and because of this conversion, the Holy Spirit comes over him and makes him into a new creature by means of the new birth. He turns into a brand new person.

First comes repentance or conversion, which is our part.

Second comes the new birth, which is the Holy Spirit’s part. Only He can cause us to be born of God.

After conversion and repentance, after the new birth has occurred, then comes the third step which is the baptism in the Holy Spirit, which is performed by the Lord Jesus. He breathes the Holy Spirit into us!

So then, there are three super-important steps in our life with God. Obviously, after a person repents, converts, he immediately wants to be baptized in water. And so we can say that baptism in water is an act that comes after repentance. A person repents of his sins and is then baptized in water.

After baptism in water comes the new birth, when the Holy Spirit comes over us — the second step. Once a person has been born of God, the Lord Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit.

Three steps: repentance, the new birth, and baptism with the Holy Spirit. This is that natural order of things.

On the other hand, God is God, and a person could convert and be baptized in water, and as the Holy Spirit causes him to be born of God, the Lord Jesus could also baptize him in the Holy Spirit. The new birth could happen at the same time as the baptism in the Holy Spirit because they are the exclusive work of God. The baptism in the Spirit is performed by the Lord Jesus, and the new birth by the Holy Spirit. But conversion, or repentance, is man’s part, while baptism in water is the pastor’s part.

Let me repeat the order of things…

A person arrives in the church full of sin, hears the Word of God and repents, or converts. He surrenders his life to Jesus, stops committing the sins that were a part of his life and begins to live a pure, good life. He is baptized in water (immersion) by his pastor after he has made the first step of repentance. He then continues living a pure life, is faithful to God, becomes a tither and learns to give offerings, behaves in a way that pleases God, and gives to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Then the second step, the new birth occurs through the work of the Holy Spirit. Finally comes the baptism in the Holy Spirit by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Bishop Macedo

www.bishopmacedo.com 

UNIVERSAL - Church of the Kingdom of God

Symposium of Holy Spirit

Temple of Solomon

Complaint vs Vision

I was meditating about the children of Israel when they left Egypt God promised to take them to the a good land but as soon as they left Egypt some of them began to complain:

1. Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness?... "For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians..." Ex 14:11
2. The people complained " What shall we drink"? Ex 15:24
3. No bread and no meat to eat. "We remember the fish which we ate freely in Egypt, the cucumbers, the melons, the leeks, the onions and the garlic..."  Numbers 11: 4,5, Ex 16:4.

There were still many other times that they complained but i believe that what really made God to give up on them, was when they totally lost the vision.  We see it when the spies brought back a bad report:

"There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight.” Numbers 13:33

They saw themselves small before their enemies, in spite of all God had done, they were still complaining and trying to appoint a leader to go back to Egypt. 

God could not take it anymore and only allowed Joshua and Caleb to enter the land for they had a different spirit (Vision) they saw the giants as their bread. Numbers 14:9

Paul warned: Do not complain, as some of them also complained and were destroyed by the destroyer.

When we don't have vision, we complain about everything and we will end up destroyed.
Stop complaining.
Share with others.

A blog I recommend

Bishop David has started this blog with 365 passages of the bible that his father considered the most important.
I believe it can help you to keep healthy spiritually by reading one everyday.

just click bellow:
365 Bible Passages

God Bless you.

A Message for the Pastors

"And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds: “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat and clothe yourselves with the wool; you slaughter the fatlings, but you do not feed the flock. The weak you have not strengthened, nor have you healed those who were sick, nor bound up the broken, nor brought back what was driven away, nor sought what was lost; but with force and cruelty you have ruled them. So they were scattered because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the beasts of the field when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and on every high hill; yes, My flock was scattered over the whole face of the earth, and no one was seeking or searching for them. ”
 ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord : “ As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock”— therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord ! Thus says the Lord God : “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.” (Ezekiel 34:1-10 NKJV)

Assistants Graduation USA