faith

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Live to Give

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Live to Give

In the country of Israel, the Jordan River flows from one end of the land to the other. On its journey from north to south it flows into two bodies of water. The Sea of Galilee and then the Dead Sea. It's the same River that flows into both yet there are different outcomes. One produces life the other death. The reason being that the Sea of Galilee has water flowing into it and then flowing out again, but the Dead Sea only has water flowing into it and nothing comes out the other end. Galilee is full of fish but the Dead Sea has no life in it at all. It's the same life giving water that flows into both yet one gives out and the other keeps its water to itself.

Christian's can be like this too, they have the same God in them and the same River of Life flowing into their lives, yet there can be different outcomes. Some Christians give out, while others just take it all and keep everything to themselves, and this produces death.

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The Fifth Gospel

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The Fifth Gospel

When the Apostle Paul was saved on the Damascus Road, God separated him from everyone else. Paul found something different to the other disciples, for he’d caught on to a revelation they hadn’t seen. It was the 5th Gospel.

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We need more Faith

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And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” Hebrews 11:6 Every now and then it’s good to remind ourselves about the principles of faith and have a ‘faith-lift’. We need to check on where our faith is at. In Hollywood we see lots of film stars who have the money getting a face-lift. There are all the ‘nips and tucks’, Botox and stretching of the skin to tighten things up. They look younger for a while but soon it begins to look a bit silly. Even Christian Television Evangelists have face lifts but what we really need is a ‘faith-lift’. We need to have a faith-lift to tighten things up, and adjust our belief system, for we are inclined to forget spiritual truths. We are like buckets with holes in and we constantly leak. Things we heard and delighted in once can be soon forgotten, so it’s important to keep checking on the condition of our faith.

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The FIVE KINGS

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The FIVE KINGS

When the Children of Israel entered the Promised Land, they immediately faced 5 kings who were determined to stop their progress. Joshua and his army warred with them and eventually defeated them, but 5 of the kings fled the scene and hid in a cave. When they were found, Joshua commanded that they be brought out and that the feet of his leaders be put on their necks and they be killed.

He told his men not to be dismayed but be strong. Why would he say that? The word ‘dismayed’ actually means to ‘tear down’ or ‘fall apart’. It’s possible that these Kings were taunting those who were going to kill them. Joshua is saying ignore this, don’t let yourselves be torn down by their words. I can imagine them shouting out that if you kill us our brothers will come back and get you.

We too can be afraid when standing against our enemy the Devil. We can be scared to take Him on because of His taunts and lies. He can shout out all sorts of threats like “you are going to die,” “this problem will never go away.” Satan is actually afraid of us and knows we have the power to resist Him in Jesus name. He wants to rob us of our blessing, our inheritance, our Promised Land.