What will be spoken of me in my funeral? (2 min read)

 

One who gained his life on this earth? Or One who wasted his life for Jesus? I want to be in the latter. Living as a fool for Christ in this world. Whether this world accepts me or not I am not hurt. I am accepted by my Lord and I know where I am heading to…Do you know your destiny?

As I was watching the funeral service of Rev. Dr. Billy Graham the great Evangelist I was deeply moved by the statement made by his son Rev. Franklin Graham and his daughter Anne Lotz Graham. Anne Graham said my dad loved the scriptures and always loved to read the portions of scriptures. Franklin Graham said like this while my dad was on this earth he preached about Heaven to millions and wrote about Heaven in a book and now he Himself is in Heaven, in the presence of God. What a hope and an assurance it is.

A few resolutions taken on the day of His funeral:

ü  To preach the infallible Word of God.

ü  To carry the Bible to the pulpit and speak with all authority.

ü  To preach Repentance.

ü  To Preach Christ and win people for Christ.

Heaven and Hell are real ones. Don’t think it’s a Disney tales that we tell to the children. It’s a matter of choice that determines your destiny. You will be surprised one day in knowing your destiny. Before it is too late, you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ wherever you live now on this earth and turn your life to Him.

A life well lived will always impact others and will leave a legacy behind. The quality of life lived on this earth is important. Examine yourself and ask honest questions to yourself. Because we cannot lie to ourselves.

Repent of your sins – Take heed to what the Bible talks about Heaven – Give your life to Jesus. He will never leave you nor forsake you.

Oh how I wish my funeral also be impacting others, at least one?

To God be the Glory!

"Be filled with the Spirit"

What is to be filled with the Spirit?

Ephesians 5: 18 – ‘Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the spirit.’(NIV)

Being spirit filled in another words is being spirit controlled. No matter what temperaments we have, are we allowing ourselves to be controlled by his spirit?
If not let’s contemplate the literal meaning of the phrase ‘be filled with the spirit.’ The tense of the Greek is present imperative.Paul could say ‘I have been crucified with Christ’ (Gal 2:20), and yet he died daily (1cor 15:31).
Surrender is done, and yet it is never done –It is a continual yielding. It is important to point out that surrender is not once and-for-all; surrender must be continuous. Likewise we need to be continually filled with the Spirit. Thus D.L Moody prayed like this “Lord am a leaky vessel which needs your filling every moment”.

We receive the Holy Spirit at the time when we hear the Gospel of truth and accept Christ as our personal Lord and Savior. We are at that moment baptized by the Holy Spirit. People who have experienced this can rejoice with this truth. Let’s remember that Holy Spirit is a person and not some force. Some wrongly think that the Holy Spirit is only like a electric force or power which can be used for our conveniences. There are varied understanding of this doctrine of Holy Spirit and the interpretation of the words anointing, filling, baptism of the spirit, speaking in tongues and so forth. I don’t want to distort what Bible teaches about all these. Let’s look at the scriptures below (All reference from NIV) and learn as the Holy Spirit himself teaches us and brings us the understanding.

Ephesians 1:13, 14 - ‘And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit. Who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of his glory.’

Ephesians 4:30 – ‘And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.’

Romans 8:9 – 'You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.’

1John2:27 –‘As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit –just as it has taught you, remain in him’.

The person of Holy Spirit who indwells us can be very much grieved by our sinful choices that we make every day. Are we really careful in leading a life controlled by his Spirit? If not lets allow the spirit of God to take control of our mind, emotions and will. Personally explore yourselves in the understanding of this truth and I believe God will teach you more if you’re open minded.

God Bless!

What’s in Blood?

I was contemplating on the topic blood in these recent days and thought to write on this. My sincere prayer is that God will meet with you as you read, reflect and respond to the below lines. Why blood we may think? It sounds weird, violent and sometimes even disturbs us too. We see the blood stain as we come across every day life. It may be human blood or an animal blood. What feel it gives to us as we look at blood? Some even faint by seeing the blood.

In Hebrews 9 verse 11 onwards we see the blood of Christ. It’s too marvelous to contemplate how the precious blood of the lamb (here Christ as lamb) takes away the guilt of human conscience. Let’s take individual responsibility to understand and marvel at this truth.
This shadows the OT practices of animal sacrifice as a sign of atonement which they do as an annual reminder for the remission of their sins. We read in Leviticus 23:12.
Christ the perfect Lamb offered himself as an unblemished sacrifice. We read in Heb 10:14 “because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" There is no need for another sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins. Even if we try with any other it is not worth compared to the perfect, once for all sacrifice of Christ.

In the new covenant this picture, Christ as unblemished lamb is so vividly used by the apostles and this message of blood or Christ crucified is very much exalted by Apostle Paul in all of his epistles.
In Col 1:20 Paul writes “and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross"
We did not see the blood of Christ with our physical eyes when Christ bled and died on the cross. Isn’t it? But only with the eye of faith we believe this sacrifice of Christ has been made, and only in faith we can appreciate and apply this truth personally in our lives.

Thus the writer of Hebrews says, there is no forgiveness without shedding of blood. Heb 9:22.

Are you washed by the blood of the lamb? If not get cleansed by the Blood of Jesus. In faith believe and pray in your heart that Christ died for your sins and took away your guilt and shame nailing it to the cross. Only those who have this assurance that their sins are washed away by his blood will have a clear conscience, and they enter the kingdom of God.


God Bless!