Are You Sacrificing Your Child?

Don't sacrifice your children on the altar fires to the god Molech. I am the Lord your God, and that would disgrace me. (Leviticus 18:21 CEVDCUS06)

In Leviticus, God says we should never sacrifice our children. This was the culture of the nations around israel. God destroyed them for it yet the people of Israel, Gods own people began to do the same things that God destroyed other nations for.

The truth is that they should have known better right? 

King Ahaz sacrificed his first son Eliab to the god of molech, he asked the people to bring their first sons as well for sacrifice. The bible says " he disobeyed the Lord and was even more sinful than the kings of Israel. He sacrificed his own son, which was a disgusting custom of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel. (2 Kings 16:2, 3 CEVDCUS06)

He had another son hezekiah who witnessed the sacrifice of his older brother Eliab and was most likely traumatised by it. When he became king, he destroyed the temples of these foreign gods and brought an end to their worship. He worshipped and served God.

But unfortunately Hezekiah's son Manasseh was different "Manasseh disobeyed the Lord by following the disgusting customs of the nations that the Lord had forced out of Israel. He rebuilt the local shrines that his father Hezekiah had torn down. He built altars for the god Baal and set up a sacred pole for worshiping the goddess Asherah, just as King Ahab of Israel had done. And he faithfully worshiped the stars in heaven. (2 Kings 21:2, 3 CEVDCUS06)

We obviously are in an age where such sacrifices are not accepted any longer but also idolatry has become even more complex. I can't imagine sacrificing my child to any god and i am sure its not conceivable in the minds of almost everyone. Anything we put before God is an idol,anything that is more important than God has taken the place of idols.

Christians and non- christians stiil sacrifice their children today but maybe not to the ancient god of molech but to the god of money and the gods in our world today. 

When a mother chooses a spouse for her daughter because he is wealthy even though he is evil. What has she done? 

When a parent focuses more on grooming a child to be wealthy in future, to be president, to be powerful without any focus on being Godly, what has he/she done?

Let us remember that the sacrifice of children to molech was the custom of another nation not israels custom. Are we picking up customs from people who are not christians, who don't worship God, who worship themselves and fame, even the customs of the world around us? 

Our ways are different, our customs as christians are different. We are different, We are Gods chosen people, We are a royal priesthood, a people set apart, We are Israel.

Our Children are Gods children. Remember that before you sacrifice them to other gods.

You slaughtered my children, so you could offer them as sacrifices. You were so busy sinning and being a prostitute that you refused to think about the days when you were young and were rolling around naked in your own blood. (Ezekiel 16:21, 22 CEVDCUS06)

Written by Kachi

Be Born Again!

“The Exercise: John 3:1-8

Can you imagine the scene? Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel, came privately to Jesus after the sun went down to ask Him deep spiritual questions. He had seen the miracles and knew that God was with Jesus. And I believe that deep down inside he longed for more of what Jesus had—the power, the peace and the intimate presence of God.

As a Pharisee, Nicodemus lived by the strictest possible religious rules. He was a man of high moral character, and he lived by the Book. By today’s standards, he would be known as an upstanding member of the community and would probably have a spotless reputation. He was a good man, but he knew that he was missing something. He was attracted to Jesus because he knew that Jesus had what he was missing.”

“I don’t believe that he came at night because he didn’t want anyone to know. Instead, he didn’t want to be interrupted by the foolishness and sneaky traps set by the rest of his Pharisee friends. He sincerely wanted to fill the void he felt in his soul. So when Jesus told him that in order to experience eternal life he had to be born again, Nicodemus was confused. How could that be? It was impossible to return to the womb and be born a second time.

But Nicodemus finally figured it out. All of his religious activity was meaningless because his spirit was dead. Believing in Jesus would finally bring him the life that he was seeking. No matter how good you think you are, you will never be satisfied until you have Jesus.

—Page”

Excerpt From: Peña, Jimmy. “PrayFit.” Regal From Gospel Light. iBooks. 

This material may be protected by copyright. 

5 ways you are unknowingly destroying your husband and killing your marriage

• When I got married, I was amazed at the instant, overwhelming sense of responsibility I felt to love and care for my husband. Suddenly, a huge part of someone else's well-being and happiness was largely affected by my choices and actions.

  Women, we need to be careful about how we are caring for our husbands and marriages. Don't let the small stuff ruin the things that will bring you the greatest happiness in life.

  Here are just a few ways you might be unknowingly destroying your husband and killing your marriage (as a caveat, please understand that although this article is directed toward women, it applies to men as well):

• 1. Living outside of what you can afford

  A wise old woman from my church congregation once advised: "The best thing you can do as a wife is to live within your husband's means."

  Wives, show sincere appreciation and respect to your husband by carefully following a budget and making the most of what you have. Be wise about your finances.

  Constantly complaining about not having enough to fulfill your lavish desires or racking up astronomical amounts of debt on your credit card is a poor way of saying "thank you" to a faithful spouse who works hard every day to provide for the family.

  Yes, you may not have enough to buy that Kate Spade bag you've had your eyes on for months, but your husband will love and appreciate the fact that you honor him and are grateful for what he provides.

• 2. Constant negativity

  You hate your hair, the messes around the house, the neighbor across the street, your dumb co-worker, the old dishwasher, and everything in between. As soon as your husband walks through the door, you launch into action and dump every negative and angry thought that's crossed your mind throughout the day.

  Can you imagine having to carry that burden? Negativity is draining. Men like to fix things, and constantly being hounded with complaints makes it difficult for him to help solve your pains.

  If there is one thing I've learned from marriage is that a good man wants you to be happy, and if he can't help you do that, it makes him unhappy. It's okay to have a bad day once in a while, that's totally understandable, but don't make it a way of life.

• 3. Putting everything else first

  When your children, mom, best friends, talents, or career in front of your husband, you send a clear message to him that he is unimportant. Imagine having that message sent to you every day for many years. What would that do to your self esteem?

  Put your husband first.

  Although it sometimes seems counter-intuitive and counterproductive, I think you'd be amazed to find that it's often the key to the greatest happiness in marriage. So many couples get divorced these days, because they neglect to care and love one another and put each other first.

  If you choose to put each other first, you will find a lot of joy.

• 4. Withholding physical affection

  Men crave and need physical affection with their wives. When you constantly decline intimacy, it wears on them.

  Sex should not be used as a tool to control your spouse; it should be viewed as a sacred tool to draw you closer to one another and to God.

  It is a great blessing to be wanted and needed by a loving, romantic husband who wants to share something so beautiful and important with you -- and you only. Even though you might not always be in the mood, it's worth it to give in (when you can) and spend that time bonding.

• 5. Not speaking his language

  Women love to drop hints. (I think it's part of our DNA.) But men just don't get them. (I think that is a part of their DNA.)

  Don't waste your time giving subtle hints that he won't understand: Speak plainly to him. Be honest about your feelings, and don't bottle things up until you burst. If he asks you what's wrong, don't respond with "nothing" and then expect him to read your mind and emotions. Be open about how you really feel.

  Written by Katelyn Carmen

  Posted by Kachi

Love The Greatest Of All

LOVE THE GREATEST OF ALL

1 Corinthians13:4-8

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

I see lots of displays and personal messages of people on most social media,I see things like " dropping people","forget people who forgets you","you are dead to me" and so on. Don't get me wrong I am not saying you should belittle yourself but to actually show love to people in everything we do, remember the greatest commandment is love. Jesus died because of love. God created us in his image and likeness all because of love. He could have chosen another image but he chose his own image.

I start with 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 because it's the best definition of what love is and it's self explanatory. Learning from vs 4-7 love is every thing you want in life. When you do good to people it will come back to you. If you keep dropping people instead of extending the love of God to people how do you expect God to bless you still through people. 

1cor vs 8 love is eternal(GNB)never fails;prophesies,speaking in tongues,knowledge,wealth are not permanent love supercedes all these,through love all God's blessings will come to us.

Before you go on your knees to ask God for your private intentions ask yourself; Have I dropped some people because they have wronged me? Do I show love and care to my neighbors,friends and even my enemies? Did I encourage somebody that is in need physically,emotionally and otherwise or did I just walk past the person because I am too busy? Do take time to teach the ignorant,pray for the living and the dead,correct sinners,counsel those in doubt,console the sorrowful,bearing wrongs patiently and forgiving wrongs willingly?.

I,myself writing on these have a lot I need to work on,this is where we ask for the grace and strength of God. 

God bless

More bible readings on love-

Mark12:31,luke6:35,romans12:9

Written by Elochukwu

God creates opportunities everyday for us to show love. Let's start to take notice of these opportunities and use them.

Why Are You on Earth

George Herbert’s poem called “Praise” contains a verse that has been taped to my computer monitor since I first read it years ago.

Of all the creatures both in sea and land
Only to man Thou has made known Thy ways,
And put the pen alone into his hand,
And made him secretary of Thy praise.

This is the answer to our question. Why is man on the earth? He is here to be the secretary of the praise of God.

To which our querying minds say, But do not “the heavens tell the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1), and not just man? Are not “the things that have been made” the secretary of his divine attributes (Romans 1:20)? Do not the “the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord” (Psalm 96:12), and “the rivers clap their hands” (Psalm 98:8)? Do not “the mountains and the hills break forth into singing” (Isaiah 55:12)?

Yes. They do.

But “there is no speech, nor are there words. Their voice is not heard” (Psalms 19:3). This is not the work of the secretary. The work of the secretary is to transcribe the song of the mountains, the clapping of the rivers, and the singing of the forest, and the telling of the heavens.

Man is here to interpret and transcribe the praises of God.

The singing trees are not the secretary. The psalmist who told us what the trees are saying is the secretary. The blog writer who quotes the psalmist is the secretary. The mother who points her child to the tree and speaks of God is the secretary.

For this, every human being was created. Being in the image of God does not mean being a dumb image (Genesis 1:27). We are talking images. We are images who write. And if the point of being an image is to image (which I consider self-evident), then we are to image in all the ways we are gifted to image.

And what we are to image is the original. Images are images of something. We are images of God. He is the original. And our imaging is to be true and clear. That is, every person is meant to image the praiseworthiness of God. We are to be the secretaries of his praise.

And if we fail in this secretarial calling, Herbert says, in this same poem,

He that to praise and laud Thee doth refrain
Doth not refrain unto himself alone,
But robs a thousand who would praise Thee fain,
And doth commit a world of sin in one.

Therefore, let us open our mouths and take up our pens and point the whole world to the praiseworthiness of God. This is why we are here.

Written by John Piper

Posted by Kachi