Rhythm of Faith

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 ...

“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 ...

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. Constantl...

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 chose...

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...

              Ephesians 4:7-16  says; " Each one of us has been given his own   share of grace, given as Christ allotted it.  It was   said that he would: When he ascended to the height, he captured prisoners, he gave gifts to men. When it says,  ‘ he ascended ’ , what can it mean if not that he descended right down to the lower regions of the earth? The one who rose higher than all the heavens to fill all things is none other than the one who descended. And to some, his gift was that they should be apostles; to some, prophets; to some, evangelists; to some, pastors and teachers; so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ. In this way we are all to come to unity in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God, until we become the perfect Man, fully mature with the fullness of Christ himself.    Then we shall not be children any longer, or tossed one way and anot...

 Solomon tells God in 1King 8:54" from all people on earth, The Lord has chosen you to be His very own" Even in the times of Old Testament not everyone on earth then knew of God and not everyone on earth served Him. Some other tribes worshipped other gods, some may not have worshipped anything at all but God chose the people of Israel as His own.. They were His people, His precious inheritance.. Today some of us know God, some of us don't, some of us have a wonderful relationship with God, some of us are still growing,some of us know of God but have no relationship with Him. Some discovered God by Gods divine intervention in their lives like Paul, some know of Him and made a choice to follow  God, some read a book that led them to God, Some of us heard the gospel somehow somewhere and had an immediate change of heart. Some of us gained knowledge of God from our parents and are continuing in the faith like David and Solomon, Timothy and his mother and grand mother I want u...

“As a prophet of God, Elisha knew he needed help and that he was never alone. But as Elisha and his servant slept, the king of Aram sent horses and chariots and a strong force to confront them; they literally surrounded them and the entire city. The king was angry that Elisha always seemed to know their next move and was able to warn the Israelites of possible attack. Elisha’s servant had woken up early only to see this vast army. Terrified, overwhelmed and isolated, he ran back inside to tell Elisha. But Elisha was unmoved. He was calm and confident. He didn’t panic as his servant hid in fear. Even though the situation looked impossible, he knew something that his servant didn’t—they were not alone! Elisha told his servant to relax. He said, “Those who are with us are more than those who are with them” (2 Kings 6:16). Then Elisha prayed that God would open his servant’s eyes to see a whole new reality—the spiritual realm where the battles are really won and lost. The servant’s eyes we...

Do you ever have hard days in your marriage and wonder if you married the wrong person? Perhaps your spouse has failed to meet your expectations or completely changed into a person you do not recognize. Then what? Today, we are covering the reading from  Genesis 24 & 25.  We see a beautiful love story as God orchestrates the finding of Rebekah to marry Isaac. Abraham’s servant is sent to the city of Nahor. These are the words of the servant: “Let the young woman to who I shall say ‘Please let down your jar that I may drink,’ and who shall say, ‘Drink, and I will water your camel’ – let her be the one whom you have appointed for your servant Isaac.” Genesis 24:14 Before the servant had finished speaking – beautiful Rebekah appears and fulfills his words! Boom – just like that we have a love connection! And off to the father and brother of Rebekah the servant goes, asking for her hand in marriage.  The request is granted and not a day passes and Rebekah is whisked away ...

What is your child learning? We need to know and care about what our children are learning. Don't be too busy for them, an investment in your child's spiritual growth  would be more valuable to you and to them in this life and in the next. Besides if you don't teach them about God, someone else who doesn't have the same faith or the evil world would teach them. Devil is awake, he is not sleeping. We make out time to do other things during the days that are not as valuable.  If you are taking this warning lightly, here is just a quick glimpse of the reality of our world today - World magazine has recently covered a story where Satanists are threatening to share their "educational materials" to distribute at a Florida school:  "On Religious Freedom Day in January, faith-based groups have been giving Bibles to public school students in Florida. In response, atheists and agnostics distributed their literature as well, and now The Satanic Temple says it will d...

“Luke 5:5-11” “Master,” Simon answered, “we have worked hard all night long and have not caught a thing. But if you tell me to, I will let the nets down.” (Luke 5:5 CEVDCUS06) “Peter would know about Mondays. Well, he would have known how you feel on Mondays. In our Luke 5 passage of Scripture, he’s just come home after working an all-nighter, and he’s tired. Add to that the fact that he has nothing to show for his labor and you could say he’s short on funds and maybe shorter on patience. The last thing he wants to do is turn the boat around and head back out. But in this passage, that’s exactly what Jesus asks him to do. “Master, we worked all night and caught nothing, but if you say so, I’ll lower the nets,” he says to Jesus, who is standing on the shore. Thankfully, Peter had more discipline than optimism, because he ended up catching more than fish. Do you feel like you are in Peter’s boat? Is your week ahead looking more like a shallow lake than a sea of opportunity? Are you headi...

When Martha complained to Jesus about Mary on His first visit to Bethany, Mary could have chosen to be offended by her sister. But there is no indication that she felt that way. She also could have taken offense when Judas and the disciples protested against her act of extravagant worship. But again, there is no indication that she did. Don’t make the mistake of underestimating the pain that was inflicted upon Mary in both situations. Here was a woman who loved her Lord with all her heart, and she was unfairly criticized for it. Not by her enemies, but once by her sister and another time by some of the Lord’s own disciples. It reminds me of the old adage, “No good deed shall go unpunished.” The words of Elbert Hubbard come to mind: “To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.” In both cases, Mary never opened her mouth to defend herself or her actions. In silence, she entrusted the matter to her Lord. And in both instances, Jesus rose to her defense. Point:  t...

What is the REAL purpose of life? Why are we here on this earth? James 4:14  For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. Our life is short, so short in fact that the Bible says it is even as a vapour that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Lets ask ourselves, if the average lifespan of a human is 70 years, what is this compared to 50,000 years in heaven, or 10,000,000 years with Jesus, but as we know, in heaven there are no time limits, it is for eternity. 2 Corinthians 4:17  For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; Our life now, when compared with forever in heaven, is truly just a small time. Consider for a moment... Jesus, The all powerful all knowing one, who at his voice, the heavens were made and all the host of them, He is the only source of life. Contemplate this, that Jesus had everything, He could not have had more honour, ...

Do you sometimes feel worthless? Or, at times, have you been slighted or treated as though you were of little value? Should we value some people more/less than others? And how should we set a value upon each other? Let's open the Bible and find some answers. Remember to pray and ask God to give us wisdom before we read His word. How much does God care for us? And how much does He value us? Matthew 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows. God cares for his creation (the sparrows in this case) so much! In fact not even one sparrow dies and falls on the ground without God noticing it. But to us sparrows seem so small and worthless, in fact in the Bible times two sparrows were sold for a farthing (less then one cent)! If God values the sparrows so much, how much does He care for, and value us? Are n...

                What kind of person should you date? Date someone with a good attitude. It's in the Bible, Romans 15:5-6, TLB. "May God who gives patience, steadiness, and encouragement help you to live in complete harmony with each other — each with the attitude of Christ toward the other."   Date someone who encourages you and is supportive. It's in the Bible, Philippians 2:1-2, TLB. "Is there any such thing as Christians cheering each other up? Do you love me enough to want to help me? Does it mean anything to you that we are brothers in the Lord, sharing the same Spirit? Are your hearts tender and sympathetic at all? Then make me truly happy by loving each other, working together with one heart and mind and purpose.   II Timothy 2:22, TLB. "Run from anything that gives you the evil thoughts that young men often have, but stay close to anything that makes you want to do right. Have faith and love, and enjoy the companionship of those ...