Break out!

April 24, 2011 by 1 Comment
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This picture is of Robert Harrison breaking out of a giant Easter egg at the start of their recently completed Hawaii Increase Event.

 

 

Break out!

by Olga Hermans

 

Let’s pray and believe that over the next several weeks, many of us will “Break Out” with new dreams, fresh revelation and resurrection power.

Can I ask you a question? Is there something in your life that has taken too long to manifest and you’ve wondered why? Maybe, just maybe there are things that you are doing wrong or perhaps not doing that makes everything so difficult for you that you almost want to give up?

I have 3 reasons why we might not get to our breakthrough. We want to break out and experience a breakthrough in our circumstances, isn’t it?

Let’s have a look at the definition of “breakthrough” today. Because when you know how to break through, then you can break out. To breakthrough means to burst forth to penetration from one surface or limit to the opposite; to break forth from wherever you are. From wherever you are limited right now, you want to break through that and get to the opposite point. That is what you want right?

What’s stopping your breakthrough from manifesting?

1. A Lack Of Knowledge

The Bible says:”My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge” (Hos. 4:6). You can’t enjoy something that you don’t even know exists or you cannot work a principle that you don’t know anything about. How could you function on your job if you wouldn’t know anything about it? We always have to gain knowledge and understanding of how things work.

If we didn’t know we had a right to live in health. We didn’t know we had a right to be blessed. We didn’t know that God would take care of us financially. Our lack of knowledge was keeping us from enjoying something that God had already pre-planned for us to have. Once we gain knowledge, we will pursue what God says belongs to us and see it manifest in our life.

2. A Failure To Correctly Appropriate Our Faith

Did you know that there are laws that govern faith? The Bible says that God knows your needs even before you ask. However, He still requires that we ask; according to James 4:2: “Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.”

Asking, you could say, is the first step to appropriating the law of faith. God requires that we ask. Verse three continues to say, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss….”

In other words, even though you’re asking, you could be asking improperly or with wrong motives. Jesus said, “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14).

The Bible also says, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes” Jesus spurs us up to act in faith, so that we please God.

Think of it this way. You can have a huge water tower and plenty of water pressure at your house, but unless you turn on the water faucet, no water is going to come out. That is the way it is with faith. Your faith must be switched on. Turn on your faith faucet so it is wide open. When you do, you will be able to receive by faith everything that God has promised you.

3. No revelation of the fear of the Lord

I really believe that many people have a complete wrong idea about “the fear of the Lord”. So, before you can hear what I am going to say, you have put all the religious preconceptions you may have had about the fear of the Lord on the shelf for a moment. Don’t put up a wall right now.

It should have been the first thing we learned as believers, because it is a very important value in your life and when you gain knowledge about it, you will be able to break out and break through your circumstances.

The fear of the Lord is not to be confused with a spirit of fear. That is many times the reason why people put up a wall when they hear somebody talk about the fear of the Lord.

The fear of the Lord is not referring to being afraid of God. We’re talking about reverence for God. We’re talking about worshiping God and being amazed at His greatness. We’re talking about being in awe of His magnificence.

But it also means not wanting to do anything that would displease Him because you love Him so much. It doesn’t mean pleasing Him just because you’re afraid He might kill you if you don’t.

You know, I would never do anything to harm my own children. They’ve done things that have displeased me, but it certainly didn’t change my love for them. I still loved them just the same. I didn’t start trying to figure out a way I could harm them. Well, God is no different with His children.

Most of the teaching I’ve heard over the years on the fear of the Lord was condemning. But a true revelation of the fear of the Lord will not condemn you; it will set you free.

Make a quality choice to gain knowledge, act in faith and let the fear of the Lord operate in your life and you will break out of your circumstances and experience a wonderful breakthrough.

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The Origin of Easter

April 20, 2011 by 3 Comments
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Is Easter Sunday Truly The Day When Jesus Rose From The Dead?

 

The Origin of Easter

Written by Creflo A. Dollar

 

 

Christians recognize Easter by honoring the day our Lord Jesus Christ was resurrected from the dead. The holiday often involves a traditional church service, with a resurrection-themed message, along with other traditions such as
giving Easter baskets, filled with colorful, decorated eggs and candy; stuffed Easter bunnies; and egg hunts for children. There are many questions about Easter, such as: Is Easter Sunday truly the day when Jesus rose from the dead? Where did all the strange customs come from, which have nothing to do with the resurrection of Jesus? We need to know the answers to these questions.

The first thing we should know is that professing Christians were not the only ones who celebrated a festival called “Easter.” The word easter is actually a derivative of the word “Ishtar,” which was a day on which many people who practiced pagan religion commemorated the resurrection of one of the gods they worshiped, named “Tammuz.” This god was believed to be the offspring of their moon-goddess and sun-god.

In biblical times, there was a man named Nimrod, who was the grandson of Noah’s son Ham. Nimrod married his own mother and became a powerful king. In fact, the people over whom Nimrod ruled elevated him to the status of “god-man.” His wife and mother, Semiramis, became the powerful queen of ancient Babylon.

Nimrod was eventually killed, and his body was cut into pieces and sent to various parts of his kingdom. However, the part of his body that could not be found was his reproductive organs. Semiramis claimed that Nimrod could not come back to life without them and told the people of Babylon that he had ascended to the sun and was now to be called “Baal,” the sun god. Queen Semiramis also proclaimed that Baal should be worshiped.

This woman was essentially creating a pagan religion and setting herself up as a goddess on the earth. She claimed that she came down from the moon in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River and that her “birth” took place at the time as the first full moon after the spring equinox. Semiramis became known as “Ishtar,” which is pronounced “Easter,” and her moon egg became known as “Ishtar’s egg.” This is where the central theme of eggs originated in connection with the Easter holiday.

Ishtar soon became pregnant and claimed that it was the rays of the sun-god Baal that caused her to conceive. She named her son Tammuz, and it was believed that he was especially fond of rabbits. As a result, the animal became sacred in this ancient pagan religion.

Worshipers of this religion were taught to meditate on the sacred mysteries of Baal and Tammuz and to celebrate on the first Sunday following the first full moon after the spring equinox. This was considered “Ishtar’s Sunday” and was celebrated with rabbits and eggs.

The truth is that the traditional Easter celebration that many of us grew up practicing actually has nothing to do with the resurrection of Jesus Christ! In fact, eggs, rabbits, and hot cross buns have everything to do with an ancient pagan religion that is based on idol worship. For this reason, we should make sure we understand what we are actually celebrating. Jesus came to the earth and died for our sins so that we may have eternal, abundant life. Our worship belongs to the one and only true God. Therefore, instead of celebrating Easter Sunday, as the body of Christ, we celebrate Resurrection Sunday. Take the time to explain these truths to your family and children so they will know the truth about “Easter.”

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To Forgive or Not To Forgive, That Is The Question

April 19, 2011 by 3 Comments
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Forgiveness Does Not Change The Past, But It Does Enlarge The Future

To Forgive or Not To Forgive, That Is The Question

by Olga Hermans

Life Is An Adventure In Forgiveness / Norman Cousins

Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much / Oscar Wilde

He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love /
Martin Luther King Jr.

Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future / Paul Boese

Forgiveness is a powerful thing. Jesus himself said this in Matt.6:14-15 when you pray, forgive other people. If you don’t forgive other people neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive you.
You know, our salvation depends upon forgiveness; it depends on God forgiving us of our sin. Jesus added a little emphasis to it and said, if you don’t forgive others your Father in heaven cannot forgive you.

You don’t want to have anything that blocks God’s forgiveness in your life. That’s why it is so important for us to forgive. It is important to realize that in holding on to unforgiveness we are letting that person that caused the heartache or the pain to continue to control us.

When we forgive, we release ourselves from that control and we release that person into the hands of God. God can take care of that person.
“If you don’t get bitter, you get better” Billy Joe Daugherty. That is a great advice, because we all experience things in life that we don’t like or get really stressed about. Just don’t get bitter and you will make it.

You have the blood of Jesus, you have the Word of God, you have the name of Jesus, you have the Holy Spirit who empowers you. You have everything that you need to overcome in this life and to help other people. But the one thing that can stop it all is unforgiveness.

That counts for all of us whether in our family, on our job in all our relationships. If we don’t get bitter, we will make it in life.
People that are forgiving people are happier people and they are easier to be around. People that are unforgiving are hard to be around, don’t you think so? They carry a chip on their shoulder, they are suspicious of everybody and it is really hard for them to have healthy relationships.

There are a lot of people with a lot of baggage; when they were a child they were abused and are even now in abusive relationships. We sometimes think of many reasons why we don’t want to forgive somebody. One of the reasons is because we think that they don’t deserve to be forgiven, but God will always quickly remind us that we didn’t deserve to be forgiven either. God chose to forgive us.
The more we hold on to the things that we call “our rights”, the more we destroy the things that God is trying to do in our life. God is a good God; He would never ask us to forgive if He hadn’t given us the ability and the grace to do it.

When we forgive, relationships can be restored. When we walk in an attitude of forgiveness, we walk in that love walk. The bible says that LOVE can then cover a multitude of sin, so when we are around friends that we have forgiven there is peace, because we are walking in the love of God.

Forgiveness is definitely not a feeling; you always have to make sure that you choose to forgive. Every day we have opportunities to take offense or to get offended and get bitter towards somebody and something that is said. God tells us to put on love, put on forgiveness, choose to forgive and walk in love.

When we do forgive, something happens in our life. When we release that hurt and that offense, God will begin to work in our life.
And even many times after we have forgiven somebody, those feelings of anger and hurt will still come back toward that person; we are humans and those things happen. But we have to continually make a choice to forgive, that means I choose to forgive that person. When those feelings will try to come up again and we feel that anger rising towards that person we make a choice to say: “God, I forgive them and I release them to you”.

The power of forgiveness releases the power of God to work in their lives and to work in your life. Forgiveness brings us freedom. If someone has done something to you or abandoned you; the best thing you can do for your own heart and for your own future is to release and forgive them.

The reality is that you might be able to choose to hold on to that unforgiveness in your heart or in your life, but I want to tell you that the price is not worth it. It is not worth the price of holding on to that unforgiveness and hindering the things that God wants to do in your life or hindering the blessing that God wants to bring to your family.
I want to encourage you today that you make a choice and decide that you are going to forgive so that God will bring everything to your life that He wants to bring.

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2 Lessons From The Celebrity Apprentice To Reach Your Destiny

April 17, 2011 by 5 Comments
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The Fact That Gary Busey Has Not Already Been Fired Is Almost Hilarious And Makes Everybody Walk On Their Toes

 

2 Lessons From The Celebrity Apprentice
To Reach Your Destiny

by Olga Hermans

Last week while I was writing “Iron Sharpens Iron” and “When Life Throws You A Curveball”; I kept thinking about the situation on the Celebrity Apprentice. I don’t know about you but I would be greatly challenged when I would have to work with a person that challenges me to the max. I am not sure if I could stay focused on the task ahead of me under that kind of pressure. What about you? How would you act and perform in a situation like that?

The fact that Gary Busey has not already been fired onNBC’s the Celebrity Apprentice is almost hilarious and makes everybody walk on their toes. It keeps me speechless sometimes why Donald Trump keeps Gary around and keeps me marveling why? What are Donald trump’s motives, why does he keep the other men struggling with him? It’s very puzzling to me.

Actor Gary Busey is definitely the one that sharpens the iron of all the men in the ‘Backbone’ team. Knowing how to manage yourself in a situation like this will unquestionably build your character, which is a good thing. Some say he is a genius, others say he is a moron.? You be the judge!

Pro 27:17 says: “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend”.
Gods Word says: “As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens the wits of another”.
ISV says: “Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens a friend’s character”.
You know, when iron sharpens iron, sparks are going to fly! We sharpen each other by being in a conversation and stirring up to exercise our gifts and talents.

The other article was about when Life Throws You a Curveball and it talked about the issue when somebody would be hired for a new job and thought it was going to be a certain way, but then you find out you had a boss or an employee that was a real pain in the neck. The participants in The Apprentice are prepared because they know that this is going to happen. But still when it happens, everybody has to face the facts and sharpen their motives to move forward.

So, what should you do when that happens?

1.   Don’t get bitter and choose to be an encouragement instead. Encourage the team and encourage yourself. The people in the team are the assets that you have. Don’t go and sit on the sideline and look down your nose at what everybody else is doing.
You must wake up and determine that you will do the things that will move you forward.

2.   You need to remind yourself that you have a destiny. Do you know what is going to help you get through your overwhelming circumstances? It is a revelation of your destiny.
You might be in an overwhelming circumstance right now, but God is letting you know you have a future and a hope. Become compassionate for others and realize you have a destiny, a goal to be reached. Then press toward it in spite of unexpected storms – or curveballs – that come your way.

Will Gary Busey ever get fired on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’?

If a situation with a person like this comes into your own life, what do you do? What do most people do? The easy way out is to leave the situation for what it is and walk out. Leave it for what it is and hope for the best, hoping that a curveball like that will never come back. You choose to not be sharpened by the iron that came into your life.

What do you think? I think that every time we make a choice not to face a situation or a certain personality we miss out, because we could have strengthened our character which is very important. It is your character that keeps you in the place of success. If you reach success and your character is not developed, you will have a hard time to stay there.

How would you like it when somebody would say about you: “we do not want to work around you Gary, but WE ARE FORCED to work around you” like Meatloaf said.

Here came what we all probably were waiting for: “Gary, you’re very talented, you are very unique, you are an amazing guy and Gary “YOU”RE FIRED!” Donald Trump stated the fact one more time! What would you have done?

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The Passover Lamb

April 16, 2011 by 4 Comments
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Here is another article about Easter as I promised.

by Dr. Larry Ollison

 

 

I Want To Give You Proof That Jesus Is The Passover Lamb And That His Blood Is The Blood That Sets Us Free

 

 

Jesus was set aside to be sacrificed, examined, tested, and crucified on the exact month, day, and hour that the Jews had been handling and slaughtering the lambs for over fifteen hundred years in the keeping of the feast of the Passover.

Jesus was set aside for observation and inspection five days before the sacrifice in the same way that the lamb was set aside for five days for inspection.

Let me prove it to you. In John 12:1 it says, “Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany . . .” Six days before the Passover, Jesus showed up in Bethany where Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead, lived. During this time, religious leaders were trying to kill Lazarus because Jesus raised him from the dead. Jesus was at Lazarus’ home six days before the Passover.

Since the Passover was celebrated on the 14th, that means Jesus was in Bethany on the 9th. Then if you look at John 12:12-13, it says, “The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: “Hosanna! ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ The King of Israel!”

So the next day was the 10th, which was the day of the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. From that point until the 14th, Jesus was scrutinized, questioned, and interrogated to find out who He was. In fact, in Matthew 21:23-27 Jesus was questioned severely concerning His authority. In Matthew 23, they tried to trick Jesus. They tried to ask Him trick questions to get Him to say something that was wrong. But Jesus passed every single test. The scripture says He answered them perfectly. Finally, in desperation, when they couldn’t find anything wrong with the Lamb of God, they sent Him to the Roman governor, Pilate. Look at what happened there in John chapter 19. “Pilate then went out again, and said to them, ‘Behold, I am bringing Him out to you, that you may know that I find no fault in Him.'”

The Jews couldn’t find any fault in Jesus, so they turned Him over to the government. The government could not find any fault in Him either. The Lamb had been examined for five days and He was found without spot or blemish or fault. WOW! First Peter 1:18-19 says, “Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.”

The blood of Jesus was like the blood of an inspected sacrificial lamb. It was without blemish and without spot. Jesus was the Passover Lamb. Not only was He inspected like the Passover lamb for five days, but He was crucified and slaughtered on the same day and at the same time the Passover lambs were being sacrificed all over Jerusalem.

Jesus knew what was going on. He was not oblivious to this whole thing. In fact, in Matthew 26:2 you’ll find where He said, “You know that after two days is the Passover, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” Jesus knew exactly what was going on. He knew the exact day He was going to be crucified.

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Your Place In The Heart Of The Father

April 12, 2011 by 8 Comments
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Do You Know That The Lord Longs To Have Fellowship With You?

 

Your Place In The Heart Of The Father

by Olga Hermans

You have to know the place that you have in the Heart of the Father. If you are you hungry for God; it is a lot easier when you know that you have such a huge place in the heart of the Father. It takes away all of the unworthiness that might be there, it takes away all of the condemnation that might be there, it takes away everything that would block us from approaching Him, it takes away the bad fear out of fearing God.

I am not talking about honoring God, but I am talking about people that are just plain afraid of God. They are in a place where they don’t feel they can come boldly to the throne. Why can you come boldly to the throne? Because of your place in the heart of the Father.

If you are a parent you know this where your children are concerned. Your children have a place in our heart. Our children have a place in our heart. I gave birth to two children; they have a very special place in my heart. If this works in the natural, how much more does it work in the spiritual?

We need to have an understanding and a revelation of our place in the heart of the Father. Gen.3:7-9 says: And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees of the garden. And the LORD God called unto Adam, and said unto him, “Where are you”?

God was not angry when He said that. No, He was looking for His friend. He was looking for the ones that He was communing with and having these special times with; He was looking for them and said: “where are you?”

You know what God was doing? He was longing for fellowship. Do you know that the Lord longs to have fellowship with you? He is longing for fellowship with you. Let this scripture just soak into your heart when you read it out loud to yourself!

Isa 30:18 And therefore the Lord [earnestly] waits [expecting, looking, and longing] to be gracious to you; and therefore He lifts Himself up, that He may have mercy on you and show loving-kindness to you. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are all those who [earnestly] wait for Him, who expect and look and long for Him [for His victory, His favor, His love, His peace, His joy, and His matchless, unbroken companionship]!

The Lord longs for us and our response to Him should be that we long for Him so that we can experience His matchless, unbroken companionship. He longs for each and every one of us.

God created the universe for the earth. When you go outside, take some time and look up to the sky and watch the stars and realize that God created it all. God created the whole universe as a cradle for the earth, as a holding place for the earth. The universe is actually a coat for the earth that wraps it and embraces it.

And the earth was created for man. The earth was created for us and you and I were created for fellowship with God.

It is very important for you to know what God thinks about you. If you know that, you will experience that there is a very relaxed place for you when you go and fellowship with Him.

After the creation of Adam, the angels began to observe how God treats men. They asked the big question: “what is this man?” Psalm 8:4 Let’s see what the Father thinks about us; it will make it so much easier to fellowship with Him. When you know your place in the Father’s heart, it is easy to fellowship. He not only LOVES you, but He also LIKES you! He likes being with you. It feeds His heart to be around His children.

When you get up tomorrow morning, take some extra time with Him and let Him talk to you. Let Him visit with you because you are in His heart, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done, it doesn’t matter your past, it doesn’t matter what kind of a track record you had; it doesn’t matter because you are in His heart. He is the eternal optimist about you.

He is saying: “You’re going to make it, you are going to fulfill everything that I have called you to do, you going to make it through this. Maybe you have been struggling with something all of your life. He is right there to help you. Some people do something over and over and over again and think that they have no right to go before the Father.

You let Him lift your head up and go back into His presence, because he will never give up on you; NEVER!!He’ll never quit!

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Self-Acceptance

April 11, 2011 by Leave a Comment
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Have You Ever Thought About The Fact That You Had A Relationship With Yourself?

 

Self-Acceptance

by Olga Hermans

 

Last week we talked about REJECTION, remember? Now I like to ask you this question: “Do you like yourself?” Do you know that most people don’t like themselves? Isn’t that sad? Life is all about making choices as we realize more and more. But, do you know that many people need help to be whole emotionally, mentally, spiritually and socially.

Some people know it, while others don’t even have a clue that it is the very root of all the other problems in their life. Self-rejection and even self-hatred are the root causes of many relationship problems. God wants us to have great relationships. He desires to have to a very close and intimate relationship with us.

If you really look at it, you will see that the Bible is a book about relationships. Here is a great scripture that confirms what I am talking about: 1 Peter 3:11 “[Do not merely desire peaceful relations with God, with your fellowmen, and with yourself, but pursue, go after them!]”.

So, the Word of God instructs us to have good relationships, but it also teaches us how to develop and maintain those relationships. This scripture tells us that we first must have peace with God. You and I must believe that He loves us and he loves us unconditionally and completely at all times; the choice is up to you and me to accept that. This is very profound and not something to take lightly. God is always the same and His love for us is always perfect.

So, that tells us that His love is always there for us…BUT..we must receive His Love. Most of the time that is a big issue for people. When we receive from God, we actually take into ourselves what He is offering. As we receive His love, that love is then in us. Wow!! When we are filled with God’s love, we might make a new start and begin to love ourselves.

And another thing that is so cool is that we can begin to give that love back to God by giving it to other people. We have to remind ourselves that we cannot give away what we don’t have. Rom.5:5

We all need to ask ourselves what we are doing with the love of God that has been freely given to us. Are we rejecting it because we don’t think we are valuable enough to be loved? Or do we maybe believe that God is like other people who have rejected and hurt us?

What kind of relationship do you have with God, with yourself and with people around you? I have never thought about the fact that I had a relationship with myself, you? It was something I had never thought about until I was exposed to some teaching about it.

I now realize that I spend more time with myself than anyone else and it is very important that I get along well with me. Somebody said once “you are one person you never get away from.

I don’t have to remind you how agonizing it is to work day after day with someone we don’t get along with, but you know what we don’t have to take that person home with us at night. But we are with us all the time, day and night. We never have one minute away from ourselves, not even one second.

Rejecting ourselves does not change us, it actually multiplies our problems. Acceptance causes us to face reality and then begin to deal with it. We cannot deal with anything as long as we are refusing to accept it or denying its reality. It should be an easy choice for us to accept ourselves as we are and grow more and more in our self-acceptance; what do you think? Did this article motivate you in any way? Please take some time to make a comment. Is there a topic that you would like me to write on; is there something that you are really interested in? Let me know and I will do my very best to write an article on it.

You can subscribe to The Daily Choice which brings an encouraging message 5 days a week to your inbox by clicking here

 

 

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Dip and Dye Eggs This Easter

April 9, 2011 by 1 Comment
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Each Egg Rep­resents A Person Who Has Been Saved And Dipped In The Blood Of Jesus Christ

 

Dip and Dye Eggs This Easter

by Rick Renner

 

 

Are you ready to celebrate Easter? Are you preparing your heart for this celebration? I was talking to my friend the other day about the impact the preparation of Easter made on me when I was a child; my mom cleaned our whole house inside out. Every child got news clothes because of this celebration.

I like to call Easter from now on “Resurrection Day”. The Lord has told me more often to move beyond all the traditional habits and acknowledge Easter for what it really is; a powerful reminder of the ultimate sacrifice and miraculous resurrection of Christ Himself.

One thing I always like to do is read messages about Easter regarding some “tradition”. Here is the 1st I chose for today. I will be posting 2 more this week, so please come back!

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.- Matt. 28:19

One year our Moscow pastoral staff had a debate over whether or not it was right or wrong to dye Easter eggs for the annual Easter celebration. In the Russian Orthodox Church, Easter eggs are a very big part of tradition. Therefore, I wanted to include Easter eggs in our church celebration in order to help those from an Orthodox background feel more comfortable in their new Protestant surroundings. My goal was for our children’s ministry to dip, dye, and decorate several thousand eggs —one for each member of the congregation—and then to publicly present them on stage to the church before giving one to every person in attendance.

Rick Renner

Because the children would be presenting the eggs on stage, I knew this special presentation would attract their unsaved parents to the service, allowing the parents to hear the Gospel for the first time. Some of the pastoral staff thought this was a great idea, but others thought it was inap­propriate to use a symbol that also had alleged ties to paganism from the past.

At the same time we were debating this question, I was preparing to preach a message about water baptism. To prepare for my message, I pulled out my Greek New Testament, opened it to Matthew 28:19, and began to look at the Greek word for “baptism.” I honestly thought, What new revelation could I possibly learn about the word “baptism” after studying it for so many years? But I’ll open all my books and give it a shot to see if there’s anything about this word I’ve never seen before.

Wow! Was I ever shocked at what I discovered that day! After all those years of studying, I saw something I had never seen before about baptidzo, the Greek word for “baptism.” I saw that this word baptidzo originally meant to dip and to dye. For instance, in very early cases, baptidzo described the process of dipping a cloth or garment into a vat of color to dye it; leaving it there long enough for the material to soak up the new color; and then pulling that garment out of the dye with a permanently changed outward appearance. When I saw this, I just about leaped out of my chair with excitement!

In Second Corinthians 5:17, Paul wrote, “Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new crea­ture: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” A person who comes to Jesus Christ can be likened to an old garment that needs to be dipped into a vat of dye so its color can be changed. However, the person isn’t dipped into a vat of colored dye, but into the precious blood of the Lamb! This person is so totally transformed by Jesus’ blood that he becomes a new creature. His countenance is so changed that he even looks different. You could say that this new believer has been “dipped and dyed!”

What a new light this shed on baptism! Paul wrote, “Therefore, we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life” (Romans 6:4). Water baptism is a symbolic proclamation of the fact that believers have been buried with Christ and raised with Him. When a believer is placed in the baptismal waters, it symbolizes being immersed in one condition and coming out looking brand new. In other words, it is a picture of what happened to that person when he got saved! This out­ward symbol represents the fact that he has been dipped in the blood of the Lamb, and now his entire life has been newly colored and transformed to be like Jesus!

When I saw this meaning in the word baptidzo, I told my pastoral staff, “This year we’re going to let the children dye Easter eggs. Then we’re going to use this as a teaching tool to show them what happens when a person is born again!” I instructed the teachers to tell the children that each egg rep­resented a person who has been saved and dipped in the blood of Jesus Christ—newly colored, transformed, and changed forever.

The time came for the children to dye and decorate those eggs. As they dipped those eggs, they imagined that they were baptizing people who were newly saved. It turned out to be quite a hallelujah time! Each Easter egg became a declaration to those children that several thousand new people would soon be saved and water baptized!

Aren’t you thankful that Jesus totally transformed your life? Don’t you see things differently from the way you used to see them? Hasn’t your entire outlook on life been altered? In a certain sense, couldn’t you say that there is new light and color since Jesus came into your life? Just go ahead and rejoice in the fact that you have been dipped and dyed in the blood of Jesus and that you’ll never be the same again!

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Overcoming Rejection

April 8, 2011 by 4 Comments
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But you are the ones chosen by God ... from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted. 1Pe 2:9-10

Everybody, I talk to, black or white, suburban, rich or poor can relate to rejection. Derek Luke

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. Eleanor Roosevelt

It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord you are safe. Proverbs 29:25

Why do you fear rejection?

Have you ever felt rejection?

Rejection is a very difficult thing for us to walk though, it is very hurtful and it wounds us deeply. [Read more…]

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This is The Good Life

April 6, 2011 by 1 Comment
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This morning we received our partner letter from Kenneth and Gloria Copeland in the mail. I HAD to post it because I absolutely loved it plus it is the very core of this blog. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. This is what it is all about. Go and enjoy your reading ==>>

Dear Partner,

Today, I want us to look into the God-given right to choose our own destiny. God will not impose or in any way force Himself on anyone. The devil does. God does not. That is what is unique about man. God has given every man a free will to choose. Let’s look first at Deuteronomy 30:19-20:

19  I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:
20  That thou mayest love the LORD thy God, and that thou mayest obey his voice, and that thou mayest cleave unto him: for he is thy life, and the length of thy days: that thou mayest dwell in the land which the LORD sware unto thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.

Notice how many times you (thou) is mentioned in that scripture: 10 times, plus once it is the understood subject. God made His choice and acted on it. He set before YOU life and death. Blessing and cursing. Now! YOU choose.

In preparing a message along these lines, I heard the Lord say, “Every choice one makes falls under either THE BLESSING or the curse. There is no in between and every choice has a consequence. To choose God’s WORD as first place or highest authority is to choose life. His WORD is life to those who find it – or to those who choose it. To agree with feelings when they “feel” bad is to choose the curse as final authority. The results are always the same. The consequences of choosing The WORD are so “that both thou and thy seed may live.” To choose The WORD of God is to choose God and He is your life.

Now, think it through. I choose The WORD and consider not my own body (feelings, circumstances, bad news, etc.).

Faith, then, cometh by hearing and hearing by The WORD of God. Faith is the first reaction or consequence of choosing The WORD. Faith-filled words and love-filled faith remove the curse, and healing is the result. On the other hand, to side with or choose the feeling, pain, circumstance, etc. as “the truth” is to produce and enforce fear, which makes one subject to bondage (Hebrews 2:14-15). Can you see the dividing line here? The WORD, life, healing and deliverance are all under THE BLESSING.
Sickness, doubt, fear, lack and pain are all under the curse. Now in the light of that, let’s see what Jesus said in John 10:10:

10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come
that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

The thief (the devil) comes to steal – that’s under the curse. To kill is under the curse. To destroy, that’s also under the curse. He never, according to Jesus, comes for any other reason. He can’t. He’s cursed. On the other hand. Jesus has come as High Priest of THE BLESSING so that we might have life and have it MORE abundantly. So, choose Jesus! He is our life and the length of our days!
Every choice in our life, every day, comes under THE BLESSING or the curse.

Now, look at Galatians 3:9 and 13-14:

9  So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.
13  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:
for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:
14  That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ;
that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Jesus bore the curse. He defeated it. He took its power away so when we choose Him as Lord and Savior, the curse cannot overpower us. On the contrary. He has given us not only the right to choose, but the power to enforce our choice. His authority, His name, His full armor, the power of His Spirit, THE BLESSING of Abraham – are ours!

To choose Jesus is the choose life. He became poor – part of the curse – so we could become rich, part of THE BLESSING. He bore our sins – the curse – so we could become rich, part of the THE BLESSING. He bore our sins – the curse so we could be made righteousness of God. He went to hell – the curse – so we could come   boldly to the throne of GRACE – THE BLESSING.

The “great exchange” was the Cross. Jesus did not go to the cross so He could become a king. He went to the Cross so we could become kings. That’s the gospel.

Look at Galatians 3:8:

8  And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.

Look at every choice of life. Where does it fall? Under THE BLESSING or under the curse? Do I choose to hear what the world’s system says, or what The WORD says; what the banker says, or what Philippians 4:19 says; what the doctor says, or what 1 Peter 2:24 says? Do I follow Jesus and life, or what religion and tradition say?

As for me and my house, we will follow Jesus. He is our life and the length of our days. We choose faith. We choose heaven. Our future is bright! Hope is strong. Faith is strong, giving Glory to God. Love is strong, and LOVE NEVER FAILS!

We, our house, have chosen to tithe. We have chosen to give. We have chosen to preach The WORD in season and out. We are not just believers, we are disciples. Our business is not the first place. The government is not our supply. Our own self-interest and pursuits are not our reason for living. We seek first the kingdom of God. We build the kingdom. We live the kingdom. “Thy kingdom come, Thy will (plan, program, WORD, BLESSING) be done in earth as it is in heaven.” Therefore, things are no problem. They are added to us. Supply is no problem. He gives us all things richly to enjoy. We, therefore, hold forth The WORD of Life in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. Jesus’ plans, pursuits and purpose are our plans, pursuits and purpose. His ways are our ways. He is our Source – our only Source. In Him, who loved us and gave His life for us, we have our lives and through Him we live.

Gloria and I love you and pray for you every day.

Love, Ken

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