Deuteronomy 1:36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land he set his feet on, because he followed the Lord wholeheartedly.” Numbers 14:24 But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it Numbers 11:23 The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not what I say will come true for you.” Genesis 18:24 Abraham asking God to save Sodom What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[a] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Exodus 32:10  10 Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.” Exodus 32:14 God withdrew his treat Now leave me alone so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”

~ Karlin 24th December 2023 ACTS 16: 17-18She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most HighGod, who are telling you the way to be saved. She kept this up for many days. Finally Paulbecame so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ Icommand you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her. The spirit was not only aware of the duties of a man of God, but even kept taunting Paul by repeatedlycalling them Servants of the Most High. His aim was to create at least an ounce of pride within theirhearts. However, Paul did not take heed of her words, and then he cast out the spirit when he realizedwhat the spirit was trying to do. In 1 Timothy 3:1, Paul says, `Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be anoverseer desires a noble task’Matthew 23:11-12 the greatest among you will be your servant.   For those who exaltthemselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted. Jesus said, onewho aspires to be the greatest, should be willing to serve. However, people nowadays areunwilling follow these teachings. 1 Timothy 3: 2-7, talks about the characteristics that a deacon/overseer should possess. Andverse 7 says,” He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall intodisgrace and into the devil’s trap.” It was due to his pride and greed that Lucifer was sent down from heaven. Similarly, pride filled the heart of King Nebuchadnezzar over his kingdom in Daniel 4,which later led to his downfall (for seven years). [examples from the bible] Acts 16:19 – “When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone…” Therewere many who were using her for financial gains. Daniel 5: 4-31Out of his pride and drunkenness, King Belshazzar took the gold and silver cups taken from theTemple of Jerusalem, during a banquet, to drink wine and proceed to worship other gods.Because of this, God punished him (writing on the wall: MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN), whichlater led to the division of his kingdom and his demise. Darius, the King of Medes, took over.As per the vision (of the great statue) that King Nebuchadnezzar had, we are now near the end(feet made partly of iron and baked clay) and hence should not fall prey to pride but instead,give all praise and glory to the Lord.

~ Reney 3 Timothy 3:16 – Use of the scripture All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, Malachi 2:7 – Responsibility of the Priest “For the lips of a priest ought to preserve knowledge, because he is the messenger of the Lord Almighty and people seek instruction from his mouth. Acts 6:2-3 – Allocating church responsibility In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. 2 So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. 3 Brothers and sisters, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them 4 and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.” 1: the number of people was increasing and (Acts 4) the disciples did a lot of charity work which led them to more responsibilities. 2: Always put God’s words first then charity. They were going down in ministry work, so the disciples took action and selected seven men who were: 3: “Full of spirit and wisdom” 4: and will give our attention to prayer and ministry of word The priest spreads the word of God, believers to listen to the word of God (Satan knows this well) Acts 16:17 Satan know Christian’s duty “She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 2 Timothy 2:1-9 You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.2 And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. 3 Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.5 Similarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victor’s crown except by competing according to the rules.6 The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. 7 Reflect on what I am saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all this.8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 4: No one serving as a soldier gets entangled with civilian affairs 5: Anyone who competes as an athlete does not receive the victory crown except by competing according to the rules: Eg. Daniel gave a letter to Yahab go five instructions to put Urihab at the front line of the battle: Matthew 6:33 -What we ought to seek “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.“

10/12/2023 – by Sheena TOPIC VERSE – Romans 2:15-16 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. In this verse, we can see that the day will come when the secrets of men will be judged according to the gospel of God and all the secrets will come out on the day of judgment. Hebrews: 9.27 “…..So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment“. Here, two things are definitely said to happen to humans:       1) Death is for all men.       2) Judgment is for all men. Likewise, he already came once for sinners. But, he will no longer come for sinners. For instance: The two thieves who were with Jesus on the cross. Matthew: 28:18-19 – What is God’s desire for us here on earth? “18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,“ 1) Preach the gospel to every man. 2)Baptize those who believe the gospel in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 3)Make disciples of all by doing whatever God has commanded you to do.  2 Timothy 3:16 – Usefulness of the Bible “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness” 2 Timothy 3:12 – Christians and persecution “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” It can be seen that the people who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. God will give to us the rewards and remuneration for what we do in Jesus name. That’s why Bible says that… “the wages are in His hand and the reward is with Him”                    AMEN

Let’s look into who God has chosen and what is the purpose of the chosen ones. ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭27-28‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;28 and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are,” We have different perceptions about people but we see that Jesus chose the weak ones of the society to do great things for His kingdom. God could have used the wealthy and the highly qualified ones, but he hand-picked the unusual group of people who included fishermen and the low cast within the society. Those lives and legacy are still learned and written by the scholars. The only candidacy of these 12 men is that they walked with Jesus. The responsibility of the Chosen Ones – is to proclaim the gospel What is the gospel? Gospel is a person (Jesus), the forgiveness of our sins and the salvation that we obtain through Jesus. Peter’s sermon was solely based on Jesus Christ (gospel) in Acts 2,  ‭‭Acts‬ ‭2‬:‭37‬ ‭NKJV‬ “Now when they heard this, they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”” *Where the true gospel is preached there would be a deep transformation* like the first church and the prophecy of Joel. Why do we proclaim the gospel? ‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel.” Practical example of building a house. Unless the foundation of a building is established the other materials like the tiles, doorframe or even bricks are not of any value or use. How is God going to judge people who live in different dispensations? The Old Testament believers had the law of God inbuilt in them and would be judged by the law. Maps were being used a few years ago, which is now replaced by navigation systems which are inbuilt into most of the vehicles which help us to reach our destination. God has given us the route map through His Word to reach the final destination as it says in the below verse  ‭‭I Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭17‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.” the focus of many churches has turned to worship only, we need to encourage and promote the importance of preaching and practising the word of God. So who is wise according to the Bible? Let’s look at the below three verses! ‭‭Daniel‬ ‭12‬:‭3‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “Those who are wise shall shine Like the brightness of the firmament, And those who turn many to righteousness Like the stars forever and ever.” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭14‬:‭2‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “The Lord looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.” ‭‭Matthew‬ ‭7‬:‭24-27‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.” If the foundation is built on the rock who is Jesus Christ, the storms of this world cannot stop or worry us of any harm. Let us understand and make sure that we accomplish the purpose for which he has chosen in this pilgrim journey to our eternal home.