Church of Thyatira (Part 4)

                             Don't be stubborn as a mule! (*)

And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works.                                                        (Rev 2:23)

In our last study, we talked about Balaam and how he wrestled with a weakness--the love of money! We saw how King Balak heard of the fame of Balaam and wanted him to misuse his gift. He offered him great amounts of money, a high position, and power. At first, he resisted and stood his ground but as King Balak kept pressing on him to curse Israel, he was getting weak. God, eventually, allowed Balaam to meet with King Balak but warned him to say what thus saith the Lord.  

Now, you may ask, what has this to do with Rev 2:23? Notice the words searcheth the reins and hearts. God knows what's in your heart. Balaam's heart was not right and God gave him a wake-up call along the way. The angel of the Lord was about to kill him, but the donkey saved his life. God opened the mouth of the ass and Balaam (Believe it or not) argued with the animal. It wasn't until the Lord opened his eyes that he saw the angel of the Lord give him a stern warning.(Numbers 22:21-35)

As we read the end of the story, Balaam meets with King Balak. The King does his best to persuade Balaam. Balaam in turn tries to persuade God to give him permission to curse Israel but a peculiar and strange thing happened. Balaam prophesied blessings for Israel. (Numbers 23-24) At this, King Balak gave up and said that God was the cause of him not having honor nor great riches. (Numbers 24:10-11) The end? Not quite but to be continued. 

                                    Let's make a deal!

but I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.(Rev 2:14)

It was not enough for Balaam to walk away from great fame and fortune. He was so tempted that that thought was nagging at his head. Soon, the devil gave him a satanic idea. He met with King Balak to share his plan. (2 Peter 2:15) This plan pleased King Balak so much that he paid Balaam his wages. What was their plan?

Mixture! That was their stumbling block! Numbers 25 gives us the whole picture of their plan. They would take the best-looking women from Moab and seduce the men of Israel. These women worshipped Baal and got their lovers to partake of these unclean and demon-inspired practices at Baalpeor. For details about this type of worship, click on the link below. (1) Their practices were so unsanitary and were an abomination before the Lord. Those acts caused the death of  24,000 people due to the plague. 

                 Love righteousness and hate iniquity. 

  

Moses killed the leaders responsible for the plague and it freed them from the plague. Brethren, now more than ever, we need to walk in our identity with Christ. The word says...Love righteousness and hate iniquity. Idolatry is a stench in the nostrils of our Lord. 

Would you put your head in the toilet or drink vomit? (Isa 28:7-9, 2 Kings 10:27) Brethren, when you analyze the background of Idolatrous practices, they were unsanitary and putrid. Satan likes to dress sin and make it attractive. When God gives us revelation of what sin truly is, we will hate it as much as God. 

God hated the sin of Idolatry so much that he converted the altar of Baal into a restroom (2 Kings 10:27) It is similar to the altar of Baalpeor which has a depiction of a demon sitting on a toilet. (1) Let's ask God to show what's inside our hearts. Doing so will help us walk in the way of righteousness and be more than a conqueror. For more teachings, check on the link below (2)

(1) Baalpeor

(*) Picture courtesy of Lena Bauermeister, whose work can be found at www.unsplash.com

(2) Bind and loose

Questions to ask--

1- Have you've been pressured to do something in your job that you know is wrong? Have you been offered a promotion if you comply? How did you deal with it? 

2- Have you been pressured to sign for a business deal without praying? 

Prayer---Thank you, Lord, for speaking to me about compromise. Help me to stand strong with my convictions. Holy Spirit, show me what's inside my heart. Examine me in this day and help me to uproot anything that is not like you. I confess that I love righteousness and hate iniquity. Thank you that you are teaching me what to love and what to hate...In Jesus' name. Amen. 

Have you left your first love?

Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love.(Rev 2:4)

In our past studies, we took a hard look at the church of Ephesus. This was a church that was founded by the Apostle Paul. It was a church that had tremendous growth. They won so many souls that they, practically, emptied the temple of Diana. The idol Diana brought great gain to the silversmiths, and this massive conversion to Christ affected their business. They, in return, stirred the mob against Paul and the church.

In spite of all this opposition, God protected Paul. The church overcame this obstacle and increased in size. God gave them uncommon favor with those in high places and they influenced that city for the Lord. We could conclude a happy ending to this story, right? Not quite, the Lord had a final say—They left their first love! How did they get so distracted and how does this apply to us?

Defining first love

First, let us address the topic of first love. There have been many interpretations about defining first love, but let’s look at Matt 22:37-38 —
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.

So, based on this verse above, we find that loving God is the first thing we should do. We could conclude by this that the Lord Jesus is our first love. He is before your wife/husband, family, job, etc. When you love someone, you do the things that please them. They have top priority,

Perhaps, the church was doing things in a routine way. When you get to see many miracles, signs, and wonders, it can get to be a routine. Another thought to this is their work in the ministry. Working for the Lord in ministry is good, but it can have its drawbacks.

Church Pastors can get caught up in helping the poor and other community ministry outreaches that it robs their time with God. After a while, they spend less time in prayer and Bible study. The results? Their sermons are improvised and not anointed. Finally, maybe many rich and influential members were pressuring its leaders to adopt worldly ways of doing things that were not right with God. A spirit of compromise could have been a major factor causing them to lose their first love.

It is an unknown issue what happened in that church. The main issue is that there was a falling away from God. They had grown cold towards God and lost their first love, but not all is lost. God had some answers to this problem.

Consequences and benefits

To further enhance this study, we will use the Amplified version. The Amplified version of the Bible gives us clarity on God’s ultimatum (Consequences and benefits). Let’s look at the following verses below–

So remember the heights from which you have fallen, and repent [change your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will] and do the works you did at first [when you first knew Me]; otherwise, I will visit you and remove your lampstand (the church, its impact) from its place—unless you repent. Yet you have this [to your credit], that you hate the works and corrupt teachings of the [a]Nicolaitans [that mislead and delude the people], which I also hate. He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who [b]overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant [the privilege] to eat [the fruit] from the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’(Rev 2:5-7)

God is threatening to remove their candle. What does this mean? This means that they will lose their influence with those in high places. They will not longer be making an impact on society. On the bright side, God has an answer to their problem. The answer is that if they get this matter corrected, they will eat the fruit of the tree of life. God is opening up heaven on earth again if they repent.
Proverbs 15:4 says that a wholesome tongue is a tree of life. This talks of dominion and authority. Your tongue can bring life and death. God has given us authority to tread on serpents, scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy. (Luke 10:19)

As we study this subject further, God is addressing their authority. Their authority was at stake in this matter. They were at risk of forfeiting their authority because of their sin. The good news was that God was willing to take them to even deeper dimensions and blessings. The only thing that was required was repentance and correcting the problem of falling away.

They had a choice to make. The first one was to continue in their sin and forfeit their authority. The other alternative was to repent and correct the problem. God, always, gives us a choice. There is a saying that with great power comes great responsibility.

Personal application

As we ponder on this example, we need to ask ourselves–Have I lost my first love with Jesus? Here are some points to consider..

• Have I had so many answers to prayers that I become complacent and robotic in my service to the Lord?
• Have I allowed distractions to take away my time from the Lord?
• Have I been so involved in ministries and good works that I placed the Lord in second place?

Let us not cut the flow of blessings from God in our lives. God is a jealous God and he demands our time with him. Doing so will allow us to continue to eat from the tree of life and be an overcomer.

Reprint courtesy of the Christian corner community church. 

 

Pastor's notes----02/23/2015

                                                 
                               

                                    The Enemy within
                               Image courtesy of pat138241 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net


                       I know what you are thinking when you see this picture above---Satan! Beloved, that is not who I am talking about. That picture should have your face in there. Why? Because what I am talking about is your flesh. We need to put things in proper perspective. Many Christians blame their sinful acts on the devil. In fact, a popular comedian invented the phrase--The devil made me do it. 
                 The fact of the matter is the devil is not forcing anyone to sin. Yes, the devil tempts us and works on our mind, but the true enemy is our flesh. I remember years ago, there was a Sci-Fi series called Star Trek. They had one great particular episode entitled--The enemy within. Captain Kirk was on a mission and he got zapped with a transponder and it split him up into two beings--One good and the other bad, 
                  The episode became interesting in that the evil twin started to cause confusion and tried to harm the people on the Star ship. Finally, the episode ends with the transponder ray restoring the two into one and we have a happy ending. The same is with us. When we do not renew the mind daily, the effects of sin takes over. Soon, before you know it the fleshly nature kicks in and we start acting carnal. 
               Friend, The flesh, in itself, is not bad. It is just its sinful nature. You can subjugate the enemy (Flesh) into doing God's will. The fact of the matter is simply this, when we got baptized in water, we buried the sinful fleshly nature. ( Col 2:12-13) Again, the problem is the unrenewed mind. It's effects will set the "Transponder rays of sin" into effect resurrecting the fleshly nature. We need to let the spirit man take control so that the flesh can merge into one under the dominion of Christ. 
               Consider this verse---"But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil" (Heb 5:14)  You can train your flesh to obey God's word, bury its sinful nature and have victory in your life. A one-time deal will not do. This has to be a daily walk with the Lord. That is why it is important to develop the mind of Christ in your life. The word Christ mean yoke breaking, burden removing power and it is in your mind, but you got to allow it to operate within you! (Phil 2:5) So, in this day, decide that you will allow the power of Christ to work inside of your mind. Take every thought captive and nip it in the bud, for then, you will enjoy God's best for your life. 

Prayer---Father God, thank you for speaking to me. Forgive me for being carnal-minded. In this day, I allow the mind of Christ to work in me. I declare that the old man is buried by baptism and that I walk in newness of life. I take every thought that is contrary to your word captive. I command my mind, desires, will and emotion to be in line with your word. I have the mind of Christ. His yoke breaking, burden removing power is in me and I walk in victory today! In Jesus name--Amen! 


                    

Pastor's Thoughts---Feb 18, 2015

                                                   Are you frustrated?
               Image courtesy of stockimages at FreeDigitalPhotos.net 
   

                           There are many Christians who are frustrated and feeling down. Why? Because they find that living the Christian life is impossible. They want to serve God and grow but they find, themselves, stumbling over some weakness. Let's face it, we have strengths and we have weaknesses. While I am not trying to downplay sin as weakness but the fact of the matter is that we have those areas in our lives to deal with. How many times have you determined not to fall and wind up doing it not once but 2 or 3 times in a row. That can be frustrating, 

                           When I talk about weakness, it does not have to be one of those great big sins (Adultery, murders, etc.) It can be small like overeating, gossiping or just plain being lazy to mention a few. The word says it is the small foxes that spoil the vine and small things like that can amount to big things in the future. The Apostle Paul faced a situation in which he was dealing with a weakness. It was eating at his insides. He wanted to please God but was frustrated. You can see it in his writings. (Rom 7:19-20) 

                              In chapter 8, we see the Apostle singing a different tune. He uncovers an important revelation. (Rom 8:1-6) My friends, in order to be victorious , we need to define our battles and identify the enemy. In Verse 6, he gives us the key----to be spiritually minded is life and peace. I remember years ago, a famous comedian by the name of Flip Wilson, who used to be famous for his line---The devil made me do it. He would dress up as a country preacher and bring laughter to many, but friends, sin is no laughing matter. It has consequences and will hurt us in the long run.

                      In dealing with sin and weakness, Paul does not mention the devil at all. He mentions the carnal mind. While I do not want to downplay the devil and his devices, we need to have a discerning spirit. Many things that are attributed to the devil is really just the flesh. Paul went to the source and addressed it. Rom 12:2 commands us to renew our minds. Why? Because that is the battleground for either victory or defeat. Let us learn from Paul and decide to renew our minds today. Live a life of victory and see your life change for the better. God bless...

Prayer--Father, I come to you recognizing that I am weak in certain areas. I ask you to forgive me if I have been discouraged and given up. I know that your mercies are new every day. In this day, I command my thoughts, will and emotions to line up to the word. I command my soulish area to obey God. I have the mind of Christ. I draw upon his wisdom, revelation and knowledge to live a life of victory. I am seated with Christ in the heavenlies and I reign over sin, the flesh, sickness and financial oppression. Victory is mine in Jesus Name---Amen!     

Are you asleep?

                                          Awake thou that sleepest--Eph 5:14


" Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them. But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep." (Jonah 1:5)

                           We, all, like to hear the story of how Jesus slept when he was in the midst of a storm. How he was awaken by his fearful disciples. I like to think of Jesus as the King of "Cool"----He was not fearful but spoke that word and calmed that storm. Jonah on the other hand was not "cool" with God. 
        Jonah was a prophet, but he was backslidden. Why? He was given a command to go to Nineveh and speak out against their sins. Nineveh was a dangerous place to be. These people would kill you and think nothing of it. I used to remember some years ago, not far from my neighborhood, we had some Christians standing on a corner and speaking out against sin. They did it for years and all of a sudden, it stopped. 
             Perhaps many people were glad to see them go. Maybe the city pressured them to stop. Whatever the reason, they stopped but thank God they did not get roughed up or killed. Now in this day and time, people do not like to hear about sin. If you are not careful, you could get killed. Maybe Jonah had his reasons. Maybe he thought about his life. Maybe he hated the Ninevites, but whatever the reason, he ran away and went to the other side.
               The word says that he went the other way and departed from the presence of God. (1) Bad mistake. Never run from the presence of God. It is your life source. Second, he paid a fare on a ship to get away from the presence of God. Never sell out the anointing of God in your life. I remember in years past, Motown records had some great talents. A lot of these groups and singers started in the church and some of them ended in drugs and tragedy. The world offered them fame, as well as fortune and what they got was death and disaster. 
                  When you depart from your calling and duties, you wind up affecting people. Jonah got on a ship and because of his disobedience, the word said that God sent out a storm. People who were in the ship feared for their lives. Jonah's disobedience affected a group of people, but notice what was his reaction. HE WENT TO SLEEP! Bad choice. 
                    God was calling his attention. Why? Because he loved Jonah. God loves you and me and sometimes, when we walk in disobedience, he calls our attention allowing the storms of life to shake us. Unfortunately, Jonah's heart was so hardened to sin that he fell into complacency and was asleep, but not for long. He was awakened by his shipmates.
                      Jonah tried to hide the fact that he was a believer. He was not interested in repentance nor reaching out to the people in the ship. His heart was hardened, but God says your sins will find you out(2). There is a saying---You can run but you can't hide. When it was found out that Jonah was a believer and his disobedience caused the storm, the Jig was up! 
                      Notice to what extent his heart was hardened. He missed the opportunity to repent, he missed the chance for God to calm the storm and he missed the chance to get new converts for the Lord God Almighty. What did he do? He said---Throw me overboard and the storm will calm down. A spirit of suicide came upon him, but the sad case is that Jonah did not care.
                    Brethren, God will forgive sin and disobedience. He is merciful, but a constant pattern of sinning without repentance will cause indifference and harden your heart. If God has called you to do something, harden not your hearts. Your life and the lives of your loved ones can be at stake. Tomorrow, we will look more at the life of Jonah--God bless. 



Bible references: (1) Jonah 1:3, (2) Numbers 32:23 and Jonah 1
Bible verses courtesy of www.biblegateway.com

                  

Dealing with Frustration! Part 3!

"  For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do."    (Rom 7:19)



               In our last study, we saw how we need to renew our minds. We, also, saw that we need to arrest the thoughts that are not pleasing to God and to put them under our feet. Brethren, letting this mind be in you which is the mind of Christ takes work. Our salvation is work! I am, not, saying that you have to work your way to get saved. That is, already, done through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. We are saved by grace through faith and that is the gift of God. When you confessed Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you were saved. (Eph 2:8-9, Rom 10:9-10) 
              Having established this, We need to work our salvation through 
soul and body. Yes, the Spirit Man was saved the moment you received Christ, but the soul (mind, will and emotions) as well as the body needs to get saved. This misunderstanding has given way to legalistic doctrines of works and not faith. The word says that we are seated in heavenly places---That is a spiritual fact. We are not doing all we can to make heaven our home. Heaven is our home! It is already settled in the spirit, but the soul is a different story! There is a difference, my friends, between soul and spirit. (Heb 4:12) 
       Many will accuse me and others of saying that we are preaching grace as an excuse to sin. The true Christian does not want to sin and to be fair to this argument, the word says to work our Salvation with fear and trembling.(Phil 2;12) Why? Because not renewing our minds on a consistent basis will make us enemies of Christ. Think about it---Would Christ allow an enemy to enter his kingdom? Mind renewal is work, so let's not get lazy and say that I am an old sinner saved by grace and not do our part. That is damning to the soul and will get you in hell. Remember there are no lazy people in heaven,either! 
       I know that this is not a popular theme--Losing your salvation, but we need to work at mind renewal on a consistent basis. As long as you work at this, even when you fall, there is grace. Grace is there on the condition that  you confess your sin and dust yourself off! Why? First, of all, the moment you confessed your sin, you got rid of it. Second, because with working on mind renewal, you are putting away the sin consciousness way of life and being God-inside minded. Remember you are the righteousness of God! Develop an appetite for God's word. I remember a fellow minister who said that if you eat something you don't like, eventually, you will develop an appetite for it. Let's develop an appetite to the word. Then we will awake to righteousness and sin not. (I Cor 15:34) Confess the word daily and work on renewing the mind.....

Confession--I love righteousness and hate iniquity. I have the mind of Christ. I love what you love and hate what you hate. No habit, sin or circumstances is stronger than your word, for it is the anointing that breaks the yoke. I thank you that today I walk in victory for I am more than a conqueror---In Jesus name---Amen! (Heb 1:9) 


Verses provided by Biblegateway. 
       

Knowing the real Jesus!

                           

                                          Terry Santos is the wife of Pastor Angel "Caleb" Santos and is

                                          an ordained minister. Married for 32 years, she is the proud mother

                                          of 4 boys and 3 grandchildren.

                                           "  Jesus wept" (John 11:35)

                    Greetings. Here in this verse, we are reminded of the humanity of Jesus. Yes, a short verse but saying a lot. As he wept, he showed his love and concern for his people. Yes, he was God almighty, but he was a man. He had feelings and emotions just like we do! Why did he wept?

                    Maybe it was for the people's hopelessness! Remember he came to his friend Lazarus burial. It was a sad time and his sisters were devastated. Perhaps he wanted to identify with their pain.(Rom 12:15) Whether you believe it or not, Jesus identifies with your pain. We should too, when we comfort our brothers and sisters. 

               In Luke 19:41, Jesus, also, wept. Why? Because the people were in a mess. If you read Luke 19:41-44, he was weeping at their destruction.  He was weeping because they were spiritually blind. It was because of their blindness that they were giving a foothold to the enemy to destroy their city and family. Many times, we are quick to blame God for destruction and tragedies when it can come from sin and a hardened heart. Jesus weeps for us and wants us to choose life. Choose life today, heaven will have a party and you will see that to taste the Lord will be the best thing in your life. God bless. 

Prayer--Dear Lord, Forgive us if we have grieved the Holy Spirit. Help us to have the mind of Christ. Help us to have right priorities in our lives. We declare that we love righteousness and hate iniquity. We declare that Christ is made unto us wisdom. We receive your wisdom for all the issues in our lives and declare that you are glorified in all we do. Thank you, Lord, for correcting and loving us. In Jesus name...Amen.