EVERLASTING LOVE....

EVERLASTING LOVE… "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you”. Jeremiah 31:3 (NKJV). No one can fully grasp the core of God’s promise of Everlasting Love if same is in a shallow relationship with Him. In fact, several Bible verses are easily recited by all ages of people without getting an understanding of their impact on life and eternity. Right from kindergarten, many get accustomed especially to certain Psalms of the Bible. As if it is not shallow enough to merely recite these verses religiously, many still do for purposes other than to nourish the spirit, soul and body. “Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another — showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us”. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (THE MESSAGE). The Bible is a sacred book of instructions for living. God speaks to His own through this and other means. God’s Word fits into every situation; we are exposed to the ultimate hope we have of heaven, the joy of Christian fellowship here on earth and the indispensability of the Holy Spirit of God who especially in this dispensation guides us into all truths about God, the world and all eventualities. Every child of God must be conscious of the truth that he carries God inside of himself- “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's”. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NKJV) In the Old Testament days, the physical temple was the holy place where the people met with God to worship; Jerusalem was the city of God- the Great King. It stood high up in the mountains in a beautiful spot- “Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth”… Psalms 48:2a (NASB). For Zion was the place where Israel felt the Living and True God was especially present. Yahweh, Jehovah was beyond all other ‘great kings’ and Jerusalem was the city of Him who was most worthy of praise. In our time, God is present whenever and wherever people meet to hallow His name - there I AM in the midst of them. There is no one place on earth that is special beyond all others for knowing God’s presence and worshiping Him, true worship is rooted in the knowledge of The Truth (Jesus) and in Spirit; your connection with God’s Spirit living within you- “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth." John 4:24 (NIV). The Holy Spirit lives in you if you are in Christ, the fellowship of the people that God dwells within them is called Church- it is now God’s city on earth! We belong to a universal fellowship of all who believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who is the Anointed Messiah. This honor also lays on us the obligation to live holy lives for we are the Church being adorned to inherit the heavenly Jerusalem of God! Friend, come let us look closely at this- Everything about God is Everlasting. Starting with His utterances, they carry creative powers even in series beyond when they were spoken. Not a jot of His Word will go unfulfilled. Another aspect is that life exist forever- beyond these passing routines and rat-chasings that we all do, we all have everlasting continuation of our existence especially after ‘death’. Everlasting bliss with God in His city awaits those that have lived their physical lives obeying God, while everlasting pains will be the lot of those that disregard His laws. Whether human logics can make sense of God’s reassurance of His Everlasting Love, mostly, you have been confronted with the reality that your time in that desert helped your fellowship with God; Pharaoh’s fighting host, physical hunger and various stokes of pain all lashed at you. Those times that you interpreted the ‘solitude’ in your soul to mean that the ‘golden calf’ was an option! You sinned! But God in His Everlasting Mercy came to your rescue. Even though you yearned for ‘Egypt’s cucumbers and pomegranates’ that the devil generously gave you in exchange for the substance of your destiny, God courted you despite your whoring, He has been loving ever since He formed you in His own image and breathe life into you! He did not just recently start loving you! Everlasting Love, Everlasting Peace, Everlasting Joy, Everlasting Favor, Everlasting Everlasting are ALL in the place of rest with God. Everlasting Fellowship- aloneness with God “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will sing as in the days of her youth, as in the day she came up out of Egypt”. Hosea 2:14-15 (NIV). The aftermath of this is that God will thoroughly transform the situations of the beloved whose head had rested on His Everlasting Heart and with Loving-kindness, He will draw their lives out of prostration and they will yet be found among the throngs that truly cheer. The captives of great Babylon wept as they were forcefully exiled, but they will yet weep for joy- “Those who sow tears shall reap joy”. Psalms 126:5 (TLB) “Those who mourn …. shall be comforted”. Matthew 5:4 (TLB). This year 2013, God’s Everlasting Love will gently lead His beloved, God will bend down like a Great Shepherd to feed His sheep and calm their pains- complete fullness and satisfaction, perfect comfort that only comes from God- “For the Lord has redeemed Israel from those too strong for them. They will come home and sing songs of joy on the heights of Jerusalem. They will be radiant because of the Lord's good gifts— the abundant crops of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and the healthy flocks and herds. Their life will be like a watered garden, and all their sorrows will be gone”. Jeremiah 31:11-12 (New Living Translation). “For the Lord loves justice and fairness; he will never abandon his people. They will be kept safe forever; but all who love wickedness shall perish”. Psalms 37:28 (TLB) “Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work”. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 (NKJV) HAPPY YEAR 2013 OF HIS EVERLASTING LOVE! ayanfeLAMPROS NOTE: NIV (New International Version) NLT (New Living Translation) TLB (The Living Bible) ESV (English Standard Version) AMP (Amplified Bible version) NIV (New International Version) NLT (New Living Translation) TLB (The Living Bible) NASB (New American Standard Bible) NKJU (New King James Version) KJV (King James Version) Phone Contacts: 0802 828 6163, 0803 5100 530.

SILENT NITE...

SILENT NITE… The extraordinary was destined to happen- a virgin birth! Mary was engaged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be pregnant by The Holy Spirit! "You are favored by the Lord! The Lord is with you." Luke 1:28 (GOD'S WORD). That was angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary when she was told about God’s intention for her exaltation. What conflict would have gone on her mind- she was troubled because God’s choices create human conflict. She would have looked forward to becoming Joseph’s bride someday soon, a bride in spotless white bridal attire, adorned as a beautiful gift for her husband; a bride untainted, untouched, a complete gift! Now, there seems to be a division- God’s call. “For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God — through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Romans 7:22-25 (NIV). Mary must have felt ‘messed up’. She was planning her wedding; God’s assignment must have looked like a completely different plan for her life- Now that is conflict! Can you imagine being Joseph? Accepting to still go ahead with marrying a woman who claims that The Holy Ghost got her pregnant! Would you even have been patient enough to seek God? Would you have trusted Mary enough to consider her? Beloved, God’s agenda usually ‘messes up’ man’s plans. Mary was not planning to have a baby at that time; she looked forward to a honorable and glorious wedding! Is it not funny how you can be asking God for one thing and He gives you something completely different? It is for you to understand that His promises are birth in your life through His Word. You cannot have God’s fruit in your life, if you don’t have His Word in your heart. Regardless of how contrary to your expectations that God’s Word sounds, it is the seed that germinates life! It is that semen necessary to impregnate your human spirit with the promises of God! “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11 (KJV). If you are a chosen of God, you are to bring forth life; this life must be a fruit that abides! This life is Jesus! Nightfall suggests permission for nature to recline. Everything in creation, jointly agree that there is a connection between the night time and rest. Silence takes over the boisterous activities of the long day. This is divine arrangement and in fact, started with creation. “As long as the earth remains, there will be springtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, day and night." Genesis 8:22 (TLB). But while shepherds watched their flocks by night, in that ancient town of Bethlehem of Judea, an angel appeared to them in the fields. The angel announced: “Today your Savior, Christ the Lord, was born in David's city. This is how you will recognize him: You will find an infant wrapped in strips of cloth and lying in a manger." Suddenly, a large army of angels appeared with the angel. They were praising God by saying, "Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those who have his good will!" The angels left them and went back to heaven. The shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about." Luke 2:11-15 (GOD'S WORD) Great things are wroth by God at nights. “Rise in the night and cry to your God. Pour out your hearts like water to the Lord; lift up your hands to him; plead for your children as they faint with hunger in the streets.” Lamentation 2:19 (TLB) The situation of our beloved country requires the passion of your supplications to God. Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be a year devoid of all politics to further enslave us. We are the people called by your name, for Mercy sake; rescue us from the claws of ‘Pharaoh’. “Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt...” Exodus 12:42a (NIV). God will by Himself, guide His people on a route that He has chosen, to ensure that the journey will be safe. He does not lead His people by the most direct road; He knows the route through the wilderness of life. That night, God led the Israelites through the deserts, away from places that they could encounter battles and get discouraged. Another reason why God leads is to keep that relationship with you, en-route! God manifests in His permanent presence with His people in a pillar of cloud that guides them by day and a pillar of fire that guides them by night- this is a symbol of God’s presence hovering over the Tent of Meeting (The Tent of God in your heart) and signaling the pace of His people on their journey to Canaan- the land of fulfillment of God’s promises. This silent night, lift up your hearts to the God of Heaven and earth and bless the Lord, O ye saints! Exonerate Him from the pains of your journey; stand this night as watch in the house of the LORD! His anger will arouse against the nations that added to your agonies, while He (God) was just a little angry with you. “Therefore, thus says the Lord, "I will return to Jerusalem with compassion; My house will be built in it," declares the Lord of hosts,” …My cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again choose Jerusalem. "Zechariah 1:16&17 (NASB) O that Jesus be birth this holy night in your heart. He is Christ, the LORD! “The Lord will be a mighty warrior, full of fury toward his foes. He will give a great shout and prevail. Long has he been silent; he has restrained himself. But now he will give full vent to his wrath; he will groan and cry like a woman delivering her child. He will level the mountains and hills…He will bring blind Israel along a path they have not seen before. He will make the darkness bright before them and smooth and straighten out the road ahead. He will not forsake them. But those who trust in idols and call them gods will be greatly disappointed; they will be turned away… The Lord has magnified his law and made it truly glorious. Through it he had planned to show the world that he is righteous. Isaiah 42:13-21(TLB). God’s Light is about to dispel the darkness in your life. This Silent night, the LORD will show Mercy to His beloved! I know my thoughts towards you! I know you exist in a world that opposes truth and righteous living. I see that your being (spirit, soul and body) is being heated, I know that you have been wearied! But with me, BELOVED you will prevail! This Silent night, angels shall minister unto you, just like I sent to Mary and even to Jesus while He was tempted in that wilderness. Lord Jesus, this lonely night, you are my guiding star. For me, the angels clad in white shall sing their “Glory to God in the highest [heaven], and on earth peace among men with whom He is well pleased [men of goodwill, of His favor].” Luke 2:14 (AMP). I have seen His star. I have seen His Glory. O wondrous thought for me He careth! It’s MORE THAN CHRISTMAS AFTER ALL… MERRY ON! ayanfeLAMPROS NOTE: NIV (New International Version) NLT (New Living Translation) TLB (The Living Bible) ESV (English Standard Version) AMP (Amplified Bible version) NIV (New International Version) NLT (New Living Translation) TLB (The Living Bible) NASU (New American Standard Bible) Phone Contacts: 0802 828 6163, 0803 5100 530.