Caleb Group I have a Dream

All on the Altar

Building an Altar

    "Then Noah built an altar to the Lord, and took of every clean animal and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.

And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, 'I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done'" Genesis 8.20,21

    All those who became heroes of faith and made a huge difference built an Altar.  They all knew that it was not enough just to have the promises of God, but above all they knew that for them to take possession of all of them they had to sacrifice on the Altar. And they did so!  

    And why does God require the sacrifice? God requires the sacrifice for us not to relax in the faith. There is no other way to conquer God’s Greatness and make our dreams come true. We must manifest our faith through the sacrifice.

    For all the areas of your life to be totally transformed, for you to break free from negative results you have been reaping throughout your entire life, for you to remove the shame caused by so many failures in your life, there is just one way for you to do it. Go to Altar and sacrifice. The Altar is between you and realization of your dreams. Do you believe this?

Bishop Carlos

Assistants in Focus Nov/29/15

Assistants in Focus Nov/22/2015

Good works

How have you glorified God?

 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

God cannot be glorified through word alone, but principally through our victories. It is not wrong to exalt Him by saying beautiful words as many people do. Actually this has become very common among many nations. However, most of those who have praised Him with their lips, when we look at the quality of life that they have been living we see something that cannot glorify God at all, instead it is a shame for His name.

How have you glorified God? Just by saying beautiful words? Or by the victories that you have conquered?

When the Angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and saying ‘, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!” Judges 6.12

Gideon did not praise Him, nor glorified Him but he manifested his revolt with the type of life that he was living at that very moment. He had in mind that for him to exalt the God of Abraham, his life could not be the way it was, a shameful life.

Dear all,
We cannot be hypocrites, instead we should be honest and sincere with ourselves. If you see  that your life is not in the way that exalts God, so what's  the point of glorifying Him through words alone?

Revolt against what is wrong in your life and don’t accept to be defeated by the problems that you are going through right now, otherwise the words that have come out of your lips are just empty words.

Do as Gideon did. Revolt against everything that has put you down and the light will shine on you and everyone will see your good works.
Bishop Carlos

No revolt, No strength

Two types of Revolt

The revolt of flesh is momentary, because it just manifests in a moment of anger or in a moment of dissatisfaction. It is not based on the Word of God, but in the physical arm, it does not have enough strength to provide sufficient power until the end of the battle to conquer the victory. Time passes away and they end up losing the revolt of flesh and the person ends up living conformed to the same problems again.

But the revolt of the spirit is different because it is built on the Promises of God.  The person who has a revolted Spirit does not accept to live a shameful life because he has his life on the Altar of God.

This revolt leads him to fight with all his strength against the circumstances of life. He does not give rest to his faith, he does not accept defeat, because he acknowledges that heaven and earth can pass away, but the promises of God are alive as God is.

The servant who is revolted in the spirit has the understanding that he serves the God who promised him an abundant life, for this reason he does not accept to live from the crumbs nor to live in misery.

The revolted in the spirit does not wait for anybody, he goes ahead to fight his battle because he does not have time to waste. He knows that if he does his part God will do His in his life.

Assistant, analyze your life, do not accept to live with the crumbs because you are a child of God, do not accept that the infirmities prevail over your health, do not bow down before the family problems, do not hide your faith before your problems, because God is with you, warrior.

Do not allow the years to pass you by and you remain with the knowledge of the rights as a child, and you do not take possession of what He promises in His Word.

Do not care about the time, nor about the circumstances around you, just be strong and manifest your revolt, and you will see the strong arm of your God stretched out towards you.


Carlos Da Costa
Bishop

Assistants in Focus Nov/15/2015

I came back

Fe Autenticada

Para que um documento seja considerado verdadeiro é preciso que ele esteja autenticado. Essa autenticação é necessária em todas as questões importantes que envolvem identificação, compromisso e garantia. Toda informação que não é considerada autêntica torna-se inválida e é tida como falsa. Não há quem confie no que não possui os quesitos necessários para ser considerado verdadeiro, e nada pode ser feito com ele ou por meio dele.

Assim também é a fé: ela precisa ser autenticada por Deus para ser considerada verdadeira e gerar resultados. Mas, infelizmente, muitos tentam produzir frutos com sua fé e não conseguem, porque estão fazendo uso de uma fé ilegal, que não recebeu a autenticação de Deus. Essas pessoas têm ignorado o fato de o Altíssimo não considerar autêntica a fé sem sacrifício.

O sacrifício é a única prova de que a fé existe e é verdadeira. Conforme está escrito, a fé sem obras é morta (Tiago 2.17). Afinal, como provar a existência de algo que não se vê? Apenas com resultados visíveis! Assim como a existência do vento é provada pelo balanço das folhas das árvores, a existência da fé é provada com atitudes de sacrifício.

Quem abre mão das suas vontades para fazer o que Deus orienta em Sua Palavra recebe o selo de autenticação da sua fé. Caso contrário, a fé fica apenas nos lábios de quem a professa, e, assim como uma informação não pode ser tida como verdadeira simplesmente por palavras, a fé também não pode ser validada por afirmações sem provas.

Se para as coisas passageiras deste mundo a autenticação se faz necessária, muito mais para as coisas de Deus, que envolvem a eternidade.

A fé válida tem o poder de identificar alguém como filho do Altíssimo, comprovar o compromisso que se tem com Ele e garantir a Salvação de sua alma. Por isso, Deus não confia e desconsidera a fé não autenticada. Se esse tipo de fé não pode ser usado como moeda de troca sequer para as conquistas terrenas, muito menos para as conquistas celestiais!

Ninguém poderá viver uma vida de qualidade ou entrar no céu de forma ilegal. Por isso, precisamos legalizar a nossa fé dia após dia, através de atitudes de sacrifício.
O Deus Autêntico exige a fé autêntica. E se a sua crença é inválida, o seu deus também é inválido – porque o seu deus é você mesmo.
Bishop Macedo

Removing the stone

     Take away the stone

    The reason why many people, though they believe in God, they have faith, courage, and good character, but they haven’t seen their lives moving forward as it should is because they haven't removed the stone that is in their ways.

    When the Lord Jesus had approached the tomb, where Lazarus had been placed for four days, Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead for four days.” John 11:39-40
    Though Martha had manifested doubts, the stone was removed, and when the Lord Jesus cried out saying, “Lazarus come forth”, he who had been dead for four days, came forth and he could live freely.

     The stone that has prevented many people from leaving the tomb, and enjoying a free and abundant life, can be grudges, hatred they’ve directed towards someone for a long time, or a pain for the lost of someone they loved too much. Or perhaps the fear of making the same mistakes they've made in the past, and/or being criticized by family members or friends.

    The truth is, if the stone that you’ve been carrying in your life is not removed out of your way, then your life will never change from what it has been so far. Though you may have known God for years, like Lazarus knew the Lord Jesus, but however, he was dead and could not enjoy his life at all, just because there was a stone in his way.

Assistants in Focs 11/08/15

Exercising your faith

Faith needs to be exercised.


     “But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works” James 2.18

     When the water in a river, or a sea is not moving for a certain period of time, it will gradually lose the power to bear life in itself. Fishes and plants won’t survive for a long time, they will die little by little. The same happens to our physical body, no matter how strong your body may be, if you don’t exercise, sooner or later, you will develop different types of problems that will affect your health, especially the heart.

     In Israel, there is a sea called the Dead Sea and it carries this name just because there is no life in it. Though the Dead Sea receives water from different rivers and seas, it remains dead because the water gets stuck there. It goes nowhere.

     Many people including Christians have been living a dead life in every aspect, because they stopped exercising their faith. Faith is the Power of God that manifests inside of those who call upon His name. It is God Himself acting in the life of those who have surrendered their whole life in His hands. If this Power is not exercised, it will lose strength and it will get weak. Needless to say that it will die.

     A dead faith has no power to bring results in a person’s life, this has been the reason of so many frustrations and disappointments among those who have served God. Many of them believe that because they are God’s servants everything is going to happen automatically. This is a big mistake they make. Whatever we want is possible, but you have to act on your faith. Try to find in the Bible someone who received a miracle without exercising his faith. Even Lazarus who was dead came out of the Tomb walking by himself.

     If this has been your situation, then it is time for you to do something to awaken your faith, this can be done through prayers, Bible reading, sacrifices, vows and purposes.

     You should not allow your faith to get stuck, otherwise, your faith will die.

     “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but does not have works? Can faith save him?” James 1.14
Bishop Carlos

Assistants from Bedford, Brooklyn NY

The Purpose of the talents

In the parable of the talents, written in Matthew 25.14-30, we can see that the Lord did not give talents to His servants in vain. He had a purpose, a goal, a vision, an expectation in regard to these talents. Have you ever considered why God gave you the talent you have? What did He have in mind when He granted you with a greater capacity to do a certain thing? Or what is His intention when He enables us to do a specific task?

God wants to receive the fruits of this talent; this is, He wants us to multiply our talent. Just like when we give something to God, He gives it back to us back multiplied, He should also receive multiplied! This would be the fair thing to do, right?

There are talents we are born with and there are talents we develop as we grow up and mature. And the development of new talents is not something superfluous or unnecessary, it is an obligation! Isn’t this what He demanded from His servants in the parable? Weren’t they supposed to multiply the talents they were given?

The multiplied talent is what we acquire through the talent we were born with. A good and faithful servant multiplies the talents he received; this is, he develops other talents through the ones he already possess! He is not content with what he already knows how to do, but invests in learning more! He doesn’t just return what he received, but also returns the talents he developed as well!

In the parable, the servant with the five talents made five more, and the one who had two, made two more. This means we can develop at least one talent from the one we already have! This is extraordinary!

The talent you have, whatever it may be, was not given to you in vain. Therefore, you should not receive it in vain either. As it is written:

We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain. 2 Corinthians 6.1

God gave you this talent so that you may cooperate with Him, saving and multiplying it into other talents, so that you may save even more! Every talent you have or develop is one more channel to win souls. This means that the more talents you have, the more souls you can win!

So what are you going to do now that you understand the purpose of the talent?
Bishop Macedo

No Divisions

                                                                  Say no to divions

     “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” I Corinthians 1.10


     One of the most efficient tactics used by the devil to prevent the Work of God from growing up as it should is exactly the division among the servants of God, as a matter of fact, it was through division that satan divided the angels in heaven when he was cast out of the Presence of God, because of his rebelliousness. The third part of the angels who before were angels of light dwelling around the Throne of God, became demons, evil spirits, spirits of darkness just because they heard the voice of the devil and obeyed him.

     Well, if among the angels of God he was able to cause division, imagine among the servants of God today? There’s no doubt that he’s been acting successfully because there are many servants who have already lost the fear, the respect they once had for God. For this reason, they have given satan enough room for him to use them inside of the church. They are those who are always complaining against everything in the church. If there’s a campaign, they complain, if there’s a night vigil, they complain, and list goes on… more over, they are those who are always forming groups, making gossips and worse than that, they do not enter the Kingdom of God and they have prevented others from entering it. But for them the Lord Jesus said,
   
     “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were drowned in the depth of the sea.” Matthew 18.6

     Dear assistants,
     There is a big responsibility upon all of us who are serving God, therefore all should take care of their spiritual life. Walk away from those who cause divisions, dissensions, gossips. If you truly fear God, then I am sure that you are understanding what we are talking about; but if you have already lost the fear you once had, then this message means nothing for you. Sooner or later you will find yourself in the same place where you came from.

     Let us walk in the same spirit, same faith because together we are strong, and if we are strong we are able to win every battles that we fight against hell.

Bishop Carlos

The best at everything

God Almighty is the best at everything. He is the Best Lord, Best Comforter, Best Father, Best Motivator, Best Friend, Best Guide, Best Husband… And as His representatives here on Earth, we should also standout as the best at everything, so that those around us can see who He is through who we are.

The problem is that many don’t try to do this, or have lost this vision over time. These are the best people in Church and with services directly linked to the spiritual realm, but fall short in their daily roles as parents, sons, husbands, wives, employees, bosses… They seek to improve themselves as servants of God, but forget to improve as servants to those around them. For this reason, it is not surprising that their faith loses credit with those closest to them.

We must remember that, to efficiently fulfill the mission that was given to us, which is to win souls, it is essential that we be considered a reference to those who do not know God, so they become interested in knowing Him. After all, who would want to serve the Eternal God of a father that is distant, a son that is always getting into trouble, a careless husband, a nagging wife, a lazy employee or an unfair boss? Who would want to learn about the faith of someone that behaves worse or just like them? The Most High, in His Infinite Wisdom, advises us regarding this:

Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5.16
But, how can you be the best at everything? God gives us a tip in Colossians 3.17-24:

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus… Whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men… for you serve the Lord Christ.

This is, we should behave in front of others as we would in front of God, treat them with the same dedication we treat God and do to them as if we were doing for God! And all this in the Name of Jesus, aware that He is receiving the souls we are winning, through our testimony, in His Arms!

To be the best at everything is not arrogance, pride, conceit or vanity. It shows the DNA of the Almighty running through our veins. To be the best at everything is a Christian duty.
Bishop Macedo