The chosen

God Almighty is the Only Lord; Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient. In His eternal condition as LORD, only He has authority to choose His servants.

Of course, the criteria He uses to choose only applies to those who are righteousor, at least, want to live in righteousness.

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.” Genesis 7.1

Among a generation that was morally and spiritually corrupt, the LORD found a righteous man: Noah.

Those chosen are the righteous or, at least, those who meet the necessary conditions to be justified. How many live in the sin they hate? And how many long to live in integrity and righteousness, but aren’t able to roundup enough strength to turn away from sin?

Sin will not leave you in peace. It is impossible to live in sin and be at peace. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of Peace.

How can you be chosen to serve God, when you are still a slave of sin?

If you find yourself in this condition, yet hunger and thirst for righteousness, the LORD chooses you and gives you faith that will justify you to serve Him. Matthew 5.6

Noah was chosen because he was a righteous man. However, his entire generation was in complete chaos. Spiritual and moral corruption multiplied without any hope of improvement. Noah and his family were the only humans chosen to enter the ark of salvation. The animals of each species were also separated. It is important to note the fact that Noah did not have to choose the animals, hunt them or bring them to the ark. God Himself chose them and sent them, two by two, to the ark. All the others died along with the rest of mankind.

In my opinion, the Holy Spirit continues to “cherish” and choose people who hate sin; people who want to turn away from sin but haven’t been successful; people who are, blindly, searching for salvation in religions.

Mount Sinai separated the righteous from the wicked, those who yearned for justice from those who enjoyed unrighteousness…

Bishop Macedo 

https://youtu.be/BCGPWFTxhr4

The offering or the Altar?

…which is greater, the gold or the Temple that sanctifies the gold? 

[…]
…which is greater, the gift or the Altar that sanctifies the gift? Matthew 23.17-19

Apparently, the choice between the gold and the Sanctuary or the offering and the Altar is simple and obvious; however, it reflects the choice between eternal life and eternal death.

These questions require a true and sincere answer. Whether you like it or not, they unveil all the secrets of the human soul, Christian or not.

Any decision about any matter in this world, directly or indirectly, has to do with the questions asked by the Lord Jesus, because they have to do with the principles of eternal life or death.

There is no hiding the answers when the Spirit of God asks. Who can keep the intentions and goals of the heart hidden when the Spirit of God asks? The truth is that what man considers greatest and most important in his life becomes his greatest goal.

Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the temple, and those who serve at the Altar partake of the offerings of the Altar? I Corinthians 9.13
It’s useless to pretend or hide any bad intentions from the Almighty. When you opt for the gold and the offering, you disregard the Sanctuary and the Altar.

The wise man sacrifices gold and offerings on the Altar as a way of protecting himself from the corruption the love for them causes. Serving the Altar gives him the right to receive provisions, just like those who serve the LORD receive benefits from the Lord.

The Sanctuary sanctifies gold like the Altar sanctifies the offering. The Sanctuary and the Altar would not have the authority to sanctify if they did not represent the Eternal God Himself.

To consider the gold and offerings to be more important in Christianity, at the very least, is living proof of standing against the Most High.

The Sanctuary symbolizes the dwelling place of God, and the Altar symbolizes the Seat of His Throne. The gold objects of the Sanctuary, as a whole, symbolize the process of redemption of a sinner, just like the offering symbolizes the dedication of the offering giver on the Altar.

The Sanctuary, the gold of the Sanctuary, the Altar and the offering are holy because they belong to the Lord. If the Altar is the Holy of Holies, imagine the Sanctuary that shelters Him along with the other sacred elements!

Therefore, when asking what was more important: the gold or the Sanctuary that sanctifies the gold, the offering or the Altar that sanctifies the offering, the LORD makes it clear that the gold and offering are only valuable because the Sanctuary and the Altar sanctify them. This is, they make them spiritual and sacred. Otherwise, they are simply metal material and, therefore, without any value to the Spirit of God.

Those who are of the flesh do not understand spiritual values, because,

the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. I Corinthians 2.14

Authority

What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him?

For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet. Psalms 8.4-6

When God created man, He gave him ALL His authority and dominion OVER ALL THINGS. Since man was His masterpiece, God wanted him to enjoy these things and have nothing disturb his peace.

Of course, under this authority, the devil and his demons would also have to submit to man. However, this authority was and is linked to UNCONDITIONAL OBEDIENCE to the Word of God. This was the price man had to pay: be obedient to the Voice of the Almighty, without questioning His laws.

The devil knew this, he knew that as long as there was obedience, man would dominate and not be dominated. The problem was not in Eve eating the fruit, but that she was disobedient to the Voice of God. They were giving the devil what they had. Since then, mankind has been enslaved by evil and suffered the consequences of having Satan as their master.

The coming of the Lord Jesus did not only bring hope and Salvation, but He also came to recover this authority, which had been lost. He took back the key the devil had stolen in paradise.

It is interesting that Jesus also taught this to His disciples, because when He called them, He said to them, “Heal the sick, cast out demons…”. What else would this be, but AUTHORITY?

We can see throughout His ministry that Jesus taught His followers to use Authority. He calmed the sea, commanded the wind to be still and said, “Why are you so fearful? How is it you have no faith?” Then he walked on water and told Peter to do the same. He spoke to a fig tree and it withered away, and He told His disciples they could do much more than that. He multiplied the loaves of bread and fish and said, “You give them something to eat”.

In all of these supernatural events, Jesus motivated His disciples to do the same, to show them that His Authority, which had been given to mankind since the beginning of creation, was being restored to man. And before ascending to Heaven, He said,

ALL AUTHORITY HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME IN HEAVEN AND ON EARTH. Matthew 28.18

And He passed this authority to all of us when He said:

But you shall receive power (AUTHORITY) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you… Acts 1.8

Those who receive the Holy Spirit have the AUTHORITY to dethrone the devil from anywhere that he may be reining. We cannot turn a blind eye from this, we have to raise our hands, tie up and remove the devil, so that any situation can change.

The decision is ours: either we use our authority over the devil and overcome, or submit to the authority he stole in Eden. Which do you prefer?

You are Gold

Using the Authority  


 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be called. Then they called the blind man, saying to him, “Be of good cheer. Rise, He is calling you.”  And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus. Mark 10. 49-50       Many times it is not understood the reason of not living a life of success and victories that is written in the word of God though we believe in the promises of God. Many do not exercise their faith and authority as they did in the past.    

 Why has faith not worked in the life of many Christians and principally in the life of many who have served God? Has God changed? Is His word no longer the same? God is the same and His words have not changed. What has really changed is the way people have lived their lives in this world.  

They stopped to obey what is written. As a matter of fact, many have been contaminated with filth of this world, grudges, doubts, evil thoughts and many other things that have prevented those who serve God from acting their faith and use the authority that one day they received from God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit.    

For this reason, many are down and on the brink of the abyss. When the Lord Jesus sent someone to bring the blind man to Him, the first thing he did was to throw that old and dirty garment away, he stood up and acted his faith. To throw the garment away means,  to remove the doubts, fears, worries, impurities of soul and heart, and thus be able to act with  faith, authority and take possession of the greatness of God.

  You have the authority of God inside of you, do not allow it to be neutralized by the snares of the devil.

Tatuagem é de Deus?

Esta é uma gravura maori de um rosto tatuado, prática comum deste povo.

Existem muitas provas arqueológicas que afirmam que tatuagens foram feitas no Egito entre 4000 e 2000 a.C., e também por nativos da Polinésia, Filipinas, Indonésia e Nova Zelândia (maori), que tatuavam-se em rituais ligados à religião.

A pergunta é: será que as tatuagens nascidas e desenvolvidas pelos povos pagãos tinham algum fundamento bíblico? Do ponto de vista espiritual ou histórico, não. Antes, a essência de sua inspiração foi e é satânica, uma vez que contraria os princípios da fé judaica e cristã.

Fala aos filhos de Israel e dize-lhes: Quando houverdes passado o Jordão para a terra de Canaã, desapossareis de diante de vós todos os moradores da terra, destruireis todas as pedras com figura e também todas as suas imagens fundidas e deitareis abaixo todos os seus ídolos… Números 33.51-52.

Chama atenção a ordem: “destruireis todas as pedras com figura…” Ora, se Deus mandou destruir as pedras com figuras, por que Ele permitiria que figuras pudessem ser gravadas no corpo humano que é o templo do Seu Espírito?

O apóstolo João viu os condenados que serão tatuados com certa marca sobre a mão direita ou sobre a fronte. Essa marca será do nome da besta ou do seu número: 666 (Apocalipse 13.16-18). Isso não é uma tatuagem?

O corpo do servo do Senhor Jesus é o templo do Espírito Santo. Para que tatuá-lo? Qual o seu benefício? (I Coríntios 6.19)

A meu ver, tatuar é querer parecer igual aos filhos de Baal. Os filhos de Deus não devem jamais querer imitá-los, mesmo que isso contrarie as regras deste mundo podre.

Além do que, duvido que alguém selado com o Espírito Santo queira ser tatuado! Também duvido que alguém que foi tatuado antes de ser batizado com o Espírito Santo não tenha um profundo arrependimento de suas tatuagens! Isso prova que tatuagem não combina com a fé cristã.

Bispo Macedo