Tag Archives: Christ

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Do You Need the Validation of Others?

Matthew 6:1-6

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.  Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.

 

Do you need the famous work “ok,” do you need to hear that word often to make you fit in your surrounds? Do you need a pat on the back after you’ve finished that job or task you were assigned to do? Do you surround yourself with people who always give you compliments? Are you constantly in need of encouragement? Do you really care about what people say about you? If you were able to answer yes to any of these questions, then its time for you be self built up in your most holy faith, without the need or the “ok” or the validation of anyone in your life to make you feel secure about you in you Christian walk, without you having the need to lift you up or give you praise.

 

Matthew 5:13-16

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

 

You are the salt of the earth. Salt is to make something better, taste better more palatable. When you look at that understanding, God has made you the salt of the earth. If you are the salt of the earth, what does He expect from you? It only takes a little salt to change something from what it used to taste like to make it better. It is a savory taste used to enhance, change or preserve something after being changed. Once it has been placed in the food or seasoning, that salt will preserve what was changed from one taste to the other. When you see that, understand this when the Lord said you are the salt of the earth. We were sent here to changed the direction things were going and preserve it. Once Christ gave us walking in the good news of what HE came to bring, He has placed that inside of you. You don’t need to be validated by any man, child, woman, or thing. He has made you the head and not the tail of somebody. If you’re not made the tail of somebody and you are the head, then why does the head need to talk to someone else other than Christ who is the head? You don’t need to go to any other individual to get God’s will of what He promised He said He’d do for you. Can you not count on other people? He will send you pastors after His own heart for you, leading and guiding to individuals in your own life, there to support you and keep your mind focused on the purpose that God has given you for your walk in Christ, mission in Christ and more than that for you to stay strong in His will.

God has not given us the spirit of fear. Some of us go around allow fear to dominate what God has placed into our lives to help us go forth in ministry so that we can do our part, touch the hearts minds and lives of individuals to bring them into the understanding of who Christ is. So when you allow salt to be the structure that you form yourself after, and do what it does, it will change the taste of, or change the heart of, it will make every change and preserve the change that is made earlier because of the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ that keeps us and gives us purpose.

If you don’t know your purpose in Christ, taking advice from men, without consulting God first, then you will be lead down a false road of security until you run into that first bump in the road. If you don’t believe in something, you will fall for anything. That is why its so important that you fail not to assemble yourself together, because someone may be going through the same thing you are. God has not given us the spirit of fear but of a sound mind. You can’t have a sound mind if you are listening to every individual who you think may have a word from God. If you’re not aware of how you are affecting your surroundings by your stability in who you are, and what purpose Christ has for you if you’re not aware of that, and you have no focus, how will you be an effective child of God?

The Bible says an unstable person is unstable in all his ways. If you don’t have focus and balance in your life, everything around you will not have focus and balance. What purpose do you have and serve, what good are you for? You are not up to par on being a Child of God. How can you be the salt of the earth? If you are allowing individuals to esteem you, validate and extol you, praise you and pat you on the back, that becoming your lifestyle looking forward to those things, then how effective of a Christian would you be? You’re waiting for validation from things around you. No, no, no. Christ can not use you because you need something other than Christ, other than the Holy Ghost, that strengthens you and guides you. If you have no stability what kind of example are you setting in your own house? If you are not sure what God’s perfect will or purpose for your life is, how can you be an example for those in your own home? Do you want everybody in your house to look up to you, and you go looking for someone else to check your validation of what you are doing and saying is correct? That has been the problem with a lot of people in this day, they look so much of what people are saying about them, looking at them, and they are allowing that to control what they say, do, and how they act.

As a Christian, you can not allow individuals to guide you or lead you for their own purpose. You have to make sure that it is coming from the Holy Ghost. The Word said it will lead you and guide you into all truth (John 16:13). Its time out for waiting to hear from a prophet, from an apostle, from a pastor, from a Bishop, from a friend, from a boss, from a loved one, its time to listen and read your word because God said He will lead and guide you. No don’t get it wrong, I’m not trying to say don’t get away from the leaders, if they are men of God, they are going to enhance and encourage and push you forward in what God has ordained for your life. If you have a mentor, whether Bishop, Pastor, friend or loved one, always check what they tell you with the Word of God, and the Holy Ghost that is in you will lead you to the right understanding. The Word of God says lean not to your own understanding, acknowledge Him and he shall direct your path (Proverbs 3:5-6). Don’t look for anyone else, to your own understanding, but lean to the Word of God, through prayer and supplication, God will give you the answer, and to every answer, He gives there will be a witness to that answer.

Don’t show yourself off to the world to validate that you are a Christian. You need not be on national tv with a banner in your hand or any such thing alike declaring that you are against this and you are a Christian, so others will see you and say “oh that is a Christian.” The world doesn’t know what a Christian is, all they know is what a Christian does. So when you have an issue with a particular thing, take it to God and pray about it, or get together corporately with a group of baptized believers where you are all standing in agreement. Where there are two or three touching and agreeing on a thing, He is in the midst (Matthew 18:19).

 

Romans 6:12

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

 

By us operating and doing things using our hands, ears, nose, arms, legs, for the purpose of Christ, he said remember you should act as though you’ve just risen from the dead. Before when you were in the world, you were dying. Now you are alive in Christ, and if so, don’t exemplify the deeds of someone who was dead, but exemplify yourself and one being alive from the dead of the world, alive in Christ. Behold you are a new creature old things have passed away.

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God is not an Option

Joshua 24:15

People in Church and the world think that believing in God or giving His son Jesus true worship is an option. When we look at those iconic words Joshua said in 24:15 “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Now, when Joshua made that statement, he was making one in the face of the world you might say because we still read this today. We are still hearing his declaration to the whole world about whom he believed in without a doubt. He detached himself from the world around him, including the people whom he led across Jordan.

People in the world say that to believe in God is an option. I can have faith in Him or not have faith in Him, I can believe in Him or not believe in Him; I don’t have to because He isn’t really real anyhow. If He turns out to be true, then He is God. He is understanding, plus He’s faithful. He understands my heart, “He understands what I’m going through; He will take me into heaven still. He knows that I really love Him, even when I didn’t believe in Him.” People will defend their beliefs. People will be quick to say God is not real, but when the evidence came out that the places the Children of Isreal traveled were found, people said “I have the right to believe what I want  to believe.” God says yes you do have the right. However know this, your life is an opinion but God is not.

Hebrews 11:6

But with out faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

How can anyone please God when they don’t know Him? If you didn’t believe in Him.  How all of a sudden can you say you love Him, if you’ve not had a relationship with Him. Some might say “I kind of figured He was true; I kind of knew He was always in my heart.” Jesus said in John 20:29 “…blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” The whole point is, we have to realize that God was never false, He’s always been real. You need to search the scriptures to find Him. So having the faith that God is, and that He is a rewarded of those who diligently seek Him, you have to realize that whether you believe in Him or not, He is real. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord God.

Most people want an option. “If God turns out to be real, then I’ll worship Him, I’ll believe Him, and He’ll understand me and I will go back with Him. It is not that easy. You can’t go back with someone who does not know you. If there were several babies in one room with all their mothers, and one of the babies cries out, are all the mothers going to go to that child? No, only the mother which belongs to that child; that mother who knows the cry of her child. That is the same way with those in the world, who have no relationship with God, yet try to cry out to Him. Will He hear the cry of those who are His or those who aren’t His? Only those who are His. He won’t touch something that is not His. He will not hear the cry of a sinner to help them continue in sin, unless their cry is to deliver them from this life of sin. He reins on the just and the unjust, Matt. 5:45. He loves all  of his creation, but if He does not know you personally, then who are you calling on and you don’t believe in Yeshua (Jesus) Messiah (Christ), then again, I ask you who are you calling on for help? The false gods of this world which are demons and evil spirits.  But if you don’t believe in the real and true God then who hears you pray,  if your life is linked to this world system and philosophy which is totally against the words of God and His son Jesus (Yeshua)?

You’ve got to know who you serve. People think they have options. We’ve been given options so much in our lives, we don’t even recognize that options were started by the devil. It happened during the time of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Option A: don’t eat of the tree and be obedient to God. Option B: eat of the tree and you’ll be like God. We are taught to look for options. With God, there are no options. Either you live with Him in the Kingdom to come forever or you die in the World in sin, and can look forward to live forever in Hell. God does not give options. It is the choices we make that determine our end.

Rev 21:8

But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.

Many people are going with option B. They will flip the script when they find out God is real.” He is ever loving, ever faithful and will accept me so I can get in”. That is not the way it’s done. You have to have a relationship with Him. This life is the training ground for living with God forever in heaven. If you can’t do what is right down here, how will you do it in heaven? God does not give options, Satan does!

1 Kings 18:21

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

We need to understand that this is our preparation for going to heaven. How can you do what you want to do, not listen to God, and think you’ll go back with God. How can you live lavishly in this world, doing drugs, drinking, crimes etc, and at the last minute finally decided to believe in Jesus when He appears? While you are allowed to see another day, let that time be spent trying to find out who He is now. Build a relationship with Him.

God does not want us to rely on options. He wants you to have life, but you can choose either life or death.

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Christmastime: A Talk about the Holiday

This Sabbath, Pastor Catron took time to speak about the upcoming holiday of Christmas. What did it mean to us before we became Children of God, what did it mean to us after believing in Christ, and this year what it means to us now.

We were asked these questions. For many, Christmas is a time of warmth, joy, and merriment. It means we can see our families, and give gifts not only of physical things, but gifts of love, goodness, and compassion. During this time, we remember those in need all the more, and we are very generous. We establish our traditions of putting up the tree, lighting the yule log, singing carols, eating pumpkin pie, decorating with green plants and lights, hanging the mistletoe, and waiting for Santa Clause. In addition to these things, it is acknowledged that Christ’s birth, although His true birth is unknown, is December 25. This is what Christmas meant to some before they became Children of God.

After believing in Christ, He now became the central theme of why we celebrated the holiday. Yet, what does Christmas mean, why do we celebrate it, even though it is not Christ’s true birthday?

Lady Catron did a little research to answer these very questions, and the results were shocking. It was from her finding that we read from during service. Ark of Covenant Ministries does not celebrate Christmas because it was discovered that before our Savior Jesus was born, the traditions of what we now know as Christmas were practiced as rituals by those who knew not God our Father. Infact, the rituals were in reverence to other gods. These traditions have no bases in biblical teaching, and Christ became associated with these traditions because the Catholic Church moved His birthday to December 25. Those who already looked to December 25 as a day to honor a pagan god with the traditions we now know from Christmas, were those whom the Catholic Church wished to draw into the Catholic faith with compromise.

With this knowledge, we could no longer celebrate Christmas in good conscience to the Father and to Jesus. We realize also that “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12). A mid the world that we live in today, we realize that even though unseen, evil spiritual forces are still at work among us and we must put on whole armour of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6:11).

The holidays are no exception when it comes to spiritual warfare. Now that we realize the truth about Christmas, we should all the more be on guard against spiritual wickedness, tricks, and deception.

If you would like more information about our findings about the holiday, you can click the link bellow.

 

‘Tis the Season to be Pagan

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Timothy Leadership Conference

16th Annual Timothy Leadership Conference 2015, Wednesday, April 15- Saturday, April 18
Christ Haven Worship Center
Philadelphia, PA

This year’s Timothy Conference was truly a blessing! Although Ark of Covenant Ministries arrived late for the 1st evening service on Wednesday night, we got a glimpse of what The Lord was doing through Bishop Gerald Loyd, who was the speaker of the hour for that service, and we were welcomed by Dr. Cummings, the Conference founder, with many thanks and gratitude.

The format for most of the conference’s meetings started with an hour of Morning Prayer power, followed by a seminar by one of the speakers for the night services, followed by a lunch break, following two separate seminar sessions with 6 choices to hear different speakers, followed by a lunch break, ending with the evening service. There were opportunities for sight-seeing in the Philadelphia area, the host church in Philadelphia did an excellent job of providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a very reasonable fee, and as always, conference goers were able to sit down and talk to  the speakers of each seminar on a face to face basis. There was a great deal of teaching that was poured into conference goers, that equipped for leadership, growth, and relationship with the Creator.

For Ark of Covenant Ministries, here were some highlights of the conference:
• Bishop Gerald Loyd’s Seminar “Leading Without Limits and Boundaries” Thursday Morning Seminar
o Leadership without limits and boundaries where he walked us through what it takes to be “purposeful” believers. There are two major frustrations when we don’t find out what our purpose is: unrealized anointing brings on spiritual constipation, and which breeds unrealized purpose.
• Debbie Heller’s Seminar Session “Stress Management for Leaders” Thursday Afternoon Seminar
o That afternoon, conferences goers had a choice between three seminar sessions. Ark of Covenant chose the session titled “Stress Management for Leaders,” in which Ms. Debbie Heller gave strikingly easy daily practices that eradicate stress all together. Coupled with faith, Ms. Heller suggested that we focus our minds on the present, rather than the past or future. Having a full mind or being mindful, is the difference between stressing or not.
• Dr. Graylin Stargell “Who and I Really? Understanding How People See you!” Thursday Afternoon Seminar
o We broke into groups, were given a real life scenario, and asked how we would react. The focus was on finding out how we think, and figuring out how others saw us in our decision making. Dr. Stargell wanted to see if we were “controllers” or “comptrollers.” Controllers are those who take over, dominate, and micromanage situations, while Comptrollers put systems in place, and delegate responsibilities to individuals accordingly for overall success.
• Dr. Graylin Stargell “Is Your Church One Phone Call From Disaster? Church Succession,                  Resignation and Management Planning” Friday Afternoon Seminar
o Many leaders have nothing for their congregations to fall back on if anything were to happen to them. Dr. Graylin Stargell gave us a basis for how to establish a pastoral succession plan so as to avoid the congregation being unfruitful and broken up.
• Sightseeing in Philadelphia
o An Elder from the host church who is also the church bus driver, took a group of us through the city to one of the Philly Cheese Steak restaurants the city is known for. He, being a native Philadelphian, showed us all the wonderful sights around the city area.
• Friday Night Service with District Elder, Dr. D. W. Cummings
o Dr. Cummings preaching ushered in a spirit of repentance, worship, praise, and took some of the older saints back to the days when the young people use to “cut up” in the church. The Spirit of the Lord was present and left a lasting impression on many as we traveled back to the Cleveland area.

This year’s Timothy Conference experienced a new location, and left a new desire to grow all the more closer to the Lord, even in our leadership roles. It was truly a blessing.

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Peace Breakers and Promise Shakers

Peace Breakers
Psalms 12:1-8

Peace: A state of calm and quiet, freedom from disturbing thoughts or emotions. The hebrew word for peace is Shalom.
Shalom means complete welfare and health.
The verb of the word Shalom is Shelem which means to be complete, and sound.
In 1 Kings 9:25, there is a display of a peace offering up to God. This was shalam. Shalam means to make peace. Proverbs 16:7 has an example of this as well.

Christ came not send peace on this earth but a sword as in Matthew 10:34. Jesus is concerned about our personal peace because through individual peace does one obtain unified peace. Before individual peace can take place you must first rebuke those things that cause you not to have peace. In Mark 4:39, Christ rebuked the wind and sea and it stopped.Then you need to operate the same as Christ did against all situations that come your way to disturb your peace. You need to tell that situation to be at peace. You have to, in your mind, look at that situation and speak peace and calmness into it. Your making up scenarios in your own mind of things that haven’t even happened, causing your inner being to be at war with itself. Sometimes you just have to say “mind be quite, be still, be at peace.” Christ will rush in and stop the chaos right then and there.

Ephesians 2:14, “for he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;” The second chapter of Ephesians talks about being at peace. God is our help, our glory, and our need…HE IS. When you are in your moments alone, ask yourself, why am I going thorugh all these thoughts in my mind? Because your not at peace. You are at peace when your mind is stayed on Christ. But when your on every situation you can’t reslove by your own power, you’ll allways be worried, fearful, and upset.

Philippians 4:6-7, “be careful for nothing;  but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made know unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Promise Shakers
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2, “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.” There are people who like to shake your world, but as in Hebrews 12:26-27, we’re reminded that no matter how people treat us, no matter what people say should not shake us. Because the world  is coming to an end, that should not shake you. If that disturbs you, you need to sitt back and think about where you are in Christ.  We can not be soon shaken by what people say, how they receive us, or whether they love us, or for any situation.

Promise means a pledge to do or not to do. The greek word for promise is epan-gelia. It is a law term which denotes a summons.  Shake means to move or cause to move or disturb emotionally. There are people who will distrub you emotionally and mentally, and take your peace. By taking your peace they disturb your relationship with God. The author of the confusion of peace is Satan; You will be moving yourself in to his realm, therby enabling him to cause others to destroy your peace and your relationship with God. You need to watch where and what you place your attention and emotions on. Fear will cause your peace to be distrubed, anger will cause your peace to be distrubed. Satans main job is to cause you to loose it and delay God’s promise for your life.

Always be reminded of Hebrews 12:14, “follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.”