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FAMILY & CHURCH
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THE ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE.
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MARRIAGE.
Helps us understand our spiritual
relation with God for eternity as a couple.
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FAMILY AND GOD.
Helps us understand our relation and unity
with those who love God.
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CHILDREN.
Help us understand God's love for us and
the patience He must have and the fruits of it.
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WORK.
Helps us value what God has created and how hard
it is to do things well and how it hearts when others destroy them.
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FRIENDS.
Help us understand our relation with our
neighbor and how to deal with the proud and help the humble.
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MONEY.
Helps us understand how to administrate
assets, to show us the value of Creation and how to use it well.
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THE ORGANIZATION
OF THE CHURCH ACCORDING TO THE BIBLE
The organization of the Church according to the Bible
is an important issue that we believers must learn from the Holy Spirit
as His guide of behaviour, because He is our organizer until the coming
of the Kingdom of God. We mankind, sometimes tend to over do it in
matters of organization and methodology, and others we lack order.
However God is a God of order and therefore His people must live in
order in all that we do, specially in what we do related to God and to
the brethren, to be useful to preach the Gospel and other works of the
Lord. Before we deeply enter in the Biblical order for the Church in the
Bible, I would like to make you consider and also provide you with the
concept of the life with God with the following revelation of what a son
of God needs; most of us already know this, but a overview will refresh
our minds:
To become a member of the Church of God, a person
needs to have received Yahshua, Jesus Christ, to comprehend the Gospel
and truly repent. This is the first step to begin the Christian life.
The problems can happen when in his church, or denomination which is
comparable to any religion, sees that people fail, that even the leaders
fail, the elderly, the ones who where the masters, sin, and his faith
begins to cool down. Its so easy to see the speck in the brothers eye
and ignore the plank in ones eye, even sometimes is just turns hard to
see ones plank! Christ calls us hypocrites (Matthew 7:5) and invites us
to take out the plank first, from our own eye, to let us see in the
first place. This labour of taking out our own plank is a symbol of the
spiritual circumcision, that far from the one in the flesh of the male,
teaches us that He means the one of the heart, to wards the feelings for
our brothers, and if Christ invites us to love our enemies, who wouldn't
we love the brethren specially when they fail, because I also fail. The
only one who never fails is our beloved God.
We must forgive the brothers, otherwise there is no
Church, the gifts are wasted and the enemy wins the battle, although not
the war. It is my aim through this media, to remind that unless a
brother who so call him denies the Word of God and Yahshua as the only
possible saviour, in which case Yahshua, invites us to not even eat with
those. On the contrary we must stay with the brothers carrying our cross
and the yoke with them and for them.
...Let
all the nations be gathered together, and let the people be
assembled... Isaiah 43:9.
...For
where two or three are gathered together in my name, there
am I in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20.
...And not for
that nation only, but that also he should gather together in one the
children of God that were scattered abroad. John 11:52.
...And
all that believed were together, and
had all things common; 45And sold their
possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46And
they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from
house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47Praising God, and having favor with all the people. And
the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Acts 2:44.
...Not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some
is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day
approaching. Hebrews 10:25.
READ THESE 3 PARAGRAPHS ABOUT THE ORGANIZATION OF THE
CHURCH: IN THEM ARE THE KEYS. THEN SEEK WHERE THESE ARE MET AND ADD YOUR SELF.
...And I say
also unto thee, That thou art Peter,
(petrus, rock) and upon this rock
(the faith in Christ) I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall
not prevail against it. 19And I will give unto thee
(because you have faith, and to those who have faith will be called rocks)
the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall
be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in
heaven. 20Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was
Jesus the Christ. Matthew 16:18.
...That at that
time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and
strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the
world: 13But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by
the blood of Christ. 14For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath
broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15Having abolished in his
flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to
make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16And that he might
reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity
thereby: 17And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them
that were nigh. 18For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the
Father. 19Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow
citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20And are built upon the
foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief
corner stone. Ephesians 2:12.
...And
he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and
some, pastors and teachers; 12For the perfecting of the saints, for the
work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 13Till we
all come in the unity of the faith, and of
the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a
perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:
14That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait
to deceive; 15But speaking the truth in love, may
grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that
which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the
measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of
itself in love. Ephesians 4:11.
Assemble with the brethren!
Read Psalm 133.
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MARRIAGE
When a man and a woman marry, they must understand that
love is the base that will keep them together all their lives and will allow
to have joy of one another. It is also the base to win before difficult
situations. But I would like to encourage all couples to pray to God, that
in the name of Yahshua, of Jesus Christ their marriage be blesses, so that
He becomes the Rock where to build their lives together.
Each of them has virtues and defects that will be
discovered along their lives. Facets that one does not even know of it self,
because he or she has never experienced some situations before in life. But
as it's a shame and painful to see so many couples divorce, and how much
they suffer, not to mention their children. So as I have experienced in my
married life, I recommend that they take Christ's faith, because He has the
power to set us free from the evil day and make overcome. He is the only one
that can win for you, for instance when another person gets in the way and
calls the other's attention, that woman or man. We must understand that the
our flesh is attracted to procreation, so its normal that we are attracted
by the other sex, but its not easy to reject that temptation, because its a
need of the body. Before more difficult situations like physical illness or
handicapped strong prayer is the way to not leave your partner for the sake
of you love. God provides the strength, but don't become sad, stay focused
in your trust for God, He will provide that strength we don't have. The
devil fights to death, so put on the hall armor of God in Ephesians 6:10.
Yes, man needs a woman and vice verse. Why, then,
some religions propose celibacy when the patriarchs where polygams?
...Let every man have his own wife in sanctification, says Paul.
Following some Bible support to the attitude for
those couples that believe in God:
...Neither shalt thou commit adultery. 7th
Commandment. Exodus 20, Deuteronomy 5.
...Therefore shall a man leave his father and his
mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.
Genesis 2:24.
...Marriage is honorable in all. Hebrews 13:4
...Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is
far above rubies. 11The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her,
so that he shall have no need of spoil. Proverb 31:10.
...For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by
the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the husband: else
were your children unclean; but now are they holy. 1Corinthians 7:14.
...Wives, submit yourselves unto your own
husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife,
even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the savior of the
body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives
be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he
might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or
wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without
blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that
loves his wife loves himself. For no man ever yet hated his own flesh;
but nourished and cherished it, even as the Lord the church: For we are
members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. For this cause
shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his
wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I
speak concerning Christ and the church. Nevertheless let every one of
you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see
that she reverence her husband. Ephesians 5:21-33.
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FAMILY & GOD
WE ALL KNOW HOW IMPORTANT IS THE
UNITY OF THE FAMILY. The family must be built up like a house, on
the rock and not over sand, so that house may stand up when difficulties
arrive. That rock is the faith in Christ, in His Word, the Bible. We could
call the Bible the book of instructions for life, for every man, for the
family. The sand, are the arguments of the world that end up in divorce and
children to drugs or alcohol as well as to homosexuality. Everything is
accepted in society.
Yahshua says: Therefore whosoever heareth these
sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which
built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for
it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of
mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which
built his house upon the sand: And the rain descended, and the floods
came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and
great was the fall of it. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended
these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught
them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Matthew 7:24-29.
The scribes are the leaders of religion. Jesus speaks the truth. Acts 2:41-47.
This is where we must have communion one with
another. The fathers as the head of their families must pastor them and
teach their own. If the wife is the only one in the Lord, she should
find other sisters and church groups to worship and share the matters of
God and to take Holy Supper, and teach her children in the ways of the
Lord. If you are the son or daughter share your fait in the Lord with
your parents, if they reject you, honor them however because that is the
commandment, with promise of blessing for doing so. Pray if all your
family members are not in the Lord and He will do. Sometimes years go by
for them to convert, so pray to Jesus for patience, and that time will
seam shorter. We who know the Lord want every one to know Him, but we
mustn't forget that every one must achieve that relation personally and
individually, and that relation is between the Lord and that person, and
we must also respect the intimacy in that relation and wait until he
falls in love with God. Then He will give faith to him. Amen?
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CHILDREN
..Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may
be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee.
Exodus 20. 5th commandment.
...Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this
is right. 2Honour thy father and mother; (which is the first
commandment with promise;) 3That it may be well with thee, and thou
mayest live long on the earth. 4And, ye fathers, provoke not your children
to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Ephesians 6:1-4.
They are a blessing of God, although some couples may not
have them. God knows each circumstance.
To be parents is hard but precious. There is no course to
learn. Each child is different from another and each family and parents are
different too.
Once more we must come to the Master, to our heavenly
Father, He really knows how to be a good Father.
His Word days: Who doesn't discipline his son considers
him bastard. God Himself disciplines us for us to seek Him and to make us
humble.
It's vital to pray for them. To be their friends.
However they, like us, like our parents, before us, will come with their
fashions, their group belongings which is on fashion, saying we are not.
Recommendation: Do not fail in guiding them in
admonition of the Lord although it seams as there is no fruit now. After
you will see the result and it will be a blessing. Parents must bring
their children to the knowledge of God as the most important teaching to
provide. The rest is of our own source depending of our time.
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WORK
1Timothy 5:8: ...But if any provide not for his own,
and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and
is worse than an infidel.
The kingdom of God is not a place where you need to
work to provide the needs of your own; which we can see in the paradise
where Adam and Eve where. God doesn't propose an eternal life of work
but an eternal life in paradise with Him without the need to provide,
because He is the provision and the bread of our spirit. Praise God who
has given us resurrection for eternal life by the sacrifice of His Son
Yahshua the Messiah who set us free of sin.
But now in the meantime, in this world we need some
guidance in the work system.
Man is not in a position to accept nothing for free,
...come on! I have intellectual knowledge and I can create a company and
have my own projects and make it..; and he doesn't realize he is a slave
in Egypt: the world, where we must fight to survive, sometimes we even
believe that those who are making it, who feel very important by their
achievements who feel superior and more intelligent that the rest, in
other words, the personal ego is very high in a businessman who makes it
or an employee who is outstanding for his efforts. This level of
self proud enables the man to be humble before God.
Without God and in the world, seeking profit and success
man falls in the arms of the devil. But you may be successful and know that
is God who is giving them to us, and share and give the needed.
We mustn't forget that this is our world, not the
Kingdom of God, I mean a world of egoists where the neighbor is not
important but achieving material things for their joy. Also I want to
mention the lives of those dieing of hunger daily, who have no hope, no
work, no health or who have fallen in a spirit of drugs or depression,
who are in prison and lets do something for this society. We can
eradicate poverty, we can employ every one, we can provide a worthy life
for all humanity, but we don't achieve it due to the world's egoism. But
I add, neither the most important, to teach man the knowledge of God,
and to wait with hope the arrival of the Kingdom of God and of our
Savior Yahshua, who will provide us with a new order, where we will no
longer worry for anything. Why this is not spoken at work, as well as
football, stock market, or Internet.
Joseph in Egypt was the richest man in the world and was
serving God. We must seek God first and the rest of things will come on
addition; says the Word.
In our work or business relations
we must identify as followers of Christ, so when they see our correct
attitude in business or job they can see a testimony that proofs them
that you can be honest and still be financially blessed. A disciple
should know well the laws of his time and fulfill them, must help the
work partners, if a boss must help his subordinate and not become a
dictator.
He who calls himself a disciple of
Christ must be seen as Jesus in action. And when he is asked how it's
possible, must preach his faith in the Lord.
He who honors God will rejoice in
using the tenth of his income for God purposes, for preaching and for
humanitarian aid, and the Lord will open the windows of heaven and will
pour out His blessings that there will not be room enough to receive it.
The tithe isn't originally of the Law of God, but of the faith of
Abraham, then it's not an obligation, it's more to honor and thank God
for His financial blessings. Read Malachi 3:8-12 & Genesis 14:18-20.
Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest
news regarding business profit and of wellbeing is precisely that
Yahshua is going to set us free from the slavery of work, He proposes
everlasting holidays, we will no longer be sad for the poor, because
there won't be any, and that we will be able to enjoy the presence
of God and the biggest emotion: To discover it all, understand it all
and listen to all the wonders of our great Father that He will show us
when we are with Him.
Mean while be good and give example
before your own and in society, and may the Lord bless you so much that your
tithes may be so big that the food, physical and spiritual, and the
wellbeing in all this planet until He comes.
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FRIENDS
You may, as our Master teaches us,
love your enemies and share your life with those who don't believe in God,
nor seek Him, but your true friends, those that will not let you down, you
will find them between those who believe in God's salvation and fear God and
obey Him in His Word and love their neighbor. The person who is of God is
that one that not only introduces himself as your friend, but who also talks
to you about God. Hard task to find many of these. In many religions they
will talk to you about God, but be aware. Ask God and He will show you who
are your real friends. If they believe that Yahshua, Jesus Christ is the Son
of God made a man and that He resurrected from the dead and they don't
impose belonging to a religion or denomination to receive you, there is no
fear.
The best friend is the Lord. A
real friend will never invite you to break God's law nor to do evil to
others.
A friend in Christ is always there
when you call him. His house is your house and your house is his house.
There is no excuse for you. If one says he is your friend but doesn't
have God, that is not a real friend.
BIBLE
Texts:
...A friend loves at all times, and
a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17.
...A man that has friends must show
himself friendly: and there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Proverbs. 18:24.
...Wealth makes many friends; but
the poor is separated from his friend. Proverbs. 19:4.
...Thine own friend, and thy
father’s friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother’s house in the day
of thy calamity: for better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far
off. Proverbs. 27:10.
Yahshua says: And I say unto you,
Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye
fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations. Luke 16:9.
...Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye
do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the
servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for
all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye
have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever
ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. 17These things I
command you, that ye love one another... John 15:13 and more.
...Be ye not unequally yoked
together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with
unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?... 2 Corinthians 6:14.
...Ye adulterers and adulteresses,
know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever
therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. James 4:4.
...And the scripture was fulfilled
which saith, Abraham believed God, and it was imputed unto him for
righteousness: and he was called the Friend of God. James 2:23.
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MONEY
It's a tool that we cannot do without
to cover our needs. Society catches us with it's system of consumption,
powered by the marketing of those producing companies, focused on profit,
seeking money making to enrich and beat their competitors.
But in stead the Lord says:
...But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all
these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33.
Also the Lord demands our tithes
of our incomes as His own. Abraham and Jacob did their own treaty with
God according to this, and it came out of their hearts, as the Law had
not been given yet, obtaining His blessing.
Be careful with the imposition of
denominations who demand it. One must feel free in how to use that 10% of
his money in whatever he receives form God as in how to use it. Malachi
3:6-11, For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are
not consumed. Even from the days of your fathers ye are gone away from mine
ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto
you, saith the LORD of hosts. But ye said, Wherein shall we return? 8Will a
man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee?
In tithes and offerings. 9Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me,
even this whole nation. 10Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that
there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD
of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. 11And I will
rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of
your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the
field, saith the LORD of hosts.
...For the love of money is the
root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the
faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 1 Timothy 6:10.
...Wealth makes many friends; but
the poor is separated from his friend. Proverbs: 19:4.
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