Inter-faith Prayer - a Dilemma?

Recently our president called on the nation to observe a day of prayer, which included all faiths represented in our country. This posed a moral problem for many Christians: should we, or shouldn’t we participate? I have no problem kneeling down amongst people of different faiths like Hindus, Muslims, New Agers, Buddhists, and others, and praying.

Why?

Because of what the Bible teaches me about Elijah and the 850 priests in 1 Kings 18. No matter how hard those priests worshipping false gods prayed, only the prayers to the One True Living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, were answered. And please note the overwhelming number of pagan priests and therefore the number of prayers offered to those false gods, remembering also that they tried all day long, going to extreme measures like cutting themselves, against the ONE man praying ONE prayer to the true God.

The spiritual principles involved are a) altars and b) authority.

Altars are erected in the spirit wherever people regularly pray and worship. There is no neutral ground in the spirit. If no one establishes and services an altar of prayer to God in an area, then Satan will be worshipped there. By default.

But here’s the thing. The altar that has the highest authority attached to it, always supersedes the others. Prayers to our God will always trump all other prayers, because He is the Highest Authority in Heaven and on earth!

So my call to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ is: please start praying! For even if you are the only Christian in your entire city, your prayers are the only ones that have the power behind them to cancel the effect of all the others!

2020Copyright All rights reserved P. Koegelenberg

About Jonah

 

When you just read “Jonah”, you immediately thought of the huge fish, didn’t you. But today I do not want to concentrate on that great supernatural miracle of God (creating such a big fish for him – Jonah 1:17 “Now the LORD provided a huge fish to swallow Jonah,”). 

 Let us first quickly get the theory that Jonah is only mythology and not a real event, out of the way.  Because this is the modern tendency, isn’t it, to call the historical events recorded in the Bible into disrepute.

Firstly, the style of the book, the wording and the grammar, are identical to the Old Testament books 1 and 2 Kings.  So if you dispute the authenticity of the story of Jonah, you also have to disregard 1 & 2 Kings, for which ample historical proof exists.

 Secondly, real people and real places are mentioned in Jonah, which are also mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.  For example: Jonah himself is also mentioned in II Kings 14.

 And thirdly, Jesus treated Jonah as a real person in Matt 12:40-41. Let’s read verse 40: “For even as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth”.  Please note that Jesus did not say:  For even as the STORY of Jonah says that….He spoke of a real person.  You see, Jonah was born in Nazareth, and must have been one of the local heroes to Jesus when He was growing up!   If you start disputing the very words of Jesus Himself, you are in essence then declaring that you believe nothing written in the Bible - we cannot decide which sections we will believe, and which not.  It is all, or nothing. 

 What I really want to get to, is the fact that Jonah’s story is a foreshadow of Jesus’ resurrection.  Because Jonah was actually dead in the belly of that fish.

 What!  I hear you say.  But this is not what we were taught in Sunday School?  Let’s investigate:

 Jonah 2:3 – For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the floods surrounded me, all Your waves and Your billows passed over me. – No doubt that he was cast into the deepest waters of the Mediterranean Sea.

  Verse 5-6  – The waters compassed me about, even to the extinction of life, the abyss surrounded me, the seaweed was wrapped around my head.  I went down to the bottoms and the very roots of the mountains, the earth with its bars closed  behind me forever.   – It takes only about one and a half mins to drown, and many more minutes to reach the bottom of the sea and lie there with seaweed wrapped around your head.

 Jonah2:2: “ saying, “I called out to the LORD, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice.”- Jonah’s prayer came out of the belly of Sheol.  Now Sheol was the abode of the dead.

 Verse 7 – When my soul fainted upon me – This is his last moments of consciousness – I remembered my Lord.

 You see, when that fish spewed Jonah out, God had also resurrected him, and this is why Jesus could say:  LIKE Jonah, the Son of Man….and He meant:  Will be enclosed for three days and three nights AND will also be resurrected from the dead.

 So this is a key element from the story of Jonah:  RESURRECTION!

 What does Jesus have to say about the resurrection of the dead?

 Read sections of John 6 with me:

Verse 39:  …but that I should give new life and raise them all up at the last day.

Verse 40:…and I will raise him up from the dead at the last day.

Verse 44: …and them I will raise up from the dead at the last day.

Verse 54:…and I will raise him up from the dead on the last day.

 I think Jesus meant what He said:  He WILL raise us up from the dead on the last day. How it happens is described in 1 Cor 15 (where Paul explains that the rapture will happen first, but this is a topic for another day). The question of course is:  what happens next?  Why would He raise us up after we had already died, assuming that this has happened before His rapture-appearance?

 Because He wants to reward His children!  Read Rev 11:18 – And the heathen raged, but Your wrath came, the time when the dead will be judged and Your servants the prophets and saints (that’s us!) rewarded.  Halleluja!  We serve a God Who has compassion.  We sometimes forget how patient God is, and how full of mercy, and how many chances He wants to give people to choose life, to turn away from our wickedness and choose Him.  Look at Jonah!

 ©2020Copyright All rights reserved P. Koegelenberg

Titles and Promotions

 

Often in life, we think that titles define people.  Who of us is not automatically impressed if someone is introduced to us as Dr So-and-so; or Professor This-and-that; as if a default setting goes into operation that elevates the person being introduced, without them having said a word or blinked an eye.

And so I found myself reading 1 Chronicles 27 one morning.  Now understand that it took quite a bit of dedication to still be reading chapter 27 after having also read through chapters 23 to 26 prior to that, have a look for yourself.  But I digress…

Essentially, David is handing out titles and promotions in this chapter.  You will find the names of the leaders of the divisions of the army, month by month.  You will see who was elevated to the position of chief officer in all twelve tribes.  Who the overseer over David’s personal treasury was, as well as over the treasuries in the country, in the cities, villages and towers or forts. Overseers over workers tilling the soil are mentioned, as well as over vineyards and wine cellars.  Even who had to tutor David’s sons. The list is quite extensive, running over 34 verses.

But it was verse 33 that caught my attention and brought a lump to my throat:

“……Hushai the Archite was the king’s companion and friend.”

Amongst all the dignitaries, titles and job descriptions mentioned here, his greatest contribution, the reason for him being included in this prestigious list, was that he was the friend of the king.

May this also be our highest aspiration.

To be the friend of the King!

©2020Copyright All rights reserved P. Koegelenberg

 

 

 

 

Heavenly Courts - do they really exist?

Soon after I was baptized with the Holy Spirit years ago, I found myself sitting with my Bible in my hands, wondering: what to do now?  How do I go about reading the Bible – I mean, before this incredible event in my life I had read lesson plans from this book or that magazine; I had attended seminars on how to interpret Scripture; the church had structured reading essays we could follow; there were numerous Daily Devotions to be found; and many topic-specific reading plans, too many to actually count.

And while these all have a place and purpose, I knew that the Holy Spirit was prompting me to do something on my own.  Something completely different for me.  So with great trepidation, because I had not really before known that I could actually personally hear the voice of the Holy Spirit, I decided to read a Psalm (starting with Ps 1 and following their order), a portion from the Old Testament (I started reading from Gen 1 and kept reading in the order of the books) and a portion from the New Testament (I chose whatever book I felt the Spirit indicated and read a chapter a day until the end).  And this has roughly been my “reading plan” throughout the last couple of years. 

Now because the portions I am reading are not selected by me according to some topic, or chosen because they are related, I really sit up and take notice when Holy Spirit lines up all three in some way!  This happened again just recently.  From my three reading portions these verses stood out:

Ps 82:1 “God stands in the assembly [of the representatives] of God; in the midst of the magistrates or judges He gives judgment [as] among the gods. Verse 6:  I said, You are gods [since you judge on My behalf, as My representatives]; indeed all of you are children of the Most High.” 

2 Chron 18:18 “[Micaiah] said, Therefore hear the word of the Lord:  I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host of heaven standing at His right hand and His left. Verse 19: And the Lord said, Who shall entice Ahab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead? And one said this thing, and another that.”

2 Cor 12:2  “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago – whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows – was caught up to the third heaven.  Verse 4:  Was caught up in paradise, and he heard utterances beyond the power of man to put into words, which man is not permitted to utter.”

And in my heart the Spirit connected these verses to convince me, in His own special way (which is rhema word, and has nothing to do with theological debates) that yes, there are Heavenly Courts and yes, people may enter there and co-work with God.

©2020Copyright All rights reserved P. Koegelenberg

 

The Vagabond Spirit

I first learnt about this spirit some years ago from Langton Gatsi, a pastor from Zimbabwe.  He told about his experience as a young man growing up in an African village.  Asking God about the bad experiences happening to him and his extended family, even after his conversion, he perceived that God told him it was the vagabond spirit, given legal right to be there because of the shedding of innocent blood on the ground. 

He then meditated on this, and came to the realization that this spirit afflicts nearly all who live on the African continent:  Africa has so much gold, silver, other resources, but instead of her women walking around drenched in gold and diamonds, it is all given away to others!  All that wealth in the ground, and the nations mostly live in dire poverty. And so many of the men criss-cross the continent and find that nothing works out for them.

He asked the Lord for the solution, and God told him to repent all sin on the land and make a covenant of peace with Him, calling the earth as witness that his covenant of peace with God cancels out every record of wrong held against him and his family in the earth.  So he knelt down on the ground, even making sure his bare knees touched the earth, repented of the spilling of innocent blood, physically took the ground into his hands, and did as God said. He took a stone as reminder of what he had done.  His wife and children did the same.

The results were astounding.  The grass and vegetation around his home were lushly green and growing in abundance, while all around him nothing else even remotely looked the same!

I remember Eben Swart telling of a South African Christian man who knew nothing about farming and who broke the blood curses over his newly bought farm.  His crops were all flourishing physically right up unto the boundary fences, and right next to these the other crops of the neighbouring farms (of experienced farmers) were not doing well at all.

Can we base these things on Scripture?

Genesis 4:8-14  “8Cain told Abel his brother. And it came about when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.  9Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground. 11“Now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12“When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; you will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth.” 13Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is too great to bear! 14“Behold, You have driven me this day from the face of the ground; and from Your face I will be hidden, and I will be a vagrant and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Verse 16:” And Cain went away from the LORD's presence and lived in a land called "Wandering," which is east of Eden.”

These are the main verses that reveal the characteristics of the vagabond spirit.  Things to note from here are:

·         Cain already had a disrespect for God, as is revealed in his answer “am I my brother’s keeper?” This is an arrogant way to speak to anybody in authority over you, never mind your God!” Already the signs of rebellion seem to rear up in Cain, and rebellion is as witchcraft in God’s eyes.

·         Jealousy of his brother caused Cain to kill Abel.

·         Spilled blood calls out to God from the earth, asking vengeance, for God to punish the offender.

·         This shedding of innocent blood results in a curse on you from the earth itself.

·         It also gives the vagabond spirit legal ground to operate in your life.

Can what we do, affect the land?

Ps 107:33-34 “33He changes rivers into deserts, and springs of water into dry, thirsty land.34He turns the fruitful land into salty wastelands, because of the wickedness of those who live there.”

Is 24:5-7 “The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth's inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left. The new wine dries up and the vine withers; all the merrymakers groan.”

Num 35:33 “"'Do not pollute the land where you are. Bloodshed pollutes the land, and atonement cannot be made for the land on which blood has been shed, except by the blood of the one who shed it.”

Our actions afflict the land.  This means that our forefathers before us could also have defiled the earth and we have to bear the consequences thereof, without even knowing about the sin that lead to this defilement. (2 Sam 21:1 “During the reign of David, there was a famine for three successive years; so David sought the face of the LORD. The LORD said, "It is on account of Saul and his blood-stained house; it is because he put the Gibeonites to death.")

Four things defile the land:

1.   Innocent bloodshed (abortion, war, assault and fighting, car accidents, mistreatment, etc)

2.   Immorality – Lev 18:1-30 (all sexual sins) - bloodletting

3.   Idolatry – Jer 3:9, Jer 16:18, Ez 20:7 – breaks God’s covenant with us.

4.   Broken covenants- Is 24:5-6 (disloyal severing of covenants, divorce, breach business contracts, or agreements, political and judicial injustice.)

Why these four?  Because they speak of covenant:  when blood is shed, a covenant results, because blood represents life. Why is blood important?  Lev 17:11 “Life is in the blood, and I have given you the blood of animals to sacrifice in place of your own.”  “Life” is “nephesh”, means soul, self, life, creature, person, appetite, mind, living being, desire, emotion, passion. 

Will a covenant of peace have an effect on the land?

Ez 34:24 “I will make a covenant of peace with my people and drive away the dangerous animals from the land. Then they will be able to camp safely in the wildest places and sleep in the woods without fear.” And  verse 27 – “And the tree of the field shall yield its fruit and the earth shall yield its increase….”

Apart from humbling yourself before God, turning from your wicked ways (2 Chron 7:14), make a covenant of peace with God and call upon the earth to witness it.  Go down on your hands and knees on your property, repent all your own sins, and the sins that you perceive from God that your forefathers did on this ground, make a covenant of peace with God, speak to the earth and confirm that your covenant of peace with God cancels out every record of wrong held against you and your family in the earth!

You see, the earth hears and writes (records) wrong deeds:

Jer 22:29,30 – “O earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord!  Thus says the Lord:  Write this man [Coniah] down as childless, a man who shall not prosper in his days, for no man of his offspring shall succeed in sitting upon the throne of David and ruling any more in Judah.”

Now if the earth witnesses against you, where do you go?  What our fathers did, what we do, is an open book in the earth, even if you change your name or move to a different place!

This is why in Num 5:11-31 a woman, suspected of adultery, is required to drink holy water in which  some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle was put, to determine her guilt or innocence. Earth records speak!  And these records need to be blocked out.

In some tribes in Africa, visitors are required to drink a glass of water with their hosts immediately upon arrival in their home, in which sand of the village has been put.  This signifies their becoming one with the host tribe.

Jesus, in John 8, when asked His opinion about whether the woman who had been caught in the very act of adultery should be stoned, stooped down twice to write on the ground with His finger.  Could He have written down the records the earth held about the spectators?  Could He actually have instructed the earth to cancel the woman’s records?

How can the earth hear, even write?

Spiritually, the earth is alive, a living organism:

The earth has a face:  Gen 1:29, Num 12:3, Job 37:12, Ps 104:30, Luke 21:35, and many other verses.

The earth has a mouth:  Gen 4:11, Ex 15:12, Num 16:30, 32, 34;  26:10, Deut 11:6, Ps 75:8, 106:17, Is 44:23, Rev 12:16

The earth can hear: Deut 32:1, Micah 1:2

The earth has a heart: Matt 12:40

The earth teaches: Job 12:8

The earth gives birth: Is 26:19

The earth discloses bloodshed:  Is 26:21

The earth holds captives: Jonah 2:6

The earth withholds its crops: Haggai 1:10

The earth vomits out people: Lev 18:28, 20:22

 Set your records right!

Although the earth belongs to God (Gen 8:21), man has delegated authority over it. (Ps 115:16) And therefore, God’s curse on the ground can be reversed – 2 Chron 7:14  “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

By the blood of Jesus we can pray for the place where we live to be cleansed of blood guilt.

Heb 9:24 – “For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (RSV)”

Because Christ became our curse, His blood can reverse the curse:

Heb 9:22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. (RSV)

An interesting thing mentioned by Langton:  All contracts made on earth are also recorded in heaven. So if the title deeds of the property you have taken possession of does not match the title deeds held in heaven, no prayers for favour on this property will work for you.  This was spoken of in relation to the farmers of Zimbabwe whose farms were dispossessed…..

What is the difference between homeless people and people afflicted by the vagabond spirit?

A homeless person actually has nowhere to stay, and if given a home, will go there.  Whereas the vagabond person has a home/family base to return to, they just choose not to.

Symptoms of a person under control of this spirit:

1.    They are always moving and running from place to place and never find peace or rest. They do not want stability – moving from husband to husband, house to house, country to country, wife to wife, church to church, job to job…Job 12:24 “He takes away the understanding of the chiefs of the people of the earth, And makes them wander in a pathless wilderness.” These are people who engage in useless pursuits, ending in a financial desert, their rebellion leaves them financially dry. “You will never farm the land again” - joblessness leaves them begging. They often live in poverty.

2.    They are always living in constant sorrow brought about by loneliness and barrenness. Nothing they do bears fruit. “…It won’t produce anything for you…”  They start things and never finish.

3.    They are not willing to establish roots in a healthy environment - not in the Word, or church, or group of believes.  Not a perfect environment, but a healthy environment.  No parental or governmental authority in their lives. “From now on, you’ll be without a home…”

4.    They are always causing chaos wherever they go.  No order in their lives, and when disorder reigns, it leads to chaos.  They then run away from one chaos situation, only to end up in another one.

5.    They are OK living with no purpose in life. 

6.    They are constantly running away from problems and situations instead of dealing with them.

7.    They are always breaking promises and commitments for no reason.

8.    They always sabotage relationships that could help them.  Ace manipulators, will feign love to get what they want.

9.    They are always living in a fantasy world to avoid facing reality; have their own mindset and beliefs; brainwashed to think a certain way; will believe lies instead of truths if it fits into their framework of thinking.

10.  They believe that everybody is against them. They are constantly dealing with frustration and failure – lose jobs for no reason, get thrown out of homes, in short:  there is a curse operating in their lives!

 What opened the door?

Either they, or the people who lived on the land before them, are guilty of one or more of:

·         Spilling innocent blood, like abortions, rape (and all other immorality), murder, human sacrifices, war, assault and fighting, car accidents, mistreatment, etc

·         Idolatry (all occultic activities, worshipping false gods)

·         Broken covenants

·         Rejection (Cain’s offer was rejected by God)

·         Jealousy (Cain was jealous of his brother)

·         Rebellion (Not doing things God’s way) Ps 107:10-11 “Some sat in darkness and deepest gloom, imprisoned in iron chains of misery.  They rebelled against the words of God, scorning the counsel of the Most High.” The soul stays hungry and thirsty, leading to despair and depression.

·         Alcohol and drug addiction

·         These sins coming through the bloodlines

How to get rid of this spirit:

1.    Repent earnestly of all known sin as in the above.

2.    Ask God to reveal previous shedding of blood/sin on the land and stand in the gap for these (repent as if you had done it).

3.    Establish a covenant of peace with God, calling the earth to witness it.

4.    Get delivered of this vagabond spirit, and all its related demons:  depression, rebellion, jealousy, rejection, poverty…

5.    Accept that the blood of Jesus cleansed you! His blood has broken every curse over you and your property!

6.    Now be transformed - renew your mind – and change your old ways of living!

Sources:  Eben Swart(Prayer Course 1), Arthur Burke (Sonship), Terry Somerville, Fernando Perez, Langton Gatsi.

©2020Copyright All rights reserved P. Koegelenberg

 

Do all Christians go to heaven?

The short answer to this question is:  I really do not know, because I do not know what relationship that person has with God.  What I do know, though, is that many people consider themselves Christians, and therefore assume that they are also going to heaven, when in fact the Lord does not use “Christianship” as a requirement for heaven.  He is forever looking at hearts.  Your heart-attitude is important to God, not whether you tick off the “Christian” block on a census form. 

 Let us start with the Old Testament: (All underlining, italics and bold type my own):

 2 Chron 15:2 - …The Lord is with you while you are with Him.  If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you become indifferent and forsake Him, He will forsake you.

 We know that God is the same, yesterday, today and forever.  His character cannot change, so the principle stated in this verse is just as applicable to us in the New Testament as it was for Israel in the Old Testament. Note that it is not “if God becomes indifferent” – it is your heart attitude of forsaking Him. Forsake means to turn your back on Him, actively denounce Him.

 In the New Testament, Jesus Himself said in Luke 13:23,24 & 28 – And someone asked Him, Lord, will only a few be saved?  And He said to them,

Strive to enter by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.

There will be weeping and grinding of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but you yourselves being cast forth.

  I ask the question:  the ones that will try to enter, surely consider themselves believers in God and therefore saved, for non-believers will most certainly not try to enter heaven, will they?  They simply don’t believe that it exists. Or they may be people who do believe in heaven, and will try to enter heaven, but believe that there are other ways of entering into heaven than through Jesus Christ alone. The people He was addressing were Jews:  people who would consider themselves religious people, so in their eyes definitely eligible to enter heaven.

 Mark 11:25 - And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop, in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your failings and shortcomings and let them drop.

 In this verse, it is shown that our Father’s forgiveness of us has to bear the fruit of our forgiving others in our lives. This is also upheld in other verses in Scripture, most notably in the Lord’s prayer, where we pray: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.” (See also Matt 6:12,14; Matt 18:21-35; Mark 11:25; Luke 6:27; Luke 17:3,4; John 20:23).  As Guzik in his commentary writes: The forgiven heart will forgive others. If we have hard, unforgiving hearts, it calls into question if we have ever received or appreciated the forgiveness God offers us.

 Matthew 25:1-12

Verse 12: But He replied, I solemnly declare to you, I do not know you.

 This portion of Scripture of course paints a picture of the rapture.

All 10 virgins had knowledge of the heavenly Bridegroom, for otherwise they would not know to wait for Him.

All 10 had oil for their lamps, meaning that they knew that they had to rely on the Holy Spirit to guide them.  It would seem, though, that 5 of them were relying on the false holy spirit – why else would Jesus deny them entrance?

But only 5 had extra oil, meaning that they were Holy Spirit-filled, Spirit-led people, in an intimate relationship with their Bridegroom, with hearts continually turned to Him (Oil throughout Scripture is used as a symbol for Holy Spirit). They knew their Bridegroom through personal relationship and had been storing up Spirit anointing through encounters with Him. It is their heart attitude, once again, that shows here, not their actual activities, for we all can only walk in the knowledge we have at that time.

 Elsewhere in Scripture we read that God knows those who truly love Him. (1 Cor 8:3) What does truly love Him look like?  It again has to do with your heart attitude.  Are you loving your God with all that is in (the broken) you?  Which has nothing to do with what other people think is the right or wrong way of doing things – it only has to do with your own sincerity before God, and your own desire to find His pathways in the Word and through the Holy Spirit.

 Shocked?  Thought that “once saved, always saved?”   In Hebrews we read:

Heb 6:4-6 – For it is impossible to restore and bring again to repentance those who have been once for all enlightened, who have consciously tasted the heavenly gift and have become sharers of the Holy Spirit.

And have felt how good the Word of God is and the mighty powers of the age and world to come.

If they then deviate from the faith and turn away from their allegiance – it is impossible to bring them back to repentance, for as long as they nail upon the cross the Son of God afresh and are holding Him up to contempt and shame and public disgrace.

 The underlined parts depict a saved person, filled with the Holy Spirit, working under anointing, witnessing signs and wonders done in faith.  Yet the writer of Hebrews mentions that they can deviate from the faith, by turning away.  This implies that they chose with their own free will, to turn away from God.  An active decision to denounce Him in all your ways, to publicly ridicule and shame and revile Him. It is then impossible, says the writer of Hebrews, to bring them back to repentance while they persist in this way of thinking and behavior.  And a sinner not repenting of his ways, will not enter heaven. But God will always wait for you to repent and return – read the parable of the Lost Son (Luke 15:11).

 What of the Scripture that says:  Nothing can pluck you from the hand of God?  Of course nothing can do that.  But if and when you decide to crawl out of God’s hand of your own free will, that is an entirely different matter.  God will never force you to do something - He respects man’s free will in all situations.  He does not create puppets that He then controls by pulling all the strings. Note again that this was a personal choice from your side, that you chose to denounce Him.

 Matthew 7:21 -  Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven.

 Now if you call Jesus your Lord, you are implying that you already have chosen to follow Him, and this means to be under His authority.  Non-believers will not make this choice. But this verse says that only those who actually do what God says, in other words act out their faith, will enter into heaven. You cannot own Jesus as your Lord and persist in your previous sinful activities. It is to be questioned whether someone calling Jesus Lord and then not following His lead, ever made the heart decision at all. We must at all times guard our heart-attitude:  God is looking for people with the heart of a son, not the heart of a slave. People who follow His heart, and not religious rules and regulations.

 1 Cor 10: 1-6 – For I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, that our forefathers were all under and protected by the cloud, (therefore accepted God as their Protector) and every one of them passed safely through the Red Sea.(A picture from the O.T. for us in the N.T., of being baptized under water)

And each one of them allowed himself also to be baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.

And all of them ate the same spiritual food.

And they all drank the same spiritual drink…. (A picture from the O.T. for us in the N.T., of taking Communion)

Nevertheless, God was not pleased with the great majority of them, for they were overthrown and strewn down along the ground in the wilderness (they did not go into the promised land)

Now these things are examples for us not to desire after evil and carnal things as they did.

 We know that it was only Joshua and Caleb, and the children born out of their generation, that went into the promised land.  The Bible says that they had a different spirit.  Meaning, they had an intimate relationship with their God.  Of course Moses, Miriam and Aaron also had a love-relationship with God, but were barred from entering the promised land as a consequence of personal sin.

So I am not implying that all those who left Egypt are not in heaven today. But the Scripture says the great majority of them will not be there, even though they partook of all the blessings that God bestowed upon them, and experienced God’s wonders first-hand. They persistently chose to live out their evil and carnal natures, and not live whole-heartedly for God.

 Rev 3:16 – So, because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth.

The book Revelations was primarily written for Christians – it addresses “the saints” and “his servants” throughout. So it implies that Christians can be cold, hot, or lukewarm. If God spews you out of His mouth, you are not ready to go to heaven. It is interesting that this verse implies that it is better to be cold, than lukewarm. This shows God’s mercy and loving-kindness to all sinners. He knows that if you are cold (still living in your sin), you will understand His mercy (not receiving the punishment you deserve) and grace (receiving all God’s gifts even though you do not deserve them) even better, because you will experience the radical difference He makes in your life!  It is His will that nobody will perish, but that all will come to Him.  (John 3:16) Lukewarmness is the result of continual choices to put other things first in your life, above Him. This hardens your heart eventually.

 Taking all of the above into account, I have to conclude that not everyone who consider themselves Christians, will eventually go to heaven. Some people think that being baptized as a baby automatically makes you a Christian. Some people think that, because your parents were Christian, you are also. Some people think that you have to earn your right to go to heaven by doing all the “right” religious stuff.  Some people think that all religions will lead you to heaven. These assumptions are all unscriptural.  I think that your heart attitude must be to aspire to be a Spirit-filled, Spirit-led, born again Christian, who yearns to have an intimate relationship with Abba Father, with Jesus Christ and with the Holy Spirit. It is this attitude of the heart, and not where you really are on your walk with God, that matters to Him.

 These verses are not meant to discourage you, rather to encourage you to evaluate your walk with God.  

Do you maybe think that you have to follow “rules” and “requirements” of tradition in order to go to heaven?  Or that you have to keep wondering if you are at all good enough, keeping track of every word spoken, every deed done?  Then I have very good news for you!

God loves you, and there is nothing you can do about it.  Nothing you can do, can make Him love you more, you already have 100% of His love.  And nothing you can do, can make Him love you less, His love stays at 100%.  All God asks of you in return, is that you love Him!

 IN SUMMARY:  Do not ask the question: “Have I done enough to earn my way into heaven?”

Rather ask the question: “Is my heart His?”

 

©2020Copyright All rights reserved P. Koegelenberg

 

Women's Day 2020 - Paraclete

MOTHER’S DAY coming up! I would like to highlight 2 Cor 1: 3-4 to every woman, young and old, on this special day:

2 Cor 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of sympathy (this is the Amplified Translation, and I find this description so beautiful!) and God [Who is the Source] of all comfort” - this word comfort means much more than consolation and encouragement, it also means being brave, strengthening, helping, making strong. It is the Latin word Paracletus, and we know that the Holy Spirit is our Paraclete (advocate or helper), and we know that Jesus is our Paraclete, so God is saying in this verse that in every form of His being, He is the provider of complete comfort, complete strength and complete help for us.

God, in Isaiah 66:13, values our women’s role as paracletes so highly, that He uses this analogy to explain something about Himself:

“As a mother comforts her son, so I will comfort you….“ God acknowledges that women carry and display this aspect of sympathy, consoling and encouraging that is found in God Himself.

How do we do it?

Verse 4 says: “who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

You see, we need to first receive comfort from God ourselves, so that we can use that comfort to give out to those who need it.

So, to all the women reading this, I want to say two things:

Firstly – WELL DONE!!! You are marvelously put together by God, the cement that keeps the whole building standing, and in these trying times you are simply doing an amazing job!

But secondly – please do not be too proud to admit your own troubles to others, because you need to receive God’s comfort, that He gives through the people around you, also. Otherwise you have nothing to give out again.

I bless you with God’s wisdom and strength, which will enable you to be the best paraclete you could ever be!



©2020Copyright All rights reserved P. Koegelenberg