INTIMACY WITH GOD.

Posted on by Jeff Minandar

What a wonderful day in the House of God. I am glad to have a chance to be here among my fellow believers in Christ. As we all know, God wants to connect with you in a new way through Jesus Christ. That’s why we have to connect to Him, and build an intimacy with Him.

Intimacy with God is begin by connecting to Him. John 15:4-5.

Connecting with God – how can we connect with Him? And why sometimes we don’t feel close with God?

The reason we want to connect with God is because we are disconnected with God. The Fall of Man: we were connected, full of glory of God, but in Genesis 3, all changed. The reason of that fall was when we put our mind in the wrong choice (we have plenty of choices, but why we choose the few – tree of knowledge of good and evil, and forget other trees).

Again about human thinking, if we think about sin all the time we are feeding sin to our mind. God says that the ultimate gap between him and us is our sin. Isaiah 59:2. And that sin comes when you start questioning God in your mind and from that it will go further to disobedience. Genesis 3:1-6.

Let us read one more time our theme verse in John 15. Like a tree, in order to keep alive and be fruitful, a branch has to be connected with the trunk. This will explain my next sentence. Because we are disconnected we feel dry, empty, and try to fill that with 3L (luxury, lust, love) or 4G (gold, glory, guys/girls, getaway) that the world offers. It’s all useless. Let me bring you to Bible Story, where the longest conversation between Jesus and other person was recorded. It’s a story of Samaritan woman. John 4.

This Samaritan woman who met with Jesus near Jacob’s well, she was disconnected from society. Jesus warned her in John 4:13-14 You will thirsty again if you drink from this earth. Jesus continued, but if you ask living water (verse 10) you won’t be thirsty again. Living water here have two meanings, “springing water” and “eternal life, salvation.”

We need Salvation to reconnect, to be alive. We thought salvation prayer only for a non-believer, but we also have to recite it, understand it.

What are parts of salvation prayer?

  • Proclaim Jesus as God. Verse 29. Say it loud! Romans 10:10.
  • Admit our faults and wrong ways. Verse 39. We know we are imperfect, perfected in Christ, this is a sign of total surrender, don’t cover it with your self-righteousness. 1John 1:9.
  • Present (give up your life for God’s cause – Romans 12:1) & Repent (the word metanoia means we renew our mind deliberately, we are not helpless person occupied by external, but internally empowered by the Spirit – Romans 12:2). In Hebrews 4:12 the author of Hebrews said the Word of God could separate (discern) the will and heart of man – As we know the Word is the sword of Spirit (Ephesians 6:17). Later on 1Corinthians 12:10 one of the gifts of the Spirit is to discern different spirits.
  • Believe (leave your burden, do not carry that again). Matthew 11:28.

When you pray that prayer, that is when you are really connecting with God, you build your intimacy with God. It’s not how frequent you put yourself around Jesus (don’t follow the Pharisees, who’s around but didn’t have the intimacy). But how well you want to know Him, when you hear His voice, the good news.

GodblesS

JEFF

IT IS DONE (THE UNLIMITED GRACE & PEACE)

Posted on by Jeff Minandar

“For every beginning has an end.” For everything that begins, there is always an end. So, there is a beginning and an end. There is Alpha, and there is Omega (this is for Greek letters), there is “A,” there is “Z” (this is for the alphabetical letters we are familiar with).

We can see the beginning and the end, in the series of creation weeks written in Genesis 1. There was a beginning and an end to the series. We call the end of that week, Sabbath. In Old Testament times, it was Saturday, and now in New Testament times, it is Sunday.

When it comes to the beginning of creation, there are many “smart people like scientists” who do not believe it and try to prove the opposite. There are so-called “god particles” or scientifically; they call them “Higgs bosons.” To cut the story short, it is the particles that makeup everything in the world. But inevitably, they will fail because they have closed their eyes that God is the first and creator of everything. Everything will also end with Him.

We say “It is done” when we have finished a job. “It is done” is the same as “it is finished.” Done or finished is synonymous with these words in English: “complete,” “perfect,” “good.” All synonyms that I mentioned are interestingly illustrated in 3 consecutive verses in Genesis 1:31 and Genesis 2: 1-2.

– Good. Genesis 1:31.

– Finished. Genesis 2:1.

– Complete. Genesis 2:2.

What is the meaning of what is written on the first page of our Bible?

1. God created everything in its final form so that we can say that the theory of evolution is unbiblical.

2. We humans, God’s creations, are perfect creatures (Genesis 1:27), and we were created for a purpose (verse 28).

3. That’s why even when humans fell, God immediately planned redemption. Genesis 3:15.

Humans are precious in God’s eyes, even to those who are chosen and called in God’s plan (such as the nation of Israel and for us, God’s people of this generation). God says that we are: “precious in His eyes, glorious, loved, and guaranteed protection. Isaiah 43:4. You are perfect in His sight. Stop comparing yourself with others. You will become imperfect and feel invaluable by doing that.

One of many questions for us is this, “why did Jesus have to sacrifice?” We can find it in Jesus’ parable.   Luke 10:25-37. Since the fall of man, man is destined to die. We were born to die! The devil got a chance to rob us completely. The superiority, privilege, and glory of man have decreased from time to time. If there is no savior, then we are sure to die. What I mean with “die” either:

– Physical. Humans have a shorter life span, from Genesis 6:3 (up to 120 years) to Psalm 90:10 (only 70 to 80 years).

– Spiritual. It means that when humans become wicked (evil), then the end of the path is destruction. Psalm 1:6.

Thus, to be the Savior of the world, Jesus had to die! Why? To replace us who should die. He died so we might live. The picture was the sacrifice in the Old Testament (Leviticus 16:34). It needed to be sacrificed annually for atonement. But all of these rituals were fulfilled with HIS sacrifice, which marked a New Testament. The perfect sacrifice, once for all. Hebrews 9:28.

So, when Jesus says, “it is finished” (John 19:30), it means that his mission is finished, sin no longer “invades” people’s hearts. Judgment, that is, the death caused by sin, is no longer part of us. Romans 8:1-2. However, when we listen to the wrong teaching, it can rob our Peace,

Now, think about the following questions.

– Are you still filled with guilt?

– Are you still not free from sin?

– Are you still in contact with the other spirits who bind you?

– Are you still searching for the truth?

Jesus offers you today unlimited grace and Peace, will you believe in Him? When Jesus says, “it is finished,” it means that the devil can no longer take charge of us. The punishment is passed (Passover) from us when we are in Jesus. How can we live in Jesus? Does that mean living in the church? No, when we live in Jesus, it means:

1. Believe. John 3:18. HE has provided facilities for us to be complete and good after humanity fell into sin.

2. Live right. John 3:21. It means life to avoid sin. Remember, Jesus did not become sin because HE sinned. Thus, we are justified, not because we are righteous. We are justified because of the righteousness of God that is “given” to us. How can we walk over the gift by living irresponsibly? So, we do not want to be called “people who are not grateful, people who have been helped, yet we crucified Jesus again.”

3. Come to the light who is Jesus. John 8:12. People who live in truth have nothing to hide. Everything is open, and he was happy in the sun. But instead, those who live in darkness, like to protect their lives and stay away from the light.

Jesus said this in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, My Peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” He provides unlimited grace shown in our existence and our redemption. Because of that, we have this unlimited Peace, knowing nothing can separate us with the love of Christ. Hebrew 8:35.  

Fear

Posted on by Jeff Minandar

All of us are prone to fall into the trap of the devil. And he wants us to repeat the history. What happened in Genesis 3:10 could happen in our lives. If I ask you this question: what is the biggest threat to our spiritual conditions? Fear is the answer.

Why is fear the biggest threat to our spiritual conditions? Because if we have fear, as little as it is, it will grow and become the root of our problems. Fear has a strong connection with punishment or condemnation. It is the opposite of love. We think that punishment and condemnation come from outside, but look it is started within you. Let me bring you back to the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 3. Fear becomes the root of all man’s wrongdoing. These three things sprang out from fear:

  • Breach the law (fear of being fooled by God). Isaiah 24:4-5. God’s law is His Word, and it is like the lines, the rules that keep everything intact.
  • Runaway (fear of being responsible). Jeremiah 2:4-6.
  • Hide (unrealistic fear). Job 34:22.

Another unrealistic fear is the thought that if you don’t have some amount of money (like others), then you lose your self-esteem. A rabbi named Smoley Boteach wrote this in his book: “Money should never be turned into a currency to purchase self-esteem.” Fear is gripping our modern society. It confuses them, brings anxiety and gives them death. Luke 21:25-26.

The answer for us in facing fear is by the Grace of God (2Timothy 1:6-7) and in believing that He gives that abundantly, read Romans 5:17. From the letter of Paul to Timothy, we learn that we must “rekindle God’s gift (His Grace),” and “remember that you need the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is not giving you a spirit of fear, but Spirit who produces power, love, and Self-Control.

GodblesS

JEFF