THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD JESUS

 

"Behold I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book." (Revelation 22:7)

When the subject is the destiny of the planet earth, the people react in different ways. There are those who don't believe that the world will end, affirming that it happens only for those who die.

There are those who agree with the scientific arguments that everything will automatically end as soon as the sun completes its vital cycle and gets extinguished, as it happens with the stars, but they argue that its a preoccupation for other generations, reserved only for our descendants.

However, the verse below, warn us not to be negligent with such important promise:

"Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will be in the days of the Son of Man. People were eating, drinking, marrying and being given in marriage up to the day Noah entered the Ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same in the days of Lot.

People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. But the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulphur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just like this on the day the Son of Man is revealed. On that day no one who is on the roof of the house, with his goods inside, should go down to get them. Likewise, no one in the field should go back for anything."
(Luke 17:26-31)

You cannot be confused with other facts of the history of the church many people believe that the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ was the descending of the Holy Spirit, on the day of Pentecost.

The parousy ,however, will be accompanied by two important events: the resurrection of the dead and the snatch of the church, what immediately discards the possibility of such people being right.

Read: 1 Corinthians 15:52, 1 Thessalonians 4:16,17
(Text extracted from Bible Study book from Bishop Macedo)
God bless you.

DID YOU REALLY GET CONVERTED ?

 

What is conversion? Is the change of direction, character and personality. You need to do your part in order to change that is, to believe in the word, accept it and make an effort to put it into practice in your life.

However, only that is not enough, because it's the word of God itself that purifies us from everything that does not please God. The Holy Spirit is the One who acts so that your life may be transformed.

Did you feel that something changed inside of you after your conversion? I am not talking about receiving a healing, the deliverance from demons or getting the solution of a problem, because all these we achieve by faith, but I ask about the internal change, in your heart.

if you before coming to the church were aggressive, rebel, used to keep grudges in your heart and still feel the same not being able of forgive those who offend you, so it's because nothing happened. If it's your case, you need to make an urgent evaluation in your life, because your salvation is at satke.

Surrender your life completely into the hands of the Lord Jesus, open the doors of your heart, let His words wash you and don't be mere listener but a participant. Try not to do your will, but always the will of God in your life.

When it happens, when you repent of your sins and live according to what the scriptures say, rivers of living waters will flow from you, or rather, the Holy Spirit will flow and you will be a new creature; the direction of your life will be totally changed.

(Text extracted from the book of Bishop Macedo Bible study)
 

THE THREE SIEVES OF SOCRATES

A man runs up to Socrates with information he thought the philosopher would like to hear:

– Let me tell you something about one of your friends!

– Wait a minute - said Socrates – Before you tell me, have you sifted this information through the three sieves?

– The three sieves? What do you mean?

– Let's sift through what you want to tell me. We should always use the three sieves. If you do not know them, then pay close attention. The first is the sieve of TRUTH. Are you sure that what you want to tell me is true?

– Well, it’s what I overheard. I’m not exactly sure if it's true.

– The second is the sieve of GOODNESS. Surely, you must have sifted this information through the sieve of goodness. Right?

Embarrassed, the man replied:

– I must confess that I did not.

– The third is the sieve of USEFULNESS. Did you really consider whether or not this information about my friend is useful?

– Useful? Actually, no, I did not.

So the wise man said – If what you want to tell me is not true, good or useful, then it's better that you keep it to yourself.

Moral of the story: Next time a rumor develops, sift it through the three sieves: Truth, Goodness and Usefulness, before submitting to your urges and passing it on.

"Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles." Proverbs 21.23

Think about this

BY BISHOP MACEDO - www.bispomacedo.com.br/en

I KNOW WHAT I HAVE TO DO

 “I know what I have to do.” But you don’t do it. That’s where your problem is. Many people suffer due to ignorance, for not knowing what to do. But I believe that there are more people that suffer for not doing what they know.

It was for these people that the Lord Jesus said the following:

“Repent and do the first works.” Rev. 2:5

In other words, you’re used to doing what is right. You know what worked, because you did it for a long time. You reaped good fruits. But for some reason, you stopped. The results were catastrophic.

You know what you have to do, but in between you knowing and doing you know certain barriers exist:

* Pride
* Embarrassment
* Timidness
* Grudges
* Laziness
* Distractions
* Being complacent with current situation
* Doubts
* Fear to fail and not be able to be who you used to be
* Indecision
* Procrastination

It seems that you’re so far from your first works that you won’t be able to rescue them. But the truth is that you’re really close, as close as the living room beside you. In order to go in to the living room, all you have to do is go through the door. For you to return to your first works, you just have to make a decision to start now. Is it difficult to make this decision? Absolutely not. The difficult thing, probably what you’re thinking, is how to keep up with that decision…

Don’t worry. Don’t be anxious about what will happen later on today, tomorrow or after that. Worry only about right now. Take a decision to do what you know you need to do right now. Just do it. And afterwards, later on, continue doing it. When you feel discouraged or hit any barriers, remember, re-decide to continue your first works. This constant decision to do what is right is the door that leads to success.

It’s that simple. We are the ones who create difficulty

Think right now about those things that you know you need to do but haven’t done, and make a decision to do them now—at least one thing it doesn’t matter how small the first step is. Start now, as soon as you finish reading this blog.

Don’t tell me what you know. Tell me what you’ll do.

BY BISHOP RENATO CARDOSO

WHO ARE THE HYPOCRITES?

 
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices - mint, dill and cumin.
But you have neglected the more important matters of the law - justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former." (Matthew 23:23)

Sometimes we think many assistants do not recognise or do not want to recognise what's obvious, because all of them know the word of God and many insist to keep on giving a bad testimony before men; they live in sin deliberately, in prostitution, in adultery, deceiving people, lying, corrupting themselves, serving badly their bosses at work, putting the Lord Jesus in shame, and the worst of all is that they believe they will be saved with such behaviour.

Do you know the meaning of the word "hypocrite"? It means that the person pretends to have certain principles, ideas, opinions or feelings... isn't that what we have seen?
Assistants who give tithes, offerings, but live a kind of life pretending to be holy and live in injustice, or rather, in sin, full of malice in the heart?
Well, if you are seeing yourself in this context, remember that the restrictions for those who are hypocrites and are inside the church living a life of injustice before God will be worse then for those who have never put their feet in the church.

The Lord Jesus received the prostitute and the thief with love but He was tough eith the hypocrites:
"Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?"

This is not a curse for you but an alert to those who keep on playing with God and with the devil, constantly practicing sin under dirty sheets thinking they are hiding, but remember what the Lord Jesus said:

"For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light. If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear." (Mark 4:22-24)

Therefore assistants, take care so that you won't be caught by surprise and lose the most precious thing in your lives, salvation.



(Bishop Sergio Correa)

The bad news is that time flies

                                                            As you’ve read through this magazine you found stories of people like you and me who managed to turn their lives around through the power of prayer. I’m not saying in any way that you are going through a problem exactly like theirs. Maybe you are, maybe you are not! The point I want to make is that, no matter how difficult or different your situation may be, the solution is the same – God’s intervention! 

You may ask,“Bishop, are you saying that all problems are solvable?” Well, I will have to quote the most read book of all time to answer you on that – “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” (Mark 9:23)

The Lord Jesus Himself said these words when a man brought his son to be healed. This particular young man was mute and suffered from fits as a consequence of a spiritual problem. Actually, not even Jesus’ disciples, at that time, knew how to help that young man, but the Lord Jesus did!

We are at the beginning of a brand-new year and you have two options:

1. You can try to manage these problems by doing the same old things and run the risk of taking them with you to 2014, or

2. You can try something different and put God’s Word to the test. At the end of the day, what do you have to lose?

If you choose the second option and want to count on our help, you are more than welcome to do so.

I strongly advise you to take on the Chain challenge, as this will give you the necessary tools to put your faith into practice and make your dreams come true! Someone once said, “The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot.”

We can’t change the past, and we won’t forget it either. However, the future is in our hands. Make the most out of it. How? By doing something constructive with your present. What are you waiting for? 

May God bless you abundantly in this New Year!

Bishop Celso Junior

I AM UNIVERSAL

I AM UNIVERSAL