Renewed to Honor

There are seven times in the Bible where Jesus says the statement I am ...  and all of them are found in the book of John. To understand the meaning behind these we need to look at two sources. First is the Book of John. Who is John writing this book for? John begins the book by saying a philosophical statement that .... In the beginning there was the word, and the word was God and the word was with God. A lot of commentators have explained that John uses this word (Logos) as a means to invite the reader to the question of the day. Back in the days (535-630 BC) beginning with Heraclitus (a Greek philosopher), the  manner in which someone would start a philosophical statement in the public was ... I say, .... or in Greek LOGOS ... and John invites the reader in the book to this same place and say that the reason for life and the purpose for life comes from God and this God is the reason and this reason or ultimate truth has incarnated on earth and is man and is called Jesus. John then …

Romans 5:3–5; James 1:2–4; 2 Peter 1:3–9
It is easy to understand the above portions as means of building up the church. All the three passages state that either through suffering or by act of disciple the believers are called to be steadfast, or to endure or have patience in all things.
Looking at Romans 5:3-5, we see that suffering brings about endurance, that inturn develops in us a charector and this charestor builds in us hope. Now James 1:2-4 says that there are ways the faith will be tested or we undergo presecution  and that we need to be steadfast in our belief. in 2 Peter 1:3-9 it is said that while we believe that we have been saved through faith, we are to add to this faith an active surplus amount of virtuem knowledge and selfcontrol that couases us to endure all things. This will lead us into a charector that will mold us into the people of God. 
Remember the purpose of creation,  Psalm 86; Isaiah 60:21; Romans 11:36; 1 Corinthians 6:20, 10:31; Revelation 4:11; Psalm 16:5-1…

Hosea 2:14-16

Therefore I am now going to allure her;     I will lead her into the wilderness     and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards,     and will make the Valley of Achor a door of hope. There she will respond as in the days of her youth,     as in the day she came up out of Egypt.
“In that day,” declares the Lord,     “you will call me ‘my husband’;     you will no longer call me ‘my master.’


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How do we react when things do not go our way? How do we find peace when we face difficulties? Does God open a door when he shuts another? This week we shall see how God shuts a door and wants us to be there in the room with Him. This is a time of pruning and anointing. Fight the myth that when God closes a dooor he opens another. See the lives of Lo-Ammi (Not my people) and Lo-Rummani (Not loved) being changed. We are adopted in God's family. Pursue His love.





Links to the 2012 version
https://toancientofdays.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-change-in-desert.html
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Prayer is the battle cry we have in order to fight against the actions of the devil. We are to fall on our feet to fight the fight and to act the act. Man will bring you down, strip you to the very core, shame you, abuse you, but the very God who made you would not leave you. Your pride will be hurt but you are not destroyed. You will be shamed but you won't be struck down. Praise him in the storm , praise him at all times. As the Psalmist says , God will instruct you and guide you in the way you should go. Even if you were to go through darkness, you are not alone. Fight this fight with the weapon that God has given us, sharpen it- sharpen your prayer. You may have the enemy in front of you, charging against you. But you fall on your knees, not in surrender to the enemy, but to Christ who is preparing the victory over your battlefield. Let us fix our eyes on God, not due to the fear of the situation we are in, but because we fear the Lord. Let the praise spring up before all nati…

Sermon Notes:
love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Eph 3:19


Isaiah 58:7-8


Fasting is the act of coming to God


It is a pursuit
 Jer 29:13 1 Chron 28:9 Ps 14:2

Being Weaned
Ps 131:1 Acts 13:2,14:23 

Fasting is feasting on God
drawing deep on his presence depend on His power enjoying His goodness gazing on His beauty

Fasting is motivated by desire
Ps 139:23-24,John 4:32,Luke 5:35(return) Fasting is not for God
Ps 56:12,1 Samuel 7:3,1 Kings 21:29 Fasting means God is better
Eph 3:19, Psalm 84:10, Psalm 63:5, 1 Tim 4:3 Fasting should glorify God
John 4:32 It opens our antennas
Acts 13:2,14:23 It is a weapon for spiritual warfare
Mat 4:2-3 It is the crucible to mold us
Mat 4:2-3 With love for Sam Storms (Practicing the power, The Beginner's Guide to Spiritual Gifts)
God sees us fasting and knows that we are motivated by a deep longing in our hearts for him and for his purposes to be fulfilled in the earth. He knows that we are not fasting to obtain the ap…

Sermon Notes 
1 Peter 3:7
Husbands, in the same way be considerate as you live with your wives, and treat them with respect as the weaker partner and as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing will hinder your prayers.

Colosians 3:19
Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Ephesians 5:25-33
25 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 
26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 
27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 
28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 
29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— 
30 for we are members of his body.
 31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one…