Tag: Christian music

Realizing the good life from the Lord

Realizing the good life from the Lord

carlocarrasco

We all want the good life. In fact, we need the good life! As we live in the flesh in the middle of a very screwed-up world that has long been ravaged by Satan, it is clear that without God, without the Holy Spirit and without Lord Jesus, we cannot survive both physically and spiritually. Unbelief misled many people to believe they can survive and prosper on their own but ultimately, they end up being unhappy, lost and unsaved spiritually. For its part, religion (along with its traditions, rituals and idolatry) misled people into believing they are Christians when in fact they end up wasting their lives following a whole bunch of rules from many man-made doctrines (described as blessed sacraments) which ultimately keep them away from the Lord. Religion also misled people into believing the falsehood that being religious, idolatrous, traditional and ritual-oriented is the same as being faithful to the Lord.  

As Christians led by faith, we all had to go through the process of conversion (getting born again in accordance to what Lord Jesus stated in John 3: 3), studying and living the Word of God (the Holy Bible), submitting to Him and establishing personal relationships with Him. We are His creations and there really is no other way apart from living in holiness and doing our responsibilities as Christians, as citizens of God’s Kingdom and as His children.

The Lord will not abandon us (refer to Jeremiah 29: 11) and He knows well we need to have a good life. We are His children after all. To live the Christian life here on Earth does not necessarily mean living an easy life but being blessed, guided, directed and protected by Him. It naturally means not suffering the emptiness, the sadness and hardship of the lost and unsaved people around us. They need help and saving. They don’t realize it but they need to know the Lord and start having faith in Him.

As I mentioned some time ago, the Lord blesses the faithful abundantly. God is our source and His promises of prosperity are true and He always keeps His promises (refer to Genesis 39: 2-6, Psalm 1: 1-3, Hebrews 6: 10-12, Deuteronomy 8: 18, Jeremiah 17: 7, Genesis 13: 2, Leviticus 26: 3-5, Psalm 35: 27 and Psalm 37: 3-11). As faithful children of the Lord, we can enjoy riches and luxuries and never feel ashamed nor worried as we know that the blessings came from the Lord who worked legally through the existing financial systems of this screwed-up world we live in. In short, God always finds a way and His timing always makes sense. We need to be patient with Him and still believe in His works to bless us no matter how bad or how good our situation is.

Of course, as blessed children of His, we must never ever let riches and abundance separate us from Him. God, Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit must always be prioritized. The Lord is our source and therefore we would not be enjoying the blessings without Him. As such, we must never ever fall into the temptation of covetousness which leads to greed. To be covetous means to obsessively acquire wealth and things that ultimately will not satisfy the lust of acquiring more than what is realistically needed. Covetousness also means the corruption of the soul and getting separated from the Lord. Earthly things that are acquired without prioritizing the Lord are clearly not blessings from Him. Learn from the following holy scriptures below…

He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver; Nor he loves abundance, with increase. This is also vanity

Ecclesiastes 5: 10 (NKJV)

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, not covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6: 9-10 (NKJV)

Speaking to the people, Jesus continued, “Be alert and guard your heart from greed and always wishing for what you don’t have. For your life can never be measured by the amount of things you possess.”

Luke 12: 15 (TPT)

“I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Acts 20: 35 (NKJV)

As you can see, it is written in the Holy Bible that covetousness and greed are destructive. Becoming materialistic is bad! To be dominated by covetousness and greed means giving in to the love for wealth and material things which also means cutting yourself away from God, our ultimate creator and source! Lord Jesus’ words about guarding our hearts from greed clearly shows that we should not only be mindful of what is happening but always resist the temptation of acquiring too much and going beyond our needs. There are many people around us who believe in the falsehood that acquiring too much and obsessing for more all the time is part of the good life the Lord has in store for them. That is simply distorted and untrue! There are truly limits on what we need and how much in blessings we can receive. The abundant blessings we receive from God is great enough, and we certainly should not become covetous. God truly does NOT want us Christians to live in poverty (a curse from Satan) and He surely wants us to be disciplined with the way we live, the way we use His blessings and the like.

How to keep ourselves in check and be more responsible with the abundant blessings we receive from the Lord? You can start with tithing, the guaranteed giving back of 10% of your income to Him through your local church. Next, you can be a blessing to others by cheerfully giving something (in cash or in kind) to someone you are willing to share the Lord’s blessings with. If you know a fellow Christian at church trying to raise money for a planned bible-led outreach, then you have the opportunity to donate to that person so he or she can succeed in preaching the Word of God and saving lost souls. Cheerfully giving back to the Lord and blessing others are effective ways to prevent yourself from becoming selfish, greedy and covetous. Lord Jesus’ own words that it is more blessed to give than to receive is in reference to our time as well as our money, and that supporting the weak (the less fortunate) is something He desires for us to do for it is His nature to give. When we become blessings to others, we do it cheerfully and do it in accordance to the character of Lord Jesus. These ways are truly part of the good life from the Lord.

Of course, in opposite to the covetous and the greedy, there is a bunch of people out there who cannot help but be extremely obsessed with anti-materialism. These are lost and unsaved souls who do more than just tell you to avoid being materialistic. They will express their wrongful beliefs that money is the root of all evil (note: money itself is actually neutral and is a useful tool in receiving blessings from the Lord), that you are not meant to prosper (note: this puts them at odds with God and they don’t realize it), and that the only people to support (by means of donation) in the entire world are the impoverished (note: God’s provision is NOT exclusive to the impoverished).

I even encountered one of these anti-materialism fanatics. She is so obsessed with her wrongful beliefs, she seems willing to someday leave her children with not much left to survive with only because she believes money is cursed and wealth is immoral. She also made clear her personal beliefs that prosperity from God is not true and that poverty is not a curse. She does not know the truth written in the Holy Bible. This is the result of her living a life dominated by religion, idols, traditions, wrongful theology and rituals. As such, these lost souls and unsaved souls blinded by anti-materialism obsessions need saving and they need to be prayed for.

As such, being blessed by the Lord and being disciplined (rejecting fully covetousness greed) and being responsible (having our needs met and being able to give back to Him and bless others we could) with what we received are part of the good life from Him.

More on the good life from God, it is undeniably true that Lord Jesus offers us peace and joy that the world itself cannot match nor replicate. Pay close attention to His words in the following bible scriptures below.

“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.”

John 14: 27 (NKJV)

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

John 15: 11 (NKJV)

John 14: 27 is about the ultimate form of peace that only Lord Jesus can give to those who truly believe in Him. By comparison, worldly peace made by governments, or a truce between rival factions, or special agreements made between powerful groups are all temporary, ultimately fragile and each are bound to break down in due time (which can lead to another bout of fighting, even wars). With Lord Jesus’ peace, you can be assured that the said peace is eternal and will never get corrupted. This is why we should not let our hearts be burdened with pain, worry and doubts under Him.

As for John 15: 11, it emphasizes that our joy becomes full through experiencing Jesus’ own joy within us. To be full of happiness, hope and rest with Him is easily connected with His telling us not to have troubled hearts.

Being born again, we Christians must always keep the Holy Spirit in our hearts and eternally be faithful to the Lord, living by His Word (the Holy Bible). What we study in the Holy Bible, we apply the lessons in our lives.

By comparison, a person who does not have the Holy Spirit in his heart is very vulnerable to temptation and evil. Satan knows this and he knows that for as long as people do not believe in the Lord or are living with religion (along with idolatry, traditions, wrongful theology and rituals) that prevent them from achieving true faith in God, they are easy to be manipulated to serve his evil purposes. The enemy knows how to cause chaos around people and then reach inside the lost and unsaved souls to bring out more wickedness. Satan obviously does not want people to know the Lord and he manipulates them to suffer and live the painful life instead of having a blessed, good life from God. Take a close look at the following bible verses below…

“Evil originates from inside a person. Coming out of a human heart are evil schemes, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wickedness, treachery, debauchery, jealousy, slander, arrogance, and recklessness. All these corrupt things emerge from within and constantly pollute a person.”

Mark 7: 21-23 (TPT)

What is the cause of your conflicts and quarrels with each other? Doesn’t the battle begin inside of you as you fight to have your own way and fulfill your own desires? You jealously want what others have so you begin to see yourself as better than others. You scheme with envy and harm others to selfishly obtain what you crave—that’s why you quarrel and fight. And all the time you don’t obtain what you want because you won’t ask God for it!

James 4: 1-2 (TPT)

A thief has only one thing in mind—he wants to steal, slaughter, and destroy. But I have come to give you everything in abundance, more than you expect—life in its fullness until you overflow!

John 10: 10 (TPT)

As you can see in the above scriptures, having the Holy Spirit in our hearts and dedicating ourselves to the Lord are truly essential. Without the Holy Spirit in us, we would have been very vulnerable to the temptations and manipulations of the enemy. Satan rules over people who are not edified under the Lord and it is easy for him to manipulate the unsaved person into giving in to wickedness, temptations, strife, violence, greed, immorality and destruction to name some. To put things in perspective, Satan gained dominion when Adam rebelled against God and, as written in the Holy Bible, this led to a downward spiral for humanity. Committing sinful and unrighteous acts became too common among people before the Great Flood happened.

Before gaining the Holy Spirit in our hearts upon getting born again, our hearts contained no holiness. We were vulnerable to wickedness, to the impulse and lust of the flesh, and we were too easy to be manipulated by Satan to commit sin. Now that we know the truth in the Holy Bible and we know better, we Christians can defeat Satan by having strong faith in the Lord and doing His Word in our lives. Strong faith and being a doer of God’s Word are essential for us to gain the good life from Him. Always remember that Lord Jesus is the definitive Savior of us all and He always restores believers who previously suffered from the darkness caused by the enemy!

Now pay close attention to the following holy scriptures below…

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3: 3 (NKJV)

“Don’t keep hoarding for yourselves earthly treasures that can be stolen by thieves. Material wealth eventually rusts, decays, and loses its value. Instead, stockpile heavenly treasures for yourselves that cannot be stolen and will never rust, decay, or lose their value.”

Matthew 6: 19-20 (TPT)

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

Matthew 6: 31-33 (NKJV)

About the above scriptures, let me declare to you – my readers and fellow faithful Christians – that becoming born again is truly the greatest miracle that happened in my life. In my old life, I gone through decades of pointless religion and even several years of being faithless. I responded to the Lord’s call when my dearest friend in life invited me to her church, and then weeks later I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior. What He stated in John 3: 3 is undeniably true! My life has turned around for the better and I now know my true purpose under the Lord.

Matthew 6: 19-20 confirms the existence of wealth in the kingdom of God which we, His children, will inherit. What blessings we receive from the Lord while living in the flesh here on Earth are not only temporary but are just a fraction of kingdom wealth. Kingdom wealth is so much greater than all of the wealth of this screwed-up world. As such, Matthew 6: 31-33 confirms that the Lord is watching us all the time and He definitely knows our needs and in due time, He will keep blessing us. That being said, the very least we Christians must do is seek God’s kingdom and achieve holiness under Him. Pursue God’s kingdom and His righteousness, and then the good life He planned for us filled with peace, prosperity, stability and happiness will manifest.

At this point, I would like to reach out to the lost and the unsaved people reading this. You can save yourselves by submitting to the Lord willingly. No force and no coercion here. You have time and freedom to decide. For those who have decided to get born again now, please read the instructions and follow the prayer that I learned from our pastor.

Are you ready? Firstly, open your heart to the Lord and pray this simple prayer in sincerity from your heart:

Dear God,

I believe that Jesus is Your Son, and that He died on the cross to pay the penalty of my sins. I believe that Jesus has been raised from the dead and that He is alive! Right now, I call on the name of Jesus. Jesus, come into my heart. I receive You as my personal Lord and Savior. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me by the power of Your blood. Thank You for saving me and giving me eternal life! Help me now to follow Your plan for my life. Amen.

Congratulations! You are now a child of God! You have received Holy Spirit in your heart! This is easily your greatest decision ever made and also the greatest miracle of your life. Always praise, thank and honor the Lord. No more darkness in your life caused by politics, radicalism, toxicity, rebellion, religion, unbelief, evil, idolatry, traditions and rituals! Leave behind the darkness of your life and don’t look back to it. With Lord Jesus, you are already moving forward! You also have a personal relationship with God, a relationship that is strictly off-limits to others (even to your household members or biological family members).

With your new life realized, make an effort to acquire a copy of the Holy Bible (New King James Version is recommended), study it and apply its lessons into your life no matter what situation you are in right now. I also recommend you to join a church of born-again Christians near you and find your place in the spiritual family (God’s family).  Worship the Lord together with them and always remember that faith, not religion, is essential in your personal relationship with God.

The Holy Bible is the ultimate authority and nothing else comes close. Remember always that Lord Jesus did not die on the cross to start religion. He died to redeem us all and showed that we must be led by faith in Him, faith in the Holy Spirit and faith in God the Heavenly Father. He rose from the dead and made His earthly presence felt once more to those who believed in Him. Lord Jesus ascended to Heaven and He promised to return in the future.

In ending this, here are some Christian worship YouTube videos for you to enjoy and praise the Lord with. Always be the fearless and aggressive church of Lord Jesus! 

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved and the lost souls out there.

If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com

Christian Music Appreciation: Yahweh Oh

Christian Music Appreciation: Yahweh Oh

carlocarrasco

Hey everyone! Welcome back to this newest edition of my ongoing Christian Music Appreciation (CMA) series. I should state that Christian music that strongly lead people to our Heavenly Father, His Son Jesus (our Lord and Savior) and the Holy Spirit is truly essential given the fact that we – His children – live in a world that is truly divided and screwed-up. No matter what happens, we must never, ever lose faith in the Lord. Always remain faithful and live up to the responsibilities and the tasks He assigned us with.

More on Christian music, some of my favorite praise-and-worship songs include You Are Holy,  How I Praise, Happy Day, Because of Who You Are, I Need You More, and King of Kings. Each song is truly holy as I analyzed their respective lyrics and discovered their connections with the truth emphasized in the Holy Bible. Those songs were also written by composers who were anointed by the Lord.

Now I can say that there is another praise-and-worship song that I’ve been listening to a lot in recent times for it truly is great and really holy. That song is called Yahweh Oh, an original worship song of the mega church Church of God, World Missions Philippines. Written by Notnot Maranan, Yahweh Oh was performed by COG Worship during the September 20, 2020 Sunday worship service of the said church at their venue in Dasmariñas City, Cavite Province, here in the Philippines. COG Worship, by the way, is also responsible for Go Beyond. Also take time out to visit their FB page at https://www.facebook.com/cogworship. To see the said performance of Yahweh Oh, watch the short clip below and enjoy.

As seen in the above short clip, COG Worship’s musicians were truly anointed by the Lord as their performance of Yahweh Oh was very lively and powerful. So powerful, it can stir any Christian’s heart to pursue the Lord and have unwavering faith in Him! The performance has to be seen as a whole! I really love the song and COG Worship’s performance, both of which fulfilled what was written in Psalm 68: 4 in the Holy Bible! That being said, below are the lyrics (note: UPDATED April 21, 2021)

Yahweh oh oh oh

Yahweh oh oh oh

Yahweh oh oh oh

Whoa (Sing it!)

–

Yahweh oh oh oh

Yahweh oh oh oh

Yahweh oh oh oh

Whoa (Yahweh!)

–

Yahweh!

Yahweh!

Almighty God

We want to praise You

For all the things You’ve done

–

For us

You’ve shed Your blood

To take away all our sins and shame

–

To You be all the glory

And the praise

–

We raise our hands

And shout Your Name!

–

Yahweh oh oh oh

Great are You Lord

Yahweh oh oh oh

Yahweh oh oh oh

Great are You Lord

–

Yahweh oh oh oh

Great are You Lord

Yahweh oh oh oh

Yahweh oh oh oh

Great are You Lord (Yahweh!)

–

Unfailing God

We want to thank You

For Your unending love

–

For us

Your promises

They come alive more and more

In our lives

–

To You be all the glory

And the praise

–

We raise our hands

And shout Your name!

–

Yahweh oh oh oh

Great are You Lord

Yahweh oh oh oh

Yahweh oh oh oh

Great are You Lord

–

Yahweh oh oh oh

Great are You Lord

Yahweh oh oh oh

Yahweh oh oh oh

Great are You Lord

–

We will worship

‘Til tomorrow comes

Forever we’ll sing our praises to You

–

In Your presence

You have changed our lives

Now we’re ready to go  

–

Yahweh oh oh oh

Great are You Lord

Yahweh Yo Oh Oh

Great are You Lord

Whoa Whoa

–

Before analyzing the holiness of the lyrics, let me start with emphasizing Yahweh which is the Hebrew name of God our Heavenly Father in the Holy Bible. Yahweh is not only the most well-known name for God in the Old Testament, it also shows His covenant lordship over Israel. In Exodus 3: 14 (New King James Version), God told Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” He also told him that he shall say to the children of Israel, “I AM has sent me to you.”

Right there, God revealed His divine name and declared His character and attributes, reinforcing that the issue is not who Moses is, but rather who is with him. This name is related to the Hebrew verb meaning “to be,” and therefore, the absolute existence of the Heavenly Father is implied. As such, we the faithful Christians must always be mindful the Lord is always with us and watching us over.

God then told Moses, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.” (Exodus 3: 15 NKJV).

For lyrics analysis, we start with: Great are You Lord. God’s greatness is undeniably true and there are many verses in the Holy Bible that confirm it. Below are a few to pay attention to. Believe in His greatness, you will.

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; And His greatness is unsearchable.

Psalm 145: 3 (NKJV)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3: 16 (NKJV)

For You Lord, are good, and ready to forgive. And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.

Psalm 86: 5 (NKJV)

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.

James 1: 5 (NKJV)

Next lyrics for analyzing are: We want to praise You, For all the things You’ve done. For us, You’ve shed Your blood, To take away all our sins and shame. As Christians, it is essential to worship our Lord who is the ultimate creator. He created us not to be lost in this divided world and certainly not to be evil. We were created to be holy, to worship Him, serve Him, and deepen our personal relationship with Him. Becoming born again (which involves deciding to submit yourself to the Lord, confessing your sins directly to Him, dedicating yourself to Him, being guided by His Word and living with His holiness) is inevitable to everyone who walks here on earth for it is written in the Holy Bible. By getting saved, we receive the Holy Spirit in our hearts and become new creations under the Lord. As Christians, we should ALWAYS  worship Him, thank Him, honor Him and follow His instructions. This is why we have Sundays that should be dedicated to the Lord. Learn from the holy scriptures below.

Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3: 3 (NKJV)

Sing to the LORD, all the earth; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Declare His glory among the nations, His wonders among all peoples. For the LORD is great and greatly to be praised; He is also to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens. Honor and majesty are before Him; Strength and gladness are in His place. Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples, Give to the LORD glory and strength. Give to the LORD the glory due His name; Bring an offering, and come before Him. Oh, worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness! Tremble before Him, all the earth. The world also is firmly established, It shall not be moved. Let the heavens rejoice, and the let the earth be glad; and let them say among the nations, “The LORD reigns.”

1 Chronicles 16: 23-31 (NKJV)

We lift up our hearts and hands To God in heaven.

Lamentations 3: 41 (NKJV)

Now, if anyone is enfolded into Christ, he has become an entirely new creation. All that is related to the old order has vanished. Behold, everything is fresh and new.

2 Corinthians 5: 17 (TPT)

Next lines for analyzing: To You be all the glory, And the praise, We raise our hands, And shout Your name! As children of God, we have responsibilities related to faith. Faith in our Lord requires more than just dedication…it has to be very strong and maintained as such eternally. Apart from worshipping Him, we should also study His Word and do what we learned. Be doers of the Word of God, eternally! God always keeps His promises to the faithful, and He truly rewards the faithful abundantly. In return to His love, blessings and constant care for us, we give Him all the glory and our praise. We should also do our part in spreading God’s Word to others by preaching, praying and help save the lost and unsaved souls so they can return to Him (by deciding on their own to get born again). Help them truly know Lord Jesus and help them learn why He is the definitive Mediator between us and God in Heaven. Learn from the holy scriptures below.

Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures all generations.

Psalm 100: 1-5 (NKJV)

For God is one, and there is one Mediator between God and the sons of men—the true man, Jesus, the Anointed One.

1 Timothy 2: 5 (TPT)

Lift up your hands in the sanctuary, And bless the LORD.

Psalm 134: 2 (NKJV)

And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD: “For He is good, For His Mercy endures forever toward Israel.” Then all the people shouted with a great shout, when they praised the LORD, and because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.

Ezra 3: 11 (NKJV)

Let them give Yahweh the glorious praise he deserves and declare his praise in the islands!

Isaiah 42: 12 (TPT)

Now here are the last lines from the lyrics for analysis: In Your presence, You have changed our lives, Now we’re ready to go. Those lines strongly resonate with me, especially the part emphasizing the change that the Lord made. It reminds me that my getting saved (becoming born again) is undoubtedly the single greatest miracle in my entire life. To the newcomers reading this, I lived through decades of religion and about a decade of unbeliefbefore getting born again and my dearest friend in life became the Lord’s holy instrument in saving my soul. Since getting saved, several positive changes followed in my life along with the blessings and I am no longer lonely now that I am part of a spiritual family. I do confirm that change in my life under the Lord has been very tremendous and it was only a few years ago I got born again. As such, the lines In Your presence, You have changed our lives, Now we’re ready to go always connected me to the song. Truly Yahweh Oh was written by someone anointed by the Lord.

So there you have it! Yahweh Oh is indeed a great and very holy worship song. By default, it is an upbeat song meant to energize anyone who is faithful to the Lord and, in my honest opinion, it is comparable with other energetic worship songs like How I Praise and So Good (both from Planetshakers). It was written to lift up the hearts of the faithful to keep on pursuing Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God. It is also a great motivator for Christians to keep on preaching and reaching out to the billions of lost souls and unsaved souls all over the world. As for you reading this, I highly recommend listening to Yahweh Oh right now! One more holy scripture for you before closing…

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.

1 Peter 2: 9-10 (NKJV)

In closing this CMA piece, posted below is (UPDATED April 21, 2021) the official music video of Yahweh Oh (produced by COG Worship) for your viewing and faith. Also included below a raw video of a rehearsal by some people of Church of God – Cabuyao with the blessed song performed by their band. As you enjoy these videos, always remember to raise your hands, shout His name and always be the fearless and aggressive church of Lord Jesus!

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Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved and the lost souls out there.

If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com

Be the Fearless and Aggressive Church of Lord Jesus!

Be the Fearless and Aggressive Church of Lord Jesus!

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We are Christians living with strong faith in the Lord. The day each of us got born again and willingly accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we truly became children of God and we each live with holiness while deepening our respective personal relationship with Him.

We Christians pray in tongues, we tithe, we study God’s Word (the Holy Bible) and apply its lessons into our lives no matter how screwed up the world we live in is. We Christians don’t need religion at all and we reject idolatry, religious traditions and religious rituals. We also are defiant towards unbelief and whatever tricks Satan tries to bring us down with. As believers of Jesus, we already have His victory and not even Satan can defeat us. We are led by the Holy Spirit which we received in our hearts when we got saved.

We are the Body of the Christ. We Christians are the church who follow Jesus! As such, it is only expected that each and every one us be fearless and aggressive under Christ.

To be fearless and aggressive as Christians were key lessons from pastors I learned from. As such, let me share to you how we the Body of Christ can keep on being strong under Lord Jesus starting with being a fearless church and as a fearless Christian. Heed the words of Jesus Himself.

Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14:1 (NKJV)

Don’t worry or surrender to your fear. For you’ve believed in God, now trust and believe in me also.

John 14:1 (TPT)

“If you love Me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you.”

John 14:15-17 (NKJV)

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 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.”

John 14:26-27 (NKJV)

The above scriptures from the different parts of Chapter 14 of the Book of John emphasize Jesus talking about the promise of the Holy Spirit. For that alone, there really is no reason for us believers to fear at all. We only need to fear the Lord because that is essential to gaining wisdom from Him. Other than that, for as long as we stay faithful, we don’t need to fear even the most unpredictable turnout of events in this screwed up world we live in such as poverty, crime, unemployment, terrorism, violence, corruption, idol worship, atheism, religion, uncontrolled emotions, panicking, temptations and the like. Because with the Holy Spirit we are not only protected but also guided and the Lord is watching us from high above. He will not abandon us nor let evil take us away from Him. The words of Jesus in John 14 are not only still strongly relevant but are indeed living words for us to follow! Jesus, who died on the cross, came back to life, spent time with people and ascended to Heaven with the promise to return, is clearly alive!

We children of God are no longer living in sin because, clearly, Jesus redeemed us all from the darkness that started with Adam’s rebellion towards God. We are not only saved by Him but we are also new creations under Him. We Christians really have to be fearless and we are citizens of God’s kingdom! To learn more about who we are in Christ, let’s move on to the next holy scriptures.

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His might power,

Ephesians 1:17-19 (NKJV)

I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation[a] to know him through your deepening intimacy with him. I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of his calling—that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that he finds in us, his holy ones! I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power,

Ephesians 1:17-19 (TPT)

And now we, his church, are his body on the earth and that which fills him who is being filled by it!

Ephesians 1:23 (TPT)

See? We really have reasons to be the fearless church of Jesus. By having faith, we will experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power not occasionally, not sometimes but continually! As Christians driven by faith (not religion), we are indeed God’s special people (refer to 1 Peter 2:9) and there definitely should be no room for us to fear. God’s guidance and enlightenment for us are already tremendous making fear irrelevant! No fear, no panicking, no trembling and no doubting! We the fearless church of Christ can move forward with holiness and defeat Satan again and again!

To put things in perspective, after getting born again and growing with the Holy Spirit in our hearts, the Lord, who made plans for each of us since before birth, really planned for us Christians to be joined together as His Body and we the members are meant to be strong, fearless and aggressive! Believe not in your feelings, not in fear but in the Holy Spirit and remember that God and Lord Jesus are watching us. Remember also Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice for humanity.

For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

1 Peter 3:18 (NKJV)

Suffering affects everyone. There is no doubt about that. Jesus suffered tremendously so that we will all be saved and pave the way for us into God’s kingdom. It takes faith, not religion, in the Lord for salvation to be realized. We Christians should always remember that our existence is clearly not limited to living in the flesh but also in the spiritual realm. As saved souls, we will go straight to Heaven once we die in the flesh here on Earth. We will go straight to God’s kingdom and take our respective places in it. There is no such thing as purgatory, an ancient deception of religious and evil nature! Purgatory is a lie created by the enemy who clearly influenced religious teachings and religious traditionalists which resulted distorted teachings of Christianity (by religion-driven people and institutions). We Christians have the Word of God (the Holy Bible) as the definitive and ultimate reference of faith! Upon death in this world, we the children of God will go straight to Him in His kingdom! There is nothing to fear!

Let’s move on.

And they were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:4 (NKJV)

And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit.

Ephesians 5:18 (NKJV)

With the Holy Spirit in us, God made a way for us to know Him and His presence. We Christians get to know Him as individual members and as a church gathered together. Even when we have nobody around us, we Christians are never really alone because we have a living personal relationship with God. We can communicate with God privately when alone and the effective way to do it is to be in our respective rooms with the door shut and pray to Him (refer to Matthew 6: 6). We have access to Him! Again, there is no room for fear nor despair here. With God, nothing is impossible and this leads me to the next holy scripture.

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.

2 Corinthians 4:7 (NKJV)

Treasure refers to the knowledge of God in the face of Christ. Earthen vessels are weak and breakable. The above scripture emphasizes how weak we are living in the flesh and yet we can live spiritually strong under the Lord. See the paradox? As our pastor taught us, we can only live in the flesh up to one hundred and twenty years maximum. Of course, being children of God living here on Earth, we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts and we really have missions to live in holiness, spread God’s Word and save the many billions of unsaved and lost souls before we expire and go to Heaven to join Him. Remember, with God, nothing is impossible and our being fragile as fleshly beings here on Earth should never be taken as a hindrance nor should we let it prevent us from being the fearless church of Lord Jesus!

Now that being fearless Christians has been discussed a lot already, we can move on with discussing being aggressive Christians! Let’s start with the armor God provides us in the next holy scripture.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

Ephesians 6:11-13 (NKJV)

With God’s armor provided, we are already protected in the fight against evil. As members of the Body of Christ, we have the means to move forward strongly, defeat Satan and saved the many unsaved souls. Take note that in the above scripture, our battle is spiritual and not physical. We should always be able to discern between the spiritual struggle and the personal, the political and the social difficulties. We should focus on defeating Satan and his force of evil, not human adversaries. That means being aggressive with our prayers, and becoming established prayer warriors of Lord Jesus! We have the spiritual resources, the authority of Christ over evil and the Lord’s will to display His wisdom through the church (that means us Christians). No place for fear here and we have a lot of reasons to be aggressive as Christians!

Next scripture…

The LORD shall go forth like a might man; He shall stir up His zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out, yes, shout aloud; He shall prevail against His enemies.

Isaiah 42:13 (NKJV)

Isaiah 42:13 emphasizes that we the Children of God already have a leader (the Lord Himself) to follow as well as strength to rely on so that we can strive forward. That being said, we really have to be aggressive with our prayers, our faith and spirituality since we also have the Holy Spirit in us. There is simply no room for weakness nor fear for Christians. This should also serve as a reminder, especially to the new Christians (and the souls that need to be saved) reading this, that we Christians need to be edified. Edification itself requires aggressiveness with our faith and dedication under the Lord. Apart from studying the Holy Bible and praying in your room with the door shut, you can also do other things to strengthen yourself spiritually like praying in tongues while walking around the block or around your house.

To be aggressive with our Christianity is not a seasonal thing but rather a truly, more regular thing in our lives under the watch of God. Be a prayer warrior, a Holy Bible-oriented Christian, a preacher, a tither, a helper and spread goodness to save the unsaved souls for the rest of your life in the flesh while waiting for the return of Lord Jesus. Be a doer of the Word of God! Now on to the next verse.

Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving;

Colossians 4:2 (NKJV)

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, be a prayer warrior with God’s Word as your definitive reference and your heart remaining open always to the Lord. We need to pray daily and this includes praying in tongues (for enlightenment read the first ten chapters of the Book of Acts in the Holy Bible). Don’t waste your time and energy on repetitive prayers (read Lord Jesus’ own words in Matthew 6:7-8) and remember the Model Prayer from Lord Jesus. Don’t give up praying to the Lord no matter what the situation is around you. Be aggressive with prayer! Be a prayerful Christian who is truly connected with the Lord! On to the next verse…

Then God said, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

Genesis 1:26 (NKJV)

Those were powerful words from God Himself, declared before Adam rebelled against Him (which was preceded by Satan as a serpent tempting Eve). Right from the start, God made tremendous plans for us – His creations – to populate the Earth and have His authority to rule over the creatures. Thousands of years after Adam’s rebellion, Jesus came and sacrificed Himself to redeem humanity and restore mankind to fulfill God’s plan. As Christians who got born again and saved, we are God’s children and He wants us to save the lost and unsaved souls around us using His Word. Being a fearless and aggressive church is in accordance to God’s plan.

Once your goodness and holiness have been noticed by others, they will have the opportunities to pause, reflect and eventually decide to be saved without any force imposed on them. Heed the words of Lord Jesus in the following scripture…

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.

Matthew 5:16 (NKJV)

To be fearless and aggressive as Christians is inevitable. We are the children of God and we are the church of Lord Jesus. We are the Body of Christ and under His holiness, we have common purposes to live up to even as each of us maintains (and deepens) our respective personal relationship with God.

Go to work with the Holy Spirit! Be led by the Holy Spirit! Defy darkness, unbelief, religion, idols, relics, images, traditions and rituals. Move forward as a fearless, confident and aggressive Christian! Force is not necessary, but the Word of God is essential to shed light on the world that has long been darkened by Satan. We the children of God have the means to defeat Satan again and saved the unsaved souls! We the children of God have the Lord’s authority!

Now, I’d like to reach out to the lost souls and the unsaved souls reading this. Please read closely and open your hearts.

If you seek salvation now, learn that the first step is to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Never be fooled into believing that your past defined you and your future. With Jesus, you will become a child of God and a whole new creation complete with your sins from the past washed away! You will become a true Christian with a holy purpose!

Once you are ready, pray this simple prayer (I learned from my pastor) in sincerity from your heart:

Dear God,

I believe that Jesus is Your Son, and that He died on the cross to pay the penalty of my sins. I believe that Jesus has been raised from the dead and that He is alive! Right now I call on the name of Jesus. Jesus, come into my heart. I receive You as my personal Lord and Savior. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me by the power of Your blood. Thank You for saving me and giving me eternal life! Help me now to follow Your plan for my life. Amen.

Congratulations! You are now a child of God! Praise the Lord and always be faithful to Him! No more darkness in your life caused by unbelief or religion (and the idolatry, images, traditions and rituals that come with it). Your new life has begun and you are now a member of the Body of Christ. Now find a Christian church in your local community to connect with.

In ending this, here are some videos of Christian worship music for you to enjoy and praise the Lord with.

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved and the lost souls out there.

If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me with a private message. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me on Twitter at  @HavenorFantasy as well as on Tumblr at https://carlocarrasco.tumblr.com/ and on Instagram athttps://www.instagram.com/authorcarlocarrasco/

Never Let Your Feelings Weaken Your Faith in The Lord

Never Let Your Feelings Weaken Your Faith in The Lord

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It is simply too easy for us people to let our feelings dominate us and lead ourselves to undesirable outcomes in life. There are times that we make decisions not based on faith but based on how we feel at the moment. Even worse, is carrying wrongful feelings for long even to the point of putting ourselves in a crisis.

To get to the point, feelings are part of our living in the flesh but as Christians who got born again and accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, we must always remind ourselves and even orient the unsaved souls the truth that faith in God is much more essential than feelings. Let’s start with a bible verse.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;

Proverbs 3:5 (NKJV)

The verse above is about moving by faith, not by feelings and not by the limitations of our perception and understanding.  When you trust the Lord, you do it wholeheartedly and not because you relied on the inaccurate indications of your feelings deep inside. You should not rely on your feelings to do something with your faith. Remember that God’s kingdom is not of this world we live in which is full of unfortunate events or things that move people’s perception and feelings almost all the time.

Let me cite an example here. Imagine yourself anticipating a blockbuster movie you waited months for and already you secured in advance a ticket for a specific time slot for opening day. Suddenly, as your drive on the way to the movie theater, you received a call from a family member who needs you to go to the bank to do a very essential transaction which ultimately prevents you from watch that movie. The natural effects of such a scenario are disappointment, anger and, worse, resentment. In other words, negative feelings fill your heart which should never be because you already have the Holy Spirit in your heart. You should always be led by the Holy Spirit, not your feelings.

In the Kingdom of God as well as in the Body of Christ (we Christians are the church), we are supposed to be pure in heart and be living with the holiness of the Lord. Feelings, whether negative or positive, are not essential and they are never meant to be utilized as indicators on how we live, what we do and what we think of. As Christians, we are supposed to be more reasonable and be wiser under the watch of the Lord. Always remember that while you can hide your feelings from people, you can never ever hide those feelings from God. Remember that whatever feelings we have here on Earth are meaningless in the spiritual realm.

Let’s examine some notable examples of life that cause people to feel (and then giving in to those feelings) while they live in the flesh.

First example is unbelief. You see those secularists or atheists who speak out loud on TV or on social media? They often reject God and deny His existence. They believe that humans can exist, remain moral and prosper without God, without faith (or religion as they often call it) and without discipline. Those secularists and atheists can easily offend the feelings of a Christian at first. However, any anointed and mature Christian would always know to prioritize God and maintain faith in Him instead of giving in to feeling offended or feeling weakened by those who have no faith. Remember this always and go around telling your fellow Christians to never give in to their feelings and never ever let unbelief dominate them. Remind them of being faithful to the Lord. Remind them that they already have the victory of the Lord over Satan. Let’s read the following scripture from the Holy Bible.

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

John 16:33 (NKJV)

Wow! Those were powerful words from Lord Jesus Himself! He achieved a major victory that nobody else could ever match – redeeming the whole world by sacrificing Himself, then returned to enlighten more with holiness before ascending to Heaven! Jesus holiness is very real and there truly is a God who created us, accepted us as His children when we got born again and blessed us since. The truth of Christianity shows that there is no good reason at all as to why we Christians should surrender to our feelings and allow the non-believers to drag us down to their level. We Christians are not only believers but are also citizens of God’s Kingdom complete with armor, weapons and other spiritual means that with Him, we are more than conquerors. Moving on, let’s read the next holy scripture.

Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

2 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV)

2 Corinthians 2:14 is another clear example as to why we the faithful are living in victory. Unbelief combined with feelings are actually a weak combination and we Christians are never meant to allow ourselves to be defeated by them. We are spiritually stronger under God. Always remember that!

Secularists and atheists are more likely to manipulate other people (those with weaker faith or even none at all) through their feelings and then trap them into accepting unbelief. This is sad but not hopeless for us Christians. We can unite and pray to the Lord that unbelief will be overwhelmed and then time will come that the secularists and atheists will realize the errors of their ways and soon will decide willingly to apologize to the Lord and submit to Him peacefully. We can also pray for the victims as well as all the unsaved and lost souls who embraced unbelief. Remember that unbelief is a weapon of the ever-stubborn loser Satan. We can always defeat Satan by remaining strongly faithful with God and preach His Word to this screwed-up world we live in.

The next example that spark feelings in people is religion which is often confused with faith. To put it in simple terms, religion is a deeply flawed approach of worshipping the Lord as it involves a lot of man-written rules, sacraments and a bunch of other stuff that are not really holy. Having gone through a past life of religion (followed by a short life of unbelief) myself, I confirm the truth that religion is frustrating (this is the most notable feeling) and is actually a hindrance to achieving truth faith in the Lord.

Religion involves idolatry (worshiping people, images and man-made items) which is very wrong as confirmed by the following holy scripture.

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (NKJV)

Think about the sin of idolatry carefully. You worship a person, that makes you unrighteous. You pray to a statue or statuette, that makes you unrighteous. You pray to a painting or a relic, that makes you unrighteous. You keep on practicing idolatry, it will impact you to developing a whole bunch of unnecessary feelings deep inside you which will give you a false perception of faith in the Lord (which you are not really achieving). In religion, idolatry is also a tradition falsely believed to be holy. Be aware that idolatry itself makes religion unholy and our Heavenly Father is a jealous God. Even Satan uses religion and idolatry is a useful tool for him to prevent people from being with God. Learn from the following scriptures.

You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image – any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Exodus 20:3-6 (NKJV)

Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molded gods: I am the LORD your God.

Leviticus 19:4 (NKJV)

Apart from idolatry, religion also comes with its own traditions that were not made by God’s chosen people who wrote the Holy Bible. Such traditions trap people and make them more emotional and prone to being dictated by their feelings. This alone should be of deep concern for anyone seeking the Lord. In my old life, I practiced religious traditions of visiting seven churches of religion, praying with repetitive prayers, praying with a relic that was never holy, submitting to a religious hierarchy that has a history of abuse and corruption for centuries, praying to man-made objects, forcefully getting pushed to participate in a religion-driven brainwashing event called family encounter (now a tradition for a certain group religious people here in the Philippines), participating in a religion-based youth movement (also a tradition for the above-mentioned group of people) and the like. So I went through all of that in my old life and ultimately I really never got connected with the Lord, nor was I ever able to discover the ways to establishing a true personal relationship with Him.

Religion and its traditions, rituals, idolatry and culture of forceful imposition deeply frustrated me. This is the ultimate feeling I had long ago. Because religion was hollow, mean and so frustrating to me, I rejected religion and, incidentally, I got myself separated from the Lord which is why there was a period of almost ten years in which I lived a non-believer. I even became antagonistic towards the Lord and Christianity as whole. All that time before, I did not realize that faith and religion are not one and the same. I also had not discovered back then that it was possible to be with God without religion.

And then, when I was a little over forty-years-old, something wonderful and holy happened. My dearest friend in life invited me to her church to attend a holy seminar. I attended with her and the many church members (the Body of Christ) present, just behaving myself since I was still a non-believer. I was still living in darkness (which started since my old life with religion). After attending that event, meeting the pastor and brought home with me a holy bible that was given to me, I saw the light again and eventually I willingly got born again. I became a new creation, a true Christian and a child of God. The darkness of religion and unbelief that overwhelmed me ended and I have no desire to go back to my old life ever again.

Since then, I attended Sunday worship regularly and also participated in bible study sessions and holy seminars to grow spiritually and deepen my established personal relationship with God. Along the way, I learned from our pastor that our faith in the Lord should never be dominated nor affected by our feelings which is the precise topic of this article. To end this part, religion is truly frustrating and unnecessary. Being religious is not the same as being faithful with the Lord.

Another factor that sparks feelings in us is Satan. The enemy knows well that feelings, emotions and sentimentalism are effective weapons for him to dumb us Christians down, and worse, overwhelm people who are not aware of their true purpose under God. The enemy would not hesitate to use a person or an event to arouse our feelings inside to keep us distracted from being focused Christians. Satan is also known to spread temptation which itself sparks feelings.

Take for example, an earthquake rocks and heavily damages a major city causing a lot of deaths, injuries and property damage. That tragedy gets magnified by the morally bankrupt cable TV news organizations which only cause viewers around the world to feel sad, sorry, fearful and even defeated. Such tragedies that spark tons of feelings to weaken people delight Satan. We as children of God should never ever allow our feelings nor our perception of magnified tragedies overwhelm our faith in the Lord. We the Christians have been redeemed by Jesus long ago and it is our mission to always remain focused and very strong with faith in Him. We the children of God are not mere followers but we are special and we have a much greater purpose in the spiritual realm even though we are still living in the flesh on this world that Satan had screwed-up long ago. Learn from the following scripture.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

Ephesians 6:10-20 (NKJV)

Those were such powerful words! More than that, Ephesians 6: 10-20 confirms the truth that we the faithful should always be strong in the Lord and with Him, we have the means to overcome Satan and all other forces of evil. That also includes completely defying the feelings we have while living in the flesh. That being said, we the children of God have no reason to be fearful at all. We only fear the Lord because it leads to wisdom (Proverbs 9:10), strong confidence (Proverbs 14:26) and opposing evil (Proverbs 8:13).

Satan is not as powerful as most people think. He is simply a loser who just refuses to stop and will continue to exploit the weak to screw up many people and spread chaos worldwide. War, famine, riots and pandemics are such examples of global tragedies with people falling for Satan’s tricks and failing to keep strong faith in God.

We the children of God know much better. Therefore, Satan’s strategy of using chaos (being magnified by the global news media giants), fear and negative vibes to bring us down through our feelings can be deflected for as long as we continue to be strong with God. It is a matter of being faithful over being full of feelings.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying feelings are totally useless. As God’s children living in the flesh here on Earth, it is okay to have feelings like the happiness that comes with being with the family or a special someone, the deep satisfaction we have inside as we enjoy the prosperity and protection God blessed us with, etc.

We can live with feelings but we always prioritize our faith in the Lord eternally. We can keep on living with feelings but we must not be led by them because we were created by God to be led by the Holy Spirit.  We were not created to be religious but to be faithful Christians.

Now let me reach out to the unsaved souls and the lost souls among you, my readers…

If you seek salvation now, learn that the first step is to receive Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior. Never be fooled into believing that your past defined you and your future. With Jesus, you will become a child of God and a whole new creation complete with your sins from the past washed away! You will become a true Christian with a holy purpose!

Once you are ready, pray this simple prayer (I learned from my pastor) in sincerity from your heart:

Dear God,

I believe that Jesus is Your Son, and that He died on the cross to pay the penalty of my sins. I believe that Jesus has been raised from the dead and that He is alive! Right now I call on the name of Jesus. Jesus, come into my heart. I receive You as my personal Lord and Savior. Forgive me of my sins and cleanse me by the power of Your blood. Thank You for saving me and giving me eternal life! Help me now to follow Your plan for my life. Amen.

Congratulations! You are now a child of God! Praise the Lord and always be faithful to Him! No more darkness in your life caused by unbelief or religion (and the idolatry, traditions and rituals that come with it). Your new life has begun!

Always study the Holy Bible, apply its lessons into your life and pray in tongues regularly to Him. The Holy Spirit is in you and you are now a new creation! You can also start your spiritual growth immediately under the eyes of the Lord! Today is a happy day for you!

In ending this piece, feel free to enjoy these Christian praise-and-worship YouTube videos. Hallelujah!!!

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved souls out there.

If you are looking for a copywriter to create content for your special project or business, check out my services and my portfolio. Feel free to contact me as well. Also please feel free to visit my Facebook page Author Carlo Carrasco and follow me at HavenorFantasy@twitter.com

The Model Prayer

The Model Prayer

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If you want your prayers to be heard clearly by God, then you must do your praying properly. For one thing, you must open your heart to the Lord before you do any praying at all. Also keep in mind that faith in the Lord is done by the heart and not by the brain.

What is the most proper way to pray? The answer is the Model Prayer recorded in the Holy Bible (New King James Version), specifically at Matthew chapter 6, verse 5 to 15.

Recorded in Matthew 6:5-15 are the words of Jesus in red:

“And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward.

My explanation: The scripture above points out that as we pray to the Lord, we should not be like the hypocrites who are defined as people doing public displays of praying which is improper. To really pray properly, showing off is a big no-no and praying privately is the way to do it. Each of us have intentions and personal messages to send to the Lord through prayer and to pray while being seen by others is just wrong. This brings me to the next scripture.

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

The scripture clearly shows that praying in private (in this case doing it in the privacy of a room with the door shut) is essential. This ensures that you have not only a better environment for praying but also a clearer channel of communication between you and God who is in His secret place. We the believers of the Lord must keep up with the Lord’s requirements for whatever communication we have with Him. As part of your praying method, it is recommended to pray in tongues as it enables your spirit to pray, enables you to speak to God, enables you magnify Him and edify yourself along the way. To understand praying in tongues, I recommend reading Acts chapter 1 to 10.

We move on….

“And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.

This one is self-explanatory. Repetitive prayers do not work at all. Just because you repeat words of your prayer does not mean it will boost your prayer’s chances of being heard by God. You only need to pray to the Lord with a clear message that is also straight to the point. You should make yourself transparent to God when communicating with him. That is why before praying to Him, you must write down what you have in mind and make sure you pray to Him with a complete message as possible so that repeating will be unnecessary. We should understand that God prefers us to be clear and go straight to the point with Him. Repeating prayers, at least in my view, is an annoyance. A time waster event.

We move on… “Therefore do not be like them. For Your Father knows that things you have need of before you ask Him.

The scripture points back at the hypocrites who not only do public displays of their praying but also repeat their prayers. They don’t realize that they have been doing their prayers the improper way. As such, we the believers of God know better and we must take advantage of the knowledge on praying properly and privately to Him. Note that God can see through us and anticipate what we would ask of Him. All the more reason to be clear and go straight to the point when communicating with the Lord.

Now we move on to realize proper praying… In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed by Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done. On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and glory forever. Amen.

Never forget to pray with the above holy words spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember them, reflect upon them and live by them as you practice faith in the Lord.

We move on…

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. “But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

The above scriptures explain clearly that forgiving others is an essential thing to do in order to be forgiven by the Lord. There is simply no exemption nor exceptions here. Even if you have a mortal enemy or a rival who cannot forgive you, you still must forgive that person because if you don’t then the Lord won’t forgive you.

What you just read were passages from Matthew 6:5-15 emphasizing the Model Prayer. Clearly praying to the Lord requires the proper ways of praying that includes praying to Him privately, being transparent with Him, being ready with our intentions or personal messages to communicate with Him while avoiding repetitions, familiarizing ourselves with the holy words of prayer and learning to forgive others. Also never forget that praying to the Lord has so much to do with your personal relationship with Him.

In addition, posted below is the Model Prayer from the Passion Translation (TPT) of the Holy Bible… “Whenever you pray, be sincere and not like the pretenders who love the attention they receive while praying before others in the meetings and on street corners. Believe me, they’ve already received their reward. But whenever you pray, go into your innermost chamber and be alone with Father God, praying to him in secret. And your Father, who sees all you do, will reward you openly. When you pray, there is no need to repeat empty phrases, praying like the Gentiles do, for they expect God to hear them because of their many words. There is no need to imitate them, since your Father already knows what you need before you ask him. Pray like this: ‘Our Beloved Father, dwelling in the heavenly realms, may the glory of your name be the center on which our lives turn. Manifest your kingdom realm, and cause your every purpose to be fulfilled on earth, just as it is in heaven. We acknowledge you as our Provider of all we need each day. Forgive us the wrongs we have done as we ourselves release forgiveness to those who have wronged us. Rescue us every time we face tribulation and set us free from evil. For you are the King who rules with power and glory forever. Amen.’ “And when you pray, make sure you forgive the faults of others so that your Father in heaven will also forgive you. But if you withhold forgiveness from others, your Father withholds forgiveness from you.” Matthew 6:5-15 (TPT)

Before each of us were even born, God made plans for every one of us. We who believe in the Lord must prove ourselves faithful to Him so that we will know our true purpose from Him, so that we will each receive a task from Him, so that we will prosper and get rewarded by Jesus (Revelations 22:12).

I pray that you, the reader, learned something essential here and will learn how to apply these lessons into your Christian living. Finally, I recommend you read the words Jesus said in John 3:3.

From this point on, I would like to reach out to all the lost and the unsaved people reading this. Did a religious and idolatrous extremist ruin your life? Have you been living in bondage for too long? Did the atheists, the humanists and the secularists fool you and abused you? Were you victimized by crook? Have you been living as a homosexual or as a transgendered person? Are you still addicted to sex, drugs and other inappropriate elements? Did you spend an entire life worshiping statues, statuettes, images, people and relics? Are you a toxic person or one of those modern-day Leftist activists (Black Lives Matter, Democratic Socialists of America, Antifa, the abortionists and others) who got fed up fighting for worthless causes? Did you kill someone and have been living so long with the guilt?

All of the darkness related to what were mentioned above can finally end and you can decide to do it! How? You can save yourselves by submitting yourselves to the Lord Jesus willingly and realize He is the Light! No force and no coercion here. You have time and freedom to decide to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior. For those who have decided to get born again now and gain salvation, please read the instructions and follow the prayer that I learned from a pastor.

Are you ready? Firstly, open your heart to the Lord and pray this simple prayer in sincerity from your heart:

Father God,

I thank You. I believe Jesus is Your Son. I believe that He died for me and redeemed me from all of my sins. He took my sins and, Father, thank You for loving me and You demonstrated Your love for me through Your Son Jesus Christ. Forgive me for all of my sins. Jesus, I open my heart to You. I welcome You to enter into my heart. I confess today that You are now my Lord and Savior. Thank You for forgiveness. I receive forgiveness. Thank You for Your blood that cleansed me from all of my sins. I will follow You, Jesus. Thank You for Your plan. I receive the Holy Spirit. And Holy Spirit, help me to follow the will of God in my life in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Congratulations! You are now a child of God! You have received Holy Spirit in your heart! This is easily your greatest decision ever made and also the greatest miracle of your life. Always praise, thank and honor the Lord. No more darkness in your life caused by politics, radicalism, toxicity, rebellion, religion, unbelief, evil, idolatry, traditions and rituals! Leave behind the darkness of your life and don’t look back to it. Remember that idolatry is evil, Purgatory is a lie, penance is a deception and Satan always used religion and unbelief to prevent people from being saved by the Lord. Also, do not ever hail Mary (the mother of Lord Jesus) because all the praise and honor belong to God, Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit only.

With Lord Jesus, you are already moving forward and the best is yet to come! You also have a personal relationship with God, a relationship that is strictly off-limits to others (even to your household members or biological family members).

With your new life realized, make an effort to get yourself copy of the Holy Bible (start with New King James Version), study it and apply its lessons into your life no matter what situation you are in right now. I also recommend you to join a local Christian church that God has chosen for you (note: ask Him for a local church!) and find your place in the spiritual family (God’s family!).  Be planted when the Lord shows you the way! Worship the Lord together with them and always remember that faith, not religion, is essential in your personal relationship with God. When you are at home, be in your room with the door shut and have fellowship with our Heavenly Father. On a personal level, practice Christian Habits here and there. Remember the truth that God rewards the faithful abundantly, only He can lift you up and restore you fully,  and continue to be people of the Word. Declare your love for Him as well!

The Holy Bible is the ultimate authority and nothing else comes close to it for it is the Word of God. Remember always that Lord Jesus did not die on the cross to start religion. He died to redeem us all and showed that we must be led by faith in Him, faith in the Holy Spirit and faith in God the Heavenly Father. He rose from the dead and made His earthly presence felt once more to those who believed in Him. Lord Jesus ascended to Heaven and He promised to return in the future. His return is what we must always remember and keep living with holiness under the watch of God. We can do our part in building up God’s kingdom here on Earth by preaching His Word, blessing the Jewish people and saving the countless lost and unsaved souls around us by leading them to Lord Jesus. Living as a Christian is always about the personal relationship with the Lord, and it is certainly not about religion. Never let the idolaters, the idol makers, the ritual practitioners and other sinister forces fool you into becoming unholy.

In ending this, here are some videos of Christian worship music for you to enjoy and praise the Lord with. Always be the fearless and aggressive church of Lord Jesus! 

Thank you for reading. If you find this article engaging, please click the like button below and also please consider sharing this article to others. Sharing this Christian piece means spreading the good news of the Lord to others. It can help you save the unsaved and the lost souls out there.

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