kosarajuraj

According to the Five Books of Moses, Abraham is revered as the one who overcame the idol worship of his family and surrounding people by recognizing the Hebrew God and establishing a covenant with him and creating the foundation of what has been called by scholars "Ethical Monotheism". The first of the Ten Commandments can be interpreted to forbid the Children of Israel from worshiping any other god but the one true God who had revealed himself at Mount Sinai and given them the Torah, however it can also be read as henotheistic, since it states that they should have "no other gods before me." The commandment itself does not affirm or deny the existence of other deities per se. Nevertheless, as recorded in the Tanakh ("Old Testament" Bible), in defiance of the Torah's teachings, the patron god YHWH was frequently worshipped in conjunction with other gods such as Baal, Asherah, and El. Over time, this tribal god may have assumed all the appella...

C. S. Lewis said it well: "The Son of God became a man that men might become sons of God." God became a man so that you might become God's child. Now that is something worth celebrating And so the Bible says, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.” What is worldliness? And why should a Christian not love this world? Three reasons: Number one, because of the character of the world—what it is. Number two, because of the corruption of the world—what it does. Number three, because of the condemnation of the world—where it’s headed. Anybody can have a spiritual faith in somebody or something—even in the Creator God—and still not have saving faith, the faith to which Paul refers here. Many believe in a Creator God yet do not know Him, do not understand His purpose, do not understand the extent of Satan's influence on them or the world, and do not obey God's commands. They are, in short, uncalled by the sovereign God and not as ...

A primary reason why prayer is unanswered is sin. God cannot be mocked or deceived, and He who sits enthroned above knows us intimately, down to our every thought (Psalm 139:1-4). If we are not walking in the Way or we harbor enmity in our hearts toward our brother or we ask for things with the wrong motives (such as from selfish desires), then we can expect God not to answer our prayer because He does not hear (2 Chronicles 7:14; Deuteronomy 28:23; Psalm 66:18; James 4:3). Sin is the “stopper” to all the potential blessings that we would receive from the infinite “bottle” of God’s mercy! Indeed, there are times when our prayers are heinous in the Lord’s sight, most notably when we clearly do not belong to the Lord either because of unbelief (Proverbs 15:8) or because we are practicing hypocrisy (Mark 12:40). Another reason why prayer seems to go unanswered is that the Lord is drawing out of our faith a deeper reliance and trust in Him, which should bring out of us a deeper...

We must realize as Christians that God is in control of all circumstances surrounding our lives. God takes all of the events of life, the good things and the so-called bad things, and works them "together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them" (Romans 8:28). We must also realize that God loves us and is always looking out for our eternal benefit—even if what we are presently going through is difficult. We are told in 2 Corinthians 4:17–18, "For our present troubles are small and won't last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever" (NLT). Paul says in the New Testament that it was not until he heard the Law that he was conscious of sin. How true!...

In his book Prayer Shield, Peter Wagner documents how Satanists gather in different parts of the United States and Canada to pray against Christian leaders. They have identified key pastors and are targeting them for failure and destruction. Some may find this difficult to believe. A few years ago, a professor from a noted Christian university was flying from Detroit to Boston when he noticed the man beside him praying. After the man had lifted his head and opened his eyes, the Christian professor, who also had been a pastor, leaned over and asked, “Are you a Christian?” The man seemed shocked and said, “No. I’m not a Christian. I’m a Satanist.” The professor pushed the issue and asked the man about the nature of his prayers. The man replied, “My specific area is the pastors who live in [a certain part of the United States].” He was on his way to a convention where others like him would join together to pray against God and His people. Satan understands hierarchy....

Reflecting on the history of the British Commonwealth and America in the last two hundred years, we see two nations quickly rising to prominence along with unparalleled accomplishments. The British produced a great empire far out of proportion to their population, native wealth, and abilities. Through her commercial power, the United States became the single richest nation that has ever existed. American influence has since exceeded even that of Britain, making English the universal language of business and politics. Thousands of academic, scientific, and engineering breakthroughs and inventions have sprung from British and American individuals, discoveries which greatly affected the rest of this world. Such power and influence have made both nations feel they have an unlimited reservoir of natural ability and wealth. They even feel a kind of invincibility. C.S. Lewis once cautioned readers about how easy it is to start using Christianity as a convenience. The c...

Today the world has 6.92 billion people. They all wake up and look for the sun in the sky. They also look up at super brands and aspire to belong. The future is bright for brands that evolve their buyers into passionate advocates. Loyal consumers who buy without question. These are consumers who are worth their weight in gold. When a brand gets it right, loads of customers worldwide will be with you for life, and the business can grow kinetically. But what, exactly, is a brand? The term is often misunderstood – confused with "logos" and "taglines." Here's how Thoma defines it: "your brand embodies the sum of all that is known, thought, said, felt, experienced and perceived about your organization, service or product." Every person who has come into contact with your faith community or organization has had an experience that entails physical, mental and emotional components. Many factors or touch points contribute to that experience,...

Bad news, danger, and pain all cause us to look for help. As believers, we dwell with the almighty God, who is able to aid us. At those moments when we are sideswiped by life’s circumstances, we should cry out to Him.            There is a story from Spain about a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away from home, and his father set out to find him. The father searched for months, but to no avail. As a last-ditch effort, the father took out a full-page ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: “Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father.” The next Saturday, 800 men named Paco showed up, all looking for love and forgiveness from their fathers! How many people in life are walking around looking for love and forgiveness from their Father in heaven? If you’re like the rest of us, you have probably messed up once or twice in your life. We all make mis...