A Weekly World Wide Word of Encouragement to those in the Ministry
PRAISE GOD IT’S MONDAY!
A WEEKLY ‘WWW (world-wide word) OF ENCOURAGEMENT’
TO THOSE IN MINISTRY
A FREE service, currently connecting with Christian leaders from 3,000 denominations and ministries, in 70 countries.
Issue No: 759 Published: 16 May 2016
A REVELATION TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE!
THE TRUE ARMOUR OF GOD - Part 3Yes, Paul indeed was to the writers of the Old Testament, when writing his illustration of the armour of God, rather than to the armour of an ungodly Roman soldier. Let us have a look and see what the writers and prophets had to say.
Firstly Isaiah, (under God's instruction, through the Holy Spirit) prophesies of Jesus to come.....
Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm achieved salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. 17 He put on righteousness as his breastplate, and the helmet of salvation on his head; he put on the garments of vengeance and wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. 18 According to what they have done, so will he repay wrath to his enemies and retribution to his foes; he will repay the islands their due. 19 From the west, people will fear the name of the Lord, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. For he will come like a pent-up flood that the breath of the Lord drives along. 20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,†declares the Lord. (Isaiah 59:16-17)
Incidentally, it would seem that the Lord also had 'garments of vengeance' and 'zeal as a cloak'!
And Isaiah again.....
The Branch From Jesse
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him — the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord - 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist. (Isaiah 11:1-5)
Jesus put on the armour of God! The 'armour' of the High Priest, certainly not that of the Roman soldier!
To understand more we need top look back at the the clothing of the High Priest as described in Exodus.....
The Priestly Garments
28 “Have Aaron your brother brought to you from among the Israelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests. 2 Make sacred garments for your brother Aaron to give him dignity and honor. 3 Tell all the skilled workers to whom I have given wisdom in such matters that they are to make garments for Aaron, for his consecration, so he may serve me as priest. 4 These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests.(Exodus 28:1-4)
Jesus came as the final priest, replacing the Priesthood of Aaron.....
Jesus the Great High Priest
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. (Hebrews 4:14)
As designated by the Father.....
5 In the same way, Christ did not take on himself the glory of becoming a high priest. But God said to him, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father.â€
6 And he says in another place, “You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.†(Hebrews 5:5)
And who are we today?
Let's have a look at what Peter (again under God's instruction, through the Holy Spirit) says.....
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9)
We too are royal priests.
The concept of the armour of God therefore, comes from the Old Testament, not the New.
We will discover next week more of what this means for us today, including our footwear, which we have omitted today.
(Continued next week.)
FROM THE WORD
THE WORDS OF JESUSMay we hear what the Lord is saying to us.
Jesus Predicts His Day of Crucifixion (Matthew 26:1-2)
To his disciples.
“You know that it’s Passover in two days time, and the Son of man will be handed over to be crucified.â€
Jesus Final Appeal to Unbelievers (John 12:20-36)
Prior to His death.
“The time has come for the Son of man to be glorified. I tell you the truth: unless a grain of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains just one grain. But if it dies, it produces many more grains of wheat. If you love your own life you will lose it, but if you don’t love your own life in this world you will keep your life forever. If you want to serve me you need to follow me. My servants will be where I am, and my Father will honor anyone who serves for me.
â€Now I am troubled. What should I say? ‘Father, save me from this coming time of suffering’? No, for this is why I came—to go through this time of suffering. Father, show the glory of your character.â€
Prior to His death.
“This voice spoke not for my sake, but for yours. Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be thrown out. But when I am lifted up from the earth I will attract everyone to me.†(He said this to point out the kind of death he was going to die).
The crowd asked, “Who is the Son of man?â€
“The light is here with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light so that the darkness doesn’t overtake you. Those who walk in the dark don’t know where they’re going. Put your trust in the light while you still have it so that you can become children of light.â€
The Jews Continue to Reject Jesus (John 12:37-50)
In spite of His miracles.
“If you trust in me you’re not just trusting in me but also in the one who sent me. When you see me you’re seeing the one who sent me. I have come as a light shining into the world, so if you trust in me you won’t remain in the dark. I don’t judge anyone who hears my words but doesn’t do what I say. I came to save the world, not to judge it. Anyone who rejects me and does not accept my words will be judged at the endtime judgment in accordance with what I have said. For I’m not speaking for myself but for my Father who sent me. He is the one who instructed me what to say and how to say it. I know that what he told me to say brings eternal life—so whatever I say is what the Father told me.â€
(Continued next week.)
You can download the complete 'Words of Jesus' here.
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'THE WORDS OF JESUS' REMAIN AVAILABLE FOR PDF DOWNLOAD
Join the many who have downloaded the 'The Words of Jesus'. I am sure you will be blessed by it, as I have been.One key element here is the setting out in chronological order (as far as it is possible to do so) our Lord's words drawn from all the Gospels, and the elimination of repetition between Gospels.
You may be surprised by the different perspective this presentation gives you both in understanding of His life and ministry, and in achieving a closer relationship with Him.
Download the free PDF here.....
DAVID'S DOODLINGS
FAITH AND WORKS691. Man is made to work – but not all the time!
692. Show me faith. Show me works. And I will show you a faith that works.
693. Building faith takes time but good works are always ready and waiting.
694. How much faith does it take to do good works?
695. People come, people go, but needs go on forever.
696. Works reflect the light of Christ in us to a dark world.
697. Faith reflects our place in God, works reflect God’s place in us.
698. Faith is internal, works external.
699. Works are the reflection of our faith to a disbelieving world.
700. Works are the single most convincing expression of our faith.
Please feel free to quote these quotes. Acknowledgement of David Tait as the author would be appreciated. There are now over 1300 David sayings for you to view at ...
CARTOONS FROM TOON FEVER
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TUESDAY TEACHINGS
THIS WEEK:THINKING GREEK OR HEBREWOne of the major causes of the church not truly walking in the ways of Jesus is that we don't truly understand what the ways of Jesus were, and are!
How can you say that, David? Surely we have learned theologians to research and teach, pastors who diligently study and preach the Word, day after day, week after week, year after year. We can have knowledge coming out of our ears from spending time hearing, reading or watching the gospel being expounded in so many different ways.
Yet we continue to miss the point, to misinterpret, to misunderstand, what the walk with Jesus is truly all about. How terrible. How sad. For me, and for you.
How do our misunderstandings arise then?
It is because we come from a Greek rather than a Jewish mindset. And the two are poles apart. In reality, for 2000 years now we have assumed Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Peter, Paul and all, thought in the same way, but with different conclusions, to the many famous Greek philosophers such as Socrates and Plato, those who are responsible for the thought processes underpinning our educational system, and Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine, to name but a very few. The Old Testament was translated into Greek in the 3rd century before Jesus, while the New Testament was written in Greek. Unfortunately, much of the intrinsic meaning and understanding of the Jewish culture in which Jesus lived and ministered, was lost in the Greek translation, in the way of thinking of those of us in a Greek thought pattern, dominated world.
Put simply, if we start out on the wrong road, we are most likely to arrive at the wrong destination.
Over the centuries, some people have had truths revealed through revelation from the Holy Spirit, but generally, these ones have been rejected by the established church, which has preferred to continue in intellectual, religious ways, leading to division and even hatred between believers through different, man-made, interpretations of Scripture. "Jesus still weeps!"
In more recent times however, in particular since the re-establishment of the State of Israel, a greater understanding of historical Jewish ways is starting to emerge, being available to those with a desire to seek out truths that have been lost or ignored for the past 2 millennia of the Christian church.
Here, we will look at some of these cultural differences and see how they impact our understanding of what Jesus really was all about. It should be life changing!
We need to learn to understand and think in an Eastern (Hebrew), rather than in our traditional and typical Greek (Western), way. The Gospels, being about the life of Jesus, are written from an Eastern, Jewish perspective while the writings, particularly of Paul, have much more of a Western perspective, as he was writing to a primarily European audience of Gentiles.
Let us begin……Check out all the available teachings at...
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LAUGHING AT OURSELVES
***Blessed are those who can laugh at themselves for they shall never cease to be amused****** Those who can't laugh at themselves leave the job to others. ***
321. THE RIGHT PRAYER
Two "saints" were discussing which one of them was more 'spiritual'.
"Huh," says the first, "why I'll bet you $20 you can't even repeat the Lord's prayer."
"You're on," says the second. He clears his throat and starts in. "Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the Lord my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take."
The first guy is incredulous. "Wow, I didn't think you could do it. Here's your $20."
320. GOD'S GRADE
A sophmore taking a test in Bible School was not well prepared for the exam. At one point over a particularly esoteric phrasing of a question, he wrote, "ONLY GOD KNOWS!" for his answer.
Later when he got his paper back, there written in RED was this comment, "God gets an "A", you get an "F".
319. WINDOWS 95
Abraham is trying to load Windows 95 on his computer. His son, Isaac, walks in and says,
"Dad, what are you doing? You can't load Windows 95 on to your computer! You need at least a 486 with 14 megs of memory; you only have a 386 with no available memory."
And Abraham said, "Don't worry, son, God will provide the Ram."
"FREE DOWNLOAD: You can now download the book 'Laughing At Ourselves' in PDF format at LAUGHING AT OURSELVES One of the most comprehensive sources of Christian Humour on the Net with 800 sermon fillers for your entertainment and use at ...
FACTS FOR FUN
LAST WEEKS QUESTION: When did camouflage become standard military practice?ANSWER: The military practice of camouflage became standard practice in World War I, when uniforms, helmets, and equipment were covered in the colours of leaves and brush to hide them from aeroplanes. (Then the bombs got bigger!)
THIS WEEK'S QUESTION: Which Shakespearean play is the only one that has a dog in its cast?
SOME FUN FACTS 410. UNRHYMED VERSE
A tanka is a Japanese verse form of 31 syllables in five unrhymed lines, with the first and third having five syllables each, the others seven. (More difficult than rhyming?)
411. JUST A FEW!
A quart-size pail or bucket holds 8 million grains of fine sand. (How many grains on a beach?)
412. ON THE OTHER HAND
A ten-gallon hat holds less than a gallon of liquid. (Everything is exaggerated in Texas!)
A WORD PUZZLE FOR YOU
Make another word from this word using all the letters.
THEREIN
Answer at the end of A David Musing
FREE DOWNLOAD: You can download the full version of our Trivia Book at TRULY TRIFFLING TRIVIA Or view all 1232 online at...
GENERAL TRIVIA 1
15: How was Naboth killed?a. Stabbed
b. Hanged
c. Stoned
d. Burnt
Source: http://biblequizzes.org.uk
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IF ONLY I'D THOUGHT OF IT!
"""OTHER'S SAYINGS TO ENLIGHTEN, AMUSE, OR BEMUSE"""!!!!!!! Car sickness is the feeling you get when the monthly car payment is due.
!!!!!! The reason computers can do more work is they don't have to stop and answer the phone.
!!!!! The only time a windshield wiper will work properly is when it's holding a parking ticket.
!!!! People are never too busy to tell you all they have to do.
!!! Snowflakes are some of nature's most fragile things but look what happens when they stick together.
!! Some minds are like concrete; all mixed up and permanently set.
! You know what happens when you play country music backwards? You quit drinking, you get your wife back, you're rehired and your lost dog comes home.
100'S MORE TO BE FOUND AT...
GREAT GROANERS
192. THE CROSSDid you hear about the scientists who crossed a sheep with a porcupine?
They got an animal that knits its own sweaters.
193. FROM WORSE TO BETTER
Did you hear about the two TV antennas that got married?
The wedding was terrible, but the reception was excellent!
194. THE FIGHT
Did you hear about the big fight that Madonna, Cher, Jewel, and Fabio had?
They're no longer on a first-name basis.
195. NEW SHOES
Did you hear about the man with two left feet who went into the shoe shop?
He asked, "Do you have any flip-flips?"
196. IN COMMON?
Q: What do Christmas and a crab on the beach have in common?
A: They both involve sandy claws.
197. POOR PIG
Q: How did the pig with laryngitis feel?
A: Dis-gruntled.
198. WONDERING
Did you hear about the guy who stayed up all night wondering where the sun went?
It finally dawned on him.
199. MISTAKEN
How do you get down off of an elephant?
You don't, you get down off of a duck.
200. COMMUTING
A friend of mine who commutes to work everyday through the Lincoln Tunnel with a bunch of co- workers recently complained about what a pain it was. I told him that he may have a bad case of "car pool tunnel syndrome."
Groans continue unabated here.....
Franklin Graham Accuses LGBT Community of Attempting To Indoctrinate Children With 'Morally Bankrupt' Message
Prominent evangelist Franklin Graham has accused the LGBT community of attempting to get their "morally bankrupt" message to young children and influence their lives as the U.S. sinks "deeper into secularism."The 64-year-old leader of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association took to Facebook on Monday to share his thoughts: "What happens when you remove biblical standards and leadership from a country? Moral bankruptcy, that's what," he writes. "As our culture abandons its once cherished Judeo-Christian foundation and values, godly traditions disappear and we sink deeper into secularism."
Headlines every day reveal just how morally bankrupt the U.S. has become, Billy Graham's son argues, from transgender activist Caitlyn Jenner posing nude for Sports Illustrated to the attempted decriminalization of prostitution. Even worse, some are calling for Elsa, the star of Disney's "Frozen," to have a lesbian girlfriend in the movie's sequel to show children that "there's nothing wrong with being gay."
Writes Graham: "What a lie! This reveals their agenda to get the LGBT message to young children and influence their lives."
The evangelist reminds readers that God calls His people to be salt and light in a dark world and urges believers to pray for our nation and "get involved by standing up for God's truth and His righteousness."
Last month, Graham joined nearly one million others in boycotting Target after the retail giant announced it will allow men to go into women's bathrooms if they identify as female.
"This policy encourages sexual predators and puts women and children in danger. A man shouldn't be able to enter the women's restroom or dressing room because he says he 'feels like a woman today.' That's ridiculous," Graham wrote at the time.
"We are the sex God created us to be - male or female. How a person feels doesn't change the facts," he added.
In the past, Graham warned that the June 2015 Supreme Court decision requiring states to recognize gay marriage will not just impact the secular world, but the faith-based community as well.
"God gave us marriage and God does not change HIS mind," he said. "Who's to say a few years from now that a man cannot marry his daughter or two men could marry one woman, I mean, where do you draw the line?"
Source: gospelherald.com/
Via: OpenHeaven.com
DAVID'S DOWNLOADS
WALKING THE ROAD WITH JESUSAn illumination of Gods desire for our Christian walk as revealed in Revelations 12:11 Both a challenge and a hope
Download your free PDF Files here.....
WAXING LYRICAL
When you commit to something you have to keep doing it - week after week, after week.Words that tell a succinct story!
...EPT
While Jesus wept,
The Disciples slept,
Could not accept,
His divine precept.
His death swept,
Felt totally inept,
To themselves kept,
While time crept.
Resurrection concept,
No promises unkept,
They became adept,
So to service lept!
More of David's poetry here.....
A DAVID MUSING
LATEThe weeks come,
The weeks go.
Whither to?
Don't know!
Sorry to be so late,
Upon me it does grate.
But the world has not ended as far as I know!
So onward to victory, I know my God will go!
So until next week.....
MAY GOD BLESS YOU AND YOU BLESS GOD
His servant and yours
David Tait
Today's 'Word Puzzle' Answer: NEITHER
TODAY'S 'BIBLE QUESTION' c. Stoned (1 Kings 21:13)
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ABOUT US
WALKING WITH JESUS MINISTRIES is a non-profit, non-denominational, Bible based ministry located in Hastings, New Zealand. A ministry dedicated to developing discipleship, fostering unity amongst God’s people to achieve the Great Commission, and in doing so, preparing for Christ’s return. It is securely based upon the foundational principles of the Apostles Creed while recognising the wide and rich diversity of beliefs amongst Christians in other areas. In accordance with the Lord’s direction, materials produced by the ministry are available, free of charge, to genuine enquirers upon request. The ministry is solely funded by donations, as the Lord provides. A list of materials available (plus some fun!) is obtainable and freely downloadable from our websitewwj.org.nz or by contacting us as follows.
Walking With Jesus Ministries
7 Bull Street
Ahuriri
Napier
New Zealand
Phone: (06) 835 0567 International (+64) 6 835 0567
Email: enquiries@wwj.org.nz
Web: wwj.org.nz
Our role is to bless and encourage those in ministry while promoting co-operation and unity of direction amongst the body of Christ, as emphasised 3 times by Jesus in His longest prayer, immediately prior to His arrest and crucifixion. "… so that they may be one as we are one." (John 17:12, 21, 23-4) Our website is currently being developed to encourage your participation one with another, to share resources, and to enable you to promote events and items of interest to the body as a whole – and have a smile while doing it!
For comments upon and contributions to this service, please contact
david@wwj.org.nz