You Were Created for His Love

When we begin to understand how it is that God knew each of us before we were created in our mother's womb, and how He infused our soul from out of the unseen realm into a living body that has form and substance in this realm, we can begin to see each other as having equal value and worth to Him who created us and who loves us. Christ, who was both the Eternal and the Incarnate Word, He who was both fully God and fully man, came into the world to walk through our human experience, not so He could understand our human toil and struggles (although He was acquainted with our griefs and our sorrows), but for us to come in contact with His Divine nature, which is Love, and to be made partakers of that Divine nature. He spoke in human parables about God's kingdom so that we would understand in some small way that there is an eternal existence beyond our corporeal (fleshly) existence. He demonstrated the eternal kingdom of God before our very eyes for our benefit, all so that those with eyes to see and ears to hear might have hope of the life to come and understand that Christ was showing us the way back home to the Father who loves us and created us for His Love. However, because of sin, none of us deserve to be in His presence, nor deserve His grace. Yet, so valuable to God is each life and soul which He created, that the Holy One from heaven came down and walked the earth with sinners. He sat with sinners, He dined with sinners, He healed sinners... He saved sinners. Each one of us, no matter what lot in life we've been dealt, can reach out to be touched by the Divine, and be united with the Divine, the Holy One who is not from this world, the One who sets us completely free from the things of this temporal life which bind us to the world. And once set free from the world and all the things in it, there is no thing that can keep us from fulfilling our Divine and eternal purpose for which we were created.
~ Fr. Richard+
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2 Peter 1:2-4
Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature (love), having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

True and False Prophets

We read in Daniel 11:32, that those who are influenced by the spirit of the antichrist will use smooth words (flattery) to draw people to themselves. The one unmistakable characteristic of every false prophet in history has been flattery. And the one unmistakable characteristic of every true prophet has been rebuke.

False prophets flatter people in order to win them to their group, or to build their own kingdoms, or to get honor, or to get money, etc. Many of these false prophets correspond faithfully with people, in order to retain their personal hold over them. Their letters will not however contain words of rebuke and/or correction (as in the letters of the Lord and of the apostles - as we read in Revelation 2 and 3 and in the epistles). Instead, they will only contain words of flattering commendation.

Smooth words will only defile your heart with pride and self-satisfaction. Words of rebuke on the other hand will cleanse your heart and make it pure. Jesus said "Those whom I love, I reprove and I discipline" (Rev.3:19). Rebuke is one mark of Divine love.

When God sends a prophet into our midst to rebuke us, that is a proof of the fact that God loves us. When God forsakes a church, it will "no longer have a prophet in its midst" (Psa.74:1,9) to rebuke it. Instead, it will have preachers who preach smooth words (2 Tim. 4:3,4). That is a sad condition for any of God's people to be in.

In Revelation 2 and 3, we see that even though five of the seven churches there were in a bad shape, yet the Lord had not forsaken them as yet. The proof of this is seen in the fact that He sent a prophet (John the apostle) to rebuke and correct them through his letters.

John had strong words even for the elders - words such as, "You have left your first love.... You are spiritually dead.... You are wretched and poor and blind and naked". If those elders and those churches did not respond to those words of rebuke, and repent, they would be forsaken.

Once the Lord "takes away the lampstand" (Rev.2:5), He will not send His prophets to rebuke that church any more. The false prophets will then take over, and smooth words will be heard regularly at the meetings, Sunday after Sunday!! This has happened in church after church, in generation after generation, throughout these twenty centuries. And it is happening all around us today.

It is at such a time, that there is a great need for those "who know God, who are strong, and who will do great exploits for Him" (v.32). Because they know God, they will fear no man.

by Zac Poonen

The Monday Martyrs

The Monday Martyrs:

Each Monday we post something special about a particular Christian martyr or group of martyrs, past or present. It might be a known quote, a powerful prayer that was offered up to God by a martyr, something written by a martyr, a short biographical piece about an historic Christian martyr, etc. The purpose of The Monday Martyrs is to keep in remembrance the price that has been paid by those who have sacrificially given their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ and His Gospel. We are currently living in a time when Christian martyrdom is increasing around the world. Our prayer is that each person who reads this series, comes to a profound and powerful understanding that the faith we as Christians proclaim today, was brought to us through the blood and sacrifice of faithful saints who came before us.

Today we look at the approximately 30 Ethiopian Christians who were just martyred yesterday, Sunday, April 19th, 2015

In a gruesome replay of beheadings of captive Egyptian Coptic Christians, an Islamic State video disseminated on social media Sunday purportedly shows the point-blank shootings and decapitations of two groups of Ethiopian Christians in Libya. There was approximately 30 men who were martyred, all told.

The video switches between footage of the captives in the south being shot dead and the captives in the east being beheaded on a beach. The same English-speaking fighter who presided over similar killings in a video released in February declares, “We are back again.”

In the new video, released one week after Eastern Rite Christians celebrated Easter, the black-clad apparent ringleader informs “the nation of the cross” that Christians falling under Islamic State’s control face death if they do not accept Islam, according to a transcript provided by the U.S.-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors militant activity. The killings were carried out to “take revenge for Muslim blood,” the chief executioner said.

“We swear to Allah … you will not have safety, even in your dreams, until you embrace Islam,” he said. “Our battle is a battle between faith and blasphemy.”

In the video, black-clad captives kneel before a line of masked fighters dressed in military-style camouflage uniforms and armed with automatic weapons, with a few scrubby tree branches in the background. Most of the kneeling men bow their heads, but in a still photo, one directs an abjectly terrified gaze at the camera.

Elsewhere, more African-appearing men are forced to kneel on the beach, their orange jumpsuits — like those seen in previous videos — contrasting with the bright blue water behind them. Like the February video, this one lingers on the aftermath of their beheadings, with the waves stained red with blood and the executed men’s severed heads placed atop their corpses with faces plainly visible.

The exact number of victims could not be determined from the videos, which panned along the lines of men, but the two groups together appeared at least as large as that of the slain Coptic Christians, if not larger. They were identified in a caption as adherents of “the hostile Ethiopian church.”

The video’s date and locations could not be independently verified, but depictions of previous killings have been authenticated by Western intelligence services.

Libya has fallen into chaos, with an array of heavily armed militias battling for political power and energy wealth. They are organized loosely into two factions loyal to either the Islamist-leaning former parliament or an internationally recognized government based in the country’s east.

Neither has gained the upper hand in months of fighting that has caused tens of thousands of Libyans to flee their homes, and international mediation efforts have failed. Christians have been at particular peril.

Islamic militant groups across North Africa have declared allegiance to the Sunni Muslim militants of Islamic State, whose home base lies in a swath of Iraq and Syria. In Libya, militants identifying themselves as Islamic State loyalists have carried out strikes, including the deadly bombing of a luxury hotel in Tripoli in January.

The violence against Christians by Islamic State and other groups has drawn expressions of horror from Christian leaders, including Pope Francis. On Sunday, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby was visiting Egypt to express condolences over the Copts’ executions.
(Compiled from various news sources)