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Weekly Reminder...
The Weekly Reminder is an informative tool to help people who read it consider what the man of God has said. This weekend’s articles are based on what was heard on September 26 & 27, 2009 in the Westbury assembly.written by Br. Samuel Philogene
We know that we’ve been born in sin and we carry with us a nature that is much more willing to do evil than do good. The psalmist David in Psalm 51 said, “Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me”; now the question is: how can a sinner, shaped in iniquity be able to serve a Holy God, who in Him there is no iniquity or sin? It is clear that we can’t do that in our own nature, this carnal nature that always lead us in the wrong direction. It is obvious that we need God’s mighty hand to touch our carnal and evil mind and to cause us to turn to Him and serve Him in righteousness and to be holy like He is Holy. Our God is willing to help us to make it thru.
We read last weekend in Ezekiel 11:19 how He is able to put a new spirit within us, to take the stony heart out and give us a heart of flesh. This is what the Bible is all about, if we can accept the word of God and apply it in our lives it will cause us to serve God the right way. We all know that flesh and blood, our sinful nature can’t please God “because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:7-8). That nature can’t serve God; it has to be changed in order to please Him. We have the example in Isaiah (Isaiah 6:5-7) where God cleansed the lips from unclean words. The prophet cried out, “Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts”. (Thank God he had been purified) “And He laid it upon my mouth, and said, ‘Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged’”. Now Isaiah is able to stand in the presence of God and to work for Him (verse 8).
We can’t do anything in the work of God until He changes our heart and our carnal conceptions to shape it His way. This is what Jesus called the new-born, born in Christ in John 3:3; now we are living for Christ not after the flesh or the desires of the flesh but according to the principles of the word of God. John 1:13 shows us that the new birth is according to the will of God, “Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God”. We are born again when we receive this new heart which is our mind being transformed by the word of God. We understand that this new heart is not an overnight work but it is a daily process in the life of a child of God, being full of evil (just like the man in Mark 5) but now being put in our right mind we can serve God and please Him.
Without our hearts being transformed God will never use us that is why He provides the church as a place where the spirits of just men are being made perfect (Hebrews 12:23), so we can reach a point of perfection where our spirit, views, conceptions and attitude have been molded by the word of God; now we can serve Him and be used in His work. God gives us the reason for all this in Ezekiel 11 verse 20, “That they may walk in My statutes, and keep Mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be My people, and I will be their God”. That is why God provides a ministry with gifts so that we will be able to walk in His ways and be called His people.
May God help us not to reject that precious offer, that calling from God to receive a new heart transformed in His image from glory to glory (2 Corinthians 3:18) until we become like Jesus which is the goal (1 John 3:2).
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written by Br. Jean Leonidas
God was instructing us over the weekend in a way that should make us want to dwell always in His house. David once said his desire and purpose is to dwell in the house of the Lord, all the days of his life (Psalm 27:4). We received instructions on how to live a better life for God. God has a great work He must do for us and that work is to change us completely while we are in the church. Each time we come together is a chance for us to do it in one mind while giving God honor and praise.
After our prayer meeting on Friday evening we came together Saturday night to worship and give God praise. Br. Antoine was showing us that we must be a people that are giving God our all. We must prove that we are really serving Him. He quoted 2 Corinthians 13:4-5, Where Paul was asking the church to examine themselves to see if they were in the faith. There is no way the people of God can examine themselves unless they have the word of God as a guide. The word of God ought to be our guide where we can judge our actions to see if we have done what God wants. David said in Psalms 119:11 “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee”. God’s words are a necessity for us to be able to walk as children of God. We cannot know if we are in sin or not without measuring our actions along with the word of God. Br. Antoine also said “without the word of God working in our lives, we won’t be able to develop the spirit of Christ”. He continued in showing us that God must give us a new heart by quoting Ezekiel 11:19-20. He said “we cannot stay the same person we were as when we first came into the church but there must be a different spirit and it must be from God”.
Sunday morning we visited our sister assembly in Connecticut to be with Br. and Sr. Githinji and the saints. I felt the Lord was moving in a tremendous way because it was a continuation from our Saturday evening service. Br. Joshua Damus stood up and was encouraging the saints by telling them that God is in control of every situation. He said “nothing can happen that God does not see before it happens”. He continued in reminding the saints of the messages on the sovereignty of God that Br. Githinji had been diligently teaching the saints. When he was speaking it reminded me of a scripture Br. Antoine gave us in Romans 8:28 concerning God’s purpose; it says “and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose”. Everything that happens, God has His purpose in it whether it is good or bad. Br. Joshua also made a statement in saying that God was making miracles from the beginning; from the days of Adam to the days of Moses even now, He is still making miracles.
Sr. Githinji stood up and really encouraged us when she said we as God people should always make the best of every situation. She quoted Luke 5:1-8, where she used Peter as an example of being optimistic and not pessimistic. She said “optimistic is looking for the good possibility in a bad situation and a pessimistic is only looking at the bad possibilities”. She encouraged us to be hopeful in God in whatever situation that comes.
Br. Antoine also stood up and did a wonderful job encouraging the saints to love and support Br. Githinji. He said to be a pastor is not an easy job, but it is a very hard task to try and get everyone to operate as one. He quoted Genesis 12:3, where it says those that bless Abraham, God will also turn around and bless them also. He explained to the church how as a young man, Br. Raoul Damus, his former pastor, was a big influence on his life. He explained to the saints how he respected his pastor while being a servant to him. He quoted Job 8:20, where it says “God will not forsake a perfect man”. Br. Antoine said we can be a righteous person by obeying the word of God. He said if we ever need God to help us, we must let the word of God dwell in us.
Br. Githinji quoted Philippians 2:5 where he showed us that we should seek to have the mind of Christ. Although we are a group of individual people we are able to have the same mind set. He also used the example of Timothy and Paul having the same mind set in verse 20. He showed us in 2 Corinthians 12:18 where Titus was walking in the same steps as the apostle Paul.
Sunday evening we received a visit from Br. Eugene who encouraged us to continue to worship God in our daily lives. He said one way to do that is by lifting our hands to give God praises. He said those hands must be holy while we are lifting them. He quoted 1 Timothy 2:8, where the apostle Paul said “I will therefore that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting”. He also quoted Psalms 28:2 where David lifted both hands in giving praise to the Lord.
May the Lord help us to continue having weekends like these where we can be encourage to continue in our walk with Christ.
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