What exactly is the Lord’s expectation of you and I?

Highly successful career? High financial & material asset net-worth? That we win Olympic gold medal? We win Grammy Award? Nobel Prize? Make The Guinness Book of Records? Enter Forbes lists of World Super-rich? Get highly paying job? Good world government? The list goes on.

The simple truth is that WITHOUT CHRIST anyone can still attain/acquire any of these. Many had and are achieving these till today.
What then is the ESSENCE of being a child of God or a Christian?
TO BE LIKE HIM, IN HIS IMAGE.

Without, daily, working towards developing Godly Character, you & I are in delusion if we call ourselves christians, pastors, apostles, miracle-workers, etc.

The ‘Husbandman’ is patiently waiting for the ‘precious fruit’. James 5:7.

He is not looking for mere ‘green leaves’ but FRUIT from SEED bearing AFTER ITS OWN KIND!

Subcribe to the “Fruitfulness” series on Moment Of Refreshing on DBN TV.

Go to <www.photizoministries.org <http://www.photizoministries.org> >

Then you can make a difference.

The Liteman T

nephilim

In Hebrew, the word translated and time processed as ‘Nephilim’ actually means ‘the fallen ones’. It actually, on the first generic application refers to the ‘Fallen Angels’. The Ones that fell by going after strange flesh.

(ref: Jude 6
And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire).

These angels are the ones originally revered to as “The Fallen Ones” That is The “Nephilims “!
They mated with ‘daughters of men’ to produce genetically hybrid & spiritually deranged species of beings that came as giants (huge physical statures) and wickedly intelligent ‘men’. According to the scriptures, these ‘father’ fallen angels who sired them were summarily rounded up and incarcerated.

(ref: 2 Peter 2 4
For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and DELIVERED THEM INTO CHAINS OF DARKNESS, to be reserved unto judgment;
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly)

Subsequently, men of old in their writings show that their half-human off springs picked up the same appellation ‘the fallen (hybrid) ones’ or Nephilims. In other words, the giants only ‘inherited ‘ the name from their non-human fathers. Afterwards, men referred to them in different derivations of the original, that is, Anakims, Emims, Sons of Anaks, Zamzummims, Avims, Rephaims, etc. These huge, fearful, wicked and fierce beings who at the beginning came on the scene as half-human and half-immortals. They had unnatural DNA build up and possessed knowledge beyond the natural man, or super intelligences.

I, Brother Toks, believe that as these ‘genetic deviates’ continued down in time, to intermingle with the human females, they gradually ‘thinned’ out in, firstly their strange spiritually incensed unnaturalness. That is gradually becoming more of ‘flesh’ than being ‘demigods’. Furthermore, they gradually lost their inhumanly large and huge bodies. The last of them giants, as accounted for, were the Goliath brothers.
However, do not be deceived, what they seem to lose in their physically abnormal appearance became now hidden in their super intelligence and access to ‘dark sentences’ or ‘knowledge of good and evil’ or better still ‘the knowledge of the dark world – occultism’ .

In summary, yes it is quite in order to refer to the ‘giants’ as Nephilims but it should be acknowledged that it was an inherited appellation.

[2] Demons

These are not Angels (whether fallen or not)!

Demons are in reality a completely different class of wicked or devilish spirits. There were never angelic. They work for rebel angels. They were beings from the Pre-Adamic creation. They were the created beings that populated the ‘Then World’.

(ref: 2 Peter 3 5
For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
6 Whereby the WORLD that THEN was, being overflowed with water, perished)

Generically, they were also referred to in the scriptures as ‘men’ with breath

(ref. Isaiah 45
18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it TO BE INHABITED, I am the LORD; and there is none else.
12 I have made the earth, and CREATED MAN (which manner of ‘man’?) upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
Isaiah 42
5 Thus saith God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that GIVETH BREATH TO THE PEOPLE (which manner of ‘people’ are these?) UPON IT and spirit to them THAT WALK therein)

However they were misled, mis -governed, wrongly taught by Lucifer and the original bad angels that fell with him.

(ref. Rev 12,
7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.
9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and SATAN, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, AND HIS ANGELS WERE CAST OUT WITH HIM
13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child),

(ref: Isaiah 14
11 Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover thee.
12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O LUCIFER, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst WEAKEN THE NATIONS (which nations?),
13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:
14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
16 They that see thee shall narrowly look upon thee, and consider thee, saying, Is this the man that made the earth to tremble, that did SHAKE KINGDOMS;
17 That made THE WORLD (which world is this?) as a wilderness , and destroyed THE CITIES (which cities?) thereof; that opened not the house of his prisoners?
18 All the KINGS OF NATIONS, even all of them, lie in glory, everyone in his own house).

(ref: Ezekiel 28
12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
14 Thou art the ANOINTED CHERUB that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.
16 By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.
17 Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast CORRUPTED THY WISDOM by reason of thy brightness : I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before KINGS, that they may behold thee.
18 Thou hast DEFILED thy sanctuaries (which sanctuaries or worship altars are these?) by the multitude of thine iniquities, by the iniquity of thy TRAFFICK; therefore will I bring forth a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee, and I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee.
19 All they that know thee among the people shall be astonished at thee: thou shalt be a terror, and never shalt thou be any more).

God’s wrath came down hard on that World, Lucifer, his cohort angels and the now wicked ungodly beings. They got destroyed by God’s bombardment of fiery breath that brought cataclysmic overthrow to the earth.

(ref. Jeremiah 4
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was WITHOUT FORM AND VOID (when in the history of present day man did this ever occur?) and the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
25 I beheld, and, lo, THERE WAS NO MAN (which sort of man?) and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness , and all THE CITIES THEREOF WERE BROKEN DOWN at the presence of the LORD, and BY HIS FIERCE ANGER.
27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I WILL NOT MAKE A FULL END!)

(ref: Psalm 18
7 Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundation s also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
8 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
9 He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet..
10 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12 At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
13 The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
14 Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
15 Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.)

Psalm 68
1 …… God arise, let his enemies be scattered: let them also that hate him flee before him.
2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

Habakkuk 3
3 God came from Teman, and the Holy One from ………. ………. ….
4 And his brightness was as the light; he had horns coming out of his hand: and there was the hiding of his power.
5 Before him went the pestilence , and burning coals went forth at his feet.
6 He stood, and measured the earth: he beheld, and drove asunder the nations; and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting.
7 I saw the tents of Cushan in affliction : and the curtains of the land of Midian did tremble.
8 WAS THE LORD DISPLEASED against the rivers? was THINE ANGER against the rivers? was THY WRATH against the sea, that thou didst ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of salvation?
9 Thy bow was made quite naked, according to the oaths of the tribes, even thy word. Selah. Thou didst cleave the earth with rivers.
10 The mountains saw thee, and they trembled: THE OVERFLOWING OF THE WATERS passed by: THE DEEP uttered his voice, and lifted up his hands on high.
11 The sun and moon stood still in their habitation : at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.
12 Thou didst march through the land IN INDIGNATION, thou didst THRESH the heathen IN ANGER).

Their (the beings that became demons) WORLD was referred as nations, cities, etc in the above quoted verses of the scriptures . Although they were called “men”, they were certainly, even at creation stage, never made “in God’s Image & Likeness” as those of us in the Adamic Race. Their bodies were destroyed and submerged under the black overflowing waters of Genesis 1:2. They later came back under the full control of their wicked mentors as ‘dis -embodied’ spirits in the re-created Adamic World. They run all the errands & carryout the spiritual ‘dirty’ jobs for the satanic rebel angels. They are The Demons! They always seek to inhabit human bodies and at last resort, may settle for animals and beasts. Recall the story of ‘Legion’ in the Mad Man of Gadarenes.

Consider,
(ref: Ephesians 6
11 ………. …. stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against PRINCIPALITIES, against POWER, against the RULERS OF DARKNESS of this world, against SPIRITUAL WICKEDNESS in high places).

Demons are the lowest in this order of satanic organizational and operational structure.
Demons were not and are not angels but devil ruled disembodied spirits from the pre-adamic ‘then’ world.

In summary, there are FOUR MAIN TYPES OR GROUPS OF WICKED SPIRITS who work as cohorts with Satan, the devil:

(1) THE PRESENTLY FREELY MOBILE ‘REBEL OR FALLEN ANGELS’, UNCHAINED YET -
Revelation 12 Rebel Group.

(2) THE DISEMBODIED SPIRITS THAT WERE CREATED BEINGS OF THE ‘THEN WORLD’ DECEIVED TO FOLLOW SATAN AND ANGELS INTO GOD’s WRATH. THEY ROAM THE EARTH AS ERRAND SPIRITS TO SATANIC ANGELS
- DEMONS Group.

(3) THE ‘DISOBEDIENT ANGELS’ THAT WENT AFTER HUMAN ‘flesh’ AND POLLUTED THE HUMAN RACE WITH THEIR INHUMAN OFFSPRING referred to as GAINTS AND MEN OF RENOWN OF GENESIS 6 and those who repeated the act after the flood. THESE ARE “THE FALLEN ONES”, NOW IN CHAINS.
- Original NEPHILIM (ANGELS) Group.

(4) THE SPIRITS OF THE OFF-SPRINGS OF “THE GENESIS 6 NOW CHAINED ANGELS”.THE GENETICALLY IMPURE AND SATANICALLY KNOWLEDGE-CORRUPTED BEINGS.
- The Nephilims of This Age.

For further explanations, get hold of my past messages on
(1) Genesis Truths and The New World Order,
(2) The New World Order Series on DBN TV, and
(3) The teaching messages with (PowerPoint Graphic Slides) of The May 2011 and July 2011 respectively. The Christian Brethren Church Teaching Conference .

Our goal is God!

The Liteman T
Toks Oshokoya

[My beloved, I counsel that you cultivate and develop your personal CORE VALUES, this year 2012, from these admonitions. I love you. You will all succeed in Jesus' name, Amen. Tokunbo Oshokoya] Culled from Dr. Oshinaga’s daily devotion

Perhaps forgiveness is not one of your felt needs. You may have so completely immersed yourself in the relativism and self-justification of your culture that you have numbed yourself to the sting of your own guilty conscience. If so, then Peter’s command will fall on your willingly insensitive ears.

However, if the guilt of your sin has invaded your carefully protected peace of mind-and you see yourself as being in opposition to a holy and good God-then this admonition will be a welcome relief to your soul. If you, like Peter’s audience, have been stumbling over the question, “What can I do? What should I do?” – then here is the answer:

Repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Only in Christ is forgiveness of sins to be found; there is no way to clean your record up on your own, by yourself. But through Jesus Christ you can find remission of your sins.

Repent…everyone of you. No one is guiltless before God and so there is a universal command to repentance…and each one who does repent and confess their sins is called to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, publicly professing their faith in Him.

Forgiveness of sins without repentance through Christ is not an option. Repentance and faith without a public witness, through baptism, should not be a consideration.

Those who long for their sins to be pardoned are commanded to repent of their sins and publicly acknowledge Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior by submitting to baptism. Have you obeyed?

2012

My Beloved,
As I write to you this 31st day of December, 2011, I am burdened and pained by the trend of sad occurrences in our nation, Nigeria. The rise of terrorism and general insecurity is worrisome. Since the conclusion of the last general elections into political position, armed robbery cases, kidnapping, blatant looting of the nation’s treasury by highly placed persons and government officials have taken a new dimension. If you will be honest, and you listen and watch the news, you will feel like Prophet Habakkuk felt 2000 years ago.
Habakkuk’s Perplexity:   Habakkuk Questions God’s Inactivity

2 How long, O LORD, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save.
3 Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight.
4 The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted. What Lies Ahead for Judah

13 But you are pure and cannot stand the sight of evil. Will you wink at their treachery? Should you be silent while the wicked swallow up people more righteous than they?
14 Are we only fish to be caught and killed? Are we only sea creatures that have no leader?
15 Must we be strung up on their hooks and caught in their nets while they rejoice and celebrate?
16 Then they will worship their nets and burn incense in front of them. “These nets are the gods who have made us rich!” they will claim.
17 Will you let them get away with this forever? Will they succeed forever in their heartless conquests?

As if these internal problems aren’t enough, the worsening financial melt-down of the nations of the world is threatening money supply and ultimately food supply.
Where are we headed?
What about continued intolerance amongst us believers?
Increasing pressures from inter-personal interactions (irritations, offences, etc)!
Commitment and endurance among believers diminishing?  Youths are becoming more and more disrespectful and mannerless? Anyone interested in learning ethical corrections?
What is God saying? What is ahead for us, the people of God?

The Lord gave our Pastor, Pastor A Oladele these words of admonition earlier in november for the church:
“Endeavor to make your days count (for eternity);
Correct your errors (now);
For I come with judgement and with prize”

Here are few inspired admonitions and exhortations from men of God that I relate with:

Lee Grady

As I have prayed about the coming year, I’ve sensed three clear directives. Some people are terrified of 2012. They worry because the Mayans of ancient Mexico mysteriously ended their 5,126-year-old calendar on Dec. 21, 2012-as if they expected the world to end that day. This silly hypothesis became the basis for several New Age books and a goofy disaster movie, 2012, in which actor John Cusack avoids meteors and earthquakes just in time to get his family aboard the modern version of Noah’s ark (built in China!) before the rest of the world is destroyed by a tsunami.

I’m not afraid of 12/21/12 because
(1) Ancient Mayans never actually said the world would end in 2012-and even if they did, they didn’t have an inside track to God;
(2) Doomsday predictions have never been accurate; and
(3) Jesus holds the future in his hands. As long as I’m in relationship with Him, it doesn’t matter what happens on earth. I’m secure.

“Despite strange weather patterns, global terrorism and the specter of an economic crash, I’m actually optimistic about where we’re headed in 2012.”

Despite strange weather patterns, global terrorism and the specter of an economic crash, I’m actually optimistic about where we’re headed in 2012. And as I have prayed about the coming year, I’ve sensed these three clear directives:

1. Expect major transitions in kingdom leadership.
The world is focused on leadership in the political arena, but God has been working behind the scenes preparing men and women for kingdom assignments. Our focus should not be on Democrats, Republicans, Obama or Romney. 2012 is not about a presidential contest. Just as David was prepared for the throne during years of testing in the wilderness, a new battalion of Christian leaders has been trained in obscurity. They will be commissioned and appointed in the new year.  And their influence-not that of a political figure-will shift the nation.

Jesus said He would call the humble from the back row and seat them at the head table. He openly rewards those who pray, fast, give and serve in secret. God will exalt those who have walked with Him in faithfulness and crucified selfish ambition. As in the days of Elijah, He has reserved thousands of prophets who have not bowed their knee to Baal. They have been in isolated caves of preparation for years, and some have been on the verge of quitting. A wind of new strength will cause them to stand and assume their positions.

2. The sound of evangelism must be amplified.
The prophet Isaiah said: “Get yourself up on a high mountain, O Zion, bearer of good news, lift up your voice mightily, O Jerusalem, bearer of good news; Lift it up, do not fear. Say to the cities of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’” (Isa. 40:9). Just as the early disciples prayed for boldness in the midst of persecution, and the Lord answered with a supernatural earthquake (see Acts 4:29-31), the Lord wants to turn up the volume of our message and empower us with a spirit of might. We must put aside our timidity. We cannot hide our light under a basket.

Many churches in the United States have not made outreach a priority. We’ve catered to the saved and preached to the choir. The Holy Spirit wants to remodel and revamp weak churches and make them into powerhouses of spiritual impact. He can take a church with a four-cylinder engine and outfit it with eight; He can turn up the volume and cause a quiet congregation to shake a city. In 2012, expect small churches to be revitalized. God specializes in using small armies, like Gideon’s group of 300, to catch the enemy by surprise.

3. Supernatural provision will be released.
The great recession has brought heartache and difficulty to families, companies and churches, but it has a silver lining: God has used it to purify motives, refine faith and refocus priorities. The Holy Spirit has exposed our materialism, and His fire has also consumed unhealthy prosperity doctrines that tainted the church with scandal and greed.

Today, a new passion is arising in the church to fight injustice, feed the poor, show compassion to the broken and share Jesus’ love with unreached nations. We’re tired of giving money to support charlatans who demand private jets and luxury treatment; we want to serve the orphan and the widow in the spirit of Christ. And we are asking God for His supply, knowing that if God can feed a multitude with one lunch, or provide for a family with one jar of oil, He can open sources of provision we never knew existed.

Missionary Hudson Taylor said: “God’s work done in God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” I pray you will experience this truth in 2012.

Isaiah 66:9 says: “Shall I bring to the point of birth and not give delivery? . Or shall I who gives delivery shut the womb?” Don’t fear the future. Receive new strength from the Lord as you step into this new year. No matter what disappointments or delays you have encountered during the past season, don’t give up. God brought you to this point, and He will not fail you now. Amen
Pastor Koleowo:
Hebrews 13: 9-10
The wicked in this country will not be established but shall be debased by God’s intervention.

Deacon Akerele:
The grace of God will be our advantage in 2012.
Behold darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness the people but the Lord shall arise over you (and all that concerns you) and His glory, (grace) shall be seen on you.

Spiritual Housecleaning:
The Portion of the Wicked:
The people of God were in a bad situation, yet Nehemiah bragged on His God. His enemies mocked him and called him a rebel, but Nehemiah had a revelation; God was his portion! His source was not in man, so he did not have to bow to them. He also let his enemies know that they had no portion in what God had for him. When we (as believers) know our portion and in whom it is placed, we also know the portion (or legal right) the enemy has to get involved in it-none!
The portion of the wicked has no agreement with what God has for us.
The twentieth chapter of Job describes the portion of the wicked. It describes the portion of the wicked to be like a basket filled with curses. It includes the following curses:

. The triumphing of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite is but for a moment.
. He will perish forever like his own refuse.
.  He will fly away like a dream and not be found; he will be chased away like a vision of the night.
. His children will seek the favor of the poor.
. His bones will lie down with him in the dust.
. His food in his stomach turns sour; it becomes cobra venom within him.
. He swallows down riches and vomits them up again.
. He will not see the streams, the rivers flowing with honey and cream.
. From the proceeds of business he will get no enjoyment.
. He knows no quietness in his heart; therefore his well-being will not last.
. In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress; every hand of misery will come against him.
. When he is about to fill his stomach, God will cast on him the fury of His wrath.
. A bronze bow will pierce him through.
. Terrors come upon him.
. An unfanned fire will consume him.
. The heavens will reveal his iniquity, and the earth will rise up against him.
. The increase of his house will depart, and his goods will flow away in the day of His wrath.

The scripture concludes by saying: “This is the portion from God for a wicked man, the heritage appointed to him by God” (Job 20:29). I praise the Lord because we have no portion in wickedness. Today, when the hearts of many are failing them for fear, we must continue to confess Psalm 73:26, which says: “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

We must rebel against or disagree with the things or the ways of the wicked. This is the only way to avoid social intercourse. Social intercourse is the pathway to idolatry, which comes in the name of status quo social activities. God put the need to socialize on the inside of us, but we must do it according to the Word of God. There is a sweet anointing when the brethren dwell in peace under the covering of God’s covenant.

We can operate in the midst of those who do not know Jesus, but we must lead and not follow. We must influence and not be influenced. This is the calling we have as the salt of the earth. I call it blending without bending

Pastor Bakare: (i picked this inspiration from him during the recent solemn assembly and adopted it)
“PRAYER & CONFESSION FOR THE YEAR 2012 ”  Psalm 90:13-17
13 O LORD, come back to us! How long will you delay? Take pity on your servants!
14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.
15 Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. 16 Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory.
17 And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!
Bro. Toks:
“WISDOM WORDS FOR THE YEAR 2012″   Proverbs17: 9-21
9. Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.
10 A single rebuke does more for a person of understanding than a hundred lashes on the back of a fool.
11 Evil people are eager for rebellion, but they will be severely punished.

12 It is safer to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than to confront a fool caught in foolishness.

13 If you repay good with evil, evil will never leave your house.

14 Starting a quarrel is like opening a floodgate, so stop before a   dispute breaks out.

15 Acquitting the guilty andcondemning the innocent- both are detestable to the LORD.

16 It is senseless to pay tuition to educate a fool, since he has no heart for learning.

17 A friend is always loyal, and a brother is born to help in time of need.

18 It’s poor judgment to guarantee another person’s debt or put up security for a friend.

19 Anyone who loves to quarrel loves sin; anyone who trusts in high walls invites disaster.

20 The crooked heart will not prosper; the lying tongue tumbles into trouble.

21 It is painful to be the parent of a fool; there is no joy for the father of a rebel.

22 A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.

23 The wicked take secret bribes to pervert the course of justice.

24 Sensible people keep their eyes glued on wisdom, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

25 Foolish children bring grief to their father and bitterness to the one who gave them birth.

Explanations:
17:9: Maintaining a good relationship with another person means forgiving rather than dwelling on faults.
17:9: cf: Prov  10:12 ; Jas  5:20

17:10: The wise will listen to a mild rebuke and act on good advice. Even harsh correction (a hundred lashes) will not change a fool.

17:11: Rebellion flows from the inner character of evil people who defy the punishment that will follow.

17:12: This saying cautions those who try to teach fools. A fool caught in foolishness will react with anger and violence.
17:12: cf: Prov  29:9 ; Hos  13:8 17:12: c’iwweleth ( 0200 ) Prov  22:15

17:13: cf: Ps  109:5 ; Prov  13:21 ; Jer  18:20

17:14: opening a floodgate: Once a quarrel starts, it is very difficult to stop it; a dispute should be avoided if at all possible (see 10:12 ; 15:18 ; 16:28 ; 20:3 ; 22:10 ; 26:21 ). 17:14: cf: Prov  20:3 ; 25:8 17:15: cf: Exod  23:7 ; Prov  24:24 ; Isa  5:23 17:17: cf: Ruth  1:16 ; Prov  18:24

The Liteman T                                      31st December, 2011

Someone has said that these words of Jesus are the most difficult-and most important-words that we can learn in any language: not my will, but Thine, be done.

To say these words sincerely and from the heart takes conviction, courage, and faith. It means trusting that God really is wiser than you are and really does love you more than you love yourself. It means trusting, like Jesus trusted, in the perfect wisdom of God.

Although Jesus’ will was always in perfect harmony with His Father’s (John 6:38-39), ours often is not. The things that we assume would make us happy and contended He seems to withhold from us at times, and the things we seek to avoid are the very things that He frequently allows into our lives.

Is there some sickness, heartache, pain, instability, demotion, or tension that you are facing at the moment? Rather than looking for the nearest exit from your trial-by whatever means you can devise-turn to God first and take your need to Him in prayer. The same God who created your world can certainly sustain, heal, strengthen, and direct your life.

Pray for deliverance; pray for strength; pray for direction… and pray, “Not my will, but Thine, be done.” These words are difficult, because they hand the most precious parts of our life over to God. But they are liberating, because they recognize that we are in God’s hands anyway and, if we understood the situation perfectly, we would certainly want whatever God wants for us.

Dear believer, there is no prayer (outside, of course, a prayer for something that is already revealed in God’s Word as sinful) that you cannot take to God with these precious words: not my will, but Thine, be done.

TOKUNBO OSHOKOYA
PHOTIZO MINISTRIES, LAGOS

True meaning of Christmas

Where did Christmas originate? From the Bible or paganism? What is the real origin of Santa Claus—mistletoe—Christmas trees—holly wreaths—and the custom of exchanging gifts? Many are concerned about putting “Christ back into Christmas.” Was He ever there? Here are the stunning answers!
Every year after Thanksgiving, most people’s thoughts turn to Christmas. It is the time when professing Christians are supposed to focus on Jesus Christ. After all, it is the “Christ-mass” season!
Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer, holly wreaths, decorated trees, mistletoe, season’s greetings, seasonal music, “chestnuts roasting on an open fire” and Santa Claus are all associated with this holiday. These all bring warm feelings to those who celebrate it.

I grew up in a family that kept Christmas, and it was a very big event in our household every year. We left out none of the usual trimmings of this occasion. On December 24th, excitement grew with every passing minute. My parents even brewed black coffee for Santa just before sending us off to bed. I always wondered how they knew Santa liked his coffee black—just like my parents liked theirs. After going to bed on Christmas Eve, I could neither sleep nor wait to get up in the morning to see all that “Santa” had brought me.

Christmas is thought by most to be a wonderful time, focusing the participants on giving, family togetherness, beautiful music and decorations, feasting on special foods and singing Christmas carols throughout the neighborhood (as my family did every year). All of this is supposedly centered around the worship of Christ. Surely the Bible instructs us to do all this—right?
The answers will shock you!

Why do people think that Christmas is wonderful? It certainly felt wonderful to me. I trusted what my parents told me. I had no reason to doubt them. They were merely teaching me what their parents had taught them. I never questioned the true origin of Christmas—or what God says about it!

Most never reflect on why they believe what they believe or do what they do. We live in a world filled with customs, but few ever seek to understand their origin. We generally accept them without question. Most people basically do what everyone else does—following the crowd because it is easy!

Let’s carefully examine the roots of Christmas. Let’s look at why people follow the customs associated with it. Why is it kept on December 25th? Did the early New Testament Church keep it? This booklet is filled with facts from history and Scripture that, when placed together, paint a complete picture. Let’s avoid all assumptions and only accept what can be proven!
Pagan Origin
In 1990, the Solon, Ohio (a Cleveland suburb) school board banned all nativity and other Christmas scenes on any school property because they felt it violated the separation of church and state. They were challenged in court when outraged parents opposed them, feeling that Christmas was being stolen from their children and the community. The board lost the case! The citizenry had contended that Christmas was a worldwide tradition that was not part of, and transcended, religion. It was deemed to be secular—a part of virtually all cultures worldwide.

The court decision affirmed that Christmas has no Christian roots! However, the court’s opinion also noted that Bible reading and prayer obviously are associated with Christianity—a remarkable admission! The court concluded that Christmas-keeping and manger scenes could remain because they are not really part of either Christianity or religion—but prayer and Bible reading, which are, must remain excluded from schools!

Nearly all aspects of Christmas observance have their roots in Roman custom and religion. Consider the following admission from a large American newspaper (The Buffalo News, Nov. 22, 1984): “The earliest reference to Christmas being marked on Dec. 25 comes from the second century after Jesus’ birth. It is considered likely the first Christmas celebrations were in reaction to the Roman Saturnalia, a harvest festival that marked the winter solstice—the return of the sun—and honored Saturn, the god of sowing. Saturnalia was a rowdy time, much opposed by the more austere leaders among the still-minority Christian sect. Christmas developed, one scholar says, as a means of replacing worship of the sun with worship of the Son. By 529 A.D., after Christianity had become the official state religion of the Roman Empire, Emperor Justinian made Christmas a civic holiday. The celebration of Christmas reached its peak—some would say its worst moments—in the medieval period when it became a time for conspicuous consumption and unequaled revelry.”

Consider these quotes from the Catholic Encyclopedia, 1911 edition, under “Christmas”: “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the Church…The first evidence of the feast is from Egypt.” Further, “Pagan customs centring round the January calendar gravitated to Christmas.” Under “Natal Day,” Origen, an early Catholic writer, admitted, “…In the Scriptures, no one is recorded to have kept a feast or held a great banquet on his birthday. It is only sinners (like Pharaoh and Herod) who make great rejoicings over the day on which they were born into this world” (emphasis mine).

The Encyclopedia Americana, 1956 edition, adds, “Christmas…was not observed in the first centuries of the Christian church, since the Christian usage in general was to celebrate the death of remarkable persons rather than their birth…a feast was established in memory of this event [Christ’s birth] in the 4th century. In the 5th century the Western church ordered the feast to be celebrated on the day of the Mithraic rites of the birth of the sun and at the close of the Saturnalia, as no certain knowledge of the day of Christ’s birth existed.”

There is no mistaking the origin of the modern Christmas celebration. Many additional sources could be cited and we will return to this later. Let’s begin to tie some other facts together. It was 300 years after Christ before the Roman church kept Christmas, and not until the fifth century that it was mandated to be kept throughout the empire as an official festival honoring “Christ.”
Can Christ be Honored by Christmas?
The most common justification that one will hear regarding Christmas is that people have replaced old pagan customs and intents by asserting that they are now “focusing on Christ.” I have heard many say that they are “honoring Christ” in their Christmas-keeping. The problem is that God does not say this is acceptable to Him! Actually, He plainly commands against it! Keeping Christmas dishonors Christ! He considers everything about it to be an abomination! We will soon see why.

Christ said, “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9). Christmas is not a command of God—it is a tradition of men. Christ continued, “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” (Mark 7:9). Every year, throughout the world, on December 25th, hundreds of millions do just that!
We will see that God plainly commands, “Follow not the way of the heathen.” But most people do not fear God, and He allows them to make their own decisions. Human beings are free moral agents—free to obey or disobey God! But woe to those who ignore the plain Word of God!
Was Christ Born on December 25th?
Christ was born in the fall of the year. Many have mistakenly believed He was born around the beginning of winter—December 25th! They are wrong! Notice the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 370, New York edition: “It was custom among Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts about the Passover [early spring], and bring them home at the commencement of the first rain.” The first rains began in early-to-mid fall. Continuing with this same quote: “During the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As…the first rain began early in the month of March-esvan, which answers to part of our October and November [begins sometime in October], we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole summer. And as these shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks,

it is a presumptive argument that October had not yet commenced, and that, consequently, our Lord was not born on the 25th of December, when no flocks were out in the fields; nor could He have been born later than September, as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground, the nativity in December should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is achronological fact…See the quotations from the Talmudists in Lightfoot.”
Luke 2:8 explains that when Christ was born, “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.” Note that they were “abiding” in the field. This never happened in December. Both Ezra 10:9-13 and the Song of Solomon 2:11 show that winter was the rainy season and shepherds could not stay on cold, open fields at night.
Numerous encyclopedias plainly state that Christ was not born on December 25th! The Catholic Encyclopedia directly confirms this. In all likelihood, Christ was born in the fall! A lengthy technical explanation would prove this point.
Since we now know that December 25th was nowhere near Christ’s actual birthdate, where did the festival associated with this date come from?

Now read this quote under “Christmas”: “In the Roman world the Saturnalia (December 17) was a time of merrymaking and exchanging of gifts. December 25 was also regarded as the birthdate of the Iranian mystery god Mithra, the Sun of Righteousness. On the Roman New Year (January 1), houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and gifts were given to children and the poor. To these observances were added the German and Celtic Yule rites when the Teutonic tribes penetrated into Gaul, Britain and central Europe. Food and good fellowship, the Yule log and Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, gifts and greetings all commemorated different aspects of this festive season. Fires and lights, symbols of warmth and lasting life, have always been associated with the winter festival, both pagan and Christian” (Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th Edit. Vol. II, p. 903).

A final quote about the selection of December 25th as the birthdate of Christ is necessary. Note an article in The Toronto Star, December 1984, by Alan Edmonds, entitled, “We owe a lot to Druids,Dutch”: “The Reformation cast a blight on Christmas. By then, of course, clever ecclesiastical politicians had adopted the Pagan mid-winter festival as the alleged birthdate of Jesus, of Nazareth, and thrown in a few other Pagan goodies to make their takeover more palatable.”
December 25th was not selected because it was the birth of Christ or because it was even near it. It was selected because it coincided with the idolatrous pagan festival Saturnalia—and this celebration must be carefully examined. In any event, we do not know the exact date of Christ’s birth. While God certainly could have made it known, He chose to hide it from the world’s eyes!

Who Was Saturn?
Previous quotes introduced the subject of the Saturnalia. Let’s carefully study just exactly who Saturnwas. Consider the following quote from another large American newspaper, The Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, December 1984: “The Roman festival of Saturnalia, Dec. 17-24, moved citizens to decorate their homes with greens and lights and give gifts to children and the poor. The Dec. 25 festival of natalis solis invicti, the birth of the unconquered sun, was decreed by the emperor Aurelian in A.D. 274 as a Winter Solstice celebration, and sometime (later)…was Christianized as a date to celebrate the birth of the Son of Light.”

Dr. William Gutsch, chairman of the American Museum of Natural History—Hayden Planetarium, further confirmed the original name of Christmas with this quote on December 18, 1989, in a Westchester, New York, newspaper, The Reporter Dispatch:
“The early Romans were not celebrating Christmas but rather a pagan feast called the Saturnalia. It occurred each year around the beginning of winter, or the winter solstice. This was the time when the sun had taken its lowest path across the sky and the days were beginning to lengthen, thus assuring another season of growth.

“If many of the trappings of the Saturnalia, however, seem to parallel what so many of us do today,we can see where we borrowed…our holiday traditions. And indeed, it has been suggested that while Christ was most likely not born in late December, the early Christians—then still an outlawed sect—moved Christmas to the time of the Saturnalia to draw as little attention as possible to themselves while they celebrated their own holiday.”

The Saturnalia, of course, celebrated Saturn—the fire god. Saturday derives from the name of this god, as do all the other days of the week from pagan gods—Sun’s day, Moon’s day, Twis’ day, Woden’s day, Thor’s day, Frigga’s day and Saturn’s day. But who was Saturn? He was the god of sowing (planting) because heat from the sun was required to allow for planting and growth of crops. He was also worshipped in this dead-of-winter festival so that he would come back (he was the “sun”) and warm the earth again so that spring planting could occur. The planet Saturn was later named after him because, among all of the planets, with its rings and bright red color, it best represented the god of fire!

Virtually every civilization has a fire/sun god. The Egyptians (and sometimes Romans) called him Vulcan. The Greeks named him Kronos, as did the Phoenicians—but they also called him Saturn. The Babylonians called him Tammuz, Molech or Baal, as did the Druids. These were all simply the various names for Nimrod, the infamous biblical rebel of Genesis 10. Nimrod was considered the father of all the Babylonian gods.
Child Sacrifice
Notice this horrible practice associated with the worship of the fire god (Nimrod, Saturn, Kronos, Molech and Baal) in the following quote from The Two Babylons, Alexander Hislop, page 231:
“Now, this is in exact accordance with the character of the Great Head of the system of fire-worship.Nimrod, as the representative of the devouring fire to which human victims, and especially children, were offered in sacrifice, was regarded as the great child-devourer…he was, of course, the actual father of all the Babylonian gods; and, therefore, in that character he was afterwards universally regarded. As the Father of the gods, he was, as we have seen, called Kronos; and every one knows that the classical story of Kronos was just this, that, ‘he devoured his sons as soon as they were born.’ (Lempriere Classical Dictionary, ‘Saturn.’)…This legend has a further and deeper meaning; but, as applied to Nimrod, or ‘The Horned One,’ it just refers to the fact, that, as the representative of Moloch or Baal, infants were the most acceptable offerings at his altar. We have ample and melancholy evidence on this subject from the records of antiquity. ‘The Phoenicians,’ says Eusebius, ‘every year sacrificed their beloved and only-begotten children to Kronos or Saturn.’”

But why was human sacrifice such a key to the worship of this terrible god? What possible good could human beings think they saw in slaughtering their own children? Continuing: “…he who approached the fire would receive a light from divinity” and “through divine fire all the stains produced by generations could be purged away.” Therefore, “children were made to pass through the fire unto Molech” (Jer. 32:35).

As incredible as it seems, deceived human beings actually believed they were pleasing their “god” by sacrificing their own innocent little children to him. They believed fire purified them from original sin. The pagan doctrine of spending time in purgatory to purge the soul from all sin derives from this belief!
Who Was Nimrod?
We must now look more closely at who this biblical figure, Nimrod, was. We have already seen him as one of history’s original false gods, but what else can be learned?
Genesis 10:9 says of Nimrod, “He was a mighty hunter before [in place of] the Lord.” He actually tried to replace God.
The famous Jewish historian, Josephus, records in Jewish Antiquities important evidence of Nimrod’s role in the post-flood world. Notice: “He also gradually changed the government into tyranny…He [Nimrod] also said he would be revenged on God, if He should have a mind to drown the world again; for that he would build a tower too high for the waters to be able to reach…Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod, and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God” (Bk. I, Ch. IV, sec. 2, 3).

Under many names, mankind’s earliest and perhaps greatest rebel has been worshipped throughout false religion. Ancient Israel kept falling into serving the many false gods that Nimrod represented.
Ezekiel 8:13-14 records a picture of the women of Israel “weeping for Tammuz.” This Tammuz (the god of fire) was considered to be Nimrod and the etymology of the word itself is fascinating. Tammeans “to make perfect” and muz “fire.” The meaning is clear in light of what we have already learned. Incidentally, in the Iraqi-Kuwaiti Desert Storm War, Saddam Hussein even named one of his missiles the “Tammuz.” He certainly understood that its meaning included fire.
Burned to Molech
Let’s see how God’s people, Israel, worshipped Baal/Molech once they had departed from the true God: “And they built the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto Molech; which I commanded them not, neither came it into My mind, that they should do this abomination…” (Jer. 32:35).

Notice that God Himself says that such horrible abominations never even entered His mind: “They have built also the high places of Baal, to burn their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I commanded not, nor spoke it, neither came it into My mind: Therefore, behold, the days come, says the Lord, that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The valley of the son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter” (Jer. 19:5). Verse 6 ties the valley of Tophet or Hinnom to this practice. Jeremiah 7:31 connects Tophet and Hinnom to child sacrifice. Tophet means “the drum.” Drums were played to drown the screams of victims in the flames.

Notice this quote from Paradise Lost, by John Milton, about the terrible god Molech: “First Moloch, horrid king besmear’d with blood Of human sacrifice, and parents tears, Though, for the noyse of Drums and Timbrels loud Their children’s cries unheard, that passed through fire To his grim Idol.” Of course, everyone will say that they do not sacrifice their children to Molech today, but read on.
In the New Testament, the martyr Stephen was stoned to death, at least partly, because he indicted his listeners for the worship of this evil idol (Acts 7:43).

When righteous King Josiah came to the throne, as king of Judah, he destroyed the altars in the Valley of Tophet (or Hinnom—the very same valley Christ likened to “gehenna” fire in Mark 9:43-49) soon after coming to power. He realized the great evil of the practices taking place there.
The Druids and Human Sacrifice
Many people have heard of the Druids. Few know who and what they were. We will refer to them later and tie them to other well-known Christmas practices. We must first establish their historic role in human sacrifice.
Julius Caesar is the best-known source of information about the Druids. This comes from the Encyclopedia Britannica. This quote, under “Druids,” clearly explains who they were: “Druids, the learned class among the ancient Celts, whose name means Knowing (or Finding) the Oak Tree. They seem to have frequented Oak forests and acted as priests, teachers and judges. The earliest known records of the Druids come from the 3rd century [B.C.]…Druids took charge of public and private sacrifices, and many young men went to them for instruction.

They judged all public and private quarrels and decreed the penalty…The Druids principle doctrine was that the soul was immortal…(they) offered human victims for those who were gravely sick or in danger of death in battle. Huge wickerwork images were filled with living men and then burned; although the Druids chose criminals by preference, they sacrificed innocent victims if necessary.”
The Old Testament is filled with God’s condemnation of Israel for practicing the customs of the nations around them—and we are gathering important facts revealing a shocking picture.
The Role of Cannibalism
Another truth about the origin of Christmas springs from the modern word cannibal. This practice has its roots in a prime function of all priests of Baal. Keep in mind that the Hebrew word for priest is Cahn.
Consider the following quote from The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, page 232: “And it was a principle of the Mosaic law, a principle no doubt derived from the patriarchal faith, that the priest must partake of whatever was offered as a sin-offering (Numbers xviii. 9, 10). Hence, the priests of Nimrod or Baal were necessarily required to eat of the human sacrifices; and thus it has come to pass that ‘Cahna-Bal,’ the ‘Priest of Baal,’ is the established word in our own tongue for a devourer of human flesh.”

The reality of this can be lost on no one! It is also true that most civilizations have a tradition that has involved cannibalism. Notice this statement from The New York Times, “What Is the Meaning of Cannibalism?” by Erik Eckholm: “Cannibalism has once fascinated and repelled virtually every known society, including those said to have practiced it.” This same article went on to show that most civilizations also attached divine significance to its practice.
What About the Santa Myth?
Have you considered that you could also be burning, even sacrificing, your children today (though in a different way) in your practice of Christmas, while you may be trying to sincerely “focus on Christ”? Parents reason that they owe the whole Christmas myth to their children! Christmas traditions are focused primarily on kids, and they are certainly the center of most of what happens. I know because I kept seventeen Christmases. My older sister and younger brother and I were the recipients of much and the givers of very little on that day—and it all started with the Santa Claus lie.

Some years ago, a priest in New Jersey told his Sunday school class that Santa was a myth. The outrage from parents and his supervisors was swift. He had “killed Santa!” He had “destroyed family tradition!” He had “usurped family authority,” the article continued. He was officially censored by his superiors for being “overzealous and insensitive.”
His crime? He told the truth!

According to Langer’s Encyclopedia of World History, (article “Santa”), “Santa” was a common name for Nimrod throughout Asia Minor. This was also the same fire god who came down the chimneys of the ancient pagans and the same fire god to whom infants were burned and eaten in human sacrifice among those who were once God’s people.

Today Santa Claus comes from “Saint Nicholas.” Washington Irving, in 1809, is responsible for remaking the original old, stern bishop of this same name into the new “jolly St. Nick” in his Knickerbocker History of New York. (Most of the rest of America’s Christmas traditions are even more recent than this.) “Old Nick” has long been recognized as a term for the devil.
In Revelation 2:6 and 15, we read about a “doctrine of the Nicolaitanes,” which Christ twice tells His Church “[He] hates.” Let’s analyze the word Nicolaitane. It means “follower of Nicholas.” Nikosmeans “conqueror, destroyer.” Laos means, “people.” Nicolaitanes, then, are people who follow the conqueror or destroyer—Nimrod. If you have believed that following Christmas is an innocent Christian custom, let this truth sink in!
Is It Scriptural to Exchange Gifts?
Merchants regularly report that over 60% of their annual retail sales occur during the Christmas shopping season. This represents a tremendous amount of gift buying. Most today believe that gift-giving comes from the Bible example of the “three wise men” (the Bible gives no number) presenting gifts to Christ. Is this true? Where did exchanging gifts come from, and what does God’s Word say about it?

The Bibliotheca Sacra states, “The interchange of presents between friends is a like characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia, and must have been adopted by Christians from the pagans, as the admonition of Tertullian plainly shows” (Vol. 12, pp. 153-155).
Like every other aspect of Christmas, the shocking truth is that even this supposed Christian custom does not come from the Bible. It is an irony that people love to believe they are following the custom of the wise men giving to Christ, when actually they are giving almost exclusively to each other!What hypocrisy! Christ is completely forgotten.

The Bible actually teaches that Christians should not keep birthdays. Numerous scriptures make this principle clear. (Read our article “Are Birthday Celebrations Christian?”) However, what if you went to a birthday party that had been prepared for you and everybody gave gifts to each other and you were left out? The idea is ridiculous! If this happened, you would say that people were being selfish and forgetting you. In fact, most people give to others on Christmas merely because they expect to receive gifts themselves!

Let’s briefly return to the “wise men” who gave gifts to Christ. The scripture describing this is Matthew 2:1-11: “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is He that is born King of the Jews?…And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down, and worshipped Him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto Him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”
It is commonly supposed that these were birthday presents for “baby Jesus.” But is this what the Bible actually says? Absolutely not! First, it is important to note that they did give the gifts to Jesus. They did not stand in His presence and exchange gifts among themselves or give them to others. The gifts were “presented unto Him.” Also, they arrived well after His “birthday.” This is another reason these could not have been “birthday presents.”

A long-standing, ancient custom of the East was to present gifts when coming before a king. These men understood they were in the presence of the “King of the Jews.” The Bible carries many examples of people sending gifts to kings or presenting them upon arrival into their presence. This custom is common today when ambassadors or others come into the presence of a world leader.

Finally, notice what the Adam Clarke Commentary, volume 5, page 46, states about what really happened on this occasion: “Verse 11. They presented unto him gifts. The people of the east never approach the presence of kings and great personages, without a present in their hands. This custom is often noticed in the Old Testament, and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly discovered South Seas Islands.” Gifts were customarily presented to kings.
What could be more plain?
The Origin of the Christmas Tree
No booklet about Christmas is complete without some explanation of the “Christmas tree.” We have touched on it without directly focusing on it. The modern Christmas tree originated in Germany. But the Germans got it from the Romans, who got it from the Babylonians and the Egyptians.

The following quote demonstrates what the Babylonians believe about the origin of the Christmas tree: “An old Babylonish fable told of an evergreen tree which sprang out of a dead tree stump. The old stump symbolized the dead Nimrod, the new evergreen tree symbolized that Nimrod had come to life again in Tammuz! Among the Druids the oak was sacred, among the Egyptians it was the palm, and in Rome it was the fir, which was decorated with red berries during the Saturnalia!” (Walsh,Curiosities of Popular Customs, p. 242).

Frederick J. Haskin’s book Answers to Questions states, “The Christmas tree is from Egypt, and its origin dates from a period long anterior to the Christian Era.” Did you know this—that the Christmas tree long preceded Christianity?
Most aspects of Christmas are not referred to in the Bible. Of course, the reason is that they are not from God—they are not part of the way He wants people to worship Him. The Christmas tree, however, is directly mentioned in the Bible! Turn to Jeremiah 10:2-5, “Thus says the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen…For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.”

This description of the modern Christmas tree is plain. God directly refers to it as “the way of the heathen.” Just as directly, He commands His people to “learn not the way of the heathen,” calling these customs “vain.” Verse 23 adds a remarkable and powerful statement: “O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walks to direct his [own] steps.” God must teach people how to live. Man simply cannot figure out God’s ways for himself.
There is no room in Jeremiah 10 to believe, as some have tried to suggest, that because these trees are powerless of themselves, it is not really forbidden to have a Christmas tree. God condemns the putting up of pagan (Christmas) trees with this plain Bible command!
The Source of Holly Wreaths, Yule Logs and Mistletoe
The Encyclopedia Americana states, “The holly, the mistletoe, the Yule log…are relics of pre-Christian times.” In other words, paganism! The Yule log was commonly used in a rite of Teutonic nature worship.
Frederick Haskin further states, “The use of Christmas wreaths is believed by authorities to be traceable to the pagan customs of decorating buildings and places of worship at the feast which took place at the same time as Christmas.”

The Encyclopedia Britannica, under “Celastrales,” which are flowering plants, exposes the origin of the holly wreath: “European pagans brought holly sprays into their homes, offering them to the fairy people of the forests as refuge from the harsh winter weather. During the Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival, branches of holly were exchanged as tokens of friendship. The earliest Roman Christians apparently used holly as a decoration at the Christmas season.”

There are dozens of types of holly. I have personally planted scores of them. Virtually all of them come in male and female varieties—such as “Blue Prince and Blue Princess” or “Blue Boy and Blue Girl” or “China Boy and China Girl.” Female holly plants cannot have berries unless a nearby male plant pollinates them. It is easy to see why the holly wreath found its way into pagan rituals as a token of friendship and fertility!

Christmas is incomplete to many unless it involves “kissing under the mistletoe.” This also pagan custom was natural on a night that involved much revelry during what were drunken sex orgies. Just like Christmas today, this “kissing” usually occurred at the beginning of the Saturnalia celebration. Mistletoe was considered to have special powers of healing for those who “reveled” under it.
The Encyclopedia Britannica, under “Santalales,” states, “The European mistletoe is thought to have had special ritual significance in Druidical ceremonies and lives in folklore today, its special status as the Christmas mistletoe having come from Anglo-Saxon times.” Mistletoe is a parasite that lives on oak trees. (Recall that the Druids worshipped in oak tree groves.) The ancient Celtics (associated with the Druids) used to give mistletoe as an herbal remedy to barren animals to make them fertile. This herb is still referred to as “all healer” in Celtic.

Like mistletoe, holly berries were also thought to be sacred to the sun god. The original “sun log” came to be called the yule log. “Yule” simply means “wheel,” which has long been a pagan representation of the sun. No wonder people today commonly speak of the “sacred yule-tide season.” This also explains the round wafer offered at mass to billions through the ages.
How interesting—and sobering—are the facts of history.
Worship of the True God Mixed With False Practices
The modern term for merging false pagan customs with the worship of the true God is called syncretism. Anyone who did this in ancient Israel was put to death (Lev. 18:21, 29)! It was that serious!
A fascinating look into how Israel thought and believed, in their own minds, that they were worshipping God as an entire nation, comes from II Kings 17:33: “They feared the Lord , and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from there.”

Did you grasp this? Yes, they feared the true God while serving other gods. No wonder the very next verse (34) states that they really “fear NOT the Lord” according to the way God commanded. This is how God views what people are doing today—no matter what these people copying ancient pagan practices might think of their own actions!
Verse 30 says that all this had been learned from contact with “the men of Babylon” (among others), whose chief god, we will recall, was Nimrod (Baal or Molech)—who we now know were one and the same.
Notice how specific was God’s warning to Israel in Deuteronomy 12:29-31, and why He warned them! “When the Lord your God shall cut off the nations from before you…and you succeed them, and dwell in their land; Take heed to yourself that you be not snared by following them…and that youenquire not after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? Even so will I do likewise. You shall not do so unto the Lord your God: for every abomination to the Lord, which He hates, have they done unto their gods; for even their sons and their daughters have they burnt in the fire to their gods.”
Many verses, similar to Deuteronomy 12, should be carefully studied. (See Exodus 34:10-17; 23:23-33; Leviticus 20:22-26; Deuteronomy 20:13-18, etc.) The true God knew that serving other godsalways led to sacrificing children to them!
Deuteronomy 12:32 made clear that God does not want us to mix His ways with any false ways: “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: you shall not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” In other words, do exactly what I say—nothing more, nothing less!
These are God’s plain words to all who say that they can mix the horrible customs of outright paganism with a supposed “focus on Christ.”
Ancient Israel’s Pagan Practices in Modern Customs
Deuteronomy 12:2-4 establishes an important context. God plainly says, “You shall utterly destroy all the places, wherein the nations which you shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree: And you shall overthrow their altars…and burn their groves with fire…you shall not do so unto the Lord your God.”
Notice God’s references to “every green tree” and “their groves.” There are at least ten similar verses throughout the Old Testament referring to “green trees” and their association with idolatry. Historians hold that the reference to the term “green” refers to green year-round—evergreen trees!
Once again, let’s more closely examine the actual history and origins of some of the Saturnalia customs still practiced today. Notice the following chilling quote from the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, “Oscilla” 3rd edition, volume II: “…all ranks devoted themselves to feasting and mirth, presents were exchanged among friends, and crowds thronged the streets, shouting ‘Lo Saturnalia.’ An offering was made beneath a decorated evergreen tree, according to the pagan poet, Virgil. Figurines and masks—called ‘oscilla’—were hung on the tree, as are Christmas decorations today. History admits…there can be no doubt that we have in these ‘oscilla’ a relic of human sacrifice…”
Doesn’t all of this sound familiar? Presents, singing in the streets, evergreen trees, decorations, offerings under the tree, merrymaking, feasting? They may sound wonderful, but they represent things that are truly abominable.
Modern oscilla look like chubby little “angels” when hanging on a tree. I placed these little “angel babies” on our tree, myself, as a small child. At least I thought they were angel babies. How wrong I was! Do you think any of your friends realize what they really represent? Of course not—but that does not make it any less serious or less wrong in God’s eyes!
Outright Paganism Blended into the Church
One additional source demonstrates how this all came to be a heritage practiced so “innocently” by millions—yet far from innocent in God’s sight. Now read the following quote from Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th edition, volume 10, pages 1062-3: “Christianity…by a complex and gradual process…became the official religion of the [Roman] empire.
“For a time, coins and other monuments continued to link Christian doctrines with worship of the sun, to which Constantine had been addicted previously. But even when this phase came to an end, Roman paganism continued to exert other, permanent influences, great and small…The ecclesiastical calendar retains numerous remnants of pre-Christian festivals, notably Christmas, which blends elements including both the feast of the Saturnalia and the birthday of Mithra. But, most of all, the mainstream of Western Christianity owed ancient Rome the firm discipline that gave it stability and shape.”
An authority as reputable as the Encyclopedia Britannica actually acknowledges, for any willing to see, that the Saturnalia and ancient Rome are what defined the “discipline…stability and shape” of Western Christianity!
This is a truly stunning admission!
The next powerful quote reveals how this idolatrous, pagan festival slipped into the “Christian” world. It is from the New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, under “Christmas”:
“How much the date of the festival depended upon the pagan Brumalia (December 25) following the Saturnalia (Dec. 17-24), and celebrating the shortest day of the year and the ‘new sun’…cannot be accurately determined. The pagan Saturnalia and Brumalia were too deeply entrenched in popular custom to be set aside by Christian influence…The pagan festival with its riot and merry-making was so popular that Christians were glad of an excuse to continue its celebration with little change in spirit and in manner. Christian preachers of the West and the Near East protested against the unseemly frivolity with which Christ’s birthday was celebrated, while Christians of Mesopotamia accused their Western brethren of idolatry and sun worship for adopting as Christian this pagan festival.”
One additional source reveals how the Roman church absorbed Christmas into an official celebration. The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1946 edition, states, “Christmas was not among the earliest festivals of the church…Certain Latins, as early as 354, may have transferred the birthday from January 6th toDecember 25, which was then a Mithraic feast…or birthday of the unconquered SUN…The Syrians and Armenians, who clung to January 6th, accused the Romans of sun worship and idolatry, contending…that the feast of December 25th, had been invented by disciples of Cerinthus…”
Thus, a pagan festival, celebrated long before Christ’s birth, found its way into recognized Christianity.
Did you know that even the seventeenth century Puritans of New England understood how wrong Christmas was? They actually banned its observance by law, in 1659, throughout the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Fines and imprisonment could result from being found keeping it. It was almost 200 years (1856) before people stopped working on Christmas in Boston. The Puritans knew its roots and labeled it “heathen, papist idolatry.”
Those Who “Change Times and Laws”
The prophet Daniel (7:8) speaks of a “little horn,” which (7:25) “shall speak great words against the Most High…and think to change times and laws.” This little horn is a great religious authority that attempts to superimpose its own view of dates and celebrations, on an unsuspecting world, in place ofGod’s plain instruction.
The Hebrew word translated “change” means to “transform, alter or set.” The word translated “times” means “appointed occasions, seasons or times.” The Hebrew word translated “laws” means “decrees or laws of God.” When put together, this phrase refers to an authority that attempts to “transform appointed occasions and seasons within the Law of God.” Certainly, Christmas is a great example of how this has been done. God’s instructions have been replaced with religious traditions of men.
The following quote reveals how this has happened. It also comes from the Encyclopedia Britannica, under “Christianity”: “Thus, the Easter liturgy has been developed more highly in the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the Christmas liturgy more highly in the Roman Catholic Church…The Christian calendar is the most widely disseminated Christian institution. The seven-day week and the rhythm of the Christian festivals have been accepted even by most of the non-Christian countries. Despite energetic attempts at the introduction of a sliding work week, the seven-day week with work-free Sunday could not be eliminated even in Communist states with an Atheist world view. Even in Atheistic circles and organizations throughout the world, Christian holidays enjoy an undisputed popularity as work-free days…especially Christmas.”
Truly, it has been the “ecclesiastical politicians,” referred to earlier, who have sought to impose the modern “Christian” calendar on an unknowing world. It is these leaders who have “thought to change times and laws.”
The Dangerous Power of Lies
One of Satan’s names is Destroyer (Rev. 9:11). Nimrod/Saturn/Molech/Baal, like Satan, is the fire god who destroys and devours little children.
The real Jesus Christ was never in and never will be in Christmas! Nor can He be put back into where He never was. But the “god of this world,” Satan (II Cor. 4:4), has always been in Christmas. In fact, he is seen to be its author!
The God of the Bible commands that His worshippers “must worship Him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24). This does not mesh with the great Christmas and Santa Claus lies that all children so willingly believe.
I Timothy 4:2 warns of those “speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” Parents can “burn” their own children, to the point of searing them, with the Christmas deception and lie!
There is no “safety in numbers” in this world for those who keep Christmas, because Satan, who is called “the father of lies” and “a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44), has “deceived the wholeworld” (Rev. 12:9)! Turn to this verse and read it. Then recognize that Christmas is certainly a testimony to that great deception.
But Christ refers to His Church as a “little flock” (Luke 12:32). Many other verses show this. This Church does not have the large numbers of the respected, established brands of the Christianity of this world. But it does obey God!
“Another ­Jesus”
There is another problem with the idea of “putting Christ back in Christmas”—and it is big! The “Jesus” that is the focus of this season is not the true Jesus Christ of the Bible! Most have been taught that there is only one Jesus Christ. But God’s Word speaks of a counterfeit, and this substitute Christ is identifiable in history. The proof? The apostle Paul warned of “another Jesus.”
Grasp what is at stake ­here!
First, consider Paul’s entire introduction as he sets the stage for the warning that follows: “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent [Satan] beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should becorrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” (II Cor. 11:3).
Now for the actual warning in the next verse: “For if he that comes preaches another Jesus , whom we have not preached, or if you receive another spirit, which you have not received, or another gospel, which you have not accepted, you might well bear with him” (II Cor. 11:4). The Corinthians seemed to “bear with this” without much ­resistance.
Paul, under inspiration of the true Jesus Christ of the Bible, was moved to record the peril of unwittingly following “another Jesus.” Consider. Most have probably never remotely considered the idea of a false Jesus for even a ­moment—that ­there is such a thing as a wrong, different and “false ­Christ” (Matt. 24:23-24)—­called “another Jesus.” In the past, this “Jesus” has even corrupted the thinking of true Christians. This much is plain. But the “subtilty” of how this can happen, and how it has occurred in history, is so ­deceptive—­so ­seductive—­that even true Christians can unknowingly slip into worshipping this ­so-­called Jesus. This is what was happening to the ­Corinthians.
People can worship in ways that represent things that are far different than what they sincerely believe or intend. Bible “believers” today can think that they are worshipping the true Savior when they are really worshipping a false ­savior—­another Jesus! The entirety of traditional Christianity is actually worshipping Nimrod/Saturn/Molech/Baal. The modern mother/child “Mary/Jesus” emphasis, including the worshipful adoration of Mary by millions, is a parallel with Nimrod and his mother, Semiramis, that cannot be ­missed.
Here is the point of what is being explained. Many speak of “putting Christ back into Christmas.” This is heard every year from thousands of pulpits and elsewhere. But the true Christ was never there! Just as a person cannot go back into a room that he had never entered, Jesus Christ cannot be “put back” into an event that He has never been in, and that He in fact hates! (Again, see Mark 7:7.) The Jesus that these preachers and religionists have in mind is another Christ, one with another gospel, another spirit—the Christmas spirit!—bringing totally different doctrines and teachings. Can you see the connection?
What Should You Do?
Finally, let’s examine what God told His people they should do and the way they ought to teach their children.
Recall Jeremiah 7:31, where God condemned Israel for burning their children in the Valley of Tophet. Eight verses earlier (vs. 23-24), God had made plain what He requires: “But this thingcommanded I them, saying, Obey My voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be My people: and walk you in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you. But they hearkened not…but walked…in the imagination of their evil heart…”
Human beings do not want to obey God (Rom. 8:7). They would rather follow their own “imagination.” They do not understand that God wants their lives to go “well.” He wants happiness, joy and blessings to flow into people’s lives. All these are the results of obeying Him.
God inspired Moses to warn parents of the grave responsibility that they have in what and how they teach their children. Notice His instruction in Deuteronomy 6:1, 6-7, 20-21, 25: “Now these are thecommandments…which the Lord your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go to possess it…And these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart: And you shall teach them diligently unto your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up…And when your son asks you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the Lord our God has commanded you? Then you shall say unto your son, We were Pharaoh’s bondmen in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand…And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.”
God took Israel out of Egypt—from slavery—out of the customs of the world around them and revealed His Law to them. He does not want His people going back to the traditions, customs and ways from which He has called them.
When all of the interconnected traditions, filled with the symbolism of worshipping an ancient pagan, humanly devised god, are taught, this is not worshipping the true Creator.

We Have Not Known that Christmas Is of Babylon
Jesus said twice, in Matthew 7:16 and 20, that “you shall know them by their fruits.” Everything that people say or do, good or bad, has fruits. The fruits of Christmas are terrible. Christmas is about getting for the self—and pure commercialism. This season leads the entire year in adultery, loneliness, jealousy, drunkenness and drunk driving, family arguments (and worse), and accumulation of debt that often lasts until March. This problem is so significant that almost all churches report that their incomes drop during this period as people “recover” from all their spending! How ironic.
The Real “Christmas Spirit”
The prophet Isaiah was inspired to write, “Cry aloud, spare not, lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show My people their transgression” (58:1). I have done this. Now that you have read the plain truthabout the true origin of Christmas, what will you do?
The next quote comes from the booklet The Plain Truth About Christmas, by Herbert W. Armstrong. It summarizes the booklet you have just read:
“Christmas has become a commercial season. It’s sponsored, kept alive, by the heaviest retail advertising campaigns of the year. You see a masqueraded ‘Santa Claus’ in many stores. Ads keep us deluded and deceived about the ‘beautiful Christmas spirit.’ The newspapers, who sell the ads, print flowery editorials exalting and eulogizing the pagan season, and its ‘spirit.’ A gullible people has become so inoculated, many take offense when told the truth. But the ‘Christmas spirit’ is created each year, not to honor Christ, but to sell merchandise! Like all Satan’s delusions, it appears as an ‘angel of light,’ is made to appear good. Billions of dollars are spent in this merchandising spree every year, while the cause of Christ must suffer! It’s part of the economic system of Babylon!
“We have professed to be Christian nations, but we’re in Babylon, as Bible prophecy foretold, and we don’t know it! ‘Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues’—now soon to fall—is the warning of Revelation 18:4 [emphasis mine].
“This year, instead of gift-trading, why not put that money into God’s Work wherever you fellowship?”

God bless you.

My Dear,

The Lord says in His Word, “…weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning…!” (Psalms 30:5)

Our God is good all the time.

“Bless The Lord Oh my soul, and all that is within me bless His holy name!” (Psalms 103:1)

The only ‘catch’ in this beautiful word of promise is that, we are not told “how long is the NIGHT?”

Sometimes the ‘night’ can be 6hours, 8hours, 12hours or 2weeks or 6months or 1year or 12years and so on,

BUT joy surely comes in the ‘morning’.

The ‘Morning’ will always come as long as the Earth (you & I) obey its ordinance with the Sun (The Son).

As long as You & I (earth) maintain our HOPE (orbit) round Him our Lord Jesus (the sun- SON of RIGHTEOUSNESS), the break of dawn shall come! Hallelujah!!!

How do we maintain this ‘hope’?

One may ask. You see, I have been there several times and I know for sure that He always causes us to TRIUMPH all way and always! My recent experience taught me some two keys from one main key:

THE MAIN KEY:

The Earth, You, will always need the Gravitational Pull from the Sun and the Centrifugal Force generated ‘internally’ from the body mass of the Earth itself to keep from being sucked into the consuming destructive fire/heat of the Sun (which is the destiny of errant ‘wandering’ stars or planetary bodies).

“…He shall keep in perfect peace, he whose mind is stayed on Him…” (Isaiah 26:3).

APPLYING PRINCIPLE ’44′

TO UNDERSTAND THE KEYS (IJEDE SCHOOL OF THEOLOGY):

KEY No. 1:

‘the Gravitational Pull from the Sun’ = The Pull is TRUST

TRUST -

For me, this is not the instant “say-it-claim-it faith” preached often on TV or in crusades, anointing services or mind-puffing oratory rattling of motivational speakers.

No! Those may lead you to pure FRUSTRATION in the darkest hours of MID-NIGHT when you might even lose your valuables and goods in the storm to smooth-talking religious predators (who would tell you to sow-the-prophet seed/buy my anointing oil/come-to-the-mountain or sea). (Ask the merchants on the way to Tarshish!)

This TRUST is what I (from ‘Ijede Theology’) call the long-drawn out fight, initially, of precious faith on God’s Words for our situation!
KEY (1A)
This is not ‘faith’, this is ‘faithfulness’! It can only be birthed in PRAYER!!!

It starts with

- prayers of confession of all kinds of sins both real and imagined. We never seem to run out of finding sin in us that has lead us to the situation; it goes to

- Hopeless but desperate prayer; and then to

- seemingly empty, emotionless prayer, urged on ONLY by previously maintained relationships with godly friends; and to

- ‘word-of-life cleansing prayers’ that tend to shift focus from ‘solution-now’ to ‘grace-to-please-Him-in-life’ prayers; then to

- prayers based on God’s Word and Promises despite conditions.

KEY (1B)
This is not ‘faith’, this is ‘faithfulness’! It can only be executed by Radical Change in Thought-Pattern based on God’s Word !!!

“…Strong meat (bone-breaking triumphant experiences) belong to those who by CONSTANT, RADICAL USE of God’s Word on their minds have learnt to exercise their senses to discern TRUTH or LIFE (which is God’s own reality) from KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD & EVIL (human reasonings based on appearances)….”

KEY (1C)
This is not mere ‘faith’. This is ‘faithfulness’! It will form or shape destiny by SPEAKING OUT!!!

…Speaking to yourselves, singing psalms and spiritual songs of victory….. and making melodies in your heart to God… (Eph.5:12).

We speak out our thoughts based on God’s Word (Rhema) without fear, intimidation and caution! Consistently and instantly erasing wrong thoughts and words; affirming forcefully our liberty.

KEY No. 1 (A – Prayer, B – Thought-Pattern Change, C – Speaking Forth) are all dependent on the LOVING WORD OF LIFE which are the HEAT WARM RAYS from God, The SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS whom we must orbit around (fellowship in and with).

KEY No. 2:
‘the Centrifugal Force generated ‘internally’ from the body mass of the Earth’ = The Thrust is RELATIONSHIP BASED ON DIVINE LOVE!.

“..Charity suffers long and is kind. Charity envies not; charity does not vaunt itself and is not puffed up. Charity does not seek her own, is not easily provoked, does not think evil (vengeance, etc); Charity bears all things, believes and hopes all things, ENDURES all things. Charity DOES NOT KEEP RECORDS of wrong deeds done against it…”

Recall my regular exhortation text to you all -

“Sow into ‘RELATIONSHIPS’ both in convenient times & otherwise. Cast your bread on many waters. Strive to make

positive impressional marks (be on the humorous side at every opportune contact-time,

confess goodness, be ready 2 give a gift or a smile always, speak peace, send an sms, make a phone call, send an e-mail).

You will always reap the harvest later – when you least expect, when you desperately need miraculous interventions, when loved ones require your interception, etc. Follow me as I follow ‘WISDOM’ in my own leaders too. Those who criticize you most will turn out later to be the greatest beneficiaries of such disciplined life of yours which is a peculiar grace. I love you. Dad”

You CANNOT survive the ‘night’ gracefully without Godly ordained relationships which you had kept alive by the THRUST-FORCE of active love life.

KEY (2A)
Respect Fathers, Mentors and Leaders over you.

Spiritual Fathers are God ordained coverings. It is God’s way of delegating authority and power.

A Scorner is doomed! He shall only dwell in the congregation of the dead.

The ‘Covering’ that you spend time to maintain in honour, service, adoration and gifts will be an overshadowing cover in the time of storm!

The ‘Covering’ that you despise, criticize (you inaccurately in pride measurably compare yourself in competition with), dishonour, scorn privately, betray, scheme against SHALL never fittingly cover you. Though ‘the Covering’ in love, will try, but it will LEAK continuously in areas of betrayal. You can only reap what you sow!

The Father’s prayer is what moves and sustains you for Key No. 1 to work! Whether short or long!! That is The Inheritance, The Blessing for Long Life in Peace. Believe me, I know!

KEY (2B)
Love and maintain Godly Spirit-filled Friends and Accountability Partners.

Without these you cannot get past the period of seemingly empty, emotionless prayer, urged on ONLY by previously maintained relationships with godly friends in Key No. 1.

How do you know God still hears you? How do you keep remembering God’s Word when you feel nothing, you see nothing but trouble and your failures?

Only divine selected friends (NOT miserable comforters who only came to spy and rub salt to injury); Only friends who keep walking with Him while you weaken; will have the appropriate words (RHEMA) for you, and not just LOGOS! Ask Job.

KEY (2C)
Dwell among, maintain fellowship with your own people and, care for others.

Psalm 41: Blessed is he that considers [helps, cares, fellowships, makes joyful...] the poor [and the under privileged] … the Lord will DELIVER him…..the Lord will PRESERVE him and keep him ALIVE….. He will be BLESSED and not be DELIVERED TO THE WILL OF ENEMIES….. He shall be STRENGTHENED in the BED OF LANGUISHING…. [by The Lord through the prayers of those he has been caring for].

KEY 2 (A – Fathers/Mentors/Leaders, B – Godly Friends/Accountability Partners, C – Proteges/Brethren/Relatives) are all dependent on the character LOVE LIFE which you have developed from within. It is The Token of The Covenant-Life in Christ. It is ‘the centrifugal force’ that makes you live PURPOSEFULLY in this life.

Are you fruitful? If yes, then there is the HOPE FOR THE TREE!

So you can shout WHETHER IT TAKES 1DAY, I WIN!

Or WHETHER IT TAKES 5DAYS, I WIN!

Or WHETHER IT TAKES 2MONTHS, I WIN!

WHETHER IT TAKES 6MONTHS, I WIN!

WHETHER IT TAKES 1Year, I WIN!

WHETHER IT TAKES 2Years, I WIN!

…..HEAD OR TAIL, I ALWAYS WIN WITH JESUS!!!

DAMN THE TORPEDOES, MY FRIEND, GO FORWARD … FULL STEAM AHEAD IN HOPE AND TRUST!!!

Love always.

Yours,

The LITEMAN T
(Dallas, USA. 6th August, 2010)

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