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God’s Desire

September 3, 2010 by Anna Mangeni

 This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.  For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony given at the proper time.  1 Timothy 2:3-6

We love justice.  We want people to get what they deserve.  When we see bad things happen to good people we want vengeance.  Mercy trumps judgment.  Mercy is what we do not deserve and God is merciful.  His mercies are new every morning.  God shows mercy to all, He is no respecter of persons.

It is God’s desire that all men to be saved.  That is why He shows mercy over judgment.  Too often we are quick to label God as a judge and punisher of the wicked, but He does desire that all come to salvation and that is why we have Jesus.

Jesus did not commission us to be judge and jury over the lost, but to be a catalyst of God’s love and mercy toward mankind.  Jesus died for all and not just some.  His death made it possible for anyone to come to God and be reconciled to Him.  We have a responsibility to show the love and mercy of God to everyone not just some.  We must remember that when we were still sinners Jesus died for the ungodly – all of us.  Witnessing is the believers’ mandate.  We are all called to preach the good news of the gospel.

Our prayer should be that our heart is in tune with God’s heart.  We should also desire that all men come to know the truth of Jesus and be saved.

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Do You Weep?

September 2, 2010 by Anna Mangeni

 41When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it,

 42saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

 43″For the days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you, and surround you and hem you in on every side,

 44and they will level you to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” Luke 19: 41-44

Do you weep over your city?  Jesus wept over Jerusalem because they did not recognize their visitation by God.  They rejected Jesus as the Son of God and denied His power.  Today we know the truth about Jesus but many still reject the gospel.  We are Jesus’ witnesses strategically placed in our cities and towns to spread the gospel and see the Kingdom of God expanded.  But do we weep for the lost the way Jesus does?

Imagine how different our cities would be if every person that lived there were saved.  Do you believe you can change your city, what about the nation?  We should make it known in our cities that the day of visitation has come.  Jesus is here now and salvation is at hand.  Our cities and nations can be saved.  Every believer represents a visitation by Jesus.

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The Greater Miracle

September 1, 2010 by Anna Mangeni

19“Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will injure you.

 20″Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are recorded in heaven.”  Luke 10:19-20

 10″In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:10

On our mission trip to Uganda we witnessed God do amazing things through us.  We prayed for people, laid hands on the sick and saw people get healed, we prophesied and even witnessed demons manifesting themselves and leaving a person’s body.  We also witnessed people give their life to the Lord.  We even ministered that we have the ability to raise the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus said we would even do greater works than He did.

With all of this happening I heard the Lord say that the greater miracle is salvation.  Yes demons are subject to us but Jesus tells us that we should rejoice that our names are written in Heaven.  Even Heaven rejoices when a sinner repents and gives their life to the Lord.

Too often we downplay people giving their life to the Lord.  We will jump up and holler if we see someone get out of their wheelchair and walk, but we don’t give the same praise when people give their lives to the Lord.   The greater miracle is always a sinner repenting and giving their life to Jesus.  Think about it that person was dead in their sin and now made alive in Christ.  They are a new creation and Heaven breaks out in joy because someone else has come home.

Signs and wonders point us to Jesus and lead lost ones home.  We should always be concerned about the condition of the soul above the physical body.  We should diligently seek after more souls being added to the Kingdom of God.  Wherever miracles take place salvation should also take place.  Jesus commissioned each one of us to go and preach the good news of the gospel to go out and be witnesses. 

The next time someone gives their life to Jesus, let us jump for joy and give a shout of praise because they have come home.  Finally, if you are a believer then praise God and rejoice that your name is written in heaven.

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Hiatus

August 10, 2010 by Anna Mangeni

Dear Readers,

I will be taking a leave from my blog and internet due to a mission trip to Africa.  I thank you all for your support and will be returning to the blog in September.  You are always welcome to look at past blogs.  The dates are to your right and there are blogs from last year also.  Be blessed and continue to reflect on God’s word because it is truly a living word that gives us life.

Pastor Anna

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Lovers of Money are Never Satisfied

August 3, 2010 by Anna Mangeni

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves abundance with its income. This too is vanity.  Ecclesiastes 5:10

For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:10

If one lusts after money, then one is never satisfied with money.  When a person loves money above all things they will do whatever it takes to get money which leads to all kinds of evil.

In the U.S. everyone has been affected by the greed of Wall Street.  Many companies doctored their books to make it look like they were more profitable than they seemed and lied to investors about their worth.  Mortgage brokers popped up everywhere and gave out mortgage loans to anyone that wanted one and deceived people into taking on debts they could not afford.  Now we are reaping the financial disaster of such greed by just a few.

God never intended for us to be controlled by money.  He knows our hearts can be enticed away from Him by money.  The bible gives great wisdom and insight about handling money.  It is easy for money to become an idol and God to come last.  It is just not the rich who lust after money but many people who do not have money lust after it.  They work and work to make money.  They hold onto their money never giving or seeking to serve God.  People have left the church because of money issues and in turn have suffered many griefs.

There are some basic principles in the bible about handling money, and if we put God above all things and steward money the way God tells us then we will prosper and we will have more than enough.  We will not wander from the faith but instead we will help spread the Kingdom of God in the earth.

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God and Money

July 20, 2010 by Anna Mangeni

“No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.” Matthew 6:24 NIV

Whoever or whatever we serve, becomes a master over us.  If you serve money it becomes master over you and you are subject to its laws and principles.  For example, if you have debt the one that you owe a debt to has power over you.  Even the bible says debtors are slaves to lenders.

In man’s economy debt is good and most people who are wealthy are in debt.  There are multibillion dollar businesses that make money just from people that are in debt to them.  Many of us end up in debt because we buy things we cannot afford.  Also, for many years we were told we needed credit (which is a debt history) to buy things like cars and houses.  When we buy a house we spend more on interest than we do on the actual price of the house.  We believe the lie of money and debt.  When we no longer have the money to pay the debt then the lender comes and takes our property and we suffer as a result.  So we have become slave to the master of money.

God never intended for us to serve money.  God wants us to serve Him.  By serving God, money can’t rule us because God is over us.  We have the promises of God that He will supply all of our needs and we do not need to be concerned about money.  Actually, God’s design is that money serves us and that we are never a slave to money.  That is why many principles in the bible concerning money are contrary to man’s economics.  Just like the example above man says “debt is necessary” but God says debt makes you a slave to the lender.

So which master would you prefer to serve – God or Money?

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Sowing and Reaping

July 16, 2010 by Anna Mangeni

 7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap.  Galatians 6:7

There are some principles in the Kingdom of God that also rule in the earth and affect everyone.  Sowing and reaping is one of those principles.  Whether or not you believe in God, everyone will reap what they sow.  Another principle in sowing and reaping is that we always reap more than we sow.  For example, if you plant one seed from an apple, you will get an apple tree with hundreds of apples containing five seeds.  These same principles apply to money.

We know that wherever we put our money we will get some sort of return.  That is why many people invest in the stock market, bonds, gold, money market accounts, etc.  What we try and figure out is the best place to invest our money, or sow. 

What we sow is as important as where we sow, because where we sow determines what we will reap.  In man’s economy if you invest in a high risk stock you may get a high return, but your risk in losing everything is much higher.  So not only do you risk losing the investment you made but also any gains that you have made in that investment.  If you invest in a low risk traditional long term investment your return may be small but you will reap something in the long term and reap more than you sowed in the beginning.

As Christians we are given a choice to sow into the earth or sow into the Kingdom of God.  This also pertains to our money.  There are certain principles of money that govern the earth and certain ones that govern the Kingdom.  The question is which has a better return on our investment?

Anything created by man is temporary, and everything pertaining to the Kingdom of God is eternal.  If we sow into things created by man we will reap temporary things.  If we sow into the Kingdom we will reap eternal things.

Many of us know the principles of money pertaining to the economy.  Unfortunately, many do not know the principles of money pertaining to the Kingdom of God.  Many of the principles in the Kingdom contradict the principles in economics created by man. 

Remember this that the principle of sowing and reaping are the same on earth and in the Kingdom – YOU REAP WHAT YOU SOW.

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What Recession?

July 14, 2010 by Anna Mangeni

22A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
         And the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.  Proverbs 13:22

 8He who increases his wealth by interest and usury
         Gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor.  Proverbs 28:8

In economics we understand a recession to be a period of economic decline in the gross domestic product for a period of two quarters or six months.  Since 2008, the United States has been in a recession.  This year there was talk of the economy recovering but there is concern that the economy will begin to retract again.  However, there is a second definition of recession and that is a “return of ownership to a former possessor” (Dictionary.com Unabridged).

The economic recession that we are currently in has been mainly rooted in those who inflated their corporate books, and bought and sold inflated stock.  As a result many who invested in these companies or stock lost millions and millions of dollars.  A lot of the problems the economy is facing are based on greed and deception by those who wanted to get rich.  In the process many innocent people lost their jobs, pensions and livelihood.  As Wall Street and Corporate America try to get back on top in this recession, there is another recession going on according to God.  It is a return of the wealth going back to the righteous.

In Proverbs, we see that the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous and those who increase their wealth by interest and usury are actually gathering wealth for those who are gracious to the poor.  We should begin to expect a return of wealth to the righteous.

The principles of money established by man differ from the biblical principles of money in the Kingdom of God.  Things in the earth are temporary and that which is in the Kingdom of God is eternal.  As Christians we should follow the principles of money as outlined in the bible.  By following these principles we can experience the return of wealth as stated in the above scriptures.

In this next series we will be looking at what the bible says about money and how we are to govern money.  Money should never govern us.

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The Beatitudes Pt. 9

July 13, 2010 by Anna Mangeni

11“Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

 12″Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.  Matthew 5:11-12

Christians have been called all sorts of names since the beginning.  Even today we are considered intolerant and divisive because we preach that Jesus is the only way and the only truth.  Even as Jesus set out in the beginning of His ministry He told His listeners that they would be persecuted because of Him.  This is the spirit of the devil because he is out to destroy the witness and testimony of Jesus.  We should not think it is strange when we are persecuted for our beliefs or when others speak evil against us.

Jesus told us to rejoice for our reward is in heaven.  In the Old Testament they persecuted the prophets.  Yet we are still blessed despite persecution and the lies people will tell about us.  We should never be ashamed of being a “Jesus freak” or a follower of Christ.  We are a blessed people and others know it.  So let us rejoice always.

I hope you enjoyed the Beatitudes series.  It really helps us keep our faith in focus and to know that we are really blessed to have Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Our Christian walk is not easy, and the path can be rough but we are blessed and highly favored of God.  We are the light and where there is light darkness cannot exist.

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The Beatitudes Pt. 8

July 12, 2010 by Anna Mangeni

 10″Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Matthew 5:10

All around the world there are Christians that are being persecuted.  In many countries churches are hidden because the preaching of the gospel is against the law.  There are many who convert to Christianity that are disowned by their families and even their very lives are threatened.

Jesus said blessed are those that are persecuted for the sake of righteousness.  They belong to the Kingdom.  They are blessed because they are not of this world but the Kingdom of God is theirs.  For all of us who believe in Jesus we are part of God’s Kingdom.  We are blessed to be a blessing.

Even though many Christians are persecuted for their faith, they are taking the gospel to the nations.  It is God’s desire that all men should come to the saving knowledge of Jesus and we have been commissioned to take the gospel to every corner of the earth.

Persecution is part of the Christian life.  We may not all experience the same type of persecution but we are all blessed to be members of the Kingdom of God.  Let’s pray for those who are in dangerous areas preaching and teaching the gospel.  May God continue to bring protection and safety to those that face danger everyday.  Most importantly, may God continue to add numbers to the Kingdom of heaven.

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