Maranatha Grace Church

Brothers and Sisters,

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
    from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
² The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and of might,
    the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
³ and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:2-3)

It is a sad fact to observe that in our time a lot of people seem to have no fear of God. They live their lives as it pleases them. Can they do any better? According to the verses above, the fear of the Lord is part of a package. In the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, we receive the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord.  And we must delight in the fear of the Lord.

Isaiah 9 -11.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”And I said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8) 

The Lord is still asking the same question: "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?” He needs people who will go for him in the schools, in the factories, in the offices, in every place where there are people who are hurting and suffering without Christ. He needs young and old who can testify of his love and of his presence in their lives. He needs all of us, right there in the marketplace to live out our faith among the people.

Isaiah 6 - 8.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

We must pray for our families and our communities. One of the curses pronounced by the prophet Isaiah on the people of Jerusalem concerned the break down of respect between the people of the land. The worst curse was the disrespect shown by the children toward their parents. Christian youths should set the example of love and respect for their parents.

⁴ “I will make mere youths their officials;
    children will rule over them.”

⁵ People will oppress each other—
    man against man, neighbor against neighbor.
The young will rise up against the old,
    the nobody against the honored. (Isaiah 3:4-5) 

Isaiah 3 - 5.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

³ Many peoples will come and say,

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
⁴ He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

I can't wait for that day. Come quickly Lord Jesus.

Song of Songs 6 - Isaiah 2.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

I invite you to read the three chapters of the readings with no comments. They are beautiful. 

Song of Songs 3 - 5.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

¹³ Now all has been heard;
    here is the conclusion of the matter:
Fear God and keep his commandments,
    for this is the duty of all mankind.
¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment,
    including every hidden thing,
    whether it is good or evil.

There are people who live in sin as if it's no  big deal. It may seems so, but the Word of God tells us something completely different."We die only once, and then we are judged" (Hebrews 9:27). 

Ecclesiastes 12 - Song of Songs 2.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

 You who are young, be happy while you are young,
    and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth.
Follow the ways of your heart
    and whatever your eyes see,
but know that for all these things
    God will bring you into judgment. (Ecclesiastes 11:9)

Si jeunesse savait, si viellesse pouvait. If youth only knew, if age only could.”

Ecclesiastes 6 -11.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

⁹ Two are better than one,
    because they have a good return for their labor:
¹⁰ If either of them falls down,
    one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
    and has no one to help them up.
¹¹ Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
    But how can one keep warm alone?
¹² Though one may be overpowered,
    two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4)

The few verses above are the key to success in business as long as you choose your partner carefully.

Proverbs 3- 5.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

I spent two Sundays studying Proverbs 31 with the Youth Sunday School. Both young men and young women were astonished to find such a pearl in the Bible. I told them that a Proverbs 31 woman is only good for a Proverbs 31 man. Do you want to be a Proverbs 31 Christian?

¹⁰ A wife of noble character who can find?
    She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
    and lacks nothing of value.

³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. (Proverbs 31:10,11,30)

Proverbs 29 - Ecclesiastes 2.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Suppose you go to a youth service, and no one shows up. What would you do? Proverbs is a good place to start.

As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.

The one who guards a fig tree will eat its fruit,
    and whoever protects their master will be honored.

As water reflects the face,so one’s life reflects the heart.

Proverbs 26 - 28.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Proverbs 23 - 25.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Without friends it is almost impossible to accomplish any great thing in life. We all need friends to be successful in life. However, the word of God warns us that there is a kind of friend that we don't need.

²⁴ Do not make friends with a hot-tempered person,
    do not associate with one easily angered,
²⁵ or you may learn their ways
    and get yourself ensnared. (Proverbs 22:24-25)

We must accept the reality that anyone can be influenced, the Bible tells us so in 1 Corinthians 15:33  "Do not be misled: "Bad company corrupts good character."" Movies, TV shows, WhatsApp, books, etc... all can be bad companies. 

Proverbs 20 - 22.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Is the fear of the Lord necessary?

Whoever fears the Lord walks uprightly,
    but those who despise him are devious in their ways.

The wise fear the Lord and shun evil,
    but a fool is hotheaded and yet feels secure.

Whoever fears the Lord has a secure fortress,
    and for their children it will be a refuge.

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
    turning a person from the snares of death.

Better a little with the fear of the Lord
    than great wealth with turmoil.

Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord,
    and humility comes before honor.

Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for;
    through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided.

The fear of the Lord leads to life;
    then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

Proverbs 14 - 19.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

Can something as simple as reading the Bible brings so many blessings to the one who reads it? Strange but true. If you have spiritual problems, just read the Bible. If you have relationships problems, read the Bible. If you have health problems, just read the Bible. Try it.

Proverbs 11 -13.

May the Lord richly bless you!

Brothers and Sisters,

 The blessing of the Lord brings wealth, without painful toil for it. (Proverbs 10:23). The blessing of the Lord brings a lot of things, and one of them is wealth. This is not only an Old Testament theology,  the same truth is found in the New Testament.

Have you ever managed to solve a problem solely with prayer and fasting? We should have this experience, may it be a big thing or a small one. The essential is that we pray through to victory. 

Proverbs 8 - 10.

May the Lord rivhly bless you!