Accuser or Intercessor?

We eat delicious and nutritious food by mouth relishing every morsel with our tongue. Do we then eat waste products and rotten, mouldy food with that same mouth and tongue?

Then why do we praise God and speak bad about our neighbour, with the same mouth and tongue?

God's Word speaks volumes about the dangers of ill use of the tongue and the benefits of the proper use of the tongue:-

James 3:8 - But the tongue can no man tame; [it is] an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

James 1:26 - If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion [is] vain.

Proverbs 10:19 - In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips [is] wise.

Proverbs 15:28 - The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.

James 3:6 - And the tongue [is] a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

We learn from God's Word that when we speak iniquity, our tongue defiles our whole body with the fire from hell. Then why do we choose to speak ill of people?

We as human beings are too quick to form an opinion of others. We form opinions about our bosses, our coworkers, our pastors, fellow church members, our leaders, our friends and even our family members. In our minds we think we are better than them. This leads to personal judgement and criticism. We criticise almost everyone almost all the time in our minds except ourselves. Then what we think spills out from our mouths when we are with others.

Let us close our eyes and think of the following people:-
1. Billy Graham
2. Madonna
3. Mother Theresa
4. Obama
5. Lady Gaga
6. Michael Jackson
7. Martin Luther

Now stop and examine each thought and opinion which our mind forms when we hear each name. We praise some and we despise some because of the opinions we form in our minds about them, based on right and wrong. 

Do we have the heart and mind of God our Father? If we have, then we will look at people like how He sees them and love them with compassion and do all we can to save them from hell fire. We will pray for them instead of using the precious time to accuse them and criticise them.

We judge and criticise others because we conclude that they are doing something wrong or doing something out of the norm. If we really care about what they do so much, why don't we turn our criticisms to intercessions? Why don't we pray for them to change and become better persons?

Now go back to the list of names again. This time as you think of each person, try this:- For every person whom you think is a praise worthy person, stop to thank God for that person's life and bless that person. For every person whom you think is not walking right with God, pray for them asking the Holy Spirit to give life to the dead bones and to birth the new life of Christ in them.(imagine all of them to be still living even though some have died for this is only an exercise) How do you feel now?

We can choose to put on Christ's nature or the nature of the devil .

The Bible says in Rom 8:34 that, Jesus sits at God's right hand interceding for us and the bible also says in Rev 12:10 ... For the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, he who accuses them day and night before our God. In other words the accuser is accusing us day and night before God and he will be destroyed at the end of times.

So, do we want to put on Christ's nature and use our tongue to intercede for people whom we want to judge and criticise or put on the devil's nature and criticise them and be an accuser of them before God.

Our choice will determine our final destination. When we intercede for others we will be seated with Christ in heaven for all eternity. But when we choose to join forces with the Accuser who is Satan himself, then we will be thrown down into hell with it and it's cohorts on the final day of judgement.

Therefore let us use our tongue wisely and let us intercede for everyone especially those we want to judge and criticise. Let us populate heaven with our intercessions instead of becoming an inhabitant of hell for all eternity. 

Oh, if we can save just one sinner from hell fire, how heaven will rejoice! How happy our Father will be!

Mary Augustine

Walking with an Undivided Heart with our First Love!

How do we walk with an undivided heart, intimately with Jesus daily? The best way I know of is to read and meditate on the Word of God and to talk with the Holy Spirit and with Jesus and the Father throughout the day reexamining and reflecting on our ways.

The Old Testament and the New Testament are seamless. "The Old Testament is in the New Testment revealed and the New Testament is in the Old Testament concealed," said Chuck Missler. Jesus often quoted the Old Testament to reveal Who He really IS, but the one track minded Pharisees and the priests did not recognise Him. Do we recognise Jesus in God's Word and in our lives? Do we know Who He really is? Jesus asked His disciples, " Who do you say I AM?" He asks each one of us the same question! Who is Jesus to us?

Yes, the Bible says, "Jesus is the only Way, Truth and Life! He is the door to the Father. No one goes to the Father except through Him. He is The Word of God. He is the Son of God. He is our Saviour. He is our Healer. He is our Provider. He is our Redeemer. He is our Salvation and our Hope. He is...He is...He is...BUT...Who is Jesus to ME? How real and how personal is He to me?  These are the questions we must ask ourselves. If we don't check ourselves daily, our hearts will easily become divided and eventually turn cold.

In our zeal to follow Christ, we look up to pastors and church leaders and at times, our own parents for spiritual guidance. Many times we are bewildered by their preaching, teaching and way of living which do not match. Who or what then do we follow?

In Matthew 23:2,3,12
Jesus said to the crowd and his disciples: 2 " The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practise what they preach.......12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted."

In Deuteronomy 13:1-5 and in
Deuteronomy 18:18-22,  God warns His people about the false prophets.(Go and read it)

   Yes just as in the old and the new even now there are those who operate in their giftings but they in their humanity start expecting something, other than Jesus and the eternal life, in this life. That is why they use it for the wrong purposes. They abuse their gifts. Prophets prophecy in two ways. In the supernatural and the natural. In the supernatural, when they get a revelation from God. But they sometimes use this same  prophecy in the natural when they use it for their gain. Pastors and leaders start off on the right foot but along the way , when their hearts become divided, they draw people to themselves instead of the Lord Jesus. They get drawn into the prosperity gospel which causes disillusionment to the sheep.

Now, everything boils down to our motives. No one knows our secret thoughts. Only God. In Matthew chapter 24:36 to  chapter 25: 1-46, Jesus talks explicitly about how we will be judged and who will be sent to their eternal damnation. So we must be very careful in speaking, doing and even thinking... Why am I doing this? Why am I saying this? Why am I thinking these thoughts? How do I benefit spiritually? How can I help those around me and those under my charge spiritually? Would this put me in the right standing with God? How would this benefit my soul and spirit? Am I pleasing God through this? Am I leading others who see and hear me, to Christ? Am I feeding spiritually nourishing food to those under my charge? Am I a prayerful watchman who is fully prepared and equipped with God's anointing? Do I pray for those around me and under my charge and do I keep a prayerful watch at all times? Am I fully utilizing my talents, however little they may be to win souls for God's kingdom? Because God has given me talents according to my ability. Am I keeping short accounts with God? Am I seeing Christ in each one I serve? Do I help and serve Christ in others whomever they may be, whatever rank they may come from, without expecting gains or returns of any kind?
This is what we will be judged on when we meet Jesus.

Judas was greedy for money and was thinking of gains even as he was with Jesus. His heart was divided. Although he was in the inner circle of Jesus with the other 11 apostles, he was shrewed in worldly ways and had his heart leaning towards monetary gains.  His spiritual eyes and ears were blinded by his desire for worldly gains. Therefore he conveniently did not hear or did not remember all that Jesus told them about what would happen after his death on the cross...about his coming back in three days! Peter denied Christ but when he realised his sin, he wept bitterly but did not despair. Whereas Judas despaired and took his own life. If only Judas was really living in the Presence of Jesus at every moment he was with Him, hearing Him and internalising His Words, he would have known that Jesus would rise again, he would have repented and waited for Jesus and would have fallen at His feet.

Jesus told Judas, in
Matthew 26:24 NLT For the Son of Man must die, as the Scriptures declared long ago. But how terrible it will be for the one who betrays him. It would be far better for that man if he had never been born!"
That means the way Jesus was going to be betrayed for thirty pieces of silver was already predicted in Zechariah 11:12,13.
Jesus knew that He would be betrayed, but He also knew how Judas would die after that, taking his own life in despair and remorse. That is why He mentioned that it would have been better if he had never been born.

People, prophets, leaders, pastors, parents...in the old testament, in the new testament and even now, want to walk in the right path. Some know how. Some are still seeking and growing. Mature Christians must show the way. We may fail but we must keep re-examining ourselves and our walk with God daily and at every moment and set our bearings right. We learn right and wrong from the fall and rise of others especially from the Bible characters, our parents  and the leaders in our spheres of circle. We must pray for wisdom and discernment as we examine their lives and instead of judging them especially our pastors, leaders and parents, we must pray for them and we must keep reexamining our lives and guard our hearts to avoid falling into similar or worst pitfalls. In order to do that we must devour the Word of God like real food daily and walk in God's presence, communing with Him at every moment.

Judas was a man of divided heart. The enemy uses people with divided hearts even today. That is why guarding our hearts from placing one foot here and the other foot there, is very important. The disciples who abandoned Jesus and ran away when He was arrested in the garden of Gethsemane and Peter who denied knowing Jesus, ran away and denied Him out of fear, but in their hearts, Jesus was still their first love. But for Judas it was not the same. Jesus was not his first love, money and material gain was.

All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God but  instead of being like Judas, despairing in remorse, let us weep bitterly and repent like Peter and cling on to Jesus, our first Love, Who is The Only Way to God our Father. Let us welcome the Holy Spirit into our lives daily and ask Him to teach and guide us because He was sent to us, for this very purpose by the Father at the request of Jesus our Saviour.

Let us walk reflectively and intimately with our First Love, Jesus, with an Undivided Heart, daily!