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Showing posts from November, 2021

#180: Does God Actually Hide His Face?

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  Psalm 44 I have often wondered: ‘If we’re all made in the image of God, God must really have an interesting appearance; His face to begin with.’ The word of God in John 4:24 however tells us that God is spirit, and as such does not literally have a face. So, by this we know that God’s face in today’s context is merely anthropomorphic, and represents His presence and favor in a life. We would notice the blessedness of God’s face from Aaron’s blessing for the children of Israel in Numbers 6:24-26, where it says: “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you, and give you peace.” How beautiful can this be? What then does it mean for God to hide his face? God’s face is said to be hidden when it is obvious that His divine presence and favor can no longer be felt. It is a feeling of deep sadness and spiritual emptiness, which often arises in the heart and stems out to affect output. The Psalm

#179: "It is written"

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To combat Satan's seduction, Jesus relied on Scripture rather than some mysterious spiritual power unavailable to us. Jesus waged this struggle as a complete human being, and He used no "special resources" that we don't have. Matthew 4:1-11 Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit to a desert. There He was tempted by the devil.  2  Jesus went without food for forty days and forty nights. After that He was hungry.  3  The devil came tempting Him and said, “If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to be made into bread.”  4  But Jesus said, “It is written, ‘Man is not to live on bread only. Man is to live by every word that God speaks.’” 5  Then the devil took Jesus up to Jerusalem, the holy city. He had Jesus stand on the highest part of the house of God.  6  The devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. It is written, ‘He has told His angels to look after You. In their hands they will hold You up. Then Your foot will not hit against a stone

#178: An Effective Prayer

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  And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him. ( I John 5:14-15 ) What a blessed gift God has given us in prayer - an avenue to make requests. But why are all my prayers not answered? Why do I get the exact opposite of my requests? I pray for God to preserve the life of a loved one, and after many days of sincere uproars, the person still dies. Let us face the truth, this has definitely been our story at one point. So what happened to our open cheque (prayer)? You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:3-4 I believe that every request will be granted but there is a condition: the only requests th