Revelatory BITES

                                    Revelatory BITES – by B.V Thomas

 

• If one could abort the foetus in the natural, one could abort the spiritual seed too.

 

• One need not pray anymore “our Father which art in heaven”; for He now dwelleth in every genuine Christian.

 

• Religion and religious pursuits are nothing but man’s innate longing to find the source of life from which he is originated.

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• The fall of man was nothing but being grafted to the wild olive tree—“eating of the forbidden tree” was the initiating act of that legal transaction between man and the devil. By eating its fruit, man handed over the control of his domain to the devil.

 

• Along with the “innate behaviours” or the “reflex behaviours” that get instilled in all the living organisms by birth – due to the fall of man, we also get to inherit a vice, that is “sinfulness”. When a soul becomes born again or gets to experience the work of regeneration, that soul is said to become a new creature according to the Scripture, which means, that soul now is entitled to develop in the new godly nature. The effect of the divine work within a person is that that individual is now in possession of two natures; one is that old corrupt nature (unrighteousness), that he/she inherited from earthly lineage and the other, the new nature (righteousness and true holiness), inherited from the one whom he/she is begotten, which is God Himself. Whosoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God (1 John 5:1) – Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth (James 1:18). And the outcome is determined by which nature one would put to use. 

 

• Suffering with Christ doesn’t mean you have to endure the same measure of His afflictions, though it may imply similitude, but to endure everything that is on your pathway to him. And the sufferings of Christ were for our redemption but the sufferings that we go through are for our sanctification.

 

• If the world is not crucified unto you and you unto the world – Gal 6:14, it not only will apprehend you but also will cut you off from the Fathers’ love – 1John 2:15.

 

• How could a soul repent without being convicted first?
  The Bible urges us all to repent – that is, making us aware of the need for repentance. But mere words like “I repent of my sins” shoved into the mouth isn’t a valid one unless it emerge from within a contrite soul. It should arise from within a person, conscience bearing the witness, pricked to the heart – the participation of the conscience is vital. Then why the need for preaching, right? It is imperative that the word be sown – for the word is the seed of life – How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? (Romans 10:14). Can a soul repent on his own? No, why you might ask? Because he is in a lost state unable to recuperate himself. Israel couldn’t repent, why? because they did not believe that they had sinned or were sinful – the absence of conviction – their heart was hardened – And Jesus said unto him, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead (Luke 16:31) – Israel too will be able to repent when God would grant them the spirit of grace and of supplications (Zechariah 12:10). Keep in mind that GOD is the AUTHOR of our faith and not man. It is the GIFT of God.

 

• The hour of Salvation or the dispensation of grace is the seventh day of God’s rest.

 

• The prodigious inflow of false ministers, musicians, false prophets, and their demonic doctrines into Christendom within the last couple of decades is a telltale sign of Christendom having reached the lowest point of the barrel. These dissimulations are nothing but the dregs or sediments of the wine the barrel once held—which then means, we have now come to a season where the wine has run out, just like it had happened in Cana of Galilee (John 2). Despite how dark and despairing the world around us seems to divulge— just like it had materialized in Cana, something remarkable is going to take place within the Christian sphere—a supernatural supply and spectacle of the eternal Spirit of God. 

 

• Bible schooling is not an entitlement to become a pastor. Shepherding must be an assignment received from the Spirit of God. Only a person who’s been in the fire for righteousness’ sake is eligible and is approved of God to preach or teach. One can’t preach or teach what he/she is not practiced and experienced. You are only as good as your life is.

 

• When a person by the Spirit of God is conformed to the image of Christ, he would also come to possess a heart like Jesus, to lay down his life for others.

 

• If you have sinned out of ignorance and in weakness – yet you could come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain MERCY – pray to the Father that he be merciful unto thee – but, if you have dealt unmercifully to others, you have no impunity whatsoever. For mercy triumphs over judgment. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7) – Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful (Luke 6:36) – the unmerciful are unrighteous before God – Rom 1:29,31 – For he shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy; and mercy rejoiceth against judgment (James 2:13).

 

• When we let ourselves familiarize with things that work contrary to the course of nature, which this degenerate world system belch out of its bowels; what it would do to you is that, it would reorganize/distort the God instilled natural moral code of behavior, and thus mutating you into a debauched character – a reprobate mind, to be precise – Rom 1:21-28

 

• We create the least resistant environment for our spirit-man to thrive in the knowledge of God; when we through the Spirit put to death our corporeal (fallen) nature.

 

• If this blessed seed (the seed of Abraham – Jesus Christ – Gal 3:16), the day-spring from on high had not come; if the word of God had not been diffused in the entire globe, this world would still be under tyrants, cannibalism, and utter chaos. The areas where the word of God is not predominant, those regions are infested with evil forces. Only the light of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ can liberate a nation/country/zone (Acts 6:7). The only method that can expel the darkness from a society is to let in the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ. God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all (1John 1:5). The exclusion of this light from the hearts of men is the cause of all moral and societal disintegration.

 

• And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed/such as should be saved (Acts 2:47/13:48/Luke 5:31)

 

• It is the great dragon, which is Satan, the fallen archangel Lucifer, which deceives the whole world into believing that God doesn’t exist. This purport of the attack is to destroy the seed of the woman, which is the man who is created after the image of God. Imagine a world permeated with God’s family, sons of God, and filled with the righteousness of God!

 

• Our good heavenly Father knows that we have inherited a nature that isn’t His and that is destructive. He is calling His children to conform to His nature to escape this polluted fallen world.                                                                                                              For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. (Acts 17:28)

 

• Make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust – which means, lust is ever-present in our members until we are clothed with a glorified body, but it is up to us whether to allow something to inflame it – Rom 6:12,13.

 

• Let’s imagine you made a hen pen to home your chickens and the next day you went and enquired the chickens who made this lovely home for you? Would you expect the chickens to answer? Would they even answer or are they even aware or conscious of the owner’s care? No. It’s called ignorance. That’s exactly the problem with those who insist that God does not exist. For their mind and conscience is defiled (Titus 1:15) – Having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart (Eph 4:18)

 

• If the law of Moses worked toward reviving the sin, the law of Christ works the contrary; it works toward bringing in the righteousness of God. The word of the Lord is spirit and is life – Pro 4:22/John 6:63/James 1:21

 

• You don’t have to teach a tree sapling what nutrients it should take – each type of seedling according to its characteristics knows what it needs; nature has its inbuilt forte; it is programmed by the Creator to promote or grow itself by absorbing the necessary nutrients that are required or vital for its growth. The external factors that are required for its health are dependent upon where the plant is situated, the weather, the soil condition, etc. The environment the plant is in affects its overall growth. If a seedling is planted by a skilled farmer, then he would know what that particular plant’s requirement is. If a novice, then the sapling would bear its outcome. If the seedling is grown in a natural environment like a forest, then the forest or the environment will provide the necessary nutrient for it to grow. But a mangrove can only adapt in the vicinity of a water body; you cannot expect it to be grown in a desert or other places where its specific nutrients aren’t available. One cannot expect the seedling that grows only in the tropics to thrive and bear fruit in the colder region or in the desert unless you provide such conditions artificially for its survival. All of God’s nature depends upon its own environment for healthy survivability. So are we!

 

• By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God – Eph 2:8 – For the grace of God to be operative in a person, first the recipient must be administered with faith. This measured precious faith – 2Pet 1:1/Rom 12:3 – when gets dispensed to a sinner elect, it incites the grace of God, whose effect would be justification unto life and the washing of regeneration by the eternal Spirit.

 

• Carnally oriented or living after the flesh is worshipping of the devils, because you do the will of its author (He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning – 1 John 3:8); and when you are spiritually minded or are living after the Spirit you glorify God. Brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh (Romans 8:12).

 

• The principal thing is to live a godly life in Christ Jesus and let its immediate sequel be the praises of your lips. 

   

• The kernel/the bride of Christ is veiled within the carapace of Christendom.

 

• The truth is, a sinner in his condemned state cannot love God unless he is pardoned or justified freely. His heart is hardened by sin, and his mind and conscience are defiled. And unless the grace of God quickens him first, he is not in a state to come to GOD. How can a sinner upon whom the wrath of God rests come to Him without the GRACE of God, which is CHRIST JESUS through whom alone we have forgiveness and acceptance? 

 

• Genuine repentance can only take place within a soul where the Spirit of God has begun His redemptive work of grace.  

 

• Saving the soul relates to the whole person. But did the whole person attained perfection yet? No, the restitution of all things will only take place at the appearance of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ – Acts 3:21. At new-birth only the spirit gets quickened, the soul needs to be renewed on a daily basis and the vile body in which we live would get to experience transformation only on the day of the Lord. Hence a soul is deemed to be partially saved at new-birth and only when the earthly house of this tabernacle be put off – 2Pet 1:13,14/2 Cor 5:1-4/Rom 8:23 – can one be said to have attained salvation in its fullness. And then we shall become like him – 1John 3:2.

 

• The post-regeneration work on the soul is imperative that the life of the inward man solely depends on its compliance to the word of God (the soul must be brought to the obedience of Christ – 2Cor 10:5).

 

• Instruction in righteousness – 2 Timothy 3:16 – that’s been given to us is a validation of the sinful nature that we carry within us. 

  If there was no unrighteousness within a believer as many would contend, then what’s the purpose of commandments? For without the law sin was dead – Romans 7:8 – for sin is the transgression of the law – 1 John 3:4 – which also means, the corruption of man compels activation of a law. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8)

  The question is, In Christ, is there an exemption from any form of law at all? Did Christ utterly destroy the law? Matt 5:17 – Or Did he brought in a better law? For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law (Hebrews 7:12) – For the law (of Moses) made nothing perfect (Hebrews 7:19) – hence, Christ is the mediator of a better covenant (commandments, promises, and seal), which was established upon better promises (Hebrews 8:6)

  Indeed, we are dead unto sin and sin shall not have dominion/power over us – Rom 6:11,14 – but let’s not forget the fact that the law of sin and death is still at large in our members – Rom 7:14-23 – and the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus is now in force – Rom 8:2 – the royal law – James 2:8 – the law of faith – Rom 3:27 – the law of God – Rom 7:25/1Tim 6:14/Rev 12:17/1John 2:3,4.

 

• The Lord is weeding out; He is churning the milk of Christendom to separate the butter, the cream for himself.

 

• The word “Betrayal” holds value only when it happens between the best of friends. Otherwise, it cannot be seen as a betrayal. If you testify against your enemy it cannot be called a betrayal. If Judas was an enemy he cannot be called a betrayer instead he be called an enemy. Betrayal can only happen in a close relationship otherwise it ain’t betrayal. Betrayal is the opposite of loyalty. Only a person who was once loyal to a cause, due to persuasions, temptations, threatenings, etc…when retracts/falls away from it, we could say that he/she betrayed or deserted/disavowed the person or organization that he/she was once loyal to! We’ve heard of real-life stories of military officers and citizens alike who defected from their oppressive regimes. If so, even apostasy is considered a betrayal, isn’t it? Doesn’t the Bible say that the last day’s apostasy shall take place within the Christendom? How many Christians have already betrayed the Lord by leading a life opposing to the word of God, in pursuit of saving their own lives, loving themselves, loving this present world, following after money, etc…? Isn’t it crucial then to often examine ourselves whether we are in the faith or not and that we aren’t deceived? 

 

• The unintelligible words and sounds that come up the back of your mind or throat is what needs to be let out – don’t reason it, don’t try to understand it, just open wide your mouth and just let those unintelligible syllables out – disconnect your reasoning and let your spirit express; not to mention, sometimes your extremities might also want to participate with movements and motions. It would sound like a mad/drunk person blabbering and it could be tunes, melodies, consonants, languages, rhymes, poetic, robotic expressions, it could even be like other religious prayer tones and reading styles and that’s what we are aiming for. Your mind just cannot fathom and one should not try to analyze it. The kind of sounds that you would make with your mouth when you were a child – the speaking of tongues resembles that. As a babe in the natural begins its speech with blabber and make unintelligible sounds the newborn Christian too must begin thus, and know that, just as in the natural your spirit too is capable to speak.

  Begin to speak with other tongues, as it is the Spirit that gives you the utterance (Acts 2:4)

  Even when you do your chores or while reading a book or while listening to a speech your mouth could speak without the requirement of your mind’s participation – for it is your spirit speaking to God – for no man understands him; howbeit in the spirit, he speaks mysteries (1 Corinthians 14:2).

  It’s like your mind has these unintelligible words and sounds stored in the back of your mind that you would want to let out but your reason often stands in the way and gives you the false impression that it isn’t manly or comely or honorable. It is nothing but our pride and pretensions and hypocrisy. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, that you may not do the things that you desire (Galatians 5:17). But make sure that you keep these spiritual expressions to mostly remain private as others cannot decode hence could misrepresent and deem you as mad. Tongues are given for self-edification unless it is accompanied by interpretation of it – mind you, INTERPRETATION and not TRANSLATION of it. One must interpret and not try to translate.

 

• That which is born of God is eternal – for it is of the incorruptible seed – but this incorruptible must put on incorruption – otherwise, it is limited and the salvation is incomplete. In other words, at the new birth, only the spirit of man gets to experience the effect of Salvation – in this respect, revived or quickened – but the soul and the body need to be dealt with, without which the Salvation remains partial. So “Salvation” refers to the whole person – the spirit is revived to walk in newness of life – it is now linked to the life source. If so, “being saved” by the blood of the lamb of God means what? Firstly, we must understand what we are saved from? Weren’t we all condemned? Condemned for what? Adam’s sin, right? Read Romans 5 – So it is clear that we were not right with God in that sense – the wrath of God rested on all of us. BUT God in His great mercy arranged a propitiation for our sins and condemned sin in the body of his flesh – that we might be made the righteousness of God. So when you say you got saved – it isn’t the entire Salvation that it talks about but a part of that great Salvation. 

 

• The law approved divorce and such things not because God approves it; even though God had put away Israel – Isaiah 50/Jeremiah 3:8 – He hates divorce – Malachi 2:16. Even though we have privileges in Christ, the human mind and conscience is yet in a defiled state, so to speak. Otherwise, Where do wars and fighting among us come from? (James 4:1) Jesus said, because of the hardness of your heart – Matt 19:8 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9) – divorce happens, it is inevitable to some – it is better that some would divorce than devour each other. Some Christians wouldn’t wish to go down that road because firstly they deem it as sinful; not to mention, the dreadful societal stigma and ostracizing that comes with it in some culture; the children’s welfare, and so on – such people would bear everything for the sake of Christ and for themselves. I see that in many family unions. Because of the inception of sin into the world – Rom 5:12, man and woman by nature can never achieve a perfect union – they have lost that soundness in Adam and therefore they don’t have the means to achieve such harmony in this world. Even Paul the Apostle cautioned about this: he said, such shall have trouble in the flesh (1 Corinthians 7:28). Mostly the union survives because of selfish intentions of the heart, that they need each other for their survival – but some would bear all things for righteousness’s sake. Survival of both depends upon their forbearance; and who would want to go through the societal stigma, the humiliation, the financial loss, being ostracized and the suffering of children, etc? The reason why the new Testament stipulates submission on both sides is because of the condition of man’s heart. 

 

• Do you believe?
  It is not a man’s rational response that is expected here. It is to know whether the Father is willing to draw him/her to Christ–John 6:44 –whether the Holy Ghost is at work in that soul—whether he/she is of the elect/predestined – 1Pet 1:2/Rom 8:33/9:11/11:5,7/2Tim 2:10/1Thess 1:4/Col 3:12. That whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed (Acts 13:48)

 

• Without faith no one can please the Lord. The author of our faith must impart the necessary faith (obtained like precious faith – 2Pet 1:1/Rom 12:3/Heb 12:2) to instate us. Grace does it. The elect of God benefits. The author of faith is God, not us. I was blind, but now I see. When? When the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ shined in my heart, that Gnosis lit my spirit by which I now know the Creator God. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. (Job 42:5). The spiritual eyes of our understanding being enlightened. Eph 1:18/Acts 26:18.
  Charles Darwin himself once asked, “Would anyone trust the convictions of a monkey’s mind?”                                                                                                                    So, faith is foundation on which we must build our lives.
  In other words, faith in the Creator is the beginning and foundation of human rationality, morality, and hope.
  In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth – This is written for an enlightened man to receive; when read by the blind at heart, some would perceive but others would be hardened.

 

• Genesis begins with, “In the beginning, God…” The New Testament Gospel of John begins with, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:1-4).   I would paraphrase likewise: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…God through His Word, who would incarnate, created the heaven and the earth (Genesis 1:1). The Word was life, and that life was the light of men” but when sin entered, it severed that lifeline and man not only lost that personal fellowship with God but also life of his spirit, which was the image of God – Eph 4:24/John 3:6. The Word, who was God then became flesh and dwelt among men, in whom is life – 1 John 5:11-12. He is before Abraham, the great I AM

• Religions are the crutches of fallen/disabled humanity. It keeps their hopes afloat. One of the prime functions of the crutches is to lead souls to the Healer of the souls, which is the Creator God Himself. And the ONE and ONLY way that leads to God is through His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Saviour of the world. All religion must lead souls to God, it must make man a seeker of truth and must produce an inward nudge to their source of life; otherwise it cannot be classified as a religion but an atheistic rule of conduct. All religion must have begun to appease man’s inward longing for life. Therefore, all religion will have the signature of God embedded within its ideology. Unlike Israel, as God was not made known unto the heathen; the heathen had all the rights to form their own religion to pacify his/her longing for God and to appease Him. Hence, all such religion must have developed before the kindness and love of God the Savior toward man had appeared that they might live through Him.

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  The just/righteous shall live by faith – Rom 1:17 – so only a righteous man is able to live by faith – And God says, there is none righteous, no not one. Oh, what a dilemma! Then who can be saved, asked the disciples? Jesus said, with man it is impossible but with God nothing is. Which then means that, righteousness must come from God. God must make man righteous without which man won’t be able to live by faith.