The Sabbath Called Feast of Firstfruits

Its Old Covenant Significance

¹⁹ Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the Lord your God. EXODUS 23

Isra’el has two grain harvests each year. The Feast of Firstfruits celebrates the first grain harvest, which is barley. The Feast of Harvest celebrates the second, which is wheat.

¹⁰ Speak to the Israelites and say to them: When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest. ¹¹ He is to wave the sheaf before the Lord so it will be accepted on your behalf; the priest is to wave it on the day after the Sabbath. ¹² On the day the sheaf is waved, you must sacrifice as a burnt offering to the Lord a lamb a year old without defect, ¹³ together with a grain offering of two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil—an offering made to the Lord by fire, a pleasing aroma—and a drink offering of a fourth of a hin of wine. ¹⁴ You must not eat any bread, or roasted or new grain, until the very day you bring this offering to your God. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. LEVITICUS 23

Its New Covenant Significance

The Feast of Firstfruits reminds everyone that just as the Son of Man was resurrected from the dead, so too we must be resurrected from the dead.  

Y’shua was the first “born of a woman, born under law” to rise from the realm of the dead (Galatians 4:4). He emerged triumphant from His baptism of fire and rightfully ascended unto heaven. He is now the “sheaf of the first grain” to be waved on Nisan 16.   

²⁰ The Messiah has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 1 CORINTHIANS 15

³ The Messiah died for our sins just as the Scriptures said He would, ⁴ and… He was buried, and… three days after He arose from the grave just as the prophets foretold. ⁵ He was seen by Peter and later by the rest of the Twelve. ⁶ After that He was seen by more than five hundred of Christian brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died by now. ⁷ Then James [the Just] saw Him and later all the apostles. Last of all I [Paul] saw Him too. 1 CORINTHIANS 15 tlb   

Y’shua went to James the Just (His brother) for he had sworn not to eat bread from that hour in which he had drunk the Lord's cup until he should see Him risen from among them that sleep. "Bring a table and bread," said the Lord. He took bread and blessed and broke and gave it to James and said to him, "My brother, eat your bread, for the Son of Man is risen from among them that sleep." (Gospel of the Hebrews)

³² [Apostle Peter said] God has raised this very Y’shua from death, and we are witnesses to this fact. ACTS 2 tev

³ For forty days after His death He appeared to them many times in ways that proved beyond doubt that He was alive. They saw Him and He talked with them about the Kingdom of God. ACTS 1 tev

⁵⁰ Then He led them out of the city as far as Bethany, where He raised His hands and blessed them. ⁵¹ As He was blessing them, He departed from them and was taken up into heaven. LUKE 24 tev

³³ He has been raised to the right side of God, His Father. ACTS 2 tev

History has this record of the resurrection: “Now there was about this time Y’shua, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man, for he was a doer of wonderful works; a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews, and many of the Gentiles. He was the Messiah, and when Pilate, at the suggestion of the principal men among us, had condemned him to the cross, those that loved him at the first did not forsake him: for he appeared to them alive again the third day: as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him.”—Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Bk. XVIII, Chap. III, Section 3 (Signature of God, pp. 91-92).

As Foretold

³¹ David [fore]saw what God was going to do in the future, and so he spoke about the resurrection of the Messiah, when he said, He was not abandoned in the world of the dead; His body did not rot in the grave. ACTS 2 tev

³⁴ David did not ascend to heaven and yet he said, The Lord [God] said to my Lord [the Son of Man]: Sit at My right hand ³⁵ until I make your enemies a footstool for Your feet. ACTS 2

David was so sure of his vision that he almost proclaimed the Most Holy Name:  

⁴⁶ The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! PSALM 18

Why the Resurrection

THE RESURRECTION PROVES LUCIFER WRONG.  He is saying, “Today let us eat and drink and be merry for tomorrow we die" (1 Corinthians 15:32). But the resurrection demonstrates life after death. 

¹² How can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even the Messiah has been raised… ²⁰ But the Messiah has indeed been raised from the dead. 1 CORINTHIANS 15

²⁵ For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is Death. ²⁷ For He has put everything under His feet. ²⁸ When He has done this, then the Son Himself will be made subject to [God] who put everything under Him, so that God may be all in all. 1 CORINTHIANS 15

THE RESURRECTION IMPRESSES IN OUR MINDS THAT LIFE COMES ONLY FROM GOD.

²⁵ I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying. ²⁶ Everyone who lives in Me and believes in Me will never ever die. JOHN 11 nlt

²⁴ I tell you the truth, whoever hears My Word and believes in Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. ²⁵ I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. JOHN 5

²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in the Messiah all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own turn: the Messiah, the firstfruits; then when He comes [back], those who belong to Him. 1 CORINTHIANS 15

¹⁰ Messiah Y’shua… has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel... 2 TIMOTHY 1

¹⁷ Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever. And I hold the keys of Death and Hades. REVELATION 1

¹⁵ Repent and believe the Good News! MARK 1

THE RESURRECTION ENCOURAGES ALL OF US TO MIRROR THE LOVE OF Y’SHUA AND HELP COMPLETE HIS MINISTRY.  He could have finished it by Himself, at the wink of an eye, but He did not. Why? Because it has to be tested how much the new covenanters have grown in love and faithfulness. Who will emerge as firstfruits worthy of heaven has to be determined. 

¹⁸ He chose to give us birth through the Word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all He created. JAMES 1

²⁹ For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified. ROMANS 8

¹⁴ Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. JOHN 13

¹⁹ The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. ROMANS 8

This is their love-test: To rescue the souls being herded to the slaughterhouse (Proverbs 24:11).

¹³ Dear friends, rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of the Messiah. 1 PETER 4

⁸ The one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. GALATIANS 6

Paul did his part. This is his testimony to the church in Colossus:  

²⁴ But part of my work is to suffer for you; and I am glad, for I am helping to finish up the remainder of the Messiah’s sufferings for His Body, the Church. ²⁵ God has sent me to help His Church and to tell His secret plan to you Gentiles. ^26-27 He has kept this secret for centuries and generations past, but now at last it has pleased Him to tell it to those who love Him and live for Him. COLOSSIANS 1 tlb

God’s Mandate to New Covenanters

¹⁸ When I say to a wicked man “You will surely die!” and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin and I will hold you accountable for his blood. ¹⁹ But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself. ²⁰ Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and does evil, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. Since you did not warn him, he will die for his sin. The righteous things he did will not be remembered and I will hold you accountable for his blood. ²¹ But if you do warn the righteous man not to sin and he does not sin, he will surely live because he took warning, and you will have saved yourself. EZEKIEL 3

Divine love finds no pleasure in the death of anyone (Ezekiel 18:23, 32 and 1 Timothy 2:3) but rejoices when a sinner is raised from the dead. Read the Parable of the Lost Sheep, the Parable of the Lost Coin and the Parable of the Lost Son in Luke 15:1-32 to better understand this.

³⁴ There are some who are ignorant of God. 1 CORINTHIANS 15

¹⁴ How, then, can they call on the One they have not believed in? How can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? ¹⁷ …Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of the Messiah. ROMANS 10

³ God our Savior …wants everyone to be saved and to come to know the truth. 1 TIMOTHY 2 

⁶⁰ Go and proclaim the kingdom of God. LUKE 9

⁷ Go to the lost sheep of Isra’el. As you go, preach this message: “The kingdom of heaven is near.” ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead [back to life], cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. MATTHEW 10

¹⁵ Go into all the world and preach the Good News to all creation. ¹⁶ Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. MARK 16

¹⁹ Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. MATTHEW 28 

God died for souls. No offering to Him is sweeter than won-souls.

⁸ This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples. ¹⁶ …I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. JOHN 15

³⁰ The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. PROVERBS 11

How to Rescue

Instructing church members to focus on saving the rich or raising funds, or on doing house-to-house visitations to change the religion and personality of men, is not how the rescue work is done.

The real task is to sow divine love. Sow so that your neighbor may receive it in full measure from you, be affected by it, and be moved to open his spirit to the Spirit. 

“Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children, and live a life of love, just as the Messiah loved us…” says Ephesians 5:1-2.

Desire divine love, think divine love, embrace divine love, eat divine love, speak divine love, breathe divine love, exude divine love, teach divine love: It is the kingdom way of life. Conform to it to be kingdom-fit.

³⁴ A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another. JOHN 13

Sow divine love whether you feel like doing it or not. Sow divine love whether the recipient is worthy of it or not. Sow divine love whether it is convenient to you or not. Sow divine love even when it means losing something. Sow divine love even when Lucifer comes to block your way. Sow divine love irrespective of whether you will succeed or fail. Sow divine love in season and out of season.

Yes, the task is to be fruitful in love (Isaiah 27:6). If your neighbor asks why you are doing it, say: that you may magnify your God and Savior, who created you to love and be loved. And say: “All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. For we who are alive are always given over to death for Y’shua’s sake, so that His life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.” (2 Corinthians 4:15, 11-12)

¹⁸ All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through the Messiah and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: ¹⁹ that God was reconciling the world to Himself in the Messiah, not counting men’s sins against them. 2 CORINTHIANS 5

⁶ He has enabled us to be ministers of His New Covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the New Covenant, the Spirit gives life. 2 CORINTHIANS 3 nlt

The task does not include criticizing, accusing or judging anyone for his infirmity, weakness, fault or wrongdoing. Christians do not put down or, worse, tear down anyone. So do not nag or scold or embarrass anyone, moreso subject him to fists of steel. None of it will solve his problem. Strictly speaking you are not after his person, nor his soul, but after his spirit. Open it for indwelling, for it to be born again, because only through Spirit-empowerment can his infirmity, weakness, fault or wrongdoing be licked.

Your responsibility is to edify (build up in love) everyone within your sphere of influence. Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe told us of a way to do it: “Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”[1]

Focus on the harvest, not on the cost.

⁶ Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 2 CORINTHIANS 9

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ROMANS 8

Sow divine love as much as you can, in as many fields as possible. Sow it hand in hand with the truth. Spare your neighbors from spiritual disinformation and conflict.

¹⁴ Cultivate your neighbors as far as you can. ECCLESIASTICUS 10

You don’t have to perform spectacular feats. In most situations, little acts of love will do. A gentle pat, a sincere handshake, a warm greeting or embrace here and there, a short pause for fellowship, an attentive, sympathetic ear... an intercessory prayer, Word of God aptly said… might be all that is necessary.

⁸ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. 1 PETER 4 

²² Love one another deeply, from the heart. 1 PETER 1

⁸ Do not owe anyone anything, except [the continuing debt] to love one another. ROMANS 13 cjb

In doing rescue work, people and churches might be attracted to you and praise you. Do not bask in it; never let anyone idolize you. Do not misappropriate the honor and glory that belongs to God.

⁵ For we do not preach ourselves, but Y’shua the Messiah as Lord… ⁷ We have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. 2 CORINTHIANS 4

²⁴ Remember that… the Master you are serving is the Messiah. COLOSSIANS 3 nlt

¹⁷ Whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Y’shua. COLOSSIANS 3 tlb

Love Yourself First

Divine love will have to start intrapersonal, with yourself.

Before you can sow divine love, you must fill your own cup with it. Soak yourself in “love which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith” (1 Timothy 1:5). Many love and fail simply because they try to give away something they do not have. They are running on empty. No one can drink coffee from an empty cup. No one can give what he does not have. Run a car on an empty gas tank and it will sputter and come to a full stop. 

Be sure to empty your cup of erroneous love before filling it with divine love. Erroneous love is of Lucifer; he is anti-love and dedicated to breaking love-relationships. Just as nobody gets to his destination by stepping on the gas and the brake at the same time, so you will not rise to heaven by letting the devil pull your leg.

¹¹ Go now and leave your life of sin. JOHN 8 

Draw love and drink from the well of God (Acts 2:38 tlb). Soak your heart 100%, your soul 100%, your mind 100%, your strength 100%...

¹² Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the right time to seek the Lord, that He may come and shower righteousness upon you. HOSEA 10 nlt

²⁰ Here I am. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me. REVELATION 3

Soaking is a continuing process. Just as walking in the rain can saturate you with wetness, so you must keep on returning to God. What do we call the driver who waits until his gas tank is empty before he looks for a refilling station? In the spiritual realm we call them wise who refill themselves with divine love before they run dry. 

¹⁴ Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ROMANS 8

Make God your constant companion, wherever you are, whatever your situation. After all every child needs a loving and caring Father to nourish and enlighten him, to strengthen and protect him.

One of the disciples asked, “Rabbi, you said constant companion. How can we at every moment have God in our mind? It seems impossible.” Y’shua replied, “Barnabas, have you seen the men at the quarry? How by constant practice, they talk to each other and at the same time, without looking, strike the moil without injuring their hands? Make a conscious effort to be mindful of God until it becomes a constant practice. Water cleaves the hardest of rocks with single drops over a period of time.” (Gospel of Barnabas, chapters 109 and 75)

⁶ And now just as you trusted in the Messiah to save you, trust Him, too, for each day’s problems; live in vital union with Him. ⁷ Let your roots grow down into Him and draw up nourishment from Him. See that you go on growing in the Lord, and become strong and vigorous in the truth you were taught. Let your lives overflow with joy and thanksgiving for all He has done. COLOSSIANS 2 tlb  

John 15:4-10 brings to mind babies that suck milk from their mothers. Mothers’ milk gives nourishment and colostrums (antibodies). The human soul needs nourishment and antibodies too. Without them it does not grow into a fruitful tree. It withers and dies. It is picked up and thrown into the fire.

¹² He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 JOHN 5

Soaking should visibly result in new birth. E. W. Kenyon said, “LOVE is proof of New Birth.”[2]

³ How can we be sure that we belong to Him? By looking within ourselves: are we really trying to do what He wants us to do? ⁴ Someone may say, “I am a Christian; I am on my way to heaven; I belong to the Messiah.” But if he doesn’t do what the Messiah tells him to, he is a liar. ⁵ But those who do what the Messiah tells them to will learn to love God more and more. This is the way to know whether or not you are a Christian. ⁶ Anyone who says he is a Christian should live as the Messiah did. 1 JOHN 2 tlb

LOVE is an action word. It should stir you into action. Make it a personal habit. The more you walk in LOVE, the more you shall smell like Christ, an aroma pleasing to God.   

² Let love and faithfulness never leave you. PROVERBS 3

¹ Let love be your highest goal! 1 CORINTHIANS 14 nlt

¹⁶ Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 JOHN 4 

¹⁶ [But] anyone who does not love remains in death. 1 JOHN 3

Love Your Family Next

After filling your cup, offer to your neighbors the same unconditional love, forgiveness and reconciliation that you have received from God. Broaden intrapersonal to interpersonal. Help others to be soaked too.

²⁰ Remember this: Whoever brings back a sinner from the wrong way will be saving that sinner’s soul from death and bring about the forgiveness of many sins. JAMES 5 tev

Christian churches usually equate love-in-action with soul-winning. That is not wrong, but please do not take the first available plane to one end of the earth. That is not how it works—especially if you don’t have the money.

God’s biggest challenge to each of us is to make divine love work in our respective families. He prefers love-in-action to begin inside our own homes, in the family.

¹⁹ Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how He has had mercy on you. MARK 5

⁴ [The coworker of God] must manage his own family well. 1 TIMOTHY 3

⁴ [Children and grandchildren] should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God. 1 TIMOTHY 5

Why family first? The logic is simple: Why go far in saving souls when there are souls that are wounded and dying right inside our homes?

Sad to say, many “coworkers of God” today are busybodies, helping to fix other people’s fences but neglecting their own. Isn’t it a tragic sight and a Christian contradiction?  

⁴ How can you say to your brother, “Let me take the speck out of your eye,” when all the time there is a plank in your own eye. ⁵ You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the splinter in your brother’s eye. MATTHEW 7

“No other success can compensate for failure in the home,” declared David O. McKay, one of America’s greatest churchmen. “The relationship between society and family is like that between the human body and its cells. For the human body to function well, its cell structure must function well.” (Find Real Happiness, p. 53)

¹⁰ Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire. DEUTERONOMY 18

⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up… ⁹ Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. DEUTERONOMY 6

When it comes to saving our families, we have built-in advantages over the other coworkers of God. To begin with, the terrain is familiar to us. We know the weaknesses and strengths of each family member. We know the appropriate time to deal with each of them. We speak the family language. Inside our families are hearts that are readily available to hear us. We can identify them and focus the crusade on them first. After we win them, we can join forces with them in winning the rest of the family. The family member who resists love-in-action, if any, will not shoo us away because we are his own flesh and blood, a legitimate occupant of the house.

Speaking of resistance, it is likely when a seed or two of ill-will lingers between you and a family member. Y’shua said, “A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household” (Matthew 10:36). And how to deal with it? With the offensive remarks and actions that are thrown at your direction? Stand firm. Instead of being downhearted, accept it with gladness because it means Lucifer is trying to sidetrack you. Use the belligerence to mirror the rough edges in you and repair them.

¹ Follow the way of love. 1 CORINTHIANS 14 

¹⁵ At all times make it your aim to do good to one another and to all people. 1 THESSALONIANS 5

⁸ In Messiah Y’shua… the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. GALATIANS 5 

Words of love might sound untrue but love-in-action cannot be denied. Divine love will remain an idle concept to the unbeliever, but once felt, it will melt every resistance there is. It will honor and exalt the God we profess to love. We will become most welcome to everyone.

¹⁸ We must not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 1 JOHN 3 

²⁶ Just as the body without the soul is dead, so faith without [righteous] deeds is dead. JAMES 2

Our families are meant to be our initiation and practice ground on LOVE. In the secular world before anyone becomes a full-fledged educator, doctor or banker, he is required to do “practicum.” In the spiritual realm, home is where practice makes perfect.  We experience the ups and downs of loving and mature into it. We save our families from the Second Death and win souls. We gain personal testimony and moral authority. The will of God is done on earth as it is in heaven.

Help transform your family into a God-loving family like to that of Joseph, Mary and Y’shua. It should be less difficult to win souls in it than elsewhere. 

Divine Vision.  Together let us visualize the neighborhood should everyone succeed in harmonizing his family in love.

The entire neighborhood would be love-infested and devil-free. Everyone would make sure their thoughts, words and actions offend no one, corrupt no one, and prompt no wrong.

God’s blessings would be shared in common. Selfishness, covetousness and jealousy would be removed from everyone’s hearts. Nobody would have to face his problems alone. The bayanihan would come to his aid.

Nobody would be left behind; there would be no cause for sorrow. Every one would be restored to his original blessed state and enter life (1 John 3:14). Immense joy, serenity and contentment would overflow. God’s love would be made complete in us (1 John 4:12). There would be great celebration and merriment in heaven.  

Be God’s Worker to the World

After your family is harmonized and ruled by divine love, what next?

Go public and save more souls. Be a coworker of God to the world.

The world was shocked and saddened in 2005 when the Boxing Day tsunami struck the coastlines of Southeast Asia and killed no less than 200,000 people. False teachings have wasted more than that!

Billions of souls are disoriented and lost today due to false teachings. The privileged class pre-occupy themselves with earning money, rushing for appointments, amassing non-essentials, staying young and sexy. They while away idleness, boredom and isolation with vacationing or partying, or by getting addicted or obsessed with something. The less privileged pre-occupy themselves with rising above destitution, wanting to enjoy life in comfort and style. They compose the great majority who has to live with everyday frustrations, disappointments, rejections, hurts and incapacities. Love dictates that both the privileged and the less privileged be helped while we can.

Do Not Give Up the Fight

Lucifer might not show it but at this stage, you have earned his respect. For five reasons: You have pulled your family away from his hands and are medaled with the credentials and personal testimony of a victor. You have grown into a seasoned warrior; fear of the evil empire is removed from you. You have merited the favor of God. You are well-versed in using Spirit-empowerment. Your words and actions bear moral authority.

You would enter the bigger arena battle-scarred and tested. Nobody would have to baby-sit you. You would be an asset, not a liability, to the cause. Your fellow coworkers would see in you a big-hearted, knowledgeable and dependable co-warrior. You could relate with the disoriented and lost, and they would listen to you.     

Expect Lucifer to contest your soul-winning nonetheless (Revelation 12:17). His demonic forces and human agents will create situations to challenge, intrigue, frustrate, and disappoint you. They will rebuff you and threaten you with harm or death. They will pick on human weaknesses and faults (yours and your neighbors’) to irk and anger you, to break up your love-relationships, to make you quit. Do not give them the satisfaction.

Keep on building up. Do not quit on anyone—not even on the human agents, for they too are target souls of the ministry. Understand that the neighborhood is a plate of fallible and flawed beings. Everyone (you included) commits mistakes and causes problems. God has bunched us together so that our individual and corporate resolve to love and faithfulness can be tested. Instead of being irked or angered, rather than break up love-relationships or give up the fight, learn to be compassionate: first to your erring self and then to your erring neighbors.

Lucifer used the Twelve to intrigue, frustrate and disappoint the Son of Man. Y’shua’s best friend, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Him. Apostle John ran away and abandoned Him to His arresters. Three times Peter denied his association with Him. The other apostles hid in great fear for their lives. The Son of Man could have given up on them but He did not. He resurrected and went back for them.

Y’shua did not give up on Saul either, the great persecutor of the early Christians. And the perseverance paid off handsomely. Saul became St. Paul who, like Peter and John, transformed into a tireless teacher of the faith, a miracle worker and an undaunted martyr.

¹ Therefore, since through God’s mercy, we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. ¹⁶ Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 2 CORINTHIANS 4

Fight corporate. Learn fast of the power to be gained in corporate unity, planning and organization: work with the Church. Before going public, coordinate your intention with the Church. Strictly speaking, it is the Church (the collective whole) and not you that must fight it out with the evil empire. Corporate resistance is a must. This explains the prayer of Y’shua:      

²⁰ My prayer is not for [My disciples] alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message, ²¹ that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in you. JOHN 17

The Cross

The task of soul-winning requires urgency. Your target souls might die this afternoon or tonight. Or to put it bluntly, you might die. Every tick of the clock counts. It is like saving the life of a loved one from drowning or from falling from the edge of a cliff.

⁹ You must rescue everyone while there is still time. JEREMIAH 6 

The task requires selflessness. This explains why only the matured should be at the warfront. And who is the matured? The one knowledgeable in the Word of God. The success in harmonizing his family in love. He prays instead of worrying. He does not hesitate to risk everything, his life included, to get the job done. He has overcome fear, trusting that God can restore everything he put on the line.

¹ Since the Messiah suffered and underwent pain, you must have the same attitude He did; you must be ready to suffer, too. For remember, when your body suffers, sin loses its power, ² and you won’t be spending the rest of your life chasing after evil desires. 1 PETER 4 tlb

¹⁸ Perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 1 JOHN 4

¹¹ This is the message you heard from the beginning: that we should love one another… ¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Messiah Y’shua laid down His life for us. Now we ought to lay down our lives for our brethren. 1 JOHN 3 

⁶ Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as Y’shua did. 1 JOHN 2

But don’t die literally, as in you stop breathing and your heart stops beating. The cross is a symbolic reminder that our old self must die and be replaced with a new self. Dying means righteous living. Like volunteering to wash the dishes or doing the family laundry (even if we don’t feel like doing it). Kissing and embracing everyone in the house and appreciating them for what they are. Putting aside an appointment or a vacation to take care of a sick sibling or an aged parent. Giving to the needy instead of buying a new shirt or mobile phone. Giving a seat to the old, the sick and the handicapped. Being considerate of the pedestrians when driving. Taming the tongue and learning effective communication. Being patient under affliction and controlling our temper. Loving instead of hating. Crossing the line to make peace with our “enemies.”

Love-in-action is how lost souls are won over to the Lord. Paul described it and the selflessness it entails in three words: “I die everyday” (1 Corinthians 15:31).

²¹ For to me… to die is gain. PHILIPPIANS 1

The Faithful Bondslave

⁴⁵ Are you a wise and faithful servant? Have I given you the task of managing My household, to feed My children day by day? ⁴⁶ Blessings on you if I return and find you faithfully doing your work. ⁴⁷ I will put such faithful ones in charge of everything I own!  ⁴⁸ But if you are evil and say to yourself, “My Lord won’t be coming for a while,” ⁴⁹ and begin oppressing your fellow servants, partying and getting drunk, ⁵⁰ your Lord will arrive unannounced and unexpected, ⁵¹ and severely whip you and send you off to the Judgment of the hypocrites; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. MATTHEW 24 tlb 

Trumpet Call to the Lost

²⁶ I am the Lord, the God of all people. JEREMIAH 32 

²² Turn to Me and be saved, all you ends of the earth. ISAIAH 45 

¹ Walk before Me and be perfect. GENESIS 17

³⁰ I will judge you, each one according to his ways… Repent! Turn away from all your offenses; then sin will not be your downfall. ³¹ Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. ³² For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign Lord. Repent and live! ²¹ If a wicked man turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all My decrees and does what is right and just, he will surely live; he will not die. ²² None of the offenses he has committed will be remembered against him. [All will be forgiven.] Because of the righteous things he has done, he will live. ²³ Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live? ²⁴ But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits sin and does the same detestable things the wicked man does, will he live? None of the righteous things he has done will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness he is guilty of and because of the sins he has committed, he will die. EZEKIEL 18

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[1] Y’shua’s methodology is to bring out the ‘godness’ in His target souls, to give them faith in themselves as valuable children of God. By associating and eating with the social outcasts, and visiting their homes, He made them feel they were acceptable to God. They felt forgiven and clean. He healed their infirmities, saying to them, “Your faith has healed you.” He restored their damaged self-respect. He taught them that the supreme law is LOVE, to be brothers and sisters by being attentive to each other’s needs.—Come Out of Her My People: Unveiling the Filipinos’ Divine Destiny, p. 24.

[2] E. W. Kenyon, Advance Bible Course (Lynnwood, Washington, USA: Kenyon’s Gospel Publishing Society, 1970), p. 18.