Copyright © Othealor W. Prince January 2017
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TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!
Copyright © Othealor W. Prince 2011
All Rights Reserved
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!
Copyright © Othealor W. Prince 2011
All Rights Reserved
TO GOD BE THE GLORY!!!
“Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it.” (Psalm 127:1)
Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool; what is the house which you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the LORD. But this is the man to whom I will look, he that is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.” (Isaiah 66:1)
I have heard too many preachers declare that their church was “Holy Ghost Headquarters.” This may sound good to the listener but it may also be blasphemy. To say such a thing of God’s Spirit doesn’t give due reverence to the awesome Glory of His Power. And, regardless of what you may think, it reveals that the person speaking such disrespect doesn’t have any revelation or personal relationship with the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit of the LORD is not a thing that can be housed or headquartered in anything man-made like a church or worship facility.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:1-2)
The Spirit of God was in the beginning with God. Job 26:13 says that “By His Spirit He has garnished the heavens.” And Isaiah 40:13 asks the question, “Who has measured the Spirit of the Lord, or what man shows him his counsel?”
No religious institution of man-made structure or “church” may presume to contain the Spirit of God for The Holy Spirit is unsearchable, omnipresent and alive and usurps all earthly power and might. (Zechariah 4:6)
Jesus in John 3:3-7 and 1 Peter 1:12 indicates that the Holy Spirit doesn’t reside on earth but is from Heaven.
According to the Holy Scriptures, God will make His Spirit to dwell in those of us who have heard and believed the Gospel of the Kingdom of God, repented and died to sin and are buried by baptism in water into His name. (John 3:3-7 and Acts 2:38)
1 Corinthians 3:16 tells us that we are the temple of God because His Spirit dwells in us.
1 Corinthians 6:19 tells us that our “bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in us, whom we have received from God because we belong to God.”
It is the Holy Spirit that speaks out of us in tongues affirming our acceptance and adoption as children of God. (Romans 8:16 and Acts 15:8)
It is the Holy Spirit that make intercession for us and on our behalf in accordance with God’s will. (Romans 8:26-27)
It is the Holy Spirit – when it speaks out of us in tongues – that identifies us as the Body of Christ and the ONE TRUE CHURCH.
Let us be clear once and for all. No man-made edifice (building) called a church is actually The CHURCH OF CHRIST. The best that mankind can do is construct a building, facility or institution for The CHURCH OF CHRIST to assemble or meet in.
Sometime ago, there was a woman who expressed to me that she was born a Baptist and that she would stay a Baptist until the day that she died. She said that she was never leaving the Baptist church. This attitude of loyalty and devotion to a Christian institution and/or denomination has caused many well-intentioned Christians to commit idolatry against the Kingdom of God. Many worship and prefer their religion and their “churches” over God’s ONE TRUE CHURCH. (Romans 12:5)
Many believers have been indoctrinated to think of their local Christian religious institutions and places of worship as the church. But The One True CHURCH is Spirit and Truth and dwells in the hearts, souls and physical bodies of those who have been washed in the blood of the Lamb of God by Baptism into His name and indwelt with The Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:38-42) Although there are many institutions and Christian worship facilities that may be called “church,” they cannot be THE CHURCH of CHRIST. Only a living soul can become The CHURCH of Christ.
Therefore, next time someone asks you where your church is, tell them it is wherever you are for The Church is not brick, mortar, clay, stone, metal or any earthly material, but Spirit and Truth in the Holy Ghost . Amen.
This is the intellectual, creative, literary and real property of Othealor W. Prince, Jr.
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ALL GLORY TO GOD
There are two types of fundamental spirits in humanity. There is the wolf and the sheep. There is the predator and the pry. There is the loved and the hated. There is the good and the bad.
Then there are two types of shepherds or protectors in the world. There is the good shepherd who will lay down his life for his sheep and then there is the hired shepherd who abandons the sheep to the wolves.
Then there are two types of spirits among siblings, relatives and friends. There are the Cain and the Abel spirits, There is the spirit of disobedience, jealousy and murder and the spirit of humility, obedience and child like faith.
The challenge is to identify which is which. They look so much alike at times that it takes the judgment of God to tell them a part.
Here are some hints and signs to look out for when trying to choose right from wrong and holy from unholy:
God is not politically correct nor is He a feminist.
God’s Divine Order and Protocol is Absolute and Immutable.
God’s One Way and man’s many ways are naturally opposed to each other.
Anything or anyone that deviates from God’s eternal path and divine order is not of God.
Who God has made female cannot be made male by man and whom God has made the head cannot be made the tail by woman. To contradict God’s divine order of things and genders is to attempt to pervert and change He who cannot be changed – God.
It is insane to think that one can force God to accept them as His shepherd/Pastor when He has not called or designed them to be a shepherd. The idea is as ludicrous as trying to convince a fish that he can breathe out of water. You can try to convince him but if he doesn’t get back into the water, he is a dead fish.
So it is with some Christians and Christian Pastors, if we don’t return to the authentic message of the Kingdom of God and the gospel of Christ and if we don’t quickly return to God’s life giving and soul saving order, we will perish.
Repent!
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If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.…” ~ James 2:15-17
It is a habit of many believers to say to each other “Be Blessed” or “Have a Blessed Day.” And these are all fine expressions of good will. But sometimes folks need more than just goodwill. They need the goods.
Without the “goods” many folks cannot eat, buy medicines, go to the doctor, get dental work, pay rent, care for an elderly loved one or do any of the needed things in life. And many of these needful folks may not look needful or distressed or in want.
Parenthetically speaking, the Bible doesn’t require the needy to look needy or behave in any special way or be deserving.
However, the Word of God requires that our faith be demonstrated by meeting their needs. And I believe that those of us who are gifted with the genuine Holy Spirit of God will be led by God to give to others in order to relief their needs, sooth their pains and ease their sufferings and burdens. (Romans 8:14)
The Word of God challenges those of us who have the means, resources and the Faith to share our worldly goods with those who are in need, especially those who are of the household of Faith. (Galatians 6:9-10 and 1 John 3:17)
“Real Love and Caring requires more than just preaching and teaching, eloquent speech and flattering platitudes. It must cost us something.” (Bishop O.W. Prince)
LOVE LIKE GOD LOVES!
GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE …
Picture credited to Our Daily Blossom