2021 teaching theme: ' A Season of Faith'

'Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”



(Luke 18:1-8)


In Luke 18:8, Jesus asks one troubling question: However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”


If Jesus is asking such question, it should lead us to assume that faith will become a 'rare commodity' in the period closely preceding His return. By now, after all the terrible events experienced, most Christians will definitely agree that we have reached a period very close to the end of ages. And as we advance towards the end, more destructive events will contribute to the falling away of many brethren in the Lord.

In Matthew 24:4-8, Jesus warns us of things to come by saying:

'Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.



“Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.'


Notice that Jesus predicted a great falling away from the faith resulting from destructive events including persecutions and physical deaths. In Matthew 24:30, Jesus comes for the second time. The chronological order of the prophecy included in Matthew 24 clearly indicates that the Church will go through a global persecution before the rapture.
It is sad to hear many people preach a 'pre-tribulation rapture'. Pre-tribulation rapture is not in the Bible, and it is a dangerous thing to preach because it fails to mentally prepare the Christians for what's coming. A Christian ,who is not mentally warned and prepared for the events predicted in Matthew 24, might not be able to maintain faith when those events occurred. A 'pre-tribulation rapture doctrine' will lead many to believe that God is a liar when the tribulation occurs. We have to preach the right thing in order to prevent deception.


2021: ' A season of great faith'

In the recent past years, I took on the habit to introduce a yearly theme in my teachings through God's inspiration. Strangely, by the end 2019, I did not have a set theme...it was as if the space was blank...Now that we have experienced all forms of unusual events, I realize why I had no theme at all.

But as we begin this year, we will all need a greater level of faith. And this is not going to be for just a year but for a season which might last for over a decade.


Why is faith too important?

I am not discounting other popular keywords in the Kingdom of God such as 'Glory, prosperity, restoration, healing, and many others. However the relevance of faith is so high to the point where God said Himself that the just shall live by faith (ref. Habakkuk 2:4). God did not say that the just shall live by glory or by prosperity, or by restoration, or by victory or by anything else. He said that we shall live by faith. You can go and look it up for yourself in your own Bible.

Before I explain the intent of Satan, I will briefly touch on the basics of faith:

Faith is different from certainty. Certainty is a human positive state of mind which leads to a firm conviction about something. Faith comes hearing the word of God (ref. Romans 10:17). Faith does not come from the news, from factual sights, from human data and so forth. Faith only comes from the Word of God .
On the other hand, certainty can come from the news or from factual sights and from many other things.
Though certainty is not all bad, faith is much better and more valuable. Some people do not live by faith, but they live by certainty. Every time we overlook the word of God for our lives before making a decision, we decide either by chance or by certainty.

The big difference between Faith and certainty is this: 'Faith is initiated by God through His word. Certainty is initiated by humans.'

Here is the big question: 'Do you initiate everything in your life or is God initiating everything in your life through His Word?'

Many of you are in trouble simply because you overlook God's words in your life and you prefer to initiate all your decisions based on personal certainty. This explains why many end up marrying people against God's approval, or end up in careers that God never approved....


Satan's great intent

Since God said that the just shall live by faith, it also implies that the just cannot live without faith. Therefore, if Satan can turn you away from faith, he can obliterate you. That's the great intent of Satan.

So how does Satan proceed in removing faith?

Satan uses two main tactics: 

a) Rendering the Word of God questionable,
b) The destruction by proximity

In Genesis 3,Satan through the serpent rendered the Word of God questionable while addressing Eve. In most cases, after you hear from God, Satan will come to render questionable what you heard. You will hear things like:

'Did God really say you should support the Gospel financially? Did God really want you to marry this person, this dude, look at him/her? Does this idea received from God not sound stupid? Don't you think that God is cruel by ordering you to do this?'

Once Satan runs the questionability of what you heard from God, he will push you from 'spiritual thinking' to 'human thinking'. In other words, he will push you to make a decision based on your own human preferences. And these are some of the examples that will happen:

'Instead of marrying a person approved by God, you will choose to marry someone who aligns to the desires of your human thinking.
Instead of moving to a city where God sends you, you will choose a location that suits your human reasoning,
Instead of doing God's will, you will choose a substitute acceptable to you and society 'standard.
Instead of believing and accepting the Scriptures, you will twist them with your own human opinions.'

You are not supposed to converse with Satan through debates. You must just rebuke him in the Name of Jesus and get busy into what God spoke. The more you give him your ear, the more he will take you out of your faith.

The second tactic of Satan consists in destroying by proximity. If he cannot talk you out of your faith, he will destroy things around you. Notice, in Matthew 24, that destructions (in the form of war, betrayals, diseases, famines, earthquakes) precede the great falling away from the faith. When Satan wanted to finish Job (reference, book of Job), he destroyed his family and possessions. During the year 2020, many have lost their faith through the destruction of their savings, their jobs, their businesses, or through their family losses caused by the pandemic.
Those destructions caused many to question the existence of God and the veracity of His word...

Once a person loses their faith through the device and schemes of Satan, automatically, there will be a countdown on their lives unless they jump back in faith. In Genesis 3, once Adam and Eve stepped away from God's word concerning the forbidden fruit, a countdown had begun on their lives...they were fully exposed to the destruction of death.

If Satan cannot recruit you in his team, he will attempt to destroy you with passion. Since the just only live by faith, it also implies that the just cannot live without faith. Once the just steps out of faith, he/she is exposed.


Remain firm in your faith

The one who remains firm to the end will be saved (Ref. Matthew 24:13). But if you don't remain firm to the end, how will you be saved?

For those who want to go deeper, I explain in great details the device and schemes of Satan during moments of trials in this book: Standing firm and purposeful through life trials



The New season ahead:

This new year is not just a year, it is a season. In other words, we may have to overlook the Gregorian concept of the 12 months included in a calendar. This new season will be a long period where Satan is coming for your faith.

But you must remain firm in your love and in your faith.

Wickedness will increase among men. For this reason, you cannot afford to step out of what you hear from God. If you do so, you will expose yourself to the increased wickedness. Automatically.

In this season, Satan is done playing games and teasing acts. He is done with that. And if you are one of those lukewarm, undecided, faithless churchgoer, you will be devoured unless you stand firm and sober.
Listen: 'I send my deepest sympathies to all those who have lost families and means of living during the pandemic. And I pray that God gives you comfort for your family losses and restoration for your material losses.

The year 2020 was a 'teasing act' from Satan, a form of test to assess the reaction of the world and the power of the Church. Now that Satan has done what he planned, he has collected the data that he needed for a greater strike force.

Satan is coming back with another act. I don't know exactly where or how. But his next act will be the start of the real deal.

This is not a post aimed at increasing fear. It is a post to warn you and to help you remain awake and sober.

This is a season where you will have to do EXACTLY what God tells you do.
If God says 'move', you will have to move. If God says 'stop', you will have to stop.

Those who rely on their own thinking and churchgoers that are drunk with the world will be obliterated unless they decide to live by faith.

Remember this: 'save your money. Be careful with reckless spending whether you are an organization or an individual. Be very careful with the way you spend your money'.

During these times, certain people will be used in influential positions of society to serve as relief against the new attacks. If you are one of those people, I implore you to live by faith (in accordance to God's Words upon your mission) because many will experience relief through you IF you obey.

And finally, a word of caution to all my fellow servants in Christ:

'Because you have caused damage in the camp of the enemy through your past work, Satan has a special 'hit list' with the names of some of the most influential workers. The goal of Satan is to utilize attacks on those faithful servants as public examples to discourage the church as a body. In the process of discouraging the church, many will lose their faith.'
But in all these, remain steadfast and you will cross to the other side.


We will get through this together.

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