Who is blessed and who is not? And Why?

“The prisoner, imprisoned for the same reason his entire family had been murdered—his race (nothing else)—was called into a hospital room where a soldier from among the oppressors laid, his life draining out from a war hole. Caked in crusted and rancid bandages, the oppressor sputtered this painful plea:
“I was in an elite unit. A land mine killed thirty of our men. In revenge, we herded three hundred of your people into a building; men, women, children; doused it with gasoline; and set it on fire. Those who fled we shot. I remember specifically a mother, a father, and a small boy. The parents, covering the child's eyes, ran outside. All were screaming. I shot them dead. I can't get away from the sight and sound of that family and their screams. And now, as I am dying, I beg forgiveness from someone of your race. Without it, I cannot die in peace. Please, please, forgive me! “” The forgiven—Sabbath school Bible Study Guide, second quarter 2003.

Whatever the answer from the prisoner to this dying soul seeking forgiveness, we all know that even in the best of situations, forgiveness doesn't come easy. Both for the forgiveness and reconciliation Christian activists and the eye for an eye Judaism defenders.

For a clear example, often times here in Rwanda, we receive Christian missionaries who come to help this country heal from its shameful and disgraced history. They come to teach us not only the tactics and techniques that are necessary in the process of reconciliation, but also the ABCs of salvation as it is found in Jesus Christ.

Some times I wonder, how many of us, missionaries and local Christians--if Osama Bin Laden and Théoneste Bagosora were captured and brought to be judged not by earthly system of justices that would judge them by the law of the land, but to be judged by the gospel preachers so that they would judge them according to the Law of God—How many of us would say to them “Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more"”?

“If it takes so much for us to forgive a snapping unkind word, a rebuff, a cold shoulder, an insult, or curse, what did it take for God to forgive our lusts, our murders, our cruelty, our hatred, our crimes, our violence, and even, if need be, our mass murders?”
God said and is still saying: “Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. Psalms 32:1-2

Whether the 9/11, Rwandan genocide and South African apartheid victims like it or not, that would include—if they accept Jesus’ call to repent—people like Osama Bin Laden, Theoneste Bagosora and Steve Biko’s murderers.

Sounds frustrating, and some times hard to believe. But we cannot deny that these men and many more not mentioned here, are no more sinners than Soul baptized Paul, a man whose cruelty has been turned into a lofty and exemplified faith. A man, whose epistles and letters are documents without which the inspired word of God would have been incomplete.

So, how does this covering of sins and forgiveness of transgression business work? How does it happen that this misunderstood Old Testament God never counts sins against the sinner? Does He just condone sin? After all, He is God of Justice who truly can display a bitter wrath.
The Cross is the means by which God could be just and, at the same time, forgive our sins. That is quite a feat, because justice, by nature, demands being given the punishment you deserve, while forgiveness demands the opposite, being given what you do not deserve. Justice and forgiveness, then, seem mutually exclusive: You can have one or the other—but not both. Yet God, through Christ, accomplished both at the Cross.

Our unkind words, rebuffs, cold shoulders, insults, curses, lusts, murders, cruelties, hatreds, crimes, violence, and even, if need be, our mass murders become Christ’s own crimes for which He was crucified and in exchange what we have in return is his holiness and righteousness counted as if they are our own.

And this is very true both in Old Testament and New Testament alike. Like in the New Testament this wonderful gift of righteousness came to those in the Old Testament by faith alone. Never faith + Law. Hence the phrase, "righteousness by faith.""The Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin" (Exodus 34:6, 7).

The reason why the Great I AM does not still up all his wrath against us and destroy us, is because He is full of compassion, forgives our iniquities (Ps. 78:38).

You might be thinking that you have gone down bellow the forgiveness line. That now you do not deserve his mercy. But know this:"

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

I am forgiven, Are You? Or you don't feel the Need to be? If you don feel the need, read

Romans 3:23. Then, once you have recognized that you need to be forgiven, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:38

Then, you will be blessed because being forgiven is being blessed!

Who Is Blessed???

So the poor have hope,
and injustice shuts its mouth.

"Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.

For he wounds, but he also binds up;
he injures, but his hands also heal.

Job 5:16-18 (NIV)

This is so awesome, Even When God injures, He seeks to bless the one He injures?? And that's Love?? And when the poor in Zimbabwe have hope, injustices that comes from the corrupt government shuts its mouth? Wow!

How less we really know God! We look at the materially less fortunate and think we are more blessed than them? But Job challenges us by suggesting that a God corrected pygmy living in a hut within the Congolese jungle could be more blessed than someone who lives in the mansions of Nyarutarama and yet is not corrected by God?

We clearly need to understand the true definition of "being blessed" Otherwise, when we ask God to bless us, we are not actually blessed if the package doesn't include being corrected by God to do what He judges to be correct! And the grace we proudly sing becomes a myth.

A definition of blessings:

• To walk according to the law of the LORD (Psalm 119:1) irrespective of where you live
  

Or

• To comfortably live in the mansions of Nyarutarama and not be mindful of those whose houses are demolished by the flood.

You Chose!

Who is blessed and who is not? And Why?

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the ssembly of the righteous. For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1

Read the book "DOES GRACE BLOT OUT THE LAW" by Joe Crews and be amazed by these biblical relationship between Law and Grace.

The bombing of Gaza and The Holy Bible

"The ongoing Israeli-Arab conflict flared up dramatically this past week, as the Jewish nation began a massive retaliatory campaign against repeated Hamas rocket attacks, which have been originating out of the Palestinian-controlled Gaza Strip for weeks since a cease-fire truce came to an end.What began with a shock-and-awe bombing assault has now turned into a devastating ground incursion that has already left more than 500 dead and thousands more wounded. Moreover, a massive humanitarian crisis is now looming.As the world holds its breath for some kind of resolution, a few oil-producing nations are even calling for an embargo to punish countries supporting Israel — which could destabilize an already weak U.S. economy even more. Others are demanding a full withdrawal of Israeli forces, while some say that the Jewish nation has a God-given right to defend herself. Is a greater global conflict on the horizon?What Does It Mean For You?But an even bigger question is whether the Bible has anything to say about this seemingly never-ending conflict. What began as a family dispute between two sons of Abraham — Isaac and Ishmael — continues to barrel out of control in the 21st century!Will this conflict lead to Armageddon? What does the Bible really say about the Jews and the end-times?Amazing Facts has the Bible answers you need! If you’re worried or confused about what this war means for the last days, we have plenty of resources to get you informed. Warning: What you discover here might totally change the way you think!But most important, with the world’s attention — both political and religious — focused on the Middle East now, there isn’t a better time to share Bible truth about Israel and the end-times". From www.amazingfacts.org

Read the book "Spiritual Israel" by Doug Batchelor & Steve Wohlberg and be amazed by these facts.

When obedience to the will of God superceeds our earthly desires, we become the heirs of the promises made to Abraham while losing nothing good that Jesus provides while we are still on this planet.

Surely, we must seek the Kingdom of God first even if nothing is added to it. For in the Kingdom of God, our desires are fullfilled by Jesus' matchless Grace throught Faith that we do not obtain by ourselves, but by Christ's own rightousness.

Happy New Year!

The future of BEN & BROS Ltd.,

Ben & Bros Ltd, is going to be solely dependent on Rwandan entrepreneurs in collaboration with experienced entrepreneurs and Engineers and others,  both in the country and outside the country, whose dream is to embrace in practical manner, the Rwandan Government vision of 2020. 

At Ben & Bros Ltd, we are very thankful of the achievements of the government of Rwanda and we strongly respond to the government's call to promote the private sector by seeking self employment rather than idleness which has always resulted in economic dependance of many Rwandans.

Our philosophy as young engineers, is to find a way to employ the skilled, yet unfortunate young rwandans, who in vain would look for permanent employment sometimes in closed doors due to the limited jobs. We  actively and aggressively join the Government of Rwanda in its fight against poverty and economic dependance that despite the rwandan steadily growing economy, continues to be manifested among the youth. 

While at Ben & Bros Ltd, the quality of services will be ensured, many years of experience will not be a requirement for obtaining a job. That is why Ben & Bros Ltd, is in touch with experienced Engineers both inside and outside the country, who are ready to give on hand training and assistance to the employes in every step they make in perfection of the daily work. 

One of the Engineers is MIKE TRACY from Texas, United States, an expert in construction related projects. Engineers such as Mike Tracy will help shape the future of this visionary small scale company to meet both the needs of your engineers who lack experience, and our esteemed customers who want the state-of-the-art technology in whatever they want to build for themselves. 

If you know of any potential information that would help make Ben & Bro Ltd a success, don't hesitated to call +250 0835 8833. Also, your thoughtful input is needed. 

"Warship in Truth and Spirit"

One of the wonderful women with whom we meet at the bible study every Sunday approached me wondering whether my girlfriend and I have found a common ground for our church issue, now that she was leaving the country. 

I felt dumb founded because as Christians, having issues over the church is definitely majoring in minors, even sticking on "hide while the meet is gone".

To make matter worse, having thousands of denominations doesn't really show the difference in Christianity to a Hindu, Muslim or Buddhist. 

It makes no sense to be busy figuring out in what kind of church we want to serve God, while Jesus is so desperate to have our full attention. 

Again this reminds me of Martha who was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made to serve her honorable and distinguished guest only to learn that the one she was complaining about--for not helping her in these preparations--had chosen what is better, and that it would not be taken away from her," not even by these kind of preparations. Luke 10:38-41 

How often we are worried and upset about many things including churches, to finally learn that only one thing is needed. To be "at Jesus feet” and learn from his lips. 

But here comes a question to a sincere believer:

"Should we just buy any thing that comes in the name of Jesus?"  Someone, who claims to speak for Christ, recently prophesied that by Dec 20th, every woman in Kigali who wears pants and not skirts will die". While we're waiting for that prophecy to be fulfilled, we can only imagine how much we chose to ignore prophecies of Daniel and John that have been standing there for centuries, only to keep embracing  prophecies like the ones of Hal Lindsey's about middle east despite every single prediction of his falling flat.

However big is the number of denominations we attend, what we learn at Jesus feet is not the "relative" truths as found in our respectful denominations. What we learn from His lips, is His "absolute truth" (no matter who we listen to on our churches pulpits) as found only in Him because not only is He a truth teller, but He is absolute truth Himself, NOT dependant on our human interpretations. 

This one "absolute" truth -- as opposed to the "relative" human truth is what brings together the diversity of tongues, kindred, races and cultures in one accord to recognize His own supremacy and creator-ship, hence a call to His true worshipers scattered around many churches and denominations to worship him in just one way: "in spirit and truth", --for those who worship him "in Spirit and Truth" are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks--John 4:23 

Is the number of  denominations determined by the number of "truths and spirits" ?

I would like to not hope so. One thing we can be sure of however, is that there is someone else who coverts our worship. Rev.13 warns us. And this someone else must have a different, alternative "relative truth and spirit" in which he would have us worship him. The sad news is that it's a multitude that worships him despite the warnings that have been there for centuries.

And it takes the "one absolute truth and spirit" to discern his malice, and because he wants to deceive as many elect as he can, he doesn't oppose the absolute truth openly, he acts like he has no problem with it, only offering a privilege to alter the absolute truth, sadly one of the reason being that we're under grace!

"He acts like an angle of light", but actually he is baddon and Apollyon meaning " Destroyer" who has always coveted the place of Jesus who alone spoke and everything came into existance. And while many think they worship the creator, by ignorance they may worship the alternative truth teller (the father of all lies) 

The relative truth leads to an alternative and confused (Babylonian) system of  worship from which the Lord is desperately calling his people to "Come out of", so that they would not share in Babylon’s (confused system of worship) sins, and not receive any of Babylon’s plagues. Revelation 18:3-5.