Age of Deceit!- the fallen angels!

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Ventures in Faith

By Virginia Brandt Berg

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God has given us five senses: feeling, seeing, hearing, tasting, and smelling. When we taste something that is sweet, we have the evidence that it is so, because our taste has given us this evidence. No matter what anyone else says, we know it’s sweet, because we have evidence. This same application can be worked out with the other senses.

Now in our spiritual life God gives us faith to witness to us of spiritual things, just as our five senses bring us the evidence of temporal things. We accept what our five senses tell us. Why do we not accept faith as the evidence, for it will bring to pass and absolutely make real to us all that we take by faith. Matthew 8:13: “As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee.”

Just as our taste is the evidence that the thing we partook of was sweet, so our faith is the evidence that we have the thing we have asked for. Faith is not an uncertain sort of thing, but is a principle which operates in the spiritual world as surely as the unseen principle of force does in the material world.

In the social world—that is, the human sphere—faith is a principle that binds families together and cements friendships. It is the very foundation stone of commercial confidence and business transactions between men. Why is it thought strange then that this same principle should be applied in the spiritual kingdom? For just as an unseen force of attraction holds the material world together, and an unseen principle holds the social and financial world together, just so an unseen law of faith is the underlying force which holds the spiritual world together. It is the mightiest force in the spiritual world, the active creative force, which produces effects and brings things to pass. Just because faith in God’s promises is not in the natural realm, it is nonetheless a real, active force in the universe.

Faith is practical. The law of faith is just as real as any other of God’s laws. And so God says, “The just shall walk by faith”; “without faith it is impossible to please God”; “this is the victory that overcomes the world, even your faith.”¹ And then He gives a very simple, clean definition of faith, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”²

When we are asking God for something, it is absolutely necessary that we have the authority of His Word upon which to stand. We must get ahold of His promises—not only commit them to memory, but get them deep down into our hearts, ingrained into our beings. We must find the authority in God’s Word, and then faith will come of itself.

God’s Word says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing, by the Word of God.”³ You can never have faith for anything if you are not sure God has given you authority to ask for it. If you really believe the scripture means, “Whatsoever things you desire,” then you will have faith for “whatsoever things.”

It would be impossible to stress too much the committing to memory of some of the outstanding promises. Here are a few that have been standbys of many faith warriors for years: Mark 11:24, “Therefore I say unto you, what things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.” Mark 9:23, “Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.” 1 John 5:14, “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us.” 1 John 5:15, “And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desire of Him.” Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knoweth not.”

You may not be able to commit a great many promises [to memory], but even one or two will so strengthen your faith in time of need that you will wonder how you ever got along without knowing them before.

Eight practical suggestions for getting things from God

First: A surrender, complete and unconditional, unto the Lord; a laying on the altar every part of the life, past and future; heart and mind; will and emotions; hopes and desires; plans and ambitions; in fact, all.

Second: Study God’s Word for the building up of faith, reading promise after promise until they are ingrained into your heart.

Third: Commit at least one promise to heart (three or four, if possible); know it thoroughly.

Fourth: Claim this promise definitely of the Lord. Hold it up before Him, saying: “This is Thy Word on which Thou hast caused me to hope.”⁴

Fifth: Close the deal with God. Make the transaction very definite, literally writing your name on the dotted line.

Sixth: Count it done; it is a closed matter now. You are not to go back over the same ground, except to point back to the time you made the transaction, saying, “It was at this moment I drove the stake down and took the stand of faith.” Now, “having done all, I stand.”⁵

Seventh: Stand now on the promise you have taken. Stand on the Word of God. Stand, notwithstanding every onslaught of the Enemy. Stand, though doubts and fears would try to move you. Stand, saying, “I believe God’s Word against everything else; I believe, though every natural sense of my own makes it untrue. "Let God be true, but every man a liar, that thou mightest be justified in thy saying.”⁶

Eighth: Praise. Thank Him now for the answer; praise Him for His faithfulness. The parcel has not been delivered at your door, but you have closed the deal with Him over the royal telephone, and there is in your heart a very sweet trust and precious confidence in His promise, while you are waiting for the doorbell to ring. We began with prayer, but we end with praise. “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able to bear, but He will, with every temptation, make a way to escape.”⁷

I want to beseech you that you take some new ventures in faith. There are many adventurers in the world. Vast fortunes have been spent in exploration. Many have risked their lives and many have lost them for the sake of discovering new territory.

Can we not as Christians venture out on the promises of God into new realms of faith and blessings? Can we not venture out and scale the heights to higher ground? Are we so fearful, so lacking in real courage, that we cannot step out upon God’s promises and risk our all on His faithfulness? No matter if Peter did sink for a moment beneath the waves, he at least had the courage to venture out.

Are we always going to stay in the same little circumscribed limits? If we will not venture out and put His Word to the test we will never know what He means by “the great and mighty things” He speaks of in Jeremiah 33:3: “Call unto Me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, that you know not.”

His Word says He will lead you out into a larger place. He will “show you a new thing.”⁸ Someday an emergency will come into your life, when only God can help you, and you will need a strong faith—you will need to know how to appropriate these promises for your desperate need.

Then there is also the wonderful possibility of blessing and service for others, as you see God’s Word fulfilled in their lives. The possibilities of the faith life are unlimited. We have only touched the dim outer edge of what God has for us.

Jesus said, “I am come that ye might have life, and have it more abundantly.”⁹ The faith life is indeed an abundant life. The promises of God are so numerous, so all-inclusive, that there is a promise for every need: hundreds of promises in God’s Word; promises abundant, unfailing, inexhaustible, exceeding great and precious promises.

Originally published 1934. Republished on Anchor April 2012. Read by Bethany Kelly.

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1 Habakkuk 2:4; Hebrews 11:6; 1 John 5:4.

2 Hebrews 11:1.

3 Romans 10:17.

4 Psalm 119:49.

5 Ephesians 6:13.

6 Romans 3:4.

7 1 Corinthians 10:13.

8 Psalm 18:19; Isaiah 43:19.

9 John 10:10.

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What You Really Need to Succeed!

Intelligence Is Overrated: What You Really Need To Succeed



By Keld Jensen, Forbes, April 12, 2012

Albert Einstein’s was estimated at 160, Madonna’s is 140, and John F. Kennedy’s was only 119, but as it turns out, your IQ score pales in comparison with your EQ, MQ, and BQ scores when it comes to predicting your success and professional achievement.


IQ tests are used as an indicator of logical reasoning ability and technical intelligence. A high IQ is often a prerequisite for rising to the top ranks of business today. It is necessary, but it is not adequate to predict executive competence and corporate success. By itself, a high IQ does not guarantee that you will stand out and rise above everyone else.


Research carried out by the Carnegie Institute of Technology shows that 85 percent of your financial success is due to skills in “human engineering,” your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. Shockingly, only 15 percent is due to technical knowledge. Additionally, Nobel Prize winning Israeli-American psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, found that people would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than someone they don’t, even if the likeable person is offering a lower quality product or service at a higher price.


With this in mind, instead of exclusively focusing on your conventional intelligence quotient, you should make an investment in strengthening your EQ (Emotional Intelligence), MQ (Moral Intelligence), and BQ (Body Intelligence). These concepts may be elusive and difficult to measure, but their significance is far greater than IQ.


EQ is the most well known of the three, and in brief it is about: being aware of your own feelings and those of others, regulating these feelings in yourself and others, using emotions that are appropriate to the situation, self-motivation, and building relationships.


Moral Intelligence. MQ directly follows EQ as it deals with your integrity, responsibility, sympathy, and forgiveness. The way you treat yourself is the way other people will treat you. Keeping commitments, maintaining your integrity, and being honest are crucial to moral intelligence. Make fewer excuses and take responsibility for your actions. Avoid little white lies. Show sympathy and communicate respect to others. Practice acceptance and show tolerance of other people’s shortcomings.


Body Intelligence. Lastly, there is your BQ, or body intelligence, which reflects what you know about your body, how you feel about it, and take care of it.


Good nutrition, regular exercise, and adequate rest are all key aspects of having a high BQ. Monitoring your weight, practicing moderation with alcohol, and making sure you have down time can dramatically benefit the functioning of your brain and the way you perform at work.

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How Great Thou Art! Alan Jackson

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RFID Commercial

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The Government, the Media & the Truth!- Jerry Johnson

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Ningúem Desaponta Jeus!

Uma compilação


Ninguém desaponta Jesus. Pedro que o diga!


Olhando superficialmente, parece que a oração de Jesus não foi atendida.[1] Afinal de contas, a última vez que olhei, trata-se do mesmo Pedro que veio a negar Jesus três vezes. Eu acho que Jesus teria toda a razão para ficar desapontado. Mas essa perspectiva só é válida se acharmos que Jesus estava orando para que a fé de Pedro não falhasse jamais.


A fé de Pedro falhou – mas não totalmente.


Jesus sabia que Pedro ia negá-lO, e não orou contra isso. Mas orou para que essa não fosse a última palavra contra Pedro. E, logicamente, a Sua oração foi atendida. Pedro falhou na fé, mas se reergueu e tornou-se o líder da Igreja Primitiva.


Pedro não poderia desapontar Jesus, assim como você não poderia. Sabe o que significa “desapontar”? Significa produzir um resultado além do esperado, ou seja, aquém da expectativa do outro.


Como vai dar a Deus um resultado inesperado?


Deus sabe que você vai falhar. Aquilo que você fez ontem, Jesus já sabia que ia fazer. O mesmo com o que fez hoje e fará amanhã.


Dá um medinho quando pensamos nisso, mas, na verdade, deveria ser um incentivo. Afinal, se Deus já sabe, e sabe desde a eternidade e não desistiu de você, por que haveria você de desistir de si mesmo?


E muito mais do que isso, deveria ficar encorajado, porque mesmo que a sua fé falhe por um momento, em última análise você será bem sucedido, pois o mesmo Deus que sabe que você vai falhar já tem um plano para reerguê-lo. —Steven Furtick


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Se as coisas dão errado, o que é inevitável,

Se a estrada é difícil, o que é muito provável,

Apertado de dinheiro e as contas amontoando,

Quer resolver e sorrir, mas não sabe quando,

Mesmo que ande perturbado, sempre resista,

Dê uma trégua, se preciso, mas nunca desista.

Apesar dos muitos altos e baixos na vida

Todos perceberemos na hora devida,

Que é possível perder antes do tempo

Se desistir diante de um contratempo.

Não se entregue às muitas dificuldades

Pois poderá vencer na próxima rodada.

Muitas vezes, a meta está mais perto,

Do que percebe aquele que hesita,

Muitas vezes ele luta e perde

Porque desiste de alcançar o objetivo.

E só muito depois entende

Quão perto estava do prêmio.

Sucesso é o fracasso do avesso,

Longe das nuvens de dúvidas cinzentas,

Pois nunca sabe a que distância se encontra

Pode estar pertinho quando parece distante.

Então fique firme na hora do aperto

Mesmo tudo dando errado, acredite no acerto.—Frank Stanton

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Pensar que Deus fica desapontado conosco é uma das técnicas de constrangimento e culpa do inimigo contra nós para nos deixar sentindo condenados. ...mas as Escrituras confirmam que é impossível deixar Deus desapontado. Ninguém consegue desapontar Deus.


Sabe por quê? Por causa do significado dessa palavra. Pense um pouco. Desapontamento resulta de uma expectativa que não se cumpre. Ficar desapontado significa contar com um resultado e constatar um resultado diferente. Por isso, achar que Deus ficaria desapontado conosco significa que Ele não sabe tudo, pois achou que agiríamos de uma certa forma, mas agimos do contrário!


Não, isso jamais acontecerá. Deus não espera nada. Ele sabe de tudo antecipadamente, com 100% de certeza. O que poderia desapontar Deus? Nada que fizemos ou faremos jamais O surpreenderá.


Sugerir que o pecado deixa Deus desapontado é ignorar a Sua obra plena na cruz. Quero lembrá-los que ao tomar sobre Si os nossos pecados na cruz, Jesus viu claramente todos os pecados que viríamos a cometer... Ele sabia exatamente o que faríamos um dia. Viu e tratou da situação, tratou de todos os pecados. Deus sabe tudo que você vai fazer na sua vida e já resolveu tudo na cruz. Nós talvez fiquemos desapontados com nossa conduta e reações, mas Deus jamais fica desapontado conosco.


Deus… entende que somos incapazes de fazer as coisas por conta própria. Na verdade, não passa de legalismo puro achar que podemos, por esforço próprio, superar a tentação de pecar. Na verdade, Jesus disse, ‘sem Mim, nada podeis fazer’.


Só porque digo que Deus não fica desapontado quando erramos, não significa que Ele aceite nossos pecados. O seu Pai o ama e detesta vê-lo se prejudicar, que é o resultado do pecado. A realidade é que Deus não nos castiga por nossos pecados, mas nossos pecados é que nos punem pelos próprios pecados. ...Ainda assim, no final existem consequências.


São as consequências de nossas próprias escolhas, mas com certeza é impossível desapontarmos Deus. Ele nos ama de paixão e não espera nada em troca. Por isso Ele quer que recorramos a Ele para ser a nossa força diante da tentação. Se achar que essa realidade vai incentivar as pessoas a pecar, está perdendo a essência da graça. A graça de Deus nos ensina quem somos e nos motiva e capacita a viver retamente como filhos de Deus. Mas nunca pegamos Deus de surpresa quando agimos de maneira contrária. Ele está sempre pronto para nos pegar quando caímos.—Steve Mc Vey[2]


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Nos momentos difíceis serei a sua luz; nos momentos tristes serei a sua alegria; nas lutas do dia a dia serei o seu libertador; nos momentos de fraqueza eu lhe darei forças; quando questionar, eu lhe mostrarei soluções. E, o mais importante, é que Eu o amo. Você jamais perderá o Meu amor.


Não desanime. Não desfaleça, e não olhe para trás. Não fique com remorso por causa dos erros e pecados, pois o que passou, passou. Assim que buscou o Meu perdão e clamou a Mim, Eu o perdoei. Então não precisa se preocupar, temer ou querer carregar o fardo.


Não se angustie por causa do passado nem tema pelo futuro. Contemple a Minha amorosa face. Venha a Mim e encontrará perdão, perfeito consolo, forças, e perfeito amor, desde agora até o dia em que Eu voltar para buscá-lo. —Jesus, falando em profecia[3].


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Deixemos todo o embaraço e o pecado que tão de perto nos rodeia, e corramos com paciência a carreira que nos está proposta, olhando para Jesus, autor e consumador da fé.—Hebreus 12:1–2.


Publicado em abril de 2012. Tradução Hebe Rondon Flandoli. Revisão Denise Oliveira.


[1] Lucas 22:32.


[2] Do site http://gracewalkministries.blogspot.com/2010/01/you-cant-disappoint-god.html


[3] Publicado originalmente em janeiro de 2002.

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Top Military Officers Targeted in Syrian Conflict!

By Bassem Mroue, AP, Apr 24, 2012

BEIRUT (AP)—The gunmen walked into an apartment building before dawn earlier this month in the quiet Damascus suburb of Jaramana, went to the fifth floor and knocked on the door. When the police commander opened up, the men shot him dead and left.

Syrian President Bashar Assad’s opponents appear to be resorting increasingly to assassinations of loyalist military officers in an escalation of their campaign to bring down the regime. At least 10 senior officers, including several generals, have been gunned down in the past three months, many of them as they left their homes in the morning to head to their posts.

The latest occurred Tuesday, when attackers shot and killed a retired lieutenant colonel and his brother, a chief warrant officer, at a home supplies store in another suburb of the capital, according to the state news agency. Elsewhere in Damascus, an intelligence officer was killed, opposition activists said.

Such targeted slayings are rising as an intensified crackdown by regime forces in recent months has dealt heavy setbacks to Syria’s rebels. For the moment, Assad’s troops have shattered the rebels’ strategy of trying to seize ground in several cities and provinces.

Their pace appears to have accelerated even more sharply since a cease-fire plan brokered by U.N. and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan went into effect April 12—and just as quickly began to unravel.

The peace plan was meant to halt 13 months of violence by government forces to put down an anti-Assad uprising in which the U.N. says more than 9,000 people have died. A spokesman for Annan said in Geneva that satellite imagery and other credible reports show Syria has failed to withdraw all its heavy weapons from populated areas as required by the cease-fire deal.

It remains murky whether the recent slayings are being carried out by rogue elements in the opposition seeking revenge or whether they represent a coordinated strategy by rebels to destabilize the regime. A spokesman for the Free Syrian Army, the Turkish-based umbrella group for armed opposition groups in Syria, denied it was behind the string of attacks, although he said the victims were legitimate targets.

Mohamad Bazzi, a Syria expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the killings are “likely a tactic by the Syrian rebels who are fighting from a much weaker position.”

“In many ways, it’s a classic guerrilla tactic—to strike at weak points in the regime’s military and security apparatus,” he said.

The Syrian government consistently blames “terror groups” for the killings, just as it blames the country’s turmoil in general on terrorists, denying there is a popular-based uprising. The regime says more than 2,000 members of the military and security forces have been killed in the past year, almost all of them in rebel attacks on checkpoints or convoys, or in gun battles.

The last time Syria saw any such major string of assassinations was in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when the Muslim Brotherhood waged a campaign of violence against Assad’s predecessor and father, Hafez Assad. One of the most notorious attacks came on June 16, 1979, when gunmen killed dozens of cadets at Aleppo Artillery School in northern Syria. The dead were mostly Alawites, the sect to which the Assad family belongs.

Hafez Assad eventually responded with a three-week siege of the main Brotherhood stronghold, the city of Hama, that leveled parts of the city. Amnesty International has estimated that 10,000 to 25,000 were killed in the Hama assault, and the Brotherhood was all but wiped out of the country.

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I Know Who Holds Tomorrow-Susan Cox and Alison Krauss

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