Faithful International Fellowship, Kuala Lumpur

True believers 👇:

For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
Philippians 3:3 NIV.

A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.
Romans 2:28‭-‬29 NIV

You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.
Romans 8:9‭, ‬13‭-‬14 NIV

For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous.
Romans 2:13 NIV

False believers (false Christians)👇-

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell the plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
Matthew 7:21 - 23 NIV

For Christians only:

"Seeing a fig tree by the road, he (Jesus) went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then He said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered.
When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig tree wither so quickly?” they asked.

Matthew 22:18-20

Questions that we should ask of ourselves from this passage:

1) Are we like the fig tree?

Well fertilised and growing with luxuriant leaves and yet not having a single fruit.
So, have God provided everything for us to grow and yet we are not producing any fruit for the kingdom? Just luring others to ourselves by being seemingly full of knowledge of the bible? Being Sunday Christians?

Or

2) Are we like the disciples of Jesus?

They are in awe that Jesus had caused the fig tree to wither with just a Word from His mouth.
So, are we also more interested in the giftings (having the ability to do that) or the miracles (chasing after such gifts) and therefore missing the whole point of why Jesus cursed the tree? Blase that Jesus' message for His disciples is that however well we know the bible or think that we are saved by being Christ-followers, if we do not use the knowledge or God's gifting to bear fruit for the kingdom, then we will also suffer the fate of the fig tree on Judgment Day.

Today's popular and false doctrine/precept -

"because God is a person, we are able to relate to him personally"

This is a deception, a lie.

Truth:
We relate to God through the Holy Spirit. We cannot relate to God through our flesh that is, our sinful nature.

Upon accepting Jesus as our saviour, we are born again into a new Spiritual Being, in order to be a child of God. God does not lower himself to be a person to have a relationship with us, rather, we are elevated through the gift, the justification and sanctification to be a spiritual Child of God, co-heir with Jesus. If we continue to live in the flesh, that will lead to death (as God does not listen to sinners John 9:31) and there is no relationship with God and on Judgment Day, Jesus will pronounce that He never knew us (since there is no Holy Spirit within) (Matthew 7:23)

For "born again in Spirit" refer to John 3:3,5; that we are to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth for God is Spirit (John 4:24); that having been reborn, we are to live not in the flesh but in the Spirit - see Romans 8:1-17, Galatians 5:16-26.


To relate to and with God, we are given the mind of God to communicate with God through the Holy Spirit because the mind of the flesh cannot understand God who is Spirit - see 1 Corinthians 2:12-16.

So, we should stop defaming, demeaning and blaspheming God by referring to our Majestic Almighty God of Heavens and Earth, as a person!

(Understand what is told in Hebrews 1:3-9; Philippians 2:5-8!)

Who does the Lord God detests?

The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished.

Proverbs 16:5 NIV

What God detests?

The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in people who are trustworthy.

Proverbs 12:22 NIV

WHAT DOES THE LORD GOD DETESTS?

The Lord detests the sacrifice of the wicked, but the prayer of the upright pleases Him. The Lord detests the way of the wicked, but He loves those who pursue righteousness.

Proverbs 15:8‭-‬9 NI

Father, thank you, You are always smiling, arms wide open this sinner back into your own adopt. Thanks for the joy it brings to talk to You.

And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans – and all that lives and move upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused – and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to Earth and gave us Himself. Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year

God, Thank you for offering me bliss and wisdom. I know without you I really couldn’t do such a thing. Thank you, God, for the good that’s happened within my lifespan.
Dear God, thank you for loving me.

Thank God for each and every second on the earth, of which I will never return again. Please let me steward this life that You have contributed to me.

It is a privilege to possess a wonderful God. My full being gives you thanks for the gift of life. The majority are on life assurance, but I am, as free as a bird, so enjoying the awesome boon of breathing with no external assistance.