The Biblical Truth As It Is Written

GOOD MORNING ☀️ AND HAPPY NEW YEAR 🎈 TO ALL

Victory Over Temptations

There are times when you struggle with being tempted to do things that you know are not right. You’ve fallen so many times that it seems you’re on a losing streak with the devil. It might even be a sin that is considered “no big deal” in this world, and you’re comforted by knowing that “no one else could possibly know.” But when you’re walking the Christian walk, your conscience will give you no rest. The Holy Spirit is pleading with you to surrender your secret sin, but when you keep ignoring God’s voice, the devil wins! As you spiral downward in your walk with Jesus, and continue down the wrong path, discouragement sets in, and you’re tempted to give up and quit trying to resist the temptation. You may have even prayed and asked God to take away those temptations - for if you no longer had the desire to sin - you wouldn’t have to worry about messing up. But if God just removed the temptation - you would not be leaning on Him for strength. God wants you to “choose” to serve Him and depend on His strength to resist whatever the devil throws your way. The Bible says in Proverbs 21:30-31,”There is no wisdom, no insight, no plan that can succeed against the Lord . . . but victory rests with the Lord.” And in Psalm 60:12 we’re told, “With God we will gain the victory, and He will trample down our enemies.” You can have the victory over temptation - when you fully surrender your heart and life to God!” Text: 1 Corinthians 15:57, John 16:33, 2 Chronicles 20:15

Bible Texts:�1 Corinthians 15:57 KJV - But thanks [be] to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

GLORY TO THE GOD OF ALL BLESSINGS…2023 and to the COMING 2024.
GOD BLESS IS ALL. Amen 🙏

BLESSED AND BEUTIFUL MORNING BRETHREN

The Love of Money

There’s a Bible text about money that some people misunderstand the meaning of simply by skipping over one little word . . . which totally changes the whole meaning! That very significant word is “love.” First Timothy 6:10 says, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Now, here is where the confusion exists. Some Christians read this and say that money is a sin! But that is not what God is saying at all. It clearly states that the “LOVE of money” is the root of all evil, not money itself. Hebrews 13:5 tells us, “Keep your lives free from the LOVE of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ ” It’s impossible to have a close walk with Jesus if wealth is more important to you than anything else. In other words, how you value money and what you do with it is critically important spiritually. Truth is, you can find out quite a bit about a person by just looking at their checkbook! Now of course, no one would ever dare to do that, but if you did, you would learn what’s really important to that person. Where they spend their money reveals their character. Do they spend a lot on video games, lottery tickets, movies, fancy restaurants, expensive vacations, etc., or do they pay tithes and offerings, give to church evangelism, support Christian education, donate to charities, etc? The Bible says in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” God wants His children to be good stewards and spend money wisely. Ask God to guard your heart so that you’ll have a healthy respect for money but not acquire a “love” of money. Text: Malachi 3:10, Matthew 6:24, Ecclesiastes 5:10, Psalm 37:16-17, Matthew 19:21

Bible Texts:��Malachi 3:10 KJV - Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that [there shall] not [be room] enough [to receive it].��Matthew 6:24 KJV - No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
�GLORY TO THE LORD OF GRACE. Amen 🙏

GOOD MORNING ☀️ CHURCH OF THE LIVING GOD

Heavenly Time Schedule

There’s an enormous amount of time spent “waiting.” Waiting in life in this world is inevitable–whether you are waiting in line at the car wash, waiting for your dinner to arrive at a restaurant, or waiting for test results which will determine whether you live or die. But how you choose to spend your time while waiting is up to you! You can waste the time doing something useless, spend it worrying and pacing the floor, or you can trust that God will do what is best for you–and praise Him! Choose to spend the “waiting game” free of anxiety–instead of worrying, praise Jesus for His faithfulness, and His blessings! Remember that God’s timing is different than ours. The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:8; “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” God is on His eternal heavenly time schedule, which is quite different from our temporary earthly one. God sees the big picture that we can’t see, so it’s better to wait on God’s perfect plan AND His perfect timing! In the meantime, spend the waiting game praising Jesus and thanking Him for being your Lord and Savior! Text: Psalm 27:14, Psalm 34:1, Psalm 130:6, Psalm 62:5
�Bible Texts:��Psalm 27:14 KJV - Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.�GLORY TO THE GOD OF LOVE ❤️ FOREVER. Amen 🙏

HAPPY SABBATH TO ALL GOD’S PEOPLE

Jesus, My Everything

Christians talk a lot about being ‘close to God,’ but what does that really mean? For some, if they go to church once a week, they consider themselves to be walking with Jesus - while others feel as long as they pray every day - that they have a close relationship with their Creator. But if you want a real close friendship with God - allow Him to pe*****te every aspect of your life, where God is not only “first” in your life - He is your “everything!” Make Him a part of all that you do - whether that’s eating breakfast, deciding what to wear, making a business deal, driving the kids to school, and every other activity in your day! In other words, be “in His presence” 24/7. God loves you so much and longs for you to lean on Him for advice, wisdom, guidance, comfort, joy, peace and love - depending on Him in all things - for He is always with you - waiting for you to come to Him. Even if you are not totally conscious of how near He is, you can be 100% positive that He IS there every second of the day - sort of like your heartbeat which is always pumping away, even if you are not aware of it. So it is with God’s sweet presence - He will never leave you or forsake you. Make Jesus your everything, putting Him first above all else - and you will enjoy a closeness with your Lord and Savior such as you have never known! Text: Zephaniah 3:17, Isaiah 40:31, Lamentations 3:21-24, Hosea 2:19
�Bible Texts:��Zephaniah 3:17 KJV - The LORD thy God in the midst of thee [is] mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.
�GLORY TO THE GOD OF MERCY. Happy Sabbath. God bless us all. Amen 🙏

BLESSED MORNING PEOPLE OF GOD

Resisting Temptation

Every day we face a variety of temptations. Some are trivial, such as seeing a piece of chocolate cake and salivating over just the thought of devouring every delicious morsel! Other temptations have much more serious consequences, such as being tempted to lie, steal, commit adultery, or even kill someone! Temptation is not a sin! It is when you succumb to the temptation that you’re in trouble! Even Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, but He resisted temptation and didn’t give in to the devil’s evil plan! One particular area that is talked about often is “sexual temptation.” There have been many godly men and women who committed adultery and their lives were destroyed–all because they did not resist their sexual desires. Even pastors and people in ministry have fallen, and although they asked forgiveness and were forgiven, their ministry was never the same as it would have been had they resisted the urge to sin. There are numerous types of temptations, but the good news is that Jesus has promised that we CAN overcome! In 1 Corinthians 10:13 we’re told, “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make a way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” We can rejoice that God will give us the strength to resist temptation–all we need to do is lean on Him. Text: Hebrews 12:1-2, James 1:2-4,12, Romans 8:6
�Bible Texts:��Hebrews 12:1-2 KJV - Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

GLORY TO THE LORD OF THE SABBATH FOREVER. Amen 🙏

Pastor and Evangelist or Bible Workers are Partners in Ministry for their Focus is more on Evangelism, while Apologist is more on Defending the Truth through Argumentation from other Faith and Christian Sect.

A Church without any Apologist or Faith Defender is a Weak kind of Church, for even Apostle Paul is also an Apologist or a Faith Defender by Reasoning out every Seventh day Sabbath among the Jews about the Gospel.

Payong Kapatid: Sakapin po natin sa bawat araw na wag maging Katisuran oh Pagkakasala ng ating mga Kapatid kay Jesu-Kristo, sa mga salitang ating binibitawan sa kanila. ❤❤❤

What is the Desire of the GODHEAD for Humanity?

1 Timothy 2:4
[4] Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

John 8:32

[32] And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

Yesterday April 18, 2022: Welcome to Happy Family Health and Gospel Seminar, the 2nd and Successful Night in this one week nightly crusade at Hinigaran SDA Mother or Central Church. :)

"Nahinungod ini tanan sa Gugma"

By Pastor Ezequiel V. Alojepan
As the Nightly Speaker

Watching FB live together with True Light Bearer (y)

👉 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=516177410053442&id=100000518777541

April 17, 2022: Welcome to Happy Family Health and Gospel Seminar, the 1st and Successful Night in this one week nightly crusade at Hinigaran SDA Mother or Central Church. :)

"Nahinungod ini tanan sa Gugma"

By Pastor Ezequiel V. Alojepan
As the Nightly Speaker

Watching FB live together with True Light Bearer (y)

👉 https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=2077516385755592&id=100000518777541

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.
-Proverbs 15:1 (KJV)

Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.
-Proverbs 10:12 (KJV)

✅ The Biblical Truth As It Is Written 🙏🙏🙏

[22] di ko maunawa,
para akong tanga, sa
iyong harapa'y hayop
ang kagaya.
-Mga Awit 73:22
(Magandang Balita Biblia
oh MBB)

Tonight's SDA Lesson Review
Tuesday December 14, 2021

Cursed on A Tree

Read Galatians 3:1-14. What is Paul saying there that is relevant to us today, and how does he use Deuteronomy 27:26 and Deuteronomy 21:22, 23 to make his point?

Unfortunately, it’s common in Christianity to use this letter as some kind of justification for not keeping the law, the Ten Commandments. Of course, that argument is really used as a reason not to keep the fourth commandment, as if keeping that one commandment, as opposed to the other nine, is somehow an expression of the legalism that Paul was dealing with here.

Yet, Paul was not speaking against the law, and certainly nothing in this passage could justify breaking the Sabbath commandment. The key can be found in Galatians 3:10 (NIV), where he writes that “All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse,” and then he quotes Deuteronomy 27:26. The issue isn’t obedience to the law, but “relying on the law” — a tough position, if not an impossible one, for fallen beings like ourselves.

Paul’s point is that we are not saved by the works of the law but by Christ’s death on our behalf, which is credited to us by faith. His emphasis here is on what Christ has done for us, at the cross. And to help make this point, he refers back to Deuteronomy again, this time Deuteronomy 21:23. Like Jesus, Paul says, “it is written,” showing the authority of the Old Testament, and now he quotes from a text dealing with someone who, having committed a capital crime, and having been executed for it, was then hung on a tree, perhaps as a deterrent to others.

Paul, though, uses that as a symbol for Christ’s substitutionary death in our behalf: Christ became a “curse for us” in that He faced the curse of the law; that is, death, which all humans would face because all have violated the law. The good news of the gospel, however, is that the curse that should have been ours became His, at the cross, “that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith” (Gal. 3:14, NKJV).

Or, as Ellen G. White said it: “None but Christ could redeem fallen man from the curse of the law and bring him again into harmony with Heaven. Christ would take upon Himself the guilt and shame of sin — sin so offensive to a holy God that it must separate the Father and His Son.” — Ellen G. White, Patriarch and Prophets, p. 63.

Think about what you would face if you were to receive the just punishment for whatever wrongs you have committed. However, because Christ bore the punishment for your wrongs in Himself, so that you don’t have to, what should your response to His sacrifice be?

Tonights SDA Lesson Review

Monday December 13, 2021

Lifting Up Faces

In Deuteronomy 10, Moses (again) was recounting Israel’s history and (again) used those accounts to admonish his people to faithfulness. Amid that admonishment he said something else.

Read Deuteronomy 10:17-19. What’s the essential message to the people here, and why is this message relevant to God’s church today?

The phrase “shows no partiality” is translated from a Hebrew figure of speech; it means literally that He does not “lift up faces.” This is believed to have come from a legal setting in which the judge or king sees the face of the person on trial and, based on that person’s status (important person or someone insignificant), the judge or king renders a verdict. The implication here in Deuteronomy is that the Lord doesn’t treat people in such a manner, despite His great power and might. He’s fair with everyone, regardless of their status. This truth, of course, was revealed in the life of Jesus and how He treated even the most despised in society.

Read Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11, Galatians 2:6, Ephesians 6:9, Colossians 3:25, and 1 Peter 1:17. How do these texts make use of Deuteronomy 10:17?

However varied the circumstances in each one of these references (in Ephesians Paul tells masters to be careful how they treat their slaves; in Romans Paul is talking about the fact that, when it comes to salvation and condemnation, there’s no difference between Jews and Gentiles), they all go back to Deuteronomy and to the idea that God “does not lift up faces.” And if the “God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome” won’t do it, then certainly we shouldn’t, as well.

Particularly in how Paul in Romans uses it, we can see a revelation of the gospel: we are all on the same plane, regardless of who we are in terms of status. We are all fallen beings in need of God’s saving grace. And the good news is that, regardless of our status, we all are offered salvation in Jesus Christ.

How often, even subtly, do you “lift up faces,” and why does the cross show us how sinful that attitude really is?

Last Night SDA Lesson Review
Sunday December 12, 2021

“It Is Written”

Read Matthew 4:1-11. How did Jesus respond to Satan’s temptations in the wilderness, and what is the important lesson here for us in His response?

Jesus didn’t argue with Satan nor debate him. He simply quoted Scripture because, as the Word of God, it is “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Heb. 4:12, NKJV). And in each case the Word He quoted was from Deuteronomy. How interesting that Jesus, in the wilderness, chose to quote texts that were given to Israel in the wilderness, as well.

In the first temptation, Jesus referred to Deuteronomy 8:3. Moses had been recounting to ancient Israel how the Lord had provided for them all those years in the wilderness, including giving the manna — all part of a refining process, as the Lord was seeking to teach them spiritual lessons. And among those lessons was that “man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD” (NKJV). God fed you physical food, but He also gives you spiritual nourishment. You can’t take only the first without the second. Jesus used the image of bread as a transition to Deuteronomy and to rebuke Satan and the doubt he tried to instill in Jesus.

In the second temptation, Jesus goes back to Deuteronomy 6:16, where Moses pointed the people back to their rebellion in Massah (see Exod. 17:1-7), saying, “You shall not tempt the LORD your God as you tempted Him in Massah” (NKJV). The word for “tempt” can mean “try” or “test.” The Lord already had shown them, over and over, His power and willingness to provide for them; yet, the moment trouble came, they cried out — “Is the LORD among us or not?” (Exod. 17:7, NKJV). And it was from that story that Jesus drew from the Word of God to rebuke Satan.

In the third temptation, Satan this time sought to get Christ to bow down and worship him. What an open and blatant revelation of just who he really was and what he really wanted! Rather than debate, Jesus rebukes Satan and again reverts to the Word of God, Deuteronomy, where the Lord was warning His people about what would happen if they were to fall away and worship other gods. “You shall fear the LORD your God and serve Him” (Deut. 6:13, NKJV), meaning Him and Him alone.

How can we learn to draw more power in our own lives from our study of the Word of God in order to reflect more fully the character of Jesus and, like Him, resist Satan’s temptations?

Last Night SDA Lesson Review
Sabbath School Quarterly

Lesson 12- December 11-17, 2021
Deuteronomy in the New Testament

Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Matt. 4:1-11, Deut. 8:3, Acts 10:34, Gal. 3:1-14, Acts 7:37, Heb. 10:28-31.

Memory Text: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’” (Matthew 4:4, NKJV).

The New Testament is saturated with the Old. That is, the inspired writers of the New Testament quoted the inspired writers of the Old as a source of authority. Jesus Himself said, “It is written” (Matt. 4:4), meaning, “It is written in the Old Testament;” and He said that “the Scriptures must be fulfilled” (Mark 14:49, NKJV) — meaning the Scriptures of the Old Testament. And when Jesus met two disciples on the road to Emmaus, instead of doing a miracle to show them who He was, “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27, NKJV).

Whether using direct Old Testament quotations, or allusions, or references to stories or prophecies, the New Testament writers constantly used the Old Testament to buttress, even justify, their claims.

And among the books often quoted or referred to was Deuteronomy (along with Psalms and Isaiah). Matthew, Mark, Luke-Acts, John, Romans, Galatians, 1 and 2 Corinthians, Hebrews, the pastoral epistles, and Revelation all go back to Deuteronomy.

This week we’ll look at a few of those instances and see what truth, present truth, we can draw from them.

Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 18.

Tonight's SDA Lesson Review with Inside Story
Friday December 10, 2021

Further Thought: “This [Micah 6:1-8] is one of the great passages of the OT. It, like Amos 5:24 and Hos. 6:6, epitomizes the message of the eighth-century prophets. The passage opens with a beautiful example of a covenant lawsuit in which the prophet summons the people to hear the charge Yahweh has against them. The mountains and hills are the jury because they have been around a long time and have witnessed God’s dealing with Israel. Rather than directly charging Israel with breaking the covenant, God asks Israel if they have any charges against him. ‘What have I done? How have I wearied you?’ In the face of injustice some of the poor people may have become ‘weary in well doing.’ In the face of opportunities to get rich quick some of the land-owners might have grown weary of keeping the covenant laws.” — Ralph L. Smith, Word Biblical Commentary, Micah-Malachi, (Grand Rapids, MI: Word Books, 1984), vol. 32, p. 50.

“In the reformation that followed, the king [Josiah] turned his attention to the destruction of every vestige of idolatry that remained. So long had the inhabitants of the land followed the customs of the surrounding nations in bowing down to images of wood and stone, that it seemed almost beyond the power of man to remove every trace of these evils. But Josiah persevered in his effort to cleanse the land.” — Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 401.

Discussion Questions:

Sure, we’re Seventh-day Adventists, and with our present truth message, we see ourselves and (rightly so) in the same place that ancient Israel had been in: having truths that the world around them needed to hear. It’s a great privilege for us. How well, though, do you think we are living up to the responsibilities that come with such privilege?
2. Imagine being Daniel, having seen your nation invaded and defeated, and knowing that the temple, the center of your whole religious faith, was destroyed by idolatrous pagans. How, though, could knowledge of the book of Deuteronomy been very faith-sustaining for him (or any other Jew) at this time? That is, how did the book help him understand all that was happening and why it happened? In a similar way, how does our understanding of Scripture as a whole help us deal with trying times and events that otherwise, without our knowledge of Scripture, could be very discouraging to us? What should the answer teach us about how central the Bible must be to our faith?

In class go over the 70-week prophecy of Daniel 9:24-27. What role does the covenant have in that prophecy, and why is the idea of covenant so important to it — and to us?

INSIDE STORY

Marcia Yuassa
God's Perfect Timing

By Eliane Hosokawa Imayuki

Marcia Yuassa, one of the thousands of Brazilian immigrants working long hours at factories in central Japan, was forced to stay at home after falling ill.

Suffering severe pain, she didn’t know how she could take care of her family or even survive. She cried out to God not to let her die.

Unable to do much in her ill condition, she spent a lot of time on the Internet.

One day, she stumbled across an online series of Bible-based health courses by a Seventh-day Adventist physician in Brazil. She watched every YouTube video that she could find and, as she learned about various aspects of a healthy lifestyle, she also heard about the seventh-day Sabbath.

Then, while looking on social media for friends from her youth in Brazil, she found a former classmate who recently had created a profile. Marcia happily reconnected with her old friend and enthusiastically told her in a call about her new findings about health and the Sabbath.

The friend listened attentively and, when Marcia finished, said she worshipped Jesus on the Sabbath. She had become a Seventh-day Adventist after losing contact with Marcia. The two women began to study the Bible together.

After some time, the friend sent contact information for an Adventist church and its pastor in her region. But when Marcia looked up the church’s address, she realized that it was in another city, too far away to visit because she did not drive. Still she called the church and spoke with me, the pastor’s wife.

To her surprise, I informed her that a small Bible study group had been formed in Iwata, the city where she lived, and would meet for the first time that same week.

Three days later, the group met less than a mile (a kilometer) from Marcia’s house, so close that she could walk there. God has healed her illness, and Marcia, 54, has not missed a meeting since.

Marcia learned about the seventh-day Sabbath through the Internet. Part of this quarter’s Thirteenth Sabbath Offering will go to a project to help many Japanese people, especially young people, learn about Jesus through the Internet. Thank you for planning a generous offering.