You must be brought to full expression of LOVE

1 John 4:17 The Passion Translation (TPT)

17 By living in God, love has been brought to its full expression in us so that we may fearlessly face the day of judgment, because all that Jesus now is, so are we in this world.

Think about these words. “All that Jesus is now, so are we in this world.” Why? So that we may fearlessly face the day of judgment.

This is not to say that even I am at this stage or state. Yes, we are in this state within the spiritual realm and God does see you spotless through the blood of Jesus.

But regardless, what is declared and known in heaven, is it correlating with you within the physical realm? Or are we hiding in sin, guilt, chaos, anxiety, and fear of judgment? The two realms must walk side by side. How you walk in the spiritual realm must match how you walk in the physical realm.

In the physical realm, do we walk as children of God or the children of the devil based on our action and what is hidden in our hearts? This is possible as Jesus called the Pharisees the children of the devil due to their behavior and action.

When we first get saved, why doesn’t God just take us to heaven? After all, we are then covered by the blood and cleansed? It would be so much easier.

It is to test us to see if our faith, commitment, and words are true and not false. It will be a life tested to see if your faith is genuine by living in God and not by this world. True faith must endure to the end. True faith will not crash on the last lap. True faith will not wither away.

If your Faith is genuine, as verse 17 states, “By living in God, love has been brought to its full expression in us.”

God’s love must be fully expressed in you and I. But only by the power of the Holy Spirit through real experiences with Him will you be cleansed and brought to this state. Otherwise, many will continue to wait in agony expecting their prayers to be answered. Their prayers are not answered because they are unwilling to make full commitments to God. Their lives must be a life sold out to God in complete surrender.

Many people have come to my church for prayer. God answers some and God doesn’t answer to many. God has healed some and HE has not healed many. Who will HE healed?

In Mark chapter 10, the rich man did not get what he wanted because Jesus told him to sell everything, give to the poor (means God), and most importantly, Jesus said then follow ME. But later in that chapter, Jesus healed the blind man because the blind man after being healed followed Him. God will heal and answer your prayers if you decide to truly follow Him. Will you go where He ask you to go? Or will you do what you desire staying in a safe comfortable place or position? Jesus came to challenge people. HE had come to bring division. HE had come to make you choose. Either you are with Him or against Him. There is no middle ground. The middle is the lukewarm who will be spit out.

Many Christians think they are following Jesus but do you have the courage to really ask God if you really are following Him as HE desires? Do you have the courage to receive an answer that you were not expecting? You must fully follow and not partially.

When Jesus walked the earth, those who really followed Him witnessed and experienced miracles with signs and wonders consistently. They experienced conviction. They experienced authority and anointing from glory to glory. They experienced who the Father was through Jesus. They experienced life. They experienced true joy and peace. They experienced resurrected life. This is what you will experience when you truly follow Jesus. People become stuck with lack of true experiences with Jesus because they have stop following Him.

Jesus said drink My Blood and eat My Flesh. Do you have the courage to go further and see what the Lord means? When HE said this words, scripture says they walked with Him NO more. Most of His people had abandoned Him. If you abandon Him, there will be no more miracles, power, signs, deliverance, or supernatural activities. You will only wander in agony from church to church asking for prayer. Such people want prayers answered without wanting to follow Him.

Ask the Lord to put salve on your eyes, turn to Him so He May remove your veil so that you may repent. Bear fruit of repentance is the command. Show that you have been saved!!

God bless you for the new coming year, 2019.

Pastor Steve Kim

Keep Sundays Holy - 4th commandment

Isaiah 58:13-14 TLB “IF you keep the Sabbath holy, not having your own fun and business on that day, but enjoying the Sabbath, speaking of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day, and honoring the Lord in what you do, NOT following your OWN desires and pleasure nor talking idly— 14 THEN the Lord will be your delight, and I will see to it that you ride high and get your full share of the blessings I promised to Jacob, your father. The Lord has spoken.

In the Old Testament, the 4th commandment was the seventh day. For our purposes and understanding, we view this as the Saturday since Sunday is referred to as the first day.

In the New Testament, we worship on Sunday because this is the new day of Rest known as the Lord’s Day rather than the Sabbath. We are to still keep it Holy. It is the eighth day. It is the third day the Lord Resurrected on (Sunday). The number 8 means “A New Beginning.”

In the Old Testament, the Jews spent all day on their seventh day in the synagogue. They worshipped and fellowshipped throughout the day as one body. It was not an one hour service like most religious churches. They have one or at best one and half hour service (date with God) and then the congregation is dismissed so they can go seek their own desires and fun.

People were stoned and killed for breaking the Sabbath. The Sabbath was given to man to Rest in Him. Even during Moses’ time when manna from heaven was given, God told His people to collect double portion on the sixth day and rest in Him on the seventh day. Resting was not defined as laying on a couch and watching TV all day long. Resting in Him is defined as worship, dancing, sermon, fellowship, joy, love, peace, etc in His Presence.

Even when God had commanded His people not to collect manna on the seventh day, some disobeyed and they were judged and killed for disobeying God.

Today, for Christians, the 4th commandment still applies and stands. We are to keep it Holy. What does this mean, “Holy.”

In the simplest form, Holy means set apart. Therefore on the Lord’s Day (Sunday’s ), we are to set it apart for God. We are not suppose to do what the world does. We are to be set apart from the world at least on the Lord’s Day to show we are His people. This means especially, we should not be conducting business in buying and selling. We should not be watching the modern gladiators (sports) for entertainment when we should be spending time with our Lord. Why don’t Christians shop on their work time rather than God’s time? Why don’t Christians watch sports on their work time rather than His time?

Now, there is context and grace. What if someone gets sick and we need to buy medicine? Yes, then go buy medicine. But do not buy things for your pleasure. The scripture above states do not do things for your own pleasure or desire on His Sabbath Day. Some Christians are police officers or in the medical field in which they are mandated to work on Sundays. There is grace for this but still we should pray to get Sundays off so we can fully honor the Lord. If you are able to keep Sundays Holy (set apart for Him), please do so with your best ability.

Many Christians do not have joy in God because simply they do not put God First. Scripture says when we choose to honor and put Him first, THEN (a promise) God said in verse 14, HE will be our delight and HE will give us our FULL blessing promised to our father Jacob.

Verse 14 also says that God will see to it that we ride on high. This promise is also in Deuteronomy chapter 28. What does ride on high mean? It means we will get our promotions at work. We will become the head (CEOs and owners). We will make more than the unbelievers. We will be healthy. We will receive authority. We will be a blessed nation. Others will see His Glory on us! The opposite is a Curse.

Basically, if we put God First, He will put us first.

Deuteronomy 28:1 TLB “If you fully obey all of these commandments of the Lord your God, the laws I am declaring to you today, God will transform you into the greatest nation in the world.”

Deuteronomy 28:13-14 “IF you will only listen and obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I am giving you today, HE will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall always have the upper hand. 14 But each of these blessings depends on your not turning aside in any way from the laws I have given you; and you must never worship other gods.

Dec 23, 2018 Sunday Christmas sermon

https://youtu.be/YyhyU6XGusI

Merry Christmas!!

The Cain syndrome - mama boy!

enesis 4:5-6 (AMPC) "But for Cain and his offering He had no respect or regard. So Cain was exceedingly angry and indignant, and he looked sad and depressed.6 And the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry? And why do you look sad and depressed and dejected?

Cain is first born of Adam and Eve. Because Cain is first birth of man kind and first baby of Adam and Eve. Like many parents and human families, Cain is severely spoiled as he is raised more than Able.

This is the revelation the Holy Spirit spoke and taught us during prayer. Cain was spoiled and basically a mama boy. He was a daddy boy. He was catered and overly treated well to the point where all things were basically handed to him on a "silver platter."

Cain made a bad offering because he did not spend time with God. He just received approval from parents and that was his food. In today's term, a spiritual Cain is one who has not read the bible (or knows little of the Bible), does not pray much (or has not prayed much of their Christian lives), and does not spend much time with God (or a sporadic church attender/fellowship/bouncing church to church).

The characteristics of a spoiled "mama boy/girl or daddy boy/girl" exhibits tantrum and disrespecting traits when one does not get their way. Physically, they can get exceedingly angry and indignant, looking sad and depressed. As they were raised, their demands were generally met by the parents. Self Pity and Anger go hand in hand with those who exhibit the Cain syndrome. They are the ones where mommy/daddy did everything for them and now as adults, they really do not know how to handle responsibility or to function.

God asked Cain, "why do you look angry? And why do you look sad and depressed and dejected?"

Cain did not get his way. Cain did not get God's approval. Cain was not first between his brother when it came to the offering to God. Cain was always seeking approval since mom and dad had always exalted him as he grew up.

The Cain syndrome live their lives on impulse. Impulse is defined as "a sudden strong and unreflective urge or desire to act." It is without thought or wisdom but emotion and instant gratification. Esau was impulsive. In fact, Esau was also first born and overly favored to the point of being spoiled. Without thinking of consequences, he sold his birthright for instant gratification.

Do you show the characteristics of Cain? Always seeking approval of people? Getting angry and having a tantrum because you are not getting your way? Looking self pity and sad to get attention? Looking self pity to manipulate people?Then it's time to grow up and get out of it or else like Cain, you will manipulate to stumble your "Able" brothers who are getting favored by God. Then you will just spiritually wonder in circles having tantrums as you live your life clinging onto people rather than clinging on to God.

Pastor Steve Kim

What is the Will of God for you?

John 6:26 tpt “Jesus replied, “Let me make this very clear, you came looking for me because I fed you by a miracle, not because you believe in me.”

The previous day, Jesus had just fed 5,000 men and with women and children included, about 20,0000 people all together got fed. After the feeding miracle, Jesus actually had to slip away for the people were looking to make Him their king. But don’t we want Jesus to be our king? Why did HE slip away?

There is a question Jesus poses onto His people after performing this miracle and this question still resonates for you and I. Why are we really following Jesus?

In verse 26, Jesus said to the multitude, that they were following Him because HE fed them by a miracle and not because they believed in Him. Even in our church, many had come and will come because they will hear or have heard of signs, wonders, and miracles. They want to be fed by a miracle. People may be coming to church desiring miracles to feed their distraught lives rather than coming to know Him through Full surrender. Does this mean that we can actually experience a miracle and not be “believing” in Him? After all, Jesus said to the people that they looked for Him not because they “believed” but because they were fed by a miracle.

When Jesus addressed this concern, although HE gave them a miracle, HE said HE was ready to give what mattered most. Most people come to church or to Jesus wanting something. But do we want something from Him or do we really want Him.

Jesus was ready to give them of Himself. But the people did not listen. They were one tracked minded. Rather than seeing the purpose of the miracle, the people asked a question that is self centered rather than surrendered.

John 6:28 tpt “They replied, “So what should we do if we want to do God’s work?”
“So what should we do if we want to do God’s works?”

Jesus had corrected them but rather than asking what they should do to “Believe” properly, they asked a question of what they should do to do God’s work. They didn’t ask the question of what they should do to properly believe because they all thought they believed in God and their definition of belief was sufficient.

I have witnessed many Christians say a very common term with their emotional passion.
They say, “I just want to do the Will or work for God. I will do whatever God wants!”

Most of the time, they do not realize they are not even believing in God properly. They do not see all their bad fruit and curses in their lives to realize they are not believing properly. Even in midst of spiritual and physical hunger, they still first seek God’s miracle to be fed physically. To be fed physically is to have your physical problems resolved but until we properly believe in Jesus, we will still go hungry. As a Christian, there will still be no peace, no joy, no rest, and no perfect love to cast your fear away if you are only following to be fed through a miracle rather than to feed of Him.

John 6:29-30 Jesus answered, “The work you can do for God starts with believing in the One he has sent.” They replied, “Show us a miracle so we can see it, and then we’ll believe in you. “
When Jesus tried to teach them properly, they rejected His teaching and demanded to be shown a miracle to test Him.

They didn’t really want to believe. True believing in the Lord requires full surrender. People generally do not want to fully surrender to the Lord. Wanting to see a sign or miracle showed that they only wanted to use God for their own self centered interests. They wanted to do His works out of their pride.

When the Lord did not show them a miracle but told them they had to eat His flesh and drink His Blood, scripture says, they disassociated themselves from Him. This is what many Christians do, they do not get what they want from God and therefore they walk away from Him. Many Christians think just because they think about God in their heads, they have not walked away from Him. When we are not surrendering, we may be walking away from Him.

“Those who are not with Me are against Me. Those who do not gather, scatter.”
HE said to eat My flesh and drink My Blood to have external life. Our basic core foundation should be Word, Prayer, and Worship. This is to feed of Him. We must first come to know Him to have eternal life. Then all those things will be added onto us.

Pastor Steve Kim

Summer Conference with Pastor Kim, Yong Doo

Summer Conference with Pastor Kim, Yong Doo

We have translated English subtitles. Please go to caption settings.

God bless

"You are a stubborn people"

You must recognize that the Lord your God is not giving you this good land because you are good, for you are not—you are a stubborn people.
Deuteronomy 9:6 NLT

The Bible says we are all generally a stubborn people. Yes, stubborn is pride.

The good land (promise land) can represent your blessing, calling, position, healing, restoration, etc.

The Holy Fire Ministry (Fire of God Church) and the position of pastor and authority was not given to my wife and I because we are or were good people. In fact, two churches in our area were first given the opportunity to lead the Fire ministry in the Bay Area before we got the call because they had rejected it.

Yes, my wife and I had to pass many tests but regardless, we got the call and position because we were next in line. The promise land was given to God’s people not because they were good or deserved it. God gave the promise land because the secular people on that land at that time had become more wicked and needed to be kicked out.

Deuteronomy 9:4-5 NLT “After the Lord your God has done this for you, don’t say in your hearts, ‘The Lord has given us this land because we are such good people!’ No, it is because of the wickedness of the other nations that he is pushing them out of your way. 5 It is not because you are so good or have such integrity that you are about to occupy their land. The Lord your God will drive these nations out ahead of you only because of their wickedness, and to fulfill the oath he swore to your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

Whether we preach, sing, play, rap, or serve, God did not chose us because we were good qualified people. Those ahead of you had rejected the call. Moreover, are we that talented? If we are, we would already be somewhere.

King Saul lost his kingdom because of pride. He became very insecure and jealous. Insecurity will always seek to protect what was given to you because the fear of losing is so strong. And fear is there because the person has not realize their position was given by grace and Love. We are able to do what we do because of His Love.

When we come to know our position and salvation was granted by grace and love, then we will walk in gratitude rather than insecurity and jealousy. Then we will not to be so hasty to be a show off but rather we will be quick to fear the Lord and be thankful.
Always be thankful!

 

Pastor Steve

Beware false prophets

Matthew 7:15-6 “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

The false prophets come disguised as sheep or members of the congregation. This is not to say there are no bad pastors but the majority of them are within the ranks of the lay believers. They work outside the authority of the church and without permission of the pastors of that church. They are self appointed “prophets” who have their own dreams and visions through their imaginations.

Jeremiah 23:16 AMP “Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Do not listen to the words of the [false] prophets who prophesy to you. They are teaching you worthless things and are leading you into futility; They speak a vision of their own mind and imagination And not [truth] from the mouth of the Lord.”

False prophets are themselves deceived because they do not even realize they are false prophets. They actually believe they hear from God. They can be mixed. But in most part, they are operating on their emotions chasing after weak spiritual baby Christians. Anyone can end up a false prophet and there are more false ones than there are true ones.

Prophesying falsely even one time is enough to make you be defined as a false prophet if you do not realize and repent properly. False prophets are saying God said when actually the demons have said.

How can we tell a false prophet? The Bible says to look for their fruit. You must know them personally and know their history to see if they are consistent people who obey and walk in the word. Do not just let any strangers pray for you as you have no idea who they are. We need to know if they possess the fruit of the Spirit. We need to know if they possess authority. We need to know if they are the same person in church as the same person at home. How is their relationship with their spouses? Their kids? Their work? The Bible says we can know by the way they act. Most clearly are the false prophets who work outside the authority of the church or pastors. They are aggressive and physically seek out weak ones. They are the ones who sneak around undermining their authority/pastors who operate without permission.

Would you allow a homeless man to pray for the restoration of your finances? Would you go to a homeless person for financial advice? Would you go to a person whose marriage is falling apart for marriage advice or prayer? You need to know who is the one that wants to pray over you? In fact, there are homeless Christians who go around trying to prophesied to people to bless them when in fact they themselves are cursed. We can pray for each other but praying over someone is another matter.

This is not to say God can’t use such people but the question remains. Even though some may have problems, have they been given authority to give counsel and pray over others? The High priest Eli was corrupted but God still used Eli to prophesy over Hannah and still operate as the high priest. But fearfully in the end, Eli and his boys were judged and killed by God.

What is the harvest of false prophet? What are the signs of their judgement? Many of them will have serious digestive problems.

Jeremiah 23:15 AMP “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts in regard to the prophets, ‘Behold, I am going to feed them [the bitterness of] wormwood And make them drink the poisonous water [of gall], For from the [counterfeit] prophets of Jerusalem Profaneness and ungodliness have spread into all the land.’”

As Elijah said, the true Word comes with Fire.

Jeremiah 23:29 “Does not my word burn like fire?” says the Lord. “Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes a rock to pieces?”

Jeremiah 23:30-32 “Therefore,” says the Lord, “I am against these prophets who steal messages from each other and claim they are from me. I am against these smooth-tongued prophets who say, ‘This prophecy is from the Lord!’ I am against these false prophets. Their imaginary dreams are flagrant lies that lead my people into sin. I did not send or appoint them, and they have no message at all for my people. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

In any moment or instant, anyone can become a false prophet. The devil only needs to deceive you once to sin against God. Please be more mindful and serious before desiring authority when your heart still needs to be purified.

The Bible says do not be so hasty to lay hands on just anyone. Therefore, look at your own fruit before you counsel or pray over others. It is fine to pray for people but praying and propheizing over them is another serious matter. Are you one with authority for God’s Kingdom is established as a monarchy. We need to understand spiritual authority or we will get into serious trouble.

 

Pastor Steve

What is Fear of God?

Psalms‬ ‭111:10‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Praise him forever!”


Fear of God is putting Him first above all things. The problem is we think we are putting God First, but is that really the case?

The Bible says when we put God and His Word first, we will have peace, joy, prosperity, health, be the head, etc.

If we lack those signs or conditions, then perhaps, we need to ask God to search our hearts even more.

Assult into the Promise Land through instruction of your authority

Numbers‬ ‭13:1-2‬ ‭NLT‬‬ “The Lord now said to Moses, “Send out men to explore the land of Canaan, the land I am giving to the Israelites. Send one leader from each of the twelve ancestral tribes.””
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God uses Moses as His authority to instruct His people with a task, assignment, and/or commission. God did not directly speak to the 12 tribe leaders for this assignment. God used Moses to instruct them. Moses can represent your current pastor. One who represents authority.

Can these tribe leaders hear God? Even in those days, God spoke to some of His people. We know God spoke to Aaron and Miriam as they said to Moses, “Does The Lord only speak through Moses?”

God said to Moses, “Send out the men to explore the land of Canaan.”

The land of Canaan represents the promise land. It may represents a promise. It may represent a blessing. It may represent an answer for your prayer. It may represent healing, restoration, or deliverance. It may represent many things.

God had said that He would give you the land. A land flowing in milk and honey. But when we get near the breakthrough, God gives us instructions to explore the land. Exploration is a test. The exploration is to show the people that physically, it will look impossible. It is to test their hearts.

God wants to see how you will react. He wants to see how you will think? He wants to know what you will say? He wants to know if you will continue to follow instructions through His authority.

And how you react, speak, or think will determine how God will come through with His promise. HE is a rewarder of faith. Or HE will allow you to eat what you speak and grumble. This only delays or changes the plan.

Ten of the twelves spies came back with doubt and fear. They only focused on the negative and imperfection rather than remembering who their God is.

“So they spread this bad report about the land among the Israelites: “The land we traveled through and explored will devour anyone who goes to live there. All the people we saw were huge. We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!””
‭‭Numbers‬ ‭13:32-33‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Numbers 14:11 “And the Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? Will they never believe me, even after all the miraculous signs I have done among them?”

Numbers 14 21-23 “But as surely as I live, and as surely as the earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, 22 not one of these people will ever enter that land. They have all seen my glorious presence and the miraculous signs I performed both in Egypt and in the wilderness, but again and again they have tested me by refusing to listen to my voice. 23 They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors. None of those who have treated me with contempt will ever see it.”
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God can make many promises and prophecy. But HE can also cancel and change things based on our failures to keep our faith and loyalty.

“They will never even see the land I swore to give their ancestors.”

The land may represent a calling, a promise, healing, blessing, restoration, and etc.

The people’s natural reaction is to blame Moses, Caleb, and Joshua by wanting to stone them. We can never blame anyone else thinking they gave you the wrong answer. The real culprit is the one we look in the mirror.

God is still waiting for many to humble (even in our own church) themselves and repent. Forty years can represent the time period of testing and tribulation before the next assault into the promise land. You can either die within those 40 spiritual years which represent a time period or start again as a second generation. To die in the wilderness may also mean one who never achieved their calling or promise. It had wildered away in time.

The second generation represent a new person. One who is new and not old. They will be given another opportunity to enter the promise land when they had failed the first time.

Have you lost faith in Jesus?

Luke‬ ‭8:25‬ ‭TPT‬‬ “Then Jesus said to them, “Why are you fearful? Have you lost your faith in me?” Shocked and shaken, they said with amazement to one another, “Who is this man who has authority over winds and waves that they obey him?””
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The Lord asked, “Why are you fearful?” Then He asked a second question.

When fear comes upon us, the presumption based on the Lord’s second question would mean, we may have lost faith in God and therefore we are in fear. We either lost faith or we had never grown a more mature faith in Him.

Rather than focusing on what is causing our fear, we need to realize the fear is revealing our lack of trust in God. Therefore, we need to repent for the lack of trust. We lose faith in God when we are deficient in our time with Him and His Presence through proper prayer, Word, worship, and obedience. We must realize then that we are still immature and need to spend more time to grow in Him. We need to realize when we are in fear, we are offline with Him.

The disciples had already witnessed many healings and miracles but when a violent wind arose, it showed the disciples still lacked faith. We can experience and witness miracles and power but witnessing such events does not automatically give us faith.

The Bible says His Perfect Love cast out all fear. People like to watch and experience miracles, signs, and wonders but we fail to realize their purpose. We fail to realize when a circumstance produces fear in us, we need to realize our lack of faith in Jesus rather than just trying to get God to stop the violent wind or storm in our lives. The violent wind or storms are used to reveal our lack of trust. The disciples asked Jesus in verse 24, just like many baby Christians ask in a storm, “Don’t you care about us?”

The miracles, signs, and wonders glorify God and their purpose is also to help reveal His Love for us just as violent winds and storms are used to help reveal our lack of faith in Him. They are not just to be some spectacle. Coming to realize His Love for us should strengthen our faith as we witness all the wonders walking with Him.

When miracles, signs, and wonders are in your midst, rather than boasting of your experiences out of pride to magnify oneself, perhaps, we need to see them from a deeper angle of how much God loves us.

As I experience supernatural signs and wonders in my walk with the Lord, I come to realize a greater depth of His Love for me. As I come to realize this magnitude of love, I know I am His beloved. I am much Loved by Him and I know HE will definitely save me for it is not out of my works but for His glory. As I come to know His Perfect Love, any and all fears are cast away.

Pastor Steve

King Saul blows it again!

Why did you not obey the voice of the Lord, but [instead] swooped down on the plunder [with shouts of victory] and did evil in the sight of the Lord ?” Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and have brought back Agag the king of Amalek, and have completely destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took some of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things [that were] to be totally destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
1 Samuel 15:19-21 

We see in chapter 13, King Saul took authority upon himself crossing the line to sacrifice burnt and peace offerings due to his fear and what he saw occurring within his physical circumstances during the battle against the Philistines.

Now we see in chapter 15, King Saul disobeys God’s instructions due to his pride and for the approval of men. He was told to totally destroy the Amalekite nation including all people and animals. Yet, he responds with a very familiar excuse in which many Christians still use today.
“I did obey.”

It is like a Christian saying that they had fulfilled their calling or duty. They did get many saved. They did become a pastor, minister, deacon, worship singer, and such. They did go to church. They did pray, read, and so forth. They did fast! Yet, within that context, the reality is they did not do exactly as God had instructed. They spend much of their lives in ministry or church but still like King Saul, lived a sad unfulfilled life.

Their definition of obedience is that they had obeyed because they did act upon it and performed a majority of the instructions. But this type of obedience is considered disobedience. As a result, King Saul was told since he had rejected God’s instruction now he was rejected as king. His mission as king had ended.

Although, King Saul was told the Kingdom was taken away from him, he reigned for 40 years overall. Through his life and even though God gave him victory for the sake of God’s people and for God’s glory, King Saul lived a life full of jealousy, bitterness, fear of losing approval from men, and fear of losing his position and authority. He went after David’s life which today can represent carnal or disobedient Christians going after spiritual Christians.

Many Christians can live a life thinking they had worked for God as God works in their lives. But what are your fruit? Are you disobeying and feeding your idols like King Saul or are you like King David after God’s heart? There are not many who are like David after God’s Heart. How determined really are you?

In the end, King Saul fell on his own sword and killed himself during battle. God had taken his life.

King Saul blows it!

Samuel said to Saul, “You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for [if you had obeyed] the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not endure. The Lord has sought out for Himself a man (David) after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as leader and ruler over His people, because you have not kept (obeyed) what the Lord commanded you.”
1 Samuel 13:13-14 

It appears this BIG test came at the beginning for Saul. When Saul was anointed, he was told by Samuel to wait for him at Gilgal so that Samuel can make the burnt and peace offerings.
But with soldiers scattering and out of fear, Saul forced authority upon himself. He stepped out of boundary. He had crossed the line.

The pouring of the anointing oil on Saul can represent the calling. The calling is given to him. Right afterwards, Saul was given a big victory against the Ammonites in chapter 11. This represents a taste in power and anointing.

This pattern is very familiar. Many Christians can receive a calling or anointing and immediately possess and express power to heal, cast demons out, experience supernatural events. Although power was given, authority still had belonged to Samuel. Prophet or priest Samuel possessed the authority to offer burnt and peace offerings unto the Lord. King Saul had his role and Samuel had his part.
The Bible says that from Abraham many kings will come from his descendants. But even King Saul was under covering and authority of Samuel. Within the church, There are many “kings and queens” of God operating but they all still need to be under covering, authority, and church order.

Saul blew his test. Rather than submitting to Samuel’s instruction, out of fear from the circumstances, he took authority upon himself to obtain God’s favor. As a result, he was rejected and replaced. Sadly, this is the norm within mainstream Christianity as many do not understand authority and order.
Even in all the churches, people may try to seek opportunities to take authority and position by forcing it upon themselves when they do not have that privilege or authority. When you see God keep taking you to the back of the line, I hope you see the wisdom.

Pastor Steve

Phony Prophets

Matthew 7:15-20 “15 Constantly be on your guard against phony prophets. They come disguised as lambs, appearing to be genuine, but on the inside they are like wild, ravenous wolves! 16 You can spot them by their actions, for the fruits of their character will be obvious. You won’t find sweet grapes hanging on a thorn bush, and you’ll never pick good fruit from a tumbleweed. So if the tree is good, it will produce good fruit; but if the tree is bad, it will bear only rotten fruit and it deserves to be cut down and burned. 20 Look at the obvious fruit of their lives and ministries, and then you’ll know whether they are true or false.”

How are phony false prophets discerned?
‭‭verse 16 states that you can spot them by their actions. “You won’t find find sweet grapes hanging on a thorn bush.”

Thorn bush and weed in the Bible can be represented with worries and concerns of the world rather than the fruit of the spirit. Such false prophets draws people or a ministry using fear, emotions, and hysteria to trap people. As ravenous wolves, they seek, and there are an abundant types of these people, a people who are living defeated, destitute, unable to overcome, and desperate people who want the world to end so their miserable lives can end and they can hurry up and go to heaven rather than doing the Will of God.

“You’ll never pick good fruit from a tumbleweed.” What is a tumbleweed? They are dried up round dead branches rolling across country highways. They are false prophets whose lives are dried out, broke, family messed up, own lives messed up, never have overcome anything, and self appointed looking for miserable people to say “God saith!”

How can a messed up life help another messed up life? How can a homeless person help another homeless person get back on their feet? By the way, many self proclaimed prophets are homeless and jobless.

I ask my church, if you can really hear God, then why is your life so messed up? That is the million dollar question for these self proclaimed “prophets.”

They are not experiencing blessings but curses. That is the fruit you need to discern. Are they blessed bearing fruit of the Spirit or cursed and bearing fruit of bad things?

God's ways are higher

Mark 7:33-34 tpt So Jesus led him away from the crowd to a private spot. Then he stuck his fingers into the man’s ears and placed some of his saliva on the man’s tongue. Then he gazed into heaven, sighed deeply, and spoke to the man’s ears and tongue, “Ethpathakh,” which is Aramaic for “Open up, now!”

Many Christians expect to be healed like Naaman who wanted to be dipped in the rivers of the upper class rather than the common river. But in order to be healed, Naaman has to go dip himself in the Jordan river which was where many commoners used. In fact, he may have looked foolish to himself as he dipped himself seven times as he was high class ranking officer.

In order for the deaf/mute person to be healed, he had to have an open heart and mind desperate enough to allow Jesus to do what appeared to be strange. Jesus stuck his fingers in the man’s ears and put his salvia on his tongue.

Both Naaman and the deaf/mute man had to put down their pride and try something different. It was a test of obedience. Our obedience no matter how strange or ridiculous it may appear may lead us to the healing and deliverance.

When God says His ways and thoughts are higher, you must expect Him to come in a direction you are not looking and watch for God to do things you are not expecting. Your own thinking of how HE should come and do are your own thinking within your own boxes. Unless you can come out of your boxes, you may miss Him when HE is near.

Pastor Steve

God is a consuming Fire

Isaiah 6:2 EXB "Heavenly creatures of fire [L Seraphim; C the word means “burning ones” and points to purity, power, or judgment] ·stood above [or attended] him [Rev. 4:6–9]. Each creature had six wings: It used two wings to cover its face [C as a shield from God’s awesome glory] , two wings to cover its ·feet [or body; C indicating humility; “feet” can be a euphemism for genitals] , and two wings for flying."

We have heard that a Seraphim is an angel. But to expand on this definition a seraphim means “burning ones” and points to purity, power, or judgment.

God is a consuming Fire. On Mount Sinai, HE spoke in the midst of Fire. Elijah said let the real God answer with Fire.

First be passionate

“If you want to test my teachings and discover where I received them, first be passionate to do God’s will, and then you will be able to discern if my teachings are from the heart of God or from my own opinions.”
‭‭John‬ ‭7:17‬ ‭TPT‬‬

Even today and through the generations, many cannot discern the move of God as they themselves are lethargic to doing His Will. Until you come to full surrender, your own fear, self center motive/heart, goals, and ideas/opinions will prevent you from seeing the truth.

What is full surrender? Can you uproot and relocate? Can you give up your jobs/business? Can you move away from your families? Do you have to wait until your children graduate from college before taking a risk with God? Do you have to wait until you retire before you fully commit to God? Are you not able to take any risk with God? Are you afraid of what people may say if you seek God outside the box? Can you start something with God with little or no money? As the Bible says, when HE returns, will HE find faith?

Before our church

Back in 2009, before God made us pastors and gave us a church, HE spoke to me and said, "Do not become corrupted! Do not become deceived! Do not fall away!"

I had asked HIM why are you telling me this? HE didn't answer but my prayers have always been to this day for HIM to help me that I do not become corrupted, deceived, or fall away.

The road to home is very narrow. The passion and desperation in which we first experience begins to dissipates as things get better. The Fear of God and First Love dissipates. I been thinking why does it dissipates.

The bible alway reminds us, "Do not forget what God has done how HE got us out of Egypt. Do not forget what how HE had rescued us! Always teach your children!"

As our lives become better, we must always choose to live desperately for HIM. We live in finite physical time and a choice made looks like it is good for the future but eternity requires us to choose each day and every day to stay in First Love and the Fear of the Lord. We can always crush on the last lap. Do not take HIS grace for granted. Live a life fully surrendered to HIM. Is your life centered around HIM or around your own?

May the Lord’s kind favor and heavenly peace be upon you!

May the Lord’s kind favor and heavenly peace be upon you!

As I speak these words, in order to receive by faith will require some action. When God spoke of salvation, HE sent His Son. But people must believe and receive His Son. Is this just a thought? It is received into your thought and then into your heart and produced in action. You start to make changes through His Grace. The old must begin to go and the new must come forth. A seed was planted. It must grow roots, stem, leaves, and bud fruit. You must forsake sin.

How do we receive God’s kind favor and His heavenly peace? You must walk in righteousness and in love within all areas your life. Walking in sin will not produce righteousness. You cannot smoke, drink alcohol, continue to watch porn or horror movies and the likes, you cannot be a part time Christian, you cannot be a greedy Christian stealing God’s money, you must honor your authority, you cannot break His 4th commandments living like the world, you cannot put your family first, you cannot put your future first, be under proper spiritual covering, and so forth.

Do you know what is to walk in righteousness and love? Yes, you are saved and you are His righteousness but you are still in this world and must now choose to walk in His Love and Righteousness.

You cannot live like worldly people or be a part time Christian and think you will receive God’s favor and heavenly peace. The world belongs to the devil and if you want to participate in it you will not participate in the heavenly peace but rather the plagues, chaos, and curses of the world.

God requires us to separate ourselves from the world and take the earth back preparing His return. You are called to live a life of glory, not a life of defeat.

A life of holiness and obedience will produce a walk in righteousness and love thus showing evidence of His consistent favor and peace. Discern your walk and make a choice to live a life fully surrender to Him. The key word is “Fully.”

Pastor Steve Kim
Fire of God