You shall be my witnesses
Let him hear what the Spirit says to the disciples:
“…But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1.8
The reason for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit is to transform the followers of the Lord Jesus into living witnesses of His resurrection.
To serve as a witness of the One who died and rose again, but is no longer physically with us, is only possible when we “receive” or “are possessed” by His Spirit.
The Spirit of the Lord Jesus “manifests” in His disciples so that they, not only are born again too, but can testify and prove the resurrection of His Son with unarguable evidence.
God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power. 1 Corinthians 6.14
...knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus, and will present us with you. 2 Corinthians 4.14
Once possessed by the Spirit of Jesus, the mind, character and perfume of the disciple will be noticeably identified with the mind, character and perfume of the Lord Jesus, which He demonstrated during His earthly ministry.
In practice, this means:
To forgive evildoers (murderers, criminals, etc.), like Jesus did, before those who mistreated Him at Calvary. Luke 23.33-34
Do not judge, do not condemn and always forgive. Luke 6.37
Do not resist an evil person and whenever someone slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. Matthew 5.39
Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, because, if you love those who love you, what reward will you have or what difference will you have made? Matthew 5.44-46
These are some of the basic principles of the Mind and Character of God.
Some will say: this is impossible! I’m a man, not God…
Yes, this is true, but God will never ask us for something we cannot give Him!
When you are possessed by His Spirit, there is no way that your behavior is not similar to His.
Therefore, who will doubt the resurrection of Jesus?
Comments
Ariane Ferreira
Bishop, every day I become more delighted with the work of the Universal Church. Fortunately, I had the privilege of growing up as part of this family, receiving the Universal education, full of faith, life and principles that formed my character. Though I didn’t have a father, that void was absolutely filled by every pastor and bishop that passed through my life and taught me so much. But, it is even more gratifying to see this Work has made a difference, not only in my life, but in the life of hundreds of thousands of people who have received and drank from the Water of Life!! And the Universal Church has distributed this Water. It’s truly very, very good to see that while we are here, fighting our battles in all areas of our lives, there are thousands of men and women of God throughout the world reaching others, giving them the Word of Truth and Life so that their faith, which lies dormant within them can wake up and their understanding can be opened.
During this Fast, I have been following your daily messages, which I didn’t have the habit of doing frequently, and every testimony I read makes me so happy to be part of this Work! I was especially happy when I read about the Maasai people. I always saw the Universal Church as my spiritual mother and even though a mother may have her flaws, a legitimate son that is formed in her will never trade her for another mother. Bishop, I want to thank you for your faith and the courage to face everything you went through to start and continue growing this Work!! I pray to our God that He maintains you in this faith and Spirit, which has blessed so many!! I have taken advantage of this Fast of Daniel like I had never done before, so that I may be even closer to my Lord Jesus and please Him in everything I do!! The Universal App has helped me a lot with this task!!
Rafael Salgueiro
Good afternoon, Bishop. May God bless you greatly. I’ve been in Church for about 3 or 4 years, and I am 14 years old. During these years, the devil had been deceiving me, convincing me that I had the Holy Spirit and this made me revolted. Every time we finished seeking the Holy Spirit on Wednesdays and Sundays, I left the Church feeling empty. I was very emotional, my mother couldn’t say anything to me, and any time she called my attention, I would run to my room crying. This was how I acted during all these years.
In the beginning, when the Fast of Daniel started, I decided to participate but I wasn’t sure what my purpose would be. Then, on the fourth day of the Fast, I was listening to your message on the radio and the Holy Spirit called me to pray and have an encounter with Him. I wanted to have the true encounter I had been having illusions about during all these years.
Oh, what a day, Bishop! On October 2, 2015 at 12:40, I had the privilege of knowing the Creator of all things, the God of past, present and future, the Magnificent Spirit of God. Wow, Bishop! I did not know what to say, how to express what was happening to me at that moment, and that’s when the Holy Spirit, said through you, ”So receive, He’s all yours!” What peace, happiness, tears of joy ran down my face, and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, or do both at the same time. There are no words to express how thankful I am for His infinite mercy. It is glorious to see that a God, or rather, a great and infinite God, can choose to dwell in such a flawed, sinful, small being like me.
I thank God for using you to help me. I pray for you everyday. Thank you so much Bishop.
I can already see a big difference in myself.
God bless everyone!