Christians-Today Ministry

It states in Ephesians 2:8-9: 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

If you already know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you can be thankful that God saved you by His grace. If you don’t already have a relationship with Jesus, you may ask, “What is meant by God’s Grace?” Grace is God showing His love to us even though we do not deserve it. Because grace is a gift from God, we cannot earn it. Grace was shown to us by God when He saved us from the punishment of sin through the death of Christ on the cross. We must put our faith in Jesus and trust him as our Lord and Savior in order to receive God’s grace. God also shows us His grace by giving us the strength to handle difficult situations, providing us with guidance by caring for us each day.

You can depend on God each and every day for the grace you need to live for Him. Because God lovingly shows His grace to you, you should in turn, show His grace to others.

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Do you understand what Communion is? In 1Corinthians, chapter 11, while Jesus was seated amongst his apostles sharing the ‘Last Supper’ with them before his crucifixion, he left them with instructions on how believers should regularly gather together in his name and share the Lord’s Supper (also known as communion). In the following scripture, the Apostle Paul touches on what Jesus said at the Last Supper and discusses the manner in which communion was introduced to the early church. Also, notice how at the end of this scripture, the Apostle Paul issues a warning to those who receive communion in an unworthy manner.

1 Corinthians 11:23-34 (NIV)

The Lord’s Supper

23 For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” 26 For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

27 Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29 For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31 But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.

33 So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34 If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.

You see, in the Church of Corinth, many believers were excluded from communion, some were there only to eat the feast, and others were there to get drunk on the wine. Paul brought order to communion with his instructions on how a man or woman should spiritually examine themselves before taking communion and that the body of believers should take communion in unison.

In the Lord’s Supper, according to Christ’s own Word and institution, it is his true body and blood that physically exists in the consecrated bread and wine. Trusting in the promises of their Savior, communicants who repent of their sins receive from Jesus the forgiveness of their sins as well as the blessings that flow from this forgiveness. However, as Paul warns in 1Corinithian 11:27-34, those who commune in an unworthy manner, without discerning the Lord’s body, sin against Christ’s body and blood, and eat and drink to their own judgment. Participating in the Sacrament of communion is a very serious matter.

Mutual participation in the Lord’s Supper is an outward manifestation of our biblically based oneness in the Christian faith. As the church communes together, they remember Jesus Christ and everything he has taught and accomplished for our salvation, therefore proclaiming the saving Gospel of Christ in unity.

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Are you searching for someone or something that you don’t even know if they or it exists? Do you ever find yourself feeling like you have a huge hole in your heart and nothing or nobody can fill that empty space? If you can relate to these questions and you are feeling lonely and without direction, I can tell you how to fill that gaping hole in your heart.

Earlier in my life, I had always been searching, hoping to find somebody, anybody who would make me feel complete. I went from relationship to relationship, from activity to activity, but always coming up short, and feeling emptier than I did before. Then, one night, when I was at my all time low in life, I met a friend, a comforter, someone I could talk to who was always there waiting to hear my troubles. Someone who gave me peace in times of turmoil, someone whom I could trust with my life and someone who gave up his life so that I could live. If you are wondering who I found that is so perfect for me, well then I’ll tell you; It is Jesus Christ, that’s who. My life was completely falling apart, I was filled with so much loneliness and despair, that I was on a quick-moving downward spiral, with little chance of recovery on my own. The night I met Jesus, I was ready to go down a road of no-return, a road that could only condemn me to a place that I wouldn’t want my worst enemy to be. Hell. I was ready to take my own life and I didn’t think that God would send me there had I succeeded in taking my own life- but now I know differently. That night, before I could dispose of my own life, Jesus came to me; filled me with his love and his peace and I have never been the same since. Family and friends noticed the difference in me immediately. I was happier and filled to the brim with joy. Now my life is devoted to teaching others about the joy and peace they too can know when they turn their lives over to Jesus.

Not only does Jesus restore the joy and peace in your life, he restores order. He gives you a reason to get up every day and a reason to press on even in times of trial. The loneliness and despair that I once knew, now seem like they belonged to someone else - a part of someone else’s life. I now feel complete and am no longer searching for someone else to complete me. Jesus has already done that for me - and he can do that for you as well.

Do you want to know Jesus; to enjoy a life with joy, peace, happiness and direction? I am not saying that once you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that you won’t have times of trials, but you will be better equipped to handle those trials. It is through Jesus Christ that you are given the strength to handle whatever trials that come your way and it is through the word of God that you are able to defeat the enemy, Satan.

See previous post: The Prayer of Salvation

If you would like to learn more about Salvation, here is a website that will teach you more about accepting Christ into your life: http://www.salvationprayer.info.

Click here to learn more about the life of Jesus: http://www.jesusmysavior.info.

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Do you understand the meaning of Salvation?

A Question: Friends, here I ask you the most important question of your life; in fact, your joy or your sorrow for all eternity will depend upon your answer. The question is: Are you saved? This is not a question of how good you are, nor if you are a church member, but are you saved? Are you sure you will go to Heaven when you die?

The Answer and Solution: Have you ever heard of the Prayer of Salvation, the Salvation Prayer or the Sinner’s Prayer? You see, because God loves you so much, Salvation is a gift from God that will enable you to spend eternity in Heaven. In order to receive this gift from God, all you need to do is accept Jesus Christ into your life and repent, and turn away from your sins. Also, you will need to begin living a life that is pleasing to God, rather than the worldly ways in which you are accustomed to. Right now, I can almost hear you saying, “I can’t change the way I am right now. I have lived my life too many years this way and I have done too many bad things for God to forgive me.” If you are remotely thinking in such a way, you are so very wrong. Whether you are elderly or young, rich or poor, a liar, a thief, an adulterer, a murderer and so on, if you truly repent of your sins and in your heart, accept Jesus Christ, YOU WILL BE SAVED. God considers sin to be sin, no matter what it is. Below is scripture (John 8:1-11 NIV) that will help you to understand how Jesus felt about sin:

John 8:1-11 (NIV)

1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.

9 At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10 Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

11″No one, sir,” she said.
“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”

You see, even though in the laws of the world, the woman was to be stoned to death. But once you have become a believer in Christ, your sins are forgiven, no matter how badly you have sinned. Of course you must repent and as Jesus said, “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” The stipulation is that you need to leave your life of sin once you’ve accepted Jesus and repented. If you think it will be too hard to change, think again! Once you accept Jesus into your heart, a dramatic change begins to take place inside of you. The Holy Spirit starts to work on you and you become a New Creation in Christ.

If you would like to accept Jesus into your heart and into your life, please pray the Salvation Prayer below. If you would like to ask Jesus into your heart in your own words, please feel free to do so, as our prayer is only here to help guide you:

The Salvation Prayer

Dear God in heaven, I come to you in the name of Jesus. I acknowledge to You that I am a sinner, and I am sorry for my sins and the life that I have lived; I need your forgiveness.

I believe that your only begotten Son Jesus Christ shed His precious blood on the cross at Calvary and died for my sins, and I am now willing to turn from my sin.

You said in Your Holy Word, Romans 10:9 that if we confess the Lord our God and believe in our hearts that God raised Jesus from the dead, we shall be saved.

Right now I confess Jesus as the Lord of my soul. With my heart, I believe that God raised Jesus from the dead. This very moment I accept Jesus Christ as my own personal Savior and according to His Word, right now I am saved.

Thank you Jesus for your unlimited grace which has saved me from my sins. I thank you Jesus that your grace never leads to license, but rather it always leads to repentance. Therefore Lord Jesus transform my life so that I may bring glory and honor to you alone and not to myself.

Thank you Jesus for dying for me and giving me eternal life.
Amen.

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I believe that God will touch each and every person on this earth and give him or her a chance for eternal life with Him. Although we, as many cultures, are separated by earth, water and language barriers, there are no limitations when it comes to God. God knows how to speak to each person’s heart and soul, no matter where they are located on this earth. Here is an awesome video of a man whom God chose to give a revelation of the spiritual realm, of Heaven and hell, and helped him to understand that God can and will communicate with each and every person, but they have to be willing to open their heart to God in order to be able to hear the Almighty. Heaven and hell are real my friends, and it is only a matter of time before the human race will experience first-hand, those truths of reality.

Check out this awesome video:

Excerpt from YouTube.com: The man you see died in a plane-accident and was on his way to hell. But by the grace of God he was given a chance to cry out to God to save him. God did, and now he tells people hell is real- he experienced that darkness- and heaven is real. Pleading with you to repent and choose the Lord Jesus Christ, the ONLY WAY (John 14:6) to heaven and eternal life!

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A while back, someone shared the following story with me by email. Today I shared this story with a dear friend of mine and it really blessed her heart. I hope this story comforts you and blesses your hearts as well ~ ~

Malachi 3:3 Says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.”

This verse puzzled some women in a Bible Study and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible Study.

That week, the woman called a silversmith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn’t mention anything about the reason for her interest beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver.

As she watched the silversmith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames where hottest as to burn away all the impurities.

The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot; then she thought again about the verse that says: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” She asked the silversmith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined.

The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed.

The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silversmith, “How do you know when the silver is fully refined?”

He smiled at her and answered, “Oh, that’s easy – when I see my image in it.”

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you and will keep watching you until He sees His image in you. (Author Unknown)

I think this is a wonderful story and I take comfort in knowing that God is sitting right there watching me through all my trials and tribulations – and that he will remove me from the fire - at just the right moment in time, so as not to destroy me, “But to refine me”.

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Jesus told his disciples shortly before being crucified, “I am the way and the truth and the life.”
**See John 14:5-14 Below

Jesus is the ‘Way’. Jesus said that he is the ‘Way’. What do you think he meant by that? You see, Jesus is telling us that he is the “only way” to the Father. Nobody can reconcile with God the Father without going through Jesus first. Because Jesus is the son of God, and is also God (a hard concept to understand, I know), you cannot bypass Jesus to connect with God. Think of God in this way: God is a triune God and is made up of 3 parts: The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit. God is like the head of the body, and Jesus and The Holy Spirit are extensions of the body - like arms. Without the head (the brain) sending a message to the arms to move, an arm can do nothing; it is paralyzed. The head always tells the arms what to do, and not vise-versa. Jesus loves you so much and is reaching out to you, won’t you accept him?

Jesus is the ‘Truth’. Jesus was and is without sin. Period. God cannot sin, and therefore, it was impossible for Jesus to sin; because they are one and the same. In Jesus’ sermons to the masses and to his disciples, many times he stated, “I tell you the truth…” before delivering an important message. You need to understand that whenever you are reading scripture in the bible, and you see that Jesus says, “I tell you the truth” before making a statement, you should know in your heart that Jesus always speaks the truth and that you can trust in his word.

Jesus is the ‘Life’. Jesus is the only way to eternal life. In his sermons he tells us over and over that it is only through him that we can live eternally. We read throughout the New Testament the many ways Jesus is called “The Life” by the authors. Here are a few examples: Jesus is the life, the water of life, the bread of life, the eternal life, the everlasting life, the life of the world, the light of life, the living waters, the author of life and the word of life. So basically, what it all boils down to is that “JESUS IS THE LIFE”, period. Without Jesus in your life, you are basically without the life that God planned for you from the very beginning of time. You are aimlessly wandering this earth, and you may not even realize it - YET. If you have not accepted Jesus into your life, and are feeling like there is something very substantial missing, won’t you please give Jesus a chance to make your life right? To put you on the path where you belong? If you are not yet ready for this wonderful life-altering event to take place, just remember, don’t wait too long because some day, it will be too late. You will have passed up this and other opportunities to make Jesus the Lord of your life, for he is the only one who gives you life.
Accept Jesus Into Your Heart Now

**John 14:5-14

Jesus the Way to the Father

5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves. 12 I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

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Some time after Jesus returned from being led by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil for 40 days, he heard that John the Baptist was put in prison; so he returned to Galilee. He went and lived in Capernaum, which was by the lake in the area of Zebulun and Naphtali. Matthew 4:17 tells us: From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.”

One day as Jesus was walking alongside the Sea of Galilee, he came across two brothers who were fishermen. These two brothers were to become disciples of Jesus. Here is what it says in Matthew 4:18-22:
18 As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 19 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 At once they left their nets and followed him.

21 Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, 22 and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.

Notice that not one of these men hesitated to drop what they were doing to follow Jesus. Not only did they drop what they were doing, but they completely and immediately gave up their life as they knew it to follow Jesus. How could one explain why grown men would just simply walk away from the life they were accustomed to and surrender it to someone they barely knew… or did they actually know him? You see my friends, God’s chosen are not mere flesh and blood, they are spirit - living inside of flesh, waiting to return to the heavenly place that they came from. The bible tells us in 1 Peter 2:9-12:

9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Christians do not just “stumble” upon their faith. They are actually drawn to God, with a calling that one recognizes only when the time is right. Jesus put it quite frankly in John 6:44: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

So therefore, the answer to the question that I asked previously: “…or did they actually know him?” is yes, they did actually know him. I suppose you are wondering “how” they knew Jesus. Quite often, the followers of Christ have been referred to as “Sheep” and Jesus himself, referred to as “Master”. As followers of Christ, we are his sheep and he is our Master; and If you know anything about sheep, you will understand that sheep will only respond to their master’s voice - because that is the one voice they recognize. When we are drawn by the Father (God) to follow Jesus, we will recognize our Master’s voice and in turn will instinctively drop whatever we are doing and follow him. Following Jesus means to put faith in our Savior, even though we cannot see him; but because we recognize his voice and obey, our crooked paths are made straight and our salvation is at hand.

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That’s right, God DOES have a plan for you! It says in Jeremiah 29:11-13:

11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

You see, God loves you so much that even before you were born, He had a plan for you. He had a plan to make you prosperous, a plan to protect you and keep you from harm and therefore giving you hope and a future. Although God had a plan for us from the very beginning, He also threw a “clause” in there. He gave us free will. He did not give us free will so that we might stray from His divine plans, but so that we would come to Him freely, willingly and by choice. Think about it. If God did not give us free will, how rewarding would it be for Him, if He were to force us to love Him, instead of giving us a choice in the matter? If you have ever loved somebody who did not love you in return, would it have made you feel any better if that person loved you, only because you forced them to? Wouldn’t you rather that they sincerely love you by their own free will? Well, that is how God feels about us. He would rather us love Him with the deepest sincerity and straight from the heart - and by our own free will.

Ok, now back to His plans that He has for us. Because He has given us free will, many of us have turned a blind eye to God. Many feel that their accomplishments are their own and that God had nothing to do with it. WRONG! God has everything to do with EVERYTHING! It is His exclusive right to allow any of the following: success, love, heartbreak, illness and failure in a person’s life, according to His will. Many of you might say that well, if in Jeremiah 29:11 He says He plans to prosper us and not to harm us; you have to stop and think about the choices you’ve made on your own, and decide if it was the choices you made that brought you harm, or was God using you for another purpose? Becoming a Christian isn’t always the easiest or most glamorous life to follow, but Jesus Christ’s road to the cross was not easy either; and he did it for US. Once you have decided to follow Christ, God will want you to become stronger and stronger, especially now, in the end times.

It says in Malachi 3:3: “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver.” Do you know how a silversmith refines silver? He takes the silver and holds it in the middle of the fire where the flames are the hottest, as to burn away all the impurities; keeping his eyes on the silver the entire time it is in the fire. If the silver is left a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. Do you know how the silversmith knows when the silver is fully refined? It is when he can see his own image in it. This is exactly what God does with us. He puts us in the middle of the flames where it is the hottest - the whole time keeping His loving eyes on us and removes us not even a fraction of a second too late. This is what is meant by ‘times of trials’. Our trials are what makes us stronger and therefore, as time goes on, God is able to start seeing His own image in us; because remember, we were created in His image.

I suppose the point I am trying to make here, is that God has a plan for each one of us, and if we do what is right and seek God before all things, His plans will begin to unfold in our lives. However, as long as we are still living a sinful life and not respecting God or putting Him first, we may not begin to see those glorious plans. Matthew 6:33 says: “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Personally, I would rather put God and His kingdom first, seek His righteousness, live obediently according to His Word, and discover the awesome life He has in store for me! Wouldn’t you?

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The Psalmist in Psalm 46:10 tells us:

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”

So what do you think was meant by those words? Have you ever had a problem that no matter what you tried to do to resolve the problem - NOTHING WORKED? That no matter what resources you exhausted, the people you contacted or the money you tried to access to make things right - things still weren’t right? As Christians, God totally wants us to rely upon Him to do the “Impossible”. It is His way of loving on us and making us understand that “WE NEED HIM”. I have been in so many seemingly impossible situations in my life, that no matter what I tried to do to fix a problem, my hands were tied to the point that I was immobilized. I recall that during those times when I finally let go of my pride, let go of my independence and let go of my problem… and just LET GOD… Then, and only then, were the issues resolved. I can even recall a quite a few miracles taking place that would have been impossible for me to accomplish on my own.

God is the Author and the Finisher of Our Faith (Hebrews 12:2) and therefore, when there is a situation that we are dealing with that is either out of our league or out of our own control, just remember that God has it all under control because His plans are flawless. It says in Romans 8:28: And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. In other words, what may seem like a catastrophe at the moment, may not be what it seems. God can take any bad situation and turn it around for the good.

Let me use one of my friends as an example. She was working at a job that was paying the bills “just fine” and her husband was working at a job that was “ok”. Her husband decided to go into ministry knowing that they could still ’survive’ off of her paycheck. My friend felt her job was secure, and trusting in the Lord, her husband went into ministry. Lo and behold, don’t you know that a short time passed and my friend’s job was in jeopardy; it turned out that she was to be terminated in a month’s time! She suspected that this could happen, but kept trusting that God would take care of everything. At first there was panic and worry, which is very normal under the circumstances but my friend knew that God’s plan for her would be sufficient, and although it was difficult to let it go and give it to God, she finally did - and a miracle took place! A couple of months prior to losing her job, my friend found a group “by chance” on the internet that travels all over the the United States and occasionally around the world singing and dancing in cultural shows. She had auditioned and was accepted part-time with this group, knowing that there wouldn’t be a lot of monetary compensation. She was having a great time, as it was something she had dreamed of doing her whole life, but figured there was no way she could earn a living from her “hobby”. Anyway, to make a long story short, something happened within the group she belonged to, where one of the artists (on the payroll mind you) had to leave the group for good… and guess what!?! It was my friend who was chosen to take her place. Right as her other job ended, she started her new career and is now traveling all over, singing and dancing and getting paid to do what she loves the most! God is so faithful to those who trust in him.

To sum things up, the next time you are faced with a problem that no matter what you do, it seems impossible to fix. . . That is when it is time to Be Still and KNOW that God is God, and leave it to Him to do the impossible. In Matthew 17:20 Jesus said: “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

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