Israel Folau

Who owns the rainbow? God! As God invented everything that enables a rainbow to exist, God obviously owns the rainbow. God owns everything. “Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it” (Deuteronomy 10:14). Who gave the rainbow a special meaning? After the global flood of Noah’s day about 4,300 years ago, God made a promise. Pay close attention to what he says about ownership of the “[rain]bow”: “‘I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’ And God said, ‘This is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations: I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh” (Genesis 9:11–15). Note God said, “my bow.” He owns it. The one who created light and its properties designated that from that time onward the rainbow, “my bow,” would serve as a reminder that God would never again judge the earth with a global flood. So the one who created light—and who created our eyes so we could see the colors that make up visible light—declared that the rainbow would have a special meaning after the flood. Yes, God owns the rainbow and gave it special meaning about 4,300 years ago when he spoke to Noah after the flood.

Regarding pride... Many people ask me about it. The key to avoiding it is the Lord Jesus Christ. You must *never* tire of understanding what He has done and is doing for you. He exposes your sin. He ministers to you despite it. He understands your frailty. He uses you anyway. You have no hope. He is hope. You are empty. He is full. "From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace." (John 1:16). It is very much the trend of our day to focus on the way Christianity explains our world, or refutes false worldviews. This is what people want to focus on, read about, and hear sermons about. The trouble is, that can make us proud in itself. One manifestation of pride is the despising of others for what they do not know, or how they err, or because of their failings. Please, don't neglect to constantly enrich your understanding of your salvation and how the Son of God has made it possible. That will never fail to put you in your place.

“Be yourself. Be your best self. You do you.” That’s the sort of life advice that people like Gandhi and Hitler could follow—because it doesn’t mean anything. Our truth is nothing, but THE truth is something else altogether.

Isaiah 53 makes an interesting point about Jesus: that He is generally not esteemed or desirable to people (v 2-3). This is the whole problem with us today. We are indifferent towards Jesus Christ. He doesn't excite us, interest us, or compel us. How can this change? The chapter teaches us that it only changes for those who realize this truth about Him: He bore their griefs, carried their sorrows, was pierced for their sins, crushed for their iniquities, chastened to bring them peace, wounded for their transgressions, bearing their sin, and interceding for transgressors. But that is only desirable to those who understand they need it; those who understand they are the transgressors. Problem: We don't understand that. We do not understand our sin. We do not see our need. Therefore, we do not desire Him or esteem Him. We do not love the cross of Christ, because we love ourselves. People cannot see it, but this is the single most fundamental problem of our day. Pride.

These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

We’re designed male or female. We’re designed to be married. We’re designed to be in families. We’re designed to have children . . . and so much more. Isn’t it sad how our world, lost in its subjective feelings, has perverted all of these things?

The Bible's perspective of death vs man's perspective of death.

Secular is not neutral. There is no neutral position. As God's Word states: “Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.” (Matthew 12:30) “For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7–8) “for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light(for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true),” (Ephesians 5:8–9) There are many other Scriptures that teach there is no neutral position and one either walks in light or darkness, builds their lives on the rock or sand, gathers or scatters, is on the broadway or narrow way and is either for Christ or against Christ. Secular is not neutral. The secular education system rejects God and the Bible and is based on naturalism. Secular means anti-God. I say this to challenge us. For those whose children attend the secular (public) schools, even though there are some (small minority) Christian teachers in that system, we need to recognize the children are attending an "anti-God School." If we say it like this it might help shock some people into the reality of what is happening to their children and hopefully wake up parents to ensure they are teaching their children the truth of God's Word, equipping them with a true biblical worldview, and instructing them with apologetics so they will be able to defend the Christian faith. More and more people are waking up to the fact that secular schools are "anti-God schools" which is why there is such a departure of children from those schools. Most kids from church homes do not survive the secular system. That's a fact. Parents, how responsible are you for your child's education, the formation of their worldview? God will hold each one of us responsible for what they are taught: “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD,” (Psalm 127:3) “fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” (Ephesians 6:4) “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

Looking out at the world, you may think, “What a mess!” But the problems of the world start within each of us—the sin is in you.

We find it very hard to allow people to feel guilt. We always want to rush in with soothing words. But Jesus didn’t!

If you understand and believe the first 11 chapters of Genesis, you are 100% woke-proof. It is that simple.

Daniel didn’t participate in the sin and the compromise of Babylon, and he didn’t require himself to be where he shouldn’t be in order to get ahead.

People always find fault with God. Why do people get cancer? Why doesn't he just show up and talk to me? Why does he have these moral standards? Isn't hell unfair? And so on... When Jesus was on the cross, the fault-finders said, "If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross." See, they assumed that the true God wouldn't get Himself into this situation. He'd want to save Himself, and indeed should prove His credentials by doing so. I am so glad that God is God and we are not. Can you imagine how badly we'd mess things up, in our ignorance? If we were gods, we'd never even have died on a cross. It never would have occurred to us. In fact, the whole universe in its ludicrous complexity would baffle us, and it would disintegrate before our eyes. We'd achieve nothing. "Who are you, O man, to answer back to God?" Rom 9:20

Jesus gave him the truth he needed, not the lie he wanted. #Godstruth #Bibletruth #GodsWord

There are a lot of people who say, “I gave up Christianity because I saw spiritual failure.” By saying this, they are claiming that because men and women are sinners, the Bible can’t be trusted. We must not allow people’s failures to undermine our confidence in God himself.

Unbelievable Week!🌎🏉Some Special memories made with an awesome group of people🙏🏼💚 #WorldXV #barbarians #Grateful #Blessed #MakingMemories @BenettonRugby @Federugby @Barbarian_FC

@slnegri04 @BenettonRugby @Federugby @Barbarian_FC @CPiutau @NLaumape Memories bro!!!🙌🏽 #BridgeGang

おはようございます😁 浦安D-Rocksアカデミーです。 今日があなたにとって良い１日になりますように🤞 #浦安 #浦安DRocks #アカデミー #イズラエルフォラウ #IsraelFolau

By the end of this month, we will know the outcome of our long push for reform of @WorldRugby eligibility rules. We will also know if Rugby is truly a sport that lives out it proclaimed values EQUALITY. SPORTSMANSHIP. TEAMWORK & RESPECT #LetThemPlay #TimeForChange