Dear Saints.
When it seems like I find faults, I do so by using myself as an example in every message I write. I continually see that when any messages I write, it is not myself writing to everyone, but God speaking clearly to myself as well. It's interesting when we pick up a pen or go to the computer and ask God to lead me to type messages, it is like He is often revealing a message for me to bear. Maybe He often speaks messages to myself more than anyone else and I am the one who needs the most correction! This tells me that God can speak through anyone and use anyone who is listening and who is willing to be used. It wasn't until I knew I could write until I actually started to type messages I felt lead to type. Because with my background, who would have ever thought I could ever do that?? But God Himself is the One who gives us the ability simply when we are believing that He can use us and wants to use us for His glorious purposes. He doesn't look for qualified people, He qualifies us when we have a willing heart and a believing heart for God because we know He wants to use us to bless us for our obedience to fulfill the greatest mandate in all of History.
One of the things I think about that I don't often do as much as I should is testify of Gods continual Grace and Mercy towards me. Our greatest enemy, the devil and his emissaries are always coming against us to accuse us, even though we may have repented, that God has clearly promised in His Word that He has totally forgiven us who truly repent with a Godly repentance. The thing that allows the devil and his angelic followers to be an effective accuser is because we often fail to share a word of our testimony because in Revelation 12:11, the Word tells us that we overcome the accuser of the Brethren by the Blood of the Lamb and by the Word of our testimony. When we have a testimony, which is what we should often have of Gods goodness, which is ALLways, there is nothing more powerful when we can testify that God is Love and He is true to His Word. When we hear an encouraging testimony from others, I know I am always encouraged and keep much of the praise reports in an electronic folder to remind myself of the wonderful praises people share to encourage myself. The reason why our testimony of God goodness is powerful is because there is no denying how God does help us which is a blow to the enemy who wants to accuse, and cannot accuse when we can share a testimony. I find I can help many people to encourage them because I like to testify how God used my Mess to be a powerful MESSage to give hope to others. My testimony is true which is a great help and encouragement when we do share a testimony of how God did help me. Without it, we don't appear to have the same impact to give hope to others when we fail to share a testimony of what He has done for myself and others. I hope to encourage you to share a testimony, as we should always have a testimony because God is always Good to us in every way, to provide, protect us from many immenent dangers that we may not be aware of, sustains us in every breath we take. May it be our desire to share wonderful testimonies because with the Blood of Christ, and the Word of our Testimony, we have the promises of God that we do overcome the one who comes against us with accusations because there is no denying when the truth is spoken from any past experiences. This is what defeats the enemies weapons used against Gods people.
Help us O Lord to speak up and not be silent to share testimony and praises. Just like there is remission of sins, by actually committing a sin by doing something we should not be doing, and ommission of sins, which is what we should be doing, but we fail to do. Thank God He truly is faithful to always want to forgive us when we repent. So I will say to God, forgive me for often being silent from sharing many testimonies I have failed to give when I should have. For You do inhabit the praises of Your Saints because You are worthy of our praises (Psalm 22:3). May the Lord bless you and encourage you not to be silent to share testimonies. You never know who may need to hear your testimony!!
Please feel free to visit my website and Blog address below. God bless.
In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife
http://www.answers2prayer.org/
www.helpingcopewithhope.blogspot.com
"God gave His best for us when He gave up His Son to die for our sins. What are we prepared to do for Him?"
Friday 24 June 2011
Thursday 23 June 2011
Affective or Infected
Dear Saints.
The scriptures found in Deuteronomy 5:9,10 tell us that a father, whether he loves the Lord or he lives rebelliously because he hates the Lord, this has an astronomical affect not only on himself or his direct family members, but it affects several descendants. To me, this is a more serious matter that we should highly consider. What we do directly to one may affect hundreds, if not, thousands and continues to multiply further. When God tells us that by one action of a father who hates God, he not only infects his own children negatively, but it gets passed down to the third and fourth generations. When you think of how fast this alone can multiply, if you take a father with three children and each one has three children and so on. By the time he becomes a Great-Great Grandfather, he may have up to 81 descendants. Therefore, the action of an earthly father can later on get out of control, where the consequences of his actions towards only 3 of his children can infect so many more, of which he/she will bear the responsibility, even though he/she had nothing to do directly to the members of the family further down the generations. On the other hand, God tells us that when an earthly father who loves the Lord and shows his love to his family (because he knows how God loves him), by the deeds of his life to a few people, he can positively affect many of his descendants that will continue to multiply and continue down the generations. I believe we can also use this principle not only to our own families, but to other people. When you continue to be faithful in Him, by not growing weary in well doing unto others, you may only see the very few people you may having a positive effect on. You may think that you aren't doing anything great, but when you see the principle of multiplication and how fast numbers multiply, you may be positively affecting only two people. But when these two people now end up doing the same and so on, so many people worldwide can be affected positively simply because of one persons actions to a very few people. Who would have known had an elderly lady not been faithful, she would not have realized she had a strong impact on one of the worlds leading Evangelists, who in turn affected many thousands of people worldwide. Had she given up, these thousands of people may never have had a chance to live the blessed life of knowing Christ. I believe that by being faithful to one person, she is reaping the rewards of having a positive impact on so many people around the world, even though she had nothing to do with them directly. Just think of how fast multiplication of two works. If you start out by earning a penny on the first day, and it doubles each day for a month (30 day period), that number will become over 5.36 million dollars from a mere penny! Therefore, we should NEVER get discouraged thinking that we have only accomplished very little. Many of the Christians who dedicated their lives to Christ well over a hundred years ago continue to have a great impact on many people simply because they were faithful and never gave up, no matter how insignificant they may have felt or how only a few people they may have impacted. When you think of Abraham & Sarah having two children and ending up having descendants as numerous as the stars, this is a result of how multiplication will have its effect from only a few. When I think that the Lord indicates that an evil mans deeds infect up to the 3rd and 4th generation, and the man who loves the Lord has an effect on the thousand generations, this tells me how the Lords Mercy far exceeds the Judgment of God. For His Mercy triumphs over Judgment (James 2:13). When you consider this, it should be our ambition to have a positive affect on a few people which may result in thousands of people being blessed and being rewarded by it, then living like the one who hates the Lord, that also ends of treating others with contempt and bearing the consequences of ruining multiple lives simply because of an action of one individual. It is a real eye opener to think that that person who infected a couple of peoples lives by their misdeeds may bear the consequences of many hundreds, if not, thousands of ruined lives simply because of a horrible action he/she had on just a few individuals in their own lives, which got passed down to many others. When we choose to live for the Lord, and love the Lord by obeying His Word, this should cause us to do what we can to live to be a blessing, even if it is only a few. You may not realize that the few whom we blessed may turn out to be thousands of blessed lives because of it. I truly believe that when we live a faithful life that directly blesses only a few lives, but indirectly blesses thousands and thousands of lives, I truly believe that the rewards of that individual will be recipients of having Great Rewards, even though you may not have had any direct impact on many of these others. Therefore, we should be encouraged and continue to seek to be a blessing, even if it may only be a few. You never know the rich impact your life could make for many many thousands of other people because of your love for God and faithfulness to Him. The man on the other hand who lives rebelliously from not following God, bears the consequences of his actions to not only directly to a few, but will have a negative impact on many others that he/she did not have any direct contact. This is like a spark of fire that spreads and destroys many many hectares of land, but only started with a small spark, ends up blazing out of control. That is why gossip is a real bait of the enemy that many people are entangled in. The consequences of slanderous gossip of one person may negatively affect thousands of people before you know it and the astronomical consequences of their actions to one may be having to bear the responsibility of many hundreds, if not, more. When we see the rich rewards of small good deeds and the enormous consequences equally of small bad deeds, this should compel us to do what we can do to be a blessing to others, even in small ways, our rewards will be great. God tells us that even when we give a cup of cold water to others in His Name, we will be rewarded (Mark 9:41). May this bless you to be a blessing and be more greatly rewarded because of it.
Please feel free to visit my website below. God bless.
In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife
http://www.answers2prayer.org/
The scriptures found in Deuteronomy 5:9,10 tell us that a father, whether he loves the Lord or he lives rebelliously because he hates the Lord, this has an astronomical affect not only on himself or his direct family members, but it affects several descendants. To me, this is a more serious matter that we should highly consider. What we do directly to one may affect hundreds, if not, thousands and continues to multiply further. When God tells us that by one action of a father who hates God, he not only infects his own children negatively, but it gets passed down to the third and fourth generations. When you think of how fast this alone can multiply, if you take a father with three children and each one has three children and so on. By the time he becomes a Great-Great Grandfather, he may have up to 81 descendants. Therefore, the action of an earthly father can later on get out of control, where the consequences of his actions towards only 3 of his children can infect so many more, of which he/she will bear the responsibility, even though he/she had nothing to do directly to the members of the family further down the generations. On the other hand, God tells us that when an earthly father who loves the Lord and shows his love to his family (because he knows how God loves him), by the deeds of his life to a few people, he can positively affect many of his descendants that will continue to multiply and continue down the generations. I believe we can also use this principle not only to our own families, but to other people. When you continue to be faithful in Him, by not growing weary in well doing unto others, you may only see the very few people you may having a positive effect on. You may think that you aren't doing anything great, but when you see the principle of multiplication and how fast numbers multiply, you may be positively affecting only two people. But when these two people now end up doing the same and so on, so many people worldwide can be affected positively simply because of one persons actions to a very few people. Who would have known had an elderly lady not been faithful, she would not have realized she had a strong impact on one of the worlds leading Evangelists, who in turn affected many thousands of people worldwide. Had she given up, these thousands of people may never have had a chance to live the blessed life of knowing Christ. I believe that by being faithful to one person, she is reaping the rewards of having a positive impact on so many people around the world, even though she had nothing to do with them directly. Just think of how fast multiplication of two works. If you start out by earning a penny on the first day, and it doubles each day for a month (30 day period), that number will become over 5.36 million dollars from a mere penny! Therefore, we should NEVER get discouraged thinking that we have only accomplished very little. Many of the Christians who dedicated their lives to Christ well over a hundred years ago continue to have a great impact on many people simply because they were faithful and never gave up, no matter how insignificant they may have felt or how only a few people they may have impacted. When you think of Abraham & Sarah having two children and ending up having descendants as numerous as the stars, this is a result of how multiplication will have its effect from only a few. When I think that the Lord indicates that an evil mans deeds infect up to the 3rd and 4th generation, and the man who loves the Lord has an effect on the thousand generations, this tells me how the Lords Mercy far exceeds the Judgment of God. For His Mercy triumphs over Judgment (James 2:13). When you consider this, it should be our ambition to have a positive affect on a few people which may result in thousands of people being blessed and being rewarded by it, then living like the one who hates the Lord, that also ends of treating others with contempt and bearing the consequences of ruining multiple lives simply because of an action of one individual. It is a real eye opener to think that that person who infected a couple of peoples lives by their misdeeds may bear the consequences of many hundreds, if not, thousands of ruined lives simply because of a horrible action he/she had on just a few individuals in their own lives, which got passed down to many others. When we choose to live for the Lord, and love the Lord by obeying His Word, this should cause us to do what we can to live to be a blessing, even if it is only a few. You may not realize that the few whom we blessed may turn out to be thousands of blessed lives because of it. I truly believe that when we live a faithful life that directly blesses only a few lives, but indirectly blesses thousands and thousands of lives, I truly believe that the rewards of that individual will be recipients of having Great Rewards, even though you may not have had any direct impact on many of these others. Therefore, we should be encouraged and continue to seek to be a blessing, even if it may only be a few. You never know the rich impact your life could make for many many thousands of other people because of your love for God and faithfulness to Him. The man on the other hand who lives rebelliously from not following God, bears the consequences of his actions to not only directly to a few, but will have a negative impact on many others that he/she did not have any direct contact. This is like a spark of fire that spreads and destroys many many hectares of land, but only started with a small spark, ends up blazing out of control. That is why gossip is a real bait of the enemy that many people are entangled in. The consequences of slanderous gossip of one person may negatively affect thousands of people before you know it and the astronomical consequences of their actions to one may be having to bear the responsibility of many hundreds, if not, more. When we see the rich rewards of small good deeds and the enormous consequences equally of small bad deeds, this should compel us to do what we can do to be a blessing to others, even in small ways, our rewards will be great. God tells us that even when we give a cup of cold water to others in His Name, we will be rewarded (Mark 9:41). May this bless you to be a blessing and be more greatly rewarded because of it.
Please feel free to visit my website below. God bless.
In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife
http://www.answers2prayer.org/
Sunday 19 June 2011
How to be Strengthened
What compels us and strengthens us? Why does it often seem that some people are often encouraged and remain encouraged and others find it hard to receive encouragement and be encouraged? Do you ever find that what we often like, we end up often meditating on it more and more. When we meditate on something often, it becomes our desire within and actually builds a stronghold in our lives, whether good and favorable or evil in Gods sight.
It's the agendas we spend the majority on that we meditate upon and give thought to that truly strengthen us more in those particular areas. Where one person is strengthened in the Lord more than the other, is because they end up giving more thought to Him and meditate on Him more than the one who may not give much attention to the Lord and His ways. We find our strengths are developed within us when we look back and realize what is the majority of a particular agenda we gave thought to? Therefore, what is good and often encouraging is to put several scriptures around to remind us, especially the scriptures that encourages you and lets you know He loves you with a love no other human can give. It is often important to be mindful what we watch and how long we watch programs. When I turn the TV off, which I have done most in this past month, I find that I really don't miss sitting in front of the tube and sitting like a couch potato. I realized that when I often did that, I didn't realize how much time I wasted, which started having a stronger hold on my life. When I started to fast several weeks ago, my fast was to turn that TV off and minding my time to do the things of God more and more. I started to realize that by limiting my time watching TV no longer has that stronghold upon me, and frankly, I don't really miss watching TV. I find watching an hour or half hour of news is now enough for me and no longer feel compelled to watch 6 hours of TV. Watching TV is not bad at times, but I realized it was consuming my time more than it should have.
He also tells us in Phil 4:8 to teach us what we should be keeping our minds focused on. Also, when we give thought to a negative situation that may have happened to us in the past, the longer we dwell on it and give thought to, it causes us to be stirred with anger or bitterness more and more simply because we continue to entertain and dwell on these thoughts. If another person chooses not to dwell on negative things and chooses to be mindful on the wonderful attributes of God and realize how merciful He has been to us, we find that the person who chooses to heed to Gods instruction will not develop that bitterness or negative stronghold in his/her life simply because they chose to dwell on good things the Lord encourages us to dwell on (read Phil 4:8). God encourages us to choose His ways, and we have been given that power to choose. He teaches us what is best for us. But, in order for us to receive His best, we need to consciously choose His instructions that do benefit us the most. By choosing to think and meditate on His goodness, we are liberated with peace, joy and freedom from bondages of any anger or frustration. Just like He tells us that we don't simply overcome evil by just refusing to focus on it, but we overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). Therefore, we need to change our focus from fretting on the negative circumstances and purposefully replace them with His presence. Just like the love message I mentioned about several messages ago, how He fulfills that law of love for each of us perfectly and are constantly surrounded by His presence, and how He (Love) always hopes for the best in us. It is not a bad thing to remember the past in order to bless others with a message, but we have to be careful not to dwell on them. Lately, there has been hackers sending emails to some others using my name in vain about a couple of months ago. It is sad when people do that. However, when I realized I was starting to dwell on it too much, I could feel in my spirit that anger and bitterness would rise up within me, which would have done myself more harm than anything. With Gods help, I chose to dwell on the mercies of God and His love for me, and be able to use this opportunity to be a message to others. If we learn not to dwell on the negative, and learn to seek Him, He can use our situation to be a blessing to many others while at the same time, to frustrate the real enemy (the devil).
Again, we need to not just not focus on any negative situations in our past, but we need to replace those with thoughts of His goodness towards us and the blessings that are before us. That is why Paul tells us that he chooses to forget what lies behind and focuses on pressing forward to what lies ahead. This should encourage us to focus on moving ahead because our momentary times of trouble here on earth will never compare to the glory that will be revealed in us for all eternity (Rom 8:18) when we choose to live for God. If we believe, we can let God use whatever mess we had in our past to be His MESSage of blessings and encouragement to the world. Knowing how God has used my mess to be His message is truly encouraging who continues to strengthen me. I hope the same can be said for you. God bless.
Please feel free to visit my website below. God bless.
In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife
http://www.answers2prayer.org/
It's the agendas we spend the majority on that we meditate upon and give thought to that truly strengthen us more in those particular areas. Where one person is strengthened in the Lord more than the other, is because they end up giving more thought to Him and meditate on Him more than the one who may not give much attention to the Lord and His ways. We find our strengths are developed within us when we look back and realize what is the majority of a particular agenda we gave thought to? Therefore, what is good and often encouraging is to put several scriptures around to remind us, especially the scriptures that encourages you and lets you know He loves you with a love no other human can give. It is often important to be mindful what we watch and how long we watch programs. When I turn the TV off, which I have done most in this past month, I find that I really don't miss sitting in front of the tube and sitting like a couch potato. I realized that when I often did that, I didn't realize how much time I wasted, which started having a stronger hold on my life. When I started to fast several weeks ago, my fast was to turn that TV off and minding my time to do the things of God more and more. I started to realize that by limiting my time watching TV no longer has that stronghold upon me, and frankly, I don't really miss watching TV. I find watching an hour or half hour of news is now enough for me and no longer feel compelled to watch 6 hours of TV. Watching TV is not bad at times, but I realized it was consuming my time more than it should have.
He also tells us in Phil 4:8 to teach us what we should be keeping our minds focused on. Also, when we give thought to a negative situation that may have happened to us in the past, the longer we dwell on it and give thought to, it causes us to be stirred with anger or bitterness more and more simply because we continue to entertain and dwell on these thoughts. If another person chooses not to dwell on negative things and chooses to be mindful on the wonderful attributes of God and realize how merciful He has been to us, we find that the person who chooses to heed to Gods instruction will not develop that bitterness or negative stronghold in his/her life simply because they chose to dwell on good things the Lord encourages us to dwell on (read Phil 4:8). God encourages us to choose His ways, and we have been given that power to choose. He teaches us what is best for us. But, in order for us to receive His best, we need to consciously choose His instructions that do benefit us the most. By choosing to think and meditate on His goodness, we are liberated with peace, joy and freedom from bondages of any anger or frustration. Just like He tells us that we don't simply overcome evil by just refusing to focus on it, but we overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21). Therefore, we need to change our focus from fretting on the negative circumstances and purposefully replace them with His presence. Just like the love message I mentioned about several messages ago, how He fulfills that law of love for each of us perfectly and are constantly surrounded by His presence, and how He (Love) always hopes for the best in us. It is not a bad thing to remember the past in order to bless others with a message, but we have to be careful not to dwell on them. Lately, there has been hackers sending emails to some others using my name in vain about a couple of months ago. It is sad when people do that. However, when I realized I was starting to dwell on it too much, I could feel in my spirit that anger and bitterness would rise up within me, which would have done myself more harm than anything. With Gods help, I chose to dwell on the mercies of God and His love for me, and be able to use this opportunity to be a message to others. If we learn not to dwell on the negative, and learn to seek Him, He can use our situation to be a blessing to many others while at the same time, to frustrate the real enemy (the devil).
Again, we need to not just not focus on any negative situations in our past, but we need to replace those with thoughts of His goodness towards us and the blessings that are before us. That is why Paul tells us that he chooses to forget what lies behind and focuses on pressing forward to what lies ahead. This should encourage us to focus on moving ahead because our momentary times of trouble here on earth will never compare to the glory that will be revealed in us for all eternity (Rom 8:18) when we choose to live for God. If we believe, we can let God use whatever mess we had in our past to be His MESSage of blessings and encouragement to the world. Knowing how God has used my mess to be His message is truly encouraging who continues to strengthen me. I hope the same can be said for you. God bless.
Please feel free to visit my website below. God bless.
In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife
http://www.answers2prayer.org/
Fundamentals of Gods Great Love
I am always encouraged when God directs me back to the fundamentals of always pursuing Love. God impressed upon me to write down the details of His love 1 Cor 13:4-8. I didn't realize the lenghty list that came out of it and often times, that I don't fulfill them. Here they are as follows:
LOVE...
Endures long; Is patient; Is kind; Never envious; Never jealous; Never boastful; Not vainglorious; Never haughty; Never conceited; Not arrogant; Never given to pride; Never rude; Never acts unbecoming; Does not insist its own way; Never self-seeking; Never touchy, fretful or resentful. Does not dwell on evil or wrong-suffering; Does not rejoice at injustice or unrighteousness; But....
Rejoices in truth and when Right prevails; Believes the best for everyone; Hopes under all circumstances; Endures everything (without weakening); LOVE NEVER FAILS.
Boy do I have alot of work to do!! When I made this list, I was surprised at the length of this list! I must confess that I find that believing the best for everyone and hoping in all circumstances, I see myself stumbling alot. Not to mention a few others also!! So I am attempting to recite through this list over and over during the year to really establish a strong sure foundation on His Love and I know I will remain strong in the areas of my strength and increase in His strength in my areas of weakness. It is interesting that the lists (after talking about long-suffering; patience and kindness) as a basis to start, the long lists identifies of what love is not and to be rid of it before any good can dwell and be established. Just like when the demons have left and the house is swept clean (from all unclean-ness), then we need to be certain to fill that back up with the following goodness of His love to prevail within us. The last portion is for us to state a clear determination (with His help) to never give up because real Love does not fail. I pray to have that strong foundation of His love to prevail within each of us. Just think of a mighty fortress we will be as His Church when we have that strong concrete foundation of His entire love within us. We pray dear Lord that Your love will abound within each of us more and more during this year and with Your help, we will fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matt 22: 37-40). With Your help O Lord, that we will be able to effectively bear each others burdens so as to fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2). The measure of our love for one another is the measure we love the Lord. When we are established in His love, we will never have to fear, for when His perfect love is manifested within us, we will never have to bow down to any fear.
This is where I realized that when I had battled with fears and my anger rose within myself due to this, I realized that I need to have a temperate spirit and needed to go back to recite this over in order to truly overcome any fears I did not recognize. Just recently, I had to go back and realize when I hear that perfect love casts out all fear, I needed to recite again many times to say to myself "God loves me" God loves Rick no matter what. When I realize that I accept His perfect love for me, I truly will walk with no fear because He truly does love me!! This was a revelation, which we know should have been long ago, but I had to confess this because when I fret and become upset, I should not allow this to take place if I truly am established in His love and receive the truth of His love for me. May the Lord richly bless you to allow Him to fill the promises of His unmatched love for you.
LOVE...
Endures long; Is patient; Is kind; Never envious; Never jealous; Never boastful; Not vainglorious; Never haughty; Never conceited; Not arrogant; Never given to pride; Never rude; Never acts unbecoming; Does not insist its own way; Never self-seeking; Never touchy, fretful or resentful. Does not dwell on evil or wrong-suffering; Does not rejoice at injustice or unrighteousness; But....
Rejoices in truth and when Right prevails; Believes the best for everyone; Hopes under all circumstances; Endures everything (without weakening); LOVE NEVER FAILS.
Boy do I have alot of work to do!! When I made this list, I was surprised at the length of this list! I must confess that I find that believing the best for everyone and hoping in all circumstances, I see myself stumbling alot. Not to mention a few others also!! So I am attempting to recite through this list over and over during the year to really establish a strong sure foundation on His Love and I know I will remain strong in the areas of my strength and increase in His strength in my areas of weakness. It is interesting that the lists (after talking about long-suffering; patience and kindness) as a basis to start, the long lists identifies of what love is not and to be rid of it before any good can dwell and be established. Just like when the demons have left and the house is swept clean (from all unclean-ness), then we need to be certain to fill that back up with the following goodness of His love to prevail within us. The last portion is for us to state a clear determination (with His help) to never give up because real Love does not fail. I pray to have that strong foundation of His love to prevail within each of us. Just think of a mighty fortress we will be as His Church when we have that strong concrete foundation of His entire love within us. We pray dear Lord that Your love will abound within each of us more and more during this year and with Your help, we will fulfill the Law and the Prophets (Matt 22: 37-40). With Your help O Lord, that we will be able to effectively bear each others burdens so as to fulfill the law of Christ (Gal 6:2). The measure of our love for one another is the measure we love the Lord. When we are established in His love, we will never have to fear, for when His perfect love is manifested within us, we will never have to bow down to any fear.
This is where I realized that when I had battled with fears and my anger rose within myself due to this, I realized that I need to have a temperate spirit and needed to go back to recite this over in order to truly overcome any fears I did not recognize. Just recently, I had to go back and realize when I hear that perfect love casts out all fear, I needed to recite again many times to say to myself "God loves me" God loves Rick no matter what. When I realize that I accept His perfect love for me, I truly will walk with no fear because He truly does love me!! This was a revelation, which we know should have been long ago, but I had to confess this because when I fret and become upset, I should not allow this to take place if I truly am established in His love and receive the truth of His love for me. May the Lord richly bless you to allow Him to fill the promises of His unmatched love for you.
Pursuing Peace
I find it sad that two people can be friends for many years and do many nice gestures for one another, then all of a sudden...some small incident occurs which drives a wedge and leaves a permanent scar in a relationship. It's not only sad that much of the world experiences this with each other, but it is worse to think that this type of scenario happens in our own Churches. A person can do 999x things right for another, but when one small incident occurs, we allow minor incidents to rob a life long relationship often over a menial and petty incident. This is like comparing to the Isrealites when they remained in bondage in Egypt for 430 years, saw awesome miracles of God, yet they had the audacity to start to grumble, murmur and complain within 3 days!! We may think "how ludicrous" could they have been, but it is how we are at times when we see ourselves festering over one incident and have overlooked multiple good that others have done for us. God reminds me time and time again, that we need to stop festering on being offended over petty things that drives a wedge in our relationship when He tells us that we should be pursuing Peace. That is why He tells us in Phil 4:8 to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report any virtue and praises, rather then festering on things that will only bring division and strife. Most times, I have experienced that infractions between people are due to mis-understanding which were never intentional. The reason why this often takes place between Christians is because we have allowed the enemy to control us which often is the result of allowing our fickle feelings to dominate our thinking, rather than keeping guard our hearts by doing what is right before God. God tells us that it is our responsibility to guard our heart, because this is what flows the issues of life (Prov 4:23). Therefore, we cannot afford to allow our fickle feelings and emotions that often get in the way from pursing love, peace and unity like our Lord desires for His Church.
If there is anything the devil likes to do is to bring division between the Saints because he knows that a kingdom that is divided will never be able to stand (Mark 3:24). We are representatives of God and His Kingdom here on earth. This is where Saints of God need to take responsibility and repent before the Lord who have allowed division to take place and be determined to take a stand to promote love, peace and unity (Psalm 34:14; 2 Tim 2:22; Heb 12:14; 1 Pet 3:11). I say the word pursue and "actively" often because Christianity is anything but a passive religion. Christianity requires work and for us to be active and purposeful in our duty to maintain unity within the body, seek and pursue His Peace and Righteousness. God tells us that we need to master sin (Gen 4:7). In the case of strife and division, we need to put a stop by comitting this "omission of sin" which is failing to do what we know we ought to be doing when need to promote peace and unity. We need to seriously deal with this sin that causes strife and division because sin is what cost our dear Saviour not only His life, but His life to such a horrific extent of suffering, the worst brutal suffering any man could have endured. We need to know that our real enemy is satan and his emissaries; not flesh and blood. We play into the trap of satan when we come against each other rather than joining our hands and heart with each other and uniting to pray one for another which is what does damage to our real enemy. We need to stop allowing the devil to deceive Gods people and realize that he often uses people to come against us or use situations to bring misunderstanding that will often lead to confrontations, strife and division. If we are to be followers of Christ, then we need to STOP allowing ourselves to be offended and always be prayerful. Afterall, this is what people need and we will be more able to fulfill their needs when we pray for them rather than allowing ourselves to be dominated by the deceiver himself. God tells us to be imitators of Christ (Eph 5:1). When a person hurts one another, it is because they are hurting themselves and they need prayer. With Gods help, we need to pursue peace (which means to be active and do it on purpose), pray one for another and strive (be active) to fulfill the Law of Love, just like Christ does for us. Therefore, I find keeping several of the following points in mind truly help me:
- When we remember Christs rich Mercy, Grace, indescribable suffering and His love for ourselves in a deep personal way, which in turn will allow us to be merciful and gracious to others in their time of need, rather than being offended and controlled by our fickle feelings and emotions;
- We need to understand that our enemy is satan and his angels (and not one another), who often are able to use one another to come against each other, of which many times people don't realize they have offended one another. This will allow us to see other people as a victim of the enemy and we will be able to pray for them instead of falling into the tricks of the enemy by coming against one another;
- We need to see how important it is for God; for us to strive to increase in love, strive to maintain peace and unity by maintaining a healthy spiritual body of Believers.
- Finally, we need to know that how we treat one another is how we treat the Lord. When we shun ourselves from one another and harbour bitterness or resentment towards one another, we are showing contempt towards the Lord. He tells us in (Matt 25:40) that when He was sick, naked and in prison, He tells His Disciples that when they did it unto others, they did it unto the Lord. How we love the least of the Brethren is the measure we love the Lord.
We need to tell the devil who is Boss (Jesus) in our lives by doing all we can to maintain peace and unity with one another, just like Christ would want us to do. When we don't agree with other Christians on certain doctrines, this should never dictate how we will or will not get along. We need to be likeminded by joining our hearts together to exalt our Lord and Saviour Jesus by promoting love (1 Cor 13:4-8). We cannot be a spiritually healthy Church when Christ is the Head when we allow division to take place between us. When we see how Jesus loves us and we see our relationship with Jesus goes hand in hand with each of our Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, we will want to do everything to maintain sweet fellowship and unity one with one another. When we read Psalm 133, we see how precious having peace with one another is pleasant to the Lord, it should be equally our deepest desire.
Psalm 133:1-3 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard that went down to the skirts of his garments. It is as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
Matt 5:9 - Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
May we allow the Peace, unity and love of God to rule over our lives and one for another.
If there is anything the devil likes to do is to bring division between the Saints because he knows that a kingdom that is divided will never be able to stand (Mark 3:24). We are representatives of God and His Kingdom here on earth. This is where Saints of God need to take responsibility and repent before the Lord who have allowed division to take place and be determined to take a stand to promote love, peace and unity (Psalm 34:14; 2 Tim 2:22; Heb 12:14; 1 Pet 3:11). I say the word pursue and "actively" often because Christianity is anything but a passive religion. Christianity requires work and for us to be active and purposeful in our duty to maintain unity within the body, seek and pursue His Peace and Righteousness. God tells us that we need to master sin (Gen 4:7). In the case of strife and division, we need to put a stop by comitting this "omission of sin" which is failing to do what we know we ought to be doing when need to promote peace and unity. We need to seriously deal with this sin that causes strife and division because sin is what cost our dear Saviour not only His life, but His life to such a horrific extent of suffering, the worst brutal suffering any man could have endured. We need to know that our real enemy is satan and his emissaries; not flesh and blood. We play into the trap of satan when we come against each other rather than joining our hands and heart with each other and uniting to pray one for another which is what does damage to our real enemy. We need to stop allowing the devil to deceive Gods people and realize that he often uses people to come against us or use situations to bring misunderstanding that will often lead to confrontations, strife and division. If we are to be followers of Christ, then we need to STOP allowing ourselves to be offended and always be prayerful. Afterall, this is what people need and we will be more able to fulfill their needs when we pray for them rather than allowing ourselves to be dominated by the deceiver himself. God tells us to be imitators of Christ (Eph 5:1). When a person hurts one another, it is because they are hurting themselves and they need prayer. With Gods help, we need to pursue peace (which means to be active and do it on purpose), pray one for another and strive (be active) to fulfill the Law of Love, just like Christ does for us. Therefore, I find keeping several of the following points in mind truly help me:
- When we remember Christs rich Mercy, Grace, indescribable suffering and His love for ourselves in a deep personal way, which in turn will allow us to be merciful and gracious to others in their time of need, rather than being offended and controlled by our fickle feelings and emotions;
- We need to understand that our enemy is satan and his angels (and not one another), who often are able to use one another to come against each other, of which many times people don't realize they have offended one another. This will allow us to see other people as a victim of the enemy and we will be able to pray for them instead of falling into the tricks of the enemy by coming against one another;
- We need to see how important it is for God; for us to strive to increase in love, strive to maintain peace and unity by maintaining a healthy spiritual body of Believers.
- Finally, we need to know that how we treat one another is how we treat the Lord. When we shun ourselves from one another and harbour bitterness or resentment towards one another, we are showing contempt towards the Lord. He tells us in (Matt 25:40) that when He was sick, naked and in prison, He tells His Disciples that when they did it unto others, they did it unto the Lord. How we love the least of the Brethren is the measure we love the Lord.
We need to tell the devil who is Boss (Jesus) in our lives by doing all we can to maintain peace and unity with one another, just like Christ would want us to do. When we don't agree with other Christians on certain doctrines, this should never dictate how we will or will not get along. We need to be likeminded by joining our hearts together to exalt our Lord and Saviour Jesus by promoting love (1 Cor 13:4-8). We cannot be a spiritually healthy Church when Christ is the Head when we allow division to take place between us. When we see how Jesus loves us and we see our relationship with Jesus goes hand in hand with each of our Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, we will want to do everything to maintain sweet fellowship and unity one with one another. When we read Psalm 133, we see how precious having peace with one another is pleasant to the Lord, it should be equally our deepest desire.
Psalm 133:1-3 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard that went down to the skirts of his garments. It is as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion; for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
Matt 5:9 - Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
May we allow the Peace, unity and love of God to rule over our lives and one for another.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)