Thursday 6 December 2012

His Unmatched Peace


Dear Saints,
    
     I heard a great message last Sunday from a dear Pastor and friend, Marven Durling about the Peace of God.  So I don't want to take the credit for this email message (and honestly, for any other previous messages), because anything we have received is by Gods Grace in the first place.  However, I do want to add on the thoughts that the Lord brought to mind.

     One of the greatest advertisements this world will try to sell you is so that you can have some "Peace of Mind".  People will want these products or receive these services because the advertising agents know that all consumers want and need to have Peace of mind.  So these agencies advertise as such.  However, to be honest with you, everything that the world offers you outside of the will of God may only bring you peace for a very short time, but nothing that they offer will ever last or will ever compare to the real Peace that only God gives us through His Son Jesus.  Jesus tells us that "My Peace I give you, not as the world gives" (John 14:27).  The only Peace that we will ever receive that satisfies us totally and inwardly is receiving His Peace for us because He is the Only One who gives us real Peace that lasts for all eternity.  Any other peace the world tries to offer you only satisfies "here and now".

     Christians often pray for peace, but don't often seem to live in peace or live with peace when they should.  Because we can have Peace with God (Rom 5:11) and should exhibit the Peace of God (Phil 4:7).  We don't have to pray for peace because He tells us that He has already given us His Peace.  So we shouldn't have to ask for something He already promised that He already had given to us.  Therefore, what we need to pray is that we will learn to receive that wonderful peace He already has given to us by asking Him to help us live according to His desires and His will for our lives.  Many times, I see Christians often do not seem to have this Peace Christ already offers us.  So why is that?  As an example, many Christians do not have peace within themselves when they refuse to forgive others their trespasses.  Living in disobedience to His ways will never bring you true genuine peace which He alone offers.  It is NEVER the fault of God for ever withholding His goodness from us, but it is because of disobedience and choosing to do things "our way" that is the real problem.  When conflicts within our soul becomes apparent, this may be often due to the fact that we have not repented when we should, admit our faults before God when we should, may not have settled any issues between ourselves and God from past sins or knowingly live in disobedience or other related matters that war within our membranes because we fail to humble ourselves before the Loving counsel of God.  I find it is imperative to understand fully (to have that solid knowing deep deep within) that Gods Ways are always "The Best" for our present and eternal well-being.  Choosing to do things His Way always brings results of having Joy, Peace, gladness within.  No other commodity, no other material possessions or worldly fame can ever compare with having real joy and peace that only God constantly offers us.  We will never obtain that rich Peace within when we question other people by blaming them, question and blaming our circumstances or question God, when the real matter is that we NEED to be questioning our ambitions &/or motives.  

     What may cause many Christians to fail to receive His peace is that they have more concern about the cares and ambitions of this world. Just like Jesus mentions in one of many parables He often taught, about the seed being choked out by the cares of having the riches of this temporal world (Matt 13:22).  When I see how Big, Great and Awesome eternity is, I don't end up putting so much emphasis on worldly ambitions when I focus on how much greater eternity is compared to this temporal life on earth.  When I see a television program called "Hoarding", it is devastating to see how material possessions have an immense stronghold on many people that they often end up crying in despair to ever let go of "things" they believe truly satisfies them. Sometimes, it gets to the point where people will choose "things" over their own family members.  When these people are about to die, it is the family members who are by your side, not material possessions.  Material possessions and worldly ambitions could care less about you!!  That's why it is extremely important to enjoy and have possessions we own, but not allow them to own us!!  When you consider this present life on earth of 100 years is like a little drop of water and the entire worlds oceans (are like eternity), I don't have the same ambitions in this present life like I used to have, which I now see myself liberated from the bondages I once had.  I would far rather be prepared for that eternal home where time has no limit.  No wonder God encourages us to set our minds on things above instead (Col 3:2).  I believe the greatest devastation of all is when people come to the end of their lives living with regret.  Failing to do what God admonishes each of us to do in such a short lifespan here on earth and stepping out in to eternity.  I don't belittle any real problems people have in this life.  But I find the real problem is often the fact that our ambitions are often focused on the "Here and Now" rather than focusing on a most important perspective by asking God to help you be a blessing to others and seeing how He can do a wonderful work through you to advance His Kingdom purposes instead.  Keeping focused on His Kingdom principles rather than on worldly ambitions is what gives us real Peace (His Peace) in the first place.  

     His blessings of Peace is unlimited.  However, the portion of receiving His richness of Grace, Mercy, blessings and peace are in direct proportion of how much we love Him, obey Him, believe His love and care for us and choose to set your mind on things above and not be so focused on this life that you lose sight for eternity.  His Peace will never benefit us when we do not accept this.  I would far rather do away with so much of the cares and ambitions of this world and choose to do things His way in order to inherit this real peace than failing to have otherwise.  Having everything this world could ever offer while having no Peace is simply not worth it.  Just like eternity is far greater than this temporal world, and His ways and thoughts are far higher than our thoughts and ways (Isa 55:9), so His Peace is also that much greater than any peace this world could ever offer us. 

If we want to have the greatest Peace of all, we need to keep our hope and passion on the One who loves us and died for us.  Isa 26:3 reads "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You".

The proceeds from purchase of my books @ http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife go towards supporting "Helping Cope Through Hope" mission work in Zambia.


In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer

http://www.answers2prayer.org/

Sunday 18 November 2012

The Need to Take Responsibility

Dear Saints. 

     I want to share something very valuable I learn more about just this past week.  When I mentor  people to take the necessary steps to change ones circumstances in life, I find many people remain in bondage to bad or unfortunate circumstances in life when people fail to be humble enough to see any fault of their own doing and fail to accept any Godly counsel or instruction based on His Word.  I sense in my spirit that when we remain in a bad situation, it has nothing to do with "bad luck" or any "misfortune" or as one person kept saying that God is punishing me.  We have to stop blaming God for our circumstances and ask the Lord, "What is it that I may have caused or failed to do?".  When I think of my past, and how I have often lived with negative circumstances, it wasn't because God simply allowed this to happen as if we are to put the blame on Him, but the fact that I had believed and accepted the lies of the enemy often spoken through people rather than believing what God said about myself and believing Him instead.  Even out of ignorance, I still suffered.  What I needed to do to be set free was to realize my error and ask Him for forgiveness because I failed to believe Him, even if it was only out of ignorance.  When I took that step to repent and chose to believe what He could do His work through me and desired to have that child-like relationship with Him, it was then that I started to see wonderful changes in my circumstances.  However, I had to first repent and take responsibility for accepting the error of my ways.  Those who continue to blame God, blame circumstances and fail to take responsibility by seeing their error will never grow up and never live a fulfilling life that God intends for us to have (John 10:10b).  Its just like His Grace, even though it is available to all, those who learn to be humble, develop a bold confidence in Him (Heb 4:16) and believe/accept Him for what He says are the only ones who benefit the blessings of God. 
 
     When we receive Godly counsel from others, especially those who have lived through similar circumstances who know how to help from which they themselves received and people who need counsel (2 Cor 1:3,4), is it any wonder why negative circumstances don't change for some people when they fail to accept Godly instruction from others experience in the first place?  God tells us in Prov 12:1 (New Living Translation) "To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction".  I highlight this because God uses strong language about those who refuse to accept Godly counsel that is intended to help people in their time of need, but we make up excuses why not to do it.  In Gods eyes, it is stupid when we refuse His counsel because He is the only One who is able and willing to help us.  He often can't help us because we fail to accept the error of our ways and fail to accept responsibility.  When God places a person in a given situation, I believe the circumstances can become much better when a person remains steadfast in Him and believes he/she can be used of God to be effective.  It all comes down to: Who are we going to believe and will we believe He can use us to have a postive effect on others in their need?  Or are we going to let their evil ways infect us simply because we accept their lies rather than believing who we are in Christ?

     I truly believe that when constant negative circumstances dominates our lives, it is not so much that we have been dealt with a worse hand by God, the real problem is we fail to see any fault of our own and make excuses rather than taking the necessary steps we need to take from receiving any Godly counsel.  As an example, one of the units that I was an overseer of their financial operation, were having much difficulty.  I asked this person who is new to the position if the people before her were taking steps to help them manage their paperwork more efficiently which I taught them to do just over a year ago.  She said they weren't.  I believe it is like our lives with God.  Is it any wonder why things at this particular unit did not work out when they failed to receive instruction and put it to use?  Equally, when we receive Godly counsel, how can we expect to see improvements in our lives when we refuse to take the necessary steps which He instructs us to do?  This is why we need to take responsibility and need to ask for forgiveness when we fail to seek Godly counsel and His loving instructions that are intended to help us.  I find more and more that Gods Word only works when we understand that God is always faithful while at the same time, we need to understand that we have a responsibility to study His Word, spend time in prayer and develop that love relationship with Him and with others so that we may remain strong in Him.  We cannot say that God is our God if we thought He ever made a mistake or believed He doesn't understand our situation or if we continue to question Him critically.

     When we fail to repent and seek His counsel, we are blind to see any fault of our own which I believe is the primary cause why negative circumstances remain in our lives.  It is up to us to choose to be humble, repent and receive His forgiveness who will ever help us.  Just like God gives us the responsibility to choose life or death, blessings or curses (Deut 30:19).  Lets stop kidding ourselves and realize we need to humble ourselves before God, seek and receive His forgiveness and with the help of accepting Godly counsel, believe that He is indeed our Helper in our time of need (John 14:16,26).  Otherwise, we can't expect changes to improve until we learn to do this first.  These messages that often encourage and challenge us is always done in love in order to that we may be more eternally blessed because of it.   


Will you consider buying my books in support of HelpingCopeThroughHope mission work in Zambia?  You may go to my link below to observe.In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/
www.helpingcopewithhope.blogspot.com 
 
In quietness and in (trusting)confidence shall be your strength (Isa 30:15b)

Saturday 10 November 2012

Acknowledge HIM in All Our Ways

Dearest Saints

     When I think of everything in a nutshell what Christianity is about, I come up with the simplicity of having that wonderful intimate relationship with God.  It's that simple.  I believe we complicate God and Christianity or make it out to be something other than first growing towards having a deeper relationship with Him each day.  I believe the more we develop that loving relationship with Him, we become stronger in Him to fulfill His desires and instructions found in His Word.  I also believe that as David would say, that when we love His laws and consider Him more than gold or silver (because we have that wonderful relationship with Him), we detest everything else that doesn't give God the glory or we fail to have that intimate relationship He wants us to have with Him (Read Psalm 119:127,128).   

     When I asked Him in to my life to be my Lord and personal Saviour, I have to admit that I wasn't making Him Lord over my life simply because I failed to acknowledge Him and His presence continually in my life like we should.  When we really ask Him to be Lord over our life, do we just resort by inviting Him only to help us with some larger circumstances of our lives?  Do we give Him only a few moments of our time to acknowledge His sweet presence in a given day?  As He continues to teach me, I believe we serve a God who not only wants to be involved in helping us make major decisions, but also in every tiny detail of our lives.  When I think of it, if I just want to go for a drive in the countryside, I want to be conscious of His presence and invite Him to sit with me and go for a drive and even ask Him where would He like to go?  We don't say these things because we don't believe He is not already present with us, but we do this to allow our hearts to open up to Him.  When those of you who like to go shopping, He would like you to invite Him to go shopping with you and help you choose a location to pick out the best items for the best prices in any of the stores.  If/when we go play golf or any other sports, do we invite Him to tag along with us, or even ask to help us hit a better ball or just enjoy the sport?  When I go to work before I even turn on the computer, am I trying to consciously make every attempt to ask Him to govern my day and invite Him to help me get projects done and be His employee whom He can be pleased with?

     I think many times, we put God only in to some "religious activity" when really, He wants us to involve Him in every area of our lives.  When we go out to visit, or have visitors in our home, or if we happen to be having dinner alone at home, do we invite Him to dine with us so we can enjoy His sweet presence?  Especially when I type in many of these messages or when answering a prayer, I don't dare want to not acknowledge His help in any of these.  Do we invite Him everywhere we go or whatever we are doing during our spare time?  When we acknowledge Him in all our ways(Prov 3:6), He promises to lead us down the right path.  This tells me that when He directs our paths, He works out everything in our life.  I truly believe in order to be stronger in the Lord, it's really all about inviting Him and acknowledging Him in every aspect of our lives.  Even to the point of asking Him to help us brush our teeth, comb our hair, iron our cloting, etc!  He loves us so much He tells us that He knows the numbers of hairs on our head (Luke 12:7), which to me means to even ask Him to help us find the right shampoo and/or purchase the best products to look after our body, which is His temple.

     Many times, I notice people asking/praying to God to "be with Brother/Sister so and so".  I personally don't think we need to pray and ask God something He already told us, because He promises us that He never leaves us nor will ever forsake us (Heb 13:5).  Because He is so faithful to His promises, I think the better prayer for us to pray is "Lord, help me to acknowledge You in all my ways".  This puts the emphasis on knowing that He is already faithful (knowing He never leaves us), but our need to ask Him to help us acknowledge Him more and more into our daily lives.

     When it all comes down to it, He wants us to involve Him in every aspect of our lives and every detail of our lives because this is one way of knowing He loves and cares for each of us because He cares about the little details equally to the big agendas in our lives.  When you know someone who loves you so much, you will want them to be involved with you in every aspect of your daily activities.  The same thing is with God.  If we want to acknowledge our loved ones this much, shouldn't we acknowledge the One who loves us that much more?  Too many people in our nation only cry out to God and acknowledge Him when things go wrong, but fail to thank Him when things are going good.  Some only acknowledge Him just on Sundays or only a few minutes in any given day or when we have major and important decisions to make.  We need to encourage one another to acknowledge Him in every part of our day and every part of our activity in our lives because I believe He wants us to open our heart to involve Him and invite Him into every detail of our lives.  We simply deceive ourselves when we don't think we need His help in every detail of our lives in the first place.  When we know He loves us greatly, we are going to want to involve Him in every area of our life.

     In a nutshell, I believe this is the simplicity and entirety of what Christianity is all about.  To be an example of acknowledging and inviting Him to be Lord over "ALL" of our daily activities.  We wouldn't be in existence and wouldn't be enjoying every aspect of life if it weren't for His great love and mercy towards us in the first place.  I believe we are stronger in the Lord by having much more confidence in Him when we choose to have this wonderful rich deep relationship He so much wants us to have with Him.  As He wants that relationship with us, the question is, how much are we willing to acknowledge Him in our daily activities?  Religion is complicated.  Christianity is simple. Let's not complicate ourselves from having that wonderful relationship with our dear Lord first and foremost.

     If this blesses you, please share my blogs with many others whom you know could also benefit.  I believe just by sharing, you will share in the greater eternal rewards simply by being a blessing to someone else. 

Will you consider buying my books in support of HelpingCopeThroughHope mission work in Zambia?  You may go to my link below to observe.
In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/

In quietness and in (trusting)confidence shall be your strength (Isa 30:15b)

Thursday 1 November 2012

Restoring Deep Soul Wounds - Part 3

Dearest Saints,
 
     In order to look at being healed from our soul wounds, which goes deep within, we need to be persistent about being in prayer and confession while not thinking that doing this once is all that is needed.  During these processes, I like to point out something vital that we need to be persistent in.  With Gods help, we need to deter any negative circumstances from having dominion in our lives.  I find it extremely important to speak positive words into our lives and refuse to allow any negative conversation to come forth, which only allows the enemy to infiltrate his ways that ends up contaminating our soul when the Lord is willing to heal and restore your wounded soul.  Our words which the Lord reveals to us can either bring forth life or death in to our situation (Prov 18:21).  When we consider that the tongue can be very powerful and poisonous venom just by the words we speak, it even enlarges the flames of hell itself (James 3:5-8).  That's why the Lord is serious about our words, because unrepentant people are going to give an account for every idle word spoken (Matt 12:36) because of the power of what we confess.  If words can be that powerful in the negative realm, don't you think that speaking positive words (according to His Word) can be equally powerful, if not moreso?  Therefore, we need to take heed how we think and speak.  If our soul wounds get healed and restored for a short time, we may cause ourselves living a "yo-yo life" by being up one day and down the next simply because we failed to discipline our thoughts and words.  I know it can be difficult at first because I was a constant complainer and often critical.  The results of my life was often negative because of it.  With Gods help, we can make changes because He tells us that we can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13) and He has given us the Spirit of Self-Control (Gal 5:23) to help us do that. 
 
     What I have found out that helps is to not just stop speaking negatively, but to purposefully  speak positive Words that agree with Gods Word over ourselves and get used to speaking Gods Word over us which brings forth life.  Gods Word is always positive and encouraging.  Jesus tells us that He is life (John 14:6), and He is the Word (John 1:14), then we need to speak His Word which brings forth life in to our circumstances.  I know of a few people who are often just constant complainers and yet nothing right ever seems to go their way.  This has nothing to do with their circumstances being negative as much as they themselves create negative circumstances just because they speak negatively all the time and refuse to follow His instructions.  If people would submit themselves to God, and realize His love and care for them while submitting to the wisdom of His Word, we will often find ourselves living with much more Joy, Peace, Gladness of heart.  I am a testimony of just that, which I have proven His Word many times over concerning this.
 
     I would like to share a wonderful revelation to add when we want to go beyond being healed and actually be restored.  A person may wonder "What is the difference?"  When you go to Luke 17:12-19, you will read about the ten lepers and how Jesus healed all of them.  However, in vs 19, He tells about one out of all ten who came back to thank Him was in addition, made whole.  When you consider people who have leprosy, they may be healed from leprosy from a divine touch from God or by medication they take.  However, over a period of time, leprosy causes eyes to sink, noses, hands and feet become deformed.  They may be healed, but their deformities remain.  When nine of the people who had leprosy and were healed, they may have been healed, but the symptoms of sunken eyes, deformed hands and feet may have still been evident.  The one who returned back to Jesus to praise Him and thank Him, Jesus told him that he was made whole in addition compared to the other nine.  I believe this person who came back to thank Him was restored to perfect health by having every part of his body restored as opposed to the others who just been healed from this disease.  If there was not a difference, why would the Lord indicate this additional restoration to the one man?  I want to share something that I believe the Lord was showing me that shows a comparison by not having our wounded soul just healed, but totally restored.  When we plead the Blood of Jesus over ourselves, our situation, our family, health, we can believe that because of the Blood, we are healed (1 Pet 2:24).  But we often stop at that.  I like to share something significant.  Not only did Jesus shed His Blood, but He was also Resurrected by the Power of Gods Spirit, which is the Spirit of Dunamis, which is a Greek word for Power, which is where we get our strength from.  When you type in Dunamis in Google, here is what is translated: 
 
strength power, ability
  1. inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth
  2. power for performing miracles
  3. moral power and excellence of soul
  4. the power and influence which belong to riches and wealth
  5. power and resources arising from numbers
  6. power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts
      When you notice on para c, it mentions about ones soul being excellent.  So when we plead the Blood of Jesus to heal our wounded soul, we need to pray the Resurrection Power of His Spirit to restore our soul which will result of our wounded soul not only being healed, but restored with excellence!!  Just like I mentioned about speaking positive words in line with His Word, we need to declare when we pray persistently over our soul, that not only are we healed, but by His Grace and Power, we need to declare: "My soul is restored, I now have excellence of soul."  And like the one man who was leprous who came back to Jesus to thank Him immensely, we need to do just that and give Him thanks.  We should be most thankful because He has proven His love by suffering such extreme pain on our behalf, by offering us life in abundance and to live a resurrected life.  He tells us that we have been resurrected with Him (by virtue of our being) (Eph 2:6).

     I don't want to make this sound like it is some 'magic formula' of some sort, but when you compare it to the light of His Word, we need to see how we are healed by our confession (James 5:16).  We need to repent, because Jesus told the crippled man who became healed to stop sinning or something worse may come (John 5:14).  Plead the Blood of Jesus (1 Pet 2:24) and declare by His power and authority to heal (Mark 3:15).  When I read Mark 3:15, He not only mentions (power or authority) but both.  In other words, we have His authority to use His Name and the power that is given to us is His Resurrection Power of His Spirit.  So it is not a matter of only having one or the other, but both power and authority.  When you go through this process of healing, I would like to encourage you to not only pray that you are healed by the Blood of Jesus, but also restored to divine health by the Power of His Holy Spirit (Dunamis)who is the exact expression of His Spirit.  Afterall, Jesus told His Disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to be our Guide, Comforter, Teacher and Helper upon His departure(John 16:13).  So if the Spirit is ever present with us, and we believe we need His help, should we not acknowledge the help of His Spirit in all our requests?  I want to encourage you to continue to be persistent, continue to give Him thanks and be purposeful to speak the positive life giving Word that comes in agreement with His Word.  We need to know and be positive also that He not only wants to heal and restore us, but He wants to give us double recompense for every trouble that we have endured (Isa 61:7 and Zech 9:12).  Just like He did for Job, He restored everything back to him double-fold.  We need to have that same mindset because if God said it in His Word, we need to act like we believe Him.

I hope you are blessed and be a blessing to others by sharing my Blog Site @ www.helpingcopewithhope.blogspot.com   We are blessed (Eph 1:3) to be a blessing to one another.


In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/
In quietness and in (trusting) confidence shall be your strength (Isa 30:15b).

Wednesday 24 October 2012

Restoring Deep Soul Wounds - Part 2

Dearest Saints,

     I would like to continue on to help deal with deepest wounds that we often carry.  These wounds as we mentioned are the wounds we carry in our soul that have often been the result of traumas and excessive negative situations we may have had to bear with in the past.  As you took the time to write down many of your past wounds and any result of being offended from many of these past experiences, I pray the Lord will help me be a blessing to you by pulling out the very roots of these weeds that have poisoned your soul which is deep within you.  When someone does something extremely offensive towards you, its not so much the negative action that wounds ones soul, but it is how we have reacted towards it by being offended.  Holding on by being offended is what causes our souls to be deeply wounded. 
    
     Often times, it is when we harbour these things, rehearse these past experiences that the wounds often penetrate and get deeper.  One of the things I find very important is when someone offends you, we need to stop looking at ourselves as the victim and see that our oppressors are the real victims.  When you consider that God is not only a God of Love, but also a God of Justice (Isa 30:18; Isa 61:8), people are going to give an account before God who offends His Children to the degree of destruction beyond comprehension.  When I think of the consequences of their actions and see the eternal destruction that awaits them, I feel sorry for them which is having that Godly sorrow which brings forth life.  When we have what is called "worldly sorrow" in 2 Cor 7:10, this is when we see ourselves as a victim which the Bible tells us that causes death (that is often the result of having deep soul wounds).  We inherit that victim mentality when we allow the enemy to deceive ourselves by failing to see the big picture and see how our oppressors are the real victims.  This is an important mindset because when we can see how the enemy uses people to come against one another, people who oppress others are a victim to the enemy because they fail to see the eternal destruction of their actions whom the "god of this world" has blinded many (2 Cor 4:4).  When I saw a video on YouTube with Bill Wiese on 23 minutes in hell, my heart went out to those who do not realize the accountability of their actions. Although many think this is a hoax, Christ Himself is very clear about the absolute horridness of this eternal place of damnation.  I honestly don't think any video can ever identify the reality of hell itself.  This should cause us to pray for every lost soul, even those who savagely come against us because they remain spiritually blind.  This gives us the ability to be Christ-like to pray for our enemies like God admonishes us to do rather than have that "Woe is me" mentality like the devil would like you to remain being a prisoner of.  King David dwelt with self pity when he saw himself as a victim which caused him to become jealous towards wicked men by questioning God "Why do evil men prosper? (Psalm 73:3-16). Then, in vs 17, when he understood their end result after going to the Lord, his heart softened.  Knowing their destruction if they don't repent should soften our heart when we understand how they remain blind by being slaves in chains to the real enemy, satan.

     The story of the rich man and Lazarus is a key scenario about the torment and actual pain people experience.  Even if the rich man lived his life lavishly for a hundred years or more on earth while the beggar lived as he did for that entire time, that rich man is crying out to have Lazarus dip his finger in water to cool off his tongue.  This place of immense suffering is one crying out for help and not ever being able to receive any relief from pain and agony for all eternity.  I will be safe to say that the rich man would have been greatful to start again and change places with Lazarus to have lived like a beggar all his life instead just to escape the horridness of hell, even experiencing this for only a very short while in this dark prison of eternal torture.  The wounds that I had once carried disappeared when I considered these things that caused me to repent of my selfishness before the Lord.  If you truly believe God wants to heal you and restore you, we need to see that we have sinned before God by allowing ourselves to be offended and refuse to become a prisoner to this deception that caused deep wounds in our soul in the first place, no matter what the degree of trauma has happened to us.  

     If we are offended by circumstances that people may not have had any direct effect, we need to repent before God if we believe He is in control of everything.  When we become offended from circumstances, we are really blaming God without maybe realizing it.  When we blame God, we fail to see any responsibility of our own that we may have caused.  When you read Lamentations 5, you will see how oppressed Jeremiah speaks about the conditions they were living in.  Yet, in verse 7, he talks about this oppression he and others are enduring because of the sins of their forefathers.  It would hardly seem fair that we would have to repent because of our forefathers since he himself didn't exhibit any iniquity of his own.  But yet, many people are the burden bearers because of the iniquity of their forefathers.  This hardly seems fair, but if we want to be healed from carrying deep wounds in our souls from the actions of others (even our own forefathers), Godly repentance is absolutely necessary on our part.  We do this to our benefit and be liberated by being a prisoner of carrying these deep wounds.  Caring about whose fault it is should not be considered when we need our wounded soul to be healed and restored.  God tells us in Isa 58:9 He warns us about pointing our finger in scorn, which is finding fault with one another (even blaming God by blaming circumstances).  When we harbour this, we forfeit ever receiving His healing He mentions in vs 8 and will remain being wounded.

 
     When we go over our list that you have written down and give these past hurts before the Lord, I want you to picture the glory of the Lord Jesus reaching down towards you with outstretched arms to receive every wound, by giving him every fragments of your life.  When I read (John 6:12,13) Christ tells the Disciples to pick up every fragments (broken pieces that are left over) from feeding the multitudes.  He also tells them "and let none go to waste."  This is an illustration that He wants us to give Him our "fragments" and believe that He wants to do something special for you.  When you do, smile and give your heartfelt thanks to Him.  You can believe and declare His promise for us in Isaiah 61:7 "Instead of your [former] shame you shall have a twofold recompense; instead of dishonor and reproach [your people] shall rejoice in their portion. Therefore in their land they shall possess double [what they had forfeited]; everlasting joy shall be theirs."  He can't bless us with double recompense when we continue to harbour and carry soul wounds by remaining being offended.  He wants to give us blessings, but He often can't because we inhibit Him to do so when we don't release these before Him.  This is proof of His Word "He is able and willing to do exceedingly and abundantly for us than we can ever ask or think (Eph 3:20)."  He always wants to do more for us.  Are we tying His hands from doing just that?  I would like to carry on next week and see an addition to healing, to being restored.
 
Please share my Blog with others who you know can be blessed from it.  Be blessed and share the blessings by helping one another.    

In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/


Saturday 13 October 2012

Restoring Deep Soul Wounds - Part 1


Good Day Dear Saints

     I would like to open up a series to deal with the deepest inner recesses of our being which is dealing with soul wounds.  In order for us to have real victory over any area of our lives, we always need to get to the root causes of why we act or react to situations in a negative way and realize that this may be caused from some negative circumstances dating back from recently to many years ago.  Like myself, I truly believe that the reason why many people do not react favorably in many circumstances is not because of the actual circumstance itself, but because of having scarred or wounded souls deep within which many have not properly dealt with because they may be ashamed and are trying to cover it up, which does not eliminate the source of the problem.  These wounds that are deep within our soul are often caused by trauma, negative circumstances, negative words spoken against us, being harrassed, bullied, rejected or betrayed of confidence by others and many other situations alike that could have negatively affected ones life.

     Many people try to cover up these wounds, but often times, the scars remain deep within simply because we have never dealt with them as God would want us to.  An example is like when a person has been told by another person who may have had negative influence over them, that you cannot amount to anything in life. So the person who has been told this becomes a perfectionist who may do well and accomplish alot in life.  This person may think that he/she has victory over this wound, but in the meantime, this person remains a perfectionist and the result of this compulsive behaviour has its negative effect simply because these negative words once spoken to them gave them a wound deep within their soul.  So they try everything to counteract this by being busy, being a perfectionist and valuing themselves of what they accomplish in life.  I often find that the root causes of maintaining these soul wounds is that we hold and harbour offences and we try to overcome them as part of our "defence" by defending our rights or reputation that will never erase these offences that causes soul wounds that many continue to carry deep within them.  It's like sweeping dirt under a carpet or spraying air freshener without getting rid of the garbage causing the stench in the first place.

     The question some may wonder is how do I know if I am carrying these wounds within my soul?  I believe if you dwell on, or have recurring thoughts about a certain negative situation you were involved in, or you find yourself reacting negatively to any normal circumstances, or maybe your mind tends to wander off, chances are that you may have deep soul wounds which the Lord wants to help you.  Sometimes, we need to get to a quiet place and think about what we have been thinking about.  As it may sound funny, we really need to do this.  When I think of reacting negatively when God tells us that we need to bear fruit from being patient as an example, we may find ourselves often very impatient when we have to wait in line at the bank, grocery store longer than we care to, or at slow moving traffic.  It could even be a result of one having to deal with pornography because of a deep rooted issue from a wound that remains in ones soul.  When we take the time to reflect on areas of our lives that do not promote bearing fruit Gal 5:22 (Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control), are we finding out that we are not bearing fruit as effectively as we could be or should be?  The example of the person who is always busy trying to be a perfectionist from the result of harbouring festering negative words spoken against him/her is not the result of allowing God to help heal their wound deep within their soul.  God never tells us to be "busy", but admonishes us to be "fruitful".  Alot of people today are busy, but are doing nothing or they are accomplishing very little to advance the kingdom of God.  They may be busy, but failing to do what matters to God or have very little relationship with Him.  When we harbour bitterness by being offended and hanging on to it, this is one of the major issues that has caused many Christians to walk around with penetrating wounds in their soul that often is a real hinderance from moving forward with the Lord, having any postive impact towards others as we should be doing or having any quality time in the sweet presence of God.  People often have isolated themselves from others which is a major issue of allowing themselves by being offended.  When the enemy can isolate a member, this is where the wolf likes to make its most effective attacks because of their vulnerability of isolating oneself from others.
 
     When we hang on by being offended by others unfavorable actions towards us, this not only negatively affects our spiritual well being, but is often a major cause of emotional stress that often leads to high blood pressure, tensions and major causes of physical ailments.  God never intended man to carry this burden of the results of being offended, because man isn't meant to carry such burdens.  God tells us to cast all our cares upon Him for He does care for each of you (1 Pet 5:7), He loves you and wants to help you.  Have we tied His hands to help us?  This is why we need to consider that any time we have remained offended is a sin against God.  This is why this goes against what God tells us in His Word.  When a person develops a root of bitterness, it often is a result of harbouring offence which is again, a major cause of having our souls wounded deep within.  It has often been said that people who are hurt within themselves (by carrying an offended spirit within them) often hurt others because of it.  And if we do things to hurt others, do you suppose God is pleased with us, even though the other person may be the initial instigator?  In the end, it is not going to matter what people do to us, but how we reacted and whether we have sought the Lord to help heal us deep within.  We are not going to be responsible for a persons actions, but we will be responsible for our action and how we reacted to any given situation.
 
     When God was dealing with me about soul wounds, the first thing we need to do is to write down any negative experiences that you feel you have been dwelling on.  Or if you find yourself being more impatient than you know you should, or not being able to show kindness and doing good as we are called to do, this is when we need to ask the Lord to reveal anything from our past that is the root issue causing ourselves to act a certain way that does not bear fruit.  What situation have we harboured on from our past that may be causing us to act ungodly?  This may take a bit of time, but is well worth the time invested to heal our wounded soul and for our soul to be fully restored so it can be said of us that it is well with our soul.  Whenever we want to be healed, we need to have every negative root in our lives to be pulled out, just like weeds in a yard.  Before you throw grass seeds on the ground, you want to get rid of the weeds first.  Then you will be able to throw grass seeds down and attend to these seeds by watering them over and over for a period of time and fertilizing those seeds to make it strong and healthy.  I would like to share how to go about dealing with the root issue and see so many people set free and become strong and healthy spiritually, physically, emotionally.  The parable about the one who sows tares amongst the wheat is the result of the enemy (satan).  To me, this is when we try to cover up our wounds, but don't deal with them as God would have us, which is the result that we have allowed the enemy to sow "tares" in to our lives that disrupt the good harvest that the wheat is considered to be.  I would like to finish off here and continue this session.  This will allow many people who need to take the time to write down any past experiences and to bring them before the Lord.  
 
     When we deal with this first step to write down any past experiences, it is utmost important to have the mindset and say this to yourself audibly.... that God loves me, He cares for me, He is interested in me and wants to reveal His passionate help to not only heal, but restore me to total divine health like He tells me in His Word which is His will in 3 John 2.  We will never know the power of His help, His goodness and mercy for us if we never needed help from Him in the first place.  God wants us to experience the joy of not only being healed, but fully restored because of His excellent  Grace and Mercy towards us.   
 
 

Will you consider buying my books in support of HelpingCopeThroughHope mission work in Zambia?  You may go to my link below to observe.

In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/

Monday 8 October 2012

Is God Trying to Tell Us Something?

Dearest Saints

     When people often pray for the windows of Heaven to open up and pour out a blessing, I believe the Lord was revealing something to me.  When we think that God has shut the windows of Heaven on His people, it is not so much that God has shut the windows on us, but I believe it is more like we have shut the windows of Heaven from allowing God to work on our behalf.  In other words, God always wants to pour out rich blessings in abundance in every arena of our lives because Christ Jesus mentions that the thief (satan) is the one who wants to kill, steal and destroy our lives, but Jesus came to give us not only life, but life in abundance to the full, til it overflows (John 10:10 Amplified version).  To me, it's not so much that God purposely hinders us from receiving His blessings, but we have tied the hands of God who wants to do so much in our lives.  The things that I find that we have hindered God from opening up the windows of Heaven is often because we are filled with doubt, we fear, we worry or we simply don't believe He cares and loves us like He tells us.  We fail to believe His Word to the extent we need to.  We may not tell God in direct terms by our doubt of His care for us, but we may often act with doubt.  The doubts that often come is thinking we are never good enough for God to answer our prayers, or that He will hear the prayers of others, but not yours.  The only times I know that He won't hear our prayers is when we harbour iniquity in our heart (Ps 66:18), when we doubt (James 1:6-8), when we don't honor our wives (1 Pet 3:7) or perhaps not honoring His Word like we should (Prov 28:9).  We put ourselves in a difficult position when God is often trying to get our attention to get us to deal with our heart. 
 
     Other times we may find ourselves shutting the windows of Heaven when we fail to put Christ first in our lives.  In the parable of the Banquet feast (Luke 14:16-24), the master invites His Chosen ones to join with Him in the Banquet.  There were three types of people He speaks about.  One of them just purchased his land which he wanted to go see instead of accepting His invitation.  The second one had just bought 5 yoke of oxen and wanted to examine and approve of them.  Then the third type of person is the one who made the excuse because he just got married.  Each of these types of people will always make an excuse rather than putting the Lord first.  Each of these people represent a number of Christians who may be making excuses.  The first type of person is the type who would rather put their worldly possessions ahead of Christ.  He would rather count and see what he has.  The second person who purchased the oxen to do the work is the type of person who puts work or their employment ahead of Jesus.  In other words, he or she allows work to consume their lives that often interferes with advancing our relationship with God first.  These people forget that God is the true employer we really work for.  The third type of person who mentioned about being married relates to the people who put relationships with one another ahead of Jesus.  Although it is important to have good relationships with one another, however, it is wrong in Gods sight when it interferes from putting our relationship with Him first and foremost.  When I watched a video that mentioned this, it was a real eye opener and mentions that just because we call ourselves Christians, we need to question ourselves about putting any of these ahead of our Lord Jesus?  He mentions in vs 24 of that parable that the ones who were invited who made excuses will not be able to taste His Supper He has prepared for them.  In other words, when He comes to receive us, will we be prepared?  Many Kings in the Old Testament were made right in Gods sight when they had to break down idols that were previously built.  Could these be one of many idols we have built up ourselves?
 
     Perhaps when we do go through trials, could it be that we may be falling in to one of these traps and the Lord is trying to get our attention?  Have we been consumed with focusing our total attention on what we can get out of this life, rather than living by fulfilling His purposes to why we were created in the first place (Isa 43:7).  When I realize often that I make a determined decision and commitment to serve the Lord, it is through one of many trials that causes me to examine my ways and redirect my life that I needed to be focused to seek the Lords direction by putting Him first.  Often times from my past, I was so focused on fulfilling my lifes interest while leaving little concern for others.  It may not seem like He cares when we do go through hard times, but when I look back on my life, He uses these situations to put us in a position to prepare us to be mightily used or at times, to redirect our lives and to help us stop putting too much of our attention on this temporal world we live in.  When we question God about circumstances and complain to Him about why we go through what we do and become rebellious, do we think that we will ever outsmart Him or be justified by remaining to doubt and question Him?  When we think we can ever be justified questioning God, we will always find ourselves being ashamed of overlooking situations He was trying to get our attention what we realize we need to heed to.  When we do go through trials, we need to stop questioning God and humble ourselves before Him, ask and expect Him to lead us to what He is trying to lovingly teach us.  We will be able to hear from Him when we get ourselves in a position when we are ready to give Him our full attention and seek His counsel and direction.  We need to remember that His thoughts outnumber the grains of sands of this world (Psalm 139:17,18) while our finite minds may fill only one sizeable bucket (if that)!  
 
     When I think of messages like this, it is one that I believe is a turning point for each one to get our perspective right before Him and put our life priorities in the right sequence by putting God first in our lives.  When we do, we will never look back with any regret.  We will be able to look back and thank Him for caring enough to try to get our attention to move forward in the right direction, even though it may be getting our attention through trials.  May this be a turning point for you to receive richer eternal rewards because of it. 


Please check out my website below.  Proceeds from my books will go in support of HelpingCopeThroughHope mission work in Zambia.  All monies donated go to the poor and needy.

In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  

Tuesday 2 October 2012

His Amazing Ability Through You

Dearest Saints, 

          It's amazing what He can do through anyone and whom He is able to choose to do extra-ordinary works that confounds the wise and prudent (1 Cor 1:20-31).  When we want to sow blessings of encouragement in to other peoples lives, He will also encourage us because He creates everything in the natural and spiritual law of sowing and then reaping.  God doesn't only use the intellect, He can use anyone!  There is NOT one person in this world who has any legitimate excuse to believe that God cannot mightily use them if we would only dare to believe.  He chose 12 people to change the course of the world, of which most were not highly educated or scholars by any means.  It is when we have that barrier of doubt and unbelief that He is unable to use us.  If we relied on our intellect rather then on His Grace, we would simply be telling God that we are relying on our own abilities and not His Power.  It is by receiving the goodness of the power of His Spirit that we can do amazing things for Him when we believe and allow Him to work through us.  It is a dreadful barrier when we choose to doubt His ability to work through us.  Just like He was not able to do many miracles in His own hometown because many had unbelief (Matt 13:58).   

          I use myself as a prime example.  When I was younger, I considered myself such a failure and because I believed that, I was not able to accomplish much in life and my life was heading in a downward spiral.  I even questioned God why did He waste His time creating me?  For someone like myself who was never good in school and did not see myself ever accomplishing anything worthwhile in life, it is amazing what God has been doing through me in His ministry and in my employment.  Who could have thought that I could ever mentor, teach, minister and bring encouragement to so many broken hearts throughout the world in over a decade, but allowing God to work through me.  Or publish two books, when back in High School, I was practically be at the bottom of my English class.  Therefore, I can only and honestly say that I could never have accomplished any of this through my own ability, but to encourage you of how God is able to use anyone who will simply BELIEVE that He is willing and capable to work through each of us, no matter how insignificant you may feel.  We need to stop listening to the lies of the enemy and be bold to believe the Lord, because it is Him who gives us the ability to do anything in the first place.  When you desire to be a real blessing to others and want to encourage others, it is amazing how He can and will work through anyone who will dare to believe he/she can be used to do the works that only a person anointed and empowered by the Spirit could ever do.  

          In the natural, there was no way that a little shepherd boy named David could kill a giant like Goliath.  But when he was bold and dared to believe the Goodness and Bigness of God in his life, he was able to do extra-ordinary because he relied on the Lord to do a great work through him (1 Sam 17:45-47).  He certainly did not trust in his little stature, but He boldly relied on the One who is able!!  We need to stop looking at our own abilities/inabilities and be amazed at what God is able and willing to do through us, when we choose to believe who we are in Christ; what He should mean to us and what He wants to do through us to fulfill the greatest mandate in all of creation.  God blesses people who will dare to believe because the Bible tells us that the Righteous are as bold as a lion (Prov 28:1) and when we do not cast away our fearless confidence in Him, He promises that we will be greatly rewarded (Heb 10:35).  Although Peter fell many times, the Lord has a special place in His heart for Peter because He saw the boldness and determination of Peter.  The Lord never gave up on Peter no matter how many times he fell.  The Lord never gave up on David after he committed adultery and murder, and yet, He mentions after the fact that David was a man after Gods own heart.  Talk about TOTAL Forgiveness.  That is that agape love we should know about our Lord.  That is the reason why we can be confident and bold in the Lord, because we first come to know and receive His great love for us and know that He is caring and wants to bless us with His power and use us to do great things for the Lord.  Unfortunately, many Christians are believing and giving in to the lies of the enemy whose aim is to rob, kill and destroy any way he can (John 10:10a) and he continues to rob the peace of walking in being totally forgiven (after we repent) and deceiving Gods Children from knowing who we are in Christ (John 1:12) so we can live in the wonderful promises of God in every area of our lives (3 John 2). 

          I want to encourage you to ask God to believe He can use you to do great and mighty works, simply because we know we are greatly loved by Him and He wants to use us to do great and mighty things to advance His Kingdom.  We need to BELIEVE this, RECEIVE this and BOLDLY declare like Paul does "I CAN do ALL things through CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS US (Phil 4:13).  This is where our self confidence has to be crucified and be God confident in all we do when we know we do His good and perfect will.  I am confident that when we want to do all for the glory of God and desire to be a blessing to others, it is amazing what He is able to do through a person like that.
Purchases of my books will go to support HelpingCopeThroughHope mission work in Zambia @  http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife 
In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
 

Wednesday 26 September 2012

Finding Hope Thru Trials

Dearest Saints,
        I would like you to know that no matter what, God can take the worst trials and suffering and make something beautiful out of it.  It is like taking a lump of clay and making a beautiful china dish that has gone around the spinning wheel and through the fire several times.  I don't want this to sound like another "religious or spiritual story", but in every case of anything I share, I truly want to be genuine by sharing my experience to help and encourage you.  I can truly say this because my life was in total ruins about a decade ago and I often hoped to just die in peace.  During that time, this is where I made a commitment and when I sought the Lord and became determined to live with purpose by learning from my past and blessing other peoples lives, it is amazing what He has done for me.  With the rough trials and the deep dark valleys I have been through, I am now able to use the hope that I have been given by knowing the Love of God and to share the hope with others in their time of need.  What He has done for one, He can do and will do for others.  The question is: Will you receive Him as your Lord and personal Saviour?  And will you believe He loves you more than anyone else could ever and wants to use you to make a difference in peoples lives?  I can now testify this is true for me.  When I chose to be all I can be with Gods help to bless lives, God is using me to heal and bless wounded souls and because He gave me such great hope and peace, I want to use this to give you the same.  


          I have seen ones who have gone through the greatest trials are the ones who have had the greatest impact to inspire many others that allows them to have hope.  With the help of God, from the trials we have endured, we are able to comfort those with the comfort we ourselves have received (2 Cor 1:3 - 7).  During the time of our trials, it does not seem pleasant at all, but when we see how we have become a blessing to others, I now strangely admit that I am glad I went through the trials, now that I know how much of a blessing it has helped many people.  I am humbled to admit that God used myself and several others to help stop someone from contemplating to commit suicide.  I know this because of an email response I once had from a lady who admitted she was considering taking her life that very night.  Had I not gone through my past trials, I don't think I would have had the compassion to help this individual.  Although I am greatful to be used by God, I don't take any credit, but give God the glory. 
 
       
          Therefore, trials are not to be an attitude where you say "I guess this is my lot in life" or any similar negative confession.  The only time trials are simply a misfortune and have no value is when we fail to use our past trials to be a blessing to others in their time of need, and continue to dwell in that "woe is me" attitude.  Again, I have known many times that those who have gone through many adversities are able to reach out and be a blessing and an inspiration to many others because of it.  I now understand when (James 1:2 - 4) tells us to rejoice when we go through trials, because it is preparing us to be a special blessing to others if we choose to believe God can use this for His glorious purposes.  When we refuse to give up and believe that God can use our past, regardless of how negative it may have been, this can be the greatest mandate of all humanity is to know how much of a blessing we can be to others because of what God has shaped us to be through trials and valleys.  What He has done for many others, He is faithful to use you if you will choose to believe He can use you for His glorious purposes.  One of the greatest tragedies in life is to realize how we have wasted our lives feeling sorry for ourselves and fail to be a blessing to many others whom God could have used.  Don't let any of your past trials be in vain, but with the help of God, let it be a rich blessing and be a life giving example and an inspiration to many of those whom God can use to bless many others.  Unless you ask God and believe Him to be able to use your past trials to bless many others, you will never know the value your life can bring hope to many others who may receive greater eternal blessings because of it.  The hope that I now live is a real testimony of mine which is why I was able to write a book titled "Greatest Builder for Our Life", which I am so glad to share the hope, joy and inner peace that you can have also.
 

In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/

Tuesday 11 September 2012

Mighty for God through Trials

Hi Dearest Saints.

     In this ministry, it is always my greatest goal to see Christians be the best they can be and live the best for God and be the best for God and enter the eternal realm with greater gifts with greater rewards because of the life we lived on earth.  I share the pain with so many people when they hurt and the pain is real and I find it a challenge to often encourage them NOT to GIVE UP and to hang in there, believe God no matter what.  It is a real challenge sometimes to tell people to hang in there continually because I don't take what many people go through lightly and I do understand. 
 
     I know the painful experiences from my life and it was tremendously hard to have a good attitude and be encouraged because I have been there that seemed endless at times.  When I look back at it now, I don't think I can do what I do now if it weren't for the fact that I had not gone through so much trials in my past.  I confess that it is easier to say it now when I have been through it and finally come out on the other side then to actually be going through trials, which I know many of you are perhaps going through right now.  So when it seems that people can easily say: "You don't know what I am going through" or "You wouldn't understand the physical or emotional pain I am suffering through right now!"  I want you to know that many of us who are called to encourage didn't get through life being spoon-fed or sit in a nest like the little eaglets in their soft cushion feathered down nest.  Many of us went through horrific battles also which is why I believe many of us are able to share one anothers burdens effectively, which is why I have a passion to try to encourage and help whenever I can.
 
     To be honest, there was a time in my life that I went through so much that I didn't care if I would see the next day of dawn.  In fact, I would have been more at peace had I known I would not see the next light of day.  I can only say by the Grace of God that that did not happen.  When I look back at what I was before I went through trials until I came to this point in my life, I have become more bold in my faith, much more courageous and much more determined to be the Child God wants me to be.  When we live in luxury or a life of ease, we end up not becoming that bold confident person that God wants us to be if we did not go through trials.  We become so complacent which God Himself is angry at a nation when they became complacent (Zech 1:15).  I have to tell you that I am amazed at what God has done for me through my life.  I have been able to teach classrooms, provide direction to Senior personnel at work, be a positive influence to our organization and have a wonderful ministry to encourage many.  However, if you knew me when I was younger, you wouldn't ever think I could ever accomplish anything close such as this.  It's how God used my past trials to make me be the person He wanted me to be.  I couldn't speak in front of 3 people without my knees knocking.  I absolutely had no confidence or very little positive things to say.  So anything I do, I give God all the credit.  I can honestly say I would have remained that type of person to this day had I not gone through trials which would have been devastating.
 
     The reason why I say these things is because when you may be going through trials, I really want to encourage you to become resilient and allow God to put that fiery spirit within you that says that "I am NOT going to GIVE UP" and that with His help, I am going to TRUST HIM to create in me to be a powerful witness to be used to be a positive role model of Christ to others.  As I am still serving in the military, I think of a Soldier who fights day and night for our countries.  Each one of them went through very intense training and often took them to their limits and beyond.  I can tell you, none of them became a Soldier by going to summer camp!!  When they went through hard training, this is what prepared them to be a strong fighting Soldier that we can all be proud of.  When I see how God wants to prepare many of us to go to battle for Him, He always tells us to be Strong (Josh 1:6-9), be very courageous (Josh 23:6) and be bold with confidence in Him (Heb 10:35), we can use this time when we face trials to dig our heels in and refuse to give up.  This is the time that I refused to stop believing that this time is not for nothing, but God is preparing me to become a mighty man of God for Him.  He wants to prepare us because we do fight a spiritual battle and those who endure are often the ones who have gone through trials.  Therefore, I know as we go through trials, I don't ever want anyone to think this is something strange happening, just like it mentions in (James 1:2-4).  But I want to encourage you to make the most of this time to be resilient in your faith, believe God and tell Him so.  Just like He says in His Word: "Let the Redeemed of the Lord say so" (Psalm 107:2), and tell Him that you believe He is doing a mighty work in you and declare to Him to mold me to be what You can make me be and boldy refuse to stop believing and trusting in You O Lord.
 
     I know it is easier said than done, but I would rather encourage you to do the right thing now because I believe when we do and trust in Him, we will not have to go through the same trials over and over again.  God can promote us because He can see that we are determined to live for Him.  Remember, if the Isrealites could have just kept a good attitude and zipped their lips from grumbling against God and Moses, they would have made the trip through the wilderness in 11 days instead of 40 years!  The thing I also want to encourage you is that when a person just decides not to believe or to give up, its not actually any harder to BELIEVE, but the rewards of simply believing is far greater that will never come with regret.  What I like to remember is that if we can get through and endure to the end (with His help when we ask and believe), this momentary time of troubles that we are enduring in this present life will NEVER be COMPARED to the ETERNAL REALM that awaits us (Rom 8:18).  Think of the regret many people will have when they decided to give up during this very short time on earth and end up forsaking the greater rewards in Heaven of which this loss is an extremely enormous fate.   
 
     I hope none of you EVER GIVE UP and my prayer is that whatever trials you may be going through, that you will allow God to make you become BOLD, CONFIDENT and Resilient that is going to cause the kingdom of darkness to tremble when they see you rise up as a mighty faithful prayer warrior of God. I like the following verse found in Matt 11:12 as follows:  
 
And from the days of John the Baptist until the present time, the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault, and violent men seize it by force [as a precious prize--a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with most ardent zeal and intense exertion].  
 
I believe these are the type of people God can use and He is preparing us through many trials to be that mighty force that He is pleased to use.  I don't want anyone to go through trials and find it was all for nothing.  But let it be for a wonderful purpose God can use you for when we make up our minds to NOT GIVE UP and be ever bold to refuse to doubt Him and His love for you.  I hope this truly encourages you as I have seen how it has blessed me to be a blessing to others because of it.  God wants to do the same for you and He will if you will dare to believe!!
 


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In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/