LIVING AMAZED - PART 1

Blessed Saints of God, 

         We know that our God is an amazing God, when you consider that He created EVERYTHING out of nothing, gave life to all creatures and mankind, gave us everything imaginable to enjoy.  There is absolutely nothing else He could do to give us any more satisfaction in all of life.  There is nothing more He could have done to show His love any greater through His Son Jesus.  He gave us absolutely everything so we can enjoy the multitudes of variations of colors in all creation including sunrises and glorious sunsets.  Just think when He could have created everything black and white with a few greys here and there!  When we think of how fearfully and wonderfully we are made (Ps 139:14),  and everything is held in place by the power of His Word (Heb 1:3), He truly is an awesome God.  The oceans don't just stop at the sandy beaches, but Gods Word keeps the mighty oceans intact.  Ever wonder how amazing it is that something so fragile as sand is able to keep the mighty oceans from destroying many lands?  This should cause us to realize how God puts things in order, otherwise everything would seemingly float around in chaos and total disorder.  The stars in the heavens don't just hang in mid air, but God places them and holds them there by the power of His Word.  I like going back and reading Psalm 139 that tells us of Gods awesome sovereignty as well as the very last verse in John (John 21:25) that says that the books ever written in this world could never contain what God has done or continues to do.  To me, that is amazing just to think about that.  But so many times, we lack having that reverential fear and amazement of God.  The question I often like to ask is "Why is that" and seek Him to give us answers to these questions.  We should encourage each other to learn to ponder questions because it compels us to do some searching and seeking.  We need to do this to gain the benefits of receiving the richness of His Word rather than always letting others always feed us the word.  We are called to do some studying and searching, otherwise we fail to benefit the most from what He can offer us when we don't take time to study and to know Him in the power of His resurrection (Phil 3:10).  He tells us when we learn to seek the rich knowledge of His Word, we find extra-ordinary wisdom in it (Prov 2:4,5).  

          When you think that God became angry with a nation because they lost their awe of Him (Jer 2:19), it compels me to ask why and seek His help because I don't ever lose my awe and reverence of Him not because I am afraid He will become angry with me, but I would hate to grieve Him to come to that point in the first place.  To think that He is the Creator of all the Universe, and yet, He wants to have a personal intimate relationship with each of us (including me) should amaze us!  The thought of living eternally is amazing, especially for us who invited Jesus to be our Lord, can live in that awesome Kingdom which describes beauty beyond mans imagination which He Himself has prepared this eternal place for us.  I often think that when we lose our focus on how amazing is our God, there are several reasons why this happens.  First of all, we take everything for granted because anything we were once amazed at becomes all too familiar or common.  We forget that it is an awesome privilege to simply even enjoy a clean cup of water (for most of us) and forget that our God blessed us with this simple resource we take for granted.  This is so true for so many things in our lives that I couldn't list all the things we are privileged and take for granted in a lifetime.  Just to be able to see and enjoy so many sights and hear so many sounds of birds singing, listening to talented musicians or singers we enjoy or enjoying the springlike fragrance from the blossoms is a rich blessing because of Him.  To enjoy the use of all our senses God has given us should be more valuable to us than any worldly fame and fortune anyone has ever attained.  It's as though we have forgotten God and just come to a point that the plants, trees, flowers and all vegetation we enjoy just happen to spring up every year and animals just happen to be born after its own kind while we forget that our God is the Source of every existing creation and every material and natural resources we see before us.

          Secondly, we become so focused on attaining worldly ambitions or allowing the attractions of this world to get into our heart, that our love for this world has replaced our love for the One who gave us life in the first place.  Jesus tells His Disciples that His Word which is meant to give us hope, health in every way, encouragement, comfort, peace, joy and eternal life are all choked out by our cares for this world all because our primary focus has turned towards our worldly ambitions rather than having that rich relationship with Him (read Matt 13:1-7).   He gives us the greatest pleasure to enjoy the rich fellowship with the Church (His people) which is far richer than those who often have the most money in their bank account.  I used to travel much on my former job with a small group of people doing inspections throughout Canada.  Several people have been impressed to see how I knew so many people throughout our country.  I can only thank God that because of Jesus, I am able to connect with so many people after living in various places in our country.  Even when Christians meet for the first time, we are able to have that wonderful connection simply because we share a common interest by having that wonderful relationship with Christ.  Had one of us not had any personal relationship with Christ, we would not have known each other.  I find that those who have a richer relationship with Christ equally have a much richer relationship with other Christians.  I marvel at how God allows His people to connect with one another in such a short time when it is virtually impossible otherwise.  Many of the people I have known for a long time never became close in relationship to me.  When I think about the relational opportunities we have, I cannot help but marvel and know that it is only because we have a personal relationship with God.  Because of Him, I know I can go throughout the world and stop in many countries to visit many of you and have that wonderful relationship simply because of Him!  Knowing this is awesome just because of Him who loves us so much.  This is one of the things He wants us to prosper is in our relationship with Him and with one another.  Only Gods people can be so privileged like no other to have this.

          Thirdly, our awe of God becomes lukewarm when we don't heed to Gods wisdom to "be still" (Ps 46:1) and give ourselves time to think about how God created all life in its fullness.  If we would just consider spending as little as 5 minutes a day to have a "think session", we would realize that our God truly is an awesome God and be able to enjoy more of His bountiful creative power.  I have learned over the years that taking my time to enjoy His presence is much more satisfying than all the worldly clutter I have accumulated over the years.  The things I once cherished and worked hard just to collect, I now find it no longer has much value to me.  This is why I can truly identify what Paul says in Phil 3:8 that he gladly counts everything else as loss compared to the valuable worth of knowing Christ and being richly acquainted with Him.  It took him going through many trials to come to this point.  I know it also took me many trials to come to the point that nothing in this world is worth turning my back on the Lord.  It's a real liberation to know how awesome He is to me which is what fills our soul with delight.  When we fail to take time to think of how awesome He is and fail to see our awe of Him, we rob ourselves from having our souls being satisfied to the full, being filled with His Peace, His Joy and His goodness.  Knowing the truth about how awesome He really is to us deep within is really what satisfies our soul, which nothing else or no one else has ever done or could ever possibly do.  

I hope you will share these messages to help bless and encourage others in their time of need.  Lets spread the good news around the world!  

In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayerhttp://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/
www.helpingcopewithhope.blogspot.com 

CHOOSE TO EXALT HIS WORD

Dear Blessed Saints of God,

          I was recently talking to a friend of mine who believes that a loving God would never send anyone to hell and eventually, believes that everyone will be justified and saved.  We do know that our God is a loving God, however, I would like to believe that everyone will be saved, but that is NOT what God says in His Word.  Even though we would like to believe this, we cannot afford to mis-interpret Gods Word when we choose our way of thinking through reasoning rather than believing what God says in His Word.  Satan who is considered a master deceiver was able to cause Eve to question Gods direct Word which caused mankinds downfall.  I find many people allow the same enemy to reason and question God "Why" simply because they don't understand why God does what He does.  They choose to believe their way of thinking over what God tells us.  We allow the enemy to fulfill his plan to rob, kill and destroy our lives when we do not choose the uncompromising Truth of Gods Word (John 10:10a).  God tells us in 2 Cor 10: 4, 5 (Amplified Version)  For the weapons of our warfare are not physical [weapons of flesh and blood], but they are mighty before God for the overthrow and destruction of strongholds,5[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).

          Here, God tells us that satan causes us to try to reason by questioning God and choose to understand our way of thinking, even though God directly says otherwise.  When I look back on my life, one of the things I had to surrender (and often need to continue to surrender to things) is to surrender my opinion and excuses.  When I made excuses to harbour bitterness from my past, it always sounds justifiable because it made sense to me.  But Gods Wise Words of wisdom tells us otherwise.  We often allow the enemy for us to question God "It's just not fair"!!  Because I chose to justify my negative behavior, I alone became my own prisoner because I did not take God in His Word and chose instead to listen to the voice of "reasoning".  When we choose to do things other than Gods way or believe what He says, we are giving rulership and dominion to the enemy who is able to deceive.  When we go outside of Gods covering, we are stepping outside of the safety zone and we end up giving the enemy dominion over us.  When we do, we are no match to the devils schemes because we end up being separated out of Gods protective covering by not following the authority of His Word.  Many people today question God "Why is there so much violence in the schools" and blame God for these escalating violences.  I would tell them, because they kicked God out of the school in the first place.  It didn't make sense to society to follow God when they themselves could be their own "god" by choosing to do things their way, which gave the enemy dominion and cause these outbreaks of violence.

          When I had an opinion of certain events and I realized God said something else, we have to strip that ugly pride from us that is destroying alot of people today, we need to surrender to God and say "Lord, I was wrong and You are Right".  I choose to obey the powerful Truth of Your Word.  If I have any wrong opinion now about anything dear Lord, I ask You to show me and reveal to me of any errors and I choose to do things and believe Your Word only.  I like what Jesus tells His Disciples after they questioned the Lord "Who will be the greatest in the Kingdom of God"?  He took a child and told them "Whoever humbles himself like this child will be the greatest in the Kingdom of God" (Matt 18:1- 4).  If you notice, a child who loves his earthly father and knows his father loves him does not try to reason with his father, does not try to debate or question his fathers authority.  But, a child will listen and believe what his father tells him because he loves his father and knows his father loves him.  Jesus tells His Disciples in John 6:29 that our works is simply to believe in the One (Jesus) whom the Father has sent.  Therefore, it is not a matter of having any sizable ministry or simply accomplishing anything by works, but a matter of believing.  Good works is important because we are saved to do "good works".  But, I believe we will be able to do greater works when we first learn to become a child and have that simple child-like faith and learn to believe like a child, love like a Child and receive that love like a Child is able to receive.

          So when God says to love your enemies and bless them, we can not afford to manipulate His Word or think otherwise.  We alone will suffer great loss just because we chose our opinion and ended up listening to the deceptive lies of the enemy.  Just like Adam and Eve ended up giving dominion to the enemy when God initially intended them to have dominion over all the world and over all creatures of the earth (Gen 1:26).  Pride was the main cause that destroyed Lucifer (Isa 14:12-15) who is known as satan.   When we choose our way of thinking above what God clearly says in His Word, we are in comparison being like lucifer who wanted to set his throne above Gods Throne.  Comparatively, we choose our thoughts above Gods thoughts.  Our own thinking becomes our "god" when we choose it over what God clearly tells us in His Word which is the only Key that bring eternal life (John 6:68).  Believing anything else goes down another path that does not lead to eternal life.

          I have often prayed in the past to ask God to help me love what He loves and hate what He hates.  When we do, we choose to do what is right and what is eternally best for us because God alone does everything RIGHT.  He does not make a mistake.  Many of us may not say that, but when we question how things have worked out for us when it is unfavorable, we may be telling God He has made a mistake and we see ourselves justified by it.  We need to surrender and crucify these "questionable thoughts" and tell God, You are RIGHT.  When we question God to the point that He made a mistake or that "He doesn't understand", we have to BELIEVE He knows best.  When things have not worked out for us, can we truly tell God we have followed everything He tells us?  Maybe we have unconfessed sins?  When things always go bad, do we repent and learn to speak the Life of His Word to us or do we continue to speak words of death (Prov 18:21)?  He warns us that speaking negative words over our lives brings forth death.  Do we continue to harbour iniquity (Ps 66:18)?  When we fail to live the abundant life Jesus tells us that He gives, there is always a reason and maybe we have failed to be humble like a child and failed to surrender to His authority.  Sometimes, God in His wisdom has to allow us to go through more trials because we continue to have selfish ambitions that need to be crucified?  Or perhaps we cherish the love of this world greater than our love for God?  Prov 26:2 tells us that a curse does not come without a cause.  King David suffered much until he learned that confessing his sins before God released him from the weight of sins that was causing him to waste away (Ps 32:3-5).  Have we come before the Lord to confess our sins to Him and our faults one to another (James 5:16)?

          Friends, refuse to allow our minds to be exalted above Gods Word and realize by choosing your thoughts above the One who created everything who is Source of every life is utterly foolish.  I want to encourage you to ask God to reveal the riches of His knowledge and wisdom to you.  To love His Word and hate every wrong path.  Ask Him if there is any false compromising ways you are presently believing and ask Him to reveal the deeper truths to you.  Forget about the traditions of our ancestors and ask God (read Matt 15:6; Col 2:8) to reveal greater Truths of His Word.  When we ask, we need to believe He will bless us with revelation knowledge in a far greater way when we believe like a child.  Why would He refuse to reveal His Truth to us?  We may not have because we simply have failed to ask (James 4:3).  When we ask, do we have wrong motives?  Let us become like a Child in our love and faith in Him and be like King David who loved His Word to the point that he hated every wrong path (Ps 119: 127, 128), which is why I believe God tells of David that he was a man after Gods own heart.  When we become like a child, Jesus promises us that we will become amongst the greatest in the Kingdom of God (Matt 18:4).  Who in their right mind would not want to be amongst the greatest in the Kingdom of God where His Kingdom has no end?

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
Answers2Prayerhttp://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/

How We Are Strengthened

Dear Blessed Saints of God,

 

          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 and destructive.  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 and His Word more than the one who may not give much attention to the Lord otherwise.  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.  

          God tells us in Phil 4:8 to teach us what we should be keeping our minds focused on.   When we give thought to a negative situation that may have happened to us in the past, the longer we meditate on these past events, this is what 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.  God encourages us to choose His ways, and we have been given that power to choose.  He always 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 and His Goodness and favor for us.  Just like the love message I have mentioned in the past to realize how He fulfills that law of love for each of us perfectly.  To know we are constantly surrounded by His presence, and how He (His 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 because we often need to express our painful past and share it with other Christians we truly trust.  However, we have to be careful not to dwell on them to the point that we are constantly talking about our negative past all the time that we end up giving very little time to express our Hope that God is able to exceed our painful past and is able to give us a far greater hopeful and bright future.

          In the past, there have been hackers sending emails to some others using my name in vain.  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.  When we choose to use our past to bless others rather than dwell with that "Woe is me" attitude, this frustrates our enemy (the devil).  God wants to liberate us from holding on to every injustice because He promises that vengeance belongs to Him (Rom 12:19) and you can be certain that He is more than able to bring the proper correction and RIGHT every wrong that may have been done towards us.  No one gets away with anything that God is not going to require an account of.  I realize that is is totally futile to harbour any resentment towards others because we fail to benefit at all which is what the enemy will lie and tell you that you are justified by harbouring resentment and unforgiveness which is only a trap to keep you a prisoner of.  Knowing this causes me to have Godly sorrow for those who cause injustice which is the type of sorrow that God tells us that brings forth life (2 Cor 7:10,11).  When we know and understand that the Wisdom and Knowledge of His Word is far richer than any treasures, this truly does strengthen us.

          With Gods help, we are truly strengthened when we choose to be hopeful of our most blessed eternal future which will far exceed anything that has ever happened in this world.  I find Rom 8:18 is really encouraging to me knowing that our troubles in our present life is so temporal that will not ever be compared to the eternal glory that will be revealed in us.  No wonder Paul gladly chooses to forget his past trials and sufferings by focusing to press onward and forward to what lies ahead (Phil 3:13).  When we choose to do things Gods ways, He promises to us that He will give us double blessings for every trouble we have ever endured (Isa 61:7).  I would hate to not choose to do things Gods way and to forfeit His rich blessings that all the money in this world could ever compare to.  This should encourage us to focus on storing for ourselves eternal treasures (Col 3:1-2) by letting go and letting God love us and care for us.  By letting go of my past trials of injustices done towards myself, I can truly say that my blessings have far exceeded every negative circumstance from my past.  I encourage you deliberately and joyfully choose to do things Gods way (to Worship Him, Praising Him, receiving His perfect love for you) having that expectation of Hope to KNOW your blessings will far exceed any trials you have ever endured.  You cannot expect God to be faithful to His Word to doubly bless you when you choose not to do things His ways or remain doubtful. 

"May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope" (Rom 15:13 Amplified Version).

In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayerhttp://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/

What then shall we say to this?  If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom 8:31)