Bible Study on Jesus and the Kingdom of God, Jesus Walk Bible Study Series

Bible Study on Jesus and the Kingdom of God, Jesus Walk Bible Study Series

BENEFITTING the MOST of HIS WORD

Blessed Saints of the Most High, As a continuation of the last message about the strength of having heart knowledge, I can't emphasize enough of the benefits of taking quality time and meditating on the powerful truth of His Word. When a person becomes strong in the Lord, it has nothing to do with any natural ability that we have inherited, so no one is at any disadvantage over anyone else because of any greater intellect or physical endurance. Individuals who benefit the most by becoming stronger in the Lord are the ones who spend quality time with God by meditating on the Truth of His amazing attributes, His love and care for them and knowing deep within that only His Word brings eternal LIFE. The strength of a Godly character of a person is more evident when he/she listens and takes heed (taking time to meditate) to His instructions more and more. It's always about getting the powerful truth of His Word into our heart which is why it takes time and effort on our part. A person cannot expect to be strong in the Lord if they will only listen to a message once or read a message once and think they get it. To get the most of His Word and benefit from it the most, we need to take time to meditate by first seeking His guidance and studying and meditating over and over in our minds until it gets into heart. It always comes down to the "heart issue". This is why God says He sees the heart of man and not the outward appearance (1 Sam 16:7). That's why to Him, the heart of a person is more important than anything else, and He knows what we spend our time on the most is whatever is within ones heart. Any individuals who are the most intellectually gifted people in the world will NEVER benefit from receiving any Truth of Gods Word within them as long as they have a hard and unbelieving heart. Just like the parable of the seed that falls on hard ground, which allows the enemy to steal from you what is meant to bring forth richness of life (Luke 8:12). The Word of life spoken will never benefit anyone whose heart is hard. For our heart to be conditioned right, we have to strip that ugly pride from our heart and see our desperate need of His instructions for us. I know I mentioned this many times, but I always like the response Peter gave to Jesus in John 6:68 after many of the Disciples left Jesus and He questioned the remaining twelve if they were going to leave Him also (John 6:67). Simon Peter replies: Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words to eternal life! I would like to add "Selah" to that so we will take time to meditate on that powerful truth. The problem today is that we want so much in an instant and we don't want to take time or effort to meditate or study to get the most of His Word. When we do try to grow too fast and not taking the time to study His Word, its like the parable of the seed that grew too quickly that had very little roots, and when trials came, it didn't last and the plant quickly died (Luke 8:13). Knowing His Word takes time and He knows when a person is young in Him, He doesn't expect a new Christian to be thoroughly knowledgeable in the word, but He does expect us to continue to grow. For those whom they have been saved many years, Paul tells us that some of them ought to be teaching others, but continued to be taught the same elementary principles of Gods Word (Heb 5:12). My guess is that these people failed to spend any quality time in prayer, failed to take time to seek greater revelation or failed to utilize any time to give any thought to what they have read or heard. When we do take the time to know the Word, we have the ability to rightly divide the word of truth from what is false in order to benefit the most that is meant to edify you and help you be strong in the Lord (2 Tim 2:15). When we do come to know the Word by meditating on it more and more, we know when to shut out and refute the lies of the enemy and benefit by allowing His Word to build us up that is able to help us stand under any pressures (Eph 6:13). I believe all would agree that we would rather benefit from Words that edify and build us up rather then simply listening to every false pretense that only brings doubt and fear. Therefore, I want to encourage each of us to take some scripture each day and take time to meditate on it so it gets into your heart. Jesus tells us that when we take time to seek, we will find (Matt 7:7,8). It doesn't have to take hours, but take some quality time to think His Truths over in your mind. Seeking treasures takes time, but when it is found, it is priceless. When the life of His Word gets into our hearts, it is priceless because no one can take the life from you when it is in your heart and this only comes by spending quality time with Him and allowing the power of His Word to reside within you. God promises in Joshua 1:8 that when we do meditate on His Word, this is what will help us be prosperous (by having that inner Peace and Joy within), be able to deal wisely and have good success by not living under the lies of the enemy. Let's benefit from the One who KNOWS BEST and LOVES US THE MOST.

STRENGTH OF HAVING HEART KNOWLEDGE

Blessed Children of the MOST HIGH, I have been thinking of how many Christians suffer. Not only that, but many suffer in silence. I know because I suffered in silence also and regret not reaching out more to those whom I know can and are more than willing to help earlier than I did. Because it is NOT SAFE to suffer in silence, I believe God has equipped many of His Saints within reach to one another and be His hands to each of His hurting Children. A true Christian should always be willing to help others in their time of need or at least be willing to lead them to someone whom you know can help. You may not be a counsellor, but just the fact that you tell others that you are praying for them and have their best interest does more than you think. The enemy (satan) will always make a person think that those who suffer are alone and no one else is going through what you are going through. In fact, God tells us in 1 Pet 5:9 that many of your Brothers and Sisters suffer the same way as we do. When I read several verses before and after that from 1 Peter 5:7-11, He starts out by telling us to cast all of our cares, our anxieties our fears and anything that holds us back from moving forward in Him. We are to cast it ALL to Him. However, we can only be effective to cast all of our cares upon Him when WE KNOW deep within us that He truly does care for us (vs 7b). In other words, if we don't have that revelation knowledge that gets down into our heart and our spirit that He truly does deeply care for us, it is going to be very difficult for any of us to be able to cast all of our cares unto Him. This is pivital to know first and foremost that HE CARES FOR YOU and I. We need to know He deeply cares for us before the remainder of the text found in vs 10 and 11 will be of any value to us. This is the promise that after we have suffered alittle, we will be grounded, be secured, be strengthened in Him and settled with His Peace within us (vs 10). So when you read this context, it starts out by knowing He cares for you. And when this reality goes from our head to our heart, we can stand firm in our faith because we know He cares for us deep within our heart. Just thinking over this thought this past week, I realize that when people strongly believe a thought or opinion, it is because they thought about a certain idea long enough that it travelled from their head to their heart. Once any thought becomes a belief within their heart and they continue to meditate on this certain agenda, they become stronger and bolder in their opinion because it is now lodged into their heart wehre it becomes a strong conviction of belief. Ever notice that many times when things happen, we can forget they happened in a short period of time. But when we give special attention or thought to a certain event that happened in our life and meditate it over again, it's something we will remember for a long time. So when people say horrible words to one another that tear down their confidence it becomes a stronghold within their heart when they give thought to what was said to them over and over again and it becomes a strong belief they have towards themselves even though it is nothing but a lie. I gave an example several years ago about reading Psalm 91. When you read this Psalm, it talks about everyone in general terms. When you re-read this same Psalm, insert your name and speak this Psalm audibly to yourself and go over it several times as though God is speaking directly to you. Don't just read this, but speak it over you by inserting your name. This goes for any other encouraging scriptures by inserting your name and hearing you speak them over you and envision that God is speaking directly to You with the interest of His heart for you. When you do this enough times, you will start to build a strong bond of Gods Word that will get into your heart and you will be strongly convinced that Gods Word is Truth and you will become stronger in resisting the devils lies over you. This is why the Lord encourages us to spend time meditating on His Word like He tells us in Joshua 1:8 as follows: This Book of the Law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, that you may observe and do according to all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall deal wisely and have good success For those of you who are struggling, I would ask you to please invest even a short time each day by doing this because you owe this to yourself and the One who loves you and cares for you like no other. Even just thinking each day the pain He suffered by taking your place being nailed on the Cross will become strong within our heart and our love for Him will become much stronger when this Truth becomes a revelation that gets into our heart. By meditating on this truth through time and being consistent, you will see the benefits of His Word that gets into your heart will really work for you. You will be strongly convinced of how much God loves you and knowing your identity in Him when you read His Word (His love letter to you) and you meditate and speak it over and over yourself until it gets into your heart. May the Truth that is only found in His Word richly bless you. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

A Call for Justice - Part 2

Dear Blessed Saints, As a continuation of seeking true Justice from all the injustices we see around us or directed at us, I often have failed in the past of a more serious concern. And that is the question: Have I committed any injustice against Christ? If so, how? Few of the many possible circumstances I would like to reflect on are the ones I particularly had caused such as: a. Do I fail to put God first in my life and fail to see my need of Him for everything in my life? b. Have I failed to put my trust in Him by doubting His love, His faithfulness towards me and His pardon to receive His total forgiveness after I have repented by hanging on to guilt? (1 John 1:9) c. Have I failed to maintain a healthy reverential fear of Him? d. Have I become desensitized to some of His instructions by my heart to become calloused? God tells us that He was angry with His own who failed to maintain a reverential fear of Him (Jer 2:19). He was also angry with a nation who became so laxed by thinking we can now live on our own agendas by living with ease (Amos 6:1) by failing to understand that we are always at His Mercy & Grace every moment of our lives. Do we ever fail to take any quality time to consider the interest of others? (Phil 2:4). These are just some of the many many questions we can ask ourselves. I have heard it where someone had come to a Church service for the first time and no one acknowledged this person to just take a minute to share a smile or a warm handshake. All the great preaching that may have been mentioned will mean nothing if we don't demonstrate Christ to others which to me is a great injustice towards Him. There are multiple millions of other examples where we have caused our Lord injustice. This is by no means meant to be condemning. Otherwise, we do the bidding of the evil one himself. However, we need to be open and honest and reveal what may be concealed in our hearts so that we can be liberated and be healed which is what God wants to do for us (James 5:16). For myself, a person would have to write several large volumes of books just to list the injustices I have caused against the Lord. But thankfully, because of His love and mercy, none of us ever has to be a prisoner of the evil one by holding on to any guilt or shame. When God chose me (as an example), He knew what He was getting in to because He knows all that I will ever do. But yet, He still chose me and has now forgiven and forgotten all the wrong I have ever committed all because of His unlimited Grace and Mercy towards me. This is why none of us who are in Christ will ever be justified feeling condemned or hanging on to guilt. A Christian hanging on to guilt is an injustice against Him because we limit His Pardon and Grace for us that He paid in full. Our God is a God of Justice as much as He is Love. The foundation of His very Throne is built on Righteousness and Justice (Ps 89:14). The Justice He wants us to have is to be set free from every bondages because He tells us that He came to set captives free (Ps 146:7) of which I was one. He wants justice to help us become stronger in Him by believing His Word, that He(Jesus) is the perfection of God, that the Word (Jesus) is truly Faithful who wants only the very best for us. When He tells us to "Fear Not", this is true Justice that we do just that. Therefore, if we remain fearful and are full of worry, this is another form of injustice because it goes against His Word which is His perfect will. We are justified in Christ simply because we believe wholeheartedly of what He instructs to us in His Word (Gal 2:16). His Justice towards us is for us to believe and receive the fullness of His love, His faithfulness towards us, His protection for us, His constant provision to us, His utmost care for us. When we fail to see His Love, His Omnipotent Power, His Omnipresence of His promise never to leave or forsake us and His omni-sapience of unfathonable wisdom, we cause Him much injustice because we failed to believe the fullness of who He says He is and His perfect love towards us (John 6:29). He wants to turn every Injustice that we may have had towards Him and replace it with His Justice for us. It's like Him taking all of our sin(s) and replacing it with His Righteousness. Even though He tells us we are Justified in Him (Rom 5:1), we end up being prisoners instead when we fail to receive it by faith. As an example, even though God took the curse upon Himself when He chose to hang on a tree on our behalf, this doesn't become a reality for many when we fail to acknowledge this and receive it by faith. Many of Gods people will believe they remain cursed from their past when God Himself tells us the He already took the curse away from us and took it upon Himself when He hung on the cross in our place (Gal 3:13). Many often fail to realize that the One (Jesus) who resides in us is greater then he (satan) who is in the world (1 John 4:4). I want to encourage you that with Gods help, not allow us to cause any further injustice against Him by doubting and limiting His love, His goodness, His forgiveness towards us and utmost care & provision for us. Let's call out for Justice like He tells us to in Isaiah 59:4 and receive His total goodness for us in every way as His inheritors and believe Him to manifest His power to help us become stronger each day in the Lord. The Lord is ever so willing and faithful, are we willing and obedient? In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

A Call for Justice - Part 1

Dearest Saints, I have been thinking a lot lately about the one scripture in Isaiah 59:4 where God questions us: "Why does no one call out for justice"? I sense the Lord dealing with me on several issues including this one. These insights I like to share is simply to help us so that we can become more like Christ, which is what our purpose of growing in Him is all about. Becoming more like Christ. In other words, if I feel like I am learning more and more of what He is teaching me, I believe this is an injustice towards Him if I cannot take the time to share these insights to help and bless each and every one of you. It reminds me when Jesus talks about that wicked servant who didn't bother to use the one talent his Master had given him. He hid the talent instead of using it (Matt 25:24-30). Therefore, I want to use what He has given me in order to richly bless you that will help you become stronger in Him more and more. When I think of my past, I have often been angered at the injustices done against myself. But I hardly ever gave thought about the injustices that prevalently takes place that personally comes against our Lord every moment of each passing day. I now realize how selfish I have been by being more concerned about myself rather than Gods reputation. In other words, when I feel violated by others actions, I was concerned about my reputation and the injustices that came my way when I should have been much more concerned how they are coming against God Himself personally. Having this mindset of only being concerned about myself was a set up by the enemy to make one feel like a victim all because we were concerned with "self" rather then having Godly sorrow that brings forth life (2 Cor 7:10). How often have we seen ourselves like this? When we see how God personally loves us just because of the great suffering He chose to go through on our behalf, we would be more concerned how the world is immeasurably causing Him far greater injustice than any injustices we have or will ever receive. I like what the one thief said to the other as they hung on the Cross beside Christ. He said to the other thief "we are getting what we deserve, but He has not done nothing wrong to deserve this"(Luke 23:41). And yet, He (Jesus) chose to take our place on the Cross where we should have been. The thief who had more concern for Christ then for himself was justified by Christ. When we keep our focus on His love for us, it no longer becomes a great concern about seeing us being a victim as it does to see how He has often become the One receiving injustice by being ridiculed by the world. When we see how the world has created much injustice against Him, we should no longer be a victim of seeing any injustice against ourselves, but be more concerned about the injustices being done against Him who loves like no other. This alone is liberating because we will no longer be a prisoner of having "self pity" or being a victim because we won't be concerned with "self". When we become angry at injustice the way God instructs us, I believe this is that Righteous anger as opposed to having anger that becomes sinful. Notice how Jesus Himself never became angry when people came directly against Him. However, you will notice that He was angry when He saw how moneychangers desecrated the House of God when those inside were buying and selling items rather than keeping His Fathers House as a House of Prayer (Matt 21:12,13). His Righteous anger was identified when He was more concerned about His Fathers House then being concerned about Himself. When I remain focus on His love and favor He has towards myself, I now turn my anger more and more against the injustices being done against Him rather then being concerned about myself. Self pity is an avenue the devil often traps many of Gods people all because we have focused on concerning our self and our reputation being violated rather then seeing God Himself and His principles of love being violated. I find it more serious to see how the world has turned against Him so much of which they will be accountable like nothing anyone had ever experienced. And yet, how much love could He have possibly shown any more then He already did (John 3:16)? It's OK to be angry because Jesus Himself was. But not let your anger become sinful. I think a good way to tell whether anger is sin or not is whether we are angry at people coming against us and we take it personally that often wants to take vengeance. Or is our anger against the sins of injustice that come directly against our God? The greatest weapon we can come against real evil is praying for our physical enemies all because we want to do His will. We will find this much easier to accomplish when we understand His love and passion towards us. Jesus tells us that we show our love for Him when we obey His teachings. Therefore, when we understand how much He suffered for each of us personally, we will find it much easier to obey Him, even though it would otherwise be difficult to do in the natural. All too often, many of Gods people within His Church fight against each other and we have become a great enemy of Him by this great injustice of not following His commandment of love in the first place. Disobedience that comes against the greatest commandment to love Him and to love one another is a violation and a great injustice towards Him personally. When God questions us to call out for Justice, let's call out for His Justice by fighting FOR one another and fight AGAINST the spiritual enemies who mock and violate the law of Love that comes against Him. If we will fight for the one we passionately love here on earth, should we not fight for true justice by what He has suffered towards us that much more? Let's fight against injustices that violate His will by praying one for another, and come to honour and believe in the One (Jesus) whom the Father has sent (John 6:29). In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/ www.helpingcopewithhope.blogspot.com Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? (Exod 15:11)

NEVER LIMIT GODs GRACE

Dearest Saints I realize I added a few more names to my list and hope you don't mind. It's always my desire through these teachings that WE, as the Church would grow stronger and be encouraged in the Lord so that through Him, we can fulfill a wonderful purpose in life by giving Him the glory, which is why we were created for in the first place (Isa 43:7). When we look at the world and where we are, I can only thank God for His Grace and Mercy for myself and should likewise be for each one of us. As I was meditating alot about Gods Grace just this past week, I had to repent because often times, I know I have limited my need for His Grace and Mercy. When I take the time with God and think of my past and if I am honest, I can't even fathom the Grace He had/has towards me. When I was often rebellious, His abundant Grace saw my need and delivered me from what could have become very destructive for all eternity for me. When I meditate on just this alone, I get nervous about ever limiting Gods Grace and Mercy towards me and so should we. In fact, when we think about people who are being brainwashed to go overseas to join a training camp to fight as part of a terrorist group, who is to say that it could not have included any one of us if it weren't for the Grace of God in the first place? I find there are at least two things that causes us to limit His Grace and Mercy. The first one is that we fail to take time to know God the way we should. He tells us in Hebrews 4:16 that we are to come boldly to His Throne of Grace so we can first of all obtain His Grace and Mercy for us in our time of need. The reason why many people fail to come boldly to His Throne of Grace is because they fail to see the rich measure of His merciful ways to forgive us when we do repent. What we do is we feel justified hanging on to guilt and shame instead which deters us from coming boldly to His Throne of Grace. We fail to see His rich abundant love for us. When you truly love someone, do you not come to them with a sense of confidence to be able to approach them? If that is the case, we should be able to approach Him that much more because of His greater Love, Grace and Mercy towards us. The second major reason I find is when we don't see our need of His Grace and Mercy to the measure we need to understand. In other words, when we compare ourselves to one another and we start to look down on them and think to ourselves, "I would never do that", we fail to realize that it is only His Grace and Mercy towards us that we don't do the unthinkable. This is when we think we are "good enough". I posted a short notice on facebook that says: If we think we are ever "good enough", we have immediately robbed Gods Grace, Mercy and Goodness towards us. If it weren't for His Grace, Mercy and lovingkindess towards us in the first place, we wouldn't be where we are today with Him. When I think more on this, I have to realize that if it weren't for His Grace and Mercy, I would still be living rebelliously towards Him and possibly being a blasphemer that would tell people to denounce His Name or removing anything that had anything to do with God. If it isn't for His Grace & Mercy, I could still turn my back on the Lord by the time I am finished typing this message and be like those 70 Disciples who once followed Him and decided to turn away (John 6:60-66) because they thought His teaching was too hard. I looked briefly at a book years ago that was titled "Farewell to God". This was someone who was once a faithful follower of God and has since turned his back on him and has now published this book to promote people to with-draw from God. And definitely, if it weren't for His Grace and Mercy alone, I could have done the same thing. I wouldn't be able to do what I do because I don't dare take any credit. In fact, it scares me to ever take credit for myself that robs Gods infinite goodness towards me. When you think that many will fall from the faith as it mentions in (1 Tim 4:1) and give heed to seducing spirits, I know it will only be by His Grace that I should not be counted as one of them. I find it very dangerous for Gods people to ever think we are immune to refrain from doing evil or any dispicable act by turning our backs and rebel against Him. Don't ever think we are "good enough" that we would never choose to turn back or rebel otherwise, we do in fact rob God of His Great Love, Grace, Mercy and Goodness towards us that fails to see our desperate need of His Grace and Mercy we need every moment of our lives. If we want to know the Truth, we are desperate people who are ALWAYS in NEED of HIS GRACE & MERCY to keep us from doing evil that also helps to strength us in Him to move forward. He reminds us in (1 Cor 10:12) Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands [who feels sure that he has a steadfast mind and is standing firm], take heed lest he fall [into sin] Amplified Version. When we realize this, we will be forever thankful to Him to the measure we should. Let's not use His Grace as a license to live any way we want to live and use His Grace, but when we do need it, lets receive this rich wonderful resource He has in store for each of us that is richer then all the worlds resources, yet it is free. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

SEEK WISDOM, Not Gold

Dear Blessed Saints, I always find it interesting how Gods ways are much different than what man would normally choose. When God tells us to choose wisdom & understanding over gold and silver, I can tell you that it doesn't sit well with the majority of people in this world (Read Job 28:17 & Prov 16:16). When we think of these two different substances, one is a tangible item (gold/silver/precious jewels of which you can see and touch) and the other is intangible (something you cannot physically see). Just thinking about this now, God tells us that what is seen is only temporal, but what is unseen is eternal (2 cor 4:18). He encourages us to reach higher, by setting our heart to grab hold of what is eternal which is far more important then grasping for something so temporal. So when God tells us to choose one thing over the other, its always because it is beneficial to us for all eternity rather then just being satisfied for a brief moment in existence at the expense of our eternal destiny. Choosing gold only satisfies now, while wisdom is beneficial for all eternity. Another thing about choosing between gold and wisdom is that gold represents ones heart that is selfish and only self-seeking. Why else would anyone choose something like gold if it isn't primarily to satisfy "self". Gold is a representative of looking after one person; "self" and putting "self" above the interests of others. How shallow is life when people tend to live this way! When I think of people who are more selfish then others, I witness time and time again that they are the ones who are most dis-satisfied in life. No wonder God in His wisdom tells us that it is more blessed to give then to receive (Acts 20:35). This is that blessed Word that tells us also that by losing our life (living for self), this is when we actually find that life is worth living (read Matt 10:39). When we choose wisdom (which God tells us to), we choose to invest in our lives to the betterment of others (Phil 2:4). Choosing wisdom is a person who focuses on their eternal destiny and the eternal benefit of others rather then fixating all their hopes on the present. Having wisdom and sharing this wisdom is awesome because no money or education can ever buy wisdom. It's a matter of having a humble heart and a right spirit before God (Ps 51:10). I like to compare someone who would choose gold is like a gambler (who chooses self, but hopes to get away with it). A person who would rather have wisdom is like an investor who sees the long term benefits to bless peoples lives and sets their affections on things above rather than things of this world (Col 3:1-3). Wisdom values people more then all the money in this world. Gold values benefiting self no matter what the expense may be to others. Just look what happened to Judas Iscariot! It will be certain that a gambler will one day lose when it may be too late to turn. Having true Godly wisdom is far richer then all the gold of this world because Gold satisfies one person..."self" while having true Godly wisdom satisfies many needy souls and values other people that changes lives. Can you imagine if Christ chose gold over wisdom by choosing to attain riches more then caring for you? Also, if every preacher and teacher of the Word decided to choose gold over wisdom, we would never receive that "life-giving" word/message(s) we so desperately need that encourages us all because everyone would be seeking their own interest at the expense of many people in need. For myself, I am only very greatful that God changed my heart over the years concerning this. This is why we cannot afford to lean and rely on our own understanding. We need to absolutely TRUST in GOD instead (Prov 3:5,6) and seriously take heed to His counsel. When people don't get wisdom from God, it is often because they don't humble themselves enough to ask Him to give us wisdom (James 4:2,3). If gold is identified separately from wisdom, then we can conclude that asking for "gold" (the treasures of this world) is not wise at all. He tells us He gives wisdom liberally to those who ASK (James 1:5). When we think of Godly wisdom that truly is far greater than all the gold "riches of this world", lets humble ourselves enough to repent having chosen our ways in the past and ask God for wisdom and believe He does give liberally to those who ask and believe. Seek to be wise and you will see the treasures of having Godly wisdom by speaking life and healing to ones soul is priceless because you cannot put a price on a soul. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

THANK YOU - 100th Edition

Dearest Saints, I want to take this time to express how greatful I am to God to say that this is the 100th edition of my list of messages over the past 3 and a half years. I marvel at what He has done through someone like myself because I didn't ever saw myself being able to do anything let alone to bring many messages to encourage many broken hearts and tell them that there really is HOPE for you. I am serious when I say: "if God can use me to do what I do, just think how much greater He can use each of you". I believe God uses me only because I see myself truly as a NOBODY. When I see what the Lord has brought me through, I can't help but be passionate about helping others to see the power of God move in their lives. Whatever you have gone through or may be going through now, if you will receive His Love for you and boldly (having that strong confidence in Him) learn to trust Him (by getting to really know Him in a great way), He will use your past to fulfill the greatest mandate in many peoples lives. He created each of us "ON PURPOSE" for His Divine purpose, which far exceeds any of mans purposes or ambitions in this world. I am passionate to help you be like His Word mentions "Let the weak say I am strong (in Him)" Joel 3:10 and be Spirit filled mighty men and women of God. As the narrative of my Blog indicates, I am want so much to help people who feel like they are a prisoner of some sort in their lives, and admonish you that God can set you free. To know your authority in Him (Luke 10:19) and be liberated by knowing God in a deeper way whom we serve and have that revelation knowledge of how much He loves you and is able to help you and how He wants to use you. If you or anyone is going through any trials or needs encouragement, I ask you to please go to my Blogsite. On the side bar, each year since 2011 indicates titles that I have put together from the experiences I have gone through. To have the greatest testimony of being an encourager, it all begins with sharing our real life story as a testimony and together with the Blood of the Lamb (of the finished work of the Lord Jesus), The Bible tells us that our accuser (satan) has been overcome simply because we have shared our real life experiences (read Revelation 12:11). Every topic I discussed is based from my life experience of what I had gone through and what God has taught me that is now far more valuable then I have ever imagined. When I think of what He has done for me and through me, I understand much more how He truly is longsuffering with what He has had to put up with me over the years. No wonder God tells us that it is far more precious and of greater value to seek wisdom and understanding more than gold or silver (Prov 16:16). I truly hope you will take advantage to going over the many titles to see if you or someone you know could continue to benefit from. There is nothing like investing in ones soul (very life) and seeing how God can change and transform people to become bold and confident which is being Christ-like! We are told to become imitators of Christ (Eph 5:1), which means if Christ was bold and confident, so should we. This is what it is all about. It's very unfortunate when you find a beautifully covered Bible in the homes of many people that never is opened or read, but just sits on tables like some ornament. This "Word of life" literally becomes lifeless when people don't bother to take time to read & study it. I don't want this to happen where my topics that testify what God has done in my life cannot be used to continue to be a blessing when it could, but isn't shared or re-read when it could be most valuable to a soul in need. Link to my Blog is as follows: www.helpingcopewithhope.blogspot.com I want to also take this time in this milestone to acknowledge some people who were extremely instrumental to help me put this together. I want to acknowledge Pastor Grant Freake, from my former church at Evangel Pentecost Church in Quebec City who initially suggested I consider starting a Blog. I would like to also acknowledge a Youth Pastor of mine (Pastor Dusty Crozier) from my local church at Roblin Wesleyan Church located in Roblin, Ontario who has helped me tremendously to get started as I knew nothing about setting up or doing Blogs back in the Spring of 2011 when I started this site. Your help was indeed tremendous. Indirectly, I want to also thank Rob Chaffart who is the President & founder of Answers2Prayer ministries which I have been a part of since 2000, which I include a link below my signature block. He has truly been a blessing to help me over the years pray for and be part of a prayer team that has gathered names to send these messages worldwide. I just wish I had known sooner, I may have gathered over a couple thousand names over the years whom the Lord used me to help send out prayers to others in need and be able to reach more people to help and benefit more and more. I also want to thank those of you who have often encouraged me to continue on. Being encouraged by you really does strengthen me. No wonder the Bible admonishes us to "encourage one another while it is still called Today" Heb 3:13. I am of course mostly greatful to God for using me in ways I could never imagine. I truly hope each of you are blessed in Him, strengthened in Him and will continue to carry the torch to let you know He can do amazing things for you if you will simply step out and believe Him to use you to minister to others that you never thought possible. Ministers are not just those who stand behind a pulpit, because He calls each of us to be ministers of Christ in the first place (Isa 61:6). I hope to continue to be a blessing to each of you and by His Grace, lets allow Him to use each of you mightily and refuse to live a mediocre; average; passive & lukewarm type life and ask Him to help you to fan the flame within (2 Tim 1:6), be on fire for Him and share what He has done for you. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

HIS LOVE COMPELS US

Blessed Saints of the Most High, After I read the Word, there are times I ponder questions that cause me to receive wonderful revelation and understanding that He encourages us to seek and obtain. We may often know the truth of His Word about "what". But often times, we may not be able to answer the questions about "How" or "Why" unless we take the time to ponder and search for His answers further. One of the scriptures I remember reading the first part of the verse in 2 Cor 5:14 tells us that the Love of God compels us. But my question is; Why is it that many people aren't compelled by the Lord? When we stop to ponder His Word and ask the Lord, it is those times that He reveals the deeper meaning and understanding of His Word. When we take time to look further into this, if we are questioning why is it that many people aren't compelled by His Love, is it because of His lack of love for the these certain individuals? We can be safe to answer that with an emphatic "Not at all". Therefore, the problem is never about God withholding from us. On the contrary, many times, Gods people don't learn to receive the fullness of His love for them. It's like the message I gave a few years back talking about the woman who was known to the Pharisees as a wicked sinner whom he was condemning (Read Luke 7:36-47). Jesus replied back to tell them that she demonstrated the kind of love that no one else at that table did towards Him. He goes on further to tell them, when we love little, its because we have been forgiven little (vs 47). If we receive much forgiveness, we love much. Again, is it because God chooses to forgive different levels to people that they love much or love little? Again, the answer is NO. It all has to do with the measure that people receive from God which determines whether they love alot or love very little. It had nothing to do with the fact that she sinned greater than anyone else, because we all equally sinned greatly before our God. But she learned to receive His forgiveness for her in full measure which gave her the strength to love much. His love compelled her to do what she did simply because she learned to receive the full measure of His love and pardon for her. Going over some of these scriptures, it all comes down to asking ourselves: "How much of the measure of His forgiveness, His Grace, His Mercy and above all...His love am I receiving from Him? This is what gives us strength to propel forward in the things of God when we receive His love in full. He never with-holds anything good from those who walk uprightly before Him (Psalm 84:11). All too often, we withhold receiving His full pardon for us which is why we aren't compelled to be able to move forward. We need to be aware of any form of "false humility" which is nothing but that stinkin pride that is the same spirit that lucifer (one of the former highest angels) had which is why God hurled him out of Heaven forever (Isa 14:12-15). False humility will say that "I don't deserve Gods Grace and Mercy". When has anyone of us ever deserved it? This is why it is considered His Gift to us. It will never stop being be considered His Gift because no one deserves His Grace or Mercy ever. When we fail to receive the full pardon of Gods Grace, Mercy and love for us, we have allowed the enemy to rob us from having His Joy and Peace that strengthens us. And only we are responsible for being robbed because of our false humility of ever receiving the fullness of His Love, Grace and Pardon for our many sins we all have committed. Therefore, when He tells us that His love compels us, this is the strength we receive from Him that propels us forward. When a person receives very little love or no love, do you ever notice how lifeless a person becomes? This should never be the case for us Christians. I must say that what gives me strength to continue doing His work has nothing to do with my determination. But when I have that Revelation Knowledge (deep within my spirit) of His immeasurable love He has for myself, this is His inner strength within me that compels me to move forward. Consider when a man is so much in love with his Bride and he sees her in danger. He becomes strong in a moment in time and will chase after any danger that threatens her and won't give any consideration about himself because of the great love they have for each other. Therefore, when we learn to receive that immeasureable love from the Lord that will allow us to exchange our love and affection back to Him, we will receive that supernatural strength that carries us through any circumstances we face. And like that man who loves his Bride, we will stand strong to fight the good fight of faith and fight for what Christ has accomplished for each of us. We will be strengthened to fight for one another and fight against every injustice that ever violates His Good and Perfect will that He forever accomplished for each of us. Receiving His love for us really does compel us to be able to propel forward. Let's receive His love for us to the "Full Measure" so we will be compelled to do exceedingly and be His faithful Representive because we learn to receive His immeasurable love towards us. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/ For Christ's love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: if One died for all, then all died (2 Cor 5:14)

GOD REWARDS FAITHFULNESS

Dearest Blessed Saints For many, I know it is often difficult to work long hours, day after day, week after week, year after year and it appears that you are not being rewarded or ever recognized for all that you do. I want to encourage the hearts that what God says, when you do your work as unto the Lord, "Your labour for God is never in vain"(1 Cor 15:58; Phil 2:16). Many may say to me that "You don't know what it is like", or "It's easy for you to say"! So, just to give you comfort, I pass on these words not from a point of just theory, but practical experience. I continue to serve in the military and of course have rank structure within that organization. In my position, I have been at this same rank for over 24 years without a promotion and have seen many others be promoted time and time again, even though I work just as hard and at the same time, feel that I am often more qualified. Therefore, I feel qualified to encourage many of you to not give up hope by seeking to be rewarded by man. Having just said about being qualified, it reminds me that when many have gone through trials and have overcome our trials or any injustices by that matter, and we remain trusting in Him, this becomes a powerful qualification to help others in their time of need because these are the people who truly understand. The reason why Christ understands is because He Himself went through more trials then we ever will which makes Him most qualified to help us in our time of need. And yet, because of His Great Faithfulness, God the Father has exalted Him on HIGH! When you have laboured and have failed to ever be recognized or rewarded, I want to encourage you to NOT ever be discouraged. Jesus explains to His Disciples that when men do good deeds to be rewarded from man, he will have his reward at that time, but will fail to receive his/her eternal reward from God all because they have already received their reward from men by their applause (Matt 6:1,2). Maybe God is telling people like us that though He sees and knows we labour as unto Him and we maintain a good attitude and continue having the integrity to continue being faithful no matter what. If we don't give up, we will receive far greater rewards that will come directly from Father God. I believe God makes all things RIGHT when we have been wronged. If we maintain a good heart and believe He will take care of everything, He promises that we will receive DOUBLE blessings for every trouble (Isa 61:7). Again, to receive this double blessings we need to be at Peace which He has already given us (John 14:27) and leave all the results to Him, always faithfully maintain a good attitude and be intentional to ever refrain from grumbling or complaining. Remember how harshly God dealth with the Isrealites when they grumbled and complained against God and Moses (Num 14:27-29). Therefore, I encourage each of you and myself to continue to labour as unto the Lord with a good attitude, regardless if we ever get rewarded by man or not "Just because it's the right thing to do" and we don't do these "good works" out of any selfish ambition. Don't allow yourself to be robbed of the rich eternal blessings God has in store for you simply because you sought mens applause or mans reward just to get a mere moment of satisfaction. Gods reward is eternal (forever). Mans reward only lasts but for a brief moment in time. God is so faithful and He sees your faithfulness and integrity with the work you do (as unto the Lord) and He sees/knows your heart. As long as we labour as unto the Lord (not unto man) and keep a good attitude, God ALWAYS rewards faithfulness. He is looking for people who are faithful (Prov 20:6 and Luke 18:8). With His help, let's be FAITHFUL unto the One(Jesus) who is ALWAYS FAITHFUL and TRUE towards us. Let's remain faithful to receive greater rewards He mentions in 1 Cor 3:11-15. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

BE ENCOURAGED NO MATTER WHAT

Blessed Saints of the Most High, I am going to attempt to keep my write-ups shorter, but get across equally vital points and words of encouragement that always comes from Gods Word. I am encouraged by one of my favorite scriptures that ALWAYS gives me hope when I am going through trials. In Romans 8:18, it reminds me that these trials are very temporal and will never be compared to the glory that will be revealed in us in the realm of eternity where there is nothing but joy, peace with endless hope. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us (Rom 8:18)! It's like comparing a droplet of water in the deep massive oceans of the world. It's like taking one grain of sand and comparing it to the massive thousands of sandy beaches worldwide. When we go through trials and it seems endless, I am encouraged to think about that verse and how temporal life here is on earth compared to the realm of eternity. Don't let your life just be unfortunate events of the past, but boldly declare that with the power of His help fighting your battles for you, He will use you more mightily than He would if you had not gone through any trials. Your past trials can be a use of double force against the enemy. It's time to renounce every vow, every agreement and spoken negative words that we may have made that goes against Gods Word and has allowed the enemy to invade our lives and our wrong way of thinking and replace it with His Word that brings eternal life (John 6:68). By His Grace, let us RISE UP with newness and Godly boldness within because we Know who He is, we Know how Great He is, We know He is for us and not against us, we believe He is most faithful and He is a Friend like no other. In Rom 8:36-38, when Paul was being persecuted, He indicated that even though He was going through hard times, he had that bold attitude to proclaim that no matter what trials we go through "WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM WHO LOVES US". He finishes in the following verse of his reason for being relentless for his positive declaration was because he knew nothing was going to separate himself from Gods love for him. Paul knew God never stopped loving him, and He never stops loving us. Even as it is written, For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the slaughter.37 Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us.38 For I am persuaded beyond doubt (am sure) that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers,39 Nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:36-38). Notice Paul doesn't say "I am more than a conqueror", but he says it for each of us to say: "We are more than conquerors through Him who loves us". Let's get rid of any and all denominational barriers that often separates us Christians and be unified with each other, lift each other up and boldly declare that together "We are more than Conquerors through Christ who loves us" and that by His Grace, nothing is going to separate our heart-knowledge of His special love for each of us. Just like the people were mighty when they were building the tower of Babel simply because they were unified with one goal in mind (Gen 11:6), let us have that same unified mind of Christ and be equally powerful to be mighty for God to advance His Kingdom (Matt 11:12). In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

Our Utmost for His Highest

Dear Mighty Saints of God, Through this ministry, it is always my greatest desire to bring out the very best in each one of you as long as I submit to the Lord and allow Him to use me. I know for most of you and myself, He always wants to do more through us as His Blessed Anointed vessels so we can be our utmost for His Highest. This is proof of the fact that He says that He is always willing and is able to do exceedingly and abundantly more then we can ask or think (Eph 3:20). The sad reality is that often, we aren't allowing His best to work through us because of doubt and unbelief. I can't think of a better calling then to know we have truly reached out to be a great encourager and a blessing to one another. You cannot put a price on any one soul. For Christ Himself tells us that "what does it profit a man when he should gain the whole world and yet, lose his soul" (Matt 16:26). It's encouraging to know that each of us has the power of God within us to be that rich blessing who can have a powerful positive impact on other peoples lives. I want you to know that each of you are a unique and blessed vessel whom God created you to be. You are uniquely qualified to be that special person that people may need that can positively alter their lives and eternal destiny for the better. I don't care about what you may or may not have done in the past because when all of us have sinned greatly and we have repented, God has forgiven us of our debt of sins and WILL NOT bring them back to remembrance. Just as His mercies are NEW EVERY MORNING (Lamentations 3:22,23), so each of you can also have a new fresh start and a new beginning. By doing so, you need to strip off hanging on to any guilt so you can allow His glorious excellencies to work through you. I can't stress enough that it is imperitive that we believe like a child and refuse to ever talk yourself out of reasoning why God can't or won't use you. Adults are good at reasoning themselves out of Gods best for them when a child simply believes. The enemy is nothing but a deceiver to try to refrain you from moving forward when God encourages us to ARISE and allow His mighty power to work effectively through you (Psalm 68:35). Each of us can fulfill that greatest mandate in all the world and be His Special Anointed Vessel that will bring encouragement and words of Hope (Lamentations 3:24) to many and be a rich blessing that can change the course in peoples lives. There is nothing that encourages me more then to know that many people are being blessed to share the Hope He has given to us who have invited Him to be our Lord. I know many of you have gone through such horrific events in life. However, I believe that when we go through the greatest trials and endure them by refusing to give up and hang on to the hope we have in Christ (by keeping focused on the eternal hope of glory that awaits us - Rom 8:18), this is often the greatest avenue for us to be highly qualified for His use and become dangerous to the real enemy. When the enemy would like to keep people down from their past trials, I want to encourage you to see yourself as His blessed vessel who is continually preparing you to use your past to be a rich blessing to others. He wants us to cooperate to fulfill His greatest calling on your life by being determined and believe with His help, you will live to enrich many lives and make a powerful positive impact on the lives of many needy people. If we want to give our real enemy (satan) a black eye and frusterate his ways, ask God to put that zeal in you and believe that no matter how bad your past may have been, that He will use your past for His glory if you will simply dare to believe. We are His wonderful, unique anointed vessels. By His Grace, lets believe Him to use our past to fulfill the greatest mandate of all by empowering others with the hope of Christ. We are all qualified to fulfill the greatest mandate He has for us because greater is He (Jesus) who resides in us than he (satan) who resides in the world (1 John 4:4). In order to receive His best to be our best to make a positive impact on peoples lives, I believe this comes when we will give God all the glory and refuse to ever rob Him of that. Let's ask and believe Him that by His Grace, we will be mightily used as His Anointed and Special vessel and be our utmost for His Highest, having a positive impact in many peoples lives. Praying to the Father in Jesus Name, that by Your Grace dear Lord, this world will be a much better place because we are allowing You to work fully through us to fulfill our calling while being placed on earth at this time. We are living in the best time to do the greatest work He is preparing for us to do. God qualifies each of us, but He is simply asking: Are we willing? In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/ Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? (Exod 15:11)

Knowing Our Identity in Christ

Dear Blessed Saints, I feel lead to write a different message and sound the alarm to each one and like God tells to ARISE (Luke 7:14). We are at war fighting against the principalities and powers and rulers of darkness (Eph 6:12) and we need more then ever to have that God confident warrior spirit within us. He wants to equip us to become real warriors because He tells us to put on the armour in the first place. It's very evident as we hear about so many Christians being tried and going through severe trials in many areas of our lives. We definitely can never overlook the fact that we are fighting a spiritual warfare. Even though it seems like we are being defeated, if we are bold in our faith in God, we can say no matter what: That even through the midst of our trials, we are "more then conquerors" through Christ who loves us (Rom 8:37 emphasis added). Too many Christians are being defeated these days and only by His Grace, we can reverse that trend. Therefore, it is more important than ever that we know deeply and intimately who God is and know our identity in Christ if we are to expect to live the life Christ suffered and died to give us. One of the many identities I like is knowing and understanding fully that the power of the Life giving blessings of His Word are reserved for us who have invited Jesus(the Word) who dwells in our hearts and have received Him as our Lord and Saviour. Again, when we think our circumstances are out of control and we go through the severest of trials, we need to fan the flame within us (2 Tim 1:6) that will rise up and become a fire within our belly. As a testimony of my past, when I was continually being buffeted by the enemy and unfortunately, I often surrendered that inherited a defeated mentality. I realized later that the warfare itself was not the problem. The real problem was myself carrying that defeated negative attitude in my spirit because I believed the lies of the enemy instead of believing the truth of what God says who we are. I was sinking farther and farther and grew depressed by giving in to the devils lies. God was showing me that I needed to ARISE in my spirit and showed me how I have failed to know my identity in Him and forgot about who He really is. When I realized I have been deceived by believing the lies of the enemy and how I have failed to realize my identity as an inheritor of God, I got a Holy Spirit anger within me at that moment. I especially got angry at the enemy when I see how he continues to deceive so many of Gods people to believing his lies and keeping many of them prisoners. God tells us in Hosea 4:6 that My people are destroyed because of lack of knowledge (of Him and His Word). When we realize we have been listening to the lies of the enemy, God wants us to get a righteous Holy Spirit anger that will move us. God tells us that it is the men/women who are strong and confident in God are the ones who are forcefully advancing the Kingdom of God (Matt 11:12). Even though Gods Spirit was living within me, this did me no good unless I was feeding my spirit with Gods Word, boldly praying in faith so I could rise up by having that bold confidence in Him. I failed to see the power of Gods Word by not using the Sword of the Spirit as I should have. God revealed to me a picture of a warrior going into battle. He doesn't win a battle by having his sword hanging down, he wins the battle when he picks up the sword and forcefully attacks the enemy. That's how we do it by taking the Word of God and boldly speaking the Word of God against the enemy and saying as it does in Jude 9 "The Lord rebuke you satan", and remind him that he was defeated at Calvary which means we do not receive his lies and we don't allow him any power over our lives when we submit our lives to God (Rom 6:8; Rev 1:5). I learned the power of victory of speaking Gods Word boldly when I was verbally attacked by one of my bosses back at a military base around 1992 when I was a relatively new christian. I was hungry for the Word and when the enemy used that person to speak his words to try to defeat me, the only way I was able to have victory was when I told the devil he is nothing but a liar and a counterfeit. I clenched and raised my fist with the Bible in my hand and told the devil like Jesus says in Luke 4:4,8,10)...IT IS WRITTEN: and I quoted the Word from Phil 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me". After having said that with boldness and authority, I felt the power of the Spirit come down to break down that thick wall that the enemy tried to imprison me with. It's an experience that I never otherwise had in my entire life. I realized the power of His Word when we use it with authority like we should all because we should know our identity as His Children whom He had given us His authority (Luke 10:19). Even though we have the Spirit of God living within us and we have the promises of God that says "Greater is He (Jesus) that is within us then he (satan) that is within the world" 1 John 4:4, these promises of God do us no good if we don't take action to use His Word and take a bold stand like He teaches and encourages us to. I know I would have been defeated otherwise. It just so happened that what was said about myself not being able to do a certain task by this person, was later mentioned that the operation I ran was the best many people have ever seen. I can only give God the full credit for giving me the insight and power to do just that. We have victory when we choose to boldly put our confidence in Him and use the power of His Spirit that is within us. To understand our identity in Christ, its extremely important to first know God, which is why I just published three recent articles about the Blessings of knowing God that you can read when you go to my Blog link. When you realize who God is and who we are in Christ by knowing the power of God within us and how we should be walking in confidence knowing He is all powerful and loves us immensely, we will start to understand that we can walk in His authority and the enemy has to bow down when we boldly use the Name of Jesus and the Word (Jesus). If we are going through severe battles, God is teaching us to exercise our faith in Him and RISE UP, just like He told Job to do (Job 38:3). I believe as we are living in these last days, God wants to raise an army who will choose to stand up in the power of His might because we know who He is and we know our identity in Christ as His blessed Children (Eph 1:3). Unfortunately, many people are not because we are not taking a stand against this injustice (robbing the goodness and power of God working in us) and allowing the devil to rob Christians of knowing their identity in Him. The passage in (Matt 12:43-45) Christ talks about a house being swept clean after an evil spirit has departed, and the demon who was initially cast out will be able to bring in other ones seven times more wicked and the man/woman will be worse off. This is telling us that when we clean up our hearts by repenting, renouncing and casting out every negativity we have allowed to enter into our minds and hearts, we need to replace this empty house (our heart and mind) with the powerful truth of Gods Word by reading and speaking His Word into our heart. Otherwise, if we fail to fill our minds and hearts with the blessings and life giving message of His Word, other deceptive words will come in, in its place. When we get the power of His Word into our mind and heart, the enemy will find it harder to try to put his deceptive lies into our inmost being. He can fill an empty cup, but he can't put anymore into a cup that is already full. As I believe we are truly living in the latter days, we desperately need to go back and know the power, presence, wisdom and love of God for us in a great way and ask Him to help us know our identity in Him in order to live the life He suffered and died for us to be able to live. We need to ask God to also help us remain humble before Him so we can be confident to invite Him to help us Rise Up in the newness of His power and strength as we live through this time. Then we can truly start boldly speaking His Word with confidence like two of one of my many favorite verses: "Even as it is written, For Thy sake we are put to death all the day long; we are regarded and counted as sheep for the slaughter.37 Yet amid all these things WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us" (Rom 8:36,37) I capitalized the five words to put emphasis in them which is how we should speak to the devil. For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith.5 Who is it that is victorious over [that conquers] the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on that fact] 1 John 5:4,5 Therefore, let us come boldly (with confidence) to God (to His Throne of Grace) with petitions and thanksgiving and we will receive His much needed Grace and Mercy that is the only way we can live in victory (read Heb 4:16 and Heb 10:35). Let us always remain humble before Him under His mighty hand and He promises in due time, He will exalt us (1 Pet 5:6). In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

BECOME a RICHER BLESSING

Dear Blessed Saints of God, I often think of Psalm 133 of how it is a great blessing and very pleasing to God to see us be together in unity. When I see myself as a very small part of a large body of Believers and seeing Christ as the Head, I can't help be encouraged to reach out and tell everyone, especially for you that we are members of one body as believers in Christ. Therefore, you matter so much to each one of us, to myself, and especially to God. When a Brother of Sister hurts, if we are truly one body the way we need to be, we all hurt. I like to compare a hand holding on to the sore part of the body who may be suffering. I like to see myself as part of a hand that reaches out to others where Christ (the head) directs the hand to bring comfort to others if there is any time you need comforting and encouragement. Also, when you share a great testimony, we want to know so we can also rejoice with you and fulfill the Word & the law of Christ (Read Romans 12:15 and Gal 6:2). When I see this picture as us being many parts that makes up one body, this gives me more passion to be an encourager and a blessing to you and each of the Brothers and Sisters in the Lord because we see our great need one for another and the power of being united in Christ. When we delight to be a rich blessing to one another, we can picture the face of Christ shining because He is carrying a spiritually healthy body when we are united as one in Him because we care for one another and care about how we represent our great and awesome Lord (Jesus). If there is anytime you need prayer, please don't feel left out because we are in this together (as one body). A family, organization & a nation is the strongest when they are united in love. Our greatest Unity is compounded when we want to give God the glory. When we value unity, we need to give absolutely no place for factions, strife, division or any form of lukewarmness by having very little value of one another and how that displeases the One whom we should live to please. When I see how desperate I am aside from God and know/strongly believe how awesome He is to care for us and be that awesome Helper in our time of need, I am amazed at how He works through plain ordinary people like myself to do extra-ordinary works. I see this especially when I desire to be a blessing to each other when I understand that we are together as one in Christ. I want to let you know that I am just a plain ordinary person with no special crudentials whom God is simply able to use when we don't rely on ourselves, but allows His glorious power of His Spirit to work through us. Just like Paul says, when I am weak (undertanding the truth of how desperate we are), then we are strong because it is then that we allow the power of God and His strength work through us). When we are desperate to receive His love and power work through us and believe with His help, YOU CAN be mightily used to be a rich blessing that lives to give God the glory. When God tells us that we are created to live for His glory (Isa 43:7), BY HIS GRACE, YOU CAN live for His glory because He tells us to. He wouldn't tell us to do something or be the man or woman of God they way He tells us to be if He didn't give us His power to be able to do so in the first place. Perhaps He doesn't work through so many as He would like to all because we may have limited Him by our pride, doubt and/or unbelief. By His Grace, let us set our confidence in Him to a far greater and higher standard in His love knowing He cares for us, and we can be counted as those who forcefully advances His Kingdom (Matt 11:12). We can allow Him to do greater works through us to be a richer blessing and leave a greater positive legacy from our lives if we will humble ourselves before God and truly believe Him to do that much needed work for us and through us. A similar question Jesus asks Martha in John 11:26, do you believe this? We see more of Gods power work through those who believe, rely and who trusts in Him. Receive His blessings to you(Eph 1:3). In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/ Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? (Exod 15:11)

The Blessings of Knowing Him More - Part 3

Blessed Children of the Most High After talking about the sovereignty of God and understanding His awesome Power, His unlimited knowledge, I would like to focus on knowing Him more by understanding His awesome wisdom which we call "Omni-sapient" because what He wants to teach us will always result with the best results, far better than any advice man could ever give otherwise. Apart from any other Word or philosophy, it is His Word that only brings forth eternal life. Peter declared this to Jesus when He asked Peter and the Disciples if they were going to leave Him also (read John 6:68) after the 70 Disciples decided to leave Him because His teaching was too difficult. Because He knows all future events, He is able to provide us with direction we need to take that will lead us down the best path and many times and help us avoid un-necessary trouble. However, trouble often comes our way because we fail to acknowledge Him or simply do things that opposes to what He is trying to teach us. Sometimes trouble is inevitable and God only knows because He tells us that we will be persecuted regardless. But through persecution, when we put our trust in Him, we will see ourselves become stronger in Him then before. He tells that we will be persecuted, but tells us to fear NOT (be of good cheer) because He has overcome the world (John 16:33). No matter the circumstances, if we will only trust Him in His unmatched wisdom, we will ALWAYS be better off and stronger in developing that Christ-like character through any and all circumstances. If we are not growing stronger and more confident in the Lord through every circumstance, then we need to humble ourselves and ask Him to help and teach us to draw closer to Him and develop that God-confidence we all need. I must admit, all too often I had to learn the hard way and could have saved myself much trouble. For myself, Gods sovereign wisdom (His Omni-sapience) knew in advance what I needed to go through to break me from the bondages that I didn't realize I was a prisoner of. So the trials I had to endure, I most definitely did not welcome any of it during that time, but I only know from after the fact that I had learned so much and can truly say that I am far better off right now having gone through severe trials that I once dreaded. I would not have known the blessings of being bold in the Lord had I not had to come to the place where I had to take a stand and make a bold decision that with His help, He would help me use my past to be a blessing to many others in need throughout the world. God in His wisdom knows that when others hurt and those of us who have gone through similar trials, we can extend that arm to one another and develop richer relationships because of it. Through this, our love for one another grows through people going through trials. When people don't go through trials, no one would ever see the benefits of people comforting one another and be a richer blessing and develop closer relationships with each other. Had I not gone through trials, I would have failed to ever learn to take a bold stand for the Lord and would have otherwise remained complacent, which is what the enemy wants us as Gods Children to become, which is being lukewarm (read Rev 3:15,16). Without trials, I would not have the wonderful privilege of having so many faithful friends and prayer partners I have come to know and have a rich relationship with throughout this world. God in His wisdom taught me that being negative through trials I was going through gave the enemy more power in my life. I had to come to that place where I had to take a stand to be bold because I should have the confidence in Him that I didn't have before. When we are buffeted by the enemy, we have to come to that place to tell the enemy "enough is enough and by the Grace of God, I am going to be mightily used for His glory, His purposes and be used to forcefully advance His Kingdom" (Matt 11:12). Maybe He is telling many people to get tired of being where you are and for us to "Rise Up" (Deut 2:13) in the power of His might and learn to make that bold declaration that God is going to have His way in our lives and we would be mightily used by Him to His glory. His wisdom knows how much we need to go through before we will start taking a stand and be sick and tired of being sick and tired!! It was when I realized when I knew the Lord the way I should, His Power, His Presence, His Wisdom and His great love for me, I became much more bold and confident in Him as His adopted child. God in His wisdom knew beforehand what I needed to go through before I would come to that place. We just need to be humble enough to realize that He knows better than we ever will and surrender our stubborn wills to His loving plan for each of us. We fail to allow Him to do what He wants to do in our lives because we are often critical of His ways or just think "our ways" are better than His ways all because we do not know Him the way we should. We allow logic (our way of thinking) to exalt itself over having that childlike faith and trust in Him like we should. This is one major barrier called "pride" which He opposes. My life is a living testimony that His Word is true. When we don't humble ourselves, we will never benefit from the blessings He wants to do for us and through us. When we take the time to learn of His sovereignty and come to the place to have that AWE of HIM, His greatness in all His glory and know that His greatness is beyond our intellect, we will never know Him like we should and we will fail to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We will often be under fear rather than having that strong confidence in Him if we only knew Him like we should. Even though we will never be away from encountering trouble, trouble should never make us weaker, but should make us stronger if we will be bold and confident in Him and learn to put our trust in Him. When we spend time to learn more of Him and His Greatness, every circumstances we go through will cause us to be stronger in Him, the boldness to walk in confidence and have that unshakable trust in Him all because we know who He is and what we mean to Him. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/ Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? (Exod 15:11)

The Blessings of Knowing Him More - Part 2

Dearest Blessed Saints, As a continuation of what we read about the Souvereignty of God and His awesome knowledge of all and foreknowledge on things to come, this is a great reminder that His love will always exceed our thoughts because He knows all the sins we will ever commit. Regardless, He still loves us immensely and desires a rich relationship with Him. It's as though He overlooks any of our transgressions we may yet commit and still desires for each of us to have a relationship with Him. I would like to now focus on the fact that He is "All-Powerful" and how that can relate to His immeasurable love for each of us and proof of His ability and willingness to care deeply for us. When you read Hebrews 1:3, He tells us that He establishes everything by upholding, maintaining, guiding and propelling the whole entire universe by the power of His Word. It's amazing to think that sand on the seashore should stop the mighty ocean waves from coming up unto dry land to destroy it (Prov 8:29), and when His voice tells the waves to only come thus far and no further. If there was no order in the universe, I don't think anyone could imagine the utter chaos that would take place if it weren't for the power of His Word to perform. When we think how Awesome in Power and authority He has, its amazing how much greater His love and mercies are because He could very well have wiped us all off the map when we have rebelled & many others continue to rebel against Him. And yet, He withholds and relents so much which is why He tells us that His Mercy exceeds Judgment (James 2:13). The book of Job 38 & 39 are remarkable chapters that identify His greatness that no man can answer what He questions Job with. Just imagine how many times we have rebelled against Him, and yet He always relented from doing what our sins deserved (Ps 103:10) and was always merciful towards us beyond measure. That in itself should cause us to have such awe, admiration, a thankful spirit & a greatful heart beyond measure towards Him. Every breath we breathe is His continual sign of Mercy towards us. When many people would disprove Gods love and care for them, I put these questions to them: Are we putting anything or anyone else in our lives above God? How can we prove our faith towards Him if we didn't have to be tested in the first place? Just like Jesus tells His Disciples: "What good is loving the lovely? Don't the pagans do that?" How can we prove our love for the Lord when only good things come our way? How can we prove our faith? He asks us when He comes, will He find faith? I have heard it said that the real "me" comes out of us when we are hard pressed. Have we taken the time to really know Him the way we should? Just like He questions Job, we have to ask ourselves: "How much do we realize our very lives and every breath are in His hands?" If we did spend quality time with Him and come to know His Greatness in all His excellencies, we would stop doubting and continue to have that strong confidence in Him because of His sustaining power upon our very lives each second we live. With this knowledge and revelation in mind, when we pray, we would pray with such boldness and confidence simply because we KNOW HIM and His love for us the way we should. The reason why He may not be able to do for us in our lives is because we have exalted our circumstances in our lives above His Majestic greatness who is souvereign over all the universe. Do we continue to make excuses rather then humbling ourselves before Him? We may have not adhered to His instructions. Do we remain a prisoner of holding on to unforgiveness? Have we forgotten to use His Word like a mighty Sword (Eph 6:17)? We literally stop the hand of God when we doubt and fail to trust in Him. Jesus could not do any miracles in His own hometown because their unbelief literally stops Him from doing what He can and what He wants to do (Matt 13:58). We should consider that when we ever doubt, worry or have unbelief in any way should be an abomination and a stench to us when we fail to truly trust in the Lord. This is why it is so important to spend quality time to understand His exceeding knowledge and awesome power and meditate on the fact that everything we see was created by the power of His Word. Men may have built, but God is the One who gives man the skills and ability to accomplish anything and everything in the first place. When we read Isaiah Chapter 6, Vs 1-5, this is a good description of how we would likely react if we were to see God, just like Isaiah did. When we develop true Godly Fear, there would be no room for any other fears to dominate our thinking. Proverbs 1:7 tells us that when we fear Him, this is just the beginning of having true wisdom. In other words, we fail to have any Godly wisdom at all when we have no reverentially Fear of Him. One thing I find troubling is that many people will only limit God to their way of thinking because they don't go beyond their own understanding (Prov 3:5). As an example, someone would question me: "How can God foreknow events?" If this person were to read the Bible, many prophecies that were written in the days of old are only coming to pass during this day and age. He even tells us that He knew us before we were knit in the womb (Jer 1:5). I am so glad God knows the future for me which means that I can totally trust in Him to lead and direct my future simply because we understand His love is so great when we see He is so great. David says in Ps 139:14, that he is fearfully and wonderfully made. How can anyone think that we were not created by such an awesome intelligent designer when you see how just the complexity of the human eye alone is created. I want to encourage each one (including myself) to take some time each day and consider how everything we can see (and the unseen) that God has placed into existence and everything is held together and moves around in proper order by the power of His Word. When we meditate on these concepts, meditation is mentioned in the Bible (KJV) 20 times, so its not a mystical cult in the far eastern religions, but is Biblical. Meditation means to take time to do the following: Review; Repeat what you have read; reflect; think about what you read and analyze how His Word applies to us and our lives today. Taking time to meditate is where it becomes a powerful revelation that gets from the mind to the heart where our faith becomes more solid. Understanding His Glorious excellencies is just the beginning of wisdom. Who in their right mind doesn't want the wisdom that comes from above? His wisdom is always available to those who are humble enough to see their need and ask of Him (James 1:5). Let's receive the Grace of God to ask Him to give you a heart to know Him more and more each day so we can be the people He can use mightily for His glory. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

Need to Know Him More - Part 1

Dear Blessed Saints, We have all heard many people say that God loves us. Nothing else could be more true that has ever been spoken. However, when I examine myself, I often have to be aware of the familiarity of these truths. In other words, when we sing about His amazing love, hear these familiar passages over and over again or read the Word, does it just become another familiar passage that we just recite? Does His Word fail to become fresh revelation that would energize our spirit and inner-man? I understand for many Christians, we often have very little peace about certain circumstances and we end up worrying and fretting over some present conditions and future events that has never yet happened. But yet, we worry about them. Even circumstances that we face we may react with disgust and hostility because things didn't go our way as planned. If/when we get angry that does lead to sin (because not all anger is sin), I have to ask the question: Am I angry or increasingly upset over certain situation(s) or is there some other underlying reason why we may react ungodly? I think for most of it, if we can understand more about God (who He really is; knowing the truth of His rich love towards us, our desperate need of Him and His help for us, knowing what He has redeemed us from, the immeasurable pardoning of our sins and Grace towards us, knowing the eternal inheritance He has prepared for us), this would allow us to live our lives with confidence and maintain that joy, inner peace, even though circumstances may not dictate so. When we can come to the place by spending much quality time to get to know God more and more, we will be able to live above our circumstances, not below them (Deut 28:13). If we take a deeper look of how GREAT our God is, the greatness of His love for us, the greatness of His wisdom He wants for us, the greatness of His care He is able to give us, He wants to bless us richly to the point that we will gladly come to the place to fully surrender our lives unto His total care and control in every detail. I believe it is very important to go back to the basics that for a new believer in Christ, or us seasoned fellow Christians, to spend quality time understanding the Sovereignty of God. The God we serve who is All Powerful (Omnipotent); Always Present (Omni-Present); All Knowing (Omniscient); All Wise (Omni-sapient) and totally Pure and Perfect in LOVE (1 John 4:8) loves us to that same unlimited measure. We can gain a much greater understanding of who He is when we humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God and continue to come to a quiet place because He tells us to "Be Still and know that I am God" (Ps 46:10). The end result of living the most blessed life is actually living a surrendered life to God. But for that to happen, we need to take quality time to know Who God is ever more-so. When we can get a deeper understanding and love for Him, we will want to live that surrendered life. When we continue to develop that deep revelation knowledge of His love for us, we are able to have that strong confidence in Him which would remove every fear (1 John 4:18). Because we know He is ever present with us, we can walk through the valley of the shadow of death and still not allow any fear to have any dominion over us when we know this personally for us (Ps 23:4). Having this revelation knowledge of His deep love and care for us will allow us to be freed from all fears and remove any shame or guilt the enemy tries to influence us with. We will be able to walk in total Peace instead of pacing back and forth fretting and worrying about our present and future lives because we know He is ever present and He genuinely loves us. I would rather be strong and confidence in the Lord and have total Peace then to live under fear, worry, guilt, shame, doubt and being anxious about so many things. Sadly, this is often the case for many Christians. Having this Peace exceeds all the riches this world could ever afford to offer. God tells us in Hosea 4:6 that His People perish for lack of knowledge. He didn't say that the sinners in this case would perish, but the believers who lack knowledge would in fact perish because we don't spend time alone with God by getting to really KNOW HIM and not just "about Him". As an example, when we see that He is All-KNOWING, we need to understand that He was ALL KNOWING from the beginning to the end and the thought that there is nothing in all its existence in the universe that God did not already know. His foreknowledge is an example in Jer 1:5 when He foreknew us before we ever existed. When we start meditating on the fact that He foreknew what trouble, persecution and type of death He was going to face, we have a deeper admiration for Him. He was completely obedient to His Father to leave the comforts of the Highest Throne Room in Heaven to come down to earth so He can redeem us from the perils of sin, hell and the grave because He loves us beyond our comprehension. He knew all along He would have to suffer greatly and was by no means accidental or coincidental. How anyone would dare do this for a friend? Yet, He did this to every rebellious sinner (Rom 5:8) that ever came into the world (1 John 2:2) so that all may be saved. If I were to make a comparison, it would be like me being willing and obedient to leave my "human-ness" to become a slug in its lowest form and eating dirt all my life. To me, that would be an example of how much He truly loves us. When we spend time to meditate on how He never retaliated when He was beaten, bruised, rejected, mocked, slapped in the face and receive punishment after punishment finally being nailed to the cross with those big spikes, He did this for our eternal benefit with us on His mind. We need to personalize this and see that He did this for ME!! The God of the Universe would come down and bear the greatest punishment just for me (insert your own name)! It makes me realize we only scrape the tip of the iceberg when we think and say that we know He loves us. No wonder it is so vital that we spend quality, quiet time with Him and meditate on His immeasurable love for each of us. We CANNOT afford to ever think we know enough of God when in fact He is so Big that we often only scratch the surface of knowing His greatness because He is so GREAT. God tells us that when we think we stand, we need to take heed lest we fall (2 Pet 3:17). It is vital that we have the mindset of our need to know more of Him no matter how long we have been a christian. When I think of my past and was often rebellious towards Him, He still loved me enough to look past my faults, see my need and drew me unto Him to save me and give me a blessed eternal hope that I don't think we can ever truly comprehend. And to also forgive me over many many times, yet He is so patient and longsuffering towards me because I am an example of how He continues to use me despite my many faults and failures. A person could write about God every minute for the rest of each ones life and it still would not cover what He has done. John 21:25 tells us that all the books can never contain of what He has done for us. We need to ask the Holy Spirit who is the Godhead that is ever present with us to Help us in every detail of our lives. He is the One who is our Advocate, Teacher and the One who will Stand-by us (John 14:16 Amp Vers). He is the One who is our Counsellor, who empowers us with might and knowledge (Isa 11:2; 1 Cor 12:8). Who gives us wisdom, insight & revelation (Eph 1:17). We need to be honest before God and confess our desperate need of Him in every area of our lives. Gods Holy Spirit is always here with us, but how often do we neglect to personally invite Him to help us in everything He wants to be a vital part of. Christ says, for without Me, we can do nothing (John 15:5). It always comes down to continue developing that deep relationship of being totally dependant upon Him. The Spirit is so gentle, yet most powerful and He only comes in and works on our behalf to the measure that we allow Him to do so. God promises us that when we draw close to Him, He will draw close to us (James 4:8). Therefore, how close He draws towards us and live blessed with His presence in our lives that brings Joy and Peace will always depend on us. How close are we willing to draw to Him? How much of our lives do we really want to surrender to Him? I will continue in this series in the following weeks. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

His Blessings Exceeds Every Injustice

Dear Blessed Saints, I know many of us deal alot with injustices. God tells us that those of us who would dare to follow Him and make a positive difference in the lives of others are going to be persecuted one way or another (2 Tim 3:12). God never promised that we would not have trouble, but He does always promise that He will see us through and we will be stronger in Him and better fit for His use to fulfill His purpose. However, this only comes to pass to those who choose to trust in Him and allow Him to have His way in all of our circumstances. We can allow this to take place when we understand a few principles found in His Word. I always want to bring what is real out in the open so those who need to can deal with these and other issues while being able to share His Word of encouragement that is able to heal every broken heart based on the Truth of Gods Word. The God whom we serve loves both Justice and Mercy (Ps 89:14). When we talk about Gods Justice, we may tend to often think only of punishment and chastizement. But that is not completely true. His Justice is bringing every wrong act and making it RIGHT by bringing the right amount of correction people require that is going to lead them to true repentance. However, I don't believe God often brings the right amount of correction to many not because of His doing, but simply because we have failed our part to pray for those who persecute us like He tells us to and/or we fail to hand every situation that caused us suffering from injustices over to Him because we hang on and harbour bitterness and have a spirit of revenge instead. When we do, we don't allow God to do what only He is able to do to bring RIGHT out of every wrong. When He sees His Children being mocked or unjustly treated, He is displeased with those who cause trouble and it is like He takes it personally because when they come against His Children, they come against the Apple of His Eye (Deut 31:10; Ps 17:8; Prov 7:2 and Zech 2:8). When you consider the story of Elisha who was mocked by 42 of older adolescents who were of accountable age, God sent two bears to attack these perpetrators who mocked Elisha (man of God) in 2 Kings 2:23,24. God was displeased with Miriam who came against Moses (Gods anointed) and God pronounced leprosy on her until Moses prayed for her (Numbers 12). This is why when we decide to pray for those who come against us, healing and correction takes place. Just like God forgave Jobs friends when God had Job pray for them (Job 42:8). God wants to bring the right amount of correction to those who need it, but He needs us to cooperate with Him in order for Him to do what only He can do. I would like to encourage you that in order to allow God to heal your past and have victory over feeling victimized from past injustices, here are a couple of main points I believe is essential to overcome having that victim mentality: a. God tells us that when we are troubled by those who oppose us and come against us, it is only Righteous for God to trouble them (2 Thess 1:6); b. God promises that vengeance belongs to Him (Rom 12:19) which means we need to give every thing that concerns us over to Him. God alone will always require an account. God is even going to require an account of every idle and/or blasphemous word(s) that have ever been spoken against Him and His Children (Matt 12:36) when they ever fail to eventually come to a place of repentance; c. We need to know that the real enemy we fight against are spirits of wickedness in high places, not flesh and blood (Eph 6:12); d. When we understand the accountability of our physical enemies, we dare not wish them eternal punishment because God initially only reserved this horrible eternal place of hell fire and brimstone for the devil and his angels (Matt 25:41). When we have the mind of Christ, we too will be like-minded and "will" that no one would perish either. When we see how God is going to deal with those who continue to rebel, oppose His commandments to love one another who cause strife, division and factions, we need to have that Godly sorrow that says like Jesus did on the Cross and Stephen did as he was being stoned. They both said: "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do". They were able to say this when they understood that their oppressors were a victim of the real enemy (satan and his demonic spirits) because our enemies fail to see any accountability they will face. When David understood the end of those who opposed him, his bitterness turned into Godly sorrow (Ps 73:17). Instead of feeling like a victim, he saw his oppressors as the real victim and was able to do what only a Child of God can do when lead by His Spirit and that is to pray for our enemies. When we choose to do things Gods way, the rewards and blessings He promises us will far exceed all the troubles we will ever experience in this world (Read Romans 8:18). I like reading Isaiah Chapter 61 (in particular, verse 7) where He tells us that He will give us double blessings for every shame and dishonor we have ever received. Also, in verse 3, when we do things His Way, we can give Him our ashes to receive His beauty; give Him our mourning, He gives us the Oil of Joy. When we cast our burdens to Him, we will be filled with praise and instead of having a failing spirit that weighs us down, He will replace that by seeing ourselves as trees of His Righteousness. Again, in order for us to ever benefit of receiving the fullness of these double blessings He tells us, there is always a condition on our part to willingly and obediently (having the right heart and spirit) do surrender our will to His will. Injustice is real and is more of a problem with many Children of God far more than it should be. We need to make a concerted choice to do Gods will and hand every injustice and every grudges we have held on from our past and give all of them over to Him and totally trust Him. Our inheritance of His present and eternal blessings will far exceed every injustices we have already encountered or ever will encounter. If there is anyone who continues to hold any grudges from any past injustices, please give all of them over to God. Otherwise, you will find out that you have caused yourself the greatest injustice of all simply because of being disobedient by refusing to give any and/or all negative situations over to Him. How can we receive His Peace He tells us He has given us (John 14:27) when we continue to hang on to our past injustices by holding on to grudges? One thing I sense God telling me is that when we want to live the victorious life in Him and through Him, we can't afford to have that defeated "victim" mentality. Surrendering your will to His divine will...will always result in living the abundant life of bearing much fruit which is the result of receiving and radiating His Joy, His Peace, His Kindness, His Goodness towards Him, others and ourselves. One of my favorite verses I often recite is: "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us and in us and for us and conferred on us". Romans 8:18 (Amplified Version). We need to take the advice of Paul and stop dwelling at our past injustices and be encouraged and do yourself justice to look ahead and press forward. And when we do, we will receive that crown of eternal life (1 Cor 9:24,25) that is far more glorious than any earthly prize one could ever receive. Now, please ask yourself, is it really worth holding on to grudges of any past injustices by forsaking such rich eternal blessings He has in store for us? 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.8 For I the Lord love justice; (Isa 61:7; 8a) In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/