The Best Place to Be

Dear Blessed Saints, I say this title because we are truly blessed just because He tells us who are His Children, those who received Him as our Lord and Saviour (Eph 1:3). But to the measure of being blessed to receive His love and encouraging word always depends on the portion that we believe, accept and receive it by faith for ourselves as a Child would. I often like reminiscing about (Matthew 18:1-4) where the Disciples asked Jesus who will be the greatest in the Kingdom of God? I always like Jesus's response to the many questions He received because His answers are often anything what the average person would expect to hear. This tells me that we can never rely on our own thinking, intellect or understanding. But that we need to become totally like a child and lean on Him to see what He has to say and realize (deep within) the wisdom and power of His Word is always much higher and far greater than our own thinking (Isa 55:8,9). To receive the most of His Word, we need to receive it humbly and believe it where Jesus puts emphasis in (vs 4) about the need ot being humble like a child. When you think of a child who has a wonderful relationship with his/her earthly father, what may concern alot of earthly fathers who have the task of fulfilling their parental responsibility, a child who has a loving relationship with his/her Dad never worries, but always believes their father will love them, protect them and always provide and care for them regardless of the circumstances going around. Whenever I am meditating on the Word of God, I always like to picture different scenarios in my mind and not just see His Word as just letters formed into a sentence and become a tool just to memorize. But when we can picture what Christ is saying, I find it brings greater emphasis, which is why I believe He wants to give us vision (Joel 2:28). For example, I like picturing a child who loves their earthly father sitting on his lap and enjoying a real close companionship and relationship of trust and love which no amount of intellect can compare. When I can envision this, I like to put myself in that same place and become as a little child like that. And when things don't go right or several challenges seem to be approaching, I like to picture myself sitting on Gods lap and see His arms extending around me. And then for myself, to see Him smiling and telling me that He loves me and wants me to have a heart of faith like this child to rest in Him and know He will always be faithful to provide for me, protect me, love me and promises to never leave me nor forsake me. If you would, I would ask you to please take a few minutes now and be still and picture yourself sitting on His lap and see His smile warm your heart. I find it is important to take these times to just be still and meditate because scriptures we often read just becomes another familiar passage where we may fail to receive its full impact on what He may need to show us. When I picture this for myself, I am at total peace. When you think of a child, they don't have a PHd, degree or any high academic accolades. A child who has a loving relationship with their earthly father will never debate with him with questions of "how, what, when, why", etc etc. God has given us adults a great mind, but we need to use this creative and sound mind (2 Tim 1:7) He has given us to always come in line with His Word and never rely on our mind/intellect to deviate what He wants to teach us according to His Word. When we deviate our way of thinking from His Word, we compromise and allow the enemy of our souls to rob us from ever receiving the fullness of the powerful wisdom of His Word. It's only His Word and no other Word that is considered that mighty Sword that defeats the enemy (Eph 6:17). Its only His Word which is the only one that is able to cut into our very fibre and marrow, rightly dividing what is truth and what is false or compromises the wisdom of His Word (2 Tim 1:15). It is only His Word that brings forth LIFE (John 6:63). So when the Lord tells us to become as a child, He is telling us to be like a child in our faith, hope and trust in Him and knowing that He loves us and is able to care for us. We need to refute ever questioning God about His integrity of why things happen the way they do, or ever think we don't ever need His help to resolve any issues we may have or even come to a place that we can ever handle anything on our own. To leave God out of our daily lives and full agendas is to place ourselves outside the safety zone of His love and care which we are always in desperate NEED of. To be most blessed as a Child, we need to ALWAYS ALWAYS be in a place where we totally rely and put our trust in Him. This is where He wants us to be and it is by far the best place for us to be in. So when we don't humble ourselves like we need to, I believe He is always compelled to cause a situation in our lives to be humbled which demonstrates His love towards us. I like picturing these next couple of verses in (John 13:23-25) after Jesus was telling His Disciples about one of them going to betray Him (vs 21). Jesus mentions in (vs 23-25) about John putting his head on Jesus breast as though he is interested in listening to the heart of Jesus. When scriptures describe His Word, I never want to question why segments are mentioned in the Bible or not. If this wasn't mentioned, it wouldn't be important...but it does mention about John laying his head of the chest of Jesus because He wants us to come to that place so we too can listen to His heart. When I think of it, I often realize how we can often overlook a portion of scriptures that we can fail to understand great emphasis to encourage our hearts that much more unless we take the time to meditate on scriptures. We always have to conclude that if it is in scripture, there is a reason for it and is very important because He tells us the His Word is LIFE (John 6:63). I am sure you can all agree that none of us would want to remove any portion of life of His Word from our own lives when we know and understand that His Word is in fact our LIFE LINE. Therefore, to me, if there is anything in life that is a challenge to you, I want to urge you and encourage you to stop trying to figure everything out and refuse to rely on your own understanding (Prov 3:5,6), and cast ALL of your cares to Him. Picture yourself laying your head on His breast and listen to His hearts plea for you and being like a child that sees Him smiling down at you and you can smile back to Him, knowing that He will care for you. For Christ to say that when a person truly becomes like a child who will be amongst the greatest in the Kingdom of God, I come to the conclusion that He is therefore most pleased with us when we can come to this place. I often repent before the Lord for ever failing to invite Him to help me out no matter how easy a situation seems. A humble and loving child ALWAYS relies on his/her Dad. When we can come to this place with our Father, we too can know He is well pleased with us and say that we have become as this blessed Child and be highly rewarded which He promises us. May the truth of 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/

Fulfilling Our Purpose

I always want to share my experiences with each of you in order that you will not just read some other form of Christian topic that won't mean anything in our eternal realm of existence, but will have a positive life altering impact that brings hope and fulfills a greater eternal destiny for each of us. I must admit that these past few weeks, I have been struggling with questioning my purpose in life in everything I do. I was able to spend some time with a dear Chaplain I admire and respect and shared with him with a question of whether or not if I am really and truly making a difference in peoples lives in the realm of eternity? Or as Solomon puts it, in (Eccl 2:17), am I just grasping for the wind? In other words, is what I am doing all in vain or am I actually fulfilling a wonderful purpose God has for each of us? I struggle when I think whether I am just living within my bubble just floating aimlessly about, or is what I am doing making a positive difference in the lives of others? If God should choose to take me home, has my life made a postive difference in all I have done? Will the legacy of my life live on or will it just simply vanish? I think of the many old Saints of God whom have long passed away. Even though many have passed away hundreds of years ago, their legacy still inspires people today. I would love to see each of us be able to equally leave a positive legacy that will continue on to inspire others. I do know that God tells us that our labour for the Lord is never in vain (1 Cor 15:58), but is always encouraging to get some form of confirmation not to test His Word, but to simply prove His Word and be encouraged because of it. I believe it is a good thing when we can come to this crossroad so we can examine an important issue. God may be trying to get our attention so we can take the time that is necessary to reflect why we do what we do and not just live aimlessly without having any purpose or vision. In other words, is what we do profitable towards the things of God? If so, this is where we find peace and fulfillment in what we do. It's important to reflect on this because He tells us that His people perish who fail to have any vision or no sense of purpose (Prov 29:18). The question is: are we taking the time to seek Him and are we trusting Him to help us fulfill our purpose in life? When I see how I go through trials, I have to admit that I often wonder "what purpose is all of this?". I hate the thought of just "trying to survive" without finding any true meaning or purpose in everything we do or aspire to accomplish. I do believe,(and hope it is true) that my past trials are helping others through their time of trials and thereby fulfilling the purposes of God by being able to comfort others with the comfort we have received from Him (2 Cor 1:3,4). What good are any of our past trials if it cannot be a message of hope to others? Even though I have struggled questioning about my purpose, I know deep down that there has to be something good come out of what people would describe as just circumstances of misfortune. I realize that what I go through is not in vain when I can share my experiences with many others to give them hope that God can make something good from their lives. One would quote Rom 8:28: "all things work together for good to those who love the Lord and are called by His purposes". I don't want these Biblical quotes to become just another sermon of vain empty promises to anyone, but that what He says is TRUE in all its entirety all because of the testimony we can share. I believe God will do His mighty work through our circumstances and turn everything out for GOOD when we purpose in our heart to give Him the glory by acknowledging His Goodness in what He wants to teach us. When I take the time to examine my purpose, the Lord helps me to understand our temporal troubles in this life will never be compared to our eternal glory that will be revealed in us (Rom 8:18) which is that inexpressible hope that we should carry within us. I also understand that through trials, God often re-directs my heart by setting my affections where they should be set (read Col 3:2). He tells us that where our heart is, that is where our real treasures are (Matt 6:21). I think one of the most tragic things is when people look back on their life and realize that much of what they did was all in vain simply because they fail to take the time to seek God for direction and lived aimlessly with no real purpose of value God had for them. Therefore, when we struggle with issues that question about our lives and our motives, this can be a wonderful turning point to get ourselves on track and know that God truly does have a wonderful plan for our life. I have asked the Lord many times during prayer that the day my life stops advancing His Kingdom and I fail to stop being a blessing to others (fulfilling my purpose), that He takes me to my eternal home the day before that ever happens. Paul states: to live is Christ and to die is gain (Phil 1:21). Even though he realized he would be better off to be absent from the body and present with the Lord (2 Cor 5:8), Paul knew it is better for him to remain alive on earth simply because he understood his purpose God had for him by helping shape lives for many people. Just like Paul and many of the Biblical characters we read about, God is keeping each of us here for His divine purpose in life. REFUSE to ever give up or become complacent about it. God tells us that He is angry when His Children becomes complacent when we should be moving forward with His help (read Zech 1:15)! Start while it is called today because how we use this short time in our present existence will determine our eternal destiny. When we learn to number our days, we will gain a heart of wisdom by realizing we need to make the most of our lives by seeking Him (Ps 90:12) while opportunity still exists. Let's be certain we don't live aimlessly. We all have a purpose. Therefore, lets take the time to seek Him and with His help, believe that we will fulfill His purpose for us in our lives. There is nothing greater than knowing we have fulfilled His divine purposes for us that will give us far greater joy than anything this world can ever offer. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Associate Director Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/