HOPE in CHRIST's RESURRECTION

Dearest Saints, A local Pastoral friend of mine encouraged me to write about Resurrection as I was surprised by his response that he mentions many Christians don't believe in the resurrection. To my amazement, I find that odd because the Resurrection of Christ is what gives us Hope that is everlasting. This is the basis of our Hope and faith we have in the first place. When we think this life is so short compared to eternity, how can our hope be expected to be the same level in this temporal life compared to when the other hopes for living in a realm of glory that will be for eternity (never having any end)? The question we need to ask is when there are those who don't believe in the Resurrection, how can they expect to be resurrected themselves when they don't first believe? The Apostle Paul goes on to saying that if we only hope for Christ in this life only, how we are to be pitied more than anyone (1 Cor 15:19). The Oxford Dictionary tells the definition of pitied as "Feel sorrow for the misfortunes of". It is definitely a grave misfortune for anyone who doesn't believe that Christ who is The Resurrection made a Way for us who believe. God Himself clearly says and they remain in their sins (1 Cor 15:17) and the wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23). Paul tells us in Verse 14 of 1 Cor 15 that: And if Christ has not risen, then our preaching is in vain [it amounts to nothing] and your faith is devoid of truth and is fruitless (without effect, empty, imaginary, and unfounded). Amplified Version Again, this is what the Apostle Paul writes in 1 Cor 15:32-36 (Amplified Version): What do I gain if, merely from the human point of view, I fought with [wild] beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised [at all], let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will be dead.33 Do not be so deceived and misled! Evil companionships (communion, associations) corrupt and deprave good manners and morals and character.34 Awake [ from your drunken stupor and return] to sober sense and your right minds, and sin no more. For some of you have not the knowledge of God [you are utterly and willfully and disgracefully ignorant, and continue to be so, lacking the sense of God's presence and all true knowledge of Him]. I say this to your shame.35 But someone will say, How can the dead be raised? With what [kind of] body will they come forth?36 You foolish man! Every time you plant seed, you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up, and growing] unless it dies first. The difference between the God we serve compared to other 'gods' of this world is that our God is the only one who shed His Blood for the remission of our sins, died the physical death on the Cross to complete the sacrifice we could never pay, which He did on our behalf and was Resurrected. No other idol they claim as "god" can be truthful and say that! I also heard from a Preacher on the local Christian Radio station whom mentioned that people continue to make excuses that Jesus didn't really die, but slept and woke back up and revealed Himself to the 12 Apostles and 500 followers. There are some other human excuses that argue to this day that they don't believe Christ was resurrected from the dead all because their intellect minds don't reach as high as the child of faith in God does. God is higher than our thoughts and higher than our ways (Isa 55:9). When people make up these fallacies, they lower God to their limited thinking and understanding. When we limit God in any way, we don't have any clue how Great our God is! When Jesus went to the tomb, He was wrapped up and was perfumed so that the corpse would not decay as this was their custom to prepare a body for burial (John 19:40,41) which meant He literally died the physical death in order for Resurrection to be that awesome event. When we don't believe Christ literally died the physical death, we don't ever appreciate the power of the Holy Spirit that was in fact raised Christ from the dead. Believers in Christ are justified because we believe (Acts 13:39). We don't have to be like doubting Thomas to believe by seeing. Christ told him to start believing because those who believe simply what the Word tells us and not having to see, we are the blessed ones (John 20:29). I always like the quote: "The world believes because they see, but true Believers in God see and understand because we first believe. In summary, what good is our faith if we don't believe and hope in the Resurrection? That's why our Hope is far greater than the worlds hope because we believe in the Resurrection of Christ who made the Way for us to give us eternal life beyond this very temporal life. Jesus tells us just after that famous verse of John 3:16 in a couple verses later, those people are condemned because they don't believe (vs 18). When our hope and passion for a Heavenly Home that lasts forever far exceeds putting our hope in this earthly temporal home, God Himself is not ashamed to call us His very own Children (Heb 11:16). When we believe in that mighty resurrection of Christ who makes a way for us, we have that inexpressible HOPE that the world can never have or understand simply because we have that wonderful child-like faith that He is pleased with and believe in His Resurrection. Let's be children with greater far reaching faith that goes beyond our own understanding and believe God is always far greater than our thoughts. Paul himself wanted to know not only about Christ but also to know the power of His Resurrection (Phil 3:10). This is why we have that Hope, Joy, Peace and Gladness because we carry this Hope that is in Christ's Resurrection. If we don't believe the Word of God is His infallible and inerrant Truth, then what are we basing our belief on? Please email to the undersigned should you wish to unsubscribe from receiving my Blogs. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

Do We Really Know Him?

Dearest Saints, Unlike the world, their thoughts of having the most successful life is gathering the most "toys" and running up the corporate ladder or any worldly acclamation that would bring fortune. As we know, this kind of ambition only comes to a hopeless end when we begin to step out into that eternal realm. This even includes many Christians who think they are doing the will of God, but strive to have a bigger ministry than others or being competitive by putting other ministries and other ministers down to make ones self look better. Many times, I have heard all too often that those who want to become Senior Pastors or take the place behind a pulpit, they do the unthinkable and try to overthrow the One who stands behind the pulpit who often gives the message and feeds the Church each week. Where is the reverential Fear of God Christians are supposed to have? Do His people not realize God knows not only what we do but He knows our inmost thoughts and motives that are often hidden from people, but they are not hidden from God (Ps 69:5; Isa 59:2)! It's very sad and unfortunate that all because one minister preaches a certain doctrine (that is Biblical), the other ministers may put them down all because they don't preach the same type of message that they preach. One minister may be lead to preach about "End Times" while one may preach "encouragement" while another may preach on growing up in the Lord and becoming more empowered. If all preaching was only talking on "End Times" or a historical value of a certain doctrine, people wouldn't know about growing up in Character or maybe knowing how to let go of the past as God instructs. The example God would have is that although each one has a different ministry, we are to compliment one another which means we ARE NOT to see ourselves has having a better ministry or think we are in a "better denomination" or be in any form of competition with one another. After-all, preaching all about Christ should empower us to love Him as we should, to love one another as we love ourselves and unite together to lift up Christ, to fight FOR one another and only fight AGAINST every evil that opposes the perfect will of God. We need to fight to maintain the unity of the Body and not cause or allow factions that only separate ourselves which is what the enemy wants to do to the Churches. If we have any reverential fear of God, we would love what He loves and hate every form of evil (and not just be tolerant of it). When John was baptizing, he didn't frown because more people were being drawn to Christ, all because he knew his job was to direct the hearts of people towards Christ in the first place (Luke 3:16; John 4:1). We need to direct people to Christ and help Disciple Believers to continue to grow in the Lord. If we are not attracting others who are within or those who are outside the faith to the Lord, we are working against God Himself who loves like no other. He tells us that who ever is not FOR ME is AGAINST ME (Luke 11:23). He rebuked the Disciples by telling them not to forbid the Children to come to Him (Matt 19:14). We can't expect to promote God and Him to manifest His will when we don't do His will. We don't draw people to Christ when we fight, harbor bitterness with one another or compete with one another. We don't attract others to Christ when we fail to do what God tells us to do and reach out with compassion. We attract people to Christ when we lift Him up and exalt His Word by living it (by constantly asking the help of His Spirit). We often know the Word intellectually (ie: about forgiving others), but often-times, we fail to do this. We are often not obedient to what we do know. I like what someone has once said, that we are far more educated than we are obedient to Him. Maybe we need to ask Him to help us be more obedient to do what we know about His Will. God reminds us that how can we expect to Love the Lord whom we cannot see when we don't love one another whom we can see (1 John 4:20)? God calls these people a liar and He has prepared a place in that horrible eternal realm as mentioned with other forms of ungodiness (Rev 21:8). If we are not in agreement with one another within the body, we NEED to LOVE our Brother and Sisters regardless. We don't know the Lord when we don't reverently Fear Him by honoring His Word above our own thinking, opinions or reasoning like we should. When we don't understand His Word or His will, maybe we need to allow Him to check and examine our heart towards Him. He questions His Disciples how can you say you love Me (Jesus) when you don't do the things I command you to do (John 14:15,21; John 15:10)? It is by obeying Him that we prove our love for Him. If we allow any form of pride that doesn't seek the interest of others before ourselves, we don't know His heart because this opposes His Word (Phil 2:4; 1 Cor 12:25). We are in opposition to His will. When we want to Praise Him for His constant Goodness, love to worship Him for who He truly is, loving and honoring His Word (His Will) above everything else, hating every evil that opposes Him/His Will, loving others by seeking and believing the best for others, we can truly say "We Know Him" because we truly desire to please Him. The question we each need to ask is: Do we honestly know Him like we should? He will help us in every area of our lives if we will first Humble ourselves and allow Him to do that work within us. He gives His Grace to the Humble, but the proud, He opposes (1 Pet 5:5). I don't know about you, but I don't ever want to oppose Him or not ever see the need to His abundant Grace and Mercy that I am always in desperate need for. If we are truthful and honest, we can all say and believe that for ourselves. Please email to the undersigned should you wish to unsubscribe from receiving my Blogs. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

ON to MATURITY

Dearest Saints, I sense that God is re-directing my ministry. I not only like to encourage Saints, but I strongly sense from God to tell each of us who have been Christians for many years that it's time to Grow Up. I think more importantly, I not only want to encourage, but I would love to see Saints be committed and rise up as a mightier warriors for God, especially when we are at a time that is critical. When we fail to see Christians Grow Up after 10, 20+ years and still act like an infant, we lose out so much more then we can ever think of what God wants to do through us to benefit others. I believe when we fail to want to grow up, many people fail to be blessed because of it. It saddens me that over the years I encourage Christians, it often falls on deaf ears and many do the exact opposite of what the preachers and teachers teach and what the Word tells us to do. Gods kingdom is lacking in advancing because people are not grown up when they should. They fail to be aggressive to do wbat is Right in order to advance the Kingdom of God. In Matt 11:12, it mentions that the Kingdom of God advances simply because the bold confident people of God are the ones who take it by force. These are not the ones who remain complacent, or fight and cause divisions amongst themselves or remain self-centered. I feel lead by the Lord to tell many that it's time to go to a new level and go on to maturity so we can be part of those who advance in Gods Kingdom. Many times, elemental teaching on forgiveness and other basic topics are preached. Unfortunately, it often falls on deaf ears and many people become dull of hearing because their heart remains calloused (Matt 15:16). He tells us that when we don't forgive others, we can't ever expect God who is totally loving to ever forgive us (Matt 6:14,15). Yet, many Christians who should know better continue to make excuses why not to forgive, even though God is clear in His Word that this is UNACCEPTABLE! This is an example that Christians who should be mature still require to be spoon-fed with this basic teaching and other elemental teachings that they should have learned long time ago. How many times does a preacher have to preach on forgiveness before Gods people decide to do this? I am so glad that God doesn't act like many Christians, otherwise none of us would have any chance of being forgiven or having renewed peace of mind. We are to imitate Christ (Eph 5:1) and strive to fulfill the law of Love (1 Cor 13:4-8) and fulfill the Law and the prophets (Matt 22:37-40). Just think of when Judas Iscariot came with a number of warriors with clubs to slay Jesus and yet, Jesus in His last attempt chooses to call him "friend" (Matt 26:50) hoping he would come back to Him and forsake his evil ways. How far are we willing to go when He Himself went to that great extent? I always admired Stephen who was being stoned and he also asked God to forgive his accusers because they knew not what they are doing because Stephen knew the consequences of their actions (Acts 7:59,60). Mature Christians see the big picture and don't become so focused on current circumstances. In order for us to grow into maturity, I think it is essential to understand that we should know He loves us and has done immeasurably for us who wants to work mightily through us and be willing to surrender under His loving authority. When we receive His Mercy, we can extend that same mercy. When we receive His Grace, we can extend that to others. And mostly, when we receive His love in full for us individually, we can extend that love to others. We also have to NOT be UNAWARE of the schemes of the enemy. When we understand that the real enemy is satan and his demonic forces and not flesh and blood, we will pray and fight for one another instead of falling into his trap and fighting against one another in the body. We also have to know and use our God given authority wisely and always see our desperate need for Gods help of His Spirit. We need to be confident in this simply because of who He is and knowing who we are in Him. As this email is solely for mature Christians like yourselves and those of whom read this to the end, this is simply an awareness so we don't criticize others which is another sign of immaturity. But we need to pray for them instead because this is a serious issue with many within the Body of Christ. With Gods help, let's be mature Christians who go the extra mile, (pray for those who come against us), help encourage young believers and admonish others who have been in the faith awhile to rise up as true Believers in Christ. Christ already won the war at Calvary. We have to be like Soldiers, use His Word as a Mighty Sword and do all the crisis demands by being confident in Him to be able to stand our ground upon the Rock (Jesus) Matt 6:13. It's time for many to leave the elemental teachings of a child and Grow to maturity. I hope this blesses you that together, God will use us to advance His Kingdom. Please email to the undersigned should you wish to unsubscribe from receiving my Blogs. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

BE COMMITTED

Dearest Saints, This is a burden on my heart that I would like to share to benefit each of us. In todays world, it seems that commitment has become less of a reality than it has several decades ago. Within a body of Believers, it seems that more people walk away or just become silent when we don't agree on some form of doctrine or allow ourselves to become offended over actions of others. Most of the time, it is simply mis-understanding. People become silent or fail to communicate and dis-associate with other believers rather then to try to work things out and be committed to seeking the better interest of others like we are admonished to do (Phil 2:4&21). There is a definite lack of commitment amongst Believers today and we need to do our part to put a stop to this. It's all about taking responsibility to do our part to promote unity instead. Christ Himself was admonishing His Disciples that if there was any factions between two people, before a person was to leave a gift at the alter, he/she had to make the attempt to make things right with the other person (Matt 5:23-25). In other words, people could not expect to effectively serve the Lord when factions/divisions were present in their situation. We are allowing the real enemy to have the upper hand within the body of believers by becoming silent and distant rather then being unified like Christ would like us to be. Christ went to that agonizing trouble to die for His Church so we could be a strong body of united believers rather being weakened because we choose to harbour differences that brings dis-unity. Some of the things that we are allowing the enemy to cause division within the Church includes: a. being competitive rather than complimenting each other with our talents; b. Showing partiality (showing favor to one over the other); c. Believing ones ministry is more important then the other; d. Being easily offended; e. Not wanting to be humble and admit that we need to grow up in the Lord; f. Remaining complacent, not wanting to leave your comfort zone; g. Seeing other people as the enemy instead of understanding who the real enemy is (satan and his demonic followers); h. Being too quick to judge and critize one another many times because we mis-understood one another. You may come up with many other issues that you have experienced that bring division. There are some people that used to associate with myself and now for some strange reason, they choose to dis-associate with me by just remaining silent. I don't know why to this date which is a definite problem within the body. Many people are mis-understood because Christians don't take the time to understand one another and quickly judging when we should learn to communicate instead, but we don't. How can one fix a problem when others are silent and don't say anything? Gods people need to communicate better. We allow the enemy to have his way to bring division for no reason. People are not committed to try to make things right or take the time to communicate to try to mend any broken areas. People are taking the easy way out just to withdraw themselves and be silent. When we silence ourselves to one another, do we think we are pleasing God? We forget that we love God to the measure we love the least of our own Brethren (Matt 25:40). We are not going to agree on everything, but that doesn't mean we should not dis-associate ourselves with other believers. We need to agree to dis-agree on petty issues and know that we should ALL AGREE that we are to exalt the Lord Jesus, worship Him and live to glorify Him. We fail to fulfill our purpose in life by living to worship Him when allow division to take place. One of the best passages that the Lord loves unity is found in the small chapter of Psalm 133. If we all agree that we need to exalt Him and Worship Him, then we need to be DOERS of His Word which is His will. Nowhere in the Bible does God say it is acceptable to become divisive within the body. Unfortunately, I have known people to leave the Church altogether. They have no more fellowship with God Himself which is foolish because God is the One who promotes genuine love in the first place. So why would any believe want to leave God all because others may not have been a good example of Christ? We need to learn to confront in a loving way instead of remaining passive and silent. Bringing Unity takes work and commitment on our part, but is always DO-ABLE when God is on our side. We lose out so much when the Church remains passive rather then spurring one another on to good works (Heb 10:24). If we say we love the Lord, then we are going to want to do His will by being committed to Him and to one another. We have to put a STOP to dis-associating ourselves when we should learn to work things out. We need to STOP becoming easily offended. We need to STOP the gossip and being critical that only brings division and be more prayerful to one another. I often have found out in life that it's not often the other person who is at fault, but my lack of prayer for them. Even if it may be the fault of another, are we failing to sincerely pray for one another? I must admit my fault in this. Many times, the prayer rooms have very few people attending there and flocks of people come to be entertained instead. I believe if we spend quality time to get alone with God and be committed with sincere prayer for one another as our priority, we will see a greater move of God reaching outside the Church by drawing others to Himself and strengthening the Body of Believers within. In Acts Chapter 2, it mentions that when the Believers get together in unity, God was able to add thousands each day to build His Church (people) vs 41. God moves when we love one another and unite together as a healthy body. We need to be more committed to doing what God admonishes us to do instead of taking the easy way around everything and becoming passive. We are never justified by being silent and removing ourselves when we fail to do what we should do to keep the Unity and Peace amongst Believers. We can't be strong in the Lord or effective in doing that as long as we blame one another or become silent when we should be reaching out. If we are expected to "Outreach the world", how can we expect to do that when we can't reach to one another within the body? I would ask you to please read the following verses that promote peace & unity (Mark 9:50, Rom 12:18; 2 Cor 13:11; Gal 6:16; Heb 12:14; Phil 4:9; Col 3:15). God says "No one will enter His Kingdom unless they do the will of the Father" (Matt 7:21). Being Doers of His Word by promoting and maintaining unity is His Will. Let's do all we can to be committed by doing our part to promote unity and be Peace-Makers (Ps 133; Matt 5:9). Please email to the undersigned should you wish to unsubscribe from receiving my Blogs. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

CONVICTION SHOULD BE OUR FRIEND

Dearest Saints, Here's another challenging message. But anytime we are challenged to go higher with the Lord and be blessed by becoming more like Him, that is always a "Good Thing". Being challenged and taking that challenge the right way is what brings Hope into our situation. Anytime I bring out a message to challenge, it is always in the hope to bring out the best in each one including myself which is what our motive should be. When we don't do this to the benefit of others, God knows our heart and our motive. This should be a good thing because God can't bring conviction to benefit us when we don't believe we desperately need it. This becomes a dilemma to those who don't want to change, but want to remain complacent and simply remain comfortable in their ways and never accept the challenge to grow in areas we need to grow. No wonder having a Reverential Fear of the Lord (by humbling submitting our ways to His Ways) is the beginning of having wisdom (Prov 1:7). Therefore, when we challenge ourselves and others, our motive should always bring out the best in everyone, especially to our own Brothers and Sisters in the Lord. Some of the challenges we face may be to judge our own selves and compare our motives to His Word rather than judging one another. Some challenges include honoring His Word above our own opinions. Sometimes, it's showing partiality (favoring one over another) when this is considered sinful (Prov 28:21; Acts 10:34; Rom 2:11). It may be us being more critical of someone rather then being prayerful. I think that's more of a challenge to myself! God may be convicting some to start esteeming others better than ourselves and learn to be sober towards ourselves when we may not be doing so (Phil 2:3-5). To look at another way, one of the things that challenge some is limiting God in any way when we fail to have that AWE of Him like we should (Ps 2:11; Ps 111:9). Are we limiting God to our own thinking? Other times, it may be holding a grudge and harbouring unforgiveness no matter what. Harbouring unforgiveness is what keeps many as a prisoner to the evil one which is the result of taking our own opinions over what God says about this. Sometimes, it's making excuses, or pointing fingers and blaming other people or circumstances rather then taking any responsibility of our own. I find as long as we make excuses (by not receiving His conviction) and point fingers, we will continue to remain as spiritual infants that never grow up (Isa 58:9). Following His Word may not always be easy, but always liberates us to having that inner peace and joy that nothing on earth can ever offer us! When we make excuses to lean on our own understanding and fail to take any responsibility of our own, we should be reminded that this is sinful. A swing of the big sledge hammer that drives a spike further into the hands and feet of Jesus from seeing that movie "Passion of Christ" and visualizing Him screaming in pain with every bang of the large spikes...that's the penalty He paid for our sins. There is no sin too small that He didn't suffer and pay a price on our behalf. So when we fail to take responsibility, remember that Christ took responsibility upon Himself for all of our penalty that we deserved and He didn't. If God convicts us, it's always a matter to help us be to be the type of people we need to be and to help us grow that leads to Everlasting (John 6:68). His conviction is meant to change us for the better. We remain holding a guilty conscience often because we are refusing to allow God to change us which is why we are lovingly convicted in the first place. We think of His conviction as an enemy rather then our friend. Conviction should be an enemy of our fleshly desires that opposes His Spirit (Gal 5:17) and a friend to our Spirit which is what we need to care for ever-so much more. Humbly receiving His conviction leads us to repentance that cleanses us from within. Remember that God chastens those whom He loves (Rev 3:19). If He ever stopped convicting us, we should start to be very concerned!! We wouldn't feel guilty if we do like God tells us to do...to REPENT and believe He FORGIVES us (1 John 1:9). Conviction from God should be our friend because His Spirit is telling us to turn from our ways which often holds us back from not growing more spiritually. Conviction encourages us to change while receiving condemnation discourages us and we see no change within us. Conviction builds us up, condemnation does nothing but tears us down. Conviction from His Spirit is our Friend and condemnation from the evil one is our enemy! If we see ourselves as a result of being condemned, we may be choosing to lean on our own opinions/understanding rather than choosing His Instructions like we need to. Let's stop allowing the enemy to condemn us everytime we are chastened by God and choose to see the benefits of Gods conviction over us. We need to see His Word as our Loving Authority instead. When we decide to choose His convictions and refuse to receive the enemy's condemnation, we will see greater positive results in every area of our lives (Rom 8:1). Our past failures will be most useful to bless many others in their time of need. We cannot expect to benefit and grow up in the Lord if we continue to make excuses and don't humble ourselves to the Wisdom of His Word. We need to see His Word as a loving letter to encourage us. Therefore, let's examine His Word (as our LOVING Authority) and see where we may fall short. And then, let's humble ourselves, ask, believe and expect Him to make that wonderful change within us (to become more like Him) that only He can do. Please email to the undersigned should you wish to unsubscribe from receiving my Blogs. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

FULFILLING the LAW of CHRIST

Dearest Saints, I often refer to Galatians 6:2 to answering many prayer requests that comes through. It talks about carrying and bearing one another's burdens so we can fulfill the law of Christ. I often think of how we can effectively bear one another's burdens, especially when we often-times live on the other side of the continent or the opposite side of the globe. Ecclesiastes Chapter 3:1-8 tells us that there is a time for doing things and a time for refraining, a time to do and a time not to do. I would like to share something in the latter part of vs 7 where it mentions that there is a time to keep silent and a time to speak. When we learn to share one another's burdens, we have to understand that what others go through is often tough and it is real and the worse part about it is when we think we have to have a Word for them which often discourages them rather then bring encouragement. I believe often times it's not the words people often want to hear, but that people simply want others to understand what they go through. When you think of Jobs friends who sat with him for 7 days mourning with Job, they were effectively carrying his burdens just by being by his side (Job 2:11-13). The problem began when his friends started to talk and making presumptions of why he was suffering the way he was. When I went with a Missionary couple to a small home in Zambia where a mother was grieving over the death of her 12 year old daughter, we joined in and just sat with her and several other people and said nothing, but were there just to show support. When we have a need and people to come alongside to pray and just be there, no one should ever feel that this is due to any sin in ones life or having a lack of faith. If we automatically make that assumption, we are no better then Jobs friends whom God was most displeased with (Job 42:7). It's hard to imagine sometimes, but saying nothing, but being there often speaks louder then having the need to always say something or write words of advise. A simple gesture of love and understanding often goes a lot further then words. I heard it a couple of times that the best counselors are the ones who say the least, but listen the best. I have never forgotten, when one of our ladies who is a partner of our Answers2Prayer Ministry was going through a tremendous trial and I couldn't think of saying/typing any words to comfort her. So I was honest and simply mentioned that I didn't know what to say, but only mentioned that if I could just reach through this computer and hold your hand, I would do so right now. A year or so later, when this same person corresponded back to me, she happened to mention this instance about reaching through this computer to hold her hand. She never forgot this. It taught me something that of all the words I have given to her, she remembered this act above all else. This reminds me that when we need to help carry the burdens of other people, sometimes it's giving our hand to hold, it's offering our shoulder to shed tears. It's walking with them and just spending time with them to walk the mile through the valley, etc. Sometimes it is a Word, but there are times that we need to just be silent (Eccl 3:7) and demonstrate our love and understanding. To me in my experience of going through trials and difficulty, the greatest examples of when others understand what one goes through are people who just reach out and don't need to say a word. Taking ones hand, sharing tears, (even sharing laughter together) rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who weep, shows much caring and understanding of what the others may be going through. They understand when people go through trials because they have gone through trials. It makes me understand that our past trials can be a rich blessing to others when they may be going through similar trials. Therefore, don't ever see your past trials as some past negative misfortune. But with Gods help, believe that He can use our past to be a richer blessing to other people who need to know we understand. It's equally amazing that when I have rejoiced and share a great testimony of Gods goodness, some people say things that would have been better off had they kept silent! No wonder God tells us to be slow to speak and quick to hear (James 1:19). They fail Gods Word to learn to rejoice with those who rejoice. If we can't weep when others weep and rejoice when others rejoice (Rom 12:15), we have failed in doing His will and we have failed in fulfilling the Law of Christ when we don't learn to carry the burdens of others. Gods Word is not a "suggestion" but is a "Commandment". His Word is Spirit and is Life (John 6:63). Let's ask Him to teach us to effectively carry one another's burdens so that we will fulfill the Law of Christ. When we fulfill this Law, we bring out Gods best for others through us because people who go through genuine trials need it the most. Please email to the undersigned should you wish to unsubscribe from receiving my Blogs. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

WILL WE DEPART ALSO?

Dearest Saints When I feel lead to write my experiences based on the Word of God, to give Him the glory and encourage others to receive the best that only He offers, this is what I long to do. Not only do I love to encourage, but to also challenge each of us to go further. We cannot afford to stay in our comfort zone and expect to be blessed of God and used by Him if it is not going to cost us anything. Costing us something doesn't always refer to money, but it may refer to your time invested with the talents God gives you to seek the benefit of others or energy. I can't think of anytime that Jesus didn't want the best for each one which is why He went through the trouble of leaving that awesome Throne Room of Heaven to come down to earth for you and I. I had a few people tell me straight forth to remove them from my Blogs without even a "please" or other reasons about the possibility of having too many emails, etc. It used to offend me, but I am grateful to God that I am no longer in bondage to being offended. I make NO apologies for sharing my heart in what God has taught me in my life experiences in order to benefit others. When any of us are lead of God to minister to others, correct or train others in righteousness (Prov 1:3; 2 Tim 3:16; Heb 12:11), or lead in some other service to others as unto the Lord, we should never apologize or feel guilty whatsoever. Just like the Apostle Paul says: if he were still concerned about being a people pleaser, he would not be a true follower of God (1 Thess 2:4). This reminds me when Jesus had a multitude of Disciples (Luke 10:1; Luke 10:17) who were once His followers and the majority of them went away no longer following Him (John 6:66). This was by no means a small minority of people, but we are talking a large percentage of those people who made a commitment to follow Him, but found His teachings too difficult (John 6:66). So when you add 72 and the other 12 Disciples, there is 84. But after this encounter, Jesus had the remaining 12 Disciples. And even one of those Disciples betrayed Him (John 6:70). So if you take 11 from a total of 84, you are talking 87% of the people who decided to stop following Jesus. Jesus didn't stop His people from departing Him because He doesn't violate our free will, but He encourages us to do what is best for us. These Disciples who turned away from Him are no longer heard of in the Bible. The reason why I believe these Disciples were once committed is the fact that to be considered a Disciple of Jesus, we have to take up our Cross (decide to put Jesus above everything that we value in life) and follow Him (Luke 14:27). When these Disciples left Jesus, He turned to the other 12 Disciples and asked them if they were going to leave Him also. I like what Simon Peter says: "Lord, to whom shall we go? Only You have the words to eternal life" (John 6:67,68). We should say the same thing. It is going to be far more difficult to walk away from following Him which will only lead to living in regret for the rest of our lives and into eternity then to give up on anything that holds us back in this temporal life and choose to follow Him regardless, even in hard times. Even though I love to encourage others, I feel lead to challenge each of us (including myself) to be ever more committed to following Him. The biggest challenge I find is dealing with pride because there is no person in the world who has preached for many years that can't ever listen and learn from a little child or a simple person when they have a Word from the Lord. Remember, God used a donkey to speak to Balaam (Num 22:28). If we have a hard time learning from anyone who may have a Word of exhortation, encouragement, correction, etc., we have a problem with pride! When following God seems far more difficult than it would be to go our own separate ways, think of the eternal consequences. When you think of the Apostle Paul who suffered hardships, hunger, loneliness and other challenges, what he went through is nothing compared to the richness of sharing in the glory with Christ for all these past centuries and for the eternal endless hope he continues to look forward to. No matter how hard the messages you may read or the road you may be travelling on right now, "Hang in there" because this life is very temporal compared to eternity. It's like comparing a little drop of water to the oceans of this world. There is no comparison!! When I think of the trials I go through in this present life, I am encouraged to read and acknowledge this wonderful scripture from Romans 8:18 that truly does strengthen my with 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 (Amplified Version)! Knowing this, Jesus asks us: Will we depart also?