LIVING AMAZED - PART 2

Dear Blessed Saints,

          I like to talk about how God is amazing because there is nothing fiction or some form of fantasizing, but is based on absolute truth.  When I am around people who only talk about either sports, weather or any other worldly topic you can imagine, and yet, when I get around Christians who talk about the Lord, I find it amazing that I never get tired talking about Him and the wisdom of His eternal life-giving Word.  Sometimes, I find it important to add these adjectives in sentences to bring greater emphasis to what we need to say.  Especially when we talk about the Lord.  This is why I also like the Amplified Version where it often expounds in great detail of the amazing God we serve.  

          In Prov 30:18-19, it mentions about three things that are too wonderful for me: The way of an eagle in the air, the way of the serpent upon the rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea.  I often think to myself that what really is too wonderful to me is when I often question this profound thought "How is it that You can love me so much and how You can be so mindful towards us", even though You knew everything about me and my faults?  I don't think I can ever be smart enough to answer that question beyond human understanding.  When I truly consider this, I realize how amazing His love is towards me that goes beyond my understanding.  Consider the fact that when I give thought to Him leaving His glorious Throne in Heaven and willingly accepts to come down to earth in the form of flesh not born in a nice hospital or comfortable setting, but started His live in a manger, I compare it like myself going from being a human being to accepting by becoming an ant in the lowest ranks and being that servant to all and willingly being chastized, beaten, mocked, ridiculed and rejected by His own family members, people from His own hometown, etc.  And how He did this for myself (insert your Name here) personally.  To me, this is just scratching the surface of His amazing love He has for each of us individually.

          Another amazing thing about God is when you consider the billions of people on the face of this earth, there is no one who is out of sight of God.  Nor is our innermost thoughts, our words, our motives ever hid from Him out of the billions of those who have lived, are living and are still to be born.  When we dwell in the uttermost parts of this world, He is there with us (Ps 139:9,10).  To ever think He has forgotten you is a trick of the enemy just because we "feel" like He is not present with us does not mean He is not present with us.  These are the times we need to put our faith in what we know and read about Him and not come to believe just because we feel His presence, but we NEED to know He loves us and is ever so present with us.  This is where we need to rise up above our fickle feelings and BELIEVE He loves us and cares for us and to ever stop being lead by our feelings.  Just because we don't feel like He is amazing has nothing to do with the reality that He truly is AMAZING!!  When we stop and consider how fearfully and wonderfully we are made, that in itself should amaze us.  Even back thousands of years ago, David Himself remarked about this (Ps 139:13,14).  How much more that when we find out more about the human body should we should make this same remark ever so much more.  When we think how the brain is formed and how it is made, it is amazing to know that our God is an amazing intelligent designer beyond human understanding.  I did some searching lately in the internet about how the brain is formed.  It makes up around 10 billion neurons, electrical impulses that directs how our bodies react.  The brain alone is the most amazing complex information management system in the universe that only takes up the top portion inside our head!  That alone should amaze us about God who is the One who designed all of this when He formed us in our mothers womb (Jer 1:5) (Ps 139:15,16).  To think of how He knew us before we were born indicates only one more of multiple billions of examples to indicate how amazing our God really is.  Even all the languages in this world, God knows each one!!

          When we take a moment each day, everything we see, everything we do, what we eat and what we have, it is utmost essential that we should take moments of each day to consider God and acknowledge how amazing He truly is.  I find familiarity and commonality are some of the most dangerous mindsets we can allow ourselves to become because this is where our minds grow dim and our hearts become dull of the reality of how awesome our God really is.  We lose vital sight of how fully dependant we truly are for God to sustain us in every moment and every breath we take in our entire lives.   We need to understand that if He were to turn His back on us for a very short moment, we would no longer be alive to tell of it.  This makes me realize in a truthful profound way that He truly is amazingly merciful towards us and so long-suffering.  This no longer just becomes some vocabulary we say, but when we stop to think of these things, it becomes so real.  Just like when His Word becomes a Rhema Word which is "Revelation" to our spirit.  When I consider these things, I find it very scary when we become so familiar in our surroundings, that we forget the One who gives us life in such great magnificent detail, with such loving care simply because we don't bother to take even a few minutes of our time to acknowledge His greatness in every facet of our lives.

          Another thing I find fascinating that God has accomplished far more than all the millions upon billions of published volumes of books, the world could not contain or have room for the books that would be written (John 21:25).  I truly believe that if I could write a Blog everyday just by mentioning every amazing thing about God, I don't think I could ever cover everything about His amazing attributes during my entire life.  Everything that man is able to do is because God enabled every man to have every skill set in the first place.  Consider right from the beginning of time, the Bible doesn't speak about people living in caves (like the evolutionists like to advise), but even Cain, who was one of the firstborn had built a city (Gen 4:17).  This is the theory of evolution when you think that man lived in caves like neanderthal apes.  It's disgusting to me to believe in evolution rather than seeing ourselves created by an awesome designer that only God could ever create.  To me, there is no way any man could do that if it weren't for the awesome power of God to give man the amazing ability to build a city.  Where would he have gotten the education to do such a task?  To marvel at what man can create is simply because God has given that wonderful ability to each one in the first place in everything imaginable.  God told Noah exactly how to build the ark in every detail to satisfy every living creature with Noah and his family.  Even to think of how God was able to direct two animals (male/female) alone to come to the ark is amazing.  The ark was build right to the exact measurement in every detail directed by our awesome God.

          As you can see, these examples are barely a shaving of ice off a huge iceberg to describe of how awesome our God really is.  Therefore, I find it most essential if we would just spend a few minutes throughout each day and see how the mighty hand of God has blessed us in so much detail of life.  Even if we spent every minute for our entire lives, we could never cover every detail of life and how He sustains our lives, protects our lives, blesses our lives in such detail while holding every order of life and all creation in the universe by the power of His Word.  When I think of these things more and more, I cannot but agree with David when he says of God "Your infinite knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high above me.  I cannot reach it". (Ps 139:6).  Truly, His awesome ways are hid from our hearts when we fail to give time to be still and know that He is an awesome God (Ps 46:10).  When we take time to see how awesome our God is and coming to know the truth to reverently fear Him, this is where we begin to attain wisdom (Prov 1:7) simply because our eyes and heart are open to receive understanding of the truth of how awesome He truly is.  Who in their right mind does not want to receive true wisdom that comes from on High?

If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the "giving God" who gives liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or fault-finding, and it will be given him        (James 1:5)

In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayerhttp://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)

LIVING AMAZED - PART 1

Blessed Saints of God, 

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

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

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

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

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

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

CHOOSE TO EXALT HIS WORD

Dear Blessed Saints of God,

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

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

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

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

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

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

Will you consider buying my books in support of HelpingCopeThroughHope mission work in Zambia?  You may go to my link below to observe.In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayerhttp://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/

How We Are Strengthened

Dear Blessed Saints of God,

 

          What compels us and strengthens us?  Why does it often seem that some people are often encouraged and remain encouraged and others find it hard to receive encouragement and be encouraged?  Do you ever find that what we often like, we end up often meditating on it more and more.  When we meditate on something often, it becomes our desire within and actually builds a stronghold in our lives, whether good and favorable or evil and destructive.  It's the agendas we spend the majority on that we meditate upon and give thought to that truly strengthen us more in those particular areas.   Where one person is strengthened in the Lord more than the other, is because they end up giving more thought to Him and meditate on Him and His Word more than the one who may not give much attention to the Lord otherwise.  We find our strengths are developed within us when we look back and realize what is the majority of a particular agenda we gave thought to?  Therefore, what is good and often encouraging is to put several scriptures around to remind us, especially the scriptures that encourages you and lets you know He loves you with a love no other human can give.  

          God tells us in Phil 4:8 to teach us what we should be keeping our minds focused on.   When we give thought to a negative situation that may have happened to us in the past, the longer we meditate on these past events, this is what causes us to be stirred with anger or bitterness more and more simply because we continue to entertain and dwell on these thoughts. If another person chooses not to dwell on negative things and chooses to be mindful on the wonderful attributes of God and realize how merciful He has been to us, we find that the person who chooses to heed to Gods instruction will not develop that bitterness or negative stronghold in his/her life simply because they chose to dwell on good things the Lord encourages us to dwell on.  God encourages us to choose His ways, and we have been given that power to choose.  He always teaches us what is best for us.  But, in order for us to receive His best, we need to consciously choose His instructions that do benefit us the most.  By choosing to think and meditate on His goodness, we are liberated with peace, joy and freedom from bondages of any anger or frustration.  Just like He tells us that we don't simply overcome evil by just refusing to focus on it, but we overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).  Therefore, we need to change our focus from fretting on the negative circumstances and purposefully replace them with His presence and His Goodness and favor for us.  Just like the love message I have mentioned in the past to realize how He fulfills that law of love for each of us perfectly.  To know we are constantly surrounded by His presence, and how He (His Love) always hopes for the best in us.  It is not a bad thing to remember the past in order to bless others with a message because we often need to express our painful past and share it with other Christians we truly trust.  However, we have to be careful not to dwell on them to the point that we are constantly talking about our negative past all the time that we end up giving very little time to express our Hope that God is able to exceed our painful past and is able to give us a far greater hopeful and bright future.

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

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

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

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

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

Power of Speaking Gods Blessings

Dear Blessed & Mighty Saints of God

 
         I thought I would start out with a new salutation because when we are Children of God, He tells us that we are already blessed (Eph 1:3).  We don't speak Words of Life because we are living the blessed life, we need to speak the Life of His Word into existence so we will live the Blessed Life He came to give us.  I don't just believe that people live the blessed life by chance, but when we start speaking the blessings of the Life of Gods Word over our lives, it does in fact come to pass.  His Word tells us in Rom 4:17 to speak non-existent things as though they have already existed.  In other words, we can't afford to speak about our present circumstances if they are not favorable, but be aggressive and pursue by faith to be blessed to be a blessing.  This is taking up the shield of faith in order to quench the fiery darts from the enemy (Eph 6:16) so we can allow God to move as we take up the shield of faith because we choose to believe and trust in Him.  We live in a world where destructive words have often destroyed the lives of many simply because the victims who listen to these lying destructive words take them personally rather than fighting the good fight of faith and refuting these lies used by the enemy through people. Therefore, when you think of it, words of destruction didn't come upon us because we were already destroyed, but it later became destructive because we received it in our hearts and it became our reserve.  So if destructive and negative words had this effect to direct many lives in a downward spiral, the same thing holds true when we learn to only accept the Blessings of what Gods Word says about us and speaking the blessings over our lives and say it enough times so it gets into our heart that will become a reality.  Just like destructive words have become a sad reality in many lives, lets reverse that by refuting these negative lies and speak Gods blessings over us that will be more powerful and see the rewards of this come to pass in our lives.  I have often heard that when an expectant mother is a product of abuse, or if the parents often fight or argues when the child remains in the womb, it has a profound negative effect on the child during its life.  That is why it is so important to start soon even while the child is in the womb to speak the blessings over the womb and into a childs life.  Is it any wonder why Jesus loved blessing the little Children?  I don't believe it was just an act of being nice, but there is much more to this than we may think.  Speaking life and blessings over a child has a profound affect over its future.  It's like laying a strong foundation of the Word (Jesus) upon ones life.  Therefore, speaking Life over our lives and other lives of Christian brothers and sisters is very necessary to build and encourage each other up so we can live for God that allows God to work mightily through us that will have a more profound ripple effect to touch many others lives worldwide.  Satan could not like it more for Gods people to remain silent and passive about this.

           In 2 Cor 2:14 the Truth of Gods Word tells us that we who are in Christ always leads us in triumph and uses us to be His fragrance by spreading the knowledge of who He is everywhere.  So why is it that many Christians are not living this Truth and not living the abundant life Jesus came to give us (John 10:10b)?  When we are ignorant and don't know our Blood bought right that Jesus accomplished for us, or we don't see ourselves as inheritors of His goodness or we focus so much on our temporal troubles and become passive by just allowing the enemy to pull us down, we don't live the blessed life like we should.  That is why His Word tells us that His own people are destroyed because we lack knowledge of His Word (Hosea 4:6).  When many of us who have lived through these unfavorable experiences and learned alot from these events, we cannot afford to be silent.  We need to speak out and teach others what we have learned so that many of you don't have to travel through the same valleys we once ended up going through.  That is why God tells us that it is stupid when people refuse to receive instruction when it is especially intended to benefit one another (Prov 12:1).  I often think many people have such a greater advantage than I did because what took me close to two decades to learn from some of this, I am compiling these messages in several hours to give you the same benefit it took years for me to learn from.  Thinking of this emphasizes how foolish it is not to take heed to instruction from people who have lived through experiences in life and learn from it in a matter of a short time that will ultimately save you from years of going through needless trouble.  If it is in fact the Word that defeats the enemy, then God gives us the responsibility to use His Word that we so desperately need to make use of.

          When we see how the gift of life is beautiful when a newborn comes out of the womb, we see how precious the life of a person is.  I often think we lose sight of that precious moment when we fail to value one anothers life and we forget to see the need to bless others as a unique and precious soul God created.  Because God Himself knows the value of when we come to see this initial blessing, He reminds us not to ever lose sight of our first love for Him (Rev 2:4) when we first came to know Him.  There is nothing more rewarding than to know that you have been used to be a blessing to precious souls, shedding a tear with others, sharing joy with others and speaking Life giving blessings of Gods Word over each valued soul.  A little goes a long ways when we do it for the glory of God.  We are created to be blessed to be a blessing to one another.  When God Himself says that He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly for us more than we can ask or think (Eph 3:20), that means we have often limited Gods goodness and His power to work more effectively through us like He wants to.  Being a rich blessing to others doesn't have to take much.  Lets not listen to the lies of the enemy who will try to tell you otherwise and boldly believe God loves you and wants you to receive His rich blessings by activating the promises of His blessings He tells us that He has already given us (Eph 1:3) so He can mightily use you for His special purposes.  By Your Grace Lord, we boldly declare that WE ARE BLESSED to be a rich blessing to many souls and You will use us to spread that fragrant knowledge and Your Glorious Excellencies of You everywhere we go.  Bless every reader of these messages and let the power of Your Spirit move mightily through them and be blessed by it.  We do it all for Your glory dear Lord in Jesus mighty Name, Amen.

 Please feel free to share the links to the sites to bring life into other lives.         

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

A Victorious Attitude through Trials

Dearest Saints

          We may be familiar with scriptures I know I have used many times to encourage myself that is found in Rom 8:37 when God tells us that we are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us.  When some would believe that because we are more than conquerors, that we shouldn't expect any trials to come our way that is a false concept of having that winning mindset.  When you read the previous 2 verses just before this powerful promise, it mentions about Paul going through many trials.  We need to see the positiveness and necessity of trials for several reasons.  I think God allows us also to go through just enough trials no matter what so that we don't ever find ourselves unprepared when He does return.  Otherwise, we may be like Lots wife who looked back because she longed to go back to where she came from.  God tells us that when we do, we won't be fit for His Kingdom (Luke 9:62).  Instead of being blessed by looking ahead, she became a pillar of salt and remained (Gen 19:26).  Perhaps if she went through further trials, she would have refused to ever look back and be better prepared to enter the promised land which the Lord had prepared for her to enter in to.  Another reason why God allows us to go through trials is so that we won't become self-sufficient and a sense of feeling secure that ends up living dangerously by being independent of God.  When we do, we fail to pursue and rely on God who is the One who sustains us with every breath we breathe, whether we know it or not.  That is why God is not pleased with us when we don't acknowledge His goodness, His mercy and hand of protection upon us when in fact if He were to turn His back on us for one moment, we wouldn't survive the next breath.  God Himself became angry with a nation that became secure by being self satisfied and self-reliant rather than seeing their need of God (Zech 1:15).   

          For myself, I now see my trials as beneficial when I consider how much more I desire to see His coming.  That doesn't mean that we don't learn to enjoy and be content with our lives because He died and suffered to the point so He could offer us the abundant life (John 10:10).  However, when we do go through trials, the affections of this world no longer attract us and ever distract us from having that hopeful desire and longing to be with Him.  Through these trials, we learn to be hopeful to be in His presence in Heaven which is far greater than attaining any earthly ambitions because we should never call this temporal life our home, when our home (where we set our heart) should be in the eternal realm where Peace, Hope and love in this Kingdom never ends.  For God tells us that where our treasure is, this is where our hearts desire is (Luke 12:34).  In Heb 11:16, God tells us that when we do long for His coming, He is not ashamed to call us His Children because of it.

          If we didn't have to deal with injustice from the trials we go through, we wouldn't learn how to fight for one another when they deal with injustice as the Lord would want us to.  We wouldn't know how to stand up for what is right when we see wrong happening and band together as Gods mighty prayer warriors.  We wouldn't be as passionate to fight against the principalities of darkness in our persistent prayers and pursue prayers of intercession one for another.  When others are being discouraged by circumstances, we wouldn't be as effective to be able to encourage each other like the Bible tells us to.  When everything is going "right" by defining what we think is just a life of ease, contentment, we wouldn't be able to reach out to others and be used mightily that God can use and we may not be able to use what God purposed us to use.  It reminds me of a story when a person was going through trials and he sought the comfort of others going through the similar trials.  However, when this person started to get back on his feet, he soon forgot his other friends he met through counsel groups and he soon left and was no longer around to help counsel others.  How we soon forget others pain when we no longer carry any burdens ourselves.  These type of people who soon forget have simply gone through trials all for nothing because they desired to see it only benefit themselves rather than seeing how they could benefit others which Gods desire for us is.  We forfeit so much blessings when we live for "self" when God Himself will tell us that we will not be rewarded because we already received our just reward.   It reminds me of Jobs friends who should have encouraged him rather than try to use worldly-wisdom which only aggravated him.  Had his friends gone through what Job was encountering, I believe his friends would have been much more effective to properly console and be a strength to him when he needed understanding and not mere feeble words of wisdom which we find out was not Godly wisdom in the first place.  If we are going through trials, some of the questions we may need to ask ourselves is:

          How am I coping through these trials?  Is this drawing me towards God, am I becoming stronger in the Lord or am I drawing away from Him?  If we are being drawn away from Him, could that mean that we have our ambitions and setting our affections in the wrong place?  Do we hope to make it through trials to simply live a life of ease, or do we long to be a blessing to other people?  Are we mindful of serving "self" or serving others?  We need to realize that we are created to be used to worship Him (Isa 43:7), to be a blessing to others and reflect Gods glory so others can be drawn to Him through us.  If we see how we may be going through trials when God is trying to get our attention, we  need to be thankful that we see Gods mercy towards us by helping us get our attention to turn to Him so we can set our priorities as God would have it.  He wants us to set our ambitions and store for ourselves treasures in Heaven where the rewards are far greater than storing treasures of this world where it will eventually separate itself from you.  For we entered the world naked and we will leave this world just as naked (Job 1:21).  So what good is attaining all this ambition for only a brief moment in time to forsake our eternal destiny?  Going through trials just may be helping us to set our priorities right.  It was only after going through trials that I no longer have the affections it once had a strong hold on me.  God desires to reward us with eternal rewards when all along, we may be fighting against Him to be rewarded on earth that will cause us to lose our eternal rewards just to get a moments glory.  Therefore, we need to see trials as something positive which is what James 1:1-5 tells us.  We need to refuse to see that trials in our lives is simply not a matter of misfortune of events, but to see this as shaping us to be more stronger in the Lord, more useful for the Lord and be better prepared and receive the greater rewards when we do come to our eternal home.  I find when we go through trials, we become much stronger and useful for God because these set of events often cause us to come to a cross-roads in our lives by choosing to head upward on that narrow path, or head on the broad road that leads to destruction (Matt 7:13). 

          If we are going to benefit from the trials we have or are enduring, we need to Rise-Up with a victorious attitude and fearlessly make up our mind to choose Gods way.  We need to boldly declare that by Gods Grace and the Help of His Spirit, we are going to be better people through  it.  So in the end when our works are tried by fire, we won't suffer loss, but will reap a far greater eternal inheritance because we have become determine through trials to have that steadfast Hope in God and be the people He can use for His glorious purposes (1 Cor 3:12-15).  It helps to see a bigger picture that our momentary troubles we go through on earth will not be compared to the eternal glory that will be revealed in us (Rom 8:18).  When we see our eternal inheritance and how God shaped us through trials when we dare to trust in Him regardless, we will receive the greater rewards of our eternal inheritance through the trials we had endured because we came to the place where we made a commitment to live for the Lord and trust Him regardless.

Please feel free to share my Blogsite so that others may find hope that God has for them.

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

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

Loving God; Hating evil

Dearest Saints,

          Is it any wonder that much of the world in general have gotten to a place where society now applauds evil and considers much of what God values as dispicable.  What God Himself clearly says that is an abomination to Him is now acceptable and agreeable to the world.  In fact, sadly, much of the religious denominations have also accepted and applauded to the ways of this world when God clearly indicates that He opposes.  An example is found in Romans 1:25-27 highlights one of the many agendas that many churches and the world has turned away from Gods loving ways and Words of wisdom to live by.  This is what often is fulfilled as mentioned in the following verse in the Old Testament,  Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! (Isa 5:20).  

          

          The enemy is suttle and is considered a master deceiver which is why the Bible describes satan as an "angel of light"(2 Cor 11:14) because he masquerades as an "angel of light" when he is that wolf in sheep's clothing.  The world didn't follow God one day and then totally decide to do a "U-Turn" the following day.  It started by people letting down their guard and allowing the enemy access in to their lives by compromising Gods standards little by little, where it is almost undetected.  God tells us to hate evil and not just tolerate or dislike evil (Amos 5:15; Rom 12:9).  For us to hate evil the way God sees it, we need to know that His standard is the only acceptable principle in our lives to the point that we should consider anything else to be a great evil by compromising His Word.

          When you see how a person has finally opposed Gods ways by slowly accepting the practices of mankind and failing to hate evil, people initially began to "dislike" evil.  Then later on as time continues, what people once hated, then disliked evil eventually became "tolerant".  As time continued on, many of those people who compromised His standards, societies ways went from being tolerant to eventually become the "acceptable" practice in today's society.  Now, it has become even worse because not only does the world accept much of the evil ways that goes against God, they now applaud the worlds views and consider what God cherishes as evil.  Just like we have read in Isaiah 5:20 just moments ago.  For society to have taken this total turnaround, you will notice how suttle we have allowed the enemy to infiltrate his ways in to many peoples lives simply because they allowed the enemy of our souls a foothold, which we are told never to even give him any access (Eph 4:27).   We don't realize that it is a serious problem when we think it is no big deal to simply dislike evil rather than continuing to abhor its presence.  It's the old saying that when you give him (our enemy) an inch, he will end up taking a mile.  So before he goes the distance, it always starts with the first step.  Just picture a pendulum crossing ever so slowing from one side to the other.  It may take 50 years or less to swing to the other side, but it moves slow enough that hardly anyone detects its suttle change of direction.  It's only when you decide to go back to Gods Word that we realize just how far we may have gotten side-tracked and have to get ourselves back on the narrow path that leads to life.  When you consider a ship leaving New York and going towards Lisbon, if two ships are leaving and heading in to the same direction, but one is off track by 1 or 2 degrees, it won't be long before the main ship to follow is out of sight.  That is why the standard we need to guard is to always see every aspect of our lives in the Light and Truth of His loving Word, which is meant to give eternal life.  We need to reject anything else that goes against His Word.  When God says He hates something, we too are to equally hate what He considers evil and not just tolerate it.  In the Church of Ephesus, one of the things God tells us He was pleased was that this particular Church did not even tolerate the wickedness of man (Rev 2:2).  They didn't let down their guard to ever compromise evil in any way other than hating what is evil.  

          When the world considers evil, they often relate to agendas such as murderers, kidnapping/abducting innocent children, demonstrating violence of some sort to the vulnerable such as the infants or elderly and the like.  We too should consider these things evil.  However, there are many agendas that God clearly states is equally evil to Him that the world has turned their ways.  Here are just some of the many agendas that the world opposes Gods view of what is evil:

               a.  Failing to give God glory He so much deserves (Rom 1:23); 

               b.  Need to hate pride (which was what destroyed satan who was once called lucifer by                

                    being one of the highest arch angels (Isa 14:12);

               c.  Apathy, lukewarmness, being passive towards Gods ways (Rev 3:16)

               d.  Being compromisers of Gods Word (Prov 25:26);

               e.  Fear, doubt, worry, gossip, slander, factions, disunity;

               f.  Failing to be aggressive to seek His Righteousness and pursuing His ways;

               g.  Failing to not only to hate evil, but failing to love good and to do good (Ps 34:14);

               h.  Failing to acknowledge Him, spending time with Him, seeking His help (Psalm 45);

                i.  Being thankless (2 Tim 3:2), etc..  

          I think we can go on for several pages.  These are some of the many illustrations that we see the world loves when we need to see these things that are evil in Gods sight should remain equally an abomination to us.  Sadly, in many churches today, there is often bickering, gossip, strife and division occurring within the Church and knowing that God declares is dispicable.  Many Christians have given the enemy access into our Church which we should NEVER have allowed it and we should never allow this to be an option in the first place.  It begins when we make excuses by justifying ourselves, even when we should know it clearly goes against Gods instructions.  We cannot compare our values to the ways of this world.  When we do, we are following the one who actually rules this world (system) which is why the Bible tells us that satan is the "god of this world" (1 John 5:19).  This is why it is utmost important to exalt Gods Word into our lives and come to the point where we are to hate compromising His Word that is otherwise meant to enrich our lives.  When many of these churches allowed strife, division and other forms of ungodliness to come in, they should have had the wisdom to follow Gods ways and come against the real enemy (satan) and pray for our fellow man which God commands us to do.  The result that lead to factions and discord would have lead to peace, love, unity, forgiveness, faithfulness instead had they understood the evil of not following Gods principles.  You can clearly see that following Gods Word is by far the BEST!! Following any other principle does nothing but lead to destruction.

    

           I want to encourage each of us, with Gods help, to be men and women after Gods own heart by not only hating evil, but hate failing to do Good and pursue the things of God.  Failing to do good is what God also calls sin (James 4:17) because it also robs God the glory He so much deserves.  Compromising Gods ways was what lead Christ to the Cross who paid that great penalty of sin which mankind brought condemnation upon himself.  I don't think anyone can ever appreciate all entire penalty Christ came to pay on our behalf right from the day of birth til his last breath.  When we ask God to help us love what He loves and hate what He hates that comes in total agreement with God, we do what is right because only God alone is perfect and every other belief and philosophy of mankind ends up contaminating the purity of His Word for us.  If we say we love the Lord like we should, then we will equally hate evil and compromising His Word which is what the Lord hates.  The Lord promises to us that He is a Great Rewarder for those who diligently seek Him (Heb 11:6b).

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

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