Remain In Him

Dearest Saints,

     I find many people whom I personally knew once loved the Lord and lived for the Lord don't seem to have any zeal to continue to follow in the things of God and have actually departed totally from Him.  When I realize this to be a fact, I have to ask "Why is this"?

     Scriptures tell us that there are several reasons why people have a tendency to fall away.  Falling away is talking about believers because if it talked about sinners who never accepted Christ, you can never say that they have fallen away when they were never raised with Christ in the first place.  One of the most dangerous places I find anyone would be in is when they think they are in right standing, standing firm/strong and with a steadfast mind, he/she should take precaution lest they should fall in to sin (1 Cor 10:12).  When a person comes to this place, he/she fails to see their need of Gods Grace and believes that they are immune to every form of temptation to sin.  When we disregard our need of His Grace, we open the door to the enemy.  I can tell you, that without the Grace and power of God intervening on our behalf, we are no match to the enemy because we allow him legal access when we deny our need of His Grace.  This is closely related to one who has pride which comes in many forms.  One is when we perceive ourselves to be better than others and we fail to take heed to scriptures to esteem others better than ourselves (Phil 2:3).  This doesn't say we need to think lowly of ourselves, but we need to think soberly about ourselves and believe that we can always learn from others.  For when pride enters in to a person, scriptures tell us that pride always comes before destruction (Prov 16:18).  It's never a question of "if", but "when".  To recognize pride, it may come when we often become critical of others. Peter is an example of telling Jesus that he would never fall away from Him.  Soon after, because he allowed the enemy access because of his pride, he outright denied Jesus three times as it was prophesied.  But thank God that He is quick to forgive and show mercy when we do repent.

     Another time when scripture tells many people will fall away is because they become easily offended.  When humility is lacking in their lives, many people do not want to accept the deeper teaching of the doctrine.  I don't know about you, but I would rather be lovingly confronted and challenged by a mature Christian to receive the Truth and encouraged to do what is right than to be given a bunch of "false hope" and be in regret later all because I didn't want to come out of my "comfort zone".  These people are the ones who only want to hear what pleases them rather than hearing what they need to hear in order to help them grow up.  Matthew 24:10 and 26:31 are some of the scriptures that indicate about people falling away because they are easily offended.  That is why 2 Cor 7:10 also tells us that worldly sorrow brings forth death which means we feel sorry for ourselves rather than when we need to feel compassion towards others instead.

     Another time that may cause many to fall is when people want to grow up too fast.  It almost sounds like an oxy-moron simply because I mention earlier about growing up.  But to be realistic, you don't expect a two year old to act like an adult.  But you do expect one who has followed the Lord for many years be able to teach others as we are encouraged to do so.  When I think of the new television program called "Toddlers and Tiaras," their Moms and Dads are pushing them in their early childhood stages to perform with such perfection and high expectations rather than simply letting them be children; to play and enjoy life like a child should. I feel so sorry for those children who are being pushed by others who influence their lives to be someone they should not try to be.  This is very much "unrealistic expectations" which often causes people to become rebellious.  Trying to grow too fast happens when Jesus mentions about the parable of the seed that didn't take time to develop roots by growing slowly and progressively.  Some grow too fast thinking that we can now take the world on and we haven't had any time to develop in Christ.  This is where a person  cannot bear the trials and tribulations because of it (Matt 13:6).  It mentions about a novice should not ever consider taking a higher position lest he/she falls from pride (1 Tim 3:6).  With God, it's never about attaining a high position, but rather, our heart towards Him.

     An unbelieving heart will also cause many to fall (Heb 3:12).  We may not directly say to the Lord that we don't believe, but we often act that when we choose our way other than what the Lord tells us to choose.  Not choosing Gods ways will never bring the abundant life of joy, peace and gladness that He wants to give us. With His help, we also need to be "DETERMINED" and we cannot afford to be passive in our walk with God.  Several times, the Apostle Paul tells us that he purposed in his heart and was determined with Gods help to be firm and to be able to stand strong.  In 1 Pet 5:9,10 Paul mentions about being sober of mind, temperate because when we are not (by living out of balance and with unrealistic expectations), we give a foothold to the enemy who is out to seek and devour (1 Pet 5:8).  By knowing this and being determined with Gods help, Paul needed to also realize that many others in this world suffer equally.  If he is not mindful of this, I believe he would have been caught up with having "worldly sorrow" which causes one to feel sorry for themselves and be more vulnerable to fall away from any longer serving the Lord.

     Realize that following God is not hard, but is liberating from living a life of sin that caused Christ to go to the cross in the first place.  When you think it is hard following the Lord now, just consider how much harder it will be later on to those who choose to depart from Him.  To me, living my life before I came to know the Lord was extremely hard and when I consider this, I certainly have no desire to go back to my old ways.  When many disciples left Jesus (John 6:66), He turned to the 12 and asked them if they are going to leave as well (John 6:67)?  I love what Peter says in the next verse "To whom shall we go?  Only You have the Words to eternal life (vs 68). Peter realized that there is absolutely no other way.  If we follow our feelings or philosophy of man that chooses a different path other than following God, it will only lead to destruction.  We have to realize that He (Christ) is the only Way if we expect to receive that rich eternal inheritance at all.

Therefore, we need to understand the following:

     a.  Know that we are ALWAYS vulnerable to fall away if it weren't for the Grace of God in the first place; 

     b.  Understand that He knows if you are young in the Lord, that He doesn't expect perfection, but growth to love Him and trust Him more and more.  He doesn't expect a two year old to act like a 40 year old;

     c.  Refuse to allow yourselves to be offended when the other person is the one who will give an account before the Lord.  In most cases the offender may not know he/she is offending in the first place;

     d.  See how ugly and destructive pride is, and in contrast, see the beauty of humility that brings honor, richness and life (Prov 22:4);

     e.  Be "determined" by HIS Grace and SAY SO, that you will not allow an unbelieving heart (Heb 3:12) or selfish ambitions (James 1:11) to have its way in your life.  By expressing your voice to say BY HIS GRACE, you are humbling yourself of your desperate need of Him, but will have that boldness that He is pleased with (Heb 10:35; Prov 28:1);

     f.  Understand that only His Ways brings eternal life.  No one will ever be justified before God for ever turning their back on Him or ever think we can critically question God and think we will ever get away with it.  How foolish is that!  Heb 10:38 tells us that God takes no pleasure when His people draw back or shrink back in fear all because they are drawn back to the attractions of this temporal world (being choked by weeds) more-so than His eternal Kingdom or fail to trust in His love for them by allowing the fear of man or angels to exceed our reverential fear of Him.  Just like God was angry with the Isrealites who wanted to go back to Egypt (which is a comparison to the world) rather than to trust Him and pursue to go forth to the promised land (Num 11:1-10).  May His Word Always and Richly bless you.

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/


Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name. (Ps 91:14 Amplified Version)

What Type of Fruit are We Bearing

Dearest Saints.  

     Every time I send out a message, its always something God has taught me or continues to teach me all the time.  It's something we need to share with others and we are not expected to keep silent, because when God gives us knowledge and revelation of His Word, He is going to require an account from us and ask us if we bothered to share His Word to others or did we just keep this to ourselves (Luke 12:48)?  When I think of one area in particular, I always like to see myself have a bigger ministry or for God to extend my borders.  However, what God is revealing to me is not so much what size of ministry did we attain, but He is going to ask us a much different question.  I believe He is going to ask each one of us, how much fruit did we bear (Gal 5:22,23) which He will ask if we cultivated love, joy, peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility) and self-control?  He is not going to be concerned about the size of our ministry or any of our "so-called" accomplishments, but He is going to care how we treated one another.  Therefore, if someone is very knowledgeable and can recite many scriptures, but is critical towards others or acts unbecoming at home behind closed doors, do you suppose God is pleased with that person or will He be more pleased with someone who may just live a simple life, but shows the kindness of God to each one in the grocery store, at work or at home?  The one who is found to be bearing fruit will be more pleasing to God than the other who is more concerned about "doing more" or "accomplishing more" for the Lord. 

     I find when I have ever been frustrated in the past, it was often because I was not focusing on what is important which is bearing fruit and I was simply being ambitious in my "so-called" Godly endeavor.  It reminds me of someone who is impatient with other people just so they can buy the book on "Godly love".  It's that type of person who is focused on being ambitious, without being mindful of what is truly important.  We need to take moments during the day long enough to reflect by asking ourselves "what type of fruit we are bearing?"  A person is known by others by their fruit, not by what they know or don't know.  People need to see the character of Christ in us.  They don't care how much scripture we know or how much theology we may have.  They will recognize Christ in us by our fruit (Matt 7:20) by seeing how we treat each other.  You would be amazed how others are watching how we live.  If we are not bearing fruit, be certain that the Lord will prune us much.  If we do bear some fruit, we may not have to be pruned near as much, but we will continue to be pruned so we can be more fruitful.  So, it comes down to the fact that we are "pruned if we do and pruned if we don't".  We may ask ourselves "why"?  God in His mercy wants His people to not just bear fruit, but to go beyond and bear fruit a hundred-fold in order that He may reward us greatly.  When Jesus was teaching about the Sower sowing seed, He mentions lastly about the one with a soft heart bearing amount of fruit to different degrees.  Some 30, some 60 and others were able to bear fruit by having a hundred-fold return.  I believe the difference between some bearing little (30 fold) or more fruit(60 or 100 fold) depends on what type of heart we have and how hungry we are for Him to work in our lives and through us.  Also, I believe the difference between some Christians bearing little and others bearing much is the amount of humility.  An example is when we are taught to forgive.  Do we just go and listen to sermons of forgiveness and not see any evidence of that in our lives or do we humble ourselves and choose to obey His Word?  Too many Christians who should know better are far more educated compared to the level of their obedience towards Christ.  Unfortunately, I must confess this for myself more times than I care to.  Are we living the examples of the love walk found in 1 Cor 13:4-8, or do we just have head knowledge and little fruit by not living the Word?  This is a challenge God puts before myself also and we need to examine ourselves.

     I believe in order for us to have our heart softened, we need to go through trials ourselves or see someone who is close to us that are going through trials and be with them as they go through times of suffering.  We often wonder why people have to go through such pain?  Unfortunately, we often critically question God "why"?  It is to keep our heart softened.  I read a good illustration just recently from the  Daily Bread booklet, that a group was formed to help encourage each other who were unemployed and struggling.  They formed a bond between them in a prayer group and found ways to work together, pray for one another and form a network to help each other put a resume together and prepare themselves to go out and effectively find work.  When one or several people did eventually find work, instead of them coming back to the group to help their cohorts whom they formed a bond earlier, they simply left the group and did nothing to encourage them and never heard from them again.  It reminds me when we are living a life of ease, it's easy for us to forget other peoples needs or even get to the point that we may forget our need of God (Prov 30:7,8).  It's often through suffering that we tend to become more useful by being Gods arms and His hands to others.  This is why we need to see suffering and trials in a much different way as God sees it.  Those of us who are being used of God had gone through much suffering.  The devil would like you to believe a lie and think that you are the only ones bearing a greater cross than others ever did which is what causes people to become bitter instead of better!

     When we end up being merciful to one another, God had to allow us to get to the place where we cried out to receive His mercy in the first place.  Knowing this, it is extremely important that we understand how awesome and beautiful God is towards us because He knows what is best for us and wants to bless us to develop His Character, even if it is through suffering.  When I remember singing "lest I forget Gethsemene, lest I forgot Your agony, lest I forget Your love for me, lead me to Calvary"...which is the place You chose to hang on the Cross in my place and bear the curse on my behalf (Gal 3:13), I am able to reflect on the truth of His awesome Love, Grace and mercy towards me.  When we meditate on this and see His awesome beauty towards us, we will effectively allow the power of Christ to abide in us and allow us to abide in the power, love and wisdom of Him and His Word.  How we handle His Word will be to the degree and the effectiveness of how much of His power works through us which is what needs to take place in us  to fulfill what is really important to God by bearing much fruit (John 15:1-16).  With Gods help, let's not forget to abide in His wonderful presence and allow Him to show His love and His goodness through you to others.  When you humbly accept this, I believe God will be able to work far greater works through you than you could ever imagine.

I do hope you will visit my Blog to see other helpful messages that I believe will encourage you.In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayerhttp://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name. (Ps 91:14 Amplified Version)

Choosing His Path

Dearest Saints,

     Today, many Christians in particular continue to go through various trials continually.  Sometimes, like myself, we go through areas in our lives that seem like God is opening a door only to find out later that this same door He opened sooner or later closes on us.  I had that experience happen to me many more times than I care to admit.  What I thought was a wasted set of events in my life, God continues to reveal to me that these events helped me grow and shape me to be better prepared to be used by Him. I would never have been able to enter this particular place of my life and be used by Him without having to go through many paths that lead me there.  Many times, we would rather just take one short step to go through that Door that God lead us to our destination immediately.  By not going through different paths and persevering, we would not be prepared to resist falling in to pride.  

     God warns us in 1 Tim 3:6 that a novice cannot be used to govern and care for the Church because he/she may be more tempted to be lifted up with pride.  This reminds me how God lovingly keeps us from entering certain paths in order to possibly spare our very lives and possibly spare us from eternal destruction.  What we may think is the best path for us is often not the path God knows we need to take.  It reminds me of the verse in Prov 14:12 where a way seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but at the end of it is the way of death (Amplified Version).  We may have to go down more paths than we care, but when we truly put our Trust in the Lord, I believe we will be much stronger to have a more profound and positive effect on many others whom we come in contact.  The turning point in this is to make up your mind that by His Grace, WE ARE NOT GOING TO GIVE UP and believe God uses each circumstance to draw us closer to Him and prepares us to be stronger in Him!  

     As an example of one of my many experiences, I intended on going to university to study horticulture right after high school.  Well, God had other plans for me.  University did not work out for me and other set of events also took place shortly after that did not work out for me either.  Finally, this lead me to joining the military in Fall of 1980, after being out of school for just over a year.  I became more determined than ever to go through harsh recruit training and get through NO MATTER WHAT.  I don't believe I would have had that determination had I not gone through an unfortunate series of events that lead me to joining the military.  Then, later in my career, several postings took place and I ended up remaining on one of our ships an additional year, which was basically against my will.  Because of that, I was then offered a position in a Northern community in Alberta near the town of Cold Lake.  It was here in this remote region that I met several people, including one in particular who eventually lead me to the Lord.  Had I not spent that extra year on the ship against my will, who knows if I would have ever come to the right place and ever know the Lord at all?  So when I take the time to reflect many of my past events in life, I realize more and more that God lead me through many stepping stones to become a child of God and also to develop me to what He wants me to become.  It took me going through several negative circumstances to see how God was preparing me to do what I am doing now.  Had I stubbornly went "My Way" as Frank Sinatra sings that famous song, I know for a fact that I could very well be continuing to wander in spiritual darkness to this date.  And who knows...I may not even be alive today to tell of my experience.  He may have saved me from events that may have taken my life had I rebelliously chosen to go "my way" instead.  It's like a fellow whom I heard about that was frustrated because he was running late to get to work at the Twin Towers in New York which he had errands he had to commit to first thing in the morning.  He was frustrated about these set of circumstances which he initially wished would have not taken place.  This man now realizes that because of this "inconvenience", it spared his life from that tragedy we call 9-11, and he remains alive today because of it.

     This reminds me that when we are quick to question God "Why", we need to reflect and realize He knows all events and He has better plans for us than we could ever think.  The reason why many people don't receive the "Better Plan" of God may be because they continue to question God critically, murmur and complain, fail to give Him thanks and end up stubbornly choosing to go "their own way" instead.  What we need to do is come to a place, go to prayer and confess to Him that "I may not understand what is happening Lord, but I am putting my trust in You no matter what".  I can only thank God that I didn't choose to quit and give up when I felt like throwing in the towel many times in the past.  I now understand as I see the results, He made something that seemed so bad at that time, become something far more valuable than one could ever imagine if we would only trust God during those times of preparation.  

     I believe most of you have a far greater value to be used for Gods glorious purposes than you realize.  With Gods help, don't allow the enemy to deceive you by only looking at the present, but ask Him to help you see the whole picture and believe He is preparing you to be that valuable vessel of honor to be a richer blessing to many.  Think of the eternal destiny we may fail to achieve all because we chose to doubt and complain about our present circumstances rather than seeing the positive side of how God can fulfill every good purpose from our past.

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/ 

Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name. (Ps 91:14 Amplified Version)

The Lord Truly Bless You

Dearest Saints, 

     We as Christians often say to one another, "The Lord bless you" and I believe we say it so often that we lose its impact that may just become a familiar saying.  Sometimes, I believe the best position to be blessed is to come to the place where you go through situations that will cause you to totally lean on God and at the same time, have a smile in your heart and on your face and say that You trust Him no matter what and know in your heart that He loves you like no other.  Often times however, it takes trials to get us to truly lean and trust in God.  We need to be determined that no matter what is going on in our lives, "With His Help", we are going to believe the very best for us when we leave it in His hands.  This is the absolute truth, but it does not do us any good when we don't believe it or take time to spend with God for Him to prepare our hearts so we can believe this truth.  Jesus was empowered each day right from morning onward because He was prayed up in advance and always spent quality time with the Father.  In order for us to be empowered, we not only need to go to prayer first thing, but we need to develop that mindset first and foremost (with His help always) to refrain from reacting negatively towards any unfavorable circumstances while also, to be determined to seek to be a blessing to many others during the day.  All too often, I see myself being reactive to certain situations that was not most favorable simply because I didn't seek God first, go to prayer first or develop that right mindset by spending quality time with Him that we all need.  Just as this thought comes to mind, it's like the first thing in the morning, we (men) get ready to shave and the ladies to put on their makeup in the morning to prepare themselves before they go out the door to work, shop or meet others.  We need to do the same type of thing spiritually, by spending quiet time with God and clothing ourselves with Christ by being prayed up, and having that mindset of Christ by putting on that armour of God.  If God tells us that we need to "put on" the armour of God (Eph 6:13), then that means it takes time and we need to spend time to get dressed Spiritually, just like it takes time to put on our clothes before we leave our homes in the morning.

     Many times, I look back and see how I have almost always been prepared physically, but I honestly cannot say the same thing to be prepared spiritually when I should be more so.  We pretty well know what our weaknesses are if we take time to examine ourselves.  When someone has a habit to be negative or be a pessimist and say "I can't do this; I can't do that", that person may have to do more preparation in the morning to strip off the "I can'ts" and replace it with "I CAN do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phil 4:13).  When we lean on God, nowhere in the Bible does it say that we are Unable to do or we Can't do when we learn to rely and trust in God.  God says that He enables us, empowers us (2 Tim 1:&), He is with us (Heb 13:5), He will carry us through (Ps 68:19); He will not permit us to go through greater trials than we can bear (1 Cor 10:13).  If it is someone who has a problem with holding on to guilt, they need to go to prayer, spend time with God first thing in the morning and pray with Boldness the promises of His Word that tells you in Rom 8:1 there is NOW no condemnation for those who are in Christ".  When you do say that, this is what is meant by dressing your self spiritually.  Speaking His Word is speaking the whole Light of the truth where absolutely no darkness of any form of false is ever found in His Word.  Getting properly Spiritually dressed will be only as effective if you strip off every negative circumstances and every mindset that does not agree with Gods Word and replace that by putting on your armour by speaking the Truth of His Word over you.  If you believe anything else that God says otherwise, you are allowing to be deceived and you are not wearing that protective armour like you should.  Gods armour is meant to protect you, and to use that Sword that is the offensive part of the armour to effectively attack our enemy.  Wearing Gods armour "properly" helps to better prepare any attack you may be going through.

     Saying the Lords blessings upon you may put you through some trials and unfavorable circumstances.  It is so important that we seize every opportunity that comes our way, to believe that no matter what, we are going to be much better off to be much more Spiritually prepared to fight the good fight of faith, to help encourage others in their time of need and realize how He is preparing each of us to be a richer blessing to one another simply because we know who our God is by being clothed with Christ.  Being blessed and giving Gods blessings to others is not simply receiving the "life of ease" and living the life that just floats downstream, because when you know if you float downstream long enough, you may be much more closer to the danger of the "falls" than you care to imagine.  When things always go easy, we as humans have a greater tendency to leave God out and think that we can now continue our own way of living.  Being more blessed may actually be much better when we go through hard times, deeper valleys, but when we do come through them knowing that the power of Gods goodness carried us through, we can truly say that we are much better off because of it and be able to bless others in their time of need.  

     When we get prayed up and spend that quality time with God first thing and help get our mindset prepared to fulfill His love to activate through us, to be positive through every circumstance by keeping focused on Jesus, we can truly be blessed and be prepared to take on any challenges that does come our way and we will be better off and stronger in the Lord because of it.  Let us seize every opportunity, knowing who He is, knowing who we are in Him, knowing our Blood bought inheritance which He suffered through His Son to give us, knowing His Word (which is His love letter for us) and to know that no matter what, we can prove His Word that "All things do work together for Good to those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28).  This won't just be another "spiritual" poem we just often hear, but will be a powerful truth if we put His Word in to practice (Phil 4:9) because we took the time to get dressed spiritually by spending time with God.   

     Do know this, that when you are prayed up in advance and be determined that with His help by allowing Him to prepare your mind and heart, YOU WILL truly be prepared to be a greater blessing to others each day.  If we are prepared, we can be that powerful individual God can truly use to make other peoples day and give them encouragement, because we know there are so many who do need encouragement.  The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few (Matt 9:37).  So dear Lord, help us to be prepared so we can be those laborers that You are able to use so we can reap in a great harvest for Your Kingdom. So when we say "The Lord bless you" or receive that blessing, let's look beyond what we would otherwise normally think and be prepared to go through whatever we need to go through, to truly be Blessed to be a rich blessing to many others in their time of need.  Being a real blessing to many others is truly the greatest blessing we can receive when we do it all to the glory of God.

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/
www.helpingcopewithhope.blogspot.com 

His Unmatched Peace

Dear Saints,

    

     I heard a great message last Sunday from a dear Pastor and friend, Marven Durling about the Peace of God.  So I don't want to take the credit for this email message (and honestly, for any other previous messages), because anything we have received is by Gods Grace in the first place.  However, I do want to add on the thoughts that the Lord brought to mind.

     One of the greatest advertisements this world will try to sell you is so that you can have some "Peace of Mind".  People will want these products or receive these services because the advertising agents know that all consumers want and need to have Peace of mind.  So these agencies advertise as such.  However, to be honest with you, everything that the world offers you outside of the will of God may only bring you peace for a very short time, but nothing that they offer will ever last or will ever compare to the real Peace that only God gives us through His Son Jesus.  Jesus tells us that "My Peace I give you, not as the world gives" (John 14:27).  The only Peace that we will ever receive that satisfies us totally and inwardly is receiving His Peace for us because He is the Only One who gives us real Peace that lasts for all eternity.  Any other peace the world tries to offer you only satisfies "here and now".

     Christians often pray for peace, but don't often seem to live in peace or live with peace when they should.  Because we can have Peace with God (Rom 5:11) and should exhibit the Peace of God (Phil 4:7).  We don't have to pray for peace because He tells us that He has already given us His Peace.  So we shouldn't have to ask for something He already promised that He already had given to us.  Therefore, what we need to pray is that we will learn to receive that wonderful peace He already has given to us by asking Him to help us live according to His desires and His will for our lives.  Many times, I see Christians often do not seem to have this Peace Christ already offers us.  So why is that?  As an example, many Christians do not have peace within themselves when they refuse to forgive others their trespasses.  Living in disobedience to His ways will never bring you true genuine peace which He alone offers.  It is NEVER the fault of God for ever withholding His goodness from us, but it is because of disobedience and choosing to do things "our way" that is the real problem.  When conflicts within our soul becomes apparent, this may be often due to the fact that we have not repented when we should, admit our faults before God when we should, may not have settled any issues between ourselves and God from past sins or knowingly live in disobedience or other related matters that war within our membranes because we fail to humble ourselves before the Loving counsel of God.  I find it is imperative to understand fully (to have that solid knowing deep deep within) that Gods Ways are always "The Best" for our present and eternal well-being.  Choosing to do things His Way always brings results of having Joy, Peace, gladness within.  No other commodity, no other material possessions or worldly fame can ever compare with having real joy and peace that only God constantly offers us.  We will never obtain that rich Peace within when we question other people by blaming them, question and blaming our circumstances or question God, when the real matter is that we NEED to be questioning our ambitions &/or motives.  

     What may cause many Christians to fail to receive His peace is that they have more concern about the cares and ambitions of this world. Just like Jesus mentions in one of many parables He often taught, about the seed being choked out by the cares of having the riches of this temporal world (Matt 13:22).  When I see how Big, Great and Awesome eternity is, I don't end up putting so much emphasis on worldly ambitions when I focus on how much greater eternity is compared to this temporal life on earth.  When I see a television program called "Hoarding", it is devastating to see how material possessions have an immense stronghold on many people that they often end up crying in despair to ever let go of "things" they believe truly satisfies them. Sometimes, it gets to the point where people will choose "things" over their own family members.  When these people are about to die, it is the family members who are by your side, not material possessions.  Material possessions and worldly ambitions could care less about you!!  That's why it is extremely important to enjoy and have possessions we own, but not allow them to own us!!  When you consider this present life on earth of 100 years is like a little drop of water and the entire worlds oceans (are like eternity), I don't have the same ambitions in this present life like I used to have, which I now see myself liberated from the bondages I once had.  I would far rather be prepared for that eternal home where time has no limit.  No wonder God encourages us to set our minds on things above instead (Col 3:2).  I believe the greatest devastation of all is when people come to the end of their lives living with regret.  Failing to do what God admonishes each of us to do in such a short lifespan here on earth and stepping out in to eternity.  I don't belittle any real problems people have in this life.  But I find the real problem is often the fact that our ambitions are often focused on the "Here and Now" rather than focusing on a most important perspective by asking God to help you be a blessing to others and seeing how He can do a wonderful work through you to advance His Kingdom purposes instead.  Keeping focused on His Kingdom principles rather than on worldly ambitions is what gives us real Peace (His Peace) in the first place.  

     His blessings of Peace is unlimited.  However, the portion of receiving His richness of Grace, Mercy, blessings and peace are in direct proportion of how much we love Him, obey Him, believe His love and care for us and choose to set your mind on things above and not be so focused on this life that you lose sight for eternity.  His Peace will never benefit us when we do not accept this.  I would far rather do away with so much of the cares and ambitions of this world and choose to do things His way in order to inherit this real peace than failing to have otherwise.  Having everything this world could ever offer while having no Peace is simply not worth it.  Just like eternity is far greater than this temporal world, and His ways and thoughts are far higher than our thoughts and ways (Isa 55:9), so His Peace is also that much greater than any peace this world could ever offer us. 

If we want to have the greatest Peace of all, we need to keep our hope and passion on the One who loves us and died for us.  Isa 26:3 reads "You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You".

The proceeds from purchase of my books @ http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife go towards supporting "Helping Cope Through Hope" mission work in Zambia.

In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayer
http://www.answers2prayer.org/

The Need to Take Responsibility

Dear Saints. 

     I want to share something very valuable I learn more about just this past week.  When I mentor  people to take the necessary steps to change ones circumstances in life, I find many people remain in bondage to bad or unfortunate circumstances in life when people fail to be humble enough to see any fault of their own doing and fail to accept any Godly counsel or instruction based on His Word.  I sense in my spirit that when we remain in a bad situation, it has nothing to do with "bad luck" or any "misfortune" or as one person kept saying that God is punishing me.  We have to stop blaming God for our circumstances and ask the Lord, "What is it that I may have caused or failed to do?".  When I think of my past, and how I have often lived with negative circumstances, it wasn't because God simply allowed this to happen as if we are to put the blame on Him, but the fact that I had believed and accepted the lies of the enemy often spoken through people rather than believing what God said about myself and believing Him instead.  Even out of ignorance, I still suffered.  What I needed to do to be set free was to realize my error and ask Him for forgiveness because I failed to believe Him, even if it was only out of ignorance.  When I took that step to repent and chose to believe what He could do His work through me and desired to have that child-like relationship with Him, it was then that I started to see wonderful changes in my circumstances.  However, I had to first repent and take responsibility for accepting the error of my ways.  Those who continue to blame God, blame circumstances and fail to take responsibility by seeing their error will never grow up and never live a fulfilling life that God intends for us to have (John 10:10b).  Its just like His Grace, even though it is available to all, those who learn to be humble, develop a bold confidence in Him (Heb 4:16) and believe/accept Him for what He says are the only ones who benefit the blessings of God. 

 

     When we receive Godly counsel from others, especially those who have lived through similar circumstances who know how to help from which they themselves received and people who need counsel (2 Cor 1:3,4), is it any wonder why negative circumstances don't change for some people when they fail to accept Godly instruction from others experience in the first place?  God tells us in Prov 12:1 (New Living Translation) "To learn, you must love discipline; it is stupid to hate correction".  I highlight this because God uses strong language about those who refuse to accept Godly counsel that is intended to help people in their time of need, but we make up excuses why not to do it.  In Gods eyes, it is stupid when we refuse His counsel because He is the only One who is able and willing to help us.  He often can't help us because we fail to accept the error of our ways and fail to accept responsibility.  When God places a person in a given situation, I believe the circumstances can become much better when a person remains steadfast in Him and believes he/she can be used of God to be effective.  It all comes down to: Who are we going to believe and will we believe He can use us to have a postive effect on others in their need?  Or are we going to let their evil ways infect us simply because we accept their lies rather than believing who we are in Christ?

     I truly believe that when constant negative circumstances dominates our lives, it is not so much that we have been dealt with a worse hand by God, the real problem is we fail to see any fault of our own and make excuses rather than taking the necessary steps we need to take from receiving any Godly counsel.  As an example, one of the units that I was an overseer of their financial operation, were having much difficulty.  I asked this person who is new to the position if the people before her were taking steps to help them manage their paperwork more efficiently which I taught them to do just over a year ago.  She said they weren't.  I believe it is like our lives with God.  Is it any wonder why things at this particular unit did not work out when they failed to receive instruction and put it to use?  Equally, when we receive Godly counsel, how can we expect to see improvements in our lives when we refuse to take the necessary steps which He instructs us to do?  This is why we need to take responsibility and need to ask for forgiveness when we fail to seek Godly counsel and His loving instructions that are intended to help us.  I find more and more that Gods Word only works when we understand that God is always faithful while at the same time, we need to understand that we have a responsibility to study His Word, spend time in prayer and develop that love relationship with Him and with others so that we may remain strong in Him.  We cannot say that God is our God if we thought He ever made a mistake or believed He doesn't understand our situation or if we continue to question Him critically.

     When we fail to repent and seek His counsel, we are blind to see any fault of our own which I believe is the primary cause why negative circumstances remain in our lives.  It is up to us to choose to be humble, repent and receive His forgiveness who will ever help us.  Just like God gives us the responsibility to choose life or death, blessings or curses (Deut 30:19).  Lets stop kidding ourselves and realize we need to humble ourselves before God, seek and receive His forgiveness and with the help of accepting Godly counsel, believe that He is indeed our Helper in our time of need (John 14:16,26).  Otherwise, we can't expect changes to improve until we learn to do this first.  These messages that often encourage and challenge us is always done in love in order to that we may be more eternally blessed because of it.   


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/
www.helpingcopewithhope.blogspot.com 

 

In quietness and in (trusting)confidence shall be your strength (Isa 30:15b)

Acknowledge HIM in All Our Ways

Dearest Saints

     When I think of everything in a nutshell what Christianity is about, I come up with the simplicity of having that wonderful intimate relationship with God.  It's that simple.  I believe we complicate God and Christianity or make it out to be something other than first growing towards having a deeper relationship with Him each day.  I believe the more we develop that loving relationship with Him, we become stronger in Him to fulfill His desires and instructions found in His Word.  I also believe that as David would say, that when we love His laws and consider Him more than gold or silver (because we have that wonderful relationship with Him), we detest everything else that doesn't give God the glory or we fail to have that intimate relationship He wants us to have with Him (Read Psalm 119:127,128).   

     When I asked Him in to my life to be my Lord and personal Saviour, I have to admit that I wasn't making Him Lord over my life simply because I failed to acknowledge Him and His presence continually in my life like we should.  When we really ask Him to be Lord over our life, do we just resort by inviting Him only to help us with some larger circumstances of our lives?  Do we give Him only a few moments of our time to acknowledge His sweet presence in a given day?  As He continues to teach me, I believe we serve a God who not only wants to be involved in helping us make major decisions, but also in every tiny detail of our lives.  When I think of it, if I just want to go for a drive in the countryside, I want to be conscious of His presence and invite Him to sit with me and go for a drive and even ask Him where would He like to go?  We don't say these things because we don't believe He is not already present with us, but we do this to allow our hearts to open up to Him.  When those of you who like to go shopping, He would like you to invite Him to go shopping with you and help you choose a location to pick out the best items for the best prices in any of the stores.  If/when we go play golf or any other sports, do we invite Him to tag along with us, or even ask to help us hit a better ball or just enjoy the sport?  When I go to work before I even turn on the computer, am I trying to consciously make every attempt to ask Him to govern my day and invite Him to help me get projects done and be His employee whom He can be pleased with?

     I think many times, we put God only in to some "religious activity" when really, He wants us to involve Him in every area of our lives.  When we go out to visit, or have visitors in our home, or if we happen to be having dinner alone at home, do we invite Him to dine with us so we can enjoy His sweet presence?  Especially when I type in many of these messages or when answering a prayer, I don't dare want to not acknowledge His help in any of these.  Do we invite Him everywhere we go or whatever we are doing during our spare time?  When we acknowledge Him in all our ways(Prov 3:6), He promises to lead us down the right path.  This tells me that when He directs our paths, He works out everything in our life.  I truly believe in order to be stronger in the Lord, it's really all about inviting Him and acknowledging Him in every aspect of our lives.  Even to the point of asking Him to help us brush our teeth, comb our hair, iron our cloting, etc!  He loves us so much He tells us that He knows the numbers of hairs on our head (Luke 12:7), which to me means to even ask Him to help us find the right shampoo and/or purchase the best products to look after our body, which is His temple.

     Many times, I notice people asking/praying to God to "be with Brother/Sister so and so".  I personally don't think we need to pray and ask God something He already told us, because He promises us that He never leaves us nor will ever forsake us (Heb 13:5).  Because He is so faithful to His promises, I think the better prayer for us to pray is "Lord, help me to acknowledge You in all my ways".  This puts the emphasis on knowing that He is already faithful (knowing He never leaves us), but our need to ask Him to help us acknowledge Him more and more into our daily lives.

     When it all comes down to it, He wants us to involve Him in every aspect of our lives and every detail of our lives because this is one way of knowing He loves and cares for each of us because He cares about the little details equally to the big agendas in our lives.  When you know someone who loves you so much, you will want them to be involved with you in every aspect of your daily activities.  The same thing is with God.  If we want to acknowledge our loved ones this much, shouldn't we acknowledge the One who loves us that much more?  Too many people in our nation only cry out to God and acknowledge Him when things go wrong, but fail to thank Him when things are going good.  Some only acknowledge Him just on Sundays or only a few minutes in any given day or when we have major and important decisions to make.  We need to encourage one another to acknowledge Him in every part of our day and every part of our activity in our lives because I believe He wants us to open our heart to involve Him and invite Him into every detail of our lives.  We simply deceive ourselves when we don't think we need His help in every detail of our lives in the first place.  When we know He loves us greatly, we are going to want to involve Him in every area of our life.

     In a nutshell, I believe this is the simplicity and entirety of what Christianity is all about.  To be an example of acknowledging and inviting Him to be Lord over "ALL" of our daily activities.  We wouldn't be in existence and wouldn't be enjoying every aspect of life if it weren't for His great love and mercy towards us in the first place.  I believe we are stronger in the Lord by having much more confidence in Him when we choose to have this wonderful rich deep relationship He so much wants us to have with Him.  As He wants that relationship with us, the question is, how much are we willing to acknowledge Him in our daily activities?  Religion is complicated.  Christianity is simple. Let's not complicate ourselves from having that wonderful relationship with our dear Lord first and foremost.

     If this blesses you, please share my blogs with many others whom you know could also benefit.  I believe just by sharing, you will share in the greater eternal rewards simply by being a blessing to someone else. 

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/

In quietness and in (trusting)confidence shall be your strength (Isa 30:15b)