BLESSINGS & CURSES

Dearest Saints, When we talk about Blessings and Curses, I sense that many Believers often get sidetracked. The world would tell someone that when favorable situations happens to anyone, they consider it a blessing. And when unfavorable circumstances happen that are most unwelcoming, many consider these circumstances a curse. In a nutshell, I would like to define blessings as any situation (whether favorable or unfavorable) that is able to effectively deal with the heart and turn ones heart towards the Lord, or commit their heart by drawing closer to the Lord then before. When negative circumstances occur, if it turns our heart and affections towards God, it is equally a blessing. I like to consider alot of these circumstances as a "hidden blessing" all because it doesn't make sense to the world. During trials, the result of something that seems anything but a blessing is something that we may not want, but may very well need. Because in the end, the type of relationship we have with God is what is going to count and often times, it takes trials to draw our hearts away from the affections of this world and turn our heart to where it needs to be (to God). However, I believe that when good fortune comes to many people, including Christians and they don't bother to give the time of day to give God thanks, this becomes more of a "hidden curse" because of the accountability by failing to give Him thanks and remaining indifferent, which I consider sins of omission (failing to do what is right), which is sin before God (James 4:17). For Christians, if their heart remains complacent and their is no positive change through any good fortune that has come about, I believe it will be far worse for Gods people to remain unthankful with no change of heart to draw closer to God because these are the times we should be encouraged and bring hope to others through our testimony and praises. Complacency should have NO place in any Christians lives. Someone who continues to go through trials or any unfortunate set of circumstances while drawing closer in relationship to God is far better off then anyone who seemingly has everything going for them but has no desire for God or desire to draw closer to God. This is what I often call a "hidden curse" because most people don't understand the end result or the accountability each one will need to give. Therefore, we cannot afford to get ourselves trapped into assuming that blessings only come by favorable circumstances and curses are anything else but! Some of the roughest valleys of my life resulted in richer blessings then any other times because it drew my heart away from having any worldly affections and worldly ambitions that often got in the way with having the right relationship with God. My trials helped me to understand what is really important in life. I know for a fact that had I got what I wanted out of life, I would have remained complacent or indifferent towards the things of God which would have been anything but a blessing. When you read Luke 16:19-25, tells His Disciples about the rich man and Lazarus (the Beggar). A time came that they were going to give an account of their lives. The rich man was sent to Hades (a place of torment) and Lazarus was safe in Paradise (Abrahams bosom). The rich man cried out in agony for mercy being tormented in flames. Abraham mentions to this rich man that he had his reward by eating scrumptuously and living lavishly and while Lazarus was living as a beggar. To the world, the rich man would be considered most blessed and Lazarus would be considered accursed. I would dare say that the rich man would have been glad to turn back the time and trade places with Lazarus who ended up being by far more blessed then the rich man in all his comfortable life. So how can anyone who sees the end say that the rich man was more blessed? The main point I want to emphasize is that no matter what we may be going through, WE CAN NOT AFFORD LOSE HOPE by simply determining our circumstances whether it be favorable or unfavorable. The question we need to ask ourselves is: "Is our heart being drawn closer and closer towards Him"? This is why when we pray for others, we can't just pray that the storms would be diverted, or just pray for physical, emotional or relational needs. We need to pray the prayers that matter most. That peoples hearts would turn to God and those whose hearts are turned to God, draw even closer to have a deeper and closer relationship with Him than before. I would rather no prayers be answered for anyone if it is not going to draw the heart closer to God because that is what is going to count in the end. Like God tells us: "I would that we would all prosper AND walk in divine health, just as our soul FIRST PROSPERS" (3 John 2). Therefore, it is more important to God for the condition of our heart then to simply have our prayers answered the way we would want them answered. God cuts the bad branches off to get rid of all ungodly affections and ungodly ambitions from our lives. However, He not only cuts the bad branches, but also prunes good branches so that a person who may be bearing fruit, will bear more and better, more excellent fruit (John 15:2). Therefore, it is imperative that we put our Trust in an "all-wise" and "all-loving" God who knows how to bring us through the right circumstances to bring out the best in us and for us. We just have to make a decision to cooperate with Him. When we invite Him to help us turn our heart (our love) towards Him more and more, this is really what it means to be most blessed. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

Enter Into His Throne Room

Dearest Saints, I want to share something special that God gave me a thought. It should always be a delight to hunger for a revelatory Word from God because it encourages us and strengthens us in Him. When we receive knowledge of a Word, it becomes a "knowing" in our minds. But to receive a revelation is to receive it with a "greater understanding" that is heart changing which is powerful. As I was watching a program and taking time to meditate on what was being preached, God gave me a neat revelation I want to share. Whenever we come to prayer, let's not just envision us being down here and our Heavenly Father sitting on His Throne multi-millions of miles away, even though we know our prayers are heard in Heaven and is being collected in golden bowls of incense (Rev 5:8). But when we come to Him in prayer, let's envision ourselves literally entering into His Throne Room in Heaven and falling down to worship Him in His presence in Heaven, praising Him and then giving Him our petitions, just like Isaiah was before the Lord in Isaiah 6. For He tells us in Eph 2:6 that we ARE already raised up with Him and are seated with Him in Heavenly places (and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the Heavenly places in Christ Jesus Eph 2:6). Notice He doesn't say "we will", but as His Children, we are already raised up with Him and are already seated with Him in Heavenly places. And He also tells us to draw near to Gods Throne boldly & confidently so we can obtain His Grace & Mercy in our time of need (Heb 4:16). So that means we should literally see ourselves entering into the Holy of Holies (in Heaven) and kneeling right in His presence as He sits on His Throne in Heaven rather then just seeing ourselves here and God "up there"! I believe this encourages our heart to know we can come right before Him and we can just be in awe of His presence. I also thought that when we do see ourselves approaching His Throne before our faces, we need to remove everything that hinders us from receiving this fully from Him simply by giving Him all our broken-ness and receiving His fullness of love for us, His Goodness and Divine favor He so much wants to bestow upon us. Anything that has negatively happened to us in the past, God is the One who always brings correction to those who oppose His commands and those who deal treacherously with His Children and we have that divine favor that no matter how bad our past has been, we can receive DOUBLE BLESSINGS (Isa 61:7 and Zech 9:12b)that far exceeds any trouble we have ever received. Let us allow Him to teach us to give Him all of our fragments and anticipate as we wait with that indescribable Hope of what He wills for you and wants to do for you and through you (Zech 9:12a). I also just received a thought that we "need" to first give Him all our broken fragments if we expect Him to use them to make a beautiful vessel as His chosen Ones. But He cannot use our fragments to fix them on our behalf if we don't learn to give it to Him in the first place. When we do, He can take every broken pieces from our lives and make it something far more beautiful then we can ever imagine. Let's see ourselves literally entering into His Throne Room (seated with Him in Heavenly places) and give Him "ALL" of our fragments (every circumstances you have suffered injustice, any wrong-doing for no reason or other fragments He reveals to You to give to Him) and expect Him to prepare a beautiful work for you, to you and through you to be His Adorned & Blessed Vessel that will move us to Worship Him in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23) and in the beauty of holiness (Ps 96:9). We can receive this when we truly believe Jesus paid our ransom in full on our behalf!! In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

Compromising is NOT an Option - Part 1

Dearest Saints of the Most High, I always want to share what has been a concern for me and what God deals with me to share with you. Because we should know that anytime God deals anything with us, it's because He wants to help us become more mature and be stronger in Him in order to become more like Christ. And when He teaches us, we need to STOP just keeping what we learn within ourselves and START helping others and teach others what God teaches us about. This is what Discipling is all about. We should "want" to help others when we know all the help we have been given. He tells us that when we freely receive from Him, we are to freely give (to others) Matt 10:8. What better gift can we give to others then to share with them what God is doing for each of us in our lives? Just recently, I have been thinking of how many times we may compromise God in our walk with Him. This compromising God takes in many variations. A good definition of being a compromiser of God is reducing Him to our level of thinking or understanding. We do this often by simply limiting of who He really is, limiting His great love for us, limiting His ability to care for us and so on. I think one of the reasons why we compromise who God is and His will for us is because we think too highly of ourselves and our abilities! I have to admit I have fallen into that trap more times then I care to admit. When we don't give His Word the "Highest Value" to live our life and seeking the highest wisdom that only comes from above, we are robbed by the enemy from ever living the abundant life that He tells us He wants to give us (John 10:10b). When we compromise, we are fulfilling the enemy's plan by allowing him to rob us of receiving Gods best for us. The enemy comes only to rob, kill and destroy (John 10:10a). But, Jesus has come to give us life and life in abundance (John 10:10b). We can only receive abundance of His peace and joy when we choose to follow the wisdom of His Word over our way of thinking and our own understanding. One of the main culprits of being a compromiser is limiting Gods total Sovereignty. When I talk about His Sovereignty, I am talking about His Omnipresence (He is everywhere at all times); His Omnipotence (He is "All-Powerful",able to do all things; His Omniscience (He is "All-Knowing" of everything created and for future events) and He is Omnisapient, (who is All-Wise) because He knows what is best for us by far more then anyone of us can ever think. We compromise when we know in our spirit (when God talks to us) to do one thing, but we make excuses to do otherwise. When we meditate on His Sovereignty, we need to just come to the conclusion that He is AWESOME and far beyond our own intellect and our own understanding!! Proverbs 3:5,6 is one of my favorite verses that tells us that we are not to lean on our own understanding, but to Trust in Him in All our ways! And He promises by doing that, that He will make our paths straight. If God is to be our God, that means WE NEED TO CHOOSE HIS WAYS REGARDLESS! One of the Brothers was having a disagreement with me about God's Foreknowledge. Just because this man couldn't understand how God can know future events when it has not yet happened? We need to come to that place to have the "Child-like Faith" and confess "I may not understand, but I trust You Lord". How was it that all the prophecies were written before Christ fulfilled each one of them? In Jer 1:5, He tells us that He foreknew each of us before we were ever born. Like I mentioned one time before, we have to STOP limiting God of who He is just because we don't understand. We have to come to the place that God is far greater then our limited thinking. This is one of the issues that we have to STOP COMPROMISING by limiting who He is. I like what I heard one time when someone said: "If we could always figure out God, then He wouldn't be God in the first place, we wouldn't have that reverential fear of Him like we need to have and He wouldn't be worthy of our worship of Him. How can we expect to have any "Awe" or "Reverential Fear" of Him if we always brought Him down to our limited thinking and understanding of Him? Another area I find many of us who have compromised God is His love and care for us. Many times in my past, I questioned God "Why God Why"? Just because I didn't understand why I had to go through what I had gone through. Now that I look back, I can now see what He was up to. We often "get-it" after we have gone through, but our God sees before-hand of what we need. Which is why we need to STOP COMPROMISING His Wisdom for our lives and STOP COMPROMISING Who He is and what His Word tells us. It wasn't until I started doing what the Word tells me to do before I started seeing real victory taking place in my life. I didn't have any victory before all because I now realize I failed to Use the Word like He tells us to. We also often compromise Him simply by following the traditions of our fore-fathers rather then being lead by His Spirit. This is why Jesus mentioned to His Disciples and warned them about forsaking God just by following the "traditions of Men" (Matt 15:6; Mark 7:8-13; Col 2:8). If it were never a problem, it wouldn't be mentioned in the Word. Anytime anything is in the Word, it's because man has a problem with it and God needs to reveal these things to us to help us. Regardless of what our fore-fathers did, we need to seek Gods Spirit to direct us. Maybe our fore-fathers did what was right and excellent, but God admonishes us to continue improving and striving to do more and do greater. He even tells us that we would do greater things than He did because He is going to the Father (John 14:12). I can't imagine how we can do greater things than what He did, but that's what He says. We just have to believe what He says regardless of what we think, which is what justifies us before Him. We are justified in Him simply because we believe Him (Gal 2:16). We cannot afford to doubt or have unbelief of His Word which is what happens when we compromise the instruction of His Word which is our "Life-Line". I would like to continue on with this again because alot can be said about compromising God and His Word for our very lives. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

DEALING WITH COVETOUSNESS - PART 2

Blessed Saints, In continuing dealing with covetousness, I want to emphasize that when we desire for God to help us meet our needs, that is what we should do to go before the Throne of Grace. We should never feel guilty of going to God and seeking Him to meet our needs or petition Him to help bless us further in order to bless others more. I want to say to many of you who don't live in the affluent countries that are in great need of items that you desire to have. I so appreciate your petitions for God to meet your needs and not your "greeds". When I visited Zambia back in 2006, I admire those who are without (like a mode of any transportation) whom walked mile after mile after mile to carry groceries home, carry buckets of water or even just to go to an afternoon Bible Study service out in the middle of the country miles away from the closest town. When I was a passenger with a dear Pastoral couple from Zambia while driving to a Wednesday afternoon service, many people would be walking over to that service that was still at least 8 miles away, walking on foot. God only knows how many miles they have trekked already at that point. They could have very well complained, but didn't. Ironically, I hear more people complain who have more then they need in their abundance then those who have very little and yet are thankful to what little they do have. When I talk about the term covetous, this is when it is a definite problem and needs to be dealt with when those of us who already have an abundance beyond our needs and we continue to remain dis-satisfied by coveting more and more. Dealing mostly with being covetous is failing to see the difference between our "wants" to our "needs". One of the things that often identify having a problem with covetousness is being unthankful for what we already have. Again, this is someone who sees the glass half empty and fails to see the same glass half full by thanking God for what we have. When we are thankless, we do the exact opposite of His Good and Perfect will for us. I always have said that to silence a complainer, they need to live under the conditions of many who live in poverty for awhile and really experience how they live. Just like the prodigal son had to find out the hard way and realize what he did have at home by having lost all. It often takes "going through" tough times to really appreciate what we do have. For many of those who have dealt with being covetous (like myself in the past), it takes circumstances of adversity to put our priorities into perspective. Going through adversity often helps us to make that pivotal decision to finally say "I give up Lord...You take over". That's often what the Lord wants to see is a surrendered heart to Him which is honestly the best place to be for the Lord to use His people. It took the prodigal Son to eat from the same pen as the pigs before he came to his senses to return to his fathers home (Luke 15:16,17). It took Nebuchadnezzar eating grass with the wild oxen and be outside his palace long enough for his nails to grow long before he came to his senses (Dan 4:33,34). I can't imagine how it took 7 years for this king to live under these harsh conditions before he came to his senses. Will it take that long for us to finally "get it"? It takes many of us to become frusterated with being so pre-occupied with our own agendas to realize that everything we work for or long for just to accumulate or gain "more toys", a bigger home, more furnishings (beyond what we really need) is futile and meaningless. It often takes a person to become "sick and tired" to make the necessary changes in life that finally pulls out the weeds that choke our relationship with Christ. Just as one of the parables of the seeds Christ talks to His Disciples about (Matt 13:7,22). Many people often remain frusterated because they keep fighting against their conscience of what God is trying to tell them rather then surrendering to His will for their lives. When the Israelites complained to God and Moses because they were tired of manna from Heaven and they wanted to eat meat. So God gave them what they wanted, but they got to the point that they were up to their nostrils in meat and finally made them sick (Num 11:20). Sometimes God needs to make us sick of things that will turn our hearts to seek His will and turn away from covetousness. The times when we are often frusterated or going through adversity is normally when a person evaluates the importance or purpose in his/her own life. These circumstances is what is necessary to cause a person to focus on the end result and question themselves: What it is we want to accomplish? What is the purpose to all of my labours and ambitions? If we are frusterated, are we focusing our ambitions and accomplishments in life more then having a rich relationship with God? As for myself from what I have learned through trials, I looked at the end result of what I want to accomplish in life, it made me question my priorities and my relationship with God. If circumstances remained at ease, I would not have the relationship with God today like I am blessed to have. When a person gets comfortable in their circumstances, God can't do much. It takes a hungry and surrendered heart for God to see His power working through you. Christ talks about a servant who was compared to someone who is covetous, yet this servant had more then enough to be content. This particular man had all he needed, but wasn't satisfied. He wanted more. He wanted to build bigger barns and just to be satisfied by eating and drinking to be merry, just so he could live a life of ease (Luke 12:16-21). When that is our goal, we need to ask further...then what? There was no mention about having any concern about the things of God. Then Christ tells His Disciples by saying about this man: "You fool, your soul is going to be required of you this night". This mans labour was all in vain and he lost everything simply because he was rich towards the ambitions of this world, but not rich in relationship with God. When we will take the time to evaluate our lives, our ambitions, we need to ask ourselves: Where am I placing my priority in life? What is the purpose in all of this? It took adversity and frusteration in my life to become sober about this and because of it, my decision to follow God was an easy decision because I realized the vanity of being ambitious when I failed to put God first in my life. Therefore, we need to stop fighting against adversities in our life because it may be just what we need to help us focus on what is really important. God may be calling some of you out of this bondage of covetousness to discover its worthlessness. If you haven't read Ecclessiates, I would highly recommend it and see where you may fit in all of this. It only comes when we put God first in our lives and make it our lifes priority to seek to serve Him and allow Him to govern our lives as our Lord and personal Saviour that rewards man with that joy unspeakable and inner peace that the world cannot ever satisfy. Coveting the things of this world will never satisfy ones soul. A person who labours for the things of this world will one day realize all was done in vanity which will end up having nothing but regret. On the other hand, God promises that those who labour for the Lord will never be in vain (1 Cor 15 58) and will never come with any regret. God only helps those who invite Him to do so. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

DEADLY SNARES of COVETOUSNESS - PART 1

Dearest Saints When I stop and consider the things that are taking place around each of us, it is amazing how so many people are trapped in a snare called "Covetousness". I believe, like many of us who long for His return can identify that we are living in the days that Christ is coming soon and we need to be prepared. Just like what was mentioned in the previous series about the wise virgins who were prepared and those of whom were totally unprepared. In order for many of Gods people to be ready, we need to continue to see our need for the Holy Spirit to help us strip off everything that is contrary to Gods will which includes being covetous (Col 3:5). Also, a couple of series ago, I mentioned where Jesus tells a parable about the Wedding that is taking place and an individual was found by the Master by not wearing the wedding garments. I believe covetousness is like wearing a garment that is not fit to be present at the wedding feast Jesus mentioned about. When a person remains covetous, they are not being properly clothed with Christ like we need to be. Jesus spoke harshly about casting out this individual who was not wearing the proper garments and he suffered greatly because of it. Being covetous is being dis-satisfied with what the Lord generously provides. When a person will just stop and consider all that the Lord provides for all of us to enjoy in this world and all that He has ever suffered so we can have and be so blessed, no wonder it angers Him for anyone of us to remain covetous. Covetous is like telling God: "Lord, all You ever did for me and all You ever have provided for me is not enough, I want You to do more for me"!! It becomes all about the "me" syndrome that this world is infatuated with. I can't imagine how much that must burden Him. In Numbers Chapter 11, the anger of the Lord was ready to destroy the people who complained (vs 33, 34) all because they were ever so dis-satisfied with what the Lord was providing them daily. Again, their constant whining and complaining burdened God and Moses. Moses pleaded with God who relented from immediately destroying these peoople, but promised that these complainers would never enter the Promised Land (Num 14:23). God relented because Moses was concerned about Gods reputation and what the other nations would have a negative report against God (Num 14:13-16). The complainers were concerned about themselves while Moses was more concerned about God. People being covetous puts a great burden on other people who are involved in their lives. No matter how many hours a family member works to earn a living to put more then enough food on the table, to put all the clothes on ones back, to wear comfortable shoes, have a vehicle to commute to wherever they want to go, to sleep in a warm bed, to provide a roof over their heads and many more things to enjoy, is never enough for someone who remains covetous. This is a real tragedy for many family members who are burdened by loved ones who remain so covetous that they continue to always focus on what they don't have rather then being thankful for what we do have. This is one of the signs of the end of the age of people being unthankful (remaining covetous) 2 Tim 3:2. I have seen families who have so little material possessions and be totally satisfied, while those who have so much are never satisfied. This is why being covetous for the things of this world WILL NEVER SATISFY no matter what. This compares to someone who sees the glass half full (someone who is positive and thankful to what they have) and someone else with the same glass sees it as being half empty (they are unthankful and only look at what they do not have). For those of you who are parents, just think when you do everything you possibly can for your children and they never appreciate all you ever do for them, it's the same with when we are covetous and complain to God. Ecclessiastes is an excellent read. This entire book reveals how Solomon who was considered the wealthiest man on earth realized that having all the money, material possessions to try to satisfy the eyes and having all the entertainment was nothing but vanity without having a relationship with God. When goods increase, they who eat them increase also. And what gain is there to their owner except to see them with his eyes (Eccl 5:11)? There is a great cost to many peoples lives and those who are closely related to them when covetousness is a real factor that only negatively affects those we love and are close to. A cost that often comes at a far greater price then one can ever imagine. When we stop to consider and we give time to read and study the book of Ecclesiates, we need to ask ourselves: "Am I truly satisfied with what the Lord has blessed me with, or do I complain to God and remain unthankful? Have our "wants" now become our "needs"? What we have survived without in the past now seems to be a "need" to many, which is nothing but a trap of being covetous. The Israelites who remained wandering through the desert for 40 years what should have only taken 11 days was their portion all because they complained and were not satisfied with all the Lord has done for them (Num 14:28-34). In Luke 2:25-27, a man named Simeon who was considered a righteous man before God. He received a revelation from the Holy Spirit that he would be able to see the Messiah before he departed. He was in the temple when Joseph & Mary brought in their infant Jesus. When Simeon held Him in his arms and just saw the face of Jesus, He was overjoyed and declared that "Now that I have seen salvation with my eyes, your Servant is ready to depart (Luke 2:27-30). It only took just looking to the face of Christ that brough total satisfaction to him. This is an indication that when we seek the face of God like Simeon did (longing to have that wonderful relationship with Him), this is the only thing that truly satisfies ones soul. All the wealth and entertainment of this world will never satisfy like having that wonderful relationship with God. It's a tremendous liberation and freedom to know that those of us who long to continue to have that rich relationship with Him can be so satisfied with so little of this world and we can enjoy having the Peace of God and Peace with God that the world craves for can never have. Having a rich relationship with Christ is having Godliness and contentment that has far greater gain (1 Tim 6:6). I would like to continue on to identify of how covetousness has been the result of so many and how we can be delivered from the bondages thereof. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

BE SPIRIT FILLED

Dearest Saints, In talking with other Christians, I have found that the parable of the 10 Virgins seems to be more controversial than others. If any doctrine, (no matter how trivial it may seem) is in the Word, there is a need to study it (2 Tim 3:15-17). Out of the 10 Virgins, five were found to be wise and five were foolish (Matt 25:2). For myself, when we think about Virgins in a physical sense, it refers to someone who is untouched and is clean, pure and undefiled. In comparison, for someone to be compared to a virgin in a spiritual sense, it only makes sense that those of us who have renounced living a life of sin, to accept and receive the finished and complete work of Christ by asking Him to become our Lord and personal Saviour (Romans 10: 9,10), those are the only ones who are Virgins because it is only by the Blood of Jesus that we are Redeemed (made clean). Those who don't bother to receive Him don't have the benefit of His completed work for them. You can't ever expect anyone who has never invited Christ and never accepted Christ's completed work that only He could ever accomplish on our behalf ever be considered a virgin in the text the He explains to His Disciples. Therefore, when He talks about the ten Virgins, this refers only to the Believers and does not include any unbelievers. Therefore, when Christ explains this parable to His Disciples, He tells them that out of all Believers, there are many that are wise and equally many who are foolish (un-wise). The difference between those who are wise and those who are not wise was the fact that half of them had additional oil in their flasks and the others had only very little oil. The lamp and the Light that emanates from the Lamp signifies Christ who is the reflection of God the Father (John 8:12). He is the Word (John 1:1,14) that is a Lamp unto our feet and a Light unto our path (Psalm 119:105). Notice that all Ten Virgins each had a lamp (which is Christ). However, the lamp does no good or serves no purpose if we don't have oil to help light the lamp. The Oil signifies the Holy Spirit who is the One who empowers us, who gives us knowledge and revelation of revealing Christ to us and enables us to be whom God calls us to be. Again, just because you are carrying a lamp, doesn't mean the lamp works because we fail to have enough oil to keep it lit. In comparison to a car, you can have it just sitting in the garage, but it does no good or serves no purpose if you don't have fuel or oil to make the vehicle go anywhere. For myself, the Bible (Gods inspired Word) are His direct instructions for Believers and not Unbelievers. The reason why I say it is not for unbelievers is that no matter how many times they read the Bible, it does them no good if they never accept the finished work that only Christ Himself could complete on our behalf. A person who remains an unbeliever will never benefit or have any eternal reward just by trying to read His Word. Christ tells us that His Word is Spirit and life (John 6:63). And when those who are spiritually dead (not Born-again), His Word remains spiritually unclear (1 Cor 2:14). How can a person expect someone who is spiritually dead to understand anything that is Spirit/Life? That is why Gods Spirit sent Philip to preach the Word to the Ethiopian Eunuch when he was reading about Isaiah. After Philip asked the Eunuch if he understood what he was reading, the Eunuch replied: How can I understand when I need someone to help preach and explain the book of the prophecy of Isaiah to me (Acts 8:30,31)? It took this man of God who was a Believer to help explain the truth about the Word so that the Eunuch was able to understand it and later be Baptized (vs 35). So when God instructs us in His Word about the dangers of forsaking His will and the consequences of not carrying enough oil, He is speaking to Believers. Even though God's Spirit lives within us (2 Tim 1:14), we are admonished to "hold fast"(vs 13) and "Guard ourselves" (vs 14). God tells us that we can quench the Spirit (1 Thess 5:19). Even though He resides within the Believer, we can grieve the Spirit and cause His Spirit within us to dry up when we fail to hold fast, fail to guard ourselves and fail to love His Word and become desensitized. If it were not possible for the Believer to quench the Spirit, why would God have mentioned it in His Word? Christ tells the Disciples in (Luke 11:11-13) about a child asking an earthly father for a loaf of bread, will he give him a stone; or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion (vs 12)? If then you who are evil know how to give good gifts, how much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask and continue to ask Him (vs 13). Are we faithfully asking/entrusting Him to keep us filled with His Spirit? What is stopping some people from just simply asking God to be filled with the Spirit? Just like unbelief is a deterrent for Christ to do anything (Matt 13:58), if we don't acknowledge our need and delight of His Spirit to empower us, give us wisdom, revelation and acknowledge our desperate need of Him in all things, are we like those who are foolish that may be carrying around very little (if not, no oil at all)? After all, Christ sent His Spirit to do the work that we so desperately need because He went to be with His Father (John 16:10-15). So everything that we are benefitting from having knowledge of Him, His Word and having any power to do anything spiritually beneficial comes from His Spirit. It's not by any might or any power, but only by Gods Spirit (Zech 4:6). So why not acknowledge our need of His Spirit and allow Him to fill us with overflowing so we can be ready like the five Virgins who were the only Believers to be ready when the Bride-Groom should come? Our God is a relational God and even though there is nothing He cannot do, He will not push His agenda on us. And if we fail to constantly acknowledge His need, His presence and our desire for the power of His Spirit to work through us and enable us, His Spirit will only complete the measure that we permit Him to do for us and through us. Therefore, let's not quench the Holy Spirit like the Word warns us that we may possibly do. Like the 5 foolish Virgins (Believers), it was too late for them because they are outside knocking on the door and they were not permitted to enter in (Matt 25:11,12). This to me is a signal that many Believers are not going to be ready because they dried up the Oil of the Spirit within them by quenching the Spirit that was an indication of not having enough oil and failing to continually acknowledge our need of His Spirit. Let's be counted as one of the 5 wise Virgins who were ready by asking the Spirit of God to be filled with the Spirit, to help us, and acknowledge our need of His sweet presence in every way. We desperately need the working power and presence of His Spirit to work mightily within us and through us if we ever expect to be ready at His soon coming. The Light of Christ does no good and the lamp serves no purpose if we don't carry the fullness of the Oil of the Spirit within us. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/

PARABLES of HIS GREAT TEACHING

The teachings of Christ is so awesome that it goes beyond any human logic which is why we need to be determined to seek the rich wisdom of His Life-Giving Word to receive it only by faith and refuse to simply rely on our own understanding (Prov 3:5,6). We need to be asking Him to reveal the deeper meaning of His Word every time we look to read and study His Word because it is the only eternal life-line that our souls require. I realize how His Word is proven over and over again, when we take more time to seek His Word, He reveals the in-depth riches of what He is saying. Prov 14:6 tells us that knowledge comes easily to the discerning (those who will take the time to study and meditate on His Word). One of the parables Jesus was talking about is the Pearl of Great Price (Matt 13:45). When I think of what He is trying to tell us, Christ talks about being that "Pearl of Great Price". In this parable, a wise person understands that having a deeper relationship with Him is far more valuable than any tangible material things or relying on our own intuition. This person even goes to the point of choosing to replace everything that interferes with their relationship with God, taking every thought and/or belief that goes against Gods Word and chooses to obtain the heart relationship with Him instead. When a convinced sinner sees Christ as the gracious Saviour and invites Him to be his/her own Lord of their lives, everything else becomes worthless in order to have this rich relationship with Christ. They understand that a real relationship with Jesus is priceless to the point that everything else is worthless. Even to the point of getting rid of everything just to have that wonderful rich relationship with Christ (selling everything he has just to get that Pearl of Great Price). Another parable I always like talks about the Wedding Banquet (Matt 22:2-13). Again, even though I knew about this parable, this doesn't mean I fully understood it. Like anything He teaches, God reveals a deeper truth to His teaching when we will take the time to seek, just like seeking treasures and finding the Pearl of Great Price that was hidden in a field. Therefore, to find any hidden treasures, it takes time. Prov 2:1-7 is also a great passage that talks about gaining this valuable insight about taking time to seek Gods hidden treasures of His wisdom by having that reverential fear of Him. There is a lot more to the parable of the Wedding Banquet when I think about it more and more. The banquet He invites us to reveals first that what He offers to us is by far the BEST. When you think of a banquet, it is a type of formal event that has the best of everything (ie: silverware, cutlery, fine linen, finest crystal and the best choices of the abundance of prepared foods imaginable). Going to a cafeteria, lunchroom or having a buffet will never compare to having that feast that only a banquet offers. I like the fact that when He talks about giving a Banquet, this is an indication that He always only offers us THE VERY BEST that far exceeds any other type of event. This is comparing that what He offers (Banquet) will always far exceed what the world could/would ever offer to any of us. The sad reality I find is that many Christians remain a "cafeteria style" christian by only picking and choosing what they want to hear while not fully surrendering to His will and His way. The only way we can ever experience by enjoying that Banquet the Lord offers us is fully choosing Him and feasting on His Word, receiving what He tells us and choosing to live how He tells us to live above all else. When I go further to read about a person who goes into the banquet without wearing the wedding garment, Jesus mentions to His Disciples that this person is cast out where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt 22:11-13). I thought this was harsh and didn't quite understand this particular verse and why He would mention this. Again, I believe that many verses may not be clearly understood when we just skim over them and fail to take any time seeking Him to gain further understanding. When I thought of this more and more, I believe He is telling us that in order to be wearing the proper Wedding Garment, it is about putting on Christ (just like a garment). In Romans 13:14, He tells us to put on Christ (Wedding Garment) and make no provision for the flesh, which I believe means to say (that seeks to satisfy self at the expense of having a richer relationship with Him). We are told to strip off the old nature and put on Christ in its place, which again means to ask His help to remove every form of character that fails to represent Him favourably in our lives. Before we put on the nature of Christ, I believe we have to first of all strip off the old nature. I believe we often try to put on Christ without stripping off our old nature in the first place which doesn't work (Eph 4:22,23; Col 3:9). It's like sweeping dirt under a rug instead of getting rid of the dirt in the first place. God sees those who have put on Christ (wearing that wedding garment) and those who have not put on Christ. Just like when the Master notices the one person who is not wearing the Wedding Garment. When I think of this, it seems that this may be an indication that a person who thinks he/she will be invited to the Wedding Banquet will realize later that he/she is not welcome because they failed to live for Christ by being True Representatives for Him. God Himself knows who truly belongs to Him or not and those who try to enter in the banquet will be found out by the Master (God). Don't be caught thinking that a person is automatically invited to the Gods Wedding banquet and realize when its too late that He will cast you out from attending this time of celebration. If this was never the case, why would He have indicated this portion as part of His parable? This may be an indication that many Christians may not be properly prepared by not wearing that Wedding Garment. We are reminded in 2 Peter 1:10 to be certain that our calling and election is sure. Therefore, we are not to take our place as Christians for granted. The title of my Blog is called "Hope in God". But having this true hope in Him only comes to those who truly put Him first in their lives and live as though He is the "life-line to our very souls". No one can expect to receive the Hope of His promises if we are not going to allow Him to truly be our Lord in the first place. May we be that Bride that is prepared to receive that coming Bride-Groom (Jesus) so we will be welcomed into the great day celebrating with Him in that Wedding Banquet that He talks about (read Matt 25:1-10 about the 5 wise virgins who were ready). We cannot be fully prepared without His help. He will help us if we will only ask His help in the first place and for Him to help prepare our hearts to meet Him when He should return which many of us believe this is the generation that will experience His soon coming. He never forces His agenda on anyone, He only waits to those who ask and invite His help. Have you asked Him to help you be continually be prepared so you can attend His Wedding Banquet? Will He notice you wearing Christ (the Wedding Garments) or not? Let's have that Hope in God by inviting Him to help us be all we can to be Representatives of His Goodness and be fully clothed with Him. In the Matchless Name of Jesus Richard Ministry Encourager Answers2Prayer http://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife http://www.answers2prayer.org/