Category Archives: Faith
Rejoice Because… II
Rom.5:11 “So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God” [with emphasis].
You are going to rejoice because the Lord will rescue you, God will bless the works of your hands, God will give you answers for your enemies, your giving will be wholeheartedly, and because God will reign over you. 1 Chr.16:31 “Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Tell all the nations, “The Lord reigns!” Make a list in your prayer journal of all these things that have been spoken into your life so that you can connect with everything that has been spoken over you. It was not just spoken because I had a good idea. I was led to speak. And in your devotion time, bring the list before God with rejoicing and watch what He will do.
Key
Luke 1: 46 “…Oh, how my soul praises the Lord. 47 How my spirit rejoices in God my Savior! 48 For he took notice of his lowly servant girl, and from now on all generations will call me blessed. 49 For the Mighty One is holy, and he has done great things for me”
Do not live an ordinary life and do not be afraid of God using you. A lot of you reading this today are really powerful but you cannot continue to do nothing. I pray that you will change today, in Jesus Name. You need to stretch yourself even in your giving. You cannot continue to give only what you are comfortable with; stretch yourself! If you only give what is comfortable then how can you see the miraculous? I always stretch my giving. There were seasons in my life that my wife thought I was crazy but now we are on the same page in giving. As a church, we always stretch our giving.
Step Out
Luke 1: 38 “Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her”
Miracles only happen outside of your comfort zone. I think you should write that down. Miracles happen only outside of your comfort zone. Miracles do not happen in your comfort zone. Take fasting for instance; each time I have to wait on God, I am deliberate about pushing myself out of my comfort zone. Do you know that it is possible to fast and remain in your comfort zone? And nothing would have shifted. You have to always push yourself out of the comfort zone because that is where miracles happen.
Some people are too complacent. They will kick and fight against anything that attempts to take them out of their comfort zone. Guess what? If you want to see the miraculous Read the rest of this entry
Embrace It
Luke 1: 38 “Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her”.
God’s plan was revealed to Mary and she did not beg for it not to happen. She did not laugh it off because it seemed impossible; rather she just embraced God. It shows the attitude of complete availability to God. Mary was completely available to God. Are you completely available to God? Secondly, Mary said it is a privilege to serve God. You mean I will sweep the floor for God’s people? It is a privilege to serve God. It is an honour. Mary devoted herself to God’s plan and it took tremendous courage to do it. God’s call is not trivial.
When you decide to go God’s way, there is always a risk and a cost. It is a complete package. I cannot tell you that God’s call will always be rosy because it would not be true. Read the rest of this entry
Your Peace
Ps.91:1 “Whoever goes to the Lord for safety, whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty, 2 can say to him, “You are my defender and protector. You are my God; in you I trust.” [GNB, with emphasis].
In facing our fears there are some facts that you and I must know. The first fact is that fear occurs when we feel out of control. The second fact is that most of life’s issues are beyond our control. These two facts clearly show that life is filled with fear. The secret to overcoming all fears is not in a formula or in a ten steps list of to-dos. The key to overcoming all fears is a person and that person is Jesus.
Go To God!
Matt.8:25 The disciples went and woke him up, shouting, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!”
Where you run to when you have a crisis reveals who your saviour is. It is not where you go when you have it all together and you are well dressed on Sunday that reveals who your saviour is. Who your saviour is has nothing to do with the place you run to when you have just bought a new car. Where do you run to when you have a crisis? If it is not to Jesus, you are going to have a problem with storms because only Jesus can calm the wind and the storms.
Relax!
Isaiah 43: 2 “When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.”
Do not be afraid! Instead have the kind of confidence, the God kind of confidence that is hinged in God’s truth. Why? You should not be afraid because as a child of God, you never go through crisis alone. The choice to tap into God or not is another thing entirely. But be confident about this very thing, you never go through crisis alone. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. If God is near then there is no fear. Since God is near then there is no fear. You and I must be focused on God’s closeness.
Chill Pill
John 16:33 “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” [NIV, with emphasis]
I have had to travel by air a number of times and in this short period I have seen some turbulence, but nothing like what I experienced on one particular flight – and, I have not seen a storm like it till this very day. The pilots described what we faced as a “lightning mine”. We could literally see the lightning miss the wing of the aircraft by inches. And sometimes the plane would be in free fall for about twenty seconds. It was a terrible experience.
In Faith
Matt.8: 24 “Suddenly a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.25 The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!” [NIV]
From today’s Scripture reference, we can see that there are two ways to respond to storms. The disciples exemplify the first way, which is to panic. They panicked and all their years of experience faded away. Jesus exemplifies the second way to react to storms, Matt.8:24 “…so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping.” Jesus responded in peace. Don’t you just love Jesus?
The first thing we see in this story about Jesus is that He was human. Jesus had preached all day and he was tired. Jesus was human. Read the rest of this entry
God Is
Prov. 3:25-26 “Have no fear of sudden disaster . . . for the Lord is your security.”
I pray that if there is still any form of fear in our lives, it will find its way out, in Jesus Name. Something that sometimes tries to cripple us is the fact that we are afraid of crisis that we have not anticipated. Today, God will set us totally free of such fears, in Jesus Name. The fear of accidents, the fear of disasters; people do not want to travel to certain parts of the world because they are afraid of earthquakes. There are all sorts of unexpected incidents these days that can cause us to be afraid.
