Category Archives: Surrender
“To God” “From Idols”
1Thess.1:9 (NIV) “…They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God” [with emphasis].
Can you identify the order that is outlined in today’s scriptural reference? God’s Word says turn to God from idols. In the original [in the Greek], it actually emphasizes the fact that you are not turning from idols to God, instead you turn to God from idols. Read the rest of this entry
Bow
Matt.2:11 “They entered the house and saw the child with his mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasure chests and gave him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.”
Please read Matt. 2:1-11. From the time of Jesus even up until this time, there are people who sincerely want to worship God. Their hearts are with God, their mouth are with God, they follow God like these wise men and they pay any price to locate Jesus. Read the rest of this entry
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
Happenings II
Gen.32:4 …“Give this message to my master Esau: ‘Humble greetings from your servant Jacob. Until now I have been living with Uncle Laban 6 …the messengers returned to Jacob and reported, “…Esau …is already on his way to meet you—with an army of 400 men!”
It is not enough to leave Laban’s house, you have to deal with “Esau”. We established yesterday that we all have “Esau” in our lives. “Esau” is that part of us that will sell the birthright in exchange for pleasure. “Esau” wants instant gratification and seeks to satisfy the longing of the flesh. It wants to eat the porridge and still keep the birthright. The “Esau” in us wants to feed habits that are leading us down the drain. Like Jacob, you need to face up to “Esau” and deal with it.
Commit
“Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood there and said, ‘Lord, I will give half my wealth to the poor and if I have overcharged people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!’ Luke 19:8.
The truth is that a few years ago, many of us would not have even imagined that we would be where we are today. I once saw a cartoon of two caterpillars talking about a butterfly. And one caterpillar was telling the other that it could never do what the butterfly was doing. In just a few weeks down the line, it became a butterfly. For a lot of us, just five years ago, you would not have Read the rest of this entry
The Tree
“And I, the Son of Man, have come to seek and save those like him who are lost.”’ Lu.19:10
From the story in Luke 19:1-10 [please read], you will see that Zacchaeus and Jesus had one thing in common. Zacchaeus had just come down from a tree and in one week from that day, Jesus was going to be crucified on a tree. So when Jesus moved near that tree, he saw the cross. He saw what He came for and He could not ignore Zacchaeus. How that applies to us is simple. The tree Read the rest of this entry
Re-Tune
“What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations” Gen.17:5
God’s instruction for us in this season is Re-Tune. To tune is to put into proper pitch. The purpose of tuning any instrument is to put it in proper pitch. To tune is also to adjust to a desired frequency. If you are tuning a radio, you are adjusting it to a desired frequency. To re-tune therefore means to put into proper pitch again. To re-tune means to readjust into a desired frequency.
Willingly
“He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam” (Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!” John 9:7
To submit means to willingly allow another person do to you as he or she pleases. Jesus smeared the man’s face with mud, making him look like a masquerade. The man was blind and then Jesus made him lose all physical appeal, so how will he get help. But this man stayed the course. He submitted to the entire process and he Read the rest of this entry
Submission
“Then He spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes” John 9:6
The story in John 9:1-41 is a perfect reference for how to engage the Person of Jesus and deploy the principles of Jesus. From this story, the person of Jesus was engaged and the principles of Jesus were deployed for the miracle to occur and for the glory of God to be revealed. Two principles of Jesus particularly were deployed in the story, before we saw the miracle happen and the glory of God Read the rest of this entry
