Asking for It ?

Asking For It

14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 15 See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up

to cause trouble and defile many. 

(Heb 12:14-15)

When Jesus was on the cross, He said 7 things that I think its worth listening to and understanding it. It will change your life and attitude towards relationships especially between us and God and between people. You may disagree with me but can I say that I think, alot of negative reactions non-christians have towards the Church and Christians today is something that is self-inflicted. Christians have been over bearing, condensending and insensitive to the feelings of others. When sharing about Jesus to others, we have ignored the spatiality and have disrespect other view points and values.

At this point of time, we are on the cross roads of life. We often reach this point in our walk in God and I believe this are moments we need to take stock of our actions, speech, values..we need to examine ourselves first. The only thing we do when we are at the cross-roads of life..is to apply the cross on our wrong priorities, misplace judgments, etc and die to self !.

So lets see what did Jesus say and we will know how to respond when we are standing at the cross roads of life.

So the 7 things that Jesus said when He was on the cross 

1) "...It is finished!" John 19:30 (NIV)
When Jesus was on the cross, He cried out loudly that "it is finished". He declared that through His own sacrifice, the curse of SIN has been destroyed. He declared that the condemnation of Satan is everlasting. He declared that His sacrifice for us...He is the propitiation of our lives back to God ! What does this mean to us ? It means that in our journey to succeed, to significance begins with dying to self. Most of the time, a new beginning only is birth when the old passes away.  Isaiah declared,  " In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. "  The moment pride dies, the moment we stop trying to play God, we will see God. Only in Holiness, we will see God. Only when our character shines with Jesus, only then will people see Jesus in us. The power of Christ is in You. Because JEsus is in You...and that power is waiting to be unleash ! LET GO !


2) "...My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46 (NIV)
At the cross roads of life, sometimes God let us go through desert moments. It is as though nobody cares. Nobody bothers. Forgotten ? Eventhough it feels that way, it is far from the truth. God is always faithful to you. It is just that we fix our eyes on the wrong refuge. 

⁴ Look and see, there is no one at my right hand; 

   no one is concerned for me. 

I have no refuge; 

   no one cares for my life.

 ⁵ I cry to you, LORD; 

   I say, “You are my refuge, 

   my portion in the land of the living.” (Psalms 142:4-5)

At times God will allow us to feel forsaken because your eyes are on things and people that cannot lift us and deliver us. He wants you have the right focus in life...Looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith 

(Heb 12:1)

3) "...Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing..." Luke 23:34 (NIV)

When Jesus was on the cross, in pain, in struggle against the ridicule of the crowds of people. His life slowly slipping away, what did He do ? Would you forgive those that don't even think they need to be forgiven ? Would you be loving while you are in pain ? Would you still have compassion on people eventhough your know how fickle and evil people can be ? . I asked God one day, why is it so painful when people decided to stop coming to church ? All Jesus said to me was this.."THIS IS HOW I FELT on the Cross..This is How I feel when people turn their backs on Me". Yet Jesus said, forgive them. He chose to not let bitterness set in. Bitterness and offenses is NUMBER 1 tool that the enemy uses to drag you out of the grace of God !. Jesus set the standard for us. Forgive and keep on loving. Hard to do..I can't do this..That's why we need to die to self !


4) "Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." Luke 23:43 (NIV)

If Jesus did not walk through His calling and purpose on earth, He would not be able to bring us through it too. On the cross roads of our lives, we need to grit our teeth and praise God through it all. We need to keep the faith and keep walking through. It is guaranteed that you will come out better than before. In the midst of the mess, it is God's guarantee that He is working all things out for your good !...You love Him don't you ? You are called by Him right ?. So keep it. Because when you walk through, you can bring others through it too ! You will have the skill to help others reach Jesus too ! You will be able to coach others to overcome in Chris too !

5) "...Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.." Luke 23:46 (NIV)
Giving up to God is not giving in. Faith and trust is two different things. Faith comes by listening to the voice of God. It is doing what God said to do. If God said to wait..and you wait..it is because of faith too. Trust on the other hand is not faith. Trust is LETTING GO and LETTING GOD. It can be hard to decide when in life to trust and when to have faith when trust is letting go and faith is fighting on.Jesus' submission on the cross was both. He trusted God enough to allow His own death but had faith that God's plan was being fulfilled. When only God can fulfill the vision, we need to allow the death of our own will, in order for Him to do it.

6) "Woman, here is your son," and to the disciple, "Here is your mother." John 19:26-27 (NIV)

On the cross, Jesus considered those He left behind. How great is that ! This is how we gain compassion. Many people give when it is convenient and whenever they have. Learn to go into God and draw all that is needed to see people be blessed ! Our live is not just our own. We are not our own. Time to transfer ownership of our lives back to Jesus.

7) "...I am thirsty." John 19:28 (NIV)

Finally, we are 10% our own effort. 90% is found in our relating to others. As much as we do not depend on others for life, we need people as in relating and in connecting with others, we will discover our purpose and our talents and abilities are deployed effectively to aid others too ! In giving, we receive and am blessed ! Sow and receive !

We need to change !

FAITH IS NOT TRUST

FAITH AND TRUST - 2 Different Things.

When God's word and will crosses ours that's where commitment needs to reveal itself in submission. Giving in to God is not giving-up ! Giving in to Jesus, is Jesus giving fully to us! Jesus has proven His love and faithfulness to us over and over again..Its time for us to prove our worth to Him..time to let go and just TRUST HIM. Trust and faith is not always the same thing. Faith is you obeying God and produces an action..Trust is knowing you cannot..so you give-up but give in to the power of the Holy SPirit to see you through ! In every generation, Jesus is always looking for people that will trust Him and walk with Him even if none will follow them.

I heard some people call me a man of faith. Faith is not about getting that mercedes benz. Faith is about living for Him and to Him alone. It is about waiting upon Him and acting upon His commands spoken and written. Even if none go with me, I still will follow. That is what walking in faith is about. Trusting Jesus in walking in faith, is the need to let go of the mercedes benz's so that He can lead you and bring you forward and add into your life what He wants you to have !

Relationships - Man and God.

RELATIONSHIPS (1 out of 4 Series) - Man and God 

Man are capable of lying through their teeth and doing all kinds of wrong yet goes all the way to conceal the secret. This is what we call secret sins. Out of sight, out of mind ? Oh ! that's what David thought. Having an illicit affair with Uriah's wife while Uriah was in battle. To cover-up his failure and shame, he made sure Uriah would be killed in the next battle..not by him but by his enemies. This is something God was furious with too as seen in 2 Samuel 12:9, "slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon". Having God's righteous people killed by His own enemy. Shame double shame ! As far as David was concern, nobody knows about his affair the better !

However, men cannot see...but we often forget that God is far from being fooled by men's wickedness ! Prophet Nathan told a story about how a prosperous man robbed a man who had not much. In this David became furious at the injustice in the report told him.

In 2 Sam 12:5-6, you see how God judges the fruit of sin. (1) He examines the way unjustice and unrighteousness is metted out in relationships...to people. Holiness in God is who God is. God is perfect in relating to all of life. Whereas man is not.

5And David's anger was greatly kindled against the man; and he said to Nathan, As the LORD liveth, the man that hath done this thing shall surely die: 6And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity. 

(2 Sam 12:5-6, KVJ)

Remember what SIN is. Sin is not just the things we do or don't do. It is turning our backs to the light, to God and walking away from Him. Declaring we are God and He is not. Declaring, "Hey Lord, my life...out of bounds to You !".

Secondly (2), why God is so angry at Sin is because (2 sam 12:8-9) whenever God comes into our lives and blesses us..His goodness in us carries His name and Himself into our lives. Why we often hear non-Christians saying, "I thought Christians cannot do that"..It is because the world recognises the Children of God. They say that because we are not living right in God ! and His ways are not found in us especially in dealing with relationships. People know we are children of God because there's an aroma that flows from us, the fragrance of Christ that is unfounded in non-Christians !.

Thirdly (3), in 2 Sam 12:14, "14Howbeit, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die".
Sin in us shames the Lord !

When found out, how would you respond ? Would you respond, "OH LORD I'VE SINNED. PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY CAR AWAY..OH LORD PLEASE DON'T TAKE MY STUFF AWAY!".

David responded rightly in Psalms 51:11 " 11Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me". Lord You are all I got ! without YOU I am nothing Lord !

Every Christian that loves God knows that when they've done something wrong, we've grieved the Holy Spirit and as though the heavens have departed from us, the presence of God is just not with us ! I don't know how live can be lived without Him anymore !

Key to change is - REPENTANCE ! JESUS YOU ARE ALL I NEED. HELP ME TO CHANGE FOR GOOD !

WHO IS BOSS ?

¹⁸ 

WHO IS BOSS ?

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

On those who hope in His mercy,

¹⁹ 

To deliver their soul from death,

And to keep them alive in famine.(Psalms 33:18-19)

Have you ever been in pressurising situations that needs a miracle. You have prayed and you have cried. You have called-upon and bind and cast ! Yet all God says is...its coming...its going to happen..He will set you free !

You see in dark moments is where hope is strengthen. There's nothing with your faith. Stop running yourself down. Nothing wrong with You. God is at work and His timing is perfectly right. In Hope, you will realise who is boss. Not the pressure maker, not the debt collectors ! HEY ! not even You..Who is Boss in the life..its JESUS CHRIST !

Helping Others Reach God First.

Helping Others Reach God First.

1 Some time later, the cupbearer and the baker of the king of Egypt offended their master, the king of Egypt. 2 Pharaoh was angry with his two officials, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker, 3 and put them in custody in the house of the captain of the guard, in the same prison where Joseph was confined. 4The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he attended them. (Genesis 40:1-4,NIV)

Sometimes I really do wonder what God is planning and what He has in mind when He does something that cost you dearly initially. Joseph in the above verses was in prison. When someone goes to jail, they are often forgotten and their live ends. Maybe Joseph did wonder that. 

Today (2/2/12), my wife and I met up with one of our church members. God had put into my heart an instruction from Him. In that instruction is something they need to do which inadvertently will take them out of our church-Word of Life. Mind you WOL Church is a pioneering work therefore numbers are not fantastic. But it does not matter to me. My wife and I have learnt to lean on Him and amazingly see Him provide for us even without the numbers !

What is most important is like Joseph...helping others find their purpose and destination in God...even if it cost me dearly. You see, its not my kingdom...it is Jesus'.

Jesus is the King of His Kingdom and by His decree, His word we abide. His word spoken will reveal, carve out and make a path for us to walk. In that path, we are changed and transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit. Walking yielding to Him, lets Him live in us and through us. His Kingdom, His word, His character in us..will ultimately bring Him His glory !

If you have trouble yielding, then nothing is what you will see. You see carrying out own crosses is no burden. How can it be a burden...Jesus loves YOU ! Your Daddy in Heaven Loves You ! ..Its a blessing !

When you help others reach their destiny in God...God will bring more to help you reach yours !

Enter into the Joy of the Lord ! Yield !