Your life and Jesus

Have you ever been in a situation in your life, where everything seems to be going wrong and you don’t know what to do or where to go?

You look back and you don’t even know where your snowball of problems started and it feels as if the world is falling on your shoulders.

Jesus’ disciples felt as if their lives were about to end in Matthew 8:23-27, they knew Jesus was on the boat yet at the end we see they didn’t know who Jesus truly was (Matthew 8:27)

In the same way the disciples were caught in an unexpected and furious storm, we some times have to face our own furious storms, that seem never ending and to hard to bear.

While everything was well and the trip was going well, none of the disciples bothered to go check on Jesus and see if He needed anything.

Many times we as Christians put Jesus on a shelf and seem to even forget that He is there, we just expect Him to understand that life is a bit too busy for us to spend time with Him. We allow Jesus to “ fall asleep” in our lives as He gets tired of waiting and waiting for us. Does such an action ring a bell?

Then as soon as things get tough and we don’t know what to do, we run to Jesus, desperately wake Him up, and then question Jesus, how He could let such a thing happen to us? We repeat the words of the disciples, “Teacher don’t you care if we drown?” (Mark 4:38) in other words Lord don’t you care about me, about my problems? Why Lord, why did you allow this to happen, don’t you love me anymore?

Other times Jesus might not even be “asleep” in you life but when you take you eyes off Him, you lose ground and give into your problem just as Peter. In Matthew 14:28-31, Peter had the faith to walk on water; he was so eager to go meet Jesus. Peter started off walking to Jesus, he didn’t even care that humanly that was impossible He was so focused on Jesus , but as soon as he started looking around and saw the waves, felt the wind blowing and took his eyes off of Jesus He started to drown.

Many times the same happens to us, in the beginning of our trails we look to Jesus and know that through Him all thing are possible and that we are more than conquerors, but as the problem carries on we sometimes start looking at our problem, we start focusing on our problem and not on Jesus. The problem now seems bigger than Jesus and then you say “Now it’s time to take matter into my own hands” and end up drowning into your problem.

The good news is that Jesus did save Peter and the rest of the disciples from drowning when they called out for help. Yet Jesus called them “Men of little faith” and asked “Why do you doubt?”

 Is it your doubt that is keeping you away from soaring above the storm with Him?

Think back, remember the times when you said, I put this in God’s hands, I trust God and then a day later you biting your nails with baggy eyes and complaining you don’t know what to do.

Doubt starts with a thought that needs to be captivated before it beings to steal your Blessing (2 Corinthians 10-4:5)

And still other times we seem to loose Jesus. We sit and ask where Jesus is in our lives?

Many times we see parents that have lost their children and are desperately trying to find them. A few years ago a 4 year old girl disappeared from a hotel room while sleeping, the parents had gone to the hotel’s restaurant a few kilometers away from the hotel to meet some friends and when they came back their little girl was gone. The parents had lost sight of their little girl, they were distracted, having dinner with their friends.

In a more day to day base have you ever forgotten where you left your phone or keys because you got distracted with something else?

Luke 2:39-52

Jesus’ parents assumed He was among the crowd that travelled back yet for a whole day they didn’t check if He was ok, or if He needed to eat etc. The same many times happens with us. We assume Jesus is happy with us, we don’t go to church, and we don’t spend time with Him etc. When we realize that we have lost Jesus or our first love we get desperate and then still blame Jesus for doing that to us, like Jesus’ mother did. (Luke 2: 48) The amazing thing is that we can always know where to find Jesus. He will always be at His Father’s house among His people.

As the Bible says” Seek me and you shall find me” It’s not too late to turn back.

Is Jesus “sleeping in your life”, have you taken you eyes off Him or even maybe without realizing lost His presence during the busyness and troubles of life?

Look at your life, look at your heart and ask yourself is Jesus ruling my life. Is He my pilot or just a passenger I’m giving a lift to?

I know He wants to be the director of your life, he want your focus and He wants you to feel His presence.

Be on Fire God!
Let God use you to make a difference.
Allow God to work in you to take all the garbage out and replace it with life!
Be a one in a million Christian, giving all to God and letting God use you to turn the world around.
Keep your first love for God. Live your first love for God everyday. Get to know God more and more everyday. Be used by God.
Be fisherman of man!

Be Blessed

Humility and Pride

Humility and Pride

What is it to be humble and what is it to be proud?

According to the dictionary:

To be humble is to be conscious of one’s failings and being modest.

And being proud is being arrogant or haughty or on the other side of pride to feel pleasure or satisfaction in something or someone.

Throughout the Bible, God clearly tells us He is pleased when we are humble and that we as children of God are called to be humble. We are created in God’s image and so we should be like Him.

What is it to be humble in the sight of God?

Being humble is knowing and admitting your faults, or to consider others superior to oneself.

It is knowing that in God’s eyes all were equally created and that it is only by God’s grace that anyone of us is saved.

In 2 Chronicles 7:14, God says: “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn form their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.

You can only live in the fullness of God’s presence, redeem from your sins and fully live the life God has planned for you when you are humble!

How can you make God the King and Lord of your life if you are not humble?

How can you fully obey God if you are not humble?

How can you confess and repent of your sins if you are not humble?

How can you be the light to others if you are not humble?

One of the things that acts as a barrier between God and His children is many times pride or to be proud.

Pride is one of the things that led to the devil's rebellion against God.

Pride can lead to one getting completely ‘off’ God’s plan and not living for His fullness.

Let us learn what the word of God teaches us: James 4: 6 and 1Peter 5: 5, Jesus Christ is our perfect example: John 13: 1-17...

Jesus said in vers.13 "you call me Master and Lord and you are right, because I am", if  Jesus being Master and Lord, humbled

himself to the point of washing the disciples feet, we can learn that this is what God want for us all, to be humble, to have that spirit of humility.

God resist the proud in every way, but gives grace to the humble.

In 1 Corinthians 1:31, we are told to only boost and take pride in God.

Unfortunately we many times have pride in every other aspect but are humble were we are called to be proud.

Take pride in God but humble yourself.

Humbleness is something we all need to pray for. We need to ask God to increase in us the humbleness we are required to have, so that we may become more and more like Him each day and please Him more and more.

In Philippians 2:3, God says:

“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.”

Take a few seconds to look at your life to look at yourself.

Are you humble?

Are you humble enough to admit you have done wrong, repent and many times try fixing your mistake and learning from it?

Are you humble enough to surrender your life completely to God?

Are you humble enough to realize that you are a sinner and needs salvation?

Are you humble enough to see that without God you are nothing?

Are you humble enough to be able to spread the Gospel to others even your enemies?

Are you humble enough to obey and live for God?

May we all seek God with all our hearts and humble ourselves in His presence for without Him we are nothing. May we all allow God to freely work in us to take out all the garbage and replace it with life. We need to humble ourselves as God’s children so that His anointing may fall on us and so that we may arise to do and follow God’s plan.

In 1 Peter 5:5-6, the youth is directly addressed about humbleness and pride, take this verse and meditate on it, pray to God about it and live it. Let the Bible talk to you.

“Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”

Hearing God's Voice

Hearing God’s Voice

God wants to communicate with us. He loves us and wants the best for His people. In Jeremiah 29:11-14 God says, “For I know the plan I have for you, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

The above scripture shows us that God cares about His people and wants the best for us. Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.

God has marvellous plans for us but we need to allow God to work. When we want to get to an unknown place we use a map and follow it’s instructions. To live in accordance with God we need to follow God and not vice-versa. Part of walking beside God is hearing what He wants to tell us.

But that is where the problem comes in. How are we supposed to listen to God if we don’t hear Him?

When you have our Ipod/MP3 Player on max and you are listening and singing to your favourite song can you hear your mothers' speaking in the background? Can you obey her and do what she is saying? No, but when she asks why didn’t you do what I told you the answer is: “I was to busy, I didn’t hear you.”

I’m not saying we can’t listen to music, we just shouldn’t allow everything around us camouflage God’s voice. We are always to busy to hear God or spend time with Him but then when tribulations strike we are the first to point our fingers at God and ask why.

It isn’t always easy due to the lives we live on earth today but we have to do our part. We are allowing minor things to separate us further and further from God with the excuse I don’t have time or I can’t hear.

I rejoice in knowing that my life is planned and known by God, the all mighty and powerful. He is my master and the one I want to serve. That doesn’t mean I’m never going to suffer but is means that I am more than a conqueror. If we listen to what God has to tell us, to the one that knows everything we can do great things for God’s glory and honour.

God can speak to who He wants, when He wants but we should and must create an atmosphere where God can operate in our lives. We can’t expect God to work in our lives if we don’t have faith that He will or if we don’t obey what He tells us.

We need to do our part. God gives us the path and guidance but we have to do the walking.

Many times we know God is speaking to us but choose to ignore it because we don’t want t obey what God is telling us to do.

God’s voice is a soft, gentle, loving voice but at the same time powerful. We need to learn how to distinguish God’s voice from the world’s or our conscious. God can speak to us in various ways. When He speaks we know it is Him because we feel peace, our spirit confirms it is Him and it is almost like knowing a loved ones voice so well that by a simple "hello" you know exactly who's speaking.In the Bible Jesus tells us that His sheep know His voice.

God can speak to us through His word, prophecy, a strong feeling inside of us (our sub-conscious), nature, dreams or visions, through ourselves etc.

If we look in the Old Testament we will se that in those times God often spoke to the people directly (audible) and in the New Testament in different ways and today God too speaks to many through His word etc.

Be still and know He is God. Spend ‘alone’ time with Him and just do the listening, forget the talking. Spend quite time with God forget MXIT,BBM, Facebook and everything else and just be in God’s presence wait on Him.

I don’t know how or when God is going to speak to you but I can guarantee that He wants to speak to you. He knows the right way so when you need to make a decision let Him help you make it. Speak to Him, He will listen to you and He will answer you. He speaks in various ways so don’t allow yourselves to lose out on God’s blessing because you where only counting on Him speaking to you in the way you want.

Faith

Faith

What is faith?

According to the Bible faith is: Hebrews 11:1

“Now faith is being sure (assurance) of what we hope for and certain (conviction) of what we do not see.”

Faith is like the foundations of a house, without them nothing or hardly anything can be done. We need faith to believe in God and in the Word of God but faith isn’t only believing in God and in His Word but it is also living according to His Word and trusting Him more than anyone or anything. We need faith to be justified. Acts 26:18

How do we get faith?

In Romans 12:3, the Bible tells us that God has given us each a measure of faith. We need to grow our faith. We need to use and live by our faith.

In primary school we were given bean seeds to put under cotton wool in a little container and everyday we had to give the little seed a bit of water and allow it to enjoy the sunshine. After a while a little green, vulnerable green sprout came out and slowly continued to grow. The seed would eventually become a strong and healthy plant and be too big for the container. If we didn’t do what the teachers had told us, it would not have grown into a strong plant.

The same happens with our faith. God has given us the seed(s) of faith, now we have to cultivate (take care of the seed) we need to give the seed water and sunshine and carry on until it grows into a strong plant. Follow God’s instructions on what to do. (By reading the bible and hearing His voice)

In Romans 10:17, God tells us that faith comes by hearing the word of God. Already in the above verse God is telling us how to grow our faith. Our faith grows when we obey God, trust Him, stand on His Word when trials come our way and etc.

In Matthew 25:14-30, God speaks about the talents given to a master’s servants and in verse 29 Jesus says that for the ones who have more will be given but to the ones who don’t have  even what they have will be taken away. I believe that applies for our faith as well. If we don’t use the faith given to us we will end up losing it.

The importance of faith

We need faith to satisfy God in Hebrews 1:6 we see that we can only please God if we have faith.

Throughout the Bible we see various men of faith and the reward of their faith (Hebrews 11).In the New Testament we various times see the words “Your faith has saved you”. Mark 8:21-41, Matthew 8:1-13 etc

If we have faith (true faith) we will live how God wants us to live. God tells us that we speak what our hearts are filled with. Romans 10:8-9

We need to live by faith Romans 1:17, Galatians 3. God is faithful therefore since we created in His image shouldn’t we too be faithful? Deuteronomy 7:9 and use it Romans 12:6-7

Faith is part of God’s armor. Ephesians 6:16. Therefore we need faith to fight our daily spiritual battles. Faith is part of God’s covering.

We as humans trust so many things we hear, read and etc. We trust other human beings that being human fail. So how much more faith should we have in God that is perfect and our Creator.

Seek God, have faith and live according to His Word, Mercy and Grace.

A time will come where you will have to live by faith, the faith that is stored in the most inner part of you. Be it in times of trial or at the end of times. Faith, have Faith, grow your faith. Read and Hear the Word of God. Grow the measure of faith God has given you. Look after it, cherish it. Trails will come your way and only the truth will set you free. Where is your faith? Are you ready? Ready to go into battle with your faith as your shield.. Are you ready? The time is near even though we should prepare long before. Are you ready to ‘fight’ the false prophets, the mark of the beast, the beast?  Have you stored enough faith? In time of famine the Egyptians lived on what they had stored during the seven years of abundance. We have Bibles, fellow Christians (Fellowship), Leaders, Christian Bookshops and etc. There is abundance! Don’t allow your measure faith to be taken away. Don’t! Grow your faith. If faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains how much more can your faith do?

In Luke 18:8, God asks: Will He (Jesus) find faith on earth when He comes? Now I’m asking you, will He find faith in you?

Guard your faith for it is the most precious gift you have.

Have a Blessed Weekend!! God Bless!!

 

God is Awesome

God is soooooooooooooooo Awesome! Many times during our busy lives we forget to stop and think how GREAT and AWESOME GOD IS. All we really have to do is look around us and even at ourselves.

The birds are there every morning to gives us tune and show us God's joy.
The sun is there to welcome us to a new day.
The flowers and beautiful green trees are there to remind us that if they are so beautifully dressed and taken care of how much more will our God take care of us and provide for us.
 As winter and autumn start to change our days they show us that there is a time and a place for everything. As we shiver with cold in winter and miss the kind and warm sun, we see that nothing should be taken for grated.
As the rain starts to water the Earth and the soil drink its precious drops we see that God does not only care about the Christians but all His Creation.
 Let’s not forget the fact that we are alive and that He loves us so much that He gave His one and only Son to DIE (defeat DEATH) for us, so we should not perish but have eternal life. Jesus Christ didn't come to condemn us but to save us, isn't that awesome? Has anyone every done that for you before? There are no words do describe our Great Awesome God!! 

 GOD BLESS YOU AND YOUR FAMILY!!