A TIME TO WEEP AND REAP

Tuesday, March 30, 2010 , , , , 0 Comments

Those who sow in tears shall rear in joy. -Psalm 126.5

Friends can hold your hands and cheer you up, but shepherding a God-given dream to fulfilment always involves watering it with your own tears. Those who sow in tears will reap with joy. He who goes you weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with joy, carrying sheaves with him. But you must recognise what reason you are in.

1. A time for weeping - This is not an excuse for passivity, or a posture of weakness that reduces you to tears because life's not fair and things are tough. In difficult times, sough God, develop a plan, put together a team if possible then move on. What moves you? What do you feel passionate about?

2. A time for reaping - In life, everything has a reason and a reason. (Ecc 3.1-4) Those who understand the reason and maximize the season are 'like a tree planted by stream of water, which yields its fruit in season. (Psalm 1.3) Fruits won't grow before it time, that's why you must discern your life's changing season and adjust to then. You need to know it's time to stop weeping and start reaping, otherwise, you'll miss your harvest. Tears are for sower, joy is for the reaper. When your season changes, harvest your yield with joy. You've paid your dues. now it's time to enjoy what God has promised you.

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What is Palm Sunday

Sunday, March 28, 2010 , , 0 Comments

Palm Sunday is the day we remember the "triumphal entry" of Jesus into Jerusalem, exactly one week before His resurrection (Matthew 21:1-11).

Some 450-500 years earlier, the Prophet Zechariah had prophesied, "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming to you; He is just and having salvation, Lowly and riding on a donkey, A colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah
9:9

Matthew 21:7-9 records the fulfillment of that prophecy:
"They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their clothes on them, and set Him on them. And a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road. Then the multitudes who went before and those who followed cried out, saying: ‘Hosanna to the Son of David!

Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’ Hosanna in the highest!’” This event took place on the Sunday before Jesus' crucifixion.

In remembrance of this event, we celebrate Palm Sunday. It is referred to as Palm Sunday because of the palm branches that were laid on the road as Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem. Palm Sunday was the fulfillment of the Prophet Daniel's "seventy sevens" prophecy:

"Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the
command To restore and build Jerusalem Until Messiah the Prince, There shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks; The street shall be built again, and the wall, Even in troublesome times" (Daniel 9:25).

John 1:11 tells us, "He (Jesus) came to His own, and His own did not receive Him." The same crowds that were crying out "Hosanna" were crying out "crucify Him" five days later (Matthew 27:22-23).

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Let the Lord Speak to You » In life, there are adventures, dare them!

Friday, March 19, 2010 , , 0 Comments

1st Cori 3:16-17 - Our bodies are Gods Temple
Psalm 37:18-19 - The day of the blameless

HIDDEN GREATNESS.

The world is full of educated derelicts. Anytime the enemy plans evil. God plans good to counter the evil.

‘Be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart, all you that hope in the Lord.’ Furthermore I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.

When someone criticizes you and says that it cannot be done, it means that they don’t know how to do it themselves. If you listen to negative critics you will find it difficult to succeed. Life offers enormous blessing for those who persist. Blessings start with accepting life as a gift.

In life, there are adventures, dare them!
Tears flow more frequently. Sleep comes less easily and you may begin to wonder why God doesn’t seem to care, if God is really listening or if God is even there at all. You find yourself without any resource or income.

You have almost, overnight, become a beggar. You feel like sinking into a depression. It is a time that no one understands you, not even your children or your relatives. This is a point of testing. It is a time that can make a person either bitter or better. When some people reach this point, they simply accept defeat and give up. Others refuse to allow the tough times to defeat them and persevere to overcome their difficulties.

What can you do when all hope seems lost? Why do some people manage to turn their problems into opportunities and impossibilities into possibilities?

‘The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at the time of challenge and controversy’. The world will pay for courage and persistence and nothing else.

‘No weapons formed against you shall prosper and every tongue shall be condemned Psalms 139:14.

This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their righteousness is of you, says the Lord’ [1 Samuel 24:4-6].

Hidden Greatness
You must have decided
- What you want,
- When you want it and
- What you need to know to get it,
- Who you need to know to help you get it.
- Your motivation must also be pure.
- You should not be pursuing a goal in order to rock a snook at somebody and make him / her feel bad. The goal must be worthwhile, not flaky goals. Goals must be balanced. It doesn’t pay to succeed in the
- Workplace or home and neglect your
- Relatives,
- Parents and your friends.
- Balance is a key to success in life.

Goals must be purified through the filter of God’s word. As we read His word and pray about our goals, clarity begins to come into our operations.

The Bible says,
‘Commit the way unto the Lord, trust also in Him and He shall bring it to pass. When you read the Book of Joshua. ‘This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you shall have good success.’

Success is the achievement of a desired aim. Success will stabilize and sustain you through your greatest accomplishment and your bitterest adversities. If you remain focused in the midst of adversities you will realize that what appears a permanent obstacle in the way of your attainment of your dreams is only a figment of your imagination. Have you wondered why so many men and women work so hard and honestly without ever achieving anything in particular? Why others do not work hard at all and yet get everything?

The Bible says,
‘For I know the plan I have for you, says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and hope’.

Seed of Greatness:-
- There is in you a seed of greatness,
- Created and hidden within you.
- It awaits you to arouse it,
- Water it,
- Weed it, thereafter, it just grows.

Successful people have formed the habits of doing those things that most people don’t want to do. Good and bad habits ape, tiny daily choices that accumulate. It is like a child who grows a little each day. It is said that necessity is the mother of invention sometimes; the challenges that come our way could be blessings in disguise.

People often run away from challenges rather than deal with them. It is through facing such challenges that you will discover hidden strengths and skills you never thought you had. Start looking at your challenges from a different perspective because out of every challenge there is a blessing. Behind every giant there is a Promised Land flowing with milk and honey.

Do not let your focus be on the giant but on the promise you may be faced with difficulties and lacks, through the experience the Lord will teach you to trust in him and maximize the little that you have. Your situation provides an opportunity for you to see the divine provision and intervention of God when the apostle Paul was put in prison for preaching the gospel; he turned that trial into an opportunity to write part of the New Testament, his life in prison influenced more lives than when he preached from city to city in the eastern terrains. His prison epistles are influencing millions of Christians today. Turn your challenges into blessing; you will indeed discover amazing treasures.

WHAT DO OTHERS SEE IN YOU?
Others may see gift and special talents in you that you might not see yourself. It does not take long before your family, friends, or mentors notice the hidden treasure in you.
Often the talent becomes obvious when a person can do a task with ease and enjoyment, while others seem to strain to perform the same task. Sometimes you may never know how good you are until someone tells you.

The Apostle Paul saw the hidden gift in Timothy, his spiritual son. He admonished him to stir up the gift within him [2 Tim 1:6]

Timothy became a preacher of the gospel and was very instrumental in the Ministry of Paul It is my prayer that you find these three keys valuable as you pursue to discover the hidden treasure in you once you discover these treasures;

Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping carrying seed to sow will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him”

In order to maximize, start manufacturing the gift of God put in you so you can maximize the potential He gave you, God has given you his moment and it’s yours to maximize. Stop Bickering, murmuring, frustration and look for ways to get double for your trouble.

God wants you to start going fishing and bringing in a double harvest. When we talk about maximizing the moment, we mean maximizing your relationships.
AMEN

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Sometimes, The Lord Saves The Best For Last

Tuesday, March 16, 2010 , , , 0 Comments

Jesus said in John 10.30, "I and the Father are one".

The Lord Jesus is exactly like the Father. He is the full icon of the Father.

Hebrews 1.3, "thus the things He did are indicative of the Father's character.

For Him to have chosen to bring out the best wine at the end rather than at the beginning of middle of the ceremony is very instructive.

(...Everyone else serves the best wine first, and after the guests have drunk a lot he serves the ordinary wine. But you have kept the best wine until now! John 2.10)

This tells us that sometimes, our Lord could reserve the best for last.

Now let's bring this home, the Lord could choose to reserve the blessings and impartation of the Spirit you're meant to receive during a church service till the end of the meeting. Mostly in our various churches, there are 2 groups of people. The first group is those who hardly wait for the service to end before they're gone. As soon as the pastor is done, they're gone, always in a hurry.

The second group of people will come early and stay through till the end of the service. The Word that someone in the first group needs to change his situation may sometimes come right at the end of the service, but he's may be already gone, hence misses his hour of visitation.

You must learn to wait until the service closes when you in to church. The Lord may not always do things the way we expect Him to. It pays to be patient, it's better to discipline yourself to stay in the presence of God, and never be in a hurry to leave, for that's just what your anticipated Word of blessing and miracle may come to you.

Patient is all you need, be at the right place at the right time. That way, you'll never miss out on God's best for you, for He sometimes saves the best for last.

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Appetite, Attitude, Aim.

Sunday, March 14, 2010 , , , , 0 Comments

As newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby... -1 Peter 2.2

When it comes to Bible reading, Dr. Howard Hendricks point out three things we must constantly be aware of:

1. Attitude:- Just as a baby grabs for a bottle, we should reach for our Bible. A baby needs milk to sustain its life physically, and we need the scriptures to sustain us spiritually.

2. Our Appetite:- We should 'long' for God's word. This is a cultivated taste. When one says, I'm not getting much out of the Bible, that's a greater commentary on them, than on the Book! Psalms 19.10 says the scriptures 'are sweeter than honey' (NIV).

3. Aim:- The aim of Bible reading is 'that you may grow.' You can't grow unless you know, but unfortunately you can know and not grow. The Bible wasn't written to satisfy our curiosity, but to help conform us to Christ's image. Not to make us smarter, but to make us more like the Saviour. Not to fill our heads with biblical facts, but to transform our lives.

Further studies
>Luke 20.9-19
>Psalms 112
>Proverbs 20:1-4
Let your Bible be your companion always.

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Salvation

Sunday, March 07, 2010 0 Comments

Salvation is a free gift from God. We do not receive it by living good life, good works, obeying the law or some great philosophy. One of the main reason the Bible was written was for mankind to realise his sinful nature and the need for a saviour.

The Bible tells up of the almighty God and what he expects from us. He is a God who hate sin, yet love sinners. God wants us to turn from our sins, be forgiven and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour. We receive Christ by faith. He then comes to dwell in our hearts.

Our shop are forgiven and we become children of God. We receive eternal life and we are given the power to lead a righteous life. We then begin the great adventure for which God created us.

>For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. -Ephesians 2.8-9
>He saved us not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy.
>He saved us through the washing of the rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. -Titus 3.5
>Who has saved us and called us to a holy life - not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given it us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time. -2 Timothy 1.9

Further Study
>James 2.10
>Galatians 2.21

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