Pastor Joseph Prince - God of the small things too

JOHN 21:9, 12
Then, as soon as they had come to land, they saw a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread… Jesus said to them, “Come and eat breakfast.”

Like many parents, Wendy and I pray for our daughter Jessica every night before she sleeps. When Jessica was two years old, we decided to pray that her diapers would not overflow during the night. Her diapers not overflowing might be a small thing, but we knew that it would give our little girl a comfortable sleep every night. And after we started praying for this, we noticed that her diapers did not overflow.

That incident made me realize that our God is not just interested in the big things that affect us. He bothers and cares about the minor things that affect us too. There is nothing too insignificant for Him. So don’t be like some religious people who have this idea that God only wants us to bring the big issues to Him, and that He doesn’t want us to bother Him with small issues.

Nothing could be further from the truth. God cares about everything that you experience, from the small ulcer in your mouth to your concerns about the world’s economy. Even when you tell Him about the inconvenience that might arise if the bus is late, He takes note of that too. In fact, when you come to Him often about anything and everything in your daily life, you compliment Him because you are telling Him that He is your Daddy God who watches over you.

Jesus represented the Father’s heart and will when He was on earth. (John 5:19) He cared when His disciples were out at sea the whole night, cold and shivering. He cared when they caught nothing that night. (John 21:3) He cared that they would not have fish to sell. So He gave them a huge catch early the next morning. (John 21:5–6) He knew that they were cold and hungry, so He prepared breakfast for them, served over a fire of coals to keep them warm.

Jesus showed us that God is our loving heavenly Father who cares about the big and small things that happen every day in our lives. Nothing escapes God’s eyes because He loves you!

Holy Spirit, right here, right now..

I heard a phrase that set me up for a new way of thinking - Holy Spirit Contemporary. What do you make of this? For me, I began to understand that we are a generation who are not interested in entertaining the church, or who doesn't care about playing church  - but we are actually a generation who is ready to DO for God what ever He will have us to do. Men of old were so sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit that they moved according to His nudging. But we, this new generation, are being trained in the church to act when God gives His command. We don't need a full worship team singing songs of praise in the background for us to do what God says. We have to act wherever we are, whenever He calls us to. We don't need to shout out prayers on the streets to get people to come to God, but in our homes, workplaces, social gatherings etc., as long as God says so, we can pray for someone who is hurting, in physical pain, mourning, distressed or going through any kind of trial as the Spirit leads. We have to recognize that the Anointed One, the Christ, is in us, and He is ready to work mightily through us. So, I'm ready to change my mindset and to get out there and do God's will. I pray that we can be vessels that God can work through. I pray that we can become sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit especially when we are not in church so that we can be used to help the lost in some way.  I pray that everything we touch shall be blessed. I pray for deliverance from the things that are holding us back from reaching to new levels with The Lord, all in Jesus' Name, Amen.

Thank God the seasons change...

It felt as though it was one thing after another. The pain and the hurt was building up so much inside of me, that even when I told God about it, I couldn't stop until it burst out of me. God saw. And He had pity on me. I learnt today that things won't be the same way forever. When it seems like a thousand years of the same difficult situation, to God its only a day! God loves His children, and He is pained when we are unhappy. He wants to work out that thing in our lives for us, but we sometimes keep going back and try to handle it alone. It wouldn't work. Give God the control. God is ready to fight our battles for us, but we are stepping in the way of our own victory. Its time to move on. Stop looking back. Let God lead us into the future.