We have hope...

Life definitely has its ups and downs. It's like a never ending play in which we are all actors and actresses - vying for the leading parts. It doesn't matter what we look like or what our preferences are, we are placed on this journey simultaneously. For many, situations, trials, challenges, persecutions and circumstances bring hopelessness. For these, it's as though a big, black hole had opened up in the middle of the planet and caused them to fall in. They shout from the depths of their hearts crying out for help, but they see no one coming. The hundreds of friends on their social networks, their 'hanging' buddies, their relatives - no one seems to be there when they need them the most. They feel so low, so down, so alone, that death appears to be the most pleasant escape. But, not for us. As Christians, we know who our Father is. We know that life is not always going to be a bed of roses. We know that trials will come. We know that we can be broken down, tormented, persecuted, insulted, rejected, abused, let down, ridiculed and the list of negatives goes on and on. But we also know that we have hope. We know that in every situation our Father in Heaven hears or cries, sees our pain and attends unto our needs. We know that without a doubt we will be delivered, we will have the victory, and we will succeed! We know that we are never alone and nothing that shall rise against us will prosper, because God remains forever with us.
Still, with all this practical knowledge, we sometimes feel defeated. In the midst of life's many challenges, we sometimes faint in our faith, becoming weary in the circumstances. We sometimes allow the situations to control our thoughts and actions. We can even entertain defeat as a friend. But, my brothers and sisters in Christ, we are called for a purpose. No matter the situation that is in operation now, all things work for good to those who love God. God's plan is still on. We are still included in His plan. We may not be able to see what the end of it looks like, or understand how something so wrong could turn around to be so precise...Relinquish control over to Him. Give God the entire thing and let Him work it out on your behalf. After all, He is the one fighting our battles for us - we have only to 'dance on the battlefield'. He loves us and His thoughts towards us remain good all the time. In this season, He didn't change His mind about your victory - He is taking you there through the current test! Embrace it, be strengthened in it, and most of all, thank God for it!
Love you all in Jesus' Name!

Love and Bitterness

TheFreeDictionary.com meaning of Bitterness is 'resulting from or expressive of severe grief, anguish or disappointment'. It proceeds from strong animosity that has been bottled in for a while. It sneaks its way into our hearts when we believe that we are being treated unfairly, being hurt repeatedly, or have been victimized in some way or the other. 

Personally, I have been through episodes of drama in my life that caused my self esteem and self worth to diminish in a fleeting moment. I fed myself excuses for the actions against me in an attempt to deal with all that was happening. I hung my head in shame believing that I must be everyone's biggest joke. The depression I experienced only seemed to get worse as the days dragged on by. I begun to get so angry...angry at everyone and everything. More importantly, I begun to get angry at myself. 

Coming to Christ was the best thing I had ever done. SO many things begun to change. My very thinking began to take on a new direction. All the unforgiveness I harbored on the inside was slowly being released and I was becoming free. 

But, then it happened. God was doing such a marvelous work in my life. I couldn't understand His methods and I didn't have a clue what the result of the test would be, but I trusted God. I have been in a situation where I was being emotionally abused on what felt like a daily basis. Now, I have been separated from the problem and I have been experiencing the peace and joy of the Lord as I face each new day. I had been so hurt for so long that it just became apart of me. I carried it around with me wherever I went. I held on to the pain for so long that it caused bitterness to take root in me. Scripture says in Hebrews 12:15 'Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled'. Here, I understand that bitterness is like the root of a plant that is hidden under the surface. The more stable the root, the more healthy the fruit. So I began to look for the fruits of bitterness that is evidently in operation in my life. To my horror, there it was indeed... anger and wrath. 

If you have been through anything like me and have noticed the fruits of bitterness including anger, wrath, slander, and malice, please know that there is hope. I cried before God when I recognized this ugliness was within me. But, I was reminded that God is a loving God who makes a way when there seems to be no other way. When I thought that I was so horrible in His sight, He made me to understand that LOVE dispels bitterness. Because we have Christ in us, we do not have to show hate to those who hate us, but do what the Bible commands and love them. Yes, they have caused us unimaginable hurt that caused our hearts to be torn into bits and pieces, but we have to win the war with love. 

God loves us. He calls us to be like Him in that we can have a heart like His. His heart is filled with love for people. If we hate those who hate us, what profit is there in that? We ought to love them so that Christ in us can be apparent to them. We have to win them over with love.

So, don't let this bitterness continue to flourish in your life. Seek now to curse that 'tree' that is springing up as you lovingly draw nearer to God. May God Bless You All.

All Loving God

Jesus Culture's newest album, Unstoppable Love features a song named after its title. One line stands out foremost in my mind...."All the while You're shouting, My Love You're Worth It All". God is so unfathomable! His love is so indescribable. His majesty is so powerful. His glory is so unavoidable. God's Word, from cover to cover, describes in grave detail His amazing love for us. Sometimes we face situations, trials and challenges where we feel trapped into responding negatively. The outcomes are nothing we are proud of. We feel broken on the inside but walk around with a puffed up attitude as a way of telling the world that we are justified in the things we did. However, God's love for us covers our multitude of sins, washing us and cleansing us and wrapping us in His undying, unending love. Some of us have been through things that leave us feeling worthless, unloved, ridiculed, ashamed, timid, and rejected. I myself have gone through several situations where I have been treated with disdain and contempt. I sank so low into depression and wallowed in self pity and even self hate. But, it was then that I felt the arms of God wrap me in His embrace, shielding me from it all. It was in those circumstances I recognized that God's love was nothing compared to our love. His love has no limits, and goes so deep that we could never be capable of loving like that because we are not love itself.
God created us and He sees the worth of His creation. He is satisfied with us and doesn't blame us for the things we have done, but reaches out with love to bring us back to that place of originality. While we are there finding faults in ourselves, God is there shouting out that we are worth all His love, all His attention, all His thoughts, all His time, all His affection, all His blessing... And it was because of all this love He has for us that He died on the cross for us..
God is real. He is alive. He hears and He sees. He is ready to help. Most of all, He wants us to know that above all else, He LOVES us.

The Apple of His Eyes...

We are the apple of God's eye. It doesn't matter how many times we fail or how often we are on our faces before Him begging for forgiveness. Jesus remains ever in love with us and is always working things out for us. He sees the enemy and knows the plan of attack against our lives. So, He stands as a mighty centurion in battle ready to wage war on His inferior opponents. He is fighting for us, even when we turn around and realize that there is no one there for us. When we look in the mirror and see nothing, worthlessness, and insignificance, He is looking down and seeing a person of value, worth and significance. He thinks about us all day long, and continues those thoughts while we sleep. He is working the trials and circumstances out on our behalf.
Let us then not put our trust in man, but look up towards the hill where our help comes from. Let us look up and see that we can hope in and trust the God who continues to stand with us in everything we do. We may not always make the right decisions, but it doesn't mean He will leave us because of our choices. He loves us too much to let our actions create a dividing space between us.
Thank You Jesus.

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.