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Friday, 07 May 2010

Prayers

God is not a wishing well or a venting machine. John 15:7 shows us how we should match our prayer with the reading of the Word. The Lord’s Word shows us that a prayer will be answered on the basis of two things: one is that we abide in Him, and the other is that His words must also abide in us. He promises that if these two basic conditions are present, we may ask whatever we will and it shall come to pass to us. Hence, here it speaks of matching prayer with the reading of the Word.
Are you praying for yourself, or are you praying for God’s sake? The highest meaning of prayer is that it is a means by which God may gain His authority and benefit. (Daniel 9:19) When you are living outside the Lord, you may have many desires. You may say, “I want God to do this for me and, by His power, I also want to do that for Him.” But gradually, as you learn to live in the Lord, you will see that all those desires are outside the Lord and not in accordance with the will of God. Hence, God has no way to fulfill those desires. Then, and only then, can you say that your desire is God’s desire. Hence, your prayer will accomplish God’s will; it is doing God’s will.

Tuesday, 13 April 2010

Love offering

Lord there's none in heav'n nor on earth
That I desire but Thee.
Though my heart and flesh faileth, Lord,
Thou ever my portion will be.
All is vanity, all is dung;
I count all other things loss;
Everything else drains my love
But You have captured my heart.
Lord, I've seen Thy preciousness,
Thy worth, Thy reality.
Now, my Lord, I must confess
My heart is only for Thee.
Job's Trials

In the Book of Job, a perfect and upright man lost everything in one day. As unveiled in Paul's Epistles, God's purpose in dealing with us is to strip us of all things and to consume us so that we may gain God more and more (Phil. 3:8; 2 Cor. 4:16). Satan's evil concept concerning God's dealing with His seeking people is based on his commercial principle of gain or loss. God's purpose in dealing with those who love Him is that they may gain Him to the fullest extent, surpassing the loss of all that they have other than Him (Phil. 3:7-8). As seen in the experiences of both Job and Paul, God assigns certain afflictions to His chosen ones for their perfecting. Although these afflictions are God's assignments, they do not come from God but from Satan. (2 Cor. 12:7-10)

Sufferings and trials are often ordained by the Lord for us that we may experience Christ as grace and power. For the sufficiency of the Lord’s grace to be magnified, our sufferings are required; for the perfectness of the Lord’s power to be shown forth, our weakness is needed. Grace is the supply, and power is the strength, the ability, of grace. Both are the resurrected Christ, who is now the life-giving Spirit dwelling is us (1Cor. 15:45; Gal. 2:20) for our enjoyment.

In order to usher Job into a deeper seeking after God, that he might gain God instead of His blessings and his attainments in his perfection and integrity, God stripped Job. The tearing down is so that God might have a base and a way to rebuild him with God Himself as his life, life supply, and as everything. (Psa. 73:25-26)

Friday, 05 February 2010

God's will
What are the ways to know God's will? A Christian must pay attention to three things in order to know God's will. If these three things are in agreement with one another, we can be quite sure that it is God's will. These three things are: (1) arrangements in the environment, (2) the leading of the Holy Spirit, and (3) the teachings of the Scripture. Once a new believer has a new spirit, the Spirit of God dwells in him. (Rom. 8:14,16) The Spirit of God spontaneously communicates to him His will; he spontaneously has an inner sense. Not only is he able to discern God's provision in the environment, but he also now possesses an inward knowledge and inward assurance. At the right time and when the need arises, the Spirit of God will enlighten us within. He will give us a sense and show us what is of God and what is not of God.

There are two kinds of leading of the Holy Spirit. The first is an inner urging, as in Acts 8:29 when "the Spirit said to Philip, Approach and join this chariot" and in Acts 10:19-20 when the Holy Spirit said to Peter, "Rise up, go down and go with them." These are inner urgings. The second kind of leading is an inner forbidding, as mentioned in Acts 16:6-7 "Having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia. And when they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, yet the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them." This is the inner forbidding.

In order to know God's will, a believer should be somewhat familiar with the inner sense. The Spirit of God dwells in the innermost part of man. Hence, the feeling of the Spirit is not something shallow or outward; it issues from the deepest part of man's being. It is a voice that is not quite a voice, a feeling that is not quite a feeling. The Spirit of God within shows us whether something is according to His will. Provided we have the divine life within, we will feel right when we act according to this life, and we will feel terrible and uneasy within if we disobey and deviate slightly from this life. A believer should live a life that yields to this life. We must not do things that will take away our inner peace. Whenever we sense any unrest, we should realize that the Holy Spirit within is displeased with what we are doing; He is grieved. If we do something that is contrary to the Lord, we will surely have no peace within. The more we go ahead with it, the less peace and joy we will have. If something is of the Lord, spontaneoulsy we will have peace and joy. However, do not overanalyze your inward feelings. If you keep analyzing whether or not something is right, you will be totally confused.

This is how you can tell what the Spirit is trying to say:
The spiritual part of our being is composed of conscience, intuition, and fellowship. You contact it by calling "Oh, Lord Jesus" and pray-reading His Word. You will know you've made the right choice if you experience life in the spirit which means you feel:
- peace
- joy
- comfort
- livingness
- strength
- satisfaction
- rest
- release
- watering
- brightness
- flowing
- refreshing
- enlightenment
- anointing
- liberty
- harmony
To know God's will more fully we need to study the environment, that is our immediate surroundings, including people, things, and circumstances which affect our lives. Remember the environment is also a means by which God reveals His will. When God leads and guides us according to His will, He usually arranges the appropriate environments for this purpose.

You will know that it's not the Lord's will if in you spirit you feel:
- weakness
- emptiness
- uneasiness
- restlessness
- depression
- dryness
- darkness
- pain
- anxiety
- feelings of warning
- dissolution
- oldness
- dryness
- strife
- discord
- discomfort
Always pray for God's will especially in important decisions in your life. Grace be with all of us.

Tuesday, 16 December 2008

Overcoming by Praising

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bible Verses ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
 
Psalm 34:1  I will bless Jehovah at all times; His praise
will continually be in my mouth.
42:11 Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you
disquieted within me? Hope in God; for I will yet praise
Him, The salvation of my countenance and my God.
 
1 Cor. 10:10  Neither murmur, just as some of them murmured
and perished by the destroyer. 
 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Words of Ministry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
 
God's children should open their mouths to praise Him, not
only when they are free from problems, hurts, wounds, or
difficulties, but even more when there are problems and
wounds. When one lifts up his head in these situations and
says, "Lord, I praise You," his eyes may be filled with
tears, but his mouth will be filled with praise. His heart
may be in pain, but his spirit will still praise. His spirit
will soar as high as his praise. He can ascend with his
praises. Those who murmur are foolish. The more they murmur,
the more they are buried under their murmurings. The more
they complain, the more they sink into their complaints. The
more they allow their problems to overtake them, the more
exhausted they become. 
 
Many people...strive and struggle to get out of their
situations. Even though their circumstances and wounds try
to bury them, they try to get out by prayers. But there are
also times when prayer does not work. Nothing seems to be
able to deliver them until they praise. When you put
yourself in such an overcoming position, you immediately
transcend everything, and no problem will be able to bury
you. Sometimes you may feel that something is trying to run
you over. But as soon as you praise, you will come out of
your depression.