How is your destiny determined?

At some point any Christian will wonder about the providence of God – what things are ordained of God and are the will of God and what things are free will. New Christians may wonder why they should pray  or rather how they should pray to know the will of God. Scripture states that His ways are far above our ways and His thoughts are far above our thoughts. How then can we possibly know what to do or what to pray? How much is free will and how much is divine destiny?

Certainly God will never contradict Himself – that is state one thing in the Word of God and then will something contrary to the WORD of God. The Word of God gives us insight to the mind of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 2:16
For who hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? but we have the mind of Christ.

Our detiny is determined by the interplay of human free will with the providence or will of God. There are certain main themes.

1. Did we accept or reject the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour?

2 Corinthians 4:4
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

^{John 3: 3}Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

^{John 3: 15}That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

¹⁶For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

2. Did we obey the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ?

^{Mark 16: 15}And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

¹⁶He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

¹⁷And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

¹⁸They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.

3. Did we obey the callings and service to God with faithfulness?

^{Luke 12: 42}And the Lord said, Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his lord shall make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of meat in due season?

⁴³Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.

⁴⁴Of a truth I say unto you, that he will make him ruler over all that he hath.

4. Were we good stewards over the people and the spheres of influence in our lives?

^{Luke 12: 45}But and if that servant say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming; and shall begin to beat the menservants and maidens, and to eat and drink, and to be drunken;

⁴⁶The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers.

⁴⁷And that servant, which knew his lord’s will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

⁴⁸But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

5. What is our genuine love towards the sick and the poor and the needy?

^{Matthew 25: 34}Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

³⁵For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

³⁶Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

³⁷Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

³⁸When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

³⁹Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

⁴⁰And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

6. Did we do good works that reflect our LORD living inside of us?

^{1 Corinthians 3: 13}Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

¹⁴If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

¹⁵If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

PRAYER

Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for dying for me on the cross. That you that you rose from the dead. Thank you that you are coming back to catch up your Church. Lord fill me with more of you. Let my life be filled with more of you. Lord let me be salt and light in the earth. Let your love pour forth from my life so that I am a true ambassador for the kingdom of God. Live in me – live through me Holy Spirit. Line me up with your will and your Word and your ways. Let my life bring you honour and glory. I will give you all the glory. Amen.

 

 

Experience the Resurrection from the dead today

There will most certainly be a resurrection of the dead before Christ comes to set up His millennium reign on earth. Those who are dead in Christ will be raised and will live with Jesus Christ on earth. We can experience the resurrection of the dead in our lives presently as well.

1. First of all we can be raised out of sin and bondage into new life.

Ephesians 2

¹And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins…⁵Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)⁶And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenlyplaces in Christ Jesus:

2. We can be healed from an illness or disease by faith that comes to us through the preaching of God’s word.

2 Corinthians 1:⁹ But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead:

¹⁰Who delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust that he will yet deliver us;

3. We may be miraculously delivered from an impossible situation.

Romans 4:¹⁸Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.

¹⁹And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah’s womb:

²⁰He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;

²¹And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform.

²²And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

5. We could be at the end of our strength and find that the Spirit of God quickens us and empowers us to go on in victory.

^{2 Corinthians 12: 9}And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

¹⁰Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.

 

LORD – here is my life – quicken me by your Holy Spirit. I speak life unto my spirit, soul and body. I speak the resurrection power of Jesus Christ over this circumstance. Let the power of your resurrection quicken me that I might receive with faith the word of God and be healed, delivered, set free, raised out of this situation. I give you all the glory. Amen.

 

 

The laws of God

Matthew 5:⁴⁵ That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.

Sometimes we may wonder why bad things happen. Earthquakes and Tsunamis are sometimes called Acts of God. This phrase itself is a tremendous insult to God as it blames natural disasters on God is in the habit of doing these types of things. It really gives us a Greek god image of God throwing thunderbolts at the earth out of boredom or pleasure.

There is even a Christian adoption of this type of god and we may believe we know why tragedies come to people or nations. We may think, they deserved this because they are wicked so God sent this disaster to them. I myself have experienced this Christian right foot of fellowship from friends, like Job’s friends, who blamed me for the problems I was facing. Though tempted to judge others for the evils they were facing, I was warned by the Holy Spirit  not to set myself up as judge over another person or people. In fact I was compelled to pray for the people and God’s mercy. Even if the consequence the person is living is the result of sin, we should be moved to mercy.

The Laws of God

There are results of sin that have severe consequences. God does not have to throw thunderbolts – because He has set laws of the supernatural into motion. The laws of Moses clearly outline righteousness from God’s point of view. If we break these laws, we will face the consequences. We can not ignore the laws of God and believe that we will be blessed. Woe there – are you saying we should be following the laws of Moses? No I am not saying that – hear me out. Just as there are natural laws that we can not violate – I can believe I can fly and jump off a building and the law of gravity will come into action. God wouldn’t be punishing me. He created the law of gravity for the earth. I would be going against that law to a stupid death.

Laws are still in place

So too are there spiritual laws. God did not change His mind when Jesus fulfilled all the laws and the prophets. That is, God didn’t nullify the Old Testament. Rather, He fulfilled all that was required. There are preachers who preach we must keep the law – I am not one of those. There are preachers who preach the law has been done away with – I am not one of those. The truth is the laws of sin and death still operate here on the earth.

Christians can repent

I am saved by grace but if I commit sin – the breaking of the law – I must repent. Jesus Christ paid the price for all the consequences of sin and hell and death. Jesus our resurrected Saviour and Lord has paid the price – all sin has been paid for – BUT we still need to repent. If we sin and keep sinning, we will face the consequences of sin – it is always death. It means spiritual death for sure but could also mean taking our lives out from under the canopy of God’s grace and blessing. Yes I’m saying that we could be living a cursed life- in that we have stepped out from God’s grace and protection if we fail to repent and keep our hearts right before God.

Deuteronomy 28:¹⁵ But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:

Those who do not know God, are living life without His canopy of grace. They are living out of the place of blessing. We who are Christians, have hope of forgiveness if we know Jesus as Saviour.

1 John 1:9

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

It is possible that the curses mentioned in Deuteronomy could be affecting a person or nation because of unrepented sin. Our response should be compassion. If we hear about a tragedy upon a person or a nation, we should pray and intercede for them. We should pray for God to pour out His Holy Spirit on that person or nation. They can only come to God if the Holy Spirit draws them. We should pray for them to come to repentance.

We should pray for God to send labourers into their lives to speak to them about Christ. Those who do not know Jesus, can not help themselves. Those who know Jesus but are in bondage to sin can not help themselves. Only God, who is rich in mercy can reveal the matters of our heart to us. God can take the blinders off so that we might clearly see His glory and grace. May God move you with compassion to pray for those around you.

PRAYER

LORD , let my heart be right with you. Holy Spirit correct me so that I am living free from sin or bondage. God give us hearts full of compassion that we might pray for those around us. Help us to respond in love when we hear about someone’s situation or tribulation. God give me your heart to love those who don’t know you. Give me a heart to share Christ with others. Lord let me sow life and light into the earth with my mouth. Let me speak blessing and mercy on those in my life.

I AM the Resurrection and the life

^{John 11: 25}Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:

Do these words bring comfort into the depths of your being? If you are a Christian, they should. If you are not perhaps such a promise and such a hope would cause you to want to know the Saviour who is the great I AM.

God told Moses that His name  is I AM THAT I AM (Exodus 3:14). Jesus use same word to express His divinity and His authority over death.

Mary and Martha and Lazarus were Jesus’ friends. When Jesus gets word that Lazarus is sick near death, he stays where he is a couple of extra days.  He was not hurrying along to help his dear friend and we may see this as an act of not caring, but it is not true. Jesus was not unaware of Lazarus’ condition – he even says he knows that LAzarus is sleeping – meaning the sleep of death.His disciples do not understand so Jesus says it plainly.

^{John 11: 14}Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

¹⁵And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.

Do you read that part? I am glad! How could this make him glad? It is only because Jesus could use this opportunity to show the disciples that He had power over death.

Martha and Mary go separatley to Jesus but with the same cry:

Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

Both of them knew Jesus had power to heal the sick and to bring life. Martha says she believes that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.  She believes in the resurrection of the dead. No one understood what Jesus was saying about being the resurrection and the life. Jesus had to show them what they could never forget.

He went to the tomb of Lazarus and commanded that the stone be rolled away. It had been more than three days since Lazarus had died. To be crude, his flesh must be rotting.

Jesus said to Martha

⁴⁰Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?

When Jesus prays He thanks his Father God for always hearing Him ae is only doing it so he says he is only doing it so the people will believe he is the Son of God with power over death.

John 11: 3And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

⁴⁴And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

⁴⁵Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.

Mary and Martha and Lazarus threw a banquet to celebrate! How could they forget what they had witnessed? It was their only brother brought back to life. It had been the forth day – it was beyond impossible – yet they were eating and drinking with their brother that evening.

The same Jesus who raised the dead is alive and well. He lives in believers. Jesus told his disciples to do these things.

Matthew 10:8

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.

Did you get that part? Raise the dead. Let us stop here for a moment. Let us take it figuratively.

Let me tell you I know what it is like to have my world turned upside down and for my dreams and hopes to die and be as dead as a dormant seed. I have him breathe on my life with His Holy Spirit and give me peace and love and joy and hope and resurrection life. I believe in the restoration of people – some people;s lives seem way beyond restoration – so there is resurrection of dreams, of hopes, of relationships, of purposes etc.

Let us stop here and take it literally. I don’t know how or when but the Holy Spirit may lead me to pray for  and to believe for the resurrection of the dead. I am here LORD. Use me. I don’t understand LORD. I can’t comprehend it but I yield my whole self to God. If God should put me in position to raise the dead – I will know it is God and not just me that is for sure! I yield myself and saym God have your way. Use me. If you want me to raise the dead, here I am. I will obey.

PRAYER

LORD thank you for raising me up from the death that is figurative. You brought resurrection life to me – hope and joy and peace and life – all because of you. LORD I believe you can use me – you can use any willing vessel that offers himself to God – to raise the dead. It isn’t me that could do anything like that. You are the resurrection and the life. Live in me and let your life flow through me. Amen

Beware the way of Balaam

For a minor prophet, one not even having a  good reputation, there is much mention of Balaam in our Bible – both in the old and new testaments.

2 Timothy 3:16 ( all scripture taken from Bible gateway KJV)

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

We are warned not to go the way of Balaam by the Apostle Peter.

2 Peter 2:15
Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

Balaam was known as a prophet for hire. He had the reputation of one who would bless or curse for a price.

Numbers 22:⁵ He sent messengers therefore unto Balaam the son of Beor to Pethor, which is by the river of the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, Behold, there is a people come out from Egypt: behold, they cover the face of the earth, and they abide over against me:

⁶Come now therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people; for they are too mighty for me: peradventure I shall prevail, that we may smite them, and that I may drive them out of the land: for I wot that he whom thou blessest is blessed, and he whom thou cursest is cursed.

⁷And the elders of Moab and the elders of Midian departed with the rewards of divination in their hand; and they came unto Balaam, and spake unto him the words of Balak.

It was custom to give the prophet a blessing – financial or other but it is clear that there is a time to take a gift and there is a time to reject a gift and in fact the prophecy should not be motivated by greed or desire for money.

Jude 1:11
Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

When Balaam seeks the LORD about the request of these men. The LORD speaks to Him very clearly – understand here that he had a gift from God and he was able to hear from God. God specifically told him not to go with the men and not to curse those people (the Israelites). If Balaam would have obeyed God and sent the men away, he probably would have had a slight mention in the Bible and that would have been it.

However, even more persuasive men went to Balaam and spoke words that tickled his ears.

^{Numbers 22: 17}For I will promote thee unto very great honour, and I will do whatsoever thou sayest unto me: come therefore, I pray thee, curse me this people.

¹⁸And Balaam answered and said unto the servants of Balak, If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the LORD my God, to do less or more.

¹⁹Now therefore, I pray you, tarry ye also here this night, that I may know what the LORD will say unto me more.

It seems like perhaps he is just doing his prophet’s duty by praying about it. However, God already clearly said no. If God says no, He means no. Balaam was not thinking of obeying God; he was eager to have those riches and honour lavished upon him.

Numbers 22: ²²And God’s anger was kindled because he went: and the angel of the LORD stood in the way for an adversary against him.

You may remember the story how the donkey sees the angel of the LORD ready to kill and swerves to avoid him. Balaam gets so angry with the animal, he beats him. God opens the animals mouth so he can speak and the truth is revealed; Balaam didn’t have a clue that he was not doing God’s will. His desire for things and honour were stronger than his desire to speak the word of the LORD. This sin is revealed here but is discussed throughout his interactions with Balak. Each time Balak asks Balaam to curse Israel, he takes him to a new spot from where to cast the curse.

Balaam goes to the spot and (in spite of his greedy, sinful self) God uses him to speak blessings upon Israel and curses upon Balak and the Moabites. God does not use Balaam because Balaam is upright, holy or anointed. God uses Balaam in spite of himself. God’s using Balaam is not a sign of God’s approval.

Revelation 2:14
But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication.

Lessons from Balaam

1. If God says no, He means no. Don’t keep trying to hear what you want.

2. Do not use your Spiritual gifts with the motivation for money or things or honour. The gifts are to be consecrated to the LORD for Him to lead us and guide us.

3. Even if the vessel is marred and dirty, God can use him/her anyway.

PRAYER

God forgive me for prostituting the gifts of the Holy Spirit as though they could be bought with money.Forgive me for trying to buy a miracle with my money. Give me discernment about which preachers to listen to and which ones to avoid. Let me live my life wholly consecrated to you. Holy Spirit, you use me. Let my motivation be to do the will of God and speak the word of God for the glory and honour of the LORD.

Wait upon the Lord

Wait is an action word. It doesn’t mean do nothing.

Psalm 27:14

Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

Have you done all that you could do and prayed in faith believing for the answer to come? What do you do if you have prayed and still do not have the answer?

If you have earnestly prayed and not heard an answer from God, you should search the scriptures for every scripture concerning your situation.

Find out if there is a promise for a covenant child of God an if there is – write the scriptures on cards that you will use to confess and pray the concerning your situation.

You are covered by the word of God. Your situation has a resolution. It is a matter of finding God’s word and then applying it with your soul: your mind, will and emotions. That means you should speak the word, pray the word, meditate on the word and wait on the word.

When you have done all you know to do – it is time to wait upon God and for you to take a stand. That is you stand with God’s word against anything you might be living through believing that His word is the highest authority with the power to change anything on earth to bring it into agreement with the Word of God.

Ephesians 6^{: 13}Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

¹⁵And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

¹⁶Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

¹⁷And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

¹⁸Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

Did you get that part? Having done all to stand – STAND THEREFORE. That is a command. God is telling us to stand – clothed in the armour of God letting the Word of God enforce the victory that Jesus has already won for us.

PRAYER

God I pray for people who have prayed and the answer is on the way. I pray for people to be encouraged and their strength to be renewed like an eagle. I pray you would release encouragers to speak words of life to them. I pray for you to send angels to minister to them and for them. |I pray in agreement for your word to be fulfilled. You are faithful and true. Amen.

With a heart of thanksgiving

1 Thessalonians 5:18
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Having a heart of thanksgiving releases life inside of us. We were created to be thankful. We know of a certainty this is God’s will. We do not have to be thankful for everything that happens to us. We do not have to receive bad things thanking God for them – but we should thank God no matter what happens in our life. Our heart of thanksgiving is dependent upon God – not on us or on our situations.

God is always good all of the time. His mercies endure and are new every morning. Each day is a gift from God. People who are unthankful rank among other sinners mentioned in the last days.

2 Timothy 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

An attitude of thankfulness is the opposite of being selfish, proud and haughty. murmuring and complaining are soon to follow ungratefulness and as a man thinks in his heart – so he is. The words spew from our hearts like polluted water – tainting our souls and sowing fleshly seeds that bring a harvest of sin, death and destruction.

If we find murmuring and complaining slipping from our mouths with an attitude of selfishness to accompany it – we must repent and ask God to forgive us. We should ask the Holy Spirit to fill us and bring to our minds what is good and what is pure and what is lovely. What we think about – comes into our words and our words sow our actions and our patterns and ultimately our destiny decisions.

Wow. I do not want to be like the Israelites wandering in the wilderness for 40 years until all of them but Joshua and Caleb died off. They were punished for their unbelief. Just as faith filled words strengthen our faith. murmuring and complaining reveal a heart that is ungrateful and selfish. Flesh words feed the flesh. That which is born of the flesh always ends in death.

^{1 Corinthians:10}Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.

¹¹Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

We need to ask the Holy Spirit to set a watch over our mouths that we would speak what is good and edifying. We need to remain in an attitude of thankfulness for our salvation. We should be thankful for the protection and blessing and favour of God.

PRAYER

O LORD give me a grateful heart. Give me a heart that rejoices in my salvation. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be pleasing in your sight. Holy Spirit, set a watch over my mouth so that I speak what lines up with your word and I align my thoughts, words and deeds with the Word of God. I want to have your praise on my lips and I want the next breath I take to give your thanks. Give me a proper attitude of gratitude. Amen.

Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving

^{Psalm 100: 4}Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.

Psalm 100 is a beautiful Psalm of praise to our God. It is also a blueprint for coming into the Lord’s presence. Now I know we who have received Jesus into our hearts and lives have His presence with us where ever we go. We can talk to God throughout our day and He will lead us and guide us. But there is a need for us, just as we need to breath air – that we need to praise and worship our God. Our spirit man requires the presence of God to be fulfilled. It is in His presence that we have love, joy, peace. It is in His presence that we are healed, delivered, transformed from glory to glory.

Praise is necessary and must be made a habit just as exercise or music or whatever we want to develop. We may not always “feel” like praising – but our Christian life should not be based on mere feelings. We should obey the word of God and take time to draw near to God. I remember that when I first came to know the Lord, I did not want the church services to end. I felt God’s peace and love and joy and I was in communion with Him and other believers who were also worshiping God.

One day at home I was thinking about how many days were left until the next church service and sighed because it was several days. The Holy Spirit prompted me to praise God at home by myself. He told me that it was Him that I longed for – not a church service. I didn’t feel anointed or anything, but in obedience I began singing some of the songs we sang at church. One after the other came to my mind and soon I was praising God and the presence of God came upon me so strongly I began singing in the spirit. This was the Holy Spirit teaching me about praise and worship and entering the presence of the Lord.

Jeremiah 29:13
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

Do you want the presence of the Lord to be strong in your life? I can give you a recipe for success.

1. Enter into His gates with thanksgiving. Begin with thanking God for your Salvation. Thank Him for delivering you and healing you and saving you from you. Begin by thanking Him for the blessings of being a child of God. Then start thanking Him for your family and church family. Thank Him for the things He has done for you. Once you prime the pump… by thanksgiving, praise is sure to follow.

2. Enter into His courts with praises. Start praising Him for who He is. He is the mighty one of Israel. He is Jehovah our rock, our banner, our peace, our healer, our provider… Praise Him for His goodness and His mercy and His loving kindness to you. Don’t stop – just keep on praising Him. Focus your heart on Him and in lifting up His name and praising His Holy name.

3. Now you have passed from the outer courts of the temple, into the Holy place. Do not be content to just stay there. Press in a little deeper. Begin to express your love for God as to your dearest lover. He is the lover of your soul. Jesus shed His blood to deliver you. He first loved you. He gave His all for you. Let the waves of His love overwhelm you and love on God. Keep pouring your heart in worship and adoration to Him. No one will have to tell you. It will be pouring from your heart as His presence fills you to over flowing and the love flows from His throne and through you back to His feet – back to His heart. In worship, as you abandon yourself to God, your words will not be able to express the depths of love you want to express. It is then that God gives us a new song. The words may be in English but are often in another tongue. The melody and the meaning fill you to overflowing as you pour out everything to God.

Worship is so awesome when we can be in a corporate service and the process I’ve just described happens with the worship leader leading the way. But it seems that this is not always the case in some local churches. Let me encourage you to praise the Lord by yourself in your own home. God inhabits the praises of His people.

PRAYER

Lord I thank you for my salvation. I remember where you found me and how you delivered me from sin and hell and death. I thank you for new life in Christ. Thank you for your love. Thank you for your mercy and your Grace. You are awesome O mighty God. You are worthy of all praise and glory. I lift up your Holy name Lord Jesus Christ. O Jehovah, you are my God. I worship you and give you glory and honour. You receive all the glory and the honour. I give you my all and all. Amen.

I want to be a worshiper

How is the worship at your church? Are you singing the latest hit Christian songs and doing all the in fashion gospel moves? Hand clap here. Slide. Jump. Jump.

RELIGIOUS

We probably don’t notice it, but any visitors do. Can it be that we have tried so hard not to be traditional in our song and hymn singing that we have formed another religious pattern? For instance we won’t sing hymns at their original tempo but play them as jazz or rock tunes?

Why do we call it a worship service if all we do is gather together and sing songs? What is the dynamic that transforms a congregation from singing to worshiping together?

TAKE IT FROM JESUS

Jesus gave us a clue about worship in his prophetic dialogue with the woman of Samaria. She wanted to know the right place to go to worship because she perceived he was a prophet. She knew he had some connection with God because He had just revealed the secrets of her heart, and she wanted an answer that was physical and earthly like a location. Jesus spoke to her and said

John 4: 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

WHAT IS A TRUE WORSHIPER?

What is a true worshiper? God is actually seeking for these people so we should desire to be true worshipers. It is more than simply singing and more than a prescriptive pattern that we could teach somebody. Boy O boy when the worship leader is anointed, we all know it! We are moved beyond our own selves into a spiritual dimension where only glorifying God is important.

It is not mere emotionalism but it can be emotional. It is not just dancing but can include dancing. It is trying to describe another dimension of existence with words that can not.

Once you have sung the words to the songs as though they have come from your innermost being as love songs to Jesus, you can never be happy with a just singing a slow song about God. Once you have prophetically and corporately shouted God’s victory, you will never be able to just clap and dance casually.

NOT TOO CASUAL

Worship isn’t casual. It is engaging with the Creator and Lover of your soul. It is communion with God that gives us the true taste of our heavenly home.

If you have never experienced being caught up in His presence just giving glory and honour and praise to God, you are missing out on one of the most awesome privileges of being a Christian and that  is communion with God. He fills us to overflowing and we are adoring Him. This kind of love can not be understood by those who are not Christians, but I believe their are Christians who don’t love on Jesus, don’t know the goodness of His presence, the goodness of His presence.

NOT FOR EXPERIENCE

We don’t worship God to have an experience. Zeal and passion come from the habitual practice of worship. Sometimes our bodies and minds don’t feel like worshipping – so by obedience we simply sing and begin to hear the words we are singing and then we are anointed to worship. Sometimes we don’t feel like dancing, but if in obedience we start – our feet will be freed to do it.

Do you want more intimacy with God? Become a worshiper. As we praise and worship God and fix our hearts on Him – He will transform us.

PRAYER

LORD I want to be a worshiper who worships you in spirit and truth. Come Holy Spirit. Quicken Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to me. Come breath on me and give me a new song to sing from my heart.

An Excellent Spirit

Proverbs 17:27
He that hath knowledge spareth his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

Being a Christian is an awesome privilege and with it comes many opportunities for blessing and favour and grace. We are saved by grace by faith – not of our own doing but by the Lord Jesus Christ. We as Christians have peace with God and have access to God’s throne. We know that when we pray, our prayers are heard because we have relationship with God.

We get to decide how close to God we want to be. It is our decision to press in to God’s presence or to casually seek Him. We can be saved and on our way to heaven and not have to do anything. We don’t have to read the Bible – but we get to. We don’t have to pray, but it is our honour.

How close do you want to be with God?

You might say, I want to be as close as possible. Is this really true? If it is then we will have to line up our lives with God’s word, His will and His ways.

Our zeal and passion for God should grow stronger day by day. Our love and excitement for Christ should grow each day. We should not be where we were a year ago in our relationship with God – or anyone else.

Daniel was a man that is recorded to have an excellent spirit.He was blessed with wisdom and knowledge and discernment but also an excellent spirit. This speaks of his character and his human will. By reading about the life of Daniel, we know certain things about his life.

Daniel 5:12
Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and understanding, interpreting of dreams, and shewing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will shew the interpretation.

1. Daniel chose to live for God and do the will of God.

Daniel 5:14
I have even heard of thee, that the spirit of the gods is in thee, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom is found in thee.

2. He is known by those who were his captors to have fellowship with God and to have wisdom, understanding and revelation light.

3. His companions were people like him who refused to eat the king’s meat. They chose to obey God rather than have that which would defile them.

^{Daniel 1: 6} Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah:

⁷Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego.

⁸But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.

⁹Now God had brought Daniel into favour and tender love with the prince of the eunuchs.

4. God gave Daniel and his three friends favour in the land of their captivity. They were appointed prominent positions of authority by their enemies.

Daniel 6:3
Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because anexcellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.

5. Daniel and his friends chose to serve God even though they were in prominent positions of authority and the authority forbid them from serving God.

Daniel 6:¹³ Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.

Daniel was thrown in the lion’s den as judgement. His three friends were thrown into a fiery furnace for refusing to bow down to an idol. They were all miraculously delivered from their enemies. God sovereignly protected them to the amazement of their captors.They were promoted by the very trials sent to destroy them.

By reading the book of Daniel, we can see the favour and blessing upon Daniel and his friends. They had an excellent spirit.

PRAYER

LORD let us pursue you with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Give us a passion and zeal for you, and for your word.Make us quick to obey you and firm in our convictions. Holy Spirit lead us and guide us to be people of an excellent spirit.