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2010 #4 -
April 5
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will
soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow
weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:31
I was
asking God why is it that believers at certain points in
their lives start to doubt His existence or presence in
their lives. And the Holy Spirit led me to Isaiah
40:27-31. The passage starts with the question
similar to what I was asking. Why do you say, O
Jacob, and complain, O
Israel, "My way is hidden from the LORD; my cause is disregarded by my God –
Isaiah 40:27"? The Jacob or
Israel referred to are God’s covenant people. The same
people the Psalmist declared, “He will not let your
foot slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over
Israel will neither slumber nor sleep – Psalm 121:3-4.”
How is it possible that they would feel or think that
God does not care about them?
Isaiah 40:28
goes on to say: Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends
of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his
understanding no one can fathom. Not doubting God’s
presence in our lives starts with the understanding of
how great and mighty our God is. The LORD is the
everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth –
wow! Then we need to realize that He is NOT human like
us, that He does not grow tired or weary like we do.
That His understanding is beyond comprehension; that
means that because we are at our wits’ end does not mean
God does not have THE solution.
When
we try to go in our strength, we will get tired. Youth
and young men symbolize strength, yet as Isaiah says:
Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble
and fall – Isaiah 40:30. But those who hope in
the LORD will renew their strength... – Isaiah 40:31.
I love the Amplified Bible version: But those who
wait FOR the Lord... – Isaiah 40:31.
The
understanding the Holy Spirit gave me is this: when life
come at us, most of the time we try to handle it on own.
Of course, after a while, we will get tired and
frustrated because we cannot deal with life without
God’s intervention. Sometimes, even though we pray, we
just go right ahead and continue handling the situation
as we know best. But if we are to wait FOR God
(regardless of how long it may seem) to handle the
situation for us, we will definitely not grow tired or
weary. In fact we will indeed “soar on wings like
eagles; ...run and not grow weary ...walk and not be
faint – Isaiah 40:31.”
Dearly beloved, God is saying to you, "Be still, and
know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth – Psalm 46:10."
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2010 #3 -
February 13
Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching
in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the
kingdom and healing every disease and sickness
- Matthew
9:35.
In
recent times, God has been ministering to me about
reaching out. I have been guilty of staying within the
confines of the four walls of my church and my home.
Matthew
9:35
says: Jesus went through all the towns and villages,
teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of
the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
You know, Jesus went... He did not stay in his home or
hometown hoping that the people will come to him. In
fact, he was not able to do a whole lot in his own
hometown because of the people’s unbelief. It was
recorded many times in the gospels, “Jesus went...” As
He went, people came to him and He ministered to them.
The point was that He took the first step of going out
to them. Matthew
9:35
summarized His ministry to the people – teaching,
preaching and healing.
One
of Jesus’ last earthly command to His disciples was,
“Go into all the world and preach the good news to all
creation – Mark
16:15.” And it
was recorded in Mark 15:20: Then the disciples
went out and preached everywhere, and the
Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by
the signs that accompanied it. Please, pay
attention to the underlined words. The disciples went
out, like Jesus Himself did and as He commanded them.
Mark recorded that they preached; Matthew recorded the
teaching ministry: Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations... teaching them... Matthew 28:19-20.
The result was that the Lord worked with them and
confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it –
Mark 16:20. One of the signs was they will place
their hands on sick people, and they will get well –
Mark
16:18.
The
Lord is helping me realize that if I want to see His
power manifested in my life, then I need to go out. As I
preach the good news and teach His Word, I will see the
manifestation of His power working through me to set
people free. The harvest is not in my home or in my
church; it is out there in the grocery stores, other
homes, on the streets, in my community, etc. Jesus’
instruction on prayer to His disciples was, “Ask the
Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out
workers into his harvest field – Matthew
9:38.”
It is
in going out that compassion for the lost comes. When
he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because
they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a
shepherd – Mark 15:36. There are dying people out
there, hurting and in great pain whom we see every day
and even interact with. They look all put together, but
inside they are hurting and on their way to hell. The
only way we will see past their exterior façade is when
we “go.” By “go,” I mean we leave our home daily praying
and trusting God to lead and help us preach His good
news to those He bring across our path. With this
mission on our hearts and at the fore front of our
minds, God will open our eyes to see and have the
compassion that will enable us to minister to these
ones.
Dearly beloved, the Lord is asking, "Whom shall I
send? And who will go for us?" Let your reply be,
"Here am
I. Send me!" And His command to us is, "Go and tell this people... – Isaiah
6:8-9.
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2010 #2 -
January 23
Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life –
Proverbs 4:23.
Last weekend, I went for a Life
Changers Encounter program organized by Women Of Destiny
International (please
click here to find out about
them). It was indeed a life changing experience for me.
The main thing the Lord did for me was to break down the
wall of hardness in my heart and give me a heart of
compassion. Prior to that time, I had desired to truly
have compassion in every sense of the word based on
Matthew
9:36
- When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them,
because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep
without a shepherd. Like Jesus, I wanted to see beyond the exterior of people.
I wanted to see and feel where people are coming from,
where they are at and most of all to see where God is
taking them. As I saw other women being ministered to, I
felt their pains as the Holy Spirit worked in them and
also felt their joy as they were set free.
God is gracious.
My
prayer afterward was that this would not be a one time
experience for me but a lifestyle. And what the Holy
Spirit ministered to me was to guard my heart. The
illustration He gave me was plaque build up in the
teeth. If one does not take care of one’s teeth daily,
there will be a build up of plague. After a while, when
the plaque hardens, it will take dental instruments to
remove it. As a child of God, when we do something wrong
and it is brought to our attention, the right thing to
do is immediately confess it. And God is so gracious
that He promises that: If we confess our sins, he is
faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness – 1John 1:9.
The unrighteousness is what we do not want to build up.
Since
last weekend, I have had two distinct experiences in
guarding my heart. The first one was when I witnessed a
group of Christians organize a program. I felt that
their actions did not line up with the Word of God in
some aspects; mind you, it was nothing sinful. As I was
telling my husband about it, I felt a conviction in my
spirit that I was judging them. As I repented, the Lord
showed me that their hearts were in the right place. He
reminded me that in the past I had been that same place
and it was Him who led me out; so He is capable of
leading them out in His own way and in His own time. The
second experience was when I heard about a fellow
believer playing with sin. The thought that came up in
me was: but for the grace of God, that could easily have
been me. I felt such a surge of compassion rise up
within me for the person.
Dearly beloved: Above all else, guard your heart, for
it is the wellspring of life – Proverbs 4:23.
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2010 #1 -
January 9
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast
spirit within me.
Psalm 51:10
Happy New Year! In every New Year or at the end of the
old one, we usually take stock. Then we come up with
resolutions of what to do to make the New Year better
than the old. While there is nothing wrong with that per
se yet it has been shown that such resolutions do not
last.
This morning as I was spending some time with God
praying about the ministry He has given me, God showed
me a mirror of myself. I realized that the way I have
been interacting and doing thing was all wrong. I needed
to start doing things differently. I started thinking
and praying about those things. At a point, I just had
to give up and tell God that I could not do them. This
was because I knew that for those things to become a
reality in my life, I needed to have a new me.
Glory to God, He led me to Psalms 51:10 - Create in
me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit
within me. The Spirit of God started ministering to
me that David asked God to create a pure heart in
him. The pure heart was not part of David prior to this
prayer. Also, he asked God to renew or make new again
a steadfast heart within him.
Wow, that got me excited! If David could ask God for a
brand new pure heart and a renewed steadfast spirit,
then I could ask God for something appropriate to my
circumstance. So I prayed: God create in me a loving
heart and renew a right spirit within me. This was
one of those instantaneous manifestations of answered
prayer. My heart was so filled with love and the right
kinds of thoughts started popping up in my mind, praise
God.
Philippians 2:13
says for it is God who works in you to will and to
act according to his good purpose. This is so true.
Whatever resolutions we may have come up with, it is God
who can CHANGE us (not just help us) to accomplish them.
Dearly beloved, have a glorious New Year.
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