Receving When We Pray

It is so interesting how often as Christians we pray but do not receive. What do I mean? Consider this illustration given by a well known preacher. He says praying without receiving is like a customer going to the bank asking the teller to withdraw money from his account and before the money has been handed over, the customer has turned his back and walked away! Sounds funny, almost hilarious doesn't it? But does that not ring true with most of us?

Well, therein lies the problem with our prayer life. If like the customer, we walk away from money that is rightfully ours, what would the teller do? He or she will put the money back into the account. Maybe you'll come back another time. It's yours after all! However, if every time you go to the bank and carry on the useless exercise of walking away before that critical handover...well.. that money is not going to be doing much for you except looking nice on paper. Ha!

In reality, the bank teller is like our Father, so willing to hand over what rightfully belongs to us - healing, salvation, finance...all our needs according to His wishes in glory by Christ Jesus. Alas! We submit our requests and don't even stop to listen to the Father say, "Wait a minute, I'll just process that for you." We have already made for the door. And not only that, all the way to the door, we are working out in our brains the job of the teller. "How is he going to access the computer to check my account? How is he going to count the money?" All the while the teller is calling you back, "Hey Miss. Hey Mister, I have your moneyyy...". But it's in vain. You can't hear the teller. Your thoughts have drowned out their call. Likewise, with our prayers we prematurely abort the process and even when the Father is correcting us, we are often too busy with our thoughts that we can't hear. Busy working out how our Father is going to do what we have asked Him.

STOP! It's His job to work it out. Just as is the teller's job to work it out how to give you your money. Is that not what he has been trained to do? God, has the answer. God, your Creator, my Creator who created ALL things is fully trained and equipped to hand out that healing, that money, that job, that child! Amen!

We have to receive when we ask. We do it all the time in our daily lives without thinking. We do it when we buy a sandwich, when we ask a favour from a friend, and so on. Can we not afford our loving Father the same 'privileges'? Sure we can.

Let us entrust our cares to Him today. And as we do so, let us reach out with open hands and receive. He would so love to put that 'thing' in your hands. Question though, are you ready to receive?

© June 2007

Are We Too Strong For God?

Recently some words said by my pastor, seem to be ringing in my ears. "Some of us Christians are simply too strong for God", he declared boldly. He even went on to say some of us were even too clever for Him.

When I first heard this, I wondered to myself, is it possible to be too strong for God? God is strong and powerful. Come on now, I thought, who on earth would dare flex muscles with Him? Doesn't the Word says His ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts higher than our thoughts?

Is it also possible to be too clever for Him, I pondered. The Bible says that the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom. So how can anyone think they can size themselves up to God.

But in reality we do think these things. And quite often too. Small wonder we find there are times that God just cannot move in our lives. There is simply no room for Him to maneuvre! While He is waiting for us to lay it all at His feet, surrender to Him, trust Him as a child does to a father, we are too busy rationalising. We make plan A, plan B, plan C all the way down to plan Z. We cover every eventuality and 'what-if' scenario even AFTER we have prayed. And in the end, what does that say about us?

God is all knowing. To God belongs wisdom and power (Job 12:13). Let's remember that and submit to Him. He is no match for us.

It takes faith

"Without faith it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6) "

We need faith for all matters pertaining to God. Salvation requires faith. Forgiveness requires faith. Healing requires faith. Deliverance requires faith. Our breakthroughs require faith. Yet as Christians we often struggle with exercising our faith.

Think about this. Even our daily activities require faith. As humans this is the minimum level of faith we all have. It means God has already given us a measure of faith as a starting point. Let's face it, we do a lot of things without thinking most of the time. We don't stop to rationalise everything, do we? When you open the fridge door, do you stop to think if the door is going to come off it's hinges? You don't stop to check and examine the armchair in your living room every single time you want to sit down, do you? You and I just simply plod on with our daily activities without giving much thought to things.

If in the natural, we can exercise faith without much thought, then we must get to a similar level in supernatural matters too. Faith must become automatic. So if the doctor says, 'sorry I can't help you', faith should automatically kick in. We should think and declare, 'I know Someone who can. By His stripes I am healed, therefore I will get over this'. Or when the bills come and there is no money in the pot, faith should say 'God is my Jehovah Jireh, therefore I trust He will provide. I don't know how but He will.'

Without faith it is impossible to please God. God wouldn't ask us to do the impossible, especially knowing how much having faith in Him, means to Him. Lets build our faith. Seek Him and we will find Him. Faith is a daily walk. And God says it is attainable.

© October 2006

Devotional - The Lord's protection

RESCUE me, O LORD, from evil men; PROTECT me from men of violence, who devise evil plans in their hearts and stir up war every day. (Psalm 140:1-2 NIV)

It seems these days that we are living in very troubled times. Violence. Evil plans. Wars. These accounts do not seem too dissimilar from the account of David in the verse above. Are you fearful? Take heart. There is good news amidst the bad.

David in the Bible feared for his life on several occasions. He was a man after God's heart (Acts 13:22), who camped in caves at times and lived like a fugitive instead of the king he had been anointed to be! Not exactly what he must have imagined royalty to be, right? Many times, David fled from enemies who pursued his life relentlessly. Enemies such as once friend, Saul and even his own son Absalom. Can you imagine how distressing and frightening that must have been? Reading David's account in the Old Testament, it seemed David was always running from one danger or another. In the verse above, he reports that evil men were stirring up war EVERY DAY. Makes me wonder how he coped with the daily bad news of conflict. But the God of Protection protected him. He came through for David. David CALLED upon His Lord who rescued him. God delivered him time and time again.

God cares. Yes, He cares for you. He is the same God yesterday as He was with David. He is the same today. He will be the same tomorrow. (Hebrews 13:8). Because of Him we need not fear. When we call on Him, He will RESCUE us and PROTECT us just as He did with David.

Heavenly Father, God of Protection, we thank you for being our protection. In times of anxiety and fear, rescue and deliver me from all evil. I will not fear anything because You are more than able to do anything to keep me safe. In Jesus' name. Amen

Call on Him today. He is waiting for your call.

Reflections - My Omnipresent Shepherd

Yesterday was a beautiful day. A bright, sunny September, temperatures soaring to nearly thirty degrees Celsius. Well, twenty-eight to be exact. Regardless it was pleasantly warm and cheery. I decided to take a walk during my lunch break.

It seemed like everyone had caught on to my idea too. Everyone seemed to be out and about. I passed a field, one I had not noticed before. I saw sheep apparently basking in the afternoon heat. I looked around to see if I could catch sight of their 'shepherd'. My eyes could not locate him/her. Maybe, their shepherd was in some nearby field, I thought.

I thought of my own Shepherd. Jesus. That's His name. He was right there besides me. Taking a stroll with me. I could not see Him but I knew He was with me. I thought how amazing that Jesus could be in more than one 'field' at the same time. He is after all omnipresent. That means He is present everywhere. Always by my side.

'My' sheep in the field looked content and tranquil however. It was a lovely day after all. I hoped their shepherd was not too far away in case they had any needs. Shame their shepherd was not omnipresent like mine.

See more of my reflections on http://momentwithgod.blogspot.com/
© September 2006

God is Not a Bulldozer

I have often wondered what was the purpose of forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. How about you? God had given Adam and Eve all they needed for life. Endowed in the garden were lush fruits of all descriptions, tastes, textures, sizes.. you name it, it was there. Adam and Eve could eat anything to their heart's content. However, there was one fruit they were expressly commanded not to eat and that was the fruit on the forbidden tree.

Human logic would dictate that perhaps it might have been easier to have not included this tree in the garden, right? Had it not been for the cost of that bite, perhaps you and I would have been in Eden today lining our stomaches with delights we cannot not even fathom yet see in our supermarkets today. Had that tree not been in the garden, there would have been no temptation meaning sin would not have been birthed. So why the tree? What was it's purpose?

Like so many other puzzling or unanswered questions, maybe my questions above are to be included on my list of questions I can't wait to ask my Maker when I depart from this life. However, I know that above all God is, God is also a God of choice. And that means He has given every human being a free will. A free will to select their own options. And that included the free will Adam and Eve had regarding the forbidden fruit. Theirs was a choice to either live or die. They instead chose to die.

God will never force His will on any person. Period. He is not a bulldozer, forcing His way into our lives and decisions. Even though He created us, even though He reigns with power and might, God never 'abuses' His power. God is a gentle King, sitting and waiting patiently for you and I to make the right choices. It is up to us what we choose. Is it to live or die?

© September 2006

Don't Eat Your Seed - Part 2

We have established in Part 1 of the message 'Don't Eat Your Seed', (http://beyond-measure.blogspot.com/2006/09/dont-eat-your-seed.html) that God has given each of us a seed. A package for our earthly journey. A seed to sow, grow and flow. Sow in faith. Grow in love, patience and endurance. Flow in abundance. Not using this seed we reasoned, meant eating our seed. Swallowing our investment towards the God-given destiny that the enemy is trying to take away from us.

But eating our seed not just hinders our future. Eating our seed can also hinder someone else's destiny. Imagine for example, your seed to be a gift of caring. If you only cared for yourself, no doubt you would be well groomed, healthy, shining, gleaning and all the benefits that come with caring. To friends and critics alike, you would be greatly or secretly admired. If this caring nature, however did not extend to the dying world out there, alas you are merely like a hidden, lighted candle. Glowing in it's own little corner, bringing light to a confined area only. Yet, bringing that candle out in the open, illuminates a greater darkness in the same way a caring person reaches out to the hungry and suffering would.

God has given you a seed (or seeds) to equip you and others. As you reach out with that talent and use it for others, God begins to multiply your harvest several fold. In using that seed, you are furthering His kingdom. And you will find more seeds begin to supernaturally come forth. All because you have dared to reach out with your seed.

If John Wesley, Billy Graham, T D Jakes, David Cho, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Florence Nightingale, to name a few, had eaten their seed, where would we find these names in the hero pages of our History books today? The world is looking for people with seeds. Don't eat yours. Remember to use yours to bless others!

© September 2006