God was in my Mess

 

Prayer Fatigue?

I don't know if am the only one, but sometimes I simply feel like putting a stop to my praying. Why? Maybe because I allow myself to be distracted by other things or am yet to receive answers to prayers. Sometimes I wonder why some prayers take so long to be answered, but are we supposed to stop praying because we have not gotten the breakthrough or an answer to prayer? Definitely Not!

Jesus told a parable in Luke 18:1-8 to illustrate the fact that we must never stop praying.

"Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.  He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’

“For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”

And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

God created time and He works with time. Imagine the thousand of years it took for God's plan of Redemption to come through. When Elijah was praying for the drought to end, his servant went and looked towards the sea seven (7) times and at the 7th time reported “A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.”. So I encourage you to keep praying till you see what you are looking for.

Testimony:

I love watching video testimonies produced by White Chair Films, they produce ' I Am Second '. The video clip below is their latest production and I was once again blown away by the mercies of God. Jordan Rogers made a statement at the end that God does his biggest work in our messes. Yeah, we often make a mess of our lives and it's only God that can change our story.                      



Prayer:
Lord Jesus, here I am before you surrendering my all to you. I know that I have of my life due to my will to live my life in accordance to my own will instead of Your will. I ask that you step into my life and clear up my mess, help me to rectify the mistakes I have made and help me to truly repent and then live as you want me to live - a life totally committed to you Christ the Lord. Amen

'I received My Sight'

Another week is gone and a new one has started, all praise be to God. The above picture image contains the chorus to a Christian hymn I sang a lot in Sunday school as  a young child. It was true then and still holds true today. In the past week, God spoke to my heart on something that is very important, i.e. putting to practice the word of God. I was led to read the book of Ezekiel 33:30-32 and was real convicted within me. I asked myself if indeed I am putting into practice all I read in the bible, messages & teachings I listen to or sermons that are preached in Church.  For instance, 1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus."

There are so many things God expects from us but one of the most important is our obedience. It is best to always obey God's instruction. Putting into practice the word of God involves obedience.  Am trying to learn to express my thanks in every circumstance more often than before because it is God's will.  So, I encourage you today to begin to really put into practice what God says.


BEHIND THE SCENES - CAN YOU DO WHAT HE DID?

     

Life without sight. Not being able to use that sense. Forces you to compensate with all the other senses, Acute hearing. Extra Sensitive touch and smell. I have talked with many people who lost their sight at one time or another. They find it very hard to adjust, especially the young ones. They find it difficult to trust the other senses. I never had that problem. I was born blind. Never saw the sun or my mother’s face. So I am better adjusted. But I still think that those who had vision before, for however short a period had a better deal. At least they know the colors of a rainbow even if they cannot see it now. I have never seen a color, so I imagine it. I imagine blue to be velvety, yellow to be silky and red? Red is the color of blood. It hurts when I bleed, which I frequently do, from falls and scrapes, so red is a painful kind of color. Sort of metallic.

Black? Black is a color I know very well. It’s the only color I can actually see. I guess white would be the opposite of black. I can only just comprehend colors and then I find there are various shades of each color; a lighter red, a deeper yellow. This is beyond my comprehension. But I do know sounds. I know sounds very well. I know when the footsteps I hear bear malice toward me. I know the steps of those coming to push me down or to pull me up. I know when I approach people who like me, or those who pity me, or even those who dislike me. The way their voices change when they address me. The way they fidget and move their feet and body. 

I usually run from crowds. I don’t really do public gatherings very well. There is always a mix of people there and I get very uncomfortable. When so many people talk and move at the same time, it’s harder to separate voices and people and so I can’t read them well.  So when I heard a crowd of people coming down the street that day, I decided to leave. Move to a less noisy area. I made up my mind, but somehow, I couldn’t get my feet to move. So I stayed by the roadside, hoping I would not get pushed down in the melee as the people approached. Then I heard someone ask “what about this blind man? What did he do wrong or maybe his parents? What sin brought this about?” Sin. Why were they asking about my sin? I had lived with the punishment of my unknown sin all my life. Some even said I must have done something really bad in a past life to be so punished in this one. Now my sin was a matter of public debate?

Then I heard a quiet voice reply. “Wrong question. You are looking for someone to blame. There is no cause –effect here. Look instead for what God can do.” I didn’t understand his words, but they filled me with peace. Like a cool shower, on a hot summer day. I was not blind because of a sin. It was not a punishment. What God can do? I felt he had already done it now. I actually felt clean.

That’s when I felt a hand rubbing something into my eyes. I tried to push him away. What kind of a joke was this? Then I heard the man say in that quiet voice, ‘Go and wash in the pool of Sent’. I would not, no, could not disobey that voice, so I went.

I got to the pool and washed my face, and my eyes began to hurt. Not the usual numbing hurt I was used to. This was a fiery type of hurt, like I was standing before an open flame. There was too much light in my eyes. Then I blinked and realized there was a difference in the colors. I could see light and dark. When my eyes were closed, I could see my familiar dark. But when I opened them? The tree with leaves. That was the color green. The water in the pool. That must be blue. Not how I thought blue would be at all. I looked around and saw different colors of people. They looked different. Even their hair color was different. The Sky, the sun. Yes, that was the color yellow. I continued gazing fervently at people and things around me, trying to place all the colors I had never seen. I could recognize shapes as I had touched and felt them long enough, but colors? Colors were amazing.

I began to be aware of an increasing murmur around me. People had realized that I could see and were shouting. At the back of my mind, I wondered why the shouts. I walked back home, not needing my stick, walking slowly, savoring the colors along the way. When I got home, some family members came to visit, to confirm the rumors they had heard. Could I really see? I looked at them. I could see them looking at me, looking at them. Oh, the joy!

Some others walked up to me and told me, that I could not be me, I was just a look alike. I laughed out loud at that. I thought they all looked alike before. I was beginning to see the differences in them, and they thought I was a look alike? Who was supposed to be blind here? I told them I was me. Really Me. And they marveled. I told them a man named Jesus had done this to me, but I didn’t know where he had gone to.

They took me to the community leaders, who asked me again what had happened to me. I told them all I knew. Then they began to argue among themselves. He worked on a Sabbath, so he was evil. He opened blind eyes so he was good. They were undecided, and came back to me and asked me who I thought he was. I told them he was a prophet. Then they called me a fraud. They sent me away saying I was only pretending. All these years of walking with a white stick and it was a pretense? They called my parents who told them that all they knew was that I had been born blind, and now I could see, but they didn’t know the how or why of the issue. My parents told them to ask me what had happened

So they called me back. This time, knowing that they could not doubt that a supernatural thing had happened, they asked me to give God the glory and I did. They also asked me to denounce Jesus. That I couldn’t do. God healed me, but through this Jesus. So I told them again. I told them that the only thing I knew for sure was that I was blind, but now, I see. They were persistent and told me that they knew nothing of this Jesus and he could not have done anything. I got upset and shouted back ‘This is amazing. You may not know this man, but he healed me. It has never happened that a man blind from birth is healed, but now it has. We know God does not hear sinners, but only righteous men, so I believe he is from God. Can any of you do what he did?”

They found it difficult to believe or accept so they threw me out. I looked for Jesus and when I found him, he told me he was the messiah, come to heal and save the lost. It was not difficult for me to believe. I could literally see his work in my life. So I believe.

The above write up has stuck with me ever since I read it and decided to share it. It's one of Jesus miracles, story of the man born blind and how God was glorified in him. To read more of behind the scenes go to : http://deelifeandlove.blogspot.com/

No reason to Fear!

Genesis 1:31 "God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. ", we are created with emotions and our feelings reflect our emotions at any moment in time. Fear is one of the good emotions we have (The awe and reverence we have towards God) but also one the enemy preys upon in order to undermine our worship, our faith and believe in God. No wonder God gave us 365 "Fear Not" in the Bible. One for each day of the year, so that we can wake up and say 'Today, I will not fear because God is with me'. The opposite of fear is faith, so let's begin to address each fear that is holding us captive with faith in the God.

2 Timothy 1:7 "for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control."

I WAS HEALED BECAUSE I BELIEVED HIS RHEMA WORD

By: Lola

Do you know that God is awesome and amazing beyond words? He is ever faithful and a present help in trouble. Sometimes ago I fell ill and Satan decided to torment my life to a level that I was rendered comatose spiritually. I say comatose because as sick as I was, I was not able to do one thing that was most appropriate and that was to pray. Instead I  was filled with the spirit of fear that my sickness will develop into a life threatening disease and that death will be the end.

During this time, sleep took a vacation as I was not comfortable, it was like a yoke of heaviness was laid upon me. I averaged two hours of sleep per day and all my attempts to sleep did not work. After about three days of sleeplessness, I determined to seek medical attention. Albeit, on the day I planned to go to the hospital, something happened. It was like a door was opened and I began to realize that Satan took away my ability to pray by putting that yoke of heaviness upon me. I then decided to force myself to pray anyway, anyhow. I started praying pleading the blood of Jesus over my life and over every part of my body. From there I prayed for my healing and was listing each organ in my body and asking the life of God to enter into it.

As I was praying, a psalm started resonating within me, psalm 30, I stopped praying and asked myself if am familiar with any verse in that psalm and the answer was No. I continued with my prayers and the more I prayed, the more psalm 30 was coming to me. Not only that, I discovered that I was no longer feeling weak and the desire to pray more had intensified. After my prayers, I picked my bible and opened to psalm 30 and behold I was struck with amazement. That psalm was filled with Rhema that addressed my situation.

I jumped up and started confessing verse 1-2 and claimed my healing. I was declaring my healing over and over again with thanks in my heart to God. Within an hour, I was filled with such joy and strength, I was literally dancing around my house and that was the end of my fears, weakness, sickness and sleeplessness. The life of God entered into me and made me whole. Glory be to His name. Why am I sharing my story? It's because I want it to encourage you that when Satan robs you of your health, and plants seed of fear into you, don't stop praying, gird up your strength and pray more than ever before. Victory shall be yours in Jesus name and the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel will show you his mercies and loving-kindness. Even if, you don't get immediate results like I did, don't lose hope or faith, because the word of God has said "weeping may endure for a night, but Joy comes in the morning".  Hallelujah. Lord I thank you for your goodness unto me, I will never forget what you have done, thank you Jesus.

{Worship Song: I will Sing by Don Moen}


Once again, we see the goodness and faithfulness of God in action in the life of a child of God. Can we take a few minutes to pray the prayers below? Pray for yourself and intercede for those that needs breakthrough in regards to their health.

1. Let me always cast my burdens upon You, O Lord
2. I loose myself from the bondage of fear, in the name of Jesus
3. Let every tree planted by fear in my life dry to the roots in Jesus name
4. Spirit of sleeplessness, mother of sickness, be bound in Jesus name
5. Spirit of heaviness, depart from my spirit, in the name of Jesus
6. Let the power to pray above my normal level fall upon me, in the name of Jesus
7. I pass all the organs in my body through the blood of Jesus, let the life of God enter into my body systems and heal me totally in Jesus name.

Amen

Holding On

For a couple of weeks, I had been seeking the will of God on a matter, I prayed, fasted and it just seemed God was silent. Whenever am asked about this issue, my normal response was that am praying to God for revelation on what He will have me do. This was the status quo until two Sundays ago. A well meaning friend asked me and I gave my usual response. As I sat down to prepare my mind for worship service, I heard a shocking question;
"What is true or false about the word of God? ".
Without beating about the bush, I responded that the word of God is never false. Another question came;
 "What is true or false about the situation I have been praying about?".
The answer came in the form of a scripture promise given to me several years ago. God then reminded me that since his word is true and his word does not change, I should hold on to what is true and not allow Satan's deception to derail me by believing that God's plans for my life has changed.

So I did not have to be asking God for what His will was for that situation because His promise to me has not changed even though it may seem it has changed due to the tactics of the enemy. I therefore encourage you to examine carefully that situation you are struggling with, what does the word of God say about it? Are there scripture promises that surrounds that problem? Begin to circle that situation with that word of God, have faith and wait for your miracle.
I also want you to know that we are in the season of the unusual, so open your hearts and minds to the unusual things that will be happening around you and believe God for the impossible.

I WAS STUBBORN AND FELT TOO SMART FOR GOD

                                                                                                                                                 By:Jane

Growing up, my family didn't go to church or believe in God.

When I was 17 my mum got diagnosed with terminal cancer. She was not expected to make it.

She did survive the operation and when she woke up she said she saw God and He said He would give her another chance if she would devote her life to Him. She recovered from cancel that had a 10% survival rate and got baptized.

By this age my sister and I were adults and weren't easily influenced by my mum. Over the next ten years they (especially Mum) would Bible bash us each time we saw them, and I used to get very angry with her - to the point where I told her if we couldn't hang out and do normal stuff without her taking about Jesus I wouldn't see her at all. So she toned it down but still brought things up here and there.

When I was in my early twenties I partied hard, going to raves, taking speed, cocaine, ecstasy, ice and weed and weekend use turned into daily use. I started having severe panic attacks so I quit drugs and smoking cold turkey. The shock to my brain brought on more panic attacks and insomnia and I was struggling to cope. I didn't want to go on antidepressant medication because I saw people go on there and never get off them.

An Indian friend from work saw I was having trouble with anxiety (I never disclosed my previous drug addiction to him) and invited me to do a meditation course from a foundation called the art of living. It was called Sudarshan Kriya, which is focused on specific breathing and pranayama exercises; it purposes to still the mind and reduces anxiety. During the five day course, we were praying to the Hindu angels and asking for spiritual guidance. I kept the practice up at home and it significantly reduced my anxiety to a minimal and functioning level. I was full of pride and thought I had discovered enlightenment. I told everyone I knew to do the course and expand their mind.

After this I became quite fascinated in spiritual things, and went to see a reiki master for guidance. Over the next few years I experimented in divination, channelling, reiki, tarot cards, yours boards and so on. I became a reiki master, with the intention of going on to practice professionally and help others. After each Reiki session I felt so calm and relaxed, like after a massage but the feeling never lasted. It was fleeting. In order to achieve this feeling again I practiced more and more, and over time I became really messed up. The panic attacks came back, I had recurring nightmares, I had no peace in my mind and I was overwhelmed with dark thoughts about whether I should keep living or not.

During this time I got married (amazingly) and went on my honeymoon. I decided on my honeymoon that I would do everything I could to get better and I was going to try harder. Inside my heart I felt deep emptiness and despair, and my mind was in a state if constant torment. I was inches away from heading to the psychiatric hospital and one night I cried, “God if you're real please help me!” I continued to pray this way for another five or six months. I started sleeping better, getting about 6-7 hours of sleep instead of three and started recovering from depression, but I still felt the deep ache in my heart.

And then one Sunday, just like every other Sunday, I woke up and I had this thought: You should go to church. I immediately dismissed it, and went to make breakfast but this thought kept pushing at me. Seeing as I hadn't set foot in a church in about 13 years, I Googled church Eltham where I live and drove to my local church. I walked into the foyer and was terrified.

All these people were there and they knew each other and we're talking in groups; no one came over to say hello to me (maybe I scared them!). I went inside and as they started playing the music, I started bawling. I was sobbing uncontrollably. I didn't know why I was crying, but I couldn't stop.

Embarrassed, I went to leave and ran out to the bathroom. When I came out a lady asked if I was okay and I said that I wanted to leave, but she told me to go back inside so I did. Toward the end if the service they asked if anyone wanted to know God, they could come down the front or raise their hand. Before I consciously knew what was happening, I ran down the front and said I wanted to know God. Together we prayed for me to accept Jesus Christ into my life, and I felt an overwhelming sense of love that I had never felt before. I was of course still crying uncontrollably.

I didn't know what had happened so I went home and carried on as usual. My husband was vehemently against religion and church at the time, so when he asked where I was I told him I went to visit my grandma. I kept this up for about a month, "visiting grandma" on Sunday mornings until one day I confessed and told him where I had been. He absolutely lost his mind. The way he reacted was like I had just told him I'd become a stripper or a prostitute. He banned me from going to church and said I wasn't allowed to see anyone from there. He said if I kept going he would divorce me, as he had married a different person and I had changed. I was really scared but I told him I wouldn't stop going, which led to numerous fights. I moved back to my parent’s house for a couple of weeks.

During this time he was alone in our house, and he told me for the first time in our relationship he questioned whether we could make it and he cried. I spoke to him on the phone and he said, “I love you and I miss you. Please come home.” He then agreed to let me go to church.

I continued to go to church and joined a life group. For a year I soaked up everything they told me, and I believed everything they said as gospel because I didn't know any better (What I now consider an extreme ... out-of-balance-from God's WHOLE Word and the wisdom of His WHOLE Word ... Pentecostal church preaching spiritual deception about the "prosperity gospel.") and then I decided to leave that church because I didn't agree with the teaching and the way they were so focused on giving money all the time. I was told I had to give 30-40% of my income and if I didn't I wouldn't be blessed. I was also told I wouldn’t get healed of my migraines because I didn't have enough faith.

After an unpleasant discussion with the group leader - where she came to my house and verbally abused me - I tried to give up and go back to my old life. (I didn't realize Satan would use other "Christians" so quickly to try to destroy my relationship with Jesus Christ, but that is one of Satan's common tactics so BEWARE of what you read and who you listen to.  Just because someone considers themselves to be "Christians", or that a book, tape, or CD or writing off the Internet causes you to initially believe the content can be fully trusted ... doesn't mean at all that Satan can't deceptively use them or that source to inflict damage on young innocent born again spiritual sheep like I was at the time).  Thus as Satan and his demon helpers delighted in see happen, I went out with some old friends, drank and hit the pipe. But it felt so empty and I just couldn't do it anymore so I began a six month hunt to find a new church.

In this time, God lead me to a Christian inner healing and deliverance ministry. Because of my prior involvement in witchcraft, I had to have a lot of spiritual and emotional cleansing done in order to be set free. I had about ten ministry sessions over two years, each one God using to peel off layers of hurt, abuse and trauma. I had (willfully chose) to face things I had never told anyone, such as sexual abuse suffered as a kid, violence from various men, and an abortion I had when I was 20. Upon confessing that trauma to trusted ministry workers, God used it like He does to free people who are sincere enough with Him to be delivered and healed up from spiritual demonic strongholds -- spiritual and emotional and often physical bondages that hinder one's spiritual growth in Jesus Christ -- that I had been carrying due to a lot of stuffed, deep down hurt, pain and resentment I was constantly carrying around caused from years earlier. When I was in my teens and early twenties I abused drugs and alcohol to forget my problems but as I became older I couldn't run anymore.

Once upon a time I was a damaged, broken women who lived in despair and depression. And now, thanks to Jesus and His love for me, I have peace in my heart and hope for the future.

Jesus has turned my human weaknesses into His mighty strength - for His glory to be revealed both in eternity and now to be seen in others who are/were in spiritual captivity and need/needed to be freed from it just like I needed to be set free from it.

Now I volunteer at the inner healing and deliverance ministry, where broken people come for healing and to be set free from their demons and demonic strongholds.  It has been prophesied over me by several people that I will be used by God to minister to broken women, sex workers, drug addicts and abuse victims. God is going to use all the abuse, trauma, pain and brokenness I have suffered to give hope and healing to others and to bring glory to Him and His Father and my heavenly Father. I just know it in my heart.

Now through my work I have started to regularly meet broken people, and have started inviting them to come to the ministry center. I haven't had formal training yet but I know that in God’s time, I will be trained and will one day run my own ministry for broken people which will glorify God and also bring people to know God through their pain and suffering.

The truth is, I had to hit absolute rock bottom before I could accept God and Truth into my life (Hint: Jesus IS Truth; the only way to Truth; His Old and New Testament is Truth ... the only trusted Way from His perspective which is the only perspective that is going to count on the Judgment Day ... to discern by what the world claims to be truth or whether it's really deceptive demonic spiritual error/lies wrapped in colorful, fragrantly perfumeeeee wrappings). It couldn't have happened any other way. I thought I was too smart. I was too stubborn.

But looking back, it was the best thing that ever happened to me, because now I have a relationship with The Lord God and I know it will last for eternity by His keeping grace, and I have been restored to wholeness by seeking Him first in everything and submitting myself daily to his Word and purposing to walk in obedience to His Holy Spirit (though fall short often as other Christians do as well yet there is forgiveness when we do if we'll ask for it because His Word promises it to us if we'll accept his mercy and forgiveness and any possible discipline that He may decree needs to be administered to help us walk more in greater obedience to Him -- like trying to first ride a bicycle with the need for training wheels), and immersing my mind and spirit in His trusted Word, because it's the only writing God has given to mankind that will feed our human spirit (as can prayer of course) and keep us discerning the difference between spiritual deception and trusted Truth: ( Spiritual deception comes wrapped in harmless looking wrapping paper and warm pleasant looking smiles, and it's getting slicker and slicker - meaning ever more subtle yet very discernable when you purpose to allow the Holy Spirit to have a chance to reveal it to you, which means you first must have a hunger burning in your being to know what REAL spiritual Truth IS, and what ISN'T, and then take full responsibility for what God reveals to you about it, because will be probably the greatest measuring tool to determine how God will reward/withhold reward/punish everyone upon their Judgment Day with Him). 

Of course, I still have bad days sometimes, (because Satan never stops attacking true believers, yet I realize that God uses Satan's attacks against us to grow us up to be more Christ-like as we remain on this side of heaven), but mostly I am quite happy and I feel peace in my heart that I never knew before.

For ages God wanted me to share my testimony but I wasn't ready. I felt too embarrassed (a common tactic Satan uses to keep born again saints silent - to keep them from telling about the goodness of Jesus Christ to others).  But every time I have shared it, it has served to either build people's faith or encourage others who are struggling with life.

God bless ... because He loves to impart blessings (especially spiritual blessings in the form of being used to help other spiritually bleeding, painfully festering, hurting people ... which lays up for us eternal rewards in heaven both for us and them ... to those who will walk with Him in Truth, to the glory of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

I can't encourage you enough to not live another moment without Him.  He's patiently waiting for you to make that decision, and see if you really mean it.  He'll even help you "mean it" if you purpose to be used of Him for His glory until your time here on earth is over, and you don't let Satan convince you to turn your back on Him indefinitely (or BETTER, never at ALL


 http://www.precious-testimonies.com/Exhortations/f-j/JesusDidIt.htm