To be in God's Good,Pleasing and Perfect will.

I am sure that everyyone who knows the Bible (or maybe those who dont know it even!!) would want to be in the good, pleasing and perfect will of God.Noone would pray otherwise. We all pray that God I want to be in your will. If today I am in God's will , then I have TWO simple tips that can help anyone to be in that good, pleasing and perfect will of God.

1)Pray this simple prayer from your sincere heart to Him "Father, I have my own agendas and ideas and dreams in my mind. I dont have the ability to change it but today I give YOU the authority to guide me to that good, pleasing and perfect will that YOU have planned for me and keep me there".

2)I also pray this prayer to Him according to His word which says that the doors which He closes no one can open and the doors that He opens no one can close!Just pray like this " Father , please close all the doors that you dont want me to walk in and also open that door that you want me to walk in!".

Ask these prayers in Jesus' name and He will do it for you and me.

I had a good thought yesterday. If you come to my house when I have out after locking my door there is no way you can enter unless you get the key from me(unless of course you break in and face the consequences !). If a man's closing is so strong enough that another can't open, then how much more when God closes those unnecessary doors that He doesnt want us to walk into?

We ALL without exception have things in us that have to be removed from our lives. We are not perfect yet-none of us, amen? Well then shall we not ask God to close those doors that we should not walk into?

For those in God's ministry ....temptations WILL come!

Jesus got baptised and before His public ministry He was guided BY THE SPIRIT to be tempted BY THE DEVIL!!!! Interesting, aint it?...maybe interesting is not the right word here. I believe that all those in ministy will be led BY THE SPIRIT like Jesus was. This way too? Well....thats not my topic here!!!

My topic is His temptation-

First, He was tempted with food-daily need ...yes, but Jesus answered that man lives not on food ALONE (He didnt say man doesnt need food!) but by the word of God. Trust His word/promises that He will provide for those in ministry....this is something that prevents many to step out into their callings.Jesus had all the right to preach this because He demonstrated it with His life. I wonder how many of us preachers/men of God can boldly proclaim these words with their lives testifying it?

Secondly, He was tempted to test God by using the word of God inappropriately. By not listening to God's Holy Spirit and using the word of God which is not applicable in a particular situation and expecting God to answer as WE want it , are we guilty of testing God? One thing I can say for sure we cannot understand the Word of God without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is inevitable that we listen to the Holy Spirit as we read the word- just knowing it wont do, though it may help in many ways eg to judge others or find fault with others' ministry or criticise!.How many of us can say that we have always been led the Spirit so many times we thought we are obeying His word?

Thirdly, the devil offered to give the world and its pleasures to Jesus "just" if He would bow down and worship him. We know He didnt do it and overcame by quoting scriptures yet again saying thou shall worship God alone. And the "dod"(dirty ol' devil) fled from Jesus. Look at ourselves(let us look at others later, after we remove the plank from our own so we can see better!). How many times we have been offered and tempted and we have given in?

By writing this article I am by no means declaring that I have never fallen but just reminding my fellow servants of God that we still have grace lavished on us to repent for the times we have fallen short and turn back.

God is merciful.So lets repent and trust God and step into our callings boldly trusting His Word and His promises, listen to the Holy Spirit and to say NO when the devil's agents come with offers of the world and its pleasures. God is merciful to forgive and His grace is sufficient once again for us prodigals to get back into our Father's arms.

Mobile phones and men of God!!

Today I was looking at my mobile phone and saw that the battery is almost empty and there was no electricity to charge it.God gave me a good thought then.
Many times we are like that too as men of God! We may know so much of the word (Bible) and the right words to say for a message but many times lack the power of the Holy Spirit which comes by plugging on to PRAYER and HOLY LIVING and OBEDIENCE!

David's men-"3D" to MIGHTY!

WE saw in the last message David becoming the leader of those in debt, those in distress and the discontended -the 3D leader, that is where his leadership started.

Coming towards the end of his leadership in 2 samuel 23:8 onwards we see David's MIGHTY MEN who were with him. God wants us to give us more responsiblities in our lives and make us the head and not the tail, but He does ask something from us-what is that?

Faithfulness in little things; be faithful where you are placed ; maybe noone is watching over your shoulders to see if you are faithful, but someone watches you ALL the time. His eyes are always seeing you. Be faithful irrespective of being rewarded by men or seen by men. It is then the heavenly Father rewards us what is done in secret ..(Mathew 6:1-4)

From whom are we seeking rewards? From men? You may get it but that will be your reward.But if you want to be rewarded by our Heavenly father, just be faithful in the small little things that He has placed in your hands TODAY!

Leadership lessons from David(the 3D leader!)...

We all know of the David who as a boy defeated Goliath the enemy of Israel with a sling and a stone and also the David who conquered many kings and became king over all Israel.I know you know many more such David's heroic stories from the bible.How many times it has been preached in churches and we know it all or at least so we thought!

But how many of you have heard of this David in1 Samuel22:2 "All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. About four hundred men were with him."

I had never heard someone preach this nor known it till the Lord opened my eyes to see this great quality and initial leadership of David-he had three groups of people who gathered to him -the distressed, the discontended and those in debt and he became their leader.

Not many of us like to be seen or associate with such.But that is where God looks at-our hearts and our motives, if seeking glory for ourselves or be a help to the helpless in our leadership.God wants us to be such leaders who care for the helpless, the widows, the needy, be a voice to the downtrodden...........He wants us to be leaders of such rather than "glamour-seeking" leaders.

God's ministry and man's strategy!!

Does God need man's strategy to build His Kingdom?Interestingly Jesus DID'NT say 'you will build my church ' but Jesus said "I will build my church". He is doing it and He is asking us to be co-workers not to provide strategies to Him to do that!
Many ministries in today's Christian world are planning and have invented extensive strategies to do this. Even David was provided armor by King Saul which is like man's strategies to accomplish this huge seemingly impossible task as he thought David could'nt do it as he was only a boy. But God had a simple plan which David was comfortable with -a sling and a few stones(actually he used only one of that!). Man's strtegies are like the armor which Saul thought might work but God's plan was so simple and could be achieved thru a shepherd boy-provided he was the kind who will trust and have faith in God and would give all glory to HIM!
I wonder what strategy would our "strategists" have used if they were to break down the Jerico wall??
I was recently talking with a man of God and he gave a perfect example-he said" If I have to break a wall in my layman's understanding I would call maybe 50 strong men and buy some tools and start day by day; but if I am wise I would call an engineer and he would do it with a dynamite in a moment!"
If there is such a gap between an ordinary man's wisdom and an engineer's wisdom, then how much more gap there would be between our strategies and God's wisdom and plan. He is looking for people to seek His plan to win nations and He is NOT seeking us to give Him strategies and ideas!Amen?
Lets seek Him.His plans are simple and "doable" for us but glory would go to Him alone.Are we willing to give Him the glory and seek Him?Then He will use such.
His word says that His ways are higher!
Seek Him and he will reveal it to us.