Dwelling in the Presence of a Living God

Recently I have been desiring more of God's presence in my life because of multiple things...I for my own self want to see God's glory and live in the middle of His Presence every moment because, the fleeting encounters I have had in His Presence have been unforgettable! What's more in this new desire of mine are these words of Jesus that have been bothering me!

¹² Very truly I tell you, whoever believes^(A) in me will do the works I have been doing,^(B) and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
John 14:12

Now if I profess I am a Christian or a follower of Jesus then I should be able to truly do the things He said, then why can't I?

As I read Psalm 26 I realized David worked really hard to remain righteous(in right standing with God), so he could  well in the Presence of God! He had experienced God's Presence in such a way that his heart cried out ^"8 Lord, I love the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells."

His righteousness depended on him. There was no other option for him but to habitually strive for right living if he needed to hear from God! For me the equation has been made way easier - I have to become a sheep of Jesus and acknowledge Jesus as my shepherd, then as His sheep I am enabled to hear His voice and know Him.

Unlike David, I have got another work to do - work out my salvation -with trembling and reverence and shrinking away from everything that would offend God. This is such serious business, that I am sure I can absolutely mess up very easily and I have so many times.Now I was very worried that if I had to cry out to God on my own merits, I might as well just give up for me by myself I have no hope or scope to ever be able to converse with God Almighty! But you know what - more than I can be desperate to talk to God, He has been desperate to talk to me, how amazing is that. Phillippians 2:13 continues in saying

 "¹³ [Not in your own strength] for it is God Who is all the while ^[c]effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and ^[d]delight.

Ah wonderful God my Creator desire to talk to me and through Christ in me, energizes and creates in me to desireto be in right standing before Him, just so we could commune.

It is like an extremely passionately in love fiance who has bought me his fiancee the very best cellphone and has charged it to last for eternity just so we could talk! AAH....

Dear Loving Heavenly Father,
Thank you for Your everlasting Love that upholds me, keeps me connected to You through Your precious Son Jesus my Lord. I cannot do life without You! So many more of Your children around me need to know of this awesome gift of communion with their Eternal God, help me so I can...
Amen

How to get out of trouble!

If you are living a nightmare, then here's a Psalm from David, who's life revolves around, running and hiding from the king. What a scary life he must have led, hiding from his own people because the king,Saul, didn't like him. I cannot imagine such a life yet I am sure there are people who would want to run away from their life or their situations! But take heart for the way David shows us how he faced his situations and did not give up and ended up becoming a king who will be remembered and known by the whole world. I bet he felt like nothing, as he survived in caves and foreign countries.

Psalm 25

Lessons

• Bring your life to God-^v1 Unto You, O Lord, do I bring my life.-You have tried life on your own and nothing is working out the way it ought to, then you must bring your life to God because He is able to turn any situation around!
•  Put your trust in God-"² O my God, I trust, lean on, rely on, and am confident in You. Let me not be put to shame or [my hope in You] be disappointed; let not my enemies triumph over me.
  ³ Yes, let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed; let them be ashamed who forsake the right or deal treacherously without cause." David had nowhere to go, noone to trust but he had consistently found help in God. God truly never let him ever go out of his radar. So it is for you. God always has you in His radar so trust Him!
•  Ask God for directions -⁴ Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.
  ⁵ Guide me in Your truth and faithfulness and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You [You only and altogether] do I wait [expectantly] all the day long. It is usually a wise thing to follow the one with a map or a GPS and never someone who has no clue of where to go. This resonates with me because often I find myself lost in what route I have to take and who better to give us directions than the one Who is constantly watching over us. He's got the entire view in His eyes, He knows the end from the beginning and He can show us which way to go. Jesus Himself stated "I am the Way the Truth and the Life." He got all the most important aspects of life covered, then why not ask Him for directions?
  
  
  Conclusion If you got your feet stuck in a net, your life jumbled up in a mess ask God to get you untangled. He is the best! David says in the following verses

  ¹² Who is the man who reverently fears and worships the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way that he should choose.

  ¹³ He himself shall dwell at ease, and his offspring shall inherit the land.

  ¹⁴ The secret [of the sweet, satisfying companionship] of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its [deep, inner] meaning.

  ¹⁵ My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net.

   Though David is not completely out of his troubles, he knows through his experiences that God is absolutely able to deliver him out of anything and any situation. God could have easily got Saul out of the way but Saul's presence enabled David to lean more on God and his tough training gave him such special experiences with God that when he received the kingdom, he knew where his heart must lie. Not with the riches and power he would receive as a king but in the secret companionship of the One True Living God.

King David's Prayer for You

If there is a prayer you have been praying and have not received an answer then today's Psalm is for you!

Psalm 20(AMP)

¹ May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high [and defend you];

² Send you help from the sanctuary and support, refresh, and strengthen you from Zion;

³ Remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah [pause, and think of that]!

⁴ May He grant you according to your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.

⁵ We will [shout in] triumph at your salvation and victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.

⁷ Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God.

⁸ They are bowed down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright.

⁹ O Lord, give victory; let the King answer us when we call.

The prayer David prays for YOU 

1. God's answer come to you
2. May God's Name raise you up from your trouble and set you high above it
3. Send you help directly from His Presence to refresh and strengthen you
4. Grant you your heart's desire and fulfill the plans He has for you 
5. May God grant your petitions and we will all rejoice

If you are not convinced by this that God WILL answer you because He CAN reach out to you where you are then here David writes his own testimony to encourage to continue believing God for your answer

⁶ Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.

 How about us who believe in The Living God? Will He answer us? Are we anointed so we can avail of God's answers?

The answer is a most resounding "Yes"

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 (NIV)

²⁰ For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God. ²¹ Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, ²² set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

Now lets go ahead my brothers and sisters in Christ and let us agree with God's plan for humanity and say "Amen" to God - so be it Lord for Your glory, forever and ever Amen!
 

What's your burden?

   Background:Nehemiah now ready with prayer, is off to face the king. His face is sad, though he must not appear sad before the king. He could get killed for that. Yet in Nehemiah 2 we read an account of how Nehemiah spoke with the king regarding what was troubling his heart. It presents a dialogue between the king and Nehemiah, along with Nehemiah's thoughts as he spoke to the king. During this dialogue, it is amazing to see Nehemiah's readiness for the situation. He knew how much time it would take and the legal documents he would need for the plan to which God had called him.

Lessons

1. Ready to take risk for God's work-v1-3Nehemiah could have lost his job for carrying his sorry countenance before the king of Persia, yet he did. When God calls us for His work, there will always be a challenge a risk involved, probably the risk of losing your reputation as a sane man or woman, probably the risk of losing your job because you decided not to cheat another company and make profit for your company, probably being thrown out of home, probably being killed for going to a hardened mission ground. We might look like a failure before the world, but before God we would have done rightly.
2. Prayer with hope of answer- v6 Nehemiah didn't doubt the request he had made to God. Remember in Neh 1:10-11 Nehemiah prayed for favour before the king and in Neh 2:6 he knew it had pleased the king to send Nehemiah to rebuild the wall. Nehemiah, though afraid to speak with the king, yet took courage in this that God had heard his prayer and it would be answered. I think prayer is a voice of faith, it speaks for its faith in God to be manifest in the situation.
3. Prayer with preparation:v6-7 I love these verses, it talks about a man who had not only prayed but was also ready with his plan, as if his request to the king had been granted. He was ready with the set time, had speculated what he might face when the request had been granted. Nehemiah was fearful of his request to the king, yet he backed up his prayer with preparation, preparation for the positive answer of his request.
4. God always backs up His plan for our lives-v7 says "And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests. " Nehemiah knew, God was in the plan, and so his requests had been granted. Nehemiah had understood the calling for him to rebuild the temple, it was in his heart to do so. He took it seriously and with much planning and the gracious hand of the Lord worked on his behalf. Whether we've paid attention to it or not, there will be something that moves us mightily for God, we could either ignore that and continue with our work, or pay attention to it and fulfil our calling. Even though it may seem reckless, as in Nehemiah's case he could lose his job, yet he went with God's plan and God backed it up, later Nehemiah goes on to become a governor in God's Jerusalem even under the rule of a foreign king.

Conclusion: What is it that burdens our heart? God's calling of burden will never be something to do with us. It wasn't Nehemiah's life that was a burden , he was in a good position as a cupbearer to the king-he was moved to brokenness to see God's house destroyed and the disgrace of his people. Would it matter to him if he had just let go of that burden for someone else? I don't think so, he would have probably continued being a cupbearer and earning his income. When was the last time we had a burden for someone else's betterment? Know this through the example of Nehemiah's life. When Nehemiah took up the burden for the disgrace of the remnant Israelites- God took up Nehemiah's burden of his livelihood, even when it was at stake before the king and gave him favour before his boss, the king of Persia.


Let us not be afraid to take the cross which God has given us because our God has given us a command and His promise.
Command:Luke 9:23 "Then to everyone he said, "If anyone wants to come after me, let him say `No' to himself, take up his execution-stake daily and keep following me. "(Complete Jewish Bible)
Promise:Matthew 11:28-30 "28"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Insight

Its amazing what we can do with our sight, not only in the physical, in appreciating the beauty of nature, seeing our kids grow up, having a watchful eye...In a similar way, our spiritual eyes are also of great importance and power. The following episode from Elisha's life helped me to see the special tool, God gives His children in terms of seeing in the natural and seeing in the spiritual.

Background: 2 Kings 6:8-23.
As I read this event, it slowly came upon me that this episode is more about insight, sight, seeing, opening the eyes, blinding the eyes and I found some very good lessons here. I thought to myself, it would be so great to have insight about the enemies doings and be on guard of the enemies ways lest we be tricked, like Jesus always asks us to be. It would be even greater to know what to say or do when we want to share the "right" words with an unbeliever, so as to usher them into the Kingdom of God. Many times we lose a soul, for something vague or unclear that we've said, because we had nothing better to say. Jesus wasn't tricked by the devil when he was tempted, because He had insight through the Word of God. Every Word Jesus said, brought forth its results, nothing went out of His mouth without impact. That, to me, is the demonstration of a life of a believer in his full capacity. Jesus "lived" what He believed and showed His life on earth as a demo for us. A life with insight, knowing what to do and more than that, knowing what God the Father would have us do. Not groping through the task set for us, but marching on in confidence.
Insight-(meaning:an instance of apprehending the true nature of a thing, esp. through intuitive understanding )

1. God grants insight to those who ask for it- God given insight, Solomon had it, because he asked for it "1 Kings 4:29[ Solomon's Wisdom ] God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore."
2. Encouraged to seek insight, wisdom and discernment-After receiving insight himself, Solomon, begins his book of Proverbs with words to exhort us to seek insight, wisdom and to love wisdom (meaning:the quality or state of being wise; knowledge of what is true or right coupled with just judgment as to action; sagacity, discernment, or insight. )
3. Insight, comes through meditating upon the Word of God -"I have more insight than all my teachers, for I meditate on your statutes" says David in Psalm 119:99

Outcome of Insight

1. Preparedness: God let Elisha know every time, the enemy planned to attack them, and hence the Israelites found protection through this insight. They were able to make their forces stronger and be prepared, exactly where the enemies had planned to attack. There is no point in defending Gate number 1 when the enemy is attacking Gate number 2???? How does this apply to us? God is able to give us the insight, so we can be prepared, when the enemy knocks on our door, they will not find that gate empty or unprotected, but guarded by the child of God. The doors could be our heart, our eyes, our family, feelings...anything, but when our lives are guarded by the Insight from the Word of God we're prepared for anything.
2. Protection: Elisha could see something his servant could not, that made Elisha calm about the situation of being surrounded by the enemy troops. This situation could have caused panic(meaning:a sudden overwhelming fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical or irrational behavior, and that often spreads quickly through a group of persons or animals), if they didnt know what was going to happen. They would have been overwhelmed by the situation...but as God opened the servant's eyes, he was able to see what Elisha saw. When Jesus was about to be crucified, Peter came up to him and even rebuked Jesus for talking about His crucifixion, he could not "see" the plan. In Jesus crucifixion was the resurrection of the entire human kind.

Conclusion: There is more to this than just Preparedness and Protection, I'd say why don't you, my readers list out a few things that an insght from God can do to our lives. Elisha's insight on what God was doing with them, turned a probable defeat into victory. All the men in the Word of God, knew that they knew inside of them, that what God had planned for their lives is beautiful and powerful and did not weaken to do the tasks they were called to do, be it building a boat on land, sacrificing their only son, being tempted after a fast of 40days and nights, for Jesus, even to the point of death....having the insight, knowing, that He would rise up on the third day.

The "insight" : as Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16:21-23 "you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." : is to have in mind the things of God.

Lesson from a floating axehead

2 Kings 6
An Axhead Floats
1 The company of the prophets said to Elisha, "Look, the place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 Let us go to the Jordan, where each of us can get a pole; and let us build a place there for us to live." And he said, "Go."
3 Then one of them said, "Won't you please come with your servants?" "I will," Elisha replied. 4 And he went with them. They went to the Jordan and began to cut down trees. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, the iron axhead fell into the water. "Oh, my lord," he cried out, "it was borrowed!"
6 The man of God asked, "Where did it fall?" When he showed him the place, Elisha cut a stick and threw it there, and made the iron float. 7 "Lift it out," he said. Then the man reached out his hand and took it."

A short episode here from Elisha's life, I learnt some lessons here on how to tackle life's problems.

1. No matter what the weight of the problem, it will float when surrendered to God-Have you ever caught yourself, worrying about life sometimes, and it weighs us down. As I was reading this passage, God showed me that the weight of the axehead didn't matter. Elisha wasn't wondering what to do when that man cried out. He didn't even try diving into the problem or jumping into the waters. He just threw a stick at it!!! And the axehead floated. What is impossible for man, is possible with God. I don't know how many times I would need to hear that.
2. Know where it went wrong/down and start your work there-It doesn't make sense to search for something in the house when you know it got lost in the streets. Elisha asks this man ""Where did it fall?" It is more than likely that YOU yourself will know what went wrong and where. Thats where we start working from. For e.g. if I have an overweight problem, I don't beat up the person who sold me the burger or fries. I acknowledge where the weakness lies and work at it, right there. Not around the bush.
3. God sends in the solution-Like Elisha, cut the stick and threw it into the water where the axehead had fallen, God also sends in the solution. When Abraham went upto the mountains to sacrifice Isaac, God saw his obedience, and his solution was sent there, the ram. When Moses was telling God how weak he was in speech, Aaron was already on his way to meet him. When the widow and her son had only enough bread and oil left, Elijah was already on his way to meet them. There are more examples like so, if we read through the Word of God. Once we know where we should start work, God already has sent his solution.
4. It is for us to "Lift it out"-It is for us to take action and come out of the problem, the final work is ours. God has already done His work on your situation, now it is upto us to come out. God sent Aaron, it was upto Moses to get to work from then. He had no excuses left to run away from the work God had planned for him. When Abraham saw the ram it was upto him to untangle the ram and make the sacrifice. When Elijah asked the woman to make bread for him first, it was then left to her to take that step and see God's miracle of provision.

Conclusion-No matter how heavy the problem in our lives may seem, God has already sent the provision/solution for it. Its only upto us to identify where the problem is and what we must do in obedience. If Moses hadn't gone to the burning bush, he wouldn't have ever come out of the guilt of murdering an Egyptian. If Abraham had feared sacrificing his son, he would have never seen God's provision of the ram. If the woman had not dared to make bread for Elijah from what was only for she and her son, she would not have seen God's provision.

Dear Lord, open our eyes that we may see where the problem is, to obey you in doing what is asked of us according to Your Living Word, and to be obedient so that we will see Your might and provision and power to save our lives. In Jesus our Saviour's name we ask.

Amen

Working out God's Plan

Elijah 18:1 says " 1 After a long time, in the third year, the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Go and present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the land."

Elijah obeyed God and went to meet Ahab. Here's an interesting thing happening in Elijah's life
".....Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.
43 "Go and look toward the sea," he told his servant. And he went up and looked. "There is nothing there," he said. Seven times Elijah said, "Go back."
44 The seventh time the servant reported, "A cloud as small as a man's hand is rising from the sea." So Elijah said, "Go and tell Ahab, 'Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.' "
45 Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rain came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. 46 The power of the LORD came upon Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel." (1 Kings 18:42-45)

There are 2 things I noticed here, God promised Elijah about the rain. Elijah had to pray seven times and see that small hand of a cloud rise up in the horizon and then the rain poured.

1. Knowing what God has promised God is able to do-When God has promised something it sure will happen. We see this in the way Elijah persisted in prayer. Elijah had known from God that it would rain and that gave Elijah the base to build on to pray even more than ever. Has God given us a promise that He said He will bring to pass, take heart, trust the Word of God more than any thing. No matter what happens, or what the situation looks like right now, God will come through and His Promises will come true. Elijah knew that he knew that he knew, that what God has promised is true and will come to pass. If it has not, then maybe we're not hoping enough for it. Another thing of note is that, if we were to count all the verses in the bible and find the center verse, you know it would be Psalm 118:8 and it says "It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man."
2. Who's report will you believe??- While Elijah prayed he asked his servant to keep bringing him back the status of the rain situation. The servant kept bringing a negative report, yet Elijah did not give up because he wasn't looking for the report from the servant but the result of the Word from God. Who's report do we readily believe. The moment we start praying for God's plan in our life, we are sure to get all sorts of reports in our lives, but above all we've got to stick onto what God says about our situation. If we've been praying for a loved one to meet our Saviour Lord Jesus and to be saved, we will find the appearance of the situation in our life and theirs going in a totally different direction, yet do not give up, God's foremost purpose and promise is that He came that all may know our Lord Jesus and be saved. We MUST (P)ray (U)ntil (S)omething (H)appens. So PUSH. Like Elijah did to bring God's Word to pass.
3. Pray in accordance to God's Word and His plan-Does praying mean praying anything we want? No. Elijah shows us that He had a mandate from God which had to happen and he prayed accordingly, without giving up hope, without being slack. Praying is a very very powerful means of bringing God's plan to come to pass on this earth. Even Jesus, when He taught us to pray "..let Your will be done on this earth as it is in heaven" Who can bring God's will to pass on this earth. Believers who pray God's will. Prayer is not ONLY for meeting our needs and blabbering our needs to God, it is bringing God's will to happen in our lives and in this earth.

Conclusion: Praying is an amazing tool, God blessed us with. Before knowing our Lord Jesus we did not know to pray. God opened the way for us to enter when Jesus died on the cross for our sins and the curtain tore in the temple and the Holy Place the Holy dwelling of God was accessible to us, because of our Saviour Lord Jesus. Hebrews 4:16 "Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Elijah prayed in confidence on God's Word regarding the rain, and it did rain and that small hand of a cloud rained so heavily and so quickly became rain cloud I am sure, no one could have imagined. Why doesn't our prayers work that way? The Bible says in James 4:3 "When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures." Dear brothers and sisters, lets get with our Father's business. Its been a long time since we prayed for God's will to be done in our individual lives and on this earth. Pray Until Something Happens, the Something that God has planned and promised will happen, if we pray according to His plan. Its ok if right now you don't know what to pray. The Holy Spirit will help and guide us and help us pray expectantly, like a pregnant mother, knowing for sure that in 9 months she will see her baby.

Could I be this Yielded to God's Will?

I as a believer have always wanted to be a woman after God's own heart and David has given me some valuable lessons from his life, this far. After his sin, David asked for forgiveness, was willing to take the punishment for the sin but did not want to part from God. In this episode, as David has to go through the trial of seeing his young child die, he demonstrates an awesome response to what he goes through. He cries and prays hard for his son to live, yet his prayers were not answered, his son dies. Instead of turning bitter, David accepted the verdict and moved on, in fact he went and worshipped God. (2 Samuel 12)

There are 3 things I noticed from David's life at this point

1. Prayed hard-It was the right thing to do. What else could David do, except to pray for his dying child and he did, with his whole heart, yet leaving the results to God."16 David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and went into his house and spent the nights lying on the ground. 17 The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them. " There will be situations in life, when we don't know what the outcome might be, well there are times when we DO KNOW what will happen, because God would show that to us by faith and through His Word, yet sometimes, there are those times when you just don't know and the only thing left to do is lean on Him through prayer..thats what David went through and he didn't just casually or matter of factly do it, he was serious about his petition to the Lord.
2. Prayer not answered-In spite of the diligence he prayed with, his son died. Sometimes, no matter how sincerely we tried or prayed, or tried in our own strength to please God, we may not see the result we want, and that is important. Of course God is good, God knows what is best for us....in all this He is good. Don't give up hope, God knows what is best, He can see the end from the beginning. He planned out our lives even before we started living it and He comes with us to live it out with us, so He knows what He's doing. Can we trust God even if our prayers are not answered??
3. Not desperate but worshipful-After his prayer went unanswered, David responds with hope and not despair "22 He answered, "While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, 'Who knows? The LORD may be gracious to me and let the child live.' 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." He immediately stopped crying and got up washed his face and you know what he did "After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the LORD and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate. " If we think, in the way that pleases us, we'd think, what was left to worship God for? After all, God did not answer his prayer, God did not listen to his prayer!!! Yet he went and worshipped God. How many of us would have turned away from God, at this junction, wouldnt we??? But for David, his relationship with God was too important and he would not let go, no matter what happened in his life.

Conclusion:All these points, to me, are out loud proclaiming one thing, David was definitely a man after God's heart, because He let God BE God in his life. He did not try to interfere in what God had planned for his life. Yes he prayed hard, but not twisting God's arm and asking God to fulfil his wishes, but yielding to God's decision. He accepted God's decision humbly and did not fight it, in this he found blessings. You know what, later on when David and Bathsheba had another son, they named him Solomon, but the Bible records "The LORD loved him; 25 and because the LORD loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah. ". Wow, isn't that beautiful, God personally sending word to give Solomon the name. Remember, when we want to keep our children's name, we consult with all our loved ones and choose the best. Here, Almighty God Himself, connects with David's family and personally gives the name Jedidiah to Solomon, Jedidiah meaning "beloved of the Lord". Now would we be willing, or ready, if we had to go through all this to really become man/woman after God's own heart. I am not sure if I am this yielded to my Saviour, but sure this episode from David's life has challenged me to trust God WHOLLY with my life. No matter what. Shouldn't we?

Strength

Help me Lord for I am weak.
Increase my faith Lord, I want to believe,
Tides of doubst seem rising high
Draw me closer to you Lord, come nigh

Though this time is bitter
I know my Saviour will help me through
I don't know Lord what today/tomorrow might bring
All I know is I have You.

I long to hear your resounding voice,
Speaking forth through my soul,
Bursting joy in hope I arise,
Only You oh Lord can make me whole.

Be near me Lord today I pray
right now, this moment and every day
my spirit is willing but my flesh is weak
Uphold me Lord, Your face I seek.

Great things Oh Lord You're capable of
I know this trouble is not my lot,
For You took all my burdens, my shame, my pain, my sorrow away
When on Calvary Your precious life You laid.

Show me Lord, Your tender mercies
Show me Lord from Your grand miracles
Show me Lord what I must pray
Show me Lord how You've planned my days

Help me take every step of the way

I know O Lord that you'll be there

Always with me till the end

You are my author, my architect of life
You give me joy, your peace, your light
I thank You Lord for breathing in me,
Your power, your strength and Your victory
In the Name of my Lord Jesus. Amen

This is how I feel today...I am waiting closely on my knee, waiting for God to do something wonderful for me...so I thought while I wait..I must write a poem about it, and thats what this is. In Praise of the Only One , My Lord Jesus, who can save.

Encouraged to Pray

Sometimes, events in life scream out at us saying, your prayer will not work. You need to do better than that. Just when I was getting off from my knees, I got this mail which has encouraged me so beautifully. I am back on my knees again and I am not giving up until the time I see the result, because I know what I pray IS the will of God.
Read on to be blessed as I was....

This beautiful story was written by a doctor who worked in South Africa . One night I had worked hard to help a mother in the labor ward; but in spite of all we could do, she died leaving us with a tiny premature baby and a crying two-year-old daughter. We would have difficulty keeping the baby alive; as we had no incubator we had no electricity to run an incubator). We also had no special feeding facilities. Although we lived on the equator, nights were often chilly with treacherous drafts. One student midwife went for the box we had for such babies and the cotton wool that the baby would be wrapped in. Another went to stoke up the fire and fill a hot water bottle. She came back shortly in distress to tell me that in filling the bottle, it had burst (rubber perishes easily in tropical climates). "And it is our last hot water bottle!" she exclaimed. As in the West, it is no good crying over spilled milk, so in Central Africa it might be considered no good crying over burst water bottles. They do not grow on trees, and there are no drugstores down forestpathways. "All right," I said, "put the baby as near the fire as you safely can, and sleep between the baby and the door to keep it free from drafts. Your job is to keep the baby warm." The following noon , as I did most days, I went to have prayers with any of the orphanage children who chose to gather with me. I gave the youngsters. various suggestions of things to pray about and toldthem about the tiny baby. I explained our problem about keeping the baby warm enough, mentioning the hot water bottle, and that the baby could so easily die if it got chills. I also told them of the two-year-old sister, crying because her mother had died. During prayer time, one ten -year old girl, Ruth, prayed with the usual blunt conciseness of our African children. "Please, God" she prayed, "Send us a hot water bottle today. It'll be no good tomorrow, God, as the baby will be dead, so please send it this afternoon." While I gasped inwardly at the audacity of the prayer, she added, "And while You are about it, would You please send a dolly for the little girl so she'll know You really love her?" As often with children's prayers, I was put on the spot. Could I honestly say, "Amen"? I just did not believe that God could do this. Oh, yes, I know that He can do everything, the Bible says so. Butthere are limits, aren't there? The only way God could answer this particular prayer would be by sending me a parcel from the homeland. I had been in Africa for almost four years at that time, and I had never, ever, received a parcel from home. Anyway, if anyone did send me a parcel, who would put in a hot water bottle? I lived on the equator! Halfway through the afternoon, while I was teaching in the nurses' training school, a message was sent that there was a car at my front door. By the time I reached home, the car had gone, but there, on the verandah, was a large twenty-two pound parcel. I felt tears pricking my eyes. I could not open the parcel alone, so I sent for the orphanage children. Together we pulled off the string, carefully undoing each knot. We folded the paper, taking care not to tear it unduly. Excitement was mounting. Some thirty or forty pairs of eyes were focused on the large cardboard box. From the top, I lifted out brightly colored, knitted jerseys. Eyes sparkled as I gave them out. Then there were the knitted bandages for the leprosy patients, and the children looked a little bored. Thencame a box of mixed raisins and sultanas - we would use them to make a batch of buns for the weekend. Then, as I put my hand in again, I felt the ... could it really be? I grasped it and pulled it out. Yes, a brand new, rubber, hot water bottle. I cried. I had not asked God to send it; I had not truly believed that He could. Ruth was in the front row of the children. She rushed forward, crying out, if God has sent the bottle, He must have sent the dolly too!" Rummaging down to the bottom of the box, she pulled out the small, beautifully dressed dolly. Her eyes shone! She had never doubted! Looking up at me, she asked: "Can I go over with you and give this dolly to that little girl, so she'll know that Jesus really loves her?" Of course,I replied! That parcel had been on the way for five whole months. Packed up by my former Sunday school class, whoseleader had heard and obeyed God's prompting to send a hot water bottle, even to the equator. And one of the girls had put in a dolly for an African child - five months before, in answer to the believing prayer of a ten-year-old to bring it "that afternoon”"Before they call, I will answer" (Isaiah 65:24) When you receive this, say the prayer, that's all you have to do. No strings attached. Just send it on to whomever you want - but do send it on. Prayer is one of the best free gifts we receive. There is no cost but a lot of rewards. Let's continue praying for one another. This awesome prayer takes less than a minute. Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless my friends reading this. I ask You to minister to their spirit. Where there is pain, give them Your peace and mercy.Where there is self doubting, release a renewed confidence to work through them. Where there is tiredness, or exhaustion, I ask You to give them understanding, guidance, and strength as they learn submission to Your leading. Where there is spiritual stagnation, I ask You to renew them by revealing Your nearness, and by drawing them into greater intimacy with You. Where there is fear, reveal Your love, and release to them Your courage. Where there is a sin blocking them, reveal it and break its hold over my friend's life. Bless their finances, give them greater vision, and raise-up leaders and friends to support and encourage them. Give each of them discernment to recognize the evil forces around them, and reveal to them the power they have in You to defeat it. I ask You to do these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Praying For You

Christian life is not totally easy, until we know that we know that we know the one whom we have believed like Paul says 2 Timothy 1:12 ".. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day."

Paul was a man who was thrown in prisons, was in a shipwreck, people deserted him, suffered a snake bite, knew what it was to be in need but was contented in whatever it was he was in.In all this and in spite of being in chains he says "I am not ashamed" because He knew whom He had believed.

Yet his life was such a blessing, even his shadow caused people to get healed. He wrote the most number of books in the New Testament, being an encouragement to whoever reads it. What an exact representation of God's disciple, exactly as Jesus had ordained(Mark 16:15-20). I wonder what happened to the believers, over time, where did all the miracles go from then? Why can't we do the things Jesus said we could do?

Are we too engrossed in our own problems, trying to fight it and find ways on our own? Lets learn from Paul, lets take courage in knowing whom we have believed. Lets remember He who has called us is faithful to do what He has promised. In the midst of his trials Paul was a great blessing to whoever he met. Why can't we be like that? I want to.

I am praying for my friends and family, also for whoever drops by my blog. That would be pretty general, however if there is something you'd like me to agree/stand with you in prayer, please drop me a line at godzhart@yahoo.com.

My Prayer will be fulfilled

I am learning what the Bible teaches me, it has been very exciting so far, have been through the life of Moses in such detail that I was amazed. The only other people I knew from the Old Testament were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, I mean a bit better than the others. Moses was always to me the 10 Commandments guy. However in the past few months of this year, I have found quite an attraction to the way God revealed Himself to His children in various ways through the lives of the people in the Bible I have met so far.

Here's how I see it A Boat Builder with Noah, Faith Builder in Abraham, Checking Deception with Jacob, Rags to Riches in Joseph, Murderer to Leader through Moses, Timid to Bold through Joshua.
What stands out is, whatever God said, He fulfilled. All His promises to these people I mentioned were fulfilled. Totally.

Wow, now that I see their life. I know in my life too, I have received promises from my Lord, surely, what He has promised He will do.And so it is for you too.

Praise the Lord.

PUSH (Pray Until Something Happens)

Background:Once the northern and southern kings came to know of the way the Israelites had defeated the 5 kings. They all joined forces and planned to destroy the Israelites
(Joshua 11:4-5 4All these kings responded by mobilizing their warriors and uniting to fight against Israel. Their combined armies, along with a vast array of horses and chariots, covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore. 5They established their camp around the water near Merom to fight against Israel),
but the Lord was with the Israelites and they won over them.

Just after a battle the Israelites won against the 5 kings who wanted to destroy the Gibeonites, more kings heard about it and went against the Israelites to destroy them. What a life!!!

I remember this little illustration from a pilot turned preacher. Getting onto the Word of God is quite like flying a plane.Especially the jet ones.When starting, the engine roars, the wheels face friction when they start, then they take off, but they haven't reached their full speed yet. There is something called a threshold velocity beyond which the plane travels smoothly, as if still. However, until that velocity is reached the plane rattles and shudders as if it would fall apart if pressed a little further. But you know what, the most jitters and rattling happen when the plane is just about to cross the threshold velocity, after which it is smooth, it doesn't even feel the noise of the engines any more. Its quiet, its steady, there is no wind turbulence because it has gone way higher than where the winds blow. They've gone way beyond that level.

Its the same with a Christian walk, while you're about to 'take off' trusting God's Word, just when you're break through is about to happen. The more the resistance, the more we PUSH through. (PUSH-Pray Until Something Happens). Until we're so sure of our Lord's promise that nothing can shake us, for we know that we know that we know, that He Who called us is faithful.

Conclusion: I encourage you, if you're waiting to see a change, PUSH on, if you're waiting for God's miracle, PUSH on, stay on the Word of God, do whatever it takes, maybe it needs a change inside of you, than the outside. Lets make that change and move on. Oh how important it is to stick close to the Word of God and in prayer. Don't give up yet. Go on.Keep trusting .

Isaiah 40:31
" 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."

The Knee Tool- A Neat Tool

I've now continued reading on from the life of the Israelites in the desert, and how Moses deals with the situations he faces-leading a whole pack of people, who are so wavering in their faith. The day God rescues them..oh they praise and worship God..but the days they are facing troubles..they are even more quick to grumble.

We've seen how the Israelites went about their journey with the Lord in my previous posts.
Now here's something Moses' life teaches us.
Background:

• The Red Sea situation(Exodus 14:11-12)
• Bitter Water Problem (Exodus 15:23-24)
• Food Problem(Exodus 16)
• No Water Problem (Exodus 17:2-5)

Moses's responses to the above situations

• The Red Sea response-The Bible says-"Moses answered the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still." (Exodus 14:13-14). We even see God telling Moses why are you crying out to me? Thats because God has already revealed to Moses what He would do. We see Moses respond in faith.
• Bitter Water Problem-"Then Moses cried out to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. ........."(Exodus 15:25)
• Food Problem-The Bible here does not say whether Moses cried out to God or not, but God Himself told Moses "12 "I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God"(Exodus 16:12)
• Water Problem-"Moses replied, "Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the LORD to the test?" 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, "Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?"
  4 Then Moses cried out to the LORD, "What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.""(Exodus 17:2-4)

I admire Moses for the way he dealt with this situation, he did not lose sight of God ever.He did not listen to what they were saying, rather, every time someone came to him to put in doubt in his heart about God's saving nature for all of them, he went right back to God and clarified everything. Isn't it the same with our relationships? I wonder why we don't use the same principles with God.

Lesson:In our lives too, when you're on your way to victory, satan tries to talk you out of it. There might even be people to discourage you, to make you concentrate on your problems more than on the promises God has given you. Satan tries to suggest that God does not love you any more, does not listen to your prayers anymore or even tries to show you that, what you're believing will not work. Get your tools on the ground, kneel down in prayer, tell God and listen to His Word.What God did for Moses He is able to do for you. 2 Chronicles 19:7 says"for with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery." Hebrews 13:8 says "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever". How much more our Lord Jesus is willing to work on behalf of His children, who seek His will and love and trust Him. Don't give up...you've got a neat tool, use it.