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This is a Blog for those interested in following hard after His heart. Those willing to strive to live a moment-by-moment life as we go through the transformation process with Him. It is not an easy life, but the Father expects each of us to become an offering for His pleasure. So, if this is you, then let’s journey together hand in hand. I am humbled that you have chosen to walk with me. Thanks!
17 October, 2012
16 October, 2012
Believing the Truth Does Not Make It True
Time To Put A Context To It
Surprisingly, while I felt there was a call to go and evangelize the world, mainly the South Asia, God was at work in me working in the background and preparing me to be 'His' first and foremost before I could go. Through the process of preparation that lasted years I found out so much more. Yes, I needed to learn evangelism, I needed to learn God's Word, I needed to learn to be broken by Him, so that my will would be His first before handing it back to me. While there is a whole list that I needed to learn from Him, most of all, I needed to understand His standards. Through the wilderness, the vision took shape and my identity and spiritual life in Him have catapulted to an unimaginable level. It turns out God was raising me to be a prayer warrior. A real one. But the true vision did not take shape until 2012. More than seven years after I heard the call.
While my spiritual maturity in Him, and the knowledge and boldness I have received from being with Him could be beneficial to anyone with a heart set on living for Him, my true calling is to reach those who do not understand that believing the truth does not make it true, Satan believes the truth as well. Most of these people are very active in the Church and a lot of them are in leadership positions. These people are so hard to reach and they make it their mission to resist any changes you call them to. They have accumulated just enough Christianity to become Satan's personal favorites. Beside the stubbornness of their hearts two major things they also have in common is that they do not want to go to Christ to be changed and they are all carnal. They are the perfect picture of the reverse of John 6:65 meaning they have no willingness to go to Him to be transformed. There is lots of frustration in this ministry, the only thing that keeps you going is knowing who God is and He is able to do the impossible. So you keep praying and keep calling for changes.
Through my training, and also my daily walk with Him, God has given me wisdom and discernment to unmask these Christians no matter how many masks they are wearing, their gender, rank etc. Make no mistake this is hard ministry. God has to teach you humility which is painful to learn from Him. I am not sure how to explain the other major component of this ministry. It is something you possess in your heart, where you automatically know certain insights you have on someone has to remain confidential. It is funny, because God does not have to tell you not to say anything about it. The other thing I find out is that God keeps you on a need to know basis.
PRAY: Father God I pray that my brothers and sisters would learn to serve you wherever they are. I pray you would pour out Your Spirit Lord on those sitting in the pews that are blind, my heart's desire is for them to see you. I pray hearts would be softened and people would respond to your invitation to "come to me!"
Here is the lyric of the song I mentioned in the post
Here I Am Lord
I,
the Lord of sea and sky
I have heard my people cry
All who
dwell in dark and sin
My hand will save.
I who made the
stars and night
I will make the darkness bright
Who will bear
my light to them
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord
Is it
I Lord?
I have heard you calling in the night
I will go Lord
If
you lead me
I will hold your people in my heart.
I the Lord
of snow and rain
I have borne my people's pain
I have wept for
love of them
They turn away.
I will break their hearts of
stone
Fill their hearts with love alone
I will speak my word to
them
Whom shall I send?
Here I am Lord
Is it I Lord?
I
have heard you calling in the night
I will go Lord
If you lead
me
I will hold your people in my heart.
I will hold your
people in my heart...
15 October, 2012
False Religion According to God’s Standards
DEVOTION
Read Jeremiah 7: 1-5
This is the word that came to Jeremiah
from the Lord: “Stand at the gate of
the Lord’s house and there proclaim this message: ‘Hear the
word of the Lord, all you people of Judah who come through these
gates to worship the Lord. This is what
the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your
ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this
place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say,
“This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord,
the temple of the Lord!”
As I was reading Jeremiah 7 today, my
heart was breaking because while this story is the Israelites story,
specifically, in these verses Judah was targeted by God and it
happened thousands of years ago, it is still us today. Things have
not changed that much. We still go on with a vain confidence in
mainstream Christianity. We find pride in our buildings, our
achievements, the eloquence of our pastors, in our head knowledge,
our plans, our standards, our denominations etc. We have compartmentalized Christianity, to us Salvation has become what we feel it should be.
We bring God down so low, that His standards do not matter to us
anymore. Our hearts are so callous, so much arrogance and pride in
the Church and among Christians. Most of us in the pews along with
our pastors have no idea what it means to be broken by God and the
list goes on. Yet, we come and stand in His presence with no fear
whatsoever. The Israelites felt they found protection too when they
came into the temple. They too had compartmentalized their lives and
expected God to honor His Word as if He could not see their hearts
were not in it. We do not pay enough attention to the fact that God
wants us to do things according to His Way and His standards.
We go through the Bible like lawyers
going through documents to find loopholes. In the meantime we forget
this is OUR GOD, the God of our Salvation. We offer Him
sentimentality and we get caught up in our own hypes, our own
deception and low standards of Christianity. But, true Christianity
according to His standards demands that we live purposely for Him.
Not according to what that means to us but according to His views,
His Word., His standards and His plan for Salvation. When this is done according to His standards and by His grace, we are transformed on the inside. It is sad to see
how we misunderstand Christianity because we do not know what it
means to live under His grace and worst we have never learned to know
ourselves because we have not been humbled by Him. So somehow, in the
depth of our souls, we still think there is something good in us.
PRAY: Oh Lord, I pray we learn to embrace
full Salvation according to your plan. I pray the eyes of our hearts
would be open and we would get rid of Spiritual blindness. Take away
the darkness that surrounds us Savior even though we do not deserve
you, I pray that you would be glorified in all our lives.
In His Love & Service
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14 October, 2012
THE FEAR OF MAN!
DEVOTION
Read Jeremiah 1:11-19
Jeremiah has been placed as a watchdog over the nation and everything that came out of his mouth was going to be God’s judgement over the nation. He knew of the destruction awaiting Judah, and the fact that judgement was close by so there was no time to waste in finding the way back to Him in repentance. I can see his dilemma. Imagine you knew for a fact that a train is going to derail with everyone aboard, yet the people are not interested in what you know. If anything, they think there is something wrong with you. Your heart is breaking from the pain of possessing such knowledge with no power to convince the people that you know what you are talking about. As if it was not enough you have to deal with the fear of what they could do to you for disturbing the joy they found in their wickedness and idolatry.
God knew Jeremiah was terrified. His fear and his pity party in his mind and heart did not matter to God. The job had to be done and he was the chosen one. Instead God told Jeremiah “Get yourself ready! Stand up and say to them whatever I command you. Do not be terrified by them, or I will terrify you before them. Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land—against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and the people of the land. They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,” declares the Lord.
The fear of man is a powerful snare. It can cripple us and causes us to miss out on all that God has in store for us. In my life I found the only remedy that liberates us from the fear of man is the fear of God. Often we make decisions and side with man just to be on what seems the safe side. We let our fear take over, and our need for approval. This comes from a lack of knowing God, walking with Him and lack of fearing Him. When you fear and respect Him, the choice is always clear. This does not mean you are not trembling with fear of other people's reaction but your fear and reverence for God must come first. Just because God is not in your face, wagging His finger does not mean we get away with it when we side with man instead of Him. No matter what, we are to choose His side, no deletions, no alterations and no cutting corners to soften the blows. If you do, you will be judged by God severely. The only tool we ever need is God Himself.
PRAY: Lord I pray that I never compromise my walk with you to please men. I pray that other Christians would be willing to do the same for your Glory my Lord. That we would be people after your heart. We would be willing to give up our interest, personal agendas and wishes. Lord, may we never fail the call my Lord. I love you daddy!
Labels:
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judah,
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13 October, 2012
CHOSE WISELY WHOM YOU SERVE
DEVOTION
Jeremiah 1:10
"See, today I appoint you over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and overthrow, to build and to plant."
The sole purpose of Jeremiah’s birth and the authority given to Him by God for his ministry are found in verse 10. The story of Jeremiah is astonishing. One would think that he would naturally become a priest. Instead of following in his father's footsteps, he had a much a bigger challenge presented to him at a young age. It was indeed a daunting task to try to reform his people and convince them to change their ways. In his ministry he was not to mince word because they had left behind all they had learned about God’s characters and Holiness. They had compromised so much, in their exceeding sinfulness they could not recover because their hearts became so callous and they were enjoying the ease of their new found religions. Jeremiah was given power to pull down and destroy and to remove evil among them.
There is no half way with God. He puts before us two choices “good and evil” it is up to us to choose. But we better use this freedom of the will to choose wisely. There is a price for choosing according to our will instead of His and we better be ready to pay the price tag attached to living in our own filth and our own will, because at judgement time, no stones will be left unturned.
Sadly, in today’s church we are missing anointed ministers from the pulpits to lead the flock. We are living in time where everything is permissible and justifiable. While our ministers preach with gadgets, they tweak God’s message with their own philosophy and variety of their theology. God will be harsher with us come judgement time, because we have His revealed Word in the Bible, and the Holy Spirit to guide us to Him.
What about you? Are you more interested in what the false prophet have to say than the Word of God? Do you find yourself enjoying the idleness and ease of religions? How can you use this message to turn around?
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for today’s passage. It is a reminder that you are a God to be feared. Please help me to seek your ways and surrender in humility, everything each day into your care. Only in you my Lord we can find true fulfilment and joy. Please help me live by the truth and honor you with my life!
Thanks, M. J. Andre
12 October, 2012
INADEQUATE FOR THE TASK GOD CALLS YOU TO?
DEVOTION
Read Jeremiah 1:6-8
Jeremiah
knew he was ill-equipped for the job he was called for. He knew his lack of boldness,
authority, communication, his youth and lack of knowledge
would cause him to be despised by the very people he was called to
serve.
When
God calls us to deal with giants, it is always scary. It is one thing
to experience Him, having intimate knowledge of Him and being able to
communicate so closely with Him. But, it is dreadful to know that He
is expecting you to go out there and tell people of Him exactly in
the way you know Him. Not only you have your inadequacy to deal with, but you also feel like a fool. You already know in the scheme of
things you are such a small potato. You already know people are not
interested in the guy who stands alone with a message that no one
wants to hear. So, yes you dread the day when you have to take your
unpopular message out there and having to say things outloud to other
people.
People
who are truly called by Him for tasks that are completely above their
capabilities—which is
usually the case with God, He would not have it any other way—
have one thing in common, they are always scared to go forward. The
first reaction is to say no to Him, not because you want to be
disobedient but simply because you feel He could find someone else to
do a much better job for Him. You feel as if you would be a waste of
time and He could get much more done through someone else better
suited. Strangely, you are thinking in your mind that somehow He
misses out on your lack of qualifications. Although when you come to
your senses, all you can do is laugh about it for thinking there was
something He did not know. The fear always comes from reacting in the
flesh, it comes from lack of trusting Him. It also comes from the
fact that you know, because you do not measure up you will be
rejected, thus in your mind, you can taste the rejection, the mockery
etc.
We
should never let our sense of insufficiency get in the way. Once we
mourn the pain of accepting the challenge, we must resolve to say yes
to Him. The key here is that God is not looking for people who are
capable of doing the job; instead He wants to use the weak things of
the world. When we think we can do a good job for Him, than we are
useless to Him because we are already too full of ourselves and there
is no room for Him to manoeuvre. By contrast, when we know our
worthlessness, He is able to use us because we are emptied of self,
we recognize our limitations and our needs of Him as such He is
allowed to move freely within us, and walk with us every step of the
way to assure success of the ministry entrusted to us. Do not ever allow your anxiety
for who you are gets in the way. Know that He is sufficient for the
journey ahead of you. We can always bank on His presence to lead us
through.
PRAYER :
Almighty father, I pray Savior that we learn to be grateful people to
you in all that we are. I pray that we learn to avail ourselves to
you knowing that the fruit of our obedience would glorify you. Teach
us Master, how to become solely devoted to your service and teach us
what we need to remain attentive to our calling. Praises and glory to
You Savior. Amen!
11 October, 2012
GOD'S CALL FOR SERVICE
DEVOTION
Read Jeremiah Chapters 1:1-5
Jeremiah was born in the city of
Anathoth in the country of Benjamin and His father was Hilkiah. You
will find that Hilkiah was the high priest who found the book of the
Law and passed it on to King Josiah.(2 Kings 22) As we read Jeremiah
Chapter 1, it seems like we are given information at the beginning of
chapter 1 that looks more like data to the average reader. But,
nothing God put in the Bible is useless no matter how trivial it
might appear to our non-spiritual eyes. His appointment shows that
nothing takes God by surprise. While the Israelites were given to
sin, saturated by idols and ultimate corruption, cruelty, rebellion,
contempt of God's Word etc for years, God was preparing someone in
the background in the person of Jeremiah. He was set apart before he
was even born, to be this incredible prophet of his nation. He was hesitant because of the daunting task he was called to, but God reassured Him that there was no
need to be scared of them because He would always be with him.
Jeremiah started at a very young age he
did not have time to derail from God’s plan for him. Unfortunately
not all of us can claim to be that fortunate. Sometimes, our lives
start derailing right from home through parents making choices for us
that are not necessarily conducive to God’s plan. Sometimes we blow
it on our own, and we continue making poor choices that lead us
further and further away from Him. But, God's goodness is immeasurable. He
waits for us patiently, and sometimes He takes matters into His hands
and for lack of a better word, He hits us with a four by four
(through trials) to get our attention.
One thing that I learned from God that
has never changed. Like the prophet Jeremiah, the Scriptures shows that
God appoints His ministers from their mother’s wombs (Isaiah 49:1,
Galatians 1:15). Not one of us is born by accident and He has a plan
and purpose for each of us, which He is willing to unfold to us if
only we are willing to trust Him and wait while learning to heed to
His Word.
No matter what you are going through,
learn to be patient. Trust that He has a plan for you and if your
heart is set on Him, there is no need to go ahead of Him by fear you
might have missed something. In His own time, He will divulge more to
you.
PRAY: God help me to learn to wait for
you and move forward with you only according to your will in my life, May I learn to remain loyal to you no matter where the road leads and
may I always walk in your way!
In His Love & Service,
M. J. Andre
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