You need to understand

I need you to understand that Jesus is the only way. I need you to understand that Jesus is the only route to life [John 14:6]. Jesus loves you, His burden is light ( opposite of heavy) [ Matthew 11:30].

Jesus doesn’t care about what you’ve done. Paul was slaughtering Christians like they were mosquitoes. Peter denied Jesus 3 good times and Matthew was a tax collector [ Matthew 9:9-13]. There’s nothing you’ve done that Jesus hasn’t seen/heard before. Despite our great sin, the love of God is powerful. Romans 8:37-39, clearly depict the power of God’s love for us. Scripture says that there is absolutely nothing that can separate us from the love of God. Did you catch that? The Word says , there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING that can separate you from God’s love. God’s love is reckless; it’ll chase down every lost sheep; it’ll allow God to receive you with open arms when you turn to Him, disregarding the lengthy time period you neglected Him.

As its always reiterated, Jesus yearns for communion with you. He’s looking at you and He sees your tears. You’re engraved on the palm of His hand [Isaiah 49:16], He’s madly in love with you. God is obsessed with you.

After reading all this, the question is..

Why are we being so wicked to God?

All He ever asked for was a relationship. He has given us too much. The very breath in your lungs is His and yet we still want to rob God of praise.

We need to understand that it’s by grace that we’re here. God loves us so much that He’s waiting for us to repent and turn back to Him. Everyday He wakes us up, places us in situations where He can be revealed to us, yet we turn our backs and say “ NO”,

-I will not bask in Your love God

-I don’t want eternal life

-I don’t want to dwell in Your presence and feel at peace.

The human race is wicked [ Genesis 6:5]. That’s why you don’t need to teach a child to be rude or greedy but you have to teach a child how to be polite and have manners. We could blame this consequence on the fall of Adam but God has given us an escape; He has called us to freedom through His Son Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 15:22 states “ For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive”. When we give our lives to Jesus, we are no longer bound to sin [Romans 6:14]. We are no longer blind.

God is calling you, child. God wants to manifest His glory through some of us yet we let the devil deceive us. Devil get behind thee in the name of JESUS! Today we choose to shine for Jesus.

//faithful\\

Sometimes it’s hard to fully express how you feel about God. Not enough words can express your gratitude or no dance move is energetic enough to display your love for the King, yet we still try our hardest to do something to express ourselves.

Reminiscing on how far God has brought me would literally cause me to breakdown because He has been a faithful God. Titling God as a faithful God may get some confused because they don’t understand the meaning of the title. The word loyal could be synonymous to this word “faithful”. Faithful could also be read as “ faith-full”, probably symbolising God’s faith in you leaning towards Him.

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In as much as God is faithful, we must be faithful too. What is a relationship if one party is putting in all the effort. And we need to remember that God doesn’t need us yet He desires to be with us. This, alone, goes to show His great love for us; that a God so big will have His pleasure in us ( Ephesians 1:9), mere mortals created from the dust of the ground.

Most of the time, when things aren’t going our way, we start to recite the beautiful words of Ephesians 3: 20 [ Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, ] or the wonderful promise in Romans 8:28 [ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.].

It is great to recite and proclaim scriptures but we need to notice that all these promises have some “pre-requisites”. Yes, salvation is not received by works but the scriptures state clearly “ according to the power at work within us” and “ those who love God…. Those who are called according to his purpose”. The “ power” in Ephesians 3:20 is referring to the Holy Spirit, who lives in us. Some of us are oblivious to the person of the Holy Spirit yet when this promise is not fulfilled, we blame the Lord. The Lord requires us to be faithful, meaning close to Him, desiring to be with Him as much as possible. To add on, even in Romans 8:28, the promise is for those who love God. If you do not love the Lord, you’ve not met the criteria. And sometimes we claim we love the Lord but if we truly loved God we would allow our lives to reflect that. Sometimes, it’s not easy but Jesus promised us an advocate, named the sweet Holy Spirit and He is ever ready to lead us and help us.

A prayer to receive the Holy Spirit

Dear Father,

I love you because You first loved me and sent Your only Son to die for my sins. I want to please You but honestly I find it hard to do so. In this very moment, I ask Your Spirit to come and dwell in my heart. I open up myself to You, Lord, and ask that You have Your Way in me all the days of my life. I want to be a faithful servant.

In Jesus’ name I have prayed.

Amen

Get ready for a rollercoaster ride because the Holy Spirit is the best friend you never had.

stuck

Definition:

-an immovable state, the stationery phase, no progress nor regress.

*Have you ever felt stuck in your walk with Christ?

*Do you feel stuck in your pursuit of the Lord Jesus?

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Some say it’s normal to fall back a little or feel stuck but I fail to believe that. I don’t agree with this ideology because man’s original habitat was the garden ( Genesis 2:8). In this garden, man had fellowship with the Father continuously, fuelling a greater relationship between the two parties. So the original plan was for God and man to commune frequently to enhance their relationship. Nothing about “ falling back” or “ being stagnant” was ever intended. These ideologies only came about because of the fall of man. Man decided to yield authority to the devil ( Genesis 3:13),allowing him to dictate our steps, if we allow him. One way he has dictated our steps is by forming this ideology.

However,

Even if you find yourself “ stuck”, in terms of your walk with Jesus, you have another chance to run back to the loving arms of the Father ( story of the prodigal son ,Luke 15:11-32) . But the main point is that don’t be comfortable when “ stuck”.

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How to change states

As most of us may probably know, when it comes to Chemistry, in order to change a substance from solid to liquid or liquid to gas, heat must be applied. This gives the particles freedom and they’re no longer “ stuck”.

It’s the same principle in our relationship with Jesus. We need some heat to break our bonds and ties to this world and its pleasures. In the same way heat grants freedom for the particles, heat frees us from numerous bondages and chains.

What is heat?

Heat ,as we know, is produced by fire. In Acts 2:3, tongues of fire appear on all those whom the Spirit of God rested upon. Thus, the Holy Spirit is the fire: the Holy Ghost produces the heat that prevents us from being stuck.

Essentially, allowing the Holy Spirit into your heart will free you, in the same way applying heat to substances allows it to change states.

But it isn’t as simple as it seems. Our hearts aren’t mere rooms with a simple door which can be easily opened or closed. Rather, the heart can be said to be a complex which houses the desires and pleasures of a person.

Now, the trick to allowing the Holy Spirit into your heart is by surrendering all. The HOLY Spirit is holy, meaning that He can only reside where His nature is evident or accepted. When our hearts are leaning towards the pleasures of the world, He cannot rest there or find comfort there because it contradicts His nature. However, when we surrender all to Jesus, we make room for the Holy Spirit to come in and rest. Also, we give Him permission to work on us and take out ( of our hearts) whatever doesn’t look like Jesus.

It’s my sincere prayer that you never feel stuck in your Christian walk in Jesus’ name.

God is a faithful God so even in your “ stuck” season, He will still reveal Himself to you, hoping that you would ask for a fresh wind to blow within your spirit. However, it’s up to you to respond to that call and receive His invitation. ( a perfect example is Peter: after denying Jesus 3 times in Luke 22:54-62, the Lord kept on reminding Peter of how they were together through the people who told Peter he was with Jesus).

Hope you enjoyed this week’s message. Can’t wait to tell you something next week!