May 4, 2014 · 1:48 pm

A Glimpse into the Life of an Immigrant called Neffy

<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/93278156″>Neffy Episode 1</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/user26059546″>Melissa Blake</a> on <a href=”https://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a&gt;.</p>

Many immigrants take a leap of faith and exhaust their life savings to take the treacherous journey from their homeland to Western Europe or the United States in search of a better life. Unfortunately for many life Neffy, they do not find the paradise they hoped to find. Instead, they find themselves to be pariah’s and are unable to make a better life for their families after paying their bills. Unaccepted and lonely, many like Neffy cling on to the only friend and hope they know – King Jesus!

Friends, next time you see someone who looks destitute, take at least a second to flash a smile and say hello if nothing else. It can make all the difference in the world.

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May 2, 2014 · 11:29 pm

3 Simple Ways To Know If Your Man Really Loves You

I recently met a woman by the name of Renee (not her real name) who divorced her husband after a few months of marriage. Though she said that she was over the relationship, the pain and hurt she still felt came through loud and clear as she spoke of their relationship. Her words were saying one thing but her heart was revealing quite another. When I asked if she saw any sign’s of trouble prior to the marriage, she said no. She said to me, Emmanuel, it is as if he changed into a completely different person. He said all the right words and did all the right things before we got married. I thought he truly loved me.

The statement, I thought he truly loved me, hit me hard like a swift punch to the solar plexus! They were the same words that an ex had spoken to me when we broke up many moons ago (my fault for the record). After a  few moments of silence, I was able to say to her:  Love is more than a feeling, is not confirmed by words, and it reaches beyond the boundary of actions. Love gives but expects nothing in return. Just because an action reflects love does not mean the action comes from a heart of love. The heart of love gives and expects nothing back in return. The heart of fear always wants something in return, but there is no fear in love! Did he marry you because he truly loved you or because you were great to him, filled a hole in him, and he was afraid of losing you?

She replied, I liked that I meant something to him (filled a hole in him) and that he wanted to keep me! What is wrong with that? I said, I do not know your full situation, but could it be that his affection towards you was triggered only by what you could do for him? His shower of love towards you and his sacrifice, was it because you met his needs? Though it seemed all about you, was it truly all about him? As she pondered the questions, I continued, it is not the what that matters most, it is the why that matter most!

She said, what are the reasons a man should love me? I replied, let us see why Jesus loved us and gave himself for us:

Ephesians 5: 25 -29:  Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28 In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29 After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church.

He wants you to be one with him in the Lord

A man who loves you continually works to strengthen the cord of love that exists between you and him. He does this by growing his relationship with the Lord and being a spiritual leader of the household. He understands that there is no way both of you can walk in agreement with each other unless you make Jesus the center of your lives. So he initiates open and honest conversation. He asks you to do nothing that is contrary to the way of the Lord and does not even put you in those situations. You are praying and seeking God together with the kind of man.

 

He wants you to be the best you can be

A man who loves you is one who wants you to walk in the purpose to which God has called you. He wants you to be the best that you can be. And he walk’s foreign lands if he has to! He wants you to live a significant life and makes you priority. A man who loves you will meet you where you are and will always strive to get you to a better place. Think of the Samaritan woman who drank of the water of the words of Jesus. She instantly turned from an insignificant harlot who probably avoided people out of shame, to an outspoken evangelist. She went from being an outcast to someone who helped bring her entire village to the knowledge of God. That is what a man who loves does! He desires to help you reach higher spiritually, mentally, emotionally, intellectually, financially etc.

He wants you to fulfill your destiny

Just as Jesus wants us to wear a crown of glory when we get into heaven, a man who loves you will desire that you win the prize in your race of life; that you cross the finish line and fulfill your destiny. This means that he is sensitive to your needs and chooses for you to be his first priority. He considers your destiny in the decisions that he is making. Nothing is done selfishly. He wants to shine the spotlight on you so that you can receive honor. He is not one to want the limelight for himself. This is a man who is not jealous of your accomplishments and does not become insecure in your glory. He asks about your goals and dreams and supports you. He is your number one cheerleader.

Food for Thought: A man who loves you feeds you and cares for you in every way

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April 28, 2014 · 10:06 pm

5 Reasons Why Many Christian Girls Remain Single

DSingles1In 2012 ,I was invited to be a member of a panel at a Christian singles conference. After speaking about living a purposeful life, and remaining pure in singleness, the topic of marriage invariably came up. A woman stood up and started pouring out her heart about how she desired a husband. How she was in her late thirties and did not want to be alone anymore. She said that she was on the verge of ‘settling’!

In an attempt to comfort her, an older woman whom we will call Sarah stood up and proclaimed that she was single at 60 AND had never married. Sarah started to encourage the younger lady. She said, look at me, I am 60 and not married but I will not settle. I want what God wants for me and will not settle for less. I have had many counterfeit men come into my life. Sarah then went ahead and started to rattle off about the men that had been potential suitors and what was wrong with them. As she spoke, somethings that seemingly escaped her started to become clear to those of us on the panel. She was to blame for being single at 60.

Here are some of the things we realized about Sarah that kept her single

Sarah wanted Jesus…not a disciple of Jesus…but Jesus Himself

Many women, like Sarah are looking for the perfect mate. They want someone who is going to complete them and be their everything! If this is you, then my question to you is this: If a man completes you and becomes your everything, then what position is Jesus taking in your life? Jesus is the one that completes you and is meant to be your everything. So, to look for completeness in a man is to make that man an idol in your life, it is to have put man above God! This will only lead to ruin because no man is perfect! Try as he might, he will disappoint you! So stop looking for someone who will not disappoint you over the lifetime you wish to be married…you will not find it. Even you, yes you…have and still disappoint many people…whether you realize it or not…whether you meant it or not. Instead of looking for perfection, look for someone who is striving towards perfection. This is a person that loves God and does not want to be conformed to the world but whose life’s purpose is to be transformed into the image of Jesus.

As my mom says, if you meet a person who is perfect, run away, for you will make imperfect whatever is making that person seem perfect.

Sarah saw herself as a princess, but she did not care to prince her man

There are many women who see themselves as awesome and incredible royalty. Many women say, I want to be treated like a princess! The issue is that they do not want their man to be a prince. They do not want to share any power or give up any control. Instead, they want their partners to take the position of a slave while treating them like a princess. The reason many women cannot let go of control is because of fear – perhaps due to not dealing with the hurts of past relationships. The moment the man does not give her the power she craves, she takes it as he not treating her like a princess and so searches for greener pastures. Conversely, many men see that while they are giving all they have, the woman is not following suit! Many women think that this is part of being pursued; many men simply see it as being disrespectful.

As a princess, you have to make sure you prince your man. Compliment him and let him know that you appreciate that he is being led by the King. Let go of the control. Taking a chance at love means you take a chance with your heart. This is because only the heart can feel love, not your head.

Sarah liked being pursued but did not want to be caught

In the bible, the servant of Abraham went to a land far away in pursuit of a wife for Isaac. When he got there, it was Rebekah that came to the well. When he approached, she did not play games and dilly-dally. No, she said that she would not wait as her family had requested but would follow Eliezer immediately back to Isaac. When Boaz pursued Ruth, Ruth decided to show her interest by laying at his feet. See, both Rebekah and Ruth showed interest. They did not play games or play hard to get.

Ladies, if a prince has found you, then admit it and go forward as long as you have God’s blessing. I am not saying be easy, but at the same time, do not be hard to get. Just as you are a gift to him, he is also a gift to you! If a man is pursing you, do not run him away with games.

Sarah was way too picky

Sarah did not want God to decide whom she should marry but decided on who she wanted to marry. In essence, she said: God, forget about who you desire for me, this is the person I want to marry…now make it happen! It was no longer God’s will for her life but her will for her life!

But does God not want to give us the desires of our heart? Yes…as long as it glorifies God. In fact, the scripture says: delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you your heart’s desires. As you delight yourself in the Lord, you will find that His desires become your desire…thus your desire will glorify God!

You must believe right now that what God wants for you is better than what you could ever want for yourself in the long run. If he is not giving you your hearts desires, it may be because you are not ready to handle your heart’s desire. It may be because what you desire is not desirable!

Sarah wanted Boaz but wanted to remain a Delilah

Do not be like Sarah! Every potential suitor she met had some flaw that was fatal. One could not provide. Another could provide but was not attractive enough. A third was attractive and could provide but did not pay her enough attention. Yet, another paid her too much attention. She forgot that she was filled with flaws herself! She was so busy finding fault with everyone that she had no time to look at herself. She was so busy trying to find the speck in someone else’ life that she forgot that the log in her eyes was blinding her vision of the truth about herself. The truth that just like everyone else, she is imperfect and needs a savior as well!

Sarah could not understand why the one’s she thought were ‘perfect’ for her were not interested. Sarah, perhaps it is because they are not willing to ‘settle’ either.

I thank God that he did not wait for us to be perfect but settled for us. He wants us to settle for nothing less than Himself. This means that we have to take the reins off our own lives and surrender completely to His will. It seemed that Joseph settled for Mary when He married a pregnant girl…but He became immortalized in history because of it. Are you willing to settle for God’s best for you?

Food for Thought: Maybe I cannot find Mr.Right because I am wrong in the way I see relationships

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April 18, 2014 · 4:11 pm

Why Does God Allow Non-believers to Prosper?

Why is it that God allows those who do not care about Him to prosper?

Right after the fall of man, God told man that the ground was cursed for his sake; that he was going to have to toil, and that all the work of his would bring him thorns and thistles (Gen 3:17). Mankind continued in this vain until after the great flood – which wiped out all humanity except Noah and his family. After this, God made a covenant with all creation. God made a new proclamation with man which made the proclamation of Gen 3:17 null and void. He said that the ground would no longer be cursed for the sake of man even though all that he imagines in his heart is evil (Gen 8:21). He said that there would always be seed time and harvest time for as long as the earth remains (Gen 8:22).

Thus, we see that God gave man a way to prosper from his toil and work irrespective of the state of his heart.

In His mercy, God allows mankind to eat of the fruit of his toil (hard labor) whether we are obedient to Him or not.

Jesus referenced the mercy of God that he pronounced in Gen 8:22 when he mentioned that God makes the sun rise on the evil and good, and sends the rain on the just and unjust (Mat 5:45).

But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who spitefully use you, and persecute you;That you may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust – Matthew 5:44-45

To paraphrase, Jesus is saying: You need both the sun to shine and the rain to fall for the plants that you have sown to grow. Whether you are good or not good, God makes the sun rise and the rain to pour so that harvest time can continue in the world; so that all humanity can prosper. God, in his love and mercy makes no distinction between those who are good and those who are evil in this respect. Therefore be like him and be make no distinction between those you love and your enemy.

Why should we strive to be obedient to him when there are so many who are disobedient and are doing well?

For those of us who accept Jesus, we not only walk in the continued mercy of God, we also receive the favor of God on our life as well as the Holy Spirit of power. We no longer have to toil and spin for what we need (Matt 6:28). We can simply depend on God to provide those things for us as we walk in loving- obedience to His Spirit. Hence we see that it is no longer hard toil and labor (works) that brings blessings. Rather, it is loving obedience that brings blessings. Though we can continue in the way of all creation, Jesus has shown us the better way – the way of favor and power!

In the way of the world, the extent of your blessing is proportional to the labor of your hand. In the way of the Word, the extent of your blessing is proportional to the extent of your obedience.

A good example of this is the man, Daniel (see book of Daniel). He walked in obedience to God and so became the second in command of the greatest kingdom in the world at that time! Nothing he could have done in his own strength (toil) could have made him attain that position, for he was a foreign slave. No way would he have been given that opportunity outside of God. Thus we see that obedience will get us to a higher position than what toil can. We also see that obedience is faster and easier than toil.

Second, obedience releases power! The man of God that went to King Jeroboam (read 1 Kings 13:1-6) was supernaturally protected from being arrested when he obeyed God. Furthermore, God released His power to break the alter for the sake of the man of God. Likewise, God will always release his power on our behalf as we walk in obedience – His power to save, heal, speak boldly and courageously; His power to achieve all that he has called us to achieve!

Faithful obedience releases the favor and power of God to do the miraculous in our lives.

So why choose God? We choose God because we want more than just the mercy of God. In our appreciation of His love for us, we also want to experience His chain-breaking and life giving favor and power in our lives. When we live in the fullness of His grace (mercy, favor, and power) is when the world will take notice and our influence on it will explode. Then we will start to live heaven on earth and more people would be drawn to God and be saved. In other words, love compels us to be obedient! Obedience in turn will release the abundant life in our lives.

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April 8, 2014 · 6:28 am

Doing What Matters – Say No!

We have 86,400 secs every day to make an impact on our world and in the lives of the people around us. While a second or a minute may seem like a short amount of time, it is not. Life happens in short time bursts. All things – whether good or bad – happens to us in moments. Similarly, life can change in just an instant. Most times, we do not realize or take advantage of the precious moments we have because we are too busy doing things and running around. A life lived this way can be very frustrating and unfulfilling for it is life that is lived by default and not a life that is lived by design.

To get the most out of the moments of our lives requires that we live a life by design.

This means that we have to get rid of the distractions that so easily plague us. It means that we have to stop running around doing what everybody else wants us to do in favor of what we have been called to do. In life, I have realized that while everything can be elevated as being urgent, not all things can be elevated as being important. You will simply have to learn to say no if you are to do what matters most and get the most out of your life.

 

Say ‘No!’

People are good at elevating the importance of what they want you to accomplish for them. Most people will want you to drop everything you are doing to focus on their issue. Do not be surprised if they try to manipulate you with emotions to get their way. They may get angry or teary-eyed; they may give you the silent treatment or call you incessantly. Worse still, Do not be surprised if all of a sudden, the person who you is never sure God is speaking to them tells you that God spoke to them plain as day concerning your life. Do not yield when the person starts to quote scripture to try to guilt-trip you into doing their bidding!

When this happens, ask yourself two key questions: Is what I am about to do moving me towards my purpose. Is this the will of God for my life right now? Is this a godly distraction or is it an ungodly distraction?

Not everybody’s emergency is your priority. Most people’s emergency are fear and impatience driven!

If you do not ponder your ways, you will find that you spend most of your time being other people’s door mat and being a slave to other people’s wishes. This is not only bad, it is idolatrous in that you have put other people’s wishes above God’s wish for you! You are more focused in pleasing man than you are pleasing God!

If you cannot say no, is it because you are afraid of something? If you can’t say no, is it because you have made something an idol in your life above God? Is it because you have misplaced your trust?

Our trust should be in God and no one else! We will learn to say no to the things that is not in God’s plan for our lives – even though those things may be noble.

Example of Jesus: Even Jesus had to say no! When he was told that Lazarus was sick and dying, he followed the will of God and decided to stay an extra 2 days where he was before departing. While he could have taken off immediately and spared many people the agony of mourning Lazarus’ death, Jesus understood that God had better plans through the death of Lazarus. As we know, Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave and people got to see God’s mighty power. If Jesus had not obeyed, it would have robbed the people of seeing the truth that Jesus had power over death. It would have robbed the people of believing! See, Lazarus would have recovered one way or the other since it was the will of God. What was more important was that the people believed.

Are you depriving the people in your life the miracle that God wants to do for them because you are rushing to the rescue all the time? Have you started playing God instead of allowing God to be God because of your inability to say no?

Food for thought: Just because you are doing what seems right, and is right in peoples eyes, does not mean you are being obedient or doing what is right in the sight of God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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March 22, 2014 · 8:44 am

Do Not Go Back to the Jail of Your Past – Pass Go and Collect 200

In the book of Hosea, God mentions that there will come a day when we will no longer call Him Master but we will call Him Husband (Hosea 2:16). Friend, that day came over 2000 years ago! It came when Jesus decided to (1) pay the debt that kept us as slaves and (2) marry us to Himself so that we could become royalty just as He is royalty.

What a promotion! Jesus took it upon himself to change our destiny from death (that comes from sin) to life (that comes from His righteousness – not our own). He not only decided to liberate us from bondage, He took it a step further and propelled us into kingship.

Why we go back to jail

Here is what Jesus did in a nutshell: (1) He put down his crown and descended His throne (2) He stripped himself of royalty and put on journeyman’s clothing (3) He traveled from a far country to our jailhouse (4) He sacrificed himself so that we would be released (5) He married us to Himself so that He could take us back with Him and experience what He experiences (6) He picked up his throne again but then gave us crowns of rulership when we got back to His country (See Romans 8:17 and Ephesians 2:4-8).

Since Jesus has done all this, then why is it that too many of us do not live the life Jesus suffered to give us? Is it because we think it is too good to be true? See, many of us are still trying to pay the debt that has already been paid by Jesus! We almost feel bad that we got away scot free! So, we take off our crowns and return back to the jailhouse and attempt to pay off a debt that no longer exists. We put ourselves back in bondage of works – which is the way of the world – so that there is no difference between them and us. We return to our past!

How crazy is this behavior – working to receive nothing since the price has already been given to us as a gift! The jailor (Satan) cannot believe his luck – he keeps his mouth shut and only opens it to repeat to us that we did not deserve what Jesus did. The King (Jesus) cannot believe it either. He calls out to us as we go back to the jailhouse pleading with us to stay with him. In truth, the King should be very angry because we have made his sacrifice of no effect. He set us free but we put ourselves back in chains!

Light-bulb moment: To live the life God intended requires that we stop trying to deserve His love – we do not –  and start accepting it for what it is!

Break out of Jail

Without accepting the truth of the unconditional love of God, we place ourselves back in chains and we attempt to work our way out of debt. This is like saying to a jailor: I know I broke the law to get in here and I have been given the death penalty. Now that I am in here, I am going to keep all the law so that you can let me out!

This does not even work in real life! No matter how much good a person does in jail, it does not negate what he has done before. Only the judge can pardon! God is our righteous judge who has already pardoned. We no longer have to live as slaves – trying to please our master through our good works. We are now married to the Master because of his love for us. All he now wants of us is to be faithful – to be full of trust and belief in Him (who He is and what He has done). If you are not faithful or “full of faith”, you will find yourself going back to the jailhouse!

Food for Thought: Today, I will not go back to jail; I will pass the test of faithfulness and collect on God’s goodness

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February 22, 2014 · 7:18 pm

Stop Working on Your Testimony and Start Living Your Promise

In a recent conversation, a friend of mine said of her daughter, ‘she is working on her testimony’. Knowing the daughter, the first thing that entered my head – right or wrong – was this: Will she ever stop working on her testimony? To give you some context, the friend I am speaking about happens to be roughly twice my age. Her daughter is older than I am and has been working on her testimony for a while. The thing about it is that she is saved and has good knowledge of the word of God. Even so, she has decided to hold onto her pride, which has in turn caused her to walk in outright disobedience to the Lord.

Wilderness ExperienceIn the event you are not familiar with the term ‘working on your testimony’, it refers to the state of a person who does not know the Lord or has backslidden away from the Lord.

While there is no timetable for a person to stop working on their testimony – for the Lord can do wondrous things in anyone’s life at any point in time, and do it quickly – my concern is that some people never come out of their testimony to be able to tell it.

There is no better example of this than the children of Israel who perished in the wilderness. While the journey to the Promised Land was meant to take 3 – 11 days, fear and unbelief led God to send them through the wilderness of the Red Sea.

This is the period that God had in mind for the children of Israel to ‘work on their testimony’. During this time period, God showed them incredible mercy and worked mighty miracles, and even spoke in the hearing of the people. He did this for a period of 2 years so that they would come to know Him, trust Him, and rely on Him.

But no! When it came time to enter into the Promised Land after 2 years – the time God had allotted for them to stay in the wilderness of testimony, the people refused to enter into Canaan. As a result, they ended up spending another 38 years in the wilderness and the original generation that left Egypt died in the wilderness except Joshua and Caleb.

Note: The Ark of the Covenant was called the Ark of the Testimony when the children of Israel were in the wilderness. All the things that were placed in the Ark – covenant tablet, manna, Aaron’s rod – were placed there during the wilderness years.

God wanted the children of Israel to ‘work on their testimony for 2 years but they decided that they were going to work on their testimony for 40 years! As a result, only 2 of 600,000 men achieved that which God had ordained for them! They rest of them perished while still working on their testimony.

The uncomfortable truth is that too many of us today are still working on our testimony even though God has already made a way to enter into his promise for our lives. We say God is going to do it when He has already done it! We continue to pray to God but refuse to walk in obedience when He answers our prayers and gives us instructions.

If this is you, my plea is that you stop working on your testimony and start living the life of promise God has for you. It’s time to stop eating the manna and start feeding on milk and honey! Aren’t you tired of the snake bite of the wilderness?

Light-bulb moment: Leaving the wilderness will cost you your pride, ego, fears, and unbelief. But your reward for paying this price will be rest, peace, joy, and strength!

Let us do something ‘crazy’ as believers: Let us actually believe what God and move when He tells us to do so!

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February 18, 2014 · 7:00 pm

Tales from The Amazon – The church built on a pond

We walk by faith and not by sight

I have often wondered what first entered the mind of Jesus when the Holy Spirit instructed him to spit on the ground and make mud out of the soil and rub it in the eyes of the blind man! Did He think like me and say, ‘You want me to do what? Surely, there must be another way?‘ Or did He blame the devil for the thought (like some of us would when God asks us to step out of our comfort zone) and say, ‘I rebuke that thought! Devil, I bind you up right now!‘

Being Jesus, He probably just said, right away sir, as you wish! See, it is easy to justify, rationalize, intellectualize our way into why we are not doing what God wants us to do, when He wants us to do it, and how He wants us to do it. But no matter what the excuse, disobedience is disobedience.

Pastor Natalino of Renovation Church in Belterra had the opportunity to walk in disobedience when the Holy Spirit stopped him and told him to declare that he was going to build a church in what was a good sized pond! From a conversation with him, his first thought was, ‘Really God! Of of all the places, you want me to build a church here!’

Unlike many of us,  Pastor Natalino decided not to make the voice of the Holy Spirit of no effect! He went to the city council and informed them of what He wanted to do.

They thought he was crazy and laughed at him!

Do not be surprised if the world laughs at you when you are walking by faith

But Pastor Natalino would not be deterred! Like Nehemiah, he would not listen to the laughs of his detractors but pressed forward towards the mark of his calling. He rented a pump and over a number of days promptly drained the large pond. But would you know it, no sooner had he finished draining the pond, an enormous deluge of rain befell Belterra and filled up the pond once more! Now what was he to do? He did not have any more money to spend to drain the pond a second time! What was he to do?

Though crest-fallen, Pastor Natalino would not stay disheartened! He passed the test of endurance and obedience.

He said to God, ‘God, you are the one that told me to build a church on this land. This is your will. I am being faithful to you, therefore, help me bring to pass what you have ordained.‘ Lo and Behold, the pond which was completely filled up dried up within the next few days! In his testimony, Pastor Natalino said: The first time, I climbed the mountain of draining the lake. The second time around, I spoke to the mountain to be removed

I tell all of you with certainty, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ if he doesn’t doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him

– Mark 11:23

See, the bridge to success is many times filled with trial and tribulation. When they come, what we must not do is fill our minds with doubt of God’s calling on our life. Instead, we must ask God for wisdom while actively waiting patiently for the manifestation of the promises of God. (see James 1:1-8).

Ultimately, Pastor Natalino was able to build the first phase of the church God had promised him. It is his picture that you see in the top left corner of this blog. I am honored to have met and him and to have had fellowship with him and his congregation in Belterra!

Food for Thought: Though the enemy will laugh at me in the beginning, I will have the last laugh in the end if I do not grow faint and weary but continue in faith

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February 15, 2014 · 8:38 pm

Tales from The Amazon – A love Affair with AD Santarem

I had the privilege of visiting the Amazon a few weeks ago during a missions trip to Brazil. The missions trip took our small team of three to Santarem, a large city of approximately 250,000 people located in the Amazon region of Brazil. A few hours after arriving, I met with Rhonaltt Araujo – the pastor of AD Santarem.

Pastor Rhonaltt is an awesome man of God! He is the sort of man you would never know was the pastor of a church unless he declared it to you. I mean this in the most positive of ways in that he is a very humble and unassuming man. He has a gentle spirit and a heart of gold! I sense that he is a father and friend to many in his congregation. Indeed, I am glad to call him friend as well!

You can see the influence of his servant style leadership on the church. The atmosphere of love and togetherness pervaded the church. I felt so comfortable at the church that I instantly adopted them into my heart. In truth, there was an instant love connection between the heart of the church, the pastor, and my heart because love (God) was at the center of it all.

So here is my tribute to AD Santarem: I came to be a blessing to you but you were a much bigger blessing to me. You say I added much to you but I get the sense I took more than I gave! Your family is filled with people who are destined for greatness. The zeal that you have within you will cover you as a cloak (Isaiah 59:17) so that your enemy (Satan) will not even be able to recognize you. May the love of God continue to be your driving force! May your heart continue to reflect the heart of God! May your family members become mighty. Never look to the right or to the left. In times of confusion, choose love! In times of uncertainty, choose destiny! I would say that I miss you but how can I miss what is so close to my heart? You are surrendered to purpose, so you are destined for greatness!

Submit your life to love, and love will take you to places that you have not dreamed about!

I will be sharing a little bit more my experience in the Amazon with you in the common weeks. Hope you enjoy!

Food for Thought: God loves me because of who He is; not because of what I have done, can do, or ever do!

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January 27, 2014 · 8:25 am

Comfirmation is good, but never become a junkie

Today, many people seeks signs to confirm what God has told them. It is not uncommon to hear ‘I need a confirmation from the Lord’ or “I will go for prophesy to confirm what the Lord has told me’. I find this quite interesting and ponder-worthy. Have you ever asked yourself why we would need to confirm what the Lord has spoken to us? The two reasons I can think of are these: (1) We do not really know if the Lord has spoken to us (2) We doubt what the Lord has spoken to us.

Babies R Us

That we do not know if the Lord has spoken to us  reveals that we are still babes in Christ. All of us have to go through this stage in our walk with the Lord. As babes, we lack in-depth knowledge and understanding of the word, therefore our level of discernment is low. Note: The correlation between knowledge of the word of God and discernment can be found in Hebrews 4:12.

As babes, it is easy for the devil to take passages of scripture out of context and try to pass it off as truth. Remember how Satan tried to fool Jesus in the wilderness by quoting scripture out of the context? This is why we need confirmation at this stage!

There is nothing wrong with admitting that you are babe in Christ. Even the great Prophet Samuel started off as a babe in Christ. He did not know that God was calling out to him at night, so He kept on going to Eli. After the third time, Eli realized that it was God calling out to Samuel and so told Samuel to answer (1 Samuel 3:1-10). In essence, Eli confirmed to Samuel that it was the Lord.

It is okay to be a confirmation junkie in the baby stage of our walk with God

But what if Samuel did not grow to know the Lord and know His voice? What if He always needed someone else to confirm the word of God? He wouldn’t have been chosen to be the next great Prophet, for he would have led the people astray. In other words, He would have missed out on fulfilling his calling.

Think about this: What if Moses waited for confirmation and so never moved to mark the door posts for protection before the Angel of death descended down into Egypt? That would have been the end of the story of Israel!

Jesus says that my sheep know my voice. Do you know the voice of Jesus or do you think you know it?  In truth, we cannot follow Jesus closely if we do not know His voice. This is why babes in Christ tend to stray. To remain a confirmation junkie is to remain a babe in Christ!

The reason only a few are chosen out of a great multitude that are called is because too many of us choose to remain babes!

‘Sign’ Me Up

There is no doubt in my mind that doubt has caused too many of us to spend hours in prayer in search of confirmation instead of actually doing what God has called us to do. As we do this, the blessing that the Lord wished to bestow upon us walks right by as we keep our heads buried in our pillows. Then we turn around and wonder why it is that we miss out on God’s blessings. For example, we say to God, ‘that guy that you told me was my husband, how come he married someone else?’. The answer may very well be that you never said a word to him as God commanded you!

Please do not misunderstand what I am saying here. It is always a great idea to pray when in doubt. But the whole point of praying when in doubt is to receive the guidance of the Lord. Once we have received the guidance of the Lord, the next step is to obey the Lord. In the context of which I am speaking, doubt causes us to pray for confirmation instead of simply believing God and moving on with what He wants us to do. Like Gideon, we look for a sign before we make a move.

Gideon was a babe and so needed confirmation –  and so it was granted. Once we move from being babes, any sign seeking reveals unbelief! 

The Pharisees were no babes in having knowledge of the word of God, yet they sought a sign time and again. Here is what Jesus thought of their sign seeking ways:

 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.”But He answered and said to them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah – Matthew 12:38-39

Ouch! Jesus called then evil and adulterous! He called them this because their asking for confirmation showed that they were filled with doubt and unbelief. Doubt and unbelief is the opposite of trust and faith. Doubt and unbelief is the result of hardening our heart to the truth; it is the result of tolerating fear; fear toleration is from the evil one. Moreover, Satan is also very good at signs and wonders! Hence, it is easy to be led astray if we are looking for signs.

Many of us seek confirmation through prophetic words because we secretly doubt our ability to hear from God or doubt what the Lord has spoken to us. So we would rather base our life on what someone has prophesied – at times still not realizing we have to take action. Instead of hearing from God, we want to hear from God through a 3rd party, and we want that word to be a word of exaltation! Hmm, I suppose we would not like Prophet Jeremiah too much if he was here today!

The best type of prophesy is confirmation of what God has spoken to you; not instruction of what God wants you to do!

Food for Thought: If all prophesy is instruction to me, then it is a ‘sign’ that my walk with the Lord is weak! If I do not hear from God, it is confirmation that I am a babe in Christ.

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