Peace Beyond Understanding : A life Surrendered to Him

" And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

Philippians 4:7

 

A very familiar verse that we have heard. How does this verse look like when lived out loud ? Lets look from verse 4 onwards , "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand;  do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus"

Having surrendered it all to Him , not faking it , but truly laying it down to Him, making our requests known to Him and resting in the surety of who God is, His peace which is just beyond understanding will guard our hearts and our minds in Christ Jesus.

So how indeed does this look like when lived out loud ? It looks like Joseph still following the Lord immaterial of whether the walls that surrounded him were the prison walls or the palace walls. It seems unreasonable to be at such peace when wrongly accused and put in prison. But that's what God can do , because that wasnt Joseph's destination. He was still en route to where God wanted him to be.

We read in Galatians 5:22-23, "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

When does a tree bear fruit ? When it is firmly rooted in good ground and is being watered and nourished.  

 A life lived for Christ is one which overflows from an intimate relationship with Him.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus

God Bless

I Surrender All

"“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted."
Job 42 : 2

 
We read in chapters 38 onwards God's response to Job's questioning. Its an amazing few chapters and if you can, please take the time to read it.  Chapter 38, v4-5 , “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements—surely you know!  Or who stretched the line upon it? "
As we read on through the chapters it just expounds how little we truly know and how magnificent God is in His wisdom.  Job finally responds to it saying "“I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted."
Now if I were to preach this from the pulpit and say , "How many of you agree with this ?" I am sure to get a loud response of Amens all around.

So here is the question we need to ask ourselves ... God who's wisdom is far beyond anything we can begin to comprehend.. This God whom we serve and we love... How often do we push time with Him aside because we need to get to work ? (as though we are so confident that we control every minute. It is sheer grace that protects us and carries us through the day).  This God whom we say is our Saviour , how often do we push aside and not go to church because we want to catch a few hours of sleep or even study for an exam (forgetting it is God who gives us wisdom in the first place.. what could we ever do on our own)

Im not being legalistic but rather want to ask questions so that we take a moment to think, is our life a testimony or a contradiction to the word of God ?

Here's the beauty of it.. Moses lifted the rod (a stick, yup thats all he had) and God parted the red sea. David took a few pebbles and a sling and God gave him victory over Goliath (which trained soldiers feared to do) , a little boy gave his five loaves and two fish and God multiplied it to feed five thousand men plus many women and children.

How amazing it is when all that we have is surrendered to Him ! How wonderful a day is when it begins at the feet of the Lord ! How testimonial our lives are when we desire to live for Him and be doers of His word !

God Bless
 

Think Again

And when he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, of whom he testified and said, ‘I have found in David the son of Jesse a man after my heart, who will do all my will  Acts 13: 22

Ever thought David was the only man after God's own heart ?  Think again

“‘And I will give you shepherds after my own heart, who will feed you with knowledge and understanding."" Jeremiah 3:15
 
We read here in Jeremiah where God is telling Israel to return to Him. He goes on to say that He will give them shepherds (note the plural) after His own heart who will feed them with knowledge and understanding.

Who then is a person after God's own heart ? One who does His will !

We all know the verse where Abraham is called the friend of God (and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. James 2:23)

We read in John 15:15 , "No longer do I call you servants,for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you."

We are His friends. We are called to be those after His own heart. He has revealed His will and His heart through the scriptures.

Let us never come to self conclusions saying , "Oh that kind of testimony was only for David" , "That kind of testimony was only for Abraham"

May we believe and walk in faith and obedience to His word !

God Bless

What does the world see in You?

"Thus you will recognize them by their fruits"

Matthew 7: 20

Those who know me personally, know when there's food laid out on a table Im the last one to ever have any veggies on my plate let alone any salads. I remember when I went over to a dear friend's place and she said "Oh you should try my salad !!" and I gave her this very polite smile and declined the offer ( For one, it had fruits in it ! ). Now having been accustomed to spicy food, the concept of having something sweet as meal didn't really register in my head. I loved desserts after a meal , but something sweet as a meal... Nope !
Well my friend was actually pretty persistent and she pointed to her 4 year old daughter and said "See , even she's enjoying it" and I looked at her face and it was true.. she was eating it as though it was the yummiest thing ever. I saw the faces of those around the room enjoying it and I was encouraged enough to try it. And when I ate it , no one was as surprised as me !! I loved it !! In fact it is now the only salad I truly enjoy ! Yes I went back for seconds and ever since its one of my favourite meals !

Now think about this.. If she said "Oh try this, it is so awesome.. you will love it" and then I looked around at the room and everyone eating the salad had these awful expressions on their faces, stressed out , worried, no smiles just dissatisfied looks all around ,  I would have never tried it !! Why should I ? The people eating it itself are not happy about it.. !

The question today is , what is the world seeing in us ? When we say 'try Jesus' what do they see in us ? What do they see in us as believers together ? Do they see the joy of the Lord ? Do they see the peace that surpasses all understanding ? What fruits are they seeing in us today ?

It is so easy to take grace for granted and use that as an excuse to not pray, or read our Bible, or live a testimonial life. The truth is He gives us grace to pray, He gives us grace to understand the scriptures and He gives us the grace to live a testimonial life for His glory.

We read in Matthew 7:17 , "So every healthy tree bears good fruit but the diseased tree bears bad fruit."

The saddest state of life would be one where we have convinced ourselves of a hypocritical lifestyle where we say we love God and say Jesus is Lord and our life has no reflection of the same. Its time to surrender ourselves completely to Him. And by His grace we shall live for His glory.

"Oh Lord, You're beautiful
Your face is all I seek
For when Your eyes are on this child
Your grace abounds to me

I wanna to take Your word and shine it all around
But first help me to just live it Lord
And when I'm doing well, help me to never seek a crown
For my reward is giving glory to You"  ~ K.G.

Why is praying for the church required ?

"They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. "

John 17 : 16-17

 

The entire chapter is about Jesus's prayer for his disciples and us.  Do take the time to read it. A lot of us are familiar with the term , "standing in the gap", "stand in the breach". We use that term in the context of prayer. It comes from Ezekiel 22: 30 , "And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none."

For some of us our prayers consist of immediate needs for ourselves , a few general lines and thats it .

 Why is praying for others so important ? Lets look at this context for today, as to why do we need to even pray for the body of Christ and members in the body ? Even of the local church that you and I attend.

Ephesians 3: 14- 21 , " For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen."
Paul wrote this letter in prison. And there he is bowing down his knees for the churches in Ephesus that they be strengthened , that Christ will reign supreme , that they be rooted and grounded... that they may be filled with all the fullness of God.. !

Such awesome prayers we see Christ praying, we see Paul praying...

Now lets quickly turn our Bibles to 1 Corinthians 12 : 26 , "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together"

How does that happen ? How can our hearts truly be moved that way ?  When we are on our knees praying for one another.  Prayer changes first the one who is praying. It grows us closer to Him and our hearts grow in compassion.

Oh if we are found praying for one another why wont their hurts, suffering be our ours and when they are honoured how joyful will our hearts be to rejoice. We have been praying for them daily. Its personal.

We have tasted and seen His goodness, His bride is His church. In our business of the day, may we not forsake the key criticality of praying for one another in our daily quiet times. May we be found bowing down our knees for the local assembly of body of Christ that He has so graciously placed us in.

God Bless

Assured in who He is !

"Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you declares the LORD."

Jeremiah 1:8

 

Lets take a look at verses 4-8, "Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

 Then I said, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, for I am only a youth.”

 But the Lord said to me,“Do not say, ‘I am only a youth’;for to all to whom I send you, you shall go,and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.”

This is what God sees :
- Someone whom He ordained and knew even before he was in the womb
- Someone set apart and consecrated even before he was born
- A prophet to the nations

This is what Jeremiah sees :
- Im just a youth !!!

See the difference ? I pray that we gain His perspectives today. 

And this is what the Lord continues to say , "for to all to whom I send you you shall go, and whatever I command you , you shall speak," Lets take a second to think about this.  HE sends and Jeremiah will go, HE commands and Jeremiah will speak.  Oh how beautiful is a life surrendered to Him. Moving forward in obedience to His word ! Its not by might nor by strength but by ? Yes, His Spirit. 

Our assurance needs to rest in who He is. When Moses and the Israelites saw the red see , God saw the solid ground that was so firm that it contained the red sea itself. He saw through the depths of the waters, the solid ground on which they would walk. He knows it all. How blessed is the assurance we have in our Sovereign Lord who is the creator of all things, who knows us even before we were formed in our mother's womb.

Isnt it awesome that we get to wake up in the confidence of knowing that we have a Saviour who is our King, our Father and He calls us His own. May we not be moved in doubt by what we see , but may we be rooted solid in who He is.

"Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you declares the LORD."

God Bless

Walking in an overflow of being in Love with Him !

"And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it."

2 John 1:6

Very often we tend to confuse what our relationship with God is all about. Over periods of time, we start equating our relationship with God based on what we do in terms of serving inside the church, worship team, sunday school ministry, going to church every sunday and in some cases even justifying our life choices by saying , "Well Im not doing things as bad as what he/she did ! "

All that we are , all that we do is to overflow out of an initimate relationship with Him ! Love the Lord ! :) Thats the first and the foremost. And how does that translate in our lives ? We do as He commands. We walk in obedience to Him.

Lets turn our Bibles to 1 Samuel 17 : 17-18 , "And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them"

David was walking in simple obedience to what his father Jesse wanted him to do. While his 3 brothers were part of the army of Saul, here was David taking care of the sheep and making trips up and down to the army to give loaves of bread and cheese for his brothers. (1 Samuel 17 : 15 , "but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.")

David's relationship with God was never defined by the circumstance that he was in . It wasnt about how glamorous what he did looked, it did not depend on who knew what he did. It was basically this love relationship with God ! He loved the Lord. And all that He did was out of this overflow of his love relationship with God.

It did not matter if he was the cheese bearer to his brothers, the food transporter, the shepherd boy , the harpist.. He walked in simple obedience, in humility and above all in love with God. Whether it was a bear or lion or a Goliath moment that presented itself before him, he continued placing his trust in Lord !

If you find yourself frustrated this morning, or just feel like you have reached a plateau moment where you dont know where you are or what to do , I pray that you will find yourself in love with Christ again, for He loves us with an everlasting love ! He has redeemed us from sin, He has saved us and He calls us His own. What joy to be known as the son/daughter of the most High. Such joy to wake up to a new day knowing that Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour has preserved our life this day. We are never alive by chance or coincidence. But He has written down plans and purposes for us even before the foundations of the word ! Wow ! Love being Loved by the great I AM ! In walking in simple obedience to Him we walk into all that He desires for us.

Let the praise arise

Consecrated for my King !

"In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground,  and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering,  but for Cain and his offering he had no regard"

Genesis 4 : 3-5
 

We are going to look at a couple of verses here... We read that Cain brought to the Lord 'an offering" of the fruit of the ground. And Abel also brought an offering. What was the difference ?  Abel brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions.

Abel didnt just bring any offering. He brought the best ! He wasnt caught with the technicality of placing an offering before the Lord. He offered with all his heart.He offered with reverance and honour knowing nothing less than the best was the least that he could do for the Lord Almighty

Lets turn our Bibles to Malachi 1 , v7-8 , "But you say, ‘How have we despised your name?’ By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, ‘How have we polluted you?’ By saying that the Lord's table may be despised.  When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the Lord of hosts"

It is a definite reality that the patterns of the world will try and draw us away from the reverance and honour due to our God. 

Are we giving God the left over time of the day or are we giving God our best ?

Are we giving God our spare change or are we giving God our best ?

Romans 12 : 1-2 , "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world,but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."

What causes the body to do what it does ? It is an overflow of what's burning in our hearts. So what's in our heart today ? Bitterness ? Hatred ? Unforgiveness ? Do we find ourselves allowing both curses and blessings to flow out from us ? Are we saying one thing and living another ?

Is who we are in the private spaces of our homes the same as who we are in the church ? is it the same as who we are in the work place / at school ?

We need to understand that the greatest offering we can present to Him is our very lives not as a business deal, but as an overflow from a life that desires to be consecrated for Him.

His word is living and powerful ! He is the great I am ! Angels worship Him 24*7 ! O what an honour to come before His presence.  Such joy knowing that His grace presents us as an acceptable sacrifice to our God

"Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen."  Jude 1 : 24-15

God Bless

In Christ,
SS

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God Bless

In Christ,
SS