Jesus is Always Willing!

'' And behold, a leper came and worshiped Him, saying, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean. Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed.                            Matthew 8:2-3 (NKJV)
When you see someone receiving a miraculous healing or financial breakthrough, do you ask, “What about me, Lord?” I believe that the leper who came to Jesus must have asked the same question.  He must have heard or seen from a distance, since he was not permitted to be in public places by the law, how Jesus had healed the sick. So he had no doubt that Jesus could heal him, but he was not sure if Jesus would. He said to Jesus, “Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.” (Matthew 8:2) He was confident of the power of God, but not the love of God for him.   Like the leper, maybe you don’t have a problem believing that God can give you your miracle, since He is Almighty God. But you are wondering if He will do it for you. My friend, let Jesus’ actions and answer to the leper settle this question once and for all.   He stretched forth His hand, touched the leper and said, “I am willing; be cleansed.” And immediately, the leper was healed.   I want you to notice that Jesus touched the leper. He could have healed him from a distance with just a spoken word. He had healed others this way as in the case of the centurion’s servant and the Syro-Phoenician woman’s daughter. So why did He touch the leper? Jesus knew that for so many years, the leper had been cut off from his family and society, so he must have been feeling dehumanized. I believe that Jesus touched him to make him feel human again, to make him feel loved and accepted again. His touch was His love language to the leper.   Can you see God’s heart of love here? Can you see how much He loved the leper? That is how much He loves you! The day that you come to know God’s heart of love and believe that He wants you blessed more than you want to be blessed is the day that you receive your miracle! Beloved, catch a glimpse of God’s heart of love, and you will believe that He is not only able, but also willing to make you whole! God Bless YOU! ....culled from www.josephprince.org

The Church Need Your Prayers

Luke 21:36 (KJV)  

 ''Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man.

 

The church is not a building and it’s not just a gathering of people but a body of believers. The church is the body of Christ (Ephesians 5:23) and since Christ is the head of the church, we are expected to behave like Christ.

The church of Christ has been under the enemy’s attack from the time of Jesus’ earthly ministry but it’s getting fiercer now and we all seem to be asleep. The men are molesting our kids, the pastors are extorting from the members, the women are provocative with their dressing, husbands beat up their wives and all sorts. We’d rather entrust our finances to an unbeliever than to someone from our congregation for fear of being cheated.

 

We have gone from bible believers to world believers, we’ve turned to our senses (which always does betray us) to guide us instead of our (reborn) spirit. We emulate the world that we were redeemed to save and it leads and feeds us instead of the word (of God) hence our lives fall apart daily.

 The church needs to pray, the church needs your prayers. The time for personal (selfish) prayers are long gone, we need to intercede for the church. We need to pray for a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit, a thirst for the word and GRACE to mortify the flesh. The pastor needs your prayers, your neighbour needs your prayers and YOU need prayers.

 

We need to travail in the place of prayers to prevail in these horrific times. We need to see GRACE as our strength to live right instead of a ticket to live as we please, to thirst for the outpouring of the spirit of Holiness and feed extravagantly on the word of His grace.

 

Arise believers and PRAY! Refuse to succumb to the temporary pleasures of the world, see the enemy for who he really is and fight him off.

 
   .....Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.

 Ephesians 6:16-18 (KJV)

Praise Report

And they lifted up their voices, and said, Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. And when he saw them, he said unto them, Go show yourselves unto the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed.  And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, and with a loud voice glorified God, fell down on his face at his feet, giving him thanks....  Luke 17:13-16 (KJV)

My favourite part of our church service programme is the choir ministration and Praise Report (testimony) section. The praise report section gives me a glimpse (regardless of what I already know) of how good God is to us.

From the scripture, ten lepers came to Jesus to be healed but only one returned to give thanks.
And Jesus answering said, were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? (Vs 17)

 

When we receive from God, two things are required of us: thanksgiving (to God) and testimony (to the brethren).  We have gotten used to certain blessings that we no longer testify and that is so wrong.

Our thanksgiving and testimony means a lot to God because they not only tell of our appreciation but also encourage those waiting on God for that kind of blessing that He can and will indeed do theirs.

When was the last time that you testified of God’s goodness, healing, provision, direction, pleasant surprise to you? If there was a ‘‘heavenly’’ law that states that you’ll only have tomorrow what you testify and thank God for today, what will you testify of? SELAH!

 

Becoming a Sweetheart

My grandma was such a nice person, at least as long as I can remember, before she passed on. She wasn’t a perfect person but was surely a sweetheart so much that her response to situations often annoyed me because I didn’t know how to act like her. lolz 

 The past few weeks of my life has been quite challenging but beautiful because I’m learning new things especially how to be really nice. A few weeks ago I started studying Christian books and the Bible on godly character and I’ve been Changed (I’m still a work in progress though).

What do I mean when I say sweetheart? I mean Tender-hearted, kind, thoughtful, cheerful, generous, Patient, Understanding etc.

The above description is a mirror of how the fruits of the spirit are manifested in our daily lives and dealings with people.  Do you know that the kind of words that proceed out of your mouth and your disposition will either attract people or repel them from you?  

Being grumpy, unforgiving, harsh, demanding, negative, quick tempered, a fault finder, gossip, judgmental (self gratifying nature) is not the nature of Jesus. 

It’s time for a change because the real test of our heart for God is our desire to truly please Him, in words and in works.  Do you want to change and become humble, kind, gentle and meek like Jesus?  Submit yourself to the Lord and in humility ask Him to transform you into the image and nature of Jesus.

 Fruit bearing does not come just from church attendance, prayer vigils, positive confession or bible reading, it comes from abiding in the Lord and allowing Him to abide in you. It is His divine presence that dissolves the hardness of your soul so that sweet-swelling fragrances pour forth from you. 

     Grace!