God's Total Surrender to Us

 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not persih but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). 

Salvation does not mean merely deliverance from sin or the experience of personal holiness. The salvation which comes from God means being completely delivered from myself, and being placed into perfect union with Him. When I think of my salvation experience, I think of being delivered from sin and gaining personal holiness. But salvation is so much more! It means that the Spirit of God has brought me into intimate contact with the true Person of God Himself. And as I am caught up into total surrender to God, I become thrilled with something infinitely greater than myself. To say that we are called to preach holiness or sanctification is to miss the main point. We are called to proclaim Jesus Christ (see 1 Corinthians 2:2). The fact that He saves from sin and makes us holy is actually part of the effect of His wonderful and total surrender to us. If we are truly surrendered, we will never be aware of our own efforts to remain surrendered. Our entire life will be consumed with the One to whom we surrender. Beware of talking about surrender if you know nothing about it. In fact, you will never know anything about it until you understand that John 3:16 means that God completely and absolutely gave Himself to us. In our surrender, we must give ourselves to God in the same way He gave Himself for us—totally, unconditionally, and without reservation. The consequences and circumstances resulting from our surrender will never even enter our mind, because our life will be totally consumed with Him.

URGENT - A CALL FOR NATIONAL PRAYER

There is no doubt that we are in perilous times. There is more at stake than your mortgage or retirement or your job. 

There are eternal consequences to this moment in history! 

During these difficult times I have been comforted with a scripture out of Psalms:

“ I would have been without hope if I had not believed that I would see the lovingkindness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong. Let your heart be strong. Yes, wait for the Lord ”. (Psalm 27:13-14, NLV) 

 This is not about politics but to pray! Not to decide who was right and who was wrong, but to ask for God's mercy.  And that all christians should meet for a time of prayer and repentance. That our leaders would have the wisdom of Solomon and that we should join with one another in humility before God. He is the only one that can help in times like these.

These are critical times—the time to pray is now. Let this be a season of prayer until we see breakthrough for our nation. This is about more than banks, and stock markets, this is about darkness against light. The only answer is to seek God and His wisdom.

Here are some Prayer Points: 
1. Pray for a spirit of humility and repentance among our political leaders. 
2. Pray for an answer to this economic crisis. 
3. Pray for our Sultans, members of parliament, the senate, the judiciary and the executive branch of the government       that justice, equality, transparency, responsibility, accountability and God fearing will prevail
4. Pray that church leaders and pastors would heed the call for prayer at this moment. 
5. Pray that Christians would understand the signs of the times and activate prayer at a new level. 
6. Pray for wisdom for our all in authority including the economic policy makers, bankers and business stakeholders 
7. Pray that God would hear our prayers and heal our land as we humble ourselves in repentance before Him.

Transforming Power in the Word of God


"For the word of God is  living and powerful, and  sharper than any  two-edged sword, piercing  even to the division of soul  and spirit, and of joints and  marrow, and is a discerner  of the thoughts and intents  of the heart.'

Heb 4:12

Does God's Word ever  cause you discomfort?  When you read the Bible,  does what you read make  you uneasy? You are experiencing  the reality that the word of  God is alive and can read  your thoughts and judge  your intentions.

When God's Word speaks  to you it is always for a  purpose. God knows your  heart and knows what you  need to do to bring your  life into conformity to  Christ. If you have a  problem with sinful talk, the  word that comes to you will  address the tongue. If you  are struggling to forgive,  God's Word will confront  you with His standard for  forgiveness. If pride has a  stronghold in your life,  God's Word will speak to  you about humility.  Whatever sin needs  addressing, you will find  you are confronted by  God's Word on the matter.

One way you can escape  the discomfort of conviction  is to avoid hearing God  speak to you. You may  neglect reading your Bible  and stay away from places  where it is taught. You may  avoid those whom you  know will uphold the truths  of Scripture. The best  response, however, is to  pray as the psalmist did:  “Search me, O God, and  know my heart” (Ps  139:23). Regularly allow the  word of God to wash over  you and find any sin or  impurity (Ep 5:26). Always  make the connection  between your life and what  God is saying to you  through His word. Make a  habit of taking every word  from God seriously,  knowing that it is able to  judge your heart and mind.

Knowing God's Agenda


'Now in the morning, having  risen a long while before  daylight, He went out and  departed to a solitary place;  and there He prayed.'

Mk 1:35

It was common knowledge  among the disciples that  they would find Jesus  praying during the early  morning hours. When they  needed Him, they knew to  go to the place of prayer.  

Every time the Lord Jesus  faced an important decision,  He prayed. When He was  being tempted to do things  by the world's methods  instead of the Father's, He  prayed (Mt 4). When it was  time to choose His disciples,  He prayed the entire night  (Lk 6:12). If the Son of God  required a night of prayer  in order to determine the  Father's mind, how long  might it take us in prayer to  clearly determine our  Father's will?

Because Jesus was so often  surrounded by crowds, He  knew He must find a quiet  place so He could clearly  hear His Father's voice.  

Jesus had many people  seeking to influence the  direction of His life and he heard many voices from all sorts of people. 

-His  disciples wanted Him to go  where the crowds were (Mk  1:37).

-The crowds wanted  to crown Him king (Jn  6:15). 

-Satan tempted Him  to make compromises in  order to draw a following  (Mt 4:3,6,9). 

Jesus knew  that His mission was not to  attract a crowd, but to  remain obedient to His  Father. It was prayer that  set the agenda for Jesus’ ministry (Lk 6:12). Prayer  preceded the miracles (Jn  11:42-43); prayer brought  Him encouragement at  critical moments (Lk  9:28-31); prayer enabled  Him to go to the cross (Lk  22:41-42); and prayer kept  Him there despite  excruciating pain (Lk  23:46). Follow the Savior's  example, and let your time  alone with God, in prayer,  set the agenda for your life. It is perhaps for direction in your life or a miracle that you are praying for or making an important decision to serve Him or going through pain or difficult period in your life. Seek His Face



We live by Revelation

1 March 2009

Where there is no revelation, the people  cast off restraint;

But happy is he who keeps the law.

Pr 29:18

The world operates on vision. God's  people live by revelation. The world seeks  grand and noble purposes and goals to  achieve. People dream up the greatest  and most satisfying things in which they  can invest their lives. Institutions establish  goals and objectives and then organize  themselves to achieve them. God's people  function in a radically different way.  Christians arrange their lives based on the  revelation of God, regardless of whether it  makes sense to them. God does not ask  for our opinion about what is best for our  future, our family, our church, or our  country. He already knows! What God  wants is to get the attention of His people  and reveal to us what is on His heart and  what is His will, for God's ways are not  our ways!

(Isa 55:8-9).

Whenever people do not base their lives  on God's revelation, they “cast off  restraint.” That is, they do what is right in  their own eyes. They set their goals,  arrange their agendas, and then pray for  God's blessings. Some Christians are living  far outside the will of God, yet they have  the audacity to pray and ask God to bless  their efforts! 

The only way for you to know God's will  is for Him to reveal it to you. You will  never discover it on your own. When you  hear from the Father, you have an  immediate agenda for your life:  obedience. As the writer of Proverbs  observed: “Happy is he who keeps the  law.”