PRAY FOR JERUSALEM!

I have posted watchmen on your wall, O Jerusalem; they will never be silent day or night. You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest and give him no rest till he establishes Jerusalem and makes her the praise of the earth. Isaiah 62:6-7

There is one thing that Jerusalem is not … not yet – THE PRAISE OF THE EARTH. But it’s just a matter of time and what we only read in the Bible will one day become  a FACT. Yes…. JERUSALEM. Its now a little over a week when the Lord first impressed these words into my heart. Of course, I pray for Jerusalem. But it’s an off and on kind of praying. I pray when I remember or  when I see unrest in the Middle East.

The Lord began showing me His desire…. for a FULL HOUSE.

Salvation first belongs to the Jew, then to the Gentile. The bread is for the children and the breadcrumbs are for the others. The glory is theirs, the light of revelation is ours. You see, without a FULL HOUSE, we cannot quite grasps the fullness of GOD. Until JERUSALEM is established….we are not there yet. Pray for her…. PRAY FOR JERUSALEM.… the City of God .

 

 

 

MISSED THE FORECAST?

“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. Matthew 25:13

I missed the weather forecast yesterday. Hence, I did my washing today only to be confronted by a heavy downpour. I mean….CATS & DOGS! To begin with, I hate tracking the weather forecast. My husband on the other hand is a vivid tracker… which is understandable. Having grown up in Africa myself where the weather is almost always predictable and without the disadvantage of the four seasons in a year, I didn’t quite appreciate the importance of the weatherman till I came to Europe.

Hang on, what I am trying to say here? As a child of God… I have another different kind of weatherman. Is he accurate in his prediction? Is he reliable to the letter? Long before Jesus walked on the face of this earth, God had spoken of him through the ages. His forecast of the coming of His ONE AND ONLY BELOVED SON came true 2000 years ago.

While my heart looks forward to the forecast of his soon return, sometimes I miss out on the signs written all over when my heart becomes preoccupied with my today. Like the 5 foolish virgins, I have enough supply for today, and I lack the wisdom to stock up for the long haul. I constantly miss the forecast.

May the Lord help you and I to keep watch…. because the BRIDEGROOM is surely coming and at an hour we expect him not!

 

 

MEN & SUCCESS

Psalm 112:1 Praise the Lord. Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds GREAT DELIGHT in his commands.

Every man on the face of the earth wants or desires to be successful. And while..its right to desire to be successful, there are only two ways to get there. SUCCESS can either by FEAR-DRIVEN or FAITH-DRIVEN.

FEAR-DRIVEN SUCCESS says:

Blessed is the man who wakes up early and stays up late; the man who has a life insurance; the man who has savings for a rainy day; the man who exercises and eat health; the man who knows the rules of the game etc.

Psalm 127:2 In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat_ for he grants sleep to those he loves.

But…something goes missing for this man….HIS HEART! No matter how sure or secure he is at his present or perceived future….HIS HEART IS ALWAYS FEARFUL. Why? Because he has no fear of the Lord in his heart.

On the other hand…the man who has the fear of the Lord in his heart walks securely. His present or future is sure…as he walks by faith.

FAITH-DRIVEN SUCCESS says:

A SIFTING AND A BETRAYAL

Luke 22:3 Then SATAN ENTERED Judas, called Iscariot, one of the Twelve.
Luke 22:31 ‘Simon, Simon, SATAN HAS ASKED to sift you as wheat.

TWO MEN….Judas, the Iscariot and Simon Peter. Three years earlier, before Jesus entered the scene, they were just ordinary men. One was a fisherman at the shores of Galilee and the other, nothing much is said about him before then. But here there are,…three years on sitting with a man called Jesus of Nazareth…whom they have come to love, revere and have deep admiration for. Yes…here at the table of communion. The Lord’s heart is deeply troubled. Yes…because the time has come…THE TIME which His Father had been waiting for. To glorify His Son through a death…DEATH ON THE CROSS.

But while Jesus knows that His death is imminent, His heart is also deeply troubled by the fate of two men…men who had been part of His team. Men…who had shared bread at His dinner table, listened to His sermons and teachings, men who had witnessed great miracles. And yet…these two men, Judas, the Iscariot and Simon Peter has something else in common which the Lord knows about: SATAN’S PLANS WITH THEIR LIVES.

WHAT MAKES YOU ZEALOUS?

Matthew 21:12-13 Jesus entered the temple area and drove all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the MONEY-CHANGERS and the benches of those SELLING DOVES. ‘It is written,” he said to them, “My house will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a ‘den of robbers.’ “

ZEAL means fervent or enthusiastic devotion, often extreme or fanatical in nature, as to a religious movement, a political cause, ideal or aspiration.

ZEALOUS means filled with or inspired by intense enthusiasm or zeal; ardent or fervent.

From the above description…I believe everyone has some kind of zeal about something. But for you as a man, WHAT MAKES YOU ZEALOUS? Let’s look from the example of Jesus from today’s scripture. Jesus had just entered Jerusalem in triumph. In fact, the whole city of Jerusalem was STIRRED. In a sense, from outside, the people were zealous for Him. But moment later, Jesus entered the temple area. But no, you will notice he did not receive the same kind of enthusiastic welcome like he did outside.

But wait a minute. Why would the CROWDS outside…on the streets welcome him in triumph and on the same note, those inside the temple show him a cold shoulder? Does it surprise you? Yes, the question still comes across to you. WHAT MAKES YOU ZEALOUS? You might be shocked if I tell you that those in the temple is YOU AND ME. Oh yes….you, the Christian.

You see, those who are outside represent the people who

SO IT WAS THOUGHT

Luke 3:23 Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, SO IT WAS THOUGHT, of Joseph,

SO IT WAS THOUGHT is an expression meaning assumption of something as true based on some facts.

Have you ever wondered why God specifically chose to sent Jesus on earth at the time He did and not any other? Do you ever imagine what would happen if Jesus was born in our time?

Just picture Jesus in our time claiming that He has no earthly father but that his father lives somewhere behind the clouds. Oh, I see the scientists called to task to examine the DNA of this ‘SO CALLED SON OF GOD.’ And I see the perplexion in their research as they try to put together this mysterious DNA sample. But I also see something more terrifying.

BLESSED….

Whose COUNSEL are you walking in?
Which PATH are you standing on?
What SEAT are you occupying?

This is true of life…we have people who we LISTEN to; people we FOLLOW; and people who we SHARE our thoughts and life with. Many years ago, I was facing a very tough time in my life. I needed something to BACK ME UP before the Lord against the opposition I was facing. Then, I remembered the very first verses of

A MAN OF INTEGRITY

Proverbs 10:9 The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.

Robert Allen Stanford and Bernard Madoff are names that had little or no meaning for me, not until late 2008 and early 2009. Suddenly, the financial world had been brought on its knees and these two men stood out among the crowd. In a matter of months, their reputation as financiers were tarnished for life.

But wait a minute. What does these have to do with me? you ask. And I answer. YOUR LIFE. You see, before the world’s financial institutions collapsed, Allen Stanford and Bernard Madoff were well-known personalities with a SOLID, or so it seemed REPUTATION of having

WHAT ARE YOU AFRAID OF?

Psalm 25:12 Who, then, is the man that FEARS the Lord? He will instruct him in the way CHOSEN FOR HIM.

We all are afraid of something. Yes…that’s true. I have to admit I am afraid of HEIGHTS and SNAKES. However, I am talking here about a fear that comes not from what is visible but rather a fear that is caused by things which we have no full control of. For example, nobody…and I mean not a single soul has THEIR FUTURE in full control. What you are today can change into something else in a split of a second. Within minutes…you can be a full able-bodied person and in another, confined for life into disability. Then going back to my question…what are you afraid of? If you have no full control of your very life…then what makes you afraid?

OF TIME AND MEN

Ecclesiastes 7:14 When TIMES are good, be happy; but when TIMES are bad, consider: God has made the one as well as the other. Therefore, a man cannot discover anything about his future.

We all know the old saying, “TIME IS MONEY.” But I have made my own observation; MONEY, TIME and MEN are three inseparable things. At least, I am learning firsthand from the one God has given me: My own husband. You see, for him, he calculates his success…i.e time invested in a task by the returns. One day, he comes home with that sense of pride that today his time was well worth it…of course, plenty of clients and cash flow. Another, his man ego almost crashed…the clients are few and the boss is nervous.

You see, until a year or so ago, TIMES were good. People went about living their lives as normal. Going to work, buying homes or flats on mortgage, going for exotic holidays and of course, saving for the ‘rainy day.’ Then, bang!…Without warning…the world financial institutions began crumbling down. People from right, left and center began losing their jobs, homes and health. For men, especially whose time means money, staying at home or taking on a less-attractive job can be quite a painful experience.

But wait a minute…the above scriptures talks about GOOD TIMES and BAD TIMES. Yes, its a fact we are now living in difficult financial times. In bad times, we are told to CONSIDER...that is to stop and rethink and re-evaluate our priorities. There are things which time cannot translate into money. For example, we bought a bicycle for our daughter last Spring. Of course, my husband and I took turns and invented time to teach her how to ride. Our time did not translate into money, but rather into a deeper pleasure which no money can buy.

And this same challenge goes to the MEN out there:
How can you invest your time well during these times as you wait for an opening? There are plenty of institutions looking for volunteers e.g nursing homes, hospices, your Church community etc. TIME doesn’t always have to spell money. TIME SHOULD ALWAYS TRANSLATE INTO PEOPLE, first and foremost…in GOOD OR BAD TIMES!