Psalm 127

Good day In Part 1 we took a look at the following statement made by the Apostle Paul: "forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead". I said that this was a big statement considering everything he did to the church. I believe he may have been referring to a time when he experienced times where the devil must've bombarded his mind with thoughts about his past in an attempt to get him off track, to question his salvation, to second guess his calling and assignment. That in that statement, in order for him to have moved on from his past mistakes, he not only had to accept God's forgiveness, but he also had to forgive himself. The devil will try that same tactic on us, getting us to dwell on the past, dwelling on past mistakes, wishing we had made better choices. We can allow it to dictate to us how and where we ought to end up in life instead of allowing the word and love of God to determine the course of our lives. We may end up becoming so focus...

Good day The Bible tells us that the apostle Paul was someone who spread the message of Christ and who planted churches, but scripture also tells us that he was a Jew, thoroughly trained in the law and zealous for God (Acts 22:3) and that he persecuted the church. In Acts 6:8-15, 7:1-60, 8:1 we read that he was present when Stephen was stoned and murdered, and consented to his death. In Acts 22:4-5 we read that he persecuted followers of Christ to the death, binding and delivering both men and women into prisons. In Acts 8:3 we read that he created havoc in the church, entering every house and dragging both men and women into prison. In Acts 26:9-11 he states the following about himself: “I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the Lord’s people in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many times I we...

Good day In the below examples we find individuals who didn't always get it right; who may have felt discouraged; tempted to quit; faced and succumbed to various setbacks, trials, temptations, sin, etc. But one of the things which stands out is that regardless of each individual's journey, they all persevered in their relationship with God and ran their race. Joseph faced various challenges but in the end he fulfilled God's plan for his life. (Genesis 50:15-20) Moses was used mightily by God in delivering the Israelites out of Egypt and the one through whom the 10 commandments were given ... but initially he felt inadequate for the task and asked if God could send someone else instead of him. (Exodus 4:13) David faced many trials, temptations and setbacks in his relationship with the Lord but was still referred to as a man after God's own heart and someone who would do His will. (Acts 13:22) Peter denied knowing Jesus Christ 3 times but was later reconciled and used by ...

Good day Today's message is the final part in this series and in it I'll be discussing the importance of recognizing one's potential. I believe that one of the reasons why we don't pursue intimacy with God like we should is because we often don't see the end result of where God is taking us. You see my friend, God sees the big picture. He knows the end of our story. He knows what He has destined for us. He knows what He wants to see accomplished and fulfilled in our time on the Earth. The challenge is that we don't necessarily see this same outcome or end result. We only see our lives as it is right now and not where God wants/needs us to be in 20 to 40 years from now nor the lasting impact our lives is meant to have on the generations to follow. 🔵 We don't see the full extent of the legacy we're meant to leave behind. 🔵  We don't see the next president and government officials that we're meant to be raising. 🔵  We don't see all the people...

Good day In the previous two messages I spoke about regret and ambition. For today's message I'd like to build on from there and speak about "current experience". Once we've moved on from the regret of the past and have established our ambitions (or goals), we can now start to assess/evaluate our current experience. This process of reflection helps us to compare where we want to be/ or what we want to become with where we are right now. It helps us to make the necessary adjustments to ensure that we're on track. It shows where we can be/do better going forward. So the question is, what does your current experience look like? I watched a movie recently where someone said that the only real certainty in life is death, but what is not certain, is the next decision that you're going to make. The amount of possible choices that you could make within the next month is immeasurable. For example, let's say you wake up Monday morning, you could decide to go to ...

Good day I ended the previous message off with the following question: "Let's say your future self could return to the past and they appeared before you today, what would they say to you? What advice or encouragement would they give you? What would they tell you to stop doing, start doing and keep doing?" One way to approach answering that question is to ask ourselves, "what are my ambitions?" Ambition can be defined as, "a strong desire to do or achieve something". If we can establish what our ambitions are, we'll be better positioned to recognise what we need to adjust now in order to ensure that we're on track with what we want to accomplish. If we don't know what our ambitions are, then how will we know what to stop, start or keep doing? How would we know if we're on track? How would we measure our progress? An example of this would be one's career. If you asked someone what their ambitions are for their career, they may be able...

Good day I'll be concluding this series on developing intimacy with God by sharing on regret, ambition, current experience and our potential. For today's message I'll be focusing on regret: I'm sure that from time to time people live with the regret of decisions that they wish they had made or some that they wish they hadn't made - either way, they live with regret and with the thought of, "what if I did this?" or "if only I had done this". Now we can certainly learn from our past mistakes but what I want to focus on here is how this feeling of regret can lead to disappointment, discouragement, frustration and can cause people to quit. None of us are perfect, we will at some point or another, make a wrong decision - more than once - maybe even multiple times. This is a reality, and the sooner we acknowledge this, the sooner we can move on. T he past is in the past, we cannot change what just happened a minute ago, it's gone, it's past, it...

Good day In the previous messages I highlighted the importance of having a desire for deeper levels of intimacy with God and we looked at some passages in the Bible where it says to "draw near", "to seek", "abide" or "meditate" and how they all indicate the importance of having/maintaining a focused and intentional relationship with God. That we need to pursue this relationship and be committed to it by making time to be with God and take ownership for our part in this relationship. I then shared some self-reflecting questions and asked that we all take a moment to reflect and ask ourselves "What does the quality of my time with God look like, and am I happy with it?" ... I also mentioned some things we can do to help to cultivate that relationship and also some practical steps we can take to help bring focus/priority to some of those areas. Now while we're trusting God to work in our lives in this area, we need to realise that we s...

Good day Another way to develop intimacy with God is by being a member of a local church. In the previous messages we covered Bible reading, praise and worship and prayer. B eing a member of a church definitely serves a catalyst, helps to sustain and can grow all of these areas and so much more.  Please see below examples: 🔵 We go to church to be taught the word of God and to be equipped by those whom God has appointed for works of service. (Ephesians 4:11-16, Acts 4:42, 2 Timothy 3:16) 🔵 Proverbs 22:6 says that we should train our children up in the way they should go, and whilst we shouldn't leave it up to the church alone to train and direct our children, it does provide the opportunity and platform for our children to learn about God. 🔵 At church we also get to meet leaders that can further speak the word of God to us. It also creates an opportunity to be discipled by them by following their example. (Hebrews 13:7, Hebrews 13:17, Titus 2:2-6, 1 Timothy 2:2). In doi...

Good day Another way to develop intimacy with God is through prayer. Below are some scriptures where the Bible mentions prayer: Matthew 6:5 - And when you pray … Matthew 6:9 - This, then, is how you should pray … Mark 11:24 -  For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer , believe (trust and be confident) that it is granted to you, and you will [get it] Jude 20 - But you, beloved,  building yourselves up on your most holy faith,  praying  in the Holy Spirit Colossians 4:2 -  Devote yourselves to  prayer , being watchful and thankful. Romans 12:12 - Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer Ephesians 1:16 - do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers Colossians 1:9 - For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you Ephesians 6:18 - And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and reques...

Good day Another way to develop intimacy with God is through times of praise, thanksgiving and worship. The bible says in Psalm 107:8-9 that we must give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and wonderful deeds, and 1 Chronicles 16:34 it says to give thanks for He is good and His mercy endures forever! One of the ways we do this is by making a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! (Psalm 95:1-3) Even though we are instructed to worship God, it shouldn't be seen as something that we have to do, nor should it be a  formality or a procedure we have to follow. It should stem out of our relationship with Him. If you're in a loving relationship with something, chances are you're going to tell them how you feel about them, this is no different when it comes to our relationship with God. Therefore this time spent with Him is a personal experience / personal interaction. It's one where we shouldn't care about how we sound or what the person standing next to us think...

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Good day Below are 5 things we should consider when reading the Bible: Number 1: Know God's motive / heart towards us. Because we know that God loves us, we need to view every instruction or promise given to us through those lenses. When a parent sees a child do something that may cause them harm, they warn them about it. It's not done to punish the child or prevent them from enjoying their freedom, etc. It's done to help and protect them - and it's the same with God's instructions to us, it's done out of love - To provide salvation, help, guidance, healing, hope, strength, peace, wisdom, encouragement, purpose and whole life prosperity. Number 2: Ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand what we're about to read. Isaiah 11:2 The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. The Spirit referred to here is the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38, Luke 4...