How Important Is Prayer To You?
Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." 37He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. 38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me." 39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
40Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. "Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?" he asked Peter. 41"Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak." 42He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done." 43When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. 44So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing. 45Then he returned to the disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is near, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners (Matthew 26:36-45)
This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15). He is Omnipresent and His desire is the best for us. He is Omniscient and He knows all that we need. He is Omnipotent and He is able to accomplish all of them.
Though the enemy will try to curse and harm us but he can not succeed because of God’s divine love that engulfs us (Deut. 23:5). However, the LORD your God would not listen to Balaam but turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the LORD your God loves you. Prayer done in faith will shield us from the fiery darts of the enemy.
I read this short tale by J.K Johnston about a small town that had historically been "dry," but then a local businessman decided to build a tavern. A group of Christians from a local church were concerned and planned an all-night prayer meeting to ask God to intervene. It just so happened that shortly thereafter lightning struck the bar and it burned to the ground. The owner of the bar sued the church, claiming that the prayers of the congregation were responsible, but the church hired a lawyer to argue in court that they were not responsible. The presiding judge, after his initial review of the case, stated that "no matter how this case comes out, one thing is clear. The tavern owner believes in prayer and the Christians do not."
Doubt is one of the reasons why a prayer is not answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him (Mark 11:23). Therefore, trust in the Omnipotent God who is able to accomplish for us our desires if we believe by FAITH that He will answer our prayer and it will be done to us if asked in the name of Jesus Christ.
And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (John 14:13-14).
We can pray anywhere -- in the bedroom; on the street; in the car; on the bus; in the subway; on the park; on the mountain, like Jesus did (Luke 22:39-40); in the cave, like David did (Psalm 142:1); on the cross, like the dying thief did (Luke 23:42); in the deep like Jonah did (Jonah 2).
We can also pray in any way whatever -- short, as the tax collector did (Luke 18:13); long, as Solomon did at the dedication of the Temple (2 Chronicles 6); silently, as Hannah did in the Temple (1 Samuel 1:13); aloud, as Bartimaeus did (Mark 10:48); in tears, as Mary Magdalene did (Luke 7:38); in groans as Jeremiah did (Lamentations 1:22); in songs, as David did (Psalm).
We can pray any how in any event.
We can pray for any need -- for lengthened life, as Hezekiah did (Isaiah 38:5); for forgiveness and mercy, as Daniel did (Daniel 9:18-19); for healing, as the woman who was bleeding for 12 years did (Matthew 9:21); for rain, as Elijah did (James 5:18); for a son, as Hannah did (1 Samuel 1:20); for grace, as Paul did in his Epistles.
We can pray at any time whether in the morning, at noon, at night, and of no age limit, whether a child, a youth, an adult or a senior. Even when we are out of words in our prayers and perhaps our prayers may sound confusing, but our God being Omniscient can easily find some sense in our confusing prayers, so keep on praying because prayer is important to God. Praying is doing the will of God as it is His command that we should pray continually (1 Thess. 5:17).
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Debt Free At Last - How?
Debt Free At Last – How?
There are two kinds of debt that man has to face.
Debt of money
Debt of sin.
Man has to be set free in both as they can cause dangerous effects to his entire life and most importantly his eternal life. The good news, however, is that the Bible has numerous practical guide lines on how we could break out of these life damaging debt traps and if we pay attention and take heed to what God says, it will bring freedom to our lives.
1Tim 6:6-10 - 6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Financial debt has ruined many lives. One major reasons of divorce is financial problems in marriage due to financial debt. Financial stress is common in many homes because we tend to live beyond our means and the effect is unmanageable debt caused by uncontrolled use of credit cards. Satan’s schemes and his devices to entice us to crave for material things tend to have the upper hand to place us in financial bondage-living in the buy now pay later scheme of things. Borrowers are slaves to lenders (Proverbs 22:7b (NIRV). One financial formula said: IGNORANCE + EASY CREDIT = FINANCIAL DISASTER. That’s the problem many of us face.
If you begin to depend on credit to maintain your lifestyle then you are spending too much. If your credit balance is increasing every month then you are getting in a debt trap. Why, because most likely you are living a lifestyle that you can not maintain just on your salary. Living on credit is a big problem to God. It shows your lack of contentment. You should be satisfied with the salary you are receiving. Be content with your pay." (Luke 3:14b).
Now let’s pay attention to the Scriptures. The Scriptures have a solution. The Bible gives us simple and very practical advice about how to get out of the debt trap that’s worth heeding. These steps will help us begin feeling real financial freedom in our life. Financial disasters can be avoided if we take heed to God’s Word.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty.” (Malachi 3:10-11 NIV).
You see, God will pour out blessings to us that are more than sufficient for all our needs, He will prevent financial disaster to happen and He will multiply the measure of the blessings that will come back to us with the measure we used in giving by using God’s Giving Principle: The more you give, the more you receive (Ref. Luke 6:38). If meager blessings will come back to us, the reason is obvious. That’s because there is nothing God can multiply as nothing was given or not the right measure that God required has been given or offered to Him.
The purpose of tithing is to teach us always to put God first in our lives - “so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always” (Deut. 14:23b).
What is God’s way to free us out of the debt trap? Precisely, by doing the things that pleases Him.
1. Start Paying God First (Proverbs 3:9).
Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.
The Scriptures gave specific command that we should honor the LORD by giving him the first part of all our income and our barns will be filled to overflowing. That means our financial coffer will not get empty nor run dry. The problem is your inability to tithe (giving the first 10% to God) because your whole salary for the month is barely enough to pay your monthly bills. If you’re unable to tithe or even worse, refuse to tithe then you’re essentially robbing God of His money. Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you? In tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8).
We should not forget that we are only managers of God’s money not the owners, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18b). Therefore, we should be good stewards of the money He entrusted to us. Giving to God the first 10% of our income is the first step to experience real financial freedom.
2. Start Saving For Yourself (Proverbs 21:20 (LB)
The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.
After you have given to the storehouse of God you also have to make your own storehouse. You have to reward yourself of your hard work say another 10% of your income saved for the future. Why do you keep a spare tire in your car? Naturally, to have it handy within arms reach for use immediately in case you get a flat tire on the road. Similarly, our savings serves as our financial spare tire in case we face financial emergencies in the future. Most importantly, for the family to live on in case the bread winner dies soon. Discipline yourself to save money for you and your family’s future. Then adjust your life style to live on the rest of the 80 % covering all bills and miscellaneous expenses.
3. Arrange a Debt Repayment Plan (Romans 13:8a, Psalm 37:21).
Romans 13:8a (NIV): Let no debt remain outstanding.
Psalm 37:21 (NIV): The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;
You’ll never get out of debt accidentally – it has to be intentional, so, initiate to make a repayment plan. You may need a financial counselor or a good friend who has expertise in finances to help you set up a plan to get out of debt. Too often our emotions get in the way when we make big financial decisions that we may regret later, thus, to avoid it to happen, an expert financial advice will help. In fact, debt is like a financial cancer, eating away at your family’s finances. The Bible says it’s a wicked thing to not repay your debt but the righteous stands on his promises and responsibilities. Commit yourself to becoming debt free at last.
Now, there is a debt that is of greater importance for us to be set free. It’s a debt that affects our entire eternal destiny. You see, there is another crucial place where we are caught in the “debt trap.” It’s the debt of sin – our sins of commission and omission. And nothing can balance out the account no matter how much good things we have done. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That is the horror of sin. So what do you do about it? Do you just live with this debt? Do you hide from this debt?
God has a different answer! His answer is: He gave His love thru His Son to pay all our debts. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 NIV).
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23 NIV). God did not send his Son Jesus Christ into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Therefore, whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God (John 3:19-21).
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)! When you were dead in your sins and in the un-circumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14 NIV).
Financial freedom is wonderful, but freedom from sin is eternal! It can be experienced only by surrendering your life totally to Jesus Christ. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me. (Revelations 3:20).
.
There are two kinds of debt that man has to face.
Debt of money
Debt of sin.
Man has to be set free in both as they can cause dangerous effects to his entire life and most importantly his eternal life. The good news, however, is that the Bible has numerous practical guide lines on how we could break out of these life damaging debt traps and if we pay attention and take heed to what God says, it will bring freedom to our lives.
1Tim 6:6-10 - 6But godliness with contentment is great gain. 7For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. 8But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. 9People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
Financial debt has ruined many lives. One major reasons of divorce is financial problems in marriage due to financial debt. Financial stress is common in many homes because we tend to live beyond our means and the effect is unmanageable debt caused by uncontrolled use of credit cards. Satan’s schemes and his devices to entice us to crave for material things tend to have the upper hand to place us in financial bondage-living in the buy now pay later scheme of things. Borrowers are slaves to lenders (Proverbs 22:7b (NIRV). One financial formula said: IGNORANCE + EASY CREDIT = FINANCIAL DISASTER. That’s the problem many of us face.
If you begin to depend on credit to maintain your lifestyle then you are spending too much. If your credit balance is increasing every month then you are getting in a debt trap. Why, because most likely you are living a lifestyle that you can not maintain just on your salary. Living on credit is a big problem to God. It shows your lack of contentment. You should be satisfied with the salary you are receiving. Be content with your pay." (Luke 3:14b).
Now let’s pay attention to the Scriptures. The Scriptures have a solution. The Bible gives us simple and very practical advice about how to get out of the debt trap that’s worth heeding. These steps will help us begin feeling real financial freedom in our life. Financial disasters can be avoided if we take heed to God’s Word.
Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty.” (Malachi 3:10-11 NIV).
You see, God will pour out blessings to us that are more than sufficient for all our needs, He will prevent financial disaster to happen and He will multiply the measure of the blessings that will come back to us with the measure we used in giving by using God’s Giving Principle: The more you give, the more you receive (Ref. Luke 6:38). If meager blessings will come back to us, the reason is obvious. That’s because there is nothing God can multiply as nothing was given or not the right measure that God required has been given or offered to Him.
The purpose of tithing is to teach us always to put God first in our lives - “so that you may learn to revere the LORD your God always” (Deut. 14:23b).
What is God’s way to free us out of the debt trap? Precisely, by doing the things that pleases Him.
1. Start Paying God First (Proverbs 3:9).
Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops.
The Scriptures gave specific command that we should honor the LORD by giving him the first part of all our income and our barns will be filled to overflowing. That means our financial coffer will not get empty nor run dry. The problem is your inability to tithe (giving the first 10% to God) because your whole salary for the month is barely enough to pay your monthly bills. If you’re unable to tithe or even worse, refuse to tithe then you’re essentially robbing God of His money. Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But you ask, 'How do we rob you? In tithes and offerings (Malachi 3:8).
We should not forget that we are only managers of God’s money not the owners, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth (Deuteronomy 8:18b). Therefore, we should be good stewards of the money He entrusted to us. Giving to God the first 10% of our income is the first step to experience real financial freedom.
2. Start Saving For Yourself (Proverbs 21:20 (LB)
The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.
After you have given to the storehouse of God you also have to make your own storehouse. You have to reward yourself of your hard work say another 10% of your income saved for the future. Why do you keep a spare tire in your car? Naturally, to have it handy within arms reach for use immediately in case you get a flat tire on the road. Similarly, our savings serves as our financial spare tire in case we face financial emergencies in the future. Most importantly, for the family to live on in case the bread winner dies soon. Discipline yourself to save money for you and your family’s future. Then adjust your life style to live on the rest of the 80 % covering all bills and miscellaneous expenses.
3. Arrange a Debt Repayment Plan (Romans 13:8a, Psalm 37:21).
Romans 13:8a (NIV): Let no debt remain outstanding.
Psalm 37:21 (NIV): The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously;
You’ll never get out of debt accidentally – it has to be intentional, so, initiate to make a repayment plan. You may need a financial counselor or a good friend who has expertise in finances to help you set up a plan to get out of debt. Too often our emotions get in the way when we make big financial decisions that we may regret later, thus, to avoid it to happen, an expert financial advice will help. In fact, debt is like a financial cancer, eating away at your family’s finances. The Bible says it’s a wicked thing to not repay your debt but the righteous stands on his promises and responsibilities. Commit yourself to becoming debt free at last.
Now, there is a debt that is of greater importance for us to be set free. It’s a debt that affects our entire eternal destiny. You see, there is another crucial place where we are caught in the “debt trap.” It’s the debt of sin – our sins of commission and omission. And nothing can balance out the account no matter how much good things we have done. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That is the horror of sin. So what do you do about it? Do you just live with this debt? Do you hide from this debt?
God has a different answer! His answer is: He gave His love thru His Son to pay all our debts. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16 NIV).
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23 NIV). God did not send his Son Jesus Christ into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. Therefore, whoever believes in Jesus is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.
This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God (John 3:19-21).
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)! When you were dead in your sins and in the un-circumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; He took it away, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:14 NIV).
Financial freedom is wonderful, but freedom from sin is eternal! It can be experienced only by surrendering your life totally to Jesus Christ. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with Me. (Revelations 3:20).
.
Friday, May 22, 2009
True Freedom
Gal. 5:13-14 - You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: "Love your neighbor as yourself. 15If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
When a man receives Christ as his personal Savior and Lord, he also receives the freedom from Satan’s yoke of slavery, oppression and destruction (John 10:10a). Charles Kingsley an English novelist said, there are two kinds of freedom. One is false freedom where a man is free to do what he likes and the other is the true freedom where a man is free to do what he ought to do. In other words, the former is FREEDOM TO SIN and the latter is FREEDOM FROM SIN.
When I first learned how to swim during my childhood days, I learned it in a river not in the sea although my parents’ house was just about a kilometer away from the seashore but our house was just about fifty meters from the river bank. Every time there is a flood I was fond of jumping into the river when the bank is flooded because that’s the only time that the water is deep. No matter how hard I swam in the direction I wanted, I can’t beat the current. I had no choice but to go with the flow of the strong current down the river that sometimes put me in danger of hitting a rock and floating debris.
You see, it was the river - not me - that was in total control. In the same way, a man living in a life of false freedom, it is sin and evil, not man himself that is in control. No matter how hard he tries, lusts and forces of evil push him straight ahead into ruin and eventual destruction. It is a fearful thing that people can be consumed by their own lusts.
True freedom can only be experienced under God’s control, direction and grace thru Jesus Christ. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1). God created us to be a success and a winner. Let’s do it together because we have tasted the goodness of the Lord and whoever takes refuge in Him is blessed (Psalm 34:8).
When a man receives Christ as his personal Savior and Lord, he also receives the freedom from Satan’s yoke of slavery, oppression and destruction (John 10:10a). Charles Kingsley an English novelist said, there are two kinds of freedom. One is false freedom where a man is free to do what he likes and the other is the true freedom where a man is free to do what he ought to do. In other words, the former is FREEDOM TO SIN and the latter is FREEDOM FROM SIN.
When I first learned how to swim during my childhood days, I learned it in a river not in the sea although my parents’ house was just about a kilometer away from the seashore but our house was just about fifty meters from the river bank. Every time there is a flood I was fond of jumping into the river when the bank is flooded because that’s the only time that the water is deep. No matter how hard I swam in the direction I wanted, I can’t beat the current. I had no choice but to go with the flow of the strong current down the river that sometimes put me in danger of hitting a rock and floating debris.
You see, it was the river - not me - that was in total control. In the same way, a man living in a life of false freedom, it is sin and evil, not man himself that is in control. No matter how hard he tries, lusts and forces of evil push him straight ahead into ruin and eventual destruction. It is a fearful thing that people can be consumed by their own lusts.
True freedom can only be experienced under God’s control, direction and grace thru Jesus Christ. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery (Gal. 5:1). God created us to be a success and a winner. Let’s do it together because we have tasted the goodness of the Lord and whoever takes refuge in Him is blessed (Psalm 34:8).
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