Grapes And Giants

Numbers 13 is a great chapter in the Bible. It describes how God's people dealt with some real problems. The Israelites were told to spy out the land they were about to enter as promised by God. Out of 12 people only 2 thought as God did. The result: 10 people talked 3 million out of their promise and destiny. Ten people melted the heart and stole the faith of millions of others. The Bible says that only Joshua and Caleb had the same heartbeat as God's.

Here is the thing;

God will show you what you can have before you can obtain it. He will allow you to see it before you can have it,

to Abraham He showed the stars

to Joseph He showed sheaves

to Peter He showed His church
to Joshua and Caleb He showed the promise land 

BUT,

God will want to know what you have to say about what he has for you.  

And that is the tricky bit:

I've seen what he is doing in our church BUT I don’t have the money nor the time to contribute.

I know God wants me to serve in his house, because Jesus came as a servant. BUT I don’t have the time to do it... I'm way too tired, busy, and is too much hard work.

God has showed me that I need to get planted in His house, BUT I  fear commitment.

And here is the deal: 

Where there are promises there are also problems. The bigger the grapes the bigger the giants.

There is however a reason why God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love, and self-discipline. There is a reason why the Bible says that the godly are as bold as lions and that our confidence will be richly rewarded.

What has God been showing you lately; a vision, a need, a challenge, a change? What about your response, has it been based on faith or fear? Remember: Where there are grapes there are also giants, where there are promises there are also problems. But He has given us the power to overcome, in Him we are more than conquerors.

Passion & Purity Availalbe NOW!

My wife is an awesome woman of God and I am very proud of her. I never knew how much I could learn from her journey myself. Passion & Purity is the most powerful book in the Loving Life Series. You would definitely benefit from starting with Hope’s Journey and then Secure on the Rock, to get the whole picture of her powerful testimony - Passion & Purity however is still powerful as a standalone volume.

This book is all about living an adventurous, passionate, wild life within the boundaries of purity. Most people go for the wild life but compromise their purity. Angela shows both side of the coin - how to do it and how not to do it.

Although this book was written to women, I found it extremely helpful as I got a better perspective on how to relate and protect my wife and how to look after and protect my daughters. Husbands and fathers will definitely benefit from the whole Loving Life Series.

You will not be able to put this book down and you should not read it if you don’t want your life to be greatly impacted. Highly recommended. Passion & Purity is available on Amazon as well as all online bookstores worldwide and from our church website.

Audacious Faith

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
Hebrew 11:1 

Nothing is impossible with God and Nothing is too hard for Him. However, in order to see the impossible we have to be willing to hold on to what we believe with perseverance and determination. We will also have to refuse to fear when facing impossibilities.

Hebrews 11:1 describes faith. Hebrews 11:2-38 demonstrates faith. Note that only one verse focus on the theory of faith, the rest of the chapter deals with the practicalities of faith. That is 37 verses of faith being put to work. Faith is practical. Hope grabs hold of nothing, faith holds on to it until it becomes something.

Consider these words of Jesus:

“According to your faith will it be done...” (Matthew 9:29)
“If you have faith and do not doubt...” (Matthew 21:21)
“Have Faith in God,” (Mark 11:22)
“Anyone who has faith in me will do even greater works,” (John 14:12)

Activate your audacious faith:

1 - Read Hebrews 11:1-38 (The Hall of Faith). Read it out loud! Faith comes by hearing the word of God.
2 - Pray for mountain moving faith. Pray for the spiritual gift of faith.
3 - Do life with people of faith. Please note that this does not mean that you will neglect your friends and the people in your life that need Jesus. We were called to be light and salt. We were called to be IN the world not OF the world. One of the signs that your faith is increasing will be the fruit around you. Found people, find people.
4 - Fast. This will give you an edge when fighting the enemy and the things of this world. Fasting is a powerful weapon. Fasting can definitely make your faith stronger in a shorter period of time. The price is higher, but If you are looking for a shortcut, this is it.

Do you have a testimony were you got results by activating your faith?
What are you doing right now that requires faith?

The Urgency For The Gospel

The purpose of our church is to make (healthy) disciples. Why? Because Jesus said so: Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, - Matthew. 28:19. See also Luke 19:10 and Mark1:15

The gospel of Jesus Christ: the virgin birth, the sinless life, the substitutionary death, the triumphant resurrection and the eminent return of Jesus Christ. The gospel as a historic reality and the gospel as a contemporary life giving, changing force. The gospel that has the power to meet you where you are and speak to you where you are at in life. The gospel that is as relevant today as it was over 2000 years ago. Where cities, counties, nations can be changed by it.

Every Christian occupies some kind of pulpit and preaches some kind of sermon every day.  So you are preaching the gospel in a way or another whether you like it or not!  The question is: What kind of message are you preaching? 

 
The kingdom of God is built by people that have the guts to tell their whole world about Jesus and what he is doing though His church. God has given us this time this season.  The bible says that David served his generation, we are now responsible for this generation. 

Who in your life needs a fresh touch from God?

Men of Extravagant Generosity

The world of the generous gets larger and larger; the world of the stingy gets smaller and smaller.
A generous person will prosper; 
Proverbs 11:24-25

What is generosity? Generosity is the quality of being generous. A generous person is willing to give money, help, kindness, etc., especially more than is usual or expected (Cambridge Dictionary).

The above verses present a paradox: you become richer by being generous. The world says to hold on to as much as possible, but God blesses those who give freely of their money, possessions, time and energy. When we give, God supplies us with more so that we can give more. In addition giving helps us gain a right perspective on our possessions. We realise they were never really ours to begin with, but they were given to us by God to be used to help others.

What do we gain by giving? We gain freedom from enslavement to our possessions (your possessions will not possess you), the joy of helping others and God’s approval.

In John 6:1-14 we see that God’s math works in this way: 
Everything you have x God = everything you need + more

Do you struggle with giving? Do you feel your possessions possess you? If so what are you going to do about it?

How we should approach giving
God gave us his most precious "possession" – his Son (John 3:16). So here is the thing: Refuse to serve God leftovers.
      And when you offer the blind as a sacrifice,
      Is it not evil?
      And when you offer the lame and sick,
      Is it not evil?
      Offer it then to your governor!
      Would he be pleased with you?
      Would he accept you favorably?”
      Says the LORD of hosts. . - Malachi 1:8

In the above passage people kept the best animals for themselves and offered God leftovers. They assumed God would be pleased because they had sacrificed something. Refuse to give God a scrap or two just because you feel guilty for giving him nothing. Refuse to mumble a few words at the end of the day, when you lie in bed half asleep.  Refuse to have a mindset that says: “Do I have to give?!”

God described this practice as evil. Let’s stop calling it: busy schedule, bills, forgetfulness, sickness and call it as it is: Evil. Your greatest fear should not be of failure but of succeeding at things that don’t really matter.

Do you offer God leftovers of your money, time and energy?