Giving to God

Malachi3:10 "'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.

Many of us read this verse and miss the condition upon which this blessing is promised.Often we expect god to bless us and honour us when we ask for it.Yes,God is good,who will provide,but there is a condition.We must first bless God with our sacrifices.We have to be faithful in the giving of our tithes.
How can we expect the heavens to be opened and the blessing poured forth unless we give and pay our dues to god and His purposes.There would be no lack of funds for holy purposes if all of us pay what is due our God.
Friends today I want to encourage you to be faithful in your tithing.Whether in terms of money or services,let us be faithful and always remember that we can give only because our God blessed us first.Let us not rob God anymore friends.I'm not saying God will not bless us if we do not give.Yes,God might still bless us,but let's not take advantage of God.That's why we go to services.To give and not just to receive.We go to services in church to be a do a service to God and His cause,so friends if we are doing it for God let's give our excellence in whatever we are doing,because what we are doing is not for man,but rather what rather what we do is to bless the name of our God.Someone once told me,"You represent the God you serve." Friends if we are going to be stingy in our tithing to God,are we not saying that the God we serve is stingy?And we know that's not true!The God we serve is the mighty provider!Friends if we are going to declare that,let us not do so with our mouths.Rather I pray that we will do so with our actions,with our lives.Let our lives indeed be a testimony to our friends that our God is Almighty.Amen.

The Fire of Your Heart

In an inteview,Max Lucado said,"As a young man I felt the call to preach.Unsure if I was correct in my reading of God's will for me,I sought the counsel of a minister I admired.His counsel still rings through.'Don't preach,' he said,'unless you have to.' As I pondered his words I found my answer:'I have to.If I don't,the fire will consume me.' "

Friends what is it that drives you today?Want to know God's will for your life?Then answer this question:What ignites your heart?Forgotten orphans?Untouched nations?Your friends?Your situations?Your consequences?

What ignites your heart today?
Is it the passion to serve?Then serve!
Is it the motivation to sing?Then sing!
Are you stirred to manange?Then manage!
Do you ache for the ill?Then treat them!
Do you hurt for the lost?Then teach them!
Do you feel for the unsaved?Then go and reach out to them!

Friends if we allow fear and circumstances to hold us back from seeking the fire within only one thing will happen.The fire will consume you,and then you will lose it.Friends hear this,you will lose the fire in your heart if you continue to suppress it and ignore what God has put in you.Don't let your heart grow numb.Don't lose God's will for your life.Friends i know many times it seems a tall order for us to get out and heed the fire within,but friends i challenge you today to forget everything and focus only on God,because it is in our weakness that Christ's power is made strong,that we can really be strong in Him.Only when we choose to forgo everyting and go to fan the flame in our hearts can we really see God's good,pleasing and perfect will for our lives.


All I am I give to you
With every breath I worship you
I pray, let your will be done

I stand before you, my heart adores you
In your hands I place my life
I pray, let your will be done

Let us see on earth
The glory of your son
May I be the one,
that you use in your plan

Bring the nations to your side
Let the Kingdoms join in shouts of praise
Let me be the one who brings,
the one who brings your love

Evermore

Lost for words with all to say
Lord you take my breath away
Still my soul my soul cries out
For you are holy

As I look upon your name
Circumstances fade away
Now your glory stills my heart
You are holy

You are holy
You are holy Lord

Evermore my heart my heart will say
Above all I live for your glory
Even if my world falls I will say
Above all I live for your glory

With all my heart I'll say
I'm living for your name
With all to give you praise
We're living for your glory Lord

Rick Warren (AUTHOR OF "PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE" )


You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife now
having cancer and him having "wealth" from the book sales. This is an
absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, "Purpose Driven
Life " author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life?

And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were
made to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body--
but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of
years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. God
wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by God and for God, and until you figure that out, life isn't
going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just
coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into another one.

The reason for this is that God is more interested in your character than
your comfort.

God is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your
life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life.
The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the
toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark
time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that
anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like
two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good
and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad
that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something
good you can thank God for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,"which
is my problem, my issues, my pain." But one of the easiest ways to get rid
of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of
thousands of people, God was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for
her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has strengthened her
character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a
testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For
instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million
copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with
before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or
for you to live a life of ease.

So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety
and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide
what to do,

II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72.

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our
lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the
church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan
to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and
educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I
started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able
to serve God for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or
am I going to be driven by God's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if
I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You
better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more
interested in what I am than what I do.
That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

No Limits!

You've been pressing
Pushing just to get through
You've been praying
Believing for something new
Your time is now for breakthrough

I can see
The words that He has spoken
I can hear the sound of heaven open
The time is now for you to just receive,
If you will just believe

You've been pressing
Pushing just to get through
You've been praying,
Believing for something new,
Your time is now for breakthrough,
You've been holding,
Believing for a rebound,
You've been waiting,
Till your season comes around,
Your time is now for breakthrough

I can see,
The words that He's spoken,
I can hear the sound of heaven open,
The time is now for you to just receive,
If you will just believe,
No limits out the box,
The ceiling's tearing off,
No limits we're breaking out,
Walls come down

It's my time to dream,
The impossible,
I can do anything,
There's no limits at all,
No limits,
Mo limits,
No limits,
There's no limits now,
No limits,
Mo limits at all,
There's no limits now,
No limits!

duty vs devotion

Don't have school today,cos of some sch event. :) haha.but even as i was reflecting this morning it just struck me.How we can just call a holiday in school and stop whatever we are doing.Are we doing it in our christian walk?Are we calling rest days on our faith?Is our walk conditional?Do we serve because we have nothing else to do?


Matthew28:1 'After the Sabbath,at dawn on the first day of the week,Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.'

Why did Mary and Mary Magdalene go to the tomb?What were they expecting to get?What could a dead man give?It wasn't duty that prompted the women to go up to the tomb.It was devotion.Naked devotion.They weren't there to receive.They were there to give.To give something back to Jesus.They weren't and they couldn't expect to receive anything.It was pure service to Jesus.

Friends today why are we doing the things we are doing?Are we doing it out of duty or out of devotion?Are we expecting to get anything out of our service to God?Praise?Credit?Or are we really serving because we want to?Are we serving because we know that the God we serve is faithful and true?Are we serving out of what we have?What prompts us to serve?Duty or devotion?

Mary and Mary Magdalene's devotion to Jesus didn't stop because Jesus was dead.It didn't stop just because the person they worshipped was now stuck in a tomb.It didn't stop just because the Jesus they knew was now seemingly weak and unable.No!The devotion they had towards Jesus went beyond death.Not even death could stop them from being devoted to Jesus.So they went up to the tomb,wanting to give something,anything,to their God.They knew a task had to be done-Jesus' body had to be prepared for burial.Peter didn't do it.Andrew didn't volunteer,so Mary and Mary Magdalene decided to do it.

What if halfway to the tomb they had sat down and to reconsider.What if they had looked at each other and shrugged,"What's the use?He's already dead." What if both of them had given up?What if one had thrown up her arms in frustration and bemoaned,"I'm tired of being the one to do it.Let someone else do it.Let Andrew do something for a change.Let Nathaniel show some leadership for once."

Whether or not they were tempted to the bible does not record for us.But I'm glad they didn't quit.That would have been tragic.Friends you see,we know something they didn't.God was watching.Mary and Mary Magdalene thought they were alone.They weren't.They thought their journey was unnoticed.They were wrong.The Father in heaven was watching.

Today I am addressing two kinds of people here.
The first is the ones who are serving th Lord in whatever ways.Friends what is our motive for serving today?For our own pride?To let someone take notice?Just to spend whatever free time we have?Now serving is good,but what friends we have to constantl check our hearts as to the motives for which we are serving!Are we really serving because we know we serve a God who is faithful and true?Are we serving because we want to honour God with whatever talents He has given us?Are we doing it for ourselves or for God alone?

The second type of people I want to address is those who are currently not serving.Are you the one who keeps saying "Let someone else do it.I'm not good enough anyway." Friends that is not true.God has given each and every one of us a talent which He wants us to use to honour Him.
Romans12:6-8 "We have different gifts,according to the grace given us.If a man's gift is prophesying,let him use it in proportion to his faith.If it is serving,let him serve;if it is teaching,let him teach;if it is encouraging,let him encourage;if it is contributing to the needs of others,let him give generously;if it is leadership,let him govern diligently;if it is showing mercy,let him do it cheerfully."
Friends I want to encourage you to serve the Lord,in whatever way you can,whether big or small,because God sees it and will definitely honour you for it.


The call of discipleship is not to serve out of convenience,but to serve whether in good or bad,in plenty or in want.Let us keep the example of Mary and Mary Magdalene close to our hearts.

so,had 2.4 on tues.timing was way off my target.i was aiming to sub 9 but i did 9.21.miss by 22 secs!!argh...so i'll be going for a re-test :) heh...anyway!i'm not here to post about my 2.4 run,but rather about what i learnt during the run :) so i was running,and at about 1.6km mark i was really tired,and so i kinda gave up and slowed down a lot,almost walking...and then God spoke.Yes,God can speak to you during 2.4.anyway,we were just talking,God and myself.And then it occured to me,why do people try so hard for 2.4 to get that 'A' but when it comes to the christian run they simply don't bother or they grow complacent?and it just came to me that it's simply because we humans have learnt to live by sight and not by faith.And we have come to a point where God does not matter so much anymore,and what is in front of us,the temporary feeling of joy has replaced God.

1Corinthians9:24-27 ' 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. 25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. 26Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. 27No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.'
-Friends the prizes we get on earth are good,but what's more important is our race in Christ Jesus.The prizes on earth are but temporary,but what we ultimately get from God Himself is what really counts.

Run in such a way as to get the prize:
1.Run with perseverance
2.Run not with your legs,but with your heart.In other words,run with passion.
3.Run with the end in mind.Focus on God,but at the same time do not allow anything to 'trip' you or make you stumble.
4.Fuel your run with the God-given 'gatorade'-His Word.

Ok now back to the 2.4km run,after slow jogging for about 100m or so,i decided to pia all the way,so i went 15s/100m for the rest of the way,and just made it in under 9.30mins.Not very satisfying,but i can say i didn't give up after all. :) now for the re-test.

The Magic Is Not In The Faucet

2Kings4:6 'When all the jars were full,she said to her son,"Bring me another one." But he replied,"There is not a jar left." Then the oil stopped flowing.

The only thing that stopped the flowing of oil was an empty jar!

Thomas Edward (T.E.) Lawrence was a British officer who was involved in a war between Arab rebels and Turks.Lawrence Lawrence wrote about his Arabian adventures in The Seven Pillars of Wisdom. During the war, Lawrence formed close friendships with many of the Sheiks of Arabia. After the war, he brought some of these Sheiks back to England to show his appreciation for their support against the Turkish domination. They had a wonderful visit, appeared before the Joint House of Commons and Parliament, had an audience with the Queen. On the last night of their visit, Lawrence offered them anything they wanted to take back with them to their desert homes. They led him up to the hotel room, into the bathroom, and pointed to the faucets in the bathtub and said that they wanted to take faucets with them that would provide them with running water in the deserts. They didn't realize that the faucets were superficial. Behind them was plumbing, a hot water heater, an energy source that heated the water, a city main that supplied the water, and from the city main went a line to an outside source of water!


-The magic is not in the faucet! It is what is behind the faucet that gives the water!
-The faucet can be 24 carat gold, but if its not attached to a water supply, its useless!
-The magic is not in the faucet, the power comes from what is behind the faucet! Things that are not visible to the human eye, but are there nonetheless!
-If the pump, or the plumbing, or the reservoir ever to out of service, the faucet is useless! It's what's behind the faucet that gives it its power!

Now I don't want to minimize the importance of a vessel,us. God needs faucets,us!God ha always used human faucets for his glory.In fact,many times he used the most unlikely of faucets.

God can use anyone:
1.Moses stuttered
2.David's armour didn't fit
3.John Mark was rejected by Paul
4.Timothy had ulcers
5.Amos' only training was in fig-tree pruning
6.Jacob was a liar
7.David had an affair
8.Solomon was too rich
9.Abraham was too old
10.David was too young
11.Peter was afraid of death
12.Lazarus was dead
13.John was self-righteous
14.Naomi was a widow
15.Paul was a murderer
16.So was Moses.
17.Jonah ran from God
18.Miriam was a gossip
19.The twelve disciples had little faith
20.Both Gideon and Thomas doubted
21.Jeremiah was depressed and suicidal
22.Elijah was burned out
23.Martha worried too much
24.Mary may have been lazy
25.Samson almost lost sight of his calling
26.Noah got drunk
27.Moses was short-tempered

But God doesn't require a job interview. He doesn't hire and fire like most bosses,because He's more our Dad than our Boss. He doesn't look at financial gain or loss. He's not prejudiced or partial, not judging, grudging, sassy, or brassy, not deaf to our cry, not blind to our need.

1.God needs us to be faucets!
-John7:38 'Whoever believes in me,as the Scripture has said,streams of living water will flow from within him.'
-God can have all the plumbing in place, have the pump hooked up, ready to pour out blessings on His people, on the world, but He needs us to be vessels! He needs a faucet!
-In many cases, the only thing that stops a move of God is the lack of a vessel.
-From the scripture 2Kings4:6 we can see that the only things that stopped the flowing of oil was a lack of an empty vessel!
-Now don't ask me to explain why God chooses to use imperfect people for His work,because I honestly do not know.I do not know why God who can do all things would choose to restrict Himself to moving through imperfect, flawed, inconsistent humanity.But I do know that He is looking for people for his work,me and you!
-Ezekiel said that God was seeking a MAN to stand in the gap and make up the hedge!
-When the Lord struck Saul on the road to Damascus,He told Saul to 'Go see Ananias, he will tell you what to do" GOD USED A HUMAN VESSEL!
-In the Book of Revelation, John says that God wept because He could find no MAN to open the book of salvation, so God Himself took on the form of man to bring redemption!

Friends do you understand how important we are to the work of God!God will not move without a vessel,us!God will not pour out His Spirit without a faucet-we are that faucet!God needs us,that's you and me!

2.We are the faucet,but there's no magic in the faucet!
-We are the faucet,but unless there is a power supply,we are useless!It is what is behind the faucet that counts!We may still look good,may still say the same things, may still appear to be the same, but if our power supplies are shut off, we are of no use to anyone!

Romans7:18 'I know that nothing good lives in me,that is,in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good,but I cannot carry it out'
-Friends,we must understand that we are only the faucet,what counts is God,who is working in us!

2Corinthians4:7 'But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.'
-The power is God's,not ours!If we sing well,it's not us!If we preach well,it's not us!

Romans12:3 'For by the grace given me I say to every one of you:Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought,but rather think of yourself with sober judgement,in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.'
-Friends no matter how much God moves through us,always remember that it is God and not from us!
-No matter how many prophecies we have given,no matter how much anointed preaching and teaching comes forth from us,we must never forget that it is what's behind the faucet that makes all the difference!
-No matter how many powerful things happen through me,I am only the faucet,and if the power supply behind me gets cut off,I become useless!


Why couldn't the disciples in Matthew17:14-21 heal the demon-possessed boy?
Because they had no power!

The disciples would most probably have seen Jesus done all kinds of miracles,so now they come across a situation they think they can handle.They have watched Jesus do this, they have observed His hand motions, listened to what He said, and how he said it! They have the words, actions, motions, and everything else, but there is one thing missing! They have no power! There is nothing behind the faucet, and they fail miserably at the task at hand.

And so Jesus takes this opportunity to tell them that there is no magic in the faucet.Fervent prayer and fasting is required for that power to manifest in us.

We can say the right words,do the right hand movements,use the right tone of voice,but if there is no fervent prayer and fasting there will be no power!

3.The danger we face is when we try to duplicate only what God can do.
-We must never reach the point where we get so smart that we don't need God!


Friends the most valuable thing we can discover today is that we are a sinner saved only by the grace of God. No matter how smart we are,no matter how successful we are,no matter how rich or strong we are,we are still sinners saved only by the grace of God!There is no magic in the faucet-We need Jesus!

The King's Highway

Isaiah35:8 'And a highway will be there;it will be called the Way of Holiness.The unclean will not journey on it;it will be for those who walk in that Way;wicked fools will not go about on it.'


The way of holiness is so straight and plain that the simplest minds cannot go astray if they constantly follow it. The worldly wise have many twists and turns, and yet they make terrible blunders and generally miss their end. Worldly policy is a poor, shortsighted thing, and when men choose it as their road, it leads them over dark mountains. Gracious minds know no better than to do as the Lord bids them; but this keeps them in the King's highway and under royal protection.

Let the reader never for a moment attempt to help himself out of a difficulty by a falsehood or by a questionable act; but let him keep in the middle of the high road of truth and integrity, and he will be following the best possible course. In our lives we must never practice circular sailing nor dream of shuffling. Be just and fear not, Follow Jesus and heed no evil consequences. If the worst of ills could be avoided by wrongdoing, we should, in the very attempt, have fallen into an evil worse than any other ill could be. God's way must be the very best way. Follow it though men think you a fool, and you will be truly wise.

Lord, lead Thy servants in a plain path because of their enemies.


credits to http://bible.christiansunite.com/faithindex.shtml