Lord I'm tired.I'm tired of fighting.I'm tired of waiting for results which never come.I'm tired of pretending.I'm tired of believing.Lord,I need you.Please show yourself to me.It hurts.It really does.Lord please take it away.It's really painful.Why Lord?Why me?Why so big a price?I know I have to be strong.I know I have to be kingdom-minded.I know it's about your purpose in my generation.I know I have to believe,but it's so difficult.The price to pay seems so large.Lord why?Why do I feel so small now?Why,why,why?Lord if you knew,if you see,then please take it away.I know you have a plan for me,I know you believe in me,I know you will be with me,but it hurts so much.I'm so tired.Lord I don't want to give up,I want to believe,I want to trust,I want to surrender,but Lord it's so painful.God when you saw your Son on the cross,you stood firm.How Lord?How?Teach me.Teach me to surrender.Teach me to trust you in this.Teach me to be strong in this.Lord I'm tired of crying myself to sleep.I'm tired of crumbling even though I was alone through those times.I'm tired of being afraid.Lead me Lord.I'm going to lay it all at the foot of the cross,one more time...


You've called me to places
I can't see
Lord open my eyes
You've called me to people
I can't reach
Lord,stir within me
A hunger to see your kingdom come
A passion for your will to be done

Give me a heart for this generation
Set me apart for your great commission

And I will go
Wherever you lead
I will follow
And I have counted the cost
I will carry the cross
So take my hands
All that I have they are yours
And you have laid out my course
I will live for this cause

Heaven and earth will pass away
But Jesus you're eternal
Kings and their kingdoms
Will fall one day
But your glory's forever
All of creation will bow to you
The time will come for all to sing
God you reign

No turning back
No turning back
And I will follow you
No turning back
No turning back
And I will carry the cross
No turning back
No turning back
No turning back
I will live for this cause
No turning back
No turning back
No turning back

The Serenity Prayer

'Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.' (2Cor12:8-9)



Jesus,You have won me with your love
Now my heart belongs to you
You're my Savior,my king
With you I've everything
In my life there's only you

Jesus,when I look into your eyes
I know everything will be alright
Here in you embrace
I'm humbled by your grace
With my life I worship you

Only you,you died to set me free
Now I'm yours for all eternity
Only you can love me like you do
My desire,my life,only you

Dedication to the people in SiChuan

The earthquake which shook SiChuan on 12May2008 has taken 62,500 lives(as of 26May).Friends this number is continuosly growing by the minute.And this number does not include the number of people who are homeless,missing or orphaned.The number of people affected by the earthquake is counted by the millions.Christians if you are reading this then I want you right now to say a prayer for the people affected by the SiChuan earthquake.Just yesterday(25May),a 5.4 magnitude aftershock rocked China and again claimed the lives and homes of many people.

To the people of SiChuan,I know words don't work right now,and all I can do for you is to keep you all in my prayers. Lord I commit the people in SiChuan to you.Father you see the situations they are in,each one of them.Lord I pray that your hand of protection will be upon each and every one of them,those who have been saved and even those who are still trapped.God I ask that in the midst of the chaos you will show yourself so real not just to the people in SiChuan but even to the people all over the world who are watching the situation.Lord let this event be a testimony of your grace and healing power.Let our weaknesses in this event be a platform for your mighty love to enfold and be a testimony to the whole world that you are the Almighty God.Lord I commit to you the Christians living in China.Father I pray that you will open their eyes even to the confusion and lost of the unsaved.That they will see the hopelessness of the people around them and they will arise and take ownership of the country.God I take the situation and put it all at the foot of the cross.Take control of it oh God.I bind every work of the enemy and I loose the power of your love,the truth of your word and the power of your grace even into China.And I thank you Lord for what you are about to do in the country,because I know that it will be good.Amen.

Friends if you are reading this post then I want you right now to put aside everything and start intervening for the people in SiChuan.I'd also like to invite all of you to join me in fasting and prayer for the situation.Let us believe for God's intervention and let us partner with each other even in fervent prayer and committed fasting.

Matthew11:12 'Since the days of John the Baptist until now,the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing,and forceful men lay hold of it.' Friends let us be forceful even in intervening for our friends in China.


It is not a human right to stare not fight,
While broken nations dream.
Open up your eyes so blind
That we might find the mercy
For the need.

Hey now fill our hearts with your compassion,
Hey now as we hold to our confession.

It is not too far a cry
Too much to try
And help the least of these.
Politics should not decide
If we should rise
And be your hands and feet.
Hey now fill our hearts with your compassion,
Hey now as we hold to our confession.

Woah! God be the solution.
Woah! and we will be your hands
And be your feet.

Higher than all circumstances and your promise stands,
Your love for all to see.
Higher than our protest lines and dollar signs
Your love is all we need.

Hey now fill our hearts with your compassion,
Hey now as we hold to our confession.
Woah! God be the solution.
Woah! and we will be your hands
And be your feet.

Only you can mend the broken heart
And cause the blind to see.
Erase complete the sinner's past
And set the captives free.

Only you can take the widows cry
And cause her heart to sing.
Be the father to the fatherless,
Our Saviour and our king.
We will be your hands
We will be your feet,

We will run this race for the least of these;
In the darkest place
We will be your light,
We will be your light.
We will be your light
And we will be your hands
And feet.

We will run,
We will run,
We will run with the solution.

Full Reliance on God

Psalm72:12-14'For he will deliver the needy who cry out,the afflicted who have no one to help.He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death.He will rescue them from oppression and violence,for precious is their blood in his sight.'

When the needy cries,what else can he do?His cry is heard by God,he does need to do anything else.When you cry out to God in desperation and you open your heart to God,He will rescue you.Don't cry to anybody,not to your friends,not to your family,not to your leaders,but cry unto your almighty God,because only He can rescue you and He will rescue you.Yes,people can help you,but it's only because God enables them to.The nearest way is to cry straight to God.Let your cries fall unto His ears.Let your plea of desperation touch His heart.Let your helplessness move His hands.Cry straight to God,not to secondary causes.
Friends I want you to know today that YOU CANrely on God.You can rely upon God in both capacities-as without supplies and without helpers. Make your double need your double plea.Even for temporal mercies you may wait upon God,for He cares for you in these temporary concerns.As for spiritual necessities, which are the heaviest of all,the Lord will hear your cry and will deliver you and supply you.
Friends learn to rely on God in everything.Proverbs3:5-6'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding;in all your ways acknowledge Him,and He will make your paths straight.' Friends when the going gets tough,all the more you should have full reliance on God.Many times you won't understand your circumstances,you don't have to,because it is not your job to understand,your job is just to rely on God.And when you surrender yourself to God and say 'Lord take control',when you learn to let go and let God,when you have full reliance on God,your circumstances will fade away,simply because your maker is greater than any of your problems.Let your cry today cease to be 'God I have a big problem',but let your stand from today forth be,'Problem I have a big God'.

Zephaniah3:17 'The Lord your God is with you,he is mighty to save.He will take great delight in you,he will quiet you with his love,he will rejoice over you with singing.'

You stood before creation
Eternity in your hand
You spoke the earth into motion
My soul now to stand
You stood before my failure
And carried the cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon your shoulders
My soul, now to stand

So what could I say?
And what could I do?
But offer this heart oh God
Completely to you

So I’ll walk upon salvation
Your spirit alive in me
This life to declare your promise
My soul now to stand

So what could I say?
And what could I do?
But offer this heart oh God
Completely to you

I’ll stand
With arms high and heart abandoned
In awe of the one who gave it all
I’ll stand
My soul longs to you surrender it all
I am is yours

I Long To Worship You

I have not come
To ask you for anything
Except for the privilege
To glorify your name

Let my singing
And my praise to you
Fill you up Oh God
That you might be satisfied

I long to worship you
I long to worship you
To stand in your courts and tell
How marvellous you are
To you I raise my hands
I want to lift you up
Here in your presence Lord
I long to worship you

Indeed it is such a privilege to worship God.It hurts when I see and hear of people who worship God only they need God.It shouldn't be this way.Worship is not about receiving,it is about giving.It's about declaring of God's greatness,about singing of His faithfulness,about embracing His majesty,about proclaiming the freedom He has gracefully given.Worship shouldn't be a 'I need God now so I shall worship and hope I touch His heart and then He'll intervene' kind of thing,but when we worship,friends let's do it sincerely.
Worship is not about a song,it's not about the time before the sermon,it's not just an act,but worship is a lifestyle,a gift.Your life is God's gift to you,let your life then be of worship,let it be your gift to God.Friends,let's not worship just because we feel like it,rather let's do it because we want to give God our best,becuase we recognise that it is by God's grace that we are where we are,and let's worship with full sincerity,with truth,nothing fake hidden within.

John4:23-24 'Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth'

One God,One man,One plan

Jeremiah29:11 '"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord,"plans to prosper you and not to harm you,plans to give you a hope and a future."'

One God,one man,one plan.God only has one plan for us.That is,to prosper us and not to harm us,to give us hope and a future.No matter what we have done,no matter what we were,no matter what we will do,no matter what we will become,no matter the decisions we make,no matter the paths we will take,God has his one ultimate plan set for us already.And it is echoed in Jeremiah29:11.Many of us know this verse.Many of us live by it.Why?Simply because we can find comfort and strength in it.
God's divine purpose for us is to be prosperous.Many of us are currently caught in trials.Some of us have to make critical decisions,and fast.Some of us are enduring tough times.Some of us are going through almost unbearable situations.Some of us are desperate for help.Friends if you are one of these I'm talking about,I want you to remember that you're not alone.I want you to know that God is with you.Whatever happens,whatever decision you make,whatever path you choose to take,just remember that God is with you every step of the way.And he has only one plan for you,to prosper you and not to harm you,to give you a hope and a future.


Lord I come to You
Let my heart be changed, renewed
Flowing from the grace
That I've found in You
Lord I've come to know
The weakenesses I see in me
Will be stripped away
By the power of Your love

Hold me close
Let Your love surround me
Bring me near
Draw me to Your side
And as I wait
I'll rise up like the eagle
And I will soar with You
Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love

Lord unveil my eyes
Let me see You face to face
The knowledge of Your love
As You live in me
Lord renew my mind
As Your will unfolds in my life
In living every day
By the power of Your love

And I will soar with You
Your Spirit leads me on
In the power of Your love

Power Of Your Presence

There is a peace
There is a rest
That settles here
In your presence

When your face is very near
Your love erases every fear

It's the power of your presence
It's the strength of your hand in mine
It's the glory of your greatness
That has the power
To change my life


Zephaniah3:17 'The Lord your God is with you,he is mighty to save.He will take great delight in you,he will quiet you with his love,he will rejoice over you with singing.'

Just Do It

Philippians4:13 'I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength.'

A simple 10 word verse.A strong promise.But it contains more meaning deep within.When apostle Paul wrote this verse,I believe he wasn't just writing for us to read and believe and then do nothing about it.I believe that when he wrote this verse,he wanted it to contain an instruction.

You see friends,God has promised that when we commit whatever we do to him,we will succeed.This is echoed by proverbs16:3.But this promise only holds dear if we do something.We cannot just read this verse,believe it and then do nothing,in other words,take God for granted and just sit back,relax,and then hope for God to grant you success.For example,for your exams,you cannot just say you're gonna get 8 A1s,then put it into the back of your head and do nothing about it.You will not get the 8 A1s.Yes,God promises that you can do everything through Him who gives you strength,but he requires you to start doing something about it.You need to get yourself out of the couch,away from the monitor,away from the telephone,away from your mobile phone,away from anything that can distract you and go and study.When you start to do something,you will be successful,if you commit it to God.
If you want to succeed in whatever you do,you got to have the discipline,the willingness,the heart to do it.And you must have the actions,not just words.Philippians4:13 does not require you to do everything,just something.You only have to start doing something,anything,and then you will be closer to success.This promise does not just apply to what you can do or what you are good at doing,it applies even to the things you might not think you are good at doing.You can do everything through Christ who gives you strength,not just what you are good at,but everything.Only thing is,you got to start preparing for that something you want to do.Or this promise holds no power.
Friends if you want to succeed then you better start having actions.All talk and no action will get you nowhere.Not even if you strongly believe in the promise.Don't take God for granted.God is not a genie.When you start preparing for that success,you are one step closer to your success.But you have to have faith as well.Faith that this promise holds true.It does,but only if you will do something,while believing that you can do everything through Christ who gives you strength.So go do whatever you need to do.Now.

Sheer Desperation

Matthew14:28 '"Lord,if it's you,"Peter replied,"tell me to come to the water."'

This simple verse may not seem like much,but it was a defining moment in the story of Jesus walking on water.What caused Peter to cry out to Jesus like this?Surely he could have just asked Jesus to enter the boat and calm the waves,end of story.So why did then did he do what he did?

I believe it was sheer desperation that caused Peter to cry out to Jesus.He was afraid of the waves crashing onto the boat he was in.Why then did he ask Jesus to call him to walk on water?I believe at this point of time,Peter realised that huamn force was not going to get him anywhere.He learned that he had to rely on the strength of Jesus to escape the waves.He was desperate for help.And so he cried out to Jesus.Peter wasn't testing Jesus.He was pleading with Jesus.Stepping out of the boat into the stormy sea wasn't a step of logic.It was a step of desperation.He went to Jesus during his time of need.He abandoned his boat of comfort and safety and ran to Jesus.And what happened?He walked on the water.It was as if the water had suddenly turned into a path of solid ground for him to walk on.And he was saved.

Friends today I want to put forward to you that in your times of need,you can truly turn to the King of kings for help,for strength,for safety,for deliverance.When you begin to let go of all your circumstances,all your comfort zones,all your understanding of your situation,and you just run to our Almighty God,you will be saved.Just like Peter did,I want to encourage you to never fail to run to God in your times of need.Let go of your situations,let go of your comfort zones,hold on to Jesus.When you need to get out of your comfort zone,get out.And you will see God's plan for you.Get out of your boat of comfort and be shaken by the waves of uncertainty,but hold on to your faith and you will see the waves subside before your very eyes.That's what happens when you run to Jesus.


I have never walked on water
Felt the waves beneath my feet but
At your Word Lord, I’ll receive Your
Faith to walk on oceans deep

And I remember how You found me
In that very same place
All my failing surely would've drowned me
But You made a way

You are my freedom
Jesus you’re the reason
I’m kneeling again at Your throne
Where would I be without You
Here in my life, here in my life

You have said that all the heavens
Sing for joy at one who finds
The way to freedom, truth of Jesus
Bought from death into His life

And I remember how You saw me
Through the eyes of Your grace
And though the cost was Your beloved for me
Still you made a way

Different time-zone

2Peter3:8-9 'But do not forget this one thing,dear friends:With the Lord a day is like a thousand years,and a thousand years are like a day.The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,as some understand slowness.He is patient with you,not wanting anyone to perish ,but everyone to come to repentance.'

I'm an action person.When I see a job that needs to be done,I find a way to get it done before others even realize there was a need.It drives me nuts when I see other people drag their feet when there should be action in a needful situation.So waiting on God who does not operate in the same time zone as I do has been very hard.(CAN I GET A WITNESS?)

When I read 2Peter3:9,I must admit that in my mind,I was arguing with apostle Paul.I felt that God was slow in nearly everything.He waits until our lowest point before revealing his power.He waits until the people we love are dead before he reveals that he is our comforter.He is slow in punishing the wicked.He sees the poor and the weak but does not stretch out his hand.He sees the homeless but does not provide.

But when I read the verse again,I realize the problem is not with God but with me.The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,as some understand slowness.My perception of when God should act is completely different from his.My view of the world is different from his.My view is from that of a carnal,a mortal whose understanding is limited.His is from that of being an eternal,Holy,all knowing God.

2Peter3:9 reveals that God and I have the same burden,that we want the lost to be saved.But my understanding of slowness is inaccurate.I have for most of my life felt that things should happen almost immediately.However,as I have gotten older,I have learned that most often that is not even possible.I have had to learn to be patient.I have had to wait on people to change.I have had to learn to wait on circumstances to become so difficult for people that they are forced to change their thinking so change could come.Change cannot and will come immediately.

2Peter3:8 teaches us that with the Lord a thousand years is like a day.Time is not something that God worries about.God does not make decisions based on the clock,calendar or length of men's lives.He is not in a hurry.He is patient.Time is not a factor for Him.It is for me.It is for you.But it is not for Him.Previously when I prayed,I asked that God would grant me my prayers ASAP,'God reveal to me now','God show me the direction now',but I have realized that God does not work that way.God who sees a thousand years as no different from a day is not going to reveal whatever I ask to me immediately.He does not operate within the elements of time or for the purpose of time.He only operates within the confines and boundaries of a redemptive purpose.2Peter 3:9 lets us know that his purpose is not timely, but redemptive.It only has to do with souls and spiritual maturity.If we have a lesson to learn by waiting,then He makes us wait.If we will grow spiritually or mature in our faith by His delay,then He delays.It really has nothing at all to do with our immediate physical needs.It has everything to do with where we are at in the redemptive process.

Moses spent 40 years in Pharaoh's court and schools of higher learning.Fow what?So that he could be a lonely shepard for the next 40 years.Moses was put into a place where he had to learn to wait on God and release all personal understanding of time.This was going to be absolutely necessary when he began leading the nation of Israel in the wilderness.Forty more years of waiting on God in the wilderness was going to be the result of his 40 years of waiting on God in the desert.God knew that the nation of Israel had to learn the same lesson of waiting on His timing and He needed Moses to lead the nation since he had already learned that lesson.Neither was God going to give them the promised land over night.Exodus23:28-29 tells us that He would not drive their enemies out in a single year,but rather little by little until they had increased enough to take the land.

The motive for God's delay has nothing to do with purposeful impediment. He is simply waiting on our maturity level to rise to a place where we can then take the land(revival, finances, etc).If God were to give us a thousand soul revivals in a year,we would lose most of them if we are not genuinely prepared to get them rooted to the church.That is why revival does not come easily.God is waiting for us to reach that level of spiritual maturity to take the land he has for us.

Friends,God's timing is not about time.It is about the redemptive process.When we are ready,it will come.He does not delay.He is not late.He is waiting on us.Therefore let us prepare Him an habitation.


When I'm down you are there for me
When I lay my head, you are there beside me
You are there for me when I'm lonely
You are there for me when I'm alone

Humbly I come to you
So gently You speak to me

I can't always hold on to the things of yesterday
Bring me something new
Maybe we can be together
I will always come running back to you

You are holy
You are worthy
Lord you're always faithful to me
I will wait on you Lord

Confidence

Hebrews 4:16 'Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.'

Hebrews 13:6 'So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" '

1John5:14 '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.'

Hebrews 10:19-23 'Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.'

These are some of the verses which I held on to during my recent examinations.Now what is the common thing in these verses?CONFIDENCE.Friends today what is your confidence based on?Is it besed on your friends?is it based on your results?Is it based on your looks?Or is your confidene based on God himself?

Let us look at king Hezekiah's life in 2Chronicles32.In this chapter king of Assyria threatens to invade Jerusalem,which was under king Hezekiah at that time.As I wasreading through this chapter,verse10 caught my eye.'This is what Sennacherib king of Assyria says:On what are you basing your confidence,that you may remain in Jerusalem under siege?' On what are you basing your confidence? What was king Hezekiah's response to the king of assyria?Nothing.Absolute silence.King Hezekiah did not reply.He didn't have to.He knew his position in God.So what did he do? v20'King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this.' King Hezekiah had confidence in God.He didn't have to go out to the battlefield to rebutt king of Assyria,he simply went and cried out to God.In fact the bible records that he didn't keep his confidence to himself.He went and instructed the people based on his confidence for God. v7-8 '"Be strong and courageous.Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him,for there is a greater power with us than with him.With him is only the arm of flesh,but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said. King Hezekiah did not keep his confidence to himself.He went to instruct the people based on his confidence in God.And the people gained confidence from what he said.And what did God do? v21-22 'And the Lord sent an angel,who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king.So he withdraw to his own land in disgrace.And when he went into the temple of his god,some of his sons cut him down with the sword.So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others.He took care of them on every side.

Friends today what is your confidence based on?
If it is not in God then I want to encourage you to pray now and repent,because God wants you to base your confidence in him.When you base your confidence in God you will be truly successful.Your battles may not be real physical battles,but you are fighting a battle of your own,then remember this.'With him is only the arm of flesh,but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.' When you have confidence in God you can be confident that he will fight for you,and you will have victory.
If you know your confidence is in God,then I want to encourage you not to keep that confidence to yourself.Spread it to others.Share it with them and let them gain confidence in God.When all the people of Jerusalem had confidence in God,God saved all of them.They didn't even have to do anything.God could have just saved king Hezekiah alone,but he didn't do that,because all the people of Jerusalem had confidence in him,and so he saved all of them.Friends if you want your friends to be saved then you start sharing your confidence in God with them.

Ephesians3:12 'In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.'


Your eye is on the sparrow
And Your hand, it comforts me
From the ends of the earth
To the depths of my heart
Let Your mercy and strength be seen

You call me to Your purpose
As angels understand
For Your glory
May You draw all men
As Your love and grace demands

And I will run to You
To Your words of truth
Not by might, not by power
But by the Spirit of God
Yes, I will run the race
'Til I see Your face
Oh, let me live in the glory of Your Grace

Hard Teachings

John6:60-68 'On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?"
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit[a] and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."

66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.

67"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.

68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.'



I believe this was a defining moment in Jesus' ministry.The bible records for us that on that day Jesus lost 60 disciples(could have been more).What happened?Well,in the previous passage,Jesus taught his disciples a rather hard teaching,and many of them found it very difficult to accept.Hence,they left,except the twelve whom Jesus had personally appointed.Why did Jesus preach a hard to accept teaching when he knew many of his disciples would later desert him?Surely he knew that they were going to leave once he had finished preaching!Surely he knew!But why did Jesus still choose to preach it?Let us find out.Jesus knew he would lose his disciples,but Jesus also knew discipleship is not a numbers game.That is the trap many of us fall into.We think christianity is a numbers game!But Jesus proves it is not.I believe Jesus wanted his disciples' faith not to be built on just nice-to-hear teachings,he wanted his diciples to build their faith on hard-to-accept messages as well.
Today in the world many churches are found guilty of playing the numbers game.They are afraid of teaching hard messages for fear of losing their members.They preach messages that are attractive to the earthly nature,look at their attendances and then grin at the incresing numbers.But is that what God wants?No,definitely not!Yes,God wants us to get more people saved,but that does nto mean compromising on the messages!Because if we are going to build our faith on just 'attractive' messages,our faith is going to collapse when the enemy attacks,because we have been accustomed to accepting 'attractive' messages that do not shake our faith,that does not build up our faith in fear and trambling.
The man who builds his house on sand is not going to have a house once the waves come.Sand is fine and comfortable to build on,but it cannot be the foundation of the house.The man who builds his house on coarse rock would not be afraid of the waves,because his house would not collapse.Rock is hard and uncomfortable to build on,but it is the most suitable foundation on which to build a house.
While building up the numbers is important,building up the spirit is even more so.God is not looking at our numbers,God is looking at our spirits.
This is not just for the people who are teaching.This meassage is also for all of you out there who have been called to encourage and rebuke each other in love.I know for many of us it is relatively easy to give encouragement,but when it comes to rebuking we tend to shrink away a little bit,for fear of how it may affect the other person.But friends today stop being afraid of rebuking,because if you want your friend to grow,there are some necessary times when you have to rebuke the other person in love.I know there are a lot of you who may find this difficult to do,because you love your friends too much to point out their flaws and tell them their mistakes.And I want to encourage you to step up and when it is necessary,rebuke your friends,with love.Because if you want your friends to grow,not just in numbers,you have to point them the right direction.Initially your friends may take it offensively and may steer clear of you for a while,but when they begin to see that you mean well,i tell you,not only will they come back to you,more will follow,because they will see that you are a true friend who is there for them,to encourage and to correct them.But you,as well,must stay teachable and allow others to correct you as well.
Friends we must always remember that we are not in a numbers game.Never in the Word of God is it recorded that it is a numbers game.

While the 60 disciples or so left,twelve remained.And Simon summed it up perfectly.
v68-69 '8Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." ' The twelve disciples' faith stood strong when the others failed to do so.It may be hard teaching but it is words of eternal life.

Preachers never be afraid of teaching hard messages.
Friends never be afraid to rebuke when it is necessary.



Here I am, Oh God
I bring this sacrifice--my open heart.
I offer up my life.
I look to You, Lord
Your love that never ends
Restores me again

So I lift my eyes to you, Lord
In Your strength will I break through, Lord
Touch me now, let your love fall down on me
And I will be complete in You.

Here I am, Oh God
I bring this sacrifice--my open heart.
I offer up my life.
I look to You, Lord.
Your love that never ends
Restores me again

So I lift my eyes to you Lord
And by faith, I will walk on, Lord
Then I'll see beyond my calvary one day,
And I will be complete in..

I look to You, Lord
Your love that never ends
Restores me again

So I lift my eyes to you Lord
In your strength will I break through Lord
Touch me now, let your love fall down on me
I know your love dispels all my fears.

Through the storm I will hold on Lord
And I pray I will hold on, Lord
Then I'll see beyond my calvary one day
And I will be complete in
I will be complete in
I will be complete in You