FEELING EMPTY?

TEXT: Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

MEDITATION:

What drives your life? What is your ultimate concern in life?

The lavish lifestyles of the rich and famous really amaze me. I hope you know Elvis Presley; the rock n roll superstar of the 60’s.

It is noted that he followed after, not only materials, but sensuality of all kind. And in his hey-day it is said that $5 million was his yearly income. Five million dollars, now that was a wee while ago. And in his first two years of stardom he had an overturn of $100 million. It is said of him that he had three jets, he had two Cadillacs, he had a Rolls-Royce, he had a Lincoln Continental, a Buick and a Chrysler station wagon, a Jeep, a dune buggy, a converted bus and three motorbikes. His most favourite car was the famous 1960 Cadillac Limousine model. The top of it was veneered and covered in pearl, literal pearl, white veneer. The body all around it was sprayed with forty coats of specially prepared paint that included within it crushed diamonds and fish-scales. Nearly all the metal trimmings around that car were plated in 18-carat gold. Inside the car there were two gold covered telephones; a gold vanity case containing a gold electric razor, gold hair-clippers, electric shoe-buffer; a gold-plated television; a record player; an amplifier; air-conditioning and a refrigerator that was capable of making ice in two minutes solid.

Whew! But what amazes me most is that in spite of the fortune these rich and famous have, it is quite obvious that all of them crave for” something” to fill their life. Like Elvis, all of them first tried to fill the longings of their flesh hoping that one day that satisfaction will come; that vacuum in their life will be filled. Then one day, after many years of indulging in all sensuality, he was found dead in his bathroom soaked in his own vomit. The real cause of death, a cocktail of ten prescribed drugs, taken in doses no doctor would prescribe.

In our beatitude for today, Jesus message is simple; your life will be filled if you hunger and thirst for righteousness. That empty space in our life is in the realm of our spirit that only God can fill. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4, "It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”, Jesus is telling us that above anything else we must not forget to take the Word of God to nourish our life that is why He also said in John 6:63 “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing.”

AGAIN MAY I ASK, WHAT IS YOUR ULTIMATE CONCERN IN LIFE? I PRAY THAT TODAY YOU MAY REALIZE, LIKE WHAT JESUS SAID, THE LONGINGS OF OUR FLESH “COUNTS FOR NOTHING.” BY “FLESH” I MEAN ALL THE LONGINGS OF OUR PHYSICAL SENSES. IT WILL LEAD YOU TO NOTHING; IT WON’T FILL YOUR LIFE. WHILE ON EARTH THE LORD WILL FILL ALL OUR NEEDS IF WE WILL TRUST HIM BUT ABOVE ALL, GOD WILL FILL OUR LIFE WITH TRUE JOY AND HAPPINESS IF WE HUNGER FOR HIM AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS.

DO YOU FEEL EMPTY TODAY? WELL, COME TO JESUS RIGHT NOW, HURRY!

Smile :)

Ptr Roger

DO YOU WANT POWER?

TEXT: Mark 12:22 "Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"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. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

MEDITATION:

As a kid I frequented the house of my aunt in our barangay since she was the only one who has TV at that time and why, because of “Batman and Superman”. Those superheroes captivated me so much and many used to see me wearing a cloth tied around my neck to mimic Batman or Superman running, shouting and jumping from trees, windows and fences, chasing imaginary enemies and crushing them down. Oh the rush of having incredible power!!!

I guess you can relate to what I am saying because if there is one thing that man longs for, it is “power”. How we wish we have that awesome power acquiring anything at the flip of our fingers. Christians are no exemption and many, when they came to know the Lord and read the text above, desire to have that power in the form of “faith that can move mountains”.

One thing for sure, Jesus is not enticing us to desire incredible power. His desire is that we may come to that “state” of having a 100% assurance of God’s will. You see, I am sure many Christians believe that with God nothing is impossible; it is not the problem . The problem is, thoughts like, “will He do it, will He do it to me, will He do it to me NOW”. When someone is sick, he believes that God can heal and that is too easy for Him but the question to the sick person is, “is He willing to heal me” or “maybe God send this as punishment or a form of trial to my faith”. You see, as always, the enemy of faith is doubt or confusion. The word faith simply means 100% assurance. If faith is present in your heart then you are 100% assured that the things in the future are yours already. As Morris Cerullo defined it, he said, “faith is like saying, I know that I know that I know that I know that it will happen”. Our heart is like a garage that can only park one car. If faith is parked then doubt is outside and rest assured that if doubt is parked, faith is not there.

HOW CAN YOU HAVE THAT 100% ASSURANCE WHICH WE CALLED FAITH?

1. FAITH COMES AS A GIFT

Smith Wigglesworth was an evangelist gifted by God with incredible ministry of signs and wonder. One day his friend died and after he prayed he went to the church where his friend was laid in a coffin. He entered the church in an unusual way, singing loudly and greeting peoples around like a politician in a campaign. As he reached the coffin where his friend was lying he grabbed his dead friends’ coffin and slammed it into a wall and shouted, “In Jesus name you come to life!” Nothing happened and so he shouted again and did it seven times and after a while his dead friend moved and was brought back to life! How did he do that? Well God said so! Smith was so assured that he heard the voice of God telling him to bring back his friend to life. And I am very sure that if God will tell me or you to do the same thing then WE CAN DO IT TOO! Why? That is a manifestation of “faith imparted as a gift!” You will be assured by God that it is His will to bring back to life that dead person, otherwise, you cannot just go to the burial of someone and grab the dead’s neck and tell him to come to life because you are doomed for embarrassment. (Well I am sure you just can’t do that “mission impossible thing” through your guts alone, hmmm...can you?).

2. FAITH COMES AS A FRUIT.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Faith also comes to a Christian as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. What does it mean? Like a tree, a Christian will soon bear in his life these nine Godly characters which are called fruits. One of these is faith. The Holy Spirit is like a gardener to a Christian. As a Christian feed his life with word of God then the Holy Spirit put the desire and the capability to do the will of God. As the Christian hear and obey God through His word then it will result IN a deep knowledge of who God is and what are His wills. You will also be sensitive to the voice of God and yes there can be manifestations of miracles too.

One night after our church prayer meeting, a mother with her adult daughter came to my house. The mother said, “pastor masakit ang tiyan ng anak ko eh ikaw lang ang bumili ng kendi sa tindahan kanina. “Palalawayan” ko sana sa iyo kasi sigurado akong nausog mo siya”. As a pastor, I know such practice is evil and a deception, but here, an old woman with a daughter holding out her stomach screaming from pain is asking you for a small amount of your saliva!!! I did a shotgun prayer and said, “Lord anu gagawin ko dito?” Then the Lord instantly reminded me to stand on the truth and just pray for deliverance. Then I said to the old woman who kept on insisting for “my saliva”, “nanay, kung laway ang talagang kelangan ng anak mo eh kahit isang tabong laway ko bibigyan kita, pero hindi po ako naniniwala diyan. Ipapanalangin ko po siya sa Diyos at siya ay gagaling”. Disappointed, the old woman looked at me sadly and said, “bahala ka,…laway lang eh…”. So I instantly prayed a very short prayer of deliverance and that the Lord fulfills His word and then the daughter suddenly exclaimed, “nanay, biglang nawala sakit!” Yes, she was instantly healed and they went home that night happily I was so happy too because after I stand in faith on the truth of God’s word miracles happened.

Faith as a fruit also manifests in a life of righteousness, peace and joy. Only a person who knows well that  everything is possible to God can truly live a life of peace and joy.

FAITH ASSURES YOU, DOUBT CONFUSES YOU. WHICH OF THESE TWO DOMINATES YOUR HEART? IF DOUBT DOMINATES YOUR HEART, IT’S JUST A SIGN THAT MANY WONDERFUL THINGS ABOUT GOD ARE STILL HIDDEN FROM YOUR HEART. READ YOUR BIBLE MORE; SEEK HIS FACE MORE! AND IF YOU HUMBLY ADMIT THAT YOU STILL DON’T HAVE FAITH, WELL THERE IS GOOD NEWS; FAITH COMES!

Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God”.

Smile :)

Ptr Roger