Value of a soul

Many a times, we as believers tend to be so consumed about our own affairs that the agenda of 'Reaching-Out', 'Evangelism', 'Connecting with Others', 'Sharing Christ' etc. seems to be diffusing away or simply swept under the carpet of a "its all about me" culture. To me, I am convicted that our desire to grow spiritually and walk with God is just as important as our hunger to see lives coming into the kingdom of God. Actually, by default, if we're close enough with God, that intimacy will stir up the PASSION in us to go and find lost souls.

The HEART OF EVANGELISM is really all about the value of a soul. Just like the parable of the lost sheep. Luke 15:6-7 " Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep which was lost. ⁷Thus, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one [especially] wicked person who repents (changes his mind, abhorring his errors and misdeeds, and determines to enter upon a better course of life) than over ninety-nine righteous persons who have no need of repentance." Indeed, there is always a joyous celebration over the one 'lost' sheep that has been found, pointing to the repentance of an unbeliever, receiving salvation.  Jesus said in Hebrews 12:2 that "...for the JOY set before him....he endured the cross..." Everything that Jesus did on the cross was for the JOY that one day, lost souls will find its way back to the Father.   

God has given us all a COMMON ministry, not the ones some of us may be in now, like Creative ministries, Kids ministries, Carecell ministries and so on. It is the "Ministry of Reconciliation" as said in 2 Corinthians 5. This is the most important ministry that God has entrusted each one of us with. A question to ask ourselves is, "How are we managing this ministry?" , "Is the ministry alive and active?", "Are we taking ownership" of this ministry?". It is written, we''re all Christ's ambassadors and God has committed to us this message of reconciliation. We are called "Fishers of Men".... but are we constantly and consistently taking our nets, our fishing lines out in the open sea to do our fishing? The dangerous thing is that we believers become so comfortable in our walk with God, so consumed by our own agendas that we forgotten the agenda of God and lost the compassion for LOST SOULS, LOST SHEEP out in the world.


Whenever Jesus saw the crowds of lost souls, his heart will be filled with compassion. We need to ask God to fill our hearts with compassion, for us to see every individual out there without the love of God as sheep without Shepard, wondering around directionless, looking for love, hope and purpose. I like the lyrics of this song Hosanna from Hillsongs, especially the bridge:

Heal my heart and make it clean 

Open up my eyes to the things unseen

Show me how to love like you have loved me

 Break my heart from what breaks yours

Everything I am for your kingdoms cause

As I go from nothing to Eternity

What a powerful set of lyrics. These words are really anointed and I believe, whoever that wrote the lyrics must have encountered the very heart of God. These words above is a reminder for each one of us to continue to "love others" just like how God loves you.... "The great commandment..."; a reminder for each one of us to have that heart of compassion, to take the burden of how God is feeling for each lost soul...."The great commission..." and that I hope that this line can be a prayer for every believer out there that "Everything I am, is for your kingdoms cause.....that my life is lived to see your kingdom come...." Amen.


*The Church of Jesus Christ is not a pleasure boat, but a lifeboat for saving souls. 
(Reinhard Bonnke)

GINOSKO

Some of you may be already wondering what in the world am I going to share in this post... Well... the word above is in Greek and it reads "Ginosko", which also means "know". And the definition of that word is to learn to know; to perceive; to get a knowledge of, to feel, to become acquainted with etc. This is a very interesting word when you begin to understand it from the different verses found in the bible. I am sure all of us here want to know God, or at least, some of you may be thinking, "I have received Salvation, of course I know God" or maybe some may think, "ever since I was saved, I have been trying to get to know God"...

So my question is, "What does it mean to know God and how do you go about doing it?" Do I just pick up a book from the Christian bookshop e.g. the one on the right here and read it from the first page to the last and then "BOOM", here we go! I 'KNOW' God! The answer is of course 'Noooooooooooooooo!!!' Knowing God takes more than reading a book or sitting in a church service on Sunday or even going to a carecell group every week. The word 'ginosko' refers to a Progressive, Growing, Intimate Relationship with someone... and knowing God is a journey where you begin to build an intimate relationship with Him, becoming more & more & more & more (and it goes on) deeply acquainted with God. This journey will definitely take you a lifetime! The bible says in John 17:3 "Now this is eternal life: that they may know (ginosko) you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent..." and eternal life starts from now till eternity and the reason why we all have eternal life, is so that we can continue getting to know God more and more and because we were created to have this intimate relationship with Him! Isn't that wonderful that God wants us to know Him so much?


Some of you might ask, "How intimate is intimate?" Well... lets look at this verse where the word is used again....In the King James version, Genesis 4:1 it says "And Adam knew (ginosko) Eve his wife; and she conceived..." Wow! I am sure you get the whole picture of what I mean... definitely not so much in the physical intimacy but in the whole idea of how intimate a husband and wife can be! They spend time together almost all the time, they share about everything under the sun, they allow themselves to be vulnerable to each other, they laugh, cry, smile, rest together, they shop, sleep, cook, exercise together, they communicate with each other, they also at times vent their anger at each and so on! Basically, there is a progression in getting to know the your partner more and more, through doing life together, involving each other in your own life! This is also called 'Experiential Learning', something I do with my pupils in school a lot where they get the subject knowledge through the hands-on experiences.

Similarly, as a believer, knowing God is the SAME!! You need to go through experiences with God, dare to take risk with Him, dare to ask, seek & knock, dare to know Him through obedience, through submission, through surrender! It gotta be this way, and no other way. And knowing Him gotta be your top most priority in life, daily reaching out to Him, just like how Paul shares about this area in the book of Philippians. I like how it is said in the Amplified version in Phil 3:
"Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One)..."

Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship, a real relationship with a living God, one who loves us so much that He willing to sacrifice His only begotten Son in order for us to have the access to know (ginosko) Him personally in an intimate way... That is the good news, and when we receive salvation, that is free! But discipleship and getting to know God is a journey and a price has to be paid like what Paul said that "even if he loses everything", its worth it if he can know Christ better... There is always ups and downs, mountains and valley experiences in life and knowing God means that He is involved in every of those circumstances. "You haven't really know God if He has not been there for you; you haven't really know Him if you have not yet testify that He is faithful in your life..." (Joyce Meyer)


If you sense in your heart that something is urging you to respond, make a commitment to 'ginosko' God, and make space in your life for that to happen. How close you want to be from God depends on how much you desire to draw close to Him to know Him. Start knowing Him NOW!

The Priestly Blessing

It was indeed not by chance that my previous post was about being a blessing. 2 days ago during my church's monthly prayer meeting, Pastor Dominic led us through a prayer session by using the some verses in the book of Numbers in the bible about blessing others through a prayer model called the "Priestly Blessing". Just a little sharing with you all about what I've learnt and what God spoke to me...

"May the Lord bless you and keep you...

...make his face shine up on you...

...be gracious to you...

...turn his face toward you...

...give you peace..." 

[Numbers 6:22-26] (NIV)

I believe that being a blessing to others is an honour and privilege that God has given to each one of us and praying a prayer of blessing is definitely one of the ways to bless someone. Above is a powerful prayer you can bless your friend, loved ones, family members and most powerfully your enemies with. 

Every time you have the opportunity to bless others, in whatever ways possible, we are in fact in partnership with God in many many mysterious yet amazing ways. When we bless, we:

1. Release the well-being of God into the lives of the receiver...
2. Release the grace of God into the lives of the receiver..

Just want to touch a bit on the second point about grace. God's grace is indeed sufficient for all of us believers as promised in 2 Cor 12:9 , and this grace is meant for all and accessible to all. My point is that even though God's grace is sufficient for us, it can also be overflowed through us to touch other lives. We can be an instrument of God's grace through our availability to be a blessing to others. Hebrews 12:15 says "See to it that no one misses the grace of God" and it simply means that we got a huge part to play in God's kingdom in making sure that no one is left out of God's generosity and blessings!!


Therefore, go release that well-being and grace into the lives of others by praying this prayer of blessing. Praying that the Lord will "keep you", refers to God's covering, protection, His care over you; praying that "his face shine on you", "turning towards you" refers to God being pleased with you, smiling at you, showering His favour upon your life and turning His affection on you - You're the apple of God's eye! Praying that "God be gracious" and to "give you peace" refers to the fact that we need God's grace in all that we do so that we can be in that state of righteousness, walking in the right path and that positions us to have the peace of God!


In Romans 13:8 says "Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another", and a very good place to start loving is to begin blessing another first with a prayer. The verse mentioned 'love one another', meaning that no one should be exceptionally left out. The verse also mentioned 'continuing' meaning that we should allow ourselves to always, consistently and constantly be a blessing wherever we go, wherever God places us. Amen.

Blessed to be a GREATER blessing

Genesis 12:1-3

"...I will make you....I will bless you...you will be a blessing...all people will be blessed through you..."

Have you ever wondered why God choses to bless you? Have you ever thought of all the things that God blessed you with? Have you ever look at what is in your 'hands' at this season or junction in your life? In James 1:17 it says "Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven"(MSG), and indeed nothing that you have is not from God. 

Pastor Dowdy shared in her sermon 2 Sundays ago that God Position us, for a Purpose so that the Prosperity of God will be ushered to all His people. What a powerful statement to bring us believers back to source of focus on the blessor, not so much the blessing. Remember that behind every blessing, there is a blessor and He is none other than our Heavenly Father.

There is always a greater purpose for the blessings we receive and as we learn to usher and channel that blessing to others in order for God's Name to be glorified, then only God will ensure the sustainability of that blessing in our life. Just like a car being purchased here in Singapore; seldom does one use it forever. Although one owns it, but after 3-4 years, he/she sells it away. Likewise, as a child of God, knowing that we're living for eternity, we are "Owners of none but Stewards of all". Everything that God has given to us is to allow us to take ownership of it and to almost always put it into 'GOOD' use for the glory of God. 

Blessedness is always a test of our stewardship in Christ and as you learn to be a willing vessel for God to use to be a blessing to others in terms of your time, words, actions, finances etc., then God will definitely pour out His blessings upon your life. Just like that little seedling lying in the hands of an individual in the picture above: whether it  can grow and ultimately bear fruit will be highly dependent on where it is placed and how much care is being showered upon it. Seemingly, God have blessed each one of us with much today and the question to reflect upon is:

1) Where are we placing the blessings ?

2) How are we stewarding our blessings?

As a believer of Christ, think of how we can steward our blessings, big or small, in our lives so that people can experience the grace, hope and unconditional love of God through us. Let's be sure of our position in Christ that we are blessed to be a much greater blessing for God!