stuck

Definition:

-an immovable state, the stationery phase, no progress nor regress.

*Have you ever felt stuck in your walk with Christ?

*Do you feel stuck in your pursuit of the Lord Jesus?

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Some say it’s normal to fall back a little or feel stuck but I fail to believe that. I don’t agree with this ideology because man’s original habitat was the garden ( Genesis 2:8). In this garden, man had fellowship with the Father continuously, fuelling a greater relationship between the two parties. So the original plan was for God and man to commune frequently to enhance their relationship. Nothing about “ falling back” or “ being stagnant” was ever intended. These ideologies only came about because of the fall of man. Man decided to yield authority to the devil ( Genesis 3:13),allowing him to dictate our steps, if we allow him. One way he has dictated our steps is by forming this ideology.

However,

Even if you find yourself “ stuck”, in terms of your walk with Jesus, you have another chance to run back to the loving arms of the Father ( story of the prodigal son ,Luke 15:11-32) . But the main point is that don’t be comfortable when “ stuck”.

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How to change states

As most of us may probably know, when it comes to Chemistry, in order to change a substance from solid to liquid or liquid to gas, heat must be applied. This gives the particles freedom and they’re no longer “ stuck”.

It’s the same principle in our relationship with Jesus. We need some heat to break our bonds and ties to this world and its pleasures. In the same way heat grants freedom for the particles, heat frees us from numerous bondages and chains.

What is heat?

Heat ,as we know, is produced by fire. In Acts 2:3, tongues of fire appear on all those whom the Spirit of God rested upon. Thus, the Holy Spirit is the fire: the Holy Ghost produces the heat that prevents us from being stuck.

Essentially, allowing the Holy Spirit into your heart will free you, in the same way applying heat to substances allows it to change states.

But it isn’t as simple as it seems. Our hearts aren’t mere rooms with a simple door which can be easily opened or closed. Rather, the heart can be said to be a complex which houses the desires and pleasures of a person.

Now, the trick to allowing the Holy Spirit into your heart is by surrendering all. The HOLY Spirit is holy, meaning that He can only reside where His nature is evident or accepted. When our hearts are leaning towards the pleasures of the world, He cannot rest there or find comfort there because it contradicts His nature. However, when we surrender all to Jesus, we make room for the Holy Spirit to come in and rest. Also, we give Him permission to work on us and take out ( of our hearts) whatever doesn’t look like Jesus.

It’s my sincere prayer that you never feel stuck in your Christian walk in Jesus’ name.

God is a faithful God so even in your “ stuck” season, He will still reveal Himself to you, hoping that you would ask for a fresh wind to blow within your spirit. However, it’s up to you to respond to that call and receive His invitation. ( a perfect example is Peter: after denying Jesus 3 times in Luke 22:54-62, the Lord kept on reminding Peter of how they were together through the people who told Peter he was with Jesus).

Hope you enjoyed this week’s message. Can’t wait to tell you something next week!

The Joy of Intercession

:Intercession

-in this context, the act of praying on behalf of another party ( i.e. person, country, institution etc.).

"story" time

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For the longest time, the Lord had placed someone on my heart to pray for. Once in a while, I would pray for this person :for their salvation and for them to experience the love of God and His presence. I did not pray for this person often but when it was time for intercession, this name will always pop up in my head and I knew it was the Holy Spirit pushing me to pray for this person.

I am not really acquainted with this person so it was hard to know if any changes had happened in their spiritual life. I still prayed and ask God to move one way or the other.

Then...

One glorious night, I physically saw growth in this individual’s spiritual life and it brought joy to my soul. Seeing a loved one surrender to Christ, almost brought tears to my eyes.

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God hears us. He’s listening and that’s what’s so beautiful about Him. How does it make sense that a perfect God would pay so much attention to us, mere mortals who might sin against Him again and again. Isn’t it crazy how God heard my cry, even though I didn’t even take it seriously?

If the Lord says intercede for someone, do so wholeheartedly because the joy after seeing results births indescribable joy. Also, the salvation/deliverance of a party could be fuelled by your prayers.

Intercession allows the Lord to reveal things to us beforehand. In Isaiah 52:8, the Word speaks on how the watchmen jubilate because they see the Lord returning to Jerusalem. As watchmen, as we intercede, the Lord starts revealing to us how He is entering people’s situations; He starts to reveal to us how He’s about to move in the near future.

"Who is the Lord asking you to pray for?"

Quick reminder: Never think that those deeper in the faith don’t need interceding.

||What garment shall we wear?||

It’s that time of the year again where we’ve stocked up all our Black Friday shopping and are cautiously picking the best outfit for each “ end of year” event.

As a gentleman/lady, you always want to look good and elegant. However, sometimes this gets out of control and gives the flesh room to bear awful fruits such as greed, selfish ambition etc. ( Galatians 5:19-21). During this season, we find ourselves putting on the wrong garments and portraying ourselves as people whom God did not call. We start allowing the flesh to dictate our every step and start to find ourselves slowly slipping back into the devil’s ways.

It’s hard to face this reality but it’s the truth.

I believe that in this season, the Lord is not speaking on actual attire, rather the character traits we wear as garments.

The first festive garment we should adorn ourselves with is

• A garment of gratitude . In Philippians 4:6, Paul urges us to always be grateful when asking the Lord for anything. We must house a grateful heart within ourselves and adopt the spirit of remembrance, which would allow us to reflect on the goodness of the Lord throughout the year.

• A garment of praise . In Isaiah 61:3, the prophet urges those in Zion to wear this garment because joy is coming, restoration is on its way. People usually praise because something good has happened but as Christians, our praise shouldn’t be dependent on a circumstance, rather on a person and His name is Jesus.

There are many other garments one can put on this festive season but these are two highlighted this week.

*why the word garment?

:- a garment is a piece of clothing that essentially covers the entire body.

So when we say wear a garment of praise, that is all we should see about you ( i.e. all you do is praise God)