Dr Johann Melchizedek Peter

The test of Job is that we do not love or serve God just because of what God can give us or do for us. Although this test is in the Old Testament, it still applies in the New Testament because the standards of the New Testament are much, much higher. Though the devil no longer occupies the same position as he did before Jesus went to the cross, for all authority and power has been stripped from him at Jesus cross and resurrection, our Father God still deserves a love greater than Job could have given Him. Our Father God has given so much more to us in the New Covenant and our Lord Jesus has revealed so much more to us, and done so much more for us than all of the Old Covenant saints. It is logical to assume that despite all the changes in the victory of Jesus over the devil and his cohorts, and the changes that are wrought for mankind through the sacrifice of Jesus at the cross and His resurrection, and all that has changed in heaven through the blood of the Lamb, that God is the same God who requires that our love and service for Him in the New Testament is on par with the Old Testament and even greater than what the Old Testament requires.

In our present-day culture where Christians live in grace and expect a lot of interventions from God in their personal prosperity and health, can we still find those who will love God outside of these benefits? God forbade and it will never occur again with Jesus’ sacrifice for us, but should God apply another test of Job to modern Christians, would He still find those who love Him for who He is? Even in the New Testament, the requirement to be a disciple of Jesus is far above anything in the Old Testament. Are there many true disciples of our Lord Jesus still? Or are most Christians just in for a ticket to heaven and ride on God’s benefits? I am sure there are good true disciples of Jesus present today but that number must increase until the whole world feels the might of those who love and follow our Lord Jesus unreservedly.

The three Hebrew young men who chose not to bow to idols at the risk of their own lives, are examples of how they love God even if they die. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego believed that God was able to save them from the fiery furnace, but they said that even if God does not deliver them, they will still not bow to idols, choosing instead to love God unto death (Daniel 3:16-18). They received one of the greatest miracles in the Old Testament when God saved them from the fiery furnace (Daniel 3:26-27).

Job lived in the time before Abraham when the world had grown past the flood, the parting of the earth into continents, the Tower of Babel, and where unrighteousness was still increasing before the call of Abraham. Despite the evil present around him, he sought to be upright and walk with God blamelessly (Job 1:1). He had seven sons and three daughters and was one of the richest and greatest man in the East (Job 1:2-3). It was God who pointed out to the devil that there is none like Job in all the earth (Job 1:8). If Job had lived after the days of Peleg and the dividing of the earth, then he would have been a contemporary of Abraham, as shown in the chart below. He could have been around 70 years old when he was tested and then went on to live another 70 years, but this is only an assumption.

(extracted from viz.bible with approximate Job timeline added)

Through two recorded dialogues of the devil with God, Job was brought through various tests to prove the integrity of his love for God (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7). The first test of Job involved removing all of his wealth (7000, 3000 camels, 500 oxen, 500 female donkeys). He was probably the wealthiest man in the East. In one day, Job’s properties were raided and stolen by the Sabeans, burnt by fire from the sky, raided and stolen by the Chaldeans. All his servants were killed with only three to report what had happened (Job 1:14-17). The suffering and loss of all possessions and assets, reduced to bankruptcy, is a pain only those who have gone through it would know. The suffering of poverty, going without food, clothing and shelter is only properly understood when one is in such a position. Many people give up their integrity, their dignity, their morality for food, clothing, shelter and money. Hunger and poverty can drive a person to extreme methods and many compromises. Only those who hold their integrity and uprightness to the end would rather die than give up their righteousness and obedience to God’s laws.

The second test of Job involved his loss of all his loved ones, except his wife. In one day, Job lost all his seven sons and three daughters (Job 1:18). Many people who loses a loved one, a family member, a son or a daughter have never recovered from their grieve. Many also gave up their faith in God and their holding on to the laws of righteousness that they live by when they suffer such personal loss. Even Aaron the high priest found it hard to perform when he lost two sons in one day (Leviticus 10:19-20). Job tore his clothes, shaved his head in mourning and grief, fell to the ground in deep anguish, yet he worshipped God (Job 1:20). He declared that all things came from God, all that he had, all that he loved, everything came from God and he did not sin nor charge God with any wrong (Job 1:20-22).  How many of us would survived losing ten children in one day and still chose to worship God? It definitely is a sacrifice of worship filled with tears and sorrow, yet of total surrender to God who doesn’t always explain what He is doing. It involves complete trust and faith in a good God who will not let those who love Him suffer or be tempted beyond what they are able to. Job’s character strength must have been quite strong for God to allow him the sufferance of total bankruptcy and total and complete loss of all children. No grief or sorrow would have cried enough tears to comfort Job in the natural and in the soul. Yet his spirit was determined to love God, worship God and trust God implicitly.

The third test of Job was when he loss all of his health and suffered one of the most painful ailments: boils from the sole of his feet to the top of his head. It was painful, nauseating, and so unbearable that Job has to take a potsherd (a piece or shard of clay vessel) to scrub himself while he sat in the ashes mourning. And this is some time after he had already suffered bankruptcy and the loss of all his ten children. The funeral services were well over, the need to rebuild himself financially was impendent on him. He needed all his strength and encouragement to pull through and rebuild himself, yet on top of this came the loss of all his strength and health. No more wealth, no more health! Such is the predicament of Job! Would he still love God? Would he still trust God? Would he still serve God?

And just when he was struck in such a manner that he had no more strength, such that he must have wished to die, the fourth test occurred, in God using his own wife to encourage him to give up on God and curse God and die (Job 2:9-10). Job was already fighting the battle without, now he must fight the battle within. There is no greater need for a man when he is down to have his own loved ones support him. In this, Job found no one but God. Nowhere do we see anyone encourage him or support him until Elihu the fourth friend turned up. Probably this was the moment to die as Job probably had nothing else to live for in the natural. Yet he chose to live for God, accepting God as a good God in adversity or in prosperity (Job 2:10).

Three of his friends who came to see him saw such great grief in Job that they kept silent for seven days but just was present with him (Job 2:11-13). They truly came to comfort him and wept and cried with him. But in the end, they also became a fifth test of Job when they began to try to analyse what happened and allude it to Job’s integrity and secret sin. Eliphaz implied that God blesses the righteous and if Job is suffering such curses, it is possible that he had been unrighteous (Job 5:2-6). He said that Job was being “corrected by God” (Job 5:17). Bildad hinted that “God is judging Job” and he might have sinned against God (Job 8:1-6). According to Bildad, Job’s loss of abundance and blessings implied that he was an evildoer (Job 8:6, 20). Zophar told Job to repent for his “wickedness and sins” (Job 11:1-3, 11-15). Eliphaz points to Job’s iniquity and craftiness (Job 15:5, 10). He implied that Job must be a “wicked man” for the destroyer has taken his health and his prosperity (Job 15:20-21). Bildad chastises Job for thinking that they are stupid and said that Job as a wicked man would indeed die soon and his life be shortened (Job 18:3-7). He implied that Job is a “wicked man and does not know God like them” (Job 18:21). He also explained that was the reason for Job losing all his children (Job 18:19). Zophar preaches a sermon on the wicked man directly pointing to Job as the man he is talking about and a hypocrite whose pride reaches the sky (Job 20:5-6). He thoroughly explains that all that has happened to Job proves his point that Job is indeed a wicked man whose goods are taken away in the day of God’s wrath and whose iniquity is now revealed in heaven (Job 20:27-29). In the heat of the conversation, forgetting all the great suffering Job was going through, Eliphaz directly pointed to the perceived fact that Job had great wickedness and his iniquity is without end (Job 22:5). In the end, a fourth friend, Elihu, turned up and he was upset that Job had justified himself and said that he was righteous in his own eyes (Job 32:1). He was the youngest amongst them and argues the point that no man is righteous in themselves but we all need a ransom or redeemer, a mediator (Job 33:23-24).

Many of us have been like Job’s three friends and added salt to wounded hearts. Though Job was not wrong in regarding the fact that he was indeed blameless and upright before God when all the disasters struck, he was arguing from the point of self-righteousness and that he did not wilfully sin. He was so grieved that he was cursing himself and his birth, probably wishing to die (Job 3:2-11). When his three friends started implying and accusing him of wickedness and sin as an explanation for the disasters that took place, Job defended himself and argued that such did not occur but in doing so, became self-righteous. When God showed up, Job repented for his self-righteousness and also interceded for his friends whom God said spoke wrongly about him and accused him wrongly of sin (Job 40:1-3; 42:7-8).

The story of Job points very clearly to the fact that all prosperity and all blessings come because of the goodness, mercy and grace of God. Even in our most righteous works and acts, we will never elevate ourselves to the point of “deserving” God’s blessings. For all have sin and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). All of God’s blessings come to those who implicitly trust and love God unreservedly. And where God so choses to withhold for some time, it is to test our hearts to see if we truly love God for who He is and not what He can do for us (Deuteronomy 8:2). Difficulties, delays, temporary setbacks, tough times are but moments for us to prove to God our pure and sincere love for God. Even times of hunger, thirst and lack and needs, did not stop Paul from loving God and serving God (2 Corinthians 11:27). He had this beautiful revelation that God always prepare something special for those who love God (1 Corinthians 2:9). The love and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ, should make all of us more steadfast in our love for our Lord Jesus and our Father God.  Even if, and that would never happen, our God stops all answers to prayers and never lift a finger to help us or bless us, all that Jesus has done on the cross for us should be enough to win our absolute love and devotion towards God unconditionally. God loves us unconditionally and we should also love God unconditionally. That would be perfection of Creator and creation. Let us all go beyond the test of Job and pass through this earth with flying colours giving our absolute unconditional love for God each and every moment and every day of our lives. Amen.

There are many important lessons in life. Amongst them are the need for persistence and courage in tough times. Less likely learnt is the lesson to remain humble when one is blessed; whether the blessings be wealth, fame or power. I don’t know why but I have seen many people survive hard and very tough times and then see them lose their decency and “niceness” when success finally comes to them. Wealth has a deceptive way of making people think they are important when all they have a lot of is just money, which counts for nothing in heaven. Heaven counts how we use money for good and not the mere accumulation of money as an achievement. Or others upon becoming famous begin to treat others around them as lesser mortals and over evaluate themselves as being higher class or better than others. And those who achieve power whether militarily or by positions of authority begin to abuse their power instead of using what God give them for good.

Our Lord Jesus is emphatic that ALL positions of power, wealth or fame came because heaven permits us to have them momentarily during our sojourn on earth. When Pontius Pilate reminded Jesus that he had the power to crucify Him or let Him go, Jesus said that he had no power at all against Jesus unless it had been given to him from above (John 19:11). For exaltation or promotion does not come from the east or west or south but it comes from the Lord; for the Lord is the Judge who puts down one and exalts another (Psalm 75:4). There are some very direct and clear-cases of God giving authority and power to individuals and once they have received their power, they acted as if God is not involved in the process and tried to keep their own power through their own might and method. Jeroboam, who became a king by God’s gift, began to take upon himself idolatry and false worship in the Northern kingdom to preserve kingdom but ended up losing everything (1 Kings 11:31; 12:25-33; 14:10). Saul forgot how the Lord made him king and started abusing his authority as a king (1 Samuel 10:17-25; 13:13).

There are individuals who continue to remain humble even when God used them mightily or bring them into positions of power. Such are Daniel who immediately acknowledged that it was not his own ability or wisdom which helped to interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream (Daniel 2:30). When God first brought Solomon into power, he was humble and knew that he was incapable of judging God’s people and asked God for wisdom (1 Kings 3:7). Later in his life, he became more carried away by his power and married foreign wives and worshipped idols (1 Kings 11:4-13). Pride can come so easily when success is present. Even King David had displays of pride when he was king: he was instrumental in murdering Uriah when trying to hide his adultery with Bathsheba (2 Samuel 12:7-12), he numbered Israel without the Lord’s permission (2 Samuel 24:1-3). Of course, those without God are used to showing off their pom and pride all the time. When their pride directly opposes what God is doing, judgment is swift (Acts 12:1-4, 20-24). God always resists the proud and exalts the humble (James 4:6).

Everything contrasts with our Lord Jesus who remains the humblest of all manifestations despite being the very personification of the Godhead to humanity. Jesus is the most powerful being in the whole Universe, the creator of all of heavens and the earth as the Word. Yet, He chose to be born in a manger and came to serve and not to be served. Our Father God supplies everything that Jesus needs on this earth and everything is under His command. Not once did our Lord Jesus displayed pride in all His power and success. We must all learn from our Master and Lord Jesus. What are the keys that can help us to remain humble despite being blessed with success from God?

1. We must always remain childlike and fully dependent on our Father through our successes

When Solomon started his kingship, he considered himself a child and his childlike prayers touched God and brought him wisdom (1 Kings 3:7). When the disciples of Jesus were arguing as to who was the greatest amongst them, Jesus took a little child to Him, set him in their midst and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will be no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.” (Matthew 18:1-5).” Being childlike is not just for humility but it is also the means to enter into the kingdom of God and receive true revelation (Matthew 10:15; Luke 10:21). It is also the manner in which perfect praise can come forth (Matthew 21:16). It seems that the more dependent we are upon the Father, the more perfect we become. No matter how young or how old we are now, to God our eternal Father we are all still like very, very little babes and children. We must not let the cunningness of this world or the craftiness of evil present in the world or the habits of adult lives of self-independence affect our relationship with God. Constantly we must remain childlike, humble and pure like little babes and children are before they reach the age of accountability. God looks for the simple pure, honest, undefiled heart of a child within each of us. Always learning and never proud but always humble.

2. We must acknowledge all our abilities, skills and gifts that brought us blessedness came from His love and grace towards us.

Nothing that we do should change our pure and simple relationship with the Father. One can easily become proud of an ability that we were born with or that we have acquired. It takes grace to acknowledge that all that we are able to do came from God working within us. Paul acknowledged that all that He is came from the grace of God working with him (1 Corinthians 15:10). He even considered his earthly education and background all as dung before our Lord Jesus (Philippians 3:8). Jesus was Paul’s only pursuit and he literally gave up everything for Jesus. He also suffered many, many tribulations and persecutions for our Lord Jesus (2 Corinthians 11:24-29). Yet his love for Jesus, his willingness to exchange all that he had, even giving his entire life, so that he may know Jesus, the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings (Philippians 3:8). Our Lord Jesus asked the question, “What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26). Indeed, what do we want to exchange all of our lives for? What is it that is more valuable than life itself? Our Lord Jesus is our pearl of great price! Without our Lord Jesus all of us are nothing! (John 15:5). We must have this inner consciousness that we are nothing without Jesus and only in Jesus can we be everything God want us to be. Like Job, we must acknowledge that even our highest thoughts, our best oratory, our greatest achievements, all must melt before the presence of our Father God, creator and ruler of the whole Universe who freely gives us of His blessings to enjoy (Job 40:3-5). There is nothing good in us, only that which is of God is good in us, by ourselves we cannot be good (Mark 10:18). Indeed, there is nothing good in us, only that which is from Him, can be truly good.

3. The pursuit of love for God and towards all men must be the basis behind all our success

It was the love of God that moved God to sent His only begotten Son to save us (John 3:16). It is the love of Jesus for us that moved Him to sacrifice and gave His life for us (Romans 6:6-11). When something is done out of pure love, there is no motivation for reward nor for compensation. All the gifts of God – tongues, prophecy, faith, power, etc. – do not benefit until we truly do it all out of the pure motivation of God’s love (1 Corinthians 13:1-3). The love of God propels the apostle Paul towards the preaching of the gospel in many difficult circumstances and places (2 Corinthians 5:14). The most important thing on the planet earth is love, actions of love, growing in love, creating stories of our love for God and for others.

Many people start their lives well with a desire to love God and to love others but along the way, we exchange the value of love into that of gaining money, fame and positions of power. Jesus warned us never to have money as a master (Matthew 6:24). The motivation of love through time becomes replaced in many good lives by the motivation for money, fame or pleasures. This results in emptiness and despair as the true meaning of life becomes replaced by the endless cycle of the pursuit of worldly things that do not last forever. It is good to be able always from the beginning to the end, maintain the pursuit of things that last eternally: love, character, attributes of God, heavenly and eternal qualities.

At the end of the day, each of us must ask the questions, “What is life? What is the purpose of life? What do we want to obtain from this life that is heaven worthy?” The daily mortal needs of this life often blind us to the eternal purposes of this life. It takes discipline to focus on the things that are eternal and heavenly each day while we go about with the daily requirements of living out a life that is both spiritually and naturally successful. Some succeed naturally by giving up spiritual success. Others seek to succeed spiritually but do not know how to succeed naturally. We live in both the spiritual and natural world, and we need to succeed on both dimensions. Otherwise, we could have just remained spirits in the heavenly realm and not needed to come to the earth and assume a physical body.

From the Bible perspective, the following truths are true:

1. All success in the natural needs a spiritual element of success. This includes even those who do not know God yet. It is the law of God that it is success in the spiritual that produces success in the natural (2 Corinthians 4:16-18; Hebrews 11:3; 3 John 1:2).
2. The spiritual and natural success of a person can flow into the next generation that does not deserve nor merit the success. We see the many times when a good king passes his success to his son, who turns out to be bad and causes a lost of that same success through time (Solomon inherited his father’s success – 1 Kings 2:1-4, 10-12; Hezekiah inherited a ruined kingdom from his father Ahaz and was prospered as he became a king attuned to spiritual matters but Manasseh his son, who inherited his success ruined it – 2 Chronicles 28:1-8; 29:1-2; 31:20-21; 33:1-2). This is also true of businesses where the first generation obeyed spiritual laws, knowingly or unknowingly, and the second generation who inherits the success can increase it or destroy it.
3. The continuation of all success must always be rooted in spiritual principles which justify the continuation of natural success powered by spiritual success. Joshua took Moses’ successful ministry to Israel and continued to build it into greater success of the conquest of Canaan with God establishing him with his very own miracles and success (Joshua 1:1-9; 3:7-8).

To receive success, everyone must be humble in order to receive the gift of God’s grace. To continue in that success, everyone must remain humble so that the grace of God can increase and multiply. Avoid pride like the plague for it will destroy all inherited success. It is also that which prevents success. For who can succeed if God is resisting you? And who can fail if God is exalting you? (James 4:6). Let us be on the side of God, for if God is for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31). And God loves the meek and the humble, for the meek shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5).

Our modern civilization thrives on independence and freedom of life and expressions. Thankfully, slavery is banned and made illegal in our modern society. In Bible times, God permitted slavery to exist because humans have not come to the realization of the equality of all men. Bible language also use slavery or bond-slave as a metaphor in our relationship with God (Romans 5:15-22). The apostle Paul considers himself a bondservant (from doulos – slave) of the Lord (Philippians 1:1). All Christians are to consider ourselves bondservants of our Lord Jesus (Ephesians 6:6; 1 Peter 2:16). Paul even regarded the ministry as being bondservants to the church (2 Corinthians 4:5). Being far in time from the days of slavery, most of us do not have any idea what being a slave or bondservant is like, and thus, cannot bring forth this understanding of servitude towards our Lord Jesus Christ.

A slave basically has completely no rights and everything he has, everything he does, and even everything of his offspring belongs to the master. We were all bought with a price by the blood of Jesus Christ and totally belong to Him (1 Corinthians 6:20; 7:22-23). Although we were made kings and priests in our Lord Jesus, we need to understand the concept of being bondservants to Jesus and being subject to all His commandments.

1. A slave does not own his time

One of the saddest parts about modern Christians is their lack of prioritization of our Lord Jesus. He is our Saviour but, in many lives, not the Lord. Our daily life of 24 hours is subdivided into things we want to do, and then when there is leftover time, we spare some time for our Lord Jesus. Such behaviour is definitely not the behaviour of a bondservant of our Lord Jesus. As bondservants in the Lord, we wake up every morning seeking our Master Jesus, and asking Him what He wants us to do in our daily lives. Our time belongs to Him and we prioritize whatever He wants to do first. This would include spending time at His feet worshipping and listening to Him, discerning what He wants us to do. And even when He has given a task and we complete it, we run straight to sit at His feet and ask Him what else He wants us to do.

Give to our Lord Jesus all our days and live only for Him. Live each day in His presence. Spending time at the feet of Jesus, is a priority to hear His voice and to listen to Him. We are to be like Elijah as one who learns to stand in the presence of God like the angels, ready to obey His every command (1 Kings 17:1; 18:15; Luke 1:19).

2. A slave and his property all belong to the Master

The apostle Peter states the fact that as a followers and disciples of Jesus, they had left all to follow Jesus (Mark 10:28). Jesus also required that the rich young man sell all that he had and follow Him (Mark 10:21). In spiritual essence this transfer is done, to everyone who has accepted Jesus as Lord and Saviour. In practical reality, this is voluntary and when it is done as part of the leading of the Holy Spirit, resulted in a great revival in the book of Acts (Acts 5:32-37). The sharing of material blessings became part of the ministry of the apostle Paul and the churches he planted (2 Corinthians 8:1-4). Paul speaks of an equality that results from the sharing of abundance through the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 8:10-15).

In the sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus states that we cannot serve two masters: either we will hate the one or love the other, or else we will be loyal to one and despise the other (Matthew 6:24). He goes on to emphasize that the Gentiles (representative of people without a covenant) seek material things but that we are to seek the kingdom of God first and have all material blessings added to us by our Father God (Matthew 6:32-33). Many Christians are still seeking to tap on the law of sowing and reaping when there is a higher law operating, where in surrendering all to Jesus and the gospel, we reap a hundredfold (Mark 10: 29-30).

3. A slave is a hundred percent dependent on the Master

The prosperity of the slave is dependent on the generosity and prosperity of the Master. Of course, our Lord Jesus treats us much better than any slave master can and He also considers us His friends and bless us with ruling with Him as kings and priests (John 15:14-15; Revelation 1:5-6). The trust that the disciples have on Jesus was absolute and when He sends them out without any money or purse, they obeyed Him (Luke 9:1; 10:4). When He asked them if they lack anything when He sent them out with nothing, they replied that they lack nothing (Luke 22:35). At another time when He sent them out before His crucifixion, He allowed them to take whatever money they had (Luke 22:36). In the earlier case, Jesus was still popular and they would be well received by the people they preached to but in the latter case, Jesus was going to be crucified and His disciples would be hunted and arrested. Our Lord Jesus knows all situations and was practical in all His commandments. Nevertheless, in both situations, the disciples have to rely on God and on our Lord Jesus one hundred percent.

Throughout the whole Bible, from Abraham to saints in the New Testament, it was implicit that those who love God, are called by God, and who serve God, be one hundred percent reliant on God. Like Paul advocates, he who preaches the gospel must live by the gospel; he advocates the right of those who live spiritually to have available material needs and that the labourer is worthy of their wages (1 Corinthians 9:3-14; 1 Timothy 5:17-18). God has also proven Himself in blessing those who left their all for Him, from making Abraham rich, to promoting Joseph, to giving favour to Daniel and in abundantly supplying all of the New Testament saints need. There is a risk to fully dependent on God to the natural man, but considering biblical history and the promises of God, this risk has been mitigated by innumerable case studies of God’s blessings upon all who trust in Him.

4. A slave has no spiritual pride in his success but remains humble to the Master

The title ‘servant of God’ is today exalted so much that it sounds like a mighty and haughty title to lord it over other ordinary men. Our Lord Jesus has emphasized that we must NOT be like the Gentiles who lord over one another (Matthew 20:25). He said that the Gentile world has the arrangement that those who are considered rulers lord it over the rest and their great ones exercise authority over the others (Mark 10:42). Our Lord Jesus is emphatic that we DO NOT lord over one another like the Gentile world; it must NOT be so among Jesus’ disciples (Matthew 20:26; Mark 10:43). Instead those who desire to be great or are great in our midst must be a servant (bondservant or slave) to all (Mark 10:43-44). Whoever desires to be first must be a slave (Matthew 20:27). He gave Himself as our example, that He came to serve and NOT to be served (Mark 10:45). Jesus emphasized that those of us who are considered greatest amongst us, be as one who is youngest and those who have authority to govern be as one who serves (Luke 22:26). He understands that in life, those who sit at the table is considered greater than he who serves and He states that He Himself came as One to serve (Luke 22:27).

Jesus has given us a kingdom and that we sit at His table to eat and to drink, and even sit on thrones (Luke 22:29-30). Yet He expects us to be like Him, to serve as He did. He did great signs and wonders because He was always obedient to the Father (John 14:9-14). The only way to do the great works of God and to demonstrate great faith is to learn to be a bondservant to hear and obey all of God’s commandments (Luke 17:5-9). And when we have done all things and have impressed the whole world by our witness and our success, we must merely acknowledge that we are just bondservants doing the will of our Master (Luke 17:9-10). The world is waiting to see the works of Jesus and the greater works of Jesus but the most important thing is to show forth the humility of our Lord Jesus through our own servanthood that replicates the servanthood of our Lord Jesus.

5. The greatest attribute of a slave is absolute humility and obedience to the Master

This world takes after the enemy who emphasizes pride, arrogance, and dominance over each other. Satan showed to Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and its glory under his dominion (Matthew 4:8). He offered it all to Jesus, asking our Lord Jesus to bow down and worship him but Jesus refused (Matthew 4:9-11). Jesus said that the devil has nothing in him (John 14:30). There is nothing that this world could give to Jesus and He wants us to have the same attribute. Anything which takes the place of God or that takes our dependence on God should be utterly refused. Abraham said that he would not take one shoe string or one thread from the king of Sodom, lest the king of Sodom boast that he had made Abraham rich (Genesis 14:23). Apparently, Abraham had lifted up his hand and promised God that he would only be one hundred percent dependent on God to bless and prosper him (Genesis 14:22). God appeared to him immediately after this event to confirm that He, and only He, is Abraham’s shield and exceedingly great reward (Genesis 15:1).

Of all the works of Jesus, the greatest achievement of our Lord Jesus is in going to the cross, dying for us on the cross and rising from the dead. This was achieved through His obedience and humility; He learned obedience by the things which He suffered (Hebrews 5:8). All the works of Jesus came through His humility and the ultimate work of Jesus was the cross, and it was the finest and highest example of pure humility and obedience. His whole life was an attribute of humility (Philippians 2:3-11). Our Lord Jesus humbled Himself, became obedient to the point of death, the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8). He should inspire humility within us, yet modern Christianity has not been a great example of humility, instead becoming like the arrogance and pride of power like Gentiles (which Jesus told us not to become). We need to once again re-learn the lessons of being a bondservant to achieve the greatness of humility that our Lord Jesus had.

In conclusion, let us all truly learn what is TRUE Christianity and what is FALSE Christianity. Any form or expression of Christianity that is prideful, selfish, self-serving and lacking all the humility and fruit of Jesus MUST be regarded as false forms of Christianity. They are the very opposite of what our Lord Jesus wants, becoming like the rulers and authorities of Gentiles which Jesus said we MUST NOT be like them. Who is there in our midst who desires greatness? Let them not argue but let them learn pure humility and learn to be bondservants of everyone!

Just before Jesus went to the cross, during the Lord’s Supper when Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant, the disciples of Jesus were all arguing and trying to establish who was the greatest among them (Luke 22:24-28). They had argued who was the greatest many times: after He revealed He was about to be betrayed and be crucified (Mark 10:30-37), along the last journey to Jerusalem when James and John wanted positions as the right hand of Jesus (Matthew 20:20-28). It was so easy for the disciples of Jesus to sink down to the level of the Gentile world and at critical moments of Jesus life, become engross in foolish arguments about greatness. This desire to dominate one another is sin nature and we live in a Gentile world that practices such things. Two thousand years of Christianity has seen these same prideful arrogant spirit creep into the church. At many points of church history, such pride has been displayed in arrogance and we all are ashamed of such displays that does not exemplify our Lord Jesus Christ.

Let us in this end time revival understand what is the true spirit of Christianity, and learn to be bondservants of our Lord to one another. This is the greatest core of Jesus’ attribute and it is important that we master the attribute of being humble like our Lord Jesus and become His bondservants to Jesus and to one another. The greatest among us must be the bondservant of all. Amen.

As we consider the issue of the Major Exodus that is coming forth in this end time, especially during the period of the second set of seven years, we had looked in the Bible at the migration of Abraham and his descendants into Egypt, followed by the Exodus under Moses. In the New Testament, we note that Jesus also had moved and lived in various places. Some of the places Jesus lived in were decisions made by his parents through the guidance of the Holy Spirit and angels. Jesus was born in Bethlehem and his parents were led by the angels to take Him down to Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15). According to secular history, King Herod died a short while after slaying the children in Bethlehem, which means that Jesus’ time in Egypt was either a few months to a year or so. Several dreams were given to Joseph as to when and where to take Jesus after Egypt (Matthew 2:20, 22-23). Through a series of dreams given to Joseph, Jesus ended having his home town in Nazareth in the region of Galilee. Since Abraham and Jesus’ parents had supernatural leadings in where they live, it would mean that in our modern world, God still can speak in visions, dreams or other methods where to migrate.

When Jesus began His ministry, He made a conscious choice by the leading of the Holy Spirit to make Capernaum His home town and centre of His ministry (Matthew 4:13). Jesus who had already been anointed by the Holy Spirit after His baptism, had kept His public ministry private and moved to Capernaum after John was in prison. He knew that it was time for His public ministry to start and was led by the Holy Spirit to migrate to Capernaum which became the centre of His Galilean ministry. Jesus visited Jerusalem a lot and when He was there, stayed in Bethany which was the home town of Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Could it be that some ministries or businesses never take off because a person is not sensitive to the Holy Spirit in knowing which town or city they should based their ministry or businesses?

The Apostle Paul was from Tarsus but he must have been schooled in Jerusalem, at the feet of Gamaliel (Acts 9:11l 22:3). When no doors opened for him in ministry, Paul went back to his hometown of Tarsus. If Paul was converted in Acts 9 (about AD 35) and went to Tarsus after Acts 9:30, it would be about 3 years (Acts 1:38) after he was born again. Then he would have been in Tarsus at least seven years before he was called by Barnabas to help out the church (Acts 11:25, around AD 45). Acts 9 to Acts 11 is about 10 years. Paul’s decision to be in Jerusalem during his training days must have been because he wanted to be under Gamaliel and this might have been his parents decision, too, and not just his decision. The decision to be in Antioch, from which Paul launched three missionary journeys came about through the intermediary of Barnabas who opened a door for him. Paul made a decision where he was going to stay based on open doors to the ministry and also where he could participate in the revival that was going on in the early church in the book of Acts. Perhaps in our modern times, God might lead people to uproot themselves to flow to where God opens a door of ministry or where they could participate in revival and church life. In the end the apostle Paul called every place where God called him ‘home’ as he stayed in many places sometimes six months, sometimes a few years and in Ephesus at least three years (Acts 20:31).

Another aspect of migration is migration caused by persecution. We see in the book of Acts that when things got unpleasant in Jerusalem, many Christians left and were scattered throughout the whole region (Acts 11:19). This was involuntary and although it look more natural and physical, the Holy Spirit was behind it all, causing the gospel to be preached by these travelling Christian migrants. The great persecution scattered the Christians throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria (Acts 8:1). The apostles did not leave Jerusalem as God protected them and they had their calling to Jerusalem which they had to fulfil. Everyone has to hear God for themselves, to stay or to go. For those without a spiritual reason, perhaps natural reason, too, to remain in Jerusalem, they uproot themselves and migrated to another region and re-established their homes and families there. The apostles and the common people who were persecuted made different decisions on migration: some stayed whilst other abandon Jerusalem. We read later in the epistle of Peter that he was in Babylon1, which means that he must have been led by the Spirit to visit these places (1 Peter 5:10). Reasons for migration in the New Testament can ranged between natural reasons like famine or persecution to God’s divine spiritual call upon a person. All directions as to when and where are directed by God indirectly and directly.

Considering all the Old Testament and New Testament accounts of migration, we summarize major principles to pray through when God stirs the heart to prepare for moving to a new place, especially during the coming Exodus.

1. Everyone has a place in which one grows up which may differ from the place in which one launches into ministry or business or professional life.

For some people, it might be the same place but for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Our Lord Jesus, Paul and many others the place where one grows up and the place of training or launching is totally different. In fact, for Jesus, His home town would not be the place to launch His ministry for they were too familiar with Him to accept Him. No matter how anointed He was, they will always see Him as the son of Joseph or just a carpenter (Mark 6:1-6). No matter how much they hear of His mighty works of His teaching, they cannot see past the natural and recognized that the Messiah had lived in their midst and grew up there. For Abraham, perhaps there was too much idolatry in his father’s house or that his loyalty and filialness to his father might have hindered him from doing God’s work (Genesis 11:31; Joshua 24:2). Even Moses had some problems with sibling rivalry when his older sister, Miriam and older brother, Aaron, see themselves as equal to him in ministry and looked down on his Ethiopian wife (Numbers 12:1-3). Moses’ wife had nothing to do with whether they were equal in prophetic ministry or not but the unhappiness of accepting his Ethiopian wife led to spiritual pride and dissension in their family. Joseph will also probably never rise to his fullest ability if he was not separated from his older brothers. Though it was painful for him, he grew in his skills and ability under Potiphar and some where along the line in prison, he developed the gift of interpretation of dreams (Genesis 39:2; 40:1-23; 41:12). The environment of being nurtured and the environment of entering a new phase can sometimes require two separate geographical places with different challenges.

2. God does specifically reveal the exact place to go to enter the next phase.

God was precise in telling Abraham to go into the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1, 7). He was also precise in telling Isaac where not to go and where to go (Genesis 26:2-3). Jeremiah the prophet told the Israelites that they will live a long time in Babylon, so they were to build houses, plant trees, marry and have children (Jeremiah 29:4-6, 28). But the false prophets oppose him, first saying that Jerusalem will not be conquered and then telling the people that their sojourn in Babylon is short (Jeremiah 28:1-4). The false prophets claim that it would only be two years but Jeremiah told them it will be seventy years (Jeremiah 28:3, 10; 29:10). Such contradiction causes confusion amongst the people but those who listened to Jeremiah prospered in the land of Babylon. When Paul was seeking where to go in his second missionary journey, God eventually told him to go to Macedonia (Acts 16:9-10).

3. Sometimes the method which God choses to go to a place is not the method expected but the yielded vessel will always be in the place of God’s perfect Will.

Joseph never expected that he would be sold as a slave in entering the land where he will become the chief minister. Paul never expected that he would go to Rome as a prisoner, even though he had indicated his desire to visit the Christians in Rome (Romans 15:23-24). Paul had nurtured a desire to be in Rome for many years before the writing of the epistle to Rome.  Even feeling that he feels like he ‘no longer has a place in where he was writing from’ though he was still successful in his ministry in Corinth. In the end after many years, Paul went to Rome as a prisoner (Acts 27:1). Jesus appeared to Paul and told him that he will testify in Rome (Acts 23:11). It took more than two years before Paul, as a prisoner, could be transported to Rome (Acts 24:27). Jesus told Peter that in his latter years of ministry, he will be taken to a place where he does not want to go (John 21:18). God will always answer every prayer and every desire born of His Spirit but God may answer in not in the way we expect nor in the time that we think. Living in His perfect Will is enough not matter where we go and no matter how long it takes. The only safe place in the whole planet is to be in the perfect Will of God.

4. Sometimes circumstances or people might be instruments that lead us to go to another place.

It was always God’s Will that the gospel be preached in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). Much time past, nearly ten years before a persecution arose that literally drove the Christians out of Jerusalem (Acts 8:1). Some preachers considered the fact that the persecution arose because the church was disobedient to the command to go forth and preach the gospel, so God allowed persecution to arise to drive them out. Perhaps this might be the case but we know that even if they had been obedient, persecution would still arise. God allowed Abraham to go to Egypt to live out the famine (Genesis 12:10). Isaac also had to leave his home to go to the land of the Philistines, being forbidden from going into Egypt (Genesis 26:1-3). Ruth had to leave her homeland of Moab in order to be with Naomi, to care for her (Ruth 1:16-19). It was her determination that persuaded Naomi to let her follow her (Ruth 1:18). Sometimes it is our fierce determination that dissuade people from stopping us from moving on to a new place. For Paul, it was the kindness of Barnabas in seeking him out that opened a door of ministry for him to move from his home town, Tarsus to live in Antioch (Acts 11:25-26). Barnabas probably never expected that the man, Paul, whom he helped, would be the same person that God linked him with for many years of ministry together (Acts 13:1-2). Who would have thought that when Barnabas helped Paul, that Paul would be the key to his future ministry, too?

5. In any place, anytime, anywhere, it is still the steadfastness of the individual heart and life that helps a person succeed and prosper where they are planted.

Daniel was taken at a young age to Babylon and his steadfastness in following the Lord righteously opened a door of favour and grace into the highest courts of the Babylonian empire (Daniel 1:1-6). Exceptional love and righteousness brought forth exceptional favour and grace towards Daniel (Daniel 1:8-16). God is always watching our lives twenty-four hours and notices our expressions of love towards Him. Exceptional obedience brought forth exceptional blessings. On top of all these, Daniel and his friends were gifted with wisdom ten times more than the wise men in the land and he was even given the gift of interpretation of dreams (Daniel 1: 17, 20). Joseph worked hard in the household of Pharaoh and did not stop being righteous and hardworking when he was wrongly accused and lost everything he gained in Potiphar’s house (Genesis 39:2-5, 19-23). The apostle Paul did not waver in his love and commitment to Jesus and the ministry despite going through much suffering and persecution (2 Corinthians 4:8-12; 11: 22-29). There is no substitute for hard work in high pressure circumstances. Those who give up easily would never succeed no matter where they are planted or where they live. In the end, the individual heart must be sold out to God and give the best to our Master, our Lord Jesus Christ. Those who seek God diligently with faith are those who will ultimately be rewarded (Hebrews 11:6).

As each of you consider the coming Exodus, consider these principles and let our Heavenly Father led you and guide you to the town or city to live, to the country He wants you to be a witness in. It is God who opens doors which no man can shut (Revelation 3:8). Prayer can also be made for God to open a door (Colossians 4:2). Also, when God opens a door, there might be Canaanites or adversaries, so open doors still need people of boldness and of great faith to take it (1 Corinthians 16:8-9). Open doors are no use to cowards who dare not take the step of faith. It also takes spiritual discernment to know that God has opened a door and flow into it (2 Corinthians 2:12). Be blessed in following Jesus through every city, every country and every place He leads you. Where He leads we will follow. Amen.

With the coming Exodus that help people move from areas endangered by the earthquakes and tsunamis of 2029, there is going to be a mass migration of people from endangered zones to refuge zones. In general, there are three main groups of people: those who migrate pre-Exodus, those who migrate during the Exodus, and those who survived and migrate post-Exodus. Through time, God will reveal more and more the destinies of countries and of people. Everyone would have to flow with God’s perfect Will for their lives. It is good to examine migration patterns in the Bible so that we can learn and benefit from those who have followed God in moving countries, cities or places.

One of the earliest migrations took place during Noah’s time when he had to travel away from most of the general population of humans in order to build the ark which God commanded him to build (Genesis 6:13). The Bible does not record this physical move but the size of the Ark required that he move to another place away from all the general population. There was a migration that took place after Noah’s flood before the Tower of Babel, with many families settling into various lands (Genesis 10:31). After the Tower of Babel, humanity was scattered across the whole earth and give birth to many of the nations with their various languages and tongues.

The call of Abraham involved a call to migrate out from his homeland of Ur (Mesopotamia) into the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1-3). In the promise land, the Lord brought about circumstances where he had to fulfil the literal command to be separate from all of his family, the last of whom was Lot. When Lot separated from him, the Lord commanded him to walk through the length and breath of the land (Genesis 13:14-17).  Abraham did so building altars everywhere he went (Genesis 12:7-9; 13:18). Eventually, Abraham settled in Mamre, north of the historic city of Hebron, where God spoke to him about Isaac (Genesis 13:18; 18:1). There could be many reasons why Abraham chose to settle here, and amongst the many would be that it was here that God spoke to him at 99 years and he changed his name from Abram to Abraham. Hebron was a very spiritual significant place for Abraham. Could it be that the geography city of which one finally lives, could be linked into one’s spiritual experiences and also of prophetic future significance? Sarah, his wife died in Hebron and it was also the place of Abraham’s burial (Genesis 23:2, 19; 25:7-10).

Beersheba was Isaac’s birth place and his early home (Genesis 21:14, 30-34). It was from Beersheba that Isaac and Abraham travelled from towards Mount Moriah, and then returned to live there (Genesis 22:18). Beersheba was Isaac’s home when he lived with his parents. After Isaac married, he lived in Beer Laihoairoi where his two sons, Jacob and Esau, were born. During the famine in Isaac’s time, God forbid him from going to Egypt so he went to live with the Philistines in Gerar (Genesis 26:1-6). It is interesting to note that God specifically told him to dwell in the land and He will bless him (Genesis 26:3). Could it be possible that sometimes people are in the wrong geographical place (like an allegorical Egypt where God forbid them to go) and God couldn’t bless them? In both, Abraham’s life and in Isaac, they had to be in a specific land (especially during famine) for God to bring about His blessings upon them.

In the Philistine land, Isaac had to go to various towns before he found peace to prosper. He went through Esek (strife), Sitnah (hatred) and finally settled in Rehoboth (plenty) (Genesis 26:19-22). After his sojourn in the Philistine land, Isaac returned to Beersheba where he built an altar to the Lord (Genesis 26:23-25). He spent most of his life in Beersheba and towards his last days, he lived in Hebron (Genesis 35:27-29). Analysing Isaac’s life, we can see that the geographical place, Beersheba, he chose to live in was directed by the Lord. It was also where he had his spiritual experience and where he also built an altar to the Lord. It was Isaac who actually named the city Beersheba (Genesis 26:32). No wonder the city of Beersheba is significant in Isaac’s life.

Jacob, Isaac’s son, lived and grew up in Beersheba, where he deceived his brother, Esau, and the strife developed between them. He was told to flee to PadanAram, to the city of Haran, where his uncle, Laban, lived when Esau wanted to kill him (Genesis 28:1-2). On his way there, he slept a night at Bethel, where he met the Lord and received a vision (Genesis 28:10-17). Jacob named the place, Bethel, and anointed an altar to the Lord from the stone upon which he slept (Genesis 28:18-22). We should not be surprised that in his future, Bethel became the place where he was to live and be blessed by God. Jacob went to Haran to live with his uncle for 14 years, where he married and have children. His escape from Laban brought him through significant towns, which he renamed: Mizpah where he had a treaty with Laban, Mahanaim where a host of angels comforted him, Peniel where he wrestled all night and had his new name, Israel (Genesis 31:49; 32:2, 30). Upon returning and reconciling with his brother, Esau, he built a house in Succoth and lived there (Genesis 33:17). He also purchased a piece of land in Shechem and made for himself a dwelling place in the land of Canaan (Genesis 33:18-20). He built an altar to the Lord is Shechem and called it El Elohe Israel (God, God of Israel). Troubles came upon his family between them and the Canaanites in the land. After these troubles, God spoke and told him to go to Bethel to dwell there and build an altar to the Lord (Genesis 35:1). This was when there was a revival in Jacob’s family as they removed all the idols from their household and went to live in Bethel (Genesis 35:2-7). It was in Bethel that God appeared again to Jacob and blessed him, confirming his name as Israel (Genesis 35:9-15).

It seems obvious that Bethel would have been the centre of Jacob’s life but it took an appearance of God to him after much troubles in other cities, that brought Jacob to accept that he was always to geographical live in Bethel at least for some time there, with space for his family to grow. Towards the end of his life, when most of his children were grown, he moved down to Hebron to live (Genesis 37:14). So three generations, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, lived in Hebron towards the end of their lives. Bethel and Hebron are significant cities in which Jacob lived. From our analysis so far, it seems that sometimes in line with destinies or spiritual experiences in our lives, God requires us to live in places which He chose for us. It is important to hear God and be sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit as to where we should live, especially when our lives belong to Him and all that we do are of prophetic significance to the work of God’s Will.

The story of Joseph is almost like a story of “forced” or “necessitated” migration. Joseph was sold by his brothers and ended up in Egypt the rest of his life (Genesis 37:28). It was through him that God fulfil the prophecy that He will allow the descendants of Abraham to go into a country, which is not theirs and where they are strangers, and where they will be afflicted for four generations before He redeems them (Genesis 15:12-16). The prophecy of a migration of Abraham’s descendants into Egypt took place without anyone involved knowing that they were playing a role design by God to bring about the fulfilment of His spoken word to Abraham. Altogether about seventy people of the family of Jacob went into Egypt (Genesis 46:27). Joseph, led unknowingly by the Spirit, chose the land of Goshen for them to live in (Genesis 45:10; 46:34). This migration was predicted by God and a part of His plan. The children of Israel had a warm reception and welcome to Egypt but later on became oppressed and enslaved by the Egyptians. All these was part of the plan of God, in the nursing years of the multiplication of Israel as a people, being readied to be made into a nation in God’s fullness of time. Joseph who was used by God to bring all Israel to migrate to Egypt, believed in the prophecy and asked that his bones be taken out when the Israelites came out of Egypt (Genesis 50:24-26). This part of the story of migration shows that sometimes it is God’s perfect Will to be in a place for a period of time, even a few generations. In the end, this planet earth is only a temporary home and each individual and each family must discover where God wants them to live geographically. The choice of place and the timing involved must also be ordained by God and coordinated by God to fulfil His ultimate plan for each city, country and place.

The biggest story of migration in the Bible is, of course, the story of the Exodus. About nearly three million men, women and children came out of Egypt seeking a new country and home to live in. There was also a requirement that it took place in the fullness of time and that the place to which they were to settle in be revealed to them. Two elements: where to go and when to go are big considerations for every individual. To the Israelites during the Exodus, God prepared the leadership structure all ready to manage this great migration and revealed supernaturally to His people through signs and wonders to unite them in this great move. Such will also be present in the biggest modern Exodus that we will be experiencing in the near future before the year 2029. God took His people through ten tests to prepare them for nationhood (Numbers 14:22). Unfortunately, despite God’s manifest presence and supernatural works amongst them, they failed each and every test, except for those like Joshua and Caleb. The Israelites ended up forty years in the wilderness when it was supposed to be only about a year (the time it took to build the Tabernacle of Moses). Could it be that when we have not learn the lessons from a particular place, which for the Israelites was the wilderness, that there could be a delay in the move to the promise land of Canaan? May this not be so with anyone. May God have mercy and help each one to always move forward spiritually and physically into God’s perfect Will for each life.

In the live of Moses, the leader of the Exodus, we see a pattern which we can learn from. It was definitely God’s perfect Will for Moses to be in the wilderness to wait on God for the fullness of time. The circumstances in which he ended up in the wilderness were not pleasant and seem more out of need and necessity (Exodus 2:11-15). Moses spent 40 years in Egypt and 40 years in the wilderness. Then his last 40 years leading God’s people. None of us dare to say that all this was not God’s will, rather it fits into the perfect Will of God for Moses. His time in Egypt growing up with the princess as his adopted mother was a part of God’s perfect plan for training him. His time in the wilderness was definitely important and a part of God’s perfect plan to train and prepare Moses for his calling. What we can learn of Moses’ migration from Egypt to the wilderness and then back to service of God, is that there is a time period for each person to be living in particular circumstances and places for a period of time. Who determines the period of time? God, of course. What is required of each period of time? Lessons on life learned, spiritual lessons acquired, character changes completed, revelation from God received.

While in Egypt, being nursed by his own mother and being privileged to be a prince in Egypt, Moses discovered his calling and destiny (Acts 7:23-25). Moses had actually already given up the life of a prince when he was visiting his own people the Israelites (Hebrews 11:24-27). At some point, he must have discovered his special calling and wanted to find a way to fulfil it. His method was wrong but his heart must have been right for the Bible to write glowingly of him in the book of Hebrews. Moses took forty years, challenged by a life of luxury, to finally forsake luxury for his calling (Hebrews 11:24-25). This was not an easy decision as it involves giving up a lot of things. In essence it involves giving up the world to pursue the calling of God. Whatever temptations, trials and challenges God had arranged for him, being brought up in the best of Egypt, he passed the test of saying ‘No’ to all worldly things and was deemed worthy for God to work out the next stage of his life. Everyone of us are born into families and circumstances and towns and countries which in total present the temptations, trials and challenges for which we must endure and still find our true spiritual calling and predestination of why we exist on earth. Far too many get caught up in the busyness of this world and never realized their divine calling and predestination. For those who do, God begins His next stage of training.

Sometimes in God’s next stage of training, it involves a change of fellowship, family, community, city or country. For Abraham, he had to leave home and country. For Moses, he also had to leave home and country. Though the circumstances were not perfect, partly of his own doing, Moses was finally at the place where God could work upon him in the wilderness. All his basic needs of food, clothing, shelter and companionship was met as Moses married into Jethro’s household. He had a good job and it provided for him. It looked like his old life was gone forever. Perhaps even his knowledge of his divine calling and destiny might have faded through forty years of wilderness. But God is faithful who will never let us do anything but His perfect Will. Moses calling was inaugurated in the fullness of time by the appearance of the angel in the burning bush, and thus begin his new last lease of forty years of ministry in the Lord. His forty years in the wilderness was important and necessary. Moses had become more humble and this character was important in leading the most powerful migrations in the Bible with one of the most powerful demonstrations of God in the Bible. The time in the wilderness was what truly equipped him to be used mightily by God. Imagine a proud Moses straight from 40 years of Egypt into power, without humility of 40 years wilderness. It would have been disastrous. Even after forty years in the wilderness, there were still sparks of anger that were uncalled for which cause Moses to miss entering the land of Canaan. Imagine if those sparks of anger were a regular feature. Overall, the Bible calls Moses the meekest man alive during his generation (Numbers 12:3). It took 40 years of wilderness to give him that important character.

As we end this first part of examining migration in the Bible, we learn that there is a geographical place for all of us to be in. And sometimes we are called into several geographical places for each season of our lives. We must be faithful to go where God tells us to go. And we must also be faithful to learn what God wants us to learn in each place. Knowing that where we fail to learn and fail the test in each place, the timeline might change for us. But where we succeed by the grace of God, we always walk in God’s perfect Will and can show forth His glory through our lives. May God’s perfect Will always be done in each and everyone of our lives. Amen.

Dearly Beloved,

God’s indwelling presence is one of the most marvellous demonstrations of His awesome power. In Christ dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). The Word became flesh and dwelt amongst us (John 1:14). The mystery of godliness was God manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels and preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world and received up in glory (1 Timothy 3:16). Christ revealed that all the works that He did was the Father dwelling in Him (John 14:9-11). This union that Christ had with the Father is the same union which He wants to establish in us, with Him being in us and doing the works that He did (John 14:12). Since the secret behind all that Jesus said and did was the Father in Him, the secret to all of the fullness of God in our lives is learning to let Christ be manifested in fullness in our lives within us and through us.

Of all the lessons learned in Christianity, the lesson of learning to let God and Christ dwell within us in fullness is the most important lesson of all. Knowing that this is the most important lesson and principle taught to His disciples, Jesus repeated it to them on the last night when He was betrayed (John chapters 14 to 16). Within these chapters, He outlined principles and basic things which would bring about this mystery of godliness in our flesh. In order to understand this, we outline these three chapters together highlighting this point:

John 14:

Vs2 In the Father’s House (Greek ‘oikos’ translated ‘house’) are many places of abiding (Greek ‘mone’).

Vs7 Knowing and seeing the Father is through knowing and seeing Jesus.

Vs9-11 Everything that Jesus said and did was the Father saying and doing through Him.

Vs12 Everything that we day and do, will be what Jesus says and do because He is in us like the Father in Him.

Vs15-18 It is through the Holy Spirit abiding in us that Christ abides in us.

Vs19-21 Only those who love Jesus and keep His commandments will experience this manifestation of Jesus to them.

When asked HOW Jesus is going to manifest to those who love Him and keep His commandments, Jesus speaks about Him and the Father ‘abiding’ (Greek word ‘mone’) or making their home with the individual.

Vs23-24 To the person who keeps the Word of Jesus, the Father and Jesus will love him and come to him and make their home (abiding) in him.

Vs 25-27 The Holy Spirit will teach all things and bring to remembrance all things Jesus said and Jesus left His peace with us so that our hearts are never troubled nor afraid.

John 15:

Vs1-5 Abiding in Jesus as a branch is the key to bearing fruit and even when fruit is borne, there is a process of pruning so that more fruit can be borne. The branch CANNOT bear fruit unless it ABIDES (Greek word ‘mone’) in the Vine, which is Jesus.

Vs5-6 A branch that does not abide in Jesus is taken away into the fire and burnt.

Vs7-8 Abiding in Jesus and letting His Words abide in us, is the key to bearing much fruit and receiving answered prayers.

Vs9-10 The Father’s love for Jesus has been channelled through Jesus to us, and it is a requirement for us to abide in both His commandments and in His love.

Vs11-17 Jesus imparted His Joy into us that our joy will be full and commands us to love on another. He considers us His friends and not just His servants for He reveals to us what He is doing.

Vs18-25 We are to be prepared that the world will hate us and persecute us as they persecuted Jesus. Those who hate Jesus also hates the Father.

Vs26-27 The Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father will bear witness of Jesus as we, too, will bear witness of Jesus.

John 16:

Vs1-4 All that is done against Christ and us will be because they do not know the Father.

Vs 6-11 The Holy Spirit can come only because Jesus has left this world and sent Him to us; and He will convict the world of sin because they do not believe in Jesus, give us the conviction of righteousness because Jesus (and us in Him) is now with the Father, and judged Satan because he has been judged and cast out (John 12:31).

Vs23-24 The Father Himself will give to us and we are encouraged to ask that our Father may give that our joy will be full.

The two principles that stand out in the last recorded sermon of Jesus before He was crucified are Abiding in His Word and Abiding in His Love, both which relates to Abiding in Him and Abiding in the Father. His discourse speaks of abiding in His love with the requirement to obey His commandment to love one another. Abiding in His Word would imply abiding in both His Spoken Word and in His Written Word (Living Word). These are the great principles to abiding in Jesus and in the Father.

Some examples of the abiding of God (Father, Jesus or Holy Spirit) within us are when Peter confessed that Jesus was Christ the Son of the Living God. As he answered and confessed Christ boldly, Jesus saw that incident as the Father in Heaven revealing this to Peter (Matthew 16:17). This process of internalized revelation was the Rock in which Jesus was going to build His church. And those who yield to this process receive a blessing in their lives as Peter did when he yielded to this revelation within him. Paul received revelations within himself through the working of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:1-7). He specifically mentions that the revelation was IN him (Galatians 1:16). No matter how many visions we see or even if we have Jesus physically in front of us like Peter, it is still the internal thought processes that must take place to bring us to the conclusion and acceptance of all revelations from God. Peter walking on water still easily doubted when his thought processes caught up with his instinct of obeying the command of Jesus to walk on water (Matthew 14:31). Despite seeing a glorious angel in front of him, Zacharias still doubted all that was going on and was struck dumb (Luke 1:19-20). The internalising thought processes after or during an encounter or manifestation, whether spectacular or non-spectacular, internal or external, is what determines the ultimate outcome of all revelations given through the Holy Spirit by our Lord Jesus Christ.

If the internalisation of a revelation is done through careful search and comparison with the written word of God (the Bible) and with the spirit and nature of the revelation (whether it is in line with the Spirit of Love and of edification) and whether it glorifies Jesus, then that revelation will pass the test of time, the test of trials and the test of persecution. When are revelation has not been properly internalised or wrongly internalised then the individual will experienced doubts, insecurity, destabilizing emotions, then the revelation, which could be genuine, will die or be eaten up by the devourer. As such, Jesus speaks in the parable of the sower and the word, that the seed of the word must be received and allowed to grow roots, before it can bring forth fruit (Mark 4:3-20).

The internalisation of a revelation is through the working of the Holy Spirit upon our minds and hearts. Comparing Scripture with Scripture, line upon line, principles with God’s nature and attributes. This process is a process of quiet meditation and contemplation. The Bible contains the records of God’s manifestation and appearances to OT and NT biblical figures, thus the ability to check with the written word of God is a blessing of God and a gift of His grace. Those who are strong in the Word of God have more ability than those with less knowledge of the Word of God in processing revelation. People like Apollos rose to prominence because they were mighty in Scripture (Acts 18:24-25). In a short space of time, he had a strong following amongst the Gentile church (1 Corinthians 3:4-6).

Internalising the revelations of God, brings the word of God into its full fruition, producing a hundredfold result. Our Lord Jesus wants all His branches to produce abundant fruit. What are the processes of internalising a revelation from God? They involved:

1. Accepting them as divine revelations from God (whether it be from God the Father, Jesus or the Holy Spirit and whether it be via angels, visions, voices, internal thoughts or other means). We DO NOT recommend accepting everything lock, stock, barrel without examination. As all prophecies have to be judged (1 Corinthians 14:29) and no prophecy is of any private interpretation (2 Peter 1:20). Before they are accepted as divine, the must be
2. In line with the written word of God
3. In line with the Spirit of the Love of Christ and the fruit of the Spirit.
4. In line with previous revelations received by the individual (the new adds more details and more clarity to the old and never replaces them); though God may change His instructions in accordance to circumstantial response, as He did to delaying the entrance to Canaan)
5. In line with flow of spiritual authority and protocol. Even David had to live through Saul’s rebellious reign without usurping his kingship. The apostle Paul took the Gentile question to the established church spiritual authorities in Jerusalem, resulting in the Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15). Paul did not make the final decision but the church in Jerusalem made the final decision in consultation with the delegation from Antioch.
6. In line with the objectives and visions of our Lord Jesus Himself
7. Result in the glory of Jesus and of the Father
8. After accepting the revelations as from God, it is important to prepare for a challenge to that particular revelation. Satan will always want to steal the seed sown or persecute to prevent it from taking root (Mark 4:15-17). God’s grace disallows the enemy from stealing or persecuting until it has been accepted in the heart. If the two direct frontal attack against the revelation does not work, Satan will try the distraction method, placing thorns growing with the seed of the word (Mark 4:18). When Jesus revealed that He was to die on the cross, Satan used Peter to directly confront Him (Matthew 16:22-23). After receiving abundance of revelations, pride will be tested via rejection or persecution or direct attacks (2 Corinthians 12:7). Outwardly this attack permitted by God seems dauting but it is also a necessary part of strengthening of the revelation – a stronger internalising of the revelation. This internal strengthening is through
9. the requirement to defend the revelation received through the word of God. It causes a constant re-examination of the revelation received and this in itself, strengthens it. and causes it to grow more deeper roots into the heart and mind.
10. The value of the revelation increases as the receiver is prepared to pay the ultimate price of self-sacrifice to defend, preserve or endure with the revelation intact. The apostle Paul sacrificed everything to preach the gospel of grace, that Gentiles can be saved without becoming Jews. He was misunderstood, persecuted, ostracized, mocked and rejected by the very Jewish people whom he loved and would have died for (Romans 9:1-3; 10:1-3)
11. With every revelation, there will be a test of humility (2 Corinthians 1:7). This is all part of the internalising. Every revelation brings about its own fruit, and after the fruiting, there needs to be a pruning (John 15:2). We all always need a good pruning after a successful endeavour, a successful mission, a successful harvest. Pride is the centre of all rebellion against God, and humility is the centre of all true union with God. We need to grow in humility until we are one hundred percent humble like Jesus. Remember that Jesus conquered everything through His humility. His humility was what set Jesus apart, and make Him the direct opposite to Satan, the personification of pride. So the personification of pride versus the personification of humility, and Jesus the embodiment of humility won. If you want to keep winning all the time, grow in greater and greater humility.
12. Finally, when one has discerned the Word and Revelation of God received and passed the test and trials and challenges of the enemy, the Revelation Word is not ready to grow into a bountiful tree in God, producing fruit. Whether it be thirty, sixty or a hundredfold depends on
13. How accurate and detail we are to the Word of Revelation. Many people are not detail and specific in what God asked them to do. They might do five things out of ten, so are obedient but not hundred percent. During the time of the kings, some kings only obey God in some areas but did not remove the high places, Jehoash repaired the temple and did right in the sight of God but did not remove the high places (2 Kings 12:1-3). It was a command of God to destroy the high places (Deuteronomy 12:2-4). Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrifices and burned incense at the high places (1 Kings 3:3). Imperfect obedience produces less than perfect results.
14. How enduring we are to hold on to a particular revelation without wavering. Abraham held onto the promise of God giving him an heir for over two decades. From the age of seventy-five when he came out from Ur to the age of ninety-nine, he did not waver according to the Bible (Romans 4:20). We saw some wavering when he went into Hagar and thought that Ishmael was the one, and also initial unbelief when he was to be a father at one hundred but those were discounted by God through his steadfast walk through many long and lonely years. God is compassionate to all varying emotional states as long as the heart is steadfast in Him. David’s permissive will alliance with the Philistines did not prevent God from working in his life because he loved God even when at his lowest point at Ziklag (1 Samuel 30:6).

Despite his obvious ability to see angels and call down fire from God, Elijah was not dependent on external factors in obeying God but rather on the still small voice of God that he hears in his heart (1 Kings 19:12-13). It is not the loudness of revelations that matter but rather the soft internalisation of them that counts. The epistles of Paul which form the major bulk of the Bible were all the musings and the flow of thoughts that go through Paul’s heart and mind as he was seeking to solve church problems through his writings and giving the best advice possible in all situations. The internal thought flow of Paul’s heart and mind have become part of the New Testament bible today. The book of Acts continues in our lives, watched and recorded by angels. Whatever is going on in your heart and mind is important, for it is there that the Holy Spirit works, bringing every thought subject to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). God speaks into your heart and mind, even when the most spectacular revelations are occurring. The internal thought flow of the Holy Spirit flowing through our thoughts establish all revelations. For we have the mind of Christ and the Holy Spirit searches the depths of God and works with the depths of our being through our human spirit (1 Corinthians 2:10-14, 16). Right now God is preparing things to be placed in our hearts, things for those who love Him, things beyond what eye can see, ears can hear and what normal human minds and hearts can conceive (1 Corinthians 2:9). We have the mind of Christ, let that same mind work in you as it did in Christ.

Every human being needs to meet his Maker. Hopefully not at the end of his or her life when all life has to give an account for what one has done with one’s life but rather sought and receive guidance throughout one’s life and walk in harmony with the Almighty God, the Giver of All Life. It seems that this is the path chosen for all mankind for the Scripture declares that He is the Light who lights everyone who comes into this world (John 1:9). In Him alone is true life and this life is the light of all men (John 1:4). If God gives each human being sufficient light to live his or her life, why is it that many do not find their way back to Him? This light is in the spirit part of the human and only those who are sensitive to the spirit within them can sense this light that leads them throughout the path of life that they tread. For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? (1 Corinthians 2:11). This light is also the light of the conscience which some have seared and hardened to the point of being insensitive to the inner promptings of the spirit man. The following things can happen to one’s conscience so that it is no longer reliable:

1. An evil conscience that needs to be cleansed by the blood of the Lamb (Hebrews 10:22). Note that the conscience needs the blood cleansing and the body needs the washing of the Word. Only the Word is the pure water that sets our conscience correctly (Ephesians 5:26). Jesus told His disciples that they were cleansed by the Word that Jesus spoke (John 15:3). An evil conscience is a conscience that supports evil. It testifies within an evil man that what evil he did is “good.” An evil conscience senses good for bad and senses bad for good, it is totally perverted and need to be cleansed and re-trained by the blood and the Word.

• A conscience filled with dead works (Hebrews 9:14). A person with this conscience thinks he is serving God with all his life when actually all he or she produces is works filled with the spirit of death. There is no life in all that they do. A lot of works but all empty, devoid of life, and all burnt up at the judgment day. Paul was such a person who thought that he was serving God by going against the Christians, persecuting and imprisoning them before he was saved at the Damascus road. He called himself the chief of sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). Paul said that he had served God with his conscience before he was born again, yet he did a lot of harm to those around him, all the while thinking that he was serving God (Acts 22:3-5). He was zealous toward the God of his own imagination. He was sincere but sincerely wrong. Many Christians serve God with their own dead works rather than from God’s works that He energised through us. There are works energized by the desires and souls of man and there are works that originate from the Holy Spirit within us. The difference is not in its outward form but in its inner energy form. Works that are from God are intrinsically energized by God, whereas works that are merely from man are energized by human energy. The difference is that one is the works of grace (energized by grace) while the other is energized by human factors. The true works of grace are created inside us by our Lord Jesus and they flow forth from us like a river of life, a river of grace, effortlessly (Ephesians 2:8-10). There is some effort but it is from the energy of grace within which many times surpasses the energy of ordinary humans (1 Corinthians 15:10). True works of grace are also fulfilled through a state of rest and not a state of turbulence (Hebrews 4:10). Many Christians are walking in dead works and may find themselves naked with all their works that were built upon straw, wood and stubble burnt up in the judgment day (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

• A weak conscience is that which is still affected by fear (1 Corinthians 8:10-13). Paul’s example is of a Christian who is still afraid of idols (fearing that the spirits behind them will cause them harm or evil) and who also feared to eat food offered to idols. He very clearly calls them “weak.” To Paul, an idol is nothing, and his consciousness of God is greater than the consciousness of idols or evil spirits behind idols. However, Paul did exhort that we be sensitive to those with a weak conscience, to come down to their level (1 Corinthians 8:9-13). Fear is a contagious negative force which makes people do things they will normally never do. Those who are fearful are not allowed to go to war (Deuteronomy 20:8; Judges 7:3).

• A seared conscience is that which no longer feel what is right or wrong any longer (1 Timothy 4:2). Those who have such might create new rules, regulations, commandments which have no spiritual value nor ever were instructions from our Lord Jesus (1 Timothy 4:3). They no longer have a sensitivity to how their lives oppress or make another life or lives miserable. Nor are they aware of their own destruction to their own lives, though the spirit within them screams for help, they cannot hear or feel anything. There is no concept of right or wrong and everything is just driven by a will going against the natural order of things and of the Will of God. Most of time, they have lost the joy, peace and love in life. The zest of life is gone and it is all driven by uncontrolled desires to gain control by outward means, where the end justify the means.

When one is finally freed from all the various types of negative conscience above, one can flow with the good conscience or a conscience filled with the life and the light of God. The Bible describes such conscience as:

1. A good conscience that seeks to do what is right. Paul did sincerely try to have a good conscience before God, though he demonstrated some dead works in his own life (Acts 23:1).
2. A conscience without offence toward God and men. Paul describes this in the context of him seeking to obey all the laws of man and of God (Acts 24:16). However, this is not possible without Christ or the Holy Spirit for Paul became a Pharisee and ended up doing the wrong things still, like persecuting the church.
3. A conscience that bears witness to right and wrong. This is the conscience that Paul describes in the book of Romans of those who obey the law without having a form of the law (Romans 2:15). There are many people who have no knowledge of God but yet they have an inner sense of right and wrong and live by this inner knowledge. Without realising it, they are flowing in the light of life that guides and lights EVERY man who comes into this world.
4. A conscience which is fully sensitive to the Holy Spirit and bears witness of the works and acts of God (Romans 9:1). After Paul was born again, his conscience grew into a sensory organ that helps him to flow exactly in line and in tune with all the Holy Spirit is doing. This conscience is a strong conscience that bears witness to the WILL of God on earth. Imagine having the ability and power to discern the will of God in every situation. Let your conscience be filled with the Holy Spirit and not just be an instrument of the human spirit.
5. A good conscience that has the ability to walk in the faith of our Lord Jesus (1 Timothy 1:5, 19). A conscience that senses the love of God, the flow of faith of our Lord Jesus (our Author and Finisher of Faith – Hebrews 12:2). Love, joy and peace sings in this conscience and one who possesses this level of conscience enjoys life to the fullest. In the midst of a storm, this conscience still possesses the peace of God and sails through storms while others are shipwrecked for they have no faith meter, love meter, or joy meter to guide them through life.
6. A pure conscience that knows the deep things of God and can discern the mysteries of God (1 Timothy 3:9). This conscience operates in the depths of the Holy Spirit and instantly knows when a dream, a vision, a tongue, a prophecy, or any other manifestation of the spiritual realm is from God or not from God. It is pure, such that this purity is that which Jesus said will see God (Matthew 5:8). This purity is such that any not in line with God can be perceived easily as polluted.

The Old Testament has no equivalent word for conscience (although modern Hebrew has adapted it in phonetically). The closest in biblical usage would be the word ‘heart’ and its function in knowing the things of God and the ways of God. The book of Psalms speak of knowing the secrets of the heart (Psalm 44:21), meditate within my heart and spirit makes diligent search (Psalm 77:6), asking God to search and know my heart (Psalm 139:23), etc.

The New Testament word for ‘conscience’ is ‘suneidesis’ which is translated ‘conscience’ most of the time but translated ‘consciousness’ in Hebrews 10:2 and in 1 Corinthians 8:7. The breakdown of the Greek word shows that it is made up of two Greek words: ‘syn’ which means ‘together with’ and ‘eido’ which means ‘to know visually’ or ‘to see.’ Obviously, it is not just a function of knowing and seeing but it is a function of ‘knowing and seeing’ with another (the syn part), which implies something which is always in line with God, our spirit, the Word, the flow of life and light, the Holy Spirit, etc. Our conscience is thus the place where God has placed and fulfilled the Scripture that says that He gives light to all men coming into the world (John 1:9).

Our conscience is not just an organ given to us to know what is right or wrong. It might begin that way but it is a special organ that gives us a ‘togetherness’ with God, a consciousness of God. The true translation would be ‘consciousness’ and not just ‘conscience.’ Our conscience can grow to become an organ that tells us how to exercise our differing and growing levels of faith. Paul points to the different levels of faith and understanding of each Christian in 1 Corinthians 8 and Romans 14. Obviously, those who cannot stop from fearing idols are weaker in their faith, and those who only observe one day or only eat vegetables in order to please God, Paul classifies as weaker in the faith. Yet, everyone needs to grow at their level. You cannot force a baby to take meat when they need milk. Given sufficient time, everyone will grow into God and mature. But each in their time and at their own level, with the stronger supporting the weaker. While this is important, we must also encourage all to grow in their conscience and their consciousness of God.

We can grow until we are so filled with the equal consciousness of God as God has given us the capacity. We develop our conscience into a super organ of consciousness of the slightest diversion from the Will of God, from the Word of God, from the Love of God, from the Faith of God, from the Joy of God, from the Peace of God. Yes, from every attribute and nature of God. Our conscience was made to become the supreme organ of a deep level of consciousness of God.

Let us pursue this growth. All men and women are created equal and given the same chance to grow and become conscious of God and all His Will and Presence. We can be and must become as Christ was. Christ was conscious of God in all His fullness twenty-four hours a day. We can grow to become exactly as Christ was and is. When we become fully conscious of ALL of God, God’s fullness becomes our possession and our very nature and DNA. Amen.

Dearly Beloved,

This story comes from 1 Chronicles 13 and 2 Samuel 6 when David wanted to bring the Ark of God into Jerusalem. They invented a cart pulled by oxen to transport the Ark contradictory to the biblical requirements of the Ark being carried by the priests and an accident resulted; with the death of Uzzah who tried to steady the Ark as it stumbled. David experienced anger and fear when it occurred (2 Samuel 6:8-9). He must have felt angry at God that his gestures of adulation and celebration was not rewarded by God’s mercy and compassion. God is NOT obligated to respect our breaking of His laws even if our intentions are noble. After his anger subsided, he felt a fear of the Lord who is greater than him in every way. Not wanting to move the Ark any further, David took it aside to the house of Obed-Edom. While it remained in Obed-Edom’s house for three months, Obed-Edom prospered in every way (2 Samuel 6:11). The Bible did not describe the details of this prosperity but in visions, we saw that Obed-Edom’s household became fruitful. Many children were conceived and all his flocks also conceived. All his fruit trees bore fruit out of season and none of his family or his flock were sick. All his produce was better than others and his flock were the best fatted calf in all the land. Nothing changed in what Obed-Edom did, the only difference was that the Ark was not in his household. Such is the power of the presence of God inherent in the Ark of Covenant.

Are you labouring and not producing fruit? Are you working many avenues to get ahead and nothing seems to work? Are you barely making it in life? The answer is God’s presence in your life. As long as God is present, everything will work out well as long as you do not contradict God’s written word. We need to point out very clearly that David contradicted God’s written word on how to transport the Ark, and nothing he did would help prevent disasters from taking place. in spite of the fact that God’s presence was clearly visible upon the Ark, it did not benefit David as he did not follow the written word and guidelines of Ark transportation. So before bringing the presence of God into our lives, we must first examine that we are NOT contradicting God’s written word in our lives. God honours His Word and our respect for His presence and person is in honouring His written and spoken word. Having covered this essential point, let us now go forth to increase the presence of God in our lives.

Biblical figures like Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, David, Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, our Lord Jesus and the apostles were blessed because of the presence of God in their lives and not just because of their works alone. Each of them tapped upon the presence of God in their lives and learn to live in that presence. The Hebrew word for ‘presence’ (paniym) is derived from the word ‘Face of God.’ This implies living our lives right before His eyes, being aware of His constant eyes watching us. Indeed, the Bible says that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9). These are the keys to living in the presence of God to bring forth the Obed-Edom effect:

1. Awareness of the Lord’s ever watching eyes

When Joseph was tempted to sin with Mrs Potiphar, he said ‘how can he do this great wickedness and sin against God?’ (Genesis 39:9). He has an acute awareness of God at all times. Similarly, Abraham to the king of Sodom, that he did not want him to be able to say that he had made Abraham rich (Genesis 14:23). We must always be aware of the eyes of the Lord roaming to and fro, watching our hearts, our motives and our actions. And also being aware of Him hearing everything we say and do. This is the fear of God, a respect that all the earth and all the Universe is before His presence and we live always in His universal presence in all and through all. For the Lord to truly judge every human being on earth on Judgment Day, requires that there is a record kept of every word spoken, every thought we think, every action we do. We will have to give account for every word we speak and every action we do on earth (Matthew 12:36-37; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10). Paul makes it his aim, whether present or absent to always be well pleasing to the Lord.

• Obedience to God’s Word

The presence of God in the Ark did not work for David because he was not obedient to the written word instructions on carrying the Ark. God said that He will not hide anything from Abraham for He knows him; that he will command his children and his household after him that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to Him (Genesis 18:17-19). The rejection of King Saul was due to his lack of obedience to God’s spoken word in killing all the Amalekites (1 Samuel 15:10-11). God specifically said that he ‘has not performed My commandments.’ God promises that His heavenly presence will be available to anyone on earth who trembles at His word (implies obedience to His word) (Isaiah 66:1-2). God will put His rest upon those who obey His word.

• The closeness of our heart to God is greater than all physical distances

Although what we intend to do is no excuse for wrong methods nor justification for every action, motivation and intentions is everything to God. God has in the past searched for one who is after His heart and He found David (1 Samuel 13:14), God is and always has been searching for people after His own heart. In Samuel, He found someone who will do according to what is in His heart and in His mind (1 Samuel 2:35). God is not interested in outward worship when the heart is not sincerely into worship (Mark 7:6). The church is to become the greatest temple build by God embodying His full presence (Ephesians 1:22-23; 2:21-22). For this purpose, God requires that His word be sharper than a two-edged sword applied to the cleansing and purification of all the thoughts and intents of each believer in Christ (Hebrews 4:12). God has always desired a pure heart that can see Him in all His fullness (Matthew 5:8). It is not physical distance that separates us from God, rather it is the distance of our heart from the heart of God. The way into the presence of God is through having the same heart beat as the heart beat of our Father and of our Lord Jesus Christ. The righteousness of faith does not ask of the distance between earth and heaven nor of the earth and hell but acknowledges that God is in our heart and in the word of faith in our mouth (Romans 10:6-8).

• Thanksgiving, praise and worship is the air of heaven

We enter His gates with thanksgiving and enter into His courts with praise (Psalm 100:4). Thanksgiving and praise have always been the requirement to contain the presence of God in the heavens. Even in the Tabernacle of Moses, the smoke of incense symbolising praise and worship was what kept the high priest safe when he entered into the holy of holies once a year (Leviticus 16:13). This cloud of incense is the covering of praise needed to shield us from the overwhelming power of God’s presence. David declares that God dwells in the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3). The degree of God’s presence manifest is always directly proportional to the comparative degree of praise and worship present. Any higher degree of manifestation of presence without the covering of praise will be destructive. In God’s mercy, He tailors His manifested presence to the same level of praise and worship in our lives.

• The highest form of praise and worship will be manifested in the end time church.

The apostle declares that we are all living stones, being built up into a spiritual house, a holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus (1 Peter 2:5). A new tongue is given unto the New Testament church to enable us to rich the heights of praise and worship beyond our understanding (Acts 2:4, 11; 1 Corinthians 14:2, 14-15). Our Lord Jesus predicted that such a time would come when we have the ability to worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). In visions of the end times, we saw that the finale of the church is the last week of full-on worship offered to God non-stop which culminate in the Rapture as all of the church is captured into His holy presence physically and spiritually. The pattern of praise and worship as warfare seen in Jehoshaphat’s time is the normal way in which warfare is wage in the heavenlies. I have never seen an archangel of God needing to cross swords with the enemy. All they do is praise and worship and the energies of God’s presence around them destroys the enemies.

The presence of God that fills God people and brings the Obed-Edom effect is obtained through the indwelling of God’s presence in them. Just the mere presence of God is enough to destroy the enemy and bring forth all that is needed upon the earth and the heavens above. The presence of God can

• cause creative growth in a dead piece of wood, causing it to put forth leaves, flowers and fruit as in Aaron’s rod (Numbers 17:1-8). The ripe almonds were all ready to be eaten.
• cause the cloud of glory that manifested the tangible presence of God (Exodus 40:34-35; 2 Chronicles 5:13-14).
• bring side effects of wind, earthquake and fire although these are merely side effects and not the actual presence of God (1 Kings 19:11-12).
• be around God’s people like a hedge or wall of fire in which the enemy cannot trespass (Job 1:10; Zechariah 2:5).
• prosper a person or nation such that they will be the head and not the tail, concentrating all the wealth of the world for their use (Genesis 26:13; 39:3, 23; Joshua 1:7; Psalm 1:3; Isaiah 60:1, 5).
• transfigure and transform our bodies (Mark 9:1-7; 2 Corinthians 3:18).
• bring us into the true rest in God (Exodus 33:14; Hebrews 4:10).
• bring us into the experience of true fullness of joy in the Lord (Psalm 16:11).
• destroy all of the enemies of God in one breath (2 Thessalonians 1:9)

Above all these things, we in the end time church have the privilege of manifesting the powers of the age to come, bringing the leaves of the Tree of Life in New Jerusalem to heal all the nations. The presence of God in our lives will increase past the levels of the Ark of Covenant, surpassing all the manifestations of the Bible as the church is predestined to bear all the fullness of the presence of the Godhead through our Lord Jesus Christ. This is the ultimate purpose and existence of the church, to be God’s holy temple for all His creation. This presence begins with Jesus within us and grows until we are perfectly one with Jesus and with the Father, shining with the same divine glory that only God Himself has, perfectly mirroring the fullness of the Godhead within us. Amen.

Dearly Beloved,

As we head towards the ending of the first seven years of this end time revival and move into the second seven years of famine, the Lord is increasing the prosperity and breakthroughs in each of your lives, both personally and corporately. Many of you sought to tap on this triple wave of the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. For future readers of this talk, this principle applies to all prosperity and any other waves. As we are in the middle of this triple wave, I would like to point to some principles and strategies of tapping onto this flow so that each of you can be ready for the years of famine.

1. The flow of righteousness

Remember that the peak of the wave is the crest of the waves which is the highest mid-point with the most energy supporting it (in a three-year wave the midpoint is 1.5 years). We have just past the crest of this three-year wave and should surf on its waves to the next level of prosperity. This wave is built upon the energy of righteousness, especially those of us who have been walking faithfully, doing righteous deeds, practicing a disciplined devotional life with our God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Knowing God, He would have put each of you through various tests of righteousness to see what is in your heart. God tested Abraham by allowing him to be offered prosperity via the king of Sodom which Abraham refused. After which God proclaimed Himself as Abraham’s exceedingly great reward (Genesis 14:21-15:1). Immediately after that, God made a covenant with Abraham. God favours the righteous and has pleasure in their prosperity (Psalm 36:27-28). Righteousness and prosperity are tightly linked together in the Bible (Jeremiah 23:5-6). Daniel warned Nebuchadnezzar that he needed to break of his sins by being righteous, showing mercy to the poor that God might lengthen his prosperity (Daniel 5:27). It is important to guard against greed, live righteously in the sight of God in both small and big things, so that God can bless you with great abundant prosperity. The test usually comes before the reward. Just before your greatest moment of prosperity might be a critical moment of test to see what is in your heart.

• The flow of thoughts and ideas

Every financial problem is just an idea problem. There is always a way to solve every financial crisis, if we are willing to pray and receive God’s wisdom. Also note that the solution might involve making decisions that we are unwilling to make because of fear. Wisdom is always the producer of riches, honour; yes, enduring riches and righteousness (Proverb 8:18). It is wisdom that enables the prosperity and reign of kings, rulers, princes, nobles and judges (Proverb 8:14-16). Those who love wisdom will inherit wealth and have their treasuries filled (Proverb 8:21). Anyone who has spent abundant time with God in prayers and worship will notice a flow of ideas that come to them supernaturally. This can come in the morning, noon or night. Or even at times of relaxation. Write down all those ideas that God give and pray over them. Those thoughts and ideas that come from God will lead you to favour, prosperity and growth. Tap upon these ideas and they will lead you to make decisions that will increase abundantly the flow of prosperity to you.

• Hear and Do, not just Hear

At the end of the Sermon on the Mount, our Lord Jesus speaks of a wise man contrasted to a foolish man. The wise man built his house upon the rock whilst the foolish one on sand and we know which house fell when the floods and rains came (Matthew 7:24-27). In the parable both the wise and the foolish were active but the invisible factor was what was underneath the ground of their houses. In reality, the foolish man was inactive as he hears and does not do but the wise man hears and do! It is the action that makes something which we hear from God into concrete rock. Hearing and hearing alone without action will not lead one to true knowledge. True knowledge comes from within and not from without. All the four types of ground in the parable of the sower received the same seed!! It was how each respond to the word that determined their ability to reproduce (Mark 4: 14-20). Same word, different soil, different circumstances, different results. God can give us similar ideas but planted into different types of hearts and minds, brewed through differing circumstances, produce different results. As James advised in his epistle, faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Perhaps many, many good people of God has received the faith of God in their hearts but because they lack action, they have no results, as everything exists only in their minds but no concrete action was every taken. The biblical Joseph might have been a dreamer but he was definitely also a man of action. In the end, we are not rewarded based on our ideas or dreams but on our works that we do through God (1 Corinthians 3:13-15). Is there anything that God has spoken to you in your heart and mind, and that God is still waiting for you to take action? Having considered and prayed through all things, it is time to take action to bring blessings into your life.

• Be bold, overcome your fears

It is the time to possess the kingdom as decreed by the Ancient of Days, especially in these days of the ten toes (Daniel 2: 44; 7:21-22). We are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken and the only fear allowed is the fear of God (Hebrews 12:28). Those who fear are not worthy to fight God’s battles. Those who are fearful and fainthearted are told to leave God’s army before the battle begins (Deuteronomy 20:8). God would rather He have fewer people than to have a multitude of fearful ones. Everyone born into this sinful earth have fears in their lives as a result of sin nature. The first place to conquer anything is to conquer the fear in our own lives. Out of twelve spies sent to spy the land of Canaan, ten have fear and only two, Caleb and Joshua, had conquered their fear of giants (Numbers 14:6-9). Out of thirty-two thousand people gathered together under Gideon, twenty-two were sent back because they were afraid, leaving only ten thousand (Judges 7:2). In both accounts, those who are fearful were higher in percentage: 83% of twelve leaders were fearful and 68.75% or more than two-thirds of soldiers gathered were fearful. How many fearful Christians are there today? I am certain that they are in the majority but we must change that percentage to 100% bold followers of Christ, maturing into the perfect church, the bride of Christ. There is no place in God’s army for the fearful in Bible times; there is still no place in God’s end time army in our modern times. It is OK to feel fear but it is NOT OK to give in to fear. God constantly has to exhort His leaders and His people to NOT be afraid. In a similar vein, we exhort each believer to rise up, be bold, conquer your fears and go forth and extend the kingdom of God’s influence.

• Know the seasons, used seasoned methods

There are only four seasons a year: spring, summer, autumn and winter; there are only four seasons of fruiting the word: resisting doubts that steal the word, growing roots in time of tribulation, rejecting worldliness to bear fruit, and abundant fruitfulness thirty, sixty and a hundredfold (Mark 4:14-20). There is a time of sowing and time of harvest. Different instruments and different strategies need to be used according to the season. In the season of sowing, patience is required; in the season of reaping, speed and efficiency is required less the harvest is spoiled. We are in the season of harvest as we hit the crest of the three-year prosperity, speed and efficiency is important. Strike while the iron is hot, so that you can forge a sword for times of famine. When we get the season mixed up, planting in summer and trying to harvest in winter, we will suffer starvation. Tools and methods adapt to the season of our times. Like David, used only tools and methods that you have tested and forged through the seasons of your life (1 Samuel 17:39). Do not use untested methods in your life, even if others were able to use them. David cannot use Saul’s armour nor can you use another man’s armour. Use ONLY the methods and principles that you have worked out successfully in your life. What may work for someone else might not work for you. Look into your own life, how you conquered your bears and lions; then no matter how ridiculous you look like David going out with sticks and stones, take your proven strategy into the battlefield. With God’s help, your slingshot and stone will pierce the head of the giants you face. When there is no battle, you may train and learn other methods and strategies, but in the heat of battle, only use proven and tested methodologies.

• Listen to God-sent people, relationship opens doors

God does not just send angels into our lives and ideas into our heart and head; God sends people into our lives! Many people are looking for their next vision or angels and fail to develop proper relationships with those around them. Many are listening to their own hearts and minds but are not listening to the people whom God sent into their lives. Then when failure or disaster strikes, they wonder why God never helped them. Help does not always come in the form of angels or visions from heaven, even though we need both these to grow in God. Help sometimes come in the butler who was sent to prison to be cared for by Joseph (Genesis 40:14; 41:9-14). The enemy also sends people to hinder you like Mrs Potiphar or Sanballat or Haman (Genesis 39:19-20; Nehemiah 4:1; Esther 3:6). May God open your eyes to know who is sent by God and who is sent by the enemy. Naaman would have died of leprosy if not for him listening to the words of a servant girl. And when in Israel he nearly lost his one chance to be healed if not for the words of his servants (2 Kings 5:3, 13). He had already formed in his own mind, the method by which he will be healed, i.e. the prophet will come and wave his hand over him and heal him (2 Kings 5:11). So many people in their pride have already formed the opinion of how God should work in their lives, thus missing the biggest blessing of their lives! All God’s methods will the need for humility and the meekness to listen even to the people God sent into our lives, no matter who they are; whether it be a servant, a child or an insignificant slave. In the worst of the worst times of David’s life and his mighty men’s lives at Ziklag, their success rest upon the directions of a little Egyptian slave boy given up to die (1 Samuel 30:11-16). Are you really listening to God? Are you listening to the people God sent into your life or are you resisting their words? They might be the key to your future, maybe not now but months or years later. He who has an ear hears what the Spirit has to say, no matter what instrument God uses, whether it be direct visions, dreams, angels, inner voice, thoughts, promptings of the heart or even the voices of people God sent across our lives.

• Be a Giver, Be abundantly generous

Our Father God is a generous and abundant giving God. The nature of God has always been that of mercy and benevolence. It is the devil who is stingy and miserly who steals, kills and destroy while Jesus always gives abundantly (John 10:10). Before you deserve prosperity, check your own nature. Are you a stingy person or a generous person? Would God give abundant prosperity to those whose nature are not synchronous with His nature? Would God release abundant prosperity on those who are sting as the devil? There is nothing wrong in being a good steward but a good steward is NOT the same as a stingy steward. A good tree will bear good fruit but a bad tree CANNOT bear good fruit (Matthew 7:17-20). Our Father God gives sunshine and rain to both the just and the unjust, all out of the generosity of our God (Matthew 5:45). A life of giving is a life of sowing, always having abundant harvests. If we don’t turn on the tap for water to flow, how can more water flow? If we don’t start a life of generous giving with whatever we have, whether little or much, how can more prosperity flow into our lives? The only answer to selfishness is generosity in selfless giving and helping others besides just ourselves. Why should God help our selfish nature by giving more to a selfish person? To such, maybe less prosperity is better until the person learns that life is MORE than food and clothing (Matthew 6:25). Life is about loving people, helping people, caring for others, being like Jesus, being like God. We start this with whatever little we have and being faithful to little, God will bring even more prosperity to flow not just TO US but THROUGH US unto others. This is the most powerful way in which the flow of prosperity can move, through us unto others. Don’t look at the worldly people who seem to be prosperous now because all those will be taken from them in the end times. Do not serve mammon but lay your treasures up in heaven, start a life of giving now, release an unending cycle of giving that flows through your lives, for this is indeed the only satisfying way to live life on earth.

Take your spiritual surfboards and boldly swim to the waves of prosperity that God is creating in these end times to bless those who are His. Isaiah 60 will be fulfilled in fullness in our lifetimes. The Lord prosper you in all of your spirit, soul and body in Jesus Name. Amen.

Dearly Beloved,

Every human who is noble desires to leave a legacy or good works that endure after their time on earth is completed. While there are good noble works and charities that endure in the natural, the greatest memorials are spiritual memorials built through first love towards our God and Father. Sometimes those who build great spiritual memorials do so without purposefully attempting to build memorials; while others seek to do so and fail miserably. Cornelius was not seeking to build such memorials but was only interested in living his life righteously with a God whom he loved but did not personally know (Acts 10:1-2). I believe that he was purely concern with helping the poor and living a righteous life. As a centurion who must have trained in rigorous discipline, he was always praying regularly at the ninth hour (around 3pm). After many years of this regular discipline of prayer at a certain time of day, an angel appeared to him and called him by name (Acts 10:3). He was informed by the angel that his prayers and alms have come up for a memorial before God (Acts 10:4). He probably never had a vision in his life before and was greatly afraid at what he saw. What God wanted to do was to bring him further in his understanding of God, salvation and a personal relationship with God. God had mercy and compassion upon him, seeing that he was faithful to whatever level of knowledge of God that he had. From God’s perspective, he was one who deserved to be especially brought into the personal knowledge of all that Christ has done.

In the meantime, in the world of Peter the apostle, God was preparing him to be ready to bring the gospel to Cornelius the Gentile. Even eating or fraternising with the Gentiles was frown upon by the Jewish people. How much more going into their unkosher houses and fellowshipping with them. To God, all these are just human things which have no relevance in the cosmic scale of what He is about to do through Christ Jesus. God sent Peter a vision of unclean animals which by interpretation was the three Gentiles coming to see him and bring him to Cornelius house (Acts 10:9-16). Visions are always allegorically and some times parts of it make no natural sense; like for example, the part about killing and eating, has actually nothing to do with killing and eating. Rather it had to do with fellowship (which involves eating and drinking). The Holy Spirit did say to Peter after the vision that three men were seeking to see him and that he must go with them (Acts 10:19). At the reception in Cornelius’ house, Peter said that it was unlawful for a Jewish man to keep company with or to go to another especially those from the unclean Gentile world (Acts 10:28). Despite the conflict with his own upbringing and culture, Peter preached the gospel to Cornelius. The Holy Spirit did not wait for permission from men but went ahead and gave Cornelius and his household the born-again experience and also baptized him and his household in the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:44-46). After their water baptism, Peter was asked to stay a few days with them (Acts 10:48).

God took an unwilling apostle, crossed cultural barriers, sent His angel, gave instruction through visions and spoke directly by His Spirit in order to bring about the fullness of revelation to a humble righteous man whose only desire is to help the poor and live a righteous man; but in God’s sight was a man who had built a mighty spiritual memorial to Him despite his lack of knowledge in the fuller revelations of God! It is important to be amongst those who build memorials that God loves.

During His ministry days on earth, our Lord Jesus declared that the anointing of Him with costly spikenard by Mary in the house of Simon the leper at Bethany was to be a memorial that will be told wherever the gospel is preached in the whole world (Matthew 26:11-13; Mark 14:9; John 12:1-7). Mary did it out of pure love and appreciation for Jesus. She was not looking for recognition nor consciously wanting a memorial of her ministry towards Jesus. It must have been a great sacrifice to purchase this amount of costly oil and she was not ashamed to be ridiculed by others when she wept and washed Jesus feet with her tears of love and her hair. As always God knows the sacrifice and cost of all that we bring to Him. It was such that differentiated Cain and Abel, who brought the best of his flock (Genesis 4:4). David the king also knows how never to worship God with anything that costs him nothing (1 Chronicles 21:24).

There are certain times when God wants us to remember special events that are of great significance both natural, spiritual and prophetically that God institutes it as a memorial. The beginning of the Exodus was marked as a memorial in the history of the Israelites (Exodus 12:14). The keeping of the feast of unleavened bread was to be a memorial kept between their eyes (Exodus 13:9). The defeat of Amalekites as Moses held his hands high was to be recounted to Joshua and written as a memorial (Exodus 17:14). The breastplate that the high priest Aaron wore bearing the names of the sons of Israel were as a memorial before the Lord continually (Exodus 28:29). There is a memorial portion of the grain offering to be burnt as a sweet aroma to the Lord (Leviticus 2:9). The first crossing of the Jordan was marked with twelve memorial stones taken to build a memorial for the children of Israel (Joshua 4:7).

Our God does mark special events, timings and things done as special moments to be remembered and celebrated. But even more powerful are spiritual memorials that are ordained and sanctified by the Lord Himself. In each of our lives, we are to become living sacrifices to God bringing Him praise and worship in our own unique way. There are obvious principles and keys that make something a memorial before His presence. They are:

1. Things that are done sacrificially out of pure love for God
2. Things that celebrate and commemorate special acts of God that He did for us
3. Things that are done to help us to remember to keep loving God and worship God continually
4. Things that are done by God that marked the acts of God done to keep His promise towards us
5. Things that are done in a regular and consistent manner that fulfils God’s Will on the earth
6. Things that are done to give ourselves regularly to the Lord in prayers, praises or worship
7. Things that are done without any other motivation except to love God and to love others whom God loves

Part of the process of building spiritual memorials is spending a regular time with God on a daily basis as an expression of our love and adoration to God and to being like God in helping others. Cornelius had a regular discipline time to seek God every day at 3pm in giving of alms and prayers. Others like him are Daniel who prays three times a day facing towards Jerusalem. Daniel would knell down three times a day and give thanks to God, a custom he developed ever since his youth (Daniel 6:10). David declares that he praised God seven times a day (Psalms 119:164). It is indeed the person who meditates day and night on God’s word that becomes like a tree planted by the rivers of water, bearing fruit in its season and whose leaves do not wither (Psalm 1:2-3).

At other times, a consciousness of what God has done, of the majesty and greatness of an event and the demarcation point seared into our memories is what helps delineate an event of God into a lasting memorial. It is easy to became callous towards the things of God and the holiness of God when we have it as a constant experience. Never ever take the things of God for granted. To do so would be to be unappreciative of what God has done and also to become hardened to the presence and the holiness of God. People like Eli and his sons have taken for granted the positions they had and the holiness of the work that God had sanctified them to do (1 Samuel 2:27-36). Others like Korah begin to overstep the boundary of what God wanted them to do, assuming positions that God did not give them (Numbers 16:8-11). They all perish for taking God for granted. The sin of Esau is his lack of appreciation for his firstborn status and he traded it for a bowl of red bean soup (Genesis 25:34). Judas Iscariot did not worship our Lord Jesus nor did he fear Him but he took our Lord for granted and treated our Lord Jesus as just a normal human whom he can manipulate and use politically to secure himself a place with the Jews. In the end, his demise was equal to that of the antichrist.  By the time, he tried to repent, he still only regarded Jesus as just a man, an innocent man (Matthew 27:4). One of the things that caused the rebellion at the end of the thousand years of Millennium was a type of lethargy or taking for granted what they had during the thousand years. The Lord Jesus reigned in the Millennium and yet they were not satisfied and wanted to join the devil in going against the Lord (Revelation 20:8). What more could they not have? What else could they have wanted? Being resurrected from death and serving God a thousand years as priests was insufficient for them (Revelation 20:6). These roads to backsliding and sin are to be avoided:

1. Taking the things of God for granted
2. Taking God for granted
3. Taking the positions from God and the servants and the people of God for granted
4. Taking our life for granted
5. Taking our gifts and blessings from God for granted
6. Taking others for granted
7. The lack of gratefulness and thankfulness towards God and towards others

The only cure for such things is to:

1. Live a life of thanksgiving and praise every day
2. Remain humble and worship God on your knees
3. Fast often and humble yourself before God
4. Know that you are nothing and you can do nothing without Jesus
5. Be always childlike
6. Be always learning and growing
7. Be a worshipper of God

Let us rise and become memorials to God. Let our lives be the essence of which God would be well-pleased. The one sentence that we all must aspire towards is for God to say that He is ‘well-pleased with us.’ Let everything be done always through Jesus living through us. There is nothing that we have that is of value except for Jesus and Jesus alone. Live Jesus, breathe Jesus, be conscious of Jesus living through us day and night.

In Jesus Name. Amen.