Tag: Lord’s Prayer

Posted in FORGIVENESS

LOVE KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

The scripture says     8If we say we have no sin [refusing to admit that we are sinners], we delude and lead ourselves astray, and the Truth [which the Gospel presents] is not in us [does not dwell in our hearts]. 1 John 1 AMP. We were all sinners because of one man, Adam. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Remember, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Christ came to die so that we could have forgiveness of our sins. This makes forgiveness an important topic in our walk of faith.

When you read Matthew chapter 18, from verse 21 to 35, you would understand how God wants us to forgive those who have done us wrong. From the passage, the Master forgave the servant his debt he could not pay. The penalty was so severe that he had to beg on his knees. The Master forgave him but that servant could not do the same to another fellow who owed him a hundred silver coin. The servant was unmerciful to his fellow servant. In short, the Master got to hear what he had done, and took him to jail; tortured him till he paid the last penny. Friends, we owed a debt we could not have afforded to pay but God sent His son to suffer and die on our behalf. He paid the debt we could not pay. He forgave us our sins. Like that Master and His servant, we ought to forgive those who sin against us.

Please take a moment to answer these questions:

Do you remember the last time you sinned against God?

Did you pray for forgiveness?

Did you believe He forgave you?

If YES, you are blessed.

Let us move on the other direction;

Do you remember the last time someone (brother, sister, colleague, mother, father, teacher, pastor, family member, manager, director, supervisor, etc.) did something wrong (sin) against you?

What did you do?

Did you pay him/her back? Or You forgave him/her?

One thing we should know as believers is a servant is not greater than his master. If the master says “if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins”, then we should not find it hard to forgive our fellow human when they sinned against us.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus added “And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us [who has offended us or done us wrong].” Luke 11:4 AMP. The way we are going to receive forgiveness from the Lord is dependent on the way we forgive others when they sin against us. God wants us to live in peace because in the beginning, he created a man and a woman. We are one family. For that reason, you are my brother/sister. I do not have to always keep record of the wrong things you do to me. Yeah! Paul said in 1 Corinthians that “love keeps no record of wrongs.”

We must learn to forgive generously.

Forgiveness is one of the difficult things believers find it hard to do. It is not very uncommon to see believers saying; “I cannot let it go” “I will pay him/her back” “God even knows I cannot forgive him” “he/she hurt me, I will forgive but I cannot forget” etc. But what these guys forget is Matthew 7:2 AMP “2For just as you judge and criticize and condemn others, you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you [use to] deal out to others, it will be dealt out again to you.” In other words, as you forgive others when they wrong you, your Father would also forgive you when you ask for forgiveness.

Most believers believe that it is right to curse someone who has done them wrong. NO! NO!! NO!!! Two wrongs can never make right. Look at Stephen’s life, at the point of death, he prayed for those who were stoning him. Jesus could have cursed those who crucified him but he prayed the Father to forgive them because they did not know what they were doing. Joseph forgave those who sold him. It may be true that you were hurt; he hurt you. She hurt you. But the pains you went through cannot be compared to the cost of your salvation. It took a person’s blood to wash your sins away. Now you can sing Amazing Grace.

Today, 28Invoke blessings upon and pray for the happiness of those who curse you, implore God’s blessing (favor) upon those who abuse you [who revile, reproach, disparage, and high-handedly misuse you]. Luke 6 AMP

God bless you as you decide to forgive those who have done you wrong. Amen.

We can pray together: if you need strength to let things go, send me an email and I would pray with you. The address is depreacher@live.com

Posted in HOPE, SOUL FOOD

WHO KNOWS GOD’S WAY?

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.  1 Thessalonians 5:18.  I believe everything happens for a reason.

The devil can’t touch us as God’s children because of the hedge of protection around us. However, God does allow the devil for a reason; his defeat. The situation may not be pleasant (like what happened to Job) but if we can maintain our positive attitudes toward that situation, I believe in the end, God would use what was meant for our downfall, harm, disgrace, death, etc to lift us up to a new and a higher level. Amen!

 He has promised to give us a wonderful future.However, He never said anything about how the journey would be like. That is what makes Him God. He knows ways and means to get us to that destination. If He should reveal to us what would happen in our days on earth, there are some people we would never talk to, some places we would never go, some food we would never eat, some schools we would never attend, some cars, planes, ships, etc we would never board, some holidays we would never go, etc. He sees everything right in His sight just that we tend to complain, cry, worry, etc when we don’t understand what He is doing. What I have realised is God through His Spirit, the Holy Ghost, would reveal to us what God has prepared for us both the present and the future. He would give us a clear picture of what He has for us But the ways to get there are kept hidden from us. Our constant walk in Him would reveal to us what we have to do daily, as we walk on the road to that destination.

Nobody knows how God does things. The scripture tells us God’s ways are above our ways, and His thoughts above our thoughts. As humans it is sometimes difficult to see from God’s perspective, or to understand how He works. You may not understand why you lost that lovely family member, why that fellow walked out of that relationship, why despite all your efforts the company decided to lay you off, why people don’t appreciate you, why you are still unemployed, etc. You may not understand the situation you are going through now. But hear me today; they are happening so that God’s divine purpose for your life can come to pass.

Wait a minute, what do you mean Mr. Preacher? Am hurt, am unemployed, i’ve had an accident, my friend died, I was punished for doing good, my house was on fire, my car, business, my parents are not working, am facing deportation, etc. And you are saying they are happening so that God’s divine purpose for my life could come to pass?

The answer is YES.In John 9, when Jesus and His disciples saw a man blind from birth, Jesus told them in verse 3 that “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.”

Friends, some things (both good and bad) happened to us, is happening to us, and would happen to us for the work of God to be displayed in our lives, so that others will see how powerful our Father is. When something good happens, we tend to give Him thanks. However, we cry, worry, talks when something bad happens to us. Let us have in mind that all things work together for our good. When the scripture says all things, it means those things we see as bad, and those we see as good. In those “bad situations”, we have to give thanks to God for getting us out. Paul said “Be thankful in all circumstances” not Be thankful for all circumstances. We don’t have to thank God for bad things happening to us. NO! Satan is responsible for that. We must thank Him (God) in that situation for His Power to set us free. We should also know that He is more than able to see us through. Nothing happens to us, they happen for us. What was, is, and would be meant for your harm would be used for your good.                                                  No one knows God’s ways.

Posted in HOPE

Ask Believe Receive

Posted on by Uplifting Christ

The problem with most Christians today is they are praying, yet they are not receiving. They talk to their Father in Heaven, yet they don’t receive. I wonder what they say, how they say it, and why they are not receiving. In Ephesians 1:3, the scripture tells us God has already blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heaven realms, and they are in Christ. I met a pregnant lady with her husband one weekend at the mall. They were very excited about the shopping they had on the trolley. The shopping were the clothes for the unborn baby. At spot I remembered “LET US CREATE MAN IN OUR OWN IMAGE AND LIKENESS”.  God created you in His image and likeness, and He placed all you would need on earth in Jesus before he allowed you into the womb. Though that child was still in the womb, and only God knew whether it was going to survive, those guys were buying what the child would need before it would be born. “If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven…”

He chose you in him before the creation of the world. You were blessed before you came to the womb, and those blessings were placed in Christ. God knows our needs but He wants us to ask in faith, and in the Name of Jesus. Most of us are not receiving because of what Jesus said in John 16:24. He said “Until now you have not asked for anything in my Name.”

 My question is;

UNTIL NOW, HAVE YOU ASKED FOR ANYTHING IN HIS NAME?

Think about it.

HOW DO YOU ASK?

Surprisingly, believers today know how to complain to God. We behave like the disabled man at the pool of Bethesda, who when Jesus asked him a simple questio: Do you want to get well? Instead of answering YES, started complaining about what he had been through that “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” This man had suffered for 38 years and all he could do when someone offered to help was to talk about what he had gone through. Most of us today are suffering yet we complain (about our current situation, our Job, family, etc) without asking for any solution. The master explicitly said in His word that “ASK AND IT WILL BE GIVEN TO YOU.”

God was pleased to place everything you would need on earth in Jesus. He doesn’t want to see us wanting in life so he made the provision for your needs before you were born. All you have to now is to ask for what you desire at “this time”. David understood this precept thus he said in Psalms 23 that THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD, I SHALL NOT WANT. You shall not want in life if you ASK whatever you need in Jesus’ Name, and in Faith. Next time you go to the Father in prayer, discipline yourself enough to quit complaining about the unpleasant situation you are in, and Ask for what you want Him to do to get you out of the situation. Quit talking to God about your problems because He knows them. ASK for solutions. Ask in Faith, and in the Name of Jesus.

HOW TO ASK

  • Ask in PRAYER

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus told us to ask for our daily bread, in other words, to ask for our daily needs when we pray. Prayer opens heaven, and it gives us inner tranquility. In Philippians 4:6, we are to present our request in Prayer. Prayer is the master key to open every closed door of opportunity, prosperity, health, happiness, hope, etc. Always present your request in prayer. I asked some married women the convenient time they talk to their husbands about their needs. Some said “usually at dawn”, others said “after a special treat”, “after a family visit”, and to my surprise, some said “usually after a fight or misunderstanding, and he is ashamed”. As Christians, the best time we can pour our needs to the Father is during “PRAYING HOURS”. He hears us all the time but the best is through Prayer, when our focus is on Him.

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” Mark 11: 24. When you ask in Prayer, have Faith that it is done, and it will be yours. Without faith, it is impossible to please the Father. How are you going to win a person’s favor when he or she is not pleased with you? And you can only get a promotion when the company is pleased with your performance. When we present our request to the Father, we should have faith that He is more than able to perform.

“But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord” James 1:6,7.

The scripture tells us that He is Faithful. He will do whatever He says or promises. In 1 Kings, Solomon said “Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses”. When we pray in faith, the impossibility becomes possible.

  • Ask in the Name of Jesus.

The “Name of Jesus” is the concession we have as believers. Whenever we ask in Jesus’ Name, heaven opens and blessings begin to pour on us. When we pray in the Name of Jesus, no one has the power to oppose. Jesus said in John 14:13 “I will do whatever you ask in my Name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. 14; you may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” Present your request in Prayer, Ask in Faith, and in the Name of JESUS, and whatever it is that you ask for will be yours. And don’t forget to give thanks.

WHY AIN’T WE RECEIVING?

Most believers complain when praying. They complain in FAITH, AND IN THE NAME OF JESUS. Jesus never said Complain and it shall be given to you. He said ASK. I read through the book of Job, and one thing I found was Job was always complaining about what he was going through. Let us take this scenario; A Christian who needs a Job as a manager of a company. Instead of asking for what he wants “Father, in the Name of Jesus I need a Job as a Manager in a manufacturing firm. I thank you for giving me …in Jesus’ Name. Amen.” He prayed like this “Father, you know that I am not working. All my colleagues are getting good jobs, getting better pay, and building houses. I have been praying for months but no answer. People are laughing at me because I am not working. I thank You that you have heard me. Amen.”  This fellow was only complaining about his situation. Most believers spend time complaining, instead of asking.

Again, most of us ask for something for our pleasure. Our motive, most of the time, is to show off. For instance “Father, make me rich so that my friends will know that you are with me. Or give me a child so that people will know… ” When you have such motive, according to James 4:3, you won’t receive anything. God isn’t going to provide for you because of your friends, family, etc neither is he going to do what you want because of your righteousness. He is doing wonders today because He wants to make Name for himself. He wants whatever He does for you to bring Him glory through Jesus Christ. God gives grace to the humble.

MY PRAYER FOR YOU

It’s my prayer that God meets you at the point of your need. That He shows you the right path to succeed. That He takes away anything that will delay His promises concerning your life. I know and believe that from today you will ask in prayer, in faith, and in the Name of Jesus. Again, you will have a clear motive for whatever you ask. God bless you.

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