What you know

It is the greatest privilege to know that Jesus Christ is the son of God ~

This realization was imparted to me by the Holy Spirit of God, as I came to understand that the privilege and blessing of God not only encompasses the blessed inheritance that I have in Jesus, but the grace of God towards me also abides in the sure knowledge of who Jesus is.

Oh that people of God today will know the value of that which they have! I believe that we do not truly understand the incredible privilege it is to be possessors of this truth. Many of us are like blind men who have in our fists stones of diamond but still walk around begging for food because we either do not know the value of what we have, or are devoid of the wherewithal to put it to good use. Many of us do not know the value of what we know.

What is this thing that we know and why is it such a valuable privilege? I have heard it said that familiarity breeds contempt, meaning that the more familiar you get with something or someone the more we take the thing or person for granted.

For many the idea of Jesus Christ as the Son of God is something that has always been an awareness: Either as something they believed or something they knew that others believed. For others still it is even a staple of their childhood. This familiarity has caused us to become easy with the truth. As time goes by the fact that Jesus Christ is the Son of God ceases to be the breathtaking, headshaking, heart-stopping, awe-inspiring truth that it should be. Further still, the knowledge stops there and does not take root into the significance of his divinity and the mercy of the impartation of this truth to his people on earth.

This occurred to me as I read the first Chapter of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians.
In it Paul tells the Church in Ephesus of God’s plan for creation through Jesus:
“Having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself: That in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him. Ephesians 1:9-10

THE FOCAL POINT OF CREATION = JESUS

Brothers and Sisters the formula above is the cause of the excitement in me and the driving force of my life.

You see in the passage above Paul tells the Ephesians that God according to his good pleasure has revealed a mystery to us…that in the fullness of time he will gather together all things in Christ- both things in heaven and on earth.

You see all of creation bears witness to the truth that Jesus Christ is Lord because all things were made through him.

Understand that Jesus is the word of God which God spoke when he said “Let there be light” and there was light Genesis 1:3

Understand that Jesus is the word of God of which John said “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him; and without him was not anything made that was made. John 1:1-3

Brothers and Sisters, there is nothing that God created in those seven days that was created without Jesus. It was all through Jesus. Even the creation of man: Adam. Understand that you were created through Jesus Christ…

And yet it is a mystery. To the Ephesians Paul “Having made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure”.

You see God has chosen to reveal this truth to us at this time and what an honor and privilege it is.

The Privilege:

And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise. Hebrews 11:39

Brothers and Sisters it is a privilege because there are many who do not know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the focal point of all creation. It is a privilege because even the Jewish leaders in the bible plotted against Jesus even as they read prophecies about him to the people on the Sabbath day, not knowing that they persecuted him of whom they spoke.

O my God! How can I make people see that in Hebrews 11 Paul speaks of all those who kept the faith and died not receiving the promise “because God had provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect” he was talking about the privilege we have in this knowledge of Jesus.

My friends, all those people that Paul mentioned as having kept the faith but not receiving the promise…Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Gedeon, Barak, Samson, Jephthae, David, Samuel among others…all the prophets….none of these people could get down on their knees in their lifetime and say “Thank you Jesus!” None of them in their lifetime could pray “In Jesus’ name” because they did not know what we know now. The mystery of Jesus was not revealed to them in their lifetime.

My friends, our father Abraham to whom the lord said “In thy seed shall all the nations of the world be blessed” could not get down on his knees and say “Jesus is lord” because Jesus had not been revealed – Well now he has and now you can.

And so in light of this knowledge what do we do? Do we get familiar with it and merely acknowledge and respect it, or do we go further still and adore it, bless God for it and let this truth flow out of our lives and unto others?

I sincerely believe that if every Christian recognized the value of this truth there would be a great overflow of love in the world as we go to extraordinary lengths to spread this truth.

May this be your portion in Jesus name: To cherish this truth that God has placed in your heart. To share it with those he places on your path.

God has chosen our generation as possessors of an everlasting truth. And in the words of Jesus himself: To whom much is given much is expected.

My brother, my sister...much is expected of you…you will not be found wanting in Jesus’ precious name. I love you. Remain blessed.

God is Calling

Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Isaiah 6:8

I couldn’t sleep; my conscience would not let me. God had called me to do something and I hadn’t answered, and I was miserable in my disobedience. I thought it was enough that I had given my life to him, now I could sit back and live my life knowing that my future was secure but God persisted in this call. I made excuses and procrastinated but this call from God resounded in my conscience. And so one night, lying in bed unable to sleep I knew that I could no longer run from God; there was no escape from him. I got up and wrote the first Christian Perspective letter titled: Keeping our aspirations in Christian Perspective.

It has been over a year and now I know that God persisted in this call because of his immense love for me. He could have chosen somebody else, but he chose me. He gave me all of the tools necessary to write this blog. He imparted me with knowledge and revelations, unveiling secret mysteries of what he will do in our generation.

While I was selfishly occupied solely with my own place in eternity God wanted me to look outwardly and reach out to his people. He wanted me to feast on his word and derive from his doctrine all of the teachings and lessons which I would share with the world. In 1st Timothy 5:16 he said to me: Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.

God was referring to me and everyone that would hear these words which he placed in my heart.

And now I know that he called me because he loved me. He chose me because he wanted to bless me and use me as a blessing to the world. My friend, today God is calling you.

God is calling you

There is a call that is coming from heaven. It sounds from every heart that is broken. There is a call from regions stricken by famine and diseases. God is calling you from the countenance of your friends who do not know him. God is calling you from the cries of children suffering in this world, the shivers of the homeless, the despair of the hopeless, God is calling you to stand up and receive the blessing of standing for him in this generation.

My friends, I believe that we exist at a special time in history. The sort of time that the prophet Isaiah existed in when he “Heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, here am I send me. And he said, Go and tell this people, hear ye indeed but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes, lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. Isaiah 6:8-10

Isaiah said: Here I am Lord, send me.

My friend, I have a question: God is calling you, will you answer?

Our Lord Jesus said that “Many are called but few are chosen” Matthew 22:14

There is the call to give our lives to Christ and there is the call to go out into the world and make a stand for him. Many who answer the first call do not answer the second. This is unfortunate because Jesus also said that “The harvest is plenty but the workers are few” Matthew 9:37

I ask this question because I must seize the opportunity now to ask it of you. God will do great things in the days and months ahead. All things but his word pass away. The time will come when I will no longer write this blog; the day will come when I will answer another call at a place of his choosing. I want to know that I got to ask you this question: God is calling you; will you answer?

You see, it isn’t a question of talent, qualifications, experience or anything else the world requires of us to do a work. The work of God only requires a willing heart that says “Here I am Lord, send me” and in his awesome power he will do the rest. God is looking for a generation of people who are willing to stand for him and make an everlasting mark in the world today. If you will be one of those people please say this short prayer with me: Father, I come before you just as I am. I open my heart to you and ask you to instruct me in your will for my life. Show me where I will make this stand and give me the grace to follow you. Here I am O Lord; send me to the glory of your name. In Jesus’ mighty name Amen.

God bless you, now and forever. Amen.

There is a Cry

Everyone needs compassion. This was supposed to be the title of this article. For quite some time I had been thinking about how everyone is in need of this mercy and compassion from God. God laid it upon my heart to get this message of compassion out to the world. When God instructs you in something he confirms it from multiple sources. This week I heard a song that started with the phrase “Everyone needs compassion”. But something happened this morning; something so profound that though the message of the need for compassion is central to this article, its title became There is a Cry.

As I prayed to God this morning, my mind went to so many stories of suffering that I have read recently from various parts of the world.

I remembered the people living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya, who can no longer get access to medication because of the civil unrest that has unhinged the stability necessary to get those drugs.

I remembered the woman that has her medication but can only take half a dose because she does not have any food to take it with and will faint if she took a full dose without food.

Brothers and sisters, another from Zimbabwe living with this disease was asked what the biggest issue was in this country that has been ravaged by this epidemic, and she said: Unemployment. So there is a cry in this country that has the highest inflation rate in the world.

I remembered the story about the 45,000 Christians living in Jerusalem and how they have been persecuted to the point that the population of Christians which was 40,000 in the 60’s has barely increased. I remembered the man that was murdered recently because he was a Christian. He had been persecuted by people who wanted him to renounce Christianity. His last words to his wife on the phone was that he would be home late…he had to meet with some people.

So as I prayed to God, I told him that there is a Cry…and then it begun. That is all I could say. Over and over I repeated the words “There is a Cry”, as I cried and cried. I told God that somewhere there is a child whose mother is missing; there is a cry from the man whose wife is sick. There is a cry from the family whose house is burned. There is a cry. Tears flowed down my face as I felt all of these regions of the world cry out to God through me. I cried for the woman that is too tired to cry. I cried for the man in a coma who cannot cry. I cried the cry that goes up to heaven and came away with the inspiration to tell you that…

Everyone needs compassion:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VwWYfwuTeaw

I thank God for Rick Warren. In his book The Purpose Driven Life God blessed him with the candor to say: We should all stop acting like we’ve all got it together.
We live in a world where we are all too eager to prove that we have got it all together. Many exude the impression that they are on the fast track to material success. This might be true but we all need God’s mercy in our lives. No one is too good and no one is too holy. This truth was driven home to my heart when God showed me that even one as righteous as John the Baptist needed compassion.


John the Baptist: Biography


Many of us have read the stories of John the Baptist yet there is a deeper meaning to who he was and a deeper spiritual significance of what he stood for.
A quick biography would show that Mother of John the Baptist and the Mother of Jesus were cousins (Luke Chapter 1). Jesus was born of a virgin and John the Baptist was born of a barren woman. When the Arc Angel Gabriel came to John’s father Zacharias and told him that his wife would conceive he did not believe so the angel told him “Behold thou shalt be dumb and not able to speak until the day that these things are performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season””. Luke 1:20

The bible tells us that during the naming ceremony of John, that they brought writing table for Zacharias who wrote “His name is John”, and all of a sudden the bible says his tongue loosed and he spoke and began to praise God. Amen!

John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. As his father prophesied in Luke 1:76 that “And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his way.”

John the Baptist told the people to repent for the kingdom of God was at hand. He told them of the one that is to come, whose shoe laces he was unfit to even tie. He baptized our lord Jesus Christ as the heavens opened and the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said. Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased”. John 3:22

John the Baptist: Spiritually
The spiritual significance of John is a mystery that God has revealed to me through his word. You see John was born of a barren woman. At a time when the land of Israel had not had a prophet in many years, at a time when the people suffered the yoke of their oppressors God sent John out of this bareness, and literarily out of the wilderness to prepare the way for Jesus. The same spirit of God that took hold of the prophet Isaiah was upon him as we read in Luke 1:17

The priests of old were the Levites, the men from the tribe of Levi. During the Passover celebration, each family would have to sacrifice a lamb that was pure. And so the Levite priest would spot the choice lamb from a herd and point to it saying: Behold the Lamb! In identification of the lamb to be sacrificed.

John the Baptist was a Levite. The bible tells us that his father Zacharias was a priest. And so when John sees Jesus walking by, the Lamb of God that came down from heaven to die sacrificially for the sins of the world the bible tells us “And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!” John 1:35

As surely as the Levite priests of old identified the lambs to be sacrificed, the Levite John the Baptist identified the lamb of God Jesus, the sacrificial lamb when he pointed to him and said behold the lamb of God!

You see brothers and sisters, this is part of the mystery of who Jesus is that has been wrapped up for centuries but is now being revealed unto men. A mystery that has been shrouded in rituals whose significance bear testament to a deeper spiritual meaning: That Jesus is the Son of God. That is what John the Baptist came to testify. This prophet is who John was.

John the Baptist needed compassion

Friends, this is about a cry. This is about a need for compassion.

You see towards the end John the Baptist was thrown in prison. He had suffered there and perhaps his faith was shaken. The bible tells us that rumors of Jesus went abroad and John’s disciples came to him and told him the miracles that Jesus was doing. The bible tells us “And John calling unto him two of his disciples sent them to Jesus, saying, art thou he that should come? Or do we look for another? Luke 7:19

This was the same John that declared Jesus unto the people saying “Behold the lamb of God!” This was the same John that baptized Jesus as the heavens parted and God said “Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased”. John 3:22

But here John was questioning if Jesus was truly the one.

And what of Jesus’ reaction? The bible says that “In that same hour he cured many of their infirmities and plagues, and of evil spirits; and unto many that were blind he gave sight. Then Jesus answering said unto them: Go your way, and tell John what things ye have seen and heard; how that the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, to the poor to gospel is preached. And blessed is he, whosoever does not fall away on account of me” Luke 7:21-24

Instead of arguing or getting angry, Jesus did what he does best. He healed the sick people around and performed some additional miracles, then turning to Johns disciples he tells them to go and tell John all that they have seen and heard, but to also tell him that blessed is the one who does not stop believing in him! Jesus’ compassion is extended to John as he encourages him with these signs and with his words.

My friends, just as profound is what Jesus says when John’s disciples leave. He begins to ask the people what they went out into the wilderness to see when John was there; a reed that is shaken with the wind? What did you go to see? He asks. He told them that they didn’t go to see someone dressed in pretty garments because those people are in the courts of Kings?

A prophet? Yes, I say unto you much more than a prophet. This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. For I say unto you that Among those that are born of women there is not a greater prophet than John the Baptist; but he that is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he”. John 7:26-28

Jesus pays tribute to John the Baptist. He didn’t cast John down after John’s disciples left, rather he spoke great things of John telling the people in the end that God is no respecter of persons and even the least in the Kingdom of God can do great things in the name of God.

Conclusion of the matter
Brothers and sisters, I have told this story of John because I want you to know that there may come a time when your faith is shaken but know that even John’s faith was shaken as he asked this question. But know that just as the our Lords grace was sufficient for John it will always be sufficient for you.

I have also told this story for you to know that there is a cry in the world today. It is a cry that is springing out of various regions of the earth: Out of Africa, out of the Middle East, out of Europe…out of the whole world. I pray that we come to hear this cry in our lives and stand with these regions and people in intercessory prayer. That we would move on from the prayers of people and things with which we are well acquainted and also include the prayers for men and women we do not know, and children who may be far from us. I pray that we would also be given the grace to answer this cry to the glory of God.

I pray these things through the power of Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with God and Holy Spirit as one God, now and forever more. Amen.

God bless you.



Thank you Jesus...