Intimacy

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned.
John 15:4-6 NLT

Intimacy with Jesus is so important. Without intimacy with him, we are unable to produce fruit. Within intimacy, we produce much fruit. Without intimacy with him, we wither. Within intimacy, we flourish. Knowing this, why would we do anything apart from him? Because apart from him, we can do nothing. But yet knowing this, how often do you find yourself doing something apart from him? This is evidence of needing more of him and drawing closer to him in intimacy.

If Jesus is not yet within you, he stands at the door of your heart, knocking. Will you let him in? If you welcome him in, he will come in and commune with you!

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.
Revelation 3:20 NLT

Jesus loves you more than you can imagine or comprehend. He knew you before you were born; in fact, he knew you before you were conceived!

You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
Psalm 139:16 NLT

Jesus is your creator, and he calls you close. He deeply desires intimacy with you through spending time with him, learning his character, and living in obedience to his words. He is so full of love, words cannot describe the love he holds in his heart! Did you know that he intercedes for you? Jesus prays for you.

Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Romans 8:34 NLT

The love of Jesus comes from the love of the Father in heaven, for Jesus and the Father are one. The Father was the one who sent Jesus to earth to save you from the way of this world and bring you into his life – eternal life.

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16 NLT

The Father waits patiently, looking for your return every moment. He doesn’t care about what you’ve done. He loves you far more than any sin you have committed. There is nothing on earth that can separate you from his love.

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.
Luke 15:20 NLT

If you find yourself away from Jesus today, come back to him through prayer. Ask him to come into your life and take control of it. Submit yourself to him, and allow his love to wash over you and transform you. As this happens, thank him for his goodness and kindness, his mercies and his love.

Having Peace at all Times

Two years ago in March 2020, I was headed for Cambodia in the face of a new and alarming pandemic. It was my first overseas trip at one of the worst times to travel, yet I felt at peace. Around this time I got an impression in my spirit. “If you keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, you will have peace. If you keep your focus on the world, you will have turmoil.” This impression has stayed with me ever since and has proven to be true. When people around me have been fearful, I have had God’s peace. I don’t say this to boast, because it is not a peace I have made. It comes from Jesus, so I will boast in Him!

Jesus said that we may have peace in him in John 16:33.

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.
John 16:33 NLT

Jesus has already overcome the world! If He has overcome the world, there is nothing outside of his dominion and control. He is the author and finisher of our faith, so it’s not our place to worry about this world. The position we need to take is one of pure devotion to Him, fixing our eyes on Him.

You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!
Isaiah 26:3 NLT

With our eyes focused on Jesus, we aren’t looking at other things. This is a really important truth to exercise. Simon Peter, the apostle, learned about fixing his eyes on Jesus when he stepped out of the boat to walk on water.

About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. ²⁶When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” ²⁷But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” ²⁸Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” ²⁹“Yes, come,” Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. ³⁰But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. ³¹Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”
Matthew 14:25-31 NLT

We can see in this passage that when Peter looked to Jesus and stepped out in obedience, the result was a miracle. He was walking on water when no one else was doing it. As a result, he is the only recorded person in the Bible besides Jesus to have walked on water. (Other accounts of water miracles were different, such as the Israelites who walked on dry ground when fleeing Egypt). So, therefore, when you are obedient to Christ, being focused on him, you will do things not done before.

Also note that when Peter looked at the wind and the waves, he began to sink. The wind and the waves can be thought of as a metaphor for the cares and troubles of the world. When we focus on what’s going wrong around us, we begin to sink and lose faith. And without faith, it is impossible to please God.

What we can do to combat this attack on faith is to focus on Jesus. Talk to him and lay everything in his care; Pray to him and let him carry your burdens.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.
Philippians 4:6 NLT

So I want to encourage you to make it a habit to focus on Jesus. Whenever you find yourself focused on other things, refocus your gaze again. When this habit becomes a lifestyle, your inner peace can never be robbed. I pray you can see that this peace is not dependent on external circumstances, but only dependent on your inner focus on Jesus.

Ask, Seek, Knock

Ask the Father to do a deep work in you; Not for the sake of boasting, but so you may live a more empowered life!

A couple of years ago, I started praying to our Father for encounters, dreams, and visions. I wanted to experience these things so I could have a greater understanding of what God was doing in and around me. I wasn’t entirely convinced that it could – or would – happen. However, I have now come to realise that it’s a good thing to want more than the status quo.

Our Father wants us to get curious and ask him about things! Ask him for guidance and deliverance. Ask him to open your eyes to his way of seeing things. Paul prayed in this way for the Ephesians, with the intent of them having a greater understanding of who God is, and how his power is working in us who believe!

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, ¹⁷that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, ¹⁸having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, ¹⁹and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
Ephesians 1:16-19 ESV

The intent of these prayers is to lead you toward a place of greater understanding of God, and ultimately, living a life of more power and glory. If you seek dreams, visions and encounters for the sake of boasting, you will not handle them well. That attitude of pride could lead to causing other believers to stumble. We are to bring others unto Christ, not unto ourselves. This topic is looked at in 2 Corinthians 5. Here is part of it in verses 19 and 20:

that is, in Christ God was reconciling^[c] the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. ²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
2 Corinthians 5:19-20 ESV

Having said this about pride, I don’t want you to think you shouldn’t desire or ask for greater revelations of God as Father Son and Spirit. It is highly beneficial to see the greatness and power of God.

You will not be able to live in the fullness God has for you if you resist him and his gifts. Peter refused Jesus washing his feet, likely because he felt uncomfortable with it. However, Jesus spoke sternly to him to assure him it must be so:

Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, ⁴rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. ⁵Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. ⁶He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?” ⁷Jesus answered him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand.” ⁸Peter said to him, “You shall never wash my feet.” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no share with me.”
John 13:3-8 ESV

There is a place for these revelations, and having a heart that is humble and hungry is a perfect recipe for God to open your eyes to these things. After all, Jesus was recorded as saying:

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7 ESV

I want to encourage you to make this a topic of prayer until you see God start to open your eyes and expand your vision. Encounters with him are open and accessible to everyone!

Fighting Dragons

Dear friends, From a young age, as young as I can remember, I have been in the middle of a spiritual battle. Most of my earliest memories are nightmares of evil creatures coming to torment me in my dreams. I have already spoken of some of these horrors in previous posts, so I will not go into detail here. However, I want to revisit this topic because there has been a significant update to this story.

I have slept peacefully for many nights since dealing with those demons of the past; However, over the past months I have had multiple dreams in which Satan came to me to kill me. The first two dreams were especially intense, the first of which he was in the form of a dragon, breathing fire, flying around, and using several different tactics to attack me. In the second dream he was in the form of a man and he used smooth words to trap me. In both of those dreams I was shown that I needed to face him myself instead of relying on other people to win this battle for me. I couldn’t depend or rely on my spiritual leaders to set me free; God would give me the strength to face him myself.

In each instance I prayed into the dreams and sought God desperately because of their intensity. After prayer each time, I felt a powerful peace come over me that couldn’t be penetrated. Some time passed, at least a couple of months, before I had two more dreams in the same night.

In these next two dreams, I could see that God the Father was watching over me. I again faced a dragon that wanted to harm me. However, this time things were different. A brother stood by me and submitted his heart to God. He truly lay himself down in the presence of God. His heart was in complete worship to God. I could see that God the Father was looking at my brother and me standing there, facing the dragon. Then my brother started forcefully praying against the dragon! He started asking God to rebuke it, curse it, and smite it!

Well, it’s safe to say God wasted no time in doing the very things asked of him! He struck that dragon down right where it stood. That wretched thing couldn’t move after only three strikes! I stood there amazed. I was just given the key to win the fight against dragons!

Again, I was facing another dragon. This one was much like the first, intending to harm me. I felt fear start to creep in until I saw God appear again. He turned and looked at me. As soon as the father looked at me, I felt peace come into me. I remembered the previous dragon fight and submitted myself to my Father, right before the dragon in front of me. I truly surrendered everything, holding nothing back. Once I had entered that place of worship (I felt a change in my spirit), I started praying against the dragon. God responded promptly and struck the dragon down. It was utterly defeated!

Once I awoke, I put this prayer into practice immediately. I felt the results immediately in my spirit and I was soaring! I felt so free and so powerful. I knew I had a huge amount of authority, given to me by God.

I remembered the verse in James that says:

So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7

Over the years of facing spiritual battles I have prayed James 4:7 many times, but never with the success I recently had. I believe there is a grace that God gives when he reveals something specifically to us. The verse was no less true before my dreams as it was after, yet it was only when I held the revelation of the verse for myself that it was truly effective.

When I had the revelation of James 4:7 I realised that it is far more powerful than what it seems. The verse doesn’t describe the level of humility required, how far the heart needs to go to submit to God before you are in a position to resist the devil. I also didn’t realise that I needed to pray from that place of submission and ask God to take down the devil. I thought I had to resist him in my own strength.

So as you can see, there is a big difference when you understand something in your heart. When God showed me how James 4:7 works, I no longer came to incorrect conclusions. I got the essence of the revelation, not just the idea of it. It went past my head and into my heart. I pray he will show you too.

I want to encourage you to face your dragons, whatever form they may come in. When you are faithful to keep fighting and praying, our father hears you and will give you the specific strategy to defeat the enemy.

May the God of peace richly bless you.

The Power of Prayer: A Testimony

Following on from my last post where I wrote about the power of God working through prayer, I want to share a testimony.

I felt God lead me to a remote church to help them while they started up. This church was less than six weeks old when I first visited, and at the time of this story, I had attended a handful of times. One Sunday night, after a regular service, I started talking to a young woman who was there with her partner. I found out that they used to attend church, but it was very dry and didn’t operate in the power of God. As a result, they left God and were very sceptical about connecting back into a church.

While I was talking with this young lady, my spirit inside of me felt like it would jump out of my body with excitement! I felt such a joy and connection to her. I have never felt this way before, and not since. One of my friends had organised to catch up with them after the service at a cafe, so we left the church and went to the cafe.

At the cafe, there were three friends and I talking to this young couple. As we talked about God with them, I again felt a strong connection to them. As I shared my testimony with the young man, he said he had gone through very similar life circumstances. He could easily relate to me and the struggles I went through. By this point, my spirit was just about to jump out of my body with joy and excitement for what God was doing in me! Wow! It was truly amazing.

After some time of discussion, the cafe was closing due to it getting late. We all went outside and kept talking in the freezing cold. After ten minutes or so, one of my friend asked to pray for them. After he prayed for them, he suggested I also pray. Well, safe to say no one expected God to move so powerfully!

As soon as I opened my mouth and started praying, the power of God hit everyone forcefully! One of my friends yelled out from the shock and staggered around, while I started weeping uncontrollably! I kept praying through the tears, desperately asking God to reveal himself to this couple that they might be saved. I heard myself prophesying over them, speaking of their faith-filled future.

After the prayer, I felt so alive; I truly felt used by God in the best way possible. Speaking to the couple, they also felt something, and they were very grateful for the prayers. Although they didn’t choose to accept God as their saviour right there and then, I know without a doubt that God is working in their lives.

This story is just one where God moved in me through prayer. I have seen him move through me more since I shifted my focus to what he wanted me to be doing: praying! I know I have a call to pray with and for other people, and as I walk in that, God uses me powerfully. The best part about this is that I didn’t do anything extra special. It was all God! He worked through me and did everything. There was no special prayer beforehand, and I wasn’t fasting. God simply used me as I walked in his purpose for my life.

There are some verses I want to highlight that show how God uses us when we are willing vessels:

For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Philippians 2:13 NLT

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Ephesians 2:10 NLT

In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Matthew 5:16

As you can see from these verses, God works through us, not requiring us to produce the good works. For God planned long ago what we would do. How incredible!

Knowing these verses, do you know the call God has for your life? Are you walking in it? If you are, I would love to hear your stories of God’s power working through you. If you don’t know if you are walking in God’s call for you, I encourage you to read my last post and ensure you are in God’s will. From that place, there is no striving, no trying to make things happen. It just automatically works.

Have a blessed week, and may God be with you.

Moving Past Doubts

A little while ago, I was upset with someone. They didn’t treat me the way I wanted to be treated, and I felt hurt. When I was alone in my bedroom feeling sorry for myself, I had a thought to read my journal. I found the document on my MacBook and started reading. My journal is short – only a handful of pages. However, in those few pages I had written thoughts about the same people in my life. The funny part? My anxious thoughts about them a few months ago were the same ones I was experiencing now. I started laughing because I knew what happened after I wrote in the journal. Without saying anything, they had made it all right again. It was all just a misunderstanding on my part.

1 Corinthians 13:7 says ‘Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.‘ This verse affirms the need to never give up and endure through every circumstance. In my mind, I had the right to be upset, but if I had followed the Bible, I would have assumed the best instead and saved myself the pain.

Have you had doubts about someone? Have you been let down by someone you love? Write down your thoughts and feelings in a few sentences every-so-often (once per week is ideal). When you worry later, you may find that reading your past thoughts and feelings show you how to proceed.

I want to give another example. I get very annoyed when I arrange a time to catch up with someone and they cancel last-minute or say they can’t make it without giving me a time that works. I feel like I’m stabbing in the dark simply trying to see them. When this happened to me a few months ago, I was quite upset. A few days ago it happened again with the same person, and the identical feelings came to me. After reading my journal I realized this person was not upset with me or avoiding seeing me. This friend was busy, nothing more.

Big problems become small ones when brought into perspective. I recommend journalling if you sometimes have doubts. It is simple to do and very effective at clearing your mind.

The Pursuit of Acceptance, or the Pursuit of God?

Today I have been challenged by the scripture found in Isaiah 53:1-6 ‘Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.‘

Jesus spent His time on earth not for Himself, but sinners. He was despised and hated during His ministry. What hit me hard was how the Son of God came to earth and was misunderstood. If God’s own Son wasn’t liked and didn’t care to be liked, why am I so concerned with what other people think of me?

If I am to live for God and not myself, I will need to re-focus myself on Him. It seems so easy to get caught up in what the world defines as success, but to put that aside and look like a fool may be necessary to obey God. How far will you go to pursue God rather than acceptance of other people? This challenges me, because often my motives aren’t right. I love social media because it’s a platform that can be used to get even more acceptance from friends. Does a follower of Christ even need social media? I deleted Instagram because I do not have the self-control to use it in a healthy way. I have kept a Facebook account, but I wonder if I should delete that too. In any case, I will be judging my motives very closely the next few days. I want to be in the pursuit of God, not the pursuit of acceptance from people.

Increase Your Love for Other People

Lately, I have been thinking about the presence of God and His love. When I set aside time alone with God and start praying, I almost always feel peace and a feeling of being at rest. The longer I pray, the greater the feelings get. After an hour or so, I start to feel peace and contentment so strongly that I usually can’t hold back tears. I am not one to cry, but I often do when I pray. I believe that prayer brings me closer to God. The closer I am to God, the more love I have for other people.

I have often heard it said that ‘To love others, you need to learn to love yourself first!’ This statement sounds right, but in my experience, it does the exact opposite. The more I think about myself, the more I feel insecure, afraid and impatient with other people. I believe that God teaches a way of life that goes against the culture you and I live in today. I strongly believe that to love others, you must love God first. How do you love God? Submit to Him in prayer, and He will give you so much love for others that you CANNOT HELP but share it!

Matthew 22:34-40 says ‘But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees with his reply, they met together to question him again. One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: “Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?” Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”‘

So, based on this verse, by loving God first and loving your neighbour second, you should love yourself… last? I believe so. Okay, then where did this idea of self-love come from? I believe it comes from selfishness, not God.

God showed us how to love. Jesus stripped Himself of all power to come to earth in the form of a man, then proceeded to serve others for the duration of His time on earth. In his early Thirties, He died on a cross for sins He did not commit. Are you keen on being sentenced to death for a crime you did not commit… at the age of 32?! I know I’m not. At no point did Jesus teach His disciples to ‘love themselves so they could love others’. He taught them to pray. He even gave them a whole prayer to pray, word for word.

If you want to love others the way Jesus taught, learn to pray. If you already pray, add some more time to your praying each day. God LOVES to hear you and me pray and will come closer to us to listen. I love that about Him.

Have you experienced powerful prayer? Let me know in the comments below. I would love to hear your story! 🙂

Generosity: Sacrificial Giving

I previously mentioned the story of me as a twelve-year-old boy dreaming about all the things I could buy with one million dollars. The exercise got me thinking of all the different stuff I could buy and all the holidays I could experience if I wanted to. However, after thinking about myself for some time, I decided to think about ways I could spend the money to help others. I considered giving half of it away, but I had second thoughts. Giving half of a million dollars seemed to be such a waste! What if I only gave 10%? What if I gave $100,000 and kept the rest for spending as I saw fit? Surely that was generous enough!

There is nothing wrong with giving 10%, but there is something special about giving more than a sensible amount. Luke 21:1-4 says ‘Jesus looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box, and he saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. And he said, “Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on.”’

Jesus saw through the dollar amounts straight to the heart of each person. The widow chose not to eat because of her love for God. The wealthy people of that time were indeed generous, but their level of giving did not require much sacrifice.

God does not require sacrifice, as Hosea says at 6:6 ’For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.’ However, when you choose to go beyond God’s expectations and requirements because you love Him that much, He will respond and repay! Matthew 6:19-22 says ‘Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.’

God is after your heart. If you give Him everything you have, especially to the point where it hurts, He notices! Every gift given need not be sacrificial, but a healthy, generous life will include the occasional sacrificial offering which shows the heart of the giver.

Finding Peace In Every Moment

I find myself living in a broken and hurting world. I often see people in bad situations who, by making many small choices, found themselves there. However, I cannot be discouraged for long. I believe in a God who is able and willing to help every person who reaches out to Him. I understand this from my own experience at the age of sixteen. When I prayed to Him, He responded. Now a Christian, bad things still happen to me the same way, yet they appear less significant. At times I have found myself laughing at situations that would have intimidated me before meeting God.

Matthew 24:4-8 says ‘Jesus told them, “Don’t let anyone mislead you, for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come.‘

This scripture talks about some of the negative things that will happen. However, the hope of God and His salvation brings peace that cannot be understood by anyone who has not experienced it first-hand.

John 16:33 says ‘I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.‘

Do you experience peace that allows you to laugh in times of distress? God wants you to live in this kind of harmony. If you do not experience this, ask God to give it to you.