As a believer, what do we do when we hear people of success and significance ending their lives in most unexpected ways? We just witnessed two lately and how many more who had done the same without our knowledge. It is sad, no doubt about it, but how can we make a difference?

I believe that when we come to know experientially the deep love of Christ in our own individual lives, news like these would trigger something deep within us. We know that He desires no one to perish but for all to have to everlasting life.  He longs for all His children to come home to His loving embrace.  He longs for us to fill our hearts with His love, peace and joy beyond measure that will make us respond to live for Him, enjoy and be satisfied by Him and out of the overflow of Who He is in us, graces us to be a blessing to those around us.

I believe it’s time for us to rise up and take our rightful place and be awakened to who God called us to be.  Now is the designated moment for the revealed sons and daughters of the Most High God to subdue the earth just as He originally intended us to be and to do by the way of the POWER OF HIS LOVE flowing in and through us.  Love always wins.  His love never gives up.  His love never fails.  Jesus came, suffered, died and rose back to life that we may HAVE and ENJOY LIFE!  It is a kind of life that no amount of challenges around us can knock us down and keep us to stay down.  We may be knocked down for a moment but the exceeding greatness of His power, the resurrection power of Christ dwelling inside us will quicken our spirits, souls and bodies to rise up.

One of the ways to start our journey in the kingdom of God’s culture invasion is to pray this prayer and personalize this that these words will come alive in us and be a part of us.  This is Apostle Paul’s prayer to the Ephesians.

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power” (Ephesians 1:17-19)

We have not because we ask not.  (James 4:2)  So, let us start asking the Lord to give us the heart to know Him in a deeper way and that we may be able to make Him known.

“I will give them a heart to know Me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.”  (Jeremiah  24:7)

Truly it is the goodness of God that brings us to repentance, to change the way we think about Him.  Oh I used to be so fearful of the Lord when I did something wrong.  I didn’t know then that our Daddy God is pleased with me when I believe and put my trust on what Jesus has done at the cross for me, and NOT banking on my own ability to do the right things at all times.   I never knew that my sins and lawless deeds He remembers no more when my faith is anchored on the Blood of Jesus washing my slate clean, making me as white as snow.  I didn’t have a revelation then of why the Holy Spirit was given to us to abide in us forever and one reason is to empower us to do what pleases Him.  It is not by might nor by power, but by His Spirit.  Oh how ignorance costs.  No wonder His word says, “people perish due to lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6)

“The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the BEGINNING (the chief and choice part) of WISDOM, and the KNOWLEDGE of the HOLY ONE is insight and understanding.”  (Proverbs 9:10 AMPC)

Do you know what lead us to depression?  It is when we try to please God and everyone else around us by our own effort and ability.  The approval of God and men in our lives has its utmost effect in us.  It puts us right into the end of the rope because apart from Jesus, Who is the HOPE of glory, hopelessness is inevitable.  You may agree or disagree with me on this, but our contentment and satisfaction is in Him alone.  He is our PORTION!  “The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will HOPE in Him.” (Lamentations 3:24)  That only means one thing, that when that Portion is missing, we can NEVER be made complete and whole.  This is when we as vessels are driven  by our own desires here and there to fill us, but without the Lord of  Righteousness, restoring our brokenness into wholeness, to be filled and to overflow is unfeasible.

“But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.”  (Matthew 6:33 AMP)

When we seek Him first and He reveals Himself  personally in ways and means only you or only I know, it changes us.  It changes our motives.  It changes our attitudes.  It changes our outlook in life.  He opens our eyes to see possibilities that we haven’t seen before.  Gone are those days when frustration comes simply because we couldn’t see a way out.  One of the greatest reminders that I always meditate on is that “when one becomes BORN AGAIN and BORN OF GOD by power of the finished work of Jesus Christ, he will SEE the kingdom of God.”  His kingdom is full of life, light, hope, joy, peace and love.  It is a place where wholeness and fruitfulness are evident.  In Him there is no darkness, no scarcity, no strife and division and most importantly no separation from Him.  In Him all things consist, therefore, all that He has is ours.  We just need to tap into His frequency that we may HEAR Him speak and SEE what He has for us.

I heard the words of TD Jakes that really blessed my heart.

“God gives you an opportunity and what you do with that opportunity is your gift to Him.  When God gives you an opportunity, instead of just jumping on the opportunity, you’re supposed to SEE what it can be.  

God never made, not one table.  God never made a chair in all of His years of being God, He’s never made a chair.  He’s never made a table.  He just made a tree and the rest of it was up to us.  When God hands you a tree, imagine a table, a chair.  Imagine a wall and a room.  Imagine a log cabin.  Imagine what it can be.”

Oh wow … I was blown away by this revelation because we are not just meant to live our lives for ourselves.   It is meant for us to live for Him.  It is for us to have and enjoy, and live for others.  If you look at what TD Jakes mentioned, the tables, chairs, the walls, the room , the log cabin … they actually aren’t meant for just you alone to use and enjoy.  The gift in you if meant to be SHARED.  It is for us to be blessed to be a blessing.

So, when we come to know experientially how good our Heavenly Father is and how committed He is to our good, I believe our hearts will burst and overflow.  Out of the abundance of our hearts, our mouths will speak of His glory.  Our words will be words of hope, words of declarations of what we want to see and manifest before our eyes.  Our words will be words of encouragement and words of life.  Our words will be words of His thoughts and His plans for us and those are to prosper us and never to harm us, to give us hope and a beautiful future.   And the best part of this is that HE KNOWS what our future holds and it is GLORIOUS, for nothing else apart from His glory and goodness come out of Him!

“For I KNOW the plans and thoughts I have for you, says the Lord, plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”  Jeremiah 29:11 (AMP)

When I saw those two news on TV that I’ve mentioned at the onset of this blog, I shared with a friend of mine these thoughts.  “We are not here to judge.  We are not here to say the should haves and the shouldn’t haves.  We don’t know what went behind the scenes.  But what we can do from now on is that when we have the unction in our hearts to pray for someone we SEE on tv, in the street, across the coffee shop, or wherever, why not speak and declare words of life towards them.  We may not exactly know the full extent of the effect of our spoken words, but all we know is that “the words that we speak are SPIRIT and LIFE”.  Our words aren’t limited to time and space.  Our words are not respecter of persons.  Our words are containers of what we want to see.  Our prayers are powerful.”

You may say, “what if it doesn’t have an effect?”  Hmmmm …. change your question then to, “what if it DOES?”

“The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].”  (James 5:16 AMP)

Our part is to pray and God will make our prayers effective. 

Prayer:  Heavenly Father, thank You, for opening our eyes to SEE Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  Thank You, Jesus, for giving us the power and authority to trample serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy that nothing shall by any means hurt us, whom You called Your own.  We do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and rulers of darkness that his schemes You allowed us to recognize and You gave us the power to subdue.  Thank You, Holy Spirit, that it is not by our might nor by our power, but by the power of Your presence in our lives.  Indeed, greater are You Who is in us than he that is in this world.  We are victorious in Christ!  Amen!