“Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”  (Philippians 4:4-7 NIV)

We should rejoice in the Lord irrespective of our circumstances. It is a decision we make. It clearly shows that we are in control of our lives as God reigns in us.

To complain daily and to say that this person makes me angry or this situation makes me sad, is to simply give people and circumstances power they don’t deserve over our lives. No one can make you happy. You have to wait for things around us to change in order to rejoice as to wait for something that will never come.

Give God your worries and rejoice in the Lord… always!

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.” (James 5:16, 17 NIV)

I believe that we can learn a few things about Elijah today:

1. He heard God and God heard Him. He did not initiate things to God and pray that God will bless it, like some of us do today. At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, ” (1 Kings 18:36, 37 NIV)
2. Elijah knew his God. “The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, …And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’” (1 Kings 19:11-13 NIV)

You see, back then you could tell the difference between prophets of God and those who were not of God. The presence and the power of God were always with them. God heard them because they heard God.

“He who is faithful in a very little [thing] is faithful also in much, and he who is dishonest and unjust in a very little [thing] is dishonest and unjust also in much. Therefore if you have not been faithful in the [case of] unrighteous mammon (deceitful riches, money, possessions), who will entrust to you the true riches?” Luke 16:10, 11 AMP

I strongly believe that if we all apply this principle we would all be rich. But it is never too late to do that. Jesus is talking about money here. He is saying that if we are faithful in little we are faithful also in much. That is how God tests us. But you see, we have been taught to believe God for millions but we have not been taught to thank God for the hundreds and how to make it multiply and how to save and use it wisely.

Jesus is talking about investing and banks and He is not talking about something there in the sweet by and by. No, He is simply saying that God will test our faithfulness by our relationship with money. How we view it and how we use it. We should not work for money but we should make money work for us. I am not just talking about giving, oh yes I believe in giving; but do you know that the scripture is not talking about money only?

Faithfulness can get you out of debt and make you live debt free life. On the other hand unfaithfulness can get you into more debt and make you lose everything.

Faithful people pay on time and kill interest; unfaithful people don’t pay and they run away from their debtors. They don’t even answer their phones and you know what? That does not make debt go away, it accumulates interest and when they can not keep up with their payments, they get blacklisted and may ultimately lose everything.

Let us be faithful Saints.

The message of grace is still relevant to us today.  It is so easy to move from living by grace and faith to live under the law and condemnation. Many a times we rely a lot on our natural abilities to try to please God. Do you know what happens? We praise ourselves and condemn others who fail if it looks like we are succeeding or we simply default to condemnation mode if we fail.  I realized that many people might be struggling to obey God in daily issues of life and some might be saying I tried this that and the other but it does not look like it is working.

Don’t despair as the Bible has answers for you. I am going to say something that can come as a shock to some of us. You don’t have to leave your sins in order for you to come to God. No, you come to Him just as you are, for it is Him who cleanses us from all sins.

God’s work in us is God’s grace in us. As I was reading the scriptures the Lord revealed to me that there is grace for everything.

Acts 4:33  And with great strength and ability and power the apostles delivered their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace (loving-kindness and favor and goodwill) rested richly upon them all. 

Act 6:8  Now Stephen, full of grace (divine blessing and favor) and power (strength and ability) worked great wonders and signs (miracles) among the people. 

Act 11:23  When he arrived and saw what grace (favor) God was bestowing upon them, he was full of joy; and he continuously exhorted (warned, urged, and encouraged) them all to cleave unto and remain faithful to and devoted to the Lord with [resolute and steady] purpose of heart. 

Rom 1:5  It is through Him that we have received grace (God’s unmerited favor) and [our] apostleship to promote obedience to the faith and make disciples for His name’s sake among all the nations,

1Co 15:10  But by the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not [found to be] for nothing (fruitless and without effect). In fact, I worked harder than all of them [the apostles], though it was not really I, but the grace (the unmerited favor and blessing) of God which was with me.

Do you know that there is grace for finances too? Read this

2Co 8:9  For you are becoming progressively acquainted with and recognizing more strongly and clearly the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (His kindness, His gracious generosity, His undeserved favor and spiritual blessing), [in] that though He was [so very] rich, yet for your sakes He became [so very] poor, in order that by His poverty you might become enriched (abundantly supplied). 

2Co 9:8  And God is able to make all grace (every favor and earthly blessing) come to you in abundance, so that you may always and under all circumstances and whatever the need be self-sufficient [possessing enough to require no aid or support and furnished in abundance for every good work and charitable donation]. 

It also teaches us to say No to sin.

Titus 2:11  For the grace of God (His unmerited favor and blessing) has come forward (appeared) for the deliverance from sin and the eternal salvation for all mankind. Tit 2:12  It has trained us to reject and renounce all ungodliness (irreligion) and worldly (passionate) desires, to live discreet (temperate, self-controlled), upright, devout (spiritually whole) lives in this present world.

Godfrey

Hab 2:4 Look at the proud; his soul is not straight or right within him, but the [rigidly] just and the [uncompromisingly] righteous man shall live by his faith and in his faithfulness. [Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11.]

This verse crosses my mind every time I think about the daily challenges we face on daily basis as Children of God. Many a time we ask ourselves this question, where is God in the midst of all these? Does He really care? Why did He allow this to happen to me? Maybe you are one of the people who constantly ask themselves these questions. It could be because of many reasons, may be you lost a job, or you were never employed and there is no food at home etc. Or may be you have been on the government waiting list for quite some time and nothing seem to work.

You see nothing takes God by surprise. The Lord foretold the distresses, the difficulties that are going to befall this world. But He gave us a promise, Joh 16:33  I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.]

It is not like God has forgotten about us or something, no Friend, God is always with us and He promised not to leave us . He actually provided us with security, a shelter. In other words we can live in the midst of all these and remain unscathed. (So that in me you may have perfect peace)  We can only make it if we remain in Him. He also gave us a way of life; so to speak, the righteous shall live by faith. In other words we need to hear from Him on daily basis. The Lord said, “A man shall not live on bread alone but on each and every word that comes out of the Mouth of God”. The bible says again, faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God. We need to hear and hear the Word and that which we need to live will come. That could be in a form of an idea that can turn your life around. Dwell  in the Word of God friend

Godfrey