A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY OF FAITH
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, through the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit. Amen!
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9A)
Beloved, it was a day that I will never forget, a scripture that will always stay in my heart, mind and soul. As I sat in church during the morning service, I got lost during the sermon, finding myself asking God: Where is the power that You gave the apostles, of which the Bible speaks of? For people were converted, healed, delivered, raised from the dead, and all this was done through the disciples, immediately. Today we have a religious system which is full of knowledge and understanding, full of words, but lacking in power. I am nothing but dust, so I humbled myself and approached the throne of grace in my spirit while I sat in church and I asked God my foolish question. Where is the power? To my surprise God answered me with this:
“For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” (2 Chronicles 16:9A)
I walked out of church, took a walk with tears in my eyes, and I prayed, because His Word cut me to the heart. I looked at my own life. My heart condemned me because my priorities were all on myself: I want to grow my business bigger; I want to get married; I want a better life for my family; I want a Range Rover; I want, I want, and I want… That’s how selfish we are. Life is all about us.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
My dear beloved, God is willing to manifest His power in this ungodly hour; however, the LORD is seeking a heart that is loyal to Him, a vessel that does not seek its own, but is totally committed to bring glory to Jesus Christ our Lord, for the glory of God the Father, through the power of the Holy Spirit.
God is searching the whole earth looking for people that will allow Him to manifest His power on their behalf. The LORD is looking for a loyal heart. The Lord desires to show Himself strong, not the vessel! Rather, He desires to show Himself strong on behalf of the vessel. Are you the one that the LORD is looking for, to show Himself strong on your behalf? Will you allow the LORD to show Himself strong on your behalf?
The Lord weighed me on the balance and I was found wanting, for my heart was not wholly loyal to God. I still had my own dreams. But now I know my dreams are actually too small. I must join God in His dream which includes everyone.
This is what the Lord is saying:
“Then He [Jesus] said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and is himself destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:23-26)
THE JOURNEY
Join in as we pick up our own cross and embark on the greatest battle of our lives--to conquer self--as we follow Christ, even Jesus our LORD. Amen!
Join in this 40 days’ journey as we strip ourselves before God that He may cover us with His righteousness.
Join in this 40 days’ study on the greatest sermon ever preached (Matthew 5-7).
a) The 8 progressive steps into the Most Holy Place
b) The 27 pillars that hold the spiritual Temple of truth: fundamental truths of the Kingdom of God
c) The 5 treasures every servant in God’s Kingdom must guard unto eternity.
There are 40 chapters in this book and I suggest you read only one chapter per day, and that you invite the Lord Jesus to be your partner during the 40 days’ journey. After reading each day, you must have a discussion with the Lord Jesus Christ about the challenges you are facing in implementing these truths into your life, where you are falling short, and ask for His help and the Holy Spirit’s guidance. Please be honest with God. He knows all. There is no point in pretending before God. Your honesty and sincerity towards God will determine how you will grow spiritually.
At the close of each day there is a meditation guideline, prayer points, and a commitment for you to make.
Meditation: This is a challenge for you to think deeply about the topic and verses of the day, and to consider how you might implement Christ’s teachings in order to improve your relationship with God and with others.
Prayer Points: If you are looking for answers from God, perhaps you need to make specific prayers, being very specific with God. This is what prayer points are for: to help you offer specific prayers toward God.
Commitment: The downfall of most Christians is because of a lack of commitment. We desire to do God’s will, but we lack that staying power to do God’s will, or even anything else we desire to achieve. Please make commitments, and then, by God’s grace, stick to them.
This is a sacrificial journey. You will be required to get out of your comfort zone!
-- You must pray at least 3 times a day.
-- You must fast at least 7 full biblical days (not at once).
-- You must make commitments, and by God’s grace, stick to them.
Prayer Guidelines:
1st prayer 5:30am
2nd prayer 3.00pm (the biblical hour of prayer)
3rd prayer 7:00pm
Fasting Guidelines:
You will only fast 7 full days during the 40 days’ journey. Each fast will start at 6pm on one day and end at 6pm the next day. The first day of fasting is on the 7th day of the journey.
(Please refrain from fasting if you are pregnant, breastfeeding or if you have health problems)
· 1st day of fasting: Day 7 from 6pm until 6pm
· 2nd day of fasting: Day 12 from 6pm until 6pm
· 3rd day of fasting: Day 18 from 6pm until 6pm
· 4th day of fasting: Day 23 from 6pm until 6pm
· 5th day of fasting: Day 29 from 6pm until 6pm
· 6th day of fasting: Day 34 from 6pm until 6pm
· 7th day of fasting: Day 39 from 6pm until 6pm
Because we are not unaware of the wicked one’s devices, I urge you, my dear beloved, to stick with your spiritual journey, not missing one day of reading, nor one prayer session, nor one fast, that you indeed may enjoy the fullness of the rewards of this journey. Please pray for your 40 days’ journey. Ask God to give you strength and courage to pursue His righteousness, that you may fulfill this journey in victory by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen!
"But those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength..."
(Isaiah 40:31)
See you at the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always. Amen!
Your servant in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen!
Ramos Talaya
Hi Ramos! Thank you for coming by my blog as well as joining my "blog family". I really enjoyed your post tonight. I will be joining you on the 40 day journey. I won't be able to fast as I have diabetes and have to eat at regular intervals. I look forward to this. I love the book of Matthew.
ReplyDeleteIt broke my heart when you were speaking about feeling condemned in your spirit. I think it was more like convicted. After all There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. At least that is what it says in Romans 8:1. I can't remember where the "account" is located, but Jesus saves a woman from being stoned because she is "living" with a man to whom she is not married. There were people wanting to stone her, but Jesus did not allow it. After the people had gone, He asked her who had condemned her, and she said no one, (because they all left) and Jesus said He wouldn't either. If Jesus does not condemn us, then why should we condemn ourselves? It took me a very long time to get that through my thick skull. I just couldn't understand. I had a VERY LOW self-esteem, and still am working on raising it, but I'm getting better. This verse is truly helping me to feel better about myself.
Now, I will say, that I feel convicted in my spirit on a regular basis, and I am thankful for that. As long as I am feeling convicted, I know that God is still working on me and talking to my spirit, teaching me what He wants me to know about living for Him, and what He expects from me to be able to enter into His kingdom. Needless to say, contrary to what a lot of people believe, I do not believe that all we have to do is "say" we accept Jesus as our Savior, then go our merry way and do what we want and still be saved and go to heaven. God wants an intimate relationship with us. One where we talk to each other on a regular basis, us to Him and Him to our spirit. He wants us to love Him enough to live for Him and abide by His Word. After all, He did say "if you love me you will keep my commandments". God's commandments are all through the Bible. That doesn't mean just the Ten written on the stone tablets.
Well, your post must have really struck a chord with my spirit, because I ended up writing a "book" instead of a small paragraph of thanks.
God Bless,
PJ
Hi PJ,
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming to our blog, I am blessed your comment! I am blessed to have you here and go through this journey with you, lets pray for each other!
See you at the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen! The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always. Amen!