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MATT. 7:7 – ASK, AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN YOU, SEEK, AND YE SHALL FIND; KNOCK, AND IT SHALL BE OPENED UNTO YOU.
THE DOOR TO THIS GREAT PROMISE IS JESUS. ASKING MUST BE DONE, BECAUSE WE HEARD SOMETHING OR READ SOMETHING, STATING,THAT WHAT WE ARE ASKING FOR IS THE WILL OF GOD.
THE BIBLE SAYS THAT WHOSOEVER SHALL ASK, OR CALL UPON THE NAME OF THE LORD SHALL BE SAVED. IF WE BELIEVE THIS, WE CONFESS JESUS AS OUR SAVIOUR, AND ASK HIM TO COME INTO OUR HEART.
NOW THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF ASKING, WHEN JESUS COMES INTO OUR HEART, WE BECOME COVENANT CHILDREN, THIS IS THE DOOR WE OPEN BY FAITH TO LEGALLY ASK.
THE NEXT STEP IS SEEKING THE PERSON OF GOD HIMSELF. SEEKING THE FATHER THROUGH JESUS CHRIST BY THE HOLY SPIRIT. THE HOLY SPIRIT IS INSIDE OF NOW, DIRECTING OUR SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. THIS IS THE GREATEST, MOST REWARDING JOURNEY OF YOUR LIFE. SEEKING THE PERSON OF CHRIST. MANY PEOPLE HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD, BUT DON’T KNOW HIM. THEY KNOW ABOUT HIM, THEY HAVE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM, BUT DON’T REALLY HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. YOU CAN ONLY GET TO KNOW PEOPLE, THROUGH SEEKING A RELATIONSHIP WITH THEM.
SEEKING THE LORD WILL BECOME YOUR PASSION. I DON’T WANT TO JUST READ A BOOK AND KNOW ALL ABOUT HIM, I DESIRE TO KNOW THE PERSON, NOT JUST THE HISTORY OF THAT PERSON.
THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT WE CAN SEEK THE FATHER THROUGH JESUS OUR LORD, WE CAN SEEK JESUS, WE CAN SEEK THE HOLY SPIRIT.
MY PRAYER IS SO OFTEN LIKE THIS: HOLY SPIRIT TEACH ME HOW TO HELP PEOPLE, DID JESUS SAY THE HOLY SPIRIT IS OUR TEACHER. HOLY SPIRIT SHOW ME WHAT YOU ARE DOING IN THIS WORSHIP SERVICE, SO I CAN FLOW WITH YOU. I SEEK YOU LORD, SHOW ME WHAT YOUR WILL IS TODAY FOR MY LIFE, CONNECT ME WITH THE PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS THAT ARE PURPOSED BY YOU THIS DAY.
WHAT A TRIP, WHAT A JOURNEY, WE HAVE IN LIFE SEEKING OUT THE LORD OF PURPOSE, THE ONLY WAY WE CAN ACKNOWLEDGE HIM IN ALL OUR WAYS, IS TO MAKE HIM THE LORD OF OUR WAYS. ONLY THROUGH SEEKING HIM CAN HE DIRECT OUR PATHS.
I LOVE THE LORD SO MUCH, THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS PUT A PASSION IN ME TO SEEK THE PERSON OF GOD, MY LORD, MY SAVIOUR,MY KING.
I DON’T SEEK HIM TO KNOW ABOUT HIM, THATS RELIGION, I SEEK HIM TO KNOW HIM, TO BE INTIMATE WITH HIM.
THIS IS THE JOY OF MY SALVATION, ASKING, SEEKING AND KNOCKING. WHAT A PROMISE, WHAT A SAVIOUR.
KNOCKING IS THE LEGAL PART OF ASKING, SEEKING. THE WONDERFUL THING ABOUT ASKING, SEEKING AND KNOCKING IS THAT TO DO ANY OF THE THREE STEPS, WE MUST MAKE CONTACT WITH GOD. THE WHOLE MESSAGE OF THE BIBLE POINTS US TO OUR CREATOR.
AGAIN, KNOCKING IS THE LEGAL PART OF ASKING, SEEKING AND KNOCKING.
IN PRAYER, IT IS LIKE GOING BEFORE THE GREAT JUDGE OF THE UNIVERSE, HAVING LEGAL PROFF OF PETITION. BRING SCRIPTURE TO HIS REMBERANCE, QUOTING HIS WORD BEFORE HIM, THE PROMISES OF GOD, THE WORD OF THE KINGDOM. SAYING LORD THIS IS THE GROUNDS FOR MY RIGHT TO REQUEST THIS TO BE DONE FOR ME. YOU PROMISED THIS .
HE BOUND HIMSELF BY HIS WORD. WE HONOR HIM WHEN WE HONOR HIS WORD. HIS WORD IS TRUTH, THE MOMENT HE SPEAKS IT, IT BECOMES TRUTH. IT BECOMES LEGAL, IT IS LAW.
KNOCKING IS REMINDING HIM OF HIS PROMISE. SOMETIMES WE ARE IN TROUBLE AND NEED HIS HELP AND WE QUOTE HIM HIS WORD AND THE JUDGE SAYS, I SAID THIS BUT THERE ARE TWO PARTS TO THIS, MY PART AND YOUR PART, I SAID I WOULD DO THIS, BUT YOU MUST DO THIS. YOU HAVEN’T DONE YOUR PART, YOU DID THE OPPOSITE. THEN WE MUST ASK FOR THE MERCY OF THE COURT AND CORRECT OR REPENT OF OUR DISOBEDIENCE. THANK THE JUDGE FOR MERCY AND TRUTH. IF THERE WAS NO MERCY AND ONLY TRUTH WE ARE IN TROUBLE.
ALL THREE ASK, SEEK, AND KNOCK HAS A PURPOSE, EVERYTHING GOD DOES, HE DOES IT FOR MAN, TO BRING MAN TO HIM AND TO HAVE A RELATIONSHIP WITH MANKIND, HIS CREATION. HE LOVES US, DON’T REJECT HIM OR IGNORE HIM. ASK SEEK AND KNOCK YOU WILL LOVE THE JOURNEY.
Someone told me you can’t
get ahead of God, but I tell you, I did once, and got myself into all kinds of
problems that could have been avoided.
Wait means to tarry; to
expect; to look patiently.
You see, I had an experience
with God like I never had before. It was
my first, I call, supernatural experience.
I was reading an article in
a magazine about street children in
Mexico who were being cared for and feed by a man whose heart went out to
them. The presence of God came upon me
and I began to weep uncontrollably. He spoke to me, “You will be involved with
children like this.”
I set out from that day to
make it happen. I knew nothing about
waiting on God, and following Him.
I was a school crossing
guard at that time.
One day my Lieutenant came
to me, and told me he had recommended me for a job in the police
department. I would be working with
juveniles. I thought, “This is it. I’ll
will be working with troubled children”.
I was so happy. I had
found my place in the kingdom, or so I thought.
The plan at the police department, was to put the first women on the
force. They could go straight to the
individual divisions, without going into the uniform patrol.
I went for the evaluations,
and passed them all. Then they set me up
for a physical, by the City Doctor.
Unexpectedly, he found a problem in my abdomen, and sent me to the City
surgeon. Upon his examination, he found
a large mass. I failed the medical
exam. I was heart broken. My dreams of helping troubled youth had
crashed to the ground.
I asked if the job would be
still open after I had my surgery, and was told it would. I couldn’t wait, I flew trough a quick
recovery, and went back to get my job.
When I got there, they told me the procedure had changed for women
officers, I would first have to go in uniform patrol, and then later I could
apply for the other position. I was
crushed. What was going on? Had I missed God?
Well, to make a long story
short, God would wake me up at night, and say, ”No.” I didn’t understand. Here I was so close to my vision, and it was
God who was saying no.
My husband didn’t understand
me at all, and I’m not sure I did. All I
wanted to do was to find my place in God’s
kingdom, and follow Him.
My husband was delighted I
was in the Civil Service but he didn’t too much want me to go into uniform
patrol. I would be in danger.
The morning I was to go for
my strength and agility test, I put out a fleece. “God if you don’t want me to take this job,
don’t let my car start.
You see we had a new car,
and it was not probable that it wouldn’t start.
I put in the key, and to my
surprise, it wouldn’t hit-a-lick. I
called my husband, and then called in and said, I you have a job in parking
control I will take it. They did and I
did. Still, every night, the Lord would
wake me and say, “No”. My husband didn’t
understand, but I quit the job after five months of torment to my mind.
Later we began to go on
missionary trips; and guess where we went first? To an orphanage in the Dominican Republic,
where street boys are housed and fed and taught the Word of God.
We are still going there and
are supporting them each month through the ministry. My daughter also spent three and one half
years there as a missionary.
Our ways are
not His (God’s) ways, and our thoughts are not His thoughts.
Look at Isaiah 30:21 —- And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This
is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to
the left.
And Proverbs 3:5,6 —- Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and
lean not to thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He
shall direct thy paths.
Where did I go wrong?
I got ahead of God. I tried
to make it happen.
Many women of God receive a
calling, and get so excited; they run with the calling before they get wisdom
from God in what direction He has planned for them.
James 1:5 —- If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to
all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
He wants us to seek Him
first, and then follow His leading.
Psalm 32:8 —- I will instruct thee and teach thee in the
way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.
When a minister takes off quick without spending much time with the Lord alone, he can get off the track quick, and live out the mistakes he makes by trying to do it himself. Rest in the Lord, wait for Him to open those
doors, and then quietly go through them.
This is not always easy for
our generation that has fast food, quick service, and appliances that do
everything for us.
Don’t kick yourself if God
is pointing you out, just repent of trying to do it yourself, and fall in line
behind Him. He can take your mistakes
and turn them into good. It’s not as
though you were trying to do something
wrong from your heart. It’s just that
you didn’t wait on Him. You took the
lead.
The Holy Spirit is our Guide
—- John 16:13 —- Howbeit when He, the
Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not
speak of Himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall He speak: and He
will show you things to come.
The Holy Spirit can and does
come upon us and show us things in the future, but remember, it is the
future. If it were right now, He would
show us that too.
We just have to learn from
our mistakes and remember, His way is best for all concerned.
I Thessalonians 5:24 —- Faithful is He who calleth you, who also will do it.
When we abide in the vine we
can bear much fruit, but apart from Him we can do nothing. (John 15)
We learn we can do nothing
without Him, and we are nothing without Him. But Phillippians 4:13 reads
—- I can do all things through Christ
which strengthens me.
How does He strengthen
us? Through our time with Him, in our
Secret place. By going to Church,
fellowshipping with other Christians, and Christian books and Christian media.
When we spend time seeking
Him, we will find Him.
He hasn’t left us, we just
get too busy.
When a pastor or minister
has a moral failure, it can be traced back most of the time, to his or her lack
of personal time with the Lord.
I have seen this
happen.
Sometimes they get so
popular, they think they are above sinning.
Even if you don’t seem to
have time, woman of God, make time. He
is waiting to give you direction, to comfort you and give you that peace that
passes all understanding. Every voice
you hear is not God.
Every direction is not God.
He is only a prayer away, as
the old saying goes, and those who miss their time in prayer miss the strongholds
being pulled down around them, and their family, and ministry.
We have to grow-up in the
Lord and we can be victorious every time.
Our enemy will put obstacles
in our path, but through Christ, and when we abide or live in Him he makes us
wiser than our enemies.
EPHESIANS 4:13 – LET NO CORRUPT COMMUNICATION PROCEED OUT OF YOUR MOUTH, BUT THAT WHICH IS GOOD TO THE USE OF EDIFYING (OR BUILDING UP), THAT IT MAY MINISTER GRACE TO THE HEARERS.
ALL OF US NEED TO BE BUILT-UP OR EDIFIED. OUR FAMILY MEMBERS NEED TO HEAR WORDS COMING FROM OUR MOUTH’S THAT ARE BLESSINGS AND NOT CURSES.
TIMOTHY IS PAUL’S SON IN THE SPIRIT. LISTEN HOW HE BUILDS TIMOTHY UP.
II TIMOTHY 1:13 – HOLD FAST THE FORM OF SOUND WORDS, WHICH THOU HAST HEARD OF ME, IN FAITH AND LOVE, WHICH IS IN CHRIST JESUS.
TO TIMOTHY, MY DEAR BELOVED SON: GRACE, MERCY AND PEACE, FROM GOD THE FATHER AND CHRIST JESUS OUR LORD.
FAITH, BEING THE POSITIVE, OR BLESSINGS; AND FEAR BEING THE NEGATIVE, OR CURSES: LISTEN TO THE FOLLOWING VERSES:
II TIMOTHY 1:3-5 – I THANK GOD, WHOM I SERVE FROM MY FOREFATHERS WITH A PURE CONSCIENCE, THAT WITHOUT CEASING I HAVE REMEMBRANCE OF THEE IN MY PRAYERS NIGHT AND DAY;
GREATLY DESIRING TO SEE THEE, BEING MINDFUL OF THY TEARS, THAT I MAY BE FILLED WITH JOY:
WHEN I CALL TO REMEMBRANCE THE UNFEIGNED LOVE THAT IS IN THEE, WHICH DWELT FIRST IN THY GRANDMOTHER LOIS, AND THY MOTHER EUNICE; AND I AM PERSUADED THAT IN THEE ALSO.
TIMOTHY HAD A GRANDMOTHER AND A MOTHER, WHO LOVED HIM, AND INFLUENCED HIS LIFE.
THAT PERSON THAT IS PRAYING FOR YOU AND INFLUENCING YOUR LIFE, TO SERVE GOD, AND HIS PURPOSE FOR YOUR FUTURE.
MAYBE THEY ARE PRAYING, “DON’T GIVE-UP ON HER, LORD: MAKE HER SWEET, JUST LIKE JESUS.”
SOME OF YOU ARE REALLY HURTING BECAUSE OF THE THINGS SPOKEN OVER YOU IN YOUR PAST, AND EVEN NOW, YOU STILL HEAR THOSE WORDS, FOLLOWING YOU, AND SCREAMING OUT AT YOU.
THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO DO DO, IS GIVE IT ALL TO GOD; AND THE NEXT STEP IS TO FORGIVE THAT ONE WHO HAS HURT YOU WITH THEIR WORDS OR IN ANY WAY.
THIS MAY SEEM STRANGE TO YOU, BUT TO BE FREE, THIS HAS TO TAKE PLACE.
YOU MAY EVEN NEED TO FORGIVE YOURSELF FOR THOSE CURSES YOU HAVE SPOKEN OVER YOURSELF OTHERS.
MAYBE, YOU MAY NEED TO ASK THEM TO FORGIVE YOU, AND THAT FROM NOW ON, YOUR WORDS TO THEM ARE LIFE, AND BLESSINGS.
DEATH AND LIFE ARE IN THE POWER OF THE TONGUE… PROVERBS 18:21
THERE IS A PURPOSE FOR ALL GOD HAS DONE, IS DOING, AND WILL DO IN YOUR LIFE.
WE ARE ALL BORN WITH INTO THIS WORLD WITH A DESTINY OF GOD’S PURPOSE.
SOME OF US HAVE GONE OUR OWN WAY SO LONG, IT IS HARD FOR US TO IMAGINE GOD HAS A BEAUTIFUL PLAN IN MIND FOR US.
GOD USES PEOPLE TO ACCOMPLISH HIS PURPOSES; AS WELL AS MINISTERING SPIRITS, WHICH HE ALSO CREATED FOR A CERTAIN PURPOSE.
WE ARE HIS CREATION AND WE BELONG TO HIM.
IN ECCLESIASTES 3:1 WE READ – TO EVERYTHING THERE IS A SEASON, AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE UNDER HEAVEN:
SO BY THIS SCRIPTURE, WE SEE THERE IS A SEASON AND A TIME TO EVERY PURPOSE; SO THIS MUST MEAN THERE IS A TIME FOR US TO BE BORN AND A PURPOSE IN THE MIND OF GOD FOR US TO BE BORN AT THAT APPOINTED TIME.
PURPOSE IS DEFINED AS: END OR AIM DESIRED; DESIGN; SETTLED INTENTION.
GOD CHOSE THE FAMILY INTO WHICH YOU WERE BORN.
YOU WERE NEVER A MISTAKE.
HAVE YOU FOUND YOUR PURPOSE?
ARE YOU STILL FLOUNDERING AROUND WITH THE CALL OF GOD ON YOUR LIFE?
HAVE YOU, AS YET, NOT FOUND YOUR PLACE IN THE BODY OF CHRIST?
MANY HAVE FELT THE CALL OF GOD ON THEIR LIFE, AND HAVE NOT FOUND THEIR PLACE AS YET; BUT THAT DOESN’T STOP THEM FROM “BLOOMING” WHERE THEY ARE PLANTED NOW, EVEN IF THEY HAVE BEEN PLANTED BY NO CHOICE OF THEIR OWN.
THEY DO THE WAITING GAME. THEY WAIT ON GOD TO LEAD, AND THEY JUST FOLLOW, KNOWING THAT HE HAS THE RIGHT ROUTE FOR THEM TO TAKE AHEAD OF THEM.
HE KNOWS WHEN IT IS THE RIGHT TIMING, AND THE THE RIGHT CROSSROAD WHEN WE CROSS OVER INTO THE BEAUTIFUL PLAN TAILORMADE JUST FOR YOU.
SO HOW DO WE KNOW IT IS THE RIGHT PLAN WHEN WE ENTER IT?
WE ARE TO SEEK GOD FOR IT, TO RECOGNIZE IT WHEN IT ARRIVES.
MATTHEW 6:33 – SEEK YE FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, AND ALL THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO YOU.
WE ARE COUNSELED TO ASK, SEEK, AND KNOCK THROUGH PRAYER.
I HAVE FOUND, BY EXPERIENCE, THAT WAITING IS PART OF THE CALLING.
MANY DON’T LAST THROUGH THE WAITING PERIOD, THEY PROCEED AHEAD IN THEIR OWN WILL, AND I AM SORRY TO SAY, SOME FALL BY THE WAYSIDE. THEY REFUSED THE WAITING PERIOD OF THEIR CALLING OR APPOINTMENT..
I HAVE FOUND THE BEST THING TO DO WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW, IS TO REST AND WAIT.
ALSO, THERE ARE THOSE AROUND YOU WHO NEED YOU. FAMILY. MINISTER TO THEM WHILE YOU ARE WAITING.
BUT THEY THAT WAIT UPON THE LORD SHALL RENEW THEIR STRENGTH; THEY SHALL MOUNT UP WITH WINGS AS EAGLES; THEY SHALL RUN AND NOT BE WEARY; AND THEY SHALL WALK AND NOT FAINT. ISAIAH 40:31