Words for Life Articles

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pray without ceasing

Ephesians 6: 18

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

Paul writes to the early church and exhorts them to pray without ceasing.

He tells the Ephesians Church to pray always.

What does it mean to pray without ceasing? What does it mean to pray always?

Matthew 26:40

Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “What! Could you not watch with Me one hour?

We sometimes miss the importance of prayer because we do not understand it’s importance.

Jesus said to His disciples could you not watch with me for just one hour.

This statement is very important to note because prayer is what keeps us from temptation.

Prayer keeps you away from falling.

Prayer strengthens your faith.

Prayer keeps you from losing faith.

John 14:12

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

A quote I picked up recently, this is what is says.

Being the hands and feet of Jesus means that Christ’s followers, past, present, and future, are obedient in their commission to preach the gospel and co-labour with Christ to love, serve, and heal the broken, hurting, and hopeless of this world.

Thirty-two years ago, I gave my life to Christ, He became my Lord and my Saviour. The journey to my salvation began more than 32 years ago because there were people who preached the gospel to me, people who prayed for me, people who saw beyond my defensive mechanism, people who never stopped loving me despite my attitude towards them, they were the hands and feet of Jesus.

The resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ from the dead is the foundation of our faith as Christians.

As Christians if God did not raise Jesus from the dead then we are just wasting our time in a dead faith.

I have however always been fascinated by Peter’s gospel message to Cornelius and his household. Peter begins his gospel message by acknowledging that God is impartial. The good news is not for a certain group of people. The good news transcends race, colour or class. The good news is for everyone.

Acts 10:34-43

34 Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, 35 but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. 37 That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: 38 how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39 We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree; 40 but God raised him on the third day and allowed him to appear, 41 not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, and who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one ordained by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”

Peter in his sharing of the gospel message highlights three important things that everyone should know and that is -

1. CHRIST WALKED ON THIS EARTH - We are witnesses to all that he did both in Judea and in Jerusalem.
2. JESUS DIED - They put him to death by hanging him on a tree
3. HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD - but God raised him on the third day
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Philippians 2:8

8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

The cross is the symbol of Christianity. It symbolises the crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour. It represents the suffering, public humiliation, the shaming and the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul boast was in the Cross of Jesus, Galatians 6:14

14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Paul was not ashamed of the Gospel neither was he ashamed of the cross of Jesus.

Over and over again Jesus calls His disciples to deny themselves, pick up their cross and follow Him. Jesus was clear about His followership, who ever wanted to follow Him had to deny self and pick up the cross and follow Jesus. The way of discipleship is the way of the cross.

2 Corinthians 4:7-9

7 But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed

2020 and now 2021, the world has been turned upside down, not by our gospel but by a virus called Corona. The words such as Pandemic, social distancing, unprecedented times, new normal have all become so popular and commonly used all over the world.

Yet the one word that has always and still bothered me is lockdown. Lock down is very restrictive.

To be lockdown is the confinement of prisoners to their cells for all or most of the day as a temporary security measure.

Or a lockdown could be an emergency protocol to prevent people or information from escaping.

Many countries have seen more than one lockdown and this has had both a negative and positive effect.

For some families it has been very stressful. You are always in each other’s face or space. Depression, stress, loss of finance, loss of jobs and the list goes on.

However, for the environmentalist, they believe the lockdown has resulted in clearer skies, clean water, and clean air.

Some people have used this time wisely and learnt new things. Some have learnt to exercise and go for walks; others have learnt to home school.

For some believers it has created a deeper relationship with the Lord, a deeper studying of the word of God.

Wow! The year 2020 has been an unprecedented, soul searching, eventful and Spiritually challenging for many. Yet a glorious year for as many of us who had believed God for a supernatural harvest.

It has been a year when many have been locked in with God rather than a locked down.

In 2019 the Lord had laid on my heart that 2020 will be a year of supernatural harvest.

One of the thoughts that the Lord had laid on my heart was that He wanted His church back. See below an excerpt from that write up in 2019.

God wants to return His Church back to His glory days, the days of its Power, when the Holy Spirit was allowed to move freely, the days when Jesus was the centre of the Church. God is rebuilding His Church by raising up men and women who trust and obey Him.

On 31^st of December, I had said God wants His Church back and so I was not surprise when our usual Church activities was dismantled by the lockdown.