Pyjamas

By Odon Bulamba

 

When we were singing “Amazing Grace”, we sang, “how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me”.  Someone who is unhappy and disappointed like me, how can I benefit from this grace?  It is not a simple grace but the grace is amazing.  How do you define amazing? It is above your thinking and God has given me that grace.

 

The life we are living is full of challenges; wherever you go and whatever you do. Today I want to talk about pyjamas.  Today, I arranged for this little boy Chris to wear pyjamas.  When you see him, what is your first impression?  He is not dressed properly for church but he looks comfortable and cuddly.  Chris would never wear pyjamas to school but he will feel very comfortable to wear them in his bedroom.  I have seen people wear pyjamas in the supermarket but people will look at them strangely.

 

Pyjamas are very well designed for going to bed but if you are not going to bed and you wear them, people will look at you strange because they are only night clothes.  Sleeping is the time when someone is going to rest, when your body is tired because you have been working all day long and you start to yawn.  You can fight against sleep but you can’t resist it when you need it; no matter who you are, even a warrior or king can’t resist sleep when they need it.  Some people will drink coffee after another but they will still need to sleep at some point. 

 

Why do we wear pyjamas?  Why can’t I just go to bed with normal clothes?  Why not naked?  Why don’t I wear to bed what I want to wear in the office?  People came up with the idea that this is the most comfortable for you to wear to bed and we teach our children to put on the pyjamas before going to bed.

 

The person who designed this, how many pyjamas does they have?  Maybe only one pair?  If Chris, I give you these pyjamas, will you like it? (He nods)  Some will say, I prefer to have the money so I can buy and choose something else.  We can think about buying anything important but think less about pyjamas.

 

Why are we going to talk about pyjamas?  It is like a uniform or costume you have to wear before to sleep.  In Kingdom of God there is the challenge of sleep.  Satan comes and tells you, “it’s evening time and you need to sleep, have some time for yourself, your body needs to rest”.  When you sleep, you won’t know what is going on.  Adults during their sleep will believe they are on the toilet and then they accidently mess up their bed, or walk outside, or talk during their sleep and it is all part of sleep.  You can wear your pyjamas or not, if you talk or walk during your sleep, your pyjamas won’t stop it.

 

The pyjamas have become a good distraction for the church.  If we all went now to the supermarket wearing pyjamas, everyone will comment and stare at us because we look different from everyone else in the supermarket.  In the church of God, when we start to fall asleep, we put on a different clothing to cover our nakedness and we will look different.  God can identify that we are starting to go astray.  That distraction is strong.

 

1 Corinthians 7:35, “This I say for your own benefit; not to put a restraint upon you, but to promote what is appropriate and to secure undistracted devotion to the Lord.”

 

This is not something tough like a leash but a warning from God to serve Him without distractions.  When you put on pyjamas, it is a distraction.  If you have a pyjamas on at 6pm and someone will knock on your door, you will quickly put on something else.  When you put on pyjamas, you feel free to move around in your house. No one can tell me, no you are wrong.

 

Distraction starts with a first step.  Putting on pyjamas is putting on a new costume and people tell you, “it’s my life anyway, I want to take this path because I am free”.  Whenever you start to confess, it’s your life and your decision and you are free, God will remind you that you told God that you gave your life to God.  The life that you are giving is full of colours in the same way that pyjamas are often patterned with different colour.

 

Some people wear socks to bed.  When I turn a sock inside out, it looks ugly while the outside design looked good.  If any shop put the sock on the shelf inside out, no one will want to buy it so they will only show the attractive side and hide the other side which is what will touch your skin.  People try so hard to show to us that they look so good and attractive but inside they are so disappointing.

 

God is telling church today to not be distracted.  If you turn their pyjamas inside out, they look different.  Someone will tell you, since I bought these pyjamas, my skin is itchy, they are fighting against my physical body.  The distraction I want to talk to you today is the internet.  When you jump on the computer, you know it is there to help you or for me to use it.  You can have a list of tasks that you want to do today.  Many will fulfil only 1/3 of tasks and the rest are not done.  You can write down 10 tasks but only do 1 because when your turn on the internet and get distracted with emails, face book, my photos etc while your list of tasks are waiting for you.

 

Ten mins later, this is your uncle’s face book address. The more you talk, you are going deep into sleep and you will jump and realise the day is passed already and then you say, “I’ll do it tomorrow”.  The internet today is a city which has got everything www= world wide web.  World which is wide and it’s a web. The role of a web is to catch you.  We are in this world which is wide but if we approach it, we will be caught in the net. 

 

Preachers today find the answers from the internet; there is no time for the Bible anymore.  The internet is useful so we can see the good side of it but there is a down side also.  I need a verse for fasting, the internet will give it you but when you are reading the verse, a link advertisement will pop up and if you click on it, you will take another direction.  You will find everything on the internet (good and evil): museums, drugs, pornography.   There are no police or rules on the internet.

 

Once a link is there for you and you touch the link, slowly it will give you one step and then another. Like the pyjamas show you the person wants to go to bed whether they feel sleep or not.  Once you jump into bed, nothing can pull you out, except your decision such as needing water or the toilet.

 

The internet is not bad, it is good but do we need to call God to put a leash around our neck to pull us from the sites we always visit: prostitutes, alcohol etc.  Many think they are doing it secretly, but there is no secrets with God.  One time I heard that sending a letter is better than email because email is quick but even if it is deleted, it can be kept for years.  Today, people will save things on the net, in their dropbox, email, cloud etc.  If you go deep into your email inbox, it will be a tomb because you are burning yourself alive. 

 

We can find out where you surfed on the internet.  We as Christians, what is our first distraction? At work, at home?  If the internet wasn’t there, how much would you do for yourself or God or others?  How much less do you perform because of the internet?  Our actions will be there on the Day of Judgment.  What are our actions?  Mothers don’t have time for kids because of the internet.  Fathers don’t sleep because they are watching stuff on line. We drop our basic responsibilities.

 

Many who have to preach in church will use the internet to find a message rather than doing the work themselves.  Does God count my words or my actions?  He will look at me and how important I consider His work.  We start now to teach these distractions to our children.

 

What is your kids favourate page?  Facebook, youtube?  Kids are more involved in those things and when you tell them about a website for God, they feel it’s boring and they start to losing that desire for Christianity.  Do we teach by example and encourage them to look also at things that are important?  Facebook is not bad but let’s remind them that whatever you put on facebook is exposed.

 

Madison website is a website for those married wanting to have affairs and now it’s been hacked and people are being exposed.  God also has a level.  God gives me eyes and intelligence to use but I keep distracting myself with internet.  Sometimes we can spend 2 hours on line but not one minute in our room just praying.  Someone wanted to pray and he received a txt message, he stopped his prayer to answer and then he received another one and another one until he had no time to pray.

 

Why are you wearing spiritual pyjamas while it is day time? We should be in our normal clothing: wear the armour of God like a fighter and work hard.  It’s not the time for pyjamas but we wear them because we are becoming weak and the more weak we become the more the world will use you. 

 

How to become strong?  Make a decision to not be distracted.  If you are waiting for God to come down and put a leash on you, God will never do that.  He let the prodigal son go astray, the father didn’t run after him but waited for him to come back and when he came, he said, welcome back.  Why didn’t he go to find him?  Only a few have grace.  Jesus said, he left 99 sheep to find the one lost because only a few have that grace.  Some will go astray and will leave forever.

 

If we are not careful, our next generation who are learning from us, will not be stopped at all because our government is teaching our children freedom and this web is there to catch them.  If you are walking with your child and you see a danger, you will tell them, “stop come this way”.  But if you tell your child to do what they want with their mobile phones, they will do what they want and get caught somewhere.  Our children will start to hide their actions from us.

 

When we see people in pyjamas we judge them.  In England, MP’s started to wear pyjamas to the office but were told they should stop it.  If Ange goes to a party and her husband wants to wear his pyjamas, Ange will not allow him but tell him to put on nice clothes.  As we see our children going to this bed of distraction and evil, we need to tell them to stop and look after themselves. 

 

When I’m distracted and start to go away from what I was planning to do, I need to tell my website that I need to work now and give to Caesar what belongs to him.  I need to read the Bible for myself rather than go to the web.  I’ve read verses online and the meaning given is shocking, this is a preaching from someone but it’s completely wrong.

 

There are websites stating there is no judgement because God has given his election and they are preaching judgement doesn’t exist so enjoy and do what you want.  Another preacher said, God himself doesn’t exist because I went to the mountain of Sinai where he met with Moses and I couldn’t find him.  Why only Moses and not me?  They preach to our children, “don’t worry all your distraction is ok, you can catch up later”.  We can’t catch up later because time passes and you can’t catch it up, if you miss it, you miss it.

 

What stops you in your life from doing what you should? What are your distractions?  Busy chatting etc.  Smartphones are carrying the internet everywhere.  Bus drivers can txt.  People walk on the street playing on the phone.  It becomes the foundation of our lives. Where is Jesus in all of this?

           

Have you chosen the right time to wear your pyjamas?  Is it important to wear it when Jesus said he is coming back soon?  Why are we distracted?

 

 

 

Let it go

By Odon Bulamba

 

Isaiah 43:18

Isaiah was a human being like you and me and for some reason God decided to use this man.  God wrote (in vs 18) don’t remember the former things, don’t consider things of the old.  Other versions will say, forget the past and don’t hold onto the past. 

 

I would like to ask you together with me to take a breath in.  Take in as much air as possible and then release it and again take in a deep breath and release it and again take in a deep breath but his take hold onto your breath and I will see how long you can hold it.  You start to feel that the longer you hold it – the more it becomes a challenge.  Your body will start to fight because something is in but nothing is going out.

 

Everything that comes into our lives must go out. One day you were conceived and then you were born.  You eat food and it comes out.  You drink water and it comes out.  You walk into your house and then you go out.  You start something and you will also come out of that starting point. 

 

Why does this God tell us to forget about the past? We all have a past.  Our past has a story.  Our past started from one day.  Even before we were conceived, our mothers can say, “While I was pregnant I went through this and this.  When you were born, I was in so much pain.  When we were at the hospital, the doctor said this.  When you were born, you had no hair”.  We have a story and past and that past grows bigger the more we are growing old.

 

Every new level of your life will bring a new devil.  Jesus was a baby and the more He was growing old, He was given more wisdom and then more temptation.  When you were young it was up to your mum to feed you, put you to bed, make your bed but after a few years your mother makes you do your own bed.  No more nappies and you now have to go to the toilet.  So as you grow, you have challenges.

 

Every year the child is growing old, parents are pushing the child to meet challenges.  When you were born, they took you like a baby, protecting you and allowing you to crawl on the ground but they wouldn’t let you eat what was on the ground and then they would teach you how to sit.  How important is sitting, imagine not learning how to sit.  Mum teaches you to sleep by changing your position in the cot.

 

Then walking, you make a few steps and you fall and mum says come on and you try.  Then after walking you will learn to run.  Your parents don’t teach you to run but circumstances make you run like playing with other children and the more you run, the more puffed you get and your heart works so hard.  What is the relationship between your feet and heart, what causes your heart to pump so fast when your heart is not running?

 

The child slowly forgets when they were babies and when they were conceived.  We have forgotten our first pair of shoes or what we wore when we were four years old.  Sometimes you see a photo of yourself at three years old and you can’t remember the day. 

 

Isaiah is telling us to forget our past because we human beings and we mostly stick on bad pasts.  When someone does something wrong, it’s not easy to forget about it. We want to hold onto it for years and tell people about it and express our anger and problems which happened 20 or even 50 years ago but all the good things we bury.  Michelle has done good stuff for me but whenever I see her, I remember one small wrong thing that she did many years ago.

 

Why do we hold onto the past?  Today God is telling us to forget about your past.  If you don’t forget, you will not be a winner but will be a loser.  When you think about the wrong things that were done against you, you will be the one who will feel bad, not the other person.  You will start to feel angry and want revenge.  That person has no idea of your feelings.

 

As Jesus was young, wisdom started to increase day after day as He grew up.  The more you grow, the more you face challenges.  When you become a boss, the more challenges you face.  If you cannot face small challenges then you cannot manage a group of people from different backgrounds with several problems.  To become a manager is a good thing but you will face a lot of problems.

 

Many will say it’s my life, I will manage it myself but how well are you in managing it.

If you don’t practice, you will lose it.  A few years ago I went to Te Rapa for swimming lessons and they put me in level 0 of swimming class with children of the age of 7 months and one year.  I couldn’t manage my feet to kick, I would just sink.  People who are bigger than me can float, why not me.  This lady told me to practice.  It will be impossible to forget your past if you don’t practise.

 

It will be impossible to let it go if you don’t make the decision to let it go.  That decision only kicks in when you tell yourself, no stop it Odon, let it go.  How many things do you have in your heart and you think about them day and night. God I wish I could see my father, or daughter to look like this.  You hold in your heart a boiling water and you feel angry.

 

The book of Mark says you will never be forgiven if you never forgive.  You can do all the good things around the world but if you never forgive then God your Father won’t forgive you and you can only forgive when you put the past aside and start a new side.

 

Chickens are birds that can go everywhere trying to find food by pecking at the ground.  When you try to tell them to leave and to stop to eat, they will just make a noise and come back to eat again.  One danger is that chicken will eat what they don’t even see.  The eyes of chicken are on the side but their beak is in front. 

 

What you put in your life, it is best to look at it first.  Make sure you understand it clearly.  When you read the Word of God, you are feeding your soul – do you really stop to read it.  Do you check it before taking anything wrong in your heart?  Today we have a big number of people who have read several wrong things and it now becomes hard to let it go.  I can tell you about religions and misinterpretations of God and you wonder why God holds onto this.

 

Jacob had a brother who was the first born.  Jacob offered his brother some soup and said can I become your older brother.  Jacob and his mother lied to his father who was blind and the father blessed Jacob instead of older one. In Malachi and Romans, God chose Jacob and rejected his brother.  God allowed such a sin to be done in order to fulfil His will.  Why didn’t God punish Jacob’s mum for misleading her husband.

 

Some people misinterpret that to mean that you can sin a little bit because look at what God did for Jacob.  When you learn such a thing you should have discernment – should I stick on this preaching or let it go?

 

In your life, how many things do you not want to let go.  In your personal life, house etc.  Lebon loves to eat Indian food and he will tell you, he can’t wait to get paid so he can get Indian food.  He loves Chicken masala and will enjoy it but after five days his salary is gone and he is now in overdraft because he used the money eating Indian food.  The money that was needed for other things, was invested in food that would go in two minutes.  He didn’t want to let that go – it was a challenge.  He felt that if he didn’t eat Indian food, he was missing something.

 

You and I, maybe, have something we hope on and can’t survive without it, something we don’t want to let it go. Those who smoke will tell you they can’t quit.  Those you love to sleep will tell you to wake up at 6am is a punishment.  Those who watch movies will wonder how to go to bed without watching a movie.  Or telling children to be without their phones for just two minutes.  Kids today walk along the street texting, people are talking to them and they are texting.  Michelle can tell Zoe, you are grounded and I will take your phone from you and Zoe will become angry with her mum. 

 

A few things with your neighbour and yourself, why don’t you want to let them go.  Whenever it’s late at night, some will turn on their computer to watch porno and it becomes a part of their lives and they watch until 2 or 4am and then at 8am they have to go to work.  Imagine, no sleep for weeks, a person will get a headache and become sick but because they don’t’ want to stop, they keep doing it.  They say they can’t overcome it.  The secret to overcoming is to disconnect the internet from your home.  The first two weeks is hard but then they will come back to a normal life.

 

Do you want to grow in Jesus or do you want to lose?  You have to let things go.  Don’t hold onto history because God is “I am who I am” which means He is present and He is asking us to live a present life.  Look what is around you and deal with that.

 

I have been in meetings with big people such as sports people, presidents etc and then they will be fighting but when it is lunch time, they will stop for food and eat together.  They were fighting and then they are eating like nothing.  John Key (prime minister of New Zealand) and Andrew Little (leader of the opposition) exchanging words on tv but then they shake hands like nothing happened.

 

Those who grow in God will never allow problems between others to stop them from working together.  The actions of others that are bad, do not represent the person so continue to love that person.  But if you hook those small problems and hold onto them, you will start to hate people. 

 

My mum taught me, I love you but I don’t like your action.  Get rid of that action to gain my 100% love.  I don’t want you to hold onto that action.  When I gave birth to you, you were not like that.

 

What history are you holding onto? You have to be careful with what you hold in your heart.  There is a lot to focus on and if you don’t pay attention instead of you letting the problem go, the problem will make you go away.

 

In Jeremiah, God was giving the message to the people. Chapter 1: last verse, they will fight against you but shall not prevail against you for I am with you to deliver you.  Who will fight against you?  Not people but their words and actions.  Trish can say, I have a problem with Michelle but Michelle does not have a problem with Trish.  Trish has a problem with the words, not the person.  The words and actions are the first enemies and that is our first fight.

 

Never make a human being an enemy.  Consider their actions bad but don’t consider the person bad because we have to love our enemies and pray for them.  How can you change hatred to love, it’s not easy.  It’s easy to love when you hate the actions but love the person.  Turn the page and move forward.

 

I read an assignment of Michelle when she was at Massey University.  After reading one page, I had to turn it in order to read the next page and move on.  You have to read the page but then also turn the page in order to continue and get more information.  If you don’t, then there will never be progress and you will never complete the book and the book will never turn the page for you.  You have to turn it yourself.

 

Life is like a book with only a few pages. One page turned over is like one year gone and every year is different and we are not the same.  Tyrone can you exactly repeat what you said 20 mins ago?  He can’t, it is gone.  We need to make things to go, let it go. Everything you are accumulating here, God will open for you and say this is what you are collecting for eternity.

 

Treat other people like you treat yourself.  We all make mistakes and when we do, how tough are we on ourselves?  If I steal from someone, I don’t mind but when someone steals from me, I will be upset.  When someone does something wrong against you, be ready to forgive because that is the key to being forgiven.  Don’t only forgive but also forget.

 

I invite you to pray for yourself and family and each other here, pray that God will help us to let it go, if we have problems, help us to let it go.

Help Tohar Haydarov

Tohar Haydarov

Held 2127 days

            

Arrested March 2010 in Uzbekistan

 

On March 9, 2010, a criminal court in Uzbekistan sentenced 27-year-old Tohar Haydarov to 10 years in prison for the “illegal sale of narcotic or psychotropic substances in large quantities.” Members of the Baptist church in Uzbekistan insist that the charges are fabricated and that Haydarov’s sentence was punishment for his religious activity. It is unclear why Haydarov received a 10-year sentence.

According to Forum 18 News, Baptists insist that police planted drugs on Haydarov, and church members insist that he is “a man with a pure conscience and an honest Christian.” Haydarov's appeal was denied.

Sentence Confirmed; Prisoner Shown Letters

A judge recently confirmed Tohar's ten year prison sentence, for charges church members say are false. "The court correctly stated the criminal act of Tohar Haydarov, and the punishment was given in proportion to the act, taking into account the public danger of the act," the judge wrote.

Prison authorities recently showed Tohar some of the many letters sent to him, but he is not allowed to read them, because "there are too many citations from the Bible in them."

Click here to write to Tohar or petition an official

God loves me

By Odon Bulamba

He loves more.  God loves all of us, sinners and righteous but He loves some more.  God is unfair but this means He loves us more

Isa 43:4

Isaiah was a simple man and physically weak.  Some say he was short and skinny and others say that he looked very old while he was young.  God wanted to use this weak man to pass on the message to the nations, including you and me because you are precious in the sight of the Lord. 

 

When we talk about something that is precious it means that it is something with great treasure and my heart is in it.  If something is not precious, we won’t care about it.  Something precious to us has to be kept safe and given more attention.  For something to be precious it doesn’t mean it is gold or diamond but it can be a simple shirt or glasses or shoes; anything you give more value.  For example when someone passes away we hold onto their photos and we try to look after it and save it to different places (on my phone, on my computer, hard copies) in case I lose a copy.

 

God is telling us this morning that you look precious in his eyes.  It doesn’t mean you should look precious in the eyes of the world or angels but for God, regardless of your appearance you look precious.

 

What is precious for you Tyrone?  His car.  If it is precious for you and you see children throwing stones on your car, will you let them play? You will stop them.  You will rather the stones to hit you than the car.  If they damage the car, you will tell the family that the kids damaged the car and they have to pay.

 

God looks at you like someone who is precious and when someone tries to attack you, God wants to protect you.  Your mind, satan, people in the world, will try to attack you.  In the Kingdom of God, those elected are considered precious by God.  He gave the example in the Bible that there is a narrow and wide path and only a few are elected to go through the narrow path.

 

Today there are churches where a gay couple wants their marriage to be blessed.  Some in the church will wonder if they should while others will say, no the Bible restricts us while others will say, it’s ok.  But for God, He has said this is not correct so those that know that will say, sorry I can’t.

 

Those who are precious will go through trouble because of their quality.  If you put stones there, thieves won’t care but put diamonds among them, the thieves will take the diamonds and leave the rest because they are precious.

 

Those who are targeted in their spiritual life are those that are precious ones.  Pastors today live how they want and don’t care and their lives flourish but those who are children of God, their lives struggle.  There is nothing compared to being precious in God’s eyes.  Whoever sees it, will see we are precious.  God looks at us as precious in his sight and then he honours us. 

 

Can God honour human being?  How?  One day I was conceived inside the tummy of my mum, God fed me and looked after me and He brought people around my mother to look after her.  The hospital looks after pregnant people and if you complain the nurses and doctors will ask, are you alright?  God will put people around you for a small matter.  Those people surround you start to give you more assistance.

 

In the past people conceived and struggled by themselves.  Mary was on a donkey while she was nine months pregnant.  Would you accept to go on a donkey at 9 months pregnancy?  It is insulting and abuse and maybe even torture – you can’t do that to a human.  Today, God gives you the privilege where things are easy for us.  You go to a nice hospital (not a barn with animals) and you go in a nice car (not a donkey) with lots of people surrounding you to help. For Mary, she only had joseph.

 

God has given us all the facilities in our lives because He loves us more.  Would you wear the robe of Solomon today?  You would look ridiculous.  Today we have choices of clothes and so many different clothing stores but at that time, you had no choice.  God told them He loved them and they were precious to Him but we are more loved because He tries to give us every single thing with less pain.

 

In old time, they wrote the Bible with a feather and ink.  Today, Hayley is typing as I speak, 40 words per minute and she can easily edit it but with ink you can’t edit it. 

Because God loves us so much, He brings people to us to serve us and interact with us so we can have a good relationship and we can continue to shine (like diamonds).  We couldn’t talk about diamonds while it is in the soil, we can only talk about it while it is seen. God says He loves you.  What does that mean to you?

 

God’s love means that He would send His child to die for us.  “Nothing can clean your sin except the blood of My Son so your sins can be forgiven.  Because you are forgiven, you are welcomed to My Kingdom.  If you don’t accept the gift of My Son, you will never be clean or enter the Kingdom of God.  Accept My Son, accept to repent and I will open the door of heaven for you to come here for eternity”.  He does this because He loves you.

 

When people come to visit us, we want them to leave after a certain time but some don’t want to leave.  One time some friends visited me at 6pm and at 1am, they were still there.  I tried to make hints but they kept saying, just give me 5 mins.  At 2am, they wouldn’t go. 

In the past when you visited those friends of mine, they wouldn’t want you to leave but now the wife is doing tertiary studies and now she is too busy for talking and visiting.  She now talks about assignments.  Yet in the past, she loved people and she loved them to visit her, why is she turning them down now?

 

When we are busy, we put love aside (sometimes). Regardless of how busy God is, love comes first.  When we pray, he listens to all of us together.  He takes care of all of us together.  If you had to listen to all the world at once, you would be tired, stressed and you would turn down the noise.  God loves us and never forgets us and never leave us.

When God tells you that He loves you, do you tell Him you love Him or do you also produce actions that speak louder than words?  God doesn’t just use words but He supplies you with all that you need; children, food, clothes, you need rest and he gives you sleep, you need to work and he gives you the strength to work.  Our physical aspects has millions of needs and He gives without you having to pay back and on top of that, He says, I love you.

 

When you grow up in Africa, it is rare to hear your parents say I love you.    You are born and you grow up and you will never hear the words I love you.  In New Zealand we hear it all the time and it is so sweet and it strengthens you when someone tells you that they love you and when they bring actions that show love, you feel amazing.

 

Yesterday my boss came and gave me an envelope.  I said thank you and put the envelope aside.  When he left, I heard in my head that someone is coming and you will give them $1,000 but I thought, how when I only have $5?  A lady came into work and she asked for $1,000 because she was in trouble.  She said that some people are here and she has to pay them back today or she will die.  I told her that I didn’t have the money and I was sorry.  She went upstairs of the Warehouse and went around the store for hours. 

 

I opened the envelope and found $1,000.  I found the lady again and asked her what was the problem.  She told me that she used to sell drugs for someone and that she had lost the money and I lied and said the money was here at the Warehouse.  She pointed out the man and he had tattoos all over him with the f-word and kill on his hands.  The lady said that she had told God that if He pays this debt off for me, I will become a believer.  I gave her the envelope with the money and she took it.

 

In Luke 5: Jesus was preaching and then He jumped into the boat and He told Simon to move the boat from the shore.  At the end of the preaching He asked how are you? Simon told him that day and night I have been here without catching any fish. He was a fisherman with many skills to know how to catch fish.

 

Jesus said, “Push your boat deeper there, and throw your net”.  Simon was thinking no, that is a waste of time but he did it anyway because God had told him to.  Many times in life we don’t want to do things but we do them because God told us to. Sometimes it’s hard to forgive or accept situations but we have to because of God.

 

Simon picked up net and threw them where Jesus had told him to.  You can have skills in life but if God doesn’t help you, your skills are nothing.  You can know the Bible, how to pray, how to look after your husband or neighbour but if God doesn’t show you the location where to practise it, you will get nothing.  Simon got a lot of fish to the point the net started to break.

 

Sometimes God will push you after you can’t go any further and this is the time that God tells you to follow his instruction.  “But God,” we complain “I’m tired with this situation, you know my problem, for weeks, years I have suffered”.  God replies, “Regardless of tiredness, it is time now to pick up your net and throw it here”.  God doesn’t pull for you but you have to pull yourself and if the net is full of fish and it breaks you will lose everything. Sometimes with the abundance of blessings you start to think you will keep it for yourself and you don’t know how to share.  When that happens the net will break and you will lose everything. 

When disciples saw the net was full, they called their partners to come and join.  Others got involved and the boats were full to point they started to sink.  Is it really important to share what we have; our time, our love, our blessings, and everything we have with others.  Do we share or do we say, “no this $5 is mine and I have a program for it”.  God will tell you your boat will break and you will lose the $5. 

 

Sharing is not only about money.  Your smile is enough to change peoples’ lives.  A smile encourages you to express yourself freely but if you see a person with a grumpy face, people will feel discouraged to come close.  Your facial expressions can help others.  God has put people around us to help us and work for us and after Peter calling the others to help, everyone was happy.  God said, Peter I will make you to fish men, follow me.

Peter had to leave everything and follow Jesus.  We have to leave everything behind and work for God.  If you do all the work for your boss and then God says, “Don’t ask your boss for the money, leave it here”, how will you feel? Maybe you will answer, “God I would offer you money from that money”.  God only needs you to follow his instructions.

 

If I were Peter, I might ask to take care of the fish first, to take some home for my family or to sell them etc.  When you jump into a business, it can be a business of money or learning, is it easy to accept God’s love to stop now (if that is what He asks) and leave that now?  Or is it easy to go back to school at aged 70 if that is what God asks of you?  Or to be pregnant at Sarah’s age.  How does it feel to come to God and ask to bury your child first and He says, “Let them bury themselves, come to church”.

 

Jesus was praying the night before He was crucified.  Jesus who was One with God felt He was alone and the situation was tough.  On the cross, He said, where are you?  When we feel like God is away from us, it doesn’t mean He is away from us, He loves us more because a victory will follow after that and then we will see His glory in our lives.

 

Sarah gave birth and it was a precious story of Isaac.  God loves you more at all levels. You can be who you are, rich or not, and you can feel how you feel but God loves you more and for that reason you have to put your trust in Him (just trust, that is all He needs). It can take 20 years before you get want you want, but He knows what you need.

 

God gives us people to love but we don’t come close to them.  They come close to us but we don’t have time.  The love of God is eternal.  Love is kind; is God kind with me? Of course.  Is God selfish with me? No.  Does God show all the attributes of love in my life?  If you don’t feel the kindness of God in your life, tell Him, “I don’t feel this of you in my life.  I want to see you caring for me, I want to feel your love in my life – in physical and spiritual life”. 

A few days ago something landed on my foot and I felt I lost my toes but I asked God, “if you love me help me not to feel pain or break my toes” and it was fine.  God is capable to do anything and to change situations.  He is even able to make day longer and turn the night into day.  What you believe is impossible in life, God is able to change it.

 

Many want to give up. A pastor of a big church would say to me, “Why don’t more people come to my church? We need more”.  I said, “Pastor, do you know the names of at least 100 people in your church?  How often do you visit them? If God gives you 5000 members and you are unable to visit 500, what will you do with them especially since you don’t want to share your power.  You want to be you alone but you can’t pull the net of the fish, it will break.” Many people come to this church and many people leave and the Pastor doesn’t know it is because there are too many in the net.

 

When you need to pull the net (you have problems or joy) ask others to join you and God will bless you.