Holding on to Faith

Encouragement - 2 Thess 2:16

Your body is the enemy of the soul - 2 Cor 20:17

2 Cor 20:17, “ You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.”

The battle you are crossing has two faces, one that belongs to me and the other side belongs to God.  When things don’t belong to you, before you touch them, you ask yourself if they really belong to you.  You can’t walk into a bank and take money from the counter or just take Tyrone’s car.  It is the same way for God. He puts us in a battle field and tells, “Remember that you have your portion of the battle and I have mine”.   

The first enemy of your life is your body.  Behind this body, satan acts and influences the body and that is what God calls battle.  I’ve never seen satan tempting a dead body.  He doesn’t need to.  As long as you are alive physically, then your body becomes a part of your battle.

You must know that your body is your main problem.  Because of our bodies, most of us will not enter the Kingdom of God.  That is why Paul said, “I want to do good but my body lets me down”.  Most of the time we pray, God protect us against satan.  What many Christians do to solve their problems, they try to protect their bodies through justification, defending your body, your feelings, your wrong doing so you can please your body.  We forget that the body will return to the earth.  If you already know that your body is a loser and isn’t worth it, why defend it.  Tell your body it is wrong.

Once you know that your body is wrong in a way, remember your problem is bigger than you.  Your body sometimes makes you feel so useless, how miserable is my life.  Your body will push you to believe you are miserable while your soul doesn’t suffer.  You will see someone crying and wishing they could be like Queen Elizabeth.  Do you know how much she suffers?  On one side, we want to appear like big people because our body likes glory and we want people to bow down.

I had the chance to talk to one of the most valuable men on the planet and he said that he only sleeps 4 hours because he has so many problems with people coming to see him and calling him and he must see the doctor all the time.

Michael Jackson also, had to have treatments because he was trying to make his body look a certain way and he had to see the doctor every day and now he is dead.  He was once great but now the young people don’t know who he is.  He forgot that the first enemy he had was his body.  The secret for salvation is whoever wants to gain his life will lose it, surrender all to Jesus then you will win the battle.

God is bigger than your problem.  When I don’t get what I want, what do I do?  Nothing.  If I want to buy this hall and I don’t have money, I just have to accept it.  But your body will tell you, it is time to break a bank, sell drugs and then you can afford the drugs.  Your body will not tell you that you will be caught.  If that thought comes up, the body will tell you a way around it.  Your body will have plans and strategies.

The body which is your enemy will tell you that you must win this battle.  What do you gain if you gain the entire world with everything it contains, gold, houses, money from the banks, aeroplanes.  What will you do with it all?  Good or wrong, you don’t need all of it but what you need most of all is your soul.

You should know that the most important thing for you is your soul, not what is in this world.  When I look for things that give me joy, ice cream, chocolate, I believe that this will help me.  Levi will tell you when you give him food, “mmmm that is yummy” and he talks like poetry because he is full of joy.  If only I could do that kind of poetry for reading the Word of God and joy from reading Word of God.

I can buy shirts. I once saw a bottle of wine for US$17,000.  I saw this man coming and asking for 6 of those bottles.  He paid with his card.  The man was rushing quickly and packing it with respect.  My heart was pounding.  The man gave bottles to different friends.  He gave the remaining 3 bottles to the man that served them.  More than $40K in wine.  Who is going to buy it from that man?  Where is he going to sell it?  He won’t drink it and he will fight day after day for a customer.  He won’t be allowed to sell it in the shop.

Our bodies will give us something that will give us more problems.  For example, you can feel like you are thirsty.  You search for water.  For those that drink alcohol, they can drink bottles of beer but can’t drink one glass of water.  Some need to drink alcohol or they start to shake.  He asks for money, and if you don’t give he starts to lie, I need money to take my mum to hospital.  He lies to get money and then once he has the money, he drinks and then he starts to swear and kick people.

I once saw him stumbling home, shouting, “Open this door you dog”.  He came inside.  Another day, he jumped into the back seat of his car and thought someone had stolen the steering wheel.  How do you try to drive your soul when the priority for you is your body?

If your daughter doesn’t respect you, you feel bad.  I feel shame on me.  It is the same with God, when we don’t respect what He says to us, we let Him down. He is disappointed, “I gave you everything for free and in return you tell your Father God that you don’t respect Him”.  We respond by saying, “I’m tired of you, I quit,” and you become rebellious.

We forget that our bodies lie to us.  God can turn off our breath at any moment and our body can’t stop that.  Then God will ask you, what did you do during your time on this earth.  Did you look after your soul?

Adam was given the job to take care of the garden of Eden.  Your soul is your garden of Eden. When someone talks to you wrongly, you feel you need to fight.  When you become angry, it is a simple battle.  Don’t fight back.  Tell yourself, this is not my battle.  If my eyes see something that I don’t like, automatically I become angry.  Why did you put this here?  We must consider God’s position.

Once we open the door, our soul will be the first thing that suffers.  By serving your body, you are killing your body for eternity.  When I watch boxing on tv, it is a battle, a fight.  With boxing, people fight each other for others to watch, they fight for the glory and for the prize money.  They give up everything, including certain food and time and they train to win. How often do you train your soul to feel fit?

Do you hate to put on weight physically, do you also hate to put on spiritual weight?  When you don’t want to go to work, maybe people will call you lazy.  Life is about working and we need to do something but when it is about your soul, how often will people tell you to do God’s work? Children will tell you they are too tired to go to school but the parent will push children to go to the school.

Regardless of how good your sleep is, you have to get out of bed.  That is your side of your battle.  Now spiritually, how often will people tell you to wake up?  Many people will try to please others. E.g. singing for others.  Once I was invited to join a gang.  They encouraged me by saying they would protect me.  I told them I’m not strong to fight other gangs.  Many young people feel pride to belong to a gang and when they walk on the streets they feel like they are something.

Have you tried to join or make this connection with God to feel a part of God’s army where you can stand up and fight against evil and against those who try to destroy God?  When the battle comes, fight your part and let God fight His part.  E.g. “My thoughts, I will not give in”.  “My desire for wrong, this is not my part, what you are asking me to do is the battle of God”.  When you live such a life that you don’t have to respond to all temptations but give it to God, you will be a winner.

When you are tempted to steal, say, “No this isn’t my battle to possess this, God this is your role to get this for me”.  As adults we fight against our parents because we have our own way.  Sometimes we try to prove to God that we are grown up children and He can’t tell us anymore what to do and I will come back to God when I want, read my bible when I want and deal with my own problems.  The problems of my body are my own problems.

When someone dies the corpse remains but the soul has gone. So the dead body is not me. I should remember that when I’m tempted that this is not me, my body is not me.  I just have to decide, I don’t want to do this.  For example, we all know someone who decided to stop smoking.  She just quit.  She didn’t need a counsellor.  She didn’t cut down slowly.  It didn’t kill her.  It was a matter of decision.  God told the king, take your positions, and stand firm and see the deliverance.  What position do you take in life?  Do you stand firm?  Or do you go left and right and try again tomorrow.  How often do you stand firm in order to protect your soul?  When you stand firm, the battlefield belongs to God now and he will act for you.

A friend of mine, he was someone who always wanted to get everything.  One time he borrowed money and he was told he had to pay 40% interest per day.  He wanted to buy something to make him appear special.  After a few days he couldn’t afford to pay it back.  The lenders gave him a job to steal from people’s houses until the day that he finished to pay back the money.  If it was $10, 40% was $14 so it kept getting bigger.

In Congo, when someone is caught stealing, they will burn you alive.  When he was caught, people asked, “Where is the tyre?”  That is how they kill you.  They were punishing the body.  How often have you been influenced by people?  It will be good, just for today.  That is the time to tell God, “The battle belongs to you, I stand firm God, intervene.  I’m shaken by what I see, please God intervene”. 

In the gang, they were telling me that the longer you stay with us you will get a title.  I responded, “I have title in heaven that is bigger than yours and I can’t sacrifice what I have in heaven”.  Do you remember that at any minute you can die?  Where are you going to go?  Last time Ange was planning a trip and that trip was planned for many weeks ahead.

Usually people don’t just decide to go somewhere without planning.  If you do, you may not find a place to sleep.  We must plan our journey to heaven.  If not, you may find yourself in hell.  You can only plan by asking God to fight for us.  Please God do this battle.  When God fights, we have the victory.

Trust in God - Proverbs 3:5-6

Has anyone ever asked you, “Do you trust?”  Fathers, sometimes we don’t trust our children.  Dads sometimes don’t trust mums and vice versa.

Is trust important in life?  Why do we need to be trust? Why should we be trusted?  Have you thought about trusting in God?  When the Bible tells you to trust in God, what does it mean to you?

I’ll give you an example, this man was so fearful to fly high and on his 23^rd birthday, his father said, “Do you trust me?” He answered, “Yes”.  The father being a skydive trainer said, “I will fly with you and we will sky dive together.  If you do this one time you will never fear again the sky and you will see the beauty of above and how down here looks from the sky”.

The boy prayed to God for help the night before.  In the morning, they took the plane.  The son told the father, “I trust in you, you are the only one who can save and secure me”.  The father said, “I am an expert”.  After jumping, the parachute didn’t work.  The boy was screaming and then he said, “Jesus”, and then the parachute worked.  The father said, “You should never trust in man but only trust in God”.

Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”.

Trust God with all your heart, not just part of our heart and we should also submit to him.  What kills the world today is that we don’t trust in God 100%.  We only trust in God when we fail, that’s when we think of God.  Many people’s trust in God is very limited.  People can walk through the tunnel in the mountain that human beings have made without doubt but when we walk through Jesus, we don’t see the beauty of walking through Him.

To start our journey with Jesus, we sometimes don’t think it is good enough and we quit.  I have been going to the gym for 20 years and look at me, I am fat with no muscles while others do it only for 3 months and you see a change.  Because you see me going on Monday and then I eat heaps and don’t go back for 2 weeks.  I want to gain something and get in shape but I lack discipline.  To trust in God requires a type of discipline.  You should be committed. You need to understand if you don’t do it now, tomorrow you will see.

I saw a lady at the gym that was so large she couldn’t even walk on the treadmill she was struggling but now she is very slim and fit and I look so weak and fat compared to her.  By putting discipline and determination, she has changed her life.  We need to be disciplined with God, push yourself to ger up early and exercise and after a few months, it will be a part of your life.  When you don’t go, you will feel something is wrong in  you.

Instead of disciplining ourselves, we ask God for help.  We don’t need the help of God or others to stop stealing when I already know stealing is wrong.  It is up to me to decide.  People think it is better to sin than go back to God and ask for help.  People prefer to go to a counsellor for help and they trust in them more than God forgetting that a counsellor has their own problems.

I was once told to see a counsellor.  He was telling me about Lebon coming back from Africa.  I said to him, “You are the counsellor true but do you have problems?” and he started to tell me his problems.  He gave me a CD because he said that it was his solution to his problems.  I asked “Why can’t you pray to God?”  He said, “For counselling we believe we need relaxation”.  Relaxation doesn’t exist in this world.  Relax in God yes but if you try to relax using music or listening to birds, the relaxation won’t last.

In case of a problem, I go to my friends who are lawyers or doctors and trust in their promises more than God’s promises.  When you are searching for a job and your friend says, come, you will put all your trust in them.  God, who is a jealous God, will look down on you and ask, “Where is My glory in all of this, do you trust me or not”.  You may end up finding a wrong job.

Sometimes we lose trust in God because we feel like we are far from Him.  Although God was far from Job, Job never left God far from him and every time said, “I trust in God”.  No matter what you face, keep trusting in God. By doing so, you will become a winner.

One thing that makes us to not trust in God, is worry.  Worry is the enemy number one.  Although the Bible says more than 365 times do not worry, but we keep worrying.  “I don’t have money, what can I do, I should go and find it”.  No matter how much money you have, you will continue to look for money.  Bill gates still looks for money.

Bill gates earns $20K per second.  One day he saw a $100 bank note on the street and he stopped the car to pick it up.  By stopping the car, he spent 2 minutes.  He earns $20K per second.  Why not leave the bank note for a poor person.  Every person is after money.  If you could trust God as you trust money and if you could love God as you love money, how good you would be with God.

You protect your money in your bank account and check their accounts, “When did I spend this money?”  Sometimes people can call the bank, “Explain, $1 is missing from my account”.  The bank must find out. 

Last year, a sports group took double the money from me that they should and I keep asking for a refund.  If someone said to me, “Collect money from my house on 22 February 2022 next year”, I won’t forget but if it’s a prayer meeting, I will forget.  When we cancel a meeting, we feel happy.  We are happy when we don’t go close to God. 

We often don’t worry about yesterday.  Worry will never change the future.  When I was baptised and I accepted Jesus in my life, I said, “I trust in You and I give everything to You so I can get eternal life”.  That is the number priority of my life, to enter the Kingdom of God.  We all want to go to heaven.  That is priority number one.  We don’t worry about going to heaven but we worry about things that are not important, e.g. what will I wear, what will people say.

Birds don’t’ worry about where to buy food.  Flowers don’t worry about how they will look attractive.  We often worry about the useless things.  God looks at us and asks us, do you trust in me? I have a friend in Australia who has been working hard there for 15 years.  Then suddenly he was able to buy a house and he was so proud of the house he bought and he put it on Facebook, how he came to Australia as a refugee and has a house without mortgage.  Many congratulated him. 

One month later a fire came from the bush.  He couldn’t fight against the fire.  He broke in tears.  He took photos and videos of the fire.  His wife said, “Do you trust in God?”  He said, “Stop that, we have lost everything”.  “Yes, but do you trust in God?  Better to be alive and let everything get burnt.  God provides and will give something to us tomorrow”.  The husband wasn’t happy.

The fire fighters came and told them to leave.  When he came back everything was melted and burnt to ashes.  He said, “What is the purpose for me to live better to die”.  How many people because of lack of trust in God can easily finish their lives for material things.  After death you will be judged.  You will go to hell for love of things?

The wife rang me, “Talk to him, he wants to commit suicide”.  He said, “This is unfair”.  God is not fair.  I answered, “Yes, God is not fair but now you have to trust in Him and don’t take your life but trust in God”.  He replied, “How to trust in God when He didn’t protect my house, where will I go with my family?”

When we are in trouble, where do we go?  Count what God has done for you in your life, look back.  If a danger is coming, tell danger before you, God did something greater.  Trust in God and you will do something great. 

I told him, “Why destroy what doesn’t belong to you, you already gave your life to Jesus.  Sometimes you hate people, hurt people, and those people are not yours.  What you took without permission is not yours”.  He was quiet.  3 days later, someone passed away from the church and in his will, he gave everything to the African family.  The size of the house was 2x the house my friend previously owned, he had a farm, cows and he gave everything to him.

God asked him, “Did you trust in me?” For 3 days he was crying, how weak I am and how I betrayed God.  If you fail, He is capable of picking you and putting you higher than before.  Trust in God and see how God works.

Do what is written in the Word of God, trust in God.  My prayer every morning, I go back to Psalm 23, the Lord is my shepherd.  That is what I tell God, “You are my shepherd, take care of me”.  No matter what happens in the day, He will protect me.  He will take me to the proper place to eat and drink.  When you pray in the morning, what do you tell God?  Do you ask God for blessing so that people will be happy with you, protect me God today.

Not a long time ago, Sylvie told me, “Odon I’m at work here and everyone looks at me differently.  I want friends but I don’t find any.  I need people to come close to me and they don’t come”.  I told her, sometimes we must integrate ourselves.  When we reach a place where no one knows you, approach them.

One friend of mine is in Belgium.  He was sent to a village there to claim for asylum.  You must go to the office to be interviewed.  The office opened at 9am but you need to wake up at 3am to stand outside to line up.  The temperature was minus 3 degrees which is freezing when coming from Africa.  He had to walk 6km to be there and when he reached there, there was a que of 200 people.  He was cold.  He waited for hours.  The people in the office went inside and slowly drank coffee.

One by one, the refugees were interviewed, why are you here.  He gave his explanation.  They told him to go back home and the result will come back for 5 years.  I have my wife and children I left behind.  They gave him a small financial assistance and put him in village where he knew no one.  He knocked on the first door.  The first person said, “What?”  “I’m new here”.  “Why?  Are you selling something?” “No”.

Every person in the area rejected him.  Finally he picked up a chair and sat outside and believed someone might feel sorry for him.  No one came.  He became depressed.  He found he was rejected and the world was against him.  I told him, remember that you have a good friend Jesus.  Trust in God.  Don’t trust in what people think or act in front of you, trust God.

One day, he went to a catholic church, “I need you to help me”.  The priest said, “We need to love even our enemies and help them”.  After 3 or 4 months, people can now interact with him.

Find your place where you fit in the Lord, even if you feel Jesus is far from you.  “God no matter what has happened, I trust in You and wait for You”.  We can easily fit ourselves in a rugby stadium to watch a game.  I have spent hours watching Americas cup.  I’m happy for that.  Do I spend time reading the Word of God and praying?

I remember the day that Ange married Pete, we went to church on Cate Street and many people were there and everyone looked flash.  It was very clean.  I came late and there was no carpark.  Once in church, there was nowhere to sit.  Because I didn’t have a place, I took my camera and started taking images not because I was a camera man but because I had nowhere to sit.

Ofa came to the piano and everyone was quiet.  She was so good.  Pete was young and slim. That day was a special day where no one wanted to miss that opportunity.  We should also make sure not to miss being in the Kingdom of God.  You have burdens, bring all (all) your burdens to me and I will take care of you.

Why do we refuse sometimes for Jesus to take care of us?  We say it is hard, God is saying, come to me with your burdens but we prefer to go to someone else.  God is saying, I am here for you, come.  If the Lord is your shepherd, who leads you.  We try as the flock to tell God what to do.

We were driving in the country and saw cows walking by themselves.  They knew it was time for milking.  When we don’t see Jesus with our eyes, do we continue to follow the path made for us and know it is the time for milking and know what the farmer wants to do for us.  There was one cow as a leader and without question the other cows followed because it was time.  We are living a time where Jesus is coming back soon, are you ready to meet with the Lord.  Are you in the que ready to enter the Kingdom of God?

If you don’t trust God, who else will you trust?  I used to trust my father, “Daddy can I have a dollar?” and he would give it to me and I didn’t worry if he didn’t have it.  Don’t worry, live as a child of God, trust in Him.

Psalm 126, "When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed"

 

Psalm 126

This is a book that can lead you to cry.  It is about Israel crying to God asking Him to comfort them and support them.  This chapter is the song of Zion which is a symbol where God dwells with His people.  It is not a specific place, it means when God dwells with us, we are in Zion.  On one side it talks about joy while also on the other side it talks about sorrow.

Verse 1, “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dreamed.”

Have you decided what you will dream about?  No, you can’t do that.  A dream comes just like that and you don’t know what you will dream about.  You have no choice.  Last year has gone and the new year has now started and we had a lot of challenges last year and some made you cry and pushed you to think, “Oh God, it’s me again”.  Maybe you knelt down and felt disappointed with your life and those that live around you and maybe you were disappointed with your health, your abilities and it was tough, not only financially and psychologically but spiritually and you struggled a lot.

The people of Israel looked back after spending 70 years of captivity in Babylon and thought, “Is it true we can become free?” and it was like a dream for them.  Children were born in captivity, many passed away, and they lost hope.  One day Cyrus decided these people have to go back to Jerusalem.  They didn’t plan it or know what was supposed to happen. 

Maybe you have been in captivity for a long time.  Pressures of life, colleagues, family, from your own way of living and maybe sometimes you tell yourself, I wish I could live like that person.  We all wish we could become someone different to what we are sometimes because we are going through something really hard.

Remember, even in captivity, God has control of everything.  He told Cyrus to let his people go.  70 years is not a small amount of time.  Every morning maybe you wake up to tears and go to bed with tears.  In the morning, what am I going to do today, when is it going to change and then you go to bed crying because things don’t improve.

Psalm 126 is a remedy to heal you and remind you that no matter how hard your situation is, God is still in control and things will end. No matter how long the days are in summer, night comes and darkness will come.  No matter how long the darkness is in the winter, the morning will still come.  Be strong and courageous.

God is the only one who can change tears to joy.  Your joy is on its way because after crying, joy will come.  If we think of a joy, I can think about Job 42 and how he went through hardship and in verse 10, God visited Job and changed his life from east to west and suddenly everything changed.  He lost hope, children, friends but God gave back to him and more than what he had before.

Maybe last year your joy was small but God will give you back more than that this year.

Act 12, Peter was in jail and just like a dream an angel of the Lord came and opened the jail and said go out, you are not a prisoner anymore.  If this happened to you, you may wonder who is this person and may fear to leave the prison because you don’t know what will happen next.  You will be afraid if the guard sees you.  In your life you are afraid to take the next step and you hesitate and we very often think of the consequences even when God tells you to take the next step.

For Peter, he didn’t think twice and he stood up and then once outside it was like a dream but it was a reality.  Many things can come into your life like a dream but it is a reality. You sleep and suddenly you wake up and things are different.

Were you sure that you would wake up this morning?  Many around the world weren’t sure they would wake up today.  To see yourself alive in the morning is like a dream.  Is it true I am alive again or not?  What did I pay to God to deserve to be alive?  I am not special more than others and that encourages me to say thank you to God.

Psalm 137, by the river of Babylon song.  When they were in captivity, they were crying and suffering and the people of Babylon asked them to sing a song of joy.  Have you been in sorrow and then sung a song of joy?  It’s impossible.  When you are crossing a hard time, it is difficult to sing a song of joy.

Life can tease you and mock you (like the Babylonians did by asking the Israelites to sing) because you are in a corner and you are not strong enough to defend yourself.  People can tell you, be strong, have joy but in your heart but you are suffering and going through pain.  Some might tell you, don’t be a drama queen, don’t be a child.  You can rub my back, but my pain will continue.  You can encourage me but my circumstances will still be the same. 

Pray for others and tell God about their situation.  God is the only one who can change the situation.  Lord, please visit them, be their comfort, what they are going through is so hard.  When I look back, sometimes when I pray for someone I also look at what God has done in their lives.  e.g. “Robbie used to play the guitar for you and read the bible and do communion and come here without breakfast and come here to serve you”.  All that time he was with us, I can count great things God has done through him.  “Remember your beloved child.”  When I pray for others I count all the good things about them.

Shari read a verse to us, “remember this” meaning that we have to also ask God to remember something.  When was the last time you told God to remember about you?  The man on the cross said, “Remember me, don’t forget me when you enter the Kingdom of God”.  We need to remember what God has done for us and tell him so he can be glorfied.

Sarah, the wife of Abraham, was in pain for many years because she needed a child.  She was praying day after day as a young girl and she could reach the age where she lost hope but she couldn’t think that God can perform a miracle.  When she became pregnant, she was 90 years old.  She couldn’t believe it, it was like a dream.  She looked at her age, her body, no way, this is impossible.  Even doctors cannot explain.

Don’t be discouraged because time has passed.  God knows exactly the time when He is going to give it to you.  He knows when you will get sick and when you will be healed.  God knows when He will bring to you peace and when He will stop that peace.  Why shouldn’t I collaborate with someone who knows when things are going to happen?  He knows who and why.  As friends, we can ask for help.

Abraham received these people.  These people were God visiting Abraham.  God could have gone straight to Sodom and Gomorrah but preferred to pass by a human being (like you and me).   Abraham encouraged them to stay the night.  Would you make a stranger to sleep in your house because it is dark?  Maybe you will send them to a hotel.  Abraham told God, come in, “Sarah, cook for our visitors.  Feed them”.

Sarah prepared something and fed God! God!  imagine if she could know that it was God eating at her house from her table.  Maybe if she knew it was God, maybe she would freak out and not be able to cook.  While she gave food to them He revealed himself, you will become pregnant and around this time next year, you will have your baby.

How often does God talk to us without us realising it is God.  we may think it is a simple human being asking for water but it might be God.  We must be careful with people who are in need.  If you have something to feed someone who is hungry, give it to them.  When was the last time you visited someone?  When was the last time you visited a sick person?  We should make an effort, visit people and pray for them. 

I have decided before to pray for all the prisoners of Waikeria prison.  I can enter New World supermarket and pray for each person who will pass by me.  How often do you visit people, do you serve people, pray for them?

Sarah received a blessing for serving God.  The next morning God told Abraham, “I am going now to destroy those cities”.  If Abraham had not invited Him inside, he could not have known about this plan.  To be afraid of God, when you put Him on your side, it is a big advantage.

Many people would like a photo with Jacinda Ardern but no one wants a photo with Colleen but if she is with Jacinda, people may want a photo with Colleen and Jacinda together.  When you are with God, people will come next to you so they can get close to God.

Make God your friend so you can come close to Him and He can intervene for you.  Because He loves you, He can say, “Yes, Odon wait for 5 minutes and I can fix this for you”.  Better that than putting all your hope in tears, after crying I feel better but after crying your problem is still there.  Bring all your burdens to God because He is a God of joy.

2021 can be a year of joy just like a dream.  Life continues, no matter what you faced last year, life goes on and all together we are moving forward to meet with our King, very soon He is coming back to take us.  What will you take with you, your Bible your shoes, your make up? Only your soul.  What is in your soul?  Does your soul please God? Is your soul well prepared to welcome God, “God stay here with me forever”.

This year Rebekah will be 16 and she can’t go back to being 14 because it is the past.  Focus on the present and future not the past.  Turn the page and move forward.  This is a book, once you read page 237 you don’t stay there but turn the page.  If you want to understand what is in the book, you have to turn pages but if you say, “I’m not letting it go because someone did something wrong to me last week or last year”, you are not moving forward, you are staying still.

You will become like Lot’s wife who couldn’t move anymore.  Turn the page, forget the past and live a new life.  If you failed yesterday, don’t make it a burden for you, move on because He has washed away your sin and forgiven you.  Forget about what others have done against you and forgive and move ahead.

Luke 1:5 - 2:15 - Christmas reminds us of God, the Father who lives in us

We are going to talk about Jesus and as the world is celebrating Christmas, for us Christians, it is a matter of remembering the birth not only of the child that is born but the birth of our saviour in our world.

Luke 1:5- 2:15

For Jesus to be born, for me personally and for the Christian community, it was a symbol of God’s love to send His only Son to come to earth to live among us and save us.  It was a way of teaching us human beings that we can’t complain because He knows what we live and has experienced what we go through and He understands pain, problems and challenges.  Therefore, all your problems will find a solution in Jesus

There are similarities in the birth of Jesus and John.  The parents of John were an old couple, Zechariah and Elizabeth, who had fought for years to have a child but couldn’t have one.  Then the angel Gabriel came to Zechariah, “Your wife will conceive and you will name the child John and this boy will bring Israelites to God but John should never drink alcohol or live this type of life”.

Gabriel was sent to Mary to bring the same message, “You will conceive and get pregnant and have a child and his name shall be Emmanuel”.  Mary was a virgin and was told she will conceive with the power of the Holy Spirit. They both gave birth to boys. 

If we look carefully, the Bible is trying to teach us the resemblance between the birth of these two.  They were both miraculous births but on one side, a human being as a servant of God was born and on the other side, God himself was born.

As we celebrate Christmas, many celebrate the birth of John the Baptist and not Jesus.  The angel Gabriel came to Zechariah, a servant of God who had worked for many years in the temple.  Zechariah couldn’t speak from that day on.  When Elizabeth became pregnant, the Holy Spirit was with Elizabeth and living with John.  When Mary and Elizabeth met, the power could be felt between the two babies. 

John came to preach the gospel to Israel and bring them to God while Jesus came to preach the gospel and bring the entire earth to God’s Kingdom.  Many people go to church and they experience the Word of God, they listen and they take it as physical only.  The message enters their lives but is limited to only what their ears and minds can receive and does not allow the Holy Spirit to act in them.  Therefore, they can also tell you, I have read the Bible and heard that message but they don’t change their lives. 

John was in the womb and connected to Jesus but he was not Jesus.  When you receive a message, do you connect that message to Jesus who lives in you?  When you read the Bible, do you understand that it is the Word of God and you respect it as the Word of Go?  Children respect the word of their parents.  We must respect our parents.

For John who was preaching the gospel, he reached a point where he said, “it is not me, follow Him”.  He told all them, “Don’t follow me, follow Him, he is the Lamb of God, go to Jesus”.  Many of us will stop where we are in our church, in our knowledge, and stories we hear and don’t have the courage to move forward to follow Jesus.

John was a good preacher and a good guy and was baptising people but he was sending them to Jesus.  Do you send yourself to Jesus sometimes?  When your thoughts go too far away, do you tell your mind, the solution is with Jesus.  “My thoughts, I cannot respond to that, Jesus is the answer”.  I try to do something, and I can’t do it, turn to Jesus, He is the answer.  Some on the earth will see servants of God when they have problems, “Support me, pray for me,” which is good but the last word is to go to Jesus.

When we celebrate Christmas, we remember the birth of Jesus.  What is a birthday?  Is it about their birth?  We can eat and drink or should we stop and praise God for having the privilege to have that child among us.  Usually when we celebrate birthdays, we have cake, food, singing, and we want to look nice.

How old were you last year Anna? 12 and now you are 13.  Can you go back to 12?  No, we must remember that Jesus was born in us last year and He should not be treated as a baby in our lives as we did yesterday.  We can’t say we are spiritual babies forever.  When we are 20 years living with Jesus in us, should we continue to treat Him as a child?

God has never been a child but people treat Him as one, “I don’t care what God thinks”.  We do what we want when and how we want, we don’t fear Him to be a father and because of lack of respect and fear we celebrate year after year that Jesus was born and is a child in us but we should celebrate the Father in us. 

Christmas should be the remembrance of God living in us (Emmanuel) rather than a baby born in Bethlehem.  We should think of him as Emmanuel in our lives.  Where is he living now?  If Bethlehem is my body, is Jesus really living in me? For the past 20 years, you have been experiencing living with Jesus. 

If you ask Colleen, who is Keith, she will know him very well. She know what he likes and doesn’t like, “Honey what do you want for dinner,” and it will be up to Colleen to cook for him.  Keith knows who is Colleen.  Jesus knows who we are and we know who Jesus is.  What is our duty to this God?  He gave us salvation and we have been living together for years but we still continue to act foolishly against God who gave His life for us.

When a husband and wife live together and there is a misunderstanding, they may end up deciding not to continue and to fix the problem but if one doesn’t want to fix the problem, there will not be stability in the family. 

Today Jesus is 2020 years old.  He is very old isn’t he.  We can glorify him on Christmas day but after the celebration we are mean to Jesus with our actions and words.  In the morning, “We love you Jesus,” and by the evening, do I even care.  I only care about my own life.  “I had a lot of problems today and God you did nothing”.

Keith can be there reading his book but Colleen knows what to do for her husband.  In his heart Keith is glorifying God for such a woman.  Jesus is the husband of the church.  When it is the birthday of a dad in the family, what happens?  The whole family will celebrate.  Who are we going to celebrate with this Christmas?  The angels came down when Jesus was born and celebrated and informed the shepherds.  Who are you going to inform about Emmanuel in your life?

One time in my dream, I became a santa and I had a big bag and I was going door after door and if you open, I give you something and I was giving small boxes with Bible verses.  They would open it and throw it away.  I’m giving those Bible verses but they don’t accept them.  Another santa was offering chocolates and everyone was receiving those chocolates with joy.

When it is time to inform the world about who Emmanuel is among us they do not want to receive it.  You can invite people for food and BBQ and they will come but they won’t want to listen to the Word of God. 

The angels celebrated but many people did not go to Bethlehem.  Don’t stop to remember that you have someone who was born several years ago.  When others are not singing, sing for your Lord, don’t be ashamed, He loves worship.  If you put all your mind in someone who can perform miracles or is anointed, you can learn from that person but if you want the true salvation, go to Jesus.  Don’t stick with John but move to follow Jesus and be his disciple.

Put all in Jesus not in your church or denomination.  Jesus only had 12 disciples.  Please come in and join those 12.  John will never say no to his disciples to move to Jesus.  Be with Jesus and be a disciple of Jesus and it is up to you to decide how to become one and when and what is your role as a disciple.

Christmas is not a word from the Bible but it encourages us to be near Jesus.  The wise men brought their gifts and no one else brought gifts.  The entire world was expecting the baby to be born, how many prepared gifts for Jesus?  When was the last time you gave to Jesus and what type of gift was it?

One gave perfume that smelt good and one gave gold which was full of value.  They tried to find something special to give to God. What is the most important and special thing in your life that you can offer to Jesus?  They didn’t fear the darkness (it was night time).  I have lots of problems and challenges, I can’t offer my life to Jesus.  Darkness can’t stop you from offering your life to Jesus.

After the wise men left, the angels told the parents of Jesus to leave.  They left for Egypt.  It might be late for you if you delay and you don’t offer your life and something special for Jesus, you might find He is gone.  Life is short.  If you want to enjoy life, don’t enjoy it here on earth but prepare to enjoy heaven which is eternity. 

I wish you all a wonderful, peaceful year and a year of change and things that didn’t work previously will work this year,  pray 2021 will be a year of victory as we prepare for Jesus coming back.

End Days - Mathew 24:45 - Feed the Hungry

By Odon Bulamba

Mathew 24:45, “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?”

This is a small verse that puts together what Jesus came to do on the earth.  When Jesus came down, He said, “I am the bread of life”.  He came as food, presenting Himself like food.  Today we are called to think about food. 

I like food.  Do you?  It’s good, yummy and when you eat it, you feel a change in you.  I have a sister, even if she is angry, she will eat.  You can verbally abuse her but nothing will stop her appetite.  When we are eating sometimes, we lick our fingers because it tastes so good.  It can be chocolate, pie, whatever we enjoy.

The Sun of Man wanted to show us how important He is in our life.  Without food, you can’t survive.  Jesus, who is the bread of life was tempted by satan to change the stones to bread. 

How often would you like to eat per day?  Some we like to eat 6x/day.  Some diets encourage that.  Some people will eat once or twice because they don’t have enough food.  Even if you don’t have enough food, your body will tell you that you need to eat now.

If you are young, you will ask your mother if you can have something to eat and it is the responsibility of the mother to help.  Even the father can ask the mother what to eat.  Once our bodies need food, no matter who you are, you need to find a way to feed your body. 

Jesus has given us the task to go and feed others.  It is easy for me to eat but how often do I feed others?  When I am hungry I can fight for food for myself but how often do I fight for food for others?  When was the last time you fed a stranger?  Very often if you go to our garage, you will find in our rubbish bin of garbage that we throw away food while outside, there are people who need food.

We know Jesus and we eat the Word of Life but when it is time to give to others, we are selfish, we prefer to throw away Jesus in the rubbish than to share with other people who are in need.  We were just taking the bread during communion and Jesus said, “Remember me”.  How often do you remember Jesus in your life and share with others?  We share the bread in church, how often do you share with others? If you don’t share Jesus with others, what is your reason, is it because you are selfish? Is there any other reason to stop you?

Jesus said that when He comes back, blessed is the servant who had food and shared it with others.  It is not about money or clothes or wealth but a simple thing as food.  I will give you an example, I walked to Pak ‘n Save a time ago and I came across this little boy who wanted a muffin, and the lady said loudly, “I can’t afford that!”  “Mummy can I just have one?”  The mum wanted to punish the child.  I had $10 and the muffin was $1.50, and I thought that if I bought him a muffin, I might not be able to buy what I wanted. 

I said to the mum, I can buy the muffin for you.  I said, “Choose, a muffin”.  The boy chose a box of muffins which cost $9.50.  The boy wanted to share the muffins with his brothers and sisters who were not there.  I paid $10.  As I was about to leave, a man said, “I saw you pay.  Why did you do that while you are black and he is white”.  I answered, “It doesn’t matter, he needed a muffin”.  The man said, “Come,” and he withdrew $100 and gave it to me and said, “You can now buy what you needed”.  I could now buy 10x more than what I could before I gave away the $10.

When you share food, you will be blessed more.  Some people will share bread with birds and now those birds come close.  When it is time to share Jesus with people, it is a challenge

1 Samuel 17: 17-18, this is Jesse who is sending his son David to take food to his brothers in the same way Jesus is sending us to share the gospel (food of life) with others, your neighbours, brothers, bosses, everyone.  Jessie told David to wake up in the morning, and go, take 16kg of roasted grain and loaves of bread, “These are for your brothers.  10 cheeses don’t belong to your brothers but to the commanders because your brothers are in a battlefield”.  David was the weakest boy of the family and wasn’t strong physically to carry the heavy weapons but he could carry 16kg of grains, 10 cheeses and breads.

That morning, he was told to leave everything behind, including his flock and go to the battlefield.  Imagine, you are not a soldier, “Colleen, go to Iraq to deliver food to the soldiers”.  I will worry about my security and see death coming.  Maybe I will say, “Send someone else who is stronger and knows the battlefield”.  Most of the time in your life, God will send you to a battlefield where brothers are dying spiritually and being attacked by satan to take food.

Goliath was very tall (giant) to the point that when he stood up, people would run from him, even the king.  Have you come across something that will make you panic and run away.  In my country you can walk from here to the Base shopping mall with only trees and no light with a small path.  One day at 8pm, my mum told me to in the dark to get salt from a family that lived far from our house and I had to walk through the bush.  I answered, “But it is dark”.  She replied, “You have to go, you are a man,” meaning men should not fear.

My sisters refused to come with me.  When you fear, you walk like a cat.  Then this man came out with a white bed sheet and screamed.  There was nowhere to run.  I was so scared that I sat down and was shaking and then I ran faster than an owl.  I told that family and they didn’t believe me.  The said, “Here is the salt, you have to go back because your mum sent you.  No one here will take you back”. 

My heart was beating.  I wished I had 10 pairs of eyes to see all around.  I ran through the bush and mum said, you are full of fear.  David was like a little man who comes to the battlefield where everyone fears Goliath and David says, “Don’t fear”.  Have you been told don’t fear?  When a snake enters our houses in Africa, everyone will yell snake and call the man of the house to kill it no matter your age.

When David took the food to the brothers, there were grains and loaves without fat but the cheese that is full of fat was for the commander.  Those that have put on weight spiritually, they have many problems spiritually, we need to provide them the right food. e.g., what you are doing is not right, I advise you to do this.  I might attack the person with many verses to defend my weaknesses.

David who is weak is sent to take the food.  God will send a simple person who is not an expert in the field of the Bible to bring food to you but we prove to those people we know better than them.  Instead of accepting their offer, we tell them their own mistakes (just as David’s brothers did to him), “You did this last year”.  God will look at you, foolish child of mine, I have been sending this person to help you, the message comes from Me but you reject that message.

When David reached there, his brothers said, “Why are you here, go back and take care of the flock”.  You might have an important job to do, e.g I’m a shepherd but don’t be surprised when God asks you to leave your job behind and do this for Me.  Many people wait for others to preach, share Word of God and they are not ready to give the food to those in the battlefield saying, “I’m a singer, not evangelist”.  Have you said, the battle is hard?

Sometimes I have a big mouth when watching tv, I advise the actors on tv and when I watch rugby, I yell at the player, “How could you do that?”.  It is easy to judge and comment but I don’t even know how to throw a rugby ball yet my mouth can talk.  I wouldn’t say that I know better than those in the battlefield, talk to them nicely and share the message with joy, not harshly.

Last year I was in Dubai and I was hungry.  I was supposed to reach the hotel at 7am but the security people told me, “Who are you?  Why are you here?”  “I booked the room here at this hotel”.  “Can you prove it?”  I provided proof.  They brought me to the counter and the lady looked at me, “no, just be on that side and I will finish with others first”.  I was put to the side like a black tree and after 30 minutes watching others pass, I asked, “What is happening.  I gave my passport”.  “Are you from New Zealand?  Why are you here?”  I answered, “Does that mean people from New Zealand can’t come to Dubai?”  “No, but you”.

From 7am to 10:30am I was outside waiting for my room.  I was told, “You will have to go somewhere else to find another room”.  It was a 5 star hotel so black skin shouldn’t be there.  12pm, I went to the restaurant like anyone and as I passed everyone was looking at me.  When I entered the restaurant I said, “We are here but our lives on this earth are short and the judgement is coming.  The Bible says, men will harvest what they sow.  If you plant ignorance, you will harvest ignorance.  If you plant hatred, then you will reap hatred.

People were swearing.  A man stood up, “This brother is saying the truth.  I am a Christian and we are not acting good”.  The hotel was filled with Christians attending a Christian conference.  Where is love? This was the food I was sent to share with these people.  Some said sorry.

Sometimes you can face challenging situations, God will tell you at that time to give them the food.  Bread is nothing but it can help you to not die from hunger.  Bread is important for those starving.  Don’t be worried because they look stronger, more intelligent, or more rich than you. Tell them the truth and the truth will set you free.

Cheese is for commanders.  At that hotel I spoke to these men and I spoke to the manager of the hotel without knowing.  People were trying to stop me saying, “He is the boss”.  I came to him, ‘I have something for you, you have money but what do you do to prepare for your time after this life?  Have you invested in your after life?” He responded,  “I do good to people and I assist people with a lot of money”. 

I said, “Prophet Mohammed said to prepare your place in the kingdom.  Do you know the address of your property in the Kingdom of God?  Do you know how big is your land in the Kingdom of God? Have you built something in that kingdom?”  He was happy and said, “What you are saying is wise.  Usually people don’t speak to me because of fear”.

When God sends you to share food, don’t be afraid.  I once told Helen Clark, “Everyone knows you, I wish everyone would know Jesus as they know you.  Let people know that you are Helen Clark because God allowed it”.  What is your testimony today?  Some will testify, I went to a party, I went to Raglan, I went to visit a baby.  How often do you praise God for waking up?  God is so good to me.  We don’t testify all the great things that God has been doing for us.