I did not post last week because I felt that the past two weeks worked hand in hand. One week ago, the topic was the Kingdom of Heaven. NOT Heaven itself. The Kingdom of Heaven is simply the physical acts, and effect of the people who serve Jesus by being the example of what Jesus did, which was serve others. The parable of the leavened bread is a perfect example of The Kingdom. Even though there is only a little bit of leaven in the bread, it is leavened all the way through. Example: if some a church were to build a playground for every one to use, and some of the mothers got together, and started just building friendships, and spreading joy, THAT is the Kingdom of God at work. Then if some of the mothers there found out that one of the families that uses the park is struggling to make ends meet, and they all pitch in to support them in a rough time, THAT is the Kingdom of God at work! When Jesus said "The Kingdom of God is at hand," he meant it. The Kingdom of God is not the Church either. The Church is not a building that we all gather at, but the body of Christ. The Church and the Kingdom work hand in hand. When the Church benefits the Kingdom, the Kingdom will in turn start to bless the Church. That is what I love about how God sets things up! To work hand in hand. Also, in the Lords Prayer, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." Heaven is perfect. God desires us, all of us to live within the Kingdom. When we pray, we are to pray as Gods will, not our own be done. Ya, that can be a scary thing, but when we are truly fearing God, we will be obedient to him up to death.
Prayer Week.
This week, we had groups of five people switching off praying every three hours for five days. Literally, the whole week, we were praying. Prayer is so much more powerful then we think. Christians in China pray three to five hours a day. Christians in South Korea pray two to three hours a day. Christians in North America, three to five minutes a day. Look to China! Look to South Korea! Those are the places that Revival is happening! Before every great revival, some one started praying. China, a Communist nation, South Korea, not a Communist nation, are seeing revival, despite persecution, or despite living comfortably, without the immediate threat of Death.
This week, God has Blessed us greatly. People in our group who are Narcoleptic, Celiac, people with swollen ankles, and people with painful knees were all healed this week! Why? Because of Prayer. God wants us to talk to him. It is a two way relationship with God. There is no waiting around for God to just show up. The more we press in to God, the more he will reveal His awesomeness to us. Some times it does not happen instantly. Even if we do not see results, God is still working. One of my leaders went on an outreach and had the group that he lead pray for two hours every day before they started anything. Six weeks went by, and they saw no results of their prayers. Then, they were preaching to an unreached peoples group, and God started to use them like they have never seen before. People were getting healed, and people were getting saved! Some times, we wont even see the fruits of our labor though. Because two people prayed with an eight year old sixty eight years ago, then never saw the boy again, three generations of a family are now Christians. Prayer is essential, the the essence of communicating with God. Through prayer do we talk with God, and through prayer does God answer us.
At the end of the week, we went down to the beach, and sang some worship music for hours. After about three minutes though, we had people coming up to us, and asking us questions. It was great! At one point, there was about thirty people just standing around us, listening, and some were worshiping with is too! We even saw a few non Christians come to know the Lord that night!
God Bless you all!
David
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