Resurrection and Life (John 11:25) 

We welcome you to the House of Prayer, the Spirit Life Centre for All Nations. Today, we are what we are because of what Christ Jesus did for us on the cross. He took His place as the sacrificial Lamb of God and died to set us free from satanic bondages. We also must take our place as children of Jehovah God and servants of the Most High and honor Him by our service to Him. Service to Jehovah God makes our future possible. 

1 Corinthians 12:17-19, "If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased." 

Jehovah God has endowed you and me with something on the inside which is capable of producing and becoming more. There is something within you that is capable of making a difference in your life, your situation, your family, your community, your country, your continent, and your world! Have you discovered it yet? What Jehovah God has blessed you with is what He will use to bless others through you. If you have not discovered what you have to give, you are deceiving yourself. You are what you give your attention to. If you submit to Jehovah God, give your attention to Him, then you are who God says you are, you can do what God says you can do, and have what God says you have. Then, you are not like others. Pay any price to protect your focus. Don't change your confession; don't change your direction. Rest in the place that Jehovah God has for you. Are you in the place God has for you? When you are where Jehovah God has placed you, He will speak strength and courage into your life through your trials. Those who bless Jesus in their trial will be blessed by Jesus through their trial. 

Don't let your salary limit you from giving Jehovah God what He deserves from you. But the question would be - what do you think Jehovah God deserves from you? What do you think He is worth, which you can give Him? Remember that your god is what you value him to be. Ask Abraham, Hannah, Mary, and the poor widow at the temple, and they would tell you how much they valued their God; hence, they gave Him what they valued. All of us have been given the freedom to value everything in life according to our judgment. That is why we relate to things and people differently. But increase, promotion in life, abundance of all good things, success, prosperity, and the like all come from Jehovah God. He is the giver of everything that makes life full and free, good and joyful. 

Look at Hannah, she did not have children but yet she gave the Lord her only son. Her lack of children did not limit her from giving Jehovah God what He deserved from her, though she waited for many years to have a child. Look at the widow at the temple; her lack of money did not stop her from giving a contribution to the House of the Lord. Look at Mary, her lifestyle did not stop her from giving the Lord the best oil. Your relationship with God, as well as your giving towards His work, is all about how you value Him. It is all about how much you think or feel that He is worth, or how much you think or feel that He deserves from your sweat. All these acts of giving done by these women were great tests to see if they truly believed and loved the Lord. This kind of giving is very necessary to all of us who claim to be Christians each year, to check if we truly love the Lord and value Him to be all deserving of our best and our last. We must put ourselves on a checklist every year to see if we are still in the faith, to see if we truly believe and trust the invisible God. Faith can only be acted, I mean faith can only be seen or shown by actions, because people may confess faith in the Lord while their hearts are full of fear and doubt towards that God. 

Hannah did not know if she would have another child after giving away Samuel, her only son. The widow did not know when she would have another money for her upkeep, but they gave anyway because they felt that was what the Lord deserved from them. The Holy Scriptures do not talk about them knowing that Jehovah God would bless them with more after giving, like Abraham, who knew that Jehovah God had enough power to raise Isaac from the dead. So, sometimes in our lives, we must give to the Lord out of love and appreciation of who He has been to us and what He has done for us, which we do not deserve without expecting Him to reward our giving. We must arrive at the faith of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego - where we say even if the Lord does not bless me back, but I will not withhold from Him the best that I have. This kind of faith will make the Lord promote us, giving not because we want something from the Lord, but because we love and appreciate Him a lot in our heart and life. 

PRAYER: When the storms of life are raging, Oh Lord, teach me to find rest in the precious arms of the Holy Spirit, in Jesus Christ's Name. 

FURTHER READING: Job 1:1-end. Psalm 37:1-7. Daniel 3:15-30. 1 Samuel 1:1-28. Mark 12:41-44. John 12:1-8. Thank you very much for your time here today with us. 

May God the Father give you peace. 

REMEMBER: 'LOVE' IS THE GREATEST, NOT MONEY.