Adventure of a Missionary

  Don’t be afraid of Increase! When you plant a seed, you expect a harvest.   When you work, you expect compensation. When you invest, you expect economic growth. When you marry, you expect children. When you seek medical help, you expect improvement. When you do a good job, you expect recognition or a promotion. When you sell your house, you expect a profit. When you honor God with from your increase, what should you expect? (Prov. 3:9-10) Why do so many get offended at the idea of increase coming from God?  They expect and hope for increase in every other area of life, but cringe if a preacher talks about the blessings of God.  Doesn’t God have a right to bless His children?  If some are getting blessed, why does it bother others? The spiritual principles and promises of increase are all throughout the Bible, but so many don’t want to hear about it.  They have been deceived into thinking that abundance is ungodly.  And yet, the abundance that Go...

Have you ever wondered why patience is such an important element of love?   Patience is a beautiful descriptor of love. It describes a heart with room and with flexibility.  In the Bible, the word for patience is sometimes translated as long-suffering, which means it is willing to suffer, willing to bear discomfort, willing to allow time to pass and not demand immediate answers.  Patience is the quality of bearing offenses and injuries without anger or revenge. It is impossible to do in our own willpower. I know this from experience. It must come from God, from that "hesed" love.  Hesed is one of the Hebrew words used in the Bible for God’s love.  "Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love (hesed) for you will not be shaken." ~Isaiah 54:10 "The Lord did not set His love (hashaq) on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples; but because the Lord loves (hes...

As you look at the greeting to Mary in Luke 1, Gabriel said, “Thou highly favored one.”  If you examine that title from Genesis to Revelation, you will find that it is reserved only to those who had spent a lot of time with God.   It was used of Daniel when Gabriel met him and said, “Daniel, thou greatly beloved of God.”  That greeting had the same sense of being highly favored.  So just from that greeting, you could tell that Mary was a woman who loved God, loved to spend time with God, and loved to pray. That harmonizes epikaizo and the ability to tap into that.  The prayer level was extremely high. Daniel spent so much time with God that God gave him a special title, “Thou greatly beloved.”  To Mary, it was “Highly favored one.” That is the first thing. You notice that the natural world becomes afraid. On all three occasions fear came. In Luke 1, it says that Mary was troubled.  Mary began reasoning to herself. Then the angel had to say, “Fear not, ...

It's sad that Jesus wasn't welcomed by the people who should have been the first to do so. It's a sad fact. But we can learn something from the history of Jesus coming into the world. Let's look at those who didn't welcome Him. Why didn't they welcome Him? What was it that made them not ready? Why didn't the Israelites welcome Him? Those who received prophecy, laws, and the message that Jesus is sent to the lost sheep of Israel were the first people to receive Jesus. What happened? Why didn't they welcome Him? In Matthew 2:2, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him"  They were troubled instead of excited. All of Jerusalem was in fear and anxiety. Herod was worried because he was the king of the Jews back then. He'd done a lot for them. They recognized him as king, so here was somebody to...

  Fear is a very powerful negative force. The Bible tells us that the devil uses fear to control all men and put them into bondage (Hebrews 2:14, 15). Fear can come through wrong beliefs; it could be superstitious beliefs, wrong cultural beliefs, traditional beliefs, societal beliefs or even beliefs instilled upon people through wrong teaching. Fear can also come because of the unknown. One could ask ‘if fear arises out of wrong beliefs’ then where does the fear of the unknown come from, since no one has taught anything about the unknown? Fear of the unknown is possible only because of the presence of fear in one self.  One could ask ‘if fear arises out of wrong beliefs’ then where does the fear of the unknown come from, since no one has taught anything about the unknown? Fear of the unknown is possible only because of the presence of fear in one self. In an atmosphere of the unknown the worst fears no matter how little, if present in oneself, become reflected back from the m...

Growing spiritually is a matter of fellowshipping with the Holy Spirit and yielding to Him constantly.  The Holy Spirit is your Trainer and your Coach.  He knows your weaknesses and strengths. He has a personal development plan for you. He has goals for you to achieve. He knows the Father’s will for you. He will draw up your personal prayer life. He will tell you when to go into worship or when to put your petition before the Lord of Heaven. He will lead you to specific passages in the Word in line with your personal spiritual development. You grow strong in spirit by constantly sowing to the spirit realm. What is born of the Spirit is spirit. This is where many Bible students and seminarians preparing for the ministry make this common mistake.  They buy up many books to read, hear many tapes, go for one seminar after another, run after famous men and women of God, subscribe to their magazines, read their Bibles and even memorize whole passages but failed the one most imp...