- Obedience, fatigue = joy.
Yesterday we had a busy day, three and a half, even four hours of deliverance prayers, and in the afternoon, baptisms. Back home I was exhausted. This morning I woke up at 4 o'clock to prepare for the service, but at the service, joy was there, great joy. When I read the Word of God, I was flooded by the presence of the Holy Spirit and by the joy of God. So true is this expression in English 'you cannot outgive God', you can never give more to God than what He gives you. And the satisfaction of service comes from His approval, I love to feel God's smile on me. - Once again, God took matters into his own hands..
I was supposed to open the service with a psalm that I was going to quote in my message, so it was harmonious, good, and could only please Papa, but God and Bea decided otherwise. From the beginning it was clear that the Holy Spirit was at work through her that I did not move from my place; and we experienced a powerful praise. We could powerfully feel the Father's approval. It was not surprising that we went wild afterwards where, before moving on to the teaching, we launched into a thunderous declaration of God's goodness, chanting 'God is good'. Too much God! - An idol, Jesus, a model Jesus, an example Jesus, a hero Jesus, in deeds and also in words.
This was a continuation this morning of the message on 'the world of the tongue', the use of the tongue and our words. Words are a container, and can convey different things; by the way, what do your words contain? Death and life, Proverbs tells us, are in the power of the tongue; those who love it will eat its fruit. But what about the words of Jesus? What can we learn about how we should speak from Jesus' example? It could not have been more instructive. Jesus' words encouraged, healed, delivered from the power of demons, warned, rebuked, taught, preached, and affirmed what He was on earth. - Highlight :
We prayed for the baptized men (yesterday we only prayed for the women), prophesied over their lives and called down God's grace upon them, especially for the youngest, who is turning 16 today. We prayed that he would be like Samuel, who followed God from his earliest youth, and God honored him throughout his life. Of course, we also had him blow out 16 candles at the end.
Shalom!
