CANCER: You’re DROPPING JAWS All Month Long!

The idea of having a unique life purpose is something that has fascinated me since I was a teenager. In my younger years I followed the obvious path in front of me, but slowly but surely I learned to look within and find my own passions in purpose instead of doing what everyone else expected of me. Some people discover how to do this early in life, and some later in life, and some never do it.

The Christian life is not found on the cross, the Christian life is found because of the cross, but not on the cross. He didn’t suffer on the cross so that we could become like He was, He suffered on the cross so that we could become like He is.

I speak of prophets who are precise in any predictions concerning individuals or groups. I speak of prophets who give precise details that can only be fitted to an exact happening. I speak of prophets who are anointed by the Holy Spirit.

Are there times and seasons in our lives when we are thrown back upon what is basic and fundamental? I certainly have discovered that. Over these past weeks I have been reflecting upon goals and aims and how I had a goal and how I had an aim. It was real and it has lasted and there is not any way whereby I would wish to change or alter and or dilute or compromise that calling from Almighty God. Why should I? It is part of my testimony to the grace and mercy and love of God revealed to me and shown to me in and through the risen and living Lord Jesus Christ. Faith when you are so young is wonderful, although it may mean you have to forego certain ‘pleasures’ in which others participate – and even relationships have to be carefully chosen, because one could so easily be sidetracked and diverted.

In community… never be surprised by what is literally just around the corner. Recently I met someone who has followed what I’ve written over the past couple of years, and it turns out we study at the same seminary. Having shared half a dozen conversations with her over the past six months, it was clear there was some commonality in both our experience and philosophies of life.

It is important to set goals in life. It is crucial to have an aim and to go for that aim. Imagine drawing near the end of your life only to realise that you have had no real purpose in living. Since I was a young boy I have always tried to set goals although at the time I was totally unaware of what I was doing. I was setting goals by faith and that was before I became a teenager when I had no idea what goals and aims actually were. I knew where I had to go. I knew where I was going and I knew roughly what I had to do to get there and some twenty years later I arrived at the main aim, via many heartaches and mountains and valleys.

Anything in the divine system was and is created by Allah (swt), the creator of the system, in accordance with specific proportions. This is called “providence” (qadar). There is nothing out of proportion in the divine order where “the proportion and rates” between the elements are determined in order to provide for the needs of a perfect whole.

It was said to me by someone who was fairly new to the Christian Faith and to the Bible, “I did not know there was so much history in the Bible!” That made me spend one evening sweeping through the Bible from Creation to Malachi and seeking to give timescales and perspectives. I was told it was most helpful. Taking time to review the life and ministry of Jesus Christ can be inspiring, and I certainly found that because in all the preparation I was recalling that it is Jesus Christ who says “Follow me”. We need to remember this and be reminded of it frequently. These are four pictures of Jesus from different angles. It is like having your photographs taken from four different angles. We see that in Prison where men have their photographs taken from either side and one straight on. It is exactly the same person but from different view points.

The second level is Centered or Heart-Felt Belief. This is where we get to breathe into our Heart-Space and exhale deeply knowing that we believe in what we are doing and in who we are.

There can be times when something just hits you and strikes you afresh and notes have to be taken and what is salient and salutary has to be shared. In reading and studying the book of the prophet Jeremiah when the situation in the Middle East is fierce makes one consider and reconsider matters which are vital and important. Jeremiah preached and spoke and taught at a time when the ‘church’ of the days was corrupt to the core and he said so and exposed the reality of the situation. The teachers and false prophets were given to teaching and speaking what they people wanted to hear and what they liked to hear. Might that be happening in various places in the church of Jesus Christ today? If that is going on then it is as serious today as it was serious then! Preachers and teachers can appear live and spiritual relevant but their hearts may be very different and at times only Almighty God knows the depths of the heart. But then a Jeremiah comes along and when you read his words and embrace his preaching he must have challenged people to their very depths.

Another question arose recently and once again it is a highly significant and important question and it concerns each of us to a certain degree whether we realise it or not! It is always essential to take time to answer questions if it is possible to provide a helpful answer or satisfactory reply. Having the call of Almighty God upon my life and also attending a rather fine youth organisation called the Boys’ Brigade I was able to stumble or struggle through these teenage years until I was able to start to work things out for myself according to the Scriptures. Since the age of eight I have made it one of my goals and aims to read part of the Bible every day. I may not have understood everything I was reading but again that is not all that important. almighty god saw my willingness and eagerness and over the years He led and directed and guided. This may be one of the reasons why recently I gave myself to the study of the topic of Revival.

What is Revival? We have never heard of Revival and we have never even heard the word revival used. Well that came as something of a real surprise as some of us had been speaking seriously about Revival and I had given myself to two months study of this vital topic. The word revival is never used in the Bible, but the Bible unfolds the principles of what is called revival, and many are praying for revival in these present days. What is revival, and what may happen when people experience revival? Revival is a visitation of Almighty God, and what has been asleep or dull, or about to go out, is brought back to life. Revival is what happened at Pentecost when 120 disciples of Jesus were baptised in the Holy Spirit. Old former religious ways were totally renewed.