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Dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus, part of the growing repentance remnant:
Proverbs 11:24-25:
One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.
King Solomon was, and still is even today, recognized as the wisest King ever lived. And we know this comes from the Blessing God gave him at the beginning of his reign. (2 Chron 1:7-12). Even the Queen of Sheba came to test him with some hard questions (1 Kings 10), and was very impressed with his wisdom, that she blessed him with an abundant of gifts from the riches of her kingdom. Not that King Solomon needed any of those gifts at the time. He had more than enough already. But it was the Blessing of the Lord that rested upon King Solomon - which brought him all those Riches in abundance. For he obeyed the Lord, and took the Word of God seriously, until later in his life, where he refused to repent, and the kingdom of Israel was split in two when his son stepped onto the throne !
And as you may know, King Solomon wrote many proverbs through the Wisdom God gave him that are so insightful - filled with Godly Wisdom and Insight - which even has the hidden ability to make one rich! It is surely worth it to sit and ponder one verse at a time, and then apply his insights he left for us to know and use today.
And so, the verse I picked for today is in fact a verse that is also repeated by the Apostle Paul in 2 Cor 9:6 - where the Apostle Paul was writing to the church in Corinth about the principles of "generous giving" - saying that "Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously"...
And this principle is in fact a deep secret of God's Kingdom - and is meant for God's Children to apply and enjoy the Blessings and Benefits of His Kingdom!! And so, when we learn to apply these Principles faithfully, we will reap the benefits of this Principle. It isn't just a promise by God, it is in fact a Kingdom Principle - one of the KEYS of the Kingdom that Jesus / Yeshua mentioned in Matt 16:19 - when He said - "I give you the KEYS of the KINGDOM".
What Jesus / Yeshua meant was - if you take His teachings to heart (which He in fact explained in closing His Sermon on the Mount - in Matt 7:24-27 - "Build your House on the Rock") - you will learn how to make your life prosperous - by getting to know and applying the different Principles of how God's Kingdom operates.
So, as you study His principles, you will notice - God's Principles are often standing in Direct Contrast to the World's way of doing things!! And thus, we are often having trouble today in understanding or even applying these Principles in our life - because of what we "see happening" in our every day life - i.e. that the ways of the world seem to be working well. And thus our beliefs are in the worldly / fleshly ways, and we totally disbelieve what God's Word says. And then we question God's Word, and we come up with things like "you don't understand what I'm having to deal with" or "you're not in my situation..." etc...
BUT: When you start to investigate the worldly ways in more detail - you'll find that the "worldly prosperity" only works for a short while - and people who seem to be prosperous today - are falling apart a few years later - and some disappear off the scenes all together after some time - and you never hear from them again! They become almost forgotten by the world - who are already running after the "Next Millionaire / Billionaire" - trying to learn from them what they did to become rich. And the vicious circle keeps on repeating itself - and no one ever really learns from these mistakes.
When we try to follow the principles of these "Famous Millionaires and Billionaires", we find that is almost impossible to do what they did. And studying them further - you'll find often they have had done some or other thing in the dark - like often selling their soul to the devil, or applying witchcraft, or have even joined some or other influential group, that is supporting their efforts, etc. They didn't just become rich out of their own principles. They followed someone else's "principles or doctrines" - which are very seldom godly in any way.
That is asking a lot from any normal person on the street, who is trying to just make a living - surviving from day to day - providing for their family. And this often makes us feel like we are getting stuck in some "rat race" - "running on a spinning wheel" of waking up in the morning, rush off to work, living a stressful life at work, and rushing home, just to quickly prepare dinner, and getting everyone ready for bed, so you can get back to "working from home late" - just to "get that project done for tomorrow's meeting".
And there just isn't any time to relax. Even Holidays don't really feel like holidays anymore. Holidays become so short, and before you fully recovered - you have to be back at work. And so the race continues. And before you know it - 30 years have passed - and you wonder "what did I do with my life? Where did the years go ? I had so many plans and dreams..."
Today I want ask you to STOP right now - put all this rushing ON HOLD - and instead
Think about GOD's WAYS of Doing things !!
Take some time - and really study His Word.
Get to know His Principles, and start Applying them instead
Like James tells us - we must become "Doers of the Word" - not just Hearers only - but in fact Applying what we hear - meaning also applying what we read!! (James 1:19-25)
Like James says in James 1:25 " But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does."
Meaning that -
ONLY THOSE WHO DO WHAT THE WORD SAYS
WILL BE BLESSED!!
If we sit in fear, or doubt, or questioning if any of this is true - we will never see the results!! As it only proves we do not believe what God said. And those who don't believe and take Jesus / Yeshua at His Word - Meaning RADICALLY TRUSTING HIM - will never see the results of His Promises!!
And yes - FAITH is a RADICAL TRUST IN GOD (Acts 20:21 in the Message bible) - because Faith challenges us to walk into the face of adversity, and not flinch for one moment - but push forward regardless - by doing things differently than what the "status quo" are trying to convince us to believe is true...
For, we as Gods Children seriously need to take God at His Word, saying to Him: "Lord, I Trust YOU now - and I Will DO what You say - and not what the world tells me to do!!"
And only then, when we are faithful in following His Principles every day, every time, in the midst of adversity and difficulty - with no guarantees from anyone else except God alone that it will actually produce results, and we don't give up or give in through doubt or fear - Like Peter did when he stepped out in faith on the water walking towards Jesus / Yeshua, and then doubt hit him halfway - and we also don't try and have a "backdoor" or "a backup plan in case this doesn't work" !!
But instead - we move forward by FAITH - without "having any false security nets" and not by what we see regardless of the "expected consequences we fear could happen if we obey God" (2 Cor 5:7) - we will eventually see the Word is really TRUE - and see how God will come through for us - often in the most desperate times - where we sometimes find ourselves in a position of - "Lord, If you don't do something now - then I'm done !!" - totally depending on Him alone !!
And that is where Bishop Joseph and his team are finding themselves today / tonight. Tomorrow - in just a few hours from now - they need to go out and have a conference - but they are in a desperate situation - if God doesn't do something tonight - this conference is failing - and we have put in all that money, time and effort into this upcoming conference - and all was for nothing!!
So, if you understand this moment of stress and total loss for words Bishop Joseph and his OUT Youths Team leaders are feeling tonight, will you please consider helping us to help him. As this can't wait. The budget is big. and the youths need to hear the Word of God !!
The youths are ready and hungry for God - the Fields are Ripe for the Harvest, but without God making this possible through His Children who obey Him, this will become a huge disappointment - and a lost opportunity - and the evil forces will seem like they are winning !!
So it is all up to our Donors today - who are willing to support this vision to make this conference happen this week-end...!!
Here is Bishop Joseph's own words - of the situation they find themselves in....
Stressed /God help Us!
Dear Brother Jeff,
Greetings in the Lord.
This evening we will convene our final WhatsApp meeting with the youth leaders. I have little further to report, as we are scheduled to depart for Kasungu at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow.
However, we are unable to depart unless the full transportation budget is secured. We currently face a shortfall of $600 and do not have the means to cover the remaining balance at this time.
We continue to pray in faith, trusting that God will provide for every need according to His riches in glory.
Respectfully yours in Christ,
Joseph G. Kazembe
So, Please will you consider Bishop Joseph, his team members and this major Youth Conference coming up this weekend and keep him in your prayers !!
AND: If you feel led in any way by our Lord to sow into this vision of "OUT YOUTHS - Malawi" - please will you consider making a donation, and mark your donation for "Joseph".
No amount is too small. We just need 6 people willing to make a $100 donation today - or 12 people to give a $50 donation - and the budget is met. It is not impossible!!
AND: To help us, to not end up often in these types of desperate situations anymore, will you consider BECOMING A MONTHLY PARTNER with this EVER GROWING VISION of spreading Repentance and Revival Fire amongst the youths in Malawi and even furthering the Message of Repentance into the rest of Africa, Asia, Australia !!
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