June 8 by Natasha Kim CM-
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:16-20)
“I have good news for you! According to this verse (Ephesians 16:20), He is able to do exceedingly and abundantly all that you ask,” shared Deacon Matthew Kang at Jesus Festival Malaysia, on the 24th of May 2014 at Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre.
In terms of growth, a plant needs three things namely, sunlight, water and soil. Likewise, for us as Christians to grow, we need revelation (our sunlight), the Word of God (our water), and we need to be grounded in the love of God (our soil).
What is love? To understand that we need to go back to our first love and that is God. “Unless you know how much God loves you, you will be unable to love Him or anybody else,” said Matthew.
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. (1 John 4:10)
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. (Jeremiah 29:11)
God is continuously thinking about us without fail and always has our best interests at heart. In our lives, many of us love planning every aspect of it. However, through the trial and errors of planning, one will find that we can never truly determine the outcome of anything. We need God’s help, provision and abiding love to bring us through everything.
“If God has plans for you, do we still need to do our own planning? Where ever you are from, or where ever you are working, God has a plan for you,” he said.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)
If you are not experiencing or enjoying life to the full, it may be because you are not allowing God to renovate your mind.
“We need to have renovation of our minds. Unless we allow Him to do so He will never do so. God is the Almighty but He will never force His way into your life!” shared Matthew.
Change begins with your decision and that is why God gifted you with free-will, for you to come to Him freely and willingly.
Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. (2 Corinthians 9:10)
“God wants to bless you beyond what you ask or think” said Matthew.
The verse above (2 Corinthians 9:10) tells us that God supplies seed to the sower, this means that he supplied you with everything you currently own and is able to supply more, as long as you plant good seed in return.
“Even the money that you are going to sow comes from God. A farmer would never eat everything, He will always leave some to sow” said Matthew. “Can I submit to you, that one of the good things for you to do is to daily confess the Word of God into your life. Practice whatever God says about you.”
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither– whatever they do prospers. (Psalms 1:3)
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? (Matthew 6:25)
Do not worry, not because everything is fine, but because God is always in control! Trust in Him. Anything that you need, He can provide even in your work place.
“Jesus speaks against worry because of the watchful care of a heavenly father who is ever mindful of our daily needs,” shared Matthew.
The moment you cast your cares upon Him, you and I are considered humble in the eyes of God.
“God will give grace to the humble and resist the proud. What is grace? Grace is whatever you don’t deserve, you will receive it,” he said.
5 Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:5-7)
Then, you need to be sure to seek the kingdom of God. Seek God first and put Jesus first in your life not your work.
“If you understand the grace of God, you will not just sit down and wait for Him to pour out His blessings. God will make you a model employee when you truly understand the Word of God. People will look to you as somebody they can trust and that they can do business with,” shared Matthew.
If you want to reign in life and your business, you need to receive the abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness.
“If you ask yourself why you are still struggling, it is because you have not yet received the revelation,” said Matthew.
But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:33)
For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17)
For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:19)
“God can do to you anything you believe Him for! Do you believe it?” he said.
If you feel like you have wasted a lot of time, God can give you restoration. If you have lost a lot of things in your business and your employment God says, “Do not worry, do you still trust me?” If you still trust God, He can in an instant do what people take years to do!
“We plan. God leads. God blesses our plans. In the story of the feeding of the 5000, the disciples wanted to send the people away but Jesus replied to give them something to eat. So we can plan like how the disciples wanted to send the people away to let them buy food for themselves to eat, but God will lead, and when God leads, do not argue! If you have to adjust your plan, adjust it,” shared Matthew.
The most important thing to do is to pass your revised plan to the Lord and He will bless your plan like how He multiplied the loaves of bread and fishes to feed the 5000 people; whatever God gives, it’s always fresh!
Remember this: God can speak to you anywhere and through anybody and when you cannot sleep at night because you are worried, speak to God, He is always there for you.
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