My Prayer, oh Lord...

Lord, I pray for EL...it is You Lord, that brought me to him. You've helped me and guided me in Your path oh Lord, You showed me the way back to you...I pray this prayer for EL:

Father, Abba...You took me into Your humble presence since I was young. You've shown me a glimpse of what this world has become...but most of all, You've shown me that by grace alone, I am saved. You gave me the greatest gift of all, Your Son, Jesus Christ, who died for me...knowing that I am a sinner, with many faults, only You Lord have seen. Yet you have taken me into Your arms and loved me for who I am ...You saved me from eternal damnation.

Lord, I pray for EL...I know he has been troubled lately. I'm not sure what has caused the sadness, but I pray oh Lord that You continue to bless him, be with him, to show him that your love is the greatest love of all. Without You, oh Lord, life would be depressing. I'm happy that he has found you Lord, although he is deeply troubled and seeks Your guidance, I pray that You show him the way. Lord, you used me to help him along the way, and I pray you will continue shower us both with blessings. Lord, use me as a humble servant...teach me and give me patience to help him during this time.

Lord, you brought people into my life for a reason and certain events happen for a specific reason...and at times, I may not understand why...but in time, Your plan is revealed. A chain reaction has started and I pray oh Lord, that at times like these, that we do not forget You oh Lord, that we turn to You each and every time.
In Jesus Christ, we pray, AMEN.

Are you Spiritually Obese, Spiritual porker?

That is the question...P. Nelson as well as some of my friends from Fellowship have been asking this question, are you Spiritually obese? Are you a "Spiritual Porker" OINK OINK!!? Are you someone that thrives for the knowledge only but doesn't live it in action? Do you just take and not give? Do you just go to Church, or Fellowship but you don't participate or become involved in Church Ministries? At some point in our lives, we will be guilty of this...This is a wake up call for our Fellowship and everyone else...

Beware of becoming Spiritually Obese...It's great to gain knowledge of the Bible but are we truly learning? Are we applying what we've learned to help others? Jesus said, go help those who are sick, share My word with those who need to hear it...to he/she who has an ear to listen, let them hear..." Are we doing this? These past two weeks I have seen the Spirit work through me and the hearts of my friends. The hearts of my friends have opened to hear Your word, oh Lord...I pray you continue to use me and bless me oh Lord...

I pray Lord that you help Emmanuel Fellowship to grow closer together to help further Your kingdom, to encourage one another, to be accountable of each other...to help us to continue to seek Your word, but to share what we've learned to others, let us not be afraid or make excuses, it is You, oh Lord, that gives us the words to say...the words are not from our mouths, but Yours, oh Lord...In Christ name I pray, AMEN.

How God worked through me this weekend

I prayed to God every night before my climb as to why am I doing this? Is it to just raise money for a charitable cause? To witness to my friends? The story is that I was asked to join both teams this year...my company team and my friend's team at RBC. I wasn't sure if my company was going to do it so I joined RBC. I prayed that the Lord use me last weekend to talk about God and explain to them what it means to have God in my life. He has kept His promise...I was able to share about my experiences and my walk with Christ on Saturday evening for a couple hours...talking to wee hours in the morning. I felt the urge to pray right there and then, but it was getting late, so that didn't work...Although, we didn't get a chance to pray with each other, I still prayed for you. You are a Christian, when you accepted Christ into your heart, when you leave your oldself behind, and start a new life w/ Christ. That's the moment, you become a Christian. The baptism in water is a public declaration to the world that you will follow Christ for the rest of your life. It is an act of obedience, as Jesus said, follow in my footsteps...He was baptized in the water, and so should we.

On Sunday, I was able to bring my team from the climb to Church for English service. I was hesitant at first because they've said no before but that morning, I saw the Spirit working in their hearts, opening to hear the teachings of our Lord Jesus. So after the climb as tired as were, skipped breakfast and headed back to Mississauga for Church. The first time for one of them, and the other two haven't been inside a Church in such a long long time. I spoke to them about what they thought, and one of 'em seemed intrigued. Please pray that the Lord continues to work in their hearts...

This is my Prayer request:

What can I say? So much has happened this week...My prayer goes out to some friends in Toronto...A family I met this summer through hiking has become very ill with cancer. Please pray for her and her family during this difficult time...I am saddened by this news. She's very young, and has a young daughter as well and a husband. My heart goes out to them. A close friend said to me earlier, "It makes us realize that we need to savour each day because our time is precious here. However, our time with God in eternity will be even moreso. " Although I know I've only met them a couple times, I can't help but feel sad. I know our time here on earth is temporary, and that Heaven is going to be wonderful but I think that it's because I feel for her husband and daughter and everyone's lives she's touched. Please pray for my friends...Pray for healing, pray for peace...

This is my prayer request...this is what's important in my heart right now. My other personal prayer requests can wait...my dear friend, if you knew me, you know what they are...

Spirit Led

Last weekend, my friend invited me to his Church at Harvest Bible in Oakville. It was interesting to hear Pastor Robbie speak again. He is a very passionate speaker. Quite the young Pastor, yet wise and very mature in his Faith.
1.What does it mean to be filled with the Holy Spirit? Ephesians 5:18
"Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit."
Let the Spirit control our life, surrender your life...Ex: His wife Jill was in the hospital, but the nurses were commenting to each other, how she was so joyful, that there was an aura about her. Others will notice....
2. How am I filled with the Holy Spirit?
i.) UNDERSTAND He lives in you. (John 14:17) "the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."
ii.)CONFESS all known sin. (1 John 1:9)
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."
iii.) RENOUNCE our own way. (Romans 8:13)
"For if you live acording to hte sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live"
-Choosing God's way, "repentance" is used over 50x in the New Testament. "Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to matureity, not laying again the foundation of repentance form acts that lead to death, and of faith in God." (Hebrews 6:1)
iv.) YIELD to the will of God. (Romans 6:13) "Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought form death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness."
- Offer yourself to Christ, He doesn't want 1/2 of you, He wants ALL of you. Like David said in Psalm 143, "Teach me", or in Isaiah..."Here I am, send me"
v.) Walk by FAITH. (2 Cor 5:7) "We live by faith, not by sight" Take ME at your word. Nothing is more hurtful when we continue to look at how much life is like, am I feeling it? He doesn't want feelings, more faith less feelings...

3. How do I know if I am filled with the Holy Spirit? (Esph 5:19-21)
I will be...
1. Joyful (v19)
2. Thankful for everything (v.20)
3. Submissive (v.21)

Something a good buddy asked me while we were walking through God's creation...am I a "joyful" person? I was puzzled at first as to why he'd ask me that...but then I realize...he said, if Christ is in you, then everything you do should be joyful...did I get that right? Everything you do should reflect joyfulness, people should be able to see that in you, regardless whether you're happy or not.

Thankful For Your Fellowship

Tonight, one of the songs shared at our Fellowship potluck was "Thankful For Your Fellowship." I know some people thought the song was "cheesy" but I really liked it. It goes something like this...

V1: Every time I think of you, my is filled with joy.
I thank God for all you've meant to me.
You have helped me serve the Lord in many, many ways.
We are partners for eternity.

Chorus:
I'm thankful for your fellowship;
thankful for your partnership,
Thankful for the love we share in Jesus Christ.
I'm thankful for the joy we've known,
Thankful for the way we've grown.
I thank God each time I think of you.

V2: God is using you to give this gospel to this land.
Your whole life is serving Him some way.
And I'm sure He'll carry on, His work will not be done.
Until Jesus comes again someday.

The song's lyrics really touched my heart tonight...I'm thankful for you in my life. When you read this, you'll know what I mean. All the words I want to say, are all in the song mentioned above. I'd be repeating myself otherwise. The words and music are by an unknown aritst. Thanks to Pat for leading/sharing this song w/ our Fellowship tonight.