Rhema Life Solutions Blog

LIFE WITHOUT A CROSS

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 06:20:00 +0000

What will life on earth be like without a ‘cross’?

Wouldn’t it be fun to live a life free of pain, sacrifices and longsuffering? How about a life void of uncertainties and full of significance? That’s exactly what life on earth without a cross will be like. Fun don’t you think? Yea, for a day or two thereafter boredom sets in and you begin to wonder why life is so boring!

Life on earth is designed to be at its best when there is balance. Too much of anything, even seemingly good things becomes bad once out of balance. As sweet as honey is to taste, the bible warns that too much of it will make you sick!

Eat honey, my son, for it is good; honey from the comb is sweet to your taste (Prov 24:13 NIV)
If you find honey, eat just enough-too much of it, and you will vomit. Seldom set foot in your neighbor's house-too much of you, and he will hate you (Prov 25:16-17 NIV)

Without a cross we cannot become followers of Jesus Christ (Luke 9:23). Does that make Jesus a sadist to have made the cross a prerequisite to being His disciples? Not at all! We need the cross.

There are six basic human needs, people will violate their values to have those needs met.

Certainty/ Variety
Significance/ Love and connection
Growth/ Contribution

The first four are survival needs. Certainty is good but too much of it results in boredom no wonder God gives life to us one day at a time! Variety balances certainty but too much of it results in overwhelm. Reminds me of “Jack of all trades, master of none”

It is great to feel significant, because we all are in our unique ways but too much of significance sets you apart from love and connection. E.g. I love to give hugs, it’s one way I connect with people but if I became the queen of England, people can’t hug me without making headlines! Too much love and connection breeds co-dependency, which is not good.

It all boils down to balance. Just as variety acts as a balance for certainty, love and connection for significance so does the cross acts as a balance for our life in general.

For a two year old, life is fun when it’s all about them and everything falls into ‘me’, ‘mine’ and ‘myself’ category. However childhood is only a phase, God designed us to come into maturity, letting go of childishness while maintaining a childlike heart. What makes childish attitudes things we must let go off? They are selfish! Man was designed to be selfless, not selfish. It’s in selflessness that we gain true fulfillment in life.

One way to live a selfless life is by picking up our cross and following Jesus. How is that selfless? First, picking up your cross is an act of obedience to God. Every act of obedience to God’s word is a demonstration of love to God (John 14:15). Secondly every cross carried results in dying to self.

Did you know your cross is really not all about you? It’s about others as well. Jesus did not carry His cross for Himself, He did it for you and I to benefit from the grace of salvation. When you and I pick up our cross, it qualifies us to receive God’s grace and comfort, so that we’d have grace and comfort to give to others who are going through all kinds of trials. You can’t give what you don’t have!

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ (2 Cor 1:3-5 NLT)

Why all the tears pain or sorrow just to receive comfort? If nothing else, it shows how ‘expensive’ God’s comfort is. I say to people, whoever thinks heaven is cheap has never been to the cross. But how can anyone ever imagine heaven to be cheap when its streets are paved with gold? Have you checked the price of gold recently? Sometimes it’s good to check these things just to remind yourself how priceless the gift of heaven is to all heading in that direction.

It has been said “no pain, no gain”. Pain has a way of making us appreciate the gain. Did Adam and Eve appreciate Eden before they sinned? I guess they did to some extent but the appreciation for what they lost must have quadrupled after the pain of the curse took effect.

Is life on earth without the cross really worth it? No! Don’t run from the cross, there is a power that comes from familiarity with the cross. Without your cross, you will have no power to impact the people in your sphere of influence. The cross may not be attractive but therein lays the power to change lives. No matter the weight of your cross, do not quit, keep pressing forward, God will send you a ‘Simon of Cyrene’ like He did for Jesus (Matt.27:32) to help you out so you can stay the course.

By all means, run the race to the finish line because at the end there is in store for you a reward that eyes have not seen, ears have not heard neither can the natural human mind comprehend it.

But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."[ (1 Cor 2:9 NKJV)

Stay the course!!

With warmth

Angela

GOD HAS FEELINGS TOO!!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 19:37:00 +0000

I work as a Behavioral Analyst meaning people hire me to help them identify why they, their employees or loved ones act the way they do and how to use the information to increase their productivity and create the relationships of their dreams. I also work as a Life Coach; in this case people hire me to come alongside them to accomplish their goals e.g in business, relationship, family life, career, or spiritual while creating a work – life balance. I gave you this background to let you know that my job means constantly pouring into people. I absolutely love what I do. But sometimes, like the last two weeks, I’ve really needed someone to pour into my life. I have a couple of close friends that I can talk to, so I called one of them, but I could not share my burden with her because she has so much on her plate, that I ended up as usual listening and brainstorming with her. Same thing happened with my next call. When I hung up this time, my heart was broken, and I turned to the Lord and said “Lord, these people know where am at and what’s going on with me, how come none of them is asking how am doing and how are things going? Every time we speak it’s all about their issues. I consider them my friends and sisters in Christ, even though they are aware of my situation they don’t even ask me how am doing it’s always about them. I have feelings too!”

Then the Lord spoke into my spirit “I understand how you feel and can perfectly identify with you. When a lot of people come to me, it’s all about them, not many stop to think that I may have a burden on my heart that I would also love to share. Yes I’m God, but I have feelings too. There are times I want to share my burden with my friends, but they seem to be preoccupied with themselves and their stuff. Very few pauses to find out how I am doing”.

I was shocked and felt so guilty. When I was younger, it was my custom to stop by at church to visit with the Lord, just to hang out with Him and ask how He is doing. Those where times I would find myself repenting on behalf of those who are either ignoring His grace or deliberately causing Him pain. My walk with Him was more about Him than me. He was my first love. But am older now and the storms of life seem to be coming one after the other and I find myself coming before Him more often but it’s been more about me and what is going on in my life, ministry, country, family, business, than simply “Lord, how are you feeling today? Do you have a burden on your heart you would love to share with me?”

To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5 Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. 6 But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. 7 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. Rev 2:1-7 (NIV)

Now I know that God allowed me to experience this with my three friends to draw my attention to how I have “fallen from my first love”. After my conversation with God, the phone did begin to ring, people calling to find out how I was doing - not the ones I was expecting though – but it didn’t matter, at least God laid it upon some people’s heart to check on me. I’ve been very humbled by this experience. I’m writing about it because I’m wondering if there are other people out there who have “fallen from their first love”.

When was the last time your time with the Lord was all about Him and what was on His heart? God has feelings too you know, awesome as He is, He does need people to call true friends, people who care about what’s going on in His Life. The part of us that long for companionship is not a human nature; it is His divine nature in us. He longs for true companions, no wonder he was excited when He found David.

And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfill all my will (Acts 13:22 KJV)

The fact that God used the word found indicates that He carried out a search. In that generation, He found David, God looks for friends in every generation, are you one of them?

God is not short of people, He has loads of acquaintance but very few qualify to be called friends. Jesus never called His crowd of listeners friends. He didn’t even call the 12 friends until close to the time of His crucifixion, when they proved they were in it not just for themselves but for Him as well (except for Judas, who had his own agenda).

You are my friends if you do what I command.15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me (John 15:14-16 NLT)

God has feelings too. Would you take time out this week and in the weeks to come, to give God a call just to find out if He has a burden or a praise report on His heart He’d like to share with you a call that will be about Him and not about you? Remember a friend in need is a friend indeed.

If you want to learn more about going beyond being a mere acquaintance with God to becoming His friend, you can start by reading my book “BEYOND SONSHIP TO FRIENDSHIP”

With much warmth

Angela

LIVING WITH YOUR MESS??

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 17:44:00 +0000

This is a continuation of my previous blog, but this time my text is Exodus 8:8-10.

Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with the Lord to take the frogs away from me and my people. I will let your people go, so they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.” “You set the time!” Moses replied. “Tell me when you want me to pray for you, your officials, and your people. Then you and your houses will be rid of the frogs. They will remain only in the Nile River.” “Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said (Ex 8:8-10 NLT)

In verse six of this chapter, we are told that the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt, you would think that when Pharaoh had the chance to get rid of the frogs, he would jump at it… no…he wanted to spend one more night with the frogs!!!! He asked Moses to do it tomorrow!!!

We are all going to make a mess at some point in our lives, God knew this and made provision for us to cast our cares upon Him (Psalm 55:22, 1Peter 5:7)

Have you made a mess of your life or made wrong choices that have landed you in an unpleasant situation? What are you waiting for to call upon the name of the Lord to be saved? Aren’t you tired of bearing this burden by yourself? Why wait to cast it upon Jesus? Don’t be like Pharaoh, you don’t have to put up with your mess one more day. Take it right now to the Lord in prayer, He stands at the door of your heart knocking, if you open right away, He’d come in sup with you and you with Him (Rev 3:20).

You need peace don’t you? Let the Prince of peace in and His peace will flood your entire being. What are you waiting for? Bow your head and do it now.

With much love

Angela

SATAN HAS LIMITS

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 22:01:00 +0000

And the LORD spake unto Moses, Go unto Pharaoh, and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. And if thou refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite all thy borders with frogs: And the river shall bring forth frogs abundantly, which shall go up and come into thine house, and into thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed, and into the house of thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thine ovens, and into thy kneadingtroughs: And the frogs shall come up both on thee, and upon thy people, and upon all thy servants. And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt. Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the LORD, that he may take away the frogs from me, and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may do sacrifice unto the LORD (Ex 8:1-8 KJV)

Today as I read the above bible passage, something caught my attention that had not the countless times I read this chapter of the bible in the past. I noticed that though the Egyptian magicians could make the frogs come upon the land of Egypt, they had to plead with Moses and Aaron to entreat Almighty God to take away the frogs!

It was so refreshing to be reminded of how limited the enemy’s power and influence is. No doubt people of all faiths are going through some tough times, you may be one of them. If you are a child of God, I want you to be comforted by the above incidence in the bible, be reminded that God has the final say in your life and there is so far the enemy can go. What is happening in our world today calls for wisdom and endurance on the part of the saints. Do not let go of your confidence in God for in a little while He will come through for you and reward your patience and trust.

With Warmth

Angela

IF YOU DON’T GIVE, YOU DON’T GET

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 21:35:00 +0000

The Law says the soul that sin shall die (Ezekiel 18:20) but grace says “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). Under the old covenant people caught in adultery were stoned to death but in the new covenant, Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to “go and sin no more” (John8:11). Does that mean that Jesus condones adultery? Certainly not! But God does not delight in the death of a sinner, He prefers that people repent and live (Ezekiel 18:32), that was why He gave His only begotten Son to redeem us. Under the Law, you had to repent and live but under grace Jesus spared lives so they could have a chance to repent, in other words, live and repent!

Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole (John 5:14-15 KJV)

I have met people who are angry at the “gospel of the God of a second chance”, they say it’s a teaching from hell. But if you read your bible carefully Jesus was the founder of this gospel. Another example was in the parable of the lost sheep and the prodigal son (Luke 15:1-32), Jesus revealed the depth of God’s love that He will not only seek out the lost but also give a second chance to those who ask of Him. In the parable of the prodigal son, the older brother can be likened to a lot of us, angry and jealous that people are giving a second chance in life when they fail.

We have to be careful not to oppose another getting a second chance because if we live long enough, life has a way of bringing us to a place where we too will be in need of God’s amazing grace called “a second chance”. If you spend your life opposing, slandering or attacking recipients of this mercy and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, you may end up disqualifying yourself from receiving one when you find yourself in similar circumstances.

Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment! (James 2:12-13 NIV)

If you don’t give, you don’t get! This is a New Year; learn to be gracious, for God is a gracious God (Psalm 116:5-6)

Shalom!

With Warmth

Angela

YOU CAN'T DISAPPOINT GOD

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 21:52:00 +0000

We all hate to disappoint people we highly respect, people whose opinion of us make or mar us. It does not matter how confident you are at some point in your life, you are going to need someone to believe in you ad speak to the greatness in you and help pull it out. When you find that person, you tend to do all you can not to fall short of their expectations.
For us believers, there is one such person who truly believes in us – our Heavenly Father. Some people are afraid to step out in faith for fear of disappointing God. May times such fear is borne out of past failures.

The truth is we can only disappoint people who expect more from us than we are capable of. This is not the case with God as He knows the substance of which we are made (Psalm 103:14), He knows our every potential and will never expect anything from us that we are not built for and He knows how prepared we are for any activity long before we embark on the task. You cannot disappoint the One who sees the end from the beginning, the One who nothing takes by surprise. The one who has made provision for all the mistakes you are capable of making.

Give Up your flawed Personal History. The Past was perfect to get you here.

Do not allow your past failures to discourage you from pressing forward this year.

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV)

Shalom!

With Warmth

Angela

HAPPY NEW YEAR

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 22:20:00 +0000

What was the year 2008 like for you? Considering the current economic crisis, for some people it is one year they will live to remember for a long time, unfortunately not in a good light. But if we all take a close look at both sides of the coin, I mean the big picture, I am sure we will be able to find more victories in this year than we are giving it credit – for one, we still have the breathe of life in our nostrils.

There is no year that will not have its ups and downs. Jesus already warned us that as this age draws to a close, perilous times will increase (Matthew 24:7-12). In the world, things are not going to get better as some think. Things will never go back to the “good old days”. Jesus warned us that in this world there will be tribulation, but despite this we are to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world (John16:33). How can one be of good cheer when you’ve lost all your savings in the stock market? How can one lift up holy hands in worship after loosing all your life savings to a natural disaster? How can one continue to keep a joyful spirit when you’ve been waiting for years for a soul mate and another year is rolled by and nothing has happened yet? How does one continue to have faith when prayers seem to take much longer to be answered?

The answer is in one of the hymns many of us are familiar with – trust and obey, for there’s no other way, to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey.
In times like this, we need to continuously pray Paul’s prayer over the Ephesians for ourselves and loved one – that the Lord may grant you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation that you may know Him better and that He may enlighten the eyes of your understanding that you may know the hope to which H e has called you (Ephesians 1:17-18). It is only in knowing God better that we can trust Him and it is in knowing the hope to which we have been called that we can obey Him. This ingredient is going to be a key determinant of how we fare in the years to come.

As we enter a new year, let’s not forget there will be battles to be won and victories to be celebrated. Our confidence should be the fact that we have the Ancient of days, the ruler of the universe on our side. You and I can not see into tomorrow or the year 2009 to fully prepare for it and God is never going to give us more than one day at a time. Therefore fretting over tomorrow isn’t going to help us one bit, but rejoicing in the fact that the One whose has your back sees the end from the beginning, will be the source of faith, hope and strength.

You will need to enter this New Year with the right focus and confidence. The focus is going to be on things above not the things below (Colossians 3:1-2), you will need to view every challenge and success from an eternity point of view. You will also need to constantly remember that in the kingdom of God to which we belong, solutions always exist before any problem shows up. Before mankind had need for a redeemer, God already prepared the Lamb of God. Before Israel faced the Red sea, there was already a rod in Moses’ hand. Before Jesus needed to feed the five thousand there was already a boy in the crowd with the five loaves of bread and few fishes.

The year 2009 is going to be a year of fruitfulness, the year of birthing visions that you have been carrying in the womb of intercession for sometime now. It is going to be a year of walking in another dimension of God’s anointing and glory. But this also means be prepared to enlarge your tent because bountiful harvest is on its way. Be prepared to work as well and overcome challenges. When the challenges come, do not focus on them otherwise you will magnify them, rather focus on the fact that the presence of a challenge is an indication that the solution already exist!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

With much love

Angela

MERRY CHRISTMAS

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 20:40:00 +0000

Hi Friends

At this joyous time of year, we want you to know that we love and appreciate your visiting our website, prayers and support. As always we speak blessing over you and your family.

Have a glorious Christmas!!!!

With Love

Michael & Angela

HIS WORD IS FINAL

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 19:34:00 +0000

Did you receive a word from the Lord sometime ago but your current situation is a far cry from what was prophesied over you? I do have a word for you this week – exchange your garment of sorrow for that of praise! Wondering why? If He said it, He will do it!

Jensten Franklin said something that turned the lights on for me - No man’s no can compete with God’s YES! Friends…that settles it!

Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:9-10 KJV)
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry (Hab 2:3 KJV)

God has the final say on your situation, go back to His word and hold fast to it. He will come through for you.

With Warmth

Angela

GOD MOMENTS

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 05:58:00 +0000

Our fallen sinful nature naturally focuses on the negative side of things effortlessly. This creates an imbalance in our perspective. If I told you to write down ten negative things about you, it most likely won’t take you more than 5 minutes to come up with ten. But if I told you to list 5 great things about you, you’d probably need an hour to do that - depending on your personality type.

Balance is key in life. There are always two sides to a coin, balance means acknowledging both.

To have a more balanced view of your life, I want to challenge you to start keeping a success journal. Spend a couple of minutes everyday journaling the things you could celebrate that day. Did you have a “God moment”? Something that happened and you knew it had to be God? Never let such moments pass by unnoticed. Relive them over and over again. One way of doing this is writing them down. Write down your daily successes no matter how little or trivial they seem to you. Some day, the things you wrote will be your anti depressant!

The God who came through for you in the past or for someone you know, heard or read about, is the same yesterday today and forever.

"I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed (Mal 3:6 NIV)

“God moments” are golden moments, relive them by journaling them!

Shalom!

With Warmth
Angela

FATHER FILTERED!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 02:16:00 +0000

Have you listened to the news lately? It seems to be all gloom and doom! Is the world truly experiencing an economic crisis? Of course yes! God’s word tells us these things will surely happen as a sign that we are in the end times.

This knows also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away (2 Tim 3:1-5 (KJV)

Two things that are going to be an integral part of the last days are - difficult times (2 Timothy 3:1) and scoffers (2 Peter 3:3). In times of difficulties, people lose heart, are easily angered, depressed and fearful. But this should not be so for us believers because our heavenly Fathered already told us these things would happen.

We live in a dispensation like none other before us. Our generation is a fulfillment of Daniel 12:4. Today, more knowledge abounds on this planet than ever before. The availability of information is one of God’s provisions for our safety. To be lazy about studying and researching information will be a very costly choice.

My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children (Hosea 4:6 KJV)

Whether your need is spiritual, physical, financial, emotional, e.t.c. take time out to research and study, tap into the wisdom that God has bestowed on others. Use the library and internet facilities at your disposal. You can’t afford in this time and age to stay ignorant. This season calls for asking and diligently seeking wisdom.

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding (Prov 4:7 (KJV)

Another thing we can’t afford to do if we are going to stay strong through these trying times, is maintain the same word level. We need to grow in the word and get it in and out of us more than ever before. Into us when we read and listen to God’s word, and out of us when we speak and apply those words in our daily activities.

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity. God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will also provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it (1 Cor 10:13 (HCSB)

When you’ve done all be strong and of good courage. Trying times will come, but you’ve got God’s word on it that it will never be more than you can bear.

Your trials are Father filtered so be not discouraged or overwhelmed!

Shalom!

With Love

Angela

THE DAY OF ATONEMENT

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 04:38:00 +0000

Beginning from the evening of the 9th to the evening of the 10th of October is the most Holy day of the year in the Jewish Calendar and rightfully so because it is the Day of Atonement. This is the one and only day in the year that the high priest enters the Most Holy place to present the atonement sacrifice both for himself and the whole nation of Israel.

The LORD said to Moses, “The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of Atonement. Hold a sacred assembly and deny yourselves, and present an offering made to the LORD by fire. Do no work on that day, because it is the Day of Atonement, when atonement is made for you before the LORD your God. Anyone who does not deny himself on that day must be cut off from his people. I will destroy from among his people anyone who does any work on that day. You shall do no work at all. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come, wherever you live. It is a sabbath of rest for you, and you must deny yourselves. From the evening of the ninth day of the month until the following evening you are to observe your sabbath." (Lev 23:26-32 NIV)

How does this affect us? Under the old covenant, the high priest had to do all that the Lord commanded in Leviticus 26 to make atonement once a year for all the sins of the Israelites. This had to go on year after year because the blood of animals could not take away our sins. This ritual could only make them outwardly clean (Hebrews 9:13). To be clean from the inside out, a more superior sacrifice had to be offered and that not in a man- made tabernacle, but in the real tabernacle in heaven, one not made by human hands. This is where Jesus our Kinsman redeemer comes in (Hebrews 9:11-15).

Let’s go back to the resurrection morning as recorded in the book of John – Early that morning; Mary went to the tomb, found it empty. She ran to the other disciples to report the situation. They followed her back, checked out her story found it was true, startled but went back home. Mary stayed behind, decided to take one more peak into the tomb and behold she saw the likeness of the mercy seat!

You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat (Ex 25:17-19 NKJV)

She saw two angels in white seated at where Jesus (our atonement sacrifice) had been, one at one end and the other at the other end! (John 20:10-12). The Angles ask mary why are you weeping? She told them she was crying because someone had removed Jesus’ body. At that Jesus showed up but Mary did not recognize Him thinking He was the gardener! Now pause for a minute and think about it? Mary was one of Jesus’ closest friends, how could she not have recognized Him and mistake Him for a gardener? Then Jesus calls her name in way only He used to and immediately she knew who He was. Mary reaches out to touch him and He instructs her not to hold on to Him because He has not yet ascended to His Father? Now what’s up with that?

The answer to all this is hidden in the book of Leviticus 26. The high priest on the Day of Atonement did not wear his regular garment; he wore special clothing (Leviticus 16:3-4, 23-24) (which according to history was similar to what gardeners wore in those days). Jesus being our high priest was dressed like God commanded the high priest to be on the Day of Atonement. Mary of course had never seen Jesus in such an outfit (especially with a turban on His head), and not expecting to see a high priest by the tomb mistook Jesus for a gardener. Jesus was on His way to the Father, to fulfill the Day of Atonement and told Mary not to hold on to Him.

Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. "Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher). Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.'" (John 20:10-17 NIV)

Have you ever wondered why prior to Jesus, no man had ever made it into heaven? When Jesus died, the bible records that the tombs broke open and the bodies of many patriarchs were raised to life.

At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people (Matt 27:51-53 NIV)

I want you to use your imagination right now, at Jesus’ resurrection, the likes of Moses (he finally got to step into the Promised Land!), Abraham, David, Samuel, Elisha, Samson, Jacob, Isaac, Joseph e.t.c got to take a stroll around the promise land and introduced themselves to some people! Awesome! Wao! What a day that was! But they couldn’t go up with Jesus just yet. Why was that so? Again Leviticus 26 has the answer – No man was allowed to be in the tent of meeting when the high priest went into the Most Holy Place. Jesus had to go it alone. But after He returned from appearing for us in God’s presence, He opened the gates into heaven!

It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him (Heb 9:23-28 NIV)

I have told you all these to show you how the Old Testament is in the New Testament revealed and the New is in the Old Testament concealed. Our God is indeed an awesome God! The Day of Atonement should rightly be the Most Holy day of the year, because it marks the day that we as believers gained our independence from Satan. It marks the day God ‘signed the treaty’ with Jesus that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). It marks the day our obligation to Satan and our sinful nature was terminated.

Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation--but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Romans 8:12-14 NIV)

I want to encourage you to wait upon the Lord on this Day of Atonement. Let it indeed be a holy day unto you; make out time to linger in God’s presence on this day. This was the Day about two thousand years ago, that God received the payment for our sins, past present and future. I believe it was Adam’s happiest day, for finally the acceptable price was paid and his seed can now be fully reconciled to God. What a glorious event! Make it a special day!

Shalom!

With Warmth

Angela

HOW TO FIGHT DEPRESSION AND CONQUER

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 03:54:00 +0000

Have you ever read the book of Ruth? You will need it to gain the most from this week’s topic.

The book of Ruth starts off with the story of Naomi and her family emigrating from Judah to Maob as a result of the famine in the land. Within about ten years her husband and two sons died. I don’t know of any woman in Naomi’s shoes that will not be plunged into at least a season of depression. If Naomi was from some parts of Africa, some members of her community may accuse her of being a witch because of the death of her husband and sons. If she was a member of the 21st century church, she may have been accused by some of living in sin hence the judgment of God upon her life.

Naomi was so grieved; she changed her name from ‘pleasant’ to ‘bitterness’ – Naomi to Marah. Think for a moment on what may have run through her mind as she mourned for her sons. Perhaps when her husband died, she was able to handle it because she had two sons who comforted her. But for those two sons to follow after their dad within a short period of time was indeed a very devastating experience for her. She concluded that God was against her. She was understandably depressed.

So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. And when they came to Bethlehem, the whole town was stirred because of them. And the women said, "Is this Naomi?" She said to them, "Do not call me Naomi] call me Mara, for the Almighty has dealt very bitterly with me. I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi, when the Lord has testified against me and the Almighty has brought calamity upon me?" (Ruth 1:19-21 ESV)

When Naomi and her family left for Moab, they probably thought they were doing the right thing. To move away from a land of famine to that of plenty sound like a smart move to me. But followed by a terrible disaster, it is possible Naomi questioned whether or not the move was the perfect will of God for them as a family.

You may have suffered loss as a result of a decision you made that seemed right or smart at the time, and now you’re wondering if you heard God correctly. God never promised that being at the centre of His will is pain free or disaster proof. He did however promise that He works everything together for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). I like the word everything because it includes our mistakes and foolishness. Our God is the only one that can take our messes and create something outstandingly beautiful from them.

In Naomi’s case, she lost two sons but gained two daughters. However she was so focused on her loss that she failed to see or appreciate her gain. She like most women may have wished she had a daughter at some point, but it did not happen until God gave her daughters in –law who treated her like their own mother. Ruth was so bonded to Naomi that even the community regarded her as been worth more than seven sons.

But Boaz answered her, "All that you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband has been fully told to me, and how you left your father and mother and your native land and came to a people that you did not know before. The Lord repay you for what you have done, and a full reward be given you by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge!" (Ruth 2:11-12 ESV)

Then the women said to Naomi, "Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter-in-law who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him." (Ruth 4:14-15 ESV)

Are you so focused on what you don’t have anymore that you can’t see or rejoice in what you now have? Are you so focused on the weeds in your garden that you can’t see how well your wheat is doing? This, my friend is a root cause of depression – an unbalanced perspective of our situation.

To fight depression and conquer it, learn to count your blessings during your midnight hour. There are always two sides to every situation; a balanced view of any experience brings stability. Depression cannot thrive were there is emotional stability, so I encourage you to take another look at where you are, God surely has placed treasures within and around you. Can you see them yet?
When you do, send me an email, I’d like to share in your joy!!

Shalom!!

With Warmth
Angela

THE MINISTRY OF THE MIRROR

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 06:26:00 +0000

Pastor Tristan Harvey of CHCC during his sermon today mentioned something about the mirror that triggered off the train of thoughts that I’m about to share with you.

I don’t know when the modern day dressing mirror was invented or who invented it, but I do know it has become an integral part of every home especially to us ladies. We not only have them in our homes, but we carry them with us in our bags or purses. I don’t know how many people (especially ladies) will go a whole day without taking a look at themselves in the mirror at least once.

Why do we go to the mirror? Basically to check out how we look. If we don’t like what we see, we try to do something about it. Time spent before a mirror varies from person to person, but regardless of who you are, we all go to the mirror to get some kind of feedback. Some people’s day may be marred or made based on the feedback they get from the mirror. As a matter of fact some people’s entire lives are marred based on what they see in the mirror. For some, they get mad at their mirror because it does not reflect back to them what they want to see (poor mirror!). A dressing mirror is what it is, it does not lie. It faithfully carries out its ministry whenever we come to it.

The ministry of the dressing mirror reminds me of the ministry of the word of God. While our dressing mirror can only reflect that which is external, and temporal, the word of God reflects the internal and eternal issues. The word of God as contained in the bible is the ‘authentic mirror’ for our lives. If we dare to look into this mirror as often as we look into our dressing mirror, and walk away, correcting whatever flaws in our lives are reflected back to us, we will be happier, with more fulfilling and rewarding lives.

Do you want to raise your self esteem? Do you long for more happiness and fulfillment? Your desire is within your reach! Count how many times a day you look into a dressing mirror, then set yourself a challenge of looking into the word of God (the authentic mirror) that number of times daily. Walk away applying whatever was reflected back to you as you stayed in the word. Do this for a hundred and twenty days; you will be amazed at the transformation that will take place.

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. 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 (James 1:22-25 NKJV)

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you (John 15:4-7 NKJV)

Staying in the word long enough for the word to stay in you is top on every saint’s secret to a successful and fulfilling life!!

If you get the ‘authentic mirror’ (the word of God – your bible) to become a more integral part of your life than your dressing mirror, you will be well on your way to the life you’ve always dreamed off!

Have a blessed week!

With Warmth
Angela

HOW TO SUPPORT THE VISION OF THE HOUSE PART 3

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 22:15:00 +0000

AIM FOR PERFECTION

Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you (2 Cor 13:11 NIV)

Depending on your personality type, the word perfection will either sound exciting or annoying to you. Regardless of our feeling about this word, God’s word does instruct us to aim for perfection in every area of our life. Remember He is a perfect God and created us in His image and likeness. God predestined us to be like His Son who became flesh and blood and lived in our world yet was perfect in all His ways.

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren (Romans 8:29 NKJV)

Perfection is not something that will come naturally to us because we bear a sinful nature and live in a fallen world but it should be something we aim for in all we do. One way to go about this is to raise our personal standards. Standards refer to the behavior we choose to hold ourselves to e.g honesty, diligence and self control. No one will sustain a rapid personal or professional growth unless they continually raise their standards.

Whatever responsibility we are given, be it at home, work or church, let’s aim at doing it perfect the first time. This could mean learning to ask for help when needed, giving feedback to your team and leaders and be diligent.

Part of aiming for perfection is learning to bridle our tongue (James 1:26). Learn to refrain your tongue from evil (1Peter 3:10). The tongue is one organ in the body that can inflict wounds that may take a life time to heal. It can also impart blessings that several generations may not outlive. Let’s use our tongue for the latter rather than former – BUILD PEOPLE UP, NOT TEAR THEM DOWN. Aim at raising your standard to where no unwholesome talk is allowed out of your mouth.

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you (Eph 4:29-32 NIV)

Also keep your speech free of exaggerations. Think before you speak, so you don’t find yourself needing to pad your stories to make them look attractive or credible. Most of all heed James counsel - be slow to speak and quick to listen (James 1:19)

To all laborers in the US, do not be weary in well doing for in due season you will be amply rewarded! HAPPY LABOR’S DAY!!!

Have a blessed week!

With Warmth

Angela.

HOW TO SUPPORT THE VISION OF THE HOUSE (PART 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:07:00 +0000

BECOME A RESOURCE
The bible calls us salt and light of the earth (Matt 5:13-14), implying that we are saved to be a resource wherever God places us. The first step to becoming a resource to our local church or place of assignment is to embrace personal development.

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth (2 Tim 2:15 KJV)

The principle here is that you cannot give what you don’t have. In whatever area you feel called to serve, be diligent in developing yourself in those areas. Gain more skills. Don’t wait till you are appointed to start training, start now. Preparation precedes performance. Your rewards in life come from the solutions you provide to the needs around you. Your recognition in life is also tied to the solutions you proffer. Employers pay you based on the value of solution they perceive you bring to the organization. The more of a resource you become, the more your worth increases.

Every organization exists to solve a perceived problem, the more of a solution you are, the less of a burden on the house. The risk of being a ‘burden’ rather than an ‘answer’ to a problem is that you stand to be made redundant, trodden upon or eliminated because that’s what people do to problems so they can get ahead with their lives.

The quickest way to be obsolete and become a problem rather than an answer, is to stop growing in your knowledge and understanding of who you are and what you do. I’ve heard it said that when people stop growing they start dying. To avoid this, seek out growth areas in your life and skills and do something about them, also review your strengths from time to time to see how you can develop them further.

BE EQUIPPED TO TAKE OUT ‘SPECKS’ IN PEOPLE’S EYES
Last week I wrote about being prepared to be part of a team, it is very easy however to spot the ‘speck’ in your teammates eyes. To be well equipped to help them get rid of the ‘speck’, Jesus says we should first remove the log in our eyes (Matt 7:5). It is important to note that both the speck and the log will hinder the team’s performance; therefore to do nothing should not be an option. But when we first deal with the ‘log’ in our eyes, we receive the grace to be able to help others with their ‘speck’ (‘logs’ and ‘specks’ here refer to our personal limitations or struggles).We are tender in our approach and more patient with others once we’ve dealt with our ‘logs’.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God (2 Cor 1:3-4 (NIV)

We will truly be a support to the vision of the church God has planted us if we embrace personal development and deal with our personal issues.

To be continued!

Have a real blessed week!!

With Warmth

Angela

HOW TO SUPPORT THE VISION

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 22:30:00 +0000

We all have a set of values by which we live our lives. I’ve written about how important goal setting is to succeeding in life, but our values are even more important than goals because goals in themselves are a means to an end. Our goals are a means to having our values met. We all have ‘moving towards’ and ‘moving away’ values, our ‘moving away’ values are things our brain read as leading to pain, while ‘our moving towards’ values are things our brain interprets as resulting in pleasure. Psychologists say the brain will do more to avoid pain than to get pleasure. So if public speaking is a moving towards value for you but rejection is a moving away value, you will experience intrapersonal conflict whenever you have an opportunity to speak but afraid your audience or somebody in the audience may not like you. In fact your brain will support your turning down that speaking engagement rather than going for it, because it will rather avoid pain than gain pleasure.

I shared the above information to say this – if an addiction to the presence of God is not yet topmost on your value hierarchy, you will need to shift it there because love for His presence and a corresponding fear of the loss of His presence are two values that will keep you focused and faithful to His work. Remember King David? The one whom God described as a man after His own heart (Acts 13:22)? What was His topmost ‘moving towards value’? It was the presence of God while His topmost ‘moving away’ value was the loss of the presence of God. One of the occasions this was made manifest was after he sinned with Bathsheba. In his repentance as recorded in Psalm 51, of all the things he could have requested for, he cried out to God to not take His Holy Spirit from him.

Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit (Psalms 51:10-13 KJV)

When his predecessor King Saul was in a similar situation of sinning against God, his cry was for the prophet Samuel to still come with him so he will not loose face before the people, indicating that the approval of man was his highest ‘moving toward value’

Then Saul pleaded again, “I know I have sinned. But please, at least honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel by coming back with me so that I may worship the Lord your God.” (1 Sam 15:30 NLT)

If pleasing God is your topmost value, you will not struggle with being about His business. Your whole life will be built around His business, part of which is the vision of your local church.

Another way to support the God’s vision for your local congregation is to be available first to God, then to your church. Quality time with God is His primary love language. By spending time with God, you give Him a chance to reveal His heart to you (Isaiah 1:18) cleanse you; fill you so He can use you. Nobody can please God by his own human strength, if it not by God’s grace, it will not be acceptable to God. Part of the benefit of spending quality time with God is that He gets to reveal Himself to you and only then can you rightly reveal Him to the world (Galatians 1:15-16). You cannot give what you don’t have. The depth of Himself that God reveals to you will determine how much of Him you can show to others.

Be prepared to work as a team. One look at the human body tells you we are designed to work best as part of a team. Even the Godhead is made up of a team of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You can’t do it all by yourself. Know your calling and gifting; find your place and do the very best you can to get the job done. Be mature enough to allow other members of your team to succeed without feeling threatened by their success. God will not judge you based on another’s potential, He will not require of you that which He designed someone else to accomplish. Be confident in who you are in Christ, celebrate his gifting on your life and on the lives of all your team members and be glad the job is getting done.

I will continue on this topic next week by God’s grace.

Until then…Shalom!!

With Warmth
Angela

SUPPORT THE VISION OF THE HOUSE

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:07:00 +0000

If you are a Christian, you are part of God’s vision for the church; all employees are part of the vision of their organization. If you are neither a Christian nor an employee, you are still part of a vision, that of your family, community or Nation. We are all part of a vision whether or not we have a vision for our personal life.

What is a vision? In the context of this write up, it is simply the picture of where you are going and what you want to do.
Everyone with a vision for their life or business pursues the fulfillment of their vision, and it is a commendable thing to do. How else will your dream come through if you do not follow through with the plans to accomplish the vision? However, today I’m writing about why support the vision of the church God has planted you in.

The church as a body is the light of the world and the salt of the earth. It is through us the members that God has chosen to cast His vision for mankind and accomplishes His purpose. It is the responsibility of the shepherd to get God’s vision for their sheepfold and present same to the people. E.g. God chose Moses as a leader over His people, gave Him the vision for the nation, Moses in turn shared that with the people. When God appointed Joshua leader over the Israelites, He gave him the vision for the people (Joshua 1:1-9)

God designed man to work best as a team. We see this reflected in the different human parts working together for us to function effectively. The acronym TEAM means together everyone accomplishes more. Though God gives the leader the vision, He expects both the leadership and followers to work together to bring the vision to past.

God himself is a team of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. One of the signs that He promotes team work is establishing the principle that one can put a thousand to flight but two ten thousand (Josh 23:10, Deut 32:30). To encourage us to work together He also promised that whenever two or three of us are gathered in His name, He will be in the midst of us (Matt.18:20). He also said whatever two or three of us shall agree as touching anything shall be established for them by God. It is said that no man is an Island, and it takes more than a single tree to make a forest. None of us can fulfill God’s purpose without the help of other people. In the same way other people need us to fulfill their God given assignment especially our leaders.

WHY SUPPORT THE VISION OF THE HOUSE

The vision is not theirs but the Lord. And God ordered your step to be a part f that congregation at such a time as this because you do have a role to play in bringing the vision to past. Remember the steps of the just man are ordered by God (Ps 37:23)
It is an honor to be called and chosen to be a part of establishing God’s vision on the earth, for many are called but only few are chosen (Matt 22:14)

If we turn our backs or choose to be nonchalant towards God’s vision for the house we are planted in, God will replace us. Do not let the stones cry out in your place (Lk 19:40, Matt 3:9)
What you make happen for others, God will make happen for you – this ties in with the principle of sowing and reaping (Gal. 6:7). If you choose not to sow at all, the enemy will sow in your garden, therefore you will still get a harvest, but that of weed instead of wheat.

God gift of time to us is to prepare for our eternity. We ought to be about our Father’s business, for it’s what we do concerning God’s business that will count for eternity.
It is an opportunity to gain and store up treasure for us in heaven.
By our support and faithfulness to His vision, we build a godly heritage for our descendants. God is a generational God, He promised to reward our faithfulness to him to a thousand generation.

Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; (Deut 7:9 KJV)

Hopefully next week, I will write about HOW TO SUPPORT THE VISION OF THE HOUSE.

Until then…stay blessed and focused!

With Love

Angela

FLEXIBILITY IS KING?

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 04:49:00 +0000

One of our Life Coaching assumptions is that flexibility is king. The individual with the most behavioral flexibility will control any situation.
Just pause for a moment and reflect on how it will feel, look or sound if you can always have everything under control. Your response will no doubt be dependent on your personality type, but all personalities experience an exhilarating victory when they get an overwhelming situation under control. Your ability to do this in the shortest time possible will greatly depend on the degree of your behavioral flexibility.

It’s important to not confuse being flexible with being unstable which results from doubts. The bible clearly warns that he that is doubtful is unstable and should not expect to receive wisdom from God (James 1:5-8). No situation can be brought under control without wisdom. Not only is there is a time and a season for every activity under the sun (Ecclesiastes 3:1) there is also a proper procedure for every matter (Eccl 8:6)

Flexibility starts by yielding our lives to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and applying the principles of the combination of Ecclesiaistes 3:1-8 and 8:1-6 in every situation we’re confronted with irrespective of how we are feeling at that point in time.

Who is like the wise man? Who knows the explanation of things? Wisdom brightens a man's face and changes its hard appearance. Obey the king's command, I say, because you took an oath before God. Do not be in a hurry to leave the king's presence. Do not stand up for a bad cause, for he will do whatever he pleases. Since a king's word is supreme, who can say to him, "What are you doing?" Whoever obeys his command will come to no harm, and the wise heart will know the proper time and procedure. For there is a proper time and procedure for every matter, though a man's misery weighs heavily upon him (Eccl 8:1-6 NIV)

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace (Eccl 3:1-8 NIV)

The word of God likens our submission to God to that of clay in the potter’s hand (Jer 18:6). To the best of my knowledge, the more ‘flexible’ clay is in the hands of a potter, the more ready it is to be transformed into a vessel of beauty to be admired by all. In our work with God, flexibility is a key ingredient of success. God will not always give us details of His plan; we must be flexible enough to keep obeying His last instruction to us knowing He will supply the next piece of information when we need it. Let’s review Elijah’s encounter with God in 1Kings 17:2-11.

Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah: "Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have ordered the ravens to feed you there." So he did what the LORD had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there.The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook. Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the LORD came to him: "Go at once to Zarephath of Sidon and stay there. I have commanded a widow in that place to supply you with food." So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, "Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?" As she was going to get it, he called, "And bring me, please, a piece of bread."(1 Kings 17:2-11 NIV)

We see God telling Elijah where to go and what he will be fed with. He did not tell him how long he’s going to be there or that the brook will eventually dry up requiring Elijah to move once again. I also noticed that the birds brought meat and bread but there was no mention of salt and pepper to give the food a good flavor. We don’t even know what kind of meat they brought to Elijah. My point is, the widow of Zarephath and her family was saved from the famine because Elijah was flexible enough to be content with whatever God provided for him. His flexibility saved both his life and that of the entire widow’s family.

Paul applied this same flexibility principle to his life and walk with God. He shared it when he said he has learnt to be content in whatever situation he finds himself. Whether in abundance or in lack (Phillip.4:10-13). The secret to these two heroes’ flexibility and contentment is their trust in God’s ultimate plan for their lives. There is no saying how high God can lift a person who trusts Him enough to be flexible in His hands.

Are you believing God for something? Have you made your request known to him? Then let yourself loose in His hands. He is able to keep that which has been committed to His hands (2 Tim.1:12). Gear yourself up for the adventure to possessing your desires, He will do more than you think or imagine but there is no guarantee that it will come the way YOU had it all planned out. God is an adventurous God and He is the only one I know, who always ‘uses one stone to kill multiple birds’. God will give you your miracle, but there are several other people in line whose miracles are tied to yours. Stay flexible in His hands, trust me everything will come together and it will all make sense someday. If not on this side of life, it will on the other side.

STAY FLEXIBLE IN THE HANDS OF GOD. LET THAT FLEXIBILITY REFLECT IN YOUR DAILY LIFE. THERE IS A TIME TO BE UNYIELDING AND A TIME TO YEILD. LET GO AND LET GOD!

With Warmth

Angela.

REDEEMING THE LAND

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 05:49:00 +0000

I started this teaching with Missions with Africa (MwA) recently, and I feel led to share it with everyone that reads my blog because the principles herein can be applied to our individual and family lives. This is the first part of the teaching; I will hopefully post the rest of it as I proceed with the teaching. I believe this is also very important as we celebrate the independence of the USA, recalling the righteous foundation that was laid by our founding fathers, which our generation has unfortunately lost so much ground to the enemy. We have a mandate to ‘occupy till’ our Lord returns (Luke 19:13 KJV) not to ‘loose ground’. I believe our generation should arise and declare that this land will not be taken over, certainly not on our watch.

Why we do it

Jesus paid the price for our redemption and reconciliation of all things to God (Col 1:18-23)

The price has been paid. The law for our liberty has been passed, (John 19:30) but it has to be enforced (Mk 15:16).

Believers are God’s law enforcement agents (Matt 16:19, Jer 1:8). To us has been committed the ministry of reconciliation (2 Corinth 5:18-21)

What is reconciliation? To return to God. First step to reconciliation is repentance. What is the evidence of this reconciliation? They that live no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again (2Corinth 5:14-15)

As Christ ambassadors we are God’s watchmen in whatever town, city or nation He places us. Watchmen are guards. They watch out for the interest of the king who authorize them and the safety of the people who live within the walls of their city or families (1Sam14:16). God’s watchmen are intercessors who stand before God on behalf of the City or family He set them over (Isaiah 62:6-8, 2Chro 23:18).

It is God’s work, if we refuse to do it, or become lax in doing it, we expose ourselves to laboring under a curse (Jer 48:10, Judges 5:23)

Jesus is coming back soon and expects to meet all the watchmen at their duty post (Matt 24:45-51)

HOW WE DO IT

The first step is to do a ‘SPIRITUAL MAPPING’ of our lives, deal with the issues that arises, then proceed to do a ‘spiritual mapping’ of the town or city we’ve been placed.

What do we mean by spiritual mapping?

It is the process of uncovering strongholds of the enemy, idolatrous covenants and altars, any ‘crack in the wall’ through which the enemy may gain entrance – to deceive or overpower. It is assessing were we’ve come from, were we are currently and where we want to go. Identify the gap, uncover and gather available resources, then map out our route and get started!

Why we do ‘Spiritual Mapping.’

We do not want to be blind watchmen (Isaiah 56:9-11)

Ignorance will cost us more than we are willing or able to pay (Hosea 4:6)

We are not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices, snares, strategies, intentions, scheming, designs (2Corinth 2:11)

We are not to give the devil a foothold in our lives (Eph 4:27)

Why we map our lives first before mapping the city

We want to know if there is anything in us that need uprooting, so that when Satan or his cohorts roar at us, they will find nothing in us to devour ( Jn 14:30)

If we take out the ‘log’ in our eyes, we can clearly see the ‘speck’ in our brothers’ eyes (Matt 7:3-5)

God told Gideon to go first destroy the altars in his father’s house before going out against the Midianites (Judges 6:25-27)

We do not want to labor under the curse of the law.

How do we redeem the land?

Based on the findings from our spiritual mapping, we confess our sins and that of our ancestors (Leviticus 26:40-42)

Ask the Lord to uproot the source of these sins (Matt 15:13)

Destroy all Idolatrous altars (physically and spiritually) (Ex 34:13-14, Deut 7:5, (Prv 18:21)

Repair the broken hedges (Jer 1:10)

War with God’s prophecies (His spoken and written word)

Pray that the Lord will frustrate the devices of the enemy (Job 5:12-13)

Raise new altars unto the Lord

Be silent no more
Pursue holiness.

With Love
Angela

FREEDOM AWAITS YOU IN THE LIGHT!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 06:09:00 +0000

A great hindrance to living the victorious Christian life or attaining to the fullness of one’s potential is the fear of past failures or present weaknesses.

One of the characteristics of true believers is that they love righteousness and hate wickedness. In return for this attitude, God anoints them with the oil of joy. Unfortunately not very many are able to keep their joy.

You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy (Psalms 45:7 NIV)

The above bible passage was also quoted in reference to Jesus Christ as the Son of God (Heb 1:8-9). Jesus in turn declared that anointing us with the oil of joy is part of His assignment when in Luke 4:17 -21, He quoted what Isaiah had written concerning His ministry.

The Spirit of the Lord Jehovah is upon me; because Jehovah hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; to proclaim the year of Jehovah's favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them a garland for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of Jehovah, that he may be glorified. (Isaiah 61:1-3 ASV)

Since these are truths of God’s word, why do we allow the enemy to rob us of our joy by intimidating us with our past failures or present weaknesses? God has always known Satan’s agenda and warned us that anywhere Satan or his cohorts operate, their threefold agenda is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). God word teaches us to not be ignorant of Satan’s intentions, strategy, devices or snares (2 Corinthians 2:11).

One of Satan’s strategies of robbing us or our joy and keeping us from enjoying all that God has blessed us with is get us to live so much in the past or the future that we hardly take the time to enjoy today. The presence of stress is a symptom of a person depleted in enjoyment. Overpowering fear of our past failures or present weaknesses is an indication of one being robbed of joy.

HOW TO GET OUT OF THIS SNARE

The bible describes Satan as the prince of this world (John 16:11). But…HEY…he’s been judged! Praise God! His sentenced was pronounced on the cross when Jesus cried out ‘it is finished’ (Jn19:30). Satan is a sentenced criminal waiting to start serving his time in the lake of fire (Rev 20:10). Meanwhile he is still roaming the earth seeking every opportunity to cause more havoc (1 Peter 5:8). We don’t have to be his victims.

Satan is the prince of darkness, he knows the word of God, he is aware of God’s command to touch not His anointed and do His prophets no harm (1 Chronicles 16:22). He heard Jesus’ prayer to the Father to protect us from the evil one (John 17:15) and He knows God answered that prayer. The question is do you know all these? Satan can only rob you to the degree that you are ignorant of your covenant rights. Anyone who covers up his sin rather than confess them, operates in the ‘dark’ and is under Satan’s jurisdiction consequently, he can manipulate, intimidate or dominate such a person (Proverbs 28:13). If we stay in the light, he can’t dominate us because light is God’s domain (1John 1:5).

As long as you are doing all you can to keep your past failures or present weakness in the dark, Satan will continue to intimidate you.

And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. (Eph 5:11 NKJV)

There is power in bringing things to the light. Stop allowing your weakness or past failures define you. You have a right to stay silent, but there is a time to be silent and a time to speak (Eccl.3:7). Until you are free, you cannot walk in the fullness of your potential. The devil is a liar! Quit entertaining those lies about your past failures or current weakness being beyond pardon or modification. There is nothing new under the sun (Eccl 1:9), countless people have been in your shoes and are today victorious. God does work everything together for the good of all who love Him (Romans 8:28). God’s decree says you are more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37) and His opinion of you is what really counts. You have everything to gain by believing what God says about you. Quit hiding behind a mask, come out OF THE DARK, FREEDOM AWAITS YOU IN THE LIGHT!

To your victory!

With Love,
Angela

CROSSROADS

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 04:13:00 +0000

Have you ever set out on a journey you thought you knew how to arrive at your destination, only to find yourself at a crossroad not knowing whether to turn left or right?

I happen to have the personality type that loves to have everything in sequence, e.g. A followed by B then C, D, E, F e.t.c. When F comes after A, then B and G, you loose me, then panic sets in and my brain tries frantically to put things back in a sequence of some sort, to bring me back to balance. The Disc personality profile describes people like me as having a C personality. When teasing people with a C personality, I usually tell them their C stands for certainty, that’s why they freak out when things get out of sequence!
If people with my personality types have their way, life will be all full of certainty. Wait a minute… can you imagine a life where everything is predictable, no surprises or any kind uncertainties? Boring! Boring! Boring! God designed life as an adventure of faith, meaning there will be countless times life will bring us to a crossroad, where we will need to make a decision whether to turn right, left or keep moving forward.

I am not a fan of ‘life’s crossroads’ when I do not know prior to arriving there which way to turn. What do you think the underlying fear is for people in such situations? Most times it is the fear of failure. If you are just starting out in life, adventure can be a fun word but for those who have made a couple of mistakes in the past (especially ones with high price tags), risks may not be a fun word to them, even informed risk. Unfortunately, the degree of our success in life is greatly influenced by the level of risk we are willing to take. To live life completely risk averse will result in never attaining to the fullness of your personal potential.

The way to go is to take informed risk. What does that mean for a believer? It means staying ignorant of whom you are and what being a citizen of heaven has made available to you, will not only limit you, but could destroy you, therefore we need to educate ourselves.

My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. "Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children (Hosea 4:6 NIV)

There are different aspects of life we need to educate ourselves on depending on our calling, but the most fundamental aspect that is common to everyone is God’s law, which is also His word. Does being educated mean you will always know what to do all the time? No. But the bible assures us that the steps of the just man are ordered by God (Psalm 37:23). How does it work? We are instructed in Ephesians 6:15, as part of our armor to have our feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which is the word of God. If we shod our feet with the word of God, the word will always lead us in the right direction because of Psalm 119:105.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path (Psalms 119:105 NIV)

To shod our feet with the word is like wearing the word as shoes and like shoes we stand on them and walk in them. The word not only becomes a support for our frame (our lives), but also a protective covering. Some ways to get the word are by reading our bibles, listening to the bible on various electronic devices, reading Christian literatures, listening to Christian radio, watching Christian TV.

Does this mean you will always know what to do at the ‘crossroads of life’? Not necessarily. However, if you stay in the word and life brings you to a crossroad, not knowing which way to turn, rather than back off, listen to your heart, then turn in whatever direction it leads you. I can most assuredly say that whether you turn left or right or keep straight ahead, you will arrive at your destination, some routes may be longer than others, but you will certainly get there because EVERYTHING WORKS TOGETHER FOR THE GOOD OF THOSE WHO LOVE THE LORD… (Romans 8:28). You certainly qualify as ‘those who love the Lord’, because you have not ignored His law (word), you have stood on it and are walking in it.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus (Phil 3:13-14 NIV)

Don’t let the ‘crossroads of life’ intimidate you, fear not, child of God, your heavenly Father has got your back, keep moving ahead, it shall be well!

To your victory!

With Love,

Angela

THE NEWS

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 04:16:00 +0000

I believe today's post is for a specific person. I don't know what news you heard that is troubling your heart. I got another news for you "God is in control". He still rules in the affairs of men, so fear not. Be strong and of good courage. God will never leave you nor forsake you (Joshua 1:5).

With Love

Angela

HE WEIGHED YOUR CROSS BEFORE HE STUCK YOUR NAME ON IT

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Mon, 26 May 2008 05:23:00 +0000

If I were asked to give two words that best describe Life, I would say – change and challenge. These are two things that everyone regardless of their age, gender, race or religion will experience countless times during their life time. There is a 100% guarantee that everyone will experience life’s storms at some point or the other if they continue to have the breath of life in their nostrils. But have you ever felt like you’ve been dealt a heavier blow than anyone else alive?

I know that a fundamental requirement for any disciple of Christ is to pick up their cross daily, following the Master (Luke 9:23) but have there been seasons in your life that you felt you must have picked up the wrong cross? Have you ever found yourself asking God to cross check the name tag on the cross you were bearing because you were totally convinced the weight of that cross could not possibly be for people in your category? You know, like setting up a light weight boxer against a heavy weight champion?

When I was much younger, I had an ambition similar to that James and John (Mark 10:37). Mine wasn’t to sit at Jesus’ right or left in His coming kingdom ( I guess those positions must have been filled by now since people have been vying for them as far back as when Jesus walked this earth!!). I used to pray for trials because I wanted to be a saint! But as I grew older and started facing the storms of life, I returned to God and asked Him to delete those request I made as a child (my guess is the delete button is broken – you know what I mean?). I remember the days when I got beaten for attending church, the days when I came home to no food as my punishment for sneaking out of the house to attend church. I used to dance and rejoice like the apostles did the first time they when beaten with many strokes for preaching the gospel.

Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name (Acts 5:38-41 NIV)

It is easy to dance when your cross is ‘feather weight’. What do you do when your cross appears to be ‘heavy weight’? I have learnt to plead my case with God –

"Present your case," says the LORD. "Set forth your arguments," says Jacob's King. (Isaiah 41:21 NIV). But I do it the way Jesus did, I ask God to let the cup pass me by, but if I must drink of it, then let His will be done.

And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt. (Matthew 26:39 KJV)

The reason I do this is because I am aware that not every cross is my cross just as not every yoke or burden is the Lord’s. No one can run away from carrying a cross in life, if we do not pick up our cross, Satan will put his cross on us. The good news is for followers of Jesus, each person’s cross is custom made to fit the carrier. And His cross is like His yoke which is easy and His burden that is light. Crosses, yokes or burdens, light or heavy are no fun to our fallen nature. However, Jesus has never required us to do anything He did not set an example for us. He led by example. Each cross yoke or burden designed by God is aimed at bringing out the best in us. Life is an endurance race. Our endurance level determines the degree of authority that will be bestowed upon us here on earth and the rewards that will be awaiting us once we step out of time.

What is it about endurance? See what the bible says –
By your endurance you will save your life (Luke 21:19 GW)

Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth (Rev 3:10 ESV)

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope (Romans 5:3-4 ESV)

We see that endurance is a key ingredient for producing hope. In my opinion, hope in God is everything because it is the root that sustains faith, without which no one can please God.

Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint (Isaiah 40:30-31 NIV)

So endurance is the answer to a ‘heavy weight cross’.

Monday is the Memorial Day in the US, a day set aside to honor all who served and are still serving in all segments of the armed forces. A service was held today at our church in honor of the living and fallen heroes of this great nation. Our Senior Pastor gave gifts to everyone that has served in the armed forces in any capacity. They were all seated on the front row and everyone got a chance to shake their hands and thank them for their service to this country. One thing our pastor did that caught my attention was that he did not only thank them individually for their service, he also thanked them for submitting themselves to training!

As I watched that, the Holy Spirit bore witness to my spirit that in the same way our heavenly Father will reward us for every study, and training we undertake on earth that makes servicemen fit for use by God, (2 Timothy 2:15). It’s exciting to know that we are not just going to be rewarded for our services but also for our training (which sometimes comes disguised as trials, cross, yoke and burden)! I find this comforting because some people will spend most of their lives being trained and be used only in the last lap of their time on earth, but they will still be rewarded just as if they were in their assignment all the time. Remember the parable of the workers in the vineyard? (Matthew 20:1-15).

You may not be dancing over your cross but if you hang in there, with a decent attitude, you will get to your place of victory. For the joy that was set before Him, Jesus endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). Sometimes, the weight and pain of the cross may cause you to stumble, but don’t give up. When I find myself in a place like that, I pray that God will send me my ‘Simon of Cyrene’ (Believe me, you will need one at some point), because I’ve come too far to back off, waited too long to give up, hung on too long to let go now. If I can’t run, I will walk, if that is impossible, I will crawl so long as I’m moving towards the finish line.

And they compelled a passerby, Simon of Cyrene, who was coming in from the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to carry his cross (Mark 15:21 ESV)

If you perceive you are ‘light weight’ and are carrying a ‘heavy weight’ cross, you might want to update your beliefs about yourself. God will never put a ‘heavy weight’ cross on a ‘light weight’ saint. He promised none belonging to Him will ever be tempted beyond what they can endure (1Corinthians 10:13). He weighed your cross before He put your name on it. If He put it on you, it’s because you’re worth it!

Stay the course!

With Love,

Angela

P.S
The Orofino Public Library will be hosting my book signing between 1.30 -3.30 pm on Tuesday 26th of May 2008. If you are in the area, do stop by. Will be looking forward to seeing you!

THANKFUL FOR ALL MOMS!

noreply@blogger.com (Angela Lougee) — Tue, 13 May 2008 00:52:00 +0000

Today I want to pay tribute to a very special woman in my life – my mom! She is my hero, the most admirable woman in my entire world! Now don’t even begin to think that my mom is perfect or got it right all through my childhood. That’s very far from the truth. Below are some things that make her special;

Though I’ve never heard my mom say “I love you” to any of her five children, I know, that I know, that I know that she loves every one of us with her entire being. How do I know this? By her actions and the sacrifices she has made over the years to give us the best life she could afford.
Mom always said “I have no inheritance to leave behind for any of you, but I will pay the price to give you all the best education any child can get” She stayed true to her words.
Mom was very strict. Right or wrong her ‘yes’ was yes and her ‘no’ was no. I had to learn to fast and pray at a young age to get my mom to change her mind. In retrospect, I’m grateful for her stability it made my world less confusing for me.
Mom hardly bought us anything that was in ‘fashion’, which made me cry as I was always the odd one out among my peers. I thought mom was mean, but today I’m so thankful for her stand because it taught me that to be different does not make me less valuable. And my value is not in what I wear or what I possess but in who I am and who I can become.
Mom was and still is a hard worker. She taught me that there is dignity in labor. I learnt that if I stayed focus, remained diligent and embrace excellence, every dream can come true.
I always heard mom speak about her career goal – to reach the peak of the nursing profession before her retirement age. To do that she had to constantly improve her skills, sometimes she had to return to full time education. I saw mom struggle as a single parent, I saw her deal with the discrimination that came with being a single parent. But one thing mom never did was give up in the face of a storm. About three years ago, her dream came to past, she reached the pinnacle of her profession and retired a very happy woman last year.

Have you taken the time to count the things you are grateful to God for about your mom? It doesn’t matter how many negatives there were, if you look very closely, you’d find something to be grateful for.

When God gave us mothers, He gave the world an irreplaceable gift. Motherhood is not just about biologically producing children, it’s more than that. You don’t have to be a biological mom to be a mother to a person. The church is in dire need of mothers to birth children into the kingdom of God and even more to nurture the children that have been born to maturity.

How many people have you birthed into God’s kingdom? How many people are you proactively influencing for God?

This week, I celebrate not only my mom, but all the women out there transforming the world for Christ one life at a time. My praise goes out to the countless women who open up their hearts, arms and home to children whose moms cannot be there for them. For all that you do to put a smile on another child’s face, I want to say thank you! Great indeed is your reward in heaven!

With Love,
Angela