On any journey in life, it is important to start right, it is important to embark on the journey through the right door otherwise we will end up in the wrong place. What does the door mean to us today, as Christians who are dedicated to living Christ kind of life? 

In john 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes through to the father except through me. Coming through Jesus is what gives us the power, the capacity to access God.

The door is always open, but to enter that door we must acknowledge that we need this provision by God and that through and by Jesus, we will be saved. The door is open to all, no matter where we are at in our own life, there is provision for just for us to come to God through Jesus.

The gate is narrow in the sense that there is no room for 2, we have to decide as an individual to enter the gate through Jesus. This mean it is a direct relationship with God, through Jesus. The gate is low that is, it requires our humility in the sense that we must lay down our life before Him and acknowledge that we need Him and only Him can save us. The gate brings us to surrendering to Jesus and He will take us through to the father from there.

 John 3:20 - “For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.”
By Coming to the light of Jesus, we are showing that we love God and we need Him to help us in becoming what God intends for us to be.

The lordship of Jesus Christ and Salvation through Christ are one and given under same condition by God. You cannot have one or the other, they both co-exist.

John 3:14-16 The Lordship of Jesus is what brings about the Salvation of man through Jesus. Jesus is more than "the lamb that was slain" but He is the carrier of the authority in which our salvation is released. Romans 9:10  shows that every man that will be saved by Jesus Christ must first believe in Him. 
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Matthew 19:16-22 & Luke 9:23 Those who submit to the Lordship of Jesus are those that inherit the Kingdom of Christ. Salvation is not a cheap gift given without a cause neither is there a quick way to gain salvation. Submission to the Lordship of Jesus means we "deny ourselves, take our cross daily and follow Jesus", It must be a daily affair, not a one-off submission. This is the only way to inherit eternal life. No other way can grant us access to Gods salvation for us. 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

Ruth Chapter 1 has been our study passage since the first week of January. We are focusing on the issue of making up our mind on the journey we are embarking on.  This journey is going to be challenged along the way, if we have not rooted in our heart that we have settled with Jesus, all the days of our lives, we will not be able to enjoy a continuous life with Jesus.

If we want to live the life filled with Christ, continuously without breaking and without a conflicted heart between the worldly and the kingdom of God, here are 2 things we needs:

1. A need to make up our mind: The journey with Jesus is not an easy road (Song lyrics: its not an easy Road) that is why only those who have made up there mind in the first place can be helped by Jesus to complete. 
2. Grace of God: no matter how determined we are, it is not enough to take us through. 

Ruth 1 verse 16: Ruth made a decision in the face of what would be a very convincing reason why Ruth and Orpah should not follow her (Naomi). But there and then, Ruth declared her decision again, that Naomi's God will be her God.  
She was rejecting all that she is  and all that she was used to. She now will be going to Bethlehem with NOTHING. Ruth must have seen something from Naomi, This must be faith at its peak. But it is not faith without evidence because she later proved it by staying true to the decision she made. What Ruth did by turning back her past for a Hopeful life in Bethlehem, she burnt her bridge and cannot go back to Moab, the land of Sin, the land that God had Cursed.

The evidence that she had burnt her bridge can be seen when Ruth decided to Glean in the farmland in order to feed her new family.  A gleaner is a person who picks thew left over from the farm, after the pickers have picked the valuable harvest. It was while gleaning that God's grace came to Ruth when she met Boaz, the rich farm owner and the redeeming Kinsman who was instrumental in buying back all that Naomi's family had lost. 

Ruth Later married Boaz also. From poor lady with nothing to live on to a redeemed, free citizen of Bethlehem. This is what wishes to do for all of us if we decide to "deny ourselves, take our cross and follow Jesus" - Luke 9:23

Part 3 of the themed message on revival.  This Sunday, we continue to look at the journey of Ruth, we are focusing on the journey that took her to redemption in Bethlehem. In this light we will be looking at the essence on embarking on similar journey of redemption by Jesus. This process is necessary in order for revival to happen in our lives. How serious  do we take that the Express representation of God's person? The value we put on something determines how we treat it. God knows this is the key to revering His presence with the highest regard and that is why He instructed the children of Israel to "...love the Lord their God with all their heart and with all their soul.." in  Deuteronomy 6: 5-9.
  
What matters most to God is that all we do is about HIM. God brought the children of Israel to the promise land so that they can fulfill His plan on earth as God's people. So, every matter that will concern God must consider God to the the ultimate reason for whatsoever we find ourselves doing. It is about reminding ourselves that we need to be reminded that what we do must be about the right thing, which can also be interpreted as " Christ in me/you, the hope of glory" - Colossians 1:27. Many times, we can make our plans about God and go all out, loosing sleeping, being restless over the plans we have devised but like the message to the church of Ephesus in, Revelation 2: 1-7, we can labour in patience, even persevere in hardship but we must not miss out the most important thing, which is to make ALL in our lives about God.

This is what Ruth did by choosing to neglect her life in Moab and deciding to make the rest of her life about the God of Naomi. This decision will in turn become the break through she needed to be restored to God's original purpose for her life. This decision enables God to restore us to His original plan for our lives. 

Continuing on Ruth 1, the story of Naomi and Elimelech.

The couple thought that the reason God brought them to the land of Bethlehem, where God had promised them wealth and peace, a land that is ordained by God for His people[Genesis 12v1-5]. When things started going wrong [famine in Bethlehem], Elimelech chose to move away from Behtlehem, where God has place him and his family to Maob. He decided to organise his life in a way that is different to where God lead him. If God is known for not making up His mind, Elimelech might have been alright, But even God respects His own word is over His name,

...Psalm 138:2   I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name" 

It happened [Ruth1v3-5] that Elimelech and his two sons did not get a chance to go back to where God placed them originally but Naomi did. We need to seek God to place us back to where we belong, to bring us back from things that have taken us away from God, and causing us to miss what matters most. God seeks to redeem all men to Himself...

Naomi and Elimelech could have chosen to seek God instead of going to the land of Moab, where God had previously asked the children of Isreal to never associate with. God knew that associating with the Moabite will cause the children of isreal to leave God, who is their first love. 

Revelation 2v1-5: deserting God's placing over my life is a way of deserting God, even if we do all other things.  God's positioning, and will over our lives mutst stand; this is where God will be with us and He will stay true to His word. 

Matthew 13v44-46
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure44 “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man happens to find a treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.
The Parable of the Pearl45 “Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man is looking for fine pearls, 46 and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.

Rev 4:11 "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."The very purpose of our creation was to be God's pleasure, all the days of our lives. Since the days of adam and eve, the devil has been very attracted to God's creation to turn us away from God, our Creator. This is why the Devil tempted Jesus after His fast over 40 days. Matthew 4: 1-11

The devil is still at it but God never stopped redeeming and restoring His creation back to Himself. Like the Prodigal son came to his sense, he realised that he is not where he is supposed to be, nothing would have happened if he didn't come to his sense and return to his father. His father had been eagerly expectant, just as God is eagerly expectant for us to return back to Him and become a son in the house again.

John 14:23 “Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” 

"Where we allow God to be our lord; we submit to Him, His way is our guiding principle". He controls our decision, When we allow God to reign in our lives, He becomes our daily bread. John 6:35 "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" 

The life of Naomi's family left where Placed them because of the farmine, but they went to Moab where God has not allowed the Children of Isreal to mix with them. God place Elimelech in Bethlehem-Judah, the house of bread. But of his own heart, he decided to leave the place God placed him........... What every man need is to be in the right place where God has placed us. The remaining of this message is available to download for free.

What was Paul thinking when he wrote to the Philippians that in "nothing" be anxious?

Phil 4: 4-6
​4 Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.
5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.
6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

This passage was not a denial of reality, but it is a reminder to the disciples in Philippians of what affirms their new reality in Christ Jesus. 

2 Corinthians 5:17
7 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

For anyone who is settled in Christ, there is a new Lordship, a new master. This master is Christ Jesus our saviour and our Lord. 

We studied the book of Exodus Chapter 14 and 15, here we can see the lives of the Israelite as they journeyed through the wilderness and how they simply lost sight of God, we also looked at how this still happens today in our own generation.

Romans 8:28 - "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (KJV)
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(AMPC) - We are assured and know that [God being a partner in their labour] all things work together and are [fitting into a plan] for good to and for those who love God and are called according to [His] design and purpose.

God has a plan and an original purpose fr everyone, Jesus did not come so that we can live in big houses an mansions and t show to the world that we have riches. God gave up Jesus to die on the cross for us just for us o have many other unbelievers have. If Christ came for our earthly blessing, then we are the most miserable of all.
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There is a place for us to trust God and to let His hands Guide us to his divine plan.

The Children of Israel lamented over the onions and garlic they left behind when they were captives in Egypt, but this is a major shortsightedness, a misunderstanding of the purpose why they were saved from captivity of the Egyptians. This behaviour points out to their lack of trust for God and hence they do not believe God or have surrendered to Him or His will.

The issue is that many of us still live like the Israelite behaved to God. And we saw that though God's plan for each of Israelite was good and God planned to fulfil all he promised, but due to their unbelieve, non of them actually saw the promised land.

It is possible to have God's promise in our hands but if our believe does not translate into actions that stands as a proof that we trust God and believe in Him, without a doubt that His word is for us and He will fulfil them, we can still loose that great promise.

God has promised us salvation but only through Jesus. Do you believe? Then Where is your proof?
2 timothy 2:19 - "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

The True fellowship that reveals the true nature of God in our individual lives and in the congregation as a whole.

How can this be? 

1 John 1 V 3-7 NKJV
3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 
4 And these things we write to you that [a]your joy may be full. Fellowship with Him and One Another 
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 
6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 
7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

Light reveal while darkness conceals. God is light and anyone that will come to manifest the true nature of God must first come out of the dark and consciously enter into the light of God. 

Ephesians 5:13 GNT
And when all things are brought out to the light, then their true nature is clearly revealed; 

It is natural to hide our sinful nature but In God there is no Hiding of anything. Instead of hiding our sins and remaining in the dark, we can come to God with an open arm to accept our sinful nature to that we can denounce that sinful nature  and accept the true nature of Christ. 

Luke 9: 23-24
23 And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 
24 “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.

Do you wish for come after Jesus? There is only 1 thing to do: Come to Jesus with all your baggage and dump them before the Lord, He will forgive you. Then denounce that nature, which is the producer of sin, it is the flesh. As you continually denounce the sinful nature, you will be able to carry your cross and follow Jesus. 

May the Lord expand His Word in your Heart In Jesus name.

Following from last week's message, brokenness as a prerequisite for the coming revival. God is inferring on our hearts what is means to be broken and the practicality of it in our daily walk in Christ Jesus.

First we look at 1 john 1vs 5-10:  What I say I am VS What God says I am. Knowing and accepting our true standing with Jesus Christ will help us to seek God for HOW to move forward in the RIGHT way. This seeking marks the beginning of our humbleness, which is a place God can mercifully lead us in His LIGHT