Passion

Do you remember how you felt when you first met Christ?

The warmness of love that consumed your heart in exchange for your bitterness,
The abundance of joy you were filled with in exchange for your pain,
Peace in exchange for disorder, Patience in exchange for irritability,
Kindness in exchange for mercilessness, Goodness in exchange for wickedness
And Faithfulness to restore parts of you that were faithless.

Do you remember that first personal encounter with God?

The first time you actually realised God is, and always has been working on your behalf?
And I say it like that because it's only until a particular manifestation of God in your life that we realise there has been so many blessings we have overlooked because we have been so focused on our own desires,
We don't realise that during the process of waiting God has been building us up, depositing things in our heart for the preparation of the plans He has for us.

These are the times we have been obedient to His Word and established a healthy relationship with God through prayer,
And then we have this kind of relationship with God that takes us to another dimension of understanding, that we begin to realise that many things we desired when we weren't as devoted to the Word, cannot even compare to the things God wants us to receive, those previous desires cannot even compare to the things God has promised us in His Word.

As we begin to have a stronger relationship with God and begin to understand His word more, our desires change because of the things we have heard our God can do for us. Let me explain.
For example, there may be a situation where someone is in doubt and doesn't think they will pass a year because of a certain teacher, and pray things like 'God I pray this teacher doesn't make me fail.'
But once we begin to pray and meditate on the Word more, our knowledge of His Word grows with us.
And because of our increased knowledge of the Word, we will know that God's grace is sufficient, not only for that person to pass that year alone but enough to sustain him throughout every year of education, therefore hindrances like negativity won't even be able to supersede the power of God because this is what we have through Jesus Christ.
Instead, we will begin to pray prayers like asking God to exchange our heart of stone for a heart of flesh, asking God for patience and self control, so that when we do come across people that may be a hindrance to our success, we already know God is working on our behalf and we will be able to conduct ourselves in a way that will confuse the enemy! Can you imagine, something the enemy planned to provoke a retaliation but instead our spirit does the opposite. The enemy's finite mind cannot even try to undermine God's infinite mind, especially when our spirit is being lead by an infinite God, the devil doesn't stand a chance at all.

So we've taken a walk down memory lane, and some of these experiences may sound familiar. 

However, for us to have experienced God, we must have known God. But for us to have known God, we must have heard God. So how did we hear God?

Our ultimate source today to hear God, know God, is the Bible, but what about the times when the Bible wasn't written? Then how would people have known about the Word of God?

People who already knew, people who experienced, and people who saw, they all spoke.

Evangelism is so key concerning our Christian walk, because every manifestation, every blessing, everything that comes from God is good! And when we know or hear about good news what do you do? You tell people about it !

How selfish would it be of us to withhold all this good news from people that don't know truth? or haven't even heard truth?
From people that are perishing because of their ignorance?
From people that think that God doesn't hear them when they pray. when in reality it's not the prayer that is at fault but because they lack knowledge of Gods will concerning their lives.

God has a plan for us in order to prosper, for a future and a hope. When we get closer to God the things we used to desire will change, the Holy Spirit will put in us new desires that are in line with God's will, and then we will see another dimension of God's faithfulness.

Romans 10:14-15 (NIV)

How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? 
And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? 
And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 
15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? 
As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

Love & Blessings,
Melissa-Ann Rose
xox