Glory to the Father (2)

'Jesus wants to bring glory to the Father', I wrote in my previous post. How do we know this? Let's take a look at His words as written down in John 14:12-14,

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. Yes, ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it!

If we ask for anything in the name of Jesus, He will do it. Why? 👉Because that way He can bring glory to the Father. Think about that, answering our prayers enables Jesus to bring glory to His Father.

Some translations say that the Father can be glorified in the Son. I find that a fascinating thought. It must be Jesus' joy to answer our prayers, doing what the Father wants Him to do! Again, you might wonder why. The Bible says it is God's desire that His will is being done on earth, as it is being done in heaven. No difference, just the same.

Oh my goodness, Jesus did the will of the Father, for sure. But what if we would do the will of the Father here on earth? We, as His sons and daughters, would also bring glory to our heavenly Father. What a joy that will be, for all of us 😁

His will is His Word (the Bible). Let me give you His will, the size of a refrigerator magnet:

Always be joyful. Never stop praying. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).

Worshipers wanted!

Who will not stand in awe of you, Lord? Who will refuse to declare your greatness? You alone are holy. All the nations will come and worship you, because your just actions are seen by all [Revelation 15:4].

It is My desire to cover the earth with sons and daughters who are carrying My presence and the power of the Holy Spirit within. I want to fill the earth with My holiness and glory once more. It is My pride and joy to see sons and daughters do what My Son taught them… to go into the world and disciple the nations, one person at the time. To go and share the love I have poured out in their hearts.

I love it when they lay their hands on the sick, so My Son can make them well. I love to see the oppressed be set free and the ones in pain be joyful again. I long to see every spirit revived, every soul saved and delivered, and every afflicted body released from sickness. I am love, I am light, I am holy, I am shalom. Perfect peace and well-being come from My hand and it is My greatest pleasure to fill My sons and daughters with everything I have, with everything I am.

I seek the ones that are willing to receive what I have for them. I seek the ones that are bold enough to call Me Papa. I search the earth to see if there are any who are wise and willing to worship Me, who are willing to obey My Holy Spirit who only speaks of what He hears and who always brings glory to My Son.

I am seeking sons and daughters who are not afraid of My Spirit, who are willing to get to know Him better so He can lead them into all truth. I can and will do so much more throughout the earth when My people will let go of fear and put their trust in Me. You see, putting your trust in anything or anyone else than Me is idolatry and I do not tolerate it. It is Me or nothing. The choice is yours.

I cannot work through you if you are not willing to let Me. I want to see sons and daughters who dare to hand Me their dreams and goals, their jobs and finances, their present and future assets, their health and care issues, their family and relationships… everything really. I love to bring order in chaos, peace in troubled times, healing where there is pain, confidence where there is doubt, and hope where there is despair. Will you let Me do it?

Yes, I am looking for worshipers and no, you don’t have to sing for Me all day, although I love music. The heavens are full of worship and My angels cry out, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy,’ without end. I am looking for worshipers, for sons and daughters who know Me and are willing to spend time with Me and My Word.

I have so much to give, why don’t you give Me your time and devotion? Why don’t you give Me the worship I so desire? A thankful heart, a pure heart, a humble attitude, a lifestyle in submission to My Holy Spirit, a love for My Word, undivided attention, and the honor I deserve as your Father. This is what I am seeking. This is My cry for you, my child. This is my call for your generation.

With sincere love, Your Father

About prayers and frustration...

With everything that is going on in the world right now, I struggle with praying (yep). I am frustrated with my own prayers. I admit it and I know I am not the only one 😁

I find myself struggling on a daily basis. Should I pray as David prayed? Lord, kill the wicked. Wipe 'm off the face of the earth! Sometimes I feel like doing that, but somehow it does not satisfy my soul. 

Well, maybe it is better to pray a nice prayer... Lord, forgive those who oppose You, for they don't know what they are doing. Hm, quite a humble prayer, based on the words of Jesus when He prayed for His accusers. However, under current circumstances, it seems passive to me.

Or maybe I should pray a prayer of love, simply because love will never fail. Lord, thank You for being love. Show Your love to those that hate You. Well, something like that. But I find this quite difficult when my heart is restless and frustration and anger are rising up regularly.

I don't know how you handle prayers for the world's situation these days, but I have decided that the Lord's prayer is probably the best proclamation prayer, 👉 and I put emphasis on this verse:

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10).

It doesn't really matter how I think or feel. This is what I need to proclaim over every possible situation. I hope it is your prayer as well!

Do you have a particular prayer, you have been praying lately?

The meaning of life

'God has a plan and purpose for your life'. I don't know how many times I heard that phrase before I believed it! I struggled with the thought that there would be meaning to individual lives in a world with almost 7.8 billion inhabitants and so much suffering.

Thank God I do know better now. 👉God has a plan and a purpose for each individual before they are even born. More on that precious womb phase in my book Breath of Life, by the way.

I am currently reading through the Psalms again in my Bible. And I noticed two scriptures that make it very clear that 1) God is the One to fulfill that purpose and that 2) God is the one to work out that plan. We need to ask Him, we must pray about it and we should go on a quest to find out what this is all about. I promise you will discover great things.

I cry out to God most high. to God who will fulfill His purpose for me (Psalm 57:2).

I find that so exciting and well for several reasons. 1) There is a purpose for my life. 2) It is His purpose, not mine. 3) He is the One to fulfill that purpose and 4) He will do so, even if I feel nothing is happening! I got so encouraged reading that passage, I must have read it twenty times in a row until the words finally took deep root in my heart. Then, I came to Psalm 138:8.

The Lord will work out His plans for my life.

Truly Lord? You will work out YOUR plans for MY life? Despite my failures, despite my mistakes, despite my fears and doubts? How awesome is that!  May I encourage you to find out more about God's purpose and plans for your life? Set time apart, turn off your tv, sit, listen, and read through the psalms. You will be richly blessed as you begin to discover why you are here on earth!

What about a prayer group?

Several years ago we started a prayer group in our house, called Prayer for the Nations. With a group of friends we would come together once a month and specifically pray for our European continent.

There are prayer groups in most of our cities and churches of course, but we noticed that they are often focused on people and personal needs, and not so much on nations. And boy, do we need to pray for this struggling world.

During Prayer for the Nations we focus on God's Word, not on the daily news. We proclaim Psalm 67 over the nations of Europe, May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face shine on us so that your ways may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

We pray for governments, for the church, the economy and the harvests. We pray that God's righteousness and truth will be revealed, that His peace will become known and His love shared. We cry out for God's will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven. The prayer meetings are very encouraging and inspiring.

We no longer meet in our house. We have moved to Twinkeltje, a little 2nd hand shop that friends of us opened up a year ago... with all proceeds going towards our non-profit organization Traveling Light. We often present pictures from the countries we visit during our travels and that really helps to pray specifically. With contacts in more than 30 nations there is always something to pray for!

I am curious about the prayer group(s) you are involved in. Anything you want to share?

If you're not involved in a specific group, may I encourage you to start a prayer group? 

Give me a K

In my Bible alphabet blog series K stands for Kingdom.

And I am not talking about the Kingdom of the Netherlands (where I live), but about the Kingdom of God! Jesus spoke about it much and often.

After His resurrection from the dead, this message became more urgent. In Acts 1: 3 it is written about Jesus that He appeared to them [the apostles] over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. Forty days? There is indeed much to say...

In the Bible the terms the Kingdom of Heaven and the Kingdom of God are being used interchangeably and sometimes the Bible simply refers to it as the Kingdom. Let's see what the Kingdom is not:

• It is not a natural kingdom, not a place or country. It is a spiritual dimension where God's will reigns. Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36) and your kingdom come, your will be done (Matthew 6:10).
• It is not a matter of our daily natural needs.  For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17)
• It is not a theory or theology. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (1 Corinthians 4:20).

There is this religious thought that the Kingdom is a future destination. But Jesus tells us that we must seek the kingdom first, above all else (Matthew 6:33). Why would He let us begin a search for something that cannot be found here on earth? This is a question that the scribes and theologians also struggled with. Jesus told them, The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ (Luke 17:20). So, where is it?

Jesus continues ... because the kingdom of God is in your midst. (Luke 17:21). Well, they were speechless, as are many of us today. The Kingdom of God [His will on earth as in heaven] here with us? Some translations say the Kingdom is near you or within you ... However we look at it, the kingdom is never far away. Please note: there is no kingdom without the King! The Kingdom of God is within you only if Jesus lives there.

Righteousness, peace and joy with power is within us when we are alone but also among us when we are together as believers. We can experience the kingdom from within, but it also surrounds us as we go into the world. Jesus gave us the kingdom inside so that we can go outside to spread it in a broken, tired and troubled world.

[see also my Kingdom basics blog series]

Talent & the Kingdom (2)

I ended my previous blog post with the words: 'The advancing (expanding) of the Kingdom is an assignment for the believers'. I am using the term 'the advancing of the Kingdom' to describe the growing amount of believers in Jesus Christ (here on earth).

It is God's desire that every person will welcome King Jesus in their heart and so become a member of God's family, a citizen of the Kingdom. Jesus explains it this way: The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John. Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it (Luke 16:16).

As workers, or co-laborers, in the Kingdom of God we have received tools: spiritual gifts, but also natural abilities/talents. Jesus tells a great story to emphasize our assignment to work for this Kingdom in Matthew 25. Let me highlight His introduction: Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his property to them. To one he gave five talents of money, to another two talents, and to another one talent, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey.  It doesn't really matter whether this parable is about money, talents or opportunities, the main point is that God entrusts his people with something for a bigger purpose.

Jesus starts this story with the announcement that the man is going on a journey. If Jesus would have left after speaking these words, we still would have learned a spiritual truth: the man does not go away for ever, he is coming back! We also live with the expectation that Jesus is coming back to check on our work, to ask what we have done with the very things He entrusted us with.

2) Jesus will ask us what we have done with the talents he gave us

Today is the day

Of all decisions we can take in life, the one to seriously follow Jesus Christ is the most important, a matter of life and death. It takes one step to stand at a brand new beginning...

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

(2 Corinthians 6:2)

Kingdom Basics (1)

What is the Kingdom?

My husband and I love to teach about the Kingdom. We have noticed that, although this was one of Jesus’ main topics, there is often a huge lack of knowledge among believers about the Kingdom. Lack of knowledge often leads to confusion about these matters; which raises the following question: how can we proclaim the good news about the Kingdom if we don’t really know what we are talking about? I have decided to dedicate a few posts on Kingdom basics.

One of the main topics of Jesus’ teaching was the Kingdom of heaven, or as it is sometimes called: the Kingdom of God. Jesus uses both terms and sometimes simply refers to it as the Kingdom. His teaching about the Kingdom became more urgent after His resurrection, just before He went back to be with His Father. The Book of Acts reports: He appeared to them [the apostles] over a period of forty days and spoke about the Kingdom of God (Acts 1:3). Forty days? And that after the many different times he spoke with them in parables about the Kingdom? I feel free to conclude that there is a lot to be learned about this. Let's start with a simple question: what is this Kingdom of God, or rather, what is it NOT?

• It is not a natural kingdom, but a spiritual realm where God’s will prevails. Jesus said, My kingdom is from another place (John 18:36) and Your Kingdom come, your will be done (Matthew 6:10).
• It is not a matter of our daily natural concerns. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17).
• It is not a theory or theology. For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power (1 Corinthians 4:20).

The Kingdom is not a place or a country, it is a spiritual realm where righteousness, peace and joy reign, with power. Although it seems that such a thing doesn't exist on earth, that we are only able to enter this Kingdom when we go to heaven, Jesus teaches otherwise! That is why at some point in my life I started to wonder why then Jesus tells the people on earth to seek the Kingdom first (Matthew 6:33). Why would He send us on a quest for something that cannot be found here?

So, first it is important to know WHAT we are seeking, what we are looking for. According to the scriptures I mentioned earlier, the Kingdom is righteousness, peace and joy with power in the Holy Spirit. Jesus urges us to seek these things first. The logical next question will be: where do we look? Where can we find this Kingdom?