WALK FORWARD TO YOUR STARS

Matthew 2:1-12

At the start of the year 2018, it is an opportunity for us to look back and thank God for a wonderful and blissful year God has given us in the past.

This is not a time to regret but rather to be grateful for whatever we achieved, whatever we received. Even there were failures; there were no mistakes but only lessons learned.

What has passed is history.

We have to move forward with much zeal and hope as there is always something in store and the best is yet to come.

JESUS IS OUR STAR

Jesus is the bright morning star, a star that outshines all the stars.

He is the light shining, giving us hope, direction and light.

“ I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches, I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.”-Revelation 12:16

We walk forward to reach Him, our star. Like the Magi, they brave the journey till they reach the star, where Jesus was lying on a manger.

OUR OWN LITTLE STAR

All of us have our own star to follow.

What is the star that you want to reach?

What are the dreams that you want to achieve?

With that desires to walk toward Jesus, we also have our own dreams, our own little stars to achieve.

But how we could reach our little stars?

START YOUR JOURNEY WITH FAITH

“Do you know where you’re going to? Do you like the things that life is showing you? Where are you going to? Do you know?”

These are some phrases from a popular song, Do you Know Where you’re Going by Diana Ross in 1976.

Why so many people today cannot reach their destination is precise because we don’t know where we are heading to.

We should specifically state our destination. We should know exactly where we want to go.

Like the three Magi, they know where they were heading to.

They believed that at the end of that star is where what they are looking for.

They have their star to follow.

We have to start our journey with FAITH. And why faith?

Because faith is the assurance of the things that we hoped for and being certain of things that we cannot see. (Hebrew 11:1)

Faith could not materialize until we have something to hope for.

So what are those things that you hope for?

We should know what we really want in life for this and the years to come.

Our star may be a happy united family, a strong marriage relationship, financial freedom, to be a faithful and committed servant in your ministry, pursue your passion, unleash your entrepreneurial spirit, start a business or be successful in your career.

These are just a few stars that you want to follow and reach. These are the things you hope for.

You may not yet be able to see it clearly right now. Even the Magi only see the star above but they never stop.

They believe and they were never failed.

Start our journey with faith, believing that at the end of our journey we will achieve it.

There are no failures; there are no mistakes but lessons learned.

TAKE A CONCRETE ACTION WITH TRUST

Faith without action is dead. (James 2:14)

A hundred miles always begin with a single step.

We have to take concrete action at a time.

The magi rode their camels and start their journey. They were not satisfied just seeing the star from afar but rather walked to go for it.

You will never discover what lies beneath until we dug it.

We will never discover what awaits us on the other side until we cross it.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.- Proverbs 3:5

Take concrete action and reject all fears. Our trust should be bigger than our fears.

True courage is doing it afraid.

It does not mean that we are not afraid. Despite the feeling of fear to fail and hearing what other people might say, we act upon it.

Our action is driven by our determination to succeed no matter what.

AVOID NEGATIVE THOUGHTS AND TOXIC PEOPLE

In our journey to reach for the stars, we will meet a lot of people who don’t want us to succeed.

Like the three Magi, they have Herod to meet.

How many Herod do you have that instead of encouraging you, are pulling you down?

Some people are so negative that they don’t want you to be better than them.

Toxins are not good for our body so we get rid of them, and we get them rid out of our body.

Toxic people and toxic thoughts should not be entertained as they will slow down your pace.

Reject all the negative thoughts that belittle you but rather think positive.

Positive thinking creates positive results. Positive thoughts lift up our spirit, they boost our morale and increase our tolerance of disappointments.

Phil 4:8 “ Finally, brother and sisters, whatever is noble, whatever is true, whatever is right, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think of such thing…

Avoid people who rob your confidence and steal your morale and add toxicity level to your thoughts.

REWARDS AWAIT AT THE END FOR THOSE WHO PERSEVERE

Like the three Magi, they never stopped.

They never let Herod intimidate them nor did the journey frustrate them.

There is no easy and smooth journey on the road.

Always expect the unexpected but with faith, we can conquer all these knowing that our God is always with us.

There is always a prize for those who persevere.

The tendency to complain is great but there is no room for a whiner to be a winner.

We rejoice in our sufferings knowing that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character and character produces hope.- Romans 5:3-4

There was a beautiful song titled “The Impossible Dream” adapted from the musical play Man from La Mancha in 1964.

This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far

To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause

And I know if I’ll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star

SERVE GOD WITH THE GIFTS YOU RECEIVED

Like the three Magi, they offered their gifts to Jesus.

All of us have our own unique gifts which we need to offer, which we need to share.

God has given us blessings so that we could be a blessing to others as well.

The ultimate purpose of our reaching the stars is not about ourselves but rather, this could be an instrument that we could bless people whom God has given us.

The pinnacle of reaching our destination is that we have done something that will leave an imprint on those to whom God entrusted us.

What profit a man if we gain and conquer the whole world yet lose our soul.

Our journey shall be in vain if, in the end, we attain all of the things we hope for yet for our own gain.

“And I know if I’ll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I’m laid to my rest”

You can only be peaceful and calm when at the end of all of those journeys we can say “Lord it is finished, I ran the race and am ready to receive the crown that you prepared for me..”

We have to serve God with what we received because we have to answer His question “What have you done to the least of your brother?

May the start of this year bring you a more fulfilling life toward your purpose and core value.

In summary, follow your stars…

Start your journey with faith

Take a concrete action with trust

Avoid Negative thoughts and toxic people

Reward awaits those who persevere

Serve God with the gifts you received

May your walk toward your stars,

Mikesendon

Pray About Everything- SERIES 2

PHILIPPIANS 4:6

In this first series of Rejoice in your storms, we understood that worrying will not add anything to solve our problems.

As worrying will not help, we should know that we need to focus our attention on giving it to someone who understands us. To a God who can help us.

Philippians 4:6 says Don’t worry about anything but in all your prayers ask God for what you need.

Paul is encouraging us to pray and ask God what we need.

Worrying will not solve anything; praying can move the heart of our King.

ASK & SHALL RECEIVE

Mt 7:7 says that we should ask and we will receive; we seek and we shall find; we knock and the door shall be opened for us.

Why need to pray about everything?

Because we need the grace that comes from God.

Instead of worrying, we need to call upon the name of the Lord.

Because when we are in the storm, the only one who can defile the law of nature is God.

What seems impossible to us is possible with Him.

When we are worried, who shall we call? We call a friend. When you are sick whom do you call? You call your doctor.

DIAL THE CALL CENTER

It’s not bad to call someone whom you know could help you.

But just understand that when we do that, never forget that there is someone we should call first.

God has a call center, not being manned by a call center or an answering machine.

In Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things which you do not know.

When we are into the storms of problems, difficulties, and infirmities; we usually battle and face them by ourselves. We try to solve it alone hoping that we can do it by ourselves.

But we can turn to Him who knows more than what we know. He who can do great and mighty things.

We can surely find answers every time we call upon Him because that is His promise.

Psalm 50:15 says “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you and you will honor me.

EAR THAT LISTENS

There is an assurance for us calling Him because HE listens to us.

Jeremiah 29:12 “Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you.

Many people don’t pray anymore because they think that God is not listening o them. But God is giving us an assurance that He doesn’t only listen but He also answers.

In the world today, there are only a few who really listen. Many times that we are deaf to the need of others. Our ears are close to the suffering of many.

There was a boy whose pants need some repairing, to be cut and adjusted by an inch as his pant is a little bit longer. So he turn to her elder sister and asked for a favor but the sister replied: “ I am so busy today with my assignments, can you go to Grandma and let her do it”.

So the boy went to her Grandma with his pants but the grandma was also busy and asked him to give them to her mother.

The mother was doing some chores so she said to his son, can you go to your auntie Matilda as I am so busy with this work. The boy turned to her auntie who was also busy chatting on her phone.

At the end of the day, the boy has fallen asleep with his pants on his side. The sister remember the request of his brother to go to his room and cut and adjusted the pant then she went to sleep.

The Auntie remembers that her nephew asked her favor so he went to his room, cut the pant, and adjusted it.

The grandma reminded of her grandson’s request, went to the room, and adjusted the pant. Then the mother, before he go to sleep saw the pant of his boy and recall his request to adjust the pant.

In the morning, when the boy wears the pant, the pant became short.

When nobody is listening, we will always add to the problem instead of giving a good solution.

When no one is listening, we deny the basic help to those who need it, our love, and our attention.

WHICH NUMBER YOU ARE DIALING 

All of us experience the operator answering the telephone when we dialed it.

“The number you dial is busy, please try your call later”.

“The number you dial cannot be reached.”

“The number you dial is not a working number.”

“The network is busy.”

What if the person you dial is not answering your call? They are so busy that they missed the call and not answered back.

Some people cannot be reached anymore because they may already be hiding from you. But some may change their number because they don’t want to be found anymore.

What if the network becomes busy? Your circle of friends is not willing to help you or help is nowhere to be found.

But how if we hear the operator says “The number you dial is not yours, please buy your own later”. The worst thing to hear is when others look down on you in times of your need.

But God is always a call away.

God opens His direct call for us.

It is His promise that when we pass through the water, He will be with us.

He said that He is the instant help in times of our urgent needs.

When you are in the storms, we know whom we have to call.

‘Don’t worry about anything because God can do everything; In prayer call God who listens and answers.”

 Never worry about your sickness; He is the God that heals.

Don’t be bothered by your needs, He is Jehovah Jireh, our provider.

May God sustain you with joy amid the storm,

Mikesendon

PLANTING SEEDS TO MULTIPLY

JOHN  6:1-14 

Jesus feeding the five thousand men is another miracle He did to show us what he could do.

The multiplication of five loaves and two fish is an event to teach us to multiply the fruits of whatever we are planting.

To multiply, there should be a seed to be sown.

By learning the virtues of Jesus, we can multiply the result of our endeavor through the grace of God.

The Principle of Harvest

 Everything starts small.

A single grain can grow and can give you more than double in returns.

We plant the right seed and we harvest the best fruit.

A single grain can multiply but the question is what type of grain. The quality of the fruits we have depends on the quality of grains we have sown and the quality of care we gave while the plant is growing.

What we reap today is what we have planted years back.

What we are planting right now, is what we will harvest in the future.

Don’t expect to grow a mango by planting an avocado.

This is a universal law.

We plant today to harvest for tomorrow.

What we sow grows. What is alive, multiplies.

We plant a single seed today to let it multiply in the future.

Planting SEED OF COMPASSION

John 6:5 says, therefore lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him said to Phillip “Where are we to buy bread so that they may eat?”

Jesus was so compassionate that He felt the need of the people following Him.

His compassion prevails over his desires to take a rest for He knew that these people are hungry, sick, and in need. That is why in the book of Mark 6:34 when they land ashore, He saw the large crowd and he felt compassion for them for they are like sheep without a shepherd.

How do we see people when they come to us? Do we see them that they are in need or do we see them that they can give us what we need?

God is teaching us that for us to have that power to multiply if we will have the same seed of compassion in our hearts like Jesus.

Compassion is love in action. It is a seed that should grow in our hearts.

It should move us to help others because we feel their pain, we feel their suffering, we know their struggles and we know what they are been to.

We are ought to give what we received. We need to show our compassion same as what we received from God.

Extend your mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God should withdraw His Mercy from us? -Saint Vincent de Paul

The seed of compassion helps us to understand the needs of those people surrounding us. We become tolerant and we put our feet in the shoes of others.

It is easy to help and care for people who went through various storms in their life. It is easy to understand people who are in trouble because they lost their job, they are sick, and those who suffer because they lost their loved ones.

But compassion is seeing beyond what we can see from what other person is suffering. With that seed of compassion, we understand people who are beaten by a secret storm. You see them laughing, you see them dancing, you see them normal but deep within, they were suffering.

These are the people who have a good job, newly promoted but their responsibility is great that they have too much pressure at work. These are people serving in the church, in a ministry and you see them as normal, happy yet they secretly enduring their sickness.

Plant that seed of compassion and let it grow.

We should strive to keep our hearts open to the sufferings and wretchedness of other people and pray continually that God may grant us that spirit of compassion that is truly the spirit of God. -Saint Vincent de Paul

Planting SEED OF FAITH

The size of our faith determines the size of blessings we will receive.

In verses 5-6 Jesus asked Phillip where they will buy bread so that the people may eat. This was to test him for He knew already what He intended to do.

God sometimes put us in a situation to test us where we have to use our faith.

It does not mean that when we are in a situation of trouble, suffering, in need, or in sickness, He is leaving us to settle it on our own.

He wants us to have a mind that sees increase rather than decrease. To see something even when we see nothing.

God is teaching us to see plenty amid scarcity. Faith can turn scarce into abundance. To have a vision of increase, magnify what is good.

That seed of faith planted in our hearts grows to help us to see the provisions rather than the dreadful situations.

The disciples see that even two hundred denarii are not enough to feed the five thousand people. With faith, we know that we have God who is more than enough.

We see the impossible rather than the visible.

Jacob was blessed by God for everything he does prosper. Laban flocks increase from little to multitude because of Jacob. But Laban witnessed how God blessed Jacob and he did treat Jacob deceitfully by not giving him his fair wages. Jacob asked Laban to depart from him and let him go to his country. They agreed that Jacob will continue to pasture his flocks but his wages shall be every spotted and speckled among the flocks shall belong to him.

Jacob’s faith took him to take fresh rods of poplar and almond and plane trees and peeled white stripes in them, exposing the white which was in the rod. So the flocks mated by the rods and the flocks brought forth striped, speckled, and spotted. He separated the lambs and made the flocks face toward the striped and all the black in the flock of Laban, and he put his own herd apart and he did not put them in Laban’s flock.

The flocks became what they see. We achieve what we conceive in our thoughts.

Planting SEED OF GENEROSITY 

In verse 9, there was a lad who has five bread and two loaves.

The boy can just simply refuse to give what she had for this may just be enough for him. But he willingly gives it away and miracles happen.

Every seed of generosity will not turn into vain. What you have given to the needy is you’ve given to the Lord.

We may be thinking this is just enough for us and why to bother others, but giving is a key to receiving more abundant blessings.

What we give will return a hundred times. The five loaves of bread and two fish return baskets of leftover more than enough.

What you keep will only be yours but what you give will come back more than what you give. Because we cannot beat God in His generosity.

The widow in the times of Elijah can refuse the last ounce of oil and flour but their act of kindness turn out to be a miracle of overflowing, and oil flowing without ceasing more than enough for their needs.

Planting SEED OF GRATITUDE 

In verse 11, Jesus took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed them to those who were seated.

Jesus did not consider the quantity of what they have but rather the quantity of what God can give by giving thanks to the ultimate source of all our needs.

Consider what you have as a blessing for out of what you have, God can turn it into your favor.

That remaining flour, remaining money on your savings if we acknowledge that God can multiply it to your contentment.

I remembered when I was in the province years back; the general source of water aside from a well was a manual water pump. But for the manual pump to work, a bucketful of water is set aside to pour into the pump.

We can use that water being set aside but what it gives us is just temporary when we pour it into the pump, what it can give is bounty.

We can keep what we have for ourselves but when we planted that generosity and learn to give it away, it bounces back to our plenty.

Jesus in His power can just click His fingers and “kaboom!” an instant buffet meal could be in front of them.

We can make a difference today 

But God allows us to be part of His miracles. Unknown to us, God uses us to be miracles for others.

Unknown to us, we become Jesus to somebody if we continue to nurture the seed of compassion, the seed of faith, generosity, and gratitude in our hearts.

We have the power to multiply as Jesus said, we can do things like what He did.

May your happiness multiply,

Mikesendon